Kevin Galligan: This Entrepreneur Explains How A Lucky Stock Purchase, Direct Mail Opportunity, And Love Of Kiteboarding Gave Him The Lifestyle He Always Wanted

I do really believe 100% from every part of me that everyone has the capacity to be able to do the things that they want and not to be held back by the mental baggage that's in our head that we want to push through.

Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. In each episode, we get down and personal with people who go after the things they want to make all their wildest dreams come true. Join us as we unveil and dissect a formula for what it takes to do the thing. Here is your host, Stacy Lauren.

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. This is your host, Stacy Lauren. So it's been really cool to be able to introduce you guys to the people that have been the people that have helped me do the thing for so long. And today I have another person that is in my mastermind that I've been in for the last four years. And that really is the thing that's helped me so much, both personally and professionally. Words can't even really describe just how impactful this group of human beings has been to see them every month and be able to talk about so many things. And today I have Kevin Galligan on, and he actually even works with his wife. And it's always so cool to be able to hear him talk about her such a way. That is unbelievable. And I've been really impressed with his ability to handle the challenges that come along with. With doing a business and then also with his personal stuff that he does from surfing to, I think, even kite surfing. You mentioned you did. And so anyway, so it's been really exciting just to get to see all of his stuff. And then his advice to me is always unbelievable. It always adds this whole other level to. To what I'm doing. So I'm so excited to introduce Kevin Galligan to the show. Hey, Kevin.

Well, hello.

Hello.

I'm excited to be here.

Yay. Yeah. This is like, so cool because I've interviewed everyone now. You're my last one from the mastermind.

All right, save the best for last. I like it.

So I'd love you to start off and just tell everyone about you and your story.

Well, I've been in Southern California for almost 30 years. Actually, I'll just say San Diego. I think in 30 years I've moved. I think it's about a three mile radius. So I'm kind of a beach guy. So I've been in the same beach area. I came to San Diego 30 years ago, and I was only supposed to be here a couple years. And I Think the first weekend I was here I said I am never leaving this place. I remember it well, it was a February and I was surfing and it was a beautiful day and I just said I'm never leaving. I'm from east coast, pretty much grew up outside of Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia. Went to high school college in Virginia. Spent a couple years playing around doing a business in the D.C. area. For some reason I got out of college, I just kind of knew I didn't want to work for anybody. Just started doing my thing and had an opportunity to buy an existing direct mail business that was very, very small at the time in San Diego. And I thought, well that sounds like a good thing. Go out there for a couple years. And 30 years later still I'm still have the same business. I've done a lot of different businesses in between over the years. But I like this business, I know it well. So it's been good for me and my family and I think that's about it intro wise. And I'll let you just keep asking all the good juicy questions.

I actually didn't know you were from the D.C. area.

Yes, my father was, was at the Pentagon and we were just, you know, lived out in the suburbs and it was a great, great experience for me. Just great. Just all my classmates and friends, it was. I really enjoyed high school and I really enjoyed college and all the people I met.

Well that had to be amazing. Getting to see him kind of do his thing as he's working at the Pentagon and then you being able to witness that.

Well, ironically, we don't know what he did.

Oh, right. I guess there is some privacy.

I don't know any. I just, I don't. You know, he just told us he budgeted. That's about it.

Wow.

Which is interestingly so interesting.

And then in college, how did you know that you didn't want to work for anyone else?

I had a job in high school at a local movie theater. There were three theaters and somehow Hook and Crook got a job there at 14. So my freshman year in high school and I was a projectionist and I just had some mechanical ability I guess, but somehow got the job. My dad actually had a contact and said, yeah, this will be great. You can turn the movies on and study up in the projection booth and it'll be great. So I did that and I think it just, I don't know the four years of doing that and then I worked, did some summer jobs down in downtown D.C. where I was a field engineer really kind of A field engineer assistant. And it was high rise concrete construction buildings. It was big buildings in downtown D.C. and driving down there and being on the job at 6am I don't know, I just, I think I just early on kind of always looked at people who had their own business and just, you know, it was just kind of a thing I was attracted to.

