Jason Medley is the Founder and CEO of The Collective Genius which is a real estate mastermind group that brings together 200 of the nation’s top real estate investors on a quarterly basis to brainstorm about housing market changes and to share their most intimate secrets, strategies, resources and systems. He has over 21 years’ experience in real estate where he has partnered in over 2600 multifamily doors and funded more than 1500 loans.
Through this sharing, the members of the “The Collective Genius” thrive regardless of housing market changes or economic fluctuations and live life freely on their own terms, by their own rules.
In this episode:
- Craig welcomes Jason Medley, Founder and CEO of The Collective Genius.
- Exploring his entrepreneurial roots and formative experiences.
- Jason’s transition into the corporate world and key milestones in his early career.
- 2008 Financial Crisis: The challenges Jason faced and the lessons learned during this pivotal moment.
- Founding The Collective Genius: How Jason built a premier real estate mastermind community.
- Insights and strategies from Jason’s journey to success in real estate.
Episode:
Narrator Welcome to The Norris Group real estate podcast, a show committed to bringing you insights from thought leaders shaping the real estate industry. In each episode, we’ll dive into conversations with industry experts and local insiders, all aimed at helping you thrive in an ever-changing real estate market. continuing the legacy that Bruce Norris created, sharing valuable knowledge, and empowering you on your real estate journey. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a newcomer, this is your go-to source for insider tips, market trends and success strategies. Here’s your host, Craig Evans.
Craig Evans Hey everybody. We are super excited to be on today. We have got a great guest with us today. It is a recent friend of mine that has become a good acquaintance and and hopefully long time friend. Jason Medley, is the CEO, although he says the Chief Connector of Collective Genius, he is the Founder and Chief Connector of that so, Jason is the founder of Collective Genius, which is a real estate Mastermind group that brings together 200 of the nation’s top real estate investors on a quarterly basis to brainstorm about housing, market changes, and to share their most intimate secrets, strategies, and resources and systems. Jason has over 21 years experience in real estate, where he has partnered in over 2600 multi family doors and funded more than 1500 loans through this sharing, the members of the Collective Geniusthrive, regardless of housing market changes or economic fluctuations, and live life freely on their own terms and by their own rules. Jason man, it is great to have you on, I know you know, it’s been a little bit since we’ve seen each other, but I’m grateful for you jumping on just before the end of the year here and listen, I want to say, also, I really appreciate you guys and collective genius sponsoring. I Survived Real Estate, you know, again this year, that was a big event. Had it had a really good turnout for,you know, everything that went on there, and Make-A-Wish of OCIE. So, super great. And honestly, I appreciate the invite to your event up in Tampa this year, just what, four weeks ago, maybe a month or so ago, great event. It was really cool to see how you guys do things and what you do and how you put it on. So, Jason, listen, I want to jump in. I want to talk about Collective Genius. But you know, for those that don’t know who you are or know about collective genius, if it’s okay, I’d really love to dive in and kind of get your story and your background, if that’s okay.
Jason Medley Yeah, Brother, let’s do it. I’m ready. Hopefully we have some fun and get some some folks, some worthwhile information.
Craig Evans Absolutely, absolutely.
Jason Medley We’re speaking of worthwhile information. We are that might be some dated information. We are not at 200 members or 200 investors. We are, hopefully end of January this year, we will approach and cross the 700 mark, so.
Craig Evans Wow.
Jason Medley I made the dig into where he got that. We might have some dated info out there.
Craig Evans I was going to say that, that’s what we were given on the bio of that so I, because, I’ll be honest, I thought you were up over, I thought you were up over 600 already I thought so, but.
Jason Medley 700 I you know what I’m, we may have seen your bio that needs updates.
Craig Evans Well, like I say, you know, at the end of the day, my goal was getting you on here, and let’s get information directly to people. So listen, you’re originally from Kentucky, if I remember, right, we sat down at dinner and got to share each other’s kind of life stories. If I remember, you’re from Kentucky, tell us where in Kentucky?
Jason Medley Originally from Louisville, Kentucky for about the first 24-ish years of my life, and then in Tampa, Florida for about the next 30.
Craig Evans So, growing up in Kentucky, I mean, what was it like for you living there?
