The Rebellion: Episode 22 | W/ Rhen Bartlett

Well, I'm really excited. You know what is interesting? It kind of seems like a lot of different things, especially— and I'm sure that this isn't just wholesaling, but a lot of different things. It comes in some— with some of these changes, you get that result you're saying where at first, when you first implement these, you end up losing money, whether it's changing the way you're running your sales team or whether it's like putting in new marketing. Like when we were shifting from cold calling to the inbound marketing, it's like, okay, we got to pay a fuck ton of money for this and like, we're not going to realize that right away.

Yeah.

Get on your feet and make some noise.

It's time to rise up and join the rebellion with Tyson Smith.

Welcome, everybody, to episode 20 or 21 of The Rebellion. I'm your host, Tyson Smith. And today I have on Wren Bartlett. Guys, Wren, I— so first I want to tell the story of how we found out about him. I had been seeing your videos. I can't remember how I— whether it came up on my Explore page or something. But I saw your videos of you pitching Innovation.

Yeah.

And we're— and I was like, holy shit, this is really good. And it's funny because at the same time is when I was like starting to use Twitter. Yeah, I'm trying to get more into Twitter. I don't know if you've seen, but a lot of people are. Well, it's coming back. Yeah, it's coming back. And look, I hear, you know, that people are getting a lot of business from it. So I'm interested. I want to check that out. But anyway, I was talking about Innovations on Twitter and then people were asking me, oh, who have you learned from? And then like, I'm kind of trying to think of everybody and I was like, including your name in it too, because I was like, damn, dude. I mean, I saw him do his pitch like, yeah. And I immediately saw, I was like, that's good, let's implement this. And our people loved it.

Yeah.

And then I started seeing ads or, or videos, more videos from you. I don't know if they're ads or not, but basically, hey, you know, trigger that Instagram algorithm. Yeah, yeah. Something like, hey, you know, if you are, you know, something cracking $20 million a year, Yeah, that was the number. And I was like, holy shit.

Yeah.

Because before I saw that, I had this belief that the most anybody was doing was $10 million a year.

Yeah, there's a lot of people out there doing— there's some big companies out there that do 20,000 transactions plus a year. So $20 million isn't that much.

See, that's what's crazy is this, especially with wholesaling, and I'm sure with all things, there really are levels to this shit.

Like, yeah, there's levels.

Like, I remember when I got into it, I was like, hey man, you know, if I could make $10,000 a month, I could do one deal a month. Yeah, I'd be sitting pretty, bro.

I remember the first, like, professional job I ever interviewed for, the, the starting salary was $60,000 a year. I was a bartender at the time, and I was like— and I made decent money, but you know, the hours sucked, people sucked, right? Or whatever, the lifestyle sucks. And, uh, I was like, $64,000 and I was like thinking about the new car I could buy, and I could like get my own apartment and get my crappy roommates out. And, uh, but now like, it's nothing, you know?

It's crazy.

It is crazy.

Um, but yeah, look, dude, I saw, um, I saw this. It changed my, my, uh, um, kind of temperature of money. I was like, dude, all right, I'm shooting them, you know, do a million dollars a month. I hear that you're over here doing two. I was like, I got to figure that out. And so, you know, we got hooked up with you and I really— so we've been doing this just to let everybody know. We've had, I think, like maybe 2 meetings.

Yeah, I think 2.

But so far, kind of your process has been number 1, we need to look at your business, right? We needed to look into the past and kind of see what we had been doing. And then you immediately looked and identified some key things like, okay, here's step number 1. We need to change this. Like, we need to drive this number. Yep. And I really like, like how analytical you are. Like everything is just like, dude, the numbers don't lie.

Yeah. And it's funny you say that because I'm not analytical at all. I'm not a math guy, but I've just learned through trial and error how to, how to forecast things and how to look at things differently because it's all a math problem, right? Even sales. Like you make 100 phone calls, you connect with 30 people, 28% of those people on average you can turn into an appointment and then you close 20% of those. And then it just waterfalls down. So you have to figure out what the primary drivers of revenue are. There's one main widget in a wholesaling company that, that I focus on the most, and that's average profit per deal. Right. Right. And from there, it kind of goes up. You're reverse engineering, you're reverse quantifying how you got there. And so, and there's just a step-up system that we use called a KPI manufacturing line, which you guys seen, and you can quickly identify, hey, if you can improve this 5%, Everything moves, right? And I think we've seen with you, I think like with one of your metrics, we improved it 10%, and now you have to generate half the amount of leads. Same amount of revenue, half the amount of leads, which cuts your marketing expense, which is our one of our biggest expenses in wholesaling business, in half. And effectively that drops to the bottom line. And then you can start just making small tweaks, a percent here, percent here, a percent here. So, you know, when you're running models like that, 1 1 does not equal 2, right?

Yeah, it's a whole bunch of algebra involved, and I don't do algebra.

Well, hey, I mean, here's the thing is, is I really like it.

I like how, uh, um, the way the entire thing is forecasted and reverse engineered. It's like, hey, here's the goal, and based on what your numbers are here, here's the levers that need to change, and we'll get there.

You're only 2 calls in, just wait.

Yeah, well, hey man, that's what I'm excited about. And the thing that I, I'm, I'm big on talking about is the, the best way— if you want to do something, find somebody who's already done it. Yeah. And figure out how to get them to tell you how to do it.

Yeah, I love it. And that's all I've done. You know, I— nothing that I teach or preach is, uh, proprietary at all, right? So a lot of it is taken from other businesses because I'm constantly studying other businesses. But, you know, I'm in a couple mastermind groups. You know, when we joined— we joined Collective Genius in 2017. I think we did 77 deals that year. And we walked in that group and we thought we were hot shit because we were in our market. We dominated. We were in little bitty Mobile, Alabama. Doing— no, we were the big kids on the block, right? We walk in that room and there's people doing, you know, like the first number I heard was a guy out of San Diego had $500 million in debt on ongoing flip projects. Still, that number's still like, I'm like, oh my, these, these guys are playing at a different level.

Half a billion.

