On Hard Work, Success and Extremes With Juan Huizar

So as you can tell, hard work is not a stranger to Juan, and I'm so excited to learn about the mindset that got him to where he is today as the president of Sage Real Estate, the leading multi-family and commercial real estate brokerage in Long Beach, California. Welcome to the show, Juan.

And, people are amazed that there's this much level of love and communication with all eight siblings. I guess I'm amazed by it too. And if anything, you know, sometimes people are like similar to you or you know, if you have one sibling or two siblings and maybe I think with, there's so many of us and we're all different. But I think because there's so many, if someone was gonna be left out, the, there's someone in that family that would kind of bring 'em along.

And so it's amazing, you know, how close we are still. And this last weekend I got to see everybody. We had a nephew get married. And to get everyone to get everyone together is the best thing. It's, it's all I could ask for.

My parents always taught us that education is priority. And I, and I know that your parents also taught that as well, so correct me if I'm wrong, but all of the eight siblings all got college degrees.

And so their biggest accomplishment was to bring us to the US, and I'm, I'm super thankful that, you know, I'm an American citizen and, and that all eight of us had the opportunity for college education and yeah, all, all eight of us have degrees. And that, I think that's my parents's biggest accomplishment.

And every two years I feel like we, there was another sibling that we had, so everyone had to work. By the time I would see them in the summers go to the fields, I had been asking since I was seven years old to asking my dad and mom to please send me, because I saw, yeah, it was hard work, but they were together and I loved my siblings.

And so although they were waking up super early and coming back tired and fatigued and exhausted from working in the, in the, in the fields all day, I wanted part of that and. When I was nine, my dad finally let me go and I got to wake up early with everybody else. And this is in the Central Valley, so the Central Valley of California a hundred plus degrees. Every single day. And you know, back then they would clip the garlic by hand. And that's the work that we did.

And so this, this starts in July. So from July, all the way through the end of August, you're working in the fields. That is when, that is, when the crop is being clipped. And so we were there at the, at the hottest peak in the summer, and that was what we were doing every single day. This was Monday through Saturday.

Yeah. So you do that until you fill it up, and once you fill it up, you've, you've earned a dollar. So they give you a card and they punch the card and. Now, I was nine years old, so like on my, my first week I was filling up per day, nine buckets a day. So I was, I was, I was making $9 a day and it wasn't that I was making is all of us worked together as a family. So whatever the family made that day all went back to help my mom and dad.

I learned early on that the harder I work, the harder I get rewarded. And so my brother was a little bit older, so he was making more than nine. And then by the end of the summer, you know, I was starting to make more and more and in my head I was like, wait, the faster, the harder that I could clip this garlic, like the more money I could contribute towards a family.

So taking that, taking that on, and, and applying that through, you know, elementary and we got middle school when you got high school. Well, now I'm in college, right? And so, In college, if you're an accounting student, where I was in school, every accounting student, like their dream job was to work for one of the big four. So this is Deloitte and Touche, KPMG, Earnston Younge and Pricewaterhouse Coopers. So these are still what they call the big four.

They're the big four accounting firms in the world still to this day. So when you're an accounting student, they, they tell you, Hey, you have to have good grades. You need to be involved and have leadership roles. You need to interview well. And so all these things, you know, at the university that I went to, I didn't know how to interview. Amin, I didn't even know how to properly handshake. You know, tying a tie and all these things were things that I was not exposed to.

Like, I didn't have a dad or an uncle or anyone that taught me these things. So now, so now I'm at the, at the university and I realize that the university has mock interviews where you could practice interviews. And so I took advantage of all the resources that they had, and I learned all these things that I didn't know. And so by the time, by the time, by the time the accounting companies came around, I made sure that my grades were, were the best they could be.

You know, I graduated with honors. I made sure that I was involved at the club levels and that I would take leadership roles there. And so, you know, I was bilingual. That certainly helped. And by then I, I had practice just to get good mock interviews. I would, I would attend these clinics, these little courses they would have, and I would just go until I got better and got comfortable. And so I was fortunate enough that because I did everything that I was asked of me.

And in my head, in back of my head was like, Hey, the harder you work, the harder you're gonna get rewarded. Because I'm bringing these kind of that same work ethic that I got early on working in the garlic fields that as a junior the first company to give me a job offer. This was like a year before I even graduated was Deloitte Touche.

Yeah, so they gave me a job offer and what ends up happening in the accounting world is once a firm gives you an offer, the others all kind of follow, like, oh, like, hey, they were vetted by so and so. And so then, then came all the others. And so that was gonna be my path, is I, They said I ended up signing with Deloitte and Tush because they were the first ones I felt that were actively recruiting me. They were the ones who wanted me.

