15 Rules I Followed to UNF*CK my Life and Escape the System | Kassidy Warren E501

Summary

---

Podcast Episode Summary

The Rich Somers Report

Episode: 15 Rules I Followed to UNF*CK my Life and Escape the System | Kassidy Warren (E501)
Date: May 9, 2026
Host: Rich Somers
Guest: Cassidy Warren

---

Brief Overview

In this powerhouse episode, Rich Somers—real estate investor, entrepreneur, and host—joins forces with fellow high-performer Cassidy Warren for a raw discussion on the rules, strategies, and mindset shifts that allowed Rich to radically transform his life, break free from the “system,” and build an $80M+ real estate empire in just six years. The episode covers everything from breaking out of middle-class conditioning to executing big ideas at high speed, the hidden costs of comfort and the power of going sober, to the essential importance of your inner circle, your partner, and taking massive risks.

Rich holds nothing back, revealing personal struggles, pivotal moments, and “unfiltered” advice, while Cassidy skillfully extracts the lessons and adds insight from his own experience. The conversation maintains a frank, intense, and motivational tone, with both hosts directly challenging societal norms and listener mindsets.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Escaping the System: Breaking Out of Middle-Class Mentality

• Rich's Backstory: Rich reflects on how he spent 33 years following the middle-class script—good grades, college, secure government job—until a pivotal moment of awakening at 34.
  • “I just wasted 33 years of my life, literally. I was playing Madden, Call of Duty...that was my high. Now I could care less about football.” [04:49]
• The System is Rigged: Rich describes the “alignment of interest” between the central government, Wall Street, and central banking, designed to manufacture the middle class and keep people dependent through jobs, debt, and limited investment education.
  • “The truth is that you have to go get educated...they don’t teach you how to start a business.” [06:03–08:03]
• Comfort is the Enemy: Rich and Cassidy agree that the abundance of comfort, distractions, and easy consumerism disincentivizes people, especially men, from seeking true growth.
  • “Most men die at 25, but aren’t buried until they’re 75.” — Cassidy [00:45 / repeated: 01:53]

2. Going All-In & Burning the Boats

• Massive Risk: Rich cashed out a $340,000 401k and quit a $200k/year air traffic controller job to dive into real estate with zero prior experience.
  • “Everyone told me it’s too risky...but that’s why 99% of people are broke.” [00:00 / 11:41]
• No Plan B: Success required eliminating the backup plan, forcing resourcefulness during high-stress situations and big financial risks.
  • “There’s no way in hell I’m going to go back...I walked away from a pension, all the benefits, everything.” [11:41]

3. Rule: Money Loves Speed, Poverty Loves Indecision

• Execution over Perfection: Rich credits his success to quickly moving from idea to action—selling before building, testing markets before planning extensively.
  • “Decrease the time between having an idea and executing...Money loves speed. Poverty loves indecision.” [38:38]
  • Story: Generated $220k in revenue from a hotel mastermind launch before creating content or curriculum [38:38].

4. Entrepreneurship: Not For Everyone

• The Realities: Entrepreneurship is glamorized, but true success demands relentless work, risk tolerance, and comfort with uncertainty.
  • “You are in there building with your team, putting in 12-hour days…It’s not for everyone.” [14:23]
• Failing Forwards: Regular mistakes and near-disasters are normal (“always figuring it out”), including scenarios risking six-figure deposits and emergency hotel fixes.
  • “No one knows what the fuck they’re doing, bro. Some people did it anyway.” [13:11]

5. Growth Through Hardship & Adversity

• Biggest Struggles: Rich shares about facing massive setbacks—failed relationships, insurance-denied losses, hotel flooding, and having to pay investors out of pocket.
  • “It made me so much stronger...forced me to go sober, to hustle, to become a better leader and version of myself.” [20:04–22:58]

6. The Power of Your Circle: Cutting Out Negativity

• Cut Pessimists: Both discuss the importance of ruthlessly removing negative friends and unsupportive partners; replaced with positive, growth-oriented people.
  • “It’s okay to cut friends who are no longer aligned with the person you’re trying to become...There cannot be any growth without change.” [27:43]
• Scarcity vs. Abundance: Detaching from scarcity-thinking people accelerates your journey; even close friends and original business partners were left behind.
  • “What got you here won’t get you there.” — Cassidy [31:46]

7. Serving Big Problems for Big Clients

• Rich People, Rich Problems: To make real money, solve bigger problems for people with resources. Low-end clients consume the most time and give the most grief.
  • “Solve bigger problems and that’s how you make more money. There’s a lot of money out there.” [49:49]
  • “$69 airbnb guests complain all the time, $5000 guests check in, rave, and disappear.” [52:53]

8. Winning Habits: Sobriety, Morning Routines, and Energy

• Alcohol & Energy: Removing alcohol and waking up early is a “cheat code” to productivity, focus, and happiness.
  • “99.9% of our daily problems are solved by eliminating alcohol and waking up at 5:30 in the morning.” [76:30]
  • Practical advice: Try it for 30 days; energy, focus, and success will follow.

9. Choosing the Right Life Partner

• Growth Hack: Having a committed, supportive, accountable life partner accelerates your personal and business growth.
  • “Having the right life partner is the biggest growth hack nobody talks about...The right one will make you dream bigger; the wrong one will wash away all your ambitions.” [61:34 & 63:35]
• Controversial Gender Dynamics: Rich attributes some of his success to traditional roles (provider/nurturer), and observes more women “getting after it” in business and real estate than men now.
  • “A woman who owns real estate is more attractive than a woman who owns an OnlyFans account.” [64:44]
  • “Women officially own more real estate than men in America.” [65:03]

10. Time Urgency and Legacy

• Months, Not Years: Rich drives home the finite nature of life by calculating the remaining months on earth, using this as motivation to take action and avoid regret.
  • “I have about 456 months left on this planet...That’s going to go by like this.” [00:49 / 86:33]
• Never Too Late: Both hosts reinforce that reinvention is always possible, no matter your age or head start.
  • “The story I’m telling is: it’s never too late to reinvent yourself.” [84:54]

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Most men die at 25, but aren’t buried until they’re 75.” — Cassidy [00:45, 01:53]
• “Everyone told me it’s too risky...That’s why 99% of people are broke.” — Rich [00:00]
• “Burn the boats. Eliminate plan B. That’s how success happens.” — Rich [11:41]
• “Money loves speed. Poverty loves indecision.” — Rich [38:38]
• “No one knows what the fuck they’re doing, bro. The only difference is some did it anyway.” — Rich [13:11]
• “Stop listening to people closest to you, start listening to people closest to your dreams.” — Rich [26:25]
• “It’s okay to cut friends who are no longer aligned with the person you’re trying to become.” — Rich [27:43]
• “If someone tells you your dreams are impossible, they’ve revealed their limits, not yours.” — Rich [24:48]
• “If you want to build a big thing, you have to take care of everyone involved.” — Rich [24:08]
• “Happiness stems from growth and progress.” — Rich [00:49, 69:11]
• “You can’t save your way to being rich. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Oprah—they didn’t skip Starbucks.” — Rich [74:02]
• “Whatever you’re looking for is behind the sacrifice you’re avoiding.” — Cassidy [76:30]
• “Having the right life partner is the biggest growth hack nobody talks about.” — Rich [61:34]
• “A woman who owns real estate is more attractive than a woman who owns an OnlyFans account.” — Cassidy, cited by Rich [64:44]
• “It’s never too late to reinvent yourself.” — Rich [84:54]
• “If you want more opportunity, become a person of action, curiosity, and value.” — Rich [54:30, 55:19]

---

Timestamps of Important Segments

• Intro & Breaking Out of the System: [00:00–09:37]
• Challenge of Modern Masculinity & Comfort: [00:21–03:45]
• The Grand Conspiracy of the “System”: [06:03–09:37]
• Going All-In & Risk Taking: [11:41–14:23]
• Realities of Entrepreneurship: [14:23–19:57]
• Struggles & Adversity: [19:57–24:08]
• The Power of Your Circle & Cutting Out Negativity: [24:48–34:30]
• Money Loves Speed; Action over Perfection: [38:38–49:49]
• Serving the Affluent, Avoiding Scarcity Mindsets: [49:49–55:19]
• Leveraging Today’s Tools & Urgency for Change: [55:19–57:00]
• Choosing a Life Partner as the Ultimate Growth Hack: [57:00–64:36]
• Modern Dating and Gender Role Reversals: [64:44–73:49]
• Poverty vs. Wealth: What Truly Matters: [74:12–76:30]
• Winning Habits: Sobriety, Routines: [76:30–84:45]
• Changing Your Story & Time Urgency: [84:54–89:14]
• Wrap-Up & Parting Words: [89:14–End]

---

Final Thoughts

This episode serves as both a masterclass and a wake-up call for anyone stuck in “the system” or merely contemplating a leap into entrepreneurship, wealth-building, and personal transformation. Rich and Cassidy blend actionable advice, hard truths, and motivating stories, targeting anyone who wants to “unfuck” their life and escape mediocrity. The tone is honest, relentless, and inspiring—perfect for listeners ready to take massive action.

---

For further content and inspiration, connect with Rich Somers on Instagram: @rich_somers

---

Transcript

[Rich Summers]

I used to be fearful of losing $5,000. Now putting 250 in the line, it doesn't even make me flinch. I literally cashed out my 401k and I walked away from a $200,000 income job, which most people never quit. And I went all in. Everyone told me it's too risky. Well, and that's why 99 of people are broke. I knew nothing about business, nothing about real estate investing six years ago. And that's when I woke up. I just wasted 33 years of my life, literally.

[Cassidy Warren]

I am shocked to hear you say that, knowing you men are supposed to

[Rich Summers]

go out there and provide hunt. And that's just not the age that we live in today. Unfortunately, guys will go on a first date with a woman and they'll let the woman pay the bill. They're weak. This is the best time ever, ever in the history of America to be alive. Technology, AI, YouTube. We can access knowledge and gain information so quickly. Today, the best way to make more money is to.

[Cassidy Warren]

Most men die at 25, but aren't buried until they're 75.

[Rich Summers]

I think it's a stat. Right now, more than 50% of men in the ages between the ages of 20 and 30 live at home with the parents. That's a real thing. I always say months is the best way to measure how much time we have left. Not years. Months is the best way to measure how much time we have left. I'm 39. Average life expectancy for a male is 77 years old. I have about 456 months left on this planet that's going to go by like this. And so back not too long ago, I used to play video games. I used to watch fantasy football. I used to do all the sports stuff. That used to be my excited thing to do. That's what broke people do. And when I realized how short this life really is, when you put it in perspective of 456 months, it makes it a lot easier for me to take action. And it makes a lot easier for me to realize, hey, I want to. I want to build a legacy. I want to build something cool. Happiness stems from growth and progress. And yeah, man, it's sad. It's a sad thing, but it really tells you how low the bar really is for those that truly want this game. And I want it so bad. I want it so bad.

[Cassidy Warren]

I think you want it more than anyone that I've ever seen.

[Rich Summers]

Yes. Yeah.

[Cassidy Warren]

And so most men die at 25, but aren't buried until they're 75.

[Rich Summers]

It's true.

[Cassidy Warren]

What are you saying about the mental state of men right now?

