← The Everyday Millionaire and Mindset Matters Podcast
The Everyday Millionaire and Mindset Matters Podcast
TEDM – Rod Schulhauser - Building Dreams and Breaking Barriers: The Path to Affordable Homeownership (Episode 210)
01:16:20
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- [00:00]
Patrick Francie
Foreign welcome to the Everyday Millionaire Podcast. My name is Patrick Francie and I am your host and I want to begin by saying thank you for listening. On this show I am having conversations with seemingly ordinary individuals who have achieved.
- [00:18]
Rod Schulhauser
Some amazing and extraordinary results in both.
- [00:20]
Patrick Francie
Their life and business. My intention is to inspire and help you learn and grow by having my guests share their journey of how they face and overcome their challenges, but also how they celebrate their their many wins. And now let's get on with this show and have a conversation with today's guest.
- [00:42]
Rod Schulhauser
My guest today, Rod Schulhauser, is a professional engineer and president of the Self Funding House. He is focused on influencing and providing solutions for the nation's housing crisis. He spent three decades specializing in the entrepreneurial space, publishing many books and speaking in front of audiences of thousands, all while servicing billion dollar brands, global sales organizations and dozens of high performing entrepreneurs. His career has been focused on what he calls implementeering, the art and science of engineering and implementation of a dream or a vision. The Self Funding House has been making waves with builders, investors, home buyers, governments and industry stakehold and what originally started as a passion project has now become a full fledged business that is shaping the future of home building, of ownership and rentals. The book series and online learning portal co authored with Derek Loeble has become an Amazon number one bestseller and the third book in the series is already in the works. So whether you need a moderator, a panelist or a keynote speaker, Rod's also very comfortable on stage. The Real Estate Investment Network has been working with Rod over the past year on the Self Funding House project. Well listen in. Enjoy this amazing conversation with Rod.
- [02:20]
Patrick Francie
Hey there and welcome to the Everyday Millionaire podcast. Rod Schulhauser joins me today. Rod, how are you doing?
- [02:28]
Rod Schulhauser
I'm doing great. Great to be here. And you know what? I love talking to people who love to find out what makes people tick. I've really enjoyed your podcast over the last couple years and that's awesome. Thank you for having me.
- [02:42]
Patrick Francie
Well listen, you know we've had the opportunity to get to know each other a little bit over the past several months just in an initiative around the Real Estate Investment Network with the Self Funding House. Probably talk a little bit about that but when somebody asks you today, you know, because I always look at bios. This is one of the things about as business owners, as kind of public, we have front facing roles often and we have these bios and they tend to grow old, although not always. But in this case, bio aside, when somebody meets you today and says, so Rod, what do you do? How do you answer that question?
- [03:23]
Rod Schulhauser
Well, I love starting it with a catchphrase meaning that what I do is called implementeering. And the response is, what the heck's that? And being an engineer, I coined the phrase and created the phrase implementeering. Because what I've really dedicated my entrepreneurial life, which is really the last 30 years of my life, has been in implementing the dreams and visions of high performing entrepreneurs. And maybe that's my entrepreneurship coming through to recognize that role. But I love creating and making somebody else's dream and vision become a reality. I love to create stuff. And so that's probably the highest level bucket I could give you, Patrick.
- [04:07]
Patrick Francie
So when you think about that role and the fact that you've identified it, you know, there is a in the coaching world. And I want to talk about your experience with strategic coach because you were part of that as well, I recall. But let's just talk about this implementeering and your role in terms of supporting others. Do you think that in the world of entrepreneurship, here's my observation, not everybody is cut out to be a CEO. And as much as I wear the hat called CEO of a couple of my businesses, like you, I sometimes think, you know, I'm a better second position than I am a first position. Sometimes I come to that conclusion. I used to with a couple of partners that I've had over the years. I used to consider myself a Sherpa. Like they're going to lead the way up the mountain. You know, I got my hand and I'm just pushing them up the mountain. I'm supporting them and climbing that mountain and I really enjoy that role. Is that kind of along the lines of what you're talking about, Rod?
- [05:11]
Rod Schulhauser
Yeah, it is. Because you know what I really observed early on this was after my corporate engineering life of my first 10 years, is that high performing entrepreneurs. So I'm not talking about somebody who's thinking about being an entrepreneur for the first time. I'm definitely talking about the high performing existing entrepreneur. I really observed two conclusions or two things that dominated. Number one is their makeup tends to have a certain predictability about it. I don't mean just personality, but their strengths, their weaknesses, their focus tends to come to a common place which probably drives their success, I believe. And knowing that once I figured that part out and realized that and really applied it was what comes with that are common traps or issues that those high performing entrepreneurs have to deal with, then maybe they don't always recognize themselves. They recognize the Symptoms, but not necessarily the causes. So I love going in as this implementeering guy because I can help them with the common traps of a high performing entrepreneur relating to their business, you know, time and you know, breaking through their ceilings of complexity, all these kinds of things that are common. And I think what I also brought to them and bring to them is because I understand their makeup, I don't get offended, I don't react to, I don't, I'm not, you know, really affected by the unique mannerisms of high performing entrepreneurs. You know, you know, just as a quick example, high performing entrepreneurs can obvious, can often be misunderstood as being rude and short sighted and being cut off. But no, from their side, that's them being efficient with time being to the point, not wasting other people's time. But maybe to the lay person they say, oh, that person's rude. They're not, you know, they're. But I get it, I get their space and that's what allows me to be effective in working with them.
- [07:14]
Patrick Francie
You know, that's such a great point because when you think about, and even let's look at some of the front facing public figures, you know, whether that be an Elon Musk or I don't know, Richard Branson, to the degree we see him, Jeff Bezos, you know, like big names that you see, they're actually known for that in terms of being direct, being curtain, abrupt. If you take things like that personally, because it's never intended personally to your point, it's just efficient use of time. Why do we need to discuss it? Go. It's like that, curt and abrupt. And I think to your point, for some people that will land as offensive and hurt my feelings kind of stuff. And you're realizing that in the people that you've worked with there's a degree of that that just comes with the nature of the beast, if you will, as well as creativity. Some of the things that I've learned myself over the years is that some of the individuals like you're talking about really high performing heads and entrepreneurs, business owners is there's a degree of creativity that doesn't include implementation, doesn't include execution. It's no, we're going to do this, get it handled. Is that a little bit of what you're experienced over the years as well?
