Summary
Jason James shares his journey from a W2 job to building a real estate portfolio and finding his own rhythm. He emphasizes the importance of personal development and investing in oneself. The concept of the flywheel is discussed, highlighting the interconnectedness of W2 income, business ventures, and asset acquisition.
Jason also shares his experience with GoBundance, a community of individuals striving to become the best versions of themselves. The conversation explores the significance of redefining success metrics and the power of vulnerability. Jason discusses his morning routine, including meditation and breathwork, and shares a transformative experience with holotropic breathwork. The importance of overcoming fears and betting on oneself is emphasized, along with the resilience to bounce back from challenges.
The conversation explores the importance of betting on oneself and taking action in the entrepreneurial journey. It highlights the role of self-doubt and external influences in holding people back from betting on themselves. The power of processing, asking the right questions, and taking intentional action is emphasized. The toxic relationship between employees and employers is discussed, along with the motivation to seek more fulfillment and flexibility. The transition from a W2
job to entrepreneurship is explored, with a focus on the franchise model.
The conversation concludes with the importance of taking action and surrounding oneself with the right people.
Takeaways
- Investing in personal development is crucial for growth as an investor and as an individual.
- The flywheel concept highlights the interconnectedness of W2 income, business ventures, and asset acquisition.
- Joining a community of like-minded individuals can provide valuable support and opportunities for growth.
- Redefining success metrics beyond the number of doors or units can lead to a more fulfilling and purpose-driven journey.
- Practices such as meditation and breathwork can enhance clarity, focus, and overall well-being.
- Overcoming fears and betting on oneself is essential for personal and professional growth.
- Resilience and the ability to bounce back from challenges are key traits for success in real estate and life.
- Learning from the experiences of others can provide valuable insights and inspiration. Betting on yourself is a common trait among successful entrepreneurs.
- Self-doubt and external influences can hinder individuals from betting on themselves.
- Taking intentional action, asking the right questions, and processing thoughts are key to overcoming self-doubt and taking steps towards success.
- The relationship between employees and employers can be toxic, leading individuals to seek more fulfillment and flexibility through entrepreneurship.
- The franchise model can provide a safety net and proven business model for aspiring entrepreneurs.
- Taking action and surrounding oneself with the right people are crucial for personal and professional growth.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Welcome to Investories, unlocking the investing mindset and business strategies
of high-performing individuals to level up your financial game,
crush your goals, and build a life fulfilled.
This is the show that asks the questions you wish you knew to ask. This is Investories.
(00:22):
Booyah! Welcome to the Investories podcast. I'm your host, John Hooper.
And yeah, it's It's great to be here.
I feel like, hey, summer's just around the corner, right? So we can all be excited about that.
And I've got a really, really cool interview for you today.
Jason James is one of those people that is, it kind of just pushes out there
(00:47):
with positivity and with energy and is really kind of got that infectious quality,
that we try and find and we try and tap into.
So stick around for that interview. view the the reason it's compelling is jason's
been on his own journey so uh he started investing he started in a w2 like most
of us and you know grew his career and thought that was everything,
(01:09):
and then he's grown that into a real estate portfolio to
kind of build that groundswell and this is this is something i find
really interesting um how do you build an
engine that kind of keeps you going and keeps you on track for
your for your goals and your mission and we get get
into a ton about that a ton about his mission
what drives him what he wants to do and that
(01:29):
journey has taken him forward into into running franchise
businesses growing a franchise business and really
taking a step back and and sitting in that
kind of space of what do i want to do with my
life and how do how can i do that and there's kind of levels of altruism and
and charity and giving back to community and you know the the passion for life
(01:50):
and the passion for doing what he does is is really really round and really
stands stands up in the in the the interview.
Before we dive into it, I need a favor. If you are watching this on YouTube, can you give us a like?
Can you also subscribe? And can you maybe share it with one other person you think might like it?
(02:12):
And I really want to grow the YouTube channel, partly for my own ego,
partly because I think we can add value. And I want to attract bigger guests.
And bigger guests are obviously attracted to bigger channels.
So I don't ask much. That's what I ask of you. And secondly, same with the podcast.
If you can share this with someone if you could uh send
(02:33):
a link text someone do it it helps us
i think it will help them out uh so yeah
and you can always reach out to us if that if you're if you're a guest or you
want to be on the show um drop us a line investoriespodcast.gmail.com or just
uh just send us a uh send us a connection on uh on instagram so investoriespod
(02:54):
on instagram and we'd love to hear from you and without further ado here's jason.
Music.
Welcome to Investor Eats, Jason James. Hey, Jason. Hey, thank you for having
me, John. Finally good to connect, brother.
No problem. Jason, we met years ago, it seems, right?
(03:16):
At a conference. It wasn't that long ago, but hey, it seems like a long time ago.
Jason, your story is super interesting
because you've kind of gone through that W2 phase of your life.
On the back of that, you've invested invested
and you've kind of built a portfolio of assets
and now you're um you're kind of
(03:36):
looking at the next step which is you're doing your own thing and and
kind of finding your own rhythm and so i want to unpack all
of that but first of all welcome welcome to the show great to have
you have you on board and reconnect yeah yeah it's
it feels like a lifetime ago i think that was 2022 at
bp con when we met and since then
so much has changed i think i was still in california at that time now
(03:58):
i'm in oregon you mentioned left the
w2 went from big corporate world to small business
so yeah we got a lot to unpack here brother i'm
looking forward to this conversation love that and and i think that
the key thing is and this is like this is
for everyone like me sat there working at w2 totally
comfortable and being like where you you quit your w2 isn't
(04:20):
that risky and i think what's interesting is your you have that safety net underneath
you right you have of your assets that you've you've you've kind of purchased
that will let you take those risks maybe not take the risks you have business
acumen but let you leap and explore those kind of things.
One of the things i've been working on to like figure out what i want to do
(04:41):
is like a flywheel and it's this visual of like w2 feeds businesses and it feeds
assets and then the businesses feeds assets and that kind of circles the flywheel
and then you can keep kind of building taking taking bigger risks.
So I think that's the kind of point, right?
Is that, was that your thinking getting to that point?
Yeah, honestly, like that hit on the head as far as like the flywheel, right?
(05:04):
You know, you have your W-2, you save money, you take that money,
you invest it into assets.
Those assets appreciate, kick off cash flow, you buy more assets.
One of the things that I've learned over this, I mean, the very short time I've
been investing really since 2020, and then just kind of down this journey of
development, because I think I think once you get into investing,
(05:26):
one part of it is you start working on becoming a better investor.
And there's some some things you got to work on in regards to getting to that point.
A lot of this mindset, you know, a lot of fears that you have to face,
the stories you tell yourself.
And so going down this journey and what I'm learning with your flywheel example, that's that is spot on.
(05:49):
But what I've learned is in the middle of that flywheel is you.
It's you as a person and you got to ensure as you're kind of you're going around
that flywheel that you're working on yourself in a bunch of different ways.
One, just personal development to the community that you associate yourself with. Three.
(06:11):
Getting clearer on what you really want, you know, as far as like what a success
looks like, you know, for you on this journey, you know, and it may change.
Cause like when I first got into real estate, my whole, I went on a hundred
units or whatever that was.
But once you start acquiring these units, you're like that shifts because you
start to get around people who are a couple steps ahead of you,
(06:32):
who are doing things a different way, who, who kind of educate you on other
ways and other vehicles to do what you were, you know, you'll still get the same outcome,
but it's a little bit more efficient, a little bit more smarter, a lot less headache.
And as you kind of go down this, this, this road and this journey,
(06:53):
and it's twofold, right?
Cause you're learning as an investor and you're, and you're gaining these skillsets,
but then as a person, and as you're, you're, you're working on your own personal
development, they kind of go hand in hand.
And so I'm like literally jumped into this journey and I'm on that flywheel
and I'm just kind of, you know, next spoke, next spoke.
(07:13):
But I think one key, one key part about it is the person that you start off
as, and then the person that you develop on the way as an investor.
And then like, as a, you know, the, the improvements you make on the personal side as well.
Lot love that and it's hard right you know i
thinking about business ideas i'm thinking
(07:33):
about real estate moves i want to make and the
second guessing and like how do i validate that
how do i work on that but the fact that i'm there and thinking
about those things is is really strong kind of progress what
was like what were the biggest kind of transition points i think probably one
of them is like taking a view of like i want to earn x amount a month or i want
(07:55):
this many units it's to something a bit more kind of tangible or a bit more
kind of resonating with a with a personal mission what did that process look like.
Yeah. So I guess I go back to my very first, when I first, my very first property, I was an investor.
I think we may have spoke about this. This was in 2018 and it was for tax purposes.
(08:15):
I knew nothing about investing.
I found this, this website, I won't say the name, but they were like a key, a turnkey company.
So that's a turnkey company. I bought this property.
Everything that could potentially go wrong, went wrong.
Very naive, right? You don't know what you don't know. had a tenant for 10 years,
didn't vet the property manager, didn't vet lenders.
(08:37):
Everything that you can possibly go wrong went wrong. And this property was
like 4,000 miles away. This was in Michigan.
