01: My Mold Story

Hello again, everyone, and welcome to today's show. If you're one of the 130 million people that are dealing with Sirs Lyme disease, autoimmune disease, or other conditions that are impacted by mold on a daily basis, and you need to learn how to eliminate that exposure, then you're in the right place. My name is Brian Carr, and you're listening to Mold Finders Radio.

So I was on an assessment yesterday with a client, and I was talking to him for a while, and he asked me how I got into doing what I do, how I got into, you know, doing these really deep dive assessments and working specifically with mold sensitive people, and kind of asked my story. And so I told him kind of the whole story. And at the end of it, he just looked at me. He's like, brian, that's like, one of the best stories I've ever heard. He's like, do you tell everybody the story? And I thought about it. I was like, you know what? No, not really. I mean, I talk to my clients about a lot of stuff, but I don't usually talk a whole lot about, like, where I came from and myself and everything like that. And he's like, why? You really should. Because I think that people would love to hear that. So. So what I'm going to do today is I'm going to share that story with you. So, you know, it all started about, like, six, seven years ago. And at the time, I was living in a small apartment in Los Angeles. Very small, overpriced apartment, because that's what Los Angeles is. And I was working at an advertising agency, and it was fine. I mean, I was. I, you know, I was good at it and I was doing well, but I didn't really like what I was doing that much. You know, I was kind of getting to that point where I wasn't really, like, feeling fulfilled, you know? Have any of you ever got to that point? You're like, oh, what am I doing with my life? Right? Like, what's going on here? Like, I feel like I'm wasting my time. And I was kind of starting to feel like that. And then one day I get a call from my boss, who is the president of the company, and he's like, hey, Brian, I want to take you to dinner. I want to talk to you about something. And I was like, okay, cool. So. So we go to dinner, and he offers me at dinner a vice president position, a promotion, and so I would be the youngest vice president in the company. And I didn't say yes. Right away, I kind of looked at him and I could tell that, like, it was like, it kind of rubbed him the wrong way a little bit, or he was just kind of confused. I was like, well, can I think about it? He's like, yeah, sure, you can think about it. And so the reason I want to think about it is because I'm already feeling, like, the way I was feeling. Like I'm kind of not making the impact on the world that I wanted to make. I didn't really know how I was going to do that, but I knew that if I took this promotion that was going to require way more time from me, then I was going to basically go further down this rabbit hole, and who knows if I ever would have got out of that. I ultimately, a day or two later, I ended up turning down the promotion. And conveniently, about a week later, I was laid off.