Yeah, I'm always wondering when, because it sounds like. So your dad didn't own his own business. Right. Since he worked for the Pentagon, like so where did you see these people? Because I always wonder where, where it.

Starts from, you know, I think there. So my dad came from Denver, Colorado and he, his family was big in the meatpacking business and I think so I had a little bit of exposure to that. Not a lot, but I think there were a couple of in the suburbs of D.C. and Northern Virginia. I think so many people worked for the government in that area and I think I just kind of noticed the friends who had big houses and boats and a lot vacation. Instead of just driving to the beach, they were flying all over. Which at the time wasn't a big deal if you flew to Mexico for vacation. Back when I was in high school that was kind of a big deal. Now it's not a big deal. But I just kind of thought geez, life looks pretty good for the people who have their business. And I don't know, I think that might have been what it is or what it was that kind of got me going down that road. But I, I started just had desire to learn more about businesses. I paid for a good portion of my college through some really kind of lucky stock purchases in high school. I just was interested in it kind of early on.

It's so interesting to me because so many people will say like oh that's, they did this because they knew someone or they have this experience or whatever it is. Right. But just you being able to share that, it came almost like from your own motivation to be able to see it. I think that's really cool.

I think one of the key things too is both of my parents were very supportive of anything that I would do. So my mom especially my father died when I was in college. But my mom was always just very supportive of oh, you want to, after you graduate from college, you want to go out to Aspen and ski for the season. That sounds great, should do that. So I think she was always from really any kind of venture I got into. She was just extremely supportive. Even when things were not going great, she was just super supportive and I had friends who their parents. And I didn't realize it. I just took it for granted, I think, at the time. But then I had friends whose parents would say, oh, you can't go start a business, Go get a job. And my mom was never like that.

I like that she wasn't expecting you to live this prescribed life. She realized that you were going to do what you wanted to do and not to hold you back from anything, it sounds like. Right, so you mentioned discreetly. But now I want to know more before we move on, but some stock purchases in high school. Can you talk more about that?

So my dad was kind of big into stocks, or at least when I was starting high school, it seemed like he was. I know he owned a few and I had a grandfather that owned a bunch of stocks. As a matter of fact, his mantra was never sell a stock. So he never sold a stock. He only bought stocks.

Oh, wow.

And his mindset was only buy a stock you're willing to hold forever. Which is almost Warren Buffet type attitude towards it. So I kind of had that influence. My dad did a little bit of it, and I don't know how much was just. Maybe it was just more. More retirement stuff. But I came across that a neighbor was working for a company and they were doing an IPO and I think I put 500 bucks into it. And I remember asking my dad, he didn't do it, but he goes, ah, you can put 500 bucks in there if you want. So I thought, okay, I'm going to try it. And I think it went public. And I think I was. I don't know, I was up four grand in a couple weeks or something. So that was my first stock. And I think that I felt like I was a genius, which of course wasn't true. But when you're in high school and you pull that off, you think that's what I'm going to do for a living. I'm just going to go out and buy stock. So I think I was exposed to that early on and it definitely had an influence on me. I wish it would have had more. I think I went to college and didn't study business and got a little bit away from it and then got out of college and started my own business. And there wasn't a lot of excess income to just keep investing in the stock market. But I wish I had at that time, especially in those early years.

Yeah. So I love that idea of you being a high school student and you having $500 and you decided to to invest it in a stock versus like a million other things you could have blown the money on. What do you think? Like, where do you think that came from? Is it just because of your grandfather and having that thought process of investing is good, or was it.

I, you know, I'm not. I. I'm not sure, but I think that I just looked at When I was 6, before I was 16, I bought a car. I didn't spend all my money, but I had that job. And I look back on my Social Security statements and I think I made about $11,000 before I graduated from high school, which at the time, that was a lot of money. So I just kind of bought whatever I wanted and felt like I needed. But I didn't just blow money. So I had 500 bucks to try this to get in on this IPO thing, which sounded pretty darn good at the time.

Yes.

It turned out to be great.

Yeah. You almost had that risk reward. Okay, like, worst case, I'm going to lose this $500. But best case, I could make whatever the number was in your head, maybe five grand.

Right.

Is that kind of what went through your mind?

