Podcast Transcription

Dave: You have Joe back there. I see so.

Melina: Interesting. Yeah, well.

Dave: They’re only gonna be able to understand like 50% of what’s happening here today.

Melina: I know.

Dave: There’s gonna be some joke about it.

Melina: That’s totally true.

Melina: Welcome to “Flippin’ Off,” a purpose-driven podcast about flipping houses and making a difference.

Dave: All right. Well, here we are, back in the studio, and Dave and Melina Boswell.

Melina: Episode 27.

Dave: 27? No.

Melina: 28.

Dave: 28. You said, “27,” two weeks ago. So this will be 28.

Melina: See? That’s how my mind works. I’m always living in the past.

Dave: That’s so not true.

Melina: I know.

Dave: All right. Well, we got a challenge for you today, because we got Mr. Adam Halen and John Slater here.

Melina: Don’t try to copy their accent because you sound like a leprechaun when you do.

Dave: We’re gonna do our best. No, I’m definitely not going to.

Melina: Okay.

Dave: I know you have a tendency to.

Melina: No, you sound like a leprechaun.

Dave: Well.

Melina: Or maybe a pirate.

Dave: Whatever you say, honey. With that, we were just joking about how you might have to press “Rewind” at some point and play this back. I’m sure I will as well, because sometimes these two guys say some things that I think, “Oh. What on Earth are they talking about?

Melina: Yeah, like you need closed captioning.

Dave: Yeah. We could do that.

Melina: Yeah.

Dave: So we got Adam here. You guys all know John Slater. He’s been on many podcasts, one of our leaders in the club, and has an amazing business growing and doing wonderful things. His wife, his better half, Cellie, is not here with us this morning, but wherever you are, Celine, we say, “Hello,” and John’s in good hands. So he’s eaten, and he’s fine. He’s had M&Ms this morning. We’re good to go. Meanwhile, we got Adam here, who comes all the way from Australia.

Adam: Good day.

Dave: Oh. Yeah, there you go, and been here all of, like, 17 days.

Adam: 17 months.

Dave: Months?

Adam: 17 months.

Dave: Months. All right. So 17 months.

Adam: Almost lost my accent.

Dave: Almost?

Adam: Yeah.

Melina: Yeah.

Dave: Almost. I don’t think so. Not even close.

Adam: You’re the one with the accent.

Dave: Is that how it is?

Adam: Yeah, definitely.

Dave: Well, we’ll do our best because we’ve been…You know, we’ve had fun in the past with John and Celine as, you know, we only understand part of them as well half the time. John doesn’t understand Celine. Celine doesn’t understand John. That’s why their marriage works so well. They can’t even argue. They don’t understand each other.

Adam: Just smile.

John: Absolutely. Yeah, makes it easy, very easy.

Adam: Yes, dear. Universal language.

Dave: We brought Adam in here today because we were…We’ve gotten to know him over the last…Oh, I don’t even know. Is it…Whatever. Several months. It’s just this really unique perspective that, you know, I guess we always look at it. We’re sitting here, you know, in the United States, California specifically for us, just kind of this…You know, we live in our own little bubble. We don’t know a whole lot of what’s happening in the world out there. If you asked me to, like, talk about real estate markets in other countries, I would have no idea, no idea how they work, no idea what it means.

You know, Adam and I were having a conversation. We’ve had many conversations now, but one thing that I got was, you know…Maybe Adam can elaborate on this, but you came here…Why are you here? Maybe you can share a little bit about that, and we can kind of expand on some of the things that you’ve shared with us, that I think will be really cool for our listeners to get a perspective of.

Adam: I’ll do my best, without getting too tongue-tied in the Australian accent. Hopefully you can understand me. I came over here with my wife, my son, and our two dogs, 17 months ago, from Sydney, Australia. We live on the northern beaches. Beautiful place of the world. But my wife had an opportunity. She works in the music industry and had an opportunity to look after one of her clients here in Las Vegas. We had a look around that area and decided that Los Angeles was probably the best area for us.

