Dream Start Own Podcast - The Path to Own Your Time

Dream Start Own is an entrepreneurship podcast and entrepreneur podcast featuring casual, inspiring entrepreneur conversations with real estate investors and business owners who are building freedom and learning to own their time. Each episode breaks down the challenges, wins, and practical lessons behind cash flow, deal-making, systems, and mindset—so you can grow without burning out. If you’re looking for a podcast for entrepreneurs who want actionable stories (not fluff), you’re in the right place.

Dream Start Own Podcast - The Path to Own Your Time is a business podcast hosted by EdgartheConnector, with 80 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

EdgartheConnector hosts Dream Start Own Podcast - The Path to Own Your Time, a business show with 80 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #81

  How to Make Your Business Investable Before You Ever Need Capital

  Aug 19, 202647 minS1

  Tyrus Shivers built the machine behind ET the Hip Hop Preacher and helped raise over 300 million dollars with Legacy Wealth Capital Group. He does not close the money for you. He makes your business worth investing in. What we cover: How he built a property management company to 1.2 million dollars, then had to shut it down and lost his confidence What makes a business investable and how he took one client from no profit to a second location Why he says capital is the root of most business problems and how the wrong capital wrecks a business The four year runway before a sale and the 30, 60, 90 day test to know if you are still the bottleneck How running ET the Hip Hop Preacher's operations taught him to turn a short voice memo into a full system Why small, high-performing teams beat hiring more people and where AI fits into that Tyrus is a business strategist and Air Force veteran. He built and closed his own property management company before becoming a fractional COO for celebrities and entrepreneurs, including years running operations for ET the Hip Hop Preacher. He now co-runs Legacy Wealth Capital Group. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 Preview 01:46 From South Alabama to Business Ownership 01:57 Joining the Military 02:00 Lessons From His Great-Grandfather 03:15 Be Prepared to Pivot 03:40 Building a Property Management Company 07:29 Running Operations for ET the Hip Hop Preacher 09:29 How Tyrus Started Working With Eric Thomas 11:54 Scaling and Closing His Property Management Business 13:00 Losing Confidence After Business Failure 14:55 Rebuilding Confidence Through Client Wins 16:34 Building a $10M Mastermind With ET 18:35 Legacy Wealth Capital Group and Raising Capital 19:03 Making a Business Investable 21:30 Why Capital Is the Root of Most Business Problems 23:36 Thinking Like an Investor 27:19 Learning How Wealth Is Really Built 28:49 Turning Vision Into Daily Action 30:41 Helping Owners Find Their Bigger Goal 32:30 What Tyrus Wants to Be Remembered For 33:24 Building a Business You Can Sell 36:07 Military Lessons for Business Systems 37:27 High-Performing Teams, KPIs and AI 39:19 The Personal Cost of Building Legacy 40:51 Scheduling Family, Downtime and Focus 42:49 First Move for Owners With No Systems 43:16 Turning Your Process Into SOPs With AI 45:18 Living With Pain and Avoiding Stress 46:26 Where to Connect With Tyrus 46:55 Final Thoughts: Keep Building Connect with Tyrus Shivers Website: legacywealthcapitalgroup.com Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share. Tools & Resources Mentioned Some of the links below may be affiliate partnerships. We only share tools we personally trust and use. Prime Corporate Services (LLC setup + business credit) https://primepartner.info/edgardsa Foundational Funding, EMD, Transactional Lending, Double Close https://foundationallending.com/funding-wl?ref_name=Josh+Smith&ref_email=info@foundationalfunding.com ► Join the SubTo Community and learn creative finance from Pace Morby https://join.nre.ai/mQ9T9vZ ► Learn to make money on other people's deals with the Gator Method https://join.nre.ai/mQBDJK5 ► Tools I use for productivity https://linktr.ee/EdgartheConnector PLUG IN & SUBSCRIBE Instagram: @edgartheconnector TikTok: @edgarsrei DISCLAIMER We are not a CPA, attorney, insurance, contractor, lender, or financial advisor. Content is for entertainment purposes only; verify all information yourself.