And it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
And so once everything went wrong, it forced me to learn how to become an investor,
which I found BiggerPockets.
And that's where all the knowledge and the, you know, I got started in regards
(09:00):
to like getting this burning desire to want to invest once I saw this problem.
And then from that standpoint, it was like, okay, how can I replace my W-2 or
how do I make X amount of money?
Then it was doors, right? It's like, Hey, you know what? It'd be cool to get
to X amount of doors. And I think, you know.
Year two was I
(09:22):
want to get to 20 doors and to go from
at that point one to 20 that's 10x in it right
and so I'm a very ambitious guy oh
yeah so I actually I had one and then I ended I ended up doing a house hack
so I actually had two I had two problems ah there you go yeah you're not sound
okay I just want to make sure yeah so with that you know like talking about
(09:48):
this the development journey and who you have to become,
like to, to reach these different feats and to start to get momentum,
you have to change the way you do things.
And sometimes there are big changes. So in 2020, the perfect time to leave a
job, I left the job I was at for 15 years.
So, and one of the reasons why this was, I was really getting serious about real estate.
(10:12):
It won't start to go down this journey and while
this job gave me a lot in my life traveled did
a lot of things you know developed me to the man
i am i was there for a significant part of my life i was at a point where something
had to give if i really wanted to go down the journey of real estate so right
(10:33):
around june july of 2020 i left this job big that was like one of the biggest
moves I ever had. It was a W-2.
And with that, I gained a lot more time back. And with that time, I gained back.
I didn't go play video games and go to bars and watch more football.
(10:54):
I started investing to myself. So I was starting to go to meetups more.
I hired a high performance coach, a mindset coach.
And I really ramped it up on investing into myself and then gave myself a a
very aggressive target of acquiring 20 doors within a year time period. And so, yeah.
(11:15):
With that, in 2021, I actually hit that goal. We were under contract for a 19 unit.
And I want to say it was like December, right around November, we went under contract.
It actually closed the next year. But I counted it because it was it went under
contract in the year that my goal was.
And so at that point in time, I was still chasing doors like that was the goal.
(11:40):
And then, you know, my mindset coach, a performance coach, he's like,
what, you know, why are you so wrapped around doors?
Like, well, like what, what's the doors, you know? And I'm like,
well, I'm a product of bigger pockets.
Like that's the whole, you know, that's the metric, right?
That's the metric is like doors, doors, doors. And he, and he's like,
well, if you found one property that gave you the number that you wanted, would you not do it?
(12:08):
And I'm like, of course I would. And it was like, OK, then start looking at
it different because we are so focused on just this one avenue to get to your goal.
You miss out on a lot of things around you. And it was like that was like one
of the biggest boom eye opening moments.
Right. And so that started to get me to thinking different.
(12:29):
And now I look at a totally different because, you know, from there,
like I said, I was going down this road of development. man,
I was like, I have to getting in rooms with people who were two,
three, four, five steps ahead of me, right?
So I can be the smallest person in the room. I'm just a sponge.
And then so in 2021, last day of 2021, 2022, I ended up joining GoBundance.
(12:55):
And so very...
One of the best moves I made in my life, honestly, to join GoBundance.
It's just an amazing community.
I don't know how familiar you are with GoBundance. Yeah, I think for those not
au fait with GoBundance, can you give us the rundown of what GoBundance is?
It's a tribe of healthy, wealthy individuals who want to become the best version of themselves.
(13:16):
That's in a nutshell. You have guys who, you know, there is both around the
six pillars, vulnerability, you know, vertical income, genuine contribution, and a couple other ones.
But it's just a network or tribe of men who want to see people succeed in all
on the same journey of becoming the best versions of themselves.
(13:39):
Themselves and so when i joined i
knew about the pillars and i wanted to be the smallest person in
the room and all these pillars because you got you got health you got contribution
you got you know there's the financial piece to it but it was really interesting
to see like the vulnerability side which these are all like a players you know
(14:01):
there's like top performers and to see that the
culture that GoBundance has cultivated on the vulnerability piece was just eye-opening.
And right then and there, I knew I was in the right place because everybody
wants to talk about the wins.
It's the social world we live in. Everybody wants to put the deal that they
(14:24):
got or how much money they made off the deal and this,
that, and the other, perfect marriage, their feet on
the beach you know like that's what we see in the
social world but you know
as well as i know there's that's not the entire
that's not reality i always tell people john like i've never had investment
(14:46):
work out like the spreadsheet whether it performed better or worse right like
it's never worked out like hey this is exactly give me x percent of cash flow
it just never ever worked that way,
whether it was way better than I expected or way worse.
And, you know, joining GoBundance, like it really, it really laid a foundation
(15:08):
for me and added a lot of value just from being able to hear the stories of people who are two,
three, four, 10 times, 10 steps ahead of me, how they think,
the things that they've been through.
And it's been great. So that's been another part of this journey as far as becoming
a better version of myself in overall life.
(15:30):
Investing in my overall skill set of becoming a
better investor and there's a
value to that right there's there's value in the relationships you're
going to build in a community like that which is is really powerful just getting
around like you said about meetups just going to meetups and meeting people
that as you said a few steps ahead or five steps or ten or a hundred steps ahead
(15:51):
and you're like wow these guys are crushing it i think the the interesting thing you said about the
number of doors and i was the same i was conditioned of like i
want this many doors with this much cash flow right and
it was like almost like formulaic and i
don't i work in sales i work in marketing i
work in business kind of sales and
(16:11):
engagement and all that good stuff and a lot of
the stuff we do is business cases so actually a
property should be a business case like here's the business case
for this business and you buy it and sell it like a
business it's like what the the hell am i hung up on number of
doors like if you if you can get a hundred doors and they
cash flow 10 bucks but you don't have to pay anything for it everyone would
(16:33):
take it it's like it's like what but no i need 20 and i need i need a hundred
dollars otherwise it's it's yeah it's kind of kind of crazy one of the things
we discussed kind of ahead of this this conversation was around.
Kind of meditation breath work priming your days kind of stuff and i'm i was
(16:54):
skeptical of that for years and then i i kind of let it into my life and like
started to meditate and all that good stuff do you like have a set morning routine
that you have to follow or is there kind of some,
rudimentary rules you follow or what does that look like.
Yeah. So I've been practicing Miracle Morning.
I don't know how familiar you are with that by Elrod the Daily Savers.
(17:15):
So for about six years now, and that's how the meditation started.
So very small increments at first until I start to see the value of it.
And now I meditate anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes a day.
I normally start off with a, you know, 10, depending on if I'm at home or traveling,
(17:37):
10 to 30 minute meditation to start the day.
And then like around, around midday, I'll just go sit and breathe for,
you know, five, 10 minutes.
And that's kind of like my refresh to clear my mind.
And it's, it's, it's really powerful. It's, it's really powerful. Keeps
me definitely in what I would call my peak
state at my best and it gives me like midday that buffer like if you're having
(17:58):
a day and you're just you know making a lot of decisions or things are just
coming at you it's a good like reset from a clarity standpoint and so i am a
big big fan of meditation and also breath work so i i heard about.
Breath work you know it's it's on all of the
podcasts and because a lot of people are starting and use it now and
(18:20):
it's one of the things that keep keep popping up one in particular is called
holotropic breathwork and so i heard about this from several people within go
bun is a good friend of mine out of chicago like one of my best friends actually
and he was at a session in atlanta and.
(18:41):
He said it was like an experience he had never had before ever and then i heard
that from another guy And then so I got to like really see what this is about.
And then fast forward to like it was October of last year.
We're at like a regional event, a mastermind for GoBundance.
And they had this guy, Ryan Kennedy, and he was leading a session on it.
(19:03):
And so you hear the stories, you know, but you don't know what to expect, you know?
And so we have, it's about an hour session and it's a, it's,
it's pretty structured. You know, there's music in the background.
He's talking you through it. He's walking through all, everything that you're
going to experience in the overall framework and whatnot.
(19:24):
And it was one of the most powerful exercises I've ever done in my life, like ever.
And so i'm not a big crier john
not to be like egotistical it's just
it's just not me my wife calls me the the tin man
and i just i just never been the guy that
sheds tears you know i think i cried for like 30 minutes on this thing it was
(19:46):
it was it was an experience like no other and so this session i want to say
it was like 30 to 35 men in this session and then you know the The experience
is he kind of he you know, it's a journey.
So he takes you on this journey of like, hey, you know, what is something that
like you're you're holding on to a regret?
(20:08):
So he goes super, super deep. And then he kind of brings you to,
OK, what are some fears that you're you're holding on to?
What are you super grateful for? And then like what's holding you back?
So it's like this this journey of emotions.
And it's all breathing. Like, so you're following his directions as far as breathing.
You do like these out, these, these pretty intense, like releases.
(20:31):
And it feels like, it literally feels like lightning is hitting your body.
Like you're shaking, but I went deep.
So just to give you some clarity, like on the part of like the regret or what I'm holding on to,
like clear as day, John, I went back to when I was eight years old or maybe
(20:52):
even about seven years old as a kid in elementary.
And it was a specific thing that happened. I lost my mom at a very young age.