With her business, she’s constantly working. But back home in Australia, I was doing real estate as well, and I came over here to hit the US market, which is the biggest market in the world as far as real estate goes. I was doing properties back in Australia. Then having a reasonable amount of success, I will say, by myself, I spent quite a bit of money in education processes as well in that and have maintained great relationships with people in that industry.

Coming over here to the US, it has just been like having my eyes opened up wider. I mean the possibilities over here in the US…It’s just endless. I’m speechless as to how big this market is. Funny enough, I’m just gonna go on a different tangent here. When someone says to me, “It’s a tough market,” I just look at them and shake my head. When realtors say to me, “You can’t wholesale properties in LA,” I say, “Thank you.”

Melina: Yes.

Adam: So anyway, I’m over here as the handbag for my wife, as I mentioned earlier. I’m the Gucci handbag, more rugged Samsonite Aussies. Hugh Jackman, they call me. The gold Hugh Jackman.

Melina: Yes, yes.

Adam: But I’m having a wonderful time. I did search the Internet. I did more than searching the Internet. I looked everywhere for other people who were flipping houses and doing creative property strategies, lease options, sandwich leases, all that sort of things. I got quite a lot of rejection and people looking at me, going, “Well, why would I want you to join me and compete with me?” I was looking for a bunch of like-minded people, like-minded people that I could share experience and certainly learn from. I have to, you know, learn so much, going uphill against the wind.

It took me, I’d say, a couple of weeks and then a final three hours on the Internet, searching for something, and I found a note on Craigslist, gave it a call, and we’re here. And we’re here. It’s just, you know, since November of last year, 2016, and it’s just been a wonderful whirlwind of fun and information and camaraderie and collaboration and just dealing with people like yourselves.

Dave: Wow. That’s pretty cool. So you mentioned you had done real estate on your own back in Australia. Right? So gone in some…Got some education over there, that kind of thing. One of the things I would…Maybe you guys could kind of bounce off and back and forth at John. We have John here not for the…kind of for the comedic effect, but…The two of them were having a conversation, and Milena and I were just kind of list…you know, overhearing them, just talking about how different it is, you know, and in England and then over in Australia and, like, why…you know, how everything is so different from our market. There were some specifics. Maybe you guys can kind of share with those people that are listening what that whole different mindset and the shift that had to take place, both in…You know, John’s been here now for several years and now taking place with Adam. So maybe you can start with that, John.

John: Absolutely. I mean, you know, going back to when I was buying a house back in England, you know, the whole process for me was very different anyway. You know? Not just the ins and outs, using attorneys and lawyers, you know, rather than title and escrow, you know, all that kind of side. But you know, it’s…I don’t know why, but I just don’t see this business working in England. You know? The houses are very different. But at the same time, even though they are brick-build versus a lot of wood-built properties, it still could have a potential market back in England, but you just don’t see it happening. Whether there’s less attachment value, you know…I’ve always said my house is just four walls and a roof.

Dave: Right.

John: You know? I don’t come from a perspective of, “Oh, this is my home. This is everything.” You know? My Cellie will disagree with me on that one. But for me, it’s four walls and a roof, and it keeps me dry and has a place for us to sleep, and if I go live somewhere else, I’ll live somewhere else. So you know, just kind of coming from that perspective, a lot different kind of dis-attachment from your home, making it just not the kind of business that I could ever go follow through with in England.

Melina: That’s so interesting. So Adam, is it the same? Would you agree with…Is it the same in Australia as what John just described?

Adam: Yeah, very much. I think Australia and England have a very similar culture as well, that you need a license for everything, and there’s taxes associated with everything. We also have this public mentality of, “Is that legal? Can you do that?” You understand what tall poppy syndrome is too. Don’t you?

Dave: No.

Adam: John?

Melina: What is tall poppy syndrome?

