3 Degrees of Freedom

Ep 110 - How Connection With People Is the Common Denominator to Real Estate Success with Billy Keels

August 22, 2022 Derek Clifford Season 2 Episode 110
3 Degrees of Freedom
Ep 110 - How Connection With People Is the Common Denominator to Real Estate Success with Billy Keels
Show Notes Transcript

We've got the incredible quest on the Elevate Your equity Podcast, Billy Keels, an international real estate entrepreneur, problem-solver, author, coach and mentor. On this episode, he shares:

• How he built his career through real estate entrepreneurship.
• His focus in building a bridge between investors and buyers in Europe with sellers in the U.S.
• Leveraging his leadership and relationship-building skills to good use to help clients get to the root of issues that were holding them back from full success.


No “overnight success,” Billy continues to work toward his vision and goals, the main focus of which is building a bridge between investors and buyers in Europe with sellers in the U.S. Before becoming a real estate entrepreneur, KeePon Cashflow’s founder Billy Keels worked in the corporate world. In fact, he was one of the best “corporate soldiers” you’d ever want to meet. During his corporate career Billy put his leadership and relationship-building skills to good use to help clients get to the root of issues that were holding them back from full success. Billy earned his stripes as a true problem-solver, a skill he carried into his new entrepreneurial life.

Thanks a bunch Billy Keels for coming on the show!

Unlock 3+1 degrees of freedom (time, location, financial + health) with our 5 Point Blueprint! https://elevateequity.org/podcastgift

If you really enjoyed this content and are looking for more, you can continue to learn more about us in several different places for free!


If you'd like to have a FREE copy of our 7 Ways Commercial Real Estate Syndications Protect and Build Wealth, simply click the link below. We are here and vested in your long-term success! elevateequity.org/7waysEbook

Unlock 3+1 degrees of freedom (time, location, financial + health) with our 5-Point Blueprint! https://elevateequity.org/podcastgift

If you really enjoyed this content and are looking for more, you can continue to learn more about us in several different places for free!

If you'd like to have a FREE copy of our 7 Ways Commercial Real Estate Syndications Protect and Build Wealth, simply click the link below. We are here and vested in your long-term success! elevateequity.org/7waysEbook

Introduction:

Welcome to the Elevate your Equity podcast where we, as married busy professionals, leverage real estate investing to unlock the three plus one degrees of freedom, health, location, time and financial.

Derek Clifford:

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Elevate your equity podcast. So glad that you're here with us today. Today, we've got a powerhouse in the house. We got Billy Keels on the show, Billy, how are you today, man?

Billy Keels:

Derek, I'm doing very, very well. I am super excited to be able to share another conversation with you. And I don't know about the whole power, the whole power house thing, man, you already sit in the bar super high.

Derek Clifford:

Yeah, well, you know, I only know that because we've spent so much time to get when you previous podcasts and talking outside of the show. So I know that right now there's no pressure here, just being yourself is going to be way more than what our audience is going to expect and need. So really appreciate you coming on the show. But before we get going with the with all the questions and the content here, I want to learn a little bit more about Billy. So Billy, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, you know where you are, where you come from just a 300 foot view. And then we'll start talking about how you got involved in real estate investing.

Billy Keels:

