5 Habits That Build Rockstar Teams & 5 That Break Them featuring Amanda Dean

Phil Vaughan: From 14 Convictions to a Couple Hundred Deals a Year

In this CG Live episode recorded at the Q1 2026 Collective Genius Premier and CEO event in Dallas, Texas, Phil Vaughan joins host Leon to share how he built a South Jersey wholesaling operation doing a couple hundred deals a year and now pushing toward $5–6 million in revenue. Phil has been a Collective Genius member for nearly five years and brings to the table one of the most remarkable origin stories in the entire CG community. What makes this conversation different is that Phil doesn't talk much about lead gen funnels or conversion metrics. He talks about where he actually came from: a teenage dad, 14 criminal convictions, kicked out of ninth grade, facing a two-year state prison sentence at 24 before a pastor's story changed everything. From that moment to supplying steel for New York City high-rises to closing wholesale deals at scale, Phil's story is about what happens when faith, drive, and the right room collide. If you're a real estate investor who believes your background disqualifies you from real success, this one is required listening. Timeline Summary [0:22] – Host introduces Phil Vaughan, a South Jersey wholesaler doing a couple hundred deals a year and a CG member going on five years [1:24] – Why Phil runs 80% wholesale and why he believes most flippers are making less than their wholesale fee while chasing social media clout [2:28] – Phil's current pain point: a comping and underwriting bottleneck that's costing him higher spreads and better exit strategies on every deal [4:38] – How two new closers coming online at the same time created an unexpected operational crunch and what solving it is actually worth [5:50] – Phil's revenue trajectory: from $500–600K his first year to $5 million today with a $50 million long-term goal [7:22] – Why Phil set a less aggressive revenue goal this year and how his team of captains and mavericks talks him down from the ceiling when the numbers don't yet support the dream [9:15] – Leon reflects on how many CG members Phil has name-dropped and why Phil's personal story is one of the best in the group [10:05] – How the CG public speaking belt was the original reason Phil joined and what he thought he could possibly offer a room full of high-level operators [11:34] – The South Jersey neighborhood where Phil grew up: parents split, wrong crowd, and how he went from street hockey to breaking into cars at 13 [13:48] – Locked up, on probation from 14 to 18, kicked out of ninth grade, two kids by 17, and facing two years at Jamesburg for Boys [16:17] – The courtroom moment that changed everything: a judge who let Phil walk and told him exactly what his life would look like if he didn't stop [19:56] – A pastor named Brother Sam who visited Phil in jail for years and delivered the story that finally broke him down and turned him around [21:08] – Phil voluntarily checks into Faith Farm for nine months, comes out transformed, and within a year is supplying steel for New York City high-rises making $330,000 a year [24:34] – What Phil shared at his first CG public speaking contest, why he felt naked telling it, and the relationships that came from showing up that vulnerable 5 Key Takeaways 1. Comping Speed Kills Margins — Moving too fast through disposition creates a hidden tax on every deal. Phil's team is leaving money on the table by defaulting to wholesale when a creative exit might deliver 2.5x the profit, simply because nobody has time to slow down and underwrite it right. 2. Your Environment Is Your Destiny — Phil joined Collective Genius for the same reason he ended up in trouble as a kid: you become whoever you're around. Surrounding yourself with people operating at a higher level isn't a luxury — it's the mechanism of growth, in both directions. 3. Vision Has to Outlast Obstacles — Phil has carried a $50 million real estate goal from the time he was grinding through his first $500,000 year. The goal felt insane at the time, but having it on the wall kept him moving through years when most people would have settled or stopped. 4. The People Who Believe in You Before You Believe in Yourself Matter More Than Any Strategy — A judge who saw something in Phil, a pastor who kept showing up to his jail cell, a coach named Cody who eventually helped him leave his W-2 — these weren't tactics. They were the turning points. 5. Vulnerability in the Room Builds What Logic Can't — Phil almost didn't tell his story at CG because he didn't think a room full of high-level operators would connect with it. The relationships that came out of that speech proved the opposite. The most powerful thing you can bring to a mastermind is often the truth about where you came from. Links & Resources * Connect with Phil Vaughan on social media — search "Phil by source" on all platforms * Collective Genius Community — explorecg.com Phil's story is a reminder that what you're building right now has almost nothing to do with where you started. From a courtroom at 20 years old to a couple hundred wholesale deals a year, the common thread has been getting into better rooms and refusing to stop growing. If Phil's story hit home for you, share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. And if you're a full-time real estate investor ready to get into a room like the one Phil's been in for five years, head to explorecg.com to learn more and apply.

