IAM616- Entrepreneurs Build a Real Estate Sales and Investing Business

Together we have built a successful Chiropractic/Functional Medicine Practice and Product Design and Manufacturing Business. We are currently embarking on our 3rd business venture by building a Real Estate Sales and Investing Business. We have started over, we just moved our family of 6 to NOVA from the Florida Panhandle and looking forward to the adventure and challenge of beginning life anew.

• CEO Hack: Getting up earlier and going through a ritual every morning
• CEO Nugget: (1) Get clear on what your vision is (2) Sticking with the vision no matter the obstacles
• CEO Defined: (1) Seeing the vision (2) Putting people in place to achieve the vision

Website: http://www.sterlingbrooke.com/

http://www.priceandpricerealtors.com/

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Transcription

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Intro 0:02

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 Harkless 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.

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Sean Price and he's a real estate agent in the northern Virginia area. Sean, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Sean Price 0:38

Thank you, I appreciate being here.

Gresham Harkless 0:39

No problem. Super excited to have you on. Before we get started, I want to read a little bit more about Sean so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing.

Together with him and his wife, Kelly, they have built a successful chiropractic slash functional medicine practice and a product design and manufacturing business called Sterling Brooke. They're currently embarking on a third business venture by building a real estate sales and investing business. They started over and they just moved their family of six to the Northern Virginia area from the Florida Panhandle and are looking forward to the adventure and challenges of beginning life a new.

Sean, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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Sean Price 1:11

I am.

Gresham Harkless 1:12

Awesome. Let's do it. So I wanted to kick everything off. I know I touched on it a little bit, but I wanted to hear how everything started with your CEO story. What led you to your current MetroNet?

Sean Price 1:20

Well, we were back in, I guess 1999-2000. My wife and I got married and decided that we did not want to have children early in our marriage. And then as we embarked on our honeymoon, we got pregnant. So she was she was 20 years old at the time, and I was about 28. And so it was kind of a reality slap in the face that you know, we needed to start moving forward with our lives. So I decided to go to chiropractic school. We did that and graduated from chiropractic school in 2003 and opened up our private practice in October of 2004. We practiced there, built that practice together, she worked in the office with me. She was integral in every aspect of it up until January 2018, at which time we decided to retire from chiropractic and go ahead and move our family up here in northern Virginia and embark on real estate.

We did start accidentally Sterling Brook which was our product design business Kelly made me a Father's Day gift in 2014. She bought a wine opener with a wooden handle and she would burn a design into it and give that to me for Father's Day. We have some guests over who kind of liked it. So she made them one. Then one of them recommended that she put it on Etsy. So she did that and started doing Etsy for about a year. Then after about a year of that we kind of looked at it and said there might be a business here and started going door to door to wine shops, developing wholesale relationships. And as of this year, we're in about 1000 retailers nationwide. And we still operate own and operate that business. Now like you said, we're working to build our real estate business as well.

Gresham Harkless 3:07

Nice, I definitely appreciate you for telling your story. I love the kind of it sounds like the organic nature of how everything has developed, everything from your business, obviously from your family as well to where sometimes we have plans for how this is going to go or this is going to happen at this time in this place and exactly how we plan it out. And then sometimes life is just a way of taking other places.

Sean Price 3:27

It does. Absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 3:29

Awesome. So I know you touched on it a little bit, I wanted to hear a little bit more about this third venture that you have, could you take us through exactly what you're doing from the real estate standpoint and how exactly you work with clients you have?

Sean Price 3:40

Yeah, so we're up here in Northern Virginia, we specialize in the market of McLean Vienna, and Great Falls. We work with a lot of the, you know, retail customers up in this area, so buying and selling residential real estate. But the reason that we went into real estate is that for the last five years, I have studied pretty intensely real estate investing. With the businesses that we had, I have not had the time to dive into a full force. So that's why we decided to go full-time into real estate as well so that we could really focus on building our portfolio there.

So while we work with a lot of retail residential buyers and sellers, we also work with a lot of investors, especially in this area, it's very difficult to cash flow in residential real estate. So what we like to do is find investors here and help them invest down in Florida where we came from, because I'm very familiar with that market and we can still buy cash-flowing properties there. So it's kind of a two-fold business model. We work with you know, the retail side with buyers and sellers and then we work with the investors to help them build their portfolios.

Gresham Harkless 4:45

Yeah, absolutely. I thank you again for you know, breaking that down. I don't know if you want to use a phrase I was gonna say the phrase serial entrepreneur where you guys have a lot of things that you look to build any kind of goals it sounds like as well, too, do you find any of those kinds of overlap and say, you know, some of the things that you're doing now with your real estate business? Or do you take info from each aspect?

