The Build Code: Principles for Lasting Impact with Nicole Rueth
In this enlightening episode, we delve into the profound journey of Nicole Rueth, a distinguished mortgage industry leader and real estate investor with an impressive portfolio of 60 residential properties. Our discussion transcends mere financial success, exploring the essential personal growth that precedes outward achievements. Nicole elucidates the significance of adaptability in an ever-evolving professional landscape, particularly in the context of overcoming setbacks and embracing challenges. We engage in a thoughtful dialogue about the importance of establishing a structured morning routine as a foundation for success, emphasizing how such habits can mold one's mindset and enhance overall productivity. As we navigate the complexities of entrepreneurship and personal development, we aim to inspire our listeners to take actionable steps toward financial independence and resilience in the face of adversity. The discussion features Adam Marburger and Nicole Ruth, who delve into the complex landscape of entrepreneurship, resilience, and personal growth. Marburger introduces Ruth, a prominent figure in the mortgage industry, who has built a substantial portfolio of real estate investments. The conversation begins with a retrospective look at Ruth's formative years, highlighting her struggles and the lessons learned from her upbringing. Ruth shares how her early experiences shaped her aspirations and desire for stability, which ultimately influenced her career choices. As the dialogue unfolds, Ruth recounts her transition from the corporate world to entrepreneurship, emphasizing the importance of adaptability in the face of change. The two speakers explore the challenges that entrepreneurs face, including setbacks and the need for resilience, providing insights on how to overcome these obstacles and thrive in a competitive environment.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Anderson Consulting
- Accenture
- Movement Mortgage
- Cross Country Mortgage
- John Fisher Investment Club
Transcript
This is Adam Marburger.
Speaker A:And this is humans that build real conversations with real people.
Speaker A:Not just about what they've built in the world, but what had to be built inside them first.
Speaker A:No hype, no shortcuts, just humans doing the work.
Speaker A:Humans that build.
Speaker A:Real people.
Speaker A:Real work.
Speaker A:Welcome to Humans that Build.
Speaker A:I'm your host, Adam Marburger.
Speaker A:And this show's about entrepreneurs, it's about building, it's about setbacks, and it's about coming back from those setbacks.
Speaker A:This show is designed to give you a nugget out there to go out and make a real impact, not just your life, but and others around you.
Speaker A:So today I'm excited.
Speaker A:I've got a lot of notes, I've got an incredible guest here.
Speaker A:So let's just get right to this.
Speaker A:So today I'm joined by Nicole Ruth, a 23 year mortgage industry leader, number one in Colorado, a real estate investor with 24 years experience, owns 60 residential properties.
Speaker A:I'm going to say it again.
Speaker A:60 Residential properties, two commercial pieces of real estate.
Speaker A:Now, before becoming a top producer in her field, she climbed the corporate ladder at Anderson Consulting and competed in multi day adventure races, which we're definitely going to be talking a lot about that today.
Speaker A:Nicole, welcome to the show.
Speaker A:I'm excited to have you here.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh, such a pleasure.
Speaker B:There's, there's very few humans that I adore more than you, Adam.
Speaker B:I'm very excited to have this conversation today.
Speaker A:That makes me happy.
Speaker A:So how are you?
Speaker A:What's new in your world?
Speaker A:How are things in Colorado?
Speaker A:What's happening with you today that is.
Speaker B:Such a big question mark.
Speaker B:What is not happening right now?
Speaker B:And I think that that's the joy of life, is that you can have all of these experiences.
Speaker B:It's a both and kind of life.
Speaker B:You can have things that stress you out and tear you down and massive successes at the same time.
Speaker B:Colorado is great.
Speaker B:I mean, the weather's fantastic.
Speaker B:I love living in Colorado.
Speaker B:People I know complain it's become a little bit like California.
Speaker B:It's unaffordable these days, but man, it's a good place to call home.
Speaker A:Yeah, I'd say we were blessed.
Speaker A:Yesterday in St. Louis, it was 65 degrees.
Speaker A:Yesterday in February, 65 degrees.
Speaker A:I put a T shirt on actually.
Speaker A:I don't know, I kind of jumped off our call early.
Speaker A:You know, Nicole, we're kind of in the same mastermind.
Speaker A:We run in some similar circles.
Speaker A:I left the call and I got excused.
Speaker A:Danelle, Excuse me.
Speaker A:I left work early to Go get a tattoo yesterday, Nicole.
Speaker A:That's what I did.
Speaker A:I did, I did.
Speaker A:I didn't tell the group, but, but I, that's why I left the call a little bit early.
Speaker A:So I love it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So we're going to talk this show.
Speaker A:We're going to go into what's.
Speaker A:What I call the build code, and I'm going to have some, you know, some quick questions for you.
Speaker A:But before we get into that, let's go back in time.
Speaker A:All right, let's go back in time.
Speaker A:So you're in the real estate industry, you're in the mortgage industry.
Speaker A:When Nicole was 12 years old, sitting in seventh grade, were those your dreams and aspirations?
Speaker A:What, what was your, your young life like?
Speaker A:Let's start there.
Speaker B:I don't know that I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up.
Speaker B:And that is a whole podcast in and of itself.
Speaker B:So to give the abbreviated version, my mom and dad got divorced when I was 6.
Speaker B:There some living alone with my mom and my brother had some challenges, which I won't go deep into right now, but having to grow up early.
Speaker B:I think what I was trying to do as, as a young adult, as a 12 year old, as a child is really just survive is such a hard word.
Speaker B:It was just get to the other side.
Speaker B:It was about adulting at a very young age.
Speaker B:And so when I was heading into college, it was just really looking at what was the career where I could have stability.