Yeah, sure, if you would allow me to also to just and I know that your audience is absolutely phenomenal. But I also to know that you spend a lot of time a lot of effort and being able to create quality content, getting guests and things like that. And so if you haven't done this already, for their consultant, make sure that you take just a couple of seconds and leave them an honest written review as well as a rating. It helps them to help you more frequently. And I just as a fellow podcaster, I wanted to share that or at least ask that of your audience. So with that, yeah, sure. With that, as a background, as you mentioned, it's kind of interesting, kind of that we're similar in the same location today. But one of the things that I would say is originally I'm from Columbus, Ohio, and I come from a family, very working class family, both of my parents worked two jobs quite frequently. I was born in Ohio, and by the time I was 12, we lived in three different states, Ohio, we ended up moving to Colorado, and my brother and sister were both born there. And at that time we stayed and then we eventually moved to Texas, an interesting part of that in those three different states. In those 12 years, we probably moved houses like I don't know, eight to 10 times, just because the way that we lived is typically at the end of a lease than my parents were moving on to the next place. And so as I watched my parents struggle a lot financially, we always had food on the table there. So it was never like this, like rags to riches story or anything like that. But I really watched my parents struggle about making financial decisions. And a lot of times it was because they did the things that they were taught. And what they were taught was, in order to make more, you have to work more, and you have to work harder, and that you start to realize is a pretty much a losing proposition. Well, because of that, I think the foundation of that really caused a lot of stress in my parents marriage. Eventually, they ended up separating, they got back together, they reconciled. And eventually they separated. And we moved back me my brother and sister with my mom back to Ohio, our parents reconciled again. And that didn't last very long, because eventually they did divorce and so also lived through that as a young child. The thing that happened also Derek was, my parents were really focused on making sure that we had a quality education. And so because of that, they worked really, really hard to keep us in the school, really good school districts, the school districts where a lot of my friends had a lot of the physical things that I wanted to but we couldn't really afford. So I watched my parents struggle even more. But what that did is that helped me to really have this kind of internal motor to always work hard, and eventually became that a student. And someone who's a nice student also does what you're told. And so as we went through high school, graduated, really near the top of the class, which was a lot of fun. And then when eventually went away to college, and went to college, just southwest of Ohio. Well, I did what I was told, and I did all the right things, I got good grades, and eventually I was ready to go and get my dream job because that's kind of what you do. And it was the major thing that happened like probably one of the first real rejections in my entire life because I was really set on going to work for Procter and Gamble. That was the thing you did when you had a marketing degree. And I got rejected. And it was one of the most like defeating things that ever happened to me. And I got my degree and then I decided to go back for a second degree. So I got the opportunity to live overseas for the very first time. After that experience, I went back and I was super confident because I now have this extra degree I had this international experience, I started to kind of speak another language. And I went through the process again, because I really wanted my dream job and I had all these extra skills and extra talent and I got rejected again. And that really, really crushed me. And the thing with that Derrick was a lot of times when you have these rejection events, you think, wow, that life is kind of coming to its end. And the reality was I had this friend who was from St. Louis, Missouri, and he told me about these people. Well, they had this amazing job and they were getting ready to hire more people for the Olympics. And the reason it was amazing is because we got a chance to interact with Fortune 500, CEOs, and fly around the world. And literally, I went through this process, probably five or 6000 people that applied there was I was one of 26 that was able to get the role. And what it did for me, it was really changed the trajectory of my life. Because in that role, I had the opportunity to work and travel throughout some 58 Different countries in five years. And it wasn't just traveling, not getting a chance to see places I would typically go and stay for a couple of weeks, we were typically staying in five star hotels, and it was just absolutely amazing. There's also something that happens when you're traveling, I was 21 to 26. It was amazing. But when you're traveling so much, and you're missing family events, marriages, nieces and nephews being born that started to weigh on me. And I got to a point in my life where I was like, You know what, I remember getting my schedule, and I was going to Amsterdam, and London. And I was like, I don't even care. And because I was missing too much of life with friends and family. And so I decided it was time to go. But I didn't want to just go do a normal nine to five job because I'd seen way too much. So I decided I wanted to do a an overseas experience. I wanted to have a one year sabbatical. And this was in September of 2001. About two weeks after 911. I packed my bags, and I moved to Paris, France for one year sabbatical that one year sabbatical. Well, let's just say that a number of things have happened. I've changed industries. So I've been moved to it after the after the one year sabbatical. I left Paris and moved to the south, and ended up getting a chance to move to Italy. So I lived in Italy started up a sales team right before I left for Italy. Derek I met this really cool, cute Spanish woman. And we continue to stay in touch. And I went back to France, she went to Barcelona. And eventually when I went back to France, I left France moved to Barcelona, where I've lived since 2005. Since July of 2005, my wife and I got married in September of 2008, our first son was born in October of 2009. Our second in May of 2011. I continued to work in a corporate job. So as an A student that people that do what you're supposed to do, I moved up the corporate ladder. And I had some challenges that happened along the way. But I think we and we can get into that. But I guess kind of just to paint a picture of some of the things that I've done and, and also most importantly, to tell people, you know, you have to be careful when you do those one year sabbaticals, because they can actually end up in to 21 years, three additional countries, you can learn four new languages, you can get married and have two children. So just be really, really open minded when you decide you want to do those one year sabbatical.

Derek Clifford:

Thank you for that. And I think that really what this helps paint the picture of is a very realistic individual, because I could see this happening with a lot of people, right? Going through this whole realization, like working really hard, keeping your head down, saying I'm doing what I'm told, I'm going to do what society wants me to do what my parents want me to do, make them proud. And then facing a bunch of failures, and then realizing, you know, what, this whole nine to five thing maybe, maybe it's not right. And I would say that you're probably one of the early adopters to all this, because this stuff wasn't really well known back then. Like it was very much tradition. nowadays. I mean, you can see, I don't want to say quitter culture. But you can see the great resignation happening in the US and probably throughout the rest of the world. And I just think that you're ahead of your time. And this is a very relatable story that a lot of people can take with them into this. And I want to give that context. And thank you for sharing that story. Because it's it's very relatable. I want to talk a little bit more about how real estate entered the picture here, because he talked a lot about working full time job. But where did real estate sort of like start to come in?

Billy Keels:

