Next Level Pros - #42: Ryan Pineda: Founder Of Pineda Company, Real Estate Titan, Best Selling Author

Episode Date: October 13, 2023

In this captivating episode, we sit down with Ryan Pineda, a former professional baseball player turned real estate mogul and serial entrepreneur. Ryan's journey is a rollercoaster of entrepreneurship, resilience, and unyielding support from his family.  From his early days flipping furniture to scaling his real estate business, Ryan's story is filled with unexpected twists and valuable lessons. He shares insights into his transition from sports to real estate, the pivotal moments that changed the game for him, and the remarkable role his wife played in his success. Ryan's genuine character and unwavering determination have not only inspired millions but also propelled him to the pinnacle of the real estate industry Tune in to hear how Ryan went from flipping couches to flipping houses! If you're looking for motivation, entrepreneurship wisdom, and the power of unwavering support in your journey, this episode is a must-listen HIGHLIGHTS "Success isn't just about talent; it's about work ethic, it's about the hours you put in." "When I realized I wasn't going to make it to the Major Leagues, I had to find a new dream. "Failure is part of the journey. I've made terrible real estate investments, but I've learned from them." TIMESTAMPS 00:00: Introduction 02:06: Professional Baseball 05:02: Starting From Zero 11:04: Real Estate Flipping 14:43: Social Media Success  21:06: Gender Roles & Homeschooling  24:21: Realtionships 29:13: Parenting Challenges 32:35: Power Of Positivity 39:08: Faith & Core Values 43:08: Regrets 50:19: Personal Growth  🚀 Join my community - Founder Acceleration https://www.founderacceleration.com 🤯 Apply for our next Mastermind https://www.thefoundermastermind.com ⛳️ Golf with Chris https://www.golfwithchris.com 🎤 Watch my latest Podcast Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-founder-podcast/id1687030281 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1e0cL2vI1JAtQrojSOA7D2?si=dc252f8540ee4b05 YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thefounderspodcast

Halfway through the year of the baseball season, I was killing it on real estate, sucking on the baseball field because I was on my laptop freaking closing deals, like on calls and all this crap. And then I was just running out to go play a game. So at that point, I'd kind of like reached my capacity. Your focus was gone. Yeah. And I was kind of losing my passion for baseball. I mean, I was in my eighth season and I kind of already figured out what I was going to do. So I got released halfway through. I was at peace because I didn't want to quit during the season. I was kind of actually hoping that something would give. And, you know, I ended up going home. Super happy. Went and finished the year. I made 750 grand that year. Yo, yo, yo,

welcome to another episode of the Founder Podcast. Today, I am joined by Mr. Ryan Panetta. Welcome to the show, Mr. Ryan. Happy to be here, dude. Dude, Ryan is a serial entrepreneur. He is in the info space, the house flipping space. The guy has played professional baseball. He's a family man, a man of God. All kinds of cool things.

All the things that I love to stand for myself. So excited to have you. Yeah, dude. Thanks for coming out to Vegas, man. Hopefully it's treating you good. Dude, it's good to be here. So I'm on Ryan's little setup. He's got an awesome facility here, by the way, up and down. He's got a great team, great culture, great vibes vibes all the great core values been i got the tour of the space was really cool to see like you know just everything you guys are standing for so so tell me tell me about building this business like you play professional baseball give me the background where'd you grow up yeah how'd you how'd you get into professional

baseball all that stuff yeah you know i grew up here in Vegas, so I love Las Vegas. Um, yeah, growing up, dude, I just want to play baseball. That was it. I did not want to be an entrepreneur. I did not want to create videos. I did not want to build businesses or do real estate. I could care less about any of that stuff, which is funny because in hindsight, it should have been clear that that might've been the path because my mom was a realtor and my dad was an entrepreneur. My dad was actually an immigrant from the Philippines and came in, you know, worked at gas stations and eventually opened up his own convenience store. And so growing up, I was pretty middle class here in Vegas.

So do you speak any Tagalog? No. Does your dad? Yeah. Well, I don't know if he can anymore, but he did. But he has 12 brothers and sisters. Wow. Yeah. And so they all moved from the Philippines here to Vegas. So they do. I hear him speak. I don't hear my dad speak, but they speak. Yeah. But no, I never learned it. And, you know, just growing up, we were middle class. You know, my mom did well as a realtor. My dad had the store.

And they just kind of provided everything I needed. And, you know, growing up, I just wanted to play baseball. So you did a bunch of travel baseball, that type of thing, playing every weekend, like 30 weeks a year, 40 weeks a year? All the time, 24-7, playing baseball. I loved it. And, you know, the cool part was my dad was not athletic. So he knew.

He was like, dude, I ain't going to try and teach you. I'll just hire the best coaches. And so I always had good coaches growing up. And I should say, too, I did come from a line of athletes on my mom's side. So my grandpa played in the Olympics for water polo. Wow. My grandpa played in the Olympics for water polo. Wow. My grandpa played in the NFL for the Packers. And then my mom, uh, was college tennis player for UNLV. None of us played the same sport. And somehow your dad attracted this great athletic mother of yours.

Yeah. I don't know how he's shorter than her. Um, she's, you know, she's five, eight, uh, tennis player. And, you know, I ended up in sports. It was natural. How many siblings did you grow up with? Just one, my sister. Okay. Yep. And so she's not an athlete. She took after my dad and she's now our CFO. Oh, wow. Yeah. Family business. Yep. So you can trust her. Oh man. But I, uh, you know, I, I played baseball, and it was great. And I was always good. Got to play varsity as a freshman, starting shortstop, batting third. That led to D1 scholarship.

Ended up going to Cal State Northridge. Awesome. Was an All-American, freshman of the year in the conference. Got drafted by the Oakland A's. And kind of just living out my dream, dude. Like, everything was going to plan. And after three years, I got released by the Oakland A's and, you know, kind of just living out my dream, dude. Like everything was going to plan. And after three years I got released by the Oakland A's. And so, you know, what level did you get to single A, double A, triple A? I was in high A that year and I thought I was going to be in double A the next year. And they just released me in spring training.