I just thought my mindset was. I think looking back, it's you, you know, you invest money. So this is the. This is a way to do it. And so I didn't. I just assumed that I'm getting into something that is going to make money. I don't think I really thought a whole lot about the risk. The concept was good. And I remember my dad saying, well, they got a great idea, a great plan, kind of what they're doing. And so I thought, well, that makes sense.

It's funny hearing you talk because actually, Chrissy in our Mastermind, I interviewed her. She was one of the first ones. And she talked a lot about the ignorance of being young and how cool that is sometimes to just not know everything that we know now. Right. And so you almost like take higher risks because you don't even think about it. And so sometimes, I mean, that could be just a general piece of the formula is just that belief type thing.

Oh, I think a lot of truth to that.

It's interesting. I have to. I have to flesh that out more, hearing you talk about it. And so then you're in D.C. and you'd mentioned starting a business there that's different than the direct mail business. Right.

So. Yes. And so while I was working at this concrete construction company, which is. I think it really was one of the biggest in the Washington, D.C. area, I saw one day someone using a power washer and was asking about it and next thing you know I'm kind of doing some research on it in the office trailer that has all these catalogs of equipment I would look at all the time. Because I didn't know the construction business that well. I thought it was real interesting looking at all the different pieces of equipment you can buy and rent, etc. So the next summer I decided I was tired of and then I talked to a few other people that said oh yeah, that's power washing, clean all kinds of stuff. And the guy kind of listed all the stuff they clean with it. And I thought the next summer I'm tired of getting up at, I think I had to get up at 4:30 and you're in college, it's the summertime, the last thing I want to do is get up at 4:30 in the morning to be on a job site at six o' clock in the morning. So the next summer I just decided I'm going to buy one of these power washer things and start, start my own business. I was still in college so I did that for the couple summers before I graduated. And then when I got out of college I thought well, I'm going to work on my mba, I'm going to keep this business going. I think in the summertime before I graduate. I think I had made 15 grand in the summer, which starting salary for my degree was I think just under 30,000 at the time. And I kind of thought geez, work for a year for 30 grand or work for the summer for 15 grand. So I just kind of did that couple summers, went out and skied in Colorado the next two winters. And then kind of the third winter I came out to California. Just kind of like the lifestyle out here. And then a couple years later, just by chance found out about this business and flew out here and talked to the person about it and ended up buying it.

And so it's interesting. Well, so part of what I'm thinking as you're talking is that because you're serving a lot of construction type clients now, right? So was that part of your decision because you had some baseline experience or was it purely on the direct mail concepts that you were excited about when you decided to buy it?

I kind of think I started very early on that. I just like the concept of owning a business and it didn't matter what it was. I think I always had kind of a natural kind of engineer mindset and loved construction and building, et cetera. So I think I always was very curious of that. But a lot of people I've heard over the years, well, a million times, and you have too, where if you're going to start your own business, do what you love, do what you love. And I kind of had, people would say that to me and I would say, think to myself kind of every time I hear it. Well, I love the concept of owning a business and I'm the boss and the success rests on my dedication and business savvy, et cetera. That's what I like. It's not the. I own a restaurant or a coffee shop or some big high tech business and just love that business. I just love the concept of owning a business.

Yeah. And I'm curious because now that you've had it for a while, have you kind of defined more of your purpose through this business or is it still just that concept of being able to own the business?

I think for me it's because I've. I've really turned this business several times into kind of an absentee owner business and actually did some other things, got into some other business ventures and then years later got out of those and still kept this business. I had great people working for me. So I think what kept me in it is I like the people I had working for me at the time. And most important, I like the customers. I like the people that we do direct mail for and that see the results. I've got customers that I've had almost that entire 30 years. So they're still a customer. Their kids are running the company now and it's just met great people. So that's one thing I really appreciate about it. And I just think it's, it's interesting. When the Internet came along, I thought, well, I've got a few years left, I need to start looking at something else because the Internet's going to take over the world. Ironically, direct mail is still there, it's still relevant. It still gets results when done correctly. I think I just like the business. I don't know if I'd get into it today because the margins are so thin, but when you know a business so well, you can get results for your customers and make a profit.

