Podcasts about Pocono Mountains

This month on Pocono Mountains Magazine: Brianna shows what a day in Delaware Water Gap is all about, gets to know Picturesque Luxury Picnics, and shares an update on how the Pocono Mountains Community Grant impacts all who live, work, and play in the region. Jim heads out on the Delaware River for an eagle watch bus tour, finds out how a new culinary experience - Barrel & Table - pairs nicely with Three Hammers Winery, and explores the expansive and unique Art Factory of White Mills. Plus, Deanna checks out the spa scene in the Poconos, while Chris kicks off a series of Pocono Perspectives featuring farms in Wayne County. The Poconos is a year-round destination for millions and with 24-hundred square miles of mountains, forests, lakes and rivers with historic downtowns and iconic family resorts, it's the perfect getaway for a weekend or an entire week. You can always find out more on PoconoMountains.com or watch Pocono Television Network streaming live 24/7.

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Feb. 3. It dropped for free subscribers on Feb. 6. To receive future pods as soon as they're live and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription.WhoBrett Cook, Vice President and General Manager of Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, and Laurel Mountain, PennsylvaniaRecorded onJanuary 30, 2023About Seven SpringsOwned by: Vail ResortsPass affiliations: Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, Northeast Value Epic Pass, Northeast Midweek Epic PassLocated in: Seven Springs, PennsylvaniaYear opened: 1932Closest neighboring ski areas: Hidden Valley (17 minutes), Laurel Mountain (45 minutes), Nemacolin (46 minutes), Boyce Park (1 hour), Wisp (1 hour), Blue Knob (1 hour, 30 minutes)Base elevation: 2,240 feetSummit elevation: 2,994 feetVertical drop: 754 feetSkiable Acres: 285Average annual snowfall: 135 inchesTrail count: 48 (5 expert, 6 advanced, 15 intermediate, 16 beginner, 6 terrain parks)Lift count: 14­­ (2 six-packs, 4 fixed-grip quads, 4 triples, 3 carpets, 1 ropetow)About Hidden ValleyOwned by: Vail ResortsPass affiliations: Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, Northeast Value Epic Pass, Northeast Midweek Epic PassLocated in: Hidden Valley, PennsylvaniaYear opened: 1955Closest neighboring ski areas: Seven Springs (17 minutes), Laurel Mountain (34 minutes), Mystic Mountain (50 minutes), Boyce Park (54 minutes),Wisp (1 hour), Blue Knob (1 hour 19 minutes)Base elevation: 2,405 feetSummit elevation: 2,875 feetVertical drop: 470 feetSkiable Acres: 110Average annual snowfall: 140 inchesTrail count: 32 (9 advanced, 13 intermediate, 8 beginner, 2 terrain parks)Lift count: 8 (2 fixed-grip quads, 2 triples, 2 carpets, 2 handle tows)About Laurel MountainOwned by: Vail ResortsPass affiliations: Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, Northeast Value Epic Pass, Northeast Midweek Epic PassLocated in: Boswell, PennsylvaniaYear opened: 1939Closest neighboring ski areas: Hidden Valley (34 minutes), Seven Springs (45 minutes), Boyce Park (1 hour), Blue Knob (1 hour), Mystic Mountain (1 hour, 15 minutes), Wisp (1 hour, 15 minutes)Base elevation: 2,005 feetSummit elevation: 2,766 feetVertical drop: 761 feetSkiable Acres: 70Average annual snowfall: 41 inchesTrail count: 20 (2 expert, 2 advanced, 6 intermediate, 10 beginner)Lift count: 2­­ (1 fixed-grip quad, 1 handle tow)Below the paid subscriber jump: a summary of our podcast conversation, a look at abandoned Hidden Valley expansions, historic Laurel Mountain lift configurations, and much more.Beginning with podcast 116, the full podcast articles are no longer available on the free content tier. Why? They take between 10 and 20 hours to research and write, and readers have demonstrated that they are willing to pay for content. My current focus with The Storm is to create value for anyone who invests their money into the product. Here are examples of a few past podcast articles, if you would like to see the format: Vail Mountain, Mt. Spokane, Snowbasin, Mount Bohemia, Brundage. To anyone who is supporting The Storm: thank you very much. You have guaranteed that this is a sustainable enterprise for the indefinite future.Why I interviewed himI've said this before, but it's worth repeating. Most Vail ski areas fall into one of two categories: the kind skiers will fly around the world for, and the kind skiers won't drive more than 15 minutes for. Whistler, Park City, Heavenly fall into the first category. Mt. Brighton, Alpine Valley, Paoli Peaks into the latter. I exaggerate a bit on the margins, but when I drive from New York City to Liberty Mountain, I know this is not a well-trod path.Seven Springs, like Hunter or Attitash, occupies a slightly different category in the Vail empire. It is both a regional destination and a high-volume big-mountain feeder. Skiers will make a weekend of these places, from Pittsburgh or New York City or Boston, then they will use the pass to vacation in Colorado. It's a better sort of skiing than your suburban knolls, more sprawling and interesting, more repeatable for someone who doesn't know what a Corky Flipdoodle 560 is.“Brah that sounds sick!”Thanks Park Brah. I appreciate you. But you know I just made that up, right?“Brah have you seen my shoulder-mounted Boombox 5000 backpack speaker? I left it right here beside my weed vitamins.”Sorry Brah. I have not.Anyway, I happen to believe that these sorts of in-the-middle resorts are the next great frontier of ski area consolidation. All the big mountains have either folded under the Big Four umbrella or have gained so much megapass negotiating power that the incentive to sell has rapidly evaporated. The city-adjacent bumps such as Boston Mills were a novel and highly effective strategy for roping cityfolk into Epic Passes, but as pure ski areas, those places just are not and never will be terribly compelling experiences. But the middle is huge and mostly untapped, and these are some of the best ski areas in America, mountains that are large enough to give you a different experience each time but contained enough that you don't feel as though you've just wandered into an alternate dimension. There's enough good terrain to inspire loyalty and repeat visits, but it's not so good that passholders don't dream of the hills beyond.Examples: Timberline, West Virginia; Big Powderhorn, Michigan; Berkshire East and Jiminy Peak in Massachusetts; Plattekill, New York; Elk Mountain, Pennsylvania; Mt. Spokane, Washington; Bear Valley, California; Cascade or Whitecap, Wisconsin; Magic Mountain, Vermont; or Black Mountain, New Hampshire. There are dozens more. Vail's Midwestern portfolio is expansive but bland, day-ski bumps but no weekend-type spots on the level of Crystal Mountain, Michigan or Lutsen, Minnesota.If you want to understand the efficacy of this strategy, the Indy Pass was built on it. Ninety percent of its roster is the sorts of mountains I'm referring to above. Jay Peak and Powder Mountain sell passes, but dang it Bluewood and Shanty Creek are kind of nice now that the pass nudged me toward them. Once Vail and Alterra realize how crucial these middle mountains are to filling in the pass blanks, expect them to start competing for the space. Seven Springs, I believe, is a test case in how impactful a regional destination can be both in pulling skiers in and pushing them out across the world. Once this thing gels, look the hell out.What we talked aboutThe not-so-great Western Pennsylvania winter so far; discovering skiing as an adult; from liftie to running the largest ski resort in Pennsylvania; the life and death of Snow Time Resorts; joining the Peak Pass; two ownership transitions in less than a year, followed by Covid; PA ski culture; why the state matters to Vail; helping a Colorado ski company understand the existential urgency of snowmaking in the East; why Vail doubled down on PA with the Seven Springs purchase when they already owned five ski areas in the state; breaking down the difference between the Roundtop-Liberty-Whitetail trio and the Seven-Springs-Hidden-Valley-Laurel trio; the cruise ship in the mountains; rugged and beautiful Western PA; dissecting the amazing outsized snowfall totals in Western Pennsylvania; Vail Resorts' habit of promoting from within; how Vail's $20-an-hour minimum wage hit in Pennsylvania; the legacy of the Nutting family, the immediate past owners of the three ski areas; the legendary Herman Dupree, founder of Seven Springs and HKD snowguns; Seven Springs amazing sprawling snowmaking system, complete with 49(!) ponds; why the system isn't automated and whether it ever will be; how planting more trees could change the way Seven Springs skis; connecting the ski area's far-flung beginner terrain; where we could see additional glades at Seven Springs; rethinking the lift fleet; the importance of redundant lifts; do we still need Tyrol?; why Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, and Laurel share a single general manager; thinking of lifts long-term at Hidden Valley; Hidden Valley's abandoned expansion plans and whether they could ever be revived; the long and troubled history of state-owned Laurel Mountain; keeping the character at this funky little upside-down boomer; “We love what Laurel Mountain is and we're going to continue to own that”; building out Laurel's snowmaking system; expansion potential at Laurel; “Laurel is a hidden gem and we don't want it to be hidden anymore”; Laurel's hidden handletow; evolving Laurel's lift fleet; managing a state-owned ski area; Seven Springs' new trailmap; the Epic Pass arrives; and this season's lift-ticket limits.        Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewWhen Vail bought Peak Resorts in 2019, they suddenly owned nearly a quarter of Pennsylvania's ski areas: Big Boulder, Jack Frost, Whitetail, Roundtop, and Liberty. That's a lot of Eagles jerseys. And enough, I thought, that we wouldn't see VR snooping around for more PA treasures to add to their toybox.Then, to my surprise, the company bought Seven Springs – which they clearly wanted – along with Hidden Valley and Laurel, which they probably didn't, in late 2021. Really what they bought was Pittsburgh, metropolitan population 2.3 million, and their large professional class of potentially globe-trotting skiers. All these folks needed was an excuse to buy an Epic Pass. Vail gave them one.So now what? Vail knows what to do with a large, regionally dominant ski area like Seven Springs. It's basically Pennsylvania's version of Stowe or Park City or Heavenly. It was pretty good when you bought it, now you just have to not ruin it and remind everyone that they can now ski Whistler on their season pass. Hidden Valley, with its hundreds of on-mountain homeowners, suburban-demographic profile, and family orientation more or less fit Vail's portfolio too.But what to do with Laurel? Multiple locals assured me that Vail would close it. Vail doesn't do that – close ski areas – but they also don't buy 761-vertical-foot bumps at the ass-end of nowhere with almost zero built-in customer base and the snowmaking firepower of a North Pole souvenir snowglobe. They got it because it came with Seven Springs, like your really great spouse who came with a dad who thinks lawnmowers are an FBI conspiracy. I know what I think Vail should do with Laurel – dump money into the joint to aggressively route crowds away from the larger ski areas – but I didn't know whether they would, or had even considered it.Vail's had 14 months now to think this over. What are these mountains? How do they fit? What are we going to do with them? I got some answers.Questions I wish I'd askedYou know, it's weird that Vail has two Hidden Valleys. Boyne, just last year, changed the name of its “Boyne Highlands” resort to “The Highlands,” partly because, one company executive told me, skiers would occasionally show up to the wrong resort with a condo reservation. I imagine that's why Earl Holding ultimately backed off on renaming Snowbasin to “Sun Valley, Utah,” as he reportedly considered doing in the leadup to the 2002 Olympics – if you give people an easy way to confuse themselves, they will generally take you up on it.I realize this is not really the same thing. Boyne Mountain and The Highlands are 40 minutes apart. Vail's two Hidden Valleys are 10-and-a-half hours from each other by car. Still. I wanted to ask Cook if this weird fact had any hilarious unintended consequences (I desperately wish Holding would have renamed Snowbasin). Perhaps confusion in the Epic Mix app? Or someone purchasing lift tickets for the incorrect resort? An adult lift ticket at Hidden Valley, Pennsylvania for tomorrow is $75 online and $80 in person, but just $59 online/$65 in person for Hidden Valley, Missouri. Surely someone has confused the two?So, which one should we rename? And what should we call it? Vail has been trying to win points lately with lift names that honor local landmarks – they named their five new lifts at Jack Frost-Big Boulder “Paradise,” “Tobyhanna,” “Pocono,” “Harmony,” and “Blue Heron” (formerly E1 Lift, E2 Lift, B Lift, C Lift, E Lift, F Lift, Merry Widow I, Merry Widow II, and Edelweiss). So how about renaming Hidden Valley PA to something like “Allegheny Forest?” Or call Hidden Valley, Missouri “Mississippi Mountain?” Yes, both of those names are terrible, but so is having two Hidden Valleys in the same company.What I got wrong* I guessed in the podcast that Pennsylvania was the “fifth- or sixth-largest U.S. state by population.” It is number five, with an approximate population of 13 million, behind New York (19.6M), Florida (22.2M), Texas (30M), and California (39M).* I guessed that the base of Keystone is “nine or 10,000 feet.” The River Run base area sits at 9,280 feet.* I mispronounced the last name of Seven Springs founder Herman Dupre as “Doo-Pree.” It is pronounced “Doo-Prey.”* I said there were “lots” of thousand-vertical-foot ski areas in Pennsylvania. There are, in fact, just four: Blue Mountain (1,140 feet), Blue Knob (1,073 feet), Elk (1,000 feet), and Montage (1,000 feet).Why you should ski Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, and LaurelIt's rugged country out there. Not what you're thinking. More Appalachian crag than Poconos scratch. Abrupt and soaring. Beautiful. And snowy. In a state where 23 of 28 ski areas average fewer than 50 inches of snow per season, Seven Springs and Laurel bring in 135-plus apiece.Elevation explains it. A 2,000-plus-foot base is big-time in the East. Killington sits at 1,165 feet. Sugarloaf at 1,417. Stowe at 1,559. All three ski areas sit along the crest of 70-mile-long Laurel Ridge, a storm door on the western edge of the Allegheny Front that rakes southeast-bound moisture from the sky as it trains out of Lake Erie.When the snow doesn't come, they make it. Now that Big Boulder has given up, Seven Springs is typically the first ski area in the state to open. It fights with Camelback for last-to-close. Twelve hundred snowguns and 49 snowmaking ponds help.Seven Springs doesn't have the state's best pure ski terrain – look to Elk Mountain or, on the rare occasions it's fully open, Blue Knob for that – but it's Pennsylvania's largest, most complete, and, perhaps, most consistent operation. It is, in fact, the biggest ski area in the Mid-Atlantic, a ripping and unpretentious ski region where you know you'll get turns no matter how atrocious the weather gets.Hidden Valley is something different. Cozy. Easy. Built for families on parade. Laurel is something different too. Steep and fierce, a one-lift wonder dug out of the graveyard by an owner with more passion, it seems, than foresight. Laurel needs snowmaking. Top to bottom and on every trail. The hill makes no sense in 2023 without it. Vail won't abandon the place outright, but if they don't knock $10 million in snowmaking into the dirt, they'll be abandoning it in principle.Podcast NotesThe trailmap rabbit hole – Hidden ValleyWe discussed the proposed-but-never-implemented expansion at Hidden Valley, which would have sat skier's right of the Avalanche pod. Here it is on the 2010 trailmap:The 2002 version actually showed three potential lifts serving this pod:Unfortunately, this expansion is unlikely. Cook explains why in the pod.The trailmap rabbit hole – LaurelLaurel, which currently has just one quad and a handletow, has carried a number of lift configurations over the decades. This circa 1981 trailmap shows a double chair where the quad now sits, and a series of surface lifts climbing the Broadway side of the hill, and another set of them bunched at the summit:The 2002 version shows a second chairlift – which I believe was a quad – looker's right, and surface lifts up top to serve beginners, tubers, and the terrain park:Related: here's a pretty good history of all three ski areas, from 2014.The Pennsylvania ski inventory rabbitholePennsylvania skiing is hard to get. No one seems to know how many ski areas the state has. The NSAA says there are 26. Cook referenced 24 on the podcast. The 17 that Wikipedia inventories include Alpine Mountain, which has been shuttered for years. Ski Central (22), Visit PA (21), and Ski Resort Info (25) all list different numbers. My count is 28. Most lists neglect to include the six private ski areas that are owned by homeowners' associations or reserved for resort guests. Cook and I also discussed which ski area owned the state's highest elevation (it's Blue Knob), so I included base and summit elevations as well:The why-is-Vail-allowed-to-own-80-percent-of-Ohio's-public-ski-areas? rabbitholeCook said he wasn't sure how many ski areas there are in Ohio. There are six. One is a private club. Snow Trails is family-owned. Vail owns the other four. I think this shouldn't be allowed, especially after how poorly Vail managed them last season, and especially how badly Snow Trails stomped them from an operations point of view. But here we are:The steepest-trail rabbitholeWe discuss Laurel's Wildcat trail, which the ski area bills as the steepest in the state. I generally avoid echoing these sorts of claims, which are hard to prove and not super relevant to the actual ski experience. You'll rarely see skiers lapping runs like Rumor at Gore or White Lightning at Montage, mostly because they frankly just aren't that much fun, exercises in ice-rink survival skiing for the Brobot armies. But if you want the best primer I've seen on this subject, along with an inventory of some very steep U.S. ski trails, read this one on Skibum.net. The article doesn't mention Laurel's Wildcat trail, but the ski area was closed sporadically and this site's heyday was about a decade ago, so it may have been left out as a matter of circumstance.The “back in my day” rabbitholeI referenced an old “punchcard program” at Roundtop during our conversation. I was referring to the Night Club Program offered by former-former owner Snow Time Resorts at Roundtop, Liberty, and Whitetail. When Snow Time sold the ski area in 2018 to Peak Resorts, the buyer promptly dropped the evening programs. When Vail purchased the resort in 2019, it briefly re-instated some version of them (I think), but I don't believe they survived the Covid winter (2020-21). This 5,000-word March 2019 article (written four months before Vail purchased the resorts) from DC Ski distills the rage around this abrupt pass policy change. Four years later, I still get emails about this, and not infrequently. I'm kind of surprised Vail hasn't offered some kind of Pennsylvania-specific pass, since they have more ski areas in that state (eight) than they have in any other, including Colorado (five). After all, the company sells an Ohio-specific pass that started at just $299 last season. Why not a PA-specific version for, say, $399, for people who want to ski always and only at Roundtop or Liberty or Big Boulder? Or a nights-only pass?I suppose Vail could do this, and I suspect they won't. The Northeast Value Pass – good for mostly unlimited access at all of the company's ski areas from Michigan on east – sold for $514 last spring. A midweek version ran $385. A seven-day Epic Day Pass good at all the Pennsylvania ski areas was just $260 for adults and $132 for kids aged 5 to 12. I understand that there is a particular demographic of skiers who will never ski north of Harrisburg and will never stop blowing up message boards with their disappointment and rage over this. The line between a sympathetic character and a tedious one is thin, however, and eventually we're all better off focusing our energies on the things we can control.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 9/100 in 2023, and number 395 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer (unless you sound insane, or, more likely, I just get busy). You can also email skiing@substack.com. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Season 2, Episode 35 - With so much to do even in winter here in the Poconos, we are blessed to have some great enclaves of art across the region. Our historic downtowns have galleries and artists' studios, public art galore and in part of Wayne County there is an entire factory dedicated to it! Well – it doesn't manufacture art – but the Art Factory is a one-stop shop for more than 1000 pieces of art from dozens of artists, many of them from the Poconos! Meet the owners of the Art Factory of White Mills. The Poconos is a year-round destination for millions and with 24-hundred square miles of mountains, forests, lakes and rivers with historic downtowns and iconic family resorts, it's the perfect getaway for a weekend or an entire week. You can always find out more on PoconoMountains.com or watch Pocono Television Network streaming live 24/7.

