Digital Social Hour - From Drifting to Top 10: Building a 300K Download Podcast | John Gafford Part 2 DSH #968
Episode Date: December 10, 2024From drifting to 300K downloads a month! 🚀 John Gafford reveals how he built a top 10 entrepreneurship podcast and escaped the currents of life. Tune in for game-changing insights on achieving succ...ess and living with purpose! 💯 John shares his journey from running nightclubs to owning his first bar at 20, and how he transformed his life to become a high-level achiever. You'll learn: • The power of escaping the "drift" and taking control of your life 💪 • How to build a successful podcast from the ground up 🎙️ • Insider tips on networking and building valuable connections 🤝 • The importance of time management and prioritizing what matters most ⏰ Don't miss out on this eye-opening conversation packed with practical advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and anyone looking to level up their life! Watch now and subscribe for more insider secrets on the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly. 📺 Join the conversation and share your thoughts in the comments below! 👇 What's your biggest takeaway from John's success story? #EscapingTheDrift #PodcastSuccess #Entrepreneurship #DigitalSocialHour #SeanKelly #financialeducation #selfimprovement #realestate #howtoincreasepodcastsubscribers #howtostartapodcast CHAPTERS: 00:00 - John Gafford’s Podcast Escaping The Drift 01:28 - Working for Hooters 04:00 - Nightclub Ownership Benefits 06:32 - Future of Las Vegas Entertainment 09:07 - Local Entertainment Scene 11:00 - Vegas Golden Knights Overview 11:52 - Real Estate Insights 13:15 - Ryan Serhant Discussion 14:29 - Navigating Midlife Crisis 16:50 - Working for Others vs. Self-Employment 20:40 - Leaving for 90 Days: Impact 22:18 - Best Time Ever Experiences 24:17 - Mardi Gras Party Highlights 24:55 - Future Plans for John 26:00 - OUTRO APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: jenna@digitalsocialhour.com GUEST: John Gafford https://www.instagram.com/thejohngafford/ www.youtube.com/@EscapingtheDriftPodcast LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Digital Social Hour works with participants in sponsored media and stays compliant with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations regarding sponsored media. #ad Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Speakeasy vibe is a vibe.
Dude, I was gonna join it.
You know, I got, I,
cause it was cheap to join.
I got approved for the membership and I got it.
And then I literally,
I went there with a couple of friends.
What it made me realize,
do I really need a private club membership
that I feel like I'm gonna be obligated to use?
And the only thing really to do there is drink,
and the place is 35 minutes from my house.
I just decided that's probably a bad point for me.
All right, part two with John Gafford.
It's been a little over a year now.
Thanks for coming back on, man.
It's been a minute, man, it's been a minute.
Yeah, you started your own show now?
Yeah, well, my show's been going for like three years,
consistently now in the top 15 for entrepreneurship.
I think it was number nine yesterday.
Yeah, we're doing good, man.
It's averaging right around 300,000 downloads a month,
which I'm very proud of.
And yeah, we're doing great, man.
That's incredible.
Scaping the drift, check it out.
What's your goal with that show?
So, you know, that show is very much much like I have a book coming out very soon
Yeah, it's actually I talked to the publisher this morning
Very soon my book will come out over the same name escaping the drift and the whole idea with that is
It's kind of like a user's manual to my dipshit 26 year old self
so many people are just kind of drifting along with the currents of life and
What I try to do is provide practical advice
and bring high level achievers on that drop their secrets
about how to kind of get out of that,
just floating along with the currents of life
and start achieving at a different level.
Yeah, so at 26 you were just kind of figuring shit out.
No, I mean, dude, I did a lot of really cool stuff, right?
I had a lot of super cool jobs as a kid.
I mean, I was running nightclubs.
I mean, in my early 20s, I was a top level brass
for Hooters of America, the restaurant chain.
I owned my first bar when I was 20.
But I wasn't achieving any real success, right?
Like I had a lot of cool jobs that I had,
but I wouldn't say I was building any wealth.
You were working for someone else.
Yeah, man, I was just drifting along with the currency
wherever life was taking me, man.
That's what was happening.
Hooters fell off, man.
Yeah, dude, I have not been in a Hooters restaurant.
It's one of those things when you eat so much of something
for six years, which I did.
