Time will either promote you or expose you

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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_03: Welcome to Canada's podcast.
[00:05] SPEAKER_03: Hello, this is Robert Smigel, Canada's podcast, where we touch the entrepreneurs who are making it happen here in Canada, British Columbia.
[00:13] SPEAKER_03: Get ready for an inspiring conversation with Sir Aaron Jaffe, a man who embodies achievement and philanthropy.
[00:19] SPEAKER_03: Over 25 years, he's trained executives from 157, 4500 companies travel to over 50 countries and inspire over a million people who is speaking and more.
[00:34] SPEAKER_03: He's even run the NASDAQ closing belt three times. Sir Aaron's dedication to global change, shine through, is international, LY2 and K Foundation aiming to raise $100 million for philanthropy.
[00:47] SPEAKER_03: As the first independent board member of EXP Row Holdings, he's a leader in real estate and beyond. Welcome, Sir Aaron Jaffe, to Canada's podcast.
[00:58] SPEAKER_01: Hey, Robert, I'm grateful to be here.
[01:00] SPEAKER_03: Fantastic. Okay, even in car, so I hope you're not driving.
[01:04] SPEAKER_03: No one got actually, sometimes this is my mobile office.
[01:07] SPEAKER_03: There you go. Yeah, we had an interview, probably, what?
[01:11] SPEAKER_03: 10 years ago, I think is.
[01:13] SPEAKER_03: About 10 years ago, yeah. Yeah, a lot of changes then. Wow.
[01:17] SPEAKER_03: I can imagine. Now, tell us a little bit more about yourself.
[01:20] SPEAKER_03: You're actually my memory serves me correctly. You're from Saskatchewan.
[01:26] SPEAKER_01: Yes, the I grew up in South Korea, Saskatchewan, Canada, spent the first 18 years of my life in South Korea, and then moved to West Coast, which was in the Okinaw,
[01:38] SPEAKER_01: and then I have a second home in the Verden, British Columbia, Canada.
[01:43] SPEAKER_01: And then my primary address is actually in Vancouver, Canada, where I live here.
[01:47] SPEAKER_01: So I'm back for a train bank, Cooper, or Yogan Valley, and we're.
[01:50] SPEAKER_01: I'm going to explain right now, looking at probably being a resident of the state of Florida as well in the USA.
[01:55] SPEAKER_01: So we'll divide our time up between our three residents, if we're not traveling.
[01:58] SPEAKER_01: So we've gone by going out between the group of companies and family foundation, and.
[02:03] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, lots of going on.
[02:04] SPEAKER_03: Okay, so obviously you probably had a normal job. So down in your career.
[02:09] SPEAKER_03: So it inspires you to motivate you to be an entrepreneur and take on the risk.
[02:15] SPEAKER_01: Great question. Child and trauma. If I can be fully transferred with you was childhood trauma.
[02:20] SPEAKER_01: You know, I had a very interesting back story growing up.
[02:22] SPEAKER_01: I failed grade one of public school. This guy knows the learning disability and a re-indiscibility.
[02:27] SPEAKER_01: And it was determined by the school system that I was unfit to attend regular public school and some current Saskatchewan.
[02:32] SPEAKER_01: So from grade one all the way to the grade 12, Robert, I was in special education.
[02:37] SPEAKER_01: Now when I was seven years of age, I created my first company called Rented Kid.
[02:40] SPEAKER_01: I go out and knock on doors to, you know, kind of grass, shovel sidewalks, other newspapers.
[02:46] SPEAKER_01: And then by time I was nine years, I hired my two best friends, which 45 years later, so great friends this day.
[02:51] SPEAKER_01: So I think the things that came from childhood trauma.
[02:53] SPEAKER_01: And then I just became addicted to really feeling good and serving people and solving problems and making a difference.
[02:59] SPEAKER_01: I love it. I get great joy of, you know, like buying companies, doing mergers and acquisitions.
[03:05] SPEAKER_01: You know, I just bought two companies this week that are already cashable, positive companies.
[03:10] SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I love doing that. I think it's a game. You know, I start at school.
[03:15] SPEAKER_01: I never went to college university, but I can build a multi-million dollar hard company with the right team of people and stuff.
[03:21] SPEAKER_01: And so I love business to meet the sport because in school, you know, I was a kid who was always ticked last on any sports team.
[03:28] SPEAKER_01: So I think not being good enough, feeling stupid and confident as a child, you know, labeled special education labeled retarded.
[03:36] SPEAKER_01: I think those things have been drivers for me.
[03:39] SPEAKER_01: In the early days, it was because I had very low self confidence in believing myself.
[03:43] SPEAKER_01: And I was flat broke. You know, I struggled. I was, I've been homeless. I've been a welfare.
[03:48] SPEAKER_01: I've lived on the streets. You know, I lived paycheck to paycheck and I was so broke. I lived panic to panic.
