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https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-minarsich-08aaa273/

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Introduction: [00:00:00] Welcome to the #PirateBroadcast™, where we interview #interestingpeople doing #interestingthings. Where you can expand your connections, your community, #kindnessiscool and #smilesarefree. Let’s get this party started.

Russ Johns: [00:00:10] We're going to have some fun loving criminals in the house. Darren, D-roo how you doing?

Darren Sprinkle: [00:00:16] Good morning. I'm great.

Russ Johns: [00:00:18] James, Jimmy Jam. How you doing?

James Minarsich: [00:00:20] Morning. Morning, Russ. I'm doing great.

Russ Johns: [00:00:22] Thank you. You ready for this episode?

James Minarsich: [00:00:25] Completely ready.

Russ Johns: [00:00:27] Awesome. Awesome. One of the things that I love about you guys is you thought about this idea. Darren actually D-roo had the opportunity to jump on the #PirateBroadcast a little while ago and was a great guest and we talked about a lot of different things and all of a sudden you guys were out there, you were starting to create, you were starting to collaborate and have a conversation. And I think we have a couple of things in the works that people can stay tuned for. And I just want to make sure that you're paying attention. D-roo and Jimmy Jam, cause I think there's some good things coming ahead. So do you want to share a couple of ideas that you've been working on, James?

James Minarsich: [00:01:08] Yeah. We're super excited, it's been an interesting journey thus far, and we've done a couple of easy approaches to breaking into the Washington real estate platform. And, Darren and I, we've worked together. We've been friends for over a decade. Worked together with Bismarck, the group I'm with now. And one night he called up and said, what are you doing at 10 o'clock at night? And I'm like, you know me, I'm in the garage, washing cars, man. And he goes, you need to figure out how to do that during the day with your day job. And it just started a great idea and it's all too often, we get wrapped up in the day-to-day and think rigid. And it's funny, cause I don't think rigid at all when it comes to real estate. Get really creative, real quick. And so that's where that marriage came together. And then just the chance to meet with you and I know Darren was on the show and that introduction and then we had a chance to talk and we're super excited to get that going officially,  supporting real estate agents, supporting builders and coming at it from a platform of knowledge and understanding and creativity. And throwing a carwash. Why not?

Russ Johns: [00:02:10] Yeah. I think  what I loved about it is detailing cars is about some of the details that a lot of people need to appreciate because if you're not in the business, you're not really appreciating all of the details that are required to move the business forward and I have a soft spot for contractors and builders and trades people and people in the trades that are doing some great work. So I applaud you. And I was totally in support of what you're doing. So it's awesome.

James Minarsich: [00:02:43] Yeah, we appreciate that. You're right. It's interesting. It's like when it comes to car detailing, nobody understands a two bucket system or a three bucket system. And I could elaborate on that, but it's the same thing in real estate. You just can't go buy a piece of property. You have to do your research. It's discipline. And it's one of my favorite words in the business. And it really does parallel. And so we're super excited to pull that in. We also love elevating others.  Even with the series that we do on Fridays with DJ, with Silverfox Talks, we want to elevate groups, it really is something to celebrate others and we just completely enjoy that and we look to bring that to the weekday stuff that we're doing with you, too. So we're super excited to be working with you. Can't tell you how much that means to both of us. We feel like we're running in place, but we're also patient. We know that it's all going to make sense here because there's a lot of work ahead. Everybody knows that you, everybody works hard. That's what being an entrepreneur is, but that's also so motivating. I love that. I love that. The idea that we get to be creative every day. Especially in this COVID environment, we have to be supportive of each other or the alternative is everyone's going to go a little bit stagnant and potentially a little bit little bit more lazy, and this is a great time for innovation. The world's forced that on us with the COVID environment. So we're excited to bring that in a time that people are looking for that #inspiration and creativity too, because it drives us.