And I'll tell you at 24 years old ish, um, I was engaged to my wife well my now wife but um it was tough dude because for the first time in your life you know basically you're you're questioning what your future looks like yeah and identity crisis very big identity crisis because i mean dude you're the man your whole life and these guys are like you're not good enough. And that was tough. I went into a little funk for a couple of weeks and my, you know, my fiance now wife and my mom and everyone was like, you should keep playing. I was like, no, like my career's over. I'm gonna start looking for a job. And I remember I half-heartedly like applied for a job. I applied at like Allegiant airlines and, uh and didn't even get like an interview or anything. And I was like, well, I literally have nothing going on.

And there's like these independent baseball teams that are reaching out. I might as well go play one more season. I already trained. So I went and played one more season and I played in Fargo, North Dakota and Grand Prairie, Texas. And I had the I had a blast. It was great. I was like, I'm gonna just keep playing as long as I can screw it. I ended up playing five seasons after that. So I played eight seasons professionally. Wow. Yeah. What kind of money you were making? I can't

imagine it was a lot. It was a ton, dude. I was making 7,000 a year. Yeah. Jeez. So who was supporting this lifestyle in hindsight? I don't know, because my wife was in college getting student loan debt, so she didn't work. Right. But when we got married, I literally, you know, I had to provide. So the moment I got drafted, you know, years prior, I became a realtor because I knew I needed some kind of money. Right.

And my mom had been a realtor, and it was the only thing I could think of that gave me the freedom to work when I wanted. And so I sucked. I just sold a few houses, nothing crazy. And I was just focused on baseball. After a couple of years, I gave up being a realtor. I hated it, got married. And to make a long story short, after furnishing our apartment, I spent about $1,000 on furniture, bought it all our apartment, you know, I had about, I spent about a thousand dollars on furniture, bought it all off Craigslist, all this stuff. And I remember sitting there looking at it and I was patting myself on the back. I was like, dude, I got some really good deals on this furniture, man. Like that was awesome. And then it occurred to me, I was like, I bet you I could resell this stuff. And I bet you I could sell for like 3000.

And then it just clicked. I was like, why don't I just start buying and selling stuff. And I bet you I could sell for like 3000. And then it just clicked. I was like, why don't I just start buying and selling stuff? And so I tested the idea. I went out and bought another couch, brought it back to the house. My wife's like, why did you buy another couch? And I'm like, just trust me. This is, this is going to be good. I got a great idea. I got a good idea. Let's see how it goes. And, um, sure enough, I ended up selling the couch. I made 200 bucks and I was like, dude, if I just do one of these a day, that's $6,000. It's math. Yeah. I was like, screw it. Let's go. So I went and bought a cat or, um, a truck for $1,500, uh, used pretty much all of our wedding gifts to furnish the place, get a truck. I rented a

storage unit and I just started buying random furniture. And that was like my first real business. So you're just buying and flipping on Craigslist? Yep. And I realized soon that couches were the thing. They were the easiest. They sold quick, less problems, good margin. And I built that business within a year to doing 8,000 bucks a month net. And I was like, dude, I've made it. This is 96 grand a year. I'm there, dude. I did.

I was like, I've made it. We're rich. We're officially rich. I swear. You go from making $7,000 a year. Oh, yeah. I know exactly what you're talking about, man. Yep.

The first year I made $105,000. I was just like, dude, I made it. Yeah. It's over. I'm like, babe, I don't know what we're going to do with all this money. Um, but we might retire. I don't know. Uh, love that. Yep. That's awesome. So you do that for how many years? So you're, I did that for like two and a half years, but after year number one, um, you know, we were, I was, we were on our one year anniversary in new Orleans and I was praying. I was like, God, this first year has been like, good, you know, you've provided for me and, you know, it's great, but I know I'm meant to do more. I'm not meant to flip couches my whole life. Like there's gotta

be something. And at that point I was still playing baseball, but I kind of knew my career wasn't going to be in the big leagues. And so I was like, what should I do? And I heard him whisper real estate. And at that point I had already quit real estate. I'd been a realtor, failed. I was like, dude, real estate sucks. And I ended up seeing this TV commercial literally within the minute. It's like, learn how to flip houses with no money and you know, all this stuff. Right. Pretty sure I saw the same commercial. Yeah. And I'm like, that's a scam. And I just felt the Holy Spirit pushing me to look into it more. And so I go on Google and I'm like, can you flip houses with no money? And all these websites pop up. What year is this? This is 2014. Okay. The end of 2014. And how old are you at that point? I would have been 25. Nice. So you're 34 now? Yeah. Nice. Yeah. So I was

25 and I see this website called BiggerPockets. And it's like, yeah, you know, you could wholesale, you can get this, you can do that, other people's money. I was like, they never taught me this in real estate school. And you know, sure enough, I buy a book from my now friend, Brandon Turner. And I read the book on the anniversary, like within a night, I was like, Holy crap. It was like the light bulb went off again. I was like, this is what I've been missing. Cause I always knew how to hustle and find deals. I could negotiate. I just didn't know how to get money.

So I went back and I told my wife on the flight home, I go, we're flipping houses. She's like, whatever. And I go, here's the thing. We don't have enough money, but hear me out. I'm going to max out both of our credit cards and I'm going to get a down payment. We're going to get a hard money loan

and it's going to work. And she's like, all right. I was like, good, because I've already applied for new lines of credit and everything. It's going to be great. So, you know, we end up doing that. I get my first deal a couple months later.

