Podcast Summary: The BetterLife Podcast

Episode: Four Millionaires Share the #1 Advice That Made Them Millions

Hosts: Brandon Turner & Cam Cathcart
Guests: Craig Curelop & Mike Brockway
Date: January 27, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode brings together four self-made millionaires—Brandon Turner, Cam Cathcart, Craig Curelop, and Mike Brockway—to discuss the pivotal advice, habits, and mindset shifts that propelled their wealth-building journeys. The conversation is fun, candid, and actionable, with real stories, humor, and practical frameworks. The group explores how key decisions, systems thinking, leveraging relationships, and learning from failure all contributed to their financial success. Listeners get both personal anecdotes and universally applicable wisdom for real estate investing and lifestyle design.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Guest Introductions (01:10 – 06:09)

• Craig Curelop
  • Leads Denver’s #1 investor-friendly realtor team.
  • Wrote "The House Hacking Strategy" and new book “The Investor Friendly Agent.”
  • Focuses on co-living: buying multifamily and renting by the room for high cash flow and appreciation.
  • “I live up in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, but most of our business is in Denver.” (01:30)
• Mike Brockway
  • Based in Denver, moving to San Diego.
  • Full-time real estate investor (10 years); specializes in high-end, experience-based short-term rentals.
  • Recent reality TV experience on Netflix’s “Love Is Blind;” leveraged small Instagram fame for some real estate leads.
  • “I went hard into short term rentals... trying to be top 5% of the market.” (02:54)

2. The Power of Systems & Pivotal Advice (12:25 – 31:46)

Craig Curelop’s Millionaire Moment (13:08 – 15:55)

• Inspiration: A friend’s father retired early via a real estate nine-plex—sparked Craig’s “ding” moment about real estate's potential.
• Critical Mindset Shift: “Real estate was never in my brain before… That moment between the conversation with my intern and seeing that lady [landlord] collect $40,000 from me got me to think, oh, real estate could be something.” (13:48)
• Education: Initially skeptical about BiggerPockets, trusted it after reading Brandon’s book, which referenced it often.

Brandon Turner's “Pivot” Advice (18:04 – 25:33)

• Mindset Shift:
  • Transitioned from “Can it be done?” to “How can it be done?” after discovering the BiggerPockets forum and reading how other landlords handle tenants who don’t pay.
  • “There are answers for all of the ‘yeah, buts’ out there.” (20:24)
• From Millionaire to Multi-Millionaire: Systems Thinking
  • Lesson from Robert Kiyosaki’s “Cash Flow Quadrant”: Build scalable, repeatable systems—don’t just haul buckets, build pipelines.
  • “Everything became a funnel, a system, a process. Not one-off stuff.” (25:28)

Cam Cathcart’s Take on Systems (25:33 – 26:56)

• Scaling through Systems: Initial wealth came from strong relationships and acquisitions. True scaling came from extracting those skills into a system others could replicate.
• Memorable Quote: “That is what’s taken us to the next level… take everything that’s in my head… and put that into a system…” (25:36)

Discussion: Are Visionaries Good at Systems? (26:39 – 31:21)

• Visionaries (Brandon, Cam, Mike) can conceptualize systems but not always build or maintain them.
• Importance of hiring “optimizer” or “high C” team members to actually implement, maintain, and improve systems.
• Building an external system/incentive—"if they don’t work the system, they can't feed their family”—ensures processes function smoothly. (28:04)

3. Going Beyond Systems: People & Relationships (30:46 – 33:37)

• Mike Brockway: Success beyond first million depends on leveraging others and building teams.
  • “Initially you can push through yourself… but to make it to that next phase, it relies on other people…” (30:53)
• Brandon: His team now documents a new system each week, enabling them to diagnose exactly where a business process is broken.
  • “When something’s broken in your business, they go to your flowchart and they say… this is where it fell apart.” (32:39)

4. The Role of Passion, Purpose, and Resilience (35:04 – 42:53)

• Mike’s Journey: Early advice was “find your passion.” Process was non-linear—he started with cashflow needs, discovered passion via doing (e.g., design in STRs, now development).
  • "You don't have to find that thing right away… you can find it throughout your journey." (35:24)
  • Even if your passion doesn’t pay well, use wealth to support it or to buy your time so you can pursue it.
• On Failure:
  • Everyone’s first deal is rarely perfect. “The first deal doesn’t actually matter… the money from your first deal does not matter at all.” (39:56; Brandon)
  • Cam’s first deal lost money, but the act of doing it mattered most: “Sort of a powerful mental checkmark… I do the things I say I’m going to do.” (41:02)
  • Mastermind groups accelerate belief—seeing ordinary people succeed helps you realize, “If they can do it, I can do it.” (42:17)

5. Mindset, Masterminds, and Picking Your One Thing (43:13 – 51:34)

• Surround yourself with people for whom your big goals are normal or who “make the impossible look like a Tuesday morning.” (43:04)
• Exercise/Real Estate Analogy:
  • Many wealth/fitness building paths work—consistency and picking a path matter more than “the perfect approach.”
  • Brandon: “It’s more important that you decide than what you decide.” (50:33)
• Crystal-clear criteria: Decide your strategy, location, property type, price range, and goals, then relentlessly stick to it.

