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Preston Brown
Are you tired of complicated business advice that rarely delivers any real results? I'm Preston Brown and I've built a nine figure portfolio by following simple business formulas that anyone can use. In my new book, you, first Million made Easy, I reveal the exact system that I've used to generate hundreds of millions in revenue. And it's frankly a system that works in any industry, with any business and yes, in any market. The good news, it's not about hustle, it's about, it's not about running or working or struggling and what it is about creating money instead of just earning it. Because earning money is slavery while creating is freedom. It's about stopping the cycle of managing by crisis and building a business that doesn't depend on you. Transforming your business from a high paying job to an asset that generates money even when you're not there. Whether you're a startup or an established company, this formula will transform your business into a profit driven machine that gives you the time and freedom to focus on what truly matters. Grab your first million made easy now and let's start the journey of financial freedom together. I look forward to being a part of your story. Welcome back to Problems to profit. Guys and gals, family, friends, I'm so excited. I have to be honest. I have somebody that I admire on the show today and you are going to get a level of value that is going to blow your mind. Mind. Now this gentleman, Justin, we were a part of the mastermind. And you know, it's, it's nice and it's fulfilling and it's wholesome. When you're in a group of people, you know all of them are wildly successful, you don't necessarily know about them. But when you walk up and you talk to a guy and the first thing he talks about is not business, it's, it's not money, it's not wealth, it's not investing. He starts talking about the things that are important. He starts talking about his faith, he starts talking about his family, he starts talking about like what his interests are in those areas. And I can tell you this, this is just one of the truths that I found to be immutable in my life. Every time a conversation starts that way, you're meeting one of the greats, you're meeting one of the people. That is absolute magic, that is life changing, that is a world changer. And so I had this great conversation with this guy. I don't even think we got into business. I don't think we got in any of it. And I walk away and Somebody's like, do you know who you were talking to? I was like, yeah, his name was is Justin. He's really, really cool. And they're like, yeah, dude, he wrote the Lifestyle Investor. And I'm like, wait a minute, what? And so I'm going through my audible and I'm like, yeah, I, I think I read that. Like, when did I read that? I mean, a while back. And I'm like, I went and reread it again because this is one of the books that like formed my way of thinking about investing. Okay. And, and of course then, you know, now, now the conversation's over and I'm like, man, crushing a little bit. I'm like, I want to go back for more. Like, I need to go like, hit up. Justin, dude, thank you so much for coming on, guys. Justin, Donald, like, thank you for coming on to problems to profit, bro.
Justin Donald
Well, thanks for having me. And, and what a kind buildup and a kind intro. And you know, I love that the first things we talked about and the first things out of your mind were family and, and fun and epic experiences. And so, you know that, that, you know, this slices both ways. So I, I left our conversation. I'm like, I want to get to know Preston better. This guy's fun.
Preston Brown
I, you know, I like to joke that I put the fu in fun. And so I'm glad you didn't get that piece of it. But you know, part of Problems to Profit is I like to, I like to showcase the self made aspect of, of winners and leaders and, and you're one of these guys that you've developed a wildly significant net worth. You've done deals that, you've done deals on companies that most of the people that watch this show are going to know the name of. Okay, so you've done hundreds of transactions. But, but you didn't start as this trillionaire guy. Like, you didn't start with just like money bags like, you know, you know, out of the womb with you. Like, you started somewhere else. Like, and you took your problems and you turned them into your profit to make yourself the profit in the business space you are. Can we, can we hear a little bit about your story before we go into some of the lessons?
Justin Donald
Sure, yeah. And by the way, I love that you take your problems and you turn them into profits. I mean, that's very catchy and, and that really is what it is. I, I love that, you know, I, I was raised by an incredible family. My parents are wonderful, good Christian family and, and just hard working relationships Always mattered, but very blue collar. You know, I'd say, you know, at, at best we were, you know, middle class or, or median income, but probably more likely a little bit under that. And my, I remember in seventh grade, my parents were like, well, if you want money, you got to go get a job, you know, and all my friends, their parents were given them money and my parents were like, you got to go work if you want money. We don't have money. You know, what do you think this is the bank of Donald? Like, go get a job. So at seventh grade, you know, I'm literally, I decided to do this job selling newspaper subscriptions door to door. I have no idea why I decided to do it. It was maybe one of the only places that would hire me. It was a 100% commission job and I was good. Okay. So I worked for weeks trying to sell newspaper subscriptions that no one wanted because a lot of these weren't even like the best paper. They're like a little no name paper. And I'm telling you, I had doors slammed in my face. The word no just became regular, you know, commentary, regular vernacular and correspondence with people. And, you know, but it was interesting because at a certain point I started becoming a little callous to it. It, like, it didn't bother me at first. I was like, oh man, they don't like me. This, this hurts. They said, no, they don't, they don't want to buy a subscription. And then later I just learned after enough reps and enough, you know, getting poor results, I was like, I'm just going to get good at this. So what would it look like if I showed up confidently? What would it look like if I just had a script memorized, if I knew what they were going to say? And at this point I did, and I knew how to handle each of them and I did it with tons of confidence. And that's really when things changed, when I made that commitment. Now all of a sudden, I became one of the top sales guys on the team. Ended up making a ton of money. And, you know, my seventh grade, eighth grade, ninth grade. I mean, all through middle school and high school, I sold newspaper subscriptions. And by my senior year, I had my own crew out running and, you know, dropping them off in neighborhoods and they would sell coupon books, subscriptions, magazines, all that.
Preston Brown
I love that so much. And there's actually a common theme that I'd love to just bring up before we go into the next part of the story. Like, like entrepreneurship tends to start young. Like the labor laws don't really let you get a job till you're 16.
Justin Donald
Right.
Preston Brown
So you have to go into something like either entrepreneurial or commission driven. And I mean talk about a perfect age. Like right as your mind is developing to start learning something like sales. I mean, I think they should teach that in school.
Justin Donald
I do too, 100%. I mean those are the soft skills that are going to be the game changer way down the road.
Preston Brown
Yeah, we don't teach about sales, we don't teach about budgets, we don't teach about taxes, we don't teach about any of that stuff. You know, gender ideology might be something we need to, you know, pump into our fifth graders head. But not sales. Right.
Justin Donald
Like, but, but, or personal finance, you know, to make matters worse, like two of the most important things, you know, communicating with people, sales, you know, personal finance, investing, like none of this is covered.
Preston Brown
And it's some of the stuff that is maybe the most important because if you want to hit all the other items, like, you know, we had this thought with the mastermind that I was a part of that we've talked about and, and we said faith, family, fitness, finance. These are the four cores to the human experience. And like four fingers held up on your hand, they may not be the same, but they're all tethered to one another. And if you want to have the time to honor your faith, if you want to have the ability to go and get to know your wife at the highest level, you have to give her presence. That takes a lot of time. Yeah. You want to take care of your fitness, you might need half an hour, an hour in the gym every day. It would be really nice to have the finances to be able to afford to buy back enough time to get there.
