HGTV Star Tarek El Moussa On Succeeding In Real Estate And Finding Love With Heather Rae Young

Forbes

Tarek El Moussa, real estate investor and television personality, joins Rosemarie Miller on ‘New Money’ to discuss his rags to riches journey, overcoming two battles with cancer, and finding love with Heather Rae Young.  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00:00 And that's what this book's about.

00:00:01 You know, we all go through shit,

00:00:03 and we're no different than houses.

00:00:04 It doesn't matter how tired we are,

00:00:05 how beat up we are, how sad we are,

00:00:07 how depressed we are, how out of shape we are,

00:00:09 how fat we are, how skinny we are,

00:00:10 we can all use a remodel.

00:00:13 (upbeat music)

00:00:16 - Hi everyone, and welcome to New Money,

00:00:19 where we talk to movers and shakers about how they made it.

00:00:22 I'm your host, Rose Marie Miller,

00:00:24 here with CEO, dad, entrepreneur, and author, Tariq El Moussa.

00:00:29 Thank you so much for joining me today, Tariq.

00:00:31 - Thank you for having me.

00:00:32 - Absolutely.

00:00:33 So Tariq, you recently wrote a book, here it is,

00:00:36 Flip Your Life.

00:00:37 What inspired you to write a book at this time in your life?

00:00:41 - You know, I'm 42 years old today,

00:00:43 and I started my entrepreneurial journey at 19.

00:00:47 And it has been a rocky road with a lot of ups and downs,

00:00:50 but through that road and through those ups and downs,

00:00:53 I've learned a lot of valuable lessons.

00:00:55 And those lessons are so valuable to any entrepreneur,

00:00:59 young entrepreneur, anyone out there

00:01:01 that's trying to get ahead,

00:01:02 because you don't know what you don't know.

00:01:05 And this book is gonna share all of the struggles

00:01:08 that people can face in life

00:01:10 and how to overcome those struggles.

00:01:12 - And Tariq, you've had a tremendous amount of success.

00:01:14 You've had multiple HGTV shows.

00:01:17 You're married to Heather Rae El Moussa,

00:01:19 and you just had a baby, congratulations.

00:01:22 - Thank you, almost a year.

00:01:23 - Almost a year.

00:01:24 Oh, I know that time flies.

00:01:26 - Time flies, yeah.

00:01:27 - So let's start at the beginning, back to your childhood.

00:01:31 Tell us about it.

00:01:32 - Childhood, okay.

00:01:33 Well, my parents immigrated from other countries.

00:01:35 My mom was from Belgium.

00:01:37 My dad was from the Middle East.

00:01:38 They moved here, I think, in the early '70s.

00:01:42 They were living in Cairo, Egypt, actually,

00:01:44 and a missile hit their apartment

00:01:45 while they were in the apartment,

00:01:47 so they fled the country, made their way to the US,

00:01:50 started in South Central LA.

00:01:52 I was born in Long Beach,

00:01:54 and then at five, we moved to Buena Park.

00:01:55 But as a child, looking back now,

00:01:59 it was difficult growing up.

00:02:00 I was always in trouble.

00:02:03 I could never sit still.

00:02:04 I wasn't allowed inside classrooms.

00:02:07 I was just way too hyper.

00:02:09 Luckily for me, I took all that energy

00:02:12 and put it towards sports.

00:02:14 So I was very active in all different sports,

00:02:16 and my dad was with me every day,

00:02:18 coaching baseball from about eight years old to 13.

00:02:21 So I spent a lot of time with both of my parents growing up.

00:02:25 And I thought baseball was my game,

00:02:28 so loved baseball.

00:02:30 And I took a year, was it a year or two off,

00:02:33 between junior high and high school,

00:02:35 I started playing ice hockey.

00:02:37 Then I came back to baseball

00:02:38 and blew out my arm in my freshman year.

00:02:42 So that was something that was pretty devastating for me.

00:02:46 So for four years, I tried playing baseball,

00:02:48 and my arm just wouldn't go.

00:02:49 Major nerve damage and just nerve problems.

00:02:52 - Well, Tarek, I'm gonna stop you right there,

00:02:54 because you said you couldn't sit still,

00:02:56 and that was kind of an issue for you.

00:02:58 But now look at you, with all this tremendous success,

00:03:01 what do you have to say to the kids out there

00:03:02 who feel like something is wrong with them,

00:03:04 because they can't sit still?

00:03:06 - Oh, just, oh yeah.

00:03:07 I mean, it's a gift if you know how to use it,

00:03:10 and if you accept it and you understand it.

00:03:12 So my challenges with ADHD have always caused frustration.

00:03:16 So now I channel my ADHD into a positive.

00:03:21 I'm more creative.

00:03:22 I have more energy.

00:03:23 I get more excited.

00:03:24 I'm more emotional.

00:03:25 I'm more in tune with my feelings.

00:03:27 So it's really understanding what ADHD is,

00:03:30 and understanding how you can use it to your benefit.

00:03:33 - And you said your dad, he coached the baseball team.

00:03:36 If I'm not mistaken,

00:03:37 he didn't put you in the starting lineup, right?

00:03:39 - Oh, wow.

00:03:40 That was soccer.

00:03:41 So my first valuable lesson in life was at five years old.

00:03:44 - Okay.

00:03:46 - I was playing soccer.

00:03:46 My dad was a big soccer player in the Middle East,

00:03:48 and he was chosen to be the all-star coach.

00:03:51 And I'll never forget when they picked my dad as the coach,

00:03:53 being so excited, you know,

00:03:54 'cause I'm gonna be on the all-star team.

00:03:55 So he picks the team and he didn't pick me.

00:03:58 I remember that day.

00:04:00 I remember that.

00:04:01 I remember sitting at dinner that night,

00:04:02 just crying, crying, and I asked him the question.

00:04:04 I was like, "How can you not pick me?"

00:04:06 He said, "You're not good enough."

00:04:07 Like, that was it.

00:04:08 But he said, "If you work hard this year,

00:04:12 next year you're gonna be on that all-star team."

00:04:14 So the lesson was, no one's gonna give it to you.

00:04:17 If you want it, you gotta go get it.

00:04:19 - You gotta go get it.

00:04:20 - That's it.

00:04:21 - All right, so where were we?

00:04:23 You hurt your arm and baseball was out.

00:04:25 - Yeah, and baseball was out.

00:04:27 And I got into a little bit of trouble in high school.

00:04:31 So a little short stint in juvenile hall at 17.

00:04:34 When I got out of juvenile hall,

00:04:35 I ended up seeing some doctors.

00:04:37 That's when I got diagnosed with ADHD,

00:04:39 started taking medicine.

00:04:41 It was overnight, changed me.

00:04:43 My GPA went from a 2.0 to a 3.8.

00:04:46 I was able to focus, but it changed who I was.

00:04:49 I mean, I was quiet, I was calm.

00:04:53 I don't know how big this dose was,

00:04:55 but I think it was a pretty strong dose of medication.

00:04:59 But it was really helpful

00:05:00 because I was finally at peace in a sense,

00:05:03 but I just wasn't myself.

00:05:04 At 18, in order to keep taking those medicines,

00:05:08 they told me I had to go see a doctor.

00:05:10 And of course, I was 18 years old,

00:05:11 I said, "No one's gonna tell me what to do."

00:05:13 So I stopped taking the medicines.

00:05:17 I didn't realize what happened until now,

00:05:19 but what happened was this.

00:05:21 I stopped taking the medicines at 18.

00:05:24 In between 18 and 20 years old,

00:05:26 I absolutely destroyed my life.

00:05:28 - Because you stopped taking the medicine.

00:05:30 You think that's the reason?

00:05:31 - That's a big part of it.

00:05:33 And what happened was I started experiencing

00:05:36 severe anxiety and I was anxious all the time

00:05:39 and overwhelmed and stressed.

00:05:40 And then I started having sleep issues

00:05:43 and I wasn't sleeping.

00:05:44 So then I started drinking so I could sleep.

00:05:47 And then I just turned into a raging alcoholic

00:05:49 and then I became depressed and then I gained 60 pounds

00:05:52 and then my clothing wouldn't fit

00:05:54 and I had these stretch marks on my body,

00:05:56 my hair was falling out,

00:05:58 and I didn't wanna live.

00:06:02 - How did you pull yourself out of that?

00:06:03 I have a lot of friends struggling with addiction,

00:06:06 well, as we eat these days, so we're being honest.

00:06:08 They're struggling.

00:06:09 How did you pull yourself out of that?

00:06:11 - You know, honestly, I didn't necessarily

00:06:14 pull myself out of that for about 10 to 12 more years.

00:06:18 - 10 to 12 more years?

00:06:19 - Yeah, but I was able to become a functioning alcoholic.

00:06:23 - Okay.

00:06:24 - Yeah.

00:06:25 When I'm 18 to 20, I mean, I was blackout alcoholic

00:06:30 by myself, chain smoking cigarettes in a backyard

00:06:33 with no internet, no TV, just staring at the wall.

00:06:36 I was a real depressed, angry, miserable,

00:06:38 sad, scared alcoholic.

00:06:40 - And your loved ones, did they notice?

00:06:42 Did they say anything?

00:06:44 - You know, at the time, my parents had gone through

00:06:46 a divorce, or were going through a divorce,

00:06:48 so they were doing their own things,

00:06:50 and it was just a really, really tough time in my life.

00:06:53 You know, the day I graduated high school,

00:06:54 you know, I was good looking, I was in shape,

00:06:57 I was an athlete, I was talented.

00:07:00 - You were the man.

00:07:01 - Yeah.

00:07:02 And then I went from being the man to a fat loser

00:07:04 that was drunk sitting on a couch.

00:07:06 - Wow.

00:07:07 - And I absolutely hated myself.

00:07:09 And then the night that really stands out to me

00:07:14 was about a year, I think it was about a year

00:07:15 into this, like, binge drinking.

00:07:18 And I was drinking an entire bottle of vodka at night.

00:07:21 Like, it's over 30 shots, I think.

00:07:22 And then I got so bad, I'd drink the bottle

00:07:24 and then drink a six pack of beer.

00:07:27 Like, really bad.

00:07:27 - How did your stomach handle that?

00:07:30 - Yeah, I was young.

00:07:31 - I'm young.

00:07:32 My stomach couldn't handle that.

00:07:33 - I was young.

00:07:34 Well, it took a lot of practice.

00:07:34 - Oh, okay.

00:07:36 - And then one night, I was like,

00:07:37 I gotta take a night off.

00:07:39 So I'll never forget going outside.

00:07:42 It was, I don't know, probably about 10, 11, 12 o'clock.

00:07:45 And for the first time in a year,

00:07:47 I was sober during the nighttime.

00:07:49 And I can smell the grass and I can hear the frogs.

00:07:53 And I literally had a moment where I was like, holy shit.

00:07:57 What am I doing with my life?

00:08:00 And that's when I cut back on the alcohol.

00:08:04 I went from a bottle a night to about a half bottle a night.

00:08:06 And that was just so I could sleep.

00:08:08 I was living with a girl at the time.

00:08:10 We ended up breaking up.

00:08:11 So I called my mom to move back home into my old bedroom.

00:08:15 She had just rented it out to a tenant.

00:08:18 So I said, can I live in the garage?

