Chapter IV: "Finding the Silver Lining in Loss" with Chris Larsen
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Chris Larsen is one of the entrepreneurs featured in Jamie Bateman’s Book - From Adversity to Abundance: Inspiring stories of Mental, Physical, and Financial Transformation. This is a republished episode (originally released on June 21, 2022) Episode 12 How Losing Loved Ones Early Propelled Real Estate Investor Chris Larsen to an Abundant, Impactful Life
You can buy Jamie’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGTWJY1D?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860
Chris Larsen, the founder of Next Level Income, is an esteemed figure in the real estate investment domain, boasting a career spanning over 15 years. During this time, Larsen has strategically ventured into multifamily properties, self-storage units, and car washes, demonstrating a versatile investment portfolio. His journey is marked by personal adversity, including the loss of both parents and his closest friend, which has significantly influenced his approach to life and financial success. With a focus on resilience and transparency, Larsen shares his remarkable journey, offering profound insights into transforming hardship into prosperity. His dedication to facilitating financial independence for others, combined with his own compelling narrative, positions him as a prominent and influential voice in the real estate investment community.
"The earlier in life that you face a challenge, the stronger you are in the latter part of your life." - Chris Larsen
"Begin your day with a gratitude practice and just think about what you're grateful for. No matter what you're going through today in your life this year, remember, there's always somebody out there that's in a worse position." - Chris Larsen
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Speaker 0
Hey, everyone. This is Jamie Bateman. Real quickly, I wanted to share with you something, that's been pivotal in the growth and success of my businesses, and that is my partnership with Haven Financial Services. I've been working with Haven for over a year now. Christine Valdez was on episode seventy of this podcast. So go check that out if you wanna hear her story. It was a fantastic personal story for sure. But Haven has been awesome. They provide me with monthly reports that are super clear and discernible, and it that provides me with clarity and focus so that I can do what I do best, which is running my businesses, not preparing financial reports. Again, if you're in the market for top notch financial service company, or if you just wanna check one out, go to w w w dot jamie bateman slash haven and check out Haven Financial Services. Again, that's jamie bateman slash haven. Can't recommend them enough. Christine and her team have been fantastic. So I definitely recommend you check out Haven Financial Services at w w w dot jamie bateman forward slash haven. Let's get back to the show. On this episode of the from adversity to abundance podcast, I interviewed Chris Larson of Next Level Income. Chris is, friend of a friend kinda thing. I've become friends with, Matt Fore who was on episode four, And, Matt is pretty close with Chris Larson. And so that's how we got connected. But Chris has, he really gets vulnerable, and I really appreciate that. On this episode, we talk about the death of his father, the death of his mother, and the death of his best friend. And when I say best friend, it sounds like, you know, that's they were extremely close. Like, the kind of friendship almost like just brothers where you just can't even, you know, replicate that with someone else. And so, we spend a good bit of time focusing on that adversity, And then we kinda pivot to how he got to where he is today, which is he's a real estate investor. He's an educator. He runs with business partners. He runs multiple funds. He they focus on multifamily. I believe it's multiple different funds, but they purchase multifamily assets, self storage, car washes. And, you know, they operate at a very high level, no pun intended, with the next level income. He also does use a version of infinite banking. We didn't talk too much about that, but he's a a very successful guy, financially. And we get to his why for that. Ton of really inspirational material is is touched on here. And we, you know, we cover a lot of ground. The human element is front and center with this one. And, and again, it's it it really boils down to he just appreciates the value of time and the limited amount of time that we have on this earth. And, you know, the more resources that, one can have access to, the the greater the impact that person can have. And so just very inspiring. You know, Chris didn't come from a ton of money, and he's just been a hustler his whole life, you can tell, and, was in the medical field before and now has been in real estate, I think, for the last fifteen years, something like that. So I really enjoyed this episode. And, again, Chris is he's got his own podcast. He's got a big following. So I do appreciate him taking the time out to chat with us, you know, especially since this, we're just getting this thing launched. And, but this is the easy ideal guest. Went through a ton of adversity. Used that adversity to get to a point of, you know, an abundance mentality, and he's definitely living an abundant life now. So, I know you're gonna like this one. Speaker 1
Inspiring stories of real people overcoming incredible odds to live life to the fullest. We are all guaranteed to face hardships. How will we handle the adversity? Join us to be moved by everyday people who have turned poverty into prosperity and weakness into wealth. Be inspired as these relatable heroes get vulnerable, and former counterintelligence investigator, Jamie Bateman, puts his interviewing skills to the test. Restore your faith in humanity as you experience true Cinderella stories of average people, turning surreal struggle and deep despair into booming businesses and financial fortune. Take ownership of the life you are destined to live and turn your adversity into abundance. Speaker 0
Welcome everybody to another episode of From Adversity to Abundance podcast. I am your host, Jamie Bateman, and I'm super excited today as I'm joined by Chris Larson of Next Level Income. Chris, how are you doing today? Speaker 2
Jamie, I'm doing great. Speaker 0
