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Max here…..

So In part 2 of “A Snapshot That I Can Remember”, I missed a meeting at an elementary school. I was pissed and decided to beat myself up about it longer than I should. But as I ended that post. Stay positive, bigger things are coming……

So it was Tuesday afternoon and I was scheduled to have lunch with a friend that I have known for well over two decades. I can honestly say, we have grown through the years. Our mutual love and passion for music is what initially brought us together in becoming friends. Him and I have had mutual friends for quite some time, but for many years never connected, but as time went on I can only say that I guess it was only destined to be that him and I become friends. His name is Mando, some know him as DJ M3. But to me he’s just Mando. He’s a well respected DJ in San Antonio who works in radio, does mixes on the radio and also spins at a club or 2 throughout the week. Mando started DJing a few years before I was able to get into DJing. We both grew up in the hood, no more than just a couple of miles from one another.

So I had called Mando several weeks ago and asked if he would help me understand some music software that I was having trouble wrapping my mind around.

You see Mando has been one of the very few friends that has stayed true to the game (What he loves). His two most important loves in life is music and family. I too have a deep passion for music, which is why I am still remotely connected to a music scene at my job in Austin.  And it’s also why I have a small music studio in my house. Sadly and so so so so, I mean so painfully, I only get about one day a month in it now, but I know I will have time for it in the future. I know this because it’s on “The Experience List”. (More on that later)

Now for people like Mando and I, when playing or making music, we love, and I mean LOVE to feed off a crowd, and when we can see people feel what we do or play, it somehow shoots this beam of energy into us, I don’t know how to explain it, but it somehow feeds our soul and makes us just want to give more to those that enjoy what we do. It’s an awesome feeling, I’m more than sure any musician or accomplished DJ intimately knows and loves that feeling. I don’t do drugs, but for me it’s one of the greatest drugs in the world. Simply amazing!

Alright, back to Mando & lunch.

So I picked Mando up for lunch, it was raining, and had been for several days and to top it off, he was on a time schedule, so we opted for a quick lunch at Olive Garden. Unbeknownst to me this would be the moment that I was waiting for to begin the creation of the “Billion Dollar Club”.

The Billion Dollar Club is something that I have been wanting to do ever since I started to get into real estate. So what’s the Billion Dollar Club? For me it is something that I never had growing up. It is something that so many people in my old hood need. On the westside of San Antonio where I grew up, there was lots of poverty, there was lots of ignorance, there was lots of small minded people, there was lots of crime, there was lots of danger, there was lots of hopelessness and helplessness, there was lots of drugs and drug addicts, there was just lots of plain EVERYTHING BAD! But amidst all of that everything bad, there was also lots of beauty, lots of love, lots of passion, and lots of drive. Drive that had no where to go. To this day, the westside of San Antonio has some of the best and I mean hands down, BEST hole in the wall restaurants. there are beautiful murals that depict the passions, struggles, and dreams sprinkled throughout the hood of the westside. There is so much damn potential from people in the hood, but its just like that elephant….. You take a baby elephant, tie it to a stake in the ground. You do this for several years of the elephant’s life, day in and day out. And within a few years, when the elephant is 10ft tall and weighs 12,000 lbs it will still think that it cannot pull out that tiny little stake in the ground. Sadly many people on the westside have this exact same mentality. They get stuck into believing that their surroundings are now their dreams, they forget that their passion, their drive, and their determination is still in them, and that it can not only be reignited but it can also be the fuel needed to propel them into the dream reality that they had always seen for themselves.

Again Billion Dollar Club—- I don’t have a super clear, plan on paper about it. At least not yet. What I do know is this. I want to give back to where I came from. I want to help people not end up with the life that lives and ends in the westside. (There is nothing wrong with those that love pain, shit, and a really hard and deprived life) But fuck! it doesn’t have to be that way.

So this is my basic concept…. To go back to my old high school and give back to the high school kids that want more from life, that believe their dreams should be possible but have no way to access or attain their dreams. I don’t care if their dream is to be a doctor, a fireman, a school teacher, an actor, a million dollar model, a real estate mogul, an engineer, an accomplished DJ, or even the first Latin president of the United States. It’s important that I find a way to build and develop their inner strength and psychology to not only stay the course, but to ultimately show them that they are the Shogun of their life.

