DGS 268: Humility and Hospitality as an Entrepreneur

In the world of entrepreneurship, there is a lot of conflicting advice on how to make it and become successful. 

Property management growth experts Jason and Sarah Hull recently came back from a masterminding event. In this episode, they sit down to debrief and share how humility, hospitality, and transparency can be more effective than trying to be “cool.”

You’ll Learn

[01:10] Masterminding with fellow entrepreneurs

[04:04] Humility as a business owner/visionary 

[10:41] Example of hospitality and care

[15:37] Humility comes from being grateful 

Tweetables

“Transparency kills the cool vibes, but creates followers like you wouldn’t believe.”

“By building that goodwill out in front of you, it helps everything in the business go better.”

“I think really humility is born or created out of gratitude and being grateful.”

“It’s not all you. And because it’s not all you,  that doesn’t mean you’re not great. It just means that part of what makes you great is that you’re able to work with others.”

Resources

DoorGrow and Scale Mastermind

DoorGrow Academy

DoorGrow on YouTube

DoorGrowClub

DoorGrowLive

TalkRoute Referral Link

Transcript

[00:00:00] Jason: It’s not all you. Other people believe in you. Other people are supporting you. With others and with God you can do amazing and great things. 

[00:00:09] Welcome DoorGrow property managers to the DoorGrow show. If you are a property management entrepreneur that wants to add doors, make a difference, increase revenue, help others, impact lives, and you are interested in growing in business and life, and you are open to doing things a bit differently, then you are a DoorGrow, property manager. DoorGrow property managers, love the opportunities, daily variety, unique challenges, and freedom that property management brings. Many in real estate think you’re crazy for doing it. You think they’re crazy for not because you realize that property management is the ultimate high trust gateway to real estate deals, relationships, and residual income. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. We’re your hosts, property management growth experts, Jason and Sarah Hull, the owners of DoorGrow.

[00:01:07] Now, let’s get into the show. 

[00:01:10] All right. So we were talking about what we should talk about this morning, and we recently just got back from a mastermind event. We’re in a mastermind with some kind of a mastermind put on by coaches, I guess for coaches. Is that accurate? 

[00:01:27] Sarah: It’s not only for coaches.

[00:01:28] It’s a mix of entrepreneurs that do different things. A lot of them do happen to be coaches, but not all of them are coaches. There’s like the people that run the like the tree house Airbnb’s and I was like, that’s not a tree house. That’s really cool. 

[00:01:44] Jason: Yeah. 

[00:01:44] Sarah: So there’s people like that.

[00:01:46] He’s also, I guess, a musician. He’s like a rock star. I learned that this time. So there’s a mix of people. Some of them happen to be coaches and some of them are not, they’re just entrepreneurs, but these are high level entrepreneurs that are focused on investing in themselves and learning and growing and being better all the time.

[00:02:07] Jason: Okay. 

[00:02:08] Sarah: So quarterly, we meet, we go out to Tennessee, which is where one of the hosts live. So it’s like right outside of Nashville, which to me is like a second home. Like I just, I love it there so much. And it was a really great event. I mean, it’s always a really great event. I don’t think we’ve ever gone and then said, oh, that wasn’t so great.

[00:02:33] It’s good every time. Because you never know, and this is what I personally like about it, is you don’t know what you’re going to get out of it all the time ahead of time. So sometimes, you know, if there’s like an event or a conference or something like that, and they go, Oh, and we’re going to talk about this one topic.

[00:02:51] Well, what if I don’t need this one topic? So what I like is I don’t know what people are going to share. I don’t know what the topics are going to be ahead of time. So we always get something out of it. And we rarely know what that will be. 

[00:03:08] Jason: Yeah. Yeah. It was really helpful. And you know, the two gentlemen leading This particular mastermind that we’re in, we’re in several different things, but this particular one is Sharran Srivatsaa. He’s the CEO of Real which is a multi billion dollar real estate company and Aaron Stokes runs a multi million dollar coaching business, coaching auto repair shops called Shop Fix Academy. So it’s really cool to hang out with both of them and they’re just really wise, lots of insight, great people, you know, and they attract great people around them. So it’s just a high caliber group. There’s kind of a, at least from Aaron Stokes’ side, a very Christian sort of focus.

[00:03:51] But Sharran also a very moral person. I don’t know. He doesn’t seem to focus on that as much, but it’s not a religious thing, you know, but we’re learning from these two men that have really strong values and really care about the people that they serve.

