#188 Mat Steinwede’s Story: Addiction, Fatherhood, Grief & becoming one of Australia’s top Real Estate Agents

Mat’s been to hell and back with addiction - and turned it all around to become one of Australia’s top real estate agents.

We had a deep conversation ranging from going down the wrong path, addiction, grief, fatherhood, success and much more.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, my boris and this is straight talk my dad.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Yeah, it's just an alcoholic. So I'd left home when
I was very young. I was fifteen when I started
taking speed that led to ecstasy coke and then injecting
it and then just turned into an absolute animal, basically
a drug eat. I ended up on Australia's Most Wanted,
living in an abandoned building at Camperdown, and then I
rang an next girlfriend. One day. She goes, you're not
in a bit of trouble. You're in a lot of trouble.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
You know.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
I had contracts taken out on my life and all
these things. I said, what should I do? And she said, one,
don't you get into real estate. At the end, the
judge looks at me. She said, Matt, you should be
going to jail for quite a few years today, but
I see some good in it. I'm going to give
you a second chance. She said, if you come back
in again, you'll go away for half your life.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
I don't know what happened.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
I think an angel's intervened and then I never looked back.
I walked out of the courtroom and I rang Dino.
I'm still my best mate today, I said, Deane, I'm
going to make your promise. I'm going to become Australia's
number one agent and I've never stopped trying for that.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
Wow, how do you stay so disiplined given that you
were so undisponed before?

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Dang, you want it, you'll do it. Yeah, And it
starts just a little bit, a little bit, a little
bit little bit. But success comes the other way as well,
a little bit, a little bit little bit. It's a choice.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
Yeah, yeah, this way that way. So mate, welcome straight
to mate. Thanks mate, I've been following you. You're putting
up some pretty cool stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
I follow you.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
Thank you. It is a bromance already. So I get
I don't know where to start with this because you've
had a mad life for what I consider to be
a relatively speaking young man. Maybe you're from the Central Coast.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
Now now, but you're originally.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
You're a verboy, right, So let's go back to who
you were Rubra? Like, is your parents born here? You're
born here?

Speaker 2 (01:46):
What's to do with my parents? From Rubra? And grew
up with sunny guy Kobe hab yep and then surf
there and then when I was seventeen a girl said
come into Oxford Street and come party in there. And
I'd been taking speed back then, but and then she came.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
Out, how old are we talking?

Speaker 2 (02:06):
I was like, well, I was fifteen when I started
taking speed. And then she said, come into Oxford Street
and I'll give you some ecstasy and I'm like, what's exally,
I haven't taken it. And then so we went in
and partied in best night ever. I never went back.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
We never went back.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
I never went back to.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
The beach you went back to, but you know, I went.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
I ended up in here, and then I ended up
becoming a bouncer, and then at Big Bloss and there
for quite a while and then just turned into an
absolute animal, I guess, and then ended up just a
full junkie.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
And so that has like has it worked on Matt?

Speaker 2 (02:50):
Like?

Speaker 1 (02:51):
I mean, it was, what are you folks saying? What
were your parents saying?

Speaker 2 (02:55):
I'd left home when I was very young?

Speaker 1 (02:56):
Yeah, how were young?

Speaker 2 (02:58):
Or when I was like just maybe just turned sixteen.
I've sort of lived in a place at Rubra with
some of the boys in this little flat and then, yeah,
I didn't speak to them for a long time.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
They didn't speak to you. You didn't speak to them off
the rails. It was because you went off the rails.
Were you dirty on them?

Speaker 2 (03:16):
No? I just didn't really gel with my dad. Yeah, yeah,
it's just an alcoholic so yeah, I didn't have much
going on there.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yeah. Yeah, brothers and sisters.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
I had a sister. She killed herself and she's twenty seven.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
Oh she was. She much older than you.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
No, it's three years younger than me.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
Three is younger than you. Yeah. Yeah, So obviously it's
sort of a pretty shitty like family life.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
So when you're so like my mum was all right,
well that's good. It's most all love. Yeah, I guess.
I mean, I haven't never been exposed this for that
topic thing fortunate, but I have got mates who were
exposed to it, and a lot of them that was
a pretty popular story. Like they'd take off at sixteen fifteen,

(03:57):
especially back then. You can you can move out of
fifteen sixty, you could, and if you've got a couple
of mates, it's actually the best thing in the world.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
It was all right, we just to steal bread from
down the road and with chips.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
Did you do that too, like we get love bread,
pull the guts out and that was after a surf.
So what attracted you? So I'm going to I guess
Muba was close to them as obviously the beach area,
But what attracted you to surfing that? What does surfing
become your go to?

Speaker 2 (04:27):
I think it was just a place to be. Yeah,
So before everybody got the bra boy tattoos and all
that sort of stuff, I left the beach. But you
know that everyone was together. There was like the older
guys I was Gian's age, and then younger guys like
Kobe's age, and everyone just had that sort of group
and we just used to hang at the beach all
the time, and two dollars would get you very far. Yeah. Yeah,

(04:47):
it was like enough food for the day and maybe
for the next day.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
Actually, fact just I mean, let's just put the drug
part aside for a second, and probably booze as well,
but just put that a second. Maybe just put the
you know, even the part whether they form the bra boys,
if you just park that, really it's not that unhealthy
because you're living with your mates. You feel safe. You're

(05:11):
probably i mean emotionally safe as well, because with your
mates you're out of a shitty family life. If that's
what it was like. And you're going for surf, your
surf and all the time. Maybe your health nutrition is
not great because you've got no money, but you're shit.
But still you're leading a young man's life very active
exercise effectively training in the water all the time. I mean,

(05:33):
like you know, you're in there for hours.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
You're sort of safe. Yeah, yeah, you're just doing your
thing in the everyone's taking care of each other.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
Yeah, in the fresh air. Yeah, you're probably so exhausted.
And then but then it starts to change a little bit,
so then you start to get introduced to You only
need one introduction of this to just call it, you know,
don't come Mondays. You're a Oxes Street somewhere and someone
throws you know, throws your necky, and then you think, oh,

(06:00):
how fucking goods is?

Speaker 2 (06:02):
It was the best? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (06:04):
Yeah, so you're feeling chilled, everyone's cool, everyone's happy.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah, you're off the off the speed, so the speeds
have got a different effect, maybe even off the piece
for that matter.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yeah. Well I was never a big drinker, but yeah
I used to do the drugs pretty hard.

Speaker 1 (06:19):
Yeah, And so did you advance from there to anywhere else?
From did you go from ecstasy to anything else?

Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah? I used to Well, yeah, so I well, I
walked into him one day with a friend of mine,
is a guy that was his name was Steven Scott,
and everyone was so big and I was just this little,
scrawny surface kid, and I said to Stephen, how do
they how do they all get like that? They all
take steroids? And I was like, what's a steroid? And
then you want some and I said yeah, So he

(06:47):
went and got me some, and then that started me
on that path, and so then I could get big.
Though yeah I was like one hundred. I ended up
like one hundred and thirty kilos, So I was like, shit,
I was big, but I was very undisciplined. I just
used to take a lot of gear and party and
everyone's like, you should compete because you got great genetics,
and I had zero discipline when it comes to that stuff.

(07:08):
I just wanted to be big. But I could see
that the bigger you were, it's a bit like a currency,
Like the bigger you were, the more you stood out,
the more you know, you could get a job as
a bouncer or do whatever. And then yeah, but then
that led to you know, coke and then injecting it.
And then another girl along the way said do you

(07:29):
inject coke? And I'm like nah, she is, you want
to try it? And I'm like yeah. She said, once
you do this, you'll never look back. It'd be the
best feeling you've ever had. And she was right. And
then then I just went down that path and ice
to inject maybe I don't know, half an out of
coca day a day.

Speaker 1 (07:44):
Yeah, okay, well then obvious question has had your fund
it anyway? Yeah? Whatever, yeah, anything that could get you
the fast dollar anything, Yeah, I mean did you get
did you go to minute rabbit holes? Though? Like you
end up in nick and shit?

Speaker 2 (08:00):
Yeah. I was never really like a stealer, Like, even
though I was like a bit of in the criminal world,
I had sort of some principles just sort of used
to operate in that world. Yeah, anyway I could, so
I would do anything. I was working sort of as
a refrigeration mechanic. My dad made me get a trade,
so I sort of worked good. I was trying to
work and then sell drugs, sell sell gears, sell anything myself.

