Into the Storm Podcast

Hard work is in John Chavez's DNA. His colleagues, clients, and referral partners are well aware of his workaholic tendencies, but what we didn't realize is that he's been hard at it his entire life. John started his first enterprise at age eleven customizing diecast model cars and became a professional upholsterer at age fourteen! His creative spirit, engineering mind, and tireless drive make for...

Chey Castro , luxury real estate guru, graduated with a perfect GPA from ASU with a degree in Finance and went on to receive a Master's Degree in Accountancy from Notre Dame. He has worked for some of the finest real estate brokerages in the Valley and recently launched the Chey Castro Group at eXp Realty. Like many of our guests, Chey has experienced the thrills of a red hot real estate market an...

SUBSCRIBE!   YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS0P2wt64E0&t=1312s   Apple Podcasts https://tinyurl.com/m5hvama8 Max de Melo and Patrick Niederdrenk are living the American Dream. Their friendship was born in their native Deutschland and their drive, intelligence, and passion for real estate brought them to Arizona where their business has exploded. In addition to being Managing Partners for...

"C'mon, everybody that lands in title and escrow have no idea it exists. So when growing up, when people would ask me what my mother did, I always thought she was a lawyer because she worked at Lawyers Title. Even through college I had no idea…" Despite having zero understanding of the title and escrow world, nearly two decades ago, a newly graduated Ryan Banovac jumped in, learned the ropes, and...

SUBSCRIBE! YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS0P2wt64E0&t=1312s Apple Podcasts https://tinyurl.com/m5hvama8   Brian Mohr has had decades of experience in HR Recruiting and Talent Acquisition. These days he is channeling his experiences and energy towards unlocking the power of authentic human connection through his new startup, anthym, a social wellness company focused on helping culture-dr...

A clear, consistent, aligned culture that inspires high commitment and joy makes for a kickass work environment. The VIP Mortgage Tempe Branch is such a place and Kent Nielson is at the center of it all. Their team's collective value system permeates all aspects of their business and serves as a springboard to their incredible success.  On this episode, Kent gets real on several topics, such as: ...

Jamison Manwaring comes from a large, traditional Mormon family and grew up with a sincere desire to follow in the footsteps of his parents and siblings: mission...marriage...lots of kids. However, as a gay man, this plan was not his destiny. Instead, he studied finance, hustled hard to get Wall Street, and ended up at the preeminent financial institution, Goldman Sachs. But guess what? He didn't...

Tracy Gardner is a Type A Overachiever in all the right ways! She parlayed her love of music, global business, and law, into her dream job as Head of Label Licensing and Partnerships at TikTok.  Tracy gets real on several topics, including: • Her upcoming nuptials (4:00) • How her Nicaraguan mom inspired her to dream big and work hard (4:55) • The importance of being around people who open your ey...

Alex Smith is hardcore, both in business and life. He and his wife Lesleigh run SmithRE, a North&Co team that has seen tremendous growth in the last five years. When he discovered the program "75 Hard" everything that mattered started to take on greater meaning and the success followed - completely transformative. On this episode of Real Talk, Alex gets real on several topics, including:   • snowb...

Eric Kilstrom is a leader, educator, and podcaster with heart. He developed the Young Guns program at VIP Mortgage to help create opportunities for "kids" to become loan officers without the pain of starting off with zero income. When he moved to Anthem in the early development years, he recognized the struggle of families and children battling cancer and other life-threatening illnesses and his n...

Andrew Rafal has dedicated more than a decade to helping clients achieve their retirement dreams. He specializes in creating strategic financial plans and retirement income strategies for retirees and pre-retirees that preserve and maximize their retirement savings. It's not easy to break into the wealth management industry, especially in your early 20s. After all, what successful middle-aged+ man...

Growing up in the Grand Canyon (3:00) Filming his vasectomy and putting it on Instagram (5:30) Soulpod (11:00) the BRRR method (13:15) Buy Rehab Rent Refinance Repeat His focus on Chandler (19:20) Transitioning to a minimalist lifestyle (20:00) Becoming a father at 19 years old (28:45) Getting into the real estate industry (33:00) Rapid Fire – Morning Routine, Mark Wahlberg, Kauai, and Love (46:55...