Adam: You don’t? I’m not sure what you call it here. If you think of a sea or a field of tall poppies, and one poppy is taller than the other. Then someone comes along and chops it off. Right? So everyone keeps at that same mentality. Don’t be a show-off. Don’t be…Don’t try and be more than everyone else. Don’t over-achieve. What’s the similarity? It’s the bucket of crabs?

Melina: Crabs. Yes, exactly. It’s the bucket of crabs. Yeah. If you put one crab in a bucket, leave the lid off, he’ll just crawl right out. Put him in a bucket with a whole bunch of other crabs in the bucket, and one tries to get out, and the rest will pull him down.

Dave: Yeah.

Adam: Very much the case in Australia.

Dave: You had actually mentioned that there was a different dynamic even that if you were in real estate and…Because you were doing some creative deals before. Right?

Adam: Correct. Yeah.

Dave: In those creative deals, there was even like astigmatism of, like, you know, “Are you taking advantage of people?” Or what’s…You were talking about…

Adam: Yeah, very much so taking advantage of someone in a bad situation. I mean if people are selling for less than the market, there’s a reason why they’re selling. Are you taking advantage of them? I wasn’t. I was actually helping them out of a really bad spot.

Dave: Right. Yeah.

Adam: They couldn’t even afford real estate agents. They couldn’t even afford solicitors. They couldn’t afford a sign in marketing. They couldn’t do any of that. So sure, I got a house at a lesser price. But who’s cut out of the deal? The realtor?

Melina: Right.

Dave: Right.

Melina: Right. Yeah. So you know, Adam, when you talk about that, you just stepped into their world, and you served them. You helped them out. You saw their need, and you just came in and helped solve problems.

Adam: I didn’t even realize I was helping them, helping people solve problems. I went in with an expectation that I would be able to buy a house, and this is a different group of people. I went in, thinking I was going to buy a house, and I ended up helping them get out of debt, reducing their credit cards, reducing their loans, and enabling them, through a mortgage broker friend of mine, to also buy another house and come back and fight another day.

Dave: And how much money did you get paid for that?

Adam: Zero. In fact, I’m in negative from all the time I spent, the things I did for them. Yeah, definitely negative, but in the…The wealth that I got from it was fantastic. It was fantastic, but I really didn’t realize it until I came here to the US and looked back on that and went, “Oh, holy crap.”

Dave: I helped some people.

Adam: I helped some people.

Dave: And didn’t get paid for it.

Adam: And didn’t get paid for it.

Dave: And I was fulfilled.

Adam: And very fulfilled.

Dave: Wow.

Adam: Most of…It has more clarity and relevance to me than the biggest deal I’ve done.

John: I think that’s…You know, Adam and I have been talking about this. For me, it was very…The culture of our club was very foreign. You know? To come into an environment where, you know, Milena would challenge us and say, “Who’s well…Who’s willing to help a homeowner without getting paid?” You know, everybody says, “Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Everybody else is raising their hand. I better raise my hand,” without…not necessarily not believing it, but not really understanding it.

Dave: Sure.

John: You know? It challenges you. But also, I think until it actually happens, you still don’t get it.

Dave: Right.

John: You know? So from my culture, we keep to ourselves, you know, very friendly at the same time, but you know you don’t go around talking about your problems. You know, you keep everything into yourself. You, you know…Something’s gonna happen, either way. But here, it’s the idea of, “Well, what if I can go help somebody? What does it look like for them?” You know? Yeah, we’ve seen success in our business by doing that. So you know, just very different. I don’t know if it is a cultural thing or, you know, just an individual thing, but I know Adam, himself. He said the same. It’s not something you expect to see every day in our home country, but you can recognize when it did actually happen.

Adam: And everyone would help each other, back in our home country, and they really would. We’d ban together. You know? Australians stick together. Brits stick together. But the fundamental issue, I think, that we face is we don’t speak about it first and foremost. We wouldn’t open up and say, “Hey, mate. I’m having a problem.”