Yeah. And I'm like, these guys are playing at a different level. And then we We see all of these, you know, different avenues and, but anyway, I'm like, hey look, I just gotta make friends with all these guys, pick their brain, figure out how to add value to 'em, find out what they're doing. And the great thing about being in a mastermind like that, it's everybody's an open book, right? It's market exclusivity for the most part. If there's multiple people in the market, it's because they let them in, right? They kind of give 'em first right of refusal, but they're an open book and I just went out and just started implementing everything. Everything. Failing, failing, failing as fast as we could, just learning and staying super curious, being on all the calls. Because I didn't know anything, but I knew one thing: there's some folks making a lot of money and they weren't any smarter than I was, you know. Um, and so I knew I could do it, so I was just relentless, man. And, and we evolved, right? And a lot of things that evolved within our company, I can't take credit for. I didn't come up with the— the only thing that I'm really good at, uh, in the grand scheme of things is like I identifying people that are smarter than me and then selling them on why they should come work with me, you know. Uh, even like that KPI manufacturing facility, like, that idea was fabricated by, uh, my former director of marketing. He was like, hey, we can actually just make a spreadsheet that forecasts out exactly what— and then once we looked at it, we're like, whoa, there's some things here that, hey, what if you just fat finger this and change it from 50% to 60%? What does that do to the top line revenue? And then you just get curious and start playing around with it and see what happens. And then you can identify areas of improvement.

Yeah. Well, look, I feel like I'm the same way, and I've noticed that within my business, it's like things start to, to really start to do better and better the more I get myself out of it.

Yeah.

Like, I mean, even when it's come to our calls, like, you'll see, like, I mean, I wasn't on the last one because I was doing something with my own group, but like, but for them, it's like, I want to know what's going on and everything. And then I need to identify the person who's going to be able to be the best at getting that done.

Yeah, it's called being a multiplier. Yeah. Have you read that book, Multipliers?

So I'm trying to think of when I initially heard about— I have. Yeah, I haven't read it. I listened to it.

Yeah.

And I was like, holy shit.

Yeah, it's good. It's good. There's a, there's a bunch of great books on talent, man. But you know, that's the thing is like we're only so smart. We're only one individual. But when you can bring together the collective brain trust of a bunch of people, that have a common purpose and a common set of core beliefs, and, you know, just want to be successful and want to have fun doing it, some magic shit can happen. Yeah, magic.

Well, so, so what do you think are, are the best ways that somebody can learn how to do that? Like, how can somebody learn how to bring people together and allow them to, uh, you know, live to their full potential?

That's a great question. First, I think you have to start like, you have to, in order to be able to do that right? You have to be super passionate about what you're doing.

Yeah.

Because if you don't care and if you're not passionate, you're not going to be able to go out and convince someone to come bring that same energy level every single day. You know, everything. I live every single day like it's the best day of my life. And I'll tell you that if you ever ask me, because I think I'm so fortunate to be able to do what I do every day. But and even if you do convince them to come to your company and you don't walk the walk that you're out there talking, they're gonna say, man, this, this guy, he doesn't, you know, he's just full of shit. He doesn't believe in what he's saying. I'm not gonna buy it. I'm not gonna work that hard. Um, but I think you gotta have purpose. You gotta have vision, you know, and then you have to go out and, and be able to recruit and find out what people truly want. What are they missing in their life, in their career? And then offer an opportunity for them to fulfill that alongside you inside your company. Yeah. You know, I'll give you a great example. Like, uh, we don't— we try not to hire people that are unemployed, right? I want to hire people that are crushing it, people that are A-players elsewhere. I don't want people applying to my WiseHire ads, even though I keep them running all the time, because you can pick up some good talent like that. People changing seasons or relocating or things like that, whatever. Maybe they feel like they've hit a dead end in their current career, but I want to go headhunt people. Right? And then when we are having that conversation, I want to begin to ask and take 'em through a discovery process similar like we do when we're talking to a motivated seller and find out what their problem is, how that's impacting them, and what's their picture-perfect scenario. And then figure out how to offer that to them working inside one of my organizations.

You're, you're, you're literally, you're taking the concept of finding the best deals off market and you're moving out. I gotta find the best people off market.

That's it. That's it. Right? The only difference, like our goal this year, right? Because I've rebuilt my company in Atlanta alongside my other partners we basically started from zero in July.

We—

our goal is to get it to the end of the year by $1 million a month. And they come in, they're like, Brent, how do we do this? How do we do this? I'm like, it's very simple. It's two things: time and people. That's it. Like, all the other stuff that we know— how to send direct mail, everybody else knows how to send direct mail. We know how to work a sales process. We know how to get and articulate Salesforce the way that we need it to be articulated. So does everybody else. right? But I'll go from zero to a million dollars a month in revenue in a metro market that most people can't do $50,000 a month. And they wanna know why. It's very simple. I can recruit better people than you, right? So I think, uh, I think maybe I hold, um, business very in parallels with, with sports, right? So think about if you're building a championship like the, the Phoenix Suns, what did they just wanna go out and do?

They got a superstar.

They got a superstar. Right? They found somebody with incredible talent. There was an incredible culture match that wasn't fulfilled where he currently was. And they paid him what he needed. And they got rid of the people that they didn't need to build that championship-level roster. And now they, you know, they're a contender in the West.

Right.

You know.

Now, I don't know if you want me saying this, but you told a story about some new guy you picked up and you told me how much you were paying him a month to start off.

Yeah.

And that, blew my perspective. Do you mind sharing that?

Yeah, for sure. So, um, first off, I think it was 10 grand a month, right? Base salary for 3 months guaranteed for an acquisition rep.

So for the people who don't know, I mean, like, the industry average is probably something like between 2 and 3 grand a month, probably with some commission. Yeah, somewhere between like 6 and 10%.

Sure. And so the theory behind that is If you recruit someone on your team and they're willing to come over for a $2,000 base salary, their monthly expenses are probably about 80% of that 'cause they need a little spending money too, right? So not sure what 80% of 2,000 is, but let's call it 1,800. The level of professionalism and grit and tenacity, the distance of separation between someone who's base salary requirements, their, their floor for what their expenses are is $1,800 versus someone who is $8,000. It's a big gap. How they show up every day, they know how to go out and make money because they've went out and achieved enough income to where they could raise their expenses up.

That's their expectation.