I think we know why I was laid off. It wasn't told to me that I was laid off because I turned it down. But needless to say, I now found myself without a job. I kind of, like, sped this whole process of finding my path and purpose in life up. So now I don't have a job, right? So I'm sitting at home, and I'm spending a lot more time at home, and I'm sitting on my bed one day and I got my computer out and I'm looking for a job, right? I have this overpriced apartment I have to pay for. And on top of that, I'm also trying to figure out, like, oh, man, what is going to make me happy? What's going to kind of fill this void that I have? And so I'm on monster.com and I'm searching around, and obviously there's not, like, a store search button for what will make me happy. So it's taken me a long time to try to figure this out. And while I'm sitting there, I feel something on my arm. And then I feel it again, and I look down and there's, like, a drip on my arm. And then I look up towards my ceiling, and my ceiling is, like, dripping on me. And I was like, oh, my God. Like, my ceiling is, like, dripping. And then it started coming out faster and then kind of turned into, like, a full kind of just flow of water coming out of, like, the light socket and a couple, like, the. The sprinkler sockets and stuff. I was like, holy crap. And so I called the landlord, obviously, right away. I was like, hey, ceiling's flooding in here. Like, you got to get somebody over here to fix it. And so they do. They get somebody over right away. They come in, they figure out there's, like, a pipe leak from the apartment above me in the bathroom. And so they fix the leak, and they dry everything out. And then the landlord's like, okay, we got it. It's all fixed. Everything's dry. You're all good. And I'm like, okay, cool, thanks. Right. You know, back then, I was. I was just like, you guys. Or maybe even not even as knowledgeable as some of you guys are. And I didn't know that that could be a problem. Right? So I just kind of move along, and it's just something that happened. And so, again, I'm spending more time in the house. I'm not going to work, and I'm sitting in my bed, and I'm typing, and I'm looking, and, you know, time is going by. It's like a week goes by, and I start noticing that it's, like, harder for me to concentrate, and I'm having a hard time focusing on what I'm doing. And that's not, like, me at all. Like, I'm pretty sharp, and I always have been. So I noticed this, and it was kind of bothering me, and it's a little scary, too. And so the girl I was dating at the time, who is now my wife, I was talking to her about it, and she's like, you know, my dad is a mold inspector, and he works with a lot of people who get sick from mold. And she's like, that sounds like stuff that he talks about. I think it could be molded. And I was like, whoa. I never even thought about that. So then I, like, start researching online. I start looking at stuff, and I start kind of seeing, like, all these crazy stories about stuff, and it's kind of freaking me out. And she's like, you know, you should call my dad. And so I hadn't really met her dad yet, so I didn't want this to be the way that I met her dad. Like, oh, hey, I don't really know you. Can you come help me and do this thing for me? Right? So instead, you know, I went to the landlord, and I basically told landlord, hey, I think that there's a mold problem here. I'm not feeling good. Something's going on. And he kept pushing back and trying to tell me there was no problem. And I was kind of firm. I was like, no, you have to get somebody out here. I need a mold test done. I need to know if something's going on. And so finally he does. And so this mold inspector comes, and he spends literally, like 15 minutes in my place. He just goes into my room where the leak was, and he puts up an air sample pump in the middle of the room. And he looks around while the air sample is collecting, and he's like, oh, yeah. He's like, I mean, it's stained, but it's all dry, so everything's fine. You know, there can't be Moldovich dry. And again, this guy's a professional, right? So I'm like, okay, all right, well, let's see what the air tests show, right? Because I figured, well, if I'm breathing this air, then the air test is going to tell me, which obviously later I learned is not true. But anyway, so the air test comes back and, you know, it says that there's no problem, everything is normal, everything's fine. And so again, I'm kind of like, all right, well, there's no mold here. Like, the guy said, there's no mold. So I'm. I'm continuing to look for work. I'm continuing to try to figure all this stuff out. My. My concentration is getting worse. And then my face starts breaking out in what looks like eczema on different places of my face. And that, like, really freaked me out. I was like, all right, enough is enough. I told my. My girlfriend, my now wife, I was, you know, she kind of saw this happening. She's like. She's like, okay, I'm. My dad's calling you. Like, you need to talk to him. And so he calls me. His name is Mark Levy. And he calls me and he asked me everything that's going on. And so I tell him what happened. There was this flood. They dried it out. Some guy came out, he took some air samples. Everything's fine. And he said to me, brian, he's like, there's 100% a mole problem in your house. He's like, I have to come over there and look at it. Let me come over. I could be there tomorrow. And I was like, oh, okay. And so he comes over and he spends, like, honestly, like, two hours in my 800 square foot apartment. The other guy was there for like, 15 minutes. He's there for, like two hours. He's not only looking in my room, he's looking everywhere. He's looking in, like, the cabinets, under the sinks. He's looking in the bathrooms in my room. He's. He's looking around the ceiling and the baseboards and the walls and the window, all this stuff. All this stuff that the other guy didn't even look at. Afterwards, he tells me, he's like, hey, listen. So there's like, there's like, eight areas here that I'm pretty sure that there's a mole problem. He's like, we need to do some testing to figure out, because you're dating my daughter and I like you, I'm not going to charge you for it, which was amazing. And so he did the testing, and results came back, and every one of those eight areas had a pretty significant mole problem. And my mind was just blown. I was like, oh, my God. I mean, the guy took air samples, right? And so Mark explained to me how you can't really rely on those and. And basically said, okay, so we know that there's a problem in the house. He's like, what do you want to do, right? What's your goal? What are you trying to achieve out of this? And I said, well, I mean, I'm not feeling good, right? And, like, I don't own this place. I don't have a lot of leverage. And honestly, I've already seen how this guy tried to handle it, and after what you've told me, I know that he's not going to handle this the right way. I'm like, so I want to get out of my lease. The problem was that I had, you know, just signed the lease, like, four months before. So I had eight months left. And because I had already had, like, this other air sample test done, you know, the landlord wasn't going to let me out of the lease. And so Mark tells me, he's like, don't worry about that. He's like, set up a call with the three of us on the phone. I'm going to get you out of your lease. And I was like, what? I was like, okay, all right, let's. Yeah, thanks. And so we do. And, you know, it was early on, I didn't really understand a lot of what he was saying other than the fact that there's a big problem here. And.

