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Jim: I'm Jim Dralle. I've been with Joe Crump's program for about five years and I head up
the "Team Leader Program" with the coaching students.
Jim: You're watching the late night television and you see the commercials for real estate
investors or you read stuff in the paper. When I met Joe, I came with some of that stuff.
I came with some of those thoughts about being a real estate investor, especially no money
down. You're thinking that you must be taking advantage of somebody to get this done and
for you to be able to make money, and nothing could be further from the truth.
Jim: When I met Joe, I was recovering from a back surgery so I had been completely sort
of ruined in my life. I had gone from being a filmmaker. I had gone from building up a
really good career that took me about 10 years, and basically in one fell swoop, I was shot
down. I was hurt. I couldn't work anymore. I had to go through bankruptcy. I had a lot
of financial trouble. I had a lot of pain. And so, in one very short moment, I went from
doing very well to being in a jam. Jim: As it happens, a good friend of mine,
Billy, who I work with in the film business, asked me if I wanted to shoot a film for a
friend of his in Indianapolis, who ended up being Joe Crump by the way. All I knew about
the shoot was that Joe was an investment teacher and that he wanted to do an example video
with one of his students and that's basically all the information that he had. But, I was
at home raising a couple of kids at the time, so I went from running film sets to running
my house and two little toddlers, so I would have done just about anything to get out of
my house and so I gladly agreed to do all of that.
Jim: So, we drove down to Indianapolis and I met Joe for the first time and Joe said,
'What we're going to try and do here over the next three days is one of my students,
Osom, is going to try and buy a million dollars of property. We're never going to use our
own money and we're never going to use our own credit.' And again, I probably brought
a lot of baggage to that as well. I'd seen the late night television commercials. I'd
read a couple of books and this and that on investing. I assumed basically we would be
having to take advantage of people to get that done. I knew it was doable so I was interested
on one level but then again, I really didn't expect that -- I don't know what I expected,
but I expected something different than what happened.
Jim: We decided to try for three days and try and buy a million dollars of property.
And anybody that knows anything about filming -- we were shooting with 3 cameras, we had
audio problems, difficulty setting up, all kinds of production issues so we went really
late into the first day before we even got really started, and I remember calling my
wife and saying that I wasn't really sure how this was going to go. By the end of the
second day, we had done 2.3 million dollars' worth of property. I think that was 13 houses,
about $355,000 worth of hard equity on deals that we had done. We never left the office
in Indianapolis. We never used money or credit to do any of those things.
Jim: So, number one, I think that was one of the first most shocking things -- that
that could be done. And not only could it be done but I watched it get done, I filmed
it and I got to listen to it. I edited it too. I spent about $100 with it so I got to
listen to it over and over and over again, and that was the first surprising thing.
Jim: The thing that really shocked me that I didn't expect, to be honest, was that the
people who we were doing deals with, we helped. I knew enough about real estate to know that
the people who we were talking to were really in a jam and there wasn't anybody else who
could come in and help them. These people weren't in a position where anybody else could
help them. These specific people -- they all needed help, and we were really the only people
could help them. And so that first day, I remember at the end of the second day, my
memory of it was this: I called my wife up and I said, 'I know what I'm going to do with
the rest of my life.' Now, my wife's reply was, 'It sounds like you joined a cult.' And
I said, 'I know what it sounds like but you have to see it because it's amazing.'
Jim: Truly that was the most incredible thing. And I don't know at that point, I didn't know
what really happened but I knew it worked because I saw it work live. I got to listen
to it work. I watched the faxes and the contracts come in from all over the country, and that
part was amazing. I saw and I got to listen to people on the phone who were elated that
they were getting a phone call and that we were helping them, because nobody else had
helped them. And that stuff was shocking to me.
Jim: Five years later, what I've learned most, or what I find most interesting about this
business at all, is not only do I get to do that, because I came from a business where
-- the film business and the music businesses aren't the most friendly businesses in the
world. As a matter of fact, they're pretty rough businesses to grow up in. and, I got
to do something where I made really good money and I got to help people.
Jim: And what I REALLY love about this business is not only can I make a really good living
doing it and not only can I help people but -- it gives me time. I get to choose how I
live my life and that's a whole different concept. And it's not the first thing people
think about when they get into this. When they get into this, it's about making some
money and making yourself stable. What I really love about this business is not only does
it make me stable, but it gives me time -- it gives me my life -- it really does. Because
you can make money, but if you're tied to a job that you never get to leave or that
you don't like, what's it worth? -- I mean, really -- what's it worth?
Jim: This allows me to do something that I really like. It allows me to help people every
day, so I get to do something that I enjoy. I love helping people. Really, I get a kick
out of that. The fact that I can make good money doing that is excellent, and the unbeatable
part of it is that I can help people and I get to live my life the way I want to -- I
get to stay home every day and see my kids off to school, and so does my wife. I get
to watch my kids come home from school every day and I get to spend time with them the
way I want to and I can run a really successful business doing all of that. So that is the
most remarkable thing about this business. And the most grateful part for being able
to do that. I couldn't have asked to have met a better person or worked with a better
group. Jim: It's funny -- I always say that you always
try to pick a destination in your life that you want to get to and that includes choosing
a path to walk down to get there. I could have never chose the path that I got to that
I used to get where I am at right now, but I couldn't be more grateful for all of this
stuff that happened -- even the bad stuff. I went through surgery. I went through some
really hard money times. I went through some really bad problems. My family -- we had it
hard for a while. And I wouldn't trade any of it. My wife and I were just talking about
that, and I have to say that I wouldn't trade any of it because it got me to where I am
at now and I couldn't be happier. I couldn't be happier. The time that I get to spend with
my family and being able to do that comfortably, is bar none, the best thing in the world.
So I've got the best job in the world.