The Importance of Masterminds
On this episode of Next Level American Dream, Abigail and Sean are joined by Mike Hambright. He's a successful real estate investor, creator of the Flip Nerd Podcast, and leader of the Investor Fuel Mastermind. He has been a mentor to Sean since the beginning of his real estate career and continues to help us succeed.
Key Topics
What is a Mastermind?
Why join a Mastermind?
How can Masterminds lead to financial freedom?
Connect with Mike:
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SUMMARY KEYWORDS
people, Masterminds, Mastermind, deals, bigger, group, started, business, investor, multifamily, Flip Nerd, networking, good, friends, part, coaching, talk, goals, person, Real Estate Investors
SPEAKERS
Sean Thomson, Abigail Thomson, Mike Hambright
Abigail Thomson 00:00
Welcome to the Next Level American Dream Podcast brought to you by Thomson Multifamily Group. Your hosts, Abigail and Sean will discuss how you can take your American Dream to the next level, through real estate investing, business practices, and personal development. Join us as we share our experiences as a father daughter duo who are trying to accomplish our goal of financial freedom. We hope you learn more about how to define and achieve your American Dream. Here's another episode of Next Level American Dream. On today's episode of Next Level American Dream, we are having a conversation about Masterminds. Joining us is Mike Hambright, a successful real estate investor, creator of the Flip Nerd Podcast, and leader of the Investor Fuel Mastermind. He has been a mentor to Sean since the beginning of his real estate career and continues to help us succeed. We hope that after our discussion today, you see the value in Masterminds.
Sean Thomson 01:06
Hi, Mike, how are you doing?
Mike Hambright 01:09
I'm good! Glad to be here.
Sean Thomson 01:11
Yeah, thanks for coming on the show! We really appreciate you. We're just going to jump right in.
Mike Hambright 01:15
Let's do it.
Abigail Thomson 01:16
Yeah, we're super excited to have you. The first thing I want to talk about is that you started out as a real estate investor. Now you have a very successful, and well known, Mastermind, can you tell us how that transition went?
Mike Hambright 01:31
I started, as you know, doing one deal without having any idea what the heck I was doing, in 2008. For a while, essentially, we had a pretty good start! Lindsay and I, my wife, who was on your show here recently, is that, we've looked a lot of houses our first year. In our first calendar year, we did about 65 houses. We kind of came out of the gate swinging, left corporate America, and jumped into that at a time when the market was down. We were able to do a lot of volume because failure wasn't an option. We were just geared up to be a volume shop. Truthfully, over the first year or two, I started to feel a little lonely. I mean, we left corporate America. We were in a small office, you guys would know, Farmers Branch, we were in a small office right outside of Dallas. It was kind of a hole in the wall place, we had an employee or two. They weren't really like our peers. When you when you're in corporate America, one of the good sides is if you work for a big company, there's always happy hours and get togethers, especially when you don't have kids yet, that you kind of participate in. We just felt a little alone -- a little bit isolated. I started networking and doing other things, then I got into coaching and did that for a number of years, which was great. Even with coaching students, I would say it's not necessarily my peers, it's not like I am friends with everybody. Usually they're coming to me to learn, and it's not necessarily a peer to peer relationship, but that's not to say anything bad about coaching students. Then, when I started my podcast, the Flip Nerd Podcast, about six and a half years ago, actually, that was taking my networking to the next level, which let me start to meet people outside of my market -- outside of the Dallas Fort Worth market. That was really my first foray into people in other markets, but it just amped it up in terms of building those relationships. After several years of doing that, I was like, man, "I have this, you know, amazing network of friends and successful real estate investors. How can I utilize that? How can I help them?" I've always been a natural connector to where when somebody tells me they need something, my first thought is like, "who can I connect them with? Or what do I know? Or who do I know? Or what's a resource that I could use to help them?" I've always been that guy. So, a Mastermind just made sense. We started a Mastermind group, which is really kind of an association, if you will, of successful real estate investors that come together and share resources, share knowledge, and do deals together sometimes. It's just like everything, it started as a group. Sean, you were there at the first meeting, I believe. We started as a group of people of maybe 20 people in a room in Dallas. We're about to meet here in two weeks. There'll be, of course, virtually right now, unfortunately, for the first time. Hopefully it's the last time. We'll have a little under 200 people there. It's grown quite a bit and it's taken on a life of its own!
