Getting started in the real estate game can be super tough, but this week our special guest is Ryan McKenna and we dive deep into the challenges of investing and how we can overcome them. Ryan advises us on how to start investing, what to look for when vetting sponsors, how you should look at investing long term and much more. This episode is packed with amazing advice and information from a top pro investor and guess what… it’s completely free. Ryan is a successful entrepreneur and experienced real estate investor active in the multifamily apartment space and is currently invested in 50+ real estate and business syndications with a total portfolio value over $1 billion. Real estate investing has always been a passion of his as he's fascinated by the concept of creating passive income to achieve financial independence and wants to help others do the same. Ryan earned his MBA at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business and is a former student-athlete of Arizona State University, having played baseball for the Sun Devils (2001-2004) and graduating Magna Cum Laude, with a Bachelor's Degree in Business & Communications. Join us this week and receive this FREE advice from a real investing pro. If you’re just starting out in the investment game and haven’t decided which path to take yet, then this episode is tailor made just for you!
Getting started in the real estate game can be super tough, but this week our special guest is Ryan McKenna and we dive deep into the challenges of investing and how we can overcome them.
Ryan advises us on how to start investing, what to look for when vetting sponsors, how you should look at investing long term and much more. This episode is packed with amazing advice and information from a top pro investor and guess what… it’s completely free.
Ryan is a successful entrepreneur and experienced real estate investor active in the multifamily apartment space and is currently invested in 50+ real estate and business syndications with a total portfolio value over $1 billion. Real estate investing has always been a passion of his as he's fascinated by the concept of creating passive income to achieve financial independence and wants to help others do the same.
Ryan earned his MBA at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business and is a former student-athlete of Arizona State University, having played baseball for the Sun Devils (2001-2004) and graduating Magna Cum Laude, with a Bachelor's Degree in Business & Communications.
Join us this week and receive this FREE advice from a real investing pro. If you’re just starting out in the investment game and haven’t decided which path to take yet, then this episode is tailor made just for you!
KEY TAKEAWAYS
1. Be fully committed and if change happens then go full throttle in the next direction.
2. It's very very difficult to be a part time active investor.
3. It's better to learn to be a passive investor first and then head into active once you have more experience.
4. Focus on your expertise.
5. The people matter most. Look at the team and it's track record before the numbers.
6. Look for transparency in the sponsor and ask what challenges they've faced and how they overcame them. Don't be afraid to ask questions!
7. Try expanding your portfolio and look at multiple deals.
8. Investing is for the long game… don’t try to make millions overnight.
BOOKS
Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert T. Kiyosaki
Essentialism - in pursuit of doing less - Greg McKeown
LINKS
https://www.mckennacapital.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mckennacapital/
https://www.facebook.com/McKennaCapital/
Steven: [00:00:00] Getting started in the real estate game can be tough. But in today's episode, we dive in with Ryan McKenna, who's raised hundreds of millions of dollars as a passive investor and an active investor in commercial real estate. And we talked through some of the challenges that he's dealt with. How he's overcome some of those things, and most importantly, how he recommends others go and do the same thing. If you're an active investor, if you're passive investor, you're going to love this episode. Ryan's a heartfelt guy and he dives into some really, really phenomenal stuff. Let's dive into it.
INTRO: This is the investor mindset podcast and I'm Steven Pesavento. For as long as I can remember, I've been obsessed with understanding how we can think better, how we can be better and how we can do better. In each episode, we explore lessons on motivation and mindset for the most successful real estate investors and entrepreneurs in the nation.
Steven: [00:00:57] Hey guys, welcome back to the investor mindset podcast. I'm your host, Steven Pesavento and today I have Ryan McKenna in the studio. Super excited to talk to you. How you doing Ryan?
Ryan: [00:01:06] I'm doing great, Steven. I am excited to be here.