Melina: You know, that’s interesting because…And I actually don’t know how opposite or how different it is in America, frankly. I think that there’s a lot of the same thing. You know? I believe that the reason the club has the power it has is because we’ve given people a space to be able to share and to be able to be open and honest. I do think that it is outside of the norm, quote/unquote, norm.

Dave: Yeah. Sure.

Melina: But what’s interesting is most people want that.

John: Yeah, I would agree.

Melina: Yeah. I believe most people want it. The problem is that there’s either never a place to be able to be that. You never get the opportunity. You know? So I say to people, “Hey. Are you willing to serve a homeowner and not get paid?” Everybody goes, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Then I go, “No, really, because you’re gonna get the opportunity.”

John: Sure. Yeah.

Melina: Like, for reals.

Dave: We’ve saved way more houses than we’ve ever bought.

Melina: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Dave: I mean…

Melina: It’s just like when I talk to homeowners, and, you know, they come in, and they’ll say to me…They’re very skeptical when they walk in the door.

Dave: Yeah.

Melina: They’ll say, “What,” you know, “Really, what’s in it for you?”

Dave: And, “What’s the catch?”

Melina: Yeah, what’s the catch? No, you’re really not…You’re really doing this for free. No, really. We are. Why would you do that? Here’s how I always answer. I just turn it. Well, let me ask you something. If you had the ability to make a living, right, and you were…Through the living that you were able to make, it gave you the opportunity to help people save their homes and not charge for them, not charge for those services. Would you do that? And they…99% of the time, they always say to me, “Oh, yeah. Of course.” Then I say, “Well, why is it so shocking that I would do that?”

John: I’ve used that.

Melina: Good.

John: I’ve used that, verbatim.

Melina: That’s good. Oh, good. Excellent. Good student.

Adam: And in fact, going back to what you said about being back in class, and John mentioned this as well, when…It was Milena’s class and said, “Would you serve someone without getting paid?” Everyone puts their hand up and said, “Yes. Yes, I will.” I’m definitely one of those people. I said, “Yes, I will.” It wasn’t until two or three months later, I actually got to experience that, and it wasn’t until after the fact that I reflected. I’m like, “Oh, I really would,” and it took me by surprise.

Melina: Really?

Adam: I did. It took me by surprise, because I felt it. I kind of wanted to, but I didn’t believe it.

Melina: Yes.

Adam: It’s funny.

Melina: You know, it’s an interesting thing. I think what’s great about the two of you is that it’s…

Adam: The accents.

Melina: Well, obviously. That’s a no-brainer. But it’s almost as if we’re talking like there’s some difference in our culture. You know what I’m realizing right now? There is none.

Dave: Yeah.

John: Yeah.

Melina: Right? Humans are just humans. We are just human beings. We’re human doings. Whatever. So I think that you have different cultures. I was thinking, John. Right? It’s so funny to me, you know, for you, that you talk about a home, because I would say this. I would actually say, when people are attached to a home, “It’s just like…All it is is protection from the elements.”

John: Yeah. Yeah.

Melina: That’s all it is. Right? Yeah. So but it’s funny to me that you married somebody like Celine, whose culture is so completely the opposite of that.

John: Yeah, very much.

Melina: Right? She’s so, you know, family-driven. She’s so emotionally driven. So it’s funny to me that that’s who you end up marrying. Although, I don’t think it’s that outside-of-the-norm. I think the sad part is that humans are imperfect. So when I say it’s the belly-button factor, the reality is this. Humans are just imperfect. We all have belly buttons. So we are imperfect. So we will do things to hurt each other, and we do things that we mess up and whatever. But at the end of the day, I believe this. I believe that we are created for relationship. I think that each one of us want to have that authentic relationship. I just think that, in many parts of our cultures, and I think it’s everywhere…I don’t think it’s abroad. I think it’s here too.

Dave: Sure.

Melina: We’re never given that opportunity to do it. Let’s face it. You put yourself out there. You make yourself vulnerable. When you’re vulnerable, you get attacked.