Jason Medley Well, Kentucky is a great town, man. It’s, you know, everybody has their connotation of it. But little is a pretty good sized city. I live in Tampa now, it’s probably, probably pretty relative to the same size. But of course, there was some teasing going on when I came down here. Everybody want to know if I drove down a covered wagon and they were surprised, you know, surprised that I had all my tees and all that kind of stuff. But, you know, no, it was, it was good growing up, you know, I was only child, you know, a mom raised me from the time I was probably about a year old. I had great family, aunts, uncles, had a wonderful, wonderful mother, you know, who really kind of knew the right balance between love and discipline, and on any given day, they could be one the same. But you know, born and raised or went to Catholic grade school, Catholic High School, went into a small college after that. And, you know, growing up there, I think I kind of started my entrepreneurial journey. Or I should say, my mother required I start my entrepreneurial journey at about 12 years old. And I remember her telling me, up. I’m going to give you three things. One of them you were born with, will get you a lawnmower, a weed eater, and you got a pair a set of knuckles. And so get to knocking right and but sure enough, that was, that did that turned out to be kind of my, my entry into me, an entrepreneur at 12 years old, and I was, you know, before you know it, I was cutting 20 lawns a week and knocking down 400 bucks in cash, which, at the time was great. And then by time I was 16, I had some money to get a car. So, but yeah, that’s, that’s a little bit about, about me and growing up.
Craig Evans So, you know you’re, I’ll be honest, Jason, we talked through a lot of stuff. I did not know that was your first gig. I don’t know.
Jason Medley Yeah.
Craig Evans If you and I have talked about that, that’s literally, I was 12. I started cutting grass. I actually hired four of my friends within the first three weeks, and we’re working for me, so it’s running at me.
Jason Medley I was still pushing. I was still pushing the lawnmowers.
Craig Evans Well, listen, I learned quickly. I was going to bring my guys some Fritos and some Gatorade to keep them going, right? I had to bribe them to keep going.
Jason Medley Yeah. I think one of the things we talked about is I’m a better COO than a CEO, and I think that that just shine the light on it, right? I was pushing a lot more, and you already had your buddies work for you.
Craig Evans Well, listen, so Alright, so, you’re 12, you’re cutting grass.
Jason Medley Yeah.
Craig Evans And getting calluses on the knuckles of knocking on doors, right?
Jason Medley Yeah.
Craig Evans And, but as you’re doing that, what at that point did you have an idea? I mean, were you already looking ahead saying, Hey, this is what I want to do, right? Was it the the typical, I want to be a fireman or an astronaut or were you already looking at things saying, hey, I want to do this.
Jason Medley Um, I don’t know, at 12 years old, I was probably like, Damn, it’s hot outside. They’d be playing their ass. But I did have my eye on the prize, which is, you know, make my mom was single mom, and she was a, you know, assistant. And so, you know, she didn’t, she make much money. So I knew if I wanted to have car that, that I was going to figure that out and so well, I’d say I did have my eye on the prize. But as far as knowing I wanted to be an entrepreneur, I think that probably came a little bit later in my life, where, when you combine that experience with when my mom got remarried, I don’t know. I guess that was probably 14 or 15 years old at the time, and she remarried an entrepreneur, and just time with him and seeing what he had accomplished, and, you know, kind of him pouring into me, and my mom did too well. It’s Tim what you know that, you’re capable of doing, you know, wherever you put your mind, to and helping me understand that I could pay my own way, you know, and if I was willing to pay the price, yep, but then I can, kind of create my own, create and craft my own future. And so I see that that tune of overall, overarching thought about entrepreneurship probably came 14, 15 years old, and, you know, that’s something that has for sure. I mean, I started out after, you know, when I didn’t got to go right into true entrepreneurship. When I graduated college, I went to work for, you know, went to work for corporate for five or six years. Had a nice base salary and a company car and all that jazz and but before long, I realized where I know where my paychecks coming from every day, I’m not near as good as I gotta get up and hunt.
Craig Evans And hustle. Yeah.
Jason Medley Yeah, yeah.
Craig Evans So, so, you know, there’s so many people that are especially coming into the investing world, right, that, they’re hustling a nine to five, you know, they’re trying to grind through that, trying to make that determination of, you know, how do I get out of this and get into doing my own and being, you know, be able to live freely in what I do. And I’ve heard so many people through the years as I’ve talked to them about this, that just, it’s like they don’t know how to get out of what they’re currently in. Because I think, Oh, well, I would have to make more. I’d have to do this, you know. So with that, I mean, what was your first job? You know, you’re saying you’re coming out of college. I mean, what’d you study in college? What was the background of that? And what was your first job that you had?