The others kind of followed along after someone said yes to me. And so I'm like, you know, like I wanna be loyal to them. I feel like they saw the talent and maybe potential in me. And so I had signed on with Deloitte and I'm a junior in college and I have one more year to finish and I, and they say, Hey, just finish now. You know, the stress is off of, Like, what are you gonna do for a living? This is what you're gonna do. You're gonna do, you're gonna work in the world of audit, right?

It's not a sexy world, but you're gonna work in the world of audit and within three to five years, you'll, you'll become a cpa. You'll work your way at management, you're gonna work a lot of hours. But you're gonna have a lot of connections and, and resources. And this is, you know, this is a way to to start off as a professional. So I was excited. You know, this, this was gonna be my, this was gonna be my career.

Cuz what you have, you're like, you really want more and you want the best out of yourself and you're gonna push yourself. The only way that I could possibly teach that is just through being who I am, and they get to see it every day being who I am. And they get to see it every day. Now teaching the, you know, they're never gonna work in the garlic fields, but I, but I've done a little miniature documentary on my family.

I took a camera crew up to the Central Valley where I'm from to capture what life was like, you know, the, the whole waking up early, we caught that all on video. I actually went back to the garlic fields and I got permission from one of the farmers to, to record what that is. And so it's some of those things.

I interviewed my sisters, my brothers, and we talked about what life was like in Mexico, what it was like coming to the US and actually crossing the border and, and then what life was like here when we were having to work in the field. And so these are videos that now we have, these are videos that my daughters get to watch our nieces and nephews get to watch. And it's just a constant reminder of where we came from.

Life is much, much different for you now, but we're not gonna forget why we're here. And still it's why are we here is education. And I, and that's still the goal with my daughters. It's educatation. It's still to them. Exact same thing. The, the exact same message my parents had for us, I want them to have as well. Our

And so I did my first half Ironman. And so I spent, yeah, I wake up really early and I spend a lot of time either riding the bike, swimming or running depending on what the schedule is for the day.

I stretch every single day because I know I'm gonna push my body and I don't want my body to break down. I don't want it to let up. And then after that is when I start my, my workout of the day, whatever that might.

What's your process for that.

I could use that either towards something for the family, something personal, something financial, or even for my business. And I really, really enjoy it. Something I would've never done in the past. But you know, I gotta learn from the people that are doing it. Right. And a lot of people do do write in the morning.

You need to get 'em outta your head. This is the one way that I get them out of my head.

And so more recently I was like, okay, where, where are my pain points in my business and what are the things that I no longer want to be doing because I want my productivity to be at a hundred percent. I want to do the things that, that like my time is. Best use. Right? And so what came up, I made a list of the things I didn't want to do, and through that I was able to hire someone to handle that list. And that came directly, directly from morning pages, just writing in the morning.

He was a real estate broker, appraiser contractor. He was all these things surrounding real estate. I met him as a senior and he offered me a job and I needed a job during that time as a senior. And I started working alongside him. And as I was working with him, I saw him building wealth through real estate.

And so I saw him buy commercial buildings, and he would always figure out, so he would buy like vacant commercial buildings, downsize them into smaller commercial spaces, improve the property, and then bring in new tenants, bring in good income, and then he would refinance and then build wealth. And he and I would see what he was doing. He did this with commercial buildings, he did it with apartment buildings where he was always looking to add value.

Sometimes he would simply refinance it and like keep the property. Mm-hmm. and other times he would sell it and buy another larger property. And I saw this with hotels, self storages, commercial buildings, apartment buildings, houses, whatever he could do to build wealth, he was doing it. So my entire senior year was, You know, getting through the last of my accounting courses and working with Mark as his assistant, you know, I was just running around with whatever he needed of me.

Well, as I got close to graduating, Mark got used to having me around. Okay? And so he said, Hey, I know you told me that you wanted to be a CPA and do this accounting thing. No pressure, but I would love to keep you. Like, what is it that they're gonna pay you? I'll match the salary, but more importantly, I will teach you how to build wealth through real estate. And at first I said, No way. Like, like I'm, I'm set. I'm gonna be a CPA.

And everyone, I mean, for the most part, if you tell someone you're a CPA, and granted I was 22 years old, very, I was young and, and to think that I was gonna be a CPA and, and you know, that was gonna be well respected. My parents get to tell their, their friends, Hey, you know, Juan is gonna become a CPA. I thought that was gonna be my path. And so at first I told Mark, no. Hey, I'm just gonna stick on this plan.

