Special Episode! From Adversity to Abundance: Inspiring Stories of Mental, Physical, and Financial Transformation

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You. All right, guys, this episode is going to be a little bit different. It's a solo episode and I'm really excited to announce that we have a book coming out on October 2, 2023 in just a few short weeks. And a lot of work went into this book. My team has been doing a fantastic job Labrador lending, and I'm super pumped to have this book launched and ready to rock.        

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So you're going to love it. The content is based on eleven of our podcast episodes. So first thing to note is you need to buy this book and send it to those people in your life who just don't listen to podcasts. You know who I'm talking about. We all have them.        

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You send them the link to an awesome show and they say they don't understand how to play a podcast or what a podcast even is. There's over 4 million podcasts out there, apparently. And a ton of people still don't listen to podcasts. And I know it's never going to be 100% of people who are going to listen to podcasts. People consume information in many different ways.        

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And so we decided we wanted to reach more people with our message. And so we are putting out a book. And like I said, I'm pumped about it. We picked eleven of our favorite episodes from the first. I think it was 35 or 36 episodes of the show.        

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And it's jampacked. We cut out all the fluff we got right to the point, the meat of the information. So the book is super inspiring, and I really hope you pick up a copy or ten. I'm just going to walk through kind of the eleven episodes and the guests that we worked with to put this book together. Like I said, I'm pumped about it.        

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So our first guest was Fuquan Balal, first guest featured in the book. And I'm going to highlight some of the takeaways that I took from each episode. First of all, with Fuquan's story, one big thing was that adversity is a catalyst for growth. So he's got a real level head on his shoulders and has a great perspective looking back at things. And he lost $2 million in the 2008 financial crisis and worked his way out of that.        

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And now he's realized that money isn't everything and he's a lot less materialistic. And that was a fantastic takeaway from his. Another takeaway was that prioritizing community development is critical for him. He's all about raising up those around him and building up the especially the communities in New Jersey where he's from. So that's a fantastic approach.        

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I love know again, being a part of something bigger than yourself and serving others. Number three from Fuquan was continuous learning and adaptability. And I kind of remember not kind of, I do remember on the episode with Fuquan where I mentioned to him that I was being cheap and I hadn't joined a Mastermind or gotten a coach, a business coach or anything, and he almost came through the screen, the monitor, and he's like, that's a mistake. You need to do that right now. And Fuquan I've since joined a mastermind group, and I just hired a business coach, so took me a little while, but pulled the trigger on both things.        

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Our second chapter in the book is based on the first podcast episode with Matt Izzo. He was one of my favorite guests. I just love his transformation. He lost 75 pounds, and I believe he lost that three times, and this time he finally kept it off. But he's all about addressing the underlying mental and emotional issues, not just your physical state.        

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And so it's all related, right? You can't just have a better diet, but not clean up, not address trauma and emotional pain and things like that. So that's a huge takeaway from Matt's episode. And that change is holistic. It's a holistic process.        

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That's the second takeaway from his episode. Is it's again, you can't compartmentalize everything. Yes. You can have a plan to lose weight and clean up your diet. And you need to well, not everyone needs to.        

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I probably do a little bit, but it's holistic.        

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That's how he was able to keep the weight off. I think it's been six years now, actually, this last time. So change is a holistic process, and his journey absolutely underscores. It's just he's so inspiring on Twitter to just he's such a positive uplifting. Just that's why we brought him back for a second episode.        

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And then thirdly is that energy is more valuable than money. Certainly you need money, but Matt Izzo's approach is that energy is really the core of what you want. So that's a pretty powerful message. Our third chapter in the book, Maricella Soberanes, you're talking about somebody who came to the US by herself from Mexico and didn't speak the language, didn't know anyone, and I don't think she had any money, if I recall correctly. Good luck with that.        

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Right? So one of the takeaways from her story, which is just fabulous, it's amazing. She and her husband, now, they probably have, I don't know, 26, 2700 doors, real estate doors. They're big multifamily investors. Some were their LPs, some were their GPS, some they're more active than others.        

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But she went from that, from having nothing, not speaking the language, knowing no one, which I think is a critical piece, to just blowing up financially. And just now they're impacting so many more real estate investors to help grow their wealth as well. So one takeaway from her story was the importance of self investment and taking action. So a lot of people talk about what they want to do. A lot of people talk about, yeah, I should invest in myself.        