People that don't know what it is. Can you explain a little bit more about what you're doing now?

The company that I own, actually when I bought it was just a license agreement and then grew into a franchise. So it's a direct bail franchise called RSVP is the name of it, which is the idea behind the Name was the French. Please respond. RSVP Responde, s' il vous is where it came from. So the idea is that was the name of the business and it's please respond to these advertisers. A lot of people don't get that when they see it, but that's kind of where it came from. But our niche is targeting single family owner occupied homes in the areas that we target. And I'm in San Diego, Orange county and Riverside. And so it's primarily we're targeting the top third of the single family owner occupied homes. And a lot of our clients are upscale home improvement companies that are trying to reach that demographic. That's really our niche. It's a package of postcards. So I kind of would describe it as the Cadillac of direct mail. Now, unless you get it at your home, a lot of people don't even have any clue what it is. So. And then I've got customers here in San Diego and I'll meet someone and start talking to them and they'll ask me what I do, and I say, this is what I do. Like, oh, my gosh, I've been getting that for 30 years. I know exactly what you do. I've used this company and this company and this company and this company, and they talk about all the things that they've used over the years and they've used our product to reach those companies. So that's really the business model. It's got great franchisees. I've got great friends from all over the country that have that do the same thing I'm doing. And again, it's got great customers, and that's why I keep doing it. And it really is a good lifestyle for my family. Some of my top sales reps have retired. We went from working in an office for 25 years and six years ago bought a bigger home with more bedrooms and tore that house down to the studs so that we could have a few offices in the house. And my wife's in the business, so she has her own office, I have my own office. And then we've got an admin office. I think it's that close to the beach lifestyle. It's not an. It's like we work hard at what we do, but we don't have. There's. If I want to take off in the afternoon, I can. So it's been a good. It's a good lifestyle business for us.

Yeah, it's great when you're able to kind of combine everything that you love and then it works, that's for sure. So I was wondering too, I didn't realize the franchise owners are kind of all buddies. Does that help with the business owner isolation? Are you able to go to them with things that are happening?

Well, I think it's that over the years you now I'm the longest running franchisee in that business, but over the years you just have. There's several other guys that are and ladies that have been in the business for 10, 15, 20 years. And there's probably the dozen out of 80 different franchisees that I communicate with on a pretty regular basis and I'd consider them good friends. So we do talk quite a bit, helping each other out and getting data for our existing clients that I can learn things in one city, what worked well for a particular client and kind of utilize the same, whether it's artwork or strategies for that same type business here in San Diego or Orange County.

That's great. And what do you think's been the hardest thing for you throughout all of this? All of the doing the thing that you've done between basically kind of when you're in high school, starting out with buying a stock, to starting that getting, buying that power washer, to moving to San Diego and then to buying this business. Like, what do you think's been the hardest thing throughout all of that?

Well, I think starting my own business right out of college or actually in college was really kind of easy because I had that fallback of hey, if the business goes bust or this doesn't work out, I've got my college degree, I'm just going to get a job and kind of getting it going right away. There really wasn't a lot of risk. Or I could just live at my mom's for a while, you know, there wasn't a huge risk to doing that. The big risk is when you have a job and a family and kids and your kids are in private school and you got a lot of bills and you're going to quit the security of the company you work for and go off on your own. Now that's big risk. So I think for me it was pretty easy to get started. And I guess that's something for people to consider that are just getting out of college. If you have that notion, it's easier to take that shot right then and there than to start working and getting used to that consistent paycheck.

Yeah. And actually I'm bringing up people from our mastermind that had different, that were the things aligned. But like Jill from our mastermind in her episode she was talking about because she was in later in life, right when she decided to start her business. And it was having a life, what she call it, a life raft alongside of her as she was building, you know, until she felt comfortable to make the change, basically. And I think that's true. It is a lot easier to, especially if you have the backing, family and support to be able to do the thing. But when you're older, if you do have more responsibilities and you want to take the step, it is okay to go slower while you're doing the thing and making sure things are. Are settled. You don't always have to burn the boats. That's my. That's my 2 cents here.

That is true. I agree with that. Yeah.

