Valuetainment - September 25, 2018


Episode 174： Irish Immigrant Goes From Janitor to Multi-Millionaire


Episode Stats

Length

24 minutes

Words per Minute

196.1355

Word Count

4,852

Sentence Count

543

Misogynist Sentences

2

Hate Speech Sentences

3


Summary

How often do you hear stories of immigrants that come to America and all of a sudden, they go from having nothing to suddenly becoming multimillionaires? Well, today s sit-down with Sean Conlon, who has his own reality TV show all over television and runs it in Chicago, talks about how he went from being a janitor to becoming a multimillionaire in real estate.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 How often do you hear stories of immigrants that come to America and all of a sudden they go from having nothing to suddenly becoming multimillionaires?
00:00:22.960 Well, today's sit-down with Sean Conlon, who has his own reality TV show all over television.
00:00:28.940 He runs it in Chicago.
00:00:30.400 He talks about how he went from being a janitor to all of a sudden become a multimillionaire in real estate.
00:00:36.200 We are here with Sean Conlon, the host of The Deed, and also a very obviously well-known for your real estate mogul with things,
00:00:44.620 which I cannot wait to talk to you about and figure out a little bit more about your background.
00:00:48.540 Good to have you with us, man.
00:00:49.860 Thank you.
00:00:49.940 Lovely to be here.
00:00:51.020 Good to be in your nice home you have here.
00:00:54.240 You're very complimentary.
00:00:55.360 Thank you.
00:00:56.140 It's an old house, but I like it.
00:00:58.060 It's very pretty.
00:00:58.940 It's a nice, beautiful place.
00:01:00.000 So you're an immigrant.
00:01:01.960 You came here from a similar place where Conor McGregor is from.
00:01:06.440 I want to know a little bit more about your support for him or not.
00:01:10.020 Let's go with your story.
00:01:11.440 Okay.
00:01:11.740 Well, firstly, obviously you're an immigrant too, so you'll understand my story.
00:01:14.760 It's what makes America great still.
00:01:17.600 I am from the same place as Conor McGregor without the fighting ability.
00:01:22.580 I'd like to think I dress a little better also.
00:01:25.080 Sure.
00:01:25.320 Obviously, he's an incredible talent.
00:01:28.000 Yeah, I come from Ireland.
00:01:30.060 Okay.
00:01:30.480 I immigrated to America in 1990.
00:01:32.560 I'm that generation as your parents were, that America is the place you can be anything
00:01:40.020 you want.
00:01:41.100 I still believe that.
00:01:42.900 It ebbs and flows once in a while, but generally speaking, you can be anything you want.
00:01:46.560 And I rocked up to America in 1990 and I worked as a janitor.
00:01:51.480 Actually, I'm embellishing my resume.
00:01:54.960 I was actually the assistant to the janitor.
00:01:56.860 The assistant janitor.
00:01:57.420 Yeah.
00:01:57.820 And I was terrible.
00:01:59.160 I was really bad at janitoring.
00:02:01.300 And I started selling real estate in 1993 and the rest is kind of my story.
00:02:07.480 So what month in 1990, by the way?
00:02:09.160 I'm curious.
00:02:09.680 I think the end of September, guessing roughly, if I remember correctly.
00:02:13.340 So I came November 28, 1990.
00:02:16.620 Seriously?
00:02:17.240 Wow.
00:02:17.360 I lived in Iran for 10 years, two years in Germany at a refugee camp.
00:02:20.380 And then November 28, 1990, I came here.
00:02:22.960 America.
00:02:23.520 I was listening to your story.
00:02:25.020 I'm like, 1990 is a magical year.
00:02:27.620 And I obviously read your story.
00:02:29.540 And again, it's what makes America inspiring, right?
00:02:31.940 I don't know about it.
00:02:32.740 So how did you get into real estate?
00:02:34.060 How did that whole process take place for you?
00:02:36.660 So when I was working as the part-time assistant janitor, whatever I was, I wasn't very good at
00:02:43.760 it.
00:02:44.440 I always had a passion for real estate.
00:02:46.240 Growing up in Ireland, a lot of people don't know, but historically, till the late,
00:02:50.380 1800s, Irish Catholics were not allowed to own real estate.
00:02:54.740 So we have this obsession about owning property.
