Welcome to The Get Real Podcast, your high-octane boost and in the trenches tell-it-like-it-is reality therapy for personal, business and real estate investing success with your hosts, power-preneurs Angela and Ron. It’s time to get real!

Angela: Hey, welcome to The Get Real Podcast. This is Angela Thomas and I’m here with Ron Phillips. Hey Ron.

Ron: How are we doing?

Angela: Hey and today we are going to get real about following your passion and you need to follow your passion to be successful in business. I think this is a pretty interesting topic because I’m just going to jump right in here and say that everything I see on Pinterest and Instagram and Facebook, you know, not that I’m wasting time on those because I would not do that.

Ron: But we literally just talked about that.

Angela: We literally just talked about not wasting time. But I use Pinterest to fall asleep. But anyway, everything I see on there says that, you know, if you’re following your passion, you will make money, you’ll be successful, right. I can’t think of the specific quotes, but it’s pretty prevalent out there. So I think this is a pretty hot topic.

Ron: I don’t even know what to say to them. That’s not true. I will figure out what to say, it may take a second to really feel this, but good on you. I guess if you’re doing your passion and you’re making money at it, that’s what I’ll say initially out of the gate is good for you. That’s awesome.

Angela: We know there are people that do good out there and I mean, I don’t know about like Steve Jobs seemed pretty passionate about what he did. Professional athletes.

Ron: You didn’t just say that did you?

Angela: No I did.

Ron: Because now I’m going to have to bring it up since you said that. And I will state that I will state that I am a Mac guy, love Steve Jobs, grateful that he made the IPhone. I stood in line for and I am an Apple fanatic. I love all of Apple’s stuff.

Angela: Yeah, we all are. Sorry about that.

Ron: But at the same time, going to just have to just bring up the letter he wrote on his deathbed. I mean maybe he lived his passion but maybe he should have had a little more passion for his family and his friends.

Angela: No, he definitely had regrets about how he spent all of his time. I admit that, but I still think…

Ron: I may have completely jumped the shark on that deal but sorry, you brought it up.

Angela: So I know, I wonder if Elon Musk is going to write a letter like that when he goes, you know, because he’s famous for how much time he spends building his businesses. So, I mean it would seem that he’s passionate.

Ron: Good for him. I’m not interested.

Angela: No, we know you’re not Ron.

Ron: Not Interested at all, but good for Elon. I mean that’s fantastic. Good for you buddy.

Angela: Yeah. So, but when it comes to passion, I mean, I can think of, I mean like what are, you know, what do you like to do Ron? Like lifting weights and, you know, I’m just kidding. You know, if you think about the things that you enjoy in your life, your hobbies would turning that like into a monetizing that and turning that into a business, I mean, would that, does that make you successful?

Ron: You know, I don’t know because that’s an interesting question because I actually, I actually really do like the fitness industry. I really do like it a lot. I go to the gym every day. I kind of love that lifestyle. I competed in a body building competition. I Love mountain biking, I’m pretty active. I love all of that stuff. And I almost, do you remember I almost was…

Angela: Yeah. You almost invested in a gym, didn’t you?

Ron: I did, I did. Crazy thing. When you look at the financials on gyms, most of them suck.

Angela: I believe it, I believe it. Hey, with how hardcore they sell you in there. You know, that they’re hurting a little bit.

Ron: I mean, it’s just man, the margins are so slim. You have to do everything right. And so can you be successful? Yeah, I guess you can, but is it way harder? Probably. I mean, probably. I looked at the numbers on it and I just was like, man, this is, that’s a lot of work for a little bit of money. You don’t generally see very many super wealthy people that own gyms just saying.

Angela: Yeah. And I mean looking at mine I see the same thing. Like I love singing, but is that something I should monetize and try to go after?

Ron: Do you want to shave your head and become Brittany Spears? I mean, is that really what you want to do?

Angela: I mean that’s not my genre, but yeah, I get your point. No, it doesn’t really look good. I mean, traveling around the world and doing concerts every other day, I’m not sure that’s really the thing for me. It might make me not even like singing anymore, so I don’t.

Ron: Yeah, I mean have anybody out there ever known anybody that that took off right after their passion and then the learned later on that they kind of hated it.

Angela: I’m sure. I can probably think of a few.