That's their expectation, right? And so they're— they have to, like, their wife will divorce them if they don't continue to make $8,000 a month. Think about it. They probably have a $2,000 or $3,000 mortgage. So this elite A-player's mortgage is more than the dude who requires a $2,000 a month base salary. Not to mention that his wife probably drives a Benz, he probably drives a new Chevrolet truck, and his kids are probably in private school. He has got to produce. If he doesn't, he's getting a divorce. That's a different level of accountability versus, hey, if I don't make 2 grand, I don't have money to go out drinking this weekend. Yeah, you know what I mean? They're gonna bring a different level of experience, of professionalism, and, uh, of work ethic. And, you know, and when you look at it, if you divide, uh, $10,000 by the number of days in the month— I don't know, depending on the number of days, let's call it average of $350— you pay more than that for a lead, right? $350 a day. And then we just set the expectation and tell the guy, hey, look, I am very uncomfortable paying you $10,000 a month, $350 a day. I've never paid anyone that before. Makes me uncomfortable, but I'm gonna take a shot because I believe in you. Here's the expectation. You're gonna be the first one here, the last one to leave. You better make more phone calls than anyone, and you better get a couple contracts in your first month. In fact, you better have 3, and if you don't, this partnership just won't work out. We hired that guy over, right? My partners were scared shitless. They were like, this is a big nut. What are you doing? I'm like, if it don't work, I'll pay it. They're like, okay. 12 contracts in his first month. 12 contracts, assuming 50% of them close, right? At a $20K clip, that's $120,000. Is that like a 10x return?

That's a damn good investment, Ren.

Yeah, damn good investment. And now I have a leader in my company and I have 10 of them now, right? Because that was number 1. I have 10 of them and they all lift each other up and they're all competitive.

And that's the thing that I'm thinking is that if I know if I bring on another superstar into my current organization, it's only gonna lift up the other guys that I got who are already killing it.

Rising tides raise all ships.

Yep, man. I, I think that's super cool. Hey, I'm telling you, like, it changed my perspective because I was like, everything you're saying, it makes so much more sense. And you know what I love is I don't fucking want somebody here on my team who is, is exactly like you said, they're trying to make enough money so they can go out drinking. Yeah, I don't want that guy. Yeah, like, that guy can fuck off. Like, I'm trying to build a team of like fucking like stallions. Like, not, not that.

I don't even want people that drink.

No, me neither.

You know what I mean? Like, I, I don't drink. It is a personal reason, and nothing against people that do. But dude, I saw this Instagram video. I'm gonna show it to you. And the guy, um, you may have seen it, and he was like, uh, he was— people like, you know, he's like, what? People are like, you don't, you don't drink? You don't drink socially? You don't drink at all? That's weird. He goes, your fucking poverty is weird. You're out of shape body, right? Your work ethic, that's weird. Me not drinking, that's not weird, buddy. Your poverty is weird. And I'm like, whoa, that's— that hits. Wait, you gotta show me.

I want to see whoever this person is.

Yeah, yeah, I'll show it to you when we're done.

Well, hey man, you know, I, I quit drinking maybe 8, 9 months ago.

Sure.

And I just realized how much more of a fucking, like, dialed-in missile I am now.

100%.

I was saying, I was saying in the last episode, bro, I got like NOS boosters on every single day. Like, my level of energy, tenacity, and just like aggressiveness about life is just skyrocketed.

Yeah, same here. And the hangovers, you know, I have a, um, I'm an all-in kind of guy, right? And so if I drink, I'm all in, and that ends bad, you know what I mean? I don't cut it off. And but it— what I've learned is I— that's a great thing if you can control it, because I can take that focus and that energy and that effort and put it into business, and you become unstoppable.

Yeah.

So you have to kind of know yourself and know you know, where you're trying to go. And, and, um, I think success is just about as much about what you do as about what you don't do.

Absolutely.

You know what I mean?

Yeah. I think when it comes down to it, any— if you ever want to achieve anything, I think the first thing you need to do is look at yourself and say, what do I need to get rid of?

Yeah. Yeah. Bad foods, bad relationships, bad girlfriends.

Yeah.

You know, there's so many people out there. I was having a conversation with a guy I coached the other day and, uh, he's having all these problems. And I'm like, do you know what your problem is? He's like, what? I'm like, you don't want to hear, but it's that freaking girl. Yeah, right? Like, she— it's a distraction. Get rid of her. If y'all's goals are not aligned, if she's not there to support you, like, she's gotta go. He's like, it's my girl, I love her. I'm like, what, do you love yourself or do you love her more? And he was like, oh damn, that's a damn good question right there. That's deep. Yeah, so we'll see what the outcome is. He hadn't broke up with her yet.

Well, it's a hard thing to do. You know, I mean, that was a hard thing to do. I really had to look at myself. And I mean, it ended up being a very easy conversation. But so I got a girl and I mean, like, she's like, she's my soulmate. I love this woman.

Yeah.

But one thing that was very important to me is I was like, is she going to get me like, is she in this for what I'm trying to do? Is she going to be, you know, down to do all these things I am?

Yep. And she had anchor or propeller?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

You know, and it was like, does she make me better?

Yep.

And then, you know, when I looked at it, it was like, yes, in, in, in all areas. And so I knew that that's what I needed. But I mean, I think that that's probably one of the biggest mistakes young men can make is the per— is the, the, the girl they're with.

It's 100% the biggest mistake. Um, there's a lot of, there's a lot of old heads. Like when I was, when I was young-er and couldn't afford mentors, like paid mentors that I had personal relationship with, I just went to YouTube, right? And there's all of these, you know, great writings and great, like Napoleon Hill and, Jim Rome, and, uh, you know, a bunch of guys like that. And they all talk about all of these successful, super successful titans of industry and of their life, the women that stood behind them, right? They did not have sloppy wives. They did not have— they had like strong, independent, strong-willed minds. And, you know, and it doesn't necessarily mean that they have to be super good at business or even interested in business at all, but they're interested enough in you to help propel you forward because men are driven by testosterone, which is a sex hormone effectively, right? And so you're either focused on one or two things, making money or getting laid. And if that— if the, if the latter part is taken care of at home, then we can focus on making money. Yeah, right. And women draw— bring more distraction and more drama into our lives and they derail us. And so finding that right person that can keep you in alignment, keep you grounded, you know, it's important.

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And, and, uh, this is something I was seeing. I mean, you look at all of these guys, look at Grant Cardone, Manny Kochman, right? They all have like some powerful, driven woman behind them. Yep. You know, it's, it's, it's, it's a necessity, it seems like.

Yeah, it's, uh, it's the yin to the yang, I think.

Yeah, absolutely.

