Seth Bradley: Overcoming Racism and Job Loss to Practicing Law and Investing on His Own Terms

Speaker 0

Today, Seth Bradley is our guest. He's an attorney, with a pretty cool story. He was adopted at three months old. He's Korean was adopted by a couple who lived in West Virginia. So he grew up in West Virginia. And so, unfortunately, that led to a decent amount of racism that Seth experienced. We we talk about how he dealt with that. And his mentality, you know, facing racism, any other adversity in in life, really. We also talk about how he went to med school, dropped out of med school and then ended up being come becoming an attorney was actually fired from a big law firm through all of this, he's now found abundance. He's got time freedom. He works a lot because he wants to and because he loves it. But he's not only an a securities attorney who helps people who raise capital put put those deals together, put the paperwork together, stay within the boundaries of what's legal and, obviously, his experience at the previous law firm is huge in that. But he's also an active real estate investor. He did fourteen active deals in twenty twenty two. So as a general partner, He's not only an attorney. He's also a real estate investor, not to mention he and his wife have two gyms that they own and and manage. So He's got a lot on his plate, a lot of exciting things going on. He's, someone I've gotten to know a little bit through our, a mastermind group that I'm in. Seth's a great guy, brings a lot of energy and unique perspective, to things, and and it's a it's a really refreshing fun conversation I think we talk mostly I'd say we talk about relationship adversity and then, you know, some financial adversity when he was fired from his job, went from making about two hundred fifty thousand to zero. So bright guy, fun guy. This is a great conversation. Buckle up.

Speaker 1

Welcome to the from adversity to abundance podcast. Are you an entrepreneur or aspiring Trepreneur, then this show is for you. Each week, we bring you impactful stories of real people who have overcome painful human adversity to create a life of abundance. You are not alone in your struggle. Join us, and you will experience the power of true stories and gain practical knowledge from founders who turned poverty into prosperity and weakness into wealth. This podcast will encourage you through your health, relationship, and financial challenges So you can become the hero in your quest for freedom. Take ownership of the life you are destined to live. Turn your adversity into abundance.

Speaker 0

Welcome everybody to another episode of the from adversity to abundance podcast. I am your host, Jamie bateman, and I am pumped today. Today, we have with us, mister Seth Bradley, Seth is a the managing partner of law capital partners. Seth, how are you doing today? Doing great, brother.

Speaker 2

Good to see you, man. How are you?

Speaker 0

Yeah. I'm doing well. I know we got to spend some time together a few weeks back in the British Virgin Islands, which was a bad place.

Speaker 2

No. Yeah.

Speaker 0

It was it was awesome. For the listener who has no idea what we're talking about, Seth was a, one of the keynote speakers at a at a mastermind group that we that we went to and, used as an excuse you know, we used the mastermind as an excuse to enjoy a scrub island, which was which was fantastic. So I got to know you a little bit a little bit on that trip, which was awesome. So but for the listener who is completely unfamiliar with you, Seth, who are you and what are you up to today?

Speaker 2

Yeah. I mean, Today, I'm a securities attorney by trade, real estate investor. You know, we're doing well, I should say we were doing So, you know, the commercial real estate market has slowed quite a bit, but just to kind of put it in context, we I I closed on fourteen deals last year. Fourteen commercial commercial deals, that were all syndications or funds where I was a general partner on. And then, you know, my background is in big loss I worked in Big Law for about six years and then started my own law firm, as a real estate and securities attorney.

Speaker 0

And just to, I mean, you said it very clearly, but just to reiterate. These are not those are not fourteen deals that you put put together as the SEC attorney as the securities attorney. I say, but as the operator, as a general partner, or a general partner, so you're actively involved in commercial real estate investing.

Speaker 2

That's right. Which that's right. Yeah. And these are, you know, these are large deals. I mean, anywhere from, you know, smallest was kinda small, two million dollars upwards of a seventy six million dollar, class a apartment building in Nashville. I mean, they're, you know, all ranges here.

Speaker 0

Yeah. Well, it's awesome. Well, I know I learned a ton when you were speaking a few weeks ago, and, I know we're gonna learn a ton today about, you know, real estate and funds and things like that. But let's jump back into more of your personal story. And, before we get to, you know, your what you're up to today in-depth. Let's talk about some, some of the adversity you've been through. I know you you mentioned to me before we hit record. Some about your background, but, start us off. Where would you like to start, Seth?

Speaker 2

Yeah. I mean, I guess, we can start it off at at year zero I'm a Korean adoptee. I was adopted when I was three months old. I was born in South Korea, but it's an adopted when I was three months old. And adopted by a couple of wonderful people in West Virginia, in the middle of nowhere West Virginia. I don't know if you're watching video or audio right now, but I don't look like I belong in West Virginia. We'll just put it that way. So when I got to when I got to San Diego eventually, were like, oh, you're from here. Right? Whenever they meet people, I'm like, no. I'm from West Virginia, and they're like, oh, okay. That's, you know That's

Speaker 0

not what I would have guessed. Right? Yeah. It's we Yeah. I I'm in Maryland and my wife, but my wife and kids and I, we just did a short trip a few months ago to West Virginia and I don't remember seeing too many people who look like you if I'm being honest, you know. So okay. So you you at three months old, moved to West Virginia. Right?