Justin Donald
That's right.
Preston Brown
Why? Why?
Justin Donald
And to be able to afford the highest quality, you know, type of services. Right. Like if you want health to be so important. Well, let's, let's look at who the best in class is and let's have the means to be able to afford it.
Preston Brown
So we've started this episode off, which I can already tell is going to be good with a lesson in history because I don't, I don't know very many entrepreneurs that are at your level that didn't start learning to sell young. And maybe also a parenting tip for people with kids. That's great. Anyway, continue.
Justin Donald
Well from there, my, my parents had said, you know, we want you to go to college. We didn't, you know, my parents didn't graduate college no one in my family had gradu college. So there to them it was going to be, you know, really, let's call it a success if their child or children. I got a brother too, younger brother, you know, if, if we can graduate from college. And so, you know, at that point in time, my parents didn't really have the means to put me through school. So I had to figure out how to do that. And I was going to go no matter what. I wanted to be the first person in the family to graduate. I wanted to figure that out. And so that's when I found this company, Cutco. And that's really how I paid for my way through college. I sold kitchen cutlery and cookware on an in home appointment basis, starting out with friends and family, getting leads and referrals from there, and did really well. I ended up making enough to pay for college. Graduated debt free. I mean, I made a lot of money, but I worked hard. I mean, I put my head down and it helps to have a great quality product. Before I was selling newspaper subscriptions, which I'm going to argue is not a very high quality product. Maybe some people like them, but we are selling the inferior products. Right. It makes a big difference when you have the highest quality product out there with this incredible guarantee, a forever guarantee. So, you know, as a, as a youngster, I can have confidence sharing this with people that are twice or three times my age that, you know, they need high quality products in their kitchen. And so that was a great step forward for me. Again, soft skills, sales, meeting people, talking to people older than me, looking people in the eye, shaking hands, all these things. And then I decided that I really wanted to get into management because I actually enjoyed leading people more. And so I learned how to build a team. I learned how to hire receptionists, and I learned how to recruit people and get insurance in place.
Preston Brown
Is this all still at Cutco?
Justin Donald
This is all still at Cutco.
Preston Brown
Okay. Wow.
Justin Donald
Yeah. And so we ended up being one of the top offices. This is why I was still in college. So in between my junior and senior year that summer, I opened up an office and we did great and I had such a good time. We had two of the top reps in the company. Top, you know, out of the top, either 50 or 100 reps, we had two of them. And so I was so pleased that, you know, I could actually be good at this, at coaching people. And it was fun. It was a lot of work, but it was fun. And I just went on to continue moving up and building a big organization under that umbrella for years before I transitioned into more of the consulting role that I, you know, basically all the skills that I learned coaching and teaching people, building leadership teams, creating comp structures, you know, ongoing training, retention, leadership development, I mean, all those things I was then able to teach other companies in an advisory or consulting role for, you know, the next iteration of, of really what I would call, we could call it my second business, but I would say like my first real business on my own. Right. With Cutco there, there was fulfillment, there was a back office. Like I didn't have to do everything. I did a lot, but I didn't have to do everything. So my first real business on my own where I had to do everything, you know, was that.
Preston Brown
Oh, you started in consulting.
Justin Donald
Yes.
Preston Brown
So not typically a super high margin business where it's easy to get through and probably at a point in time where everybody on Instagram was also a consultant, right?
Justin Donald
Yeah, yeah. Tons of people.
Preston Brown
Yeah.
Justin Donald
But again, it's a business where if you offer enough value, you're going to retain your clients, you're going to help them grow, you're going to, you know, they're going to see things pretty quickly if you know what you're doing. So there are a ton of people, but a lot of them will fizzle out. A lot of them won't get, you know, hired on. A lot of their contracts will get terminated early.
Preston Brown
I'm, I'm. And it makes sense that you came from a world like Cutco because you understood the value of brand and you understood the value of delivering a quality product. And you know, it wasn't just the sail and the flash in the pan. You had to follow through with all the other pieces. I only bring that up because having done consulting myself, that is not an easy industry. That's one of the hardest industries you have to deliver. Yes. Yeah. Or you're the easiest person to divorce. Yes. Yeah. That's so cool. Okay, well, we've gotten you through college and we, we've jumped kind of to the consulting. And, and, and I don't think you ever really stopped consulting because you're, you're, you're still in many ways a consultant today, but you moved from consultant kind of to investor to syndicator. Was there, was there a path or a journey through that or to that, that you.
Justin Donald
Yeah, yeah, certainly. I mean, so what started happening is sometimes instead of a consulting gig, I might get offered an advisory gig. And so instead of taking money today, maybe I'm, you Know, investing some stock or maybe I have an opportunity to invest in a company at some preferred terms. And so I'm starting to see the power of, oh, maybe it doesn't make sense. Like, if I believe in this team and these people, maybe it doesn't make sense to take money today. Maybe I shouldn't be working off of a retainer and some ongoing fee, maybe. Or maybe it's part that and part equity. And so, you know, that, that was kind of interesting to kind of look through. But at the same time, I also was kind of, you know, on. On the precipice of do I continue trading time for money or do I actually buy assets that produce income so I don't have to be on the clock?
Preston Brown
What was the, what was the shift there? Like, where, where did that question come from? Because I think it's a question a lot of people have, but maybe they put it aside. Where did that question come from? And how did you, how did you come to the point where you were like, this is going to be one of the formative questions of my life?
Justin Donald
Well, I'm a big reader and I've read a lot of books over the years, and Rich Dad, Poor dad was one that really kind of got me started down this path. And really Cash Flow Quadrant, Robert Kiyosaki's second book, that's the one that really stuck. I remember thinking, wow, I need to be doing things differently than I am based on where I want to go. And then the people I'm surrounding myself with, they're doing it on this other. The slow lane. I need to do it on the fast lane. There's another book, M.J. deMarco's Millionaire Fast Lane. I'm like, I've got to surround myself with other people that are playing the game of business and life and wealth creation at a higher level than me. And so that's when I really started, like, leaning on mentors, trying to find people that would mentor me up and find a peer group that could help me elevate my game. And so I had a friend that got into real estate, and then the largest private owner of that asset class, specifically mobile home parks, became my mentor, took me under his wing. And so I got started in that years ago, probably 15, 16 years ago, at first lending money to a buddy, you know, more like a hard money loan, so that he could buy them. And then I saw how well he did buying these mobile home parks. I was like, man, you're making a really good return. I saw the financials, so I'm like, why am I not doing this? And luckily, he's a good friend. He's like, well, you should be. I told you you should be. But since you weren't, I was just borrowing money from you. So that's when I decided, all right, well, I'm going to do this. And I bought my very first property, and that property replaced my wife's income. She was a teacher at that time, and our schedules didn't really line up great. And so that single purchase bought her time, freedom. She retired, and that's when we started our family.
Preston Brown
So, so how many years ago was. Was this point in time?
Justin Donald
Yeah, so we're. We're around 15 years ago now.
