Rob Golfi

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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_00: It's Toronto's podcast on the Canada's podcast network.
[00:22] SPEAKER_01: Hi, I'm Phil Bliss and I'm a business patientry. Welcome to StopThink Focus Execute. Today, I'm interviewing Rob Gaulty, one of Canada's top realtors, and a very good friend of mine.
[00:34] SPEAKER_01: We're sitting on the side of Lake Ontario in Niagara region, our home turf. So Rob, welcome to StopThink Focus Execute. Today, we're going to talk about StopThink Focus Execute moments.
[00:48] SPEAKER_00: There's quite a few moments I've had over the years that brought me to where I am today. I was in Business College in St. Catharines, and I put an application in to General Motors during the summer after I graduated high school.
[01:02] SPEAKER_00: And so when I was in Business College, I got called in to work there. I was actually kind of embarrassed having this job at General Motors because my parents were both immigrants of Italy, and they came to this country in the 50s for a better life.
[01:20] SPEAKER_00: So when I was working there, I didn't feel I progressed in life for the next generation. Well, your dad worked at GM as well.
[01:27] SPEAKER_00: He worked at GM, and I ended up in the same place as where my father was, and I felt embarrassed about that.
[01:32] SPEAKER_01: So that was your stop in Think Moment. Yeah, this great job, but you weren't happy.
[01:38] SPEAKER_00: I wasn't happy, and I knew the longer I would stay there, the more depressed I would be. I was working hard. I was reading a lot at General Motors, which he has time to do.
[01:50] SPEAKER_00: So I used my time, and I used the money that I was making. I was working a lot of overtime to buy real estate. So having a job at GM made it easier to buy it, and credit was easy to get from the banks, especially if you were working at GM, because GM was a big deal in Niagara.
[02:06] SPEAKER_00: And I got together with mastermind groups of other investors, and I did very well, and I made a lot of money.
[02:13] SPEAKER_01: So you stopped, you thought you got to go further. So where did you go?
[02:18] SPEAKER_00: So I started a beauty supply company, because I made a lot of money through the real estate. So I started selling beauty supplies to hair salons that needed equipment, and the chair, everything.
[02:29] SPEAKER_01: I know you're a great sales guy, so I don't imagine you had much trouble selling, but you're not in that business now. So what happened there?
[02:36] SPEAKER_00: So you could tell the salons would go from one supplier, and they just kind of rotate until you bug them enough, and they eventually would pay their bill.
[02:44] SPEAKER_00: And I did this for about three, four years, and I said, this is it, I can't do this anymore. So I sent all my product back to manufacturers, and I said, there's got to be a better way to make money than having inventory and receivables.
[02:56] SPEAKER_00: So I got into the advertising business, so I did direct mail.
[02:59] SPEAKER_01: What made you think advertising was the right space for you?
[03:02] SPEAKER_00: Well, it was the overhead. I didn't have to have a warehouse, and I didn't have to have inventory, but I still had receivables.
[03:11] SPEAKER_00: Again, advertising's the last bill that most companies pay. So I did that for many years, and then I finally got tired of it.
[03:17] SPEAKER_01: You weren't enjoying ad sales partly because of the revenue wasn't coming.
[03:21] SPEAKER_01: Right. So what made you think real estate?
[03:24] SPEAKER_00: Well, real estate, once you did a job, you got paid for it. You didn't have to work twice as hard to chase money.
[03:32] SPEAKER_01: If you look at your stop and think and you focus and execute side of things, you're an underrate in the country in terms of remax, you've got 20 odd people working for you.
[03:43] SPEAKER_01: How come, you know, you can get there, and others don't?
[03:48] SPEAKER_00: I think it was because of all the rough and tough experiences that I experienced in my businesses.
[03:56] SPEAKER_00: I wasn't afraid to take some risks. I started marketing aggressively in the local resale magazine.
[04:06] SPEAKER_00: I became one of the top agents in the office that I started in within a year.
