Podcasts about southern georgia

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Play Episode Listen Later Jan 5, 2024 17:19

Today I get to profile another national star finalist. Murdock Wynn will be up on the stage in Indianapolis just days after this interview is released. How did he get there? Working on his families farm on a sow to weaner operation. The numbers of pigs they are raising there is staggering. With their sow numbers they are raising around 65,000 pigs per year and selling them. Those are unbelievable numbers. Something a very casual pig farmer like myself cannot even imagine. Making this number even more unbelievable is the amount of artificial insemenation that takes place to keep the sows bred and producing pigs. It is really phenomenal. If this were not enough, Murdock and his family also raise commercial cattle on their land. Murdock has dove right in, and is also studying agricultural business at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Southern Georgia.

EP50 - Bringing Greenery to Your Doorstep: "The Coastal Roots Greenery Story"

The Plant Movement Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 3, 2024 35:52

Join us on the latest episode of The Plant Movement podcast as your host, Willie Rodriguez, sits down with the inspiring Ashley Burnett, the visionary owner of Coastal Roots Greenery. Ashley takes us on a journey from her unique background in the Beneficial Insects department at Disney, through becoming a Police Officer in Virginia, to her current venture as the creator of a botanical oasis on wheels.Coastal Roots Greenery is not your typical plant shop – it's a mobile plant trailer that brings exotic interior plants directly to you. Imagine strolling through a local festival or event, and suddenly, you stumble upon a vibrant array of botanical wonders on wheels! Ashley shares her passion for plants, her experiences at Disney, and the interesting turn of events that led her to establish Coastal Roots Greenery in Fernandina Beach, Florida.Discover the behind-the-scenes magic that goes into curating a mobile plant haven, serving the Southern Georgia and Northern Florida market. Ashley's dedication to bringing greenery to communities is both heartwarming and inspiring, making Coastal Roots Greenery a true beacon of plant passion.Tune in to The Plant Movement podcast to gain insight into Ashley's fascinating background, the evolution of Coastal Roots Greenery, and the joy that comes from sharing the beauty of exotic plants with the world. Whether you're a seasoned plant enthusiast or just developing your green thumb, this episode promises to cultivate your love for all things botanical.Coastal Roots GreeneryEmail: coastalrootsgreenery@gmail.comCall: (904)701-0080Web: https://www.coastalrootsgreenery.comIG: @coastalrootsgreeneryThe Plant Movement Podcast Email: eddie@theplantmovementnetwork.com & willie@theplantmovementnetwork.comCall: (305) 216-5320 Web: https://www.theplantmovement.comFollow Us: IG: https://www.instagram.com/theplantmovementpodcast Visuals and Recording by Eddie EVDNT Gonzalez Audio Production by The one and only Mr. Producer Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast/youtube video are for informational and entertainment purposes only and do not constitute financial, accounting, or legal advice. I can't promise that the information shared on my posts is appropriate for you or anyone else. By listening to this podcast/youtube video, you agree to hold me harmless from any ramifications, financial or otherwise, that occur to you as a result of acting on information found in this podcast/youtube video. Support the show

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Paranormal Gateway Paratalk - Episode 80 - Guests - Cross The Line Paranormal Investigations

Paranormal Gateway ParaTalk Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2023 105:25

special guests are James and Liz from Cross The Line Paranormal Investigations based out of Southern Georgia. They have roughly 10 members including James' wife and daughter. Some of the locations they have investigated include Waverly Hills, Indiana State Sanatorium, St Albans, Sweet Springs Sanitarium, Maystringer House, Old South Pittsburgh, Lincoln Memorial, Old Green Cove Spring Jail, Old Hamilton County Jail, and many residential cases. Tonight they will share some of their experiences from these locations and share some audio, video, and photos. Cross The Line Paranormal Facebook Page Cross The Line Paranormal TikTok Page

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Career Path’s Burning Question & The Land Academy Casino (LA 1975)

Land Academy Show

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2023 60:47

In this episode of the Land Academy Show, we've got an exciting lineup for you. Jill's got a fantastic topic to discuss - "The Land Academy Casino." And later, we're tackling the number one question that's been buzzing in Career Path. It's incredible to think that we're almost at 2,000 episodes! We also take questions from our Land Academy Discord forum and delve into two compelling land-related topics as per our audience's requests. If you're curious about what's happening in our Discord community, you can get a sneak peek at landacademy.com. For questions or if you want to become part of our community, reach out to us at 480-530-7383 or drop us a message at support@landacademy.com. Join us for another insightful episode! Transcript: Steven Jack Butala: I'm Steven Jack Butala. Jill K DeWit: And I'm Jill DeWit, and this is the Land Academy Show. Steven Jack Butala: This is episode number 1,973, and today we're talking about The Land Academy. Well, here's the first topic. It's Jill's topic and I love it, The Land Academy Casino. And a little bit later in the show, we're going to talk about the number one question this week in Career Path. Jill K DeWit: Exactly. Every time you say 1,900 or whatever, I go, "Yeah, I feel it." Steven Jack Butala: Almost 2,000 episodes we've had. It's pretty amazing. Jill K DeWit: You know what's funny? I'm going to ask someone that next time because sometimes I'm on the phone with you, and you know that, and I'll have people say, "Oh, I've listened to them all." I'm going to go, "1,970-whatever of them?" Steven Jack Butala: My favorite is, "We've listened to you at X2 for a month straight"- Jill K DeWit: Can you talk faster? Steven Jack Butala: ... "and now we have to listen to your Southern Georgia slowness." Jill K DeWit: Which neither of us are from- Steven Jack Butala: Which is on a Thursday call. Right, exactly. Jill K DeWit: That's good. Steven Jack Butala: Each week on the show, we answer questions from our Land Academy member Discord forum. Jill K DeWit: Discard, I like that. Steven Jack Butala: We review land acquisitions from our weekly member webinars and we take a deep dive into two land-related topics by popular request. If you want a sneak peek of what goes on in real time in our Discord forum, go to landacademy.com. It's free. Jill K DeWit: Oh, and by the way, if you want us to answer your question here or you just want some help getting involved with our community, you can easily text us at 480-530-7383 or send a note to my team via support@landacademy.com. Steven Jack Butala: Now, let's take a question posted by one of our members on the Land Academy Discord online community I just mentioned. If you want to sneak peek, go to landacademy.com. It's free. Jill K DeWit: So Greg wrote, "I'm purchasing a property through an estate. I got a signed purchase agreement back from the attorney of the estate of the deceased. It sounds like probate is open and there is a short certificate showing authority to conduct business of the deceased, as the deceased. The property owner died out of state." Hold, please. There we go. "My attorney is telling me that the seller needs to open an ancillary estate where probate is located and wait until that ancillary estate is closed before buying it. There's a risk if they don't open and close the ancillary estate that there will be a cloud on the title. Does this sound right to anyone?" I'd love to know how many people piped in on this or if they kind of- Steven Jack Butala: A lot. Jill K DeWit: ... oh, I was going to say mic drop, I'm out. What? Steven Jack Butala: A lot. This is not the most interesting question there ever was. I have a lot of choices. There's probably 20, 30, 40 publishable questions that go on in Discord every time I sit down and do this each week. There's way more actual questions than that. I chose this for a reason. There's this concept out there of I'm doing business,

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Andrew Seaver & Rick Baum of TruVista Communications

Northeast Georgia Business Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 3, 2023

Andrew Seaver & Rick Baum Andrew Seaver & Rick Baum/TruVista Communications Headquartered in Chester, SC, TruVista is a leading provider of communications services to the Midlands Region of South Carolina, Northeast Georgia and Southern Georgia. They offer a wide variety of products and services to residential and business customers including: voice, internet, cable television, security, […] The post Andrew Seaver & Rick Baum of TruVista Communications appeared first on Business RadioX ®.

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(08/30) GAS Hour 1 - Hurricane Idalia

Gary and Shannon

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 30, 2023 22:03

Hurricane Idalia has touched down in Northern Florida and Southern Georgia. Police have released audio of a 911 call by the father of a gunman who killed three people in a racially motivated attack in Florida. Las Vegas has been dubbed the ‘9th Island' of Hawaii. Several Hawaiian residents are considering moving to Las Vegas after the Maui fires. Producer Mondo talks about his love for chess and how the strategic game can help you in life.

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Brigitte Cutshall – Empowers People to Thrive

Vroom Vroom Veer with Jeff Smith

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2023 46:45

Brigitte Cutshall is an unabashed health advocate. Her goal is to "empower others not just to survive, but thrive," and encourages to focus on what's important to find your inner strength. Brigitte is the founder of Gemini Media, host of Real Things Living Podcast, a Health Advocate and focuses on delivering the best solutions to her clients. She's an accomplished business development professional in the communications, publishing and print management industry. One of Brigitte's goals is to “empower others from just surviving to thriving” and participates in wellness events. She's a speaker and the author of three books – RealThings: 6 Ways to Embrace Life , Expecting the Good: Inspiration from a Badass with a Big Heart , and Quality Book Formula – and successfully develops content for wellness and healthy lifestyles, resulting in being featured as a contributing writer on HuffingtonPost, DrLaura.com, Intent.com, Wellness.com, Sharecare.com, and TheMomiverse. from brigittecutshall.com Brigette Cutshall Vroom Vroom Veer Stories Grew up all over and was a military brat; Dad #1 had PTSD from Vietnam and divorced mom; Stepdad was so awesome she wrote a whole about how awesome he was Couldn't wait to get out of Southern Georgia, to hot and humid; went to college in Wisconsin and and discovered the mosquitos were very big and loved to bite her; landed in northern Georiga Trailed blazed as a woman and got a marketing job after starting as a admin assistance, advanced to product manager and eventually got in business development Cancer #1 was breast cancer got treatment and thought that was over; later discovered a rare tumor in her brain that no doctor knew anything about; looks like it may have been from exposure to radiation The breast cancer came back later and she needed surgery this time; learned she couldn't handle dairy or caffeine; always loved veggies, chicken and fish Loves walking and running in nature because it's fun! The 3 pillars are movement, nutrition and rest which includes good sleeping habits but there is more to finding a restful life rhythm Started her own business to help people write their own books and repurpose what content they already create Connections brigettecutshall.com

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DEI Work Isn't Done in a Silo

NOW of Work

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 21, 2023 51:25

"My parents were born to sharecroppers in Southern Georgia. (They) would have to miss school to pick cotton during harvest season. I saw these messages of bias, racism, and oppression, even as a child...Whatever environment you're in there's a label that is either thrust upon you or that you cling to for recognition. So, I've always been intrigued by this work. When you're imbued with empathy… when you see injustice around you, you can either be part of the solution or part of the problem. And my goal is to be part of the solution." Marc is the SVP of Racial & Social Equity and Culture at California Life Sciences. His goal is to make the life sciences industry more diverse and equitable. He also spearheaded the first DEI program at Vail Resorts, creating an intentional cultural shift within their employee and customer experience efforts, to create a more inclusive space for their workforce and clientele.

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66: MYSTERY | The Disappearance of Charles & Catherine Romer

Avery After Dark

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 13, 2023 30:20

Charles and Catherine Romer, a wealthy couple from New York, checked into a Holiday Inn in Brunswick, Georgia, on April 8th, 1980 And then, they vanished What happened to the Romers after they entered that hotel room remains a puzzling mystery Days after the couple went missing, police were finally notified. Investigators were baffled as when they inspected the couples hotel room, all their belongings were inside & were left untouched Police then began what would become the biggest all-out search in the history of Southern Georgia. But not a trace of the couple has EVER been found in over 40 years... Decades later, we are still asking... What happened to the Romers? Did you know you can WATCH this podcast episode NOW? Click HERE to check it out & subscribe to the Avery After Dark Youtube Channel, friends! Business Inquires | averyannross@gmail.com Want this episode EARLY & AD FREE? Join the PATREON for only $3 dollars a month! To Watch & Subscribe to the Avery After Dark Snapchat Show, Click HERE Make sure you are following along for all the latest! TIKTOK INSTAGRAM FACEBOOK

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Alcoholic Attorney Regains Custody And Becomes Sober CEO With Marsha Stone

The Courage to Change: A Recovery Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2023 58:43

Marsha Stone grew up in Southern Georgia to a family that struggled with generational alcoholism. She eventually married her best drinking buddy and quickly had three kids, then just as quickly she was alone. The responsibility of raising them fell squarely on her shoulders and the fear of how she would care for them left her with many sleepless nights. She decided she wanted to go to law school and believed her three young kids and their situation seemed to guarantee that she would have a chance to get her school paid for. And sure enough, it did.In law school, her alcoholism took off, but she told herself it was all reasonable. Anyone in her difficult situation would do the same thing. The alcohol started to cause her to slip near the end of her education, but she was able to keep it together just long enough to graduate. Then came a law career speckled with heavy drinking and even saw her sneaking cocaine into the courtroom before finally getting sober in 2008. Since then Marsha has found success in addiction recovery as one of the few female CEOs in the industry. In 2023 she founded Foundation Stone, a network of boutique, focused programs for individuals and their families struggling with mental health, substance use disorder and co-occurring disorders across the U.S. Their first featured treatment center, Amend opened in Austin, Texas in spring 2023.Episode ResourcesWebsite | marshastone.comAmend Wellness | amendwellnessretreat.comConnect with MarshaInstagram | @marsha.stone_atxConnect with The Courage to ChangePodcast Website | lionrock.life/couragetochangepodcastPodcast Instagram | @couragetochange_podcastYouTube | The Courage to Change PodcastTikTok | @ashleyloebblassingamePodcast Email | podcast@lionrock.lifePodcast Facebook | @thecouragetochangepodcastLionrock ResourcesLionrock Life Mobile App | lionrock.life/mobile-appSupport Group Meeting Schedule | lionrock.life/meetings

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Feeding Your Field: Yield Boosting Nutrients for Cotton and Peanut Production

The Dirt: an eKonomics podKast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2023 30:18

Many farmers in southern Georgia rotate their cotton crop with peanuts. Dr. Glen Harris from the University of Georgia joins Mike Howell to discuss how good fertilization leads to good crop yields. They take a look at improving cotton and peanut nutrients through fertilization of essential elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulfur. To discover the latest crop nutrition research visit nutrien-eKonomics.com

Ep. 450 Georgia Southern @ Georgia State Preview Part 2

First and Framerates Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2022 16:31

In this episode we continue to look at the Georgia Southern vs Georgia State upcoming game. This time we look at our defense against their offense. With our woes with tackling, we need to step up a bit and take control of this game. If we can control the ball movement of GA State then we would have a real good chance of controlling the game. Main Links: https://allmylinks.com/vfballer Twitter: @VFBaller Rumble Link: https://rumble.com/c/c-1395352 Discord: https://discord.gg/nY4aVn2Res Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/virtualfootballer Anchor: https://anchor.fm/firstandframerates Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6u9mcoMwrukvGtU9b5D1GZ?si=sqeN_6flTWqN-X9vZjJ0gA&utm_source=copy-link Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/first-and-framerates-show/id1438776797 Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy81OWQ4M2VlNC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw?ep=14 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/first-and-framerates-show #HailSouthern --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/firstandframerates/support

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Ep. 449 Georgia Southern @ Georgia State Preview Part 1

First and Framerates Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 5, 2022 14:10

In this episode we discuss how the Georgia Southern Offense fares against Georgia State Defense. The passing game will be on display but the running game will be key. We also discuss if the Eagles can show some offensive dominance over the Panthers with this offense. Main Links: https://allmylinks.com/vfballer Twitter: @VFBaller Rumble Link: https://rumble.com/c/c-1395352 Discord: https://discord.gg/nY4aVn2Res Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/virtualfootballer Anchor: https://anchor.fm/firstandframerates Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6u9mcoMwrukvGtU9b5D1GZ?si=sqeN_6flTWqN-X9vZjJ0gA&utm_source=copy-link Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/first-and-framerates-show/id1438776797 Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy81OWQ4M2VlNC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw?ep=14 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/first-and-framerates-show --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/firstandframerates/support

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9/6/22 - It Was a Squib Kick!

Husker Football Fan Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2022 44:24

In today's episode, we react to Nebraska's win over North Dakota and look ahead to Southern Georgia.

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Robert Carter, Ep 132

the stickboys podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2022 73:08

This week Dalton and Maribeth sit down with Robert Carter of Southern Georgia. With decades of bowhunting and woodsmanship in the South Georgia swamps, Robert is a treasure chest of great information, and it doesn't stop with pigs! Great conversation with a great guy!! You can check out his youtube channel at "Robert Carter" for more great stuff!

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Valdosta State University, BFA Musical Theatre and BFA Acting with Ian Anderson

The College Audition Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2022 45:58

Ian Anderson and the faculty at VSU is breathing new life into an already exciting musical theatre program located in Southern Georgia. Have a listen as Tim sits down to chat about what students have in store for them.

