Leti and Kenji are board-certified physicians, best-selling authors, podcast hosts, and real estate investing trailblazers with over 30 years of combined experience. They excel at simplifying complex investment concepts, offering actionable advice to their community of over 10,000 doctors and high-income earners through Semi-Retired MD. Their insights are particularly valuable in today’s fluctuating economy, making them ideal podcast guests to spark engaging and informative discussions.
Here’s some of the topics we covered:
- Leti and Kenji’s Real Estate Journey 00:00
- Key Insights from Leti and Kenji’s Best-Selling Book 4:50
- Harnessing the Power of Mindset 8:04
- Advanced Mindset Techniques for Success 12:35
- Expert Tips for Starting Out 19:22
- Learning from Failure: Real Estate Lessons 27:37
- Understanding the Six Human Needs 36:12
To find out more about partnering or investing in a multifamily deal: Text Partner to 72345 or email Partner@RodKhleif.com
Full Transcript Below
00:00:00:00 – 00:00:19:15
Rod
Welcome to another edition of Lifetime Cash Flow through Real Estate Investing. I’m Rod Cleef and I am thrilled that you’re here, and we are going to have a lot of fun today. we’ve got two physicians. here, Leticia Alto and Kenji Sakura. And, they have written a book about real estate. They teach real estate. they’re very cool.
00:00:19:15 – 00:00:21:22
Rod
I was on their podcast. What’s the podcast called?
00:00:21:22 – 00:00:25:01
Leti
Doctors, Doctors Building wealth, doctors Building Wealth.
00:00:25:03 – 00:00:28:18
Rod
And, And so we’re gonna have some fun today. Welcome, guys.
00:00:28:20 – 00:00:30:17
Leti
Thanks for having us. Of course, of course.
00:00:30:17 – 00:00:36:02
Rod
So, why don’t we start by having you tell your story? You know, let’s start there.
00:00:36:09 – 00:00:37:06
Kenji
Sounds good.
00:00:37:09 – 00:00:37:17
Leti
Yeah.
00:00:37:17 – 00:00:40:04
Kenji
So ladies first. Yeah, that’s right.
00:00:40:06 – 00:01:03:05
Leti
so my story is I’m a family medicine trained doctor, and, ran into Kenji in the hospital, and he. He was kind of a physician, entrepreneur, and he can tell you his story. And we got together, and we’re just working all the time. We were both working more than full time in our jobs, and we’re getting married and wanted to start a family and realized that this is not the life we wanted of week on, week off.
00:01:03:05 – 00:01:22:18
Leti
And we saw other doctor couples around us and they were working alternating weeks. So they could spend time with their families. And so that meant that they never saw each other and we wanted more time together. And so we read Rich dad, Poor Dad changed our lives completely. we had been looking for a primary home, and we completely told our agent, you know, we’re real estate investors.
00:01:22:18 – 00:01:31:05
Leti
Now, let’s take all that money we were going to do in our primary home and start buying investment properties and where. And this was we were living in Seattle.
00:01:31:05 – 00:01:32:05
Rod
Seattle.
00:01:32:07 – 00:01:54:22
Leti
and we started in 2015 together. And the first year we bought 12 doors. So these are just little duplexes and one fourplex. Kenji got real estate professional status. so we could save on taxes. He cut through time, he cut back to half time. So we started out. We paid no taxes that year. We built up a source of income and just kind of rolled that over and ended up doing that.
00:01:54:22 – 00:01:55:26
Leti
Three years later, we were.
00:01:55:29 – 00:02:07:02
Rod
Tax benefits alone or frickin worth it for doctors. well, that’s really smart, that one that you did the real estate professional piece. and so what’s, what’s your story, man?
00:02:07:04 – 00:02:30:07
Kenji
Yeah. So, I, I’m a internal medicine trained doctor, and, I, I kind of went back and forth between medicine business. I was at Penn for undergrad, and I was always hanging out or hanging around the ward nights, you know, the Wharton grads, Wharton undergrads and, all of them were going into consulting and I banking and, I think finance.
00:02:30:07 – 00:02:47:22
Kenji
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I think a lot of that rubbed off on me. so I developed an interest in, you know, consulting and that whole world. And so, but my dad’s a doctor. I kind of went that path, ended up at Hopkins for medical school. And at that point, I kind of veered sort of veering away.
00:02:47:24 – 00:03:07:23
Kenji
I worked in the Senate, worked on health policy, you know, I wrote, grants, for community organizations. And then I started my first startup, and we were selling soy protein to menopausal women because soy has plant estrogens in it, natural estrogen. And so we were selling that to, women who are having hot flashes and all that stuff.
00:03:07:23 – 00:03:26:09
Kenji
So that was, kind of my first foray into business. And then, and then I actually went back to medicine for a little bit and then went back to, business. And I went to McKinsey and worked there for five years doing management consulting, and then went back to medicine. And then that’s kind of where I went back to Seattle to do my medicine.
00:03:26:09 – 00:03:45:21
Kenji
And that’s where where we met. And, I was already doing a business, another startup. And then so she joined me in that startup. And, you know, we continued to juggle medicine and business. And that’s where when we got together, we were like, okay, we’re working way too much. We got to figure out some other way to generate some income, be a lot more tax efficient.
00:03:45:23 – 00:03:48:25
Kenji
And so that’s why we pursued that real estate professional status.
00:03:49:00 – 00:04:10:29
Rod
Very cool. Yeah. No, that’s really smart. really very, very smart. it’s, you know, there’s a reason 90% of the world’s millionaires either made it in real estate or put it in real estate because of the tax benefits alone. so you, you help physicians? I mean, like, I think I read in your bios that you have, like, 10,000 doctors and high income earners in your community.
00:04:10:29 – 00:04:17:09
Rod
Right. And and let’s talk about your book next. Let’s let’s go there. So what’s it called?
00:04:17:12 – 00:04:45:13
Leti
It’s called life on your terms. And we wrote it as a fable. So we’re pretty avid readers. And there’s this, business author Patrick Lindsay Oni, who writes the most phenomenal business books, and he writes them as fables. So we wanted to do that. And so we wrote this fable of two couples. One couple is a dual physician couple who very much like us, you know, are living this life where they’re overworked and just want a different way, one another source of income so they can work on their terms.
00:04:45:15 – 00:05:00:19
Leti
And so they go and start investing in real estate. and we put a lot of challenges in it. So they had a lot of mindset work to do. And then we just show the path to go from, you know, buying a first property through building and scaling up to a portfolio that really gave them financial freedom as opposed to another couple.
00:05:00:19 – 00:05:13:26
Leti
It’s a doctor and a professor who go the traditional doctor route, which is invested in your 401 K, put your head down, work harder, pick up more shifts and start to expand your lifestyle. And don’t get financially free until your retirement age.
00:05:14:02 – 00:05:35:10
Rod
Yeah, if if even then. Right? Yeah. Okay. Wow. That’s awesome. I love the I love the fact you gave contrasting, scenarios like rich dad, poor dad. I’m sure you were inspired by that one. Yeah. No, I love it. so, you know what? I wouldn’t, you know, I’m surprised. You know, you told me before we started recording that you guys don’t really do a lot of syndication.
00:05:35:12 – 00:05:44:09
Rod
And with that many doctors, you could kill it raising money, right? Yeah. I mean, are you thinking about going bigger at some point, maybe doing some of that?