Russ Johns: [00:04:08] I think I want to amplify a little bit about what you said about shining the light, highlighting others because these contractors, they're busy. They're rolling up their sleeves. They're going out on the job site and they're doing some things. These custom builders, especially lots of moving parts. It's not as if we're on an assembly line where we can actually do something over and over again, it's the same kind of thing over and over again, but the details are different. So they might use a two bucket system. They might use the three bucket system. Sometimes it's  juggling plates. Sometimes it's any number of things. So it's just like you and I, D-roo, on the music side, every track, every experiment, every tone is different and it's all of these things that are mixing and meshing that allow us to actually create something amazing. And when you add value to the world, James, it always works out.

James Minarsich: [00:05:03] Yeah, a hundred percent. And Darren, I'd love for you to chime in here on the new platform, because that vision was something that came from you. I can't thank you enough for that. And I'm super excited.

Darren Sprinkle: [00:05:13] That stuff is super easy when you have talented people in front of you, right, Russ? Like you see it all the time. And I had an opportunity to work next to James at Bismarck, albeit I was terrible. I showed up and I worked hard. But I wasn't good at it. I was a good builder, I built a lot of houses somewhere around a thousand total, and I'm pretty much over that in my life. And then this enters and I see James during COVID and I see these realtors not doing anything around me. And then I see a lot of people getting into real estate because they don't have jobs. And the one thing that's been consistent since I've known James is at night he's wiping those cars down and that's his quiet time. And if you get him on the phone in those hours, it's genius, right? It's not necessarily real estate. It's you're getting like the cream has risen to the top. Like the day is decompressed and all the craziness, and then bam, he gets these ideas and the greatest thing is he doesn't think he's a genius. And he's really good at listening to people. And James, I know you don't like that kind of idea, but I think what allows you to be good at this is because you're listening always. And maybe you don't have an answer. And then when you're detailing, it comes up. And so when he's doing the detailing live in front of somebody, Russ, I'm videoing and I can see his neck muscles, like he's talking and here's some real estate facts, and this is what I need to do. And then all of a sudden, he's detailing this car and this guy, and he's, hey, you tell me about something. And it's a whole nother experience. And then there's this huge engagement feeling that happens. And I wanted the world to know that there are people out there like James that are willing to give your wisdom and pull wisdom out of other people. And while we pull it out of other people, they get elevated. James gets elevated because he knows what questions to ask. He knows how to listen and being a good listener in the financial business, you can be a sniper because the people that don't listen and move too fast, they get wiped out when big stuff happens. So if you're slow and steady and you listen and you play the long game, you win. And I see James doing that. He's been at Bismarck for I think 130 years and here we are. I'm kidding cause I don't really keep jobs. I just keep making new businesses, but here we go with James and what happened was a level of excitement out of a good friend that was helping him in business. And when he's doing business, those people are excited to be around him because he's excited to be there now. So you take 30 something years of consistent, what is it? 50,000 deals, James?

James Minarsich: [00:08:07] Yeah, about 50,000 transactions.

Darren Sprinkle: [00:08:08] You're going to lose touch with people at 50,000 anything. And although you are every customer in contact with you, James, like something happens when you shake the tree and go, I'm not doing it this way and you go do something different and that's just what's happening. And from this there's a whole new audience, a whole new group of people that are going to come up that we've never even met because now we're just in a different place. Speaking a different language of things that really matters to James. The reset mindset is not a marketing thing. Like it is what matters to James and I, and on the outside of that, people get an opportunity to know us. And from there, they can decide if they want to do business, And from the outside, looking in, I've watched some replays and James is the kind of guy I want on my financial team because he's not going to take me down. Oh, actually I've seen James tell people no more than anything. Cause he cares. Stop guys, you're doing the wrong thing. I can't help you here. If I gave you money, you're going to crash into a tree, and they don't always want to hear that. And so here we are, we're just sitting in a whole nother world saying the same thing of, hey, we want you to take care of yourself and we want to help elevate you. It's the same thing with financing. It's the same thing.