6. Closing Thoughts: Best Advice for 2026 (60:00 – 62:29)

Brandon Turner (60:00)

• “Build One Bridge”—Focus:
  • “Build one bridge. Once you get there, you can build as many as you want, but focus on one thing until you get to that financial freedom number.”

Craig Curelop (60:53)

• “Live like no one else now so you can live like no one else later.”
  • Quoting Dave Ramsey, but applies beyond budgeting—work harder/better/bigger than most.

Mike Brockway (61:19)

• Network and Relationships:
  • “Get around the right people and make meaningful, impactful connections that are going to last years and stick around.”
  • Reference: Their own 10-year friendship that began at a conference.

Cam Cathcart (62:07)

• “Bet on yourself.”
  • “There’s a lot of people sitting on the sidelines thinking, I can’t do this… Bet on yourself in 2026. You will not regret it.”

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “There are answers for all of the ‘yeah, buts’ out there.” – Brandon, (20:24)
• “When I stopped thinking in terms of one-offs and started thinking in terms of systems… that’s what makes you a multimillionaire.” – Brandon, (25:33)
• “I'm great at thinking through the system… But then the actual building and maintaining…I'm absolutely terrible at.” – Cam, (26:56)
• “You can find [your passion] throughout your journey.” – Mike, (35:24)
• “If you want a system to work, make sure the people working the system can't feed their families if they fail.” – Brandon, (28:04)
• “It’s more important that you decide than what you decide.” – Brandon, (50:33)
• “That moron can do it, I can do it.” – Brandon, on learning from others' stories (42:17)
• “Surround yourself with people who make the impossible look like a Tuesday morning.” – Brandon, (43:04)
• “Bet on yourself in 2026. You will not regret it.” – Cam, (62:10)

Noteworthy Moments

• Craig’s story of skeptical beginnings and “the little Mexican lady” collecting $40,000 in checks was both humorous and pivotal. (13:48)
• Brandon’s metaphor from “Cash Flow Quadrant” about hauling buckets vs. building pipelines became a recurring, actionable framework. (21:49 – 25:33)
• The crew’s playful banter and stories about failed TV shows (“We should co-write a book... I'll write it, we'll put your name on the cover” – 02:41) added levity and camaraderie.
• Admission of failures and bad deals, with honest discussion of resilience and what actually matters for early investors (many first deals lose money, that’s OK!) (39:56 – 42:17)
• A mini-masterclass on finding your ideal business lane and role—visionary vs. systems builder, and the importance of hiring complementing talents. (26:39 – 31:21)
• Real-time practical advice: To grow through systems, document one process weekly. (32:39)

Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• Guest Introductions & Backgrounds: 01:10 – 06:09
• Inspiration & Early Wealth Advice: 13:08 – 15:55
• The Power of Systems Mindset: 18:04 – 25:33
• Beyond Yourself: Building Teams & Systems: 30:46 – 33:37
• Passion, Purpose, & Failing Forward: 35:04 – 42:53
• Mindset and Masterminds: 43:13 – 51:34
• Final 2026 Advice: 60:00 – 62:29

Summary Takeaways

1. Wealth creation hinges on a few key mindset shifts: move from “can I” to “how can I,” think in systems, and "bet on yourself."
2. Mastery comes from focus: “Build one bridge”—stick with one strategy/objective until you’re truly established.
3. Surround yourself with the right people: Success is accelerated by being around those for whom your big goals are merely routine.
4. Your passion evolves: Success isn’t about nailing your passion from day one; it emerges as you progress, as long as you take action.
5. Document and delegate: Even visionaries who hate “doing the system” can scale by training/hiring the right optimizers and implementers.
6. Resilience after failure: Your first deal or effort doesn’t have to be perfect (and likely won’t be)—the act of doing and learning is what matters.
7. Over-analysis kills: Don’t get caught up searching for the "perfect" strategy, market, or moment. Decide, commit, and course-correct as you go.

For further resources, referenced books include:

• "The House Hacking Strategy" by Craig Curelop
• "The Book on Rental Property Investing" by Brandon Turner
• "Cash Flow Quadrant" by Robert Kiyosaki
• "Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat (BRRRR)" by David Greene

Episode sponsors, event announcements, and inside jokes were mostly skipped in this summary, focusing only on the rich, actionable content.