[Rich Summers]

They're weak. They're weak. There's a reason why I hire a woman on my team because a lot of men are weak. They're sensitive. A lot of them aren't action takers. The days of us, you know, if you go back to the ancestral period, like men are providers, men are supposed to go out there and provide, hunt, provide food for their families. And that's just not the age that we live in today. Unfortunately with technology and the way things have, have maybe from a political standpoint as well, I think less and less men are empowered to go out there and make a name for themselves. And I think a lot of that stems from women don't need men anymore. They just don't. Like think about how many women now like go to college, become a successful doctor attorney. There's a lot of successful female real estate investors and entrepreneurs. Like some of the wealthiest woman in America are woman like, like look at Oprah Winfrey for example, right. She's a female billionaire. Look at Kylie Jenner, a female billionaire at the age of 2021. Like think about that dude. And so the days of men needed to be a provider is no longer a thing. And so because of that, I think it's harder and harder as a guy to really find your purpose, find your why and find your desire. And so as a function of it, I think you're seeing more and more mental just decide to stay at home and live in their parents basement and play video games.

[Cassidy Warren]

Do you think it has to do with like comfort?

[Rich Summers]

Yes, it's part of it. Think about this bro. We all live in like nice for the most part. Unless you're homeless. Even being homeless, it can be a pretty fruitful thing these days. Think about it. Like we don't, we're not out in the weather, we're not out in like the, the, the, the, the dynamic. We're not in these like we don't have these barriers and the pressure behind of us to go and grind and hustle. Some of us do. But most people are not cut out for it.

[Cassidy Warren]

Yeah. And then society continues to find ways to make us more comfortable.

[Rich Summers]

Yes.

[Cassidy Warren]

All of us. Right. They give us these distractions. They also tell us go get a, go get a degree, go get a job. And then that's starting to collapse a little bit given the advent of dude,

[Rich Summers]

I was there, I was there bro. So like I was taught from a young age to go to school, get Good grades, go to college, get a job. And I did all those things. You know, diversify, play it safe, invest in your 401k. I did all those things and that was me. And at age 34, I woke up and I was like, dude, what the. This is going to be the rest of my life. And that's when I woke up. I knew nothing about business, nothing about real estate investing six years ago. And that's when I woke up. And that was my calling. And that's why I'm out. I'm like, dude, I don't have time to waste. I just wasted 33 years of my life, literally. I was playing Madden, Call of Duty and I was, I was literally playing fantasy football. I was in five fantasy football season leagues and I would, I would literally have 25 DraftKings lineups on a, on a Sunday and I'd be like glued to the tv and that was like my high. It's like, dude, now I could care less about football.

[Cassidy Warren]

I'm shocked to hear you say that. Knowing you.

[Rich Summers]

Yeah.

[Cassidy Warren]

And knowing how you operate.

[Rich Summers]

I've always been obsessed with something that was, that was my obsession before.

[Cassidy Warren]

I believe that you were obsessed and I believe that you were trying to be the best. Yeah. But for. But I think there's this saying, there's this phrase of don't do like a 10 out of 10 execution on a 1 out of 10 opportunity. Right. There's so many people I think, that are like you, that are excellent at things. They get obsessed, they're driven, they go for it. Whatever they take on, they're going to be like the best at. But they do it on one out of 10 opportunities. They waste it on five fantasy football teams and sports betting. And, you know, they, they don't know. Either they don't know or they don't want to know what it would be like to go and take the leap into something else.

[Rich Summers]

Yeah, you got to take the risk. Now I'm playing real life fantasy football, Right. And that's more exciting to me. I'm making moves in real life. I'm taking risk and I'm like, I have 456 months left. I don't want to spend those. I don't want to spend my limited time watching fantasy football, watching sports, playing video games like it does nothing for me. Nothing. But it used to because that was my life and that's all I knew.

[Cassidy Warren]

Was there a moment where you're like, I'm done with this?

[Rich Summers]

No. I loved what I did as an air traffic controller. And I love a lot of those people. A lot of them invest with me today. I still miss the career because it's fun. I loved it. I just got over it. I was like, dude, I, I need to continue growing, I need to continue progressing. And, and that's when I was like, okay, what's the next thing? And that's when I discovered real estate investing. But I'll say this, man, the last thing I'll say about it is this. The, it's not just society. I believe this whole thing is a system. And so I believe that you have three components. The central government, you have Wall street and you have the central banking system. Okay? All three of those work together and they, they have an alignment of interest and breed middle class people. And so they want people to sit at home and play video games. They want people to go get a high income earning job. Right? They want you to go to college and get. Right. So think about it. They teach you, get good grades, go to school, go to college. When you go to college, you get student loan debt. That's cash flow for the central banking system. And then after college where they tell you go get a job. And if you get a college degree, you get a high income earning job. And the high income earning W2 jobs pay the highest tax bracket. That's cash flow for the federal government in the form of income taxes. And then what do they tell you? They say go buy a single family house and now you go get locked up into a 30 year mortgage. That's cash flow for the central banking system. And they say play it safe, diversify, invest in your 401k. They teach you stocks, they teach you The S&P 500, they teach you the NASDAQ index funds. But they don't teach you real estate investing, they don't teach you how to start a business. But when you invest in Wall street and you Invest in a 401k, that's cash flow for Wall Street. And, and so that's why I believe all three of them, the central banking system, the federal government and Wall street have an alignment of interest to breed middle class people. Because without the middle class people, none of this exists. And so going back to the original quote, yes, I believe that most men die at 25 because of the system.

[Cassidy Warren]

When you start to think about it as a system and that these people are required to keep the systems running. Food, the lights, power, Internet, all these utilities, waste like everything, all the components that make up the things that support society. Yeah, you need the middle class people and you need to create a situation where they have to keep their jobs. So the consumerism, which is capitalism, but the growth and the purchasing and the consuming also keeps people trapped and underwater because the wages are meant to keep people down and limit, so the profits go to shareholders.

[Rich Summers]

Right.

[Cassidy Warren]

This is the system that we live in. But when you start to think about it like that, what you're saying actually makes a whole lot of sense.

[Rich Summers]

Look, dude, I got, I got employees that work for me, bro. But I don't run it like that. I give my employees a split of a rev share the one, the leadership on the leaders on my team that earn it, get a slice of all the equity of all the hotels that we buy in some's capital. And I look at them as partners, not as employees. And so look, I don't believe in the system. I didn't know anything about how to escape this system. I was not educated on it. And if you are educated on the system and that's your choice to work in the system and you're happy with it, then I think that's perfectly fine and you should continue doing it if you're as long as you're happy. But if you're not educated on it, you need to go get educated.

[Cassidy Warren]

I totally agree. If you're happy in it, I think that's totally fine.

[Rich Summers]

Yes.

[Cassidy Warren]

But when you do pull back and you look at it like there are these components that you're like, oh, yeah, that makes a lot of sense that that is how it is in design, whether here's whether malicious or not.

[Rich Summers]

Yeah, but here's the thing. I can't sit here on podcasts and I talk about this all the time on social and my, my podcast. I can't sit here and be like, poo pooing the system. I came from the system, but I also can't be sitting here and poo pooing the system and then have team members that are in the system. And that's why I empower my team members and I make them think like entrepreneurs and I think of them as partners and I call them team members. I never call them employees.

[Cassidy Warren]

Yeah, I agree with you. All right, next one. Rich Summers, the most.

[Rich Summers]

Cassidy Warren. Let's go, baby.

[Cassidy Warren]

Let's go. Yeah, this is fun, dude. All right, the most successful people in the game have survived seasons after seasons after seasons where the hard way is the only way. The game is earned, not given.

[Rich Summers]

Yeah, this one's really good. So, you know, we're on a podcast right now. 80% of podcasts die within the first 10 episodes. That's just a fact. Okay? But everyone looks at these people that have big podcasts, and I think Joe Rogan is probably a prime example. Joe might be the most powerful man in the entire world. Joe has done 3 episodes a week for 16 years, never missed an episode. Showing up 3 times a week for 16 years, never MISSED an episode. You know how hard that is. And when you go take two weeks off, three weeks off vacation, that means you got A pre recorded nine episodes. You know how hard that is for 16 years. And Joe might be the most powerful person in the entire world right now. He has the ability to pick up the phone and call presidents, ex presidents, celebrities, movie stars, any professional athlete, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and any of those names, anyone in the entire world will drop everything that they're doing to go hang out with Joe. And it's not because of his UFC stuff with espn. It's not because of his stand up comedian stuff. It is because of his podcast. And so people see that outcome and they think, man, I really want, I really want the end result. But then they get into a podcast and they start it and they get 10 episodes in and then they give up. That is 99% of people. And that's why 99% of people are broke.

[Cassidy Warren]

So the hard way is the only way. What conditions are you creating in your life to get you through each season?

[Rich Summers]

Number one, you got to go all in. I don't believe in like, you know, a lot of people start side hustles and they're like, in a full time job and they're like, oh, I'm gonna like do this hustle on the side. Okay, that's great. But at a certain point, you got to go all in. Okay? And so one, I believe if you really want something bad enough, like, put yourself in a situation to where you don't have a plan B. Okay? So for when I, for example, when I was working a 11 year government career and I got in the real estate space, I didn't just like dabble, I, I literally cashed out my 401k and shortly after that, I quit my job and I walked away from a pension, I walked away from all the benefits, and I walked away from a $200,000 income job, which most people never quit, and I went all in. But when I, when I burned those boats, I cash out the 401k, I leave that career. Everyone told me it's too risky. Friends, co workers, colleagues, even family members, Everyone told me it's too risky, and all the risks are aligned. And so I knew in that very time, there's no way in hell that I'm going to go back. There's no way in hell I'm going to go back. Right? That's going all in. And so guess what? Since then, there have been a lot of ups and downs. There's a lot of fires that put out every single week. There's dozens of fires that put out. That's part of the game. The mistakes are inevitable. I make mistakes every single week. I empower my team to make mistakes every single week. But because I don't have a backup plan, we always figure it out. And so for anyone listening right here, I think the biggest misconception is, is to think that everyone has it figured out. I think it's easy to, like, open up your phone and look at social media and scroll through TikTok and scroll through Instagram, and all you see is highlight reel after highlight reel after highlight reel, and all you see is all these wins. But what you don't realize is all those people out there, including the big names, the Jeff Bezos, the Elon Musk, the Mark Cubans, all those names, dude. My biggest takeaway is no one knows what the fuck they're doing, bro. No one knows what the fuck they're doing. Some people did it anyways. When Elon Musk was getting started, no idea what he's doing. He did it anyways. Jeff Bezos started Amazon in a garage. No idea where it was going to go. No idea what he's going to do, but he did it anyways. When I started, I had no idea I was going to buy real estate. I did it anyways. Some of these hotels we buy, I'm like, I don't know how I'm going to buy it, but we're going to figure it out. We did it away anyways. And so once you realize that all those successful people out there don't know what the they're doing, but some did it anyways. And the only thing that separates you and all those people out there is that they took action and they did it anyways. And the same thing is for you, if you're listening this right now, take action. You will figure it out if you want it bad enough. And that's how the game works.

[Cassidy Warren]

Should everybody become an entrepreneur?

[Rich Summers]

No.

[Cassidy Warren]

Why?

