How Justin Colby Built a Real Estate Empire From Rock Bottom

The Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset

In this powerful episode of The Determined Society, Shawn French sits down with Justin Colby, a real estate investor and entrepreneur who rebuilt his life from rock

Key takeaways

• True determination begins with deciding what you want and committing to it daily.
• Failure is not a dead end but a necessary step in building resilience and clarity.

Main topics

• Overcoming financial ruin
• The power of daily discipline

Notable quotes

"When you have nothing to lose, you're the most dangerous person on the planet."

"So what? Now what?" – The mindset that fuels resilience.

Conclusion

Justin Colby's story illustrates that true determination isn't innate—it's built through

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) You know, it's interesting when you have nothing to lose, you're the most dangerous person on the planet. I couldn't pay my cell phone bill. They took my car. I will go to the end of the earth to figure this out. So you're building your business thinking you want more. You don't want more. You want to be happy. Speaker 2 (0:16) Do you think that's a lack of clarity of what they want? You Speaker 1 (0:18) brought up ego. Speaker 2 (0:19) Is that the biggest cause? 100%. They Speaker 1 (0:22) just don't want it bad enough. What I believe is God cut my head off for a reason. I was totally blinded by my ego. And I lost track. Speaker 2 (0:28) I may have lost more in 2024 than I did in 2007. But it's all relative, man. And if I got through that, I can get through this. It may not be the last time you go through something. It's like I'm going to build more fucking mountains. Speaker 1 (0:40) Like, I got to keep going. Speaker 2 (0:41) You need to understand that there's no finish line. A lot of people want that finish line. They want to know that they've arrived. But overnight success is not a real thing. It takes time. Speaker 1 (0:49) You need determination to get to where you want to go. But you first have to decide what you want. And then you got to commit to it. Speaker 2 (1:06) All right, boys, real talk. There's a moment every guy has. Mine was scrolling through old photos and going, wait, when the heck did that happen? My hairline's creeping back. And you may be telling yourself, like I did, it's just the lighting. It's not the lighting. Another funny thing is when my kids started pointing out the fact that I had all these bald spots all over the top of my head, the amount of bald spot I have was massive. And now it has shrunk to about that big. I decided to do something about it. and enters Lock Lab. It's one pill every day, every morning, nothing else, just done. No more denial phase. But if you're in mid-denial phase right now, I see you. So all you got to do is go to locklab.co, fill out the form to see if Speaker 1 (1:47) you qualify, and then bang, ends up at your doorstep. Speaker 2 (1:50) I want you to imagine being a 25-year-old. You got everything going for you, and then all of a sudden, the brokerage you're running in Northern California shuts down in the middle of the market crash. No car. No money, no place to live until a friend offers you a couch. And on that couch, every single day, you make a decision to make 100 phone calls every single day to strangers. 90 of them hang up on you. Eight of them give you a small conversation. And two of them agree to meet with you in a Starbucks. I got a man next to me on the show named Justin Colby that is here because he understands the mechanics of determination and what it takes and what it costs you. He doesn't teach in theory. He teaches from scars. And with that being said, Justin Colby, welcome to the show. Speaker 1 (2:36) Bro, I am smiling so big right now because this is literally the first time we've ever met. We've been having a blast and you have memorized my startup story. Your startup story is amazing. Dude, I'm like grinning ear from ear. This is like, I'm probably red. Like, this is awesome, bro. That is... Amazing. The Speaker 2 (2:59) thing, and we'll get into it, man. I don't want to get too far in the weeds, but your story is my exact story. Speaker 1 (3:05) Really? Speaker 2 (3:06) So I was 28. Speaker 2 (3:10) Watch my car get repoed. Short sold my house. No way. So you were on the broker side. Well, I Speaker 1 (3:16) was an agent. Yes, I was. Speaker 2 (3:18) Yeah, yeah. I was on the mortgage side. I lost everything. Speaker 1 (3:23) So Speaker 2 (3:23) when I started reading on this