Billy Keels  0:00  

Today's episode is sponsored by Billy Keels Advisory Services. If you want to learn more about how to make your 99 optional, just go to makeitoptional.com Once again, that's make itoptional.com

Speaker 1  0:14  

Helping you build freedom without losing your edge. This is the Going Long podcast with Billy Keels.

Billy Keels  0:27  

You know it's a blessing to be able to build someone else's dream while building your own, especially when it happens early in your career. You know why? Well, today's guest-he's doing exactly that. He's focused on client success by day, what I like to call the nine to five, and he's also building his business in a well-known industry that I'm sure he's going to tell us a lot about in his five to nine. He is the founder of Aureat Properties LLC as well as the host of Will Power Podcast, it gives me great pleasure to welcome to today's show, mr. Will Holdren. Will, welcome to the show.

Speaker 2  1:09  

Absolutely, thank you so much, Billy, and I really appreciate that introduction. I'm glad I got to interview you on my podcast not too long ago, and excited to share my story over here now.

Billy Keels  1:18  

There you go. This is the power of podcasting. It's one of these things where I share with people all the time that this medium allows us to connect with people, to build bonds with people so quickly, and also share the story, share what works, share what hasn't worked from your perspective, so that we can help other people to get to their goals much faster. But today is not about me. Today is about you. So love

Speaker 3  1:41  

it. Yeah.

Billy Keels  1:42  

So. So, so let's jump right in, Will. So, one of the things that you know, I kind of talked about, and when we were on your podcast, you shared some things with me, and I was like, "Oh man, you know what? This is super awesome. Like, this is going to be absolutely fantastic. But share with us, like, what is it that sparked your interest in being able to say, "Hey, listen, you know what? I actually want to help someone build their dream, and at the same time, I want to build my own, and I want to talk about that experience with other people. Let us in. Help us along on the journey.

Speaker 2  2:12  

Right. Well, I think for me, it's it's important to understand what you want to do in life, want to go, and understanding how you can get there, right? And so my story, you know, you talk about how I got to my corporate setting where I'm at right now. I'm also building a business on the side, which I think is is excellent. It all for me started from my podcast, which I literally started seven years ago, a junior in high school. Right, I was from a very small town. Literally, 1000 people were in my town, and I always had this underlying inclination of like I just need to meet people. I need to see what people are doing in this world to become successful, right? Whether it's building a corporate career, building a business, what are they doing? How are they getting these higher levels? What skills are developing? And that's what really led me to to start down this career path. And it's funny you look back on it now. Just about every single opportunity I've had has come from my podcast. I got my job from my podcast from someone I met, my business partners I met through my podcast. So it's been a really, really amazing journey for me so far. But to your point, yeah, it's it's building out my my career path. It's the corporate lifestyle, and then bolting a lot of business on top of that, trying to build passive income and trying to scale both those things.

Billy Keels  3:23  

Yeah, well, I'm just going to tell you right from the beginning, you're not trying; you're actually doing, which that is the thing that is even more inspiring for me. And as as the going along family gets to know you more, they're they're going to understand exactly that. But you know, one of the things that so you you talked about two things in the beginning, at least that I'm that I heard and I want to explore a bit more. You talked about being from a small town, and I don't know what small town actually means because you know I've been living in Europe for the last 25 years. So, can you give us an idea? There's a follow-on question to that. When you say small town, like how many people, more or less?

Speaker 2  3:58  

Yeah. So, small town. I mean, small rural America, like dirt roads. My neighbors were literally Amish growing up in my town, and we had about 1000 people in my town. One, one blinking red light. So that's wow.

Billy Keels  4:10  

One okay, one blinking red light, 1000 people, dirt road, and then you on the other side you said success, and so you were curious about what, you know, what how are these people successful? When you started looking at success, and you're talking about on your podcast as a junior in high school, phenomenal. What was your barometer for success seven years ago, and that curiosity that you had?