[Rich Summers]

It's. It's not, bro. A lot of people glamorize being an entrepreneur and they're like, oh, man, it must be nice, the money and the limelight and all this stuff. And dude, they don't see what goes on behind the scenes. There's so much that goes on behind the scenes. You're always working. Like, that's why I said, like, when people come. When I hear people talk about like, they work four hours a day, they don't have a team, they're remote. I'm like, dude, you're not, you're not really in it, bro. You're not really in it. This guy doesn't understand the game. I'm like, what is he talking about? That's not how this game works. If you want to become the best, you are in there building it with your team, putting in 12 hour days, and often working Saturdays and Sundays. You're missing a lot of friends outings, you're getting a lot of phone calls. You're getting pulled in a million directions left and right. You have to, like, have tough conversations all the time. You have to hire and fire people. There are so many things that go on in the back end of becoming an entrepreneur that like, I think a lot of people don't realize. And I think quite frankly, a lot of people are just not cut out for it and it's okay. The game is not for everyone. If it was for everyone and it was easy, then we wouldn't have the middle class, right? We wouldn't have the middle class and we wouldn't have a. We would not have a government, we would not have Wall street, and we would not have a central banking system. It is not the game for everyone. And that's why I believe that, you know, I really think that to be a successful entrepreneur, you have to be cut out for it and you have to be willing to go all in. You have to be able to bet on yourself. You have to be able to take risk and make decisions without knowing the outcome.

[Cassidy Warren]

Can you tell me about maybe one of the hardest moments that you've had as an entrepreneur?

[Rich Summers]

That's a good question. Man. There's so, so many. There's so, so many.

[Cassidy Warren]

Was there one where, like, you just were like, ready to give up at all?

[Rich Summers]

Never. Never. That's the crazy thing. So, like, all these, all these, like, crazy things that I've gone through and shout out to Alex Johnson, by the way, our director of investor relations, like, she's been ride or die with me, like from the jump. Me and Alex always joke, like, we always figure it out and like from the outside looking in, I think people think it's all like buttoned up and dialed. But I'm like, we're always just like figuring out as we go. And that's the truth. And that's how most people probably operate in the space. But we look at them on social media and we're like, man, they have it all figured out.

[Cassidy Warren]

But

[Rich Summers]

so many, dude, there's so many. There's so many. Like having $250,000 non refundable on a hotel and not knowing where the lending is going to come from because the lender pulled out in the 11th hour. The EMD is already hard, and now you have $250,000 of your own money at risk. The lender pulled out. What are you going to do? Right? Another deal with Bodega, we had like $375,000 EMD, non refundable. What's going to happen? There's a lot of those nights. There's a lot of nights where it's like, hey, how are we going to make payroll? What are we going to do? Where the, where's the money going to come from? But we always figure it out, bro. We always figure it out. And every time you figure it out, it makes you a better version of yourself.

[Cassidy Warren]

How big was your 401k that you cashed out?

[Rich Summers]

$340,000.

[Cassidy Warren]

$340,000 was your 401k. And then now you're doing deals where you're putting 250 non refundable on the line. You're putting 350 non refundable on the line.

[Rich Summers]

Yeah. And that doesn't even get me out of bed anymore. Like, whatever. Yeah, it's all perspective, right? Yeah, it's all perspective. I used to be, I used to be fearful of losing $5,000. Now putting 250 on the line doesn't even get. It doesn't even make me flinch. It doesn't. Because I know I'm committed to the goal. And I'm like, hey, I'm going to figure it out. I have no problem putting EMD down because when I put EMD down to get a deal, like, I know I'm all in. I'm gonna, I'm gonna get the deal even if the lending pulls out in the 11th hour. And that was the second hotel that we bought. But today, like this last hotel that we bought in San Clemente, and this is a good lesson for your audience is like, the game gets easier as you grow. The problems get bigger. But the game gets easier as you grow. And if you do the right thing, and that's taking care of investors, that's taking care of vendors, that's taking care of your team members, that's building trust. Long term, if you always do the right thing and make sure that everyone gets taken care of and you do everything that you say you're going to do as a byproduct of it, the game gets easier. So I gave you the example. The second hotel we almost bought, an SBA lender pulled out in the 11th hour. And that's why I'm like, dude, I don't even, I don't with SBA lenders anymore. And we had 250 non refundable. And luckily the seller and the broker wanted to get the deal done, but they could have took our 250 and we got the deal done. But to give you an example of how the game gets easier, the last hotel that we just closed, the Surf Break Hotel up in San Clemente, we had a lot of lenders that wanted to lend. We had a dozen lenders literally within the first like three days that the loan package went out. And the lender, the fund of the deal, they funded it in seven days. That's crazy, right?

[Cassidy Warren]

That's wild.

[Rich Summers]

But the last thing I want to say is, is this with the entrepreneur stuff to really be cut off for the game, like you got to be willing to like put in the 12 hour days and you got to be willing to, you know, be, be okay when gets tough knowing that every single vendor, every single investor, every single team member, they're all going to get paid first. And so if that means that you're going to lose your own money or you're going to go through periods and seasons where things get heavy financially to make sure that everyone else gets paid and you're the last one, then maybe you're cut out for it. But that's how the game works.

[Cassidy Warren]

Yeah. And that's how it works.

[Rich Summers]

That's how the game.

[Cassidy Warren]

That's the only way to grow. Only way to grow. Some people get lucky and they start doing 100k months right out the gate. But that's not the way it works.

[Rich Summers]

I want to share one more thing. You asked me what the hardest thing was. The hardest thing was this. It was spring of 2024 and I had just gotten out of a relationship, right. And. And so she, she left me. And actually I sent her home. She left me. And shortly after that, I lost a couple team members. And literally right in that same period of time, we had just renovated hotels in Dell. We had just literally put a $1.4 million full rental in this thing. We did the grand opening party and then literally right after that we had the San Diego had record rainfall, the most, the most rain San Diego's ever seen in like a 44 year span. All the buildings downtown got flooded out, our office got flooded out. Podcast studio, even where I live in a brand new A class building got flooded out, the hotel got flooded out, six of the rooms got affected and we had to shut the hotel down. It was a big loss. The insurance company didn't and this is a learning lesson on my end. One of my team members, the one that resigned, she had a phone call with the insurance company and she told them the wrong information and they use that against her and they canceled the whole entire policy. So we had a 600, 000 loss on that hotel and she literally dips out. Insurance is not going to cover a dime. And so I'm like holy, what am I going to do? So I had to go over the hotel, shot a video, shot content, figured it out, we got a couple teams in, remediation team, we had contractors come in, I shot a video, we sent it out to the investors, gave an update and like hey, this is what's going on, it's where do you want to mitigate it, what we're doing moving forward? And so looking back, it was a very, very tough season for me, but it made me so much stronger. And what I did was I, it forced me to hustle, it forced me to go sober. That's when I stopped drinking. And that was the best thing that I ever did for myself is I gave up the alcohol and I really dug in, I got focused, we hustled, we figured it out and we used streams of revenue from the other businesses to make sure that all the investors got paid, they never missed a distribution, made sure that all the lenders got paid, they never missed the payment, we got the hotel back up and running and now we're rocking and rolling. But that was a tough season for me and it made me a hell of a lot stronger. It forced me to become a better leader and a better version of myself.

[Cassidy Warren]

I remember that time because I think that's when I kind of came into your world through the mastermind. And I think right after that, yeah,

[Rich Summers]

certain doors won't open for you until you become the version of yourself that can walk through them. Every time you become a new version of yourself, a new door gets unlocked. And that was that prime example right there. I needed to become a better version of myself in order to open a new door. And so Right before I met you, that was the, that was me working on my version of myself so I could meet you in Cabo San Lucas.

[Cassidy Warren]

In Cabo. That's right.

[Rich Summers]

Let's go, baby.

[Cassidy Warren]

That was the start of.

[Rich Summers]

But you were saying what I just

[Cassidy Warren]

remember thinking how committed you were to making sure that the investors were taken care of. And the reason I'm talking about this for, for people listening is because you have to look at your business. You have to, you have to figure out who your customers are in your business and you have to be someone who's willing to do customer service for your customers. And in, in the real estate world, it's your investors, right? They are your customers. They're not the guests of the hotel. They're not the people that rent the storage units, whatever. It's, it's the people that you have relationships with that are giving you money, right? But it's not about the money. It's about how you take care of them, how you communicate with them. And so I think you put a lot of money on your line, if I remember correctly, like with that specific deal. And I remember thinking like, I hope I have a problem that big to solve in the future where I have a hotel that floods and I'm able to go create content and I can go be in a situation where I can go take money out of my own personal account and go distribute out to the investors so that I can take care of them the way that they've been investing with me.

[Rich Summers]

100%, dude.

[Cassidy Warren]

That's right.

[Rich Summers]

And that's how this game works. Like, for anyone listening, this, like, if you want to build a big thing, you have to take care of everyone involved. And so for us, like, I'm going to build a billion dollar real estate portfolio with Summer's capital. And I know the only way to do that is to take care of all my investors. All always say, do what I say I'm going to do. And then all of our lenders always take care of them, no matter what happens. All of our vendors, everyone on our team, our VAs over in the Philippines, all the on site staff at all the hotels, like literally everyone. And, and that's how you win the game. You build trust and you do it at scale and you repeat the process.

[Cassidy Warren]

That's right. All right, next one. Rich Summers. Friendly reminder. If someone tells you that your dreams are impossible, they've revealed their limits, not yours.

[Rich Summers]

The majority of the people in this world are naysayers. The majority of the people in this world are pessimistic it happened when I was leaving my 11 year government career and cashing out my 401k to get into real estate investing. Everyone told me it was too risky. Everyone told me why it was not going to work. Friends, family members, co workers, colleagues. And my biggest takeaway is this. Looking back, all those risks are real. So put some weight on them. But on the other side of the balance scale is another risk. And it's this. I could be 80 years old one day, laying in my bed, staring at the ceiling, kicking myself, because I never can try to anything in life. How about that risk? That's a, that's a risk too that a lot of people don't allude to. And so when I think of it, big perspective, like, you gotta stop going to like people closest to you for advice. Most people unfortunately go to their friends, their family members, their spouse for advice. But in all reality, those people have not done what you're looking to do. So if you're looking to get into real estate investing, why are you going to go talk to people that have never invested in real estate? If you're looking to go start a business in the fitness space, why are you going to go get advice from people that have never started a business before? They might not even be in shape. And you're going to go take fitness business advice from someone that's not in shape and never started a business before. So one of my favorite lines is stop listening to people closest to you and start listening to people closest to your dreams. It's the quickest way to improve your life.

[Cassidy Warren]

Why do people feel like they need to project their own insecurities onto other people?

[Rich Summers]

Because it makes them feel better. It validates why they're not taking action.

[Cassidy Warren]

Yeah, I think it keeps people safe in their own world.

[Rich Summers]

Yeah.

[Cassidy Warren]

People are so focused on others and then you put yourself out into the spotlight, you put yourself out on the limelight and it creates somebody that they can go project their own insecurities onto and tear down and comment on. And you know, they turn into a spectator. There's that quote about the man in the arena. Right. That you're not. And I don't, you know, I don't know the full quote right now, but basically you're not really doing it until you step it in the arena. You want to become the man in the arena. But how many, let's take a football team, for example. There's 22 players on the field. How many thousands of fans are in the stands? And then how many millions of People are watching. So you got 22 people in the arena, and you've got millions of people outside of the arena commenting, cheering, jeering, throwing, you know, whatever, insults. And that's what I feel like it's like, as being an entrepreneur, someone putting yourself out there is that you're in the arena doing it, and there's a lot of spectators that are projecting their own things on you while they sit in the stands. And that's all they can do, is just comment.

