TLI Member Spotlight: Recession-Resistant Investment Strategies with Ryan Williamson – EP 169

Interview with Ryan Williamson

TLI Member Spotlight: Recession-Resistant Investment Strategies with Ryan Williamson

Featured on This Episode: Ryan Williamson

✅ What he does: Ryan Williamson is an investor, a NAVY vet and board-certified neurologist, owner of the locum tenens staffing agency Transcend Health, and a valued member of The Lifestyle Investor community.

💬 Words of wisdom: “Being able to get through and expose past circumstances, traumas, build yourself, build your mindset, that is such a key component to success.” – Ryan Williamson

🔎 Where to find Ryan Williamson: LinkedIn | Instagram

Key Takeaways with Ryan Williamson

• The TLI Mastermind experience
• What got you here isn’t enough for the next level
• Having the courage to pursue life’s calling
• The lifestyle value of being a 1099 independent contractor
• Creating win-win outcomes for patients, hospitals, and providers
• The importance of vulnerability and being open with loved ones
• Building a recession-resistant portfolio
• Leveraging tax strategies to achieve financial freedom
• You can’t put a dollar value on relationships

Ryan Williamson on the Benefits of Joining the Lifestyle Investor Mastermind

Free Strategy Session 

The Lifestyle Investor Insider

Ryan Williamson Tweetables

“A man’s mind, once stretched to new dimensions, can’t ever return to its former shape.” - Ryan Williamson Click To Tweet

Resources

• Ryan Williamson on LinkedIn | Instagram
• Darcy Harbott
• Tony Robbins
• Jay Abraham
• Christopher Carter Smith
• Garrett Gunderson
• Matthew Kelly
• Elizabeth Liptrap
• Health Professions Scholarship Program
• Andrew Howell
• Jason Drees
• BiggerPockets
• Avery Carl
• Short-Term Rental, Long-Term Wealth: Your Guide to Analyzing, Buying, and Managing Vacation Properties by Avery Carl
• Tamar Hermes
• Ryan Casey

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Read the Full Transcript with Ryan Williamson

Justin Donald: What’s up, Ryan? So good to have you on the show.

 

Ryan Williamson: I’m very happy to be here, Justin. Thank you for having me.

 

Justin Donald: Well, this is going to be a lot of fun. I always enjoy the episodes that I do. Just in general, I love interviewing people. I’m just curious by nature and love learning how people tick and the stories that people have that got them from point A to point B. But I have a special place in my heart for Lifestyle Investor Mastermind members. And so, it’s fun doing these new interviews, these periodic additions to the regular Lifestyle Investor interview. And we’ve gotten just incredible feedback both from the members that listen to them, but also from people and the audience in general that love hearing the perspective of those that have been successful enough to be able to get accepted into the program. So, you’re one of those people, and I’m just excited to tell your story and kind of hear some of the cool things that you’ve done.

 

Ryan Williamson: Well, yeah, that’s awesome. Again, I’m very happy to be here. And thinking back to three years ago, I think, the first time I picked up your book, 2020. That came out in 2020, right? I always feel like this is…

 

Justin Donald: Yeah, I believe so.

 

Ryan Williamson: Yeah. I mean, if you told me that three years from now, you’d be sitting on Justin’s podcast, I think I would have laughed at whoever came with that idea. So, it’s funny to think about how things change in a very short period of time. But again, yeah, this is great.

 

Justin Donald: Well, it’s so cool also to hear the story where you don’t think that you’re, whatever it is, whether you don’t think you’re qualified or you don’t think it’s possible. But not only that, but to see the impact that you’re making inside of our own community and the people that are reaching out to you because of the growth that you’ve had. And I’m sure we’ll get into all that. But you’re adding so much value to our community, and I just want to share that with you.

 

Ryan Williamson: I really appreciate the affirmation. I mean, obviously, well, like you said, we’ll touch on the kind of the renewal post and how that came about, but what an affirmation and a privilege to be able to get to know so many people and talk to so many people that I feel like I was able to help in some way through the resources that are available to us, I mean, and that’s just been amazing. It’s been quite a journey.

 

Justin Donald: Well, we have a fun community. I mean, any person that you’re going to hang out with is just a blast to get time with. And you are no exception to that rule. And we’ve got our big retreat coming up. I actually don’t know if this will be released prior to the event. I would imagine. Well, actually, I know for a fact it won’t. So, I’m just not sure how far beyond. But I can’t wait to see you in person and get some time because I know this will be your second retreat that you’ll be part of. So, it’s going to be a lot of fun, great agenda, and some really fun guests, as always.

 

Ryan Williamson: Super excited. Happy to be back in Austin and get to bring Corey, my wife, this time. She’s really excited. We were talking about a minute ago, kind of flying, getting into the group a month or so before the first retreat last year, and thinking of people who were really total strangers a month prior or even at the retreat, people I just had a chance to connect with, that I had maybe one or two conversations with, and they feel like they’re your lifelong best friends, I mean, and still people that I talk to to this day a year later, who I haven’t seen in a year, other than just our Zoom meetings or text or phone calls. It’s just awesome. I mean, just what you’re building here, I think, is something really special.

 

Justin Donald: Well, thank you. And I know the feeling of finally finding your tribe, your people, like-minded folks that you resonate on the deepest of levels on, but it can go deep real quick. It’s not just surface level and that’s tough to find. Most people don’t have that. And I feel such a great privilege to the opportunities that we have inside of our community, all these amazing people. And we get to do life together. It’s not just about lifestyle and it’s not just about investing. It’s about doing life together and building an even better cooler, more exciting life, and then helping those in our ecosystems along the way so they can do the same thing.