Speaker 2  4:39  

Yeah, see, I think success for me, especially in that early on, I understood that it really boiled down to having time freedom, and essentially how you get to a spot in life where you're going to have time freedom, where you have that flexibility to to do what you want to do on a noon on a Monday, right? And so for me, that was kind of okay. How do I back into getting time free? And you look at people out there, what they're doing in their lives, and you see that a lot of them are building businesses, right? A lot of them are scaling their their corporate careers, and so there's a combination there that you can that you can go after. But for me, that's really what it was, and that's still my desire: is just to have time for your flexibility, and not feel like I have to do something in my life.

Billy Keels  5:20  

Okay. Great. Now, are you still living in that same town, that same small town?

Speaker 2  5:30  

No. Yeah. So, as soon as I graduated college, I had a real estate mentor I met through my podcast, and he's the one that he's like, you know, if you want to help take us seriously, you want to get your career started. I can help you out. I can mentor you. And he actually lived down in Atlanta, Georgia. And so as soon as I graduated college, which was December of 2023, that following January 2024, I really packed everything up, moved away from home for the very first time, and went all the way down to Atlanta, Georgia. I was up in Pennsylvania and started my career right then and there that that that quickly. So things escalated pretty quickly. But yeah, I've been in in Atlanta now for the past two and a half years. I would say yeah, just about three years. So

Billy Keels  6:11  

okay, so you've been in Atlanta last three years. Yeah, you finished college in 2023, left in 2024 to move to yeah, because Atlanta's not a small city, right? It's a big,

Speaker 2  6:24  

big transition going from my hometown to Atlanta. I'm, you know, just about just outside downtown Atlanta, so it's a it's a big shift. But yeah, okay. So give us some insight, right? Because there's a there is a

Billy Keels  6:37  

part of what I'm hearing, and this also happens in in corporate life when you are in your comfort zone and you're at home, right? And you're going away to college, going back. But I'm going to guess that there was some comfort in knowing that what you had at home was very familiar to you, right? There's a, I mean, or am I help me understand that as the first part of the question? Then I've I've got another.

Speaker 2  7:02  

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think comfort and comfort is is a very big thing. And for me, I think it's important to to stretch yourself and expand what you're doing, find new opportunities, and just do something different. Right. I mean, look back. A lot of people I grew up with. Right, they've grown up in that town. They've had a job in that town. They stayed in that town. They've never really experienced other things, other cultures, like different ways to live life, and so for me, was super comfortable. Yeah, definitely could have could have had an opportunity to get a job up in Pennsylvania and stayed put and just be there my whole time. But you know, if if you want to grow, expand, you got to change yourself and get stuff out of your comfort comfort zone because that's where the growth lies. And for me, I've I've experienced so much growth in the past two years, two and a half years living in Atlanta, than I would have never experienced if I stayed home in Pennsylvania. So there was a huge a huge step right there, and yeah, it was definitely moving out of my comfort zone.

Billy Keels  7:54  

Okay, because the the opportunities present themselves, and you know I've been living in Europe for 25 years, there were many opportunities, and there's also a lot of fear. There's a lot of, you know, I'm a naturally curious person, so I want to go out. I want to explore. At this point of, you know, travel to 91 different countries, or soon will be 91 countries in a couple weeks. 90 countries so far, learned four new languages, and so there's this constant idea of of following curiosity, but there's also always discomfort that's waiting.

Speaker 3  8:24  

Yeah,

Billy Keels  8:24  

and and I guess it's what what do you believe that it's that has helped you actually lean into that discomfort? You talked about growth, and I and I understand that, and I'm thinking about our you know our our listeners, our viewers. It's really easy to get complacent, maybe not the word, to stay comfortable, but it takes a little bit something different to really want to lean into not being comfortable.

Speaker 3  8:49  

Yeah,

Billy Keels  8:49  

can you maybe take us into your mindset aside from the the growth piece?

Speaker 2  8:53  

Yeah, yeah. I think for me, what really helped me lead into that discomfort and really kind of pushed me over that ledge was you know understanding that I've done over 200 podcasts myself, so I've interviewed a ton of entrepreneurs, right? And a lot of them have really unique stories, but their underlying basics are all the same. Where they take a chance, they make a move, right, and they take a risk. And that's underlying like what you got to do. No matter what you want to be successful, and you have to take a risk in it. You have to jump over the edge and say, you know what, I'll be okay. I'll manage my way on the other side. I've I've been through how many situations before? I figured it out before. It's just another situation I can figure out, not knowing all the details up front, but I'll figure it out along the way. So, understanding that mindset, I think it's like this is where I was supposed to be. This is what I'm supposed to do. This is that correct next step. Let's just take it and figure out where we go from there. So,

Billy Keels  9:40  

okay, have all the steps been perfect? Absolutely. Go go go according to plan, exactly as you drew it up on the whiteboard or your iPad or the wall.

