Podcasts about Central Oregon

In this episode of Gun Talk Hunt, KJ sits down with Gary Killingsworth—Gun Talk's own draw-tag lottery champ—who managed to land not one, not two, but THREE highly sought-after hunting tags in a single year.From Oregon's coveted Mount Emily elk unit to Central Oregon blacktail deer and Willamette Valley hunts, Gary shares how he built his strategy, what gear he's relying on, and tips for maximizing your draw odds. Whether you're chasing over-the-counter opportunities or managing your preference points portfolio, this is a must-watch for hunters serious about next season's draw.This Gun Talk Hunt is brought to you by Savage Arms, Remington Ammunition, SnapSafe, Timney Triggers, and First Person Defender.Be sure to check out the Gun Talk / Ammunition Depot Collab page for great deals:ammunitiondepot.com/guntalkGet 5% off any order at Optics Planet with code GUNTALK.Check out the NEW First Person Defender YouTube channel HERE.About Gun Talk HuntGun Talk Media's Gun Talk Hunt, with Kevin “KJ” Jarnagin, pairs decades of experience with today's latest tools and technology to help you succeed in the field. Whether it runs or flies - no matter what game you pursue - Gun Talk Hunt is a multi-platform podcast that gives today's hunters a voice in the digital world.For more content, subscribe to Gun Talk at guntalktv.com, on Gun Talk's Roku, Apple TV, iOS app, Android app, or find Gun Talk on YouTube, Rumble, Facebook, Instagram, X and guntalk.com. Catch First Person Defender on the new Official FPD YouTube channel. Listen to all Gun Talk Podcasts with Spreaker, iHeart, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find podcasts.Copyright ©2025 Freefire Media, LLCGun Talk Hunt 08.02.25Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gun-talk--6185159/support.

Send us a textWhat makes a brand more than just a business? The answer lies in the deeply human stories behind the logos, products, and mission statements.Birth of the Brands takes you on an intimate journey with Central Oregon's most promising entrepreneurs as they navigate the thrilling, terrifying path from inspiration to launch. Host Adam Short sits down with eight founders from the 2025 Bend Outdoor Worx Outdoor Accelerator Program to uncover the pivotal moments that shaped their vision and the personal experiences that fuel their passion.You'll meet Tiffany Huey, who's breathing new life into her great-grandfather's leather care company while honoring its nearly century-old legacy. Through touching testimonials from longtime users like Richard Bryant, we discover how quality craftsmanship creates generational impact. "I've used it on furniture, belts, boots, everything is leather," Bryant shares, revealing how this product has supported his ranching livelihood for over 60 years.Then there's Tim Karpinski, co-founder of the iconic Grenade Gloves, who candidly discusses his journey through addiction to sobriety and how that transformation led to creating Spiral Wax Company with pro snowboarder Max Warbington. "I got super into self-care, meditation... I wonder if I could bring some of that into snowboarding," Tim reflects, showcasing how authentic personal growth translates into business innovation.We also follow recent OSU-Cascades graduates Kai Nevers and Kate Raber, whose childhood memories of family road trips inspired Wanderhut—a company creating accessible car camping solutions born from their own experience of "sleeping out of the back of the car probably four nights a week" while balancing student life with their passion for the outdoors.These are only three of the eight founders and brands that we'll be introducing. Each episode goes beyond business strategies to explore the mentors, families, friends, and customers who breathe life into something new. Listen this fall wherever you get your podcasts and discover why great businesses aren't just built—they're born.Support The Circling Podcast:Email us at: thecirclingpodcast@bendmagazine.comJoin the Circling membership: patreon.com/Thecirclingpodcast Follow us on Instagram @thecirclingpodcast @bendmagazineCover Song by: @theerinsmusic Bend Magazine. Remember to enter promo code: Podcast at checkout for your five-dollar annual subscription. https://bendmagazine.com. BOSS Sports Performance: https://www.bosssportsperformance.comBack Porch Coffee: https://www.backporchcoffeeroasters.comStory Booth: https://www.storyboothexperience.comRemember, the health of our community, relies on us!

We have a special guest today named Bee. Or Michael B. who goes on Hinge pretends to be a girl and gets guys to give up their fishing spots. It's Central Oregon Fishing and we're going to find out what makes her/him tick. If you want to support free speech and good hunting content on the Information Superhighway, look for our coffee and books and wildlife forage blends at https://www.garylewisoutdoors.com/Shop/This episode is sponsored by West Coast Floats, of Philomath, Oregon, made in the USA since 1982 for steelhead and salmon fishermen. Visit https://westcoastfloats.com/Our TV sponsors include: Nosler, Camp Chef, Warne Scope Mounts, Carson, ProCure Bait Scents, Sullivan Glove Company, The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce, Madras Ford, Bailey Seed and Smartz.Watch select episodes of Frontier Unlimited on our network of affiliates around the U.S. or click https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gary+lewis+outdoors+frontier+unlimited