[03:55] SPEAKER_01: Today I have a multi-millionaire today and made millions of dollars and goods.
[03:59] SPEAKER_01: And successful. I do it. I'm contributing to a hundred million over the next 10 years with school of philanthropy.
[04:03] SPEAKER_01: So I love making a lot of money. I have a lot of money making a big difference.
[04:07] SPEAKER_01: But to me, making a lot of money now is just going to go to the foundation for philanthropy.
[04:10] SPEAKER_01: So I like making millions of dollars a year, but I like to have that money go towards supporting good people.
[04:15] SPEAKER_01: So I have a capitalist at heart. And I believe that people should have a bungee's and prosperity.
[04:20] SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, you should get students in the plant and make a difference.
[04:23] SPEAKER_01: Whoever you feel compelled with to a church or a nonprofit or a charity, your choice.
[04:28] SPEAKER_03: Okay. So in terms of starting a company, did you originally need financing to get going back many years ago?
[04:35] SPEAKER_03: I'm five, six years ago when you got started, maybe longer, 10 years.
[04:39] SPEAKER_03: Yeah. Yeah.
[04:39] SPEAKER_01: How do you get investors? Yeah. I know I got funded by a knockout indoors in Moanlon.
[04:46] SPEAKER_01: That's all I got funded. I got my neighborhood by knocking on a lot of doors and Moanlon and shelving sidewalks and paint and fences and raking leans.
[04:56] SPEAKER_01: That's how I got my first business ventures as a young kid.
[05:00] SPEAKER_01: I never took on any private investors in the early days.
[05:03] SPEAKER_01: I didn't understand any of that kind of stuff. I didn't know how the paperwork worked.
[05:06] SPEAKER_01: I didn't have to conversation, didn't have to sell confidence. I didn't know that kind of stuff.
[05:12] SPEAKER_01: So I just built things just I go out and get jobs and what I focus on stuff and I locked in like a dog on a bone and I locked in until I achieved the target.
[05:23] SPEAKER_01: And it's a mission, you know, it's it's only doing that.
[05:25] SPEAKER_01: So today, you know, I raised money for certain companies that were buying and stuff, but I buy casual producing businesses today.
[05:32] SPEAKER_01: So I don't invest in startup companies. I invested companies already casual pods that are good, monthly, recurring revenue.
[05:39] SPEAKER_01: And then when we bring on investors, we can look at the last three to five years of financials as part of the discovery and do do those.
[05:45] SPEAKER_01: And then they can do their homework and realize, oh my gosh.
[05:48] SPEAKER_01: Okay, this is a good casual producing business.
[05:50] SPEAKER_01: It was the risk things in terms of risk management.
[05:52] SPEAKER_01: Because I'm always big on, you know, after protection and risk management.
[05:55] SPEAKER_01: And so I'm all about, you know, multiplying and expanding investors money and there's three types of money, rovers, there's calm money, crosses money and nervous money.
[06:04] SPEAKER_01: And when people around me, I always want their money to be calm.
[06:06] SPEAKER_01: If there's money to ever conscious or nervous, let's not do business together.
[06:10] SPEAKER_01: Go someplace else, but I want your money to be calm. And so that's what I focus on all the time.
[06:16] SPEAKER_03: Okay. Let's talk about the long-term vision of your company.
[06:20] SPEAKER_03: Do you see yourself? You're always obviously in real estate and having Florida and stuff.
[06:26] SPEAKER_03: What is that in the long term? Do you have any long-term goals that you'd like to?
[06:30] SPEAKER_03: I know you're into goals, so I'm asking.
[06:32] SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
[06:35] SPEAKER_01: I have a 7,000 written goals that are documented that live by for some reason.
[06:40] SPEAKER_01: So I have an eight-tigger portfolio right now in real estate, primarily in single-family's home.
[06:44] SPEAKER_01: It's in commercial office buildings that we have some of our companies in.
[06:49] SPEAKER_01: And then I'm in car washes, I'm in reeds, I'm in mix.
[06:53] SPEAKER_01: I'm now in hotels as an equity owner and some hotels as well.
[06:59] SPEAKER_01: So I diversify to ever put all makes one basket.
[07:02] SPEAKER_01: I like cash flows, I always use cash flows.
[07:05] SPEAKER_01: For the next few years, definitely a ability to plus a $100 plus million portfolio in things.
[07:11] SPEAKER_01: But always, you know, I've also got invested in private islands, all kinds of stuff.
[07:15] SPEAKER_01: So I like to have a mix.
[07:17] SPEAKER_01: If the numbers make sense, the team checks those hard due diligence will invest in.
[07:21] SPEAKER_01: So between real estate, which I love real estate, it's physical breaks, it's a more dirt, hard asset.
[07:27] SPEAKER_01: And I also like cash flow producing business.
[07:29] SPEAKER_01: But everything I do has to make money.