00:05:44:16 – 00:05:48:04
Leti
Well, we we do have a company called Fast Fair of Capital that we do raise.
00:05:48:04 – 00:05:50:04
Rod
So you do raise money. We do.
00:05:50:06 – 00:06:06:04
Leti
We just are super passionate about people fishing for themselves, just like, you know, I and I know you believe this too, right? And rich dad, poor dad, it’s all about learning your own financial skill. So you can always make money yourself and you’re not dependent on somebody else. And so that’s where our real passion lies.
00:06:06:07 – 00:06:20:23
Rod
You know, I tell the story about my dad work for Continental Airlines for 36 years. I love that company. I mean, you could tell them planes because they had the Golden tail used to call it the proud bird with the golden tail. And we always called it the proud bird with the brass ass. You could tell him flying by it.
00:06:20:23 – 00:06:40:22
Rod
He used to make us put our hands over our hearts when they flew by, and he worked for that company for 36 years and got laid off. Yeah. So let’s talk about, you know, financial security, right. now, you know, before we started recording, guys, Leticia is a, lion in Tony Robbins mastermind used to be called.
00:06:40:22 – 00:06:59:14
Rod
Well, it’s called the Platinum Partnerships, and it’s an elevated level of his Platinum Partnership mastermind that I was in back in oh eight. And, so we’re kindred spirits as it relates to, you know, mindset and psychology and really, a lot of the strategies that Tony teaches mean he’s he’s probably one of my greatest mentors, if not my greatest.
00:06:59:14 – 00:07:21:15
Rod
And I was on his team for eight years. And so I think we should shift and talk a little bit about mindset. so, you know, let’s let’s talk about, I know you do a little teaching, talk about the sorts of things that you use to inspire people to take action, talk about that.
00:07:21:18 – 00:07:26:24
Leti
Well, I’d lead I’d love to start about why we got into mindset because it gives a little bit of please, please.
00:07:26:24 – 00:07:27:01
Rod
Please.
00:07:27:01 – 00:07:45:18
Leti
Please. Yeah. So, Kenji and I went to our first Tony Robbins event, unleash the Power Within in 2019. and I kind of dragged him there, honestly. But I’ll tell you, we both signed up for platinum at that event because we just got totally unleashed and realized we had so many limiting beliefs, so beliefs that we were believing were real, that were holding us back.
00:07:45:18 – 00:08:01:07
Leti
And when we saw that, we just said, oh my goodness, like, there’s so much more we’re capable of doing. And actually, our business, was just a blog at that time and it hadn’t made any money at all. And within a year, well, actually, within four months, we had earned back all the money that we spent on Tony Robbins.
00:08:01:07 – 00:08:12:12
Rod
And by the way, that’s not cheap, guys. Okay. I back when I joined, it was 65,000 for the membership plus travel. And it’s it was about 110 grand all in. I think it’s probably more than that now.
00:08:12:12 – 00:08:13:27
Leti
Yes, yes. And both of us.
00:08:13:27 – 00:08:14:20
Rod
Joined and both.
00:08:14:20 – 00:08:15:18
Leti
Of you did one time some.
00:08:15:18 – 00:08:16:18
Rod
Serious money. Yes.
00:08:16:18 – 00:08:24:21
Leti
Okay. And we did that because we suddenly. Well, first of all, I have to say paying that kind of money is really great to get you moving, right?
00:08:24:23 – 00:08:25:25
Rod
That’s a motivator, right?
00:08:25:25 – 00:08:26:17
Leti
You’re very you’re getting.
00:08:26:17 – 00:08:50:20
Rod
Your freaking money’s worth. Yeah. You know, let me I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have to tell you, you know, obviously we’re big Tony fans, those of you listening. And if you ever have an opportunity to see him live, just freaking do it. Trust me, he’s changed every aspect of my life relation, emotions, business, health, everything. And, you know, people think it’s like a cult or some other B.S., which is just that’s all it is, is B.S. because it’s extraordinary information.
00:08:50:23 – 00:09:09:06
Rod
But, you know, what’s great about it is it’s not just the mindset stuff. It’s not just the woo woo sitting around singing Kumbaya. It’s freaking actually going out there and kicking ass and business as a business mastery program. So I have no problem giving him lots of shout outs on this show. But anyway, please continue. Sorry.
00:09:09:08 – 00:09:12:18
Leti
And the people I oh, the people are amazing. Extraordinary.
00:09:12:18 – 00:09:13:10
Rod
So motivated.
00:09:13:14 – 00:09:35:09
Leti
Yeah. So so just going into that event itself was just transformative for us. So now we really understood the power of it. And so we’re huge proponents of mindset. we teach it all the time because it has changed our lives so dramatically. And so I think there’s, you know, the basics of what Tony teaches, which is about limiting beliefs and just kind of seeing what’s possible around you.
00:09:35:09 – 00:09:47:20
Leti
And this so pertinent to real estate investing, because a lot of people ask us, you know, what’s possible for my first year with investing in real estate, how much cash flow can I really make? And it it truly it’s difficult to answer that situation because there is no.
00:09:47:21 – 00:09:48:21
Rod
Oh how are you willing to work?
00:09:48:27 – 00:09:56:17
Leti
How hard are you willing to work? And what do you believe is possible for you? Because if you set a low goal and you think that’s the only thing that’s possible, that’s where you’re going to go.
00:09:56:17 – 00:09:57:20
Rod
Yeah.
00:09:57:22 – 00:10:00:29
Leti
so it really infiltrates every single thing that we do.
00:10:01:01 – 00:10:21:01
Rod
You know, I tell the story about, getting picked on in school and then hang on. And then my my mom sending sending me to school in these wooden shoes. These are the actual freaking scene of the crime shoes right here. And so I got my ass kicked again, of course. And, and, you know, and then a playground incident where I was embarrassed by this girl on a playground that I had a crush on.
00:10:21:01 – 00:10:36:23
Rod
She brought a bunch of kids over and embarrassed me. And so, you know, I came up with this belief system. I wasn’t good enough, you know? And I tell people, you know, there’s a reason the acronym for belief Systems is B.S. because 99% of them are B.S. but, you know, we believe they’re real and they can impact our entire life.
00:10:36:25 – 00:10:55:20
Rod
and in fact, it’s kind of funny. I’ve never admitted this publicly. I don’t think I used to ask myself, how can I show them I’m good enough? And I discovered this at a Tony event. I probably cried for 30 minutes. It was like, Holy shit, that’s it. That’s what I was doing. which of course caused me to have pretty significant success, but also cost me my first family.
00:10:55:20 – 00:11:14:01
Rod
And, you know, but, yeah. Anyway, belief systems are very, very powerful, and they can control they can control what you do. So if you’re cognizant, if you’re aware of one of these belief systems, I would just tell you, and I’m sure you tell your students this as well. Drag it out into the daylight. Look at it with your adult rational mind.
00:11:14:01 – 00:11:35:13
Rod
Recognize that it’s B.S. and you’ll diminish it. I mean, I used to be afraid to raise my hand in a class of 15. Now I speak in front of thousands of people a year, and, so you can eliminate them if you work on them. Right. but, so you, by the way, guys, unleash the power within the first night, you walk on 2000 degree calls, just to give you an idea of what you can expect if you end up going.