From Football Champion to 2,500 Wholesale Deals in California featuring Dek Bake

Dek Bake brings an undrafted mentality to real estate wholesaling in Southern California. Since 2020, his team has completed over 2,500 wholesale deals across LA County, Orange County, Riverside County, and San Bernardino County, with years hitting 500+ transactions annually. This episode walks through how a former NFL defensive lineman built one of California's most competitive wholesaling operations in the state's toughest markets. Dek sits down to share his journey from junior college to Texas Tech to undrafted free agent, then to scaling a seven-figure acquisition company. If you're scaling a real estate operation in a competitive market, building and managing a lean team, or trying to think at the CEO level while staying grounded in operations, this one is required listening. Timeline Summary [0:00] – Host Leon Barnes welcomes guest Dek Bake, a member from California, to discuss his real estate wholesaling operation [2:35] – Dek shares his location in Irvine and primary markets across Southern California including LA County, Orange County, Riverside, and San Bernardino [3:31] – Over 2,500 deals completed since going full-time in 2020, all wholesale acquisitions in California [4:23] – Plans for expansion remain flexible; the Southern California market is large enough to build a multi-billion-dollar company [5:16] – Dek reveals his unique background as a former professional football player from Texas Tech, undrafted free agent who took the hard path to the NFL [6:39] – Journey to Texas Tech: junior college transfer from Fresno City College with no high school offers, recruited by Coach Leach [7:49] – Made it to the NFL despite being undrafted, played in multiple organizations and eventually shifted to real estate [14:30] – Turned his first real estate deal at age 31, which came from a failed wholesale assignment and pivoted to building acquisitions [17:45] – Built team from ground up over five years; now has systems in place with 30-40 employees handling acquisitions, marketing, and operations [22:15] – Marketing strategy focuses on direct mail, skip tracing, cold calling, and relationships; spending $30,000-40,000 monthly on acquisition [27:33] – Company hit 500+ deals in 2024; 2025 goal to return to 500+ deals after market slowdown in 2024 and 2025 [31:20] – Leadership philosophy: let talented people do their jobs without micromanaging; invest in training first, then measure results [36:45] – Model is scalable to other major markets, but expansion only happens with the right executive-level person aligned with company values [38:40] – As a defensive lineman, brought work ethic and preparation mindset to business; now able to think at 20,000-30,000 feet level without getting caught in minutia [41:22] – Excited about upcoming Collective Genius event in Oceanside, which he calls the best CG event of all 5 Key Takeaways 1. From Undrafted to Operations Leader — Dek's path to professional football—junior college, then Texas Tech, then the NFL—mirrors his real estate approach: embrace the hard path, focus on preparation and work ethic, and don't rely on backup plans. That same mentality built a 500+ deal-per-year wholesaling company. 2. Build Your Team First, Scale Later — After five years of grinding solo, Dek hired his first employees when he had the capital and systems to support them. He doesn't hire ahead of revenue; he hires to scale proven workflows with people aligned to company values. 3. Let Talented People Do Their Jobs — Micromanaging talented employees tanks productivity. Dek invests heavily in training, then trusts his team to execute without daily oversight. The result is a lean operation that handles 500+ deals a year without him touching every transaction. 4. Your Market Can Be Enough — California's competitive, high-tax environment pushed Dek to excellence. He has no urgent need to expand out of state; the market is deep enough to build a billion-dollar company. Expansion only happens with the right person, not just opportunity. 5. CEO Thinking Requires Distance from Daily Operations — Dek credits his ability to scale to operating at the 20,000-30,000 foot level instead of getting trapped in minutia. That requires hiring smart people, building systems, and trusting the team to execute so you can focus on direction, not tasks. Links & Resources * Dek Bake on LinkedIn — search "Dek Bake" or "Fair Trade Real Estate" * Collective Genius Community — explorecg.com Dek's calm, calculated approach to scaling a seven-figure wholesaling company stands in sharp contrast to the high-energy chaos many founders create. His willingness to invest in team first, scale systems second, and operate at a strategic level—rather than staying stuck in day-to-day grinding—is exactly the playbook that separates operators who hit 500 deals once from those who do it consistently. His story also proves that competitive markets like California don't hold you back; they push you to become sharper. Head to explorecg.com to learn more and apply.