Speaker B:I grew up on food stamps.
Speaker B:I grew up moving a lot.
Speaker B:I grew up with the volatility of a mom that literally could sell ice to Eskimos.
Speaker B:She, she was brilliant at it, but she'd had a lot of change in her life.
Speaker B:She's got a backstory that could go on for hours.
Speaker B:And so we would have these swings where one week I'd get a new car, and when I say new car, an old car, I remember my first car.
Speaker B:I'd get a car and then the next week we were at the church getting groceries.
Speaker B:So it was a very volatile.
Speaker B:And so what my whole growing up was, was about stability, which is why I entered corporate America.
Speaker B:I, I went into college looking at what was the most stable, economic recession proof type of a job.
Speaker B:And I was going in to be an accountant.
Speaker B:Dull.
Speaker B:And you know what I mean?
Speaker B:It is what it is.
Speaker B:I was looking for stability, number one.
Speaker B:Not adventure, not growth, and not even wealth at that point.
Speaker B:I just wanted to have something that I knew that I could count on.
Speaker B:Somewhere along the line, I figured out that I'M not necessarily an accountant, so I just switched it to finance.
Speaker B:I ended up in corporate America at Accenture, which was Anderson Consulting.
Speaker B:Fabulous company.
Speaker B:I grew tremendously.
Speaker B:I was there almost 10 years.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, I look back, hearing you say what you just said kind of, you know, reminds me, you know, when my childhood similar scenario and I look back and I have nothing but gratitude.
Speaker A:We always, we, we had what we, what we needed, but we never had really what we wanted as kids.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But when I look back on that and I talk to my daughters about this, today is like, you have no clue how blessed and lucky you are.
Speaker A:But do you ever look back just in massive gratitude for the way you were brought up?
Speaker A:Are you so grateful for that?
Speaker A:Because for me, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:I wouldn't be who I am today.
Speaker B:My mom and I have gone through seasons where it's been growth, dependence.
Speaker B:I don't want to say disgust, that's too hard of a word.
Speaker B:You go through mom, daughter stuff.
Speaker B:You go through dad, son stuff.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So it's that going through the stuff, going through the, the love, the compassion, the need and all of the things in between.
Speaker B:There's nothing about who I am today and how I've raised my kids that I can't attribute to how I grew up.
Speaker A:It's amazing.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:Freaking love that.
Speaker A:So I'm going to get in.
Speaker A:We're going to.
Speaker A:I got a lot for you.
Speaker A:And listen, Nicole, this is.
Speaker A:I got a lot of questions and I'm going to throw some curveballs at you, okay?
Speaker A:The first, I call this the build code.
Speaker A:I want to get in and kind of set some framework here.
Speaker A:I'm going to ask you a couple of very short questions and I want short answers.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:So just kind of bear with me here.
Speaker A:Get ready.
Speaker A:So the first one is I hit a wall.
Speaker A:When.
Speaker B:Gosh, I hit a wall.
Speaker B:So we were talking about this before we got online.
Speaker B:I've been in mortgage lending now for 24 years.
Speaker B:And we decided for a lot of reasons to change companies.
Speaker B:So I was at Movement Mortgage and now I changed to Cross Country Mortgage.
Speaker B:From the outside world looking in, very little has changed.
Speaker B:I'm still the roof team.
Speaker B:That's how I market.
Speaker B:But it's a big difference from a systems perspective, it's a much bigger company.
Speaker B:Cross country is the number one retail lender.
Speaker B:So walked in and now there's a sea of new people that I need to know.
Speaker B:There's new systems and technology that we need to learn.
Speaker B:There's, there's new processes for starting a loan file that we need to adjust to.
Speaker B:And all of this is happening at a time where I lost my brother last year, and we just are finishing probate and working with my mom to move her to Colorado.
Speaker B:So there's a mountain of change going on in my life.
Speaker B:And I would say that I hit a wall when I have too many decisions all at the same time that I have to make.
Speaker B:Because as a team leader, as a manager, as a primary breadwinner, as a caregiver for my mom, as the administrator for my brother, this stack of things that happened.
Speaker B:And as the lead originator on my team, also putting out content and originating mortgage lending and advising on wealth development, There's a lot that fills my calendar, and it all comes in and it all finds a time on my calendar because I make time on my calendar, which I should have more guardrails in place.
Speaker B:But I think it's when I adapt to change.
Speaker B:But I think it's when I have too many decisions at the same time.
Speaker B:I just don't want to make any decision.
Speaker B:I don't want to make any of them.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So great answer too.
Speaker A:Sometimes when there's too many options or too many decisions, we choose none of them.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So now here's the next one.
Speaker A:When I am stressed, I. I shut down.
Speaker B:I shut down.
Speaker B:I have gone to bed at 6pm too many times in the last 3 weeks.
Speaker B:I shut down.
Speaker A:Well, in your defense, because I do know you a little bit.
Speaker A:You do get up at like, you're still getting up at three and working out, right?
Speaker A:Is that three?
Speaker B:And I would do workout.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So usually though, I get.
Speaker B:I go to bed at like 8:30 max.
Speaker B:9.
Speaker B:Usually 8:30.
Speaker B:So going to bed at 6 is just me giving up on the day.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Okay, I've got two more.
Speaker A:These are good.
Speaker A:So now I don't.
Speaker B:You know what I don't do?
Speaker B:So I've been really focusing on releasing lately, and now I don't take it out on my husband.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:That's what I don't.
Speaker A:Peter appreciates that.
Speaker B:I'm sure Peter appreciates.
Speaker B:He's loved me.
Speaker B:We're going on 30 years together.
Speaker B:Holy camoly.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:But he's my.