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16: Why Conservation Is Mainly White (w/ Corina Newsome)

Nova Conversations

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 25, 2022 69:20

If you've ever wondered how and why diversity is so important in wildlife, nature, and conservation careers, you'll love this discussion with Corina Newsome (@hood__naturalist). Corina is an awesome social and environmental justice activist who JUST YESTERDAY announced her new position as Associate Conservation Scientist at the National Wildlife Federation!! Woohoo!In this episode you'll learn: Why representation for all races, ethnicities, and backgrounds is invaluable in conservationHow to overcome barriers and dream BIGHow nonprofits like Georgia Audubon (which she used to work for) are engaging with the community to overcome racial and historical prejudices (like government land grabs in the name of “conservation”)The effectiveness of taking action locallyWhat #ShutDownSTEM isThe importance of having a mentor who understands your needsThe perspective of a black woman doing fieldwork in Southern Georgia in the era of George Floyd and Ahmaud ArberyWe even get into some church-y and political talk, like how the evangelical movement needs to get on board with issues like climate change and biodiversity loss. If that's not your thing, that's cool, but it's my podcast and I can talk about whatever the hell I want! (hah)But seriously, this is an episode you won't want to miss. It's another deep, amazing conversation and I am SO excited to share it with you all. Enjoy!Resources:Corina's website: https://corinanewsome.wixsite.com/hoodnaturalist/bioYoung Evangelicals for Climate Action: https://yecaction.org/Brené with Ibram X. Kendion How to Be an Antiracist: https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-ibram-x-kendi-on-how-to-be-an-antiracist/Nova Conservation website: http://novaconservation.comSupport us on Patreon! http://patreon.com/novaconservationLaura's TEDx Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqip9NcV2qQ

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Dear Little Brown Skin Girl by Tiffany Kouadio

Mindful Money Makers

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 6, 2022 27:29

Impeccable attention to detail and a unique delivery are the hallmarks of Tiffany Kouadio, with a debut children's book entitled “dear little brown skin girl” that will empower young brilliant minds. Tiffany Kouadio is a New York native, who currently resides where winters are warmer in Southern Georgia, with her husband and children. She is a doctor of physical therapy, treating children and adults with various diagnoses, giving of her body so they can move theirs. She has a passion for children, youth, and any ministry that focuses on serving others. She also makes time as a small business owner creating homemade natural hair and skin products. She loves to travel, with some of her richest experiences including studying abroad in Argentina-acquiring Spanish as a second language, and visiting the motherland several times. She has been blessed with the opportunity to visit at least 15 countries outside of the U.S and hopes to visit many more. When not busy with family, ministry, and work, she enjoys singing, cooking, writing, reading, traveling, and learning new crafts. Dear little brown skin girl signed copies can be purchased directly through www.risingyoungreaders.com This book is also available on Amazon, BAM, and wherever books are sold --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mindfulmoneymakers/message

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Cascadia Preps Radio: 11/3/21 Huffman & Spencer

Cascadia Prep's show

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 3, 2021 80:27

Brandon Huffman and Ryland Spencer are back talking a variety of football topics. They think the WIAA RPI sucks, they also talk about Camas and where they sit going forward, did Kentwood get shafted, Scott Eklund's time, NPSL 4A format, seeding committee format, how does a senior get recruited and Clay Helton going to Southern Georgia/college football coaching conversation.

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EP. 15- The Incredible opportunity we all have with InstaScope by DetectionTek

Disaster Podcaster

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 16, 2021 49:06

What a great episode we have for. We are joined by Sully Cohen with DetectionTek, the makers of The InstaScope. The InstaScope is a technology breakthrough that can assist in mold detection in REAL-TIME. In today's market and environment, the public has an expectation of NOW. That isn't possible for all things....but it now is for IAQ with the InstaScope. To be clear, this IS NOT a paid commercial or advertisement for this product. But it is something that is near and dear to our hearts at Restoration Advisers. We want the absolute best tools we can source to provide exposure to the industry so we can better evolve and not be dinosaurs. Shannon Luce owns Luce Indoor Air Quality with her husband, David Luce. Both are absolutely dedicated to this industry and providing nothing but the best education and support possible. Their firm in Jacksonville serves the northern Florida and Southern Georgia markets. They own and use several InstaScopes daily as another tool to better identify and assess indoor air so people can be healthier. I encourage you to enjoy this interview and see if you to can peel your mind away from the "Way We Have Always Done It" to be part of the future and meet the clients where they are. You can find more information here: https://instascope.co/ Luce Indoor Air Quality: https://luceairquality.com/

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S1:E15- The Incredible opportunity we all have with InstaScope by DetectionTek

Disaster Podcaster

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 16, 2021 49:06

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Luke Powers - Genre-blurring Singer/Songwriter

Top Hill Recording

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2021 51:47

Luke Powers has written, recorded and performed with touring bands locally, nationally and internationally since 2008. Luke's musical influences are as varied as his style and genre-blurring background. He first learned to play gospel in church at age 12. Soon, his musical journey led him to punk rock house shows in Southern Indiana, then indie rock on the stages of Brooklyn. He further evolved with southern rock on the Sunset Strip and finally to country in the roadside honky-tonks of Southern Georgia. Luke has given up the "hired-gun" lifestyle to focus on his calling as a singer/songwriter, creating honest Americana music. His live performances are a combination of artful storytelling and skillful guitar. Luke's first solo record, "Wolf in the Woods", was self-released in 2016. He recently recorded "Time to Shine" in Nashville featuring musicians from Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Black Crowes, and Sheryl Crow. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tophillrecording/support

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Federal prosecutors indict three men in death of Ahmaud Arbery

CNN Breaking News Alerts

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2021 1:02

Three men were indicted on hate crime and attempted kidnapping charges by a federal grand jury in Southern Georgia in connection with the death of Ahmaud Arbery, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday. Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was out for a jog near Brunswick, Georgia, on February 23, 2020, when he was chased down in a truck by three men and fatally shot. Two of the three men -- Gregory and Travis McMichael -- claimed to be conducting a citizen's arrest and acting in self-defense. A third man, William "Roddie" Bryan Jr., who recorded video of Arbery's death, allegedly hit Arbery with his truck after he joined the McMichaels in the chase.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

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Jennifer Earnest Teaches Virtual Cooking Classes

Action and Ambition

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2021 20:58

Welcome to another episode of Action and Ambition. Have you wanted to learn how to cook or set up an event but have no idea where to start? The last thing that you want to happen is to make people eat a disaster, and you don't want that to happen! Who can assist you? Jennifer Earnest, got your back covered! By launching her virtual cooking classes and being one of the largest catering event companies in Northeast Florida and Southern Georgia, disaster no-more! Don't miss this exciting episode and start cooking!

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OFI 989: Revolutionizing The Concept Of Agricultural Advocacy

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Play Episode Listen Later Feb 8, 2021 26:56

INTRODUCING CONNIE ROGERS I am an agricultural advocate, and most of the students that I interview on this show are as well. And, what are we doing as advocates but providing information to people about our industry so that they can make a well-informed buying decision? Considering the amounts of misinformation about agriculture that exist, I think it is all of our responsibility to participate as advocates in one way or another. Our guest today, Connie Rogers, takes this to a whole new level. Connie and her father raise and farrow about 200 sows in Southern Georgia. Connie is intimately familiar with this business and has been showing pigs since she was in the 2nd grade. When it came time to choose a supervised agricultural experience for the FFA, raising and showing pigs was a natural fit. However, Connie recognized that there was more going on than just feeding, showing, and marketing pigs. She realized that there were people who were afraid to consume pork because they had been told that pigs were fed high levels of antibiotics, and if they were to consume pork from these pigs they would be consuming bacteria that were resistant to antibiotics. Therefore, if that same bacteria took root in their own body, it would not respond to the medicines that were available. Connie saw it as a natural fit to add an agriscience research SAE to her workload to study this claim. She decided to feed two separate batches of pigs - one with antibiotics and one without - and then measure the results. She wanted to use her finding to provide accurate information to would-be pork consumers. Connie's efforts in this project have earned her both state and national recognition. It has also propelled her into college where she is studying agricultural education. A lot of us are willing to talk about agriculture and the facts of our industry. Connie went to the length of researching to get the first-hand information that she would share. That is advocacy!

OFI 989: Revolutionizing The Concept Of Agricultural Advocacy | FFA SAE Edition | Connie Rogers | Lowndes High School FFA

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Play Episode Listen Later Feb 8, 2021 26:56

Sign Up To Receive Our FFA Stories Newsletter! Email address: SHOW NOTES INTRODUCING CONNIE ROGERS I am an agricultural advocate, and most of the students that I interview on this show are as well. And, what are we doing as advocates but providing information to people about our industry so that they can make a well-informed buying decision? Considering the amounts of misinformation about agriculture that exist, I think it is all of our responsibility to participate as advocates in one way or another. Our guest today, Connie Rogers, takes this to a whole new level. Connie and her father raise and farrow about 200 sows in Southern Georgia. Connie is intimately familiar with this business and has been showing pigs since she was in the 2nd grade. When it came time to choose a supervised agricultural experience for the FFA, raising and showing pigs was a natural fit. However, Connie recognized that there was more going on than just feeding, showing, and marketing pigs. She realized that there were people who were afraid to consume pork because they had been told that pigs were fed high levels of antibiotics, and if they were to consume pork from these pigs they would be consuming bacteria that were resistant to antibiotics. Therefore, if that same bacteria took root in their own body, it would not respond to the medicines that were available. Connie saw it as a natural fit to add an agriscience research SAE to her workload to study this claim. She decided to feed two separate batches of pigs - one with antibiotics and one without - and then measure the results. She wanted to use her finding to provide accurate information to would-be pork consumers. Connie's efforts in this project have earned her both state and national recognition. It has also propelled her into college where she is studying agricultural education. A lot of us are willing to talk about agriculture and the facts of our industry. Connie went to the length of researching to get the first-hand information that she would share. That is advocacy! SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Swine Production MASCOT: Vikings FFA ADVISOR: James Corbett CONTACT INFORMATION FOR CONNIE ROGERS: Click on the picture below to be taken to the Lowndes County High School website: Connie's FFA Advisors' Email Addresses: jamescorbett@lowndes.k12.ga.us Lowndes High School's Telephone Number: 229-245-2260 FFA LINKS: National FFA Organization Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's) Support FFA Donate to FFA - One way that FFA students are able to start small businesses is through an FFA grant of $1,000. In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants. With your donations, more students can get this head start - pay it forward. REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA: Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% as well as the rest of the world. FFA is providing the needed education, training, and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and ensure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food. Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation. The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth. Farmers, ranchers, and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the search for food is as simple as going to the grocery store: “The future of American agriculture depends on the involvement and investment in America’s youth, In order to prepare for the population of tomorrow, we need to encourage America’s youth today, and show that careers in agriculture are profitable, rewarding, and vital.”. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

Leaving Augusta and heading to Sea Island!

Up to Par golf podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2020 32:50

After a historic Masters Tournament the PGA tour is heading to Southern Georgia for the RSM Classic at Sea Island Resort! A strong field is teeing it up this week including Webb Simpson, Justin Rose, Sun Jae IM, Tyrell Hatton, Jason Day, and more! Also, the LPGA Pros get their games ready at the Pelican Women's Championship as the Women's US Open is only a few weeks away! Don't miss our RSM Classic picks this week! Subscribe and follow us at www.uptopargolfpod.com

EP #278: Alpha Foundations with Matt Shanley

Good Neighbor Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 13, 2020 8:56

What Makes Alpha Foundations a Good Neighbor...Alpha Foundations provides lasting solutions for your foundation, crawl space and concrete repair needs! As your trusted home improvement company, we provide patented solutions guaranteed to create a safer, more comfortable, and valuable home in Florida & Southern Georgia. We have completed thousands of residential and commercial foundation repair projects since our opening in 2002. We strive to provide our customers with the highest quality foundation products and craftsmanship around.Schedule a free estimate on any of our services to learn more.To learn more about Alpha Foundations, go to: www.AlphaFoundations.comAlpha Foundations800-714-3020239-237-3274Support the show (https://goodneighborpodcast.com)

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Anything But Mainstream

Beneath the Surface

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 15, 2020 29:06 Transcription Available

Welcome back and thanks for joining us for the 28th installment of the Beneath the Surface podcast. In Beneath the Surface Podcast: Anything But Mainstream, Corey and Sean reflect on a project that took place back in 2016 in and around the Apalachicola River--what might be BOTE's most underrated trip so far. The Apalachicola River is fed from the Chattahoochee River, starting where the Chattahoochee River is dammed at the Florida state line in Southern Georgia. The river is the Apalachicola Bay's primary source of freshwater, an essential element to mix with the saltwater coming in from the Gulf of Mexico to make the ideal environment for thriving oyster beds. In this episode, the guys take another multi-day paddle trip down the Apalachicola River to shed light on the oyster fishery and its need for conservation. So sit back, press play, and learn a little something about what's happening along the Gulf Coast with a few laugh out loud moments along the way.Links from the EpisodeDiscover Florida's Forgotten Coast. Learn more about why Apalachicola Bay oyster fisheries are in danger.Enjoy BOTE Presents // Anything but Mainstream, a conservation expedition.Get to know the mission of the Waterkeeper Alliance. Jump back to episode 26 to learn about our partnership with SweetWater Brewery.The guys paddled the river on Flood and HD solid paddle boards.Who's in the EpisodeLead Designer, Co-Founder, and CEO at BOTE, Corey Cooper is a licensed engineer hailing from Auburn University. Corey is the pioneer of the DarkRoom, assisting with the design of the machinery, concepting the layout and ultimately developing the workflow used in DarkRoom production. Corey's passion for this project is so strong that on any given day, regardless of how busy things are at BOTE, you will often find Corey working in the DarkRoom.Sean Murphy is the Director of Photography at BOTE and a world-renowned photographer based in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. After spending most of his career based in Los Angeles, shooting for brands like Adidas, Red Bull, and Toyota, just to name a few, Sean moved back to the Redneck Riviera. You can find Sean capturing gritty America and spontaneous moments that translate into visually stunning photography.

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17: Mayor Matt Visits South Georgia LEADS

Small Town Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2020 50:10

In this episode, Mayor Matt Seale visits with the current students of South Georgia LEADS: a leadership experience for growing and retaining South Georgia leaders. We get to hear from Jason Dunn, the Executive Director of the Fitzgerald and Ben Hill County Development Authority, Georgia State Senator Tyler Harper, and Georgia State Representative Clay Pirkle, on the importance of this program and what it brings to the Southern Georgia region. We also get to hear from several LEADS class participants and their take on why they wanted to be in the LEADS program and what they hope to learn from it.

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Recipe for Success with Guest Derek Cooper, Comcast

Junior Achievement of South Florida Recipe for Success

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2020 16:59

Just as there are no two recipes that contain the exact same ingredients or measurements, there are no two success stories exactly the same. Recipe For Success features entrepreneurs, visionary leaders and innovators of all ages who will share their ingredients that make them successful – personally and professionally. Let's get cooking! Derek Cooper serves as Comcast’s Vice President of Government Affairs & Community Investment for the Florida Region, which includes the State of Florida, Southern Georgia and Southern Alabama. In this role, Derek leads all government and regulatory affairs, and community impact initiatives for the Region, including Comcast Cares Day (the nation’s largest single-day corporate service event with over 100,000 volunteers), Comcast Foundation Grants, Comcast’s Leaders & Achievers Scholarships, the airing of Public Service Announcements, and Comcast’s Internet Essentials program – the national’s largest and most comprehensive internet adoption program for low-income families in America. Through the great work and collaboration of Derek’s team members and the many public and community partnerships here in Florida, Comcast has connected more than 500,000 low-income Floridians to the internet, and more than 4 million low-income Americans through the program. Derek has over 18 years of experience in his position. He began his career as a Legislative Aide for Florida State Senator and former Senate President, Jim Scott. Before joining Comcast, Derek served as Senior Counsel and Director of Government Relations for Office Depot in Boca Raton, Florida, and prior to that position was an associate with the law firm of Greenberg Traurig. Derek also serves as Chairman of the Volunteer Florida Foundation, President of SunFest, Immediate past Chairman of the Florida Internet & Television, and is an active member of the Orange Bowl Committee, the Economic Council of Palm Beach County and the Florida Bar Association to name a few. Interestingly, Derek attributes his forever kid-at-heart spirit to his birthplace of East Aurora, NY – the home of Fisher-Price toys, where he grew up testing the latest and greatest new toys. Derek has beautiful 5 year old daughter named Sage, and spends his free time these days keeping up with her. For more information about Junior Achievement of South Florida, visit https://www.jasouthflorida.org. Follow us on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jasouthflorida LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/junior-achievement-of-south-florida/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jasouthflorida Twitter: https://twitter.com/JASouthFlorida

Ahmaud Arbery and the Devastating History of Lynching in America

Speak-Easy

Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2020 42:58

The tragic death of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man that was chased and killed by two white men in Southern Georgia, has put the Black Lives Matter movement and the broader topic of racism back into the news cycle. It also has put the history of lynching and anti-lynching bills back into the spotlight. […]Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/speak-easy/the-history-of-lynching-in-america/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Speak-Easy in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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Jordon Smith on the Fox Racing Feature Podcast

Swapmoto Live Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2020 26:04

Presented by Fox Racing Jordon Smith's season came to a halt just a few days before everyone else. A crash on the opening lap of the 250 Main Event left the Smith with torn ligaments in his right knee, which Smith revealed was already weakened by an off-season incident. Surgery was deemed necessary to repair the damage and the recovery timeline means that Smith will spend most of his first year with the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki squad on the sidelines.Back home in Southern Georgia, Smith's focus is now on getting back to full strength through therapy with sports specialists in Tallahassee so that he can make the most of 2021, plus plenty of time playing XBOX (JSmitty62 is his gamertag).