Title: How to Make Millions with Vending Machines with Mike Hoffman Summary: In this conversation, Seth Bradley and Mike Hoffman delve into the world of vending machines as a business opportunity. Mike shares his journey from a Midwest farm boy to a successful entrepreneur in the vending industry, highlighting the evolution of vending technology and the potential for passive income. They discuss the importance of location, understanding demographics, and the scalability of vending routes. Mike emphasizes the need for upfront work and learning before delegating tasks, while also addressing the misconceptions surrounding passive income in the vending business. In this conversation, Seth Bradley and Mike discuss various aspects of entrepreneurship, particularly in the vending machine business. They explore the importance of capital raising, the journey of self-discovery, influences that shape business decisions, and the definition of success. The dialogue emphasizes the significance of flexibility, discipline, and focus in achieving entrepreneurial goals, while also touching on financial milestones and the attributes that distinguish successful entrepreneurs. Links to Watch and Subscribe:   Bullet Point Highlights: Mike's journey from a classic Midwest farm boy to a successful entrepreneur. The evolution of vending machines from traditional to smart technology. Understanding the importance of location in the vending business. The analogy of baseball levels to describe starting in vending. Scaling up from single A to big leagues in vending routes. The significance of demographics in product selection for vending machines. The potential for passive income with proper systems in place. The need for upfront work before achieving passivity in business. Vending is not a get-rich-quick scheme; it requires dedication. The future opportunities in the vending industry are expanding rapidly. Raising capital can dilute ownership but may be necessary for rapid growth. Self-discovery often leads to unexpected career paths. Influences in business can come from personal experiences rather than just mentors. Success is often defined by the ability to prioritize family and flexibility. Entrepreneurs work harder than in traditional jobs but gain flexibility. Discipline is crucial for saying no to distractions. Successful entrepreneurs often focus on niche markets. High foot traffic locations are ideal for vending machines. AI is transforming business operations and efficiency. Networking and connections can lead to valuable opportunities. Transcript: Seth Bradley, Esq. (00:04.898) Mike, what's going on buddy? Doing great brother, doing great. How about you?   Mike (00:06.748) Don't worry,   Mike (00:11.664) Good, I'm a little flustered. I usually have my mic set up over here, but I guess we just moved and it's not here today. I guess, yeah, new office and it's been a whole hot mess.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (00:19.822) New office or what?   Seth Bradley, Esq. (00:27.862) Nice man, nice. I see you got the whiteboard cranking back there. Love to see that.   Mike (00:33.114) Always. I love your background. That's sweet.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (00:38.03) Thanks man, yeah, I'm on camera all the time so I like I need to just build this out instead of using like a green screen so Made the investment made it happen   Mike (00:44.86) Totally.   Yeah, absolutely.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (00:49.442) Have we met in person or not? I don't know if we've met at a Wealth Without Wall Street event or I couldn't tell. Okay. No, I did not go to Nashville last year.   Mike (00:58.478) I don't think so. don't think you're... Were you in Nashville last year?   Mike (01:04.634) No, okay. No, I don't think we've met in person. Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (01:08.256) Okay, all good, man. All good. Well, cool. I'll just go over the format real quick. We'll do kind of a shorter recording. We're do like 30 minutes, something like in that range. And then we'll just kind of like break. And then I'll, want to record a couple of other quick segments where I call it Million Dollar Monday. I'm kind of asking you about how you made your first, last and next million. And then 1 % closer, which would just be kind of what separates you, what makes you the   top 1 % in your particular vertical. So we'll just kind of record those separately. Those will be real short, like five minutes or so.   Mike (01:44.924) Okay, yeah, I'll follow your lead. All good.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (01:47.15) Cool. Cool. Let's see. I think I already have this auto recording. So we're already recording. So I'll just jump right in.   Mike (01:55.377) Okay.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (01:57.782) Welcome to Raise the Bar Radio, hosted by yours truly Seth Bradley. We today we've got Mr. Passive, Mike Hoffman. Mike, welcome to the show.   Mike (02:08.189) Thank you for having me fired up to be here.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (02:10.855) Absolutely man, really happy to have you on. I know it's been a little bit of a trek here to get our schedules lined up, but really stoked to have you on today, man. I see you said you moved into a new office. You've got the whiteboard cranking, so love to see it.   Mike (02:25.372) yeah, whiteboards are the only place I can get my thoughts down.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (02:29.399) Yeah, man, it makes a difference when you actually write something rather than type it or even on a mirror board where you're doing it online. just there's something about physically writing something down.   Mike (02:41.328) You know, I'm glad you said that because yesterday I flipped to Seattle for a quick work trip and I didn't have wifi and I literally had three pages of just, I, was so like the clarity of some of these kinds of bigger visions I have now from just being able to write for an hour on a flight was, I was like, man, I gotta do this more often.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (03:00.363) Yeah, for sure. The key though is once you write it down, it just doesn't go into the trash or into a black hole somewhere where you never see it again. So that's kind of the disadvantage there. If you have it on your computer and you're taking notes or you have it on a mirror board, at least it's there to reference all the time. If you write it down on paper, sometimes, I've got my Raze Masters book right here for notes, but it's like, it might go into the abyss and I'll never look at it again. So you gotta be careful about that.   Mike (03:27.184) Yeah, yeah, I need to check out the Miro boards. I've heard a lot of good things about them.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (03:31.467) Yeah, yeah. Awesome, Mike. Well, listen, for our audience who doesn't know anything about you, maybe just tell them, you know, tell them a little bit about your background. Tell them about your your main business and we can take it from there.   Mike (03:43.354) Yeah. So I think for those that don't know about me, I'm a classic Midwest farm boy started with a classic, you know, showing cattle at the county fair and all of that and had a lemonade stand growing up. And then my first job was actually at McDonald's, you know, thinking about the whole success of that business model. But when I was coaching and, out of college, I got my first rental and I was like, wow, this is crazy. making money without.   really much time involved. and then with my work in Silicon Valley, know, Seth, was classic Silicon Valley, you know, cutthroat job that, startup life and traveling three weeks out of the month. And I was on, I was in airports all the time. And was like, these vending machines I would run into at airports were just so archaic. And so I went down this path of like unattended retail and kind of the future of, of that. And that's really where I just see a huge opportunity right now.   And so it's kind of what led me into all these different income streams that I'm passionate about.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (04:49.431) That's awesome, man. Well, let's dive into that a little bit deeper. me about these income streams. It centers around vending machines, right? But I'm sure there's a lot more to it. I'm sure there's a lot of different entry points for people. Maybe just kind of give us a general synopsis to start out.   Mike (05:06.78) Yeah, so I think the big thing with, you know, if we're talking vending specifically as an income stream, you know, most people think of vending as the traditional machines where you enter in a code, you put your card on the machine and then a motor spirals down a Snickers bar or a soda and you go into the chute and grab it.   Nowadays, there's these smart machines that literally you just unlock the door, or even if you go into, land in the Vegas airport right at the bottom of the escalator where it says, welcome to Las Vegas, there's a 7-Eleven with gates and AI cameras, and there's no employees in the 7-Eleven. And it just tracks whatever you grab and to exit the gate, you have to pay for it. So like, there's just this huge market now where we just installed it in urgent care.   less than two months ago and we can do over the counter meds in that machine because it doesn't have to fit into a motor. It's just shelf space. You identify with the planogram with the AI cameras like, okay, Dayquil in this slot or Salad in this slot and then whatever they grab, gets charged to the person that pulls it from it.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (06:15.469) That's interesting, man. Yeah, I mean, my initial thought too, was just like the traditional old vending machine where you're getting a candy bar or a cola out of there. But yeah, nowadays, now that you mentioned that, you see this more and more every single day where you've got these scanners, you've got kind of self-checkout, that sort of thing. So that's kind of, that expands that world and really opens it up to the future, right? Like it just really, that's what we're trying to get to, or at least we think we wanna get there, where we're kind of removing humans and...   kind of working with technologies and things like that.   Mike (06:49.488) Yeah, and I think, you know, removing the whole human thing. mean, those machines still got to get stocked and you know, there's not robots running around doing that. But I just come back to, I was a Marriott guy when I was on the road all the time and I'd go to these grab and goes at a Marriott and grab a, the end of the night, I'd grab like a little wine or an ice cream sandwich. And I literally had to go wait in line at the check-in desk behind three people checking in just to tell them, Hey, put these on.   room charge and I was like if I had a checkout kiosk in that grab-and-go I could have just removed all the friction for this customer experience.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (07:27.772) Right, 100%. Yeah, I mean, there's a place and time for it and there's more and more applications for it that just pop up every single day and you can kind of spot that in your life as you're just kind of moving through, whether you're checking into your hotel or whatever you're doing.   Mike (07:41.456) Yeah, yeah. So that's just kind of what excites me today.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (07:45.973) Yeah, yeah, so when a stranger asks you what you do just in the street, what do you tell them? Because I have a hard time answering that question sometimes too, but I'd love to hear what your answer is.   Mike (07:56.804) Yeah, I would just say it depends on the day. You know, what do you do or what's your, you know, it's like at the golf course when you get paired up with a stranger and they're like, tell me about what you do for your career. And I just say, I'm a classic entrepreneur. And then I'm like, well, what do you do? And it's like, well, tell me about the day. You know, what fire are you putting out? Like today we just got the go ahead for five more urgent cares for our local route. But then, you know, we have a community of operators across the country that we help really build.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (07:57.933) haha   Ha ha ha.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (08:09.879) Yeah. Yeah.   Mike (08:25.616) Vending empires and so we had a group call this morning. So literally, there's a lot of just, you know, it's classic entrepreneurial life. You never know what the day's script is gonna be.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (08:36.161) Yeah, for sure. And you focus a lot on not only on your own business, but also teaching others, right? Teaching others how to kind of break into this business.   Mike (08:45.402) Yeah, that's my passion, Seth. When I got into my first investment out of college was a $70,000 rental, you know, putting 20 % down or 14K and using an emergency fund. like my background in going to college was as a coach. like I knew I wanted to kind of take that mindset of like coaching people, you know, teach them how to fish. I don't want to catch all the fish myself. It's just not fulfilling that way. So that's really where my passion is.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (09:15.373) Gotcha, gotcha. tell me about like, tell me about step one. I mean, how does somebody break into this business? Obviously your own personal business is probably very advanced. There's probably a lot more sophisticated investing strategies at this point and you've got different layers to it. But somebody just kind of starting out that said, hey, this sounds pretty interesting. This vending machine business sounds like it can be passive. How do you recommend that they get started?   Mike (09:40.57) Yeah, so I'm always, I view like the whole vending scale as similar to Major League Baseball. You got your single A all the way up to the big leagues. And if you're just starting out, I always recommend like find a location where you can put a machine and just learn the process. Like to me, that's single A analogy. you know, that always starts with, people want to jump right to like, well, what type of machines do you recommend?   products, how do you price products? And the first question I'll always ask Seth is, well, what location is this machine going in? And they're like, well, I don't know yet. I was just going to buy one and put it in my garage to start. And it's like, no, you need to have the location first. So understanding that, is it a pet hospital? Is it an apartment? Is it a gym? Where is the foot traffic? And then you can cater to what's the best machine for that type of location.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (10:36.887) Got it, got it. Now is this a kind of a rent, you rent the space to place the machine with that particular business or wherever you're gonna place it or how does that all come together?   Mike (10:47.644) not typically, some people are kind of more advanced, like apartment complexes are used to the revenue share model. So they're going to ask for a piece of the pie for sure, for you to put the machine in their lobby. but like, you know, when we're talking urgent carers or even pet hospitals are viewing it as an amenity. And so we probably have, I don't even know how many machines now 75 now, and we, you know, less than half of those actually,   Seth Bradley, Esq. (10:50.423) Okay.   Mike (11:15.1) us rent or ask for a revenue share to have them in there. So I never leave lead with that, but we'll do it if we need to get the location.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (11:23.989) Interesting gotcha. So it's really a value add for wherever you're gonna place it and that's how most people or I guess most businesses would look at that and then you're able to capture that that space   Mike (11:27.366) Mm-hmm.   Mike (11:34.236) Yeah, absolutely. So, um, a great case study is we have a 25 employee roughing business here in Oregon. And you might think like, only 25 employees. It's not going to make that much money. Well, we do $1,200 a month. And the cool thing about this, Seth, is the CEO of this roughing company literally did napkin math on how much it costs for his employees to drive to the gas station during their 20 minute break. And then   How much they're paying for an energy drink at the gas station and then how much gas they're using with the roofing like the work trucks to get to and from the gas station So he's like I want to bring a smart machine into our warehouse Set the prices as half off so that four dollar monster only costs his rofers two dollars and then we invoice him the the business owner every month for the other 50 % and so he actually   Calculated as a cost savings not asking for money to rent the space   Seth Bradley, Esq. (12:35.597) Yeah, gotcha, gotcha. That makes sense. That makes sense. I love the baseball analogy with the single A, double A, triple A, even into the big leagues here. know, a lot of the folks that listen to this are already kind of, you know, in the big leagues or maybe think about some capital behind them. Like how would they be able to jump right in, maybe skip single or double A or would they, or do you even suggest that? Do you suggest that they start, you know, small just to learn and then maybe invest some more capital into it to expand or can they jump right to the big leagues?   Mike (12:48.891) Yeah.   Yeah.   Mike (13:03.966) I think they can jump right to the big leagues. this is, I'm glad you brought this up because just listening to some of your episodes from the past, there's no doubt that you have people that could buy a route like a off biz buy sell today. And I think this is a prime opportunity. it's very similar to flipping a house. you, you know, there's a route in Chicago, I think it was for $1.1 million, you know, whatever negotiating terms or seller financing or, or what have you, got a lot of, your, your   audience that is experts in that. But the cool thing about these routes is they have the old school machines that have the motors and that are limited to, this type of machine, you can only fit a 12 ounce cannon. Well, guess what? The minute you buy that route, you swap out that machine with one of these micro markets or smart machines. Now you just went from selling a 12 ounce soda for $1.25 to now a 16 ounce monster for $4.50.   Well, you just bought that location based on its current revenue numbers and by swapping out that machine, you're going to two or three acts your revenue just at that location. And so it's truly just like a value play, a value upgrade, like flipping the house of, okay, there's a lot of deals right now of these routes being sold by baby boomers where it's like, they got the old school Pepsi machine. Doesn't have a credit card reader on it. They can't track inventory remotely via their cell phones. So   They're not keeping it stocked. Like all those types of things can really play in your favor as a buyer that just wants to get to the big leagues right away.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (14:37.651) I love that. When you say buy a route, what are you really buying? Tell me about the contractual agreement behind that. What are you really buying there?   Mike (14:47.184) You're just buying the locations and the equipment associated with it. So like this Chicago route, it's like, we have machines in 75 properties all across the Chicago suburbs. And they could be medical clinics. could be apartments. could be employee break rooms at businesses, but that's when you start diving into those locations. It's like, I have a snack machine and a soda machine here. Well, you swap that out with a micro market that now instead of.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (14:49.279) Okay. Okay.   Mike (15:13.626) that machine that'll only hold a small bag of Doritos that you charge two bucks, well now you get the movie size theater bags that you can really put in there in a micro market. Like naturally just that valuation of that route based on those 75 machines current revenue, I mean you're gonna be able to two or three X your revenue right by just swapping out those machines.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (15:35.959) Wow, yeah, I love that analogy with real estate, right? It's just like a value add. It's like, how can I bring in more income from what already exists? Well, I need to upgrade or I need to put in some capital improvements, whatever you want to call it. Here's the vending machine upgrades or a different kind of system in there. And you get more income. And obviously that business in itself is going to be worth more in a higher multiple.   Mike (15:58.396) Absolutely. mean, a great example of this is we had a machine in an apartment complex and it was your traditional machine with the motors and you have to enter in the code. Well, we could only put in four 12 ounce drinks and then chips. Well, we swapped that out with a micro market. Well, now that micro market, we literally put in bags of Tide Pods for laundry, like these big bags of Tide Pods. We'll sell those like hotcakes for 15 bucks. And our old machine,   Seth Bradley, Esq. (16:25.281) Yeah, let's say those aren't cheap.   Mike (16:27.246) Yeah, our old machine Seth, it would take us to get to 15 bucks, we'd have to sell eight Snickers. That's one transaction.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (16:33.547) Right, right. Yeah, yeah. How do you do an analysis kind of based on like what you think is gonna sell there, right? Like you're replacing, let's say a Dorito machine with Tide Pods, you know? So you have to individually go to each location and figure out what will work, what will sell.   Mike (16:47.738) Yeah.   Mike (16:51.834) It's all about demographic. Absolutely. So, you know, we have, we have, we have a micro market and a manufacturing plant that's, it's a pumpkin farm and there's a ton of Hispanic workers. So we do a lot of like spicy foods, a lot of spicy chips. do, we do a ton of, mean, the sugar or sorry, the glass bottle cokes. They do, they love their pastries.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (16:53.431) Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (17:06.349) Yeah.   Mike (17:15.868) So we just doubled down on the demographics. So yesterday I was filming at one of our micro markets that's in a gym and they crushed the Fairlife protein shakes, like the more modern protein shakes, but they won't touch muscle milk. So we're literally taking out one row of muscle milk just to add an extra row of Fairlife shakes. So you're constantly just catering to the demographics and what's selling.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (17:40.632) Yeah, yeah, this is awesome. I mean, this is literally just like real estate, right? Like you go and you find a good market. You're talking about demographics, right? Find the market, see what they want, see how much you can upgrade, how you can upgrade. If it's an apartment, it's a unit. If it's here, it's the product that you're selling and the type of machine, or maybe it's a mini market. A lot of things to kind of tie your understanding to here.   Mike (17:45.926) Yeah.   Mike (18:05.904) Yeah, absolutely.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (18:07.615) Yeah, awesome, man. Awesome, Where are you at in your business? Like what, you know, what are the big leagues looking like right now? You know, what are you doing to expand your business, raising the bar in your business?   Mike (18:18.692) Yeah, I'm going after that's a really good question. I'm going after kind of these newer markets and we're kind of past that point of like, okay, let's pilot in this location. For example, that urgent care, we didn't know if it was going to be a good location two months ago when we installed. Well now it's already crushing it. Well, there's six other urgent cares in town and we just got to go ahead on five of those six. So like for me, it's doubling down on our current proof points of where.   okay, we know that manufacturing plant, the pumpkin farm does really well. So let's start getting intros to all their, manufacturers of the products they need to grow pumpkin. know, like we're just doubling down on scaling because now we have the operational blueprint to really just kind of to go after it.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (19:03.917) Gotcha, gotcha. Tell me about how passive this can really be, right? So I used to have, before we switched over to the new brand, Raise the Bar podcast, it was the Passive Income Attorney podcast, right? I was really focused on passive investments, focused on bringing in passive investors into my real estate deals, things like that. And I think that word passive gets thrown around quite a bit, right? And sometimes it's abused because people get into things that are not truly passive.   Mike (19:18.427) Yeah.   Mike (19:28.784) Mm-hmm.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (19:33.517) What's your take on that as it relates to the vending business?   Mike (19:38.49) Yeah, so I think as far as with the vending business, there's clearly upfront leg work that needs to be done, whether that's finding locations or any of those things. So I have a route that is here in Oregon, and then we bought a route last year in Illinois and have scaled that route. I spend 30 minutes a week on each route now. that these urgent cares and stuff, like we have an operator that's running the whole route.   Here's the problem, Seth. It's like people are so scared to build systems to ultimately systemize things or they're too cheap to hire help. And I'm the opposite. like, you know, kind of like Dan Martell's buy back your time. Like I have like a leverage calculator and like I constantly think about is this worth my time? Cause as you know, you're busier than me. Like it's so limited.   for me, my routes, I would consider them passive, like one hour a week is, is nothing in my mind. But as far as like, you know, I'm, I'm also a passive investor on, we're building a, an oil loop station in Florida and I sent my money a year ago to, to my, active investor and I haven't talked to him since. Like that's actually truly probably passive now, you know, I'm not doing anything, but there's, there's different levels to that. And I'm a huge believer like.   don't delegate something until you know what you're delegating. So people that want to start with the vending routes, sure, if you want to buy a route that already has an operator, that's one thing. but these, if you're starting a vending route for your kid or for your stay at home wife or whatever, as a side hustle, like get in the weeds and install that first machine. So when you hire help to take over the route, you know what you're delegating.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (21:09.773) Mm-hmm.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (21:27.021) Yeah, that's key. That's key. And you you described just like any other business, right? I think that's kind of where people get themselves into trouble. That sometimes they get sold the dream that is truly passive. And eventually it can be. I mean, you're talking about an hour a week. To me, that's pretty damn passive, right? But you know, upfront, you you've got to learn the business. You've got to know what you're getting yourself into. Like you said, you've got to learn before you delegate so that you know what you're delegating.   There is going to be some upfront work and then as you're able to kind of delegate and learn Then you can make it more and more passive as you go   Mike (22:00.88) Yeah, I mean, it's no different than what's the same when people tell you that they're busy. I mean, you're just not a priority. Like that's a fact. you're not. People say it's the same thing when people come to me and they're like, I'm so busy. It's like, okay, well let me, let me see your schedule. Where are you spending your time? You know, it's like when people are like, I can't lose weight. Okay, well let me see your food log. What did you eat yesterday? Did you have ice cream? Like this is like the same kind of thing. That's where passive I think has been really abused.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (22:16.097) Yeah. Yep.   Mike (22:29.638) To me, the bigger issue is like, vending is not get rich quick. And so like, if you're expecting to leave your nine to five tomorrow and vending is going to make up for that in one day, like that's not going to   Seth Bradley, Esq. (22:41.089) Right, Makes sense. Speaking of passive, do you raise capital or do you have any kind of a fund or have you put together a fund for something like this?   Mike (22:51.48) We haven't put together a fun, we're definitely buying routes is definitely becoming more and more intriguing. And I know there's some PE players starting to get into the vending game, but it's something we've been definitely considering and on our radar of do we want to.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (22:58.541) Mm-hmm.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (23:10.231) Gotcha. Cool. I mean, you brought in money partners for some of those routes yet, or is that still something you're exploring too?   Mike (23:18.168) No, I think it's just something we're thinking about. mean, what do you recommend?   Seth Bradley, Esq. (23:21.089) Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'd recommend I mean, it depends, right? Like I'm I'm scared to turn you by trade, but I don't like to say you should always raise capital no matter what. Right. Like you've been able to scale your business as you have and grown it to where it is without bringing outside capital. It sounds which is great because you own 100 percent or with whatever business partners you might have. You know, when you start raising capital, you're giving a large chunk of that piece away, not necessarily your whole company. But if you're buying   you know, a set of routes or that sort of thing. You you're gonna give a big piece away to those past investors if you're starting a fund or even if it's up. Even a single asset syndication here for one of these, you know, these routes, you could put it together that way. You know, it's just something to consider. But a lot of times when people are looking to scale fast, right, if they wanna grow exponentially, you've gotta use other people's money to get there or hit the lottery.   Mike (24:08.294) Mm.   Mike (24:15.856) Absolutely, no, agree. That's spot-on and I actually before you know the Silicon Valley company That I was part of we had a we went through probably series a B C D C ground   Let's just say we weren't very fiscally responsible. So I come from the, you know, it's like the ex-girlfriend example. I don't want to just start taking everyone's money.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (24:42.413) Yeah, yeah, that tends to happen with some startups, right? Like before you get funding, you're super frugal because it's your money and every single dollar counts. And you're like, I don't want to pay, you if it's software, you don't want to pay the software engineers. I'm going to out, you know, put it, you know, hire Indian engineers, that sort of thing. And then once you get a few million bucks that you raised in that seed round, then it just goes and you're like, whoa, wait a minute, let's hire 20 people. You know, it's you got to be careful about that.   Mike (25:05.606) Yeah   Yeah, yeah, that's a great, great take on it.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (25:11.245) Yeah, it's, yeah. It's a question I love to ask and I think it's about time for that. So, in a parallel universe, tell me about a different version of you. So a different but likely version, right? Like, for example, for me, I went to med school for a year and a half and then I dropped out and I ended up becoming an attorney. So that was like a big turning point, right? So I could have easily at some point just said screw it and became a doctor and that would have been a totally different route than I'm going down right now.   What's an example of something like that for you?   Mike (25:42.524) Wait, are you being serious about that? I took the MCAT too. I got into med school and then I, yeah, I was pretty mad in school. And then the more I learned about exercise science, I was like, organic chemistry is not fun.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (25:44.321) Yeah, totally.   yeah? There you go.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (25:57.39) It is not fun. I did not love that. I majored in exercise physiology and then I ended up switching to biology because it was just a little bit of an easier route to get my degree and go into med school and I went for a year and a half and then I dropped out because I absolutely hated it. I knew I didn't want to do it. I was just more attracted to business and that sort of thing.   Mike (26:16.346) Yeah, that's crazy. That's awesome. parallel universe. I, that's a really good question. I don't know. I, kinda, I have two kids under three and the other side of me wishes I would have traveled more.   you know, I mean, we'll get there hopefully when they get out of high school and someday. But right now I just think there's so many different cultural things and ways to skin the cat. And it's just fascinating to learn some of those things.   Mike (26:55.352) yourself in those cultures.   go to different cultures and really like understand how they did things for a time, a period of time to really just learn their thinking.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (27:07.777) Yeah, I love that man. I had a similar experience of what you're describing. I didn't travel abroad really other than like, you know, Canada and Mexico until I studied abroad in Barcelona during law school and I got to stay there for a couple of months. So you actually had some time. It wasn't like you're just visiting for a week or a weekend or anything like that. You got to kind of live there right for a couple of months and it just totally changed my, you know, my outlook on life and just the way that you see things like I feel like we're in the US and we just think   Mike (27:19.627) Seth Bradley, Esq. (27:37.76) US is number one and there's only one way to do things the way that we do things that kind of attitude. And then when you go to Western Europe and you see that culture and you drive or get on a train, it's like an hour away and you're in a totally different culture and they're doing it a certain way as well and it's working. You just see that other people are doing things differently and still being successful at it, still having a thriving culture and it's just awesome to see.   Mike (28:03.312) Yeah, absolutely.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (28:06.251) Yeah. Tell me about some major influences in your life. What turned you or got you into that, the vending business? It's not one of those typical things. mean, I know you're in the education business, so you're kind of really spreading the word about this type of business. But I would say when you started, there might not have been a mastermind or educational courses around this. mean, how did you kind of get drawn into that? Were there any particular people or influences that brought you in?   Mike (28:29.308) you   Mike (28:36.188) Yeah. So the, biggest influence for me to get into vending, uh, wasn't actually a person. It was actually, was, um, I had landed, I was coming back from the Pentagon from a trip back to the Bay for the startup we were talking about. And I was in the Denver airport and 11 PM, you know, our flight was delayed. And then they're like, Hey, you have to stay in the airport tonight. The pilot went over their hours for the day, blah, blah, blah. So I went to a vending machine and I remember buying a bottle of water.   I think it costs like at the time three bucks or something. I knew that bottle of water cost 20 cents at Costco. And I was like, there is someone that's at home with their kids right now making money off me and they're not even at this mission. Like the machine is doing the work. So I had like an aha moment of like, what are my true priorities in life? And like, why am I chasing this cutthroat startup from.   Palo Alto and trying to make it when reality was my priorities are freedom to spend more time with my family. So that's really kind of what led me into this path of starting a vending machine side hustle to keep our lifestyle as we had kids. We wanted to have a nanny and we wanted to be able to still go on dates and things like that as a couple with my wife. So that's really kind of my family and just like...   having the freedom to do things. Like that's what I'm really passionate about.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (29:59.084) Yeah. Yeah. I mean, building on that, and you may have already answered that, but what does success look like for you?   Mike (30:01.766) next   Mike (30:06.268) an empty calendar.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (30:08.621) Good luck with that. Good luck with that.   Mike (30:11.516) Oh man, I was gonna say, how do we crack that code? No, yeah. No, but I think success to me is doing things like picking up my daughter at three and even being able to say no to the things that aren't gonna get you to where you need, like the discipline piece of this too.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (30:15.708) man.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (30:33.995) Yeah, yeah, mean, you know, for me, it's kind of similar, right? It's not going to be able to empty that calendar. Not yet, at least maybe here in the future. But for now, it's pretty filled. But it is it's flexible, right? Like us as entrepreneurs, you know, we probably work more than we ever worked when we were in our W-2s. But at the same time, it's you know, we're working in our own business for ourselves, for our families. And we have the   Flexibility, a lot of people will say the freedom, right? But we have the flexibility to move things around. And if you want to pick your kids up at school at three, or you do want to take a weekend off, or something comes up in your schedule, you have the flexibility to do that. Whereas if you're kind of slaving away at the nine to five, you can't really do it.   Mike (31:04.486) Yeah. Yeah.   Mike (31:20.198) Yeah, that's spot on. mean, I just wrote that down, but flexibility is, cause you're right. When you started becoming an entrepreneur, this is what I tell people all the time when they want to get a venting around is like running your own business. You are going to work harder than you do for your boss currently at your W-2. Like you have to do payroll. You have to do, like you gotta like make sure there's money to actually do pay, you know, like all those things that you just don't even think about when you have a W-2. It's like, today's   Seth Bradley, Esq. (31:39.543) Yeah   Mike (31:48.89) You know, this Friday I get paid. Well, when you run a business, mean, that money's got to come from somewhere.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (31:51.905) Yeah   Right, yeah, 100%, man, 100%. All right, Mike, we're gonna wrap it up. Thanks so much for coming on the show. Tell the listeners where they can find out more about you.   Mike (32:05.286) Yeah, so thanks for having me. This has been great. I have free content all over the place. can find me on the classic Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, but I also have vendingpreneurs.com is where we help people that are more interested in actually the vending stuff. But I've been really trying to double down on YouTube lately because there's just a lot of content and you can't get it off a one minute reel.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (32:32.417) Love it, man. All right, Mike, appreciate it. Thanks for coming on the show.   Mike (32:35.91) Thanks for having me.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (32:37.227) Hi brother. Alright man, got a couple more questions for you. We do like a quick, kind of do the full podcast episode and then I'll just do kind of a quick episode that'll follow up on a Monday and then another one on a Friday. Cool.   Mike (32:55.814) See you.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (32:59.693) We out here.   Welcome to Million Dollar Mondays, how to make, keep, and scale a million dollars. Mike is a super successful entrepreneur in the vending machine business and beyond. Tell us, how did you make your first million dollars?   Mike (33:20.922) Yeah, Seth. It was probably actually through real estate and just getting a little bit kind of lucky with timing with COVID and short-term rentals and some of that. But yeah, that's probably how I got the first million.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (33:25.229) Mm.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (33:37.079) Gotcha, cool. Yeah, real estate usually plays a role in the everybody's strategy down the line, whether they're in that primary business or not, whether they start out there or they end up there, real estate usually plays a part. How'd you make your last million?   Mike (33:53.956) Yeah, that's a good question because it's completely different than real estate, but it's actually been vending machines. So that's been kind of fun. just, you you talk about product market fit whenever you're an entrepreneur with a business. And that was just kind of the perfect storm right now of traditional vending really kind of being outdated. And we found a product market fit with it.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (33:57.57) Right. Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (34:16.215) Gotcha. Cool. that was from, was this maybe mostly attributed to kind of buying those routes, those larger routes?   Mike (34:23.32) Exactly. Yeah. Buying old school routes and really kind of flipping them like a house with modern micro markets charging, with different products and what would fit in a vending machine, like more of the unorthodox, you know, toilet paper and tide pods and things that wouldn't fit in a traditional vending machine. I mean, we'll sell $35 bottles of shampoo in these micro markets. So just kind of, go and add it in a different way.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (34:49.857) Yeah, and then with the aging population, there's gotta be more and more of these things popping up. So there should be more opportunity for people to get involved or for people like yourself to just snag everything, right?   Mike (35:01.102) Yeah, I think there's no chance I could snag everything, not even just in this town alone that I'm currently in. I mean, machines are getting cheaper, the technology is getting way better with AI. And nowadays, it's not what fits in a vending machine motor. It's okay, what's shelf space? if it's a bottle of shampoo or a glass Coke, it doesn't matter because it's not just getting thrown down the chute of a traditional machine.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (35:05.387) Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (35:27.521) Makes sense, makes sense. Last, how are you planning on making your next million dollars?   Mike (35:34.3) I think probably with AI, we're doing a lot of interesting stuff with helping people scale their, their vending routes. that is applicable to any, small business. And so I'm really intrigued. Just every time I go down a rabbit hole with some new AI tool, I feel like there's another better one that just came right behind it. So I just think it's kind of that time where you can really get ahead by just learning.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (36:06.209) Yeah, totally makes sense. mean people that are not paying attention to AI whether it's simply using chat GPT instead of Google search are getting left behind quickly because it's just advancing so fast. I can't even imagine what this world's gonna look like five years from now the way that things are moving.   Mike (36:23.132) It's crazy. Three years ago when I was working for a tech company selling software into the government, I would have to work with three secretaries to schedule a meeting with the general to sell their software. Now my EA is literally an AI bot and everyone that's scheduling time on my calendar, they don't even know they're talking to a non-human, which is pretty   Seth Bradley, Esq. (36:43.479) Yeah, 100%. We're gonna, I predicted within five years, everybody's gonna have a humanoid robot in their home with AI instilled and they're gonna be doing physical things for us at our homes. Yeah. Yep. Yep. 100%. Awesome, All right, moving on to the next one.   Mike (36:50.181) Yeah!   Mike (36:57.917) I hope so. I hope they can go to Costco get all our groceries do our do our laundry The dishes   Seth Bradley, Esq. (37:11.501) You're clearly in the top 1 % of what you do, Mike. What is it about you that separates you from the rest of the field?   Mike (37:19.056) Ooh, that's a good question, Seth. I think it's just discipline, know, discipline and focus. One of the hardest things is being able to say no with the things that don't align. And when I was growing up, I had a quote that has really stuck with me. That's like, it's better to be respected than liked. And I think that really resonates. Like naturally as a human, you want to be liked and help people, but the 1 % are really good at saying no.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (37:47.649) Yeah, I love that man. That's a great answer. Kind of building on that, what do you think the number one attribute is that makes a successful entrepreneur?   Mike (37:57.468) probably focus. Yeah. Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (37:59.212) Yeah, focus. Yep. The one thing, right? The one thing.   Mike (38:04.186) Yep. That's why you come back to like the most successful entrepreneurs. They always niche down and they niche down because they just, got hyper-focused. Like this is kind of why for me, you know, I started this passive Mr. Passive on social media before I even got into Vendi. Well, now everyone's like, well, how passive is Vendi? And well, it's like, what's really interesting is I was posting all these different, what I thought passive income streams in the time, but everyone, 95 % of the questions I got about   Airbnbs are all my different investments was about bending. So I just niche down on, on bending and I just looked back on that and I was like, it really forced me to focus.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (38:43.263) Awesome, awesome. What's one thing someone could do today to get 1 % closer to success in the vending machine business if they are really interested in learning more?   Mike (38:53.892) tap into your connections and find a location that has high foot traffic, whether that's a friend that works at an urgent care, a sister that lives at an apartment. You know, you take your kid to that gymnastics studio that has a ton of foot traffic between 4 PM and 8 PM. Like all those locations are prime locations to put one of these modern smart machines in. so, tapping into your connections, well, you know,   Seth Bradley, Esq. (39:24.567) Love that man. Awesome. All right, Mike, I appreciate it, brother. We'll to meet in person sometime,   Mike (39:30.574) I would love to. Where are you based, Seth?   Seth Bradley, Esq. (39:31.789) I'm in San Diego, where you at?   Mike (39:34.78) I am in Eugene. Yeah, Oregon. I'll come down your way though.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (39:37.39) Cool We're planning on doing yeah, we're planning on doing so me and my wife we have a Sprinter van and Last May we did we did going back to the flexibility piece, right? We did 32 days in the van up through Wyoming Montana and then into like Into Canada and they're like Banff and Jasper and all the way up to Jasper and then we circled back on the west coast Through Vancouver and then down back to San Diego Yeah   Mike (40:05.52) What?   Seth Bradley, Esq. (40:06.829) Pretty wild, pretty awesome. And the reason I brought that up is this year we're gonna do shorter trip. We're probably gonna do two, maybe three weeks at the most, but we're gonna do kind of the Pacific Northwest. So Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver and all those parks and stuff up there.   Mike (40:17.254) Yeah.   Mike (40:21.744) Yeah, you definitely have a, have you been to Bend before? Bend is like my, that whole area, Central Oregon is, and even Idaho, like all those kind of, yeah. That's awesome. Please let me know when you're up this way. I mean, I'll come meet you wherever. That'd be amazing. Absolutely. Yeah. Awesome. Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (40:24.641) Yeah, yeah I have.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (40:38.861) Sure man grab a coffee or beer. I appreciate it. Yeah, let's do it. Yeah all right brother great to meet you and I will send the information on when this is gonna get released and give you you materials and all that stuff so we can collaborate on social media   Mike (40:51.964) Okay. Okay. Yeah. Is a lot of your audience, like passive investors?   Seth Bradley, Esq. (40:58.593) So most of that, so now I'm rebranding. I rebranded because I'm gonna be speaking more towards like active entrepreneurs, Active entrepreneurs, people raising capital, that sort of thing. Whereas before it was based on passive investors and people really focused on attorneys. So I'm an attorney and I was raising capital from attorneys for my real estate deals. Now I'm really more into selling shovels. I'm scaling my law firm. I'm chief legal officer for Tribest, which is, we've got a fund to fund.   Mike (41:20.262) Mm-hmm.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (41:28.085) legal product there as well. So we're really trying to bring in active, active entrepreneurs and people raising capital.   Mike (41:29.777) Yeah.   Mike (41:36.572) Okay, because I got that, I was just thinking through when we talking about that oil development project, that could be a good, the guy that runs that fund could be a good interview for you. Just thinking through your audience, because he's always looking for investors into his fund and like these oil lubs are just crushing it.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (41:49.901) Cool. Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (41:58.464) Yeah, cool. Who is it? Just, I don't know if I know him or not.   Mike (42:02.183) Um, Robert Durkey, he's out of Florida. has, his problem is he's sitting on a gold mine that has no, like he's old school, doesn't know social media, any of that. So that's why I think he'd be perfect for you. Cause I think you could help him and he could definitely help you with some kickback. Yeah. So cool. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hopefully we meet soon. Okay. See you Seth. Bye.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (42:05.645) I don't think I know. I don't think I know.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (42:13.889) Yeah. Gotcha.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (42:20.705) Cool, okay, sounds good man. Yeah, I appreciate the introduction.   Yeah, all right brother. Talk soon. See ya. Links from the Show and Guest Info and Links: Seth Bradley's Links: https://x.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.youtube.com/@sethbradleyesq www.facebook.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.threads.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.instagram.com/sethbradleyesq/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethbradleyesq/ https://passiveincomeattorney.com/seth-bradley/ https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/sethbradleyesq https://medium.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.tiktok.com/@sethbradleyesq?lang=en Mike Hoffman's Links: https://www.instagram.com/mikehoffmannofficial/ https://x.com/mrpassive_?lang=en https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikedhoffmann/ https://www.tiktok.com/@mr.passive

