The Dynamics of Family Business: Challenges and Obstacles.

Episode Transcription.

So let's be abundantly clear. You were very against my decision to leave. You were not happy about it. No. Cause it's a great company. Yeah, exactly. But I like, you know, when something, something in your heart is just telling you like, it's time to go, like, you know that, and it's how you felt with your company when you left corporate after 15 years and that it's something that's difficult to relay.

And it's like, You're so good at what you do. You're thriving here. You have great teams. You like so many people came up to me, they're like, why are you leaving? I'm like, there's a time and a season for everything. 

Hey everyone. Welcome back to the make more podcast with Matt Heslin. I'm Matt Heslin. I'm your host. Thanks for tuning in. We've got our beautiful Brittany, my daughter, here today with us. Good morning, Britt. Hi, Dad. How are you? I'm great. How are you? I'm good. It's great to have you back on the show. Yeah, it's been a while.

It's good to be back. It's nice to have you. You know, Brittany and I were talking yesterday about how, well, I guess we were talking about working in the family business. And um, We want to talk today about how that differs from working outside the outside the family business How what the corporate world is like?

Talk about what the family business is like And really get into the nuts and bolts of the differences of working for the family business versus working for an outside job, so Tell them let's talk a little bit about your trajectory where you came out after after college what you did Yeah. So that was an entirely different experience before jumping into my first job.

Um, I graduated during COVID so came back from spring break in March. And I would say about a week or two weeks after we got back, everything shut down and we were forced online. So, um, being an out of state kid, I was just like, so what am I going to do? Like, do I, do I go back home? Like, what if I have this?

Illness or disease because we really didn't understand what it was at the time and I think there were no protocols in place Not quite yet. No like mass weren't available Testing wasn't available at that time. So it was March So it was so early on and all we knew I think there was just a lot of mass hysteria at the time And just a lot of uncertainty.

So During that time, um, I lived out the rest of my lease at Michigan State. A lot of the in state kids from Michigan, they went home. Um, and then of all seven us girls that lived in the house, three of us stayed till May 1st, um, just to take extra precautions for our families. And we finished our classes.

There were some days we spent like. Literally 13 hours sitting in front of a puzzle, just putting it together. There was so much time to kill, but, um, more of on that note that, yeah, I would say the way I perceived to, um, I don't know, just my thoughts around completing college was so different for the long, and I told you this too.

I couldn't see myself graduating and I didn't know why. And that was months before anything happened. I'm like, I can always see something happening. And envision it before it happens. And I couldn't, and I was like, this makes so much sense. It was, it was the weirdest thing. Um, so flash forward me and mom driving all of my stuff back across country, which was so fun.

Like having to get to a town by like 5 PM every day, eat whatever we could find. And we're driving my car back. And that was because everything was closed. Everything was closed. It was crazy. Crazy. So we were on the phone with each other for hours cause we didn't, you know, have the walkie talkies like we would do on road trips growing up, but, um, which was so fun.

So it was, it was really sweet, um, to get to do that together. It was such a blessing that I had my mom there. Um, and we drove back. And what that looks like getting back, um, back home, we went to steamboat, found out you had Parkinson's. I was completing like an elective, finished my final and that was it.

So in that timeframe, I was actually in your office because. Most people were working from home. Let's talk about that for a second. Oh, sure. Yeah. So, you graduate from college. Yes. As many people are doing right this very minute. Yeah. As we're doing our podcast, people are graduating all over the country.

Yeah. What did you do? How did you go about finding your first job? Talk about the experience of working in the office. Yeah, so that's what I was about to jump into. Okay, good. Um, so that segue. So, mind you, like, and why I touch on. The transition from college, because my mindset had totally shifted. Like I thought I was going to be working in corporate finance or marketing in New York or Chicago.

Like so many of my friends were a lot of them had had start dates at that point and it kept getting pushed back month after month after month to the point where they no longer had. Those jobs that had been secure for almost a year some of them so they were just basically let go They were let go before they even started And I think the fact that I also didn't have a job lined up.

Um, that was also I think a blessing in disguise, too It was something i'd put a lot of pressure on myself. I'm like, I don't have a job yet. So many people do Yada, yada. Yeah, so fast forward i'm in your office during covet. Most people aren't home But i'm driving to the office every single day And i'm like, how am I supposed to get a job because i'm looking at all of these online applications Transcribed And it says for entry level, three to five years of experience.

I'm like, I'm a, I'm coming out of college. Like, and my quick realization that I have is, Oh, I'm probably going to have to start like flipping burgers if there's like a burger joint open. And I'm like, you know what? Like, I know that I have a strong skillset. So at this point, I really need to humble myself because I will be lucky to have a job in an economy and in an environment like this How is entry level considered three to five years experience?

Well, I know and that was like it wasn't only confusing But it was so defeating and that was at the start of my job search Well, I remember you coming in the office eight hours a day sitting at a desk in an office cold calling Dialing for jobs, but that was a process. I had to learn how to do that, right?

You And people were so concerned with maintaining the business to make sure, I mean, you remember all the restaurants that went out of business, the family businesses, like thousands gone, just all the heritage and the culture that made up so many wonderful cities. Like, Oh, like New York, like thousands of family businesses gone, but that was across the country, like 60, 000 restaurants, some 60, 000 restaurants.

Yeah. I remember that headline too. Um, But yeah, so I started on LinkedIn and I'm like, I don't really know what else to do. I did indoor, no, indeed glass store, just all of those, um, all those platforms and then reaching out to personal friends. And a lot of people just couldn't take people on. And I understood that and I really had to get over the fact very quickly that this wasn't something that was personal.

It was just the fight to survive for everybody. Um, which only, Enabled me to fight harder. I'm like, well, I'm not going to sit here and I'm not going to come out of COVID, not having a job or something in that timeframe. Cause I don't know how long this is going to last. So I'm like, I'm getting a job and I don't care what it is at this point.

