Brady McDonald's Journey: From Real Estate Challenges to Ultra-Marathon Resilience

Summary

Episode Summary: Brady McDonald's Journey: From Real Estate Challenges to Ultra-Marathon Resilience

Podcast Title: Escaping the Drift with John Gafford
Host: John Gafford
Guest: Brady McDonald
Release Date: March 4, 2025

In this compelling episode of Escaping the Drift, host John Gafford engages in an intimate and transformative conversation with Brady McDonald, a resilient entrepreneur who has navigated significant challenges in the real estate industry while simultaneously undertaking grueling ultra-marathon feats. Brady’s journey from overcoming personal struggles to achieving extraordinary success serves as an inspiring roadmap for listeners seeking purpose, resilience, and excellence in their own lives.

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1. Early Life and Initial Struggles (00:04 - 07:14)

Brady McDonald opens up about his formative years in Owen Sound, Ontario—a small town of 20,000 people. His childhood was marked by his parents' divorce when he was just 11 years old, leading to financial instability and early responsibilities. Brady began drinking at the age of 14, which culminated in him losing his license for drinking and driving at 16. These early challenges instilled in him a strong work ethic out of necessity, as he had to engage in various jobs like painting, cutting grass, and shoveling snow to support his hockey gear.

Notable Quote:

“It was necessity. And, you know, if you want it, you got to go get it.” — Brady McDonald [07:14]

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2. Entry into the Workforce and Real Estate (07:14 - 16:44)

At 17, Brady pursued forestry studies in Lindsay, Ontario, but soon realized his true ambition lay elsewhere. Demonstrating relentless determination, he persistently faxed his resume to a major power company in Ontario until he secured a job. His tenure lasted 12 years, during which he climbed the ranks to become a full-time instructor, training over 1,500 staff members across the province. However, corporate limitations eventually led him to explore real estate investment.

Transitioning to real estate, Brady was inspired by a successful real estate investor he met, leading him to immerse himself in the field. He began with investment strategies learned from Don Campbell’s Real Estate Investing in Canada, rapidly scaling his portfolio to include hundreds of properties. However, unforeseen economic shifts, such as rising interest rates and natural disasters like Hurricane Ian, exposed vulnerabilities in his business model, resulting in significant financial losses.

Notable Quote:

“Just put in the fucking work. That's how they... that's how most people won't do well.” — Brady McDonald [09:26]

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3. Personal Transformation and Overcoming Addiction (16:44 - 31:12)

Facing immense financial strain and witnessing his father's battle with alcoholism, Brady reached a critical point in 2021. Recognizing the destructive path he was on, he committed to quitting drinking and embarked on a rigorous fitness regime. The 75 Day Hard challenge became a turning point, fostering clarity, courage, and a renewed focus on his personal and professional life. This transformation was further solidified when Brady decided to move to the United States, aiming to scale his life and business with a clearer mindset.

Notable Quote:

“Just be tenacious in the pursuit of whatever you're trying to get with them.” — Brady McDonald [09:35]

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4. Ultra-Marathon Endeavors and Mental Resilience (31:12 - 48:31)

Brady’s commitment to personal growth led him to ultra-marathons. He recounts his first 50-mile run from Marathon, Florida to Key West under extreme heat (119°F) and humidity. Despite severe physical strain, dehydration, and a near-death experience with rhabdomyolysis, Brady persevered, finishing in third place. This experience reinforced his mental fortitude, teaching him to push through unimaginable pain and self-doubt.

Subsequent challenges included a 100-mile run aiming to raise $100,000 for charity, and Mount Everesting (29,029 feet), further solidifying his resilience. Brady emphasizes the importance of incremental progress—starting with manageable goals like a 1K run and gradually increasing the challenge to build self-trust and belief.

Notable Quote:

“The harder the things that you do, the easier everything else in your life will be.” — Brady McDonald [48:31]

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5. Developing the 0 to 100 Challenge (48:31 - 52:05)

Inspired by his experiences, Brady co-created the 0 to 100 Day Challenge—a sustainable alternative to the 75 Day Hard. This program includes 45 minutes of daily exercise, healthy eating, and no alcohol, promoting long-term lifestyle changes without the rigidity that often leads to high dropout rates. The challenge incorporates accountability huddles and guest speakers to support participants, making personal transformation accessible and realistic.

Notable Quote:

“It's a way of life. Don’t ask me what it is. It’s a way of life.” — Brady McDonald [49:47]

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6. Future Endeavors and Continuing Growth (52:05 - End)

Looking ahead, Brady shares his ambitious plans to tackle the 240-mile Moab race—a perilous undertaking with only a select few ever completing it. This upcoming challenge symbolizes his unwavering dedication to pushing his limits and inspiring others to do the same. Brady emphasizes that his journey is not just about physical endurance but also about cultivating mental strength and resilience.

Notable Quote:

“Move best, you know, play all out. Just commit fully, like you're on this path, this journey.” — Brady McDonald [49:51]

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Key Insights and Takeaways

1. Resilience Through Adversity: Brady’s journey underscores the power of resilience in overcoming personal and professional setbacks. Facing financial ruin and battling alcoholism, he transformed his life through sheer determination and disciplined self-improvement.

2. Incremental Progress: Emphasizing small, achievable goals, Brady illustrates how incremental progress builds self-trust and belief, essential for tackling larger challenges.

3. Mental Fortitude: Ultra-marathons serve as a metaphor for mental resilience. Brady’s ability to endure extreme physical pain mirrors the mental challenges faced in entrepreneurship and personal growth.

4. Sustainable Lifestyle Changes: The transition from rigid challenges like the 75 Day Hard to the more sustainable 0 to 100 Day Challenge highlights the importance of realistic, long-term strategies for personal development.

5. Community and Accountability: Building a supportive community through accountability huddles and shared experiences is crucial for maintaining motivation and achieving success.

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Conclusion

Brady McDonald’s story is a testament to the human spirit's capacity to transform adversity into opportunity. From navigating the volatile real estate market to conquering the daunting demands of ultra-marathons, Brady embodies the essence of escaping the drift and striving for remarkable success. His insights offer invaluable lessons on resilience, perseverance, and the relentless pursuit of personal excellence, making this episode a must-listen for anyone yearning to break free from mediocrity and achieve their true potential.

Notable Closing Quote:

“Push yourself, do hard things. Because the harder the things that you do, the easier everything else in your life will be.” — Brady McDonald [52:05]

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Learn More:
For additional resources and to join the 0 to 100 Day Challenge, visit 0to100.com.

Transcript

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[John Gafford]

And you want to impress somebody that's much older than you. Just be tenacious in the pursuit of whatever you're trying to get with them.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, just put in the fucking work.

[John Gafford]

That's how they.

[Brady McDonald]

That's how most people won't do well.

[John Gafford]

That's how you show your serious showing up every day.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, just prove it's just. It's just proving them.