Title: How to Make Millions with Vending Machines with Mike Hoffman Summary: In this conversation, Seth Bradley and Mike Hoffman delve into the world of vending machines as a business opportunity. Mike shares his journey from a Midwest farm boy to a successful entrepreneur in the vending industry, highlighting the evolution of vending technology and the potential for passive income. They discuss the importance of location, understanding demographics, and the scalability of vending routes. Mike emphasizes the need for upfront work and learning before delegating tasks, while also addressing the misconceptions surrounding passive income in the vending business. In this conversation, Seth Bradley and Mike discuss various aspects of entrepreneurship, particularly in the vending machine business. They explore the importance of capital raising, the journey of self-discovery, influences that shape business decisions, and the definition of success. The dialogue emphasizes the significance of flexibility, discipline, and focus in achieving entrepreneurial goals, while also touching on financial milestones and the attributes that distinguish successful entrepreneurs. Links to Watch and Subscribe:   Bullet Point Highlights: Mike's journey from a classic Midwest farm boy to a successful entrepreneur. The evolution of vending machines from traditional to smart technology. Understanding the importance of location in the vending business. The analogy of baseball levels to describe starting in vending. Scaling up from single A to big leagues in vending routes. The significance of demographics in product selection for vending machines. The potential for passive income with proper systems in place. The need for upfront work before achieving passivity in business. Vending is not a get-rich-quick scheme; it requires dedication. The future opportunities in the vending industry are expanding rapidly. Raising capital can dilute ownership but may be necessary for rapid growth. Self-discovery often leads to unexpected career paths. Influences in business can come from personal experiences rather than just mentors. Success is often defined by the ability to prioritize family and flexibility. Entrepreneurs work harder than in traditional jobs but gain flexibility. Discipline is crucial for saying no to distractions. Successful entrepreneurs often focus on niche markets. High foot traffic locations are ideal for vending machines. AI is transforming business operations and efficiency. Networking and connections can lead to valuable opportunities. Transcript: Seth Bradley, Esq. (00:04.898) Mike, what's going on buddy? Doing great brother, doing great. How about you?   Mike (00:06.748) Don't worry,   Mike (00:11.664) Good, I'm a little flustered. I usually have my mic set up over here, but I guess we just moved and it's not here today. I guess, yeah, new office and it's been a whole hot mess.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (00:19.822) New office or what?   Seth Bradley, Esq. (00:27.862) Nice man, nice. I see you got the whiteboard cranking back there. Love to see that.   Mike (00:33.114) Always. I love your background. That's sweet.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (00:38.03) Thanks man, yeah, I'm on camera all the time so I like I need to just build this out instead of using like a green screen so Made the investment made it happen   Mike (00:44.86) Totally.   Yeah, absolutely.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (00:49.442) Have we met in person or not? I don't know if we've met at a Wealth Without Wall Street event or I couldn't tell. Okay. No, I did not go to Nashville last year.   Mike (00:58.478) I don't think so. don't think you're... Were you in Nashville last year?   Mike (01:04.634) No, okay. No, I don't think we've met in person. Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (01:08.256) Okay, all good, man. All good. Well, cool. I'll just go over the format real quick. We'll do kind of a shorter recording. We're do like 30 minutes, something like in that range. And then we'll just kind of like break. And then I'll, want to record a couple of other quick segments where I call it Million Dollar Monday. I'm kind of asking you about how you made your first, last and next million. And then 1 % closer, which would just be kind of what separates you, what makes you the   top 1 % in your particular vertical. So we'll just kind of record those separately. Those will be real short, like five minutes or so.   Mike (01:44.924) Okay, yeah, I'll follow your lead. All good.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (01:47.15) Cool. Cool. Let's see. I think I already have this auto recording. So we're already recording. So I'll just jump right in.   Mike (01:55.377) Okay.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (01:57.782) Welcome to Raise the Bar Radio, hosted by yours truly Seth Bradley. We today we've got Mr. Passive, Mike Hoffman. Mike, welcome to the show.   Mike (02:08.189) Thank you for having me fired up to be here.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (02:10.855) Absolutely man, really happy to have you on. I know it's been a little bit of a trek here to get our schedules lined up, but really stoked to have you on today, man. I see you said you moved into a new office. You've got the whiteboard cranking, so love to see it.   Mike (02:25.372) yeah, whiteboards are the only place I can get my thoughts down.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (02:29.399) Yeah, man, it makes a difference when you actually write something rather than type it or even on a mirror board where you're doing it online. just there's something about physically writing something down.   Mike (02:41.328) You know, I'm glad you said that because yesterday I flipped to Seattle for a quick work trip and I didn't have wifi and I literally had three pages of just, I, was so like the clarity of some of these kinds of bigger visions I have now from just being able to write for an hour on a flight was, I was like, man, I gotta do this more often.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (03:00.363) Yeah, for sure. The key though is once you write it down, it just doesn't go into the trash or into a black hole somewhere where you never see it again. So that's kind of the disadvantage there. If you have it on your computer and you're taking notes or you have it on a mirror board, at least it's there to reference all the time. If you write it down on paper, sometimes, I've got my Raze Masters book right here for notes, but it's like, it might go into the abyss and I'll never look at it again. So you gotta be careful about that.   Mike (03:27.184) Yeah, yeah, I need to check out the Miro boards. I've heard a lot of good things about them.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (03:31.467) Yeah, yeah. Awesome, Mike. Well, listen, for our audience who doesn't know anything about you, maybe just tell them, you know, tell them a little bit about your background. Tell them about your your main business and we can take it from there.   Mike (03:43.354) Yeah. So I think for those that don't know about me, I'm a classic Midwest farm boy started with a classic, you know, showing cattle at the county fair and all of that and had a lemonade stand growing up. And then my first job was actually at McDonald's, you know, thinking about the whole success of that business model. But when I was coaching and, out of college, I got my first rental and I was like, wow, this is crazy. making money without.   really much time involved. and then with my work in Silicon Valley, know, Seth, was classic Silicon Valley, you know, cutthroat job that, startup life and traveling three weeks out of the month. And I was on, I was in airports all the time. And was like, these vending machines I would run into at airports were just so archaic. And so I went down this path of like unattended retail and kind of the future of, of that. And that's really where I just see a huge opportunity right now.   And so it's kind of what led me into all these different income streams that I'm passionate about.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (04:49.431) That's awesome, man. Well, let's dive into that a little bit deeper. me about these income streams. It centers around vending machines, right? But I'm sure there's a lot more to it. I'm sure there's a lot of different entry points for people. Maybe just kind of give us a general synopsis to start out.   Mike (05:06.78) Yeah, so I think the big thing with, you know, if we're talking vending specifically as an income stream, you know, most people think of vending as the traditional machines where you enter in a code, you put your card on the machine and then a motor spirals down a Snickers bar or a soda and you go into the chute and grab it.   Nowadays, there's these smart machines that literally you just unlock the door, or even if you go into, land in the Vegas airport right at the bottom of the escalator where it says, welcome to Las Vegas, there's a 7-Eleven with gates and AI cameras, and there's no employees in the 7-Eleven. And it just tracks whatever you grab and to exit the gate, you have to pay for it. So like, there's just this huge market now where we just installed it in urgent care.   less than two months ago and we can do over the counter meds in that machine because it doesn't have to fit into a motor. It's just shelf space. You identify with the planogram with the AI cameras like, okay, Dayquil in this slot or Salad in this slot and then whatever they grab, gets charged to the person that pulls it from it.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (06:15.469) That's interesting, man. Yeah, I mean, my initial thought too, was just like the traditional old vending machine where you're getting a candy bar or a cola out of there. But yeah, nowadays, now that you mentioned that, you see this more and more every single day where you've got these scanners, you've got kind of self-checkout, that sort of thing. So that's kind of, that expands that world and really opens it up to the future, right? Like it just really, that's what we're trying to get to, or at least we think we wanna get there, where we're kind of removing humans and...   kind of working with technologies and things like that.   Mike (06:49.488) Yeah, and I think, you know, removing the whole human thing. mean, those machines still got to get stocked and you know, there's not robots running around doing that. But I just come back to, I was a Marriott guy when I was on the road all the time and I'd go to these grab and goes at a Marriott and grab a, the end of the night, I'd grab like a little wine or an ice cream sandwich. And I literally had to go wait in line at the check-in desk behind three people checking in just to tell them, Hey, put these on.   room charge and I was like if I had a checkout kiosk in that grab-and-go I could have just removed all the friction for this customer experience.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (07:27.772) Right, 100%. Yeah, I mean, there's a place and time for it and there's more and more applications for it that just pop up every single day and you can kind of spot that in your life as you're just kind of moving through, whether you're checking into your hotel or whatever you're doing.   Mike (07:41.456) Yeah, yeah. So that's just kind of what excites me today.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (07:45.973) Yeah, yeah, so when a stranger asks you what you do just in the street, what do you tell them? Because I have a hard time answering that question sometimes too, but I'd love to hear what your answer is.   Mike (07:56.804) Yeah, I would just say it depends on the day. You know, what do you do or what's your, you know, it's like at the golf course when you get paired up with a stranger and they're like, tell me about what you do for your career. And I just say, I'm a classic entrepreneur. And then I'm like, well, what do you do? And it's like, well, tell me about the day. You know, what fire are you putting out? Like today we just got the go ahead for five more urgent cares for our local route. But then, you know, we have a community of operators across the country that we help really build.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (07:57.933) haha   Ha ha ha.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (08:09.879) Yeah. Yeah.   Mike (08:25.616) Vending empires and so we had a group call this morning. So literally, there's a lot of just, you know, it's classic entrepreneurial life. You never know what the day's script is gonna be.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (08:36.161) Yeah, for sure. And you focus a lot on not only on your own business, but also teaching others, right? Teaching others how to kind of break into this business.   Mike (08:45.402) Yeah, that's my passion, Seth. When I got into my first investment out of college was a $70,000 rental, you know, putting 20 % down or 14K and using an emergency fund. like my background in going to college was as a coach. like I knew I wanted to kind of take that mindset of like coaching people, you know, teach them how to fish. I don't want to catch all the fish myself. It's just not fulfilling that way. So that's really where my passion is.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (09:15.373) Gotcha, gotcha. tell me about like, tell me about step one. I mean, how does somebody break into this business? Obviously your own personal business is probably very advanced. There's probably a lot more sophisticated investing strategies at this point and you've got different layers to it. But somebody just kind of starting out that said, hey, this sounds pretty interesting. This vending machine business sounds like it can be passive. How do you recommend that they get started?   Mike (09:40.57) Yeah, so I'm always, I view like the whole vending scale as similar to Major League Baseball. You got your single A all the way up to the big leagues. And if you're just starting out, I always recommend like find a location where you can put a machine and just learn the process. Like to me, that's single A analogy. you know, that always starts with, people want to jump right to like, well, what type of machines do you recommend?   products, how do you price products? And the first question I'll always ask Seth is, well, what location is this machine going in? And they're like, well, I don't know yet. I was just going to buy one and put it in my garage to start. And it's like, no, you need to have the location first. So understanding that, is it a pet hospital? Is it an apartment? Is it a gym? Where is the foot traffic? And then you can cater to what's the best machine for that type of location.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (10:36.887) Got it, got it. Now is this a kind of a rent, you rent the space to place the machine with that particular business or wherever you're gonna place it or how does that all come together?   Mike (10:47.644) not typically, some people are kind of more advanced, like apartment complexes are used to the revenue share model. So they're going to ask for a piece of the pie for sure, for you to put the machine in their lobby. but like, you know, when we're talking urgent carers or even pet hospitals are viewing it as an amenity. And so we probably have, I don't even know how many machines now 75 now, and we, you know, less than half of those actually,   Seth Bradley, Esq. (10:50.423) Okay.   Mike (11:15.1) us rent or ask for a revenue share to have them in there. So I never leave lead with that, but we'll do it if we need to get the location.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (11:23.989) Interesting gotcha. So it's really a value add for wherever you're gonna place it and that's how most people or I guess most businesses would look at that and then you're able to capture that that space   Mike (11:27.366) Mm-hmm.   Mike (11:34.236) Yeah, absolutely. So, um, a great case study is we have a 25 employee roughing business here in Oregon. And you might think like, only 25 employees. It's not going to make that much money. Well, we do $1,200 a month. And the cool thing about this, Seth, is the CEO of this roughing company literally did napkin math on how much it costs for his employees to drive to the gas station during their 20 minute break. And then   How much they're paying for an energy drink at the gas station and then how much gas they're using with the roofing like the work trucks to get to and from the gas station So he's like I want to bring a smart machine into our warehouse Set the prices as half off so that four dollar monster only costs his rofers two dollars and then we invoice him the the business owner every month for the other 50 % and so he actually   Calculated as a cost savings not asking for money to rent the space   Seth Bradley, Esq. (12:35.597) Yeah, gotcha, gotcha. That makes sense. That makes sense. I love the baseball analogy with the single A, double A, triple A, even into the big leagues here. know, a lot of the folks that listen to this are already kind of, you know, in the big leagues or maybe think about some capital behind them. Like how would they be able to jump right in, maybe skip single or double A or would they, or do you even suggest that? Do you suggest that they start, you know, small just to learn and then maybe invest some more capital into it to expand or can they jump right to the big leagues?   Mike (12:48.891) Yeah.   Yeah.   Mike (13:03.966) I think they can jump right to the big leagues. this is, I'm glad you brought this up because just listening to some of your episodes from the past, there's no doubt that you have people that could buy a route like a off biz buy sell today. And I think this is a prime opportunity. it's very similar to flipping a house. you, you know, there's a route in Chicago, I think it was for $1.1 million, you know, whatever negotiating terms or seller financing or, or what have you, got a lot of, your, your   audience that is experts in that. But the cool thing about these routes is they have the old school machines that have the motors and that are limited to, this type of machine, you can only fit a 12 ounce cannon. Well, guess what? The minute you buy that route, you swap out that machine with one of these micro markets or smart machines. Now you just went from selling a 12 ounce soda for $1.25 to now a 16 ounce monster for $4.50.   Well, you just bought that location based on its current revenue numbers and by swapping out that machine, you're going to two or three acts your revenue just at that location. And so it's truly just like a value play, a value upgrade, like flipping the house of, okay, there's a lot of deals right now of these routes being sold by baby boomers where it's like, they got the old school Pepsi machine. Doesn't have a credit card reader on it. They can't track inventory remotely via their cell phones. So   They're not keeping it stocked. Like all those types of things can really play in your favor as a buyer that just wants to get to the big leagues right away.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (14:37.651) I love that. When you say buy a route, what are you really buying? Tell me about the contractual agreement behind that. What are you really buying there?   Mike (14:47.184) You're just buying the locations and the equipment associated with it. So like this Chicago route, it's like, we have machines in 75 properties all across the Chicago suburbs. And they could be medical clinics. could be apartments. could be employee break rooms at businesses, but that's when you start diving into those locations. It's like, I have a snack machine and a soda machine here. Well, you swap that out with a micro market that now instead of.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (14:49.279) Okay. Okay.   Mike (15:13.626) that machine that'll only hold a small bag of Doritos that you charge two bucks, well now you get the movie size theater bags that you can really put in there in a micro market. Like naturally just that valuation of that route based on those 75 machines current revenue, I mean you're gonna be able to two or three X your revenue right by just swapping out those machines.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (15:35.959) Wow, yeah, I love that analogy with real estate, right? It's just like a value add. It's like, how can I bring in more income from what already exists? Well, I need to upgrade or I need to put in some capital improvements, whatever you want to call it. Here's the vending machine upgrades or a different kind of system in there. And you get more income. And obviously that business in itself is going to be worth more in a higher multiple.   Mike (15:58.396) Absolutely. mean, a great example of this is we had a machine in an apartment complex and it was your traditional machine with the motors and you have to enter in the code. Well, we could only put in four 12 ounce drinks and then chips. Well, we swapped that out with a micro market. Well, now that micro market, we literally put in bags of Tide Pods for laundry, like these big bags of Tide Pods. We'll sell those like hotcakes for 15 bucks. And our old machine,   Seth Bradley, Esq. (16:25.281) Yeah, let's say those aren't cheap.   Mike (16:27.246) Yeah, our old machine Seth, it would take us to get to 15 bucks, we'd have to sell eight Snickers. That's one transaction.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (16:33.547) Right, right. Yeah, yeah. How do you do an analysis kind of based on like what you think is gonna sell there, right? Like you're replacing, let's say a Dorito machine with Tide Pods, you know? So you have to individually go to each location and figure out what will work, what will sell.   Mike (16:47.738) Yeah.   Mike (16:51.834) It's all about demographic. Absolutely. So, you know, we have, we have, we have a micro market and a manufacturing plant that's, it's a pumpkin farm and there's a ton of Hispanic workers. So we do a lot of like spicy foods, a lot of spicy chips. do, we do a ton of, mean, the sugar or sorry, the glass bottle cokes. They do, they love their pastries.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (16:53.431) Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (17:06.349) Yeah.   Mike (17:15.868) So we just doubled down on the demographics. So yesterday I was filming at one of our micro markets that's in a gym and they crushed the Fairlife protein shakes, like the more modern protein shakes, but they won't touch muscle milk. So we're literally taking out one row of muscle milk just to add an extra row of Fairlife shakes. So you're constantly just catering to the demographics and what's selling.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (17:40.632) Yeah, yeah, this is awesome. I mean, this is literally just like real estate, right? Like you go and you find a good market. You're talking about demographics, right? Find the market, see what they want, see how much you can upgrade, how you can upgrade. If it's an apartment, it's a unit. If it's here, it's the product that you're selling and the type of machine, or maybe it's a mini market. A lot of things to kind of tie your understanding to here.   Mike (17:45.926) Yeah.   Mike (18:05.904) Yeah, absolutely.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (18:07.615) Yeah, awesome, man. Awesome, Where are you at in your business? Like what, you know, what are the big leagues looking like right now? You know, what are you doing to expand your business, raising the bar in your business?   Mike (18:18.692) Yeah, I'm going after that's a really good question. I'm going after kind of these newer markets and we're kind of past that point of like, okay, let's pilot in this location. For example, that urgent care, we didn't know if it was going to be a good location two months ago when we installed. Well now it's already crushing it. Well, there's six other urgent cares in town and we just got to go ahead on five of those six. So like for me, it's doubling down on our current proof points of where.   okay, we know that manufacturing plant, the pumpkin farm does really well. So let's start getting intros to all their, manufacturers of the products they need to grow pumpkin. know, like we're just doubling down on scaling because now we have the operational blueprint to really just kind of to go after it.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (19:03.917) Gotcha, gotcha. Tell me about how passive this can really be, right? So I used to have, before we switched over to the new brand, Raise the Bar podcast, it was the Passive Income Attorney podcast, right? I was really focused on passive investments, focused on bringing in passive investors into my real estate deals, things like that. And I think that word passive gets thrown around quite a bit, right? And sometimes it's abused because people get into things that are not truly passive.   Mike (19:18.427) Yeah.   Mike (19:28.784) Mm-hmm.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (19:33.517) What's your take on that as it relates to the vending business?   Mike (19:38.49) Yeah, so I think as far as with the vending business, there's clearly upfront leg work that needs to be done, whether that's finding locations or any of those things. So I have a route that is here in Oregon, and then we bought a route last year in Illinois and have scaled that route. I spend 30 minutes a week on each route now. that these urgent cares and stuff, like we have an operator that's running the whole route.   Here's the problem, Seth. It's like people are so scared to build systems to ultimately systemize things or they're too cheap to hire help. And I'm the opposite. like, you know, kind of like Dan Martell's buy back your time. Like I have like a leverage calculator and like I constantly think about is this worth my time? Cause as you know, you're busier than me. Like it's so limited.   