Ron: I know of a friend of mine who he went to school with all the way through school in the medical field. He was going to be a doctor wanted to be a surgeon. The whole time loved it the whole time. It really, I mean truly was his passion. He just slept it he lived it all day long. It was fantastic. I mean, he would weave it into conversations. It was a little annoying. Got out, started practicing, hated it. Absolutely loathed it. And mostly it was because of all the crap you’ve got. It wasn’t the practicing part of it was all the other crap that he had to do. Working with the insurance companies and the things the insurance companies forced him to do, he didn’t want to do. And…

Angela: And hospitals, if you had to work for them, that’s a huge…

Ron: So here’s a guy, got out, did his passion, did I don’t know how many years of school that is.

Angela: And how much debt?

Ron: All of the debt got out, hated it, quit. Couldn’t stand it anymore. Gosh it would really suck if that were or who knows the people where their passion is something that pays, I’m sorry, this is going to be mean. Pays almost nothing. They go to school, they do eight years, they go and they get a master’s degree and then a PHD in whatever this is. They get out and try to find a job and there are no freaking jobs because nobody cares except for them. I guess.

Angela: Ron, are you talking about women’s studies right now?

Ron: Oh, there’s a lot of women that care about that. I would never ever.

Angela: I know, but I haven’t heard of anyone that got it. Good job and women’s studies. So I don’t know. I mean that’s just one of them. That’s just one I thought of so. But yeah, I hear you.

Ron: So many places I could go with this, but I chose not to. You should be really proud of me right now.

Angela: I am proud of you.

Ron: I am seriously, I caught all of the words before they came out of my mouth and I did not say them. This is so good right now. I’m very proud of myself.

Angela: Well, maybe you deprived us of a lot of fun, but whatever.

Ron: Probably half of the audience and the other half I might’ve, we might’ve…

Angela: Alienated. Well since we’re on a personal note, Ron, how did you, I mean, you know, you didn’t get into the gym thing and you’ve been doing real estate since, what, 2005, you know, how did you choose that passion?

Ron: I’ve been doing real estate like since 1999 I think.

Angela: Okay of course 99.

Ron: And how did I choose? How did I know that was my passion? Is that what the question was?

Angela: Yeah how’d you know that was your passion? That you want to turn into a business?

Ron: It is not my passion.

Angela: What real estate is not, seriously? I always thought that that was your passion. I mean, you seem into it. You talk about it all day long. It’s not my passion. I think it’s a good real estate investing vehicle, but I always thought we were different in that way. I thought I was, I don’t know. I thought you were all about it.

Ron: Well look at us, we are more alike than you thought.

Angela: I mean, seriously.

Ron: I think most people out there would assume that about me because I talk about it all the time. I, you know, here we have a podcast that is majority of the time real estate based, a lot of business based, but a lot about real estate. I’ve been doing it for almost a couple of decades now and made a lot of money and bought a lot of properties.

Angela: No, I got to be honest. That makes me feel better because, you know, every time I see those quotes on Facebook or Pinterest that say, you know, if you’re, you know, working in your passion, then you’re never going to work a day in your life. And all those kinds of quotes, I’m like, well, Ron’s lucky this is his passion. Like I enjoy it. I believe in real estate. I love helping people. It’s a great tool, but it’s good for me to know that it’s not your passion either.

Ron: It definitely is not. But it makes a lot of money. I mean it’s a high margin business and it allows me to do things that are my passion, which I think if you actually look at our purpose of the business purpose and the core values, it allows me to live in my purpose and in my core values, which is, that’s the essence of my passion. So people I love working with and helping people and sometimes too much like we talked about a couple of episodes ago. But because of that and because this business, like almost every business, but this one specifically is so much about people and it’s people driven. I get to do what I really enjoy and I get to make a lot of money doing it. So could I do that in another business, like a gym business for instance?

Ron: Yeah, I believe that could really work for me if I could make the same amount of money because I would still be able to help people. I would still be around people all the time. I’d, you know, all of those things. I’d be able to watch people’s transformations like we do with all of our customers that we help when we help them change their financial lives. So my passion is very similar to what you thought it was, but it is not real estate. Real estate is a tool that allows me to live my passion and incidentally, it allows me to live all my other passions too. So if my personal vision, if we had it out here and I was reading down through it, it is what allows me the ability to live my vision, which ultimately my personal vision is my, my passion.

Angela: Right. It frees up the time to allow you to do what you are passionate about. And, like you said, we, we both are passionate about helping others. That’s a core value. We and I agree with you there. That’s how I get excited about real estate. Since I wouldn’t say it’s my passion, right.

Ron: Some days I hate it.

Angela: I know. I know.

Ron: Some days I hate it, man. Sometimes I get these texts from management company, Angela, and I’m just like, man, screw all this freaking property. Like where’s the match? But you know it makes me money, so.

Angela: Okay, that’s interesting. That’s interesting.