(08:27):
And where we're living anyway, Yeah, I just live with whatever.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
Yeah, yeah, but it was because it seems to be
a bit of a theme, a girls coming into your
life and sort of saying, well, let's try this, let's
try that. Yeah, what's the story there? I mean, you
ever thought about that, like when it comes to.

Speaker 2 (08:46):
I suppose I just like girls.

Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yeah, I was like what type of girl?

Speaker 2 (08:50):
I was young, and I had no idea And is.

Speaker 1 (08:53):
There a naivity for Matt Steinway at the top. Yeah,
Like a lot of errors often come off the back
of naive.

Speaker 2 (09:01):
I think I wanted to be wanted or a light
a light yeah, yeah, I think so. Yeah, And so
I just i'd just live at a girl's house for
a month or two or three or ten one day
and then just shift to the next one. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
I mean you're a good looking dude, So I guess
you had no trouble for sort of being sort of
putting yourself in the position weekend to find a girl.
I was really shy though, Yeah, incredibly shy.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah. I think the drugs covered that up. Yeah, the
drugs almost made me be, yeah, someone different. So I
used to just especially the speed, like I was injecting speed.
And then I used to like injecting speed more than coke.
But I do coke at the end of the weekend,
you know, and then for me, like at the end
of the weekend, like you go out for a few

(09:47):
days and then around here, yeah, and then I just
inject coke for like four or five days straight.

Speaker 1 (09:53):
So yeah, and there's.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
A different feeling. So speed would just give you some
you know, a person and courage and stamina, and then
coke would be like just a whole another level.

Speaker 1 (10:07):
And but you wouldn't sleep then, I presume.

Speaker 2 (10:11):
When I was walking here, I walked past a few
places I used to go, and Sugar Reef was one
of them. I don't know if you remember Sugar Reef.
It is just in this side street back here Tuesday
nights and Jackson my son said Tuesday night. Like, what
do you mean Tuesdays? He said, we're clubs open on Tuesdays.
I said, yeah, every night, but Wednesday is the night
so i'd sleep Wednesdays.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
Wow. Yeah, Well how is it you look like you
look now?

Speaker 2 (10:37):
I mean, I have no idea.

Speaker 1 (10:38):
Do you ever see yourself?

Speaker 2 (10:40):
Fuck?

Speaker 1 (10:41):
I could have course some day.

Speaker 2 (10:42):
Yeah. Some of my friends or obviously dead in jail,
mental institutions, all sorts of stuff, so yeah, I did
it very hard.

Speaker 1 (10:50):
Yeah, how many years did you do this for?

Speaker 2 (10:53):
That was the saving grace. I got to a point
where I went to the doctors because I was weaning
blood so badly.

Speaker 1 (11:01):
Piece of blood.

Speaker 2 (11:02):
Yeah yeah, And then he said, your kidneys had almost
shut down. You're about six months to live. So I
had a girlfriend that actually used to live next door
to carry packer at Bellevue Hill when I was living
at her house with her parents, and she was going
overseas and her mum brought me a tick and I
just went with her. So I went to England for

(11:22):
a couple of years. I think that I think that
saved me a bit. And then I came back and
then got right back into it again. And I was
working for these people in that world and they were
opening another brothel and they said they sent me to
Terigle and said, can you go to the nightclub up there.
We'll hook you up with the bikes, and can you

(11:45):
go scout out for some new girls for the brothel.
I didn't know what I was doing. I said, yeah, sure,
I'll do that. And then that night I met a
guy called Dino and a girl called Karna that was
sort of friends and I got Karina's number and at

(12:05):
the end of the night and I thought, I like her.
She's nice, she's cut. It was her eighteenth birthday and
I said, can I have your number? And she went
to write it down. She told me later. Then the
bouncer grabs her and said, don't give that guy your number,
and she's like why. He said, just don't and please
don't say I said anything, because he's the sort of

(12:26):
guy that makes people disappear. I've never been to terrible
before she gave me her number. I went back to Sydney.
I ended up homeless and living in an abandoned building
at Camperdown. After a little while, I was under surveillance
for a long time by the police, and I rang
Dino and I said, mate, can you come pick me up.

(12:46):
I'm going to be dead or in jail any day,
I can feel it, and he drove down. I left
Sydney with what I was wearing and he put me
out at the back of his parents' house, this little room.
I lived there for nine months, and I was still
injecting speed and stuff. And I ended up going out
with Karna and then I rang an next girlfriend. One

(13:06):
day I was in this room drawing sticking stick figure
people on paper. I was convinced they were real. I
was in a bit of a psychosis. And then I
rang Lisa, the girl I went overseas with, and I
said to Lise, I'm in a bit of trouble. She's like,
where the hell are you. You've left the biggest mess
ever down here, she said. I said, yeah, she goes,

(13:27):
You're not in a bit of trouble. You're in a
lot of trouble. You know, contracts taken out and all
stuff on my life and all these things. And I
said what should I do? And she said, one, don't
you get into the real estate. So I was like,
that's a good idea. Didn't even know what real estate was.
And I was ringing everybody in the Yellow Pages back
then and said, have you got a trainee ship? Everyone

(13:48):
said no, and one lady gave me a job and
she said, all I want you to do is just
walk the streets and door knock every day.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
How old were you at this stage, I don't know,
twenty five or something. Because it's interesting that you said
you're in a psycho sort of a bit of psychosis.
I mean, I mean I think maybe it's a good
idea for you explain to the audience. And I've got
made to mean through this process. But the what what

(14:16):
drugs generally, but particularly coke, how they create a false
narrative in your brain about what is real and what's
not real, like I was lost. Yeah, but they sort
of create this world you think exists, but it doesn't exists.

Speaker 2 (14:31):
Mate. I can't even tell you the amount of stuff
that happened when I was in Dnot's room, and it's
too long to talk about on here, but it's like,
when I was in Dino's room, I'd be running down
the streets convinced that police were spraying me with this
acid in my undies. It's through terrible, Like I was
just I was just on another planet and you know,

(14:54):
I don't know. It just sent me crazy.

Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah, but I didn't care.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
You know, I've been in hospital five times with overdoses
and all this. I'd be out the next day doing
it again.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
We've got the series The Kings of the Cross. Did
you get exposed that sort of stuff up there?

Speaker 2 (15:10):
Ah? I know, I know all of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (15:13):
It's like is it real? Like I mean, is it
a real thing, absolutely, because you know, I know people
are glued to the second series. I reckon it's a
fantastic and you know, we've you know, we all sort
of know the Ibroham's story. But I mean, of course
the shows that fiction in that it brings a whole
lot of characters in it includes you know, Series one

(15:34):
included someone who was supposed to be a Suffron but
it's not Ape Saffron didn't use the name. You know,
they're sort of borrowed characters. But maybe just as a reflection,
how true are their characteristics of the so called fictional characters.
I mean, is it really over the top or is
it there are a lot of reality in what we're seeing.

Speaker 2 (15:54):
It's like watching a documentary almost. Yeah, yeah, Like, yeah,
life was really fast. I think that's what attracted me
to Life was fast, and it was interesting and it
was NonStop and there's always something going on and you
could survive somehow, just you know, being around everyone. And
if I was smarter, it would have been a great

(16:15):
scene to be in. But I was just basically a
drug act. Yeah, yeah, and that's all I cared about.

Speaker 1 (16:22):
Well, yeah, but maybe there was in young Matt there
was a level of curiosity and seeking out exciting stuff
as well. But the drugs fuck you up. But the
clearly was and then also sort of overlay that a
level of naivity as well. Yeah, for sure when you
weren't being you know, like you're getting leveled up and
you didn't even realize it. Yeah, both by drugs but

(16:43):
by just people influencing it. Let's try this, let's try that,
let's do this. Go here, you do.

Speaker 2 (16:48):
This for me.

Speaker 1 (16:49):
There's a level of naivity but also a level of curiosity,
and those two things when you combine them, can be
very powerful ken or can be very destructive. And there's
a lot of people around that. They're not actually bad people.

Speaker 2 (17:02):
They're not a lot of these people are great people.

