Brandon Barnum

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome back everyone, to the Tron podcast, the Randomness of Nothing. This is your host, Rashad Woods. Today I have a very special guest today. Serial Entrepreneur has done over 10 startups, is the current CEO of HOA.com so for people who do have one, you really want to listen to this one. Brandon Barum, thank you very much, sir. [00:00:16] Speaker B: Raja, my pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me. [00:00:18] Speaker A: I really appreciate your time and you have a very wonderful, compelling story. I saw that you got into the mortgage business at about 24, 22, when you were very young, and then you decided to make the next stage in life to make a leap financially and you've reaped the rewards of it, starting several businesses. So please give a little background about yourself. [00:00:37] Speaker B: Well, yeah, so at 22 I found out that you don't have to be married to be. To have a kid. And I had a child at 22 and I was a single dad at 24. And so then I got in the mortgage business right after that and. And it helped take my income from 20,000 a year to $200,000 a year, 18 months. So I've just been on a mission ever since to help as many people as possible, kind of learn those secrets. We call it Raving referrals. That's what I teach. I have a book series called Raving Referrals. [00:01:05] Speaker A: I saw that. [00:01:07] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And it's just all about real relationships in the real world and how do you partner with people that are already serving your perfect prospects. So from a business sense, it's about relationships and earning people's trust and becoming the solution to the challenges that their clients face. [00:01:23] Speaker A: Right. And so I had a previous guest, my first guest, actually, very successful businessman from Toronto. He said all businesses is serving problems for people for profit. Right. And when people actually like it was a very simple and shout out to Nikki Baloo, who did that on my first episode. But when people actually get that concept, because either selling to people referrals, it gets kind of nasty and people start to kind of feel like a, I don't want to say sleazy feeling, but it gets kind of. People have a bad image or a bad taste in their mouth when they think of that. When in reality, the best referrals are the ones that are consistent business people that are known people that provide a high value service and then become a part of your community. [00:02:00] Speaker B: Yeah, we teach serve, don't sell. And I think that's where the challenge is. Like when you're talking about getting nasty, I think that's when people are in their head rather than in their heart, they're focused on selling their focus on, what am I going to get from this? That's the wrong way to approach it, right? It's all about what can you give, who can you serve, who can you help? And when you come from that space, people can feel it. I say the last thing you want to do is stink of commission breath, right? You don't want to pick people so that as soon as you meet somebody at a networking event, you're like, pitching them and it's all about what you do, right? No, no, no, no. Take a beat, pause, and really be curious, right? Really look to be interested rather than interesting. And when we're interested in others, we find out about the other people. We connect with them, where they're at, and then we're in that service. [00:02:50] Speaker A: That's a very interesting analogy too, because, you know, especially with. With the way social media, the way that everything show me everything's got to be, you know, upfront in your face, when in reality, a skill of listening and actually intaking information is almost a lost trait. Because people want to be first. They want to have, you know, they want to make an immediate post. They want to. Even if you go on LinkedIn, right? Like, it's just like you're bombarded with, you know, messages that people are sending to you privately. And, you know, you're just like, yo, man, like, slow your roll a bit. Like, at least do a solid intro of how are you doing? How it's the weird things, the nuances that sometimes haven't been learned. [00:03:25] Speaker B: Yeah, it's all about them. Again, that's what I call pitch slapping. I get it every day in LinkedIn. Like, to your point where I've never met these people, they reach out, they want to connect. I'll accept their connection request. And then before they've ever asked or offered anything about me, it's all about them and what they can do. And I'm like, okay, right? I just ignore them. [00:03:45] Speaker A: You have to. You have to. [00:03:46] Speaker B: I think most people do. [00:03:47] Speaker A: You have to. It's because. And I'm just, like I said, I'm not even, you know, in, anywhere near in your stratosphere, so I can only imagine the messages that you're getting bombarded with. So just briefly, tell us a little bit about HOA.com. i was