And I remember at this time, the teacher was going around and it was like parents
day. It was like parents day at school.
And I felt super small because my dad wasn't in my life. I lost my mom.
(21:12):
And I'm like, I'm the only kid here without parents. And never,
never in a million years would i have haven't
thought about that had that idea but this session somehow tapped
to something that i was holding on to and then i was able to release it the
others hadn't processed it then effectively because you were eight yeah i was
(21:34):
eight years old right and and so the thing about that out of 30 so out of 30
to 35 men i would say 80 of them
were crying i'm talking like how many you're looking at on
on the screen face to face with what men ball
and a type personalities that's how powerful this
was so that was one part of it like a release of
(21:54):
there's some things that you baggage that we don't know this
there that we hold on to the other part which is one of the reasons why i tell
people i made the leap from the w2 was the fear part is like what's holding
you back and i got a lot of clarity from that And one of the things that I found
out was the only thing that's holding me back is me,
(22:17):
And what I mean by that is by me not betting on myself and so.
If you, John, you know, we talked a few different times. I know how you're wired today.
If you lost everything you had and just financially, what would you do tomorrow?
Yeah, that was my question for you.
(22:39):
You know what? I'd, I'd, I'd regroup. So I'm not one to dwell on like,
oh, that was a loss or we took it out.
I'd regroup and start my strategy again and be present in my skills and experience.
I haven't transitioned out of my W-2. I'm confident I could get back into the
workforce, into a high-paying role, and I'd rebuild.
(23:01):
But what I wouldn't do is dwell on it and stop and go, that's it,
that's everything done. It would be regrouping and powering forward.
What are the lessons I learned? What can I take away from that experience? All that good stuff.
Yeah. That's it, 100%. And so that's what it cleared up for me,
is so many times we don't give ourselves credit it for what we have done or what we can do.
(23:27):
But coming out of that session, I had a lot of confidence and it solidified
the confidence in my ability to one,
bet on myself because at the end of the day, like I,
you know, made a lot of companies, a lot of money, you know,
and I know the type of effort that I give and action that I take and how I'm
(23:47):
wired to, to ensure that I'm successful in whatever I do.
The only thing that, and it's interesting is a lot of people,
like when you, you go think about it and doing it for yourself,
that's when all the fears and all the what ifs comes up.
But what came out of it is like, regardless if I, exactly what you said,
if I lost it all the day, I'm not going to sit here and go, you know, whatever,
(24:11):
woe is me. The world is unfair. I'm right back at it tomorrow.
Like, okay, what can I learn? How can I pivot my strategy?
You know, like, of course, in the moment, it's going to suck.
That that's just, it's going to suck. Pain is pain.
It's going to hurt, but I'm going to come back two times stronger,
(24:32):
you know? And so that's one of the biggest things that came out of it for me at that session.
And then I guess the other part, I've had the privilege of interviewing a lot.
So within GoBundance, I lead this micro tribe.
It's a group and they have, they're all about, you know, some are investing,
some are doctors, whatever, but I lead the one or co-lead the one that's called Leaving My W-2.
(24:55):
So it's all these, you know, high net worth W-2 people who are on the verge of leaving their jobs.
We bring a lot of people on, John, that have made the jump.
And people who were CEOs making a million dollars a year to people who were,
you know, a few hundred thousand, just all, all walks of life.
(25:16):
The one thing that they all have in common, the one, the one thing that they
all have in common is that they all bet it on themselves, right?
Like some guys had it all figured out. They had almost as close to a spreadsheet
as runway and all that figured out.
Some of them had none of it figured out. Like, you know, one guy in particular,
I was like, what was your plan? He's like, I didn't have one.
(25:38):
I just knew I wasn't going to lose.
And this is this is the life I wanted to create for myself.
Now he has this massive business. Another guy is like, hey, you know,
I did my daily savers. I had my vision board.
I looked at it every day and like everything in that vision board I have achieved.
And so a bunch of different ways to get to that point.
(25:58):
But the one thing they all had and they all talked about is that they bet on
themselves. And they bet on themselves.
The entrepreneur's journey, as you know, is never easy, but it's very fulfilling.
And when you bet on yourself, you'll eventually figure it out.
And that's what I always tell people. We wouldn't be here talking if everything
(26:21):
that John Hooper and Jason James faced, we didn't overcome.
Why do you think people don't bet on themselves? It's, it's the story we tell ourselves, right?
Like we're, we have a negativity bias as human beings, right?
And it's all for self preservation for protect is, is, is wired into us.
What I don't think people do is kind of how we opened up is like.
(26:46):
Meditation or getting silent or asking
the bigger questions people i don't
think people take enough time to like sit there and it's like process
things and get quiet and
then there's a lot of other like external influences
that can happen too like i know some pretty
(27:07):
you know high performing people who have spouses
or whatever and there's a lot of influence coming from in-laws
and parents right and so what i've
learned too on that because like i i've had that in my
life people tell me like what you know what are you doing in real estate aren't
you afraid of this or what do you why are you leaving your your job and i one
of the and i may chop this up but one of the best quotes is like never listen
(27:32):
to somebody who's never who's never been where you're going.
Right so like yeah it's the i wouldn't do that dot dot dot it's like well cool what's your
qualifications 100 but if you
if you ask people why they don't do something or
why they have it a lot of it's because oh my
uncle or oh my mom or oh okay was your mom an investor did your mom you know
(27:56):
or did your uncle start his own business have you ever no no then what why are
you letting them determine your future and so i think that's the other part
it's like there's a lot of external influences that people let guide their decisions.
But I think if people just took the time to actually like sit and just get quiet.
(28:17):
And ask the bigger questions. You nailed it with the word. For me,
this is how it worked. It was processing.
And it took like muscle memory to like be able to do it, but I'd sit down,
I'd put in, I use Brain.fm.
I'd stick in Brain.fm for 15 minutes and I would just process.
And I wouldn't give myself a hard time by kind of drifting off my thoughts and
(28:39):
thinking about other stuff or
like, just, I don't know, thinking about something completely unrelated.
Related it takes it takes time to figure out how to do that processing but once
you get there and that's kind of where i've got to now with my meditation in
the morning i do it 90 of the time,
i i know the feeling when it's when it's gone well and you know it's hard to
(29:01):
say good or bad right there's no real good or bad but you get a feeling afterwards
it's a bit like i took a walk this morning on the beach and i took a couple
of w2 calls as i walk around the beach and i finished
my walk went and got a coffee and I felt renewed to be honest I felt like energized,
got some sunlight got some caffeine got a nice stroll in walked about five miles
(29:24):
so it was kind of nice and the duality of that is like yeah I got up at 5 a.m
this morning so I could go and do that so I got up did my emails did what I
needed to do first thing in the morning then went for my walk.
That's the kind of okay you want that you want a but
you also need to do b to get to a kind of thing if that it
sounds a bit washy but that's kind of uh it's it's
(29:44):
interesting when you when you start to have these kind of wants and
needs that's that's what it takes no i i
think you hit a point too it takes action you know
even when i got started i know this
couple like this was like four years ago and i met
them because me and my wife were looking for duplex when they
were looking for duplex and we kind of
(30:04):
started this journey together and then we would check in and see
here everybody's going everything's going and you
know it was one excuse after another waiting for the you
know this is back when rates were 2.5 and then
they were they were waiting for they were waiting for the prices to come down
you know and i'm like and till this day they haven't they haven't done anything
(30:27):
and as you know the market is a total 360 of what it was you know in 2020 2021 21,
but like, that's one thing too, is like actually just taking one step towards your goal. Right.
And depending if you are new to investing, that can be as simple as just like
calling a realtor, just to have that conversation or, you know,
(30:50):
I think it's, it's a lot easier than what people think to get that momentum started,
but you do have to start to get the little wins or.
Because if you don't even start that, then you're never going to get started.
I think action is a big one.
And I try to start my day off doing whatever's the hardest thing that I tell myself of the day is.
(31:13):
And you talk about building a muscle, muscle memory.
That is a muscle too. And once you start flexing that muscle,
you can do amazing things.
And whether it's having the tough conversation that in your head is going to
be this big, audacious, hard talk.
And then you have it and that was easy and that's
the win and you just the next thing and and so there's a
(31:35):
lot of i don't call them hacks but things you
can do to start to get that momentum flowing just to
to get momentum and hopefully break through
the like the fears or the stories that we tell ourselves so
i think one of the interesting things and like breaking through the w2 and getting
out of the w2 kind of game um i feel like a lot of people are very un there's
(31:58):
It's like almost a toxic relationship between people and employers in the fact
that people are unfulfilled and employers aren't really bothered.
And it's kind of this weird symbiosis that like, actually, we don't need our
people too happy and we don't need them to kind of motivated or too aspirational.
And on the same side, it's like, well, you know, it works easy and I can kind
(32:20):
of clock in and out and blah, blah, blah.
And I think my, I got a unique perspective because I moved to the States,
what, eight or nine years ago.
With like zero no no credit a little bit of cash not actually that much no place
investments in the uk but not a great deal and i had to kind of do that reset and it got me,
(32:42):
yeah, it was hard to reset, but it was also like gave me this whole scope to
be a different person or a different version of myself.