The yin to the yang. And you, because you can see, like, if you tell, if you watch the evolution of man, like just a singular man, most men really hit their stride and find success and build net worth. The, the vast majority or accumulation of net worth on the average man is built after 50 when their testosterone and sex drive is the lowest because they're not focused on chasing tail anymore. Yeah, they're focused on making money.

Yeah, I'll tell you what, this is, this is something interesting. So I said I quit drinking about 8, 9 months ago. About 8, 9 months ago I also got on TRT. Yeah, so I went and got tested. Here's the thing is I wanted to go do steroids. Yeah, so I'm gonna get my blood work done and see And then my testosterone, my free, my, uh, my, my total test was like 300, like low 300s.

Yeah.

And I was like, oh shit. And then, you know, I started talking, tried different things, got on TRT, and all of a sudden at this time I start like, I'm like, a lot of things I start taking seriously. I quit drinking. I was like, looked at my business and I was like, what the fuck am I doing here? Like, am I dicking around the sandbox or am I really gonna build something? Yeah. I started taking all my content, everything I was doing on that area, everything seriously. And like, my life has fucking exploded.

Yep.

Now, this is the exact same time when I, when I got on TRT and got my testosterone levels to where they need to be.

Yeah. I'm not going to try to speak scientifically on that, but I have a pretty similar story. Like, dude, 10 years ago I was a drunk bartender, worthless, right? No career, no anything. And I kind of stumbled into testosterone on accident. I wanted a girlfriend. Like, I was tired. Of, you know, only girls I could get were ugly chicks. And I was like, man, I got to fuck. I got to do something to change this. So I was like, I'm going to the gym, I'm going to get in shape. So what it's going to take, right? You know, I can run my— I can run game, but you got to look good because the girl I wanted, I wanted a dime, right? Couldn't get one. And it's funny because my wife, like, the first time I approached her, she was like, uh-uh, didn't want nothing to do with me. And then I went and got swole. I went to the House of Pain and got it in. And look where we are now. But I went to the gym, was struggling in the gym. One of my buddies was like jacked. He's like, bro, you got to get on steroids. And I'm like, steroids? He's like, yeah. I'm like, he's like, it'll change everything. He's like, look at you, you're a pussy, you're a shrimp. I was like, I took that to heart and I was like, yeah, steroids. So I went and done some research and I was like, man, like these, this ain't, this ain't cool. And then my mom was like, if you, you know, I was telling her about it and she was like, well, I know somebody and they went to the doctor and the doctor gave it to them. And I was like, sounds like a better path, maybe. So I went to the doctor, got it checked, like 256, 256. I was 26 years old. So, and what a lot of people I think need to understand is you are a product of your hormones. Right, right. It's what makes up the chemistry of your body. It's what drives your brain, your ambition, you know, all this stuff. And so I'm a firm believer that, you know, and just magically right? I got my, my testosterone levels right, started looking good, started feeling good, met a hot— or, you know, got the hot chick to be interested in me, and my career took off, you know, from, from bartender to whatever you want to call me now. Um, but I've went even deeper recently, right? Went even deeper. You know, I hired a concierge physician who has a specialty in regenerative medicine, and we're doing the whole blood screen and genealogy testing and working with some peptides and just, just some stuff. Like, my goal is to be superhuman. I'm with you. My goal is to be superhuman because if I don't get tired, I'm going to outwork you.

Absolutely.

I'm going to stay more focused. I'm going to be more mentally alert. And the problem with today's medicine is you go to the doctor, they just try to fix you. I never want to be broke.

Yeah.

You know, and I look at guys that are big into this, like Grant Cardone, like, go find a picture of Grant Cardone. Like 6 years ago, he looked like shit. Yeah. And then I researched, hey, what's he doing? And then I'm like, all right, I'm going to do that. Yeah.

Have you seen the interview with that guy, the 10x Health guy? I believe it was. Yeah.

Gary Brecka. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, dude.

I started looking at that. I was like, holy shit.

Yeah, it's a game changer. Obviously it takes some resources to be able to do that. Yeah. You know, but that's why I'm doing it. Here's the question, going back to not drinking. How much— what was your bar tab a month?

Oh, fuck, dude. I mean, we're going out to Old Town. I'm dropping a couple thousand dollars every weekend on a table. Exactly that.

Yeah, it's a couple thousand dollars to be the superhuman, max. Yeah, right. So there you go. You can't afford it, you can't afford it. It's just not a priority, right?

What sacrifice are you willing to make to get there?

Yep.

Hey, can you guys tell why this is a guy I wanted to come and fucking change us up? Dude, look at it. Just on all accounts, bro. Fucking $2 million a month, that's what we're getting to. And we want to become fucking superhuman.

Superhuman. That's right.

I'm talking about—

that's right. And good people too, right? Good people. Got to be a blessing to the people. And the more you can do that, it just all comes full circle.

So did you, uh, did you go to school out in Alabama?

I tried. I never could get in. I went to the— I went to attend the University of Alabama and flunked out of the junior college.

Are you for real?

Yeah. Oh yeah. So I lived on campus for 5 years.

Where at?

Uh, on 15th. Well, I lived on 15th Street and then I lived on 12th Street right across from Tutwiler, right behind the graveyard. All my roommates went to college, right? But I just— I was, I was a lazy piece of shit.

It's a pretty good way to do it though.

Yeah.

I'll tell you what, I mean, I went to school there and I didn't really spend too much time actually in the classroom. Like, I went through all 4 years and I got a system dialed in.

Yeah.

Where I didn't go to class ever unless I had to go and take a test, you know, that day or whatever it was. And I had this buddy, his name's Ray, one of my still, you know, really good friends. And, and we pretty much had every single class together and we just, we just figured out the system of like, all right, we'll figure out what's on the test. And then instead of going to class, we'll just post up in our fraternity study room and figure out whatever we need to learn it then. Yeah. And then we can have more time for fucking off and drinking and.

Yeah. So you hacked it a little better than me. I went, I went to Shelton State and did just enough to get uh, enough credits to transfer to Alabama, got a Pell Grant, enrolled in Alabama, never went to class one time, spent all my Pell Grant money on alcohol. You're over at—

you're over at Gillette's, man.

Over at Gillette's, copper top, you know. Yeah, hammering it down. So just priorities out of line.