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Bigfoot TIW 38: Historic Okeefenokee Swamp Bigfoot encounter, and a great account from Crab Meadows that reminds one of the Marble Mountain film

Bigfoot Terror in the Woods Sightings and Encounters

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2020 54:56

On today's show in our Cryptids in the News and history segment, Kevin talks about a nearly 200 year old encounter and killing in the Okeefenokee Swamp in Southern Georgia, and in part two, Bill goes through a great encounter including an explanation of Woodknocks...is it actually vocalization? And in part three, we've got a contest winner and some excellent listener mail which we will be reviewing, that you don't want to miss Thank you for listening! www.bigfootterrorinthewoods.com Produced by: "Bigfoot Terror in the Woods L.L.C."

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Bigfoot TIW 38: Historic Okeefenokee Swamp Bigfoot encounter, and a great account from Crab Meadows that reminds one of the Marble Mountain

Fringe Radio Network

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2020 54:57

news historic account swamp cryptids crab meadows reminds bigfoot encounters southern georgia bigfoot terror marble mountain woods l

Building Better Lives with Habitat for Humanity

Purpose 360

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2020 52:46

Habitat for Humanity, which started as a grassroots effort on a community farm in Southern Georgia, now works in communities across all 50 U.S. states and more than 70 countries. The organization’s astounding growth is due in part to its focused mission: help people (29 million to date) obtain a safe place to sleep at night and the stability and self-reliance to build better lives. Colleen Finn Ridenhour, Chief Development Officer at Habitat for Humanity International, joined Purpose 360 to discuss the organization’s evolution and ongoing innovation. Listen for Colleen’s insights on:Balancing very different needs in communities around the world, without losing focus on Habitat’s missionHow Habitat’s model integrates robust and meaningful employee volunteerism opportunities, and how corporates can supercharge effortsHow corporations can leverage their partnerships with NGOs, including Habitat. How Habitat built an ecosystem around its core home-building model, including its retails ReStores to generate revenueLinks & NotesHabitat for Humanity InternationalHabitat’s historyVolunteer with your local HabitatImpactColleen Finn Ridenhour on LinkedIn

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Ep. 25: Rivalry weekend for Georgia Southern-Georgia State basketball

WSAV Sports Now

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 23, 2020 16:01

This week, we're talking Saturday's rivalry basketball game between Georgia Southern and Georgia State. Join Greg Talbott and Reporter Connor DelPrete from WSAV Sports for more.

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Episode 144 - James M. David

Everything Band Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 12, 2020 51:13

James David is a composer on the faculty of Colorado State University. He’s enjoyed a great deal of recent success with his composition for band and joins the show to tell his story. Topics: Jim’s background growing up in Southern Georgia and the importance of gospel and jazz in his musical development. Advice for young composers and what we can do as band directors and music teachers to help young, aspiring composers to realize their dreams. Commissioning music and some thoughts about commercial publishing versus self-publishing. Links: James M. David, Composer Colorado State Music Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time Hansen: Chorale and Alleluia Copland: Appalachian Spring David: Ghosts of the Old Year David: With Soul Serene Biography: Dr. James M. David (b. 1978) is an internationally recognized composer who currently serves as associate professor of composition and music theory at Colorado State University and is particularly known for his works involving winds and percussion. His symphonic works for winds have been performed by some of the nation’s most prominent professional and university ensembles including the U.S. Army and Air Force Bands, the Dallas Wind Symphony, the Des Moines Symphony, the Ohio State University Bands, Northwestern University Bands, and the University of North Texas Wind Symphony among many others. His compositions have been presented at more than fifty national and international conferences throughout North and South America, Asia, Europe, and Australia. These events include the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, the American Bandmasters Association Convention, the College Band Directors National Association Conferences, the National Band Association Conferences, the College Music Society National Conference, the Society of Composers, Inc. National Conference, seven International Clarinet Fests, the International Horn Symposium, the World Saxophone Congress, the International Trombone Festival, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. Among the distinctions David has earned as a composer are an ASCAP Morton Gould Award, the National Band Association Merrill Jones Award, national first-place winner in the MTNA Young Artists Composition Competition, two Global Music Awards, and national first-place winner in the National Association of Composers (USA) Young Composers Competition. Commissions include projects for Joseph Alessi (New York Philharmonic), John Bruce Yeh (Chicago Symphony Orchestra), Zachary Shemon (Prism Quartet), the Oasis Quartet, BlueShift Percussion Quartet, Gerry Pagano (St. Louis Symphony), The International Saxophone Symposium and Competition, The Playground Ensemble, and the Atlantic Coast Conference Band Directors Association. As a native of southern Georgia, Dr. David began his musical training under his father Joe A. David, III, a renowned high school band director and professor of music education in the region. This lineage can be heard in his music through the strong influence of jazz and other Southern traditional music mixed with contemporary idioms. He graduated with honors from the University of Georgia and completed his doctorate in composition at Florida State University under Guggenheim and Pulitzer recipients Ladislav Kubik and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. His music is available through Murphy Music Press, C. Alan Publications, Wingert Jones Publications, and Potenza Music and has been recorded for the Naxos, Mark, GIA WindWorks, Albany, Summit, Luminescence, and MSR Classics labels. ------- Are you planning to travel with your group sometime soon? If so, please consider my sponsor, Kaleidoscope Adventures, a full service tour company specializing in student group travel. With a former educator as its CEO, Kaleidoscope Adventures is dedicated to changing student lives through travel and they offer high quality service and an attention to detail that comes from more than 25 years of student travel experience. Trust Kaleidoscope’s outstanding staff to focus on your group’s one-of-a-kind adventure, so that you can focus on everything else!

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178: TC 178: Bigfoot Outside The House

The Confessionals

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2019 91:16

On Episode 178: Bigfoot Outside the House, we have two guests joining the show! First, we speak with Jason, a former police officer who has always been fascinated with bigfoot and eventually became an investigator. Though he never really felt that he would ever see a bigfoot, that all changed when he walked right up on one! After we talk to Jason, we bring on Gerry, a teacher who has traveled all over the world, but when he moved to Southern Georgia he learned that locals were seeing things in the woods. Gerry has collected many accounts of other people’s bigfoot sightings and he will be sharing some of them on today's show! Become a member: www.theconfessionalspodcast.com (http://www.theconfessionalspodcast.com/join) Subscribe to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/2TlREaI Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.theconfessionalspodcast.com/the-newsletter Email: theconfessionalspodcast@gmail.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheConfessionalsPodcast Instagram: @theconfessionalspodcast (https://www.instagram.com/theconfessionalspodcast/) Tony's Instagram: @tony_merkel (https://www.instagram.com/tony_merkel/) Show Intro INSTRUMENTAL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyub39AXxUw Show Intro FREE DOWNLOAD: https://bit.ly/2HxNcw3 Show art: Ricardo Chucky ( https://www.artstation.com/ricardochucky)

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OFI 701: All It Takes Is 65,000 Pigs To Become A National Star Finalist | FFA SAE Edition | Murdock Wynn | Colquit County High School FFA

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Play Episode Listen Later Oct 21, 2019 21:38

SHOW NOTES INTRODUCING MURDOCK WYNN! Today I get to profile another national star finalist. Murdock Wynn will be up on the stage in Indianapolis just days after this interview is released. How did he get there? Working on his families farm on a sow to weaner operation. The numbers of pigs they are raising there is staggering. With their sow numbers they are raising around 65,000 pigs per year and selling them. Those are unbelievable numbers. Something a very casual pig farmer like myself cannot even imagine. Making this number even more unbelievable is the amount of artificial insemenation that takes place to keep the sows bred and producing pigs. It is really phenomenal. If this were not enough, Murdock and his family also raise commercial cattle on their land. Murdock has dove right in, and is also studying agricultural business at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Southern Georgia. Good luck to Murdock! SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Agricultural Placement HIGH SCHOOL: Colquitt County High School FFA; Moultree, Georgia MASCOT: Hawgs FFA ADVISOR: Adrian Smith CONTACT INFORMATION FOR MURDOCK WYNN: Click on the picture below to be taken to the Colquitt County High School Ag. Department's website: Murdock's FFA Advisor's Email Address: adrienne.smith@colquitt.k12.ga.us Colquitt County High School's Telephone Number: 229-890-6141 FFA LINKS: National FFA Organization Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's) Support FFA Donate to FFA - One way that FFA students are able to start small businesses is through an FFA grant of $1,000. In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants. With your donations, more students can get this head start - pay it forward. REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA: Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% as well as the rest of the world. FFA is providing the needed education, training and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and insure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food. Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation. The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth. Farmers, ranchers and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the search for food is as simple as going to the grocery store: “The future of American agriculture depends on the involvement and investment in America’s youth, In order to prepare for the population of tomorrow, we need to encourage America’s youth today, and show that careers in agriculture are profitable, rewarding, and vital.”. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue Where Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald Can Be Heard: Member Of The National Association Of Farm Broadcasters

#31: Justin Goodbread: How to Exponentially Increase Your Net Worth

Healthcare Entrepreneur Academy Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 5, 2019 47:22

Justin Goodbread, CFP, CEPA, CVGA and owner of inanciallysimple.com speaks with Jason A. Duprat, Entrepreneur, Healthcare Practitioner and Host of the Healthcare Entrepreneur Academy Podcast. Justin has more than twenty years of experience starting, buying and selling businesses. He talks about how you can exponentially increase your net worth as a business owner using tax minimization, investments and strategic growth. Episode Highlights: Justin grew up homeschooled in Southern Georgia and started his first business, a landscaping company, at the age of 15. What was it like when he first started his business and how did he plan his exit strategy? Justin describes how he learned business owners can exponentially increase their wealth. Justin shares his motivations for starting his company, Heritage Investors. What is the dream team every business owner should have? Justin defines the terms CFP, CEPA and CVGA. He talks about the viewpoint he has because of his credentials and explains how these credentials work together to provide components to drive net worth. What should people focus on if they’re thinking about selling their business down the road? How is the multiple derived when determining valuation? Do you have a business that can operate without you being there? According to Justin, the ‘4 Cs’ are human capital, social capital, structural capital and customer capital. What resources does he recommend for business owners who want to create better systems? Justin provides an overview of the ‘Financially Simple’ process. A thriving business can have as many as ninety systems or more. Where do you find businesses for sale if you want to grow your business through acquisition? What advice is he giving to business owners in the current marketplace? Make sure your business is a best in class business. Make sure your marketing and sales processes are top-notch. 3 Key Points: Business owners have the unbelievable ability to exponentially increase their wealth. Every business owner should assemble a dream team consisting of a good business tax attorney, a progressive thinking CPA and a certified financial planner. Improving intangible assets improves your ability to sell the business. Tweetable Quotes: “You can double your net worth every 2-5 years.” – Justin Goodbread “It’s a heck of a lot easier to work on systems to improve the intangible assets of a company than it is to go out and double revenue.” – Justin Goodbread “The marketing system is the backbone of every business.” – Justin Goodbread “The biggest Achilles heel is we build a business around us.” – Justin Goodbread “Value is about de-risking.” – Justin Goodbread Resources Mentioned: Instant Systems Financially Simple (website) The Ultimate Sale (book) Heritage Investor #HealthcareEntrepreneurAcademy #HealthcareBoss #healthcare #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #financialgoals #financialstrategies #financialplanning #bizgrowth #bizconsulting

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30: Horse Stamp Inn

Be Fabbo - A Wedding Industry Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 21, 2019 86:41

Bobbi and venue owner Pam Ahrens of the Horse Stamp Inn, discuss owning a venue, how it hosts weddings, and the ins and outs of being inn owners as a life change.The Horse Stamp Inn is an elegant country bed and breakfast in Southern Georgia is nestled on 16 secluded acres on expansive green fields and is surrounded by gorgeous trees. The picturesque wedding barn, fresh water fishing pond, and outdoor pool add to the tranquil feel of the Horse Stamp Inn.Expect the highest level of hospitality from the owners and team members of Horse Stamp Inn. With the mission of inspiring you, they will ensure that every detail makes you feel welcome and attends to your every need. Their concierge services provide the guidance you need to design any type of experience; from outdoor activities, dining or just exploring the Georgia coast.Owners Tim and Pam Ahrens have long dreamed of together owning a business that provides their guests with opportunities to do the same. Horse Stamp Inn sits on the site of a former pecan orchard and still boasts 15 producing pecan trees. In 2007 the house was built as a private residence, then converted to a bed and breakfast in 2012. Tim and Pam Ahrens purchased the inn in August 2017 with the goal of providing peaceful and inspirational hospitality to their new and returning bed & breakfast and event guests.The opportunity to purchase Horse Stamp Inn in 2017 was perfectly timed with their new found freedom as “empty nesters.” Tim and Pam left careers as organizational development and learning managers in the corporate world to pursue their dream. With a passion for building relationships, their hearts look forward to making every wedding, retreat, meeting, reunion, or weekend getaway the most special experience it can be.innkeeper@horsestampinn.com912-274-2452FacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubePinterestHorse Stamp InnThe history of Horsestamp Church RoadThe Knot

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Ep#16 Underwriting Jacksonville, FL with Omar Khan

Achieve Wealth Through Value Add Real Estate Investing Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 20, 2019 66:18