Go all in, flip it, made 25 grand. Where was this first deal at? Was it here in Vegas? Yeah, yeah. Everything was in Vegas and it, made 25 grand. And where was this first deal at? Was it here in Vegas? Yeah. Yeah. Everything was in Vegas and it was it, dude. Once I got the proof of concept, my mind immediately went to, well, okay, how many of these do I need to do to make a hundred? Like, okay, if I do about five, we're there. If I, man, what if I did one a month? I mean, we might make fricking 200 plus grand. That'd be crazy. And that's what I did. You know, the first year I flipped five, the next year I flipped 20 made over 200 grand. I thought I was the richest person on earth. Um,

by the way, I'm still playing baseball. So like now I'm actually very rich because my baseball buddies are making seven grand a year and I'm over here. I just made 200 G's. I was like, guys, dude, I, I got it. I got dinner. Don't worry about it. Dinner's on me. Yeah. Come on boys. Don't worry. Your boys got you. And then the next year, um, was 2017 and halfway through the year of the baseball season, I was killing it on, um, real estate sucking on the baseball field because I was on my laptop for closing deals, like on calls and all this crap. And then I was just running out to go play a game. So at that point I'd kind of like reached my capacity. Your focus was good. Yeah. And I was kind of losing my passion for

baseball. I mean, I was in my eighth season and I kind of already figured out what I was going to do. So I got released halfway through. I was at peace cause I didn't want to quit during the season. I was kind of actually hoping that something would give and, um, you know, I was at peace because I didn't want to quit during the season. I was kind of actually hoping that something would give. And, you know, I ended up going home, super happy, went and finished the year. I made 750 grand that year. What year is this? 2017. Nice. And going into 2018, I was like, all right, I'm going to be like legit. You know, I'm going to go all in on business. I've been literally half-heartedly in business and I made seven 50 and I've been playing baseball. I'm going to like, go get an office and do this legit. I'm going to go build a brand. I got like a website, you know, and all of a sudden I start going to business conferences. And so we were just talking before about Cardone's 10X in 2018.

So that was in like, I think, February of 2018. So I go to this event, and at that time I had set a goal. I'm like, I want to flip 100 homes this year. And I don't know how I'm going to get there, but I'm going to do it. And it was during that event that I saw these guys I'd never seen before. Grant, I had known of him, but not really. Guys like Bradley, who's now my friend. And Russell Brunson was the first guy I ever bought anything from.

He had this legendary pitch. I was like, freaking, I don't even know what this ClickFunnels thing is, but I'm going to buy it. Feels right. Yeah, it feels good. He sold me. And I was the biggest skeptic ever, the cheapest dude. I was like, dude, I ain't buying any of this crap. This is a pitch fest. By the end, I was like, freaking, here feels good. He sold me. And I was the biggest skeptic ever. The cheapest dude. I was

like, dude, I ain't buying any of this crap. This is a pitch fest. By the end, I was like, freaking here it is. Where's, where do I walk to the back and give him my form? So bought that. Then I was like in buying mode. I bought Tai Lopez's thing. And then I bought somebody else's thing. I was like, all right, we're in credit card. Yeah. I'm like, I'm in, I'm in, I'm going to invest in my future. What I will say is even though I didn't use any of them, um, what I learned from that event was like one, what was possible and what these guys were all doing in 2018, they were all online building businesses and building brands. And I was like, okay, I gotta go online. I gotta like build my authority. And so I ended up writing my first book in 2018 because of Russell's speech. He was like, dude, you're an expert in something.

And at that point I'd flipped over a hundred homes and I was like, I'm going to write a book. And so I wrote my first book, flip your future. And, um, to make a long story short, I ended up flipping 150 homes that year and made over 2 million bucks. And I was like, dude, this is crazy. And, you know, from there just kept flipping, you know, hundreds of homes. And then at that point, other verticals started to open, you know, I opened up a real estate brokerage. We built it to over 200 agents. Then I opened up a tax firm. Then people wanted to learn how I was flipping. And I resisted being a guru for a long time because I just didn't like the stigma. Yeah. And after a while, I finally was like, I'll just hold one event. And so I held a little event. It was fun. And then next year, 2019, I held a little event. It was fun.

And then 2020, when the pandemic struck, I went all in on social media and also just education because I was like, well, I know if I'm on social media, education is going to be a byproduct of this. And the pandemic really kind of forced me to just start making content because I had nothing else to do. And so, you know, I start making TikToks, start dancing. Like, I don't know what I'm doing. Start making YouTube videos at my kitchen counter. All while I had like 50 flips going on and they're saying that they don't know what the market's gonna do and you know it was like a very weird time dude that

was that was a scary time man that yeah the covid when covid hit right march end of march i think everybody questioned the future yeah especially if you had stuff in the pipeline oh yeah i mean dude we had we had a big build, you know, like multimillion dollar build that we were doing at that time. It was like, it was scary. It was like, uh, we just get stuck with this and have no way to pay for it. Yeah. I mean, I had 50 hard money loans and I was like, I don't know. I don't know how this is going to go down, but Hey, what can I do? And so I'm gonna make videos. So I started making videos and, uh, obviously it was like, in hindsight, the best

time to do that. And that was another God moment where a light bulb went off. Cause during that time, it just occurred to me, I was like, man, social media is this thing that everyone's on right now. And this Tik TOK thing looks really interesting. And I was just like, you know what? It feels right. I'm going to do this. And so I studied for like a month while we were locked up everything about YouTube and TikTok. And then it occurred to, I was like, there's a blueprint for this. And so I just started doing it. And, um, you know, I made a video like on YouTube, like May 1st, I think. And, you know, in TikTok, I had already started to see success when I started making them around March of that year.

And, you know, the rest is history. You know, it blew up way quicker than I thought. The education blew up. Obviously, real estate went crazy. And so, you know, for 2020, 2021, you know, early 2020, I was just like on a freaking ride. I was like, dang, this is nuts. Like, you know, making more money than ever imagined, starting new businesses, meeting cool people because of social media and introductions. And then we started doing syndications and we're buying

hundreds of units and man, it was a wild ride, man. I mean, I don't want to say was it while like we, you know, we're still on the ride, still on the ride, but man, that that's quite the story. So yeah, obviously, you know, going're still on the ride. Still on the ride. But man, that's quite the story. So yeah, obviously, you know, going from a baseball player to this real estate guru to now an educational platform where you're teaching and, you know, selling information and whatnot. I mean, that's pretty awesome. Along the way, I mean, you got married. Yeah. At what age?