So I'd love to also talk to you about. Because you do a lot of things personally, which kind of shows you doing the thing. Can we talk a little bit about that?

Absolutely.

Yeah. So what are. So you're. I know you surf. You've mentioned that. And I think you do other stuff too. I think kite surfing and different things. Do you want to just talk about what those interests are and then we can kind of dive in a little bit more?

Absolutely. So I. It's funny. Iron. And I was just talking to another dad on a flag football practice the other day. That kind of what different sports we got into when. And et cetera. And I kind of realized that I got into. I was a big skier in high school on the East Coast. Of course, the ski resorts are. Everybody hates them because they're short and icy. Pennsylvania, et cetera, is kind of where we went. But I got into that. But then right out of college, went out to Colorado and thought I was going to ski and got into snowboarding right away. And that was early. Early snowboarding. I think there are about four or five snowboarders on the whole mountain in Snowmass, Aspen, Colorado. They didn't allow snowboarding in Aspen, but they did in Snowmass. So it was. I think there were two manufacturers of snowboards at the time. So I got into that super early on. Loved it. Was. Was really into it. Got, you know, did a bunch of hell aboarding trips up in Canada for several years that we did. It was awesome. I just, I was surfing when I moved out to Cal. I surfed a little bit in on the east coast and in college I surfed quite a bit. But then when I moved out to California, I really got into surfing. That was one of the appeals to. To move out here, you know, super into that. I got into golf for a while, and then I got interested in kiteboarding on a whim. This is back in 2001. A friend of mine saw something on TV, some new extreme sport. And he called me and he said, I'm going to order some equipment from Hawaii. Let's do this. And I thought, all right, I'll give that a try. Here's my credit card. So that was 20 years ago. A little over 20 years ago, I got into that, and it is super addicting for me still. As we're talking now, I've got my little wind monitors, reports that I get at the beach and know what beach. It might be windy today. It looks like the wind might be picking up. I'm still very addicted to it, to just love the sport, have traveled all over the world doing it, and because of that sport, ended up with the same buddy who I started with buying a house in Maui, which has turned out to be a phenomenal investment 211 years later. So, yeah, I just. I know it's interesting. I got into snowboarding right when it started, and then got into kiteboarding right when it started. Not into snowboarding as much anymore. It. It beats me up a little too much. But kiteboarding, I am just. I'm just addicted. I love it. I love the. I don't have a motor. I'm just out there in. In the ocean, which I'm. I'm an ocean guy, and I'm just cruising along with the wind.

Yeah. And I'm just wondering, so when you're attacking a new sport like that, like, how do you. How do you actually just get yourself to do it? I.

You know, it's. I guess it's been a while since I attacked a new sports. Over 20 years. I think I've just always had the desire to just try anything. And in kiteboarding in those early years, the equipment was not great. It was not safe at all. Took a lot of risk. It definitely was very dangerous in the beginning because the kites didn't depower very well, and so there's a lot of accidents. But I think it was just, you know, I tried it, and it was just a big challenge. The wind isn't super cooperative here in San Diego, and so it took a lot of time to get the hang of it. No one really knew how to teach it. I met a couple guys on the beach that sort of looked like they could do it, and we joke about it now. I was talking to one the other day, but trying to get some tips from a guy and he says, I don't even know how I'm doing this. It's just. I'm just doing it. So it really just was persistence of I'm going to keep at this until I at least get proficient enough to do it and stay upwind. And I was doing it on the bay and the goal was to get out on the ocean. And I think I only saw one other guy on the ocean during the few months that I was really working it at this sport. But I think some of it was just a little naive to how dangerous it was at the time. It's not nearly as dangerous. The kites are better. They depower a lot easier. There's a lot more kind of protocols and systems on how to learn. And the teaching is good. So I think it's become a much safer sport. I just think I decide I'm going to try something. I just want to at least get to the point where I can. I'm proficient before I say I'm going to stop doing it or not.

That's actually really cool. So it's like you're not even giving yourself a chance of saying you can't do it. You're saying, I have to at least be able to do it before I turn back. So I'm not saying no because I'm not feeling capable of it.