00:08:19 And she's like, well, yeah, I mean, it's a garage.

00:08:21 So when I say garage, you know, WD-40 cans,

00:08:24 dirt bike, cockroaches, spiders.

00:08:26 - Garage, garage.

00:08:27 - Hit the clicker, the thing opens.

00:08:29 And then this is actually where my life started

00:08:31 to change for the better.

00:08:32 - Okay.

00:08:33 - By the most random person you would ever meet.

00:08:37 So one of the, the guy that was living in my old bedroom

00:08:40 was this guy from Texas.

00:08:41 He's a big guy, like six two, six three,

00:08:44 shaved head, big earrings and hoops

00:08:47 and tattoos from his neck to his toe.

00:08:49 - Yeah.

00:08:50 - Like, like, like something you'd see out of a movie.

00:08:53 I'm thinking, mom, you let this guy move into your house?

00:08:55 - Everything's bigger in Texas, so okay.

00:08:57 - I mean, I was like, this guy looks like

00:08:59 he just got out of the pen.

00:09:01 So I'm just walking through the house one day.

00:09:03 He's like, hey.

00:09:04 I was like, hey.

00:09:05 'Cause I was living in the garage, you know,

00:09:06 we'd see each other.

00:09:06 And he's like, hey, you wanna work out tomorrow?

00:09:07 And I was like, yeah, sure.

00:09:09 Just to blow him off.

00:09:10 Like, you know, I thought the guy was a little bit weird.

00:09:12 And I was thinking, you know, do a couple of pushups,

00:09:14 set up something like that.

00:09:15 So the next night, get home from work,

00:09:17 he's like, you ready to work out?

00:09:17 I'm saying, yeah, sure.

00:09:19 So I'm, and I was thinking,

00:09:20 I got some dumbbells in the garage.

00:09:21 He goes, dumbbells in the garage?

00:09:22 I'm like, we're gonna go to the gym.

00:09:23 I'm like, God.

00:09:24 And I'm like, immediately dreading it.

00:09:26 Thinking, man, I am not going to,

00:09:30 this is my drinking time.

00:09:31 I'm not going to the gym.

00:09:33 So anyways, I go to the gym with him.

00:09:35 And he worked out like an animal.

00:09:38 And I'm like, bro, I haven't worked out.

00:09:40 We were there for like two hours.

00:09:42 Next night, you ready?

00:09:43 Yeah, next night, ready?

00:09:45 Something magical happened a few weeks in.

00:09:48 I started to gain hope.

00:09:50 I looked in the mirror and I saw my body changing.

00:09:53 I realized mentally I was excited to go to the gym

00:09:56 'cause I was now starting to see those results.

00:09:58 About six weeks in, I got my drive back.

00:10:02 And it was amazing.

00:10:03 From rock bottom for years to flipping a switch.

00:10:07 And it all came from building my confidence.

00:10:09 - Yeah, this random stranger just walked in your life.

00:10:12 - Yeah.

00:10:13 - Does he know how he touched your life?

00:10:14 - Yeah, he does.

00:10:15 - He does. - He does.

00:10:16 - Do you still stay in contact with him?

00:10:18 - I try, I try.

00:10:19 He's a squirrely one.

00:10:20 - Oh, are you sure it's him and not you?

00:10:23 - Yeah, he had some struggles himself.

00:10:25 - Oh, okay, all right.

00:10:26 - And we related a lot.

00:10:27 - Y'all did.

00:10:28 So take us into the real estate.

00:10:31 I saw that you said sales was everything.

00:10:34 Tell me about how that started.

00:10:36 - With real estate.

00:10:37 So, you know, so that girl I was telling you,

00:10:39 I was dating at the time when I was living in that house,

00:10:42 her parents were in real estate.

00:10:45 And her dad would tell me these war stories from the '60s

00:10:48 about how he was a big investor, had hundreds of houses,

00:10:51 and would gamble houses on horses and poker games.

00:10:55 And he's just this big guy, loved to drink.

00:10:57 I drank with him, like he'd get out and drink with me.

00:10:59 He'd smoke three cigars a night.

00:11:02 And we would just, he was my best friend.

00:11:04 Every night we'd hang out, smoke cigars, drink.

00:11:07 - I feel a little rough around the edges.

00:11:08 I like that, okay.

00:11:10 - Yeah, yeah, you know, I've lived an interesting life.

00:11:13 So I moved out 'cause I broke up with the girl.

00:11:17 So I stopped hanging out with my best friend.

00:11:20 And I found myself at a Washington Mutual

00:11:22 in Cerritos, California one day.

00:11:24 And at the time I'd been selling kitchen knives

00:11:26 for a company called Cutco.

00:11:28 - I know the company, I did Cutco too as a kid, yes.

00:11:31 - I love, everybody's got Cutco.

00:11:33 And it actually turns out I was pretty good

00:11:34 at selling those knives 'cause I was making good money.

00:11:36 But this was back in 2002, 2003,

00:11:39 so everything was in a binder.

00:11:41 I lost my binder.

00:11:42 So I essentially put myself out of business.

00:11:45 And I'll never forget this defining moment in my life.

00:11:49 And I call it defining moment,

00:11:51 a moment in your life that changes

00:11:52 the trajectory of your life.

00:11:54 And everybody's had defining moments.

00:11:56 So I'm standing at the ATM thinking,

00:11:58 I'm so screwed, what do I do now?

00:12:01 And I, oh man, I look over to the right,

00:12:02 throw my head back and there's this crooked sign.

00:12:05 Says Wise Old Owl Real Estate School.

00:12:08 So I thought to myself, if I can sell knives,

00:12:11 I can sell houses.

00:12:12 So then I walked across the parking lot

00:12:15 and signed up for real estate school.

00:12:17 - You signed up for real estate school.

00:12:18 - Just like that.

00:12:19 - And was that the best decision

00:12:20 you've ever made in your life?

00:12:22 - Absolutely.

00:12:22 - The best decision.

00:12:23 What did you learn in real estate school?

00:12:25 - Oh, the school, I learned nothing at all.

00:12:27 But I learned that I needed to get a license.

00:12:30 And that's what mattered, right?

00:12:32 So in life, we all set goals.

00:12:33 But on the way to that big goal,

00:12:35 you have a lot of goals on the way.

00:12:36 So my first goal to being a real estate agent

00:12:39 was to get a real estate license.

00:12:40 So I did that.

00:12:42 And then I got into the business.

00:12:45 And it was, you know, I'm gonna tell the full story

00:12:49 of exactly how it happened.

00:12:50 So I got into the business.

00:12:51 I was working at Coldwell Banker,

00:12:52 an old medical building.

00:12:54 And they had something called floor time.

00:12:56 So back then, they would have all the newspaper ads running

00:13:00 with pictures of houses,

00:13:02 and then people would call

00:13:03 if they wanted to see 'em or buy 'em.

00:13:04 And nobody liked doing floor time shifts

00:13:06 because it's boring and nobody called.

00:13:08 But I didn't know what to do.

00:13:09 So I would pick up everybody's floor time shifts,

00:13:13 hoping somebody would call me.

00:13:14 - And you're, how old at this time?

00:13:16 - 20 years old.

00:13:17 - 20 years old, okay.

00:13:18 - Yeah.

00:13:19 Nobody called me, really, right?

00:13:21 Finally, I was sitting there one day,

00:13:24 and the secretary, her name was Carolyn,

00:13:26 she was sitting next to me in the middle of my shift.

00:13:28 I was having anxiety.

00:13:29 It's been months of nothing happening.

00:13:31 I told her, I quit.

00:13:32 I'm going back to, I'm going to school.

00:13:34 That's it.

00:13:35 I literally walked out of that Coldwell Banker office,

00:13:38 went home, quit real estate,

00:13:41 changed my clothing, sat on the couch,

00:13:43 started watching a game.

00:13:45 Carolyn calls.

00:13:47 She goes, "Well, a couple just came in,

00:13:51 "and they want to write an offer on a house."

00:13:54 I'm like, "You've got to be kidding me.

00:13:55 "I just quit real estate an hour ago."

00:13:58 - Yeah.

00:13:58 - It's wild how this happened.

00:14:00 I'm like, "All right."

00:14:01 One last shot.

00:14:03 So I go to the office thinking

00:14:05 I got to go show 'em this house.

00:14:07 No, they already knew the house they wanted to buy.

00:14:10 So next thing I know,

00:14:11 I'm writing an offer on the house they want to buy.

00:14:15 And then in order for them to buy that house,

00:14:17 they needed to sell their house.

00:14:18 So now I'm writing two contracts.

00:14:20 I mean, out of nowhere.

00:14:23 So then I get this offer for this house.

00:14:25 I put it in the fax machine.

00:14:26 I'll never forget.

00:14:27 And ding-dong-ding, it starts making the noise.

00:14:29 And I'm thinking, the market's so hot,

00:14:32 there's probably 10 other offers.

00:14:33 I rip it out of the fax machine.

00:14:36 I look at the bottom of the paperwork,

00:14:37 and I see the address.

00:14:39 Brea, California.

00:14:40 I drive to the office.

00:14:42 So I'm working at an old Coldwell Banker Medical Building.

00:14:44 It's kind of janky.

00:14:45 It's not real nice.

00:14:47 So I walk up to this building.

00:14:48 It's called Three Point Drive in Brea.

00:14:50 High-rise building, all glass, high-end.

00:14:53 And I'm thinking, "Where am I?"

00:14:55 Go into the elevator, go up to the,

00:14:56 I think it was the second or third floor,

00:14:58 walk in the door.

00:14:59 There was a girl there named Miley.

00:15:01 I said, "Hi, I'm here to see so-and-so.

00:15:04 "I have an offer for their house."

00:15:06 She goes, "Great.

00:15:07 "Do you have an appointment?"

00:15:08 I said, "No."

00:15:09 And then she starts laughing at me.

00:15:11 "You just can't come in here and see so-and-so."

00:15:13 And I'm thinking, "Well, why not?"

00:15:15 I'm 20 years old.

00:15:17 So I, she goes, "You need to come back with an appointment."

00:15:19 I said, "Listen, I just need two minutes.

00:15:21 "Trust me, he's really gonna wanna hear

00:15:23 "what I have to say, pleading, just selling myself."

00:15:26 Finally, she goes, "Okay, I'll be right back."

00:15:29 So she goes, she comes back, she goes,

00:15:30 "Okay, go down the hall, last door on the left."

00:15:34 I go to the last door.

00:15:35 I go in, and then I look,

00:15:37 and it's this huge office with all these windows

00:15:40 overlooking a view,

00:15:41 and there's just trophies and awards everywhere.

00:15:44 Like, I've never seen so many trophies

00:15:46 and awards in my life.

00:15:48 I walk to the desk, and this big burly guy stands up,

00:15:51 shaved head, big jet black goatee,

00:15:54 puts his hand out, crushes mine.

00:15:57 I'm a kid.

00:15:58 He goes, "Sit."

00:15:59 I'm like, "Yes, sir."

00:16:01 And I go, "I have an offer for you."

00:16:02 And I show him, and he goes, "Stop."

00:16:05 I'm like, "Okay."

00:16:06 Pulls out of my other folder.

00:16:07 "This offer is better than yours.

00:16:08 This offer is better than yours.

00:16:10 This offer is better than yours.