Pat Martin: 650 Deals a Year in Secondary Markets and the System That Made It Possible

In this CG Live episode recorded at the Q1 event in Dallas, Texas, Pat Martin sits down with host Leon to break down how his company Pro Source Home Buyers went from a bruising 2022 to 650 closed transactions last year across Knoxville, Chattanooga, and the Tri-Cities, markets most investors would never expect to produce that kind of volume. Pat has been investing for 15 years and spent the years after 2022 tearing the business down to its foundation, rebuilding around the right people, the right accountability systems, and a marketing operation that tracks lead-to-contract ratios by individual channel on a rolling 12-month basis. The conversation covers how Pat identified that his best salesperson was never going to be his best sales manager, why hiring his CEO Coburn right out of college turned out to be the franchise quarterback moment that changed everything, and what it actually looks like to define winning for every role in the company before you expect people to perform at a high level. He also drops a sharp marketing insight near the end on why TV became his third-best channel after staying committed through six months of it not working at all. If you're a real estate investor trying to figure out how to double your business in secondary and tertiary markets without chasing new cities, this one is required listening. Timeline Summary [0:22] – Leon introduces Pat Martin, longtime CG member and first-time podcast guest, live from the Q1 Dallas event [0:49] – Pat's operating markets: Knoxville, Chattanooga, and the Tri-Cities, and why Chattanooga is wildly underrated [1:45] – Pat's background, moving from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Tennessee and building in markets most investors overlook [2:56] – The number that changes the conversation: 650 closed transactions last year, up from roughly 325, in markets with a combined MSA of about 1.5 million people [3:47] – The three things Pat credits for doubling the business: A-player team members, culture, and operational excellence [4:31] – What 2022 exposed about the business and the hard truth that the best salesperson is rarely going to be the best sales manager [6:28] – How Pat identified Coburn as the franchise quarterback hire, a finance-minded ops leader who came in straight out of college and set a new standard for accountability [7:29] – Why one strong ops hire creates a domino effect that pulls existing team members up to a higher level [9:07] – The role success statements play in creating clarity: every position has defined KPIs and a written description of what winning looks like each week [10:00] – How top-tier talent started competing for open positions once the culture and standards were clearly defined [11:08] – Why auditing every system and channel was the non-negotiable step before any growth was possible, and what the rebuild actually looked like [13:46] – What is working best right now: marketing accountability and tracking lead-to-contract ratios by individual channel, not just as an aggregate [14:32] – The actual numbers: four leads from radio and three and a half from TV to get a contract, versus 20 leads from Facebook to close the same deal [15:38] – Why all marketing audits at Pro Source run on a rolling 12-month basis to eliminate seasonal noise and knee-jerk reallocation decisions [17:01] – Pat's honest moment: realizing everyone on the team is now better than him at their specific jobs and what that means for where he goes next as a leader [18:22] – What the next chapter looks like: casting vision, developing middle managers into executives, and using that to fuel new ventures [19:41] – The TV marketing story: starting at $10–15K a month, watching it not work, committing for six months, scaling to $30K, and suddenly becoming the third-best lead channel in the business [20:30] – Why secondary and tertiary markets are ideal for TV saturation and why the same budget that gets ignored in Boston becomes dominant in Knoxville [22:27] – The Glengarry leads conversation: TV callers as inbound, motivated sellers who convert at one contract per three and a half leads 5 Key Takeaways 1. Your Best Salesperson Is Not Your Sales Manager — These are two completely different skill sets, and promoting the top performer into a leadership role is one of the most common ways growing businesses stall out. Pat learned this the hard way in 2022 and rebuilt his team structure around it. 2. One Franchise Quarterback Changes Everything — Hiring a strong ops leader who can build systems and hold people accountable creates a ripple effect across the entire team. Existing employees rise to meet the new standard, and the culture starts attracting talent that fits rather than whoever is available. 