Episode Transcript
Glenn Harper [: 00:00:00
Hello, everyone. Welcome to another edition of the Empowering Entrepreneurs podcast. I’m Glenn Harper.
Julie Smith [: 00:00:04
Julie Smith.Glenn Harper [: 00:00:04
What’s going on, Julie?
Julie Smith [: 00:00:05
You know, I’ve I’ve cut down my Starbucks run, so I do look forward to our podcast recording days because it’s the only day I get Starbucks now.
Glenn Harper [: 00:00:13
Well, this is half real, so I’m flying high right now. It’s awesome. And we’ve got a great guest today. I’d like to introduce Jim Shiels, co owner of Southern Impression Homes, which is the spin off of Jack’s Wealth Investments. He’s the founder of eighteen Summers. He’s published a Wall Street Journal best selling book entitled The Family Board Meeting, and most recently, Passive Income Playbook. He is convinced that if you sit still long enough for the moss to grow on you, you have missed the train of life. His passion is is to not only make business deals, but to spread all the secrets to the masses.
Glenn Harper [: 00:00:45
This guy loves to flirt with the sharks and killer whales while surfing, loves to pack up the family truckster and explore the world all under the cloak of business travel. His wife, Jamie, and five kids keep him grounded as inspirations to to other to empower other entrepreneurs to blend business with their family. He believes in family so much, he loaned his dad a kidney because why be greed and have two kidneys when you when one will work just fine? He has mastered the old age old question of work life balance. This mission to bring this to other entrepreneurs is what is it gets us excited to talk to Jim today. From Morristown, New Jersey, Exit 30 5, to living the dream in Vilano Beach, Florida, which has a which is about a five iron to Saint Augustine’s Fountain Of Youth. He is the definition of the American dream entrepreneurialism. Thanks, Jim, for being on the show.
Jim Shiels [: 00:01:31
Glenn, Julie, good to be here. Thanks for having me.
Julie Smith [: 00:01:34
You know, he doesn’t use any AI to do those introductions. That’s all on his own.
Jim Shiels [: 00:01:39
That’s incredible.
Glenn Harper [: 00:01:40
There’s a you got a lot of stuff out there, but you really have to dig for it. I don’t know what you’re trying to hide, but that’s okay. We’re gonna get into all that. Well, you know, what well, the first thing we like to do is kind of figure out, you know, the where, the why, the how, the who, and it you know, grew up in Morristown, New Jersey in the shadow of Fort Nonsense, 1 of the most historical sites of the Revolutionary War. And also Fort Nonsense Brewery is conveniently located nearby. I can assume that as a Morris Falcon High School student, you enjoyed the 11 to one student teacher ratio. So what was that like?
Jim Shiels [: 00:02:10
Well, I feel bad for any teacher who had me because I definitely wasn’t the best student. I was an ATD entrepreneur against them from the beginning. I like to ask the question, well, why? Why why why are we doing it that way? They didn’t know that. This company. No. My curiosity in comedy either the teachers love me or they wanted my early demise, I’d say. So, it was there was no in between.
Glenn Harper [: 00:02:31
Was this from, was this questioning thing from, your your family of your parents’ entrepreneurs, your your siblings? Were they all all about there? Well, how did that all come about to you questioning everything?
Jim Shiels [: 00:02:44
No. No. I think, you know, I didn’t I was the first generation I was the first in my generation to be an entrepreneur for sure in our family. Now both of my grandfathers were on very entrepreneurial. And so I think I did get some passed down from that. But for me, Glenn, and and one of the things that we’ll talk about probably is I designed my own curriculum for our kids because I felt that, you know, just the name of your show, financial intelligence, personal development, those things should be core curriculum in school. And I didn’t realize that. I knew something was missing.
Jim Shiels [: 00:03:15
And that’s where I was asking. I was like, well, how is this gonna help me? Because I I watched my parents struggle with money go broke. And what I was learning in school didn’t didn’t seem to equip me to fix that. And so I was always curious to say, hold on. I feel like we’re focused on the garnish instead of the meat and potatoes. And it was tough as a young kid to describe that. Now I can articulate it. But it was really challenging for me to say something’s missing.
Jim Shiels [: 00:03:39
You know, I believe school is for, for us to uncover our gifts and talents and prepare us for the practical affairs of life, like you guys are doing here with entrepreneurship, one of the most important things. But school for me didn’t do that, and I started to question that, at a young age.
Glenn Harper [: 00:03:53
Like, how old were you? Your kindergarten say, why am I taking this nap, or was it later?
Jim Shiels [: 00:03:58
I would say definitely sixth, seventh grade. K. There was there was starting to be a question of saying, well, hold on. How is this gonna help me? And and what happened was probably about the age of 11 or 12, I was exposed to, Napoleon Hill and goal setting and a guy named Zig Ziglar, who I’m sure you guys have heard of. And I thought, wow. This is incredible. But this has nothing to do with what I learned in school. Why aren’t I learning this? This feels like it actually gives me hope and grounding and direction and purpose and and ability.
Jim Shiels [: 00:04:29
And so so, yeah, it was a young age, probably about sixth grade, seventh grade.
Glenn Harper [: 00:04:33
Isn’t it funny that, you know, you we went to school, parents went to school. Obviously, you know, some our parents, you know, never went to college. They barely made out of high school because it just wasn’t you’re just trying to get a job. Like, you weren’t you weren’t trying to develop and be who you you wanted to be when you grew up. Like, there’s no life skills, no balancing the checkbook, nothing. And we still put our kids through all this, right, for for why. And it it’s good that to see people like yourself questioning it. And I think it’s getting more and more mainstream, like, what is the purpose of going to school? Is it to learn how to be a robot or to achieve your goals? Right?
Julie Smith [: 00:05:06
I mean, I have to use Alexa to help do my kids’ math. It’s terrible.
Jim Shiels [: 00:05:10
There you go. Right? So it’s and and and there’s still when when I don’t know about you guys. So I’m 50 now. So when when I when when I was in high school, if you did not go to college, I mean a four year college, you were second class semi loser. That’s just just the way it was. County college, you know, community college was was like a a huge discount and embarrassment. You had to go. And so it it it became this badge of honor.
Jim Shiels [: 00:05:39
And because my dad, you know, being Irish immigrant parents first of our, you know, his generation to go to college, which I get, but it all it became so mainstream that we forgot why are we going. Like you said, it’s like, what is this going to will in four years this prepare me in practical affairs of life? So, like, on college, I sit fifty fifty. I think it could be a great thing for certain people and directions they’re going in, especially if they have some direction before they go in. I also think it can be a terrible thing. You know, as a real estate investor, going to four years of college did absolutely nothing for me. I mean, zero.