00:16:11 This..."

00:16:12 Now I'm thinking, dead in the water.

00:16:14 And then he goes, "And just so you know, this is my house."

00:16:18 He was the owner.

00:16:20 Turned out, the guy I was talking to

00:16:23 was the listing agent of the property,

00:16:25 the owner of the property,

00:16:26 and the owner of the entire brokerage.

00:16:28 He was a big deal.

00:16:30 - How rare is that?

00:16:32 - Totally rare.

00:16:33 That's what the book's about.

00:16:34 You gotta go for it in life.

00:16:34 You gotta jump.

00:16:36 So he tells me, "Here's what I'm gonna do.

00:16:39 I'm gonna give you five seconds to answer.

00:16:42 I'll take your offer if you come work with me

00:16:45 starting right now.

00:16:46 Five, four, three."

00:16:49 Put my hand out, solidified that deal,

00:16:54 and it turned out he already had a buyer

00:16:56 for my client's house they needed to sell.

00:16:58 My clients bought his house.

00:16:59 I was 20 years old.

00:17:00 I got a check for $33,000.

00:17:04 - Stop.

00:17:05 - I couldn't believe it.

00:17:06 A broke kid from Buena Park,

00:17:08 looking at this check thinking, "My life has changed."

00:17:12 So I'm thinking, "Well, what do you..."

00:17:14 You know, when you're a broke kid and you make 33,000,

00:17:16 what do you think?

00:17:17 Well, you think you're rich, right?

00:17:18 - In one lick at that.

00:17:19 - Yeah, so I thought I was rich,

00:17:21 and what happened was the new Cadillac Escalade

00:17:24 had just come out,

00:17:25 and it was in all the new rap videos,

00:17:26 and it was like--

00:17:27 - Do not tell me.

00:17:28 Tar, do not tell me you went and blew that money.

00:17:31 - Hold on, it gets better.

00:17:33 Gets better.

00:17:34 So then, you know, I see it in all the rap videos.

00:17:36 I'm like, "I bet y'all look good in that car."

00:17:38 I got this check.

00:17:38 I'm like, "All right, I'm gonna go get a Cadillac Escalade."

00:17:41 So I go to the dealer.

00:17:43 Long story short, I was a kid, no credit history.

00:17:45 They sold me the car, but they required $25,000 down.

00:17:49 - Goodness gracious.

00:17:50 - So I literally took my life savings

00:17:53 as the down payment on this car.

00:17:55 And what happened was, a few months later,

00:17:58 I couldn't even drive the car anymore

00:17:59 'cause I couldn't afford the gas.

00:18:00 And I couldn't afford the gas

00:18:02 because I did not know how to duplicate

00:18:05 what I did to make that money.

00:18:08 - Was that the dumbest purchase you've ever made?

00:18:10 - Yes.

00:18:13 - Yeah.

00:18:14 - Actually, let's think about this.

00:18:15 Yeah, probably.

00:18:17 It probably was.

00:18:18 Yeah, at the time, you know,

00:18:19 'cause I mean, I was all in on a car.

00:18:21 But the interesting thing is this,

00:18:22 but it's one of the reasons why I've become so successful

00:18:25 'cause I've put myself in positions

00:18:26 where failure is not an option.

00:18:28 Meaning, if I don't pull this off, it's game over.

00:18:31 So when my back's against the wall is when I perform best.

00:18:35 So now I can't even drive the car, I'm totally broke.

00:18:37 I'm like, what do I do now?

00:18:38 There's this event coming into town

00:18:40 thrown by this guy named Mike Ferry,

00:18:43 where he teaches real estate agents

00:18:44 like how to make more money, and he coaches people.

00:18:48 And I had never in my life

00:18:49 knew you can get a coach for business.

00:18:51 I was used to sports coaches.

00:18:52 So I'm like, coach?

00:18:53 Well, this sounds interesting.

00:18:55 So I go to the free event

00:18:56 at Buena Park Sequoia Athletic Club.

00:18:58 And this guy, man, this guy, Mike is a genius.

00:19:01 Like this guy, I'd never heard a professional speaker.

00:19:03 And the way he affected me, I'd never experienced anything.

00:19:07 Like he convinced me I can do anything.

00:19:10 He convinced me I could be a multimillionaire.

00:19:12 He convinced me I could be a top agent.

00:19:14 Like he convinced me sky's the limit.

00:19:16 So at the end-

00:19:17 - I'm seeing a trend of these masculine figures

00:19:20 in your life coming and just at the right time,

00:19:23 lifting you up.

00:19:25 Did your dad do that for you too?

00:19:27 - Absolutely.

00:19:28 My dad's always been my biggest supporter.

00:19:30 And my mom.

00:19:31 - How important is that in life?

00:19:33 Would you tell young boys to have a masculine figure

00:19:37 that they can look up to?

00:19:38 - A hundred percent.

00:19:39 And it's not even, whether it's masculine or feminine,

00:19:43 like just a figure.

00:19:44 - Just a figure.

00:19:45 - And that's what the book's about.

00:19:47 It's about your crew, building your crew,

00:19:48 your support team, your system,

00:19:50 those around you who can help you and guide you

00:19:53 and educate you and support you.

00:19:55 And it's very important because, you know,

00:19:58 experience is something you can't buy.

00:20:00 Experience is something you gain over time.

00:20:02 And one of the biggest issues that young entrepreneurs face

00:20:05 is they don't have that experience.

00:20:08 They might be smart, they might be talented,

00:20:10 but they don't have that experience to look back on

00:20:12 to help make decisions today.

00:20:14 So it's very, very important.

00:20:16 So at the end of Mike Ferry's thing,

00:20:17 I signed up for one-on-one coaching.

00:20:19 It was $1,000 a month in 2003,

00:20:22 which is like a million a month today with inflation, right?

00:20:25 - You didn't have that money.

00:20:25 - I had no money.

00:20:27 I couldn't put gas in my car.

00:20:29 So luckily I had a credit card

00:20:30 and at the time I was still living in the garage.

00:20:32 Man, so here's what I did.

00:20:35 I told myself, you're gonna do this 20 year old Tariq.

00:20:38 My coach said I needed to talk to 20 people a day,

00:20:41 five days a week.

00:20:42 I told him, no, I'm gonna talk to 50 people a day,

00:20:45 six days a week, and then some more on Sunday.

00:20:47 He said, yeah, right, nobody can do that.

00:20:50 It takes about five to 700 phone calls to do that

00:20:52 or knocking on doors.

00:20:54 So I had one goal in mind.

00:20:56 I called, I gave myself 90 days to turn my life around.

00:20:59 And it was simple.

00:21:00 At the end of the 90 days,

00:21:01 I'm either going with real estate or I'm going back,

00:21:03 I'm staying in school.

00:21:04 I did not like school.

00:21:05 So my goal wasn't to make money,

00:21:09 wasn't to get listings, wasn't to get buyers,

00:21:11 none of that.

00:21:12 My only goal was to talk to 50 people a day.

00:21:15 So if I'm on contact 49,

00:21:17 I call someone like Tariq, go get hit by a bus.

00:21:19 Instead of being sad and emotional, I'm celebrating

00:21:23 'cause I can now go home.

00:21:24 I had 50 contacts.

00:21:25 So it's all about perception too.

00:21:27 And what happened was this,

00:21:28 because I talked to so many people,

00:21:29 90 days later, I put my head up and I earned $120,000.

00:21:33 Yeah. - Wow.

00:21:34 - I went from zero to 40,000 a month,

00:21:36 but it was different this time

00:21:38 because now I built a repeatable system.

00:21:41 I knew if I called expired listings,

00:21:43 I was gonna get listings and I was gonna make money.

00:21:46 - So it's like you made your goal

00:21:48 something you had complete control over.

00:21:50 You don't have control over who says yes, none of that,

00:21:53 but you have control over how many phone calls.

00:21:55 Ah, okay.

00:21:57 - Right? - Okay, I see what you're doing.

00:21:58 - Takes away the anxiety and the emotion.

00:22:00 You know what I mean?

00:22:01 So it's just simplifying.

00:22:02 People don't realize you change your life

00:22:04 just by talking to people you don't know every single day.

00:22:06 - Yeah. - Very simple.

00:22:07 So what happened was I was in that garage,

00:22:09 90 days later, made $120,000

00:22:11 and ended up buying almost a million dollar house.

00:22:14 How I got the loan, who knows?

00:22:15 It was the heyday.

00:22:17 I was a kid, so at 21,

00:22:18 I'm now living in this almost million dollar house.

00:22:21 I got a 300 gallon shark tank.

00:22:22 I have my master bedroom.

00:22:24 I was like a jacuzzi tub with a plasma on the wall

00:22:27 and I'm feeling like I made it.

00:22:28 - Right. - You know?

00:22:29 Like I didn't grow up in a house like this.

00:22:30 I was a 21 year old kid.

00:22:32 So things were going well and I built teams

00:22:35 and it was selling real estate and you know,

00:22:38 young, arrogant, whatever you wanna call it, you know?

00:22:41 And then 2006 hit, my business started slowing down

00:22:45 and I was like, well, what's going on here?

00:22:47 And I started studying inventory

00:22:48 and I started noticing that inventory was spiking,

00:22:51 which means a lot more homes were coming for sale

00:22:53 unless we're selling.

00:22:54 And that's when I started making less money

00:22:56 and I started telling everybody,

00:22:57 hey, something's wrong with real estate.

00:22:59 And everybody's laughing at me 'cause I was 25.

00:23:01 What do you know?

00:23:02 You're just a kid, you know?

00:23:03 So I had three properties at the time

00:23:07 and I sold two of them.

00:23:09 And the last one closed December of '06

00:23:12 and then the subprime market crashed spring of '07.

00:23:15 So I barely got out of it.

00:23:18 - But you saw it.

00:23:19 Something's wrong. - I saw it.

00:23:21 - And I saw the movie "The Big Short."

00:23:22 So wow.

00:23:23 Wow, you saw all of this in real time.

00:23:26 How did you see your colleagues being affected by this?

00:23:29 - Oh, it was a bloodbath for the entire industry.

00:23:31 Even for me, I had to sell my million dollar house,

00:23:33 got Escalade, my BMW, my toys.

00:23:35 I ended up moving into an apartment,

00:23:37 driving my dad's old work truck.

00:23:39 It was like a F13,050.

00:23:42 It was like 800 feet long.

00:23:43 It had big rancher horns on the front,

00:23:45 roll up windows, no AC.

00:23:47 I'm thinking, man, what happened to my life?

00:23:49 - That's a lot of ego hits.

00:23:51 - Oh yeah.

00:23:51 - You were the man in high school,

00:23:53 you went down, you were the man again, you went down.

00:23:56 That's a lot of ego, especially for a man.

00:23:58 I know how y'all are.

00:23:59 - It beat me up really, really bad.

00:24:02 I tried getting a job as a valet parker.

00:24:05 They told me I didn't have enough experience.

00:24:07 I said, no, I delivered pizza for two years.

00:24:10 I have a ton of experience.

00:24:11 And yeah, I struggled.

00:24:15 It was a struggle.

00:24:16 And what happened was I was still working like a madman,

00:24:20 but I wasn't making money

00:24:20 'cause I would go on these appointments

00:24:22 and the seller say, oh, I want 800,000 for my house.

