Wake Up to Wealth: Unpacking Money Mastery with Austin Sheviron

Podcast: Wake Up to Wealth
Host: Brandon Brittingham
Guest: Austin Sheviron
Date: February 13, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, Brandon Brittingham sits down with real estate investor, coach, and author Austin Sheviron to unpack what true wealth mastery looks like. Austin shares his personal journey from high school real estate investor to building one of the top teams in the country, then shifting his focus to money stewardship, coaching, and writing. The discussion dives deep into the importance of vision, stewardship, stress management, and a holistic approach to building sustainable wealth—beyond just earning more income.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Austin’s Backstory & Entrepreneurial Journey

• Lifelong Real Estate Exposure: Austin has been around real estate since age six, heavily influenced by his father's career as a top Coldwell Banker manager. Licensed at 20, he has over 21 years of experience in the field.
• Early Investing: Bought his first house at 18, six rentals by 22, then transitioned to selling real estate at 28.
• Setbacks and Comebacks: Faced significant financial hardship before rising to become a top agent in Indiana, then built and later disbanded a leading real estate team to focus on coaching and managing his investments (03:15–04:13).

"The ultimate job, I think, is just managing your own wealth and then helping people." — Austin Sheviron (04:13)

2. Building & Shutting Down a Top Real Estate Team

• The Role of Vision: Austin emphasizes that every business decision should be guided by a clear vision—both for starting and ending ventures (05:45–07:22).

"Without a vision, people perish... Everything's a season, dude. Some people stick around in the winter way too long." — Austin Sheviron (06:02)

• The “Brain Space” Challenge: Even a business that “doesn’t take much time” can be a huge mental load, taking up valuable brain space (09:35–10:30).

"It's taking more brain space than you think." — Brandon Brittingham (10:10)

3. A Life-Changing Health Scare & Defining Stress

• Stress as a Wake-Up Call: After a “lightning bolt” health event (thought to be a stroke but actually stress), Austin reevaluated his commitments, realizing that both good and bad stress from growth and opportunity were overwhelming his life (10:30–13:31).

"You have too much stress in your life." — ER Nurse (11:46)
"There's good stress, too... And the stress that I was dealing with was the stress of opportunity." — Austin Sheviron (12:06)

4. Hands-Off Real Estate Investing: 50 Houses, Never Visited

• The Power of True Delegation: Austin’s rule is to invest his money, not his time. He owns 50 single-family homes within 25 minutes of his house—and has never visited them (13:49–16:40).
• Lessons from Clients: Many wealthy clients sold their rental properties because being the landlord was a “headache”—they managed them personally and regretted it (15:31–15:34).
• The Importance of Good Property Management: The key is finding experts to handle operations so you can focus on your own financial vision.

"I'm going to invest in real estate, but I'm not going to be an investment on my time. It's going to only be an investment of my money." — Austin Sheviron (15:44)
"Stay out of the way. Get a vision for your money, you be the CFO and the CEO. Do not be the COO." — Austin Sheviron (16:50)

5. Why Single-Family Assets Still Reign (for Austin)

• Liquidity and Flexibility: Prefers single-family homes for liquidity—easy to sell off one if needed (17:35–17:51).
• Institutional Validation: Even the largest investment firms are buying single-family homes, reinforcing his approach (17:51–18:56).

6. The Asset-Driven Leap: Creating True Financial Security

• Assets Enable New Pursuits: Austin’s assets have allowed him to pivot careers without fear, supporting big moves like taking months off to write a book (19:21–21:01).
• Responsible Stewardship: Advocates knowing your assets—even if you don’t micromanage, visit them at least once to be a good steward.

7. Writing ‘The Money Puzzle’: Beyond Earning Money

• Book Thesis: The focus isn’t on “how to make money” but on stewardship—vision, awareness, and protective structures (23:13–35:20).
• Three Pillars:
  • Personal finances and habits
  • Business structure and the “wealth machine” (allocation, taxes, insurance, giving)
  • Longevity and resilience: What happens when economic “storms” come, and leaving a legacy your heirs understand

"I wrote everything I knew, but I didn't write anything about making [money]... I teach you how to think about making money." — Austin Sheviron (23:39)

8. Industry Blind Spot: The Obsession with Income, Not Wealth

• Active vs. Passive Income: Most agents are obsessed with top-line sales, but forget about profit and keeping money (24:08–27:10).
• Generational Habits: Many top earners are still broke later in life because they never learned stewardship (27:13–29:52).

"If I put $10 million in your bank account tomorrow, would you still sell real estate? ...Absolutely not." — Austin Sheviron (28:16)
"I just like you, I work with people who make millions of dollars a year and they have more stress and more problems than people making 100 grand." — Austin Sheviron (28:36)

• Awareness as the First Step: The true difference-maker for most is simply developing awareness, tracking spending, and understanding one’s financial reality.

9. Advice for Listeners

• Vision First: The most important thing is having a clear vision for your money (37:13).
• Personal Spending is the “Black Hole”: For most people, the reason their wealth doesn’t grow is uncontrolled personal spending.

"Without a vision, people perish. The big black hole of your finances… is your personal bank account and what you spend." — Austin Sheviron (37:13)

10. Waking Up to Wealth: Defining True Wealth

• Personal Definition Matters: Waking up to wealth means deciding what “wealth” truly means to you—money, health, relationships, impact, etc. (38:40–39:34).

"What does wealth mean to you? ...That's the ultimate question." — Austin Sheviron (39:14)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Vision & Change:

  "Everything's a season, dude. And some people stick around in the winter way too long." — Austin Sheviron (06:12)

• On Mental Bandwidth:

  "It's taking up space in your brain... more than you think." — Brandon Brittingham (10:10)

• On Hands-Off Investing:

  "I own 50 houses all within 25 minutes of my house. I never saw one of them. And let me say this—it was the best decision I ever made." — Austin Sheviron (16:40 & 16:45)

• On Real Estate Industry Blind Spots:

  "Most agents and team leaders don't invest in real estate...you watch some of these people that were on a 20 year run, and they lost it in one year." — Brandon Brittingham (31:00)

• On Stewardship and Legacy:

  "Are you teaching the people... that's going to inherit what you have? Or is Brandon going to give me, his nephew... these golden coins... I go to the pawn shop." — Austin Sheviron (35:09)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Austin’s Background & Story: 02:36–04:39
• Why He Shut Down His Team: 04:59–08:45
• Dealing with Stress & Health Wake-up Call: 10:30–13:31
• 50 Houses, Never Seen Them & The Power of Delegation: 13:49–17:00
• Why Single-Family Rentals?: 17:35–18:56
• Importance of Having Assets: 19:19–21:01
• On Writing His Book, The Money Puzzle: 23:13–35:20
• Industry’s Focus on Income, Not Profit: 24:08–27:10
• Stewardship vs. Making Money: 27:13–29:52
• Defining and Waking Up to Wealth: 38:40–39:34
• One Piece of Money Advice: 37:11–37:52

Where to Find Austin Sheviron

Website: AustinSheviron.com
Book: The Money Puzzle (available on Amazon, Target, Barnes & Noble)

Final Thought

Austin’s advice boils down to this: If you don’t have to work for every dollar, build assets and structures that let your money work for you—guided by vision and stewardship, not just relentless hustle or income chasing. Define your wealth on your terms, then build the habits and protections to make it last.