00:11:35:13 – 00:11:39:09
Rod
But, where was that event you went to, by the way? I’m just curious if I was there.
00:11:39:12 – 00:11:40:12
Kenji
Yeah, it was in LA.
00:11:40:15 – 00:11:49:17
Rod
It was in LA. I think I was there actually when you said that. I think it was there. That’s funny. Yeah. In fact, was that the one Oprah was that I.
00:11:49:19 – 00:11:53:21
Kenji
I don’t think we were. Yeah. Okay. She may have, but I don’t think we were paying attention.
00:11:53:21 – 00:12:02:03
Rod
She’s I remember we walked her across the fire, but Wow. Very cool. So limiting beliefs. What else, what else mindset was.
00:12:02:05 – 00:12:26:16
Kenji
I think one of the other things that, we work on is, making sure that they have a really strong, why, really strong reason for why they’re doing it. Right. And, I think that that, as you know, and also, I know, having been through the 2008 recession, you’re going to encounter challenges and, ultimately, it’s very easy to quit and, you know, what we say is, if you if you quit, then it’s done.
00:12:26:16 – 00:12:44:09
Kenji
Right. But if you keep persisting right and you keep pushing through, and one of the things that are going to help you get through really difficult times is your. Why. so that’s something that we work with people and it’s making sure that they have a really strong reason for why they’re, you know, investing the time to learn about real estate, invest in real estate.
00:12:44:11 – 00:13:02:15
Rod
Sure. Now. Sure. I mean, that’s the first thing we do it my bootcamp side, a thousand people in my, virtual bootcamp two weeks ago, three, two weeks ago. Two weeks ago. Matt. Three weeks ago. Maybe three weeks ago. Anyway, and, the first thing we do is goal setting on steroids, you know, within discovering your.
00:13:02:15 – 00:13:19:27
Rod
Why? Because, you know, you’ve got to create. So when that Polian Hill says that burning desire. That’s the only that’s the only where you push through those limiting beliefs, push through the fear or get uncomfortable. A lot of doctors are uncomfortable or very comfortable. And, that comfort zone is a nice warm place and nothing freaking grows there.
00:13:19:27 – 00:13:41:16
Rod
Right? So yeah, that’s good. So yeah, goal setting is critical. Discovering your why? Because the why is even more powerful. And and I tell people when I don’t know if you do this as well that when they’re doing the goal is not just to put the positive reasons why. So I can retire my wife or husband so I can show my kids what success looks like so we can live the life of our dreams, but also put some pain in there.
00:13:41:16 – 00:13:57:24
Rod
If they don’t achieve it. You do the same thing. Yeah, I don’t feel like a freaking failure. So I don’t fail my kids. I mean make it hurt because you know as human beings as you know we do more to avoid pain than gain pleasure. So love it love it love it. So so what are your whys on that note.
00:13:57:27 – 00:14:18:25
Leti
Yeah. So I think why your why changes over time. Very good. you know, when we started, our why was very much about this villa that we were going to have and being able to spend time with our family and our friends and being able to us have the time to be there. And then then, then our friends have that financial freedom so they could be there and raising our kids in a community.
00:14:18:28 – 00:14:38:28
Leti
And I do think that, you know, there are parts of that, a lot of that that we’ve achieved, not the Italian villa part yet. We haven’t found the right one. Yeah, yeah. Because we haven’t found the right one. but I will say our why has very much shifted over time. It’s been a lot, a lot more about others and about watching them transform while watching them change our lives.
00:14:38:28 – 00:14:51:03
Leti
So I think that your why does shift over time. And once you get close to reaching one goal, you have to switch and make it a bigger one, or else you get kind of lost in this space where you lose your purpose and.
00:14:51:03 – 00:14:59:16
Rod
That happen to you. Yes, give that example and then I’ll give mine. Because I had a major thing like that happened to me. Tommy, talk about reaching the goal.
00:14:59:19 – 00:15:17:15
Leti
you know, we got to about 45 doors and we were financially free. And, I feel like. So we took a year off, we went traveling. We had a, we had a 12 month old, and, we maintain my half time job in Seattle. So we went back twice to do some shifts, but we were just traveling around the world.
00:15:17:15 – 00:15:20:15
Leti
We went to Italy, we went to Europe, and Canada was really not happy.
00:15:20:17 – 00:15:21:26
Kenji
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think.
00:15:21:28 – 00:15:22:26
Rod
She had no sense of purpose.
00:15:22:26 – 00:15:41:28
Kenji
Yeah. That’s right. Exactly. No purpose. That’s it is. And so, so for anybody watching. Right. For all the people watching. Yeah. You know, if you’re, if you’re so focused on that financial freedom and you know, you don’t have purpose, like you’re not going to be fulfilled and be happy, you won’t be happy. No. Yeah. And so, and so yeah.
00:15:42:00 – 00:15:51:09
Kenji
So I was living proof of that, didn’t have the purpose, didn’t, didn’t have a strong, you know, drive anymore. I was just kind of sitting around and I was like, what are we doing? And,
00:15:51:11 – 00:16:05:18
Leti
And there was no more growth. Like, there was no more reason to grow because it was in the view of, like, how we can contribute. It was like had been all about us. And then once you have enough or too much for yourself, then what’s next? And I think.
00:16:05:20 – 00:16:27:19
Kenji
Yeah, well, so actually at that event, so the event in LA, he went through the six human needs and, and realized that, I mean, loving connection is always important. Right. But growth and contribution was, was really what was missing and wasn’t growing and wasn’t pushing myself. Yeah. I was stuck at 40 units. I was thinking, yeah, let’s just pay them off and let’s just like sit back and, you know, just live off the cash flow.
00:16:27:19 – 00:16:45:10
Kenji
Right? But it just wasn’t a big enough goal. I would, wasn’t, I wasn’t going to be growing. And then contribution is the thing that I think now is, has become such an important part of what we do, is really what we would like to do is change the culture of medicine.
00:16:45:13 – 00:17:02:10
Rod
this is so crazy because you guys had your epiphany to unleash the Power Within Tony event, and so did I 24 years ago. Okay, I had built this house. It’s right across the bay here. It’s probably worth 25, 30 million. Now. At the time, it wasn’t. But, you know, I worked for it for 20 freaking years.
00:17:02:10 – 00:17:19:28
Rod
And then literally two months after I moved in, I got really depressed. And and that’s when I got, I bought his book. And then I went to his event in Fort Lauderdale and saw that he fed families and the rest is history. We we eclipsed 150,000 kids. the last time we fed had done I do Bhaskar brigades, just like.
00:17:19:29 – 00:17:35:12
Rod
Of course you know where I got the idea? Tony does best brigades. He’s done probably a billion of them, but, you know, and, but, that’s so crazy that this that I had the same epiphany that you guys did at, you know, over the same thing. Really? Because happiness doesn’t come from achieving a goal. You got to have them.
00:17:35:12 – 00:17:56:22
Rod
You got to happen to create that burning desire and that hunger and that ability to push through in the whys. But that’s not the happiness comes from growth and progress, even a little bit of growth and progress. And so, and people so if you’re, if you’re on the fence, if you’re on the edge of chasing a fairly significant goal, you better have other goals lined up behind it, right, to to engage that purpose.