Ron: I bet there’s some other people out there who own real estate. Angela who just went yes, exactly how I feel, burn that crap down except for oh yeah it makes some money. Dang it I have to keep it.

Angela: I know. And then you got to just stay grateful and know that it’s freeing up your time so you can do things you are passionate about.

Ron: That is correct yes.

Angela: So you know, if you follow your passion, you may come to hate your particular passion. So that’s something to watch out for. And like you said, it might be, you might have a passion that doesn’t make you money or that you regret doing. So got to watch out for that. The second thing is passion is not a replacement for business skills. So I mean, I’ve had, I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus. I’m sure I’m one of them too. But I’ve seen people that have gone after a passion that they had but had no idea how to market it. How to hire the right people to help them build it. How to fund it. I mean it’s just having a passion and deciding to, you know, hey, I’m going to try and make money with this does not equal success, right.

Ron: No. And I guess it can. But you need to fundamentally look at it, you need to look at it from the fundamentals is what I’m trying to say. You have to look at it and understand numbers and be able to go, oh, okay, this passion actually can be a business. Or the way that I’m thinking about structuring this is going to net lose me money every single month that I keep trying to do this it’s losing me money. And the reason is I’m the only one passionate about it or there are so few people passionate about it or I can’t sell it or whatever the other angle is, you know.

Ron: Like I love mountain biking, but I’m probably not going to be wearing a Red Bull helmet and you know, back flipping off of mountains in Moab. I mean, I’m probably just not going to be that guy.

Angela: We would love to see that though, Ron.

Ron: I’m way too old for that, number one. Number two, I’m not that skill, even though I love it. Probably just not in cards. Not going to happen. No. Yeah.

Angela: You got to be honest with yourself about that, right?

Ron: I mean, I’m passionate about strong man competitions too, but I weigh all of 180 pounds and I’m probably not going to beat Thor, you know, half Thor Bjornsen I’m probably not going to be, I call him full Thor. Some people still call him half Thor, but the dude, I mean, once you get to weigh, you know, close to 400 pounds and you can lift over a thousand pounds off the ground, I think you get, you get to be called full Thor at that point.

Angela: Yeah, I agree with you. I have no idea who you’re talking about, but it sounds like…

Ron: Most people don’t, but there are a handful of people out there who are going, yes, you should call him half Thor. Never call him half Thor anymore. He has grown up. He’s full Thor now.

Angela: Okay. Okay. I won’t call him half Thor if I ever find out…

Ron: He’s the big huge dude on Game of Thrones for all of those out there who don’t know who that is.

Angela: I know. And I’m a loser on that too. I only watched one episode, so I’m just, I’m out on this.

Ron: You do not have to watch Game of Thrones to know who he is. Just look up big huge dude, Google it big huge dude on Game of Thrones.

Angela: Okay, there you go. All right, so the other side of this though, Ron, is if you have business skills and business skills, that sounds funny, like bow hunting skills. But if you know how to, sorry Napoleon Dynamite reference there. If you know how to build a business. So like Ron, you talked about wanting to invest in a gym. Maybe that’s not the most profitable business, but if you didn’t already have your lifestyle and your, you know, used to making what you’re making and all that, with your, your skills that you have worked to earn it, building your real estate company, I’m sure you could, you know, buy a gym or invest in a gym and help it be successful because you know, the fundamental things necessary to grow a business.

Angela: So you know, if you are going to follow your passion, it’s crazy important, more important than your business being your passion I would say is learning those, those other skills that you need or finding people who are good at them to help you to actually grow the business. Because no matter what you’re doing or what you’re selling or what the invention is or what industry it is, a lot of the things required to build a company are the same across the board and important.

Ron: Absolutely. I’ve been in tons of mastermind groups with all different kinds of business owners and the fundamentals of business are the same. There not any different in any business. It’s just a different product. And I would also tell you there’s a whole bunch of people out there who are doing what I do, which is you know, making plenty of money, building businesses and have clued into what their real passion is. And I’m just, I’m going to throw this out there because I think it’s relevant to our conversation. I think a lot of people get really, really fixated on what and they use if then statements, right?

Angela: Yeah I was going to say that to.

Ron: If I can only do a business if I could only be a business owner of a swim team because I love swimming every day. Then at that point I could be happy. And I think that is such bs. I think that is an absolute crock. And here’s why I go to these and I know people who thoroughly love real estate. And I would say it probably is one of their passions. One of their many passions and yet they’re not terribly happy. And the reason they’re not terribly happy is because they keep doing if then, and the problem with the if then statements, I remember we’ve had, I think we’ve had this conversation on the show. If I could just get to $50,000 a year, then I’d be happy because I’d be able to do whatever, right. And then when you get to $50,000 it’s, man, if I could just get to six figures, then I’d be happy. And it’s the same thing with what I do. If I could just do this, then I would be happy and I’m going to just call bs on the whole deal.