00:24:24 I said, well, it's worth six now.

00:24:26 Well, I'm not selling it for six.

00:24:27 Well, then I can't help you.

00:24:29 So it was like overnight, the faucet shut off.

00:24:31 I stopped making money.

00:24:32 My life changed.

00:24:33 And it was a struggle 2007, 2008, 2009.

00:24:38 - That's a lot of time to be down.

00:24:40 - Yeah, it was a lot of time.

00:24:41 - What'd that do to your mental state?

00:24:43 Every day, every day you're waking up,

00:24:45 damn, I'm down, I'm down.

00:24:47 - I lived in turmoil, fear, anxiety, stress,

00:24:50 overwhelm, mayhem.

00:24:51 I mean, it was, man, we just,

00:24:53 we waste so many years of our lives as humans.

00:24:56 We really, really do because of the things we go through.

00:25:01 And a lot of times the things we go through

00:25:03 are really caused by the things we do.

00:25:05 So, but valuable lessons.

00:25:08 - Glimmer of hope, what kept you going?

00:25:10 - Hope, hope.

00:25:12 There was one time I'll never forget.

00:25:15 The one time in my life I truly doubted myself.

00:25:18 I was living in Newport Beach in an apartment.

00:25:20 It was 2007, came home from work.

00:25:23 I was sitting on my balcony, looking at PCH,

00:25:26 watching cars drive by, and I actually said it out loud,

00:25:30 "Maybe you aren't as good as you think you are.

00:25:32 "Maybe you aren't meant for what you think you deserve.

00:25:36 "Maybe you're just meant to be like everybody else."

00:25:39 And it was the first time I said it out loud.

00:25:42 And then I realized through experience

00:25:48 that I was wrong because I did go from zero

00:25:52 to 40,000 a month almost overnight, right?

00:25:55 I did do these things.

00:25:57 I did get back into the gym.

00:25:59 I did turn my life around.

00:26:00 So I said, "Okay, no, you can do this."

00:26:03 And I kept going.

00:26:04 - Maybe I'm just like everybody else.

00:26:07 That's a powerful statement because that tells you

00:26:10 that you really felt that your purpose was real estate.

00:26:14 This is what you were born to do.

00:26:18 And to think, "Maybe I'm not meant to do this."

00:26:22 - Yeah, it was a tough afternoon.

00:26:26 Fortunately, I learned to pivot.

00:26:29 So instead of calling all those expired listings

00:26:32 that I was calling, which is houses that were listed

00:26:34 that didn't sell, and then I'd go try to relist them,

00:26:37 I moved that focus and I started calling notice of defaults

00:26:40 and I started door knocking notice of defaults.

00:26:42 Then I started picking up short sales.

00:26:44 So I started making some money again,

00:26:46 a little bit of money, but not crazy money.

00:26:49 And then I did this one short sale deal.

00:26:52 I had a first lien, second lien, third lien,

00:26:55 IRS lien, HOA lien.

00:26:57 This thing was a nightmare.

00:26:58 It took me 11 months to negotiate.

00:27:00 At the end of it, I got a check for $7,000.

00:27:04 And it was for $7,000 because the property value

00:27:07 was half of what it was.

00:27:08 So the commission was half.

00:27:10 And then the bank reduced my commission.

00:27:13 The person I sold it to hired a gardener, cut the grass,

00:27:15 hired a painter, painted the house,

00:27:17 sold it a few weeks later, made about 130,000.

00:27:20 I said, wait a minute.

00:27:23 I said, I found the buyer, I found the seller,

00:27:26 I negotiated the deal, I worked with the bank,

00:27:28 I spent a year, I made 7,000, this person made 130,000.

00:27:32 That was the exact moment I realized

00:27:34 that I was on the wrong side of the real estate equation.

00:27:36 - The game changed, okay.

00:27:38 - Another defining moment, just like at that ATM.

00:27:41 So I said, okay, I'm gonna be a house flipper, that's it.

00:27:44 Immediately put, massive action always.

00:27:47 If I have an idea, I get to work within seconds.

00:27:49 So the idea came, pulled out my phone in the moment.

00:27:52 If you don't strike in the moment,

00:27:53 you're just never gonna do it.

00:27:54 You gotta do it in the moment.

00:27:56 So I just start calling everybody I know.

00:27:58 Everybody's laughing at me, thinking, is this a joke?

00:28:00 You're young, it's too speculative.

00:28:03 Like, what are you talking about?

00:28:04 Go back to school, get a job.

00:28:07 And every no I got was just fueling me.

00:28:10 - You're one of those. - Fueling.

00:28:11 I'm gonna prove you wrong.

00:28:13 I love proving people wrong, I love it.

00:28:16 Because I don't like negative thinking.

00:28:18 I hate it, 'cause it prevents people

00:28:20 from living the life they should.

00:28:22 And people have all these negative people around you

00:28:26 all the time, which holds you back.

00:28:29 So it really frustrates me.

00:28:30 So when someone tells me no,

00:28:32 I will do whatever it takes to prove them wrong.

00:28:35 So finally, I get to someone on my phone,

00:28:38 the only multi-millionaire I knew.

00:28:40 And the last person I called,

00:28:41 because I was scared to call him.

00:28:43 Hey, blah, blah, blah, you wanna flip house?

00:28:44 He goes, sure.

00:28:45 And I'm thinking, what, did he hear what I said?

00:28:48 He goes, sure, we find a good deal,

00:28:49 I'll flip houses with you.

00:28:50 - Asking you show of receipt.

00:28:51 - Just like that.

00:28:52 So what did I learn?

00:28:54 - Pick up. - I learned,

00:28:55 don't talk to my friend's parents

00:28:59 or my neighbors about,

00:29:01 they don't know anything about investing

00:29:03 or business or being an entrepreneur.

00:29:05 The one person I was scared to call

00:29:07 is the one person that said yes, why?

00:29:10 'Cause they were already successful.

00:29:12 - And how old were you now?

00:29:13 - I was 20, I think I was 28, 29.

00:29:17 - 28, 29, picking up the phone,

00:29:20 calling this multi-millionaire, who am I?

00:29:23 Oh my goodness, that confidence,

00:29:25 you had to have some of it.

00:29:27 What made you decide, all right, F it.

00:29:30 - Why not? - Why not?

00:29:32 - What do you gotta lose?

00:29:34 - Worst thing he could say is no.

00:29:35 - Worst thing he could say is no.

00:29:36 - And he said yes.

00:29:37 - And he said yes.

00:29:38 So we ended up buying a condo that next week at the auction.

00:29:42 And it was interesting because

00:29:43 we were supposed, I think we were supposed

00:29:48 to only bid 110,000 and then it went up to like 111

00:29:53 and the last minute he goes, I brought an extra five.

00:29:55 So someone bid up to 114, I'll never forget,

00:29:58 I go 115, going once, going twice, sold.

00:30:02 So we bought it for the exact dollar amount

00:30:05 that we brought to the auction.

00:30:07 So then during that same time period,

00:30:11 I bought that condo.

00:30:12 To flip, there was another real estate convention

00:30:15 by Mike Ferry in Las Vegas, Nevada,

00:30:17 Nevada called Superstar Retreat.

00:30:19 And there's like, I don't know, about 5,000 realtors there.

00:30:22 So I always sit in the back because the front's

00:30:26 for the VIPs and stuff.

00:30:27 So a friend of mine, his name is Brad,

00:30:30 who's the vice president of the company I was working at,

00:30:33 texted me, it's like, hey, the manager and his wife

00:30:34 just left the front row, you and Christina

00:30:37 can come sit in the front.

00:30:38 So we go, we sit in the front row.

00:30:42 - Christina's your ex-wife.

00:30:43 - Yeah, my ex-wife.

00:30:44 And the interesting thing was,

00:30:46 we were actually dressed like really sharp

00:30:49 because the night before, the speaker told us

00:30:50 to go out, buy clothing we can't afford,

00:30:53 go out, have a dinner we can't afford,

00:30:55 and drink wine we can't afford,

00:30:56 and for one night, live life at the next level.

00:30:59 And we did it, I'll never forget,

00:31:00 it was one of the most magical nights of my life.

00:31:02 Love that, love that.

00:31:03 I think everybody should do that.

00:31:04 But I was real hungover.

00:31:07 I was still drinking a lot.

00:31:07 So I'm in the front row and all of a sudden,

00:31:11 my heart starts pounding and I start sweating,

00:31:14 and this guy runs over and he hands me Advil and water.

00:31:17 The guy that hands me the Advil and water

00:31:20 was the guy I saw speaking on stage the day before,

00:31:23 and he made $800,000 a year selling real estate.

00:31:26 - Wait, that's random.

00:31:27 Some guy just comes over with Advil and water?

00:31:30 - Yeah. - What?

00:31:31 - Just like that, in the middle of the conference.

00:31:34 So at the break, he comes up to me and Christina

00:31:36 and he starts talking, and then these other heavy hitters,

00:31:38 VIPs, they all come up 'cause we look sharp, we're young.

00:31:42 And then I just, I'm in this group of successful people

00:31:46 and I'm not gonna tell 'em I'm a peon,

00:31:48 so I'm just going with it.

00:31:50 And we're talking and he tells me he has a local TV show.

00:31:52 I'm like, okay, that's cool, but what does that do?

00:31:53 He's like, yeah, I go to the grocery store

00:31:55 and people recognize me.

00:31:56 I'm like, okay, well, what does that do?

00:31:58 He goes, well, then they buy and sell houses with me.

00:32:00 I'm like, oh, wow, so you use TV?

00:32:02 He's like, yeah.

00:32:03 And he had a local show.

00:32:05 Never really thought about TV before.

00:32:06 So we leave Las Vegas, it's like 10 o'clock at night.

00:32:10 I'll never forget this.

00:32:12 Christina had one leg going up the stair, one on the floor,

00:32:15 and she looks over, she's like, you coming to bed?

00:32:18 I said, no.

00:32:19 She goes, what are you doing?

00:32:20 I said, I'm gonna get us a TV show.

00:32:22 And then she starts laughing at me.

00:32:25 She goes, a TV show about what?

00:32:26 'Cause I always had these crazy ideas.

00:32:28 You could even ask her.

00:32:28 We used to have fun with this stuff, crazy ideas.

00:32:31 I said, I don't know.

00:32:33 And I said, give me a second.

00:32:34 So I was like, one, 1,000.

00:32:36 I was like, I have it.

00:32:37 We just bought our first flip.

00:32:39 What if we flip houses on TV?

00:32:41 And my eyes lit up.

00:32:44 And she looks at me, she laughs.

00:32:45 She goes, I'm going to bed.

00:32:47 She went to bed.

00:32:48 So I went on Google

00:32:49 and I just Googled Hollywood production companies.

00:32:51 I went to websites.

00:32:52 There was buttons, said casting, hit the button.

00:32:54 What's your idea?

00:32:55 Told them my idea, went to bed.

00:32:57 Woke up the next day, one of them actually responded.

00:33:00 - Tarik, you are so bold.

00:33:03 You were so young, so bold.

00:33:05 When did you become that way?

00:33:08 - Just my whole life.

00:33:09 - Your whole life.

00:33:10 Can you attribute some of that to the ADHD?

00:33:12 Just do it. - 100%.

