Episode 55 – Ed Prous

My dream was to do something on my own. Yeah. I want to be a- my own boss, and I want to have my own business. But to do any of that, I had to have some kind of starting capital. I learned a lot because, um, I lost all my money. I learned that I made a lot of mistakes not paying attention to things that I should’ve. That basically paid for the education- Mm-hmm. because I spent a lot of time with attorneys and- Mm-hmm. everything else and did my own research, and unfortunately, you know, yeah, it was kind of end of the world for me at that point. And yeah, it was kind of, it was a sad time, and- Mm-hmm. you know, I worked hard, and then lost it all, and, you know, and then I had to start, know, over and over, do something else. I borrowed money. We dumped it in the stock market. I mean, uh, I was- it was probably a month, it was all gone. Oh, no. So not only, again, I lost my money, I lost somebody else’s money. And so I end up in the hole again. Yeah. The only thing that saved me is that I refused to give up. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to The Blueprint. Today, I’m here with Ed Prowse. Ed is an entrepreneur. He owns Prowse Homes. They’re in Park Cities. Uh, old Russian friend of mine. Super excited to get this guy on and tell you, like, how he went from across the other side of the world all the way to your backyard. tuned. Hey, guys, if you could just do me a favor, subscribe down there, that’s going to help us get some of these videos out. Uh, get a little support for us, and, uh, we’ll put more of these out for you. Get your neighborhood friends on. Ed, thank you so much for, for coming and hanging out with us today. Absolutely. My pleasure. Uh, no, I mean, really, like, um, I know we’ve talked about this before, and you’re always like, “Oh, I’m not, I’m not good for that,” or whatever, but you got such a really cool unique story that, um, I think there’s a lot of people out there that can really resonate with some of the things you’ve done in your life, you know, and, uh, all the way from, you know, being an immigrant over here to, you know, taking and jumping onto a whole, whole ‘nother, you know, landscape and language and land and everything else. So, tell me about, uh, where it is that you were, you were born. Well, I’m originally from Russia, and, uh, I was born, um, city, it’s about million people popul- uh, yeah, one million people population, called Krasnodar. It’s very close to, uh, Black Sea coast. Mm-hmm. About 40 minutes away by car. And that region, it’s well-known because of, uh, Winter Olympics- Okay. happened in Sochi. Okay. So, that’s the region I’m from. And your entire family’s there? How many generations same, same scenario, or? Yeah. Okay. Pretty much. Yeah, that’s, that’s where I was born. I mean, my parents were born there. Now grand-grandparents lived kind of- I mean, back then, Soviet Union was such a big place. Mm-hmm. You know, some came from Ukraine, some came from Georgia. Mm-hmm. You know, it’s, yeah, it’s international mix. Yeah. So, so is me, you know. My mom is Georgian, you know- Mm-hmm. and my dad half Ukrainian. Mm-hmm. So it’s like, you know, I have, like, 4 different bloods in me- Yeah, that’s crazy. that I know of. Yeah. You ever do that, uh, Ance- Ancestry DNA or anything? No, I’m afraid no. Yeah, stay away from that math stuff. Who knows where it’s gonna end up. Or I’m gonna end up with. Yeah, they’ll have you, they’ll have you pinned up for something, right? Yeah. Absolutely, yeah. “Yeah, we had your DNA that was located on, uh, this, uh, this one object in, uh”Yeah. Yeah, exactly. It’s a, it’s a tracking device. Um, well, that’s cool. So you were born there. You started, uh, school at an early age, s- same as it’s- the exact same as what it is here? Is it, like, 6 gr- are you 6 years old when you start school? Or, like, what’s the differences? Yeah, pretty much. It’s, uh, it’s- except the differences, here you go through elementary, then you go to middle school, then you go to high school. Okay. In Russia, n- I’m pretty sure it’s still the same. It’s, you start the school at first grade, and you go all the way through 12th grade in the one single school. And there’s no separate schools. Okay. And when I was there, it’s- you basically, in a class, let’s say, of 30 kids- Mm-hmm. and you end up with the same 30 kids graduating. Wow. So it’s like same people, and you know, there is parallel groups. Mm-hmm. You know, class A, class B, class C. Each one has 30 kids. And again, from 6 year old and until you’re 16 year old, you basically go to class every day with same people, same faces, and, for- well, back then it was 10 years, then they changed it to 11 years. Wow. So it’s kind of- that’s how it works. And after that, you obviously go to university or, uh, community colleges. Mm-hmm. Kind of same like here. Mm-hmm. So- Do they have- They have the same 30 kids are in one class- classroom, or just- that’s their, that’s their age grade? Oh, no. It’s in one class. One classroom? Yeah. And so the teacher teaches multiple subjects all the way through, or different teachers come in? Different teachers, yeah. You- from class to gl- Uh, you go from one, um, auditorium to another one, but it’s this whole group of- rather, it’s 28 to 30- Mm-hmm. somewhere around there- Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. plus/minus, yes. Mm-hmm. And yeah, it’s different teachers. And we also had class teachers, or a cla- home class teachers- Mm-hmm. whatever they call them, but yeah, kind of a similar situation. That’s interesting ’cause, you know, over here, you know, since you’ve seen it, it’s like, we have one grade level and then all the kids mix, and there’ll be- you’ll have 3 kids over here sometimes and 3 different kids over here and whatever, and it’s like- Yeah. the classes are always mixed up. It, uh, it happened, but like, as far as I remember, few kids got shifted. Mm-hmm. And again, that’s towards maybe 8th grade when they start implementing, um-because before in Russia, like, you don’t get to choose your classes. Mm-hmm. You basically take all the classes, everybody the same. You know, ge- geography, history, chemistry, physic, whatever. Mm-hmm. Basic classes. So there around about when I was in the 8th grade, that’s when they start implementing, okay, if you more, um, you know, leaning towards math, so you could choose this class and- Hmm. you’ll have more, you know, math classes. And if you’re more into literature, then you’ll get into this class, and that’s when they kind of started mixing. Okay. And I was basically doing that experiment. Mm-hmm. And I think that’s how it is right now, so. Okay. But, uh, I mean, a lot of things changed from then. But when I went to school, yeah, we have to learn all of the classes. Mm-hmm. I mean, all- all there is to learn. We were like, it’s like I don’t need biology. I’m not a guy who would, you know- Yeah. just don’t care about that stuff. Yeah. And but hey, you have to learn it. You have to do it. Yeah. So you can’t opt out of stuff. Because you choose something you like, you can’t opt out of the things that you don’t. You just take- No. a little less of this and a little more of that. Correct, yeah. Okay. But again, when I went, I pretty much didn’t get to choose anything. Mm-hmm. So it’s,And so you l- were you playing sports at this time while you were there? Like, what are sports like over there? Well, it’s, uh, sports were, I mean, obviously they’re sports, but, uh, as far as school, we didn’t really have such a, uh, big, like let’s say, basketball team or soccer team. Mm-hmm. Or, you know, everybody played the sports and, you know, PE classes. Mm-hmm. You know, it was normal. Now as far as I remember, we had a lot of, uh, and it was like regional, um, uh, competitions between schools. Mm-hmm. And it was all about, pre-military, uh, training. Like, it’s all- Hm. Uh, it was for guys. It was all physical, like- Okay. like almost like a boot camp. Like, uh, we would compete with other schools and- Like CrossFit type stuff. Yeah, CrossFit, like- Okay. pull-ups, push-ups, running, you know, things like that. Huh. Yeah, so not much, uh, like, uh, like, uh- No cheering in fun sports and games like that. No, no, no. Just- Didn’t have much of that. Huh. Now, you would have to, if you like, you know, soccer, swimming, wherever it is, you join different clubs. Club after school. Yeah, so that’s what I did. I mean, I- I- I was swimming. Mm-hmm. I was a swimmer, so I was, I swam for about 9 years, and once I graduated from high school,”I’m done. It’s the most boring thing you can do. “And, you know, it’s like, as it, it was, you know, I got to this certain level which was kind of my goal, and I got it, and I was done. Mm-hmm. So. Let’s go back to this military training competition thing for a second. Is this, like, you said it’s push-ups and pull-ups and sit-ups and physical things, like I can carry something, whatever, right? Is it an individual or is this a team? Individuals and teams. Like, we had groups. Okay. I mean, when you have to do the rally and all that stuff, then it’s a team. But mostly it’s individual. I mean, uh, I don’t know if you guys know, but we actually had one of the classes, I think from 8th grade, uh, we were actually had military education class- Hm. for boys, and that’s where boys and girls get separated. Mm-hmm. So boys would, uh, learn, I mean, we had books. We have to learn how to operate, you know, guns, AK-47, like- Mm-hmm. to the point where you can unfold that thing to little bitty pieces, put it back together with your eyes closed. Wow. I mean, they will time you, like how quick you can load- In 8th grade? Yeah, how quick you can load and unload, you know, AK mag. You know, it’s like how far you can throw a grenade, you know. Wow. Things like that, yeah. And then, of course, there is, uh, you know, first aid education as well. What would happen if, you know, you get shot, or, you know, what if, uh- Wow. what should you do if US drop a nuke? Hm. You know so, or like which way you have to lay down. Yeah. Where- You just, so you- Yeah. HazMat suits, all that- Yeah. scenario. We’re running with those suits. I mean, it was, I mean, I remember it now, I mean, it was actually kind of fun- Mm-hmm. for being a, a boy- Yeah. whatever, 14-year-old and you know, 15-year-old, you get to handle like, know, real stuff. Mm-hmm. You know, which in Russia, I mean, guns are still illegal. Mm-hmm. So that’s really the only time you could actually, play with it- Uh-huh. per se. Did you ever get to fire any of it? Yes, one time actually before the graduation of that class, they will take you to a military base and that’s when you actually get to fire- Hm. you know, actual weapon. I mean, that was, it was quite fun. Again, big group and- Mm-hmm. you know, um, but yeah, it’s- That’s crazy. So yeah, much, much different than here, right? So I mean, even, even in Texas where we’re, you know, mm, pretty open about that, like it’s, we’re pretty particular about that in schools and, and things like that. So was there a big, um, preparation for, for battle or preparation for, um, getting your mindset ready for things that potentially happen? Because, you know, we don’t do that here. We just think about- You know? How good at math are you or how good at whatever. And then if you, if you, that doesn’t work for you, there’s also these special forces over here you can get into after school, right? So- Yeah, uh-we definitely don’t bring that to the, to the younger kids at such an early age. So it’s like, what is the preparation reason for that? Like, is it a different cultural look at the world or what is that? Well, we’re talking when I was obviously in school, it was, I mean, we’re still kind of Cold War time. It was late ’80s. Mm-hmm. And, uh, and I will get to early ’90s, I guess how I end up over here- Mm-hmm. but back then, it was still, uh, that Cold War era and, uh, yeah. We weren’t doing it for fun. Mm-hmm. We were