Transform Your Career: Vibrational Alignment & Success

Stephen Schmidt (00:03.862)
Welcome back to the show where we interview the nation’s leading real estate entrepreneurs. It’s your host Stephen Schmidt Thanks for joining if you’re joining us for the second third or hundredth time welcome back And if you’re joining us for the first time welcome to the show, this is about to be a regular Listener for you on your podcast schedule. I got a real treat for you guys today I got Jay Robins in the house Jay’s got an extensive background in the mortgage and loan space starting at 24 years old in 1999

So a bulletproof business guy here in the mortgage space. He’s the founder of Coa River Capital. He also has a very interesting spiritual journey that he’s gone through, which will potentially take some time to dive into a little bit and see how he does business and what differentiates himself from just your average lender out there through that. So before we get into the conversation, just remember at Investor Fuel, we help real estate investors, service providers, and real estate entrepreneurs.

two to five X their businesses to allow them to build the businesses they’ve always wanted in order to live the lives they’ve always dreamed of. With that being said, Jay, welcome to the show today.

Jay Robins (01:08.487)
Thank you, Steve, and I appreciate it.

Stephen Schmidt (01:11.022)
You bet so for context for everybody as well. This was like a last-minute a Last-minute booking we originally were slotted to talk on Memorial Day and then both kind of realized Oh shoot, and I was working most of the day, but we tried to reschedule and and Didn’t happen and I just happened to have a cancellation which is wild because my calendar stays booked

two to three weeks in advance all week every day solid and so much has happened. We’re like, you know what? Let’s do it. I just got to my office. Let’s hop on. So Jay, thanks for making it kind of a last minute deal and giving me a phone call so we could do this today. Give us a little bit of…

Jay Robins (01:37.661)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Jay Robins (01:45.767)
Yeah.

Interesting. Yeah, you’re welcome. It’s similar with me in terms of the schedule. So this is while that you’re sharing what you’re sharing because same thing with me. It’s like, okay, let’s see. And here it is. which is part of my spiritual approach, which we’ll get into.

Stephen Schmidt (02:04.27)
You bet. I’m really excited to talk about that. So before we really get into some meat and potatoes as far as the show is concerned, can you give us a little bit of background on what got you started in the business when you were 24 and what made you stay in it after 2008, 2010, 2012, everything kind of going through a whirlwind there and then what got you to where you’re at today?

Jay Robins (02:31.249)
So what started me in the business, how did I get through the mortgage market meltdown and then, and what was your last question?

Stephen Schmidt (02:40.162)
and then what got you to where you’re at today, now, almost 20 years later.

Jay Robins (02:42.771)
Okay. Why? Okay. Gotcha. Yeah. Uh, great question. So I started back, uh, in the late 1900s, 19 and 90, which is a while to say, right? Um, at the time, you know, I’m still figuring things out. I’m a young guy or a 24 years old. And, and at that time, internet wasn’t around, uh, or it was starting to like very, very lightly come around. But I remember.

Stephen Schmidt (02:53.016)
Hahaha

Stephen Schmidt (02:57.048)
Sure.

Jay Robins (03:12.593)
watching what’s called an infomercial which Nowadays we’re pretty much online, but it was a real estate investment course. I didn’t even know what the word mortgage meant I know it had something to do with numbers and finance and real estate, but I had zero clue So I ordered this course started reading it picked up one of the business opportunities Made a couple of dollars. I’m like, okay. This is an interesting industry and then

In 2001, I was now getting really into the internet and long story short, I started building websites and I’m like, I’m gonna build websites for the mortgage industry. Again, still figuring things out. And so I just literally opened up the Yellow Pages. This was again before Google came through. And I just started dialing mortgage companies like, hey, do you guys need a website? Like I can put this together.

And and I met this and and I ended up this this is how? Unique things in life happen right place at the right time type of thing I I ended up going into an office that was the wrong office and I was supposed to meet someone and that person didn’t even work there so I’m like this is weird I’m in this office and I’m not even supposed to be here and then some guy came around the corner. He’s like hey

I heard you talk to such and such, you be interested in potentially doing mortgages? I’m like, I don’t even know what it means. Fast forward 24 hours later, he gives me a crash course and now I’m on the phone setting up leads for him. He’s closing them and 24 year old kid making a thousand dollars a week, working five hours a day. Now I’m in the mortgage business. And, and so real estate in 99, 2001 is when the mortgage thing actually started.