- [08:34]
Rod Schulhauser
Yeah, because you know, if I'm going to be that implementeering person for them, my number one job needs to be keeping them in their gift zone. So they are the progenitor of ideas, they're the visionary et CETERA keep them in their space and fill in the voids that they themselves a can't, don't love, don't have time for, probably give, you know, short shrift to. Because it's not their focus. They don't speak that language. And so, you know, I think what matters most is understanding what matters most to them. And that, and that comes with the, the short sightedness, the, the rudeness or whatever misunderstood is that. Well, you have to understand what matters most. So what matters most to me is implementing their dream revision. It's, it's amazing how easy it is to get them to talk about their dreams and vision. That's, I mean you, if you gave them a day, they take a day and they have a day's worth of download to give you with a vision. And there I, you know, it's almost a segue here, Patrick, is that I wonder how many great ideas get stifled because they stay here and never land in the lap of somebody who can do something with it or that gave a care about it because, you know, the human being is, is a, is just a creative zone of unrealized potential, isn't it? And, but, but I think you're right. You know, if these entrepreneurs, if, if you can just focus on implementing what they want and allow them to keep focused on the next thing, then they're going to solve and create the things that they're destined to be involved in. I think that one of those traps, I was talking about one of those traps of those entrepreneurs, one of them is, is realizing that there's only certain things they should do and certain things they shouldn't do. You know, Michael Gerber wrote a book emit decades ago which talked about the entrepreneur right there. And usually the entrepreneur is one person, but the entrepreneur needs to be three buckets. It needs to be that visionary, it needs to be that manager, and it needs to be that technician. So if the inventor comes, the, the entrepreneur inventor comes up with something, they can't be the R and D person, the marketing person and the visionary. And they usually are. And that's usually why you have this high number of entrepreneurs that fail because they try to be all three. And you know, I think that's what I realized is that there's a role for me because there's the part of that that I really love to do.
- [11:00]
Patrick Francie
In, you know, it's such a great point in that I know my own experience over many years of working with entrepreneurs, business owners, real estate investors, where we say treat your real estate investing like a Business, not everybody is designed to play all roles. And one of the most difficult things with entrepreneurship, back to the E Myth, or the E Myth revisited. You know, really the story of that is about an individual who has the business and then stays in the role of technician, never becoming a business owner. And ultimately they buy themselves a job and they're stuck there because they don't or don't know how or don't think through. To surround yourself with people smarter than you, more gifted than you, and things that you can't do or are not equipped to do, it doesn't mean you're less than or that you're not smart enough. It just means that you take your dream, your vision, your gift, and then off, I guess, you know, offload, delegate the things that you need that you're not great at. And I, like you, have run across many really brilliant entrepreneurs who want to do it all. Can't seem to find somebody or don't think to find somebody like you that can actually operationalize a business. You know, when I came into British Columbia and took over the real estate investment network, I did that with Don R. Campbell, who owned the business at the time, and he could not operationalize the business. He was really struggling with the operations. He brought me in, we operationalize the business, and eventually I bought the business from him. But that was his realization that he finally got to as well, is that he's great at a lot of things, but operations was just not his game, and he couldn't execute. He couldn't work with a team. And so having that realization early on in an entrepreneurial journey would be very beneficial. Let me go back to one thing. I want to just. I don't want to step over and I'll. We'll circle back this conversation because I think it's so great, but I want to know about your engineering. Like, you came from a corporate engineering world. And what type of engineer were you? Were you a mechanical engineer? Were you. I don't know, whatever other engineers there are. What. What part of the engineering world did you live in?
- [13:22]
Rod Schulhauser
Yeah, I. I chose. I actually chose mechanical engineering, but not because I want. I like mechanical engineering. It was because mechanical back in the day when I was at McMaster University, was a little bit of every engineering discipline. Chemical process, electrical, computer, all these different disciplines. And I'm glad I did that because it rounded out. I want to be an engineer in the process controls industry. And I got a chance to travel the globe and manage a team of 100 engineers before I was 30 years old, so it was great. But my entrepreneurial bug hit actually Patrick, when I hit that top of my career, realizing it was only one position above my head and I didn't want, and I probably was financially tapped out. And so entrepreneurship landed in my lap because of that, because I love processes and with processes come results. And I think that's what came full circle into this implementeering things. I love to create things, but I'm not necessarily the best progenitor of those new ideas. And it's just fabulous to see that because, you know, a lot of what you said at the beginning of your, of your last comments there was that there are many entrepreneurs that don't realize that you told the rain story. But what rain does and like what you guys do with your community is you provide that coaching, you provide that insight and probably more importantly the foresight of the challenges to come. And I think that if, if those budding entrepreneurs or maybe even those great entrepreneurs, maybe they're fine money wise, but they're time starved entrepreneurs who can't seem to get to that next level of either success, finances, time or ambition, they should seek out that coaching in their space. Every good entrepreneur that I've seen that has been highly successful and my personal definition is whatever their definition of success is, I like to bolt on one phrase at the end. And you get a life too, right? Because most of them can't add on that bottom piece. But I often justify the idea it's worth the investment of your time and energy to get that third party coaching that, that insight. Because you can then add on the and get a life too. Because not all entrepreneurs have an exit strategy, have a destination in mind. They're just go, go, go. And no time to look beyond the immediate horizon, to actually look at the long term horizon. So I think that, you know, it's kind of like what you and I both believe in because we've had enough conversations to know this, that we believe and love the whole idea of personal and professional development. And if you're not constantly learning, you're decaying because you're resorting back to the past, your old habits and everything else. So I think that to strive and thrive, you need that coaching element if you're going to get to that ultimate destination. So I don't know if that kind of gets to where you were. You asked me what I did, but you can tell I went from engineering and then into a different mindset altogether.
- [16:13]
Patrick Francie
So what was your shift from being in that corporate world to going on the path of Entrepreneurship, you know, I just literally had a conversation last night with a really uber successful entrepreneur, business owner. And we were chatting about just different conversations. And I read an article on, we were talking, of course we get on the conversation of politics and government and, but also on business. And somebody had commented that he realized in his corporate world, he worked his ass off to climb into the C suite. That was his goal. I want to be in those corner offices, I want to be in that boardroom, I want to be talking to the board of directors. And he had this story, he was telling himself that those people got to be really cool, they got to be really smart. And then he realized that when he got into that C suite at a very young age, he went, these people aren't all that particularly smart. And he had at that time, because of the role, also some exposure into politics and was working with politicians. And he goes, it is just blew my mind how many people think that our politicians, our government, our C suite workers are really smart because they're not, they're not any smarter than probably anybody else. They have a couple of gifts. But if you're looking for solutions in a C suite anyways, the point of it was he went on to build a multibillion dollar business. The point of it in that conversation last night was that's how it came up, was that we have this thing that we sometimes think what it is, and then the reality of is it's not that at all. And so he went on, that particular person who had made that comment went on to build like a significant business. And so when you got to that level of corporate world, did you have a similar realization that you're going, no, this is not what I thought it was. Or what took you off of that corporate world that you were in for what, 10 years? You said, I think, and took you on your entrepreneurial journey.