for me, my routes, I would consider them passive, like one hour a week is, is nothing in my mind. But as far as like, you know, I'm, I'm also a passive investor on, we're building a, an oil loop station in Florida and I sent my money a year ago to, to my, active investor and I haven't talked to him since. Like that's actually truly probably passive now, you know, I'm not doing anything, but there's, there's different levels to that. And I'm a huge believer like.   don't delegate something until you know what you're delegating. So people that want to start with the vending routes, sure, if you want to buy a route that already has an operator, that's one thing. but these, if you're starting a vending route for your kid or for your stay at home wife or whatever, as a side hustle, like get in the weeds and install that first machine. So when you hire help to take over the route, you know what you're delegating.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (21:09.773) Mm-hmm.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (21:27.021) Yeah, that's key. That's key. And you you described just like any other business, right? I think that's kind of where people get themselves into trouble. That sometimes they get sold the dream that is truly passive. And eventually it can be. I mean, you're talking about an hour a week. To me, that's pretty damn passive, right? But you know, upfront, you you've got to learn the business. You've got to know what you're getting yourself into. Like you said, you've got to learn before you delegate so that you know what you're delegating.   There is going to be some upfront work and then as you're able to kind of delegate and learn Then you can make it more and more passive as you go   Mike (22:00.88) Yeah, I mean, it's no different than what's the same when people tell you that they're busy. I mean, you're just not a priority. Like that's a fact. you're not. People say it's the same thing when people come to me and they're like, I'm so busy. It's like, okay, well let me, let me see your schedule. Where are you spending your time? You know, it's like when people are like, I can't lose weight. Okay, well let me see your food log. What did you eat yesterday? Did you have ice cream? Like this is like the same kind of thing. That's where passive I think has been really abused.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (22:16.097) Yeah. Yep.   Mike (22:29.638) To me, the bigger issue is like, vending is not get rich quick. And so like, if you're expecting to leave your nine to five tomorrow and vending is going to make up for that in one day, like that's not going to   Seth Bradley, Esq. (22:41.089) Right, Makes sense. Speaking of passive, do you raise capital or do you have any kind of a fund or have you put together a fund for something like this?   Mike (22:51.48) We haven't put together a fun, we're definitely buying routes is definitely becoming more and more intriguing. And I know there's some PE players starting to get into the vending game, but it's something we've been definitely considering and on our radar of do we want to.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (22:58.541) Mm-hmm.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (23:10.231) Gotcha. Cool. I mean, you brought in money partners for some of those routes yet, or is that still something you're exploring too?   Mike (23:18.168) No, I think it's just something we're thinking about. mean, what do you recommend?   Seth Bradley, Esq. (23:21.089) Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'd recommend I mean, it depends, right? Like I'm I'm scared to turn you by trade, but I don't like to say you should always raise capital no matter what. Right. Like you've been able to scale your business as you have and grown it to where it is without bringing outside capital. It sounds which is great because you own 100 percent or with whatever business partners you might have. You know, when you start raising capital, you're giving a large chunk of that piece away, not necessarily your whole company. But if you're buying   you know, a set of routes or that sort of thing. You you're gonna give a big piece away to those past investors if you're starting a fund or even if it's up. Even a single asset syndication here for one of these, you know, these routes, you could put it together that way. You know, it's just something to consider. But a lot of times when people are looking to scale fast, right, if they wanna grow exponentially, you've gotta use other people's money to get there or hit the lottery.   Mike (24:08.294) Mm.   Mike (24:15.856) Absolutely, no, agree. That's spot-on and I actually before you know the Silicon Valley company That I was part of we had a we went through probably series a B C D C ground   Let's just say we weren't very fiscally responsible. So I come from the, you know, it's like the ex-girlfriend example. I don't want to just start taking everyone's money.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (24:42.413) Yeah, yeah, that tends to happen with some startups, right? Like before you get funding, you're super frugal because it's your money and every single dollar counts. And you're like, I don't want to pay, you if it's software, you don't want to pay the software engineers. I'm going to out, you know, put it, you know, hire Indian engineers, that sort of thing. And then once you get a few million bucks that you raised in that seed round, then it just goes and you're like, whoa, wait a minute, let's hire 20 people. You know, it's you got to be careful about that.   Mike (25:05.606) Yeah   Yeah, yeah, that's a great, great take on it.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (25:11.245) Yeah, it's, yeah. It's a question I love to ask and I think it's about time for that. So, in a parallel universe, tell me about a different version of you. So a different but likely version, right? Like, for example, for me, I went to med school for a year and a half and then I dropped out and I ended up becoming an attorney. So that was like a big turning point, right? So I could have easily at some point just said screw it and became a doctor and that would have been a totally different route than I'm going down right now.   What's an example of something like that for you?   Mike (25:42.524) Wait, are you being serious about that? I took the MCAT too. I got into med school and then I, yeah, I was pretty mad in school. And then the more I learned about exercise science, I was like, organic chemistry is not fun.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (25:44.321) Yeah, totally.   yeah? There you go.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (25:57.39) It is not fun. I did not love that. I majored in exercise physiology and then I ended up switching to biology because it was just a little bit of an easier route to get my degree and go into med school and I went for a year and a half and then I dropped out because I absolutely hated it. I knew I didn't want to do it. I was just more attracted to business and that sort of thing.   Mike (26:16.346) Yeah, that's crazy. That's awesome. parallel universe. I, that's a really good question. I don't know. I, kinda, I have two kids under three and the other side of me wishes I would have traveled more.   you know, I mean, we'll get there hopefully when they get out of high school and someday. But right now I just think there's so many different cultural things and ways to skin the cat. And it's just fascinating to learn some of those things.   Mike (26:55.352) yourself in those cultures.   go to different cultures and really like understand how they did things for a time, a period of time to really just learn their thinking.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (27:07.777) Yeah, I love that man. I had a similar experience of what you're describing. I didn't travel abroad really other than like, you know, Canada and Mexico until I studied abroad in Barcelona during law school and I got to stay there for a couple of months. So you actually had some time. It wasn't like you're just visiting for a week or a weekend or anything like that. You got to kind of live there right for a couple of months and it just totally changed my, you know, my outlook on life and just the way that you see things like I feel like we're in the US and we just think   Mike (27:19.627) Seth Bradley, Esq. (27:37.76) US is number one and there's only one way to do things the way that we do things that kind of attitude. And then when you go to Western Europe and you see that culture and you drive or get on a train, it's like an hour away and you're in a totally different culture and they're doing it a certain way as well and it's working. You just see that other people are doing things differently and still being successful at it, still having a thriving culture and it's just awesome to see.   Mike (28:03.312) Yeah, absolutely.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (28:06.251) Yeah. Tell me about some major influences in your life. What turned you or got you into that, the vending business? It's not one of those typical things. mean, I know you're in the education business, so you're kind of really spreading the word about this type of business. But I would say when you started, there might not have been a mastermind or educational courses around this. mean, how did you kind of get drawn into that? Were there any particular people or influences that brought you in?   Mike (28:29.308) you   Mike (28:36.188) Yeah. So the, biggest influence for me to get into vending, uh, wasn't actually a person. It was actually, was, um, I had landed, I was coming back from the Pentagon from a trip back to the Bay for the startup we were talking about. And I was in the Denver airport and 11 PM, you know, our flight was delayed. And then they're like, Hey, you have to stay in the airport tonight. The pilot went over their hours for the day, blah, blah, blah. So I went to a vending machine and I remember buying a bottle of water.   I think it costs like at the time three bucks or something. I knew that bottle of water cost 20 cents at Costco. And I was like, there is someone that's at home with their kids right now making money off me and they're not even at this mission. Like the machine is doing the work. So I had like an aha moment of like, what are my true priorities in life? And like, why am I chasing this cutthroat startup from.   Palo Alto and trying to make it when reality was my priorities are freedom to spend more time with my family. So that's really kind of what led me into this path of starting a vending machine side hustle to keep our lifestyle as we had kids. We wanted to have a nanny and we wanted to be able to still go on dates and things like that as a couple with my wife. So that's really kind of my family and just like...   having the freedom to do things. Like that's what I'm really passionate about.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (29:59.084) Yeah. Yeah. I mean, building on that, and you may have already answered that, but what does success look like for you?   Mike (30:01.766) next   Mike (30:06.268) an empty calendar.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (30:08.621) Good luck with that. Good luck with that.   Mike (30:11.516) Oh man, I was gonna say, how do we crack that code? No, yeah. No, but I think success to me is doing things like picking up my daughter at three and even being able to say no to the things that aren't gonna get you to where you need, like the discipline piece of this too.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (30:15.708) man.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (30:33.995) Yeah, yeah, mean, you know, for me, it's kind of similar, right? It's not going to be able to empty that calendar. Not yet, at least maybe here in the future. But for now, it's pretty filled. But it is it's flexible, right? Like us as entrepreneurs, you know, we probably work more than we ever worked when we were in our W-2s. But at the same time, it's you know, we're working in our own business for ourselves, for our families. And we have the   Flexibility, a lot of people will say the freedom, right? But we have the flexibility to move things around. And if you want to pick your kids up at school at three, or you do want to take a weekend off, or something comes up in your schedule, you have the flexibility to do that. Whereas if you're kind of slaving away at the nine to five, you can't really do it.   Mike (31:04.486) Yeah. Yeah.   Mike (31:20.198) Yeah, that's spot on. mean, I just wrote that down, but flexibility is, cause you're right. When you started becoming an entrepreneur, this is what I tell people all the time when they want to get a venting around is like running your own business. You are going to work harder than you do for your boss currently at your W-2. Like you have to do payroll. You have to do, like you gotta like make sure there's money to actually do pay, you know, like all those things that you just don't even think about when you have a W-2. It's like, today's   Seth Bradley, Esq. (31:39.543) Yeah   Mike (31:48.89) You know, this Friday I get paid. Well, when you run a business, mean, that money's got to come from somewhere.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (31:51.905) Yeah   Right, yeah, 100%, man, 100%. All right, Mike, we're gonna wrap it up. Thanks so much for coming on the show. Tell the listeners where they can find out more about you.   Mike (32:05.286) Yeah, so thanks for having me. This has been great. I have free content all over the place. can find me on the classic Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, but I also have vendingpreneurs.com is where we help people that are more interested in actually the vending stuff. But I've been really trying to double down on YouTube lately because there's just a lot of content and you can't get it off a one minute reel.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (32:32.417) Love it, man. All right, Mike, appreciate it. Thanks for coming on the show.   Mike (32:35.91) Thanks for having me.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (32:37.227) Hi brother. Alright man, got a couple more questions for you. We do like a quick, kind of do the full podcast episode and then I'll just do kind of a quick episode that'll follow up on a Monday and then another one on a Friday. Cool.   Mike (32:55.814) See you.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (32:59.693) We out here.   Welcome to Million Dollar Mondays, how to make, keep, and scale a million dollars. Mike is a super successful entrepreneur in the vending machine business and beyond. Tell us, how did you make your first million dollars?   Mike (33:20.922) Yeah, Seth. It was probably actually through real estate and just getting a little bit kind of lucky with timing with COVID and short-term rentals and some of that. But yeah, that's probably how I got the first million.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (33:25.229) Mm.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (33:37.079) Gotcha, cool. Yeah, real estate usually plays a role in the everybody's strategy down the line, whether they're in that primary business or not, whether they start out there or they end up there, real estate usually plays a part. How'd you make your last million?   Mike (33:53.956) Yeah, that's a good question because it's completely different than real estate, but it's actually been vending machines. So that's been kind of fun. just, you you talk about product market fit whenever you're an entrepreneur with a business. And that was just kind of the perfect storm right now of traditional vending really kind of being outdated. And we found a product market fit with it.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (33:57.57) Right. Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (34:16.215) Gotcha. Cool. that was from, was this maybe mostly attributed to kind of buying those routes, those larger routes?   Mike (34:23.32) Exactly. Yeah. Buying old school routes and really kind of flipping them like a house with modern micro markets charging, with different products and what would fit in a vending machine, like more of the unorthodox, you know, toilet paper and tide pods and things that wouldn't fit in a traditional vending machine. I mean, we'll sell $35 bottles of shampoo in these micro markets. So just kind of, go and add it in a different way.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (34:49.857) Yeah, and then with the aging population, there's gotta be more and more of these things popping up. So there should be more opportunity for people to get involved or for people like yourself to just snag everything, right?   Mike (35:01.102) Yeah, I think there's no chance I could snag everything, not even just in this town alone that I'm currently in. I mean, machines are getting cheaper, the technology is getting way better with AI. And nowadays, it's not what fits in a vending machine motor. It's okay, what's shelf space? if it's a bottle of shampoo or a glass Coke, it doesn't matter because it's not just getting thrown down the chute of a traditional machine.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (35:05.387) Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (35:27.521) Makes sense, makes sense. Last, how are you planning on making your next million dollars?   Mike (35:34.3) I think probably with AI, we're doing a lot of interesting stuff with helping people scale their, their vending routes. that is applicable to any, small business. And so I'm really intrigued. Just every time I go down a rabbit hole with some new AI tool, I feel like there's another better one that just came right behind it. So I just think it's kind of that time where you can really get ahead by just learning.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (36:06.209) Yeah, totally makes sense. mean people that are not paying attention to AI whether it's simply using chat GPT instead of Google search are getting left behind quickly because it's just advancing so fast. I can't even imagine what this world's gonna look like five years from now the way that things are moving.   Mike (36:23.132) It's crazy. Three years ago when I was working for a tech company selling software into the government, I would have to work with three secretaries to schedule a meeting with the general to sell their software. Now my EA is literally an AI bot and everyone that's scheduling time on my calendar, they don't even know they're talking to a non-human, which is pretty   Seth Bradley, Esq. (36:43.479) Yeah, 100%. We're gonna, I predicted within five years, everybody's gonna have a humanoid robot in their home with AI instilled and they're gonna be doing physical things for us at our homes. Yeah. Yep. Yep. 100%. Awesome, All right, moving on to the next one.   Mike (36:50.181) Yeah!   Mike (36:57.917) I hope so. I hope they can go to Costco get all our groceries do our do our laundry The dishes   Seth Bradley, Esq. (37:11.501) You're clearly in the top 1 % of what you do, Mike. What is it about you that separates you from the rest of the field?   Mike (37:19.056) Ooh, that's a good question, Seth. I think it's just discipline, know, discipline and focus. One of the hardest things is being able to say no with the things that don't align. And when I was growing up, I had a quote that has really stuck with me. That's like, it's better to be respected than liked. And I think that really resonates. Like naturally as a human, you want to be liked and help people, but the 1 % are really good at saying no.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (37:47.649) Yeah, I love that man. That's a great answer. Kind of building on that, what do you think the number one attribute is that makes a successful entrepreneur?   Mike (37:57.468) probably focus. Yeah. Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (37:59.212) Yeah, focus. Yep. The one thing, right? The one thing.   Mike (38:04.186) Yep. That's why you come back to like the most successful entrepreneurs. They always niche down and they niche down because they just, got hyper-focused. Like this is kind of why for me, you know, I started this passive Mr. Passive on social media before I even got into Vendi. Well, now everyone's like, well, how passive is Vendi? And well, it's like, what's really interesting is I was posting all these different, what I thought passive income streams in the time, but everyone, 95 % of the questions I got about   Airbnbs are all my different investments was about bending. So I just niche down on, on bending and I just looked back on that and I was like, it really forced me to focus.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (38:43.263) Awesome, awesome. What's one thing someone could do today to get 1 % closer to success in the vending machine business if they are really interested in learning more?   Mike (38:53.892) tap into your connections and find a location that has high foot traffic, whether that's a friend that works at an urgent care, a sister that lives at an apartment. You know, you take your kid to that gymnastics studio that has a ton of foot traffic between 4 PM and 8 PM. Like all those locations are prime locations to put one of these modern smart machines in. so, tapping into your connections, well, you know,   Seth Bradley, Esq. (39:24.567) Love that man. Awesome. All right, Mike, I appreciate it, brother. We'll to meet in person sometime,   Mike (39:30.574) I would love to. Where are you based, Seth?   Seth Bradley, Esq. (39:31.789) I'm in San Diego, where you at?   Mike (39:34.78) I am in Eugene. Yeah, Oregon. I'll come down your way though.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (39:37.39) Cool We're planning on doing yeah, we're planning on doing so me and my wife we have a Sprinter van and Last May we did we did going back to the flexibility piece, right? We did 32 days in the van up through Wyoming Montana and then into like Into Canada and they're like Banff and Jasper and all the way up to Jasper and then we circled back on the west coast Through Vancouver and then down back to San Diego Yeah   Mike (40:05.52) What?   Seth Bradley, Esq. (40:06.829) Pretty wild, pretty awesome. And the reason I brought that up is this year we're gonna do shorter trip. We're probably gonna do two, maybe three weeks at the most, but we're gonna do kind of the Pacific Northwest. So Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver and all those parks and stuff up there.   Mike (40:17.254) Yeah.   Mike (40:21.744) Yeah, you definitely have a, have you been to Bend before? Bend is like my, that whole area, Central Oregon is, and even Idaho, like all those kind of, yeah. That's awesome. Please let me know when you're up this way. I mean, I'll come meet you wherever. That'd be amazing. Absolutely. Yeah. Awesome. Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (40:24.641) Yeah, yeah I have.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (40:38.861) Sure man grab a coffee or beer. I appreciate it. Yeah, let's do it. Yeah all right brother great to meet you and I will send the information on when this is gonna get released and give you you materials and all that stuff so we can collaborate on social media   Mike (40:51.964) Okay. Okay. Yeah. Is a lot of your audience, like passive investors?   Seth Bradley, Esq. (40:58.593) So most of that, so now I'm rebranding. I rebranded because I'm gonna be speaking more towards like active entrepreneurs, Active entrepreneurs, people raising capital, that sort of thing. Whereas before it was based on passive investors and people really focused on attorneys. So I'm an attorney and I was raising capital from attorneys for my real estate deals. Now I'm really more into selling shovels. I'm scaling my law firm. I'm chief legal officer for Tribest, which is, we've got a fund to fund.   Mike (41:20.262) Mm-hmm.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (41:28.085) legal product there as well. So we're really trying to bring in active, active entrepreneurs and people raising capital.   Mike (41:29.777) Yeah.   Mike (41:36.572) Okay, because I got that, I was just thinking through when we talking about that oil development project, that could be a good, the guy that runs that fund could be a good interview for you. Just thinking through your audience, because he's always looking for investors into his fund and like these oil lubs are just crushing it.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (41:49.901) Cool. Yeah.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (41:58.464) Yeah, cool. Who is it? Just, I don't know if I know him or not.   Mike (42:02.183) Um, Robert Durkey, he's out of Florida. has, his problem is he's sitting on a gold mine that has no, like he's old school, doesn't know social media, any of that. So that's why I think he'd be perfect for you. Cause I think you could help him and he could definitely help you with some kickback. Yeah. So cool. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hopefully we meet soon. Okay. See you Seth. Bye.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (42:05.645) I don't think I know. I don't think I know.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (42:13.889) Yeah. Gotcha.   Seth Bradley, Esq. (42:20.705) Cool, okay, sounds good man. Yeah, I appreciate the introduction.   Yeah, all right brother. Talk soon. See ya. Links from the Show and Guest Info and Links: Seth Bradley's Links: https://x.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.youtube.com/@sethbradleyesq www.facebook.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.threads.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.instagram.com/sethbradleyesq/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethbradleyesq/ https://passiveincomeattorney.com/seth-bradley/ https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/sethbradleyesq https://medium.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.tiktok.com/@sethbradleyesq?lang=en Mike Hoffman's Links: https://www.instagram.com/mikehoffmannofficial/ https://x.com/mrpassive_?lang=en https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikedhoffmann/ https://www.tiktok.com/@mr.passive