listening to a previous interview that you have with that real estate agent from South Carolina, and I love how you said you had community events that you were trying to redefine you know, the stress points in people's life. And ironically, I had it completely wrong when you said the first was, you know, a death, and then the second one was divorce and the third is home ownership. Right? [00:04:15] Speaker B: Yeah. You're talking about the third. The three most stressful things in life. One, death number two, divorce, number three, buying house. [00:04:21] Speaker A: Right? [00:04:21] Speaker B: Absolutely. We're on this mission of unity through community. Right. We believe that people feel more disconnected now than ever. And we all want to belong. We want to feel connected. And so part of what we're doing with HOA.com is over half of all homeowners in America live in homeowner associations, but they're kind of dysfunctional, decentralized, disconnected. And so our goal is to help these families connect in the neighborhoods that they live in. We've got about, we've got a tech platform, we're building kind of a next door meets Angie's List, meet Zillow. And then in addition to that, we help those communities really do events that bring the neighbors together, whether it's an ice cream, social, community, barbecue, kickball tournament. [00:05:07] Speaker A: Right. [00:05:08] Speaker B: We just want to help everybody connect and really get to know their neighbors and feel connected in their neighborhood. [00:05:13] Speaker A: I thought that was really interesting too, because when I was listening, you know, you were talking about the mortgage lender and the real estate agent, you know, got that 13 year old to bring the event together. And it was like, okay, let's just break it down to basics. Then you said nobody was on their cell phone. Everything was really, you know, community based because, you know, people, unfortunately, it's not like what you see on tv, where people actually have time to have long conversations with the person across the street from them, get to get to know each other. I mean, heck, I'm guilty of it. I couldn't tell you who lives three doors down from me. I really couldn't. You know, and it's not, you know, it's. It's. It's sad, right? And you're just like, you just. You find out when you come, when you go, and you never actually stop and introduce yourself. There's a skit from a well known comedian and he's an actor and his name eludes me. But the whole skit was about when your doorbell rang back in the day versus when your doorbell rings now, right before. It was. Before it was a joyous occasion. Now people are like, you know, who the heck is that? [00:06:05] Speaker B: Right? Yeah, yeah. No, I think it's true. You know, I had a realtor that texted me this Weekend. They were all excited because they said, we just held our first ice cream social in our community. They said, we think every kid from the neighborhood came by. Right. And mom. It was mostly moms in the photos that I saw. I'm sure there were some dads too. [00:06:23] Speaker A: Right. [00:06:24] Speaker B: But it just gave people a reason to come out, meet their neighbors. And, you know, an event like that costs $50 or so to put it on. And this was a real estate agent. They want to become trusted in their neighborhood. They want to be known, liked, trusted, and hired. And so they use this type of event to really add value to the community and, again, serve rather than sell. [00:06:47] Speaker A: That's beautiful. So how did it actually go from your mortgage career to HOA.com? you obviously saw a gap in the market, right? So you clearly saw, hey, man, you know, there's a significant gap between service. So what was the aha moment for you to start this? [00:07:02] Speaker B: Well, you're talking about a time frame of 28 years. So I did 12 years in the mortgage business, and then for the last 16 years or so, I've been building platforms, technology platforms to help people come together. My last one, we had over 5 million members. It was all based on referrals. And with that, what we saw is that we didn't really. We had a B2B platform. We had a platform to help business professionals connect with each other and win more referrals from each other, which was great. And we exited that in 2019. And then I said, you know, let's create a referral network specifically for professionals who serve homeowners. So that's how we started as the Homeowner Alliance. Along the way, we acquired the domain away.com and that kind of changed our focus. We're. We're building AI for hoas now. So there's more to it than just the. The community platform. But it's been an evolution. You know, God guides us on the journey, and. And we learn along the way where the gaps are and what needs to be improved. And then, like you said, the opening. We find a need and we feel it. [00:08:06] Speaker A: Right? And so, you know, sometimes, you know, I have a good friend who lives in the hoa, and sometimes that could