Steven: [00:01:08] Well, I'm excited to have you. And as you guys probably know, and if you don't, Ryan McKenna is a full time real estate investor, syndicator and founder of McKenna Capital, a private equity company that provides passive investment opportunities in commercial real estate syndication. They're focused on value add in the multifamily self-storage and multi mobile home park space. And so McKenna Capital helps investors allocate capital across 9,000 units with a combined asset value of over $1 billion.
So just to put it lightly, Ryan's got some experience on raising capital, on putting deals together, on going out and getting stuff done. So we're definitely going to dive into that. We're going to talk a little bit about what you need to know if you're a passive investor and how to think about some of this stuff, because regardless of whether we're talking about the environment we're in right now, or just generally what you need to know as a passive investor, you're not going to want to miss this stuff. So if you're ready to get into things, let's do it, Ryan. Huh?
Ryan: [00:02:07] Let's go.
Steven: [00:02:08] Alright. So why don't we start out by taking a look back at earlier in your life? What events or influences from your childhood shaped, who you are today?
Ryan: [00:02:19] I would say the biggest influence on my life has been my parents and just the way I was raised and in the environment I was raised, come from an entrepreneurial family. My dad ran a business and always was there for me, had the time to help coach me in every sport that I played. And my mom was obviously a big part as well, always being there to number one, cheerleader. And I think at an early age, I saw just being able to run a business, some of the advantages and there's disadvantages to it as well. But I think the biggest thing that was something I always strive for was that the flexibility and the ability to have that your time and to have control a little bit and appropriate examples like I mentioned, my dad was able to coach me in every sport. He was there at every practice, every game. And I grew up that way and I felt like, that's an environment that I want to be in some day with my family and I chose a different path than in real estate. My dad's business is not real estate but that was what I knew and that's what I worked really hard to, to try to create for my own self and my family.
So, yeah, at a very early age, I just always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I've always been someone that's worked really hard. I always had a side hustle. Trying to get ahead. And then, you get to the point where you're like, alright, I'm in a pretty good place. I've been able to put myself in a position that I've always wanted to be in. And so I think had I not grown up in that environment, I probably still would have wanted to get there. It's just, I was able to kind of see it firsthand and be a part of it and then go out and create it on my own terms.
Steven: [00:03:56] I mean, for so many people, that's the first step that they need to go and find. When they're thinking about wanting to do something, usually that's the bridge. So you've got to have a ton of gratitude that you grew up around parents that had that flexibility to be there and be able to show you that, Hey, this is possible because I'm sure growing up your whole life, then you knew it was possible. But I know so many people that go through that and they get to this place where they meet somebody or a business owner or a mentor along the way, and they're like, Oh, wow, well, if he can do it or if she can do it, then I can definitely do it. And that's kind of what gets them going. So at what point was it, you said your parents weren't kind of going down this real estate route. At what point did you decide that was the path versus maybe following a different type of entrepreneurship?
Ryan: [00:04:43] This was probably my, it was my freshman year of college. I played baseball at Arizona State and I had a teammate of mine whose father was an apartment syndicator. And I just got chatting with them one weekend. He was in Phoenix looking to buy some 200, 300 unit apartments. And I just thought that was really cool. And I'm like, I was fascinated like how he was able to do it. And he basically taught me what a syndication was, about pulling a bunch of investor capital together to buy these large apartments and then go through the value add process. And so outside of baseball, I was always kind of picking his brain. I just felt like that was something that was really cool. And he'd shared with me how he had a ton of flexibility in his life and he was always able to be there for his son and I think it provided us the opportunity to have parents that were very involved with us and that helped with our baseball careers.
And so it just, something just stuck there. And it was something I always felt like that's something I want to explore further. And around the same time that's when I came across Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. And that book, , basically gave me the framework. And then here, I had someone in real life doing it that was like a mentor to me that I could just go to and ask a bunch questions and really kind of seek out his knowledge.