Right. I definitely watched a lot of guys come out and try it and kind of just not really get great at it and just eventually kind of fade away out of the sport. And I didn't. I just kept at it and love it. Travel down to Mexico, over to Hawaii, then all through the Caribbean. So, I mean, it's. I just. I love the sport and so how.

Do you give yourself that? I want to use the word permission because this has come up before to be a beginner and to not be perfect when you're trying something new like that.

That's a great question. And I think now, when something's so new, no one knows at the time in this particular sport, you're brand new at it. No one really knows much about it. We're over there on the bay, kind of a dozen guys trying to figure it all out. So people just think you're over there flying a kite and they don't realize what you're really trying to do. People just did at the time. People didn't know what it was. Now I think it's just, I don't know. I approach things as. Even with my son and teaching him baseball, I wasn't a baseball player, but he loves it. So I think I have an instinct to quickly figure out whatever system I need to teach or learn something. So U2 is phenomenal for learning. You know, if someone wants to kiteboard, you can learn a lot of the overall basic concepts. You just keep watching over and over again, even before you take your first lesson. So you just have a good idea of what to do and the different levels and accomplishments along the way. And I think that's how I approach things. It's, how can I do this efficiently and quickly and safely? Am I in the best spot? We are learning six months after we started kiteboarding. At the time, we didn't realize it, but when I finally made it over to Maui to experience what kiteboarding really was like, and good, strong, consistent wind kind of changed everything very quickly. So San Diego is a tough spot to learn. Once you know how to do it, it makes it a little bit easier. But it was a challenge at the time to learn here. Now they have all. If you're going to learn, kiteboarding probably isn't the best spot. You do your research and find some other spots across the country that just the wind's a little bit more consistent. But I think, to answer that question again, it really is just. I have a. You know, when I approach something new, I don't overanalyze, but I want to efficiently figure out, okay, how am I going to go about doing this? I don't want to just go sign up for lessons. I want to get the most out of those lessons. So what can I learn ahead of time? And what am I going to be learning? And what. What skills do I need and what do I have to think about? What does my head have to think about as I'm trying something new?

That's good. And what do you. What do you say to someone that's like, well, I don't want to look dumb in front of other people, like trying something new.

Boy, that's a. That's a boring way to go through life that you just don't want to look. It's looking novice, or being a novice is. Is part of life. So you just. You just have to get over that, or, I don't know, life's going to be pretty boring if you only want to do things that you know and are good at.

And. Okay, the time is here. Kevin, are you ready?

I'm ready.

Okay. What is your number one piece of advice for people on doing the thing?

Number one piece of advice, I think, to kind of look at how do you usually approach things and what's the challenge? And to just quickly, okay, that's my challenge. This is how I normally approach things. The challenge is too big. How do you just get around it? Just go around the challenge and just go. Just go do what you, whatever it is you want to do, whatever that goal is. Just go around the challenges. Don't try to take those challenges head on. How can you just ignore them and go around it and get started?

So good. Well, thank you so much. This has been so fun. I am excited. Am I able to share the fir that I'm your first podcast interview?

You are. I've avoided so many invitations to do a podcast and be it is. You're a special person and I've enjoyed having you in the mastermind and watching you just do your thing and grow. And so when you asked, there was no hesitation. I will definitely do it. So I'm excited. To be the first one or for you to be the first one interviewing me. And I, it's, it's been fun.

That's so cool. I feel, I feel honored. And why don't you share with everyone how they can learn more about you.

And yeah, I'm easy to find, so it's RSVP. Mailers.com is probably the easiest way to find me. There's some other web pages out there, but starting there is probably a good place. And with good old Google today, put my name in there and direct mail in San Diego and I'm going to show up in LinkedIn, Facebook, all those places. So you can reach out whichever way you like.

Perfect.

Thank you, Stacey. It's been awesome.

Thanks for listening to the do the Thing podcast. We hope you enjoyed the show. But even more, we hope you'll be inspired to do the thing. Do you have a burning question on doing the thing that you'd like answered? How about an inspiring do the Thing story of your own that you'd like to share? We'd love to hear all about it. Just leave us a voice message at dothing callcast co or email us@helloothethingpodcast.com.