last night, I'm like, wait a second. This story is way too similar because I also met people at Starbucks and I leveraged the... freaking hell out of the free refills, dude. Speaker 1 (3:40) Dude, stop it. I think people think I'm lying when I tell my story. I'm like, guys, I'm not lying. It was free. You sit in there and you just say, I need another. Speaker 2 (3:50) Boom. Speaker 2 (3:52) I still do it. And I Speaker 1 (3:55) can pay for this shit now. Like, hey, can I get a refill? Yeah, but there's $7, so give me some more free. Yeah, seriously. Speaker 2 (4:00) God dang, man. But it's funny because in those moments where you lose everything, Speaker 1 (4:05) I Speaker 2 (4:05) can remember looking in couch cushions for change to buy the first cup of coffee. Speaker 1 (4:11) That's it. Speaker 2 (4:12) So your story, man, really resonates with me. But let's start at the beginning. Speaker 2 (4:18) Have you always been a determined individual or is it something that you had to build along the way? Speaker 1 (4:24) I think it's a great question. I think there's something. My childhood was rough, right? And everyone has their story, right? So this by no means is a woe is me. And I don't mean rough like I was homeless and sleeping in a car, not quite there. Alcoholic parents, mom, dad, and stepdad, you know. showing up at home after school, my mom's passed out on the kitchen floor, that kind of stuff. Right. So I just found myself. well, I got to figure this out at a very young age. And I had to navigate some very awkward scenarios. Like I'd bring a friend home after practice and there's my mom passed out on the couch at 4 p.m. Speaker 2 (5:03) And, Speaker 1 (5:04) you know, I'm like, oh, she's just napping. No, she's drank a fifth of vodka. She's passed out. Right. And I'm navigating some of these things. And so I think very early on, without knowing it, I created what I would call this shoulder shrug mentality. And it leans into this whole idea of being determined because you go, all right, well, I've got to deal with it. Yeah. Okay. So what? Now what? So what? Now what? What do I do? And so the NBA finals just passed last month, and I've always been a big athlete. You and I both grew up in the Bay Area playing baseball and all these things. And so I'm no longer able to watch as much sports as I want to because I have two little kids. I have a five-year-old and a two-year-old, and I like to be a great husband, and I like to – And so I caught a glimpse of some of the finals and it was New York and it was this big thing, right? Because they haven't been in 50 years. Yeah. So the point guard, Jalen Brunson, I would catch his interviews and it really, it kind of shook me to its core because who I am as a person is what he said. And he said something that I think even went viral when I reposted it, which was they were asking about how they lost this game, critical moments, big mistakes, all these mistakes they made. And they said something like, how do you feel about it? And he's like, no, I thought about Speaker 2 (6:23) it. And Speaker 1 (6:24) I replayed it in my head. And then it went out and did something about it. And it gives me shivers repeating it because that's the only option you got. Like, what do you do? You go do something about it. So I've developed this shoulder shrug mentality as a kid because I didn't have any option about whether my mom or dad or whatever we're going to drink or if my mom was going to show up at my practice and throw keys at my coach. There's just stuff like that, right? You're just like. All right, so that happened. Right? So what am I going to do about it? Speaker 2 (6:53) Yeah. Speaker 1 (6:53) And so, you know, the foundation of all this is my personal, my internal fortitude or personality towards struggle, strife, embarrassing moments, challenging moments. Speaker 1 (7:09) All right. What am I going to do about it? Right. And so when that happened to me, probably naive enough to really not really care. No kids, no wife, no nothing. So I was like free enough to be like, all right, well, I'm going to call my buddy and sleep on the couch. Not ideal. But yeah, it was like, all right, rebuild time, like figure it out. And I didn't love being an agent. I don't know if you loved being a loan broker. I Speaker 2 (7:31) felt Speaker 1 (7:31) like I was just. I was unique because I was selling new homes because you and I were in the new home build phase and made probably a lot of money. And it was amazing until it wasn't. Until it wasn't. And it was like, I don't enjoy this. So