And so when I kind of put that together, my first goal was to go on and play baseball at the next level and unfortunately that didn't happen. I ended up getting sick and had to do a medical red shirt and really kind of bounce back to maybe a story for another time, but I had to kind of fall back on something. And I just knew in the business world kind of what I had mapped out in my head, what I wanted to do. And I think, fortunate enough to see other people do it. And then from an early age, I just started kind of putting the wheels in motion and setting myself up for the day that I was that syndicator. I was putting deals together and it took a little while, but I'm very happy with how things have ended up and the path that I kind of went on that journey to get there.
Steven: [00:06:46] So real quick, I want to touch on something and then we're going to move right forward. But you mentioned that there was a point where you realize that the dream that you had, you could no longer do. What was going through your head and what moved you past that point in towards syndication, from believing and dreaming that you were going to be a pro baseball player?
Ryan: [00:07:06] Yeah, I'll never forget the moment I was laying in the hospital bed and the doctors were like, you'll never play baseball again. And when I heard that, my first reaction was like, yes, I am going to play again and that'll do whatever it takes, but I was in a condition where my body was like that of an 80 year old man. I mean, I went through a lot of spent six months in another hospital. I got diagnosed with ITP, which is very similar to leukemia. And it was in like right at the top of my career and at a point where it would really hard to bounce back. And so when I kind of had that realization set in that look, even if I do come back to play baseball, I'm significantly going to be impacted by this time away and having to go through a medical red shirt and Arizona state, it's like your junior year, you're going pro after that season. And I lost that season because this was leading up to my junior year.
So I felt like, I'm going to work hard and try to get back on, but I also had to have a plan B, and I told myself if I can't do it and in the baseball world at a professional level, I'm going to do it in the business world. And so that's when I started reading a ton of books. I put it kind of all together with real estate was going to be my ultimate end goal. And it was always the plan, if I did well in baseball, I wanted to invest in real estate anyways.
So when I started looking at real estate, I'm like, wow, I can do this and make pro athlete money being a real estate investor, real estate syndicator. So I started to shift and all the things I wanted through baseball, I mean, baseball, I absolutely love had a passion for it, but there was an afterlife that I knew was going to be there at some point that I was going to have to figure out what am I going to do after that? And I just, I think, was able to fast forward, my life a little bit to get to the place where I always wanted to be anyways. And I'm kind of living that now. But it was, yeah, definitely all the hard work, the, the motivation, everything that I put out there for baseball, my career, I shifted that over to the business world, into real estate, and I think it's not kind of what I planned, but life sometimes throws you some curve balls and you learn to deal with adversity and you move on. And I think it was a good blessing in disguise that, it makes me appreciate things a lot more and, and I'm, again, I'm happy where things are today.
Steven: [00:09:21] Absolutely. And that's exactly it. And that's why I asked the question. I want to underline this for the listeners here. Ryan, what he was saying here was, I'll do whatever it takes. He had this mindset, he was fully committed to baseball and something swept him off his feet. You've probably dealt with that somewhere else in your life if you are a listener. I know that I have, but the difference is when you're fully committed to something, and you get knocked off, you don't know where to go next, but it's always important to be fully all into something, but be willing to accept that things change and then go all in in the next direction. And that is 100% without a doubt. And I don't even know all of the details but I can tell you that, for sure that is a big reason why Ryan has been able to be successful is because he's willing to do whatever it takes.
So for everyone who's listening and thinking, Hey, I want to go and do this, or I want to take it to the next level or I'm already killing it. And I've got thousands of units, look inside. I'm sure that is present if you're succeeding. So definitely thanks for being vulnerable and sharing that because sometimes in life it throws us for a loop we're dealing with it right now. Life is changing as we know it for a lot of people and people are skidding stuck in this state of fear and it's holding them back from moving forward from saying, yes, I'm going to investor from taking that action. But in reality, there's always going to be challenges. And so it's actually an opportunity for you to move forward the same way that you did.