Well, hey, you know what, I look back and, uh, you know, I'm, I'm thankful for that time. Yeah, because it was a ton of fun, man. Sure. And like you know, it was great, whatever. But the shit that I'm doing now is a million times more fun.

Yeah, a million times more fun. I'm thankful for that time too, because, you know, I come from a very dark place, uh, you know, uh, the hood, some might say. And it exposed me to, like, rich people. Yeah, right. Like, you know, I didn't know anybody that drove a Mercedes until I got a roommate who did. And I'm like, how the hell you get that? My parents bought it. What do your parents do? You know, real estate.

Oh.

Real estate, really. So, you know, just being exposed to a different class of wealth, getting out of that neighborhood that I was in, I just didn't know it existed. Like, you see it on TV, but knowing somebody, you know, that lives in a 6,000-square-foot house, I'm like, what's that like, right? You know, what's it like to drive that car? That's different. Yeah, yeah.

So yeah, I feel like with all things, like, I mean, we're talking about, you know, when I first started wholesaling, I want to be around— I want to make $10,000 a month. Yeah, but the thing is, then I got around all these other guys and I'm seeing like, dude, everybody's making way more money than that.

Yeah.

And then, you know, now like I'm just like, I keep wanting to level up, but it's because I keep getting exposed to other people.

Yeah, right. Yeah.

Like now I'm being able to sit next to people like you and it's like, it just, my financial thermometer just, you know, keeps going up and up and up and up.

Yeah, that's a great point. That just happened to me. I went down to Mexico with two guys that are in Collective Genius. We stayed in the house, we brought our family, and, you know, I've gotten really focused on building my net worth. And I had a net worth goal in mind. And I know the guy riding— we go horseback riding on the beach with our families and we're riding along, we're talking. And I asked him, I said, man, can I ask you a personal question? He's like, yeah. I'm like, what's your net worth? And he tells me, and I'm like, all right, not too far off from mine. You know, I could definitely get there. I said, yeah. I'm trying to get to where you are, uh, in the next 10 years. And he chuckled. And I said, what you laughing at? You don't think I can do it? He goes, buddy, in the next 10 years mine's gonna 10x. And I'm like, huh, my goals are too low, right? You know, and just the thought. And I'll share, like, his, his, his, uh, I think his 10-year goal is $100 million net worth. Right? And I'm thinking to myself, you know, uh, I can achieve that. And about that time he says, and you work way fucking harder than I do, there's no reason you shouldn't pass me up. And I'm like, you damn right there's no reason. And so even that, like, that having a $100 million net worth, and I've already mapped out exactly what I'm going to do. I sat down with my business coach and I said, hey, we got on a call, we were supposed to talk about something. I said, we ain't talking about that today.

He goes, typical.

I said, look, $100 million in 10 years, that's the goal. Come on, let's map it out and find out how we're going to get there. And we did. We sat there for an hour and a half, and I know down to the day exactly what I'm going to do every single day to get $100 million net worth.

Well, hey man, I mean, look, people can talk about it, people, you can sit there and fucking manifest.

Yeah.

But until you actually put pen to paper and you have a plan in order— gotta have a plan. And you know that that shit can go different ways and things might not be exactly the way you saw it.

Yeah.

But you need to have some kind of calculated Yeah, absolutely.

And look, if it takes 15, so what? You know what I mean? Like, we always underestimate— overestimate what we can do in a year and underestimate what you can do in 5. Yeah, but I think the key is consistency, right?

Absolutely.

Going back to how we found so much success over the past 5 years, we would go to this mastermind and I'd be talking to a guy and he'd be like, yeah, um, you know, quarter— quarter 1, he's a wholesaler. Quarter 2, now he's in multifamily. Quarter 3, now he's trying to figure out how to do turnkey investments. I'm like, you know, and I'm just over here like, look, I, I'm not that smart. I just know how to wholesale. I'm just gonna keep wholesaling, wholesaling, wholesaling. And 5 years goes by and the dude's still doing 50 deals a year and I'm doing 150 a month. And so it's just like staying disciplined in the pursuit, getting your gold standard, getting really fucking freaking good at it. And then replacing yourself in the business. And once that business is sustainable and you have a team of executives to where, hey, all of your singular focus doesn't have to be there and you can still exhibit 20 to 30% growth per year, then you can go focus on that other avenue, on that other channel of wealth building. And I just see so many people make that mistake, right? They go from flipping to wholesaling to now I'm going to do Toro and now I'm going to do Airbnb arbitrage. And I'm like, but you ain't got no money. How you going to do all that, right? You don't got no money. And so it's just staying focused, man. I'm telling you, I coach like 25 people now, right? So it's about, about 25 calls a week and at least 5 different— everyone, like, it's just they try to bring something else new they're doing in, and I'm like, you're not, not going to be successful.

I can promise you that shit's not happening here. We got one thing in mind. Look, we realized this. I had on a— I had on a gal, her name is Vina Jetty. Do you know her?

Mm-mm.

So she's about to, she might have already crossed a billion dollars worth of real estate.

Wow.

Multifamily gal.

Yeah.

And I met her at Grant Cardone's office and she started, you know, we're talking about multifamily, she's telling me about it. And all of a sudden I was like, I got a bright idea. I was like, man, I need to buy me some multifamily.

Yeah.

And I, you know, wrote it down and I got all the things. I figured, okay, here's what I'm gonna start doing. Here's how I'm gonna do it. Kind of fucking— I got a reality check. I was like, is this part of like my vision? Like, is this what I need to be doing right now?

Yeah.

And I started realizing like, no, like I can't dedicate time to this. Like, I need to dedicate time to what I was already doing that was making me money that I need to fucking 10x, and then I can go figure out how to do all that shit.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I think that's the thing, you know, I got to watch Jeff Hoffman. You know who Jeff Hoffman is?

I don't.

He's the founder of Priceline.com. All right. And so Steve, the one and only billionaire who I've ever had breakfast with, I got to have breakfast with him and shake his hand and just, you know, everybody was asking him questions. So I just kind of sat and observed. But he gave a speech, man. It's like, what is your gold standard? What if you can't have two gold standards? Yeah, right. How many Olympic athletes have double gold medals? I don't know if any do, but it's just one or two, that's for sure, right? Like Shaun White, he's a gold medalist. He's not a gold medalist skier and snowboarder. He's a gold medalist snowboarder, right? You know, um, and so, you know, Michael Phelps, he doesn't swim and do track. He just swims all day, every day. Singular focus. Everything is about swimming, swimming, swimming, swimming, swimming. And that's why he's the best in the world. Yeah, he's got a goal. He's got a gold standard work ethic mentality and singular focus on being the best swimmer in in the world. You know, Tiger Woods don't play basketball. Yeah, you feel me? So, and, and, uh, it's just so easy to lose focus. It's so easy because— and it goes back to people comparing themselves and seeing other people finding success and think that it came overnight. Like that chick that's been— got a billion dollars in real estate, I would guess she's been doing that shit like 10 years, 15 years. And I wonder how many single-family houses she's wholesaled.