00:17:56:23 – 00:18:20:24
Rod
And, you know, the other thing is when when you feel really crappy about yourself, you’re typically looking in the mirror too. You’re focusing on yourself. But when you turn that around and focus outward and decide to help other people, it’s pretty impossible to be depressed because you’re changing the world, right? So love it, love it, love it. That’s so funny that that, that parallel between our lives, in that regard.
00:18:20:26 – 00:18:38:12
Rod
So, guys, I mean, this is like a sales pitch for Tony Robbins. So I guess that’s kind of what it is, because, trust me, you’ll thank me for you. In fact, I got Maureen to go. She’s the reason. I’m the reason she went, I promise you. Yeah, but, we’re talking about, my friend Maureen Miles, who’s a frickin rock star in the apartment space.
00:18:38:14 – 00:18:57:09
Rod
and, so, you know, I have a lot of listeners aspiring investors. They know they need to get out of the freaking rat race. They know they need to do something. First of all, go buy your book on Amazon. Life on your terms. but, you know, beyond that, what advice would you give them? You know, they haven’t made a move.
00:18:57:09 – 00:19:01:29
Rod
They know they need to make a move. What would you say to them?
00:19:02:02 – 00:19:21:09
Leti
Well, I think first of all, mindset like we’ve been mentioning, right, that that’s absolute where it starts. And we’re firm believers that it’s most of your success is going to be related to your mindset, not only just to start, but also to keep going, because I think a lot of us get very excited about things. We start them, but then we quit as soon as things get hard or as soon as we get distracted by the net or.
00:19:21:09 – 00:19:23:18
Rod
Get your ass kicked and bloodied or whatever, right?
00:19:23:18 – 00:19:51:02
Leti
Yeah, yeah. And I think that the next step after you’re working on your mindset is to make sure you have really great people around you. you know, Tony says proximity is power. And, and when we first started out, actually, when we went to that up to that first 1 in 2019, we actually kind of put together out of that a little group of physician physicians who were starting businesses and all of them maybe, maybe 1 or 2 of them had cracked six figures at that point in 2019.
00:19:51:04 – 00:19:57:03
Leti
and then last year, all of us made the Inc 5000 list, except one of them. So like so.
00:19:57:04 – 00:19:58:06
Kenji
I one that wasn’t there.
00:19:58:06 – 00:20:01:04
Leti
The one that was in it. But I will say that’s true.
00:20:01:04 – 00:20:02:00
Kenji
But the three of us who were.
00:20:02:00 – 00:20:19:01
Leti
There, we all built multimillion dollar businesses within a couple of years, and it was us helping each other, giving each other ideas, you know, picking each other up when things were getting tough, keeping each other going, I’m sure was part of it. So I really think that peer group is is a will has a lot of importance. Oh it’s.
00:20:19:01 – 00:20:38:06
Rod
Huge. It’s huge. You know, I’ve got a coaching program called They’re My Warriors. And I was mentioning this before we started recording. We’re over 200,000 units I believe at this point we can’t keep track anymore almost. And and which I’m very proud of because I’ve only been teaching six years. But most of those deals are done between Warriors.
00:20:38:09 – 00:20:55:29
Rod
They collaborate. In fact, I’ve got an event this weekend of 300 warriors here in Sarasota. We have a warrior only event here this weekend, which I’m nowhere near ready for. But today, deep dive on underwriting and stuff like that. But the main reason we started doing those warrior only events, because I have my boot camps too, is, is to get them together.
00:20:56:04 – 00:21:13:03
Rod
You know, once we once we discovered 3 to 4 years ago, the more successful warriors are the ones that are most connected in the group. We started doing things to facilitate those connections, like the events, and we do some other things as well to connect them, because that really, I will tell you, I don’t know how you guys feel about this, but I really believe in our business.
00:21:13:03 – 00:21:19:28
Rod
Certainly in my commercial multifamily space, it’s more who you know than what you know. Even you agree.
00:21:20:00 – 00:21:20:22
Leti
Absolutely.
00:21:20:22 – 00:21:34:00
Rod
Yeah I and I tell my new Warriors this I know when I’m there, I know this is going to sound crazy. But you know, I know it’s important to go through my stuff. But it’s more important for you to make connections. it’s more important than than learning the business is who you know, but, well.
00:21:34:00 – 00:21:44:22
Leti
I also want to say focus is the other piece. It’s really, really important. I think that the tendency of, of entrepreneurs is we get very distracted with a lot of different ideas. I know you and shiny penny syndrome.
00:21:44:22 – 00:21:47:01
Rod
Yes. Oh, there’s a shiny penny. Oh, good God.
00:21:47:03 – 00:22:01:10
Leti
Yeah, I know both of us are are fans of Keith Cunningham. Oh, yeah. He told us once, that he actually when he gets his new ideas, he puts them in a folder and he allows himself to open that folder once a week and look at it, and then he has to put it back. So he kind of controls his mind that way.
00:22:01:13 – 00:22:04:13
Leti
we were lucky enough to read Gary Keller’s book, The One Thing.
00:22:04:14 – 00:22:06:23
Rod
Yeah, I had his coauthor on the show, Jay Pappas on.
00:22:06:23 – 00:22:08:21
Leti
Oh, my gosh, that’s awesome.
00:22:08:21 – 00:22:09:09
Rod
What a book.
00:22:09:12 – 00:22:25:11
Leti
yeah. Oh, yeah. And that really helped us a lot to really understand the power of focus. And, and so I think that’s the other piece is, is to not get distracted once, you know, you know, your why once you know what you want to do, once you have the peer group and all those pieces, then you have your one focus.
00:22:25:11 – 00:22:28:02
Leti
And if you stick with that for a given period of time.
00:22:28:05 – 00:22:46:09
Rod
Success is inevitable. Yeah. You know, I get excited. My podcast is, I think, pushing 21 million downloads and I listen to two podcasts, I listen to Joe Rogan, I listen to Tim Ferriss. I try to get both sides of the aisle. I’m definitely on one side, but I try to get both to try to stay balanced. And on Tim Ferriss Show, he interviews the best of the best in the world.
00:22:46:09 – 00:23:19:00
Rod
Okay. Best athletes Michael Phelps, NFL, NBA players, best actors. You know, Ed Norton, Hugh Jackman, Arnold. You know, billionaires like Ray Dalio, heads of the biggest companies in the world like Zuckerberg and all of them. And I started to hear a pattern on the show. They almost all meditate. Right. What does meditation enhance? Right. Focus. you know, most of us are sitting and watching Netflix for flicking through stuff here and, and, and, you know, on our phones and, and, which kills your focus, you know, scrolling social media kills your focus.
00:23:19:02 – 00:23:27:29
Rod
On that note, have you seen that movie? What’s the one about social media? Yes. You know which one I’m talking about, the one one where it’s like how onerous it is. It’s like the social.
00:23:28:01 – 00:23:29:01
Leti
Network or something.
00:23:29:01 – 00:23:49:21
Rod
Social. No. Not exist. No, it’s not social networks like Social Dilemma or social. Is it the social dilemma. Yeah. Yeah. It’s like how onerous social media really isn’t like in TikTok in China they learn how to exercise, how to how to, they learn martial arts, they learn educational stuff the kids do. They can’t even see any of the crap they put in TikTok here.
