- Taking whatever it is, A loan, like a project, right? Or like our CRM or some process, looking at how it exists, understanding how it's used, what its purpose is supposed to be, and then reconfiguring it to make it better, more efficient. I think that's my special talent.- Is that why you ask so many fucking questions?- Yeah. Because how can I know, right? If like, most of the time, most situations, projects, whatever, like it's easy to understand the output, right? Like, you know what you're trying to get, but all this shit in between where everybody does everything differently, you gotta figure out like, why you're doing it this way. Well, why wouldn't you do it this way? What happens if you do it that way? Right?- What does grind mean?- I think depending on how you want to interact with people and how you wanna reach out to them and, and get your name out there is different. But if I was gonna sum it up, it would be about availability and presence, right? Where are you showing up And when people actually try to reach out to you, are you available for 'em?- Yeah. Picking up the phone.- Yep.- I think that the only person that I would listen to would be me.- Oh man, that's interesting.- There is, there's probably zero chance. So like if, if my 65-year-old self showed up and he was like, Hey bro, just so you know, you gotta do this, this, this, and this, and I had like 30 seconds with the dude, I would fucking take it as gospel.'cause I know it's true. But if Jesus came back and said, Hey Fred, you gotta do this, this. And I'd be like, eh, eh, I don't know what up. It's Fred Rea, the guy who started Rain City Capital back in 2009 when private lending wasn't exactly the cool kid on the block. Welcome to Good Nuggets, a podcast that's as much about the failures and holy shit moments as it is about the winds. Here's the deal. I watched people go from nearly walking out of the door to becoming absolute powerhouses in this business. We'll get into the weeds with loan officers, talk strategy with fellow lenders and swap of war stories with entrepreneurs who have been there. No fluff, no corporate BS, just authentic conversations and practical takeaways you can actually use. So grab whatever you're drinking, get comfortable, and let's get after some good nuggets. We are here today with Alex Brosy, Sales Director, Rain City Capital. Fuck yeah. He is famously my professional karma and you'll find out why over the next 45 minutes. So, Alex, welcome.- Yeah. Yeah.- How you doing?- I'm good. I'm doing great man.- Are you sure?- Yeah. Yeah, I'm good.- Are you ready for this?- Yeah, for sure. Are you nervous? I'm I'm, I am- Nervous. Why are you nervous? You, you just, just fucking, we're just talking here.- Yeah, you freaked me out. You know that, you know that it's been that way. It shouldn't freak you out. No, it's okay. It's gotten better over the years.- Over the years. That's, that's a good segue. So how'd you join Rain City? You have a little bit of a sordid past, so I kind of wanna, I wanna meander through that and I want the story from your perspective and maybe I'll fill some stuff in. So,- Okay. Okay.- So tell me, tell me how you got here. Like when you got here, maybe like what you were doing before, kind of give a little bit of background about you and who you are and- Yeah. Yeah, so it was a long time ago actually. Now the start of things for me, I was actually working at Bank of America. I was a teller in Everett and this lady walked in and she had like the fattest check I'd ever seen. It was like 12 grand and it was made out to her. And for those that don't know Everett, it's not- 12 G's in Everett is like, you know, 50 G's in Bellevue.- Yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot of money. So I had to ask, I was like, what is this about? What do you do? How'd you get this? Why is it made out to you? You know? And she tells me that she's a real estate agent. She helps agents get into the business and blah, blah blah, blah, blah. So like 30 days later we had exchanged phone numbers. I got my real estate license. Six months later I'd done a couple transactions and like I absolutely hated it. It was like really emotion-filled and there's a bunch of like babysitting you gotta do with people. And I just didn't want to do it. So I looked online, tried to figure out what to do with a real estate license. At the time I was probably like 22. I came across Bigger Pockets and found out you could do all kinds of shit in real estate. And I set an alert for Everett'cause I wanted to be in the industry in Everett. And I got a hit for some company named Caliber. And they were looking for a wholesaler. I had no idea what a wholesaler was. I called them, they're like, yeah, do an interview. I drove to Bellevue, I met with Ian, sat across from Ian. I think he kind of fell in love with me'cause I had all this stuff about I want to make Everett better. And I really love Everett.- Like, well, Ian's from Everett, so,- Yeah, yeah. Ian's from Everett. So it was like hitting all the strings. But he was like, man, you're too young to wholesale. Like you have no life experience. Go talk to this guy named Fred. He does money stuff, you can work for him. I was like, oh, okay, sure, whatever. So I get dressed up in a suit. I come into this office and the first thing-- Was it this office?- It was literally this office. And the first thing you said to me, it never, I don't even know if we'd spoken up until that point. I think I probably made the appointment with Darcy. So I had no idea who you were. I didn't know shit about Rain City.- You're like, you probably did no research either. You just like showed up. Of course I didn't. Showed up in your S 10. Like, Hey,- What's up? I'm about to go do some stuff. That's literally exactly what happened. I walked in, the first thing you said to me is,'What the fuck are you wearing?' And I look around this office, there's all this sports memorabilia, shit. I was going to a Seahawks game that day. I was like, I got my jersey in the truck, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And you're like, whatever. Just sit down. And within a couple minutes you had found out that I did absolutely no, like no research, didn't know who you were, what this company did. Didn't know what hard money was.- Did I, did I straight tear you apart or was it...