The 1 Investment That You Can Make To Build A True Empire | Mike Ayala

In this episode of the Millionaire Mindcast, we have a very humble guest Mike Ayala, who shares his entrepreneurial journey and so much wisdom on measuring the exponential growth in an organization, finding opportunities and leveraging it, having great rhythm and routine that serving you well, the importance of investing in talents, and how to excel in business without the skill sets! Mike Ayala is an amazing dad, a serial real estate investor, business coach, speaker, podcaster, founder of Investing for Freedom, and co-founder of Four Peaks Capital Partners, and Park Place Communities that currently has 35 manufactured home communities in 13 states. He was 24 years old when he founded his first construction company and has been involved with over 2,000 projects totaling over $1 billion. It scaled quickly to more than 100 employees and sold at a $12 million valuation, making it onto the Inc. 2009 “2500 Fastest Growing Companies in America” list. Mike was a slave in his job, working 110 hours a week. He realized that missing his kids growing, and being always away from home was not a life that he signed up for.  It took him 20 years to grasp that it’s better to be a slave by his own business not by someone else. Thus, he started his own construction company that later grew into a successful one. Not just that, he emerged himself into real estate investing, and later became the owner of dozens of properties. In spite of his victory, Mike stays his feet off the ground. He always sees himself as a mentor to clients, and his employees, not a boss. Now, Mike helps busy professionals and business owners find true freedom to live their best life! Some Questions I Ask: Where did your entrepreneurial journey start? (04:34) What has your business and portfolio of investments look like for the last 20 years? (07:12) What was that catalyst for you in your journey that made all the difference and took that momentum to the next level? (12:56) How does someone earn permission to start finding leverage and bringing talent into their world or looking for strategic partnerships, what does that framework look like in your mind? (15:04) How do you measure your investments and return on human capital? (20:39) What is Traction? What is the difference between integrator and visionary? How freeing was it for you when you identify and put yourself in the right set? (24:43) What are your core strengths? Are those things that were natural to you or you need to build discipline in order for your mission to be successful? (28:20) Are there some key characteristics and skill sets that you think are necessary or aren’t necessarily required to be successful and really thrive your business? (32:03) How did you get to a place where you created that balance for yourself? (36:37) What is it about your wife and how have you guys been able to create such a strong foundation and longevity in your marriage? (42:10) How do you know she was the right person for you? (43:44) What does that rhythm look like in terms of how you guys stay connected and on the same page with things? (45:36) What are you most excited about in terms of investing and wealth building in 2021 and beyond? (49:24) What are you doing to find those opportunities, and capitalize it? (53:26) In This Episode, You Will Learn: The importance of setting boundaries in life (03:06) Mike being a visionary and becoming a good operator and integrator (07:48) The ROI on investing in human capital (15:48) Work-life Rhythm (37:40) Mike’s rules in life (38:36) War and peace time leaders (50:17) Quotes: “What probably makes us really successful in life is also it could be detrimental to us.” “It’s better to be a slave to me than to someone else.” “If your business isn’t helping you achieve your personal goals then you just own a job.” “If you are the smartest guy in the room, you need to find the bigger room.” “If we truly believe that we can do everything better than everyone else, that’s a real problem.” “If it’s not great, if it’s not fun, I’m not doing it.” “You have no balance until you have some.” “Balance is a lie.” “If you don’t understand your rules, then you’re not going to understand when you’re out of the rhythm.” Resources Mentioned: Traction book by Gino Wickman  Connect with Mike Ayala on: Investing for Freedom Podcast with Mike Ayala Instagram Facebook YouTube LinkedIn