Speaker 2  9:50  

Absolutely not. So it's it's funny. I mean, I moved down here in January 2024 and then I launched a real estate company about six months in, and that was also just. Another huge risk that you're taking. I found a business partner who wanted to join up with me. I'm very thankful for that. But again, I went through several people just to find this one one business partner that actually wanted to do it, which in itself is a challenge, right? And then we we got our first property, so that all went according to plan. That took about another six months to get a property, but then that first property we had so many setbacks just on something small, something that's like a $250,000 house, right? You have no idea how many setbacks you can have, and it's just increasingly hard when you're the one that has to manage it, has to make sure the returns work out correctly, have to make sure you bring attendants in. So it's it's a lot to manage, and there's a lot of ups and downs, and I've definitely experienced those. But you know what you found out is, again, you don't know all the details up the front, right? But you'll figure out the details as you go. And you're looking back at that first house, and it's been like a blessing that we got into that. Again, I've learned so much from doing that, and that put us in a position to meet other really great people in the real estate space, to find another really great deal that we could jump into, and that's really how the engine just got rolling. But it's been spent a lot of ups and downs, and I feel like we've just got started. So who knows what's going to happen next? Yeah. So,

Billy Keels  11:13  

and if you're not watching the video version, you should check out like the smile that Will has on his face is just like yeah, man. As he's going through all these things, and the fact that you can keep the perspective is really a testament to you because you've already gone through, you know, multiple. Let's say you've already gone through your first cycle of something not going according to plan.

Speaker 3  11:33  

Yeah,

Billy Keels  11:33  

let's take a step back. So you talked about the the podcast, and the podcast was one of the ways that you were able to eventually find your way into your current corporate role. Yes.

Speaker 3  11:45  

Yeah.

Billy Keels  11:46  

The fact that you are, you know, you're in your corporate role. One of the things I like to say is, as you're developing and you're mastering skills, there's so many positive things that can come from a structured environment. With you know, it's a it's a corporate, it's a big company, it's a smaller company, whatever the case may be. But you're getting lots and lots of rips. Can you talk to us about maybe what are some of the things early on? Because you're still early on in your career that you are seeing that you're able to to be able to really develop skills mastery in the the role that you have. I like to break it up between your nine to five and your five to nine. Right? No, nobody ever does those hours exactly, but you get my point. So talk to us about a bit about that.

Speaker 2  12:23  

Yeah, so definitely developed a ton of skills since since I've started my nine to five. And again, for those that don't, I work at a family office, so we work with ultra high net worth entrepreneurs and really help them on a holistic planning basis. And so, there's a ton that goes into that. And you know, as you want to be entrepreneur yourself, you have to learn those kind of skills of how these guys think, what they do, you know, and just the kind of action that they're taking, their their skill sets that they have. But ever since I got into my corporate job, I think one of the main things that I've developed is just my relationship building skills and being able to talk at a high level with these entrepreneurs at a level where they can understand what you're talking about because things can get really technical, and so you have a skill set where you can break down these really technical matters into a way that anyone can understand them. I think that's a really useful skill you can take with you in a business you want to build, or you know, just building relationships on the side. Because I think that day everything revolves around relationships. And to your point, the podcast-the whole point of the podcast was to generate relationships, right, and so that's exactly what's done, and it's a really unique, unique way to do that, especially in today's day and age. But it's really helped me increase my skill set. So I would say that'd be the number one skill that I've developed since working at my job. I would say, and also just understand finance. I think no matter what industry you go into, what business you want to build, especially I know we do some stuff in real estate. You have to have a financial understanding of how markets work. Kind of what are some industry trends we're looking at? What are key economic indicators that that lead to other things happening down the road? So just having a better understanding about the financial world, I think as a whole has been a huge a huge skill set that I've that I've acquired.

