The New Dreaming Podcast
The New Dreaming is more than just a podcast - it’s a truth-telling movement. A space for real, meaningful conversations that empower, challenge and inspire. Through the voices of those who have broken barriers, found their purpose and reclaimed their stories, - we uncover the truths that shape who we are.
For those ready to listen, learn and be part of something bigger - each episode is a step towards truth, healing and collective empowerment.
The New Dreaming Podcast
Nathan Yeo: Designing A Life From Factory Floor To Founder
What if the first step isn’t glamorous, just necessary?
Nathan joins us to share how he went from a factory floor in modular construction to leading Avendo Design, a residential architecture and design studio known for plans that actually build. He walks through the early years of scraping by and how support from IBA helped sharpen his brand, strengthen his messaging and give his business the structure it needed to grow. That shift opened the door to better clients and a more consistent pipeline.
With guidance from mentors and the right people around him, one bold move turned into a six-figure development deal. This isn’t theory; it’s timelines, feasibility and the kind of opportunities that come from backing yourself and asking better questions. We also go deeper than profit and projects. Nathan opens up about divorce, co-parenting and building a blended family while growing a business. He talks about investing in therapy and NLP, writing goals he forgot about and later achieved and the discipline of being honest on good and bad days. There’s a through-line of men’s mental health here: the courage to make the call, admit you’re not okay and let support do its job. That shift changes how you lead, how you price, and who you say yes to. If you’re a builder, designer, or creator trying to bridge the gap between drawings and ground truth, you’ll take away practical steps on approvals, marketing and client experience.
If you’re a founder stuck at the first leap, you’ll find a map made of small dots: test, fail, learn, adjust, repeat. And if you’re carrying more than you’re saying, you’ll hear why vulnerability isn’t weakness - it’s leverage..
Nathan, welcome to the podcast. Thanks for having me. Welcome. And um you drove all the way from the Gold Coast to be here in North Bruce and Man, so I appreciate ya. Welcome. Let's start with name, where you're from, and where you grew up.
SPEAKER_00:My name's Nathan Yo. And I'm from the Gold Coast. Grew up on the Gold Coast, lived there my whole life. Only moved half a dozen times. Furtherest I moved away was um Springfield for about a year. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01:That's cool. Love it. And um did you you mentioned you went to school in Cumra? Tell me about those first first few years at school and a little bit about, you know, maybe some memorable moments in your childhood.
SPEAKER_00:Good memorable or bad memorable? Because I got a bit of both.
SPEAKER_01:Well, we'll start with the good and then maybe we can as we talk about life can reflect on maybe some of the bad.
SPEAKER_00:No, school was alright actually. Primary school was um it was a little school, Coomra school. I think it's hundred it was 150 years old. Hopefully I got that right. Um that was even four or five years ago. We had like a little reunion thing actually when a bunch of people that went to the school. It's only grade one to seven. And we had a bunch of people come back that were in our grade seven class, and it was crazy to see everyone actually. Um Yeah, I didn't mind school. I wasn't the best student, I think. I got in trouble a few times. Done some silly things, but I don't know, it was alright. Yeah. And high school, same thing, local area and the city. High school was Helensville, so went to Helensville High School. That was good actually. Um Yeah, it was a great school. Again, wasn't wasn't a standout, wasn't like wasn't the biggest pain, wasn't the biggest ace student, but got through, done alright, got my grades. Actually I was gonna finish in grade ten. Because I was like, oh, what's the point, or whatever, and then they said, well, you really should have maths in English, like your grade 12 maths in English if you want to do something, you know, else. And I thought, well, I'm already doing it. It was kind of mediocre. It was like it was like school was just school, like you just do it, you know what I mean. I I was I never knew what I wanted to do. So I didn't even really know what classes to pick, or I'm sorry, I don't know, I'll do a bit of cooking on a cooking class.
SPEAKER_01:Now, when you left school, um I want to introduce your business now. Yeah. And then after we introduce your business, we'll talk about when you left high school and maybe some of the work you did that led to you starting your business. That makes sense. Yeah, yeah. So let's tell everyone at home that's watching uh the name of your business and where you're located.