So 24, about to celebrate 10 years in like two weeks. How many kids do you have? Three. Tell me about like how they played a role in this along the way. Yeah, so my wife and I got married very young. She was still in school. And, you know, we thought that I was going to be a rich baseball player. Like that was, you know, she saw my potential in that regard.

Maybe not like how it ended up. The result ended up being the same, but the path was different. And, um, you know, we, we had decided we were like, we don't want to have kids until, you know, we enjoy life together as married people. And so we, we put a five-year timeline on it and surprisingly we stuck to it. Um, and so by the time we had kids in 2019, like, you know, we were obviously already well established. And, you know, my wife was an English teacher, eighth grade in the inner cities. And so she did that for about three or four years, not for money, obviously, just she loved it. And man, it was great. Like her, if you ask her, her favorite years were actually when we were grinding, traveling,

playing bait, like she would love every summer coming with me to play and just attending the games. And she knew how much I loved playing baseball and being an athlete. I honestly, I mean, I golf a lot now and that's kind of like brought it back. But yeah, when I think about that, those times versus now, like, man, dude, there's nothing like it. But anyways, I was there a time that like she didn't support you or she questioned what you were doing? No. And that's what I'll say her superpower is, is that she has always been, I don't want to say an enabler because I'm an enabler. I'm like, this is what I want to do. And she's like, all right, cool. Let's do it. She's a very, um, chill wife. She's never, she never will nag.

She'll never, um, try and talk me out of anything. She just trusts my judgment. Even when we were young, I'm like, I want to max out our credit cards. I want to flip couches. And she's like, all right, let's do it. And then obviously, you know, as more success comes, like, you know, more trust is built. Right. But even when things haven't worked out the way we thought, it's still like,

all right, because, you know, there have been times where I'm like, yeah, you know, we're going to probably lose a couple million dollars from X, Y, Z. She's like, all right. She's like, I just, uh, you'll make it back. Whatever. And she's, yeah, she's never cared about, we both have really never cared about money. Yeah. It's ironic because I talk about money so much, but like, we both have no attachment to it. It's awesome. It's a great way to live. You know, I mean, there's so, there's so many people that attach their whole livelihood to making money. They chase it their whole life thinking that one day when I get it, it's going to change my life. I'm

going to be happy. I'm going to do all these different things only to get there and realize my life still sucks. My life still it's still empty yeah still chasing still yeah so that that's phenomenal that the the fact that you guys found each other she supported you along the way yep you know i i have a very similar wife that's just been like full trust you're gonna take care of it i'll do my thing on the back end you take care of take care of the family well how much easier is it too i mean you kids. Like, when you know that your household is good. Yeah, absolutely. I think there's real power, and it's interesting

because society has gone so far away from that, right? Like, both parents working in the home, you know, you're farming your kids out to, you know, babysitters, essentially. Yeah. And somebody else is raising your kids. Do you homeschool? No, we don't, but only because my wife feels a little overwhelmed and she refuses to allow me to hire somebody.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because she doesn't want to have her motherly role replaced. Ah, okay. So that's an ongoing debate at the Lee household on whether or not we homeschool. Yeah. It just seems like most successful entrepreneurs I interview are like, yeah, we homeschool. Yeah. Yeah. We, I've been trying to get my wife. That's the one thing I haven't been able to get my wife on board with. Yeah. We're, so my kids are under five. So technically we don't have to do anything yet, but, um, that was an interesting conversation

when I finally had the idea and getting her on board with that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Having a woman, though, that supports you, that loves you, that takes care of things at home, right? Like, really, like, takes that job seriously. Oh, yeah. You know? And I think a lot of women, like, look down on the fact, like, oh, no, I'm a feminist.

You know, I can't be that. Like there's a real role to play in, in like building a kingdom together. Heck yeah. Oh man. And I'm, I'm a big, big fan of like having, having a wife in the home that takes care of the family. Yeah. You know, I've, I've, I've talked about this in depth with, um, you know, from a biblical standpoint, but also, um, I've talked to a lot of these, uh, alpha male red pill guys, you know, from a biblical standpoint, but also, um, I've talked to a lot of these, uh, alpha male red pill guys, you know, and hearing their perspectives, uh, and I've talked to most of them. And so it's interesting that both perspectives come to the same conclusion, right? Though one, you know, it's like, yeah, you know, I want to be a womanizer and have all this stuff and, you know, this is what I want to do. And then even from the biblical perspective,

it's like, well, you know, um, God designed men to lead the household and that is what it is. Like you, you believe it or you don't. And you know, when roles are reversed, there's these consequences that do happen. It's like, dude, I wasn't born with motherly instincts. Right. You know, like what I, I, I take care of the kids on the weekends. Cause that's, I don't work on the weekends. And so that's my time to like hang out. And I'm like, dude, care of the kids on the weekends because I don't work on the weekends. And so that's my time to, like, hang out. And I'm like, dude, if I had to do this every day, holy crap. Dude, I am with you.

Like, if my wife ever leaves, like, for a two- or three-day trip, like, hey, I want you to, like, drop so-and-so off or do this or that and the other. I'm like, how do you do this? I know. How do you do this on a regular basis? Yeah, let me go solve the million dollar problem. That'll be way easier than doing this. Oh my goodness. And she feels the same way, right?

She's like, there's no way I want to do what you do every single day. Yeah. There's magic in having roles. Well, you know what? I had Adam Sosnick on. He's Patrick Bed-David's number two. And him and I are buddies. And we were talking about this in depth

because a lot of his podcast is about this. And essentially, we're now getting to see the results from like this, I don't wanna say feminist movement, but this, hey, we're both gonna work type movement, right? No, it's a feminist movement, but keep going. Yeah, whatever you wanna call it. Call it what you want. We're starting to now see the fruit of what's happening here. And basically

what's happened is you have all these women who've become very successful in their business careers or whatever. They're in their thirties now and they're still not married and they're looking for a man and they can't find one. And you start to, they're like, why can't I for a man, and they can't find one. And you start to, they're like, why can't I find a man? Like, I'm so accomplished and all this stuff. I was like, well, first off, like, nobody wants some alpha girl, okay? That's number one. But number two, the issue now becomes, think about your dating pool at this point.