Billy Keels  14:00  

You know, Will, and on that that point, and I agree with you wholeheartedly. Can you give us a very simple, like I don't mean we're not asking secret sauce kind of stuff, but just when you're saying like the increase of your financial, I'm putting words in your mouth, but your financial acumen, like really understand more about finance, maybe a really simple example that you would have never thought of two years ago, and and and why it's important for someone.

Speaker 2  14:24  

Yeah, one simple thing I'll say is, you know, as an entrepreneur, it's how do you actually put a business together? So one thing I've learned, you know, is like you can have a holding company, you can set up a holding company that can own a separate wholly owned subsidiary where you actually own a property in this company. The subsidiary has a complete liability shelter from your holding company because it's its own entity, right? But hypothetically, you know that's just one step to it. But let's say you have a lot of gains coming out of this subsidiary. Those gains are going to flow up to your holding company. Now, this holding company can own another subsidiary, right? So the next property you jump into can go into this other subsidiary. Let's say in this separate subsidiary, you get losses in the first year from this real estate property because you got to do some remodeling, fixing up items, whatever that looks like. So again, just one you know specific thing that I've learned is that these losses can offset these gains at the holding company level, and you decrease your tax liability out of the gate. And so that's just something I never knew. You know, two years ago we got into this world, so that's just one example. But yeah,

Billy Keels  15:23  

yeah, and I love you giving that example. And just in case, and this because we're on a podcast, but you know, Will is using this as an example. He's not giving anybody any kind of financial advice. He's not giving anybody anything at all. He's simply using an example to help us enter into what he has been able to really gain from being in the environment in his nine to five, which is helping him in terms of the way that he is thinking about how he approaches his role, he's thinking about, and maybe now I'm going to ask you also how did how does what you're learning in that skill set that you are mastering, how does that also help you outside of of your nine to five. Let's say in the five to nine, or just general conversation or relationship building.

Speaker 2  16:08  

Yeah, it's huge. It's huge. I'll say this: I don't think I would be nearly where I'm at business wise. You know, building real estate companies, that kind of stuff, without the knowledge that I acquired having a nine to five, right? Because I know so many people that want to jump into entrepreneurship right away. That's really, I mean, you can do that. At the same time, I think there's a better option where you do go get a corporate job, right, and build there and understand how these things really work on an underlying basis. Have that model, that business background, and that can really help you out get you get you some solid footing when you start eventually building out your entrepreneurial career. So for me, it's it's it's crucial. Yeah, and I would say if I didn't have this background, I might be going out pitching investors on deals, but have a much lower idea of what really is going to be going on behind the scenes financially, how to structure things, how to put together a partnership. So yeah, for me, it's it's been a game changer. I would absolutely do it again, and it's great to just build that corporate career because every single year you're in it, you're learning more and more skills, you're meeting more and more people, and you're just yeah becoming growing as a person every single year.

Billy Keels  17:15  

Love to hear that. And by the way, you would more than likely be working a lot harder because the it just wouldn't land the same way when you when you don't have certain levels of experience, which which I think is fantastic. But there's always this concern, right? Somebody can be they're really good at their job at their nine to five, and they've got this idea like I want to do this thing, but I don't really know how to actually start that thing. I believe that everything starts with being crystal clear on what it is you want to do, why you want to do it. But as it relates to the career, it's about how do you integrate the career, how do you drive the particular outcomes, because that's what what are needed. So, so what is it that you do, Will, that helps you to ensure that you are giving your your employer what they need, so that you also have the mental space to be able to perform in your in your in your five to nine. So specifically, what is it that you do to make yourself ensure that you're successful in the nine to five first?