00:02:58.820 So I was always fascinated by real estate.
00:03:02.180 My dad would drive me by with a friend to look at these big old beautiful castles, and
00:03:08.120 I was just fascinated by them.
00:03:10.200 So I decided I would sell real estate part-time, and I was really not good at it.
00:03:15.600 And I cold-called.
00:03:16.560 I would go in every night after work as a janitor and sit down and cold-call people.
00:03:22.340 And I had a funny accent.
00:03:24.100 I don't know.
00:03:24.860 I might still have a bit of an accent.
00:03:26.460 But they would be like, honey, that guy who sounds like Lucky Charms is on the phone
00:03:30.680 again.
00:03:31.320 And I would religiously call these people.
00:03:33.780 And for six months, I didn't sell anything.
00:03:37.160 And I nearly gave up every day.
00:03:39.180 Six months?
00:03:39.480 Yeah.
00:03:39.780 Nearly gave up every day.
00:03:41.180 I never really gave up.
00:03:43.020 Because I'd get up the next day, I'm like, this is the day.
00:03:46.300 And you know what?
00:03:47.180 One day it was.
00:03:48.880 I mean, I did a $20,000 deal.
00:03:52.000 I called it for sale by owner.
00:03:54.620 And by the end of the 90s, I was selling nearly $200 million a year.
00:03:58.800 All by yourself?
00:03:59.580 All by myself.
00:04:00.400 $200 million.
00:04:01.000 Yeah.
00:04:01.880 Back when million-dollar listings were not shows, I probably, they said, sold more real
00:04:07.820 estate than anybody in North America in the late 90s.
00:04:10.760 They said you were the godfather of condos.
00:04:13.220 No one sold more condos than you in America.
00:04:15.380 In Chicago, being the godfather of anything is a dubious honor, but I'll take it.
00:04:19.620 That's right.
00:04:20.280 That's right.
00:04:20.860 I'm with you.
00:04:21.840 So you're full-time doing your assistant janitor work?
00:04:24.900 Yes.
00:04:25.400 So it's like a nine-to-five job you have.
00:04:26.820 So it was actually probably 8 a.m. to closer to 6.
00:04:30.300 Then I would get in, and back before I knew what moisturizer was or face wash, I would clean
00:04:38.480 the paint off me with paint thinner, which is a petroleum-based thing.
00:04:42.100 So I'd get in the office all blotchy red and start cold-calling with my little headset.
00:04:48.640 And so one of the things I saw you said, which I thought was fascinating, is you said you
00:04:52.020 loved Saturdays and Sundays because you could work from 9 to 10.
00:04:56.700 In the real estate office.
00:04:58.780 Again, I would say there is no magic, right?
00:05:03.080 So I just work really hard.
00:05:05.500 And, you know, of course there's serendipity and luck involved in some things.
00:05:09.000 I can't place where it came in for me in the 90s.
00:05:12.100 I've subsequently seen all sorts of luck, and a lot of it was bad, but some of it was
00:05:17.100 very good.
00:05:18.200 In the 90s, I didn't get lucky.
00:05:19.880 I really just worked very hard.
00:05:22.440 But, yeah, Saturdays and Sundays I could drive around to open houses and annoy all the real
00:05:26.260 brokers by asking stupid questions.
00:05:29.180 They say there are no stupid questions.
00:05:30.740 I invented a whole load of them in the 90s.
00:05:33.360 That's great.
00:05:33.820 So, obviously, you have the work ethic.
00:05:35.620 You have the work ethic.
00:05:37.460 And where did that work ethic come from?
00:05:39.120 Did you have an example where you're watching?
00:05:41.060 It's interesting.
00:05:41.820 So, my father was the most charismatic man in the world and the most wonderful dreamer
00:05:50.000 in the world.
00:05:50.420 So, as an inspiration, he was everything that inspired me, except he was a horrendous businessman.
00:05:58.820 Everything he touched turned to dust.
00:06:00.720 Really?
00:06:01.080 Yeah.
00:06:01.300 So, you actually started businesses?
00:06:02.600 Little business.
00:06:03.440 Every one of them failed.
00:06:04.520 He sold Amway.
00:06:05.780 I mean, there wasn't...
00:06:06.520 In Ireland?
00:06:07.200 Yeah.
00:06:07.740 I mean, God, he was...
00:06:09.400 But he was a dreamer.
00:06:11.080 And he poured all of his belief, even though there was five kids, he poured all of his belief