- Oh, you destroyed me. Yeah, absolutely. I left here thinking, wow, I really fucked that up. And I thought it was over with. And then Ian was like, I don't know, maybe a couple days later, Hey, take this strength finder test, blah, blah, blah. We're gonna get you on board. Whatever, whatever. I was like, okay, here we fucking go. So I, I worked for Caliber as the liaison between their investor clients and investor realtors and Rain City. And basically was, I guess what we would consider now, like a Production Partner for Ian bringing loans in and, and you know, Caliber getting paid on it. Did that for like a year. And I think the worst fear of everyone who hires like a Production Partner is that they say, I wanna do this on my own. At which point I came in here again and asked you to hire me. And you're like, you're outta your fucking mind dude. I'm not gonna take you from Ian. I barely know you bro. Like, get the fuck outta here.- Well and, you would ask so many questions.- About everything all the time. All the time. All the time.- Yep. Super annoying all the time. I still am. I feel like it gets me really far though. So I left, I did some traditional mortgages with Bank of America back, went back to Bank of America. I did all kinds of shit in between. It was like a year and a half that I was away from Rain City. Stayed close with Jeff. Jeff was like, come back, blah, blah, blah. I was like, nah, Fred hates my guts. He was like, no, no, you're good. And then, I don't know, six months later, October 2020, I officially came back to Rain City- And the rest is history- And the rest is history we're making history, still happening.- Yeah, no shit. Okay. So October 2020 until now, the time at Rain City, it's fuck. That's almost, wow. Good Lord. Tell me about the journey so far.- Yeah, so, you know, coming back, I feel like it was, you know, one of the riding, riding a bike experiences, right?'cause I had already- Learned. Yeah, you kind of already, like- Through the program was going on. It was cool to come back and have, you know, a lot of the same faces here. Process is pretty much still the same. I basically just did the same stuff. I'm a dial-for-dollars guy. I mean, that's what I believe in. Hit the phones. You gotta know your shit. So when people are trying to work with you, you actually do what you say you're gonna do. But just being available and trying to push the envelope with, with Rain City and with underwriting and trying to get deals funded, especially stuff that maybe we don't really want to fund, but we've got a good reason to do. So I did some social media stuff, some events, just trying to make sure I could get myself out there. But I- Think and then you promptly stopped doing them?- Yeah, absolutely. Once I, once I realized that I didn't need to do it to keep the business that I had going, I'm trying to do more. That is like specifically... Social media is one of the things that's high on my list to start doing again. I've seen a lot of loan officers have a ton of success with it when they stay on top of it. But yeah man, the journey has just been a grind. It is been the same, the same thing the whole time. You try to stay in front of people, make sure you know your shit, fight for the good deals, get away from the bad ones, try not to get fired.- But so I mean, it's not just been that, right? Like you...tell, I mean you're a loan officer for a while, just a straight loan officer and you got your production up to a point where you're like, hey, like I'm, I'm good for an assistant. So, you know, got you an assistant, you went through the shit with them and now it's awesome. And you're also a sales director now, so you're an, how many people do you have on your team?- Six.- Six. Nice. So like your progression in over the last four years isn't just like, Hey, I'm grinding and funding loans.- Sure, yeah. Yeah. I mean, inside of Rain City, I feel like, just exactly like you said, that focus that got me to the production level where I could get an assistant is kind of what opened the door for all the other stuff. Like RCU, like being a sales director, it was definitely an interesting experience bringing on an assistant, but I like to break shit apart and put it back together. So like, it was messy because there's a human element that I'm really bad at. I'm, ah, just kind of like, fucking do it this way. I don't care. But- So you got to be a little bit of a better coach over time?- I think so, yeah. I think so. I mean, I'm still a hard ass and I'm really blunt, but I also feel like I take that extra second or two to make sure that I'm not being like a super dick. You know,- You're like a dick with a heart.- Yeah. So, yeah. You know, I basically, the, the grind part, to me all it, it is kind of all the same, right? It's just what, what is it that you're focused on? You're doing the initial grind focused on trying to close loans, you get to a point, then you can get some help. Then the grind is the delegation, the mentoring, the coaching, and make sure that I can look away from that part of the business. Which to your point, yeah, it's fucking awesome. Now, I don't, maybe 10% of my time actually has to deal with paperwork and, and the actual loan now with the sales director, the grind is again, more of that mentoring and coaching. Trying to get the folks on the team to just do that extra step, that extra little piece of, of pre-underwriting, of critical thinking of, you know, relationship, whatever, to make sure that they don't need my intervention so that I can again, switch focus to something else. Right?- Yeah.- It was the same thing with RCU. Like initially the grind is piece it all together, make it make sense, put it somewhere that people can access it. Even if they're not a part of the initial training. Now a lot of that is there. That grind piece is over. I can focus on just when it's live, give 'em the resources and, and be able to go back to focusing on whatever the next thing- Is. Everything else. So if you do come to Rain City and you are get, you are able and get blessed to be here, the first face you're gonna see, well at least like within like a week or so, is this guy. He's the RCU guy. He's the one that everybody sees in the beginning. And everybody fucking loves you by the way.- I think so. Like,- I swear to God, the like the most kudos I get is for RCU and like I have nothing to do with it. I've never even fucking attended it.- Oh, you're welcome anytime.- I know, like we were talking about this yesterday, I was like, I've actually never been there before. But everyone else has kind of been through it. So like you're kind of the, not necessarily defacto, but you're like the face of Rain City a little bit. When people come in, like they're graced with your presence and people are like, man, he is fucking awesome. Then they're like, they, you know, they talk to him outside of the RCU where his like sales thing is on. He's like, who the fuck is this guy?