basically, we’re preparing, uh, basics because everybody in Russia have to know how to use guns or, you know, um, I guess throw a grenade- Mm-hmm. where to run if something happens. Like, we had bomb shelters in the cities and things like that and everybody knew. Mm-hmm. So they will show you where it is, they’ll time you, they’re all likeI mean, it was really kind of a- Preparation. yeah, preparation boot camp, per se. Hm. Women in the same time, well, girls in high school, uh, they won’t learn how to throw grenades or disassemble AK-47, but they would do, uh, they will take classes of first aid. Medical. Yeah, all medical. Like, what would you do if you have a wounded soldier, whatever? Mm-hmm. So those kind of things. Is that exclusive just to the Russian area or is that like all of Europe kind of prepped this kind of s- the same way? Uh, I cannot really speak for Europe but, uh, again, Soviet Union, which back then it was huge- Mm-hmm. you know, and every republic in Soviet Union was basically- Doing the same. same, everything, because it was considered to be one country at that point. Hm. So that was, uh, yeah, everybody was the same. Man, very cool. That’s very interesting. Um, so you said you got up into like 8th grade and you started splitting off. Like, I think you said at 15 you came over to this side? No, it was, uh, 17, right after I finished high school. Okay. And it all happened during that summer after I finished high school and actually attended university because in Russia, once you finish high school, you have to pass exams, kind of like here, and, um, after that you have to pass exams to one or another university that you want to attend. Mm-hmm. And so I did that in the beginning of the summer so I was already attended university, and then same summer in August, I was already on a plane to US. Mm-hmm. So and there’s obviously a story behind that. Well, I mean, let’s, let’s talk for a second. You took some tests, you passed some tests, you were going to go to college? Correct. In Russia? Yeah. And then you decided, hey man, I’m coming over here? How, how, you applied for a college over here or you found somebody over here who was like willing to sponsor you or like, how does that, how does that happen? Well, it’s, uh, I mean, it’s a crazy story but, uh, it’s, uh, what happened is, well, um, I guess I consider myself, uh, back in Russia s- from somewhat well off family, you know. It’sand my family’s very close and, um, I had a lot of friends and I just, you know, graduated from high school, you know. It’s, you know, all I was thinking is, you know, having fun, girlfriends, you know, typical thing and now I got attended university, I passed all the tests so I was ready to start thinking of, you know, student life, how it all going to be and I wasn’t trying to go anywhere. Mm-hmm. I was good where I was- Mm-hmm. kind of like, you know, never thought of anything like that. Now, on the other hand, my father, uh, who was at that time 50, actually same age I am right nowOkay. So he was, uh-I mean, he was telling me stories all my life of, uh, how America is great. Mm-hmm. And how many books he read and stories he heard. And US was always like a fairytale land for him. Mm-hmm. And, you know, I- I thinkAnd back then, couldn’t talk about it openly, but he would talk to me and I, I knew it was his dream. Mm-hmm. He wasn’t hiding it. Mm-hmm. Like, one day or somehow or, end up here. So, uh, what happened is during that summerAnd, you know, there was, uh, it was 1991, so everything in Russia changed, you know, Soviet Union split. And, you know, people started getting visas, being able to travel abroad. And there was a program, uh, exchange program for high school students, and it became available in Russia, and, uh, it was, uh, it’s called AFS. I’m sure they’re still- Mm-hmm. uh, doing this, but, uhSo, anyway, so my father found out about this program and, uh, just signed me up for it. Mm-hmm. He was like, “This is your chance. “No questions asked. It was likeAnd believe me, I was like, “No, I’m not doing this. “Yeah. I mean, I’m just started having fun, you know. Yeah. College life. Yeah. And, I mean, not like I have anything against US, but- Uh-huh. I mean, can we wait a year or so? Let me have fun and then I’ll go. It’s like, “Nope. You know, this is it. “Mm-hmm. You know, you gotta do it. Mm-hmm. And, you know, um, up until now, I still, you know, thanking my dad for pushing me and doing this for me, you know, because obviously it changed my life- Mm-hmm. completely, the whole course of my life. And, uh, and it wasn’t easy to get to that program. And he used every possible, connection, he paid for it. It wasn’t cheap either to get into that program because, uh, back then, it was only 50 Russian kids were, um, you know, part of that program. Wow. So, I have to be part of those 50 kids. And again, I had to go through a lot of more testing with this group. Mm-hmm. Uh, like, “Do you speak English? “You know, “Do you”, you know, “Do you know any history-” Mm-hmm. US history? “Like, all, all, all that stuff. Mm-hmm. And I totally understand that, but again, back in high school, I didn’t have a choice. There was German we have to learn- Right. because it’s a enemy language. You know, German. Wow. And we didn’t really had English option. Uh-huh. I mean, we did have English, but there was only a few kids were taking English. Uh-huh. You know, and so I learned German in, uh, high school and then I end up going to US, and now I need to learn English. So, like, the whole month, I was, like, going to tutors and, I mean, school, it was nothing but English for me. Wow. So I was learning English. And the way the program works, you gonna end up with the host family. Mm-hmm. And you gotta be able to communicate. Back then, we didn’t have translators, iPhones- Right. none of that. I mean, there is a book, you know, um, dictionary- Mm-hmm. and that’s it. Mm-hmm. So, um, about, uhSo I got through this program, got to this program, I passed the tests, uh, soAnd the funny thing is, uh, I have to say, they even ask you, like, “Oh, if you go, if you end up going to US, what would you, where would you like to go? “Oh, and, you know, being in Russia, we studied geography and all that stuff, so I was like”Oh, okay, number one, where would you wanna go? “I was like, “Yeah, I would go to Miami, Florida. “Mm-hmm. That was my ch- you know, you know, choice number one. Yeah. It was like, “Okay, what if you don’t get selected there, where, you know, second place you wanna go? “I was like, “Okay, well, I heard, you know, Hollywood, LA-” Mm-hmm. that’s a fun place, so I’ll go there. “Yeah. And they’re like, “Well, and the third choice. “I was like, “Oh my God, so I’ll go all coastal. “I was like, “Okay, New York. “Uh-huh. You know, New York, everybody knows New York, so I put New York. So about 2 weeks laterthey’re just, everybody, uh, I mean, they’re, um, they, uh, they contacted me and they were like, “Edward, you know, congratulations. You’re actually first kid who got chosen by a host family. “Because obviously, you know, they send our files to host families and they mismatch, people choose whoever they want and- Mm-hmm. all that good stuff. So I was like, “Oh great,” you know. I, you know, I was the first one who got, you know, picked out of the first 6 Must be Miami. Yeah, 50 kids. And I’m like, “I’m going. Yeah. “So, and I was like, “So where I’m going? “And they’re like, “Oh, you’re going to Little Rock, Arkansas. “I was like, “Hold on, hold on. “I was like, “That wasn’t part of the 3 choices. “Uh-huh. They were like, “Oh, don’t worry about it. This is a great family and a great place to go. “And I was like- Uh-huh. quite honestly, I mean, I think, uh, it worked, worked out perfect, so. Mm-hmm. Because I did end up in a very nice family. Mm-hmm. So. So you ended up in, in, ended up in Arkansas. Coming over from Russia, what, you know, uh, what was the weather like where you were raised? It’s, uh, it’s actually, uh, it’s in the south. It’s not bad. I mean, we do have winter. You know, sometimes we have snow. But, you know, summers, I mean, es- especially lately, they’ve been like here. Okay. So it’s, it’s not like cold climate. Yeah, it’s, it’s comfortable, yeah. Okay. And so you, uh, you came to Little Rock, Arkansas, and you thought, not only do I have to learn English, I have to learn, uh, this accent that these guys have here in Arkansas as well. Well, the accent, yeah. Well, yeah, I have to learn English. I mean, believe me, uh, accent was the last thing I was worried about. Because, uh, a thing when first my host family picked me up from airport- Mm. you know, meet and greet, and, um, on the way from the airport to the parking lot to their car, I think they, I could sense it. They looked at each other and, uh, they’re like, “Oh my God, this dude doesn’t speak any English. “”How are we gonna communicate? “Yeah. And I felt it, and I was like, “Well,” it was like, “I’m already here. “Yeah. “And we have to make this work. “Yeah. So, and they were nice and patient enough to actually help me with language. And, uh, about 2, 3 months, uh, I think I was decent. Mm-hmm. We already had communication, I was communicating in school with kids, and obviously I took bunch of math classes because I didn’t need much English. Mm-hmm. So, uh, but, you know, uh, it worked out good. Actually, by the time, in a year, when my, uh, trip to Arkansas was over, I think my English was better than it is right now. Well, I’m not sure about English, but accent for sure. Okay. Because I didn’t speak with any Russians. Mm-hmm. There were no Russians there. Yeah. So, and, you know, once later down in life, you know, being in Texas, having few Russians around you, having Russian wife, you know- Mm. it’s, you know, obviously my heavy accent came back using soYeah, yeah, yeah. it is what it is. So you s- how much time did you spend in Arkansas? One year. One year? Yeah. It was- With that family? Okay, so you, you got there, you stayed with them in a couple months, you learned the language, you’re going to school. Was it, what, is it a university you’re going to? No, no, no. It was high school program, so. Okay, so you graduated high school over there and came back here in a high school program. Yep. Okay. And, uh, because back then, again, I think we had 11 classes in Russia and in US you had 12, you know, 12 years- Yeah. of school. So, so it was like a senior year for me, so I came for a senior year- Mm. here in US. And again, we obviously didn’t get to choose. You know, “Here’s the program. “Yeah. You know, “That’s what you’re gonna do. “Mm-hmm. So, and that’s how I end up in high school. Mm-hmm. And, domesticated or public high school. What was the, what was the culture shock like there for the kids that, first off, you’re coming in, there’s not 30 kids in your class, you know? Well, the- Small school, big school? Well, the cool part about it is I w- I end up in, uh, public school and it has a huge history behind it. It’s, uh, um, Little Rock, um, Central High School. Mm-hmm. And that’s the, uh, f- first high school where they start mixing white and black kids, you know, all theMm-hmm. So, uh, population in the school, it was a, it’s a big school. I think was it, uh, like 3,000 students or something like that. It’s, it’s a big school. Mm-hmm. So obviously all of that was a shock to me. You know, we got 75% I think black kids- Mm-hmm. in that school. And I mean, you can, you know, you, I mean, you know, it’s, for me, it was also a part of culture shock because, you know, I came from Russia. Yeah. And you know, it’s, you only see guys like that in- Yeah. you know, on TV. Uh-huh. So it’s, you know, so it was a part of culture shock. Plus, I mean, everything else. I mean, you’re talking about the fact that all the kids were driving cars, the, the fact, you know, what people were wearing. Mm-hmm. The, the freedom of everything. It was, uh, it was very shocking. Wait, speak to that. So while you were in school