[Rich Summers]

Monday morning quarterback.

[Cassidy Warren]

Monday morning quarterback.

[Rich Summers]

I always say it's okay to cut friends who are no longer aligned with the person that you're trying to become. You can't grow with people that don't look. Don't like how growth looks on you. And unfortunately, I think a lot of people are afraid to have those tough conversations. They're afraid to cut out certain friends. But in all reality, like, you have to cut people out of your life in order to grow. There cannot be any growth without. Without change. And so I used to be around a lot of people when I was younger that were like, naysayers, pessimistic, always have some sort of input and judgmental people. And I just thought that was normal. Like, growing up, I just thought that was normal. I'm sure, like, you. You probably had some of that. I'm sure people listening to this right now, Like, I'm sure you guys all have someone in your life or. Or you grew up with someone that was like that. I just thought that was normal as part of the game. Like, these were friends of mine, and they would always be, like, pessimistic and be like, hey, that's never gonna work. Like, why are you doing this? Why are you doing that? Some people probably have relationships to where their spouse, their spouse, their partner, or like, is like that. And I just want to say, like, I want to put it out there. Like, that is not normal. I've removed all of that from my life. Like, one of my best friends growing up, I had to remove him from my life in 2021. It was a very tough conversation. We were best friends for, like, 18 years. But him and his girlfriend were very pessimistic, very judgmental, and I had to have a very tough conversation. I was raising money for my very first deal in 2021. Apartment building out in the Arbors, townhomes to 150 units out in Greensboro, North Carolina, which we still own today. I was raising money for that deal. And I remember it was in 2021. I remember talking to him about it. And he was like. He was like, why are you coming. Why are you coming at me asking me for money? Why would I invest in your deal? And it's crazy because, like, when we, like, raise money, that's not the feedback that we get. People are like, oh, my gosh, thank you so much. I didn't even know this is an opportunity. I'd love to learn more. Or if they're not interested, like, hey, like, I'm. Now's not a good time, but please keep me in mind for the next time. And good luck with your. Good luck with your raise. Good luck with your deal. That's what most people say in my circle. And when we would go out to eat, he would be like, I remember, he would be like, him and his girlfriend would be like, I like to tip people well. That's just who I am, right? And so if I go out to eat, restaurants, go out to whatever I'm doing, I like to take care of people. That's just who I am. Um, I like to come back to the same spots and like, I want to be welcome. When I come back, I want people to be like, yo, what's up, rich? Like, we want to serve you, right? And so I remember him being like, why are you tipping so much? Why are you doing this? Why are you doing that? And every time I walked away from an outing with him, I felt I didn't feel good about myself. And so it was a very tough conversation. But in 2021, I decided to remove myself from that conversation. And we haven't talked since. And so that's why I say it's okay to cut friends who are no longer aligned with the person that you're trying to become. And the truth is you just can't grow with certain people. That's just, that's just how the game works. And so I remove myself and now I've grown a lot as a function of it. And the last thing I'll say is this. Now my circle is like all uplifting, positivity, forward thinking, like minded individuals, action takers, the doers, the 1%. And there's no negativity in my circle. I do not allow any negativity in my circle. And the second I hear it from like some outsider, I'm like, no, no, no, no, pull back. That person's not in my circle. I don't allow it.

[Cassidy Warren]

The pessimism and the complaining. You said it's not normal.

[Rich Summers]

It's normal for a lot of people,

[Cassidy Warren]

it's normal, but it's not the Right way to live.

[Rich Summers]

And it's. It's.

[Cassidy Warren]

I know what you mean. It's not normal. It's not the way it's supposed to be.

[Rich Summers]

Scarcity.

[Cassidy Warren]

It's scarcity. It's lack. It's negative energy. I didn't realize how much I was in it. My own family, a lot of my friends, people get together and it's like I leave those engagements, the dinners, the parties, the whatever, the one on ones, and I'm just like drained because everyone's so focused on other people and tearing them down. And you. You don't realize it until you start to try to do something on your own.

[Rich Summers]

Right?

[Cassidy Warren]

The compl. Once you stop complaining, or even if you're aware of other people and the negativity that they bring, you'll start to see it more and more and more. And it's going to become this thing that you can't ignore any longer. You're going to recognize it in your own behavior. And once you cut that out, that's when things change. Because then you have the confidence to go have the conversations with your friends, with your family, or not even have it at all. And you can just stop talking to people and like, that's, that's that, right? And I think that's okay. Because what got you here won't get you there. And who got you here won't be the same people that are with you in the future for your next level.

[Rich Summers]

That's a really good takeaway. And in 2022, I had to remove myself from my partners, my same two partners that we were all air traffic controllers together. We all cashed out our 401ks together. We all bought our first couple apartment deals together. I still own a couple deals with them today. But in 2022, I had to have a very tough conversation and remove myself from that partnership for the very same reasons that you're alluding to right now. We had a different level of risk tolerance. They didn't believe in a lot of the same visions that I did. They did not want to put out content. They didn't want to go all in on the podcast. We had a podcast together, and so we had a different level of risk tolerance. And because of that, every single decision that popped up, and when you're in the game, you're truly in the game of business and real estate investing. There are dozens of decisions to make every single day. And every decision was a four hour, grueling meeting. It would take an entire week to make one decision. I'm like, dude, you can't grow that way. And so I realized that I was no longer going to reach my full potential under that partnership. And they were very, very risk averse. And that's not how this game works. Like, you have to be okay with the unknown. You have to be okay with the fact that things are going to pop up. And when things pop up, you have the resources, the wherewithal and the intelligence to go out there and find a solution and push through it. And so I had the tough conversation. I ended up splitting up with them. And I said it was tough because we had investors, we had deals together at the time. We own three deals together today. We still own two deals together. And I said, you guys keep the podcast. I'm going to start my own. It's. They just came from a different place, bro. It was a place for scarcity. I love those guys. Nothing bad to say about them. But the crazy thing is this, bro, I just found out that one of them is back at the air traffic control place.

[Cassidy Warren]

Damn. What happened?

[Rich Summers]

And they stopped doing the podcast. They haven't done the podcast since July last year. And I don't know, I haven't talked to him, but I was at, I was at a. I was at an outing and I ran into one of my old co workers for the first time in a long time. He was like, hey, your boy's back at the air traffic control facility. I'm like, what boy? He's like, your old partner. I'm like, that's crazy.

[Cassidy Warren]

When I ask people about why they're not taking the risk or taking the leave or taking the jump into the thing that they want to do the most, I asked them, like, what's your worst case scenario? Like, well, I would just go back in and go back to working my job. I would just go back to working the job that I'm working now and. Or find another job. And I'm like, bro, your worst case scenario is what you're doing right now, right now, when you realize that life is short and the amount of time that you actually have to go after your dreams and do the things and have an able body and that you're living your worst case scenario right now. Like, how much more motivation do you need to just go all in? Like, go experience life, become the biggest version of yourself that you absolutely can become. Like, to hear that you were playing Madden and fantasy football is wild to me. My other, my other mentor, Dan Martell, to hear and look and see where he was to where he is now, I'm seeing real time with you, who you used to be to who you're becoming and who you're going to become in the future. And that for me is proof. And that's why, like, getting around your mentors and really thinking about what you want out of life and just going for it is the only option in life. Whatever it is. Whatever it is.

[Rich Summers]

Yeah. If you don't have confidence, go give yourself a reason to be confident. And I always say action leads to competency, competency leads to confidence. But the last thing I'll say about what you just alluded to is, is this. It's funny because a lot of I hear a lot of younger people that are in their 20s, early 30s, and they're like, afraid to take a risk. And it's like, dude, when you're in your 20s, like, do you have to lose? You have nothing to lose. This is where you should be taking all the risk. You have no kids, you're not married, you don't have any money, you're broke, you're working at a job you hate. Like, what are you afraid to lose? You have nothing to lose at that point. And so why wouldn't you go all in? Why wouldn't you go all in?

[Cassidy Warren]

If I would have spent the time that I spent dedicated to corporate in my twenties, I can't even tell you where I'd be right now. And it's not out of regret.

[Rich Summers]

Me too.

[Cassidy Warren]

I don't regret it. I don't, like, I don't think about it that way. I just think about, wow, I went so hard for another company. If I would have done that for myself, I just can't even imagine what's possible. And so part of me is, like, making up for that time and like, going all in and trying to experience the world and meet as many people as I can and go have as many amazing conversations as I have.

[Rich Summers]

But do you feel, because I have a similar background, right. I spent 11 years working in a government career, and I forfeited 11 years of my life doing this. But do you feel like that step was necessary for you to actually be where you are today and actually appreciate where you are today 100%?

[Cassidy Warren]

Yeah. That's why I don't regret it. Because I am who I am today and it's giving me the thing. But there are parts of me that are like, being in that culture, that government, because I didn't have a specific government job like you, but it was very close, very close to being a government job. They gave me a ton of opportunity. They let me go do my thing. I hopped around. I did a lot of great things there. But the culture keeps you small. The it, the it's just built like when we talked about systems earlier, the capitalistic system and creating middle class in government type jobs. The culture does the same thing. It creates and molds you into what they want you to be inside of that system. And that was totally against who I was. And so the only regret that I have is that I, I do believe that being in that culture for so long, kind of with my, my mind a little bit and my confidence to take more risks, to take more action, to envision my future self a little bit. So I'm like breaking out of that. I'm not blaming them. I'm not saying any of that. It's just kind of a recognition that if you're in a culture like that, the longer that you stay in there, the longer you're going to be affected and it's going to be harder to make the leap, to make the jump, to fully step into everything that you've been trying to do. At least that was my experience.

[Rich Summers]

Oh, for sure. 100%. Yeah, 100%. But you did it.

[Cassidy Warren]

I did. And I'm going to keep going hard.

[Rich Summers]

You broke out of the system.

[Cassidy Warren]

I did break out of the system. And I'm still, I'm still going. So. All right, next one. Decrease the time between having an idea and executing and everything changes. Money loves speed. Poverty loves indecision.

