IAM1355 – Founder Helps People Build Legacy Wealth through Real State Investing

Jay Helms, Founder of the W2Capitalist.com, and Amazon's #1 Best Seller escaped the rat race after 6 years of side hustling in real estate investing. Jay has a goal to help one million people create multiple streams of income, achieve financial freedom, or build legacy wealth through real estate investing. Jay met his wife Cassie when they were contestants on a reality TV show and when their family of 5 is not traveling the country in their RV, Jay and Cassie reside in Gulf Breeze, FL, with their three kids, Rowland, Stella, and Ellen Anne. Knowing that closing on the first deal is the biggest hurdle and roadblock for new investors, he wrote a book to help them get over those mental hurdles. Every investor faces paralysis analysis, but it is time to break through, Make An Offer, and Earn. Invest. Repeat.

• CEO Story: Started his journey in real estate in 2014, having some early success even if it was done as a side hustle. But in 2020, Jay focused on real estate investing and has been successfully growing and helping other people achieve their goals in life.
• Business Service: Mastermind service community. Virtual multi-family calls. Having a closed community group that is willing to be helped and willing to help other people.
• Secret Sauce: Motivating and encouraging other people. Not pretending to know everything.
• CEO Hack: App Notepad works best for Jay. The to-do list is on it.
• CEO Nugget: Don’t sweat on the small stuff. Pay attention to your health.
• CEO Defined: Knowing when to lead and what to lead on.

Website: w2capitalist.com

Instagram: w2capitalist

Linkedin: jayhelms

Book Link: MakeAnOffer

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Transcription

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00:15 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkness values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

00:42 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on my show today. I have Jay Helms of W2Capitalist.com. Jay, super excited to have you on the show.

00:52 – Jay Helms

Gresham. Thank you for having me. And actually, I should call you Gresh, actually, right? That's what you go by. Absolutely. Sir Gresh, thank you, sir.

01:00 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, absolutely. I appreciate that, sir. Yes. All my friends and podcast guests always call me Gresh. So you're definitely in this circle. So super excited to introduce you to Jay. Want to read a little bit more about him. Jay is the founder of W2Capitalist.com and an Amazon no.1 bestseller of Make an Offer. He's escaped the rap race after 6 years of side hustling and real estate investing and Jay has a goal to help 1 million people create multiple streams of income, achieve financial freedom, or build legacy wealth through real estate investing.

Jay met his wife Cassie when they were contestants on a reality TV show, when their family of 5 are not traveling the country in their RV, Jay and Cassie reside in Gulf Breeze, Florida with their 3 kids, Roland, Stella, and Ella Anne. Knowing that closing on the first deal is the biggest hurdle and roadblock for new investors. He wrote a book to help them get over those mental hurdles. Every investor faces paralysis analysis, but it is time to break through, make an offer earn invest, and repeat. Great to have y'all in the show again, Jay. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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02:04 – Jay Helms

Let's do it,

02:04 – Gresham Harkless

Gresh. Let's make it happen then. So to kind of kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock. Here is a little bit more on how you got started, what I call your CO story.

02:12 – Jay Helms

Yeah, so back in 2014 is when we really started this, this whole journey of real estate investing. And as we kind of got our feet under it, I was working a full W 2 job, you know, salary professionals, sales professionals, technical professionals kind of flip flop and back between those 2 spots in the organization or whatnot. And, we got to, to a point where we were having some success, some early on success, and in the real estate investing community, there is, you know, they call these real estate investing associations where there are physical meetups, you go in person, you know, quite frequently. And, I absolutely hated going to those events because of my personality type. I am an introvert. Now I'm growing out of that being a CEO and it still feels weird to say that kind of forces you to grow a little bit.

For me, growing out of that personality type has been one of the biggest challenges that I've faced, but I started the W2 capitalist no.1 because the closest real estate investing association for my house was 45 minutes, away. My wife was 6 months pregnant, right? And I didn't want to be in. She was having some complications and just made me nervous being, being gone for any amount of time. Right. And so I had been working from home probably since about 2010. And, you know, I was zooming before zooming was a cool kind of thing and just got very familiar and comfortable behind a microphone and a keyboard and whatnot. And I was like, you know what, what these guys do in person, I can do in my own style that plays to my personality type. Right. And I had joined, a mastermind that I had learned from and they were very similar setup.

And I was like, I think I've got something here. I really want to help other people. That was one of the things my grandmother is one of the traits. My grandmother really instilled in me. It was, you know, you, you help, help everybody. You can, she probably did it to her, to her detriment, but I, I, you know, I learned a lot from that. So, that's kind of where we got started. I was still working at W2 side hustling with real estate investing side hustling with building the W2 capitalist brand. And then 2020 happened, with COVID. And I was a product of the whole layoffs. I was one of those, you know, millions of people that were laid off. And I think it was millions. It was probably not that big of a number. I forget it now, but, you know, and, I moped around the house for a couple of days.