Jason Medley Yeah, my first degree in college was in partying, and then my second was in economics. So I have two two degrees. Yep,kidding aside, I was like a straight A student until, you know, till my freshman year of college, I graduated. I graduate. I went in my senior year on academic probation, had a 1.8 GPA, and if I didn’t get it above 2.0 that last semester, I was I was going to be killing back so, but I just really never worried about grades. That was the influence that my stepfather had on me. You know, he just kind of taught me that, you know, if you got the grit, the grinding, in the in the vision that none of that stuff’s eventually going to matter. And so I just kind of disconnected from it a little bit. And my mom was super strict, and so when I got away from home, I lit it on fire, to say the least. But I was, I was still very driven. I just didn’t care about school, so I was still driven. And then, you know, I started going to job fairs in my senior year and sending resumes. And one thing my mom had always told me was follow up, follow up, follow up, follow up, follow up, follow up, right fortunate in the follow up. Then I said, Follow up. And so my first job was with a decent sized regional company called PBNS chemical, and they were the they didn’t manufacture chemicals, but they sold chemicals. And, you know, anything and everything has chemicals in it. From, you know, I just jumped out of the shower, whether it’s watching a poo or, you know, the paint that’s on this, you know, bookshelf behind me, or you name it, the gel in your hair, and then stuff in your toothpaste, the everything, the chlorine in your pool, everything with chemicals in it. So that was my first position in outside sales, and when I had my eyes set on at the time, and what I thought was what I really wanted to do, which was work for a pharmaceutical company. And that’s about the time when that transcript, that 1.8 up until last semester senior year, came back. So I started applying for pharmaceutical companies, and eventually I met a recruiter at Johnson and Johnson J&J has hundreds of companies, and they have recruiters that recruit across a multitude of their platforms. And so I met a recruiter. I’ll never forget her. She’s just like I could tell you’re a talented kid. You’re going to run some hiccups with that transcripts, but if you stay diligent, we’re going to get you a position. And so that’s what happened. Stay diligent. Probably interview with several different companies, with Johnson Johnson, and ended up going to work for their division, Ortho-McNeill. And, you know, had a good gig there, but I just ended up, really the thing I thought I wanted is actually something I ended up despising. You know, I was wet behind 20 something years old. We behind the ears trying to tell doctors what kind of medicine they should subscribe and you know what I really felt like was an overpaid, overdressed sample dropper offer these positions, and so I just, that’s at the point where I realized, like, man, if I got a nice static check coming into the car, I’m good. I’m good, you know. But that’s really kind of when I have big pivotal shift in my life. I got very, very, very sick, like almost kicking the bucket sick in my later 20s, and knowing that, so I was on short term disability, that’s how sick I was. And so knowing that, you know, I was on short term disability and still had a verifiable paycheck. I was refinancing my home and doing taking a little cash out to try and figure out what was next for me if I was going to stay, if I was go. But, you know, it was very apparent they wanted me to come back and sprint and run, and I just wasn’t healthy enough to do that. So during the middle of that refinance, this young lad pulls up to the house in a black on black on black, 911 Carrera turbo. And he might have been a year or two younger me, or at that time, I was probably 28 right? And I was saying, Where did you how’d you get that? And he said, well, doing mortgages. And I was like, You got a handy chair over there at the shop? You know? You. And sooner, soon enough, man, he said, I don’t really know, but let me check with with the guy that I worked for. And he checked with him, and, you know, they call short term disability, short term for reason, could only last so long, and I was coming at the end of that, and I was just not myself, and couldn’t imagine going from being lost for months and being sick a very long time, back into a cubicle. And so he told me they had a position in that’s when I left corporate America and went into a straight 100% commission job. And went from steady paycheck, steady Eddie to get up and hunt every single day, and I’ve figured out at that point that that’s what brought out the best in me.
Craig Evans Right?
Jason Medley Yeah.
Craig Evans So when did you make that switch?
Jason Medley That was in my late 20s. It was my late 20s. Yeah, that was in my late 20s, and I had a bunch of surgery. It was just trying to get it, you know, trying to get back up on my two feet. I was wiped out. Physically. I weighed, I think, 115 pounds. And I walk around normally at, you know, about 180.
Craig Evans Right.
Jason Medley So I was just, you know, I was just trying to get some momentum.
Craig Evans So that would have been, because if I remember you and I are, like, right at the within months of the same age of each other. So that would have been, what, mid 2000s or so?
Jason Medley No, no, that was.
Craig Evans Oh, no. wait a minute, that would have been late or probably mid 90s actually, late 90s.
Jason Medley Late 90s. Yeah, I was in a hospital on 911 that’s all I know. It was the late 90s.
Craig Evans Okay.
Jason Medley Yeah, so that was late 90s.
