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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Q Edmonds interviews Brett Stewart, who shares his journey into real estate, emphasizing the importance of support, curiosity, and mindset. Brett discusses how he transitioned from a career in ministry to real estate, highlighting the significance of relationships and community in the industry. He also explores the concept of creating value in transactions and the joy of collaboration, ultimately conveying that success is defined by personal fulfillment rather than external validation.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Brett Stewart (00:00)
I tell people that one of my superpowers is curiosity. And that’s it. You know, it’s curiosity of… So I believe that you can ask the question, what if, you can frame it in two different ways. A lot of people frame the question from a position of fear, like, ⁓ well, what if this happens? What if this, what if we lose it? What will people think? What if, what if? And it holds them back.Well, when you lead with curiosity, with kind of a sense of wonder, that what if is actually an exciting, dreamful, playful, like, but what if this, what if this, what if this was possible? Well, someone said, I can’t do this. Well, why not? What if, you know, so I allow that question, what if to lead me, not to hold me back. ⁓ And so,
That’s been one thing that keeps me driving. And the longer that someone is in real estate, the more they realize there are so many just opportunities that can be created. And there’s not a limit to it. Really the only limit to what we do in real estate is our own creativity.
Quentin (02:45)
Hello everyone, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds. And y’all know what I’m gonna say, I’m excited. I’m excited to be here. I’m really, really excited about my guest. I’m excited for y’all to get to know him, look at things through his lens. Y’all know I always say that. And we always deliver. You always see somebody’s different perspective. No matter how much we’re in this real estate game, we do different things. There’s a broad array of perspective.Brett Stewart (03:08)
Thank you.Quentin (03:12)
But when it comes down to it, we’re all trying to get to the same goal. We’re trying to be successful, trying to provide for our families. And we’re just trying to help each other, right? Build aBrett Stewart (03:20)
Thank you.Quentin (03:20)
network where we can all learn from each other. And today is no different. I’m excited about my guest. I’m excited for you to tell, for him to tell you what he’s doing within his world, within his sphere. And so I want y’all to help me, well, not help me, but here we go. Let me just present to you guys, Mr. Brett Stewart. Mr. Brett, how you doing today, sir?Brett Stewart (03:41)
Dude, I’m good, man. It’s a good day. I’m enjoying it. It’s hard not to enjoy a call and a conversation with you, so I’m loving it.Quentin (03:42)
Yeah.Man,
Ditto, right back at you, man. You have brought the energy. And of course, I’m glad you don’t know all that we’ve talked about, but you have already encouraged me, already inspired me. And so today, we’re here for a reason, right? We’re here for a mission. And I think we’re going to fulfill that mission one way or another, right? And I think our listeners are going to take something very, very special away. And so…
Brett Stewart (04:09)
That’sQuentin (04:15)
I want to kind of decrease my voice and make your voice the more dominant here, because you’re the expert. so, man, take us into your world. Tell us the different things that you’re focused on. Tell us, you know, the markets you’re operating in, maybe how you got into this world that we call real estate. so, yeah,Brett Stewart (04:32)
Mm-hmm.Quentin (04:34)
tell us about your journey,Brett Stewart (04:36)
Yeah, man. So I started my real estate journey. It was summer of 2020. Crazy enough. I originally thought back in like 2017, you know, I’d love to have a couple of rentals one day. It was just that thought. And then I was like, you know what? I’m just gonna I’m gonna learn real estate. How do I learn real estate in the modern day? I’m gonna listen to some podcasts. SoAnytime I was in the car, I was listening to real estate podcasts and ⁓ slowly it just got to where I was confident and excited about real estate. originally it was the idea of, okay, maybe we do some flips and we pay off student loans and then we get a couple of rental houses and one day that’ll set us up for some retirement or a kid’s college fund. ⁓ And so,
What’s funny is I tried to convince my wife for like, I thought I was trying to convince her for like two years to do real estate. And I kept talking about it, I kept talking about it and she would just like go along in the conversation with me. She never was like, yes, go for it, you should do it. So I kept trying to like convince her until one day, and if you knew her, this is totally her personality, I love her to death.