Unity is a non-denominational Spiritual Community in Central Oregon. Join us each week for some great music, a little bit of silliness, and a lot of inspirational soul food. All are welcome! This week: Kevin Kubota shares, “Creating a New Spiritual Path”. Have you ever wondered if life's transformative moments require dramatic events, or if they can quietly unfold within the fabric of everyday life? This Sunday, I invite you to join me on a journey of exploration as we delve into "Creating a New Spiritual Path." – drawing inspiration from a recent and dramatic experience trekking through the Andes Mountains. We'll ponder the concept of personal pilgrimages and embracing the peace and clarity that comes from deep surrender. Whether you're seeking profound change or gentle nudges on your spiritual journey, this talk promises to kindle curiosity and inspire introspection. Will you join me in this exploration? ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Submit your prayer claims online!: http://bit.ly/prayerclaim Please TXT donations to: (833) 455-1960 or Donate on our website: https://unitycentraloregon.org/donate/ Donate via Paypal: http://bit.ly/donateunitybend More goodness on our website: [www.UnityCentralOregon.org](http://www.unitycentraloregon.org/)

Unity is a non-denominational Spiritual Community in Central Oregon. Join us each week for some great music, a little bit of silliness, and a lot of inspirational soul food. All are welcome! This week: Kevin Kubota shares "Creating a New Spiritual Path”. Have you ever wondered if life's transformative moments require dramatic events, or if they can quietly unfold within the fabric of everyday life? This Sunday, I invite you to join me on a journey of exploration as we delve into "Creating a New Spiritual Path." – drawing inspiration from a recent and dramatic experience trekking through the Andes Mountains. We'll ponder the concept of personal pilgrimages and embracing the peace and clarity that comes from deep surrender. Whether you're seeking profound change or gentle nudges on your spiritual journey, this talk promises to kindle curiosity and inspire introspection. Will you join me in this exploration? ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Submit your prayer claims online!: http://bit.ly/prayerclaim Please TXT donations to: (833) 455-1960 or Donate on our website: https://unitycentraloregon.org/donate/ Donate via Paypal: http://bit.ly/donateunitybend More goodness on our website: [www.UnityCentralOregon.org](http://www.unitycentraloregon.org/)