Speaker B:He's my safe space.
Speaker B:And we do that to our safe space.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:We go and.
Speaker B:And fight the world, and then we come home and we unleash because it's our safe space.
Speaker B:And maybe I'm saying a unanimous we because I want to feel like other people do it too.
Speaker B:I Don't know.
Speaker B:But either way, like I've really become aware of the fact that I need to protect him and the relationship that we have and, and it's not fair that just because I'm overwhelmed with too many decisions, I have too much on my plate running the team and the organization, everything else, that he's not my scapegoat, he's my advocate, he's my biggest cheerleader and I have to protect that.
Speaker B:And I started doing that adamantly making.
Speaker A:Sure that he lives.
Speaker A:I will say for those that aren't following you, your guys, tiktoks and little videos are freaking hilarious by the way.
Speaker A:You could get some humor.
Speaker A:Him and his little like his glass.
Speaker A:Those crack my my day up.
Speaker A:So now this last one is now I always.
Speaker B:So I have habits.
Speaker B:We all have habits.
Speaker B:They're good habits or they're bad habits.
Speaker B:But it's when we realize and we examine what those habits are on a daily basis that we have the opportunity for growth.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:And so if I think of.
Speaker B:And I always.
Speaker B:Or what do I always do?
Speaker B:The one non negotiable.
Speaker B:Regardless of how beat up I was the day before, how shut down I got, what time I went to bed, my morning is structured to set myself up to take on the day again.
Speaker B:So my recovery is massively fast.
Speaker B:It's like that's the one thing.
Speaker B:So I'm an athlete.
Speaker B:We talked about that a little bit.
Speaker B:We'll probably talk about that again.
Speaker B:But so I'm an athlete and it's all about recovery time.
Speaker B:And so every morning, morning is my recovery time.
Speaker B:It's my reset button.
Speaker B:I make sure that no matter what has happened, this day has the best chance of being the most accomplished, the most successful day.
Speaker B:And I do that with the ritual of getting up, not checking my emails, not checking social, going right into prayer and meditation and journaling, doing my gratitudes and then organizing my day and only then going in and assessing what's my email, what do I need to delegate and then making sure that I get a minimum of 30 minutes.
Speaker B:If not, I try for an hour every morning.
Speaker B:Working out.
Speaker A:Yeah, I love that.
Speaker A:And we're going to talk.
Speaker A:I've got so many things I want to talk about.
Speaker A:I want to talk about adapting to change, the importance of change.
Speaker A:Before we do that though, you know, this shows really to inspire and motivate somebody.
Speaker A:Not just current entrepreneurs that are winning in life, but it's the future generation, you know, those out there that are maybe stuck or maybe wanting to take a risk at the end of the day, I feel, and I'm sure you're going to agree, there's a common theme in Super Achievers.
Speaker A:There's a common theme, a belief in self.
Speaker A:We believe in ourselves.
Speaker A:But number two, it's that structured morning routine, it's having that structure in the morning and those non negotiables.
Speaker A:What are a few non negotiables that you have in the morning?
Speaker A:What are a couple like not happening to me in the morning?
Speaker A:What are a few of those for you, Nicole?
Speaker B:Not waking up later.
Speaker B:God, when I wake up later, my whole day is off track.
Speaker B:I think the non negotiables comes down to the habits lead into the mindset.
Speaker B:I don't write my gratitudes because the habit itself is what produces the results.
Speaker B:The gratitudes produce a mindset that produces the results.
Speaker B:The results.
Speaker B:I don't work out for the sake of working out alone, although I like being fit.
Speaker B:I work out because it builds the endorphins and it gets me to a better mindset and peace of mind and agility for the rest of the day.
Speaker B:So those non negotiables are the things that have the biggest impact on my mindset, the working out.
Speaker B:So even working out, there are days that Fridays, every Friday morning at 9am I do an economic market update for all real estate industry professionals and I like literally jam pack everything I can with 30 minutes I can talk fast.
Speaker B:I'm from New York, so I throw it all in there every Friday morning.
Speaker B:So Friday morning I get up at 3am and I start building this presentation.
Speaker B:I probably spend five to six hours putting together a presentation and a mindset of the way I want to communicate what's happening in the market to help the agents and the lenders who are listening to me convert their buyers and sellers into making a decision, whatever that decision is, whether it's coming into my pipeline or or renting for another five years, it just needs to be intentional.
Speaker B:And for me to hit that, it takes a lot of time.
Speaker B:And I don't get my workout in.
Speaker B:I do get my gratitudes in, but so I go back into my bedroom and I do a 10 minute workout, which 10 minutes is hardly a workout, but for me one of the major non negotiables is you have to decide.
Speaker B:Even if I can't do it for the hour, I have to make sure that it's in my everyday because my mindset depends on on it and the success of the day depends on it.
Speaker A:Freaking love that.
Speaker A:You and I were talking briefly about change Adapting to change.
Speaker A:And I, I say this ad nauseam.
Speaker A:Like if we do what we're doing now, we're going to continue to get what we're getting right now.
Speaker A:Like, yes, a lot of people.
Speaker A:And I'll tell you, like, even in the industries that I'm in, I hear that's how we've always done it.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:You know.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:I've been doing this this way for so many years.
Speaker A:I mean that right there drives me, I'm going to use a curse word, Nicole, batshit crazy.
Speaker A:It drives me absolutely bananas when I hear that phrase.
Speaker A:So let's talk a little bit about the importance of change, adapting to change.
Speaker A:And what happens if we make the decision not to change.
Speaker A:If you don't mind, just kind of take that and run with it a little bit.
Speaker A:Nicole.
Speaker B:Sue, I think we operate from a position.
