From Wholesaling to 7 Companies | How Justin Colby Built a Real Estate Empire

Summary

Coffeez for Closers with Joe Shalaby

Episode: From Wholesaling to 7 Companies | How Justin Colby Built a Real Estate Empire

Date: February 27, 2026
Host: Joseph Shalaby
Guest: Justin Colby

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Episode Overview

In this rich and candid conversation, Joseph Shalaby welcomes real estate investor and serial entrepreneur Justin Colby to "Coffeez for Closers." Together, they trace Justin’s rise from humble beginnings and hardship to owning multiple companies and impacting entrepreneurs across industries. They delve deeply into the role of purpose vs. passion, overcoming adversity, building legacy, and shifting one’s focus toward service and impact, all with an emphasis on authentic personal development. The episode balances practical real estate insights with profound life lessons on resilience, mentorship, family, and defining one’s true calling.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Morning Routines and Setting the Tone for Success

• Justin’s Routine: Wakes up at 4:30am for essential “me time” before the demands of family and business (01:31).
  • Practices include silent reflection, journaling (“I believe...one of the best things I do all day long is sit with my coffee and think. No phone, no email, no nothing. Just me and my thoughts.” — Justin, 02:22), gratitude, manifestations, emails, gym, and family breakfast/school drop-off.
• Why It Matters: Filling his own cup before serving others is vital (“If your cup is never full, you can't give to others,” 03:47).
• Health as a Priority: Justin invests in regular health scans, takes fitness seriously to be present for family and business longevity (04:30–05:26).

2. Entrepreneurship: Alignment, Purpose, and Evolving Identity

• Company Scope: At peak, Justin owned seven companies — tech, real estate, education, and even part of a gold mine (06:19).
• Strategic Downsizing: In a shift toward alignment and purpose, he’s “taking chips off the table,” reducing to 2–3 companies amid a tech company acquisition (06:39).
  • “If it doesn't fall in line with my purpose, I don't need it…if I’m miserable for the next 10 years and that’s reflective on my wife and my children…it does no good to make that kind of money, I don’t care.” (07:13)
• Shifting Identity: No longer wants to be “just” a real estate guy; focus now on being a facilitator and value provider for entrepreneurs at large (08:05).
  • “My brand is real time changing because of what I’ve been able to create through this great platform…which is podcasting.” (08:29)
• Purpose vs Passion: Advocates for being purpose-driven, not just passion-driven—“Purpose over passion” is a recurring theme (07:38, 27:18).

3. Impact, Legacy, and Living in the Now

• Making an Impact: Both men agree the greatest satisfaction comes from service and making a real-time impact, rather than just chasing a legacy (09:12–11:27).
  • “For me, I’m at a weird moment…Yes, I’m interested in legacy. It is not my driving purpose...while I am here is more important than my legacy.” — Justin (09:47)
  • “If that impact is big, it will last forever. It will create a legacy in and of itself.” — Justin (11:27)

4. Entrepreneurial Beginnings: Hustle, Adversity and the 2008 Crash

• Early Days: Justin’s entrepreneurship started as a child, recycling for cash to buy and flip baseball cards (12:16–15:10), mowing lawns, washing cars—to support himself after a rough childhood.
• Parallel Journeys: Both hosts relate to a humble start and teaching entrepreneurism to their children via trading cards (15:16, 16:18).
• 2008 Crash:
  • Both lost homes/businesses, pivoted industries (realtor → investor for Justin), started over with no resources (“repo man took my car, and I ended up on a couch,” 17:24).
  • Advice for Others: "When you put a lion in a corner, the only option is to fight their way out...It’s never as bad in your head as it is in real life." (20:29–21:56)

5. Overcoming Hardship: Mindset, Mentorship, and the Long Game

• Mindset: Emphasizes resilience—seeing hardship as “a privilege to overcome” (23:37–24:39).
• Importance of Mentors: “That’s why you hire coaches…get a buddy to grab you around the neck and say, ‘dude, you got this.’” (20:29, 22:33)
• Stamina over Quick Results: “Make sure you are someone who has the stamina to stay in the game…my first deal took 9 months. But…as long as I didn’t quit, I was going to get it done.” (26:34–27:56)
• Technique and Mastery: Real growth demands continual refinement, not just intensity—likened to mastering heavy lifts in the gym and major league sports (28:14–29:33).

6. Podcasting & The Next Chapter: The Entrepreneur DNA

• True Alignment: Justin finds his greatest flow and “energetic alignment” in podcasting, both hosting and guesting (30:13–31:44).
  • “When I’m podcasting…There could be fires going on all around this room right now, I wouldn’t even notice it because I’m just so dialed in.” (30:44)
• Building a Community: Goal to reach 100,000 members in his entrepreneur DNA community on the School platform, providing affordable access to real expert mentorship ($25/month) (33:41–34:28).
  • “The same Justin Colby sleeping on a couch could have found $25/month to pay for that.” (34:38)
  • Format: Not just interviews—real teaching sessions plus Q&A with industry giants (35:07–36:06).