Dave: Sure.

Melina: So it’s not even an unreasonable fear.

Dave: Yeah.

Melina: It’s just, you know, having to have the courage.

John: I definitely agree. You know, the more you think about it, it’s not…You know, when I said I thought maybe it was a cultural thing, it’s not. It’s just most people are not, you know…I don’t want to…Say this carefully, but most people aren’t brought up with that same caring feeling, that idea of helping your neighbor, you know, helping out. It’s so segregated maybe. It’s very different. Then maybe, you know, you go speak to some elderly people, and they say, “Oh, it’s not like it used to be.” Well, maybe it’s not. Our club’s introduced that different culture. It’s creating that…not creating a new culture, but bringing something back where people actually want to help somebody else. You know? The feeling is immense. You can’t replace that feeling of being able to help somebody.

You know, we’re talking from experiences. Very recently, helping the family up in Hammer, you know, from the homeless shelter, putting them into our house in Hammer. I mean, to have the little boy come up and hug you at the end and not want you to leave because you’ve touched somebody’s life in a very different way.

Adam: You changed their life.

John: You changed it completely. Hey. We got to help somebody. You know? It’s very different.

Dave: John and I were driving. We rented the U-Haul the other day, and we were getting all the furniture. It had to be one of the craziest days. You know. I know it’s California. We never have weather. Right?

John: Yeah.

Dave: But it’s like 105 and humid as can be, and suddenly it’s pouring down rain on us.

Melina: With thunderstorms.

John: Thunderstorms and wind.

Dave: Thunderstorms and wind. Oh, it’s crazy. Right? But I remember John said this to me. He goes, “You know, I just don’t think…I don’t know how to explain the feeling it must be for this feeling that…” They were in a shelter for a year. Right? Over a year. A mom and five kids. Right? Ultimately, really, no hope, you know, for lack of a way of putting it. What it must be like, like…We’re telling this family that, you know, “We got a new house, and we’ve rehabbed it. It’s all brand-new, and you’re gonna be able to move in there, and you’re gonna have your own bed, and you’re gonna have your own space. You’re gonna have your own dresser and…”

John: Your own shower.

Dave: Your own shower. I mean I remember watching the kids walk into the house, and their faces just lit up like crazy. Then, like, going to the refrigerator.

Melina: That was probably the most impactful thing I think I’ve ever seen, is watching a six-year-old and an eight-year-old walk over to the refrigerator, over and over, and just kept on opening it.

Dave: And it knows…

John: The light comes on.

Melina: Yeah.

John: It’s beautiful.

Melina: You know, when we asked them…When I told them I was moving them into the home, I asked each one of the children, “You can have something special. What would you like to have? Is there anything special you’d like to have?” The little 10-year-old girl said she’d like to have…She said…The way she described it, she goes, “I don’t know exactly what you call it, but it’s like a box that slides, and you put your clothes in it.”

Dave: Dresser drawers.

Melina: Yeah. The 12-year-old said, “Can we have a refrigerator?”

Dave: Wow.

Melina: So what I saw was that there was nothing in the fridge. There was waters and a couple of cans of soda, but…

Dave: Yeah, as we’re moving in, there was nothing there.

Melina: Yeah, it was just…They just kept on walking over to the refrigerator and opening it. You know, the mom in me wanted to be like, “Keep the fridge.” You know? But I stopped, and I just was in awe of watching, and I felt so humbled and so…I just recognized how we take things for granted, how we, you know…Like, the idea that I’m gonna, you know…How dare I even question why they keep on opening up the refrigerator, because nothing changed, and it wasn’t…It was almost as if, “Is this really happening?”

Dave: Yeah.

Melina: Like a way of pinching themselves like, “Is this our fridge?”

Dave: Right.

Melina: You know?

John: I would have loved to have captivated that look on their face as they do that.