Julie Smith [: 00:06:13
I mean, I do think there’s something to be said. I mean, I % agree with what you’re saying. Like, me going into college, I had no idea what I wanted to do or what I was even passionate of. Like, I knew none of those answers. Right? But I do think it does teach you some sense of responsibility before you’re out into the real world. And again, some take that with a grain of salt because some people get that, some people don’t. But it definitely taught me, you know, I I played sports in college. So, you know, wanted to get all the best grades, wanted to be a part of all the things.
Julie Smith [: 00:06:42
But I do think it does teach you some of that maturity before you, you know, at 18, you’re out owning a house and trying to do all those things. I think it’s those intangibles that college doesn’t even have in the curriculum that you get out of those four years.
Jim Shiels [: 00:06:57
Absolutely. And and what I saw was sometimes, you know, just getting out of my hometown, it gives you that outside in perspective, and I think that’s important. And so I I agree with you, Julie. Those things are important. On the flip side, you know, looking at both sides, yes, getting away, learning to live on your own, the sociability. I played a college sport as well. Those are all, I think, really great for developmental. The actual curriculum, though, and the way that I learned, it didn’t do it.
Jim Shiels [: 00:07:24
So those side things did. Also, for me, which is very sad, you know, I went to to college with a few of my best friends from high school, and two of them became addicts and still suffer to this day. And so that was hard for me to look. And we all have our own choices and self responsibility, but I know the atmosphere that college can foster. If you really want to to have a party six days a week, it’s no problem. And you think at four years, it’s just gonna stop. And I watched them continue to spiral from habits they picked up. And, golly, we’re now in our late forties, early fifties, and they still suffer.
Jim Shiels [: 00:07:58
I’ve lost families. I’ve lost limbs. I mean, serious stuff. And and for me, so just being very personal, I saw that really tragic side of of an an environment they couldn’t handle, if that makes sense.
Glenn Harper [: 00:08:10
Yeah. Because, like, again, we were talk talking a little bit earlier, when off air that, Jill and I that, you know, if you don’t have if you’re not going to to school to say, I’m going to be a doctor, and this is what I have to do to be a doctor, or I’m going to be an attorney or engineer even, anything else, like, I I don’t think you need to go to school because the everybody can access that information from anywhere. Back in the day, you had to go to school because that’s where the information was. And you would go there and would be very economical. I mean, I’m a little bit older than you, but I mean, I my college tuition cost for a quarter was, like, $300, you know. And and it was at Ohio State, it was nothing. Today, you know, it’s ten thousand a a semester. I mean, it’s just not even reasonable.
Glenn Harper [: 00:08:55
And and I wanna circle back to this part about your your upbringing. You know, your your grandparents were entrepreneurs. Your parents went to college. I imagine your grandparents didn’t go to college. Right?
OrJim Shiels [: 00:09:05
No. My grand my grandfather so my my paternal grandfather died when my dad was six years old. He had been gassed in World War one and, died of a cancer from it twenty years later when my dad was six. He had started he had saved his money, started his own business in Upstate New York, bought the local grocery store, owned plots of land, started building houses, and he passed in his mid forties. I mean, tragic. He was on his way to becoming a millionaire. My other grandfather went to school until seventh grade, went back to work on the farm in Spokane, Washington, and then became, worked his way up as the classic thing to a stock boy and then started his own chain store called Cloth World. I don’t know if you remember that.
Jim Shiels [: 00:09:42
My grandfather was the founder. There was about 600 stores at its peak. So he was the first millionaire, in our family. And he only went to school to seventh grade. And so it always it was always confusing for me, Glenn, where my parents always struggled with money. And I’m going, hold on. Grandpa went till seventh grade and was an incredibly honorable man that lived into his early nineties, did incredible, you know, generous, generous things. And my parents, as much they try to be generous, we struggle with money always, and they both had college degrees.
Glenn Harper [: 00:10:11
Yeah. You just the real the school of hard knocks, you just don’t get taught that unless you get out of that little matrix, if you will. So here you are. You’re growing up. You got any siblings?
Jim Shiels [: 00:10:21
Five four siblings.
Glenn Harper [: 00:10:22
Oh my goodness. Are any of them entrepreneurs, or are you the only one?
Jim Shiels [: 00:10:25
None of them. I’m the only one.
Glenn Harper [: 00:10:26
Ain’t that weird how you’re just I still believe this to this day. Entrepreneurs are just programmed different.
AndJulie Smith [: 00:10:33
What’s the birth order, if I can ask? Are you the oldest, youngest, or in the middle?
Jim Shiels [: 00:10:37
I am in the middle. So I’m the fourth.
Glenn Harper [: 00:10:39
Okay.
Jim Shiels [: 00:10:39
So I’m the fourth child. So I’m closer to the end. And, so, yeah, I don’t know. I’ve I’ve I’ve gone over birth order when it comes to, like, certain family dynamics, but not entrepreneurs. I’ve never found out if it’s, like, the first, the last.
Julie Smith [: 00:10:53
I mean, I really don’t know the answer either. I was just more curious because it you know, you feel like the older ones are always the rule followers and, like, the more, you know, structured ones. And as the the birth order kinda goes down, it that that goes down as well.
Jim Shiels [: 00:11:09
Yeah. I’d I’d say, like, the oldest that’s what I that I have heard. The oldest is the most responsible, almost like the third parent. They they take this on and something we’re constantly trying to fight off from our oldest, you know, because I just think it’s we don’t want that pressure, but the oldest just seems to take that on sometimes.
Glenn Harper [: 00:11:26
It’s the expectations. The parents put on the oldest because that’s the first experiment. Right? Then we learn progressive on each one.
Jim Shiels [: 00:11:33
Yeah. I I’d I’d say though, you know, when when I’m thinking about it, Glenn, they are there’s there was something different within me. You’re absolutely right. That started at a young age, but I know there was also, an ignition when I when I went to this. It was a summer camp. My parents knew the owner, and it was a normal camp. Horseback riding, camping, you know, hiking, all these
Glenn Harper [: 00:11:54
Good stuff.
Jim Shiels [: 00:11:55
Canoeing great stuff. But for two hours in the morning, he would teach this thing called personal development. I’m like, what is this about? And that’s where it was Napoleon Hill and, and, who was I just naming? Zig Ziglar and and just these old classics, and it fascinated me. So I think there was an ignition at a young age that started to fester. And then I’d say that the real turning point for me was I this is the importance of mentorship. And I know I mean, this show, you guys are mentoring thousands and thousands of people. I always try to take time for that extra conversation. I’ll explain what that means.
Jim Shiels [: 00:12:31
My grandfather, the my maternal grandfather who was the the business successful, You know, my freshman year of college, you know, I was not a good student. I didn’t. I was I was definitely a troublemaker in high school. You know, who got in the most trouble? By far me, of our family. And but my grandfather, I guess, saw something in me. And every Sunday, he would call me at college. Every Sunday. And so we would talk almost every Sunday and wrote some letters back and forth.