Russ Johns: [00:09:27] The one thing that I think is key to that, and the reality that James brings to the table is he listens to understand, not to respond. Yeah. And that is so important, James, because I think that in this day and age, we have to understand what the landscape is. We under have to understand what the roadmap is and because you're 50,000 transactions, you can navigate that and you can help guide them. And that's the beauty of what you're doing is just like detailing a car. You're going through the details and starting to have a conversation, and you're just listening to what they need help with. And then by asking great questions, it allows them to think of the answers that they really need to, you know, the conclusion that they need to come up with. And so I suspect that happens all the time in your business, where you need to guide somebody and bring out some things that they may not see that could happen or potential opportunities that they haven't considered.

James Minarsich: [00:10:32] Yeah. It's interesting, a few years ago, the owner was asking me how much of your time is spent consulting versus marketing and selling? And I said 80. And he said, really? And I said, no, I said 90. And I said, maybe that's not even high enough. The reality is the market changes. Builders have a lot of headwinds in any market, whether it's going up or down or lumber's going sky high, it doesn't matter. There's always something. Darren and I call it hot potato. It's just always going to be something in their business and the last thing they need is to be trying to grasp the capital markets. And there's nothing proprietary about lending money. There's nothing proprietary really about building homes. It's what is the secret? What's the value add? What's that secret sauce that you're adding in there? And one of my favorite things to do with clients is  the last thing you really need is another money guy, but you really need to decide  what are you looking for? Change the conversation around versus what can I do for you? What are your needs? And all too often, rather than trying to just put them into one box, I might not be the best fit. If we go back 10 years ago, there was maybe 10-12 competitors that I needed to look out for. In landscape today, if you want to finance a spec project up in Seattle or Bellevue there's about 75 guys you can call, so you really...

Darren Sprinkle: [00:11:54] They'll probably get money on Craigslist right now. Especially on the weekend. It's crazy.

James Minarsich: [00:11:59] We literally have,  it's endless out there, but the bottom line is, what is it you're looking for? And what are you looking for in a relationship with the money source because that kind of value add, longer-term money, maybe there's a better fit elsewhere, shorter term money, higher leverage, different things. And all too often, I'll just hand those deals off because it makes more sense. It's about the relationship, it's Darren and I have a saying that we absolutely have an agenda and it's to have no agenda. We do not want to come in expecting, I don't expect a sale. I want to understand what it is that you have. And through those conversations, how often do we not interview customers and find out where their needs are, then decide if we're a good fit and then expert guide them.

Russ Johns: [00:12:43] And I think that is so key. And I just want to chime in here and say that not every customer, not every client, not every transaction is right for you. And when you come from an abundance mindset and understanding about really what the transaction is about or what the business is about or what the goals of this process actually are, you could come at it from an objective perspective rather than, oh, I got to do this transaction or my lights are turned off. It's a much different perspective than going in and having to close the deal, having to book the business. And I think that you've been doing this long enough to understand the difference between a good deal, a great deal and one that you can really add value to. And if it's not ideal and it's not a good for both sides, you're the type of person that's not going to really push it forward or manage it to the degree that you have to. So I think that's really what you were saying  is, it's listen, pay attention, understand when it's the right time and make the right moves at the right time.

Darren Sprinkle: [00:13:58] Definitely. One of the things, I joked about money being on Craigslist, but the thing is like the market's flooded with bad capital. And I'm not in the industry right now, but I understand what that means. And so if your Uncle Tony has money and now he's hey, we could do this flip together. Like those opportunities, I used to get a call a week about that. Let's do this. My grandma's house we could flip it or whatever. And the problem is those people are willing to back, but with no partnership or wisdom or outlook on what are you doing. What's the end goal here? And so people enter into things without knowing what the finish line is. And the one thing I see as I got to work alongside James is like, when he tells someone, no, it's never because they don't want to do a deal. It's because mutually it's not good for either both and there's so much bad capital out there and if you take that into your business, it's like working with gangsters. Maybe this time it's not a gangster, but that person is out for themselves, typically. Even if it's Uncle Tony.  James, how many of those have we seen where it's some family member or a friend and now they're, I built a house with my dad when I was three, and now I have money and you can build a house and we'll make money. And you hear this story. It seems like it makes sense, but those people often get hurt. And if you have a partner like James is, and even when I'm not borrowing money from James and I've built, I bounce those ideas off of him. Here's another client. Here's another this and he says, hey, be careful in this way or what do you, he's asking me questions, right? Why would you do that? It's usually the question that I have to answer, right? Because am I doing it out of desperation or #inspiration? That's the other thing we're always questioning each other on. And if you're entering a deal out of desperation, you're going to take whatever money is at hand, so you can go somewhere quickly. And James is paying attention to those small details that you and I don't notice. And that's what makes him different. And it washes out the dangerous money from your business it's hard to explain that to people though. And so that's why I jumped in.