[00:04:04] So I think one of the biggest things that stood out to me was the conversation that they had that related to just who we are. As a coach, I thought was really interesting, and I can touch on that a little bit. 

[00:04:21] So I think for me that the thing that I really liked is, one of the phrases I wrote down, I take a bunch of notes. And one of the notes I wrote down is “boastful people are exposing their insecurity. Honor is positive things being said behind my back.”

[00:04:37] And “hospitality builds goodwill out in front of you” and “master the ability to have confrontational conversations.” So there’s kind of a conversation a lot about hiring and team, but I really enjoyed the conversation about you know, this idea that when we try to look cool in front of other people, we’re not being as transparent and transparency kills the cool vibes.

[00:04:58] So we don’t maybe look as cool, but he said it creates followers. Like you wouldn’t believe. You know, increase trust. And so I think in the past I was very much focused on trying to look cool. And it was, it definitely was born out of insecurity. And it was like, I need to appear great at all times. I need to look like a leader because I just felt maybe insecure.

[00:05:23] I wasn’t really confident in my ability to perform or to do stuff. Sarah’s giving me the nudge to stay further back. So, I’m not too close to the camera. 

[00:05:34] Sarah: On what episode does Jason remember to stay behind a lot. I need to put like a…

[00:05:39] Jason: I want to get in your faces! Get excited! All right. 

[00:05:42] Sarah: What episode does that happen?

[00:05:45] I’ve got a hundred dollars on none of them. 

[00:05:47] Jason: Yeah, i’m going to stay back here. Okay, so Yeah, so in the past I was very focused on that and it was kind of a blind spot I had I didn’t realize that I was trying to be cool, but part of it was you know, I had some insecurity that i’d never even had a property management business yet somehow, I ended up coaching hundreds of property management business owners.

[00:06:08] So there was a bit of imposter syndrome and there was a bit of insecurity and it took coaches to prompt me and push me to like, Hey, you should make some changes to this industry. You can benefit people because I cared, but I was like, it should be somebody else. And so maybe somebody that has thousands of doors or something like that.

[00:06:28] And, you know, I did a lot of things trying to look cool, trying to look cool online and stuff like that. And and maybe it’s just that I’m getting old I don’t know, or maybe I’m getting wiser or I’m learning, but you know, some of the things I’ve been through recently in life, I’m like, I’m less and less attached that I need to look cool or interesting or special or something, or to try and get some people that perceive me as important.

[00:06:54] And I think it’s because I’m starting to just value myself more. Right. And And so, you know, transparency kills the cool vibes, but creates followers like you wouldn’t believe. So that’s, that was one of the key things that stood out to me. So, I, 

[00:07:10] Sarah: on that note, something that he was talking a lot about and he’s, he has said this before.

[00:07:15] It wasn’t like, this is not the first time I’ve heard him say this. And in fact, we’ve asked him specifically about like some of our events. Like, what can we do to just like blow this thing up? Like, we want to have a conference with like, you know, a hundred people there, 250, 500, a thousand at some point.

[00:07:33] So like, how do we do that, Aaron? And, you know, Like the conferences he runs and he did not start large at all. He had 19 people at his first conference and then 19 people at a second conference. So we have more than that, but it’s not hundreds yet. And now he’s at the thousands. Thousands, multiple thousands of people.

[00:07:57] So I had asked him, we were like in our little like van and Jason and I were sitting in the front row and he was driving. So I peeked up and I was like, I think Jason asked him about events and I said, okay, but Aaron, before you answer, I was like, what did you do when you were our size?

[00:08:15] Because him telling me what he does now doesn’t help me. I don’t have a million dollar budget for a conference. Like I wish I did. At some point I might. I don’t. I can’t pay freaking Jay Leto $500, 000 to come and speak. Like not unless we’re going to go bankrupt. So it doesn’t work. But the one thing that he talked about, I think he just said it differently or maybe it hit differently this time is like the hospitality aspect of it. 

[00:08:46] Jason: Yeah. 

[00:08:47] Sarah: Like, don’t just run an event and have people like show up and do whatever. It’s like, if you were attending this event, what would you want it to look like from start to finish? So this coming DoorGrow Live in 2025, which we’re already starting to plan, it’s going to be very different.

[00:09:04] Like all of our events that we do, any in person events, whether they’re small or large, they’re going to be very different. So we’re going to incorporate some like fun, cool things into it. I mean, we live in Austin. Like there are so many fun, cool things here. We don’t, there is no lack. So we can build some of that into.

