Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 8 (00:00):
Next started leaking,
cause there's a hot tub out
(00:03):
back, 8, 000 there.
this great opportunity turnedinto just like a money pit that
we weren't expecting.
Yes.
Then, we rented it out, thebiggest one happened.
in the property, it went dry.
Speaker 5 (00:19):
Oh
Speaker 8 (00:19):
my.
Yeah, didn't even, I've neverowned a well before, I've never,
we're at the top of a mountainin East Tennessee.
Oh no.
Calling a well company todiagnose it or do whatever is
like the worst thing in theworld.
Oh my.
come to find out after digging,the previous owner, something
had happened with their old pumpin it and halfway down.
(00:43):
in the well.
So the well is supposed be about1100, 1100 feet deep.
There was a pump stuck in therefeet down.
Speaker 5 (00:48):
Okay.
Speaker 8 (00:48):
So water was, we were
only pulling half of what we
should have been pulling.
Speaker 5 (00:53):
Okay.
Speaker 8 (00:54):
So it wasn't a dry
well.
It was an old pump, pump thatwas stuck.
Good news.
Easy fix.
So this was about a year and ahalf into our journey, and so we
struggled with keeping guestshappy.
So that was a huge thing wasguests would be there, they
would run out of water becauseit just couldn't keep up with
them taking showers for 45minutes and all that stuff.
(01:14):
We got a quote for a new well,and it was 70, 000.
Oh my.
Yeah.
So this beautiful investment,property,
Speaker (01:21):
it
Speaker 8 (01:22):
over the last three
years has has really Cause like
a lot of heartache.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
T.
Speaker 8 (02:06):
J.
Brile.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Thank you for being
here on the invested father's
day, buddy.
Thanks for having me We're backin the Johnson basement.
Speaker 8 (02:12):
love it.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
And we're just
catching up about college days
Career journey.
You've had quite a story withthe lawn dad that we'll get
Speaker 2 (02:21):
how are you, feeling
today?
Speaker 8 (02:22):
Good it's like
nostalgic.
It's like my old best friendslike mom's basement.
This is like perfect ineverything.
It's awesome.
Yeah
Speaker 2 (02:29):
We
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Appreciate you making
time today.
Let's actually just dive rightinto that.
We were just talking about aninvestment that you did in, is
it Tennessee?
Tennessee.
Okay, we talk a lot about realestate, dadhood, businesses, we
got a case study here ofsomething you're you're not even
through it yet, so give us alittle bit of a high level,
what's your latest update onthis specific
Speaker 8 (02:48):
investment?
Boy, I hate being the casestudy, let
Speaker (02:51):
tell
Speaker 8 (02:51):
So back in 2021, so
my, my wife and I, we started
making money.
It's okay, next step is we needto invest in a property, right?
Okay.
So back in 2021, we wanted ourfirst investment property to be
an Airbnb.
Speaker 5 (03:04):
Yeah,
Speaker 8 (03:04):
so we also wanted
Airbnb that we could take our to
visit to be as like a secondhome type thing So we did do a
second home loan on it.
Speaker 6 (03:12):
Yeah,
Speaker 8 (03:12):
so we chose
Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Yeah, it's good place.
Speaker (03:16):
What
Speaker 8 (03:18):
right?
they, do.
So back in 2021, this hadn'tbeen released yet, but when we
purchased the cabin, so it's acabin on top of a mountain,
views, you can see 200 milesaway.
It's it is it.
When we went there, this was it.
A little bit more than what wewanted to spend.
We spent 590, 000 on it.
(03:39):
Yeah.
So pretty stout investment.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Yeah.
That's
Speaker 8 (03:43):
Yes.
But yes, for the first one.
so air DNA numbers were comingsuper hot.
Man, we're about 90, 000 on thecabin per year.
great investment, Rates weresuper low.
125 interest rate on it.
our mortgage payment with taxand insurance is, just, right
around 2, 500 bucks.
low.
numbers are, like, insane.
Yeah.
The one thing that I wish Iwould have dug further, but the
(04:07):
one thing that I didn't reallylook into is owners.
They were much older.
They never So it had never beena rental property before So it
was the second home of theirs.
It was shut down six months outof the year months out of the
year Should have been a red flagpossibly but like I didn't have
numbers to go off of so I boughtthe Did a full renovation on it
(04:28):
probably put about sixtythousand dollars in brand new
floors Furniture, like fullyfurnished, turnkey, ready to go.
Then the problem startedhappening.
I'll say everything sounds good.
Everything sounds great.
Yeah, a family.
It was awesome.
The views were great.
the views, right?
AC went out.
So I don't know if you knowanything about the recent air
conditioning laws with Freon andall that stuff.