I never want to eat it again ever.
That's how I feel with Chipotle.
Dude, I'll tell you this, though.
Back in the day, man, working at Hooters,
it was like a fraternity house. It was the stuff that we did back in,
what would have been now the late 90s in those restaurants,
I mean, it was sheer insanity
compared to what you could get away with in any workplace.
Oh, I bet.
And now all those girls are just making more on OnlyFans.
Yeah, I cannot imagine how hard it would be
to staff one of those restaurants
or staff a place that is dependent on female sexuality
when those girls can't jump on OnlyFans
and do what they want to do.
Yeah, I wonder how the club's got affected, actually.
I mean, well, Vegas, I don't think so much,
because I mean, you look at those girls in Vegas
that are making $200,000 a year to hold a sparkler up
and sign a, carry a bottle to a table
It's insane. Yeah, and for those of you don't live in Vegas and hear that. Yeah, that's real. That's common. That's common
But yeah, I think when they're making that kind of money in the right clubs, I think it's I don't think it's effective Yeah, do you go out to any clubs?
Is rarely as I possibly can anymore man, you know, I think
These days I like to be in places you know always
live music well that's always a thing I'll always do you love music you know
the club stuff you know dude you know I don't maybe it's the old man to me now if
I can't hear I'm just like dude I'm miserable yeah like bro I just want to
talk to people yeah have you always been big on music always um you know back in
the day the nightclub that I had in Atlanta Cobalt Lounge was
Esquire magazine named at the number one nightclub on the East Coast United States and that was in
2000 we had all the Super Bowl parties there, which were awesome
So yeah
but I mean I came up in that era of
When house music and techno and all the stuff was really
Having a second wind if you will through that time of the late 90s early 2000s
And then house music really took over through that time of the late 90s, early 2000s, and then house music really took over
through that early part of the 2000s.
But as far as bands and stuff,
I've been playing drums since I was six.
Wow.
And one of the joys of my life has, for whatever reason,
one of the bars I ran in Atlanta was a live music venue,
so I got to meet a lot of really cool people there
that wound up becoming very, very famous.
And I will say one of the greatest joys
of my life is being able to be with the boys in the band.
When you can go to a show and you have that all access
and you're hanging out in the green room behind it
and there's just nothing better.
The camaraderie, right?
Yeah, dude, it's the closest thing you can be to like,
I don't know, it's pretty special.
Yeah, no, that Speakeasy vibe is a vibe.
Yeah. You know, I like those. I went to the one in Fountain Blue. Have, it's pretty special. Yeah, no, that speakease vibe is a vibe. Yeah.
You know, I like those.
I went to the one in Fountain Blue.
Have you been to that one?
Yeah, yeah.
Are you talking about poodle room up top?
Poodle room, yeah.
Dude, I was gonna join it, you know, I got,
cause it was cheap to join.
It was like 8,000 bucks for the membership
and then it was not that much monthly.
And I got approved for the membership and I got it.
And then I literally, I went there with a couple of friends
and we had like
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Five old fashions and then two of my guys smoked a cigar and the bill came out and the bill was egregious, which I kind of knew it would be.
But what, what it made me realize was I didn't,
do I really need a private club membership that I feel like I'm going to be
obligated to use?
And the only thing really to do there is drink and the place is 35 minutes from
my house.
I just decided that's probably a bad point for me.
I didn't join either.
I went, water was 10 bucks.
And then I loved the live cello music,
but other than that, yeah.
Great view, unbelievable view.
Did you see like the, you saw the sushi restaurant?
Yeah, that's like 500 bucks, right?
Yeah, it's crazy.
And I mean, it'd be a cool place to do private events,
but again, it's just, it's really far from where I live.
Oh, we definitely have an event there.
Yeah, I love when people think because you live in Vegas
that you're on the strip every night, and it's like,
dude, it's getting further every single day.
I mean, with traffic, it's literally getting further.
There's actually traffic now in Vegas.
Bro, I was telling you earlier when I came in,
to get from the Wynn to your event at Mandalay on Friday
It took us 54 minutes on this. It's crazy crazy
And why was you know, the uber driver was not doing what I was telling her to do
So there would have been a faster way to get there. But yeah, it was it's a disaster
Yeah, no, I remember when I moved here four years ago, and I don't remember any traffic that year
Yeah, I can get you know, it's funny
I used to you know
We have offices on this side of town
and on the other side of town and my partner and I,
we always meet at the win.
