Mentoring others into financial success through Real Estate with CJ Calio

Welcome to the Cash Flow Project podcast. Are you looking to better your financial situation by increasing your cash flow? Too busy to hunt for real estate deals or don't know where to start? Then you're in the right spot. Join us as we dive in and talk about investing for cash flow using multi family real estate.

Welcome to the Cash Flow Project podcast. I'm your host Steve Burroughs with Tri City Equity Group today. Super excited. We've got a return guest on the show from a previous episode. We've got C.J. colito on the show. So C.J. is a co founder of why Not Now. WNN Properties, a full time investor in residential and commercial and real estate. CJ has raised millions of dollars to help a substantial residential and commercial to establish a big portfolio basically since 2015. And now he's helping others to do the same, kind of help realize that their investment goals and dreams. In less than five years, CJ and his wife Jasmine, they're able to, you know, to live the dream of being full time investors, which I know for a lot of people that's a pipe dream. So I think that's super, super exciting and it didn't take decades and decades, you know, despite what a lot of people might think. And they're, you know, they're huge family people too. So they've got their awesome kids that they help stay involved and you know, of course WN Properties, they can do the same, they can help, you know, any of our listeners. So, um, but yeah, excited to have you back on the show, cj, welcome.

Thanks Steve. Thanks for having me back.

Yeah, no, absolutely. And it's been a little bit. I know there's a lot of change, you know, has happened since we last had you on, you know, for those of our listeners, could definitely go back, listen to the first episode. I always like it when we have, you know, people who are producing at a high level where we can visit, you know, where we, okay, hey, look, this is where I was at, you know, a year or two years ago, however long. And then you can kind of fast track and it's like, all right, well what kind of progress it made. And a lot of times it's, you know, it's mental, it's spiritual, it's emotional. And then of course, you know, we're all, everybody's, you know, tuned in on the financial, especially you know, our listeners. But like I said, you know, for those of our listeners that maybe didn't catch that first episode, aren't familiar with who you are, you know, fill us in like Give us a little bit of your story, a little background kind of what and what you do at this point.

Sure, Steve. So my story goes back to like you were saying, 2015. And at that time I was living a comfortable, enjoyable life, working a traditional W2. And I was a UPS driver. And that position is a well paid position, good benefits, good medical, good retirement. It's something that I was raised to, to strive for. And I was content. I was satisfied with life and then I wasn't. And what I mean by wasn't is there's this time of year where UPS drivers or mail carriers in general just get bombarded with work. That special season called Christmas, right? The time of year where you should be spending time with family and friends. Well, in this particular season, I found myself frustrated, angry, disappointed, depressed because it was the busiest season we've ever seen. I wasn't seeing my family for three to four months and it was very disheartening and it really changed my, my thinking around, do I really want to do this for next 40 years? Is this something that I want to tolerate in life? That not seeing my loved ones during the most precious time of year? And I came to the conclusion after being exhausted, angry, deflated, I get to ask my wife if I could just quit. And that, that's what I did whole season. I went up to her, I said, hey, like to just quit. And she's like, okay, let me ask you this one question. Are you going to replace your income? Oh my goodness, I was not ready for that. All the emotion, all the fear, all the scarcity started dripping in and I'm like, I don't know. She goes, well, we get to still maintain our lifestyle, we still get to maintain our way of being and living. You get to figure out how to replace your income. So she originally introduced me to real estate and being a male, maybe a little bit more cocky and prideful at the time and very immature mindset, I found myself in resistance to it. I was like anything real estate. I'm not an agent, I don't have any trade background. Why would I do real estate? I've really pushed her away. And I said, you know what, you go find real estate and I'll go do my own thing. And I went off and I started some startups. And like most startups, they didn't pan out, they just didn't work. And I found myself six, nine months later in the same position of just frustration, exhaustion and, and frankly with less money because I've infused capital that failed. And I came To a realization like why am I, why am I competing? Or why am I resisting my wife's encouragement towards real estate? You know, she wants the same goal as me. She wants me out of my job. How can I, how can I be a part of this and help me to humble myself and come back to her and say, look, yeah, I'm game, I'm game. And as much as I was game, it was extremely uncomfortable to go to these events. She was going to some networking events, some seminars and be able to sit and meet with people. So I was the husband in the background, cross armed. Yeah, I'm just here to support my wife. She's, she's the boss lady, go talk to her. And it was purely based on a fear. Fear of looking not smart or a rookie or somebody who's novice and doesn't understand things and not willing to be open minded around. Maybe others are in the same boat as me. And the funny thing is about networking and getting out in these spaces as a newbie started to pick up on the language, I started to pick up the concepts and the ideas and the different strategies out there for investors that this wasn't a scam, this was something that people are doing in our successful in and it just flipped a switch in my mind like, okay, oh this thing's real. Well, long story short, we eventually decided on a strategy which is buy and hold cash flow. We picked the market and we, we pulled the trigger. We bought our first property which was a turnkey and still being in that immature mindset, we sat on it for six months because we wanted to make sure we actually bought a property that performed, that had a real tenant that was really there that was going to make us some money, lo and behold. And, and after that it was just a boost of confidence and we started running with this momentum that we created and, and year after year we just compounded into the point where we reached financial independence about five years in. And it was just so exciting because part of that process, when you become focused in on one, one course until successful, you, you get better at it, you improve on things and it becomes more seamless and notoriety starts to follow. People start to take notice. Hey cj, what, what are you doing that's working? I really want to achieve what you have. Would you be interested in. Fell into this position and opportunity of being able to mentor people and we've been able to do this for the last four years now. And it's just such a rewarding thing to work, work with and walk alongside other investors. And see them go through the process so much faster than I ever did. And that's kind of where we're at today. Steve.