In this episode, Joe is joined by the Newswatch 16 Pocono News Crew; reporter, Amanda Eustice and photojournalist, Dan Turansky.

More Excellence! Today we're revisiting Shawn Harvey. Shawn is an American Comedian, Actor and Radio Show Host of the #1 Morning Show in the Poconos. The Shawn Harvey Morning Show! Start your day from 7am until 10am, Monday through Friday with the Wake Up Team, Sinny J and Velina. Hear how Shawn got started in comedy and where he draws his inspiration

Season 2, Episode 34 - It's mid-winter here in the Poconos and we have a ton of fun outdoor activities from hitting the slopes at 6 ski resorts with snow tubing at each of them too! Plus, plenty of dining spots offer globe experiences so you can be outside but comfortable while you sample the delicious meals and beverages across the Poconos but one experience is different altogether: Picturesque Luxury Picnics and this time, they go indoors. The Poconos is a year-round destination for millions and with 24-hundred square miles of mountains, forests, lakes and rivers with historic downtowns and iconic family resorts, it's the perfect getaway for a weekend or an entire week. You can always find out more on PoconoMountains.com or watch Pocono Television Network streaming live 24/7.

SimpCast is back! Gigi Dior, Keanu Thompson and Lindsay Sabanosh join Chrissie Mayr from The Poconos while Anna That Star Wars Girl and Nina Infinity join remotely. Hijinx and fun ensue! The gals get into a lively debate on whether or not it's appropriate for a man to pee in a sink. And more!

Season 2, Episode 33 - The Poconos is made up of four counties: Wayne, Carbon, Monroe and Pike. Pike County borders New York and New Jersey as well as the National Parks of the Delaware Water Gap and Upper Delaware plus Lake Wallenpaupack. Its county seat is the charming, historic town of Milford. One of the people who know Milford and Pike County best, is County Commissioner Matt Osterberg and our Chris Barrett sat down with him at the Milford Community House. The Poconos is a year-round destination for millions and with 24-hundred square miles of mountains, forests, lakes and rivers with historic downtowns and iconic family resorts, it's the perfect getaway for a weekend or an entire week. You can always find out more on PoconoMountains.com or watch Pocono Television Network streaming live 24/7.

After a glorious two weeks of being together, the boys are back to trying to record remotely.  The magic lives on in our hearts and in your minds, don't let that spirit die.  Max drove back from the Poconos and is both sick and tired.  Let's slog, baby!   Some light casino talk, bring in the big bucks, baby!  Michael got a happy light and he's now... happy- you can hear it in his voice this week.  Michael sings songs and he sounds wonderful, doesn't he?  Tough talk at the table. Look, I'm gonna create a second paragraph to talk about this next part because it is truthfully, next level crazy.  Michael has found another celebrity to glean life lessons from and honestly, it's pretty twisted.  When you think of role models, who do you think of? Surely, Robert Dyrdek doesn't skate across your brain as an answer to that question... right?  Wrong!  Welcome to Michael's Inspiration House- where you too can be inspired by Rob Dyrdek (of Rob & Big fame).   We're talking BUSINESS, baby, maybe you should see how Rob (of Ridiculousness fame) handles his business.  Michael breaks down how Rob (of Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory) is his new goalpost for success."It's alpha to make a service call"Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/intheminivanFollow us on instagram: @intheminivanpodFollow us on twitter: @intheminivanFollow us on TikTok: @intheminivanpodcastWe're on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTxCtwpkBssIljyG6tdJbWQGet in the Discord: https://discord.gg/YWgaD6xFN3Episode Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3cJ7WK0cNNqVgzCV1QNyvX?si=7a170296879f463eTHE MASTER PLAYLIST: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2saxemA3MOXcjIWdwHGwCZ?si=ee3444c085714c46Support the show

SCARED TO DEATH IS EXPLICIT IN EVERY WAY. PLEASE TAKE CARE WHILE LISTENING. The first story Dan will be sharing takes us to the Fukuoka Prefecture of Japan  to explore lore around the urban legend of the Howling Village. And then we'll explore the legend of the Basano vase! Did these supposedly cursed object bring death to one owner after another for two separate cycles of tragedy separated by centuries? Is it made up? Or does it lie underground again, waiting for a new owner to find it, and to start another cycle of terror? Lynze has two awesome stories this week, per usual! Her first tale explores an experience  amongst friends and an Ouija board. While we never truly know what we might be talking to on the other side this one feels like a very authentic encounter with a lost loved one. Or is it? Wrapping up the show is a haunted house, more specifically a basement, tale. Is a 6th sense something that can be passed from one generation to the next? Let's explore! New Merch:  Incredible valentine's card set featuring some amazing spoopy illustrations. Each set contains 18 foldable valentines cards featuring 6 unique illustrations. You'll get Lil Lynze Demon, Lil Dan Demon and more! Each set also comes with a sticker sheet so you can close your valentine just like we did in grade school! If you don't want these in Valentine form, or you do but also want some collectable art, we do have these also available as mini canvases! These 5X7 framed minis are perfect for a cool display at home or in the office.  Head on over to badmagicmerch.com and checkout the Valentine collection.Bad Magic Summer Camp:CAMP!!! Again - Wet Hot Bad Magic Summer is a GO! Tickets go on sale JANUARY 16TH at Noon PT … They will be available in phases. First, ALL OG campers from 2022 get first dibs for the first 48 hours of sales and will remain open to them. Then, tickets will be open to Patrons as well for the next 48 hours and then tickets will be available to everyone! Tickets will stay on sale for everyone until camp is sold out. Limited tickets available!  They will sell out! Last year, we sold over 300 tickets in just minutes! So don't wait! Camp begins on Thursday September 21st and ends on Sunday September 24th. Camp will take place in The Poconos! Tickets will include lodging, all of your linens and towels, hot showers, food, drinks and ALL activities. Just like a cruise, but on land. You get there and we provide the rest! If you were at camp last year, this is a million times more organized, more accommodating, more activities, MORE FUN. Without going into crazy detail, we want you to know that the weekend will include so many wild, cool and interesting activities like trail hikes, arts and crafts, a ropes course, yoga, dodgeball, a heated pool and SO MUCH MORE! The big events of the weekend will be a karaoke contest, a comedy night featuring our very own Dan Cummins along with Chad Daniels, Kelsey Cook, Harry Riley and Doug Mellard! And, last but not least, another live scared to death!! And yes, there will be meet and greet opportunities all weekend long to meet Dan and I. And yes, The Art Warlock, Logan Keith and The Suck Ranger, Tyler Sea will be there too! Standup:If you want to see a very different side of Dan than you see here and possibly see Lynze in the crowd, his first ever theater tour, Burn  It All Down, is up and going! Go to dancummins.tv for ticket links to shows in Spokane, Boise, Kansas City, St. Louis , Philly, NOLA, Cleveland and more! Thank you for continuing to send in your stories, Creeps and Peepers!**Please keep doing so. Send them to mystory@scaredtodeathpodcasts.comSend everything else to info@scaredtodeathpodcast.comWant to be a Patron? Get episodes AD-FREE, listen and watch before they are released to anyone else, bonus episodes, a 20% merch discount, additional content, and more! Learn more by visiting: https://www.patreon.com/scaredtodeathpodcastPlease rate, review, and subscribe anywhere you listen. Thank you for listening!Follow the show on social media: @scaredtodeathpodcast on Facebook and IGWatch this episode: https://youtu.be/4jnIiTeXru4Website: https://scaredtodeathpodcast.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scaredtodeathpodcast/](https://www.facebook.com/scaredtodeathpodcast/)Instagram: https://bit.ly/2miPLf5Mailing Address:Scared to Deathc/o Timesuck PodcastPO Box 3891Coeur d'Alene, ID 83816Video/Audio by Bad Magic ProductionsAdditional music production by Jeffrey MontoyaAdditional music production by Zach CohenVarious free audio provided byhttp://freesound.orgOpening Sumerian protection spell (adapted):"Whether thou art a ghost that hath come from the earth, or a phantom of night that hath no home… or one that lieth dead in the desert… or a ghost unburied… or a demon or a ghoul… Whatever thou be until thou art removed… thou shalt find here no water to drink… Thou shalt not stretch forth thy hand to our own… Into our house enter thou not. Through our fence, breakthrough thou not… we are protected though we may be frightened.  Our life you may not steal, though we may feel SCARED TO DEATH."

Season 2, Episode 32 - 2023 is off and running and the Poconos is the perfect place to venture out on the slopes, in the brew pubs along the Pocono Beverage Trail or settle into a spa or a charming downtown! We have it all! Over the years, we have seen more and more of those aforementioned breweries that's why the beverage trail has a digital passport at PoconoBeverageTrail.com where you can check in at different spots and score gear including a snazzy hat I got to model at Barley Creek and Log Tavern brewing companies for the January Pocono Mountains Magazine. The Poconos is a year-round destination for millions and with 24-hundred square miles of mountains, forests, lakes and rivers with historic downtowns and iconic family resorts, it's the perfect getaway for a weekend or an entire week. You can always find out more on PoconoMountains.com or watch Pocono Television Network streaming live 24/7.

Learn about the best clean skin care products, collagen peptides and how to keep your skin hydrated all season long. Guest:Emily Doster, RN, esthetic registered nurse and medical esthetician with LVPG Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery–1243, discusses skin care with Mike and Steph from B104. Chapters:     · 00:01 - Intro     · 1:46 - Do I need a skin care routine?     · 2:09 - What is my skin type?     · 2:58 - Face washes based on skin type     · 4:07 - Clean ingredients to look for in products     · 6:32 - How to build a skin care routine     · 8:31 - Skin care steps start to finish     · 9:14 - Do I need to apply a face sunscreen every day?     · 10:16 - To double cleanse or not?     · 11:11 - Double cleansing and aging     · 11:35 - What is skin cycling?      · 13:04 - Retinol vs. Tretinoin     · 14:42 - Collagen benefits     · 15:36 - When should I start taking collagen?     · 16:02 - Liquid vs. powder collagen     · 17:58 - Collagen peptides vs. collagen     · 18:44 - How often should you take collagen peptides?     · 19:14 - What is microneedling?     · 20:07 - Skin care by the season     · 21:02 - What is my skin's barrier?     · 21:20 - How can I nourish my skin's barrier?     · 21:43 - Why is my skin so dry?     · 22:12 - Protecting your skin during winter     · 23:00 - Skin care don'ts in the kitchen      · 23:51 - Chocolate facials      · 24:46 - Facials offered at LVHN      · 25:16 - Skin rejuvenation treatments     · 25:47 - Best time for in-office procedures     · 26:31 - Microdermabrasion      · 27:03 - Chemical peels     · 27:34 - Dermaplaning dos and don'ts     · 28:42 - When should I see an esthetician?      · 29:25 - Skin care products you shouldn't live without     · 29:36 - Skin care goals for the new year

SCARED TO DEATH IS EXPLICIT IN EVERY WAY. PLEASE TAKE CARE WHILE LISTENING. Dan's first story is set in Portland, Oregon, centered around Portland's underground “shanghai tunnels.” There are miles of tunnels underneath Portland that connect it to the Willamette River - once used to transport goods in and out of the city and to ocean going ships. These tunnels also, SUPPOSEDLY, were used for human trafficking. Sailors getting “Shanghai'd” - kidnapped and forced to work at sea. Women getting forced into prostitution and shipped around the world. Some think this stuff never actually happened in Portland, others think it was frequent. Let's see what is out there. Then for Dan's second tale, the Cherokee legend of The Raven Mocker - a strange, evil spirit and the most feared of the Cherokee witches.  Lynze has two stories for you this week! First off, a tale that is sad but also heartwarming. A mother may have made a call from the great beyond to save the life of her child. Then a shared haunting, a screaming nun and a dorm room that just doesn't feel quite right. SUMMER CAMP!!!! CAMP!!! Wet Hot Bad Magic Summer is a GO! We are locking down the final details as we record this. The things you need to know are that tickets will go on sale the week of JANUARY 16TH in phases- OG campers get first dibs, followed by Patrons and then general admission. Camp begins on Thursday September 21st and ends on Sunday September 24th. Camp will take place in The Poconos i! Tickets will be approximately $1,300 for an all inclusive weekend of food, drinks and activities. Just like a cruise, but on land. You get there and we provide the rest! If you were at camp last year, this is like a million times more organized, more accommodating, more activities. Without going into crazy detail, we want you to know that the weekend will include so many wild, cool and interesting activities like trail hikes, arts and crafts, a ropes course, a heated pool party and SO MUCH MORE! The big events of the weekend will be a karaoke contest, a comedy night featuring our very own Dan Cummins along with Chad Daniels, Kelsey Cook, Harry Riley and Doug Mellard! And, last but not least, another LIVE SCARED TO DEATH!! And yes, there will be meet and greet opportunities all weekend long. And yes, our staff will be there all weekend too!Bad Magic Productions Monthly Patreon Donation:The  first donation of 2023 will be to The Museum Of Tolerance. Per usual, we are recording in advance so I don't have a total amount to give you at this very moment. The Museum of Tolerance (MOT) is the only museum of its kind in the world. The MOT is dedicated to challenging visitors to understand the Holocaust in both historic and contemporary contexts and confront all forms of prejudice and discrimination in our world today. For more information, you can visit www.museumoftolerance.com. Standup:If you want to see a very different side of Dan than you see here and possibly see Lynze in the crowd, his Symphony of Insanity standup tour will be back this fall. Go to dancummins.tv for ticket links to the Burn  It All Down! Spokane, Boise, Kansas City, St. Louis, Philly, New Orleans and MORE! Thank you for continuing to send in your stories, Creeps and Peepers!**Please keep doing so. Send them to mystory@scaredtodeathpodcasts.comSend everything else to info@scaredtodeathpodcast.comWant to be a Patron? Get episodes AD-FREE, listen and watch before they are released to anyone else, bonus episodes, a 20% merch discount, additional content, and more! Learn more by visiting: https://www.patreon.com/scaredtodeathpodcastPlease rate, review, and subscribe anywhere you listen. Thank you for listening!Follow the show on social media: @scaredtodeathpodcast on Facebook and IGWatch this episode: https://youtu.be/UyCxBqFoYisWebsite: https://scaredtodeathpodcast.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scaredtodeathpodcast/](https://www.facebook.com/scaredtodeathpodcast/)Instagram: https://bit.ly/2miPLf5Mailing Address:Scared to Deathc/o Timesuck PodcastPO Box 3891Coeur d'Alene, ID 83816Video/Audio by Bad Magic ProductionsAdditional music production by Jeffrey MontoyaAdditional music production by Zach CohenVarious free audio provided byhttp://freesound.orgOpening Sumerian protection spell (adapted):"Whether thou art a ghost that hath come from the earth, or a phantom of night that hath no home… or one that lieth dead in the desert… or a ghost unburied… or a demon or a ghoul… Whatever thou be until thou art removed… thou shalt find here no water to drink… Thou shalt not stretch forth thy hand to our own… Into our house enter thou not. Through our fence, breakthrough thou not… we are protected though we may be frightened.  Our life you may not steal, though we may feel SCARED TO DEATH."