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Similar to the Fuquan thing, he invests a lot in himself. And Maricella and her husband invest a ton of money into coaching and programs and getting better themselves and taking action, not just learning, but actually implementing it. Secondly, the power of mentorship and community kind of ties in the first one that I just talked about, that was huge in her story. And then thirdly is abundant thinking and goal setting. She wrote a book called From Scarcity to From Adversity to Abundance Podcast, which is actually how I found her.        

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I'd already named my podcast, but I started looking for great guests for this show and her book popped up and I reached out to her and that's how we connected. So definitely recommend her book. I've read it, and it's a great story of her story and how she was able to make it big from such humble beginnings. And it's an inspiring book for sure. Chris Larson next chapter was based on the interview with Chris Larson, a friend of mine.        

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We're in the same mastermind group that I mentioned earlier, and we talk about the impact of loss and how Chris was really motivated by the loss of both of his parents, which were separate incidents. And then his very close friend, he had a cycling budy who they'd trained together for years. And the passing of his friend was a huge factor in his life. And I think that really motivated him to appreciate the time that we have on Earth. And now he works to honor the lives of those he's lost.        

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The second piece or lesson learned from Chris's story was growth through adversity, which is a similar it's a common theme on the show, right? And so just understanding that adversity, we all have it, we're all going to go through it, and it's here for our growth. It's actually here for us. And he's learned through his adversity that he's able to become a better person, a stronger person through that. And thirdly is just the value of relationships and personal growth.        

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Chris is a great guy with a great network and is constantly investing himself and just making others around him better. So that was a huge takeaway for me from his story. Next up, we have Dan Haberkost. He's a young guy. He's really impressive.        

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A lot about the first big takeaway from his story was overcoming the scarcity mindset. He grew up where in I want to say Ohio could be wrong, but I believe that's right. But in a town where in a family situation where I think money was viewed as people feared money, they they thought they were going to lose it. They they feared being generous or just an overall scarcity mindset. And instead, he was able to switch his mindset to more of an From Adversity to Abundance Podcast mindset, and it enabled him to break the cycle of poverty and start his own business.        

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So now he's a real estate investor, land investor, doing really well for I think he was 26 when we interviewed him. He might be 27 now, but just crushing it. And it's just really one of those just like, switch your mindset. Take action, make it happen. Don't get dragged down.        

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If you need to switch your circumstances, do that. Move to another area. Take control, take ownership of your situation. And so, secondly, with him, the importance of mentorship and surrounding yourself with the right people, like I was just saying, he found a mentor who was I think it was kind of an informal mentor at the time. And Dan kind of latched onto him and served and put his best foot forward.        

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It ended up being a really mutually beneficial relationship. And Dan was able to learn a ton from that guy who knew so much. So, thirdly, just embracing challenges and learning from opportunities as they arrive. So that was a fantastic chapter. Next up, Beth Boissot Kutz.        

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Hopefully I said that right, Beth.        

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She was a fantastic guest, man. I didn't expect actually, I've known and worked with Beth for a few years now, probably five or six years. And so I know her professionally, but I didn't know we were going to get into some of the personal things that we did. And she had a teen pregnancy and then she had a divorce, and she dealt with life threatening illnesses of family members, which I know was extremely painful and challenging. But she does recognize that those challenges were blessings and that all challenges are blessings.        

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And that was a theme throughout the show with her and this chapter of the book. Secondly, just leveraging past experiences. So she had a background in hairdressing art design, and then she went into insurance. And you might say those are all unrelated, but if you read the chapter and you listen to the episode, you can see how Beth's approach of doing the best job with what you're given and the circumstances that you're in can lead to From Adversity to Abundance Podcast in the future. And so you never know how things are going to turn out.        

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But the skills that Beth was developing as a hairdresser ended up paying dividends for her insurance career, which has just blown up incredibly. She and her family are doing very well, extremely well, from what I gather, with their insurance business. So just a fascinating story that I think is pretty relatable for some women out there, and it's just super impressive.        

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Thirdly from Beth was the importance of vision and balance between passion and challenge. So she warned against turning your passion into a profession, I remember because sometimes you can end up hating that passion. So I think she stressed if I recall, she stressed the importance of keeping boundaries between passion and maybe work or challenges.        

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She had a bunch of books. I remember that she was a that was a fun episode, for sure. Next up, Mark Owens. Man, I kid you not. Mark Owens'story was the one that truly was the impetus for my entire podcast and now the book.        