SPEAKER_00:So uh my business is called Avendo Design. I just made the name up because it'll be easier to Google. Um, but essentially it's a design architecture business, uh, and we're we're working on property development stuff for ourselves on the side. We don't market that as a business, like the property development, but we definitely market for residential house design, uh plans for council, all that sort of stuff. Great. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Now you've left high school and um let's talk about maybe the natural progression when you left school, what jobs you fell into, and then how you eventually started your your own business.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, again, when I when I finished school, I still didn't even know what I wanted to do. I was like, I don't know what like but I liked physical hands-on stuff, like I liked building the boxes and the yeah, yeah, yeah. Anything with my hands. I was like, because I just you know what I mean, I like working with my hands, so so it made sense to try and get into something to do with building or construction or something. I don't know, that just appealed to me. Yeah, um, definitely didn't want to do bricklaying because I'd done a two-day bricklaying course at school, and that was horrible. Like just feel for the bricklayers because that's hard work. Um so yeah, so I started um I actually started at a modular building company, and it was called APB at the time, they're not around now, Australian Portable Buildings, and they used to design and construct mining camps. So you know how you go out and there's a mining camp and there's like there's gyms and wet messes and accommodation buildings and like all the modular people call them donors or demandables or whatever, they're just modular buildings. So we started with that, and I was gonna start um in the office, and I remember I went for a uh the interview was for an office job, like a production assistant or something, and I went in and I was like, I don't really want to start in the office because I feel like the people in the office know what they're doing, and the people on the floor, like they run the floor. So who am I to come in out of school and try and tell these people on the floor how to do their job? Like it just didn't make sense. So I said, I've got the job, and then I said to Blair, to GM top bloke, such a good guy. He still still runs another modular company, but anyway, he um I said I like can I just go out on the factory floor for a few weeks and just see how these buildings go together? And because I don't know anything, I don't know how they go together, I don't know balls and frames, I don't know anything. Um ended up out on the factory floor for like six months. Um, because it was just it was good, it was just learning and seeing everything, and like I'm visual, so so I sit and I'm like, oh that's how that goes together, and oh you actually put screws in the walls, and like plumbing is like pipework and the electrical goes after the wall, like just you know, understand how it's all put together. Um so that was awesome, and I'm sure that I gave people a few people the shits on the floor because I was like, There's one guy, Dino, again, still friends with Dino today, and Emmanuel, who's working on our projects today, believe it or not, he's like 70, hopefully 70, nearly 70, somewhere around there. But I met him back then, 20 years ago, 2005 it was, and I'm still he's still doing stuff for me today, like he does work for me today and Dino and everything. So it was a really good, it was actually a really good business um that I got into working for because it set me up with a lot of good traits and good people.
SPEAKER_01:Uh sounds like you've amassed a lot of sk skill, you can go into a situation, an environment, see, understand logistics, you got that, and then you keep keep growing and Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I've always just tried to find what I'm interested in. Like 'cause we when we grew up, there's like I've got um three brothers and a sister, so there's five of us, so family of seven. So we didn't have like much money or whatever. It was always like if you wanted something, you just had to figure out how to get it, like you know what I mean. So so even before all that, I like I'd sat done the typical lawn mowing run and you know, got cash, and then my dad's mate would give me money to mow his lawn, and so by the time I got my license, I'd actually already saved up, bought my first car, which was Fort Escort, it was a little Mark II two-door. Yeah, they're super cool. Um, and dad was always into cars and restoration, and so he taught me a lot, and so we fully restored that. It was bright yellow, canary yellow. Um, but I had that car sitting there, finished, fully restored, registered the day I got my licence. Because I was like, I just want to like go, you know what I mean? Um, and so I always just had to figure out like if you want something, you can get it. You just gotta do something to get enough money to buy the thing.
SPEAKER_01:Now, when you first started that business, um, all this knowledge, all this experience, the good, the bad that comes with business, and then when you started, how was that first six months? For the new design business? For new business, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Rough. Like it's like because you feel like you're you're you're grabbing, you know what I mean? I feel like I'm a big believer in like uh energy and stuff and like what you put off. And when you feel like you're you're desperate, like other people feel like you're desperate. Like I feel like you can feel that. And so um What was my first contract? I can't even remember what it was, but it would have been I would have pulled from my friends and acquaintances. Um there was one guy actually. Uh so so Judson, the guy that helped me with Simmons, he was a massive help. Shout out to Juddo, he's we're still good friends. Um but he every time he would move to a new company, he would ring me and say, Hey, we need new design, contract design, but why can you do that? Um, excuse me. So I'd get a lot of work from him. Uh another guy I met, um Jason, same deal. Like he would be with a he was with a custom builder, and then I got custom builds with him. That was where it started actually in the early days, because I remember I was still AutoCAD, still 2D drawings. Um, and so yeah, Jason gave me a lot of work with the custom builder, and the cool thing about that, it's a lot of it's luck too, I reckon, seriously, because like I just get calls out of the blue. Like Jason just called me. I never met the guy in my life, and he's like, Oh, I just got your number off some dude or something. I don't even know where. Happens still today. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Now take me back um to when you first started. Business startup, or how did you hear about IBA?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so that's a good question, actually. So when I was starting, obviously didn't have much money. Um and so again, trying to be resourceful with everything, ring my mates, ring the builders I know, ring people, and I'm like, well, how can I how can I get more help? Like, because I need I need help. I need like I'm as much as I can get. If anyone's willing to give me something or help me with something, I'm I'm all is. Um so I was Googling um business help, business advice, business coaching, mentoring, like just whatever. And then that's where I found IBA. Um, because I Google, I was like, oh, this looks interesting, and they had different grants and they had different offerings and different I was like, wow, this would be really cool. Yeah. Um and and I did get help. Um they gave me a grant to build a website, which when you're starting out, and my I didn't think my business was a web-based business, but not having a website doesn't help. You know what I mean? And I and in my head, I'm like, I don't want to spend money on a website, like a lot of money. I don't have a lot of money. I want to spend money on trying to get work in, but I didn't really link that a website might get me working, you know what I mean? I just because I'm not an IT guy, I'm just a just a a um designer that wants to do the design work. So so yeah, so help me with a website um and that helped a lot. Like any little bit when you're starting out helps. Thousand bucks, two thousand bucks, a website, whatever it is. Um and what else was there? There was a grant, uh there was a marketing grant which helped me with um put me in touch with like a marketer to just get a message, get something across of like how to promote and market, because we'd already had a lot of um visuals, like because we've done plans and so we got photos of houses that we'd already built, uh already designed and had been built. Um so we had some stuff to market and some stuff to put on a website.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, but it was basically a trust builder to have our details out there and have something out there and go, look, we're open for business. And just to be clear too, it was past the 12 months of the 12 or 24, whatever it was, I'm sure it was 12, but it was past the contract thing when I started that.