[00:09:24] Our events and give a like a much better experience overall, and that I think will help actually create more connections and networking. amongst the people. So that’s, that was something that I kind of on that note. It just hit me different this time, you know? 

[00:09:44] Jason: Yeah. Yeah. I like it. Aaron puts a lot of focus in his events hospitality for his auto repair shop owners.

[00:09:51] Yeah. So, let’s take a quick time out to go over our sponsors here. So, if you are tired of the constant stress and hassle of maintenance coordination, meet Vendoroo, your AI driven in house maintenance expert that handles work orders from start to finish, triaging, troubleshooting, vendor selection, and coordination. Built by property managers for property managers to provide cost effective and accountable maintenance operations, where every dollar is accounted for and every task is handled with unmatched reliability. Vendoroo takes care of the details. So you can focus on growth, schedule a demo today at Vendoroo V E N D O R O O dot AI slash DoorGrow and experience maintenance done right. And we’ve got clients getting some great results with them. We just got to hang out with them here in Austin.

[00:10:43] Yeah. Came out for a conference or event and we went out to dinner and they’re great guys. Like there’s a lot of fun. They’re great. 

[00:10:50] Sarah: And you know what I liked? Yeah. When I, when we met up with him, so oddly enough, we were also running a very small event that day. Yeah, we were. And one of the people who attended the event was new with Vendoroo.

[00:11:02] Yeah. We’re trying to figure out, there was like a gap somewhere in like their portal or the system or something. And he had our client voice that to us. And I said, well, this actually happens to be. Perfect. Because we are meeting almost like their whole team later tonight for dinner. So when we were waiting for them for dinner, one of them walks in, David.

[00:11:26] So David walks in and he says, Oh guys, like, I’m so sorry. I’m late. Cause he was late, but it’s not a big deal. He’s like, Oh guys, I’m so sorry. I’m late. I was actually on the phone with Ron. I was like, wait, like my Ron? And he’s like, yeah. Ron, and I was like, Oh good, because I was going to talk to you about Ron.

[00:11:44] He’s like, it’s already done. It’s already handled. He’s like, we are on top of it. And I’m like, that’s amazing. So like, there’s not a lot of companies that focus that much on like customer service so much so that at seven o’clock at night, they’re going to be on the phone with you. Yeah, but that’s what David did.

[00:12:03] He’s like you need me. I’m going to handle it right now. I don’t know. Oh, it’s seven o’clock at night. I’m not working. Don’t call me. I won’t get back to it tomorrow. He was like, I’m doing it right now. And if I’m late meeting Sarah and Jason, I’m late meeting Sarah and Jason. 

[00:12:15] Jason: Yeah. 

[00:12:16] Sarah: And that to me was really cool.

[00:12:17] Jason: Yeah, it goes right along with the totality.

[00:12:20] Sarah: Like, we were sharing, like, the feedback and they were like, oh my god, we all have to fix this, like, right now. It wasn’t like, oh, that sucks, like, oh, that, oh well, what do we do about that? Oh, give it to the other team. No. All of them were like, we need to fix this right now, like, call him now, like, what can we do?

[00:12:35] I’m going to talk to him tomorrow, I’m going to look at his portal like, as soon as I get done with this. It was awesome. 

[00:12:39] Jason: Yeah. 

[00:12:39] Sarah: So I will say that. 

[00:12:40] Jason: Yeah, and part of it was, I think the Vendoroo team, were wanting to maintain relationship, healthy relationship with us as well. Right. They’re like, we’re going to take care of our mutual clients.

[00:12:50] And that’s that hospitality aspect, you know, where we’re focused on their comfort and that’s a way you can stand out really more cost is what Aaron had talked about. He says it doesn’t really cost anything extra to just show a little bit more care, to be a little bit kinder, to like focus on hospitality.

[00:13:11] If you’ve already got team members that you’re paying a salary, there’s some costs, get them to focus on more hospitality and that’s way you can stand out. And it. It builds goodwill out in front of you. And by building that goodwill out in front of you, it helps everything in the business go better.

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[00:14:09] Sarah: So everybody in the multifamily space. 

[00:14:13] Jason: Yeah. 

[00:14:13] Sarah: Where you’ve got your tenants. Like I literally had a tenant one time, she was so mad, she, and she was a little bit off.