And what I noticed is there's so many people like, you know,
you speak to someone and they're like, oh yeah, I've been in that job for 12 years.
And you're like, that's it. Do you know what you don't want?
I don't, you don't need to manage people, but do you not want more?
Do you not want more creativity or flexibility or whatever that looks like?
(33:06):
And I feel like that's the difference when you start talking to people,
GoBundance or bigger pockets conference or whatever people like it's great i
love my w2 but this is this is the legacy i want or this is a because i want
to help people or this is really cool i want to build communities it's finding
that yeah but dot dot dot here's here's kind of what's next and i think.
(33:29):
Moving on from from your w2 it it's really interesting that you you've gone through that
process and so going into
a franchise model was that like a good first
step into kind of self-driven entrepreneurship did
you want it as a safety net rather than you know the proven model or yeah i
(33:50):
i'd love you to talk to talk to us about that yeah so this one is all of a product
of being around the right community of people at the right time so you know
as i was you know started co-leading,
and I used to attend it before me and Rob started co-leading this micro tribe of leaving my W-2.
If you'd asked me four years ago, it would have been 100% real estate,
(34:14):
real estate, real estate.
And while I'm still actively investing in the real estate,
what you start to find out, a lot of the successful people who have massive
real real estate portfolios, the driver of what built those portfolios are businesses.
And so, and then you meet just a very wide range of people who are super successful.
(34:37):
And then like, I always thought, you know, and then I guess money is the easy
measurement stick, right?
You see somebody who has like a big business or who you view as uber successful
and you think they just have it all figured out. Like, oh, they just got to
be buttoned up from like A to Z.
And then when you find out, like, they're just human beings.
(34:59):
They all have the same challenges, opportunities that we have,
the fears, the self-limit beliefs they have just at a different level, you know?
So none of that stuff ever goes away.
And I start to kind of learn that, right? From being in these different rooms
and being in different accountability groups.
(35:22):
And it was really good for me because it brought a lot of perspective because.
To be 100% vulnerable, when I start going down this journey,
I don't know if you'd struggle with this, something I worked on,
it's really subsided now, but it's like, what value can I add?
That will always be the thing I would struggle with, especially when I first
(35:43):
started going to meetups, my
very first meetups when I was chasing David Green all around the Bay Area.
I knew nothing. I'm like, what value can I add?
And then I just got past that, started meeting people. And the cool thing about
real estate meetups is like, it's always good energy. People want to see you succeed.
But then as you get in the bigger rooms, it's like, that's still a pop up.
It's like, hey, dude, I'm only done a couple of deals. Like, what value can I add?
(36:07):
And, you know, when I joined GoBundance, that's why I joined it,
because I want to get past that.
And then once I got in this room with these bigger peoples who have had all
this different success in different parts of life, whether it be health,
wealth, family, you know, spiritual,
it really showed me, like, the value that I could add as far as,
(36:28):
like, the things that I've learned from my W-2 and leadership roles.
And then what came out of that from one of my, we call it our goal pod,
is like, dude, like, why don't you have your own business?
They literally called me out like, like what's your skillset and what,
you know, like you should, you should have some type of like sales business.
(36:49):
And it was like this aha that I, you know, like you are right.
I've literally, that's what I've done for like the last 15, 20 years is build
sales teams, training, coaching, development, but it was for a corporate environment.
And so that kind of got me my the brains kind of thinking about acquiring a small business.
And so my commitment to them was to to acquire a small business by June 30th, 2025.
(37:14):
That was my commitment to them. and fast forward
to now within go abundance i you know
met another guy who who has
a few other businesses and then he walked me through kind of what he was working
on and out here in oregon with that one painting franchise it's a residential
commercial painting franchise so we met really good guy a line you know he's
(37:38):
same thing like you know owns businesses owns real estate.
We have a lot of similarities where he's going down this path to see what's possible for him.
Same thing, just like you. It's one of those things where.
There's a lot of similarities and commonalities.
(38:01):
And then I just like, I'm at a point where I like being around good people who
bring me energy. Like this conversation brings me a lot of energy. That's why I'm here.
And like, I just like, I don't know about you.
It's kind of like what you said, like how, when you left and came to the States,
you kind of created this new, you can become whoever you want to be and you
can put yourself around people you want to, you want to be around.
(38:23):
And so when I left California, Oregon, him, I was very intentional about that.
I only put myself around people who give me energy or that, that just, it's just good.
I like being around good human beings. And so me and him clicked like that.
We kind of went back and forth to see how we can make this work.
And we did. So in February.
(38:44):
2020, I left Red Bull and then we launched last week or not last week,
last month, that one painter so building from
the ground up and then you asked earlier about franchise versus
a standard business i would have
been open for for for either actually because like
i was looking to take over an existing business that
(39:06):
has some opportunities whether it be sales whether
it be efficiencies whether it be technology and then
take it add that layer on top of it and accelerate
accelerated so i honestly up until this
point i had hadn't even really looked at the franchise model
this just made sense based on where i was at and then i really clicked with
(39:28):
my partner on it and we made it make sense so yeah i mean franchise nothing
wrong with a franchise like there's so many there's so many terrible ones out
there but then there's also so many terrible small businesses.
So yeah, I spoke a while back to a franchise consultant and it was fascinating.
He's like, yeah, there's, there's a ton of crappy franchises,
(39:50):
but there's a ton of great ones as well.
What's interesting is, is that the space you're in,
which is, and the reason it's interesting is I was listening to a podcast this
morning with pomp Anthony Pompeo, and he was talking about the businesses he
owns and the businesses that very successful people owns and billionaires like the, the, the, the, the
you know the founder of kinkos who's a billionaire and
(40:13):
does you know built his billions on copying so it
doesn't need to be this tech unicorn in fact
it's easier to compete with mom and
pops in the painting world than um was it sam altman in chat gpt right it's
like who do you want to compete with zuckerberg or some local painting firm
that you know don't have their things together they don't manage their staff
(40:36):
properly they're they're tired they're jaded that kind of stuff so So it's interesting.
I like that. I think we're, you know, and the other point was what can't be replaced by AI.
Now, eventually they probably will be painting robots.
Yeah. But right now you need that finesse. You need the eye for detail and all that kind of stuff.
(40:56):
So that's super interesting. And I think, yeah, more credit to you in taking that leap.
I'm certainly going to go and look at GoBundance as a powerful driver.
Either i think the taking action thing is the takeaway right so if you were
starting today or no we've kind of had that conversation already let's say you
(41:16):
you get home from your w2 at 5 p.m you you fire up a microwave meal and you
sit and play xbox for the next two hours.
What's what are you telling yourself what's this what's jason in the in this
universe telling multiverse Jason?
So if I'm sitting playing Xbox for two hours, oh man.
(41:41):
The way I'm wired now and how I spend my time.
Oh that's a really good interesting question because i used to be a gamer when i was,
you don't have time now right no no
yeah if you're asking
me like what would i be telling myself so if i'm just sitting
there are you talking about like how would you how would you flick that switch
(42:03):
to make a change there you go oh got it got it got it so if if i'm that guy
i'm gaming i'm not using much my time wisely like how would i flip the switch
I think that version of me,
it's going to take some effort on that version of me.
And you've got to ask the big question, am I really happy?
(42:28):
Am I on the path to achieve my goals?
And then like, how does what I'm doing now, how I'm investing my time, how does it serve me?
You just got to ask bigger questions. and I
think that's the quickest way to flip
the switch and so if I ask those questions
(42:49):
I'm on the path to hit my goals and the answer is yes then I'm okay I'm gonna
keep playing xbox and eating microwave pizzas right if that's no okay not red
flag but okay that's that's point number one okay,
is what I'm doing serve me towards hitting my goals if that answers yes then
(43:15):
I may be a pro gamer if not then that's the aha number two.
And then it starts there because you can go to all the conferences,
John, you can go get all, even all the coaching, you can, you can have all this
support, listen to all the podcasts, read all the books.
(43:37):
But if you as a person, as an individual, don't ask yourself the right questions
and get clear on what you want, you're never going to take the right action.
That's just, that's just me. You know, like I know, I know active people who
go to a ton of conferences and they still never done anything.
I know, I know people who have read a ton of books and they've never take action
(44:00):
from that book, you know?
And so at the end of the day, as I look at it to, to, to get for more momentum
or movement of any kind, there has to be some type of action.
And the action it could be as small as just asking yourself the right questions
to get you thinking, right?
And that's the nudge you need to, okay, let me put my goals on paper or what
(44:26):
I want my life to look like in the next five, 10 years. That's action number two.
Okay, what are the steps that I can do to begin to get me towards that path?
That's action number three. But at the end of the day, There has to be some
type of action, because if I'm that guy who just had my microwave pizza and
I'm two hours on Xbox and the only actions I'm taking is me, you know, playing Xbox,
(44:52):
that's going to be me next year.
That's going to be me in two years and three years.
And so no matter how you look at it, there has to be some some intentional effort taken by that person.
And then I guess the other, the other, I guess, way to fast track that is to
get around people that are, are where you, you want to go.