7. Family, Parenting, and Core Values

• Family Priority: Life goal is to spend maximum time with his kids, teach them lasting values, gratitude, grit, and to be a supportive husband (36:18–37:19).
  • “My wife…she’s the real hero in the family…she’s the glue, she’s the rock.” (36:58)
• Parenting Grit: Teaching resilience through small lessons—like not giving up on learning roller skates, and daily affirmations with his daughter (“Make it a great day—because I can choose to make it a great day,” 37:35–39:00).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Journaling and Reflection:
  “[I] sit with my coffee and think. No phone, no email...Just me and my thoughts.” – Justin Colby (02:22)
• On Alignment and Shedding Companies:
  “I’m releasing some of the stuff that sounds cool, does cool things, but I’m not in alignment with anymore...If I’m miserable for the next 10 years...it does no good to make that kind of money. I don't care.” (06:49–07:13)
• On Mindset During Hardship:
  “It’s never as bad in your head as it is in real life...If you play the whole game, you’ll look back and say, it wasn’t that bad.” (21:56)
• On Privilege in Struggle:
  “It's a privilege that we have to go through our problems, Joe…Because what that will do for you is it'll prove to you what you can do.” (23:37–24:39)
• On Commitment and Mastery:
  “Once you get to the really heavy weights, your technique is everything...People have to understand...when you get to the big leagues, your technique has to get even better.” – Joseph (28:14–29:33)
• On Flow and Podcasting:
  “When I'm podcasting...I am in true alignment...I'm just so dialed in.” – Justin (30:44)
• On Affordable Mentorship:
  “I'm not going that route. I want to lead with value first.” (34:38)
• On Parenting:
  “My biggest goal is to make sure they’re well taught, well mannered, understand good and what is right and what is wrong...my wife...she’s the real hero in the family.” (36:22–36:58)
• On Personal Legacy:
  “When you’re in front of the pearly gates, what do you think God’s going to tell you?”
  “Well done. Well done. You left it all on the field. You did what I asked. You led with your heart. Well done.” (39:11–39:27)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Morning Routine & Self-Care: 01:10–05:26
• Company Portfolio & Aligning with Purpose: 06:00–08:58
• Legacy vs. Impact: 09:47–11:27
• Entrepreneurial Childhood & Early Hustle: 12:16–15:10
• Surviving and Pivoting Through 2008 Crash: 17:24–20:01
• Advice for Those Facing Hardship: 20:29–24:39
• Long Game, Grit, and Mastery: 25:50–29:33
• Podcasting as Purpose: 30:13–32:28
• Building the Entrepreneur DNA Community: 33:41–36:06
• Family Values & Parenting: 36:18–39:00
• Faith and Final Words: 39:09–39:27

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Final Reflection

This episode is a masterclass in entrepreneurial mindset, resilience, authenticity, and redefining success. Justin’s journey is both inspiring and practical, offering listeners wisdom on everything from surviving industry collapse to raising strong children and building a legacy grounded in presence and impact—not just financial returns. The synergy between host and guest makes for a genuine, insightful, and uplifting conversation benefitting anyone seeking to thrive as an entrepreneur while remaining present to what truly matters.

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Connect with Justin Colby:

• Instagram: @thejustincolby (39:31)
• Community: “The Entrepreneur DNA” on School (33:41)

Recommended for: Real estate professionals, entrepreneurs, parents, and anyone committed to personal growth and purpose-driven living.

Transcript

[A]

Now, do I want to make a massive impact? Yes. That is why I'm leaning in as I spoke to you off camera into my podcast, the Entrepreneur DNA, because I want to have a massive impact while I am here. Key to that statement is while I am here, if that lives on after me, I love that. But the reality is we are not going to get out here live and we have a very short window to experience as much as we can. So I'm more about being in present than building legacy.

[B]

Welcome to another episode of Coffees. What's up Justin? How are you bud?

[A]

Good brother. Thank you for having me on, man. Excited that I finally get to meet my long lost brother. As we were able to find that out after off off camera, we were like, bro, we are the same person.

[B]

Yeah, dude. So many mutual connections, so many invested in the same thing and you know, very, very similar personalities. And it's just an absolute pleasure and a blessing to have you on today's show. You are a legend in your own right. You've done a lot of a lot for entrepreneurs. You continue to innovate and you know, you're just continue to be an inspiration to so many. So thanks for jumping on today's show. I have a question that I like to ask everybody, especially high performers like yourself. What's your morning routine, my brother?

[A]

So I take that part pretty serious. I how to mature a little bit to understand the power of your morning. But I would encourage any listener. I'm 44. If you're younger than me, take this seriously. If you're older than me, I would tell you the same thing. So I'm 44.

[B]

44. What, what birthday?

[A]

April 30th.

[B]

Okay. I'm August 30th, four months off.