Melina: Yeah. I have it in my mind. I just continue. I just continue to see it, over and over and over. They would just literally run through the house, just run, run through the halls, through the kitchen, run into the kitchen, open up cupboards, open up that refrigerator and look in and then close it, and then run. It was just…

Dave: I think that that’s why we couldn’t really fathom it, because they’re sitting in this, you know, shelter with however many sets of bunk beds there are. There are 40 sets of bunk beds.

Melina: In one room.

Dave: In one room, with, you know…

Melina: You’re sleeping next to strangers.

Dave: Yeah.

Melina: For a long time.

Dave: Six beds. This family is taking up, you know, three sets of bunk beds, if you will, and for a long time. Then, you know, looking back, we’ve always had this idea. Right? We’re gonna buy houses, and we buy houses. We want to…You know, we’re gonna collect rentals.

Melina: Yep.

Dave: That’s part of, you know, the wealth idea, you know, you and I have. We want to build…pass those on to our kids and set them up in business. Kids…I mean grand-kids, of course. Sorry, Dave and Andrew. It’s all about little David. But no. I mean we want to set them up and those kind of things, but I don’t think I ever…I don’t think I really had the forethought of what that would feel like or look like. You know? At the end of the day, I mean, John and I were sitting there, soaking wet and drenched in sweat. I mean exhaustion was right there.

John: Yep.

Dave: I mean 12-plus hours of moving this and getting furniture for them and doing all this stuff. Then at the end of it, just seeing the family’s face and the mom just coming up and just gave me a huge hug and a kiss, you know, just, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” Then the most impactful for me was just seeing the older boys. You know? Good kids. Just you can just…They had just such a sense of good kids that just need a break. I can just remember. You know, I just identify with it. You know? Somebody gave me a break, and somebody gave us a break. Here we are, sitting in such a space where we all have the ability to do that. Then gosh, actually living out your purpose is just awesome.

Adam: I’ve got goosebumps from that.

Melina: Yeah.

Dave: Oh, it’s just so…If you could somehow…We had a bunch of people from the club help. I mean there was a lot.

Melina: Yeah.

Dave: It wasn’t just John and I moving. It was…You know, we couldn’t have done it without everybody. We’d have still been there.

John: That’s not even mentioning the donations we received for, you know, furniture, pots, pans, you know, everything that we needed to be able to, you know, move this family. It was all donated.

Dave: Yeah.

John: You know? Everything just…

Melina: Incredible. Incredible.

John: You know, that’s where everybody’s come together. Again, that’s the culture of the club to be able to…You know, we literally put out a message. We put out a message and said, “Hey. We’re moving a family, you know, next Tuesday. We’re gonna move this family, and we need everything.” Suddenly everything turned up.

Melina: Amazing.

Dave: Crazy.

Adam: Do you mind if I ask a question?

Dave: Sure.

Adam: Okay. So I’m reasonably new to the US still. When I came here, when we came here as a family, we found it incredibly difficult to get a rental property. So what chances did they have of getting a rental property in their current position, five children, single woman? I’m taking it she’s not working because she’s looking after the children.

Melina: That’s correct.

Adam: And she has no references from previous landlords. Credit rating could be shot. We had to supply three months’ rent in advance, show our bank balances here in the US, as well as Australia, and a deposit and referrals from other people, prominent people. How on Earth does a family like that get into a house again? Because they’re without a house, a home, without a house. How do they get into a house without your assistance on something like this?

Melina: They don’t.

Dave: They don’t. That’s why they…

Adam: Excuse my ignorance, but I just…

Melina: No, you’re completely right.

Dave: You know, that’s part of the…I mean obviously Melina is sitting on the Board of Directors that gives us the ability to see where there are needs, where we wouldn’t have been able to see them before. Right?

Melina: Yeah.

Dave: Inside the shelter, there’s…I mean the shelter is just full of so many amazing people. Like, they just…They deserve so much more credit than they get.

Melina: You mean the staff.