I, I don't, I don't think any.

Probably not.

No, no, she came in, she started doing that.

Yeah. So, you know, you got to stay focused, right? Stay focused.

Well, hey, you figure out what it is you want, and then, and look, you might have to try a couple different things to get that, but once you do, like, I, I know, like, it's wholesale. This is what I like to do. I've been doing it for so long, like, I need to double down on that.

Yep, yep. It makes me think about another conversation I had recently, like, with, uh, uh, I can't remember who it was. But they said something to the effect of, "Wren, you're so lucky that you know what you want to do with your life." Like, how do I figure out what I'm passionate about? I don't know what I'm passionate about. I don't know what I want to do. And I thought about that and I reflected for a minute, like back to when I was his age. I didn't know what the fuck— I didn't know what I wanted to do either. You know, I just got busy doing something and I was the best version of myself at that time. And eventually my purpose found me. Yeah. You know, and so I hear so many kids say, well, I don't want to start doing anything because I don't know if it's my purpose. And I'm like, well, you're never going to find your purpose if you're not doing anything.

Absolutely. You know, it reminds me of something, you know, Andrew Tate, something Tate said. He said, you know, a scientist doesn't go in the lab, try one thing and, oh, it doesn't work. Fuck it. Like, yeah, no, they keep trying shit.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I think that especially when you're younger, because that's a question that I asked. I asked another one of my mentors. I tell him to walk, or I asked him, I said, what do you say to somebody who doesn't know what their purpose is or what they need to do in life or what their vision is? He's like, you got to go try a bunch of shit, see what you like.

Yeah, right.

Now, now that doesn't mean that you fucking, you know, you start wholesaling and then, you know, that works out for you and now all of a sudden you're trying fucking dropshipping or moving all over the place. Sure. But, you know, you got to go out there and try different things.

Yeah. Yeah. And I say like, you'll know what it is like your true purpose when something happens when you're out there being busy and it just like brings a tear to your eye. Yeah. You know, whether it's, you know, helping someone build their business, you know, giving them advice on how to be successful and they come back and they're super successful and it like emotionally moves you or, you know, just something like that. Like you're going to know when it hits you. It's going to be like the Holy Ghost slapping you in the face. You're like, whoa, that was cool. And then if you can wake up and do that every single day, Man, there's nothing that'll be able to stop you because then it's not work, then it's so much fun, right?

Well, I do that, and that's what I've been trying to explain to people. Like, uh, so like for us, we were talking, we have a, we have a standard that if we, we meet that, then we don't work Saturdays, right?

Or any Saturdays.

Absolutely. And so, and, uh, it was cool, I was talking to some other people and, oh man, that sucks, you have to work today or whatever. I'm like, bro, what the fuck are you talking about, bro? Like, I like I'm so past the point in my life where it's like, oh no, I have to work. It's like, I get to work. Like, the shit that I get to do, like, bro, I, I fucking have envisioned this a long time ago where I was like, here's what the fuck I want to be doing every day. I want to be fucking, you know, I've got fucking Jonathan. He full time. We're out there busting out content. That shit I love to do. I'm fucking making deals happen. Like, I'm turned into the motherfucker that I wanted to be. I built this guy in my fucking imagination and now it's real. I love doing this. It's an opportunity every single day.

Yeah. So I was, I was listening to David Goggins' new book on my drive home from Atlanta the other day, and he said something there that stuck. And I was riding with one of my coaches and he said it and we both looked over at each other and like, that's G right there. But what he said is, if you're not the man that can accomplish your dreams, invent the motherfucker that is.

Absolutely.

Yeah. And I thought I was like, whoa, that's it right there. That's it. And he goes on to talk about how he's Goggins, right? What's his first name? David. David. Yeah. David Goggins is this little weak guy that has these insecurities, you know, used to be fat. But Goggins is a savage. Yeah. And he had to create Goggins to get through whatever the water training was because he's scared of water. Scared of water. And so he had— Goggins had to come out. And, you know, um, I just think that's, that's neat, right? Because your mind's such a powerful tool that you can invent that alter ego to take you to the next level. And sometimes that's what that's, that's needed. Think about Kobe Bryant did it with the Mamba Mentality, right? He turned on the Mamba Mentality and just went dark. Yeah, you know, and just was an assassin on the court.

Well, dude, there's so many people. I saw one, um, it was, uh, Beyoncé, and she has this persona. I can't remember the name. What it was, but she has some name she calls Sasha Fury or some shit like that.

Yeah.

And she's like, look, like Beyoncé Knowles is a little bit scared to go out and fucking do these dance moves on the stage and like, it's a little bit a lot, but like, I turn into Sasha Fury or whatever the fuck it is. And Sasha Fury isn't fucking afraid to do that stuff.

Yeah.

Or Ed Mylett, he said he was like, dude, I had to— I had to look and study these other people like to come on stage and do what I do and like, it's fucking nervous, you know, it's nerve-wracking. And like, I had to invent this person and I studied other people. He said he watched a lot of like stand-up comedians.

Sure.

And he took pieces from them and then invented this person of who he was going to be.

Yeah.

It's like you just have to imagine that you're an actor, you're playing that part, and you need to be able to bring that out.

I do it, man. I do it. Like, I— the first time I ever spoke on stage, it was a train wreck. Like, yeah, it was so bad. It was so bad. But now, you know, I know to get to where I want to be, I have to have a jam-up stage presence. Like, I got to get up there and be an excellent communicator. I have to be able to articulate my words, and I have to be able to deliver a message that resonates with people. I can't be scared. And, you know, my coach told me, he's like, you ever seen that movie Gladiator? And I'm like, yeah, I've seen Gladiator. He goes, what does he do before they let all those beasts and all those people out? And I'm like, I don't know what you're talking about. He's like, go back and watch it. What he does is you see him, he bends down and he grabs the dirt. And that's him flipping that switch. Oh, he was like, figure out what your dirt grab is. Figure out how to flip that switch before you go on and go into character and just go crush. And it's been pretty powerful. And I do it before I get on stage every single time because otherwise, you know, I'm a wimp, I'm a weenie. I'm thinking about, you know, am I, am I going to say the wrong thing? You know, I start sweating, all that. But man, you flip that switch and invent that guy that can. It's a game changer, dude.