00:33:13 Yeah, yeah.

00:33:15 Like I have to go.

00:33:16 And honestly, it's the valuable lessons I've learned.

00:33:18 At five years old, I was told,

00:33:21 no one will ever give you anything.

00:33:22 And the second as humans, we accept that.

00:33:26 Like we take full responsibility for everything in our life.

00:33:29 We're free.

00:33:30 We're free to go build and create.

00:33:34 But until we get those chains off

00:33:35 and like we're always held down.

00:33:37 So you have to take responsibility

00:33:40 for every single thing in your life.

00:33:42 Right, and that's how you gain control.

00:33:44 The next day I wake up in the morning,

00:33:47 one of them responded, hey, send a home video.

00:33:49 So I go to my friend, Brad, I'm like,

00:33:50 hey, can I borrow your camera?

00:33:51 'Cause I didn't have any money for a camera.

00:33:53 And he was a techie, he had just bought

00:33:54 this brand new camera.

00:33:55 And that was a disaster and he knew me.

00:33:57 He's like, just don't break it, please.

00:33:59 Please don't break it.

00:34:01 Oh yeah, I broke it, sorry, Brad.

00:34:02 - Camera's ain't cheap.

00:34:03 - Yeah, I broke it.

00:34:05 But we documented that very first flip.

00:34:07 It was a condo in Santa Ana, California.

00:34:08 And like I did everything wrong, but I worked my butt off.

00:34:12 Like Christina, she brought this vanity light in

00:34:15 and she's like, oh, what is it gonna look like

00:34:17 in the bathroom?

00:34:18 So, you know, I take the metal light

00:34:20 and I go to put it up where it goes.

00:34:21 And next thing I know, like it's sparking

00:34:23 and I'm jittering.

00:34:24 And well, there were live wires.

00:34:25 - Yeah.

00:34:26 - And I kind of shocked myself pretty bad.

00:34:29 Another time I was acid washing the shower

00:34:32 and there's this like the box with the skulls

00:34:34 and the crossbones, beware.

00:34:35 So I followed the instructions, put the gloves on,

00:34:38 did the mixture, kicked my sandals off,

00:34:40 started karate-kitting the walls, you know?

00:34:42 - Yes.

00:34:43 - But nowhere in there did it say anything about feet.

00:34:45 So the acid ran down into my feet.

00:34:47 Next thing I know, my feet start burning.

00:34:49 So I jump out of the shower and I go to turn on the tub

00:34:51 to put my feet in.

00:34:53 The owner turned off the water.

00:34:55 I was the owner, by the way.

00:34:56 So that didn't work.

00:34:57 So I run out and I run into the community pool.

00:35:00 - You didn't know what you were doing.

00:35:01 Okay.

00:35:02 - They loved it.

00:35:03 So then we shot the home video

00:35:05 and then they sent it out to all the networks.

00:35:07 Nobody wanted it.

00:35:09 - Okay.

00:35:09 - So I'd given up on the idea.

00:35:11 10 months later, I get a call, I'm on a golf course.

00:35:13 Production company say, you're not gonna believe it.

00:35:15 HGTV wants to do a pilot.

00:35:17 - Wait, so who were the other companies you sent it to?

00:35:20 - Oh, I don't even remember.

00:35:21 - But it was a lot, big ones.

00:35:23 - I don't even know.

00:35:23 I don't even think, I just do.

00:35:25 - You just do.

00:35:25 - And that's the thing.

00:35:26 Most people that you get slowed down by thinking,

00:35:27 whether it's a big company or small company, I don't care.

00:35:30 They're a production company.

00:35:31 Whoever says, yes, I'm in.

00:35:32 - Yeah.

00:35:33 - You know what I mean?

00:35:35 - You didn't have these doubts like,

00:35:36 eh, is this good enough?

00:35:37 None of that.

00:35:38 This is what we got, this is what we send in.

00:35:39 - We do.

00:35:40 You gotta do.

00:35:41 You gotta do.

00:35:42 - Just do.

00:35:43 - You gotta take action every day.

00:35:43 - Oh, I'm learning.

00:35:44 - Yeah, no, it's really anything you want in life, if you do.

00:35:46 Stop thinking, stop talking about it,

00:35:48 stop wondering about it, start doing it.

00:35:51 You wanna ride a bike, go get on a bike.

00:35:54 - Go get on a bike.

00:35:55 - Don't read bicycle magazines,

00:35:56 don't watch YouTube videos on bikes, get on a bike.

00:35:59 - Yeah.

00:36:00 - Right?

00:36:01 - Yeah.

00:36:02 - You should know, you're training.

00:36:03 - I know, I'm doing it.

00:36:03 - It's the only way to do it, right?

00:36:05 So we shot the pilot in summer of '11

00:36:10 and we were told, you know,

00:36:12 the odds of getting your own show, very small.

00:36:14 - Okay.

00:36:15 - If you get your--

00:36:16 - Wait, wait, go back, go back a little bit.

00:36:17 - So HGTV, they call, okay, they want you.

00:36:21 What's that moment like?

00:36:23 - For a pilot, very exciting.

00:36:25 - You and Christina.

00:36:26 - I couldn't believe it.

00:36:27 - Okay.

00:36:28 - Like TV, we're just normal couple,

00:36:29 like, you know, struggling, right?

00:36:31 We're like nobody.

00:36:31 - What did Christina say?

00:36:32 - She's like, I can't believe you pulled it off.

00:36:34 You know, but you know,

00:36:35 I always pull off the wildest things, you know?

00:36:39 We had a lot of fun.

00:36:40 - Yeah.

00:36:41 - So she couldn't believe it, like we couldn't believe it.

00:36:43 So we shoot the pilot thinking,

00:36:44 all right, let's see what happens.

00:36:46 They said the odds of getting show very small

00:36:47 and it's probably gonna take a real long time.

00:36:49 Within weeks, I get a contract to do 13 episodes

00:36:52 of a house flipping show on HGTV.

00:36:55 Sounds very exciting, right?

00:36:56 - Yeah.

00:36:57 - Two problems.

00:36:58 Problem number one, I don't know how to flip houses.

00:37:02 - Okay.

00:37:03 - Okay, problem number two, even if I did,

00:37:05 where am I gonna get all this money

00:37:07 to flip 13 houses in 10 months and do it on TV?

00:37:10 That's a problem, right?

00:37:13 - That's a problem.

00:37:14 - Because the pilot was the third house I'd ever done.

00:37:16 - Wow.

00:37:18 - So then, you know, I called my lawyer at the time

00:37:20 who took me on a payment plan.

00:37:22 Still my lawyer today, Roger Bailey,

00:37:25 one of the best guys in the world.

00:37:27 And I asked, what's the worst thing that can happen?

00:37:30 And then he goes, well, they can sue you.

00:37:32 So I looked around at my finance couch

00:37:34 and my finance table and my finance chair

00:37:36 and I said, they can have it.

00:37:37 And I signed that sucker twice.

00:37:39 And I burned the boats again.

00:37:40 You know, what I did is I went all in.

00:37:42 So I knew I had to perform

00:37:44 and I had to finish this contract or I'm done.

00:37:47 So what I did is every night from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m.

00:37:51 I'd leave my house and drive Southern California.

00:37:54 And I would drive all the addresses of properties

00:37:57 going to the auction the next day.

00:37:59 And the reason I would drive them

00:38:00 was to make sure nobody was living there

00:38:01 because I didn't wanna buy occupied homes

00:38:04 'cause I couldn't film occupied homes.

00:38:06 - Right.

00:38:07 - So exhausted, beat up, every night going on the road.

00:38:11 And then here's what happened.

00:38:12 You know, you drive overnight,

00:38:14 you identify, you know, eight vacant houses.

00:38:16 I'm excited, right?

00:38:18 I go to the auction of the eight, you know,

00:38:20 five are postponed.

00:38:21 So I'm down to three.

00:38:22 And then, you know, my max bid is like 300,000.

00:38:25 So opening bid 200, 205, 210, 250, 275, 280, 290, 295,

00:38:30 300, I'm like, oh, am I gonna get,

00:38:32 oh, 305, 310, 343, 6380.

00:38:35 I'm like, what are they talking about?

00:38:39 How are they paying 400,000?

00:38:40 My max is three.

00:38:42 Well, it turns out I was competing against hedge funds

00:38:45 who showed up with like other people's

00:38:47 millions and millions of dollars.

00:38:49 But now I was stuck.

00:38:50 I signed this contract.

00:38:52 I agreed to a show.

00:38:53 I didn't know how to find houses.

00:38:55 So I kept doing it.

00:38:56 Every night I drove, every day I went to the auction,

00:38:58 I would lose, I'd lose, I'd lose.

00:39:00 It beat the crap out of me.

00:39:02 Couple of weeks in, they announced, I bid on it.

00:39:06 Nobody else bid against me.

00:39:07 I got the house.

00:39:10 I couldn't believe it.

00:39:12 But when I got the house, the first thing I thought was,

00:39:13 oh no, what did I do wrong?

00:39:16 And then the number one buyer at the auction,

00:39:18 it was towards the end of the day, he looks over at me

00:39:20 and he goes, I can't buy 'em all.

00:39:23 And he walked off.

00:39:24 And then I learned something.

00:39:26 I learned that if I take massive action

00:39:30 and I keep showing up, every now and then,

00:39:33 I'm gonna get lucky.

00:39:35 And that's exactly what I did.

00:39:36 And that's how I pulled it off.

00:39:38 - I don't know if you believe in God, but I do.

00:39:41 Black girl from Mississippi.

00:39:43 You are a walking testimony.

00:39:46 I don't know if you've ever heard this,

00:39:48 but God really favors you.

00:39:51 - Thank you.

00:39:52 - He tests you a little bit,

00:39:53 pushes you through some challenges and perseveres,

00:39:55 and he's like, you passed, here you go.

00:39:57 That's what I'm seeing in your life, here you go.

00:40:00 You passed.

00:40:01 - Yeah, and he's, you know, it's been a lot of ups and downs.

00:40:08 - A lot of ups and downs.

00:40:09 - And then, but today it's like, it's interesting,

00:40:11 'cause now at like 42, I'm at this spot in my life

00:40:15 where for the first time ever,

00:40:17 I'm comfortable in my own skin.

00:40:19 I'm happy with who I am.

00:40:22 I'm happy with what I am.

00:40:24 And I've never had that before.

00:40:26 So it's just an amazing feeling to be in this place

00:40:30 where I'm at, which I've been at

00:40:32 in the last couple of years.

00:40:33 So, but then they almost,

00:40:36 they tried to cancel Flip or Flop season one.

00:40:39 So halfway through the season, we just stopped filming.

00:40:42 And nobody was giving me information.

00:40:44 And then finally, I find out

00:40:45 that there was someone at the network

00:40:47 that thought it wouldn't be a good look for the network

00:40:50 to have a flipping show.

00:40:52 - Why?

00:40:53 - Because they thought it was like, you know,

00:40:55 making money off people.

00:40:57 So they didn't feel it was a good look.

00:40:59 So they almost canceled the show.

00:41:00 Luckily, that guy was gone.

00:41:02 So season one was 13 episodes,

00:41:04 and they did zero marketing, zero promotion.

00:41:08 No one had ever heard about it or talked about it.

00:41:10 And our episodes were 30 minutes.