[00:14:20] She was just really mad. She would run her sinks just for fun. She would turn on water in the sink, turn on water in the bathtub. She would overflow her bathtub, and it’s like, well, we’re paying for the water. Well, like the owner was. When we, like, a 1, 300 water bill. 

[00:14:36] Jason: Now you can figure out which units, even which state for a device is causing the water issue.

[00:14:42] Yeah, and bill accordingly. 

[00:14:43] Sarah: And you can help your clients be more profitable, because that’s something that they have to eat the cost of. And if you are a real estate investor, because I know there’s some of you listening that aren’t property managers, you’re real estate investors yourselves.

[00:14:57] If you’ve got multifamily and the water meters are not separate and in larger multifamily, they’re usually not. Maybe if you have a duplex or maybe a triplex, Sometimes like a little bit bigger, but not normal. It’s usually like one water meter for the entire building. So this, I mean, this will help you make more money and actually more profitable.

[00:15:24] That would have been great for me. Like I had so many small multis that the water was just included. So we had to then try to like raise the rent to compensate for that. It was just messy. 

[00:15:37] Jason: So I guess today’s topic was humility and you know, hospitality, you know, or just hospitality and kind of revealing yourself or transparency.

[00:15:49] So, you know, the last bit I’ll touch on is Aaron talked a little bit about humility and I’ve always believed humility is recognizing. Humility it’s not debasing yourself. It’s not putting yourself down. And I think a lot of people think that. And I think Aaron, even though he’s got wealth and you know, a lot of things and stuff like this.

[00:16:06] He’s doing very well as well Sharran, they have this they have humility about them And I think what humility really is created by or what true humility is instead of putting yourself down and saying Oh, i’m like not so great. I don’t think that’s it at all. What I believe humility is recognizing God and others’ hand In your results, that’s it.

[00:16:28] I think it’s just not it’s not attributing everything beneficial in your life to yourself It’s recognizing that other people around you are having a positive impact and That’s why you’re able to get results. And so I think really humility is born or created out of gratitude and being grateful And so that’s what i’ll leave the listeners with if you are feeling really prideful and you deep down don’t really feel good about yourself or insecure, then just start to recognize where have others or God or the universe or whatever you’re into, where have these things impacted your results and helped you get positive results and start to recognize and, you know, gratitude.

[00:17:12] And you’ll start to recognize that, Hey, it’s not all you. And because it’s not all you, that doesn’t mean you’re not great. It just means that part of what makes you great is that you’re able to work with others. Other people believe in you. Other people are supporting you. With others and with God you can do amazing and great things. There’s no limit and you know being around other people in programs and masterminds and things like this that are playing a high level game that are maybe ahead of you that are doing really well is one of the main reasons to be in these sort of programs and this is the environment that we, you know, aspire to create and facilitate for our clients is to give them something better to look forward to and to look up to and to be a part of and to be around.

[00:18:02] And this is why I think a lot of clients are able to get such great results. If you are struggling in your property management business or you’re doing well, but you just know it could be better, you know, your day to day in your life could be better. It’s not quite where you want to be. Like you, you want more freedom. You want more time with your family. You want more time with your spouse.

[00:18:22] You want to take more vacations, more trips. This is what we can help you get towards and what we can help you accomplish and what we can help you focus on so that you can get the business to serve you instead of you feeling like the business is your master and controlling you. And it’s a high chair, tyrant, flinging food in your face, controlling you every day.

[00:18:43] Telling you what to do. So let’s turn that around reach out to us. You can reach us and find us at doorgrow. com and schedule a call right from that website. Check out our funny videos right at the top If you’d like to you know experience a little humor and levity for the property management industry And make sure to join our facebook group at doorgrowclub. com, and join our free community and until next time, to our mutual growth. Bye everyone.

[00:19:09] you just listened to the #DoorGrowShow. We are building a community of the savviest property management entrepreneurs on the planet in the DoorGrowClub. Join your fellow DoorGrow Hackers at doorgrowclub.com. Listen, everyone is doing the same stuff. SEO, PPC, pay-per-lead content, social direct mail, and they still struggle to grow! 

[00:19:36] At DoorGrow, we solve your biggest challenge: getting deals and growing your business. Find out more at doorgrow.com. Find any show notes or links from today’s episode on our blog doorgrow.com, and to get notified of future events and news subscribe to our newsletter at doorgrow.com/subscribe. Until next time, take what you learn and start DoorGrow Hacking your business and your life.