[Rich Summers]

This is a good one. This is a really good one. This is the number one thing that I hammer with my team. I'm like, I don't care if you guys make the wrong decision. I want a quick decision, and let's roll this out quick. The more time that you allow to give yourself between having an idea and actually doing the thing, the less likely that you're actually going to do the thing. Most people have an idea and then they go into a planning phase, and then after that, after they had come up with a plan, then they take action. But the problem with that, that's most people, the problem with that is the plan is never going to be perfect. Conditions are never going to be perfect. It's never going to be the right time to start. There's always going to be a million reasons not to start. And so people actually never end up starting. Successful people, they have an idea, they commit to the target, and then they figure out how. And so that's why I always say, like, whenever I have an idea with the team, I'm like, hey guys, like when we started the hotel Mastermind, I didn't know anything about masterminds. Everyone, everyone that's coming to my podcast are like talking about their mastermind communities on My damn is a cool thing. And I was like, okay, okay. And I was like, damn. No one had a boutique hotel investing mastermind. And so I came in the office one day and I was like, hey guys, we're going to, we're going to start a boutique hotel investing mastermind. And I didn't know if it was. I didn't think I was ready at the time, but I didn't want someone to beat me to it. And so I told the team like, hey guys, we're going to roll out a boutique hotel basically Mastermind. And they're like, okay, well what are we going to teach? What are the courses? What's the material? My guys, none of that matters. Let's just go and get some customers. So I went on social media and I went on Instagram and I literally, I put a couple of videos. I was like, hey, you want to get in the boutique hotel investing game? Take advantage of tightening Airbnb regs and the 40 million retirement baby members? Click the link below. I'm going to be hosting a free one hour webinar next week, Tuesday night, blah, blah, blah. I knew nothing about masterminds. I knew nothing about webinars at the time. I believed in mentorship, though, because we had paid my two partners and I that we broke up. We paid our mentors, one of our podcast guests, $70,000 to teach us the apartment game, John and Tony Azar. And that's what taught me how to underwrite bigger deals, how to underwrite bigger deals. All that. That's what got me in the game. And so I believed in the mentorship already, but I knew nothing about masterminds. I was like, what the is a mastermind? And so I already knew the value that those things can be and I knew my value. And so anyways, long story short, we have 110 register. We have 77 show up to this, this one hour webinar and I present for 30 minutes. Why boutique hotels, why Airbnb is going away. Case studies of our deals. And then I did a Q A. Before the Q A, I was like, hey, there's 77 of you in this column. For the first time ever, I'm rolling out a brand new opportunity for just four of you who are ready to take a real estate game to the next level and committed to buying a boutique hotel. And click the link below and we could talk about the opportunity. I'm going to get into some Q and A. I don't want to answer questions about the opportunity. If you want to learn more about the opportunity, click the link below. We had 16 book calls. We had, we did $220,000 in gross revenue from a one hour webinar. And then I went to the team and I said, now let's figure out what we're going to teach. And that's the birth of the Mastermind and sort of go back to the original quote. That's how I operate. And I'm like, dude, as soon as we have an idea, I'm like, let's go and do it. We're going to do it right now and let's just go test the market and if, if there's something there, we'll lean into it, we'll throw gas on it, we'll double down on it. But if we test the market, there's no demand. We're like, we'll just, we'll just table it and we'll go a different direction. And so I think so many people spend so much time going into this plan and they're like, prepping coursework. I was talking to some guy the other day. He's been, he's been prepping for his mastermind for nine months. Courses, videos, tutorials. I'm like, you don't even know if someone's going to buy it. You haven't even tested a market yet. You, you might have just wasted nine months. And I'm just like, dude, no, like, let's just go test the market and if, if there's something there, we'll lean into it. If not, we'll just, we'll just pivot. And that's how I operate and that's how I've always operated. And so my team knows it's the number one thing that we go by is like, quickness. Money loves speed. Poverty loves indecision.

[Cassidy Warren]

I think this is a horosi. I don't know if it's a quote or somebody's talked about. Most people are like, oh, I'll have a due date of like next week. So seven days from today to figure something out. If you can decrease the deadline of a decision from seven days to one day, you've just 7x'd your output.

[Rich Summers]

Mm.

[Cassidy Warren]

You can create seven times more opportunities by just decreasing the time it takes you to make a decision. And think about what that means for a business that's trying to generate revenue, trying to generate sales. Sales, trying to help people. If you can implement something seven times faster, bring on seven times more customers, whatever that is. What does that actually mean for you from a revenue standpoint? Right. If you did 250 on your launch, now we're talking 1.4. You know, I, I'm using fake numbers, but sure, but people's default is to delay and think about and plan. Like, how did you, how did you learn to decrease the time between making decisions?

[Rich Summers]

I think it was through the reps and the at bats. Like, I was never, like, I never grew up this way. I grew up risk averse. I was, my parents are very, very tight with money. My mom was, my mom's an immigrant from Taiwan. And so she's always worked like retail jobs where she's traded her time for money, like low income jobs. And she's always saved every single penny that she's ever earned. And she's still that way today. When I go home today, she'll tell me like, hey, turn the lights off. Like, you know, literally she, and she, she says, this is Taiwanese. She says, bots and quantity. I'll never forget. This is the only thing I know how to say in Taiwanese. But it means turn off the lights. Because she's even today, she's like coming from a place of scarcity. That's just how she is. And so I was always, always raised this way. And so when I got into business and entrepreneurship, I was always afraid of make, taking risk. And I was always defaulted in like, oh, I got to go in this planning phase because I don't want to make a mistake. And so it was through the reps and the at bats, like the first 11 unit building that I bought in Cincinnati. I didn't know this at the time. I thought I was just getting into the real estate game, but I didn't know it would lead to all this. But that first deal gave me a little bit of confidence and I learned some mistakes through that deal. And that gave me some more confidence to do a second deal, a third deal, and a fourth deal, fifth deal. And now 14 deals later, I'm become a different version of myself to where I'm like, oh, I realize money loves speed. And the quicker I can like actually put my stuff into execution, put my ideas onto, into action, the quicker we're going to move. And like you said, it's all about making decisions. And I tell my team, I'm like, guys, I don't care if you make a wrong decision. Let's Just make a decision and go. And the truth is we're not going to get 100 of the decisions, right? I'm certainly not. We're all speculating. We're all taking calculated risks. But let's use the information that we have at our knowledge and let's make the best calculated decision and roll with it. And if it's the wrong one, we'll learn and we'll pivot. And if it's the right. We've. We've tabled so many ideas, dude, I'll try anything as long as it's going to create us a lift and it's not going to consume too much of our time. And we've tabled so many ideas throughout the years where I'm like, dude, it's not a big deal. Like, let's. That's why I've said, like, let's just go test it. Hey, guys, real quick. I just wanted to personally thank you for listening to this podcast. It means the world to me. The only way this show grows is by word of mouth. If there's anyone in your circle that could benefit from this podcast, it would mean the world to me if you could share it with them via text or maybe on your Instagram story. And I'll be sure to keep an eye out on my Instagram for shares so I can reshare share you on my Instagram story. Again, thank you so much for listening. And it means the world to me. Now back to the show. And if it's not there, cool. Not a big deal. We don't have to roll it out. But we learned something from the marketplace. What does the marketplace want? What's the appetite? If you don't know the appetite, why are you going to spend time building something?

[Cassidy Warren]

Product market fit.

[Rich Summers]

Yeah.

[Cassidy Warren]

And so how do you deal with people's perception of trying all these things and the. The potential perception of chaos or bouncing around or not being consistent or.

[Rich Summers]

And I'm not.

[Cassidy Warren]

I'm not saying that you are, that that's a perception, but I think people procrastinate because they want to look perfect. Procrastination is perfectionism in disguise. And part of that perfectionism is how you're perceived by others. And so how do you deal with the perfectionism or people's perception of who you are as a person? Can you elaborate on that with the scarcity mindset? Because I come from it too.

[Rich Summers]

This.

[Cassidy Warren]

When I'm visiting my family.

[Rich Summers]

Yes.

[Cassidy Warren]

They're turning off the lights behind me. Just every room I've had to, like, Let that go. Yeah, because that's just who they are.

[Rich Summers]

Right?

[Cassidy Warren]

But so I come from the same. I come from the same world, and it's in me too, to want to be perceived as having my shit together. And I think that's where a lot of people's indecision comes from or procrastination is. They want to make sure that when they show up, everything looks good, it's all turned on. We spent all this time on building the setup today. Want to look perfect, quote, unquote, perfect, right? If you are trying a bunch of different things and they're not working, quote, unquote, not working, people might think something about you. And again, I'm not saying directly you specifically, but I think for me or others that are in this position of like, how do I try things, how do they then fail or not work? And then how do I deal with what people think of me based on I'm going to try a bunch of stuff and not be perfect at it.

[Rich Summers]

I think the easiest way is just to, like, be open about all your wins and your losses. Like, I talk about everything with, like, everyone. So, like, my team, we do a Monday morning L10 meeting every single morning. We all have our KPIs. You saw our content KPIs yesterday. That's just like. That's just like 5% of our total KPIs. All of our stuff's out there. And so my team knows what we're doing, the pivots, the stuff that we test, the stuff that we. We table, the wins, the losses, where everything is. And you know, by you having a podcast, that's also also another very good platform to put yourself out there. And I would challenge anyone that is maybe dealing with that same notion that you're dealing with in that the more genuine you are and the more you talk about everything that you're doing, the more people that are going to be gravitated towards you, the more trust that you're going to build at. At scale. And ultimately, people do business with those they know like, and trust. Obviously not everyone's going to be gravitated towards you. That's just part of the game and that's okay. And so I say it, like, talk about everything. Like, I'm very transparent and I think transparency and authenticity is what sells. And so I think a lot of people are afraid to put stuff out there. I'm like, dude, put it out there, put it out there. And that's how you win the game.

[Cassidy Warren]

If you want to make real money, shake More hands. Be useful to people with big money. Solve rich people problems. You don't need one more degree. How do you become useful to rich people?

[Rich Summers]

You have to solve big problems. There's so much money out there in the world. The federal government has printed 80 of the money supply since 2020. There is so much money out there that everyone can win. You just got to go out there and get it. And so the best way to make more money is to solve bigger problems. And you need to solve those problems for people that can afford your services. And, and if you think about it, people that have money understand the game. They're busy too. They have problems. They understand the game. Though. When we raise capital, my investors that invest 300k, 400k, 500k, like one of our investors, every time we have around, he's getting, he's in for 300 000. The only question out of his mouth is what's the wire instructions. But when we get on a new intro investor call, and every now and then I'll make an exception with an investor to come in below the minimum. But in the past, anytime I brought in someone below the minimum, not all the time, but sometimes those are the ones that are going to ask 99 questions, jump on call after call after call. And don't get it twisted, I'm, I'm always more than happy to jump on and walk through an investor through all the scenarios, but a lot of the ones that take a lot of your time, call you after the fact, hey, something came up. I, can I get my money out asking a million questions. Those are the ones that are investing with a scarcity mindset. And so I just tell those people, I'm like, hey, I don't, I don't want your money. I don't think that you should invest with us. It's not going to be a good fit. I'm like, you should go do this instead. And so you don't know what you don't know. But as you grow through the game, you get to recognize who you want to invest with you and who you don't want to invest with you. And so the same thing goes with, with what we're talking about. Solve bigger problems and that's how you make more money. There's a lot of money out there. Bigger the problem you solve, the more money that you'll make.

[Cassidy Warren]

Yeah, and there's this idea of like, oh, well, I want to help people that, that need help or the, the regular guy, the average Joe, like whatever you want to say there's this idea of like, well, I want to stay small and I want to help these individuals or these types of people.

[Rich Summers]

Then do that. You're going to have a lot of headaches and you're going to have a lot of people pulling you in a million directions. And you're not going to make any money and you're not going to be, you're not going to pour into your customers because you're not going to be making any money. You, you got to take care of yourself first, make sure that you're getting paid and compensated fairly for your time, and you actually have clients that you value. And that's how this game works. Look at the Airbnb game. We got, you know, we have, we have luxury Airbnbs and we got some, we got a couple Airbnbs that we manage for clients out in Indianapolis where sometimes middle of the week rates are like 59, 69 bucks a night. Those $69 a night Airbnb guests are the ones that are complaining the entire stay. And then at the end of the stay, they ask for a refund. The $5,000 a night Airbnb guests out in Scottsdale, those are the ones that check in. They drop $20,000 in a stay. You never hear from them. They drop you a five star review. So which client do you want to serve?