[John Gafford]

And now, Escaping the Drift, the show designed to get you from where you are to where you want to be. I'm John Gafford and I have a knack for getting extraordinary achievers to drop their secrets to help you on a path to greatness. So stop drifting along. Escape the Drift. And it's Time to start right now. Welcome back to the program, everybody. Like it says in the opening, man, the show that gets you from where you are to where you want to be. And today in studio, man, you think doing things is hard. You think, you think if you're a person that can't quite figure finish things, you can't push through, you find you have some mental weakness. Now this dude, and I always like to say when people come through, I'm like, this is a friend of mine. This dude legitimately is a friend of mine. Like, I've known this guy for a couple of years now and I just never marvel at the things that he done, the feats that he, that he finishes. He is not only a massive dude in the self storage industry and we'll talk about some of that, but this is a guy that just says, you know what I want to do today? I think I'm going to run 100 miles at once at the same time in the same direction. Oh, I'm a dude that wants to run an ultra marathon just because I want to do it. I mean the, the stuff that he does to himself and just has this mental strength to him. We got to learn something today. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to studio. This is Brady McDonald.

[Brady McDonald]

What's up, Brady?

[John Gafford]

What's up, dude?

[Brady McDonald]

What's up, brother?

[John Gafford]

I'm so glad you're, I'm so glad you're here. Much like so many of my friends, I see a random Instagram post, then we're like, mom laid over on my way to Vegas. I'm like, vegas, come to the office.

[Brady McDonald]

Ye.

[John Gafford]

Like, see you in.

[Brady McDonald]

When can you be.

[John Gafford]

Yeah, as, as it works out as it does that. But dude, your level of mental toughness is unbelievable to me. Just the stuff you're able to push yourself through and the transformation you made in your body and your mindset and all of that stuff is amazing. So let's back up because I want to get through all of this because, you know, this is one of those definitely is the hero made or is the hero born? You know what I'm saying? Because you got some, you got some mental toughness this next level. So tell me. Let's tell the. Well, I'm going to interview you like, I know nothing about you. Which sometimes is harder than it is because, you know, nothing worse than a podcast with. Not full of inside jokes, but tell me about the upgrade. Where'd you grow up talking about that?

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, I grew up in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. So small town Canada, 20,000 people. You know, the family was divorced at 11 years old. Lost my license for drinking and driving at 16. I was pretty good at drinking. Started it when I was 14 actually. I was pretty bad at it, I guess. Yeah, drinking. Lost my license at 16. My kid, my parents said, kid, you got to grow up, so you're going to college, so pick what you want to do. And at that point I thought the most, well, the most successful people we knew in our like world were these guys, like uncles that were forest firefighters. So they said, okay, well why don't you go to school for forestry? And that's what I did at 17 years old and. But I met a guy who is one of my buddy's friends.

[John Gafford]

Where did you go to school for forestry?

[Brady McDonald]

Like in some shithole town in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada.

[John Gafford]

Okay. I was gonna say, because, yeah, I'm from a shithole town in North Florida where they have a forestry school.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, like, so. Exactly. So you know what I'm talking about.

[John Gafford]

I was like, yeah, yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

So you know, there's like five girls there. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, so that was. I was there for a year, figured out, hey, there's this, you know, dream job working for this big corporate company that was a big power company across all of Ontario. And I realized the guy had a brand new truck all the time, full case of beer. I'm like, hey, I'm going to get, go get that job. That's what I did. So that, that kind of, you know, that was the first testament that if you just do something and be relentless. I just fax my resume to them every single week for.

[John Gafford]

Until they wanted to hire.

[Brady McDonald]

Well, they had until they had to because they're like, this guy is not going to quit. But that started a good career. I had to, you know, make it $120,000.

[John Gafford]

Dude, let's talk about that for a minute. Right? Because. Okay, because that's already telling me that you're just determined and can do what you want.

[Brady McDonald]

That was when I was a 17, 18.

[John Gafford]

I know, but I. But, okay, but, but back again though, what do you think about the way you grew up made you that way?

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, you know what, I think it was a necessity. Like I had to paint. I had to cut grass and shovel snow at 5am before school. It sound, this sounds like an old dad story, but like legitimately to pay for my hockey gear.

[John Gafford]

Yeah, right.

[Brady McDonald]

Because my parents were like, you know, money doesn't grow in trees. There was no extra money. And then when the parents got divorced, there was really no extra money because nobody's paying for.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

Right. So it was necessity. And, you know, if. If you want it, you got to go get it.

[John Gafford]

See, I found it very. When my parents got divorced at an early age, I hustle out, or if I needed something, I would go ask both of them for it and get the money. Yeah. I didn't know with the money to buy it from one of them and then the money from my pocket for the other one, and both of them thought they bought it because they weren't talking to each other.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, neither of them had a pot to pisses.

[John Gafford]

Yeah, There you go. All right.

[Brady McDonald]

So that was probably part of the problem there, but yeah, so, I mean, it was a good thing. I mean, I think there's. I mean, that's where I got the. The hustle. So at 11.

[John Gafford]

So, okay, so you're. You're hustling and doing that, which is great. You go off to forestry school at 17 and you're doing that, and you go to the facts that. The resume thing over and over and over. You know, so let's go back to that moment. The first time you fax it to them. Just nobody calls.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, nobody calls. I mean, for months, bro.

[John Gafford]

And you just kept faxing to them every week.

[Brady McDonald]

And. And then eventually I. I was spraying pesticides in the summer. So in between first year and second year, I was spraying pesticides about 40 hours away from my hometown, driving four hours every single night back to play junior B lacrosse practices and junior beat, you know, tournaments and stuff. And eventually I just met a guy who worked for a power company, and he took me in because I was living at. Staying at the college dorm, you know, cooking, barbecuing out of the back of the pesticide truck. Maybe that's what's wrong.

[John Gafford]

That's what's wrong with you.

[Brady McDonald]

But I met this guy, and he. You know, I was. At that point, I was 17 or 18, just turned 18, and. And I told him, you know, my goal that. To work for this power company, because he worked power company. He's like, why don't you come and meet my family and have dinner with us? And so he literally invited me that night, had dinner at his house, and he has two kids, and he took my resume, fact, sent it to everybody he knew, and they all made the connection. And within two weeks, I got job. Oh, it's awesome after that. Yeah.

[John Gafford]

You know, it's funny. One of the best agents that I ever hired here at the company was somebody this. This. This person came to the office and said, I Want to work for you. Brand new agent, hire brand new agents. It's not what I do. You got to be experienced. Come here. Okay, thank you very much. Came back the next day, hey, I said, I want to work for you. I'm gonna come in here every day till you hire me. And literally after like three days, I was like, dude, if this chick is, if she's, she's gonna come here like this every day, she's gonna be successful. And to this day now, probably 10 years later, since that time, she crushes, man, she's still here. She does great.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, it's. It's just consistency and I mean, it took me a long time to actually pull this lesson out, but I think.

[John Gafford]

I think two though, man, is because, because I think our generation, right, that, that you look at kids, you're like, oh, you're entitled, this and that, blah, blah. So if you want to prove something, if you're listen to this and you're a younger kid, right, and you want to impress somebody that's much older than you, just be tenacious in the pursuit of whatever you're trying to get with them.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. Just put in the fucking work. That's how they, that's what most people won't do.