- Yeah. Especially you get to like, you know, a sales retreat or a company party and we're getting turnt up. It's, yeah, you get a different little bit of a different Alex. Slightly different- Alex.- Yeah. Yeah.- Okay. So, you know, looking back, you know, hindsight's always 2020. What advice would you give to October 2020? Alex coming in, sitting there in your chair today?- Man, I think probably the biggest piece of advice I would give myself is to always make sure you keep grinding. You know, like my quarterly review. So we do a quarterly review with your direct report, right? Your one-on-one. I always give myself a plus/minus for Get Shit Done.'cause I just feel like I even know within myself, like, you could do more. Go do more. Right? And you know, Jeff's always trying to give grace, like, oh, you're doing a bunch of shit, da blah, blah. I'm like, fuck that. I- Could do more stuff. I could definitely do more. I- Could do more. So yeah, if I could go back and tell 2020 Alex that and actually have 2020 Alex, listen. 'cause that's probably the biggest issue.- Well that's, you know, it's funny, I always think about that. So I think that the only person that I would listen to would be me.- Oh man, that's interesting.- There is, there's probably zero chance... So like if, if my 65-year-old self showed up and he was like, Hey bro, just so you know, you gotta do this, this, this and this. And I had like 30 seconds with the dude, I would fucking take it as gospel.'cause I know it's true. But if Jesus came back and said, Hey Fred, you gotta do this, this, and this. I'd be like, eh, I don't know.- That is a good point though, because theoretically you in the future did the thing, right?- Yeah.- Or did- Well that's, I fucked that up. So here's what you need to change.- Yeah. - And you have theoretically enough time to be able to sift through it and be like, these are the four things that you would need to go and do. So I don't know, I think that you're, you're past, past self would probably listen to you, but most likely not anybody else.- Right? Yeah, that's probably a good point. Yeah. That or I would give myself the advice of fucking listen to other people- And then, and then, and then you might actually do that,- Right?- Yeah. Yeah.- So I'm gonna remind you of a conversation we had. Oh God. Yeah. You knew that was coming.- Yep.- It wasn't that long after. After you joined, we don't necessarily know, need to go into details, but you basically asked me for something and I was like... go to work.- Yeah. - That's always gonna stick in my mind just because it's been brought up so much. And like there's the, I feel like you were deflated, but also, and you're like, fuck you Fred. But you're also like, okay, now I need to like all my options are out and this is what I need to go and do. Was that as impactful for you as it was for me?- Hmm. That's a great question. What impact did it give me? So I mean, back to the listen to other people thing. I think what it did do for me is it probably was kind of the catalyst to where I think our relationship is now. Right? And over the years we've had a lot of different conversations about who we are to each other. And I think that that was probably the very first time where I was like, okay, this isn't just some guy who owns some company who's got a bunch of money, right? This is a guy who's actually like, trying to pour into me, trying to make me a better, me trying to help help me get to the next level, right? In terms of like, you know, put your head down, work, blah, blah, blah. To your point, fucking listen to anybody. Right? So it's like, was it super impactful? Probably not in the same way, but impactful in the way for me to start to believe that our relationship was different than what I had it in my head.- Got it. So it was like basically like a little bit more of a trust thing.- Yeah, sure.- Than anything else. Huh. That's fair. I always, I mean, it, it could have gone either way, right? If I had that conversation with you and it went sideways, I'm like, oh fuck, that didn't go so well. You know? And I might have rethought it, but it didn't. Right. Like, looking here, hindsight being 2020, I'm glad I had that conversation. Yeah. I probably wouldn't have changed it either way. I would've had the same conversation, but it was like, no, go this. I'm like, you know, put that number on your fucking wall and yeah, that's exactly what happened. And go and get it.- Yep. - And I remember I held that, held that shit to you. I was like, like, show it to me right now. I still do that shit to you.- It was in that office.- Yeah. It was like three or four doors...- Yeah.- Everyone's like, what? What is that? I was like, don't worry about it.- Just,- Yeah.- He knows what it is. That's all that matters.- Yep.- That's funny. So what do you think your impact to Rain City's been?- Oh man. Culture and coaching. I think, I think it's those two things. I mean the, the coaching part's easy, right? Doing RCU, it's like you said, that's the kind of the entry for, at least salespeople. But I, I honestly think of myself as a culture police here, man. And I know I push the line for sure, but I think I feel that I keep the door wide, that everybody can still feel comfortable to do whatever they're comfortable with. Right? I would say it's those two things.- You're the culture police?- Police is probably not the right word.- Like how are you the culture police?- I'm more, I'm more of the, I'm more of like the culture fucking atom bomb and just come in somewhere and say some dumb shit and try, try to get everybody to laugh and be like, oh God, okay. I guess we can say that here.- Sometimes it's a little too far.- Oh, I would say most of the time it's too far. As I said, I keep the door wide open.- Okay. But too far is not okay.- I'm like the, I'm like, we take a,- A chair, stick it under the door, keep it open. That's, that's me. I'm the chair.