Speaker 2

Yep. Three months old was adopted, by a couple of great people in West Virginia. Not the most diverse place. We'll just put it that way. Beautiful place. Really nice people for the most part. You know what I mean? And we'll kinda get into that. But, you know, a wonderful place, to grow up really, but there's no diversity there. So I went to a decent size high school, maybe I think fifteen hundred kids. I was one of two Asians. I think there were, two black guys that that literally we they brought in from Canada to play on the basketball team, which is crazy. And then there were no Hispanics at all. So, I mean, there there's, like, zero diversity which you can you can imagine has its challenges when you're growing up as a child. Children to say whatever they wanna say. You know, it might have, you know, it they might have heard it from their parents or it might just be, hey, I look different than everybody else. So you gotta comment on it. I can see, you know, those things. If you're not used to being around diversity, then you're not, you know, you're not used to it and you're not you're gonna comment on, especially when when you're young. So, you know, it was definitely a a challenge growing up, but I think that, unlike some people, I I used it as a as fuel, really, to kind of fuel my success and and where I wanted to take my life.

Speaker 0

So, you know, so it sounds like you've you've dealt with a good bit of racism or or something along those lines. And then I and this is me just, you know, correct me if I'm wrong, but did you I don't know when you learned that you were adopted, but I imagine that was also a factor. Some a bit of adversity that you had to overcome. So what I'm getting at is our guests typically University that we end up talking about is it kinda ends up falling into one of one or more of three categories. And that's health, financial, or relationship. And so what we've talked about thus far is pretty much relationship. Right? And, you know, so so I guess really what I'm asking is how about the adopted part of it was that a challenge for you as well?

Speaker 2

It actually wasn't to be on. Like, for me, personally, it wasn't a challenge because I think you know, I I got lucky in a sense that my my parents, my adopted parents are awesome. Like, they're such incredibly good people. Like, they were awesome role models. You know, they're they're white. So they don't look like me because it was pretty obvious, you know, to begin with. So, I mean, there was no point in trying to, like, hide it or something. But I, you know, since I can remember, I knew that I was adopted, but it was always reinforced in my head that it doesn't matter. We love you just as if you were a biological son. And I remember that from the the day that I can start remembering things. I don't know. Three or four years old or whatever. So it was always gonna set in my head that I'm loved and accepted. And it was never, you know, an issue. So I think, you know, sometimes I I talk about other Korean adoptees that are having a lot of issues as far as, you know, belonging and, you know, they're they're kind of in my eyes complaining because it's just the mindset that I have, but they're, like, you know, they're they're just not taking accountability for where they're at and how they feel. Sure. You know, that that that's one thing that where I had an advantage. Like, maybe they didn't get adopted by, you know, the the folks that I got adopted by. That's for sure. You know, they they definitely have a little bit of a a harder harder road than I might have had, but, you know, I was still dealing with the, you know, the racism and, you know, not looking like everybody else in that sort of Sure.

Speaker 0

So before we get to really how you your your what your mindset was, and how how you approach that, the racism, does anything can you illustrate it a little bit? I mean, you know, not to not to drill down too far, but just know, kind of what are we talking about here, you know, because certainly this is a this is a a topic that needs, unfortunately, needs addressing, still in our in our culture. So just give us a little bit more context as to what you were dealing with, maybe in high school or something like that.

Speaker 2

Yeah. I mean, dumb stuff. Right? Like, when and it develops because when when you're dealing with it, when you're a kid, again, I I I don't like to say racism unless I really, like, feel like it's racism. So, like, trying to I like trying to figure out, like, are you kind of ignorant to the subject and you're just kind of, you know, just saying stuff to say stuff or it's just not you know, it's different compared to what you're used to, or are you saying things with malice? Like, are you meaning it in a bad way and you know exactly what you're doing? To me, there's a difference. A lot of people will say there's not, but for me, there is a difference. And I think maybe it's because I was around it so much growing up. I had to kinda decipher that is like, okay. Am I gonna get in a fist fight with every single person that that does that? Or am I gonna have to say, okay. This guy means this and this guy means that. No. I'm gonna fight this guy guy. Sure. Like, you know, in a lot of a lot of fights and, you know, when I'm young and you had to defend yourself and that sort of thing. But anyway, I mean, when you're it's just dumb stuff, like teasing people. Like, pulling your eyes back. You know what I mean? And, like, you know, oh, you got a flat face. Like stupid stuff like that when you're a kid.

Speaker 0

Right.

Speaker 2

But then as you get older, it ends up turning into something with, you know, a little bit more, you know, that malice where, you know, people start calling me a chink and things like that. That's very offensive to me. So if you drop that word to me, We're we're gonna have problems. We're gonna have a problem for sure. So it just, you know, it really depends on, you know, what what stage of of life, really.

Speaker 0

No. I appreciate you talking about that a little bit. I know it's probably not the most what you're is the most fun thing to talk about. It's not why you wanted to come on this on this show, but, it does help us, you know, just realize that the the reality of of what was going on. So so you had a loving environment, you know, at home, your parents were very supportive and and and accepting of you and and, you know, so that helped set you up for success. It sounds like But it does sound like you you had a mindset shift with regard to how you were gonna approach this racism, whether with malice or not, and other adversity that you dealt with, but talk to us about, you know, how or why you decided, you weren't gonna play the victim card

Speaker 2

Yeah. I mean, I don't know if it was ever even an an option in my head. Like, I I've just always been accountable and self sufficient and always wanting to handle things on my own and not having to say, well, I can't do this because of that or because of that person or this person or, you know, I it's just I I think a lot of people use that as an excuse and it doesn't get them anywhere. Whether or not, you actually have a legitimate excuse. It's not really the argument. I mean, some people have quote unquote privileges that other people don't. That's just life. You're born with more money. You're born with less money. You're born, you know, with a dad that's gonna be around or not. You know, you're you're born good looking or you're not. You know, everybody's got their advantages and disadvantages in this life, but to to lean on the disadvantages as a crutch, is is not gonna help you. Like, it's just not. It's simply not gonna help you.