3. Define Winning Before You Demand It — Every role at Pro Source has success statements: a written description of what a great week looks like and the KPIs attached to it. Without that clarity, accountability is just a buzzword. With it, people know exactly what they are being measured against and top performers seek out those standards. 4. Track Marketing by Channel, Not by Average — Knowing that it takes 20 Facebook leads to close one deal versus three and a half TV leads fundamentally changes how you allocate budget. An aggregate lead-to-contract ratio hides the performance gap between your best and worst channels and causes you to underinvest where the returns are highest. 5. Give New Channels Six Months Before You Judge Them — Pat committed to TV for six full months before it started working, ramping from $15K to $30K a month before the channel turned on. A competitor in the same market tried it for two months, called it a failure, and walked away. Patience and spend are both required inputs, not optional ones. Links & Resources * Pro Source Home Buyers — Facebook and Instagram: search Pro Source Home Buyers * Collective Genius Community — explorecg.com If Pat's story resonates with you, especially the part about rebuilding off an honest audit rather than just pushing harder on a broken system, share this episode with an investor in your network who is grinding through that same wall. The gap between where Pat was in 2022 and 650 deals in secondary markets isn't luck or a bigger budget. It is clarity, culture, and the willingness to look at everything and fix what is actually broken. Head to explorecg.com to learn more about joining the Collective Genius community and applying for the level that fits where your business is right now.

5 Habits That Build Rockstar Teams & 5 That Break Them featuring Amanda Dean

In this episode of the Collective Genius Podcast, host Leanne Barnes sits down with Amanda Dean—fractional operator, CSO coach at Sharper Business Solutions, and one of the most experienced team builders in the real estate investing world. Amanda spent 18 years at Tennessee Homebuyers growing from a two-person garage startup to one of Nashville's most recognized home buying operations, sitting in every seat from admin assistant to CEO along the way. Now she travels the country working with 40-plus real estate teams a year, and in this episode she walks through the award-winning presentation that earned her a belt at the Collective Genius: Five Habits That Build Rockstar Teams and Five That Break Them. From creating a winning culture by design to the likability trap that quietly caps so many businesses, this is one of the most practical and immediately actionable episodes in the show's history. If you lead a team—or want to—this one is required listening. Timeline Summary [0:51] – Welcome and intro to Amanda Dean, CSO coach at Sharper Business Solutions [1:58] – What Amanda does today: coaching and consulting 40-plus real estate teams a year [3:39] – 18 years at Tennessee Homebuyers: from two people in a garage to a full leadership team [4:25] – Sitting in every seat—admin, TC, project management, brokerage, construction—before becoming CEO [8:06] – Why Amanda left even though she could have stayed, and what she misses most about the team [10:05] – Intro to the presentation: Five Habits That Build Rockstar Teams and Five That Break Them [10:55] – Habit 1: Create a winning culture—by design, not by default [12:26] – Recognition rituals, record walls, and why winning culture needs to be intentional [15:18] – Habit 2: Invest like you mean it—budget for your team's growth, not just your own [16:20] – Cross training: why walking a mile in another role builds appreciation and retention [19:07] – Habit 3: Lead people, manage process—people hate being managed, processes love it [19:50] – Path of progress: why every hire needs a visible growth trajectory [22:28] – Paint by numbers: how to give new team members clarity without micromanaging [25:33] – Habit 4: Make decisions based on what you know, not how you feel [27:34] – Staying focused on what works instead of chasing what sounds good [30:53] – Habit 5: Celebrate the lessons, not just the wins—why