Jim Shiels [: 00:12:56
And he started to introduce me to business and talk very humbly about, you know, what he had done and things he had learned. And he died that summer. But and and and we had 42 grandparent grandparents. 42, grandchildren on that side of the family. Huge family. And, and I was the only one who did that call with. And it’s not something I talk about very often, but I believe that phone call those phone calls that he would make was kind of a gentle nudge that I couldn’t again, being that young kid in school, I couldn’t understand what I was lacking. Mhmm.
Glenn Harper [: 00:13:30
I
Jim Shiels [: 00:13:30
couldn’t understand what he was doing until years later. You know? And it’s still touching to talk about. And I don’t talk about it very often, but it definitely, you know, guided my life.
Glenn Harper [: 00:13:38
Ain’t that funny? You you you have this urge now to pay that forward and do it for somebody else because, again, he was a busy guy running all the like, and he’s took the time to talk to just you. Like, everybody says they don’t have time to do that is full of it. You can always find time if you really wanna help somebody, but you gotta have that drive to wanna help
Julie Smith [: 00:13:54
somebody. Guess is too is that you were very receptive to it. And so, you know, this isn’t this kinda show, but as much as he gave you, I’m guessing you gave it back to him because you took it all in. You know what I mean?
Jim Shiels [: 00:14:09
I do. I I think so. Absolutely, Julie. But, honestly, I was a little pain in the tail. So I think he saw some fire in me that had to be had to be channeled. And, and so I was definitely receptive once, you know, when he was calling me and and such. So but but I I don’t think I was like a prodigy. In fact, I would’ve thought I
Julie Smith [: 00:14:28
was I’m guessing he could see something. You know what I mean? Like, he wouldn’t have kept calling, I you know, if he didn’t feel like he was making some sort of difference.
Glenn Harper [: 00:14:36
He probably hung up the phone and go, yeah, Jim, that yeah. I gotta get on him again next week. He’s really checking me off. He’s got such potential. He again, he probably saw something that you didn’t see, but he knew was there. And and, again, grandparents are like that. They they they see things through a different lens. Entrepreneurs see things in a different lens.
Glenn Harper [: 00:14:53
And and here you are, you’re in high school, you run off the couch.
Julie Smith [: 00:14:56
Wait. Before before that, I have just you know, I always have one question that I’m curious about. Growing up, you know, you saw your parents struggle from a young age. Did you ever do anything entrepreneurial as a kid? Did, you know, did you have those newspaper routes? Did you try to sell things? Did, you know, did you do anything like that at a young age that maybe you didn’t understand was in that entrepreneur spectrum, but now looking back you do?
Jim Shiels [: 00:15:21
I did. I had the paper route again. About the same time, I was learning those first Napoleon Hill lessons. I got the paper route at age 11. So I had the paper route for years, and that was the starting point. And then, yeah, would get into smaller entrepreneurial things, but I had the classic paper route.
Glenn Harper [: 00:15:36
What kind of bike did you drive?
Jim Shiels [: 00:15:38
It was a, you know, a huffy BMX. Nice.
Julie Smith [: 00:15:41
Did you do anything on that paper route looking back now that would indicate that you had that I I don’t know. I think we’ve talked we’ve talked to so many people and sometimes people are like, oh my gosh. I used to do this for this person, and they didn’t realize that kind of that service mentality or entrepreneurial spirit that they had at that young age doing those things. Is there anything that you look back now that really stands out that our listeners, you know, could relate to?
Jim Shiels [: 00:16:06
You know, I think couple of things, Julie. First, you had to show up. And I I was kinda like equal equal equator to you guys over in North Jersey, so it was cold some days. You know? And once in a while, I get a ride from my parents, but you had to get up in the morning. Do I put the rubber band around it? Do I have to put it in a plastic bag? And and you just had to show up. And then you also had the courage and the discipline to go collect. So it’s not like the money was sent to you. You had to go around with this little booklet and these little tabs and walk up to each house and say, hi.
Jim Shiels [: 00:16:39
You know, I’m just here to collect for the newspaper. So you’d have to go money collecting, which for an 11 year old is not comfortable. And let me tell you, I’m I’m gonna not use names. But gosh, I think of this one lady. She she missed the Dale Carnegie class. Let me tell you. She was in I had funny thing is she’s in real estate, which I know now. So she was, holy cow, mean.
Jim Shiels [: 00:17:01
And and so to go up to her door, you know, I had to you know, that fear of rejection and stuff at age 11, I had to just start to get used to that. I know, you know, with entrepreneurs, if you don’t collect no’s in rejection, you’re probably not growing. Yeah. And so I had to learn that at an early age. And at the same time, I got to see different people. Like, it’s pretty funny. So two weeks ago, my my one of my high school football coaches slash now friends slash person on my paper route for many years because he lived about 12 doors up, just stopped here, with my wife and children, his wife and his son and daughter-in-law, who I’m now friends with as well because they live locally. Surprise.
Jim Shiels [: 00:17:39
And, and and and, you know, we had a glass of wine and just a great conversation. And so here’s someone from my paper route at my house just two weeks ago.
Glenn Harper [: 00:17:46
You know, it’s funny that that paper route that best quote ever. I want my $2 from that movie Better Not Dead.
Jim Shiels [: 00:17:52
Better Not Dead. One of my
Glenn Harper [: 00:17:53
I mean, that’s just classic. Like, I want my $2. So here you are. You’re you’re doing the thing, and you you decide, okay. I I guess I need to go to college because I love school so much. I’m questioning everything. So let’s go to college. How did you pick University of Scranton in the Poconos Mountains where there’s only 5,000 students? Hardcore Jesuit, you know it’s gonna be rigorous.
Glenn Harper [: 00:18:14
How did you pick that? Everything you just said would be the opposite of going to that school.
Jim Shiels [: 00:18:19
Yeah. Yeah. You give me way too much credit here. So first off, I went to college because I thought I believed in in the rumor. And and like what Julie said, I had watched some there was, like, a a a a stalemate, a a ceiling when people didn’t get out of town. The town got really big around you. You don’t get a worldly view. I wanted to get out of my hometown.
Jim Shiels [: 00:18:40
I knew that people were staying around, were getting in real trouble. I didn’t wanna do that, or for the most part, the people I was hanging out with. And so I didn’t get into Scranton my freshman year. I got into one college, WVU, West Virginia University. And I went down there and I made a deal with my parents. And I said, if I get good grades, let me transfer to Scranton. Now why did I wanna go to Scranton? Because a few of my friends were going there. My sister my older sister went there and I wanted to play lacrosse and I talked to a lacrosse coach.
Jim Shiels [: 00:19:05
That’s it. I didn’t and there was no big secret to it. So I went to WVU, West Virginia University, my freshman year, and I actually got good grades and was able to then apply to go to Scranton.