[A]

I'm telling you, we're brothers just right here. So listen, I wake up early and the reason being is I wake up at 4:30 and for some that may not be early. I've heard people, oh, I wake up at 3:30. Okay, I'm not comparing. I'm telling you why I want to do it is because I want to be able to have my time. I run multiple businesses. I am a husband, I'm a father of two very young children at the ages of two. And, and I don't have any of me time. Right. I mean the reality is the second I get out of this office, I'm gonna go run into my family and I'm gonna grab my children, I'm gonna hang out with my wife and I'm gonna have dinner and then it's bath time. So there's no like Justin Colby time. So where do I find time to hit the gym? Where do I find time to journal? Where do I find time to think? I think people undervalue thinking, right? I believe it to be one of the best things I do all day long is sit with my coffee and think. No phone, no email, no nothing. Just me and my thoughts. And I have a journal. I literally journal all the time. Another undervalued asset is I'm literally journaling all the time. And it's because I want to write down these thoughts. Some great, some useless, doesn't matter, want to write them down. And so 4:30, I wake up, grab some coffee, I sit and think till about 5, 5 o'. Clock. I journal. I have a 5 minute journal. You can pick it up on Amazon. It goes through like three things that you're grateful for, what's gonna make today a great day. And then some manifestations, right? And so simple. Literally I use that same one, five minutes, right? It's amazing. And then, you know, I'm roughly ready to answer a couple emails around 5:30, see if anything's, you know, necessary. And then I'm off to the gym. So I'm, I'm at the gym till about 6:30, I'm showered and back home at 7 because I go to Lifetime Fitness, so it's literally a resort. They literally have everything. And I'm back home at 7. My daughter, who is turning 5, she's usually up around 7:20 to 7:30, making breakfast, getting lunches ready, walking the dog, getting her to school. I pride myself and I take my daughter to school every single day. By the time I get back from taking her to school, it's game on and the world is on me. The emails, the texts, the social medias, the, you know, it's all there now, right? So that is why waking up in the morning to me is so powerful, is because I get me time. And if your cup is never full, you can't give to others. And so I have a lot of people I need to give to in a given day, just like you do, Joe. I need that to keep my cup full.

[B]

You know, we have very similar morning routines. I also, the gym drop off the kids, you know, I, I make smoothies for them. But, you know, I, I try to do as much as I can in the morning. It's jam packed, man. And I continue to stack to it, you know, my morning routine and just, I keep adding stuff, but yeah, I

[A]

just Find at night, I don't have the same energy to do and be creative. And like, in the morning, I have a lot of creative juice. And so that, again, my family's not up till 7:20. Call it 7:30. Um, so even in the days I don't go to the gym, right. I get so much more creative juice going. Content creation, podcast creation, all these different things. And so. But I take my fitness very seriously. I was 44. I went and did the whole workup. I got a CT scan of my entire body and mri. I want to know what's in my body in the same way I want to know what's on the exterior. I might have muscles, might be lean, but I have no idea what's inside of me, right? And so I went through all that because I want to live a long life. I want to see my kids have kids. Right? And so we are grinders. We're entrepreneurs. We're high Ds, high energy. I don't want to live a short life, right. I don't want to burn out fast. So to me, fitness, exercise is a priority.

[B]

Yeah, me too. I probably train twice a day.

[A]

That's great.

[B]

Oh, between working out, jiu jitsu, basketball.

[A]

Love it.

[B]

It's like it's the only thing that kind of keeps me going.

[A]

Yeah, that's my energy spark. Well, that and all the coffee. I drink coffees for closers. Right? I mean, I. I slam coffee. I' surprised it's not in front of me. I slam coffee all day long, and it's bad. Like, it's a bad habit. I get it. And doctors are like, you got to be a little bit more careful. And I'm like, pivot to matcha out of. Out of all the bad habits you could have out there. I'm gonna be okay with slamming black coffee.

[B]

Yeah, that's. That, that's all right. You're doing all right.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

There's a lot of health benefits. Now let's dive into, like, the. The entrepreneur spirit. So you. You flipped 2300 products, properties over your lifetime. You have seven companies currently. So what? Give me the scope of each company. Like, what. What are you. What are you doing?

[A]

I'm in tech. I'm in real estate. I'm in. Funny enough, I. And I'm not in the operation of it. I own a gold mine. Piece of a gold mine. I'm in these companies to some extent that have bolt on, but then other things that have no bolt on. Right. I run two education companies similar, but aren't directly Like, I run a real estate education company. I run an entrepreneur education company that's called the Entrepreneur DNA. Same as my podcast. Right. And so for me, it's really about an alignment thing. And I'm actually in a season where those seven companies are going to go down drastically. I'd like to really only have two, maybe three. I'm actually being acquired. My tech companies being literally in the middle of being acquired, they're just finishing up due diligence. So I'm releasing some of the stuff that sounds cool, does cool things, but just I'm not in alignment with anymore. I don't want to be in the tech space. It's not, it's never been a passion and I don't have a purpose behind it. Right. And if it doesn't fall in line with my purpose, I don't need it. Right. Could there be some huge payday down the road 10 years from now? Whatever. There could be. There absolutely could be. But if I'm miserable for the next 10 years and that's reflective on my wife and my children, and it does no good to make that kind of money, I don't care.

[B]

Dollar value is worth your piece. I don't care.