Sean Price 5:07

Absolutely, the theories, the tenants, the systems, the principles, I think for business kind of goes across industries. So, you know, for example, I built my chiropractic practice to be self-sufficient. By the time I retired, I had two doctors in there working and it was a fully systemized practice. We took those teams' same principles to develop systems for our Sterling Brooke product design business. Kelly and I actually are up here in northern Virginia, but that business is still in Florida operating with us just kind of overseeing it. So we feel very, very strongly that systemising your business is very important.

We take the same model that we've used in all those other two businesses, and we're gonna apply it to our real estate business as well so that as we grow it, we'll be able to leverage our time and resources to have other people who can come in and help us grow it.

Gresham Harkless 6:01

Yeah, that makes so much sense. I imagine, definitely, probably for the people that are investing as well, too, you don't, I guess probably want to necessarily invest to be a real estate agent to be hammering and doing things like that. So to understand that you guys have such a process-driven structure, probably, of course, outside your business, but definitely sounds like it could probably help provide perspective for those investors that are looking to have multiple properties and want to be able to kind of systematize that as well.

Sean Price 6:24

Absolutely, yeah, we can develop the network and basically the economies of scale, and provide that benefit to our investors.

Gresham Harkless 6:33

Awesome. So, I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. I'm not sure if you already touched on this, but this could be for yourself personally or for your business, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Sean Price 6:44

I feel like it's the team aspect of it. Kelly and I brought it in so Kelly was very involved in the very beginning of our building the chiropractic practice, we had two young children. So we were both splitting time with that. Well, as that progressed, we ended up having two more kids. So she became more focused on the family aspect. And I was focusing primarily on the business aspect. And so what has happened in the last few years is she's gotten more involved because the kids have gotten older. So she's been able to become more involved in the business side of it. It's really become apparent that I have some pretty strong strengths in running a business and creating businesses. But I also have some pretty glaring weaknesses.

What's great about it is her weaknesses are my strengths and my weaknesses are her strengths. So where I am absolutely, you know, abysmal at times, she steps right in and she's like, well just do this, this, and this. So between the two of us, I think we create a unique package because we have a sounding board that each of us can bounce ideas off of. We can come to a pretty logical and well-thought-out decision from two different perspectives. And I think that gives us a very, very strong USP, especially with dealing with clients in the service industry, because, you know, we're dealing with different personalities. I'll give an example we had a deal that just fell apart. It was because of a deadline that was not met for one of our buyers. I didn't catch the importance of that deadline to the buyer that that really offended him because he actually ended up winning the deal. We beat out a cash offer with it, but he wouldn't sign the contract.

I was really kind of perplexed by why he wouldn't do that. Well, she picked up on the fact that they disrespected his deadline. So why would he respect theirs? So in getting that perspective, she picked up on that I was able to, you know, save the relationship with our buyer and move him forward in a good direction with that understanding. Whereas if it was me alone, I may not have picked up on that and that would have been an important factor in our report. So we just complement each other very, very well. I think that that benefits anybody that we're working with and working for, and it certainly makes our lives a lot easier.

Gresham Harkless 8:59

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

Sean Price 9:10

So the book Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod, I would say that has been a habit that I have developed. Getting up earlier in the mornings, I've always been an early riser, but I would get up and start working. And what I've done instead is I get up and I have a morning ritual that I go through. And going through that ritual on a daily basis makes you it sets your mindset to be ready for the day. It helps you kind of predict what your day is going to be and predict challenges that you'll come up with. It helps you maintain an even keel throughout the day once the chaos starts. So I feel like that is a major thing. It's just those daily disciplines and that's something that once I started doing I didn't even understand.

I knew it logically, but I didn't understand it until I had been actually practicing it for about three or four months and I started having daily understandings send daily epiphanies that were on a core level. It was like, oh my god, this is this is why successful people meditate every day. This is why, you know, people use affirmations or they do this or they do that. And with you know, with that miracle morning, you're doing all those things. So that's been my biggest task is just doing that and developing that discipline because success doesn't come in big, big events that come in daily, small, monotonous activities. If you can master the activity, the habit of doing those activities,  that's where success builds from, and that's one of the biggest realizations that I've had.

Gresham Harkless 10:35

Exactly. So, I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget, so that is like a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, or something, you might even tell your younger business self?