No, that's awesome. And yeah, I mean, you mentioned a bunch of things there that I want to kind of touch on. For one, you had to. One thing that kind of stood out to be there was that first question of like, gosh, it's such a pertinent question too. Should I tolerate this? It was the pain point, right? Okay, I gotta solve, we gotta come up with a solution for this pain. And I don't think that that's unique, but it's just, it's. Unfortunately, it's super, super common for a lot of people especially, you know, we were so trained to be, okay, I got to have the stable, you know, nine to five. And I totally get that. I mean, you and I are both family guys. We got to have this, you know, hey, we're earners. We got to have the stability for the family, you know, for my spouse, for my kids. Especially when we see generations before us, you know, our parents, you know, like, my mom worked for a state hospital for, you know, three decades plus, you know, got the pension and all that. You know, unfortunately, the reality is a lot of most jobs don't offer that anymore. And even though, like, that you had a very good, stable, you know, position, stable job, like sought after, you know, you couldn't be there with your family. And I think that's a realization that a lot of people end up coming to. It's like, gosh, is this, is this sacrifice? Is this trade off really worth it? Because I'm working for my family, but yet I can't see them, you know, and what kind of, what kind of long term ramifications that can happen, you know, is this how my kids are going to remember me? It's like, oh, well, you know, dad wasn't there, right? Dad wasn't there for the holidays and you know, all of that, like, because, you know, he's working, right? And, and I've heard that before too, you know, experienced that too. And that's a tough one, right? That's a tough one. So you had to kind of ask yourself, is this something that I'm going to tolerate, right? Is this the lifestyle? Is this, you know, the standard that I want to hold? Not only for me, because, you know, what we do, you know, our family, our kids say the next generation is going to experience now, that's their norm, right? We talk a little bit off camera about that. It's like, well, that's their norm. So now, and you know, this isn't obviously this is just life stuff or this, we're not necessarily talking about business, but it's directly related now. Like your kids. Hey, that's normal for our family. Well, I just don't see my, I don't see my, you know, I should not expect to see my spouse for the holidays because they're gonna be working or, you know, hey, my kids shouldn't expect that from me because that's just not how it is. That's not how it was with my kids. I would, my parents, you know. And so it's like we, we set this new standard when you get a chance to do that, right? So that's. That. That was a huge one for me. Just you kind of sharing your story there. Something else I thought was really powerful too was the disconnect with, you had with Jasmine, right? With your spouse. It's like, hey, you guys aren't on the same page. And because you're not pulling in the same direction, well, gosh, there's going to be frustration, right? I almost just get this. I just envisioned this, you know, a horse drawn carriage and you got two horses pulling the carriage, but each horse is trying to go in the opposite direction. It's like, well, not only are you not going to go anywhere, you got a high chance of breaking the carriage, right? Or something being damaged there because you're each trying to pull so hard in an opposite direction versus, hey, you know what, let's pivot. Let's go to the same, you know, go down the same path together. And you know, we're, we'll actually, we could reach a destination now. We can get some traction, we can get some movement. And not only that, we can, we can do it substantially. You know, you can pick up some speed and do that, cover some really good ground, which it sounds like once you did and once you were able to kind of humble yourself and you know, kind of realize like, hey, this is my pride kind of talking, then you were. Now it's off to the races, right? Because it only took a few years from, you know, what you're sharing, right. For you guys to actually, you know what? No, we can, we can do this, right? And so it's like, I always like to think it's like once you get past that analysis paralysis, once you get past kind of that procrastination. You mentioned it too, right? It's like, well, you know what? You just get better at it because you're doing it. It's it's life, right? The more you see something, the more you do it, you know, inevitably you're just going to get better at it, but you're also able to, to generate momentum, right? So it's like, hey, other people are noticing, hey, you guys are doing, Are you able to do that? Right? Like, how are you guys able to do those things? I, I work the same job as you. I, you know, I put in the same, you know, hours and time or whatever. How come, how come I can't do that, you know, and, and it becomes attractive, right? Like you start to get that momentum. So that's, that's super exciting, super awesome. So love, love hearing that part of your. Out of you get your journey. So the, so that brought you to kind of your current position. Obviously you guys are able to kind of coach and mentor others. Do you still have that same original portfolio that you, that you guys built up? Is that, is it still the same strategy?