00:06:14.620 into me that I was going to be the one.
00:06:16.640 Now, my mother, no nonsense, two jobs, school teacher, raised five kids in a small house.
00:06:24.720 I mean, so I got my mother's angry work ethic.
00:06:29.420 And, obviously, she's an incredible woman.
00:06:31.720 And I got my father's charm and charisma.
00:06:35.060 And America was made for that at the time.
00:06:38.520 So, you came here by yourself?
00:06:39.900 I came by myself.
00:06:40.840 I had a four to five...
00:06:42.460 Was it one day you just said, I'm coming out here?
00:06:43.820 What was the transition for you?
00:06:45.100 So, I dropped out of college in Ireland and went to work in London.
00:06:49.080 And I worked, actually, at Lehman Brothers in London.
00:06:52.540 It's not my fault.
00:06:53.800 I didn't break the company.
00:06:55.580 I didn't create the issues.
00:06:57.640 And I had a very non-important job there.
00:06:59.680 And then I loaded mail trains at night in London.
00:07:03.100 But I'm standing in the train platform one day and I'm like, I'm going to be average the rest of my life.
00:07:08.260 And there was a news headline about something the SAS had done.
00:07:11.100 You remember that moment.
00:07:11.980 Yeah, I do.
00:07:12.860 And lots of moments you reinvent.
00:07:14.860 But this one I can remember to this day.
00:07:16.520 I was standing in Paddington Station.
00:07:18.240 And there was a news headline and one of the tab lights.
00:07:20.800 And the SAS's motto is, fortune favors the brave, right?
00:07:23.940 That's their motto.
00:07:24.560 I'm standing watching this platform coming home from another average day in my average life thinking, I'm going to be average the rest of my life if I don't do something that scares me and puts me out of my comfort zone.
00:07:36.700 So, we had distant cousins here who had come to visit us.
00:07:41.400 And I said, can I come over?
00:07:42.920 And they're like, yeah.
00:07:43.780 Boom.
00:07:44.340 I came to America.
00:07:45.500 Is that Donovan?
00:07:46.760 Yes, yes.
00:07:47.280 And the cool thing is, the Donovans are fantastic and to this day.
00:07:51.880 And they did give me an opportunity to be an assistant janitor.
00:07:56.100 But they gave me an opportunity.
00:07:57.360 I made fun of it, but they did.
00:07:58.960 And what's super cool is, his son and the grandson of the guy who gave me my first job works for me at my real estate merchant bank now as a real estate analyst.
00:08:09.080 Wow.
00:08:09.420 They're basically their grand.
00:08:10.440 So, that continues.
00:08:11.420 Full circle.
00:08:12.040 Yeah, exactly.
00:08:13.280 I'm giving back.
00:08:13.960 So, did you go back?
00:08:15.600 I mean, how often have you gone back and visited family?
00:08:17.560 Well, so, the interesting thing initially was, like, for four or five years, I didn't get to go back.
00:08:24.080 I didn't have enough money.
00:08:25.320 And I was figuring out paperwork and all the usual stuff.
00:08:28.860 And by the way, everybody's back there.
00:08:30.480 No one came with you.
00:08:31.280 Yeah.
00:08:31.600 So, subsequently, my brother Kieran has come to work with me.
00:08:34.880 And my sister was out here.
00:08:36.580 But my mom and them are back there.
00:08:37.660 But my dad, the first thing I ever did, I've done a lot of amazing things since.
00:08:41.880 And I've had dinner with kings and princes and traveled around the world and flown on the Concorde.
00:08:48.840 But none of those things, they all pale in comparison to.
00:08:52.080 In 1995, I saved up the bit of extra money I had.
00:08:55.600 And I went home.
00:08:56.960 And my dad used to walk me by the Mercedes dealership.
00:08:59.880 And we'd look in the window.
00:09:01.200 And he'd explain to me what the car was.
00:09:04.780 And somebody really rich was getting that.
00:09:06.380 I bought him a Mercedes for Christmas.
00:09:08.320 Coolest thing I've ever done.
00:09:09.340 Did you surprise him or did you take him?
00:09:10.960 I mean, we went up and we looked at it.
00:09:13.060 And there was a surprise.
00:09:14.040 It was cool.
00:09:14.720 I mean, he died very young.
00:09:16.220 He died in 2000.
00:09:17.260 But he lived long enough to see me do everything he ever dreamed of.