I mean, I need to figure it out because here's the thing. Like, I think people see me and like, look, I do a lot of stuff. Like, I go on live and I got, you know, all the time. Do I have hundreds of thousands of people watching me? But it's a whole fucking different story when it's in person. You're on stage like, yeah.

Oh yeah, bro.

It reminds me of— I remember being in junior high and like, I was always like really extroverted. I was good at talking. I, you know, I wasn't afraid to raise my hand, anything like that. But The first time I experienced this, it was in junior high and we went to this one of these like coworking spaces and it was for one of my business classes and we had to go like pitch an idea.

Yeah.

And I remember just fucking shitting the bed, like I'm fucking standing there with my paper and I'm like, so shaky and yeah, right. I couldn't even do it. And like, I remember my business teacher was like, what the fuck, bro? And I was like, holy fuck, I never want that to happen again.

Yeah, yeah.

And now, like, I'm still trying to figure out ways because like, you know, when I have to, like, I'm trying to think like the last time I spoke on stage was that was at a real estate event here. And, um, I was definitely pretty fucking nervous when I got up there. I was able to turn it on and do well, you know?

Yeah.

But like, I don't want to do well, I want to fucking crush.

Yeah.

You know?

Yeah, for sure. I think too, one of the things that I've noticed is, is I get— the more I know the material, right? Like right now, I don't present on shit I don't know.

Yeah.

You know what I mean? Like, I don't get up there and try to talk about ideas that like everything, like you're coming to my event tomorrow, everything that I'm going to say, I don't— only reason I'm glancing at that screen is to see what the next bullet point is. I don't— I know it, right? And so I'm that confident in the material. But still, there's, there's an element of nervousness. You know, the number one fear in America is public speaking.

I believe it. People, people are more scared of that than they are of death.

Yeah. Yeah. But nobody, nobody knows you're nervous, right? Nobody, you know, nobody cares as much as you do. I think that's the thing. But, you know, when you look at super successful business people in general, they have all one thing in common: good communication skills. That's it, right? They are able to coordinate action through communication, which drives towards a common goal. And if you can do that effectively, you're going to be able to accomplish whatever you want to accomplish. You have to be able to communicate well. And if you want to do it on a super high level, if you want to ascend to be one of these like celebrities like Grant Cardone, look how good, you know, Grant would not be where he is if he could not get on stage and rock it. You know, that's why he is who he is, is because he has that personality. And so it's a skill set that has to be developed. There's some people that are natural at it, you know, some people like, you know, some people are good at swimming and some people sink like a rock. Yeah. You know, but I think the ability to effectively communicate your thoughts and ideas and your mission and your vision is what separates those who accomplish these incredible things and those that, you know, just can't figure out how to do it.

Yeah, you know what, that's why I think everybody needs to learn how to sell. Yeah, because, you know, at the baseline, learning how to sell is just learning how to be a good communicator.

Yep.

And I think starting there is great because then that'll lead you to be able to communicate all things in your life just better.

Yeah, yeah. Going back to knowing it, right? Like, I train my sales team every day, 5 days a week. We don't train on Saturdays because I, I don't know, maybe I just don't feel like training on Saturdays. Like, I say I'm gonna give you all the day off, but honestly, I'm like, fuck, man, I just— Saturday, right? I got my hoodie on. But they asked me, like, I'm training a new guy right now, and he's like, dude, like, you're so smooth with this. How did Were you as bad as me when you started 5 years ago? And I'm like, bro, I was worse. He's like, well, how did you get so good? I pull out my sales process map. I said, hey, cover it up. Tell me the steps in the process. And he's like, uh, number 1, set the stage. And I'm like, see, you know, it's set the stage, build rapport, problem impact, picture perfect, transition, deal killers, 4 deal killers, transition, present, close the deal. When you know it that good, you don't have to think about what to say next. You're not stuttering, you're not— you just know it. It's muscle memory, you know? And so it's like tying your shoe. Do you ever think about the actual function of what you have to do to tie your shoe? No, you just reach down there, tie it up. You can be doing anything, but it's the same thing. Like, if you watch a toddler trying to learn how to tie their shoe, he is stuttering through that, just like you're stuttering through this sales conversation.

Yeah.

And you just have to get a master at it. And I mean, I have, you know, I won't say 10, I don't know how many hours, but it's just you have to have a mastery.

Absolutely.

You have to have a master.

You know, it's something I went to Andy Elliott sales training recently.

I just found that guy, man. I like him. I like his style.

He's fucking— he's a savage.

Is he? Yeah.

Like, motherfucker, we— I've seen him like the 3 or 4 times I've seen him in person now. Every single time I've seen him rip somebody a new one. Like, dude, he ripped Jonathan a new one. So we went to his office. I— because he— he came—

Jonathan?

Yeah, he, he came on one of our calls, and, uh, and I didn't know that he was out over here in Scottsdale. I was like— and I— so I sent him a DM. I was like, hey man, can I come to your office? He's like, yeah, sure. So I come by with Jonathan, you know, we're gonna shoot a little YouTube video, and I'm talking to him and some of his other guys, and like halfway through it, dude, he turns to Jonathan, he was like, what the What the fuck are you doing over there? John's like, what? And so, so here's the thing I'm gonna tell you is, is before we walk in, I was like, hey Jonathan, like, keep the camera down. Like, what I want to ask him and like make sure it's cool or whatever. John's like, okay. Anyway, and he goes, what the fuck are you doing over there? He's like, what are you— we're gonna do anything with that camera? Like, are you sitting there? You're missing all of this. Like, it's fucking your job to fucking make this man look like a fucking billionaire, and you're sitting there with your dick in your hand. Just rips him a new one. And I let it happen. Afterwards, I'm like, oh bro, I'm sorry.

That's funny. That's fine.