James: Hey listeners, this is James Kandasamy. Welcome to Achieve Wealth Podcast. Achieve Wealth Podcast focuses on value at real estate investing across different commercial asset class and we focus on interviewing a lot of operators so that you know, I can learn and you can learn as well. So today I have Omar Khan who has been on many podcasts but I would like to go into a lot more details into is underwriting and market analysis that he has. So Omar is a CFA, has more than 10 years investing across real estate and commodities. He has experience in the MNA transaction worth 3.7 billion, Syndicated Lodge a multi-million deal across the U.S. and he recently closed a hundred thirty plus something units in Jacksonville, Florida. Hey Omar, welcome to the show.  Omar: Hey, thank you James. I'm just trying to work hard to get to your level man. One of these days.  James: That's good. That's a compliment. Thank you Omar. So why not you tell our audience anything that I would have missed out about you and your credibility. Omar: I think you did a good job. If I open my mouth my credibility might go down.  James: Yes, that's good. That's good. So let's go a bit more details. So you live in Dallas, right? I think you're, I mean if I've listened to you on other podcasts and we have talked before the show you came from Canada to Dallas and you bought I think you have been looking for deals for some time right now. And you recently bought in Jacksonville. Can you tell about the whole flow in a quick summary?  Omar: Oh, yes. Well the quick summary is man that you know, when you're competing against people who's operating strategy is a hope and a prayer, you have to look [inaudible01:54] Right?  James: Absolutely.  Omar: I mean, and hey just to give you a full disclosure yesterday there was actually a smaller deal in Dallas. It's about a hundred and twenty something units. And I mean we were coming in at 10-point some million dollars. And just to get into best and final people were paying a million dollars more than that, and I'm not talking just a million dollars more than I was trying to be cheap. The point was, at a million dollar more than that there is freaking no way you could hit your numbers, like mid teens that are already 10% cash-on-cash. Like literally, they would have to find a gold mine right underneath their apartment. So my point is it's kind of hard man. But what are you going to do about it? Right?  James: Yes. Yes. Omar: Just have to keep looking. You have to keep finding. You have to keep being respectful of Brokers' times. Get back to them. You just keep doing the stuff. I mean you would do it every day pretty much.  James: Yes. Yes. I just think that there's so much capital flow out there. They are a lot of people who expect less, lower less return. Like you say you are expecting mid teen IRR, there could be someone there out there expecting 10 percent IRR and they could be the one who's paying that $1,000,000. Right? And maybe the underwriting is completely wrong, right? Compared to-- I wouldn't say underwriting is wrong. I mean, I think a lot of people-- Omar: Well you can say that James you don't have to be a nice person. You can say it.  James: I'm just saying that everybody thinks, I mean they absolutely they could be underwriting wrong, too or they may be going over aggressively on the rent growth assumption or property tax growth assumption compared to what you have. At the same time they could have a much lower expectation on-- Omar: Yes. I mean let's hope that's the case because if they have a higher expectation man, they're going to crash and burn. James: Absolutely. Omar: I hope, I really hope they have a low expectation.  James: Yes. Yes. I did look at a chart recently from Marcus and Millichap the for Texas City where they show us how that's like a San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and Houston and if you look at Dallas, you know, the amount of acceleration in terms of growth is huge, right? And then suddenly it's coming down. I mean all markets are coming down slightly right now, but I'm just hopefully, you know, you can see that growth to continue in all this strong market. Omar: No, no, don't get me wrong, when I said somebody paid more than 1 million just to get into best and final, that has no merits on, that is not a comment on the state of the Dallas Market. I personally feel Dallas is a fantastic Market. Texas overall, all the big four cities that you mentioned are fantastic but my point is there is nothing, no asset in the world that is so great that you can pay an infinite price for it. And there's nothing so bad in the world that if it wasn't for a cheap enough price, you wouldn't want to buy it. James: Correct, correct.  Omar: I mean that that's what I meant. I didn't mean it was a comment on the state of the market.  James: Got it. Got it. So let's come to your search outside of the Texas market, right? So how did you choose, how did you go to Jacksonville?  Omar: Well, number one the deal is I didn't want to go to a smaller city. I'm not one of those guys, you know in search of [inaudible05:11] I find everybody every time somebody tells me I'm looking for a higher cap rate, I was like, why do you like to get shot every time you go to the apartment building? You want to go to the ghetto? Do you want somebody to stab you in the stomach? Is that because that's-- James: That's a lot of deals with a higher cap rate. Omar: Yes. There's a lot because I was like man, I can find you a lot of deals with really high cap rates.  James: Yes. Omar: But you might get stabbed. Right?  James: And they are set class 2 which has higher cap rate.  Omar: Oh, yes, yes, yes.  James: So I think people just do not know what a cap rate means or how-- Omar: Yes and people you know, all these gurus tell you today, I mean let's not even get into that right. So specifically for us like I wanted to stand at least a secondary, tertiary market [inaudible 05:48] I mean like, any City over at least eight, nine hundred thousand at least a million, somewhere in that range, right?  James: Okay. Omar: And specifically look, after Texas it was really Florida. Because look, you could do the whole Atlanta thing. I personally, I love Atlanta but it's a toss-up between Atlanta and say either of the three metros in Florida or Jackson. Lords in Central Florida, Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando. You know based on my [inaudible06:11] experience I was doing this stuff portfolio management anyways, I kind of ran smaller factor model for all the cities where I took in different sort of factors about 30 different factors. And then you know, you kind of just have to do all the site tours and property visits to make all those relationships. And what I see across the board was, I mean Tampa has a great Market, but for the same quality product for the same demographic of tenant, for the same say rent level, Tampa was 20 to 25% more expensive on a per pound basis.  James: Okay. Omar: Let's say a Jacksonville, right? Orlando is kind of in the middle where the good deals were really expensive or rather the good areas were a bit too dear for us and the bad areas were nicely priced and everybody then tells you, "Oh it's Florida." right? James: No, no. Omar: But what they don't tell you is there's good and bad parts of Florida-- James: There's submarket. Yes Yes. Omar: Right? So you got to go submarket by submarket. And then lastly what we were basically seeing in Jacksonville was, it was very much a market which like for instance in Atlanta and seeing parts of say Orlando and Tampa, you can have to go block by block street by street. But if you're on the wrong side of the street, man you are screwed, pretty much. James: Absolutely. Omar: But Jacksonville to a certain degree, obviously not always, was very similar to Dallas in the sense that there is good areas and then there's a gradual shift into a not as a [inaudible07:29] Right? So basically what you kind of had to do was name the submarket properly and if you had a higher chance of success than for instance [inaudible07:38] right down to the street corner, right? And then like I said the deals we were seeing, the numbers just made more sense in Jacksonville for the same level of demographic, for the same type of tenant, for the same income level, for the same vintage, for the same type of construction. So Jacksonville, you know, we started making relationships in all the markets but Jacksonville is where we got the best bang for our buck and that's how we moved in.  James: Okay. So I just want to give some education to the listener. So as what Omar and I were talking about, not the whole city that you are listening to is hot, right. So, for example, you have to really look at the human capital growth in certain parts of the city, right? So for example in Dallas, not everywhere Dallas is the best area to invest. You may have got a deal in Dallas but are you buying in it in a place where there's a lot of growth happening? Right? Like for example, North Dallas is a lot of growth, right? Compared to South Dallas, right? In Atlanta that's I-20 that runs in between Atlanta and there's a difference between, you cross the I-20 is much, you know a lot of price per pound or price per door. It's like a hundred over door and below Atlanta is slightly lower, right? So it's growing, but it may grow it may not grow. I mean right now the market is hot, everything grows. So you can buy anywhere and make money and you can claim that, hey I'm making money, but as I say market is-- Omar: [inaudible09:03] repeatable [inaudible09:04] By the way I look at it, is hey is this strategy repeatable? Can I just rinse and repeat this over and over and over? James: Correct. Correct. I mean it depends on sponsor's cases. While some sponsors will buy because price per dollar is cheap, right? But do they look at the back end of it when the market turns, right? Some sponsors will be very very scared to buy that kind of deal because we always think about, what happens when the market turns, right? So. Omar: Yes, James and the other thing that I've seen is that, look, obviously, we're not buying the most highest quality product. James: Correct. Omar: But what I've seen is a lot of times when people focus on price per unit, say I will go for the cheapest price per unit. Well, there's a reason why it's cheap because you know, there's a reason why Suzuki is cheaper than a Mercedes. Now, I'm not saying you have to go buy a Mercedes because sometimes you only need to buy a Suzuki. Right? I mean that's the way it is, but you got to have to be cognizant that just because something is cheap doesn't mean it's more valuable and just because something is more expensive doesn't mean it's less than.  James: Correct. Correct. Correct. And price per door is one I think one of the most flawed metrics that people are talking about. Price per door and also how many doors do people own? Omar: And also cap rate, man. [inaudible 10:09]  James: Cap rate, price per door and-- Omar: How many doors have you got? James: How many doors do you have? Three metrics is so popular, there is so much marketing happening based on these three metrics. I mean for me you can take it and throw it into the trash paper, right? Omar: The way I look at it is I would much rather have one or two really nice things, as opposed to 10 really crappy things.  James: Correct. Correct. Correct. Like I don't mind buying a deal in Austin for a hundred a door compared to buying a same deal in a strong Market in another-- like for example, North Atlanta, right? I would rather buy it in Austin. It's just different market, right? So. Absolutely different. So price per door, number of doors and cap rate, especially entry cap rate, right? I went back and cap rate you can't really predict, right? So it's a bit hard to really predict all that. But that's-- Omar: Yes but my point is with all of these things you have, and when people tell me cap rate I'm like, look, are you buying stabilized properties? Because that's the only time you can apply this. James: Correct. Correct. Omar: Otherwise, what you really going to have to look at is how much upside do I have because at the end of the day, you know this better than I do. Regardless of what somebody says, what somebody does, everything is valued on [inaudible11:15] James: Correct. Omar: Pretty much. You can say it's a low cap rate and the broker will tell you, well yes the guy down the street bought it for a hundred and fifty thousand a unit so you got to pay me a hundred fifty, right? And then that's the end of the conversation.  James: Yes. Omar: Literally, I mean that is the end of the conversation, right? What are you going to do about it?  James: Yes. Correct. I mean the Brokers they have a fiduciary responsibility to market their product as much as possible, but I think it's our responsibility as Sponsor to really underwrite that deal to make sure that-- Omar: Oh yes. James: --what is the true potential. Omar: And look, to be honest with you sometimes the deal, that is say a hundred and fifty thousand dollars a unit might actually be a better deal-- James: Oh absolutely. Omar: [inaudible 11:51] fifty thousand dollars a unit. I mean, you don't know till you run the numbers. James: Correct. Absolutely. Absolutely. I've seen deals which I know a hundred sixty a door and still have much better deal than something that you know, I can buy for 50 a door, right? So. You have to underwrite all deals. There's no such thing as cap rate or no, such thing as price per door. I mean you can use price per door to a certain level.  Omar: [inaudible 12:15] in this market what is the price per door? That's the extent of what you might potentially say, in the submarket.  James: Correct. Omar: All the comps are trading at 75,000 a door. Why is this at 95 a door?  James: Yes. Omar: That's it.  James: I like to look at price per door divided by net square, rentable square footage because that would neutralize all measurements. Omar: Yes, see, you know we had a little back and forth on this, I was talking to my Analyst on this but my point is that I would understand [inaudible 12:46] at least to my mind. Okay. I'm not, because I know a lot of Brokers use it.  James: Sure. Omar: In my mind that would apply to say, Commercial and Industrial properties more. But any time I've gone to buy or say rent an apartment complex, I never really go and say like, hmm the rent is $800. It's 800 square feet. Hmm on a per square foot basis. I'm getting one dollar and then I go-- James: No, no, no, I'm not talking about that measurement. I'm talking about price per door divided by square footage rentable because that would neutralize between you have like whether you have a lot of smaller units, or whether you have a larger unit and you have to look-- but you have to plot it based on location. Right? So. Omar: Yes, so you know as you get into those sort of issues right? Well, is it worth more than that corner?  James: Yes. Yes. You're right. Yes. You have to still do rent comes and analyze it.  Omar: Yes. James: So let's all-- Omar: I mean look, I get it, especially I think it works if you know one or two submarkets really well. Then you can really-- James: Correct. Correct. That's like my market I know price because I know the market pretty well. I just ask you this information, just tell me price per door. How much average square feet on the units and then I can tell you very quickly because I know the market pretty well. Omar: Because you know your Market, because you already know all the rents. You already know [crosstalk13:57] James: [crosstalk13:57] You have to know the rent. I said you have to build that database in your mind, on your spreadsheet to really underwrite things very quickly. So that's good. So let's go back to Jacksonville, right? So you looked-- what are the top three things that you look at when you chose Jacksonville at a high level in terms of like the macroeconomic indicators? Omar: Oh see, I wasn't necessarily just looking at Jackson. What I did is I did a relative value comparison saying what is the relative value I get in Jacksonville versus a value say I get in a Tampa, Atlanta or in Orlando and how does that relatively compare to each other?  James: So, how do you measure relative-- Omar: What I did is for instance for a similar type of say vintage, right? Say a mid 80s, mid 70s vintage, and for a similar type of median income which was giving me a similar type of rent. Say a median income say 40 Grand a year or 38 to 40 Grand a year resulting in an average rate of about $800. Right? And a vintage say mid 70s, right? Board construction. Now what am I getting, again this is very basic maths, right? This is not I'm not trying to like make up.  James: Yes. Absolutely. Omar: A model out of this, right? So the basic math is, okay what is the price per unit I'm getting in say, what I have a certain crime rating, I have a certain median income rating and I have a certain amount of growth rating. And by growth I mean not just some market growth, [inaudible 15:21] are Elementary Schools nearby? Are there shopping and amenities nearby? Is Transportation accessible, you know, one or two highways that sort of stuff. Right? So for those types of similar things in specific submarkets, [inaudible 15:33] Jacksonville had three, Tampa had two and Orlando had three and Atlanta had four, right? What is the average price per unit I'm facing for similar type of demographics with a similar type of rent profile? With similar type of growth profile I mean you just plot them on a spreadsheet, right? And with the similar type of basically, you know how they performed after 2008 and when I was looking at that, what I was looking at again, is this precise? No, it's not a crystal ball. But these are just to wrap your head around a certain problem. Right? You have to frame it a certain way.  James: Okay. Omar: And what I was seeing across the board was that it all boils down to when you take these things because at the end of the day, all you're really concerned is what price am I getting this at, right? Once you normalize for all the other things, right? James: Correct. Correct. Omar: Right? And what I was seeing was just generally Jacksonville, the pricing was just like I said compared to Tampa which by the way is a fantastic market, right? But pricing was just 15 to 20% below Tampa. I mean Tampa pricing is just crazy. I mean right now I can look at the flyer and tell you their 60s and mid 70s vintage is going for $130,000 $120,000 a unit in an area where the median income is 38 to 40 Grand. James: Why is that? Omar: I don't know. It's not one of this is that the state Tampa is actually a very good market, okay. Let's be [inaudible 16:47] it's very good market. It's a very hot market now. People are willing to pay money for that. Right? So now maybe I'm not the one paying money for it, but there's obviously enough people out there that are taking that back. So. James: But why is that? Is it because they hope that Tampa is going to grow because-- Omar: Well, yes. Well if Tampa doesn't grow they're all screwed James. James: No, but are they assuming that growth or are they seeing something that we are not seeing? Because, if people are earning 30, 40 thousand median household income and the amount of apartment prices that much, they could be some of the metrics that they are seeing that they think-- Omar: Well, yes. Tampa's growth has been off the charts in the past few years, right? James: Okay. Okay. Omar: So what look-- first of all this is the obvious disclaimer is I don't know what I don't know. Right? So I don't know what everybody else is looking at. Our Tampa's growth has been off the charts, there is a lot of development and redevelopment and all that stuff happening in the wider metro area. So people are underwriting five, six, seven, eight percent growth.  James: Okay. So the growth is being-- Omar: No, the growth is very-- look the growth has been very high so far. James: Okay. Got it. Omar: My underlying assumption is, as I go in with the assumption that the growth must be high but as soon as I get in the growth will go down.  James: But why is that growth? I mean that is specific macroeconomic.  Omar: Oh yes, yes. There's first of all, there's a port there, number one. The port -- James: In Tampa. Okay. You're talking about Jacksonville or Tampa right now? Omar: No, I'm talking Tampa. James: Okay. Omar: Jacksonville also has it, but Tampa also has it, okay. James: Okay. Got it. Got it. Omar: Tampa is also fast becoming, Tampa and Orlando by the way are connected with this, what is it? I to or I for whatever, it's connected by. So they're faster like, you know San Antonio and Austin how their kind of converging like this? James: Correct. Correct. Omar: Tampa and Orlando are sort of converging like this. James: Got it. Got it. Omar: Number one. Number two, they're very diversified employment base, you know all the typical Medical, Government, Finance, Healthcare all of that sort of stuff, right? Logistics this and that. And plus the deal is man, they're also repositioning themselves as a tourist destination and they've been very successful at it. James: Okay.  