Good Nuggets

Some years scale you, some years humble you, and most years do both. In this special episode, Rain City Capital Founder Fred Rea talks through the swings of 2025 and what they taught him about running a company when the market, the team, and the world won’t sit still.  Fred talks goal setting, market predictions, Keanu Reeves, and why culture is still the thing he protects the hardest after all th...

True longevity in business comes from relationships that outlast the hard seasons. In this episode of Good Nuggets, Fred Rea sits down with Buster Brown, Rain City’s former CFO and one of its first investors. Together, they trace the quiet, steady work that built Rain City from the early scrappy years into the company it is today. Not through hype or shortcuts, but through discipline, humility, an...

Sometimes the biggest changes come from simply showing up. Fred Rea sits down with Dalton Elliott—architect of Rain City’s broker program—to talk about how presence, discipline, and trust reshaped his life and work. From a Muay Thai fight camp in Thailand to rebuilding culture and relationships back home, Dalton shares what happens when you stop chasing success and start showing up for it. Dalton...

What does it take to balance legal risk, leadership, and life inside a fast-moving company? In this episode of Good Nuggets, Fred sits down with Rain City’s General Counsel, Katherine Christofilis, to talk about the unseen side of entrepreneurship, where every decision carries risk. From navigating the 2008 recession to building the legal backbone of Rain City, Katherine shares hard-won lessons on...

When Jared first jumped into real estate, he thought he’d be a millionaire in a year. Instead, he found himself broke, managing a mobile home park, and losing money on his first flip. But out of those struggles came lessons that reshaped how he does business. Today, Jared has a thriving book of business, a reputation for protecting his clients, and a bigger vision that merges entrepreneurship with...

In this episode of Good Nuggets , Fred sits down with Rain City Capital’s Chief Revenue Officer, and his longtime business partner, Ian Morell. Ian’s journey is a masterclass in patience, partnerships, and persistence. From his early flips and courthouse auction days to leading sales and marketing at Rain City, Ian’s story proves there are no shortcuts to building something lasting. What you’ll he...

What Taylor Swift can teach founders about culture… It started out as a lazy Saturday and ended as one of Fred’s top five life moments: a spontaneous, last-minute family road trip to Vancouver for one of the final shows of the Eras Tour.  Where his son was pulled on stage for an iconic moment with Taylor Swift herself. But this isn’t just about the concert. In this special episode, Fred shares wha...

This episode isn’t business as usual, we're gearing up for season 2 (coming September 8!) by remixing the most unforgettable nuggets from last season when our guests talked about one thing: the moment everything clicked. From near-quits that became career-defining wins to the grind finally paying off, this episode is packed with raw stories about resilience, risk, and finding your turning poi...

This Good Nuggets remix brings together real stories from our Season 1 guests on one theme: Learning By Doing . Nobody had all the answers. Most started with none. But they all kept moving. You’ll hear: Lesa Say on nearly quitting and what made her stay ( 00:51 ) Julian Montante on losing money on his first flip and investing lessons ( 6:44 ) Alex Brosy on “knowing your shit,” presence, and what g...

What does it take to go from getting laid off after the birth of your first child… to managing a $14 million month and leading sales strategy for a thriving private lender? In this episode, Fred sits down with Jeff Kalmbach—Rain City’s VP of Sales Strategy and Business Development—for a raw, funny, and heartfelt conversation about his journey through setbacks, sales wins, and building culture with...

Jill Beattie thought she was chasing the right things—until she realized she didn’t recognize herself anymore. In this episode, Fred sits down with Jill to talk about what it took to step away from the version of success that was no longer serving her and into a life that finally felt like her own. They explore the cost of performing, the power of clarity, and what it really means to own your stor...

From awkward first impressions to onboarding the next generation — Alex Brosy’s come a long way. In this episode, Fred chops it up with Alex — a loan officer turned sales director who’s helping shape the next generation at Rain City Capital. They unpack the grind behind growth, how coaching evolves as you do, and what it really takes to keep a company culture thriving in a fast-growing company. In...

Julian Montante’s journey is the epitome of betting on yourself—and he tells it all here on Good Nuggets . From crawling around his house with a torn Achilles and no safety net to becoming one of Rain City’s top producers, Julian’s story is a masterclass in grit, self-belief, and perseverance. In this episode, we dive deep into what it really takes to rebuild after setbacks, why trusting the proce...

From “f*ck it” to full throttle—Lesa Say shares how burnout became her biggest breakthrough. In this episode of Good Nuggets, Fred Rea talks with Lesa Say—Rain City Capital’s top producer—about what happens when success no longer feels right. A former real estate agent turned powerhouse loan officer, Lesa opens up about the burnout that sparked her pivot and how building authentic relationships he...

Welcome to Good Nuggets, where raw stories, hard lessons, and real wins in entrepreneurship take center stage. Hosted by Fred Rea, founder of Rain City Capital, this show dives deep into the gritty, unfiltered journeys of people who’ve built something meaningful—often the hard way. In just 54 seconds, this trailer sets the tone: no fluff, no corporate buzzwords—just real talk with loan officers, l...