So, real quick, let's touch on the background, talk a little bit about what you guys do in the syndication space and then I want to dive directly into some actionable stuff that people can take away and some mindsets and thoughts and beliefs that people can start adopting and using in their own businesses.
Ryan: [00:11:00] Yeah. So our business was basically built out off of myself being a passive investor. I was in the corporate world for a while and always had that passion for real estate. And I dabbled initially doing some single family rentals, but realized that I couldn't scale out business. And so when I started investing passively into multifamily syndications, I got to the point where I was in about 12 deals, and I started sharing what I was doing with people in my network, friends and family. And there was a really high level of interest in wanting to be involved or at least be able to participate. And so that's when I said, I'm setting myself up here to be able to walk away from the corporate world because I have cash flowing assets that could cover my expenses, and I have this desire to help others and to want to share what I was doing with everyone. And so that's when I started kind of planning my next phase of my business and what I wanted to do. And in about three years of investing passively, I was able to walk away from my corporate job and build McKenna capital to a place where we were helping hundreds of people try to achieve the same thing. And it's really set on finding some great opportunities, from the standpoint of we really like cash flowing value add assets that have good upside and great tax benefits is kind of really where we focus and a lot of it's in the tax friendly warm weather States where people are moving to, businesses want to relocate to. So a lot of deals we're doing in Florida, Texas, Carolina, Arizona, Colorado.
And so just, it's all kind of was from early stages of investments that I've made that kind of evolved into helping others and having the ability to put deals together. And it's just been amazing to see the interest level of other people that want a similar path or want to be able to have a little bit more flexibility in their life. And you can do it acquiring as many single family homes as you want. And that's an approach that works, but it's definitely more active, but I was able to do it passively. And I think that was something that maybe was a little bit different. But for me it was like, all right, if I could do this by putting X amount of capital to work, there's a lot of other people that can do that too. That might be in a high pain job, or they might own their own business and they're just busy and they don't have the time or access to these great deals. But if they've got the capital and they've got time, I mean, there's a real ability to put together some nice passive income streams.
And and so that's really what we're built all around is helping others find these opportunities. And I continue to invest passively today. I get just as excited about the next deal. I love being a real estate investor and I love all the benefits that come from it. And so that's really what our whole business is about. The community that we're working into is just great. I mean, I love, everyone is so willing to share knowledge and information and be helpful and so it's just a fun place to be and I'm just glad I get to do this full time.
Steven: [00:13:58] Absolutely. And that's the thing that I love about real estate investors and the community is that it's full of people are focused on growth, both internally within their portfolio for their families. All of those things are super important. So let's take a quick break for our sponsors and we'll be back in just a second.
If you're an accredited investor and you're interested in learning more about our investment opportunities, the exact types of investments that I personally invest in then head over to the investor mindset.com invest, or send me an email at steven@vonfinch.com. Thanks so much.
Steven: [00:14:51] Alright. And we're back guys, dive deep into some great stuff on what passive investors need to know if they're going to go down this path, because you started down this path as a passive investor, and then you went active, which I think is amazing. I think it's a path that a lot of people should go down if they desire to be active in this business, but when you're a passive investor and you're making great money, you're kind of new to the business, you're looking at single families, people are talking about, Oh, go and buy this or manage that. Do you have time for this? What are some of the things that you recommend people educate themselves, or where do they get started to start making these decisions on, Hey, I'm going to invest in that deal and I'm confident and ready to do it.
Ryan: [00:15:32] Yeah, I would say just from what I experienced personally was it depends if you want to be active or passive. And I think I thought owning a couple of rentals was going to be more passive and it just wasn't. I mean, I was the one that had to take all the phone calls. I just step away from my full time job to deal with things. And I didn't make as much money as I thought I was going to make. And I just felt like it was good that I had that experience to learn from it and there were definitely some good takeaways, but there were things I learned that I just didn't really want to deal with, or that I didn't want to manage going forward.