00:23:49:24 – 00:24:09:09
Rod
You know, it’s it’s very onerous. the social media here, I love to ask this question, is part of your journey? Were there any epiphanies other than the one you had, you know, at the Tony event where you’re like, okay, I’ve reached this milestone, it’s time to do something else. But any others? Maybe real estate related that you’ve had in your journey?
00:24:09:12 – 00:24:13:04
Rod
any like moments? Like, okay, now I get it.
00:24:13:06 – 00:24:35:02
Leti
I think that one of the things we figured out, we started out with small multifamily and now we have done larger multifamily as well. We do 160 units and and beyond is creativity. I don’t think anyone when we first started out, we had really read anything about the creativity piece. But I think it’s so important to be able to.
00:24:35:02 – 00:24:38:27
Rod
Never come up on this show. And I’m really glad you’re talking about it. So please continue.
00:24:38:27 – 00:25:05:00
Leti
Yeah, okay. I mean, Tony always talks about patterns, right? And recognizing patterns and then also creating patterns. And I can’t tell you how many patterns we have we created ourselves. But then over time, like our community has created a ton more patterns and recognize them. So just to give you a random one that we that our community figured out, probably about six months ago, one of our students went and bought a short term rental, and it was listed as a three bedroom short term rental.
00:25:05:06 – 00:25:22:18
Leti
But it was because it was a septic with three bedrooms, but it was actually a six bedroom house, and they realized during due diligence that they could hook it up to the sewer system. And now all of a sudden they can sell it as a six bedroom. So they just figured out this pattern that they could go use again or something.
00:25:22:18 – 00:25:26:10
Rod
And identify more houses that were really mystified. Nine because of septic.
00:25:26:11 – 00:25:29:12
Kenji
Exactly right. And you can have your agent look for that. Yeah, they.
00:25:29:14 – 00:25:47:03
Leti
Could and I can give you a dozen other examples of patterns. But it all comes to creativity and it comes to looking for opportunity, looking for opportunity to increase income, decrease expenses. And and I just think that if you have a community around you, that’s when you’re going to also get the opportunity to learn from other people’s patterns.
00:25:47:03 – 00:25:54:18
Leti
It’s a very cool thing. So I think we’ve we’ve learned a lot of patterns that we’ve been applying with our small multifamily and our larger multifamily now.
00:25:54:19 – 00:26:16:28
Rod
Nice. Oh that’s nice. You know, that’s the secret to massive success is when you can identify a pattern that you can replicate like that. That’s that’s massive. I mean, I did it buying houses in Denver. you know, they I mean, this is an easy one. It was kind of a dub. And although nobody was doing it, I was you could you could buy HUD and VA foreclosures for 5% down.
00:26:16:28 – 00:26:36:06
Rod
Okay. Investors could buy them. These were for a lot of foreclosures this back in 19 like 80. Okay. before either of you were born. Probably. But anyway. No, I’m kidding. But but but, you know, you, you could buy in for 5% down. I had a real estate license, and there was a 6% commission. Do the math.
00:26:36:06 – 00:26:56:21
Rod
I had everybody under the sun buy these damn things. And I threw the commission in and got these deals that, you know, that was an incredible pair. But 500 houses, in Denver at that time. Wish I had those. Now, with that, I’d been, bottom line, netting a million a month. Yeah, that’s painful. Talk about a time you got your butts kicked.
00:26:56:23 – 00:27:12:28
Rod
Okay, talk about a war story because everybody thinks it’s all, you know, roses and and flowers and perfume. but, you know, we do. We do step in sort of stuff from time to time. So talk about a good one and let maybe one with a lesson. If you got one.
00:27:13:01 – 00:27:26:21
Kenji
Yeah, sure. that one’s easy because, the 2008 recession. Right. So I can go back to that. And, back then, I was, buying lots of properties, actually, right in this area. Oh, really? So. Yeah. So. So lots on the canal.
00:27:26:22 – 00:27:29:11
Rod
Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And down in, Cape Coral.
00:27:29:13 – 00:27:32:29
Kenji
Yeah, yeah. So a whole bunch of them this up and down, up and down the coast. You know.
00:27:33:05 – 00:27:36:25
Rod
I could buy these lots for $5,000 on a canal. Yeah, yeah.
00:27:36:28 – 00:27:49:04
Kenji
Yeah, yeah. Well, and then and then it would be appreciated. And I was buying it as it was going up and, by the end, I think I bought some for 100,000, 150, but, but.
00:27:49:09 – 00:27:50:19
Rod
They were saltwater then.
00:27:50:22 – 00:27:51:26
Kenji
Yeah. Yeah, they were saltwater.
00:27:51:26 – 00:28:00:02
Rod
And and there’s this down and, I’ve got what’s the area I bought? Oh, doggone it, not Punta Gorda.
00:28:00:04 – 00:28:02:11
Kenji
that, that is, that is one of the names.
00:28:02:11 – 00:28:14:01
Rod
No, it was kind of like Port Charlotte. But what was it called? Oh, God, I bought I bought every house under 150 grand because they were on saltwater canals. I’m like, Holy shit, do these people not see what’s here? Yeah, and then I bought some lots for 50 grand.
00:28:14:01 – 00:28:30:12
Kenji
But anyway. Yeah. So these were lies. I mean, you could see it on a satellite, right? Like you could zoom out and see this, like, you know, this. So you community. Yeah. I bought him remotely. Gotcha. Sight unseen. Wow. Still haven’t seen him. Well, and, I was buying lots and a lot of them. And some of them right early on.
00:28:30:12 – 00:28:52:16
Kenji
Right. 2005. You could buy them. 2006. You can buy them and sell them for. So I buy them from 100, sell them for 300 like in six months. And they were appreciating like rapidly. But then in 2007 things just dramatically change. I had one under contract that I bought for 125 that was under contract for 325.
00:28:52:16 – 00:29:10:00
Kenji
And we were like, we could do better than that, right? We got too greedy. Right. And then and then what happened was, the, the person, then we had it under contract again. but this time we were now in a downswing, so, so we only got it under contract for about 215 or 15 or so to.
00:29:10:00 – 00:29:10:29
Rod
Close on it.
00:29:11:01 – 00:29:33:14
Kenji
No, the guy walked away. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So, So then so so I held on to that. But I had that property from 2006 all the way to 2018, I think. It was so held on to it for 13 years, and I sold it for 50. I bought it, yeah. So, so even after all those years paying property taxes, paying some insurance still took a loss.
00:29:33:15 – 00:29:41:20
Kenji
Yeah, it still took a loss. Yeah. I had to actually bring money to the table to sell it. Yeah, I was crazy. So you know just to gives you an I mean, it, you know, I mean, that was a that.
00:29:41:20 – 00:30:04:11
Rod
Was a pig’s head. Fat hogs get slaughtered. That’s the contract as it relates to that. But piece of that. But listen, countries went bankrupt in 2009. Again we talked about this. I lost 50 million. I had 800 houses along the Gulf Coast here to our swaths either direction. And, yeah. And the reason I started my podcast is my houses are what pulled me down, and I was only to 30% loan to value.
00:30:04:11 – 00:30:24:13
Rod
I only allowed $0.30 on the dollar. I still crashed and burned, but it was the houses that pulled me down. My I had multifamily. It did just fine. It pulled back. It’s kind of crazy. It just, one of my warriors has this 88 unit under contract in Northport that I owned that I lost because I, I’d cross collateralized it with packages of houses, but I would still have that if I hadn’t done that.