Craig Evans So now, how long were you in mortgage before you, you know, really started switching. Because what I’m trying to get to is now you’re, you’ve come into mortgaging, so you’re starting to dance into real estate. You know, where were you at when ’08 hit and that whole crash of everything, what were you doing at that point?
Jason Medley So, I started my retail mortgage business in the early 2000 early 2000s thought I was the business baby. Thought I was the business. The market was booming. There was tons of new construction in Florida combined with low interest rates. So there was new construction loans, plus all the refinances. Like, man, I was cool. I was like, I know exactly what’s going on. I personally have got it all figured out. And then, BAAM! right? Just you said the magic four numbers, right. Where were you at? 2008 everybody knows where they were at, right, um, and so I was doing my thing that thought I had all figured out. Then, you know, the markets to go up the fastest come down the fastest, when, when things like that happen. And so I was running my own mortgage business. And, man, everything, honestly, everything, at that point came off the rails. Um, I lost my my business. I was, I went to, lost my marriage. Lost, you know, I had made a ton of money during that time, but I was, I was blowing, I was blowing it. You know, young and young and no financial discipline, making money as a skill set, keeping it is a discipline. Somebody write that. That’s the lesson I learned from that. And so in 2008 I had to do a reset, and went through a very horrible, you know, going from on top of the world, you know, running a decent sized retail mortgage shop, and to losing that, my marriage, short selling like, you know, I had hit the reset button and went through a pretty low time during that time, like, at the bottom of the question and who I was and what was made of, and what my future looked like, and so, yeah, pretty rough, rough spot, my life for sure.
Craig Evans You know, I think that’s part of why I wanted to go into it. Because, you know, we haven’t gotten told, but I’ve had a similar story. I mean, you know, we had and I think it’s interesting when you talk to people that have success, to me, those that are often the most successful. Know how to come out of a downfall.
Jason Medley Yeah.
Craig Evans They know how to recover. They know how to pivot. They know how to work through something that slapped him in the face and they weren’t ready for but they figured out how to, you know us all country boys know that saying of you know, they pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and kept going, right? I mean, they figured out, how do you clean yourself up.
Jason Medley Yeah. Yeah.
Craig Evans Those things aren’t easy all the time, you know. So, Jason, what do you think is the biggest mistake? Because social media all the highs we always talk about, right? Those are the easy things, right? What do you think is the biggest mistake that you’ve ever made in real estate, or maybe the biggest obstacle you’ve ever had to overcome? However you want to play it, but I want to be able to see that as much as success we’ve had, it’s not always, we don’t always get it right.
Jason Medley Yeah, um, I’d say the big and we can go back two or three minutes and reference the biggest mistake that I think I made was prior to 2000 may in that, you know, it was kind of my first foray into, into, you know, running my whole company. And I didn’t understand, nor did I appreciate that sentiment and momentum were running that market right, like I thought it was because I actually knew what I was doing. Yes, Humor me. Humor me from a moment there, but no, legitimately, I was like, I got this. I know what I’m doing right. And the reality of it is, is I was just in the way. I was just in the way. Well, we’re coming out of that right now, right like we at the bottom, you know, 2008, 2009, 2010 and we’ve had a 12 13, year run of, you know, in the last 24 months, there’s been a bunch of young bucks had to go home because they thought they knew what they were doing. And then the market shifted, and they were like, Oh, all right, I don’t really know what I’m doing. I don’t really know how to run a business. I just have to be shooting fish in a barrel. So you know, that’s probably the biggest mistake that I made. And also not understanding what I referenced earlier is that making money is a skill set, keeping it is a discipline. They are not going in the same and I didn’t realize at that point, at that point in my life, I was just kind of burning it as I went, whereas now I am very rigid financially, with the disciplines required to keep money, not just make money. And so definitely biggest mistake is thinking I was responsible for what was going on. That’s, that’s my biggest mistake.
Craig Evans So, so coming out of that, you know, and you look to where now you’re, what do we say you’re? We’re 51 or 52 years old?
Jason Medley Something like that?
Craig Evans Yes, yeah. You know.
Jason Medley Something like that.
Craig Evans 30th anniversary of 20.
Jason Medley Plus two, yeah?
Craig Evans Well, I mean, you know, it’s us guys sitting here. I can’t, I can’t ask a lady that we can’t talk about that when a lady’s on the show.
Jason Medley Right.
Craig Evans So, so, so, but you’re coming out of that you think you’re God reincarnated in the finance world, in the mortgage world, and and 2008 slaps us into reality. So you, started Collective Genius. You’ve recreated all of it. You, you’ve created all this. You know, if you look at Jason Medley, now, what do you say is your specialty in real estate? Like I say, I want to move into Collective Genius. But what you what do you say is your specialty in real estate itself?
