How To Lose Money: Business Stories | Life Lessons | Navigating Failure

Mark Willis is a certified financial planner, a #1 best-selling author, and the owner of Lake Growth Financial Services, a financial firm in Chicago. Over the years, he’s helped hundreds of clients take back control of their financial future and build their businesses with sophisticated, tax efficient financial solutions. He specializes in building custom tailored financial strategies that are unknown to typical stock jockeys, attorneys or other financial gurus. He is also the co-host of the “Not Your Average Financial Podcast”, where he shares some of his strategies for investing in real estate, saving and paying for college without going broke, and creating an income retirement that you cannot outlive. Mark works with people who want to grow their wealth in ways that are safe and predictable, become their own financing source, and create tax free income in retirement.

Russ is the co-host of The Real Estate Guys Radio Show. He’s an avid student of economics. He has a diverse background in business, investing, mortgage and financial services. Russ brings a unique and practical perspective to help entrepreneurial investors grow and protect their wealth and income through real estate and real asset investing.

Brian Price and Jennifer Gligoric are the founders and CEO/COO of Leafy Legal Services and hosts on Leafy Podcast.  This dynamic duo has been helping entrepreneurs and real estate investors get started for the last 20+ years individually, and together for the past 8 years. Both Brian and Jennifer have harrowing backstories.  Brian 'lost his shirt' in the 2008 recession, losing everything and filing bankruptcy before climbing back out and into success.  Jennifer found herself homeless as a teenager and managed to put herself through college and become a successful business owner despite the odds against her.  They both attribute their success to a mindset of abundance and paying it forward as the means to happiness.

Kaylee has purchased more than $2 million in real estate as key principle. She has sold over $3 million in residential real estate before transitioning into her current full time syndication role. She has started a podcast called the “#1 Leading Ladies” where she interviews “kick-ass women” who are disrupting their industry, and the real story of how they got where they are. The entire backbone of what gets Kaylee out of bed every day is her “why”. This is something she’ll share when asked personally about it, but at a 30,000 foot view, it is to create independence and space for those experiencing codependency and toxic relationships which hamper their ability to visualize and then manifest what their amazing reality truly could be. Her company culture models this “why” and is changing the face of multifamily to bring more women into the light as powerhouse operators, key principles and commercial brokers.

Scott K. Choppin is the founder of Urban Pacific Group of Companies. Scott oversees all operations of the Urban Pacific family of companies including business development, capital acquisition and strategic planning. Prior to that, Scott was director of land acquisition for the multifamily development division of Irvine-based Sares-Regis Group. In that position, he was responsible for all land acquisition activities for the development of luxury, market rate and senior rental communities throughout California, Colorado and Arizona. Before that, Scott was with Kaufman and Broad Multi-Housing Group (KBMH) as senior project manager who was responsible for all activities including multifamily development, acquisition and more. He was with Snyder Langston Real Estate and Construction Services. He has a B.A. with a specialization in finance from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Michael is a father, husband, author, OCR athlete, Krav Maga student, corporate consultant, and personal performance coach. He is a life-long student and has specialized in peak performance for over 20 years. Man of Mastery is a virtual community that Michael founded and runs to bring together an exclusive peer group of high achieving men who live in concert with their values, reject mediocrity and status quo in continual pursuit of even better versions of themselves as fathers and husbands, and are willing to train and do hard things to be ready to serve their families, friends, country, and world. Each week they air a podcast to be your guide and resource to the best, most effective information available from the top of the corporate world, elite military teams, educational institutions, speakers, and authors.

Kevin Bupp is the Founder & CEO of Sunrise Capital Investors , which invests in mobile home parks, apartments, offices, and single family homes all across the US. He has 16 years of experience in educating investors to locate, acquire, and create “higher than average”  returns from the widely misunderstood niche of mobile home park investing. He shares his expertise through the Mobile Home Academy and also as the host of “The Real Estate Investing for Cashflow Podcast”, which has become one of the hottest real estate podcasts on iTunes.