Russ Johns: [00:16:19] It is hard to explain to people and I think there has to be appreciation and Howard Kaufman says it, and I think this is what it boils down to is it's the relationship stupid. You don't have to have contact with everyone in the world. You just have to have contact in the people that you want to build relationships with, and D-roo, that's what you and James have built. And I think that's what goes back to the 50,000 transaction that James has developed over time. A complete understanding James of what it takes to have a successful outcome. And it's not just the transaction, that's the outcome. It's the entire process. And if it doesn't work from start to finish, I think you have the wisdom and the knowledge and the experience to understand that's not what will take place if you hand somebody some capital to work with.

James Minarsich: [00:17:14] Yeah, no, absolutely. It's exciting. I also wanted to mention, I've noticed,  we've got some great people here in the chat we've got it looks like we've got...

Russ Johns: [00:17:23] Sheri Lally is here. Silverfox Talks. There's DJ, I've learned so much from these guys. Absolutely.

James Minarsich: [00:17:30] She's now co-hosting with us on Fridays, such a great connection. We love that show. Platform, that was really inspired by her. It was great cause she's out there delivering that message and a ton of respect for her. Just can't say enough good things.

Russ Johns: [00:17:47] The first time I met DJ was on Gabe Leal's. I think it was like a four hour marathon. We were just having a great time, great conversation. Marcia Reece, who is a phenomenal business owner and entrepreneur, Marcia. I became fast friends with Marcia and she actually has this amazing product that is Stay Well Copper. And the backstory, if you haven't listened to that episode,  go check out Marcia's episode and I look forward to doing more. In fact, one of the things that I'm going to be doing with Marcia is figuring out how I can give away her product on a drawing from the show. So people would come and show up for the show and bring some comments to the table and things like that. And engagement. And we're going to be giving surprises away.

James Minarsich: [00:18:43] That's a great idea. Giving back on those kinds of platforms is wonderful. And again, that's what I really appreciate about your platform, Russ, that you're elevating others daily with your show. It's amazing. It fits in just perfectly with the vision that Darren and I share, it's just great. So congratulations to Marcia. I'll definitely check out that episode.

Darren Sprinkle: [00:19:04] It's a really cool product, too. It's very interesting.

Russ Johns: [00:19:06] It's a really cool product. And also Howard,  I'm a huge fan of ORL mouth care product and I'm going to get some product and give it away from him as well. So very cool things like that, that we can actually add value, highlight other people and bring some experience to the table. And that's what I really enjoyed about you, D-roo, James, the conversation we had is like, how can we bring value to the table? How can we bring it and shine the light on some other people and make that great? And like I said, I have a soft spot for contractors. So some custom home builders, I'd love to see them come into the conversation. And I know that you have those connections. So  I'm looking forward to many episodes.

Darren Sprinkle: [00:19:53] It's been so funny. We didn't expect to have Friday  take off  in the engagement level. We had this whole idea from the beginning was, hey, what are we going to do to help James survive COVID business forecasting? And how do we get out of the office when we can't get out of the office? That was the seed idea. And now Friday has become a place where people from all around the world now are coming and hanging out and being a part, and the guests we've had have had nothing to do with real estate and everything to do with what we're doing. And it's just bringing more people because I wouldn't say we're giving value, but we're the entertainment is we're bringing people that are amazing people that have these insanely beautiful gifts. And maybe that gifts a comment, or maybe that gifts a poem, or maybe that gift is giving. Every week has been a little different and it really started out random, but I think as we've gone, we really realized like there's a lot of power in not really focusing on, hey, look what I do. Look what I'm doing. No one cares. Everybody knows James does loans for homes. Until I stopped saying, yes, I'll build homes, everybody came to me for houses all the time. And now I say, no, I don't do that. And now we keep elevating others and people keep going, what can I do to elevate you? And we're like, we don't need your help. Just show up Friday. And everybody's what can we do? Just come Friday. And it's just become so fun. We've really looked forward to Friday. It's like this huge outlet and every time on the outside, we're getting these new connections and all of this other engagement. But what we didn't realize is that we were going to have a community feeling to tie a bow on the end of our week with the show that we created out of our garages, and that, to me feels really amazing to be a part of because there's a lot of people that just need community. And I think we're trying to do honest community with people and show hey, James and I are normal people with problems and he and I work them out together and people will see that as we go, and it's just been, I feel so much better than I did a year ago because of Fridays. And I've had a lot of groups that I've ran and all kinds of stuff like that.

