How One Agent Turned $100 into $1.25M | Outliers
In this episode of Tom Ferry’s Outliers series, host Tom Ferry interviews Mario De Santis, an Italian immigrant who arrived in the United States with only $100 and eventually generated $1.25 million in gross commission income (GCI) in a single year. Mario recounts his journey from traveling through Europe, working as a busboy in Santa Cruz, learning English through music, and earning his real‑estate license during the COVID‑19 shutdown. He describes the rapid growth of his business—30‑plus transactions in his first years—followed by burnout, which led him to hire a coach and adopt disciplined habits such as a morning routine, yoga, meditation, and strict time‑blocking. Family becomes his “why,” prompting him to quit heavy drinking, prioritize time with his three children, and restructure his schedule to leave the office at 5 p.m. Mario also shares strategic financial moves, including purchasing a commercial building, leveraging a cost‑segregation study, and using partners (CPA, mortgage broker) to maximize cash flow. Throughout the conversation he emphasizes accountability, a “phone‑call‑away” service mindset, cutting out energy‑draining relationships, and the importance of goal‑setting and mindset for outliers. The interview ends with practical advice for listeners on how to become high‑performers, and Mario’s contact information for further connection.
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Have you ever asked yourself, why is it that some people seem to constantly outperform their potential, call them an outlier, while other people with the best of intentions fall dramatically below or just below their expectations? And listen, they're not bad people. They set big goals, but they don't align their behaviors with what it is they want to accomplish. The next seven shows, this quick little series I'm doing where I'm interviewing the outliers, what's the psychology? What's the mindset? What do they do to that cause them to outperform their potential? Enjoy the show. Mario, welcome to the show.
Thank you, Tom. I'm honored to be here.
It is absolutely my pleasure. There's so many questions I want to ask you. For the person that doesn't know. Tell them where you're from and how long you've been in the country, and then we'll talk a little real estate. Then we'll get into all my crazy questions.
Sounds wonderful. So I'm Mario De Santis, originally from Italy. Altamura, the hill of the boot. And when I was 19, after high school, I decided to travel. And I had €2,000 saved up. So I went to Prague, Amsterdam, Malta. And then I made my way to the US but I show up broke with only 100 bucks in my pocket.
That was Malta. That was Malta. I've been to Malta. I understand.
And I had a big smile. I still have a big smile.
Yes, you do.
And I didn't speak English. And then I ended up in Santa Cruz County. And I fell in love with. With the culture, with the people with ocean and the redwoods. And I'm like, you know what? I should start a life from scratch. I did my first laundry. You know, my mom is Italian. She spoiled me with pasta on a Sunday. Three hours lunches and glass of wine. I started drinking when I was 10 years old.
Exactly.
And. And I had to reinvent myself and get very uncomfortable.
Yeah. And I'm starting with learning a language.
Yeah. Starting a new language I didn't have. Bob Marley actually helped me.
Yeah.
Because he sings very slow. The national mystic Lick blowing. And then I translate in Italian. And then I will sing in English, then in Italian. That's actually how I got my real estate license. I translate the whole book and back and forth. It was. It was a big challenge.
You are a very bright guy, though. I can tell. All this energy and natural charisma under. I already know what's going on behind the scenes. So I want to be clear. You went to Prague. What was the second spot, then Malta. Okay, so we know you didn't Amsterdam. You lost some brain cells. I. I've been to Prague many times. I love it. I've been to Amsterdam. But Malta is a very special place that not many. So you. You leave from Malta and you end up in Santa Cruz, Northern California. How did you end up. Why did you end up there?
There was an Italian guy, and he owned the restaurant, and he was from my hometown, so cousin of a cousin. We used to watch Baywatch on tv, and it's like, oh, California must be nice. And my buddy Tony was at the time we finished high school. We should go to California. Must be nice. The ocean is beautiful. Yes. And then we actually. Yeah, he came and pick us up and host us, and we fell in love. We actually ended up in the redwoods and not on the coast.
Yes.