 

Ryan Williamson: That’s 100% correct. I think Darcy Harbott may have mentioned this on his panel last year, but something that resonated with me was talking about kind of being back in his community and I’m paraphrasing. So, Darcy, if you’re listening to this, forgive me if I get this a little wrong, but being back in his community, he doesn’t really have that kind of safe space to discuss these types of things. And I’ve had that conversation with so many people. But to your point, that really does resonate on a very deep level to have that space to just talk about these things with like-minded folks and be able to help and give back and learn how to help others outside our community in our own respective professions. I mean, this has just been such a privilege and just, I mean, truly a life-changing experience. I really mean that.

 

Justin Donald: So cool to hear. And it is important to have that space where, at a certain level, it’s not like problems disappear. Once you solve money, it’s not like problems stop. Problems still exist. The goal is to upgrade them, to have better quality problems, right?

 

Ryan Williamson: Yes.

 

Justin Donald: And so, people in our community still have problems. They’ve better quality problems than what other people have, but that doesn’t change the fact that they need people that have experienced this or they need people that they can brag and celebrate with or they need people they can share tremendous losses with that can empathize and help them get back on track. And sometimes, people in our peer group maybe that have had the same level of business success or financial success that many of our community have had, they can’t just have those conversations. It just might feel out of line with family or friends that haven’t experienced the same levels of success or haven’t experienced the same issues or problems. And so, it is so important to have that community where you can talk openly about finances, about business, about what’s going well, about what’s going wrong, about accountability, and all the things.

 

Ryan Williamson: 100% correct. And even with the growth and the change we have experienced in many ways, there have been some bumps, too. I mean, you have to think about, I think the quote, this is Tony Robbins or somebody, the thinking that got you here is not the thinking that will get you to the next level, right? I’m sure it’s been said many ways, many times over, but I have to think about problems in a new and different way now with respect to cash flow, running our businesses, running a real estate portfolio. And that’s been a bigger challenge than even I would have imagined. I mean, we have different things going different places and a whole new set of better quality problems, as you put it, to think about. But that comes with its own set of unique challenges. And it’s fun. But I mean, there are different problems, that’s for sure.

 

Justin Donald: That’s right. And it’s always great when you have world-class leaders like Jay Abraham coming. It’s an honor that he wants to be part of our event and that we’ve got Chris Smith and Garrett Gunderson. And by the way, for those that don’t know, the goal of this is to have less keynotes, less speakers, to be a lot more interactive, to be a lot more social, have more events and excursions and engaging activities than it is to have speaker after speaker after speaker. So, we do a lot of discussion-based stuff. We only have three speakers. We got a bunch of panels and then we’ve got a whole bunch of interaction time, just hanging out time, what Matthew Kelly calls time free carelessness and just being able to get into a space where you can talk and hang out and get the help on whatever it is.

 

We do a lot on asks and gives. What’s your big ask? What’s the one thing that you want to learn or that would help solve some problem, some situation in your life? And what’s the one big gift that you have that you can offer up to others where either you have resources or you have expertise? And so, part of this event is solving for each of those and really bringing value to the community as a whole.

 

Ryan Williamson: Yeah, that’s exactly right. And I think, I mean, for as much as the the lectures and the panels are thought provoking when it comes to just different philosophical views on any topic that were brought, I really think my favorite part of the retreat last year and even when we do our Zoom meetings is the discussion after, right? I mean, everyone comes together and it’s this, I mean, collective mastermind. I mean, as the term goes, we’ve got everybody with their own unique takes and perspectives and you get to just get this one-on-one time with people at the retreat and hang out and get to learn people where they’re from, what do they do. And I mean, it’s just awesome, yeah. So, just a wonderful thing.

 

Justin Donald: I love it. And I love that this year, you get to bring Corey because we always want spouses to come to everything. They’re always welcome to whatever events we do because I think it’s important. If you’re talking about lifestyle and investing and upgrading, all these things, it’s important that you’re on the same page with your spouse. So, we want them at everything.

 

Ryan Williamson: 100%, yeah. I mean, she’s been incredibly supportive through this whole thing. And I was saying, we all get in the mindset here in a minute, I suppose. But just even thinking about the transformation of mindset for the both of us, for what really felt like a bit of a leap of faith and parting with a tuition, if you will, that I think I was very much in a scarcity mindset of, oh, my gosh, what’s this going to do and what’s this going to bring? We don’t know. And I mean, I do it 100 times over, right? I mean, it’s that obvious because the value is there, clearly, and I mean in spades. But to have her be part of that journey and grow together, that’s priceless. That’s what it’s great.

 

Justin Donald: It totally is. So, you’re doing it the right way and I love it. It’s just awesome. So, your story is a unique story, and obviously, everyone’s story is unique. We have a lot of entrepreneurs that enter a space. We don’t always have these high-level doctors and neurosurgeons. I mean, we got a bunch of doctors and a bunch of different specialties. I believe you are our only neurosurgeon, that we have some people that have some chops and some skills in and around that space. But how does a neurosurgeon go to, first of all, how did you get there? I want to hear that story. And then secondly, how does a neurosurgeon end up in the Lifestyle Investor Mastermind?

 

Ryan Williamson: Sure. So, this is a matter of clarification. This happens all the time. I’m a clinical neurologist. So, neurosurgeons, which I think Elizabeth Liptrap is one of our neurosurgeons. She’s the one that hangs out in the operating room who does all the brain cutting. So, I deal more with strokes and migraines and multiple sclerosis and epilepsy and things like that. I spent time in the operating room as a medical student, and I thought I wanted to be a facial plastic surgeon for the longest time. And that just turns out that bores me to death to be in the OR for that long. The joke is that surgeons like their patients asleep and clinicians like interactions and talking to their patients awake.