[07:32] SPEAKER_01: So like, you know, like when I get involved with stuff, it's got to pay me what I'm doing that.
[07:37] SPEAKER_01: So like somebody asked me the other day, you want to buy a private jet?
[07:40] SPEAKER_01: Only that makes me money.
[07:41] SPEAKER_01: The time is you know, only that makes money.
[07:42] SPEAKER_01: So yeah, down the road next day, years I'll probably have around private jet or family jet.
[07:46] SPEAKER_01: But it will make money when I'm not using it.
[07:48] SPEAKER_01: And when I'm using it, it will make me money.
[07:50] SPEAKER_01: And yeah, because I, it's either putting money in my pocket or taking my art in my pocket.
[07:54] SPEAKER_01: And I want it to be an asset and I like the ability.
[07:57] SPEAKER_00: Canada's podcast is your gateway to success in the world of entrepreneurship.
[08:01] SPEAKER_00: Start listening today.
[08:03] SPEAKER_00: Canada's podcast.com subscribe now.
[08:06] SPEAKER_03: Give me one piece of knowledge or information about the industry with maybe real estate or investment.
[08:11] SPEAKER_03: Then you can share that with benefit or listeners.
[08:13] SPEAKER_03: There's something that maybe the client person may not know about.
[08:16] SPEAKER_03: Sure.
[08:17] SPEAKER_03: The stuff that you know.
[08:18] SPEAKER_01: So in life, absolutely, in life, it's all about your integrity, right?
[08:22] SPEAKER_01: Without integrity, nothing works.
[08:24] SPEAKER_01: And when I was in my 20s, you know, I lied, I exaggerated, I bailed.
[08:28] SPEAKER_01: I was, you know, unethical, I'm not trustworthy as a person.
[08:33] SPEAKER_01: And my life got exposed because in life time, why did I promote your time?
[08:36] Speaker UNKNOWN: I'm going to expose you.
[08:38] SPEAKER_01: And I was just surviving.
[08:39] SPEAKER_01: Broke financially, you know, exaggerating things and bellishing things.
[08:44] SPEAKER_01: So when I learned what was through tough lessons in life, being stood, being audited, you know, having questions, these predators,
[08:53] SPEAKER_01: oh, money, having to go to quarter feet at different times in my 20s, not in my 50s now,
[08:58] SPEAKER_01: so it was 30 years ago.
[09:00] SPEAKER_01: So without integrity, nothing works.
[09:02] SPEAKER_01: And here's something to always remember.
[09:04] SPEAKER_01: In life, time will either promote you or time will expose you.
[09:09] SPEAKER_01: It's just a matter of time.
[09:11] SPEAKER_01: And so if you're somebody who is a bad character, it's just a matter of time before you get exposed.
[09:17] SPEAKER_01: I got exposed in my life four years ago, when I was fat and statistically obese and overweight, I got exposed to never to care my health.
[09:24] SPEAKER_01: Nobody agrees to just say my life.
[09:26] SPEAKER_01: When I was 38 years of age, flat broke, living panic to panic.
[09:30] SPEAKER_01: And I confronted myself because I was sick and tired of being sick and tired of broke.
[09:35] SPEAKER_01: That was a turning point in my life to get my money right.
[09:38] SPEAKER_01: And so what I look at is no matter what you do in your life, time will either promote your time will expose you to matter of time.
[09:43] SPEAKER_01: So if you're developing good habits and daily routines at a great stood on calorie, live by that, you get promoted over time.
[09:50] SPEAKER_01: If you have good money habits and money management skills, you get promoted in cheap financials.
[09:55] SPEAKER_01: If you've got good relationship skills, that will get promoted over time.
[09:58] SPEAKER_01: So it's very important to you to look at time line of the promote your time will expose you to matter of time.
[10:03] SPEAKER_03: Okay, let's talk a little bit about where you get Vancouver and British.
[10:08] SPEAKER_03: What are the biggest benefits for you being an entrepreneur BC?
[10:12] SPEAKER_03: I want you to give me some of the pit points about a business person in Vancouver.
[10:17] SPEAKER_03: And also some of the challenges you've encountered along the way being in British Columbia.
[10:23] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so number one is the financial cost of living in an extremely high-divided Vancouver.
[10:28] SPEAKER_01: You know, it's your million dollars plus to get a home of decent home.
[10:32] SPEAKER_01: You know, I live in a very wealthy or affluent neighborhood that are multi-million dollar properties.
[10:37] SPEAKER_01: My garage is worth more than most people's homes.
[10:40] SPEAKER_01: And I don't use it that often.
[10:42] SPEAKER_01: So that's one of the drawbacks of living in Vancouver is the cost of living.
[10:46] SPEAKER_01: Another thing is it's very clicky.
[10:48] SPEAKER_01: It's not what you know, it's who you know living in Vancouver.
[10:50] SPEAKER_01: So if here's somebody moving new to Vancouver, it's hard to get established because people are skeptical of you.