Yeah. So and this goes back to, you know, being an A student in doing what you're told. And also because I don't come from a family with with money. One of the things the concepts that I grew up with Derek was because I watched my parents struggle so much with money. They didn't have it at the end of the month, right? I mentioned they struggled, were they going to pay this bill or that bill? So when they had money at the end of the month, that was like investing, right? I thought that was investing. And so as an A student, when I got my I got I got my good job and I was traveling around the world. I didn't have a lot of expenses. I started actually having money. One that was my responsibility at the end of the month. And so I was investing. I know that that was saving, it was not investing. So once I started in my job, one of the things that happened was, I had that typical conversation, someone came in, hey, listen, you're gonna invest in your 401k This is pretty retirement, and I know and it sounded cool. And I was like, okay, cool, great. And then when you have extra money, you're gonna put it in this IRA and that. And things were going along really, really well because this was 1996 and I had been investing for about four or five years and then the 2000 Bubble happened and so I lost some value in my portfolio right and that was on paper. And I got really freaked out because I didn't have any of those experiences. I hadn't had those before. And of course, I was literally watching all the time, like every month reading that little document, although I didn't really understand what it said. But I was reading it and just to see what how much money I was making or not. And at that point when the bubble kind of pop, they said, Hey, listen, hang on a second, you know, you're going to do some DCA and when you do the DCA, it'll be good. And I was just like, what, what is the DCA I don't understand what that is. And he said, Well, that's dollar cost averaging. So it's kind of like you put the same amount of money in every two weeks. And eventually, you know, you won't have to do anything and deploy your retirement. And so that was true, because eventually my the value of my portfolio came back. And it actually even started to go beyond where it was in 2000. And things were going really, really great. And then 2008 happened. And it was like, well hang on a second, this is not really cool. And my parents always told me if something happens once, shame on them, if it happens twice, shame on you. And so I had to take, like part of my financial life into my own hands, because I could see that I had no control over what was happening in the market. And that was my retirement. And so at that point in time, I came across this little purple book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, like a lot of people, but I picked it up and I put it down, I didn't finish it. And it was a number of years later that I actually finished the book. And when I finished the book, I started then going down, like the whole Rich Dad series, and I read all those books. And after that I started watching watching videos on YouTube and listening to podcast and got invested in some communities and things like that online, and really started to become a theoretical mastermind, right. And, and one of the things that happened that really kind of changed the change my life and took me from theory to action was and this is a story I used to not feel comfortable sharing. And I've realized that you know, there's a lot of people that are going through very similar kind of thing. And I was really want it to be and focused on being a really good dad and being a dad who was there. And you know, we traveled on the weekends and took the kids do things and my my children were one in three, and it was actually our oldest son's third birthday. And on his third birthday, I just I didn't sleep well the night before I was kind of feeling uncomfortable about it. And I woke up really early that morning because Derek I had a flight to Frankfurt, Germany from from Barcelona. And that morning, I woke my wife up in our one year old and they you know, they were in the bed and it was like, I don't know, quarter to six in the morning. And they weren't, you know, they were eyes all closed and crinkly and stuff like that. But I wanted to get my son, I wanted to sing happy birthday to him. And I wanted to give him a kiss and hug have him open his present. But right after we did that I literally ran to the elevator and our flat headed to the airport and the entire ride to the airport. I just was not feeling like like it wasn't something wasn't right. And I stayed in this business meeting. And I was in this meeting all day. And eventually that night while my wife, my two children and my in laws were blowing out the candles with my son, I was at this meeting that I don't even remember what it was about. Like To this day, I don't remember what the meeting was about. I do remember sitting in that dinner, and not being with my son, which is where I wanted to be. And so that was the moment that I actually took that theory, I got back home, I remember writing down in my book, I've got a book actually here that I that I go back to and look at. And I said I've got to take action because I'm not going to live like this anymore. I'm not going to be at a point where I feel like I have to go and be at this job and do this and do that. And that is what actually got me to take action to start to invest. And it was in real estate I wanted to buy here, I wasn't sophisticated enough to understand that Barcelona was not the location where you could actually get cash flow, which is what I wanted. And so after a number of different conversations with good friends here in Europe, in Spain, I ended up doing what most people thought was absolutely not even possible. To your point in living in Europe living in Barcelona and investing. I bought my very first small duplex in New Jersey. And I did that. Yeah, I mean, a lot of times at the time. I remember my wife and I were in Cairo, Egypt on a trip together. And we're closing on this property in New Jersey while we lived here in Barcelona, it works that way. Yeah. So I mean, it was very different than right because it wasn't the DocuSign. And it wasn't all this kind of stuff. We had to leave. And I mean, but it was fun. I mean, it was it was you go through these different events. But that's how I actually started taking action to get involved in real estate. And then from there, it opened up a whole number of different doors real estate got me started. But it started to change the way that I thought about just my life and what were important, what was important the priorities and things like that. And then that was the time when I went from theory to action.

Derek Clifford:

Yeah, I love that story. And it. There are so many people that I hear that happening, they read the purple book, things start changing inside of your brain, and then you start taking action in a very big way. And when I say big, I mean, you're actually doing something like you're buying a duplex. So while it's not a 200 unit apartment complex, it is still a very big step. And so with a lot of those listeners out there who are maybe projecting themselves out into Belize. situation, which is the natural thing to do I find myself doing this also, is that looking back in those early days, that taking action, no matter how small you think it is, compared to what you see in the outside world is super important. If it's big action for you, it's big action for your life. And it will be because these things compound. Now, let's fast forward a little bit right now. So you have your first couple of investments already under your belt? How did you grow your portfolio and talk a little bit about the balance between your life as a nine to five employee in the corporate world up until recently, and trying to scale up your portfolio. Talk to us a little bit about conversations at home you had maybe the decisions you made and how you made the transition from the single family stuff from being a lone wolf, to now working with multifamily investors and being part of a team?