be, like, the people avoid them, right? You know, like. Like, you know, and I'll be frank, like, when you're young, you know, and you're first buying your first house, like, there's things that you don't even know. Like, so you're just trying to figure it all out, you know, may you may or May not have, you know, experts or. Or parents or that uncle who really can actually help you navigate it. You stepped in and kind of took away the D word of that. So what do people fear about hoas? And what does your platform allow people to navigate more successfully? [00:08:39] Speaker B: Yeah, great question. So the biggest three complaints that we hear about hoas is, number one, transparency. They feel like they pay a lot of money into their HOA and they're not sure what they get for it. And that leads to number two, which is communication. They often don't feel like they know what's going on. What's the board and the association really doing to improve our community? [00:09:02] Speaker A: Right? [00:09:02] Speaker B: And then the third area is the politics and the. And the policing, right? Nobody wants to get fined, right? Or ticketed for having our garbage can out too long or lynch our grass too high. Right? So. And a lot of that is people feel like the rule. The rules aren't evenly applied. Like it's rules for thee, but not for me. And sometimes people feel like the president is running a fiefdom, right? The king of the community, when that's not how it works. My wife came, our president of our HOA about a year ago, and when she joined the board two years ago, the current president at that point would Talk about the $400,000 that was in the community reserve account, the bank account, as her money. She would say, I don't want to do that with my money. It was like, lady, this isn't your bank account, right? This belongs to the neighbors. And we're doing what's in the best interest of everyone. And so those are the issues that we face. What we're doing is we're on a mission to elevate and improve how HOAs manage their communities. We've got tech that we're rolling out that will automate a lot of the process and take some of the human decisions out of it, where AI is giving recommendations as to what's best for the community. And when you have that level of automation, one of the things we're doing right now is we. We've been testing, actually taking phone calls using AI from homeowners that call in with questions, and the AI is able to answer those questions, which gives the homeowners the answers they need and then reduces the workload on the board or the management company. So those are a few of the things. But I get excited about this, right? My passion is the people side of the business. So it's really about helping communities connect. And people love their hoa. That's the mission we're on. [00:10:55] Speaker A: Well, I thought it was interesting too, when you mentioned artificial intelligence intelligence. Because, you know, even when you go through like a fast food window, and I try to avoid fast food, but occasionally you do. Right. Because, you know, and then you hear it, AI bot. And there's something about, though, with human interaction that people miss. And we've all been at the supermarket checkout line where the machine doesn't read what you bought and all you needed was two items, and now you're standing there for 10 minutes and you're, you know, your, your stress meter is slowly going up. So how did you make sure that people who are, you know, having issues with hoa. AI is the great tool to assist and take away those phone calls, but people still have the opportunity to still talk to their board if they want that, that interaction. Is that where you step in as well, too? So how do you. How do you navigate both worlds? [00:11:36] Speaker B: Thank you. It's a great question. I think the reality is AI is still in its infancy. You know, I built an AI platform back in 2019. That was my first experience. Back then, there was no chat GPT, there was no APIs. We had to hire an IBM Watson engineer to come build out this, this AI technology. So I've been in this space a long time. [00:11:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:11:56] Speaker B: And it's been incredible over the last two and a half years since OpenAI released ChatGPT. And it's changed the world. [00:12:03] Speaker A: Sure. [00:12:03] Speaker B: And it's going to continue. [00:12:04] Speaker A: Right. [00:12:05] Speaker B: I think the reality is AI is here to stay. There's no doubt about that. It's making our life easier. And yet we as humans crave personal connection. And so that's not going away. But if we can reduce the workload and automate some of these functions, especially access to information. [00:12:23] Speaker A: Correct. [00:12:24] Speaker B: Then that improves the experience for everyone involved. [00:12:27] Speaker A: Yeah. I think like a good example is somebody who's trying to buy, you know, in an HOA in the neighborhood for the first time, where the rules, regulations and