She just in a very genuine way said, hey, Brett, if you’re not gonna do this real estate thing, you should probably stop talking about it. And I was like, hold up. I was like, wait, are you good with it? And she’s like, I’ve been good with it. And I was just like, I’m trying to convince you. So I mean, as soon as I got my wife’s support, as soon as she was like, yeah, go for it. I mean, I pulled the trigger and started. And so…
Quentin (06:53)
Mmm. Mmm!Brett Stewart (07:13)
you know, acquired my first two ⁓ deals were acquiring rental properties that I eventually bird. I did the burr method ⁓ on, and then that kind of led into starting to do some flips and do more burrs. And, and before long, I accidentally raised private money and created deal flow and created a full-time job while also working a full-time job. And so,It came, it came summer. Well, it came at the beginning of 2022, but by summer of 2022, I made the decision to step away from my full-time job of 14 years, my career of 14 years to jump into real estate full-time. And from there, it’s been a wild ride, man. I told you before we hit record, know, 14 years of my career and profession, was a pastor, I was in ministry.
church ministry and I loved what I did and I’m totally thankful for it. But it has been so exciting and rewarding to now also be doing what I’m doing. And so that full-time switch came in 2022, July, August of 2022. So been doing it a little over three years full-time and since then I’ve learned all kinds of mistakes and lessons and
victories and successes and it’s just been a wild, wonderful journey. ⁓ And I would do it all over again and I’m excited about it. But again, I’m gonna bring it back to my wife for a moment. Her name’s Andy, by the way. She’s the best. Her support of me leaving my full-time job and career, ⁓ more than cutting our income,
Quentin (08:56)
Wow, come on. Yeah, man.Brett Stewart (09:09)
you know, our household income in half and then doing something completely new, she told me, she was like, I don’t care if you fail, I don’t care if it all falls apart, I just wanna see you go for it. And so when you’ve got that behind you, man, that’s all I needed. And if I think about it too much and talk about it too much, I’ll probably get all teary eyed. ⁓ Yeah, but it really does, it’s made all the difference. ⁓Quentin (09:33)
I’ll be right with you, bro.Brett Stewart (09:39)
to have that support. And even today, mean, we’ve got some big goals, we got ideas. And it’s one of those of, through my entire life’s journey, but even this real estate journey, I’m kind of at the point where like, if it crashes and burns, like, it’s okay. Like, I don’t need that for purpose and fulfillment in life.And also, you know, we’ve gone on some crazy rides where, ⁓
where we have been at a point where we lost it all pretty much, ⁓ but we’ve been able to build from it. And it’s like, when you’ve already been through it once, it doesn’t scare you to do it again if you have to do it again.
Quentin (10:52)
Yeah, yeah. No, man, ⁓ I love it. You said so many things that I just kind of just want to pull out and highlight and illuminate. ⁓ But one thing, every time you said it, they don’t know you said it to me before, you said you accidentally fell into ⁓ finding money and they’ll…Brett Stewart (10:54)
HAH!Quentin (11:15)
I’m just like, wow, but then, you you bringing it back to your wife, you know, how can the two walk together unless they agree, right? Like when you have an agreement, that’s just everything. And so I hear you said it’s been a, you know, it’s been a kind of like a wild ride, what, cause it’s not easy. Like in this climate, it’s not easy sometimes to do this real estate thing. know, things are market shifts, things should always change. So what’s been…Brett Stewart (11:15)
Yeah, yeahMm-hmm.
Yeah. Yeah.
Quentin (11:43)
I guess the key to keeping you, I don’t want to say running smoothly unless it is smooth, but I know you said this, there can be some trouble in time. So, what keeps your passion? What keeps you going after it,Brett Stewart (11:55)
Yeah,I tell people that one of my superpowers is curiosity. And that’s it. You know, it’s curiosity of… So I believe that you can ask the question, what if, you can frame it in two different ways. A lot of people frame the question from a position of fear, like, ⁓ well, what if this happens? What if this, what if we lose it? What will people think? What if, what if? And it holds them back.