 

But yeah, I mean medicine, it’s a long story. Everyone gets into medicine, I think, due to obviously feeling called to it or some passion or something like this. So, as a kid, I mean, I experienced quite a bit of personal loss in my family. I mean, I had lost a couple of grandparents very young, an aunt I was very close with, with different types of cancer, and my grandfather with Parkinson’s. And that certainly got some years turning early about this whole concept of life and death and why do people get sick and things that, I mean, maybe a lot of kids don’t think about, like I had to, with the exposure that I did.

 

I really enjoyed science growing up. I mean, whether that was fueled by the the early experience or something I just got into, But that certainly started something, right? And this desire to want to go help people. And I think my parents would tell you that I said I wanted to be a doctor when I was like 5 or 6. I don’t really remember that. Certainly, by the time, I was about 17 or 18, I was pretty dialed in. And that’s what I knew I wanted to do.

 

And so, it was a matter of how do I get there, right? I mean, neither my parents are in medicine. I’ve got some aunts and uncles that are dentists, nurses, things like that. But nobody that was a physician that I can directly kind of follow. So, that took some figuring out. But I got through my undergraduate studies, love philosophy for what that’s worth. So, like to talk about a lot of deep thoughts that don’t really go anywhere, things like that. So, that was one of my degrees in my undergraduate studies and got a biomedical science degree. All of which, by the way, is completely meaningless unless you go to more school. So, I couldn’t have done anything else with that other than go somewhere else in my education journey. So, yeah, I was fortunate enough to get into medical school on my first try. And many people, it takes several tries and they keep at it and do it, which is great. That’s just kind of a numbers game and looking a little unique.

 

But in parallel to that, military service is always something that was passionate to me as well. I feel very drawn to veterans in general, to kind of veteran care, if that makes sense. And I wasn’t really sure how I could do both. And as silly as this sounds, on the other end of it, having been a military physician as part of my career, I didn’t really know that the military had doctors that were active duty at the time. I just assumed they would have been staffed by civilian doctors or something like that. But I stumbled upon this military scholarship called the HPSP, which is the Health Professions Scholarship Program. Every military branch has one, so you basically just pick a branch and apply and you can either go to civilian medical school, which is what I did, or there’s a military medical school in Bethesda, outside D.C.

 

So, I chose the civilian route. I just didn’t feel like putting on uniform every day for the first few years. Being a med student is hard enough, so showing up in uniform is a little tougher. I don’t like wearing T-shirts and scrubs and stuff. So, I did that route. And then back to your initial question about how do you pick something like neurology or neurosurgery or any specialty, you just sort of stumble into it, right? I mean, so I had some great mentors that were neurologists. Again, thinking back to my grandfather’s condition, Parkinson’s is one of the things I treat, but just really had some great mentors that helped guide me into that space. It is a bit of a philosophical specialty in the sense that there’s just so much going on in the brain that we just don’t know, right? It’s a constantly evolving field.

 

And to me, that’s very fulfilling. It’s challenging. The therapeutics have come miles. I mean, the joke is that neurology is just going to diagnose stuff because you can’t really fix anything. That’s sort of an old paradigm. Certainly, in the last decade or two, we’ve had more therapeutics than ever before. And I mean, just a plethora coming out all the time, which is really exciting. So, that’s sort of the path, I guess, to get into the neurology thing. Yeah, I mean, I can keep going, but that was, I hope, the answer to it.

 

Justin Donald: Well, so you spent time learning your craft. You then became a civilian doctor. Is that right?

 

Ryan Williamson: Yeah. So, the way that scholarship works, you actually commission as a military officer, your first semester of medical school. So, actually, commissioned as an ensign in the Navy my first semester. And so, on that track, you have kind of annual military training, right? So, you go to officer development school, learn how to become a military officer, learn all the military bearing, get your uniforms, learn how to lead, do all those things, which is awesome. Whereas if you were at the military medical school, you would be considered a full-time active duty officer and you’re much more in a military environment day in, day out. So, I chose kind of a deferred route where I could still earn my officership commission and still focus on my studies.

 

And then, when you graduate medical school, which is typically four years, and going to your residency, which is where you then match into your specialty. So, once I knew I wanted to become a neurologist, matching to that specialty, then you’re actually designed to come on to active duty at that point. As it turns out, the Navy did not have enough spots for the amount of neurologists they projected to need for that year for my training class. So, I said, “Well, this is really what I want to do.” And they said, “Well, you can go do a year of internal medicine, which you have to do before you do your neurology specific training.” And I said, “That sounds great, but then what if I don’t match into neurology after that?” They said, “Well, then you’re on a ship for three or four or five years and you’re just kind of a general doctor floating around.” I said, “Well, that sounds cool.” Operational medicine, which is what that’s called, is fine, but this is really what I want to do. So, how can we figure this out? They said, “Well, we’ll still put you in the reserves for four more years.” So, I did that, matched into another civilian residency. So, I trained in Washington, D.C. at Georgetown Hospital, which is right down the road from Bethesda. Anyway, loved it. Amazing training.

 

Still keep up with my colleagues who stay in my class. They’re just awesome people. And yeah, then after the four years of training, you come on active duty, you serve your time. And then from there, once your commitment is paid back, then you have a decision to do. Do I stay in for another three years or up to a career? Do I part ways? And that’s kind of the fork in the road that you have at that point.

 

Justin Donald: Wow. Yeah. So, first off, thanks for your service. I mean, not only did you help serve our country, but you helped serve the people that are serving our country. So, that’s really cool. That’s very special and unique. And I’m curious what you decided with this fork in the road. Do you continue on? By the way, my brother served in the Army, did two tours, and then was able to wrap up his time and was thankful for the experience, but was also thankful to be done and move on to civilian life. And so, I’m curious, kind of what your path was.