[10:56] SPEAKER_01: They don't know how you make money where your money is coming from.
[10:58] SPEAKER_01: Is it money, laundry, money? Is it dirty money? Is it organized crime money?
[11:02] SPEAKER_01: Because money comes all the different shades of green.
[11:04] SPEAKER_01: And there's a big thing because there's a lot of dirty money in the Vancouver marketplace.
[11:08] SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of criminal activity here.
[11:10] SPEAKER_01: And so you've got to do your research and do your due diligence because there's a lot of bad actors.
[11:14] SPEAKER_01: So make sure you know what's color shade of money or deal with when you're in the Vancouver marketplace.
[11:18] SPEAKER_01: It might be dirty money.
[11:20] SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's one of the drawbacks.
[11:22] SPEAKER_01: Other thing is is lifestyle.
[11:23] SPEAKER_01: You know, I live here because of quality of life of lifestyle, the hair quality.
[11:28] SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm obsessed with hiking all the time.
[11:30] SPEAKER_01: I like to know nature outdoors, post a wishler.
[11:34] SPEAKER_01: But to me, it's just being by the Pacific Ocean by the mountains.
[11:37] SPEAKER_01: I just love it here.
[11:38] SPEAKER_01: It's just a great, great place.
[11:39] SPEAKER_01: It's a good place to live in the resident.
[11:41] SPEAKER_03: Okay.
[11:42] SPEAKER_03: How do you define success and how do you celebrate success?
[11:45] SPEAKER_03: And this can be monetary.
[11:47] SPEAKER_03: It was could be person.
[11:48] SPEAKER_03: Sure.
[11:49] SPEAKER_01: You're trying to find success by how many?
[11:51] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I define to test the how many options you got to me.
[11:54] SPEAKER_01: It's all about options.
[11:55] SPEAKER_01: So whenever something happens in my life, what are my options?
[11:59] SPEAKER_01: And so if you make more money, what does it give you is options?
[12:03] SPEAKER_01: You know, different quality of food, health care.
[12:06] SPEAKER_01: You need to go to concerts.
[12:07] SPEAKER_01: You apply business class first class or private.
[12:10] SPEAKER_01: So to me, it's all about options and choice of life.
[12:12] SPEAKER_01: And I want to me with more of these 3D most not making money.
[12:15] SPEAKER_01: It's free them.
[12:16] SPEAKER_01: I like to go to bed when I'm tired.
[12:17] SPEAKER_01: I like to wake up when I'm done sleeping.
[12:19] SPEAKER_01: I like to do that consistently in my life.
[12:20] SPEAKER_01: But I like to call this shot and live life my own terms
[12:23] SPEAKER_01: that I don't like being told what to do.
[12:24] SPEAKER_01: I'm a terrible employee.
[12:26] SPEAKER_01: Terrible.
[12:27] Speaker UNKNOWN: 
[12:27] SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't last for a while.
[12:28] SPEAKER_01: Are you, are you, are you, are you officially unemployed?
[12:32] SPEAKER_01: I am 100% yeah, I'm a terrible employee.
[12:34] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I get fired in the first four hours because I just don't like falling
[12:37] SPEAKER_01: other people's orders.
[12:38] SPEAKER_01: I will play by the rules.
[12:39] SPEAKER_01: It comes to government rules because of structure.
[12:42] SPEAKER_01: I know we need structures that the broads are bullying at that.
[12:44] SPEAKER_01: And compliant.
[12:46] SPEAKER_01: But I also hire very smart people to understand those rules and play
[12:49] SPEAKER_01: by those rules.
[12:49] SPEAKER_01: So it comes to, well, keeping a counting tax planning.
[12:52] SPEAKER_01: You know, I have people who have a seed at my table that are very educated people
[12:55] SPEAKER_01: who that's what they do to study that stuff and be meticulous in terms of accurate information.
[13:00] SPEAKER_01: It's very important.
[13:02] SPEAKER_03: Okay.
[13:03] SPEAKER_03: Let's talk about your new teens.
[13:05] SPEAKER_03: I know that your teens are important to you.
[13:07] SPEAKER_03: You know, your physical interests, your climbers, etc.
[13:10] SPEAKER_03: What were the teens that had you put into play on a daily basis that you find
[13:14] SPEAKER_03: that helps you habits and make that your teens?
[13:17] SPEAKER_01: Great question.
[13:18] SPEAKER_01: So in the last four years which changed my life as health fitness nutrition,
[13:22] SPEAKER_01: so exercise every day.
[13:24] SPEAKER_01: So do 100 pushups every day.
[13:26] SPEAKER_01: I, I have you doing hiking in gym.
[13:29] SPEAKER_01: There's four hours a day and almost somebody can't do that.
[13:32] SPEAKER_01: I started with 15 minutes.
[13:33] SPEAKER_01: Four hours a day.