bylaws of that set community, you may not want to take up and sit down if you got off work. You have small children, like, listen, I'd rather just have that information readily available to me. So that way I know exactly what I'm coming into. And it can also help real estate professionals. I saw there's certifications that you have for people who are being. I can't speak on real estate at all when it comes to being a professional in that field, but I have to imagine the tools that you give them Help them navigate that space with places that have more stringent rules and exclusionary policies of what you can and can't do to the property? [00:13:02] Speaker B: Well, yeah, 100%. So what we've done is we have the only certification program for real estate agents to become certified HOA specialists because there's just no training out there. And we recognized again, a gap in the marketplace where we want to help these real estate agents guide people to good neighborhoods that are well managed and run rather than mismanaged communities where people don't love their hoa. As a real estate professional, if over half of your listings and sales are in hoa, you need to be an expert in hoa. And so it's a four hour online course that people go through. They watch videos, take a test and get certified. And then we help them on the back end with the tools to really celebrate that and share their certification. And it's just really important training for agents to know. And then a buyer or seller of a home can hire an agent with confidence, knowing that this person's taking the time to really become an expert in hoa. [00:14:03] Speaker A: So here's my question. So you've obviously, you have satisfied customers, you have satisfied, you know, contractors and people who work in those communities. So that way they know exactly what they're doing, walking into when they have to do repairs or other things like that. How has the board responded to your service? Obviously you've had a very successful company, but was there any resistance when you first started this company and said, they're either, they're taking control away from me? I'm getting bombarded more questions that I didn't want to. When you talked about that example of the $400,000 was like, we got to pivot to thinking that that's not yours, it's the community's. [00:14:32] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Look, the reality is, is the people business. And so some people are going to react defensively. Typically what happens is when they understand that we're there to help them and not replace them, then they embrace it more. And usually what happens is that an HOA board gets introduced by somebody that is a fan and they say, hey, we should bring hoa.com here to our community. We want to empower those communities with the tools that helps everyone thrive. [00:15:01] Speaker A: That's fantastic. If the reality about it is if you don't evolve, then eventually something's going to, you know, go above your head. And we saw companies that didn't evolve or situations that didn't evolve. Anybody seen a Radio Shack lately? You know, What? I mean, just keeping it real. [00:15:15] Speaker B: There's one next to Blockbuster. [00:15:17] Speaker A: Wait, no, that graveyard, right? I think there's one Blockbuster left in like Alaska or something like that. [00:15:22] Speaker B: No, no, no, Bend, Oregon. I'm from Oregon, so. [00:15:25] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the, that's the one that's left. I apologize. Yeah, yeah, I saw that. That's crazy. That's nuts. It was a staple too, so. [00:15:34] Speaker B: Well, it's just a. You know, I think it's a museum more than anything right now. But I don't even have. You know what? I don't know. Not only do I not have a video player, we don't even have a DVD player anymore. Right. So it's all digital and streaming. [00:15:47] Speaker A: It's great. [00:15:48] Speaker B: And that's to your point, the way the world evolves. [00:15:50] Speaker A: It is. And so, you know, I was looking at Raven referrals and I thought that it was very interesting where, you know, the recommendations and the courses you have. Can you talk about, you know, the courses and what people go to be certified in the course you offer and how in the book that you wrote. Please. [00:16:06] Speaker B: Yeah. So we've got four books in the Raving Referral series right now, and then we've got four more coming out this year. Raving Referrals is really the foundational work for anyone that works by referral. You know, people that sell into businesses. 