Awesome. So I know you, we're somewhat familiar with each other. I know you have your own podcast, and you have a bunch of, you know, investments. You have several funds, I think, that you run, and you have a lot going on. I know you're a busy guy. So, again, I really do appreciate you taking the the time out of your busy schedule to chat with us. For those listeners who are not familiar with you, why don't you give us kind of a high level overview of who you are today and what you have going on? Speaker 2
Yeah. Thank you for that. Look. I love this podcast because one of the big things that I talk about is the abundance mindset, and it it's so important. It's the number one thing I tell people that they can do is surround themselves with people with the abundance mindset versus scarcity. You have to eliminate those people from your life, and you really have to be ruthless, unfortunately, when it comes to that, of spending time around the right people. And, also, if you're listening today, you can grab a copy of my book. I'll send you a free copy, next level income dot com. Just click on the book link, and it talks a lot about the things that we're gonna talk about today, Jamie. But, yeah, today, we have next level income. We focus on two things. Number one is education, helping people become financially independent and giving them the resources to do it. And then, yeah, we also have investment opportunities for investors, and we work mostly with accredited investors. And what we do is we search for institutional quality assets. We're looking for, you know, hundred plus actually, more like two to three hundred unit apartment complexes at this point, hotels, self storage units, mobile home parks. We started buying car washes this year after building out a team for car washes actually just in Nashville, right around the corner from our friend, Matt, who I believe is on Yeah. Episode of your podcast here recently. Speaker 0
Four. Matt four. Speaker 2
Yeah. Matt four, episode four. Can't have a little shout out to you there, buddy. And, fascinating industry that's, very straightforward, but really has a lot of opportunities going forward. So, yeah, we got a lot of different things that we've done and we're doing today. And, yeah, I'm excited to talk about all that as well as, kinda what brought me here. Speaker 0
Yeah. No. That's awesome. I mean, seeing, I saw a couple of things in in the headlines today as far as, the stock market, and I don't know. I'm I'm not not happy about it, but, you know, I'm in I'm in real estate and notes, mortgage notes, and, you know, I think, if nothing else, people are gonna be looking for something else that may be a little more stable and recession resistant. So I would guess that, you're in some pretty good, asset classes there and, you know, looking looking pretty good going forward. As far as your backstory, let's get into that a little bit. I've heard you on a couple of other podcasts, and, again, I know you have a a good following with your own show as well. But, you know, refresh my memory and for the listeners unfamiliar with you. If you don't mind, dive into some of the adversity you've been through. And, again, for for the listeners out there, this is not we're not trying to, you know, pry or get into topics that the guest is uncomfortable with. I'm not a therapist, you know, but but the reality is Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. That's what I thought we were Speaker 2
I thought that's what we're doing today. Speaker 0
That's after this. Well, you know, I'll just take some training online real fast and send you send you a bill. But no. Yeah. You know, the the fact is we all have we all have adversity we go through. It just takes on different different forms, and, we talked a little bit about this, last week. I think it was, You know? And and everybody's story is different. Everyone's born into a different situation, different circumstances. So why don't you tell the listeners kind of some of the hardships that that you've faced in your life? Speaker 2
Yeah. I just look. I just finished up lunch with, with a friend, investor, and they they were looking at my book. And they said, man, I really you know, I'm sorry you lost both your parents. So, and I said, you know, we all have challenges that we've been through in our own lives, and, you know, it's it's different for all of us. But I have kind of a different, take on this, Jamie. And I think, you know, look. If you're if you're listening to a show like this, maybe you already know it yourself. But I think the earlier in life that you face a challenge, the stronger you are in the latter part of your life. I think that's that's true. And there's actually some research out research out there that shows children that have lost parents end up being more successful later on in life. And it's it's an uncomfortable reality. It's not one you'd but I lost my father when I was five years old. He was only forty one. I'm not not too far from that past that just here a couple years ago. My mother passed away ten years ago, but the biggest impact in between those two is my best friend died when we were in college. And he was like a brother to me. He was my trading partner. He was my roommate. He's the kind of person that, you know, you just look at and you know what you're thinking and you laugh at you laugh at the same things, but you're the only two people in the room laughing because nothing's been said, but you guys just you just know. You know? It was, yeah, and, I mean, we spent a lot of time together on the bike training, traveling to races. Yeah. It was it was very impactful, raced bicycles. I did that for about twenty years. And I raced for another year, and I came out the other side. And I just thought, like, what am I doing? You know, I'm meant for more than this. And that's really the start of my journey into the financial space because I said, well, I need to live life to the fullest, and I need to honor the life that my friend Chris, his name was Chris as well Mhmm. Didn't have a chance to live. And to do that, Jamie, you need financial resources in this world. So Sure. You know, I I I went to look. I will not I'm open. Like I said, I'm an open book here. I've been to I've been to therapy. I've explored these issues. Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