[A]

And so I just. If it's not in alignment, in with my purpose, right? Because people talk about follow your passion, the money will come. I agree with that to about 20%. Right. The other part is, what is your purpose? If you're purpose driven of what you're trying to go and create, then the money is going to come. And if that can alignment with your passion, even better. But I can tell you, Little Joe didn't grow up and say, I can't wait to be the biggest, baddest loan officer in the entire planet. Little Joe didn't have a passion for that. Right. And so I say all that just to say, like, where I'm at today in the bio, today is real time changing. I actually find that to be a source of peace. I think there's a lot of people that hold on to things too long. And this is my identity. I've been in real estate investor for 20 years. 20 years I've been doing the same thing, flipping homes, wholesaling, buying rentals. You've heard about apartments, storage facilities, the whole thing. Okay. I no longer want to be known just for real estate. I want to be known as someone who facilitates, someone that brings people together, someone that helps other people and offers value to the entrepreneur space. That is more in alignment with who I am today than real estate is. I'LL forever do real estate, don't get me wrong, but what am I known for? What is my brand is real time changing because of what I've been able to create through this great platform that you and I have done very well on, which is podcasting.

[B]

You know, we are fortunate enough to have made our wealth through real estate mortgage. Obviously, we're kind of in the same space, but our purpose isn't this. Right. This is where we really find that we're contributing to society.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, we contributed, we made real, you know, the American dream come alive for many, many people and yada, yada. And that was cool. But you and I, and I think we're both in alignment on this is like, this is our purpose. Like, we really are changing lives, helping a lot of people, making people's lives better. You know, I. I was getting like, fan emails, which is people in hardships, like, what can you, you know, or whatever. You know, like, stuff that really touched my heart, you know, like, oh, that. That they're like tracking us and listening to us and really, like, we're influencing them and making them better people. And they're, you know, that, that stuff to me is really like, that's legacy stuff.

[A]

Yeah. For me, I'm at a weird moment where, yes, I'm. I'm interested in legacy. It is not my driving purpose, and I know a lot of our mutual friends, it's all about legacy and building this legacy. I realize one thing is with 100 certainty, we're not making it out of this trip alive.

[B]

Nope.

[A]

Right. So while I am here is more important than my legacy. Now, do I want to make a massive impact on the world? Yes. That is why I'm leaning in as I spoke to you off camera into my podcast. The entrepreneur DNA is because I want to have a massive impact while I am here. But the key to that statement is while I am here, if that lives on after me, I love that. But the reality is we are not going to get out of here live, and we have a very short window to experience as much as we can. So I'm more about being in present than building legacy. That can happen, and that is great. It is not my driving force. And I know that's. That's counterintuitive or what's the word? It's against what a lot of us in our space kind of feel like, oh, we're trying to build this big legacy. Play cool. Ish. Just not really what I'm here for. I'm here to actually be present in

[B]

the moment, I make an impact. Yeah, for me, it's more like just being of service. This is where we could be of service and do God's work and have a plan and voice an opinion that's, you know, in a society where the world's kind of gone mad with so many different. So many different false ideologies. Because I'm speaking truth on this podcast, and I'm sure you are too.

[A]

Yeah, well, that's you being present, that's you being in the moment. Right. That's very much in alignment with what I'm saying. Right. Is like you're trying to make an impact now. If that impact is big, it will last forever. It will create a legacy in and of itself. I do love real estate because the legacy play, if you will. But I think with all the different ways to structure legacy financially, real estate can be a part of it, but it doesn't have to be all of it. And so, again, to your point, I want to make massive impact, but I want to make it now. I want to be real time and I want to enjoy my kids

[B]

now. I'm going to dive. I'm going to go back in history, 20 years in real estate. Started flipping properties at 24 years, 24 years old. When did you know that you wanted to be an entrepreneur? And what inspired you specifically to get into the real estate space?

[A]

So knowing when versus when I became one. Two separate answers. I was an entrepreneur since literally my earliest memory. So a young kid riding bikes around the neighborhood, I would take it upon myself because in California, you would get paid. I think at the time it was 10 cents for a bottle and 5 cents for a can. And I would drive around on my bike and have two garbage bags. And as fast as I possibly could, I'd wake up in the morning, 6am, start going and filling up these garbage bags with all of my neighbors in my neighborhoods. Recycling, right? California's big on recycling. I would then drive it down to the recycling on my bike, drive these two bags, one on each handle, down to the recycling bin so I could get paid, right? Everyone's just recycling and doing good by the planet. I'm like, oh, I could go make money because I want to go buy baseball cards. Which leads me to the next thing I was doing. I would go take the money. I would go to the baseball card store. I would buy a box of baseball cards for $20. Nowadays that we're talking like some of these things are like 50, 000, but let's just even say that the, you

[B]

know, cards with my boys. So I. I'm big in a card.

[A]

I'm huge into it here. Like, I literally have, like, six of these, and I'm still. I don't know where I'm at.

[B]

Oh, nice. You're still. You're still ripping packs right now?

[A]

Oh, yeah, dude. I mean, I'm in the game. So I say that because literally since I was six years old, right? That is a real time. I'm 44 right now. So when you said I would rip a box just like this, that would be 20 bucks. I just paid almost 149 for this one box.

[B]

That's the big box, though.

