Man Overseas Podcast

My guest is Jonathan from Joney Talks! He's a Belgian personal finance blogger & podcaster with a unique approach to life & investing. He believes we're all weird in our own way, so we might as well embrace it.

Jonathan pulls from a breadth of life experience—he's lived in Norway, Luxembourg, France & Belgium—to tell stories and educate people about money matters. I found him to be insightful and open-minded.

We discuss Joney's successful parking-spot investments. He's also invested in cryptocurrency & individual stocks he says were heavily discounted.

You'll enjoy this episode if you ever felt apprehensive about taking financial risks.

Nick Luft is Co-Founder & CEO of Idle, a startup app company. He’s also a musician, record producer, artist, rabid Avett Brothers fan, and occasionally, an amateur stand-up comedian.

You'll enjoy this episode if you prefer deeper conversations about life, death & meaning. Nick & I discuss valuable lessons that aren't taught in grade school or in university classrooms. They're lessons learned only when we encounter people of different cultures, beliefs & ideas.

I've known Nick since first grade, but this podcast episode is by far the most we've talked. Since we hadn't seen each other in almost 30 years, we made up for lost time. In almost 90 minutes, we cover life & meaning, religion & beliefs and dealing with death and loss.

Nick shares how losing his best friend, Cuyler Duncan, greatly impacted his life. His best bud was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in his 30s. Nick says the experience of losing Cuyler taught him the power of the human spirit and the value of positivity in our day-to-day lives.

Conversations keep getting better on the podcast.

The best part of having my own podcast? Spotlighting lifelong friends doing BIG THINGS.

Brian Roundtree is a loving husband, father of three, successful dentist (Roundtree Family Dentistry) & cancer survivor. I'm proud to call him a friend for over 30 years.

When we were kids, Brian was an All-Star athlete. He was one of the "floor generals" on our 12-Year Old World Championship basketball team led by Coach Tom Abadie & Assistant Coach Gwain Roundtree (Brian's dad).

In this conversation, we discuss lessons learned from Coach Tom that benefited us later in life. We compare our youth sports experience to kids playing today, especially "travel ballers."

Brian later describes the moment his life would forever change. In the mirror one night he noticed a small lump, which turned out to be Hodgkin lymphoma. He talks about his battle with cancer, the importance of a great support system, and how his relationship with God changed after his diagnosis.

You'll also hear Brian's story of shattered dreams—his medical school application was denied in favor of a lesser-qualified minority candidate. Feeling dejected, he moved in with his parents to work manual labor jobs. Then one afternoon sitting on the back porch with his 90-year old grandfather, "Checkerboard" said something that altered the trajectory of Brian's life.

He applied to dental school, then faced more adversity in the form of Hurricane Katrina. (Brian's storytelling abilities are on par with previous guest, Vincent McGarry).

Matthew Ory embodies everything this podcast is about. His first appearance on the podcast is still elevating new listeners almost a year later. When Pain Becomes Power was raw & inspirational, even emotional at times—round two is even better.

Matt is a real estate investor, criminal defense attorney & my lifelong friend. In this episode, he brings mental toughness & optimism to an uncertain time.

He says that he's "quarantined" his thoughts about COVID-19's impact on South Louisiana. But not anymore. He says the high infection rate where he lives was inevitable due to the unhealthy lifestyle of most Louisianians. (According to a New York Times article updated daily, there are 255 cases of COVID-19 in New Orleans per capita, making it among the highest infection rates in the US.)

Matt's also passionate about the media's mishandling of the pandemic—he believes we're not getting the whole story.

We also share feedback we've received from his first appearance, answer questions from listeners & give tips for how to position yourself for a better future by exploring different investment vehicles.

The podcast starts (0:00 - 12:36) with a monologue. I talk about Coronavirus, its economic impact & give recommendations for how to think about investing during uncertain times.

We owe a debt of gratitude to health care workers & service providers who are putting themselves at risk for our safety. I'd also like to thank our politicians, scientists & homeschoolers who are working much harder than usual—thank you.

Note: This podcast was recorded prior to the Coronavirus outbreak in the US.

When I began traveling the world in 2015, one of my goals was to learn Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country. I asked a Spanish teacher from my former high school where I should go and she recommended Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.

In Playa, I met the best Spanish teacher on the planet—Sandrita Sandriux. Her personal story is incredible. Born & raised in Cuernavaca, Mexico, a hotbed for narcos, she became pregnant with son, Diego, when she was just 18 years old.

She attended university in Cuernavaca with infant son in tow because classes were so small—other students didn't understand why a chica would study Español.

After graduating, she was offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to teach Spanish in paradise (Playa). Seven years later, she's still in the touristy beach town, living a life she never thought possible.

In this episode, we discuss The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonarda, a Youtube video with > 6 million views. Sandrita gives me an opportunity to rebut its claims, since it paints America as the "the big bad wolf."

We also talk about Mexicans' view of Donald Trump, the border wall and why Americans are often perceived as arrogant.

My guest is Vincent McGarry. He is a Safety & Control Systems Engineer who was working on a large project in China when his team learned of Coronavirus. I have long referred to Vince as the smartest, most well-read man I know, so it is a great pleasure to share him with listeners.

In this episode, we discuss what he was told about Coronavirus, where he was quarantined, and why he was not allowed to return home. You will hear Vince describe what it was like being stopped by Chinese officials on his way to work, and why he was the only one left at his hotel (and could not leave).

Also we talk about other strange happenings while living and working abroad.

I have known Vince since I was a teenager—he has been married to my mom for over 25 years.

My guest is one of the most interesting people I know. Steve Sloat was twice appointed Deputy US Marshal by President Ronald Reagan (and once by Jimmy Carter). He's also been a champion race car driver, gone undercover in a high-profile case and authored three fiction thrillers.