Sean Price 10:44

I would say that it's really, really important to get clear on where you want to go, what your vision is, and no matter what you face on a daily basis, to keep that vision there, because you're going to have obstacles, and it's gotten to the point where anytime I have an obstacle that comes up or a setback that happens, I kind of look at it, and I kind of smile and I say, okay, that's what's gonna make the other 90% quit, and that's what's going to make the field thin out.

That's me going through this and pushing through this, and Kelly and I figuring this out, that's what's going to make us come out on the top. That's just the biggest thing is, there will be setbacks, and it's not fantasy that you think you own a business and you're successful automatically. I mean, it is a struggle and a grind every day. But it's so worth it. And you just have to enjoy the ups and the downs. I would tell my younger self just you just keep on going the only way through it, or the only way out of it is to keep on going through it. The only way to fail is if you quit.

Gresham Harkless 11:49

Awesome. So I wanted 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 and quote CEOs on the show. So Sean, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Sean Price 12:00

Being a CEO, to me means being able to, again, see the vision, see the picture from a bird's eye view, and put the people in place that will help that vision come to reality. Not necessarily the person that does everything, I don't think that's being a CEO, I think that's being caught up in the details of the business, I think the CEO has to what's a game SimCity or something like that, where you kind of direct things and put it there and then letting go and then make corrections based on that. That's what a CEO is, to me.

He's just somebody who can watch it, they're not necessarily good at the details, I am horrible at the details. That's one of the things I've realized, and he's very good at it. But I'm also very good at taking those, you know, putting things into place to get those details down to make sure it's going in the right direction.

Gresham Harkless 12:48

Absolutely, that makes so much sense. And you just gave me a flashback to bring it up some city, because you're absolutely right. I think when you're able to kind of see the entire city, you see all the different pieces that are in place. Then you have and are able to partner team up with or have somebody that helps you out as far as being able to put those small details in place is really a powerful thing. Because you become like a superhero by having both of you working together on the same path and on the same mission.

Sean Price 13:12

That's something that's key to bring up there because Kelly has the same ability, she also has the ability to see where we're going and look at things from a bird's eye view. But she has an even different perspective and she has this ability to see what the decisions today what they're going to do for the future. So she will, you know, like if we make a simple decision today, like, can't be one example. But with a simple decision today she's got this immediate understanding of what that's going to do on the big picture.

So between the two of us, it's like, she tends to be more of the worrier and I tend to be more of the eternal optimist. So when we're both on the same page with where we want to go, and we're both looking at things from that bird's eye perspective, we totally again balance each other out to where she doesn't worry so much. I kind of come into reality a little bit more. So in doing that, it just directs things in the direction that we want to go.

Gresham Harkless 14:12

Absolutely. I would definitely say I feel like you definitely need both of those. Because I think at the heart of the business is all about minimizing risk. So you want to be that word here to make sure that you are paying attention to things or potential pitfalls, but at the same time when you do go into a pitfall you want to make sure that you have you know the optimistic approach that is something that's making you stronger, making better making the organization better.

When you have that balance, in your organization and everything that you're doing, it helps to ensure the likelihood of you being successful.

Sean Price 14:39

Absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 14:40

Awesome. Well, Sean, truly appreciate that perspective. I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is pass you the mic so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know and then of course how best they can get ahold of you and find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

Sean Price 14:54

The best way to get a hold of me I would say would be through our Facebook page. We are price and price realtors, and then we're also our website sterlingbrooke.com. Brooke has an E on the end of it. Those would be the best ways to get in touch with me as far as anything additional. Not so much. I mean, you're asking me questions about being a CEO, and to be honest with you, I just feel like a person who likes to do this, this is what I like to do, you know, building businesses, it's me, it's my hobby, it's what I do for entertainment, it's what I do on vacation.

It's kind of an addiction a little bit. Luckily, I'm married to somebody who is supportive of that, who has the same vision, and who also balances me and brings me back into, you know, other parts of life. I think that just having that balance is the key because you can have all the success in the world, but if you're not happy in all areas, or balanced in all areas, that's going to cause trouble.

Gresham Harkless 15:50

Yeah, absolutely. Definitely having that as your North Star is just so important and being able to get that fulfillment because you can get it in so many different ways. But I have to definitely feel like a kid in the playground with a sandbox. Sometimes when you're working and talking with entrepreneurs and business owners, I completely understand where you're coming from. So I appreciate that balance that you kind of spoke to as well to your spouse and everything awesome that you guys are able to do.

We will definitely have the links and information in the show notes as well too, so that everybody can follow up with you. But Sean, truly appreciate you again, appreciate all the awesomeness that you provided today and I hope you have a great rest of the day.

Intro 16:22

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.

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Thank you for listening.

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