and even when you were going to university, you said you have to wear a uniform? Not university. But there is still an etiquette where you have to, yeah, it’s for guys, you have to wear pants, like you cannot wear shorts. Okay. And it has to be dark pants. where there’s black, dark brown- Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. navy, whatever. But- Mm-hmm. And light top, it has to be button-up shirt. Okay. So- Long sleeve, short sleeve? Well, summer, short sleeve. Okay. Yeah- Just button up. the, the, just button up, yeah. In high school it was all uniform. Okay. So it’s, yeah, but- And then you came over here and it was, like, free rein. And you know, it was ni- it was ’92 and you know how people used to dress back then. Yeah. It was crazy. Mm-hmm. I mean, the haircuts, the, you know, dresses, and how peopleI mean, it, it was just crazy for me. Did, did your look change at all when you stepped into this world? Did you, like, “Uh, I wanna kinda let loose a little bit too and I’m gonna-” Oh, absolutely. I’m gonna get my, I’m gonna get my little mullet back here and grow it out”? I don’t know. I tried everything but I think I still end up looking like a dork-because it took forever to, you knowAnd believe me, my host parents would take me to Dillard’s and wear malls and, like, uh, “You need to buy some jeans,” you know? Yeah. Because, uh, you know, I had all this, you know, slacks and shirts- Mm-hmm. and all that, you know, uh- What you’re supposed to wear. Yeah, what you’re supposed to wear, yeah. So, and, you know, it’s first time I bought, you know, jeans, and, you know, some sneakers and- Mm-hmm. a T-shirt and went to school, I actually felt very awkward. Yeah. You know? And, um- You’re like, “You don’t understand. They were timing me to throw a grenade here last month. “”And now I’m, now I’m getting some blue jeans and cutting my hair different, so. “Yeah. It was, uh, it was very different, for sure. Yeah, that’s crazy. And so as you went into this, were the classes, uh, being as large as they were when you started doing the different, you know, mixing and matching, was that- It’s, uh-tougher? I to- well, for me, again, the toughest thing was my language barrier. Yeah. Because, uh, when I met myBefore the school started in August, I met the counselor, a student counselor in the school, and, you know, I just told him straight up, “Look, you can obviously see I have issues, you know, with language-” Language. so abs- I cannot take, you know, English class or-” Mm-hmm. “you know, literature class-” Mm-hmm. because I simply won’t understand when I read-” Mm-hmm. “or, or write. “As a matter of fact, I could barely write. Yeah. So, and, um, so I mostly took, like, uh, uh, like chemistry, physics, uh, math- Mm-hmm. you know, things like that where there is more numbers rather than letters- Mm-hmm. you know, words. So, yeah. So that’s kind of I went, and for me, it was, again, it’s part of the program. It wasn’t quite the education. Yeah. It just being able to be part of this, uh, program, experience the life. Mm-hmm. And, I mean, they totally understood that. They didn’t expect me to graduate and get a diploma, you know, because it’s not part of the program. Yeah. It just being there and experiencing, the lifestyle. Mm-hmm. So, and, and again, there was, I think at that time, they had maybe 10 or 15 other exchange students in the same school but they’re all from different countries. Mm-hmm. So I was the only Russian. Mm-hmm. I think the closest one to me was, uh, uh, Nicholas, my good friend still up until now. Mm-hmm. He was from Berlin- Hmm. Germany, and, you know, luckily enough, I mean, he actually could speak Russian- Mm-hmm. quite a bit. Not fluently, but- But you had German as well too, right? So, yeah. Yeah, so it was, it was a nice mix. Mm-hmm. So at least, had somebody to talk to- Mm-hmm. you know. Because again, uh, nothing, you know, against, you know, American kids but it was hard for me to get into one group or another- Mm-hmm. because again, I totally understand- Mm-hmm. I’m not fun to them, you know. I’m like, “Okay, that’s cool, exchange student. Hey, how you doing? “Everybody was super nice- Mm-hmm. but, you know, I wasn’t invited to the parties. Let’s put it this way. Yeah. So- They couldn’t even, they couldn’t even tell you how to get there. Yeah, I had to do my own. Yeah, soWell, that’s awesome. So you were there for one year. You, you did or did not graduate? Well, we graduated, I just didn’t get the diploma yet, yeah. No diploma ’cause you’d already had your degree from whatever. Yeah. And then you were like, “Okay, now I’m gonna go to college”? Was that the next step in this? Oh, there’s again, after one year, uh, of this program, I actually was supposed to go back to Russia, because that’s the contract and that’s kind of, you know, the agreement is of this program. And at that time, my dad reached out and he said, “Look, you know, I love you, a- and we miss you. “And I, I could only talk to them back then, uh, maybe once a month on the phone, because my, um, host father was, you know, kind enough and let me talk on the phone. Because it used to cost like 3 or 5 bucks a minute- Yeah. to talk to Russia on the phone. And, um, mostly it was just writing letters- Mm-hmm. postcards and pictures. Yeah. So, uh, so my dad reached out and he said, “Look, uh, this, the things in Russia, um, it wasn’t great,” because of, you know, Chechen war at that time. So guys my age were getting drafted left and right. And I was just like, “Man, since you’re already there-” Opportunity. why don’t you try and you take the opportunity and see what you can do? “Mm-hmm. And, you know, obviously, I realized in a much better place. Mm-hmm. And already in one year, I get to experience everything and kind of compare things. And, you know, I was still a kid, you know, a kid in my head, but I mean, I was what, 17 years old, but, you know, I already started to have to make hard choices in life. Mm-hmm. And thinking like, I cannot just think of fun and, uh, all the other things that other kids at that age thinking. Mm-hmm. You know, just don’t, just like my kids right now. Mm-hmm. They don’t care. SoY- you know, it’s funny, you, you said your father signed you up for this and told you you were going. Correct. If you told that to some kids nowadays-they would freak out, right? Absolutely. “You don’t own my future. You don’t own this. You can’t tell me what to do. “Like, you know. Well, and like I said, my family, I grew up in the, you know, my dad used to work a lot. Mm-hmm. I barely s- you know, saw him. And, but there was always respect. Mm-hmm. And it’s kind of, it’s a normal thing, it’s a norm, where you respect elderly, whether it’s your family or not. Yeah. And that’s how we were brought up. And then, and my family overall was very tight family. Mm-hmm. So it’s not like, “Oh, wherever my dad said goes. “No. I mean, obviously there is room for, you know, some kind of argument or negotiations- Mm-hmm. wherever it is. I mean, it wasn’t just like, “Okay, you’re going,” or nothing. Right. You know, there’s always options. But yeah, we were close. Yeah. And yeah, I had toWas it negotiations before you left or, or before he signed you up or after he signed you up? Well, look, it’s, well, he signed me up. I mean, I, before I even knew about it. Yeah. But look, he had plenty of arguments- Sure. where I didn’t have- Yeah. nothing toYeah. You I just, you know, my only argument was, “Well, you know, I’m gonna miss everybody and here’s my friends-” Mm-hmm. here’s my girlfriend. “”What I’m gonna do. “You know, it’sYeah. You know, that wasn’t the, the proper arguments, soYeah. He’s like, “You hadn’t met Julia yet, don’t worry about it. “Yeah. Well, I mean, uh, the reason I asked that question was not to say that your dad’s a dictator or whatever- Mm-mm. but as to be like, how have you transitioned now that you have children to the same? Are you more like your father or are you more like traditional US families now? Because I know, I’ve been around you guys. I see how it is. I’m close with you guys and I’m in intimate situations with you guys all over. I don’t know if that’s the way you should say that, “intimate situations”. But we’re friends. Yeah. But I see your family and how you react with your family,How do you perceive that and how do they take that? Well, uh, again, my, my father was always my, you know, mentor, my, you know, role model. I don’t know how you say it, but, uh, to me, main thing is in, even, you know, when last time asWell, last time before my trip, we were in Moscow and he took me to the airport. The night before there, we had a father and son conversation. And he always wanted me to, you know, feel like he’s my friend, not just a father. Mm-hmm. And, you know, I, you know, obviously right before I got on the plane, I cried and, you know, I hugged my dad and I told him, “You’re my best friend. “Hmm. And, uh, and I said it from bottom of my heart. Yeah. And, uh, you know, and he felt it. And at that moment, you know, during my life, I always thought and when my kids were born, I was like, “I wanna make sure my kids feel that, you know, they’re open to me with everything. “Mm-hmm. “No matter what they do, no matter what kind of trouble they get themselves into, whatever-” Mm-hmm. I want them to treat me like a friend. “Yeah. You know? And I want them to understand that, you know, nobody else would, you know, help him like I would. Yeah. And, you know, no matter how bad or good the situation is, I mean, life is life. Mm-hmm. But I think that barrier of parenting- Mm-hmm. or father, that’s, um, a thing. And obviously they have to respect you. Mm-hmm. I mean, there is not always a cookie in this. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, I think that’s how, you know, I took approach, I kind of, again, I took it all from my dad. Mm-hmm. Uh, a lot of things that my dad did raising me, um, kind of used the same techniques. Yeah. A lot of it. But again,here with the life so different and, uh, you know, I actually get to spend a lot more time with my boys, you know, rather my dad and me- Mm-hmm. back then because, you know, he used to work a lot and we had school and it just, likeAnd we didn’t have those, uh, like, uh, it’s so crazy, like, here when my kids go to school, they play sports, there’s always, uh, uh, competitions. There is always, uh, you know, especially football, you know, we have seasons. We go to every games- Mm-hmm. parents. It’s a huge, big deal and, you know, I love it. Mm-hmm. And we didn’t have any of that back then so even I used to go swim and we used to have swimming competitions, my parents simply they don’t attend that or- Mm-hmm. as a matter of fact, nobody’s parents go. Hmm. We just kids and coaches, that’s it, that’s how it is. So, you know, it just, uh, it was never like that. Mm-hmm. So, I guess, wherever, how I was raised, I took that and on top of it with being here in a different culture- Yeah. and implementing a lot of this- Yeah. that’s kind of, that’s what I did and- Yeah. that’s what I’m, I’m taking advantage of it as much as I can. Yeah. That’s cool, man. You’ve done a really good job with them and, uh- Thank you. you know, they, uh, uh, uh, you can see the respect all the way around whenever they’re around you guys and, um, it’s pretty cool to watch. Anyways, so, um, you were in your last year over there. You graduated, you were supposed to go back and then- Mm-hmm. you said, “I’m staying. “Well, yeah. We didn’t finish that story, right? Yeah. Yeah, so my dad called and explained that, “Just don’t come back. “Yeah. “It’s not good here-” Yeah. “right now. “You know, and that was the truth because a lot of my classmates from Russia end up going drafted and some of them didn’t make it and it was just, you know, beginning of ’90s was very, very tough times- Mm-hmm. in Russia. Um, and, uh, so again, there was another, uh, program for, um, it was actually in Texas in UT Arlington. Mm-hmm. And, uh, and they