Any guy who you might have thought you wanted already got married yep he ain't 35 you know just like this diamond in the rough that never got like he's done like the good guy's gone okay now you're taking seconds you're getting guys coming off a divorce or you know whatever they got kids and nothing wrong with that but that's who if you're this pool that's the pool and you know or you're taking pool, that's the pool. And, you know, or you're taking guys who wanted to be single the whole time. And so they've been womanizers and you know, that's also your pool. But then even Adam was saying this, Adam, successful, good looking, rich dude, you know, known and famous. He's, I think he's like 39,

40. And, you know, he had his his like 30 he was telling a story of how like his 35 year old girlfriend not his girlfriend but friend who's a girl is like you know we should date and adam's like no we shouldn't like i'm gonna go after a 25 year old or something because he wants to have kids and he wants once you reach that level now those girls are competing with the young girls. Oh, man. And so, like, where do they stand at that point? And to your point, there's so much power in getting married young, growing up together, going through the grind together. Oh, yeah. You know, like, if I was trying to find a wife at age 40 and rich or whatnot,

I'd be attracting all the wrong women. Oh, for sure. You know, versus, you know, when me and my wife got married, and similar to you, right, I had $1,000 in my bank account. I drove a 1991 Ford Thunderbird. At least it was a Thunderbird. Yeah, dude. It literally had, like, nothing.

And the fact that she believed in my potential rather than my already results, right? My wife always says she's like the best investor. She's like, I invested in you. And I knew that your stock was, it was undervalued. That's awesome. That's awesome. She recognizes it.

Yeah, but it's an interesting world we're in, man, because yeah, it's like, and then, you know, those kinds of, also, too, with those women, they don't really want a guy who's making less than them or whatever. So it's like, I just, like, their pool is literally like 1% of guys when 10 years earlier it would have been this massive pool where you're going to have, like, all these great options. I know, yeah.

Yeah, it's crazy. And really, I mean, there's, there's just so much joy in having a relationship early and having kids and having, I mean, there, there's so much that most of the world is missing out on. Yeah. And they just, this, this whole movement, whether it's feminism, whether it's putting off kids, whether like having a dog instead of kids, like, I mean, just all kinds of crazy, weird left-wing agenda type stuff. It's crazy. So yeah, very, very interesting. So tell me, obviously God has played a big role in your life. Tell me how he's played a role. I mean, obviously you've quoted him as inspiring you at different points in your life.

Like as far as like how do you consistently make that a priority with all these other distractions? Yeah. So for me, I grew up in the church, Christian church. And, you know, I've always had faith. And over time, as just different things have happened in my life. Thankfully, my faith has grown. I was never one of these guys that rebelled and fell away or anything like that. It's just kind of like been this steady increase. And by no means is it always just perfect, but I've always just tried to listen and see what God's calling me to do next. And I'll tell you, um, having kids definitely played a major role in my perception of what business success and faith and everything looks like, because, you know,

we waited five years to have kids. And my first son, um, James was born two months premature and he had to spend two months in the NICU. And it was really difficult because he couldn't breathe, he couldn't eat, he couldn't do anything. They said he was going to have a lot of problems and all these things. And, you know, after two months, we got him, and, you know, he's had his own set of issues. He has special needs.

And, you know, he's had to be in therapies his whole life and different things. But, you know, overall, he's just a happy boy. He's self-functioning. He's crazy. But, you know overall he's just a happy boy he's self-functioning he's crazy um but you know during that first year not only did we have to deal with that but um towards christmas he ended up bumping his head and you know took him to the hospital he had a huge freaking tennis ball on his head and they look at him and they're like, he's good. Don't worry about it. I'm like, all right. You know, we watched him a couple of days later. We're like, dude, he ain't good. So we take him a different hospital. They're like, Hey, we got to x-ray him and all that. So

they x-ray him. They're like, his brain is bleeding and he's not even one years old yet. And, uh, during that, you know, they, they put him under for emergency surgery like hours later. And I remember praying and I was like, God, you know, I forgot to even say it, but like when he was born two months premature, I was like in the same boat. I was like, he's being born right now. He's not due for two more months. We don't have a room. We don't have anything. And they're like, yeah, he's coming right now. And I was like, is he going to live? Like,

you know? And so I found myself praying when he was born, like, all right, God, just like, make sure he's okay. And then I found myself again, less than a year later, but this time far worse of like, make sure he makes it through this surgery. Cause the doctors were like, I don't, we can't guarantee anything. So anyways, I just remember saying that prayer of like, God, you know, I would give up everything to make sure he's good. I'd give up the money, the real estate, the businesses. I can go build that back. That ain't a problem. Make sure he's okay. And obviously he came out of it, ended up being fine. Um, and even during that first year between those two incidents,

my wife really struggled first year as a mother having to deal with such a hard baby. And, um, that was the first time that I really started taking it serious of like, Hey, I'm not gonna, you know, I stopped working on Wednesdays. I was like, I'm gonna stay home, help her out. I already wasn't even working on the weekends, even at that time, but just to, to show her that, you know, I'm there. So long story short, we get through that first year and then COVID hits and I have the 50 flips. Like, so there's all these things happening, even though I told you like the good part of the story that are happening behind the scenes that start to me, unknowingly starting to shift my mind of what is important. And all of this ended up becoming the foundation for, um, what I call the wealthy way, which is

the title of my book. And, you know, it's a bestseller and small business and entrepreneurship, but it ended up revealing to me that everybody was chasing the wrong things. And I had seen it time and time again with these entrepreneurs who were chasing status and money and net worth and rentals and whatever. And I was like, dude, that stuff don't matter. Like, it just really doesn't, you guys are good either way. Like what's another million, like, it just doesn't matter. Why are you so consumed with it? And it just occurred to me that it's just because they're empty currently and they have to figure out a way to fill the void and pass the time. And, um, you know, as a guy who had faith,