Speaker B:Nobody likes change, nobody is born liking change.
Speaker B:You adapt and you overcome the stressors because we weren't built for that kind of thing.
Speaker B:As far as this change, change, change, especially the speed by which information is coming at us right now, Uncertainty is coming at us right now.
Speaker B:This outside of my control, fear is coming at me right now.
Speaker B:The amount of change that we're all.
Speaker B:So I can sit in a bubble and I can do the thing without adapting.
Speaker B:This post pandemic world that we're living in is an extremely different world.
Speaker B:And the people that can't adapt at all will fall grossly behind.
Speaker B:And I've had countless conversations with people who are like, I'm so glad I'm retired.
Speaker B:I'm so glad.
Speaker B:Like I'm just gonna go ahead and retire early.
Speaker B:I'm so glad that my time is up because I can't adapt to this.
Speaker B:And that's fair.
Speaker B:Recognize what you are.
Speaker B:I was listening to CNBC this morning.
Speaker B:One of my other habits, I was listening to CNBC this morning and they were actually talking about predictions that AI is going to cancel out a lot of the blue collar workers that sit at your desk kind of workers, including CPAs, financial planners, mortgage lenders.
Speaker B:Like there's going to be a lot of people that are going to be replaced with AI within 18 months.
Speaker B:Now, to what degree what I see about that is one, we have to adapt to the technology and capitalize on what it, how it can benefit us.
Speaker B:And then second is we have to so vividly and concretely express how we are experts in our field beyond anything that AI can do and how our years of experience and our ability to advise a client is worth more than going to AI and plugging in a scenario and taking whatever the computer model version of that is that we have to adapt to selling our value, our services, our products, whatever it is that we do for a living.
Speaker B:You know, unless you, you are working with your hands, you're a carpenter, you're a clock maker, you're a great plumber, they've got a job for life.
Speaker B:The trades are probably going to go up with all of this change, right?
Speaker B:For those who can't adapt to that technology, they'll go trade.
Speaker B:Nothing wrong with that.
Speaker B:Absolutely necessary job.
Speaker B:So I think when we think about change, we can't think about it as the enemy.
Speaker B:We have to think about it as it is the path to creating whatever success looks like for you.
Speaker B:Like, success doesn't have to be $3 million in the bank.
Speaker B:Success can just be joy in your job.
Speaker B:And to find that joy in your job, you have to be able to relate to what the changes that are happening in every industry right now.
Speaker B:Post pandemic.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So that's just a skill that you have to wake up every single morning and set the mindset going back to the mindset, conversation.
Speaker B:And literally what you tell yourself is truth.
Speaker B:So you have to tell yourself, I'm an adapter to change.
Speaker B:I can conquer the change that's coming at me today.
Speaker B:I am a fucking champion is what I say every morning.
Speaker B:And so I'm about to crush this and whatever's thrown at me, I'm going to understand conceptually what that is and how to adjust based on winning that thing.
Speaker B:And so when we sit back and we become victims of the change, then what happens is we start to fall further and further back.
Speaker B:And we fall further and further back not just from the abilities to succeed, but.
Speaker B:But the ability to find joy.
Speaker B:And that's what I think.
Speaker B:Most people, they focus on the wrong things.
Speaker B:Well, I don't need to make money.
Speaker B:I'm fine over here.
Speaker B:And I'm like, but are you happy where you're at, you know?
Speaker B:Or do you need to start to adjust based on whatever the technology is in your industry is doing?
Speaker B:Because I don't know that there's a single industry that's not impacted some more than others.
Speaker B:But we all have to adjust to this environment right now.
Speaker A:Yeah, I agree.
Speaker A:You used a word, a minute ago, you used that word victim.
Speaker A:And I talked to my firstborn, Annalee, my baby.
Speaker A:She's going to be 16 in a few months.
Speaker A:She's working in a restaurant now, my favorite restaurant.
Speaker A:And sometimes she points fingers.
Speaker A:It's this person's fault and she'll play victim every now and then.
Speaker A:I always tell her, anna, listen, timeout.
Speaker A:The victim mindset and the victim mentality is a disease.
Speaker A:It is a disgusting, awful disease.
Speaker A:The world is not fair.
Speaker A:Number one.
Speaker A:We have to go out and take what's rightfully ours.
Speaker A:And it's always our responsibility.
Speaker A:We can't point fingers.
Speaker A:And I always like to make that statement, too.
Speaker A:I want the younger generation to hear this is.
Speaker A:Listen, the world's never going to be fair.
Speaker A:Bad things are going to happen.
Speaker A:Bad things happen to good people.
Speaker A:Things are going to.
Speaker A:We can't control what happened.
Speaker A:We can control how we respond and react.
Speaker A:But the best thing we can do is look in the mirror and say, hey, listen, I got this.
Speaker A:I'm in control of my destiny.
Speaker A:And Nicole Ruth, you're not paying my mortgage this month.
Speaker A:You're not.
Speaker A:It's my responsibility to make that happen.
Speaker A:I love to make.
Speaker A:You said that word, victim.
Speaker A:And it just, there's so much of that.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I'm sure you see it, it's flooded in the world.
Speaker A:This victim mentality.
Speaker A:The woe is me, you know, the woe is me is never going to build wealth for yourself.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:And that's what we're about to start talking about.
Speaker A:Because here you got 60 doors.
Speaker A:Okay, so let's talk about.
Speaker A:Let's, let's, let's go from 60 down to 1 because here's what I found.
Speaker A:Almost every successful business individual that I know has a real estate portfolio.
Speaker A:It's just part of it.
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker A:You know, you got to diversify, you know, So I personally believe that everyone should invest in real estate.