Speaker 2  18:16  

Yeah, yeah, and I'll say that it's it's definitely a hard combo to take on because you're really working a lot of the hours of the day. You don't have time to be, you know, raising a family, for instance, all the time. You don't have time to be doing all these random things, hanging out with your friends on a random weeknight if you're trying to build a business at the same time. Because for me, and again, I'm very intentional about this. Like when I'm at my nine to five, I'm very much focused on the nine to five, and I don't do any business stuff at my nine to five, which I think is is very important. But outside the nine to five, right, the five to nine you're talking about, that's really when you have your go time to go out there and execute on stuff that you can't really do during the day. So it's a challenge because you know sometimes people aren't going to reply to you at 9o'clock at night, right? They're going to reply to you during the day, and so you can't get back to them until later than the night. So it's um, it's it's a difficult combo, but I think it's absolutely worth it. To your point, if you know where you want to go, what you're trying to build at the end of the day, and again, unfortunately, not for everyone. But yeah, if you do want to have more passive income coming in, then you're gonna have to make these sacrifices up front and make these time sacrifices for that to happen down the road. And so that's just really just just what's going to take. You just gotta have to have to have that mindset that I'm not gonna be hanging out with friends and not be that social of a person, right? My time's gonna be very focused on wanting to get done, and I'm gonna keep doing that until I hit a goal that I have in my mind. And that's why it's important to you said what you said is to have a crystal clear picture of where you're trying to go, and then yeah, that's where you're trying to end up. So focus on that goal and work until you hit it.

Billy Keels  19:46  

Yeah, that's the that's the thing. And so when you are when you're able to compartmentalize, you know there are there's times, and I've I've spoken recently about this that during my corporate career, and I I was at the time I was married, I had kids. And so it was later, right? This is the this is the inspiration that where you are, you know. Will you've understood this early on? So many of us realize it later because there's like this calling because you've gotten all these things, you've gotten to college, and you're supposed to do this. But what you start to realize is that you can get to building your dream on the side. It's just going to take the exact same level of intentionality, the exact level of discipline. Later in life, it's going to need to be coordinated. If you're if you're married, if you've got kids, or if you're living overseas, whatever the case may be. But there's always going to be something. You still are going to have to stay disciplined. You're still going to have to be intentional. You're still going to have to know exactly where you want to go, why you want to go there, because if you don't, then when whatever you know fire shows up, then that gets you on a whole different track, and you're not really paying attention anymore to where where you said you really wanted to go.

Speaker 2  21:00  

Yeah, yeah, and just another story to add. Yeah, yeah, I'll add on to that too. I think it's important to just set up a morning routine that's going to set you up for success because I think it's so easy for a lot of people to just wake up, maybe get some breakfast, and then go to work. Right? If you start your day off like that, you're already setting yourself back on the whole business side of things, right? But if you can just wake up an extra hour or two in the morning or something, and just have this routine. Okay, I'm going to check a check my account and check my QuickBooks. I'm going to get a few emails out to some people, and just really have a very structured morning routine that can help set you up for success before you get into that nine to five. I think that'll change the whole dynamic of the day and just make you that half a step ahead. You don't feel so far much ahead, but just a half step ahead can really just help you out the whole time.

Billy Keels  21:41  

Yeah, and once again, it comes back to being intentional to to have focus during my corporate career. I used to wake up at 330 4o'clock in the morning, and by doing that consistently over time, I was able to create 31 and almost a half days a year extra, just because you know the amount of time you're you're creating more time while everybody else is sleeping now. Fortunately, it was early in the morning, but it's it's the same result. So it's really aligned with what you're talking about being very intentional from the time that you are awake. It doesn't mean you can't have fun. Of course, you can have fun. You just schedule your fun. Sounds crazy, but it works really well. So we're so we're talking about it a little bit, Will. But I would like to, because we've talked about a lot of the good things. You've kind of given some insight right now about the way that you schedule or the way that you're intentional. But the five to nine can't be all 100% fun. Like there must be some challenges that come with having the the five to nine. Is there one or two maybe that you want to shed the light on and just in in as it relates to your reality, your you know what how how you're living that now.

Speaker 2  22:48  

Yeah, yeah, I would think for me personally, some of the the biggest challenges I've had. I mean, just when you're trying to build a business outside of working hours, is like saying no to a lot of things. Oh, whoa, whoa,

Billy Keels  22:59  

whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! That's so good. That's so good. It's so powerful, and I don't want anybody to miss this. Will, will you please repeat what you just said? Because it is so powerful. Stop running on the treadmill or keep running, but just actively listen to what Will's saying right now.