[John Gafford]

Well, that's how you show yourself, showing up every day.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, just, it's just, it's just proven them.

[John Gafford]

Well. Ari Rastagard was on the podcast once, said that his. One of his best mentors in his life. The only thing he asked him was, can I walk you to and from work every day? Just, just talk to you.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

Like, I was like, you want to show up, you show. He goes, I never asked him if he was going to be here the next day. I never knew there were long periods of time where he wouldn't show up because he was gone or on vacation or traveling and whatever, blah, blah. But when he would come back, I'm standing in his stoop waiting on the walking.

[Brady McDonald]

Wow.

[John Gafford]

Every day.

[Brady McDonald]

That's unbelievable.

[John Gafford]

But how many and how many people are willing to do that anymore? Yeah, they're just not willing to do that.

[Brady McDonald]

No.

[John Gafford]

It's wild.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

So you're working for the power company. Yeah, that's going.

[Brady McDonald]

So. Yeah. So that was a four year apprenticeship. Climbing trees, roping trees down around the hydro lines. And so got through the four year apprenticeship and then I had an opportunity to start climbing and teaching the men and women that were moving through the apprenticeship how to do that. And I saw an opportunity in there because they weren't, they were teaching People on forestry practices like SOPs and like that, that we would have in our business, but they weren't quizzing them on it. So I just, I volunteered to do that. So just going above and beyond and said, hey, I'll create all this content in this course, you know, content to actually test everybody to make sure that they're actually retaining it. And so they gave me that job that led into being a full time instructor at 23. So then I was one of the six instructors that trained 1500 staff around the province and then ended up opening a training center in my hometown. So that's, that's what I ended UP doing for 12 years is running this training center and just teaching men and women around that.

[John Gafford]

And that was not safe work too. That's, that's a little.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, you're basically teaching them how not to kill themselves. Yeah, right. And before that like I did fall, almost fell out of a tree and, and so it's, it's dangerous work.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

Right in it and but it was, you know, it took, it probably is 10 years into that career. I just felt like I had, I did have a lot of freedom because I did all my boss's job. Right. Like again that's just, you know, you want freedom, do all your boss job. He doesn't show up.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

And so I mean he's a good lesson. He was two hours in a different town. I did all of his job, all of my job. I ran the trainer training center. He never showed up. And you know, I was making good money like again 120 grand a year and I'd be banking overtime and not having to put it in, which is good. But eventually I just realized, holy, like I've got limited freedom really. I've got limited income potential. I've limited personal because you still have to potential.

[John Gafford]

You still have to put in for vacation corporate. Yeah, you gotta for vacation.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, yeah. And I'm like what am I doing? And actually I'll go, I'll tell you this story. This is actually the thing that got me out of it.

[John Gafford]

All right.

[Brady McDonald]

So I'm, we've got this apprentice that kind of sucks, right. So they got to come to, to, to trade school and we got to push them, put them through these 15 steps. They got to go up these trees and teach, you know, and do this move and do that move and cut limbs off safely and we got to see them do it. Otherwise they don't move on in the next year. Well, this one kid was struggling and he was clearly scared Right. And he wasn't even a kid. He was older than me at the time. He was probably like 35. And anyway, so he's. I'm like, dude, you just got to. You got to do this. And he's like, you know, you could tell he's nervous. I'm like. He's like, dude. He's like, dude, I gotta come down, take a. I'm like, just. Just do this move and then you can come down.

[John Gafford]

Yeah, right?

[Brady McDonald]

And he's like, no, I'm coming down. Take a. Now. So he comes down and I'm like, all right, like, and there's a whole bunch of people around. Like, there's apprentices everywhere and, and trainers. I'm like, all right, dude. He's like, no, I'm going to town and take a. I'm like, dude, just take a. In the bush, like my wife would. And I say that to him. Anyway, that went like. Then he. He wrote a complaint to the union. And then I was investigated for the next three months. And you know, like, at that point is all I knew. I started there at 18, so that. But that was the icing on cake. I'm glad it happened because it wasn't even true. Like, I mean, I said that, but what his allegations were, weren't true. He later apologized for it, but that was getting hazed.

[John Gafford]

And it just.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, well, the union just comes after you and tries to fire you. Right? That's just what they do.

[John Gafford]

God.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. So that we started to look at what was next. You know, we were just. We. We were pregnant with our baby girl. And so we. We eventually met a guy who's a full time real estate investor. And it was kind of like that guy with the truck with the full case of beer and brand new truck. I'm like realized, hey, if he could have this great job and I can too. Well, I, I met the, the real estate investor and it was the same thing.

[John Gafford]

The curse of the entrepreneur. That's. That's my, like, dude, dude, I met this guy and he does this thing and he's got all this money and, and he's not that smart. I swear. I can totally do this.

[Brady McDonald]

If that dumbass can do it, I can do it.

[John Gafford]

The curse of the entrepreneur right there. I can do it too. I know I can do this. Yeah. Like, yeah, dude, I. Yeah, okay.

[Brady McDonald]

So that's exactly what it was. I mean, like, I read the read or like, I talked to him and I learned what he was doing. He was buying like, you know, in Canada. This is A lot. Not nothing like it is in the US but he bought like 16 properties that year and it was just June. I'm like doing the math. I'm like, bro, this guy's making a million bucks a year. I'm like, if I can do it, if he can do it, I can do it. And so we're. Read a book.

[John Gafford]

What book?

[Brady McDonald]

It's Real Estate Investing in Canada by Don Campbell.

[John Gafford]

Okay.

[Brady McDonald]

So it's just, you know, it just, it's like the 30,000 foot view of.

[John Gafford]

You know, is it different in Canada? Does it.

[Brady McDonald]

Not really, but it's just like down to sell the 15 years later.

[John Gafford]

Okay, there you go.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

Snitching down.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. Your filing systems are still paper. Where here they had the Internet, you.

[John Gafford]

Know, you know, you know the difference. He references everything in the metric system.

[Brady McDonald]

Yes, exactly. Yeah. They're referencing igloos for houses and not. Not actual house.

[John Gafford]

It has a French translation. There you go. That's the bucket. Canada.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

So you read the book?

[Brady McDonald]

So I read the book and I'm like, I figured it out. And so we bought a house, did the burst strategy on it. We refinanced two of our properties.

[John Gafford]

What year was this?

[Brady McDonald]

2015.

[John Gafford]

Okay, 2015.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. And then. So that worked. We proved the strategy and then immediately hired like, started a construction company, property management company. We ended up doing seven properties that year with all of our own money and then started doing joint venture partnerships which. And we burned everything. We were converting all single family homes to duplexes and triplexes and then did a lot of accessory dwelling units in the. In a few years later. And then a lot of new construction doing. Yeah. So yeah, we ended up doing a few hundred properties up there. And yeah, it was, it was good. It's just really slow compared to here.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

So like, you know, from a perspective you can get. Most you can get is 10 mortgages there with a really high income. It's just a rule.

[John Gafford]

That's just how it is.

[Brady McDonald]

It's just the way it is. Yeah. You know, you come down here and it's got unlimited.

[John Gafford]

Yeah. So. So how are you getting multiple mortgages? What were you doing?