Unity is a non-denominational Spiritual Community in Central Oregon. Join us each week for some great music, a little bit of silliness, and a lot of inspirational soul food. All are welcome! This week: Rev. Ruth Miller shares, “Being Creativity”. Sometimes the Universe requires us to respond to life very creatively. Most of the time it's because we forgot who we are: individualized expressions of an infinite creative process that we call God. Rev. Dr. Ruth Miller offers us insights and guidelines for being powerful creators in a time of apparent distress. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Submit your prayer claims online!: http://bit.ly/prayerclaim Please TXT donations to: (833) 455-1960 or Donate on our website: https://unitycentraloregon.org/donate/ Donate via Paypal: http://bit.ly/donateunitybend More goodness on our website: [www.UnityCentralOregon.org](http://www.unitycentraloregon.org/)

Is there a lost crystal cave in central Oregon somewhere, lined with thousands of quartz crystals? Or is the whole thing just a legend? If it's real, maybe it would be better if we never found out .... (Deschutes and Crook counties, 1890s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1811a.central-oregon-lost-crystal-cave-520.html)

The union that represents reporters at Central Oregon’s 122-year-old newspaper is negotiating its first contract with the corporation that bought the outlet last fall. Carpenter Media Group has already laid off nonunion workers at the Bulletin, like the paper’s copy editor, but the Central Oregon NewsGuild says that a contract - and the worker protections it would include - must be in place before any union layoffs could be made. The company has acquired more than 30 newspapers in Oregon alone, including the Pamplin Media Group - and approximately 250 others in the U.S. and Canada. The NewsGuild unit has taken the unusual step of urging subscribers to cancel their subscriptions if the corporate management does not agree to their demands. The Carpenter Media Group declined our request to be interviewed and sent a statement that said it is “dedicated to preserving and strengthening community journalism in the communities we serve.” The company has made deep cuts in other local media outlets it has acquired. Central Oregon NewsGuild leader Morgan Owen is a crime and public safety reporter for the Bend Bulletin. She joins us to share the latest in the story that’s unfolding at her paper.

Unity is a non-denominational Spiritual Community in Central Oregon. Join us each week for some great music, a little bit of silliness, and a lot of inspirational soul food. All are welcome! This week: Kate Cavanaugh shares, “The Evolution of the Soul”. I'm Kate Cavanaugh — Wayseer, Wisdom Keeper, and devoted guide on the path of soul remembrance. This is your invitation to join me for a powerful and heart-opening talk titled "The Evolution of the Soul." Together, we'll explore the sacred concept of the Soul Contract — the idea that we chose to come into this human life not by accident, but with intention. Through challenge and joy, through grief and grace, we are not lost... we are remembering. This is a journey of awakening, surrendering, healing, and returning to the Divine Spark within. Every experience you've lived — even the painful ones — is part of your soul's sacred unfolding. If you've ever wondered why you're here, or felt the deep pull to understand your life from a spiritual perspective, this talk is for you. Come remember who you are. Come walk with me. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Submit your prayer claims online!: http://bit.ly/prayerclaim Please TXT donations to: (833) 455-1960 or Donate on our website: https://unitycentraloregon.org/donate/ Donate via Paypal: http://bit.ly/donateunitybend More goodness on our website: [www.UnityCentralOregon.org](http://www.unitycentraloregon.org/)

In this episode of the 'In the Woods' podcast by Oregon State University's Forestry and Natural Resources Extension Program, host Jacob Putney interviews Thomas Stokely, a forest ecologist with The Nature Conservancy in Central Oregon. They discuss the significance of wildlife habitat connectivity, the impacts of habitat fragmentation and loss, the role of roads and recreation, and the importance of integrating fire management to promote ecosystem health. Thomas explains concepts like landscape ecology, connectivity, and fragmentation, emphasizing the need for effective management strategies to balance human activities with conservation efforts. They explore specific projects like the Oregon Connectivity Assessment Mapping Project and strategies for mitigating human impact on wildlife through community involvement and science-based forest management practices. For more information and accessible transcripts go to inthewoods.com.

On this episode, Colleen Thomas from the Homeless Outreach Services Team (HOST) shares how her team connects people experiencing homelessness with mental health support and other critical resources.  Colleen also shares what drives her, what challenges the team faces, and what she wants the public to better understand about homelessness in Central Oregon.

Unity is a non-denominational Spiritual Community in Central Oregon. Join us each week for some great music, a little bit of silliness, and a lot of inspirational soul food. All are welcome! This week: Sarah Jones shares, “The Golden Steps of Creation”. Our theme for the month is 'Creative'. What does it mean to be truly creative, to co-create with Spirit, to live in creative flow, to feel the creative impulse within and freely express from that divinely connected place? How about creative relationship with others, within our Unity community, and with a world that at times can feel anything but creative? I'll look forward to exploring and, yes, creating with you this coming Sunday! ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Submit your prayer claims online!: http://bit.ly/prayerclaim Please TXT donations to: (833) 455-1960 or Donate on our website: https://unitycentraloregon.org/donate/ Donate via Paypal: http://bit.ly/donateunitybend More goodness on our website: [www.UnityCentralOregon.org](http://www.unitycentraloregon.org/)

We talk Alaska moose hunting with Luke Williams, whose favorite cartridge is the 338 Remington Ultra Magnum stoked with Nosler Partitions. We also talk about the 17 HMR and shooting rats, chucks and pigeons. Williams is one of the owners of 7C Cattle Company providing top quality locally grown exquisitely finished beef. You can find them at https://7ccattlecompany.com/If you want to support free speech and good hunting content in the Internet Age, look for our coffee and books and wildlife forage blends at https://www.garylewisoutdoors.com/Shop/This episode is sponsored by West Coast Floats, of Philomath, Oregon, made in the USA since 1982 for steelhead and salmon fishermen. Visit https://westcoastfloats.com/Our TV sponsors include: Nosler, Camp Chef, Warne Scope Mounts, Carson, ProCure Bait Scents, Sullivan Glove Company, The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce, Madras Ford, Bailey Seed and Smartz.Watch select episodes of Frontier Unlimited on our network of affiliates around the U.S. or click https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gary+lewis+outdoors+frontier+unlimited

He is one independent SOB. His name is Dave Scott, he was the general's driver in Vietnam in the Army 101st Airborne. Dave Scott makes his home in Central Oregon's Newberry Crater but he frequently takes off to places like the the Northwest Territories or Mongolia. He has paddled solo on some of the world's most remote rivers like the Mackenzie in the NW Territories, the Yukon, the Eg. And he has a lot to say about getting free. You can learn more at https://1indsob.com/If you want to support free speech and good hunting content in the Internet Age, look for our coffee and books and wildlife forage blends at https://www.garylewisoutdoors.com/Shop/This episode is sponsored by West Coast Floats, of Philomath, Oregon, made in the USA since 1982 for steelhead and salmon fishermen. Visit https://westcoastfloats.com/Our TV sponsors include: Nosler, Camp Chef, Warne Scope Mounts, Carson, ProCure Bait Scents, Sullivan Glove Company, The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce, Madras Ford, Bailey Seed and Smartz.Watch select episodes of Frontier Unlimited on our network of affiliates around the U.S. or click https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gary+lewis+outdoors+frontier+unlimited