Cause neither one of us wants to make the trip
to those offices.
Yeah, cause Summerlin is starting to get pretty bad.
It is, I mean, we were over there last week
and I went to watch football with some friends
on the ridges and yeah, man, you don't realize
how busy it is getting over there as well.
Yeah, I'm excited about Vegas though.
There's a lot of good things coming.
There's a lot, man.
People ask me all the time about Vegas
and especially doing what we do with the real estate market
and talking about the future of the real estate market
in Vegas and nationally you're seeing a price pullback.
You're seeing prices drop and there's gonna be
probably a correction on a lot of areas,
but I just don't really see that for Vegas.
Because if you look at the growth that we've had in
Every direction over the last seven years name one other city
You can even think of that's picked up every major sports franchise in an eight-year window
Okay, we're gonna have basketball probably announced within the year
Yeah, and then we'll have every major franchise playing here within a 10-year period
That doesn't happen to go from zero to every single team,
like that just does not happen.
And you've seen with that this massive shift
in migration to Vegas because slowly but surely,
we're becoming less and less dependent on gaming
as our primary revenue driver.
I mean, it will always be a huge revenue driver here,
but you know, when I first moved here, that was it. I mean, it was gaming was the driver of everything.
And now you're starting to see with a lot of tech moving in and different things that
are happening on the Valley, we're becoming less and less dependent on what happens.
Right. Yeah. You're seeing Hollywood coming in too.
That's going to be huge. You know, those studios, I, you know, they've announced it, it's there.
Did you know that the tax credits that they asked for
are greater than what the Raiders asked for,
what the A's asked for?
No way.
Well, they'll probably produce more money, right?
I don't know though, but how could it?
Hollywood?
I mean, you're not selling tickets to shoot movies,
you're shooting with localized people.
They're saving money
because the unions won't necessarily be here effectively.
I'm not sure they will pretty quickly.
But the cost of doing business here will be much different.
Which again, I think why that affects,
you look at something like that,
how does that affect the real estate industry?
And I've had this conversation,
a year ago I was talking to Justin Colby,
and he's like, what should we buy?
And I said, you should buy 1.5 to 2.5 million dollar
midterm rentals is what you should buy
and get as many of them as you can.
And he's like, why?
I'm like, cause dude, if Will Ferrell comes here
to shoot a movie for four months,
he doesn't want to say it to win.
They're gonna want a place that they can stay
that feels like they're living here.
So if you can get those midterm rentals
for people that are coming in to work on the movies,
you'll be able to bang on them.
They're gonna do very, very well.
But stuff like that is what, you know,
obviously now you got that segment being gobbled up
and just all these little things trickle down
into our local economy.
Yeah, dude, there's so much taking off.
Comedians, Theo Vaughn, Andrew Schultz
had a show the night of my event.
Concerts are blowing up here.
There is not, you know,
people talk about living other places
and they say, you know, New York,
you know, the city never sleeps.
Dude, if you live in Las Vegas,
there is literally something you can do
every single night of the week.
You know, it's funny, case in point, randomly,
we were dinner on Sunday night
and my wife was talking
about comedians and was talking about how my son who is 16 would love Carrot Top,
which is ridiculous. It's a ridiculous show. It's not high brow comedy. It's just
nonsense, but it is pretty funny. And literally like I made one call and we're
going to take my son to see Carrot Top tonight because every night of the week,
tonight, cause it's just, I thought of it two days ago
and then tonight we're going.
And there's something every night.
Which the only thing that makes it hard
is if you have season tickets to all this stuff,
like especially sports.
Which you do.
It's a lot, it's a lot, man.
Hockey's a lot, football's a lot, there's a lot.
You might be one of the biggest Golden Knights fans
in the world.
Dude, I love it, man.
You know, we sit right by the penalty boxes,
which is great.
We go to almost every single game.
I will say the one game I went to was good networking.
Yeah, dude, that section,
that section where I sit in those club seats is awesome.
Yeah, I met Sean Whalen was there.
There's a couple, I think Grant Cardone
might have been there.