[Brady McDonald]

So I was, I was tapped out at 10. My wife had 10. And then what we had to do was go and go get joint venture partners. They would put up all the money and qualify for the mortgage. We have to give 50% of the equity. So we did that. I mean, you know, it still worked, thankfully, but just not to the scale it would have here. And we did Very well. I mean, you know, but, you know, when we came here and it was 2022, we came down here and we weren't really looking at things or the numbers up there.

[John Gafford]

He's generalizing down here with the United States.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, United States.

[John Gafford]

Florida is where you. Florida.

[Brady McDonald]

So we came down the US and then. Yeah, that's where interest rates in Canada. I wasn't really paying attention to everything. And I, you know, we were variable mortgages on over 100 properties and they went from like 1% to 7 and a half percent in six months.

[John Gafford]

Yeah. Did anything. You have cash flow at that point?

[Brady McDonald]

No, bro. We were bleeding. Okay. So on top of that, Hurricane Ian smoked us. But we had big developments finishing. They were yanking mortgages out from under us, dropping the values we. We were trying to pull out. Three. We're. We're losing 300, 800amonth. Wow. For like, a lot of months, bro. It was terrifying.

[John Gafford]

What year was this?

[Brady McDonald]

This was in 2023.

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[Brady McDonald]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

Oh, my God.

[Brady McDonald]

This was like, right before I. I went to Kent.

[John Gafford]

Oh, wow.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. Like, and. And thankfully I had Kent around me and he. Because he, you know, you just get stuck in it. You're like, you can't see the forest for the trees.

[John Gafford]

What did Ken tell you?

[Brady McDonald]

Now he's just like, well, thankfully, like, I had these big problems, but I had a big portfolio.

[John Gafford]

Did he call you names?

[Brady McDonald]

He just said, don't be a little. He what he said it was just simple. I'm like, why didn't I think of this? He's just like, dude, just sell the red. He's like, if you just. The Sooner you get out of that red, the sooner you'll have bandwidth back and then you can actually solve your problem, you know, And I'm trying to start Masterminds, and. And we're. We started Mastermind Cash flow. 300 grand. We thought we were, like, figuring this out. All we were doing is creating more chaos, more distractions, and, you know, and the problem's getting worse, not better. And so, you know, that all happened at the same time was when I quit drinking too.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

And I think that was. You know, we can go into that, too. But, like, for me, that was the moment where I actually said, okay, I need to take control of this, because it's. It's like, you know, it. This is gonna end up really bad if I keep drinking it away.

[John Gafford]

Yeah. And I think it's so funny, man, how many people chase those bad investments like that. Like, I'll just. Oh, dude, I just gotta make it this month, and then we'll make it next month. Next month. It's like, bro, sometimes just cut bait.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, dude, I. There was the best advice I could have ever got. He's like. He said to me, actually. So I went to his office, told him all this, showed him all the books, and he's like, okay, we gotta sell the red. Sell Right. As fast as you can. That's pro property number project number one. He's like, have you ever. Ever had a million dollars in the bank? I'm like, no, I'm a real estate investor. It's either feast or famine.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

Like, I want to put. I want you to put a million bucks back in your bank for the first time. And the next one was, we had another business. He's like, I want you to get that to 200 grand a month, which. So we, you know, sold the properties. And he's like, you have 90 days to get this done. He's like, you'll have bandwidth back. You'll be able. You'll be. You'll be good.

[John Gafford]

Your head. Well, your. Your headspace becomes clear.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, dude. And I'm like, all right, well, I'll go to work. And we ended up putting 3.8 million in the bank. And, you know, and. And everything was all good, but because you went from.

[John Gafford]

You went from hemorrhaging money to. All of a sudden, I've got no more debt, and I just got. I'm sitting on this cash, and now I can breathe.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, I can breathe. Yeah. Now we can, like, okay, we can slow down. We can sell the properties in a controlled manner. And whatnot but yeah, it was. You know, you look back and you're like, I wouldn't wish that on my enemy. But I am glad it happened. You learn lessons. Like the, one of the biggest lessons there is that you can't eat your equity. And that was one of the big things. We were only in real estate, so we didn't have any cash flowing like real business. You know, the property's cash flow, like 2 or 300 bucks a month. And you got jackasses up in Ontario. Like the, the landlord laws are up there. Like probably like New York or California, I would think. But you know, you lose that cash flow, you know, all the time, very quickly, you know, and so. But you can't eat equity when hits the fan. And so I'll never do that again, you know, so we're doing it differently now. Which is, which is good.

[John Gafford]

Are you. Because like I know that there's. Now you could, you could potentially cross collateralize that entire portfolio.

[Brady McDonald]

You, you can't really do that here. Up there, you can't find one big buyer like that. You could, you know, you. Down here you'd sell your portfolio. You can't do that up there.

[John Gafford]

No, but I'm saying you could pull a line against it by cross collateralizing the entire portfolio.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. If the bank was giving out loans. Ah, right. Like that was the other big problem. It's just everything tightened up the rules so you couldn't. That was our option was to sell. But you know, the blessing in disguise was that we've had the portfolio for a while and we were buying. Right. And renovating. Right. We, so we had lots of equity.

[John Gafford]

Did you become infinitely more bankable by doing that?

[Brady McDonald]

Not necessarily. Because again, you max out at 10 mortgages anyway. Fucking matter how bankable you are.

[John Gafford]

It's a different play.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. So what our strategy is just to liquidate. We've only got 17 properties left. And then we're being a. And then we're becoming US tax citizen.

[John Gafford]

Down here and you're done. So now. But, but you shifted, you shifted asset class now.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

So now you just buying storage. Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. So just. So we, when we came down, we got two big storage developments in Houston. And then debt got challenging at 20 in 2022. Same. Same moment in time. Right. So I syndicated these two big deals and that got hard. So we ended up focusing on sourcing the land, doing all the entitlements for self storage specifically. And then selling the dirt to other developers.

[John Gafford]

Yeah. Because you, because you. I think you told me at one Point you were, you were clearing like seven figure wins on that.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. And we are still.

[John Gafford]

Yeah, that's a huge. Yeah, it's a huge play.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. So they could be any, anywhere from like 600 to a million in, in, you know, value increase by doing the entitlement.

[John Gafford]

Let's talk about that. So. Because obviously every market is different for how, you know, how you got to work with the city and the county and whatever else to get things entitled for those of you listen, don't know we're talking about, you know, when you buy a piece of dirt, you don't just get to automatically build whatever you want on it. The city has a little say so in that.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

And then you've got to kind of get your plans together and you put them through city council and zoning and planning and all of these things and then eventually they stamp off and say, yes, you can do that and you can take a piece of land that might be zoned for, let's just say light residential or light density where there's not a lot of houses. If you can get the zoning on that flipped to commercial or industrial or something else, family multifamily, it makes that land infinitely, infinitely more valuable. So you kind of can create incredible value in land for people just by understanding how to deal with political red tape.

[Brady McDonald]

That and just highest and best use.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

Right.

[John Gafford]

So how. So is all of this stuff you're doing in the same market?