Speaker 2  23:13  

Yeah, I think it's um it's hard for people to say no to things that don't really need to be in. You don't really need to do, and I've struggled with this a ton, and I've got better with it over time. But it's still extremely hard with me. You know, when people say, "Oh, can you help out with this? Can you go out and do this on this certain time? Can can we hang out this time? I think a lot of times it's it's the default is yep, yeah, I can do it. But in reality, you got to say no sometimes, and just make sure you stick to that scheduled time that you have to go out and build your business. I mean, that's one of the hardest things, especially you know I'm 24 years old in Ben Atlanta, single. You know you want to have fun on a weekday or something like that, but a lot of times you gotta say no to some of these things. You gotta make some sacrifices and make sure you put your business first. And that's that's been that's been a big challenge for me. And it's easy to put yourself down too because you feel like you're working all these hours. You feel like you're working your your nine to five, and then on top of that, you go home and work your your five and nine, and then not much happens for like a week, and you do it again, and not much happens for a month. You do it again, not much happens for another month, and you still have to keep doing that, and then all of a sudden you get this this big action that happens, right? That to me is powerful, and so it's hard to realize that the sacrifice. You may not see the results of it right now, but give it a few months, give it some time, let it grow, and then you see it. But it's a challenge for me to to continuously be, you know, making these sacrifices all the time with with no guarantee of success, right? Let's say there's no guarantee that this will that this will work out. There's still a ton of risk, and so it's just a hard mindset to overcome. But you have to be willing to just make that sacrifice without the guarantee that it's going to work out. So I would say those two are are my main struggles right now. Okay.

Billy Keels  24:54  

Well, yeah, and like just the fact that you are aware of those of. Those different items, you know, is is it gives you a leg up on the competition, right? The proverbial competition. Have you found a way that, like, saying no is at a certain point it it is difficult. It's super challenging. But what's been your maybe go to, or the way that you're practicing saying no more? more, knowing that it's a challenge for you. Because I have a sense that you're the kind of guy who wants to give yourself reps and being able to feel a little bit more comfortable with the uncomfortable.

Speaker 2  25:31  

Yeah, one thing I've come to realize is that you can't feel bad about putting yourself first in some situations. And so a lot of times now, when someone asks me to do something or to be somewhere, and I'll just like, sorry, I can't. I'm really just busy, even though my busy is just me hanging out with me, getting some business sign. That's busy to me, and so that's kind of just how how I've been saying it. And it's not much more than that. Don't you can't overcomplicate it, right? You just you can't feel bad about you putting yourself first, and if you don't do that, no one else is going to do it for you. And so it's important that you stick true to your promises and you you commit to those goals that you have for yourself. And if you don't do that, then you're breaking these promises to yourself, which which compounds and it's some more negative things going on. So yeah, just say I'm busy. Yeah, yeah,

Billy Keels  26:16  

busy. We have you know got other eventually other priorities. So but yeah, which which I appreciate. So, so thanks for for sharing that with us, Orient Properties LLC. You've got your day job. You've got your podcast, which we're going to talk about. We're going to wrap up with the podcast. But what was the like the genesis for that, and really, what what you talked about a mentor earlier, and started getting some things going, and but you don't have to have an LLC to kind of get your business started, but it's there. So something must have been is has been happening for a while.

Speaker 2  26:57  

Yeah, yeah, yeah. For me, real estate has always been kind of like the like the end goal. You know, it's funny. I interviewed a ton of people on podcasts where they're really successful in a corporate career, really successful entrepreneurs that aren't even in real estate. A lot of them are invested in real estate one way or another. And so, if you look at one of the best businesses you can possibly build holistically, everything you have the options of it right now, it's it's real estate. How much it appreciates over time to the tax, the tax advantages that come with that, and so that was kind of my my underlying passion behind wanting to start a real estate company. And so when I had my business partner locked up with kind of like an ideal hypothetical scenario of a deal that we could do together, I'm like, okay, let's get this operating agreement signed. Let's start up the company, and now we're good to go, but finding that person came first, and then starting the company came second. But it's been it's been a blessing ever since, and yeah, just happy happy you take that chance. But you know, another thing that's interesting is people always talk about passions, right? And it's funny to me is that I don't think I've ever been extremely passionate about real estate, or passionate about any specific kinds of business. For me, what I'm passionate about is finding the vehicle that can make the difference. And real estate is that vehicle, right? There's a lot of ways to make money if you're passionate. So yeah, I'm sure I say that, but yeah. So real estate for me is just that vehicle that I can, you know, I understand it kind of enough with other vehicles. It has a lot of benefits to it. That's my vehicle I'm going to attack with and build a business with, and so that's kind of what led me down that path. Yeah,