So it went from sending out, I would say over 300 applications online in a timespan of less than two months to then I'm like, okay, I'm going to pray, um, pay for premium on LinkedIn. And I'm just going to start looking for the highest ranking Michigan state alumni. In that corporation and i'm going to reach out to them and i'm going to ask them How did you start your career?

Can I talk to you for 15 minutes? um, what are the biggest pieces of advice that you could give me about starting my my career getting into the workforce and What would you suggest right now? Most were most people receptive to your call. Um, well, it's like as we say it's a statistics game so out of maybe Everyone responded maybe except two and I reached out to probably 50 people Wow, and I think people were especially michigan state alumni like god bless them Like they're just they're so hungry and passionate about helping michigan state alumni.

It's very much like the usc network I would say very comparable in that way. Um, but Not everyone was necessarily receptive to a phone call. So i'd say out of every Five to ten I would say I had like three to four. Okay, but a lot of people did take my call I hadn't Yeah, probably about like 15 something.

Okay. So you've come from michigan state. You've graduated You didn't walk yet. No, I didn't walk yet. Not that wasn't for like two years after coping Yeah, where you walk two years after I graduated. Yeah Yeah, so and I would say in about like a six month time frame. I I learned a job search my job Became learning how to job search and it got to a point where i'm like, okay All these phone calls got me was learning how to Job search and talk and expand my network Um, to current professionals in different industries, various industries.

Um, and from then I was like, that's not how I'm going to get a job. Yeah. I'm going to have to walk into the door somewhere and they're going to have to be able to put a face to the name and it, it's gotta be more than just, she said, pounding the pavement. I started walking everywhere, pounding the pavement, talking to whoever I could and that's how I ended up at my.

My retail job, I walked in, I actually reached out to the store manager before I even knew her. I was like, hi, I just want like your advice on how you grew within this company. I really passionate about the fashion industry. I want to get into it. Can I take 15 minutes of your time? And she actually responded to my email and it was crazy because my first day when I walked in, I was sitting, um, at her desk talking to her and I'm like, I actually wrote you an email.

She was like, I remember that email. Wow, and she was the one that really fast tracked my career within that Corporate retail so you were at that as a corporate job for three years for three years. Yeah, and what were your jobs? I have very different career path with that company. It's not It's not normal to Be able to do what I did.

So that company has a long standing reputation of really really cultivating their people and Um, and I would say some of these people would be in these positions for like years, one position managing essentially the same team for years. And you would start on the sales floor, which I did. Um, then you would, you know, You would have to hit certain marks like failing, like being the top sales person.

Um, having a, a great book of, so in order to promoted you hit certain metrics. Yeah. You'd hit, I mean that's with any job you had to hit certain metrics, um, but you had to just be consistently standing out. But I, what I did, what I've always done is like, you know, something that you ingrained in me is you say hi to everybody.

You say hi to the janitor you say hi to the ceo and you treat everybody the same absolutely Um, and that's something that i've always you're very good at that. Yeah, that's something. Thank you That's something i've taken to heart and um that I really practiced while I was there I made sure to make it my business to know everybody and I knew every salesperson Almost every salesperson in all departments probably not the this is a big company Well, and the store I was in is a 600 person store.

It's a flagship store You It's huge. Um, I didn't know the beauty area. That was a little daunting. I knew a couple people Um, but for the most part I knew almost everybody in every department. Okay, so you go from that job So then from there It's hard on the sales floor And then I got promoted to an assistant role in the same store to get promoted to an assistant manager role In a flagship store That doesn't happen.

You usually have to leave and go to a smaller mid tier Iraq or something else. Um, and you show your stripes there and then you move back to the flagship store in a new capacity. Yes, that's very traditional retail. Yeah, so you go to Either like, you know the off brand the discount store the discount side of the flagship store and then you go or mid mid tier smaller store and then you come back to that store or a Comparable that's the growth.

That's the growth trajectory of the company But I got to stay in the same store. That's very fortunate. And that was based off of the relationship that I had made with that store manager and, um, the, the relationship that I had with, um, my floor manager as well. I was really close with her as well. So it's a great first mentor.

Okay, so you spent a few years in retail find out kind of at your gig Well, and then I had to like, you know, I managed to like pretty major floors within the company at that point, too So I bounced between stores. So I had four positions in three years. Wow. Yeah, that's moving to make a very Well, I didn't make a long story short.

I know it's pretty long. Sorry. No But people need to understand That, you know, what's really interesting about your story, Britt, is that you graduated during COVID. Yeah. Everything was shut down. You decided, F that, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get a job. Yeah. You come in my office, you're pounding the phones eight hours a day, sending out emails, resumes, whatever you can to get contact. 

Get on the pavement, start looking for a job. Find a job, get promoted four times in three years, and add it to the flagship store. That's an impressive achievement, really right out of college. And then, talk about your, after you left, what you went and did, and how, where you're at now. Um, so I'll kind of lightly touch on that experience, but at that point, Within the retail company, there were just changes that I think had no longer resonated with me.

I felt personally, and this it's just, um, my viewpoint on that's changed quite a bit as well since leaving the company. Um, it is a great company. They really, really know how to cultivate some solid talent and that's why everyone is so hungry to pluck talent out of that store. But I, there's the one thing I've always said is I really wish that they were better at retaining the talent that they've developed.

Um, because truly they would. So they put a lot of money into training and development, but then they let people go to other companies. Yeah. And that, that turnover is so expensive at that point. It is. And, I mean, even as a manager, I was constantly hiring people on every team, on every team that I was on.

Um, but I think that's also the nature of the retail beast. It's just what it is. Um, but anyways, so I got to a point where I was just like, I knew my time was up. I learned what I could. Yeah. My career path within that company. Wasn't what I thought it was going to be anymore because there was so much change all the time There's a lot of politics From my point of view you could ask somebody and that could be totally different Sure, but as several colleagues that I've maintained very close relationships with would probably agree with me And that's just a select few people that are very close to me.

So that could also be biased again But yeah, there were changes that had been happening I no longer felt like I could support my employees the way I could before Um, and I'm like, you know what? I think my time here is done. I don't, and if I'm called back here, great. I'll come back. Um, but it's not going to be at the store level.