Speaker 1 (17:06):
They actually basically good people.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
They're just chasing that though.

Speaker 1 (17:09):
Yeah it's and I've seen it, like, I mean, they've
done bad things yea in the end. But then everyone
out with bad intentions. And we talk about crime, you know,
you know the definition of having committed a crime is
that you must have what they call the men'srael, that's
the intention to create, to do the act, you have
to intend. If it's a crime murder, you have to

(17:32):
intend to murder that person. Okay, I've gone with an
intention of murder person and then I murdered them. Okay,
you've got to have what the gil the men's rae,
and then you've got to have do the act itself, okay,
And there's gotta be enough evidence to prove both. But
a lot of the people that I've known in my past,
and maybe i'd like your comment on this, it's not
they never had the intention of being a criminal to

(17:55):
do criminal things. It's sort of happened. And I want
to make excuse for anybody, don't get me wrong, but
it's sort of happened. And if you knew them, or
if I knew them, they might have been completely just
normal people, good guys or girls, interesting to talk to,
fun to be with. But there was this naivety overlaying

(18:15):
their lives. It could have been come from a shitty
family where they've got no direction, instruction, bad examples, or
they could have come from a family came here who
couldn't speak English and maybe you know, didn't fit in culturally.
But there's that nivity. Wherever it comes from, it doesn't matter,
but there's anivity and a curiosity and a level intelligence

(18:36):
of intelligence which gets dumbed down by the drugs. Is
that something you would say, it's a fair summation of
them you knocked around with.

Speaker 2 (18:44):
Ye, it just becomes normal, like yeah, it becomes so normal.
It's not funny, and without knowing it's that boiling frog thing,
you know, deeper and deeper and deeper, Like when I
ended up on Australia's Most Wanted and I had to
go hand myself back in. I was up on the
Central Coast then, like I was like, how did I
even end up here? You know, I was it was

(19:05):
just like the strangest thing, you know, like I was
on the TV show for Australias Most Wanted and and
then I had to go hand myself back in the
next day. You know, I was trying to get my
life thoughted out, and I'm like, but it just it's
just natural, like it's almost a natural progress was to
end up in jail, like it's you know, and then

(19:26):
in that world, if you've been to jail, it's almost
like it's universal mess with Yeah, you know, it's just.

Speaker 1 (19:33):
Certainly a badge honor.

Speaker 2 (19:36):
Yeah, and it's just it just felt like that's where
you were headed and then when I rang Dino one
day that day and said come pick me up, you know,
you sort of get to a point where you're like, well,
I'm either going to die or I'm going to be
in jail, and you sort of it. It's just like
it feels like the next logical step.

Speaker 1 (19:53):
Yeah, that's interesting. And the lady who reached out to you,
why or not reach out to accepted you reaching out
to her? Yeah, why why did she do that?

Speaker 2 (20:03):
I have no idea.

Speaker 1 (20:04):
I have you ever looked up since and from palestate
agent or.

Speaker 2 (20:12):
It was a home office like it was like not
even it was an office, but like attached to a home.
So it was not even like a big name like
a hook is there anything. It was like called Coastal
Waters real Estate in Killiney Vale Kloney Vale back then.
Was it's like going to I don't know, the back
of nowhere. Yeah, and with about ten shops in the street,

(20:34):
that was it. And I had no car either, so
I used to she said just go on door knock,
So Dino used to drop me to work, packed my
lunch few samiters, and I used to walk all day
every day from.

Speaker 1 (20:47):
Suburb Desto, knocking on doors just ask people if they'd
want to sell their house, like literally knock on someone's door.

Speaker 2 (20:52):
Yeah, and just saying my market's map from coastal waters,
have you had any thoughts of selling your heart? And
that's what I used to do.

Speaker 1 (20:59):
No training, no, no training.

Speaker 2 (21:01):
It was just her, this old guy and a receptionist
in the office, and not much was going on. I
didn't know anything about real estate, but they had like
three listings in their filing cabinet. After about a year,
they had the filing cabinets full. Because I'd find a
lead and then I'd run all the way back to
the office. It might be half an hour, run all
the way back get her. She'd go out and list

(21:23):
the house, and I just keep doing nothing. But that
taught me prospecting.

Speaker 1 (21:27):
Yeah, that's the most important part of the real estate game.
You've got to get listings. The real estate's stock in
trade is a listing. It is. It's not a buyer,
it's the seller. And that's the main thing and the
only way you're going to get it. That's the hard way,
that's right. Did you have to a real estate course?

Speaker 2 (21:44):
I did, and it was right.

Speaker 1 (21:45):
At what point did you start doing that?

Speaker 2 (21:48):
Well? About a year later. So I got off at
a job across the road, and then why did you
get off of a job, because I just was creating
this commotion in the town. It was such a sleepy town,
was this guy?

Speaker 1 (22:00):
So what was that commotion? What was the reputation? He created?

Speaker 2 (22:03):
All these listings that were coming for this lady and
no one really got on with her that well. And
then when I changed offices, that's when I caught the
bus home one night. And then I was renting a
room off Karina's family friend, this old lady, and I
got home and the home phone rang and Ray from
the fish and chip shop at Calney Vale. He was

(22:24):
an ex heroin dealer from the Cross and you know
when they're on Method and they're like, he goes, hey, Matt,
it's Ray from the fish and chip shop, Like no
one had this number, nobody, And I was like, how
did you even get this number? And he's like, don't
worry about that. He goes, You've just been on Australias
Most wanted. I'm just letting you know, and I'm like, oh, bucker.

(22:46):
And then Karina's dad, the whole family were watching the
show at home that night and then he runs to
the house and it's like we've got to talk, and
I'm like, yeah, So that's what I went down. But
right then I was doing my real estate certificate as well.
I didn't have it before, and you can't get one
with a criminal things, so I didn't have any criminal

(23:08):
things before that.

Speaker 1 (23:08):
I had lots of problems, no divisions.

Speaker 2 (23:11):
Yeah, so I had all these warrants out and I
was like, I don't even know if I can get
it because I was going to I had to go
to court then, and I remember the next day thinking
I'll go to jail for shore today. Then I'm thinking, oh,
what do I need to do in jail, preparing myself.
And I went to court and the old lady came
and testified, and Karina's mum come and testified, and the
judge at the end, the judge looks at me. She said, Matt,

(23:35):
I don't know what's going on today, but you should
be going to jail for quite a few years today.
And she said, but I see some good in you.
I'm going to give you a second chance. And I
had to do community service, but she did it without
a conviction, a convision. She said, if you come back
in again, you'll go away for half your life. I
don't know what happened. I think the Angel's intervened. Yeah,

(23:57):
and then I never looked back. I walked out of
the court room and I ring Dino, who I'm still
my best mate? Today, I said, Deane, I'm going to
make you a promise. I'm going to become Australia as
number one agent. And I never never stopped trying for that.

Speaker 1 (24:09):
So went across the road to the other agency. Did
you work for them? Are they one of the big
franchises or a real estates this morn and then but
I saw some rude that you worked with Macgra's.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
I do you do now? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (24:22):
Okay, So take me through to how you got there?

Speaker 2 (24:24):
Yeah, I went there. And then after a while I
asked that guy there, I said, could I be a
partner one day? It's just him and his son and
a receptionist. And he used to just tell like dirty
jokes all day at the door and smoke and his
name was John. That's all he used to do all day.
And I said, can I become a partner here one day?
And He's like nah, never, and I'm like okay, And that.

Speaker 1 (24:43):
Did you know about your background. Everyone did, everyone in
the area. Of course there's a small area.

Speaker 2 (24:47):
Yeah, I had I had other agents going into houses saying,
do you know that guy's a criminal, don't list your
house with him, and all these things. I had a
lot of issues trying to get started. And then I
remember going home on the bus again one night and
I thought, John's not interested in, you know, like me,
like helping become better. So I thought, I'm not going

(25:09):
to stay there. And I applied for a job and
another real estate, a bigger one down the road, and
they were the best ones. They called McLoughlin's and the
owner said, you can, but you can't start for two weeks.
But at this stage, Karina was pregnant, and I thought,
I can't not be a child yet. I thought, I
can't not work for two weeks. I don't have any
money so I've got a baby coming and things. So

(25:31):
I went and applied for another job closer to Terrigle,
like not that I knew much about Terrigle. And then
that guy gave me a job and that was good.
That went pretty well, and then Karina's dad said, one day,
you should go to Terrigle because that's the hub of
the Central Coast. That's where all the great real estate
agents are. So I went and applied for a job.
And I was a Mormon back then, because Karina's family

(25:52):
were Mormons.