(04:50):
basically we hit the mark of,you can't just put Freon into
it.
You have to get a whole newsystem because the rules of,
Freon had changed.
14, 000, Yeah.
we're gonna expect that.
Next started leaking, causethere's a hot tub out back, 8,
000 there.
this great opportunity turnedinto just like a money pit that
(05:11):
we weren't expecting.
Yes.
Then, we rented it out, thebiggest one happened.
in the property, it went dry.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
Oh
Speaker 8 (05:19):
my.
Yeah, didn't even, I've neverowned a well before, I've never,
we're at the top of a mountainin East Tennessee.
Oh no.
Calling a well company todiagnose it or do whatever is
like the worst thing in theworld.
Oh my.
come to find out after digging,the previous owner, something
had happened with their old pumpin it and halfway down.
(05:43):
in the well.
So the well is supposed be about1100, 1100 feet deep.
There was a pump stuck in therefeet down.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
Okay.
Speaker 8 (05:49):
So water was, we were
only pulling half of what we
should have been pulling.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
Okay.
Speaker 8 (05:54):
So it wasn't a dry
well.
It was an old pump, pump thatwas stuck.
Good news.
Easy fix.
So this was about a year and ahalf into our journey, and so we
struggled with keeping guestshappy.
So that was a huge thing wasguests would be there, they
would run out of water becauseit just couldn't keep up with
them taking showers for 45minutes and all that stuff.
(06:14):
We got a quote for a new well,and it was 70, 000.
Oh my.
Yeah.
So this beautiful investment,property,
Speaker (06:22):
it
Speaker 8 (06:22):
over the last three
years has really Cause like a
lot of heartache.
Speaker (06:28):
So
Speaker 8 (06:28):
people always joke
Oh, when's your next investment
property?
I'm still dealing with the firstone.
So to wrap that story up,company is they work regionally.
they don't just work inTennessee.
They work in North Carolina,South Carolina.
They work regionally like inthis area.
So they have, they're likenumber one in the region.
(06:48):
They've got the rigs to be ableto like.
Go down thousands and thousandsof feet, like they are the top
one.
We waited three months for themto even come out and look at the
property, but they were it, soactually yesterday I got news
that they took the pump and theywere able to get it out of the
way so it go, went from$70,000to potentially, now we're just
(07:10):
paying them like$3,000 for adiagnose and fix, but it's
because they had that huge rigthat was able to do what the
other.
Companies rigs couldn't do.
So
Speaker 4 (07:20):
what it.
I see that big sigh.
Okay.
we're almost there.
We're
Speaker 8 (07:24):
almost out of it.
Okay.
So now we can potentially getthis property we're gonna sell
it.
Speaker 7 (07:29):
And
Speaker 8 (07:30):
it.
Yeah.
are there and Yeah, the numbersare there and we just need to
make money on it.
So yeah.
That's my first and only rentalthat I've got.
Okay.
Man.
It is just kinda like the worstpossible scenario ever.
Wow.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
That is a There is a
bad side
Speaker 8 (07:44):
to investing.
Yeah, unfortunately,
Speaker 4 (07:46):
you had posed the
question I don't even know what
syndication is off camera.
Speaker 6 (07:50):
Yeah,
Speaker 4 (07:51):
and so there's a
world where you can invest Into
Speaker 2 (07:56):
zero
Speaker 4 (07:56):
of the I'm sorry, not
ownership The management of the
site but yet still be an owner.
So that means you would stillget tax benefits you would still
get a percentage of the profitthat was made but no, no heavy
lifting.
So that's been my new, that'sthe horror story of investing.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
The wells and the AC
units and the hot tubs.
that is.
Yeah,
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Exactly.
Speaker (08:20):
great.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
back, dude.
you've, I know we skipped aheadin your career, but.
I want to know the T.
J.
Bryle story, not from babyhood,but more just start the career
journey.
Speaker 7 (08:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
we actually, we were
joking a little bit.
We did a Panera or something upwhen you were doing mortgage.
Speaker 5 (08:37):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
So maybe let's just
start there.
how long did you do that?
And then tell us about the LawnDad.
Yeah,
Speaker 8 (08:43):
well to start off, I
was born at a very young age.
okay, so start there.
Speaker (08:47):
that
Speaker 8 (08:48):
that was a dad joke.
No, that's, you're in safecompany.
You are in I had to use a dadpodcast, right?
so yeah, we met up at Panera.
That was, man, that was, I don'teven know what date.
That was probably
Speaker 4 (08:57):
10, ago.
Speaker 8 (08:58):
Something like that.
So yeah, I was in mortgages, fora while.