were offering in-state tuition for, uh, Eastern European kids. Mm-hmm. And, um, so, and I contacted the school, the professor, and it was like, “You’re more than welcome. “All that good stuff and- Mm-hmm. they helped me with accommodations, f- found me place to stay and i- it was a quite easy transition so my, uh, host father that I stayed with, I mean, again, he was super nice to me, he’s still my good friend. Mm-hmm. Yeah, he load up his car, you know, with all the stuff and, I mean, and he drove me to Little Rock, I mean, from Little Rock, Arkansas, to, you know, uh, Arlington. Uh-huh. I mean, a 4hour drive and- Mm-hmm. But, um, yeah, that’s how I end up here in Texas. Mm-hmm. That’s kind of my Texas journey started from there. Yeah. And so you get to Arlington. You’re with another group or you’re in your own place. Like, what’s the, what’s the housing like for yourself? Well, it’s, it’s kind of bizarre because there was, um, they actually had a lot of international students so it wasn’t like a group. Mm-hmm. It was just individual international students- Mm-hmm. who were taking advantage of one or another, you know, program- Mm-hmm. that school was offering. Mm-hmm. So, and, uh, so I just joined that program, Eastern European Bloc were students and- Mm-hmm. uh, the, uh, I actually lived in one of the teacher’s house, like, they had a, like, back house or wherever- Mm-hmm. so I used to live there and, they won’t even charge me anything. Hmm. Obviously I would buy my food and, you know, I didn’t have a car back then. I had a bicycle. Mm-hmm. It wasn’t too far from school, but it was, um, but I got to meet, uh, people right away, like friends, I mean, my dear friend, you know him, Nikolai. Mm-hmm. I met him, like, the first week I arrived. He was also student, uh, exchange student, but it was college. Mm-hmm. Not high school, but the college, so when he was already in that program, that’s how- Mm-hmm. I met him and then started meeting other people- Mm-hmm. and that’s how I end up there, yeah. Did you, uh, and now the, the Russian-speaking accent starts to come back. Uh, pretty much, yeah. Yeah. It’s, uh- And they were like, “Where have you been for the last year? “Yeah. Yeah. It’s, uh, yeah, it was fun, for sure. So, how long is this program in Arlington? Well, there is not reallyIt’s, you basically go to university and, you know, you get a degree. So- Yeah. So basically they give you, at that point, they give you student visa and as long as you attend the school, proper classes, proper hours, you know, you get to maintain that visa. Mm-hmm. So you get to stay. Uh, so that’s kind ofSo, as long as you in school, you good. Mm-hmm. And,So you got your master’s and your doctorate and- Oh yeah, absolutely. I hated school, unfortunately. Yeah. You know, it’sI’m not the guy. You know, and I might not be right but those, even my dad was calling me, like, “You need to get, you know, gonna need to get graduated. You need to get diploma. You need to get good grades and everything. “And I was likeI, it just, it’sSo I was like, “Dad, people go to school, they don’t know anything. They have to go and learn, you know? “Yeah. “I already know everything. “Yeah, you gotta go. That kind of thing. But actually very f- you know, true story and, you know, uh, very interesting. Like, the first week I arrived and going back to Little Rock, Arkansas, and my host father, he was a, a very well-known attorney over there and, um, so he went to meet his client and I was with him. Mm-hmm. And first time in my life I saw on the street this red Ferrari just, just going, flying through the street and, you know, my host part- father goes like, “Oh, that’s my client. “I was like, “Ferrari? What? “I meanMm-hmm. I’ve seen those things only in TV. Yeah. That’s it. I mean, it’s likeAnd again, I’m a car guy. For me it was, like, pinnacle- Yeah. of things. So we followed him into the garage. I came out and I’m likeI shook hand of the guy and, uh, um, all I did was just staring at the car, you know? Mm-hmm. Of course, the guy was nice and I was like, “Oh, just sit down, rev up the engine. “Yeah. You know, all that good stuff. And I mean, I felt I’m gonna pass out how happy I was. Uh-huh. And then, uh, obviously the guy was a big, big, big businessman, you know, billionaire, whatever, at that time. Mm-hmm. And, uh, so he came out. I mean, he started asking me questions, like, “So you’re from Russia, you know, Soviet Union, you know, like Cold War,” all that stuff. Mm-hmm. I was like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. “like, “You see, the, here’s the difference. You, communist country, everybody has to be the same. Everybody have to go to school, everybody have to do this, you have to get jobs. “He said, “I’m a dropout. I was 8thI was in the grade, 7th grade and then dropout and now I own this empire. “Mm. “So that’s what capitalism is. “Yeah. And with all my broken English and everything else, I remember that phrase still up until now. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And that’s why I was like, “I totally agree school is great and that’s what I’m telling my kids,” and, you know- Mm-hmm. I want them to get straight As and t- they do, thank God so far. Mm-hmm. So, but, you know, I was just, I guess, different breed. Yeah. So. And so, again, we went to Arlington. You were there for 3 years, 4 years? Well, I mean, f- Did you drop out? Did you finish? No, no, no. I was there for, umfirst of all, went toI was st- I started cheating the program because I needed, you know, to stay in US, keep up my visa, but in the same time, I didn’t wanna go and take hard classes because I needed to have time to make money- Mm-hmm. as well, which being a international student it wasn’t very hard. Mm-hmm. And, uh, so I was taking Engli- English program because it gives you hours and so I basically milked this program as far as I could. Mm-hmm. You know, uh, and, you know, it was basicallyI mean, I was working in a mechanic shop, uh, during the day and then, uh, during the school I had couple of hours, had study wherever, and then at night I would go do a graveyard shift, we call it, working at the gas station all night- Mm. on the cashier register and stacking, you know, coolers in the back. So, like, I honestly didn’t really have much time for fun- Mm-hmm. because I was working weekends as well. And, uh, but I honestly didn’t have s- time for school. Mm-hmm. And then I would have to transfer from university to, like, Navarro College in Loxahatchee. Mm-hmm. Because it’s easier and it’s way cheaper and again, it keeps my program going- Mm-hmm. my visa going, so I went there and started taking classes over there and, uh, I even used to hire a teacher in UT Arlington to write my essay so I can turn them into Loxahatchee College. And that teacher didn’t like me, uh, in Loxahatchee. She, yeah, and she was likeI mean, I almost lost, lost my status because of her. Uh-huh. Because, I mean, she knew the essays I was turning in wasn’t me- Yeah. but, you know, w- you know, but she didn’t understand. The only one th- guy I understood in that school, the teacher of government and history- Mm. he was like, “Edward, totally understand- Mm-hmm. what you’re trying to achieve and, you know, I’m here, uh, you know, I’ll help you as much as I can. “And he said, “You’re a s- smart guy and I see you’re an entrepreneur and you’re trying do all these things and, uh, you know, you just need your status. “Mm-hmm. I was like, “Yeah. Can you talk to English teacher? “Yeah. “Because she’s not getting it. “Uh-huh. I think it’s story with all the English teachers- Yeah. with everybody, so. Yeah. So-I’m trying to find out how you ended up graduating- Okay. and how you ended up keeping your ability to stay here. Oh, that’s, that’s a different story. I mean, graduation didn’t really have anything to do with it, but because, uh, you know, I- But you had a student visa, right? That’s what you were doing? Okay. Yeah, yeah, I had, I had student visa and then, um, then I had to get thewell, the only way I could apply, I mean, get a green card or apply for citizenship or whatever was, uh, there wasn’t too many choices, so I had to go, um, get it ap- applied through the job. Mm-hmm. So, and, um, so I hadand it was, back then, was quite easy. It is not like, you know, after thing, like now it’s very hard. Mm-hmm. Unless you’ve, buy it for five million bucks- Yeah. that Trump is offering. Yeah. Just, you knowYeah. Well, but back then, yeah, you just, uh, I had the job and, you know, I had to show him the skills and, uh, it’s basically, it’s bunch of paperwork, you know, hire the attorney, and it took like 5 or 7 years or whatever for me to get it all done. Mm-hmm. But my status was already changed. At that time already had work authorization and, um, you know, so I had social security obviously so, and you know, it was, you know, that time I was so busy of working like 2 or 3 jobs and everything like, honestly, it was probably the worst time of my life where I was like, I didn’t even remember a bunch of it. Yeah. Because it was, yeah, it was just tough. It was busy. Yeah. Busy, tough and then whatever, you know. Mm-hmm. That’sSo you worked at a gas station, um, what was your other one? Well, I was working in the mechanic shop- Mechanic shop, gas station. I was working in the, uh, body shop. Okay. And again, I was, uh, mechanically inclined. That’s my thing. Yeah. I always wor- love to work with my hands. Yeah. I’m not, you knowI’ve never dreamed or think of, you know, a desk job. Mm-hmm. My thing was, you know, I like to do things with my hands and I was building things, assembling things, and I worked a lot with the, um, uh, builders as well, building homes and- Mm-hmm. you know, I was just one of those guys who would get paid, uh, $4. 50 an hour back then. Mm-hmm. So and, I basically went through and went through basically every, um, every, uh, how I would say, every trade to build a house. Mm-hmm. Starting with foundation, finishing with roof and paint and all- Mm-hmm. electrical, plumbing. Mm-hmm. I did all of it, so. You just m- you just jumped into the trades. Yes. Trying to pick them off one at a time. Working 3 jobs at a time. Correct. And- For how many years? Oh. It’s been a while. It’s, uh, honestly a, I don’t remember, well, at least 5 years, 6 years, I don’t know. Yeah. It’s, it’s been a while. And, you know, I had to, the main thing is, was working and saving money because a- all I knew is, you know, I cannot win the lottery. Mm-hmm. So I have to have some kind of starting capital. Mm-hmm. And, you know, wherever I want to do because my dream was to do something on my own. Yeah. I want to be a, my own boss and I want to have my own business and, you know, but to do any of that, I had to have some kind of starting capital, and that’s why I was working all these jobs, I was saving money everywhere I could, didn’t really do much vacations or, you know, obviously I had friends, we meet up on weekends- Mm-hmm. wherever we could, but nothing crazy. Mm-hmm. You know, I didn’t get to travel a lot back then even though my friends, you know, from college they did all of this fun college life. Well, most of them didn’t have jobs either. Mm-hmm. So, but, you know, I was, I was making money, I was saving money and I did end up, you know, investing in the business. That was my first business and actually I bought a gas station with a partner and, uh, we sold it like in, in a year I believe. Uh-huh. Made money, that’sWith a profit, that’s the first, uh, you know, profit, I made decent profit and that’s when I- So you built a gas station? No, no. We bought existing one. Okay. And we basically value added- Built it. up and sold it, and, you know, I made decent profit. And that’s the first time I bought my own condominium. Mm-hmm. Uh, so my own place. So I stopped paying for rent. Yeah. And, uh, you know, it’s basically, uh, okay, now I, I have asset- Okay. that, you know, I’m gonna be building. I’m not wasting my money. Mm-hmm. So I’m not renting anything. SoAnd that’s how it all started. And that’s when my, how we call, zebra started, ups and downs. So. Well, that’s cool. So you, you bought your firstUh, you bought a gas station, upgraded it, flipped it, sold it, bought a condominium. What was the next thing you jumped into? Well, next one was actually also a gas station and a motel at the same time. So that’s more like a truck stop. It was a bigger project and everything. And that’s, uh, actually the one I learned a lot because, um, I lost all my money on. Okay. So it was, um, it w- Ho- how did you do that? Uh, I mean, it’s bad partnership. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, theft. Mm-hmm. You know, the usual thing. Yeah. You know. And again, I was 20, wherever, 21, 22. And that time, I justThat’s why I said I learned a lot because I learned that I made a lot of mistakes not paying attention to things that I should’ve- Yeah. before even I got into that business. Mm-hmm. And so it wasI basically paid for the education. Mm-hmm. Because I spent a lot of time with attorneys and- Mm-hmm. everything else, and did my own research. And unfortunately, you know, yeah, it was kind of end of the world for me at that point. And, you know, it was kindaIt was a sad time. Mm-hmm. And, you know, I worked hard, and I lost it all, and, you knowAnd then I had to start, you know, over and over, do something else, you know. Okay. So then you went back to work to build up some more capitable- more capital? Or, orI’veIt’s, uh, again, it’s my, my thing, um, being good with my hands. And I had another buddy of mine who owned few body shops, and he always wanted m- me to be his partner- Mm-hmm. in the business. And so I got in with him in the business and was like, “Look, I don’t have any money, because you know what just happened to me, but I know I need to build up the capital. “Mm-hmm. And we’ll work together before, and, and I started working there. And then, uh, uh, after that, you know, we’re buying cars, fixing cars, selling cars. You know, it was all cars related. And then another friend of mine came up to me and offered, um, um, starting another business, which is, um, car leasing, selling cars, and we started that parallel. I started that, uh, business with my other friend. And so that went well. We made some capital. And so I start feeling decent at that point, and then same friend offer meMan, it’s, you know, it’s, it’s internet boom, it’s tech boom. Mm-hmm. And I know he was investing money in stock market and he said, “Man, it’s a money machine. “Mm-hmm. “We need to get into it. “I was like, “Well, yeah, let’s do it. “Mm-hmm. And he was showing me his p- portfolios and everything. He’s like, “Eduard, but we don’t have enough capital to make a, you know, huge difference-” Yeah. because this might not last long. We need to get in big and make it and get out. “”Hmm. “Eduard, again. I went to friends of mine and all that stuff. I was like, “Guys, I need to borrow some money. “Mm-hmm. So I borrowed money. We dumped it in the stock market. I mean, uh, i- it was probably a month, it was all gone. Oh, no. So not only, again, I lost my money, I lost somebody’s else money. Yeah. And so I end up in the hole again. Yeah. So, and, I mean, it was, like I said, um, I think, yes, the, the only thing that saved me is that I refused to give up. Yeah. SoAnd just started going back into cars, selling more cars. Then I was like, “Okay, now I need to start shipping cars to Russia. “We started doing that. And back then it was, you know, it was actually great times because our countries are actually were, you know, they’re doing- Mitiğting. Yeah. It wasYeah. They were friends and, you know. And, and, uhButSo we did a lot of business in Russia. Shipped a lot of cars to Russia, and then they- So were you taking like classic cars or like just everyday, like let me get anything that’s like a passenger vehicle and fix it up and kick it? Just- No, no, no. WeIt wasI kindaI knew the market over there in Russia and, you know, I got- had a lot of friends in business over there. And, you know, I always was one of those guys who likes to customize a vehicle and- Mm-hmm. And back then they didn’t know any of that. Mm-hmm. And it was like they might seen it on TV and, you know, Pimp My Ride or wherever it is. And that was actually, actually before even then. Mm-hmm. And so I would just buy some hot vehicle that’s very hot in Russia- Mm-hmm. and I would customize it here and then, uh, ship it over there. And then, uh- So was that like a new car or was it like just the brand of a car? N- n- no, like- So you could say like a magnum PI Ferrari, or this had to be like a new Ferrari, whatever? No, no, no. I, I had to hit mass market. Okay. Not that thethere weren’t guys who would buy a Ferrari back then, but it’sit was more mass market. People want, you know, SUVs because ofyou know, shady roads in Russia. Mm-hmm. And the, um, and the customs in Russia was, uh, uh, not easy either. If you send something with the big motor, everything, they’ll tax you. They will, you know, they’ll go through either horsepower of the engine or the size of the motor, so you’ll end up paying a lot of money in customs and, you know, people didn’t want to do that. Yeah. So there were certain models and cars that, you know, with a three liter engine or, you know, some SUV, whether it’s Honda or Mitsubishi, whatever it is. Mm-hmm. And then, obviously, there is Lexuses and, you know, more upgraded versions of that. You’re talking about all foreign cars, not domestic cars here? Yeah, mostly foreign cars. Okay. For some reason, uh, I actuallyAgain, I was probably the first one who introduced actually trucks to Russia- Hm. because I wasI start shipping, like, Chevys. I wouldMy first, uh, truck I sent over there was Chevy Avalanche. Mm. Was totally decked out, lifted, big tires, you know, everything, you name it. So that wasI mean, I had a bidding war for that thing over there. So everybodyI mean, that was the only one. Uh-huh. I mean, uh, it took us, like, almost month to get it through the customs because they didn’t even know how to get it through the customs. Hm. You know, they had to classify it as a, know, a heavy truck or wherever. There’s different classifications. Mm-hmm. You know, so it’sAnyway, it was an interesting experience and, you know, it took me probably couple of years to get out of that hole and- Mm-hmm. working hard again and- Mm-hmm. and just move forward. Mm-hmm. Selling cars, flipping cars. After that, what was theYou, you made that your business. Is that’Cause that’s not your business anymore. don’t- No, it’sI think it’s more like my passion. I always, you knowI still have a big garage, bunch of tools and, um- Mm-hmm. just like you do your paintings, you know, I’ll go in garage, I’ll find a project and I turn wrenches. Yeah. It just gives me peace of mind, calm. Yeah. Nobody bugs me and it just, likeI just love it. Disappear. It’s not for money. It’s just totally therapy. Just disappear- Yeah. in there for a while. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. know. But yeah, it’sCars, yeah, took me to certain point. Actually, that time, I think it was 2009, that’s where I did my first gumball. Mm-hmm. And, um, metActually, I got into it through my, uh, friend of mine, and that’s when we started, uh, me and him, we started doingUh, well, actually, me and my buddy, we got into electric cars, actually before Tesla did. Mm-hmm. And, um, you know, he’s, he likes to read, he likes to, you know, generate all these ideas and he’s like- Yeah. “Edward, that thing is the future, electric cars. Let’s”- Mm-hmm. “discover this. “And, you know, all technical and everything. Mm-hmm. “Let’s get into it. “I was like, “Scott, I mean, it sounds cool but I don’t see any money in it. “Like, “How do we make money on it? “Yeah. You know, likeHe’s like, “We’ll take the thing public, we’ll make money. “Mm-hmm. “It doesn’t matter, whatever. “”I mean, it’s, it’s the future. “I was like, “Okay. “So I mean, it was easy. I mean, I remember we went to China twice. Mm-hmm. They w- they brought some cars from Europe, from China, all electric cars, and it was a lot of interest. Mm-hmm. I mean, heck, we got invited by n- NASA. I mean, I was speaking, believe it or not, in, in front of, uh, NASA engineers in Cape Canaveral, you know, in the military baseI think there was, like, 200 NASA engineers. Hm. And then I was explaining them how electric cars work and what’s the downfall of electric vehicle, what’s the upside and- Wow. you know, testing and everything. Mm-hmm. I was kind of shocked because I was like, “There’s no way I’m getting on the stage in front of-” Yeah. “you know, NASA engineers. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and of course my guys are like, “Look, this is all technical questions. None of us, they’re either salesguys or business guys or accountants. “Yeah. They’re like, “You need to get up there. “Mm-hmm. So they kind of put me on the spot, and so I had to do, but I think, I mean, I spoke for, like, 40 minutes, especially, I mean, the best part is Q&A. Yeah, yeah. yeah. So that was easy and, uh, I think I did fine, and you know, we left few cars over there for testings- Mm-hmm. and the show was great time around. I mean, I, first time in my life I saw live, you know, shuttle that was supposed to take off, like, in a couple of days, and it was, like, right there. Huh. It was the, it was quite interesting, yeah. Yeah. You’ve, uh, you’ve jumped into a lot of things that not even- Yeah. even I didn’t know so much about. Oh, yeah. Well, it’s like, that’s what I’m saying. I forgot a lot of things, and since we’re going, like, step by step- Yeah. I started remembering, “Yeah, we did this too. “And- I think I mentioned 20, maybe ’13, ’12, someth- Yeah. first Cannonball? Yeah, yeah. Cannonball was the first. Yeah. That’s, uh, we actually met- Oh, I was gonna be 16. was, met, I think, like, almost a year before Cannonball. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Tony’s house. Mm-hmm. That was, uh, yeah, that was the first time we met. Yeah. So that’s, uh, so electric cars was a, was a journey. Mm-hmm. And, um, and then we realized that, um, you know, it’s either too early to the game or we need a lot, a lot of capital. Mm-hmm. And, uh, it’s, so not like we lost money. We didn’t really lose any money, but we didn’t ma- make bunch either. Mm-hmm. So that kind of went away, was sold off bunch of stuff, and we just- Mm-hmm. got out of it. Mm-hmm. And then, uh, uh, parallel, I mean, believe it or not, I was in the vodka business. Mm-hmm. Okay. That was, uh- So wha- when, when you’re meeting all of these people, are you networking with people? Like, howIf you’re good with your hands, like, that’s not a vodka business. Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? If you’re good with your hands, it’s not electrical cars. You know what I mean? Like, like how are you getting into these businesses? Why do, why are people coming to Ed, talk to Ed about, “I need to start a business with Ed. “Well, I don’t know. The fact, yes, and, good with the hands, you know, on the mechanical side of it, I mean, understood electrical, I mean, that’s, you know, it’s, again, it’s my passion. And, uh, my, uh, I pro- I didn’t go to school for that. But I learned a lot of this stuff, I mean, a lot of those things on, you know, on my own. Mm-hmm. And, uh, reading things and a lot of it is just, you know, error and trial. I mean, it’s- Mm-hmm. you know, that’s how I learned a lot of things. Mm-hmm. You know? But, uh, and, yeah, r- and a lot of my friends, like, if they came for electric cars to me, it’s because they don’t know anything about how it’s made- Mm-hmm. how it works. They just know it’s electric. Yeah. They don’t know what the difference of this component or that component, and I’m the only one who had that idea or understanding. Mm-hmm. So, um, well, plus proven each other being, uh, partners in the past and- Reliable. it’s reliable, yeah, uh, communication and, uh, relationship. So it’s, that’s how it’sBut again, networking, absolutely. Mm-hmm. That was, uh, part of my, I guess, nature. Mm-hmm. I like, um, you know, I always kept up, and I always, uh, wanted to meet successful people, get close to them, learn, learn from them. Mm-hmm. Hopefully, you know, become friends with them, and again, I was nobody back then. Yeah. But, you know, I just, I have to go for it- Yeah. meet those people, and,Uh, I mean, I remember times, um, you know, and I think I told you that before, we had, like, my parents would come to visit, and I would, you know, put ’em in the car before Christmas, and I would drive them through Highland Park and University Park to look at the Christmas lights, and back then, it was, you know, I couldn’t even dream of that one day I will be living there- Living there, yeah. or building it. You know? Yeah. So, and, uh, it was, uh, I mean, dreams comes, come through, obviously, and- Yeah. But I did manifested it. Yeah. Each time I told my parents, “You know, I’m gonna end up there, I’m gonna end up there. “Mm-hmm. And, you know, and they telling me this right now, “Remember when you keep on telling us that? “Mm-hmm. So, you know, it’s very interesting, but again, it’s never given up. Well, I’ll say this. Like, you’ve gotten a lot of experience or a lot of success through ups and downs b- before you have your current place that you’re at right now. Because if you were getting on Gumball at any point in time, you’ve got to have some extra cash in your pocket ’cause that thing is not cheap. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, it’s, uhSo first, um, yeah, first, uh, 2009 Gumball I did, I was invited by my buddy, uh, Chris Roundtree, and you met him- Mm-hmm. in the, uh, before, and, uh, so that was, I think, I believe his third Gumball ever. And, um, so at that time, I actually got in business with him, and we were, uh, right before we did Gumball, I was, um, we got into, uh, selling technologies to Russia. And what I meant is it’s not like secret technologies or anything- Mm-hmm. like that. It’s because he was working for a IT company, and they were developing this, uh, e-commerce platforms and, things that didn’t, they didn’t have in Russia- Mm-hmm. those technologies. So it was all private transactions, and at that time, I was like, “Well, I have a lot of connections in Russia that I could, you know, introduce you guys and, you know, chaperone this deal. “Mm-hmm. And so we, went pretty well. We did, uh-you know, quite good. Mm-hmm. We had a couple of very nice contracts, and I guess at that time, when I did my first gumbo, that’s why I could afford to do it. Yeah. And, uh, it was kind of more like a celebration of those deals, you know- Yeah. happening. Mm-hmm. And, you know, so it was great. Mm-hmm. Yeah, that’s cool. And so then you’ve, you’ve done how many now? What is? Oh, gumbos? Yeah. Oh, I don’t even know. It was on and off, on and off. I mean, at least, I don’t know, 7? Yeah. More probably. Yeah. So it’s, I really have to pull my pictures and see year by year, whatever. Yeah. SoI, I’m sitting on 7 myself, so I was gonna say we’ve been there almost every year together, soYeah. Um, the, um, you’ve gotten through all of those trials and ups and downs. How did you start Prowse Homes? Okay, well, we’re actually right at it right now. You know, when I was doing the technologies, and again, adverting, selling technologies, you know? Mm-hmm. So at that point, it’s obviously my connections. It’s all networking, and- Mm-hmm. you know? And I had to learn and about the product, and, uh, so me and my, uh, business partner, Chris, I mean, we were constantly flying back and forth, whether it’s Europe, uh, whether it’s Russia, and it’s constant flying back and forth. And I mean, I remember we used to fly for one day to Moscow. Mm-hmm. Like, I would literally stay one extra day because I just wanted to sleep. Yeah. Because it was, you know, it’s daytime here, nighttime there. We have, you know, 30 people on one side, 30 people on the other side. We’re having this, you knowWell, we didn’t have Zoom calls back then, but conference calls. Mm-hmm. And they last for like 4 hours. Mm-hmm. And, you know, my job was there to make sure each side would understand each other. Mm-hmm. Because of English- Translator. uh, uh, yeah, barrier, and plus the, you know, understanding of the technology and all that stuff. Mm-hmm. And plus we need to make sure that, you know, we’re not getting cut out of the deal at the same time. Right. Yeah, yeah. So, so we have to be there, and, uh, so at, uh, and when we made those couple of nice deals, contracts, and everything, and we still owned bunch of stock afterwards, so I bought my first house. So Julia and I, we, we used to live, uh, rent- Mm-hmm. in Holland Park because we always wanted our kids to go to the school, and, um, so my younger one, I think was like 3 years old or 2 years old, I think. Mm-hmm. So we bought our first house, and, um, think it was 2000Yeah. Anyway, we bought first house, and we lived in itWell, what happened is we lived in a, um, uh, living quarters above the garage. Mm-hmm. While the main house, um, I basically tore down and reconstructed for us. So once we finished construction, um, you know, we moved back, uh, into the house, and we lived there for like 2 years, I believe. And then we, you know, I realized like, “Okay, now we need to move to bigger house, a better location,” you know, all that stuff, because already made quite a bit of money to support that, you know, through those technology sales and- Mm-hmm. whatever I was doing. And, um, so we put the house for sale. The house sold, and I made quite a bit of money. Mm-hmm. And at that point I was like, “Well, I can do this for a living. “Yeah. You know, because I literally built this house myself. Yeah. Well, not myself. I managed the whole construction myself. You GM’d it. Yeah. I GM’d it and, you know, I learned all of the ins and outs, I learned how to deal with the city, how, you know, I learned all of this, uh, uh, legality of it and everything else, and I was likeAnd of course it was the time where I was like, I was done with traveling. Yeah. Like absolutely was sick of traveling. Um, Julia wasn’t happy about it either. Mm-hmm. But, you know, it is what it is. Yeah. That’s what got us where we at, you know? So, it’s time to change. Like, if I could, you know, sustain, you know, building houses here, and if I can, if I can just m- multiply- Mm-hmm. what just happened with the sale of my personal home, then, I mean, this is awesome. Yeah. And I don’t have to travel anywhere. Mm-hmm. So, and that’s how I, you know, I took, you know, the money I made and I was like, I self-funded, you know, couple of constructions in- So were these full constructions? Were these like, rebuilds or these flips? Like, what are these? No, that was like, brand new. Okay. And which, you know, in Highland Park, you cannot buy land. You buy old house- Yep. you tear it down and- Yep. you know, you build new. And that’s what I did and, you know, within 2 years, you know, it’s like, you know, the sales are great, the, uh, I mean, the margers, the margins are awesome. Mm-hmm. And I was like, “Okay. I just need to expand. “And- Yeah. you know, and that’sAnd the great thing about it again, I was always home, all my job sites are, you know, 5 minutes away from my house. Mm-hmm. Uh, me, I work together with my wife. Mm-hmm. It’s basically 2 of us. Mm-hmm. I have 0 employees. Everything is subcontracted. Subs, yeah. So, it’s, you know, and I’m doing what I love to do. Mm-hmm. I mean, I grew up through the, with the construction. My dad used to build all the time, something. And again, uh, during college, I went through that phase where I was building houses myself- Mm-hmm. working for another builders. And, um, so, and Julia, my wife, uh, obviously she’s into fashion, uh- Interior design. interior design, all of that. Mm-hmm. And, you know, it’s, you know, we come up with this team. I mean, we’re, we’re still, like, wondering how we st- you know, still married after the first house we built because that was a disaster. Uh-huh. Because I was pushing my design, she was pushing her design and- Yeah. this and that. But, you know, there is always time to adjust. Mm-hmm. And, uh, but, but now it’s, it’s great. It’s- Do, do each of you play a different role now? Is it at a different level or have you guys just split and said, “I do the construction, you do the interior design. “Like- Mm-hmm. is it basically you have your own lanes now or is it still? Well, I guess it’s more like we learn how to stay away of each other’s way. Yeah. And path. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, because, I mean, look after building so much and for so long, we learn to understand- Yeah. you know, what we’re good at. Yeah. And, you know, she’llAnd there is no, like, competition between us. Oh, I did this or you did this. Yeah. Wherever, you know. She comes to me and with her design idea and she knows it’s not like, “Oh, I want this,” which a lot of architects do and, but they don’t care how it’s going to get built, you know? Or how much it costs. Yeah, so she would come to me and say, “What do you think about this,Can it be done? “Mm-hmm. And I’ll tell her, “Okay, yes or no. “Mm-hmm. Or, you know, “What are the other options? “Mm-hmm. So it’s like, you know, we learn how to communicate- Mm-hmm. work together and kind of like, work is work, our personal life is personal life. Mm-hmm. So, we learn how not to mix it. Yeah. So, you just don’t bring, don’t bring work home but we’re trying- It’s home. it’s like it’s home anyway. Your office is home, right? Yeah. Yeah. So it’s, yeah that’s, that’s where we at. How many, how many homes do you build at a time? I mean, we have probably 8, 9 projects. Between 8 to 10, depends but- Mm-hmm. at any given time, about 8 projects and then that either goes up or go down, it depends. Mm-hmm. And as you have built this brand and you’ve started with one and bought a couple and sold those- Yeah. are you just buying properties and s- building them the way that you want and then saying “These are for sale? “Or are you getting clientele to come in and say, “Ed, I want you to build my house”? Yeah, w- Because if you, if you do that, that’s a completely different model than, you knowWell, it’s, it’s all started from me building my own homes. We would design them, we would build them, so it’d be turnkey project. And obviously we would sell them as a spec house but again, and you understand the area we’re building in, it’s all, you know, it’s very expensive in custom homes. Yeah. So you gotta be very careful what you’re doing and a lot of it had to do with us being in the community and communicating with people and Julia being, uh, very, um, how would I say? Um, well, not networking she wa- Tied in, connected. Yeah, yeah. She’s got through school, through kids, through tennis, a lot of friends. Mm-hmm. And, uh, and we would, you know, she would listen to everybody and see what all this women like. Mm-hmm. Because in the end, women are the ones who are making decision- Mm-hmm. of purchasing a house. Yeah. So, and she, you know, she was like, “Okay, you know, this is what everybody wants. “And that, you know, people hate this or they love this or- Mm-hmm. You know, a lot of these things, like, to me, to a guy, doesn’t make sense and that’s why I’m tr- I’m trying not to even get into it. Mm-hmm. But again, we started our own, we start selling our houses and, you know, apparently people liked what we were building and- Mm-hmm. after time, people would start approaching us like, let’s say they, they weren’t fast enough to buy one of our houses and they would come in and say, “Look, we really like your style, your design. “would you mind building one for us? Mm-hmm. You know? SoAnd that’s how we started, you know, building, you know, custom homes for people as well. Mm-hmm. SoAnd