Well, when you lead with curiosity, with kind of a sense of wonder, that what if is actually an exciting, dreamful, playful, like, but what if this, what if this, what if this was possible? Well, someone said, I can’t do this. Well, why not? What if, you know, so I allow that question, what if to lead me, not to hold me back. ⁓ And so,
That’s been one thing that keeps me driving. And the longer that someone is in real estate, the more they realize there are so many just opportunities that can be created. And there’s not a limit to it. Really the only limit to what we do in real estate is our own creativity.
⁓ And so that definitely leads me forward. ⁓ Yes, we’re all driven to be successful, to build a legacy. ⁓
Quentin (13:09)
Yeah.Brett Stewart (13:20)
But again, I don’t need success to bring purpose or validation to my life. ⁓ I’d rather be led by adventure and belief and seeing something happen that I previously maybe didn’t think was possible. And so ⁓ that’s what keeps me going. So even in the hard times, ⁓ you know, don’t get defeated. And in the good times, don’t.Quentin (13:27)
Yeah, yeah.Brett Stewart (13:47)
don’t get stale and content, but continue to be led forward by that curiosity and that state of always learning.Quentin (13:57)
Yeah. No, mean, curiosity can definitely be a superpower. let’s just say, if somebody makes you mad. I heard somebody tell me one time, it’s hard to be mad and be curious at the same time. So if somebody makes you mad, get curious, like, why am I mad? Was it what they said? actually, what they said, is it true? And I love how I’ve never thought about it even.Brett Stewart (14:17)
Mm-hmmQuentin (14:24)
being a motivation factor within our businesses. Always getting curious, why didn’t this work? What if it did work? Instead of thinking about if it wouldn’t work, what if it did work? So I absolutely love that highlighting curiosity and harnessing that as actually a superpower. And I love how you talked about success. We determine what’s successful for us, not nobody else, not outside forces. We determine what’s successful for us. And so I absolutelyBrett Stewart (14:47)
Yeah YeahQuentin (14:51)
love what you’re saying, man. Absolutely.Brett Stewart (14:53)
Yeah,I think the key to having satisfaction, contentment, fulfillment, purpose in life, but also what has led to growing and experiencing success in business. It has more to do with the internal development than anything else. The more I develop my mindset, the more I develop my beliefs. Those are the things that lead me into action and lead me into that
Quentin (15:52)
Hmm! Hmm!Brett Stewart (16:03)
creativity component of real estate of entrepreneurship. ⁓ And so, you know, when you can be in a place where you’re not trying to do something because you need it, but you can create from a place from already like being and being full and being driven and being curious. ⁓ To me that that’s where it gets joyful. Because if if I am onlyas good as the revenue or the deals that I create when I hit those hard times in the market, when I, maybe my marketing channels shut off or they suffer, like who then do I become when deal flow and revenue isn’t the same? ⁓ Who do I become when there’s more rejection, you know? So I’d rather focus on the development of self and the belief in the mindset of the world I live in and how I bring impact to it.
Quentin (16:51)
Yeah.Brett Stewart (17:01)
and allow that to be what leads me forward to do business. And it has less to do about other people’s reception of me and what I produce. And it has more to do with now what can I bring to the world, but also still, can I create through my business? What can I bring to my family? And what can I bring to others around me because of having a successful business?Quentin (17:15)
Yeah.Absolutely. Man, I told you one of my favorite books is Atomic Habits. And it says one of the greatest ways to sustain a habit is changing your identity. And so when I listen to you talk about changing your mindset, it’s not, we’re not talking about just faking it, just going with emotions. No, we literally changing who I am, what my principles are, what motivates me, what gets me up in the morning, like a full identity change. That’s how you sustain.
Brett Stewart (17:30)
Mm-hmm.Mm-hmm.