Sean Thomson 04:29
Yeah! Well, explain to the listeners what a Mastermind is in your mind.
Mike Hambright 04:36
Yeah, that word is used a lot. I'm guilty of it too. I've used that name on free Facebook groups before, but I think at its core, it's a higher level. If you're an expert in something, you're a Mastermind, it doesn't have to be real estate. It could be anything, but it's really an association of peers that come together and share resources, share knowledge, and rely on each other to be advisors. It also allows you to have accountability partners, and as entrepreneurs, we tend to not have bosses, so who's holding you accountable, right? Sometimes it's the spouse and sometimes it's not. There's a social aspect of being around people like you and me, and people understand us because we're a weird breed. It's also easy for us to be doing better than we did in a corporate job. Sometimes we get a little lazy, and we're like, "wow, I'm doing better than ever!" Then you get around some other people and compared to that person, you always have to go bigger. I think when you're around people that inspire you, it causes you to think bigger.
Sean Thomson 05:56
So, Masterminds is for groups of a similar background type. These groups are trying to accomplish similar things in their business that can take another feed off of each other in terms of learning what their best practices are in their area. They can also follow, and learn from, successful areas that they're failing in, and why they're failing because failures are a great learning tool. People can get together and talk about what they have and haven’t tried, and if it bombed for them or not. I think Mastermind is a great way to bring those two together. Also, it helps to find other people that are trying to accomplish similar things.
Mike Hambright 06:42
The learning curve is substantially faster, when you're around because there's also lot of ways that we learn. If you learn on your own, we all learn through trial and error, but we can learn from other people's errors or mistakes, too, right? So, if you could just hire a coach, we will hire coaches. Some people look down on that sometimes, like, "oh, you pay a lot of money to hire coach." The truth is, we'll spend a lot of money on coaches, and if it helps me dramatically shorten the learning curve, then by all means, a coach is worth it. When you get to a certain point, you're like, "what is my time worth?" Anyway, just to surround yourself with people that inspire you to think bigger, and truthfully, is, I think, what we've created. You're obviously a member of Investor Fuel, as well. Well, what we've created is this community of people that truly care about each other and really want to help one another and will are almost available anytime to help one another. Those things just don't happen naturally. I mean, there are natural places to go, like face-free Facebook groups, Ria clubs, and all sorts of associations. Usually, those relationships aren't as deep, I'd say. Part of it is that people aren't as committed to those things because they haven't really bought into it.
Sean Thomson 08:12
One of the other things about the Mastermind is that the people in your group, they have a baseline of experience, or they've done a certain amount of business. You pretty much know that you're dealing with somebody that has been there and had some success, or like I said, some failures.
Mike Hambright 08:34
So yeah, when you restrict who we let in, it's nice that we can't just let anybody in here. We just had a guy that joined today that he's rehabbed over 1000 houses, and he has tremendous experience and rehabbing. So, for example, not that everybody has that level of experience, but we prequalify people to make sure that they're a good fit for the group, you have to kind get through the gate.
Sean Thomson 08:54
Right. So, when I had a question the other day about an Owner Finance Program, and there's two or three people in the group that have done hundreds of rehab projects. They know what they're talking about, and when they give you a suggestion, or when they help you with that process, you know. So, it gives you confidence in the people that you're in the Mastermind with, to say, "hey, I've got this little problem. I've never done one of those, you know, can you walk me through this?" You know they're an expert.
Mike Hambright 09:20
Yeah, we've all seen people responding to questions on Facebook that we know the person responding has no idea what they're saying. They say it with such authority that people don't know. So ultimately, sometimes you get what you pay for on free social media land.
Sean Thomson 09:38
Right. Again, having that pre-qualified person that you're dealing with in your Mastermind, you already know that it's good information. You don't get that just in a, let's say, a BiggerPockets forum post or something. You don't know who's answering those questions, right. I think the Mastermind just takes it to the next level in terms of interaction. Mike, I know you've been a part of other Masterminds as a participant, very high-level Masterminds across the country. You've also built your own Mastermind. So, people who are looking at joining a Mastermind, how should they expect it to be structured? What does the successful Mastermind structure look like? What kind of things should they expect to have the Mastermind do for them? Or what kind of activities should they be doing to see a successful Mastermind project?