Speaker 1 (25:53):
You became a Mormon, Yeah, I did, because they.

Speaker 2 (25:55):
Sent her to Queensland to get her away from me
and said she doesn't marry on chicken, can't date people
on the outside.

Speaker 1 (26:01):
Before after the baby, before before.

Speaker 2 (26:04):
Yeah, And then I thought, I won't bucket you. Then
I'll become a Mormon, and so I did. And then
then her dad sort of accepted me and said go
work down there. But I went for a job at
Century twenty one, and I was a real hard worker,
like I'd work all day, four thirty in the morning
till eleven o'clock at night, and I'd handle liver letters.
I'd do everything myself, and I was just like a machine.

(26:24):
I had the nickname up there, called the Machine, because
I was just relentless. And the guy at Century twenty
one looked at me and said, I want to employ you,
but you can't work Sundays because that's the Sabbath. You'll
never make it in real estate if you're not going
to work Sundays. I said, well, I just can't, but
I work really hard for six days a week. He said,
I'm not going to employ you and you won't make it,
and I said, okay, fair enough. So I went to

(26:46):
Hookers later and Hookers said, yeah, I'll give you a job.
So I was working in there. A few other things
happened than federal police come and rip me out of
the office one day, and all I still had all
these things going on I was trying to deal with.

Speaker 1 (26:58):
And then still were you still active in the criminal
world or nah?

Speaker 2 (27:03):
But I just left it. I just I just didn't
handle things correctly people money and stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah, it just wasn't good.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
And then I just one day the guy at Hookers,
who is still my main competitor today said something to me.
I had an idea, and I said, why don't you
do this, offer a guarantee that if anyone's ever unhappy,
they can get out of the agreement at any time.
It was a genmine idea, and I just heard it.
And he said, that's ridiculous. Everyone want to get out

(27:31):
of your agreements. They said, not if you do a
good job. And I walked out of there and I
said to Jamie.

Speaker 1 (27:36):
You're talking about a listing agreement.

Speaker 2 (27:38):
I said, well, if you're doing a good job, why
would they want to get out? He said, that's an
effing ridiculous idea. I walked out and I said to Jamie,
who's my business partner today? Still? I said, why don't
we open our own office? And so we put everything
on the line and we had enough money to run
for eight weeks. Eight weeks were gone, and we made
our first sale after like two weeks, and then today

(28:00):
we have twelve McGrath offices.

Speaker 1 (28:03):
You got twelve different franchises, yeah, dealer groups. Yeah, said
so why did you decide? Did you so? The very
first one then that was a McGrath That was rain
and Horn Rainhorn. Yeah, your very first franchise has called
random franchise was a Rainhorn franchise, yeah, which was Intrograle Interrogle, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (28:22):
Yeah, which was a good one. Like we it was
a good office, but we kept getting in trouble because
we were always like changing the marketing and things like this.
We wanted a bit more flexibility and I rang John
after our McGrath Jean McGrath, and I didn't know him
very well, but I sent him a video tape at
Claranei Vale and I said, oh, mister McGrath, you're the
king of real estate. Could I ever catch up with

(28:44):
you one one time? It was one minute video and
I put a note on it. It was actually Koreina's
mum gave me the idea to do it, and it said,
mister McGrath, this might This will take one minute and
fifty five seconds to watch and it could make a
wealth of difference to your life one day and possibly might.
And two weeks later he rang and said, can you
come have breakfast with me? That's the best piece of

(29:05):
marketing I've ever seen. Didn't have social media back then,
and then that breakfast meeting didn't lead to anything, but
it just helped me meeting like you today.

Speaker 1 (29:15):
Well what period of life? How old are you now
at that sa fifty two?

Speaker 2 (29:20):
Back then?

Speaker 1 (29:20):
I'm not sure, Like I can't remember late twenty seven
or something, late late twenties. Yeah, yeah, it's pretty ballsy
for a twenty seven year old because John was still
is the king.

Speaker 2 (29:28):
But John was the king, he was like untouchable, like
in terms of it's probably like trying to get a
hold of you, like it's you know, it's like but
he did and good, really nice of him, and I
left the meeting. I left the breakfast and I thought,
he's just so normal, such a nice guy Jay. And
then I saw him at seminars and one day I

(29:50):
ended up speaking into seminar and he was speaking in
to seminar. And over the years I didn't really and
I always thought I'd love to work for macgral. One day, anyway,
I rang him and said, Johnny, can I work We
worked for you somehow. This is at the end of
our franchise agreement. He's like, Maddie, I don't know, Like,
why are you asking? Said our franchise agreements runner, and
we just want to be McGrath. We love McGrath. And

(30:13):
he said, let's make it happen. He goes, I'm years
away from franchising years and this is like twenty years.

Speaker 1 (30:18):
Ago, so we hadn't started franchising even on his radar.
Was is this period like James dak period?

Speaker 2 (30:25):
Yeah? He had nine offices. Yeah, John did, and he said,
I want to do it with you guys, And so
we worked on a handshake for two years. We didn't
have any people work and he could have just rang
any time and said no, it's not working and we
would have been stuffed. But it's been very good. We
got the first McGrath franchise and then just.

Speaker 1 (30:42):
Where was that? And where are your twelve? Your twelve
mcgra so where are they now?

Speaker 2 (30:48):
All up the coast up to that, we're just we
grew very slowly, so we had one for a long
time and then around and then now we're going to
the Hunter and part of Newcastle and all that sort
of stuff.

Speaker 1 (30:58):
So you're from you from the Central Coast up to get.

Speaker 2 (31:04):
It's gotten part of the bottom Pass part of Newcastle.

Speaker 1 (31:07):
So between Central Coast and Newcastle territory. Yeah, and so
I guess you must have ridden the wave for a
place like Central Coast and Newcastle do because they become
so popular.

Speaker 2 (31:18):
So popular in the GFC, it was really bad. Everyone left.
No one was so bad.

Speaker 1 (31:24):
I didn't realize that people want to want to get
up to those areas out of Sydney.

Speaker 2 (31:28):
No, we almost went break. Wow, it's the scariest thing ever.
But I was like, someone's got to do well in
any market. So I remember thinking it so clearly, someone's
got to do well in any market. I just have
to become that guy. Yeah, and we sort of made
it happen, just yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:43):
And do you think that given that you're sort of
living by the skin of your teeth during the GC period,
because I realized they've got fucked up, like property prices
really got hammered, particularly in sort of it's called original
areas outside of the metro right, and because people coudn't
borrow money and all sorts of problems of a rose.

(32:05):
But the fact that you hang on by the skinny tooth?
Can you do you think that your experiences as a
younger man, when you just live by the city of
pants all the time, do you think that actually helped you? Ye?
Nothing would fase you.

Speaker 2 (32:19):
Nah, Like to have no food like when I was
living in camperdown in that abandoned workshop and that is
where I lived. And to have no food like, I
mean none, can't get I didn't have ID, you couldn't
get nothing to doll And I remember ringing a guy
once and said, I just I'm starving. Can you just
bring anything? He brought me some vegiemte and bread Like
that's worst case scenario for me. But I've always thought

(32:41):
if I just lost everything, Like through the GFC, I
just get a little motor home and I'd put a
my grass sign on the side, and I'd park it
at the Haven, which is a little car park there,
and I'd start again. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:52):
Yeah, So that's that's interesting because in some respects, having
experienced what you experienced before you was before we into
real estate, that actually become an advantage for you because
nothing can be as bad.

Speaker 2 (33:04):
Nah, It's like COVID, all that stuff I just put
like everything got shut down, and I'm like, no, I
just get I get like, not stronger, but I get
more focused.

Speaker 1 (33:16):
Did you think though, do you think also that and
I love to know about this, do you think also
that you can think to yourself, I'll be able to
outsurvive everybody else because these other people haven't been through
that process yet, Like COVID have been closed down initially. Anyway, GFC,
everything did close now for quite a while, Like in

(33:37):
terms of original areas where you were. Is it a
matter of I mean, this is affecting everybody, so I
can outsurvive. All I have to do is out survive everybody.
Then I can sort of get a better foothold.