that’s why we’re, likeActually, most of our projects right now is custom. So that’s, that’s a different approach altogether, right? There’s one thing where you build your home the way that you like it. The style that you guys kind of blend together, and it is a Ed and Julia home. It’s a Prowse home, right? Yeah. And you pick everything from the fixtures to the handles to, to the equipment that goes inside of it, all of that stuff. When you go to take on a client, and there’s the back and forth of, “Oh, I don’t like this color. “”Give me a different color. “Or, “That wood’s not what I was talking about. “Or, “Wait this is- was supposed to be something completely different, I didn’t envision that. “And it opens up cost. Cost goes through the roof when you start to have these debates and arguments. Yeah, and, um- How does that model change? Well, it’sI don’t know. For me it was quite easy tran- uh, transition because, I mean, like I told Julia, you have to be a- like a psychologist at that point. Because, yeah. I mean, I know one thing: client is always right. Yeah. You know? No matter what. No matter what business you are in. Mm-hmm. And, you know, all there is also, uh, I always knew you always have to be an open book. You have to say things the way they are. Mm-hmm. And people would appreciate that, and you don’t have to worry about, you know, what’s gonna come out of it if I didn’t say something. Mm-hmm. Or, you know, all this cause. So each time I wouldbefore I start any job- Mm-hmm. we would obviously have the budgets and all that normal s- stuff, with designs, and I always tell people straight up, I was like, “Look, you’re trying to spend this, but I’m telling you, like, you control the budget. “”It’s not me. “Yeah. “You’re telling me what to do, I’m gonna do it. “Yeah. “If you choose to, you know, spend $100 a square foot on tile-“”that’s fine. “”But, you know, we’ll do it, but, you know-” If there’s a number. you’re the one who’s spending it, not me. “Yeah. SoButAnd I would tell them, “Okay, you want to do this, this, and this. I’m telling you right now-” Yeah. if you do those things, you’re gonna want to do this thing as well. “”Because it’s not gonna look right. “Mm-hmm. And, you know, people get it or some don’t, and then they realize afterwards, and I’m like, “Look, I told you. “Yeah. You know? But it’sYou know, itIt’s, uh, it’s basically talking to people- Mm-hmm. and, uh, being straight up and open. That’s it. Because, yes, we are talking about a lot of money, and when we’re building houses for people it’s the, it’sThey’re emotionally attached. Mm-hmm. It’s, you know, it’s their home. Mm-hmm. And, you know, sometimes even Julia would have to stop me because I would like, I would get in, “Okay, you need this, this, this, and that. “Uh-huh. You know, it’sI already know in my head. It’s like that’s what’s g-And they’re like, “Wait, what do you mean itW- hold on. L- can we think about it? “Yeah. But it’s like, “There’s nothing to think. I’m telling you this, this, and this. “And Julia are like, “It’s their home, let them do it, please. “Yeah. They’ll still gonna come back to you. Yeah. But you need to give them time to- Marinade. marinade and all that stuff. Yeah. But, you know, itAnd that’s how you learn, andBut again, people don’t have problem with me or Julia because, you know, we just tell them what it is, andMm-hmm. But in the end, it’s also, uh, you know, customer service. Mm-hmm. Because, you know, it’s not only being able to build the house that people want, it’s also what comes after. Mm-hmm. Because, believe it or not, a lot of people, you know, when they’re moving into the house, they don’t even know how to use it. Yeah. I mean, there isYou know, they, you knowHow do you use, uh, you know- The bidet. the g- garbage disposal? Yeah, bidets, that’s a tot- totally different things. Yeah. And, uh, you know, and when talking about garbage disposal, how do you turn up and down temperature or change air fil- Well, some people don’t even know that you have to change air filters in their condition. So it’s, it’s likeIt’s babysitting process. Yeah. And, you know, I enjoy it. It’s likeIn the beginning it was kind of annoying, but then you understand. Look, if the guy is a client, if he’s a doctor, I meanYeah, IHe v- he knows his thing, he knows his thing good. Mm-hmm. But he doesn’t have to know what you know. It’s kind of likeYou know, you start understanding. Mm-hmm. You don’t look and be all, “Oh, how come he doesn’t know that? “Yeah. You know, he not supposed to know that. Yeah. That’s notSo, it’s my job to educate people. You know- Yeah. He didn’t work 3 trades for 6 years or 8 years, right? Yeah. Yeah. So, it’s, it’s allAnd like I tell people, it’s, a lot of it is not just building, it’s also educating people. Mm-hmm. Like, why should you use this material? Why should you use this design? Mm-hmm. Or, you know, all those things. Mm-hmm. And, uh, you know, it’s, it’s very interesting and, uh, you know, so far, that’s our core business. Mm-hmm. And, uh, I think we’ve done well. And we, uh, parallel to it, we did, uh, multifamily projects, with, you knowA, a few of those we kept for long-term investment. And, but, so, I mean, construction, it is our main business. Mm-hmm. And something we love to do. We enjoy it every day of it. When someone comes in and they ask about a home, and they say, “We want this custom home,” are they coming to you with a layout or are they saying, “I want a four bedroom, 2 bath,” blah, blah, blah? “Or, and, and they want you to come up with a style and the layout, or are they bringing things to you, clips of photos and Pinterest things, and blah, blah, blah? Yeah. Well, it’s, uh, yeah, it’sAgain, it depends on the client, but most of the time, just like you said, they would come in and they would, in their mind, they would think they know what they want. Mm-hmm. And, uh, when we sit down with architect and we start doing the, you know, preliminary models or doing feasibility studies and, uh, a lot of people, I mean, their minds, they change. Mm-hmm. Because again, guess, that’s where we come in and because we already have an experience. And once you go through the plans, you know, you already, I already visualized it, how it is in 3D in real life- Mm-hmm. this structure, and I would walk with clients through that house and I’ll tell them, “Look, you don’t, you cannot have this door here. You need to have it over there. “Why? Well, because if it’s open, this is gonna block your window. Or, you know, things like this. Oh, it’s going to be on the way or, you know, there is, there is wasted space here. There is that. So, you know, once you have the experience, I guess, um, it’s, you know, I love to share it with my clients. Mm-hmm. And, you know, sometimes they don’t believe it. Sometimes they’re like, “No, but I really want this. “I was like, “Look, I know you want this specific room, you want this art room or whatever-” Mm-hmm. in your house. Let’s just see where we can find it,” you know? Mm-hmm. “But I don’t think this is the place for it,” you know? Mm-hmm. And we end up finding it, redesigning things. And, umBut most of the people, they would come in, um, it’s not necessarily, you know, the layout. I mean, they would know basic things. Yeah. Okay, we need 4 bedrooms- Yeah. or we need, you know, 5 bedrooms or we need a 2story house or 3story house- Mm-hmm. or wherever it is, but most of them come to us because of the, um, our, uh, projects, our, uh, that they’re already familiar with our projects. And, uh, you know, our homes that we built and n-mostly it’s the design, Julia’s design, and just love it. Mm-hmm. And at least we don’t discuss much about that. Mm-hmm. I mean, Julia spends time with the, you know, with the homeowner, you know, choosing, picking- Mm-hmm. materials and, uh, but mostly, it’s that design. And it’s not like she pushes her design. They just simply like it. I mean, there are those people who, they wanna have their own finish outs. And sometimes, like, again, I don’t wanna say it, it’sYou know, but let’s say- Mm-hmm. we build those houses for those people, but n- you know, they don’t end up on our website. Yeah, exactly. Because simply, you know, we don’t wanna hurt anybody’s feelings, but, you know, you know, when Julia, has made the, uh, decisions and the designs and she designs it- The vision. Yeah. you know, she’s proud of it. Mm-hmm. It’s our business card. It’s on our website. Mm-hmm. So, like, you know, some houses, and there’s few of them that we build that, you know, we decided they weren’t worthy of being on the website. Yeah. So, I mean, there were some projects that people would, you know, just run like, “Look, guys, weJust want us to help finish this. We got screwed by another builder or whoever. “Mm-hmm. “Please help us. “You know, and that point you come in, it’s like, it’s not your project. Yeah. You’re just there to kind of help the guys andPut a Band-Aid on it. Yeah. Well, not Band-Aid, we’ll fix it, right? Yeah. But basically finish the project and- Yeah. make them happy. Wherever they already choose and- Mm-hmm. you know. So, we don’t get to say much. Mm-hmm. So, in, in those projects. Yeah. There, you already got the bones for them, you just gotta finish them out. Yeah. Uh, it’s, a lot of those things, they get complicated. And, but again, it’s, it all comes down to working with people- Mm-hmm. communication. As long as you communicate, you know, there’s no issues. Mm-hmm. You know, as long as you point things out- Yeah. in communication, everybody in the end happy. And you’re saying customer service is really kinda what leads your business. When you get a Prouse home, do you get a booklet handed to you at the end to say, “This is your ther- thermostat. This is your water heater. This is your blah, blah, blah. This is how these things work. “Is thata process? ‘Cause you said a lot of these guys- Yeah. don’t know. How do you present that to them? Well, a lot of it is we do have a lot of literature and emails and correspondence, you know, with clients, and a lot of it, uh, actually realtors, you know, brokers, they help with that as well, ’cause they’re kind of a middleman communication. But then, once the sale s- happens and, you know, people moved in, you know, they have, uhI guess what dif- differentiates us from other builders is the fact that, you know, I’m giving them my direct contact- Mm-hmm. Julia’s contact. Well, mostly mine because I’m the one who’s dealing with after fact if there’s any issues. Mm-hmm. So we’ll call it warranty issues. Yeah. You know, it’s a new house, just like car, you know, anything could go wrong. Mm-hmm. You know, there might be a, uh, nail that went through the pipe that, you know- Yeah, yeah. nobody noticed in the beginning and it started leaking- Mm-hmm. or there is a faucet that wasn’t quite tied in or- Mm-hmm. you know, things like that or, you know, even appliances, they’re not adjusted right. Mm-hmm. Even, even though we use everything high end and it’s all, best of the best, and there’s still issues. Mm-hmm. And, you know, for what I re- realize is the, the most expensive fixture thing is it’s more fragile and- Yeah. yeah, you know, there’s more likely- More bells and whistles, the more things to break. Yeah, more, yeah, more likely things go wrong with. So and, uhBut yeah, but main thing is it’s personal communication, and I always, uh, answer my phones. I alwaysSo like I said, all of our clients who bought homes from us or built homes with them, we are, uh, we simply bec- uh, became friends. Mm-hmm. Uh, and, um, we’re all friends, we’re all communicating and, uh, and I take care of them. I mean, through documents, legally, I give everybody, you know, one-year workmanship warranty. Yeah. Anything happens in the house, I will cover it, and then there’s other warranties kicks in, but it doesn’t matter at that point, but, but I took care of people way over a year and 2 year because again, they live in the house like, “Hey, Edward,” you