then it was the, okay, who do I want to be? And then I have a whole thing that we can go on there. But there's what I believe to be five laws of success. And the first one is you got to decide what you want. Speaker 2 (7:58) The deciding what you want is so hard for people, right? Because they know exactly what they want, but then they play this game with themselves. Like, can I even do this? Let me go ask somebody. Speaker 1 (8:09) And Speaker 2 (8:09) that somebody says, you're crazy, don't do that. Do something super stable. Speaker 1 (8:14) Because Speaker 2 (8:15) all they're doing is just projecting their own limiting beliefs onto you. That's right. I would challenge everybody watching and listening that they do know what they want. They just have to be brave enough. To go freaking chase it down. Speaker 1 (8:30) Yeah. Speaker 2 (8:30) And do it like you did. Yeah. Do it like I did. Get the shit kicked out of you. That's it. And get back up and do it again tomorrow. Speaker 1 (8:38) Yeah. That's it. Because you don't know Speaker 2 (8:39) what the next phone call is going to bring. Speaker 1 (8:40) That's right. And it's funny you say that because I say something. So in my five laws of success, the fifth law, in my words, is remove all your time expectation on the result you're trying to achieve. Speaker 2 (8:53) That's massive. Go into that for Speaker 1 (8:55) the audience because they need that. I have a coach, Ben Newman. You may be familiar with Ben Newman. I Speaker 2 (9:00) love Ben. Speaker 1 (9:00) So Ben just poured into me. Him and I were going back and forth, and he wasn't even my coach yet. I had him on my podcast. And then we just vibed out, and he was like, hey, dude, I got this program. I'm like, I'm in, bro. You are phenomenal. But one of his best things that he really ingrained in me is he took my saying of removing the time expectation on your result you want, and he called it, Speaker 1 (9:27) Have extreme focus in the same direction with aggressive patience. So long obedience, long obedience. Again, remove the time. Same direction, which goes back to what do you want with aggressive patience? fight every day, all day, no matter what, but be patient on the result being handed to you or achieving it. So I love that. And here's why. There's nothing that has ever been built. People think I'm an overnight podcast host. I've had a podcast since 2013. I have thousands and thousands, maybe tens of thousands of episodes right now. Speaker 2 (10:05) This message is sponsored by Raycon. There's something about the start of fall that puts me in reset mode, cleaning out the old and getting organized. My new go-to for that reset has been Raycon's Everyday Earbuds Classic. They've got active noise cancellation so I can block out distractions and actually focus, plus multi-point connectivity so I can pair with two devices at once and up to 32 hours of battery life in the case. I'm never scrambling for a charger. I've been using these pretty much every day since I got them, whether I'm at the gym, running errands, or just working from home. They're the ones I actually reach for over my other earbuds because I tune everything out and focus on what I'm listening to. Honestly, they've just become part of my daily routine. The Everyday Earbuds Classics are the perfect companion for your fall reset. Go to buyraycon.com slash determine to get 20 % off. Thanks, Raycon, for sponsoring. Speaker 1 (11:03) In 2023, I hit it. Three years ago. Finally. Downloads went from four. which was my family. I remember that. I remember those days. You Speaker 2 (11:17) know, Speaker 1 (11:17) 40 Speaker 2 (11:18) ,000 and Speaker 1 (11:19) then 60,000, then 100. But everyone's like, bro, how did you do that? And I'm like, oh, I just kept going when everyone else quit. I didn't do anything special. And now we just talked about it. I'm about to interview what I believe to be my biggest idol in the space of entrepreneurship, Gary V. Speaker 2 (11:33) He Speaker 1 (11:34) came to me. I didn't go call him. I didn't go, I'm not paying him. But it's because I just kept going when everyone else fell off. There's so many lessons in Speaker 2 (11:44) that, right? Specifically, the aggressive patience. Because I can tie this back in 2022 or 2023. I said, I looked at my wife. I said, I'm going to be out of corporate America by this date. Let's go. And I was wrong. Speaker 1 (12:03) It Speaker 2 (12:03) was another year and a half, right? So that must have been 22 because I didn't get out until 24. Speaker 1 (12:08) But Speaker 2 (12:09) when I didn't hit it. Speaker 1 (12:12) Mm-hmm start spiral down I spiraled down. Speaker 2 (12:15) Yeah, I ain't shit I'm never gonna make it and I had my I drowned in the in baseball terms I drowned in a pool of my own piss. Yeah for that whole evening. Mm-hmm My wife looked at me and she said it's okay that you're doing this right now But tomorrow morning like Speaker 1 (12:31) your ass back. Yeah, Speaker 2 (12:32) that's it You do what you do because you love it. And if you keep being yourself, you're going to break through Yeah, Speaker 1 (12:39) and Speaker 2 (12:39) of course my answer at that one You don't understand. That's not the way this business works. Speaker 1 (12:43) She Speaker 2 (12:43) was right because I did break through. Speaker 1 (12:46) And Speaker 2 (12:47) it wasn't because I was doing anything special other than showing up Speaker 1 (12:51) and Speaker 2 (12:51) continuing to do it when the peanut gallery was laughing at me. Speaker 1 (12:57) Because they did. And you know who the peanut gallery is? It's your closest friends and family. 1,000%. Which is so hurtful for a lot of people. Speaker 2 (13:05) And Speaker 1 (13:05) I go back to my shoulder shrug. I just go, Speaker 2 (13:09) go ahead. Speaker 1 (13:11) You know what I mean? Speaker 2 (13:12) Go Speaker 1 (13:12) for it. Speaker 2 (13:13) But it's always nice on the back end. Because my closest friends weren't like that. But it was the friends that you're close enough to. You know what I mean? And the family. I think it was. Like a year ago, my mom said, how do I listen to your podcast? I'm like, well, geez, mom, I could have had like five more downloads by now or listens. Like, come on. But no, it's that way. And now I hear from one of my best friends that I played ball with at LSU just texting me and saying how inspired he is by what I've done and how he's so proud of me. When my homie texts me, yo, dude. I'm proud of you. Like I get emotional. Yeah, Speaker 1 (13:57) bro. Because Speaker 2 (13:58) that's everything. Yeah. You know, you want your people to be proud of you, but yeah, man, it is painful at the beginning. And we've talked about off air building the audience. Speaker 1 (14:07) I Speaker 2 (14:07) mean, you're 13 years in, I'm almost six, you know, like it, it was painful, man. And for the first, and I was talking to Will about this earlier at lunch, like the first three, four years was just practice. Yeah. Speaker 1 (14:19) We Speaker 2 (14:19) didn't make a dime. Speaker 1 (14:20) Oh, it's all out of pocket. You're paying to do everything. Speaker 2 (14:22) Yeah. Everything. Speaker 1 (14:24) And Speaker 2 (14:24) we just started monetizing in December of 2024. Last year was modest. This year it's exploded. Speaker 1 (14:32) Exploded. And partly the nice part about that is just right time, right place, right? So for me, it wasn't. I ate shit for 10 years, paid, basically started a business of podcasting and just fronted it for 10 years. Which if you listen and look around any entrepreneur that's done anything great, like be ready to lose money for a very long time. Speaker 2 (14:50) A long ass time. Long time. If you love it enough, you'll stick with it. Speaker 1 (14:53) And frankly, although now it is a monetization point for me, I'm nowhere near what I've already invested in it. Because I had to invest for 10 years before I saw it come back. Right? So it's interesting. And this is where, you know, to the determined society, it's like, how bad do you want it? Right? And this goes back to my first rule, which is decide what you want. Right, because then the next part of deciding what you want is you need to become the person to achieve it So let's say you want to go make 10 million dollars Who do you need to be to make 10 million dollars because this is the law of the lid right? There's a lid if you want 10 million dollars the version of you that's making a million Can't reach 10 million the version of you that needs to reach 10 million needs to work on yourself to get to the 10 million So then your business can get to 10 million, but people don't look at it that way They're like, oh I hit a million. So now my next goal is 10 Well, what are you doing on you to get yourself to build a $10 million a year business? Because now you've got to be a leader. You've got to manage people. You have to lead people. It's just a different version of you. The other thing that Speaker 2 (15:56) you've got to think of, too, is who do you have to get rid of? Speaker 1 (15:58) Oh, yeah. 100%. That's Speaker 2 (16:00) come