 

Ryan Williamson: That’s wonderful. I don’t think I knew that about your brother. Thank you for your service too. That’s fantastic. So, when we left D.C., we had orders from D.C. to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, which is the biggest Marine Corps base on the East Coast. It’s about a third of the Marine Corps stationed there. It’s in kind of rural eastern North Carolina. Had three orders there, and I was very much open to considering a career in the military. But at the end of those three years, I decided after, we’re talking about basically a 16-year pipeline between undergraduate studies, medical school, residency, and four years in the military, right? That’s a substantial chunk of time that I’ve committed to something.

 

And I guess you could argue had some degree of autonomy through that because I’m still choosing that process. But at some point, you kind of feel like a passenger, right? At least I did. And what got me out of bed every morning was seeing my Marines and sailors. They’re just wonderful people. Absolutely loved working with those men and women. But I think at some point, it became very important to have the ball back in my court, so to speak, to be able to pursue other passions and do other things that really, I felt were calling me. And this is kind of where the Lifestyle Investor starts to integrate into some of this, and real estate starts to integrate into some of this as the vision was becoming a little more clear. But really pursuing other interests is what made me resign.

 

So, yeah, in July of ‘22, I said, “Hey, this has been great.” But I separated voluntarily, honorably, thankfully. And we decided to stay in Eastern North Carolina. And since then, I’ve been doing kind of a combination of civilian practice and co-managing our real estate portfolio with Corey and then, of course, learning everything that we’ve done in our community, sort of that, well, I guess.

 

Justin Donald: I love it. So, a lot of paths we can talk about. We definitely should talk about your real estate. We definitely should talk about what you’re doing professionally today. And at some point, we can get into big takeaways that you’ve had from your first year in the Mastermind and why you renewed and joined again for year two. But I think it’d be fun to kind of get into some of while we’re on the professional track, maybe what you’re doing today and the impact that you want to have, because I know you’re doing a lot of stuff with marital therapy as well.

 

Ryan Williamson: Absolutely, yes. So, again, when I separated from the Navy, you kind of have several options at your disposal, right? You can either go join a group and kind of get a job or a private practice. You can go back to teaching and academics, which I love teaching, but didn’t really want to move back to big city. And then there’s kind of a third option that fewer people know about called locum tenens. That’s Latin for sort of being a placeholder.

 

And so, basically what you can do is show up or have a contract as an independent contractor where you can show up to these kind of more rural and underserved areas a lot of the times, because there just aren’t the services there that should be or need to be. So, I get to go drive or fly to these sort of semi-remote places and go deliver quality care on my terms because it’s a negotiated contract, right? It’s a win-win because I get to deliver the care that I think people need that they don’t have, typically a supply and demand kind of model. So, the rates tend to be a little bit better than they would if you were doing something else. And then, of course, as we’ve discussed regularly in the mastermind, the tax structure being a 1099 independent contractor, I mean, with our tax laws open up a tremendous amount of freedom in terms of what to do and what that looks like financially. So, that’s like a triple win on that front.

 

Justin Donald: Totally.

 

Ryan Williamson: And I think I posted this somewhere in the renewal post, but that’s taken me from basically working two to three jobs. So, I guess I skipped over part of this. But when I was active duty, I still did some virtual health care called telemedicine. It’s part of telemedicine. It’s called Telestroke, so treating stroke patients in particular. So, quite literally, I can be on a Zoom call just like this with somebody who’s halfway across the country who’s having an active stroke, treat them. I can look at their CAT scans in real time and their blood vessel imaging. We can make a decision about pushing a clot, listing medicine to help break up a clot. If they’ve got a large enough clot that they need a procedure, we can have someone like Dr. Liptrap come in and help pull the clot out mechanically at their hospital or fly them somewhere. So, I did that for about five years, which was incredibly fulfilling, but fitting that in between my Navy obligations. And I even did some of the locums travel work at that time on my vacation or leave time. That was burning both ends of the candle pretty hard.

 

Justin Donald: No kidding.

 

Ryan Williamson: Which I mean, I don’t know that I found my limit, but I was pretty close. And I think my health and certainly my marriage took a hit. And that was a good lesson for everybody. And that was part of my decision to separate from the military and back off on some of that other stuff. But to be able to do this locums thing “full time,” I mean, to have the financial component makes sense, I only really have to do that 18 to 20 weeks a year, which frees up an amazing amount of space to do anything else, right? I mean, to be present, to spend time with my wife, to go travel, to be on mastermind calls, to go do anything. It’s just that I have the protected space to just grow and learn and do all these things that I think are so important to personal development. We’ve been able to create and protect, and that’s been huge. So, that’s, like I said, triple win on the locums front with how that’s looked.

 

Justin Donald: Yeah. To just have to work 18 to 20 weeks, doing this, that’s powerful. And the income I don’t think reflects that it’s more of part-time hours which is great. So, you have a great income, you have a more flexible schedule, you have a lot more free time, and you’re serving an underserved population that really needs you. I mean, that’s just incredible.

 

Ryan Williamson: It really has been. This has been certainly the most fulfilling time I’ve had in my professional career. I feel that I can be the most present, the most giving, the most engaged. It’s just been awesome. So, yeah.

 

Justin Donald: That’s so cool.

 

Ryan Williamson: Yeah. So, that’s the current kind of, I guess, time for service work, if you want to call it that. We actually just set up an entity with Andrew Howell, of all people, to create another locums agency. And I have a vision to streamline the efficiency of the way the pay is structured for other providers. And I’ve had some, some interests already from some medical colleagues, which is really exciting without going down this rabbit hole to basically the model is hospital aces. We don’t have this provider, we disservice, and they contract with an agency. And the agency says we can find Provider A, i.e., Dr. Williamson or whoever. And we’ll put him in for this much money, right?