[13:34] SPEAKER_01: Four hours a day.
[13:35] SPEAKER_01: You doing four hours a day.
[13:36] SPEAKER_01: hours every day. Four hours every day. Yeah, I started four years ago with 15 minutes and that was
[13:41] SPEAKER_01: a stretchable for me. But today I spend four hours a day every single day in health fitness training,
[13:46] SPEAKER_01: every day four hours a day. I high cut average, I average about a hundred kilometers, 60 miles a
[13:52] SPEAKER_01: week of hiking. I was hiking this morning at 5.30 a.m. this morning and I'll be hiking again
[13:57] SPEAKER_01: to reach tomorrow morning. I'll do yeah, 10 to 15, 18 kilometers a day of hiking every day.
[14:02] SPEAKER_01: Are you doing the cross-drive? I do. I will be. I'll be doing the next week. I didn't do this
[14:08] SPEAKER_01: morning. I did, I was in the Gorsher Mountains, here in Vancouver. When I have different trails,
[14:12] SPEAKER_01: I do. I have a hiking group and as part of our foundation, link foundation,
[14:17] SPEAKER_01: building a hundred schools around the world. We have hikingfundrager.com where people take a
[14:21] SPEAKER_01: hike and build a school. So I bring people rather than me having breakfast, who lunches, and dinners
[14:25] SPEAKER_01: with people. I take them on a hike and we raise money through the hiking registration process
[14:30] SPEAKER_01: and then we build a school. I bring them out to have things as part of the legacy. So people come out
[14:34] SPEAKER_01: to me in the group of hikers. We raise money through the hiking registration process partnership.
[14:38] SPEAKER_01: That money gets collected to link foundation and then we build a school. So our next schools are
[14:42] SPEAKER_01: built right now over in Honduras and Central America. We already started in West Africa now
[14:46] SPEAKER_01: we're in Central America building. So that's rewarding because it helps to do with their mental help.
[14:51] SPEAKER_01: Have you ever run into Chip Wilson on your next time? Yeah, multiple times. In the fact I was just
[14:58] SPEAKER_01: at Serumablock in concert last night here in Vancouver. She had a solo concert and I've run into
[15:02] SPEAKER_01: I've hiked to a Sarah a few different times. I've met Chip Wilson multiple times. I mean a lot of
[15:07] SPEAKER_01: celebrities here in Vancouver and one of my community in California a lot. You'd be amazed at how
[15:13] SPEAKER_01: many professional athletes in celebrities actually hike. You'd be amazed. And you'd be surprised
[15:17] SPEAKER_01: to approach people. And to do the goast grind in North Vancouver absolutely. Okay, let's have some
[15:23] SPEAKER_03: fun questions for you. I'm kind of from all the business talk. If you were doing what you do now,
[15:28] SPEAKER_03: what would you like to do for profession? You were doing the investments in the real estate and
[15:33] SPEAKER_03: all the other business stuff. You could not do that anymore. You have to do something else.
[15:40] SPEAKER_01: I would probably want is I love to get speak. So I be training people on how to what I've done in
[15:46] SPEAKER_01: my life. I live an extraordinary life. So I just give my ideas and kind of like a buffet and they
[15:51] SPEAKER_01: get the chance to pick and choose what they want for the buffet. I think everything is true is,
[15:55] SPEAKER_01: you know, work with orphanages and villages. I like doing. I say be a full-time humanitarian or
[16:02] SPEAKER_01: philanthropist is what I would be doing because I learned that the secret to living is giving
[16:06] SPEAKER_01: and my success is someone else is miracle. So the more I can be of service and generosity and loving
[16:12] SPEAKER_01: contribution the more I can enrich people's lives. And I get great joy and fulfillment on that.
[16:17] SPEAKER_03: Okay, what two words would you use to describe yourself? All right.
[16:25] SPEAKER_01: Relentlessly determined. I'm on stop when it comes to setting a goal or target.
[16:31] SPEAKER_01: You know, last year I had an impossible goal of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania
[16:36] SPEAKER_01: to Africa. That's like you saying to me, hey, let's go to the Calgary SDP to ride a bull together.
[16:42] SPEAKER_01: There's absolutely crazy. Like 18 months ago you couldn't convince me that I'd be flying
[16:47] SPEAKER_01: Mount Kilimanjaro. It was an impossible goal in my mind. And now I'm actually training right now
[16:53] SPEAKER_01: to actually go to Mount Vincent to Nanarkin, January 2025 is one of her human beings.