Stephen Schmidt (04:59.084)
Yeah, 100%.

Jay Robins (05:07.451)
And then I’m off and running and then in 2005 to 2008, I’m a high roller, Mr. Big Shot at that point. Very big ego, making lots of money. Most of us were invincible. And then all of sudden, here comes the crash. And I was just so disconnected as a human being that

I panicked and I went into a dark place where at this stage doing it, I now understand the importance of having a clear mind and making good clear decisions based on what’s in front of me. Back then I’m like, uh-oh, right? And it just started going down a path. then

Stephen Schmidt (05:39.362)
Hmm.

Jay Robins (05:57.747)
I realized, okay, I got to make a living. The mortgage business is dead. I started getting into other ancillary services like helping people with foreclosure and loan modification and when the market was a mess. I did that for four years, just surviving. And then in 2012, 2013, the market started to get back. And then I’m like, okay, this is my path. I’m doing this because I know how to do it. Started making a little bit of money. And then I was consistent from there. And so

About seven, eight years ago, I met my now wife. I didn’t have any kids and fast forward five years. Now I have a three and a five year old. So a few years ago, I’m like, I, I’m kind of burned out from doing residential retail and I want to be able to have a certain lifestyle, but I don’t want to have to do five or 600 loans a year in order to make millions.

What is it that I could be doing? And then here comes commercial real estate financing. So I transitioned from residential slowly, and I still do residential, work with real estate investors, but here comes the commercial stuff, and this is where we are today. And Coa River Capital, Coa and River are the names of my two young sons, ages three and five. So when I’m showing up to speak to someone,

Stephen Schmidt (07:03.426)
Mm.

Jay Robins (07:26.661)
I’m representing the names of my two sons. so energetically now in the last probably three to four years, I’ve found this new energy or vibration in what I do for a living and how I show up and how I’m inspired each day.

Stephen Schmidt (07:47.31)
Wow. So tell us a little bit about that journey that you started going through, through 2008. Like when, when things started crashing, you were invincible. I mean, I don’t want to assume, but it sounds like, you talk about having a clear mind now. I’m sure maybe there was some, you know, high rolling stuff and all that comes with it that you were involved in previous, which you’re welcome to share or not. And just an assumption of course, but.

Jay Robins (08:13.233)
Yeah.

Stephen Schmidt (08:15.586)
Like what made you go down that path? Did the stress crack you or when was the turning point for you?

Jay Robins (08:22.227)
Yeah, that’s a great question. remember my turning point was two things. remember my body was physically shutting down. Like I couldn’t walk. Like I felt like a 90 year old man. I had like a really severe case of sciatica. You know, I was I’ve always been a basketball player and that was kind of my meditation. And I just might like between just

Stephen Schmidt (08:35.918)
Hmm.

Stephen Schmidt (08:42.658)
Wow.

Jay Robins (08:51.023)
not taking care of myself, sitting in a chair, being stressed, my body started to shut down. And then on top of that, at the time, the Chrysler 300s came out and I treated myself to that, like the Mac Daddy of that particular model back in 2005. And then all of a sudden, I’m at a place now where I called them, I had an old Ford Explorer that I’ve had for years. And so I just, I remember saying,

Stephen Schmidt (09:09.389)
Right.

Jay Robins (09:20.211)
I gotta go turn this car in because I can’t afford a $600 plus the couple hundred dollars in insurance obligation. I don’t need the car. And so it was, that was the turning point for me was my body shutting down and doing a voluntary repossession of my car. And after that, it just kind of hit me. And I remember,

I remember specifically looking up. I don’t even know what I was looking up at. I wasn’t religious, I wasn’t spiritual, I knew that there was something there, but I was so focused on how great I was, which was why I was so disconnected. There’s an acronym, EGO, E-G-O, which is Edging God Out, E-G-O. And we all have different names for God, or the universe, and source, and whatever we call it, but I was just so disconnected. And so finally, my…

connection from that moment was I put my hands in the air and I said, okay, I Surrender I give up I’m giving up whatever my stuff is show me the way because I had been the Alpha the leader at that point everyone was looking up to me to make choices and decisions all the sudden I’m like, right, I need some guidance here and An old high school friend showed up. It was a life coach and a couple weeks before my life coach. I don’t even know

But then I reached out to her and I said, okay Tell me what you got I don’t have zero money, but I know a lot of contacts and you know, I could promote you and she’s like, alright I’ll tell you what we work something out And so the first thing she did is she said she grabbed the whiteboard and she said alright write down all the ways you make money and there were like 12 or 13 different ways that I was somehow producing money, which was Not useful because none of them were producing good money all of it was just a just a complete distraction

