Scrubs2Estates Podcast

What happens when a Navy rescue swimmer decides to trade the military for multifamily real estate development?

In this episode, I sit down with Billy Cook, a Navy aircrewman and rescue swimmer who recently joined Scrubs2Estates Capital as our Co-Funding Manager.

Billy and I actually met at a pickleball club in San Diego. At the time, he was planning to sell everything, move back to the East Coast, and pursue a career in real estate. But after a few conversations and realizing how well our goals and skill sets aligned, he made a pretty big decision: stay in San Diego for at least another five years and help us build something.

We dive into Billy's upbringing, the work ethic his mom instilled in him, and how his experience in the Navy shaped his mindset around discipline, grit, delayed gratification, and determination. More importantly, we talk about how those same qualities translate into entrepreneurship and building a career in real estate.

We also get into his new role at Scrubs2Estates Capital, raising private capital, learning the ground-up development business, and our long-term vision for growing our multifamily portfolio.

From rescuing people at sea to helping build real estate projects from the ground up, Billy's next chapter is just getting started.

Alex Karpov came to the United States from Russia in 2016 with one goal: to build a better life. While legally working through the immigration process and attending every required interview, he was unexpectedly detained by ICE on his way to what he believed was just another routine appointment. What followed was four months in an immigration detention center, four different attorneys, a denied bond, and being told his only option was to leave America behind.

Most people would have accepted that outcome. Alex didn't.

Today, Alex is a real estate developer, entrepreneur, husband, and father. In this conversation, we talk about what it was like losing his freedom, the faith he found during the darkest season of his life, and how refusing to quit ultimately led him to the life he dreamed of building. This isn't just a story about immigration. It's about perseverance, resilience, faith, and what happens when you refuse to let someone else write the ending to your story.

Everyone sees the success. They see the football career, the real estate, and the business. What they don't see are the years of setbacks that came first. Cory shares what it was like losing housing, living in hotels, getting cut, and watching multiple football organizations fold before he ever got his shot. Most people would've quit. He didn't.

Today, Cory is playing on a different field. As the founder of Legacy Investments, he's raising capital, helping investors build wealth through real estate, and applying the same discipline, grit, and teamwork that carried him through football. We talk about that transition, building trust with investors, fatherhood, and why your biggest setbacks often become the foundation for your biggest opportunities.

I hope you guys enjoy this conversation as much as I did. If it resonates with you, send it to someone who needs to hear it, and don't forget to like, subscribe, and leave a review. It really helps us continue bringing on great guests and sharing stories that matter.

Ozempic. Mounjaro. Retatrutide. GLP-1s are completely changing the conversation around obesity, addiction, metabolic health, and weight loss. Some people think these drugs are one of the biggest breakthroughs in modern medicine. Others think we’re moving way too fast.

What made this conversation especially interesting for me is I’ve actually used GLP-1s with patients in bedside healthcare for almost 10 years throughout my nursing career, so it was cool being able to approach this from both a healthcare and real-world perspective. In this episode, Sheldon Martin and I break down how these drugs actually work, the diseases they’re changing, side effects, muscle loss, the underground peptide market, and we debunk some of the biggest conspiracies surrounding GLP-1s and peptides. 

I did everything I was supposed to do. Went into nursing, built a solid career, made good money, had job security. But over time I started realizing I was really good at making money and terrible at actually growing it. I was capped, burned out, and knew I was not building the life I actually wanted.

This episode is from my interview on The Millionaire Blueprint with Anna Mendoza and Ashley Cleary, where I break down how I went from ICU shifts to walking away from the bedside and going all in on real estate development. We get into the mindset shift, the early moves I made while still working, and how I started raising capital and scaling into real ground up projects in San Diego.

No fluff, no quit your job tomorrow talk. Just the real story of what it takes to step out of a safe path and start building something bigger. If you have been feeling stuck or know you are capable of more, this one will hit.

In this episode, I sit down with Jay, a physician I actually used to work with, who followed the traditional path, built a high income career, and still found himself burned out and stuck trading time for money. We both saw the same realities inside healthcare, the long hours, the pressure, and the feeling that no matter how much you make, you are still tied to your time.

We break down what led him to make a pivot most people would never consider, stepping away from medicine and getting into car washes. He walks through how he took underperforming assets, turned them into subscription based businesses, and built a portfolio that now out earns his physician income.

We also get into the part nobody talks about, tax strategy, ownership, and how changing how you earn completely changes your outcome. If you are in healthcare or feel stuck on the path you chose, this episode will open your eyes to what is actually possible.

In this episode, I sit down with Brady Mullins from CCG to break down what it really means to be an advisor in real estate, not just a broker closing deals. We talk about building a brokerage from scratch, the mistakes most people make early on, and what actually separates people who build real wealth from those who stay transactional.

We also walk through a real deal start to finish and highlight where the value is actually created. Big theme in this one is relationships and how they directly impact your growth in this business. If you are trying to level up in real estate, this will shift how you think.

Lorenzo Mercado is a pediatric nurse working 24 to 36 hours a week while building toward his long term goal of becoming a hotel owner. Like a lot of people in healthcare, he is not trying to escape overnight. He is playing the long game, using his W2 income to fund his real estate journey while stacking experience along the way.

In this episode, we talk about what that actually looks like. From early mornings in the gym to 12 hour shifts at the hospital, to spending his off days analyzing deals, talking to brokers, and working toward his first hotel acquisition. Lorenzo opens up about losing money on flips, what he learned from those experiences, and why he is more focused than ever on building something real in real estate.

We also get into the mindset behind doing both. Why he is not rushing to leave nursing, how income stability allows him to be patient, and how working in healthcare has shaped the way he thinks about hospitality. If you are juggling a career and trying to build something on the side, this episode will show you what it really takes to stay disciplined, focused, and committed to the long term vision.

Nick Lyon is back on the podcast and a lot has changed. When he first came on the podcast, he was a PACU nurse building a 22 unit portfolio and still figuring it out. Fast forward to today… he now owns a $5M+ portfolio, is taking down $10M development deals, and generating around $10K per month in cash flow. But here’s the part nobody talks about, he’s still working as a nurse.

In this episode, we break down what actually happened over the last 15 months, from chasing small ADU deals that did not pencil, to stepping into large ground up development projects like our Meade Avenue deals. We get into the mindset shift that changed everything, what it feels like to start thinking bigger, and the in between phase where you are no longer broke, but not fully free yet.

We also talk about why he is still working bedside despite the income, what it takes to go from employee to investor, raising capital, and the identity shift that comes with building wealth. If you are a nurse, or anyone feeling stuck in a career you have outgrown, this episode will show you what is possible when you start thinking differently and actually take action.

Everyone sees the exits.
Nobody sees the chaos it took to get there.

This past weekend I drove up to LA to sit down with Jordan Calderon, 27, serial entrepreneur, 3 exits, and over 175M in client revenue generated through StratDev.

This was not some clean linear path.
 We talked about starting with no clue, taking real losses, figuring it out in real time, and what it actually feels like when you are all in with no safety net.

We get into what separates people who actually build something from the ones who just talk about it, what most founders completely misunderstand about marketing, and how AI is about to change the game whether you are ready or not.