[16:58] SPEAKER_01: The ever-summit Mount Vincent, the coldest continent on planet Earth. But if you would ask
[17:02] SPEAKER_01: 18 months ago, I would never imagine my life ever doing something like this. But I feel so good
[17:08] SPEAKER_03: doing it. Anything keep you up at night or you person that can shut it off and not think about
[17:13] SPEAKER_03: well, and just all the sleeper you're getting up and running on a note pad and 3 a.m. and keeping
[17:19] SPEAKER_01: the even that brain going. I'm able to compartmentalize and turn things off. What keeps, if it does
[17:26] SPEAKER_01: keep me up, it's that I'm running out of time. That's probably one of the biggest fear of life
[17:31] SPEAKER_01: is running out of time, not being able to do all the things I want in my lifetime. That's what scares
[17:36] SPEAKER_01: the most is running out of time. And even if I've got teams who go help me, it just run out of time.
[17:41] SPEAKER_01: And it's not knowing my expiry date scares me as a human being. I know I'm going to expire.
[17:47] SPEAKER_03: It's interesting that we talk about your workout ethic. I've never hit Shell Crann on the
[17:52] SPEAKER_03: Shell a while back. And she said being an entrepreneur is like being an athlete. What do you think of that statement?
[17:58] SPEAKER_01: That's so true. It's so true. It's, uh, your mental, my mental health has a, as an impact. I notice
[18:04] SPEAKER_01: my productivity, my production, my creativity, my imagination. Everything changes when I
[18:10] SPEAKER_01: put time in my talent every day to go out hiking. I notice a huge change in the way I interact with
[18:15] SPEAKER_01: people. I'm more, you know, people say balance, but it's a different vibration of energy.
[18:21] SPEAKER_01: I find that when I go out hiking, in terms of being an athlete now, it, you know, in business,
[18:26] SPEAKER_01: we talk about the return on investment. I use other metrics as well called ROL, return on life.
[18:31] SPEAKER_01: And the other metric is ROL return on energy. So what's the return on life and what's the return on
[18:36] SPEAKER_01: energy is part of the return on investment. And live without metric, return on life and return on
[18:41] SPEAKER_01: energy. So I think it's, so if you're going to a gym or you're going to yoga or pilates or
[18:45] SPEAKER_01: a fitness class or your aerobics and your exercise and you're feeling good,
[18:50] SPEAKER_01: that's giving that return on life and that return on energy which fits your proven back to
[18:52] SPEAKER_00: other people's lives. Stay ahead of the game with our expert tips and strategies that will help
[18:57] SPEAKER_00: your business thrive in a digital era. Canada's podcast.com subscribe now.
[19:27] SPEAKER_01: All we are is a network of conversations as human beings and opportunities live inside of
[19:32] SPEAKER_01: conversations. So you want to be in a network of conversations because when you're around
[19:36] SPEAKER_01: high net worth, ultra high net worth, we talk about different things in the foreign middle class too.
[19:41] SPEAKER_01: We also talk differently than the masses. The mass is talking about four subjects.
[19:45] SPEAKER_01: And talking about what the news, whether sports and traffic, we have a completely different
[19:49] SPEAKER_01: conversation. And so you want to get around different to consult people because it's a different
[19:53] SPEAKER_01: conversation. And in those conversations, opportunities will get created.
[19:57] SPEAKER_03: Okay, so when you're talking to these people, you're talking about strictly business or person.
[20:04] SPEAKER_01: So no one, no one in a conversation that well people talking about because I have a lot of
[20:08] SPEAKER_01: well-heeled hike with me. No one conversation topic is health. Health is number one topic.
[20:14] SPEAKER_01: Yeah. So people in the health is well. Health is well.
[20:19] SPEAKER_01: I've ever said because successful people spend money to save time. And I'm because people
[20:24] SPEAKER_01: waste time to save money. And successful people will make a lot of money so that they can have
[20:30] SPEAKER_01: the best health care for longevity because to wealthy people is about longevity and it's about
[20:35] SPEAKER_01: quality of life. And so do whatever it takes to pay that price to make sure they have quality
[20:40] SPEAKER_03: life along longevity. So that would be the number two thing you tell us. First,
[20:44] SPEAKER_03: number one would be throwing yourself or get mentors or people that are high-network people.
[20:49] SPEAKER_01: Number two would be health. Number three. Yes. Third thing would be around, number one is always
[20:57] SPEAKER_01: your word creates your world. So being very mindful of what words come out of your mouth and
[21:02] SPEAKER_01: what you give your words to because behavior never lies. And I always say people are watching
[21:07] SPEAKER_01: your feet. They're not watching their lips because in the business world, we hear that talk is cheap.
[21:12] SPEAKER_01: But I think most people are cheap in their talk because their words have no power. So make
[21:16] SPEAKER_01: sure that your words have power because people are always watching and always observing you.
[21:21] SPEAKER_03: Is there any advice you've received that you can pass on to entrepreneurs throughout Canada?
[21:26] SPEAKER_03: Some of you are something that's resonating with you, a mentor or a meeting in business,
[21:32] SPEAKER_03: something that you probably didn't talk about. I imagine that. Is there anything that you kind of
[21:36] SPEAKER_03: live by or maybe you're told years ago or maybe your teeth things? That's not.