- Goodness gracious. I would say that your impact is more than that. Like, you know, you get to you bullshit with everybody else and everybody likes you. And like, you know, a lot of people look up to you now, which I think is kind of a funny thing for you, right? Because, you know, you having like, distrust for your boss and distrust for the company and whatnot. And like, I've listened to you over time. Like you built that trust and now you're in a position of like, people look up to you, you know the answers and you know how to explain it to 'em. You also tell 'em to fuck off every once in a while. I think it's, it is definitely more than just that. And I don't necessarily like want to put words in your mouth or like, you know, put feelings out there. But, you know, we have some strong, like, people that like drive the culture and yeah, you kick the door open, but you're also, you know, the Real and Lasting Mutual Success. I, I think you really do have that in mind pretty much all the time. And I've definitely always appreciated that. It hasn't always been that way, but as it's, you know, as you've kind of come along and like let a lot of the, the shit go, which probably not even, you know, it's not our shit. It's, you know, it's your stuff. But once you kind of let that go and started to grow as a person, I remember it was like a year and a half ago or two years ago, I had a conversation with you. I was like, I just fucking wish I could snap my fingers and make you 35 years old.- Actually that was a, a year and a month ago.- It was a year and a month ago. It was a day- After Valentine's Day last year.- Was it really? Yep. Fuck. It seems like forever ago.- Yeah. It's crazy.- Dang. That's wild. All right, Alex, random question for you.- Oh God.- What's your secret talent?- Ooh. I think my secret talent is breaking stuff apart and putting it back together.- Elaborate. - So maybe even'breaking apart' not the right way to say it, but taking whatever it is. A loan, like a project, right? Or like our CRM or some process looking at how it exists, understanding how it's used, what its purpose is supposed to be, and then reconfiguring it to make it better, more efficient, specifically. I think that's my special talent.- Is that why you ask so many fucking questions?- Yeah. Because how can I know, right? If like, most of the time, most situations, projects, whatever, like it's easy to understand the output, right? Like, you know what you're trying to get, but all this shit in between where everybody does everything differently, you gotta figure out like why you're doing it this way. Well, why wouldn't you do it this way? What happens if you do it that way? Right? And you could break it apart, look at it and then say, well shit, if this is where you're trying to go, just fucking do it like this and cut off all this other, you know, fat, trim, all that. And now you have this process that's more efficient to get the same output.- Hmm. That's your hidden talent.- What do they call it in 'The Big Leap?' In The Big Leap is, isn't it your secret talent? Your hidden talent.- Oh, your genius. Your genius zone.- Yeah. Yeah. And that for me is, I think it's exactly where it is. That's like, it's like, you know, some loan officers, there's one specific, you could probably guess it's always pressing me, do you even like to do loans anymore? Blah, blah blah, blah. All you do now is all this training and it stuff, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like no, of course I love doing loans. But it's that, that piece, right? Talking to a borrower, like about the project, how they're gonna get it done, who they're talking to, where are they looking?'cause I know what the output is, right? I mean it's, it's math really. Yeah. It's math. Like we need to hit X - ARV, here's our total cost. Like that part is super fun for me.- Got it. I guess being an advisor, but using your talent to be an advisor to your clients and to the people and really kind of everybody around Rain City, right?- Yeah. Nice.- So what would you say to a loan officer coming in the business that's like, you know, I'm trying to get in what, like what advice would you give 'em today? Because obviously like the business is evolving a lot. What advice would you give a new person coming in that wants to go and crush it?- Probably know your shit at least enough to not [choking Sounds] you know, when you're talking to somebody, right?- Yeah. Or at least make it up on the fly.- Sure. Yeah. I'm not exactly without be- Sure.- Yeah. That thing. Yeah. Let me find out. That's a great question. That's like my classic

"That's a great question. Let me get back to you. I wanna make sure I give you the right answer." You know, so know your shit. Know your shit enough too that you can actually do what you say you're gonna do. I think a lot of new loan officers get caught up in that'cause they get confident enough that they'll go talk about it, but they're actually not solid enough to do the thing that they think they're doing. Whether it's down payment or fee or a location or project, whatever. Right. So basically being able to do what you say and then fucking grind.- Yeah. Follow through with your promise. What does grind mean?- I think depending on how you want to interact with people and how you wanna reach out to them and, and get your name out there is different. But if I was gonna sum it up, it would be about availability and presence. Right? Where are you showing up and when people actually try to reach out to you, are you available for 'em?- Yeah. Picking up the phone.- Yep.- I remember there's, there's one loan officer. I was like, this guy doesn't fucking sleep. Like, and when his phone rings, he always answers it. It is the craziest shit ever. I would like, I'd always test him at like 11:00 PM with someone else's phone. I had fucking call him and dude pick up the phone. Like, you have issues. Okay. Like there's like the such thing as boundaries, man. Like turn that fucking thing off. Yeah, dude, that's wild.- But see, it doesn't even have to be the phone either, right? Yeah. We got loan officers that crush on social media.- Yeah. - And you could be laying in bed talking about deals on, you know, Facebook or Insta or whatever, right? Yeah. So like, however you, and that's why I say however you feel like you can be present and be available, just do that. And that's the grind. That's the grind piece for me.- Yeah. Got it. Yeah. That's the thing. Like I was never a great salesperson. So like for me, because I'm not a great salesperson, I'm not the hit the phones guy, I'm the relationship one. So like once people know me, kinda like actually shit, like edification, right? So like once people know me, they trust me and I know that I'm not gonna like fuck 'em over, a hundred percent of the time they come back.'cause they know I'm not gonna screw around with them- Yep.- And tell 'em the shitty deal or whatever. Right. So I'd always go and find the people that I know could give me a deal.