How it affects my current relationships. And I think one thing that's interesting, and this might not be what we're talking about here today. But It's Speaker 0
all good. Speaker 2
Look. We hire coaches. Like, we hire real estate coaches. We have, trainers. Like, you know, Michael Jordan had a trainer in addition to, you know, his coaches. We we do this in every area of our life. Yeah. When it comes to things like relationships, so many people shy away from it. Speaker 0
Yeah. No. And the reason I'm chuckling is my wife and I were literally talking about this last night on this exact topic. Yeah. But, yeah. And and I do wanna get back to that. So and, again, not trying to drill down too too far into painful topics, but Bring it on. Either with your parents or or with your friend your best friend, Chris, speak a little more about that as far as just kind of what were the causes of death or what was kind of the surrounding situation at the time and your mindset at at the time. Speaker 2
Yeah. It was, so my father was a pilot. He actually died in a plane crash. He had a single engine plane, and he's from Wisconsin. And I was actually supposed to be with him on that plane. And he was flying up to Wisconsin to meet, my mother, my sister, and and myself in Green Bay, which is where the airport is there. And he was coming in around dusk, and his engine failed about ten miles out from shore. And if if if anybody has been to Lake Michigan or flown over, you know, it's like the ocean. I mean Mhmm. It's miles wide. It's it's, you know, you know, super deep. Mhmm. You know, hundreds of feet deep. And, yeah, they they, they weren't able to find him, not in a reasonable amount of time. So that was really tough on my mom. My mom, she passed away from cancer. Fallopian tube cancer, which is very insidious because most times it's not found until stage four, which is, when they found it with her. So we were fortunate we had had some time to spend with her, and she got to meet my oldest son who's now twelve. But my friend Chris died very abruptly. He had a brain hemorrhage, basically aneurysm, in the back of his brain, and I was there. I was there that day. I was went to the hospital, and I was the one that identified him in the hospital. And it's it's really hard when somebody's ripped ripped from you like that. And it's painful to watch their family, you know, go through it and do that. Speaker 0
So what were you what were your thoughts at the time? What was going I mean, I know you've had time to reflect, obviously, now. And so, you may look at it a little bit differently now than you did at the time. What was it like at the time? Speaker 2
Yeah. I'm gonna kinda go in reverse order here Sure. Of, kind of the levels of pain that that I experienced with each one. And my father, I was too young to really understand. You know? Like, my my great aunt would tell me she's like, oh, yeah. When I see my dad again. And, and I would, you know, I, was raised going to church. We we go to church three times a week for choir and youth service, and, you know, I talked about my father being with Jesus, and that was very comforting for me. My mother, we had some unresolved issues when she passed away, but having, you know, a couple years to spend with her and and have some conversations with her, it's it's a lot different when you when you have that, you you know, when you have that, kind of a knowledge that someone might not be with you. Speaker 0
Sure. Yeah. A warning or, you know, some time to prepare, I guess. Speaker 2
Yeah. But, it's it's hard when somebody like that is, that you have, you know, a family relationship with, a very strong emotional relationship with. Mhmm. The things that weren't resolved weren't resolved, not by my choice. They were Mhmm. Because she wasn't able to deal with those in in her Yeah. You know, her situation. And and that's that's unfortunate, you know, to have somebody that that goes through that. But for me, you know, having your friend, I don't think I've ever I'll ever fully recover from that. I think in you know, it it definitely inexorably changed me because you never wanna feel that pain again Mhmm. When somebody's pulled away from you. So, you know, it's hard to really develop deep relationships after you've been hurt so deeply. And peep look. If you're listening, you know, people whether you're in a relationship or somebody you break up with somebody or you're divorced or, you know, somebody dies, you know, we wanna protect ourselves. Right? Mhmm. So it's, you know, I think I'm I'm I'm pretty good at having relationships and doing that. But at the same time, you know, it's it's painful. And it's also hard when you experience that depth of a relationship with somebody, and it's really not possible to experience that again. What I mean is we were we were friends through high school Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
And during very formative parts of our lives. Mhmm. And I won't ever be able to have that, you know, that bond with somebody again. Speaker 0
Yeah. Speaker 2
But the flip side is I'm very grateful for the time I got to spend Mhmm. You know, with with all those people in my life. Speaker 0
No. I appreciate you getting vulnerable there. I mean, it's not easy to talk about and relive and, but so, yeah, with with your friend, Chris, it's like, yeah, not only did he pass, but you you're not like you said, you're not gonna be able to replicate or duplicate that. And so there's almost like a double you know? I don't know. It's a double hardship there, so that's that's really, really tough. And, again, I don't we're glossing over this. Like, it's no big deal, but it's I appreciate that. So then how did you, you started to get into it a little bit. What what did your how did you change your mindset, or how did you approach kind of the your future from there? Speaker 2