Billy Keels  28:28  

yeah. I think about one of the first things you said in the beginning is about being able to be somewhere on at 11 o'clock on a Monday, right? If you could sell spoons, being able to do that, then you know that's the vehicle that's going to allow you to ultimately get

Speaker 4  28:44  

to

Billy Keels  28:44  

that that that moment in time that you're that you're truly looking for, which I appreciate.

Speaker 2  28:48  

Yeah.

Billy Keels  28:48  

So one other thing, then I guess just kind of in wrapping up, like also you talked to us about you're 17 years old, you are a junior in high school, and you know you decided to start a podcast in a town where it was 1000 people, um,

Speaker 2  29:03  

yeah,

Billy Keels  29:04  

200 guests plus, and I guess just because I have my feelings about the podcast experience. What's what has been your experience? How much longer do you think you're going to keep doing it? And really, what do you get out of it?

Speaker 2  29:18  

Yeah, to me, the podcast is the lifelong thing, and I I love the podcast, right? And it's it's not it's not a money thing for me in the podcast. It's really just a way to meet people. And what I love is that you never know who you're going to meet, what they do, how they got to where they are, and everyone has a very unique story. And the more you can understand these people's stories that are super successful and you know are accomplishing things, it's it's it's people that you're not going to see in your day-to-day life. I think that's awesome. And as I mentioned before, I've been doing my podcast now for about seven years, and up to like 250, I think 250 guests now, which is which is great. But to the point, like I've never submitted a resume for a job. My podcast helped me get a job. My business partner sold a company. For nine figures, and I pitched him because I because I Instagram DM'd him, just cold out of out of the DM'd him on Instagram. I hopped my podcast. He said yes, stayed in touch. Five months later, pitched him on a real estate idea. He said yes, let's do it. So that to me is really the exciting part because I'll say this too. I mean, I I don't I wasn't lower class, I wasn't high class, very much you know, a middle class person. So I didn't have a ton of money, and one of the things the podcast gives you is an opportunity to meet people that you would not have met with not a lot of money get into it. So it's like anyone can do it. I mean, I was doing this from my bedroom when I was in high school, doing from my college dorm when I was in college, right? Just from my laptop and Zoom, and so it's just the power of meeting people is-it's amazing, and the opportunities that you can come across is just-it's unreal. So it's-it's a lifelong thing for me. It's been great, and yeah, I'll-I'll never stop because it's just keeps growing. It keeps getting better and better. So yeah,

Billy Keels  30:55  

no, appreciate appreciate you giving us that insight, man. And so, look, I've got one last question I wanted to just I wanted to ask you because you've you have been through you're a curious guy you've been through a lot of success you've had some challenges that you talk to us about and I used to think for a lot of my my corporate career and then post corporate that everything that I planned on happening like it almost always happened, with the exception of not getting my dream job. But I don't want to go into that whole thing. But there was a moment in life when I had some both professional and personal challenges that happened right at the same time, and it made me realize that when things are going well, you tend to not think about it because things are going well. But when things are challenging, when you're at that like valley, it feels like it can go on forever. It's not going to go on forever, but it feels like it

Speaker 2  31:43  

can. Yeah.

Billy Keels  31:46  

And there was a moment in my life when I had to say something to myself. I literally looked myself in the mirror, and I needed to say something so that I knew that it was time to like snap out of that like trough period and like start moving in the right direction again, moving and not staying stuck, so I want you to just do an exercise with me, Will. I want you to pretend that you're three years ahead. You know you've had some good moments, but I specifically want you to talk to the moments when you're at the bottom of the trough, because you know you're going to have to say something to yourself. You're going to look back three years in the future. You're going to look back and you're going to go, you know what, Will? I'm so glad that you said this to me because I needed to hear it in order to get me from where I was to where I needed to start going. What's that one thing that you know you need to say to yourself that you want to share with me and the going along family, so that when we feel stuck as well, we'll just keep going?