[Brady McDonald]

No, they're all over the U.S. they're.

[John Gafford]

All over the U.S. all in different. How in the world are you figuring out how to navigate? Yeah, all of that.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. So we, we cut our teeth in, in Ontario and understood like in Canada. And so I did all the entitlement stuff and so I just acted as if I was the planning guy. Right. And I went through rezones and did, did it all. So I understood it. And so down here, like some municipalities are great, some are super political and we, we, we just learn by doing. Right. I think that is really the only way. Like there's no blueprint to be a developer. Yeah, right. I mean if there was, we'd all be super rich. Yeah, right. But you just go in and you just have to know the right questions and at the end of the day you have to trust but verify. And that's the biggest. You just like the processes aren't overly complicated, but there's nuance between every municipality and the big things that can catch you up is the political, the relationships. The relationships sometimes like some municipalities are just straight by the book, they'll just, you know, this is the way it is. But some of them, some of the other ones are like, if you don't get approval by this council person or this person, don't even submit the paperwork. I'm like, wow, right? So we went to a couple of these states, a couple of these places in North Carolina or sorry, in Virginia and it's like, it's not happening. It's not happening. It's not happening. So but other, other municipalities, you have good conversations and, and the one big thing is like people want to know what you are building and make it look nice.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

And storage has a horrible wrap. Right. To, you know, people hate storage for, for the most part because they look like the garage doors. So we're showing them nice class A modern apartment like looking facilities. Whether they're single story or multi story, you can make them look nice and it looks good and we get approvals.

[John Gafford]

So the question is, when you're doing this, you're not closing on the land, you're, you're doing long escrows contingent on the, on the entitlements, Correct?

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, we, we will actually close on the land. We close and then basically our buyer closes the same day. So it's essentially okay. Yeah, we have transactional funding, so we'll, we'll get it under contract and have like 150 days due diligence time and then 120 days entitlement period. So we're not, you know, we're 150 days and as long as our buyers know we're moving forward with entitlements because we are, we're actually showing them and we're communicating to them like over going above and beyond, then they give you more time.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

Right. Because. And I think that's the half of the battle with almost anything is just whether it's investor relationships, dealing with municipalities, dealing with, you know, contracts. It's communication.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

People just want to know what's up.

[John Gafford]

Yeah. It's just such an interesting way that to make money in real estate. Everybody, everybody thinks, you know, real estate is, you know, multifamily. You're buying houses. They don't realize that you can literally, if you're just good at dealing with the city.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

You can have a serious real estate career and make some serious money, which.

[Brady McDonald]

Is, and you can do it in any asset class. It doesn't have to be storage. It could be. We started by just finding big lots in a town. Right. And if you just know that an R1 lot is this frontage in this lot size. Well, then just go find a lot that's twice as big.

[John Gafford]

Yeah. It's just.

[Brady McDonald]

And you sever the thing in the middle.

[John Gafford]

Well, dude, just. You're such a savage in the fact that you just. You do this in all these different municipalities. Because if you think about it, even, like, here, right. Like, if you drive around in Vegas and you look at a lot of the shopping centers and stuff, there's the same name on them. And I play golf with that dude. Yeah, right. Like, I mean, and I know that that guy can get anything entitled in Vegas because he's been doing it here for, like.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

50 years. Right. So he just. He can get anything done. But to think that you can just roll in as an outsider and just pull these projects off is just. Is wild to me.

[Brady McDonald]

Well, one of the things that, too, helps is just using local civil engineers and relying on local planning consultants. And then that is part. Part of it, too, because they can.

[John Gafford]

Navigate a little better.

[Brady McDonald]

Exactly. They know who to talk to. And. And, like. And I'm saying this in the same sense that I. I don't know that it's actually that important, but they just know the nuance that we don't. That would probably give. Make it. Take us. It take it. Take us three to four months later because we'd screw up a few things, dude, for sure. So. Which. In that. That. That. That is a lot of money that you could be deferring down the line, so.

[John Gafford]

Well, that's wild. But okay, listen, that. That's the. That's the how Brady got rich flipping real estate part of the story. But I want to get. I want to get to the real stuff, because this is the stuff that just makes my freaking mind explode when you're like, oh, yeah, I'm gonna run an ultramarathon. I'm like, oh, what's that? You're like. I mean, I'm gonna let you talk about what this. Some of this stuff is. So let's talk about your journey from fat, drunk, and stupid. I threw this.

[Brady McDonald]

No, that's totally true.

[John Gafford]

Yeah, just to be fun, I'll throw the stupid in there.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

Yeah. Not really stupid, but I think it's funny.

[Brady McDonald]

So I'd be stupid, especially when I was drunk.

[John Gafford]

All right, let's go. Let's go from. Let's go from fat, drunken stupid to a dude that can run 100 miles at one time.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, I wasn't like. I mean, it was literally John. Like, it's not even May, so it hasn't been two years. Yeah, well, when I quit drinking, okay. So before this, you know, like, I. I realized it was in 2021, I did the 75 day hard. And so again, a professional drinker, right? We had the big boat at home, and that's what we lived on. And so it was like Thursday to Monday, drinking every day. And I was just tired. And I saw one of my buddies do the 75 day hard. And I'm like, what's that? And he told me, tells me the rules. I repeat the rules to my wife. One is not drinking. And she laughed her ass off. She's like, there's no way in hell. Like, I've been drinking since I was 14. And I'm like, I know, I'm scared too, right? But I was just, like, I was just done. And the people that I was hanging around was just, like, just limiting me. And I just knew it. I'm like, the conversations are the same, right? We're not, you know, they're not doing anything near what I'm doing. You know, I'm the top of the, the pole here. And so I, I went and did this thing and I changed my mindset, I changed my body, I became a better dad. Blah, all those things, right? And. And took the family to Costa Rica, had the courage to do that. So I just had this clarity and stuff. And then. So when we got back from Costa Rica, back into Canada in 2021, they locked us back down. And that's what really triggered us to come to the US Because I said to my wife, like, next winter we're going away, but we're going to the US and we're going to scale life and business there.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

And so went back and hung around the same people start drinking again, just like I was. Everything kind of, you know, went back to normal, same old thing, right? Well, then I said, okay, well, I'm going to get back into fitness. Because the 75 hard was the thing that kept me clean and sober. And I wasn't a raging alcoholic. I was just like everybody else, really. Right. And so I did a couple of half Ironmans. And that, that worked. I'm like, perfect. I'm focused on that. I'm not drinking as much, you know, more focused on business, being a better dad, better communicator. Well, then all that stuff I just told you happened with the bleeding of the money, the company, the interest rates going through the roof. And eventually I just came to my wit's end and I just. My dad also died at 73 just not too long ago, like a year. And he started drinking at 50 years old and did all that damage by the time he was like 65. Right. Just like heavy drinking. Right. And I just realized, like, I just looked into my inside myself and I saw my daughters, like, they're gonna follow whatever I do.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

I was literally sitting on my boat. We have a 53 foot boat in the Exumas, looking out the back. And I'm bleeding. The business is bleeding to death. And I just, like, I just said, tomorrow's the last day I'm drinking. Right. And I told my wife that. And that was the decision. I made it. And it wasn't harder than that. And then from there I went to Kent's office and I also started training for a 50 mile run. Right. So it was all the, you know, I think the running that we'll get into here in a second was the thing that replaced the booze. Right. And it gave me that thing to focus on it. It's kind of silenced the mind because you.