Speaker 2 (33:48):
The sun always shines again. Yeah, it does. You just
got to get there.

Speaker 1 (33:52):
What's the difference between some of you who takes after
all that, let's call it traumatic post PTSD to some extent,
you probably did suffer a form of PTSD. You probably
still do a little bit. What's the difference between someone
who takes in your case, someone take can take a
positive view, or someone just says.

Speaker 2 (34:08):
Fuck it.

Speaker 1 (34:09):
I feel I'm filthy on the world, I can't get
off the mat, and I'm just going to win your complain.

Speaker 2 (34:14):
I think it takes practice, like a muscle, same as
a gym. Law of attraction helped me a lot management
of energy and focus and vibration.

Speaker 1 (34:24):
Can you explain it with me a lot?

Speaker 2 (34:27):
So I've listened to Esther Hicks for twenty years now
and explain Ester Hicks channels consciousness right, and she talks
about the law of attraction and what you focus on.
But when you focus on something, it creates an emotion.
So your emotions are actually guiding you. I think about
that a lot. So when you're worried or anxious or angry,

(34:49):
you're at the lower end of the vibrational scale. You're
not going to attract what you want. You're going to
attract things. You're always attracting things, but you're not going
to attract the outcomes that you want. But when you're excited,
so excited is right at the top of the scale
appreciating like pumped content. When you're up there, watch what happens,

(35:12):
and you become an observer of your own life. So
when you're in that zone, things just flow. Like on
the way down here, I was just driving one hundred
k's and one hundred k's behind somebody else. People are
darting in and out. I'm just cruising on down, listen
to high vibrational music, and things just go easy. Got
a good park when I pucked in. When I went
in the car park, things walking here. Someone comes up

(35:35):
and goes, oh, you're MAT's stone mate, blah blah blah blah.
It just things just flow. So now I'm more interested
in that flow state than I am anything else.

Speaker 1 (35:44):
That's really interesting because I was funny, you should say,
because I was only reading something this morning about epigenetic studies,
the genes we can turn on and often, and the
suggestion by this epigenetics expert was that if we have
a certain state of mind, we can actually manipulate our

(36:05):
own genetics through epigenetics. In other words, turn on and
perhaps it can turn off, but turn on those genetic
signaling that maybe needed to be cancer, turn on the
genetic signaling that may mean that I don't get cancer,
or turn on that epigenetic signaling in my genetic code

(36:25):
that allows me to perhaps go run one hundred kilometers
one hundred like like someone like me, you know, like
because because I think what happens and may be just
to hear, because I know you talk a lot about health,
et cetera. And I've seen some of your stuff, I think,

(36:47):
and it's a bit of what you do as a
real estate guy. But you and I sort of going
into territory, which not that one of us are experts,
but nonetheless we're going we don't have to be an experts,
and we can have a deep interest in it. Though totally,
I think to myself, when I can only speak for men,
I can't speak for women because I'm a bloke. I

(37:07):
don't know how women think. But when a man reaches
a certain age, we're conditioned to think that we've got
to retire at sixty five, and we're going to put
down our tools, and we're going to get what we deserve. Relax,
do nothing, play golf, walking around the golf course. And

(37:30):
there's nothing wrong with walking around the golf course. Don't
make it wrong, but but have a couple of beers,
travel a fair bit, sit a lot, watch the footy,
maybe hang out with the grand kids. We've got grandkids.
That type of life. And I often wonder whether or
not that actually turns things off, and that I'm actually

(37:52):
putting myself in a state of mind or a state
of something, state of being that he's actually going to
down psychle on my genetics to actually put myself in
a position where I'm going to die in the next
twenty years.

Speaker 2 (38:06):
Of course, you're in the landing a landing phase.

Speaker 1 (38:10):
Correct, as opposed to saying, fuck it, I'm going to
go and run. I'm going to do a three k
run tomorrow, I'm going to do a five k run
at the end of the week. And I'm going to
build myself and I'm going to go and do one
hundred laps with Ned Brockman, that type of thing, and
actually turn my genetics on to become a worry because
you know, sometimes this sounds a bit stupid. But sometimes

(38:31):
I'm getting a bit fanciful now. But sometimes you see
these you know, these movies or these series Vikings and
shit like that, and you see those old guys, old Vikings,
you know, but built guys, massive, big swords or clubs.
What it is, I don't know how, but the relative
to all the other vikings, they're older guys, but they're

(38:52):
going to war, they're going to battle. And my imagination is,
I don't know what happened then, but my imagination is
there would have been guys who just the whole life
would have been battles and they turned the repigionatics on
and kept it on to be in battle mode the
whole time. Yeah, And I just wanted to myself, I
wonder if there's some truth in that. I mean, I
don't know if anyone's ever going to test it scientifically,

(39:14):
but some truth. And what do you think about that
sort of process that that process of thinking, it's not
just positive, it's actually more than positive thinking is turning
something on it.

Speaker 2 (39:25):
It's learning to operate in that state. Like it's a choice, Absolutely,
it's a choice. I can focus on the argument I
had yesterday or the opportunity coming today. I can be
excited about today regardless of the position you're in. And
by the way, the position you're in, you're attracted it anyway,
So just accept it, yeah, and then say what are
you going to do about it? Next step? Next step,

(39:46):
next step. And that's sort of what I look at
now just a day, like I just what am I
going to do right now today? Like last night I
just did sixty minutes. I'm the standmaster because I have
a sauna, ice bath every night, red light bed in
the mornings, all these things. A it all set up
because you know, I want to follow you and project
one hundred and then things like that. But it takes

(40:06):
a lot of effort. It takes a lot of research.
I was talking about epigenetics on the way down in
the car to Mike the pod Man, So I have
two experts that helped me along the way, Mike the
pod Man and Tommy the nutritionists. And yeah, and you've
got to see it as are you in a takeoff
like at fifty two. I'm just seeing myself as getting

(40:27):
started now, like I feel experienced. I feel like, you know,
I sort of get this thing now. Now what I'm
going to do with it? You know, not at the time.
Is age is irrelevant in a way. Now Mick has
this great saying seventy years healthy, No, seventy years young,
one hundred and ten years healthy, great saying. But that's
what I'm programming my mind with. We're nothing more than

(40:48):
a machine. Mark, we are nothing more than a machine.
You see some of those cars out there and people,
but you look at some of the cars. The most
best cars are the ones that have been taken care
of and they've got, you know, some vintage about them.
They're just like inspiring and people in the world. Look
how many people in their fifties and sixties and seventies
and eighties and are at the top of their game?

(41:11):
How many?

Speaker 1 (41:12):
Yeah, not that many, Not many, because it.

Speaker 2 (41:14):
Takes a lot of work and focus gut health. If
your gut health is not right, forget about it. You
forget about it. You'll never run an optimum.

Speaker 1 (41:22):
Do you think you're pretty much the opposite today to
what you were in your twenties? Yeah, totally, like diametrically opposed. Yeah,
completely the opposite.

Speaker 2 (41:32):
I started rebuilding myself. I went to the doctors at
forty three, and I knew I was going to get sick.
I worked so hard. I overworked twenty years running pedal
down Gone. I was ninety three kilos. I looked like
I literally looked like I had a disease of some sort.
I was in non open house and a guy come
up and said, are you all right? You don't look
very well, and I'm like, well, surfing and things. Back then,

(41:54):
I thought I was doing all right, but I knew
nothing about gut health nothing. I went to the doctors.
He said, your quarters all through the roof. You've got
no testosterone. I had no sextra, and he goes, you
got to fix it. So I went on that journey.
I literally walked out and went, now I'm going to
rebuild myself. And so I started to learn about testosterone,
gut health, microbiome, the whole thing. And I've over the

(42:17):
last ten years almost I've rebuilt a new person.

Speaker 1 (42:21):
Well, tell me some of the things you've done well.

