The Massimo Show

On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with top producer, Matt McGregor.

Matt grew up in a suburb north of Seattle and his passion was certainly sales from the very beginning. He had always envisioned himself in corporate America and had a passion for entrepreneurship. When it came to school Matt struggled from dyslexia and recalls loving school for the social aspect but that what he really looked forward to was going to work. He had a job from about the age of 10 on and one of his first jobs was selling stereo equipment. He also had a mentor that had given him cassette tapes of different sales books and because of his dyslexia those were a big game-changer for him.

Matt became a nationally ranked top salesperson for a food distributer by his early 20s but hit a roadblock when they offered him an international position but it came to light that he hadn't graduated from college. He recalls this being an embarrassing and awkward moment for him but instead of letting it ruin his dreams he buckled down and started going to night school. He eventually ended up with a college degree, an MBA, a certificate in commercial real estate, and a master's degree.

He and Rod discuss the importance of listening to your mentors, joining masterminds, and how to build a powerful team.

They close the show with Matt's 5 Factors for Success.

On this episode of the Massimo show

Rod sits down with James Nelson – James is Principal and Head of Avison Young's Tri-State Investment Sales group where he leads a group of three dozen professionals in the sale of multi-family, office, development, and retail properties. In the past, he served as Vice Chairman of Cushman & Wakefield and was a partner and top producer for Massey Knakal for six of their last eight years and was named the company's youngest partner in 2004.

As a high schooler, James had no idea what his future held for him. He was eventually shipped off to boarding school but he recalls it was one of the best things that ever happened to him. He spent his college years at Colgate University when he was graduating and all his friends we getting jobs with investment banks he thought he might try his had out west at something like scriptwriting. He counselors reminded him he was going to need money to make that happen and that came from getting a job. He saw a posting for a position and applied that day. He was the second of two candidates and even though the other guy was their first pick he fondly remembers Bob Knakal deciding he could use a second associate and James was the guy! He also loves to remind Bob that that other guy fizzled out pretty quickly and look where James is today!

James attributes his 20 + years of success in the industry his mind sent his discipline, and the unique business model Bob and Paul created.

He makes a strong case for an apprenticeship when he notes that he spent the first 5 years of his career sitting in the room with Bob, which was better than an MBA! And his best advice for those looking to excel in their industry can be summed up in just a few key points:

• Specialize
• Offer a different value prop
• Become the expert
• Have great mentors

Rod and James discuss his family history of tenacity and hard work, the highs and lows of sales-driven jobs, and close the show with his 5 Factors in minutes which include some tips you are not going to want to miss!

On this episode of the Massimo Show

Rod sits down with Beau Beery and jumps right into what he is seeing and doing as COVID is impacting his business and the businesses of his clients.

The truth is that the vast majority of folks are undecided and don't understand what is happening and so the natural reaction is to take a pause and see how these things play out. But, according to Beau, as a broker, you can't chill. The only choice between fight and flight is to fight for your business.

Investors go to the best of the best brokers in a time of crisis. Hopefully, if you have been building your relationships, this is the time where those people will be coming to you as a resource and it's important to position yourself to help them. For Beau, this includes lots of phone calls, checking in on people, and sharing ideas with others.

To wrap it up they discuss the 15 principles Beau lives by and applies to how he runs his businesses. Listen in to hear him and Rod break them down and tell you exactly how to implement them today!

On this episode of the Massimo Show

Rod sits down with CRE professional Beth Azor. Beth grew up in a small beach town in Florida and came by the business naturally with a father in CRE. At first, she was determined to do anything EXCEPT real estate and it was easy to see she could do anything she put her mind to. Young Beth enjoyed all kinds of extracurriculars from cheerleading to editor of the school paper and when Dad opened his own firm and bought a hotel and she worked cleaning houses and hotel rooms.

She attended FSU and continued to be involved in school and an RA, joining a sorority, and fundraising for causes she believed in.

It's no surprise to hear that Beth's childhood dreams were ambitious! Her dream job was wanting to run the Olympics and loved the logistics of events. She combined her love for logistics and fundraising and was soon work for the Heart Association.

She had had her real estate license since she was 18 to help out in the family business and was doing open houses of weekends to increase her income but it was plain to her boss that she was built for something much bigger than her current role. So much so that her boss flat out said: "Your ambition exceeds us – go do the real estate thing full time and be on our board" And so she did. But the traditional route made her unhappy and bored until someone told her about leasing in the CRE world.

She recalls immediately recognizing the idea that this role was a Transformation of a job into a service and she jumped in with two feet!

Luckily, the company she had been referred to, Terranova, had a leasing agent training program ran by her sorority sister and her rise from intern to President began.

Now Beth describes herself as a single mom of two teenage boys with 6 shopping centers in South Florida. She continues to transform her job into a service by traveling around the country teaching retail leasing agents how to fill vacancies in shopping centers.

Beth and Rod answer the questions: Is Retail Dead? What is the future of brick and mortar? And give some great tips for CRE pros on how to fill your pipeline just by giving great customer service. The round out the podcast with Beth's 5 factors of success – listen in to hear what she has to say!

With all the fear-mongering out there… It's time for some much needed "courage mongering".

So Rod sat down with Hall of Fame Speaker, NY Times best-selling author, and combat veteran Lt. Col. Waldo Waldman to give you the flight plan to succeed during turbulent times.