I was never empty in that regard, but I understood more clearly after having success that I didn't feel any different. I felt good when I was broke. I felt good when I was rich. And it was just this thing of, man, how do I get other people aware that like they're chasing the wrong things. And, um, I didn't know how to formulate it or anything in order to have like the business success to be able to like, say for sure that, Hey, this, this way works. Um, but it was only after years of proving it time and time again, where people were like, bro, how are you spending so much time with your family and your businesses are growing and you're putting out all this content and you're playing golf and you're on vacation and like, how you're in shape, you know, you're serving, you know, with your

shirt, like how? And so I just started to formulate how, and I wrote a blueprint and, um, you know, long story short, uh, the, the main backbone of it is faith. And if you don't have faith in where you're going, if you don't have faith in what you're doing, um, and if you don't have the right perspective of that life is very finite, um, in the span of eternity, you don't really understand that, man, like, why are we taking this little problem and making it to be such a big deal? It's so minuscule in the grand scheme of eternity. I love that. Having that eternal perspective is something that I've always preached that, like, is probably the most imperative to not overreacting to current circumstance, right? Like, be able to just realize that like,

in the grand scheme of things, this is nothing. This is such a minuscule problem that I'm dealing with. And it quickly shifts that mindset into, man, I've got to be there. So man, thanks for sharing that about your son and going through that struggle. What other points in your career, in your life, do you feel that have really shaped you that have been a struggle? I would say 2019 that that year, all that happened was the hardest year of my life. And, you know, I thought COVID would be another hard year and then ended up being freaking gangbusters. And so it was great. But this last 12 months have been a very difficult year, dude. I mean, look in the real estate market, it pretty much everyone got killed. Yeah. And, um, I lost a few million on flips that just turned out bad after me. You can't predict

they're going to double or triple interest. Like it is what it is, you know? Um, and so you do that. I had to shut a couple of businesses down, um, had to let go of some employees that I'd had for a while. Um, my wife was pregnant the whole time. You know, I have a newborn right now. Oh, and, uh, you know, that's number three. Yeah. Yeah. So the last 12 months have been extremely difficult, um, business wise. And I actually gave a presentation last week at my, uh, I got an event called wealth con we hold every quarter. And so, you know, we have a thousand entrepreneurs and investors there. And, um, the presentation was like, Hey, what I learned from the hardest 12

months of my life. And it was a very difficult time going through it with the businesses, with the markets, um, all the lessons I had to learn from all those different things. Um, and a lot of things I had to reevaluate, um, as we like reach a new level, because as you know, as you grow in business, the problems just get bigger. Right. And so one, you know, market shift may not be your fault, but you got to deal with this massive problem now. And, um, I learned a lot, dude. And it was only through faith that I still had comfort through it because I didn't even realize that I was going through such a storm. Yeah. Cause I was just like, yeah, you know, we'll figure it out day by day. Like it's all good. But then you look back in hindsight and you're like, Holy crap,

that was a lot of stuff we were going through. So let's talk about like best practices when, when you are going through something difficult like that, like how, how do you maintain that good positive attitude? Or, or like maybe you get hit with some information that's like, all of a sudden brings a bunch of stress. How do you handle that scenario? Well, I think it truly does come back down to faith because here's the thing. If you have no faith, then inherently it becomes all on you. And you're like, I have to solve this out of my own wisdom, resources, and power. But when you have faith, it no longer becomes about that. You know, I mean, Romans 8, 28 says that God does everything for our good,

as long as we're believers. And so you always know that he's testing your faith. I mean, James 1, 2, you know, the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And so for me, you know, you should treat, you should treat, you know, every trial as joyful because you know that you're being pruned for the next stage. And, um, it's not easy to accept that that's what's happening. Uh, but that's what was happening. And, you know, I look at my life a year later, I'm like, wow, look at all these things that have happened because of what God has removed and all these things he made room for. And it was only through faith that, you know, I had an optimistic outlook that regardless of what's going to happen, even if I were to lose whatever, right? You just know it's for your good. And so it doesn't matter. And other people just don't really have that if they lack faith. And, you know, I know some of

the most successful people in the world who have no faith. And despite however much success they have, they're always miserable. And it's a sad thing, man. And, you know, that's why he says that the hardest person to get into heaven is the rich man. Absolutely. So you've gone through these trials. You had a couple, you know, some difficult months and whatnot, and you've gotten through it and you've been faithful in doing so. What are you excited about right now in your business? Like what pushes you?

What gets you out of bed? What's the vision for Panetta and Enterprises? Yeah, yeah. I was telling you a little bit about a new business model we're about to run before this. And so I'm super excited about that because I think that it's truly one of those light bulb moments that I was talking about.

Trust me, I never say, like, I'm I'm just steady Eddie dude. I'm like, yeah, we're going to do this. It's going to do well and whatever. But I've known when I've gotten those moments where I'm like, Oh bro, this is like the next level. This is going to be nuts. And that's how I feel about this shift we're making, um, across our education, across my real estate business and how it will tie everything together and so um i'm really excited about that dude uh obviously we'll see how it goes i haven't proved it but i'm excited what do you what do you feel like your magic sauce is that you bring to your team building building your company like what what is what is your special skillset? I think it's changed over the

years, but I mean, I guess a lot of people would say, uh, maybe I'm a good leader, um, you know, and setting the tone and the standard and the culture and everything like that. How do you do that? By example. How do you mean? Give me, give me, give me examples. Well, I think that, you know, you're talking about core values before, and so you've got to set the tone with your core values. And so everybody should be hired based on the core values that you set. And so we have four core—well, we have five now. I actually added a fifth core value.