Quentin (17:53)
what you’re talking about, what keeps you curious, what keeps you finding success in what you do, not based on what somebody else thinks success is, but what you, cause you know who you are. I always tell people a lot, one of the greatest statements that was made for me, that helps me whenever I’m trying to decide what decision I should make, where should I go? It’s a statement I heard a preacher say, cause I’m just going put it out there. I heard a preacher say in one of my darkest moments, he said, well, you know who you are, you know what to do.Brett Stewart (17:56)
Mm hmm.Yeah.
Quentin (18:23)
Thatash absolutely shaped me. Like now I don’t have to give a lot of thought before I move. When I know who I am, when I have built my identity every day, when I have practiced intentionality every day, when I know who I am, I know exactly how to move. And I know how success looks for me and not let it be determined by somebody else. And so I love everything you’re saying, man. Everything you’re saying, brother. Yeah, yeah.
Brett Stewart (18:26)
Yeah.That’s right.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Absolutely. Yeah, because now because
now you are defined not by the deal, not by the revenue that year, but you have already been defined by who you are and whose you are. And from there, man. Yeah. And from there, then it’s just about it’s about getting to be part of creation. Like literally the act of creating the act of creation is one of the most joyful, adventurous things that we can be part of. And
Quentin (18:59)
Yep. Yep. Ha ha!Come on. Yeah.
Brett Stewart (19:19)
You know, one thing that I found, ⁓ you know, I’ve got a lot of people, you know, a lot of my peers that have been in a job for a while and it’s a good job and they’re stable, but they also find themselves not fully happy, not experiencing any kind of thrill or adventure. And some of it is because they don’t have a place to challenge themselves anymore and they don’t have a place.Quentin (19:45)
here.Brett Stewart (19:46)
of creativity. so I feel like for a lot of people and entrepreneurs are kind of the ones that they end up identifying that and tapping into it. But at some level, man, like risk, challenge, creativity, I think we all should be part of it. And when you couple that with continuing to develop who you are and what you bring to this world, man, that’s that’s where possibility lies. It’s everywhere.Quentin (20:13)
It’s endless. Absolutely. It becomes very endless. Let me ask you this, man. What are you most focused on solving or scaling next? Like Brett, what’s the next real goal,Brett Stewart (20:16)
Yeah.Yeah, that’s great question. So just a little bit of you know, kind of real estate background leading up to this. So we’ve got 18 residential properties. We’ve got a commercial building downtown that’s got 13 offices. I do some wholesaling, assigning of contracts as well. You know, last year I did a little over 50 transactions for the year and.
Quentin (20:28)
Absolutely.Brett Stewart (20:51)
We’ll probably do a little bit more than that this year or about the same. I’ve increased revenue significantly from last year to this year per deal. But really now the challenge is growing beyond myself. And I told you before we hit record, a big thing for me at the end of the year slash beginning of this year was learning, okay, it’s not just about developing investments or a business.It’s also about developing people. And in order to develop people, I’ve got to grow beyond myself and I’ve got to create those spaces to bring other people in. And so for me, that looks like building a team so that not only I can scale my business to the levels that I want to scale, but now I’ve got that opportunity to raise people up and hopefully do for others what has been done for me.
Quentin (21:22)
Yeah.man, I love that. mean, it’s absolutely, you know, big, movie you’re trying to make, building a team. You already had some success, you know, 18 residential doors, commercial properties, offices, transactions. Like you’ve already defined what success is for you. And it’s like the next step you’re saying is building a team. But what I hear is just not building a team, but somebody that you can, people you can pull into, a team you can pull into. know, community is everything, right? Like.
Brett Stewart (22:16)
Yeah.Quentin (22:19)
I mean, absolutely everything. And so I think people listening, you know, they’re early in their journey or they’re looking to level up. And I really think that benefit here from you, Connie, piggybacking on what you said about relationships, when it comes to building relationships and growing your network, what has made the biggest difference for you?Brett Stewart (22:37)
Hmm.Yeah, so to grow my network and my relationships, what’s been the biggest difference? ⁓ I think at the end of the day, realizing what we do is not about properties, but it’s about people. ⁓ There’s just a property attached to a person. ⁓ And I’ve just always been centered because of my background in ministry, but even just my personality.