 

There’s kind of this inherent conflict of interest because the agency is trying to keep what they can to run their business, their profit, their overhead and pay the provider as little as possible. And that’s a negotiation game. In every agency so far that I’ve worked with, except for one, will not tell me what their cut is. They go, “This is your rate.” And you can negotiate that rate, but they won’t tell me what they’re keeping. And that doesn’t sit very well, right?

 

So, my proposal is to create this agency, have a transparent model with providers and say, “Here’s what the hospital is willing to pay. Here’s the money on the table. How do we make this work for everybody?” And kind of in a nutshell, just to make it more, creating a win-win. And I think, because running a leaner kind of more boutique service, we could probably bid on some of these same contracts for less, so kind of undercut the bigger groups. The hospitals paying less, the providers are making more. Everybody’s happy. It’s a win-win. Everybody’s taken care of, the patients are taken care of. I mean, it seems like a more efficient, better model to me. So, that’s in the works.

 

Justin Donald: Yeah. Well, the lack of transparency just straight up, that feels a little manipulative or a little deceiving. It’s like, “Hey, we don’t want to give you all the info. Make some decisions without all the info. And by the way, this info that we’re not sharing with you is to the detriment of the customer.” So, yeah, you’re spot on on this. And I bet you this has some tremendous legs.

 

Ryan Williamson: Yeah. So, I’m really excited about getting that going. And then kind of the bigger vision I’ve had is creating some sort of online platform where people can learn more about taking control of their health, educating people on more preventive medicine. I think, once upon a time, I discussed a book that outlined migraine. I’ve got one for stroke that I very kind of have skeleton outline. So, I have sort of something I want to put together to be able to help more people than I could ever reach as an individual provider. And that growth, again, has come through our community and looking at what others have been able to do, looking at what you’ve done with the Lifestyle Investor community, right? I mean, you can do this one-on-one podcast, which is great and fun, and we can do Zoom calls with a lot of people.

 

But I mean, creating content for people to engage with just creates the potential to help so many more people than you could ever hope to do and kind of one on one, which I love. And that’s why clinical medicine is still very fun for me. But I’ve been able to kind of ride on the coattails of others or sit on the shoulders or whatever metaphor you want to use, but just has really expanded my thinking in how can I serve more people and help more.

 

Justin Donald: I love it. The writing’s on the wall that you will. I can already hear it. I can already see it. It’s exciting. Yeah. And this doesn’t even get into the specifics of the marital therapy, does it?

 

Ryan Williamson: Oh, yes. Gosh, so that’s yeah, thank you for reminding me that again. So, that’s been something that my wife and I have been engaged in for about the last year and a half and has been completely transformative. And mental health is a big passion of mine, not only in my personal life, in our life, but in the life of my patients. I mean, I think, I used to be able to quote this actual statistic, but effectively, back to the military stats when I was active duty, more active duty service members die of suicide every year than combat. And that has been the statistic for, for sure, the last decade plus, right? I mean, it’s tremendously sad to even think about this that we have this system that isn’t able to identify these people that are truly in need.

 

And the amount of times that I had people that just came to me for a basic headache or for a numb hand or whatever, that I’d say, “Is there anything else I can help with?” And then right before they walked out the door, they tell me that they tried to kill themselves the night before. And I mean, we shut down clinic, get them the care they need. I mean, nothing else matters at that point other than getting them the services they need. So, this is something that’s very, very near and dear to my heart and something that I’m very passionate about.

 

And I just want people to know that not only is it okay to talk about mental health, but it’s important too, and I firmly believe that. Yeah, I mean, if you’re ever having any thoughts of anything like that, tell somebody. People care about you, People love you and they need to know and there are resources to help. We just, I think, do a disservice to certainly our military members, but I think our medical community at large by not having that in the spotlight as much as it should be. There shouldn’t be people leading the charge on that. Don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of people making a ton of headway, but definitely something that we need to continue to work on.

 

Justin Donald: Yeah, it’s hard to get help if you aren’t willing to admit that something’s going on. And I also think that it’s becoming more and more acceptable culturally for people to be able to admit this, for men to let their guard down and be vulnerable in a way that maybe past generations weren’t able to. Maybe it was frowned upon. So, I think, you can see a lot of good things coming into fruition here with the way that this is being lifted up and being supported. And people just need to have the courage to share when they’re having that crisis or in that situation.

 

Ryan Williamson: I couldn’t agree more. And again, I know I mentioned earlier, kind of my bringing some of the kind of early childhood trauma I had with death and just things that I experienced that until I had really just a phenomenal marital therapist or psychologist that has helped us through this helped me identify past trauma, work through it, overcome it, be more vulnerable, be more open with, not only my wife, but my friends. I mean, it’s been transformative. And I think not only just from an overall feeling better standpoint, it’s freeing to allow more room for success. I mean, you can start to believe in yourself more, it provides a foundation for you to change your mindset.

 

I think you and I discussed this briefly over email, but I was put up that renewal post and we’re talking about all these people that were emailing me back and I said, “I feel like a bit of an impostor here.” And you’re like, “Not allowed, man.” But impostor syndrome is a real thing. And I think that’s something I’ve struggled with. And now, that I’m like, “What more evidence do I need that I provide value to people or that I, I mean, credentialed or whatever?” But being able to get through, I think, and expose past circumstances, traumas, build yourself, build your mindset, that is such a key component to success. I mean, I don’t know that it’s the most important thing, but it almost feels like the first domino that if you have that lined up, or like Jason Drees talks about in our lecture the other day, I mean, being able to do the impossible and aligning yourself with success. That really spoke to me and I think is spot on in terms of kind of what he teaches with respect to coaching and just overall having your mental game and focus.