So my dad was in mortgages mywhole life.
So I from the mortgagebackground.
hit a point in my, young career,like what do I do with my life?
And my dad is good career pathand sales.
You're good at talking with didmortgages.
So I was working.
In the mortgage industry for Iwant to say seven or eight years
(09:20):
so met a lot of great people.
I columbia market While my wifewas in med school, and then we
moved to the greenville market.
So great career hustle career Soalways, where's the next deal
coming from?
A lot of coffees a lot ofinvestor talks a lot of panera
meetings It was a great career.
It was a big grind Financially,it was a great career, as well.
(09:44):
So that's where my I guess bigboy career started was
mortgages.
Yeah did top 30 out of 300mortgage loan officers top 30
for a couple years straight.
I just did over 30 million in Inclosed business, that's, it's a
stout number, but especially forsomebody my age.
Yeah.
(10:04):
so that it was just a grind.
It was awesome.
we had our first kid and thatgrind turned to man, this is a
lot of work.
Yes.
2021, 2022 hit.
And you remember what Happenedwith rates and stuff.
They dropped.
We were busy.
we were doing 25, 30 loans amonth, and that was just me and
my assistant.
We didn't have a huge team thatwas 25 to 30 loans per month for
(10:29):
personally doing
Speaker 5 (10:30):
Wow.
Speaker 8 (10:30):
So it was a grind.
it definitely was lopsided onthe career Situation.
so definitely didn't get theamount of time that I wanted
with my wife, but also ourfirst.
Child.
Um,
Speaker 4 (10:41):
let's just pause
there.
so that was 2020.
So this was like four years ago.
Speaker 9 (10:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
because I have a
similar story in regards to,
three years I was just outworking because I felt that was
what I needed to do.
You need to grind.
yeah.
And that was right.
but our marriage started goingamiss.
We had a out, a food allergy andI wasn't.
Connecting and supporting sosimilar situation.
(11:06):
Yeah, yeah, see start going tomiss dinner time?
Speaker 8 (11:10):
the thing is too is
my wife also has a super full
time job And so just connectingwith your spouse Is just
impossible.
She's working.
She does 24 hour shifts at thehospital.
so sometimes I wouldn't see herfor, a day or two.
And even then it was in passing.
And it's that's not,
Speaker 5 (11:28):
that's
Speaker 8 (11:28):
not healthy, man.
And then, first kid, I've gotthree now.
But having one kid is likecrazy.
Huge shift.
It's a huge shift, going from nokids to one kid.
So even just thankfully shedidn't have any allergies or
anything wrong with her.
But It was just a lot tomaintain, figuring it out and
also having a marriage to figureout.
so it was more so justunhealthy.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We'll continue so you guys, hadthe first kid, so you have two
more eventually.
Yeah.
So tell us what happened.
so
Speaker 8 (11:53):
mortgages, so yeah,
2021 2022 was a crazy year.
So during the pandemic and thisis gonna lead to the end but
during the pandemic I got reallyinto taking care of my grass
Yeah, you couldn't go outanywhere You're stuck at home so
might as well.
You're home.
It's crazy to think about thepandemic days, right?
Like how did that even exist?
(12:14):
But I was at home sitting at myhome office that I created out
of our house and I'm justlooking out the windows like
Yeah, the grass doesn't lookthat great.
Then you get on YouTube andstart watching, how to videos
and how to take care of yourgrass and stuff.
So I was already like fascinatedwith my grass and maintaining
it.
And I was the guy cutting everysingle Saturday was like, was a
dad before a dad, but I gotsuper heavily involved with and
(12:36):
just making it look really goodand figuring out how to make it
look nice.
what's the hack to make it looklike a golf course.
And then I discovered reelmowing.
So reel mowing is a way ofmowing to where it's not, you're
not using a conventional rotarymower like you'd Depot.
You're using a golf course mowerthat has a reel that spins out
(12:56):
front rather than underneath.
That's how you get it cut downreally low.
Once I discovered that, and thatBermuda loves being cut low, I
got like we can call itHyperfixated on it, yeah, just
like, how do I make it better?
how do I, just make it, thecompliments from the UPS driver
when he drives up is just man,your grass looks really good,
thanks, man, I appreciate that,I started a little bit more,
(13:19):
working still a grind, butultimately, Ultimately, the
driving factor of why I evenposted on the Lawn Dad channel
or created the Lawn Dad personaor brand or whatever it is was,
I was, the real estate industrywith real estate agents was a
very toxic relationship.
(13:40):
real estate agents are very,also salespeople too.
They're trying to take anythingthat goes wrong is the lender's
fault.
a lot of, Not hatred, but a lotof, man, what's the word I'm
looking for?