(45:18):
Or, you know, two steps ahead of you. Because just by proximity,
if that's truly what you want, you will start changing your behaviors.
But then again, that's still an action step. So at the end of the day,
it comes down to some action of some sort.
But the two ways, asking the right questions will be one.
(45:41):
The other way is just getting around the right group of people.
Love that. that yeah jason that's that's
so so cool and thank you so much for your for your time today how
can people get in touch with you uh you
can get in touch with me on facebook uh
jason james on facebook or you can connect with me at that one painter oregon
(46:03):
city um on facebook or online at that one painter oregon city so cool we'll
put links in the show notes so people can just Just scroll down, click, and go say hi.
Yeah, Jason, thank you so much for your time. I feel super motivated. So that's good.
You've done your job, right? I try. I try. No, this has been great,
(46:24):
man. I'm glad we finally got to connect.
You know, love chatting with you as always. But yeah, I had a really good conversation,
man. Thank you. I appreciate it.
Thanks, Jason. And we'll be back next week.
Music.
Thank you for listening to invest stories if you like what you've heard please
(46:44):
consider sharing and writing a five-star review.
Welcome to Investories, unlocking the investing mindset and business strategies
of high-performing individuals to level up your financial game,
crush your goals, and build a life fulfilled.
This is the show that asks the questions you wish you knew to ask. This is Investories.
(00:22):
Booyah! Welcome to the Investories podcast. I'm your host, John Hooper.
And yeah, it's It's great to be here.
I feel like, hey, summer's just around the corner, right? So we can all be excited about that.
And I've got a really, really cool interview for you today.
Jason James is one of those people that is, it kind of just pushes out there
(00:47):
with positivity and with energy and is really kind of got that infectious quality,
that we try and find and we try and tap into.
So stick around for that interview. view the the reason it's compelling is jason's
been on his own journey so uh he started investing he started in a w2 like most
of us and you know grew his career and thought that was everything,
(01:09):
and then he's grown that into a real estate portfolio to
kind of build that groundswell and this is this is something i find
really interesting um how do you build an
engine that kind of keeps you going and keeps you on track for
your for your goals and your mission and we get get
into a ton about that a ton about his mission
what drives him what he wants to do and that
(01:29):
journey has taken him forward into into running franchise
businesses growing a franchise business and really
taking a step back and and sitting in that
kind of space of what do i want to do with my
life and how do how can i do that and there's kind of levels of altruism and
and charity and giving back to community and you know the the passion for life
(01:50):
and the passion for doing what he does is is really really round and really
stands stands up in the in the the interview.
Before we dive into it, I need a favor. If you are watching this on YouTube, can you give us a like?
Can you also subscribe? And can you maybe share it with one other person you think might like it?
(02:12):
And I really want to grow the YouTube channel, partly for my own ego,
partly because I think we can add value. And I want to attract bigger guests.
And bigger guests are obviously attracted to bigger channels.
So I don't ask much. That's what I ask of you. And secondly, same with the podcast.
If you can share this with someone if you could uh send
(02:33):
a link text someone do it it helps us
i think it will help them out uh so yeah
and you can always reach out to us if that if you're if you're a guest or you
want to be on the show um drop us a line investoriespodcast.gmail.com or just
uh just send us a uh send us a connection on uh on instagram so investoriespod
(02:54):
on instagram and we'd love to hear from you and without further ado here's jason.
Music.
Welcome to Investor Eats, Jason James. Hey, Jason. Hey, thank you for having
me, John. Finally good to connect, brother.
No problem. Jason, we met years ago, it seems, right?
(03:16):
At a conference. It wasn't that long ago, but hey, it seems like a long time ago.
Jason, your story is super interesting
because you've kind of gone through that W2 phase of your life.
On the back of that, you've invested invested
and you've kind of built a portfolio of assets
and now you're um you're kind of
(03:36):
looking at the next step which is you're doing your own thing and and
kind of finding your own rhythm and so i want to unpack all
of that but first of all welcome welcome to the show great to have
you have you on board and reconnect yeah yeah it's
it feels like a lifetime ago i think that was 2022 at
bp con when we met and since then
so much has changed i think i was still in california at that time now
(03:58):
i'm in oregon you mentioned left the
w2 went from big corporate world to small business
so yeah we got a lot to unpack here brother i'm
looking forward to this conversation love that and and i think that
the key thing is and this is like this is
for everyone like me sat there working at w2 totally
comfortable and being like where you you quit your w2 isn't
(04:20):
that risky and i think what's interesting is your you have that safety net underneath
you right you have of your assets that you've you've you've kind of purchased
that will let you take those risks maybe not take the risks you have business
acumen but let you leap and explore those kind of things.
One of the things i've been working on to like figure out what i want to do
(04:41):
is like a flywheel and it's this visual of like w2 feeds businesses and it feeds
assets and then the businesses feeds assets and that kind of circles the flywheel
and then you can keep kind of building taking taking bigger risks.
So I think that's the kind of point, right?
Is that, was that your thinking getting to that point?
Yeah, honestly, like that hit on the head as far as like the flywheel, right?
(05:04):
You know, you have your W-2, you save money, you take that money,
you invest it into assets.
Those assets appreciate, kick off cash flow, you buy more assets.
One of the things that I've learned over this, I mean, the very short time I've
been investing really since 2020, and then just kind of down this journey of
development, because I think I think once you get into investing,
(05:26):
one part of it is you start working on becoming a better investor.
And there's some some things you got to work on in regards to getting to that point.
A lot of this mindset, you know, a lot of fears that you have to face,
the stories you tell yourself.
And so going down this journey and what I'm learning with your flywheel example, that's that is spot on.
(05:49):
But what I've learned is in the middle of that flywheel is you.
It's you as a person and you got to ensure as you're kind of you're going around
that flywheel that you're working on yourself in a bunch of different ways.
One, just personal development to the community that you associate yourself with. Three.
(06:11):
Getting clearer on what you really want, you know, as far as like what a success
looks like, you know, for you on this journey, you know, and it may change.
Cause like when I first got into real estate, my whole, I went on a hundred
units or whatever that was.
But once you start acquiring these units, you're like that shifts because you
start to get around people who are a couple steps ahead of you,
(06:32):
who are doing things a different way, who, who kind of educate you on other
ways and other vehicles to do what you were, you know, you'll still get the same outcome,
but it's a little bit more efficient, a little bit more smarter, a lot less headache.
And as you kind of go down this, this, this road and this journey,
(06:53):
and it's twofold, right?
Cause you're learning as an investor and you're, and you're gaining these skillsets,
but then as a person, and as you're, you're, you're working on your own personal
development, they kind of go hand in hand.
And so I'm like literally jumped into this journey and I'm on that flywheel
and I'm just kind of, you know, next spoke, next spoke.
(07:13):
But I think one key, one key part about it is the person that you start off
as, and then the person that you develop on the way as an investor.
And then like, as a, you know, the, the improvements you make on the personal side as well.
Lot love that and it's hard right you know i
thinking about business ideas i'm thinking
(07:33):
about real estate moves i want to make and the
second guessing and like how do i validate that
how do i work on that but the fact that i'm there and thinking
about those things is is really strong kind of progress what
was like what were the biggest kind of transition points i think probably one
of them is like taking a view of like i want to earn x amount a month or i want
(07:55):
this many units it's to something a bit more kind of tangible or a bit more
kind of resonating with a with a personal mission what did that process look like.
Yeah. So I guess I go back to my very first, when I first, my very first property, I was an investor.
I think we may have spoke about this. This was in 2018 and it was for tax purposes.
(08:15):
I knew nothing about investing.
I found this, this website, I won't say the name, but they were like a key, a turnkey company.
So that's a turnkey company. I bought this property.
Everything that could potentially go wrong, went wrong.
Very naive, right? You don't know what you don't know. had a tenant for 10 years,
didn't vet the property manager, didn't vet lenders.
(08:37):
Everything that you can possibly go wrong went wrong. And this property was
like 4,000 miles away. This was in Michigan.
And it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
And so once everything went wrong, it forced me to learn how to become an investor,
which I found BiggerPockets.
And that's where all the knowledge and the, you know, I got started in regards
(09:00):
to like getting this burning desire to want to invest once I saw this problem.
And then from that standpoint, it was like, okay, how can I replace my W-2 or
how do I make X amount of money?
Then it was doors, right? It's like, Hey, you know what? It'd be cool to get
to X amount of doors. And I think, you know.
Year two was I
(09:22):
want to get to 20 doors and to go from
at that point one to 20 that's 10x in it right
and so I'm a very ambitious guy oh
yeah so I actually I had one and then I ended I ended up doing a house hack
so I actually had two I had two problems ah there you go yeah you're not sound
okay I just want to make sure yeah so with that you know like talking about
(09:48):
this the development journey and who you have to become,
like to, to reach these different feats and to start to get momentum,
you have to change the way you do things.
And sometimes there are big changes. So in 2020, the perfect time to leave a
job, I left the job I was at for 15 years.
So, and one of the reasons why this was, I was really getting serious about real estate.