SPEAKER_01:So um how was that how was that process when you first made that call, that first point of contact? You were maybe on the website, you saw services, and you went, hey, I'm gonna give them a call. How how did that go?
SPEAKER_00:Um it was good, it was nerve-wracking because I think like I've never liked to ask for things. Like I've always just been like, if I want something, I'll figure it out. Like even with my parents, like if I had to ask them for something, like, you know, pick me up from surfers or something when I'm young, because I'm whatever, or like I just I don't know, I've always been weird about asking for stuff, so it was it was hard to be honest. But um I can't remember the guy I spoke to, but the the guy I spoke to was super helpful, like, and it felt more casual of like how can we help? Like, because I thought I'm going in, you know, when you go for a job interview and you're like, Oh, I've got to be polished and I've got to be all you know spiff and spam and like it felt like that, but then when I called and they're like, Oh, what can we assist with? Is there anything we can help with? Like, what are you looking to do? Are you trying to grow? Are you trying to do that? And it was like it was almost like felt like I've got like coaching. Wow. Because it was like, it wasn't just like, what do you want? Like, oh yeah, we can do it all week. It wasn't like that. It was like, well, what are you trying to do? Like, oh, I've got this new business, I'm trying to grow, I'm trying, I don't know how much money I'm trying. Okay, would a website help? Would this help? Would some marketing help? I don't know. What it what would help you? Like it was very um immersive. So yeah, it was super cool actually.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, super handy, yeah. Helpful as. And that would have alleviated those nerves, and then sort of from there was there, you know, just some back and forth, bit of paperwork, online system. So for anyone out there that might be in that similar position, yeah. Um, that process after those phone calls, how did that roll out? And and the ongoing support.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I'd say super supportive. I'd say just ring. Like my thing now, like I'll ring anyone, because I like whatever. Like, what's the worst they can say? Are they gonna yell at you? Like, these guys aren't gonna yell at you, but like um I would say just ring and and tell the truth. If you don't know what you're looking for or what you're doing, just ask. Because like there's things that they offered me that I was like, oh wow, I didn't know that was a thing. Like, I didn't know you guys did the marketing thing. I didn't know that that they did marketing. So, so I think it's more just like be curious and be like, oh, I'm trying to do this thing. Because I I feel like I'm the same with other people that want help off me now. I feel like anyone that's asking for help, if you can help, you want to help? Like, you know what I mean? There's some people that want to keep everything to themselves, and there's other people that like, oh yeah, I've done this thing, and like I can show you how to do it, like I can help you with it. So it was very much like that, where it's like, what else do you need assistance with? Is there anything else we can do? Um, and there was follow-ups, there was um we went a lot back and forth with who to use for the website. There's different ideas, and they had some different offerings, and I looked at uh stuff, work they'd done, yeah, and going, Oh, that doesn't really suit me, but this looks pretty cool. I think we can do something with this. Um yeah, and the support, I'm going support, they'll reach out. They'll say, How's it going? Did you did you need anything else? Have you had success with the website? Do you need to tweak it? Do you need anything else? And um and I'll ring too, sometimes out of the blue and just be like, Is there anything else you got going? Like what other what other things have you got happening? Um so yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So just building that relationship and knowing that they're there to just to offer advice as well and follow up support.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Yeah, and the people they connected me with as well, um, one of the guys, I still get his emails now, one of the marketing guys, but him and himself was helpful. So like that's why I say when like you don't know what you're getting into when you go into something. Yeah. So that's why like I just kind of go into stuff with you gotta have a bit of like idea of like, okay, like I'm not gonna go learn about culinary arts and hospitality, because that's not my thing. But like you say, you've got to have a bit of a channel, of course. But um, but I've uh time and time I've learnt like you go into something and then you meet someone and then you meet someone from that someone, and then yeah, like I've got so many people like that now where I'm like, where do I even meet that guy? And it's just opened up all these doors, and you're just like, Oh wow, that's right. That guy was from that that meetup I went to that night, and and that I'm I went to the meetup because I met a guy and he said this, and it like it's so bizarre. And just make that call, I guess. Yeah, just make that call, just ring him. Yeah, what's the worst that can happen? That's right. They help you. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Now, business. Let's talk about what is the best part about owning your own business.