Mike Hambright 10:31
You know, every group is different. There are some good groups out there, and I think you should expect that because everybody's different. It depends on what your goals are. So, some Masterminds are more of coaching based where the Mastermind group is, but it's really kind of a high level, hand holding type coaching. Ours is really not like that, it's more peer to peer. However, you know, we're here to help whenever we can, or certainly we're making connections, and other people in the group are truthfully more ego driven. They feel like it's a place to see and be seen and brush shoulders with people that think they're rock stars. Some are like ours, where we have some amazing people in there who are very focused on culture. We even talk about how you aren't supposed to bring your ego to the meeting because that doesn't belong here. Everybody's equal here. We're all entrepreneurs, even if somebody has 100 houses, or somebody that's done 1000 houses, we all have personal goals we're trying to meet, right? We just try to level the playing field and say, "hey, we're all on a mission here to make our ourselves better, improve life for our families, and those around us. So, just share and be yourself and don't be focused on chest thumping and stuff like that, like this isn't a place for it. So, you know, I think there's also groups that you're a part of, and you come four times a year or three times a year, and when you leave, you're done. Nothing like that happens in our group. We believe that our culture is 365 days a year. In fact, I just got back right before the Coronavirus was kicking off, on a trip to Yellowstone, Roma, snowmobiling, and dog sledding with eight couples. They're members of Investor Fuel. A lot of us travel together, do things together, or have friends to do deals together. We've kind of created a community that persists, you know, 365 days a year, and we also do a lot of Facebook stuff. We're having online happy hours twice a week, these days. Sometimes it comes from the leader, but we're just getting started to serve everybody.
Sean Thomson 12:54
I've been in a couple of Masterminds. I think the most important thing for me is that I feel open to share my wins and my losses with the group, you know? I know that the culture is one of support. Everybody that's in the group is there to help you win. I feel great when other members get a deal or something like that, you always feel good for them. I think you want to be in or create an environment in your Mastermind that the expectation is that everybody's there to support each other. You can feel open to talk about when your business is really good.
Mike Hambright 13:38
We all know people that are out there that seem like they're on top of the world, and then they're gone a week later, a month later, at some point. I mean, there's a guy like that now, there's this "big guru," that's everywhere. Now he's doing something totally different outside of real estate. Like, what happened? He was the first one to fall, and people that represent themselves as something that they're not. Part of it is that they're never able to share when things aren't going well. I mean, for us as real estate investors, we have problems all the time. So yeah, let's not hide that, or hide behind it, and just talk about the good times. You know, let's talk about the bad times too because that's what makes us stronger.
Sean Thomson 14:16
Yeah, but if you're looking for a Mastermind, I think that one of the biggest keys to it is that if you go to a gathering with your Mastermind, and you don't feel like you can be open and honest with everybody that's there, you may not be in the right place. It doesn't necessarily matter what activities they have going on. I think the way you have it structured is you that you have hotseat presentations where people discuss their business and people give feedback. I think the way you have it structured, it encourages that openness and that sort of vulnerability to talk about your business. So yeah, if your Mastermind is not structured that way when you're trying to participate, I would look for something else.
Mike Hambright 14:58
Yeah, you want to be able to be yourself. While there's a guy that's in our group that got in some trouble, he had his inventory building up, and had a lot of hard money out, he almost didn't come to the event. Then he did show up, and we were glad to see him. He's like, "I don't want to present because I'm having all these problems." We're like, "this is the time to present!" We convinced him to get up and share what was going on. The group just poured on him like, "here's what we'll do. Let me connect with this guy, and let's get on a phone once a week." That's what this is all about, right? It's not like some groups you might be a part of that you wouldn't want to show your face there. Your ego tells you that or you're concerned about somebody else's ego belittling you for that. We're like, "hey, we might be a little dysfunctional sometimes, just like a family. So, let's kind of work through this together," you know?