- Yep.- And then I would try to build a relationship as much as I could. So yeah. I mean that, that was my version of grind. It wasn't, wasn't talking to the actual borrowers, it was talking to the people that would give me a warm referral. Yep. And the people that give me a warm referral. Like, and the referral partners love me 'cause I didn't drop the ball. But I think it's a little bit different for everybody. But finding that grind too. Finding the things that you're good at. Exactly. And hitting that and versus not.- Exactly.- Yeah. I think, you know, some, sometimes people forget, like, I used to originate loans. That's how Rain City became.- Yeah. Like- In the fucking straight up, very beginning up- To old ladies. And- I think that's the last loan I closed and she was like 72 years old. It was like a $20,000 loan. Yep. And I have not lived that one down. Nope. Forever.- You never will. No, you never will. Especially as we get bigger 'cause less. Unless people are gonna actually remember that you're originator. But the story of your last loan is, what was her name? It was like Betty or something.- I was like, I think it was Elma.- Yeah. Yeah, exactly. That's another reason too is like, could you have a more old-timey name? Oh man. Sorry to all the Elmas out there.- She, she's like 19 listening to this. Yeah, exactly. Wanda be wanted to get in the game. She's like,- Shit. Yep. But hey, if you're an Elma, Fred will give you a loan.- But I'm Fred and I'm like supposed to be like a 85-year-old past-banker dead in a nursing home right- Now. That is also an oldie- old-timey name.- Wait, that's why she liked me. It- Could be. She- Probably thought I was old.- Yeah. Oh, that's- Probably a great point.- Yeah. She's like, oh, I gotta work with Fred. My uncle's name is Fred. I trust- Him. Yeah, exactly.- Oh my goodness. I got a couple more questions for you, but I'm gonna give it to you. You got one question, one question to ask. What are gonna ask me?- Oh dude, I could go for my classic.- You're like the, again, he, we call him the Askhole because he asks so many questions.- The classic- The, to the, the very first like, inappropriate question you asked me, you're like, 'Hey, how's it going? What's your net worth?'- Yeah. I was like, I don't- Know who you are. Like what the fuck are you talking about? But the thing is like, this is why you're my professional karma.'cause I used to ask the same dumb questions all the time and because I just didn't have a filter, I didn't know it was appropriate and I wasn't,- I do feel like I'm, I ask less dumb questions. I'd still ask a shit ton of questions. I can't, my mom brought me up to do exactly that. Just keep asking why- I gotta meet Mama Brosy one of these days.- Oh yeah, for sure. But definitely, yeah. I want, I want to know the answer to that question, but I- I won't ask that one actually. I mean, my question's like super self-serving.- It's, you got one, you take it.- And this is I guess totally open for interpretation, but what, where do you see Alex in five or 10 years?- That's a great question. I wonder, I mean, I would push it back and like ask you because I, I, I feel like I need more information to answer that question. Do I have permission to ask more?- Sure. Yeah.- I mean, you've kind of given me a little bit of like, okay, I like to pull things apart and put it back together. Do you see yourself originating loans for forever?- No, I don't. No.- Do you feel like you get better impact or better job fulfillment from coaching loan officers or being in front of like RCU?- That's a great question. I'm, you know, only a quarter in to being a sales director. So that's, I've- Still new- Yeah. A lot more time with, with RCU. I would say that as of right now, I probably would say I get more fulfillment out of RCU because it's a pretty, I mean, it's kind of an intimate process. Like, we spend a lot of time together in that first week. They're asking a lot of questions. They're really new. So there's a bunch of opportunity for me to pour into them, which I really enjoy. You know, like half the loan officers on my team are fairly senior. Right. Like they, they kind of know what they're doing. And most of the time I'm just kind of helping 'em move stuff through the couple of loan officers on my team who are newer. I do enjoy spending that time with them. But I also, there's a lot more weight into that relationship, which I think I'm maybe just still a little bit gun shy on. Right. It's different when they're brand new. There's, the possi- possibilities are endless.- Right?- After you've been here for six months a year based on where you're at and what your production's doing and how you spend your day, it gets a little bit heavy about like, yeah, what the fuck are you doing? So I think I'm still getting used to that part. So I would say, you know, sitting here right now, I feel like I get more fulfillment out of Rain City University. I could see in the future having more time being a sales director, enjoying that piece more because it does excite me, you know, to grow them. Whether that's just to an assistant or getting their own production partner, becoming a sales director on their own. I mean, that seems pretty dope, right? Like that's- Yeah. You built a get to build like a legacy tree Yeah. Of people that have come in and like, hey, like 'I grew that one up or I grew that one', and- All of a sudden they like, and they like bow down to you even if they're like, way up here and you're still down here. Exactly. Like, that part is dope. So I could see that being much more impactful in the future. Right now I would have to give it to RCU though.- Got it. So if you're going to, what your hope is that being the, like the sales leader is gonna be a, like it'll fill your cup more than doing RCO?- Yes. That, that is my hope. That's where I'm hoping things go.