Unity is a non-denominational Spiritual Community in Central Oregon. Join us each week for some great music, a little bit of silliness, and a lot of inspirational soul food. All are welcome! This week: Rev. Jim Pasmore shares, “Confidence is Doing it Your Way”. You can't do life your way if you don't know who you are! When you know who you are you can do life with coherence and confidence. My talk this coming Sunday on confidence is in Divine Order as it is highly relevant to my life - and I suspect to the lives of everyone here. It's about our journey into knowing who we are, initially as a person but ultimately as a spiritual being having a human experience. This journey into Spiritual awareness is what Unity and all true Spiritual teachings aim to achieve. There is no other journey as powerful, important and impactful to our confidence in the goodness, happiness and success of our lives as the journey into Spirit. For most of us we begin by learning who we are as a person. “Know thyself” as a person often comes before knowing who we are as a Spiritual Being. At least for me, it was a long and winding road from self-awareness to Spiritual Awareness. Please join me as we explore some stories, ideas and practices that can lead to the ultimate goal in life, knowing who we are, both in our human awareness and our Spiritual Awareness, so that we can create our best life as the unique and wonderful beings we were meant to be. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Submit your prayer claims online!: http://bit.ly/prayerclaim Please TXT donations to: (833) 455-1960 or Donate on our website: https://unitycentraloregon.org/donate/ Donate via Paypal: http://bit.ly/donateunitybend More goodness on our website: [www.UnityCentralOregon.org](http://www.unitycentraloregon.org/)

Unity is a non-denominational Spiritual Community in Central Oregon. Join us each week for some great music, a little bit of silliness, and a lot of inspirational soul food. All are welcome! This week: Kate Cavanaugh shares, “Walking in the Light of Love”. This Sunday, June 22nd is my Beloved and my 23rd wedding anniversary. It is an amazing time to be sharing the soul of what we've come to know through the Precepts of Beloved Partnership—a path of conscious love, sacred commitment, and healing connection. We'll explore the everyday choices we make to hold one another in the highest way… to surrender, to remember, and to rise in love. Whether you're in partnership, seeking it, or simply devoted to walking in love with life itself—this message is for you. Come join me as we open our hearts, align with the divine, and walk this luminous path together. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Submit your prayer claims online!: http://bit.ly/prayerclaim Please TXT donations to: (833) 455-1960 or Donate on our website: https://unitycentraloregon.org/donate/ Donate via Paypal: http://bit.ly/donateunitybend More goodness on our website: [www.UnityCentralOregon.org](http://www.unitycentraloregon.org/)

Unity is a non-denominational Spiritual Community in Central Oregon. Join us each week for some great music, a little bit of silliness, and a lot of inspirational soul food. All are welcome! This week: Kate Cavanaugh shares, “Walking in the Light of Love”. This Sunday, June 22nd is my Beloved and my 23rd wedding anniversary. It is an amazing time to be sharing the soul of what we've come to know through the Precepts of Beloved Partnership—a path of conscious love, sacred commitment, and healing connection. We'll explore the everyday choices we make to hold one another in the highest way… to surrender, to remember, and to rise in love. Whether you're in partnership, seeking it, or simply devoted to walking in love with life itself—this message is for you. Come join me as we open our hearts, align with the divine, and walk this luminous path together. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Submit your prayer claims online!: http://bit.ly/prayerclaim Please TXT donations to: (833) 455-1960 or Donate on our website: https://unitycentraloregon.org/donate/ Donate via Paypal: http://bit.ly/donateunitybend More goodness on our website: [www.UnityCentralOregon.org](http://www.unitycentraloregon.org/)

Bend serves as a gateway to natural wonder and recreation in Central Oregon. But, like many other places across the West, the city has too few homes. “High Desert, Higher Costs: Bend and the Housing Crisis in the American West” explores the housing issues that have been brewing for decades in Bend. We’ll hear more about the city from Jonathan Bach, author of the book and housing reporter for The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Ryder Redfield is a close friend and ranch manager in Central Oregon. Ryder talks about his connection to the land, wildlife and his struggles with finding purpose and understanding in life. Joel and Ryder talk about their friendship and the spiritual growth they have experienced together through community and psychedelics. https://www.ryderredfield.com/https://jimgreenfootwear.com/https://bushsurvivaltraining.com/ Visit Folsompointnutrition.com and use code INTHEBUSH on checkout to receive a 20% discount on 100% grass fed Bison supplements. Please support them to support us.

Unity is a non-denominational Spiritual Community in Central Oregon. Join us each week for some great music, a little bit of silliness, and a lot of inspirational soul food. All are welcome! This week: William Gregory shares, “Divine Masculine”. We will be discussing the dynamics between Masculine and Feminine with special emphasis placed on the empowered spiritual side of Masculinity, and a call for all men to awaken to this. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Submit your prayer claims online!: http://bit.ly/prayerclaim Please TXT donations to: (833) 455-1960 or Donate on our website: https://unitycentraloregon.org/donate/ Donate via Paypal: http://bit.ly/donateunitybend More goodness on our website: [www.UnityCentralOregon.org](http://www.unitycentraloregon.org/)

One of the most powerful things you can do to energize your career is to integrate the shooting sports and/or hunting and fishing to build relationships. Work with the people you want to work with and make lifelong friends. That is how our guest Ryan Fraker sees it too. We talk concealed carry, encounters with snakes, 3-gun shooting and machine guns. Ryan Fraker is the founder of Team 144 and an ambassador for the shooting sports industry. Find Ryan at www.ryansrates.com or look up Team 144 on social media. If you want to support free speech and good hunting content in the Internet Age, look for our coffee and books and wildlife forage blends at https://www.garylewisoutdoors.com/Shop/We have a new sponsor for the podcast! It's a company out of Philomath, Oregon, family made in the USA since 1982 for steelhead and salmon fishermen. It's West Coast Floats. check them out at https://westcoastfloats.com/ A big thank you to a boy named Sulak Chris Sulak for reading Craigslist Missed Connections. We couldn't do it without you Sulak. Our TV sponsors include: Nosler, Camp Chef, Warne Scope Mounts, Carson, Pro-Cure Bait Scents, Sullivan Glove Company, The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce, Madras Ford, Bailey Seed and Smartz.Watch select episodes of Frontier Unlimited on our network of affiliates around the U.S. or click https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gary+lewis+outdoors+frontier+unlimited

Unity is a non-denominational Spiritual Community in Central Oregon. Join us each week for some great music, a little bit of silliness, and a lot of inspirational soul food. All are welcome! This week: Ananda Das shares, “Awaken the Abundance Within: A Lakshmi Inspired Service”. Are you ready to open the gates of abundance in your life—not just materially, but in love, creativity, and inner fulfillment? Join Ananda Das for a transformative Sunday Service dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi, the radiant force of beauty, grace, and prosperity. Through an inspiring talk, a guided meditation to align with her blessings, and a heart opening mantra chant, you'll be invited to release blocks, awaken your true worth, and step into a life of sacred abundance. This is more than a talk—it's a sacred activation. Come be uplifted, nourished, and empowered to welcome Lakshmi's flow into every corner of your life. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Submit your prayer claims online!: http://bit.ly/prayerclaim Please TXT donations to: (833) 455-1960 or Donate on our website: https://unitycentraloregon.org/donate/ Donate via Paypal: http://bit.ly/donateunitybend More goodness on our website: [www.UnityCentralOregon.org](http://www.unitycentraloregon.org/)

Unity is a non-denominational Spiritual Community in Central Oregon. Join us each week for some great music, a little bit of silliness, and a lot of inspirational soul food. All are welcome! This week: Kate Cavanaugh shares, “I am Inspired”. I am inspired by the unwavering resilience of the human spirit, especially in those who dare to heal. To witness the turning inward—to face our wounds with compassion and our stories with courage—is to witness the sacred alchemy of transformation. Inspiration, in for me, is not a fleeting feeling; it is a state of deep reverence for the path of healing that each soul walks. When we chooses to heal, we not only liberate ourselves, we ripple freedom across generations. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Submit your prayer claims online!: http://bit.ly/prayerclaim Please TXT donations to: (833) 455-1960 or Donate on our website: https://unitycentraloregon.org/donate/ Donate via Paypal: http://bit.ly/donateunitybend More goodness on our website: [www.UnityCentralOregon.org](http://www.unitycentraloregon.org/)

Thistle & Nest, an affordable housing provider in Bend, says the city’s new tree code isn’t flexible enough and is raising the cost of building new housing in Central Oregon. At one of the affordable housing developments Thistle & Nest is currently building, the code will mean fewer homes get built, according to the organization, which is refusing to submit a tree preservation plan for the site. That challenge is currently being reviewed by a hearings officer and could be appealed to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. Amy Warren, board president and co-founder of Thistle & Nest, joins us to explain why the nonprofit has decided to challenge the tree code.   

Unity is a non-denominational Spiritual Community in Central Oregon. Join us each week for some great music, a little bit of silliness, and a lot of inspirational soul food. All are welcome! This week: Rev. Ruth Miller shares, “Divine Mothering”. May is the month of the Mother. Each year, midway between the spring equinox and summer solstice, different spiritual traditions remember the divine qualities of motherhood: nurturing, guiding, loving, inspiring, encouraging, and more. Rev. Dr. Ruth invites us to share those experiences and to discover the divine feminine, in her mothering form, within and around us. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Submit your prayer claims online!: http://bit.ly/prayerclaim Please TXT donations to: (833) 455-1960 or Donate on our website: https://unitycentraloregon.org/donate/ Donate via Paypal: http://bit.ly/donateunitybend More goodness on our website: [www.UnityCentralOregon.org](http://www.unitycentraloregon.org/)

There are a lot of places to find dark skies in Oregon, but relatively few that are set up to let you gaze deeply into the cosmos. On this week's episode of Peak Northwest, we talk to Paul Poncy, observatory manager at the Sunriver Nature Center and Observatory in central Oregon, which is one of the state's best places to go stargazing. Aside from the dark skies, the observatory also has several telescopes and good educational programming, all found in the vacation town of Sunriver, just south of Bend. It's a good destination for anyone interested in space, or an add-on activity for those in the area. Here are some highlights from this week's show: Protecting dark skies is important for the people, plants and animals of central Oregon. How astrotourism has brought more people to Sunriver. What can visitors see through the observatory's telescopes? What's the deal with Sunriver's defunct dark sky designation? Subscribe to Peak Northwest on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The MISOGI Method, Jody talks about how she achieved a big MISOGI of learning to fly fish and challenging herself to catch a very specific number of giant rainbow trout on one of Central Oregon's most challenging rivers. People who have fished for years upon years still have days where they can't catch a single one. But Jody gets real specific and shares with her listeners how to approach and achieve a MISOGI. You will feel inspired and want to put your next MISOGI on your calendar right away!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-misogi-method-experience-a-new-comfort-zone--2910681/support.

Send us a textEver found yourself captivated by stories from places you've never been? That's the magic we've discovered with The Circling Podcast. What started as a celebration of Central Oregon's unique character has evolved into something that transcends geography – authentic stories that offer meaning and perspective to listeners everywhere.As the natural rhythms of spring and summer unfold in our beautiful region, I've made the decision to temporarily pause production of new episodes. This wasn't easy, but it feels right for this season as I focus on growing StoryBooth, my audio storytelling business. Consider this less a goodbye and more an intermission in our ongoing conversation.The exciting news? This fall, we're returning with something fresh and powerful. In collaboration with Oregon Media and Bend Magazine, we're launching "Birth of the Brands" – a new podcast series spotlighting local entrepreneurship and brand development. Our first season will feature eight remarkable companies from the 10th annual Bend Outdoor Works Startup Accelerator, diving deep into their founder journeys, challenges, and breakthroughs. Want to experience this entrepreneurial energy firsthand? Join us at the Bend Outdoor Works breakout pitch event on October 25th, where these innovative companies will compete for prizes and you can cast your vote for your favorite. Learn more at bendoutdoorworks.com and stay tuned for our return – it'll be worth the wait. Until then, get outside and remember: the health of our community depends on us all.Support The Circling Podcast:Email us at: thecirclingpodcast@bendmagazine.comJoin the Circling membership: patreon.com/Thecirclingpodcast Follow us on Instagram @thecirclingpodcast @bendmagazineCover Song by: @theerinsmusic Bend Magazine. Remember to enter promo code: Podcast at checkout for your five-dollar annual subscription. https://bendmagazine.com. BOSS Sports Performance: https://www.bosssportsperformance.comBack Porch Coffee: https://www.backporchcoffeeroasters.comStory Booth: https://www.storyboothexperience.comRemember, the health of our community, relies on us!

Unity is a non-denominational Spiritual Community in Central Oregon. Join us each week for some great music, a little bit of silliness, and a lot of inspirational soul food. All are welcome! This week: Rachelle Indra shares, “But There Isn't Enough Time to Be Inspired!”. So often we think we need more time, more space, more tools or more creativity in order to be inspired. We are wrong. Join life coach Rachelle Indra as she shows us that when we have LESS of something, we actually have MORE inspiration. Come watch her talk and get inspired to start that project, hobby or goal today. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Submit your prayer claims online!: http://bit.ly/prayerclaim Please TXT donations to: (833) 455-1960 or Donate on our website: https://unitycentraloregon.org/donate/ Donate via Paypal: http://bit.ly/donateunitybend More goodness on our website: [www.UnityCentralOregon.org](http://www.unitycentraloregon.org/)

Unity is a non-denominational Spiritual Community in Central Oregon. Join us each week for some great music, a little bit of silliness, and a lot of inspirational soul food. All are welcome! This week: William Gregory shares, “To Have or To Be, That is the Question”. This weeks talk is about how we can transform our everyday lives moment by moment willfully and wisely. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Submit your prayer claims online!: http://bit.ly/prayerclaim Please TXT donations to: (833) 455-1960 or Donate on our website: https://unitycentraloregon.org/donate/ Donate via Paypal: http://bit.ly/donateunitybend More goodness on our website: [www.UnityCentralOregon.org](http://www.unitycentraloregon.org/)

Unity is a non-denominational Spiritual Community in Central Oregon. Join us each week for some great music, a little bit of silliness, and a lot of inspirational soul food. All are welcome! This week: Sarah Jones shares, “Living Into the Divine”. Join Sarah as she explores our journey to the Divine, revealed through the process of Life itself. Sharing from her own 30-year transformational journey and in the quiet energy of her Spiritual Direction practice, we can feel the warmth, the blessing, and the opportunity of this human experience, to live into our Divine Truth. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Submit your prayer claims online!: http://bit.ly/prayerclaim Please TXT donations to: (833) 455-1960 or Donate on our website: https://unitycentraloregon.org/donate/ Donate via Paypal: http://bit.ly/donateunitybend More goodness on our website: [www.UnityCentralOregon.org](http://www.unitycentraloregon.org/)

Tonight I will be speaking with Corey from Central Oregon. Corey in 1994 was partying on Round Butte. That night turned into terror as the group was spot lighted from this large ball of light in the sky. On their way out Corey and his friends saw a large creature and decided to give chase. The night gets much stranger.

Coming soon: Burning Tarot content will mostly be moving to a new, password-protected site. Want to be part of it? Email burningtarot@gmail.com and say, “Hi, I want to be in on the new, password-protected content.” No payment will be required at this time. Eventually I will likely ask for donations.tiffanyleebrown.com to buy personal readings & newsletter signup.