Sean Thomson 15:49
Yeah. I think those ego groups are fine. If you don't, that's not what you're looking for. That's fine, but I think if you're trying to develop and become a better person, a better businessman, I think you want to find someplace that supports that. So, Mike, talk about how you created your own Mastermind. I don't know if anybody talks to you about this, but what has this done for you? What about being the guy who created the Mastermind? What are you getting back from that? I'm sure you're getting a lot.
Mike Hambright 16:17
Yeah, that's an interesting question. I don't know if anybody's ever asked me that before. Thank you, Sean! So, you know, I get a lot of value out of helping people, I really do. I like to teach, you know, I've been coaching for a long time. I think it got to a point where I've, and I still do coaching, but I feel like sometimes I don't get as much value out of coaching. Because there were some people that get the results, and some don't. Usually, it's because the person gave up. That's a common thing for new real estate investors to try and then they stop. So, the great thing about the Mastermind is that you don't have to convince people that when they get to our level to where they could be a member. We have two groups we have. The first is called the Gold Group, which is people that are doing 10-50 deals a year. Then we have our Platinum Group, which is people that are doing 50 deals and above, and we have members that are doing hundreds of deals a year. Once you get to that level, you're not questioning, does this really work? You're just pivoting to find new ways to take it to another level or improve your life. It's more like fine tuning a business instead of trying to decide if you should leave your job. So, what I've found is that because we're generally working with proven entrepreneurs, they generally value, I'm here for everybody, but they value my time more, if that makes sense. Like, they're more appreciative of sharing time. I'm not saying that, "hey, you should bow down" and anything like that. I'm just saying that I want to help people more when they appreciate my time when people are takers. You know, they're just like, and I'm not saying that coaching students are that way, but there's a lot of people out there in social media that will say, "hey, you don't know me, but can you do a bunch of stuff for me?" I think I get a lot of satisfaction out of seeing people succeed in their business and making their family lives better and hitting more of their goals. I get a lot of value out of that. We see a lot of that at our level with Investor Fuel. Part of why I've done all this stuff is, you know, when you're an entrepreneur, when you're a CEO of a business, a small business, it's hard to make friends sometimes, right? I have thousands of acquaintances, but very few good friends, I'd say. It's a way for me to build more friendships with more people like me, just because of the bait that I'm using, which is Investor Fuel, I guess.
Sean Thomson 18:43
Yeah, it's a very lone wolf business. So, it can be super lonely, and if you don't have a support group, that can be awful. Not that the Mastermind is a support group, but it is a group that does get support you. It is a very lone wolf business. I don't think you've talked about it, but I think one of the biggest benefits that you may get from it is just feeling pride for the successes that we have, as business owners, that you were there. I know, for me, specifically, you've introduced me to people that have changed my life in the last couple of years to this Mastermind. Just putting me in the same room with those people that can answer my questions and help me get to where I need to be is a tremendous thing for people in my position. You have been the catalyst for that.
Mike Hambright 19:27
Yeah, that's awesome! It makes me feel good to hear things like that. No doubt. No doubt.
Sean Thomson 19:37
Yeah. You don't even know it at the time, but it can change your entire life, you know, and for the better.
Mike Hambright 19:47
Yep.
Sean Thomson 19:50
We hit on many of the other questions I was going to ask here, but talk about if someone were joining a Mastermind, what sort of benefits should they expect to see? Or would want to get out of being in a mastermind?
Mike Hambright 20:07
Yeah, this is a common scenario where people don't really know what to expect when they join. Every time we have somebody that comes for their first event, people act differently. We get feedback, like, "it's your first event, how was it?" Usually, it exceeded their expectations, but they didn't necessarily know what to expect. They just knew that this seems like a place where I belong, right? So, I think that generally if you go there, and you feel like you're the biggest dog in the room, and have the most experience in the room, then it's probably not the right room for you. It's just not a fit. So you know, something that gives you value, something that a group that can give you some level of accountability to put yourself out there and say, "I'm going to take myself to the next level," and for people to hold you to that. We have, in between our meetings, we have monthly accountability calls. We have people document their goals, and we literally put it in our membership sites for everybody to see everyone's goals, or these are the three business goals and one personal goal. I think there's some stuff in my life that I like working out and stuff that I kind of refuse to be held accountable, and it shows. I think in business, I mean, with anything in life, if you force yourself to be held accountable, you're going to see results. That's kind of like saying our group can't force you to be held accountable, but we can help hold YOU accountable. You have to be a self-starter in that regard, too.