Russ Johns: [00:22:16] That speaks volumes. I think it's important for everybody to understand that when you actually truly remove the expectation of what you get out of it and you just add value, it all comes back. It always comes back and this is like the community here. I'll be meeting Howard tonight. Another collaboration, another connection. This big smile needs his products.  Marcia says, thanks for the shout out, Russ, such a good episode. And she sees the value in this combination and this collection of experience that James, you bring to the table and you see that spark, you saw around the corner, you saw that vision. And when we connected, it just came together like a spark and just, okay, we're just fueling this flame here. And I think it could go anywhere and just explode, so the combination is absolutely productive.

Darren Sprinkle: [00:23:13] And it will Russ. The momentum we already have is, it doesn't feel even real.  We joke about internet fake famous, but that's what happens when you start pushing yourself over the line here and people start treating you differently and we're just normal. We're just normal. Or normally abnormal, I should say is what I fall into.

Russ Johns: [00:23:35] I've never been able to fit inside the box, cause I created my own, every time I turned around.

Darren Sprinkle: [00:23:39] I'm standing in a box I created, man. I know.

Russ Johns: [00:23:42] When you sent me that picture of the organist, yes, cool.

Darren Sprinkle: [00:23:45] Everybody said, what are you doing?

Russ Johns: [00:23:47] I want to ask you guys before we wrap up here. And one of the initiatives that I have this year after 420 episodes, I want to start asking guests on the show, James, why would somebody want to listen to this episode? And what value can they expect to receive from it?

James Minarsich: [00:24:07] My hope is that somebody understands that conversations like this apply in all business and relationship is so important.  Look at the way the world is moved. Look at just going back 10-15 years ago with travel agents versus Expedia today. There's so much information out there. I would, I always start from a position that people assume and understand where the markets are at and in the sense of, I talk about it openly, because if they don't know it, they tell me and then I can go deeper. And so I think that this applies to all business. This isn't just about real estate. It isn't just about washing cars. It really does apply to all business and how critical that is. Put yourself in the shoes of the buyer, especially when you're in a position to help guide them. And you're right. That's what pays back. I can't tell you how many times that that organic growth, it comes from that. Yeah. And that's critical. And I hope that's the message that people understand. And I'm just thankful to work with a group that supports that because not a lot of employers do. So I have to give a shout out back to my team saying, thanks for letting James do what he does, because that's why I'm there. That's why I'm there 27 years. So yeah, that's my hope.

Russ Johns: [00:25:19] Awesome. D-roo, do you want to add to that?

Darren Sprinkle: [00:25:21] I think the one thing we're trying to bring is community and honesty to the relationships into business. And so if you're doing that, that's the takeaway and we want to be in your network and vice versa. That's what we're looking to do is create bigger community right now.

Russ Johns: [00:25:39] We are just humans being human. I love that. DJ says, Silverfox Talks. I love this. I love this combination. I love the coordination, the collaboration. And I always say you're only one conversation away because#kindnessiscool and #smilesarefree and I want you to #enjoytheday. James, D-roo,  thank you so much for being here. Really appreciate both of you guys and don't go away. We'll be right back.

Darren Sprinkle: [00:26:11] Thanks brother.

James Minarsich: [00:26:12] Thanks Russ.

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