[04:11] SPEAKER_00: I retrospect dealing with accounts payables, dealing with accounts receivables, dealing with sales.
[04:17] SPEAKER_00: So I kind of got that experience from my past businesses, and that's what helped me with my real estate career.
[04:24] SPEAKER_01: It is because you stop and think. The focus and execute, I'm going to throw something out you probably didn't expect.
[04:30] SPEAKER_01: I'm fed up with seeing your face on billboards across Hamilton and Niagara. But I mean, what's with that?
[04:37] SPEAKER_00: I work my business like I'm in a recession all the time. Even though the market's good.
[04:43] SPEAKER_00: I work at like this is I don't know when my next sale tomorrow.
[04:47] SPEAKER_00: I'm going to end tomorrow.
[04:48] SPEAKER_01: So watch your focus and execute things.
[04:50] SPEAKER_01: That's what you just grind. You never relax.
[04:54] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, work commission sales, right? So it's not like I get a regular paycheck.
[04:59] SPEAKER_00: I mean, I've made it myself get a regular paycheck, but it's been embedded in me to...
[05:04] SPEAKER_00: Because of the tough years I had with the two other businesses prior. So I just keep going forward.
[05:09] SPEAKER_00: And I like to see progression. I love progression. I'm at a standstill. I'm not happy.
[05:17] SPEAKER_00: But I work my business like I'm in a recession all the time.
[05:21] SPEAKER_01: What are your stop moments now? I mean, you keep achieving. And it is because you stop and think.
[05:28] SPEAKER_01: Give us some examples of those two or three examples in the last five or six years when you've made big leaps forward.
[05:34] SPEAKER_00: Right. I was spending about $20,000 a month on print marketing.
[05:39] SPEAKER_00: I was printing about 108,000 copies of newspapers. My own personal newspaper. You've seen it.
[05:47] SPEAKER_00: The return was good. And we were doing very well. We were well recognized in the marketplace.
[05:53] SPEAKER_00: But I noticed in the US a lot of Americans were doing radio and TV.
[05:59] SPEAKER_00: I wanted to get into it, but I just didn't have the budget. I didn't want to give up the newspaper marketing that I was doing.
[06:04] SPEAKER_00: So I had to make a decision. And it took me a while. I thought about it. I talked to a lot of other realtors that were doing the radio advertising.
[06:13] SPEAKER_00: And I took the leap of faith. And I did it. And it was a big success. It turned out really well for me.
[06:21] SPEAKER_01: You know, you had the beauty products business. You stopped. Yes. And you moved on.
[06:27] SPEAKER_01: You were pretty successful in beauty products business. I did very well. I do know that. And you moved on to the advertising business.
[06:34] SPEAKER_01: And you stopped again. But you were pretty successful in that business because you were in it for a decent amount of time.
[06:40] SPEAKER_01: So the stop, think, focus, execute. What made you think, focus, and execute into real estate?
[06:50] SPEAKER_00: Like you said, I stopped those businesses. They weren't the right fit. So I stopped it completely.
[06:57] SPEAKER_00: And then I had to think what I wanted to do and focus. So I became a realtor. It was the right fit for me.
[07:04] SPEAKER_00: And 17, 18 years in this business, I'm executing every day. New things.
[07:09] SPEAKER_00: You can't stop anymore. I can't stop, absolutely.
[07:11] SPEAKER_01: Unlike the other businesses, you don't need to stop now. You just... I'm just going.
[07:16] SPEAKER_01: Stop, think, focus, execute. Exactly. But now, think, focus, execute. Exactly. Because there's no stopping you.
[07:24] SPEAKER_01: There is no stopping me. Thanks, Rob. And thank you for watching. And don't forget, stop, think, focus, execute.
[07:34] SPEAKER_01: And like Rob, you'll leap forward. I'm Fobliss. I'll see you again soon.
[07:55] Speaker UNKNOWN: Thank you.