Start With A Win - Interview With 2019 Freedom Award Winner Levi Rodgers

Episode Date: August 21, 2019

Our guests on this episode of the Start with a Win podcast are Levi Rodgers and Richard Pacheco of the Levi Rodgers Group of RE/MAX Military City. Levi is Retired Special Forces and he got into real estate in the San Antonio area after being wounded in combat serving our country. Richard is active in the National Guard and he also serves as the Operations Manager for the Levi Rodgers Group. Because of their commitment to helping people in their community buy and sell their homes, Levi and Richard are also very involved with their community at large, reaching out to people in all walks of life and giving back in every way they can.In fact, as a result of their service to their community and their service to our country, the Levi Rodgers Group was awarded the 2019 Freedom Award from the U.S. Secretary of Defense. One of only 15 recipients out of more than 2,000 nominees, Levi and Richard were able to participate in a ceremony at the Pentagon, which was a very affirming culmination of all of Levi’s dedication to freedom. While the transition from military life to civilian life was tough for him, Levi has found much success in creating an organizational culture that allows agents to thrive. He focuses on many concepts that he first learned in the military such as being in the right place at the right time in the right uniform, acting with integrity, looking for the win, and solving problems within yourself before trying to solve problems in others.Links:Freedom Award Recipients Named: https://www.army.mil/article/223172/freedom_award_2019_recipients_namedWebsite: https://www.levirodgersgroup.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeviRodgersRealEstate/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/levi-rodgers-17a138149 Connect with Adam:https://www.startwithawin.com/ https://www.facebook.com/REMAXAdamContoshttps://twitter.com/REMAXAdamContos https://www.instagram.com/REMAXadamcontos/ 

Atop of the 12th floor of the Remax World Headquarters, you're listening to Start With a Win with CEO Adam Kantos. And top of the 12th floor of Remax World Headquarters here in Denver, Colorado. Start With a Win, the great podcast. I got my friend here, producer Mark. How you doing, brother? I am doing wonderful today. Wonderful. We have a beautiful view of the mountains today.ynn, the great podcast. I got my friend here, Producer Mark. How you doing, brother? I am doing wonderful today. Wonderful.

We have a beautiful view of the mountains today. Nice, clear Colorado day. Exactly. When we talk about a top of the 12th floor. That's it. We are on top of it. Yeah, it's beautiful. You can see freedom from here.

Speaking about freedom. Yes, we have some amazing guys on the podcast today. We do have some amazing guys on the podcast. Stoked to kind of hear their story and just appreciate them for all their service to our country. Absolutely. So I am honored, truly honored to present from REMAX Military City, the owner and founder of the Levi Rogers Group. We have with us on the phone here Levi Rogers and his manager, Richard Pancecco.

Welcome, guys. Good morning. How are you doing? Good morning. We're doing great. We're doing great. Hey, Levi, tell us a little bit about yourself. So, you know, I appreciate it.

I'm a retired Army Special Forces warrant officer. I was wounded in Afghanistan in 2009, which brought me here to San Antonio, Texas, and found real estate through a real estate agent that treated me really good and I was inspired. I found a local REMAX office, jumped in, and the local broker owner there mentored me, and it was all over from there. And then seven, eight years later, I own one of the top producing real estate teams in the

country. So it's pretty neat. It's been a wild ride. That's awesome. That's awesome. Hey, first of all, thank you so much. Huge gratitude and respect to you. Thank you for your service, your sacrifice. You've given it your heart and soul and served your country honorably and well. And we're a Purple Heart recipient uh you've won a lot of uh accommodations for your uh valiant effort in on the battlefield so thank you so much for all that you've done for us no problem sir i must say uh i um you know as much as uh people love to thank me uh every time that happens i always like to point out the sacrifice that uh those that didn't make it uh have made as well as the families out there.

The families truly deserve all the credit and support of the warfighter today. But I do appreciate your words. Thank you. I completely agree. You know, it's the families that keep the warriors propped up on the battlefield. And, you know, they're fighting the battle here at home emotionally emotionally and and support wise so we give great gratitude to them as well and richard richard we're we're glad to have you on the show and thank you for your service sir thank you thank you so richard tell us a little bit about yourself also okay um so i'm got a little bit of uh i just want

to say a little different background i uh originally from from El Paso. I moved down here back in 2009. And I didn't know what I was going to do. 2011, I decided to join the National Guard as a reservist, National Guard, and have been in it for about eight years. And the way I met Levi is kind of funny. I worked for Schwann's, and he happened to be my customer. And just the way he met that broker, I met him. And lo and behold, two and a half years later, I worked for Levi.

That's pretty cool. You know, leadership sticks together, right? Yes, sir. You know, it's funny about that. I wanted to meet the guy that was selling my wife $300 worth of frozen food every week. And I said, I have to hire this guy. And so we got Richard into the business, and he's been doing great ever since. That's awesome.

I hope you still buy that stuff, don't you, Levi? Yeah. I don't know. The salesman now is nowhere near as good as what Richard was. That's pretty cool. We appreciate you guys and all you do. You guys are a big part of the REMAX community and serving the real estate community there in your area.

