Chris & John
- Aug 10, 2021
- 4 min read

Ep 158: Playing to Your Strengths in Order to Excel with Whitney Sewell

The duties of a successful real estate investor are almost too long to list. Instead of trying to find a way to do it all, what if there was a way to achieve even more by allocating tasks to the right team members? Today, we hear from Whitney Sewell, director of Life Bridge Capital and host of The Real Estate Syndication Show, who achieves more than most would believe possible on any given day. In this episode, you’ll learn how the mission behind his work motivates him to be effective and the pivotal role of changing his mindset in reaching his ambitious goal of producing a daily podcast while also running a hugely successful real estate syndication business. Whitney touches on hiring the right people, why most of your work can be outsourced, and why the first assistant you hire probably won’t be the one that is with you the longest. He tells us why, if you want to scale, you have to stop working on lower dollar tasks, before sharing the story of how not having enough time to do everything led him to establish a strong team. He also reveals why he believes it is beneficial to forge a personal connection with investors, leave a lasting impression, and earn their trust. He shares the value of partnering with people who share your vision for the future, as well as when it is the right move to partner rather than hire. In closing, Whitney emphasizes the value of playing to your strengths and appointing others according to theirs, leaving listeners with some actionable advice that is likely to change your business for the better. Tune in today!

Key Points From This Episode:

An introduction to Whitney Sewell’s background in the military and entrepreneurship.
How Whitney moved from being a part-time investor to selling the farm to pursue real estate.
How asking what he could maintain forever lead him to choose a full-time real estate career.
The mission behind Life Bridge Real Estate as a motivator for Whitney and his wife.
The role of mindset in reaching his goal of producing a daily podcast.
How thinking about what tasks needed to be completed guided the hiring process.
Why you don’t need to be the one doing all of your work.
Why your first assistant probably won’t be the one who is with you the longest.
Why, if you want to scale, you have to stop working on lower dollar tasks.
How not having the time to do everything led Whitney to establish a strong team.
The importance of leaving a lasting impression on investors and earning their trust.
Why it is beneficial to forge a personal connection with investors.
How having an acquisitions director to underwrite deals has been essential.
The story of how Whitney met his business partner, Sam Rust.
Why it is important to partner with people who share your vision for the future.
The golden rule of preferring one another over yourself.
Why you would partner with someone rather than hire someone if you find the right fit.
The value of playing to your strengths and appointing others according to theirs.
Finding people who excel at one thing and putting your team together accordingly.

Tweetables:

“The military gave me that ‘never give up’ mentality that has helped me become an entrepreneur and helped me to push in many ways I may not have otherwise.” — @whitney_sewell [0:03:14] “You can’t be spending hours a day on email because 90 percent of them you don’t have to see. You might think you need to see them, but you don’t if you put some processes in place. 50 percent of the things most people do, they don’t really have to be the one doing those things.” — @whitney_sewell [0:14:12] “If you want to scale and you’re working on those higher dollar tasks, you have to stop doing those lower dollar tasks. You have to find someone that can do them better than you.” — @whitney_sewell [0:15:20]

“I said, you know what? I’m going to get really good at this thing right here, and then I’m going to build that team that are experts in those other fields.” — @whitney_sewell [0:18:00] “How is that person remembering you? What are they remembering from that conversation? What sticks out about you? It’s so important that you think through that.” — @whitney_sewell [0:19:12] “Investors need to see your character as the operator, as someone they can trust, because otherwise, who cares what kind of deal you have?” — @whitney_sewell [0:20:41]

“If you do something better than anybody, or you think you do it better than everybody, and if you want your partner to come in and do what they do really well, that’s an early relationship in building the company that works.” — @whitney_sewell [0:44:20]