It's going to be different. You and I were talking yesterday about, uh, specifically how they had you doing a lot of busy work. Yeah. And it makes it hard. And busy work does not equal productivity. No, and that, yeah. And that's something I've had to unlearn as well since this last, excuse me, this last, um, October is learning the difference. 

of what productivity looks like, like busy work. It, yeah, I mean, it, for me, it really affected my health. I found out that I had hypothyroidism, um, and then I had, um, Like just yeah severe cortisol issues. Um, and that's been a journey in itself But the environment that I was in and the busy work and the micromanaging to some degrees like that all really heightened that Well, let me step in for a second.

So the the original manager left, right? Um, the store manager. Yeah, she did. And so you got a new environment. Yeah, she left and then came back and got promoted as soon as she came back. It was a whole thing, but she left for Yeah, but but but the issue is the culture of the she was she was the culture of the store Changed in my opinion as a manager.

So the new manager decided that busy work equaled productivity Yeah. And I think that's always been part of the, um, the fabrication of that company. I think to a certain extent, it wasn't just her busy work has always been heavily ingrained with that store, that company. Um, but then when obviously the leadership changed, the dynamic was very different.

The joy was no longer there in my opinion. And plus relationships with different leaders is always going to be different. And you're gonna have to learn to navigate that in a corporate setting. Um, Because no one person is the same, their experiences are different, and this, um, other individual is so highly qualified, brilliant, um, has had some really insane wins under her belt, um.

So, what's interesting is You know, we've walked through your progress and success at finding the job, getting promoted, moving up the chain, deciding that the culture had changed, and that it was probably time to go. Yeah. Let's talk about, you know, your decision to leave, and, and where you went, and what you're doing now.

So let's be abundantly clear, you were very against my decision to leave, you were not happy about it. No, because it's a great company. Yeah, exactly. But I, like, You know, when something, something in your heart is just telling you like, it's time to go. Yeah. Like, you know that. And it's how you felt with your company when you left corporate after 15 years.

And that it's something that's difficult to relay. And it's like, but you're so good at what you do. You're thriving here. You have great teams. You like, I, and so many people came up to me, they're like, why are you leaving? I'm like, there's a time and a season for everything, you know? And yeah, absolutely.

That season had just kind of come to a close. So what happened was I had met, um, a former boss through a, um, one of my best friends. And it was, it was a risk that I took. It was, it's essentially 'cause it was a startup. Yeah. Essentially. 'cause it was a startup. Um, it is a startup. Um. And the industry was not something that I was familiar with the network marketing industry.

And I had to quickly learn a lot about that. And I was hired for a position for technically two positions. Um, and at the end of the day, it just, it didn't really pan out. It just didn't work between the both of us. And, um, would you say that the different expectations, I would absolutely say there were different expectations.

There were different expectations of how I thought, I was going to learn how I was going to support that business. Cause I was brought on, um, essentially to help manage the business side of things and to help grow, um, the business and essentially carve things out to when we were able to hire on more employees.

Um, but at the same time, the more I got to understand about how they ran their business. It just wasn't something that I think I needed that I didn't need to be a part of And they needed someone very different. I think that was also familiar with what they needed. Okay, so So you made a decision to part ways?

Yeah, we did you you parted amiably. Yeah, and But what I learned has helped me transitioned Into now working for you and what I learned in that very short It was about like maybe a month a month and a half, which is kind of crazy but I had learned enough in a short amount of time and Was exposed to just enough to understand.

Um What you want to do what you needed and it just happened so naturally which is really cool because um, I mean because we're on the topic obviously of Working with family, family business. And I, again, I had made it clear for years to family, to friends of family, to various adults that G Sarah, uh, Michigan state, anyone that kind of understood, um, who I was, who you were and how you run things.

Um, just the deep level of respect for you. Like I, I was so set on not working for you. And I've said this before on the podcast. I was so set on it because it took a lot for you to leave your corporate company. You took a big risk, five years. And I remember that from a young age, taking the time to build what you have built now.

And those five years, those were a long five years. Yeah. I didn't get a paycheck for five years. Yeah. And a lot of people my age don't understand that they come to you for advice and they're looking at the after of all of the work that you've gotten. I'm like, you're not him. You can, he can tell you what he did.

Okay. But I can guarantee that you do not have the diligence factor in the sacrifice. Like you don't have the ability to sacrifice in the way that he did. Like, I just know that about some of the individuals that have come and talked to you, they, they think by talking to you. They are able to kind of somehow extract what's something that you have that people can't take.

Um, and yeah, so I was always just like, I want to be very conscientious and cause I have the utmost respect for you as my dad, but also as a professional. Um, I've met anyone else like you in terms of just a working professional and so I honor what you do and who you are And how you've raised our family and you know, no family's perfect.

I don't claim that I'm a highly imperfect individual. Yeah But I'm a crash dummy It's okay, at least you're good looking though, thanks. Um, yeah, I I didn't want to work for you because I was like, I have too much respect for my dad to come into something and out of high school, college and just jump into it.

I'm like, no, there's a lot of growing up that needs to happen here. And I knew that in my, I knew that so deeply in myself. I'm like, there's a lot of growing up that needs to happen and I'm not going to do that in an environment where it's a smaller business and each employee, each employee, Employee is so crucial such a crucial part of the process of the deal making process I'm like no and honestly, I don't feel like I deserve to be there I know I'm smart enough and I'm capable and I understand the business in a way like, you know that my siblings Don't just because I was around it from an early age.

But like I I'm like, I need to, I need to earn that. And if I am his daughter, it means there, there's even more of a target on my back when I step in and I got to be very conscientious of what's happening when I walk in there. Since you started, you've done an amazing job of navigating between daughter and.

Employee, yeah So just for our listeners benefit, one of the things that we're doing is in our family. We have many family businesses many properties and There has to be a protege in our empire so that somebody can step into the role And, you know, run it when I'm gone and I don't intend on working another 10 years.