Speaker 4 (13:53):
hostility,
Speaker 8 (13:54):
toxicness, animosity.
So if the in low, it's my fault.
If, the closing date getspushed, Yeah, I'm scapegoat.
And if the closing date getspushed by three days, God forbid
we close three days later.
the world is ending.
it is, my fault, I'm the worstperson in the world.
imagine doing, at that time whenrates were a little bit higher.
(14:18):
Imagine doing 10 to 15 loans andhalf of those you got realtors
on the other end calling younames that you don't want to be
called.
You're already away from yourfamily, you're working with 10
to 15 families on closing ontheir home or investment
property or whatever.
It just becomes very toxic.
and I haven't shared this reallyoutside of my wife, but
(14:39):
Truthfully, real estate agentsare the reason why I got out of
the mortgage lending business.
and that's not every single realestate.
I had great real estatepartners, but they were
partners.
Other real estate agents werejust real estate agents to me.
and they really drove me awayfrom the passion of helping
families get into homes.
Now it was, how do I just makethis realtor just stop calling
(15:01):
me?
it just wasn't great.
So taking care of my lawns whileI'm hating life.
Yes.
In the mortgage industry.
Yes.
You escape it sounds hey, it
Speaker 4 (15:10):
toxic mess, but like
I can control and see the fruits
of my labor here.
Yep.
I'm fully
Speaker 8 (15:15):
engaged.
It looked good.
And my grass Yeah.
And my grass didn't talk back tome.
Yes.
It didn't call me at 7:00 PM ona Saturday night things.
It was something that like, if Idid this, it looked great.
And so and.
And I don't know what caused meto take a video of it or just do
it, but maybe it was just mycreative side.
I graduated with a graphicdesign degree.
(15:37):
I didn't necessarily createsomething to be a creator.
I just, I was just like, Hey,I'm just going to video me
Speaker (15:42):
I
Speaker 8 (15:43):
like it.
And the second video that Iposted ended up going viral.
Wow.
Yep.
So most people post before theirfirst video goes viral.
I don't know what it was, butthe algorithm picked it up and
within 48 hours, I had almost 5million views on that I posted.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
5 million?
Speaker 8 (16:04):
5 million.
Oh my goodness.
Yeah.
Okay.
So that was my second video thatI posted.
I posted another video that didvery well.
It was a six figure views, acouple hundred thousand views.
fourth video that I posted didwell, what is going on?
contacted by companies.
so like fertilizer companyreached out and they said, Hey,
(16:24):
we love your videos.
We want to send you I'm like,that's kinda cool,
Speaker (16:28):
Hey, I'm
Speaker 8 (16:29):
I'm paying 60 a bag
for fertilizer and it's gonna
send it to me for free?
oh, I'm cool.
Elite.
Yeah, I'm like elite.
I made it.
but all the while, that secondvideo followers and stuff.
Speaker 9 (16:41):
And
Speaker 8 (16:41):
at that time it was
Master's week.
So it season, I think timing hada lot play in it.
Everybody was like getting intotheir lawns.
it was about April, May.
so everybody was getting intotheir lawns.
And it just, I think timing wasperfect.
But, you see my logo.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
Logo.
Speaker 8 (16:58):
Yeah, perfect.
It looks like the Master's logo.
It's
Speaker 4 (17:00):
perfect, dude.
Speaker 8 (17:00):
So I was sitting
there, I was sitting there
watching the Master's And thevideos are going viral and
stuff.
And I'm just like, I need alogo.
because I'm a graphic designer,I need a logo.
so I created the logo for theLawn Dad, which, by the way,
back to the Lawn Dad name, Icouldn't believe it was
available.
Yeah.
I just chose, Lawn Dad, oh,everybody calls themselves the
Lawn Dad.
it had the green check mark nextto it when I typed it in, and
(17:21):
I'm like, how is this not taken?
Speaker (17:23):
So
Speaker 8 (17:24):
Lawn Dad, I didn't
know thought into it, know
nothing.
It was just, it was available.
Sweet.
So I took it.
And then I created the Masterslogo on it, and the next, I
would say the next year, postingvideos, they were doing well, I
was getting companies contactingme and then it started to get
into paid posts, hey, this andwe'll also pay you 500 bucks to
(17:45):
post, 500 dollars to postsomething,
Speaker (17:49):
So.
Speaker 8 (17:50):
That kind of led into
focusing on it a little bit more
making a good amount of money.
Speaker (17:56):
Then
Speaker 8 (17:56):
teamed that up with
the toxic relationships that I
was having with the realtorsjust It just was not fun
anymore.