Preston Brown
So 15 years ago, first large purchase, and it empowered you to start your family?
Justin Donald
Yes. Yes.
Preston Brown
How many times do we hear different guests, different amazing people say that one decision that was life changing? I love that story. You told me that story. I think maybe the second time we talked.
Justin Donald
Yeah.
Preston Brown
And, and, and, and it's such a good story. I'm so glad you're sharing it here.
Justin Donald
Well, I love it because originally I was looking at how do I replace my income? But that wasn't the right answer. The right answer is, how do I replace my wife's income? Right. Like, that was a better answer for us as a family. And it was an easier hurdle because I was making more than she was at the time, and her time was more restricted than my time as a teacher. There's very little flexibility, so that really became the path. And then shortly thereafter, we bought another park, and that replaced our survival income. And then we bought one more, and that covered our lifestyle income. So from that point on, every other property we bought, every other investment we made was all surplus income. It went above and beyond what it cost us to live.
Preston Brown
From my perspective, you wrote one of the books that is. It's almost an investing bible. Okay. Now, I don't want to defame the Bible, but, like, it is a very good book that every investor out there should read. And I mean, it was formative in my way of looking. Where do I put my money? Okay. Like, I mean, I love business. I think money is created at the highest level in operating a business. Well, but once you have the money, putting it into things that cash flow is. Is just. It's one of the most important understandings that anyone can have. Where did that. I mean, at what stage of the journey, like, in, in the last 15 years did. Did that book hit and you're like, I need to write this down. I need to document this. The world needs this.
Justin Donald
Yeah. Thank you for the kind words on. On the lifestyle investor book. And. And I love hearing that. It was. It was a. A, you know, pivotal book for you and, and for me. I had this in my head for a long time. I had friends for years saying, you need to write a book. You need to capture these ideas. You need, you know, the world needs to know these things because it's not taught. And I just remember thinking, yeah, whatever, it's not that big of a deal, but I had one of my buddies out here in Austin, there's this. We've got this lake. I mean, it's actually the Colorado river, but it's damned. And we call it Town Lake or Lady Bird Lake now. It's been renamed. And we're walking around this lake, and my buddy says, hey, I've been talking to you for probably a decade about writing a book. You've made no moves. What happens if you die and your daughter doesn't learn all these things, you know, about investing and money and compounding your wealth? And that literally is all it took. Like, I felt like I got, like, punched in the gut. I felt like the wind physically, like, got knocked out of me.
Preston Brown
That's a good friend.
Justin Donald
Yeah. And. And I said, john, you're right. I need to do this. And the next day I started writing it. And actually, I say write it. I actually recorded it. So I just walked around that same trail with a microphone on my phone. I literally just dictated ideas for days and weeks and months and transcribed it and put it in order and added to it and subtracted from it. And. And that was it.
Preston Brown
And we're going to put the link to the book in the show notes, so we will make sure that is there for everybody. So, like, like, you can pause the show and go click the link or keep watching and click the link at the end.
Justin Donald
Well, and something else really cool about the book. So it started off, I didn't have high expectations. I didn't know, you know, I had a friend say, if you ever sell 10,000 copies of your book, you're, you know, one of the top books out there. Like, most people don't even get to 10,000 copies. So I decided that my lifelong goal would be to hit 10,000 copies, and if I did that, that'd be really cool. But we sold 10,000 copies, I think, on day two. And I was like, oh, my goodness, this thing went viral. So anyway, it ended up becoming a number one Wall Street Journal bestseller, USA Today bestseller but moreover, now it's the top 1% of all books ever sold, period. Out of every book based on volume. And all the proceeds go to fight human trafficking. So this book is now responsible for hundreds of thousands. Really soon it will ecl a million dollars in, in actual money donated to help people that are disadvantaged in this.
Preston Brown
I think you have told me that, but I'd forgotten that. That is, that's awesome. Like, kudos, bro. Like, because you're not just, you're not doing something and taking all the profits back. You're, you're, you're, you're turning that revenue into something that's changing lives, changing the world. That's beautiful, bro.
Justin Donald
Well, thank you. The idea is, you know, we can help people through the content and the education of the book to, to buy, you know, financial freedom, but the dollars of the book can actually buy real human life freedom.
Preston Brown
Yeah, it's. It's not win, win. It's win, win, win. That's right, man. We have gotten parenting advice. I think we've got some marital advice on. You need to set your wife free first. Like that. I mean, that's, that's, that's real, man. Like, that's beautiful. We've gotten, you know, some, some business hacks. We've got access to a new book. You know, I mean, I was reading. I mean, I like to, I like to chat GPT people.
Justin Donald
Okay.
Preston Brown
And even though you do now, even though I knew you, I chat GPT, June, it's like over 200 successful deals, and it also, it says way too much about your net worth on chat GPT. So now everybody's going to chat. You beat you.
Justin Donald
I try to scrub that. I'm telling you.
Preston Brown
But over 200 deals. Like, can we talk about some of the deals that, that you've done? I mean, I just, I want, I want people to know who they're listening to. Like, I, I know, but it's different when you've been close to somebody in shared proximity. I want them to know because you hear the ending of a story and it's real easy to judge them. Oh, they got lucky. Oh, they got this. Well, we've now heard the beginning of your story. Like, we've heard, hey, you know, middle class guy and, and, and, and I've inferred that you're a king of kings. But, you know, let's, let's hear some of the details of the ending now. Now that we've got the build up, I want to, I want to, you know, let them hear some of that sure.
Justin Donald
Well, one thing I will say is I am very risk averse. So my goal is to not lose money. So I have a small percentage of money that I'll take big swings with. But the larger, you know, portion of our net worth and of our assets, I really like them to go into deals that should work out. So that being said, you know, I got started kind of in hard money lending and then I really liked that so I did more investing in that private credit space. I got, I mean my, my real big start, our big first win was in mobile home parks and then from there we just continued to add. So we have one of the largest portfolios in the US But I wanted to diversify. So we started getting into some industrial deals, which is probably our second largest holding. Those are my two favorite real estate asset classes. Then we got into self storage over.
Preston Brown
The last few years.