Speaker A:Everyone should invest in real estate.
Speaker A:That's what I believe.
Speaker B:Like the ultra wealthy were actually surveyed and real estate diversification in real estate holdings was number, was number three of the top three.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Huh.
Speaker A:You don't mind me asking, what are the top three?
Speaker B:So the top three was investing in index funds.
Speaker B:That was number one.
Speaker B:Number two was, was strategizing long term.
Speaker B:So they were specifically talking about the fact that they don't play the market that they buy and hold.
Speaker B:And then the third was, was interest in investing in real estate holdings.
Speaker B:And when we talked about real estate holdings, it talked about even having investments from this sense of you're not going to have a billionaire that's going to own 60 doors.
Speaker B:It's probably not.
Speaker B:Unless they own commercial buildings and apartment building.
Speaker B:That is more than likely they are investing in rates.
Speaker B:So when I think about real Estate.
Speaker B:I think there's so many opportunities within real estate.
Speaker B:There's everything from, you can be the bank and be a hard money lender.
Speaker B:You can invest in foreclosure opportunities.
Speaker B:You can be like, there's.
Speaker B:So you can invest in land or buildings or apartment buildings or commercial.
Speaker B:Like there's so many ways.
Speaker B:Or REITs for that matter.
Speaker B:Super passive.
Speaker B:You can just fund, which is what a lot of the most wealthy do is fund other people's ventures.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So they'll become the fund of some massive purchases through that.
Speaker B:So I do think it is.
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker B:I cannot say this with more confidence and certainty.
Speaker B:It is the bridge to wealth for the majority of Americans who are suffering right now from this extreme K economy that will never return to normal.
Speaker B:Never.
Speaker B:What we have will only become multiplied.
Speaker B:The rich will become further rich and the poverty will become further indebted because they cannot keep up.
Speaker B:There is nothing about inflation that reverts.
Speaker B:Inflation slows down and speeds up, but it rarely has a deflationary cycle.
Speaker B:So it might slow down.
Speaker B:But if the cost of everything continues to go up, the question is, how do I ever break this cycle?
Speaker B:One, you become adapted to change and fear.
Speaker B:Or you start with the home that you live in and you put a roof over your head and then you move from there.
Speaker A:So, okay, let's okay this perfect question.
Speaker A:This could be controversial, maybe.
Speaker A:Or not.
Speaker A:We're friends.
Speaker A:I don't think you'll get too mad at me here.
Speaker A:So Grant Cardone has this saying, and he's a big boy, right?
Speaker A:He's doing a lot of deals and some like him.
Speaker A:I love him, some don't.
Speaker A:It is what it is.
Speaker A:But he says you should never own the home that you're in because it keeps you locked in, but you should buy other buildings.
Speaker A:What's your thought process on that?
Speaker B:I love that he, of course, he owns two mega mansions, by the way.
Speaker B:A primary and a second home.
Speaker B:But let's go ahead and forget about that for a minute.
Speaker B:So when I think about this, and I.
Speaker B:And I talk a lot about Dave Ramsey too, because Dave Ramsey wants to pigeonhole you into a certain financial thinking versus.
Speaker B:I don't want to stretch humans.
Speaker B:I want them to start thinking outside the box.
Speaker B:It is not a strict set of rules that gets you to wealth.
Speaker B:It's about understanding how the rules need to be adapted to your financial situation so that you can maximize your opportunities.
Speaker B:So when I think about Grant Cardone, I think you're speaking to a human that hasn't gotten there yet.
Speaker B:And you're telling them to skip a step.
Speaker B:And I'm like, that's brilliant for you looking backwards.
Speaker B:But for the person who can't get into the home because they don't have enough down payment saved, because remember, an investment requires a minimum of 15% down.
Speaker B:So why wouldn't I use the financing tools that are available to me to purchase an owner occupant with 3% down, 3.5% down, 5% down down payment assistance.
Speaker B:Get into that home, live in it for a year, get into the next one with minimum down, get in the next one minimum down, get into a duplex, a quad with minimum down, and start to build my wealth that way.
Speaker B:And then if I get so wealthy that I can go rent some penthouse somewhere based on my lifestyle versus the roof over my head, then God bless you, you do whatever you want.
Speaker B:Now there are people that live in high cost areas, maybe California.
Speaker B:I've actually helped investors that live in California that can't afford to live there based on their lifestyle, they have to rent.
Speaker B:So they start buying investment properties in Oklahoma, Kansas, wherever they are.
Speaker B:That is a totally different scenario than the majority of Americans.
Speaker B:The top 20% are right now spending 60% of the consumer spending the top 20%.
Speaker B:They have the massive amount of wealth and they are doing all the spending.
Speaker B:They are propping up the economy.
Speaker B:And to point down and say you shouldn't own the house that you live in, I don't think it's realistic.
Speaker B:And I regretfully, I think he's looking through goggles of too much success and not paying attention to what the real pain point is.
Speaker B:And the real pain point is I can barely afford it.
Speaker B:I just need to get in.
Speaker B:And the roof over your head is oftentimes the cheapest money, the lowest interest rate, the lowest down payment, and it allows you to put over your roof over your head that is for the moment stable.
Speaker B:Now, is it the best tax deduction?
Speaker B:No, but you get a little tax deduction, you get to write off your insurance and your taxes and it gives you that stability of a fixed interest rate and a monthly payment.
Speaker B:Yes, you have taxes and insurance, but you also get to put position yourself from that leappad that lets you take the next step.
Speaker A:I'm really glad I asked you that question because that answer was brilliant.
Speaker A:I agree with you.