This month on Pocono Mountains Magazine: Jim introduces the new Ski Text feature available this season at several Pocono ski resorts, including Shawnee Mountain Ski Area, and showcases the new gear you can score on the Pocono Beverage Trail, with stops at Log Tavern Brewing and Barley Creek Brewing Company. Brianna lands the story of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels coming to The Great Pocono Raceway Airshow Memorial Day Weekend of 2023, then stops by two salt caves, Northern Light Counseling & Salt Cave and Crystal Garden Metaphysical & Salt Cave, for unique wellness experiences. Plus, Deanna Fontanez has a look at Pocono ski history over the years while Chris Barrett serves up the story of the Dimmick Inn in Milford and a history lesson with Pike County Commissioner Matt Osterberg.

12:00 - Dom starts off by paying tribute to Pele. He moves to Philly Crime Watch and their unbiased coverage on what goes on in the city. So why is it that somebody is trying to burn down Carpenter's Hall? 12:10 - Who is your best “one named” person? “Karen” is being banned now.  12:15 - What is the link between fentanyl influx and the Tylenol shortage?  12:20 - Fetterman Update! Absolutely no sign of him, shocker. 12:25 - What grade would you give Tom Wolf on his job as governor? 12:35 - Former Levi Strauss executive Jennifer Sey joins the program to discuss her unjust firing for speaking up on issues that need addressing. Did you know she was the 1986 U.S. champion in gymnastics? She advocates for fairness in women's sports, especially against woke ideologies. Name calling is a strategy for those who don't have an argument. 12:50 - They caught the University of Idaho murderer in the Pocono mountains. Now there are increased fights at Disney World and the mouse is not happy. Would you like to see Michael Nutter return as mayor?

12:00 - Dom starts off by paying tribute to Pele. He moves to Philly Crime Watch and their unbiased coverage on what goes on in the city. So why is it that somebody is trying to burn down Carpenter's Hall? 12:10 - Who is your best “one named” person? “Karen” is being banned now.  12:15 - What is the link between fentanyl influx and the Tylenol shortage?  12:20 - Fetterman Update! Absolutely no sign of him, shocker. 12:25 - What grade would you give Tom Wolf on his job as governor? 12:35 - Former Levi Strauss executive Jennifer Sey joins the program to discuss her unjust firing for speaking up on issues that need addressing. Did you know she was the 1986 U.S. champion in gymnastics? She advocates for fairness in women's sports, especially against woke ideologies. Name calling is a strategy for those who don't have an argument. 12:50 - They caught the University of Idaho murderer in the Pocono mountains. Now there are increased fights at Disney World and the mouse is not happy. Would you like to see Michael Nutter return as mayor? 1:00 - Scott Rutter joins the show to enlighten us on the new threats that our enemies may pose towards us, including China. The amount of combat we have put on our armed service members is just insane. What is the driving reason behind veterans suicide? 1:20 -  The Robert Morris statue was vandalized for being a slave trader, despite being a financier of the Revolutionary War and the U.S. banking system.  1:25 - What are the predictions for top baby names in 2023? 1:35 - Marshalls in downtown Philly will close its doors after this year as the “shoplifting tax” grows. 1:40 - GET THE NAME RIGHT! 1:45 - Neal Zoren joins us for his weekly segment discussing the year in media, Jim Gardner's impact, the best TV and movies of the year, and what's on horizon. Is Peacock worth it? 2:00 - Michael Harrison joins us to start the final hour regarding the perception of talk radio today. If you didn't have talk radio on the air, what would people talk about? If CBS Sunday Morning can run stories on how dangerous it is, then that means it is still culturally relevant. Michael also takes us through his Top 10 stories and headlines of the year.  2:15 - Will DeSantis run for President? 2:20 - Drag Queen Story Hour! Libraries will reject Kirk Cameron's Christian readings but welcome drag in between the bookcases. Kirk has bounced back however, and business is booming because of it. 2:25 - Give us your conservative film recommendations for the new year so we can host more watch parties! 2:30 - What is the ‘one name' in sports? 2:35 - Is soccer overtaking hockey in terms of popularity? 2:45 - The Lightning Round!  2:50 - This week's winner and New Years Plans

Was anyone else arrested? That is the question that Bryan Christopher Kohbuerger allegedly asked as he was being arrested in Scranton Pennsylvania Friday Morning in connection with the Idaho murders according to reporter Brian Entin, Kohberger had a “quiet, blank stare” As part of his research for both of his degrees in criminal studies, the man suspected of killing four people in Idaho went on Reddit and asked other criminals how they planned their crimes and chose their victims. His name, Bryan Kohberger.    Kohberger, who is 28 years old, is currently being held in detention while he awaits extradition from Pennsylvania to Idaho. In the early hours of Friday morning, he was taken into custody in the Poconos in connection with the terrible killings that took place on November 13. Police also seized a white Hyundai Elantra matching the description of the car that police had earlier said they were trying to locate from the scene. The suspect, who stands 6 feet tall and weighs 185 pounds, has not yet made any remark to the public. He was a student on the campus of Washington State University, which is only a ten-minute drive from the location where the remains of the deceased students were discovered in their shared house a month ago. Those that are captivated with crime This individual, who is 28 years old, has an undergraduate degree and was working toward a doctorate in the fields of criminal justice and criminology. As part of his prior undergraduate degree from De Sales, which he finished earlier this year, he questioned convicts about their offenses and how they planned to prepare for them. Reddit was one of the places he looked for willing individuals. "Hello, my name is Bryan, and I am inviting you to participate in a research project that seeks to understand how feelings and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime." "Hello, my name is Bryan, and I am inviting you to participate in a research project that is seeking to understand how feelings and psychological traits influence decision-making "In particular, this study attempts to comprehend the story behind your most recent criminal offense, with a focus on your thoughts and feelings throughout your experience," he added. "This study seeks to understand the story behind your most recent criminal offense." [Citation needed] Some of the questions that were asked were as follows: "Had you planned to commit the crime before you left your house?" and "Why did you chose that victim or target above others?" as well as, "What was the very first step that you took to achieve your objective?" Another question that was asked was, "After committing the crime, what were you thinking and feeling?" There has been no response to the news of Kohberger's detention from either his family or the institution. It is not clear whether he knew any of the four people who were killed on November 13, or why the police assume he is involved in the case. According to sources within the police department, officers were keeping an eye on Kohberger and even followed him to Pennsylvania, where his family resides. 4 Killed For What is a production of True Crime Today; listen & sub to True Crime Today Here: https://availableon.com/truecrimetodayatruecrimepodcast Join Tony Brueski @tonybpod on twitter and our Facebook Discussion Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/834636321133023 If you have information about the Moscow, Idaho murders: Tip Line: 208-883-7180 Email: tipline@ci.moscow.id.us Digital Media: http://fbi.gov/moscowidaho

Season 2, Episode 31 - Rounding out 2022, we're going to share a story of a cafe that's been around since the late 1980's in Milford - The Waterwheel Cafe, Bakery & Bar. Listen as the owner explains how they have managed to keep churning out good food and memorable experiences all these year. Plus, an update on the Jam Room Brewing Company now open at its new location! The Poconos is a year-round destination for millions and with 24-hundred square miles of mountains, forests, lakes and rivers with historic downtowns and iconic family resorts, it's the perfect getaway for a weekend or an entire week. You can always find out more on PoconoMountains.com or watch Pocono Television Network streaming live 24/7.

Learn how to maintain mental and emotional wellness all winter long. We'll talk about seasonal affective disorder, signs you may have a vitamin D deficiency, resetting your circadian rhythm and how mindfulness and light therapy may help. You can beat the “winter blues” and find a treatment plan that works for you.  Guests:Susan Wiley, MD, psychiatrist and co-founder of Lehigh Valley Health Network's Center for Mindfulness and Kelly Strickler, DO, family medicine physician with LVPG Family Medicine–Pennsburg discuss mental and emotional wellness with Mike and Steph from B104. Chapters:     · 00:01 - Intro     · 1:05 - Mental vs. emotional health     · 2:55 - Self-care tips     · 4:45 - Mindfulness exercise     · 12:02 - Prioritizing your wellness     · 13:32 - Why gratitude matters     · 14:29 - Gratitude practice     · 16:56 - App recommendations      · 18:02 - Sunlight and mental health     · 18:50 - Reset your circadian rhythm     · 20:00 - Melatonin supplements     · 21:02 - Melatonin side effects     · 21:46 - Preventing seasonal depression      · 22:43 - Low vitamin D levels     · 23:00 - Vitamin D deficiency symptoms      · 23:56 - Vitamin D supplements     · 25:30 - Light therapy and seasonal depression     · 26:54 - Stress eating and weight management     · 28:28 - Talking to your doctor about treatment options     · 29:52 - Advice to remember

On this episode of They Walk Among America… Located in the heart of the Pocono Mountains in North Eastern Pennsylvania, Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County, is a quiet, rural area with easy access to major cities like Philadelphia and New York. The picturesque landscape of the Pocono Mountains and State Parks offer thousands of acres of woodlands, fields, trails, and lakes. It is the perfect location to get away from it all, especially for those anticipating the end of days…*** LISTENER DISCRETION IS ADVISED *** ‘They Walk Among America' is a Law & Crime podcast network production.This episode was hosted by Nina Innsted.Researched and written by Eileen Macfarlane.Editing and scoring by Kory Hilpmann. Script editing, additional writing and production direction by Rosanna and Benjamin Fitton.MUSIC: Shadow Passage by Cody MartinLiminal by Chelsea McGoughThe Evil Within by Dresden The FlamingoTippy Toe by VOLKWack-o-lantern by EnderIn Pursuit by Craig Allen FravelTruth by FallsMaleficent by Bryant LowryThe Witch Lair by Adam SabanCurious Case by Cody MartinUnrelenting by Dakota MackRunner by FallsMoon Shadow by The Europa Protoharmonic Symphony OrchestraOnly In Winter by ShimmerWest by ShimmerFight or Flight by YerselfAdditional musical compositions by Kory Hilpmann.For more information, visit https://lawandcrime.com/podcasts/ or https://theywalkamonguspodcast.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Season 2, Episode 30 - Ski season is back! All six resorts are open in the Pocono Mountains and all of them have new upgrades this season, four added new chairlifts! In this episode we chat with Molly at Camelback and Trent at Jack Frost - Big Boulder about the new chairlifts installed this season at their resorts. Head to PoconoSki.com for all you need to know on the slopes this year! The Poconos is a year-round destination for millions and with 24-hundred square miles of mountains, forests, lakes and rivers with historic downtowns and iconic family resorts, it's the perfect getaway for a weekend or an entire week. You can always find out more on PoconoMountains.com or watch Pocono Television Network streaming live 24/7.

Season 2, Episode 29 - The Poconos lost someone recently who had a major impact on our region, having served for four decades as the executive director of the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau. He went by several names, Mr. U, Mr Pocono, Bob Uguccioni. Mr. U was 87 when he passed away in November of this year. He leaves behind a legacy of hospitality, helping to navigate the changes in the tourism industry and our Pocono Mountains. He loved the Poconos – and based on the outpouring of love for him at a memorial service recently, the people of the Poconos loved him. He leaves behind family and friends who will carry on his tradition of promoting the Poconos. The Poconos is a year-round destination for millions and with 24-hundred square miles of mountains, forests, lakes and rivers with historic downtowns and iconic family resorts, it's the perfect getaway for a weekend or an entire week. You can always find out more on PoconoMountains.com or watch Pocono Television Network streaming live 24/7.

The NFL Power Rankings podcast with Dan Hanzus and Colleen Wolfe begins analyzing where the San Francisco 49ers belong after winning but losing key players. Then they discuss the Cowboys drop in Dan's rankings and the tough week for the Minnesota Vikings. Dan explains why the Tennessee Titans are in deep trouble and then they touch on the Los Angeles Chargers marching back up the rankings. Dan and Colleen both point out two different interesting teams to keep an eye on, they touch on the Buccaneers path to win the NFC South, and then they share their favorite/worst Christmas songs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property/Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office and Paul DelPonte, Executive Director of National Crime Prevention Council, join Michelle to talk about how to shop safely this holiday season.The holiday hustle and bustle are in full swing as shoppers search for this year's best steals and deals. The good news, discounts are expected to hit record highs for popular categories such as electronics, computers, and toys according to Adobe's online-shopping forecast. However, scammers are looking to take advantage of American consumers as fears of a looming recession increase, and people tighten their purse strings leading up to the Holidays. These criminals are on the prowl both online and off looking to entice consumers with even lower-cost price tags attached to dangerous counterfeit products.According to a new study by Skyscanner, Savvy US travelers have taken pride in being adventurous at heart with more than 3/4s saying they consider themselves spontaneous.Laura Lindsey joins Michelle to talk about this and other travel trends.Molly Coneybeer is Camelback Resort's director of marketing and she joins Michelle to talk about this really fun family property in the Poconos. Ski season is here and they have a lot planned for the winter when it comes to ski and winter activities. Camelback is a great family destination with an indoor waterpark, Aquatopia, and arcade.Research shows there is a strong two-way connection between the gut and the brain. Psychological factors can affect a person's gut health, and a person's gut symptoms or condition can also affect their psychological health and well-being. This can spell trouble during the holidays because sugary treats, fatty dishes and excessive alcohol are in abundance and can cause digestive trouble, making a person miserable. Katherine Tomasino, PhD, is the co-director of the Behavioral Medicine for Digestive Health Program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and talks with Michelle about the brain gut connection.