[A]

And I would rip it in front of the store owner. I would wholesale in the cards that he wanted to sell at retail. So at the time, you know, Barry bonds and Mark McGuire and Jose Canseco and all these, you know, at the time, baseball was a much bigger card play than any of the other sports. I would make $40. So I replaced the $20 I bought it for, plus the 20, and I would leave. So I've been this way prior to even understanding what I was doing right then. It was the washing cards hustle. Right? When I got a little older, I'd go around my neighborhood and wash cars for $5 at a chunk. I've done everything since a kid, not knowing what I was doing because I had a rough childhood, so I had to depend on myself. I didn't come from money. So, like, if I wanted something, for the most part, I had to go make money to pay for it. Right now. I'll set that aside for a second. I was not destitute. I don't have those huge stories of, like, homelessness. I didn't have that. And I'm sorry if you're out there listening and you did, but I definitely did not have money. Right. I didn't have extra money. So, like, ice cream, baseball cards. I had to go make the money. So, anyways, the long answer. I've been this way since my earliest memories.

[B]

What you're saying resonates at a level, you know, I mean, it's like you're saying my story.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, yeah. Ripping packs, going to baseball card shops, flipping cars. I mean, you know, there's a lot I. The way I teach my kids now, my boys, entrepreneurship is through cards. So we'll go to shows and we'll flip. We'll buy cars. We'll flip them at shows, and they'll transact thousands of dollars, you know, at the shows, like, people Just throwing hundreds at them, and they're just like. And they'll take that money and then they'll go buy mystery packs and they'll come back and flip them on our. Our. Our booth. So there's a lot of entrepreneurial spirit in cards with children that the kids could learn at a very early age. I had the. The founder of Major League Profits, which is the biggest coaching program for card collect cards. I had him on my podcast, and I flew him down just so he can meet my son, because my son was part of the program with all these adults, you know, like, creating cards. So, man, car. It's your entrepreneur spirit. Started with cards. We had a lot. Again, same thing. I. I grew up poor, but I didn't grow up destitute. I. I'm just an immigrant. Parents came from Egypt, you know, came at five. So very, very similar with how. How our journey started in the entrepreneur space. But what's even more intriguing is that we both experience 2008. And when 08 hit me, I owned my own mortgage company, and it was an absolute crash. I lost my house, I lost my business. I had to start a new company. I was in mortgage. I was like, mortgage industry just crashed. I had to pivot. I still stayed in mortgage, but I switched to loss mitigation. What was it like for you in 08 because you. You couldn't pivot into a completely different side of the mortgage space because mortgage was like, okay, you can't do mortgages. Well, I'm going to prevent everybody from going into foreclosure. So I pivoted on that. But there was a lot of opportunity after, you know, 2010, 11 in the foreclosure space to buy and acquire foreclosures. But that's. Right. How did you pivot and how did you survive 08? And what are some of the greatest lessons that you learned during the biggest crash that we've experienced in American history since the 1930s?

[A]

So I, to some extent, like, you had to change industry. So I was a realtor during the crash. I also lost my home to foreclosure. The repo man took my car, and I ended up on a couch. So I wasn't married with any children, so I was a single guy on a couch. But I was destitute, broke, right? Like, it literally, the repo man took my car, the bank took back the home, foreclosure, the whole thing. But I realized I no longer wanted to be a realtor. I wanted to be an investor. Because right about then is where you Know, flip, this house started to hit tv, I believe. And I loved real estate and understood what real estate could do, you know, for the wealth accumulation. And then I really kind of had this idea of like real estate's the only unders. Real estate's the only industry at the time. I understood that could create a high level of income and could attain a lot of wealth at the same time in the same industry you can make a lot of money day trading, you can make a lot of money selling loans. You can't create wealth selling loans. Right. So industry specific real estate. I said, okay, I can make a lot of money flipping homes and I can acquire a lot of these same properties because I'm an investor and I make money and I put that money into a rental and then I have wealth. Right. And so I did an industry change to some extent, very much in alignment. But I no longer worked as a realtor, I worked as an investor. And because I was broke, the only thing I knew to do was cold call. I had no marketing budget, I had no presence, I had no name, I had nothing to lean on. I had a phone which my friend had to pay my monthly bill by the way. And I had coffee and I just called every day, six days a week. People think there's a five day a week work week. Absolutely not. Not for us hustlers. I mean, the reality is I still work on Sundays today. I'm 44 years old now. It's not the same kind of work, right. But I'm still doing things business. So that was it. And I went full into real estate. So what the benefit that I got is the market crashed. So my barrier of entry lowered drastically. I was living in San Francisco on a couch and Phoenix literally dropped in 50. Like homes that were selling for 150 grand are now selling for 50 grand. Right. And so I just said, okay, well that's going to be an investor marketplace. I'm going to start calling realtors at a business partner at the time. And we just went, we didn't know what the hell we were doing. Right. And that led into an incredible 20 year span and you know, ups and downs along that span. But you know, I did wish I knew what I do now and bought more of these fifty thousand dollar homes because those home same homes are selling

[B]

for five hundred grand now.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So what do you think was like, what was really driving you? You hit rock bottom living on a couch, you know, And a lot of people when they're in that position feel like they're screwed there's no way out. What would you tell somebody in that position right now that was in that position that you were in? And then what really was the catalyst for you to. To crawl out, to kick your way out, to fight your way out of that destitute position you were in life