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  Episode #80

  From Foster Homes to a $40 Million Private Lending Business

  Aug 12, 20261h 2mS1

  Abraham Gray grew up moving from foster family to foster family before he found martial arts and business. Today he buys around 15 properties a month in Atlanta and has 40 million dollars out in private loans. What we cover: - How he built a martial arts empire, four gyms and hundreds of classes a week - Why sixty five to seventy percent of his deals come from wholesalers and how he gets on their lists without talking to them - His loan-to-own philosophy: he underwrites the asset, not the borrower, assuming any loan might never get repaid - How lending to a few close friends in the late 1990s grew into a business with 40 million dollars out at all times - Building Gator lending with Pace Morby and funding SubTo entry fees through Deal or No Deal - What building something this size actually costs and how he made other people millionaires alongside him Abraham has bought properties from sellers since 1998 and has run dozens of businesses, from baseball cards to jewelry to martial arts gyms, before building his current lending business in Atlanta. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 Preview 01:03 From Martial Arts to Becoming the Bank 01:53 Growing Up Fast and Getting Into Business 03:05 What Martial Arts Taught Abraham 04:55 Turning a Gym Passion Into a Business 06:38 Buying Houses Directly From Sellers 08:13 Why Nasty Houses Can Be the Best Deals 09:34 Buying 15 Properties a Month in Atlanta 11:01 Getting Deals From Wholesalers 12:11 Underwriting Fast and Knowing Your Market 14:47 Becoming a Private Lender 16:37 Growing to $40M in Loans 18:20 Selling Deals vs. Fixing and Flipping 20:13 Buy-and-Holds, Subto and Owner Finance 20:55 Abraham's ARV Formula in Atlanta 21:56 Lending to Friends and Early Borrowers 24:09 How Abraham Sizes Up a Borrower 25:06 The Loan-to-Own Model 25:43 When a Borrower Dies During a Deal 27:00 Minimum Returns and Lending Terms 28:01 Running 150+ Loans With One Person 29:17 Building Gator Lending With Pace Morby 31:50 Deal or No Deal and Funding Entry Fees 33:19 How Abraham Met Pace 36:45 Vetting Partners and Protecting Reputation 39:41 Managers and Running Multiple Businesses 40:29 Learning to Spot Good Operators 41:39 The First Hire That Freed His Time 43:20 Why Systems Make Delegation Possible 44:18 Learning From People Ahead of You 45:42 Taking Smart Risks 46:20 From Foster Homes to Financial Freedom 48:23 Staying Focused Before Expanding 49:00 Helping Students Become Millionaires 54:06 The Sacrifices Behind Success 56:25 Teaching the Next Generation 56:51 Advice for People Who Feel Stuck 57:53 Lending Against a Lamborghini 59:40 Who Abraham Wants to Work With 1:00:20 Where to Connect With Abraham 1:01:08 Martial Arts, Jiu-Jitsu and Final Thoughts Connect with Abraham Gray Email: abraham@mmaatl.com Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share. Tools & Resources Mentioned Some of the links below may be affiliate partnerships. We only share tools we personally trust and use. Need funding for your next deal? Get approved fast here: app.dealfunding360.com/?ref=EdgarSalgado Sleep better, dream bigger! — Eight Sleep https://refer.eight.sl/edgardsalgado Prime Corporate Services (LLC setup + business credit) https://primepartner.info/edgardsa Foundational Funding, EMD, Transactional Lending, Double Close https://foundationallending.com/funding-wl?ref_name=Josh+Smith&ref_email=info@foundationalfunding.com ► Join the SubTo Community and learn creative finance from Pace Morby https://join.nre.ai/mQ9T9vZ ► Learn to make money on other people's deals with the Gator Method https://join.nre.ai/mQBDJK5 ► Tools I use for productivity https://linktr.ee/EdgartheConnector PLUG IN & SUBSCRIBE Instagram: @edgartheconnector TikTok: @edgarsrei DISCLAIMER We are not a CPA, attorney, insurance, contractor, lender, or financial advisor. Content is for entertainment purposes only; verify all information yourself.