To support independent ski journalism, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Dec. 10. It dropped for free subscribers on Dec. 13. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription.WhoJoel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist and CEO of OpenSnowRecorded onNovember 17, 2022About OpenSnowOpenSnow is a snow and weather forecasting service. It gives you all this, depending on whether or not you want to pay for it:Gratz founded OpenSnow 11 years ago with an email list of 37 people. The company's list now numbers 3 million. Or so. It's like counting flakes in a storm. There are lots of them. The service pinpoints snowfall everywhere on the planet. So Backcountry Bro, you're covered. Lift-Served Larry (that's me), you're covered too. Uphill Harvey – we really wish you'd just pick a side and stop f*****g up the grooming before the lifts open.Anyway, if you love snow and want to know how much of it is going to fall, and where and when, then this app should be your Excalibur. Wield it wisely, Fellow Snowbum.  Why I interviewed himYou know how some people want to live in Florida and make exasperated sounds when more snow materializes on the radar and plan wintertime vacations to places like Aruba? Well I am not one of those people. And neither is Joel Gratz. Wintertime is for skiing. And to enjoy skiing as much as possible, it helps to follow the snow around. That's what Joel, and his brilliant website/app/service, OpenSnow, do.Everyone reading this newsletter is programmed in a different way from Human V1.0. We run toward storms that most humans flee. With urgency. Like some snowy version of a firefighter. Like insane people. Because we know what the genuflecting and hysterical weatherman does not: that snow is potent and intoxicating; that it changes the world and everything in it, including the people who immerse themselves within. If an adult charges into a sandbox or waterpark or ballpit, we regard them suspiciously. That stuff is for kids. But if they spend the day bouncing through snow and enter the bar boot-clicking and semi-dazed and white-draped and grinning madly and asking for a tallboy, we ask them to stand up at our wedding.No one gets this but skiers. And so no one could make a truly ski-centric weather app other than a skier. Someone whose headline, upon analyzing an incoming storm, isn't DEAR GOD DO NOT STEP OUTSIDE STOCK UP ON AMMUNITION AND DRY RATIONS BECAUSE THIS IS IT PEOPLE, but rather DEAR GOD IT'S ABOUT TO SNOW 90 INCHES IN TAHOE GET THERE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!There are plenty of ways to track the weather, of course. Lots of apps, lots of weather services, lots of social media groups. I haven't found one better than OpenSnow, where I can look up any specific ski area and see an hour-by-hour and day-by-day snowfall and weather forecast for 10 days into the future. And that's all I really care about: where will it snow, how much, and when? With a meteorology degree on his wall and a couple decades in his mad-scientist's snow lab, Gratz is as well-equipped to deliver this information as anyone on the planet.What we talked aboutHow early a ski weather guy wakes up; Joel's wintertime and powder-day routine; the secrets of good powder skiing; how a meteorologist was born; Shawnee, Pennsylvania; do they even want snow in the Poconos?; Penn State meteorology; skiing Tussey; an Alpine Meadows powder day on racing skis; Boulder as innovation incubator; how a Vail old-timer outsmarted the guy with the fancy meteorology degree; the mystery of mountain microclimates; the missed Steamboat powder day that inspired the creation of OpenSnow; an email goes out to 37 people on a Tuesday night; a fortuitous conversation with Chris Davenport; how long it took OpenSnow to really establish itself; “a lot of your good fortune is just being born when and where you were”; the several simultaneous tech innovations that enabled widespread online weather forecasting; breaking down the various global weather services (GFS, Euro, etc.), and how they work; “modern meteorology is a miracle of cooperation and funding from taxpayers like us all around the world”; translating raw data and forecasts into the thing skiers most care about: how much is it going to snow, when, and where?; removing the human from the forecasting equation; why and how OpenSnow scaled from Colorado to the rest of the world; why OpenSnow doesn't capture every ski area in the world (yet); snow forecasts for any mapdot on the planet; why OpenSnow shifted to a subscription model and what it meant for the business; La Niña; breaking down the strong early start for the West and the weak weather in New England; dumb meteorology jokes; the two things you need to make snow; breaking down the unique weather systems that determine snowfall for the Cottonwoods, Mt. Baker, Keystone, Tahoe, the Great Lakes, and northern Vermont; how wind impacts snow quality; and America's snowiest places.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewThe image in the “About OpenSnow” section above distills the benefits of the paid subscription tier succinctly: to tap the service's best features, you need to pay. It's worth it. I subscribed long before our partnership, and I continue to.But OpenSnow wasn't always so arranged. For years, Gratz and his team lived on advertising. At some point, they activated a paywall to access certain features, but much of the site remained free.That changed last year, when OpenSnow migrated the majority of its content to its paid tier. Gratz explains why in the podcast, but this business decision resonated with me for obvious reasons. To remain relevant and useful, most digital ski-focused media platforms require an intense and consistent focus. That requires time, energy, passion, and commitment – all attributes that our capitalist society has deemed worth paying for in the form of labor. Labor, we decided a long time ago, cannot be free. Thus, products produced with labor – and media is a product – require a pricetag to access.This is easier to understand when you're purchasing a toaster or a car than when you're buying access to a podcast or a snow forecast. It helps to remember that, in the scope of history, the internet is still pretty new. I grew up without it, and I'm not that old. We're still figuring out how to price the considerable volume of information that we find there. Most of it, I'll admit, is worthless, but some of it is worth quite a bit. But several generations of Americans arrived at the internet with the understanding that it was a frivolous add-on, a place to waste time and get in trouble, a soul vacuum that was the domain of creeps and morons. They have a hard time acknowledging the evolution of the web into a utility, an essential pipeline of connection and information, a place of intangible things with tangible value.That was the challenge OpenSnow faced in finding a path to long-term sustainability. And it is the challenge I face with The Storm. I did it for free for as long as I could. The first 2,076 hours of labor were on me. Then I asked for money. The transition went beyond my expectations. Hundreds of people upgraded their subscriptions right away, and hundreds more have upgraded since. New paid subscribers join just about every day. The Storm is now a sustainable operation. And so, having made the same decision – on a much larger scale – is OpenSnow.I'm sure you've read about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a rat's nest of floating plastic refuse covering more than 600,000-square-miles of the Pacific Ocean. Most of its contents are microplastics – the smashed-up bits of water bottles and medicine containers and candy-bar wrappers. You just know that floating somewhere in there is a Yeti cooler and fully intact G.I. Joe hovercraft (I keep waiting for Disney to release: Toy Story: Tales of the Garbage Patch, featuring a scrappy band of discarded toys who A-Team their way back to the mainland), but most of it is useless garbage.The internet is a lot like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch: an unfathomable well of junk, sprinkled with a few treasures. There's a reason I occasionally step out of my ski-area-manager lane to interview journalists or individuals running ski-related websites: I want to help you find the G.I. Joe Killer W.H.A.L.E.s, the things worth scooping out of the water and taking home.Why you should use OpenSnowWhile OpenSnow is a Storm advertising partner, this podcast was not part of, and is not related to, that partnership. OpenSnow did not have any editorial input into the content or editing of this podcast - which is true of any guest on any episode. I don't do sponsored content. The Storm is independent ski media, based on reporting and independently verified facts - any opinion is synthesized through that lens, as it is with any good journalism outlet.That said, it's a great service, and one that I use every day of the winter – that's why I partnered with them. And part of our partnership is this special link where you can get two free months of OpenSnow. So you should probably take advantage of that so they want to keep working with me:Podcast NotesJoel references Baker's record snowfall year – it was 1,140 inches from 1998 to '99. You can read about that and some other big snow totals here.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 133/100 in 2022, and number 379 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer (unless you sound insane, or, more likely, I just get busy). You can also email skiing@substack.com.The Storm is exploring the world of lift-served skiing year-round - join us. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Today we are talking about how investors are handling this recession. Like agents, they have to adapt to survive this market, and with the right strategy, thrive.Martin is the founder and host of the Stroudsburg Real Estate Investors club. With his leadership the group has gone from zero to over three hundred members in less than two years. He currently manages and operates a Real Estate Investing firm operating over five million dollars in assets and he helps investors get above average returns by investing passively in multifamily Real Estate with him and his team.Three Things You'll Learn in This EpisodeHow do you make sure everyone knows your name?How are top agents thriving during a recession?Why you need to be making content and developing a brand.ResourceCheck Out Martin's WebsiteReal Estate Marketing DudeThe Listing Advocate (Earn more listings!)REMD on YouTubeREMD on InstagramTranscripts:So how do you track new business, you constantly don't have to chase it. Hi, I'm Mike Cuevas to real estate marketing. And this podcast is all about building a strong personal brand people have come to know, like trust and most importantly, refer. But remember, it is not their job to remember what you do for a living. It's your job to remind them. Let's get started.What's up ladies and gentlemen, welcome another episode of the real estate marketing dude, podcast, folks, where we chat about today is how you diversify. When the market stops transacting by 33%. What are you gonna do during this recession, this is gonna be the best opportunity that most of us will see to actually start building wealth and you don't make a lot of money when everyone else is buying houses, you make a lot of money when no one else is, because that's where the opportunity is. And if you're not adopting the mindset of becoming a real estate problem solver, right now, people are going to be eating your lunch. So what I wanted to do today was bring on a investor, not any investor, Latino investor. That's why we got on the show here, because we support our Latinos on this show. But what we're going to talk about guys is sort of how to start thinking outside the box, here's the reality, right? You're gonna, there's gonna be a lot of opportunities. And when the market shifts like there's, there's gonna be recession, people are going to be losing their houses, their jobs, and other things. And they're going to need help. And this is why every real estate investor in the country is self attaining on the sidelines right now. They're not getting in yet, but they're just sitting there. They're putting on their helmet. They're strapping on their chin strap, and they're putting in their mouthpiece, because they're about to go to freakin feast. And that's why these markets are so exciting. And real estate agents, lenders, you guys are in the best position to take advantage of this different stuff. So we're gonna get into that a little bit further right now. But without further ado, let's go ahead and introduce our guest, Mr. Martin. Perdomo. A Superdome. All right. That's correct. Port demo. All right, Martin, why don't you go ahead and tell everyone Hello, and tell him a little bit about yourself. Hey, everyone. Thanks. Thanks for having me, Mike.Really appreciate it's an honor to be here on your show and talking to your audience. I've been investing in real estate since 2007. Man I first fell in love with real estate. When I was 1616. I grew up in New York City, born and raised in Washington Heights, and those of you that are familiar with New York, that's the hood man, it's rough in the 80s and 90s. And at 16th on my 16th on my 16th birthday. My mom kicked me out for the ninth time she said it says she got home she kicked me out. And I quickly realized my sleeping in trained and and rooftops and and parks in New York City. And then the beaches in Far Rockaway Beach, that human beings needed something really important that shelter and food, right. And that's when I first fell in love with real estate, I made a decision unconsciously that I was going to own a lot of real estate, so I never have to go through that pain again. And that's what I've done. So that was, you know, that was my debt. When I made that decision. I bought my first investment I bought my first real estate piece of real estate when I was 21.And I bought my first prop my first investment in 2007. So I was a mortgage broker. And you know, I was the guy giving people those all those bad loans. subprime loans. I was countrywide days baby. Right. I remember that remember countrywide and all those never, never before in the history of real estate has a college graduate at 21 years old had the ability to make 750 to a million dollars a year just right out of college at their first entry level job. That's the type of market it was for those you guys that weren't around back then. It was crazy man. It was we were making so much money. I rememberMike being in my conference room with my sales team and telling them I didn't know what I knew now, right? Obviously, and I remember telling my people say, Hey, man, we're giving these these loans these 300,000 loan to someone making $40,000 a year. Fundamentally, it just doesn't make sense. But I wasn't intelligent enough. I wasn't smart enough astute enough to know how to look for the opportunities. I didn't know how to prepare. Like you said, when we started earlier.The real estate investors are salivating right? They're chomping at the bit right for the opportunities that are gonna come.And you know, last year I was saying the same thing like this is not sustainable people offering me $60,000 over asking over the weekend, like put a property in the market and it's like I'm like this shit doesn't make sense. Like it's like deja vu right?It's not gonna sustain long term. When I say one thing real quick why he says that you guys gonna support point I mean cut you off. The 90% of the markets never seen a market like this. Like the agents out there. 90% of them never been through this market. Because 90% of licensed real estate agents have never seen a shift. Alright, we've been on abull market for 12 1314 fucking years. Right so no one knows what to expect, including some of the top we have one of the top agents here in San Diego, I got a little Facebook's back. You're listening. I'm talking about you, bro.The market crashed up. It's like the top agent and Sandy Berg's ever gonna crash been doing business seven, eight years? Do you guys all have egg on your face? For anyone who's saying the market is crashing? Whenever it goes up like that it is unsustainable In today's internet. Today's it's not a supply and demand issue? I don't think so. They're people want to buy houses, even though they're they're overpaying for them.It's an affordability issue. Right now that that said, that's one of the reasons of why we decided so I told you told your audience earlier we flip houses, right? So we decided our strategy now is when we flip, right? Because you got to be careful when you're flipping houses in a market like this.What you're doing, you got to really understand the data. And that is one of the things that you know, I learned from 2007 After buying my first, like 100 bought my first investment 100,000 I was $100,000 underwater, within two years. Pricing property was worth I bought it for 272 75. Same property was worth 179 Two years later, and you bought in oh seven. So you got caught your pants down? Yeah, man. Yes, sir. However, I just saw a comp of that property burned out. I had college kids and they burned it down. And that saved me. But I just saw a comp, I just bought a triplex not to combat a month ago. And the appraisal comes in here. He's like, Hey, what are you gonna bring that in at? And he's like, I don't know yet. But here's my comps. I just saw come for a property two doors down from there. Same like exact square footage of that property sold for 385. So my lesson, right? Is Real Estate is very forgiving long term. Right? If don't wait to the good old saying don't wait to buy real estate, buy real estate. Don't wait. So even if I would have hung in there 14 years later, I would have I would have I would have turned around to give up. Yeah, yeah. So so so if you know, it's about that mindset of having that long term thinking in terms of long term and not just right now, when you flip properties,like some of the things that one of the strategies I do, if you don't know what you're doing, and a lot of the pretenders are already out, right? You got Redfin just left you got glass door, leftdoor,or whatever their name or open door, whatever the name of that, like glass or that's, that's a really good way tothey all got out. And I remember talking to my team Mike, last year saying, you know, those guys can compete with us. And the reason I say that those guys can compete with us is because while they have virtually unlimited funds, right, they have all this money. We're intimate in this market. Can you imagine those of us that are seasoned? Alright, think about this for a second. Those of us that are seasoned investors.What is the toughest part of the rehab process is dealing with those freaking contractors, right? That is the toughest part, right? Those contractors will eat your freakin lunch. And can you imagine what contractors if they try that shit with us? And we're local, we're here we have boots on the ground. We have a team assembled everything. What are they doing when they get a call from Zillow? Hey, I'm Zillow in California and I want to rehab they're killing those guys. Right there. They're like, can you imagine what they're doing to them so and no disrespect to them not not throwing shade on them I just on a one to one that really can't compete right with us locally, because we're local, right? They're not they're not in the business of making money. They're in the business of spending money.And they have to spend X amount of money in those hedge fund worlds, whereas the mom and pop or the individuals are actually in the business of making money. And when I never understood what all these pods is, like, why you guys like out and like the worst times to buy, like they came out in oh seven, two member they started buying and they went out right away. It's like, Dude, you got to you create the fun, like in six months from now, then you buy all the properties, you know, by him whenever I was paying peak dollars for him, that's just like, you would think that they would do like more research on like how real estate works for these high end funds, but none of them do because they're just spending money. Like a drunken sailor. It doesn't make sense to me like, like, I study the data man. And I'm like, you know, what, why would you like why are how are you guys justifying those decisions? Right? One of the decisions we made earlier this year when we saw this, all the correction and interest rates going up. Actually, late last year, I said we're going to now shift to when we do flip a property we're only going to do properties be low sub 250, right? ARV is up to 50. And that's because in our market that's considered affordable. And what I did was I went back and I studied 1981 when interest rates were 16% Right?those kind of environment that we're kind of projecting we're going into. So I studied what investors were doing that and right. And I looked at, hey, people were still buying houses. I bought my first house in 2000. And it was I paid I had an FHA loan 9.75% interest rate was my rate, people are bitching about 7% interest rate right now, I'm like, stop it, stop, like,you know, that's not my first investment. And I was a mortgage broker, and oh, seven was 7.75. Right. And I had a 740 credit score, and I was a mortgage broker, I gave myself the absolute best deal.And so we decided we're going to only buy properties that are in the affordable space, because in 1981, the investors that were making money were were were selling properties that were affordable, then we feel based on the data income and things like that, demographically, we feel that 250 Regardless of where interest rates go, we give a good product, good clean product turnkey, we're always going to have a product, we're always going to have a buyer for that. So it's about studying the market, right, Mike? Like really knowing your shit, like really just studying and understanding what it is that you mean, I can't, I can just go buy a house and throw on some paint and granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, refinish the floors and make a bunch of money. That's what that's what the novice is doing. That's how they lose money.So let's see here. Here's you guys, if you listen in to what he's saying, like real estate investors are a large part. I've been become investor friendly. First and foremost, like for all the realtors listening to this guy become investor friendly. Because that's where the transactions are gonna go. Like, would you rather work with an investor that does like 10 houses a year would you rather work with one individual buyer is going to pitch about the GFCI outlets, and their dad is going to come to the inspection and give you a heart attack. So which wild you really want to go with it? And with that you're going to have this is why I bring him on the show is because you're going to have these conversations. I got some questions for you, Martin, because there's a lot of agents and I want to get more into your strategy. But the question for you as would you like if you had like First off, I mean, investor friendly real estate agents, you really know what I'm talking about like that know their shit, like investor friendly people that are gonna go out there and source deals for you. People that did be like, Hey, yo, do you know like, the zoning in here is way under built. If you brought this to its highest and best use, you could probably do this with that. How many people are talking that way?Dude, I host the local real estate investors meet up in my market. And I talk about this exact same exact same thing you just bought up. There is a handful, maybe three in my market that I can that can have that kind of conversation with me. And not it's not the realtors fault. They're taught to stay out of trouble. In real estate agents school, they taught they're taught to be scared and this is they've taught that anything outside of a mortgage traditional 30 year mortgage or 15 year mortgages Oh, it's illegal. And they and this is what I tell Realtors when they come is learn how to provide value to a guy like me because I'm the gift that keeps on giving right? Like I'm the gift that you know I'm the guy that's gonna give you transaction after trends you want to partner with guys it doesn't have to be me but a guy like me right? Fortunately for me my wife is a realtor so I've trained her on how to think as an investoryou got you guys are probably like going to like Valentine's day talking about cash on cash return and cap ratesyeahunderstood how to speak the languageand how to provide value to like just exactly like a ton of money with with guys like us that are we're constantly buying right the you know we're not going to pitch about little GFCI outlet we're not gonna bitch about the roof and a bunch about this like we just wanted to do it makes sense we run the numbers it makes sense our students do and you sell it to us and you're going to step in and then you're going to sell it for us so it's a double whammy right that's that's Mark playing that's playing a small well most people don't think that eight investors have a bad name like really agents Oh get the investors waiting someone's getting ripped off that's not true like guys got I'm gonna rewind what happened in oh seven people are gonna need investors to bail them out. I mean, that's just what's gonna happen. Investors yes, they make money but so do you.Right? Are you are you a dick for fucking selling me a house at a 5% rate that you just put on the MLS and you just let the MLS sell? Let's be honest, right? So you have to open your eyes to this stuff you guys and that's my only goal to show today is to really get you thinking outside the box get you guys really looking at why not only do you want to become investor friendly in this upcoming market, but also work with different investors and honestly, like, Who here wants to sell real estate for the rest of their life? Nobody. Nobody can last the reason why 90% of the business hasn't been throughshift like this is because no one last in this business for more than 10 years because it can be a grueling job. And most of the people that start out and do very well become investors themselves, you would think that makes common sense. It's like sort of the natural progression of a real estate agent, learn the market, go in there, and then eventually become the investor become your own best client at the end of the day. So let's get into some of these strategies. Now just wanted to pick that up, because I want to point you guys in the right direction to head during this recession. Because just do it, trust me.Where I wouldn't had as just being a regular residential agent anymore, I just would stay away from a adept it's time. So let's get into this, you're gonna go into the buy and hold, which is attractive. A lot of investors like to make a quick buck. It's harder to find a buy and hold. Let's get into that. strategy. First. Buy and hold is different by the bind flip. Guys, I'm sure you guys understand that. But what do you look for in a buy and hold? Like, I just want to play real estate agent and you play investor? That's what you are. And I paid you What do I look for? What kind of properties are you to buy? What's the strategy in this? So when I'm looking for buy and hold, I'm looking for bigger plays. But if you know, I don't know who your audience is, let's just I just bought a triplex. Let's just Let's just Let's just look at that right, I just bought a triplex a couple blocks from here. So that's the most recent one I bought less than a month ago. And when I looked at that, I look at a couple things, right? It's a little you run the numbers differently, right? I'm looking at, I'm looking at Cap rates, I'm looking at income, I'm looking at value, add opportunity. So So those of you that don't know capitalization, what capitalization rate is capitalization rate is my rate of return on my on what that's the rate that properties are trading at,in a particular market, right. That's how you could calculate the value. So I look at a What's the rent? Was it current rent, and that particular asset? And then I look at what can I get this rent to? And what do I have to do to the place to get it to that rent? So for instance, if I have four let's just say make even even if even numbers if I'm getting $36,000 a year for let's call it $40,000, a year from that triplex currentlyperforming so it's underperforming by like 15 grand a year, right? 