SPEAKER_00:Uh for me, it's changed over the years, actually, to be honest. Because at the start, it was just like I just don't want to wake up at seven o'clock and get in the car and go drive somewhere and sit in an office. And so it was more about it's more selfish, like it was more just like I can do what I want. And honestly, the funny thing is, the first few years of the business, I made way less than I made in my wages. Like I'm talking like a third. Like and I was on okay money, but what I made was like not special, like it was bad, you know what I mean? It was like I could afford to live, but I couldn't go buy survival anything special. Uh I could have earned way more in a job, but it was that the idea of like, well, if I'm tired or sick or something, or I don't want to wake up at seven o'clock, I want to wake up at eight or nine, because I didn't have kids back then. Um it was about that. I was like, hell yeah, like this is sweet. And it's honestly I remember the feeling. It took so long to even get used to that. Of like, like I went I've sort of been in and out of business. So business, job, business, j you know what I mean? And now obviously for the last however long, I can't imagine working for someone. I don't mean that in a cocky way. I just I just can't the way it was set everything up, I just couldn't I could I'd be a bad employee now, terrible. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:You built you've built your own where you like to operate.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Your own framework.
SPEAKER_01:You build your own framework.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. But the the one thing I'll say actually that I do miss about when I had a job, like in a in a in an employee environment, is the the friends and the camaraderie. Like, because I've got friends from the Australian Portable Buildings, as I said at the start, most of the people that work there I'm still friends with today. They're still in my phone, I still ring them, I still talk to them, I still hang out. Like, like it's super cool. And when you're in your own business, especially a small business just starting, it was just me. Yeah. Like I didn't have anyone. I didn't have any the people I'm ringing are like clients that I'm trying to sell stuff to and like do do business with. So I didn't have anyone, like I didn't have anyone, you know what I mean? So it can be lonely.
SPEAKER_01:Um yeah, and now you've got four children, four young children. How has that affected that infrastructure you've built? And how is juggling business and and fatherhood and uh it's tough.
SPEAKER_00:It's like I love it to to context, but it's it's is it's really hard to get it to work, and we've just got it to work in the last year, I'd say, really well. Like really well, because just a quick sort of side note of how that happened. We like so I was married, so I had a girlfriend, we got married, we had two kids, um uh seven, six now, um, and then that sort of broke broke apart. We just grew apart. I won't get into it too much, but we just kind of grew apart, we just had different values to it. At the start it was very much the same. Yes. And I feel like if you you can change if you if you go in the same direction, but if you're going in different directions, you just you you become different people. Um and we just became two different, like just just just the values of what I wanted and and business, and we agreed on a lot of things, but not the core things, you know what I mean? Um and we agreed on two kids and like all that was planned, and so it was I don't regret any of it to be honest. Um it's just that we just are different people and we're still very different people, like very different people. Um and so going through that and then went through the divorce, um uh that was interesting with kids and everything. Um, but it it just had to happen because as soon as I saw them getting affected, it was like, okay, this is not yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And then you sort of dealing with all that and going through business and then you've now part of an extended family. You met someone with two children as well.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so th that's been a a super cool but funny journey as well. So uh she's in the same boat as me. Um B is her name, Beatrice, um, where she had uh ex-husband and she had two kids. Funnily enough, around the exact same time, because they're the exact same ages pretty much as my two. So she's uh she's got seven, four, she's five next month. Um and so exactly the same thing, and then she broke that off, and I broke that off, and then I actually spent a few years to myself because I just wasn't interested in the dating pool or any of it, like I just focused on the kids and my business and stuff, and that was perfect. That was perfect. I'd done a lot of self-development and everything. Um, and so yeah, so anyway, when I met her, I was a totally different person to when I got divorced. Like I even show her photos now and we laugh because she's like, Oh my god, like like who is that? Because just like and I say the same thing to her, like I remember we've got a photo, and she took a selfie before our first date, like because we met on Bumble, by the way, which is another whole side story, but whatever. Shout out Bumble, yeah, shout out Bumble for sure. Um but there's a photo of her, and she took a selfie of what she was wearing before our first date. And I look at that photo, I looked at it a while ago, and I was like, You were so sad.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. But the timing, the timing was for you two to align through those experiences. And now you've got a combined family, and you've finally found that balance of yeah re redesigning infrastructure with four kids and you're making it work.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, big time. I mean, it was one of them things that like you can't you could never make happen. Like the way we met and how and when and um but yeah, anyway, I just thought Yeah, we've come a long way. But it's amazing.