[John Gafford]

Okay, so here's my question, dude. But because you was. What? How much more did you weigh at that time?

[Brady McDonald]

See, I probably weighed about as much as I do now, like 205. But I was just like the wrong 205. Yeah, the wrong 205. It was just poofy, right? Yeah.

[John Gafford]

I was thinking, I thought you were much bigger. Like, I never understood how you went from being like kind of overweight.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

Don't you have bad knees? My knees are garbage. That's why I'm so jealous.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. I trained, so. Yeah. I guess I have never had injuries like, as good for you. You know, I was lucky. Maybe I didn't play enough football or something. But. Yeah. So what happened was I actually saw Jesse Itzler. You know, Jesse is sure great. So I saw him right around the same time he did Ultraman, which is a 6.2 mile swim, 90 mile bike on the one day. And Jesse Isler, like if you go look at him, like you look at him and you don't think he's an ultra athlete.

[John Gafford]

Yeah, he looks broken down.

[Brady McDonald]

He's. He's sold. He's sold multiple companies for hundreds of millions. You know, he's super successful. And I saw him do this 6.2 mile swim, 90 mile bike.

[John Gafford]

I got his big ass calendar at my house. Yes, right. Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

And then he did. So the next day is 170 mile bike and the next day after that is 52 mile run. And I'm like, he does this. I'M like, there's something more to this guy than business.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

And I just. So I got super intentional. I got close to Jesse, I became friends, and then I hired his coach because I'm like, whoever did that got Jesse to do that is who I'm gonna. Is who's gonna help me do it. And. And so that's when I quit drinking. And then we started training for a 50 mile run that we did in the Keys. And so trained for three months. Right. Quit drinking three months.

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[Brady McDonald]

From Marathon, Florida down to Key west, and it was 119 degrees Fahrenheit with humidity.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

Like you could eat the air.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

And we started at 9 o'clock in the morning. It was insanely hot. And so the first 12 miles, it was just, I, I was like, like so frustrated because you couldn't cool your body down. It's like sitting in the sauna.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

For that's 200 degrees.

[John Gafford]

You can't get out.

[Brady McDonald]

You can't get out. The door's locked.

[John Gafford]

Yeah. You can't get out.

[Brady McDonald]

Right. And. And I'm just like, what am I gonna do? And I put this towel on. Anyway, I figured it out. I got into this, this mo. This routine where I had a bag of ice, I would take it. I'd run for four minutes. I'd have it on my neck. I'd walk for one minute. I'd run for four, walk for one. And I'd take the bag of ice, I would stick it my growing, you know, for the one minute walk. And I dumped the, you know, the ice all over my head. And I did this 50 miles, you know, the, the other 36 miles. Well, I get finished at, you know, like 10 hours and 40 minutes later in that excruciating heat. And they said they didn't know what place I was in. And I didn't even know where it was, to be honest. I got lost that before I got to the end. And so we waited around there for a few hours, waiting. And they're. Eventually they said, congratulations, you're in third place. So that's great. So two hours later, we. I didn't drink anything. I didn't Re. Eat anything. Like, I didn't even know what I was doing. We just. My wife was crewing me with my daughters, right? There were six.

[John Gafford]

They're just handing a granola bar and slapping.

[Brady McDonald]

There was not even like, you should rehydrate yourself. You should, like, re. Electrolyte your body. Like. Anyway, so got back to where our rental was. I started puking my brains up. My wife throws me in. Back in the car. She's like, we're going to the hospital. I was just like. And she's now cruising back to Marathon, Florida, sees an ambulance, right? And she pulls over, and the ambulance driver's like, ma'am, you can't stop here. You got to keep going.

[John Gafford]

She's like, you gotta look at this, dude.

[Brady McDonald]

That's exactly what she said. And the ambulance people and I. I kind of remember them like. Like. Like opening the door or opening the. The expedition door. And they looked at me, and they just, like, grab the stretcher, and they literally yanked me up, put me in the stretcher and rushed me to the hospital. And then from there, it was three days. They thought they didn't know what was going on. Like, they were like, where. Where did you run? I'm like, in Canada. Yeah. They're like, what. What's your daughter's name? So I'm. And I had no clue. No clue. And so everybody thought I was dying, including them. They rushed me. So they did brain scans, heart scans, the whole body. Then rushed me, didn't know what's going on. Rushed me to Miami, you know, more tests, and thankfully survived, right? But, yeah, ended up with rhabdomy. Rhabdo, and. Which could kill you 100. And then severe dehydration. But, you know, at that point, I was just like, I think I'm on the path, which is stupid to think.

[John Gafford]

So you're sitting in the hospital, almost killed yourself.

[Brady McDonald]

It's funny. I look back, and there's a picture, and it says, not human. It's like an Iron man shirt. I'm like, what a stupid shirt to wear in here, you idiot. So. But the doctors, they found this heart abnormality in there accidental. And they said, you can't do any of this ever again until you get that heart fixed. So they said I had a leaky heart. And I'm like, damn, I'm just getting good. Like, this is putting me on the path to be on. And, you know, long story short, it took me about two weeks. I got clearance, and then I did 29029, which is Mount Everesting. With Jesse.

[John Gafford]

Yep. It's awesome.

[Brady McDonald]

Like three weeks later than that. And then my coach, Chris, real quick, real quick about.

[John Gafford]

I want to talk about that real quick. What's harder was the 50 mile or higher than 2902? Because the 2092 is serious mind from the people that I know that have done it. I said it's just because it's so slow.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. The 50 miler was for sure harder. Yeah, that.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

For that. Just because probably the heat. But then running for 50 mile. Running is different than also hiking. Hiking's way long. Like it was a way longer event.

[John Gafford]

It's a more. Way more mental. Like slow.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. And I think I had the four. I had, like I built some mental fortitude by running that 50 miles and built a lot and built some trust in myself. Right.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

So when you go into these things, I mean, I think that's the secret to, to, you know, we're going to talk about some way crazier things in a second, I'm sure. But when you. It's like if you don't believe you can run 5k, which a lot of people don't believe, but if you can go and run 1K, which everybody can, you will start to believe that chances are you could run 1.5k because you're like, yeah, I wasn't dead. I wasn't done. You know, I could probably do.

[John Gafford]

I had another half a K. Right.

[Brady McDonald]

So then you go out and do 1.5K. Then you're like, yeah, I think I could do two. You know, and you do that over and over again. That's how you create this trust and belief system in yourself. Right. It doesn't happen by you. You. But you have to do the 1K.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

Right. And that's when you start to do like 29029 after that experience. Like, okay, this is actually not that bad. It's. Although it's longer, it's.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

You know, it's more manageable. But, you know, hard is, you know, everybody has different heart. And so that's the big thing that people maybe get a little, you know, when, when we start telling these stories, it's like there's no, there's. I can't even relate to this. Yeah, right. But like, my wife would never even walk 5K. But, you know, not too long ago she just hiked 20k or 20 miles. Sorry, 20 miles. And she's doing 29029 because it started small. Right?