15 grand a year, so I can get it to 15 to 55,000 hours a year. How much money do I have to put into the property? To get it to give me that? And then what's my valuation once I increase it to that income? So it's a it's a little bit different? Beast, right? I'm running different animals, and I'm running different different numbers. And then can I exit on a refi?too, to burn it. And maybe the people know that you're people familiar with the buy, renovate,rent, refinance, and repeat. If I can borrow it, then what's my, what's my, what's my tenants? Andwhat can I refinance it out, and while they're still cashflow, so there's a lot of different moving parts. And I'm looking at, for instance, this particular one, Mike, we it was a three units or three unit. We have crappy tenants in there, places falling apart, it's way underperforming, I mean, the rents, I can get another $600 in rents, what do I have to put into it, though I have to put in there's a hole in the roof like roofs getting done tomorrow, there's a hole in the roof is just falling apart. I have no idea how people will live like that. But my value add my upside in this particular and agents pay attention if you're predominantly listeners or agents. My value add was that there is a there's a meter in the meter base electrical meter base, there's a fourth meter in the basement. It's a walkout basement. And that was grandfathered in and there was an apartment there at one time there's a kitchen and already a bathroom in there. It's full of junk right now. But that right there turns changes that whole property, I can go in there now. But a new meter, put it rewired, put new, redo the bathroom, redo the kitchen, turn it into a brand new place, right, and I go from buying that place, I'm gonna wind up putting about 60 grand in rehab into that property. Bought that place at 219. These let's call it 201 96. Let's just call it 200 200. I'm going to put 60 in and I'm going to have 260 The after we call it ARV after repair value the new valuation because I'm fourth appreciating it the new valuation of the property projected after I'm done it's $475,000. So what can I refi it out right what what can i What can I get with that right? How much equity do I have? I just created a ton of equity for myself. This particular and I have a cash flowing asset and the asset will be paid by the by the debt is paid by the residents. And I keep the assets and I still cashflow it's a win win win win situation. You got to know how to buy. I don't kind of give you the long, long view. But that's theAre the Fit kind of the 50,000 foot view of all the moving parts? When when I'm looking at buying multifamily now something that's small, I'm gonna look at it. That simple, right? Something bigger, we purchase a 57 unit earlier this year. And that one similar strategy Hey, what was the wrench wrench for 700 we pushed him all the way to $1,100 a month, we sealed the driveway, we dropped about 200,000 The property did a bunch of a bunch of things to add value to the place. And we forced appreciate it. The asset at that scale. Now we force depreciated by about $2 million in less than a year. That's a bigger scale. It's a little bit more sophisticated, but it's same same, same product Minister same process. And if agents just learned how to like if they just got educated, listen to guys like you and learn how to do things like this man, like, like, learn how to run these numbers and bring deals like this to guys like myself. Holy smokes man, like, sky's the limit for you. Your life will be so much easier. I do have a question for you, Mike, what do you rate your projections? What are you seeing?2023 is going to look like? I think it's going to change on where you're at geographically. I think the blue states are gonna get their ass kicked. Like they already are. I'm in San Diego. They're getting crushed.I think it's an affordability issue. So the high peak markets, the Phoenix, Las Vegas, all of California.The Midwest markets seem pretty safe for the time being. But yeah, it's because I don't everyone, the typical real estate agents, oh, supply demand, there's demand. And they're just reading these talking points from National Association of Realtors. Right. But in reality, no one's considering gas prices, no one's considered inflation. And no one's talking about the stuff that takes the average Joe out of the market, and more concerned about what's going to happen tomorrow for their kids. And that's the reality of it. The average nope, people don't have savings. You guys like people act like there's a bunch of people have savings. No, the vast majority of people out there have are living paycheck to paycheck. And when everything goes up two or $300 up a month, like I'm sorry, you no longer think about buying that house, you think about your future kids tomorrow. So I don't think it's an a supply and demand issue. I think it's all affordability. And I personally think that our government is trying to crash the real estate market. That is many evidence of that they're trying to why they're doing it, we won't go into conspiracy theories. But point being is that it's happening. Right. So now with that, I think that as the recession hits, and the more and more stuff they do to crush the market here, there's gonna be people that are in distressed, and if I'm focusing on anything gets motivated sellers, and that's why we built owner advocate.com. So if you guys wanna check that out, go and check that out. I'm going all after motivated sellers. But I believe everyone needs to be a problem solver. Because when I do know from the last crash, if you guys been listened to show I mentioned a couple times, but we are Big Short Sale 25 to 35, close short sales a month, I was buying a percent of those and flipping them. But I didn't care about the transaction, what I focused on was just helping people. We did that for about two years in a row, largest short sale team in the country, doing the exact same stuff that I believe is about to happen. It's not going to be as bad as it was in oh seven. I don't think they'll I think they'll Don't ever let those foreclosures go to public. I think they'll transact and behind closed doors to the funds, and all the other things so that the public perception doesn't crash like it did last time. But there's going to be a million opportunities for the mom and pops because the eye buyers are now exiting. So there's our big cash buyer competition. And where you're at a smart like focusing on the lower dollar, the affordability within your issue is probably where I would play too, because no one knows what's going to happen tomorrow. So if you're rehabbing, I wouldn't go for the luxury rehabs right now, I wouldn't even touch them. I don't even think about them. I would do exactly what you just said. You want to be right. And the affordability areas. It's not supply and demand affordability. That's your issue. And nobody wants to get caught with their pants down. Because I could tell you I know I tell you so many people who have like I said, you guys, we both were both talking here. We both were around and oh seven doing the same stuff. And you just have to be a little bit careful. Now on the flip side of that, get excited because I'm not trying to paint doom and gloom. I think you'll have more opportunities. I think it'd be tonic opportunities right here in San Diego because I think it's going to crash you here. More so than like Florida.The Texas is the Florida's all the inbound states are still inbound. We have clients all over the country, and they're not as effective as much. But the Midwest states I think are going to be safe. But the high end luxury is what I'm seeing struggle right now. The higher end of your markets.Yeah, I'll share this with you. I went to a conference and I'm not gonna mention the conference name. It was in February, in Colorado, because I don't want to I don't want to put them in bad light. But it was this very same day, Mike that that Ukraine got invaded by Russia. And so I just flew into Colorado.And the news hit that morning and I was like, Okay, this is great. I mean, the biggest commercial real estate investors conference in our, in our industry, right, one of the biggest. So we're gonna talk about this stuff, you know, gas is starting to soar rightly, all these things and we're gonna talk about and I was so disappointed man.To your point ofwhat you said earlier how people are getting affected I was so disappointed that you had some really smart people there were people from Marcus Miller champ really, really intelligent people. And they were saying that interest rates going up at that time probably interest rates had just started going up, interest rates going up, gas prices going up and electricity going up to the level that it is right now. 30 40% increase in some some places in electrical and electrical that it was not going to affect multifamily apartment buildings. And I was so disappointed dude, I was so disappointed. I was like, how could you insult my intelligence? How could you insult my intelligence I flew all the way out here from from Pennsylvania to Colorado and you insult my intelligence and say that this war is not going to have an impact that interest rates is not going to have an impact in that we're just going to keep riding this gravy train. It's an absolute insult you understand what I'm saying?when gas prices go up and your average working class person gas prices are going up again have you looked at the gas pump they're going up because OPEC cuts production? Oh the elections over of course they're gonna Yeah. Right. Exactly right. So so so when when that occurs, right gas prices goes up and now regular Mom and Pop working class America has to spend another two or $300 a month Do you not think is going to impact my read collections? Do you not think is going to an electrical now you got to spend another 20 another 20 30% Extra in to heat up your apartment? Do you not think that's going to have an impact like you are foolish? If you expect me to believe that and we as Americans as individuals we have to be able to look at this stuff we got to be listened to people and discern and make our own decisions as to what makes sense and what doesn't make sense. I wouldn't I would go out and say that especially as a commercial because the same thing happened oh seven I was one of them. Markets number one that's what I got caught with my pants down Marcus I forgot about always appreciate the market doesn't go down. It was just my my inexperience you know, in the market. Like what you said earlier? Yeah, if you stick it in the long run, you're always gonna win. But there will go in and out and out. Like it's like we've been sampling the crypto right now. It's getting its ass kicked.But you have to just be ready to just no one knows the answer. But when things are going good no one ever wants to talk about what the negativity of it because the same thing happened. Same thing in the residential side. I was like, oh, Martin's gonna go you should buy right now. And I'm always like, Dude, I wouldn't freakin buy right now, this guy just paid off my old neighborhood, there was a house listed for three mil and it sold it for $1 million over list price. $1 million over list price. Insane. Like it's crazy, like, and then you would think that the people buying those houses aren't like you would think they're intelligent, and they think about this stuff. But they're just most times that people are buying in that price point they have so much money, they don't really give a shit like an extra 500 $250,000 isn't going to do much. But you're right where it's gonna hit his middle America. And it's gonna hit that middle America right when the spot that you're playing. So you're gonna hit distressed assets, plus, you're gonna be able to liquidate them and exit out of them.You know, what was the most interesting thing last year, when when we were flipping last year, I had quote unquote, investors. First of all, most of us investors, we don't buy real investors. And if this is you, I'm gonna apologize for you up front if you're an investor. Real investor knows how to find off market deals, get off market deals. You've mentioned it multiple times.When I had the funniest thing to me was when I had I sold multiple properties last year 40 50,000 over asking price Mike to quote unquote, Airbnb investors. And I'm like, holy shit how I'll be buying this property. You're gonna be buying that back in about six months. Back in a couple years, right? Because I was like, I look at that I'm saying how are you making these know how you penciling these numbers? I caught what investor buys first of all, you're not an investor. If you're paying 40 $50,000 over asking on the retail marketing, you're competing with retail buyers. Like like likeyou love and you competing with retail buyers. You're not a real investor. Right because a real investor is not competing with retail buyers. We're not buying to live retail buyers have the luxury of overpaying and falling in love with properties. We don't fall in love with properties.It is we running the numbers. The numbers gotta make sense if the numbers make sense we do with you. Yeah. Sherry non-emotional either works or doesn't. Like, that's why I like it.It works or it doesn't. And that's a problem with a lot of real estate guys, a lot of real estate agents. We investors have a bad rep amongst the real estate agent community at times that all but at times, oh because they look we lowball Well, that's how we make our money understand that we have to buy at a certain price point in order to be profitable. If we pay what mom and pops pay when they buy like a regular tradition. We can't be profitable. We can't We can't make a profit. Yep, make sense? What? Any final words here like what? You know, where do you think we're gonna go? You think you're gonna do more holes here? You're gonna do more flips when you think the markets gonna head? Back to you? Yeah, well, we're, I think that the market is headed for a correction. But I got to tell you, Mike, I got it wrong. And 2020 I got it got it wrong, right. 2020 I was preparing I'm salivating when when COVID hit. I was like, Yeah, this is it like this is it? I did, we're gonna I got it wrong and went the other way. I'm looking at the data, or the fear mongering has already been done. As you know, it's already all over the media, that rental housing market and this housing market that? Well, I gotta tell you, man, I just looked at the numbers. I spent a couple of hours this week looking at the numbers in my market, quarter over quarter. And men were steady, like, we are still steady. We are still like, like, I'm like, okay, yeah, interest rates are going up. People still buying. I'm looking, I'm comparing quarter over quarter like what's happening, comparing it to last year. And it's like, it's steady. So my advice is if you're going to be playing and you're going to be investing is don't be listening just to the media and word even. Don't even don't even listen to me, right? Like, if I'm telling you something, go do your own due diligence and research it and do your own due diligence. Pay attention to what's happening in your market prepare. Like I was saying, I got it wrong in 2020 I thought that we were going to the market was gonna blow up and I was gonna buy a ton of shit. And it was gonna be, you know, an amazing time. It didn't it went the other way market just demand went up, prices went up. Remember that?I could be wrong man. I, I looked at I'm looking at the data. And wow, the the interest rates are going up. And in some markets prices prices are coming down for sure we are seeing prices, but a crash. I don't know. You know, what I what we're doing is we're staying couple things. We're staying disciplined with our numbers. We're buying, right? And we're planning for a worst case and we're getting ready for if that crash does come, where we're going to continue to buy, what we are doing is we are staying in the game. We're not going to stop playing. We're paying attention. We're watching the data. We're being disciplined, and we're not deviating and we're not making any crazy bets right now in this market, because we don't know where the market is going. Overall, we're staying disciplined, and we're studying the market. We're watching the data closely. And we're watching where things go. We're watching what the feds are doing. Like, if you're in this business, you need to be paying attention to what the feds are doing. You need to be paying attention to what they're doing. I do you believe that there will be opportunity in the multifamily space. Becauseyou're here. Here's my thought, right? There's guys that had that bought larger multifamily bridge, in the garden bridge loan, were 90% LTV, and their margins were thin. So because those guys that were betting that the market is never going to stop and rinse, we're never going to stop going down and all that shit, right? Those guys that had thin margins, and their value add was 50 or 75 or 100 bucks. And now they're in this position where the banks the capital markets are saying wait a minute, rates are going up, we don't want to now they can't cash flow, and they can't make those numbers pencil out at these ratios, though things are gonna go going to be on sale next year, just just because of interest rates. So that just makes logical sense for me, I yeah, man that that's an error of the get those people with those bridge loans that can't refi into long term, they're gonna be in trouble. If their margins were thin, and they were betting that it was going to rents were going to continue to go the way they're in trouble. Those guys are in trouble. They're going to have to fire yourself. So I'm gonna be looking for those and I'm going to be for those larger more times. But as for the single family, think about it, brother is not like when you and I were back in oh seven, right? Where it was those two year arms right? 9.75 gonna reset in two or three or four years. We don't have that. Now, we have an inventory issue because people are not selling they have those two 3% interest rates. They're looking at this or saying we can weather this where am I going with it? Seven 600% Right, where am I going? Right? So so it's just a weird time. It's very different. And I'm just we're just preparing my advices prepare, getting cash every position but be disciplinedBe disciplined with the numbers and pay attention to where the opportunities are, where the puck is going, right? where the opportunities are good in either way, like it's around how you buy, right? It's on how you sell or when you say it's on how you buy, you got to buy, right, and you're good no matter what it is.And you guys just got to be careful. But I mean, just by listening to the show, you guys, can you see how you could reposition your brand and niche down in these times when the residential market slows down a little bit, you niche down, you find a niche. And that's what you lead gen. And you do one thing really well, real estate investors never have a listing issue. And I don't understand why agents ever do. And it's because they know where to put their solution and who to put in front of us is why I'm saying become a problem solver, guys, people are gonna need it. And there's gonna be a lot of opportunity out there. The only thing I would saythe one number and I agree with everything, the one thing I'm worried about, what I would put is that anyone who bought from 2022, first quarter to 12 months prior, and I'm talking specifically about the FHA as the VA loans and the 100% of your financing, like all those people, if the market does shift, like in California, we've already shifted 5.3%. So the cost of sale is 8%. In 5.3%, if you only put down 2%. Those people are already underwater. Yeah, that is that's the that's the one that's the thing, I can't get my head around. Becauseonce people see that they're underwater like Phogat. Done SWAK. That's what happened. That was the snowball effect that took place last time and I can't get my head around that. So yeah, the affordability but people want to buy people are out there that they need to buy. But they're like worried about the affordability aspect of it. But there will be a lot of opportunity. Regardless of how you look at it. Go ahead where you say, there definitely will be opportunities. My the other side to that though, Mike is yes, there's already people under water agreed agreed with you, we've seen a 7% drop in value here. We peaked here in we peaked here in April and April of this year here in the Poconos. And we've seen a 7% drop April to now which is a significant amount of time, and that's a lot. That's a big significant drop. However, the the other side to that is you have those people right to have those fHh vas, they still have those two 3% interest rates.So while they're on paper, on their water, on paper, they're on the water, what's their payments? And remember, what do people buy? You know, and this why they buy payment, they buy payments, so Hey, am I going to walk away because on paper, it says I'm 50,000 on water. And if I move my payment, my expenses for my family is gonna go up. So it's again, it's a tricky time. Like I've thrown that shit around in my head. Yeah. Tricky time. When when people pencil the numbers out, okay, do I walk away? My payment is 1500 for this 350,000 Not alone? If I go someplace else, what can I get for 1500? Right? What kind of Prop work? Can I rent for 1500? Why would I get and people have to do that math people will do that math. Some people will smart people will do that math.Right. And it's like, and like I said earlier, if you buy real estate and wait over the long haul, if this is you and you're listening, remember what I said I bought mine in oh seven for 2000 for 275. And oh nine that was 100,000 it was worth 179 and 2022 Property two doors down from there exact same property a duplex sold for 385. So if you hang in there over time, over time,real estate is very forgiving over the long haul. If you can think the long term can weather the storm maybethe data has shown me that and my message to your listeners if you're listening and you're that homeowner is hang in there and think of the long haul, right because you're gonna just make it worse for your neighbor for the economy for everyone. So if you couldn't hang in there, hang in there. If you're distressed now and you have to sell you have to sell because you lost your job and you have no choice that's a different that's a totally different story different conversations and you know guys like Mike and myself will buy themfor short sale, right?Well, you hang in there very interesting dude great conversation. Why don't you go ahead and give our listeners your closing thoughts where can they find you? Where can they learn more about your business some of your trainings and whatnot. Yeah, so so you guys can find me on check out my podcast Latinos and real estate investing podcast on Instagram. As the lead strategists look me up the lead strategist. I have a ton of stuff or you can check out my YouTube as well. I have a lot of content on YouTube. Lead strategist where I put a lot of my rehabs and a lot of a lot of cool stuff on there live videos of evicting tenants and things like that I show I like to share with people the real the real stuff, a lot of a lot ofguys out here like to show the fluff. I like to show the real, real deal.Open upI have a video like that with the with the actual constable putting this lady out. And it's interesting because people on the insert in the Internet are like, Oh, you're such an asshole. You're such this. What people don't know is they don't know the full story right? They know the full story like, Hey, I gave this lady two months free rent, I let her like, this is it like, you know, like people don't know the full context and the internet is kind of brutal like that. So anyways, go check it out. I have a bunch of stuff like that out there where we put it out real life stories. It's not a pretty business. It's a profitable business but ultimates a problem solving business, right? Someone you don't make really good at solving problems, someone's problems. That's all real estate is, Folks, we appreciate you listening to other episode the real estate marketing podcast if you like what you heard today, once you go check out one of our products is called owner advocate agent.com. If you need to sharpen in your listing strategy and get more investor friendly, that's where you do that. And if you need seller leads, we have all kinds of a for you. So go ahead and look at that. Check that out and keep listening to our show. You can reach us at real estate marketing do.com referral suite.com or the owner advocate.com. Appreciate you and have a good week and I'll see you guys next week. Bye. Thank you for watching another episode of the real estate marketing dude podcast. If you need help with video or finding out what your brand is, visit our website at WWW dot real estate marketing dude.com We make branding and video content creation simple and do everything for you. So if you have any additional questions, visit the site, download the training, and then schedule time to speak with a dude and get you rolling in your local marketplace. Thanks for watching another episode of the podcast. We'll see you next time.Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Wize Otero is a fellow podcaster based in Pennsylvania who found his voice - and his life's purpose - when he hit record on his first podcast episode at age 44. Wize faced some really tough stuff in his 30s, and found himself very angry, self medicating and headed down a dark road. But once he accepted that he was angry and that he had no control over these things, he was able to reach out for help and change the course of his life. Guest BioBorn and raised in Brooklyn, but now residing in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, Wize Otero works at the local casino as a Table Games Dealer for the past 7 years. He started podcasting in 2020 after being furloughed from his job. Since then, he's started a production company, launched an Internet Radio Station and started doing voice over work.Meet WizeWize Otero had an exceptionally challenging decade in his 30s. At 31, he lost his wife in a tragic car accident. She was the one who had introduced him to self development, including The Secret and Abraham Hicks. He thinks it was her way of preparing him for what was to come. Some months later, he received a Facebook message from his sister, who he hadn't seen since he was a kid, asking him if he was her brother. They reconnected and she flew him to Puerto Rico to reconnect with his dad and two brothers as a Father's Day surprise. Wize made the trip and reconnected with his dad who he hadn't seen in 25 years, plus his two younger brothers. His father died in his sleep the morning after Wize arrived. Then he lost one of those brothers to a drug overdose and one of his brothers on his mom's side to illness. He lost an uncle who helped raise him and an aunt who encouraged his entrepreneurial spirit. It was all too much and Wize started to spiral. He was angry, self-medicating and didn't care about anything. Amidst all this, one day he received a message that said it was time to change his life, so he started reaching out for help and started to build a career. He even joined a dating website. His life started to improve, which he knows came from accepting that he was angry about things he had no control over. He knew the anger was only hurting himself and hindering his growth. This drove him to therapy. He knew that there was no one else in his orbit who had been through what he went through, so there was no advice a friend or family member could give. His situation called for a professional situation where he could share what's going on and not be judged. A friend told him, “it's time,” and helped him create a profile on Match.com where he met his now-wife. Stuck in My MindThe pandemic lockdown came with a furlough from his job as a blackjack dealer in a casino. Now that he was home, he went back to an idea he had been tossing around for a couple years: starting a podcast. He had the equipment from an earlier almost-foray and one day he just pressed record. He called it the Stuck in My Mind podcast because he had been stuck in his mind for so long. The day he pressed record and started his podcast, Wize felt like he had finally found his voice. He was 44 years old, furloughed and didn't know what his purpose was. But when he pressed that button, he found he was able to express himself. He found it therapeutic to be able to share what was bothering him. And then he decided to add guests so he could interview and interact with other people. He enjoys talking to people about how they overcame obstacles in their life. He started off rough but kept going, kept building his knowledge and skills. He went from potential guests turning him down because his show was too small to potential guests now reaching out to him to ask to be on the show. One marker of his success was when Bob Doyle, a participant in the movie...