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Mark I interviewed on the Good Deeds Note investing podcast where I was a co host with Chris 70. And Mark just blew me away. Not only is he a really good mean, he grew up in Baltimore, was a drug addict, ended up robbing banks, decades of this stuff, and then turned his life around and became a real estate investor. Took control of his life and has been retired traveling around. I know this summer.        

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He's been traveling with his wife the whole summer because he can. And it was just a fascinating transformation, just incredible. Some takeaways from Mark's story were the power of mindset and self perception. I remember when he was sitting in jail. I don't remember that, but I remember he told me and told all of us about the time period where he was sitting in jail and he read a particular book that just had a huge impact on him as far as understanding the power of your thoughts and the power of your mindset.        

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And that turns in is related to your self perception and how essential it is to see yourself in a positive light and reframing your perception instead of focusing on failures, celebrating accomplishments, and that can significantly impact the trajectory of your life. Secondly, from Mark we learned that learning and growing despite adverse circumstances is still possible and very know he was learning and growing during. And so, you know, if he can do it in prison, why can't we do it outside of prison? And then redemption and gratitude. So there was a lot of humility in Mark's story and a lot of just the human element, the personal touch.        

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And he's just so grateful for his life. And he talks about how reaching out to he reached out to people to ask for forgiveness decades later after he'd done something to them and just how much that meant to him.        

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Next up, we have Matt Four. Matt's a cool dude. Matt's a friend of mine. I've interviewed him a couple of times also in the Good Deeds show. And I was one of the first guests on Matt's podcast, which is called Ice Cream with Investors, which is a fun show you should check out.        

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But from Matt's story, we learned about turning counteradvantages into strengths. So Matt had a sister who was mentally disabled, and then she passed away. And then Matt also struggles, struggled with dyslexia and growing up, school was not easy for him and reading wasn't easy. And I think that was just somehow he was able to turn that into a strength. And I know now he's an avid reader and just an awesome guy.        

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He's always focused on personal growth and taking control and ownership of your financial situation. His podcast is about real estate investing and taking control of your financial future, which is awesome. Number two, which ties into this was financial Freedom facilitates intentional living. So Matt's focus really is about intentionality and being very purposeful with your time and energy and how you live your life.        

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One of the setbacks he had was he was actually owed a significant bonus check at his W Two.        

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He's told me how much, but I can't say it would have changed his life significantly, and the company didn't give it to him. So he went from expecting a massive bonus check to pennies, and that motivated him and made a huge impact on his decision that he can't rely on a job and he's got to take control of his situation. He still has a job, by the way, so that's not me. Bashing having a W Two, entrepreneurship is not for everyone, but taking ownership of your financial situation and the rest of your life should be for everyone.        

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Lastly, from Matt's story, we learned about the importance of empathy and meeting people where they are. I'm guessing a lot of that came from dealing with his sister growing up and people who were disadvantaged. But he's just a great guy who will meet you where, you know, emotionally, physically, intellectually, and he's all about relationships you can so really, really a moving episode and an awesome chapter in the book. Next up, we had David Dodge. He lost both of his parents at an early age, and then he ended up landing in jail and was put on house arrest for quite some time.        

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And through that, he learned that adversity can lead to transformation and success. He also has learned that consistent, persistent action is the formula for success. He now, from his rental properties, I know he's a real estate guy in the St. Louis area. If I recall, he was using the Burr method, which a lot of you may be familiar with, which I've used as well.        

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That's how he got things rolling. But he's very familiar with wholesaling burr, long term rentals, all kinds of mostly single family rental, real estate investing, and he's just killing it now. So he's really turned things around, and it's through consistent, persistent action, and that's really what's been the foundation for his investing journey. And then lastly from him was the power of learning and self education. So we definitely dive into how he started reading books and started because of his house arrest and how things went with the law, with the judicial system, he kind of hit rock bottom and started realizing he needed to invest in himself, start learning, start self educating, and that's really what turned him around.        

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Next up, we have Brent Bowers. Brent is a former military officer like me, and I know he had some financial trouble and went through a divorce. And so his is pretty relatable for a lot of these. Some of the guests, we have incredible stories, like Mark Owens, for example, where we've had guests where they've wrecked a plane and never should have lived, 6% chance of survival from cancer, things like that, where maybe some of us can't relate to those stories. Brent's story is pretty relatable, and he's a great guy.        