So, you know, we have Brittany not only running, you know, all of our social media and online content and whatnot, but we're actually. Teaching Brittany how the family trusts work, how the trusts come together, you know, what, what does the business look like? She sits in on all the real estate meetings. She sits in us.

So for fathers out there who have daughters or sons that want to work in the family business, it's a wonderful thing once they get the experience. Once they have some value to bring to you and then you can also then start to Teach them about all of your working inner workings and businesses and finances and that's so britney's learning all of that So that we're not gonna miss a beat if something were to happen to me.

Oh god. I got it. Oh god um, but She's doing a great job. She's learning a lot. I think it's it's a really different culture, isn't it? It is well and I have to give credit where credit's due steven has such a heavy hand in everything. Um, I You Steven's? Yeah. I'm, I'm so blessed to have Steven. Yeah. So we're so lucky.

He is incredible. So must give credit where credits too. That's not all me. So, but thank you. Mm-Hmm. . I love that. But I have such a deep appreciation for, um, for Steven. Um, but yeah, you know, kind of on that, talk about the cultures. Yeah. I'll talk about the cultures, but, um, yeah, so. I mean, I didn't want to work for you.

I stepped out, got my experience for about five years, worked under different mentors. And um, then it just happened to work out for the both of us. And we also both said that like timing was everything and it wasn't something we were ever going to force. So that was a big component in that as well. Um, but with the cultures, I mean, you're working in a corporate culture versus a private business, right?

Night and day, night and day. Like I can go in depth about, you know. My corporate company that I had worked for and just the family aspect of it and like the little rah rah chants and you know How it's like they had they had a very clear set of values Yeah, and the customers The customers knew those values.

Yeah, that was so apparent And they've they've kept that culture for generations to an extent and that's a big reason why I left is because I think the values were kind of taped on the wall when you walked in but the culture itself is kind of dying So it's now it's probably what third or fourth generation family.

It's I think fourth generation Yeah, I mean you're gonna lose some culture over the years. Yeah, and that and that's that's okay But there's a responsibility to decide. So do we stay a public company? And can you afford that? Can you, can you afford to go back to being a private company? Um, that's a big thing too, but were they considering that they were, and I don't know if that's still in play.

I hear rumblings all the time from former employees and friends that still work there. But, um, yeah, they, they are considering or were considering going back to being private. And I think that honestly would be in their best interest. That's just a personal opinion though, to really, if they're still attached to the culture, That they had created, then yeah, it might be there in their best interest to go back.

But if not, then, um, maybe you need to take a look at your values and change things around because that's okay to redevelop over time too. And I don't think people understand that. Like they actually added a value, um, over the course of several generations, which is cool. Um, but yeah, with your company, culture wise, um, it's extremely lighthearted.

Um, it's fun. I mean, I walk in and this was, you know, during COVID when I was job searching, you're taking a golf club and you're hitting golf clubs in your own, I mean golf balls in your own office, whacking picture frames of golf balls. And I hear Danielle like screaming your, your assistant kind of like ducking under like her desk.

I'm like, uh, these were real golf balls. Yeah. So you're banned from that now, from what I heard. Well, they took it away from me. But the way I built my company, I was in a culture of fun and rewards for all. So, it's an intense environment, it's a hard work environment, but people make great money and they learn a lot and they have fun. 

And that's the culture I want. And that's the culture I've developed and I've kept that culture. And if you don't fit in that culture, then I can't have you as an employee. I mean, everybody's funny, everybody's fun, everybody jokes around, they give each other a hard time, and it's a great fun. But I think, you know, for the listeners, If you have a family business or you want to work in the family business, I think Britt's given great insight into You know, there's a trajectory that should be followed, you know, not necessarily your trajectory, but there should be a trajectory of going out on your own, making your own way, learning, growing, developing, and then you come to the family business.

Well, yeah, and more than anything, like, I had to know that I could go out and do it on my own. Yeah. Like, that gave me a lot of confidence. Yeah. I needed to learn to manage teams, manage a facet of the business for a big corporation, um, And honestly really learned my leadership style and my learning style, learning style as a professional.

Um, and then, yeah, shoot. Yeah. Well, you know, the other thing I'll say is what advice would you give to people who want to work in their family businesses? I mean, you have many friends who have fathers who have businesses. I have my two best friends also work for their dads. Okay. Which is crazy because they both worked for a pair of companies.

One worked for a sports apparel company. One also worked for my same company that I worked for. Um, and you know, one of my best friends, dad's Roberto was on the show. And then, um, one of my other best friends, um, were planning for her dad to be on the show, which is really special, but they're both, I think we all like the both of us, excuse me, all three of us have all approached it the same way.

We went out and did different things before coming to work for our dads. And it was never something the three of us had planned on. Never talked about it. Never planned on it. Yeah. I mean, I didn't tell Gigi like, Oh, I'm going to go work for my dad. Like I want to work for my dad. Like she didn't say the same thing.

That was never her plan to go work for Roberto. Same thing with Madison. She never planned to go work for, for Brian. You know what's interesting is that I think it builds a deeper bond. It does between you and I yeah, because You have so much knowledge of the inner workings of the family businesses now And you know what the stress points are and you know what the goals are You sit in the real estate development meetings.

You see how hard we push. We've got like 30 some deals going And I think knowing that and knowing the financials of the family empire and knowing all of the different aspects of the businesses that I'm teaching you. Is going to be very helpful in a transitionary phase and there will be a transition to someday, you know So the more time I get with you the better off we're going to be And that's what I would tell to the to the fathers listening or the business owners who want to bring children in the more time you can spend with them one on one and Expose them to all the meetings you go to all the trust meetings the attorney meetings Whatever your business is, you know the more you can expose them You The better off you're going to be. 

I think he goes deeper than that though, because we, we've had a deep bond to begin with, like for the last, I would say 15 years, like we would just go and spend time together all the time. Like go and get coffee, go to lunches. Like we weren't doing anything. Yeah. Let's, let's just go do something all the time.