Yeah, yeah, dude, we see,
you see so many people in that club right there.
It's crazy.
Like the football games are too big, right?
There's too many places for people to disseminate to, but in the Knights games, it's really kind of localized. Yeah, it's crazy. Like the football games are too big, right? There's too many places for people to disseminate to,
but in the Knights games, it's really kind of localized.
Yeah, it's really localized to a couple of spots.
Yeah, cause when you go to the bar,
every period at the end, meets some people.
Yeah, you see everybody.
It's great, great networking.
Yeah, shout out to the Knights.
Are they good this year?
I haven't been keeping up.
They're gonna be, they haven't started playing this year,
but they're probably gonna be dreadful,
traded away pretty much the heart and soul of our team
got traded away. So we'll see, man. John DeMarche still got traded away, but we'll see going to be dreadful. Traded away pretty much the heart and soul of our team got traded away.
So we'll see, man.
Jonathan March still got traded away, but we'll see.
We'll see what happens.
You take the bag?
Nah, dude, I think they just didn't want to pay him.
I think they thought he was getting too old
and didn't want to pay him anymore.
Damn.
So off he went.
I don't know, man.
Who knows?
Who knows?
Have you had any of those guys on your pod, players?
No.
You know what?
Honestly, I've never tried.
That's surprising.
Yeah, you know, it's one of those things
where I have met a bunch of those guys.
They all buy cars from Nick Dosa,
the ones Vegas Auto Gallery.
So I've met a couple of them.
You know, obviously they were hanging around there a lot
when I was spending a lot of time over there at Nick's place.
I would meet a lot of those guys.
But yeah, I've never even asked any of them.
Again, with my show, we really lean towards
heavy entrepreneur stuff, really business building stuff
is what we try to do.
I've had some athletes through.
I mean, we had Al Jermaine Sterling, who Aljoe's great.
Awesome, and that was really just about
his story of overcoming and persistence,
which is great, because to do what he does in the UFC,
you've gotta have that mindset.
That was a mindset talk all day.
Oh yeah, I was looking at your top episodes.
Ryan Serhant was up there.
Serhant was great.
You know, obviously what we do was very similar.
So we had a lot of stuff to talk about.
It was funny.
I accused him of ruining real estate, which was funny.
Social media?
Yeah, well no, no, not so much him.
It was more a million dollar listing,
the way that they get on the phone
and argue over deals and transactions on the phone
when that's not at all
really how this works.
Because you've got, everything's gotta be on paper
and go back and forth contracts.
But I asked him about that.
And he was essentially like, no man, in Manhattan
that's really how this is.
That's really how it gets done.
There's no question.
So.
Handshake deals out there, right?
Well no, it's just they're able to massage
and manufacture things on verbal offers
because the contracts go to attorneys
to be drafted.
So they have to kind of massage out the terms.
That's how it is.
I mean, New York's crazy for real estate.
There's no MLS in New York.
A lot of people don't know there's no MLS.
How do you find a house?
Well, that's why they go do all these open houses
and go to all this stuff and do all these things
because they have to kind of know this inventory.
There's so much that's off market, it's crazy.
Holy crap, I wonder why they don't have one of those.
It's just how it's always been,
and it's wild, there's so much off market stuff
and so much new, you've got to be in the know.
So it's a much more, we're blessed in these markets
because we have the MLS, and we can just kind of,
what are you looking for, and go find it.
Whereas those guys, you're really paid
for what you know out there.
So mad respect to Ryan and what he does.
Yeah, it's based off connections.
Yeah, mad respect, dude.
Yeah, mad respect.
Shout out to Ryan.
Did you watch his new show?
Have not watched his new show, man.
Have not done that.
I don't watch a lot of TV.
I don't.
It's not something I do.
It's the only time I watch TV is if I'm on the treadmill.
That's it.
And I'll binge watch one thing.
Like I'll just start on something and binge watch it.
And then when it's done, I'll start something else.
100%.
So I'm literally watching one thing at one time. Yeah, no, these days in the car, I'm just start on something and binge watch it. And then when it's done, I'll start something else. 100%. So I'm literally watching one thing at one time.
Yeah, no, these days in the car, I'm just listening to pods.