- [18:24]
Rod Schulhauser
The eye opener, I'll tell you, the eye opener, I'll tell you what happened. The eye opener was financially oriented, meaning that I pretty well maxed out my engineering income at an early age just because I want to be in a company that just grew massively quickly. And, and I got to that point of, of, of being quite financially successful. And I started thinking about where I wanted to go next. And there was no path above that, really. You know, there was the president's job, but I didn't want the president's job. But what I did wind up doing is I wound up getting connected to an entrepreneur. And what I, and I didn't go looking for this but what I learned was he thought significantly differently from all the people that were currently mentoring. I had a great mentor in my career, like he was a great mentor. Still in touch with him today, this standpoint. But that was in the box of the job world. It wasn't in the entrepreneurial space. But I met an entrepreneur and I started following him and he wound up, and this was just before, this was like the mid-90s. So if you know where the 94 was, E commerce was just at the cusp in the late 90s and the Internet in the year 2000. All that and one of the largest and actually the first E commerce project involving IBM and Microsoft. He was leveraging a part of that and he wanted somebody to come on board with him to implement what they were doing in E commerce in Canada and put together an educational program and everything else about it. So I did that. I took that leap. So I think what it was, you have to first identify a problem and a desire to do something differently. I didn't go looking for the answer. And then the answer does, the solution does appear. And that's what happened was the solution didn't appear. And then I weighed the, weighed the odds. I knew I had a challenge. I didn't know what the answer was. And sure enough, because you're looking, because you're open to other ideas, you're looking for a different mindset, input. It showed up. It showed up within two years of me recognizing that. And it was a big leap of faith. And you know, when you talk to parents after getting education, engineering and do all that, you know, it's a different mindset when you're dealing with it. But you know what? Everybody loved, everybody supported it. Nobody said don't do it, everybody said you should do it. And that just showed, that just showed me the confidence they had in me. But you know what? I probably was the biggest second guesser. Nobody else was. And once you get into that space, it became a whole reprogramming of this that I still love to this day. And it was an awesome journey.
- [20:52]
Patrick Francie
Well, I often ask the question of my guests, is it nature or nurture? So when you think about your own journey, did it come to you as a nurture or was it somewhere in your nature because of parents, because of upbringing? What was it that actually led you? I get that you had a mentor, but if you go back in your journey as a young man, even probably before you went into the corporate world, was it get an education, get a job, was it that kind of traditional view of it or was there an entrepreneurial aspect of even how you were raised?
- [21:31]
Rod Schulhauser
Yeah, no, I think it was definitely the nurture because I definitely grew up in the get a job, you know, get married, get a home, and, and everything will work out great mentality, because that's where both my and my wife's family, you know, that was, that was a common element. There was no entrepreneur example, you know, in, in my family and, nor my wife's, Debbie's family. And, you know, I, I think that it was definitely a nurture and I think that that's again, part of the coaching. Like if you have a life coach who's not a paid life coach, but if you had that mentor, maybe it was an uncle, maybe it was somebody who you can spend your lifetime with and they're constantly guiding you and holding, holding your hand, then it becomes that much easier. And I think that's what I was fortunate to do for the first few years. And then once I figured out what implementeering was for me and created it, then I found a whole series of people that I could apply to it. And, and you know, I guess I, I, I'm fortunate that I can choose who I want to work with because there's lots of people who are looking for the, for the kind of answers I can provide, but I don't, there's only one me. And I treat it like going in and helping that person and create their business. And often I take on an executive role and then I hire my replacement and I get out because again, I'm not looking for that job. I'm look, I want to stay in that entrepreneurial space a hundred percent for sure. And that's what I love.
- [22:50]
Patrick Francie
So you've played, I guess, a significant role over the years in other businesses. So was you. So what I'm understanding is you were the business of Rod Schulhauser going in consulting, slash coaching, slash filling a role, creating the space for somebody else to step into. So in other words, you know, you come in, operationalize, do, you know, wear the hat of president, for example, and go, okay, so I've created the space, here's the systems, here's the team. Now I need to replace myself. Is that kind of vaguely at a high level, what you did?
- [23:26]
Rod Schulhauser
Yeah. And if it's a big, I mean, one of my recent clients about 10 years ago, that's exactly what I did. They were already a, a significant company. We went from significant to a billion dollars. And that took operational and, and creation of systems and all that. And that's exactly what I did. I, I got myself out of that, that career. But it also, it also holds true for the smaller person. So somebody who's got a smaller business, they may be a high performing entrepreneur, but they might be in wealth management, they might be in real estate, they might be in some vertical market and we might be creating and helping them with their entrepreneurial challenges. Creating a business, creating, you know, they're getting beyond they, they themselves being the business. One of the typical traps of the entrepreneur is they're the business, they're everything. And there's no asset if they're not part of the business. And so you have to then create that structure that, those systems behind them. And I, and that's everything from marketing to sales, to structure to content, to thinking above and beyond where they're currently at and then taking them to becoming an actual business entity rather than just a business person. So, you know, there is not one particular model. But what does remain common are the challenges of that entrepreneur, the fact that they're already successful and high performing both financially and recognized in their industry, et cetera. And I think it's like once I can see them breaking through to that next level that they never gotten to and they were hoping that I could help them get to, then I know my job was done then, but I've even had a couple people come back again because they set a new bar and that's awesome when it keeps on going that way. So I'm not loyal to the industry. I'm, I'm loyal to the cogs. You know, things have changed in my life, you know, as I got older here now and you know, you know, I'm looking for simplification. I've dedicated in certain spaces. You know, you talked about the self funding house and, and things like that. But you know, there still is always that entrepreneurial bug and the entrepreneurial part will not change. I will stay in that and that's always going to be my focus. But I, I love it, I love where I'm at and, and I'll just end it with this in terms of this thought chain is that I don't have a destination in mind in terms of I'm not trying to work to an age and retire. You know, a lot of my clients feel the same way, which is retired or what. I and Derek Lobo, who, you know, you know, we don't have a vision to retire. You know, this is retirement when you can dictate money, times, security choices. To me that is the ultimate destination. And I Want to work and be effective and be of value by doing something. I'm not retiring to a couch. I'm not retiring to travel. My wife and I, we took our kids on all the traveling we wanted to do when we were younger because we thought that was the right time to do it, when we were physically mobile, really energetic, and love doing that piece and a great experience for the kids, too. So anyway. So that's where we're at.
- [26:10]
Patrick Francie
Well, that. Yeah. And I love that thought process as well as I'm in a similar position where I, you know, I've often thought about it, you know, which is what would I do if I wasn't doing what I'm doing? And I don't have a really clear answer on that. I'm going, no, I kind of like what I'm doing. I'll just keep doing this until something changes. But certainly retirement. I've often joked about being on the Freedom 95 program because ultimately I just can't imagine myself, you know, either number one, sitting around or number two, golfing every day or pickleball every day. I mean, that's great to occasionally do that. You know, we were recently on a vacation, and, you know, we were gone. Gone a couple of weeks, not quite. But ultimately it's like, okay, time to get back. This is kind of boring. I mean, as nice as it was, and it was a nice break and Stephanie and I hung out, it was like, okay, yeah, let's move on. Let's get back to our life. We don't go on vacation from our life. So that was kind of how that all unfolded for us recently. It's a reminder that if you're loving what you do, it's all good, in spite of even the challenges, because it's not like there isn't challenges that come with it all. You know, when we look at what's going on in the world today, we still face challenges, but that's also part of the game. You know, you want to look at the game and, you know, an old coach of mine said, so, you know, if you get on the field and all you do is score goals, pretty soon that gets really boring. And then you're playing a different game and you're trying to make it harder, you know, but you get on the field and you got some challenges against the team that you're playing against, and you win by, you know, the skin of your teeth. That's a fun game. Those are cool games, right? So he looks at it and. And offers a business analogy like that he goes, we want it to be easier, but the reality of it is is that the best game to win is the one where you're challenged. So I sometimes have to remind myself of that.