Justin Donald
Yes, they, they've done really well. So you know, a lot of these are going to not necessarily be like a household name, but it's like the asset class people would know, you know, so I've done retail, I've done office, I've done land, I've, I mean if, unless it's super obscure, I've probably done it in, in real estate. And then I never wanted to do anything risky with my money. So most people, they either, you know, if you work for someone else, you probably have the majority of your money in the stock market. And if you have a business, you probably have the majority of your money in the business, all right. And then from there it's like you have a smaller percentage that maybe goes into something else. Like entrepreneurs think because they're good, they're eternal optimists, they're going to figure it out. So they think that they can do the same thing in investing. And that's just not the case. It's two different mindsets. That chasm is too big to cross. You need skills, you need discipline, you need reps. And so I see a lot of entrepreneurs making these risky bets in early stage companies, but that's most likely not going to work. You know, generally it's like 1 out of 100, maybe you're 1 out of 50. I mean the professionals are like 3 out of 40, you know what I mean? Like, and that those are the best people, maybe four. Right? So it's. So I don't like bets like that. But when I do make bets like that, I want it to come from surplus cash flow. I don't want it to come from what I need. I want it to come from the extra. And so I do have a part of my asset allocation, about 1% that will go to early stage deals like angel investing, seed precede, like super early. And my anticipation is I'm going to lose virtually all of it except for one or two or three deals that hopefully will make it. But the power law tells you that if you don't have the numbers, I mean if you're not, you know, 100 to 400 deals, you're probably not going to have that happen. It's probably they're all going to be losers unless you're lucky. Right. Because it's a numbers game there. So I don't like investing in these big name companies unless they are big name because they've done well, because they're more profitable, because they're later stage. Right. And so, you know, I'm, I'm a huge fan of AI. A lot of people like they're, this is the thing and I, I mean I've been investing in AI for like seven to 10 years. So it's not like this new thing that just came around. And so I've gotten into all the big companies early. Right. I'm in anthropic and OpenAI and cohere and xai and perplexity. I mean, you name it, I want to have a piece in those. And again, that's all surplus income. That is all coming from cash flow that goes above and beyond what it costs me to live because I still know that those are high risk. Some of them should pan out, but not all of them are going to pan out.
Preston Brown
But if you've been going for seven years, you're probably riding a pretty good high right now.
Justin Donald
I've got, yeah, I've got some really good positions in those. But keep in mind this is just paper money. Until a company has a formal exit, it is not real. Like on paper it looks good. And I just always warn people is why net worth is such a funny thing. People always inflate their net worth because it's, it's fickle, it's based on today, it's based on, you know, your opinion of what your company's worth typically not someone else's valuation. And so paper money I'm always really careful with because it might have been marked up a lot but that only is realized if the company goes public or somebody buys them. Right. Or maybe you have a chance to sell it in a secondary market.
Preston Brown
That's, that's a really great point. And I'm interested in diving in that too, because, I mean, there's so many ways we can go here. This is so good. This is such gold. I almost did an esop and I'm glad I didn't because the company's, you know, just, just taken off since then. And had I stopped, I would have sold way before the upside hit. But yeah, I got a, I got $105 million valuation on the company on my ESOP. And I was so excited that I listed that on my financial statement. And you know what I got afterwards? A lecture from all my bankers because my balance sheet did not look like $105 billion. So like, net worth is, it's one of those question mark things that you can't go and just put a number on it. You almost have to like, go figure out what the relationship looks like and work it from there.
Justin Donald
Now, I think passive income eats net worth for breakfast, lunch and dinner, right? Because the more passive income you have, the natural byproduct is going to be that your net worth grows. But now you have utility today you can actually use these dollars. You can do something. You can live life today while growing your net worth. So to me, before I was ever a millionaire, I had financial freedom because my passive income exceeded the cost of living. So to me, that's way more important than net worth.
Preston Brown
Passive income should be the focus now. You've done hundreds of transactions.
Justin Donald
Yeah.
Preston Brown
Can you give us a few secrets of like, how, I mean, and, and some of the transactions you're doing, like real estate transactions, they're not always that easy to find. Like, how are, how are you doing hundreds of transactions? I mean, and they're not small scale. This is not flip homes.
Justin Donald
Yeah. You know, it's, it's interesting. So in my book I talk about the ten commandments of, of really just cash flow investing for passive income and financial freedom. And it's my 10 investment criteria. It's like my primary investment criteria. And the third one is finding invisible deals. Because if you can find deals that are off market that aren't being bid up via competition, that, you know, in some cases you're just talking to an owner that wasn't even sure if they wanted to sell and you may talk them into selling, like, that's the type of sale that I like. I mean, that's the type of invisible deal that works or you notice a trend. Right. So I talked about getting into AI early. I got into robotics really early and that has served me well. I got into mobile home park investing early before private equity wanted you Know, a huge piece of it. I got into Single fam, Single Family Home rentals, sfr before it was ever a real estate asset class. Right. So it's like, you find these things. I got into cannabis investing in cannabis lending early, and so there's so many niches that if you can just find them early, but you have enough data to show where it's going to go, and you, you know, you're confident enough that it can get there. Well, there's outsized returns in that. But to answer your question, like, how do I get so many deals? How do I find these deals? So, like, this is. These are the deals I like best because they're not marked up or because you can really negotiate a good deal. But the best deal deals that I have gotten over the years really stem from the relationships I have. You know, a lot of people think that my superpower is investing and I am a good investor, but my superpower is actually relationships and networking and getting to know people and actually adding more value to them than they're adding to me in. In, like, hopefully in tidal waves more and not so that they hook me up later. But there's this reciprocity where people are like, I want to get you back. I want to help you out. And that has shown up many times through and through in my life.
Preston Brown
I love guests where we can go in a million directions, and we can go in a million directions. We have so many things we can talk about. But, I mean, we. We might need to look at this direction because so many of the listeners that listen to this show, and probably most business and investing podcasts, they're in this hustle and grind phase of. Of their business. And the hustle and grind phase has attacks. I mean, it has a cost.
Justin Donald
Oh, yeah.
Preston Brown
And some of those costs are maybe the relationship with your wife, the relationship with your kids, because you're giving your time to something else. You. You. You're losing friends and family. I. You know, years ago, I. I joined the Tony Robbins Platinum partnership. And, I mean, it was. It was fun. Like, we were dancing and jumping and hooting and hollering and, like, getting motivated and getting inspired. But as I got to know everybody, I realized we were all there for the same reason. We'd unlocked a lot of the secrets about money. We chased everything the world had taught us was important. We'd made it our God, and we had alienated everybody else so at least we could be together there. And I'm not criticizing the people there, because the people there are beautiful. But what are they all craving? Why are they spending oodles of money to be in that mastermind Relationships, the thing they burnt down. Yeah, let's, let's pivot in maybe a little relationships direction. And I want to hear like, what are some of the key themes that you're looking for and kind of that heart to heart, that human to human.
Justin Donald
Yeah. You know, one thing I want to touch on right before we transition into relationships is this idea of work ethic. I think work ethic is incredible. I think it's valuable. I think it's super important. Early in my career, I didn't have the skills to really get ahead, but I had the work ethic to get ahead and I could outwork anyone. And so for me, that was my only path at that time. Well, once I started focusing on my skills and sharpening my skills, using my intellect more, using relationships more peer groups and mentors, shortcuts, I started recognizing that I shouldn't be grinding the way that I'm grinding. That that's actually the lowest grade way of running a business or being in business. Maybe you work for someone else and you're grinding that same way, which we can make an argument might be a lot worse because it's not yours. Right. But knowing what I know today, if I had figured this out, so I'm glad that I've got good work ethic and I'm glad if I ever need it, if I ever hit hard times, I know I've got it, I know I can do it. But that actually held me back from really accelerating because it's the skills, it's the precision, it's the relationships, it's the learnings, it's the education that can really let you kind of level up. And so I don't want to fall back on work ethic. I want to fall back on intellect. I want to fall back on like the things that can really move the needle.