On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with "The Millionaire Maker" Loral Langemeier. Loral is a money expert, sought after speaker, entrepreneurial thought leader, and best-selling author of five books who is on a relentless mission to change the conversation about money and empower people around the world to become millionaires. Loral discusses being an entrepreneur from a very young age. She started a personal training and aerobics program from scratch to make money to pay for college and by 24 years old she was a seasoned business owner with a finance degree and a master's in exercise physiology. She was looking to combine these degrees and soon enough she dove into the world of corporate wellness by accepting a position with the task of creating 270 fitness centers on offshore oil rigs for Chevron.

She credits her success to her willingness to try the next thing. Loral reminds us that there are "Yes Moments" all the time in your life and when an opportunity comes the average person will talk themselves out of it but not Loral! "I may not be able to do it but I'm going to put a team together who can," she says. She goes on to remind listeners that "you're not going to do it all. you don't have enough skill sets" but that when it comes to a team and even that mentor you really want to work with "If you want someone to help you, go ask".

Loral goes on to talk about more well-known aspects of her life and career including how she transitioned back to the finance space, her first millionaire year, and the birth of her son.

Rod offers his take on where people are in this pandemic (Panic, Petrified, or Productive) and Loral offers a multitude of tips and tools to get you from where you are to the most productive point you could be at this time in history!

A conversation with Rod's tax strategist Kevin Bassett, CPA where they discuss the Corona Virus Stimulus Package and what it means to you and your clients.

People are either scared, stuck, or proactive - which are you?

On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with a top broker and former professional hockey player Joe Rullier from Montreal to discuss his transition from hockey to commercial real estate and how life hasn't changed all that much!

Life moves quickly for a talented young hockey player and Joe is a great example of this fact. At the age of just 15, he went to go play Junior hockey. He was drafted to the AHL when he was 17 and moved to the states at age 20.

Joe is unique in that in addition to having a great talent for hockey he also has a great head for business. He remembers that his father was never a big fan of stocks but believed you should have your money where you could see it - such as brick and mortar. So, it was not a surprise that at age 19, with his first bonus from a hockey contract, Joe invested in 32 apartments back home in Montreal.

Joe's father explained to him that "you now have 32 people going to work to pay your mortgage" and that stuck with him as he continued to serve his market, his clients, and his tenants. He now owns over 300 apartments and continues to run a successful brokerage.

He describes both of the areas of his professional life as being very similar. In hockey as in CRE you are just as good as your last game or deal, there are a lot of people who want to take your job or clients and overall, they are both incredibly competitive games.

Joe credits a lot of his success, both on and off the ice, to having great coaches and reminds us that the best coach in the world won't work if you don't have faith in the process! The best coaches have a passion for what they do and are always able to mentor you through different situations. In CRE as in hockey, having the perspective of someone who can see the bigger picture is always an advantage.

Joe and Rod end the interview discussing Joe's best habits to be successful in the business including what he's reading and what how he's approaching continuing education in his field!

On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with Chris Hurn of Fountainhead Commercial to discuss his life, business, and how his team is ramping up to help small business owners fight the economic destruction caused by Covid-19.

Chris Hurn was born to be an entrepreneur. He is fast-paced and always thinking big so it's no surprise that at every turn in his career he was able to look around and clearly decide what came next. Over the years he's faced major life events that initiated and then expand his entrepreneurial success.

Chris is a people person and an advocate for small businesses. He was voted CEO of the year in Orlando twice and both of his companies were voted top places to work for. He may have laser focus these days but as a teen Chris admits he was more focused on chasing girls than business! But honestly, he was your average teen with lots of responsibilities including playing sports, going to school, and helping his mom get her real estate license. He recollects he had lots of plates in the air and it hasn't stopped since!

At age 13 his parents divorced after a long separation and Chris remembers helping his mom study real estate. Back then he loved the finical side of it and he carried that fascination into his adulthood and became the CFO of a commercial real estate company. By that time in his life, Chris had already worked with hi-tech start-ups, taught himself marketing skills, and been recruited into large lending companies.

But a series of life-altering world events changed his professional trajectory. After the dot com crash, he worked as a management consultant, a job that required some travel. But due to the birth of his daughter, he skipped his meeting in New York in early September and was not in the Twin Towers on 9/11. This became a turning point in his life, and he decided he didn't want to work for big cooperation anymore.

He knew a lot about SBA 504 loans (specifically for small to mid-size businesses to purchase their buildings) and felt that not a lot of other people who could benefit from them did and thus a new company was born. Mercantile grew quickly and was going to convert itself into a national bank but that was put on hold when Lehman Brothers crumbled in 2009. He sold the company and eventually moved on and started Fountainhead Commercial. After all that he has faced in his personal and professional life he is now running a successful lending firm with 35 employees and two locations and they are just getting started.

Rod and Chris Address Current events and business:

As of this episode in mid-March 2020 covid-19 is wreaking havoc on the health of the nation and, as Chris puts it, has become an economic pandemic. The business of America is business and that has come to a grinding halt which is sure to have ripple effects across the economic landscape. Legislation to support small to mid-sized businesses has been rolled out in these unprecedented times and many people who are being impacted are turning to their lenders for guidance. Chris and his team hope to bring lawyers and financial planners and others who are looking at reduced hours of their own onboard to be trained to process these much-needed loans and help people maintain their livelihood. He and Rod encourage people to be the resource in these times of uncertainty.

Rod and Chris end the show with an insightful round of Five in Five about him and his business. Listen in to learn something new to incorporate into your day!