Distressed to Success: Conversations with Community Transformation Leaders

In this episode of Distressed to Success, Brian speaks with Jim Boad, founder of Group Home Accelerator, about how he transformed his real-estate career during the COVID downturn by converting distressed rental homes into structured sober living residences. Jim recounts his journey from fix-and-flip investor to operator of 14 active sober living homes in a small city of just 11,000 people. He expl...

In this episode of Distressed to Success, Brian speaks with Lisa Hurley, executive director of the York County Development Corporation. Over their 30-minute conversation, Lisa shares how a 20-year career in economic development led her to York County, Nebraska, where she now juggles everything from housing and talent recruitment to small-business support and industrial expansion.  Lisa explains th...

In this episode of Distressed to Success, Brian speaks with Michael Mohrfeld, owner of Mohrfeld Electric and Green Oak Development. Michael takes us along his own journey, from apprenticing as an electrician to founding a 70-employee contracting firm and then launching a development arm in 2014.  What began as an effort to bring affordable single-family housing to Fort Madison, Iowa, quickly evolv...

In this episode of Distressed to Success, Brian speaks with Brandon Cobb, founder of the Land Development Accelerator and HBG Capital. Brandon opens up about his “accidental entrepreneur” journey, from medical device sales to flipping and wholesaling houses, and ultimately discovering the massive value in land entitlement and development. He shares how being unexpectedly laid off taught him that n...

In this episode of Distressed to Success, Brian speaks with Aaron Fragnito, co-founder of People’s Capital Group.  Aaron takes us back to 2009, fresh out of Rowan University, into the worst job market of a generation, and explains how a ski-instructor stint in Colorado, a copy of Rich Dad Poor Dad, and a real estate license in New Jersey set him on a path from cleaning rental cars to closing his f...

In this episode of Distressed to Success, Brian speaks with Henry Yoshida, CEO and co-founder of Rocket Dollar and Digital Trust. They kick off by breaking down how self-directed IRAs work, rolling over old 401(k) or IRA funds to unlock private and alternative investments like real estate, small businesses or opportunity-zone projects and why the standard retirement custodians don’t offer that fle...

In this episode of Distressed to Success, Brian speaks with Paul Poteet, founder of Surge Capital Group. Brian and Paul trace Paul’s journey from a business-management major fresh out of college to becoming a multifamily developer carving out a unique niche in tertiary markets.  Rather than chasing high-profile zip codes, Paul explains his “zoning-first” strategy, targeting commercial zones that a...

In this episode of Distressed to Success, Brian speaks with Jill Ferrari, partner at Schenken Bruch and co-founder of Renovare Development. With more than three decades in the brownfield redevelopment industry, Jill walks us through her unusual journey, from environmental health consultant to real estate dealmaker, authoring creative financing solutions, and teaching real estate fundamentals at th...

In this episode of Distressed to Success, Brian speaks with Jordan Blanchard, co-founder of Excalibur Rural Capital. Jordan, a 35-year banking veteran who spent the last decade focused on USDA Rural Development lending, walks us through how his firm partners with rural commercial developers and municipalities to bring affordable, long-term financing to communities of 50,000 people or fewer.  We le...

In this episode of Distressed to Success, Brian speaks with Scott Lurie, owner and founder of F Street.  Scott walks us through his 20-plus-year real estate journey, from flipping and wholesaling homes as the first Wisconsin franchisee of Wee Buy Ugly Houses to launching F Street’s three verticals today: a national multifamily and industrial syndication network, ground-up Class A developments in s...

In this episode of Distressed to Success, Brian speaks with Philip Kafka, president of Prince Concepts. Kafka takes us from his early days studying philosophy in Chicago and launching a billboard business in New York to discovering a greater calling in Detroit’s Core City.  He explains how he stopped viewing real estate as a mere asset and instead treats every building as a product to be improved,...

Join Brian Seidensticker as he sits down with Jason Hull, CEO at DoorGrow – a growth and marketing agency that helps residential property management companies scale, systematize operations, and build healthier businesses. In this episode of Distressed to Success , Jason shares his entrepreneurial journey, from leaving a corporate role at HP to founding a company that has rebranded over 300 propert...

Join Brian Seidensticker as he sits down with Jeremy Beland , Founder of REI Freedom – a real estate investing company focused on helping distressed homeowners while revitalizing communities. In this episode of Distressed to Success , Jeremy shares his journey from nearly losing everything during the Great Recession to becoming a successful real estate investor approaching his 500th off-market acq...

Join Brian for an inspiring conversation with Jermaine Brooks, co-founder of WRJ Developers and pioneer of shipping container construction in Ohio. From his early real estate investing mistakes in 1999-2000 to developing what may be Ohio's first multi-family shipping container project, Jermaine shares his journey of transforming Cleveland's distressed East Side through innovative development strat...

Join Brian for an inspiring conversation with Kathy Makino-Leipsitz, a pioneering affordable housing developer who has spent over 30 years transforming distressed communities through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. From buying her first duplex at 19 with $2,500 down to completing 22 tax credit developments, Kathy shares her remarkable journey and the lessons learned along the wa...

Join Brian as he sits down with longtime industry colleague Brad Westover, Executive Director of the National Tax Lien Association (NTLA) - the only nonprofit organization working to improve the tax sale space. In this episode of Distressed to Success, Brad shares his remarkable 30-year journey from college graduate to industry leader, including his role in passing California tax lien legislation...

Welcome to Distressed to Success, a new podcast where we’ll discover how savvy investors and entrepreneurs are profitably transforming underserved communities through strategic investment and innovative business models. Host Brian Seidensticker, co-founder of Last Best Partners, brings his extensive experience in real estate investing and developing software that serves thousands of investors nati...