in banking industry 35 years got me
interested in actually moving out of the
business and I I was able to retire at
55 uh at 56 we bought a business about
four years ago and uh it'll be four
years in fact June 1st so here this
coming week
>> and uh we've never looked back we saw
traction pretty quickly on radio yes
doubled up the business in the first
year
>> welcome back to the M19 podcast I'm one
of your hosts Jav Chavez. Today we are
in Black Desert on one of our trips and
man, it's day one. We're really excited.
We got Sand Hollow, Black Desert, Copper
Rock, and it's going to be a blast. But
today, I'm with David Call. He is a was
a banking expert. He was the president
uh of his branch out in Florida. Had
thousands of people working for him, and
then now he's kind of exited and doing a
lot of other fun capital things. David,
how you doing?
>> Doing well. How are you today,
>> dude? So good. Uh really excited. It's
all right.
>> Yeah. A little rainy today, but I think
it's going to clear up. So clear up.
Yeah, I'm excited. So yeah, kind of walk
us through what you were doing um at the
bank and then also what you've been up
to for the last 5 years.
>> Okay. Sure. I in banking industry 35
years. Uh grew up through the commercial
bank mostly. uh got in corporate banking
a little bit and then as uh the years
progressed jumped into a uh retail job
to make sure that I was prepared for a a
presidency.
>> Jumped into the presidency. I was in
that for about 18 20 years uh at a
pretty large bank. Uh we we were about
10 billion dollars in the state of
Florida, 200 branches, 1400 employees.
Um had a lot of great customers. I mean,
there's some big names that would uh be
pretty neat to talk about uh but
probably shouldn't. Uh but it was a lot
of fun. The last five years of that uh
we were doing a lot of capital markets
uh ideas. So, uh buy sell agreements, uh
dividend recaps, things like that.
>> Got me interested in actually moving out
of the business. And u I was able to
retire at 55. Uh at 56 we bought a
business about four years ago and uh
it'll be four years in fact June 1st so
here this coming week
>> and uh we've never looked back. It's
been fun. It's a it's a retail business
in the flooring industry. Uh it was kind
of a buy here pay here type flooring
business and we've turned it into a very
nice u design center. So, we do the nuts
and bolt, everything that you can do,
flooring,
uh cabinetry,
uh we do uh any anything you can think
of to remodel your house and we'll and
we'll do the install of it all. And if
we sell it, we install.
>> That's awesome.
>> Yeah. And so what's so interesting is
like you know you were able to stay in
one obviously you were moving in across
departments and leveling up within your
bank but you know these days a lot of
people that are coming up they they
can't find roles that allow them to stay
for 30 plus years right um and so like
what have you seen like what was the key
for you to stay at an organization for
that long and then continue to grow
>> so for me is really about hard work and
and so the thing that's really hard for
me to understand today is not being in
an office and showing up. So I know
that's doable, highly doable, but it for
me that was, you know, 7 a.m. to
p.m. Y I was there every day making sure
that as you go up the ladder that you're
you're known and you're
>> uh you're going to work extremely hard.
>> And so that's how I got there. Uh once
you get there, it's about staying there,
right? So hiring the right people. Um,
you can't be afraid to hire your
replacement. I had five of them that
could replace me the next day, you know.
So, uh, and
>> I'll talk about that really quick
because I think that's super important.
I think, uh, especially when you're not
the owner of the company. A lot of the
time somebody who's senior is a little
afraid of
>> bringing more talented people in and
bringing like, oh, like that might take
my job away, right? So,
>> how were you able to kind of check the
ego a little bit and then also bring
people on and how did that pay off for
you? So it for me it was just natural. I
I didn't it didn't bother me to make
sure I was hiring uh high quality people
uh because they turn out high quality
work and that reflects on me. Uh the in
fact the day I retired there was two
people uh that they split my region into
two and both of those gentlemen worked
for me and took that on. So it worked
out very well for them. Uh, and but for
me it was that's just how you're
supposed to do it. And and I did it in
other areas as well that maybe they
weren't going to be the president of the
bank because they didn't have for
instance treasury management. I hired a
guy there that was excellent. He's
probably not going to be the president
because he didn't have any background in
all the areas that he needed it in, but
he certainly could have ran it uh very
easily. In fact, he is now uh off and
doing his own thing in logistics in
Chicago. So there we go.