And, and then, you know, I got my head out of my butt and I was like, you know what? We've been building this brand for years now. Let's, let's not even worry about going back to the W2. Our real estate investing has created a lifestyle for us that now I can just focus on doing what I set out to do to build this brand and to help other people learn how to invest in real estate. So, since then, man, it has truly blossomed, truly, truly blossomed into what it is today. So, that's kind of the that's the origin up until today. Right. And, and, where it was just me and a microphone and we had, you know, one mastermind call, a month we're now up to, I've got 8 people working for me. We do over 20 virtual calls a month.

We had our first in-person event last year and we had 5 people last year be able to reach their financial freedom number through real estate investing and be able to exit the W-2. We've had, 'cause that was their goal, right? And I saw everybody's goal who comes in in real estate investing, but the point of telling you that is we help people achieve their goals, right? And 3 people have already punched that clock today, year to date, I should say. And there's another 2, maybe 3 that are on their way to do it by the year, the end of the year. So it's just incredible. It's incredible to see.

06:09 – Gresham Harkless

I absolutely love that. I appreciate you so much and telling the story. And even if I say so often, we forget about the human aspect of business. So I especially appreciate you talking about that about, you know, getting laid off as somebody who has been laid off. I know that there's that moment where you're like frustrated with yourself, you know, that the wind you're frustrated about the milk, you know, everything.

Exactly. It's just like you're angry about everything you're like. But I think a lot of times I started a lot of this podcast, the blog, and everything as a result of getting laid off and things like that happened. It sounds like you had a great experience where had those things not happened, you may not have been able to get the success and that opportunity and be able to go all in on the things that you've been working on. So I love it.

06:50 – Jay Helms

Absolutely. Yeah, it is one of those, and it is a mindset shift, right? I mean, you could have mulled around and just been hated. I love that phrase hated the wind. Like you probably outside of having arguments with why are you blowing now? It is one of those things where it's all mindset. And when I got laid off, you know, we had been up until that point, we had been buying and selling and our focus was buying, holding, and cashflow in the, in the real estate investing side.

07:16 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more. I know you touched on W2 capitalism, and what you're doing there. Can you take us through a little bit more of the community and everything you're building and growing there?

07:25 – Jay Helms

The mastermind is our biggest product, you know, service that we offer. And it is basically it's, it's a community, you know, there's, there's still some uncertainty on what actually is a mastermind, cause people, there is no silver bullet or hard fast rule of what a mastermind should look like. So for some people, it's a weekend retreat in the Bahamas for some folks. It's, you know, 4 meetings a year where you had to travel to different places or whatnot. And so for us, it is really, we hold 20 different virtual calls a month where, and some of them are very niche specific for types of real estate.

Like you have a multifamily call. You have a single-family buying whole call fix and flip. So it's very specific, niched. And that was part of our growth. What's the phrase I'm looking for growth strategy as well as instead of having just all general session, Hey, if you want to come talk about real estate, come talk about it. Well, now people know that when they come into the multifamily call, they know exactly what's being talked about. Right. So, but the mastermind is something that's really grown. And one of the things that, you know, CEO is one thing, but, but I feel like I've worn the hat of solopreneur for quite a long time and being the only guy and I had, I have control issues. I don't want to hand things off, you know, that sort of thing. So, I see you smiling real big. I don't know if that hits home with you or not.

08:49 – Gresham Harkless

It does, it's telling my life story over there.

08:52 – Jay Helms

But I wanted to really focus on the people that come into the community, right? And I want to make sure we get the right people that we can help and that want to help others. Right. So we got very specific or I got very specific on who and how one of the growth of the community. And I felt like I was the only person that could allow anybody in.

09:11 – Gresham Harkless

I almost wonder. So I like to ask for the secret sauce, which could be for yourself individually, the business, or a combination of both. But is it that I think it sounds like you have like, you know, a community that you've been able to build and grow that is around, you know, a topic, but also there are niche opportunities within that topic. Do you feel like that kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

09:34 – Jay Helms

You know, I, I get asked, I, I've been asked that question before and I don't know how to answer it. And I'll tell you what one of the mastermind members has told me and his name's Ed and Ed is very transparent. And I love that about Adam, people like Ed and he goes, he goes, Jay, I don't know what it is about you. And he's been in the mastermind for a little over a year. And he goes, I don't know what it is about you, but you really just motivate people and you encourage people. And I can't really figure it out yet, but you've done that to me and I don't know why. And he said, so, so because I mean, this is a compliment.