Gary Lewis is an award-winning outdoor writer, television host, podcaster, and speaker based in Central Oregon. Since launching his career in 1995, he has become a respected voice in the hunting and fishing world, with over 16 books to his name and countless articles published in major outdoor magazines. He hosts the TV series Frontier Unlimited and the Gary Lewis Outdoorsman podcast, sharing real-world adventures from Oregon to Africa. Known for his deep knowledge of firearms, big game tactics, and conservation ethics, Gary continues to inspire sportsmen and women with his storytelling and passion for the outdoors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy Podcast for our especially special Daily Special, Metro Shrimp & Grits Thursdays is now available on the Spreaker Player!Starting off in the Bistro Cafe, a Trump-appointed judge ruled the Trump administration violated the First Amendment by banning Associated Press reporters.Then, on the rest of the menu, Tulsi Gabbard declared her residency in Texas, then she voted in Hawaii; the Justice Department will not allow employees to participate in American Bar Association events because of the association's “improper ideology;” and Central Oregon's Latino Fest and Juneteenth events have been canceled over fears of violence against Black, Latino and Asian people.(We had a last minute call from Gunner's vet to bring him in early, so we had to forgo the Chef's Table.)All that and more, on West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy with Chef de Cuisine Justice Putnam.Bon Appétit!The Netroots Radio Live Player​Keep Your Resistance Radio Beaming 24/7/365!“Everyone in this good city enjoys the full right to pursue his own inclinations in all reasonable and, unreasonable ways.” -- The Daily Picayune, New Orleans, March 5, 1851Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/west-coast-cookbook-speakeasy--2802999/support.

Today, the Spotlight shines On naturalist and classical pianist Hunter Noack.Redefining what a concert hall can be, Hunter Noack hauls a nine-foot Steinway grand piano to mountaintops, forests, and beaches for his series "In a Landscape: Classical Music in the Wild."Hunter grew up in Central Oregon, where his love for music and nature took root. His concert series gives audiences wireless headphones and encourages them to wander through stunning settings while the music plays. It's part performance, part exploration—turning national parks and historic sites into living concert venues.Since founding the series in 2016, Hunter's brought classical music to over 75,000 people across the American West, many experiencing live classical music for the first time. He's performed in sun, snow, and everything in between—all to break down barriers between listener, music, and landscape.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Hunter Noack's album In a Landscape)–Dig DeeperVisit Hunter Noack at hunternoack.com and the In a Landscape project at inalandscape.orgPurchase Hunter Noack's In a Landscape from Qobuz and listen on your streaming platform of choiceFollow Hunter Noack on Facebook and In a Landscape on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTubeBeloved scenic outdoor concert series announces 2025 tour dates for 10th anniversaryDig into this episode's complete show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com–• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate Spotlight On ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.• Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of Spotlight On in your podcast app of choice.• Looking for more? Visit spotlightonpodcast.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Spotlight On email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn.• Be sure to bookmark our new online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, the Spotlight shines On naturalist and classical pianist Hunter Noack.Redefining what a concert hall can be, Hunter Noack hauls a nine-foot Steinway grand piano to mountaintops, forests, and beaches for his series "In a Landscape: Classical Music in the Wild."Hunter grew up in Central Oregon, where his love for music and nature took root. His concert series gives audiences wireless headphones and encourages them to wander through stunning settings while the music plays. It's part performance, part exploration—turning national parks and historic sites into living concert venues.Since founding the series in 2016, Hunter's brought classical music to over 75,000 people across the American West, many experiencing live classical music for the first time. He's performed in sun, snow, and everything in between—all to break down barriers between listener, music, and landscape.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Hunter Noack's album In a Landscape)–Dig DeeperVisit Hunter Noack at hunternoack.com and the In a Landscape project at inalandscape.orgPurchase Hunter Noack's In a Landscape from Qobuz and listen on your streaming platform of choiceFollow Hunter Noack on Facebook and In a Landscape on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTubeBeloved scenic outdoor concert series announces 2025 tour dates for 10th anniversaryDig into this episode's complete show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com–• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate Spotlight On ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.• Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of Spotlight On in your podcast app of choice.• Looking for more? Visit spotlightonpodcast.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Spotlight On email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn.• Be sure to bookmark our new online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk to returning champion Chris Sulak about revolvers and why there is a new revolver in your future. Sulak hails from Central Oregon and finds himself buying a new revolver every time he makes a commission. We also talk about Sasquatch, Low-T, magazine advertising from the ‘50s and ‘60s and, as a public service, we cover Missed Connections on Craigslist. We do some math in this episode and if you follow along with a calculator, you will not be impressed. Watch Frontier Unlimited and outdoor TV whenever you want, wherever you are. Click on https://huntchannel.lightcast.com/If you want to support free speech and good hunting content in the Internet Age, look for our coffee and books and wildlife forage blends at https://www.garylewisoutdoors.com/Shop/We have a new sponsor for the podcast! It's a company out of Philomath, Oregon, family made in the USA since 1982 for steelhead and salmon fishermen. It's West Coast Floats. check them out at https://westcoastfloats.com/Our TV sponsors include: Nosler, Camp Chef, Warne Scope Mounts, Carson, Pro-Cure Bait Scents, Sullivan Glove Company, The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce, Madras Ford, Bailey Seed and Smartz.Watch select episodes of Frontier Unlimited on our network of affiliates around the U.S. or click https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gary+lewis+outdoors+frontier+unlimited

Today's West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy Podcast for our especially special Daily Special, Metro Shrimp & Grits Thursdays is now available on the Spreaker Player!Starting off in the Bistro Cafe, a Trump-appointed judge ruled the Trump administration violated the First Amendment by banning Associated Press reporters.Then, on the rest of the menu, Tulsi Gabbard declared her residency in Texas, then she voted in Hawaii; the Justice Department will not allow employees to participate in American Bar Association events because of the association's “improper ideology;” and Central Oregon's Latino Fest and Juneteenth events have been canceled over fears of violence against Black, Latino and Asian people.After the break, we move to the Chef's Table where Romania is leading NATO naval drills as Europe scrambles to boost defense spending; and, Mexico and Brazil agreed to strengthen trade ties in the wake of Trump's tariff turmoil.All that and more, on West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy with Chef de Cuisine Justice Putnam.Bon Appétit!The Netroots Radio Live Player​Keep Your Resistance Radio Beaming 24/7/365!“Everyone in this good city enjoys the full right to pursue his own inclinations in all reasonable and, unreasonable ways.” -- The Daily Picayune, New Orleans, March 5, 1851Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/west-coast-cookbook-speakeasy--2802999/support.

Cate Havstad-Casad is a regenerative farmer, entrepreneur, and hatmaker. She and her husband operate Casad Family Farms in Central Oregon on 1,400 acres. Over 11 years, their operation evolved from a small organic vegetable farm to a diversified model focused on holistic grazing, grain production, and direct-to-consumer meat sales of beef and pork, driven by necessity after losing 80% of their irrigation water. Cate is also the founder of Havstad Hat Company and Range Revolution, where she handcrafts high-quality, custom felt hats and leather goods, using sustainable and traditional techniques, incorporating cattle hides from her farm to enhance economic viability, reduce waste and reconnect fashion consumers with agriculture. In this episode, John and Cate discuss: The importance of soil health and how it affects everything from food quality to climate resilience Challenges and rewards of running a small farm while balancing business and family life How losing 80% of irrigation water led to a focus on cattle and hog meat sales The need for localized food systems and how communities can take steps toward food sovereignty The work involved in creating a closed-loop farming system The importance of having multiple revenue streams The role of storytelling in agriculture and how sharing experiences can create a deeper connection to food production Additional Resources To learn more about Cate and her work, please visit the following:  Farm Website: www.casadfamilyfarms.comHat Company Website: https://havstadhatco.com/Cate's Substack: https://rangerevolutions.substack.com/ Instagram: @havstadhatco and @casadfamilyfarms YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@casadfamilyfarms About John Kempf John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA). A top expert in biological and regenerative farming, John founded AEA in 2006 to help fellow farmers by providing the education, tools, and strategies that will have a global effect on the food supply and those who grow it. Through intense study and the knowledge gleaned from many industry leaders, John is building a comprehensive systems-based approach to plant nutrition – a system solidly based on the sciences of plant physiology, mineral nutrition, and soil microbiology. Support For This Show & Helping You Grow Since 2006, AEA has been on a mission to help growers become more resilient, efficient, and profitable with regenerative agriculture.  AEA works directly with growers to apply its unique line of liquid mineral crop nutrition products and biological inoculants. Informed by cutting-edge plant and soil data-gathering techniques, AEA's science-based programs empower farm operations to meet the crop quality markers that matter the most. AEA has created real and lasting change on millions of acres with its products and data-driven services by working hand-in-hand with growers to produce healthier soil, stronger crops, and higher profits. Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide. Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com  

Sprague is back and wants to retire in Central Oregon...he was up late on vacation researching transfer portal recruiting wars...did you miss the crazy NBA action, late night drama in the Sweet 16.

In this episode, host Zach Urness interviews Salem ice climber Forrest "Frosty" Gill about the fun and challenge of ascending frozen waterfalls and ice flows across Oregon and the West. Gill talks about the equipment and technique used for ice climbing, the beautiful places it can take you and his journey in learning the sport through the Salem-based Chemeketans outdoors club and climb school. This past February, Gill climbed frozen Paulina Creek Falls in Central Oregon but has also climbed in Alaska, Montana and Colorado.

In this episode, we talk with Paul Partridge, Program Manager for Deschutes County's Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) program. Paul shares how the program supports more than 1,000 individuals across the region.  We explore the challenges families face, how the program is adapting to growing needs, and why collaboration and community partnerships are key to improving lives.

In this episode of Bigfoot Society, host Jeremiah Byron talks with Randy Silvey, the head of the Bend Bigfoot Research Group, about a variety of Bigfoot encounters and active investigations in Central Oregon. Randy shares the latest updates from the Oregon Bigfoot Highway, including intriguing recent encounters in the Ochoco National Forest and the McKenzie Bridge area. They also discuss detailed accounts from Suttle Lake, where both Bigfoot activity and legendary hauntings have been reported, and other hotspots like Camp Sherman and Detroit Lake. Randy emphasizes the importance of creating safe spaces for people to share their Bigfoot experiences and talks about the ‘Squatch and Brew' meetings held for this purpose. Join them as they delve deep into the mystique of Bigfoot in Oregon, a state replete with rich Sasquatch lore and frequent sightings.Resources -Bend Bigfoot Research Group FB Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/2067991076767839BFRO Suttle Lake Resort - https://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=5610Sasquatch Summerfest this year, is July 11th through the 12th, 2025. It's going to be fantastic. Listeners, if you're going to go, you can get a two day ticket for the cost of one. If you use the code "BFS" like Bigfoot society and it'll get you some off your cost.Priscilla was a nice enough to provide that for my listeners. So there you go. I look forward to seeing you there. So make sure you head over to www. sasquatchsummerfest. com and pick up your tickets today.If you've had similar encounters or experiences, please reach out to bigfootsociety@gmail.com. Your story could be the next one we feature!

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When the Mt. Bachelor ski resort abruptly went up for sale in August, a couple of Central Oregon mountain enthusiasts had an audacious thought: Maybe we should buy it. Before they knew it, the me — who had not met beforehand — put in motion a plan to purchase one of Oregon's most cherished landmarks. They organized a GoFundMe and formed a company. They hobnobbed with Oregon politicians. They sought out big-pocket investors. They knew the challenge would be daunting. Bachelor is a coveted property, after all. So the corporate titans of the ski industry would be swarming, likely offering bids in the neighborhood of $200 million. But the movement was quickly celebrated as a potential win for the underdog, drawing national attention for its effort to keep the United States' seventh-largest ski resort out of the hands of corporate America — and in the hands of local ski bums. The group made a major announcement last week regarding their quest to buy Bachelor. Where do things stand? And how did we get to this point? On the latest episode of Beat Check, Jonathan Bach, who covers housing and real estate for The Oregonian/OregonLive, discusses the backstory — and the latest news — surrounding the bid to buy Mt. Bachelor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode Mark gets together with a handful of our past Willamette Valley Lifestyle Tour guests to relive the memories and continue the friendships that were made on this fabulous 5-night trip last August. This is our only tour we do within the country and it is an easy getaway that only takes a few hours to get to, but feels like you are miles away. We take guests to the heart of the Willamette Wine Valley in Central Oregon to explore one of Wine Enthusiast's Wine Regions of the Year that is truly a hidden gem. This year we are taking 14 guests from June 12-17 - spots are still available! Everyday we visit incredible local wineries, tour some of the vineyards and an olive oil mill, learn about the process and of course enjoy food and wine pairings! Every evening we enjoy a multi-course dinner of local, often farm-to-table cuisine and meet the owners and chef. In between eating and drinking, we have leisurely mornings and nights at the lovely Setting Inn. You will wake up to views of the vineyards and lavender fields, and will have the opportunity to take a guided hike amongst 100-year old trees, visit the local boutiques or farmers market, and relax by the Inn's fire pit with a drink and cigar. While there is a daily itinerary of wine tastings and dinners, each day is also relaxing and full of beautiful scenery, fresh air and cool temperatures. There are still a few rooms remaining, so we'd love to have you join us! Visit candelariadesign.com/oregon-wine-tour for more info. Also, join us this weekend at the inaugural Scottsdale Ferrari Art Week at Westworld in Scottsdale March 20-23. Mark will enjoying the art and daily panels and fashion shows each day and will even be the emcee at the VIP Opening Night event Thursday, March 20! Tickets available at the link above. https://scottsdaleartweek.com/

Step into the unpredictable world of real estate and lending, where every deal has a story! Leigh chats with Shelley Griffin and Jillian Koland to reveal how strong teamwork and local expertise transform chaotic transactions into success stories. Plus, don't miss Jillian's hilarious story about a magnetic eyelash mishap during a signing - it's a real estate moment you won't forget!     Key takeaways to listen for The surprising advantages of keeping it local in real estate How upfront client education can save deals and emotions Shelley and Jillian's secret to creating a flawless team experience for clients Why emotional support is a cornerstone of real estate success How seasoned pros handle vague but critical lending guidelines     About Shelley Griffin & Jillian Koland Shelley was raised in a real estate family, began her career in the early 1990s, became a licensed agent in 2002, and joined Sara LaFaver and Erica Davis as co-owner of Harcourts The Garner Group in January 2017. Recognized as a top producer in the Bend market and across the West Coast, she earned the #1 Sales Agent title for Harcourts USA in 2018, 2020, and 2021. Born and raised in Central Oregon, she stays closely connected to her community through local organizations and leadership programs.   For over a decade, Jillian has been in the business of making homeownership dreams a reality. She believes that goals are goals, no matter how big or small. Whether working with first-time homebuyers or helping investors build a portfolio, she gives each borrower the time, attention, and energy they need. As a former escrow officer, she knows how to keep many plates spinning, no matter how much pressure she's under. She's invested in the relationships she gets to build with each client she meets during the loan process.     Connect with Shelley & Jillian Website: Harcourts The Garner Group Real Estate | Hixon mortgage Instagram: @shelleygriffin | @jillian_koland_mortgage Email: shelley@thegarnergroup.com | jillian.koland@hixonmortgage.com Phone Number: 541-280-3804 | 541-241-4553     Connect with Leigh Please subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast app at https://pod.link/1153262163, and never miss a beat from Leigh by visiting https://leighbrown.com. DM Leigh Brown on Instagram @ LeighThomasBrown.     Sponsors "You Ask. Leigh Answers." Your Affordable Coaching Program Hey there, real estate pros! Are you ready for some more Leigh Brown wisdom in your life? Then don't miss out on my brand-new program, "You Ask. Leigh Answers." It's your exclusive gateway to the insights and advice you need to supercharge your real estate business. With "You Ask. Leigh Answers." you get Direct Access to Leigh Brown, directly! Expert Coaching, Community Connection, and Extensive Resources. Whether listening to this on the go or watching at home, sign up today at Answers.RealEstate and take your business to the next level. Trust me, you'll be glad you did!