00:41:12 So we premiered on a Thursday night in Los Angeles.

00:41:15 I'll never forget the premiere party

00:41:16 from 11 p.m. till 12 a.m.

00:41:19 Two episodes, brand new, back to back.

00:41:21 They were gonna burn us off there in six weeks

00:41:24 and be done with us.

00:41:25 Something special happened.

00:41:27 I'll never forget, I was so late thinking,

00:41:29 man, at least we made it.

00:41:31 At least we're on a screen.

00:41:33 Woke up the next day to find out

00:41:35 that we had broken a bunch of records.

00:41:37 The viewership from the beginning of the hour

00:41:38 to the end of the hour exponentially increased.

00:41:42 We hit the top 100 TV shows organically

00:41:45 in the Nielsen ratings.

00:41:46 And two weeks later, we were prime time.

00:41:49 It was cool.

00:41:51 - Oh my goodness.

00:41:52 - Yeah.

00:41:52 - Two weeks later, you were prime time.

00:41:53 - Yeah.

00:41:54 - So this is for, so I had to ask,

00:41:56 well, the Seen Money situation at this time,

00:41:58 how much were y'all making per episode?

00:42:01 - Per episode, we were making,

00:42:02 we were making 10,000 an episode back then.

00:42:04 - Okay.

00:42:05 - But, you know, my life's interesting

00:42:07 where I tell people you can change your life

00:42:09 and you can make money fast.

00:42:10 Like I went from being a broke kid

00:42:13 to a couple hundred thousand dollars a year.

00:42:15 And then I was stuck there for quite some time.

00:42:18 But then I went from that to making a million dollars

00:42:20 within like a year.

00:42:21 So I went from here to here really fast.

00:42:23 - And you and your wife, y'all are doing this together.

00:42:25 - Yeah.

00:42:26 - A lot of people say, don't shit where you eat.

00:42:27 And so why did you decide to do this?

00:42:30 Bring her along with you on this venture?

00:42:32 - Well, we were best friends.

00:42:34 - Oh, she's bestie.

00:42:34 - Yeah, so like we were hanging out anyways.

00:42:37 And we had a lot of fun doing it.

00:42:40 Yeah, we had a lot of fun doing it.

00:42:42 And then going into season two,

00:42:44 we were just started filming season two.

00:42:48 And I got this eerie email

00:42:50 from the production company in the network.

00:42:51 So there was a fan out of Texas, registered nurse,

00:42:54 sent an email, said, hey, I'm a registered nurse.

00:42:56 I noticed a lump on Tarek's neck.

00:42:58 He should get it checked.

00:43:00 Right when I got that email,

00:43:01 I knew I had to do something

00:43:02 because I'd gone to my regular doctor multiple times.

00:43:06 Because for like two years,

00:43:08 I was like, I was always clearing my throat

00:43:10 and I was feeling pressure in my neck.

00:43:12 And he gave me nose spray and allergy medicine,

00:43:15 but like nothing else.

00:43:17 So I ended up going to a different doctor

00:43:19 and they do a biopsy.

00:43:21 The biopsy came back as atypical,

00:43:23 meaning there's a chance it could be cancer

00:43:25 and a chance it couldn't be cancer.

00:43:27 It's unknown.

00:43:28 So then we booked Exploratory Surgery.

00:43:30 So they were just gonna cut me open a little bit

00:43:33 just to take a look around.

00:43:34 What happened was I was under the knife

00:43:36 for like four to five hours.

00:43:39 And I'll never forget,

00:43:40 when I came to my eyes open,

00:43:42 Christina looking down on me, I see the tears.

00:43:45 And then the first thing I said was,

00:43:48 I have cancer, don't I?

00:43:50 And she nodded her head.

00:43:51 So I found out I actually had cancer

00:43:54 after they removed the cancer.

00:43:56 So I had stage three thyroid cancer

00:43:58 at spread to my lymph nodes.

00:44:01 So they removed my entire thyroid plus lymph nodes.

00:44:04 - Did they tell you how long they thought you'd had it?

00:44:07 - It had been a few years.

00:44:09 - Years.

00:44:09 - Yeah, yeah.

00:44:10 - Oh my gosh, okay.

00:44:11 - So it was stage three.

00:44:13 It wasn't stage one.

00:44:14 So it was a little scary.

00:44:16 So because of that,

00:44:18 we looked through my old medical records

00:44:20 and we noticed a year before I had

00:44:23 an irregular testicle exam,

00:44:25 but there was nothing else said about it.

00:44:27 So one day I'm with my thyroid cancer doctor,

00:44:31 I'll never forget this.

00:44:32 And I was trying to book an ultrasound

00:44:34 for my testicles, whatever.

00:44:35 I don't know what to call them.

00:44:36 So I guess that's what we'll call them today.

00:44:37 - Okay.

00:44:38 - And when I was there,

00:44:40 last minute there was an opening down the hall

00:44:42 and they're like, hey, we can go do the ultrasound

00:44:44 'cause you're already here.

00:44:45 You wanna go do that?

00:44:45 I said, yeah, sure.

00:44:46 So I go into the ultrasound room

00:44:48 and the technician was like,

00:44:51 this guy from Huntington Beach.

00:44:53 You know, it's an uncomfortable ultrasound area, right?

00:44:56 So we're just like talking and stuff

00:44:58 and his energy's good.

00:44:59 And like, you know, he's talkative.

00:45:01 And all of a sudden, like, you know, I read people,

00:45:03 that's one of my ADHD superpowers.

00:45:05 And I was noticing his tonality changing,

00:45:09 his energy changing.

00:45:10 And I asked him, hey, what's up?

00:45:11 He goes, oh, nothing.

00:45:13 I was like, dude, what's up?

00:45:14 Something's wrong, what's going on?

00:45:15 - The vibe changed.

00:45:17 - And he goes, I'm not a doctor.

00:45:19 I said, no, I know you're not a doctor.

00:45:21 What's going on?

00:45:22 He goes, you're in pain.

00:45:24 I said, huh?

00:45:25 He goes, 'cause if you're in pain,

00:45:27 you should go to the emergency room down the hall.

00:45:30 - Were you in pain?

00:45:32 - No.

00:45:33 - Did you say you were in pain?

00:45:34 - That's what he was telling me to do, to say.

00:45:37 So I walked down the hall.

00:45:38 20 minutes later, I have a surgeon in the room

00:45:40 explaining that I have testicular cancer, booking surgery.

00:45:44 So now I'm thinking I'm gonna die

00:45:48 'cause I have two cancers at the same time.

00:45:51 Yeah.

00:45:52 - Okay, well, you stand in here today.

00:45:54 How did that story end?

00:45:57 - Well, I thought it was over.

00:46:02 I remember talking to the network.

00:46:05 They're like, no problem with the show.

00:46:06 We'll stop filming.

00:46:07 And I was like, oh, hell no.

00:46:09 We're gonna film this to the end.

00:46:11 I said, you're gonna film me rolling into these surgeries.

00:46:13 So if you watch the show,

00:46:15 you'll see me on national TV gain 50, 60 pounds

00:46:19 from my thyroid cancer

00:46:21 because when they removed my thyroid,

00:46:24 I mean, I was gaining weight.

00:46:26 It was a wild experience.

00:46:28 - TV is a lot of vanity.

00:46:29 - Yeah, yeah.

00:46:30 And for years, people would comment off,

00:46:33 call me names, ugly, fad.

00:46:35 I don't know how you got your wife.

00:46:37 You're a loser, for years.

00:46:38 But I was sick.

00:46:39 I looked like shit.

00:46:40 I look better today, I'd say.

00:46:43 - Did it seep in you or did you just let it roll off?

00:46:46 - I was so beat up all the time.

00:46:50 It was like, I couldn't even feel it anymore.

00:46:53 I was just every day just beat up,

00:46:56 emotionally drained.

00:46:57 My hormones were off.

00:46:58 My energy was gone.

00:47:00 I wasn't the same human

00:47:01 because your thyroid controls everything.

00:47:03 - Your hormones being off, that's major.

00:47:07 - Yeah, but then it gets really bad.

00:47:09 So after all my surgeries and radioactive iodine

00:47:14 where they locked me in this room without my family

00:47:17 and x-rayed me or like lasered me

00:47:19 to see how radioactive I was,

00:47:21 I finally was feeling better.

00:47:22 I go out and golf one day, my buddies.

00:47:24 And it turns out I was having the record round of my life.

00:47:28 I'm not a good golfer.

00:47:30 I was somehow like five or six over

00:47:33 after like 10 or 11 holes,

00:47:34 which for golf, for me, that's like one hole.

00:47:36 - So please break it down 'cause I don't know golf.

00:47:38 - Let's just say it was around that,

00:47:40 I never played like that in my life.

00:47:43 So I go to pick up my golf ball off the grass.

00:47:46 Next thing I know, my back goes out and I hit the ground.

00:47:49 I'm like, damn.

00:47:50 So I get up and I'm in some pain.

00:47:52 I should have left the golf course.

00:47:55 - And that was in front of the boys.

00:47:56 - Yeah. - What did they say?

00:47:57 - They laughed at me.

00:48:00 - Okay, all right.

00:48:01 - So I was like, I'm gonna keep going, man.

00:48:03 I got this round.

00:48:04 So we go up to the next hole.

00:48:05 About halfway through my swing, coming down to hit the ball,

00:48:08 I feel the worst pain I ever feel in my life.

00:48:11 Hit the deck, hit the ground.

00:48:13 And for the next year and a half,

00:48:15 I lived through absolute hell.

00:48:17 So I just got out of the cancers

00:48:20 and then I went into a whole new situation

00:48:22 to where I slipped multiple discs

00:48:25 and it was just pinching my sciatic so bad,

00:48:28 I could barely stand up straight.

00:48:31 I was taking like 10 to 12 Vicodin, Dilaudid,

00:48:33 Percocet every day.

00:48:35 I went from 235 pounds to 165 pounds.

00:48:38 You could see the bones in my chest.

00:48:42 And then after a year of this,

00:48:45 I finally, finally got the surgery.

00:48:48 So then I got the surgery.

00:48:50 - Let me ask you this.

00:48:54 Did you feel before all of this happened

00:48:57 with the health issues,

00:48:59 that you took your health for granted?

00:49:01 - Oh, 100%.

00:49:03 I was awful on myself and in my body.

00:49:05 I smoked two packs a day, cigarettes.

00:49:08 I was an alcoholic for many years.

00:49:11 I was really, really rough on myself.

00:49:13 I didn't sleep enough.

00:49:14 I was overwhelmed, stressed all the time.

00:49:16 - Wow, it's like you are going to learn every lesson.

00:49:20 You learned how to value hard work

00:49:24 and you're learning how to value your health.

00:49:26 - Yes.

00:49:27 Today I'm healthy.

00:49:28 - Today you're healthy.

00:49:29 - Healthy, yeah.

00:49:30 - What's gonna be the next one?

00:49:31 What do you think?

00:49:32 - I don't know.

00:49:33 - What's gonna hit you next, Tariq?

00:49:35 - I don't know yet.

00:49:36 That's book two.

00:49:37 - Yeah?

00:49:38 Well, keep going.

00:49:39 - Yeah, well, where was I?

00:49:40 What was I talking about?

