BEST OF - My Story Part 1
Today\u2019s episode begins a series that is a retelling of my story before I share what\u2019s new for 2023. The series consists of the eight seasons I went through as I transitioned from my old W2 life into real estate\u2014from not having a deal for the first nine or ten months to now having a very successful real estate business, podcast, membership, and more coming this year.
Today\u2019s episode will specifically be about losing my last W-2 job, February 19, 2023, the worst day of my life that turned out to be one of the greatest. I had quite a few W-2 jobs that never worked out for one reason or another\u2014sometimes I lost my job through my own fault, sometimes I just moved on to something else. I always felt a little nervous at my W-2 jobs like when you go through a bad breakup, and you constantly feel jaded and always feel like you're in trouble. There are horror stories I have tried to block out of mind, one of which was during my time at Chick-Fil-A, where I was on track to be a Chick-Fil-A operator and be part of the leadership development program with corporate Chick-fil-A. I remember the conversation I had with the operator of the store, who was about to send me to learn and train at another store out of state with another operator. I asked about my performance and was assured I was doing great\u2014and then was fired the next day. No complaints, never written up, no warning. After that, I had some success in Pittsburgh for a while, but after meeting Valerie, I wanted to move to work near her. This led to my last Chick-Fil-A job in Redding, which ended when I had a clash with the general manager, who was the operator\u2019s brother-in-law. I have nothing against Chick-Fil-A\u2014I have lots of friends that work for Chick-fil-A and did really well there. I still love Chick-fil-A as a company, what they stand for, and still support them. I just realized it wasn't for me after losing that last job.
It was at this point that I went into banking. I had some success with it and got a promotion four months into my first job as one of the top employees. I enjoyed banking, and after about a year and a half, I applied for their management training program where there were a thousand candidates for eight available spots. I got the position and was very thankful. I knew I was good at sales and relationships, and through the training I decided I wanted to be a relationship manager or a mortgage loan officer\u2014someone who meets clients and builds relationships that expand on the banking relationship. If this sounds familiar, it\u2019s exactly what I do as a Relator. I was never written up or reprimanded during the three years I spent in banking. I continued to say that I wanted to do something with sales outside of a branch\u2014a mortgage loan officer, relationship manager, etc. During the program, you spend your time meeting with all the different higher-ups, learning and training through 12\u201314 rotations over 15 months\u2014you really have to adapt because you\u2019re changing jobs every few weeks. Toward the end of the program, I remember them telling me they were sending me back to be an assistant branch manager or branch manager after the training.
This was the moment that turned me against W-2 jobs for life. What was the use point of a program that was going to send me right back to where I had been? Yes, I developed skills, I learned so much, and met so many amazing people, many of whom are still friends of mine. It just boils down to the fact that they teach you skills but put you where they need people. I told them I wasn\u2019t going there, that it\u2019s not where my gifts are. I was good at sales, and I wanted to control my own schedule as we thought about starting a family. Their reply was that we\u2019d figure it out. I went back to my rotation, but the rotation manager wasn\u2019t communicating with me, and I told my wife I was about to get fired.
She said that was impossible because I had never been disciplined or reprimanded.
I just had this weird...