Preston Brown
Like that's gold. Let me read, let me, let me just repeat that back to make sure I understand it. Because I think, you know, if, if I want to hear it right and make sure I'm understanding it right, I, I know the listeners need it too. The thing that might have been the thing that got you started and got you to the launch pad to turn you into who you were, was also the very thing potentially holding you back. You. That can only get you so far. That work ethic can only help you build the launch pad, but it's not going to flip the switch and, and, and set the rocket Going, that's right.
Justin Donald
I know a lot of people in construction that work harder than anyone else I know, but they're not getting ahead. Right? They may be doing better than what they could be doing. They may be getting more hours. But for me, that realization of, like, I need to work smarter, not harder. I need to surround myself with people playing the game of business and life at a higher level than me. I need shortcuts. I need their education. I need their mentorship. Like, that. That is the key to leveling up. And so I was able to make exponential jumps there that I would have never made if I just kept working hard. And I can make the argument I worked way, way less hard and way smarter, and I got more, done more of the things that mattered the most and in less time.
Preston Brown
Well, and that. That speaks. I mean, that speaks so much to kind of your style, too. When I first met you, you had this, like, calm, reserved confidence. Not like a lot of the hustle and grind entrepreneurs that you meet. Like, I mean, I get along with them because they're like me.
Justin Donald
Let's go.
Preston Brown
Come on. You know, like, but. But. But you. You came with more of a calm presence. Like, you ever. You ever seen that. That meme. It's like the. The one bull's like, hey, let's run down the hill and get all the calves. And then the old bull's like, let's walk down. Like, you're gonna get one. We walk down, we'll get all, like. You kind of bring that energy to the table. And so what. What stage in your development did. Did you kind of have this? And. And what was it that pushed you over the edge to learn that?
Justin Donald
Well, I remember it was a weekend. I think it was a Saturday night. It was a Friday or Saturday night. It was probably 10pm I was still at my office, and I had been grinding. And I'm, you know, my goal is I wanted to be the best at what I did. I wanted to outwork everyone. And I would put in the hours. I was not afraid of the hours. I was single at that time. And I remember my friends were reaching out. They're, you know, hitting the bars or hitting the city, you know, and. And they're like, you know, are you coming? When are you coming? When are you getting here? And. And I'm telling them, like, I'm still at work, and, you know, they think I'm crazy. But it was in that moment where I said, hey, I'm actually very comfortable with the sacrifice I'm making today, but I'M not going to work this late when I'm married, and I'm not going to work this late when I have a daughter. This is a life for right now and today. But soon I'm going to put it in my rear view and it's going to look totally different. So how, how much longer do I need to work this hard before I can work smart enough to figure it out, where I can put the people in place, put the systems in place, really dial back all the things I'm doing and focus on maybe the, the top 20% of the things that I do that actually move the needle the most. And, and how do I get people that involved, that just culturally they want to be there, they don't have to be the best at what they do, but they're coachable, they're teachable, they're trainable. And, and that was a big, pivotal moment for me where I was like, hey, I'm actually at peace with where I am right now, but if I'm here in a year, I'm going to be really disappointed.
Preston Brown
The gold mine I think that you have in this understanding of relationships probably starts with the relationship you had with yourself, because it's, it's, it's real hard, I think, to figure out who you are. And, and more often than not, at least when I'm looking at who am I? I'm more looking at who am I not? Because I know who I'm not might change, like, every year. Like, I'm not the same guy I was last year, and I wasn't the same guy last year that I was five years ago. Right. Like, but you seem to have a very keen, intuitive, like, look into you because it's not easy to make those internal shifts. Like, your identity can be who you are, but it's also the prison of who you have to be for most people. And, and certainly I, I, I, I love that you're bringing down and, and simplifying the work ethic piece. And thank you for sharing the story of how you changed it. I mean, that, that actually resonates with me. My mom, at one point, we were driving down the street and, and it kind of relates to your story. She pointed out the homeless guy and, and she said, you see that guy, Is he lazy or hardworking? And I, of course, I'm a kid. He's lazy. And she's like, nope, he wants to be lazy. That's why he has to work harder than anybody else in the hot sun, holding that sign all day long. And I'M like, oh. And so it's almost a paradox.
Justin Donald
It is.
Preston Brown
You know, like. Like, talk about this. Wow, that's good. You just gave gold, bro. Like, that's gold. I mean, if people get nothing else out of this podcast, which. If you got nothing else out of this podcast, you really need to get a Q tip and fix your freaking ears. But that's gold. Like, that can change somebody's life.
Justin Donald
Well, thank you.
Preston Brown
Let's talk relationships. What are you looking for? Because, I mean, we live in a transactional world, you know, and I think the. The transaction has been demonized a lot in popular culture. You know, people be or president's too transactional. But. But I also think on the paradoxical side of the transaction, it's what creates human relationships. Like, it's a transfer of action if we go to the root of the word. And so it's critically important, even though we demonize it, which is f. What are you looking for to find that compelling relationship? Because I guess what the difference between conditional love and unconditional love is, is conditions. Right?
Justin Donald
Yeah.
Preston Brown
But even if we want to say we unconditionally love our spouse, we can ask, were there vows in our marriage?
Justin Donald
Yeah.
Preston Brown
And are those conditions?
Justin Donald
That's good.
Preston Brown
Which means we have to start looking at, like, what is a relationship really? I'd love for you to kind of dive in and define the word relationship, and then we'll grow from there. To you as it is to you. What is a relationship to you?
Justin Donald
Yeah, I mean, a relationship to me is just, you know, it's. It's two people that are being fully honest, fully transparent, earning each other's trust and having a fun time doing life together. You know, it to me, it's like transactions are going to happen no matter what. So I actually want those transactions to happen with the people that I love and appreciate the most and the people that I have the most respect for and the people that have earned my trust. So, you know, I. I talk all the time about, I love to do business with the people that I do life with. Like that, to me, is just a great practice. Those are the people that I trust. So why not do business? Why not, you know, figure out ways that we can both win? I do think it's important to not treat a relationship like a transaction. Right. I think that's dangerous. But in my practice, I am trying to give more than I receive. I love when I have friends that do that same thing. Right. And I can see that behavior, but I still want to out give them I still want to out do them in a way not for me to be better, but in a way where no one can ever question that my intention is to help them.
Preston Brown
I love that. Can I tell you what I heard? Because, I mean, you said, I'm looking for people that are honest, that are transparent. I want to do deals with the people that I'm doing life with. But, but I heard you say I'm looking for a set of values in a person that align with me. Yeah, and that's like, like transactions. I mean, they're, they're interesting. I, I've studied transactions. I love transactions. Like, I mean, you know, a transfer of action. If I unconditionally transfer action to you, it starts with me, it goes to you. I've created a line. A line has a beginning of an ending and an ending.