Go on walks. Like we've been doing this for a long time. So for quite a while, I would say for the most part, I really do understand how you think. What you want well you and you probably have to hear a lot of conversations yeah that I was on yeah exactly I'm very um, I was privy to hearing some very private conversations And then you know, obviously people people you'd never met before and how you Take those calls and you're like, okay You have 30 seconds to tell me why you're calling me and what you want to call me about and they would waste like 15 Seconds introducing their name and who they work for and you're like that's 15 seconds down.

You got 15 left What do you got? And I was just like, oh Yeah, I know, you know, it's funny because Danielle say Matt this guy's been calling for four years trying to get into you I said we'll tell him when he gets his pitch down and we've got a product that I want To call me back. I get calls all the time from people who want to just, can I have 10 Can I have 20 minutes of your time?

And if you add that all up, it's the composition of a full day. Yeah. I mean, you know what, this is so simple, but I heard someone say this. Oh, George, George Schneid, when he said, he said this recently, he's like, cause he was, you know, teaching, um, these younger, um, adults at Morgan Stanley, just a class. And he's like, Oh, you're late pay me like 20, 000 because that's how much I would be making in this allotment of time because you were late I was like wow I'm like there's some truth in that because he's getting highly paid for his time Right and a lot of these people aren't calling with the mindset of like, oh, you know time is money But also out of respect for this person and what he has going on You know, he, he could be making like X amount of dollars within the 30 seconds that I'm calling him.

And you know, I don't think it's an obvious thought. I mean, I certainly have never thought of it that way before, but when George said that I was like, wow, that's pretty eyeopening. And so when I would say when you're trying to get ahold of someone like you, my advice to anyone would be like, maybe approach it with the mind frame that like time is money and each second counts every second when you want to get ahold of someone like that.

Have we aired that? That podcast? No, we, we just went over that. We did not, we've not heard it yet. Okay. That's a good one. Yeah. George is a good one. Yeah, that's a great podcast. Yeah. Interesting. So how do your time of this po Oh, okay. By the time this one comes out, it'll have been the week before. Good. So , so talk about your siblings for a second.

Is there, is there any hard feelings among your siblings working for me if they were to go work for you? No, no, no. Do you, is there any resentments, like, in families, there's always some competition, some pull? Um, to the extent of my knowledge, no. I mean, for my sister, I think she knows that was never meant to be.

Her walk. Her walk. For me, I always had the option. Yeah. I've always kind of been pegged into that hole. Yeah. I've always kind of been, you know, Trying to go a different way. Um, But you just kept getting pulled back in. Yeah, and you know, ebbs and flows. Ebbs and flows. Um, But, you know, My sister is just so genuine and so sweet and just so funny.

Maddie is so funny. She's going to make a great school teacher. Yeah, and you know, I think it's taken time for her to come into her own like it does all of us. Sure. Um, and she's had so many hills to climb, and I'm so proud of her. Um, I look, I look up to her a lot because of the person that she's become and how resilient she is.

She is so resilient. Like that, that is my word for her is just resilient, and she's still just a ball of life and she's spunky and funny, but she's always known that like that's not what I want to do. And if she were sitting in this chair, she'd be like, nope, that's, nope, that's not me. It's going to be interesting to see if Reagan has any interest.

I mean, he's going to LMU now. He, um, and if he stays at LMU, like, I don't know, it just depends on, you know, soccer and whatever else. Um, but he has a lot of growing up to do. He's 19. Um, I remember being 19. You have a lot of thoughts and feelings, a lot of personal pressures that you put on yourself of who. 

You think you're supposed to be your morning who you thought you were going to be in certain aspects. Um, and that, I feel like there's times where that process process kind of keeps repeating in your early twenties. Cause you have an idea of like, Oh, by 22 I was going to do this by 25 I was going to do or be this.

And people had said like, Oh, I'm, I'm supposed to be this. And you know, for me personally, that was something I really had to let go of. Um, cause I had a. I had a panic attack around the time we found out about your Parkinson's and I had just started at that corporate company and I've had put so much pressure on myself to just be this person and people had spoken so many wonderful words over me and they continue to and they have but there was such a pressure I'd put on myself to live up to that and to perform.

Um, and I, I know I'm going to do that. It's not a question in my mind. It's never been a question even then, but it's, So many unrealistic pressures that I'd put on myself and it had to be instantaneous. Cause you're looking on like, and I told you, that's like comparative social media. Like it's, you're looking at, you know, the Kylie Jenner's of the world and all these influencers and you're like, they get to wear these things and buy these things and go to these places and look this way and do this and do that.

And they're only this age. And it's, It is soul sucking. It is life sucking. When you start comparing yourself to others, it's the worst. It is. Um, like I even had, I remember this, like I was a senior in college and I had some of my guy friends say like, what is the Brit Heslin going to be doing when she's, by the time she's 25?

And that's something that like stuck with me. And it was something that I clutched on to like, oh, by 25, like I got to be like a certain someone. Cause people are expecting this of me. You know what's interesting? Cause I think a lot of people put a lot of pressure on themselves. Yeah. There's familial pressure probably, you know, from the parents, and then there's self pressure.

Yes. And when people start comparing themselves to other people, they start to feel less than. Yeah. And put themselves down. Well, and they also put other people down too. Well, envy is, is toxic. It's a killer. It's a silent killer. It's a, it's a killer. I mean, if you, if you can't, if you can't be happy for other people, that's a problem.

Well, and I think not necessarily the envy side of it, but I think some of those emotions and those emotion. Yeah. Just the headspace that I was in. I think Reagan is going through some of that right now just cause that's his age. Um, I don't know, um, to what extent, but. Um, there's a lot that he's sorting through and there's excitement, but there's uncertainty and then there's a little bit of fear.

Um, that's with all kids that recently graduated college. You can be so excited, but it's just like, What do I want to do for the rest of my life? And you feel such a pressure to figure it out right then. Yeah, my advice to people is yeah, half of knowing what you want to do is knowing what you don't want to do.

And the way you find out what you don't want to do is by trying things. Yeah, so you got to go out and try and multiple things before you're gonna find out what you like. Yeah, and the average millennial will have six different careers, not within the same field either. Six different careers. Um, so I want something fun.