[Cassidy Warren]

And then if you're solving rich people problems, this is the thing where people get mixed up. If you're solving rich people problems, one, you are building a bigger business so you can pay yourself. You can live the life that you want. You're not just running around with your head cut off like putting out fires because you can't hire people because you built a small business. And when you make more money, if you want to help people, if you want to help these other people that you, that you think deserve it or do deserve it, the more money you have, the more resources you have, the more access to people that have money and resources, the more people you can actually help and serve because you are making more money. And what solves problems in this world is access to the right people and the money that can go help solve the problem. So you, you actually, instead of just like if you're doing a group coaching program, instead of doing one on one all day, every day, and you can only max out at, you know, 10 people a week, you can do a group coaching program, hundred thousands of people you can help, and you're actually making more money that way and you're helping more people. Right, bro?

[Rich Summers]

And and, and people that have money, they, they get the game. People that have money have way bigger problems to worry about than is this $25,000 investment going to work out or not work out? Is this two thousand dollar, you know, deposit, Is this gonna work out or not? What's the biggest risk around it? People that have money, they have way bigger problems to worry about. Yeah, like when I get on a call with a freaking like vendor and like we're gonna do some sort of third party thing. Like, I don't know, like, I don't like all the fluff, I'm like, I'm a no fluff type of guy. I'm like, I don't have time to waste. What's the price? I'm ready to move forward. I don't need all the fluff. And so tell me the price and let's rock this or I'm not gonna do it.

[Cassidy Warren]

Rich people pay for convenience and speed. Yes, rich people pay for convenience and speed. Here's the secret for anyone that's in a service based business. Let's say you're a landscaper. There's no difference between you doing landscaping on an expensive neighborhood versus a lower class neighborhood other than the customer, and the amount of money that you'll get paid for the same amount of work. All you have to do, show up, do the work that you said you were going to do, communicate with the owner, and you will be able to charge whatever you want to charge. Because that's what rich people want, is they want to not have to think about it. They want to know that you're going to show up and do a good job and then they appreciate you. Right. Just because they're not sitting there talking with you for an hour or all of that, they pay for convenience and speed. And then just knowing that the job got done.

[Rich Summers]

I will say this, ma', am, what a beautiful time that we live in. Regardless of all the hoopla, all the naysayers, all the bad news in the marketplace, like, this is the best time ever, ever in the history of America to be alive. Technology, AI, YouTube, we can listen to podcasts like this and listen and learn more listening to a podcast than we can going to a four year university. And so the ability to like literally gain information and gain knowledge, which is what the game is all about, is literally at the tip of our hands. And we can access knowledge and gain information so quickly today we can like literally have an idea on a Sunday night and we can roll out the idea and start a business on Monday. Morning. We have social media. 4.8 billion people listen are on social media. 4.8 billion with a B people are on social media. We have 40 million baby boomers retiring in the next six years. This is the greatest transfer of wealth in American history. Currently, the baby boomers own about 51 of wealth in America, and the millennials own less than 10%. All this wealth is going to transfer all these businesses, all the real estate. And so if this does not get you excited, this game simply, simply might not be for you. But, man, I'm excited. I'm. I'm amped up. I'm pumped up, man. I cannot wait to get it. This is just the beginning, man. And for anyone listening right now, if you position yourself correctly, if you are an action taker, you ask questions, you're curious, you learn, you're always reading, you're always listening to podcasts, and you do the right thing and you become a good person and you treat others well, you're going to have more opportunity than you ever thought were possible over the next six years. I'm so excited.

[Cassidy Warren]

The most Dangerous man is a focused man with no distractions and a life partner who holds him accountable for turning his dreams into reality. You had a reel that went viral a while back. It was you and your girlfriend, and there was some text. There was no speaking. It was a bunch of images and video of the two of you separately, and there's a bunch of text. I'm gonna read some of the text that was on there.

[Rich Summers]

Yeah.

[Cassidy Warren]

She was perfectly created as a woman. I was perfectly created as a man. She doesn't need to work because I like to provide. She likes to nurture. We do everything together. They say you can't find love at a bar. I say create your own reality and.

[Rich Summers]

And read the beginning of that. What was the beginning of the hook?

[Cassidy Warren]

She was perfectly created as a woman.

[Rich Summers]

Was that the hook on that one? Okay, got it, got it, got it. So, by the way, shout out to my girlfriend, Presley. Amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing human. I'm so proud of her. She. She was a bartender for many years. She would drink at the bar while she was working. I actually met her at the bar when she was drinking. And. But she's. She's been sober for 260 days now, and it's completely changed her life. Like, completely changed her life. She is in the. The best shape of her life. Her mindset is completely shifted. She's growing. She's progressing. I'm so. I'm so stoked to be with her. And, and very proud to call her my girlfriend. But the life hack is having a partner that supports you, invest in your dreams, and is 100% all in with you. One of the biggest distractions that anyone can have right now is being single, running around, setting up dates for the weekends, going out to the bars, drinking, like, just setting up dates and going to all these bars and dinners and outings and all that, like, that's a second full time job. And so to be able to like literally reallocate all that time that you spent drinking, going out on dates, dating girls, talking girls, texting, emailing, DMing on Instagram, like girls sliding in our DMS and all that. If you reallocate all that time into building your dream and actually putting it all into your passion and whatever it is that you're building, I don't care if you're in the fitness space, insurance space, whatever the you're into. All that time compounded over weeks, over months, over years is the difference between someone making it to the college basketball level and someone making it to the NBA and becoming Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan. It's a lot more fulfilling. It is the life hack and is the ultimate, ultimate growth hack. I believe that that is out there is having a partner that is 100 all in with you and you guys are building it together. It's a beautiful thing. And, and I love it, man. It gets me so excited talking about it because we do everything together. We're sober, we do everything together. We're going to the gym together in the morning. I get off work. Yeah. The office. We're going walking together, hiking. We do so much together, man. It's so much fun. We're on the boat in Catalina together, we travel together, we have a good time together, we laugh together, we have fun. But it's also like a. It's someone that I can, I can talk to about everything that I'm going through.

[Cassidy Warren]

What changed for you when you two committed to each other?

[Rich Summers]

Honestly, like, everything, it gives me more confidence. What changed for me is I. All the distractions were cut out of my life and it allowed me to like, really focus on. On growing what, what's important to me and growing this empire. And she's like right there next to me alongside me. And she's building her stuff too right now, which is very exciting to see. And she's working with Heather Wolk. Shout out to Heather, who was on my podcast not too long ago, but I went to Heather Walk and I said, hey, I'm gonna, I'm Gonna, I'm gonna pay you. Will you mentor my girlfriend? And she didn't have like a one on one program for that, but she was like, I'd love to. So we paid Heather for the information and I'm a big believer. And so are you of like going to someone that's already doing what you, what you want to do at a high level and you pay them for the information. And so that's what we did with Press. And so now Press is working directly under Heather and she's building her, her fitness brand and she's going to have her, her own fitness brand online, which is really cool. So I'm excited for it and I'm excited to see all the growth. But dude, I'm telling you right now, it is the biggest life hack to have a partner that's, that holds you accountable for reaching your full potential. It's the deepest love language that you could receive.

[Cassidy Warren]

I agree. And my wife is that for me also. People don't realize how important of a decision it is of who you're choosing as a spouse. Choosing your spouse is the biggest decision that you're going to make in your life. If you're an entrepreneur, if you're a business owner, having someone that supports you fully and is ride or die down is the only way that you're really going to be happy as an entrepreneur. Otherwise, if they are the type of person that subscribes to scarcity, lack and all these other habits and things that we talked about, the complaining, the this or all they want to do is just go to brunch on the weekends and hang out with, you know, whatever and just do their thing. Like they just want to be a housewife or whatever it is, you're going to be sitting there looking at them, wondering why they don't have the same desires and goals and dreams that you do for themselves. But you need, in my experience, you need someone that is ride or die supportive of their goals and dreams and your goals and dreams as well. Like together, but separate. Right. Because they need to be doing their own thing too.

[Rich Summers]

Right.

[Cassidy Warren]

And, and if it's just going through life because that's what they were taught to do, it just, in my opinion, just doesn't work. And I will tell you that five, six, seven years ago, my wife and I were different people. We weren't who we are today. It was not what it's like today. It was hard. It was hard because it was different. There was a lot of scarcity, a lot of lack, a lot of different way of thinking. And now, and this is unique for couples to go through a major shift, a major transformation together, and both come out the other side better and together because we both transformed into new human beings. Right. And. And so I can't emphasize enough the importance of finding the right person, choosing the right person. And then if you're with somebody, having that conversation, if you're feeling that certain way.

[Rich Summers]

So having the right life partner is the biggest growth act that nobody talks about. Some. Some partners will literally, like, I've dated girls in the past that like. Look, I'll give you an example. When I, when I left, I left my air traffic control job in 2019. Actually, I was still working there at the time, but I was. I was getting involved in the real estate space. Dude, I was busy. I was like studying real estate. I was working 56 hours a week. We were living together. My girlfriend at the time, and she felt like my. My desire to get into real estate was pulling away from our relationship. And it was. And she didn't support it. She didn't support it. And so I remember what that felt like. But I ended up breaking up with her as a function of it. And. And now I've built this whole thing, and now she's trying to slide back in. She's trying to slide back in. So that's why I say having the right life partner is the life, the biggest growth hack that nobody talks about. The right one will make you dream bigger. After each conversation, the wrong one will wash away all your ambitions. Choose wisely.

[Cassidy Warren]

That's so true. Hot. Take. A woman who owns real estate is more attractive than a woman who owns an only fans account.

[Rich Summers]

A woman who owns real estate is more attractive than a woman who owns an only fans account. I think there's a stat out there. I'm gonna look it up right now as we speak. But I believe that. I believe that there's more women officially in America that own real estate than men. I'm gonna look this up while we talk.

[Cassidy Warren]

Really?

[Rich Summers]

How many? What percentage? Percentage of women in America own real estate versus men? Single woman in America own a greater percentage of homes compared to single men. A recent study by Lending Tree found that single women own approximately 13% of owner occupied homes, while single men own 9.8%. So that's, that's, that's data that's on the Internet. Women officially own more real estate than men in America. And that's exactly what we were talking about earlier, how a lot of men that are in their 20s right now are Living at home in their balanced basement, playing video games, watching fantasy football. And women are out there making a name for themselves. They're hustling, they're getting bags, and they're buying real estate. It's the same reason why. And I didn't do this by design, but I did this from trial and error is, you know, hiring men and women on my team. I've realized that women are just the better ones for the job. They're less sensitive, they work harder, they're more dedicated, they're more loyal. They show up to work on time. The men are the ones that are sensitive. Their feelings get hurt. They don't take constructive criticism very well. They're not loyal. And most importantly, they're the ones that are in it for the long haul. And. And so for me, man, it's. If you look at my team, it's mostly all women. I do have a couple of guys on my team, and they're great. I love them. But the majority of my. My team is woman because of it. I just think they're the better ones for the job.

[Cassidy Warren]

They're ride or die, too. They're so ride or die high quality. You have one of the best teams that I've seen, you know, doing this stuff. So kudos. Kudos to Alex, Lauren, Megan, everybody on the team.

[Rich Summers]

Oh, shout out to them. I love them.

[Cassidy Warren]

So getting back to that real. The. It went viral. So she was perfectly created as a. A woman. I was perfectly created as a man. It talks about providing and nurturing. Why is this such a controversial take for people?