My passion was starting to feellike it was leaning
Speaker (18:06):
a
Speaker 8 (18:06):
a stay at home dad
taking care of my grass.
Sounds pretty great
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Sounds
Speaker 8 (18:08):
pretty stress free.
Yes So that's where it led Intomy Yeah, then a big thing
Speaker (18:15):
had a
Speaker 8 (18:17):
We had a beautiful
custom built home.
We were on 12 acres Somethinghappened with our neighbors just
a personal scenario happenedwith our listing their house and
selling it that they sold wasthe same builder same architect.
They were also on 12 acresSimilar floor plan modern
farmhouse type build.
They ended up selling it and theprice they sold it for our eyes
(18:39):
Wide open.
wide open.
You're like wow that sold forthat much.
Yep so we were looking at ourhouse no plans on moving no
anything, but Me being amortgage person.
I knew the numbers.
I saw that and I knew ournumbers for what we built it for
back in 2019 lumber prices wentcrazy So I told my wife I said
(19:01):
we really need a no joking weneed to look at these numbers So
we looked at them random and itwas close to seven figures that
we would make so enough, enoughto uproot our dream and change
our lives completely.
Speaker 5 (19:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (19:16):
her agreement was, I
will sell this house and we'll
do this if you give me a thirdbaby.
Wow.
Okay.
So I felt strongly it because Iwas set on two kids at that
time.
We had a, we had our son, he wasreally young.
I think he was.
I think it was a couple monthsold.
So we had two kids, and I wasset on two kids.
(19:37):
And she said, Alright, I see thenumbers.
If you feel passionately aboutit, I also want, my passion is
to have a third kid.
So if we do this, we're having athird kid.
I said, let's do it.
So we have three kids walkedaway, paid off all of our debt,
except for our real estate.
So That ultimately was thecatalyst that allowed me to say,
Speaker (19:59):
You
Speaker 8 (19:59):
know what?
I'm giving up mortgages.
I'm focusing full time on LawnDad, and we're moving.
And that was, that's how Itransitioned into the career of
being a content creator, andtaking care of my lawn full
time.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
Yeah, if you guys are
not checking out The Lawn Dad
already, Check it out.
TJ amazing videos.
and there's just something sofulfilling about watching
somebody mow the lawn or go dothe stripes and your grass looks
just perfect.
It looks Yeah, that's what,that's
Speaker 8 (20:27):
what I strive for is
the satisfaction.
I think that's what people getout of my channel.
Satisfaction.
Also, they learn too.
But.
That's what I've been focusingon is the satisfaction stuff.
Yeah.
People love it.
Awesome.
It's like pressure washing adriveway.
Yes.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
No, it's so good.
It's so like visually appealing.
Speaker 7 (20:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
let's go just even a
tiny bit further on Lawndad's
future.
Speaker 7 (20:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
Because we were just
talking briefly on what is the
next step for Lawndad?
So mortgages behind you,toxicity you, dadhood is in the
thick of it, grass So what's thenext step for Lawndad?
Speaker 8 (20:58):
So next up is couple
things actually, so few irons in
the fire.
So content creation, especiallyin the lawn nobody's been there.
So in, in other industries,people like call it makeup
industries or real estateindustries, people are at the
very top, who are estateinvestors.
That you would follow.
(21:19):
Yeah, Grant Cardone,
Speaker 4 (21:21):
Ryan
Speaker 8 (21:22):
those people are like
crazy high unattainable There's
nobody in the lawn like theperson that's there Yeah,
there's one or two accounts thatdefinitely have a huge amount of
following and it's amazing butmy goal is to be, since I have
the name, the lawn dad andeverybody refers themselves, the
lawn dad, let's make it the topaccount.
Yeah.
so there's couple of things inthe works.
(21:43):
One is just to continue what I'mdoing, solidifying partnerships.
So I just signed a really greatcontract with RYOBI.
so RYOBI is going to be one ofmy main sponsors for the 2025
season.
I've got another lawnmowercompany, Rolex, which they're a
real mower company.
so I signed a partnershipagreement with them.
So focusing on solidifying corepartnerships where everybody
(22:08):
knows mowers, the hoses, thefertilizers, use.
so it just solidifies thosebrands but also grows mine.
But then also collaborating withthree other creators in the lawn
space.
and we're
Speaker (22:21):
we're
Speaker 8 (22:22):
a content mecca for
education.
So the first question thateverybody asks me is, how do I
make my grass better?
That question is the most loadedquestion.
Like, where do what kind ofgrass do you have?
that lead up to how to make yourgrass better.
but we're creating a hub for allthose questions.
(22:43):
do, go to this website.