(10:12):
It won't start to go down this journey and while
this job gave me a lot in my life traveled did
a lot of things you know developed me to the man
i am i was there for a significant part of my life i was at a point where something
had to give if i really wanted to go down the journey of real estate so right
(10:33):
around june july of 2020 i left this job big that was like one of the biggest
moves I ever had. It was a W-2.
And with that, I gained a lot more time back. And with that time, I gained back.
I didn't go play video games and go to bars and watch more football.
(10:54):
I started investing to myself. So I was starting to go to meetups more.
I hired a high performance coach, a mindset coach.
And I really ramped it up on investing into myself and then gave myself a a
very aggressive target of acquiring 20 doors within a year time period. And so, yeah.
(11:15):
With that, in 2021, I actually hit that goal. We were under contract for a 19 unit.
And I want to say it was like December, right around November, we went under contract.
It actually closed the next year. But I counted it because it was it went under
contract in the year that my goal was.
And so at that point in time, I was still chasing doors like that was the goal.
(11:40):
And then, you know, my mindset coach, a performance coach, he's like,
what, you know, why are you so wrapped around doors?
Like, well, like what, what's the doors, you know? And I'm like,
well, I'm a product of bigger pockets.
Like that's the whole, you know, that's the metric, right?
That's the metric is like doors, doors, doors. And he, and he's like,
well, if you found one property that gave you the number that you wanted, would you not do it?
(12:08):
And I'm like, of course I would. And it was like, OK, then start looking at
it different because we are so focused on just this one avenue to get to your goal.
You miss out on a lot of things around you. And it was like that was like one
of the biggest boom eye opening moments.
Right. And so that started to get me to thinking different.
(12:29):
And now I look at a totally different because, you know, from there,
like I said, I was going down this road of development. man,
I was like, I have to getting in rooms with people who were two,
three, four, five steps ahead of me, right?
So I can be the smallest person in the room. I'm just a sponge.
And then so in 2021, last day of 2021, 2022, I ended up joining GoBundance.
(12:55):
And so very...
One of the best moves I made in my life, honestly, to join GoBundance.
It's just an amazing community.
I don't know how familiar you are with GoBundance. Yeah, I think for those not
au fait with GoBundance, can you give us the rundown of what GoBundance is?
It's a tribe of healthy, wealthy individuals who want to become the best version of themselves.
(13:16):
That's in a nutshell. You have guys who, you know, there is both around the
six pillars, vulnerability, you know, vertical income, genuine contribution, and a couple other ones.
But it's just a network or tribe of men who want to see people succeed in all
on the same journey of becoming the best versions of themselves.
(13:39):
Themselves and so when i joined i
knew about the pillars and i wanted to be the smallest person in
the room and all these pillars because you got you got health you got contribution
you got you know there's the financial piece to it but it was really interesting
to see like the vulnerability side which these are all like a players you know
(14:01):
there's like top performers and to see that the
culture that GoBundance has cultivated on the vulnerability piece was just eye-opening.
And right then and there, I knew I was in the right place because everybody
wants to talk about the wins.
It's the social world we live in. Everybody wants to put the deal that they
(14:24):
got or how much money they made off the deal and this,
that, and the other, perfect marriage, their feet on
the beach you know like that's what we see in the
social world but you know
as well as i know there's that's not the entire
that's not reality i always tell people john like i've never had investment
(14:46):
work out like the spreadsheet whether it performed better or worse right like
it's never worked out like hey this is exactly give me x percent of cash flow
it just never ever worked that way,
whether it was way better than I expected or way worse.
And, you know, joining GoBundance, like it really, it really laid a foundation
(15:08):
for me and added a lot of value just from being able to hear the stories of people who are two,
three, four, 10 times, 10 steps ahead of me, how they think,
the things that they've been through.
And it's been great. So that's been another part of this journey as far as becoming
a better version of myself in overall life.
(15:30):
Investing in my overall skill set of becoming a
better investor and there's a
value to that right there's there's value in the relationships you're
going to build in a community like that which is is really powerful just getting
around like you said about meetups just going to meetups and meeting people
that as you said a few steps ahead or five steps or ten or a hundred steps ahead
(15:51):
and you're like wow these guys are crushing it i think the the interesting thing you said about the
number of doors and i was the same i was conditioned of like i
want this many doors with this much cash flow right and
it was like almost like formulaic and i
don't i work in sales i work in marketing i
work in business kind of sales and
(16:11):
engagement and all that good stuff and a lot of
the stuff we do is business cases so actually a
property should be a business case like here's the business case
for this business and you buy it and sell it like a
business it's like what the the hell am i hung up on number of
doors like if you if you can get a hundred doors and they
cash flow 10 bucks but you don't have to pay anything for it everyone would
(16:33):
take it it's like it's like what but no i need 20 and i need i need a hundred
dollars otherwise it's it's yeah it's kind of kind of crazy one of the things
we discussed kind of ahead of this this conversation was around.
Kind of meditation breath work priming your days kind of stuff and i'm i was
(16:54):
skeptical of that for years and then i i kind of let it into my life and like
started to meditate and all that good stuff do you like have a set morning routine
that you have to follow or is there kind of some,
rudimentary rules you follow or what does that look like.
Yeah. So I've been practicing Miracle Morning.
I don't know how familiar you are with that by Elrod the Daily Savers.
(17:15):
So for about six years now, and that's how the meditation started.
So very small increments at first until I start to see the value of it.
And now I meditate anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes a day.
I normally start off with a, you know, 10, depending on if I'm at home or traveling,
(17:37):
10 to 30 minute meditation to start the day.
And then like around, around midday, I'll just go sit and breathe for,
you know, five, 10 minutes.
And that's kind of like my refresh to clear my mind.
And it's, it's, it's really powerful. It's, it's really powerful. Keeps
me definitely in what I would call my peak
state at my best and it gives me like midday that buffer like if you're having
(17:58):
a day and you're just you know making a lot of decisions or things are just
coming at you it's a good like reset from a clarity standpoint and so i am a
big big fan of meditation and also breath work so i i heard about.
Breath work you know it's it's on all of the
podcasts and because a lot of people are starting and use it now and
(18:20):
it's one of the things that keep keep popping up one in particular is called
holotropic breathwork and so i heard about this from several people within go
bun is a good friend of mine out of chicago like one of my best friends actually
and he was at a session in atlanta and.
(18:41):
He said it was like an experience he had never had before ever and then i heard
that from another guy And then so I got to like really see what this is about.
And then fast forward to like it was October of last year.
We're at like a regional event, a mastermind for GoBundance.
And they had this guy, Ryan Kennedy, and he was leading a session on it.
(19:03):
And so you hear the stories, you know, but you don't know what to expect, you know?
And so we have, it's about an hour session and it's a, it's,
it's pretty structured. You know, there's music in the background.
He's talking you through it. He's walking through all, everything that you're
going to experience in the overall framework and whatnot.
(19:24):
And it was one of the most powerful exercises I've ever done in my life, like ever.
And so i'm not a big crier john
not to be like egotistical it's just
it's just not me my wife calls me the the tin man
and i just i just never been the guy that
sheds tears you know i think i cried for like 30 minutes on this thing it was
(19:46):
it was it was an experience like no other and so this session i want to say
it was like 30 to 35 men in this session and then you know the The experience
is he kind of he you know, it's a journey.
So he takes you on this journey of like, hey, you know, what is something that
like you're you're holding on to a regret?
(20:08):
So he goes super, super deep. And then he kind of brings you to,
OK, what are some fears that you're you're holding on to?
What are you super grateful for? And then like what's holding you back?
So it's like this this journey of emotions.
And it's all breathing. Like, so you're following his directions as far as breathing.
You do like these out, these, these pretty intense, like releases.
(20:31):
And it feels like, it literally feels like lightning is hitting your body.
Like you're shaking, but I went deep.
So just to give you some clarity, like on the part of like the regret or what I'm holding on to,
like clear as day, John, I went back to when I was eight years old or maybe
(20:52):
even about seven years old as a kid in elementary.
And it was a specific thing that happened. I lost my mom at a very young age.
And I remember at this time, the teacher was going around and it was like parents
day. It was like parents day at school.
And I felt super small because my dad wasn't in my life. I lost my mom.
(21:12):
And I'm like, I'm the only kid here without parents. And never,
never in a million years would i have haven't
thought about that had that idea but this session somehow tapped
to something that i was holding on to and then i was able to release it the
others hadn't processed it then effectively because you were eight yeah i was
(21:34):
eight years old right and and so the thing about that out of 30 so out of 30
to 35 men i would say 80 of them
were crying i'm talking like how many you're looking at on
on the screen face to face with what men ball
and a type personalities that's how powerful this
was so that was one part of it like a release of
(21:54):
there's some things that you baggage that we don't know this
there that we hold on to the other part which is one of the reasons why i tell
people i made the leap from the w2 was the fear part is like what's holding
you back and i got a lot of clarity from that And one of the things that I found
out was the only thing that's holding me back is me,
(22:17):
And what I mean by that is by me not betting on myself and so.
If you, John, you know, we talked a few different times. I know how you're wired today.
If you lost everything you had and just financially, what would you do tomorrow?