[Rich Summers]

I. I think because you've seen a lot of, like, transgender stuff going on over the last, like, four years. Like, I think a lot of kids these days don't even know if they're a boy or a girl. I think it's. It's cool. If you want to, like, you know, change your sex or, like, whatever, I think that's cool. But I just don't think that that should be pushed on to, you know, our public school system. I don't think that stuff should be, like, literally, you know, glamorized on social media. I think if you look at. Who is it? Who is it? Who's Kylie Jenner's dad?

[Cassidy Warren]

Yeah. Bruce Jenner.

[Rich Summers]

Bruce.

[Cassidy Warren]

Caitlyn.

[Rich Summers]

What's. What's. What's her name now?

[Cassidy Warren]

Caitlyn.

[Rich Summers]

Caitlyn. So Caitlyn Jenner, right?

[Cassidy Warren]

Yeah.

[Rich Summers]

Look at Caitlyn Jenner. Like, Caitlyn Jenner got into some legal trouble, I believe, like, ran over and, like, almost killed Someone. And then a couple months.

[Cassidy Warren]

Did kill someone.

[Rich Summers]

Did kill someone. Okay. And then two months later, became. Was named, like, national woman of the Year. I also don't believe that people. Men that become. They. They. They. They go over to become a woman. I don't think they should be competing in Olympic sports and in any athletic sports, for that matter. I wouldn't be stoked if I had a daughter and she lost out to a. A guy that became a woman. I don't think that's cool either. I look again, I have. I have no shade on. On those people. Like, if do what you want to do, I respect it. I have a lot of. I have a lot of friends that are homosexual. I don't think I have any transgender friends, but if you are transgender, I'm like, cool, do it. I just don't think that it should be glamorized.

[Cassidy Warren]

And so you think. Well, so let me ask, because I think it's interesting, the language in this reel about created as a woman, created as a man, nurture, provide. Where are we that those.

[Rich Summers]

Everything's reversed. Everything's reversed. Like, look at it. The woman are owning the real estate. The guys are at home playing video games.

[Cassidy Warren]

It's wild. I didn't grow up that way.

[Rich Summers]

You did not.

[Cassidy Warren]

No.

[Rich Summers]

I mean, you believe that the man should be the provider.

[Cassidy Warren]

No, no, no, no.

[Rich Summers]

You don't?

[Cassidy Warren]

No, no, no. I just mean not talking about trans rights or anything. I'm talking about I would never be able to sit on the couch and just play video games. I was raised to go work for.

[Rich Summers]

For better or worse, happiness stems from growth and progress.

[Cassidy Warren]

I agree. That's where it comes from for me, legitimately. It's not wanting to wear myself out. It's not wanting to take less money than I'm. It's about building something.

[Rich Summers]

Let me ask you this. When you went out on a date with your. With your wife for the very first time, who paid the bill?

[Cassidy Warren]

I paid, of course.

[Rich Summers]

Okay, So a lot of men that go on first dates with women, they split the bill on the first date.

[Cassidy Warren]

Who.

[Rich Summers]

Or they're okay paying them, Letting the woman pay the bill.

[Cassidy Warren]

Are you serious? Oh, yeah.

[Rich Summers]

This is a known thing.

[Cassidy Warren]

I haven't dated in 15, you know, 15 years.

[Rich Summers]

So, sure, this is a known thing, but this is. This is why the roles are reversed today. Like, guys will go on a first date with a woman, and they'll let the woman pay the bill. It's a known thing. That's what I'm saying. Like. Like, now the Roles are reversed, bro.

[Cassidy Warren]

Did. Interesting. I didn't know that. I mean, is that socially acceptable?

[Rich Summers]

Look, if a guy wants to do that, that. That. That's. That's how you know you're at the wrong table. Like, when you go out to lunch, you go out to dinner, and I see this happen all the time. You know, you'll. You'll see a group of friends or whatever. The bill comes, and everyone gets out the calculator, and everyone's like, okay, this is what you owe. This is what I owe. I didn't have a drink, so I'm going to take this up. What do you owe? Put the money in. I'm like, bro, that's how you know you're sitting at the wrong table. When you level up in this game and you're sitting at the right table, everyone's fighting over the check. They're like, dude, no, I got it. I got it. I got it. Sometimes when I go out to eat, like, I just get up, like, before the bill even comes, and I'll just slip the server my credit card. I'll be like, hey, make sure this is taken care of, because I don't want anyone else to beat me to it. But that's how you know you're sitting at the right room. Yep. And you're sitting at the right table.

[Cassidy Warren]

I do the same thing, and I've done it even when I didn't even really have the money. Yeah. I would do that. Put on a credit card. Put on a credit card. I would do it before I had the money. And that's just been something that I've done. I like doing that for the people to take care of the bill. I like spending, slipping off hand in the server, the credit card, and it. And then everyone. Part of it is, like, I just want people to have a good time. And, like, whatever.

[Rich Summers]

We're all. I don't want things to get weird when the bill comes.

[Cassidy Warren]

Exactly. It's part of a vibe. It's like a vibe thing almost. Right. And I just want to give that. I like doing that, but that's where I came from.

[Rich Summers]

But I don't want to ever, like. Like, I don't want to go out to, like, lunch or dinner with, like. Like, people. And then, you know, I think we've all been in a place to. Where, like, you go out to lunch with someone, it's like, they're like. Like, bill comes and kind of like, look at you. I got. I don't know. Like, it's just. It's just that's not the room that I hang out in.

[Cassidy Warren]

Yeah, it really says something about you. And I used to call cell phone companies and fight over like 15 bucks an extra charge on my cell phone bill. Like argue with them because I, I had to get, I had to save the money. I had to save the money. And then there was a point, I just stopped. Like, whatever, it's just gonna happen. It's not worth my time. And I was talking to my, my stepdad about this. There was a, I was visiting and there was something with an insurance something or other. It was like 150 charge. And I decided, whatever, I'm not gonna do it. And I was just kind of telling him about it and he's like, no, you have to, you have to call and you have to do it. It's like, no, like I'm gonna sit on the phone with them for like hours. I don't care. And he's like, no, you have to do. It's like, why? He's like, because then you let them win. No. Who, how do they win? I lose. If I call and sit on the phone for four hours trying to dispute a hundred dollar charge, I lose.

[Rich Summers]

Yeah, they don't win. You're valuing your time at 25 an hour.

[Cassidy Warren]

Yeah, so I didn't know that that was going on with.

[Rich Summers]

That's why, that's why people that, people that wait in, in Costco line for Costco gas are brokies. They're brokies. If you wait in line at Costco Gas, you're a brokey. I mean you go there on a Saturday, you'll see a 30 minute line for Costco gas. Everyone's lined up to what, save $3? You're going to, you're going to sit in a 30 minute line to save $3. You are now officially valuing your time. I mean do the math. That's $6 an hour. You are valuing your time below minimum wage. Minimum wage In California is 15 bucks an hour. And you're saying you value your time at $6 an hour. And a lot of people have kids in the backseat and so they're teaching their kids the value of their time. $6 an hour. People that sit in Costco line gas are broke.

[Cassidy Warren]

Yeah, you have to really evaluate. And the shift for me was thinking about growing my income versus saving my expenses. And you have a lesson about this. You say where people focus on saving $4 Costco gas, $5 Starbucks, areas that actually matter, negotiating your salary, 20k house hacking, 30k starting a side hustle, 40k, decision of college, 50k mortgage interest, 20k. Stop focusing on $4 choices and start focusing on $40,000 choices.

[Rich Summers]

It's so true. It's so true. And it's exactly what you just alluded to, Dan.

[Cassidy Warren]

Yeah, you can't just. You can't save your way to being rich. You can't save your way to happiness. You have to grow your income. You have to grow your skill set.

[Rich Summers]

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Oprah Winfrey, the list goes on and on. None of those folks became who they are by skipping Starbucks.

[Cassidy Warren]

Friendly reminder. There's nothing the 1% don't want you to know, but there's a lot the 99% refuse to believe.

[Rich Summers]

I think broke people refuse to want to believe anything. Like, whenever you go do something cool, broke people are like, yo, like, that's not fair. How did you do that? But people with money, people with an abundance mindset, people that actually understand the game, people with a growth mentality, people that are actually growing will be like, hey, how can I do that? It's the same reason why, when I was in the break room, when I was working my air traffic control position, I got to a place 11 years in where I felt stuck. I didn't feel like I was growing, and I knew I needed to make a move. I overheard a co worker in the break room talking about how he just bought a fourplex in Cleveland. See, broke people would be like, oh, it must be nice. Lucky you. But I was like, how did you do that? His name is Mike. I was like, yo, Mike, how did you. How did you buy that fourplex in Cleveland? And he was like, go read this book by Biggerpockets. I'm sorry. Go read this book by. It was a blue book by Brandon Turner on real estate investing. And he said, go listen to this podcast. It was the BiggerPockets podcast. And I literally read the book and I started reading more books on real estate investing, and I started listening to the podcast. I started binge listening to Episodes, and I became obsessed, bro. And that's how I learned the game is by asking questions. And so broke people say, it must be nice. People that actually are in the 1% ask, how can I do that, too?

[Cassidy Warren]

That's right. It's not, I can't do that. It's how can I get that done?

[Rich Summers]

Yes.

[Cassidy Warren]

It's asking how. It's solving problems. It's knowing that there is a way out of any situation versus the 99% that are stuck in the situations and feel like there's no way out, Right? And again, anyone out there listening that feels like they're in this and we're attacking you, we are not. Because you are listening to this podcast. You are absorbing this information and you're going to take it and you're going to go do something about it. You are not who we're talking about. We are talking about everybody else out there. Unless you just listen to this and you don't do anything with the information because Rich and I are sitting here spitting games so that you can get a benefit from this. And there's a lot of lessons here. So 99.9% of our daily problems are solved by waking up at 5:30am and cutting out alcohol. All the answers you're searching for are behind the sacrifice you've been avoiding.