And then she said, well, what’s the lowest hanging fruit? And I said, the mortgage business. was in 2012. This was after the whole tobacco or 2010, excuse me. It was in the middle toward the end of the tobacco, 2011 maybe, excuse me. So anyway, so she starts crossing off all these different things and says, okay, the mortgage business, tell me about your house. And I’m like, my house? She’s like, yeah, tell me about your house. What’s the condition of it? What’s the garage look like? And I remember telling her the garage had about

Stephen Schmidt (11:26.648)
Sure.

Jay Robins (11:48.475)
two-foot layer of junk like a bunch of stuff that I’d say those like a hoarder and I’m like I don’t I can’t get rid of this because at some point this you know I didn’t realize what that was but I was a hoarder and she’s like go clean out your garage start with that and it was like such a huge undertaking but I just like I’m in surrender right so I start cleaning out the garage and I find these CDs right which is old-school terminology for hardware but I find these CDs from an alter named Wayne Dyer have you heard of Wayne Dyer Steven

Stephen Schmidt (12:13.944)
Sure.

Stephen Schmidt (12:17.89)
Yeah.

Jay Robins (12:18.767)
Okay, Wayne, a client five years prior sent me this package, I threw them in the garage. Now I’m like, okay, this is interesting. And I just put it in and push play the power of intention. And that moment was when that spiritual energy started to really go up because it started giving me answers and guidance on

what I should be doing. he was like my first, Wayne Dyer was like my first true mentor. And then here we are 10, 12 years later. And now the slogan for Coa River Capital is we take a spiritual approach to real estate financing.

Stephen Schmidt (13:05.994)
Hmm. Wow. What an incredible way that your journey has just been kind of like a river, right? Just going. Is there any influence that that had in naming it?

Jay Robins (13:19.891)
Well, reminder, so Koa and River are the names of my two sons. So the name that I gave our son River, yes, had something to do with the cliche of go with the flow of the river, right? Because if the water is gushing down the river and you stick a rock right in the middle of the river, what happens? The water’s like, all right, we’re gonna go around.

Stephen Schmidt (13:25.709)
No kidding.

Jay Robins (13:50.343)
Right. And so it’s a great metaphor. Like nature teaches us so much if we just pay attention. Right. And so when when my wife and I were considering having a child and we’re like, well, what are we going to name our when she was pregnant, what are we going to name her son? And then she threw out River. That just really that connected with me right right away. And then my other son, Koa, is the name of a Hawaiian tree. And so.

One of the things that I love about trees is their stillness. They stand, they give oxygen, they give shade, never wanting anything from us. Right? So a tree also resonates with me because of how they’re such… give and they don’t ask for anything back. Right? And so when I heard Koa, like we have this connection with Hawaii, I’ve never been there, but…

We almost went there during the pandemic, but when my wife then said Koah’s name, I’m like, I love that name. And Koah is a tree. So we’ve got river and we’ve got the tree and Koah and river are my two sons and Koah River Capital and Koah River Capital was born.

Stephen Schmidt (15:04.877)
I love it, that’s awesome. So let me ask you this Jay, when you were going through all this, what’s something that you believed about real estate previous to your spiritual journey that you no longer believe?

Jay Robins (15:23.603)
What is it that I now believe about real estate that I no longer believe? that that’s your question?

Stephen Schmidt (15:34.284)
Yeah, and you can take that as what’s something, maybe what’s something you used to believe that you no longer believe now, even though you’re in the same space. You could totally take it that way too, if you’d like.

Jay Robins (15:38.737)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, I got it. got it. Yeah, that’s a great question. I’m clear on that. It is that

If we take time to really understand who we are as individuals, that we can create a brand that is authentic to who we choose to be. Example, there’s not many mortgage guys that have a man bun, right? And a beard, right? Or wear t-shirts, okay?

Stephen Schmidt (16:18.83)
For sure.

Jay Robins (16:24.005)
And so years ago, I was clean shaven, short hair, putting on the nice clothes, never felt good doing that. I did it because I felt that this is what’s going to get me a relationship and what’s going to get me a deal. And I was focused on the money. Versus now, in my spiritual practice, I understand what abundance is, kind of like the ocean.

Stephen Schmidt (16:33.742)
Hmm.

