This is a short client-testimonial interview between wealth/business coach Dave Parry and his client Dylan. Dylan describes a long hospitality career with overseas postings (Thailand, Maldives, Indonesia), family ties to Thailand (14 years; son born there), and a recent decision to prepare for retirement. After being declined for a home loan due to two debts (car finance and a business loan), Dylan paid off roughly $75,000 in outstanding debt (which would have cost ~ $140,000 over the loan terms). Over two to three months of coaching with Dave, he experienced relief, renewed momentum, and launched a guest-craft business; he praises Dave’s tailored, belief-driven coaching approach.
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The transformation in me in a fairly short period of time after meeting Dave, I'm proud of and I'm also really appreciative of.
So Dylan, tell us, who are you a little bit about you and what do you do?
I've had an amazing career that I'm incredibly grateful for in the hospitality industry and that started at a fairly young age. That transitioned into, you know, an overseas posting for the Marriott Group. From my early 20s through till 40, I had an incredible lifestyle, Dave, in terms of working in some luxury properties, hotels, and I was based in Thailand, Maldives, Indonesia, and you live in a hotel. Money's a lot better than what it would be in Australia. Tax free. You know, you end up with your food done, your laundry done, your school fees done, you know, a car and a driver and a pretty good lifestyle.
Why did you reach out to me, what you're looking for and what resonated when you came across me?
I started to really think about retirement seriously and, you know, how much did I want to have and what I would need to do to get to that number. And I quickly realized that time wasn't on my side or isn't on my side and that was the main motivation to, you know, reach out to you. And you popped up at the right time. And it's been just an incredible, I guess, you know, two to three months working with you so far, Dave, with some, with some pretty solid results in.
The very early stages, sort of unpacking, I suppose, your life vision. How was that process for you and then how we sort of pulled it apart in our first call.
My beautiful wife is from Thailand and my son was born there. So I've had 14 years of my life there. So that, that really feels like a bit of a second home. So that was one of the things that was really important for us as a family to be able to, you know, have that option to be living in two countries. The process of, you know, unpacking that plus, you know, some personal things for myself that I've wanted and, you know, hadn't quite achieved yet. So on top of that to be really looking at setting up my son for success as well, I think that was that that was really important for me so that, you know, he could live a life of choice and be really chasing his dreams without sort of having to worry too much about a 9 to 5, I guess now you.
Made two pretty significant decisions. You took some massive action at a personal, financial level. What did you actually, what did you tackle and pay off in a very.
Short amount of time I'd applied for a, for, for a home loan. I've got a well paying job, fairly minimal overheads and other things and the bank still knocked me back. So that was a bit of a, that was a bit of a realization and they, they mentioned because I, you know, there were, there were two debts that they weren't comfortable with and one, one was a car, you know, some car financing and the other was a business loan of, of business that I'd taken on when I came back to Australia. I guess then I started looking into it a bit more detail and, and really looked at what those two debts were recovering. And in total, both those debts were about $75,000. But the, both those debts, it would have been close to about $140,000 that I would have been paying back over, over the period of the loan. So in terms of that, that was a very clear motivation and you know, indicated that my first priority needed to be to, you know, knock that debt on the head.
And when you paid that off, what did you experience?
There was certainly a weight, a weight off my shoulders, you know, putting it that way that I didn't really feel it was there, but once it was, once it had gone, it was, it was like fresh air, clean air, a clear and you know, I realized that how much those, those two things had been holding me back. But, but more than that, it was, it was really just consolidating where I want to go and what I'm doing and taking massive action towards that and doing that in a, in a relatively short period of time has really propelled my, my momentum, I would say.
What is also possible for you potentially with a career out of all of.
This, call it guest craft. We're getting that off the ground now. Well, it actually is off the ground already in a much shorter time than, than I would have anticip. That was really through your encouragement and a bit of structure around how to, how to put this together so, you know, without knowing the nth degree of having things, you know, completely ready, but taking the steps forward to get this business off the ground and has also been incredibly motivating.
That entrepreneurial spark got reignited and you, in many ways it was always there within you. You just needed someone to hold the mirror back and give you a bit of a nudge and encouragement and give.
You a framework, encourage anyone to do the same because it's a big world out there and there's 100% you will have some expertise that people want to know.
What would you say to anyone else that's considering maybe working with me as a wealth and or business coach.
The transformation in me in a fairly short period of time after meeting Dave I'm proud of and I'm also really appreciative of. So what I like about Dave for you is also the value that you give as well and being able to lean on you with some feedback, some direction and having that conversation quite fluid and quite tailored to me. That, that, that's what I, that's what I feel. It's not a sort of a, a program that it's a one size fits all and that's what you get. You know, it's been. I feel anyway, the journey for me has been very tailored to me by, by you. So I, I appreciate that.
What are you most grateful for. For. For having met me and started this journey of, of wealth coaching and, and.
Business discovery, I guess incre or meeting someone that in a very quick period of time has been able to understand me and where I'm at and to be able to provide some genuine guidance. Probably the other thing that I'm really grateful for is that belief. You've obviously seen that belief in me and at some point I think I just needed someone to stoke that fire a little bit and get it going and it's well and truly alight now.