00:09:21.760 And then some.
00:09:23.180 So, that's the coolest thing I've ever done in my life.
00:09:25.640 Bar none.
00:09:26.600 There's nothing even touches it.
00:09:28.080 I'm going to go to the house.
00:09:29.300 Just three months ago, I bought my dad a Mercedes.
00:09:32.200 And for him, he wouldn't lend me.
00:09:33.480 He had a 1979 Mercedes.
00:09:34.280 And he's still around.
00:09:35.640 He's still around.
00:09:36.560 And how many of you came over?
00:09:40.720 How many of you came over when you came?
00:09:42.420 So, when I came, we went from Iran to Germany.
00:09:44.980 We lived there a couple years.
00:09:45.780 My parents got a divorce.
00:09:47.380 So, my dad came to Chicago first.
00:09:49.540 He lived here for a couple years.
00:09:50.440 Okay.
00:09:51.200 And then we came with my mom and my sister.
00:09:54.020 Okay.
00:09:54.360 And we moved to L.A.
00:09:55.200 Cool.
00:09:55.480 So, yeah.
00:09:56.120 Cool.
00:09:56.340 But the power of immigrants, man, when they came with the fire that, you know, you have
00:10:01.100 to.
00:10:01.700 Now, when you were living in Ireland, what was, like, how was America viewed when you were
00:10:06.360 there?
00:10:06.860 That's a...
00:10:07.260 Was it the, was it like...
00:10:09.160 It's a great question.
00:10:10.880 America, I mean, you know, we're not going to touch politics right now.
00:10:16.340 But America is great.
00:10:19.020 It doesn't need to be made great again.
00:10:20.880 Of course, it has all of its problems.
00:10:23.080 But there's nowhere in the world, there's nowhere in the world that has a more level
00:10:26.700 playing field still.
00:10:27.740 There's nowhere in the world you can do the things you can do.
00:10:29.760 Growing up in Ireland, we were raised on America.
00:10:33.940 I wanted to be John Wayne.
00:10:36.720 Got it.
00:10:37.060 Harry Grant.
00:10:38.080 Clint Eastwood.
00:10:39.420 Everything was America.
00:10:40.980 America, in your mind, was that promised land where you could be anything, right?
00:10:44.980 You could be anything in it.
00:10:45.980 The local library complained to my mother once when I was 12.
00:10:49.200 I was reading too many books, right?
00:10:51.220 It's great.
00:10:51.820 I read too many books about art and houses and Falkyrie.
00:10:55.000 But one thing I really read a lot about was I read about Andrew Carnegie.
00:10:59.220 I read about Rockefeller.
00:11:00.740 In Ireland, you read about Carnegie.
00:11:02.140 In the library.
00:11:03.440 I wanted these books.
00:11:04.420 In 12 years.
00:11:04.940 Yeah, 12, 13, 14, I read these books.
00:11:08.180 Why was that?
00:11:08.520 Now, let me ask you, was it because your dad would say, look at this, y'all, look at this?
00:11:11.220 Because you've seen something.
00:11:12.180 Bingo.
00:11:12.460 So your dad was getting your dream machine going at that age?
00:11:15.160 Yeah, yeah.
00:11:15.680 My dad, but he didn't know, he wasn't doing it intentionally.
00:11:18.320 He's like, come here, Sean, look at this.
00:11:19.920 And he called me Sean.
00:11:20.680 He's like, come here, Sean, look at this.
00:11:22.100 He's like, look at that book.
00:11:23.420 That's, an American guy has that.
00:11:25.100 And anytime anything was big or amazing, my father would be like, that's America.
00:11:29.200 So it was in my mind.
00:11:31.100 So it shows you the impact you can have on kids and children with the right positive message.
00:11:36.160 Unbelievable.
00:11:36.900 And reading.
00:11:37.900 I still tell people, you need to read.
00:11:40.220 Would your dad tell you to read?
00:11:41.500 No, no.
00:11:42.260 My mom would tell you to read.
00:11:43.080 Yeah, my mom would tell me to read.
00:11:44.300 But ironically, my dad, who dropped out of school at 12, my mom was very well educated.
00:11:49.020 My dad, who dropped out of school at 12, read the paper from cover to cover.
00:11:52.860 Every day.
00:11:53.440 Yeah.
00:11:53.840 And he could tell you everything about America.
00:11:56.360 Everything.
00:11:57.520 And so internally, he dreamt of coming to America and was scared.
00:12:02.900 And he nearly came once.