Billy Keels:

Yeah, sure. And so you said it really, really well, this is has been an evolution. And I spent nine years of my life working and burning the candle at both ends, because I knew that there was an outcome that I wanted. And that was to be free to have the option to continue to go into my role at my job or not. And because I, for me, I was taking massive action. You know, I wrote down the what I wrote in that book was in five years, I wanted to be able to have 10 doors in my property in my portfolio that were generating, I think it was$5,000 a month net profit, because that's what seemed reasonable at the time. And not only did I didn't take me that long, it took me 18 months to achieve the goals that I'd set out for because I wrote them down. And I just was deciding to take action. I was also very fortunate there that my very first duplex, I had such a positive experience with that meaning that the financial reward was much greater than I had anticipated. Even though I was doing things in a way that we were not right, I didn't have the right systems in place, I didn't have the team in place. And so as things were were breaking or not happening properly for our clients or our tenants, we had to then fix things. So I got started. But it's not the way that you teach people in northern way that I teach people now. But I just had to take action to get in the game. And so after that year and a half things were going really, really well I decided I needed to stop, my wife saw that things were just going really, really, like wild. I was up really, really early, I don't sleep much anyway. But things were just I mean, it was so positive. But with no systems in place, as you know, because this is one of your like super years to be able to do these kinds of things. It got compounded. And so I took a year off, I worked with a paid mentor that which was fantastic for me. And it was it was also one of those things where it put me in a place where I felt uncomfortable because of having coming from very scarcity mindset when you don't have much think you want to keep everything and so investing in myself felt really odd, even though I knew that I could do it. So I needed to get to a point where it was something that was so uncomfortable that it got my action. And so I worked with someone, I continued to do that afterwards, I bought a mobile home park. So at this point I had very modest I think was probably like 30 doors or something like that working a full time job. And I was in a position where I couldn't tell anybody. I was like I was very highly paid in a high profile sales leadership role for a market leading enterprise software company. And so even though it wasn't against the rules, Derek, it wasn't part of the culture like you didn't, like you didn't, you didn't do anything else, because you make so much money, that you didn't need to do anything else. But I wasn't going to feel like I had to be on a plane to go somewhere else if I didn't want to because it just crushed me. When I missed my son's third birthday. Like that was just something that put me into action. But along the way, I found out that there was something called passive investing. I didn't even know that I could do a couple things. I didn't know that I wasn't even an accredited investor. Nobody talked to me about that. Nobody said what an accredited investor was. And it's one of the things I'm really passionate about this Derrick. And so because there are a lot of people that I talked to nowadays, and they think, Oh, I couldn't do this. And I'm like, Well, you don't even like would you say accredited investor? People don't know what it is. They don't know what the criteria are. I know you talk a lot about that. And we can talk about it later. But I was at an accredited investor. And when I found out that I had access to specific types of opportunities that maybe the general public wasn't going to, I was like, hang on a sec, I can give somebody else to $300,000 they're going to do all the work. And I'm going to get the reward. Oh man, I should have I would have known about this before I'd gotten involved in this earlier right. And so then I started understanding okay, I wanted to do some larger multifamily later and so I thought okay, let me invest with somebody else was a large 250 Plus unit apartment complex. Then I found out about ATM machines because I started realizing that I also wanted to have some other types of cash flow. But I also had this really big problem, because I was someone who was in a really busy job. My wife was also someone who is not a US citizen, and was not working at the time. And so I started investing in real estate. It was great. I love it. I can continue to love it. But I was investing a lot of money. And I kept getting all these passive losses. And so I was also paying 40, some odd percent 40 plus percent in my W-2 wages. And so then I started looking for solutions to that as well. And once I started realizing like I know where the destination that I want to get to, and if I can use these different vehicles, it's going to allow me to get there much sooner. So when I started realizing that there was a way for me as a highway journal accredited investor, to also gain access to my W-2 taxes to not have to pay so much in taxes, I was then able to also use those funds, right to be able to redeploy into more passive income investments. So the reason I paint that picture is real estate is really how I got started. And it has been so amazing, because you start meeting awesome people like yourself, you start finding about new different other ventures and opportunities. And you realize that real estate is the foundation for so much relationship building, wealth building, business building, and you start to see other aspects, like I said, the ATM machines, the way that I was, as an accredited investor able to start to gain access to those W-2 taxes that I was paying, because I was paying 40 plus percent. And it just was able to bring it all home to be able to continue to do more real estate. So hopefully that paints a big enough picture.

Derek Clifford:

Again, very relatable because it's this journey of this individual trying to find solutions. And every time you came up with a problem, you're like, Well, you didn't shut you down, you're like, Well, how can I get over this? Right? You started talking a little bit about the relationships with people write relationships with individuals, let's start getting into your superpower. Now. Because you're at this point where you're starting to develop, you mentioned a mentor early on, you mentioned your tenants, you mentioned a whole bunch of people. And the common denominator across investing in real estate is people and I found that out to be true. I'd like you to take just a second to talk about, you know why you feel that you have exceptional skill set, because I can confirm that you do. But I want to hear it from you too, in being able to relate with people to create success for everyone. There's a mindset piece to this, but I'd like to hear your take on this.