84% of B2B sales start with a referral. So if you're trying to sell to a business owner, you need somebody opening the door, advocating championing you and bringing you in to the decision maker. Otherwise it's a long slog. So we teach the seven laws of Raving Referrals. We have a course specifically for real estate agents. This is my, my latest book is Raving Referrals for Real Estate Agents. And so there, what we do is we certify mostly mortgage lenders that want to teach and train rooms full of realtors on our program. So we give them Turnkey curriculum. It's a two hour course where we walk them through a referral score quiz. We teach them the art of the ask because that's one of the things that most people don't know how to do is they don't feel comfortable and confident asking for referrals. And so they don't get many referrals. So we help them shift their mind, teach them a technique and a framework where they can ask for referrals where the clients feel served, because it's really about giving and serving rather than asking for Yourself. [00:17:27] Speaker A: Well, I always found it funny. You know, obviously, people, there's a quote that I have always loved to hear when it comes to the services that we use for free, Right. Whether it's Facebook, whether it's Twitter, there's a paid version for LinkedIn, but you can still use the free version. It's always funny when it says, you know, if it's free, you're not the customer, you're the product being sold, Right. So people who don't, who are anti selling, every time you log into something in your phone, you're being sold, you know, something. So it's just a question of what. We use that as our quote, unquote entertainment or our social outlet. Every time you send a friend request, every time you send a connection, whatever the case may be, you're selling something to that platform. And so selling isn't a dirty word, right? Referrals aren't a dirty word in a greater scheme of things and everything like that, because it happens every single day. That's how commerce is created in these wonderful economies and capitalism, capitalism that we have. So I think getting people out of that bad state that if I'm asking for business is not a bad thing, right? Yeah. [00:18:25] Speaker B: And again, I think it's a mindset thing, and I think we got to shift our minds. I think the reality is when we think about why do people refer other people? It's because they want to help, Right? It's because they see that somebody's got a challenge, a need, a question, and they want to help that person find the resource that they need to succeed, or they're passionate about something, they found something that they know is going to be helpful for somebody else, and so they passionately promote it. And that's. That's where referrals come from. And so the reality is, if somebody's feeling awkward about it, it starts right here. In business. So much of is our mindset and how we approach things, how we view things. And when you shift again from selling to serving, then you're coming from your place of your heart and people can feel it energetically. Our vibe attracts our tribe. And so when we're being authentic and we're. We're serving the people that we want to, we attract more business. [00:19:22] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:19:23] Speaker B: And everybody's excited about the process. [00:19:25] Speaker A: So as when you have hoa.com are you working with builders who are starting new locations, new communities, new community boards, and say, okay, this is the next. I have to imagine you do. So this is the next HOA community. This is Coming up now, you have a board in infancy and you're like, hey, this is a great. At the very beginning of entry into the market, everybody's already utilizing this unity, utilize this platform. So how's your outreach go when it comes to those emerging communities and builders and associations? [00:19:51] Speaker B: Yeah. So we're still in startup mode. We've got different phases of growth. That's our 2026 plan. It actually is the developer rather than the builder. [00:20:01] Speaker A: Okay. [00:20:02] Speaker B: That, that establishes the hoa. So before a home is ever built, while the. The developer is in the process of putting in the plumbing and the electrical and everything else within that community, they're the ones that establish the hoa. [00:20:18] Speaker A: Okay. [00:20:18] Speaker B: And so our whole goal, and this again is a 2026 focus for us, is empowering that. So they're communities that are powered by hoa. [00:20:27] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. And so that's again, like I said, I don't live in one. But I've always fascinated. I'm always thinking ahead. I'm like, do you have an app? Is that the next the evolution is going to be to have a mobile app? [00:20:36] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. [00:20:38] Speaker A: Nice, nice. So what about your, your background? Like, what did you, did you, did you specialize in some sort of business in your, in your post education? How did you get into the field to begin with? That it was going to be mortgage? [00:20:49] Speaker B: Yeah. I've got a marketing degree. Right. I graduated from Portland State University back in the days with a degree in marketing. And then my first job, I was a marketing director for an estate planning law firm. And that's when I got custody of my son. And I was looking around because once I had custody, I