00:12:04.120 And the guy was coming to, interesting enough, got killed in some sort of mob hit in New York.
00:12:08.000 I kid you not.
00:12:09.280 And my dad, I fulfilled his dream.
00:12:12.520 And he eventually came here.
00:12:14.200 And I lived in this, this is a modest place now.
00:12:16.740 I lived in the, I was like a guy who'd won the Powerball lottery.
00:12:20.000 And my dad showed up.
00:12:21.080 I was living in a 7,000 square foot house.
00:12:23.900 I mean, there was so many floors in the thing.
00:12:25.660 Wow.
00:12:26.180 Yeah.
00:12:26.660 So he vicariously lived through his son.
00:12:28.760 Yeah.
00:12:29.120 Which means he's still living.
00:12:30.400 Yeah.
00:12:30.500 Because that spirit is still there.
00:12:32.000 Well, we have, yeah, I have a spirit.
00:12:34.040 And so do my siblings.
00:12:35.140 I have an amazing family.
00:12:36.420 That's so cool.
00:12:36.940 Yeah.
00:12:37.140 It sounds like it from, and by the way, your mom sounds like, the way you describe your mom,
00:12:42.160 she sounds like the strong, when you see her speak, she seems very strong.
00:12:46.900 She's not into stuff.
00:12:48.040 Many, many years ago, I was showing off to my mother.
00:12:50.360 And I landed in the lawn of our modest house in a black helicopter.
00:12:55.980 She didn't come out of the house.
00:12:57.200 I walk in like I'm Billy Big Deal.
00:12:59.460 And she hands me a paper bag.
00:13:00.840 She said, did you see all of the papers you blew into the neighbor's house, the Mangans?
00:13:04.940 And hands me the bag.
00:13:06.620 So I have to go out in my three-piece Savile Row suit and pick up all the papers on the lawn.
00:13:11.560 I love that.
00:13:12.360 So yeah, it's great.
00:13:13.160 I love that.
00:13:13.540 I'm good with it.
00:13:14.100 She does it.
00:13:14.400 She still looks at you as Sean.
00:13:16.480 Absolutely.
00:13:17.080 So let's transition.
00:13:18.240 So you go from zero.
00:13:20.040 Yeah.
00:13:20.260 Where at a point, if you sold a million dollars of properties in a year,
00:13:23.380 Board of Realty would give you a plug.
00:13:24.580 You sell 200 million in a year.
00:13:25.780 Yeah.
00:13:26.220 Then you transition into starting a business.
00:13:28.220 That's right.
00:13:28.660 So instead of selling, now let me build this.
00:13:29.960 So Sussex and Riley get started and you do a million, a billion dollars of sales per year.
00:13:35.400 How did that transition take place?
00:13:36.740 So interestingly enough, people here talk about me like I've been around for 100 years.
00:13:41.900 And I said, I broke a real estate from 93 to 99.
00:13:47.300 December 99, I was done.
00:13:49.780 I was the most prolific.
00:13:51.320 It sounds conceited, obviously.
00:13:52.880 I don't mean, but I was the most prolific broker in the city.
00:13:55.700 Nobody did or has done what I did.
00:13:59.100 And I, end of 99 though, there's a former burnout.
00:14:03.080 I had the two pagers.
00:14:04.440 I had the Gordon Gekko cell phones.
00:14:06.180 I mean, it was intense.
00:14:07.560 I'm like, I can't, I can't, I can get rich doing this.
00:14:11.120 I can never get wealthy.
00:14:13.200 And I need some headspace.
00:14:15.140 So I'm like, I want to do something in this space more creative.
00:14:18.640 So I started Sussex and Riley.
00:14:20.920 Interestingly enough, it's going to sound like I had the fastest horse and carriage in the world
00:14:25.440 because it seems dated now.
00:14:27.060 But we were one of the largest users of BlackBerrys in North America,
00:14:32.040 which was a handheld device, by the way.
00:14:34.900 One of the largest users of BlackBerrys corporately in North America in the early 2000s.
00:14:40.880 I gave every one of my agents a BlackBerry.
00:14:43.700 And then the other thing I did before I opened,
00:14:45.820 I would run a full page ad every week without the name of my company and just a phone number.
00:14:51.120 And it would say, announcing a bold new vision for real estate.
00:14:55.060 And then I would put in parentheses, I know that sounds like a code of ethics for used car sales.
00:14:59.900 And then the next week it followed up with an ad.
00:15:01.900 I'm about to clean up the face of real estate.