[21:41] SPEAKER_01: Yeah. So time-living for more. Your time will expose you. It's just a matter of time.
[21:45] SPEAKER_01: Another thing is too, it's always pay yourself first. So when you're living a job,
[21:51] SPEAKER_01: you're doing all the heavy lifting, you're taking all the risks. But at the end of every two weeks,
[21:54] SPEAKER_01: and that money goes into your account from your employer, make sure that you carve a little piece,
[21:58] SPEAKER_01: you know, three or four or five, you can do 10% of your net income, ask your dollar and put it
[22:03] SPEAKER_01: into a savings account or an investment account and don't touch that and grow that and then put
[22:08] SPEAKER_01: that money over time once you have financial education, financial intelligence, then you put
[22:13] SPEAKER_01: that money into an investment that will give you a dividend or will start to produce love
[22:19] SPEAKER_01: the recurring revenue or cash flow. But get educated first by starting to read books,
[22:23] SPEAKER_01: get in classes, mentors, podcasts, educate yourself first. Don't do speculation or gambling.
[22:28] SPEAKER_01: Investors, as you go, lose it. Because when a person is money, you need to person with the
[22:32] SPEAKER_01: experience, the person with the experience that is up at the money. So your investments would
[22:37] SPEAKER_03: stretch from real estate to stock market to other, that is that where you look? Correct. Yeah,
[22:46] SPEAKER_01: yeah, everything from yeah, real estate, I just acquired a salad dressing company as an equity
[22:51] SPEAKER_01: owner of a salad dressing company this week. We've been in three months, almost four months,
[22:56] SPEAKER_01: two diligence on that. It's almost an 80 billion dollar industry, 79.64 billion dollar
[23:01] SPEAKER_01: industry just this year, the salad dressing industry. So what I do is if you look at my portfolio,
[23:07] SPEAKER_01: I invest a lot of boring stuff, salad dressing, car washes, little estate investment trust,
[23:15] SPEAKER_01: bookkeeping and accounting tax planning firms, like nothing sexy, but guess what, it produces
[23:20] SPEAKER_03: up the recurring revenue. Right. So when you're looking at investing into a company, how much
[23:26] SPEAKER_03: weight goes to the financial in the books and how much weight you put on the individual that you're
[23:31] SPEAKER_03: staring at across the desk if this guy can pull it off? So the numbers tell a story. So if you can get
[23:38] SPEAKER_01: three, that's why don't you start up companies because I look to have three to five years of
[23:43] SPEAKER_01: financials that my team and I will go through as part of the discovery and do those because
[23:47] SPEAKER_01: we're looking at the report cards of financial report card because the numbers tell us the story.
[23:52] SPEAKER_01: Right. Of the last three to five years of the history and experience of that person and that
[23:56] SPEAKER_01: company. So I look at the story of what the financials tell me, but I also want to know who's that
[24:01] SPEAKER_01: person's team and also who is that person's advisors? Who is that person hanging out with? Who are
[24:06] SPEAKER_01: they spending time with? Who's in their inner circle? Who's got to feed their table? We book
[24:10] SPEAKER_01: so they read what podcasts listen to what seminars workshops are they invested into? When they go
[24:14] SPEAKER_01: for trouble, what are they doing? Whether they're watching movies or they're listening to podcasts
[24:19] SPEAKER_01: or they're reading books or are they journaling? Okay. So I look at all that stuff. To me,
[24:25] SPEAKER_01: formalization is great. Are you saying you're a private investigator at times? Absolutely. I'm
[24:32] SPEAKER_01: sure. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure with regards to due diligence, I am primarily in my group of
[24:39] SPEAKER_01: companies today. My employees and my core jacket team is women because women have intuition and
[24:47] SPEAKER_01: women are very, very powerful in the workplace. Okay. Anything to say? Listen, I tripled my financial
[24:53] SPEAKER_01: net worth. Tripled my financial net worth numbers don't lie. I tripled my financial net worth the
[24:58] SPEAKER_01: last decade because of hiring a lot of women. Tripled it because because women have an intuition,
[25:04] SPEAKER_01: women have a know they know how to build community and culture. They ask a lot more questions
[25:10] SPEAKER_01: than do a deeper dive of due diligence and when a woman stents is that you're lying to her or
[25:14] SPEAKER_01: embellish or exaggerating, man, they can pick up on that. So I always ask the women in my teams,
[25:20] SPEAKER_01: you know, a word in discovering due diligence is your intuition calm? Step number one is it calm,
[25:26] SPEAKER_01: green light, step or two is it cautious, yellow light, a center of three is it nervous. So are you calm,
[25:33] SPEAKER_01: cautious or nervous? What's your intuition tell you calm, cautious or nervous? And I do a group
[25:39] SPEAKER_01: of checking with my team. I'm like, ladies, okay, calm, cautious or nervous. And they're like, okay,
[25:43] SPEAKER_01: how many are calm? We cautious is nervous. And then we count the numbers of store. And if people are
[25:49] SPEAKER_01: calm, we move forward, if it's cautious, we do more research for due diligence, they're nervous,
[25:53] SPEAKER_01: we never get involved without personal that opportunity. Do you kind of have concern with other
[26:00] SPEAKER_03: people when you're going into a business venture or are you kind of get involved in that?