And it was beautiful. And everybody loved us because of our accent, of course. And then the name of the restaurant was Da Mario. And my name is Mario. So everybody thought I was the owner, but I didn't speak English. So if they smile, I will smile. If they were upset, I will be upset. You know, I will mirror them. And they're like, mario. My name is Mario. Mario. I didn't know what they were saying. I would just serve him. And then as a busboy, they started putting tip in my. I had a nice shirt, Italian. I would cook good food. You know, they. They didn't eat as well as Italians eat, so. So I was making sure that authenticity was in place. Authenticity. And then they loved it. And then I realized that I was making a lot more than Italy, because where I live, the medium salary is like €1500amonth. €1500amonth.
You know what I mean?
Like, so we're there in like three days. Boom. €1500. It was like, holy guacamole. So that's why I was.
That was very Americano of you. Holy guacamole. So, all right, so you're a busboy. And then I'm sure you did many things, but at what point did you say to yourself, hey, you know what? I'm gonna get my real estate license? What was the inspiration for that?
I was a bus boy. So I became a restaurant manager. Yeah, I made my way up. And then Covid shut down.
Oh, this was right during COVID How old do you know
I was? I'm 30.
Okay, so 30 years old. So you're 24, right?
24. And my wife really motivated me because.
When did you get married? When did you get married?
When I was 23.
Wow.
And I have three kids.
Is this how you got your citizenship?
Yeah,
I know I could ask you any question. This is perfect. Yes. But do you actually love her? Okay, just checking.
I really do love her. And she's my why. She's my why. I actually. I miss her already. A night without her. I FaceTime her and I have my kids. And I finally figured it out, thanks to the Tom Ferry ecosystem, how to spend quality time with her and being present before I was non existent. Focusing on money and sales, being a macho Italian. Now it's all about them.
Yes. For every non Italian watching right now, this is how it is.
This is it.
This is like every family dinner at my house. I mean, I'm in heaven. Okay. So, Mario, why real estate?
So one of my clients there was a real estate agent, very successful, and he had different cars and. And then was say, you know, if you stop selling pasta, you sell house, you make more money. And everybody at the restaurant told me, you're never gonna make it. You love drinking wine. I used to drink three bottles of wine a day because I was the manager, of course. Standing, of course. And then covet happened and I really focused on myself and everything slowed down and. And then I gotta go to school and get this license. So I bought the books. I bought the physical copies of the book, and I studied them and I translate them in Italian. And then I went to Sacramento. Yes. And I got my first real estate license. The first time you passed?
The first time.
The first time.
That's impressive.
And three Americans were in front of me. They didn't pass. And I remember I was in line to get the envelope and I had a fake Gucci belt that I got from Istanbul. And the person told me, hey, Mario, you forgot your belt. And I told the lady, if you give me the license, you can keep the belt. It was fake anyway.
Yes.
And then. And then I opened it outside with my wife, and I was ready to cry and say, I didn't do it. And then I passed it. And I remember calling my mom and saying, hey, mom, I got a new degree. And I didn't really exactly know what was going to happen next. So it was a big accomplishment for me as an immigrant coming and being a busboy.
Yes.
And a big achievement because I remember I was sweating in there and like transferring all those questions and translating them and all that. So it was.
So now you're living in Santa Cruz, you're married, you've had a baby, and you're going from like this successful salary, maybe some percentage of revenue running this thing to straight commission, starting over.
Correct.
And that was in 2001.
No, there was 2,024. And actually something I did.
So wait a minute. Hold on. You got your license in 2024?
I got my license. It's been six years, so.
Okay, so 2020. Okay, 2020.
And I also bought a house in 2020. 2023. No, 2019. I bought a house.
Yeah.
The realtor represented me. Didn't fight as much. I fight like Loki Balboa behind the scene. I was like, I think I could do this. And. And then I bought this house. If I was falling down a cliff with three Italians, and we put 10 grand each, and they became 50. That's. I got my license in.
Got it.
And then I represented myself with a first purchase, those 10 grand with the 50,000, I bought a house for my family. Yeah. And it was my first transaction, and things took off really fast. But fast doesn't mean healthy.
No. So we want to unpack that. So I want to. I'm asking all of my outliers. Right. People that have just had this enormous jump in their performance, and there's something that makes every one of you tick. And, you know, I mean, I'm so stoked that your coach was like, you got to talk to Mario. Like, you got to get him on this show. So here's. Here's question number one. Have you ever missed a goal that you set?