So for the first time in four years, we added one. Nice. And the fifth, the new one, is faith. Nice. Because it's become so important and ingrained in me that how important it is to is faith. Nice. Because it's become so important and ingrained in me that how important it is to have faith. Whether you're a Christian or not, you better have faith in what we're doing as a company.

You better buy into the vision. You better have faith in your coworkers and the roadmap, everything, right? And that didn't occur to me that that was so important until my business coach brought it up because when somebody gets hired, obviously they have faith in the company or else they wouldn't. Everybody's excited. Absolutely.

Right? But over years, people get worn down. They change. The market shifts. You change your game plan. And guess what? Most people hate change. And so they lose faith. And even though they could be a good person, it becomes this toxic thing. So anyways, that would be core value number one above all. But we've got serve others. We've got train daily. We've got play fair and no ego. And so for me, I better exemplify all of those things if I'm going to ask other people to do it. And, you know, just actions wise, it's just doing all of those, man. It's like, man, no matter how good we get, I don't want to have an ego. You know, training daily is like, bro, you're going to see me every day physically

getting better, mentally getting better, spiritually getting better. You know, I'm going to push everyone to get better. If somebody's lazy or content or complacent, you ain't going to make it very long. Love that. So for my listeners that haven't followed you, tell me about the pink hair. You know, what's funny is, so I've always had this freaking Filipino hair, right? It's just goes up, you know, and my dad still has like a massive full head of hair, you know, at 60s. And, um, when I got on social media, you know, my hair was like this, but not pink. And lots of people were commenting. They're like, oh, yeah, look at his hair. It's so ugly. And then someone would be like, dude, it's so cool. Like, man, whatever.

Right. It was very split. And I was like divisive hair. That's it was super divisive. Nice. And I never I was like, that's what people, okay. You know, I didn't even think about that being a thing. But sure enough, I was like, okay, well, let's really give them something to talk about. So I dyed it. So I dyed it blue the first time. And sure enough, like people went crazy. Lots of people talking.

Yeah, lots of people talking. And I was like, hey, let's see what it looks like in different colors so i did red and then i did yellow and then green and then purple then orange how often you changing it these days usually what happens is half the year it's natural half the year it's colored because i'll just like color it and then i'll just let it grow out yep obviously that looks like it's well maintained you're you're cutting it how often oh i get a haircut every week, every week. Yeah. I'm missing. You got to make, make sure that that's the same image portrayed all the time. Yep. And I'm recently, um, I recently grew a beard for the first time in my life, dude. Like it was crazy. I, uh, I was a baby face Asian my whole

life. Like I could not grow facial hair. And one day one of my buddies was just like, Oh, you know, you know what happened was last November. I was like, you know what? No shave November. I'm going to try and rally us from this fricking recession. Cause it was just like a nightmare. And, uh, I was like, I'm not shaving. And then like just this terrible patchy stuff. And then, um, one of my friends was like, dude, you should try minoxidil and biotin. It freaking will, you'll grow a beard. And I was like, dude, you can't just grow a beard. Like it's genetics.

He's like, try it. And I was like, okay. So every day I'd put minoxidil on my face. That's Rogaine for those who don't know. I put Rogaine on my face day and night and then I'd take my biotin. And then sure enough, after three months, it grew, dude, it grew. I was like, dude, I never thought I'd have a beard. This is like the best thing ever. And so, uh,

now I've had a beard since, and then freaking, I get lined up now with my haircuts. And I look back at the pictures without a beard and I'm like, dang, I thought I was good looking without a beard. Like I look like a little kid. This is like way better. Love it. Love it. Awesome, man. So what, uh, over the years, like what are your biggest regrets? What are, what are something that if you could go back to young little Ryan that you would change, um, going forward, would you do anything different? I personally wouldn't do anything different cause I love my life, um, going forward, would you do anything different? I personally wouldn't do anything different cause I love my life, but, um, but regardless of that, yeah, people, people ask me, not people, young kids ask me this, Ryan, what would you say to 19 year old Ryan, 20 year old

Ryan? And I hate this question from, from those guys because it's just like generic and they don't really like think about it it's just like they ask everybody it i'm like bro you want to like ask something tactical that you can utilize right but uh i was telling them like i would have told 20 year old ryan freaking keep grinding playing baseball and go get drafted and do your thing and ball out like the plan wouldn't have been hey hey, get into real estate sooner, become an entrepreneur sooner. Baseball's not going to work out. No, I would have been like, bro, just freaking do it.

Is there something though that you wish that you would have changed along the way? Like think it bigger. There was an opportunity that you missed on that you're still kicking yourself over. Early on in my career, I definitely had regrets about how the draft went. What a dumb thing that happened. You know, I was supposed to be pretty highly drafted.

And, you know, I was having a good year. I led the league in home runs and steals. And I was second in steals. But the last week of the season, we play in Cal state Fullerton, which is, you know, always a top 10 baseball team in the, in the country. And I went like over 12 with like eight strikeouts. It was just the worst possible showing in front of like 50 scouts. So anyways, I go from being like a potential top five round pick to I start getting calls in like the 10th, 11th, 12th round. And, um, you know, team offers me like 50 grand. I was thinking I was going to

get like 500 grand and I was like, all right, I'll sign. And then, you know, they don't draft me. And then another team's like, we'll give you 40 grand. And I'm like, no, this team said they're going to give me 50 grand. And then fricking they're like, all right. And then it just round by round by round. And then somebody's like, we'll give you 20 grand and then freaking they're like all right and then it just round by round by then somebody's like we'll give you 20 grand and 20 i'm like nah you know what by then it was like that i don't know 15 16th round and i was like screw it dude i'm just going back to school like i'm over it and then the a's end up drafting me like the 28th round like they didn't even call me or anything they just drafted me and uh you know scout calls me and he's like hey like i know it's not what you were expecting,

but we can give you $10,000 if you want to sign. And I was, dude, I was furious. Because, I mean, for most people, getting drafted would be the best day of their life. For me, it was literally probably the worst day of my life because I had such high expectations, and it was totally just botched. And I had an agent. I'm like, why are these guys calling me? Like, this makes no sense. So I totally botched it as a 21

year old, um, idiot. So I ended up saying, nah, I'm good, dude. Pass. And I went back to go play summer baseball. So I went to Alaska. It's kind of like a, a wilderness retreat, but i was playing baseball in alaska and uh i had to really like analyze myself i'm like what do i want with my life because man that was a disaster and ended up playing in alaska and had a guy once again god moment he uh he was playing for a team called athletes in action it's a christian organization and um he's like i heard you got drafted we were playing against him i was on second base i just like hit a double i was like yeah he's like what are you doing here and i was like um you know i i didn't get the money i wanted and he he's like, bro, if I got drafted, I would freaking go play for free. Like, what an opportunity.