Sean Thomson 21:47
Yes, I guess people should expect to find a group that they can feel open and honest to discuss their business with everybody. They can find a group that is helpful and moves them forward on a personal and business level. Then, they can also find a group that when they deploy those suggestions that there's someone there to say, "hey, how's it going? Have you met us?" It's just sort of that accountability component. Those three things are the biggest to take away from Mastermind.
Mike Hambright 22:17
One thing that I see too is that not everybody has a goal to teach or help other people with. Not that they want to be unhelpful, but just like, some people aspire to be more independent. I think if I feel like I have this knowledge, I wish I could share with other people, but I don't really want to be a coach. This is probably the most common thing that happens when people come in. We have them give a hotseat presentation, as you know, your first meeting, which is we end up talking about your challenges and where you need help. It starts off with giving something that they want to give to the group, it could be a resource, it could be a connection, a software tool, or it could be a lot of things, right? It could be a life experience, like, you know, I was working hard, and then this went wrong in my life. Here's what I learned from that. Any of those things, right? So, the most common thing is that people feel like they got so much value. If you feel like you're getting so much value, and you through reciprocity, feel like you need to give more, and if you're that type of person, then a group like ours is a perfect fit! Now. If you're that type of person, you'll get a lot of value from it because every group needs more of that kind of person that is willing to share. Right?
Sean Thomson 23:40
Yes, exactly. The other thing is, I've noticed that a lot of the guys in the group will go home and they'll start smaller groups within their own market too. I think they're inspired by what your message is, and because you're more of a national level Mastermind. We have people from all over the country. What is the benefit of someone in a local market, maybe starting a smaller group or a Ria-type group for this type of smaller Mastermind?
Mike Hambright 24:11
Yeah, you've got guys like Josh Hines that has started some stuff in Baltimore. Nationally, we've got a bunch of people that are in our group that own their own, or operate real estate clubs, and Ria clubs. It depends on what they want, if it's teaching, or sometimes just by being a leader and sharing a lot of information and having great speakers come, whether it's virtual or in person or whatever, sometimes you become the go to person for deal flow. I never owned a Ria club, but I've always been networking and that's how you and I met initially. It was through common friends and I was always big on sponsoring real estate clubs and posting happy hours. I'm kind of an event junkie, but I think through all that networking, trying to add value, meeting people, and networking have all really benefitted me. I was able to meet this person, or talk to somebody, or even some relationship turned into something bigger than what I had initially imagined. It certainly helped me get a lot of deals over the years, just because I talk to somebody and the next thing, you know, they've got a deal. They're like, "hey, are you interested in that? Or, I'm not sure this is a deal for me, or I'm not a lender, but I could have probably gotten in on a ton of deals if I was in that business." If you dig around enough, and you network enough, and you help enough people, you get, I use air quotes, or you "get lucky more often," right?
Sean Thomson 25:43
Yeah. Give yourself a better shot at success. If someone wanted to get started and join a Mastermind, are there places that people can go to, research them, or find them?
Mike Hambright 25:57
Of course, we have a website with it, but I'm not aware of a directory or anything like that. I think you just have to ask around to the people that you respect, when we have an event going on, people are posting pictures because they're there at happy hour with some friends, or a dinner. Just look up the people that you know, and respect, or that you think highly of, and just see who they're hanging out with. Whoever you aspire to be more alike, who are their friends? Who are they talking to? What groups are they a part of? That's how you find all of that information. Who are their friends who they hanging out with? That type of thing.
Sean Thomson 26:46
So, just take a look at your network and see the people that seem to be successful in your in your network, and how they're fitting in, and maybe start there, right?
Mike Hambright 26:57
Yep.