 

Justin Donald: Yeah, 100%. Yeah, absolutely. So, I’d love to hear about some of your journey with investment properties and real estate and the things you’re doing. You guys have really built an incredible life. In fact, a few things I want to discover, number one is you and Corey have been so intentional about living a life by design. And that’s something that I feel like I’m going to preach till the day I die because most people live on autopilot and are in this reactionary mode. And I love that you guys are intentional with it. And part of what you’re doing to help support that is investing in real estate. And so, I’d love for you to talk through some of those strategies and experiences that you’ve had and maybe even what woke you up to being more intentional about having a life by design.

 

Ryan Williamson: Absolutely. Yeah. So, we kind of caught the real estate bug, so to speak, in 2019. That’s when we bought our first investment property. That was just a little townhome in Jacksonville, North Carolina, right outside base, as a long-term rental. And I actually had the privilege of giving a talk on our real estate journey to our local real estate meetup group, who is run by my buddy Sean McDonald. Awesome guys. He is former Marine, has his own brokerage. He is a realtor. Awesome guy.

 

But I think, in the talk, I said something to the effect of writing the closing check for that property, I think, was one of the most pivotal moments in my investment career. It’s like a $19,000 check for this tiny, little two-bed, two-bath townhome. But I think the affirmation and the fear that that allowed me to overcome, to see proof of concept in action, and to be able to kind of take leaps and bounds and scale from there, I mean, made a tremendous difference, I mean, just to finally see something working.

 

So, we started small, bought a few more long-term single-family homes, eventually scaled out of that into the short-term space. We honestly live in this great vacation destination. I mean, you wouldn’t think that rural Eastern North Carolina is a destination hub, but there are some beautiful barrier islands that people come from all over to vacation, mostly in the summer, but even throughout the year. So, we kind of took a swing in early 2021 and got a great deal on this beautiful oceanfront property. That was amazing. We’ve always wanted a beach house, so we’re like, “Holy cow. We get to utilize this beach house and we’ve got all this passive income from the rental property. This is great.”

 

And then we thought more about, well, we grew up in Florida, so we spent a lot of time away from family, especially the holidays. So, should we look at something down here? And actually, it’s where I am right now. It’s Madeira Beach, Florida, which is the Gulf Coast near Tampa, where I grew up. But we bought a condo down here and did the same thing. So, passive income is, again, helping the lifestyle component, but also in the wintertime, we get to come down here and hang out here.

 

And then, most recently, we purchased a cabin in North Georgia in the Blue Ridge area this past summer. And then, I guess, in between, we have our primary house that we still rent out, which is very close to the other beach place. So, we got two on the North Carolina beach, one on the Gulf Coast here, one on the North Georgia mountains. And we hop around kind of in the best of all seasons and take advantage of the passive income in between.

 

And to your point, I mean, with the life by design, I get to wake up to water and beach every day or mountains. I mean, the serenity, the beauty, the gratitude and appreciation to be able to do that every day is nothing short of amazing. And that has been just a game changer for us in terms of just our intrinsic happiness to be in places we like to see family more. It’s been awesome.

 

Justin Donald: I love it. You get total utility out of your rentals. You’re not just renting them for the income, though you have that. You’re getting utility by moving around. And by the way, it’s funny because I was going to ask you about this because every time you’re on a Zoom call, it seems like you’re in a different home. And I know it’s not a different room. They’re all different rooms, but I’m like, these are different homes that you’re in. The community has to be like, “Man, how many homes does Ryan own?” It’s awesome. I love that you’ve built this really cool life to be able to live the places you want to live.

 

And for the record, North Carolina is awesome. I’ve got family there. I can see why a ton of people pick that as vacation destinations. And we have done many vacations there. But shout-out to my Uncle Dan and Aunt Becky and my cousins that live out there because North Carolina is an incredible place with amazing people. So, yeah, there’s a huge draw there. And I think you bought into the right market.

 

Ryan Williamson: We love it, yeah. Where are your aunt and uncle, by the way?

 

Justin Donald: Well, they’ve been all over. I think right now, they’re in Pilot Mountain. Used to be in Tobaccoville. Winston-Salem area, Greensboro, I’ve got some family out there, so a little bit all over.

 

Ryan Williamson: That’s wonderful. Yeah, I mean, the North Carolina has been a great state. Obviously, we ended up here kind of serendipitously on orders. Actually, we were in D.C. We’re leaving. I’ll never forget, I was FaceTiming Corey and she cried. She’s like, “We’re going where?” “We’re going to Jacksonville, North Carolina.” She’s like, “Where is that?” But I mean, ended up being the best thing ever. We’ve had such a great, great experience. And again, just to be able to move around and it’s, I guess, kind of one of the places that I– well, the idea has sort of come together. But I guess the term put to it, there’s an author and part of the BiggerPockets community, Avery Carl. She has a book called Short-Term Rental, Long-Term Wealth, I think. I may get that wrong. She and Tamar actually are friends, discover that. We were in dinner last year at the retreat, which is pretty cool.

 

But anyway, she talks about drive-to and fly-to destinations, vacation, metropolitan, all the stuff. So, kind of borrowing from her vocabulary. We have this sort of drive-to vacation model, where when you think about the potential impact of an economic recession, if you’ve got a fly-to destination like Hawaii, Europe, whatever, people might go, can’t afford the plane tickets, but I can still afford the Airbnb. Maybe I’ll drive the family there instead of fly. And you can drive to any of our properties, whether it’s in a mountain or on the beach or whatever. And that’s held true so far, albeit, we’ve had a ramp up, say, the economics, but you get the idea, right? So, I think it’s a fairly recession-resistant model. And when it’s good, it seems really good if you peek at the numbers, right?

 

Justin Donald: Oh, it’s wonderful. Yeah, I’m such a huge fan. As a child, we used to go to Cape Hatteras all the time.

 

Ryan Williamson: Oh, great.