Speaker 2 (42:23):
Take testosterone for a start, and go and see a
sports doctor and talk to them about it. A train
like I have a morning routine that I stick to
every day, ice, bath, red light, bed breathing, you know
that sort of stuff. Every day starts like that. I've
got an express version. I've got a longer one, and
I see it like a plane trip. The morning is

(42:45):
the takeoff, and then the day is cruising at an
altitude you want full maximum energy to perform in the day,
and then at night, I've got a landing routine and
I just stick to that every day. I don't eat
anything that's outside of my meal plan been designed to
match my bloods.

Speaker 1 (43:02):
You don't do it, you don't eat it. You do
not need anything that does not match your bloods.

Speaker 2 (43:06):
No, nothing, A supplement for any deficiencies, whatever my bloods
need at that time. I get my bloods done every
three or four months, and then but Tommy the nutritionist
spends four days putting my meal planned together, and the
next one and the next one. So I'm rebuilding myself
as I go based on what my body needs. I'll
never eat anything else outside of that.

Speaker 1 (43:25):
How do you stay so disciplined given that you were
so undispwlined before?

Speaker 2 (43:28):
Because I want it. I have a saying you want it,
You'll do it, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (43:32):
But what drives you to want it so much?

Speaker 2 (43:34):
I mean, because I see the potential that we have here.
I see the potential now in life. I was running
around blind before. You know, all this stuff, inflammation like this,
inflammation that's caused by alcohol, by diet, by stress, by this.
And that doesn't mean I don't have stress. I just
manage it. That's what the morning routine is and the
night routine. I see it as a block of time

(43:56):
in the day. That's all I focus on. Next week
is irrelevant, not hear it. So I don't even think
about those things. I think about what am I going
to do today?

Speaker 1 (44:04):
Sleep?

Speaker 2 (44:05):
You know, temperature controlled room, Go to bed at eight
thirty every night on the dot, don't eat after six o'clock.
You do all this, I know you do. I watch
you and then I'd never wake up with an alarm clock.
But your body wakes up when it's ready.

Speaker 1 (44:20):
You know.

Speaker 2 (44:20):
I've got a new puppet the moment, a German shepherd,
so I've got to fit her in there somewhere. But
you get in this sink of life, you know, and
life starts to really work with a rhythm. When you're
working with a rhythm.

Speaker 1 (44:32):
What about booze?

Speaker 2 (44:34):
What about it?

Speaker 1 (44:34):
Do you drink?

Speaker 2 (44:35):
No? Nothing, never, no way kill you. It's poison. What
are you talking about? Yeah? I know when I say
not you what are you talking about? But think about it.
When you got a cut with infection, they put alcohol
on it. Your gut microbiome runs your entire everything. If
that's out, you're going to have problems. You drink alcohol,
it's killing your microbiome. You might feel good and wobbly

(44:57):
for a few minutes, Who cares. I want to wake
up the next day with the highest frequency possible, full
energy charge like your phone, which we're worry more about
charging our phones than we do ourselves. You know, No
wonder people need a nap in the two o'clock. I
used to have two naps today. I used to take
pre workout. I used to drink energy drinks, all of

(45:19):
this stuff. I wouldn't touch those things. They're destroying you.
I don't need it now, I don't. I wouldn't take
a nap. I don't even know what to do with
all my energy now because I've rebuilt everything that's going
on in here. My body is working in like harmony.

Speaker 1 (45:36):
Now, what's to explain the vibration stuff? Like? So, yeah,
I presume what you're talking about is energy energy, Yeah,
but explain the vibration dash energy sort of frequent connections. Yeah,
how's that's working.

Speaker 2 (45:52):
So when you think a thought, you create an emotion.
So if you think about one of your sons, how
do you feel, I feel.

Speaker 1 (46:00):
Like how I feel about my son? I feel like
I love them, I care for them, my mint care.

Speaker 2 (46:05):
See the emotion of the words you use it when
I think about the deal that fell over last week, filthy, wealthy, right,
exactly like that. So when you focus on something you
think of thought, it goes to an emotion. Your emotion
radiates a frequency or vibration. That vibration goes out to
the universe and it's answered every time. Once you think
of it, think of something for sixteen seconds, it gets momentum.

(46:27):
The more you think about it, the more on that subject,
the more momentum it gets, and it's somewhere you're This
is why being in a clear state so important, because
you'll get a prompting the videotape to John McGrath something
along the way, call that person, turn left here, do this.
It's not big wins. I'm not talking about, you know,
a million dollars falling out of the sky, because you

(46:48):
what that could happen. It's the little things that you
hear that you need to listen to that will guide
you to the next thing, the next thing, the next thing,
and all of a sudden you've got this amazing flow
going on because your vibration is attracting these opportunities. Think
about when you run race out of the house with
a coffee in your hand, bit a toast in your mouth,

(47:10):
and you're rushed trying to like get you know, in
the car and running late. What happens? It's flat tire,
coffee spills and book Ye're booked, you get booked. You watch.
You've got to become an observer, an observer of your life.
Once you do that, take a step back. So how
do I feel and this happened? How do I feel?
And this happened? Once you click onto that, you never

(47:32):
want to feel bad. You don't want to get angry
when Tara and my wife gets you know, everyone's annoying.
At some point. I'm the first one to say no.
She knows, I'm the first one to say sorry. Two
seconds I'm in there going look sorry about that. Even
if I didn't do it anything, you know, I could
be an a freaking idiot. Who does she think she is?

(47:54):
It's not worth it, Mart, It's not worth the day
of fracturedness and the washing machine that that will bring.

Speaker 1 (48:02):
Yeah, yeah, it's you're right, nothing is worth drama. What
about your personally, So you're married that third third wife? Yeah,
three times married kids about seven seven kids? Seven kids?

Speaker 2 (48:17):
Yeah? I got seven. Yeah, so I've got boys or
girls four to Karina, three girls and four boys.

Speaker 1 (48:24):
So you have four children to Korea. Who is your
first wife? And then Tara's one?

Speaker 2 (48:29):
Then SHELLEYE is my second wife.

Speaker 1 (48:30):
Shelley is your second wife.

Speaker 2 (48:31):
I've got two to her, Flora and six, thirteen and eleven,
and I've got one summer.

Speaker 1 (48:36):
She's one, and that's two Tara Tara right, so and okay,
so just hm. Some people say I would never say
because I'm in the same position, but someone will say, well,
that's sucked up. You know you're responsible or whatever. How
do you realize were you? Do you think it's your responsible?

Speaker 2 (48:59):
You have no idea? Wasn't yeah probably.

Speaker 1 (49:01):
Yeah, maybe maybe fault my fault or maybe I was
at fault. Maybe you're saying you're a fault, but it's
not fucked up because it shit happens.

Speaker 2 (49:10):
I just I just didn't. Yeah, I just thought I
was probably looking for security. I was looking for a home.
I thought, that's what. I don't know, it just all
sort of happened along the way, and that was life.
And then I'm like, well, I don't even like being here.
And you know, back then getting divorced, you know, like
divorce is very difficult. Yeah, it's very difficult, and it's

(49:33):
but I've learned a lot and I've had a lot
of things happen, and it's allowed me to understand myself better.
So I'm a way better husband than a person today
than I was when I was thirty.

Speaker 1 (49:46):
But do you put it down to I said it
in Naivy do before. It took me a long time
to mature, And I don't ask me. I just took
me a long time to mature as a person, as
a man. And I want to say a long time.
I don't mean twenty, I don't mean thirty. I don't
mean forty. Probably knowed me fifty. It's taken me beyond
that too mature. And sometimes, you know, I wonder whether

(50:08):
I was irresponsible. I was just immature, and I can't
you know, maybe I was just one of those people.
I take a long time to work it shit out.
Maybe that's the reason when I say no, even maybe
I'm not that observant. I wasn't observant of other people enough.
I think maybe you've gone through do you would you
say the same thing.

Speaker 2 (50:26):
He's still pretty self absorbed. Yeah, but it keeps me steady. Yeah,
it keeps me mentally steady.

Speaker 1 (50:34):
It's self absorbed. Is it can sound like a bad word.
It sounds like a little bit selfish, or yes, it
self absorbed is a good word, but also allowed. That's
one of the reason why you can be successful, because
you've got to be really focused and self absorbed and focused.
I think of the same thing. I mean, I don't

(50:56):
know whether you can be unselfish and be successful. And
I don't mean it in a bad way.

Speaker 2 (51:01):
Yeah, I don't.