Justin Donald
Right?
Preston Brown
So it's, it's finite. But if I do that same line to you and 10 other people and I have no conditions set on that transfer of action, and you come back and maybe it's not even in kind, just give me a hug and a thank you. What have you done? You've reciprocated on my transaction. You've create aided a circle instead of a line. There's no ending to a circle, so you've created a relationship. So, like, I mean, I think transactions are the foundation and formation of human society. So people often demonize them. And I don't think anything should ever be transactional. But I heard you say I look for values where I can transfer action safely and productively with people. Did I hear that?
Justin Donald
I think you hit it, hit the nail on the head. Yeah.
Preston Brown
How do you start a relationship? Like, like, like where, where do you go to meet people? Because one, one thing that I found as an entrepreneur, and I think this is going to be value for the people out there hearing it. I'm terrified of people because my first thought is, you want something from me. Like, and I don't necessarily have a problem if they want something from me. But before you want something from me, I want you to want me. And so like I'm, I'm. And this sounds so not masculine, right? But whatever. I'll be vulnerable. I want a safety. Like, I want to go. And I don't care if you're worth a billion or 10 billion or a million or like, probably my best friend in the world is a dentist. And like, I could buy his practice with my spare change. Okay? Like, I mean, I'll take him places because he can't afford to Fly on the plane, like, but I don't care because he loves me. Does that make sense? Yeah. Like, what are you looking for in a person to find it? Like, for me, I'm just looking for the safety of I want to be around you. What are you looking for?
Justin Donald
Yeah, I mean, I think I'm really gauging, like, do I want to do life with this person? Do I enjoy their company? Are they fun? Are they funny? Do they tell me the truth? Do they tell me what I need to hear or what they think I want to hear? Like, I want to know. I want to be in real relationship, not just some fake, propped up relationship. So I want people to call me on stuff. Like, a good friend should call me when I'm in error, if I'm, you know, if I've been rude or whatever. Like, I want to be called on that. So. So that's important to me. Now, I will tell you that I have been burned a number of times, trusting wrong people or fine tuning my skills on who to trust and who to befriend. But never for a second am I going to question whether that's the way I want to live life. Meaning, like, I could live apprehensively and I could look at everyone like they're trying to get something from me, and that's going to create a pessimism, or it's going to create just an energy that I don't think I want to be around. And so if I give people the benefit of the doubt and I say, you know, this person seems great, I'm just going to open up. I'm going to, you know, I will be vulnerable, I will be open. I don't have to be on guard. I don't have to paint a certain image. Let me just be me. I may get burned, but the value of the relationships I get from that, that don't burn me is so worth getting burned. So to me, that's the world. I just want to assume that people are great and I can learn otherwise. And I'm a quick learn. So I'm not going to make the same mistake again. But I don't want to go into something with that skepticism or that, that energy.
Preston Brown
You're looking at people with a framework of, I'm gonna assume you're great, I'm gonna assume you're safe. Like, you're not coming at them from a perception or perspective, if you will, of fear of getting burned. You're taking the risk of getting burned and opening the door and allowing people in and, and dude, you are honoring like maybe one of the most important laws that I try to honor and literally fail at every day because I'm scared and I've got to honor you. Do you know how you measure love? No suffering. Christ was on a cross. How much did he love us?
Justin Donald
Like that much?
Preston Brown
Suffering. You cannot measure love. That's why they call unconditional love unconditional love because you have to suffer to get break your conditions to know that you still love them. Right. Like you love as much as you are willing to suffer for another person. You are doing like, maybe the most. And, and frame it in for whatever listening religious context you want. I'm. I'm Christian. You're Christian, so you and I can use this frame. But you're taking a likee approach. That is so cool. How do you do that? How do you, like, turn off the perspective of the previous birds? And I'm not asking for the listeners at this point. I'm asking for me.
Justin Donald
I. I just think that they can listen too, though. Yeah, I want to give everyone their, their fair shot. Right? So it's like, yeah, I was burned in the past. So does that mean, like, you know, if I just go from a logical standpoint. So does that mean this person's going to do it? No, actually. Could this person do it? Sure. But if I'm on guard, is our relationship going to be as strong or is it going to take, you know, maybe it just takes a long time. Or what if I just go all in and we figure it out right away? And now I'm a little bit like, wiser with my time. Is this someone I want to keep spending time with or is it not? So to me, it's like, why not enter with that frame? If I get burned, that's a lesson. If I notice things about it, maybe there are enough tells that I can figure out with other people. I can learn it sooner, but I just think people innately are good. Right. And so that's the frame I'm going to enter in. And one of the things I've done for years, I mean, over 20 years now, is I've taken someone to either a meal or a coffee at least one day a week. I even do this on vacation. I'll meet people and just, you know, connect with them. You know, go grab a coffee, whatever, at some resort, whatever. I mean, I just, I love meeting people, but my goal is to learn something. And so everyone that I run into, I know I could learn something from them. It doesn't matter you know, if they're a great investor or not, or a great entrepreneur or not. There's something I can learn. And I'm also very intentional with the people I want to learn from and I try to get them in the books for coffee and pick their brain. But this has been a ritual for me that has added up to thousands upon thousands of hours now, and often it's more than once a week. But I now have, you know, reps on people and time and relationship and I, and I'm a quicker study of who's got pure intentions, who doesn't, and how much time am I going to spend with someone, Am I going to repeat, are we going to get time again, you know, that sort of thing. But I do want to give people the benefit of the doubt.
Preston Brown
You're, you're allowing everybody to mentor you in something or assuming they might have something that they can mentor you in.
Justin Donald
Yes.
Preston Brown
That's, that's beautiful. What are, what are three traits? I mean, you gave me like honesty and transparency. What's a third one that like, you're kind of looking for in the people you're looking to do life with? Because I think that's a frame that people also need. You should have values based relationship.
Justin Donald
Yeah, I would say kindness. I, I look to see, are you treating other people around you well? You know, are you treating me well? Are you treating the, the waiter, waitress well? Are you treating, you know, people that just come by? If we have someone that jumps in and interrupts the conversation, what does that look like? I think that that is, is really important. And then I also look for people that like, you know, I like being around people that are really joyful. Generally speaking, when people show up and they have a lot of joy, they probably have made some good decisions in life. They probably also have some good relationships in life. Life, that is something, you know, that really aligns with me.
Preston Brown
This is gold.
Justin Donald
Thank you.
Preston Brown
This is gold. I love that I'm sitting here talking to one of my higher net worth friends with a resume of deals that's done, like all of it. I mean, you've done real estate, you've done business, you've done angel investing. And we're talking about relationships and we're talking about what you look for in people. And I hope that all of the listeners are hooking into the gravity and importance of, you know what that means. Speaking of relationships and one of the ways you and I connected, you have a mastermind. Yes, right. Like, and at the time when, when we first met, I Had a mastermind that I was running around with and I'd created. You had a mastermind. Can you tell us a little bit about that and what you do? Because, I mean, that's a large relationship pool that you've created as well, right?