Quentin (22:58)
Bye bye.Mmm.
Brett Stewart (23:10)
hyper-focused to the importance of relationship in all things. so not only have I used and developed those relationships to influence my business, now because of experiencing some level of success and growth, now I kind of have to step into a new position of where now I’m developing relationships and I’m developing people underneath me. ⁓ And so again, you know, I…I can only attribute everything that I’ve done and accomplished and experienced to the people in my network and in my life. And so again, it’s just, I don’t even know that I could put words to it, but just getting to that point, kind of experiencing success in a career or a business or investments, you kind of just get to that point where like, okay, a deal is a deal and it’s fun and we can all grow our deals. But if all we’re after is just deals,
You know, to me, I want something beyond that. And I have a true passion and excitement for helping people discover who they are so that they can also accomplish their dreams. And so, yeah, I don’t know if that answers your question. You can rephrase it if you need to.
Quentin (24:18)
Mm.Mm-hmm.
Hmm. ⁓
No, ain’t no rephrasing after that, sir. No, that was great. Listen, I always like to say, I don’t know if I said it on camera or not, I said it a lot, just kind of like in the back channels, but I try to tell people, my purpose is to unite and my passion is through storytelling. And so this form of podcast is part of the passion that drives me, that leads me back to my purpose. And this is why it was easy for me to do this.
Brett Stewart (24:44)
Mmm.Quentin (24:55)
because I want to unite people together, right? And so the topic now is real estate, right? How can I can unite people within real estate? And how can I do that passionately? Hey, let’s do a podcast. Like it just, it all signs up. I mean, it all lines up. And I say that because how you talk about you identify is the property is just the tool that’s being used to connect the people. That’s it. AndBrett Stewart (24:56)
Yeah.Quentin (25:19)
like whatever passion we find ourselves doing, there’s a tool you can use to do it.But keep the main thing, the main thing is always about the people. There’s always about connecting them, you know? So yeah.
Brett Stewart (25:29)
Yeah. Yeah.And I think, you know, one of the I mentioned that I’ve significantly increased my revenue from last year to this year. One of the things that I truly believe in that I’ve focused on is if I want to get more out of the deal, I have to bring more value to.
the deal. I’ve got to bring more value to the people that are in front of me. I’ve got to bring more value to the seller. If it’s going to be something that I assigned to a buyer, I’ve got to bring and show the value to the buyer. I’ve got to develop such a great relationship with them that I’m helping feed and source their business and their investments. If it’s a deal that I’m going to take down myself, I need to bring value to the lender.
Quentin (25:50)
Yeah, yeah.Brett Stewart (26:16)
⁓ I’ve recently started creating opportunities where friends and family can actually invest with me. ⁓ Do I need their money to do deals? Not necessarily, but a couple of things. One, I could probably do a larger number of deals with more financing, we all could. But along with that, I’m creating opportunities for other people to get to experience the benefits of real estate.Quentin (26:23)
Yeah.out. ⁓
Brett Stewart (26:46)
by being able to partner with me and not like have to have to start fresh or do it themselves. so, know, whatever value that you can bring to people as you focus on increasing that and that impact in that reach, man, it’s gonna come back to you. You’re gonna find yourself with more deals and better deals. And the more value you bring and you give, it comes back.Quentin (27:13)
Yeah, yeah. I’m going try to say this. Hopefully it makes sense. And what I love about you and what you’re saying and the opportunity you’re providing, you are connecting opportunities to people based on somebody you trust. You trust you. You know who you are. And it’s like, if anybody’s going to connect with these people, let me connect because I know me. I know my heart. I know where my heart lies. And if I can connect them with me, I’m connecting them.Brett Stewart (27:30)
Mm-hmm.Yeah.