safe-to-fail cultures grow faster [33:21] – Praise publicly, criticize privately—and always address behavior, not the person [37:38] – Bad Habit 1: Chasing shiny objects—and the one filter that separates distractions from real opportunities [39:32] – Why AI is not a shiny object—and the 13-week AI education program Amanda is running with teams [42:07] – Bad Habit 2: Keeping low performers too long—and why it's actually selfish to hold on [43:58] – Bad Habits 3 & 4: Avoiding tough conversations and micromanaging—two sides of the same trust problem [48:32] – Bad Habit 5: Falling into the likability trap—you're not running for prom queen [52:18] – How to get started: be intentional, ask for feedback, and put culture on the calendar [54:41] – How to connect with Amanda and access the free business assessment [55:36] – Amanda's ten years in CG and her favorite memory from the community 5 Key Takeaways 1. Culture Is a Design Choice, Not a Default – Ping pong tables don't build culture. Intentionality does. Define your core values, hire and fire by them, and recognize the people who live them out loud. 2. Lead People, Manage Processes – People hate being managed. Give them clarity, a path of progress, and the autonomy to do their job. Reserve your management energy for the process, not the person. 3. Make Decisions Based on What You Know, Not How You Feel – "I feel like direct mail isn't working" is not data. The best leaders ask one clarifying question constantly: do we know that, or do we just feel that? 4. Don't Keep Low Performers Too Long – B players don't get raised up by A players. They bring them down. Keeping someone in a role they're not suited for isn't loyalty—it's selfishness. Hire slow, fire fast. 5. Celebrate the Lessons, Not Just the Wins – Teams that are afraid to fail stop making decisions. Create an environment where mistakes are learning opportunities, feedback is private, and 80% done is better than nothing done. 6. Links & Resources * Sharper Business Solutions – Amanda's coaching and consulting hub: businessstartersolutions.com (includes a free team culture and business assessment) * Amanda on all socials: @AmandaEnglishDean * ExploreCG.com – Learn more about the Collective Genius community If this episode gave you clarity on what's holding your team back—or showed you what a winning team actually looks like from the inside—share it with a fellow operator who's been struggling with people problems. Odds are, they're actually process problems. And if you want to be in the room with leaders like Amanda, head to ExploreCG.com to learn more and apply.

Dave Janis: How to Sell Properties Faster by Thinking Like a Buyer

In this CG Live episode recorded at our Q1 event in Dallas, Texas, I sit down with CG Premier member Dave Janis — a Boulder, Colorado-based real estate investor, former 18-year real estate agent, and luxury new construction developer doing six new builds a year. Dave is a different kind of operator, and his presentation brought a perspective that most high-volume wholesalers and flippers rarely hear: how to think like a buyer when you're selling a property. We dig into Dave's framework for getting properties sold fast — from the "long skirt" photo strategy that gets you into a buyer's top seven, to pricing by percentage of homes under contract, to the finish quality details that separate a house that feels flipped from one that feels like a home. Dave also breaks down the hotel strategy as a middle ground between a cleanout and a full flip, and pulls back the curtain on building luxury new construction in the Boulder and Denver market in 2026. If you've ever had a property sit longer than it should, this episode is full of tactical insight you can apply on your next deal. Timeline Summary [0:22] – Live from Dallas at the CG Q1 Premier and CEO event at the J.W. Marriott Arts District [0:51] – Introducing Dave Janis: Boulder, Colorado investor, former agent of 18 years, luxury new construction developer [2:12] – Dave's model: luxury new builds, flips, wholesaling, and how cash conversion cycles connect them all [3:22] – Why wholesaling and flipping feed the new construction business and keep active income flowing [4:10] – The fifth pain point: not just getting the contract — getting the property sold [4:35] – The "long skirt" photo strategy: fewer, better pictures to get buyers in the door [5:21] – How buyers shop: 30 homes on the market, they look at seven — you just need to make the cut [6:23] – Pricing strategy: using percentage