This month on Pocono Mountains Magazine Jim unveils big upgrades at ski resorts across the Poconos, including Camelback Mountain, Blue Mountain Resort, Ski Big Bear at Masthope Mountain, Jack Frost Mountain, Big Boulder Ski Area, and Shawnee Mountain Ski Area. He also shares a new tourism survey, looks at how charities are geared up for giving, and spotlights two local small businesses, Waterwheel Cafe and Gorgeous Floral. Brianna visits the acclaimed gingerbread house at Skytop Lodge, finds a tree for the season at Yenser's Christmas Tree Farm, introduces us to the new Snowmen of Stroudsburg, and shares a history lesson about ice harvesting on Pocono lakes and ponds.

Joe Gorman and Sabrina Piper join Luis J. Gomez and Zac Amico and they discuss Luis reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad, pay pigs and Sabrina making $500 from a fan for being on the show, updating the Real Ass Rules, Toight Or Noight - the HIV positive IG model, the hottest celebrities with AIDS, the 16 year old attacked by a Pitbull, the Pepsi documentary, Luis wanting to buy a puppy, the guy who taught his dog to heil Hitler, the Balenciaga BDSM campaign, the old guy from Squid Games being accused of sexual misconduct, Fan Art and so much more!(Air Date: November 28th, 2022)Support our sponsors!ZippixToothpicks.com - Click here and use the promo code: ASS10 to get 10% off your order!Submit your artwork via postal mail to:GaS Digital Networkc/o Real Ass Podcast151 1st Ave, #311New York, NY 10003Submit to be Luis' sparring partner by sending a video and your information to RealAssOfficial@gmail.com!Real Ass Podcast merchandise is available at https://podcastmerch.com/collections/real-ass-podcastYou can watch Real Ass Podcast LIVE for FREE every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11am ET at GaSDigitalNetwork.com/LIVEOnce you're there you can sign up at GaSDigitalNetwork.com with promo code: RAP for a 7-day FREE trial with access to every Real Ass Podcast show ever recorded! On top of that you'll also have the same access to ALL the shows that GaS Digital Network has to offer!Follow the whole show on social media!Joe GormanTwitter: https://twitter.com/joewgormanInstagram: https://instagram.com/joewgormanSabrina PiperTwitter: https://twitter.com/funnygirlwtitsInstagram: https://instagram.com/funnygirlwithtitsLuis J. GomezTwitter: https://twitter.com/luisjgomezInstagram: https://instagram.com/gomezcomedyYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LuisJGomezComedyTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/prrattlesnakeWebsite: https://www.luisofskanks.comZac AmicoTwitter: https://twitter.com/ZASpookShowInstagram: https://instagram.com/zacisnotfunnySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Episode 120 of Beers in The Lot is all about the Wally Ice Fest in the Lake Wallenpaupack area of the Poconos. The BITL crew will be icing a team in the pond hockey tournament during the event being held in February. They were very excited about planning the trip and talked about what they are looking forward to like their Airbnb cabin and the equipment they plan to use while playing in the tournament.

Season 2, Episode 28 - Have you had a jump start on your holiday shopping? We have some great ideas throughout the Poconos… shops that specialize in gifts of all kinds for the season. This episode we're going to meet the women behind Gather in Honesdale and Gorgeous Floral in Hawley. The Poconos is a year-round destination for millions and with 24-hundred square miles of mountains, forests, lakes and rivers with historic downtowns and iconic family resorts, it's the perfect getaway for a weekend or an entire week. You can always find out more on PoconoMountains.com or watch Pocono Television Network streaming live 24/7.