- Got it. I mean, I, you know, the sky is the limit. Obviously Rain City is a growing company. I think, you know, as you mature and get older and you let like some of the, the past stuff go that like, you know, I- I don't necessarily like have like the future path.'cause you're a little bit of a Swiss army knife if you're kind of like me, right? It's like there's, you can kind of jump into any conversation and have a real one. And if you don't know the answer to it, you can go like, okay, let me go back and I'll figure it out. And it doesn't take you that long to go and figure it out. So there's like, you know, I could like shove you over here, shove you over there, and all of a sudden you're gonna thrive. Maybe not in every scenario, but in most you're, at least you're gonna figure it out and make it better. So, you know, from that perspective, like I'm, I don't know, as a, as a company that's growing and like, you know, we're investing a bunch in like AI, which I, I'm gonna consult the shit outta you and be like, Hey, how do we use this? And I'm give you just tools and go and fucking use them. And all of a sudden, like, people will be using it internally and there'll be a great amount of leverage there. So, I don't know, there's a lot of shit for you, but I think it's, it's really up to you. You know, it's up to you and, and what you want to put into it. Yeah. I mean I, I, I feel like the sky's the limit for you. You just gotta get rid of the, the, so when there's the line, you know that it's there when you go over that line. Like that's the part you gotta get rid of.- Yep. - And like, that's indicative of everywhere around.- Yeah. And so I will say that part's really tough for me because, and this actually is a reason why I've never tried to go into management in a company where I was growing because you, I'm, I'm me all the time. Right. I might be, you might get a little bit of a different version depending on what I'm doing. Right? I mean, I, I think that's a huge part of being a salesperson is the kind of- Being a bit of a chameleon.- A chameleon. Yep. But ultimately I'm always gonna be Alex. And then when people have watched that happen over the years, and now I'm in charge of some shit, it's almost like an expectation to cross the line. Right. And if I don't, then people are like, Alex, what's wrong with you?- What's going on? Are you okay? I was just like, oh, I'm just, you know, trying not to be a fucking idiot.- I, I, I was in this office. I've been in this office for like a decade. Yeah. Actually more than a decade. Fuck man. I'm getting old. Anyway, I was in this office and I just got like killed that day. It was, I, I'd said too many things. I shared too much stuff and I was always like the open book and I just got lambasted for it. There was one day where I was just like, there's three people that are like, what the fuck are you saying? You can't say that. What the fuck are you saying? You can't say that. And I was like, okay, being me is not working. I gotta figure something else out. And I think that was probably like eight years ago, like seven, eight years ago. You know, when someone on your team was like, Hey, that, that was inappropriate. I don't like that. Or, you know, someone around you like gives you feedback where like, that was poor. You know, you're gonna be like, ah, fuck. I mean, dude, it's, it's crazy. Like we're a hundred people now, a hundred people. It's just different.- Yeah. - You know, and it's not different in a bad way. It's, it's different in like, not everybody has been here for 6, 7, 8 years. Not everybody has the relationships. You know, like people think we're being mean to each other when we're actually just love each other and having fucking fun. Right. But, you know, coming in, that it's, it's difficult and it's also a very unique culture and that we, you know, we are very candid with each other, which I think is fantastic in so many ways. Yep. Like, you know, I, dude Jordan blew me up like, I don't know, 35 minutes ago. I was like, oh shit. All right, cool. It's like, thank you very much. I appreciate that. But it, it's jarring for people. And if you've worked anywhere else, I mean, you worked at Bank of America, you walk in here, you're like, oh, what the fuck is going on? These people are nuts bro. Like, what the fuck is going on?- Well, but to your point,- People, so it's gonna, it's gonna come- The people who like it.'cause I didn't feel that way. Right. I was like, oh my God, this is like- Super fun.- Yeah, - Yeah. Some people resonates you like Yeah. And then, then one of my like prideful moments, I probably shouldn't be as prideful about this, but we had three people in a year show up and they were gone within a week.- Yep. - They were like, they're in, and then they're out. They, we, we warn 'em about the culture and then they come in and they're like, I can't do this. Yeah. I gotta go.- Yeah. Well, and you know, Jeff is usually the one who is telling me that, you know, Hey, you don't, you didn't, you shouldn't have done that. But usually for me, it's not like inappropriateness, it's assholeness. You've told me that.- Yeah.- And that to me is a thing that I'm, that's my bigger focus, you know, than, than the inappropriateness.- Yeah.- Because I feel like it's a lot harder to come back from a bad, inappropriate, or, you know, being an asshole to somebody than it is from telling a, a dirty joke.- I got a lot of experience with that.- Yeah, exactly. So like, trying to focus on that piece. I'm almost there. I had something even just happened just the other day and I was like, ah, I probably should have just not sent that one email and- Talked to somebody else and let them take care of it for me. So I'm getting there. I'm getting closer, but it's hard. I'm passionate, bro. Yeah.- I, it's, we've all been there.- Yep.- I am a decade older than you and you know, I've had people, you know, looking back at me for a long time, and it's not always the, when you get the mirror shown in front of you over and over again, you know, sometimes like, so it, like your flaws rear it's ugly head and you're like, oh- Gosh. Yeah.- So, yeah, I would, to answer your question, it's up to you. I think you know that too, but you know where you want to take it and where you want to go. I think it's honestly like, you know, if your genius zone is pulling things apart and making it better or more efficient, it may not be the people, but Right. If you find that you're, you're a fulfillment and you can kind of like mix and match in both of those ways and somehow, and I have no idea what that is, like, you know, working in your genius zone, I mean, that's, that's what you should be- Doing. Yep.- Like, my biggest advice to anybody coming in is always be yourself.- Yep.- And focus on what you're good at and focus on how you're good at those things. Like if I tried to hit the phones and made a hundred phone calls every day, I mean, I'd be fine. I'd probably do. Okay. I took a couple leads the other day, that was kind of fun.- What, were you on a call or were you just like- Yeah, I called two people.- No, no. I mean, like, were you with other loan officers?- I did on the power hour.