SPEAKER_01:Now you've been building this business and you talked about some hard times. Now, anyone that's out there, what did you do to help you get through the challenging times? You said there was a lot of self-development. Was there any particular content or activities that you used to help you through that?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Um so me personally, I reflect a lot. So, like with the divorce, it's like what what what can I do better? Like what what did I where did I miss the boat? Where did I fall over? What did I do wrong? Because you can always blame other people, but I don't think that really helps, doesn't really achieve much. Um so I personally uh love Tony Robbins, all his stuff. Um, so I just got deep into that and not just that, I actually done uh I've always been fascinated with people and psychology and like understanding why people do what they do and how come. And so I actually done a master's in NLP, which is neurolinguistic programming, which is all to do with the brain and why people make decisions and how your brain works and all that sort of stuff. Um so I spent time doing that. Um I spent a lot of money on just courses. Some courses were crap, some courses were good, some courses you get one little bit out of, and you're like, man, that was worth it for that that little thing. Um but um yeah, just tried to understand more about myself and how I can be better and how I can grow and maybe some pitfalls of what I had. So there were psychologists in there as well. Talk to some psychologists, um, they're really helpful. Um but yeah, just a lot and that to be fair, a lot of it was business-based courses as well, because I just wanted to learn about business and myself and how I can I believe I had to set myself up to be ready to be successful. Like, like that sounds silly, but um I think there's a lot of people that self-sabotage, but they don't realise they're doing it. And I'd had a lot of businesses and things in the past, like tried a lot of little things in the past that like aside from all the stuff I've talked about, there's a lot of little side hustles and little bits and bobs, and like try and sell this and sell cars and get a dealer's license. Like, I tried a lot of stuff, um and I was like, why am I never like but I never felt like this is like the thing that's gonna take me through, like I never had that feeling, like the design stuff was always there, and I think I just took it for granted to be honest. Yeah, um, so yeah, so um yeah, I just I just spent a lot of money on myself to be honest. Yeah, as much as I could afford anyway, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:In investing in yourself, so the way you invest in your business, you don't earn much those first two years because you're reinvesting into your business to grow.
SPEAKER_00:And it wasn't much, like you some of the courses a hundred bucks, five hundred bucks. The Tony Robbins thing was seven days, that was expensive. But like, you know what I mean? I don't know. I the one thing out of the Tony Robbins thing I want to say is like you do this uh this this goals sheet thing, and it's like you you write all this stuff down, and I want this, and I want to be this person, and I want to have these values, and I want like it's really cool. Um, and you roll it up when you're finished and you take it home. And that thing, when we moved, um I got the thing out, like the the chart, and I was like, oh shit. And I totally forgot all the stuff I'd written on it. I totally forgot. The only thing I remember for whatever reason, I think he said on there, just do something outlandishly outrageous that you think you're never going to achieve. And so I had on there that I want to uh I want to buy a helicopter. I don't even know why. I didn't even like helicopter. I don't know, it was just whatever, for whatever reason he wrote that.
SPEAKER_01:Why not?
SPEAKER_00:And um but anyway, I was looking over this thing and it was all coloured and everything, and everything on there was done. Like, no shit. This would have been a few years after the thing, like because I forgot the only thing, well that's sorry, the helicopter. I didn't uh I didn't have the helicopter, yeah, yeah. Um but then I was looking at it, I'm like, why did I even write that? Like that's such a weird thing. Um, but then that year, and this is just me stretching to like say that I accomplished something, but but that year, um, for whatever reason, I didn't tell anyone about the thing. My mum and my brother chipped in and bought me flying lessons. It was a it was a prop plane, it wasn't a helicopter, but I was like, oh maybe you know, I'm just trying to stretch. I'm like, maybe that was the the thing to you know, rah uh and I've done the I've done the plane, it was in Brisbane, you fly a little plane, that's cool as. Yeah, um, but anywho, it was yeah, it's it's weird with goals and stuff, is like you don't even know you've achieved them until you look back and you're like, oh wow. And the funny thing I've noticed is like because we always set goals, because I feel like if you don't, what like where are you shooting? And so when you look back, what I find is funny is I look back on some of the old goals and I'm like, is that all I wanted? Like that, like is that all that that was my that was my like like my my peak of like that'd be awesome if I just done this thing, I'm like I'm cool. Yeah. And I don't I don't want to say that to sound like a dick, like of like, oh you you know, well, you're just not happy with what you it's not like that, it's just like it shows me like wow, we've really grown that much that like I was happy with that amount of money in my bank. Yeah, and like now if I got that amount of money in my bank, I'm freaking out. I'm like, something's going wrong. So it's like it shows you the growth with the goals and and just reviewing them and stuff. Um, so that was awesome.
SPEAKER_01:Anyway, so you're you're writing things down, you're you're setting goals, you've got this family structure that you've built, you you have built, you've worked on that. So a lot of self-reflection, a lot of growth, yeah, uh investing. Yeah. Now, for someone that wants to start a business, they're listening to all this. Um, we've talked about, you know, making that first call. Is there anything you could pass on to someone at home that that just wants to take the first step? Maybe they're not ready to get some business support yet. Maybe they're still early, but they're maybe in a job. They're being treated in a way where they don't really feel like they're valued. You got some advice for them to take that first leap?