Julie Smith [: 00:19:18
Now did you get good grades at Scranton?
Jim Shiels [: 00:19:20
I’m just kidding.
Glenn Harper [: 00:19:21
But you were playing lacrosse, which is awesome.
Julie Smith [: 00:19:23
Well, once you attained his goal. Right? That was his goal.
Jim Shiels [: 00:19:26
Yeah. I put I yeah. It was probably, like, a a a two six
Glenn Harper [: 00:19:31
That’s solid.
Jim Shiels [: 00:19:32
27. I mean, yeah, I guess it could be. Julie does not agree, but I
Glenn Harper [: 00:19:36
feel like that was close
Jim Shiels [: 00:19:37
to him.
Julie Smith [: 00:19:37
Like the 3.9 person.
Jim Shiels [: 00:19:39
Oh my goodness. Yeah. I well, that sounds like everyone yeah. Not my not my, my grades, but definitely people around me’s grades. So I was never I was never good at the grades. And and part of that’s my fault, but also that old, yeah, it’s learning in the classroom was very hard for me. The standard test ways and I’m not making excuses. I became a really good student when I ended Scranton, when I started to read the entrepreneurial books, when I started to go to mastermind groups that I would pay a few thousand dollars, holy cow, to join that I had saved up.
Jim Shiels [: 00:20:12
I got really, really intentional. So I don’t wanna skip ahead too much. But, yeah, Scranton, like you said, Julie, I got to play a a a a, you know, a a varsity sports, do well at it, be a captain, make some incredible friends that I I still have today. And I and I think it did give me a a growing up effect that I needed in in some aspects to get away from my hometown.
Julie Smith [: 00:20:35
And I definitely think athletics in college is, you know, way different than high school, but I think probably a lot of what it taught you, I bet mentally, you can’t be broke down. I’m guessing guessing that you can manage your time. Although with a 2.6, maybe that’s a little little
Glenn Harper [: 00:20:51
I had to work hard for the 2.6.
Jim Shiels [: 00:20:52
I assure you.
Julie Smith [: 00:20:53
I’m just saying that
Glenn Harper [: 00:20:54
I think I’m that guy.
Julie Smith [: 00:20:55
College athletics and and go and being in the academics, it taught you way more than you’re giving yourself credit for in your entrepreneurial journey.
Jim Shiels [: 00:21:05
The the the experience of sports and camaraderie and socializing, absolutely. But I can look anyone in in the eye, Julie, and say, the business classes I took, the marketing classes I took, have done less than zero for my business. It was so outdated, so antiquated. I mean, the term ROI, I didn’t know what ROI was when I left college. And as a real estate investor, not with a return on investment, it was one term within a whole glossary of terms that I had to memorize and not know how to apply. So I I stand with you on, yes, the experience of college, but the the actual classes, again, that goes back to that young fifth grader going, hold on. How is this gonna help? How do I turn this into having my own business?
Julie Smith [: 00:21:50
Right. And how
Jim Shiels [: 00:21:51
is this
Julie Smith [: 00:21:52
And I think I’m talking about that intangible of, like, having to go to class and having to get grades good enough to go play. But yet, mentally, you know, I think there’s just a mental aspect of, like, having to go perform and, you know, practice six hours then go to class for two or three hours and knowing that you have to perform in both of those to be you can’t have one without the other essentially, you know. And so I just think that intangible of what that experience taught you has probably, not the book part of it, has done more for your entrepreneurial journey.
Jim Shiels [: 00:22:24
%. Just like the paper route, you know, playing a varsity sport too. You weren’t going out on Friday nights to to party because you had a game the next day. So it there were disciplines. There was absolutely camaraderie, working together. That I % agree with.
Glenn Harper [: 00:22:39
You know, it’s funny. You know, you go to college and you pick your degree, and you you don’t even know what it is. Right? Like, I I chose accounting. I like, that seems like a cool thing to do, but you did it wasn’t until the last quarter of your college journey where you took this BA seven ninety nine class where you were in a group where all the disciplines in the College of Business, you got to experiment with all of those in this class. And, like, well, where was this when I was a freshman so I could have maybe chose something different? I mean, you probably should have taken accounting. You would have loved it, I’m sure. But, like, they they taught it backwards. Like, they should have made it more practical in life of what this would look like in this discipline if you choose it versus making you choose something you have no idea what it is.
Glenn Harper [: 00:23:25
Again Yeah. Temple’s term like ROI. How could you not learn that in college? It’s crazy.
Jim Shiels [: 00:23:29
Yeah. And I was in those accounting and statistics classes, but it was very hard. When you’re teaching extremely abstract and not showing how to apply it, it’s hard to stay engaged, and it’s hard to see the the why. And, again, I am a why kind of kid. And so that’s something that I’m glad I never moved away from because one thing I’ve learned is for entrepreneurs, for for for people that, you know, wanna create wealth. I learned two years after college at the time I graduated, there were three main classes of wealth creation. There was owning businesses. There was owning real estate.
Jim Shiels [: 00:24:04
There was owning stocks and bonds. Those were the main three. Now there’s fringe things. That was never spelled out to me in college. You wanna be an entrepreneur, you wanna you wanna go off on your own, own real estate, own businesses, or own stocks and bonds, or a combination, but get real I never had that that that windshield cleared for me. And I felt kinda cheated, I gotta tell you, because like you said, I’m just kind of going aimlessly, and I can’t see how and why this is important, what I was learning. That’s important for, I think, a lot of curious kids learning.
Glenn Harper [: 00:24:34
You know, one of the things, you know, as you started your your first investment, Jacks Wealth, and you’re doing that, and then you merged into this Southern Impression Homes things. But I’m really interested in this founder of the 18, and it was interesting how you named it. Right? And how you the age old thing of do you have your family in your business? Do you not have your family in your business? Do you make it a big thing? Because if it’s all family, that’s all you ever talk about. If something goes wrong, you’re talking about business like Christmas dinner. How did you solve that algorithm to bring families together in that side of the business to make it be not always about the business, not about the family, but it all can work harmoniously together? How did you solve that algorithm?
Jim Shiels [: 00:25:19
Through trial and error and, and asking for a lot of advice.
Glenn Harper [: 00:25:23
K.
Jim Shiels [: 00:25:23
And that was that was really how it came about. And what I found for business and family, first of all, what eighteen summers was about was a statistic that the average person will spend about 85% of the quality time they ever have with their children by the end of the eighteenth summer. Mhmm. It’s just how it is. So I don’t wanna be average. So I don’t think anyone listening to this is probably average. That’s not what entrepreneur learners do. So you can expand that from 15% more time to twenty, twenty five, 30, 30 five percent if you’re intentional.