[A]

at that point, to some extent, the idea of like, it can't really get any worse, right? I mean, I literally have no income. You know, I walked away, my credit's ruined. So when you put a line in a corner, what's their only option to fight their way out? And so some of it is this kind of like, well, it can't get any lower than literally have knowing income, no credit, no nothing. I gotta do something, right? The other part of it, it was innately in, as a trait that I have is this kind of shoulder shrug mentality that. Not that bad, right? I'm at the lowest of lows. Not that bad. I can go create more now. That's not teachable. I can't go out and podcast and teach that. But what I did know is I had the ability to go create it again. I created it once, I could go create it again. I just needed to learn the vertical I was in, which was fix and flipping. And if someone's out there listening to this and is on destitute destitute's doorstep, right? Like I was right. You've just lost it all. It all came crashing down. It's never as bad in your head as it is in real life. You're. You're. What the. What you make it to be is worse than the reality. It is played out on the field. And the reason why you're able to say that is because if you play the whole game, you'll look back and say, it wasn't that bad. In a moment in time, it feels like death. It feels like your life is over. But what you don't recognize is the same way you felt when you lost your high school sweetheart because you thought you were going to last forever in that moment, it is catastrophic. Your life is over. You are embarrassed to go show your face on school again. Everyone is ridiculing you. It you are done. And then you grow up and you look back at that fondly and say, God, what a cute kid I was. How adorable were we as a couple? I promise, everyone listening as. As Joe is laughing to himself. That is the. The same concept that happens in business. When you are going through it. When you're in, you feel like it's over. And you give Yourself enough Runway on the field and you play enough of the game, you're able to look back at that and say, well, I made it through that too, and it wasn't really that bad. And I. There's no way for someone to really believe me or Joe in this example until you go through it and you come out from it and you go, oh, they are right. But it's also why you hire coaches. It's why you're a part of masterminds. We talked about a mastermind, Joe, you and I, our friend Dan runs like that's why is you want to get ahead of it and you want to learn from people who have gone through it. So you can get a buddy to grab you around the neck and say, dude, you got this. Not that big of a deal. I'll give you some things and tools and resources and people to help you out, but you're going to get through it. Just keep your head down, keep focus, keep going, adapt, iterate.

[B]

Right?

[A]

So I, I listen. It is a privilege that we have to go through our problems, Joe. It's a privilege which is counterintuitive to what most people would think. The reason why it's a privilege because, you know, it's really hard living in Haiti with no clean water and no food. That's really hard living in a hut that doesn't have a roof, basically just four brick walls. And I've been to the doctor a lot like the doctor in Haiti. Butt up again. Like, I've been to the poorest parts of the world. That is really hard. Having a bad business deal or a bad financial time or a bad economy. Doing what we do. Not fun. But it's a privilege to overcome that because what that will do for you is it'll prove to you what you can do. And the person who crumbles will only go deeper in crumbling because now they've lost all sense of confidence to know that they can go do hard and overcome hardship.

[B]

You know, you talk about privilege like we are so privileged. Like, I say this all the time on my podcast. Like, I get to sit with some of the most brilliant people who have suffered the most. And I get this one on one coaching call with them. And if nobody's listening and nobody benefits, I benefit the most. I get such incredible mentorship from these podcasts and the relationships I build. And if people don't seek mentorship and they don't seek a. Because if they're just sitting there dwelling because we know that there's green pastures ahead, we know that we just got to make it do. We know that God never gives us more than we can handle? But if no one's kind of instilling that in your mind, there's, it's hard, it's hard to, to overcome. Now, hopefully people are listening to podcasts or they're doing something that can, they can, that enables them to have that fortitude and that strength and that mental tenacity. But you know, the average person's not thinking like that. The average person is suffering internally. They're not, they're not looking for mentorship. They're going, I'm screwed. This is my life. Look where I live, Look, I'm poor. My parents this, that, the other million excuses. And they're just this why me? Mentality. And to that person, yeah, and the

[A]

other, the other component of that is they think the answer is quick. And you and I both know, Joe, 2007 and 8 happened. The rebound wasn't quick. The rebound has been great in the real estate space. If you really look at it, we are well beyond where we would have been if we just would have camped at the same trajectory of 2005 and 6. But the reality is people want to go make this change and get the result quick. And so I use a lot of times this idea of, you know, the gym and fitness, like you gotta play the long game in all this. You can't go to the gym for a month and expect to have a six pack, right? And then there's all these bolt on or variables and nuances like, okay, well now you are being consistent at the gym. What are you eating?

[B]

Right?

[A]

So now you gotta watch your diet and intake and calories and protein versus carbs. So I just say all this, say like, if you're at that moment but you're ready to make the change, you need to be ready to make change. But also don't expect the result to happen overnight, right? Don't expect for you to leave the couch. And that's my story. I was sleeping on a couch. Took me nine months to get my very first deal. Nine months. But you know what I didn't do? I didn't quit. I didn't give up. Because I saw people doing the very same thing I wanted to do. I knew because I saw it, it was real, I could do it. I didn't have to have some, you know, business degree to go do this flipping home thing. I saw them doing it. So as long as I didn't quit, I was going to get it done. And that would be the bigger highlight that I think people need to focus on is make sure you are someone who has the stamina to stay in the game. This is why I talk about purpose over passion. Passion can only take you so far. When the storm comes, and the storm always comes. I'll remind you, the storm always comes. When the storm comes, your passion can waver. Right? Like, I use the example of, I love ice cream. Love it. Do I want to go run an ice cream shop seven days a week, 15 hours a day? Absolutely not. But I love. I'm passionate about my. I love it. Right, so you got a purpose over passion, and you want to create purpose in alignment, hopefully with your passion. But if it's big enough, you'll keep going through the storm because your purpose of doing it will see your way through. You'll be convicted.