Yeah, great question. So strategy is very similar and, and through the experience, we're able to tweak and hone in on what working for us. And with the shift and change in, in real estate in general, where it's always evolving and changing, you get to learn to adapt and move very quickly. And what we did is we found that when we got to a certain level of a residential portfolio, it became overwhelming for my wife, and that was not the design of what it was. So it's almost like we got, we found ourselves in a similar position in a different circumstance. The pressure, the, the stress, the, the overwhelmingness of not managing this many properties became a burden for her rather than an enjoyment. And we got an opportunity to shift our thinking. Okay, so how can we get better at this, Produce a similar result, if not better, but change the way that we're doing it slightly still, stay within the realm of cash flow and buy and hold, which led us to commercial. We found that we could take a lot of our pieces of our large portfolio and start to dice them up. And we use, we like to use the monopoly analogy, right? When you're playing Monopoly, the goal is to buy property and to add greenhouses to eventually get to the red hotel. But we got our property, we added greenhouses. Now we're at the max. We're at four. What do we do next? Let's trade them in for that red Hotel, you know, so we started to do. We start to piece apart our portfolio and, and implement the beautiful strategy of a 1031. Something that it's not always attractive to people. Because of the misunderstanding around the timelines and restrictions and requirements. And we found a way to, to leverage that while still staying in our strategy and basically scaling up. And now we're in the commercial space and we've been so in the last three and a half, four years now.

That's awesome. And that's a huge jump too for me, what I've experienced in networking, right? And so a couple of even things from earlier, you guys had to surround yourself for one. I'll kind of back this up to your, you know, how you kind of started off. You guys had to surround yourself with people who are doing the things that you want to do, right? Like for. So that's a huge deal, right? It's, it's you, you mentioned earlier learning the lingo, right? Once you got around other real estate investors and even just, even just being around them, right. It's, you're gaining just by like osmosis. I mean, you're just soaking it in. So now all of a sudden it's not so foreign, it's not so scary. But the same thing too. What I found in networking with a lot of different investors over the years and talking about some really, really high level flippers and buy hold guys, for one, they experience the same thing you guys did. It's like, okay, hey, I've got 100 buy and hold long term rental single families, or maybe not even 100. I mean, even with 20, you know, or something along those lines, it's still a lot of work, you know, so it's like at a certain point it's, it becomes a job unto itself, you know, dealing with 20 different properties. So, you know, you guys, you guys definitely found that out for one and understand, like, okay, this, this isn't as efficient as it should be or as it could be, right? You have a lot of, you know, equity, you've got experience now, that kind of deal. But I feel like for a lot of investors, they, they're mentally unable to kind of make that transition. The, the residential to commercial is a big one and they're just like, oh, you know, I mean, I can't do that. You know, at least I saw mom and dad, you know, buy a, you know, a house or two. I, I'm under, I can understand, I can wrap my head around that, right? Like, I bought a house. Okay, cool. I, you know, somebody else was paying me to rent it out. Oh, okay, cool. I can get that. But then once you transition to commercial, it is another animal. And so like that, that, you know, to me That I feel like that scares a lot of people off. So, you know, so you guys probably had to go out and get some additional kind of education, some, some comfort, I guess, with the, with the commercial side.