Yeah, man, it's one of those things where,
and shout out to you for doing that,
because when I was your age and young,
you think you have all the time in the world,
and you think time is this infinite resource
that goes on forever.
And then when you get a little older,
you start to realize more or less,
more when you start watching your kids grow up.
And the speed at which your kids grow up
is what's kind of crazy.
You start to realize how finite that time is.
And you start to get real selective
with how you spend your time.
I bet.
And what you do.
And I'm very particular about,
I say no to way more things than I say yes.
Like, no offense, but if you see me at one of your events,
you're welcome, brother. No, I appreciate it. And I come to almost all of them, I do you see me at one of your events, you're welcome brother.
And I come to almost all of them I do,
cause I find value in what you do.
But yeah, I say no to a lot of people
and ask me to a lot of things.
No, I appreciate that for real.
Cause I know you're one of the top guys
at my events obviously.
So the fact that you're showing up means a lot.
I show up for you my man, I always will.
Appreciate it dude.
Did you have like a quarter life or midlife crisis
where you started realizing this?
No dude, I don't think so. Cause I I don't I don't think so because I've always
One of the things about me is I've always done what I want to do. Um, I have a very understanding wife
That understands that if I'm gonna do something it's just what's gonna happen and you know, sometimes
Well, I'd say more more times and not that works out. Sometimes that results in seven figure losses
more times than not that works out. Sometimes that results in seven figure losses.
But it's always kind of what I wanna do
at the time of the direction I wanna go
and she trusts me to do that stuff.
But I think, again, I think the thing that hit me the most
that I heard somebody say was,
you know, you get 18 summers with your kids.
And I think it was, I saw Jessie Etzler say that.
And when I saw that, it really hit me.
I was like, man, you know, this is going fast. And my son, who was 16, he was a junior in high school.
I got this summer, next summer, and he's gone.
He's off to college.
You know, when you have kids, 95% of the time
that you spend with them in their entire life
is before the age of 18.
Wow.
So from now until the day I die, you know,
there's only 5% of time left.
And that makes me very hyper aware of what I'm doing
and where I spend my time.
That's deep, man, because a lot of parents
are just grinding while they have kids.
It's time you can't get back.
And I think that one of the advantages
that I had of having kids later in life,
instead of, there's a give and take, right?
I have friends that had kids
when they were like 22 years old. now those kids are adults and they're
Great adults and those people are the same age as I am and they have
27 26 28 year old kids and they're like hanging out together like friends, right?
So that would be awesome, right?
That would be awesome to have your kids like adults that you can hang out with while you're still young enough to like hang out
I'm like that but on the flip side of that coin,
I think my kids have kept me young at heart
for a lot longer than you would.
I mean, we didn't have kids so I was 33.
And by doing that, it is definitely,
definitely without a shadow of a doubt, kept me young.
You know, when you show up at the school
and you're by far the oldest dad,
you're like, okay, cool, yeah.
And not that old, bro, I'm not that old, right?
But when you're in there and this dad is 22 and you're 36,
it's a little bit of a gap to deal with.
But I like that, I like that they've kept me young.
And yeah, and the fact that I was more financially stable
with them when they were born made me able to choose my, you know,
I've never, I've never had,
I've never worked for somebody else.
Wow.
I haven't worked for, I haven't worked for another human
being as far as punching a clock since I was 28 years old,
I think was probably the last time that happened,
29 years old, maybe.
Pooters.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, just I've had,
I had other jobs that I did and things that I did.
But yeah, but the fact that I've always worked for myself
in those times has given me that freedom to be able
to spend as much time as I wanted with them.
I see both sides of it,
because I have friends now that are living paycheck
to paycheck and dude, it's just stressful man with kids.
You know, I can't imagine, you know, it's like,
I think about it all the time and I wonder,
I mean, my wife's awesome and we have a great relationship.
But I wonder how much different that would be
if we had to sit down and have conversations like,
well, shit, we can't pay this.
We gotta put this off and blah, blah, blah.
That undue stress on a relationship,
I would think that that stress of money
probably undues way more relationships than you would think.
That's the normal mechanics.
No, I'm the same way.
That's why I'm building a safety net before I have kids
because you never know, man.
Yeah, no, no, no, for sure.
You don't.
And then you start having some weird health stuff happen
and all of a sudden you're like,
holy shit, are they set up forever?