Speaker A:And I'm looking back to like I got started as a real estate investor by buying my first home, Brick Ranch in Godfrey, Illinois.
Speaker A:Brick Ranch, Godfrey, Illinois Bought it, right?
Speaker A:Stupid.
Speaker A:It was a great deal for me.
Speaker A:I Got the thing paid down so low because I was in a car business making some good money.
Speaker A:So I was tripling up on my payments, paying extra on principal.
Speaker A:Not everybody can do that, but I was able to at the time.
Speaker A:But then I had enough equity.
Speaker A:I got a home equity line of credit.
Speaker A:I use that home equity line of credit.
Speaker A:Not saying this is the right strategy today or it is, but that's what I did back then.
Speaker A:Then I bought my first rental house with my down payment for my heloc.
Speaker A:I paid my HELOC back and I kept rinse and repeat.
Speaker A:That's how I got into real estate.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:You know, it's just to me, one of my favorite sayings that I say all the time, it's mine.
Speaker B:I was like, so everybody focuses on the money.
Speaker B:Is it going to cash flow?
Speaker B:I don't believe in buying non cash flowing properties.
Speaker B:Let me just say that.
Speaker B:But they focus on why can't make as much money as I used to.
Speaker B:I can't do this the way I used to.
Speaker B:The interest rates are higher, the price.
Speaker B:I'm like, real estate isn't about the money.
Speaker B:Real estate, real estate is about the options.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So real estate is about options.
Speaker B:What options do I have?
Speaker B:Can I pull the equity out in a HELOC and invest in something else?
Speaker B:Can I invest in me?
Speaker B:Can I start a business?
Speaker B:Can I rent out the rooms?
Speaker B:If I get tight on things, can I rent out the rooms?
Speaker B:Can I rent out the garage?
Speaker B:Can I build an ADU in the backyard?
Speaker B:Can I turn it into a multi planet or multi planet multiplex?
Speaker B:Can I scrape it?
Speaker B:Can I build something bigger like real estate?
Speaker B:Without owning real estate, you don't have any options.
Speaker B:You're subject to a landlord's determination of whether or not he's going to buy, sell the place, whether he's going to jack up the rent.
Speaker B:You are literally tethered to something.
Speaker B:Yet one more thing outside of your control versus building the options with the roof over your head that allows you to take the next step.
Speaker A:I want to talk about you for a minute.
Speaker A:So getting to 60 doors because we're going to give some tips, especially to the younger folks out there that want to build like, like you're building, but you got to 60, but you started with one.
Speaker A:Okay, so let's go back to one.
Speaker A:What was your entry on that deal?
Speaker A:If you don't mind sharing, what was the entry into one?
Speaker A:How did you get from one to 60?
Speaker A:Can you share that path?
Speaker B:So it's fear, that's how I got there, I decided to see the fear, feel the fear, and do it anyway.
Speaker B:So remember, I don't want anything more than stability.
Speaker B:I want a stable job, I want a stable roof, and I want a stable marriage.
Speaker B:I could die a stable woman.
Speaker B:All I needed, right?
Speaker B:So I.
Speaker B:We buy.
Speaker B:Peter and I buy our first house at age 30.
Speaker B:It's a hundred and, I don't know, 15,000, something like that in Texas.
Speaker B:Bought this little house.
Speaker A:We decided time out for a minute.
Speaker A:Time out?
Speaker A:Yeah, at 30.
Speaker A:So you didn't start at 18 or 21 or 25, 30.
Speaker A:I want to just make that clear.
Speaker A:It's never too late.
Speaker B:Sorry.
Speaker A:I had to cut.
Speaker B:30 Years old.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:We end up having three little kids.
Speaker B:We end up moving to Denver.
Speaker B:So that was kind of a big deal for us because Denver was super expensive compared to Dallas back then.
Speaker B:It still is, actually.
Speaker B:So we end up moving, and we have a roof over our head.
Speaker B:At that point, I have the little kids.
Speaker B:I stopped working.
Speaker B:I was looking for a job again.
Speaker B:I didn't want a career because I had done that and I had run out this career where I was traveling all the time and I was climbing the corporate ladder and I was doing all the amazing things that I wanted to do, I knew I could do, but I wasn't at home with my kids.
Speaker B:And so what I wanted to do was some level of balance, which my husband was always better at that than me.
Speaker B:But anyway, so I just needed something local.
Speaker B:So I called up the mortgage lender that did our job because I was financed, I knew numbers, and I said, look, I'm just looking for a job.
Speaker B:I go, can you pay my babysitter?
Speaker B:I don't need the money.
Speaker B:Peter's got a job.
Speaker B:He makes $120,000, which was a lot of money for us at the time.
Speaker B:Stability.
Speaker B:Remember when I was king?
Speaker B:So we just lived on his salary.
Speaker B:My boss, if you will, paid me enough so I could pay my babysitter so I could help him, you know, six hours a day, four days a week, organizing his broker shop.
Speaker B:So he owned a little mortgage broker company.
Speaker B:And I just came in and I organized his books, his payroll, his operations.
Speaker B:Soon enough, I was running the business because that's what I do.
Speaker B:I wasn't originating.
Speaker B:I was not doing loans, but I was just running his company.
Speaker B:Then I went to a bigger company and a bigger company, and the top salesman and I went and started our own mortgage shop.
Speaker B:And we did that for three years.
Speaker B:And then I moved into retail, bottom line.
Speaker B:So it Wasn't until all of that.
Speaker B:So we owned our own mortgage shop for three years.
Speaker B:I was all things ops, he was all things sales.
Speaker B:When some life events happened for him, he moved over to.
Speaker B:Sorry.
Speaker B:Some life events happened for him, he had to move back to New Jersey.