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  Episode #79

  The Business Acquisition Playbook You Can Run Alongside Your W-2

  Aug 5, 202657 minS1

  Most people think you have to quit your job to build wealth. Deirdre Sommerkamp did not quit anything. She kept the corporate title, kept the salary and on nights and weekends started buying entire businesses from owners ready to retire. What we cover: - Why she finds the operator before she ever looks for a business to buy - How off-market deals from retiring owners beat anything listed with a broker - The three things every retiring business owner actually cares about: legacy, employees and customers - Her minimum threshold for a deal, and the numbers that make her walk away - How she structures ownership so operators get 51 to 75 percent while she keeps her own stake under 20 percent - Why she shifted part of her focus from business acquisitions to AI consulting and what it means for a company to become AI native - Building an app in Replit and publishing it to the App Store without writing a line of code Deirdre spent over 20 years in corporate technology, most recently as a Chief Solutions Officer, before building a business acquisition practice on the side. She has a mergers and acquisitions background and now runs both a business acquisition practice and an AI consulting firm helping companies redesign how they work. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 Buying Businesses Without Quitting Your Job 02:37 Deirdre's Corporate and Entrepreneurial Background 03:46 Discovering Seller-Financed Business Acquisitions 05:23 Why You Don't Have to Quit Your W-2 07:10 How to Vet the Right Operator 08:57 What a Chief Solutions Officer Does 10:52 Buying a Retiring Owner's Life's Work 14:00 Finding Off-Market Businesses 14:29 Find the Operator First 16:09 Looking at Local Businesses Like a Buyer 17:45 Why Off-Market Deals Can Work Better 19:38 Protecting Legacy, Employees and Customers 22:12 When the Numbers Don't Work 24:36 How to Price a Business You Haven't Run 25:57 Finding Subject Matter Experts 28:15 Structuring the Deal and Operator Role 29:18 Why Deirdre Shifted Toward AI Consulting 31:27 Helping Companies Implement AI 32:46 What It Means to Become AI-Native 33:37 Using AI to Supercharge Employees 35:34 The Size of Businesses Deirdre Works With 36:08 Her AI Consulting Team and Agent Systems 37:03 Building AI Tools for Clients 38:55 Choosing the Right AI Platforms 40:19 Publishing an App With Replit 42:10 Vibe Coding and Building Without Knowing Code 43:27 Deirdre's Core Values App 45:48 Why Core Values Matter in Business 48:13 What Building Multiple Careers Has Cost Her 50:18 Work-Life Integration 51:24 The First Move for Someone With a Dream 52:48 How to Find Your Why 54:43 Who Should Reach Out for AI Consulting 55:33 Where to Connect With Deirdre 56:19 Final Thoughts: Keep Building Connect with Deirdre Sommerkamp Website: dsommerkamp.com Instagram: @sommerkamping LinkedIn: Deirdre Sommerkamp Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share. Tools & Resources Mentioned Some of the links below may be affiliate partnerships. We only share tools we personally trust and use. Need funding for your next deal? Get approved fast here: app.dealfunding360.com/?ref=EdgarSalgado Sleep better, dream bigger! — Eight Sleep https://refer.eight.sl/edgardsalgado Prime Corporate Services (LLC setup + business credit) https://primepartner.info/edgardsa Foundational Funding, EMD, Transactional Lending, Double Close https://foundationallending.com/funding-wl?ref_name=Josh+Smith&ref_email=info@foundationalfunding.com ► Join the SubTo Community and learn creative finance from Pace Morby https://join.nre.ai/mQ9T9vZ ► Learn to make money on other people's deals with the Gator Method https://join.nre.ai/mQBDJK5 ► Tools I use for productivity https://linktr.ee/EdgartheConnector PLUG IN & SUBSCRIBE Instagram: @edgartheconnector DISCLAIMER We are not a CPA, attorney, insurance, contractor, lender, or financial advisor. Content is for entertainment purposes only; verify all information yourself.

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  Episode #78

  She Took Down 3 RV Parks in 18 Days: Heather Dimmick's Builder's Eye for Deals

  Jul 29, 202655 minS1

  Some people have done a hundred deals. Some have swung a hammer on a hundred sites. Heather Dimmick has done both. Thirty years as a general contractor, over 1,800 units managed and a team that took down three RV parks in eighteen days. What we cover: - How her four-person team closed three RV park deals between December 28 and January 15, all seller financed, with zero money of their own in the deals - Why she walks every property herself before pricing a rehab, and how she underestimates numbers to lenders on purpose - Starting as a 25 year old woman running crews of men in their sixties and the day she had to fire someone to earn respect - The flip where the appraised value came in at 1.3 million and she still sold for 950,000, and why she calls it nothing she did wrong, just real estate - How her team split responsibilities, hammered out a real operating agreement and stayed compatible enough to call each other family - Leaving Canada with zero U.S. credit and starting completely over in Florida Heather is a general contractor and real estate investor who has owned apartment buildings, run flips and now operates RV parks with her partners at We Are LCP. If you are interested in RV parks, mobile home parks, multifamily, seller finance or how experienced operators actually evaluate a deal, this conversation is a practical look at what buying, managing and improving real estate actually takes. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 Heather's Builder's Eye 01:20 Buying 3 RV Parks in 18 Days 02:12 How Each Park Is Performing 05:14 Early Days as a Woman General Contractor 07:56 Why Walking the Property Matters 10:57 The Flip That Lost Money 13:46 Why Heather Shifted From Flips to Parks 15:04 Meeting Josh Smith and Building Accountability 17:42 How the RV Park Team Came Together 20:58 Choosing the Right Partners 23:15 Operating Agreements and Staying Focused 24:36 From Property Management to Owning Deals 28:12 Starting Over in the U.S. 29:22 Canadian Investors and Lending Opportunities 31:22 How the 3 RV Park Deals Came Together 33:50 Seller Financing the Parks 36:24 Raising Capital Without Using Their Own Money 38:12 Lessons From the First 3 Deals 39:23 Long-Term Stays, Seasonal Guests and Park Strategy 42:08 Why Strong Management Matters 42:35 Systems That Help Scale RV Parks 44:51 What Owning It Means After 30 Years 46:01 Team Commitments and Operating Agreement Lessons 48:17 Learning to Lead Crews and Fire Fast 50:39 How Beginners Can Start in Real Estate 52:36 Future Deals, Investors and Partnerships 54:08 Where to Connect With Heather 54:40 Final Thoughts: Keep Building Connect with Heather Dimmick Website: wearelcp.com Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share. Tools & Resources Mentioned Some of the links below may be affiliate partnerships. We only share tools we personally trust and use. Need funding for your next deal? Get approved fast here: app.dealfunding360.com/?ref=EdgarSalgado Sleep better, dream bigger! — Eight Sleep https://refer.eight.sl/edgardsalgado Prime Corporate Services (LLC setup + business credit) https://primepartner.info/edgardsa Foundational Funding, EMD, Transactional Lending, Double Close https://foundationallending.com/funding-wl?ref_name=Josh+Smith&ref_email=info@foundationalfunding.com ► Join the SubTo Community and learn creative finance from Pace Morby https://join.nre.ai/mQ9T9vZ ► Learn to make money on other people's deals with the Gator Method https://join.nre.ai/mQBDJK5 ► Tools I use for productivity https://linktr.ee/EdgartheConnector PLUG IN & SUBSCRIBE Instagram: @edgartheconnector TikTok: @edgarsrei DISCLAIMER We are not a CPA, attorney, insurance, contractor, lender, or financial advisor. Content is for entertainment purposes only; verify all information yourself.