Speaker 0

Yeah. I love that. I mean, I couldn't agree more, and it's, you know, I didn't have the exact same experience as you, so I'm not pretending I did, but, it just life is not fair. Right. You know, and it's just not. Right? So stop trying to make it fair. And I don't mean I'm not not trying to make some controversial statement about, you know, political statement or anything like that, but it doesn't serve you or me as an individual to focus overly on on that on the the adversity or the the unfairness or the the hate maybe that's spewed at you. And, so I couldn't agree more. I think it's it only serves you to not use that as a crutch, not use that as an excuse, not constantly play the victim card, and and instead point to what can you do to to better your situation? What are your strengths? Who's on your side? So talk to us about that. I mean, how how did your life go maybe after high school?

Speaker 2

Yeah. I mean, you know, again, just going back to that. I mean, I think you you just have to make the most out of what you got. Whatever. Yeah. Absolutely. That's really what it comes down to because it's not gonna gonna help you to lean on those those those disadvantages if or whatever you wanna call it.

Speaker 0

That's a great lesson. Yep.

Speaker 2

Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, I went on to school was always really easy for me. So I went on to try to figure out. I think this is kind of a a mindset shift as well. I don't I don't know how where we categorized that, but you know, I I grew up in rural, West Virginia. You know, I wasn't exposed to entrepreneurship, wasn't exposed to, you know, real estate investing, anything like that. My dad's a retired coal miner. My mom's a retired school teacher. It was just kinda like, okay. Basically, you know, trading your time for money, what's the what's the best job you can get? And to me, that was to become a doctor, at the time. So I kinda went down that pathway through college, did all that, got into med school, went to med school for a year, got into my second year, and in my second year about halfway through, I just I walked out because I knew it wasn't for me. I just just hate it. I was like, you know, everybody's looking forward to get to, like, the clinical side. And I'm just like, man, this is just more stuff. I know that I don't wanna do. So, you know, I I went on to end up getting my MBA just to kinda stay in school because I was good at it. And I was like, I think this will be useful for whatever I end up doing. And then I went on to to law school with the same mentality. It was still the same. Well, what's the next best job that I can get? And to me, I was like, okay. I'm not gonna be a doctor. I guess I'm gonna be a lawyer. So I did that. Actually did really well in in school, law school and got a you know, a big law firm job out of there and kinda went down that pathway. And I think that's when not that I didn't have the entrepreneur in me before. I think I've always had it. But I started kinda looking around and I was exposed to business people exposed to real estate investors, seeing what they were doing, representing them as clients, And that's when I, you know, the light bulb really went on. And I started thinking, okay. I I don't wanna be a vendor. I don't wanna be, necessarily an attorney, not that I didn't like it, but what I wanna do is own equity in these pro I wanna own these properties. I wanna run this business. And that was kinda when the the light bulb went on and started loving those avenues.

Speaker 0

Yeah. So just briefly, what was it that drew you to becoming a doctor at the time? You know, I it sounds like you did well at school. So you you just thought you you should get a high paying job that that, you know, maybe those those are my words. But, what what why did you initially go down the doctor path?

Speaker 2

Yeah. I mean, I think it was a combination of money, potential, and achievement. It was just kinda to me. It's like, what's you know, I didn't have necessarily a a passion for anything when I was younger. So it's like, okay. Well, okay. What what's the best pathway then?

Speaker 0

Sure. And

Speaker 2

to me, it was just become a doctor. I think -- Yeah.

Speaker 0

--

Speaker 2

a combination of money and just, you know, prestige and achievement, that sort of thing. Oh,

Speaker 0

it makes sense. And it it's look it's easy for us to sit here and back and say, why did you make that decision, Seth? I mean, you know, it's I didn't I didn't know what I was gonna do with even after college, you know. So

Speaker 2

Yeah. It's funny when you're, like, eighteen to twenty two years old and you're supposed to decide what you're gonna do for the rest of your life. It's like Sure. Absolutely. I'm just chasing girls and trying to live. I'm living my life.

Speaker 0

Yeah. No. If my if my kids will listen to me, I'll tell them, you know, just get a just get a business degree or something if you're, you know, if college even makes sense, to be honest, but, you know, people change careers so often these days anyway. It doesn't make a lot of sense to lock in at that young age. But, okay, so then you pivot, go to law school, and then or you get your you get your MBA and then you go to law school. Is that right? Yep. Got it. And you do well in law school, and then you you get an attorney role. So what how how did that go?

Speaker 2

Yeah. I mean, it went well. I mean, I once I got into a big law firm, my idea was just to kinda go down that traditional path and become partner, you know, build whatever hours, do whatever you gotta do, you know, bring in clients, kinda go down that traditional pathway and just become a partner, whatever it takes.

Speaker 0

Sure.

Speaker 2

But, you know, along the way though, I started investing in real estate. I mean, the first basically, the first paycheck I got started going towards a mortgage payment on a duplex that my wife and I bought and house hacked into. We live in one half. Nice. House hacked the other half, and and that was kind of our first rental property still owned that today. And Such such a good way to

Speaker 0

such a powerful way to get into real estate investing. It's fantastic.

Speaker 2

Absolutely. It's basically free. I mean, you know, you put three and a half, five percent down at the most. Because it's owner occupied. And then, hopefully, you know, the other unit or units, pay your mortgage and pay your other expenses, and you're living there for free. It's it's crazy. Absolutely.

Speaker 0

No. I used to always listen to the bigger pockets podcast. And, you know, some things I don't necessarily now buy into as much as I used to, but that is one thing that they used to promote that I still think is if you can do it such a fantastic way to really launch your real estate investing career, if you will.