had already bought a house. I was, you know, 24, I think, at that point, and I had purchased a house, but once I got custody, I couldn't afford my mortgage and the daycare bill. So I knew I had to make a change. And that's what. Where I ultimately got into the mortgage industry. [00:21:22] Speaker A: That's fantastic. And like I said, you're driving success. You know, for someone like yourself to reach out to me, I always pause when I have, when I see the big title CEO and it's like HOA.com and then you see the LinkedIn page and their accomplishments. It makes me kind of stop in my tracks that people want to be on, you know, my podcast to talk to me, because I think that the message that you spent that you sent out shows that if you write things down, like you said in your previous podcast, and put your dreams on paper, you can accomplish Great things. And I thought that was wonderful advice that you gave out. And you said that yours was, what, 500 pages? Or you have stuff planned out to 2050, which is crazy. [00:21:56] Speaker B: I do, yeah. My personal goals. So what you're asking about is my goals in my life? Yeah, man. I've got them all planned out for 2050. Things I want to accomplish, achieve, people I want to meet, places I want to go, just my life experiences. I had the honor and pleasure of meeting Mark Victor Hansen back when I was 34. 34, yep. And he's the author of Chicken Soup for the Soul, for those that are old enough to remember that he sold over 600 million books. Right. So he's the world's best selling nonfiction author. And I met Mark because I was raising money and awareness for a Christian charity back in Portland, Oregon, kind of a Doctors Without Borders. And so we needed a speaker. They asked me to find a keynote speaker for their big annual awards. Eventually, I knew a friend who knew Mark, and so I asked for a referral. And that's how I got connected to Mark. And when. When I brought Mark out and he came and did two events for us those days. That day, in fact, one of them was called Success with Integrity. And that was the event that I ran. So beautiful. We had him speak at their event, and then I did my own event that night because a hotel was already paid for, the AV was already in place, and his VP said, you know, if you want to do a second event, Mark won't charge any additional speaking fee. I'm like, okay, game on. Let's go. We raised enough money that day to send $1.2 million in medical supplies around the world. And so it was, like, so encouraging to me. But in both talks that Mark did, he challenged the audience to write down 101 goals. And I took that to heart. And so the next week, I went to Hawaii with my wife and I wrote 338 goals. And it was really me sitting on the beach going, okay, Lord, what do you have for am I here? And what is this life that I want to do? And so I call it being living life by design rather than life by default. I think most people don't have clarity. They don't have a vision for themselves. And Bible says without vision, people suffer. Right? And so if we create our life and put it down on paper as to what we want to achieve and experience, then magic happens and. And it's. It. It. We. We accomplish things. And, you know, in that first six months, I met Bono, the lead singer of U2. Like, that was one of the things I put down on my list. And I'm like, okay, I'm gonna say, if anything is possible, what would I want? Right. [00:24:24] Speaker A: 150. [00:24:24] Speaker B: If you had a magic wand or a magic lamp, what would you ask? [00:24:28] Speaker A: Exactly? You can do it. [00:24:29] Speaker B: So put those things on paper. And then the key is you've got to have a date. Right. Of when you hope to plan to accomplish those things. And one of the things for me is I wanted Mark Victor Hansen to write about me in a book by May 28, 2005. So one year later, right. In the next year, and I'm writing this on the beach, and I'm. I'm not necessarily fully believing that it'll happen, but that's what I'm wanting. Right, Exactly. I come back, I asked Mark to be my mentor. He says, yes, we've now been friends and he's been mentoring me for 21 years. And then about 90 days in, he calls me up one day and he says, robert Allen and I are writing the sequel to the One Minute Millionaire and it's going to be called Cracking the Millionaire Code. Would it be okay if we write about you? I'm like, oh, yeah, come on. Here we go. And that book came out May 31, 2005. It was three days off from my book down that beach. [00:25:28] Speaker A: Beautiful. [00:25:29] Speaker B: And from then, Rashad, I'm like, okay, wait, you mean I could ask for anything? [00:25:34] Speaker A: And now. And Right, because you got out of that space in your head, you know, and, you know, and if you don't kick your own butt, then life will kick yours. You know what I'm saying? And I'm. And I'm peach and I'm PG in that. Right. You know, and the reality about it is, is that I haven't accomplished what you've done. But I had to get out of my head to