Speaker B:We shut down the shop.
Speaker B:I started originating.
Speaker B:I'm looking for opportunities for me.
Speaker B:I start like dropping off candy and doing all the things.
Speaker B:And I realized, okay, this is not where I see myself.
Speaker B:This is not where I'm going to be.
Speaker B:So I try to figure out a different way to meet real estate agents and to build my business.
Speaker B:So I find something called the John Fisher Investment Club.
Speaker B:This is before Facebook and all this stuff.
Speaker B:I'm kind of dating myself.
Speaker B:So the John Fisher Investment Club.
Speaker B:So I go to this John Fisher Investment Club and I go.
Speaker B:Because I figure out they're trading car washes for parking lots, for multi units, for crazy ass stuff like it's not your regular group of real estate agents.
Speaker B:So I go in there and I go, there's going to be one residential deal in that room and I only need one and I'm going to be the lender for it.
Speaker B:So if I show up to a room that there's no other lenders, I'm putting myself in a position to win.
Speaker B:So I go to that John Fisher Investment Club meeting looking for the one deal that no other lender is willing to go work for.
Speaker B:And I end up sitting next to a realtor who just so happened to be selling a fourplex that's in my wheelhouse.
Speaker B:I'm like, brilliant.
Speaker B:He ends up selling me that gosh dang 4.
Speaker B:And I never worked with him again as a realtor.
Speaker B:So I was like, I didn't win.
Speaker B:He won.
Speaker B:I ended up and he's like convincing me that I need to buy.
Speaker B:And so I sit next to him and I'm getting a story and yada, yada, yada, and I got this fourplex.
Speaker B:And he goes, I think you need to buy this.
Speaker B:And I go, the hell I do.
Speaker B:The hell I do.
Speaker B:I got the roof over my head.
Speaker B:Peter's got a job, I'm all stable.
Speaker B:My stuff is the extra money.
Speaker B:He goes, no, you need to buy it.
Speaker B:I don't, but lay it on me.
Speaker B:What do you got?
Speaker B:So we went through this for like a month.
Speaker B:I end up buying that fourplex for $300,000.
Speaker B:That was when I was 40 years old.
Speaker B:So now I'm 40.
Speaker B:I buy my first investment property.
Speaker B:To today it's worth about 1.35 million, that one.
Speaker B:So a couple months later, I buy a single family.
Speaker B:Because I just went through hell, personal hell, stressful hell.
Speaker B:Going through the purchase of this fourplex, I figured, shit, I had to do it again.
Speaker B:So I buy this little single family for $105,000, something like that.
Speaker B:I end up selling it five years later for 400,000.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And then it took a couple years for us to save up money to buy the next one.
Speaker B:But that first one hurt in such a significant way.
Speaker B:I had to break through every story I grew up with.
Speaker B:Every sense of stability, every everything fear was built on, everything I was trying to protect.
Speaker B:I had to determine that is my future life willing and worth shifting the way I think about things.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:Wow, I love that.
Speaker A:So it's like you were scared to death, but you just did it anyway.
Speaker A:And then you just, you made some money.
Speaker A:You made a little money in the process as well.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And they have not all gone well.
Speaker B:I've probably lost at least half a million dollars over the years.
Speaker A:Oh yeah, you can't win them all.
Speaker A:So here I want to be respectful of your time.
Speaker A:So I have a few more questions and this has been a wonderful conversation, but I can't not ask you about the multi day adventure races.
Speaker A:Let's talk about that.
Speaker A:What the heck?
Speaker A:What were you doing?
Speaker A:Let's talk through that.
Speaker A:I want to know.
Speaker A:Switch gears.
Speaker B:So Peter used to tell me I would move into the next thing and I'd move in.
Speaker B:It's like I work too much.
Speaker B:So I left Accenture.
Speaker B:I was trying to do this thing with a small company that I started and I had to leave it because I was taking over and it was too controlling.
Speaker B:And, and Peter like would come up to me, he goes, I don't understand when you're going to understand that wherever you go, there you are.
Speaker B:And I'm like, ah.
Speaker B:So I've been, I'd been a runner my whole life.
Speaker B:I was biking, I was doing these massive bike rides, like these hundred mile bike rides, these all day bike rides.
Speaker B:And I met this woman on a bike ride and she had told me about figure competitions, figure competing.
Speaker B:So I end up, I'm like, why the hell not?
Speaker B:So I end up doing these figure competitions.
Speaker B:I'm super lame.
Speaker B:So then I meet up somebody at the figure competition that starts talking to me about adventure racing.
Speaker B:And I'm like, well, that sounds interesting.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:So I think it was.
Speaker B:It's the being willing.
Speaker B:Life is so amazing and so exhausting and so stressful and so beautiful.
Speaker B:It can Be both.
Speaker B:And that when you say yes to things that feel outside of your capability, you find out what you're really built for and made for.
Speaker B:And God has me out on these things.
Speaker B:And the six day adventure race in Utah, it was Primal Quest.
Speaker B:It was before Mark, what was his last name?
Speaker B:Burton started the Survivor.
Speaker B:This was his training ground.
Speaker B:He had these adventure races that he had and so I had done one of those with in Utah.
Speaker B:And then he later, you know, took it to tv which was much more profitable.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know what, I've, I've got friends of mine that have tried talking me into doing, you know, triathlons and running marathons.
Speaker A:I did a half marathon once which, you know, I didn't train for.
Speaker A:I thought I could just do it without training.
Speaker A:And 13 miles without training is still pretty stupid idea to do that.
Speaker A:But, but I think that's freaking awesome.
Speaker A:And I, I've got one.