00:15:03.940 And then in parentheses I would say, but I need to find the guys who handle that whole Exxon Valdez thing.
00:15:09.400 So I ran these for about a month and everyone's like, what's going on?
00:15:12.140 Once a week.
00:15:12.980 Yeah, once a week.
00:15:14.180 Like $10,000, $20,000 a pop.
00:15:16.520 When it was in print media, it was expensive.
00:15:19.540 And I ran them for a month.
00:15:21.180 And then we opened and the buzz was so much.
00:15:23.700 And classic, the real estate board wanted to sue me for insulting realtors.
00:15:28.660 Insulting realtors.
00:15:29.880 I'm not going to touch that because I love realtors.
00:15:32.820 Wow.
00:15:33.220 So what do you think made you different though?
00:15:35.500 I mean, you saw your company, you studied people.
00:15:37.960 So what made you different?
00:15:39.460 So we'll go back to the beginning of the conversation.
00:15:41.780 So I came at it as an immigrant from the outside.
00:15:45.080 So immigrant or outsider, you look at things differently.
00:15:49.220 So I looked at this business where there's no limit on what you can make.
00:15:54.220 But people have no accountability.
00:15:56.660 As a broker, sometimes you stay in bed if you want and you come in.
00:16:00.680 I approached it like this was the greatest job opportunity I had in my life.
00:16:04.320 I wore a suit every day.
00:16:06.180 I wore a tie every day.
00:16:07.460 I behaved like I'd just gotten a job at Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan.
00:16:13.740 So I approached it with a discipline.
00:16:16.240 I ran it like a business.
00:16:19.460 And subsequently, that became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
00:16:22.520 It became a very good business.
00:16:23.960 So I came at it as a contrarian, which I always have done with everything I've ever done.
00:16:29.840 And invariably, you're wrong sometimes.
00:16:32.540 But when you're right, you're really right.
00:16:34.040 You only got to be right big a couple of times.
00:16:36.100 Yeah.
00:16:36.120 Like I'm going today to visit a friend in the Hamptons.
00:16:39.500 And he's the guy who broke Enron, Jim Chanus.
00:16:43.840 He was the greatest short solo in the world.
00:16:46.040 And you think how long he was wrong till he was right on Enron.
00:16:50.700 Think how long he was wrong in China till he was right.
00:16:53.980 He's short Tesla.
00:16:56.060 It's a scary place to be a contrarian.
00:16:59.260 Because that warm feeling you feel, generally, you know what that is?
00:17:02.680 It's the center of the herd.
00:17:04.100 So when you're cold and scared, you're probably in front of the herd.
00:17:07.720 You could be behind the herd, but you're not in it.
00:17:10.240 And so him as a short seller, he takes that to a whole other level.
00:17:14.260 Yeah, that's a whole different story.
00:17:16.580 It's like the whole movie, what was it, Big Short?
00:17:18.800 So he's in it.
00:17:19.460 Jim Chanus is in it.
00:17:20.460 Oh, so that's his story.
00:17:21.340 He's part of the story.
00:17:22.740 He was one of the big monster guys who shorted the market.
00:17:25.700 Got it.
00:17:26.320 Yeah, and nobody believed him until it really happened.
00:17:28.500 Yeah.
00:17:28.640 So one last question before you tell us a little bit about Deed and then we'll wrap up.
00:17:33.380 So you build a company, then you start recruiting real estate agents, right?
00:17:38.240 What did you look for when recruiting agents?
00:17:40.540 So what are you looking for?
00:17:41.400 So what is he looking for?
00:17:42.240 All right, so when I started Sussex and Raleigh, which was the forerunner to Conlon Realty,
00:17:47.680 which we are now, I hired non-brokers.
00:17:52.780 I hired people who had not been in the business.
00:17:54.960 So we were quite famous at the time for building this huge company without brokers because I
00:18:01.060 was an outsider.
00:18:02.320 I was somewhat treated like an outsider, which makes me somewhat of an Orwellian character.
00:18:06.780 I like to be an outsider and maybe to have perceived enemies in my head, just to be honest
00:18:11.220 with you.
00:18:11.600 So I'm like, fine, I'm going to be an outsider.
00:18:13.740 I had people who came from McKinsey & Company, law firms, JP Morgan.