Okay. Um, how's your new condo? Oh, it's so fun. I mean, I live with my best friend Maddie. And like I said, my other best friend Gigi was my broker. And then, um, my other best friend is my roommate. So it's so cool. Um, yeah, God's been really good that way. So special. Um, but Maddie and I have like the same aesthetic.

We live very similarly. So it's just been so Seamless and we easy. It's easy. Yeah. Um, that was a great party on saturday Yeah, we had our housewarming on saturday and we just had all of our friends and our family. Um, People we've met through various walks of life like through work. Um, I had former employees that are now very Very great friends of mine.

Um there as well and they were just like wow I'm so excited to be here to celebrate and like, yeah You were you have been an integral part of Me growing up, you know It was really cool Was that? That the the the view of the ocean. I mean you literally have a full ocean view Yeah all the way down to san diego san diego.

I mean, it's pretty crazy. Yeah, it's wild pretty lucky. Oh I'm Yeah, just blessed is really the word that I would use. I'm so You I'm just, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude. I wake up every morning and I'm like, do you have coffee on the table overlooking the beach? Um, so this morning I had it in my bed. I was just doing some reading.

Um, but yeah, like when I will just start doing some research in the mornings, I will just have my coffee and sit there and it's so nice. I would work from home and work. Let's talk about that for a second. We talked about that yesterday. Yeah. So how much time do you work from home? How much time are you working at the office now?

Well, um, I would say like, I just went cross eyed. It's sorry. Oh man. Um, maybe I'd need another coffee cheese, but I'd say like what, 20 hours a week max. Um, cause I'll just kind of like lay out my schedule, I guess. So on Mondays I'll kind of wake up a little bit slower, maybe go on a walk, make some breakfast.

Um, , then I'll get ready and go to the office, get there by 1130 for a meeting at 12 meetings done between 1230 to one, depending on, you know, what we're talking about. That's our real estate development meeting. Yeah. Real estate development meetings office. That's where we go over office, our projects. Yeah.

And then, um, I'll stay between one and two 30 and then I'll go back to the condo. Um, and I will. I'll do some research, um, and I'll get stuff prepped for the podcast on Tuesday. Tuesday we're in early doing the podcast, um, taking notes on the podcast, times notes and pulling quotes and just, you know, anything relevant for the listener that they can grapple to.

And Steven and I are just kind of putting our heads together for what upcoming, um, I guess episodes look like and Yeah, um, then wednesday thursday friday is more research. Yeah, wednesday thursday friday is more research um, and then saturday is more podcast So going back to the discussion, yeah, wednesday thursday friday is at home but going back to the discussion we were having about You know busyness does not equal productivity Yes, I think you you've discovered that you don't have to be busy every second to be productive I was kind of stressed out at first because working at home, you know, you're still in someone else's time and you're getting paid for it. 

But it's, I've also had to realize that like, you don't have to be doing something for 12 hours a day to be back to back to back to back to be productive. Like you could finish your day's work in a couple hours or maybe an hour. Like it just depends, but it's like, and then, you know, look for something else to do, like be.

Like be productive, um, proactive, I should say. Um, but I've really had to unlearn and I'm using the word unlearn because I've had to disassociate busy working productivity from being the same thing because I was so heavily totally different things, totally different things. Yeah. That's awesome. Um, but I don't know, it's going good so far.

Um, It's not a bad thing working from the condo, but I have to make sure I'm like getting up and walking cause I'm sitting for so long on my laptop. So how, how is it paying mortgages and, uh, utilities? Oh, it sucks. It's terrible. It's expensive, isn't it? Yeah. I'm like nickel and dime, like. Every five seconds, I'm like, didn't I just pay this bill?

Don't you feel house poor? Oh no, I'm house poor. Like, that's like, I don't feel it, I am. I am house poor. But you know, I'm not obviously spending like money on clothes and stuff like I was before when I, um, because I was paying you and mom rent when I was living at the house. Are you able to live up to the 10 10 80 rule? 

We're still working on it. Okay. Yeah, but, um, a lot of it's going to. Obviously just front and various things. Well, you know what? Here's the thing. You're making money every month you own that condo because prices are going up. It appreciates it appreciates and you're going to make the wealth off of that.

And someday you're going to buy another one and move into that one and rent this one out. And that's all cashflow, you know? Uh, so you know, you may want to have Gigi looking for an investment property. Because the real estate in Dana Point We've talked about it already, which is crazy. Like as soon as we bought this condo, um, She and I were like, so what other projects do we want to do together?

Because we worked so well together, like that was such a pleasant surprise. Because you don't always work well with your best friends. How was the process of buying the condo? How, did you find it interesting? Yeah, I mean we've you know, we've done a podcast on it, so I I mean I guess to just kind of revisit that and It's helped me understand more of the the meetings The real estate meetings on Mondays, so I'm more familiarized with the process between you know, the Utah house between my condo That's right.

You helped with the Utah house. Yeah, I did help with the Utah house But it's you know, it's it's It's a good thing. It's fun. We're going there today. Yeah, we are going today. And we're gonna, you know, walk in, walk in nature and get fitted for some clubs. I'm going to get back to playing golf. I like it. Get some lefty clubs. 

You know, um, there's so much to do up there in Utah. Literally, we could be busy every day, all day. It's a neat place. It's a really neat place. Well, it's, yeah, it's pretty special. And everyone will ask like, so where are you? Are you in park city? I'm like, no, we're not in park city. We're like 10, 15 away.

They're like, so we're summit like, well, I'll say like, Oh, we're in summit County. They're like, Where is that? I'm like, it's just off the 80 like West. Um, I'm like it, you know, it's out there. Um, but there's so much to do. So I think, you know, as you're entering more of the back nine of your life, um, and I'm still on my, still my front nine.

Um, I think there's just so much to do and learn together. Um, and you have so much wisdom to pass down and we get to use the Utah house to do. Talk about really what we want that to look like. There's the transitory period from me being at, um, Green Sands and Huston Holdings and what you want your life to look like as you slowly transition out.