But anyway, one thing he said was, he's like, bro, you show up every single day, you get asked the same question every single day, and you're still just fucking winging it. He's like, you want to be— you're like, you're out there just like spraying like a machine gun. He's like, no, you want to be a sniper. Every single time that somebody— how many times do we hear, I need to think about it, I need to have my, my, my, my lawyer take a look at this contract, whatever it is? How many times we hear that?

Every day, every call.

And it's like Why don't you have like a— the fucking way that you, that you answer that every single time, just dialed in same way every single time, perfect, right? And, and so that I think is like one of the steps that we're really taking right now is we're identifying what are these key things that are being asked all the time, always asked of us, and how— what is the best way to answer them? And then we just need to drill that into ourselves where it's fucking automatic. Every single one of us, we answer it the exact same way. We're the fucking McDonald's, right? Yeah, we just have such a process where it's done the same way every single time. Yeah, I like it.

You, you got to have those tools in your, in your, in your toolbox because otherwise you're going to get crushed. Yeah, you're going to look up at the end of the month and not be where you want to be, you know. But the thing is, is like you have what most people— like you're, you're thinking very strategic, like what tools do I need, how can I build this skill set that is going to ultimately help me reach my goal. And most people are just okay, they're like, well You know, too bad that person had that objection. Maybe the next person won't. They're hoping they don't get objections. Me, I want every freaking objection. I'm creating objections.

No, your sales process is that we're gonna take this shit head on. Yeah, I want to fucking figure out and identify all of these before it even gives it.

I'm gonna ask them. Like, we were on a sales training call the other day and we were, um, I was doing a lot of sales calls And, uh, I said, well, hey, you want to go ahead and get this reviewed by your attorney? And I just seen jaws drop. And we get off the call and they're like, why, why would you ever say that? Why not? They were thinking it. Might as well throw it out there now. I would rather them, you know, I would rather bring it up and be able to address it the right way as opposed to the end, me slide a contract over to them and then say, well, I'm gonna go look at it with my attorney.

Right, because at that point, dude, once you've like done that, once you've sent it, your chips are on the fucking table. Yeah, like you gotta cover all your bases before you get—

I get it all out there, and I want to control the narrative. Another thing, like, I always tell everybody that I train sales, I'm like, you need to go and watch a really good trial lawyer, right? Because they're always like— people struggle, like, getting the context and connecting the dots of what they're trying to do and controlling the framework and leading people where they want to go. I was watching, uh, one of my favorite shows on Amazon is the show Goliath. You— have you seen that with Billy Bob Thornton? It's good, you should watch it. But he's this amazing trial lawyer and they just lead the witness. Like, they know what questions they're gonna ask, they know what the response is gonna be. Yeah. And they know how they're gonna overcome that and lead the witness to where they want to be in order to get, you know, the verdict or the outcome that they're desiring. You can watch like Matlock, was really good show, right? You— and you can see like— and then the light bulb clicks and you're like, damn, them, you know, all I got to do is just lead them to where I want them to go. But they have to say it, because if they don't say it, it's not true.

That was something— that was something Andy said. He said, uh, you need to make everything easy to say yes to, hard to say no to, and you need to make it feel like it was their idea. Yep. And you do it that exact way you're saying, where you ask questions in a certain way where you're taking them on this journey, and you already know where the fucking destination is.

Yep.

But they're, they're in the driver's seat, right? You're just a passenger. You're just, you know, giving them directions.

Yep.

If, uh, if somebody wants to learn, you know, your sales process, what's the best way they can do that?

Uh, they can come work for me, work with me. No, I'm just kidding. So I, I have a coaching program, uh, and we train every day, uh, not specifically on acquisitions, you know. So the calls that we have now, we have a couple different levels. We do one-on-one consulting, uh, weekly coaching, bi-weekly coaching, but we have a group call And in that call every Monday, we train as acquisitions call. We train in and around that sales process. We overcome objections, we'll do role play and stuff like that. And then Tuesdays is title, uh, people just bring their title problems. I have my director title on there. She just tells them what to do. It's very valuable call. Uh, Wednesday is disposition, same thing. Thursday, marketing. Friday, uh, recruiting.

There you go.

So all the core pillars of a wholesaling business You know, my executives are training. It's either me or them. There's— I think there's a call going on right now, marketing.

Yeah.

Um, they're getting trained by people that are in the trenches, in the nitty-gritty. You know, there's a lot of coaches out here, they coach but they don't actually do, right? You know, or they coach and they do 2 or 3 deals a month, like, you know. And so I think that's the degree of separation and what we offer is, is we're in the mud every single day. We're in the mud every single day. And so we're able to, we're able to bring that level of intensity and practicality and just real-world experience So it's good. We got the coaching program. They can— they could join that if they wanted to.

And where can they get some more information on that?

You can send me a DM on Instagram @RenBartlett.

@RenBartlett. How do you spell that?

R-H-E-N-B-A-R-T-L-E-T-T.

Awesome. And guys, if you guys are watching this on YouTube, the link to that is going to be below. Guys, it's exactly what I did. Look, like I said, you guys know how many times have I said it? You got to find the motherfucker who's doing what you want to do. And say, okay, hey, can you show me how to do that? That's exactly what I did. Um, so far we're really happy, man.

Yeah, good.

Fucking excited, you know.

Good.

You know, there's nothing better than having a plan in place and just knowing the next actions that you're taking.

Yep.

It makes everything so much better.

Yep. You know, get the GPS.

Yep, exactly. Exactly. Well, hey, listen, Ren, I really appreciate you coming on today, man. It's been, it's been a great time. Guys, you need to go check out Ren's content. You know, I actually Something I said the other day is I was like, you know, a lot of people, you know, they like to use like Instagram, TikTok or whatever, and they'll just see things. It's entertaining. The difference between you and me is that I fucking will see people who are putting out really good shit and I'm like, oh fuck, this guy's giving me this for free. I got to go. I got to run with this. This is really good stuff, right?

Yeah.

I'm telling you, dude, just from the stuff on your Instagram that you're putting out there absolutely for free, we've implemented in our business and it is fucking crushing. So I absolutely recommend you guys go check his stuff out. A lot of incredible stuff over there. If you guys are listening on Spotify or Apple Music, please leave a review on the episode. Super helpful for me. I want to know what you loved, what you didn't like. And if you know anybody who'd benefit from listening to this, make sure to share the episode with them, right? We want to grow that. We want to grow this community. We want to grow everything. So, you know,