start this podcast because it got to the point where, and I'll tell you what really inspired me, and this is really weird, is I saw a Roku special where Keanu Reeves, arguably the world's biggest movie star, had like a 10 part series where he went around the globe and he's talking to subject matter experts. One was a sculptor, one was a guy who made his own shoe brand. And regardless. And Keanu, I love Keanu Reeves, everything about the guy. But what was fascinating is the world's biggest movie star is a geek, right? And so you're like this guy, you know, he could be just chilling on a beach or just making movies, or for lack of a better term, just chilling off of his previous success. But you turn on, right? You turn on Netflix. He's like, trying to find out about aliens or something like that, you know, then he's talking to a sculptor. So at his heart, he's a curious guy, right? And so I was like, man, you know what? I'm not Keanu Reeves, but I'm curious, right? So, yeah, I can't create an HOA.com. i've told multiple guests this. I can't do what you all do because. But my passion lies elsewhere. But the one thing I can do is try to pick your brain and take those nuggets of success and say, how can I apply that to this? And then it becomes organic and it becomes authentic, and it doesn't become something that, you know, hey, you know, Brandon, can I. Can I get you on the show? Because I really just want to get publicity. No, I really want to talk about your career and what you've accomplished to talk to people to make something successful. So when they're driving in their car or when they're sitting in their kitchen, they can do it too. [00:27:15] Speaker B: Absolutely. And podcasting is one of the things that we teach in the raving Referral system. There's 21 different co marketing campaigns. How do we come together and help each other? And this was really, you know, years ago, before the proliferation of podcasts. But the beauty is you as a host, get access to people that you wouldn't. [00:27:35] Speaker A: Never, would never. [00:27:37] Speaker B: And you learn from people and you're able to soak up all this words of wisdom that you. That would take you years to gain otherwise. And, you know, you allow people like me to share our message. My personal mission is to uplift, inspire, and empower every person on the platform planet. That's why I do these podcast interviews, is I want to inspire people. If you're listening right now, I hope that you listen and you take action. The biggest thing is most people listen and they don't take action. But if you take action and you go after your dreams, you can accomplish anything. And so I appreciate people like you that are out there taking the time to lead. And we talked about this pre show, right. Leadership is so important these days. [00:28:18] Speaker A: Right. [00:28:19] Speaker B: And I think there's so much apathy out there where everybody's. Not everyone. Excuse me, let me correct that. A lot of people are sitting back, allowing others to lead rather than getting in the arena. And that's where I. I honor people like you. I'm grateful for you doing this, because it allows me to share my message and hopefully together we can impact a lot more people. [00:28:40] Speaker A: I would be. I'm very honored about that. And, you know, just briefly, it's also because people get jaded, right? Because it's very. I promise you, usually some of the highest viewing videos, you know, it sometimes are not the person that sang a wonderful national anthem, or it's sometimes somebody who tripped and fell. And it's a funny. Right? So we gravitate towards things that sometimes bring us misery, right? And you have to really train your mind to navigate towards things that are positive and uplifting, that make you happy and work towards good things. Because when you do that, being here, every person that I've talked to on this podcast, I've never had the quote, unquote, whining festival from successful people. You know what I mean? They're not. So any complaint that I would have had, you'd be like, I came from divorce, I came from death, I came from suicide. Potential suicide. I've talked to veterans. You had ptsd. And so you learn real quick where the Rubicon is of success and failure. And you're like, I'm gonna put all these gripes to the side that maybe I thought I had and life ain't so bad that. You know what I mean? [00:29:39] Speaker B: It's all perspective. It's how you look at it, right? My wife likes to say, we're all bruised fruit with the good side up. [00:29:46] Speaker A: Beautiful. [00:29:46] Speaker B: Meaning that we present our best selves to the world. And I think you talked about social media earlier and that's so true, right? We're always showing the best parts of our lives. But here's the thing. In any situation, you have a choice. [00:29:58] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:29:58] Speaker B: You get to choose how you react and respond to whatever life event comes at you. And you can either