Justin Donald
Yeah, you know, it's, it's interesting because I, for a long time I did coaching, and we didn't get into that at all, but coaching' a very linear relationship. And so you look at a mastermind, well, now you got all this, you know, web of different, you know, interconnection with people. And, and it can be exponential. So to me, like, masterminds and, and communities are the way where you can really level up. And so I have been in a bunch over the years. I mean, I'm still, what, part of probably 14 different masterminds? And they have three of my own. Right. I don't go to everything. My wife would kill me, but I pick and choose, pick and choose wisely. And, and you know, my whole thing is like, I don't have to get, I don't have to go to everything to get the value. I need to get something great for the one or two things that I go to. Right. So my, the way I look at ROI is probably different than most people. Like, I don't, I don't have to have 100 attendance to ROI. I could go to one event, meet one person, have one conversation, have one mindset shift, find one strategy. One thing could make a 30,000 or 50,000 or $100,000 group worth it. Right? And so I'm very open to that, and I'm very intentional when I places that I will get that roi. And so I wanted to build a community that to me, served in what I was looking for. You know, I went to all these groups and I couldn't find exactly what it was. There were things I like, things I didn't like. And I was like, well, what if I just build my own group? And I didn't know it get as big as it got. I didn't know it become, you know, the, the one of the top rated masterminds out there. But it's an incredible place for me to, to have community. You know, what we try to do is democratize what, what billionaires do, what a single family office does on behalf of a billionaire client. So what does their asset allocation look like? How do they invest? What are the tax strategies they use? You know, what type of. And so we do cool, like, events and travel and networking and that sort of thing. And I do think like the connection, the relationships. You know, we always talk about the four ROIs. How do you ROI a mastermind? And for us specifically, number one is relationships and connections. Number two, tax strategy. You can ROI a tax strategy like that. I mean one tax strategy for anyone that, I mean the cost of membership. I don't know anyone in our Mastermind that doesn't ROI just on one tax strategy. We have 70 plus different tax strategies from some of the world's most renowned tax strategists. Not CPAs, actual tax strategists, meaning most CPAs have never heard of the majority of the things we do do and that ROIS them.
Preston Brown
So I, I like this and, and I need to frame this as important, but I also want to like make sure it's categorized to the people that need it. The right tax strategy makes the mastermind free. Yeah, I mean, well, or, or very profitable. Like you can go pay 50, 100 grand to be in a mastermind and if they show you something that's going to save you half a million dollars a year, you better rejoin next year.
Justin Donald
That's right.
Preston Brown
Like you need to come back. Right. And, and that's probably the hardest thing for masterminds. Either growing or keeping retention is expressing the value. So the financ is huge. All the other pieces are also huge, but they're a bonus after the finance piece because that's the first thing people think about when they're upfronting cash.
Justin Donald
That's right.
Preston Brown
What size of net worth portfolio business do you need to be at to start looking at a mastermind? Because we talked mentoring, we talked coaching. I'm kind of with you. I've gurued people and I've had mentors that took me wrong. I love the mastermind space. I'm in a few right now and it's, it's beautiful because like, like how we met. You get around people that are playing at the same level. You.
Justin Donald
Right.
Preston Brown
And you don't have to guru anyone, you're just peers, but you're still getting gold. What size of an entrepreneur, investor, employee, where does somebody need to be to start looking at a mastermind?
Justin Donald
I think you could be at any size and you start looking at a mastermind and you find the right fit for you. Now that doesn't mean they'd be right for lifestyle Investor, but you don't need to be in lifestyle Investor. There are tons of masterminds out there. Right. So it's like if, if you know if I'm going to spend my money, I Want to spend it on, you know, first, you know, first and foremost, let's say, you know, family and experiences, health and wellness, peer group and mentors. So that to me is where I pour my dollars. And maybe we can just say peer group, group mentorship. You know, we could have four categories. And so I actually give myself a budget every year. This is how much I will spend on my health, this is how much I will spend on masterminds. Like I need to actually get to this number because I want to return on this. So I think at whatever level someone's at, your goal should be to be around people that play the game at a higher level. The game of business life, wealth creation, you know, whatever it is, you know, health, you name it. And so any level, find a peer group, any level, find mentors. Now, you know, for us specifically, we deal a lot with entrepreneurs and very high income earning business professionals. Probably 20% high income earning professionals that work on behalf of someone else. C suites, attorneys, doctors. Right. 80% entrepreneurs. And net worth really ranges from probably, I don't know, 5, 10, 15 million to 500 million plus. So it is a wide range. And we've got a smaller group for those that are probably more in that one to $10 million range. And then we've got our young adults program for 18 to 35 year olds. That is kind of like an entry level point. But to me, find one. It doesn't have to be lifestyle investor branded. Just, just find a mastermind because the peer groups, that's where you can take things to the next level.
Preston Brown
Your reach in life is going to be directly correlated with your relationships.
Justin Donald
That's right.
Preston Brown
And, and I'm going to put your website in the show notes so that people because, and I love what you're saying, go find one and, and that's beautiful. Yes you should. But also if you're listening to this episode, go check out his, go make comparisons, go look around. Because when you can hear somebody that has the results, maybe who you should be following.
Justin Donald
Yeah. Thank you.
Preston Brown
Absolutely. Justin, this is gold. I, I could pick your brain for hours or days, brother. But I also want to honor your time. Is there anything else you want to just like put into the hearts, mind, spirits and thoughts?
Justin Donald
Yeah. You know the thing I say at the end of Maya podcast every, every week is take some sort of action. Like what's one step you can take today to move towards passive income, to move towards financial freedom and to do it on your terms. So most people live life by default. How do we get out of default mode and, and move into intentionality, move into design. Right. Being proactive, not reactive. And so that would be my challenge. It's like, you can't do all this overnight, but if you do, you take a step each day, you're going to be really far next year.
Preston Brown
I love that. Take one form of action today. Take one form of action every day. So today, what I'd love for everyone on the show to do, go into the comments section and comment the action you're going to take. Are you going to be downloading the Lifestyle Investor and starting a good book today? Are you going to be researching Justin's podcast? Are you going to be going to my website, posted in the show notes and getting all of your formulas for your business? What's your action? Post your comment in the comment section. And guys, thank you for tuning in. This has been gold. Please share a little love in the comments for Justin as well and have an amazing day on purpose.
Justin Donald
Can I give them something for free?
Preston Brown
Absolutely.
Justin Donald
What I'd love to do, we have these strategy sessions for people that are trying to figure out how to get from point A to point B or point B to point C. And we generally charge 500 bucks for these. But I'd love to do for your audience is give a free consultation for anyone that goes to lifestyleinvestor.com forward slash consultation.
Preston Brown
Lifestyleinvestor.com consultation and you're giving 500 worth of free consultation.