Mind shift. Yeah. And it just clicked. I was like, yeah, what am I doing here? It just, like, made me think. I was like, I'm, like, mad over $10,000 or $20,000. Like, I have the opportunity to go play pro baseball. Like, if I make it, this will be irrelevant. like made me think i was like i'm like mad over ten thousand dollars or twenty that like i have the opportunity to go play pro baseball we're all like if i make it this will be irrelevant

and um literally i called him up right after that game and i said hey i still want to negotiate and feel somewhat good about myself i go if you can give me twenty thousand dollars i'll sign right now and then he called me back he's like can you do 15 i was like get me twenty thousand dollars like at least make me feel somewhat good about my, he's like, all right, we got you 20,000. We're going to send you to Vancouver, Canada. I was like, all right, I'm in, I'm already in Alaska. I'm not far away. So yeah. So, you know, I got a Vancouver and, uh, you know, the rest of the history. So I do regret how that played out because I did have the initial regrets of, man, I wonder how my career would have played out had I been with a different

team because like coaching and where you're at makes a huge difference. And I don't know, I don't, I don't know how to play it out. Yeah. It's, it's always interesting to like, yeah.

Self-reflect on like, what if I would have taken a different route? Like, what if I didn't marry my wife? What if I, you know? Yeah. That's the only one that I'm like,

man, what? Cause I had literally 10 different teams right i could have went to yeah and i ended up but you know obviously i have so many great relationships from my time there and obviously it led to it obviously played out the right way right like yeah you would not be here today yeah had you not exactly not not gone that way so So that's phenomenal. Last, just a couple of recommendations for the listeners.

Like, what are some incredible books? Obviously, you talked about your book, The Wealthy Way. What are some other books that have just changed your life that you'd recommend? So I have a goal to read at least 30 books a year. I've been doing that for, I don't know, six years. And usually, the book I always recommends, whatever I just like recently read and remember, because I don't, you know, I guess I don't really have all time classics, but some books that I literally, while we were talking mentioned, uh, maybe it was on my

podcast, but you know, book I recently read was 10 X is better than two X or easier than two X. And like, it was a good book about just reshifting your business model. And I was telling you, like, I'm really excited about this shift of, I think this is a 10 X move. I recently read or another book I said on my podcast was simplify. And so, you know, just thinking about, man, what are the most successful businesses in the world do? How do they simplify their business model to just crush it? So that was a good one. Um, obviously the Bible would be number one. Uh, yeah, I read a lot of books. I mean, I read a lot of faith-based books. I read a lot of business

books. Um, you know, there's all those all-time classics and stuff too, but it's just kind of like whatever the flavor of the month is for whatever it is I'm trying to learn. So just always being continuous and learning, right? Yeah, and like when I was trying to do social media, I was like, let me read everything I can about social media. When I was trying to play golf, I'm like, let me learn everything about golf and the mental game.

What's your handicap? It's a four right now. Wooina that's good yeah so my goal my side this is like my side quest in life is to become the best celebrity golfer that's like my side quest so two things have to happen i gotta become a bigger celebrity and then i have to become a better golfer so scratch yeah well i've i've shot par before so like i know i can do it right um i and i know the competition is it's tony romo and steph curry that's it so like i i know it's tony romo i didn't i didn't know he's a good golfer oh yeah him and steph are the two i really yeah i saw steph hit a freaking home one or something yeah and yeah they, they're maybe it just depends on how they're playing.

They're scratched, maybe a little plus one, plus two or something. So I know I could do that. Yeah. I was going to say those guys are not necessarily celebrity golfers. They're more athlete golfers. But you're technically an athlete golfer. So whoever is the most famous non-professional, I want to beat them. I love it. I love it. Love it.

Cool. Last question. I appreciate your time. I mean, it's been awesome. I know your time is extremely valuable. Last question. So young kid looking at starting his own business or maybe somebody that's looking at giving up, like they're struggling, they can't find a way out. What advice you have for them? Well, being a guy who really had his first success in real estate, I love, love, love real estate as a starting point. It's one of those businesses that anyone can do. There's no special skills required.

You don't need to have an MBA. You don't need technical expertise. You don't need to be the smartest guy. I know a bunch of idiots, multimillionaires in real estate. You don't got to worry about AI taking it over or like some disruption. It's just always going to be there. And it's tried and true. And it's one of those things that can make you money today. Flipping wholesaling is one of those things that'll make you a lot of money in the long run. Commercial, rentals, development. So to me, it's like, man, if you struggled to figure something out, real estate would be my first thing to go into. Love it. Where can my audience follow you? Where's the best channels? Instagram, YouTube, where at?

Yeah, I think they should check out our podcast, Wealthy Way Podcast. Instagram, I'm super active. YouTube, I'm super active. What's your handle on Instagram? It's Ryan Pineda on everything. Ryan Pineda. Yeah. Did you have to buy that at all? I did.

How much did you pay for those? I got it for cheap on the black market, dude. It's like three grand. Wow, nice. Nice work. Nice work. Well, dude, I appreciate your time. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for joining

us. Thanks for all the great information that you shared with the crowd until next time.