00:30:24:16 – 00:30:35:25
Rod
and then, you know, that lesson is the main reason I started ultimately started my podcast is to tell people, if you’re going to buy and hold, for God’s sakes, don’t do single family, do multifamily, even if it’s just plexus, you know? Right.
00:30:35:28 – 00:30:38:05
Leti
And not raw land that, you know.
00:30:38:08 – 00:30:56:10
Rod
There’s no income. There’s no income. Yeah. I mean that’s a great that’s a great strategy. If if you’re flipping or maybe you’re you know, I my friend Jack Bosch does land flipping where he’ll buy it and then he’ll finance the sale if you can afford to do something like that. but, but, you know, it’s, Yeah.
00:30:56:11 – 00:30:58:09
Rod
Interesting. Okay. That’s a good one. That’s a good.
00:30:58:09 – 00:31:07:26
Leti
One. Well, and I think the other learning that came out of that for him, was he was also buying like eight class condos and stuff like that. Yeah. You should talk about that.
00:31:08:00 – 00:31:30:15
Rod
Market got crushed. Oh, my God, it got crushed. Yeah. I said that’s enough pain. I don’t even oh my God. Yeah. You could. Oh God. If I hadn’t been hiding under a freaking rock in 2009 and ten, I’d be on the back of a 300ft yacht right now. Yeah, I totally would, you know, and that’s when I, you know, stopped the platinum partnership thing.
00:31:30:15 – 00:31:52:08
Rod
That’s at the point where I probably could have used it the most. I was hiding under a freaking rock. So knowing what you guys know now, you’re very seasoned. I’m sure you’ve had this question before, but if you could go back and tell, you know, you’re 21 year old self something about this business with what you know right now, what might you do different, if anything, maybe nothing.
00:31:52:08 – 00:31:54:23
Rod
But I’m just curious.
00:31:54:26 – 00:32:07:21
Kenji
I think for me, it would, it would be find somebody who is doing what you want to do, and it just, it seems obvious now, but I mean, back then, younger self. I guess we can.
00:32:07:21 – 00:32:08:05
Rod
Do it all our.
00:32:08:06 – 00:32:18:23
Kenji
Yeah, exactly. I was that’s exactly right. Yeah. I was going to say I was, I, I, I think I felt like I could just do it myself. There was a lot of arrogance. And so I think that’s probably for me, you know, learn from somebody.
00:32:18:27 – 00:32:28:24
Rod
For pay for speed. Yeah, sure. Yeah. You can do it yourself. Well, take your 7 or 8 years. Yeah. Join a program. you guys have a program where I have a program and do it in 2 or 3 years.
00:32:28:24 – 00:32:30:14
Kenji
Yeah, and avoid mistakes and and.
00:32:30:14 – 00:32:53:29
Rod
Yeah, avoid seminars. And I, I learned all that. And I stole that line from from Tony seminars. I, I’ve had you know, I’ve built 27 businesses because I’ve got the shiny penny thing to several worth tens of millions of dollars. I got two right now, but most are spectacular flaming seminars. Yes. But, so is there a book that you guys gift more than another?
00:32:53:29 – 00:33:08:25
Rod
Because I’m sure you get hit up. Hey, you know, everybody wants. That’s that magic pill. And so, you know, is there when you when you get someone that asks for the magic pill, is there anything, you know that you gift people? I’m just curious. If not, you know, obviously rich dad, poor dad. But beyond that.
00:33:08:27 – 00:33:18:29
Leti
Yeah, I would I would say the one thing, but we’ve already mentioned that book, so I want to mention Robin Sharma is the Everyday Hero Manifesto. I read that last year. I think it’s one of the most phenomenal books every day.
00:33:18:29 – 00:33:20:10
Rod
Hero manifesto.
00:33:20:10 – 00:33:40:07
Leti
Yeah, it’s about the everyday hero and like how to show up your best, most beautiful self. And I, I love his 5 a.m. club. It teaches about a morning routine, and I just love the structure of how and the inspirational words like how Robin Sharma writes so I just I really love that book. I’ve been talking to people about it a lot.
00:33:40:08 – 00:33:41:00
Rod
Okay.
00:33:41:02 – 00:33:41:27
Leti
How about you?
00:33:41:29 – 00:33:43:26
Rod
anything for you?
00:33:43:28 – 00:33:46:04
Kenji
I’m it’s another classic thinking grow rich.
00:33:46:04 – 00:34:09:05
Rod
Oh. Of course. Yeah, yeah, I’ve given away literally 4 or 5000 copies of that book. Yeah, yeah. I can’t see where how because I have way. But I do, did you encounter any fear when you were getting going? Sounds to me like you may not have. Yeah, Kenji. But but how about you?
00:34:09:07 – 00:34:27:25
Leti
Oh, yeah, I mean. Oh, yeah. So I mean, so in physician world, we are taught that debt is bad, right? And you try to pay off your debt. And I remember, you know, even the first year looking at the amount of debt we had. And it made me very nervous. I continued to invest in my four and one k like for years.
00:34:27:25 – 00:34:28:18
Rod
I was told to do.
00:34:28:24 – 00:34:49:00
Leti
Yeah, right. It was what we were and it was my security blanket. And I remember three years in when we really acknowledge, hey, we’re financially free, like canceling my, insurance, that that was my basic my job insurance. So if I it my disability insurance. So if I became disabled, I was now saying I was my own insurance through my rental properties and the cash flow.
00:34:49:00 – 00:34:49:21
Rod
Scary,
00:34:49:24 – 00:34:52:02
Leti
So scary. So. And and you giving.
00:34:52:02 – 00:34:58:01
Rod
Up life insurance. I know that scared me, actually. I was like, what are my kids going to do? Well, you do on some property, knucklehead, you know? Yeah.
00:34:58:04 – 00:35:15:29
Leti
No. Exactly. So I think it’s anytime you step outside of the norm of what you were taught. And that includes even today, right. we still have fears anytime we do something new. So I think it’s just a natural part of the process. And, there’s a life coach that says, discomfort is the currency of your dreams.
00:35:16:01 – 00:35:16:06
Rod
I.
00:35:16:06 – 00:35:16:20
Leti
Like totally.
00:35:16:20 – 00:35:32:22
Rod
True, I like it, I like it. I say the quality of your life is is, I’m sorry. No, that’s Tony’s. I say, that magnificent life of your dreams is just on the other side of comfort. Tony Robbins says the quality of your life is the amount of discomfort you can take and live in certainty. Yeah, yeah.
00:35:32:24 – 00:35:56:15
Rod
But, by the way, they mentioned the six human needs. So let’s talk about those briefly because Tony Robbins teaches these and they were somebody else’s a while back. They were called something different I think. But Tony, Tony it was Tony. Their significance like and I tell people when I do relationship coaching, if you can meet some of these needs in your partner, they become a raving fan, you know, significance, make them feel significa certainty, you know, about the relationships.
00:35:56:15 – 00:36:16:17
Rod
There’s no way you could ever get rid of me that certainty because God’s got a sense humor uncertainty, right? Yeah. There’s got to be some varieties. Got to be some freaking spice in the relationship. And then there’s love and connection. But it’s not just love. It’s like, you know, you walk by each other in the kitchen, say, I love you, but no, you grab your woman by the face and say, I don’t think you understand.