[26:04] SPEAKER_01: So you got feeling so, you know, I was recently at a trade show here in Vancouver,
[26:10] SPEAKER_01: an outdoor show and I was watching this one trade show. They're just selling so much stuff.
[26:15] SPEAKER_01: The sell addressing company, people are buying it by the case. So I called it, I said,
[26:19] SPEAKER_01: I said, you wouldn't leave with color of the trade show here right now. I said, people are buying
[26:23] SPEAKER_01: all kinds of sell addressing. There you, why you call me for this? This is the shiny object.
[26:29] SPEAKER_01: He's got the phone on me. This is Ken Tien. I love my life, my partner, my CEO, my group of companies.
[26:34] SPEAKER_01: And it's like, call it back as a tip, Tien. We got a look at this. She's like, what are you talking about?
[26:38] SPEAKER_01: It's a sell address company. It's a shiny object. Don't focus on that. But of course, I see opportunities on.
[26:44] SPEAKER_01: So I get the contact information found on who the owner is. Did multiple follow calls with them on Zoom
[26:48] SPEAKER_01: video? Brought it to my team and I said, okay, when you think in equity position, this opportunity,
[26:53] SPEAKER_01: I want you to bring this product into more store shelves across Canada and help it grow and scale the
[26:57] SPEAKER_01: company. So here we are today almost full much later now. We're an equity owner and we're going to do
[27:02] SPEAKER_01: some big things with that company. The first thing my team does is listen to me. First, my team is
[27:08] SPEAKER_01: even was really straight. Sometimes my team doesn't listen to me because I look at really boring stuff.
[27:13] SPEAKER_01: It's not sexy. But then after they start to see how things start to work, like, you know, I got into
[27:17] SPEAKER_01: the bookkeeping account for them because I was paying a lot of money to hire bookkeepers and accounting.
[27:21] SPEAKER_01: So I said to my team, I said, listen, I don't want to pay all this money every year for bookkeeping
[27:26] SPEAKER_01: as a talent. Like, what do you do? I said, we need to start buying bookkeeping accounting firms.
[27:30] SPEAKER_01: Well, guess what? Today I run a multi-million dollar accounting bookkeeping firm. I'll smash
[27:35] SPEAKER_03: you numbers. Okay. How much time do you spend on the company? Do you spend most of your time in
[27:42] SPEAKER_03: the real estate, new ventures? Where do you spend most of your time in the business? I'm not involved
[27:50] SPEAKER_01: in the day they operate. I work on the business, not in the business. I stay focused at a high level
[27:55] SPEAKER_01: as a visionary. Did I have all the people who run the day in the operation as their role's
[27:59] SPEAKER_01: responsibility? So I make sure that we've got the structures and systems and processes in place
[28:04] SPEAKER_01: and then the day in which is working with the KPIs, the former indicators. But I spend time very
[28:10] SPEAKER_01: high-level, visionary level looking at where we're growing. So with smashing numbers, for example,
[28:15] SPEAKER_01: one of my companies, we're going to build up to a $50 million company through acquisitions
[28:19] SPEAKER_01: of acquiring other bookkeeping accounting firms and we roll it up. So I focus right now on how I get
[28:23] SPEAKER_01: to a $50 million revenue company. There's one of things I focus on. Okay. Darren, we're
[28:29] SPEAKER_03: interrupting this up. Is there anything you'd like to add before you leave us to?
[28:35] SPEAKER_01: You know, I think if people, I always get asked and while I do podcasts, people always hit me
[28:40] SPEAKER_01: up on social media. They want to go for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. And I say if you want to spend
[28:44] SPEAKER_01: time with me or learn more, come out and support Lane Foundation, help us build more schools
[28:48] SPEAKER_01: around the world. If you go to hikingfundraiser.com, hikingfundraiser.com, and you can see all
[28:54] SPEAKER_01: information there and register and come on to the hiking. You'll need to be great people,
[28:57] SPEAKER_01: support a great cause, help us build schools, and we'll get chance to hang out together.
[29:00] SPEAKER_01: Rather than needing a coffee shop, if you're a physical exercise,
[29:03] SPEAKER_01: let's support and make a difference and get flies by building a school.
[29:06] SPEAKER_03: Awesome. Okay. We'll get that and put that in the show as well. Darren, thank you for coming
[29:10] SPEAKER_03: on the show. I've learned a lot about you. But my listeners have as well. It's been a great
[29:14] SPEAKER_03: interview. Thanks so much, Robert. Thank you. See you next time.