Ron: Because it’s not what, it’s who you’ve got to figure out who you are and then if you can work, if you can build your business or structure your employment around who you are as a person, you can be happy doing most anything. And that’s what we were talking about earlier, is that we’re both pretty passionate about helping other people. And I bet you any kind of money that if we weren’t doing real estate and we were doing something else that made us the money that we wanted so that we could live the lives that we want financially and at the same time allowed us to really function at a level where we can see the benefits of what we’re doing in other people’s lives. We’d be happy. It doesn’t have to be real estate.

Angela: Yeah. It doesn’t have to be real estate. It doesn’t, it’s not the real estate. It’s the fact that we’re helping people and creating the time that we need to live our visions. And real estate just happens to be the tool that we’re using to do that, which is cool to know that that’s the case for both of us.

Ron: And it allows, it allows both of us to go out and do the other things that we enjoy doing with the people that we like to do them.

Angela: Yeah, exactly. And yeah, relationships, you said it’s about you and who you are. It’s also about who you’re spending time with and the relationships in your life, which are all you really have at the end of the day, you know.

Ron: And if then statements are just comparisons to something that you don’t have, which is the recipe to be miserable in your life for the rest of your life, take business out of it, take money out of it. If you do if then statements all the time, you’re just going to be perpetually miserable because in essence all you’re doing is comparing yourself to other people and what other people have. And that’s just not good.

Angela: So true. And I don’t want to take us off on a tangent here, but Ron, I was just thinking, I’m like, oh my gosh, I’ve been working with Ron for 10 years or so and I had no idea that real estate wasn’t your passion. So way to sound passionate about it. That is crazy.

Ron: I have fooled everyone.

Angela: I know you have to. I mean, your family must be the only one that knows because I’ve worked very closely with you for 10 years and had no clue. So, or I’m just not observant.

Ron: I’m not too certain that my family could even describe to a stranger what I do. So I don’t know.

Angela: So no one knew, alright.

Ron: No one knew.

Angela: And what else are you hiding, Ron?

Ron: And now all of the many, many, many, many people who are listening to us know…

Angela: Your secret’s out.

Ron: You’re a lucky group out there. I hope you guys know super lucky.

Angela: Insider view on Ron, okay. So like we were saying, you know, you don’t have to your business that you’re doing to be successful, it does not have to be your passion. So if you don’t know what your business passion is…

Ron: Your not alone.

Angela: That doesn’t have to stop you. Yeah. You’re not alone and a successful people once you get a business going, I mean, you usually do end up being very passionate about it. And it doesn’t have to be that you’re passionate about the thing that you’re selling. You know, like we said, you’re passionate about building a business, building relationships, building partnerships, helping your employees and coworkers grow in their lives and in their career. Helping people with what you’re selling. You know, we help change people’s lives with investment real estate, which is awesome, and that makes us feel good and makes us excited for Mondays and not, you know, not hate what we do. So even if you, you know, don’t know what your passion is, if you choose something and dedicate yourself to it, something that can make money, you’ll most likely end up passionate about what you’re doing in some way. Just maybe not how you thought.

Ron: And especially for you millennial’s out there because this is a big thing.

Angela: Sure call out the millennial’s, whatever.

Ron: All over the place. Well, I mean you said Instagram and what was the other one? Instagram.

Angela: Instagram, Pinterest. Facebook.

Ron: Instagram that was it, done. Instagram and Pinterest, which is not my generation, you know, favorite place to go. It is, it’s all over out there. And I think I can say this now, which it actually kind of pains me to say, but the young folks out there.

Angela: You young folks out there.

Ron: Because I feel pretty young still, but those of you who are younger than me, I think a lot of people out there are confused because they’re hearing that they’ve got a, they got to know what their passion is. They got to know, they got to know because otherwise they’re going to be miserable their whole lives. Like you know, their parents and their grandparents were, and it is such a crock.

Angela: all those, I mean how many people take years off to go travel and find themselves? If you want to travel that’s awesome. But if you’re taking time off of school, sorry to get on a rant, Ron and interrupt you, but taking time off of school and life and work to find yourself is a crock to me. I mean that’s ridiculous.

Ron: Call it what it is. You want to go out there and see the world that’s okay.

Angela: Yeah. That’s cool. That’s cool.