Yeah, we had to expand our ability to get comfortable being uncomfortable. And what I found is we were super comfortable in residential because we, we started to master the strategy and comfort in, in my mind limits me because it doesn't allow me to think outside of the norm or what's capable, what I know to work. And that's what commercial did. It forced me outside of my little box that I like to reference to. That's my comfort zone. Well, all the big and amazing opportunities still out there, yet to be touched is outside of that. So how do I get myself outside of this box? And that's where I got to stretch. I got to go and network with higher caliber people. Like you said. I'm looking to surround myself with people who are already done it's. And have what I want to have so I don't have to reinvest the time and effort that's already been paid for by somebody else and seeking out new guidance. Guidance and mentors and advisors and people who already have gone first. And it just opens up your mind to possibility because you're like, oh, man, that could do that. Yeah, I've already achieved that. Amazing. Let me now follow in your footsteps and basically expedite the process. I don't have to go through all the learning curves and the, the little early on mistakes that we all experience when we try something new.

Right? And that's huge because now you're able to do that. You guys are able to kind of reach back and kind of help people pull up, let's say the ladder, right? It's like, hey, you know what? Look, I've gone out, you know, I've spent the time and the energy and the resources to go out and kind of not only get the education, but you guys are, you know, you've, you've done it, you're in the trenches, you're actively investing, right? Like, it's not anything of like, all right, well, hey, I'm, I'm an Internet guru and I don't, you know, I don't do this myself. Right. That's, that's, that's kind of one of the things that I'll ask, you know, agents will say it's like, oh, yeah, yeah, sure, I'm going to sell your property. Okay, well, yeah. Is this, is that something you're, you're implementing in Your portfolio, you know, and they're like, oh, no, actually I don't invest. And it's like, oh, I'm not there yet. I'm like, oh, you know, okay, so, right. That tells me. That tells me. Right, that tells me you're probably not going to be the best fit. Right. So but the fact that you guys are now you can, like I said, now that you can give back in a way for sure to be able to help other investors that are trying to level up. Right, right.

Visualization I like to use is a mentor like that, that void filler, almost like a bridge between your goals and your dreams and where you're at currently. They almost allow you to walk with them on this makeshift path that they've created through their experience, their knowledge to help you avoid falling down into the pits and the valleys.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's so vital. I mean, and this is like I said, that's a life lesson, you know, not only, you know, financial and kind of investment lesson, but no, huge, huge. That you guys are able to do it too. And a lot of people aren't willing to do that. Right. A lot of people are just like, hey, you know what, I'll do it for myself. Right. I'm going to go out and I'll build my portfolio, I'll achieve financial freedom and generate success and all that kind of stuff. So I can go live the lifestyle. But it's also something else to be able to turn around, kind of say, hey, you know what, I'd like to help you too. How can we do that? How can I work together with you for you to kind of achieve the same thing? And I've seen you guys company grow, I mean network and had a number of your guys is here locally because you guys aren't here on Oahu anymore. But I know you guys transitioned, but obviously your team is still very active here locally as well, kind of carrying the banner. So that's great. Well, kind of transitioning a little bit. You kind of touched on it earlier. We have seen this shift, you know, the market, of course, anybody who, anybody who's I guess in tune to real estate has noticed that over the last several quarters already. You know, what's kind of the biggest challenge that you see, you know, let's say in the markets that you're in or, you know, from a macro perspective at this point, the biggest challenges for, you know, for investors in this current environment and can you still be successful? Yeah.