So if someone truly wants to be passive you know, you can definitely do that. It really doesn't take up much time after you've been able to find some good partners, do your due diligence, but once you essentially wire the funds, I mean, you are hands off. You can kind of sit back and get the the monthly updates and watch the renovation plans come to fruition. So that's definitely a path I'd say, if someone's looking to make me start out, I mean, you can do both, but if you're going to go into it part time, it's hard to be a part time active investor, because you now are assuming, 100% of the responsibility and the risk when you buy an asset. If you don't have much experience and you're doing it, maybe it's a great way to learn. You can make good money, but you also are taking on a significant amount of risk. Whereas I think in a real estate syndication, from my perspective, you're putting your money to work with a professional real estate group that is overseeing it. That has a great track record. They've done well. They know the market. They have all the relationships and they're doing this full time. I just think that there's much less risk in my opinion starting there, learning more about it. I've got investors that do both.
The great thing about being a passive investor is that, at some point that money is going to come back to you. And if you can't find any good active deals right now, you can go park your money in some syndications. And when that money comes back, you can decide what you want to do with it. Maybe you then become more active or maybe you go down a path where you invest a lot in these syndications and then you get to walk away from your job one day and then you can be active.
So I think there's not one particular path there's multiple ways to get there. But just in my opinion for starting out, I mean, do your research. If you're someone that needs to have control, then passive investing in real estate syndications is probably not for you. And if you're someone that's like, Hey, I want to learn from others and be part of something and maybe I'm not 100% sure where I want to go. I mean, the syndication is not a bad place to start and to kind of test it out and to see if you like it.
In my experience, I've seen a strategy with most of our investors after one deal. It's like, Hey, when's the next one coming, because it becomes a foundation you can build off of. And it's real. I mean, the passive income streams, the tax benefits, and then obviously the upside, the force appreciation that you can get in these deals. So again, with my experience, I liked the passive investing better, but that's just my personal opinion.
Steven: [00:18:37] I've seen the same thing, and this is something I've been talking a lot about with folks. And there's an idea of like, everybody has an expertise. I have this strong belief that you have a unique ability, I have unique ability. Tom, John and Jen all have a unique ability. Something that they at their core are the best at they were born to do. And they've developed that skill set and expertise and experience to be able to go and do it well. You don't want a surgeon coming in who just got out of a boot camp, coming in and, and doing surgery on you and you definitely don't want to be putting your money into an investment if you're that surgeon who just got out of that boot camp. So it's so important for people to focus on what their expertise is. And if you want to be active, man, I'm all about it. There's a lot of great ways to do it. But if you are really, really good at what you do and you find that you love it, and you can find some joy in it, I'm a big believer in make as much revenue, make as much money as you can and park it and place it with people who are experts so that you can just do your one thing. Because I think sometimes there's this problem that people have, Ryan, I'm sure you see it in the industry as well. This lack of focus.
You talk to somebody and they're thinking about going down this path, Oh, I'm going to do some single family and then I want to do some multifamily and I'm looking at storage and I'm looking at this and I'm looking at that. And unless you're working with other experts that are the best at those things, you're probably going to do a pre marginal subpar job if you're trying to do all of them at the same time, because it takes time to become an expert. So I think that's some really, really strong advice.
So this is where it comes down to the rubber meets the road. If you're a passive investor and you're going to go down that path, it's really important to pick the right sponsor. So when you're out there building relationships and doing this for your own passive investments, what are you looking for in a sponsor, and what's that process that somebody who might be investing 50 or 150 or a million dollars into a deal might go and do?