SPEAKER_00:Well, it it's actually interesting. So there's a video I watched ages ago and it sums it up perfectly, but it's it's so true. And the the the basis of the advice to take the first leap is to actually take the first leap. So so the the the visual of it is it's a big chart and there's a dot, and he puts a dot down here, and he goes, This is you, and then he's like, This is you doing something, and he puts another dot, and then he's like, This is failing, another dot, and then this is this, and this is like every step is like something, and he's like, the goal's up here, and you're here, but you cannot jump that far, like you just can't. You have to like you have to dot your way through to get through, and he's like, So by thinking that you can just not do the first step and just be successful, is not it doesn't work like that. Like, so he's he's basically saying to do the to to become successful, you have to do the first step, and you 'cause you don't know where that's gonna go. Like that might go up, it might go the closer, it might go down here, but it's that's why I say as well. Like when when when I just jump into something like or say yes to something, I'm like, I'm not sure where this is gonna go or who I'm gonna meet. And it's not always an intention to meet someone, sometimes it's just curiosity. It's like, I don't know, this guy invited me to a dinner thing with these people for me and the kids and stuff. Yeah, sweet, let's like let's do that. Like if we've got time, yeah. I've learned that you can't, you can't you don't know what you don't know. Yeah, you know what I mean, and like even with the stuff we're doing now with our development stuff, is like it's scary. Some of the stuff's scary because you're like you buy a property with an intention to do something with it, and then you get a letter from council after you've bought it and invested all this money, sometimes you know, a lot of money, yeah, and they go, Oh, you can't do that because of this, and you're like, Oh shit. But you don't know, you don't know what you don't know. But then now that I've done that, I'm like, oh now I know. Some could someone have told me that? Maybe. I don't know, but like that's that's also where mentors come in too. We spend so much money, like we spend more than my goal bank account number on mentors that I'll that I wanted in that daddy, way more. And uh but the right mentors, the ones that have what you made those mistakes, yeah. Yeah, yeah, that have been through it. There's so many mentor mentors out there that have gone from here to here and they're trying to mentor people, but they've only built a mentor business. They haven't built the business you're trying to build, so I feel like I'm very dubious of stuff like that.
SPEAKER_01:Oh no, that's those mentors are incredible. Yeah, they're teaching you X amount of years squished into this much. Big time. You can't put a value on that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and the best example I can have, because I I really think this is like I think this is super important. People don't understand the ROI, so I'll give you an actual example quickly of like how this can pay off. So the first mentor I had for the property development business, um, her fees were about 25 grand for the year, which to me was a lot. I'm like, Jesus, like that's wild. Like, because that's a fee that like in a lot of people's eyes is like dead money. Yes. 25 grand. I I I I not to convolute it a long story, but uh so I said yes. I'm like, yep. Because I I had I knew I knew her from another thing, and she had credibility and like it was all good. I saw the value, yeah. Yeah, I was like, okay, I I don't know how this is gonna work, but I just have to do it. And that was the first property development deal we did, and to cut a really long story short, I bought a house off Facebook, which that's a whole nother story. But I bought a house off Facebook um and it was a removal home that you had to pick up off a block in Brisbane. I paid 60 grand for it, um, and it was fully renovated, it was a bargain, and we had to pick it up and put it on another block in another place and then sell it as a house. So I've taken it out to the country, and I didn't have the money, I didn't have 60 grand, um, but I had a mentor and I was paying her monthly, so I didn't even have to pay her the 25, mind you. I just had to pay her monthly, just had to again step, I had to get something going. And I rang her and I put a thousand dollars deposit on this house. I didn't even look at it, it was on Facebook. Probably don't do that. Go look at it if you got it anyway, but anyway, it worked out. But anywho, so so so I rang her and I was like, Jill's her name, still work with her. I was like, Jill, uh, I bought a house. She's like, what? And told her I said I'll put a thousand bucks, sixty grand. She's like, Okay, how much money do you need? I'm like, I don't know, I haven't got a block of land. I didn't even know what I was doing. And then she's like, Well, you need a block of land, and so I rang heaps of people, I'm like, Do you have any land? And I rang the agents and nothing was for sale. This is like two years ago. And um, and I was like, I don't know. Uh anyway, I found a block of land through a friend of mine, because he lived out at Warwick. He's like, I don't know, my mate down the road said he was selling his mum's in a home or something. He had a block of land. Anyway, got a block of land, so I've got all the now I've got a block of land and a house that I haven't paid for, and I haven't paid for the land. And I put all the feasibility together and I presented it and I was like, I rang Jill, and I'm like, Jill, I need um, what was it? It was uh the total was like 320 grand or something. I'm like, I need 320 grand, I've got this deal, and I sent her the feasibility and I sent her the land and the thing and the thing. And she's like, half an hour later, she rings back, I got your money. I'm like, cool, what do I have to do? She's like, You're happy to give them 25 grand for the money. You pay it at the end of the project, because it was like 120 grand in the in the project, 140, minus their 20 is 120 odd, you know, round numbers. And I was like, Yeah, yeah, done. Money got transferred, paid that, paid that, bought the house, put the house on the block, sold the house, we sold it whatever, two years ago, made it made about a hundred and fifteen, hundred and twenty, somewhere around there. Okay. So to me, what I take from all of that is I spent twenty-five thousand on a mentor, and I made a hundred and twenty thousand off that. But it's not even it's even better than that because that's the whole year. So we'd done a lot more deals than that. It's like so I kept doing deals, but that's how I started. But I only started, only I gave a thousand dollars for the house, a thousand dollars for the block of land. Called the mentum. Her fee for the month. I I don't know. I don't I don't know what else to say.