Type in your question and itwill give you a YouTube style
layout of Wow.
it'll say, how to make my grassbetter.
Where do you live?
Michigan.
Boom.
For anybody who lives inMichigan, they'll get fed to
them ten videos on how to makeyour grass better just to start.
(23:03):
So it's like a catalyst forsomeone just to go and just
learn how to take care of theirgrass better.
Cool.
Also DIY projects and all thatstuff, but Yeah.
Now That's awesome, dude.
It's a big engine to it.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
I love that you're
not small.
You're thinking big with, I wantto be number one mom and dad.
And it's exciting your journeyof This is what I, hated in this
certain type walk.
Found some success.
Some of it's somewhathappenstance with the
Speaker 3 (23:31):
but
Speaker 4 (23:32):
you know what?
I want to, really want to pursuethis.
That's one of the audience isthat, there, there seems like
there's shackles to likepursuing your dreams.
But forget the dreams.
it's the priorities.
I think that's what I also heardin your story is some of these
things, it's working for the manor realized at 7 o'clock at
night when I was getting thesephone calls, Why am I doing
this?
(23:52):
Yep.
So I this facade or, drift asdads.
Just I guess I just have to dothis.
This is just part of what it is.
And I would say, no.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
What is
Speaker 4 (24:03):
is it that you want
to do?
What are your goals?
And let's pursue Kudos for allthat on, on that.
Yeah.
Thanks, man.
gonna shift.
that was the business.
home one of the things I want togive my audience is, I'm just
curious,
Speaker 2 (24:17):
you,
Speaker 4 (24:18):
how old are you?
I am 34.
of years to live.
Couple years, hopefully.
There's some energy, it's stillin the tank.
what are some things that maybehave crystal, become clear in
the values or these are thelike, matter?
Through the short time thatyou've been a dad, but also just
maybe Again, something thatyou've you stood out as
(24:41):
something that's reallyimportant to you.
Speaker (24:43):
Maybe
Speaker 8 (24:44):
this is true for a
lot of dads And a lot of new
dads and a lot of young dads isI feel like I'm not the best dad
out there And that's HopefullyI'm not the only one who thinks
that.
You're the only one that feelsthat way.
It's a daily thought for me.
one is constantly striving to bethe best dad that I can.
But knowing that I'm, I like, tobe a dad in college.
(25:07):
Like I didn't study to, to dothis.
so learning, just like I learnedhow to Cut my grass and learned
how to do mortgages.
It's a it's something that Ihave to keep on learning But one
thing that didn't expect peopletold me but I didn't expect is
how fast your kids grow up
Speaker 9 (25:25):
My
Speaker 8 (25:26):
daughter just the
other night.
She was having growing pains
Speaker (25:30):
I'm
Speaker 8 (25:31):
remember having
growing pains like she's at a
point now to where she like,she's going to be remembering
did, what, what we did duringthe day, what I said to her, how
I reacted to something.
it's true.
Kids grow up really fast.
now.
just consciously making timespending time with her.
Speaker (25:52):
realizing
Speaker 8 (25:53):
that she's going to
remember the times that we hung
out what we did So we thebackyard and we've got a little
playhouse in the backyard Sotaking her out just letting her
play in the river, dude She'sgonna remember that like when
that she's 30 years old like,playing the river back like
that's Crazy.
Yeah, it's also very dangerous,but exciting.
(26:14):
Yeah, so create better memoriesand like just be conscious about
like
Speaker (26:19):
when I'm
Speaker 8 (26:19):
I'm on my phone or
when I am working
Speaker (26:23):
she
Speaker 8 (26:23):
wants me to come back
into the room and kiss her at
night Like there's like multiplethings just like consciously
nope, let's do gonna rememberthat So I think that's something
that I've realized within thepast year.
It's just yeah kids really dogrow fast crazy.
She's already four and havinggrowing pains.
Yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
I know we have
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Um,
Speaker 4 (26:44):
It's, this little
rough with my three year old in
regards to just yelling tearsand slamming doors and whatnot.
So that was one of our mornings.
But I, as a dad, you're justlike, how do I train for this?
There are times I react verypoorly to that and then there
are times I'm like, you knowwhat, she needs love.
She needs to see that, she'ssafe.
(27:06):
And there are some was avictory, more or less, in how I
responded to it.
But other I yell with her.
It's was not, that might havejust messed her up.
therapy for the next four I getthat, really appreciate your
answer in regards to time.
Time is, I would say a theme onthe show in regards to you can't
get it back.
It's the most valuable resourcewe have.
And what are we doing with ourtime?
And how are we showing ourpriorities with our time?