choose that it's being done to you or being done for you. Right? We can either be, man, this is happening to me, and you can think about the negative implications of that, or you can be curious, like you talked about earlier. And, man, I wonder what God's got planned here. I can't wait to see how this all turns out. [00:30:22] Speaker A: You know, and I. Exactly. The thing is about it is, you know, I think. And that's obviously another avenue to go down. But it's just like, that's why I enjoy talking to people like yourself. You know, you're a CEO of multiple, you know, of a current company, serial entrepreneur. And here you are taking your time out to tell others that the message is out there, the secret sauce for success is being shared by multiple people. The question is not whether or not you're going to complain or whether you're going to take the nuggets that they're giving for free and start to work your mind in that direction. And I think that's why one of the reasons I created the show was to, for lack of a better term, kick my own butt and listen to successful people, because maybe I have some habits I need to kick. You know what I mean? [00:31:02] Speaker B: Absolutely. Well, and as a business owner, you got to think about, how do you get your word, your word out to the world? Last week, I was up in Scottsdale, and I was meeting with this podcast agency called Biggest agency. And the CEO of this company for five years worked for Mr. Beast for five years. And so it's a fascinating conversation, right, because we're sitting there talking about what he learned and what that experience. Experience was like. And he actually left Mr. Beast because he was the only unvaccinated person in the company. And Mr. Beast came to him and said, you either take the shot or you take a hike. And he's like, I'm out. [00:31:37] Speaker A: Right? [00:31:37] Speaker B: And so that was his decision. But during those five years, he learned so much, saw so much. And so, you know, I. We kind of flipped the script because we were hanging out for three hours up at his office, and. And I would just sort of interviewed him to find out and find, you know, all that knowledge of wealth and information. But we were talking about the fact that podcasts help you get your message to the world, and they really focus on the pre production, the production, the post production, and then the promotion. And that's where a lot of people don't really have the. How do they get their message out to the masses? Right. That's why I do these. I focus on three things, right? I focus on partnerships, presentations, and podcasts. All of the business side, you know, takes care of itself. But as far as getting the word out to the world, number one, it's partnerships. Who can I partner with that's already serving my perfect prospect exactly where I can add value to that company or that individual. And through them, they're endorsing me and providing that raving referral and talking about hoa.com or raving. Exactly, right? So that's how it works. But I want to be here to add value to you and your audience. And what happens is people hear what I'm saying, and then they reach out. So it's a great way to spread your message. To the world. [00:32:56] Speaker A: And I think that, you know, obviously you've been, you know, infinitely successful and your time is very valuable. And the one thing that I'll take from this is that when you put your mind to something and you get in a good space, mentally, great things happen for you. And I've had the honor and privilege of being able to pick your brain. You know, I'm no expert in real estate, but at the same time, I know what a positive mindset can do to. For clarity, for purpose, and to be willing to serve others. And one of the reasons I created this podcast was because there's enough cure. There's enough bad things out there to pollute your mind, but there's a. There's good, successful stories to be told and things that can navigate. I didn't have the pleasure of being able to talk to somebody like you weeks ago until I started a podcast like this because, again, it connects me to people like yourself. [00:33:38] Speaker B: Awesome. Well, Rashad, I. I hope this has been helpful for you and for your listeners. And, you know, I hope the people that are listening will take action. The biggest challenge I have, if you're listening right now, is write down your goals. Write at least 101 goals. It'll change your life. It'll help you get clear on exactly what you want, and you'll be amazed how quickly things materialize in your life. [00:33:59] Speaker A: Brandon Barham, I appreciate you, and like I said, I can't wait to Hear more about HOA.com and the other companies that you're going to be starting because I know you're not going to sit down. [00:34:06] Speaker B: I know. Hey, man, we're just getting started. Thanks, Rashad. Pleasure being with you, brother, and appreciate all you're doing. [00:34:11] Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you. Well, thank you.