>> Yeah. And I've made an investment with
him. So yeah,
>> it's kind of worked out very well for
us. But uh but that to me is uh you just
have to hire the right people, put them
in the right seats.
>> Yeah. Uh one thing that I've heard
before and I love as business owners or
even if you're high up at a company,
it's like try to put yourself out of
business before someone else does.
That's right. Right. Like because like
with the way that technology moves so
quickly and especially these days, um if
we're not constantly trying to figure
out like hey like well what could put us
out of business? What could put us
under? what are the developing
technologies or what are like the right
people that we need to put in uh in
order for these things to take place.
So, and now moving on to uh you know
this uh retail foring business, right?
>> Um you know, you mentioned that you've
kind of
>> modernized and you you've been able to
really help expand it. So, what were the
keys or what were the strategies that
you put into place in order like to
really take that thing to the next
level?
>> So, very similar. I mean, you have to
have the right people in the right
places. Uh we had a very good team when
we took it over it. uh some of those
stayed, some of those left. And over a
period of time, it was uh mostly all of
them are now moved on. But in that doing
that, we have gone out and made sure
we've hired the right people, made sure
we've trained them correctly. Um we have
great installers. Uh so we make sure
that we're training them. Uh we've built
a training room. We uh we went the extra
mile to do that. Not too many people in
this industry uh do that, especially in
a small store.
>> Yeah. So what's So what's a training
room?
>> So just where we can bring in our
installers, bring in the people that
work for us and do some training. We got
uh video boards and that type of thing
that we can put it up on the videos and
make sure that they all understand new
tile that might be coming. We send them
to shows. We've been to uh uh Orlando.
We've been to uh we've been to Vegas. So
>> things like that that we make sure we're
always up to date on those things. It
it's highly important. But the I think
the most important thing we've done two
two things we've done to grow it would
be uh there was no advertisement. So we
did some advertising and that works
believe it or not.
>> Uh what types of advertising were you
doing?
>> We did radio. We did a lot of radio. Um
and we also have done uh some uh social
media.
>> Okay. So, uh, we try and post on social
media every every day or every other day
just a job that we've done or a new tile
that we've we received and it's one of
our workers, uh, one of the ladies that
works for us that just started doing it.
She's our tile expert and she just said,
"Hey, I can also do this." And has
helped us do it.
>> Love it. And so, with with radio
specifically, how long because we we
used to run TV commercials, radio ads,
all this stuff for for our home buying
business.
>> How long did it take you to start seeing
traction? We saw traction pretty quickly
on radio. Yes. Wow. It it was uh we hit
two of the uh best stations we believe
that there were and we just ran a lot of
ads during that time and uh it really
kicked in. We've doubled up the business
in the first year. So, wow. Yeah. So,
and it was a pretty nice size business.
The I forgot the other thing that we did
is we make sure we take care of the the
customer,
>> right? So, and there's there's a lot to
be said for that. you know, when you
when you're doing a job for somebody
that's going to cost them 20 $30,000,
>> uh they want to know they can trust you
because we get a deposit up front, uh if
not all of it up front.
>> So, they need to know that we're going
to deliver on that and that once we
deliver that they're going to be
satisfied with it and we make sure that
that's the case no matter what.
>> We're very good at that.
>> That's great.
>> You guys know I love the game of golf
and that is why I started M19. It is a
golf mastermind for entrepreneurs who
are doing over seven figures in their
business and who want to go on bucket
list golf trips together. We already
have hundreds of members all across the
country and we've been to some of the
best courses in the world. Places like
Pebble Beach, Pinehurst, Bandon Dunes,
and many others. The course is the best
place to do deals, make great
relationships, and have fun. So go to
mastermind 19.com today. So
>> what I'm hearing is get the right people
in the right seats. Build the people.
The people build the business. And then
be known. And then once you're known,
make sure you're doing a good job.