Speaker 1 (51:03):
I'm not saying to anyone listening. I'm not saying be
selfish and or if you're unselfish you're going to be success.
I don't mean that. But I think in some people's
cases it helps to be self absorbed to be focused.

Speaker 2 (51:15):
I think so, like, and I've learned a lot, you know,
with kids and things. And then I said to Tara
when we were getting married, like, I'm really good in
some parts and I'm not that great in other parts,
and she's like, no, I've got to cover it at home.
And if you know, if I knew she'd she's younger.
So she's twenty two years younger, and I knew she'd have.
Everyone said, don't marry younger girls, you want to have kids,

(51:37):
and you know, and you know, but she's got home covered.
But I like providing and I like making life as
good as I can for everybody, more traditional style, I think. So, yeah,
it just seems to work.

Speaker 1 (51:49):
How do the other kids feel? How do you manage
that process?

Speaker 2 (51:53):
They all get along pretty good. Obviously. I had an
issue with one of the kids recently that was, you know,
you know.

Speaker 1 (52:01):
What was his shoe?

Speaker 2 (52:02):
Logan killed himself. I'm sorry, that's right?

Speaker 1 (52:04):
Is here from your first wife? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (52:08):
Yeah, so that.

Speaker 1 (52:09):
Was Was he in the drugs or was it?

Speaker 2 (52:11):
Yeah? He just he was a really good surfer and
then he you know, I spent his whole life on
the beach with him, and and he got to seventeen,
got a car, COVID came as well, and he sort
of lost the comp thing, you know.

Speaker 1 (52:25):
Was the competitive He couldn't compete anymore. Yet Yeah, he
sort of.

Speaker 2 (52:28):
Lost his way a bit, and then I think drinking
drugs and you know what teenagers do.

Speaker 1 (52:34):
Yeah, did you lose touch with him during that period? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (52:38):
So his older brother, Jackson, who you met today, Jackson
was the camera. Yeah, so he went down the same
path and we didn't talk for a while because I
said to him, I don't want the bull crap like
the liars and this and that, and whether that was
right or wrong or I don't know. And he went out.
He actually worked for me back then, and I I

(52:59):
sacked him and I just can't deal with you like this,
you know, and you're just going to just be straight
up with things. And then so he went out. He
got a job door knocking and selling window shutters and things,
probably good thing. And then he rang me like probably
two years later, you know, can we can we chat?

(53:19):
It's not that I didn't contact them, it's just that
it was very sparingly because he was he was not interested.
You know, men get to that, some young men get
to that. I just want to do life their way basically, Yeah, totally.

Speaker 1 (53:31):
I mean it just so you're the son Logan. I
just was just thinking myself and I shouldn't be thinking this,
but I was seeing myself. Well, my boys are much
old now, but like I've got through those stages. But yeah,
I thought to myself, would I start to reflect on
myself and maybe feelings are guilt? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (53:53):
I did?

Speaker 1 (53:54):
What do you feel? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (53:56):
How? How?

Speaker 1 (53:56):
How recently? How long ago? Was only a year ago?

Speaker 2 (53:59):
Okay?

Speaker 1 (54:00):
Yeah that's that's that's raw. So yeah, how do you
deal with it?

Speaker 2 (54:04):
Do you?

Speaker 1 (54:05):
What do you do to manage it?

Speaker 2 (54:06):
I don't know. I actually don't know.

Speaker 1 (54:08):
What do you do? Is it a day day thing?
You just deal with it today or tomorrow. Whenever someone
raises it or it gets raised in your mind. You
have a memory of him.

Speaker 2 (54:15):
It's the weirdest thing, you know. I spent every day
with him, every day surfing, and then we didn't talk
for about a year.

Speaker 1 (54:24):
And do you have an argument?

Speaker 2 (54:29):
I just I don't know. It just wasn't he lived
with He lived with me, and and then him and
his brother live with me, and it just after a
while we just handed up. I don't know. I just
wanted to do life the way you wanted to do it.

Speaker 1 (54:45):
Is he similar to you?

Speaker 2 (54:46):
Yeah? I saw a lot of myself in him. And
I think I just let him. I was hoping you
just find his wall. What was fighting people is doing?
I don't know. I just don't know. I don't Then
he went to live at his nand's like when he
was like eighteen, and I said, to his name, and
don't let him live there, like she's a great person

(55:06):
and stuff, but he needs he needs to be with me,
like he needs you know. That was just my point
of view. But he wanted to do what he wanted
to do, so he sort of stopped serving so much
and then he just went down that path and one
day he hung himself.

Speaker 1 (55:23):
Oh that's not a good way to go. Yeah, I'm
sorry to hear that. How do the other kids take it?

Speaker 2 (55:29):
They're still they're still limping.

Speaker 1 (55:32):
Yeah, well, I'm sorry here, but that's uh. You have
seven children anyway, you still have seven children on one's
no longer on the planet. But he's a been nonetheless,
maybe he's a peace anyway. Yeah maybe if he might
not have been at piece before, but now he's maybe
he's a piece. If I could just maybe turn the

(55:54):
page a bit and get on to what you're doing
at my grass now, Yeah, you're you're do you train salespeople.

Speaker 2 (56:04):
Not really so in my gras in.

Speaker 1 (56:07):
Your own business I'm talking about yeah.

Speaker 2 (56:08):
Sort of, not really. I just I like have it.
I have like a personal team.

Speaker 1 (56:12):
People, Well do you are.

Speaker 2 (56:15):
To me a lot of the time, because you know,
probably similar to yourself, like you're in your world, you're
you know, you're you, and people know me in the
real estate world. But my business partner runs the whole business, right, don't.
I'm a not a very good business person, but I'm
great salesperson and.

Speaker 1 (56:35):
Still getting listings. You mean as in getting listings.

Speaker 2 (56:37):
Yeah, yeah, I list and sell every day. So my
business partner is probably one of the best business guys.

Speaker 1 (56:42):
I've ever met in terms of running the business.

Speaker 2 (56:44):
Yeah, he's great. I don't get in his way, he
doesn't get in mind. Yeah, exactly, And I think that's
a skill that a lot of people need to understand.
Totally funny. It might be the same in the breaking business.
But you know, a salesperson makes a few sales, has
a good year or two or three, and they all
want to own an office. I say, they don't. Just don't,
like literally, just don't unless you're you or you're John McGrath.

(57:06):
Don't do it because it's a skill in itself.

Speaker 1 (57:10):
And between a real being a good real estate salesman
as opposed to running the business of a real estate Absolutely,
they're different things.

Speaker 2 (57:18):
One hundred percent. Like I couldn't read a prophet and
lost if I had to save myself. Like I just
can't do it. And but I don't want to do
it either. And Jamie loves it. It's like watching porn
for him.

Speaker 1 (57:30):
Yeah, he just loves it.

Speaker 2 (57:31):
And I'm like, when we have a meeting with we've
got shareholders and things and he puts it on the screen,
I just want to go to sleep. But put me
in front of a person I want to help them
get the best outcome, and it pumps me. Yeah. So
I love that part of it.

Speaker 1 (57:45):
And do you say your people up? So Tommy Pennels
and John recently held an event with hold it every
year already? Yeah, Eric, yeah, so do you bring your
people to Derek there?

Speaker 2 (57:57):
Half of we don't want to go. Really, I'm going
to make it glary, I said to Jamie last year.
We're making it compulsory. Yeah. I don't know, people, it's
just good, good energy sharing.

Speaker 1 (58:06):
You know.

Speaker 2 (58:06):
I wanted to go watch your last talk you just
did in Sydney.

Speaker 1 (58:10):
Oh yeah, yeah, I did, Eric. But then I come
and to side to Sydney.

Speaker 2 (58:15):
I was going to go watch it.

Speaker 1 (58:16):
I do so many of these bloody things. I forget
what I do. Sorry, I apologize to people the book.
I just do something them I forget but a bit.
It's important though, I think for people to come and
come to something like Eric, for example, be part of
the four thousand people to turn up in the real
estate game. But listen to you tell your story, Yeah,
and others. But I listened to you.