Be successful, Absolutely. There's opportunity everywhere. And for me, as, as Much as all these things matter, they matter far less than your ability to be the person that notices opportunity and take action on it. So what's not working currently is I see a lot of investors both in our space and externally and network wise stop in fear of things they can't control. You interest rates, the, the trend of median prices, days on market research and you could go down the list of things that you just can't control and what can you do about it? And there's only so much we can do and control instead what can I become to still be successful in whatever market it is today? So with the rising interest rates, a thing that I've noticed and we shifted a lot internally was the mindset around okay, I could easily get a mortgage before and, and just put eliminated capital down to maybe it's now time to be that cash buyer. Because motivations there around, well finance is going to be really tough for everybody coming in to get approval they're paying higher rates, maybe they can't even float. Maybe the numbers don't make sense that way. Instead you come in with cash and cash may be the new driver currently with the rate staying high. So things like that being able to identify how can I still get this deal to work and goes back to that saying about the box right. If comfortable with what I knew worked great, that worked during that season. Now what's out here that makes me a little intimidated to try that may be the opportunities we get to step into to learn what can we do slightly different. And you know, another thing I see a lot of is creative financing. People that did lock in into those low rates but for some reason are running into hardship. How can you find a solution to their problem and walk away with a win win for everybody?

Yep, yep. And that's the thing I learned years back. I mean this is, I've been through a couple of cycles at this point but it's like well there's opportunity in every market. You just have to have the, the, the vision, the eyes to be able to see it. I know I didn't my first go around it's like gosh, you know if I and you can of course you look back right. Hindsight 2020 but it's so easy to look, oh gosh, if I would have just known this and all the things that I know now, I could have implemented this strategy and this strategy and this strategy. So again this is where it really helps to have a mentor who has been through some ups and some downs and you know they can all look, we are going to need to pivot here. Now, you know what, the debt is also an asset. You know those cheap rates from the last few years, Gosh, let's lock to see if we can, you know, help identify some of those. Just to your point, they're in distress. Hey, you've got, you know, 2%, 3%, 4, you know, 4% now is even, you know, really low. I want that note, right? I want that debt. Let me, let me take it, you know, and now let me help you out of the situation. And now you've got a win, win. But again, if you're not open to that or you don't even understand that that's a strategy, you know, the creative financing, sub two, you know, all that kind of stuff, it's not going to be, it's not on your radar. And so you don't even, you know, what, what you would have just passed over. Well, this doesn't work. Okay, well, you know, now you're missing out on a potential opportunity, you know, and you bring a solution to the table. So, yeah, no, that's, that's great. And I think what we're seeing it too. And I don't know if you, I'm sure you are too. Commercial side's the same way, you know, that having a suitable debt, having, you know, it work because again, a lot of these strategies and again, people kind of overcomplicate it, I think at times. Commercial, residential, I mean, it's all real estate. So at the end of the day, you're still dealing with people. So it's like, all right, you're going to have, you're going to have problems. We need to bring solutions. So what are the problems and how can we solve them? Right? It doesn't matter. And so, yeah, there's, there's always, there's always solutions. So that's, that's a, that's a huge thing. Well, what's, what's, what's some projects? Like, what are you guys currently working on? You know, are you working on more cash deals? Are you working on some creative stuff? Anything, you know, currently on the table that you guys have, you know, exciting, you know, stuff happening because you guys are in a different market. You know, I've been, you know, like I said, some of the listeners are going to be here in Hawaii thinking, oh, everything we're talking about is here in Hawaii. And I know a lot of people not comfortable with investing outside of their own backyard. They think, okay, hey, well, I've got to start here because I Live here, you know, is that. And I see that as another potential challenge for people to overcome. You know, what would you say to people who are, you know, kind of in that mindset yet really figuring out.

What you want and why, what, what in real estate and why. And for me, back to my story was about replacing income. So streams, flows and just like what you guys do in the multifamily space, cash flow. Right, that's what I'm looking for. Because if I accumulate enough to replace what I was making on a week by week basis, then I've essentially created financial independence. That's my strategy. And if you want to play in your backyard, because that's what gets you to go, just whatever gets you to make that actionable step towards what you want to achieve. And for us, like you were saying, Steve, we were in Hawaii from the beginning to just recently and we invested 3,000 miles away in the Midwest in Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri. And it was a pretty dacious task for me to build relationships and teams and to learn the language and that the Midwest has and how they do business versus how Hawaii people do business. And it was a cool experience because it need to evolve and become that person that can have that 3,000 mile distance relationship professionally and still prove that I'm a real person. You know, that's one of the biggest things I feel is a challenge for those who do want to do out of state is how do I establish rapport with the local market, the local team members, the experts. I get to work with the Core 4. And it's really about being authentic. In my books. What I feel worked best was being real. Hey, I'm a new investor looking to come into this space and if you're willing to give me a chance, here's what I'm going to do. Backing that with action is a lot of times we'll say that and then when a deal comes, you'll find every reason why not to. In the beginning I was doing deals that maybe weren't in the best interest currently. But however long term wise, it established trust and rapport with team members where I'm still working with these team members now eight years later. You know, and it started with the first one. Okay, it's not that sexy, amazing home run of a deal, but it's a basic. Now let me go and show you what about this deal needs to be improved on to be successful and continue to do these deals with you moving forward. But bridging that trust was the biggest thing for me once I was Able to establish that trust. The proof of concept that I'm not just that average person on social media saying, hey, I'm a real investor, but never really doing the deal. That what is what I think solidified our relationships from the get go. That just gave us that running start into success.