Austin Bates struggles with work-life balance. He is the hardest working person in our company - the first to arrive each day (still dark outside) and the last to leave. A self-proclaimed workaholic with an acute quality of client care, he has established himself as the go-to guy for several of the top production builders in the state. But running at a breakneck speed for over a decade can challen...

Troy Conrad is our first "famous" guest. Another friend from back in the day who has gone on to create an enviable career as a comic, producer, writer, and first officla photographer for The Comedy Store.    On this episode of Real Talk, we discuss a variety of topics, including:   his early standup comedy days (9:30)  the creation of "Set List: Stand Up Without a Net" - guests including Robin Wil...

On any given day, more than 10,000 people in Arizona find themselves homeless. Howard Epstein, CEO of the Arizona Housing fund, dives into why the organization was founded and how the private sector and individuals can help bring the homeless home.    During our conversation with Howard got real on several topics, including:   What is Arizona Housing Fund and who it serves (3:51)  Escrow Donation...

Jeremy Brown is like the Clark Kent of REALTORS® - polished, Scottsdale real estate professional juxtaposed with backwoods grease monkey ultra-athlete. A perpetual seeker of adventure, Jeremy is truly living his best life and if you check him out on Instagram (@jeremiah_jonathan) you'll see what we mean.  On this episode of Real Talk, we discuss a variety of topics, including:   growing up on a fa...

Andrew Beardsley  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/intothestorm/message

Do you ever ask yourself, "How did I get here?" - Stephanie Hendrick found herself pondering her life and chose bravery over complacency.  During this episode, Stephanie gets real on a variety of topics, including: her career in the mortgage industry having a spouse as a business partner finding her voice being a role model for her daughters becoming an author and public speaker Episode Notes and...

Sentari Minor is a social impact advocate, passionate relationship builder, and co-host of the podcast Sentari & George Figure It Out. Nationally, he speaks on governance, leadership, and the concepts of venture philanthropy, nonprofit capacity building, and social entrepreneurship.  On this episode of Real Talk, we discuss a variety of topics, including:   Sentari's podcast (Figure It Out): co-ho...

From awkward high school friends to mature business partners, Mark Hutchins and Jereme Kleven are at the helm of My Home Group. As the fastest growing real estate brokerage in AZ, and the second fastest in the nation, they are forging a new path for REALTORS® through collaboration, community, and culture.  Episode Topics:  getting off the ground  living lean fake it 'til you make it agent vs corpo...

"I feel like this is the greatest industry in the world…I'm a college dropout that was in the military, that was broke and didn't know what he was going to do and now I'm fortunate enough to be living a life that I consider very successful." – A. Payne There's nothing that Aaron loves more than making people happy – a simple concept, but one that permeates all that he does. Over the years, he has...

"Honey, you've got MOOBS!" – Tammy Iles-Cremieux (wife) Frenchy has some serious OCD tendencies. Listen in and learn how this personality trait has woven its way throughout his personal and professional life. On this episode we got real on several topics, including the following: · his relationship with food :36 · embarking on his weight loss journey 5:15 · imposter syndrome 12:20 · intermittent f...

"Connessione…the interconnectedness of life - often it's invisible, you don't realize how impactful a meaningless moment is until you're older and you look back at your life and it literally looks, and feels, and sounds like a symphony." - M. Iles-Cremieux Once upon a time, there was a boy who grew up in the Greater Phoenix west valley, discovered that he was good at football and went on to play i...

In 2012, newly licensed Oleg Bortman and Tucker Blalock met at a showing in Arcadia. Shortly thereafter, they forged a partnership with a handshake and dove into learning the real estate business and staking their claim on The Biltmore. After a few brand iterations and a lot of growth, they founded The Brokery, a hyper-local boutique brokerage centered on the neighborhood where it all began.   Dur...

" Say yes and figure it out later!" - Justin Hodge   Justin Hodge, Co-Founder & CEO of Muscular Moving Men is an anomaly in his industry. In the twelve years since he and his partner Josh Jurhill started the company, they have seen tremendous growth as a result of their commitment to unparalleled service and building relationships, particularly with real estate professionals.    During our convers...