Yeah. So this is where this is where you look at kind of the, there's there's two way. I'm gonna say the first way I'm gonna say it, it it might it might sound callous, but then I'll explain. So this is where, like, the silver lining comes in. And what I mean is if you ever lost somebody, I'm sure the last thing that person wants is for you to go through the rest of your life and and and really put the brakes on anything or live less of a life because you're you're burdened by that or not having that person in in your life. Anybody that loves you wants you to go and experience life to the fullest. And a lot of my friends say I'm lucky, and I don't have to go into details. But I've had I've had some good fortune in my life. Just look things that have happened, things that are kinda unusual. And I say that's because I have a lot of people watching out for me because they want me they're looking down. They want me to be successful. And I believe that. I feel like I have a positive energy, but at the same time, I feel like it's my duty to do all these things. It's my duty to to live like this. So, you know, the the I said, you know, I said silver lining. But when you lose somebody and you realize that life is finite, especially as a young person. So, Jamie, I crossed forty one years old, and I achieved all these things in my life. And I realized my father was forty one when he died. And I know that in the back of my head, I had this this feeling of fatality that, you know, I had there was things I had to get done. So when you know that, the time value of money has I'm sorry. The, the value of time Right. Has has time on the bottom of the equation. So I'm an engineer by training. Yeah. Think of it that way. When you're young, you think you're gonna live forever. You're gonna live forever, and that number on the bottom is infinity. The value is zero. Right? Speaker 0
Right. Speaker 2
As soon as you put a value or is yes. As soon as you put an actual value on that time, whether you're gonna live ten days or ten thousand days or, you know, fifty thousand days, whatever that number is, the value of your time goes up exponentially. Sure. And that's what I think happens subconsciously in my mind. And as soon as really, once you know, when I was an adult and Chris passed away Mhmm. I thought, hang on a second. I got I got stuff to do. Mhmm. Like, I got stuff to do. I'm a serious person. I'm gonna get things done. And, you know, some people are like, why do you work so hard? My neighbor was like, if you don't have to work anymore, why do you still work? Yeah. Like, one, I enjoy it, and it energizes me. Yeah. And two, it's my duty. I have an impact that I'm here to make on this planet. Speaker 0
Right. It's not all it's not all about you to collect as many cool toys as you can or whatever and, you know, nothing wrong with cool toys. I'm not That's right. But, but it's bigger than yourself is is what it sounds like. Speaker 2
Absolutely. Yeah. And and look. Also, again, like, it's being on Earth and being successful, you know, and having that abundance mindset means you get to enjoy the things that you experience. Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
You know? So I I flew to Mexico for a meeting. I bought a first class ticket. I really enjoyed it. And you know what? I really enjoyed the conversation with the gentleman, that I that I sat next to on the plane. And that you know, it's it's fun it's fun to do things like that or, you know, if people buy nice cars, you know, whatever you're into. You know? But it's about the experiences and enjoying that, not feeling guilty, you know, because of your success necessarily. Speaker 0
Yeah. So then talk about kinda your your business a little bit and and, you know, do you come from money, or how has your financial picture changed over the years? Speaker 2
Yeah. So, you know, it's funny. I was in college, and, I was dating this girl. And I had a, I had a used car. It was a Honda Accord. It was nice, but it wasn't, like, anything amazing. Speaker 0
It was Speaker 2
a stick shift. It had, like, I think, forty thousand miles on it when I bought it. You know? Again, it's a nice car, but it wasn't super expensive or anything. And I I paid for it with my own money. Actually, I took a loan out from my grandfather, and I paid him back monthly. So it's a it's a car loan. Just happened to be to my to from my grandfather because I didn't have Shredder at the time. So, I I this girl sits in my car, and she's like, oh, it must be nice to have parents to buy you such Speaker 0
a nice car. Speaker 2
And I didn't kick her out of the car, but that was the last time we went on a date. Because having somebody make that assumption, you know, I had a loft business. I bought loft beds. I had, I had, I work I sold Herbalife. I raced my bike and made money when I raced my bike. I had all these things I opened at a gym. So I'd open the gym at four forty five in the morning. You know? So it's like, okay. I don't need you to, you know, make this assumption about me. And, look, I was raised very middle class Mhmm. You know, after my father passed away. It was my grandmother made my clothes. I mean, we ate vegetables out of cans. We hardly ever went on vacation. I mean, I never I never left the country until I met my wife who's from Canada. I mean, it's look. I had a very a very comfortable yet, very modest upbringing. So, you know, just to kinda translate that into where we are today. I bought my first property in Blacksburg, Virginia where I went to college with three thousand dollars. And my mother did cosign on a loan for me. So not that my parents never gave me anything or didn't help me on the journey, but a ninety thousand dollar townhouse and having your mom cosign on the loan, that was that was a nice kick start. Now the flip side is, I mean, I had to, like, hitchhike basically, like, with my from my right. I have the hitch rides from my friends when I was racing my bicycle because my parents wouldn't didn't really support me. I bought my first bike with my own money from my paper route that I had. They would help me if I requested it, but they wouldn't give it. I flew to the national championships. They didn't come with me. And I slept on the floor of a friend's hotel room, and I got them to drive me to the race. So the flip side of all that, you know, which that's light adversity, like, in the stuff that we've been talking about. Yeah. But what it taught me was you've gotta go out, Chris, and make your own luck. Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
You've gotta you've gotta decide what you want in your life for yourself. Figure out how to get it. I was out getting sponsors for our cycling team to pay for our clothing and our races and all these things at fifteen years old. So you think that experience of talking to people to, quote, unquote, invest in our cycling team didn't help me today when I talked to investors about investing in our deals? That was amazing. But at the time, I sure I sure was jealous of those kids that were showing up in their brand new Volkswagens with their five thousand dollar bikes on the car, sometimes two or three bikes with carbon wheels. And, you know, it took me three years to buy that stuff from saving up money and shoveling driveways and snow and all that. Speaker 0