Yeah, no, that's huge. And the relationship building is so big. I mean, it really is. And it's not saying, hey, go do a bad deal. You know, it's not saying that. But, you know, sometimes you do have to, hey, you know what? For the relationship, I'll go ahead and we'll take this one on. Even though, like you said, it's not a home run, it's not grand slam, that's okay. Because you know what, the next one might be, right? And now that you know, if you're working with a broker, you're working with a, you know, a deal source. Okay, you know what? They're going to come to CJ because, hey, you know what? He's a closer, right? He's going to make this happen. You'll find a solution for this problem. We need to move this property. Okay, cool. Let me give him a buzz. And you know, I can't tell you too, like even just having just, just closing deals, you will get deal flow. Like those same broke, those same brokers, they're going to pick up the phone and they're going to call you back because now, hey, you know what? Yeah, you're going to see it to the finish line. You'll make it happen. Hey, I wonder if they're. They're looking for another deal. Let me give them a buzz, you know, and you'll get to know. You'll get the inside track on stuff that, hey, it's my nephew. It might never hit, you know, you know, the open market. So, you know, so, yeah, that's absolutely vital. So very cool. Well, awesome. Well, at this point of the show, kind of want to transition a little bit to the portion of our show we call a firearm. You've done it before. So I want to see if any of these answers have changed since maybe the last. Our last go around. So.

Yes.

All right. What is the best book that you recommend other than Rich Dad, Poor Dad?

Ooh, Extreme ownership. Jocko Willick and Leif Babin, two Navy SEALs guys. Those. That, that book is amazing. It was a game changer for my mindset.

I love it. I love it, I love it, I love it. What's your, what's your superpower?

My superpower is networking.

Awesome. Yeah. And it's huge, guys. I cannot stress enough the power of that. Like, you need to surround yourself with other people who are wanting to go the same direction that you are. That's how I got my start, you know, And I think you talk to a lot of investors. That's how they did it. I mean, some people, of course you have, you know, oh, my family was investing. Okay, cool. But at some point you need to do it for you and other people that are, you know, it's going to be in your same cohort. So. Yeah, no, huge. Huge. Huge, huge, huge. What's the biggest lesson that you say that you've learned over your, your career to this point?

Trusting and not verifying. So really verifying is key. That was the biggest lesson that we've learned.

Yeah, that's huge. I know. I'm listening to some horror stories recently about the same thing, dealing with associations and all this kind of stuff. It's like, what, I thought they said this, but, you know, once we found out the real deal, it's like that wasn't the case. It's like, oh, crap. Yeah, great advice, great advice. And these are life lessons, guys. These are business lessons now. So take them, take them for that. For the busy working professional trying to do what you did, work towards financial freedom, you know what, what advice would you have for them?

Yeah. My first step, I like to encourage all new investors, is to create a vision around what you want to achieve. And when you have your target, you have a destination, a point of reference you can look forward to, and it helps you to build up a plan of action to achieve it. So it may seem daunting originally. However, when you start to walk it back from what I want or what you've envisioned you've already accumulated, you can walk it back to help you set up actionable steps to take today. And that's the key. Take those steps today.

Yeah. No, that's huge. Huge. I love the, the even the idea of vision because I know a lot of people will kind of get in the weeds with some of this where it's like, yeah, I do want to. You do want an actionable plan, but they'll start there without the vision. And it's like, you know, you're going to have a lot more power behind it if you have that vision for yourself, because it's something that now you can actually, you can picture. Right? And that's actually what will take you. If you guys have our listeners, if you're not familiar with vision boards, ultra powerful, go look into creating a vision board for, you know, for what you want your business to look like, your personal life. Huge. Huge. Huge, huge. We have used them to great effect. And the view that I have right now, if I could show it to you, looking out over the Pacific is a testament to vision board. So. Yeah, no, absolutely, that. So that creating a vision for your, your goals and what you want to have happen in your business. Massive. Massive. Well, how, you know, what if, if the audience, listeners, they want to reach out to you, what's, what's the best way to do it? How can they get in touch with you?