- [28:02]
Rod Schulhauser
Yeah. One of my mentors did a similar thing, and I point his phrase all the time is that, you know, that that formula for me is dream, goal, struggle, victory. And I think that's why I never want to retire, because as long as I have a dream, a goal, a struggle, and a victory, there's a path there. Then just do it again with a new. It's when you only have one of them. If all. If all you do is have a goal and you never reach the goal, you're chasing the goal, it's easier to give up the goal than to go through the struggle to get there. But if you have that dream, that struggle, you know that that will help you ultimately get that. And I love that. But I never thought of this stuff, and I was an employee. That's. That's job mentality.
- [28:39]
Patrick Francie
That's. Yeah. I mean, job mentality is go to work, do what you need to do to justify your paycheck, and go home. Generally. Now, that's. That's a kind of a sweeping statement. But that's often the case. What you brought up, and kind of where this conversation goes with me is often around just how much mental slash, mindset is required in all of this. You know, when we look at what you just said, you know, there's part of that equation that you gave was struggle. You know, you have that dream, but then there along the way, there is that struggle. And, you know, there's all these memes out there. There's hundreds of them, maybe thousands of them, but they all. When you look at the memes, if you stop and look at them for just a moment, you start to realize that they are created because they're true. There is a truth to it. And so what I'm thinking about is that the analogy, if you will, or metaphor, is that we don't get stronger without resistance. If you go to a gym and you want to get stronger, you have to lift increasingly more weight. And even if you just want to maintain some strength, you've got to add resistance to it. And I think, to me, that plays out in so many ways in life, whether it's in relationship challenges of communication that you might have, whatever you're facing in terms of economic headwinds in a business, our ability to face and get through that resistance is really what makes us stronger. You know, I think about what you said about a mentor. And sometimes Even today at 66 years old, I reflect and I go, gosh, I wish I would have had a me in my life when I was 35. You know, because there's just things that you can't. That most can't get to. At least I couldn't until you got the years. Until you've been on this planet long enough where that wisdom comes in and you start to realize. And I think the point of this story or this thought process for me is that it does take a shift of our mindset to realize, you know, the old phrase, you know, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. That's the resistance conversation. Any thoughts on that?
- [30:51]
Rod Schulhauser
Yeah, because, you know, like I said, dream, goal, struggle, victory. I agree. Struggle is probably the most important step because you could replace the word struggle with learning. Dream, goal, learn. And then there's a victory because, you know, wisdom is gained two ways. You can gain it through your own challenges and. And coming out the other end. Or you can also glean some wisdom from those of other people, challenges and what they learn. So I think as long as you are learning, your mindset will continue to be, I'll just say sharp or in the position to lead at something. You know, I'm a. My favorite topic in the world is that of leadership. I think everything rises and falls on leadership, whether that's a business or relationship, finances, you name it. Leadership is everything. And so if. If Lee, like, what good leader out there? Pick a category. Military, sports, team, whatever. What leader out there didn't have a downtime and did something about it? Which leader out there never had a challenge at all in their life? We all know the answer to that. And so I think you realize that the struggles should be invited and not avoided. Because in the corporate world, struggle over here, problem over here. Great. I'll go in this direction. Entrepreneurial space has challenge over here. Great. Let's tackle it. Because on the other side of that challenge is the victory. Whether that's financial, whether it's technical, and I think that's the fundamental mindset difference is one of avoidance or attraction. And we have the choice of what to avoid, and we have the choice of what to get attracted to. And I think that, to me, was a huge awareness from, you know, job mentality Rod to entrepreneurial Rod. But it wasn't an overnight thing. It definitely was a nurture. Like what you said was it did that prior influence or was a nurture. It was definitely a nurture for me and I'm continuing that nurture process today.
- [32:51]
Patrick Francie
Now, you've worked with lots of entrepreneurs, and you're, of course, been very observant of yourself and others. You know, you talk about leadership, and I've asked this question of guests in the past, Rod, but from your perspective, I mean, you've. You've been very successful in your life. You've supported many entrepreneurs being successful. When you look at leadership, there is a fundamental that you hear this phrase, well, he or she are natural leaders. Do you see natural leadership, or do you think leadership is a study for individuals who, you know, are in fact wanting to be great leaders? Do you think it's a study or do you. When you work with entrepreneurs, do you find that, you know, many just go, no, it is what it is. I don't need to study anything. What's your thoughts on that? Study of leadership or not?
- [33:42]
Rod Schulhauser
Well, I'm very opinionated on that, so I'll start with the opinion and then I'll give the rationale. So my opinion is leadership can be taught to anybody. There are some people who are born with leadership because their personality, their mindset is such that that makes them a good leader. But you can take an individual who may not be a strong voice, outgoing, Napoleon Bonaparte, Churchill, like leadership qualities of an individual, and they can be a leader. All you have to do is look at a Wayne Gretzky, or if we're talking about hockey, you talk about. There's a lot of great leaders that weren't their verbose, outspoken, loudest voice in the room. They let their skill set take place. But they were wise, they were smart. They were. They had mindset. And, you know, was. Was Gretzky a talented hockey player at a very young age? Yeah, I had the pleasure playing against him back when I was single digits years old. Brantford's a stone's throw here from where I live. But his leadership didn't come into place probably till he was in his teens for sure, when he was put into that position to be amongst men, shall we say. But, you know, I think leadership is a formula. And the reason I'm convinced it can be taught is because there are levels of leadership. It isn't like I'm not a leader and now I'm a leader. There's a path to leadership. I think the first level of leadership is just being a willing student. If you learn, you can get to a level of leadership, because now once you learn something, whatever that context is that you're learning about, you can immediately lead other people who are not yet learning and lead them to learn. Now you're a leader to that degree of those people, right? And then when you start to. When you start to learn and start leading other people to learn, you're now leading those people. Well, you can just see how the progress works, that once you learn something, then you do it. Whatever that learning is applied to, when you do it and do the dream, goal, struggle, victory, and ascend those ranks of whatever it is that you are climbing up to be, whether it's business or a relationship, you can put any context to it. You then can lead the way of others. Then all of a sudden you know, you could be leading a path for others that you don't even know. You know, that's why I don't like these. I'm not a fan of. Even though everyone by, amongst, by themselves is accurate, I don't like one catchphrase of what, what is leadership? Give me the definition of leadership. I don't think there's one sentence that embodies what leadership is. Is leadership influence. I've often heard that one in the day, you know, yeah, it is. But that's not the only thing it is. You know, I've had the pleasure of meeting and sitting down and being at a board table for a couple of days with people like John C. Maxwell. And you got to start to understand that even though his bookmail, each one of his books teaches one principle, he gets it that there's a big process, there's a big, big context behind that of leadership. And I believe that context is accurate. But it can be taught and anybody can learn it. It's whether someone applies it and to what level they apply it that determines the position of their earship.
- [36:43]
Patrick Francie
So when you look at entrepreneurs overall, and I like this topic for our listeners who are, and many are entrepreneurs, when you look at your experience, is there a common list of. I think. Is there a top two or three things that you see that get in the way of people or entrepreneurs and achieving what they're trying to achieve? I often work with individuals who have a tendency. I have worked with individuals, I don't say often. I have worked with individuals whose tendency was to blame circumstances. Then I recognize that there are those individuals who I see are successful have a far greater tendency to not look outside themselves and blame anything. They only look at themselves. They're always looking in the mirror, which is a philosophy that I embrace. So that's just an example. Is there a common thread that you see that where it's a breakdown of Entrepreneurship or qualities of entrepreneurs that actually have them excel, you know, either way, you know, is there, is there two or three things that you would point out that you know, if you're listening to this, you know, here's a way to self assess, you know, are you blaming, are you complaining? That's just one, you know, one thread to pull on. Or do you actually look at it and go, okay, how could I have done better? Anything on that topic?