Dave: The staff there is just…

Melina: Yeah, they’re…

Dave: They are just…Yeah, they’re just really amazing.

Melina: Extraordinary.

Dave: You know, that kind of gives us the inside track on, “Hey. There’s a family.” We can identify a home that we have, and then that was kind of our conversation with John and Celine. Hey. We’re gonna buy this house. Is this a buy-and-hold opportunity? Is this gonna be one we’re gonna flip? What are we gonna do? It actually came from another club member that brought it to us, and they wholesaled it to us because they were like, “Hey. We want to make a…You know, we want to get paid something, but we don’t know if we’re gonna flip it or not,” and some challenges that way. So we’re like, “Maybe this is that opportunity.”

So we threw it back to Melina, “Hey. Is there anybody in the shelter that…” This is a four-bedroom house. It’s in the city of… Is there anybody that we could identify that needs it? Milena’s like, “There’s always a need.” There’s always a need. They have, you know, between the grants and the different funding that they’ve got to provide the opportunity. Because what I don’t want to do is, very much to your point, Adam, is that…This is a single mom with five kids. I don’t want to set her up for failure. In other words, we move her into this house, and that’s just another temporary state. Right? She can get in there, and we get the grant to pay for the rent. But then what? Right?

Melina: Right.

Dave: So we went through a process with her where it is about like, “You’re gonna have to work. You’re gonna have to get a job. We’re gonna have to help you with all those things.” Really kind of a mentorship, if you will, with them. Like, what is it gonna look like to run a household that you haven’t for so long? And enrolling the kids in it. I mean the…Is he 16?

John: 16.

Dave: 16-year-old and the 12-year-old and sitting down with them and going, “You’re gonna have a role to play in this, and this isn’t just gonna be you have a nice house that you just come and do nothing in. You’re gonna have to help support mom and all that stuff.” But without this organization, without the help of all these people, I mean, I don’t know how long they would’ve been able to stay in that shelter, but I don’t see them having any hope. Ultimately, I think she said it. She’s like, “I don’t want to go back to Mexico.”

Melina: Right.

Dave: Because that’s where she’s originally from. Her kids are all born here. She said, “I don’t want to go back there because there’s no opportunity. I just want my kids to be able to stay in school here so they can have an opportunity. I’ll do anything to give them that opportunity.” I think that’s definitely something that…It’s not really ignorance. Unfortunately this is a story that’s a dime-a-dozen, you know, from…

Melina: Yes, it is. I think that it’s funny because I was…When we were talking earlier, I was actually thinking to myself, “We should really do a podcast on…”

Dave: Yeah.

Melina: You know? I think it’s interesting that we end up having this conversation right now with both Adam and John. I think it’s so perfect for where Adam is right now because, you know, making a change, coming to the US, choosing to stay here, making a decision or a choice, however you want to put it, to be in this business. I know, for a fact, for Adam, it wasn’t this…It really has very little to do with how much money he can make, and it has a lot to do with the significance that he desires deeply to bring into the world. Unfortunately that is not always a popular idea. Right? Not everybody can get behind that. I think it’s…What did you call it? The tall poppy?

Adam: Tall poppy syndrome.

Melina: Okay. So you’re just…You want to be the tall poppy, and finding a place where people are going to water and feed and nurture to let you grow, I think, is the most important thing for you. I think that no amount of money actually changes that, even impacts it. I think that you needed this reminder.

Adam: Thank you.

Melina: Isn’t that funny?

Adam: Thank you. It’s been an interesting past couple of months with reminders.

Melina: Yes. Yes.

Adam: And things that happen in this world and the experiences that I see amongst the club members and the community within our club.

Melina: It’s very difficult. Nobody ever wants to talk about the challenges or the pain in choosing to live your life in such a way that we’ve chosen to live our life. It is difficult. It’s not without adversity. It’s not without challenges. It’s not without…I’m gonna hate to use this cliche, but like naysayers. You know?

Dave: Sure.