So it's I mean, could you have grown up in in more poverty than you did? Yes. I mean, it sounds like you, you know, had a relatively comfortable life like you said. But but did you did do did you learn and appreciate the value of a dollar? Absolutely. And it sounds like you've been a, kind of a hustler, for quite some time. So Yeah. Yeah. That's that's really good. Speaker 2
Yeah. And I think, you know, it was for for me, it was kind of a sweet spot, Jamie, because I had enough so that I had the ability to, you know, to to, have up like, the Speaker 0
believe that anyone is truly self made. Speaker 2
Sure. You Speaker 0
know? So, you know, we can get into you know, you can argue that all day long and well, you know, so did you have certain advantages? Of course. I mean, we all do. Speaker 2
And that's and and that's where, if I may, I think this is really this is like this probably is the most important point I'd like to make today. Speaker 0
Okay. Speaker 2
So a lot of people like that girl I dated in college. Right? Mhmm. You look at somebody and you make an assumption about somebody. Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
You don't know what brought them to that place. Mhmm. If you knew that losing a parent increased your chances of success in your life, would you wish that on somebody? So whenever you look at somebody, if they're successful, you know, if you're out there and, you know, there's there's the the politicians unfortunately play this game where they say, oh, you can't you know, you don't have the same advantages of this person or we need to, you know, help these people out. You have to be very careful. Mhmm. You have to be very careful because it's like the wild animal that you find, and you say, well, I'm gonna help this wild animal. And you help it out, and sometimes you can't that animal won't ever be accepted Mhmm. It's in its native environment anymore. Speaker 0
Yeah. Speaker 2
Yeah. So we have to be careful with the assumptions we make. We have to always question the assumptions. Speaker 0
Right. And Speaker 2
we have to make sure, in my opinion, that we provide as many opportunities as possible, but be careful not to blunt the motivation and the full potential of individuals by by doing something or taking something from from one group or giving it to another group. That's we gotta be very careful Speaker 0
about these Speaker 2
things. Speaker 0
Yeah. And I think it's also just a good reminder, like you said, that you don't wanna make assumptions about people's lives. Like, my my wife, they grew up with some money, and she she won't want me to go into too much detail. But, so there were people kind of, like, back, you know, in school and things that would make assumptions. Oh, must be nice. Must be nice to have all this money. Well and this is where I'm not gonna go into detail, but they they had a lot of adversity growing up as well from a, you know, family perspective. And so, would she have traded the money that they had growing up, you know, for not having to experience what she had to? Absolutely. In a heartbeat. I mean, she you know? So but from the outside, oh, must be nice. And, so I just think that's where it gets to look. I can't control how you were born or what your circumstances. I mean, we all just have to do the best we can with with what we were given. Absolutely. Speaker 2
And and, look, I was, look, I was blessed with a lot of talent in different areas. I was not blessed in other areas and you know? And but we all we all have an opportunity and, you know, I think I've said it earlier. You know? But it is my duty in my mind to get to get the most out of the life that I've been given. Speaker 0
And that's Well, and that's Speaker 2
what I tried to do. Speaker 0
You said impact too. So it's it's, you know, the more let's be honest. The more money you can make, the more resources you have at your fingertips, the more of a positive impact you can make in the world. So, I think that's important as well. So how did you before we get into some, kind of rapid fire questions, how did you get into, you know, real estate and self storage and car washes? You talked a little bit about it, but how did you make that transition into where you are today? Speaker 2
Yeah. So I talk I talk in my book a lot about why and how I went from, you know, just buying single family rentals and and doing those starting at twenty one, two in my thirties. And I I say, hey. Read my book. Go to our website. Don't spend fifteen years like I did making mistakes. Like, take the shortcut. Right? Mhmm. Like, you can learn in fifteen minutes or maybe, you know, fifteen months what it took me fifteen years to do. But we transitioned to commercial real estate, Jamie, because it's scalable. The returns were better, and, you know, that's a lot less hassle. You know, multifamily, I call it the holy grail in my book. Now multifamily had the best year ever in history last year in twenty twenty one. Amazing year. There's a lot of other great areas in commercial real estate out there. We we've moved from older, you know, seventies and eighties built value add properties to newer class b plus and and a value add properties. Like, we're buying a deal right now in Savannah, Georgia, which was built in twenty sixteen. We're putting about twelve thousand dollars a door into that So it's always been in my mind to add those back into the portfolio, which we've done. They're complementary. They're they're different. There's some similarities. But, really, my whole strategy and our group strategy is around the value add model, which I call the Warren Buffett strategy. So we're looking for businesses or real estate that has the opportunity to improve the value, improve the net operating income in a controllable fashion so we can increase the value of that property. But I also like cash flow properties. So you take cash flow plus value add plus some of our other rules like, you know, low low loan to value. You add all those together, and all of these all of these areas make good sense. Mhmm. Because cap rates and what's happened, you know, we've expanded our net a little bit and considered other things that are Mhmm. You know, a little bit more work. Like car washes, we had to build out a team, to buy those, but there's more opportunity because there's a lot more inefficiencies out there. Speaker 0