[Rich Summers]

99.9 of our daily problems are solved by eliminating alcohol and waking up at 5:30 in the morning. Dude, it's so true. How many people do you know have all these problems? They're like, oh my gosh, I'm broke, I don't have any money. I need to figure out this financial burden. I'm going through a relationship breakup, my kids, blah, blah, blah. All these problems. I'm like, yo, like, are you drinking? Yeah, I'm drinking. How many times you drink this last week? I drank four times this week. Okay, what time do you wake up? I wake up like nine o'. Clock. I'm like, bro, you have all these problems and you're looking for all these answers. You're looking for all this solution. You might be getting on freaking pain meds and freaking prescription drugs to fix your solution, but in all reality, it's like, dude, eliminate alcohol. Start getting fit, go to the gym, wake up at 5:30 in the morning. Even better, wake up at 4:30 in the morning and do that for 30 days and tell me your life doesn't get better. Do it for 60 days and tell me your life doesn't change completely and do it for 12 months. And that's a entire level up. But I think everyone's looking for all these crazy, like, hacks and secrets. And I'm like, no, just eliminate alcohol and go to bed on time. It's not just waking up early. It's like going to bed on time is the hack. The best way to wake up early is to set an alarm to go to bed. So I'll set an alarm at 8:30. Boom. No phones after 8:30. In bed by 9, fall asleep, wake up early. There's no better feeling than waking up at 4:30 in the morning, 5:00 in the morning and going straight to the gym, drinking, you know, 32 ounces of water, being hydrated, getting a nice lift in, lifting some heavy weights, then getting out of the gym, have a little protein shake, getting ready. I'm walking in the office, it's 7 o' clock in the morning, I already got my lift and I'm feeling good. I got my Starbucks and I'm ready to attack the day, man. I'm ready to get after. Feels so good. There's so much more energy that comes from being sober, dude. Like I didn't realize it, I just thought it was normal to be like low energy, always like low motivation, just like sluggish. Like even when you have two glasses of wine. Like before I like took breaks from drinking, I would, I would go out on average two to three times per week and have like two to three glasses per wine, but two to three drinks on like a Tuesday night the entire next day. Like let's just be honest, you're not operating at 100%, you're operating at like 60% capacity the entire next day. And so if you're casually drinking two or three glasses of wine three times a week, which most people do, that's three days out of the seven day week. That's like, what is that? What's three divided by seven? That's about 40% of your entire week is spent operating at 60% capacity. Like think about that. I used to think that was normal. But more importantly than that, bro, your energy levels are so, so thrown off when you're drinking. And when you stop drinking, like after three weeks, four weeks, five weeks, time of no drinking, you feel it right away, like your energy levels go through the roof. You're so much more focused, you're more dialed, your fitness is more dialed. You're waking up early, you're working out. And let's be honest, when you're drinking, like you're going to the gym a couple times a week, but you not moving the needle, you're not lifting heavy weights, you're not pushing your body, you're not growing, you're not evolving, you're literally just going through the motions. It's not really a real workout. And when you stop drinking, I'm telling you guys right now, anyone listening this right now, if you've never tried it, just do it for 30 days. You don't need to commit to 100 days, you don't need to commit to six months. Like, just commit to 30 days of no drinking and going to bed on time. Set your alarm at 8:30, be in bed by 9, wake up early, go to the gym, lift heavy weights and drink a lot of water and don't drink alcohol and do it for 30 days. I promise you, you will get to the end of the 30 days, and if it's for you, you are going to keep it going. If it's not for you, you're hanging out the wrong people. You don't like it, then that's fine. At least you said you did it. And you're going to give yourself a reason to, like, you know, be confident because you, you know, you can do it. But if it's for you and you actually have something genuine to build that you care about and you're passionate about, it will change your life in so many ways. Dude, it is one of the biggest hacks out there.

[Cassidy Warren]

When I stopped drinking, I still remember getting home and, like, sitting on the couch and being like, oh, I've got a lot of time on my hands.

[Rich Summers]

Oh my gosh, it frees up so much time.

[Cassidy Warren]

I could not believe how much time I had. I had to figure out what I wanted to do. This is before I was, like, really doing anything entrepreneurial. I had to figure out what to do with my time. Right? So anybody that's out there that's like, oh, I've always wanted to do this, or my morning routine or I want to journal, I want to do some breath work, you want to do all this stuff. If you take one thing away from this podcast right now, like, tangible thing, stop drinking. Stop drinking.

[Rich Summers]

And again, you don't need to commit to it long term. Just try it for 30 days.

[Cassidy Warren]

Yeah.

[Rich Summers]

If it's for you, you will keep it going. Just try it for 30 days. And I didn't realize it until. So I did. I think I did like, 75 days. And then I drank for a little bit. And when I went back to drinking for a little bit, I noticed it. I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm so sluggish. I noticed how sluggish I was. I was like, oh, my gosh. And then I did 100 days, no drinking, and it felt so great. And then I went back to drinking for, like, literally, like three days. And I was like, dude, it's not for me, man. I went back on it.

[Cassidy Warren]

Why do you think alcohol feels like such a sacrifice to people?

[Rich Summers]

Because I think that a lot of people are not comfortable in their own skin to go out to social Events, to go on dates, to go to networking events, to go out to dinner and be in social settings, in group settings without alcohol. I think they needed to let their guard down. I had that same limiting belief. And then what I realized is I can still go do all these activities that I want to go do and be sober. I literally just have some sparkling water. I learned to fall in love with Topo Chico Pellegrino, little side of lemon, side of lime, and I'm good to go. I'm good to go. And so I can go do that and go out and, you know, hit all these like, events. But like you said, it's the biggest time hack ever because all of a sudden you wake up and you're like, wow, I have my entire weekend to go focus on whatever it is I want to focus on. And so if you're looking for time and you're struggling looking for time, like, the solution is in what we just mentioned. Yeah, give up alcohol and go to bed early.

[Cassidy Warren]

Yep. And I have a calendar invite in my phone because I run my life by my calendar. I also have my phone automatically switch everything to gray screen at 8 o' clock at night. So my phone is completely gray. So if I try to scroll or do whatever, there's no dopamine hit, there's none of that. And I'm asleep by 8:30 or 9:00 clock every single night. And I'm up at 4:30 or 5 depending, depending on the day, or if I need a little extra half an hour. I love working out every single day. If you're drinking and going to the gym, what you don't know is that alcohol actually prevents the synthesis of protein and you're putting on more fat and you're not actually synthesizing the protein that you're eating. So drinking is holding back the gains

[Rich Summers]

in the gym Y and your ability to burn fat diminishes. I think it disappears for like a X amount of period.

[Cassidy Warren]

Exactly. And so something that helped me to, to quit recognizing it not necessarily as an addiction, but as a habit. So if you think about all the good habits that you have now and, and going to the gym, this thing, it's a habit.

[Rich Summers]

By the way, I can take a photo of this.

[Cassidy Warren]

Yeah,

[Rich Summers]

you said going to the gym is a habit.

[Cassidy Warren]

So basically recognizing drinking as a habit rather than an addiction, if that feels better for you. Because if you start to think about it as a habit, your body is trained to drink at the same times every day or on the weekends at a certain time or it's habitual, and you can break a habit. You can create a new habit. And so for anyone out there, if you're struggling with quitting drinking or getting sober, or even if it's not drinking, if it's. If it's Xanax or prescription drugs or whatever, think about it as a habit. And you can break a habit, you can change a habit, and you can turn it into a good habit. It doesn't always have to be considered an addiction for you to want to change it or be able to change it.

[Rich Summers]

And if you're struggling to, like, give it up, like, you could be hanging out with the wrong people. And so, like I said at the top of the show, it's. It's okay to cut friends. You don't need to do it forever, but, like, you need to remove yourself from certain circles, but for a season, so you can go focus on other things for a season. And, yeah, I. I think it's. It's the biggest hack out there.

[Cassidy Warren]

Some people blame their circumstances for not winning. Others decide it will be part of the story they tell once they win. Choose wisely. What story are you telling?

[Rich Summers]

I'm telling a story of someone that literally knew nothing about business, nothing about real estate at age 33 and gaming in the game, and built a really big thing over time. I'm just getting warmed up right now, six years in. But, you know, when I hear people that say, oh, it must be nice, or, oh, I missed that train. I hear it all the time with the podcast. I'm like, oh, people like, oh, I missed that boat. I missed that train. I'm late to the party. I'm like, no, like, think about the podcast. Like, the podcast right now. In 20, 2019, we had about 274 million podcast listeners worldwide. In 2024, we ended the year with 504 million podcast listeners worldwide. The number of podcast listeners is essentially doubling every single five years. It's undervalued attention. And so when people say, oh, I'm late to the game, I'm like, no, no. Podcast game is just getting warmed up. And so is a lot of things. And so you came from a corporate background, you were late to the party. Think about all the cats that are like, in their young twenties right now killing it. Like, big social media brands, they got podcasts just killing the game, and they're building companies. Like, think of how many years head start they have on you. Same thing for me. I mean, I didn't learn the game till 33. I didn't even discover the game until 33. And it's. I just wasn't introduced to it. I was hanging out with people that then they didn't. They didn't know about it either. And so I just woke up one day at 33 and I'm like, okay, wow, this is like, really cool. And so the story that I'm telling is, like, it's never too late to reinvent yourself. Never too late to reinvent yourself. And, you know, even if you're in your 40s, you're in your 50s, you're in your 60s, it's like, dude, if you want to go do the thing, go do the thing. How many months do you have left?

[Cassidy Warren]

What is it about the urgency of time for you?

[Rich Summers]

I have 474 months until I hit age 77, and that's 77. How many months do I have until I hit 60? I don't know. But I also think that, like, taking action keeps you young. If you look at Grant Cardone, Grant's 67 years old right now. And if you talk to him, I mean, he, he would. He's just getting warmed up. Like, this is just the beginning for him. I see other people that are 67 and they don't look like Grant. You see a lot of people that. In their 40s and, like, they don't look good, bro. You know, I was doing air traffic control. A lot of air traffic controllers, you're forced out of retirement at age 56. It's a. It's an. It's a mandatory retirement age. And a lot of those folks retire at 56 and they're dead within. Within 12 months. Alcohol, diet, out of shape. They're not growing. They have nothing to. They have no purpose in life, and they die.

[Cassidy Warren]

I experienced the same thing in corporate. People would retire. And with that, within. It's sad a week. So many times within a week, within months, them or their spouse were dead. I saw it in my own family. There was. There was. A couple family members were supposed to retire and live in Hawaii and live on an island and split their time and go live this life. And she got extremely sick, like, the moment that they were ready to do that. And I look at people that are in their twenties and wish I had the extra years, but I'm not, again, not regretting it. I want to go create a. I don't even care about legacy. I want to go show people what's possible. I want to show people what's possible late in life. I'm 38 years old. I'm turning 39 this year.

[Rich Summers]

Let's go, baby.

[Cassidy Warren]

Let's just get warmed up. Go. I'm just getting warmed up for real. There's going to be a transformation and I have a lot to thank for you, for a lot of my journey and what I've been doing starting this podcast obviously has a lot to do with what you've taught me and, and been around.

[Rich Summers]

And so this is just the beginning for you, bro. And, and, and I will say that like everything that you're building right now, the brand, the podcast, you're, you're speaking on, the boutique hotel Mastermind, like you're one of the thought leaders and you're touching a lot of people right now and a lot of people look up to you. And I've always thought this about you, but like, I, I, I genuinely feel this about you. Like, I, I think that the world would be a better place if there was more people like you. And I think the best thing that you could do right now is just continue to double down on everything you're doing. And, and I cannot wait to see where this goes for you, bro. I cannot wait. I appreciate that you're building a big thing, bro.

[Cassidy Warren]

I am building a big thing and I appreciate that. And you know, people, I, the question was about what story are you building? And a lot of people say, oh, I didn't expect it to get this big when they reach that level. But I am visualizing and I am moving towards something very big and my expectations of what it is are big. And I'm going to savor every single moment, I'm going to appreciate every single moment. But I also want people to know that I am planning to be super successful and that there things will change, things will look different. And that's what I'm intending to do. But I also am who I am and I'm going to remain authentic and I'm going to remain true to my values and I'm going to show people what's possible as a 38 year old engineer that quit his job, lived in a van, started a podcast, built an empire and help people. And I appreciate you so much, Rich, for doing this. This has been absolutely incredible. We got through like less than half of your life lessons, so I hope we can do this again soon.

[Rich Summers]

We'll have to do a part two man.

[Cassidy Warren]

Part two.

[Rich Summers]

Maybe. Maybe on the new boat.

[Cassidy Warren]

On the boat, for sure.

[Rich Summers]

Yes.

[Cassidy Warren]

See, we didn't even get to the boat. Well, as always, everybody, I'm Cassidy Warren. He's Rich Summers this has been for your own good. Peace.

[Rich Summers]

Let's go.