I know what I'm talking about. And I've done court cases, and I've been through this process, and you don't want to go down that road with me. And that was kind of the conversation that he had with the guy. By the end of the conversation, not only was I let out of my lease, I got my last two months of previous months of rent reimbursed, and I got moving expenses to move to the next place. The guy wanted nothing to do with Mark because he knew what he was up against and it had been proven, and it's just not worth it for the landlord to go down that road when he could fill the place with someone else. So he just let me out and he basically cut his losses. And after that, my mind was just completely blown. I was like, whoa, man. I had this other guy that came in. Obviously, nothing happened. You came in, it was completely different. You really helped me. Clearly, I'm having problems at the time. I still didn't have a job yet. I'm still trying to figure out something that I think is going to fulfill me and what I want to do. And what he did for me was amazing. And so I just asked him on the spot. I was like, hey, can I. Can I work for you? And he was kind of surprised. And he was like. He's like, well, he's like, let me do this. He's like, you can shadow me for a month. He's like, I'm not going to pay you, but you could come with me on all my appointments for a month. And if you like what we do, then, yeah, I would love to talk to you about it. So that's what I did. I said, yeah, 100%, let's do it. So I went with him a month on all of his appointments, and I was seeing the same thing happening to all these other people. There was previous inspectors that came in, and they were. They were just missing the boat. They were giving them this false sense of security, and people didn't know what was going on. And Mark was helping them understand everything that was happening in their homes. And he was helping them if they own the home. He was helping them try to figure out how to remediate it if they didn't own the home. He was helping them to get leverage to try to get out of their situation or get something done. And I just, like, I just became obsessed with this. It was just so amazing to me that there was this whole need that wasn't getting filled. And you could see in the eyes of the people that he was working with, like, how appreciative they were and the impact he was having on them. And so the month went by and I saw this and I was like, I'm 100% on board. Like, I want to do this right? And so I decided at that point. So he said, okay, you know, you can. He's like, yeah, let's do it. I've enjoyed spending time with you. Let's. Let's start training you. And so I decided that I was literally going to shadow him every moment of every day that I could. Except, like, when we were sleeping, basically. So if we're. If there was an appointment, we had to drive there. I was in the car with him. If there was a phone call with a client, I demanded to be on the call so I could hear what he was talking about at the assessments. I was obviously with him, and I was asking him all these questions about mold and all these different things, and I was learning all this stuff and. And I was kind of figuring out that he kind of had, like, the system and this process for how he went through a home and the different things he looked for and how he approached each thing. And I was kind of mentally putting all that together so I could figure it out. Then I started taking notes on all that stuff, and I started kind of breaking down the different types of rooms that we would look at and different things. I was like, really on board with this. And so I did that for a year. Year. Every job he went on, every phone call, he was on, every car ride. I was just in his back pocket the whole time. And I learned so much. We even went to different medical conferences together and was learning about how mold impacts the body. And I started talking to different doctors. It was just like this amazing new world that opened up to me. And so after the year goes by, he says, okay. He's like, you're ready. He's like, I trust you. You're on board. He's like, I would put you up against anybody in the country, and I feel like that you would be able to be on par, if not better than. Than any of. Kind of the top guys. And there's like, kind of like a handful of guys in the country that are considered the top guys. And it gave me a lot of confidence. I was like, cool. So he sends me a client. Client's name is Nick. And this is the first time that it all came together for me. So Nick is super, super mold sensitive. So he has sirs so Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome that developed a secondary issue of mcs, which are multiple chemical sensitivity. He is so sensitive that he can't even, like, walk around normal places without a face mask on. And this is like before the whole COVID 19 thing, right? Like, this is years ago. So, like, anywhere that he went, he had to wear a mask because the. The chemical off gassing just in normal places or the mold that was hidden just in everyday places that you go to is impacting him so much. So that's how sensitive he was. And so he was looking to buy this condo. And he was a real estate investor, too. So when he looks to, like, buy a place, he's looking obviously to live there. He needs to make sure that it's safe for him, but he's also kind of looking at the future value and what it could turn into. And so I was talking to him about it, and he said, listen, Brian, I just need to make sure there's no mold in here, because I can't live in a place like that. And I said, okay. And so I start going through the condo, and I start going through this mental checklist, right, of everything that I had learned. And when you go through this room, you look this way and you go through this room, you look at these certain things. I start doing that through every room. And I start noticing as I'm going throughout the whole house that there is, like, very, very subtle, mild water damage on a lot of the baseboards throughout the entire condo. And it was weird to me. I'm like, why are all these baseboards water damage? There's, like, a little bubbling in them that you couldn't really see unless you held your flashlight the right way. And I was, like, thinking to myself, I'm like, is it possible