- Oh, but you didn't unmute?- No, no. I was, everybody listened to it. I called one of Carlos' old leads.- No shit.- Yeah. I, I called some leads. I, dude, I don't know, I think you bounced out, but I called, like, take some leads. And Carlo was like, I'll give you some, I took some leads and they were like,- Oh shit.- Actually I was helping Rachael.- Oh, nice.- Yeah. Yeah. So she, she like unmuted and she used took no for an answer so fast. I was like, Ooh, hold on a second. Yep. He was like, I'm retiring. And I was like, hold on a second. Like, if he's retiring, he's probably giving it to his kids.- Yep. - And, and if anything, ask for the other referral. She's like, oh yeah, good feedback.- I think you should do that more often, bro. You should jump, you should jump in a power at least like once a quarter and take some phone calls. We should just sit there and watch you make phone calls. That's- Kind of funny. I mean, I haven't done it in forever, but yeah, it'd be great. It's actually kind of fun. It's like, I haven't done this for years.- Yeah. Then imagine you, like,- What have you got a fucking loan? That'd be- Crazy. Just outproducing people.- Yeah. That'd - Be crazy. I feel I was always like a solid$3 million a month producer. That's exactly where I'm like, I, that was never like the, you know, Lesa, Ryan and Julian into the world where they just, you know, they're just absolutely crushing it.- And that, I think the, the mindset is different too. Right. Just like you said, you know, if you're not, if you're not working in your genius, it's not fun. And it's like, I'm gonna do enough to get some clout, pay some bills grow, but for the most part, like, I'm not gonna work my fucking ass off and skip out on vacations and whatever to be the top dog.- Yeah, for sure. Work life balance is- Important. Yep.- So, just for everybody, we're talking about a book called The Big Leap. I don't remember the author's name. Me either. I don't remember. But it's a great book. It's a short read great book. And anybody going into like, any sort of coaching or anything like that, just read it. It's, it's one of those things you're like, oh shit. Okay. That's a lot. It's a lot about like self-talk and figuring stuff out and whatnot. Yep. Okay. So question for you. We've been doing the coaching for like- Eight months.- Yeah. Eight months now.- Yeah.- What's, what's been your experience and if you're taking stuff apart, putting it back together, what feedback would you give me?- Ooh. So my experience, I, I will say, and I hate to say this, I'm hopeful for what's going to, what we're working on next. Right. I'm excited for that. I think initially it was massively impactful. It was like, you know, doing the vision boards and, and coming up with the big, hairy audacious goals and, you know, holding each other accountable and talking about where we're at in life. Yeah. It was, it was felt very, growth was just happening on every call. Right. Whether it's because the group's gotten larger or because we've maybe altered the focus of the group or whatever have you. It feels like I spend more time in the call helping grow other people, which I think based on what happened in the sales retreat last year, I think that that's kind of part of the, the growth, right. So like, but in terms of its impact, while I love that piece, there was times where we just were like really helping out only a couple people.- Yeah. Well, and I obviously I wasn't attending those things too. Right.- Sure.- So that was the, that was the catalyst.- Yep. So I think it super impactful at the start, I think it maybe lost some focus and, and the weight of the call was reduced for me based on what we talked about this week and what we talked about last week and what we're gonna be doing over the next couple months. I'm super excited for that.'cause I mean, that's like right in my wheelhouse. Overall. I would say that what it's done for me is continue this idea or this want to break stuff apart and put it back together better. Whether it's my life or my job or it just Rain City, pieces of Rain City that I have my hands in. So that's been really fun and, and really helpful. I guess my feedback to you, I think there's a couple things I think the size of the group has added to my feelings about the group. Right. So obviously opinion- Based comradery and like the, the smallest of it, which I, I actually have plans for that.- Nice. So yeah, the size, I felt like it was perfect and I feel like we, you know, so that, that would be one of them. And then the other one would just be, it's kind of a mix, but it's all centered around you. Right. Do what you can to be at all of them. I know. You know, because we were bringing other people in, you had to spend that time away. And then when you're there, I would say even though you, I love to say you're bad at this, try to get more organized.'cause I feel like I'm,- I'm feeling pretty freaking organized really. More than I have been before.- Definitely from before. Yeah. Absolutely. But that would be, that would be it, you know, more time with you because that was the impetus of the, the whole call from the beginning Right. Was we wanted to spend more time with you and with Ian and with Jeff. We love you guys.- They already know you don't have to fucking name drop it. Come on.- So yeah. More, more time with you. And then, you know, when, when we have you and we're doing it to have it, you know, go the way, you know, according to a schedule, which is hard at Rain City, we like, I mean we love to fuck around.- Yeah. Well I mean we have the three F's.- Yeah. - First five minutes of fucking around. Yeah. All the time. Thank you. I appreciate it. There's anybody who hasn't coached or hasn't been coached go and do it. Like it's money well spent, even if it's in a group. And like, even if it's 500 bucks and the coach is half-assed, like it's still great. I'm like, you're gonna get something out of it no matter what. I'm a half-assed coach, but I have been coached for a while and it's, it's super fun. Like it is fun to like watch people like, you probably wouldn't have gone to Arizona and been in your house for, you know, four or five months without doing that. And I was looking for you to say that.'cause I was like, this motherfucker, you probably wouldn't have done that. I would've kept renting it out and saved some money. But, you know, it's part of your goal to be a, you know, a a what's it called? A Bluebird. Bluebird, yeah.- Yep.