00:18:19.220 I mean, they came from every walk of life, but they were hungry, they were professional,
00:18:24.540 and they were going to behave like real estate investment advisors.
00:18:28.620 That's what I said we are.
00:18:29.980 We are not realtors.
00:18:32.280 You know, in that sense, it's obviously a great brand.
00:18:35.480 We're not brokers.
00:18:36.860 You're real estate investment advisors or you're real estate advisors.
00:18:40.700 You're going to be their lifelong advisor in real estate.
00:18:44.140 And that's what I got.
00:18:45.280 And I built a company that grew to a billion dollars in 14 months in sales.
00:18:49.140 A billion dollars in 14 months in sales.
00:18:50.200 Yeah, and it was incredibly successful at the time, you know, as far as profitability too.
00:18:55.840 Got it.
00:18:56.440 So if I wanted to be one of your top guys, what are three things you'd tell me to focus on?
00:19:00.020 So I would say firstly, show up on time for our interview.
00:19:03.700 Tell me how hard you'll work.
00:19:06.340 So this is the interview process.
00:19:10.020 And obviously, just genuinely care.
00:19:14.620 To be successful in real estate, I would make it much simpler.
00:19:17.380 There's no magic.
00:19:18.520 My top agents work the most.
00:19:21.420 There's no magic.
00:19:22.760 You tell everybody that you're in the business.
00:19:25.360 You show up on time.
00:19:26.920 You dress smart.
00:19:28.620 You treat it like it's the biggest investment people are ever going to make.
00:19:31.980 It's not a part-time job.
00:19:33.300 But hard work, there's no magic.
00:19:35.440 And read everything you can about real estate.
00:19:37.200 Educate yourself.
00:19:38.060 Yeah.
00:19:38.200 And read the Wall Street Journal if you can every day.
00:19:40.640 Some of it are the New York Times.
00:19:42.680 Just know a little bit about everything that's going on.
00:19:44.920 It's very relevant.
00:19:46.360 That would be my advice.
00:19:47.660 I like that.
00:19:48.680 And then last but not least, the show.
00:19:50.120 Yeah.
00:19:50.440 That come about.
00:19:51.220 And tell us a little bit about it.
00:19:52.480 So the show came about because of serendipity.
00:19:55.060 So when I say I've had luck and some luck and some not, that's true serendipity.
00:19:59.560 Back when I was the assistant janitor, I would have got a bonus if I turned people in who were not on the lease.
00:20:05.660 So there was a fellow in the building called Bob Title, and he wasn't on the lease.
00:20:09.540 So I could have turned him in.
00:20:10.860 And he had a nickname for me, Subtitles, because he said I didn't speak English.
00:20:15.040 So I really should have turned him in.
00:20:16.960 But I loved him.
00:20:18.180 And he goes off to try and sell a movie in Los Angeles.
00:20:20.840 He comes back in 94.
00:20:21.980 He tells this story beautifully when he spoke at a college.
00:20:24.960 He comes back in 94, and he's like, he's 10,000 short for making his movie.
00:20:29.600 And he sees a Range Rover coming down the street in 94.
00:20:32.920 He's like, drug dealers had them, and rappers maybe.
00:20:36.180 And he's like, it stops who gets out of it, Subtitles.
00:20:39.380 He's like, so I'm assuming Subtitles has got a really good drug dealing gig going on.
00:20:44.420 And he tells me, yeah, in Chicago.
00:20:45.820 He tells me what he's doing.
00:20:47.540 And I'm like, oh, I got this.
00:20:49.860 I take a check out of her and he wrote a check in the car, which I did.
00:20:52.820 So he went off and made Barbershop, Men of Honor, Biggie, Tupac.
00:20:58.400 I mean, he made a slew of hits.
00:21:00.780 He married the first native-born prime minister of Bermuda's daughter.
00:21:05.360 I'm the godfather to the kid.
00:21:07.520 We're best friends to this day.
00:21:09.040 We sit on the beach at my house in Malibu some Christmas, and we look at each other like, really?
00:21:15.640 And he brought me in to see NBC with him.
00:21:18.460 I was his real estate advisor.
00:21:20.600 And he's like, you guys should do something.
00:21:24.120 And here we are.
00:21:25.180 And it's really cool because it's what I have done anyway, so it's very real.