Omar: Because there's lots to do you know you have a nice beach. So, you know that kind of helps all this, right? Have a nice beach. James: Correct. Correct. Omar: Really nice weather, you know. So they're really positioning it that way and it also helps that you've got Disneyland which is about 90 minutes away from you in Orlando. So you can kind of get some of the acts things while you come to Tampa you enjoy all the stuff here. Because Orlando relative to Tampa is not, I mean outside of Disneyland there's not a lot to do though. But a lot of like nightlife and entertainment and all that.  James: But I also heard from someone saying that like Orlando because it is more of a central location of Florida and because of all the hurricane and people are less worried about hurricane in the central because it you know, it has less impact. Omar: James. James. James: Can you hear me? Omar: When people don't get a hurricane, they are not going to be the people who get the hurricane. Other people get hurricanes. Not us. James: Correct, correct. Omar: But that's not always the case but that's the assumption.  James: Okay. By Tampa is the same case as well? Like, you know because of-- Omar: I don't know exactly how many hurricanes they've got but look man, they seem to be doing fine. I mean if they receive the hurricane they seem to be doing very fine after a hurricane.  James: Okay. Okay. So let's go to Jacksonville, that's a market that did not exist in the map of hotness, of apartment and recently in the past three, four years or maybe more than that. Maybe you can tell me a lot more history than that. Why did it pop out as a good market to invest as an apartment? Omar: Well, because Jackson actually, we talk to the Chamber of Commerce actually about this. And the Chamber of Commerce has done a fantastic job in attracting people, number one. Because first of all Florida has no state income tax. What they've also done is a very low otherwise state a low or minimum tax environment [inaudible20:29] What they've also done is, they reconfigured their whole thing as a logistical Center as well. So they already had the military and people always used to say, oh Tampa, Jacksonville's got a lot of military, but it turns out military's only 11% of the economy now. James: Okay. Okay. Omar: So they've reposition themselves as a leading Health Care Center provider, all that sort of, Mayo Clinic has an offshoot there by the way, just to let you know. It's a number one ranked Hospital.  James: Oh Mayo Clinic. Okay. Okay. We always wonder what is Mayo Clinic, but now you clarified that. Omar: Right? So Mayo Clinic is in Rochester I think. One of my wise colleagues is there actually. Think it's in Rochester Minnesota. It's one of the leading hospitals in the world. James: Okay. Got it. Omar: And now they've actually had an offshoot in basically Jacksonville, which is the number one ranked Hospital in Florida. Plus they've got a lot of good healthcare jobs. They've really repositioned themselves not only as a great Port because the port of Jacksonville is really good and they're really expanding their ports. You know Chicon, the owner of Jacksonville Jaguars, man he's going crazy. He is spending like two or three or four billion dollars redeveloping everything.  James: Got it. Got it. Omar: [inaudible 21:32] what they've done is because of their location, because they're right, I mean Georgia is about 90 minutes away, Southern Georgia, right? And now you have to go into basically, Florida and basically go to the Panhandle. What they've also done is because of their poor, because of their transportation Network and then proximity to the East Coast they repositioned themselves as a Logistical Center as well.  James: Got it. That's what I heard is one of the big drivers for Jacksonville. And I also heard about the opening of Panama Canal has given that option from like importing things from China. It's much, much faster to go through Panama Canal and go through Jacksonville. Omar: Oh, yes. James: Makes it a very good distribution centre. Omar: Because the other board right after Jacksonville in which by the way is also going through a big redevelopment and vitalization is Savannah, Georgia.  James: Okay. Yes. Omar: [inaudible 22:17] big enough and I think Jacksonville does something like, I mean don't quote me on this but like 31% of all the cars that are imported into the U.S. come through the Jacksonville Port. So there's a lot of activity there, right? But they've really done a good job. The Government there has done a fantastic job in attracting all this talent and all these businesses.  James: Okay. Okay. Got it. So let me recap on the process that you came to Jacksonville and going to the submarket. So you looked at a few big hot markets for apartments and looked at similar characteristics for that submarket that you want like for closer to school, in a good location and you look at the deal flow that you are getting from each of these markets. And then you, I mean from your assessment Jacksonville has a good value that you can go and buy right now for that specific demographic of location I guess, right? Omar: Look I love Atlanta as well. I was actually in Atlanta a few weeks ago looking at some, touring some properties. So that doesn't mean Atlanta isn't good or say Tampa or Orlando is good. We were just finding the best deals in Jacksonville.  James: Okay. Okay. So the approach you're taking is like basically looking at the market and shifting it to look for deals in specific locations of submarket where you think there is a good value to be created rather than just randomly looking at deals, right? Because-- Omar: Because man it doesn't really help you, right? If you really go crazy if you try to randomly look at deals.  James: Yes. Yes. I think a lot of people just look at deals. What, where is the deal? What's the deal that exist? Start underwriting the deals right? So-- Omar: Oh I don't have that much free time and I have a son who's like 18 months old man My wife is going to leave me if I start underwriting every deal that comes across my desk.  James: Yes, I don't do all the deals that comes across. Omar: I'm going to kill myself trying to do all that. Yes man it's very surprising I see a lot of people especially on Facebook posting. I mean I get up in the morning and I see this, [inaudible 24:05] who loves to underwrite deals? And I'm like, dude it's 1 a.m. Go get a beer. Why are you underwriting a deal at 1 a.m., man?  James: Yes. Yes. Yes I think some people think that you can open up a big funnel and make sure you know out of that funnel you get one or two good deals, right? But also if you have experience enough you can get the right funnel to make sure you only get quality data in, so that whatever comes in is more quality. Omar: My point is man, why do you want to underwrite more deals? Why don't you underwrite the right deal and spend more time on that deal or that set of deals. James: Correct. Omar: Because there's just so many transactions in the U.S. man. There's no way I can keep up man. James: Correct. Correct. Correct. So let's go to your underwriting Jacksonville because I think that's important, right? So now you already select a few submarkets in Jacksonville, right and then you start networking with Brokers, is that what you did?  Omar: Yes. Yes but you know with Brokers also, you kind of have to train them, right? Because what happened is every time what are you looking at? All that after all that jazz, wine and dining and all that stuff. We had to train Brokers [inaudible25:08] here are only specific submarkets we're looking at. So for instance Jacksonville, it was San Jose, San Marcos, it's the beaches, it was Mandarin and orange [inaudible25:16]  James: Okay. Omar: And Argyle Forest was certainly, right? If it's anything outside of that, unless I don't know it's like the deal of the century, right? Literally, somebody is just handing it away. We don't want to look at it. Don't waste my time. And invariably what the Brokers will do, because it's their job they have to do it. They'll send you deals from other submarkets because they want to sell. Hey, I think this is great. You will love this. James: Yes. Omar: And you have to keep telling them, hey man I really appreciative that you send me this stuff, not interested. Not interested. So, but what that does is you do this a few times and then the Broker really remembers your name when a deal in your particular submarket does show up. Because then you go to the top of the pile. James: Correct. Because they know that you asked specifically for these right now.  Omar: Yes. [inaudible25:58] You know the deal. Right? So that's kind of what we get, right? James: So let's say they send a deal that matches your location. So what is the next thing we look at? Omar: So what I basically look at is what are the demographics. Median income has got to be at the minimum 38 to 40 thousand dollars minimum. James: What, at median household income? Omar: Median household income. Right? James: Got it. Got it. Why do you think median household income is important? Omar: Because look, again this is rough math I didn't do a PhD in [inaudible 26:27]  James: Sure, sure, sure. Go ahead. Omar: Typically, you know, where [inaudible 26:30] everybody says BC but really everybody is doing C. Okay, you can just-- I think people just say B to sound nice. Right? It's really C. Okay, let's be honest. Right? Typically with a C if you're going to push [inaudible 26:41] within one or two years, in these submarkets at least, I don't know about other areas. Typically you want to push the rents to around a thousand dollars a month, give or take. Average rate. I'm just talking very cool terms, right? Which basically means that if you're pushing it to a thousand dollars a month and the affordability index is it should be 33%, 1000 times 12 is 12, 12 times 3 is 36. So I just added an extra 2,000 on top or 4000 on top just to give a margin of safety.  James: Okay. Omar: Right? It's very simple math, right? There's nothing complex in it. Right?  James: Correct. Omar: Because my point is if you're in an area where the average income is 30,000, man you can raise your rent all you like. Nobody's going to pay you. James: Yes. Yes, correct. So I think we can let me clarify to the listeners, right? So basically when you rent to an apartment, we basically look for 3x income, right? So that's how it translates to the household income, average household income and if you want to do a value-add or where deals, you have a margin of buffer in our site and you're buying it lower than what the median household income, that's basically upside. That means you can find enough renters to fill up that upside, right?  Omar: Yes. James: Just to clarify to the listeners. So go ahead. So you basically look up median household income. What is the next step do you look for? Omar: Then I basically look at crime. Basically, I just-- I mean look, there's going to be a level of crime, what I'm really looking at is violent crime. Right? James: Violent crime. Okay. How do you look for which tools to use?  Omar: Well, you can go to crime map, crime ratings, you can subscribe to certain databases and they can give you neighborhood Scout is one by the way.  James: Okay. Okay. Omar: You can use that. And then on top of that because it's harder to do this for Texas, but you can do this in other states like Florida, Georgia and all of that. But for instance, what you can do is see what the comps in the submarket are. Right? And that kind of helps you in determining basically, look if all the properties for a certain vintage around you have traded for a certain amount of money, then if something is up or below that there's got to be a compelling reason for that. Now I'm not saying if it's above it's a bad reason and don't do it. There's got to be a compelling reason. Now they might be actually a very good reason. Right? James: Got it. Omar: So, you know that's like a rough idea and then basically I'm looking at rent upside. Basically look at co-stars and see what the average rents are for this property. What is roughly the average rent upside and you can also seek [inaudible29:04] place that I had a few contacts in Jacksonville and you can also call those up. Right? Again, rough math kind of gives you hey, do I send five hundred two hundred dollars and then basically see what is the amount of value [inaudible29:16]. Because for instance, if all the units have been renovated which by the way happened yesterday. Yesterday we came across [inaudible29:22] in Jackson where I know the Broker and I mean he sent me the email. You know, the email blast out and basically what we saw was the location was great, there's a lot of rent up, supposedly there's rent upside, but when I called the guy up, we know each other. He's like, bro, all the units have been renovated. There's maybe 50, 75, I know you so I'm going to tell you there's only 50, 75 so the price isn't going to be worth it. James: Yes, and they'll ask you to do some weird stuff, right? Like go there, washer, dryer, rent the washer dryer out. Omar: Yes. Yes. James: But charge for assigned parking, right? So very small amount in terms of upside, right? Omar: My point is if it was so easy why don't you do it? James: Yes. Correct. Omar: That's the way I look at it.  James: Yes, usually I mean when I talk to the Brokers I will know within the few seconds whether it's a good deal or not. They'll be really excited if it matches what we are looking for, right? Especially-- Omar: Yes because I think the other deal is if you develop a good relationship with Brokers and they know what you're specifically looking for, good Brokers can kind of again look they have to sell but they can also give you some guidance along the way. James: Correct. Correct. Omar: Right? They can do a lot bro, it doesn't really work for you I think, but I'm just going to be honest with you, and look you still have to take it with a grain of salt but it is what it is.  James: Correct, correct. Okay. So look for rent upside by looking at rent comps and you said in Texas which is a non-disclosure state it's hard to find sales comp but…  Omar: Yes, but look, you know if you're in a market you're going to know who the people are doing deals. Which people are doing deals.  James: Okay. Omar: And even if you don't know it, say your property manager kind of knows it, or your  loan broker or lender knows kind of what deals have traded in the market. You got me. You can pick up a phone and call some people, right? Maybe you don't get all the information but you can get, I mean if you're in submarket or sometimes even in Texas, you can't know.  James: Yes, exactly. Exactly. So when do you start underwriting on your Excel sheet?  Omar: Oh bro after I've done the property tour because if these don't even pass this stuff why you even bothering to underwrite it.  James: Oh really? So okay. So you basically look at market-- Omar: [inaudible 31:28] My point is, if it passes all these filters and then I have a conversation, I talk to my property manager, I talk to the Broker, I talk to my local contacts there and if it's all a go and these are all five-minute conversations or less. It's not like a two hour long conversation if it passes through all this they're just going to [inaudible 31:45] property door, man.  James: Okay, so you basically-- but what about the price? How do you determine whether the price they asking is reasonable or not. Omar: Well, obviously because I can do a rough math and compare it against the comps, right?  James: Okay. Okay. Got it. Got it. So you basically do [inaudible 31:59]  Omar: Oh, yes. Yes, because my point is why waste myself? Because look, the price could make sense, all the Brokers pictures we all know look fantastic. It looks like you're in like Beverly Hills, you know. So the pictures you know are kind of misleading, right? And the location might be really good but hey, you might go there and realize you know, the approach is really weird. Or for instance we were touring this one property and then 90% of I think the residents were just hanging out at 12:00 noon. James: Correct. Omar: Outside smoking.  James: At 12 o'clock. Wow. Omar: I said, well what the hell is this. Right? So my point is some things you only know when you do tour a property, there's no amount of videos and photos because the Broker isn't going to put a bad photo on.  James: Yes. Yes. Their Excel spreadsheets are going to tell you that, right?  Omar: Yes. James: So basically, you know, you have to go. What about what else do you look for when you do a property tour other than…  Omar: So you know when they're doing a property tour, like obviously I'm taking a lot of notes, I'm taking a lot of pictures, a lot of times the Broker will say one thing and then you kind of turn back around and ask the same question a different way just to kind of see. But what I also like to do is I also like to tour the property. On the property tour I like to have the current property manager and look I'm not stupid enough to say that the Broker hasn't coached the property manager. The broker has obviously coached the property manager that's his job. But a lot of times you'll realize that they haven't been coached enough. So if you ask the right questions the right way you can get some level of information. Again you have to verify everything and another trick I also figured out is. You should also try to talk to the maintenance guy and have him on the property tour and then take these people aside and so the Broker can be with somebody else. Ideally you should tour with two people. So if one guy takes care of the Broker and you take care of the property manager or the other way around. Because then you can isolate and ask questions, right? So especially if you take like say a maintenance guy and you ask him, hey man so what kind of cap X you think we should do? What do you think about the [inaudible 33:54]? A lot of times those people haven't been coached as much or at all. James: Correct.  Omar: And to be honest with you, man, we are in a high trust society. Most people aren't going to completely just lie to your face. They might lie a little bit but people aren't going to say red is blue and blue is purple. James: Correct. Omar: You know you can see that. You know when somebody says it, you can feel it. Come on. James: You can feel, yes. That's what I'm coming. You can actually see whether they are trying to hide stuff or not. But you're right, asking the maintenance guy is a better way than asking the property managers or even the other person is like leasing agent.  Omar: Yes. James: Who were assigned to you. They probably will tell you a lot more information. Omar: And that's why I feel like it's better to have two people like you and a partner touring. James: Okay. Omar: Because then different people, like one because look, and there is nothing wrong. The Broker has to do this. The Broker always wants to be with you to see every question is answered the way he wants it to be answered. So then one of your partners or you can tackle the Broker and the other person can tackle somebody else. James: Got it. Got it. So let's go to, okay so now you are done with the property tour. Now you're going to an [inaudible35:01] underwriting, right? So, how do you underwrite, I mean I want to talk especially about Jacksonville because it's a new market for you and you are looking at a new, how did you underwrite taxes, insurance and payroll because this-- Omar: Taxes was very easy to do. You talk to a tax consultant and you also see what historically the rate has been for the county. Right? James: Okay. Omar: But again, just because your new doesn't mean you don't know people. James: Correct. But how do you underwrite tax post acquisition? Because I mean in taxes is always very complicated-- Omar: No but taxes is harder, right? But [inaudible 35:32] in Florida it's easier because the sale is reported. They already know what price it is. James: So do they, so how much let's say how many percent do they increase it to after-- Omar: Typically in Duval County where we bought, it's about 80 to 85% [inaudible35:46]  James: Okay. Okay. That's it.  Omar: But the tax rate is low, right? Just to give you an idea the tax rate is [inaudible35:51] in Texas a tax rate is higher. So you understand there's lots of things and for instance in Florida there's an early payment discount. So if you pay in November, so it's November, December, January, February, right? So if you pay in November, which is four months before you should be paying you get 4% off your tax return.  James: Oh, that's really good. Omar: And if you pay in December you get 3% off, if you pay January you get well, whatever 2% off. In February you get 1% off. James: So what is the average tax rate in Florida?  Omar: I don't know about Florida. I know about Douval. It was like 1.81.  James: Wow, that's pretty low. Yes compared to-- Omar: Yes, but you also have to realize you have the percentage of assessed value is higher, right? Depending on which county you are in. You're in San Antonio and Austin where Bear county is just crazy. James: Bear Travis County, yes. Omar: Yes. Bear and Travis are just crazy but there are other counties in for instance Texas where the tax might be high but percentage of assessed value is really low.  James: Correct.  Omar: No, I mean it balances out. Right? My point is-- James: Yes. So but what about the, do you get to protest the tax and all that in the Duval County in Jacksonville? Omar: I think you can. No you were not, I think I know you can because we're going to do it. But you need to have a pretty good reason, right?  