- That's awesome. Okay. I think I know your answer to this because I think it's pretty consistent. If you give me something different, I'm still okay with it, but I have to ask, answer the, or ask the question anyway. What's your favorite thing about Rain City?- Hmm. My favorite thing about Rain City. I mean, it's gotta be the culture, bro. It's gotta be like, pipeline meeting is a meeting I look forward to every day.- Is it people or the culture? I mean, wow. It's kinda like one on the one, right?- Hmm. Interesting. Yeah, I feel like they're the same. Right. Because if, if the people don't make the culture, then the culture doesn't exist. And the culture helps us decide who the people need to be. Right. So they basically, I mean, they're one and the same.- That's why people come and go- Really quick. Yeah, exactly.- It hasn't happened nearly as much lately, but,- Well, and you know, I, not to say that the culture's going away, but when we do get bigger, there is, I feel like less opportunity for people to see what the culture's really like.- Yeah. That's why we get together.- Yep.- And that's what like my job is, is to have it be watered down as little as possible as the layers come on. That's what I think about. Like, the thing I think about when I go to bed at night and thing I wake think about when I wake up in the morning after my gratitude is lately, what, what did fucking Trump fuck up today? And I, and then outside of that, how do I keep the culture like going when I like further down the line. So like if there's, you know, there's the leadership team and then we have managers and then, you know, the managers might have managers and like they, I'm just like, how does down the waterfall of everybody around here, how do we, you know, make it as close as possible? Like, that's why I'm doing the... Jordan calls it Yappy Time.'cause everybody was freaked out about it. But that's why I'm talking about Yeah. Where's mine? I'm talking to everybody.- I talk to you- All the time. Come on bro. No, there's, we don't need to do- That. We have a good time.- It's Yeah, I'm talking to you right now. You got, you got like an hour. Yeah, there's,- I like talking to you. It's fun.- I thought I freaked you out.- You do freak me out. That's why I like it. You gotta, you know, get outta your comfort zone, right? Yeah.- But yeah, that's why I'm like, I'm just trying to, you know, get as close to it as I can and it's not sustainable. Especially if I have like 500 people, you know, whatever. But I'm trying to find out ways. I'm trying to figure out ways to do that every single day.- Yeah.- But it's really, honestly, it's up to everybody else. Yeah. It's, it's up to, it's up to everybody to be the culture police, not just like one or two or five. And the benefit of, like, when we went into Covid, we had a really tight knit group, right. And we had all these OGs, like our average tenure is still like five plus years, even though we have like almost a hundred percent more people. Which means that there's a lot of people that are tenured, but there's also a lot of people that, you know, they're new. Having that culture going into Covid really like helped us thrive during that time where a lot of companies just kind of like dissipated and fell apart. But, you know, all those OGs, they are that culture, right? They are setting that tone and giving, empowering everybody to go and do that, I think is, you know, my first step and you know, obviously not my only one, but my first step in just saying, Hey, like you're it.- Yep. You- Gotta go and do it. And you know, for me, like being obsessed with the salespeople- Yeah.- Like salespeople that are out there, they're, I mean, salespeople are an extension of Rain City and it's like in the most purest form, so Yeah. Yeah. Real and Lasting Mutual Success, baby.- I mean, I think that you hit the, the nail on the head. It's like the sale, it's the salespeople.- Salespeople, they can, I mean, usually they're the gregarious, outgoing, like want to like get shit done. But it's actually, I think it's actually more impactful for the people like Lori that've known me for like 20 some years.- Sure.- Or you know, Val, Lisa, the people that are living in the ops.'cause you know, we, we kind of, salespeople are so somewhat separated and kind of live off their own, right? So they're, they're great stewards. Outgoing, but internally is where like, that's where the magic happens.- That is a good point. I didn't even think about that. Especially now. I mean, I don't get to talk to ops people very often.- I know you had that as a source of pride the other day.- Yeah. Which it is. But I mean, from the culture perspective, which is why I also love when we have parties.'cause hanging out with all those people that you mentioned and about shit ton of the people that you didn't- Like- Those people. I mean, they make Rain City super dope.- I know I can. They're so in for it too.- Yeah.- Our Rain City's karaoke game is- Tight. Literally top notch.- It's- The best tight challenge. Any other lender to a karaoke party? You guys would be,- I mean, yeah, we'll fuck 'em up. Crushed dude. I've seen Alex go up there and I like, he used to karaoke at home. Just like by yourself or with Steph, right?- Yep. - And he was like, someone, oh, who was it? I think it was Austin. He was like, he just bombed. He went and grabbed the fucking microphone. You didn't even look at the words. He was like, blah Eminem. I was like, how- The fuck does- He know this stuff? Like- Yeah. Hopefully Austin's gonna redeem himself. We're gonna do a little something special tomorrow.- Oh, you guys are?- Yeah. Yeah, hopefully I gotta go, I gotta line up. Do that every time. Every time we got to- I bombed on you once. I was, I was trying to get Kayti to do it, but- Yep. It was Regulators.- Yeah. - And, and Patrick came up to me afterwards and he was like, fucking grabbing by my shoulders. If you wanna do Regulators right, do it with me, you fucking waste it. I'm like, you got it Pat, just let me go now.- Oh fuck. All right man, we beat this horse dead. I appreciate you taking the time.- Yeah, absolutely.- Thank you for having me. We it for like three hours, you know, bullshitting saying some dumb stuff. You guys missed like the first, you know, 30 minutes of us in these chairs testing out, these microphones, saying some dumb stuff. So, anyway, appreciate it. Love you Alex. Thank you.- Love you buddy. Appreciate you, sir.- Man, thanks for doing this. I just, I'm sure it won't be the last time.- Oh, fuck yeah. I hope not.- Good Nuggets Peace out, motherfuckers.