Jim Shiels [: 00:25:52
But it’s also a very important wake up to say, you better do those first eighteen right because it is a golden opportunity that’s not always there. And if you don’t do it right, and we’ve worked with thousands of families now over the last decade, you become a stranger. And it’s very hard to pull them back in after the eighteenth summer if you haven’t spent the time with them and you’ve been barely around. You know, most families will suffer harm. And so first of all, it’s about, you know, making sure there was a balance of success in business and success at home. You know, just with the quality time. Just setting rhythms the same way you do in your business with your home life so it doesn’t get overrun. They don’t get just left over.
Jim Shiels [: 00:26:27
As far as bringing family and children into the business, we have some principles that probably couldn’t go over on on this episode. But a few of them, so you know, is I encourage my children not to go into my business. I don’t I I I think that is a very, very risky thing to say, this is what I decided to do. This is what you should do for your life. And this is what your children, who you don’t even know yet or have yet, should be doing. If they choose, this is where you give choice. But my first thing is to always push them away. Now my two oldest sons, like I have a 21 year old, he has his own charter fishing business.
Jim Shiels [: 00:27:06
That’s what he wanted to do. He’s doing great. And he owns his own home. He’s looking to buy his second home at 21. My other son was in a bad car accident at 17, and he, was so touched by the thing, fully recovered. He just graduated from EMT Fire Academy. He’s become a fireman in two weeks at the age of 19, and he said he wants to be a fireman EMT and do real estate investments on the side. I encouraged them both not to go into what I did.
Jim Shiels [: 00:27:30
I said, look, our grandma and grandpa had no money. My wife’s parents had no money. I said, you guys don’t have to put the pressure on that you did. We’re okay. So you do what you wanna do. Don’t follow my lead. Don’t don’t go into the business to go into the business. And I think that that type of freedom actually pulls them towards seeing that, if that makes sense.
Glenn Harper [: 00:27:50
Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So It’s it’s funny. Different cultures in an American around the world, it’s always about the close they all come in and do the same thing, and they share the money amongst themselves versus going to the bank and getting money. They put it all together, and they have their own, you know, family bank, if you will. And it’s just interesting. You know, regular Americans, we don’t do that.
Glenn Harper [: 00:28:14
We just like, hey, go figure it out on your own. Get out. You’re kicked out in the nest. Good good luck, and this is my money, and I’m doing my thing. And there’s gotta be something that can bring that together to create that generational wealth where the the struggles that your grandfather did kinda skipped the parents. You kinda have it. Now how do you mentor your kids to go find that thing, but also have that that family office, if you will, that can support that and create the next generation? Like, I mean, that’s the algorithm to try to solve. Right? That’s the hardest thing.
Jim Shiels [: 00:28:48
It is the hardest thing. I think it’s solvable. Like, for my grandfather, you’ve heard the first generation makes it, the second generation blows it, the third generation picks up the pieces. And that’s what happened. My grandfather was very generous, and it was not, it was not well handled by some of the people he passed down to. And and and that was a shame. And so I didn’t wanna see that for my children. A word that scares a lot of first time wealth people first generation wealth people, I’m sure like you guys, is entitlement.
Jim Shiels [: 00:29:16
Entitlement is a very dangerous thing. It’s extremely dangerous.
Julie Smith [: 00:29:20
It’s so funny you say that. Before we started this podcast, I we were talk you know, we were just organically having a conversation, and I said, we could have a podcast for an entire day on entitlement. And the person that runs our podcast was, like, a whole week. You know? Like, it and it’s so funny that you say that.
Jim Shiels [: 00:29:38
Yeah. Well, it’s it so, Julie, when we first so we did, family retreats for entrepreneurs for several years. And before we did, we interviewed like hundreds of entrepreneurs and we still do our family podcast as well. But we always ask this question, you know, what is one of your biggest fears with your children? Most of them, these are entrepreneurs, first generation wealth. And they say, one of my biggest concerns is I want my children to appreciate what they have. I mean, it was like 97% of hundreds of interviews that we did. And it’s like, wow. So there’s something to that.
Jim Shiels [: 00:30:08
And so we’ve tried to be very, very focused on that. One of the things that I can tell you that I think has worked or has worked so far for others I know and for my older boys is, you know, we have the money talk, around the age of 15. I mean, we all know about the birds and the bees and the sex talk. And I think that’s important, of course, because kids are gonna deal with that, obviously. But the money talk, I think, is just as important. You know, if if we want them to be able to handle the money, we need to discuss it. So for about the age 15, for our older boys, they’re now 21 and 19. You know, I sat down and showed them our finances.
Jim Shiels [: 00:30:42
They sat in every Thursday morning on our accounting meetings. I showed the ways that we went up and down and and, you know, almost lost everything in o eight, but then made it back. And here’s what we do, mistakes I made. And they would sit in, and they would get to see our our situations live. And in that money talk, though, we talked about values. And and I said, look. I just want to make something clear. You you are going to be put in a position, I believe, that you’re going to have opportunities that I didn’t have.
Jim Shiels [: 00:31:11
I’m going to try to help you get those opportunities, introduce you to people. But we’re not going to do the work for you. You you have to do the push ups on your own. And our our money is tied to certain core values. And if you decide to go your own path, that is your freedom. I will respect it. I will love you. But just know you will receive nothing.
Jim Shiels [: 00:31:29
And I can give you a clear example. And I talk about this a lot. And this might seem harsh. But I think it’s important from experiences I’ve had with prior generations, addiction. Like, I made it clear to my sons, I will not fund addiction. That’s just not something if you’ve ever gone to any, you know, I’ve had addiction on my side of the family, so has my wife. And enabling is a very serious cause, that can create entitlement and all sorts of things. I said, I won’t enable.
Jim Shiels [: 00:31:54
If you if you went down the path of addiction, I would love you. I’ll try to get you help. But I won’t fund that. I wouldn’t pass money down to an addict. That’s just not something I would do. So you can you know me. I I do what I say. I will always tell you bad jokes.Jim Shiels [: 00:32:07
That’s what I always said to them. But I will never lie to you. And I’m looking you in the eye and saying, if you take that path, you will receive nothing. And my boys still, and they’ve come on our podcast or, you you know, come on stage a movie before, they said, there was no lie in his eyes. And there’s not. I love my kids too much. And when it’s when when a second generation of wealth then has a very clear knowing that, hey. I might not get what they have.
Jim Shiels [: 00:32:31
That’s not guaranteed. They look at it differently. They look at it with more respect, and and they also stay on their toes more. Like, you’re not gonna say you’re gonna do something. You’re not gonna do nothing. And if you choose certain paths, values that are way outside ours, that’s your choice. We love you. You’re not we’re not gonna fund that.
Jim Shiels [: 00:32:47
That make sense?