That's exactly what I plan on doing. That's the plan. I transition out, you transition in. More or less. Yeah, not too fast, not too fast. I'm not ready yet. Not ready yet. And then obviously, you know, Um, I've always had an affinity for, I think, being accomplished in multiple areas, not just like one subset or like one, um, industry.

So there's so many things. Well, the other thing is you're very creative. Thank you. You have such a knack for, for aesthetics and for colors and for spacing and spatial elementation. I mean, you're very, very accomplished at that. So that's why it's great to have you up at the Utah house because yeah, I mean you bet i'm gonna have a hand in What furniture is being picked out? 

You know It's a process. It's such a process because the house is so big you have to measure every room For every piece of furniture. Yeah, i'm like, holy moly. Well, and you haven't done that in What 12 years 12 years? Yeah. Um and This house well in this house is so particular because it's You know, the wood floors are so beautiful.

So you can't just have cruddy furniture on extremely beautiful floors. You don't go discount for it. So it's just, it's, yeah. Um, it's crazy to see, like, I, I guess really how much you have to put into it after buying the house. And then there comes, you know, Managing the property and then paying the people who help manage the property and then you have all the club fees and then you Have like membership.

Oh my god That house, I mean Expenses yeah, you know and because it's a it's a multi seasonal house Winter requires certain maintenance Summer requires certain maintenance. There's a constant maintenance going on all over the property and And that's just It's a, it's a, it's a cash sucker. Well, even from like, they were saying like, you have to treat the trees a certain way.

So you don't have like these little animals like climbing up the trees and, you know, making sure that, you know, the cement is heated properly or turned off and it's switching on or right. Or that you even have, um, I forget what's in the basement, but it helps like just kind of maintain all of like the. 

The gases was it the rayon? Yeah. Yeah. Right on. Right on. Excuse me. You got it. You got it Which is something we don't have to worry about out here in California. So there's just so many different Components even having a house out of state that you have to like learn about which has been a cool process That's a good process too in you know Obviously, I'm sure those are things that I know those are things that you have to think about when developing New properties, um for your business as well.

So that was eye opening for me And very cool So we've talked a lot. We've talked a lot about you know, you're exiting college your career path how you got to here we've talked about the culture of a big company versus the culture of Uh green sands our company. Yeah your experiences so Have you thought about the next five years, about what you're going to do, what you want to be doing? 

Yeah, I mean, I definitely think about it. I mean, investing in more properties is definitely a priority. That free cash flow. Yes. Making money while you sleep. Yes, making money while I sleep. Um, you know, Starting, growing a family, that's definitely Yes! High on the priority list. I need grandchildren. Are you done?

Yeah. Are you going to keep going? I'm done. You got it all out? I just wanted to get it out there. Okay, I know, because I hear about it at least once a day, maybe a couple times a week. But just had to make sure you got it out, because I know you want everyone to listen. I want everybody to know that I'm up for grandkids.

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. I'm not being like nervous laughing right now. Pressure's on. I'm like, get me out of here. You're the oldest. Oh yeah. You know, Matt, Maddie's looking in good shape too. She's only two years younger. You never know, but either way. So the next five years, yeah, definitely family. Um, and then, um, at some point, like I would like to, um, start my own business.

That's something I've talked to you about, but, um, I think it's very doable to be able to do this and then something else on the side. You just add it on to the corporate umbrella. Yeah, more of the green sand side. Um, because as I've talked about with you, like I want to really build that site out to be a really nice portfolio.

What we're doing, Britt, is we're buying so many properties every year that all cash flow positive that we have the cash flow to be able to help Finance a new business entity and roll it up into the corporate umbrella. Mm hmm So, I mean that's something you should be given a lot of thought to oh, yeah, of course Well, that was my first thought too is if I were to start anything I would like it to be under the green sands umbrella, yeah, I Think that'd be really cool.

And then aside from that. I think I want to be At for some reason it's just kind of been in my heart recently like I want to be involved with the city of Dana Point For some reason, so just what capacity I don't know That's such like a generic thing that they're out there but like I think it's important to really Know and understand your community to have a heart for your community for your neighbors and to want to better the world around you Yeah, so whatever that looks like, I guess I'll keep you updated but like Yeah, I just kind of, I've had a recent, and this could, I don't know, this interest could die off, who knows, but it's just been a recent peaked interest of mine.

Um, Those are great, great stepping stones, great milestones. Yeah, we'll see. I think it's important to really know and understand the world around you and to obviously not want to be successful just for yourself. Success is meant to be shared with others. People, even people that you don't know. You know, Rick Warren's book, the very first line is, It's not about you.

Yeah. It's about helping other people. And as a family, we do that, a lot of that, through our foundation and whatnot. Um, and you're doing it through your church, and you're doing it through your activities. Well, I didn't get involved with Dana Point, but I think you've got a great, um, I know you've got a great future.

I know it's going to be with Greensands. I know it's going to be opening your own company, and you know, we'll figure that out when we get to that bridge. Um, how about any questions for me? Do you have anything you want to talk about? Oh, man. What's the first thing you're gonna do when we get to Utah? Take a nap. 

I'm taking a nap. I'm tired. I know, you just kind of like snorted right there. I laughed. Um, I mean. Probably take a nap and then, you know, start going shopping to fill the house with goods. Goods and food and all that nice stuff. Yeah, I want to go play some pickleball there. I want to go out and play some golf.

I still haven't played pickleball yet. And I keep getting like there's I just have some people like I do want to play out and i'm just i'm busy on the days that I keep getting asked But I haven't had an opportunity to play so we'll play out there. Yeah, maybe I can play with you mom, but yeah, I mean so obviously You know you're here doing green sands has some holdings in the podcast What kind of vision do you have for the next, I would say 10 years of your life for myself or the family?

Both maybe. I mean, what, whatever applies. So obviously I'm interested in furthering the real estate empire. When I asked, because you're so meticulous with your goals. Yeah. So every November before the new year I sit down and write down all my goals. Financial goals, spiritual goals, relationship goals, um, cash flow goals, uh, health goals, fitness goals, all of them.