00:49:41 - You were talking about, you're at the golf course.

00:49:44 - Oh, no, the back. - Two years.

00:49:45 - A year with the back.

00:49:47 So now, I'm not a nice human.

00:49:51 I mean, I'm on opiates.

00:49:52 I'm high.

00:49:54 I wasn't myself.

00:49:55 I was mean.

00:49:56 I was short-tempered.

00:49:57 I was frustrated, brain fog.

00:49:59 Like, I was addicted to opiates,

00:50:03 but not because I wanted to be addicted to opiates,

00:50:05 but because I was in so much pain.

00:50:06 Like, the pain was so bad.

00:50:09 So then I go get the surgery,

00:50:12 and then the night I came home from the surgery

00:50:14 was probably the worst night of my life.

00:50:18 What happened was, they didn't give me anti-nausea medicine.

00:50:24 So because of the pain pills, I was nauseous.

00:50:28 So then I would try to throw up,

00:50:30 and then I had surgery like eight hours before,

00:50:32 and it was so painful

00:50:34 that I had to stop taking the pain pills.

00:50:37 So now I'm feeling everything.

00:50:39 And then what happened was, which was the worst part,

00:50:42 is I had this urge to go to the bathroom.

00:50:45 It would take me like 15 minutes

00:50:47 to get from the bed to the toilet.

00:50:48 I'd stand there and wait and wait,

00:50:50 and a couple drops of blood would come out.

00:50:52 And this happened all night.

00:50:54 And then finally, I think it was like five or six

00:50:56 in the morning, I realized,

00:50:57 I think my bladder is gonna explode.

00:50:59 Yeah, so I call 911.

00:51:02 - Yeah, and what is Christina doing in this whole process?

00:51:06 How is she holding it down?

00:51:08 - You know, at the time, we were going through,

00:51:10 you know, with a lot of other things.

00:51:12 You know, I think she was dealing

00:51:17 with like the infertility stuff,

00:51:18 and she was on bed rest, I believe, from, you know.

00:51:23 - So both of y'all going through that.

00:51:24 - We were going through it, yeah.

00:51:26 Yeah, we went through a lot as a family, you know, a lot.

00:51:30 Right?

00:51:31 So I go to the hospital,

00:51:35 and then, turns out, they didn't check my urethra.

00:51:40 I think that's what it's called.

00:51:41 Is that what it's called?

00:51:41 I think that's what it's called.

00:51:42 And it closed up, and that's why

00:51:43 I couldn't use the restroom.

00:51:45 So actually, it was a good thing I went to the hospital,

00:51:47 'cause I would have been in big trouble.

00:51:49 So then they tried to send me home,

00:51:51 like a couple hours later, and I was in so much pain.

00:51:53 I told them something's wrong, and I wouldn't leave.

00:51:56 And then I was actually arguing with the hospital.

00:51:59 Like I said, I'm not leaving.

00:52:01 You know, they called the police, get me out of here.

00:52:02 So finally, they sent me up to the actual hospital,

00:52:04 not the emergency room.

00:52:06 Turns out, there were some complications.

00:52:07 So then I think I spent like four or five nights

00:52:09 in the hospital, started recovering, got home.

00:52:13 And now I'm downstairs, beat up.

00:52:17 I just survived a couple cancers,

00:52:18 a year of hell with my back,

00:52:20 and now I'm miserable from surgery.

00:52:22 And I'm in this dark room downstairs for weeks,

00:52:24 not moving, not getting out of bed.

00:52:26 One day, I'm watching the show "Intervention."

00:52:29 Have you seen that show?

00:52:29 - I have.

00:52:30 - Oh my gosh, I love that show.

00:52:31 You should watch that show.

00:52:33 And it's a marathon.

00:52:34 Every episode is about a family, you know,

00:52:37 doing an intervention to an addict or a user

00:52:40 to give it up and turn their life around.

00:52:43 Go to rehab, start over, fresh start.

00:52:46 So episode, episode, episode.

00:52:48 I'm getting more inspired, right?

00:52:50 More inspired, creating more hope.

00:52:52 And then I said, "You know what?

00:52:54 "I'm gonna walk."

00:52:55 I said, "I'm gonna walk to the front door."

00:52:57 I had a big house at the time.

00:52:59 So that was my first goal.

00:53:00 So I get out of bed, put my slippers on,

00:53:03 and I look like Mr. Burns, you know,

00:53:04 'cause I was hunched over, I was skinny,

00:53:07 chest bones popping out.

00:53:08 'Cause I couldn't stand up straight,

00:53:10 so I was always hunched.

00:53:11 So I make it to the front door,

00:53:13 and I'm like, "Well, I made it to the front door.

00:53:14 "I wonder if I can make it to the corner."

00:53:15 - And you're what, early 30s at this time?

00:53:18 - Yeah, I think I was like 31, yeah.

00:53:20 - 31.

00:53:21 - 31, 32.

00:53:22 - These awful problems, you feel like.

00:53:24 - Yeah, it was wild.

00:53:25 - Yeah.

00:53:26 - It's like I've rebuilt my body, you know?

00:53:27 It's amazing what the human body can do

00:53:29 if you take care of it.

00:53:29 So I said, "Can I make it to the corner?"

00:53:32 I said, "I think I can."

00:53:33 So then I walked to the corner.

00:53:34 I said, "Man, I made it."

00:53:35 It was like 60, 70 yards.

00:53:37 I just kept walking,

00:53:39 and I ended up walking a two-mile loop.

00:53:42 And about halfway through my walk,

00:53:44 I realized I was standing up straight,

00:53:46 and my pain was going away.

00:53:48 By the time I got home, my back pain was gone.

00:53:51 And that was the first day to my recovery.

00:53:53 And I learned through action and motion

00:53:56 and moving my body and creating blood flow,

00:53:59 I could start healing.

00:54:00 - Doing.

00:54:01 - It all came from watching a TV show.

00:54:02 - Mm-hmm.

00:54:03 - Yeah.

00:54:04 - Doing.

00:54:05 That should have been the name of the book, "Doing."

00:54:06 - Doing.

00:54:06 Just do it.

00:54:07 The Nike says it best.

00:54:09 - Just do it.

00:54:10 Oh my goodness.

00:54:11 And you were still filming at this time?

00:54:13 Or what?

00:54:14 - Yeah, I filmed through the whole thing.

00:54:15 - The whole thing.

00:54:16 - I filmed through the cancers, the back surgery,

00:54:18 the divorce.

00:54:19 I filmed through everything.

00:54:20 - What were the ratings like?

00:54:21 - Good.

00:54:22 - They were good.

00:54:23 - Yeah, the ratings were good.

00:54:24 - And were people still talking their talk,

00:54:26 or did they finally understand,

00:54:27 "Okay, no, he's really going through something."

00:54:30 - You know, to be honest,

00:54:32 I never really got much love from the world.

00:54:37 - Why?

00:54:39 - Because of, I think there was just so many awful things

00:54:42 said about me during my divorce in the press.

00:54:44 Majority untrue, but it really hurt me at the time.

00:54:49 - Yeah.

00:54:51 - And you know, I was just lost, alone, miserable,

00:54:55 so sad, and just everyday looking at the newspapers

00:54:59 and the articles and people attacking me,

00:55:01 and I'm just thinking, "Man, when's it gonna end?"

00:55:04 - The press.

00:55:06 - Yeah.

00:55:07 - As part of the press, I understand.

00:55:09 - Yeah.

00:55:10 - And what would you say to those people today?

00:55:14 What would you say to all of those people

00:55:16 who had so much negative stuff to say?

00:55:18 - Oh, you know, I mean, in life, I mean, we're all human,

00:55:23 and we all make mistakes, and it's about what you do

00:55:26 after you make those mistakes.

00:55:28 And it's important that we not be so judgmental,

00:55:32 because at one point in our life,

00:55:33 every one of us has been through something,

00:55:36 and every one of us has probably gotten a second chance.

00:55:39 - Yeah.

00:55:40 - And during the divorce, was there a prenup?

00:55:43 - No, no.

00:55:44 So, I mean, we went into it as broke kids, you know?

00:55:47 - Yeah.

00:55:47 - So no prenup, you know, but you know,

00:55:51 they understood, but you know, also, I feel like

00:55:53 I was very misunderstood during those years,

00:55:55 because that wasn't me, I was sick.

00:55:59 Like, I was sick for, not for like a week,

00:56:01 I didn't have a cold, like, for years.

00:56:04 Multiple cancers, back surgeries, complications.

00:56:07 And then after that, the worst part,

00:56:09 the nail in the coffin, which really

00:56:11 made this whole thing explode, was the testosterone.

00:56:16 So, after the back, I started feeling better,

00:56:20 but I didn't have my energy, I was exhausted all the time.

00:56:23 So, you know, I ended up going to one of those

00:56:26 bioidentical hormone doctors, at one of those Botox offices.

00:56:30 Man.

00:56:33 And she told me that the reason I felt like that

00:56:36 was because of my testicular cancer,

00:56:38 so I needed testosterone.

00:56:40 - Yeah.

00:56:41 - Turns out, she was totally wrong,

00:56:43 because at the time, my testosterone was 580,

00:56:45 which was fine.

00:56:46 - Okay.

00:56:47 - So next thing I know, this guy comes in the room

00:56:49 with like, biceps this big, has no hair,

00:56:51 like he's juiced out of his mind,

00:56:53 and he's showing me where to stick

00:56:54 a three, four inch needle into my ass.

00:56:57 And I'm thinking, well, these are doctors, okay.

00:56:59 I had cancer, okay.

00:57:01 So next thing I know, I'm injecting myself with testosterone.

00:57:04 I'm injecting myself daily with something called HCG.

00:57:09 - What's that?

00:57:10 - I believe it's a female hormone, actually.

00:57:12 - Like estrogen?

00:57:13 - Yeah, I think so.

00:57:14 And then I'm taking a pill called anestrosal,

00:57:17 which was an estrogen blocker.

00:57:19 - Okay.

00:57:21 - And it made me feel like Superman.

00:57:23 The highest highs you could ever imagine.

00:57:26 Like, all that excitement, passion on overdrive.

00:57:31 Like, I felt like I can do anything.

00:57:35 - Yeah.

00:57:36 - But at the same time, the lowest lows,

00:57:40 the lowest valleys, the saddest you could ever feel.

00:57:45 So I became addicted to this testosterone.

00:57:48 The highs it would give me, the excitement.

00:57:52 But then the negatives of it were the depression,

00:57:56 the mania, the racing thoughts, the anxiety,

00:57:59 the palpitating heart.

00:58:01 But I was addicted to it because I loved it so much.

00:58:05 - Did you know what was going on at the time?

00:58:06 - No, I didn't.

00:58:07 - You didn't.

00:58:08 So you couldn't even voice to your loved ones,

00:58:10 like, something's wrong with me right now.

00:58:12 I'm going through something.

00:58:13 - Yeah, and then I found myself,

00:58:15 this is why Christina left me.

00:58:16 I'd come home from work, I'd go lock myself in my office

00:58:19 and stare at my wall for hours, just dying inside.

00:58:23 And a few weeks before she left me,

00:58:27 I had reached out to a few people around me,

00:58:32 including her, explaining I needed help.

00:58:35 - Yeah.

00:58:36 - I knew something.