- [38:07]
Rod Schulhauser
Totally. And my eyes are going to gaze over here because I'm going to look at what's on the desktop of my computer on my multiple screens here. And one half of it is called leadership is. And it's my constant reminder of what you're asking. I'll quickly read the 10 items there. You can pick one if you want to, but I think it answers exactly what you're asking. So it says, leadership is cast in the vision, leading by example, demonstrating high work ethic, taking responsibility. So the blamer, taking responsibility, orchestrating and aligning resources, solving challenges and removing obstacles, searching for opportunities, being consistent, maintaining focus, staying persistent, striving ahead of normal, giving praise and recognition to others and providing guidance and course correction. So those statements came from people books I've read, circumstances I've been put in and the lessons learned. And I've distilled those as my reminders about leadership and characteristics of leadership. The opposites thereof are what you can see in people. Maybe that don't look to be a leader, but you can say, oh, that person just constantly blames others and, and take zero responsibility. That's one of my personal couple of big ones is being responsible. I am responsible. If someone gets mad at me, I'm responsible not for their attitude, but I'm responsible for how I react. So in any circumstance, taking on responsibility is one of those top two or three mindsets that I would really attach my character to that I really strive towards. Not perfect at it, but it's definitely a constant reminder for me.
- [39:55]
Patrick Francie
I love that. I read recent. Well, I shouldn't say recently. Three or four years ago. Four years, I guess. Gosh, it was at least four or five years ago now when a book first came out by Jocko Wilnick called Extreme Ownership. I don't know if you've read it, but it's just, it was a game changer in thought process around being accountable and understanding. And he does a great job. And some people like the book, others don't. But you know, he's a. I don't know if you know Jocko Willnick know of him. But ultimately, he's a top. He was a top performer. Navy SEAL led teams in Iran, Iraq. And so in that book, he shares stories and incidents that happened and how owning that result, whatever that result was, how important it was for him as the leader of that team, but also for the men on the team. Like some amazing stories in there. And so he would share the story and then he would recap it and then talk about the accountability part of it and how you can own the result. And so that was a real interesting perspective of how often we. And I'll say we. I'll speak for myself. How often I made excuses without realizing that it was an excuse. I wasn't thinking that it was an excuse. It was. To me, it was like, oh, these circumstances, you know, this is what happened. And then without unpacking it and going a little bit deeper on that. So it was a real interesting insight into what I see often in business owners is looking and blaming circumstances, looking at what happened without stepping back from it and going, okay, you know, where did I play a role in this? And in the book, Extreme Ownership, it really is worth a read. The other one that showed up for me was Tools of Titans. Tim Ferriss wrote it, Tools of Titans, and great book. He interviewed, I think, 200 CEOs, and it was really great. And I would make this comment and then I'll pass it over to you, Rod. But my interpretation of reading that book, and I read it cover to cover and really is just short stories of different CEOs. It was really great. But one pattern that I saw that I don't have, I didn't have that. All of the most successful CEOs that were in that book on their list of things that they wanted to share was how often they said no instead of yes, I'm a yes guy more than I'm a no guy. And I've shifted that over the years. But, you know, it's easy to kind of buy into an idea, say yes. And of course, that all goes sometimes, not always, but sometimes can go a little bit south because it's over. Over commits your time, your energy, your finances, whatever it might be. What is your kind of experience? Been around that. Is that your own observation of entrepreneurs or where even with yourself?
- [42:46]
Rod Schulhauser
Yeah, I think it's the lesson I learned that I apply myself was probably a big one because a couple entrepreneurs did this. And you'll hear entrepreneurs talk about energy and you know, you know, there's all these different ways you can, you can package it, but to Me, I distilled it down to choosing what you give permission to, meaning that you know and you know sports. I know you're a hockey guy, but, you know, probably one of the most frustrating sports that involves referees is basketball because it's very fluffy as to what's a foul and the speed and everything else. And if you're a basketball player and you get ticked at a call that did or didn't happen, and now all of a sudden that mindset now affects how you play the next few minutes and. Or you bark off at the referee and you get ejected or teed up or whatever it may be, realize that you're responsible. And if you give permission for that external stimuli to influence your mindset, your emotions, whatever, that's your fault. But now turn that lesson around. To me, this is so the biggest learning I had was learning and understanding that this is a computer and it's programmable. And I'm able to stave off a lot of tough business decisions, emotional issues, whatever. When I say with that little voice on your shoulder, in the back of your head, that I don't give permission to have that influence my mindset right now and just block it out. And I'm to the point now where literally I don't think I can literally not think about it, which is great. If you're looking to stay focused on something and there's multiple things coming at you. So whether it's sports, whether it's family, whether it's, you know, a very tumultuous situation in life, the reality is you can give permission to things you want to so you can stay focused on what you do want to stay focused on. That is a huge, huge benefit. That's probably one of the biggest benefits I've learned to coach myself and discipline myself with. But I don't think I ever would have even found that or even found that to be of any value had I not been in the space that I'm at, you know, Neil. And realizing that high performing entrepreneurs deal with big decisions. They deal with big issues, they deal with challenging issues that without the outside you go, how do you deal with that? How do you even find a moment to sleep when that's happening in your world? And the reality is there's a way to do that. And so I think that that even that your example of yes and no, because you. There's that thought process of I want to please. It's the right thing to do. We think we're doing a good thing by saying yes, but then we soon Realize that too many yeses starts to impede some of the other yeses we said yes to. And some of the now have to work in alignment with other things, things like missions and visions and values and other things. And it's not right or wrong. Sometimes there's just the right thing to do versus doing the right thing. And, and those can be interpreted as two different things because right is still right. But there's a difference between doing the right thing and what the right thing to do might be. So, so those are kind of just my perspectives. I don't know if I'm skirting around it, but that's where I landed.
- [45:52]
Patrick Francie
No, no, no, it's all great. You know, there's. When I kind of pull on a couple threads, I don't necessarily have an intention around it other than to kind of open up and see where the conversation might go. There's a, a couple of different individuals that I know and I've coached over the, or been coached by over the years. And one of the things that I've learned is around making values driven decisions, aligning with individuals who share common values. I think you're similar in that in terms of even the self funding house and the vision that you and Derek have for the self funding house and who you guys are as business owners, as individuals, as men. Is that what I get, is that we align in values in terms of just who we are as people, as men and as business. Business owners, and what the intention is behind an initiative like the self funding house. So for me, as we, you know, work together and get to know each other better going into the future, one of the realizations that I have is that it flows pretty easy when you share common values with the person that you're working with. Did you learn that consciously early on or was it just how you operated right from the get go? What was your kind of experience in learning and understanding just how important aligning values are with the people that you work with, with your team, with potential partners, et cetera.