[B]

You know, you talked about, like, you know, being committed to the gym, and it brings up a point. I actually experienced this today. So I. I train with a personal trainer a couple days a week, and I only train two things, deadlift and squat. Mondays, Tuesdays, and today we were deadlifting 295 pounds. My trainer says this to me. He's like, once you get to the really heavy weights, your technique is everything. Like, so my technique, I've been training this for years, and my technique still is off with the heavy weights. People don't understand the level of intensity and how hard you have to work and how precise and how not only, like, consistent, but now to your point, like, now you're eating now your technique has to be perfect. Now. It's like, you want to get to the big leagues now, master your technique. And that, that relates to everything in your profession. That relates to everything in your health. That relates to everything in your. Your fitness protocol, your, you know, your goals, your technique has to be precise, consistent, and that level of dedication and commitment is another level. And people have to understand that once you get to the big leagues, your technique has to get even better. It's not like I made it to the big leagues. I'm here. Like, I made it. I'm deadlifting 300 pounds. No, no, you're deadlifting now. Now the real work starts.

[A]

Yeah, that's why, you know, again, use a sports analogy. Every major player had coaches through their whole career, because to level up, you've never been to that level. So you would need a coach that can support you at that level. Otherwise you're going to be lost again. Right? The challenge is you're at a new level. It's all new different challenges. If you don't have someone guiding you at that level the same way they guided you at a lower level, you're gonna end up with some big problems.

[B]

So I'm gonna talk about some of your. Some. Some of the things you're doing now. So you're. You want to pivot right now from real estate and you want to have a greater purpose.

[A]

Yeah. Real estate's gonna always be there. But I. You and I have been given the gift. Right. Not a lot of people get a platform like we have podcasting. A lot of people start podcasts, but they don't go anywhere. And I think it is my real, you know, do you believe in, like, being in a state of flow and energetic passion and, like, you're just in. Alignment is the word most commonly used. When I'm podcasting, when I am hosting, when I am being featured on. I am in true alignment. Like, I am. There could be fires going on all around this room right now. I wouldn't even notice it because I'm just so dialed in. And that is unique. And in the last 20 years, I don't think I've really ever felt it in the way I'm feeling it in this last two years, because this. The Entrepreneur DNA podcast launched two years ago. Right. And it has just been on a rocket ship the whole time. And so I just. I'm not willing to ignore that calling and that feeling anymore. So while I'll always do now bigger, you know, apartment type deals, I'm not willing to. To ignore this energetic alignment and flow that I'm in. And I'm going all in on it because I have a great Rolodex. I know a lot of people who can make a lot of impact. And we just talked about legacy that. That ultimately could be. The legacy that I leave is I brought all these brilliant experts in their field of expertise to the marketplace to help other entrepreneurs win the game of entrepreneurship.

[B]

We have the same vision, the same goal, and another exact thing. We both started two years ago.

[A]

No kidding.

[B]

Yeah. And it's been on a rocket ship the whole time, too.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So it's like, talk about alignment, you know, like, yeah, we're in a state of flow. We're in. This is where I find my passion. I just, you know, again, I'm the CEO of the founder of the company. My partner runs the whole company, having a big department meeting. All the departments are there. I'm like, I don't want to go there. I'm going to do this. Like, I'm in alignment here. Like, I don't. Yeah, this is what I do. I grow the company, I grow the brand. I'm in alignment here. This is my purpose. You know, I don't need the minutiae of operations. That's like my drag, you know, like, that's like.

[A]

Yeah, I'm. I'm not that guy. I had to take a. You know, we talked about a bad real estate deal that I did is. Because operationally, I'm not that guy. You know, I took my eye off the ball, and that's okay, but I was able to recognize where my strengths and weaknesses are. And I just said, I don't. I don't want to do that anymore. I was basically working against my natural ability, if that made any sense. Right. So if I was always meant to be a quarterback, I was playing running back. And it's kind of like that's not my highest use of. Of expertise. This is.

[B]

Yeah, it's not. It's not your talent. So that's. There are people who are just. They are operators, totally. That's what they do, you know, and that's the yin and yang of running any big business. I'm fortunate enough to have found that yang for me. Best friend from high school, and he's always been that way since we were kids.

[A]

Yeah, it's great.

[B]

And I've always been this way.

[A]

Lucky you.

[B]

Yeah. God is always good, man. He's watching out. You know, I. I know you're very, very busy, and I want to wind this down. I got a couple very, very serious questions for you as we wind down here. What is a personal goal, Justin, that you have for yourself? A business that you have for your business.