(27:28):
Because I feel like that's oneof the biggest Indicators like
what do you care about?
what are you spending your timewith?
even to the degree of like howam I being a better dad?
things that we can work on thatwe'd be intentional about that
will still fail But of likevalue that here have just like I
want to be a better dad How canI continue to just keep leveling
(27:50):
up?
so you three out of four, sobecause that's your oldest, Yep.
let's talk a little bit, let'ssee, I mean anything, anything
jump out at you as,
Speaker 2 (27:58):
this
Speaker 4 (27:58):
sounds like a, pretty
deep question, like biggest
struggle you faced being a dad.
I think you just said like timebeing a thing, but.
I always feel like it's helpfulto know, like you said, I don't
know if I'm the only one thatfeels this way, but
Speaker 2 (28:08):
I
Speaker 4 (28:08):
don't feel like I'm
the best dad.
in safe company, understand,but, maybe something that
you've, experienced that you'rerather in the middle of it now,
or you've come out of it hardthat I had to, could even be
with your wife, anything jumpout in that
Speaker 8 (28:21):
I, I would say like
something that I was I don't
like babies.
and that's a slap in the facecomment.
Like I don't like babies.
if somebody else brings it, it'sjust, don't want to hold it.
I don't think it's cute.
I don't like, I know I don'twant to go see the baby that had
a baby.
no, I don't want to go see it.
Speaker (28:42):
care.
Speaker 8 (28:42):
and that, and maybe
that's a.
Maybe that's like an internalthing that I should care, but
but same with my own kids, it'sjust, it's, I struggle with the
first six months of having ababy, it's just because, I don't
feel any connection with it,because I'm not breastfeeding
it, I'm not, just being like,alright, to show my wife that I
love I will love this baby.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
Yeah,
Speaker 8 (29:02):
you're
Speaker 4 (29:02):
not the only person
I've heard say that.
It's hard.
It's
Speaker 8 (29:05):
hard to connect.
And I think that's a connection.
and I just don't connect with ababy because there's no
emotions.
There's lot Sorry.
but you think about it, a babyaffects your wife.
it affects her sleep, herattitude, her mood, her life,
her wellbeing.
Like it affects everything.
And almost.
(29:26):
Maybe internally, she takes herfocus off and gives it to the
baby.
Speaker (29:30):
So
Speaker 8 (29:31):
that's part of it.
But, with having our third andfinal kid coming out of it, I
think that's maybe somethingthat I'm
Speaker (29:38):
thankfully
Speaker 8 (29:39):
coming out of is the
baby phase.
Which is nice.
But, I think that's somethingthat I definitely did struggle
with our first and second.
So having that, that third babyis just consciously alright.
I need to show my wife that Ilove this kid.
I need to help her out more.
I need to like, yeah, likewithout her being like, can you
change the diaper?
yeah, I'll change the diaper.
Speaker 5 (30:00):
Yeah.
Speaker (30:00):
she
Speaker 8 (30:00):
also works 24 hour
shifts.
So I'm at home with all threekids alone.
So I have to take care of thebaby.
I have to get up at 3 a.
m.
when she's hungry and stuff.
And just just doing it withoutcomplaining.
Yeah.
But trying to learn how to loveit.
that's something that I've haveworked on currently working on
coming out of but if it'ssomething like deep internal
(30:22):
like Babies are tough for me.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
Yeah Thank you for
sharing that.
Speaker 8 (30:25):
Yeah
Speaker 4 (30:26):
Babies are tough.
We all have our weak spots.
I think in the child rearingphases.
Yeah
Speaker 8 (30:33):
But the other kids I
love them.
play soccer They do it andthat's where I thrive as a dad.
Yeah, so Maybe that's helping methrive as just just add the baby
along,
Speaker 4 (30:42):
What's a fun, what's
a fun, you mentioned soccer, but
what are some fun things thatyou're enjoying as a dad right
now?
Speaker 8 (30:46):
You mentioned the
creek.
Speaker (30:48):
Yeah,
Speaker 8 (30:49):
just Yeah, my son,
I'm teaching basketball.
So for Christmas, we got him alittle Tykes.
He's two and a half years old.
A little Tykes basketball likeplastic thing that we have in
and he knows how to shoot now.
Speaker (31:02):
So
Speaker 8 (31:03):
basketball, he'll
shoot it from a couple feet
away, and make it, and we'll belike,
Speaker 5 (31:06):
yeah!
Speaker 8 (31:07):
And then with taught
him, you know how when you score
a touchdown, it's typicallyfootball people, but you shake
your knees back and forth?
he does that.
So we'll play football, be So hedrops the football, and he like,
tries do the knee thing, andit's like, all like, funny
little Funny little things andthen our daughter we're teaching
her how to play the piano.