James: Okay. Okay. Omar: Right? And obviously look, you can show that yea, look I bought it for this price, but my income doesn't support this tax or this or that. I mean you have to hire the right people. I'm not going to go stand and do it myself.  James: So basically they do bump up the price of the acquisition, but it's very easy to determine that and 80 to 85% of whatever.  Omar; Yes. Yes. Yes. James: That's-- Omar: But look man, on the flip side is that when you go in, you kind of have a better control of your taxes in Texas where taxes can just go up and you [inaudible37:29]  James: Yes. Yes. You have no control in Texas. So we usually go very very conservative to a hundred percent. So which-- Omar: Look my point is it's good and bad, right? It depends where you are. So now people will say, oh the tax person knows all your numbers and like, yes but I can plan for it.  James: Yes, yes, correct. But it also gives you an expectation difference between buyer and seller because the buyer is saying this is my cap rate whereas the seller is saying, this is what, I mean the seller is going to say this is one of the cap rate whereas the buyer is going to say this is my cap rate will be after acquisition because-- Omar: Yes. Of course. James: So when it's smaller [inaudible38:03] between these two, the expectation is more aligned compared to in Texas because you know, it can jump up a lot and there's a lot of mismatch of expectations. Right? Omar: Well actually a deal in Houston, it's near Sugar Land and yesterday I was talking to this guy who wanted me on the deal and the other deal isn't going anywhere because the taxes were reassessed at double last year. Now he has to go to this the next week to fight it. Man, there's no way you're going to get double taxes in Florida or Georgia where there's our disclosure state, right? James: Correct. Correct, correct. So that's a good part because the buyer would be saying that's not my, the seller would be saying that's not my problem and buyer is going to say I have to underwrite that, right? So. Omar: I mean man, you can have a good case, right? Because it's not like somebody is saying something to you like, look man this is the law.  James: Yes, correct. So let's go back to Insurance. How do you underwrite Jacksonville Insurance? Because I know in Florida there is a lot of hurricane and all that-- Omar: [inaudible 38:58] just to give you an idea that is a complete myth because Jacksonville has only had one hurricane in the past eight years.  James: So is it lower than other parts of Florida? Or it just-- Omar: Yes. So the first it only depends where you are in Florida. Number one, right? Number two, it depends if you're in a flood plain or not, but that's in Texas as well. Right? And number three, it also depends a lot of times, well how many other claims have happened in your area? Right? Because that kind of for the insurance people that's kind of like a you know, how risky your area is quote unquote for them. So yes, so in Jacksonville, and apparently I did not need to know this information but we were told this information. Like the coast of Florida where Jacksonville is the golf coast is really warm where Jacksonville is, not golf courses on the other side, it's the Atlantic side. These are really warm waters relatively speaking. So apparently there's like some weather system which makes it really hard for hurricanes to come into Jacksonville. So that's why it's only had one hurricane in the 80 years.  James: So when you get your insurance quote, when you compare that to other parts of other markets-- Omar: Oh yes, Tampa was way higher, man. James: What about like Houston and Dallas?  Omar: I don't know about Houston because I haven't really lately looked at something in Houston. Right? So I can't really say about Houston and Dallas was maybe like say $25, $50 less maybe. James: Oh really. Okay.  Omar: Yes. It wasn't because that was a big question that came up for everybody. I was like look man, literally here's all the information and you don't even have to take my word for it because I'm giving you sources for all the information. Right? [crosstalk40:24] James: [crosstalk40:25] rate at different markets? Omar: Sorry? James: Are you talking about the insurance rate for-- Omar: Yes. Yes. Yes. Because a lot of guys from Chicago, I had a few investors they were like, but Florida has real hurricanes. I was like, yes but Jacksonville doesn't. James: Okay, got it. So you basically got a code from the insurance guy for the-- Omar: Oh yes man, I wasn't just going to go in and just put my own number that has no basis in reality.  James: Correct, correct. So, what about payroll? How did you determine the payroll?  Omar: So the payroll is pretty easy man. You know how much people get paid on per whatever hour. You know, you can have a rough idea how many people you are going to put on site and then you know what the load is, so then it gets pretty easy to calculate what your payroll is going to be. James: What was the load that you put in? Omar: So the load in this particular case was like 40% which is very high. James: Okay-- Omar: Yes it is pretty high. But the-- James: That is pretty high is very high. Omar: No. No. No. But hold on. They put our wages really low, right?  James: Oh really? Okay. Omar: Then you have got to [inaudible41:16] around. I was paying roughly the same that I was paying in [inaudible41:19]  James: Really? So why is that market…  Omar: I have no idea man, and I tried to check I asked multiple people. We did all that song and dancing. It's all kind of the same.  James: So you looked at the current financials and looked at the payroll? Omar: No. No, I was talking about my payroll would be going forward. I don't really care what the guy before me paid. Why do I care? James: So you got that from your property management?  Omar: Yes. Yes. Yes. And then I verified it with other property managers and blah blah blah blah blah checked everything, you know did all the due diligence. James: Got it. Yes. It's interesting that because 40% is really high. I mean usually-- Omar: Yes but [inaudible41:52] basis was really low. Like people salaries are really lower.  James: Is that a Jacksonville specific? Omar: I don't know what it is specifically. I think it's a Florida-based thing relatively speaking. But yes, that's what I mean. I thought it was kind of weird too. But then I mean I checked with other people.  James: So the deal that you're doing, I presume is a value ad deal. Is that right? Omar: Oh yes, all the deals-- James: How deep is the value at? I mean roughly at high level, how much are you putting in? Omar: Man, nothing has been touched for ten years. In fact, let's put it this way. We have enough land we checked with the city that we have enough land at the back to develop 32 more units.  James: That's really good because it's hard to find deals now, you know. Like ten years not touched, right? All deals are being flip right now, right? So within a couple of years. So that's good. That should be a really good deal. And what is the-- Omar: A hundred percent we could do basically.  James: What was your expense ratio that you see based on income divided by your expenses? I mean first-- Omar: Hold on man, let me just take it out. I don't even have to tell you. Hold on.  James: Okay. Omar: Why even bother you know?  James: Because usually like 50 to 55% is common in the [inaudible 42:59] industry. Omar: Oh no in basically in Jacksonville. You can get really lower expense ratios.  James: Okay.  Omar: It depends if it's submarket [inaudible43:05]  James: Yes, and I know like in Phoenix, I think it was like 45, or 40% which was surprising to me [crosstalk43:13]  Omar: [crosstalk43:13] this right now. Hold on let me open this model I can tell you right now. I don't want to give you something [inaudible 43:21] then variably one person's going to be like, I looked at your deal your numbers--Like, yes I'm sorry. I don't like have like numbers with second decimal points. Because people always do that to try to catch you. Right? And they're like, yes it's off by like $2 man. So hold on, divided by, oh yes so it was operating at 52 and yes first year we're going to be at 56 because you know we are repositioning-- James: Yes. First year of course, it will be higher-- Omar: And then we just go down.  James: Okay. Okay, okay that's interesting, that's good. So, and then as the income grows and your expenses stabilize, I think that expenses should be-- Omar: That's the only reason why the expense ratio goes down. Right? Because you're basically your top Line growth is way higher than your basically your expense growth.  James: Got it. Got it. Got it. Okay, that's really good. And you look for mid teens IRR. Omar: Mid teens IRR, a 10% cash flow and stabilized, all that jazz. James: Got it. Got it. Got it. Okay, that sounds good in terms of the underwriting. So-- Omar: Am I giving you all my secrets James?  James: Yes, absolutely. I will be very specific to Jacksonville. Right? I like to see you know, how each market is being underwritten and so that a business can learn and you know, it's very specific to people who do a lot of analysis on the market because I think that's important, right? You can't just go and buy any deal out of the gate right there, right? So it's good to know that. And these three things like payroll, insurance and taxes are very tricky when you-- Omar: Oh yes. James: --in different markets. So it's good to understand how does that county or that particular city or state determines their property taxes? Because we have different things in taxes here where I buy so it's good to understand. That's good. What is the most valuable value ad that you think that you're going to be doing to this deal? Omar: Oh well look man, because nothing had been touched. I think everything is valuable.  James: Okay. Omar: Hold on but that we lucked out also, right? There's a part of this is work and preparation. Or part of this is luck also. I mean you can't just take that portion away, right? James: Oh yes yes. Absolutely. Omar: All my hard work. Right? James: Absolutely. Absolutely. Omar: Because there's lots of people-- James: It's really hard to find that kind of deals nowadays, right? So how much was your rehab budget?  Omar: So rehab is about a million dollars. James: A million dollars. So let's say your million-dollar today become 500,000 right? I'm showing million dollar you're bringing into your exterior everything upgrade. Right? So let's say then-- Omar: Your exterior is roughly split 70/30. Interior [inaudible46:01]  James: Okay. Okay. So between interior and exterior which one do you think is more important?  Omar: I think if you only had a few dollars, exterior. James: Exterior, okay. Omar: Because people make a-- again this doesn't mean you should ignore the interior. Just to add a disclaimer. The point is, my point is a lot of times we as humans make decisions on first impressions. So if you come into a property and the clubhouse looks [inaudible 46:28] the approach looks [inaudible 46:29] the trees are trimmed, the parking lot is done nicely, then you go to an apartment which may, I mean I'm not saying it should be a complete disaster, but it might not be the best apartment in the world. You can overcome that. Right? But if you come in and the approach looks like you know, somebody got murdered here, right and the clubhouse looks like you know fights happen here, then no matter how good your indeed a renovation is, there's a good chance people will say well, I mean, it looks like I might get killed to just get into my apartment. James: Yes. Omar: Right? So it's the first impression thing more than anything else. It's like any other thing in life I feel. James: Absolutely. So let's say you are 300,000 for exterior. Right? Let's say that 300,000 become a 150,000, what are the important exterior renovation that you would focus on? Omar: So we did all the tree trimming because man, there's first of all living in Texas you realize how much a mystery still [inaudible 47:26] right? So first of all, tree trimming. Trees hadn't been trimmed for 10 years man. They were beautiful Spanish [inaudible 47:34] oak trees with Spanish moss on them. But they just hadn't been trimmed. James: Okay. Okay. Omar: So doing all the tree trimming, all the landscaping, then basically resealing the driveway and then making sure all the flower beds and all the approach leading up to all of that was done properly and the monument signage.  James: Okay, got it. So this is what you would focus on. And what about-- Omar: But also putting a dog park by the way. [inaudible 47:57] you said if my $300,000 budget went to 150 what I do and that's-- James: Yes. Dog park is not very expensive. Omar: Yes. But I'm saying it's stuff like dog park and [inaudible 48:06] to your outdoor kitchen, you're swimming pool, put a bigger sign in. You know [inaudible48:11]  James: Yes and dog park is one of the most valuable value ad because you spend less on it, but a lot of people want it, right? So for some reason, I mean people like pets and all that. So what about the interior? You have 700,000, how much per door are you planning to put for each-- Omar: So roughly say I can do the math roughly. There was six something. Right? So and James: [inaudible48:32]  Omar: Yes, so we're not even-- so we're planning on doing roughly say 75% of the unit's right? So I think that's  104 units if you go 700 divided by 104, roughly we were going to be around $6500 per unit. James; Okay. That's a pretty large budget.  Omar: Yes, man you should see some of these units man, I was like why God how do people even live here?  James: Yes. Omar: Because it's a very affluent. I mean relatively middle class, upper middle class submarket, right? They just haven't done anything.  James: So are you going to be using the property management company to do the renovations? Omar: They have a very fantastic reputation and they were highly recommended a few of our other contacts also use them so that's why. James: Okay. Omar: Because we were seeing problems with a lot of other people's property managers. Either they didn't have the right staff or didn't have the right professionals and this and that indeed these guys were properly integrated across the value chain. James: So at high level, what are you doing on the interiors? Omar: High level Interiors, it's a typical, [inaudible 49:29] back splashes, change the kitchen appliances, countertops, medicine cabinets, lighting packages. The other small little thing which we realized was a very big value add but was cost us less than two dollars and fifty cents per outlet was the [inaudible 49:45] Yes it was the biggest value add-- James: Yeah, biggest value add; that is the most valuable value add. Right? Omar: Yes. James: Like I've never done it in any of my properties but I was telling my wife, Shanti and I said, hey, you know, we should do these, you know, because it's so cheap and a lot of people, a lot of-- Omar: Yes, it was like two dollars or whatever, it was cheaper than that and people cannot get over the fact that they have so many USB out, I was like, everywhere there is a plug there's got to be a USB outlet. James: So do you put for every outlet? The USB? Omar: Not for every, I was dramatizing but I mean for the ones that are accessible say around the kitchen, living room. James: Okay interesting I should steal that idea.  Omar: I didn't invent the idea go for it man.  James: Yes. Omar: [inaudible 50:25] USB port so take it.  James: I know a few other people who do it mentioned that too but I'm not sure for some reason we are not doing it. But that should be a very simple-- Omar: People love it man. And I don't blame them man. Like it's freaking aggravating sometimes, you know, when you got to put like a little thing on top of your USB and then you plug it in. James: Yes, imagine how much you know, this life has changed around all this electronic [crosstalk50:46] devices and all that. So interesting. So did you get a lot of advice from your property management companies on how to work and what are the things to renovate and all that? Or how-- Omar: Yes, and no because we had been developing a relationship with them six months prior to this acquisition. So we had a good relationship with not just them but with other vendors in the market. And especially luckily for us the regional we have for this property right now, actually in an earlier life and with an earlier employer had actually started working on this asset 15 years ago as a property manager. This is sheer dumb luck. This is not by design. So she really knew where all the [inaudible51:24]  James: Yes. Yes, that's interesting. Sometimes you get people who have been in the industry for some time. They say yes, I've worked on that property before they, which is good for us because they know. Got it. Got it. So let's go to a more personal side of things. Right? So you have been pretty successful now and you're doing an apartment syndication now and all that, right? So why do you do what you do? Omar: James, I know a lot of people try to say they have a big "why" and they have a really philosophical reason James, my big "why" is James, I really like-- my lifestyle is very expensive James. So all these nice suits. James: Okay. Omar: All these nice vacations man, they're not cheap. Okay. Real estate is a pretty good way to make a lot of money man.  James: Okay.  Omar: I want to give you a philosophical reason, I know a lot of people say they have the Immigrant success story, Oh I came from India or I came from Pakistan, I ate out of a dumpster, I worked in a gas station and no I had five dollars in my pocket, and everybody tells me that and I say, okay what did you do man? I don't know did you just swim from India, you had two dollars in your pocket you need to get on a plane buddy.  James: You can't be here, right?  Omar: No Indian shows up to America and [inaudible 52:37] Are you kidding me? All the Indians are educated. Everybody's an engineer or doctor or lawyer. You kidding me. He shows up with five dollars, man. So no I didn't show up to this country with five dollars James. I didn't eat out of a dumpster. I didn't work at a gas station, and I'm very grateful for that. Right? I've always had a very good lifestyle and I don't need to have a philosophical reason to say I'm doing this to, I don't know, solve world hunger or poverty or whatever. I have a pretty good lifestyle. I'm very grateful and very blessed. And the biggest thing in my life is being that, look I moved to Texas man I didn't know anybody. Right? But people have been so generous, people have been so kind to me. I'm not just saying investing with us, which is very nice, which I'm very grateful but also connecting me with other people, right? Hey, hey just opening a door. They didn't have to do it, but people have been so generous and so kind, So I quite enjoy the fact man that it's a good way to  make an honest living, right? I have a very expensive lifestyle that needs to get financed and that's just the way it is. And I didn't show up with two dollars in my pocket. So I'm very  grateful for that.  James: That sounds good. So, can you give some, do you have any daily habits that you think makes you more successful? Omar: No man, I just get up every day and I try to put one step after the other but consistently work in the same direction. So every day I'm reaching out to people and that's a lot of small little tasks. First of all, I never like getting up early but I've always known the value of getting up early. So I get up in the morning, right? 5:45, 550 ish I kind of up. Most days not always, right? I read a lot of books man. I reach out to Brokers all the time. I'm always looking at deals, coordinating with my team to do stuff and a lot of these like you do in your business there are a lot of small little tasks there's no one task that is, oh my God, you do this and [inaudible 54:33] But it's just small little tasks that you do daily, every single day in and day out. So even if you're feeling sick, even if your head is hurting you just do it.  James: So can you give a few advice to people who want to start in this business? Omar: Regularly communicating. So in my particular case, I don't know like when you're starting out specifically everybody has a different pain point, right? So in my particular case for instance on a daily, I can't say about weekly I can tell you, staying in touch with my marketing people, emailing Brokers, emailing investors, following up with people I've had conversations with, especially leads, you know people who use this stuff. A lot of word of mouth and just doing the stuff over and over and over. But it's not like I have a 9:00 to 5:00 now, right? It's not like oh Friday, I'm done and Saturday, Sunday I'm relaxing. I mean I could relax on a Monday now, but Saturday and Sunday I'm working. Right? So that's a good-- but it's like the same as you were doing with your business, right?  James: Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, Omar it has been really a pleasure to have you on this podcast. Is there anything that you have never mentioned in other podcasts that you want to mention? Omar: No James, I don't want to go down that route man.  James: Is there something that you want to tell, you know people who listen to you that you think that would be a good thing to talk about? Omar: Yes, what I want to tell people is listen, I don't think you should take words of wisdom for me. But what I should tell people is guys, honestly, I don't l