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  Episode #77

  Two Partners, One Mission: Building 5,000 Keys of Affordable Housing

  Jul 22, 202631 minS1

  Most people cannot keep one business partner. Christina Lopez and Lea are building an empire together, 5,000 apartment doors by 2030, with sustainable housing for veterans, students, and single parents already at 321 units and counting. What we cover: - How Christina and Lea both walked away from 30-year corporate careers to reinvent themselves - Why the 5,000 Keys mission exists and who it is built to serve - The Don Quixote apartment deal, negotiated from 3.8 million down to 3.3 million with seller financing at 4.25 percent - How to vet a business partner before you ever sign an operating agreement - What each partner brings to the table, and the hardest parts of building a partnership - Their current 1.2 million dollar capital raise and how to get involved Christina Lopez (CeeLo) spent over 30 years in corporate life before COVID stranded her outside the country and forced a full reinvention into real estate. Lea spent nearly 30 years in national sales before walking away to build a fix and flip business in South Carolina. Together with a third partner, Julie, they founded 5,000 Keys, a mission-driven real estate partnership focused on affordable housing for the people traditional lending leaves behind. If you are thinking about getting into real estate, raising capital, building a partnership, or creating wealth with a bigger mission behind it, this conversation is full of practical lessons and honest insight. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 Building 5,000 Keys Together 02:15 Christina's Corporate Exit and Reinvention 04:40 Lea's Journey From Corporate to Real Estate 07:49 Why You Shouldn't Wait to Start 09:57 How the 5,000 Keys Partnership Began 10:56 Housing With Purpose: Veterans, Students and Families 12:12 Raising Capital Through Relationships 13:20 The Don Quixote Deal Breakdown 15:41 What Each Partner Brings to the Table 19:16 The Hardest Part of Partnership 21:59 How to Choose the Right Business Partner 23:17 Trust, Contracts and Protecting Yourself 26:14 The Current Capital Raise 29:06 How to Connect With 5,000 Keys 29:49 Final Thoughts: One Mission, No Ego Connect with 5,000 Keys Email: invest@5000keys.com Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share. Tools & Resources Mentioned Some of the links below may be affiliate partnerships. We only share tools we personally trust and use. Need funding for your next deal? Get approved fast here: app.dealfunding360.com/?ref=EdgarSalgado Sleep better, dream bigger! — Eight Sleep https://refer.eight.sl/edgardsalgado Prime Corporate Services (LLC setup + business credit) https://primepartner.info/edgardsa Foundational Funding, EMD, Transactional Lending, Double Close https://foundationallending.com/funding-wl?ref_name=Josh+Smith&ref_email=info@foundationalfunding.com ► Join the SubTo Community and learn creative finance from Pace Morby https://join.nre.ai/mQ9T9vZ ► Learn to make money on other people's deals with the Gator Method https://join.nre.ai/mQBDJK5 ► Tools I use for productivity https://linktr.ee/EdgartheConnector PLUG IN & SUBSCRIBE Instagram: @edgartheconnector TikTok: @edgarsrei DISCLAIMER We are not a CPA, attorney, insurance, contractor, lender, or financial advisor. Content is for entertainment purposes only; verify all information yourself.

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