Speaker 2 (58:36):
Yeah, and you know. I've got one idea every now
and then, one one from James Tostavan, great real estate
agent in Melbourne. He gave me an idea twenty years ago.
I've used its idea. It's just a follow up. So
when you go do a listing presentation and then agents
following up are not very good. They ring and go
mark if you made the decision. Yet, if you're me

(58:58):
and someone did that to me, I'll ring if I've
made a decision. But I do like interesting follow up.
So on the third day. The first day is a
box of chocolates with it. This is my stuff. Box
of chocolates with a card. Second day, it's just a
twenty four hour call to say, Mark, did any other
questions pop up overnight since we caught up? Yep, yep,
not whatever. Most you can sort of get a sense

(59:20):
in their voice where they're up to it. And then
on the third day there's this commitment letter, which is
a really great letter, just shows that I've already started
to work for them with the two daily papers delivered
to their front door at six in the morning on
the third day. People love it.

Speaker 1 (59:34):
Yeah, because especially today, that's sort of unusual.

Speaker 2 (59:37):
Yeah. It says in there that I've already put your
criteria the home through their database. We've got seven likely buyers,
We've got forty two people looking for a similar home.
Not all of them are ready to purchase. Blah blah blah.
People ring all the time. So that's so good. We'll
list our home with you. Because you're showing you them
your work ethic. You're bringing the energy forward from so
many people go and present and go, oh, that was
such a great listing presentation with markets went so good

(01:00:00):
to get it. That's the energy window. Then you've got
to bring the energy window forward. If they like you
and there's a good connection over the next coming days, week,
whatever it's going to be, but only through interesting follow up.

Speaker 1 (01:00:12):
Yeah, because it's going to be interesting.

Speaker 2 (01:00:14):
I grew interesting, and what's in it for them anyway?
James Tosten gave me that idea. I've used it everything
I reckon. It's generated me tens of millions of dollars.
I've spoke at a seminar twelve years ago. Thirteen years ago.
He was in the audience and I showed everyone the idea.
He comes up to me at the end of the
semn I goes, I forgot I even used to do that.
I'm going to start doing it again. So what I'm

(01:00:35):
saying that is, go to these seminars. Here one idea
from Mark Borris on how to become healthier successful. You
get so much knowledge could change your career one.

Speaker 1 (01:00:46):
Idea and you only needed to take one idea.

Speaker 2 (01:00:49):
One.

Speaker 1 (01:00:49):
You don't need to be their sort of glued to
every single person. You just need to get one idea.
I just want to finish off with one more thing,
if you Finn Mine Matt, sorry about that, tears, mate, Okay,
that's fine, that's all good. I can't imagine what to
be like it was in reverse position. So when someone

(01:01:10):
like you has this sort of mindset and then and
delivers on the mindset with a structured, disciplined life. You know,
you eat certain things. You know, you have a process
in the morning with your your infrareds and your red
life therapies, and you're bath et cetera, your ice bath.

(01:01:32):
Then you eat a certain thing and you consult nutritions
and stuff like that. How important is it in order
to live that life to be able to support it financially?
In other words, you must have that's not a cheap lifestyle.
I mean, so, how important is the looking after yourself
financially in order to live that life? And how hard
you think you have to continually work on making sure

(01:01:54):
you've got the finances to maintain that lifestyle to get
the best out of yourself, Like there's an interconnection between them.

Speaker 2 (01:02:02):
Really important, it's vital, But you can only do what
you can do at that point in time. I see
it like a jigsaw puzzle. What's the next piece of
the puzzle the e're working towards. If you're going to
start on this journey whole foods and not drinking is enough?
Just eat whole foods, colors, make your meals, don't eat crap,

(01:02:26):
and don't drink. Start there, Do a bit of exercise.
Next piece of the puzzle. This is over a ten
year period for me. And as you get more ability
over time, because the funny thing is when you feel better,
you perform better. So your income will go up over
time anyway, because you're humming so hard inside. Then work
on the sleep. You know, most of it is free.

(01:02:47):
Really yeah, twenty minutes of sun sleep. They drink this, that,
those basics. But we talk about it. I talk about
it till I'm blue in the face. But people don't
do it. Let people go. I don't have the time.
I'm busy. You're busy. I can see how you look.
It's incredible. I watch all your videos. I watch you
in a different way though. I'm like, I look at
your energy, I look at your skin, I look at

(01:03:08):
all this. I show my pa Ash. She thinks you're amazing,
and you know, a lot of our people in our
office do. She's like, we all want to look like you,
you know, and it shines. It becomes your energy signature.
So when you walk into somebody's house or you're serving
someone or you're in your business. People feel your energy.

(01:03:31):
It's a connection that's crossing over. So when you're vibrating
at a really high frequency because you're doing all the
right things, all these things that they fall in place,
they do and then people feel it, you're doing more business.
So it goes hand in hand. Have a longer term view.
You don't have to get everything in five minutes. I
had a chest freezer. I used to put ice in there.

(01:03:51):
Now I have a fiored ice bath. The twentieth minute.

Speaker 1 (01:03:54):
You used to jump with the ches chest free water, the.

Speaker 2 (01:03:57):
Have a could sure if you have to, but now
I have a your ice bath. They're the best you
can buy. They're amazing. They've got circulators, they've got stuff.
Minus one no ice every day.

Speaker 1 (01:04:08):
How long are you saying, therefore, six minutes six whoa,
six minutes, six minutes and minus one.

Speaker 2 (01:04:12):
At minus one whoa, and then I do a one
minute holdown after that?

Speaker 1 (01:04:15):
Wow? Yeah that's And what time of day are you
doing it? Five in the morning you're doing it first thing?

Speaker 2 (01:04:20):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:04:20):
Yeah, So you what you're doing is you're challenging yourself
to do something you don't really want to do totally
and you're setting the tone for the day straight up,
and you're overcoming something. Yeah, either saying do hard things first, Yeah,
you do hard things first. Yeah, and then you get
a sense of I can do any fucking thing, like.

Speaker 2 (01:04:36):
I'm on top. That's that's exactly like you up, you go, Yeah,
the energy pumping. Yeah, he wants to wake up with hangover. Really,
I wouldn't do that for nothing.

Speaker 1 (01:04:45):
It's funny, you know, you should say, because like you know,
I like a drink. I like to have a whiskey
or a glass one or something like that. But the
last thing I could ever deal with in my life
is wake up feeling like I had two drinks or
or too much. I just I just can't handle it.
That and sugar and the way I deal with it

(01:05:05):
as I just say to myself, and I've over time,
I've built this sort of idea in my mind that's
poisoned as poison. Yes, actually is poison, it is. But Mark,
think about this. Would you go and if someone took
the venom and out of a red back spie and
put in a glass with some water, and would you
drink that? No, Well, that's sugar and that's alcohol.

Speaker 2 (01:05:27):
Yeah. I often think about the guy that used to
sit on Oxtord Street drinking metho, and I think about
that a lot. I think, years and years ago he
got himself to that point when nothing was strong enough
and metho became normal. Yeah, you know, and it starts
just a little bit, little bit, little bit, little bit.
But success comes the other way as well, a little bit,
a little bit little bit. It's a choice.

Speaker 1 (01:05:47):
Yeah, yeah, this way, that way. Yeah, I think we
should close it off because I could talk to ver Age.
But one of the things I just want to say,
as an observation, one of the common nominated through every
phase of your life seems to me that perhaps is

(01:06:07):
part of the adjudication of your success, and by the way,
was also probably successful part of your adjudication and success
when you were younger, when you were successful of doing
something that wasn't good for you. Is one thing has
always been there as a standard, is your propensity to
work hard, to put lots of effort in like not

(01:06:28):
three hours of five, twelve fifty, whatever it takes. That
seems to be a common denomena denominator in every period
of your life where you've had success, sometimes successful being
good and sometimes success as success full of being bad
bad for you on me, would you say that's a
fair observation.

Speaker 2 (01:06:46):
I've sort of learned it takes the same amount of
time success takes them learning out of effort and time
episode is the other way.

Speaker 1 (01:06:52):
Yeah, But you could put you were able to put
good effort in becoming a drug addict and becoming and
hanging out on the wrong side of law and basically
fucking yourself up. Or you could put the same anotomata
into looking after yourself and being the best version of yourself.
Exactly Is that right?

Speaker 2 (01:07:11):
That's exactly right.

Speaker 1 (01:07:13):
Really good to meet you, mate, Than's mate.