- [47:23]
Rod Schulhauser
So I think that one is different than my entrepreneurial journey. Entrepreneurship was a nurture. This one I think I can stem back because values, character and integrity were three things that, you know, I was brought up with, you know, regardless of your faith, faith is a component of it. Your family life is a component of it. Your working environment and the choices you make allow your choices to be better. When you have the filters of values, integrity and character because, you know, what are the things you think of if you're in a dark room of all the lights that probably is going to somehow eventually get down to value. You know, character and integrity, you know, are not what you say. It's what others say about you when you're not around. Right. And, you know, they also are the things that don't have to be spoken when someone can just trust you. I mean, those are. Those are bricks that get laid early on in life, I believe, because it's easy to tear those down but very difficult to build them up. You can tweak, you know, your values because you can learn and you can have more exposure to that. But I think character and integrity is something you should adhere to early on and most importantly, protect. And so they do mean a lot because I've definitely found, you know, decisions and choices I've had to make to not work with an individual versus working with an individual, hiring an individual, firing an individual based on those types of misalignments. Because in the, in the right entrepreneurial space, I guess, environment, people who are not of the same values will naturally get purged because they'll be surrounded with those values applied in actions, conversations, etc. And they'll naturally purge it. Sometimes I'll have enough patience to let them purge, and other times I'll go, you know what, it's like Jim Collins, you know, the bus, you know, you know, getting him on the right bus, then in the right seats, etc. That to me is a great visual. And I think that applies to not just businesses, it applies to this. And this is where the values, the character integrity stick in. And I think that, you know, human beings are a difficult animal because we are human beings. We're not human doings. We don't do stuff. We are beings, meaning that, you know, what we say, you know, all those negatives, we can talk about all the negative things in the job place that have to do with people. The bickering, the storytelling, the. The whatever it may be. You shouldn't have time for that. You need to think about that. When you are of the same mindset and the values stuff can get done so that the unspoken doesn't have to be spoken. Do you believe in this? Do you think we're doing the right, like, no, no, because I think we're doing the right thing, Patrick. And, and your answer will come within 10 seconds. And you know, if you are aligned, you know, of values, it makes decision making easy and more importantly, it makes objectives and goals and all the things you're striving towards. It's great to see go. Yeah. When you get multiple people excited about the same thing. That's when you don't add, you multiply. And I think these are all formulas that center around values because values is a multiplier in many, many ways.
- [50:29]
Patrick Francie
For me, values is probably one of the most important conversations that I have with my existing teams in terms of who we are as a business and the individuals that the culture that we want to have, because it's all built around common values. What I've learned over the years and what I've witnessed is that often people don't really know what their values are. They live into a set of values. They think it's moral values, it's societal values. They live a set of values of their parents, for example, that listen, there's lots of people with parents who go, I don't share any of those values. I don't agree with my dad, my mom, whatever the story might be, but they're not really aware of what their values are. So how do you be true to yourself when you don't understand it? So first off, I think for many it's a conscious learning of understanding yourself to say what are, what do I really value, what is important to me? How do I be in integrity when I don't even know if I'm being true to myself? And then there's the conversation I think too, and it's kind of a big conversation, is that a lot of people are afraid to be truly who they are as they start to go on a self discovery, perhaps journey or just start to realize it in their life because they're afraid of the judgment of others. Yet, you know, I know that when you are true to yourself, you will attract like minded people. To your point earlier, those who don't align with your values will ultimately purge themselves or you'll purge them, you'll purge, you know, one way. And it doesn't have to be anything critical. It just we drift away because we don't share common values. And it's such a big lesson, I think, for business owners in terms of even how they align their culture and who they hire. You know, within my own sales team, in my retail business, you know, we culturally, we've had this conversation, you know, we look for a good sales guy. And my general managers phoned me go, I got this really good sales guy. Like he'll crush it, but I'm a little bit worried. He's a little bit like this and a little bit like that. And I don't know how he'll really align with the rest of the team, I go, dude, why do we have to keep having this conversation? You know that if you bring somebody toxic into an environment, regardless of how good a sales guy he is, it's going to go south. And then you're going to have spent a year or six months or two years fighting fires, and then you're going to leave this big gap because you're going to end up firing him. So it's like, so quit it. But we have to sometimes get grounded back in that. The point is that like attracts. Like there are no values that are wrong. Like, my values aren't right and yours are wrong, or vice versa. They're just your values. They're my values. And if we stay true to ourselves, stay in integrity, then ultimately that's what we're trying to align with, is people of similar values. So I know that's kind of a long explanation of how I see it. How do you. Is, is that in alignment with what you think too, Rod?
- [53:40]
Rod Schulhauser
Yeah, and I think it's definitely influenced. Think about for a second right now, if you and I were employees at a company. I think today a lot of people take on a job for one reason, one reason only. They income, you know, and then the career path might be a second thought, et cetera, et cetera. But in that workplace, there's a culture and there's a set of mission, vision, values in that organization as well. And I don't think too many people going to look for a job different for someone looking for a career. Too many people looking for a job probably don't check that part out. It's an afterthought. So the question begs out there is like, you know, what about personal values? Are they ever thought of when in the, in the job space, like, do they have to align in your workspace or is it you outside with your family? And, you know, the answer to me is like, you get to decide. You get to decide because you're the only one that answers to your own values. But I agree, values are very, very important. And I think that they only really get discussed when principals talk to each other. Entrepreneurs, you know, joint venture partners, people at that level, co workers, don't sit around. I don't think. I know. I didn't. Don't, don't sit around at lunch, you know, talking about what's your values, what's your.
- [54:51]
Patrick Francie
Like?
- [54:52]
Rod Schulhauser
That isn't part of the, the culture of that. Right. Because there is no repercussion. There's more repercussions outside of the workplace. Like at home and all those other areas of your life. But I think that in the entrepreneurial world, your work is your life, your life is your work. If your values are looked after and when they're not looked after, that's when you hear people say, oh, I've got my work hat on. I've got my home hat on.
- [55:19]
Patrick Francie
Yeah.
- [55:20]
Rod Schulhauser
In the way I think is I only have one hat. Yeah, I, I'm not smart enough to have three different hats and remember who I'm talking to, which hat should be on, you know, So I think that's kind of the best picture I could give. Where values come in is that values can have a far reaching or a shallow reach on who you are and what you do. And I think people like you and I, they're doing what we're doing, talking, even the way we're talking right now, that I think Patrick Francie only wears one hat, you know, in who he is and how he does life. I think it's much like me because I think that when you know, your wife and your family talks to you, it's probably a similar tone of voice and a similar whatever. It's not a foreign person talking to the family versus the, the person who's on the other end of a zoom call or a phone call or whatever it may be. So I think that's my perspective is that, you know, having the, those common, you know, I even taught you, you put mission, vision and values in one bucket. When it, when it's only one hat, you know, you don't. And I think that's probably why so many things line up. That's why I don't want to retire from something. You retire from things you don't like. Maybe you and I don't want to retire for something because we don't dislike it, we do like it. And so when you know, mission, vision, values, business, life and success and all those things fit under one hat, it simplifies life and makes it really easy to enjoy it, embrace it, and live it daily. And that way you don't get these conversations like, oh, you're out of balance. You're out of balance when you have multiple hats, you know, and oh, you better spend some time with your kids.