00:36:16:17 – 00:36:33:25
Rod
I freaking love you. That’s connection. and then of course, there’s growth and contribution. And if you can help them grow and you allow them to help you grow and you contribute to them and you allow them to contribute to you, you’ve got a raving fan partner, right? And, so those are the six human needs that they referenced a little bit ago.
00:36:33:25 – 00:36:49:13
Rod
Tony Robbins teaches those. So what are your favorite? Since we’re talking mindset I’m just going to keep going down that path. What are your favorite quotes that that maybe you live by or you share or you’ve got above your desk or whatever?
00:36:49:16 – 00:36:54:28
Leti
you know, I love Keith Cunningham’s quote about running in the running in the wrong direction and.
00:36:54:28 – 00:36:55:25
Kenji
Enthusiastically.
00:36:55:29 – 00:37:14:10
Leti
In the wrong direction. So he he kind of says, there’s no there’s no use in running enthusiastically in the wrong direction. So a lot of us are very optimistic, and we can always see the upsides, and then we see the upsides. We start running enthusiastically in that direction. But it’s the wrong direction because we haven’t looked at the downsides and we haven’t looked at the possible negative consequences.
00:37:14:13 – 00:37:25:18
Leti
And so I just love that quote, because you could totally see what we all do. We we get excited about an idea and we go off running enthusiastically in the wrong direction. And, and that’s a great reminder to look at the downsides too.
00:37:25:20 – 00:37:28:14
Rod
Yeah, yeah, for sure. Have you got one catch?
00:37:28:16 – 00:37:29:26
Kenji
I’m just trying to think.
00:37:29:29 – 00:37:47:12
Rod
When I mean, I love live with passion. I don’t think there’s anything better than that quote. I’ve got it on a pillow downstairs. Even to me, you know, that’s how you want to. You want to live your life, you know, and slide into the slide into the other world that like, oh holy cow, what a ride. Yeah, that’s what I want, you know?
00:37:47:12 – 00:37:53:08
Leti
Well, I tell you, one of Kenji’s favorite ones more recently has been from entrepreneur operating system EOS.
00:37:53:08 – 00:37:55:03
Rod
R u yeah yeah yeah yeah.
00:37:55:10 – 00:37:55:21
Leti
Go ahead.
00:37:55:21 – 00:37:57:12
Kenji
Do do less better, do less.
00:37:57:12 – 00:38:18:03
Rod
Better. Yeah, I like that. Yeah, yeah. There’s a book called traction guys. and it talks about this business system that we’ve implemented in all our businesses. I called it entrepreneurs Operating system EOS and, and, you know, just some quick, high level pieces of it. Instead of having an organizational chart in your business, you have an accountability chart.
00:38:18:05 – 00:38:30:10
Rod
and you have these in every, every quarter you come up with these 90 day goals is what they are. They call them rocks. But their goals and, and it really keeps you focused and honed in on what’s important. You guys implemented it. Yeah.
00:38:30:13 – 00:38:32:12
Leti
Yeah, yeah, yeah. We even have a consultant company. Yeah.
00:38:32:13 – 00:38:35:24
Rod
You had, the implementer. No. What is it called?
00:38:36:00 – 00:38:37:18
Leti
I think it’s called the US consultant.
00:38:37:19 – 00:38:43:29
Rod
Yeah, but know that they they come in and fit a role. What’s the role that they come in and, integrator integrator into.
00:38:43:29 – 00:38:44:15
Leti
Yeah. We don’t.
00:38:44:19 – 00:38:47:00
Rod
You didn’t do that. Yeah. We didn’t do that. You. Yeah. Yeah yeah.
00:38:47:00 – 00:38:48:04
Leti
Yeah.
00:38:48:06 – 00:38:50:09
Rod
Yeah. Love it.
00:38:50:15 – 00:38:51:14
Leti
We love us.
00:38:51:15 – 00:38:55:14
Rod
Oh, no. It’s fantastic. It gives you clarity. It gives you focus. Yeah. That’s that’s what you need.
00:38:55:16 – 00:39:08:00
Leti
Yeah. And I even read traction and implemented in our business for a couple of years myself. But I have to say, it’s been really phenomenal to have a seasoned business owner come in and help implement it and get my leadership team excited about it.
00:39:08:00 – 00:39:25:24
Rod
Right, right, right, right. Love it. So you talked about, Sharma’s book and how it talked about a morning routine. I had Hal Elrod on the show a couple times. He does a miracle morning, which is kind of along those lines. Do you guys have a morning routine that you implement talk about?
00:39:25:26 – 00:39:27:18
Kenji
yeah. For sure. So,
00:39:27:20 – 00:39:29:23
Rod
You look like you’re in great shape, so. Yeah. Yeah.
00:39:29:23 – 00:39:56:05
Kenji
Exercise is up. Yeah. So so so absolutely exercise. So, so for me, like, this is not being selfish, but, you know, I, I prioritize myself in terms of making sure that I take care of myself. Right? So, so that’s both both physically and mentally. and because if I’m going to give to my significant other or kids, or community, you know, I have to show up my best self.
00:39:56:05 – 00:40:19:18
Kenji
Right? And so, so it’s really important for me to. Yeah. For sure. so physically working out, having some type of a big goal, one of the things that I’m looking at doing in September is, something called 2909, which is climbing the equivalent of Everest in 36 hours. And so, there’s seven they pick seven mountains, across the North America.
00:40:19:18 – 00:40:28:00
Kenji
So Canada and the US and, it’s in the summer and so what you do is you hike up and then you take the gondola down, and you keep repeating that until you hit 20.
00:40:28:00 – 00:40:28:15
Rod
Same mountain.
00:40:28:15 – 00:40:42:25
Kenji
29,000 same mountain, until you hit 29,000ft. and, and you do it in 36 hours. Most people will sleep, you know, a few hours. but it’s a really cool event. It’s very well supported. so that’s cool. Yeah. It’s a it’s a really cool thing.
00:40:42:25 – 00:40:45:22
Rod
But you won’t die. Yeah, yeah. Everybody won’t stay on Mount Everest.
00:40:45:22 – 00:41:03:29
Kenji
That’s right. Exactly. Yeah. Without the major risk. Exactly. Yeah. So, so so that’s something that, you know, I love doing things with a goal because that really kind of gets, you know, kind of keeps me focused, keeps me going. And so that’s what I do for my health and, my main yeah, my main, main routine in the morning is, is from Tony Robbins again the priming.
00:41:04:06 – 00:41:06:16
Rod
You do the priming. Yes. Gratitude attitude.
00:41:06:16 – 00:41:07:09
Kenji
Not actually. Yeah.
00:41:07:11 – 00:41:12:26
Rod
Or when you start your day with gratitude it’s extraordinary. is there a similar.
00:41:12:29 – 00:41:15:12
Leti
I’m a big fan of Joe Dispenza actually.
00:41:15:12 – 00:41:18:27
Rod
I have his book. Oh God of reading it right now. What’s it.
00:41:18:27 – 00:41:20:11
Leti
Called? Something yourself. Right.
00:41:20:11 – 00:41:23:06
Rod
No, no, no, it’s not that one. It’s,
00:41:23:08 – 00:41:24:04
Leti
It’s like supernatural.