Back then, it was all about your resume and who you had on your resume and who you work with, and so I told him no. And then what I realized was the accounting recruiters that were recruiting me, I told them what I was doing during my senior year as a, as a senior and who I was working with while they wanted me to set up meetings to meet Mark. They, they were, the accounting recruiters were more interested in what I was doing with Mark than what they were doing in accounting.

Hmm. And so then that kind of got my head scratching, right? Yeah. And I was like, Wait, why is it that they're more interested in learning how to building wealth through real estate when they're, you know, they're all CPAs now. Like, aren't they happy with that? And I thought, and well, kind of a small story. So Mark Mullan is the person who offered me the job. His mentors a guy named Jeff Chauncey. And so Jeff Chauncey, I got to meet every now and then.

Well, the day that Jeff Chauncey was set to retire and he was gonna move to Florida, he, I ran into him at the bank. And so Jeff waited for me to be done with what I had to do, and. I'm in the middle of, of like my decision making, right? Like what am I gonna do? Which direction, you know, fork in the road. They're both good options. Where do I go? And so Jeff waited for me and he's like, Hey Juan, I'm about to catch my flight. I'm leaving. I just want to, you know, say it was good to meet you.

He's like, If I could give you some advice, He's like, I know Mark asked you to stay on with him. And he said, If I was you, he says, I would go learn how to build welath in real estate. He said, because that is unlimited. He says, If you become a CPA, yes you'll have a good salary, but you're gonna be capped. You're gonna be capped in, in, in that profession. He said, But if you could learn the way that Mark is building wealth, there's no limit to what you could do.

And kind of hearing it from someone who had already made it was retiring, you know, he had his yacht waiting for him in Florida. I was like, Well, And he said, Hey, what's the worst that could happen? You could always go back to accounting. You could always go back to accounting. So I, that day I pick up the phone, I called Deloitte and Touche and they were so upset.

I called them and I said, I'm sorry, but I decided to go in a different direction and they were upset, you know, they were waiting for me to graduate and go that route. But, you know, as a, you know, by then I was 23. I, you know, I, I guess I took a leap of faith afterwards. Everyone, all my friends and all the kids in my accounting department thought I was an idiot. They're like, You blew your chance. You worked so hard for this, and you're just going to go do real estate. That makes no sense.

And so through the years there was, there was times where I was like, I may have made a mistake. Yeah. And you know, now it's, you know, over 20 years or something that I've have graduated since, been out of college. And now looking back, it was the best decision that I could have made. But early on it's hard to know that, you know, now looking back, I'm so glad that I, that I made the decision that I made.

Yeah. But You know, there was a lot of early success that I had in real estate thanks to Mark. You know, he showed me how to get started and how to invest and how to you know, create wealth. And so all these things started happening early on. And so when things got tough I. I always wondered what if, like, what if I would've become a cpa? What if, if I would've joined this company that there was always that, but at no point did I wanna go back and call them and say, Hey, I'm ready.

You know, I'm ready to come back. Yeah. And certainly now it does. Now it doesn't even cross my head at all. Yeah. . Amin Ahmed: It's good. Yeah, that's a good thing. One of the mantras that we have at home here is that everything in life is a wonderful journey. and we tell our kids it's wonder filled because you don't know what's gonna happen next. And it's a journey because it's not just the destination that you're going after. Mm-hmm.

. And you know, when I hear your story about moving from Mexico, you didn't know what was gonna happen. Right. Then you go to school, then you go to middle school and high school and then college. Right. And even at the end of that journey where people think that college is, you know, graduated from college as your end goal. You still were ready to take that 90 degree turn. I mean, it is crazy, but I'm, I'm happy that it worked out for you, right? Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing.

Now, are there any, any productivity hacks? Like you, you're a very efficient person to get all of this stuff done. You've got kids, you, you know, you're, you're busy in your business and you take time to, to run crazy, crazy marathons and stuff. Right. Do you have some productivity hacks that you'd like to share with our audience? For, for them to get stuff done? Yeah.

Phone is off because I do not wanna walk into the house with being on the phone and then I have to wait to hug my daughters. No way. So it's off. I put it in my briefcase, I zip it up and I just leave it in my car. Now because I own my own business, I know things are gonna happen between that two hour window and after we put 'em to bed, then I'm gonna come grab it and there might be some work that I have to get to. Right.

But there's a lot of scheduling and so I feel like, you know, when it comes to working out, cuz people do say, Well, how do you have time to work out? It's again, early morning is getting that stuff in, in the morning. Then I don't have to worry about. You know, I'm the kind of guy where like I have to work out every day. Like this is like seven days a week. There's really no recovery, even though they say that's good, right? It's, I'm just going hard.