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He speaks to the power of resilience and adaptability and just always figuring a way to get through things and figure things out. He went from real estate to military service and then back to real estate. He has an interesting path that he's taken, and now he's kind of mostly focused on land investing, which is cool. Secondly from Brent was the importance of personal development, development and mindset. And, you know, he invested significantly in personal growth motivational tapes, if you remember, tapes, and decided to embrace the From Adversity to Abundance Podcast mindset, which just has led to From Adversity to Abundance Podcast for him.        

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So thirdly From Brent was innovative and persistent. Hustle can lead to financial freedom. He is definitely a hustler, that's for sure. Not afraid to work hard. So always charging forward.        

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He has the rhino on the wall behind him in the podcast if you watch it on YouTube or if you watch his podcast as well, because his philosophy of always charging forward to achieve success. And then our last chapter in the book is based on the podcast episode I did with Emma Powell, where I interviewed Emma, and she's a wife, homeschooler of six, and a commercial real estate investor in Utah. A lot of what we focused on with Emma was we talked about the instability of her financial situation from her husband's W Two. I think he was laid off a couple of times, and that really kind of prompted her to take control of their financial situation. I know.        

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Not that she did it all by herself. I know she and her husband work together to take control of their financial future, but they realize they can't just rely on his single W Two income. And she also talked about health challenges and the passing of her sister's teenage son.        

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I might have had some other guests get a little choked up on the show, but she was the first one to truly cry on the you know, that's not my goal, but we're not afraid to talk about real issues, and I do appreciate Emma being vulnerable. She talks about her son's autism, which I can relate to with my son. Maybe one of these days, I'll do an episode talking a little bit more about, you know, the mental health situation that may come out of that may be related to being on the spectrum. But Emma talks a lot about the power of prioritizing and focusing on what you can control. Right.        

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Can't control if your husband gets laid off. So she switched to what can I control? Well, she also talks about the power of passive investing. So what she realized is what? She didn't want to be this crazy, busy entrepreneur.        

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I can't say I blame her. But she wanted to put their money to work, and she wanted to encourage others to do the same so that you could have time freedom. She and her family can have time freedom, and I know they just spent the entire summer traveling which is awesome. So those were three of the takeaways from Emma. The power of prioritizing, focusing on what you can control, and the power of passive investing, among others.        

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I know she talked about the big rocks, little rocks analogy, which helps when you're talking about prioritizing. So that's kind of the overview of the book. Now, before you say I just ruined the whole book for you, I didn't. I mean, there's more in the book than what I just talked about. For sure.         

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There's a ton more in the book. I just glossed over some of my own takeaways from these episodes that we did and I'm trying to reach more people and impact more people in a positive way. And like I said, some people don't listen to podcasts or they've never heard of my podcast. And a lot of people read books. So there are a lot of podcasts out there.        

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There are a lot of books out there now. But our thought was if we can put this together in a written format and inspire more people, then it's worth it, right? We definitely took some time and some money to put the book together. It's not a sob story for me, but I'd greatly appreciate it if you could buy some copies. Christmas is coming up.        

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Buy some copies for your friends and family.        

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Again, maybe your teenage kid doesn't listen to podcasts. Hand them the book.        

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Someone else is going to have to do that for my kids. If I hand it to them, they're definitely not going to read it. But I appreciate you all. Check out our website. You can get the book at our website, adversitytoFrom Adversity to Abundance Podcast.com the number two.        

00:28:02
            

It will also be on Amazon. And check out all of our other podcast episodes. The show has grown significantly, our listener base, our downloads, which is awesome. Truth be told, I haven't really monetized the show in any way. Been putting a lot of time and energy into it.        

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It's kind of been a passion project. I love it. But it does take a lot of time and energy and work. But if you have suggestions for the show, suggestions for guests, suggestions for format, what you'd like to hear, what's working, what's not working. Doesn't mean I'm going to take everyone's suggestions, but we definitely want to encourage more listener interaction.        

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And I want to know what's working, what's not working, what's resonating with everyone, what you enjoy. Should the episodes be shorter, longer, more solo episodes? Certain questions you think should be asked or not asked, or more frequency of publication, maybe once a week isn't enough. Definitely open to suggestions, so please reach out. My email address is batemanjames@labradorlending.com, or you can contact us through adversity twoFrom Adversity to Abundance Podcast.com.        

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Yeah, so this has been awesome. I've enjoyed this journey and we're looking forward to pumping out a lot more impactful, inspiring content. Thanks everyone. Bye.