Barely.
And when you do, what do you do when you miss?
I double down.
What does that mean?
I woke up earlier. I make personal changes. I review numbers. I have conversations about my goals and focus on them and put all my energy towards it.
Yes. Yes. So how. Okay, so when did you join coaching?
I joined coaching two years. And so, like.
Like, like, 2024. 2425 would have been your first.
The end of 2023, because I was getting burned out, and I did a bunch of transaction. So what was podcast.
So what was the inspiration? What was like, why did you do it?
Your podcast. You had a very cool podcast about a morning routine. I didn't know what a morning routine was.
Yeah.
And then I woke up, and I wrote it down. My morning routine. I did push ups. I drink water.
Yeah.
And you motivated me to be a new version of myself.
Yes.
And then things started being better at having control of my life. And then I hired. And then I decided to coach through this podcast that you did about morning routines. And then I constantly follow you. Your podcasts are like, if you don't. If you don't want mindset Monday, I'm like, what's up with Tom? You know, I miss him. Like, you motivated me. Your content. It's life changing.
Yes.
For me.
Thank you. You did all the work. You did all the work. Right? I opened the doors. You did all the work. So you. So you make the decision to get a coach. So. So this will have more context for people once they understand, like, okay, now you're trying something new. But you mentioned you were very burned out. What does that mean? Like, help me understand. Like, where were you at in that point of your life that you suddenly wanted to make a change?
My first year, I did 30 transactions.
How many?
30.
30. And you bought the first one?
And I bought the first one. Then my second year, I did 29. And I. Third year, I did 39.
Interesting.
But I didn't. I wasn't spending zero time with families.
Yeah.
Fights with my wife.
Yeah.
All the money in the world. The bank account was very full. And then one day I went to the boardwalk and I introduced myself to another parent. I finally decided to spend some time with my kid, with Luca. Giuseppe De Santis. He's one and a half year old at the time now. He's almost five.
Luca.
Luca.
And how old is Luca now?
Five? Four and a half.
Four and a half.
And then I won. Painted. I say, hey, I'm not a Desantis. I'm Luca's dad. And he was like, wow, Luca has a dad. And that hit me like a train because I lost my dad when I was 10. And I was like, I gotta. I gotta do something different. And then to the coaching, I hired an assistant and I learned how to set goals and I learned how to put time blocking and perspect in a certain time of the day. I will be prospecting at 8 o' clock doing tax campaign. Like, hey, come to my open house. Or I just listed this house. My wife will be talking to me. I just wasn't present. Focus on the money. And then I had to make that big change because I thought of myself. Will Luca remember how much money I have or how many transactions I do? Or he will he remember if I was around with him? I never had my dad. So I will pay all the houses I have and all the millions, everything I have to spend 30 minutes with my dad that I don't have anymore.
Yes.
For many years.
I hear you. I hear you. And that's very real. And I think for my friend listening, you know, life. Life either happens to you or you happen to life. And, and I think you're hearing here a combination of the two. Like something happened with your dad and you made some decisions. And then that moment with a friend saying, luca's got a dad, that's a, that's a life altering moment.
I was beat, beat up. Beat me up like Roki Balboa with Apollo Creed.
Like, yes, yes.
I gotta do something fast. And my coach helped me through that process.
So Mario, I have, as you know, I've done a ton of events in Italy. I've been all like. And, and I, I say this in, I know you have greater context than most. There is, there is a southern European vibe and there's a northern European vibe and it's very different. And then when you're in Italy, there is a north of Rome vibe and there's a south of Rome vibe and it's very different. But one of the things that I've observed is you said, you know, Italian, macho, male. What I see is this very industrious, hard working, whatever it take. My father in law, seven days a week, get up at 4 o' clock in the morning, work until midnight. You know, Italian, immigrant, like that's just what you did. He didn't know any better. Right. So you very quickly fell into a very natural cycle and it took that moment to shift. So I want to get into some of that. So I'm going to ask you this question. This will sound almost mundane in comparison, but there's, there's psychology behind it. What's a behavior you do in your business, even on the days you don't feel like it's.