SPEAKER_01:No. That's pretty that's evident exactly how important the experience she came with. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, she's gonna be able to do that. You know, it it takes X amount of years for someone to call that right person.
SPEAKER_00:You know Yeah, and people underestimate that value. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:That that one all the time. Yeah, it gets something greenlit, gets it gets it going. One phone call.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:But that's why uh certain people are uh they come with that value. Now it is the end of October right now. I think it's the first of November tomorrow. I think so. Something like that. It's November Men's mental health month. I just want to bring some awareness to that month and how important it is for men to share, to talk, to talk about harder times, uh counseling, all these things that we do. For someone out there that might be going through a tough time, they could be going through a divorce. Um, how important is it to reach out to access to to speak about what we go through? Because business is tough. There's ups and downs. I guess I want to share some advice with someone watching that might be going through a harder time, you know, something that you could share with them. A thought, a quote, anything.
SPEAKER_00:Just my personal experience would be don't be scared to ask for help. And that's so hard for us to do. It is meant. Yeah. Because w we feel like we're we're less. But it's not. I get emotional just because I've been through a lot. Yeah. And it it is hard. But I've got people that I can talk to. Um and it's grateful to you. It's not I'm not sad. Um I'm just happy that I've built people around me that can support and help. Um yeah, I think it's I think it's really just finding people, even if it's if if you feel uncomfortable with talking to your family or whatever, talk to talk to outside people. Like because there's so many people that you can talk to that understand and get it. Um but if you d again, it's like the steps, it's like the the starting somewhere. If you don't talk to someone, you you just you're not gonna get anywhere. You're not gonna fix anything or help anything. And keeping stuff to yourself just bottles it up in yourself, and then you maybe become a person that you're not necessarily who you want to be, because you treat people in a different way, because you're feeling bad. Um and so yeah, I don't know, I would just say don't be afraid to to talk to people. You know, even if it's your mate. Um but you're right, I think um us guys are always so protective of like the the the the the manly man and like don't show emotion and don't be sad and just truck through. And it's just um you can't always do that.
SPEAKER_01:It it is it just burns you out. It it's exhausting, but um but there's a fear of rejection of asking for help. Yeah. Um and then social media, you're seeing people taking their lives. Yeah, yeah. And you think, wow, I thought they had it. Yeah, I thought they had it made. But it's important, I think you you said that word self-development, to start to look in and be courageous and and ask for help. Um even like, hey brother, look uh this isn't about work. I just need someone to talk to. Because I'm I've had a yeah, that's important.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, a hundred percent. And that's why it hits me, is because it's close.
SPEAKER_01:You sitting here and talking about business and and you're talking about this deal that went through, but the vulnerability to talk about the harder times, you know. Um I think that's the space um of what this this whole podcast, regardless of who sees it, is I need this podcast as well to talk about this space because I used to see on social media these awareness challenges for mental health and people who just do push-ups, push-up challenges, and then they think, hey, I'm doing 50 push-ups and tagging my friend and that's helping us. Like it's not.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Like men us being men. And for everyone at home, we met this morning.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And we're talking about this. Imagine what we could talk about over dinner. Over over a beverage, like how much we could help. Yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think that's just it. I think it's just yeah, it sucks that there's a there is that mentality of like not what it, you know, it ain't weak to speak as a thing. The opposite to that was it's weak to speak. Like, I don't like Yeah, I see where it comes from in the in the past and like the the you know, my dad's era and all that sort of stuff, but um yeah, I don't know. I just I just don't I feel like everyone's got something. So if everyone's got something, then you're right to talk because everyone's got something. So you're just sharing your something. Why is that bad? It's been really good. I've got a few close friends that have been helped me through all the hard times. Um and we still talk all the time. But yeah, I don't know, even just talking it out as as guys, it's like the the talking it out bit is often enough to just be like, oh, I feel a bit better now, just less weight, you know?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's really brave, you know, because I'm I'm the same. I'm trying to have conversations that I usually wouldn't have in my twenties and early 30s, and I was I'm strong and I don't need help. And then my business actually started to change when I actually reached out for help. I reached out and um I just laid it all out and I said, Man, I'm actually not good. Yeah, yeah. Not good. I'm not good at all. Yeah, this is what's happening. And then that just caused a shift, and then everything that I've always wanted is slowly starting to fall into place.