 

Justin Donald: So, we’ve done the Outer Banks for years and years and years and just went there, I think, again, two or three years ago. And it’s a very special place to us. So, I love that you have all the different places, you can drive to them. You’ve got full utility. I mean, that is really cool.

 

Ryan Williamson: Yeah, No, we’ve loved it. And again, just being able to not only take advantage of, like you said, the utility, the passive income, but now, to have the education behind, okay, how can we work in bonus depreciation? How can we work on our tax structure, entity planning, and everything that has been just an amazing transformation in the last year? And maybe that’s a good segue into that piece. But I mean, holy cow, I’ve obviously had a lot of formal training in my life and had a lot of periods in time of professional or personal growth or whatever you want to call it, but the last calendar year trumps them all. And there’s no question, and I really feel that way.

 

Justin Donald: Well, I love hearing that. And for me, the goal is how do we help people get so good with their tax strategy that right out of the gates, they can cover the tuition. So, if people are already in the money by the time they’re done with their first week of doing things going through, we’ve got 500 hours of content and we’ve got recommended self-study for people to kind of be onboarded with. But we’ve got this master document of over 50 unique tax strategies that people can use as they are applicable to them. And I don’t know anyone in our community that hasn’t saved at least the price of tuition and taxes over their life of being in the mastermind. And generally, it’s a heck of a lot more. So, to me, it’s like, hey, let’s do that. And then everything else is just icing on the cake. But I’d love to hear from your point of view, what this past year for you has been like.

 

Ryan Williamson: Yeah, transformational, I think, is the all-encompassing word. But yeah, I think the highest monetary utility has certainly been the tax strategies in which you just did a course, right? That’s going to be recorded at some point. Is that right? So, we even have that to help utilize, which would be great but…

 

Justin Donald: Coming out at the end of the month, I believe.

 

Ryan Williamson: Oh, great. The end of this month or December?

 

Justin Donald: I think end of December. I think we’re getting final cut of it at the end of this month. And then the end of December, I think it should be ready to go.

 

Ryan Williamson: That’s fantastic. I can’t wait to watch that. That’s going to be good. But yeah, so I think, when I started and did my onboarding session with Ryan Casey, it was a bit like drinking out of the proverbial fire hose because there’s so much stuff. But I want to say it was Allen Hayden that created the new member document to sort of start here and work your way through in kind of a systematic fashion. Shoutout to Allen, that has been very helpful.

 

But yeah, I think, if we want to look at just the sheer number side of things, the tax strategy, no question, has been the biggest dollar for dollar return when you want to look at the tuition versus what we’ve gotten back. I mean, in year one alone, I was six figures plus, I mean, literally, not not deductions, like actual like dollars back, which is obviously incredible, right? Yeah, so that’s a huge piece.

 

Justin Donald: And that’s not just one year, that’s every year, which is so cool. These are strategies you just keep repeating and then you add more strategies and save even more money.

 

Ryan Williamson: Yes. I mean, just even contemplating the compound effect that that has. I mean, that’s just mind boggling. I mean, to think about the growth you can achieve and just the capital that you have available to go put another deals or have fun with it or do anything with really. I mean, to be a good steward, as we talk about.

 

Justin Donald: That’s right.

 

Ryan Williamson: So, that’s a huge piece. The education, obviously, I mean, all the mastermind, deal calls, I mean that’s been, not only calls that I’ve been able to attend live, but I mean, the 500 hours. How many hours are we up to now?

 

Justin Donald: Yeah. Over 500, probably approaching 600.

 

Ryan Williamson: Yep. I mean, learning how to analyze private equity deals, learning how to get better at real estate, I mean, tax strategies, legal strategies, asset protection, I mean, you name it, it’s in there, right? I mean, all the high-level stuff that is, I think, the best in class or whatever it is they do or doing, it’s there to take advantage of. So, I think being intentional, first off, having the time to dedicate, right? I think, again, the stars really aligned with, again, having the time in the space to be able to dedicate to do this and learn. So, I think if somebody were still in full time, working 80 or 100 hours a week or some crazy numbers, you could fit it in, but it would be tougher. So, I do have the luxury of having more time that I can dedicate to learning and doing this, which is very helpful. And maybe why I’ve got to digest some of it a little faster.

 

But then again, I was very intentional about sitting down. I’ve got multiple documents and folders I’ve created with different strategies and different things we put in place. So, I’m not just watching it, kind of in one ear and out the other. I’m writing it down, I’m organizing it. I mean, I tend to be pretty type A about stuff, which is helpful. But I think, the two pieces that I didn’t fully understand or that I couldn’t foresee or predict is (a) the relationships, just the incredible people that this group attracts. I mean, your ability to select for the right kind of person to be here that is so successful, so generous with their time, so humble, so willing to give, what a privilege to have that many people in one place that we can just learn from one another and develop these amazing relationships.

 

Like I said, meeting people for the first time and feeling like you’ve known them for your whole life, that’s really special to have that. So, that’s something that just there’s no way to be able to explain that to somebody, to experience that, I think. And then again, just the change in perspective, the growth and mindset, I think this quote that I wrote down in my phone note is something like, a man’s mind once stretched to new dimensions can’t ever return to its former shape. And that’s not exactly how it works neurologically, but metaphorically works. But it’s true. And seeing other people’s perspectives and what they’re doing and being able to change my vision for what our life looks like and how can I help more people and how can I create more time, how can I be more intentional with what we’re doing and so much more, I mean, that’s priceless. You can’t put a tax figure on that or whatever. I mean, that’s changed my life and the direction of my life permanently. And that to me is, I mean, I can’t put a number on that.

 

Justin Donald: Well, I appreciate you sharing that. And we’re just so thrilled to have you graduating to year two with us. It’s just a blast. And you’ve had tremendous impact because you made a post in our community that was, hey, here’s all the reasons why I’m graduating to year two, and here’s all the value that I got. And it became a viral post in our community, so much so that we had so many people reaching out. You’re like, “Holy cow, how do I fit it all in?” But I love it.