I'm a level 10 and I take it on myself and I make sure my teammates accountable and they need me at level 10. Something I did that changed my life. I stopped drinking a year and a month ago.
Congratulations.
And so a behavior.
Yeah.
I smile and I drink big energy wherever I going and try to make a huge impact of everybody I come across.
Yes.
To make it a memorable experience and help be a service and a phone call away. That's why I tell my clients, I'm a phone call away for you. And then of course, I put now the phone asleep mode and I call them back. But I'll tell them always, I'm a phone call away. You can count on me.
Yes.
And I love it. And they love that.
Yes. Do you think you have an unfair advantage because you have an accent?
I think I would work though. I think the accent. I have a lot of Italians that came with me 10 years ago. And they don't have much.
Yeah.
And I have properties, business, beautiful families.
Yeah.
But I built everything from scratch with consistency.
Yes.
So. And a lot of Italians put their ego.
I know.
And I learned how to put my ego aside and do what's required. Thanks to you.
Yes.
And thank you for opening the door for me and putting that sentence. This stuck in my head because sometimes my Italian ego and those Italians or although their people get in the way. And I'm like, let's take the ego side.
Yeah.
What's required? It's analyze these.
Yes.
Before my team will give me a suggestion, I'll be like, you want to fight with me now? I'm like, okay, this is a good suggestion. Let's talk about it.
Yeah, yeah. You know, it's not just the Italians. It's the Portuguese, it's the Spanish. Don't even get me started on the Greeks. Right. The Czechs. All of them. Right. I love it. All my Europe. You know, there's a bunch of euros in the room too. There's a bunch of our clients that either they live here now or they still live there. And they just came over here to hang out in San Diego. So I got to connect with some people. Okay. So let me, let me unpack one more thing. You, you made a comment that really caught my eye and I'd like, I'd like to understand more about this. The, the note that I wrote down was in 2024, you achieved 1.25 million in gross commission income. And, and the note was I was able to accomplish a 10 year goal in one year.
Correct.
What, What?
Before I didn't have a big picture and illum. You had at the time.
Yes.
Has all finances.
Yes.
And you know the why.
Yes.
The cash flow.
Yes.
Properties.
Yes.
And I wrote down, I want to buy a commercial building to set up my business. Yeah. I want to pay other people to have my. My. Of course. Yes.
And that's very Italian. I want to collect the rent, not pay the rent.
I don't want to pay the rent.
Yeah.
I want to collect the rent.
Yeah.
And then I wrote, I wanted to buy this commercial building. I wanted to save this much after taxes.
Yeah.
I think it was like half a million dollar. And I wanted to buy a building and I wanted to buy another property on top of it. In 10 years I was like, okay, probably I make 10 years and I want to have my first million dollar year. Then I look back on my goal on 2025. In the beginning, I did it all. I did it all. And then I remember I was driving home with my CPA after the soccer game.
You can call it football. We're amongst friends.
Football. And then he told me, I need an office. And that's when it clicked, because I looked and there was a for sale sign for a commercial building on a very busy road. And then I told him, if I buy office, will you rent part of it from me? And he was like, sure, Mario, I love you. Because I'm bugging all the time. Because you also trained me on something pretty cool. You said, before you make a big purchase, you need to have partners. And I have a financial advisor, a mortgage broker, a cpa. What's the tax implication?
Yeah.
You know all of these thanks to
your podcast, Cost segregation study.
Yes.
You got almost all your money back. If you don't know what a cost segregation study is and you're watching this show, you need to Google go to perplexity. Cost segregation study. That's what he's talking about.
And then I did the study. And actually, I mean, if I tell you the whole story, it's pretty insane the way I negotiated, because I went to ChatGPT and said, which brokerage doesn't have an office in this location? And this location? So I lock in the office in escrow. And then I went to them and I said, by the way, you got, like. It was a pretty cool, hardcore negotiation. I ended up with buying that office with very little down. I got the cost segregation study, and now when I bought, it, generated four grand a month. Now it generates 13,000amonth, pays itself, and I work there. So I go to work and I'm collecting the money, and it's a pretty cool. I have 13 offices upstairs, have a thousand square feet for me. I have an apartment, and I have a salon next to it. So it's a video. It's a very busy road.
