In this episode, I have the pleasure of sharing a recent conversation I had with Brooke and Christian Torres. With years of experience in the trailer park industry and real estate investment world, they started their own business and quickly scaled an impressive real estate portfolio consisting of trailer parks and RV resorts across the country. 

Today, they share their story, including growing a trailer park portfolio to $100 million in one year's time. This husband and wife duo bring an incredible energy and drive to the table that is sure to captivate you. Join me for this informative and exciting conversation!

Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation: 

• The power of being relational
• Lessons learned from hiring a contractor
• Flipping a trailer park portfolio
• Tapping into the power of mentorship

Episode Highlights: 

[10:09] The Power of Being Relational to Become Transformational

When it comes to building relationships, focusing on commonalities is key. By avoiding transactional interactions and instead seeking to connect with others on a deeper level, you open up the potential for long-lasting and meaningful relationships. Whether you're living in a high-end building like the Porsche Design tower, or simply meeting new people in your day-to-day life, take the time to ask questions and show interest in their lives and this will lead to unexpected opportunities. Rather than forcing transactions, let trust and connection grow naturally over time. This approach can lead to lifelong connections with high-performers and successful individuals who can help you achieve your goals.

[33:54] Flipping a Trailer Park Portfolio

Brooke and Christian's experience in growing a trailer park portfolio can be attributed to their prior success in business. As co-CEOs of a company focused on RV resorts and mobile home parks, they were able to increase revenue from $6 million to over $25 million in just two years. The company had a portfolio valuation of $100 million when they joined, and Brooke and Christian leveraged their skills to take it to an impressive $400 million valuation. Their commitment to building the company over two years resulted in annual revenue of $25 million. This experience gave them the expertise and confidence to start their own business and scale it rapidly to become industry leaders.

[37:32] How Brooke and Christian Leveraged Their Past to Build a Trailer Park Portfolio

Brooke and Christian's experience in scaling a company provided them with invaluable knowledge about what not to do. They used this insight to approach their own business with a clear plan of action. After taking massive action, they repositioned properties that they knew fit the model of a successful company they had previously worked with. This allowed them to accumulate a valuable portfolio that was attractive to potential buyers. Ultimately, they sold $78 million worth of their portfolio to the other company, while keeping three properties for themselves. Their ability to learn from past experiences and leverage that knowledge enabled them to build a profitable trailer park portfolio.

Resources Mentioned: 

Connect with Wyatt Graves: LinkedIn | Website 

The Mentee Podcast: Website | Apple |

Content creation is strongly tied to the growth of your business. But if writing content is not really your strong suit, there’s an AI that is currently disrupting industries when it comes to creating content. Let’s get to know ChatGPT.

In this episode of The Mentee Podcast, I interview Ariel Levin about ChatGPT and how they're using it.. As an AI language model, ChatGPT has the capability to generate human-like responses to a wide range of topics and questions, including those related to sales and content creation. Learn how to leverage ChatGPT in creating content as well LinkedIn as your platform of choice, especially if you’re in the B2B space.

Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation: 

• The benefits of ChatGPT
• Leveraging LinkedIn to network and grow your business
• Using chat GPT to fund raise investment capital on LinkedIn
• Execution matters.
• How to market to your target audience

Episode Highlights: 

[03:13] How ChatGPT is Disrupting the Content Creation Space

In content creation, ChatGPT can be used to generate high-quality written content, such as articles, blog posts, and social media posts. It can also be used to suggest topics and headlines, and to provide insights on content performance and engagement.

For instance, if you're planning a trip anywhere in the world, it can suggest an itinerary for you. It can also create a course or a presentation for you to create a presentation. In other words, it can create a ton of things for you.

In the context of sales, ChatGPT can be used to generate personalized responses to customer inquiries and provide recommendations based on their specific needs and preferences. It can also be used to automate lead generation and follow-up, helping sales teams to more efficiently and effectively engage with potential customers.

[07:07] Leveraging ChatGPT and LinkedIn in the B2B Space

LinkedIn is still uncharted territory for many and underutilized for others. And those who are going to embrace it can really advance their careers and jumpstart their business in a big way. But it does require work, and there are no shortcuts. 

LinkedIn is a powerful social media platform for B2B marketing as it allows you to connect with potential clients, industry peers, and thought leaders. You could ask ChatGPT to give you ideas on how to promote your business. You can ask for ideas for a slide presentation and ask it to expand on each of those subjects. Ask questions about marketing collaterals to develop, connection request templates for LinkedIn, follow-up messages to write on LinkedIn, and post suggestions.

LinkedIn and ChatGPT can be powerful tools for B2B marketing and customer service. By leveraging these tools effectively, you can increase your brand awareness, generate leads, and provide excellent customer support.

Resources Mentioned: 

ChatGPT

Connect with Wyatt Graves: LinkedIn | Website 

The Mentee Podcast: Website | Apple | Spotify 

Connect with Ariel Levin: LinkedIn

Too many people lack stable housing, but how do we solve that crisis? One method is creating affordable housing, but that's not a permanent solution.

Enter Mike Kaeding: he aims to rebuild the housing system in America. He wants a solution that ends the problem permanently.

Tune in to find out how he leverages business success into a solution to one of America’s biggest problems.

Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation:

• The long-term solution to housing in America
• Why you should (or shouldn’t) get unaccredited investors
• Hire the right people for your company

Episode Highlights

[02:38] Mike’s BHAG

Mike's company, Norhart, reduced construction costs by 30%. They aim to rebuild the housing system by building more housing. By increasing the supply to match the housing demand, they hope to bring prices down.

[10:05] Mike’s Journey

Mike’s company has thousands of units, but their platform is construction. They do all manufacturing and most trades in-house as well.

Mike's parents started the company, but he's been involved even while young. He initially didn't want to be part of the business, but his dad encouraged him to take over. The company doubled in size every few years.

[14:36] Finance Talks

Banks typically fund 75% of a project, but the true constraint is human capital. Mike's company needs top talent. They've recently opened up to outside investors and are considering removing the bank so investors can get more returns. They've also created a system to get around the problems of accepting unaccredited investors.

Notable quotes from the Episode:

[07:18] "The average American's salary, about 30% of that goes to housing. My dream is to make that 15% rather than 30%."

[09:51] "How do we make the whole system, how do we figure out the whole nation to be affordable in the next five to ten years?"

[12:05] “I didn't really know what I was doing, but I think that was sort of the magic because we could start questioning everything. Like, why is construction done the way it's done?”

[30:01] "The number one thing that I learned, and it totally changed the game of our company from growing at meager rates to now growing very substantially and seeing a radical improvement in this industry is one simple thing: It's hire the very best people."

Resources Mentioned:

Connect with Wyatt Graves: LinkedIn | Website

The Mentee Podcast: Website | Apple | Spotify

GoBundance Membership

VIP Private Mastermind Event

Connect with Mike Kaeding: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

Invest in apartments with