Speaker 6 (31:27):
Oh, wow
Speaker 8 (31:28):
She's yeah, so she's
super young but like just like
tinkering around play the pianoSo
Speaker 9 (31:34):
well,
Speaker 8 (31:34):
I was just things
that are like just like you just
you're like seeing them
Speaker 4 (31:38):
I love I love the the
biggest shift.
It sounds and of course like lawdad is not You know, free, it
takes time to make those videosand go on and, answer questions
and collaborate with thesepeople and partnerships, there's
time needed for that, what itsounds like is the time, number
one, you're thriving in it,you're charged up, I'm sure,
when you're doing it, you'reenjoying it, and it enables the
(32:00):
freedom to have those momentswith your kids
Speaker 2 (32:05):
you how
Speaker 4 (32:09):
how you've been able
to position
Speaker 8 (32:10):
yourself in a way
that you can be there.
Yeah, I went for mortgages.
we had I was still doingmortgages.
I went from about 70 hours aweek.
Wow.
Doing that.
Yep.
Till, I'm probably doing a weekmaybe.
At best.
in the lawn dad space andequally like income wise be.
Pretty even yeah, so it's likeit's just like what is that a
fourth of the time that I'mspending on it, Yeah, that's
(32:33):
crazy.
That's great, man.
Speaker 4 (32:34):
Dude, huge kudos for
Lawn Dad we're wrapping up the
show here.
I've been yeah, we're way past30.
That's okay But
Speaker 2 (32:42):
one of the
Speaker 4 (32:42):
of the questions I
always feel like is helpful for
other listeners is how are weinvesting, financially, because
we're talking about theinvestment in your energy doing
what you enjoy doing, right?
And like toxicity, and that washelping.
but there's the, I think futureas you get older, more of that
passive investing mindset,that's going to keep coming more
and more of like, how can I dosomething one time or, very
(33:03):
limited amount of energy andtime.
And see benefits over the yearsfor this stuff.
has that conversation come up alot with you and your wife in
light of, like, how are webuilding up wealth for the
future?
not that, I
Speaker 8 (33:16):
mean, yeah, I'll just
stop there.
Sure.
monetary, it's just, we've got afinancial investor, investing in
the typical stocks and the, kidsfunds and all that stuff.
Cool.
TBD on the real estate.
Yeah, that's currently otherit's currently a negative
investment So
Speaker 4 (33:32):
that one will we'll
have you back on next we'll just
get an update of how that waspart two coming soon
Speaker 8 (33:37):
So on the back
burner, but we've got some
commercial real estate indowntown Greenville That you
know, I didn't really cover itall but see where that goes.
So there, there are otherinvestments out there, small
businesses, commercial realestate, that are out there that
kind of TBD hold longterm play.
We'll see if they pan out.
Yeah.
(33:57):
but yeah, that's it, justspiderweb everywhere.
Just see what makes it.
Speaker 4 (34:00):
Yeah.
one of the, one of the thingsI've had a lot with my,
investors that I'm working with.
For my job is, they may be supersuccessful in their insurance
agency or, brokerage with,mortgages or whatnot.
there's a sense of this isworking really well for us.
We're but we're getting a lotout of it.
And, one of my goals throughsyndications there'll be a time
(34:23):
where potentially and energyinto this thing.
And let.
this deal takes some of theheavy lifting off your plate, or
you can, with your kids more.
Yeah.
Do whatnot.
Yeah.
The it's all, and Hey, God wantsbe a good steward of what he's
given us.
And you have a, it's, I've beenvery encouraged in this
conversation to see.
He, you have you've always had Ithink a sense of not perfection
(34:45):
in a negative way But like Iwant this be very done very well
a sense of excellence to yourname I mean didn't talk about
cutting boards
Speaker 2 (34:53):
You've done so many
things that I've just seen.
This is really good.
I was planning on doing it.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
But you're using that
through the lawn dad now and
People are getting value out ofit.
And it's just neat to see howyou're using that innate sense
of, excellence to, to, besuccessful.
Yeah.
thank you for checking out that,TJ.
Absolutely.
If, the audience wanted to findout more of what TJ's doing,
Lawn Dad, what would be a wayyou could direct them?
Speaker 8 (35:18):
Yeah, really quick,
easy search, on any social media
platform, the Lawn Dad.
either a master's logo or myugly face on there.
but just look for somebodycutting the grass looking like
crazy person.
that's me.
Speaker 9 (35:30):
Okay.
Speaker 8 (35:30):
T.
J.
It sounds great.
Thanks so much for joining ustoday.
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (35:32):
Thanks for having me
on.