I wanted to get Steve on the podcast while reading his second book, The Children Whispered, last year—I featured the "page-turner" on ManOverseas.com in March 2019. But decided I wanted to interview him in person (I was out of the country most of last year).

In this episode, we discuss his primary responsibility as a sky marshall. I ask about the biggest scare he’s ever had in the air. He talks about which flights are likely to have air marshals on them, where they sit on the plane and what a civilian should do if they see a disturbance.

We also get into relationships, his writing process and US politics. When we stopped recording, Steve said, “You ask some really good questions.” I hope listeners agree.

My guest is Michael Green—his story is compelling. He spent four years in prison, which he says was just the amount of time he needed [in “the slammer”] to make him a better person.

Now he's an expert house flipper who teaches others how to implement simple systems to find great contractors to get jobs done "ON time" and "ON budget." He also host of the Flip Factor podcast and has flipped over 1100 houses the last ten years.

As a kid, Michael had a history of getting into trouble. His dad was a career criminal—something they bonded over. Age 9, he was caught selling fireworks at school. Age 16, he already has his own apartment. Making lots of money enabled him to buy a Corvette as a teenager (and hire an attorney when he was arrested).

In this conversation, he talks about daily life behind bars, creative things he did in the pen ("necessity is the mother of invention") and why he says, "You don't want to be a white guy in prison."

Michael also tells a great story about a young man who came to work for him for free, parlaying a simple lifestyle & a dream into Hollywood stardom.

Other topics we discuss:

• How he paid off $110,000 in debt

• When Michael first made six figures

• How being 'good at work' is not enough

• Importance of getting a broad education

• Dave Ramsey says "'flipping' is for losers"

• Michael's advice to get people on track with house-flipping

• Finding the right Realtor to help with flips

• Buyers are intuitive

• Importance of pricing a home precisely

• Competitive offer situations

• Pricing a home according to its market value (with no added emotional value)

• Building relationship by actually talking to people

• Surrounding yourself with badasses

Questions asked:

• How many hours where you locked up per day?

• How did you manage your sex drive while you were locked up?

• What’s your opinion of tax payers footing the bill for rehabilitation of prisoners?

• Are you know a happy taxpayer (to help support programs to rehabilitate prisoners)?

• Did they put you in with the murderers & rapists?

• What’s the hardest drug you sold?

• What’s your relationship like now with your dad?

• Is there anything you figured out how to do [in prison] out of necessity?

• Is [prison] where your desire to learn more about emotional intelligence started?

• When you got out of prison, how did you spend your first 72 hours?

• What do you mean when you say: You don't need resources but you need to be resourceful?

• Can you walk me through the last 15 years after prison & transitioning into what you are doing now?

• Are you a fan of Dave Ramsey?

• How do you think about cost & pricing when approaching a flip?

Fun questions:

• What's the biggest misconceptions of flippers?

• At what age do you think you will be a multi-millionaire?

• Do you own any individual stocks or index funds?

• What was your biggest loss?

• What would you say to someone who is 31 years old who thinks they haven't "made it" yet?

• If someone dropped $1 million in your lap tomorrow, what would you do with it?

• Have you ever had a problem getting money from lenders due to the time you spent in prison?

• How do you think your life would be different if you had not gone to prison?

Mike Kelso is my guest on the podcast. He’s been a mortgage professional in the Phoenix area since 2005.

We discuss whether one should own or rent in today’s real estate environment. We also discuss market predictions for the next 3-5 years.

We share our favorite memory when we were baseball teammates at Nicholls State University. I tell a story about playing JUCO Basebal—where there were more people on the field than in the stands— to playing in my first Division I series at Ole Miss.

Mike’s best NCAA memory was hitting a homerun with a new batting stance, then scoring even bigger when he met his now-wife—they have four kids. He talks about dealing with foreclosure during The Great Recession, his transformation to being the spiritual leader of his family, and how his faith has impacted his journey.

Other topics we discuss:

• Real estate appreciation rates in the next 5 years

• How politics might influence investor returns

• Why timing the market is a bad idea

• “Liar loans”

• Thinking long-term in sales

• Kobe Bryant’s life & legacy

• Greatness: innate or learned?

• How sports helped Brad achieve F.I.R.E.

• Placing a value on your time & skillsets

• Time spent developing professional skills vs time spent being a dad

• How to become an inspiration to your children

• Using visualization & The Secret to help achieve your dreams

• Becoming Super Dad

Questions asked:

• What do you think about the appreciation rate [projected] not being much more than inflation?

• Would you make a decision to purchase a property based on 5-year projected appreciation rates in a particular market?

• Follow up: If you had to base a decision on whether to invest for the next few years on 75 variables, would . . . [political stats/info you cited] . . . be one of your criterion?

• Are you a “Dave Ramsey guy?”

• Can you talk about your faith and what it means to you?

Fun questions:

• What is your favorite personal development book?

• What stands out as something you wish that you had known sooner [10 or 15 years ago]?

• What do you hope to tell your grandkids about your 40s?

• What would you do if somebody dropped $1 million in your lap tomorrow?

Carson Lee is a professional baseball player and creator of the apparel company, One Percent Athletics. In this episode, you'll hear from someone who approaches life & business in the same way he approaches baseball—with a plan of attack.

I found Carson to be humble, thoughtful & curious. At a crossroads in his life, he's trying to decide whether or not to continue his playing career overseas. And I gave him my not-so-loosely held opinion.

As a pro baseball player & former Boston Red Sox bat boy, he gives great perspective on the Astros cheating scandal. We also discuss our playing days and why chics love baseball players.