Martin Perdomo also known as "The Elite Strategist", is an inspired instructor, speaker, and entrepreneur that has inspired thousands around the globe and is the host of Latinos in Real Estate Investing Podcast. Martin is now available for leadership training, Sales Training, Business consulting, and coaching. Martin's Elite Real Estate Strategies with the Elite Strategist DVD is Featured on Amazon and all major online and offline retailers.   Martin is the founder and host of the Stroudsburg Real Estate Investors club. With his leadership, the group has gone from zero to over three hundred members in less than two years. He currently manages and operates a Real Estate Investing firm operating over five million dollars in assets and he helps investors get above-average returns by investing passively in multifamily Real Estate with him and his team. In this episode, Sam and Martin are going to discuss why to educate people on real estate investments, the passion that Martin made him start his podcast, and the journey that led him to find financial freedom through real estate investing.   Highlights:   [00:00 - 05:45] Hustling Until You Achieve Your Goals Martin Perdomo is a real estate entrepreneur, trainer, podcast host, speaker, consultant, and mindset strategist. He aims to educate people and get them started on their journey to financial freedom through real estate investing. Martin started investing in real estate in 2007, bought his first property two years later and it burned down in 2012. Since then, he's learned to focus on the long term and has shifted his thinking when evaluating properties. He currently owns 108 units of multifaceted real estate, including 40 units next to each other.   [05:45 - 11:04] Alternative Real Estate Investments Martin shares his story about the dream that he had when he found his passion for real estate investments, at 17 years old. He discusses his latest long-term goal to be true: owning a hotel. He then explains the advantages of why owning a hotel can be a great investment. Martin talks about his diversified assets and his strategies to make those assets scalable.   [11:04 - 15:33] Finding Your Public Martin talks about how TV commercials gave him a great lead in the area that he works. He shares how he identified the demographic that he wants to buy from and the strategies to do that. Why TV commercials are an underrated strategy to scale your real estate investments.   [15:33 - 19:38] Helping the Community: A Passion Martin shares his real purpose in the business of the real estate. He discusses the importance of mindset and skill set in achieving success, and how shifting to an abundance mindset has changed his life for the better. He also discusses his podcast and his meet-ups, and how he created those spaces to help others achieve success in the business of real estate.   [19:38 - 20:56] Closing Segment Reach out to Martin See links below Final words   Tweetable Quote   “You gotta let people know what you're doing. You gotta take action. Like the old saying of ready, fire, aim. Just ready, action, and then readjust and aim again and adjust accordingly”. – Martin Perdomo   “Once I shifted my mindset right from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset, my life changed”. – Martin Perdomo -----------------------------------------------------------------------------   Connect with The Elite Strategist himself, Martin Perdomo on his Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or check out more ways to reach him out in his Link Tree. Also, check his podcast Latinos In Real Estate Investing Podcast, and his YouTube Channel.   Connect with me:   I love helping others place money outside of traditional investments that both diversify a strategy and provide solid predictable returns.    Facebook   LinkedIn   Like, subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or whatever platform you listen on.  Thank you for tuning in!   Email me → sam@brickeninvestmentgroup.com       Want to read the full show notes of the episode? Check it out below:   00:00 Martin Perdomo: And if you're doing something you gotta let the world know that you're doing it. You're doing something. "Hey, this is what I'm doing. You're raising money. "Hey, I'm looking to help people, get above average return on their investments, right? You gotta let people know what you're doing. You gotta take action. Like the old saying of ready, fire, aim. Just ready, action, and then readjust and aim again and adjust accordingly. 00:19 Intro: Welcome to the How to Scale Commercial Real Estate Show. Whether you are an active or passive investor, we'll teach you how to scale your real estate investing business into something big. 00:31 Sam Wilson: Martin Perdomo is the host of Latinos and Real Estate Investing podcast. Martin aims to educate people and get them started on their journey to financial freedom through real estate investing. Martin, welcome to the show. 00:43 Martin Perdomo: Sam, thank you for having me, brother. It's a pleasure and an honor to be able to share with your audience. 00:48 Sam Wilson: Awesome Martin. Glad to have you on today. There are three questions I ask every guest who comes on the show. In 90 seconds or less, can you tell me where did you start? Where are you now, and how did you get there? 00:58 Martin Perdomo: Started investing in real estate in 2007. Bought my first property. I was a mortgage broker, so I had FOMO, fear of missing out. Everyone was buying real estate and I was giving money away basically back in those days. In '05, '06 and '07. And I bought my first investment property, paid $275.000 for it. Knew nothing about real estate investing. Only did it because I knew that was a way to financial freedom. You hear it, you know it intuitively, but there's more to it than that, as you know. Bought it two years later, a hundred thousand under water, same property, was worth $179,000 and 14 years later had an appraisal come here. Last month I bought a property not too far from it. He was using a comp property, same property, two doors down, exact same property. Sold for $385,000. So don't wait to buy real estate. Buy real estate and wait. 01:47 Sam Wilson: What did you do with that house? 01:50 Martin Perdomo: Good question. I've had it, I bought it cuz it was close to the university by ESU University and I rented it to college students. And what college students typically do is they rent it in, they rent it around May, and they go to May right when school starts and around May, around April, they start winding down. These kids didn't pay their light bill, so one kid was studying with a candle in the. And the curtain caught on fire. Mattress caught on fire. They burned my house down. I like to think that I kind of attracted that because I was like my energy energetically, I was felt like, so stuck with that property cuz I didn't know what I was doing. That it was like the universe, God was the way of getting me out. 02:38 Sam Wilson: What year did it burn to the ground? 02:40 Martin Perdomo: I burned to the ground in 2012. 02:44 Sam Wilson: Okay, so you held it through the recession? 02:47 Martin Perdomo: Yeah, I held it. 02:47 Sam Wilson: Held it, which is, yeah, which is the right move. 02:50 Martin Perdomo: Yeah. There was no other move. I was broken. I didn't know what to do, brother. I didn't have the education I have today. But in hindsight, you know, it was a, if I would've held on. I still would've won. 02:59 Sam Wilson: You still would've won. And I think that's the thing that, the lesson that so many people probably didn't employ, you know, for those that were in unable to, hold on. That's a different story, but everybody panics when they see that the comp value of their property goes down. How has your thinking shifted now when you evaluate and look at properties in light of that experience? 03:20 Martin Perdomo: That's a great question. I just bought a quad. Up the street from here. And I was just in a meeting with my business coach this morning and he asked me a similar question cuz we're looking at: "Hey, the stuff we're flipping". And the difference in my mindset and what I look at now is I look at the longview. I focus on 10 years, 15 years. I look at the long view of things. I don't just focus that interest rates are going up. Hey, this happens. Interest rates go up. I don't concern. Prices are going down. Hey, this happens. Prices went down. There's always a panic in the market, Sam, no matter what. Last year's panic, what was it? "Oh, this is a bubble. People paying $20,000, 40,000 over asking 22, 21". Right? 21 and 20. That was it. In '19 and '18 before Covid, what was it? "Shit, any moment of recession's gonna happen, we're due. It's been, we're the longest bull market in history, and we're due". So, it's the media. There's something about human beings. We're always looking for what's next around the corner that can come kill us. But if we can just, when it comes to real estate, I like to think of it as long term and when I think of it of long term, all the noise goes away, right? All of the noise goes. 04:24 Sam Wilson: That's exactly it. Yeah. Somebody, and this is kind of in line with that, but somebody asked me this yesterday. It was like talking about a couple bees of real estate we own. I said "Look, I'm gonna hold those forever. It's long term I'm gonna hold 'em until I no longer want to own them". Like we buy stuff today that produces an income and I wanna hold it. No, I don't want to anymore. And I really don't care what the value of it is on paper, as long as it continues to produce revenue. I'm happy man. Yep, that's that's really cool. You mentioned a quad, you mentioned a single-family residence. How many aspects of real estate are you involved in at the moment? 04:58 Martin Perdomo: So, we buy apartment buildings. We currently own 108. It goes up and down cuz we flip and we also flip. So, we currently own 108 doors. We own a bunch of assets. Our biggest asset is 40 units. And 17, right next to each other. So, we do a multifacet of things. We currently have a television commercial locally. We're marketing to motivated sellers. We're just kind of lining ourselves and getting ourselves ready for if there is, and I use that word intentionally, if there is a real correction, because it's just so different, you know? We have people with interest rates of 2% and 3% that, yeah, they might have overpaid last year, but where are they going? There's an affordability issue. Where are they going? They can come rent from us, from you and from me for, you know, for what they're paying for. The less, they're paying less for mortgage. I don't know, you know, there's a lot of hype about the market this to market that. Either way I always plan for worst case scenario. I'm planning when the fear starts, because the fear mongering has already begun. Mainstream media is already, you know, putting the fear and human beings, especially people that aren't like you and I in this business, educated, they're gonna panic and they're gonna get scared. We flip, we buy fix and flip properties. I enjoy that. That is fun for me. And we also buy and hold long term. We're in the middle of buying a hotel right now. We're looking to acquire a hotel right now. I'm really excited about the future. Future's Bright Sam. Future's bright, brother. That's all I could tell you. man. Future is bright. I'm excited about the future. 06:27 Sam Wilson: I love that attitude. Somebody asked me that a couple weeks ago. They said, Hey: " Is now a good time to get under real estate?" I'm like: "Yes, absolutely it is. Like now is a great time to get in". Tell me about your hotel. We've talked about multifamily; you've talked about single family residences; you've talked about flipping. Tell me about your hotel, and then I got some other follow up questions, but we'll start on this. 06:49 Martin Perdomo: Yeah, so as a young, as a kid, right? I remember, I'll share the story with you. My wife and I, we've been together 25, 26 years now, and we were teenagers, we were kids, right? When we first started dating. And one day I used to work in the body shop in New York City in Harlem. I dunno if you're familiar with Harlem. It's, you know, common place in New York City. And it was really rough man. Really rough place. It was burnt down buildings, crack buildings, low place in the late eighties, nineties. And it was 1997. One day I used to work in this place called The Body Shop on one 25th and Fifth Avenue. My wife comes to pick me up, my girlfriend at the time, and I look across the street and I see this building and this burnt down. In the hundred 25th and fifth, and I say, you see that building across 300? I said: "If I could buy that building, fix it, and renovate it and rent it, we can be rich". I'm 17 years old, right? And she's no way. She's looking at the area and she's saying: "No way". But we've always, my wife and I have always romanticized with owning bigger assets. We're owning big assets. We've always talked about owning a hotel, like that's a play. So, I'm at a place in my career where it's about the game. You know, this is fun for me. And it's like Monopoly. So, you buy houses, and then boom, you put the hotel. So, one of my long-term goals is, has always been to own hotels and we are about to, we've looked at a couple, I think we're about to go on the contract with one. It's 38 keys cuz that's the language in hotel. So, it's 38 doors equivalent to 38 doors. So, it's 38 keys. Its small hotel here in the Poconos, but it's the locations amazing. The locations across the street from a casino, from Mount Airy casino. Here in, in the Poconos and it's close to the ski resorts. It's like the strategy. We did the numbers and we're talking about 173% return on investment to our investors when we raised that capital. It's an amazing deal where we don't have on the contract yet, but by the time this podcast comes out, it should be on the contract. 08:35 Sam Wilson: Man, that's awesome. I love that. I love that. What are you doing with it? Are you gonna turn it into? A lot of not a lot of, but many guests who come on the show that are buying hotels, are doing like the Airbnb model, getting rid of the front desk. They're making it keyless. They're going to... 08:50 Martin Perdomo: Yeah, so we're toying around with that idea because we're in the Poconos. So, Poconos is a very resorty vacation area, so it's perfect. It's across street from the casino. We're toying around with that idea. You know, we have an affordable housing crisis across the whole country. 09:04 There's no different here, right? We're thinking about creating some extended stay. We're toying around with that idea, but that's the primary right now, what we're thinking is creating it into an experience type of hotel. And what I mean by that is partnering up with a bus company that'll bus people into: Hey, the ski resort, bring you back to the hotel, take you to the casino, take you to the indoor water park that we have here. Just kind of making it that hub. But not the price of Camelback where they have the indoor waterpark and all that stuff, right? But uh, kind of, that's what we're envisioning right now as we're in the beginning stages of that particular deal. 09:38 Sam Wilson: That's really cool. Let's talk about how you are finding opportunities. There's, each of these channels has their own unique acquisition strategy, you know? 09:49 Martin Perdomo: Yes, sir. 09:50 Sam Wilson: So how are you having such a diverse asset? Or such diversified assets that you're investing in and then finding opportunity in a meaningful way? 09:58 Martin Perdomo: So that's a really great question. I do multiple things. First thing is, we have our own marketing channel. All our properties, we buy 'em off market. Everything's off market. We do it through mailers. We don't do a lot of mailers, but yet we do. We have a television commercial, just gives us local branding recognition. We get a lot of calls from there. I'm actually hosting tonight, my every other month meetup. So, I host a meetup and I fill the room with investors and I just educate and empower and help, you know, just give, I give, I like to give. This is why I do things like this. I like to give and help others come up. And through that means it just kind of gives us that credibility and they know we're real buyers cuz there's a lot of pretenders out there. As you know, Sam, there's a lot of guys: "Oh, I'm a buyer". And we have a broker channel. We have relationships. Just through the year that I built through all the stuff that I do: the meetups, the advertising, just I'm very involved. This is what I do. I do this. Every day, all day, every day, 24/7 a week, brother. This is all I do is real estate. We've got multiple angles and multiple things that we work on. Property managers bring us deals, brokers bring us deals, wholesalers bring us deals. We have our own marketing that bring us deals. So, we are just constantly letting people know we're buying. And if you're doing something you gotta let the world know that you're doing it. Right. You're doing something. "Hey, this is what I'm doing. You're raising money. "Hey, I'm looking to help people, get above average return on their investments, right? You gotta let people know what you're doing. You gotta take action. 11:29 Sam Wilson: I love that. 11:30 Martin Perdomo: You gotta take action. I like the old saying of ready, fire, aim. Just ready, action, and then readjust and aim again and adjust accordingly. 11:39 Sam Wilson: That's awesome. Tell me about the TV commercial. That is not a medium that many people are utilizing today. How do you calculate return on investment on that? 11:51 Martin Perdomo: That's an amazing question. And before we did it, we toyed around with that. And the thing is, that really gets us deals for our single-family distress owners. And it's very strategic. We're very strategic in where we advertise, what TV channels we advertise on, and who is it that's watching what we're selling, right? And we advertise on like the Jerry Springers of the world shows. The court tv, daytime shows. Right? Well, who's watching those? The people that are distressed, they're going through a divorce, people that are losing that don't have a job or, and we advertise day at night, right? Third shift people. So, we're very specific on the demographics and who we're getting in front of, you know, maybe grandma, grandpa that's got that old house that's falling apart or it's got that old 10-unit apartment building that they no longer can handle. And here's this guy on TV saying: "Hey, we'll buy it 21 days or less, or we'll give you an extra $5,000, regardless of the condition". 12:45 Sam Wilson: And that, that's the demographic. I guess that was gonna be my follow up question is who's the demographic who you're shooting for? And... 12:52 Martin Perdomo: Yeah, that's the demographics for that's what's watching that, right? It's not, you know, guys like you and I are not watching Judge Judy. Let's be real, right? We're not watching Jerry Springer, right? We're working, we're hustling, we're running and we're leading our teams, and we're doing things differently. 13:05 Sam Wilson: Yeah. No, we are not watching either of those daytime TV shows. I wish it'd be nice to have that amount of free time to go, you know? But I wouldn't spend it doing that if I did have the free time. So regardless, I'm still not watching it. What about cost on that? I know that there is no cost when advertising works, right? It's a return on investment is what you're really looking for. But I am really curious, like when you look at that and before you launched into it, was it a tough pill to swallow to say: "Man, we gotta shell out X number of dollars for a TV commercial? 13:35 Martin Perdomo: It was not cuz I just believe in investing in my business. It's just: " Hey, I'm gonna invest in my business no matter what". I processed it when I looked at it, I processed. I said: "This makes sense". And this is a model that's working for the other investors across the country. And then when I looked at the numbers, it made even more sense. I got one of my invoices and I'm looking at the invoice, gives me the time and what channel it plays and what I'm paying for that slot. 32nd slot. I mean, I am blessed brother because of where I'm located. I'm not in Philadelphia or the New York City market. I'm like kind of in between. And so, the slots that I'm paying $15 for a 32nd commercial. Dude. I know some late-night ones I'm paying $5; some I'm paying $35. In other slots, I'm paying $50 depending on the show and the slots. So, I'm looking at it and I'm saying, hey man, what does it cost me to pay per click, right? What does it cost me on the PPC leads. The PPC leads, because I do that too, those things cost me. I'm bidding, right? That's my money's going up. I gotta bid a dollar amount that I bid every day, and when I use it, it's over. I'm like: "Hey, wait a minute. If I'm gonna spend $5 in a commercial on the low end, $50 on the high end". Depending, I got commercials from $5, $15 and $35 and $50. I'm like: "This makes sense". And not only that, but I get the credibility in the community like: "Hey, these guys are the real deal". If they're on TV, they must be doing something right. It's the psychology of what people think. And when my sales guys show up, their life is so much easier, right? Cause hey, we got you from the TV there. They're not competing with wholesalers. It's my guys show up and if there's a deal to be done, we're gonna do the deal. So, the cost is not cost prohibitive. However, I did want to go into other markets closer to the Philly market. Lehigh Valley area, which is closer to the Philly market. And now it starts getting whoa, really expensive per spot. $350 per spot. And again, I'm just, you know, in the right location for what we're doing. 15:33 Sam Wilson: Right. 15:35 Martin Perdomo: But again, I mean if, let's say that ad ran 15 times at 400 bucks a slot. That's, let's call it six grand you went out the door and you closed one good deal out of it. Yeah, so I did the numbers. The numbers for us. I could tell you; I don't mind sharing this. The numbers because of my market, my demographics, the numbers wind up being somewhere close to six grand a month. After it's all said and done, I'm probably in $95,000 a year. But if I do a couple flips and like we make usually our return on our investment in the first quarter for the year. Like we know how to run the numbers. We know the market; we understand interest rates are going up. So, we know, if we're buying a property to flip. In this economy, we're not buying anything that ARVs over 300. We want to stay low for affordability, cuz we're always gonna move that product. And then, we're always picking up stuff. We're always adding to our portfolio. So, we pick up through that commercial, a 10 unit, a 15 unit, cuz a grandma will watch us or the grandson is gonna watch us with grandma and say: "Hey grandma, we gotta call that guy cuz that apartment building you have is falling apart. We need to sell it". 16:37 I Sam Wilson: It's brilliant. I love it. You know, the other thing I love about that is that it separates you from everyone else. And I always said that with pay per click, back when I was doing single family stuff, it was like I can outspend most of my wholesale competition. And while you might say on the front end, that doesn't make any sense. Well, like you said, you know, you're paying for that in the first quarter. I remember my pay per click budget. I did single family 2018, and in the first 30 days I'd already paid for my years budgeting with pay per click. It was like, I can outspend you and that puts me the front of the pack over everybody else because I can do that. And it's a different medium. This is a very different medium as well, so you're separating yourself both by medium type and by the amount of money you can devote to actually advertising on that front. So that's really, really cool. Martin, before we sign off here, I do want to hear about your podcast. Why you started it and just gimme a little bit of insight on that. 17:32 Martin Perdomo: So, for me, I'm a big personal development guy. I'm a big mindset guy. I believe that success is 80% mindset and 20% skill set, and that's combined is a hundred percent success. And for me, coming up I realized that once I shifted my mindset right from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset and that's a loaded statement. But once I shifted my mindset from one to the other, my life changed. And that's when I really started celebrating my growth. And I really started making bigger and power moves. And I've always, the purpose of my life is to empower others to be the best version of themselves. So, while I love real estate. I love the game. I love what I do. I really do. And I also host a podcast, cuz I wanna help other people come up. I really want to wholeheartedly like: "Hey man, you can do this too". If a poor guy like me from the ghetto and the hood in Washington Heights in New York City can come from nothing and do this. So can anyone else! If you are not, if you are really determined and you wanna, and you work on yourself, and you work on your mindset and you work on your skill set, you can do it right? Everything about: "Oh, I don't have enough money". It's a limiting belief. Who says you need your money. That's all limiting belief. It's just, go get educated, listen to podcasts like this. Listen to Sam, listen to podcasts like mine. Go and listen to other smart people that are doing it. Gather the information. Take action. Then adjust. Ready, fire, aim. Right? Take action to adjust. So, it's because I just love to empower and help others. I'm hosting my meet up tonight. That thing takes me five hours out of my day. Five, six hours. I gotta go set up at the church, cuz I host it at the church. I gotta go set up, prepare the content, write all this stuff, and it's It takes a lot of work to do. But it's more fulfilling to me when I see that guy that does his first deal and they're like: "Martin, thank you cuz you shared that and you showed me this and you showed me that". Man, that fills me. 19:31 Sam Wilson: Right. That's really... 19:33 Martin Perdomo: It's all worth it when like I see others like helping others and others are coming up. 19:38 Sam Wilson: Martin, I absolutely love it. If our listeners wanna get in touch with you or learn more about you, what is the best way to do that? 19:43 Martin Perdomo: Yeah, they could just go to Latinos and Real Estate Investing podcast, check out my podcast or check out my YouTube. I'm constantly putting out vlogs out on my projects and what's going on. I literally just walked from one of my projects up to the road here. My roofers are putting on the roof and that property I just bought. So, I'm constantly putting up content, giving people the real deal, right? On my channel, YouTube channel. I give people the real deal. I tell you the truth about evictions and what really happens. I give it to you all straight. Construction workers, what really happens with them if you're not, if you're not doing it the right way, they will kill you. They will hurt your business if you know them. 20:16 Sam Wilson: Right, right. 20:17 Martin Perdomo: You know, they can check out my YouTube: The Elite Strategist. Or my podcast: Latinos and Real Estate Investing podcast. Or Instagram. I'm on Instagram and Facebook. "The Elite Strategist. They can let me up there too. 20:26 Sam Wilson: Awesome. Martin, thank you so much for coming the show today. I certainly appreciate it. 20:30 Martin Perdomo: Thank you brother. I appreciate you! 20:32 Outro: Hey, thanks for listening to the How to Scale Commercial Real Estate Podcast. If you can, do me a favor and subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, whatever platform it is you use to listen. If you can do that for us, that would be a fantastic help to the show. It helps us both attract new listeners as well as rank hire on those directories. So, appreciate you listening. Thanks so much and hope to catch you on the next episode.    

Season 2, Episode 27 - The holidays are here and the Poconos is the perfect place to spend them and your hard-earned dollars at small businesses across the four-county region. This weekend marks Small Business Saturday when our retailers and hard working business owners and their employees look to make the season warm and bright for so many gift givers. Listen in on a conversation with Lauren Chamberlain of Asparagus Sunshine about what makes small business tick! The Poconos is a year-round destination for millions and with 24-hundred square miles of mountains, forests, lakes and rivers with historic downtowns and iconic family resorts, it's the perfect getaway for a weekend or an entire week. You can always find out more on PoconoMountains.com or watch Pocono Television Network streaming live 24/7.

Season 2, Episode 26 - It's the season of giving thanks and no time could be more appropriate to talk about the gratitude the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau has for its 500+ members. That is a lot of members across all four counties including hotels, restaurants, mom and pop shops, attractions and for an organization that's been around for the better part of a century, it's a testament to the team. On this episode, we meet one of the instrumental people on that membership team and broader Pocono Proud team player – Marlyn Kissner. The Poconos is a year-round destination for millions and with 24-hundred square miles of mountains, forests, lakes and rivers with historic downtowns and iconic family resorts, it's the perfect getaway for a weekend or an entire week. You can always find out more on PoconoMountains.com or watch Pocono Television Network streaming live 24/7.

Learn what happens during each menstrual cycle phase and the effects they have on your mind and body. Your period is a monthly health check and just one piece of the puzzle as to why you're feeling the way you are. On your period or not, every phase (before, during and after) impacts you.Guest:Julianna Grandinetti, PA-C, physician assistant with LVPG Obstetrics and Gynecology–1245 Cedar Crest, discusses menstrual cycle phases with Mike and Steph from B104. Chapters:     • 00:01 - Intro     • 1:24 - PMS relief      • 3:06 - Vitamins and supplements     • 3:54 - Can menstruation cause headaches?      • 5:16 - What is a regular period each month?     • 5:35 - How heavy is too heavy of a flow?     • 6:26 - Irregular periods     • 7:23 - Tampon safety     • 8:01 - Organic vs. regular tampons and pads     • 8:28 - Using a menstrual cup      • 9:31 - Period underwear      • 9:57 - Are periods a monthly health update?      • 10:22 - Should you track your period?     • 10:56 - Colors of period blood     • 11:45 - Avoid this during your period      • 12:06 - Is “period poop” a real thing?     • 12:53 - Chocolate and cramps     • 14:32 - Phases of your menstrual cycle      • 17:12 - Energy levels and your menstrual cycle     • 18:22 - Low-energy day recommendations     • 19:00 - Cycle syncing      • 19:43 - Syncing your cycle to your workout       • 20:41 - Nutrition and your menstrual cycle     • 21:26 - Advice to remember

Come on along as we talk to David Cohn, MD, about his journey from the ski slopes of the Pocono mountains to the surgical suites of the James Cancer Hospital. Cohn is the interim CEO of the James, the hospital's chief medical officer and a gynecologic cancer specialist. In this episode, Cohn talks about growing up in suburban Washington, D.C., his love of skiing and music (he plays the guitar, mandolin and ukulele), how and why he selected a career in medicine over one as an attorney, and the lessons he's learned from his mentors along the way. His career “was shaped by the people you meet,” Cohn said. “I found people who were committed to their profession, doing this for the right reasons and found joy in what they were doing.” These lessons, and mentors, have shaped Cohn's professional life and helped him become a leader at the James. His father's diagnosis with multiple myeloma during his residency “helped shape the way I practice medicine, just to be there for my patients,” he said. Cohn has plans to help the James continue to grow and innovate. “I know where we are today; I know where we can be,” he said. “I think I have a sense of what that path looks like, how you put the pieces along the path so we can walk on it.”