of homes under contract by zip code and price band [7:07] – When to wholesale versus flip: reading the market data before deciding your exit strategy [8:17] – Condition as a competitive variable: raising your quality threshold above your contractor's [8:39] – Blue tape is always out — the house has to be 100% before anyone walks through [10:00] – What to do if you don't have a construction background: hire an agent who tells you the truth [10:36] – The punch list mindset: caulking seams, matching light bulb hues, tightening every knob [11:16] – Keep the heat and AC running — an uncomfortable house feels like something is broken [11:42] – The goal: make it so buyers can't tell it was a flip [12:50] – Staging: at least a 5% premium, faster sales, and buyers who fall in love with the furniture [13:36] – What happens when staging is gone at the final walkthrough — and why that's a signal you did it right [14:00] – Where to stage: living room, kitchen, and bathrooms matter most [14:17] – Partnering with a local furniture company to deliver, set up, and stage in one move [14:35] – How staging shifts attention away from minor imperfections and toward the vision of living there [15:48] – Empty houses feel smaller — staging solves perception as much as presentation [16:30] – The hotel strategy: cleanout plus paint, flooring, and fixing anything disgusting for about $25K [17:09] – The emotional buyer reality: the wife has to want to take a shower there — at minimum, epoxy the bathroom [17:56] – Why the hotel middle ground often returns better than a full flip at a fraction of the cost [18:42] – The pricing trap: being emotionally invested in your own property and overpricing it [19:05] – Why listing at the lower end of your range almost always results in faster sales and more money [20:04] – The market has loosened: selling has gotten easier, which is why this event focused on not missing leads [20:22] – Luxury new construction in Boulder and Denver: buying lots at $800K–$2M and building at $1.5M–$2.5M [21:28] – Listings from $3.5M to $8M — and why location and architecture drive luxury pricing, not just square footage [22:12] – Views as an asset: buyers will pay $2M extra for the right location [23:34] – Thinking like a buyer: knowing what they're thinking before they walk in the door [24:14] – The importance of an honest agent partner who knows the market and can guide where to build [24:36] – Dave's three meetings with CG and the culture difference from other mastermind groups [25:00] – Hiring a director of operations directly from the CG community — and how that one connection paid off Key Takeaways 1. Get Into the Top Seven — That's All You Need Buyers in most markets look at about seven houses on a weekend. Your job isn't to show everything online — it's to show just enough to earn a showing. Too many photos, and buyers self-select out before they ever walk through the door. 2. Use Market Data to Drive Your Exit Strategy Before you decide whether to wholesale, flip, or hotel a property, check the percentage of homes under contract in that price band. The data tells you how fast the market is moving and what level of investment is actually worth it. 3. Your Contractor's Definition of Done Is Not Yours Every contractor will try to get away with the least amount of work possible. The details that matter most to buyers — caulk lines, light bulb hues, loose knobs, running HVAC — are often the cheapest fixes and the most overlooked ones. 4. The Hotel Strategy Is an Underrated Middle Ground A cleanout plus paint, flooring, and fixing the one thing that would make a buyer uncomfortable can run around $25K, take three weeks, and return nearly as well as a full flip — often better when you factor in time and carrying costs. 5. Staging Is Not Optional at the Top of the Market Staging adds at least 5% to sale price, reduces days on market, and shifts buyers' attention away from minor imperfections toward imagining their life in the space. If buyers are asking to buy the furniture, you've done it right. Links & Resources * Follow Dave on Instagram and Facebook: @janispropert (search "Janis Properties") * Explore CG Membership: https://www.explorecg.com [https://www.explorecg.com] Closing Remark If this episode changed how you think about preparing, pricing, and presenting your properties, take a moment to rate, follow, and review the Collective Genius Podcast. And if you're ready to be in a room with operators like Dave, visit https://www.explorecg.com and apply today.