Quentin (27:42)
with something that’s authentic, that’s a real opportunity and an opportunity that really, that they, where they can define their success, right? Like, that’s why I’m excited about what you’re doing. I’m excited about the people connecting with you because I know you can trust you. You know what saying? And if you can’t, you know, and so I hope hopefully that makes sense. That’s what I’m excited about. And that’s why I feel like when I connect with people, I know my heart is pure.Brett Stewart (27:50)
Yeah, yeah.Yes, yeah.
Yeah.
Quentin (28:12)
Let me be the one to present the opportunity so that they know that is a real opportunity for me. Does that make sense? You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah.Brett Stewart (28:19)
Yeah, yeah, I think Ithink that makes sense all over the board. Like whether it’s it’s friends that want to be able to put their money into motion and be part of investments or if it’s the seller whose house I’m going to, I know that I can be their best option because I know me and I trust me. And when I show up to their place, I don’t need that deal. I don’t need their house. ⁓ So when I show up,
Quentin (28:45)
Come on.Brett Stewart (28:49)
I’m fully focused to connect with them, to hear them and to build a solution that helps them transition from where they are and into where they want to go. And I know that that’s what separates me from others. you know, those that just throw around numbers and make offers, ⁓ you know, that’s fine. Everyone’s doing that.Quentin (29:00)
Yep.Brett Stewart (29:11)
Are you spending an hour and a half on a nasty couch in a living room of a house that’s highly distressed, but also the person inside that house, their life is highly distressed? Are you partnering with them? Are you listening to them? Are you helping build a solution? But also, are you creating that trust to where they want to work with you because they believe you and they see it?Quentin (29:15)
But, mm.Yeah, man, listen, but I could talk to you for, I mean, easily another 20 minutes, probably a whole nother hour, because there’s so many ways we can go. But man, I appreciate you so much. I am, before we wrap, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, maybe collaborate or learn more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way for them to get in contact with you,
Brett Stewart (29:56)
Yeah, I’ll push them to Instagram. How about that? Push them to the gram. ⁓ It’s Brett Stewart TX. So how my name is spelled, I’m sure maybe it’ll be somewhere Brett Stewart TX. That’s the Instagram handle. That’s Facebook. ⁓ And yeah, there’s other ways that you can contact me through there once you’re there at Instagram. ⁓ But I’d love to man. I’m an open book. I love talking about real estate, but I love helping people.Quentin (29:59)
Yeah, yeah, push it to the grave.Brett Stewart (30:26)
I love helping people think differently. I love helping launch them into a place and a state of creativity, but I also love collaboration. Like it’s so fun. There’s so much out there we can all win together. And honestly, that’s probably one of the things I love most about real estate that when we do it right, everyone wins. The seller wins, the buyer wins, the contractors and the builders, the title company.Quentin (30:29)
Yeah.Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Brett Stewart (30:55)
the local county, the lender, the realtor, like the new people that are gonna buy it, that family, or the new people that are gonna rent it, the neighborhood, like everyone wins. So why not focus on how do I increase my impact and value I bring in creating a win-win situation for everyone? So like that’s one of the beautiful things about real estate. Like when you do it right, everyone wins. And you can even do that with otherQuentin (31:05)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.Brett Stewart (31:24)
other investors instead of seeing them as competition, see them as collaborators. There’s lots of real estate out there. There’s lots of ways to have and to give and experience impact. so, yeah, I’d love to collaborate and to connect with anyone and share, you know, go even more and share into my story, my background and kind of what the future looks like for me.Quentin (31:29)
Yeah.Yeah,
man, I absolutely love it. There he is everyone, Mr. Brett Stewart. Sir, thank you so much, man. Thank you for your time. I thank you for your story. I thank you for your perspective. This has been phenomenal, man. So thank you so much. Absolutely. All right, so y’all got it. Listen, I know you got value out of this conversation. I know you got value. So make sure you are subscribed. You do not want to miss out on these conversations. Mr. Brett, thank you. And to everyone else, we will see you on the next.
Brett Stewart (31:56)
Yeah.I agree. Thank you.