Justin Donald
Yeah. Someone on our team will spend some time with you. I'll actually do a strategy session with you. And we've got a ton of things. I mean, you could go to the website and find, you know, know, courses and master classes and you know, our blog and our passive income road map. We got all kinds of free stuff and things at different prices. But this would be a great value to your community because these are all, you know, highly paid professionals that, that know their stuff. They know our world inside and out and, you know, it won't cost you anything except some time.
Preston Brown
Oh, my gosh. I absolutely love that, bro. Thank you. You are way too generous. I, I would never even ask for that. But guys, this is absolute gold and more gifts to come. Take some action today. Have an amazing day on purpose.
Podcast Summary: Problems to Profit
Episode Title: From Hustle to Passive Income: Justin Donald’s Approach to Real Wealth
Release Date: July 17, 2025
Host: Preston Brown
Guest: Justin Donald
In this compelling episode of the Problems to Profit podcast, host Preston Brown sits down with seasoned entrepreneur and investor, Justin Donald. The conversation delves deep into Justin's journey from a young salesperson to a multifaceted investor with a diverse portfolio exceeding hundreds of transactions. Justin shares his insights on transitioning from the relentless hustle to achieving passive income and real financial freedom.
Justin's entrepreneurial spirit ignited early in his life. Raised in a hardworking, Christian family, he learned the value of earning money through effort. By seventh grade, Justin was selling newspaper subscriptions door-to-door—a role that taught him resilience and the importance of a strong work ethic.
Justin Donald [04:13]: "I worked for weeks trying to sell newspaper subscriptions that no one wanted because a lot of these weren't even like the best paper... I had doors slammed in my face."
Preston highlights the significance of starting young in entrepreneurship, emphasizing that such experiences foster essential skills like sales and personal finance, which are often neglected in traditional education systems.
Preston Brown [06:38]: "Entrepreneurship tends to start young. Like the labor laws don't really let you get a job till you're 16... I think they should teach that in school."
Justin concurs, advocating for the inclusion of sales, budgeting, and investing lessons in school curricula to equip future generations with indispensable life skills.
Justin's success in sales with Cutco led him to management roles, where he discovered a passion for leading teams. His ability to recruit, train, and retain top performers established him as a leader within the company. This experience laid the groundwork for his transition into consulting, where he could leverage his skills to assist other businesses in building profitable, self-sustaining operations.
Justin Donald [10:44]: "I learned how to build a team, hire receptionists, and recruit people... This was my first real business on my own."
Preston emphasizes that consulting, while challenging, benefits significantly from a strong brand and the delivery of quality services—principles Justin upholds.
A pivotal moment in Justin's career was inspired by Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and "Cash Flow Quadrant", which shifted his focus from trading time for money to acquiring assets that generate passive income.
Justin Donald [14:15]: "I decided to do this. And I bought my very first property, and that property replaced my wife's income... that's when we started our family."
Over the past 15 years, Justin has built a robust portfolio primarily in mobile home parks, industrial real estate, and self-storage facilities. He emphasizes the importance of risk management and maintaining a diversified investment strategy.
Justin Donald [22:30]: "I am very risk averse. So my goal is to not lose money... I like AI, I've been investing in AI for like seven to 10 years."
Justin also cautions against overestimating one's net worth based on paper valuations, underscoring the importance of realized returns over speculative gains.
Justin Donald [26:20]: "On paper it looks good. But net worth is such a funny thing... until a company has a formal exit, it is not real."
Central to Justin's success is his belief in the power of relationships and networking. He attributes his ability to secure numerous investment deals to the strong network he has cultivated over the years.
Justin Donald [30:44]: "My superpower is actually relationships and networking... There's this reciprocity where people are like, I want to help you out."
Justin actively participates in and hosts mastermind groups, which he describes as essential for exponential growth and continuous learning. These groups provide access to high-level strategies, tax planning, and invaluable connections.
Justin Donald [50:16]: "We try to democratize what billionaires do... We have 70 plus different tax strategies from some of the world's most renowned tax strategists."
Preston echoes the importance of such communities, noting that relationships within mastermind groups can lead to significant financial and personal growth.
Justin reflects on his journey from hard work to strategic thinking. While his initial success was driven by a relentless work ethic, he later realized the need to work smarter by focusing on skill development, mentorship, and leveraging relationships.
Justin Donald [33:40]: "I need to work smarter, not harder. I need to surround myself with people playing the game of business at a higher level."
He advises entrepreneurs to avoid the trap of grinding relentlessly without refining their strategies, emphasizing that intellectual growth and strategic planning are crucial for scaling businesses and investments effectively.
When discussing personal relationships, Justin emphasizes honesty, transparency, kindness, and joy as foundational traits. He advocates for building relationships based on mutual respect and genuine connections rather than transactional interactions.
Justin Donald [39:45]: "A relationship to me is just two people being fully honest, fully transparent, earning each other's trust, and having fun together."
Justin encourages taking risks in forming relationships, believing that assuming good intentions fosters stronger, more meaningful connections. He shares his practice of dedicating time each week to meet new people, learn from them, and build a supportive network.
Justin Donald [48:31]: "I've taken someone to either a meal or a coffee at least one day a week... it's my ritual."
As the episode wraps up, Justin urges listeners to take proactive steps toward financial freedom by initiating small, consistent actions. He offers a valuable opportunity for the audience to engage directly with his expertise by providing free strategy sessions.
Justin Donald [56:49]: "Take some sort of action. What's one step you can take today to move towards passive income and financial freedom."
Preston reinforces this message by encouraging listeners to commit to daily actions and engage with the resources provided by both himself and Justin.
Preston Brown [58:32]: "Take one form of action today."
Listeners are invited to explore Justin's offerings and begin their journey toward transforming problems into profits through intentional and strategic efforts.
Justin Donald [04:13]: "I worked for weeks trying to sell newspaper subscriptions that no one wanted because a lot of these weren't even like the best paper... I had doors slammed in my face."
Preston Brown [06:38]: "Entrepreneurship tends to start young... I think they should teach that in school."
Justin Donald [10:44]: "I learned how to build a team, hire receptionists, and recruit people... This was my first real business on my own."
Justin Donald [14:15]: "I decided to do this. And I bought my very first property, and that property replaced my wife's income... that's when we started our family."
Justin Donald [22:30]: "I am very risk averse. So my goal is to not lose money..."
Justin Donald [30:44]: "My superpower is actually relationships and networking..."
Justin Donald [33:40]: "I need to work smarter, not harder..."
Justin Donald [39:45]: "A relationship to me is just two people being fully honest, fully transparent, earning each other's trust, and having fun together."
Justin Donald [48:31]: "I've taken someone to either a meal or a coffee at least one day a week... it's my ritual."
Justin Donald [56:49]: "Take some sort of action. What's one step you can take today to move towards passive income and financial freedom."
Preston Brown [58:32]: "Take one form of action today."
Justin Donald's Book: The Lifestyle Investor
Available at LifestyleInvestor.com
Free Strategy Sessions:
Justin offers complimentary consultations for listeners interested in advancing their financial strategies. Visit lifestyleinvestor.com/consultation to schedule your free session.
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