Speaker 2

The the best way. If you're young and you've got flexibility in in where you live and what you're, you know, what you're willing to to do, I mean, houseacking to one, living it for a year or two, houseacking to the next one and do that for five five years. And now you've got five cash flowing properties, and that's a pretty dang good start to

Speaker 0

to your career. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. And then time is on your side as well, which is which is awesome. So Okay. So how did your career go at the at the big law firm?

Speaker 2

Yeah. I mean, it went pretty well, while my head was kinda still in the game. As far as, you know, having to bill a million hours and, you know, you've got a million bosses. Like, basically, everybody just got one more of experience over you at a big law firm is your boss. I mean, you know, in one way or another. So it's it's kind of a ridiculous thing that they have set up, but it's, you know, it I I I did learn some lessons while I was going through it. Got tons of good experience for sure. But, you know, one was I I really started seeing kind of the senior partners, the managing partners, the guys that really, quote, unquote, made it. You know, they're still, you know, they're in their sixties, some in their seventies, and they're still, like, in the office. And I'm just like, what are these guys doing here? I mean, you know, they're they're making it over a million dollars a year and they have been for a long time more than likely. And it's like, alright. Well, you you've made it. Like, you've made money. Like, done what you needed to do. Like, what are what are you still doing here? And they're, like, you know, they they're just hanging out at the off not hanging out. They're billing hours, but they were, Yeah. They're not in a hurry, let's say, to get home. And I think whenever you get to that level of success in a law firm, for the most part, it it's really hard to keep up your, kinda, your social responsibilities with your family and your friends and kind of keeping balance quote unquote with with the other things. And you end up being really good at it. You end up being really good at being a lawyer, I think. So I think you you get kind of a a good feeling from it, but then it just becomes your life. And I just saw that as if this is success, if I stick with this, then I don't want it. Now it's kind of the first pivotal moment where I'm like, I saw what success looked like if I continue down this path. And it wasn't something that I desired any longer. So that was the first thing. And the second thing was the second pivotal moment for me in a law firm was really these clients that were closing all these deals for, they're regular people. You know, they're they're taking down ten million, twenty million, fifty million dollar properties, and they're just regular guys. Right? Like, they're not these, I don't know, crazy, like, real estate moguls or whatever kind of envision when you're growing up these people to be. They're just regular people. And that's when I, you know, that mindset started to change a little bit. I started thinking I can I can do this? And then I started investing in bigger and bigger properties passively into syndications and then kinda working my way to the active side as well.

Speaker 0

That's awesome. So, yeah, I basically, it sounds like you were able to watch and witness firsthand what you didn't wanna become. And then what presented the the other option of what you might want to become or, you know, you you saw basically what you didn't wanna do and what you did wanna do. From that same same position at the law firm, it sounds like. Yeah.

Speaker 2

I actually haven't heard anybody frame it that way, but that's right.

Speaker 0

That's exactly what that is. That's awesome. Yeah. You have to update your your buyer's sheet. For sure. Make sure you you quote me on there. No. That's, yeah. Hey. The host can have we can have re revelations, both of us on this show. So okay. So now how did that what was your next phase? How did that, part of your career end?

Speaker 2

Yeah. So I just kinda continued along that pathway and got more and more interested in, you know, growing the real estate business, getting involved on deals, We all my wife and I actually own two gyms right now as well. So we we started that business, and I got unceremoniously shown the door. Involuntarily, we'll say. Because of my my mind was just wasn't there. Right? Like, my heart wasn't in the job anymore. I wasn't focused on billing twenty five hundred hours a year anymore. I, you know, I my mind was on real estate. My own real estate on my clients real estate. My mind was on running, you know, businesses and becoming financially free and eventually leaving this job. So it just my mind wasn't there anymore and in looking back now. Of course, at the time, I was taken back and I was, like, mad and, you know, sad and whatever else.

Speaker 0

Ego takes a big hit. A big ego in. For sure.

Speaker 2

And, you know, now looking back, I'm like, yeah, probably deserve that. You know?

Speaker 0

Yeah. I I can, I can relate a little bit? I was I worked for the federal government for actually fourteen years for the Department of Defense after I was in the military. And for the second half of that fourteen years. So the final seven years, up until last March, I I was building my businesses, and working part time still with the, you know, so probably three, four years in. It was, like, Now granted it's it's a lot easier to keep your federal government job than it is, your attorney job. But but, My it just it just I just wasn't there. It just my mind was not there. I was not there at all. And I don't Yeah. I wasn't the best employee at that point, you know, toward the end there. So, it became very clear to me that I needed to, needed to quit So that's what I did. But, anyway, I I know exactly what you're you're saying as far as just your focus isn't there, and and you're you're focused on honestly, I'm bigger and better things as far as I'm concerned. So in taking con you know, ownership of your situation, taking control of your financial future. So after your your Bruce ego,

Speaker 2

you

Speaker 0

know, healed up a little bit, how did things progress from the, entrepreneurial side or investing side?

Speaker 2

Yeah. I mean, it was, you know, that was kind of an abrupt end to that that chapter, but it was still lingering, I would say. You know, like, obviously, a big hit to the ego and initial reaction was a little bit of panic. It was like, oh, no. What do what do I do now? Like, I need to replace this income immediately. Started getting on, like, LinkedIn and applying to more jobs and, you know, just all that kind of stuff that you have to do.

Speaker 0

I'm sorry to cut you off. I just curious. You don't have to get too specific. It's obviously whatever you're comfortable with, but but just context. I mean, you know, how much does an attorney in at that position make approximately, and then all of a sudden it's zero.

Speaker 2

Yeah. I mean, pushing, like, two hundred fifty grand a year. I mean, easily, you know, just really yeah.