Yeah, you can check us out on IG at WN Properties. And we also just launched a new URL platform that we were able to give away a free gift. So if my story relates to you, it correlates where you're finding yourself in this position of a pain point that you're no longer satisfied or content in life and you want to do something different. And maybe what we talked about today is a strategy that's interesting to you. How to invest with little to no money, how to scale a larger portfolio. All those good things. You can come and retrieve a free gift at why not now in realestate.com.

Awesome. Awesome. Well, CJ, it's been a pleasure having you back on the show. Like I said, I love, you know, the success that you guys have had and being able to join now. You know, you're reaching back, you're helping others and they can't help but to encourage and breed more success. So great having you back on and I look forward to seeing you in person again at some point. But yeah, thanks for coming on and we'll, we'll talk to you soon. Aloha.

Thanks, Steve. Take care.

Another great episode with C.J. kalio. Yeah, great to have him back on the show. We had him on back in 2021, so always great to see where investors have come along their journey. And, you know, of course he filled us in a little bit more about kind of his backstory and kind of how they got started again. He was a UPS driver. Right. So, you know, I don't want anybody, any investor to think that wherever they, whatever job that they have currently or whatever income that they have is not. Doesn't have like an on ramp into scaling into real estate. You know, it doesn't matter what you're currently doing, there's always things that you can do to level up to, to do better. Right. To learn more new strategies, implement new strategies. And now, you know, obviously they Achieved financial freedom a long time ago. They've made transitions in their business and built out a team and now they're helping other people to achieve the same financial success that they, you know, that they did. So, yeah, awesome to have CJ back on the show. You got some great. He had some great recommendations in terms of books, you know, extreme ownership. Jocko Willick, great book. And then his different life lessons, some mistakes. Like I said, I still hear this and we've experienced this in our investing journey. Trusting without verifying, especially when it comes to deals or specifics, maybe about local regulation or taxes or any that kind of stuff. There's a number of different variables that can come into play. All of this comes back to you doing your own due diligence beyond whatever the agent or the broker or whoever wholesaler or any of that kind of stuff, whatever they're bringing to you. You need to do your own homework. That goes for property, goes for people, that kind of deal. So great advice. And then also to the creating a vision for what you want to have your business look like, right. So that you start with the end in mind and then you can work backwards from there, creating an action plan to be able to put all of those different steps along the way so that you can achieve, you know, the vision, vision, vision boards, like I said to me, been massively impactful. So would highly recommend looking into that if you haven't done that. Well, if you're interested in investing with us, guys, make sure that you're going out and checking out tricityequity.com you know, to connect with like minded investors. You can join our Facebook group. If you're here local, you can definitely join us. It's Honolulu multifamily and more. We focus on in person meetups Occasionally. We will still have virtual meetups, but if you're local, we'd love to be able to connect with you. You know, again, CJ talked about it a lot. We talked about it on the show. The power of networking is huge. You know, you want to surround yourself with like minded investors, like minded people, just so you can try and level up, whether that be real estate, entrepreneurship, even parenting, or, you know, any kind of stuff. You want to be around people who have the things that you want already. So yeah, that's great. If you want to go ahead and connect with other people, you can definitely do that. We have a venue for you to do that also too, if you want to connect on a larger scale. We do have the second annual conference coming up, the Hawaii Millionaire Mindset conference that's going to be happening over on the Big island on the Mailani Resort. So beautiful, beautiful place that's over in Waimea Mauna Lani Resort. So that's going to be happening June 29th through July 1st. So make sure that you're making plans to attend that. And then again, great, great place to be able to network with other people, learn more about business, learn more about real estate and go deeper with a, with an awesome local conference. And two, if you guys found value in the podcast, we'd love it if you shared with any other potential people that you might think would be, you know, good fit for it. And then also we'd love a five star review if you if you found value in the podcast. But that's going to be it for today, guys. I really hope you enjoyed the show. It was great having CJ on and we look forward to seeing you next time. Aloha.