Ryan: [00:20:43] Yeah. So I like to look at the team behind the deal. I mean, a lot of times people get caught up in just looking at the numbers and I can tell you that the team, the people behind the numbers is what's most important. So get to know that sponsor, that operating team, look at their track record, talk to other investors who have invested with them in the past and just really get a good comfort that they've got a good philosophy, good focus on the market that they are targeting and that they built a good team around because I've been all day on a really solid opera that I feel confident in, then just someone who is putting together, shiny, nice numbers that in a glossy investor deck. I mean I think it really comes down to who you feel comfortable with the relationship that you have, but again, going back to the track record, the market focus, because the market does matter too.
I mean, I look at different deals. I mean, there's a reason we're focused in what I would say, your tax friendly, warm weather States. I mean, there are also very landlord friendly States. And so that's in my opinion looking at different investments, those factors matter, but I think it's the people that matter most. And if you can get that right, then you can start to kind of dive into the deal and look at the sub-market look at the underwriting, how conservative is it? Just try to find any red flags you can, but at the end of the day, it's not going to be like this feeling of like, Hey, everything checked the box, 100% I'm ready to go. I mean, sometimes, you feel 85, 90% good about the opportunity and you just got to make that jump. And just know that, even if everything is laid out 100% the way you want it to, it's a real estate value add. Things are likely going to change a little bit. There's going to be some bumps in the road.
So I wouldn't get all hung up on it's got to be the perfect deal, the perfect opportunity. I think if you get a level of comfort around who you might be investing with, I think you just, you got to make that decision and then just, and then back them, because, they're the ones that are responsible for executing on the business plan and a five-year horizon is a long time. So again, if there's a bumper to in the road early on, it doesn't mean that the deal is going to be bad. I mean, it's to be expected.
So part of this is kind of throwing yourself out there, taking some action, but after you've done your own due diligence, and you have a level of comfort that this is a good partner that you should be investing with.
Steven: [00:23:01] And what are some of those questions that the sophisticated investor would be asking to somebody like you or me, if they were going to invest in one of our deals, what are some of those questions they should be asking, that's going to help them understand, Hey, is this the kind of person, team or deal that I want to be investing in?
Ryan: [00:23:17] Yeah, I think a lot of it comes down, I mean, right off the bat their communication. I mean, if it's someone that you feel like is going to be very transparent, be valuable. I mean, because a lot of times you get some of these bigger groups, it's like, it takes three days to get an answer and that could be a reason that someone might not want to move forward because they feel like they're a small fish in a big pond or that's just going to be the way that the deal is going to be managed. But I liked getting to hear a story or two, like, Hey, when have you had some struggles and what did you guys do? Was there a period of time where things didn't go as planned and how did you respond to the investors? Obviously you hear about all the good stories, but knowing some of the, some of the bumps they've had and how they dealt with it and what the impact was and how investors were communicated to when that happened. I think doing as much due diligence as you can, Google's a great place, but also I would ask, if you could talk to an investor to who have invested with them in the past, just to get a different perspective from someone else who has invested with them and then maybe ask them, why did you invest with, so and so. What was appealing to them or how did you come across this operating team?
And then looking at, if you want to dive deeper into conservative underwriting, well, I mean, that could mean different things to different people. So kind of walking through that with them as far as how they're setting certain parameters in the deal, because there's a lot of different levers that can be pulled to kind of make the numbers look the way you want to. And so kind of understanding peeling back the onion a little bit there and have them kind of show you like, Hey, here's what the current rent is in the area and here's where we're going, because we want to be conservative.
So kind of having them walk you through maybe a few situations where they've taken what the market is and then push it back a little bit, just so that there's not a scenario where everything has to go 100% right for the deal to perform in the way that they're laying it out. Because you know that there's going to be times where things are just not going to go as planned. You need to have a backstop, you need to have reserves, and so I would have them walk you through examples, if they already aren't laying that out for the investor. Because most investors might not know some of the questions to ask and how deep to go.
But again, I think track record speaks for itself sometimes too. I mean, if you've got someone that performed very well and they've been in this business a while that to me is basically a really good sign. And then you can obviously go deeper as you get more comfortable with them in particular dealing might be looking at.