Speaker 0

Good money.

Speaker 2

Yeah. I was making maybe around two hundred and fifty a year, salary without that. That doesn't even include, like, annual bonuses or anything

Speaker 0

like that. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. So it's really,

Speaker 2

you know, really good money. But, you know, you're working for that money and it's a high stress environment. And your and your days are numbered if you don't produce. So But, yeah, I mean, it's a big drop. Right? You go from from that to to zero or whatever kind of little income that I had from the real estate and all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 0

Sure.

Speaker 2

It wasn't little, but it was little compared to that. Yeah. Once I kinda caught my breath and and said, you know what? I this is kind of an opportunity. Rather than a failure. It's it's a it's a time to to say, okay. Well, this is what you wanna do. So let's try to make this work. So it was it was gradual and then I took some contract work, like, some never, like, full time anymore. Started my own law firm, took on a couple of clients here and there, and then really started focusing on building the real estate business.

Speaker 0

Love that. And And, again, we're not saying overnight, you, you know, you you got over your the ego blow and you you were you know, in this fantastic positive mindset the next day, we're not saying that. But but, you know, what came to mind when you were just talking about that was the fact that you already had practice at, with the with the racism, you had practice at not pulling that victim card. You know, so that's my, you know, maybe I'm,

Speaker 2

you

Speaker 0

know, overanalyzing here, but but at some point, it doesn't serve you to say why was I fired? You know, why why am I the victim here? And so you exercise that muscle again, I guess, and and and took the bull by the horns and and started to really, well, talk about it. What did you do after that? I know I know you've built quite an impressive portfolio and and business. So talk about that.

Speaker 2

Yeah. I just wanna comment on what you just said there. I mean, yeah, it it's really easy to get mad at the people that fired you, right, or the people that, you know, you think did something to you. It's easy. You're like, Okay. Because then you don't have to deal with it internally. You say, well, that was an external factor that I couldn't control. It's their fault. They should have they should've given me a second or third or fourth or fifth chance. Like, why did they do that? They wouldn't have done it to Susie down the hall, but they did it to me. Like, you you just start thinking like that, that's the wrong way to think because, again, it's not gonna get you anywhere. Like, that's not gonna help you. You can blame on them all you want, and then you don't have to deal with it. I guess that's a positive for some people, but it's not gonna help you in the long run kind of grow from it and and and get better as a person.

Speaker 0

I love that. It's really, really good take. So how long did it take you to kind of start really taking action in in in building your own your own thing?

Speaker 2

Yeah. I mean, it took some time. It it's not overnight. I mean, it started I had already started investing, you know, I started investing real estate in twenty thirteen. So it it was way after that. And but it was mostly like single family, fix and flips, like, you know, those sorts of things and then start investing passively in syndications. And then working my way to the active side, working my way to the active side, I started thinking, okay, you know, started looking at, you know, listening to podcasts, reading books, like, how do I get involved? Initially, I wanted to get all the way away from legal. I didn't wanna do any more legal work. I was like, okay. Well, how do I get involved and start looking at, okay, well, I can probably raise some capital. I've got a pretty good network. I can get involved in that way and then kinda get involved in the operations and kinda learn that and maybe start sourcing deals really slow. Not as fast as I thought I'd be able to build it. I thought maybe I'd be a better capital raiser than I actually am. And it it was just I was only able to do, you know, a deal here or there. And then eventually I was like, this isn't gonna this isn't gonna work. Like, it's just not scaling as quickly as I wanted to grow. And I had to do some self reflection and just started thinking, well, what's what's your highest and best use, especially to a syndicator? And that's what I used to do is is putting together the deal. Like, it's the deal structuring. It's the cap it's like teaching people how to raise capital legally. It's putting the fund and this indication together. Those things that I had already done for a million different people as a as an attorney, they need that. So I I started kinda going back to that legal side, and that's how I started partnering with people and deals. I started raising capital, doing the legal underwriting, you know, assisting them with deal structuring after the fact, like, you know, any kind of transfers and all that sort of stuff, it's a it's a big value add to a team. Especially when you have somebody internally acting as sort of, an in house council role rather than an outside council role who might need to to bill hours to get paid and and those sorts of things. There's different kind of factors that that come into play, and that's when I really got some traction. So even, like, last year, we closed, I was a GP on fourteen deals So we really got some traction last year, and even towards the end of the year before that. But this year, being a little bit slower. So I'm putting some funds together for people. I'm working on some startups. But I think that's kind of the the beautiful thing about where I'm at right now. It's it's kinda having that freedom, that flexibility to take on the work that I want to and need to and and but not have to.

Speaker 0

Sure. I mean, with your background, you clearly shown you have versatility and flexibility and you and multiple different types of skill sets So when you did your last year, twenty twenty two, approximately, what percentage of time were you were you doing, like, the GP thing versus the lawyer thing. I know there's a lot of crossover, but

Speaker 2

A lot of crossover, but, I mean, as far as just doing legal work, I didn't do wasn't taken on any legal work last year at all. I took on zero. I got asked to do it. I said, no. I just I don't have time because we had so many deals going on. So zero. Gotcha.

Speaker 0

Okay. Oh, that's a that's a I didn't expect zero. So but now now this year, you're things have slowed down due to, I would guess, you know, market conditions and -- Yeah. -- the economy is a little bit different now than it was twelve months ago. So you're opened up a little bit more to legal work. Right?