Yeah, that was my question for you.
(22:39):
You know what? I'd, I'd, I'd regroup. So I'm not one to dwell on like,
oh, that was a loss or we took it out.
I'd regroup and start my strategy again and be present in my skills and experience.
I haven't transitioned out of my W-2. I'm confident I could get back into the
workforce, into a high-paying role, and I'd rebuild.
(23:01):
But what I wouldn't do is dwell on it and stop and go, that's it,
that's everything done. It would be regrouping and powering forward.
What are the lessons I learned? What can I take away from that experience? All that good stuff.
Yeah. That's it, 100%. And so that's what it cleared up for me,
is so many times we don't give ourselves credit it for what we have done or what we can do.
(23:27):
But coming out of that session, I had a lot of confidence and it solidified
the confidence in my ability to one,
bet on myself because at the end of the day, like I,
you know, made a lot of companies, a lot of money, you know,
and I know the type of effort that I give and action that I take and how I'm
(23:47):
wired to, to ensure that I'm successful in whatever I do.
The only thing that, and it's interesting is a lot of people,
like when you, you go think about it and doing it for yourself,
that's when all the fears and all the what ifs comes up.
But what came out of it is like, regardless if I, exactly what you said,
if I lost it all the day, I'm not going to sit here and go, you know, whatever,
(24:11):
woe is me. The world is unfair. I'm right back at it tomorrow.
Like, okay, what can I learn? How can I pivot my strategy?
You know, like, of course, in the moment, it's going to suck.
That that's just, it's going to suck. Pain is pain.
It's going to hurt, but I'm going to come back two times stronger,
(24:32):
you know? And so that's one of the biggest things that came out of it for me at that session.
And then I guess the other part, I've had the privilege of interviewing a lot.
So within GoBundance, I lead this micro tribe.
It's a group and they have, they're all about, you know, some are investing,
some are doctors, whatever, but I lead the one or co-lead the one that's called Leaving My W-2.
(24:55):
So it's all these, you know, high net worth W-2 people who are on the verge of leaving their jobs.
We bring a lot of people on, John, that have made the jump.
And people who were CEOs making a million dollars a year to people who were,
you know, a few hundred thousand, just all, all walks of life.
(25:16):
The one thing that they all have in common, the one, the one thing that they
all have in common is that they all bet it on themselves, right?
Like some guys had it all figured out. They had almost as close to a spreadsheet
as runway and all that figured out.
Some of them had none of it figured out. Like, you know, one guy in particular,
I was like, what was your plan? He's like, I didn't have one.
(25:38):
I just knew I wasn't going to lose.
And this is this is the life I wanted to create for myself.
Now he has this massive business. Another guy is like, hey, you know,
I did my daily savers. I had my vision board.
I looked at it every day and like everything in that vision board I have achieved.
And so a bunch of different ways to get to that point.
(25:58):
But the one thing they all had and they all talked about is that they bet on
themselves. And they bet on themselves.
The entrepreneur's journey, as you know, is never easy, but it's very fulfilling.
And when you bet on yourself, you'll eventually figure it out.
And that's what I always tell people. We wouldn't be here talking if everything
(26:21):
that John Hooper and Jason James faced, we didn't overcome.
Why do you think people don't bet on themselves? It's, it's the story we tell ourselves, right?
Like we're, we have a negativity bias as human beings, right?
And it's all for self preservation for protect is, is, is wired into us.
What I don't think people do is kind of how we opened up is like.
(26:46):
Meditation or getting silent or asking
the bigger questions people i don't
think people take enough time to like sit there and it's like process
things and get quiet and
then there's a lot of other like external influences
that can happen too like i know some pretty
(27:07):
you know high performing people who have spouses
or whatever and there's a lot of influence coming from in-laws
and parents right and so what i've
learned too on that because like i i've had that in my
life people tell me like what you know what are you doing in real estate aren't
you afraid of this or what do you why are you leaving your your job and i one
of the and i may chop this up but one of the best quotes is like never listen
(27:32):
to somebody who's never who's never been where you're going.
Right so like yeah it's the i wouldn't do that dot dot dot it's like well cool what's your
qualifications 100 but if you
if you ask people why they don't do something or
why they have it a lot of it's because oh my
uncle or oh my mom or oh okay was your mom an investor did your mom you know
(27:56):
or did your uncle start his own business have you ever no no then what why are
you letting them determine your future and so i think that's the other part
it's like there's a lot of external influences that people let guide their decisions.
But I think if people just took the time to actually like sit and just get quiet.
(28:17):
And ask the bigger questions. You nailed it with the word. For me,
this is how it worked. It was processing.
And it took like muscle memory to like be able to do it, but I'd sit down,
I'd put in, I use Brain.fm.
I'd stick in Brain.fm for 15 minutes and I would just process.
And I wouldn't give myself a hard time by kind of drifting off my thoughts and
(28:39):
thinking about other stuff or
like, just, I don't know, thinking about something completely unrelated.
Related it takes it takes time to figure out how to do that processing but once
you get there and that's kind of where i've got to now with my meditation in
the morning i do it 90 of the time,
i i know the feeling when it's when it's gone well and you know it's hard to
(29:01):
say good or bad right there's no real good or bad but you get a feeling afterwards
it's a bit like i took a walk this morning on the beach and i took a couple
of w2 calls as i walk around the beach and i finished
my walk went and got a coffee and I felt renewed to be honest I felt like energized,
got some sunlight got some caffeine got a nice stroll in walked about five miles
(29:24):
so it was kind of nice and the duality of that is like yeah I got up at 5 a.m
this morning so I could go and do that so I got up did my emails did what I
needed to do first thing in the morning then went for my walk.
That's the kind of okay you want that you want a but
you also need to do b to get to a kind of thing if that it
sounds a bit washy but that's kind of uh it's it's
(29:44):
interesting when you when you start to have these kind of wants and
needs that's that's what it takes no i i
think you hit a point too it takes action you know
even when i got started i know this
couple like this was like four years ago and i met
them because me and my wife were looking for duplex when they
were looking for duplex and we kind of
(30:04):
started this journey together and then we would check in and see
here everybody's going everything's going and you
know it was one excuse after another waiting for the you
know this is back when rates were 2.5 and then
they were they were waiting for they were waiting for the prices to come down
you know and i'm like and till this day they haven't they haven't done anything
(30:27):
and as you know the market is a total 360 of what it was you know in 2020 2021 21,
but like, that's one thing too, is like actually just taking one step towards your goal. Right.
And depending if you are new to investing, that can be as simple as just like
calling a realtor, just to have that conversation or, you know,
(30:50):
I think it's, it's a lot easier than what people think to get that momentum started,
but you do have to start to get the little wins or.
Because if you don't even start that, then you're never going to get started.
I think action is a big one.
And I try to start my day off doing whatever's the hardest thing that I tell myself of the day is.
(31:13):
And you talk about building a muscle, muscle memory.
That is a muscle too. And once you start flexing that muscle,
you can do amazing things.
And whether it's having the tough conversation that in your head is going to
be this big, audacious, hard talk.
And then you have it and that was easy and that's
the win and you just the next thing and and so there's a
(31:35):
lot of i don't call them hacks but things you
can do to start to get that momentum flowing just to
to get momentum and hopefully break through
the like the fears or the stories that we tell ourselves so
i think one of the interesting things and like breaking through the w2 and getting
out of the w2 kind of game um i feel like a lot of people are very un there's
(31:58):
It's like almost a toxic relationship between people and employers in the fact
that people are unfulfilled and employers aren't really bothered.
And it's kind of this weird symbiosis that like, actually, we don't need our
people too happy and we don't need them to kind of motivated or too aspirational.
And on the same side, it's like, well, you know, it works easy and I can kind
(32:20):
of clock in and out and blah, blah, blah.
And I think my, I got a unique perspective because I moved to the States,
what, eight or nine years ago.
With like zero no no credit a little bit of cash not actually that much no place
investments in the uk but not a great deal and i had to kind of do that reset and it got me,
(32:42):
yeah, it was hard to reset, but it was also like gave me this whole scope to
be a different person or a different version of myself.
And what I noticed is there's so many people like, you know,
you speak to someone and they're like, oh yeah, I've been in that job for 12 years.
And you're like, that's it. Do you know what you don't want?
I don't, you don't need to manage people, but do you not want more?
Do you not want more creativity or flexibility or whatever that looks like?
(33:06):
And I feel like that's the difference when you start talking to people,
GoBundance or bigger pockets conference or whatever people like it's great i
love my w2 but this is this is the legacy i want or this is a because i want
to help people or this is really cool i want to build communities it's finding
that yeah but dot dot dot here's here's kind of what's next and i think.
(33:29):
Moving on from from your w2 it it's really interesting that you you've gone through that
process and so going into
a franchise model was that like a good first
step into kind of self-driven entrepreneurship did
you want it as a safety net rather than you know the proven model or yeah i
(33:50):
i'd love you to talk to talk to us about that yeah so this one is all of a product
of being around the right community of people at the right time so you know
as i was you know started co-leading,
and I used to attend it before me and Rob started co-leading this micro tribe of leaving my W-2.