Billy Keels:

Yeah, sure. And so early in my life I mentioned to you before, we traveled around a lot as a kid, and a lot of times in the different places that I was I felt different. Or sometimes I even looked different. But it was because I was environments. Like for instance, my parents working two jobs, and most of my friends, one of their parents worked a job and the other parent was at home all day. And so you start to constantly ask the cell for the question, well, how is it that they are able to do that, and I'm not able to do that. And so that just natural curiosity started happening. And then from there, when you've moved so many different times, and you're in different classes, in different cities, in different homes, there's this constant ability or desire to want to adapt. And there's this natural curiosity that I believe I've had my whole life. And it started early on in terms of the there's a certain nurture that I have, or the nature that I have. And then it was nurtured because we constantly moved to different places. And then when I had the opportunity, going back to 1995, to live overseas, it really put me in a different place. And I started challenging some of the thought process that I had, like, Okay, I've lived in the US my whole life, although, like I've lived in USA my whole life. And now I'm getting a chance to live somewhere else. And just a simple thought like, Hey, listen, I'm here, but nobody speaks English. Well, of course not because I was living in Spain. And so I had to rethink about the way that I saw him viewed the world, and continue to be curious to continue to ask questions. And so that happened just in my lifestyle in my life, but then also in the corporate world. I was also, you know, I'd worked and traveled throughout 86 countries, so 25 to 28 days a month, I was outside of my home country, where my with my home? Well, not necessarily all the time. So there was a lot that travel within the US but 25 days, 28 days a month, I was traveling outside of the place that I lived. And so it was the same type of thing in a new city, understanding where that that natural curiosity, okay, I'm here, but how do I get to the other side of the city? Or how can I meet up with this person? Or how can we go to the the particular museum or nightclub or whatever it was, but there was this constant desire to have to ask other people to get help. And when you're constantly challenging the way that you think, or you're in new places, it makes your mind just curious and open. And then if you have that desire to ask other people, you start realizing okay, if you're in their shoes, how would you feel I wrote on LinkedIn the other day, because as I mentioned to before, I've learned four new languages, additional languages to English. And so when you know and you have that humility, because you can't say a word, and you haven't learned the vocabulary yet that you have to figure out how do I communicate what it is not that I want, but I need ie the lights in my flat in the center of Paris and I don't speak French. I don't know anybody here. It's very humbling and So having lived through those types of experiences, and I'm not the only one, there's a lot of people that do this, we just don't talk about it. It has helped me to realize that the way that I grew up in the way that I was taught is not the only way to achieve a particular goal or a particular outcome. And when I go back to thinking about the way that I also used to lead teams, actually used to manage teams, because it was my way or the highway, this was the thing it was for everybody. And when I there was a book I read, it was called, first break all the rules, which was amazing. And I had a fantastic mentor, who also helped me to realize anytime you're leading, it's about understanding the individual. And you create the environment for that individual to be able to thrive so that they're using their their all of their behaviors, you're allowing them to be the best version of themselves. And all of these things really tie together because it is constantly recognizing that in order to get whatever outcome that you want, whether it be learning a new language, being in a new city, driving a team to a particular outcome, or buying your fifth or 10th, or first rental property, there has to be some level of curiosity and understanding and humility to know that it's not just the way that you think that's going to get you the result that you need. It's always going to rely on other people. I talk about it all the time there hashtag teamwork makes the dream work. And having that curiosity having that desire to want to know or get the answer. So that you can take the next steps are something that I've grown up with my whole life and experience in a number of different ways. So hopefully, that has given you an idea how using some of these super powers that I have, having that curiosity, also the adaptability have helped me to recognize where I am in the world, and also to continue to move forward. And that's not just in the professional life. It's in the business building life and then the personal life.

Derek Clifford:

Yeah, thank you for that. Because that's an important thing for people to keep in mind in terms of being exploratory, expansive, open to new ideas open to the fact that maybe your solution is not the right one, or is not an efficient way to get where you want to go. And I think it all starts with that curiosity. So I have so many questions regarding this. And I want to be mindful of what is useful to the audience. So perhaps let's go in this direction. Can you talk a little bit about how maybe people who are struggling in this space or don't even know that they need to work in it can start to develop their curiosity for other people, if they're in the United States, they're working a full time job, you've got kids, you've got spouse, you know, everything that you had, you know, very early on, except in the United States, not in Spain. Can you talk a little bit about how someone like that may be able to take on some of your energy in this regard?

Billy Keels:

Yeah, sure. And I use my own example, just because I live here. But to your point, it doesn't matter where you live, right. And I'll just I'll talk to you about if I were from Columbus, Ohio, and I'm working in my day job, and I am someone who is a high paid executive. And I get up in the morning, I go through my routine. And after I leave, I get my car, I drive I do the exact same things each and every day at my office, there are millions of people around the world that live like this. millions, if not billions. And so if you're like I said, I'll go back to me being in Columbus, Ohio, what stop, there's nothing that stops you from maybe one morning, you leave 10 minutes early, and you take a different route to get to your office, or you walk a different way around your house, because maybe you're working remotely, just the fact that you are changing what you do on a daily basis, you're not following the routine is going to awaken something in your mind, to allow you to say, Hang on a second of how this is completely different perspective of the house at this time of the day. Or of I didn't even realize that the sun shined on this road because I go on the same road every single day to get to the office, or go a different way to the airport. Just the fact that you're changing your routine will give your mind the ability to say Oh, hang on a second to become curious. If you have your your business meeting and you walk to the down the hallway or you connect at a certain time connect five minutes early, what's the experience is going to be like, is it completely different? Who's there? So there are a lot of different things. And I'm glad that you said that just to kind of drive the point home. It's not about traveling on the road around the world. It's about changing your routine, because a simple change in your routine allows your mind itself just to go Oh, hang on a second. This is a different way Normally at this time. You know, Billy, you are Derek, you're at this point, but you've done something different. And so you've allowed your mind to perceive the world in a different way. And then it's based on that new perception. What do you do? Do you stop somewhere? Do you have a coffee because you have 10 extra minutes by going somewhere different it's caused you and put you in a different place. I guess being very, very technical. I think hopefully that makes the point of how you can spark the curiosity in your mind and then from there How you can adapt to the particular situation, even if you've lived in the same town your entire life?