It's not coming off that way, but I really do mean it as a compliment because, but you just motivate and encourage people to do what they don't believe they can do. It was one of those things like, okay, how do I replicate that? How can I develop leaders within the organization to replicate that success? And the other 4 people, that I mentioned, those are the folks who are doing that and fulfilling that role. And I think the other part of the secret sauce, that I hear from, from some of the other members is that I, I don't pretend to know everything when it comes to real estate investing.

And when, you know, when I, I host and lead 3 calls a week, I learned something every time when I'm on those calls and I'm not getting up and preaching, Hey, you got to do this. You got to do that. This is what you should be focused on. It's, it's nothing like that to each, each their own. Let me tell you how I've had some experience in that. If I don't have experience in that, then I don't speak of it. That's one rule in our mastermind if you don't have experience, and whatever questions are asked, then you don't get to answer them.

11:13 – Gresham Harkless

I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

11:23 – Jay Helms

But what I've found that works the best for me is a notepad on my iPhone. It is my to-do list. It is my live-and-die, to-do list. So I, you know, there are, and I tell people that, and they're like, what? It's not more complicated than that. I was like, man, that system works for me. So the nugget, I guess I could say is don't be afraid to try a new product, but when you find something that works for you, stick to it. I mean, there's no right or wrong answer for anything.

I mean, you know, I now granted, I have 99 notes or notepads in my, in my app. And, you know, there's, there's a handful that stick to the very top. Is the most important to do, But that's how I know what I'm doing from day to day. And so, you know, you can complicate systems as much as you want to, but fine. And when you find a system that works for you, just stick to it. Forget about what everybody else is doing.

12:16 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. You can get definitely caught in the flavor of the week or the flavor of the month and trying to do X, Y, and Z because, but I'll find something that you, you know, you know, that works and just kind of execute on that. So I absolutely love that. And I want to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So it was a little bit more of a word of wisdom piece of advice. I usually like to say it might be something you would tell your favorite client or if you have to do a time machine, you might tell your younger business.

12:39 – Jay Helms

The first nugget is don't, don't sweat the small stuff, focus on it, but don't stress about it. Right. So I am, I am still guilty of that. That is one of the things that I've been working on myself for a long time. The other thing is to pay attention to your health. Right. And I am, I am probably, I'm not in the best shape. You know, I mean, you rewind the clock to when I was in my 20s, I was probably the best shape, but I'm probably healthier now than I ever have been because I watch what I eat and the biggest thing, and I've got to give credit to my wife because she put me on this journey a long time ago was making sure that I drink one gallon of water a day.

And for most people who have never done that or never tried that, you think, man, that's absolutely nuts. And I'm not, and I'm drinking a Coke right now. Hashtag not sponsored. I wish, wish I was, but, yeah, yeah, maybe, maybe we can work out a 2 for 1. But, but, but you know, even, and I've tried to justify it before, there's water and coke. So I'm, you know, but no, it was just straight, just tap water from the bottle or whatnot. And it is easy to do.

13:46 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. So I want to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So Jay, what does being a CEO mean to you?

13:56 – Jay Helms

I think this is the first time that I've actually thought of myself as a CEO talking, talking to you, and the name of the podcast. Even though I'm here sitting on the CEO podcast, I've never really thought about what that really means. But I guess if you know, one of the things I say I struggle with, I'm trying to prove is how to be a better leader. Right.

And realize that I am sitting at the top and, and, you know, cause we'll get on a call sometimes with me and the guys that work for me and gals, and just, you know, they kind of look like, all right, boss, what do you want to talk about? And I'm like, oh yeah. So there are times when I know I've got to be a better leader, but to me, as CEO means, means knowing when to lead and what to lead on. And those are some of the things that I've got to, I need some improvement on for sure.

14:49 – Gresham Harkless

Shea truly appreciates that definition. Of course, I appreciate your time even more. What I want to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best people can get a hold of you get a copy of your book, and find out about all the awesome things that you're working on.

15:04 – Jay Helms

That's a good thing about the way that a lot of masterminds are structured is that they appeal to certain people and you, you find your tribe, right? But finding it based on what you're looking to do and what you're looking to grow in, with your business. So other than that, man, I'm on Instagram, and LinkedIn as a W2 capitalist, and also on YouTube as a W2 capitalist. And, the book makes an offer that you can find it on Amazon. It's in paperback and, Kendall. So if you're a member of Kendall Unlimited, you can get it for free. And the audio version, I am set to record that in, in just a few weeks. So it's going to be out on audible. I don't know how long after that, but we're going to get it recorded in just a few weeks.

15:50 – Gresham Harkless

So yeah, absolutely. And magic happens after that. So we will definitely have the links and information in the show notes as well too, so that everybody can follow up with you. I'm finding out about all the awesome things you and your team are working on. Truly appreciate your time and all the awesome things that you're doing and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:05 – Jay Helms

Great. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

16:07 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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