Stephen Schmidt (16:51.927)
Hmm.

Jay Robins (16:52.185)
If you go take a little tablespoon and you take a tablespoon of the ocean water and you throw it out, okay, you’re not going to empty the ocean because the ocean is abundant. So is money. So is customers. So is anything that we want and desire. So before my spiritual journey, and I’m still in my spiritual journey, right? We all are.

Stephen Schmidt (17:07.16)
Right.

Jay Robins (17:22.547)
When I before it went to this intense level of where I am at this moment I was I didn’t have a good relationship with money So I always focused on I don’t have enough I want the deal So what do I have to do to get the deal? So I could make money Now it’s I know what I want to do with the money. I know what I’m bringing to the table and when I tell people that I take a spiritual approach to real estate finance

That catches someone’s attention. And I have evidence of this working because I speak to, well, for example, last week, I was sharing this when someone was like, well, what is Culver Capital and what do you mean by spiritual approach? And I was sharing this exact response essentially. And it was a $200 million deal, 150 million in debt, 50 million in equity. And they’re now getting us the documentation so we can propose it.

so we can put together a term sheet. Okay? And I’m sharing that because this is how I looked. Although my hair wasn’t even brushed as well. Right? And I wasn’t shaven. And so my point of that is that we have the opportunity to be our authentic self and do what feels good. I use the phrase vibrational alignment. We are either in vibrational alignment and it feels good.

or it doesn’t feel good and we are not in vibrational alignment. And so my days, my practices are designed to be in vibrational alignment all the time. Now in fairness, I get triggered 400 times a day. I’ve got a three year old and a five year old. And my children’s mother, she’s young and she’s still on her cycle where she has, we call it her moon.

And I share that because I understand the importance of us men who have partners who are women, the importance in understanding when their cycle is, so we can be extra patient during the time when their hormones are wacky, and the best time to communicate is when they’re feeling good, right? That’s part of my spiritual practice, right? Because if I’m in vibrational alignment and I’m aware

Jay Robins (19:50.365)
that I can understand what my children’s mother is going through and if she’s feeling good, then I know my kids are feeling good. If I’m feeling good, she’s feeling good, my kids are feeling good, imagine how I’m showing up and serving my mortgage clients with vibrational alignment and it’s having the skill of deep listening. What I’ve understood, it’s not about how great my mortgage product is because

I’m one of hundreds of thousands, right? You can go anywhere to get a residential or commercial mortgage. Just Google and there’s a whole list that comes up. So why would someone work with me? Well, because I take a spiritual approach to real estate financing. And well, what does that mean? And then I go into what it means to me, which is the practices that I have to be in vibrational alignment so I can show up and serve. And

Going back to your question is what have I understood that’s not as important back then as it is today. I would say the skill of detaching from the outcome. It’s a skill. Because if I have a $10 million deal or a $500,000 DSCR investment property deal or a $200 million development deal, whatever it is, my intention is

to be clear on what the person I’m serving or the group I’m serving, what it is that they want and what it is they want to experience. And so this sales game that most of us are in, it’s not about our product, although it plays a role. It’s about the story and how we make someone feel as a result of working with us.

So before it was, hey, I need the money, I don’t really care too much about you, I just need money, how can I help you? Okay, I’m gonna do the thing. Now it’s share with me who you are and how I can serve you. And sometimes that means I am not gonna be compensated, but someone’s gonna hang up the phone having received value even though I’m not gonna make money off of it and I’m okay with that because that’s true serving.

Jay Robins (22:14.515)
And I’m willing to do that because I understand abundance that if I’m talking to someone who’s got a half a million dollar loan that they need and their credit is 500 and they didn’t have too much of a loan and there’s no equity and they need to do X, Y, and Z, I will take the time to say, listen, do X, Y, and Z, do this first. And then when you have this figured out, then give me a call. I’m happy to help you. And by simply taking the time to truly serve and detaching from

the outcome, is how much money I can make, then they feel that. And then so does the universe. And then we talk about the law of attraction. That sort of energy attracts who I want to attract, i.e. a $200 million opportunity, as an example. And when I say 200 million, I don’t want to throw off anyone listening to say that I’m only working in those high amounts. That’s to say that I’m clear on what I want.

in what I’m doing in terms of dollars. And as a result of the dollars that I’m wanting, those sorts of opportunities show up. But what’s most important is how I show up to those opportunities, which goes back to being in vibrational.