Melina: You know, oftentimes, people have completely legitimate reasons to be naysayers. Right? But ultimately, every single person, in my mind, and I believe this 100% with my whole heart, every single person has the opportunity to be the tallest poppy in the whole freaking field. I believe that.

Adam: Well said.

Dave: Yeah, for sure.

Adam: Good picture. Thank you.

Dave: Yeah.

Melina: Yeah.

Dave: Without the test, there’s no testimony. We say it all the time. Right?

Melina: Yes.

Dave: It has to be. There has to be challenges. I’m just thankful that we have such a place that we can come. We can talk about the challenges. We can talk about the obstacles. We can put game plans together to overcome those challenges and obstacles. Then we can just stop for a minute and just reflect on…

Melina: The wins.

Dave: Yeah. I know it’s crazy…

Melina: Celebrate the win.

Dave: We were saying that the day we chose to move this family was our 19th wedding anniversary.

Melina: I know.

Dave: Right?

Melina: Yeah.

Dave: I got up that morning, and I said to her, “Gosh, honey. I feel so anticlimactic. Happy anniversary, but…”

Melina: Get your moving straps on.

Dave: Yeah. Get your grubby clothes on. We got to go. We get to go move these people and by the end of the day. You said something like, “We’ll probably have cold pizza and, you know, we’ll need a shower by the end of the day.” I texted a friend of mine. I was like, “Yeah, it’s our anniversary today.” He’s like, “Oh, where are you going tonight for dinner?” I’m like, “No, we’re not. We’re moving a family.” You know, that’s way more impactful than any dinner that we could go to, any night of the week.

John: Do you remember what you did for your wedding anniversary two years ago?

Dave: No.

John: You do this…

Melina: Oh, you better believe it.

Dave: Better believe it.

Melina: This will be…That is exactly right. Such a great point. That is exactly what this is about. It’s just like you said. I can’t remember anything about the deals that we’ve made the most amounts of money on.

Dave: That’s so true.

Melina: You just don’t remember anything about them. What you remember are the deals that you get to, like, really impact and improve somebody else’s life. Isn’t that completely true? It’s crazy. Isn’t it?

Dave: I can’t remember the last deal we did and any of the details about any of that stuff.

Melina: Me either.

Dave: I can tell you when people got, like, their first deals done.

Melina: Yeah.

Dave: And watching their looks on their faces and that kind of stuff. That’s the juice.

Melina: For sure.

Dave: That’s the juice.

Melina: There’s no doubt about it.

Dave: Anyways. I can understand 99% of what both of you guys said.

Melina: Well, we learned something.

Adam: We spoke slow.

Dave: That’s a…

Melina: Thank you for that.

Dave: Thank you for that.

Melina: Thank you for that.

Adam: You’re very welcome.

Dave: With that, we’re gonna call it done for today.

Melina: Yeah, I…Yeah, and I just…Before we close, I guess I just wanted to say thank you to Adam and to John, both of you, for…

John: Thank you very much for having this and this opportunity.

Adam: Thank you.

Melina: No, really, for contributing, you know, who you are, and your experiences, I think, are very important to…This is exactly what makes up the, well, the home of the misfits.

Adam: Absolutely.

Melina: It’s the best.

Dave: Yeah, it’s pretty awesome.

Melina: You’re a misfit.

John: I got to have a misfit T-shirt.

Melina: Yeah. I want to have a misfit Christmas party.

John: Oh, yeah. That would be fun. Absolutely.

Melina: Wouldn’t that be fun?

Dave: There it is. Here comes the party.

John: That’s the challenge.

Melina: There you go. Home of the misfits.

Dave: All right. Well, we’ll catch you guys on the next one.

Melina: Yep, yep, yep.

Dave: So we’re flipping…

Melina: Out of here.

Dave: Out of here. There you go. What would you guys say down, wherever, down or up and…

Adam: See you later.

Dave: See you later. That’s it. Huh?

Adam: See you later.

Dave: That’s the best you got.