Abigail Thomson 26:59
Mike, one of the biggest themes of our podcasts is that we think the traditional definition of the American Dream can be tailored to each individual and what they want to accomplish in their life. So, what does the American Dream mean to you? How would you define it for yourself?
Mike Hambright 27:17
Yeah, yeah. I think it's doing what you want, when you want, and with whom you want. It can't just be about money because no matter how much money you'll have, there always will be someone who has more, right? Am I able to live life on my terms? That's what it means for me. So, in a nutshell, that's what I say.
Abigail Thomson 27:44
Yeah. Then, another thing on top of that is something that I've noticed about you, as you take a lot of actionable steps in order to accomplish that dream, you even take it to a whole other level. You even said that what you do with your mastermind is that you take other people's dreams to the next level. What is your next step in taking your dream to do whatever you want, with whomever you want?
Mike Hambright 28:08
So, essentially, where do I go from here, to get closer to my dream?
Abigail Thomson 28:11
Yes.
Mike Hambright 28:12
Well, you guys know, my wife, Lindsay. We've been investing a lot. So, primarily, I've been a single-family house investor for, really, for the last 12 and a half years, but over the past year and a half, we've been a part of some big Multifamily deals and aspire to do more of that. We have a rental portfolio, and a single-family rental portfolio as well. Even though we don't manage it, it's still not passive, we still have drama to deal with. I think one of our realizations is to move the needle faster, and we need to do bigger deals. That's one thing we're spending a fair bit of time on these days is kind of similar to you guys. Just planning to do bigger commercial deals because at the end of the day, Single Family business has been great for me, but I'm not going to take anything away from it. There are just not enough zeros on those deals.
Sean Thomson 29:07
So, your way to get to the next level is just to increase the size of the deals you're doing?
Mike Hambright 29:12
Yeah, because really have the ability to be more passive, right? I mean, when you're doing bigger deals, you can afford to have a bigger management team, right? Or you can have people that have roles and responsibilities. Even though we have a property manager, there's still tax issues, make ready issues, fires, or whatever it might be. There is no management level for the most part other than us. At some point, the property manager says that this is outside of our scope, and we need to handle this. While, if you had a couple hundred unit Multifamily, there'd be onsite management and there'll be maintenance people to handle things, and 30 layers of people that are able to handle the things that inevitably fall on us, as Single-Family Investors.
Sean Thomson 29:59
You can spread the risk, spread the responsibilities, and it just becomes a little bit smoother, I think.
Mike Hambright 30:05
Yeah.
Sean Thomson 30:07
Well, how can everybody connect with you and all the stuff you have going on? You have a ton of things going on. You've been on the Flip Nerd Podcast for years, you've got giant Masterminds, and all kinds of stuff going on. How can people get in touch with you and get and get more information?
Mike Hambright 30:23
Yeah, the best is probably to go to www.flipnerd.com. It's not all about flipping houses, we wholesale, we buy, and hold. There's anything you could do with single family we're talking about there, and we have a tremendous amount of free content available. Investor fuel is our mastermind. So, if you're an experienced investor, and do a fair bit of deals, and you're basically focused on it full time, then you might be a fit for that -- investorfuel.com. Other than that, just connect on Facebook or on Instagram, you can find me @MikeHambright. I will say this, I actually found him last night. It's hilarious. There's another guy named Mike Hambright, who happens to be a tattoo artist. Lindsey was like, "you guys got to be related." I was like, "I don't think so, I don't want to be related." Anyway, I'm not the guy with the tattoo, but he has them across his neck. So that's not me. No relation. Anyway, you could find me, Mike Hambright on Facebook.
Sean Thomson 31:30
I really appreciate you coming on the show. It's an interesting topic. You obviously know a ton about it. You have an awesome Mastermind that you put together. You and your whole team are amazing. We really appreciate you coming in and talking about it for us!
Mike Hambright 31:45
Yeah. Thanks for the opportunity, I appreciate it!
Abigail Thomson 31:53
Thanks for joining us for another episode of Next Level American Dream. If you would like to learn more about what we talked about today, want to contact a team directly, or are interested in passively investing and being a part of our deal room, head over to our website at www.thomsonmultifamilygroup.com. Before you go, please leave a review! your comments help us create more episodes for you to enjoy.