That makes sense. Yeah. We've, expanded our buy box, if you will, in the last few years ourselves just because deals are harder to find, and and there's a lot of money out there chasing yield and chasing returns. That's right. Makes makes a lot of sense. And you have, what, a couple other partners you work with. Is that right? Speaker 2
Yeah. I have three main partners that I work with Okay. Gotcha. In in most of those spaces. Yep. And I look. I do some smaller projects. I got a development I'm doing here, just outside of Asheville. Yeah. You know, my wife's an architect. We're working together on that. So there's some other little things I do to, to to scratch my creative itch, if you will, in the real estate space. Speaker 0
Cool. Alright. Well, I'm gonna fire off some questions, and we'll see where it goes. Speaker 2
Bring it on. Speaker 0
What do people misunderstand about you? Speaker 2
Well, I already told the story about the car being given. So Yeah. Right. No. So, I aside from that, I think, you know, this isn't as deep as some of the conversations we've had. But a lot of people say to me, hey, Chris. When did you start investing in real estate? You know, this is people that know me in the medical device space. What I tell them is I've actually always been an investor. When I bought my property at twenty one, I wanted to be investor. I ran out of money, though, Jamie, because like I said, I didn't have a bunch of family money, Speaker 0
So I had Speaker 2
to go make money in the space. So a lot of people assume that I became a real estate investor after I was a professional, after I was a sales professional. The truth is I did that out of necessity to be an investor. Speaker 0
Interesting. That's a good that's a good one. So you weren't an overnight success. Speaker 2
I I say I say real estate is get rich slow. So Absolutely. Overnight success built built, one sixteen day at a time and one one on call night in the hospital at the time. Speaker 0
So let's see. What was one of your biggest failures or however you wanna frame that, something that you wish you could go back and change a decision you made or an action you took or something that maybe you wish you could redo. Yeah. Speaker 2
I mean, it's easy it's easy to say, hey. Everything's worked out great. You know? Like, here's the plan. But the fact of the matter is it took me way too long. Like, if I knew what I knew today Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
It wouldn't have taken me fifteen years. You know? It would have taken me maybe five years, you know, to get where I was. So I I made a lot of mistakes. I didn't sell properties as fast as I I would have, you know, leading up to two thousand eight. I actually started to list properties for sale, but I I didn't quite time the market just right. So I think, you know, we're we're getting to a similar point in the market cycle where we have to be careful. And, you know, I think that what I would do going forward or what I am doing going forward is, you know, lock profits in, you know, stay conservative. If you can make money every day and you can get a little richer every day and don't take steps back, that's what the ultra rich do. That's what family offices do. Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
That's what you know, avoid those setbacks. Sure. Speaker 0
Yeah. I know you, I did read I read most of your book. I think, yeah, it's really good. I gotta finish it up, but, I think you talk about infinite banking, and I do some of that as well. Speaker 2
So Absolutely. Yeah. That's I would have started doing that in a much, much bigger way. Speaker 0
Yeah. Speaker 2
It took me years. I was actually very upset with my agent when I found out that he knew what I was doing and didn't advise me on it. So that's why we put together our educational materials. That's on our banking link on our website that people can check out. Speaker 0
Yeah. That's one thing I would definitely do myself. Start that start our policies a lot a lot earlier. Amen. Speaker 2
Amen to that. Speaker 0
Let's see. If you could have coffee with any historical figure, who would it be? Who would it be and why? If you Speaker 2
drink coffee. I I do drink coffee. Let's see. Historical figure. I would I would pick one of the founding fathers, and Right. I I won't limit it, but I would pick one of the founding fathers. And the reason is there's a lot of debate today, you know, and, you know, we're there's some supreme court stuff, and it it doesn't really matter which side you fall on. But I would be very curious to see what their perspective was on the future because you have a lot of people that are like, oh, the constitution needs to be changed. You know? These old guys had figured this out, you know, three hundred years ago, didn't didn't really know. Speaker 0
Are they still relevant? Like, Speaker 2
it Right. This is still wrong. I think, you know, I think it'd be really interesting to get the perspective, you know, where they were at that time because I I believe that America is the greatest country on the planet, and we're just very fortunate to be where we are. Speaker 0
We're starting to take a lot of things for granted, I think. Yeah. Yeah. That question's kinda like a Matt Forrest ice cream question, I guess. But Speaker 2
Yeah. Yeah. Speaker 0
And so let's see. If you were given actually, let's let's go with this one. If you had to write another book, what would it be about? Speaker 2
Well, we just came out with a book on infinite banking. So it's actually let me see if I got a if anybody's watching here. And if you email me, I'll I'll send a copy to you for free since it's not officially launched yet. But it's called money insights for sales professionals. And what it is, it is a summary, and this is a very short book. So my book's about a hundred pages. This is less than fifty. It and it's written, by myself and my partners, crafted the the first version, but it's about the specific strategy that I've been using to, use life insurance as a funnel to Mhmm. Invest in cash flow producing properties. So that's Speaker 0