[John Gafford]

Yeah. And well, and plus the proximity she is to you doing this crazy stuff.

[Brady McDonald]

100. Yeah.

[John Gafford]

She's like, look, she's seen you with your worst. She's like, if this jerk does.

[Brady McDonald]

Exactly. Yeah. The other day was so cool. So we're before the Clearwater marathon. My. I have a 4 year old daughter. She ran a 5k, 14 minute miles. She's this big.

[John Gafford]

That's awesome.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. And it's just proximity.

[John Gafford]

Yeah. Because this is just what we do.

[Brady McDonald]

It's normal.

[John Gafford]

It's just who we are.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

It's what we do. So what's the craziest thing you did? So what was harder? The ultra miler, the 100, the 100 miler or the.

[Brady McDonald]

So that. Yeah. So the next thing we did was the 100 miler. My coach said, what. What do you want to do next? I said, well, I think I want to run a hundred miles and raise $100,000 for charity. I think you donated money for that.

[John Gafford]

I do. Good.

[Brady McDonald]

Thanks again, John. And we were. Yeah, we ended up raising 85, 000 for charity for that. For. For that run. So we ran the 100 miles and that was hard, dude. Like. Like you're in a pain hole like you've never experienced like next to giving birth. Like if I was to give birth or, you know, if I knew what that was, like, this would be like giving birth, but for like 18 hours straight.

[John Gafford]

But I have a friend of mine named Tony Grappo those here in town. And Tony's like. Tony did this when he was like 65. Yeah, I think he did 100 miler. And I asked him and I said, bro, you know, what is it? He goes, well, your. Your toenails come off.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

Yeah. And he goes. He goes. He goes. It gets to a point where it's not. It doesn't hurt anymore.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. Yeah.

[John Gafford]

There's no more hurt. It's just the same hurt.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

And if you can just get to that place where you hit the same hurt and you just understand this is just what it's going to be.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

And accept that you can do it.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. I got the same advice actually. Like somebody said to me, he's like, brady, this is the best piece of advice I can give you. It's going to get bad, but just know that it's not going to get any worse.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

Like. All right, so I. And it gets bad.

[John Gafford]

Well, let's talk. So let's walk through that, man. So as you start running. Yeah. Where was this? This was.

[Brady McDonald]

This wasn't as was that.

[John Gafford]

Jesse.

[Brady McDonald]

It's just festival. It was a one mile track around a track. So similar to the 100 miles that we're Buddy's running tomorrow is a one mile track. That's what. Yeah. So first 32 miles I ran it and we started at 4pm So I started running and you know, circles essentially. And I, I started doing a run walk at about 32 miles in. And then all night long, pitch black. You know, you're looking through a headlight and all you see is foggy as. So all you're seeing is this tiny little beam. You know, you're starting to get a little wheezy and like delirious and starting. You know, I don't think I hallucinated this, this particular one, but I did the last one. Yeah. And dude, you just go into this pain hole that's like, it rips you to your core. Like, if you think you're awesome, you're not anymore. Like, you have zero ego. Like, your ego's gone and it's like the closest part to death. I honestly think that you can get.

[John Gafford]

How do you fight the. Because you gotta have a voice in you saying, quit, quit. Go sit down. Go sit. Like, what is that voice in your head saying to you and what are you saying back?

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, like, I think, well, for me, I just. You just have to like, for me, I'll. I'll run four minutes and walk one. And it's all about just getting to that end one with the four minutes and then walking the one run. And so you, you really go into robot mode. And initially you start. You want to talk, you're with your crew, but after that, dude, like, you can't listen to music. You can't listen to any. Anybody talk. Like, it's just so the, you know when you run or exercise and the worst song comes on.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

You're like, change it, change it. Well, that's what it's like, you know, for 18 hours whenever anybody talks to you.

[John Gafford]

Oh my gosh.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. You know, and like you said, like the pain is just. Is overwhelming, but you just have to. You just again, you just keep moving. Right? And I think that's the secret. It's just. Don't stop.

[John Gafford]

So how do you. I mean, how do you. Because obviously you got to do something to protect your feet while this is going on. How do you protect. Is there any way to protect your feet? Or they just.

[Brady McDonald]

I don't know, I just, I just, they're just. They just keep going. Yeah. On the, on that 100, I think I only had a couple little blisters. It Wasn't too bad. The next one. Yeah, the net. Well, the next 100 miler was just in October. That was through the mountains, 13, 000ft of elevation. And so that was a little harder. And that's when I actually hallucinated.

[John Gafford]

Is that the one Ken's wife came out to crew?

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, she was crewing. Yeah.

[John Gafford]

Okay.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, she. I was hallucinating, seeing cows and. And in like, horses and that weren't there. And, yeah, that was. The feet were pretty good there, too. But just, dude, doing that in the mountains was like, I would never do this again.

[John Gafford]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

But then now you're like, well, I.

[John Gafford]

Could do that again, though.

[Brady McDonald]

So then. Yeah, so I'm. I am doing another 100 miler in April Zion 100. But okay, so then I. I kind of like, okay, well, what's next? Yeah, so I thought, okay, there's this new 200 miler coming out in Mammoth, California. I'll sign up for that. And because I did put my name in for the Moab 240. So I don't know if everybody. Anybody's listening, probably. You know David Goggins. Yeah, Goggins ran the MO 240. This is a famous race. Very hard to get into. 240 miles straight. And I'm like, ah, you know what? I'm just going to put this in. I'm not going to tell my wife because she'll kill me. And so I put my name in while. Funny, this. This other guy that I'd met did an introduction to the. The race director at some point because I was trying to get it into this other race. Well, sure enough, was my name not one of the very first ones to get picked. And so. But my credit card didn't run through. Perfect. Oh, I'm like, I have an out. Yeah, I don't have to do this.

[John Gafford]

My bad.

[Brady McDonald]

Like, darn. Because. Because I was actually pretty scared. I was with Gearheart. We were in.

[John Gafford]

That's terrifying.

[Brady McDonald]

It is terrifying, bro. And. But then, you know, funny, if we're driving one day with my wife's over there, my buddy calls me. He's like, hey, congrats on getting into Moab.

[John Gafford]

She looks at me like, you signed up for Moab? Yeah, we didn't talk about that.

[Brady McDonald]

She's like. I'm like, oh, gosh. Yeah, So I did. I did pay for it.

[John Gafford]

When is that race?

[Brady McDonald]

October. Yeah. So 240 miles. I think you have like 130 hours, five days to get it done.

[John Gafford]

How many people do this?

[Brady McDonald]

I think there's like 250 or 300 people.

[John Gafford]

How many finish on average?

[Brady McDonald]

Probably like I'm guessing here. Okay. So like I'm gonna guess like around. If 250 started, probably like 180. Finish it.

[John Gafford]

All right. Okay. Okay. Yeah, I like your odds.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, yeah, I'll finish it.