And then you start grinding again and scrambling for that.
So you're never as prepared as you think
and life has levels.
I mean, there are people out there in the world
that could walk in and look at,
and this is not a flex, it's not that much money,
don't worry about it, but I'm saying they could walk in
and look at my active checking account
and they would be like, I could retire on that, right?
Yeah.
Because they just could live well within their means,
it is what it is.
And then there's people that,
then there's levels to this,
so the more you get, the more you have to make
and everybody has a number of what they have to have
to retire.
Like, okay, I can plan this out and then I can do that.
Yeah.
I'll get there at 50.
I'll get there by 55.
I'm not working anymore after 55.
Well, you gotta be careful with retirement
because they're doing new studies on brain health.
I know.
Okay, here's the thing.
Okay, let's talk about that.
So when I say, when I say retire,
I don't mean I'm gonna sit around and play golf every day
That's not what I mean. I mean that even in this business, right?
You know, we have 600 agents at work here and between this and then the mortgage company and then the title company everything else that we own
I
Feel the need to have to be here every day
Not that I have to do anything
other than direct traffic a little bit,
but I feel like if I'm not here,
I'm setting the wrong example of leadership
for the level of effort that you need to put out
to do what needs to be done.
And I feel like especially with our agents
who come in and they all,
they cycle in and cycle out, right?
There might be a month where I don't see one of our people cause
they're just not coming in the office or working from home. But I always feel,
I also feel like this responsibility that when people walk in,
they need to see me. Like I need to be here on that one day a month and then my
walk in, I need to be here. And so my definition of retiring or retirement
is not ceasing to work projects
It's not ceasing to chase your passion
It's ceasing to have to feel that they have the need to feel like you have to be anywhere at any given time interesting
That's what I want to get away from that's what I want to leave. Okay, so you would just be more like behind
Yeah, dude. I mean look at that point, you know
I sit on the board for a couple different things and you know a couple paid board chips
I was talking to my buddy Joshua this weekend. It's kind of the same plan. It's a couple paid board board seats
advisory seats
No equity. No fiduciary just just straight up easy peasy
Yeah, and give me something to think about and something to do and something to mold and help that next generation up
As we go along.
I plan on being fully involved in that stuff.
But again, it's that I need to be somewhere on Monday
at 9 a.m., that's what I gotta get away from.
Yeah.
That's the thing.
And we have, and I think we're gonna get there.
You're there already, you just,
your leadership style. Yes and no, yes and no.
Yeah, I feel that.
Did you pick that up from Trump, that leadership style? No. Um, you know, honestly,
I picked that up if I had to say anything, probably from Kent Clothier, um,
who is, I'll see him tomorrow. Uh,
Kent's a good friend and Kent's whole philosophy of time is now, you know,
in, in going from hustler to CEO. And you know,
one of the most profound things I ever heard anybody say was he said,
how many, you know, he's talking, It wasn't even that I remember was he speaking
I remember what it was he was like how many people here own a business a bunch of hands went up
He's like, okay cool. What would happen if you left for 90 days?
Didn't call in didn't do anything left for 90 days didn't show up. What would happen? Would you come back to a business?
People like well well no,
stuff would be hitting the walls.
He's like, well then you don't have a business,
you have a job.
A business is something you can leave
and still just prints money for you.
And that's how you make that jump
from that hustler mentality to the CEO mentality,
which so many people fail to do.
And I don't have to work.
I have great people that can handle every single task
on a daily basis that I can do, other
than the vision of the direction of the companies.
That's the one thing that is dependent on me right now.
And as we develop within our companies,
that next generation of leaders, part of that development
of them is teaching them to have that same level of vision
to see what's coming down,
see what's coming in the direction the company's going.
I love that.
You're going to Kent's Mastermind tomorrow,
first time in Boston?
Yeah, never been to Boston, man, never been there.
Shockingly enough, I've literally been all over the globe
and I've never been to Boston.
It occurred to me when I saw that, I was like,
I've never been here.
How's that possible?
That is wild.
Will you be trying a lobster roll?
I'm sure I will be trying a lobster roll.
I think, how do you go and not eat a lobster roll?
That's what they're known for, man.
Yeah, dude, you gotta do it.