Derek Clifford:

Yes, absolutely. Again, I want to stress that the curiosity piece and the being able to relate with people, that's all where it starts. And their network is your power in investing in real estate. That's completely, that's where it comes from. And so if you're not someone that's relatable, or someone that's curious about learning about others and hearing their stories, then it's going to be less likely that people want to interact with you and build that trust. And then you have less opportunities, right? It's just the way the universe works right now. And so this is such an important thing to talk about. So thank you, Billy, for bringing some of those tactical tools to those potentially, you know, corporate workers who are looking to leave their work. Now, one last thing I want to talk about, before we get into our Rapid Round, is, you just recently left your nine to five work, right? You told us that you finally said that that was we're good that served its purpose and it's time to move on? Can you talk a little bit about your transition away from your W-2 and how this superpower of curiosity and relating with people has helped you make the transition? Or maybe there's a synergistic relationship between your W-2 enabling that to happen?

Billy Keels:

Yeah, sure. So if I start to move in the wrong direction, just bring me back, right. So we think about the W-2 and being able to what's happened since I've left the W-2 is that right there?

Derek Clifford:

It's since you left the W-2 but also what the W-2 has enabled. So like this two way interface between the W-2 and the full time.

Billy Keels:

Yeah, so thank you for that. But here's the thing, like, I am definitely not anti working a job for a big company quite the opposite. Like I enjoyed it a lot that the reason that the main reason is, there were some things that happened in my personal life, my dad had some really bad health issues. And that is what gave me the clarity. They say, You know what I said that I wanted to have the choice as to whether or not I was coming into my role. And I had done that for probably three years, I could have stopped working three years sooner, it took a non financial issue or situation, to give me the clarity to decide that hang on a second. This is not just about making more money or having more money. And it's something that I have fought against. Because remember, I come from a very like when you don't have much you want to keep growing your bank account and keep growing your bank account. But what you don't realize is that every day that you're passing, that you're doing that when you have the choice to do something else, you're missing out on other opportunities in your life, although I was I could have left three years earlier, like I said, it took something else to make me leave. So I'm a big believer of when you have a corporate role, that corporate role is there to provide the company with specific outcomes in exchange for your time to produce whatever the result is, right? I was in a sales organization. I didn't work eight hours a day, some days, I worked six hours, some days, I worked 12 hours, but I got the result. And so also it came down to being able to build the relationships, it's the curiosity, it's the exact same thing. I mean, I was working in a different language and a different culture, you may be working in your same city, working on a new project set or working with a new team, it's all the same. But every single day that I went into my office, I gave the best of the time that I was dedicating to the office, I was building relationships, I was meeting new people, whether it was from the finance team, or the legal team or the product specialist team, because we had to work together ultimately to give the outcome not just to the client, but also to the company that I was working for, because you had to create profitable relationships for the client and profitable relationships for the company work. So that whole intertwining of knowing and working in building consensus, building a team was something that I enjoyed, I was very, very good at that. And like I said, it took something that was non company related, non financially related to give me the clarity to say, You know what, I'm not ever going back to the corporate role. It did provide me with access to networks of people, super smart people. Some of those people today are investors of ours as well, which is also something else. Because when you're in that environment, you are so busy doing the work of the job every single day that you sometimes forget to live your own life, you sometimes forget to actually make sure that you are listening to the podcast that you really want to listen to and be focused on it or going to the gym or spending that extra time with your spouse. So you have to keep those things in balance. Like I said, there's a lot of positivity that came from that. And since then, I've recognized also too, that while I was at a large company, I was a specific number in that company. Right? There are still relationships that I have. But that company is still moving like they're continuing to go on and on. And I was someone who was a top achiever, you can be a top achiever. You can be someone who's in your President's Club, or your winner's circle or whatever it is, and consistently making your objectives. You're there as part of a member of a company. And that company keeps moving. Even when you left there was one of the things that was difficult for me, like when I left the company, I was like, Oh my gosh, this was this big thing and everybody was on LinkedIn and all this stuff. But the next day, the call Stop coming. Why? Because they went to the next person that took my spy your back. And yeah, you're exactly like the person that they hired to bring in for me. And so, especially when you're in a sales role and your leadership role, and you're in this corporate, you got a title, and you've got a lot of people that are looking at you, or depending on you. That's why you're working at the company, the day that I left, it's been very different. My phone doesn't ring quite as much. My emails aren't blasting through every day. And there's an adept, and a period of adaptation that I'm also going through great things because I've got more time to play with my kids. And we play video games, and they're crushing me in that, and I don't take my wife for lunch, or I'm at the supermarket at 1130 in the morning, and nobody else is there. But there's also another part of that that is real there is when you've been building a momentum, and you've been a high achiever the day when that's done, it's like, Whoa, hang on a second, what's what's going on? And all that. So hopefully, I've painted a picture enough to help people understand yes, there's definitely utility in working for big companies. Like I said, I'm a big fan, they provided me with insight, it provided me with capital, it provided me with network. And that does not last forever, the day that you're gone, you're gone, the company keeps moving forward. So