Ryan Haley is a former U.S. Navy Officer, SH-60B helicopter pilot, Afghanistan combat veteran, and Pentagon defense budget analyst. He is the founder of A Better Way, a media and teaching platform that inspires people to experience “where the supernatural meets the practical” in faith, business, and life. A Better Way currently includes a podcast, blog, website, and book. Ryan received his MBA in Financial Management from the Naval Postgraduate School, a postgraduate Business Administration certificate from Georgetown University, and his BA in Psychology from the University of San Diego.  Ryan is an adjunct professor at Charis Bible College Business School and active real estate investor. He is originally from Portland, Oregon and now lives in Woodland Park, Colorado, where he enjoys the beauty of the mountains and outdoors through hiking, snowboarding and playing disc golf. Ryan also enjoys being part of his church and small group fellowships.

Michael Becker is a principal at SPI Advisory, and he heads SPI’s Dallas, Texas office, where he oversees all aspects of property operations. He’s a 15 year veteran of commercial real estate, and as a banker, he has originated and managed numerous portfolios of permanent and bridge loans in all major asset classes. Over the last 5 years of his banking tenure, Michael focused exclusively on multifamily properties, where he was the number one loan producer for his division and a top 3 national lender for his last 3 years. Michael is a life-long resident of north Texas and a graduate of the University of North Texas with a BBA in finance. He’s married and has 2 young children.

Scott Shay is the co-founder and chairman of Signature Bank in New York, New York. He is also the chairman of the investment committee of the Elah Fund. He has been a long time investing partner of Lew Ranieri, and together they were managing partners of various hyperion funds and Ranieri partners. Throughout his career, he has invested in a wide variety of companies, mostly in the financial service and technology arenas. Work is not sufficient for Scott though. His second book, In Good Faith: Questioning Religion and Atheism, has been recently published and has been receiving wide accolades. Learn more about Scott and his book, In Good Faith, at scottshay.com.

Dr. Jeff Anzalone is an author, father, full time practicing periodontist in Louisiana, and the founder of debtfreedr.com. He started his blog after paying off close to $300,000 in student loan debt and reaching millionaire status by the age of 40. He now focuses on helping other doctors and high income earners create passive income from real estate so they can stop trading their time for money.

Deal Maker, Turnaround Specialist, Sales Improviser, Hired Gun, Serial Entrepreneur with 46 years experience, a consultant for 37 years, John Paul Mendocha is a professional speaker with 806 weekly training episodes, AKA Dr. SpeedSelling™. He can ferret out hidden reasons for declining sales profits within minutes. John's results are reality tested and market-proven. After leaving the corporate world, John went on to become a trusted long term advisor to clients, helping them realize greater sales, greater profits, and increased wealth. He speaks to clients with candor that is rare in the consulting world; exploring their opportunities, reducing their weaknesses, and helping them vanquish their competitors.

An entrepreneur since the age of 21, Gino has had an obsession for learning that makes businesses and entrepreneurs thrive. At age 25, he took over the family business, which was deeply in debt and in need of help. After turning the company around and running it for 7 years, he and his partners successfully sold the company. Gino then set out to help entrepreneurs and leaders get what they want from businesses. Based on his years of real world experience, he created the Entrepreneurial Operating System, EOS, a practical method for helping companies achieve greatness. He has personally delivered more than 1900 full day sessions for more than 100 companies, helping them implement EOS. He is also the author of the award-winning best selling book, Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business, as well as Get a Grip, Rocket Fuel, How to Be a Great Boss, and What the Heck Is EOS?. Gino is the founder of EOS Worldwide, an organization that helps tens of thousands of businesses implement EOS with the aid of an internati

Neal Bawa is the mad scientist of multifamily. Besides being an entertaining speaker, Neal is a data guru, a process freak, and an outsourcing expert. Neal treats his $200 million multifamily portfolio as an ongoing experiment in efficiency and optimization. The mad scientist lives by 2 mantras. His first mantra is that we can only manage what we can measure. His second mantra is the data beats gut feel by a million miles. These mantras and a dozen other disruptive beliefs drive profit for his over 500 investors.