[John Gafford]

Five people come up.

[Brady McDonald]

I'm going to race it.

[John Gafford]

Oh, you're like, I want to win.

[Brady McDonald]

I, I'm going to do good. It's my goal. I don't know if I'm going to do good. I might not make it. I might not finish it. There's a chance like 240 miles is.

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[Brady McDonald]

Three and a half days straight is my goal. Would probably be my goal. Maybe three days.

[John Gafford]

Yeah. That's like you running from right here to my house in Orange County.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

I think it's 240 miles from here to my house.

[Brady McDonald]

So that when you're starting to deal with like feet and, and so one of my bigger problems that I do end up getting a swimmer induced pulmonary edema. My lungs fill up with fluid and I got that when I did that. That Ultraman Iron man or Ultraman race. Yeah. So that's the, that's kind of the big fear that I've got is like if my lungs just.

[John Gafford]

What, what is your. Since you started doing this, if you had to compare your general stress levels or how you dealt with stress before and after, like these experiences, how would you compare those two things?

[Brady McDonald]

Things? Yeah, I think well before I drank.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

And I was just like, that's how I dealt with stress before. Right. But. And now. And I had a lot of chaos in my life because, I mean, it's just, you know, I wasn't just as focused now because I can like when I run and I train, like I get clarity and confident. I'm just, I literally, you know, go to bed at 8:30, wake up at 4:30. Like my life is very like, dude. And we travel a lot and have lots of adventures and stuff, but it's very, just like super basic, super focused on business. And so the, the running does de stress very well. I mean, now my cortisol levels are probably through the roof and I had to go on testosterone and a whole bunch of other. But I'm handling it better now than I ever have.

[John Gafford]

Well, I was going to say, because when you put your body through so much stress like that and you stretch, what is possible for you to do? I mean, I gotta believe what used to really bother you maybe five ago.

[Brady McDonald]

It's just like, it's not even. Yeah.

[John Gafford]

Doesn't. It's not even a blip on the radar now.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah, Totally have to be. When you think about the times that you grow the most in your life, it's like when really bad things happen, there's death, the financial issues, divorce. Like, those things change you. And so you can actually do that intentionally. And it doesn't have to be 100 miles. It could be a half marathon. Like, that is intense. And that is the same type of. Of, you know, fortitude and mental, you know, whatever that word is, to get you through that. And. And it's good practice for when things go upside down in life before they happen. Yeah. And. And you build. You build the same muscles.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

Right. And so, you know, when, you know, this year still, you know, we're on the path to having a massively successful year, but nonetheless, like, lots of reinvestments and a lot of risk, you know, in a lot of fear. But.

[John Gafford]

But even your ability to deal with risk must be much.

[Brady McDonald]

And you think through it.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

Like, methodically and with confidence. Make the right calls. Also gotten really good at just knowing that I don't know the answer and who to call next and be okay with that.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

You know, being more vulnerable is another thing I think, too, is just being real with myself on. I. Listen, I don't need to be perfect. I don't need to know all the answers. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. And I up a lot.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

And whether it's with my team or with my kids or with my wife or just even with, you know, what if I go offside because, you know, I'm sometimes around a little hot. Imagine that. Right. But I'm okay with saying I up.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brady McDonald]

And Right. And just being, hey, listen, I'll put in the work. I'll fix it.

[John Gafford]

Well, I know that now you've taken your passion for this stuff, and, dude, you. You're all in, bro. There's no question. You're all in. And you want to share it with other people. So you did this. And this is. No, this is not where this turns into infomercial. I know what you're thinking. Don't think that way. This is stuff. So tell me about 0 to 100, bro. Because obviously you're telling everybody it's all over you like a damn billboard.

[Brady McDonald]

It's a way of life. Don't ask me what it is. It's a way of life.

[John Gafford]

There it is.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. So. So before I ran the 100 mile run, I was with a buddy in Puerto Rico and. And we were working on a whole bunch of other things that turned into this 0 to 100 because he's like, Bro, everything you do is 0 to 100. And that was just like a way to connect a life philosophy on how I do everything. So it's an easy way for people to understand a message. Right. Which is like, move best, you know, play all out. You know, just commit fully, like you're on this path, this journey. And then we, you know, we did the 0 to 100 miles, raised 100 grand for charity. And then I'm just like the. Every time I would hit a stage, I would get. I would tell the story that, hey, the thing that got me on this good path into, you know, because the path that I'm on created some massive relationships. Right. And then that spins into more money and more revenue and everything. Right. So it all. But it all started with doing the 75 hard. And I would talk every, you know, I would get probably like 50 to 60 of the room would sign up to the 75 hard the next day, and within that week, 90 of them have dropped. Because it's hard. Yeah, Right. And I'm like, there's got to be a better way. So we started the zero to 100 day challenge, which is 45 minutes of exercise a day, eating healthy, no boosts. Right. And. And it's just the life that I live. Right. Really, so it's sustainable. If you miss a day, you just double up another day day. And so we just. That's what part of that is. It's just a given people an opportunity to have the same, you know, chance at getting in healthy and getting clarity and courage and confidence through fitness that I had. Yeah, right. And so we. It's free. You know, they go to 0100.com and we have accountability huddles. We have guest speakers that come on all the time and just pour into people and help them get through that 100 days. Because, yeah, that's where it starts. It's like we succumb to our habits.

[John Gafford]

And it's kind of like the. It's funny as you're sitting here describing that, all I could think about was Average Joe' gym versus, like, the good, the purple Cobras and dodgeball. You're like, hey, man, you missed a day. It's okay. Come back tomorrow and double up. You'll be all right. You're gonna fall down a little bit and that's okay.

[Brady McDonald]

100.

[John Gafford]

I'm not kicking you to the woods because you didn't, you know, get that 45 minute run at 3:00 in the morning. This today.

[Brady McDonald]

It has to be realistic too. Like, I mean, life, like, is like, happens, right, every day? Pretty much every day. Yeah.

[John Gafford]

Multiple times every day. It does.

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

Well, dude, I love it, man. You. You are literally one of the strongest mentally people I know that can p stuff. And I, I'm rooting for this Moab thing. I think that is insanity. Yeah. And dude, you're. You're one of my craziest friends. For the, for the best possible reason. I love that.

[Brady McDonald]

Let's just hope I survive.

[John Gafford]

If they want to find you, man, how do they find you?

[Brady McDonald]

Yeah. Instagram, Brady McDonald, 84. Facebook, same. Yeah. And then they go to zero to 100 if they want to check out the challenge.

[John Gafford]

I love it. Well, dude, if you listen to that today and listen, push yourself, do hard things. Because the harder the things that you do, the easier everything else in your life will be. We'll see you next week. What's up, everybody? Thanks for joining us for another episode of Escaping the Drift. Hope you got a bunch out of it, or at least as much as I did out of it. Anyway, if you want to learn more about the show, you can always go over to escaping the drift.com you can join our mailing list. But do me a favor, if you wouldn't mind, throw up that five star review. Give us a share. Give. Do something, man. We're here for you. Hopefully you'll be here for us. But anyway, in the meantime, we will see you at the next episode.

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