- [56:58]
Patrick Francie
You bet.
- [56:59]
Rod Schulhauser
Like, that shouldn't be an equation if you're doing it right. And when you're not. And if you are having those conversations, I think that's when you should then seek the counsel on how you get to a different situation.
- [57:09]
Patrick Francie
Well, there it's, it's. I'm Always often surprised. And I know that you don't live in that world. We just. Because you just stated it, is that how many people will and how often we hear, you know, I just want work, life, balance. And, you know, the realization I had many years ago was I had been on stage and I did a keynote and spoke and talking about what I was doing and blah, blah, blah and all. And afterwards, a young man came up to me and he goes, gosh, Patrick, how many hours a week do you work? And it threw me off because I went and I said to him, I thought for a minute, I go, I don't look at it that way. It's just my life and I love what I do. So I don't really think about this as work. You know, me getting on a plane or me speaking or me working with my team. It's just part of my life. It's what I do. So I don't look at how many hours a week I work. I don't look at it that way. I'm not striving for this. I don't have this thought process about what is work, life, balance. It's just life. And that was a big. I guess it was one of those aha moments in that, oh, gosh, you know, I've never been asked that question. But when I was, it was a real moment in time where I just reflected and was really clear. I go, I don't look at it that way because it's just my life and I'm not seeking any balance in that regard. When I need downtime, then I take downtime. And does that look like a vacation? Does it look like a day out of the office? Does it look like some time spent hanging out with some friends, whatever it might be? But that's more about rest. It's not about balance. We all need rest. And I honor the fact that sometimes if I push myself through a project or I'm working hard, okay, I need some downtime. I need a rest. That's it. That's how I view it. And so it is an interesting conversation. How many believe that there is a work life balance? And I just, I don't know what that means anymore.
- [59:05]
Rod Schulhauser
Yeah, I think that's what the life that attracted me along, that nurturing process that when you ultimately had a say initially, it starts out with just a say and, you know, money and time, because usually those two are tightly coupled in the job space. The money equals the amount of time you put in. And there's an expect, there's an Expectation on both parties, in both buckets. You'll put in 40 hours and you'll be paid for 40 hours. And you and I are, are well past that because now it's no longer that. Those are not the two buckets we monitor. We, the bucket we monitor tends to, for me anyways, is guided more by what I said early, like what matters most. Well, you dream, goal, struggle, victory. Where am I at in terms of. And there's not just one path either. There's many of those paths in parallel that I'm working on, whether that's work or a project or something bigger, a business venture, whatever it may be. And so I think that having control of time and money compared to a job changes the context. Because that guy who caught you coming off stage, if he, you know, had a minute by minute dissertation of your week, he might accuse you of having worked a 70 hour workweek because what he thought was work is different than what you and I might think is, quote, work. Because he's driving towards a paycheck, you and I are driving towards a different destination. And you know, I think that's, that's apples and oranges.
- [60:39]
Patrick Francie
So, you know, as we kind of come around towards the end of this show, I don't want to step over the conversation around the self funding house that we brought up. And you know, the self funding house was really an initiative that was originally driven by Derek Lobo. You and he co wrote three books I think now, and you've got a background in that, I recall. But the self funding house is a concept to say, okay, there's a big problem in the world today when we're specifically talking about Canada and that is around the affordability of housing, about individuals who, you know, young generally, people that have a dream of owning a home one day and having that backyard and maybe white picket fence, whatever that might look like, and feeling like there's just no way to achieve that. Now, you and Derek as entrepreneurs, myself as entrepreneurs, we go, okay, here's a problem to solve that really plays into a much bigger kind of cause, which is to say times have changed, there is a way for you to do it. You have to shift how you view homeownership and the path to achieve that goal. So do you want to give a little bit of background on the self funding house concept, Rod?
- [61:56]
Rod Schulhauser
Sure. I mean, what originally started out as just being what you described, which was, you know, Derek and I were just going to impart knowledge and wisdom and give back to the general population, our kids was the target Market we just wanted to attack their mindset, to think differently about their home like a business by simply becoming a landlord, putting in a backyard adu, a basement apartment because by, by having that additional income you can increase affordability. Not a new concept, but we realized as we went along the venture because the books quickly became a business because we realized there were pieces of the puzzle to pull together. And if we did that we would help the overall goal of helping the younger generations realize affordability. Because we realized, well, hey, let's get financial institutions involved, let's get them to recognize their rental income towards mortgage qualification to increase the affordability of ownership. Hey, let's get educational people like Rain involved so that there's a journey for them beyond just taking ownership of a home and being in the market which is very, very important that they, whether they realize or not there could perhaps be positive financial implications that they continue their journey of education along the idea of owning real estate. We also realize that municipalities and government are a big part of this as well. That if they can help developers develop, you know, affordable solutions, that is these homes with these self funding house concepts and you know, put into it. And that's what we've done, we've worked now with developers to help them build homes, new construction with basement suites, bring in a financial partner and tell that community, hey, you can afford a house in today's marketplace because we have a system where that rental income that can be used and count towards your mortgage qualification. And we also have a system to coach you along the way. Here are some resources. We're going to teach you about landlord tenancy, we're going to show you how to organize your finances. We're even going to work with you for another year after you take possession of your house. The bottom line was Patrick, we wanted to guide the buying experience and hold the buyer's hand through the entire process. And that's what we had to teach developers, we had to show and teach municipalities, we had to show and teach financial institutions. And the positive that came away from this whole scenario, Patrick, was to me, and I've only thought about over here in the last year is I think for maybe the first time, or at least the first time in a long time, we've got politics, financial builders and the public all wanting the same thing. Because every government wants to solve the problem of affordability because it's starting to affect the business of a city. They can't attract businesses, they can't attract and keep their younger generations because of affordability. And I've made it a personal mission with Derek Lobo to say, you know what I'm going to be. And we're going to be the people to bring together the banks, the builders, the municipal government, the other levels of government, the actual home buyers together and say it is possible. Let's just get this solution in front of our younger generations and help them with this. Because at the end of the day, builders are not going to be able to build houses cheaper. Land is what it is. Construction costs are what they are, labor costs are what they are. They're not coming down anything significantly. And I know my sons and my daughters income is not going to go up tenfold, 100 fold to get them to a point where a home is only two or three times their income. Like it was when I bought this house 20 years ago. My son's house was 15 times his income that he bought a year and a half ago. So that is the challenge. We think we're just at the beginning of our journey, but we've got a vision and we've yet to hear a person say that's not a good idea. And we're building a great team of collaborators from a variety of industries to help us do this. But at the end of the day we realize if it is to be, it's going to be up to us. Derek and I have just decided we're going to do this because it's already making a different. We got four developments, we've got over 50 of these houses sold and we haven't yet started to really expand and build out the idea. So that's the mission, that's the vision. And our values is one of let's just make homeownership possible for others.