Stephen Schmidt (23:30.414)
How do you get in a vibrational alignment when nothing’s going your way?

Jay Robins (23:36.227)
Mmm. Well, if nothing’s going my way, the odds are that I’m not in vibrational alignment.

Okay, and so the way to determine if I’m in vibrational alignment is to see how I feel. Okay, because like I look at my board, I’ve got 48 names on my board right now, 37 are in action, and then of that there’s really hot ones and then processing and underwriting and so, and then I have a team.

people I’ve got our COO, I’ve got a director of business development, then I’ve got all of our partners and there’s just a lot of people, lot of humans that I communicate with on a daily basis. And what I understand is important is that I feel good and that I’m organized, right? And so if things aren’t going the way that I want them to, I’m in a place in my life having just turned 50 back in February

that I can say, okay, why is this beneficial?

There’s not many things where it’s constant, these things are not going well. It’s usually, this isn’t going well, so I can address this. But now my reaction being at this stage of my life is, okay, this is not or did not go well. So I now want to take the time to find the beauty in what is not going well. And what’s really special about things that don’t go well,

Jay Robins (25:17.307)
is that we get to see an experience contrast, meaning, okay, this is what I don’t want because I’m experiencing this, so I get to flip it to be clear on what I do want. So now I go from what I don’t want to being clear on what I do want, and then the stuff starts showing up in what I do want. So things not working out is a big benefit. I heard a great quote the other day.

that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of it.

So in order for us to get to the level of where we want to be, whatever that is for us individually, and it could be mind, body, spirit, money, wellness, all the things, relationships, whatever it is, we need to have gone through things that we are clear that we don’t want. So then we can have clarity on what we do want. And once we have clarity on what we do want, and we’re putting it out there, then evidence of it starts to show up.

Kinda like you, right? Here you are wearing a cowboy hat, big giant beard, you’re in the real estate industry, you’re doing a podcast, and people are showing up, right? And you’re getting content, right? And this is what you’re wanting, right? You’re wanting content, you wanna be valuable for the people that are listening, and it’s working. And this is evidence that it’s working because here I am and we’re doing it and I am.

wanting, really wanting to give you valuable content so that people who are listening can walk away with some value. And so this is an example of your evidence, Stephen, of manifestation, because it’s showing up. Right? And so now it’s how, how far do you want to take it? Right? And if you can visualize, and if we can visualize what it is that we want, there’s another saying, Wayne Dyer.

Jay Robins (27:17.305)
It’s, you we go by this cliche that, I’ll believe it when I see it. Right? A lot of us say that, I’ll believe it when I see it. Wayne Dyer says, I’ll see it when I believe it. So if you believe that something can actually happen, which is visualization, then the likelihood of actually seeing it will show up. That’s been my experience.

Stephen Schmidt (27:33.806)
Mm.

Stephen Schmidt (27:45.838)
This is so good. If people wanna connect with you for more or learn what you’re working on, Jay, I know we didn’t even really talk a whole lot about real estate today, but we did at the same time. You know what I mean? So where can people connect with you, learn more about you and what you’re working on?

Jay Robins (27:53.619)
You

Jay Robins (27:57.265)
Right. Yeah.

Jay Robins (28:02.973)
Sure, koarivercapital.com and then it has social media. You can look up YouTube and I’ve got some, actually even going to Koa River Capital, there’s a video library there that kind of talks about the nuts and bolts of real estate financing and talking about how I can be valuable for the folks that are here.

hoping that some of what I shared is valuable, because it can be applied to any of us regardless of the industry. I just happen to have chosen this industry. I’m a numbers guy. I like math. I’m an artist like you, right? We forget that. We are creators. And I am creating in my industry by putting the dots together. Tell me what you want to achieve. And then I will either make it happen or you will walk away with a strategy, all with the intention of feeling good.

as the result. if someone wants to get in touch with me, they can just simply go to the website, submit a form. You know, I’m on LinkedIn and just started an Instagram page that I’m going to be doing some video and all with the intention of just adding value and teaching. That’s pretty much my thing is I want to teach and hopefully value. And when you think of something mortgage related, you’ll come back and we’ll talk.

Stephen Schmidt (29:31.38)
Awesome. We’ll go connect with them folks show them some love from the real estate pros podcast and the investor fuel family and We’ll see y’all on the next episode. I know you got some value out of this as much as I did Thanks again for being here Jay. Appreciate it

Jay Robins (29:42.843)
Right on. Yeah, you’re welcome. My pleasure.