Steven: [00:25:59] Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. That's awesome. Really, really powerful stuff. It's the power of the question at the end of the day, not being afraid to ask. There is no dumb question, especially when you're passive investor. At the end of the day, you need to get comfortable and make sure that you're looking at things from the right perspective.
And so when people are just getting started, they've got a ton of questions, as they start getting to know a little bit more about investing, I'm sure their questions change. What is it that you think really differentiates the people who succeed at passive investing and who are consistently showing up and investing in these kinds of deals and investing in the right deals? What would be the advice that you think one of those types of investors might give to somebody who's kind of up and coming and on their way there?
Ryan: [00:26:48] Yeah, what I would say, and what I see is that, I wouldn't get, again, hung up on the numbers. If you're kind of trying to analyze deal, all the deals I see generally they're within a percent or two, and these are all projections. So I think it comes down to a diversified strategy. So most investors that I see, they're looking at this long term, they're going to invest in multiple deals. So when a deal comes up in Phoenix or in Charlotte, I mean, they already know that they want to have diversification not only from a geographic perspective, but also from a sponsor perspective so they like to invest with different sponsors. And then also a real estate asset class. I mean, primarily I see multifamily, but I think if you're looking at cash flow in real estate that has good upside, great tax benefits, it's a strategy long term. So I see most investors investing in multiple deals, so they don't get hung up on one particular deal that's going to make or break them. So you don't put all your eggs in one basket, so to speak. I think that limits the risk and also provides you a lot more opportunity because you might be able to invest in a lot of really strong markets that I think are going to provide you good cash flow, but a good downside risk mitigation because different markets can perform at different stages, the cycle out there in the economy.
Those investors and they tend to know and get that they're a passive investor. I mean, they'll ask questions, but they're not hung up on, Oh, there's, there's one report and it looks like occupancy's down all of it. They get that this is a long term investment. They know kind of that it's it's going to take time and I think they understand that. So they don't stress about it. They don't worry about it. They focus in on what they do best, which going back to maybe they're running a business or they're in sales, they're doing really well. And they just know and believe and trust that what they've invested in over time is going to do well for them. And so there's kind of that long term mindset, because these deals aren't set up for you to get rich overnight. I mean, it's a three to five year strategy of putting your capital to work and you go through the value add process. So around say year two or three of where it starts to get fun, because you start to have some capital then, maybe you have a refinance or maybe you exited deal early and then that's when it gets fun, because you start to have a lot more capital coming in on top of the cash flow.
So you got to go into it with that mindset. It's not going to be this, Oh, I picked this great deal, and I'm waiting for me to get myself to double my money overnight. It's a long term approach. You got to look at if you get in multiple deals, you have a blended return across your portfolio. And I think that's just kind of a sound way to look at it. And it's usually a portion of someone's overall assets too. So it's not like they're going 100% into real estate or 100% in the stock market. It's a diversified portfolio.
Steven: [00:29:40] Yeah. That's such, such, such good advice. Long term view is so key. It's not a get rich fast scheme. It's a get rich slow. So you got to have some patience and be ready to ride the ride. So we made it to the growth, rapid fire round, where the questions are quick, but your answers don't need to be. So tell us Ryan, success, how would you define success? And what is success to you?
Ryan: [00:30:00] Success to me is all about what I would call time freedom, being able to do what you want when you want with whomever you want. And I feel like it's not a monetary thing. I mean, you can use money to get it there, to give yourself that ability, but it's being able to do the things with people I care most about and to be able to spend that time with my family and just really wake up every day with a positive attitude and just go out there and work hard and always trying to try to strive and create and build something new because I like, having something to shoot for. And when you achieve your goals, you set some new ones. But at the end of the day, I'm not going to let any of that get in the way of my family and my life. And you only live once so you want to make the most of every day you got.