I just had a viral clip for, I asked this guest,
where do you rank Vegas in terms of food in America?
He said number one.
It is, what is number one?
For one simple reason.
Every single great restaurant around the country,
their second location is here.
I mean, my favorite restaurant in Vegas,
my favorite restaurant is Bavette's.
Solid steakhouse.
Which is a Chicago steakhouse
with their second location here.
Oh, I didn't know they were Chicago.
Yeah, it's from Chicago.
It's absolutely just a-
It's the best bone marrow in Vegas.
It's the best.
And it's just a carbon copy of the restaurant there.
You look at the other restaurants, I figured,
Joe's Crab, or Joe's Stone Crab,
sorry, not Joe's Crab, or Joe's Stone Crab, sorry,
not Joe's Crab, Joe's Stone Crab from Miami.
I mean, every great restaurant now,
I mean, I love Komodo at Fountain Blue, I think it's great.
These are all restaurants from other places.
So if there is a foods,
if there's something that is really wonderful in an area,
it gets recreated here.
The only thing I will say the reception to that is,
is I don't think there's a great
New Orleans restaurant in Vegas.
I haven't seen any.
I don't think there is at all.
I think there's no great New Orleans restaurant.
Like I think when I first moved here 20 something years ago,
I wanna say that at Commander's Palace
in the casino at Orleans, I wanna say that's true,
but I don't know that that's true.
But they just, no great New Orleans restaurant
has ever tried it out here.
It's shocking to me.
What do you think about Hot and Juicy?
I think Hot and Juicy's good,
but I don't think New Orleans when I think that.
I think Asia is what I think.
Oh, really?
Yeah, that's what I think.
I thought that was like Southern.
No, I mean, the way they kind of do it,
but it's not the same.
There's just, it's just not the same.
You still go to New Orleans every year?
I'm there so many times a year.
It's crazy we're there.
We'll be gearing up obviously with Mardi Gras coming up
and the spring we'll be going again this year.
It's on my bucket list.
I've never been.
Dude, best time ever.
If you ever want to go, let me know.
I'll definitely take care of you when you go.
When you go.
Best time ever. I think this year it's in March. It changes. So next year then, right? If you ever want to go, let me know. I'll definitely take care of you when you get there. When you go. Best time ever.
I think this year it's in March, it changes.
So next year then, right?
Yeah, I want to say, but to give you a little taste though,
cause you know, I have like an epic Mardi Gras party
at my house every year.
I'm going this time.
Yes, we fly food in from New Orleans.
It is an epic, epic event.
Definitely going.
Always welcome.
Could have made the last one.
I was actually really bummed.
Dude, it's a great, it's a great party.
It's the only, I thought it was literally one party at my house a year and that's the party. That's what I'm waiting for. I love that, man. And it's a great party. It's the only, I throw literally one party at my house
a year and that's the party that's what I'm waiting for.
I love that man.
And it's an epic party.
Let's go.
What's next for you, my man?
So yeah, like I said, the book is coming out.
I published it this morning.
I had some notes against the final manuscript
so that'll be done.
And as soon as that finishes,
it's probably in the next six months.
Actually, no, I'm not gonna say it's in the next six months. I've been saying probably six months, but after the conversation eight, it's probably in the next six months. Actually, no, I'm not gonna say it's in the next six months.
I've been saying probably six months,
but after the conversation,
it'll be within the next six months.
It should hit.
Yeah, excited about that.
What's next with this is we just continue
to grow the companies that we have.
Obviously, being fully vertically integrated,
we continue to grab market share in Vegas.
Happy to say now that one out of every 17 homes sold in the valley is sold by us Wow, which I like that
That's a great number
And and we continue to do that with the same agent count
So we've we continue to gain great agents is is you know once is others retire and step out of the business
We gain better and better agents with you know
We have the highest average price point
of any large brokerage in Las Vegas.
Cause we gear towards luxury, which is awesome.
And yeah, I mean, just to keep doing what we do.
Love it, man.
We'll link your stuff below.
Check out the pod as well, guys.
Escaping the Drift, right?
Escaping the Drift, man.
We're all anywhere you can hear podcasts.
Boom. Thanks for coming on, man.
All right, brother.
Thanks for watching, guys.
See you next time. Peace.