00:58:36 At this point, I was way far gone.

00:58:38 I was so mean.

00:58:39 I was, I wasn't myself.

00:58:44 - Did she help you?

00:58:45 - I had done too much damage at that point.

00:58:48 - Too much.

00:58:49 And I want to respect your current marriage

00:58:51 because I really do.

00:58:52 If you could do things differently,

00:58:56 that's not the right question.

00:58:59 The right question is,

00:59:00 do you have any regrets?

00:59:05 Are you okay with how life is going for you?

00:59:09 Or would you have wanted to see things go differently?

00:59:13 - Listen, I wouldn't change a thing.

00:59:15 The most valuable lessons I learned in my life

00:59:20 were through the pain of that divorce and losing my family.

00:59:25 It made me the best father I could ever be.

00:59:30 It made me realize what was important.

00:59:32 Now, would it have been okay

00:59:36 if I would have gone through that experience

00:59:38 and then we would have tried to work it out?

00:59:40 My life would be different, right?

00:59:42 But that didn't happen.

00:59:44 And you can't control the past.

00:59:46 You can't control other people.

00:59:48 And you can't look back and wonder what if

00:59:51 because you'll be locked in a prison.

00:59:53 So I wouldn't change a thing.

00:59:55 I love my wife.

00:59:56 I love my new son.

00:59:58 I have my family.

00:59:59 That's all 20/20 hindsight.

01:00:05 A lot of times in life,

01:00:05 you don't realize what's going on

01:00:07 until you're out of it looking back

01:00:09 and you realize, wow, it was bad.

01:00:11 You know, I almost feel like that period of my life,

01:00:14 I don't even remember what happened.

01:00:16 It feels like a dream to me.

01:00:18 - What was your relationship like with your kids?

01:00:21 - Terrible, terrible.

01:00:23 I was a terrible father.

01:00:25 - Do they still remember that?

01:00:26 - No.

01:00:27 And what happened was she left me.

01:00:29 Next thing I know, I got to take care of my daughter

01:00:32 but I never took care of her before, you know?

01:00:34 And I'll never forget it, magic,

01:00:36 doing bath time, doing her hair, brushing her hair,

01:00:39 doing the shampoo and the conditioner

01:00:41 and just crying, like realizing, like, you know.

01:00:46 Kids.

01:01:09 Realizing how much I missed out on.

01:01:11 But I made it up to her.

01:01:16 We're best friends, yeah.

01:01:17 - Yeah, we're best friends.

01:01:19 - Best friends, like daddy-daughter dances,

01:01:22 day and night, soccer coach.

01:01:24 So as you can see, there's still some pain in there.

01:01:29 So yeah, you know, I don't beat myself up about it

01:01:38 because I turned it around.

01:01:40 And that's what this book's about.

01:01:42 You know, we all go through shit

01:01:43 and we're no different than houses.

01:01:44 It doesn't matter how tired we are, how beat up we are,

01:01:47 how sad we are, how depressed we are,

01:01:48 how out of shape we are, how fat we are, how skinny we are.

01:01:52 We can all use a remodel.

01:01:54 It's real.

01:01:56 I remodeled my life from the inside out

01:01:58 and I did it, you know, for me, I did it for my kids,

01:02:02 I did it for my family.

01:02:04 And anyone out there that's going through shit,

01:02:07 they can turn it around, but no one's gonna do it for them.

01:02:09 They gotta do it for themselves.

01:02:11 - Absolutely.

01:02:12 - Yeah.

01:02:12 - You know, I watched "Selling Sunset"

01:02:15 and I saw Heather from season one to now.

01:02:21 - Yeah.

01:02:22 - And I always thought to myself,

01:02:24 she's had the absolute best character development.

01:02:28 And I wonder if you have something to do with that.

01:02:33 - You know, I think we've both helped each other a lot

01:02:37 in many different ways.

01:02:38 - Yeah.

01:02:39 - You know, I think us meeting was fate.

01:02:43 Being on that boat, 4th of July,

01:02:45 and connecting so fast and being together

01:02:49 and now having a family with her,

01:02:52 it's something that for years

01:02:56 I never thought I'd have again.

01:02:59 So, you know, having that again in my life makes me whole.

01:03:02 - It makes you whole.

01:03:03 - Yeah.

01:03:04 - So what's it like?

01:03:05 What's it like being a new dad?

01:03:08 I mean, you have kids with your dad all over again.

01:03:12 What do you feel like, okay,

01:03:12 this time I'm gonna get this right?

01:03:14 - Oh man, it's just, it's incredible.

01:03:16 You know, like I'm best friends with Taylor and Brayden.

01:03:19 Like, they'll tell you, like, we are buddies.

01:03:21 Like, we do everything together, you know?

01:03:25 But with Tristan, it's, you know, I missed, like I said,

01:03:28 like, it's acceptance.

01:03:30 I was not a good father.

01:03:31 I didn't hold the babies enough.

01:03:33 I didn't spend enough, you know, with Tristan

01:03:35 since the day he was born, skin to skin,

01:03:37 an hour a night on my chest.

01:03:39 We are so close, and he's a one-year-old,

01:03:43 and there's, my favorite thing is the morning.

01:03:46 You know, I get up around 3.34 in the morning.

01:03:48 They come down around 5.45 a.m.

01:03:51 I hear them coming down the stairs,

01:03:53 and every morning he knows dad's right around the corner,

01:03:55 and you see he pops his head,

01:03:57 and he throws his arms out at me every morning,

01:04:00 and I grab him, and we walk around,

01:04:02 and while Heather makes his bottle and stuff,

01:04:04 and like, we have our own things,

01:04:06 and I'm just so excited to have this chance with him.

01:04:10 - Family is everything, and you said that to me

01:04:12 before the interview.

01:04:13 I'm a dad.

01:04:14 - Yeah, I'm a dad first,

01:04:15 and that's what I learned through all this.

01:04:17 You know, through, you know, hitting rock bottom

01:04:20 with my ex-wife leaving me, I realized, like,

01:04:22 every single thing I was stressed about,

01:04:25 anxious about, nervous about, worried about,

01:04:28 didn't mean anything.

01:04:30 Because the second she left me,

01:04:32 that trumped everything else that I was ever worried about.

01:04:35 - And that was your best friend.

01:04:37 - Yeah, so very, very, again, very valuable lessons,

01:04:42 and it's what you do with those hardships, right?

01:04:46 You can, I see people all the time waste 20, 30,

01:04:51 think about it, 40, 50 years of their life

01:04:54 dwelling on something or hating on someone

01:04:57 from decades ago, blaming their life today

01:05:01 on someone from 30 years ago.

01:05:05 It has nothing to do with that person.

01:05:09 Has to do with you.

01:05:10 - Has to do with you.

01:05:12 - Yeah.

01:05:13 - Well, you and Heather, y'all have a show.

01:05:14 - Yeah, yeah, I was so excited.

01:05:16 Yeah, yeah, oh my God, season two is so good, by the way.

01:05:19 Like, season one, you know, first year flipping,

01:05:21 we're new to working together, right?

01:05:23 Season two, we've created the coolest houses I've ever done.

01:05:27 I'm so excited, yeah.

01:05:29 - And so, once again, you're working with your wife.

01:05:33 Heather's your best friend.

01:05:35 Heather's your best friend.

01:05:36 And what was the energy like

01:05:39 when she first came into your life?

01:05:41 Like, you know, we see these new relationships,

01:05:44 you go through these highs and lows,

01:05:45 was it just positive?

01:05:46 What was it like?

01:05:47 - Oh, it was awesome.

01:05:49 I mean, we had so much fun, you know?

01:05:51 Like, very first date was so much fun.

01:05:54 Within the first week, we moved in together,

01:05:56 traveled the world together,

01:05:57 we lived through the pandemic together,

01:05:59 kicked off our show together,

01:06:02 taught her how to flip houses,

01:06:04 and today she's a rockstar at it.

01:06:05 She's doing so good.

01:06:06 And our show, season two, it's gonna be so much fun.

01:06:10 It's such a fun show.

01:06:12 - What made you know that,

01:06:14 okay, she's the one, I'm gonna marry her?

01:06:16 - That's, well, there was a moment, actually,

01:06:20 it was on our boat.

01:06:21 So, I'll never forget, I look over,

01:06:23 and she had, you know, Taylor sleeping on her chest,

01:06:25 and this arm, she had Brayden sleeping on her on this arm,

01:06:27 and the three of them were kind of like passed out,

01:06:29 and I was sitting there and looking,

01:06:31 and that was the moment I said,

01:06:32 I'm gonna marry this girl.

01:06:34 - She loves your other kids, too.

01:06:36 She treats them like they're her own.

01:06:37 - Yeah.

01:06:38 - That is absolutely beautiful.

01:06:39 - Yeah, she's been an amazing stepmom to them,

01:06:42 and we needed her.

01:06:44 - I'm tired.

01:06:45 Let's go back to the business.

01:06:46 - Sure.

01:06:47 - What's the money like with the flipping on Moses?

01:06:49 How much are y'all making per episode?

01:06:51 - Oh, I don't think I can share that, but we do okay.

01:06:54 - Y'all do okay?

01:06:55 Everything's good, okay.

01:06:56 - Everything's okay.

01:06:57 - Well, what's next for you?

01:06:58 - You know, I'm really passionate about two things.

01:07:02 Getting people from zero to as far as they wanna go.

01:07:08 So, I have a company called Homeschooled by Tariq,

01:07:10 where I teach people how to fix and flip houses,

01:07:13 how to buy rental properties, how to wholesale real estate.

01:07:16 Most people think to be an investor

01:07:18 or be involved in investing, it takes money.

01:07:20 It doesn't.

01:07:21 So, I teach people, even if they have no money,

01:07:23 how to get started and change their life through real estate.

01:07:26 So, that's one of my passions.

01:07:28 My other passion is my company, TEM Capital,

01:07:32 and that's Private Equity Real Estate Syndication.

01:07:35 So, for a lot of people that are maybe lawyers or doctors

01:07:38 or business owners who are busy,

01:07:41 that don't have the time to invest in real estate,

01:07:44 they partner with me on real estate deals.

01:07:46 So, I help them grow their wealth

01:07:47 by investing in deals with me.

01:07:50 And we buy self-storage facilities, multi-family properties.

01:07:55 We just announced a few days ago,

01:07:56 we're building a 39-story high-rise

01:07:58 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, gorgeous project.

01:08:01 We just broke ground on 925 storage units, Surprise, Arizona.

01:08:05 Just closed escrow, 215 units in Orlando.

01:08:08 So, I'm very passionate about educating accredited investors

01:08:13 and helping them educate them and grow their wealth.

01:08:16 And then outside of that, I'm big on community.

01:08:18 So, with our investors, we have dinners and yacht parties,

01:08:20 and we're planning a vacation to Mexico this year.

01:08:23 So, just a lot of fun stuff.

01:08:25 - All right.

01:08:26 - You gotta make money and have fun.

01:08:27 - And have fun. - You gotta do both.

01:08:28 (Tariq laughs)

01:08:30 - Well, Tariq, you have been such a pleasure

01:08:32 to speak with today.

01:08:33 - Thank you, you too.

01:08:34 - Thank you.

01:08:35 (air whooshing)

01:08:38 (air whooshing)

01:08:40 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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