I do, uh, I'm very meticulous about my goals. Yeah. And I look at them every month. How am I doing? How am I doing? And if I'm not doing well, I check in with myself and go, why, why is that? And then I go back to getting back on track so it helps keep me on track Um, so I do a monthly self evaluation um, but I see You're probably buying another half a billion dollars in properties probably, um buying another um energy company small energy company Um a portion of it, you know, I don't own the whole thing Because I don't want to run it Um, but, but, but investing in new energy and I mean lithium primarily.

Yeah. That we've talked about it. Hydrogen. Yeah. Lithium and hydrogen. Um, so we'll, we'll, we own a lithium, an energy, a big lithium company. So we've accomplished that. Now I'm looking for hydrogen. Um, it's exciting. It's exciting. It really is. I don't have no plans to retire because I don't know what I do all day.

Well, and I think especially with Parkinson's, it's so healthy for your brain because. They like it's been said statistically that like when you retire your brain Just starts kind of atrophying. Yeah, like about like what seven years after you retired it starts Yeah, the average male will live seven years if he truly retires and has nothing to do Yeah, which he did at 42, which was crazy When I retired at 42, I was bored.

Yeah, so I came back and started three companies Like, who does that, okay. But my other, I guess two, I have two, kind of two questions that go together. What has been your favorite thing about doing the podcast so far? You know what, knowing that people are listening and learning, I'm getting so much feedback from people.

People, I didn't know were listening, but people are listening and they're going. There's so much wisdom in the podcast. Your guests are so accomplished, and they love you. I mean, who doesn't love you? I mean, that's just, that's, that's very sweet. Thank you. But, but they, they love you. They love your, your perspective.

You, you uniquely relate to the Gen Zennials, um, as you like to call them, Gen Z and, and millennials. Um, and I think you touch that, that audience really well. Um, and I think the favorite thing is. It's sitting down and talking to people, getting their story out there, and helping them in any way I can. And knowing that every podcast we do, we're helping somebody. 

That's my favorite. Okay, and then, that's a great answer, thank you. And then, um, what have been some unexpected, I'd say components, about podcasting? like what are some unexpected things that you've encountered in producing and developing a podcast? Like I don't want to say like negative things because I really don't see any negatives to this at all.

I don't feel that there's any negative things to this. Um, but maybe unexpected or learning curves for you personally. I, I'm flabbergasted by the people that come up to me and tell you that they're watching it. Um, I, I think I've learned that through Steven's work and your work, right? You're able to get it out to multitudes of people And people are truly interested in authentic communication authentic genuine Helpful communication and that's what this podcast is meant to do.

It's meant to help people Who are looking at for various types of help financial help? You know relational help whatever whatever we can offer to help. That's what the goal is. That's what i'm most proud about and then what are You Three topics, it doesn't have to be three, like if one just comes to mind, great.

But what is maybe one or three topics that you really, really are passionate about that you want to cover that we haven't covered yet? I really am. I think one of the topics is, um, health. Um, the, so, so Tony Robbins wrote a book called Life Force. So in relation to Parkinson's or just health in general? No, health in general.

Okay. Preventative health specifically. Okay. What people can do for preventative health. Um, I'm reading Tony Robbins book right now, Lifeforce, and I'm learning so much about what you can do to prevent cancer. You can prevent, you know, Parkinson's, there's preventative and then there's curative. And he focuses on the preventative.

So that's one podcast I really want to focus on is, you know, getting that information disseminated out to the public. That's probably the first one. The second one is spending time talking about the next 10 years, what that's going to look like. Okay. I want to spend some time because I just touched on it a little bit here.

Oh yeah. But I've got huge goals. Um, I'm not retiring. I'm just, you know, so you get a lot of time to learn, but I want to spend some time on that. So I think one of the other things that I want to focus on in the future podcasts is other faiths. You know, I'm Christian, but I want to bring in Buddhists, Muslims, you know, and bring Jewish people in and, and, and get their perspective on their faith and how their faith is, is developed and how their faith pushes their businesses forward.

Um, and how that, how that looks. So I think there's. Probably the other one I want to focus on. I like that one just because I think it's so important to understand why people believe what they believe. Um, and why their life does or doesn't center around it. Right. Whether it's something that's more casual, casual that they approach or it's, it's It's quite literally the epicenter of everything that they do.

I think that's so important. It tells you a lot about a person, obviously. Um, so I'm excited for that one. That'll be really cool. So we can bring in people, maybe a rabbi and talk about faith from the Jewish perspective or somebody who has a business that's Jewish, but is very devoted to their faith.

Bring in, you know, bringing a Buddhist, you know, people who have businesses, um, but their faith is driving their success and who and how their faith developed and what that looks like. I think that'd be a really cool podcast. Yeah. I think it's different because I think there's, um, there's so much hate in the world and I think it's important to just have a heart for people, period.

Um, um, And having a heart for people just comes with having an open heart to understand who they are and why they believe what they believe, whether you believe what they believe or not. Yeah. You know, I think that's really cool. And then I think that 10 year one will be really, really cool too. The 10 year one and the faith.

I know a lot of people will want insight to how you really carve out your goals and your mindset behind approaching that and your intentional, um, your, how you're so intentional about. Approaching those goals. You know, the reason that we've achieved such great success is because we planned for it. And we got, and luck too plays a role in it, right?

I mean, planning and luck. And good fortune. Um, and faith. Like Tim Bush said, you know, faith is, is everything. Um, if you don't have faith in yourself, if you don't have faith in God, if you don't have faith in your abilities, you're not going to succeed. Yeah, so you gotta have faith in all those components.

Yeah. No, I think that's true. I think you know The more faith you have you'll find that Luck seems to follow, you know, yeah, that's kind of what I what i've learned Um, but yeah, I think we've given our listeners so much to to chew on. Um, i'm so grateful that you had me back Well, thanks for coming in. I love you.

Yeah, I love you too. Let's get on the plane. All right. Have a good day. Bye.