Speaker 2  32:37  

Yeah, for me and you know I've had some troubles already, but hypothetically, that through your futuristic scenario, I would just say get back to the fundamentals, right? And I think it's it's easy to drift from who you really are as a person as things continue to grow, as things continue to change. But get back to the fundamentals of who you are and what got you to where you are. And what that mean, what I mean by that is get back to the morning routine that that worked, right? You know, don't be drinking every night. Like, like don't be doing drugs or things like that. Stay on that path. Stay back to the fundamentals. Do the things that you know lead to success, right? And if you get back into that that mindset, your body's healthy, your mind is healthy. It's going to take you out of that trough, and then you're going to get back to level ground, and eventually you can go back up to a high peak again. But I think getting back to that fundamental point, basics of what success is, and following through with that every single day, just win one day at a time, make it to the next day, and that compounds and that gets you out of it just like that.

Billy Keels  33:32  

Oh man, I love absolutely love that. So get back to the fundamentals. Don't drift. Get back to it, and then that helps you to get back into formation. So

Speaker 2  33:40  

absolutely,

Billy Keels  33:41  

man. I these conversations will they fly by literally like I'm imagining you're talking to us in the very beginning, and as you're helping us understand, like you're you're going, hey, look, I'm I'm a guy from a small town, dirt roads, 1000 people, and I was curious, and I'm still curious so much to the fact that I need to figure out. I know there are people out there that are successful. How in the world are they so successful? For you, successful meant owning your time and being able to do something that was in alignment with that. In order for your curiosity to get in touch with those people, you decided at 17 years old to start a podcast. Junior year in high school, you're doing a podcast. You're from your closet, or you then you take it on to your dorm room, and and six years later, six years later, seven years later, you've now had the opportunity to interview over 200 people, have conversations with over 200 people, get you to a point in your life where you haven't even had to have a resume to get a job. You've also had that curiosity to take you from Pennsylvania to Georgia, where you are right now, and and and you've gone through different reps. You've decided. Hey, listen. You're in a working in a family office. It's helping you to increase your level of understanding, your sophistication around finance, around building and crafting deals, around meeting people, building relationships, and it's also in that nine to five that you're continuing to build and leverage skills. You're able to take those skills. Was also outside in your five to nine to be able to say, "Hey, listen, I know how to evaluate. I know how to build and meet new relationships, and also continuing to have the intentionality, not always doing the things that maybe you want to do, but because you have a bigger goal, you know where it is that you want to go, and you're recognizing that it's also important to be able to say no, and so all of these things that you've shared with us, you've talked to us about Orient Properties LLC, you've talked to us about your your Willpower podcast. Help me in the Go Along family because they're going, Billy, you're talking too much, man. Just ask them the question. So the question is, how can we know more about you? How can we find out more about how we can enter into your world? What's the what's the best way to know.

Speaker 2  35:41  

Yeah, I always love you know reaching out to people. So feel free to to text me. I give you guys my number. It's 570-441-0308 Shoot me a text, and you can also go to our website warriorpropers.com I got my contact info on there as well. And yeah, we'd love to hear you guys' thoughts. And you can also check out our podcast, the Bow Power Podcast, and check out Billy's story on there, which is was absolutely incredible. But I'm out there, so yeah, just just Google it. You know, all

Billy Keels  36:06  

right, that's been said a lot now. Just Google it. Well, that's awesome. Well, listen, go along, family, and as you reach out to Will, depending on what means you reach out to him, just let him know that you've already invested time to get to know more about him, his story, and that way it's going to help the two of you have a conversation that's much more fluid. You have a common foundation, and and because of that, well, listen, Will, I just want to say on behalf of the Going Long family, thank you very much for deciding to invest your time with me, with us. Really, really appreciate it. Thank you.

Speaker 2  36:38  

Thank you, Billy. Appreciate

Billy Keels  36:39  

it. All right, fantastic, Go Along family. Really quickly, thanks for. being here, listening to Will and I. Make sure you reach out to him. And in the meantime, I'm going to be here preparing for the next conversation. So go out and make it a great day. And thank you very, very much.

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