Speaker A:This is going to be a question.
Speaker A:I love asking entrepreneurs this question because this question is geared to the young folks out there.
Speaker A:Like for me it's like I'm not like old, old, but you know, I'm on the back.
Speaker A:I mean I'm getting closer to 50 than 40.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So I always think about, especially with, because maybe because of my kids and then their friends.
Speaker A:It's about the youth.
Speaker A:They're the future.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So for the, for the younger folks out there that in the future they want financial independence.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:What should their first move?
Speaker A:Let's, let's pretend we're talking to a 20 year old.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:They want financial independence.
Speaker A:What's that first move look like?
Speaker B:The first move is to tell yourself you're a champion every morning.
Speaker B:It's the mindset, it's believing you can when others tell you you can't.
Speaker B:Because this world is full of naysayers and anything is possible.
Speaker B:I mean I, I had a client, 21 years old who wanted to buy a house.
Speaker B:She's making $15,000 a month on TikTok Tock.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:I have decided after that conversation she started, you know, making money on Tik tok at age 16, I think, and, and you know, she's not making billions, but man, $15,000 a month at 21 is brilliant money.
Speaker B:So tell yourself you can and stop listening to everybody else.
Speaker A:Yeah, I love that because you'll find too there's always going to be the naysayers, you know, and you know, as, and I, I don't know.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:Well, I know I've never asked you this, but I'm confident That I have the answer.
Speaker A:As you've grown personally and professionally, as you've built some wealth for you and your family, you've probably had some haters come out of the woodworks.
Speaker A:You probably had disguised as friends too, that have, you know.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And we have to know that that's part of it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, can you maybe piggyback off that a little bit?
Speaker A:Because it's, that's, that's people.
Speaker A:I find that people struggle with that.
Speaker A:And I did.
Speaker A:I don't today.
Speaker A:I embrace it today.
Speaker A:But I struggled.
Speaker A:But it's gonna happen, right?
Speaker B:You know, you're successful and you know that you've made it.
Speaker B:When you have haters, like, if you're.
Speaker B:And honestly, if you're not saying anything, there's a difference between being rude and crude and ignoring the pain that somebody else might be feeling.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:Like, so to go out onto the marketplace, if you don't have haters or if you don't have a bullet on your back, it's because you're not making big enough waves, you're not speaking big enough truths and you're not going out trying to make a big enough impact.
Speaker B:But when I say that you could have haters just because you're belligerent and you're mean.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:So that's why I back up my.
Speaker B:As I was thinking about how to say that be careful of what you say in the sense that you have to own the fact that others might be in.
Speaker B:The hate that's online right now is through the roof.
Speaker A:I don't even pay attention to it.
Speaker B:It's so hard because people just don't.
Speaker B:They feel anonymous because they're online and they're just so mean to each other.
Speaker B:But I'm not talking about that kind of hater.
Speaker B:I'm talking about the kind of bullseye on your back.
Speaker B:Like people are coming after you and they want to tackle you because you're so successful.
Speaker B:That's the kind of.
Speaker B:You're making a big enough impact, you've got a big enough business, you've got a big enough voice.
Speaker B:That's when Dave Ramsey, I go after him all the time.
Speaker B:I don't think he says everything the way that I would say it.
Speaker B:And I literally, I don't hate on him, but I literally go, Dave, come on, this gal is like crushing life.
Speaker B:And you're squashing her, telling her that because she can't afford a 15 year mortgage, she can't buy a house.
Speaker B:So it's that kind of thing.
Speaker B:But I look at him.
Speaker B:And I'm like, he's making a difference.
Speaker B:He's impacting lives.
Speaker B:He's changing the financial future of hundreds of thousands of people.
Speaker B:That's the kind of impact I strive to have so that people can find what I say and, and put holes in it.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:Where do people will land the plane on this conversation?
Speaker A:And we'll have to do.
Speaker A:I honestly, I have like 20 questions I couldn't get to.
Speaker A:So promise me you'll come back for part two.
Speaker A:Because we're always going to be talking real estate because.
Speaker A:But what I want to know is how, how can people follow you?
Speaker A:I mean, you're a wealth of knowledge from the mortgage side of things to the investment side of things to just entrepreneurship.
Speaker A:How can people follow you?
Speaker A:How can people find you?
Speaker A:How can people learn from you?
Speaker B:So we're, we're a lot on social.
Speaker B:We're always getting better.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:Most of my stuff is under the Ruth team versus Nicole Ruth.
Speaker B:But if you search the root team and my last name is R U E T H but so if you look at the root team, we're on YouTube, we're better on Instagram, we're big on Facebook.
Speaker B:People tell me I'm big on Tick Tock.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I don't go on that platform.
Speaker B:We just.
Speaker A:But I got a team member that uses.
Speaker A:Uses tick.
Speaker A:I call it Tic Tac.
Speaker A:My kids are fanatical about it.
Speaker A:I don't even know how to upload a video.
Speaker A:Maybe I should.
Speaker A:You know, I can use a LinkedIn and Facebook, so.
Speaker A:That's right, Nicole, thanks to.
Speaker A:Thanks for your time.
Speaker A:Do me a favor though.
Speaker A:Hang tight in the stew for just one minute for me.
Speaker A:I want to chat with you about a few things, but hang tight.
Speaker A:Thank you all for tuning in.
Speaker A:This has been a really action packed, knowledgeable interview with my friend here, Nicole Ruth.
Speaker A:Make sure you give her a follow.
Speaker A:She's a wealth of knowledge.
Speaker A:And then until next time, my friends.
Speaker A:We'll see you sooner than later.
Speaker A:Humans that build real people, real work.
Speaker A:See you next time.