Speaker 2

Yeah. Open up a little bit more to legal work as far as forming some funds for people, teaching people how to structure these things and how to raise capital the legal way, that sort of thing. I think it's really important right now to educate people on on how to raise capital the right way because a lot of people don't even realize that, you know, they're doing something wrong, which is crazy to think about, but, you've gotta, you know, people need to know, how to do this because Over the last, let's say, twelve years or so, the market's been incredible. We've been on a bull run-in real estate. Anybody that started authentication out a multifamily property and ran it okay. Probably did pretty well for their investors. Sure. And so they're not getting sued. They're not getting you know, whispers from the SEC. Like, you're just not running into those problems because you've got happy investors, but you're seeing this year, you know, there's capital calls, there's people not happy with, you know, the returns not coming to them. So you're gonna see hopefully not. Hopefully, the economy will change, and we we won't see all this if it continues, you might see the SEC kind of fishing around and doing some more investigations and and trying to figure out you know, was Capitol raised the right way? Did they claim the right exemption? Like, were all these things done correctly? Cause if they were not, then, you know, there's gonna be some there's gonna be some con consequences to the the capital razors and to the the sponsors that have put these deals together in a in a not so compliant way.

Speaker 0

Now what have you learned from the just speaking about capital raising either from, you know, from from any of your experience, any any part of your your history. What have you learned? What are some lessons, about effective capital raising? Because I do capital raising, and it's not necessarily easy. Yeah. And so what are some tricks or tips you could give to somebody out there just, you know, assuming we're they're doing it in a legal fashion, how do you raise capital? What are some some pointers?

Speaker 2

Well, I mean, as an attorney, like, the first thing I do is make sure they understand kind of what those what those rails look like, what those guidelines look like. And usually the first thing I say that that messes people up is you you can't raise capital and only raise capital and get paid to do it. And that's it. And people are like, wait. What what if I'm the GP or what if I'm this or that? It's like, well, yeah, if you're the GP, but as long as you're doing other stuff, as long as you're acting like a GP, as long as you're you're underwriting and managing the asset and attending meetings and and doing all the other things that GP should be doing. That's fine. But most most, quote unquote, you know, capital razors that are just partnering with the real lead sponsors A lot of times, yeah, they're they're a name general partner, but they're just raising capital. And a lot of times they're just getting paid based on how much they raise, which makes it even worse. It happens all the time. I I see it every single day. So I think that that first step really is to learn and to educate yourself as far as what what you can and cannot do. And then base your start building your business off of that. Like, what do I need to do to stay legally compliant? And then that's when you can get into the more fun stuff as far as, like, marketing and starting a pod cast and, you know, having those investor calls. Like, that stuff is all after you actually know, like, the rules of the game. You have to know the rules of the game before you start playing it.

Speaker 0

It's a great great way to put it. So once you've established the those guardrails and the rules of the game, then what? I know you have your your podcast and, has that has that been a key factor

Speaker 2

in in your ability to raise capital? Absolutely. I mean, you know, I think you have to have a platform form. That can be either it could be a podcast. It could be a YouTube channel. It could be just going on other people's podcast. It could just be a a Twitter feed if you're really good at that. I mean, it's you've gotta have some sort of forum, some sort of platform to where you can reach strangers. You know, the first time you raise capital, it can be from friends and family, and you might have a successful raise. And then maybe depending on your current network, Of course, it it could continue to go well. But at some point, you're gonna run out of people that you just know, and you're gonna have to go out to strangers, and you've gotta have a continual pipeline of of new investors if you're gonna do this for a living. So in order to do that, either you get really good at networking and really good at you do, which can happen, and then you just get referral based, you know, referral based people coming into your your pipeline, or you do that plus you have some sort of a platform. And, you know, again, if you're not interested interested in starting your own podcast, which is a lot of work, you know,

Speaker 0

that It is a lot it is a lot of work.

Speaker 2

Yeah. You can just go on other people's podcasts. Like, start to think about, like, what your message is, what will serve you as well as educate the audience, and and start reaching out to people and get on another people's podcast because that's probably, you know, that's a lot easier than running your own.

Speaker 0

Absolutely. It is a lot of work for sure.

Speaker 2

And and I would I would add on to that, like, do it with a purpose. Right? Like, some people just, like, When you first start out, you're just happy to be on a podcast. And then eventually sooner rather than later, you gotta figure out, okay, well, if I'm gonna put an hour into this show, What am I gonna talk about? Why am I talking about it? Like, how does it serve my business? Just so you can just you have a purpose. And a lot of times, it might just be as simple as creating a lead magnet so you can get leads into your funnels and start that email relationship with people and eventually you know, get them on a call, talk to them about their investments, and then send them a deal. Yeah. So you just kinda gotta get all that laid out.

Speaker 0

Absolutely. No. It's I think it's I've we haven't talked much on my show about running starting a podcast, running a podcast. But it's I I heard something, like, fifteen percent of the four plus million shows that are out there actually have produced content in the last, you know, an episode in the last sixty days, something like that. So most people quit. They start a podcast and they quit, where they just let it die. So speaking to what you just said, you need you need to know your your why behind the podcast as well. So, makes a lot of sense. So from a a business standpoint, because You know, to be honest, most attorneys maybe aren't the best at running a business. And I know, you know, It's not just the real estate. I know you have the two gyms with your wife, like you mentioned. You know, what surprises have have you dealt with as far as becoming an entrepreneur running your own business, multiple businesses. What's challenged you more than you expected?