00:41:24:04 – 00:41:27:09
Rod
Supernatural. Yeah. That’s it. Supernatural. That’s. It’s by my bed right now.
00:41:27:09 – 00:41:29:25
Leti
Literally. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I went to one of his retreats.
00:41:29:28 – 00:41:39:07
Rod
oh. You did? Yeah, I wasn’t great. I’ve been thinking about going. That’s why I’m asking. Okay, now I’m going to do seven day. I’m going to pick you after the interview. Interview right now. So you’re sitting there meditating for seven. Yeah, I don’t.
00:41:39:09 – 00:41:58:08
Leti
I well no I don’t meditate for four hours. I mean I did it during that week, but I do I like his meditation. So I do 25 minutes of his meditations in the morning and then wow, in the 5 a.m. club, Robin Sharma has this thing called 20 2020. So it’s basically 20 minutes of exercise and sweating, 20 minutes of meditating and then 20 minutes of learning or journaling.
00:41:58:08 – 00:42:03:05
Leti
Okay. Yeah. So I’ll read every morning. So this this is how we end up reading so many different books.
00:42:03:06 – 00:42:12:19
Rod
Yeah. Nice. You saw my books downstairs. Yes. You see my exercise room? No. Oh. What do you see that? Okay. Just gonna blow your mind. Yeah. It’s my pride and joy, actually.
00:42:12:22 – 00:42:16:19
Leti
But I’ve been doing, you know, strength training stuff. Yeah, that’s really a game changing.
00:42:16:26 – 00:42:17:10
Rod
Oh.
00:42:17:13 – 00:42:22:07
Leti
Game changer, because you just don’t have to do, like, hours of exercise. No, you do 30 minutes. You’re done.
00:42:22:09 – 00:42:33:29
Rod
It’s great. No. Agreed? Agreed. If you could teach school children one thing for an hour a week or longer, whatever. Just teach schoolchildren one thing that they’re really not getting. What would it be?
00:42:34:02 – 00:42:56:28
Leti
It’d be finances, finances? Yeah. Because I think, I do think the school system has gotten better at growth mindset. we actually we have three, three kids we have together. We have, we have, child about to turn three tomorrow. Wow. a six year old and an eight year old. Wow. And, we’re we hired a second grade teacher as a nanny, and she lives with us, and she travels with us.
00:42:56:28 – 00:43:09:12
Leti
So we get to travel half the year and half the year. We’re in Puerto Rico. And so we’re having her integrate growth mindset stuff. And there’s a lot of tools for that. because I think they’re getting better in the school system and putting growth mindset really into.
00:43:09:15 – 00:43:13:16
Rod
I’m glad to hear that because I’m I’m not a big proponent for our school system. I’m just going to tell you, you.
00:43:13:21 – 00:43:14:12
Leti
Oh, yeah.
00:43:14:15 – 00:43:22:28
Rod
I think just like, and we won’t even talk about the whole left crap that’s going on, but never let’s not we won’t go down that rabbit hole by finances.
00:43:23:00 – 00:43:46:10
Leti
I really don’t think that, you know, our kids get any financial education. They certainly don’t learn how to manage money, but also think like an entrepreneur and think about how to add value to others and think about how to earn money. And and so, like, we’re lucky enough to live in Puerto Rico where there’s a huge entrepreneurial community and there’s something there’s something called Entrepreneur Fair for kids to be able to go to the farmer’s market and sell things.
00:43:46:10 – 00:43:57:02
Leti
Right. And so that kind of stuff, that entrepreneurial type thinking, I think is, is really valuable. And so I would teach that to kids. I would teach financial education and entrepreneurship.
00:43:57:04 – 00:44:15:26
Rod
Yeah. I just got invited to speak at, Young Entrepreneurs up in Tampa. I’ve just got to look at my literally, I was just looking at the email for me. It’d be emotional mastery as well. I don’t think they teach that enough. You know, that’s a you know, this is Tony, this Tony stuff too, just in mastering your emotions and understanding your emotions, I think is really lacking.
00:44:15:26 – 00:44:32:13
Rod
But definitely the finance part. The entrepreneur part, please. Good lord, for sure. so what’s one of the most worthwhile investments that you’ve made that you can identify in your life? It could be anything. People could be money, time. what? What do you think?
00:44:32:15 – 00:44:57:00
Kenji
Yeah, I think that it would be very clearly relationships. And just in, in terms of, starting our business, we were talking a little bit about this before the show. When we were starting our business, we identified the one thing that we felt would grow our business the most. And and this was a question because we had invested in Tony Robbins platinum partnership, and we needed we needed to make them, you know, we wanted to make them money back.
00:44:57:00 – 00:45:14:14
Kenji
I shouldn’t say we need, but we wanted to make that money back. And so we we when we talked and said, well, what is the most important thing that we can invest in? And it was relationships and it did come to fruition. I mean, ultimately those relationships is what allowed us to pay back that investment in four months.
00:45:14:14 – 00:45:19:26
Rod
No kidding. Yeah. So what do you think is the biggest reason people fail in real estate investing?
00:45:19:28 – 00:45:33:06
Kenji
Very clearly. for us it would be mindset. Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, ultimately if you if you let something, you know, defeat you and you give up, I mean you that’s over. It’s done. So you got to keep going.
00:45:33:07 – 00:45:52:20
Rod
That’s it. Yeah. And and are you going to get your ass kicked. Yes. Are you going to get your nose bloodied. Yes. And and you know, it’s the people that don’t give up that, that succeed. You know, every, every successful person you see has got bruises and cuts and bullet holes and everything that you can’t see. But they’re there, right?
00:45:52:22 – 00:45:53:10
Rod
Yeah. So.
00:45:53:17 – 00:46:00:18
Kenji
Well, so I’ll give you another great quote that I love, the Jim Rome quote, which is, it’s it’s not what you get that matters. It’s who you become.
00:46:00:18 – 00:46:13:06
Rod
Who you become who. I like that I like that a lot. Yeah. Jim Rohn was actually who Tony learned from. And worked for when he was when he was 18 years old. So last question, what are you most proud of?
00:46:13:09 – 00:46:32:14
Leti
So that is actually tied to the quote he just said, actually I am I have I have a coach. And one of the things she asked me about two years ago is she said, you know, do you love yourself? And I said, of course. And she said, why? And I gave her all these reasons. And they were all like, oh, I did this, and I did this, and I’m doing this and I’m helping these people and blah, blah, blah.
00:46:32:16 – 00:46:53:17
Leti
And then she said, do you love your kids? And I said, of course. And she said, why? And I said, well, it’s who they are now and who they’re becoming. and she said, so why don’t you do that for yourself? Like, why don’t you just love who you are and also who you’re becoming and not list all these achievements and things you’re doing for other people as if they justify that.
00:46:53:17 – 00:47:13:04
Leti
And so I’m most proud of who I am. All the work I’ve done to get here to build my mindset and to be the human being that I am, and also who I’m becoming and how I continue to grow and work and and, be my be more of myself and my potential to serve the community.
00:47:13:06 – 00:47:20:19
Rod
Love it, love it, love it. Well, it’s a real treat to see you guys again. And, yeah. Thanks for coming on the show.
00:47:20:22 – 00:47:21:18
Leti
Thank you, thank you.