We're also here to talk about something bigger, and that is the Freedom Award. Richard, can you tell us a little bit about the Freedom Award? Absolutely. That actually is one of the biggest awards that an employer that supports the National Guard and Reserve here in the United States from the ESGR. There's about six or seven awards that you can get that basically end up alluding to that one. And it all started with just a regular Patriot Award about a year and a half ago. The way I did it was I saw Levi's appreciation for when I had to step away

from the office, even when I was just brand new ISA, always, um, committed to my, my, uh, military career as well. So I just admitted it.

And then from there, it started the, a couple other awards. Well, the freedom award, it's, uh, usually even,

uh, the secretary of defense is a secretary. Couldn't believe the way it was written. I wrote this award when I was in Somalia, usually even the secretary of defense is a secretary. Couldn't believe the way it was written. I wrote this award when I was in Somalia about seven months ago and not, not even thinking about it, not thinking about whether we were going to get it. Just, you know,

I wrote it free, free hand and lo and behold, we're here. And I, every day I wake up humbled as to what's happening. I mean, from when he told me, hey, we're going to be on the podcast to we're going to Washington, D.C. It's just a humbling experience.

And like Levi said, it's not only him, it's also the dedication that this company has provided to, while I've been gone, not only to Somalia, but also in response to Hurricane Harvey about a year and a half ago when I was gone for almost a month. It's just been truly, truly amazing the amount of support that Levi and this company has done for the National Guard. Obviously, Levi, you're a huge supporter of the military. It's been your life and something you've given so much to. And to have a manager who's in the military, you've got these ability to serve the country while also helping our businesses and us be able to allow them to step away.

And this is a huge award from the Secretary of Defense, as in the Secretary of Defense. And so you got a phone call from the Secretary of Defense. Is that right? That's what I understand out of this? Correct. Correct. this uh uh correct correct so um one of the isas here took a phone call at about uh zero zero 805 um said hey there's somebody calling from uh employer support talking about secretary defense i guess he's put that on hold i'll take it and um lo and behold it was uh patrick shanahan that

said uh we just want to congratulate you and uh levi, he wanted to speak to Levi, but I told him that Levi was away and I was his operations manager, which another thing he couldn't believe either. He was like, you're also his operations manager, and he wanted to congratulate us and said, we'll see you at the Pentagon. That's kind of funny. You know, it's, hey, the Secretary of Defense is on the phone, Levi, and you're not around, so we're going go to the pentagon and hook up with him yeah it's a little joke around here is you know hey uh sir can you put north korea on hold uh we uh you gotta find

levi uh to get on the phone with you but uh uh it's uh you know it was when i got that text uh you know hey levi we just got off the phone with the SEC DEF. I, you know, I kind of stopped for those. It was pretty neat. That's incredible. How many of these awards are issued every year? It's just a handful, isn't it? Fifty, yes, sir. Fifty, fifty.

Wow. I mean, that's. No, one five. One five. Oh, my gosh. I mean, that's incredible. I mean, you know, it's such a huge honor to be, you know, on the other end of the microphone here with some guys that have been awarded this and are serving our country and serving REMAX

and, you know, the home buyers and sellers out there. I mean, you guys are dedicated to your customers every day, and this is, you know, you don't run a business where, you know, you're making and selling something. You're going out and finding customers and helping them buy and sell homes. An entrepreneurial business supporting our military people and getting a phone call from the Secretary of Defense to go to the Pentagon. I mean, it doesn't get any more unique than that and really any more honorable for us to be sitting here talking about it. So very cool. You know, one of the great things about this story is that although I'm the figurehead of the company, I'm the guy that gets to shake the hand of everybody when this stuff happens. Truly, the individual agent of my company really, really came out collectively and individually to really help the Pacheco family, the Texas National Guard.

And if it wasn't for their support, you know, putting boxes together and, you know, pulling money together to support some of the efforts that we made, it never would have happened. And so I think that the really neat story about this is military and civilian alike, it was REMAX agents that came together as individuals to collectively do something under the leadership and guidance of our company. And that was really, really neat to see everybody come together. That's an important point here. I completely agree, Levi. I mean, you've built an amazing culture and really that's what it comes down to, of building a great organization. And that's why

the military units that you guys are part of are so effective is the community and the culture within those organizations and your dedication to doing things right and doing things for each other. Tell us a little bit about how your business, REMAX Military City, interacts with the community in your course of business. So in San Antonio, I mean, we are very known here to give a lot back. We help all walks of life. We have one example with a child named Cortez Harden that we've created a wonderful relationship with, a deaf child that came to San Antonio with a mission to learn to talk. And we have had a tremendous, you know, we've been very involved with their family, whether it's been financially or being as mentors.