>> Delivery. Deliver.
>> You'll make money if you do that. Yeah.
You know, that that's not secondary by
any stretch, but it is the last thing
that you you you've got to make sure
those first four are in place and you'll
make money.
>> Absolutely. All right. That's it. That's
all the business advice we got for you
guys. I'm just kidding. Um that's
awesome though. And so for you, uh I
know you have some adult children at
this point. And you I mean it seems like
you've been doing well for a for a
decent amount of time. Um what were some
of the things that you were thinking
about as a father while building out
your businesses? And obviously none of
us do it perfectly, but you know, were
there any things that you're like, okay,
I really want to teach them about XYZ or
I really want to help them be able to
manage money properly. Some of those
types of things. Was there anything that
they thought about?
>> All of that comes into play. Uh it's
more prevalent now. I'm still uh I feel
young at heart. So I'm only about 61
right now. I just turned 61 in fact.
>> And so helping them uh where are they
going to go in life? Uh what do they
want to do? I I will say after 35 years
of working for a company, I would like
for them to not do that in today's
world. Why? Go find just think that I
spent 7 to 7. Yeah. So 7 a.m. p.m.
working hard and and there's better ways
you can do it today. I I'm not sure you
could have done it differently back
then, but uh but I think there's better
ways today. And it's there I want them
to enjoy their lives.
>> Uh so we I will continue to look for um
businesses that make sense for for me
and for possibly them. Uh we've talked a
little bit about that in our family. So
I got a beautiful wife. She joined me
here. Yeah. In St. George and and this
place is beautiful. So, uh, but she she
has joined me here and, uh, my son works
in one of the businesses that we've made
an investment in, uh, which is a
logistics business and my daughter works
in, uh, Charleston, South Carolina.
>> Nice.
>> Yeah. As a, as a home teacher.
>> So, did you invest in the business first
and then you were able to help him get
the job there or was it
>> No, we uh, invested in the business
first. uh he was still in college. So
when he uh graduated uh uh the gentleman
that owns the business said, "Hey, let's
let's grab Ryan and bring him out and
let him work in Chicago for a little
while." And so he's actually in Chicago
now. Nice.
>> He's working on daily basis.
>> And so how do you kind of balance that?
Obviously not his like direct manager,
right? But like how do you balance that
piece of like hey you work uh you work
in the family business or you're working
for a business that we invested in, but
you're also we got to hold you
accountable. Like have you had to manage
any of that? Not not so much. I I do,
you know, I ask uh so myself and the
gentleman that owns it, Todd, I I will
say, "Hey, let's go to lunch." And he'll
tell me a little bit about where where
Ryan sits in in the business and what he
thinks he's doing. But he seems to be
doing very well with it uh right now.
So, that's that's good news. Uh but no,
I try not to interfere. If he's asked
for advice, and he has, I've given it uh
given it when needed. Uh same with uh my
daughter when she asks. So,
>> that's great. Yeah.
>> So, you are even though you're young at
heart and and I I still think you're
young. Um, but what advice could you
give like to people that are maybe in
the come up, you know, their 30s, 40s,
start like building out their
businesses? Like what do you feel like
are some of the attributes that you've
could credit to your success?
>> Yeah. So, I would say don't do it on
your own, right? You have to that I'm
going to tell you M19 has been a a great
thing. I've only been in it for a couple
of months and I I've learned a lot and
I've got to uh also give some advice as
well
>> and so when you're in the banking
business that long there are a lot of
things around finance and finance is big
in any industry that you're in. So I've
been able to uh give advice but one
thing I would say is don't do it alone.
You you you're not going to know there's
things during the day that you need to
make a decision on as the owner and CEO
of your company. Uh, but there's also
things that don't have to be decided
right at that moment that you should get
some advice on and and ask the right
people, ask the wrong people. You know,
I mean, honestly, if you if uh if I if
somebody comes into my our showroom, I
want to know what they think about it.
How does this look to you all? Do we
need to change anything? Uh what what do
you think is the things that aren't
driving us uh in the right direction?
and they it's may just be somebody just
walked in or it may be a lifelong
friend. Either way, but it's things like
that that you just don't want to have to
do it all on your own. You you want to
make sure you're getting good advice as
you move forward.