Derek Clifford:

right, so many things, three things I want to say here on this, and I hope that you're going to remember them. And if I don't, I'll edit out the silence the awkward silence in between. But number one, is the fact that there's no silver bullet to achieving wealth and being able to escape your work, it takes time to transition between the two careers. Even if you're working in you have plenty of disposable income to put into passive investments, it takes time for you to be able to replace your active income with your passive. And what I mean by silver bullet is you can't just say, Oh, I'm going to do this one thing, and I'm done. And I can just leave. It takes time. There's a transition period where you're, you're doing all this. And the second thing is, is that there's like a Venn diagram, in the investing world where you have your investor self and you have your full time self, the more that you can find a way to merge your passion in to this where the two parts of the circles overlap. Say, for instance, that you like spreadsheets, right? Well, that means that you could most likely take on a analyst or some sort of underwriting role for someone that you meet through the networks that you're building in your extracurricular activities and investing, right. Or if it's like what you're doing, you love talking with people, you like learning their stories, you like figuring out what makes them tick, because it's just your background, and you had to do it early on. And it's just natural for you to do that. Well, that's a very natural transition for you to build on that in the external world. So and then thirdly, the big thing that was a quantum leap for me is when I realized that money isn't everything anymore. It used to be for me believe that. And I'm just sharing this because I'm noticing this happening with the both of us is that when I left the full time world, it was when I severed the net worth equals your self worth equation, and realize that, yeah, you know, I could be continuing to work and I could continue to do like my side and my side hustling and do all that and do the both of the things. But I started to realize that there are bigger things in life, right. And by leaving my full time job, it puts pressure on me to build a business. And it gives me the control, full control and full accountability of my day. And that's the person I want to be that's the person that I wanted to aspire to. And so those three things that came out of a realization of what you just told me, I hope that that's useful to you and and also to the listeners what, uh, yeah,

Billy Keels:

you know, I it is very useful. And just that you that you talked about that and when I when I think about the amount that has happened, because it's only been four months since that I'm no longer in the in the company, and the amount of activity direction and items that we have been able to get done as a team because I have 100% of my professional focus on building this is phenomenal. I did not realize that even though I had a side hustle. Like it was a side hustle. And you know, you get put 30 properties in your portfolio, and you're investing in five 600 other properties, do other people and then you've got ATM machines. And all these things keep going and you're really, really busy. And you're like, Well, man, I can just keep doing this forever. Like because because it came it came at a certain point that you're like, hey, I can do both of these things. But the moment that that stopped, it is amazing. The amount of forward momentum that you will begin to feel and you can create when you only are focused on what you know, you know this theoretically, but in the back of your mind. You're like, hey, you know what, this is a really great paycheck and I'm making way more money and I'm an accredited investor and I don't even have to do X because I've been doing this for so long. But it just feels your heart so much more like emotionally, mentally. It feels me so much more doing this every day working on building the team, and also interacting with new and future clients as investors. It's just, I mean, it is a game changer. And I know that I was listening, and you're probably listening today. And you're thinking, Yeah, I know it'll be there. But their careers is telling you about it, I'm telling you about it as well, that they have the whole focus and being able to have that clarity and the power that it creates for you to be able to decide what you're going to do and how you're going to act upon that. It is a game changer.

Derek Clifford:

100%, if you're able to take all of your productive energy that you would be spending in the day, and again, I don't care whether you work five hours a week on your job, or 10 hours a week, or even one or two is your energy, your productive, valuable energy and resources over the long period is like siphoned, you know, it's like this compound return effect, where if you don't have it there, you're maximizing that rate that gets compounded every time and over every single day, right. And if all of your energy is directed on you, how you can become a better person, how you can have more capacity, it's going to be the results are just going to be phenomenal. And, you know, Billy, like I actually just left my work back in like early September of last year, and the way that my business has been going, it's like, if I compare where I would have been trying to do this on the side, it would have taken me five years to get to where I am and eight months worth of progress from there. And I think you've realized the same thing.

Billy Keels:

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, for me, it was the end of December of last year. And I'm very, very happy about where we are today as a team, where we're going, and the progress that we've made. And I know you've talked about this before when one of your favorite books impacted you recently. But I definitely focus more on where we're going. And but realizing I focus on where we're going, but realizing how far we've come. Because that's really, really motivating and makes you feel phenomenal to get there. So I I think you know what I'm talking about I do and a big fan of it. So,

Derek Clifford:

I do and I want to I want to challenge the audience out there. If you do know what book he's talking about, please do mention that in the comments. And there may be a little surprise coming your way as well. Maybe a free book, just intent. Right. So. So Billy, this has been awesome, dude. And I know that we could clearly talk about this for hours, but we're gonna have sick days days. Absolutely. We're gonna have to go into the Rapid Round here. And it's the same five questions that we ask every one of our guests, so they're meant to be answered in about a 32nd timeframe. And if you're ready to go, we're just going to rapidly go into them. Are you ready?