Speaker 2

You know, just so as an attorney, you're you're kinda trained to assess risk and figure out where that risk comes from and try to try to mitigate that as much as possible. And that's, you

Speaker 0

know,

Speaker 2

that's always a good strategy. But when that happens, you also become very conservative. Right? Like, you're you're very risk averse. You're conservative. You don't necessarily wanna take risks, and especially for your clients. So it's the right way to be as an attorney, but as you kind of venture out into the business world, and now I'm kind of in a startup world, There's a lot of risk. There's tons of risk. And it's it's almost it's almost championed to be able to be a risk taker as an entrepreneur, it it's something you have to you have to deal with. You you have to every single day, you know, just you have to deal with risk, whether it's spending time on something that might turn into nothing or, you know, risk as far as yeah. I I think the biggest thing is is, okay, I'm putting all this time and effort and money but is it gonna pan out? I don't know. You know, it's like yeah. There there's just a, you know, a an appetite for risk that you have to have an entrepreneurship that you might not to have might not have to have if you're in a a w two.

Speaker 0

No. It's definitely true. And and you know, when I run something past an attorney, if they don't come back with some kind of issue, then I'm like, what am I what am I paying you for. You know? So, I mean, that's that's their job, right, is to point out risk and and point out potential issues. Same thing with, like, a a a house inspector, home inspector, if they don't list out all these things that are wrong with the house you're gonna buy, well, then what are they doing? So but my point is that you if you wanna buy the house, There's still there's always gonna be something that could go wrong with it. So, yeah, that's gotta be tough being the the kinda wearing both both hats at the same time. As far as just, you know, kind of, you know, compartmentalizing, I guess, in a way, your your attorney risk averse approach versus no. I'm a business owner. I'm a start I'm a founder. I gotta let's go for this. Anything else to add to that?

Speaker 2

Ex exactly. Yeah. I mean, you've gotta I I again, I think it's still good practice. You you have to know the risks. You have to assess the risks in a in honest way, but at that point, it doesn't just stop. It doesn't just stop there and you say, oh, this is risky, quote unquote. This is risky, quote unquote. And now I've gotta stop what I'm doing. You've gotta go forward and figure out, well, what if I want to continue on, what are the solutions? Like, how can I get how can I mitigate this risk by solving this problem or changing my plan so that I can move forward with the business plan and close this deal or launch this product or continue this race?

Speaker 0

Yep. Alright, Seth. So as we start to wrap up here before we get to our rapid fire questions, You know, we've talked a good bit about some of the adversity that you've overcome. Let's talk about abundance, what that means to you, and what that looks like in your life today.

Speaker 2

Yeah. I mean, when I think about abundance, I think about freedom. Like, I think some people translate abundance to money. But to me, even money represents freedom, freedom of time, freedom of, you know, how you how you who you wanna spend your time with. I mean, it really comes down to time. Right? Like, people break down freedom of time, freedom of money, freedom of location, but I I think it really comes down to time. And the flexibility that you have. We were chatting before the podcast. It's like, you know, I work more now probably as as an entrepreneur than I ever did even billing twenty five hundred hours a year as an attorney, but it's just it's totally different. It's not as heavy. Because I know I'm working towards I'm I'm working towards my goals. I'm working for myself. I'm doing what I wanna do. Rather than somebody else telling me what to do. It's just a totally different, different thing. And then, and when you when you evolve your businesses to the way that you want them to be, then it doesn't really feel like work anymore. So, I mean, for me, it's it's the overcoming the adversity to abundance was just taking that accountability and turning that into my own businesses and how I handle things myself and being able to translate that to to this abundance, which for me is flexibility of time.

Speaker 0

Got it. That's a great answer. Awesome. So I've got some rapid fire questions for you. Are you ready?

Speaker 2

Ready, man?

Speaker 0

Alright. What is one thing that people misunderstand about you, Seth?

Speaker 2

Oh, that's a tough one. I think that I care. I it sounds kinda weird, but, like, I think that I come off a little bit aloof or stow it. Sometimes it's a little unemotional, but it's just kinda how I've trained myself to be. But I I am thinking. I am caring. I am listening. It's just a lot of times I, as an entrepreneur with a ton of different businesses and a lot of different moving parts, I tend to not let things affect me on the exterior.

Speaker 0

I can I'm I'm chuckling because I can relate. So What's one of your biggest failure failures or regrets looking back at your life so far professional career? Something you'd like to do over?

Speaker 2

Yeah. I mean, I don't like that because I think we've always, you know, we we we become the people that we're supposed to become, and we've become that person because of the things that we went through. Yeah. But, you know, I mean, if I had to put it on anything, med school was definitely a mistake.

Speaker 0

Just going going to med school.

Speaker 2

Yep. Yeah. I mean, it wasn't for me. I did it for the money, the prestige, really, like, all the wrong reasons. Right? And it doesn't serve me now. Being an attorney at a big law firm. Yeah. My law degree, like, my MBA, like, all that stuff serves me still today. Sure. The medical stuff it's so unrelated to what I do now that it it really doesn't serve you any longer.

Speaker 0

Doesn't help you in the with the gyms and the fitness stuff at all?

Speaker 2

It's so far in the past. It is. Gotcha.

Speaker 0

If you could go back and give your eighteen year old self some advice, what would it be?

Speaker 2

Get help, get a coach, get a mentor, you know, to help you even work through the idea, because I was wondering, like, I was questioning, like, what do I wanna do? Like, I knew that being a doctor wasn't necessarily it. It was just the thing, the best thing at the time. So I think if I would have been more open to finding a mentor or a coach or somebody that can kinda work through those questions that I had. I'm gonna gotten the right direction sooner.

Speaker 0

It's a good answer. I can relate to that one too. If you were given ten million dollars tomorrow, what would you do with it?

Speaker 2

I would put in passive income vehicles for sure. Something with hard assets, real estate, because I know real estate, The only time I've ever gotten in trouble with investing is when I invest in something I don't know. I've noticed that pattern.

Speaker 0

Sure.