>> That's great.
>> Always have a good accountant, always
have a good lawyer. So, that's always
good.
>> And we got a lot of those in M19. Yeah.
So, you mentioned you've been in for a
few months. Um you obviously on this
trip uh you came as well uh for like our
mini masterminds, I believe, right? Yes.
>> And then have you been on any other
trips?
>> Nope. This first trip.
>> There we go.
>> So I went to mini mastermind in Vegas.
Yeah.
>> We went to Southern Highlands, played
golf, but that was a fun day. I learned
a lot about marketing. I
>> I will say Ryan is pretty good at
marketing, right?
>> Yeah.
>> So So you learn a lot just sitting
around him as he talks about it. Uh but
that was a great day. And then I will
say this is my first trip. Looking
forward to Tory Pines as well in August.
Uh but yes, last night was the first
night I've been able to sit down and
meet everyone and it's uh it was a great
day so or a great evening and tomorrow
with the mastermind I think is going to
be excellent as well.
>> Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it
and you know we only had maybe we had
less than half the the actual people all
there last night. So yeah, it's a blast.
And have you been able to connect with
anybody kind of in your area like
because I know Florida's like we got a
lot I think about 30 plus people in
Florida right now. just uh one in Tampa
that we've talked a little bit uh we we
actually hooked up. So another thing
that M19 does is are these masterminds
just on the phone
>> when we hook up once a month or twice a
month whatever
>> and we can talk to each other break out
in sessions of eight people uh and a
couple of those have been with people
from Florida. So that's how I've met
>> built a relationship built a little bit.
>> So we talked about a little bit before
the podcast but when did you first pick
up a golf club? I was probably seven,
eight years old. Tell you another thing,
I've never had a lesson and and which is
kind of odd. I need one.
>> Uh but
>> if if you don't want What's your
handicap right now?
>> My handicap's at uh 8.9.
>> 8.9 and never having a lesson ain't too
bad.
>> Yes. It's not bad. I I need one, but I
need putting lessons where I need.
>> But no, it's a it's been I've always
enjoyed it. So, I will say there was a
point in my life where I where it turned
for me, right? where I started really
enjoying it versus it was I was mad at
when I didn't play well and all that.
And once I decided that you there's no
reason to get mad. You only playing once
a month, twice a month.
>> Exactly.
>> Uh that was the day I got pretty good at
golf is because it didn't bother me to
not hit a good shot and then I just step
up to the next one and move on. Right.
>> Yeah.
>> It's kind of like life, right? When
>> Yeah. G golf and life are very similar.
But yeah, I heard something once it's
always stuck with me. It's like I don't
practice enough to be this mad.
>> That's right. That's that's a good way
to say
>> if if I'm frustrated, it's my own fault.
Yeah. Uh but yeah, it's been so much fun
to to get out, meet people, and I mean,
River's playing the nicest courses in
the world.
>> Nicest courses in the US, and all I got
to do is write a check to go. I don't
have to plan it. I don't have to I mean,
I think it's there's a lot of value
there.
>> Yeah. And it's not an expensive trip. I
mean, when you start saying, what do we
all what we're doing here?
>> Yeah. It's really I mean may maybe a
tiny bit more than what you spent on
your own, but to have it planned for
you. You just show up and enjoy. Yeah.
Um so yeah, it's it's it's going to be a
lot of fun. And um
>> so for you, can you think about like
because you mentioned you were thinking
about getting to some of the deals. Uh
you don't have to get into too many
specifics, but what were some of those
conversations like last night and what
are some of the things that you're
thinking about exploring?
>> So last night was very good. There's I
met a gentleman that was in logistics,
so I told him I would hook him up with
my uh the gentleman I know in Chicago um
just to kind of have some conversations.
I've already talked to him also. A
little text to him uh this morning
>> and then u talked to a gentleman that's
doing development. Uh so he's building
some houses and said, "Hey, I can buy my
flooring anywhere." Not sure that'll
work. Uh shipping it all the way across
the country. Of course, we can drop ship
it, I guess, but we we'll check into it
for sure. Yeah,
>> but it's just the idea that he he said,
"Hey, I'm willing to do this." Right?