[A]

So my personal goal for my business is I want to get my community, the entrepreneur DNA community on school, up to a hundred thousand entrepreneur members, because I will continue to do a podcast today with experts in their industry to pour into the members so that instead of being the Justin Colby lost on a couch, you can learn from the person who's going to be able to teach you and engage with that same person and talk to that same person. And they're not untouchable, because I'm asking them to engage with you, and I can make a bigger impact on the entrepreneur space. So a hundred thousand members in my group, I'm not going to say when, because my fifth principle of success is you never put a time frame on the result you're trying to achieve. So as fast as I can get there, I'm going to get 100,000 people in this group.

[B]

And the group is live.

[A]

The group is live. You guys are the first to really even hear about it. So if you go to school and you go to the entrepreneur DNA, it is live. It's $25 a month. I'm keeping it affordable because the same Justin Colby that was sleeping on a couch would love to have learned from these experts. And I could have found 25amonth to pay for that. Where all the other gurus and coaches and everyone's charging 10, 15, $20,000. I'm not going that route. I want to lead with value first.

[B]

And let me ask you that, that school program you've launched, you're basically doing kind of like a podcast or interviews with experts every single day.

[A]

No. So we'll do two to four of those a week. Like tonight, in 15 minutes, we will be doing one. This tonight's call is about a LinkedIn expert because social media is a must have and this individual understands how to build yourself and frame yourself so that you can make more sales and grow your business. Specific to LinkedIn Thursday will be about your habits and priorities that you do each and every day are the reason why you're successful or not. So what are your habits looking like? Right, so all these experts will be coming in, but they'll be teaching. It will not be an interview. It'll be genuine teaching their expertise and an open Q and A. So you'll. They'll be able to talk to Greg Bardone or Dean Graciosi or Ryan Sirhant or Russell Brunson or all these people that I have on my podcast. They'll be able to actually be able to engage with them without having to pay them a ton of money to ask them the questions. They want to know about their expertise.

[B]

What great value, what a great resource to all the listeners. Now, make sure you sign up for his school. It's gonna bring you a ton of value. Change your life, make you a better person. What's a family goal that you have?

[A]

Family belief. Is that what you said?

[B]

Family.

[A]

Oh, family goal. I have one priority. To spend as much time with these little kids as I possibly can to raise them into the best people. And I know that doesn't sound unique, but I am old enough to realize the value of young children and how short lived that very young age is and how cute it is. So my biggest goal is to make sure that they're well taught, they're well mannered, they understand good and what is right and what is wrong. It's all I really care about and to be a loyal, loving, supportive husband. Because my wife listen, I fight business dragons all day. They're business dragons and I fight them every day. My wife has these two kids all day, all day long. And I promise you this, I could never trade jobs with her ever. A I have no desire to. I'm not built that way. But what she does, she's the real hero in the family. She's the one that makes it go around. She's the glue, she's the rock. I try to applaud her every chance I possibly can because I could never do what she does.

[B]

God bless, man, that's amazing. I. I did forget to ask you one question before I finish. My last question is how are you instilling that same level of grit, tenacity, work ethic in your children now? Because they're growing up in a life of abundance and that's how I grow up.

[A]

Yeah, it's challenging for sure. Roller skates, for example. This weekend is my daughter's birthday. She got a pair of her first roller skates. She's five years old. So how I'm teaching this is to not give up, right? Is she. Obviously it was very hard for hours, but I just stayed with her and was intentional and kept looking her in the eye and kept picking her up and say, you don't you want to ride these things? Then you're going to have to learn how to ride them and you don't quit and complain. Want to take them off? No. You want to ride them? So we will learn how to ride them. It just takes time. And so I'm teaching them through the mindset that it takes because the world is tough. Well, so is learning how to roller skate at five years old. Right. And so as long as she can overcome that and learn to keep going, I this morning was a another brilliant moment. I would when I drop her off at school, I say, make it a great day. Why? And then she has to say, because I can choose to make it a great day. She has to say that back to me every single morning. And then this morning she's leaving the house and she tells her two year old brother who barely is talking, hey Jace, make it a great day. Because why? And he can't say the end of it, but because I've said this to her every single day. She's trying to embed that into my two year old son. And those are the moments that you go, I'm doing something right. I don't know at all when it comes to parenting But I'm doing something right.

[B]

I like that. I'm gonna steal that. That's why I love this show, because I get to take so many great tidbits from these brilliant people like yourself. Last question.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

When you're in front of the pearly gates, what do you think God's going to tell you?

[A]

Well done. Well done. You left it all on the field. You did what I asked. You led with your heart. Well done,

[B]

Justin. You've been a pleasure to have on the show. If people want to connect with you, how can they find you?

[A]

Instagram's my best platform. Please let me know you heard me here. So the Justin Colby. That's it. The Justin Colby say you heard me on coffees for closers Joe Show. Whatever. I will say what's up? I don't have bots in there. I don't have all that jazz. It is really me communicating with you. And then I would tell you, go check out the school program. The entrepreneur DNA on school is 25 bucks a month. If you are an entrepreneur, if you're aspiring entrepreneur, if you're a veteran grizzly, veteran entrepreneur. I'm bringing the best in the space to to help guide you in each vertical.

[B]

Let's go, Justin. God bless you. Hope you crush every single one. Your goals, you've been absolute pleasure to have have on the show.

[A]

Appreciate you, Joe.