Billy Keels:

I think I think I was born ready for this. So let's, let's go see how it works out.

Derek Clifford:

Let's do it. Number one, what book has had the biggest impact on you? And why? And we asked that don't be rich dad or the Bible? Because we get those old?

Billy Keels:

No, it's neither one of those two, it's without a doubt The Creature from Jekyll Island? I'm not sure if you're familiar with that one or not probably are. It is just something that completely changed the way that I viewed the world. I began to view it as it is not as I was taught it was. And G. Edward Griffin does an amazing job explaining the creation of the Federal Reserve and things like that. So it is it's one that I even reread every year.

Derek Clifford:

That's great. That's actually the third time I've heard that book mentioned. So that means it's time to pick that one up. So thank you very much for that. All right, number two, if people wanted to emulate your success, what do you think is the first actionable thing that they could do to follow in your footsteps right now?

Billy Keels:

Do what they're afraid to do. Do whatever it is that you are afraid to do, do that. And especially if it relates to being in a different place, exiting your comfort zone, do that.

Derek Clifford:

The beautiful advice? Number three, what is one tool process or hack in the last three months, it's helped you save time or effort?

Billy Keels:

Well, I'm in the process of starting something new today. I don't know if I haven't really had the results. I've looked at it. But one of the things that I plan on doing is communicating a lot more. It's not it's one of these things that I did not do, because I was very, very busy my day job. But I have recently found an online tool that will help me in terms of being able to communicate with others more frequently and doing it in a way that is planned out and not just on the cuff every single day. And it's called hype fury. And that helps in terms of being able to post and schedule and things like that. So that's something new that I've just come across and was actually just started working on it today. So,

Derek Clifford:

Very cool. I actually just came across that a couple days ago as well. I don't know where I saw it. I think it was on the email somewhere. But anyway, super excited to hear that how that works out for you. Also cool. Number four, if the people that you know had to describe you with one word, what do you think that word would be?

Billy Keels:

One word, either positive or happy, I think is what most people would say. Or maybe driven? I don't know. I guess it depends on Yeah, but yeah, one of them. It depends. Yeah, you know, I would say you know, I would say happy. Those are the things that come out first because like the people that not had a close interaction with me. I feel like that's the way but also most people would say that I'm like, if I if you ask my really, really, really friends have known me For while they would say determined or driven.

Derek Clifford:

Got it. Perfect. Awesome. And I think I'm getting I'm getting the picture here. That's really good. I like that the answer to that question. All right, last question number five. What is one small thing that most people do not know about you?

Billy Keels:

Well, I think I've kind of told most of it. So when people don't really know me that knowing that there's a guy from Columbus, Ohio, who's traveled to 86 countries and speaks five languages, if they don't know that about me, they do. And since I told that earlier, that's, I guess, probably, I'd been watching. They've been listening to if they're listening to us now. Like, well, they heard it, but I think that's the thing.

Derek Clifford:

I'll take that. Yeah, no, that's awesome. Well, thank you so much, Billy, I really appreciate you coming on the show. And sharing all of your wisdom and your perspective here because man, this is something that a lot of people need to hear. So before we wrap up, why don't you tell the audience a little bit more about how they can get in touch with you or find out more about what's going on your world?

Billy Keels:

Yeah, sure. In my world is at first I would say to everyone, if you go to the going long podcast with Billy Keels Episode 188, Derek absolutely crushed it. If you're watching, you're listening here going long podcast is my podcast. As you know, he was absolutely awesome on episode 188. That's one way to connect. I would also say that, especially for people that are accredited investors, and they're having some challenges on that W-2 income, and looking to liberate some of that so that they can put it into things like real estate, they can go to firstgencp.com/invest. That's one of the things that we've really been working on Derek that I talked to you about, they got the team was so awesome, and got it done so quickly. The website's there as well. And then you also know I love connecting with people on LinkedIn. And the one thing I would ask when you reach out on LinkedIn, just let me know that you heard Derek and I are having a conversation today. And that will help keep the conversation going. But I think those are the best, the best ways to contact or be in touch.

Derek Clifford:

I love it. Well, thanks so much, Billy, for coming on the show. It was a pleasure having you here for you listeners who have made it all the way to the end of the show, and have enjoyed every second of this like I have, please make sure that you like comment, subscribe, wherever you're watching or listening to this video, because what we want to do is really appease those algorithm gods, we want to make sure that we're keeping them happy so that we get more exposure to more individuals. And then also you do that so that we can bring on more incredible guests just like Billy on the show. So that being said, that is all that we have for today. Billy, thank you again for coming on the show great wisdom and just loved having you on and just talking with you in general.

Billy Keels:

Thanks, Derek. Really appreciate the opportunity.

Derek Clifford:

Absolutely. This is Derek we're signing off for the day. Thank you, guys!