Please bare with me now because this is my first time writing it and the mechanics of implementation may ultimately change, but the end result, the outcome, will still be the same…. I envision a room in the high school.  And in this room, laden with quotes from millionaires, billionaires, and success from all walks of life, is a speaker or teacher. Who is only there to lead the young mind to information/portals that can provide the mental determination to consistently believe in themselves. The mental fortitude to consistently strive for better than what their surroundings dictate to them. What they currently see does NOT have to be their life. The armor needed to strengthen their heart when challenges hit them like a fiery arrow. To remember that nothing, and I mean nothing in life is “problem”. Instead it is only a challenge or a puzzle. And every puzzle can be solved. In this room can be computers, access to videos, articles, and on some regular basis I want speakers to come in and give these kids the ability to see touch, and shake hands with people that have money and success. It may be a sit down type of speaker with interviewer, much like what you see on TV or maybe just a speaker talking solo. You must understand that if a child from the hood cannot see things that life has to offer them, then it makes it next to impossible for them to reach their full potential. And my goal is to destroy “impossible” and only have ” I’m possible”. It’s like a sanctuary. But not a place to “hang out”, at least not in the normal terms associated with people on the westside. This is a place to find strength. A place to build the ladder to your dreams. This is where, if  you are hungry for beauty and greatness, then you will be fed the food and vitamins needed to acquire your dreams.

You see, I don’t have it laid out on paper yet because I still need to cultivate it a little longer. A few years ago a structural engineer had lunch with me, he helped me get thru a fickle on one of my properties. And during our luncheon over sushi, I had told him my dream of giving back. I told him my idea of the Billion Dollar Club. He said….”Raul don’t wait, start it now” Mentally and silently I said “are you fucking crazy! I have no idea where or how to start.” My actual response was something more to the effect of….”Moises, I’m not ready yet. I am just not ready yet. I am not yet making money from my real estate. I am not at at a financial state where I look like somebody important. I don’t even have my properties up and running. I still hold down a regular job. I currently use all of my time to build walls, paint wood, fix windows, do plumbing (the 30+ hour days)…. I am still trying to learn just this little tiny sliver of real estate!” His response was….” Raul, you can still do it!” Truth be told, I just wasn’t hearing it. I wasn’t ready. I just wasn’t ready. And you see, what I have now learned….. And it’s important that you get this…………… The story that you assign, the story that you tell yourself, your self talk about what you can or CANNOT do will ALWAYS be true. And now I see that the story that I told my self is part of what kept me waiting this long. The other half that kept me from doing this sooner is “strategy”.

Back to my boy Mando & I….

So why did my lunch with Mando get me to decide that of all days and times, that out of the blue, that this Tuesday was the day that I was going to go to my old high school and ask how I can start this Billion Dollar Club? At first I didn’t really know, at first I thought it was just the story of his life, but now in hindsight, I now see that it wasn’t just the story of his life, which in itself is amazing, but its the fact that now I can see better, through Mando’s life story where I stand in my own life. (Funny how life does that eh?) I am not where I need to be, but I can see that it’s time for me to start planting the seeds for this Billion Dollar Club. It’s time for me to start asking questions about how to get it started? What will I need? Who will I need to talk to? Is anyone else doing this? If so how can I help?

When I was asking Mando about points in his life, I could see all the struggle and strife that he went through, the things that he gave up, the things that he pushed on, the hours of practice to hone his craft. Tony Robbins one said “People are rewarded in public for things that they have practiced for years in private” And you know….. It’s really Fudging true! You cannot become a master without practice, you cannot succeed at anything without tons of practice. And for my friend Mando. He has done great. I’m sure if you ask him, he will say that he is not done. He still wants more. To this day he still pushes to be better. Guess its a passion that’s just in his blood. Now truth be told, Mando could have been the next DJ Tiesto (and he still just might), but in his early days he realized the things he loved the most and honed his craft with them……… Music and Family.  And for that I give him much props. He has been able to stay with music while I currently only get an hour a month. He has an amazing beautiful family, while I still strive to create one. And so for that simple reason, I look forward to having Mando as one of my speakers. Not only did he come from the same hood, but he has been able to get out of the hood and create a name for himself. Ie: success!

Thank you Mando. 🙂

And everyone else……. wish me luck on the Billion Dollar Club. I’m gonna need it.

Max.