that, like, maybe, like, the maids that lived here before, like, they would wash the floors and, like, used, like, too much water and so it soaked up in the baseboards? I'm like, is that possible? Maybe. But as I'm going through, it just seems more and more to me that, like, there's just been a massive flood here. Like, that's in my gut, that's what I was thinking. And I knew that Nick couldn't handle that. And so I wasn't just gonna say, oh, it was probably, like, maid's cleaning. I couldn't do that. If I. If I did that and was wrong, Nick was going to be really, really sick. So I went to him and I kind of pulled him aside. We were there, like, with the. The real estate agents. So I pull Nick aside. I'm like, hey, Nick, has there been any disclosures on, like, water damage or anything? And he's like, no, there's been nothing here. I'm like, I gotta tell you, man, I think that there's been, like, a huge flood in here. And he looked at me, like, kind of shocked. He's like, what are you talking about? And so I kind of take him to different rooms and I show him these things on the baseboards I was seeing. And so now we're away from the, from the real estate agent. I'm like, nick, can we call, like the building maintenance guys and just kind of make it sound like you live in this unit? And we can just ask them, like, they don't know that you live here. Let's ask them. And he's like, okay. And so we call. So we call the maintenance. And he's. And he says, yo, I'm in, you know, apartments or condo, so. And so. Or whatever. He's like, hey, is there was there any, like, water, like leaks or floods or anything that happened here? And within 30 seconds, the. The guy on the phone, he's like, oh, yeah, the old guy that lived there before you, he was. He was like an elderly guy and he was running a bath one day and then he forgot that he turned on the bath and then he went to take a nap and he basically flooded out the entire unit. And I was like, oh, my gosh, are you kidding me? Like, these little things that I was seeing kind of unveiled this massive problem. A place like that for Nick is an absolute no go. Like, it would have just. It would have destroyed him. And he was shocked and kind of blown away. And I was like. So I told him, like, well, obviously we're not doing this. We're walking away. He's like, no. He's like, I really like this condo. He's like, I need to know that there's a problem, right? Because otherwise it's a great investment. I'm like, nick, with all this water that's happened, there's going to be problems. He's like, no, I want to test everything. So. Okay. So we ended up testing like 18 walls throughout the whole place. He wanted to test every single wall. So we tested all the walls and like 90% of them came back with like, massive problems. And when he saw that, he was just like, oh my gosh. He's like, I can't believe that this happened and nobody told me about it. And. And you couldn't even really see it. There wasn't like mold everywhere. There was mold nowhere. You couldn't see any of it. It was all hidden. And so he, needless to say, he backed out of the deal. He canceled the deal. And then he called me after that. He's like, brian. He's like, you know, I had to call you. I had to thank you. And I was like, you don't need to thank me, Nick. I mean, that's the point of this whole thing. He's like, no, you don't understand. He's like, you didn't just find some mold in a place. He's like, I'm so sensitive to this stuff. He's like, this would have just sent me down, like a massive spiral. He's like, honestly, Brian, he's like, you saved my life. He's like, because this would have destroyed me. He's like, I don't even know if I could have survived being in this place. And when he told me that, I just got this, like, warm rush of a feeling. Like, I don't know if anyone has ever, you know, like, helped somebody do something and you get, like, this, like, warm fuzzy feeling or something. I got this just massive rush. Like a huge freaking tidal wave of, like, happiness and satisfaction. Just, like, hit me in the face, basically. And that was the moment where I was like, whoa. I was like, this is it, right? I mean, I was seeing it happen throughout the time. But when I personally, on my own, had this impact with somebody, it just completely changed my life personally. And I know that it was having an impact on other people's lives. And that's really the point where I was just 100% all in, even more than I was before. And I've done massive deep dives. And now up to today, I've created digital training courses. I've started a new company that travels the whole country and implements the same assessment process. I've worked with thousands of people and help thousands of people create these healthy homes. And it's all kind of stemmed from that moment. And that is my story. And so I wanted to share that with you guys, because Matthew, yesterday at my appointment.

Told me that he thought that I should. And the more I thought about it, I was like, you know what? I think that it'd be kind of cool to share that story because I haven't really told it in a long time. So I hope that you guys all enjoyed that and kind of get a feel for how this process works and how we go about doing this. And ultimately, the goal here is obviously to help people who are sick. And you know what's funny is to this day, Nick actually sends me every Christmas. He sends me a Christmas present every single Christmas. It's been like six years or something, and I get it every year. And he always sends me with a card, and he says, hey, Brian, I just want to thank you again for saving my life. I hope that you and your wife. And now we have a new child and that your new child are all having a great holiday. And so it's an amazing thing. So everyone there's hope out there. There's a way to do this. I'm going to be helping you through this whole process. So continue to listen and we'll start talking about specifics and different things, things like that. But anyway, have a good one, everyone, and we'll talk to you soon.

So that's it for today's show, everyone. Thanks so much for tuning in. If you enjoyed the show, please take a moment and subscribe and give a rating wherever you get your podcasts. It'll help spread the word to those who really need it the most.

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