 

Your focus is like, hey, I also want to serve these people and I want to help share the things I did to make sure that I got, not just growth, but exponential growth, not just value, but exponential value. And the thing I always like helping people understand with the mastermind is that a lot of people look linearly and they say, okay, well, I need to get X return if I’m investing, X dollars, where the reality is once you learn something, you have that for the rest of your life. Once you establish certain connections, you have that the rest of your life, whether it be experts, whether it be members, once your mind has been expanded to what’s possible, you have that the rest of your life. And so, there’s this big exponential growth portion of it that really exists even if someone were to just do it for one year and that’s it.

 

Ryan Williamson: That’s exactly right. And I mean, just that shift to an abundance mindset and to bringing value to the world, that’s part of Garett Gunderson’s philosophy that I absolutely love, which we’ve had sessions with him, by the way. An amazing individual. I’m really excited to see him again next week or this week or a few days.

 

Justin Donald: You bet.

 

Ryan Williamson: Yeah. I mean, you said, just to be able to help one another and grow and so many ways is just, yeah, like I said, I can barely put words to it and it’s been so fulfilling and such an affirmation to to be able to be part of that. And again, to have people, like I said, reach out after a year ago. I mean, these are very successful people in their given professions and have Zoom calls, like this and go, hey, tell me, I did that again. To be able to share that with people, it’s been awesome. Yeah.

 

Justin Donald: People see the value in those that can think. So, you said you’re very type A when it comes to kind of creating a plan and doing all this. You have some people that just, they really dive in on the live stuff. What’s happening now? You’ve got another group of people that kind of make a self-study plan and they go back through all the hours of content or at least the applicable hours of content and the educational topics that they want to learn on. And so, I think you’ve done a good job of really methodically laying out what it looks like, how you’re going to dive in.

 

And I think, a lot of people, myself included, operate really well, much better when we have a blueprint. And sometimes, we’re not good at creating that blueprint. So, Allen Hayden, shout-out to you because you created the foundational blueprint for some of that in our community. But you have been able to add to that in a way that just presents a lot of value to our other members, which is cool. So, hearing your story, your growth, your experience really warms my heart. And to me, it’s like, this is why I’m doing this. This is why we started Lifestyle Investor is to help people of all levels, of all different walks, be able to experience life more on their terms, life more by design than default, and huge wins, whether they be professionally, financially, buying time back. So, maybe you can’t even measure it, but you can see the impact in your relationships and the familial bonds. And so, watching you, hearing you, learning more on your story, it’s just really rewarding for me. So, thank you very much.

 

Ryan Williamson: Well, thank you, Justin. I mean, I’ve had this conversation, too, with a handful of our members, but this is not something that you have to do, right? I mean, you’ve clearly done very well on so many fronts in life. And I know it’s a passion project. And this is something that you want to do, which is just a testament to your character. But that’s the point, is that you’re the kind of guy that says, “No, I want to add value to the world. I want to give back.” And thank you for that. I mean, you’re changing people’s lives, and even as somebody who, again, was a non-mastermind member, I guess we all were at some point.

 

Having put it this way, having read the book in 2020, and then like I said, being like, oh my gosh, in three years, how in the world will I be on this guy’s podcast, right? Knowing what my mindset was then to now, you’re still making a tremendous difference in people’s lives. I mean, the free content that you put out with the podcast, the book, the fact that the book proceeds go to this fighting human trafficking, right? I mean, that’s part of the charity work. I mean, you don’t need to do any of this, but you do. And for Justin’s listeners, Justin is one of the most amazing, nicest, most genuine people that you have the privilege of getting to know. And that is not just my opinion, that is a collective opinion from anybody I’ve talked to that has known you. And I truly mean that.

 

Justin Donald: Well, thank you. I appreciate the kind words. And I feel very blessed to be inside this community. People look at it as my community. I look at it as our community. I show up as a facilitator and even more so as a student. And it’s just such a great home for me because I get to learn every day. I get to meet new people. I get to learn all the things that you know and all the big moves that you make. And I can say, “Oh, I haven’t done that recently” or “I haven’t ever done that before.” And so, I really am the biggest student inside this community. And so, for me, there’s no place I’d rather be.

 

And especially when we have members like you that are organizing really cool events, like the Porsche racing event that you are putting on that you headed up for our Lifestyle Investor Mastermind members, I’m fired up for that event. That’s going to be incredible. And thanks for taking the initiative to set up two days in Birmingham, Alabama, to get trained by professional racecar drivers that are going to let us drive these awesome Porsches all around this really nice track. And it’s also getting experiences like that. So, hats off to you, Ryan. I just love having you in the mastermind, and I think you’re just an incredible member that adds a tremendous amount of value.

 

Ryan Williamson: Well, thank you so much, Justin. I really mean it. I feel a tremendous privilege to be here. This feels like home. I mean, it really does. We talked about that, just this amazing community in the space to do what we do and learn. And to your point, about kind of being a student, I think intellectual curiosity and I think your quote is something to the effect of always wanting to be the novice in the room or having to be the novice in the room, right?

 

Justin Donald: I love that.

 

Ryan Williamson: I have certainly, certainly been that. And it’s just incredible. I mean, the exposures that we get to learn and grow together from one another and, just like I said, hard to put into words.

 

Justin Donald: I love it. Well, thanks again. And I always love wrapping up every episode we do with a question to our listeners, to those of you watching. And it’s just this, it’s what is one step that you can make today to move towards financial freedom and move towards a life that’s truly on your terms, a life that you desire, not by default, but by design? Thanks for joining us here this week and we’ll look forward to catching you next week.