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Ep 192: Aidan Wayne's Stories of Movie Stars, Olympic Hopefuls, YouTubers and Disney Princesses

Big Gay Fiction Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 10, 2019 55:13

The guys open the show congratulating the winners of the 31st Annual Lambda Literary Awards. They also discuss the podcast’s inclusion in Apple Podcasts’ Pride Month recommendations. Jeff also talks about some of the past week’s happenings with his Codename: Winger series and Will asks him what it was like wrapping up the series. Jeff and Will discuss the new Tales of the City series on Netflix. Will reviews the first two books in Piper Scott & Susi Hawke’s Redneck Unicorn Series. Aidan Wayne is interviewed about their three new books out this year: Hitting The Mark, Play It Again and the forthcoming Stage Presents. They also talk about how they decide what goes into the books, how they got started writing, author influences and what’s coming next. Complete shownotes for episode 192 along with a transcript of the interview are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Interview Transcript – Aidan Wayne This transcript was made possible by our community on Patreon. You can get information on how to join them at patreon.com/biggayfictionpodcast. Jeff: Welcome, Aidan, to the podcast. It’s great to have you here. Aidan: Thank you. I’m excited to be here. It’s an interesting experience for me. Never done this before. Jeff: Oh, cool. First podcast. Always fun to have people doing their first podcast with us. Now, you’ve had a busy few months of releases and we wanna talk about the most recent one first, which is “Hitting the Mark.” Tell us a little bit about that book and what inspired it. Aidan: Okay. So “Hitting the Mark,” in a nutshell, it’s about a famous movie star named Marcus Economidis, who used to train in martial arts when he was really young and really shy. And that helped him come out of a shell and then he moves. And being in martial arts actually helps him become more confident and he ends up getting a movie role, and that spirals, and then becomes a famous…10 years later, he’s a famous movie star who is also famous for doing his own stunts. Meanwhile, in Marcus’s hometown essentially, his original school – Choi’s Taekwondo Academy – is now run by Taemin Choi. Taemin was Marcus’s kind of assistant instructor growing up. They’re about 10 years apart. So Marcus was 10, Taemin was, like, in his early 20s and Taemin runs the school now. And Marcus happens to be coming back into town for a shoot and he decides to pay a visit to his old school… kind of nostalgia. He lost contact with Taemin when he moved. And so, he kind of wants to bridge the gap again, just like say hi, see what happens. And then they do meet with Marcus being an adult and, you know, there’s kind of an instant connection. The entire book is essentially about them navigating, first, relearning each other because they knew each other for several years, but it’s been several more years since they actually talked again. So they’re relearning who they are as people, especially Marcus as he’s grown into his own self, and that turns into a romantic relationship. And they’re just figuring out how to be in one considering that, you know, Marcus is this famous person and Taemin is a very busy man who runs his own school and takes care of a lot of things. And just, that’s the story basically. I do a lot of character-based stories where the plot is kind of, like, playing the course as opposed to, like, a person antagonist sort of. So it’s kind of like another one of those things for me. Jeff: Okay. And it ticks so many boxes because there’s friends to lovers, and second chances, and an age gap. Aidan: I tend to, when I write, sometimes I have several different things that I wanna include in various ideas. And so, sometimes when I have, like, the base, I’m just like, “Let’s just squish them all together. Let’s just push them all in one thing and see what happens, and if I can pull it off.” Jeff: And you mentioned when we were emailing to set this interview up that this is one of the books you didn’t have to do a ton of research on because… Aidan: Thank God. Jeff: …movies and martial arts, you had the knowledge there. What aspects of your background, you know, play into that? Aidan: Well, I’ve been involved in martial arts for about 20 years now, primarily Taekwondo and that’s the style that I had Taemin doing because I know the most about Taekwondo in Korean style. I technically have my black belt in two disciplines. One is Taekwondo and the other is a mixed type of martial art that I actually ended up teaching. I used to run a school. So a lot of my experience did transfer over into Taemin’s experiences in running a school and dealing with students and various endeavors that are required. And with movies, I actually majored in media production in college. I was on movie sets a lot both behind the camera and also growing up, I kind of dabbled in acting and I’ve been in front of the camera a lot too including on some big sets. Michigan used to be a pretty big movie hub before the tax thing happened and a lot of places moved away from it. And I was actually on a few different, like, SAG films. So I got to kind of be both in front of the camera and behind the camera. So learning about that aspect was…It was fun to basically shove as much knowledge as I could, especially the martial arts into one book because I have such a love for martial arts that it was like, “Let’s include inside jokes and inside knowledge. And I’ve never had to spell this Korean word in English before. So I have to probably look that up.” And fun fact actually, I’m not gonna spoil anything, but one of the plot points is Taemin working towards the Olympics. He’s qualified for the qualification and that entire piece is actually based on a co-worker of mine I used to work with who did qualify for the Olympic matches. Jeff: Incredible. You did stuff a lot in here in terms of all of your knowledge kinda went into this book. Aidan: Yeah. It was kinda, it was a nice break. I still had to do research obviously because I had to, like, fresh some things and again, like, Korean, making sure that I got that right. But for a lot of it, like, I have another book that I released late last year, “His Two Leading Men,” which takes place in New York with a Broadway star, and I’m like, “I like Broadway, I can just write about plays, that’s fine.” No, I ended up having to map out the entire city to figure out distances to whichever…I’m crazy…whichever restaurant he’d like to go to, which is closer, where is laundromat was. Like, I’m absolutely ridiculous when it comes to stuff like that. Nobody is gonna notice but me. But, like, I care. Jeff: But the native New Yorkers might. And so, it matters. Aidan: Yeah, yeah. Jeff: I have stopped myself of books going, “That’s not right. I know where that is and that doesn’t work that way.” So you do work Michigan into a lot of your books. “Hitting the Mark” is in Michigan. “Play It Again,” which we’ll dive more into in just a second, has a Michigan element simply because you have somebody sending Dovid, the main character, some Faygo Red Pop and some other Michigan treats, some Mackinac fudge included. Obviously, you live in Michigan. Is it something you try to work into the books, a little Michigan angle? Aidan: Kind of. Half of it is ‘write what you know’ because I’m thoroughly uncreative when it comes to that and it’s way easier to just, like, I don’t have to make something up, I don’t have to do more research. I just can set it in Farmington Hills or wherever it is. But sometimes it’s because I have, like, certain places in mind or I want to include certain things like, with Dovid receiving a care package, I wanted to make sure that I had a care package that at least was state-based and was really cool and could include especially a lot of food because a lot of…Dovid being blind, a lot of his things are food-based, it’s part of his schtick. So he reacts to taste and stuff. So knowing that I have my own experience with various Michigan cuisines and snacks and stuff, I could include that pretty easily and know that it would ring true but also be kind of funny. And even if the person didn’t necessarily know what things were, it would still, like, be something that they could get. Jeff: Speaking of “Play it Again,” that I reviewed back in episode 186 and really, really loved it. It was like the book I didn’t know I needed at the time. Aidan: Thank you. Jeff: And it’s quite different from “Hitting the Mark.” What was the inspiration behind this tale of two YouTubers who managed to find love even though they live half a world apart? Aidan: Well, going back to my ‘I have various ideas, but squish them all together into one sometimes.’ I really, really wanted to showcase a blind character. A lot of the characters that I do showcase are disabled in some way or have, you know, different aspects of their life that aren’t typical, you know, part of normative parts of society, etc., etc. And I apologize if my verbiage isn’t the best. And I really want to showcase a blind character, but obviously, I didn’t wanna fetishize that I wanted him to be successful and happy, and not be just blind as his character if that makes sense. And I thought YouTube would be a fun angle for that. And on the other side, I really wanted to focus on, like, a Let’s Player because I thought that it would be fun to try to, like, figure out how to write that because it’s so much narration and video-audio-based. And I like playing and like, “Can I do this? I will see if I can.” So making it a long-distance relationship was also kind of something that sort of happened because long-distance relationships, specifically internet-based ones, are very important to me because I have several relationships that started being internet-only and I consider a lot of these people some of my closest friends and I’ve met many of them in person now. One of my friends, I’ve only ever met them once, and it was in our first meeting ever…we then spent two weeks together, but our first meeting ever was in Narita Airport in Tokyo where we both flew separately and then spent two weeks in Japan together. So, like, yeah, there’s a lot that can come from internet relationships and I really wanted to showcase something like that too. Jeff: And I’d imagine here that the research was more than “Hitting the Mark” because you needed to make sure that Dovid was portrayed in the way that you wanted to where, you know, he wasn’t necessarily defined by the blindness. Aidan: Oh, yeah. I do extensive research whenever I write, especially disabled characters, because, you know, there’s so much misinformation out there and it’s so easy to fall into the trap of what the media has portrayed a person to be like or to do as opposed to actually reading experiences and watching experiences about, you know, real people. I kind of posed this question to myself on Twitter a while back, but it was basically, how does one write about a successful blind YouTuber? Watch a lot of successful blind YouTubers basically. So I watched a lot of, like, “The Tommy Edison Experience” is a man who is blind and he has a lot of Q&As; on YouTube. A lot of his videos are older and he’s an older gentleman. But it was still, you know, very informative. He has, like, an episode about cooking, which Dovid is the chef of his little family where he lives with his sister, Rachel. So it was interesting to, like, make sure that I was, you know, portraying his ability to do that correctly and, like, different tools that he’d use. Molly Burke is also a YouTuber that does makeup and fashion. But how she interacts, you know, with her audience and interacts with herself, and the things that are important to her – her experiences – because she does talk about that as well. It was very important. There’s a Tumblr called “Actually Blind” that did Q&As; and did a lot of commentary on different things and responded to different situations where, you know, there’s one impairment affected daily life that was not considered. And “Actually Blind” was a huge help in doing a lot of research because even when I didn’t actually ask the question myself, sometimes they just talked about things that I hadn’t thought about before. So that was a really good thing to notice. Like for instance, they had a post about the fact that the face touch thing in so many books and so many movies is absolutely ludicrous and no blind person really does that. And because it was made up by a sighted person who thought that it was kind of like romantic and intimate to have the blind person, like, touch the other person’s face to see what they look like and “Actually Blind” was like, “No, no. Uh-uh.” So it was something that I didn’t include then and I might have if I hadn’t read something like that. Jeff: The research is oh, so important. Aidan: Absolutely, absolutely. And I do a lot of sensitivity readers too. I have a short story that is going to be coming out probably in October, because I’m spacing it out a little bit, where one of the main characters is in a wheelchair. So luckily, I’m like, “Hey, sibling, I’m gonna ask you some wheelchair questions.” And know about how my experiences in, you know, living with somebody who uses a mobility aid and all that. So proper portrayal is really important to me. Jeff: And you have still yet another type of story coming out with your upcoming YA novel, “Stage Presents.” And I’m fascinated by this way because you’re taking us to Disney College Program. Do you have experience in that or was that a ton more research? And of course, what is this book about because it sounds just delightful? Aidan: Oh, well, thank you. I hope it is delightful. I hope people enjoy it. And to your question, yes and yes. I did experience, I did do the Disney college program many years ago, but I also did do a lot of research for the story in part because, you know, Disney updates and changes things. So some of the things I had to look up were the current menus and stuff because, again, it’s like a tiny little detail that only I will notice but I cared about. But I also had to make sure that I was getting details right in terms of characters because one of the main characters, Ashlee, with two Es, is a Disney princess literally. I did a lot of research into behind the scenes of that a little bit. I watched a lot of ex-princess interviews and posts about the experience of being a character performer. I didn’t have a lot of experience in that capacity. I knew some people who are friends with characters while I was in the program and I did ask, you know, I did learn about it that way. But princesses, I had to learn a little bit more. And, oh, yeah, what the book is about. Two girls who both get onto the Disney College Program and end up his roommates. One, Dana is a kind of, you know, calm, cool, collected, very down to earth, logical girl who is going into international business, she’s excited about working in a Fortune 500 company. She’s looking forward to living away from home. She’s trans. So, you know, that’s just another aspect of who she is as a person and she’s kind of like not sure about how she’s gonna get along with people. But she kind of has the mindset of ‘judge people before they judge you’ sort of thing because of past experiences. Meanwhile, on the other side, Ashlee, with two Es, loves Disney…I know, it’s a very important detail. She loves Disney, she’s a Disneyphile, she loves all the movies, she loves all the songs. She gets cast as an actual Disney princess. This is her dream come true. She’s been dancing since she was little. So one of her goals is to be a parade performer Disney princess, essentially, and she’s super excited. She’s from good old Southern Georgia and has never really, you know, met somebody who’s not exactly like her and her little clique, you know, popular, excited, happy group. So she doesn’t really know what trans means and she was born around…she knows what the internet is, but still, it’s different from knowing and meeting and, like, actually talking to somebody and interacting. And then so, Ashlee is kind of ignorant and Dana is kind of standoffish, and they hate each other. A good portion of the book is just them hating each other, and eventually, of course, a couple of different things happen and it turns into a begrudging friendship, which turns into actual friendship, which turns into more. And it was, you know, writing the evolution of enemies to lovers, which is something that I hadn’t done before really, and integrating different aspects of their situation and being roommates and living in such close quarters and, like, what constitutes that kind of relationship too, especially while you do not like each other and then as friends, and then, you know, once you’re more intimate as well. So that was, like, a whole encompassing aspect of the story itself. Jeff: And now, it sounds even more delightful than when I read the blurb. Aidan: Okay. Good. I had a lot of fun. I like my stories, which is, you know, a fun thing to be able to say because a lot of them I think, just kind of get defined as ‘fun’. There are obviously elements of angst and stuff and, you know, negativity that happens, but I have fun, you know, writing them. I hope that people have fun reading them. Jeff: What got you into writing and M/M romance in particular? Aidan: Well, I’ve always been a storyteller. My dad also, when we were kids, he would make up bedtime stories. We got read to a lot too, but he would make them up. So I grew up with the elements of imagination as something that you could play with and figuring out different elements of what characters could do. Really, you know, being totally honest, fan fiction. I was really, really interested in “Elfquest” as a kid. It is a fantasy novel by Wendy and Richard Penny. And man, I was an “Elfquest” fan. I read and actually own, I’ve collected almost all of the books and volumes and made up as a tiny little 9-year-old, self-inserts in my head as being an elf with such and such power, and being part of that self-insert stuff. And as I got into more media growing up, I really enjoyed reading and writing fan fiction because it was a way to interact with something that I enjoyed so much past where the media itself went. And sometimes things happen that you didn’t like. So you could make them better by writing it yourself or reading it by other people who did a good job or further exploring the world that had already been created with characters you already liked. And from there, it was kind of like, “Oh, I could do this with my own characters and make whatever I want to happen, happen. What? Oh.” And the kickoff was when I was, I don’t know, like, 15, I participated in my first NaNoWriMo and that was the first, like, write a lot of words and also write them really quickly. So you can’t think too much about what you were doing, you know, “wrong.” I wrote 50,000 words in the 30 days. And man, I still have it and it really portrays what I was into, what I was learning, and what I was experimenting with as a 15-year-old because it is a lot of stuff. And I really enjoyed doing that and I kind of just kept at it. And eventually, I had a friend who I really admired, Mina MacLeod, who was also a writer that I was friends with at the time. And she talked about an anthology and encouraged me to also, you know, submit a story, a piece, and I did. And we both got in and I still have the copy of the book, but we’re both in the anthology, both me and this writer that I really admire. And, like, that was really cool. And from there, I went, “Oh, wait, publishing is possible, that this is a thing that actually can happen to, like, real human people as opposed to just authors who are these untouchable people on pedestals.” So my next book that I wrote was written with publishing in mind. That was “Loud and Clear.” And it was technically my first original, original piece. Speaking of smooshing everything together at once, that book is about a man who is so dyslexic, he is essentially illiterate and a businessman who has a stutter so bad that he is a selective mute, falling in love and entering into a relationship. So you got someone who can’t read and someone who communicates through writing and I was like, “Let’s just make this as complicated for myself as possible. That’s a good idea.” But, you know. Jeff: Yeah. For a first book, you took on a lot there. Aidan: You know, it suffers from an overuse of italics, but it’s still something that I really appreciate that I did as a writer. I really like it. I had a lot of people really like the fact that I, you know, portrayed people that way, and of course, it does focus on non-normative people with disabilities and challenges in, you know, typical normal society. The illiteracy was actually based on a friend of mine who is illiterate. His dyslexia is so bad, he is effectively illiterate. He’s also an engineer. So, you know, it doesn’t stop you. It doesn’t have to stop you as long as you have the right elements and encouragement and resources. And that’s what a lot of people do struggle with. Like, he had to be homeschooled because his school that his parents had put him in originally were like, “We don’t know what to do with this child.” So being homeschooled allowed him to learn and actually grow and actually learn. Jeff: I have a suspicion a little bit where this next question at least will go a little bit given the “Elfquest” things, but what authors and genres do you tend to read? Aidan: Basically everything, but gore horror to be honest. I really enjoy contemporary pieces. I like fantasy. I really like nonfiction. I love learning stuff. This is probably not a surprise considering my need for research, my favorite author in the entire world is Terry Pratchett. That probably will never change. The man was absolutely brilliant and his ability to tell stories, and well-rounded characters, and development in plot, and his care in structure, and how he’s able to tie things up neatly with, you know, no questions except for like, what could happen next? He’s absolutely amazing. I really admire him. If I like a tenth of his ability to just, like, story weave, I’d be content in my ability to create. One of the other authors I really enjoy, he’s a very lesser known author, but Barry Hughart. He wrote “Bridge of Birds.” That is a Chinese fantasy mythology story, which basically happens in a historical China, but is written as if mythology was real. And he’s also, like, a very unknown and should be more known author for what he’s able to do with creativity. Other books that I appreciate, I enjoy a lot of Tamora Pierce’s work, especially the “Keladry” series because I really enjoyed her portrayal of a woman, a girl growing up and wanting to be a knight and fighting and dealing with a lot of the prejudices that come from, you know, girls trying to do anything that boys like to do. So, those pieces and she also is essentially…she’s written as not really interested in amorous connections, so to speak, and Tamora Pierce did end up saying that she did write her as asexual even though she didn’t, like, really know the term at the time. So that was really appreciated. Oh, that dovetailed a lot. M/M romance, yes, okay. There is a lot of het romance out there and that’s fine, you know, it’s got a market for a reason. It can be very well done. Me personally, it’s done by other people well and I gravitated more towards queer characters. M/M romance was easier for me to write because it was easier for me not necessarily to identify with the characters, but write about them in ways I wanted to, you know, with gentler portrayals and different effects. I wouldn’t say that I particularly write, like, alpha man male sort of things because it’s not really something that appeals to me personally as an author or as a person. I like people who are settled into themselves and know who they are and may be confident, maybe inconfident. For instance, in “Play it Again,” Dovid is a very confident individual who knows who he is and is really happy with himself. And Sam is much shyer and he’s wracked with anxiety all the time. But they’re both human. I like portraying clear people as human and I think that’s why I gravitated towards it first. I’m not super sure why I write M/M mostly. It’s just because it is a little bit easier for me to…I guess, it does come back to identification. I’ve written one…I have one published female-centric romance, which I do really like. It’s called “Making Love,” which I think is one of my favorite titles ever. It’s about a succubus and cupid falling in love. I was very proud of that, and it’s adorable. It’s very cute, it’s very loving, it’s really soft. And Carla, the cupid is just, like, made of cotton candy and love, sweet, and is really happy and bubbly. And Leeta, the succubus, is kind of cool and had reason to put up a lot of walls. Carla melts her heart and it’s so cute. It’s very silly, a lot of my reviews were like, “It’s cute, but cheesy.” And I’m like, “Yes, that was exactly what I was doing.” It’s called “Making Love,” what were you expecting? And then, same thing with “Stage Presents,” both the main characters are female. Dana is trans. I really enjoy portraying again, like, different aspects and different facets of queer people being human. They make coffee and they’re grumpy, and they might have disabilities or other challenges in life. And they also like stuff and are bad at things, and aren’t just, like, one cutout of a representation that, you know, people have one idea about. I like character-driven stories. Queer people deserve happy endings too. That’s the other thing. Jeff: Yeah. Absolutely on that one for sure. So we know “Stage Presents” is coming up here soon. What else is coming for you this year? Aidan: Well, I’ve mentioned it briefly, I have a short story that I had been kind of working on off and on. I was calling it “Baker Story” on Twitter and I did name it “Not So Cookie-Cutter” or something terrible like that because every single one of my titles…you may or may not know this, every single one of my titles are puns or play on words because I’m ridiculous and I love it. Yeah. So the book, “Bakery Story,” is called “Not So Cookie-Cutter.” I’m probably going to release it around October. It’s about two POC characters, which I did get sensitivity readers for because that was important to me. Jerel who is a baker at like, a cafe/coffee shop and Rafi who is a client who falls in love with Jerel’s pumpkin cheesecake essentially, and romance. They’re cute, it’s cute. One of my favorite things about the story is Rafi uses a wheelchair and Jerel is so smitten by Rafi that he doesn’t notice for, like, two chapters because Rafi is sitting down when he’s, you know, at the cafe and Jerel is just like, “Oh, my gosh, this handsome, amazing human being who is talking to me, like, he thinks I’m cute, okay.” And then, like, when Rafi actually, like, moves in front of him and he rolls away, Jerel’s like, “Oh, my God. I’m an idiot. This is fine. I’m an idiot.” So… Jeff: Nice. That will be one to look forward to this fall. Aidan: Yeah. I think, you know, it’s cute, cute and dumb. That’s kind of my mode. Jeff: What’s the best way for everyone to keep up with you online? Aidan: Twitter is mostly what I use, @aidanwayne is my Twitter handle, user name thing, and that’s primarily where I am. I have a website too and if you go to my website, there’s an option to sign up for my mailing list and mailing list is kind of how I send out information about releases to people. But I don’t like inundate people with mail. It’s just like, “I have a release, yay. Here it is, yay.” Jeff: Cool. We will link to those as well as all of the great stuff that we’ve talked about in this interview. Aidan: Cool. Jeff: Aidan, thank you so much for hanging out with us. It has just been a delight talking to you. Aidan: Yeah. Absolutely. Thank you for having me. Again, I’m ridiculous. So I appreciate being able to be ridiculous on a podcast. That’s cool. And, yeah, this was a lot of fun. Thank you so much. Book Reviews Here’s the text of this week’s book reviews: Seriously Horny (Redneck Unicorns #1) by Piper Scott & Susi Hawke and Dangerously Horny (Redneck Unicorns #2) by Piper Scott & Susi Hawke. Reviewed by Will.Seriously Horny Unicorn shifter Isaiah is pure white trash. How do we know? We’re introduced to him as he’s settling in for the evening, in his trailer with a bottle of his pappy’s moonshine – but he’s also an expert tracker. He’s tasked with finding a missing teenage dragon shifter. He runs into the kid’s college age brother, Eric, an irresistible dragon omega. They go to search together for Eric’s brother. One night, in a motel room they give in to their desire, and trust me, the scene lives up to the book’s title. Eric has the power of second sight, kind of like Faye Dunaway in Eyes of Laura Mars, and he ‘sees’ where his brother lays injured. Isaiah and Eric find him and bring him back to the dragon compound where he can heal from his injuries. Eric is with child after his night with Isaiah, and months later we find our heroes happily in love with the beginnings of a new family. In Dangerously Horny, Unicorn shifter Bo Luke finally gets up the nerve to tell Mitch just how he feels. But broken-down dragon is a less than ideal match for someone so young. The rejection hits Bo Luke hard and he runs off, straight into the clutches of a crazed woman who has uncovered the secret of the unicorn clan, and desperately wants to touch Bo Luke’s horn – and yes, that euphemism means exactly what you think it means. Mitch and some of his dragon buddies are sent to find Bo Luke. They rescue him and subdue his kidnapper. Because this is a paranormal shifter Mpreg romance, omega Bo Luke finds himself in an uncomfortable situation, and alpha Mitch is the only one who can scratch his particular itch. They fuck and it’s hot and amazing and (of course) totally magical. Mitch’s misgivings were unfounded, they are now fated mates. While waiting for their child to be born, Bo Luke’s stalker escapes custody and attempts to kidnap her unicorn obsession once more. In an action sequence that I thought was particularly bad-ass, Mitch and the entire dragon clan literally reign down fire upon her, rescuing Bo Luke once again. The story wraps up with a hilarious scene in which our heroes experience a very memorable wedding/birthday. The covers of these books tell you everything you need to know. The hot cover models clue you into the sexy times ahead, while the titles, which are decidedly camp, tell you that these romances also about the humor – humor with heart. I loved both of these stories and think they’re a fantastic way to kick off the new series. While ‘Redneck Unicorns’ is a continuation of the author’s previous dragon series, they stand alone just fine.