Jason Medley Yeah, if I had to pin that down, I would say I underwrite people first and deals second.
Craig Evans Okay, tell me. Tell me about that. I because I think that’s one of those, especially with a lot of young investors, they don’t get to hear stuff like this.
Jason Medley Well, yeah, and I’m trying to think of how to frame it for a young investor, because you said, What is my superpower, how I would rereference it now.
Craig Evans Yeah, your specialty, yeah.
Jason Medley Yeah, especially, yeah. But where I’m at in my career, I know so many people, and I get to watch them from a either a short distance or from afar, as regards to who they are, how they operate their business, and so forth. And so I look at who they are as a human being, right, who they are as a man, as a woman, as a mother, as a father, as a spouse, as a leader. And that’s equally as important, because here’s the thing, in real estate, there’s stuff goes wrong. I was going to use another choice word besides stuff, but you guys get the point right, and you have to know that when things go wrong, the person you’re doing business with is going to handle it the right way. Because you don’t never know what cockroaches cockroach until they got their back in corner.
Craig Evans That’s right.
Jason Medley You don’t know. Boy, they can scurry around.
Craig Evans That’s it.
Jason Medley Yeah. And so I think that that is, you know, for somebody new, starting out, you know. And again, I’m on the lending and equity side, so I don’t really under, you know, I don’t really do the physical side of the physical asset side of the business, but I think you just really need to know who you’re doing business with at the best level you can, which is when you’re just breaking into an industry is selling, what tough versus, you know, the old guys, like like us, who know a lot of people, but that’s the thing I think. I would probably check on if you’re lending money, or if you’re going to flip a house and hire some contractors. I would, you know, get some references. And, you know, don’t just ask, like, Hey, did you make money with this person, or did they finish the job one time? Like, you know, what did you how did you feel about them as human being? Is is, to me, every bit as important of how I could form from business perspective, because that’s great you could be in 13 years momentum on the market, which we’re coming off of, and then things start to go wrong. I didn’t know who you are as a human being.
Craig Evans That’s right.
Jason Medley At that point. And so that would probably be what I would consider my specialty, if you will.
Craig Evans But, and I think that’s especially for young investors, you know, I think it’s such a crucial process for them to understand is because they, I mean, listen, we’re always looking at the asset, you know, is there equity? Where’s that asset stand? How does that roll? What are the numbers look like? You got to know your numbers, and we talked a lot about that at your last at your last event, but I think that people, just as you’re talking about Jason, that they forget and undervalue, if you will, the relationship with people that matter. You know, like you say, knowing that contractor, that when something goes wrong, because it’s construction and it will, are they still going to be there, right? That linear that promises you go get the deal and will lend. Can they close? Can they get to the closing table?
Jason Medley An example of that is, you know, let’s say you’re looking at rehabbing a house, and you’re just getting started, and you pencil it out, and you’re like, Well, I think I can make, like, 50 grand on this thing. And then you’ve got two contractors, one that’s going to charge you 80, and one that’s going to charge you, you know, 70. And you think, well, I could use that 10 grand, right? But if, if that one that’s going to charge you a little bit more has a proven track record and is a pillar of, you know, an individual that you feel like, man is really get a good feeling about this person. You know, you probably be better off. And you know, taking the extra 10k hit in, because it’s always more than the money, right? Like, if you get a rehab, it goes wrong. It’s more than the 10 extra grand, right? Like, it’s the headache in the contracted list and the like, you just want to pull your hair out, and it took twice as long, and it went over budget. And, you know, it’s more than just the number that it ends up costing. It’s all suffering. Try again in between, and so, you know, but those are really hard decisions to make when you’re trying to create momentum. It you don’t have it.
Craig Evans Yep.
Jason Medley You know you will make more bad decisions and sacrifice your your gut sometimes, and you know it’s I’m not saying it’s easy.
Craig Evans Alright everybody that’s going to do it for part one with Jason Medley, make sure and tune in next week.
Narrator For more information on hard money loans, trust deed investing, and upcoming events with The Norris group. Check out thenorrisgroup.com. For more information on passive investing through the DBL Capital Real Estate Investment Fund, please visit dblapital.com.
Joey Romero The Norris group originates and services loans in California and Florida under California DRE license 01219911. Florida mortgage lender license 1577 and NMLS license 1623669. For more information on hard money lending go to thenorrisgroup.com and click the hard money tab.