know? They put your name out there. Yeah. “Hey, can weWhat can we do here? We want to do some changes here. “Or like, “Hey, um, our faucet started leaking. “And I’m just giving you- Yeah, yeah. stupid examples, but you know, it’s, uhAnd I just take care of, and most of the stuff I took care of out of my pocket even. Mm-hmm. Like, again, we’re not talking about, uh, a lot of money. It’s my brand. It’s my, you know, reputation. So, you know, where else can you buy for that much money so much, you know, reputation and- Mm-hmm. you know. So it’s very simple and then it’s, you know, word of mouth. I mean, people talk. It’s a very small community- Mm-hmm. and I only build in that specific area. Mm-hmm. So andYeah, so we’re to the point, uh, we, we never advertise. I mean, we do have a website- Mm-hmm. but it’s more for purposes of clients to go in and maybe see the styles and us, easier we can go and show them, “Look, we did this in this house. “Mm-hmm. “You might like this or that. “So, uh, but, I mean, we’re not reallyYeah, we’re not advertising- Yeah. and it just kind of, like, people would come in and just, and that’s kind of happens. We finish one project and another one shows up- Mm-hmm. and that’s kind of it feed, feeding, you know, it feeds by itself kind of. So, that’sYou have your website as a gallery and then you use word of mouth to kind of spread- Pretty much. what you’re doing, right? And, uh, and we work with the brokers and we’re being fair with brokers- Mm-hmm. and, uh, so and, uh, so the brokers they appreciate and, uh, uh, you know, they like to deal with us- Mm-hmm. and because we’re hassle-free, we don’t have issues after the sales and, you know, it’s all friends again, it’s all tight community- Mm-hmm. so nobody wants to deal with, you know, bad reputation. Mm-hmm. You know, everybody’s trying to stay away. Mm-hmm. So once you prove yourself, uh, being worthy, then, you know, all those brokers and everybody, they want to bring business to you- Yeah. Mm-hmm. because they want to work with you. Mm-hmm. So. And that’s- Do you, do you do any more of the, um, not build your own, I mean, buy the spot yourself, tear it down, build your own homes? Or is it just custom from here on out for anybody who’s coming to you? No, no, no. We do, we do buy and build, uh, but now, and again, it’s been ready for a year probably, uh, I’m not too crazy about it because the, um, you know, the state of economy and the, the rates and everything else, it’s kind of- Mm-hmm. you know, I won’t say scary. Mm-hmm. And if I had to, I would, but I don’t- Mm-hmm. have to do it. Yeah. So I’m kind ofI’m not doing, let’s put it this way, as many as I w- I would. So- It’s a higher risk. It’s just a higher risk because, yeah, we don’t know, um, w- what could happen in the near future and- Mm-hmm. and since the product so expensive these days- Mm-hmm. I mean, let’s, let’s just say, I mean, houses that we used to, let’s say, sell for two and a half million dollars, let’s say, the same house right now costs, you know, over $6 1000000. Wow. So, and we’re talking about within, like, 10 years. Mm-hmm. SomeYeah, about 10 years. And so the, um, the product is very expensive. Mm-hmm. And the money is very expensive. Mm-hmm. And it just, uh, sometimes it just doesn’t worthThe, the risk and reward doesn’t, knowI mean, if the interest rates will go down and, um, you knowBut the thing is also the, uh, the major thing is our, you know, the, our area where we live, and it just steady been growing, growing, growing, and especially after COVID, it just went like a rocket. Mm-hmm. And everybody think it’s a bubble, it’s a bubble, it’s gonna burst. Well, the bubble hasn’t been burst already. I mean, it’s been at least 7 years where- Mm-hmm. everybody was saying it’s gonna burst, never did and- Mm-hmm. and it was like, is it gonna happen when I buy some expensive project and start working on it? Yeah. You’ll catch me the moment I really step out there. And I was like, well, I just, I don’t have to do it, so- Mm-hmm. I’m just not gonna do it. SoStay safe, like you didn’t do earlier when you, when you- Yeah. invested everything and lost everything. Y- yeah, yeah. So it’s like, I’m still have those projects, but you know, instead of, let’s say, having 4 of them, I’ll only have 2. Mm-hmm. You know, and it’s like, I wanna make sure, like, which stage they’re in. Yeah. So, but, well, that’sWhat are the, what is the range for homes for you? Is it like one million to 10 1000000? Is it 500,000 to 2000000? Like, where we at? Our finished product is, uh, is as low as, um, I think, like, six million right now and as high as 10 1000000. okay. Um, I mean, we have one-off projects. They’re, um, one of them is around, 20-plus 1000000. Wow. Yeah, but, um, but those like one-off projects. Mm-hmm. So, but, uh, houses we built, I mean, they average about 5 to 10. Wow. That’s crazy. That’s, uh- Oh, it is crazy. I’m telling you. It’sYeah. We didn’t start it this way. Yeah. Well, good for you. That’s, that’s really, really awesome. Is there a certain type of material that you will not use to build a home? Like, you’re not doing a barndominium ’cause I’m sure there’s, you knowYou only build in that certain area, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And there’s no barndominium-type stuff or, uh, or would you say, like, “I’m not building a Mediterranean home ’cause I’m not putting stucco on a house. “Or, like, what do youI don’t know. What do you, what do youI think it’s, uh, it’s, uh, the question would be, um, uh, it’s not the materials that we like or don’t like to use. Well, there is obviously those, but that’s technical and I don’t think anybody cares about that stuff. I mean, obviously I do the research and we use always, you know, the leading, the most efficient, you know, all that good stuff. But the most important is everything is driven by the codes. Mm-hmm. National codes, city codes, you know. So what you can use, what you cannot use. Mm-hmm. And, and believe me, I had multiple arguments with the city because I actually wanted to use something better- Mm-hmm. but they just wouldn’t approve it. Mm-hmm. And all, or alternative products. And so, but it’s a learning curve and, like, actually some, you know, the city implemented some of the stuff and, uh, but, uh, it’s all, it’s basically guided by the codes and regulations. Mm-hmm. And then, and on top of it, you have the clients, the end user, the buyers. Yeah. Because whether it’s custom or not, we already know, okay, we know that this specific material, people love, they’ll buy. This specific material, people don’t care for. Yeah. I mean, my personal house, you’ve been there multiple times. I would never build house like this as a spec to sell. Because, you know, it’s, it’s mid-century modern. It’s, um, know, just different feel. Mm-hmm. You know, people here, they like more traditional, transitional. They like thisThey grow up in houses like this, but now you just build the same thing, but more open, more light- Mm-hmm. Yeah. but, uh, people like to stay safe. Yeah. You know, that’s kind of, uhthat’s the product we build. Or even Mediterranean style, and still, hav- we have to be careful. Mm-hmm. It cannot be too Mediterranean. Mm-hmm. You know, but modern, it’s, umthere’s no no. I, I think my second house I ever built- Mm-hmm. and I thought, “Oh, I’m European-” Yeah. I’m gonna build this cool glass house. “Yeah. You know, you know, and, and I did, and that’s something I would build for myself and Julia because we like that modern style, and it’s, uh, it’s been a challenge to sell. Yeah. It was aI mean, good thing, we still made money, it was good transaction and everything, but we learned a lesson. Yeah. I would never build, you know, unless somebody wants me to build one. Yeah. But as a spec, I would never build one because, you know, there’s maybe 20% of people who would actually- Yeah. you know- Cut the audience, yeah. go look at it, yeah, that like that style. Mm-hmm. Now, yes, there is a wave of a lot of people moving to Texas, which we all know from California and New York, well, all kinds of states. Mm-hmm. But, yeah, Californians, they will come here, they’ll buy a house, and they do have that open mindset of all the- Mm-hmm. um, modern homes, mid-century modern, and yeah, I’ve been approached by a few of them, and actually couple of our mutual friends. Mm-hmm. And they’re like, why you guys don’t build anything modern? Why can’t we-” Yeah. where can we find? “And if you look in the market, yeah, any modern house that was built, they stay forever, you know, for sale, just takes suchEven in hot market- Mm-hmm. it takes long time to sell because, you knowBut if you find the right buyer, it will sell, no question. That’d be me. And, uh, yeah- I love y’all’s house. It’s beautiful. I really do- Thank you. like the layout, yeah. But again, I build that house for us. It was- Mm-hmm. you know, the idea was it’s our forever home, and I don’t care who likes it or not. Mm-hmm. That’s our style, that’s what we like. Mm-hmm. And believe it or not, uh, you know, like I said, we have a lot of cli- clients going through our house, and obviously rather it’s their style or not, you know, we have a lot ofI mean, we hear a lot of compliments- Mm-hmm. and even in traditional homes that we build for people, they would still wanna take something away from our house. Mm-hmm. Or, “I want a staircase kind of like that. “Mm-hmm. Or, “I want a window kind of like that. “So- Yeah. Or floors, or whatever. Yeah. So- That’s awesome. You made sure you had enough, uh, room in there for the cars? Yeah. Yeah, I wanted, I wish I had more, but, you know- Yeah. it’s, uh, it is what it is, but yeah, when we were building, I thought, uh, Julia’s friend was driving by, and she saw the foundation of the garage, and she was like, “Julia, I cannot believe you’re building an indoor tennis court. “She was like, “I wish. “Even though it’s not quite that big, but yeah- Yeah. it’s, you knowThat’s awesome. You, um, you s- like you said earlier, you still get to work on your cars, you love working on your cars, you love doing that perspective. Yeah. Well, taking it full circle back, there’s some shoes and stuff that I’ve painted for you guys that have some of our rally theme, and some of the stuff we’ve done together. Yeah. Um, Ken Griffey Jr. got the shoes for you guys, and I painted the shoes for you guys. Nice. Um, I’ve held onto these for, uh, for a hot minute ’cause we keep saying, I’m gonna meet up and deliver them, but, they’re yours today to take home, so- Thank you so much. uh, as a, as a good, good friend, man, I really appreciate all the time that you’ve taken for me in my life just to carry me around on your back. So I, I appreciate it. It’s been- No, it’s, it’s likewise, same, same thing. It’s, uh, it’s my pleasure, and you know, you always been good and, you know, we’re, did have great time, you know, pretty much all over the world-actually. Yeah. And, you know, it’s good to have a, wingman next to you who you can trust- Yes. especially when you far away from home. Yeah. So- and I think we had that bond. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. So, and yeah, I, I appreciate, and as a matter of fact, yeah, I’m thanking my life every day for, you know, what the life brought me, and especially my friends- Mm-hmm. and people I’m surrounded with. Mm-hmm. So I’m super thankful. Yeah. Well, Ed, uh, I appreciate you being here, and, uh, with that, I think we’re gonna wrap this up, and, uh, is there anywhere the people can find your, your website, or a social media, likeProwsehomes. com. But I don’t build anywhere but Park Cities. Unless you’re planning to move to Park Cities. But I can give you some, um, you know, some support- Yeah. wherever. If you wanna know something, yeah, give me a buzz. Mm- I will guide you through some process. So, like all my friends. Yeah. SoUh, 1, uh, 100%. Well, I appreciate it again. Until next time. Yes. That- that’s the blueprint.