And so then I go hard in the morning and then I check that box and like my body doesn't need that anymore. Right? And now, you know, I could go hard at work and then, then I could go hard in being the best dad and husband that I could be once I get home. But. Everything has to go on the calendar. Every little thing has to go on the calendar. And that's probably, in terms of being productive, that has to be the number one thing, you know? But, you know, there's a lot of apps.

I mean, I use, you know, Headspace, I use Headspace for for my meditation. You know, there's a, there's a certain app that I use for stretching, and so I let you know. I'm a consumer of these products because it makes my life easier and it takes the decision making off of my hands, and I'm like, Okay. I just follow the script that they have for that day.

Man, I love mastermind and brainstorming with people. I love it. I love it. I love it. With any issue that I have, I'm like, Can't have this idea or this thing's bothering me and I'll bring it up to my team. And just getting ideas on top of ideas and their ideas and leading off of that and building and building on ideas from a business perspective is my favorite thing. And typically, you know, to, to your point, I still get stuck, but I will talk about being stuck with other people, right?

And through that through that collaboration is where solutions are found.

I chose a profession that really you could do auditing and you're really not having, or this is what I thought, that you didn't have to speak with a lot of people. And so it wasn't till I was about 35 that I got a little bit of therapy and I joined Toastmasters and I faced my biggest fear. It's just regular communication. So I mean, when I say that I stuttered, I was afraid of picking up the phone and saying, Hi, can I speak with Amin? Like that would not come outta my mouth.

There'd be like this. I would get jammed up with my words. They wouldn't flow out properly. I couldn't order at a restaurant like so for the longest time. Till this day, my wife will still order for me cuz she knew how much of a struggle it was for me to order.

Wow. And so now that I said yes to your podcast, it's because through through Toastmasters and through like facing my fear, through facing my biggest fear, this is years and years and I've stuttered since I was a kid, since we left Mexico, I had this massive stuttering problem and at some point a couple years ago, I, I saw that Toastmasters was actually helping me for some, you know, it's, it's weird. My, my favorite saying is, working on a weakness reduces the fear of it.

Working on a weakness reduces the fear of it. I was finally facing this fear and I was going into this group and I was on stage a small group. Right. Toastmasters is this group where we practice, had a public speak, right? I was there not to public speak, I was there just to speak. I was there just to talk. And so that started giving me confidence and I got better. And so now it's interesting, I tell people and they're like, No, like it was severe.

This was not like, Oh, Juan's you know, when you're little, it's like, Oh, he's cute. He stutters, right? Mine was not cute. It was like this. Being, being in college, knowing the answer and not being, being fearful to raise your hand because you're gonna stumble through your words, was my entire most of my life I've been a stutterer. So now the only I bring this up only because it does feel good for me to talk about it and say, this is what I am.

Because for the longest time I've tried to pretend like, Oh, no, no, no. I just, I said that wrong. I was trying to like hide it and now I'm like, Okay, this is who I am. I still have it. I'll never get rid of it a hundred percent. But now that it's gone away, I say yes to every speaking engagement where I'm asked, because I feel like for the first time ever, I could get my words out and I'm like just so thankful and blessed that I could, that I could do that.

And I know that's simple for anyone who hears this says, Man, that's just speaking. But like, not everyone could do that. And, and that was my disability. And so, I don't know, that's not like a fun story, but it's just a story that I felt like sharing.

Can you talk a little bit about the business and the content that you create on YouTube and what it is that you hope to do through that for your for your clients and the audience.

You know after college how to build wealth through real estate. And so I, I've been fortunate enough where I own large portfolio of properties and Mark held up to his end of the bargain. Juan, I'm gonna teach you how to build wealth, how to, how to, how to become independent and wealthy. By owning real estate. So he did that.

And so now what I do is through my YouTube channels, teach others exactly what he taught me and now I get to put my experience and my little twist to it and things that maybe I, I use or I learn. And so our YouTube channel is dedicated to teaching people how to build wealth through real estate ownership. Whether it's apartments, condos, houses, everything. A lot of people want this information.

And so our YouTube channel has, is growing, it's growing quickly and we have a lot of subscribers coming into us. And, and that is really at first, when I got started with this, it was this was actually part of my therapy is having the camera on me having to speak. This was not something that I wanted to do, but.

The feedback and the comments and the support and the people sending back comments saying, Hey, I just did this because of your video, or I would love to work with you and your team, or Can you refer me to someone in such and such place because I'm not in your area and now we're ready to do this, Or, We bought our first investment property because of you, or now we're on our third one because of you. It's those comments. I mean, that just keep me wanting to keep doing this.

It's just, it feels good that people care this much about the one, you know, one of the things that I'm really passionate about and And I'm super, super happy with the success of the channel.