Glenn Harper [: 00:32:48
Totally. And, again, most entrepreneurs are probably so busy doing their career, their job, running their business that they have this guilt that they’re not spending the time with their family, so they try to buy that. Right? Yep. And then all you do is entitle it, and then now you think you have this relationship of mutual respect, but you’re just a cash cow. It’s it’s a really it’s a real thing out there, and we see this all the time. And it’s so hard, and that’s where, I mean, this algorithm that you’re trying to solve, like, is I assume this is in the workshops and the things that you do is to help people swing that pendulum back to somewhere where it’s a little bit more I I just, you know, spend the time and be real versus trying to buy it. Right?
Jim Shiels [: 00:33:30
Yes. Yeah. Be real. And and like you said, it is it’s a sad day, Glenn, when we’ve worked with certain families and someone feels bitter and just completely out of place, and it’s normally the busy entrepreneur in the family because they feel like they’re a stranger or just an ATM machine.
Glenn Harper [: 00:33:47
Correct.
Jim Shiels [: 00:33:48
And that is that that I mean but the problem is we we we go into our businesses so deeply because I think it’s easier to be an entrepreneur than a good parent. And we go so deeply into our business that we we get validation. We get the high fives there. We get the awards, and then we kinda delegate ourselves out of family life. And and you’re kinda cheating yourself. Most of us say as an entrepreneur when we start, well, I wanna be an entrepreneur so I can, you know, have freedom of my time, no ceiling to my wealth, so I can be with the people I love and do the things I enjoy, the causes I care about, and all that gets lost. And, and it’s a constant reminder for for me and a lot of people I work with. We can’t forget why we went into this in the first place.
Glenn Harper [: 00:34:29
In your, line of work when you do these things, are you’re when you target entrepreneurs to as a as a client or the service that you bring, where are you trying to get that entrepreneur in the journey? When they’re ready to exit, when they’re ready to just they can’t take it anymore, or are you trying to get them right at the very beginning? Where where do you try to who do you try to target and when?
Jim Shiels [: 00:34:50
You know, I we are we we are of the fans. We’re a fan of of getting people when they’re just beginning. The problem is most people will not come
Glenn Harper [: 00:35:02
Never.
Jim Shiels [: 00:35:02
Until the kids are about in their teens. And they say, yeah. I’ve, you know, really had, you know, a lot of time away with with the business. And I think there’s some animosity now. And there is a lot of the time. And or or or there’s just sometimes there’s not even animosity. They’re just strangers. And that’s very awkward now for a teen to kinda say, well, now you’re wanting to get together.
Jim Shiels [: 00:35:25
Where have you been?
Glenn Harper [: 00:35:26
Mhmm. And,
Jim Shiels [: 00:35:27
and so it’s not even necessarily animosity. So we we would like people to start younger. But as we all know, oh, I I most people don’t go to the doctor for preventative, although that’s the best thing to do. They go once the, symptoms are acute. And so, I would say we try to attract the the the earlier, but we attract the latter.
Glenn Harper [: 00:35:46
When you, when you do these, workshops and the clinics and the and the consulting thing, again, this is just I mean, this is this is great stuff to talk about because I think our listeners would probably benefit from this. Do you bring after you get the entrepreneur, the mom or dad in there and you lay the law down, here’s how it is, and they go, oh my god. They had the moment. Do you bring the kid in, and who gets to deliver that message to the kid? Do you deliver it, your team, or does the parent have to deliver to the kid to say this is how we roll in now? Like, how does that work? Is it come is it better coming from you and your team, or is it better coming from the parent to the kid?
Jim Shiels [: 00:36:21
You know, you know, there’s a lot of things well, every everyone knows about having an intermediary. Right? We all certain things, there’s, oh, let me get the intermediary to handle it, the negotiator. I’d say we’re kind of like family negotiators.
Glenn Harper [: 00:36:34
Yeah.
Jim Shiels [: 00:36:34
And and so it it it’s what’s funny is when you say, you know, with kids now, here’s how it’s gonna be. I would say there’s more times where you bring things to light and you say to the parent, okay, now here’s how it should probably be if you want this to work.
Glenn Harper [: 00:36:51
Mhmm.
Jim Shiels [: 00:36:52
And so what I think we’ve been really good at is, is the ability to earn trust on both sides and and kind of look at things on both sides. Like, the phone is the perfect example. Right? You know, one of our biggest, principles is intermittent tech fasting. These things are wonderful. You know, I love my phone. I was able to get the update from you guys this morning when I was, you know, just leaving coffee with my wife. Oh, I got a podcast in an hour. Right? That’s great.
Jim Shiels [: 00:37:17
Keeps you but sometimes it overruns you. When we are locked down in the pandemic, it really overran everybody. And so what I would see with parents, for example, is I can’t get my kid off their phone. But they’ll say that, and before they’ve even finished their sentence, they’re not even looking at me, and they’re typing something, scrolling on a thread. And so there’s, there’s some hypocrisy there. And, and so we gently can say that to both sides. And what I found is I want my kids off off their phone. I don’t want them on their phone as much.
Jim Shiels [: 00:37:48
Okay. Well, let’s start with you. And, if you’re on your phone less, then guess what might be more willing to follow suit? And so, so we kind of again, it’s we’re like an intermediary, Glenn, if that makes sense. That’s just one example.
Glenn Harper [: 00:38:02
Yeah. I I think that’s the the point. So, again, it’s the, people probably come to you, and they’re like, it’s all my kids’ fault. And it’s like, no. No. No. No. It’s probably your fault.
Glenn Harper [: 00:38:11
And you gotta lead by example, and then they’ll come with. And it could be the other way around, but usually you gotta look in the mirror to figure those things out. But I think that’s probably your skill set is to separating the the pepper from the fly poop, right, and figuring out what’s what. And that’s the key.
Julie Smith [: 00:38:26
That’s that’s the real book version of that.
Glenn Harper [: 00:38:28
Yes. It is. It is. I mean, people again, entrepreneurs, the the the spouses, kids, friends, family, they do not understand what the entrepreneur goes through on a daily basis. I have no clue, nor should they. Right? It’s not their burden to carry. But we feel the entrepreneur, like, they should know it, but they don’t. And then we act in a certain way where there’s there’s techniques to help bridge that gap, I would suspect, and that’s part of what you guys do.
Glenn Harper [: 00:38:56
Right?
Jim Shiels [: 00:38:57
That’s what we do. And workshops and sometimes when we’ve done three day retreats, everybody comes out feeling more understood, and that’s really important. And and one thing with the entrepreneur, we have this this pride, this badge of honor. It can be very lonely. Very lonely. Always. And and with setbacks and unknowns and second guessing yourself and the little negative guy in the shoulder. And, again, going from both sides, I will stick up for the kid like I just did, but I’ll challenge teenagers.