SPEAKER_00:It's still tough, there's still days, but yeah, and I think as well that like the thing I've noticed from having gone through divorce and kids and then having an a new partner is it's like it's like the same old thing of you don't know um you don't know what you don't know, but like to now have to have the context of like, oh, that's not how you're supposed to be treated. Because for some people they're in a situation and they think it's normal. So like they think that, well, I'm not gonna speak up about this because like everyone deals with this or whatever, but it's like even even questions like that, like I would run by my mate, like, oh, this is happening. Like, is that have you experienced this or whatever? Like in the in the bad times, you know what I mean? It's like, oh no, that's cool or not cool. But now with the context of like what a what a partner looks like that is on the same page, that is super supportive, that is over-supportive of everything in the best way possible, you're like, oh right, so that's what it looks like. Like, because again, you don't know what you don't know, so you you know, and and it's it's hard to give up a whole family unit thinking that like is this the right thing or the wrong thing, or is this good or bad, or I don't even know what I'm doing. But then when you when you get to the other side, you're like, oh wow, like how was I even dealing with like how was I putting up with that? And like I thought that was normal, and you know what I mean? So it's like yeah, yeah, it's ticking along to get through, but you had to go through those steps, like exactly you had to go through every single step. You have to, yeah. That's why I'm grateful for everything, like even all the bad times. I'm like, oh, that's awesome, because that it gives me con it's funny. The other day, um me and Beer and I were talking, and it was like, oh, this, you know, something happens in a deal or this thing, or we lost that on this deal, or this costs more, or that costs more, and it's like, oh, that sucks. And I'm like, babe, you don't understand. Like, we have to have the lows to get the ups to realise like what an up feels like. Because if you just have the lows and you don't know what anything feels like, if you just have the highs, you know, like you have to have both to be like, oh yeah, I'm having a good day now, like I'm having a good week, or like, or like you said, yeah, I'm not that good this week. I feel pretty shit because of all this stuff that's happened. But even sometimes just saying that, you're like, Yeah, I feel shit, and then you're like, huh. Okay, I feel okay, I feel shit. Let's not live there, but like, oh, I feel shit. Acknowledge it, like, yeah, yeah. Even the other day it was funny. My sister's girlfriend, I rocked up because he had a bad day with his diabetes, and I rolled up, she's like, You how's your day? And I'm like, Pretty shit.
SPEAKER_01:Like, just that's that's what it was. And then and then it usually opens up to you, like, yeah, actually, my day was pretty shit too. So yeah, it's all right, yeah. And then you it surface stuff, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:But not to grovel in it either, not to like you know, um be feel sorry for yourself, but to me, it's more honesty. Yeah, it's more acknowledgement, honesty, like, yeah. Well, and then on a good day, I'm not afraid to say it's a good day either, just for context. It's like, dude, we just sold this thing and we made like way more than like freaking stoked, man.
SPEAKER_01:The highs and the lows give life its meaning.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, otherwise you don't know what the the difference is unless you have the have it, you gotta have it to know it. You don't know what you don't know. I love that saying. But yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Now, what I want to do to close out is firstly, brother, thank you for for sharing. Because it's it's you know, I again I get a lot from this because I need these spaces. Um, I want people to know where they can find you, you know, your your website. Um this is for you to plug your business, your skill set, and what you do.
SPEAKER_00:So I'll let you close it out. Um socials are a funny one. I don't use Facebook personally. Um I have a couple of guys that work for me and they they do on my Facebook and Instagram and all that sort of stuff. Um, but luckily they're good enough to pass on if someone reaches out through Instagram or whatever. Um, but the the design business is called Avendo Design, A-V-E-N-D-O, just as it sounds. Um and we've got a we've got a website you can check out. We've got an Instagram, uh, the Facebook we've got again. I don't monitor it or use it, but I'll get messages if they come through. Um pull my agent. No, no, it's not like that.
SPEAKER_01:Oh no, no, but it's just you've got a team, yeah. You've built a team. There's people that love that stuff.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so that's us. Um yeah, we do residential design, we do we do developments on the side, um, which is not what we promote. Um, but we love designing stuff for people. We love going into a house and seeing what could make of it and giving people ideas, and even if people just have ideas, a lot of people just ring us and say come out for a consult. I don't know what to do with this house, whether I'll sell it or renovate it or do something, and we just give our two cents, and if it's if it's good, it's good. If it's bad, it's bad. Like, we just tell them the truth. Um and that's how we that's how we drum up business and and love it, help people. Um, but yeah, we we genuinely love it. Like, yeah, I love the best feeling I get is when someone has an idea, and then you give them something that is their idea or maybe more than their idea or whatever it is, but then they build it and it's finished, because they'll always send me pictures. Oh, here's how the thing's gone, and I love it. I'm like, oh, that's awesome, I love that. Send me more pictures, and they'll ring me when it's finished to come walk through their house with them, and like I love that, I really, really enjoy that. Like, because you can see how excited they are about their new space and that like the things they can do with their kids, and oh, we've got this yard now, we've got this thing, the begola, even if it's a a pool or a begola or a carport and everyone can park or a new house or I yeah, I really like it. So I love seeing people's because it's their dreams that get that then they get to reality, and that's them checkbox checkboxing a goal off their list. So I I get I get massive value out of that. So I love it.
SPEAKER_01:They're proud of it and they want to share that with you. Yeah. It shows how important you were in that decision to bring their their dream to life.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and I'm just grateful for all of them. And like I'm the first person to cheer someone on and be like, man, you're so good. I never if someone's doing better than me, which they always are, someone's doing worse, like it doesn't matter. Like, like if you're doing well, you're awesome, man. That's that's sweet. I love that. I love this house. Like, I love what you've done. You know what I mean? I just yeah. So I enjoy it. It's great, brother. Appreciate your time.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks so much, brother.
SPEAKER_00:Appreciate it. Yeah, for sure. Awesome. Love it.