So let's see. What's a challenge that you're facing in your business right now? Business or life, however you wanna run with it. Speaker 2
Well, do we wanna talk about the the issues I'm facing as a parent dealing with my children? No. Let's not talk about that. We'll Speaker 0
we'll do it at second episode. Speaker 2
Therapy session. Speaker 0
There you go. Yeah. Speaker 2
No. No. I am. Look. Having kids, if if you're listening, you know. Like, it's it's the most amazing thing. And, also, some days, I'm just like, I don't know if I'm I don't know if this child is gonna make it for the rest of the day in my hands. Speaker 0
Yes. We have we have two kids, and it's I mean, it is super challenging. Speaker 2
Yeah. But it's listen. It's a it's a it's a learning experiment or a learning experience, I should say. And it's somewhat of an experiment too. Experiment. Yeah. Indeed. But it makes you you have to be a better person. Right? Yeah. Children force you to analyze your assumptions and your actions and and become, you know, more rational and better. But Yeah. When it comes to my business, scaling. So how do you scale? And, I mean, just, you know, like, I I was talking to my coach, the past two weeks here, and we're going through my schedule and everything. He's like, you're doing everything right. Basically, like, you're getting the you're just stretched. Like so bringing on the right people in the right places. We've done a terrific job, with the team, with acquisitions and all that. But Mhmm. There's a couple other areas that I need to scale in and need to really make sure that, you know, we're we're bringing in the right people. Speaker 0
What what does your team look like? Is it I mean, as far as Yeah. You know, do you use virtual assistants? Do you have how many employees do you have? What is what is your your business look like? Speaker 2
Yeah. Yeah. So our operating company that I work with, there's thirty employees, and that's everybody from asset management to acquisitions to investor relations. You know, when it comes to next level income and putting all the education stuff together Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
I have I have a team that does all my podcast for me. I have a booking agent, to to help, you know, get me in front of the right people. Mhmm. I have a virtual assistant who helps, you know, with a lot of my day to day, communications. If you put your information in there, put your address in to get a free copy of my book, she will send you a copy of my book, today when you put that in there. So she keeps the wheels turning even if I'm on the road. So sorry. I might not sign the copy, but if you request it, I might. That's true. And then, we I have a a social media team. I have a team for my website. So, some are employees, some are not. And then probably one of the key components of my team is we have a nanny now, and she helps out in the afternoons with our kids, shuttling them with them around, picking up groceries. Yes. It was hard it was hard to come to grips with with hiring somebody that's gonna spend time with our children. But what I found, Jamie, is it's really helped us have more quality time as a family and not just crappy time where you're, Speaker 0
you know, Speaker 2
running around in a car and half the time not even with them. Speaker 0
Right. That's that's good. Are you you mentioned a coach, business coach, I presume. Yeah. Are you a part of any other any masterminds or anything like that? Speaker 2
Yeah. So, one of the big masterminds that I was, founding member of is called the passive income mastermind. I'm happy to share information with that with anybody that's interested. So our goal as a mastermind is looking at different opportunities, different strategies, different education, Like, even the life insurance strategy we're talking about, that's that's part of the puzzle that we use to increase our passive income to two hundred percent or more of our expenses. So that's kind of the goal of that mastermind. And I have I have some other masterminds that I participate in. I have a mastermind with my coaching clients, so we do, two monthly calls. So we have our our monthly mastermind call and an expert call where we bring in, people like, this this past month was, oh, yeah. For tax day, we had a an accountant come in and talk about specific strategies for w two employees, you know, that that are looking for, you know, ways to optimize their tax situation, for example. Speaker 0
Got it. That's sounds like you're very active in the in the mastermind space. So that's Hey. Speaker 2
Listen. I I coach people, but I spend I spend more on coaching than I made the first year I was out working for Pfizer on an annual basis. So, yeah, I'm I'm a big believer, and I think you have to you know, constant development, putting people around you that are a higher level, and having, you know, that accountability is so key to achieve ultimate success. Speaker 0
Yeah. That's been a a theme with these episodes we've done so far for the especially the honestly, the more successful people tend to at least this is anecdotal. It's not a, you know, double blind placebo testing or anything. But, yeah, the the the guys and and girls who are making a lot of money tend to be plugged into they're they're constantly being challenged by, you know, somebody at the the next level. So that's really Yeah. Speaker 2
It's I think it's more common. I'm sorry. I think it's less common to find somebody that I talk to that's kind of a you know, at this level, Jamie, that does not have a coach. Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
I mean, I I talk I I very rarely find people Yeah. That that don't have a coach or some sort of accountability Yeah. Speaker 0
You know, at this level. Yep. Makes a lot of sense. Alright. How about a movie you'd recommend for our audience? Do you do you watch movies? Speaker 2