Josh Zloof is the co-founder and CEO of Sudden Coffee, the creators of the first specialty instant coffee. Sudden Coffee works with 30 coffee roasters worldwide, companies like Equator Coffee, Intelligentsia Coffee and Ritual Coffee. Josh got his start as an operations consultant at McKinsey and Company and later was a product manager at Groupon, building a point of sale for restaurants. After developing a passion for hospitality and good food and drink by throwing events, Josh founded Sudden Coffee to use his skills in operations to share hospitality driven experiences with more people.

David Hancock is the founder of Morgan James Publishing and has co-authored 12 books, including Performance Driven Thinking, Guerilla Marketing for Mortgage Brokers, and The Entrepreneurial Author. Nasdaq sights David as one of the world’s most prestigious business leaders, and he is reported to be the future of publishing. David was selected for Fast Company Magazine’s “Fast 50” for his leadership, creative thinking, significant accomplishments, and his significant impact on the industry in the coming decade. Morgan James Publishing is regularly ranked on Publisher’s Weekly “Fast Growing Small Press List” over the last ten years. David serves on many boards, including Chairman of the Guerilla Marketing International Board, Chairman for the National Center for the Prevention of Community Violence, the Jaguar Advisory Board, Habitat for Humanity Peninsula, Greater Williamsburg, and others.

Jack Gibson began his entrepreneurial journey at 19 and founded his first company at the age of 21. Operating a successful nutrition consulting and distribution company, Jack had built a multimillion dollar venture before he was old enough to rent a car. Soon after that, he bought his first home as an investment. One quickly became five, and then the bug hit. He became obsessed with learning everything he could about real estate investing and soon had over 50 investment properties generating passive income. Today Jack spends his time mentoring other entrepreneurs, building his real estate investment portfolio, and helping other investors build a brighter future through the power of turnkey real estate income.

Vincenzo Villamena is an American CPA and the Managing Partner of Online Taxman, which offers completely secure and online tax preparation services including an online document exchange and upload system and utilization of modern communication technologies. He has “Big 4” audit and corporate accounting experience during his time with PricewaterhouseCoopers and was involved in Fortune 100 audit engagements and M&A transactions - giving him the knowledge to perform analysis in valuation, corporate finance, and technical accounting issues. More recently, Vincenzo has served as partner in 4 Corners Inc., focusing on individuals and businesses for accounting and tax preparation matters as well as advising high net worth individuals in private equity investing.    Vincenzo has both a Masters of Accounting and Bachelors of Business Administration with distinction from the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business. He is from New York City but left the States to live a better life in Medellin, w

In 2003, Nick Prefontaine was in a snowboarding accident that left him in a coma for over 3 weeks. The doctors told his parents he probably wouldn’t walk, talk, or eat on his own again, but he actually ran out of the hospital 3 months later. Now a certified infinite possibilities trainer, Nick speaks to groups that benefit from his message of overcoming adversity. Nick grew up in the real estate industry, and he got started knocking on pre-foreclosure doors at 16 and 17 years old, doing up to 50 doors a day. This experience helped shape his real estate career now. Nick specializes in working with lease purchasers to get them into a home and on a path to home ownership. He recently co-authored the best seller, The New Rules of Real Estate Investing: 24 Leading Experts Reveal Their Real Estate Secrets.

Keith Elias played 6 seasons in the NFL with the New York Giants and the Indianapolis Colts. He graduated from Princeton University, where he completed his senior thesis on turn of the century masculinity and its impact on the creation of football. He works in the NFL’s Player Engagement Department, where he equips current and former players through their transition into and out of the league and throughout their lives. He is a screenwriter with his brother, Brian, a novelist, and 2x Best-Selling Co-Author of Resilience: Turning Your Setback into a Comeback and Purpose, Passion & Profit. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, former Nationally Ranked Gymnast, Christa and their daughter, Avary.