And we've created a wonderful friendship with this family. And so not just the military. We're focused on just making San Antonio community better and reaching out to every portion that we can help. You know, I heard a quote once where somebody started to say, it's great to earn a million dollars. It feels good. But when you give a million, it feels tenfold better. And ever since that day, I've just been going for it. And so we're a very benevolent company and we really look after trying to help everybody out that we can. That's very cool. A great deal of the values of our organization are

giving. You're absolutely right. When your business is dedicated to providing to the community, to giving value, you see it with Richard and you going and helping with the hurricane relief and the other opportunities to help that the National Guard and the reserves have. It warms the heart. And really, it's a foundation, the fabric of this great country is helping people, you know, and it comes back. It truly does. And I love the fact that, and I really want to showcase the fact that you guys are part of the community, you give to the community, and we're so proud of that from, you know, REMAX World Headquarters. It's a huge part of our culture here. So, um, thank you so much for that, Richard. How has this, uh, reflected on managing the office? You know, what, what do you, uh, what do you see in the culture of the, the office there?

Since the, since I've gotten back and, um, just being here, it's just the word I'm looking for. Um, great. I mean, it sounds emotional. Great. Sounds emotional. Yeah, it is. Like I said a little earlier, every day I wake up and I tell my wife, wow, this is happening. One, when Levi obviously offered me the operation manager to everything else, my last three years of my life have been great. It's just, it's just my last three years of my life has been just a great,

um, it's been great. It's been a humbling, um, and just being part of this company, part, being part of the organization is just amazing. Awesome.

I think, I think to add to that though, you know, is, the agents that thrive here and enjoy our company and do well, they, they're, they're really focused on mission.

They're focused on culture as opposed to commissions or any of that nature. We have a really special culture at our company, and it's also important to note out that we have many civilians at our company that have done great things and jumped right onto our culture as well. And it's just really cool. And everybody's very proud and excited. And, you know, I can't wait to see the next step. That's incredible. And Levi, you're a warrior, a leader. I mean, you've been enlisted, you've been a warrant officer, and, you know, part of the most elite fighting group on this globe. How have you translated that leadership and what recommendations do you have for other business leaders that you can take from your past?

And what tips can you give them to build a strong foundation for a business like you've done? Well, I tell you, it's been tough. The transition, when you leave a very high-performance organization and transition to being just an individual real estate agent on the streets, it's tough, very tough. But aside from that, what I've done is I've implemented what the Army taught me. Show up at the right time, right place, right uniform. Do what's expected of you. Act, you know, act with integrity, always, uh, uh, look

for the wind. I mean, always, uh, you know, one of our core values is winning. Winning's not just fun. It's what we do. You know, uh, another thing is, uh, I always tell people is that, uh, we look in the mirror before we look through the glass, meaning that, uh, most problems that we run into in life are solved in the mirror, not through the glass. And humans typically will try to look outward as the solution to their problem. You know, and I always recommend to our people that we look in the mirror to try to solve any problems that we face. And so that would be my advice. That's amazing.

Richard, do you have anything to add to that? I mean, that's some huge wisdom of leadership there. No, yeah, absolutely. The biggest one that gets me is as I walk through the doors every day here at Remax Central City is the act of integrity. It's not the way I see it. It's not what you'll do when Levi's here. It's what we'll do when nobody's here.

What are we going to do to make sure we win every day, not only for ourselves but also for the community? I love this. Being an entrepreneur is hard. I mean, you guys have built a mindset around winning, a mindset around giving, and from world headquarters here and obviously from the, the Pentagon and the secretary of defense, I mean, this is, this is something that has built

an amazing country, amazing companies and amazing people here. So, you know, we, we thank you so much for all of that. So we have one final question for you guys in, in closing out the podcast here. I'll start with you, Levi. How do you start with a win? I get up every day with a plan of attack. I have a new coffee cup. It's a unicorn and rainbow.

So I make sure I get my coffee cup and get my coffee and realize that I've know, I got to perform magic every day. But I start with a plan, you know. I list it out the night before. I look at it. I rehearse it, go over it, and I come into the office and I get started, you know. Just like going to the gym, the hardest part about going to the gym is going to the gym. Once you're there, you know, most people execute. And so having a good plan and being prepared to execute it every day

is really it, you know, and it's just making a simple list and getting everything done and showing up to work. A lot of it is solved just by showing up to the fight. We had a medic when I was in the army. He was probably one of the greatest medics ever to do that job that I've ever witnessed in my life.

But the guy always showed up late. You know, it doesn't matter how great you are if you don't show up to the fight. And so you've got to show up to work. Awesome. Richard, what do you got for us? How do you start with a win? The way I start is, you know, I know the wake-up is 05 every day. I wake up, go on a couple miles run, get to clear the mind and definitely see what I can improve from last night or from yesterday.

See what, and just focus while I'm on that run. Clear the mind from whatever happened yesterday and get it prepared for today as soon as I step into this office. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much, guys. And I mean, some huge gold nuggets there taken away from this. How to start with a win.

How to do amazing things for your community, for your country, for yourself. We're so honored and thankful to have Richard and Levi here from REMAX Military City on Start With A Win. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll catch you next time on Start With A Win. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll catch you next time on Start With A Win.