Jim Shiels [: 00:39:31
And I’ll we will we will go through lists just to show what’s on a parent’s plate, especially an entrepreneur’s plate. And and the spouse, God bless them, who’s supporting that entrepreneur or in the business as well. And once they see that all in front of them, once it’s all real you know, we do this kind of charting, exercise. I think for the first time, they’re like, wow. They have a lot on their plate. They have a lot on their plates. And and I’ll say, we talked about earlier, and I came at your parents a little bit and said, do you have your children’s back? Are you there to support them in the good and the bad and the confusing times? I’m gonna ask you the same thing. You’re you’re saying I wanna be treated like more an adult.
Jim Shiels [: 00:40:13
As a teen, that’s fine. I think you are. You’re you’re progressing into adulthood. Do you have your parents back? Do you support them? Do you I I put the responsibility right back on their shoulders because I think of family as a team sport. And and if teenagers wanna be treated with more respect, more, individuality, more independence, more freedoms, I think it’s it’s within the rights of the family unit to say, do you have your parents back? And and I remember the first time I was asked that question, I didn’t like the answer. And I I I remember I was like, well, well, I’m I’m the child. And I was like 24, probably at the first time when I did that. So, I mean, come on.
Jim Shiels [: 00:40:52
And so we we you don’t even think about that. And I again, I want co you know, cohesion all the way around, you know, that that camaraderie all the way around. So that’s a really powerful question we go deep into.Julie Smith [: 00:41:02
So I wanna take I I know Glenn’s so into this.
Jim Shiels [: 00:41:05
Can I
Glenn Harper [: 00:41:05
got one more question? When they go to this three day retreat, it’s not like, you know, a tech fast. You’re not like a food fasting. Right? You still get to eat, and you’re not, like, purging everything. It’s important to me to know that.
Jim Shiels [: 00:41:16
Well, a lot of we’re hiking in the mountains.
Glenn Harper [: 00:41:18
Okay. We’re
Jim Shiels [: 00:41:19
surfing on the beach. We’re we’re eating good food. I do say, if you can, because I I showed usually at the beginning of one of my treats, I will take my phone and say, watch this. My phone is going off for the next three days. Now I have other businesses, other things to do, but I’ve given you my commitment that I’m gonna be your focus for my family that’s here and your families. And I don’t want any distractions, any outside influences, and we don’t realize how much we’re pulled away. So I challenge you to turn off your phone as much as possible. If you can do it for the next three days, tell me how you feel.
Jim Shiels [: 00:41:48
So that’s when I’m we set the stage. We we have no idea, Glenn, how much we grab for that’s why I do, you know, tech fast every day. Some weekends, I’ll go. I’ve I’ve just come back on social media for the most part. I cut it by, like, 95% over the last three months, just to take a break from all the toxic stuff out there. And I once people start fasting, they get more control of it and they ask to get better usage of it.
Glenn Harper [: 00:42:12
Agreed.
Julie Smith [: 00:42:13
Okay. So I’m gonna I I gotta go back because I gotta be able. I’m the person that has to close the loop, connect the dots. So you you graduate college. What do you do?
Jim Shiels [: 00:42:22
I went into, pharmaceutical advertising, and I could not stand it. I remember sitting in a cubicle, doing a a sales pamphlet for an event for doctors, that focused on an irregular bowel syndrome. And that was about as exciting as it sounds. And I couldn’t stand it, so I made it in corporate America for about a year. I started reading entrepreneurial books post college, and it completely blew my mind and my chances of staying in corporate America. And I packed up and left New Jersey for California about, you know, a year and a half after college.
Julie Smith [: 00:42:58
And then what?
Jim Shiels [: 00:43:00
I took a sales job that fell through and, went back to almost feeling like before college, waitering, bartending, doing odd jobs and reading still. And then I took an inside sales job that had, sold database information about foreclosures across The US. Ding, ding, ding. And that’s where I first learned about cheap real estate, buying and undervalue, fixing it up, renting it or selling.
Glenn Harper [: 00:43:27
You know, it’s funny. The entrepreneurial journey is just one of the most coveted things. I just think it’s I just grin hearing it. Like, you don’t you’re not sure where you’re ever supposed to end up, but somehow you end up where you’re supposed to be. But it it it takes to say you’re not necessarily moving towards something, you’re moving away from something. I don’t like that. I’m gonna do something else,
Jim Shiels [: 00:43:50
where Yep.
Glenn Harper [: 00:43:51
Most people that have been programmed, they stay where they’re at. And and that nothing wrong with that if that makes them happy.
Jim Shiels [: 00:43:57
Yeah. Yep.
Glenn Harper [: 00:43:58
But entrepreneurs, they might not know where they need to go, but they know it’s not here. And they always gotta do this hop thing. And it’s just so it’s so funny to look at.
Julie Smith [: 00:44:06
So you were in California. How did you make your way to Florida?
Jim Shiels [: 00:44:10
So I went into real estate investing in 1998, ’90 ‘9, and, started a real estate investment company in, in California. My my niche was and this is something important for anyone who’s going into real estate. If you can’t say what you do in one sentence, you’re not a master. You’re not you’re not gonna become a master at it. That’s the one thing I’ve learned about real estate investing, niche down. So I would buy foreclosures, fix them up, and either rent them or sell them. That was it. That was my whole path to wealth.
Jim Shiels [: 00:44:39
I did that in a little town called Bakersfield, California for about seven years. Two thousand five, it got a little crazy in California. If you guys remember, prices were going nuts. And, and I was given some tips on Northeast Florida being cheaper, being better landlord laws. And so I sold off a lot of what I had and went to Florida. And, and it was a very wise move. Still felt the pain of 02/2008. Any real estate investor who says, o ‘8 was fine.
Jim Shiels [: 00:45:06
They’re lying to you. It was a very difficult time, the worst time in a hundred years, but survived that. But that was I was very lucky to be where I was in Florida instead of California. That’s for sure.
Julie Smith [: 00:45:17
At what point in your journey do you realize that those calls your grandfather gave you in college have led you to right where you are?
Jim Shiels [: 00:45:27
It was definitely it was definitely those those quiet nights in California when I first moved out there, and I was trying to figure out what to do. And he’d always said do something on your own. It’s the only way you’re gonna create freedom and and really be able to do what you wanna do. So those words really started to positively haunt me, I think, when I was deciding, because I was looking at a million different biz ops and franchises, and real estate investing kept coming back to me. It made sense, the tangibility. Remember, I grew up a half hour from Wall Street. I didn’t like that world. Yeah.
Jim Shiels [: 00:46:01
I had I had no interest in it, no draw to it. But real estate, the tangibility, the levers you could pull, the the leverage, it just made sense to me. And so as I decided to go into that and started the business and had, like Glenn said, the ups, downs, and sideways, that was definitely my grandfather telling me the hard things he went through. And the difficulty and you know, the persevering and treating people well and and moving away from people that don’t. And it’s so it it it really I guess does that make sense, Julie? Once I started to really apply it, it it was a I’d call it a positive haunting.
Glenn Harper [: 00:46:36
That’s just the nature of it. Right?