Congratulations.
Thanks.
So someone's listening right now, and you know what they're saying. He's just got so much energy and passion. Like, maybe I should have been Italian. You know, I'm German. What do I do? What do you say to the person that's listening? They're just like, this guy is infectious. I know. It's. Is it in me? Can I, like. Can I pull this off? Because. Because I know how hard it was. I know how hard it was. I don't know how hard it was to lose your dad. I can only imagine. I know how hard it was to have that moment with your son. And I know how hard you work to do what you've done. What do you say to the person that maybe has a little self doubt right now?
I think something I learned from the ecosystem and you being on stage in those couple years I've been in coaching look at your schedule and cut off things that are sucking your energy. They are unhappy, they have no joy, they're always upset, they're always complaining. I start cutting all those people off of my life.
Yes.
And now if somebody's complaining, I say, hey, there's so much else to be grateful for. Yeah, have a great day. So first that was life changing. And now I don't let anybody change my mood. And if somebody is calling me and yelling at me or like, hey, you know, I'll send them a phone number or a therapist and say, I don't, I don't negotiate with bad days. I even have in my office building a therapist. So I send them upstairs, all the clients like, yeah, but I have a massage therapist and I have a therapist ready for you. If you're too stressed for these, you
go up, go up there.
But I don't negotiate with bad days. Because we only, let's say we live 80 years. We only have 80 summers, 80 winters, 18 spring, 80 fall. If you negotiate with bad days, it's like you said today, you negotiate with your schedule, with your family time. You don't negotiate with bad days. Yeah, life is too short.
You and I speak the language. I said it today. How many good summers do I have left? How do I want to spend? Do I want to be around energy sucking vampires or do I want high quality growth with great revenue with people I love to serve, solving problems, I mean, so I love it. Okay, two more questions. Ready? You've experienced it, I've experienced it. Every outlier has. When the results start to stall and things aren't in momentum, what is the first thing you examine?
I talk to my coach. I bring the problems, I go prepared to my coaching calls. In the first three months, I was like, ah, this is not working. My coach called me and he said, this is not working because of you. You're not showing up prepared. And then you said the same thing on stage. Because I decided to come on an event.
Yeah.
And I talk about the problems to find a solution though. Yeah, I like, hey, I got this problem. I got this.
This is what I'm thinking, are we
going to sell it? How are we gonna, are we gonna hire this assistant? And I, for example, I had a big problem because I hired my marketing manager I bought all this equipment, super expensive. And he was about to leave me. So I called my coach on a coaching call, Say, how are we going to solve these? Because he's taking emotions from me because I invested. He said, open the door and tell him he can leave. Put another ad. Don't be, you know, and talk about it. And don't keep it a secret. Otherwise the problem becomes bigger inside. Yeah. Burns and burns. And now whenever I have a problem with a client, a prize, or. Or I have a problem with some of my employees or my partners, I'll tell them right away, like, hey, we got to do this this way. Let's talk about it. I don't. Or I take. What do you suggest? I just want to share my feelings. I want to share my thoughts about this investment.
Yeah.
I want to share my thoughts like, you know, building a couple houses. So I have builders. I'm meeting them like, oh, you know, we, I, I. Solving problems, having that mindset about being ready to solve everything. Because the only problem you cannot solve, it's when you die.
Yes.
Like you said today, when you're dead, it's over. It's over.
Life is a finite game.
You're alive.
Yep.
Money, you can make money. You just, like, in a year. I never thought that it could accomplish that much. And I wrote it down and then it happened. I was like, wow.
Yeah.
And then at the end of the year, I was like, what do I do now? So I have to reset new goals. And actually, I felt exactly how you felt when you spoke about the story.
Yeah.
At summit, I was first row and you were telling that. I was like, wow, that's how I feel.
Yeah.
I gotta reset new goals and get fired up again and talk about it. And. And then it was pretty cool.
It's beautiful, man. You got to work on passion.
Yeah.
Okay. Okay. What does coaching do for you that you can't seem to do on your own?
If anything, coaching helped me have more time with family and evaluate things in my business. Working constantly on the business. And your. The coaching call every week. It's something I really look forward to because I prepare for it. And I think about what I've done this week, and it's been life changing because look at the numbers. Before I started coaching, 39. Transaction. Not fight with my wife every week. No time with Luca Giuseppe de Santis.