If you'd asked me four years ago, it would have been 100% real estate,
(34:14):
real estate, real estate.
And while I'm still actively investing in the real estate,
what you start to find out, a lot of the successful people who have massive
real real estate portfolios, the driver of what built those portfolios are businesses.
And so, and then you meet just a very wide range of people who are super successful.
(34:37):
And then like, I always thought, you know, and then I guess money is the easy
measurement stick, right?
You see somebody who has like a big business or who you view as uber successful
and you think they just have it all figured out. Like, oh, they just got to
be buttoned up from like A to Z.
And then when you find out, like, they're just human beings.
(34:59):
They all have the same challenges, opportunities that we have,
the fears, the self-limit beliefs they have just at a different level, you know?
So none of that stuff ever goes away.
And I start to kind of learn that, right? From being in these different rooms
and being in different accountability groups.
(35:22):
And it was really good for me because it brought a lot of perspective because.
To be 100% vulnerable, when I start going down this journey,
I don't know if you'd struggle with this, something I worked on,
it's really subsided now, but it's like, what value can I add?
That will always be the thing I would struggle with, especially when I first
(35:43):
started going to meetups, my
very first meetups when I was chasing David Green all around the Bay Area.
I knew nothing. I'm like, what value can I add?
And then I just got past that, started meeting people. And the cool thing about
real estate meetups is like, it's always good energy. People want to see you succeed.
But then as you get in the bigger rooms, it's like, that's still a pop up.
It's like, hey, dude, I'm only done a couple of deals. Like, what value can I add?
(36:07):
And, you know, when I joined GoBundance, that's why I joined it,
because I want to get past that.
And then once I got in this room with these bigger peoples who have had all
this different success in different parts of life, whether it be health,
wealth, family, you know, spiritual,
it really showed me, like, the value that I could add as far as,
(36:28):
like, the things that I've learned from my W-2 and leadership roles.
And then what came out of that from one of my, we call it our goal pod,
is like, dude, like, why don't you have your own business?
They literally called me out like, like what's your skillset and what,
you know, like you should, you should have some type of like sales business.
(36:49):
And it was like this aha that I, you know, like you are right.
I've literally, that's what I've done for like the last 15, 20 years is build
sales teams, training, coaching, development, but it was for a corporate environment.
And so that kind of got me my the brains kind of thinking about acquiring a small business.
And so my commitment to them was to to acquire a small business by June 30th, 2025.
(37:14):
That was my commitment to them. and fast forward
to now within go abundance i you know
met another guy who who has
a few other businesses and then he walked me through kind of what he was working
on and out here in oregon with that one painting franchise it's a residential
commercial painting franchise so we met really good guy a line you know he's
(37:38):
same thing like you know owns businesses owns real estate.
We have a lot of similarities where he's going down this path to see what's possible for him.
Same thing, just like you. It's one of those things where.
There's a lot of similarities and commonalities.
(38:01):
And then I just like, I'm at a point where I like being around good people who
bring me energy. Like this conversation brings me a lot of energy. That's why I'm here.
And like, I just like, I don't know about you.
It's kind of like what you said, like how, when you left and came to the States,
you kind of created this new, you can become whoever you want to be and you
can put yourself around people you want to, you want to be around.
(38:23):
And so when I left California, Oregon, him, I was very intentional about that.
I only put myself around people who give me energy or that, that just, it's just good.
I like being around good human beings. And so me and him clicked like that.
We kind of went back and forth to see how we can make this work.
And we did. So in February.
(38:44):
2020, I left Red Bull and then we launched last week or not last week,
last month, that one painter so building from
the ground up and then you asked earlier about franchise versus
a standard business i would have
been open for for for either actually because like
i was looking to take over an existing business that
(39:06):
has some opportunities whether it be sales whether
it be efficiencies whether it be technology and then
take it add that layer on top of it and accelerate
accelerated so i honestly up until this
point i had hadn't even really looked at the franchise model
this just made sense based on where i was at and then i really clicked with
(39:28):
my partner on it and we made it make sense so yeah i mean franchise nothing
wrong with a franchise like there's so many there's so many terrible ones out
there but then there's also so many terrible small businesses.
So yeah, I spoke a while back to a franchise consultant and it was fascinating.
He's like, yeah, there's, there's a ton of crappy franchises,
(39:50):
but there's a ton of great ones as well.
What's interesting is, is that the space you're in,
which is, and the reason it's interesting is I was listening to a podcast this
morning with pomp Anthony Pompeo, and he was talking about the businesses he
owns and the businesses that very successful people owns and billionaires like the, the, the, the, the
you know the founder of kinkos who's a billionaire and
(40:13):
does you know built his billions on copying so it
doesn't need to be this tech unicorn in fact
it's easier to compete with mom and
pops in the painting world than um was it sam altman in chat gpt right it's
like who do you want to compete with zuckerberg or some local painting firm
that you know don't have their things together they don't manage their staff
(40:36):
properly they're they're tired they're jaded that kind of stuff so So it's interesting.
I like that. I think we're, you know, and the other point was what can't be replaced by AI.
Now, eventually they probably will be painting robots.
Yeah. But right now you need that finesse. You need the eye for detail and all that kind of stuff.
(40:56):
So that's super interesting. And I think, yeah, more credit to you in taking that leap.
I'm certainly going to go and look at GoBundance as a powerful driver.
Either i think the taking action thing is the takeaway right so if you were
starting today or no we've kind of had that conversation already let's say you
(41:16):
you get home from your w2 at 5 p.m you you fire up a microwave meal and you
sit and play xbox for the next two hours.
What's what are you telling yourself what's this what's jason in the in this
universe telling multiverse Jason?
So if I'm sitting playing Xbox for two hours, oh man.
(41:41):
The way I'm wired now and how I spend my time.
Oh that's a really good interesting question because i used to be a gamer when i was,
you don't have time now right no no
yeah if you're asking
me like what would i be telling myself so if i'm just sitting
there are you talking about like how would you how would you flick that switch
(42:03):
to make a change there you go oh got it got it got it so if if i'm that guy
i'm gaming i'm not using much my time wisely like how would i flip the switch
I think that version of me,
it's going to take some effort on that version of me.
And you've got to ask the big question, am I really happy?
(42:28):
Am I on the path to achieve my goals?
And then like, how does what I'm doing now, how I'm investing my time, how does it serve me?
You just got to ask bigger questions. and I
think that's the quickest way to flip
the switch and so if I ask those questions
(42:49):
I'm on the path to hit my goals and the answer is yes then I'm okay I'm gonna
keep playing xbox and eating microwave pizzas right if that's no okay not red
flag but okay that's that's point number one okay,
is what I'm doing serve me towards hitting my goals if that answers yes then
(43:15):
I may be a pro gamer if not then that's the aha number two.
And then it starts there because you can go to all the conferences,
John, you can go get all, even all the coaching, you can, you can have all this
support, listen to all the podcasts, read all the books.
(43:37):
But if you as a person, as an individual, don't ask yourself the right questions
and get clear on what you want, you're never going to take the right action.
That's just, that's just me. You know, like I know, I know active people who
go to a ton of conferences and they still never done anything.
I know, I know people who have read a ton of books and they've never take action
(44:00):
from that book, you know?
And so at the end of the day, as I look at it to, to, to get for more momentum
or movement of any kind, there has to be some type of action.
And the action it could be as small as just asking yourself the right questions
to get you thinking, right?
And that's the nudge you need to, okay, let me put my goals on paper or what
(44:26):
I want my life to look like in the next five, 10 years. That's action number two.
Okay, what are the steps that I can do to begin to get me towards that path?
That's action number three. But at the end of the day, There has to be some
type of action, because if I'm that guy who just had my microwave pizza and
I'm two hours on Xbox and the only actions I'm taking is me, you know, playing Xbox,
(44:52):
that's going to be me next year.
That's going to be me in two years and three years.
And so no matter how you look at it, there has to be some some intentional effort taken by that person.
And then I guess the other, the other, I guess, way to fast track that is to
get around people that are, are where you, you want to go.
(45:18):
Or, you know, two steps ahead of you. Because just by proximity,
if that's truly what you want, you will start changing your behaviors.
But then again, that's still an action step. So at the end of the day,
it comes down to some action of some sort.
But the two ways, asking the right questions will be one.
(45:41):
The other way is just getting around the right group of people.
Love that. that yeah jason that's that's
so so cool and thank you so much for your for your time today how
can people get in touch with you uh you
can get in touch with me on facebook uh
jason james on facebook or you can connect with me at that one painter oregon
(46:03):
city um on facebook or online at that one painter oregon city so cool we'll
put links in the show notes so people can just Just scroll down, click, and go say hi.
Yeah, Jason, thank you so much for your time. I feel super motivated. So that's good.
You've done your job, right? I try. I try. No, this has been great,
(46:24):
man. I'm glad we finally got to connect.
You know, love chatting with you as always. But yeah, I had a really good conversation,
man. Thank you. I appreciate it.
Thanks, Jason. And we'll be back next week.
Music.
Thank you for listening to invest stories if you like what you've heard please
(46:44):
consider sharing and writing a five-star review.
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