Jennifer Lieberman comes by her writing and creativity honestly. She has been writing, organizing, and working toward a career in theater writing ever since she was a student in school. She has written her own one-person play as well as a book entitled “Year of the What” based on the play.   As Jennifer tells us about her life, she discusses living in New York City during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. She will discuss how her life changed after that day.   Jennifer clearly is a person who set goals for herself and then worked to achieve them. She is absolutely unstoppable. I think you will enjoy this interview and the creative personality of this wonderful person.   About the Guest: After years of pounding the pavement and knocking on doors with no success of breaking into the entertainment industry, Jennifer decided to take matters into her own hands and created the solo-show Year of the Slut. This show proved to be her break and the play went on to win the Audience Choice Award in New York City and is now the #1 Amazon Best Selling novel Year of the What? and was awarded the Gold Medal at the Global Book Awards 2022 for Coming of Age Books. Since deciding to make her own break Lieberman has appeared in over 30 international stage productions, has produced over 40 independent film and theatre productions and has helped over 100 creatives make their own break through her coaching and consulting work. She has penned a number of stage and screen plays and her short films have screened at the Festival de Cannes Court Métrage among other international festivals. She is currently gearing up to direct her first feature film.   Social Media Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamjenlieberman Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamjenlieberman/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamjenlieberman Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-lieberman-33b20426/       About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson  01:21 Hi, again, it's Michael Hingson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset, the podcast where inclusion diversity in the unexpected me. And today, Jennifer Lieberman, our guest I think certainly has lots of unexpected things that she's going to tell us about. If you don't know, Jennifer, and you may or may not know who she is, I will just tell you that you want to talk about unexpected. She wrote her own one person play called The year of the slug, and we're gonna get into that I am sure, along with a lot of other things. So Jennifer, welcome to unstoppable mindset. How are you?   Jennifer Lieberman  02:00 I'm fabulous. Michael, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to chat with you today.   Michael Hingson  02:07 Well, we're really excited that you're here. And I know you do have lots of stories and you faced a lot of challenges. And it will be good to go through some of those. Why don't we start new sort of telling me a little bit about your early life and how you kind of progressed a little bit?   Jennifer Lieberman  02:21 Sure. So I started off as the competitive gymnast. And I was in competition. By the time I was five, and was training almost every day after school. By the time I was eight years old. I kind of had a natural aptitude for the sport. And that was my main focus for a really long time. And then I ended up coaching, I founded a high school team. And I think it's relevant because from a very early age, I had to have like a certain amount of discipline. And that discipline has really helped me with longevity in the creative world where it's It's a thankless business a lot of the time.   Michael Hingson  03:11 So where are you from originally?   Jennifer Lieberman  03:13 Oh, yes, I'm from. I was born in Toronto raised in Maple, Canada, just outside of Toronto. I went to York University in Toronto, I studied philosophy and English Lit. And when I graduated, I moved to New York City to pursue a career in theatre. I started writing at a young age, I was about eight years old when I started writing scripts. Originally, it started off as fan fiction for shows that I wanted to be on as a child. And then by the time I was 12, I my imagination evolved enough to create my own plots and characters and storylines that weren't borrowing from worlds that were previously created by other writers. So it was always something in me. But like I said, gymnastics was the main focus, you know, until halfway through high school when I had a career ending knee injury. But like, I still love the sport and love being in the gym. So coaching kind of allowed me to stay in the world that I was used to. And then in university is when I started taking acting classes, and I just kind of never looked back like I am in love with the creative process, whether it's writing performance, filmmaking, and I've developed a lot of skills over the years in order to stay working and stay in the game. Because especially as an actor, you don't have a lot of agency or control over when you get picked And what you get picked for.   Michael Hingson  05:02 So for you, philosophy ended up sort of being a means to an end, as opposed to being a career that you are going to go into in some way. Well,   Jennifer Lieberman  05:11 actually, I studied philosophy, it's interesting that you bring it up, but the Greeks are who invented theatre. That's where a theater was born in these Greek Dionysian festivals, and, you know, East Escalus. Like all of these writers wrote, theatrically, and that's kind of, you know, philosophy played on these stories, or at least in the earlier days, so it always felt connected to me. Philosophy, Greek philosophy, mythology, it was all kind of wrapped up in some sort of performance.   Michael Hingson  05:53 But you went through and got a degree in philosophy, and then you move to New York, is that because you wanted to go into Broadway? Oh, yeah. And   Jennifer Lieberman  06:01 also, like, my parents didn't consider a degree in theater a degree, you know. And I knew, I also knew that I was a writer. And then I wanted to tackle, you know, topics that were, you know, that would challenge people. And that would make people think and different points of view. So I thought, for the writing side of it, because it was never just to be an actor, it was always an actor who wrote projects. So the philosophy and the English Lit just seemed like a great jumping off point in order to develop my skills, grappling different difficult subject matters and structure and theatrical writing and all of that stuff.   Michael Hingson  06:49 Well, so you move to New York. And I guess something that none of us would know. Listening to you and talking with you here is your half African did that have a an impact on you and being able to break into this industry? Or?   Jennifer Lieberman  07:07 No, not at all, because I look, I look like a white girl, I'm my dad's side is Polish. My mother is tunisienne from Tunis. 10 is yeah, she immigrated to Canada with her parents and siblings, and she was the young girl. So so nobody has any inkling of my African roots, unless I actually mentioned it. So, um, so yeah, that's kind of something that's very unexpected, and people don't really place me in that category. Even though I really identify with my 10 ASEAN, heritage and culture, especially traditions, you know, family traditions, things like that my was very close to both of my 10 ASEAN grandparents, I they grew up five houses away from where I grew up, so I saw them almost every day. And that is just ingrained in who I am.   Michael Hingson  08:12 So does that make you essentially a bi racial person?   Jennifer Lieberman  08:16 Um, you know, it's funny, cuz my sense, it's, my family is North African. And like I said, like, my grandfather had dark skin, but my grandmother had light skin. I don't even know if I would be considered biracial. Because once again, like, by looking at me, you couldn't really tell I don't appear to be bipoc. So it's not something that really comes up. Actually. I don't even know what people would consider me to be honest.   Michael Hingson  08:49 A writer and an actress. Yes, so so it really didn't have much of an impact, which is, which is cool. Well, it shouldn't anyway, but it seemed relevant to ask the question. You know, so you, you move to New York. Tell us about that. Where did you go? What did you do in New York? And and what's your favorite bagel place? You know, all the important things?   Jennifer Lieberman  09:17 Yes. Um, so I basically after my last exam, I didn't even wait around for graduation. I wasn't there. On the day, they gave out diplomas because I really didn't care about a diploma. I felt like that was more an obligation I had to fulfill for my parents sake, and then I could start my life. So I showed up in New York and like I say, with a duffel bag and a dream and I was just like, I'm here and stumbled my way. I had rented an apartment sight unseen, which was not a great apartment and last in there very long. And I'm Just basically there was a newspaper back then called Backstage, it used to be a physical newspaper, now you can get an online subscription. And I just started looking in the newspaper that was specifically for the acting world and started circling different auditions I could show up at or submit to. And that's how it all began. And I was fortunate enough to get in with a couple of different theatre companies. And I was able to work with the same people. consistently over time, there were three different companies that I was working with consistently. So that helped me grow and develop as an artist. And one of the companies I ended up becoming a producer at 22. So I learned every aspect, from carpentry using power tools to help get the sets made to running the lighting and sound stage management, costuming, anything that was needed. You just kind of when you're an off off Broadway company without any real funding. You just scraped together whatever you can to make it happen. But also, pardon? Go ahead. Oh, but also those lessons have been invaluable for where I am now. Because, you know, not having the perfect sort of circumstances, or the amount of money we wish we had has never deterred me from making something happen.   Michael Hingson  11:37 So you wore many hats. And you obviously learned a lot as you went along. What was kind of the biggest challenge that you had back in those early days?   Jennifer Lieberman  11:47 Oh, well, I grew up in a really small town. My neighbors were trees. So getting used to the fast paced kind of hustle and bustle of New York City. It was a huge culture shock for me, I grew up in the middle of nowhere, and then move to the center of the world, with everything happening. And just as I was starting to get my footing in New York, 911 happened. And   Michael Hingson  12:18 where were you at the time,   Jennifer Lieberman  12:21 I was on my way to work. I was walking towards the subway at Astor Place, I was living in Alphabet City, and witnessed the first plane, fly into the World Trade Center and thought it was a fluke accident and got on the subway and continued with my day.   Michael Hingson  12:49 So for people who don't know where is Alphabet City, and what is   Jennifer Lieberman  12:52 Oh, yes, so Alphabet City is like the East most part of the East Village. So I was at Avenue D and 10th street. That's where I was living. I didn't last very long in that apartment. I moved in there. And on September 1, and I think by the 15th of September, I had packed everything up and went back to Canada for a while because I couldn't handle the reality of what happened. And I needed to go home. As   Michael Hingson  13:31 I went, he didn't last long either. You just   Jennifer Lieberman  13:35 got damnit, I'm going back to New York.   Michael Hingson  13:38 So you, you said you argued with people, as you were going on the subway and so on. Tell us about that if you want.   Jennifer Lieberman  13:46 I argued with people who were saying it was a terrorist attack. Because at that age, you know, the level of innocence being raised very sheltered in a small town in Canada. I was just like, This doesn't happen, like we're living in, you know, 2001 like, What do you mean? No, this is impossible that somebody hijacked a plane and flew it into a building in the United States. Like it's impossible. I just thought it was a freak accident and continued to work. And you know, there were arguments on the subway because some people saw it as we were all getting on the subway together. But then there were other people who had been on the subway for a while and are hearing it for the first time. So there was a panic. And then I got to two I was working at 34th and Park at a real estate company. That was my side hustle at the time. And I told my boss what happened. And he got really angry with me. And he said that it's not funny, like we don't joke about these things. And I was like, I'm not joke like, who wouldn't joke about these things? Like, turn on the radio. And he did. And that's when we heard about the second plane. And I just remember, like my soul leaving my body at the realization that it couldn't be an accident if there were two that happened in that short amount of time. Like, it was just literally, I felt my innocence Leave me. And yeah, I became a different person that day.   Michael Hingson  15:32 I think a lot of us did. One of my employees was on the PATH train paths stands for Port Authority, trans Hudson, it goes under the river. But he was on the PATH train coming in from Hoboken. They just pulled into the path station under tower Well, under the central part of the World Trade Center. Yep. At the fourth sub level when the second plane hit. And he told me later, the train just started shaking and so on in the pilot, the pilot, the conductor, and the engineer just said, don't leave the train. And they just literally turned around and went back. Right, in Hoboken, because I think they may have known that something was going on. But they didn't know, of course, about the second plane, because it was happening in real time. But nevertheless, they just turned around, went back to New Jersey. Yeah. Yeah, it was just Well, and, of course, who would have thought, right? Exactly. It's one of those things that it's really hard to imagine. And I can understand your reaction. And it did change all of us who were there. And as I've said to many people, and my wife has really pointed this out the problem for most people, certainly the people outside of the immediate area where this occurred that is outside New York City and so on, or further away, who just couldn't see what was happening. Your view, not yours, because you were there. But the view of people was only as large as your TV screen or your newspaper. And you couldn't have the same impact in your mind as all of us who were there at the time did. So you went back to Canada for a couple of months. And that's sort of understandable. You had a place to escape to as it were.   Jennifer Lieberman  17:33 Yeah. First I went to the Poconos. So I had a good friend Heather. She was initially my roommate. And then we, you know, we both ended up living in Alphabet City, actually. But she moved in with a boyfriend. And you know, no cell phones were working. As you know, all the cell towers were down because they were in the Trade Center. So we couldn't get I couldn't call my parents. I couldn't call anyone in Canada. But Heather and I somehow found each other on the street. And I guess it took two or three days for her dad to be able to drive to the city and get us because the city was closed. They weren't letting any vehicles in or out of the city. And I ended up going her dad picked us up. It was her boyfriend at the time. She and myself. And we went to their house in the Poconos for a few days. And then I got back to the city. And I don't know if planes were back up in the air yet, but I took the train home to Toronto, it was like a 12 hour train ride. And I just like packed up everything I had and just hopped on the train. Because I also felt like my dreams were so trite and insignificant compared to the weight of what happened. And I felt silly. I felt you know that everything that was so important to me the day before, was completely superfluous after that incident.   Michael Hingson  19:12 Yeah, what could you do? And it it makes perfect sense that you just left. You're fortunate to be able to do that. Some cell phones were working that day because I was able to call my wife in New Jersey. She couldn't call me. But I could call her interesting. And we were able to, to communicate learned later that day that the trains had started running from Penn Station in New York to Penn Station in Newark. So I was able to get a train later that evening, back to Newark, and then catch the train going from Newark out to Westfield, where we lived. So we got home at about seven that night. It was interesting being on the train, going from New York to New Jersey, people came up to me and said, You're really dirty. Were you downtown? And I said, Yeah, I was in Tower One. And it was interesting while we were going to the train station, from the apartment of a friend of my colleague, David's who I was with, although it wasn't the same as typical, still cars were moving, there was traffic. And it seemed like even only being a few miles away, it was already so significantly different than what we were experiencing downtown.   Jennifer Lieberman  20:40 Oh, yeah, the whole world stopped. If you were on the island of Manhattan, the whole world stopped, you know, and I ended up in New Jersey as well, actually. Because I was beneath 14th street and they didn't really want anybody coming back home if you were below 14th street because they didn't know. Like we talked about before we started recording, you know, gas leaks, fires under the city, things like that the fires could travel through the subway lines, you know, through the tunnels and stuff. So I ended up in New Jersey at a colleague's place for I guess, the first couple of nights. And yeah, it was it's It's surreal. It was just, that's the only word. You know, I can think   Michael Hingson  21:30 of was just how did you get to New Jersey?   Jennifer Lieberman  21:32 I believe I took a train from Penn Station.   Michael Hingson  21:35 Okay, so you were able to catch a train too, which was cool.   Jennifer Lieberman  21:39 Yeah, I was able to catch a train. Yeah, it was. I can't even   Michael Hingson  21:45 Well, let's, let's go back to you. So you moved back to Canada for a little while. Yeah.   Jennifer Lieberman  21:50 Canada. And you know, that didn't last? No, it didn't last because, you know, after I got over the initial shock of what actually happened. I was like, Yeah, you know, my dreams are important to me. And art is just as important as ever, especially during a crisis, having writers and having theater and having stories and people who are able to tell stories in compelling ways. And I basically did a, I did a one ad. And when all I went right back to what I was doing before, with an even stronger conviction than I had previously.   Michael Hingson  22:37 So what happened?   Jennifer Lieberman  22:40 So I continued with the theatre company that I was with, and I got into, like I said, couple other theatre companies I was performing off off Broadway pretty regularly. I was with a mime company called the American mime theatre, and trained and performed as a mime for a few years. And this company was quite special. It was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. And it was its own medium. It wasn't a copy of French pantomime. It was its own discipline. And that was actually coming. You know what, when we got to the one woman shows, but doing the mind training was the best foundation I could have asked for moving forward and doing one person shows where I was playing multiple characters and had to snap in and out of them very quickly. And being able to just snap into a physicality that made it very clear to the audience that I was somebody new, or somebody different as to the character who was previous. So yeah, I ended up producing a bunch of shows off Broadway got into film production. I was in New York for about six years and, and just try to learn as much as I could and craft as much as I could. I started working with a director named Jim craft offered rest in peace he passed a couple years ago during the pandemic, not from COVID. But he was a phenomenal writer and director he studied under Ilya Khazanah at the actor studio, and his play to patch it was a real tipping point in my artistic career. I had to play a mentally challenged girl who was raped and murdered. And once I was able to get through that, I realized like yeah, I really prove to myself like okay, this is where I belong. You know, I have the I have the chops. I have the stamina, I have the drive and you You know, that was like a big milestone, also, in terms of it was the most challenging role that I had ever come across. And I really had to rise to the occasion. And a lot of times in creative work, like until you were given the opportunity to rise to the occasion, you don't know what you're made of. So that was a huge milestone for me. And then, while I was working after I was working on capatch it, my grandma got sick, and I ended up back in Toronto for about a year and a half to help my mom, and my grandma got better and which was great. And then I decided to give la a try. One of the films that I had produced in New York was in a festival in LA and I went to the festival, the film won a couple of awards. And I was like, Okay, I'm gonna give Hollywood a shot now. And that's, that's what happened next.   Michael Hingson  26:01 Well, typically, people always want to get noticed and seen and so on. So what kind of was really your big break? And in terms of whether it be Broadway or wherever? And why do you consider it a big break?   Jennifer Lieberman  26:16 Okay, um, so I, when I was in LA, I had been there for about a year and this is where Europe the sled came into play. A friend suggested that I create a vehicle for myself that, you know, everybody comes from all over the world, to have their, you know, hat in the ring and give it a try to be a star in Hollywood. And very, very, very few people make it. And you have to kind of come up with a way to get noticed. So a friend of mine suggested, do a one woman show, showcase your writing, showcase your acting ability, and you can invite agents, you can invite directors, you can invite people that can hire you people that can represent you, and that will be a good vehicle. So I did what she said. And nobody from the industry really showed up, I kind of compare it to the movie lala land with Emma Stone where she does this one woman show and there's like one person in the audience, I had more than one person, because I ha