I love movies. And when I was racing bicycles, you know, I would I would watch a movie every evening. So I would I would ride. I would come home, and I just, like, lay on the couch and watch a movie. There's a great it's, oh, it's gotta be thirty years old now, maybe. Twenty twenty plus years old. Gattaca. It's Ethan Hawke and, what is his name? Doesn't really matter, but it's g a t t a c a. And there's this scene in the movie, and I urge you to go watch it. So there's these two brothers, and this talks all this basically brings together every this is not a setup. This is everything we talked about today, but this just popped into my head because this is how important is this to me. One of the brothers was born naturally. Like, he just his parents had a baby. The other one is this designer baby where they optimized him genetically. The younger brother and sorry. I'm ruining the movie. But the younger brother, Ethan Hawke, he ends up becoming an astronaut, which is, like, you know, you have to be you have to be one of these, like, designer kids. But he bust the system. He runs into his brother who is the inspector or, like, the the off the police officer that's investigating this situation and catches him. Well, when they were younger, they would swim out into the ocean, and they would see who could swim the furthest before getting scared and turning back. And the older brother won every single time, except one day. I'm getting chills thinking about it. Younger brother, Ethan Hawke, swims out in the ocean, and his older brother begins to drown. And he he pulls him back to shore. So they meet, never talked about it for the rest of their lives. They actually didn't see each other after that until that day. And he said, they end up at the ocean again because they're like, let's go to the ocean. Like, this is this whole thing. Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
And he looks at him. He's like, how did you beat me? They're swimming out in the ocean, and he's yelling at him. Stop. Stop. Stop. And he goes, stop. I can't see the shore. And he's like, we need to turn back. He's like, it's we're close to the other side at this point. And he goes, I don't understand. He's like, how did you do it? And he's like, how did I do it? He's like, you've you figured out you caught me. You figured it out. He goes, no. How did you beat me that night swimming? Mhmm. And he said, I never saved anything for the trip back. He put a hundred the point is Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
In this life Speaker 0
Yeah. Speaker 2
You've gotta take what you've been given and you give a hundred percent, and you can't keep looking over your shoulder. You can't worry about what other people think. You can't have a scarcity mindset. You have to know and believe you're going to be successful with every cell in your body and use everything you've been given to be successful. Speaker 0
That's awesome. Yeah. I mean, I'd like to take credit for, you know, setting that all up with that question. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. That that was really good because you really brought it all home. I mean, that's that's fantastic. I'll have to I'll have to watch that. Is there anything else you wanna add as we wrap up here? Any other kind of parting thoughts? I mean, you've you've it this has been really good. Anything come to mind? Speaker 2
Thank you. I listen. I think, again, that scene, you know, just again, I'm I'm so grateful, for the opportunity to be here, Jamie. Grateful for everything that McGivin. And that's what I would say. You know, if if you're having a tough day, if you're having a tough time, begin your day with with a a gratitude practice and just, you know, think about what you're grateful for. Because no matter, you know, I learned this from being in the OR a lot of days. A lot of times, I'd be like, man, I'm having a crappy day, and I'd be upset. I'd be tired. I hadn't slept this and that. But I always remembered there's somebody on the table that I was there for to help get the best outcome for them on that day. And I would say, you know what? No matter how bad the day is, I'm not laying there on the table having surgery today. So, again, no matter what you're going through today, in your life, this year, remember, there's always somebody out there that's in a worse position. Focus on what you have to be grateful for and use that as fuel to move forward. Speaker 0
That's fantastic. You've dropped a lot of inspirational, ideas and and not just ideas, but, you know, truths. And, I really do appreciate you spending time and talking about some difficult topics and some, you know, genuinely, you know, challenging circumstances that you've been through for sure. And, I know that our audience is gonna take take a lot of value from this. As we as we wrap up here, remind our audience where they can reach out to you. Speaker 2
Yeah. Real easy. Next Level Income is the is the company. Next Level Income dot com is the website, and Next Level Income is the book that you can get for free if you click on the book link. And if there's anything that we talked about today you wanna learn more about or that I can help you out within your life, reach out to me at chris at next level income dot com. Speaker 0
Awesome. Thank you so much, Chris. It's been awesome. I really appreciate you spending your your time. Like I said, I know you are busy. So thanks a lot. And My pleasure. Speaker 2
It's been the highlight of my day so far. Nice. Speaker 0
To our listeners out there, we also appreciate you spending your most valuable asset with us, which is your time. And we do appreciate ratings and reviews, and please help us get this this podcast off the ground and, share share it with as many of your friends and and, colleagues as you can. Thanks all. Take care. Speaker 1
Thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of the from adversity to abundance podcast. If you're enjoying the show, please feel free to rate, subscribe, and leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts. That helps others find the show, and we greatly appreciate it. Thanks again for listening, and we'll catch you in the next episode. Speaker 0
Hey there. It's Jamie Bateman. Ever felt boxed in by life's challenges? Dive into my new book, From Adversity to Abundance, inspiring stories of mental, physical, and financial transformation, available now on Amazon. From a former bank robber's redemption to a young entrepreneur's victory over hurdles, these stories are not just inspiration. They're the road maps to your transformation. Whether for you or as a powerful gift to friends and family, especially those who might not tune into podcasts, This book is a beacon to a life of abundance. Ignite that inner fire and set your course to the life you've imagined. Purchase yours today on Amazon and light the path for someone you love. 