Yeah.
Years 4, 1, 2, 5. GCI 13 vacations. I just went to Bora Bora for my 30th birthday, the fourth season for my first time with three of my kids, I was the only one on vacation in September with kids. Because they usually go to school.
Sure.
I guess normal kids, they, you know, they have school years. I got them off to school. I went to Bora Bora. But coaching helped me realize that I got to spend time with family and have an intensity. Intensity where Turn it on and off. Like, I'm at. I'm at the office with my team, a level 10. We're making 50 calls and I'm sending a must tax campaign.
Yeah.
I don't do open house. I do events. I do like, my, my open house are like, there's somebody making pizza. There is cannolis.
Yeah.
There is espresso. So. And I have a whole marketing team around it.
I'm buying that house.
So coaching helped me to scale.
Yeah.
Help me to scale. Help me to scale and really think about what's important in life.
Right.
Because then we just think about the money. It's important. The numbers. But the time, you never buy that time.
Yeah.
Now with three of my kids, I have a month old, a one and a half year old and a four and a half year old when I get home. I was able to go home at five o' clock for two years. Actually one year and a half. In a year and a half, when I go home, I leave the phone in the car. I do two laps around the deck. I have a wraparound deck.
Yeah.
Then I walk in and my kids, they run to me.
Dada.
And then like, I gotta teach him Italian. That's why I'm gonna go in Italy. And that's next. I don't speak as much Italian as I should, but coaching helped me to scale and help you to understand my big why and setting some goals long term. Because before I didn't know that you can think that long away or thinking about your health. Now I have a good morning routine, do yoga, meditate. I don't touch the phone for the first two hours of the day. It's because the phone is like, excited. Like, okay, work. Then I do my journaling, I do yoga. I spend an hour with my kids intentionally. Like, hey, let's set the day. What you're learning today. What are we doing? Yeah, I'll drop him off with the music. And I don't have a phone call stopping that. We, we sing very loud first thing in the morning on the way to school.
Yeah.
And my kids are pretty cool, like, ah.
You know, and what's the favorite song they like to sing?
Bella Chow. Okay. Italians don't like that. Because there's a lot of history behind this.
Yeah.
The politics. But, yes, my kids like it, so I don't care.
That's exactly. It's just. They're singing, having fun.
Yeah.
So, okay, so as we wrap this up and. And someone right now is watching this, and they're like, I love this guy. Like, he's crazy. He's my kind of crazy. What's the best way for them to connect with you? Instagram, whatever. Dm, where, you know, where do they find you?
So Instagram. Mario Desantis, Realtor, and already sent me an email. Mario DeSantis realty.com.
i love it.
Facebook, Mario DeSantis.
Yes.
And those are the major.
Love it. And we. You'll respond.
I'll respond right away. Not right away, but I have a marketing manager now. He scans the important stuff. But I'll make sure. If you're in the tone ecosystem, I want to help everybody that come across because the TOE ecosystem made such a huge impact in my life. So I want to be a service and a phone call away. Help me to help the ecosystem.
You've said that phone call away a couple times. You got that script down. I'm just a phone call away. Mario, I am so proud of you. I mean, is this. This has been electric. This is. This is my last podcast of the day. I got to go do a talk. I feel like I'm going to be a letdown. I'm putting you on stage. Okay. So thank you for being on the show. I'm so proud of you. I know for my friend watching, you're going to follow him on Instagram. You're going to definitely connect with them there. And I know if you're watching right now, you know the same thing that I'm feeling right now. Like this guy's got something special, and I'm going to. If he can do it, I can do it. Yes, he can do it. I can do it. I might even learn Italian. I'm married in Italian. I probably should. All right, so, Mario, I love you, man. Thank you so much for watching. Make sure you follow him. We'll see you on the next show. Thanks, buddy.
Have a great day. Ciao.
Hey, if you're listening to this in a podcast and you're saying to yourself, I might be underperforming my potential and I want to become an outlier, go back to the show notes, click that link, Schedule a session with one of my teams. Let us help you become the outlier you deserve to be. Sam.
