Over the last couple of decades the investing landscape has changed dramatically. From the dotcom era to bitcoin, it can be tough to keep up. But one thing holds true, those who are ahead of the curve, and had some foresight, have been able to make a ton of money. But how do you know which ones will be winners? I don’t know about you, but I’m not much of a gambler. It’s too damn hard to make money. I don’t want to risk it on unfavourable odds. I’m a firm believer in the basic b...

Since the dawn of time one thing has always captured our imagination. From Neanderthals sitting around a campfire, to Hollywood blockbuster movies, we are captivated by stories. I used to work in the film business. I worked on tons of tv series and feature films. I can recall countless times that I watched directors and lighting technicians spend hours getting a scene to look just right, then spend only a minute or two actually filming. The one thing that always stuck with me in those ...

Have you ever had a great business idea and thought “If I only had the money”? We all know there are ways to get early stage business funding, but few actually understand it. I would definitely include myself in that category. Our guest on this episode of “Guide 2 the Grind” is Nathaniel Harding, the Managing Partner of Cortado Ventures. Cortado is a Venture Capital firm in Oklahoma City. They specialize in early stage development funding and have a whole range of programs for edu...

An interesting realization that I’ve had while trying to craft this is, it’s not easy to talk about charity. In fact it’s downright uncomfortable. There’s a lot of psychological factors at play wherever you are on the spectrum of “being charitable”. If you don’t give, you may feel guilty that you don’t. Or you don’t give enough, or if you do give enough you don’t want to talk about it, so you don’t seem like you’re being “holier than thou”. Regardless which bucket we fall into, ...

Have you ever thought about a second career? I know, it’s hard to think about giving up what you’ve spent so many years doing, but there comes a time where lifestyle begins to trump security. For corporate executives looking to transition into ownership, investors who understand passive (or at least semi-passive) income streams, or the average person looking to make a change and build something for themselves, franchising may be a great option. In recent months I’ve had my eyes op...

When I first got started in sales I was encouraged to start reading and listening to personal development greats like Jim Rohn and Zig Ziglar. I remember how much this expanded my mind in the first few years. I learned new philosophies for business and life, but one quote always stood out to me. “When the student is ready, the teacher appears” To me it was a saying without meaning. Because it hadn’t been proven to me… yet. Looking back now I can see that I’ve been blessed...

The hardest thing about being an investor is learning. For the average Joe venturing into the world of investing to say that it’s overwhelming is a huge understatement. I know for myself I’ve been in the financial world for over a decade, and I still learn about new strategies and tactics all the time. It’s one of the reasons I’m so grateful we have Guide 2 the Grind. We get to meet so many brilliant professionals. As we wrap up 2023, and the 3rd season of doing the show, I’m supe...

As we approach the end of our third year doing this podcast, I look back on all of the great guests, and the multitude of strategies they’ve shared. We’ve met some incredible people, and learned so much. But none of them have been able to make investing as simple as this guest. Most of the time we’re speaking with folks who’ve been in the investing world for a decade, maybe even two, but never have we had the opportunity to chat with someone that has the breadth of knowledge you...

It’s refreshing in an era of Robin Hood pump n’ dumps, Forex Traders, and so called Crypto experts, to hear someone say that preservation of capital is far more important than making a quick return. Chris Vermeulen is a Technical Trading expert who teaches his students the slow and steady path to financial independence. Ever since Chris’ dad lost everything they had in a land deal gone wrong, his focus has been on building a strong financial foundation that will last long af...

“Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome” Clint Eastwood, Heartbreak Ridge No guest we’ve had on the show embodies this more than our guest on this episode. Gary Hibbert is a real estate entrepreneur which I can say from personal experience has a massive heart, and truly cares about other people’s lives. I first met Gary through a random phone call back in 2015. Since then I’ve had the great pleasure of attending his meetups, learning from him and his team, and breaking bread together...

As we approach the end of our 3rd season, I look back and think about all the guests we’ve had. Some have been back a couple of times… some never showed up the first time. But on this episode we have my all time favourite guest, not just because he’s an expert in the Crypto space, but because he’s become a true friend, even though we’ve never met in person. The more time I’ve spent with Zach, the more fascinated I am by his faith, knowledge, and depth of character. ...

Every once in a while we have a guest that has so much great insight to share that JT and I barely have to speak. Preston Brown is one of those guests. He’s a serial entrepreneur with over 18 operating businesses, a college drop out, and makes nearly $200M dollars a year. So he’s got few insights to share. Lol Have a listen to our conversation, or should I say, lesson with Preston Brown on this episode of “Guide 2 the Grind”. www.guidetothegrind.com

We all know the market is terrible, the sky is falling, and we should all probably just give up on trying to get ahead. …at least if you listen to the news. But there’s opportunities in every cycle of the market, and it’s no different today. Think about the “go-go 80’s”. They were some of the most prosperous times the western world has ever known. Yet mortgage interest rates were in the high teens and low twenties. How can that be? Are we looking back on those ti...

One of the biggest problems we’re seeing right now is that buyers just don’t qualify for enough money to buy the homes they want. Banks have really tightened their lending restrictions, and the stress test isn’t giving them enough buying power. But is the market really as bad as everyone thinks? Truly, I don’t know. Here’s what I do know… Everyone hates change, and nobody is happy with the way it is. At the root of it, that’s what’s happening right now, change. It does...

When most people think of franchising its fast food joints and coffee shops that come to mind first. And anyone that's owned this kind of business will tell you, it's not easy, and it's not a 9-5 kinda lifestyle. But what if there are franchises that offer passive, or at least mostly passive income? On this episode of "Guide 2 the Grind" we're talking with Bob Bernotas. Bob helps folks create an exit plan from their corporate backgrounds, and buy franchises that offer mostly passive i...

Have you ever felt unfulfilled in your personal and/or professional life? The struggle to find significance in our day to day can be subtle, but it underlies everything we do. For some the motivation to keep going is derived from their family and sense of duty to them. For others it can be a lot more challenging to define. What makes you feel like you have purpose in life? What holds us back from finding it? On this episode of “Guide 2 the Grind” we sit down with Xpansive Wa...

It’s no secret that homeownership is becoming out of reach for a lot of first time homebuyers. But does that mean they’re going to have to rent forever? Our guest on episode 128 of “Guide 2 the Grind”, Franco Perez, proves that there’s always opportunity in real estate, no matter what the market is doing. By shifting his client’s focus away from buying their "dream home” right off the bat, and being house poor, he’s able to show them that there’s a far more affordable way to st...

Have you ever hit one of your goals, felt the immediate rush, and then thought it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be? I learned early on that having goals is great, but achieving them can kinda suck... ...if you don’t have the next one already lined up. In Proverbs there’s a great quote that says; “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Like anything, real estate investing can become tedious, and even boring, if you’...

When I first got into sales (well over a decade ago now) I remember my mentors talking about building relationships. I remember learning all sorts of “tactics” to endear myself to people, but it always felt fake. Deep down I knew there was more to it. Relationships come down to one very simple concept: caring about other people. John Maxwell said it best when he said “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” This is a hard and fast rule tha...

When I was a kid one of my all time favourite shows was the Fall Guy. If you’re old enough to remember it, what could make for better tv than a Hollywood stuntman who fights crime in his spare time. And how cool was that truck? As I got older, there seemed to be less magic in the world. And of course I knew that a show like that wasn’t real. But there are real stuntmen in the world. Randy Butcher is well known and well respected stunt coordinator with decades in the film busine...