Episode 98 Life After a Thru Hike

Trust The Trail Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 27, 2019 40:39

On this episode we talk to Appalachian Thru-Hiker Heather Bolint, aka “Mama Cluck” about life AFTER her Appalachian Trial THRU hike. She shares how taking a 6 month break while managing a Hostel in Southern Georgia inspired her to get back out there and hike YET again. Her stamina and passion as a thru-hiker BRINGS […]

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The breakup that broke me | Katie

Unbreak My Heart

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 16, 2018 69:56

Katie was on autopilot and set to marry her college boyfriend - that was THE PLAN for a young woman in Southern Georgia. He blindsided her and broke up with her at the end of their senior year. Feeling lost and confused, she hesitantly accepted an invitation to a women's bible study. There was a story that ended up changing her life forever and eventually led her to a different lifestyle. One that wasn't filled with binge drinking, proving herself or looking for a man to make her feel fulfilled. Many lessons were learned from her experience - so much so - that she wrote a book and became a speaker reaching out to other college age women, encouraging them not to settle for relationships that don't serve or edify them. To find out more about Katie check out her site: www.katiebulmer.life and her IG @katiebulmer.life

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Podcast #4 Q&A. What stains to use, when to go full time in staining, growing your business

The Stain & Seal Expert's Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2018 34:45

Caleb Roth, host of Stain & Seal Expert's podcast welcomes you to Episode #4 On this episode, Caleb sits down with John Lafleur, VP of Sales for Stain & Seal Experts. John takes care of all the sales of our stains and our pre stained lumber. If you would like to order stain or pre stained lumber, contact John at info@stainandsealexperts.com. Pre stained lumber sales are up and going. We are moving orders as fast as we can pre stain.We're offering a medium brown color right now on cedar posts and pickets. If you'd like to place an order or would like more information, visit or Stain & Seal Experts Store stainandsealexperts.com! We've also began selling our fence and deck stain and sealers in our online store. We've been using them for about five years with exceptional results and decided to jump into the retail side to offer contractors and do-it-yourself'ers a great product to stain and seal their fence and deck. Visit stainandsealexperts.com and go to our store or jump on our Facebook page to learn more or buy your Experts' Brand Fence and Deck Stain. We also have a premium deck stain and sealer in the works and look forward to bringing it to the public soon. We're diligently working on a concrete sealer as well and will keep you updated on our progress. Caleb and John talk about and answer questions from contractors in the staining business. Questions from contractors - Jamie Hodge @ Costal Premier Stain and Seal costalpremierstainllc.com in Southern Georgia and Florida Question — How can you tell when you're bidding jobs when the old stain is oil or water based? Answer) If its water based, it will peel off or will look glossy. If this is the case, only water based products can be reapplied. Best way to test is the clean the fence. If it is easy to clean, it may absorb an oil based stain. Question -- How do you control over spray from shadow box fences? Answer) The best way you control the over spray is to be careful. Spraying is the best option to apply stain. Brushing and rolling will not give you the best results. If you use an airless sprayer, it will limit the overspray. Also, use a very thin sheet of plywood to absorb the overspray. Question -- Using social media to generate leads…does this work well? Answer) Social media is one of the best ways to get your company and product in front of potential customers. If you aren't promoting your business, you're dooming it to fail. Social media is one of the most popular ways to connect people to what the want/need. You also need a good website with a lead capturing capability. James Porter with Wood Defender 4)What are some pros and cons of pre stain lumber A) Pros - zero overspray. Finish always looks great, no run marks. Always consistent. Better for the consumer and contractor. 5) Best way to prep an old deck for staining A) When wood gets old no matter if it has been stained or not, bleach the deck or use a more gentle per carbonate cleaner then use a brightener. This removes nail marks and bleach marks and leaves the wood looking more natural. After that, use a light pressure washer with soft wash house tips. John Shelton from Carolina Stain and Seal carolinastainandseal.com Give John a call for all your fences, decks, boat docks, pergola staining needs in the Charleston, SC area 6) When it is time to go full time with your staining career? And how much do you pay your employees? A) If you have plenty of jobs on the books, have a great profit margin, and if you have a great savings fund for expenses and cost of living then it's time to go full time. The best time of year will be around May due to weather, depending on what part of the country your business is located. A) When it comes to pay scales, there are three popular options: by the day, by the job or by the hour. Look at the job market in your area and base the pay off of comparable jobs. Remember, most of the time, the better you pay your employees, the better they will preform their job for you. Make sure that you train your guys well so that they will know how to stain and what your expect on the job site. Training is the one of the most important factors in running a successful stain business. Stain and Seal Expert's Fence and Deck Staining University is our Facebook group to ask questions, get feedback, show off your finished jobs and techniques. Its a community for stain contractors to bounce ideas off of each other and learn from peers' successes and mistakes. TIP of the day - You should always present a written proposal to prospected customers. You will close more sales with a written proposal than just a verbal price. Stainandsealexperts.com Facebook/stainandsealexperts.com info@stainandsealexperts.com https://stain-seal-experts-store.myshopify.com If you have any other questions or would like to be featured on our podcast, shoot us an email

Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson returns on Southern Georgia's ESPNCoastal "3 and Out" | July (2018)

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2018 11:41

Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson (@ScoopB) appeared on Southern Georgia’s ESPNCoastal “Three and Out” with hosts […] The post [AUDIO] Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson returns on Southern Georgia’s ESPNCoastal “3 and Out” | July (2018) appeared first on Scoop B Radio.

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Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson returns on Southern Georgia's ESPNCoastal "3 and Out" | June (2018)

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2018 13:16

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Setting Up Your Business’s Board of Directors

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Play Episode Listen Later Mar 19, 2018 20:18

Today, we're going to touch on what you need to know when it comes to setting up your business's Board of Directors. We are continuing our conversation with Ken Turnipseed who has been in a couple of previous episodes. He has a background in accounting and tax and is now an attorney at Whelchel & Carlton LLP, located in Moultrie, Southern Georgia. Click here to find more information on our website. Setting Up Your Business's Board of Directors - Key Points Do you need a board of directors? Defining board resolutions and why you might need them Regulatory requirements regarding board meetings What are minutes? What details must be in the minutes Some “best practice" advice about keeping and filing minutes Maintaining all corporate formalities for liability purposes Getting a Tax ID for your business How you could lose your business over payroll tax and other obligations When you make a deal with the IRS, better stick to your end of the bargain There's no one-size-fits-all approach in choosing the right structure for your entity. Get sound advice from a professional. Talk to someone who is licensed in your jurisdiction. Make the most of this episode and enjoy. LINKS Links to Ken Turnipseed's information can be found at GetGoinginBusiness.com/105 Welchel & Carlton, LLP If you have not checked out all of our free resources available to you. Click here for our site. Here are some of our featured free resources. How Can I Organize My Financials? Should I Have A Business Plan? What Steps Should I Take Towards Branding? How Can Marketing Bring In More Clients? The Start-Up Checklist What Type Of Corporation Should I Be? Things To Consider When Scaling A Business

Setting Up Your Business’s Board of Directors

director talk board defining maintaining irs setting up regulatory carlton board of directors welche l moultrie tax id southern georgia whelchel

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 18, 2018 20:18

Today, we're going to touch on what you need to know when it comes to setting up your business's Board of Directors. We are continuing our conversation with Ken Turnipseed who has been in a couple of previous episodes. He has a background in accounting and tax and is now an attorney at Whelchel & Carlton LLP, located in Moultrie, Southern Georgia. Click here to find more information on our website. Setting Up Your Business's Board of Directors - Key Points Do you need a board of directors? Defining board resolutions and why you might need them Regulatory requirements regarding board meetings What are minutes? What details must be in the minutes Some “best practice" advice about keeping and filing minutes Maintaining all corporate formalities for liability purposes Getting a Tax ID for your business How you could lose your business over payroll tax and other obligations When you make a deal with the IRS, better stick to your end of the bargain There’s no one-size-fits-all approach in choosing the right structure for your entity. Get sound advice from a professional. Talk to someone who is licensed in your jurisdiction. Make the most of this episode and enjoy. LINKS Links to Ken Turnipseed's information can be found at GetGoinginBusiness.com/105 Welchel & Carlton, LLP If you have not checked out all of our free resources available to you. Click here for our site. Here are some of our featured free resources. How Can I Organize My Financials? Should I Have A Business Plan? What Steps Should I Take Towards Branding? How Can Marketing Bring In More Clients? The Start-Up Checklist What Type Of Corporation Should I Be? Things To Consider When Scaling A Business

Determining the Right Corporate Structure for Your Business

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 2, 2018 22:13

Have you ever wondered whether or not you can get sued in the course of doing your business? Then you need to make sure you have the right corporate structure for your business. It is important to know which structure is best for your business's particular situation and will protect you against personal liability. We are joined by Ken Turnipseed from Whelchel & Carlton, LLP a firm located in Moultrie, Southern Georgia. Ken worked with Ernst and Young as a CPA and Tax consultant before going to law school. He then practiced with a large regional firm in Birmingham, Alabama until moving to South Georgia. He provides representation to both business and individual clients and does a lot of work in the areas of healthcare and small businesses. Click here to find more information on our website. We discuss the Right Corporate Structure for Your Business Natural persons and legal persons. Minutes, resolutions, and other business records. Setting up a corporation. The difference between an S Corp and a C Corp. Which type of business is best suited to an LLC structure? The extent of liability protection depends on the corporate structure of your business. How the law determines if an individual is liable when there is a case against a business. What to consider when using business accounts to settle personal bills? Choosing which tax rules should apply to your business. Laws are different in every state, and you must seek competent counsel. Invest the next 20 minutes in this episode, and you will get a lot out of it. Links Whelchel & Carlton, LLC Kenneth Turnipseed on LinkedIn If you have not checked out all of our free resources available to you. Click here for our site. Here are some of our featured free resources. How Can I Organize My Financials? Should I Have A Business Plan? What Steps Should I Take Towards Branding? How Can Marketing Bring In More Clients? The Start-Up Checklist What Type Of Corporation Should I Be? Things To Consider When Scaling A Business

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Determining the Right Corporate Structure for Your Business

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2018 22:13

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Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson returns on Southern Georgia's ESPNCoastal "3 and Out" with Ben Troupe and B.J. Bennett (2017)

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2017 11:41

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Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson featured on ESPNCoastal "3 and Out" in Southern Georgia with Ben Troupe and B.J. Bennett (2017)