And the idea that I'm saying, "I'm
willing to try." Right? So, uh and so
there's probably 10 conversations, uh
financial advisors, uh tax, uh
consultant, the uh all kinds of things
like that. They're just coming at me
last night for the first night. And so,
and then plus it was just fun to hang
out with have a glass of wine and enjoy.
>> I love it. And so I mean you've already
kind of given it but if if somebody's
watching they'll think they're on the
fence about joining M19. What would you
say?
>> Hey it was it you know first all all in
it was not a no-brainer just for me to
do that but it took me about two days
and that's that's pretty fast for me to
spend money. And so um for whatever
reason I just said hey this sounds good.
I looked it up researched it a little
bit. This sounds great. I want to do
these trips. That was the main thing.
and then all of a sudden the the
business kind of hit. So, yeah, I would
say it's a it's a no-brainer to do it.
It's not it's not very expensive to do
it. Uh and you'll meet the right people.
Uh there are people that can help you
with your backroom operations. There's
people that can do your backroom
operations,
>> you know. So, there's things like that
that are going on at it. And then, uh
you know, it's it's a business uh
expense, right?
>> And that's that's true. You can't write
off golf expenses like unless you do it
this way. So, that's right. So,
>> that's huge. It's a It's a very good way
to to uh play golf, but also do a lot of
business.
>> Yeah. And one thing that we think about
when we think about businesses and just
ventures that we want to get into is
like we call it do it anyway businesses.
Like, hey, people are going to do this
anyway. People are going to want to take
golf trips anyway. People want to do
business together. Why don't we and we
we're going to do this by the way
anyway, so we might as well all combine
it. And yeah, it's been the best
business we've ever started just from
the the connections and um obviously the
golf and and you know, we're doing
business with people, we've done
partnerships with people and we're not
even the things that all the other
members are doing amongst themselves,
right?
>> So yeah, it's been absolutely amazing.
So
>> kind of pivoting back to business a
little bit, what is on your horizon?
What are you really excited for over the
next like year or two? So, we did a
remodel of our store. Uh, it took us
about a year and a half to do that and
because we did it out of cash flow
versus borrowing the money. And so, over
time, we've we've finished it out. We
finished it in April of this year. Had a
[clears throat] big grand opening party.
Uh, and so now we're done with that. And
as expenses are behind us, uh, we've
learned a lot in the flooring business.
My partner always says I got a partner
in that business too and he always says
uh we are the dog that caught the mail
truck, right? And and so it's been a
learning curve for us to get into a
retail style business. But it's been
good. And once you learn it and once you
get those expenses behind you, we that's
what I'm looking for the next year or
two uh that business should prosper and
be uh very very good. And then what do
we do? Do we grow it? How do we continue
on? So, we got a lot lot to keep going
with here.
>> That's awesome. Looking
>> forward to it.
>> Yeah. I love it. And so, my last
question for you is
if this is the last time somebody heard
your voice, what's one thing you want
people to know?
>> Gosh, this, you know, um here I'll I'll
reach in my pocket and show you. So,
this my wife gave me this to carry.
>> Oh, I love it. And so we are definitely
uh we definitely are believers and I
would want everybody you we try and live
our lives so people know that but if
they don't know it I would want them to
know that.
>> So know Jesus, seek the kingdom first
and everything else will follow.
>> That's right.
>> Amen. Um so where can people find more
out find out more about you connect with
you whether it be website, social media?
>> So social media would be the best way.
I'm I mean I'm I'm not the most active
person on social media, but if you if
you make a connection with me, I
certainly will do that. And if you ask
me any questions on
>> What's your uh social media handle?
>> LinkedIn also would be uh a good one.
It's just my name. So I don't do it on
on uh under the business or anything. So
it's just David call.
>> Cool.
>> Well, guys, go connect with him.
>> Thank you so much, David. It's been fun.
And we'll see you on the golf course.
>> I'm ready to play. See you. All right.