Ron: But you probably will not find yourself out there. Yourself is right where you are and has been your whole life. So unnecessary to go to, you know, I don’t know, wherever it is, your planning on going.

Angela: I think one of the best ways to find your passion. I know we’ve talked about this before, but finding your passion is figure out what you’re scared of. And that’s one of my favorite things to do is figure out what I’m scared of and then make myself do it because I think applying yourself to new challenges and overcoming them and taking down those barriers in your life helps you figure out what you actually enjoy. A lot of the times the thing that you’re scared of is actually connected to your passion and what you enjoy doing. So that was just a little side note.

Ron: I think it’s also equally miserable to go out there and live your passion as a broke human being. So money doesn’t buy happiness, but it sure buys lot of thing that I enjoy.

Angela: Yeah. Yeah. There’s nothing glamorous about being broken up not being able to pay your bills.

Ron: I think there’s a country song about that. It says something about,

Angela: Oh gosh, it’s country. I’ve never heard it.

Ron: I know you haven’t and I’m trying to enlighten you Angela.

Angela: Oh thank you.

Ron: It’s a song about, you know, money it can’t buy you happiness but it can buy you a boat.

Angela: Oh yeah. Who doesn’t like a boat?

Ron: And it can buy you a truck to pull the boat and you can also buy you time to go use the truck and the boat and you can throw the people in it that you love and you can actually go out in the boat. And I mean, so it’s a pretty wise, it’s a pretty wise song I think.

Angela: Yeah. If it was, you know, hardcore, you know, guitars, rock music, I’d probably listen to it, but…

Ron: I’m, you know what, I’m going to text it to you today.

Angela: Oh great thank you.

Ron: Just so you can appreciate it. Yeah, I think I’ll do that. Everybody else out there, you can probably Google it song about buying a boat and I’m sure it’ll come up somehow on Google. I wish I knew who it was.

Angela: Google it yes. So to wrap it up, I mean, you know, like you’ve said Ron, like we all found out the big revelation that you know, real estate isn’t your passion. You saw an opportunity in real estate, you believed in it and you knew there was money there and you applied yourself to it and went, went after it hardcore. And that’s how you found success, right.

Ron: Let’s remember the story. I was absolutely broke, just got laid off and I needed money to feed my family and…

Angela: That’s a motivator.

Ron: I had been reading real estate and that’s how I got into real estate. It’s not that I woke up one day, I went, oh, hot damn real estate is my passion. I should go do that. I’m going to quit my job. I’m going to go do real estate now. That is not how it went.

Angela: Don’t you think Ron, that people are waiting for that like some big revelation to just, you know, hit him in the head and hey, oh, that’s my purpose. That’s what I should be doing.

Ron: I really love skateboarding at night when I’ve got a little bit of time, maybe I should do a business skateboard shop.

Angela: Board shop, board shop obviously.

Ron: Probably not going to be successful. Not saying you can’t be because there are board shops that are successful, just not many of them is all, right. So anyway, do you, do you out there everybody, but I think like you do Angela that this whole, I have to do a passion project thing is a crock. I don’t believe it. I think you need to go out there and figure out a way that you can make money so that you can actually go and participate in your passions with those.

Angela: Yes. Amen. Yeah.

Ron: With the people that you’re passionate about as well.

Angela: And the positive side to that, we’re not just saying like this is all negative, like don’t follow your passion or whatever. Because the positive side is, like Ron said, you get time to do your passion and also anyone out there waiting for some amazing idea or passion to just hit them upside the head. You don’t have to wait anymore. Don’t wait for it.

Ron: Get out there and try to something…

Angela: Go and do some stuff.

Ron: Get out there and try to make money. Who knows? You may find something like I did that, that works. And then you go, oh, this is really not that bad. Making money and helping other people make money. Pretty decent gig.

Angela: Amen.

Ron: Still not passionate about it so sorry.

Angela: Alright, that’s it. That’s all we got for you, hope we helped. If you guys have comments or want to tell us, you know, you agree with us or we’re wrong and we suck, whatever it is, visit our website, GetRealEstateSuccess.com and leave us your feedback. also check us…

Ron: Whether you like us or not leave us a five star rating and say something nice on ITunes, right? So just keep it to yourself if you don’t…

Angela: Email the you suck part and then like leave a good written review on ITunes.

Ron: There you go, because that’s the kind thing to do, right? And then you got to share it with all of your friends even though you disagreed with this particular episode because everybody knows there’s one you agreed with.

Angela: Thank you. Good point. Well thanks for listening everybody. We’ll see you next time.

This has been The Get Real Podcast. To subscribe and for more information, including a list of all episodes, go to GetRealEstateSuccess.com