- [66:10]
Patrick Francie
I love it. You know, there's a fundamental that, you know, what you've done is you've built a platform for potential first time home buyers to actually start to engage or to be able to take on and own a piece of real estate to grow their financial futures. Because ultimately when we look at what's going on economically, real estate is still one of those hard assets, one of those stores of value that will set you apart. And when you look at currency, fiat currency as an example, not having it invested is literally devaluing. I mean our dollar inflation is what it is. At the end of the day we can complain about it and it the reality, it just is what it is and it won't go away, it's not going to change. So how do we create a financial future? And real estate is one of the ways to actually achieve that goal. What you and Derek have done is, when you think about it, it's pretty remarkable because to your point, you've brought all of these things together to create the environment for somebody to step up, get the additional education, to make a commitment to themselves, and then they've got the tools, the education, the support that they need. And yes, they're going to have to work at it. You, nobody's going to do it for them. I think that's what really often isn't it, what sets apart the successful from those who kind of bitch about being mediocre is, are you, you know, here it is. It's the door is open. It's up to you. I can open the door. I can't. I can't drag you through it. You know, I can't. There's a phrase that I often have used which is, I can't want something more for you than you want it for yourself. I'll open the door. I'll even build a set of stairs. But you have to go up the stairs. You have to go through the door. And that's really kind of what you and Derek have done is you say, okay, here's the problem, here's how to solve it. We're going to support you in solving it. Now it's time. If you really want to achieve that outcome, you have to step up. Is that in alignment with your thought process?
- [68:16]
Rod Schulhauser
Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, and you know, it kind of is in alignment with what we're. Why we're even here today, because if we can just also not only just fulfill that dream or give a path to that dream of homeownership for these younger generations, but in the meantime, bolt on the benefits of learning how to be a business owner, that plus that plus a path for future financial multiplication, wealth creation, etc. I don't think that first time homebuyer realizes that day one, they see this as maybe just as a solution to getting their first home. And I think that's, that's totally okay with me because just get in the market is the, is the underlying foundational message. But maybe we can feel really good about ourselves, Derek and I, because, you know, and I know you and Rain are big supporters of this. And again, we're just at the cusp of the beginning of this. But I think we're also doing a positive thing for the these future generations too, by putting them in a position to become a business owner, you know, not while still having their job or career profession, because it's only going to make them better. They're going to learn life skills, they're going to learn financial skills, they're going to pay attention to things they wouldn't pay attention to before. And at the end of the day, those skills are only going to help them better at their job, career, profession as well. So I think there's different layers of this. Win, win, win, win. And there's multiple wins for the home buyer, there's wins for government, there's win for financial institutions, there's wins for builders who can't sell houses in today's, you know, economy. So it's like, like I said, there's, there's not too many times and I don't know of any time where everybody wants the same thing and there's very few if any headwinds. I mean it should be so easy to put these pieces of puzzle together. I can't believe nobody else has done it before us because we didn't invent basement apartments, we didn't invent being a landlord. We're just orchestrating and aligning and so maybe sometimes the simplest ideas are the best and we hope it does wind up being the best for the sake of all of our kids and grandkids yet to come.
- [70:22]
Patrick Francie
You know the message I'd want to get to everybody in terms of the self funding house of those individuals who do have dreams of owning their own home and a vision for considering what their future financial situation might be. Financial I use security, financial certainty, financial freedom. And it does take engagement, it takes education, it takes support to achieve that goal. I think that there is a shift that has to happen culturally that says the days of buying a house like you bought a house Rod or I bought a house are gone. Your son had to go, okay, yeah, dad, it's like 15 times my income and you there to support, guide, educate. But if you're sitting, if people are sitting on the sidelines thinking that number one, the government's going to solve the problem and, or that they're angry because it isn't what it once was. It's changed. The housing market has changed and it's changed forever. Many think there's going to be a bubble burst, a crash. I just can't see it. And I've been looking at the economic data for many years and I just don't see that happening. So that's a fear that some will have to get over. The other is the fear of being a landlord, the fear of having to learn and can I learn it? The point is that for those who have a desire to be financially successful and own their own home, they're going to have to actually take action and get off the sidelines and not live into an old story. That may sound a little bit direct or harsh, but I think too many, far too many are living into a story that the government will fix it and, or it's wrong because it isn't the way my parents did it. I don't know if you have a view on that.
- [72:16]
Rod Schulhauser
I'll apply it to what we talked about earlier. Dream, struggle, dream, goal, struggle, victory, dream of homeownership. So I'm hoping that because I think the biggest opportunity here is for all the people who've already given up on the idea of only a house, they need to hear this message that homeownership is possible in today's market in spite of interest rates, in spite of costs, it's possible. You know, I'll say one thing, you can have a $60,000 a year income and support a house in today's market, in a, in good secondary tertiary markets here in Ontario, where I live. So the dream of homeownership, the goal is okay, the dream, the goal, learn about it and actually get to the point of where you believe it, do it and take possession of it. Now you own a self funding house, brand new. The struggle. Okay, yeah, I've never been a business owner, I've never been a landlord. You know, I got to find the right tenant. All these doubts you're going to learn there and we'll be with you to help you do that. And you know, the first victory is going to be we did it, we got a renter. We actually have a flourishing business, is looking after my mortgage. We're creating equity. We're at a place that we didn't think pre dream we'd ever would be because we gave up that dream. But the journey continues on because of what you and I have been talking about both on and off air is that, well, now they've done it once, is it possible to do it again now? From the idea of multiplying their capital, multiplying their equity, their finances, their wealth creation because you know, there's nothing stopping them from buying another one or taking that one, renting out upstairs and downstairs and now being in a position to buy a bigger home or a different location, or have more choices that pre dream they didn't have. And I think that that's my application of what you just said to what we've been talking about here, is that here's another good. Here's another way. I want the. I want my sons, I want all the younger generations that think like an entrepreneur, have that dream, realize that goal, because it's possible. We've now laid out the framework. Yeah, there's gonna be struggles, but embrace it. That's called learning. And there's a victory. In fact, there's multiple victories that you could take a hold of with this. So that's a great way I think, of just pulling the messages together here.
- [74:21]
Patrick Francie
Beautiful. Okay, on that note, you've been generous with your time. I appreciate the conversation. Rod, we will wind things down and although I normally would ask a number of questions, I'm going to leave it on this note today. Rod, what are you grateful for today?
- [74:39]
Rod Schulhauser
I'm grateful that I get to surround my world with people that are smarter than me and loving it. Maybe Rod, way back when, job mentality, Rod would have been intimidated. Would have been, oh, I think I'll go hang out with my hockey or my baseball buddies because it's more comfortable. And that's what I'm thankful for. Because maybe that's my journey. My journey is to keep on learning and surrounding myself with smarter, bigger, faster people than me because that's how you become and that's what I'm thankful for.
- [75:12]
Patrick Francie
Such a great lesson and thanks for sharing that. I'm always grateful for the opportunity to have great conversations and kind of get and unpack things. And Rod, you were a great guest and a great conversation to have today. Appreciate your time. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to get to know you, to work with you a little bit and look forward to the future. I'm always grateful for my wife and my family and this community. So thanks very much everybody and Rod, we'll look forward to having more conversation in the near future. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for listening. If you found value in the podcast, please take the time to rate and review, review and share with others. Share with your friends as it is my goal to always improve and to provide the highest value for you, the listener. If you have any comments, suggestions or questions you'd like answered, please email me@ceoraincanada.com that's C E O R E I N Canada.com I look forward to hearing from you. And until next time, Patrick oh.