00:21:31.120 I lend my own money.
00:21:32.120 You show the difficulties of it.
00:21:33.120 Yeah.
00:21:33.820 There are difficulties.
00:21:35.600 What we probably didn't emphasize enough is we've done all those deals now, and they've
00:21:41.060 worked, and the people have gotten their money out and stuff like that, and I've gotten paid
00:21:44.160 back.
00:21:44.840 It's actually a great process, and it's really exciting.
00:21:48.700 And the end, but we didn't get the show, like, a lot of these people are ecstatic.
00:21:52.820 They've done it, and they're going to do it for a living.
00:21:55.200 So it's great.
00:21:56.140 It's a real, the D. Chicago is a real, real show, and it's very different.
00:22:00.960 And with somebody that did it.
00:22:01.700 With somebody that's an experience.
00:22:02.960 You're not an actor.
00:22:03.720 This is somebody that wouldn't be sure to do it.
00:22:04.760 And there's no script.
00:22:05.780 Yeah, there's no script.
00:22:06.740 And the things I tell them, it's not because I've read it.
00:22:09.780 I've met all these mistakes.
00:22:11.460 I've had these things happen to me.
00:22:13.140 That's great.
00:22:13.540 So that's what I like about that show.
00:22:14.940 Well, listen, this has been a pleasure.
00:22:17.140 Thank you.
00:22:17.480 Very, very interesting guy.
00:22:19.120 So Conor McGregor versus Mayweather.
00:22:21.460 What do you think?
00:22:22.080 Do you think he stands a chance?
00:22:23.440 Let me tell you something.
00:22:25.200 Two of the greatest businessmen ever.
00:22:27.960 I don't care who loses, right?
00:22:30.700 I take that fight.
00:22:32.220 Because, okay, he knocks me out in the first minute, second.
00:22:35.400 Conor McGregor.
00:22:36.020 Right?
00:22:36.640 So it's a fascinating thing because of their age differential.
00:22:39.660 And McGregor psychologically is a, you know, a street fighter who, a fantastic story, by
00:22:47.780 the way, fantastic art story.
00:22:49.080 He came from a really poor place.
00:22:51.040 For all the showmanship, he's a real pro.
00:22:54.260 Mayweather, though, is probably an artist, right?
00:22:56.340 I mean, this is something like he's a, yeah, he's a, I mean, he's, you know, he's psychologically,
00:23:01.820 he knows how to play defense.
00:23:03.100 But it'll be an amazing one.
00:23:04.740 I can't call it.
00:23:05.640 I'm not going to call it.
00:23:06.640 You're not going to call it.
00:23:07.460 No.
00:23:07.580 But I'm up for McGregor, obviously.
00:23:09.580 So I'm hoping for a shocking ending with McGregor getting a left one in there.
00:23:15.980 But we'll see what's going to happen.
00:23:17.140 Well, I'm not going to call it.
00:23:18.980 Yeah, but I'm obviously up for McGregor, of course.
00:23:21.960 And it's wonderful.
00:23:23.000 I didn't mean to discount his outfits.
00:23:25.200 He dresses like the most wonderful squire ever in his suits.
00:23:29.040 I don't know if you've seen him.
00:23:29.880 Yeah, he puts on a show.
00:23:31.260 He's definitely a showman.
00:23:32.220 He's a brilliant showman.
00:23:33.420 He is.
00:23:33.880 Yeah.
00:23:34.060 They're both of them.
00:23:34.840 They're both showmen.
00:23:35.360 Yeah.
00:23:36.180 I like it.
00:23:36.960 Yeah.
00:23:37.160 He's an American.
00:23:38.300 Hey, man.
00:23:38.840 Thank you so much.
00:23:39.500 Thank you.
00:23:39.920 Lovely to meet you.
00:23:41.120 Thank you.
00:23:41.500 Very honored to be on your show.
00:23:43.200 So thanks a lot.
00:23:44.380 Yeah.
00:23:44.600 And so you can go look him up and study.
00:23:46.540 He's got a real good story.
00:23:47.820 But thank you for your time, Sean.
00:23:48.980 Thank you very much.
00:23:49.900 Thanks, everybody, for listening.
00:23:51.120 And by the way, if you haven't already subscribed to Valuetainment on iTunes, please do so.
00:23:55.760 Give us a five-star.
00:23:57.180 Write a review if you haven't already.
00:23:58.500 And if you have any questions for me that you may have, you can always find me on Snapchat,
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00:24:11.580 With that being said, have a great day today.
00:24:13.320 Take care, everybody.
00:24:14.040 Bye-bye.
00:24:14.300 We'll be right back.