Speaker 2

When when I get involved with something I don't understand and it's just kinda that shiny object, I've learned that lesson, and now I know what I know and love and that's real estate. So it's either real estate or it's real estate related. So if I had ten million bucks, passive income vehicles for sure in real estate.

Speaker 0

Got it. Awesome. What is a challenge that you're facing right now in your in your business life?

Speaker 2

Yeah. So, like, this year, my business has changed a little bit to where I'm taking on these kind of leadership executive roles with startups. I'm involved with three right now. So it's really kind of stretching my mind, as far as you know, again, going from attorney to the attorney mindset to, like, an entrepreneurial mindset

Speaker 0

to

Speaker 2

now, like, a startup entrepreneur

Speaker 0

--

Speaker 2

Mhmm. -- mindset totally different because now we're talking about kind of these, you know, when we're looking at a real estate asset, it's like, okay. We we know what the rent is now. We know where we think we can get to the rent too. We know what the expenses are gonna be, and then we can build a pro form a projections based on that. When we're dealing with startups, it's like we might we might have this product or we have this idea that we're gonna turn into a product, which we haven't done yet. And we think that we're gonna hire these ten people and raise this much money and then sell this many of those things in this amount of time. It's just so speculative in my mind because I'm used to dealing with hard assets that it's it's kinda wrapping my head around that, but I I do love the excitement of it. I love the idea of, like, you know, hundred x multiples and and crazy things like that.

Speaker 0

Sure. Yeah. Absolutely. You you can certainly lose money in real estate, but You know, you've done so many deals now. It's essentially the same thing over and over with different variables, you know, but But, yeah, startups. That's a whole different world. What types of startups are you involved with if you can talk about it?

Speaker 2

Yeah. One is Clavis technologies. So it's actually eventually, it's gonna be an end to end, residential real estate transaction platform. For now, we're really working with an automate or working on an automated, an automated system that will replace the transaction coordinator. That's that's really the idea. Right? So transaction coordinator kind of they they send papers from one person to the next and get these signatures and their document repository and, you know, all these different things that can be done electronically. So we've been able to find a way to build an AI based program that learns and communicates with all the different parties And we're ready to go to private beta here in the next next week.

Speaker 0

Wow. It's awesome. I don't I don't know how the, getting everything dealing with the the, you know, townships doing recording, that's a different different challenge. But

Speaker 2

Yeah. And I should I should definitely miss another one, which is I'm working with triedvest, who is is not it is a startup, but they've been in business for a while now. But this this probably resonated with your audience because we we talked about kinda raising capital and and the SEC issues that come up whenever you raise capital the wrong way. Right? So we've Sure. People tend to use code GP model where you're you've got these capital raises to come in. They raise capital and they don't do anything else. Well, guess what? That's illegal. You're not supposed to do that, but it's cheap. It's a cheap way to do it. The better way to do it is a fund to funds model. Where this capital raiser has their own fund that they raise capital for, and then they come into that target company or that lead sponsor's deal as a limited partner. The problem with that model is it's expensive. Right? Because then you've got this top level lead sponsor that's putting together syndication, and then you've got each fund manager that has their own fund that has it's another syndication. So, you know, if you got five capital razors, that's five plus one funds. It's expensive. So we're working on a product to make it much, much less expensive and really automate the process, in the meantime, because you probably know as as well as any with all the interviews you've done that this is the way that it's going. Right? Like, trying to figure out where the where the expensive bottlenecks are and where technology can replace it. You know, there's a companies out there already, like, that are doing this in the startup world like Carta, like AngelList, places like that that that are, automating securities documentation and the process and the raising capital process, and we're taking that to the the real estate world.

Speaker 0

And that you're doing that with with Trivest. Right? Yes. Got it. That's awesome. Fantastic. How about I don't know if we've talked about any books. Do you have a book or two that you could recommend for my audience?

Speaker 2

Right now, because this is a little bit outside of what I typically read with the lean startup by Eric RISE. It is about startups and how to test a product and taking it to kinda like that series a funding round, which sounds a little bit crazy for people that are doing real estate or something else, but there's so many great concepts that you can take from that as far as kinda production and over perfection and just kinda putting together that that MVP, that minimal viable product and just getting it out there and test it and then tweak it and then put it back out there and then tweak it and test it and tweak it and test it till you get something that everybody wants and there's a demand for rather than just getting this product perfect, putting it out there, and then nobody wants it. Like, there's there's a lot of lessons to be learned there.

Speaker 0

Sure. Love it. Now as we as we wrap up, I know we're short short on time here. If if somebody wanted to reach out to you, you know, who wants to raise capital and wants to contact you to talk about putting together fund or syndication documents. What does that process look like?

Speaker 2

Yeah. So I have all of my links and things in on the same place. You can go to seth paul bradley dot com. That's probably the best place to start. And then all my contact info is there as well. So you can just reach out to me via email is probably the best way to get started, and you can find me on all social media platforms as well.

Speaker 0

Awesome. Well, Seth, this has been fantastic. Is there anything that you wanna cover real quick before we hop out of here?

Speaker 2

That's it, brother. I think we covered everything.

Speaker 0

That's awesome. Well, Seth Bradley, we really appreciate you taking your time to stop by and and share some wisdom with us. And, thanks thanks a lot. It's it's been awesome.

Speaker 2

Hi, Jamie. Appreciate it, man.

Speaker 0

And to the listener out there, thank you for spending your most valuable resource with us, and that is your time. Thanks, everyone. Take care.

Speaker 3

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Speaker 1

Thank you for finding your most valuable resource with us, your time. If you like the show, please share it with your friends and fellow podcast listeners. One entrepreneur at a time, we can change the world. See you next time.