Steven: [00:30:48] Yeah, amen to that. And, habits. What are some of the key stone habits, the things that you do on a daily or weekly basis that have led to some of the success?
Ryan: [00:30:55] So daily, I would say a, I've got a gratitude journal that I write three things in each morning that I'm very grateful for. That's a good way to reflect on all the things in my life that I feel I'm just lucky to have. And it also kind of puts me in a positive mindset to start the day. And I like to also then just jump right into maybe some of the more challenging things in the morning just to get them off my plate. And then usually makes for an easier go in day. Once you kind of tackle the hardest things when your mind is fresh. And for me, that's typically early in the morning.
Steven: [00:31:28] I love that. What's a book that's impacted your life the most or one you're excited about right now?
Ryan: [00:31:33] So the one that obviously has impacted my life the most is Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I think probably for most in this space, it's been one of those books that's been the blueprints. I've actually been going over it with my daughter and kind of just pulling out little pieces of the book, just to kind of slowly start sharing, just things that were impacted me and just trying to kind of teach them just important lessons about managing your finances. And so that book is still one that's really been key in my life. Another one that I've read recently several times is Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Doing Less, in an environment where you've got a lot on your plate and you're doing a lot of different things. It's how do you prioritize the highest value and focusing on that and let the other things that are just immaterial go. And so a lot of it is around learning to say no, and that's a good book for anyone, I think that's taking on a lot, trying to do big things. But you had got limited time and you got to pick and choose what's most important.
Steven: [00:32:36] Oh, that's such a good book. I highly recommend that one as well. So inspiration, what impacts have mentors made on your life and how you look at going out and finding great mentors?
Ryan: [00:32:46] So mentors have been everything to me. I mean, that's how I kind of learned about what I wanted to do. I mean, obviously it starting with my parents and just what they did in the business world. But then as I mentioned in baseball, my teammate's father, he became my first mentor in the multifamily space. And I went and invested my first five deals with them too. And then, so I got to learn along the way. And then I, I sought out other mentors who've helped me not only in real estate, but just in business and in life. And I think it's everything. When you can learn from someone who's already done it, you can shorten that learning curve. And I love being able to help others because I wouldn't be where I am today without other people that took time out of their life to help me and to show me. And so I'm all about giving back and helping others because it's fun when you can do it with people that are passionate, just like you are, and that have similar mindset. And it makes it more fun than just kind of going and doing things off on your own.
Steven: [00:33:43] It's so true. It's so very true. So closing on this Ryan, purpose, what drives you to live your best life every day?
Ryan: [00:33:51] It's my, why. And it goes back to your lifestyle and, and being able to do what I want when I want with my family. And I just, like I said, you only get one life and you miss a 100% of the shots, you don't take. And so I'm a big believer in going and taking calculated risks and it really gets me excited and fulfilled when I can go through and have a really strong day and spend time with those that I love most. And that's just the life. I've gotten a second chance that just with what happened in baseball. So I don't take anything for granted anymore. And sometimes can be just the simple things that are most important to you.
Steven: [00:34:30] I love that. Well, this has been awesome, Ryan. I know we could get into so many deep topics on all of your expertise and maybe we will on another show, but where can people find out more about you or get in touch?
Ryan: [00:34:40] So you can go to mckennacapital.com. It's our website. And from there, you can reach out to me. We're on all the social sites as well. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn. So feel free to connect with me there. I'd love to chat and talk some real estate.
Steven: [00:34:57] Absolutely. Well, thank you so much. And I'll leave everyone the same way I leave you guys every single show is with a reminder to live a life worth inspiring others, and you can do so today by taking action on this, by going out and applying some of these lessons. If you're looking to go out on the passive investing route, definitely take that leap. If you're looking to go down another route, take some action and take what Ryan was able to share with us and actually go and apply it. So thank you guys so much, and we'll see you guys next time..
Ryan: [00:35:25] Thank you, Steven. Appreciate you having me on your show.
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