Jim Shiels [: 00:46:38
Mhmm.
Glenn Harper [: 00:46:39
I think, you know, I think, Julie, you got a couple final
Julie Smith [: 00:46:43
questions that we need. To have a really organic conversation, but there’s two two nuggets that I need need need from you.
Glenn Harper [: 00:46:50
We need answers.
Jim Shiels [: 00:46:51
Alright? Okay.
Julie Smith [: 00:46:52
One the first one. What is your end game?
Jim Shiels [: 00:46:59
So my end game is to be able to spend time with my family and friends, my hobbies, and causes I care about. That’s it. I I don’t I
Glenn Harper [: 00:47:15
think I know what he’s trying to say, which means you’re never gonna stop doing what you’re doing.
Jim Shiels [: 00:47:20
Which means entrepreneurship has created something for me from near poverty to abundance. Not in a straight line like you said, Glenn, but definitely more than anyone in two generations and just in my immediate family. And there’s there’s difficulties, there’s lonely nights, but it’s produced something for us. I have an incredible family life and and I won’t stop doing what I’m doing, Glenn, as long as the how is not affected.
Glenn Harper [: 00:47:49
Correct. Correct.
Jim Shiels [: 00:47:49
So I I was able to go for breakfast tacos and a coffee with my wife this morning and drop my kids off at school. And now I have this and some other things to do after it, obviously, but I’m still still doing that. Right? Next next week, my daughter, her 10 year old my 10 year old daughter, she has her her end of school year, camping trip. There’s one dad going, me. You know, as as long as I can do that, I won’t stop. But one thing I could see me doing, and I I hear it called the second act. Be interesting to hear if you guys hear about that. I’ve always kinda just fell in back into this without even marketing myself, without a big push of, you know, writing this book.
Jim Shiels [: 00:48:28
I didn’t even wanna write a book on. I’m not a family psychologist. I felt awkward. I was pushed to do it. But I probably will go into more helping more entrepreneur families and doing less real estate.
Glenn Harper [: 00:48:40
Agreed. Yeah. I still gotta go back to the an Irish guy having breakfast tacos. Walk me through that. How does that even happen?
Jim Shiels [: 00:48:48
Well, we we, we have a house in you know, for the last four years, we spent about a year and a half of our time the last four years in Costa Rica. So we we are big fans of Costa Rica. I I I definitely, you know, I must have some sort of South American Mexican blood in me because I love There
Glenn Harper [: 00:49:06
it is. Alright. Just checking.
Julie Smith [: 00:49:08
We love that Costa Rican coffee. So Oh,
Jim Shiels [: 00:49:11
so that’s our favorite. Yeah. Yeah. It’s great. So, yeah. Just, you know what I mean? Those little things. As long as you can do those little things, Glenn, they’re they’re the most important. But then the big things.
Jim Shiels [: 00:49:22
You know what I mean? I’ve been able to take six week adventures with my family. You know? I’ve been able to to to be there at all of the plays and outings and such and, and live and work from Costa Rica. Like, there’s things reconnect with our family in Ireland, and you gotta have space to do that. I don’t wanna be one of those people you’re explaining, Glenn, that we all know when I was, where you just don’t have the time to do any of that.
Glenn Harper [: 00:49:49
You gotta make the time. And the only way to make the time is you gotta get your house in order and figure out what’s important, and they’re probably your class will do that. Julie’s got one more big question, I think.
Julie Smith [: 00:49:58
What is it?
Glenn Harper [: 00:49:59
Super.
Julie Smith [: 00:50:00
Oh, yes. Sorry. I was so entrenched in his endgame that was no endgame. What is your superpower?
Jim Shiels [: 00:50:09
My superpower is
Julie Smith [: 00:50:13
Don’t overthink it because I think you already answered it.
Jim Shiels [: 00:50:18
So my I think to stay simple, take action, and and the ability to build trust.
Glenn Harper [: 00:50:28
Awesome.
Julie Smith [: 00:50:28
I think well and, I mean, I just wanna reiterate. I think your superpower I think you’re really good at real estate. I think you’re probably really good at building businesses. But what I get when you talk and, again, this is me being the female here. Right? What I get is you love helping families, and you love watching that transition and that change and being a part of it. I have chills saying it. So I think your superpower lies in that.
Jim Shiels [: 00:50:56
I appreciate that. And and you are the smart person in the room. I mean, next to me and Glenn, that’s not a big accomplishment.
Glenn Harper [: 00:51:02
Somebody’s gotta be third.
Jim Shiels [: 00:51:04
Somebody’s gotta be and it and it would definitely be the female.
Glenn Harper [: 00:51:07
Yep.
Jim Shiels [: 00:51:07
But you sound like my wife. And, yeah, it’s it’s something that I didn’t think I’d ever do, Julie. I love it, and it’s it’s, yeah, something that I will never retire from if I find my way.
Glenn Harper [: 00:51:19
Again, it’s the the calling is big, and that’s the the whole endgame thing is you you know the secrets now. Why would you stop when you can impact so many people, but still have your life balanced with your kids and do the things? You can you can go one to many very easy now. Where twenty years ago, it was hard. You’re going to one to one. Now you’re going to one to many, which is really nice because you built you built the team. How does our, you know, how does our listeners get a hold of you? What would be a good way to, grab your book, sign up for a class, explore you a little bit? You wanna share a little bit of details?
Jim Shiels [: 00:51:50
Yeah. If you wanna go to passiveincomeplaybook.com. Well, actually, go to jjplaybook.com. J j playbook Com. That’s a great starting spot where you can get some free downloads of both our journey into real estate investing and our family life, where where we share our rhythms and strategies to hold together. We have five children, a combination of biological and adopted ranging from three to 21. We’ve been through the gamut and some are involved in business, aren’t not. We run two businesses.
Jim Shiels [: 00:52:18
We’ve just tried to vulnerably share the ups, the downs, and the things that have gotten us through, so that’s a great thing. And if you’ve never invested in real estate and that’s something you’re wanting to do or if you’re a seasoned real estate investor, you know, we’ve tried to really niche down all the headaches we’ve had and and the courses that we’re taking now to avoid them.
Glenn Harper [: 00:52:34
Fantastic. We’ll talk throw us something about the the ’18 summers. I think that’s gonna really resonate with our crowd here.
Jim Shiels [: 00:52:40
Yeah. 18summers.com. Oh, yeah. 18summers.com. Yeah. 18summers.com.
Glenn Harper [: 00:52:45
Well, Jim, I gotta tell you, you were a fantastic guests. Thank you. I know you’re a busy guy. We’re we really appreciate that you spent some time with us today, and I know our listeners are gonna appreciate it. And I can’t thank you enough. And this is, Glenn Harper signing off the entrepreneur empowering entrepreneur podcast podcast podcast thing for you, Julie.
Julie Smith [: 00:53:04
Julie. Smith.
