Real Estate and Resilience: Gio Paradis- A Unstoppable Journey from Prison to Wealth

In this episode of "Let's Talk Assets," co-hosts Chris Williams and Giovonni Paradis delve into Gio's personal journey. Raised by a single mother in Virginia Beach, Gio faced a turning point when he learned his biological father was incarcerated. Struggling with this revelation, he became defiant and encountered troubles, including expulsion from high school. Despite a strong work ethic, Gio made dangerous decisions, leading to time in prison. He later transitioned from timeshare sales to real estate, overcoming challenges related to his criminal record. Gio's story is a testament to resilience, as he rebuilt his life, emphasizing personal growth, responsibility, and the transformative power of acceptance.

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📍CLICK, LIKE, & SUBSCRIBE @letstalkassetspodcast on YouTube

📍You can find us and listen on Apple & Spotify Podcast

📍Follow the two host:

⭐️ @iamchrisawilliams
⭐️ @gio_paradis

📍Follow our official Instagram Page:
@letstalkassetspodcast

Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00:00) - Episode three Let's Talk Assets podcast. I want to thank everybody for joining in with us. I'm one of your host, Chris A. Williams, and I'm joined by my co-host Giovonni Paradise. How are we doing today? Great. Great. Geo. How are we doing today, man? Hanging in there, man. You know.

Speaker 2 (00:00:17) - , we're almost to the end of the week, but I never stopped. So,, you know, just looking forward to continuing to grow. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:00:25) - Facts. I always say Thursdays are kind of my busiest day, so usually a lot going on, you know, prepping for the weekend, trying to get things ready for the next, the next workweek. So definitely know where you're coming from with that. Absolutely. But that's being said, let's get it kicked off., today, Geo, we really want to dive into your story, right? We see Gio_Paradis. We see the CAYMUS group, we see the success. You know, we see the G-wagon, we see the Teslas, we see the the jewelry, the the necklace, you know, the tennis.

Speaker 1 (00:00:56) - So tell everybody, how did we get here? Oh, man.

Speaker 2 (00:01:02) - I don't even know where to start when he's talking about how we got to where I'm at today. And look, I honestly don't feel like I've accomplished much. I know to the outside world,, they look at what I've done to success, but,, I have a picture hanging up in my house. If anyone's seen the movie Scarface, there's a scene when he was a dishwasher and he was looking out into the night. And I have that picture in my house and it constantly reminds me of he was a dishwasher, but he knew that he was meant for more. He knew that he was going to be more, but to always keep that dishwasher work ethic.. And to still have that same grit, that same determination even when you reach success. Yeah. But when you say, you know how I got here, I mean where do you want me to start?

Speaker 1 (00:01:56) - I mean let's start from the beginning, man. Let's go all the way back to growing up.

Speaker 1 (00:02:00) - Like how you grew up, where you came from. I know early in our previous episode, we mentioned that you were from Hampton Roads, but kind of tell us about, like, you're up,, you're growing up in Hampton Roads and such.

Speaker 2 (00:02:11) - Yeah. So, you know, I was born into a very loving family, a very large family. My grandmother was one of 16. My dad was one of eight siblings. And,, you know, I was I was born my mom, and I guess you could call it my dad. Where we're married, a guy called John,, and he was Italian guy. And they were married until I was about 3 or 4 years old, and they got divorced. We grew up in a townhouse in the bayside area of Virginia Beach. Not the best neighborhood, not the worst one, either. And,, you know, so from four years old on, my dad used to get me on the weekends. And then, you know, our parents were separated.

Speaker 2 (00:02:51) - My my dad remarried my step mom when I was about 7 or 8 years old.. A step mom kind of, you know, spanked me. I told my mom and my mother didn't like it too much. And my mom went over there and. Laid the smackdown on her. You know, put her in the, you know, did her in dirty. But I mean, hey, she was just protecting her son. And after that,, you know,, she pressed charges on my mom and my press charges on her. I really didn't get to,, you know, see that man? You know, two more times. So I grew up. It was at that time, about seven, eight years old, when I found out that that man was in my biological father,, and that my biological father was Puerto Rican and,, was incarcerated., you know, when you're a kid, you don't understand these things. You really don't understand. You know, I always grew up around my Puerto Rican family, and I used to always ask my mom, when I was a kid, I used to go to my family's house when I was little.

Speaker 2 (00:03:52) - You know, my my all my cousins over there, I used to play with them. Obviously. They watched the telenovelas, you know, and I grew up around that culture. And I was like, mom, how is this my family? They're not white, you know, I was like, they're your family. Trust me, that's your family. So my mom knew that was my biological family all along. I just as a kid, you don't know know about it? Yeah. And so fast forward, you know, my my father, you know, was,, in a car, so I really didn't know him. I only met him one time in my life at this point,, fast forward, we're still living in a townhouse. I. I was raised by a single mother, and my mom worked two jobs., she provided a very good life for me. You know, I was a only child at this time, so it was just me and my mom., we had various roommates.

Speaker 2 (00:04:33) - , we had a three bedroom townhouse., at times, I had to give up my room and share a room with my mom., when, you know, times got tight. But, look, my mom made it work. My mom gave me a good life. I never went without,, I was late every Christmas, every birthday. So a big shout out to you, Ma Dukes, for making sure I was good., she got remarried. I was about,, 11 years old my sixth grade year, and we finally moved into a better neighborhood when she got married, and,, we got custody of my stepsister. And, you know, when I was about 13,, my little 13, 14, my little brother was born. So that was my first biological., sibling. And,, at this time, my around 12 years old. Kind of bring you back. My biological father got out of prison and moved here to Virginia and,, started kind of getting on his feet and try to rebuild his life.

Speaker 2 (00:05:24) - You know, my my father was in and out of prison his whole life and,, kid in trouble. And I started to develop a relationship with him, you know,, he,, wasn't real forceful down my throat. And,, you know, we were just spending time together. I was getting to know him and getting to learn some principles. Things he was teaching me. You know, one thing? That he was a street guy. He's from Puerto Rico, from New York, New York, New York, the projects out there. So he grew up very poor, but he always taught me stay in school, finish school and the importance of doing well. That's my responsibility as a child with school. Right.. And, you know, my father,, never really could leave the street life. And when you. When you live a criminal life, when you when you participate in those type of activities, there's only two eventualities. And that's death or prison.. And,, unfortunately, at 15 years old, my father was shot and murdered,, in Norfolk, Virginia, and,.

Speaker 2 (00:06:23) - It was tough on me, man., not from a standpoint of, you know, I was so close to this man, but it was like, man, I just I always wanted a father, and I, like, I had a father. Then he got ripped out of my life, and I found out he wasn't my biological father. In this new guy was my father. And my stepdad was only 14 years older than me. My mom married a guy about six years younger than her. My stepdad was a good man, you know, but he was always like a cool uncle to me. Yeah, but he was a very good man. You know, we just. I never had that father son bond with him because of the age and, you know, so when that was taken away from me, you know, I, I felt like that was a changing moment in my life where I was a really good kid. And after that point in my life when he passed away.

Speaker 2 (00:07:08) - , I began to take on a different mindset, you know, and,, you know, I graduated high school pretty much fast forward that that takes you to when I graduated high school.

Speaker 1 (00:07:18) - Yeah, yeah. So I know you touched on it a little bit, but a pivotal moment like that, you know, your father being murdered. How would you say that kinda affected you know, your life trajectory.

Speaker 2 (00:07:35) - I think, you know, being immature, being young. You're a kid. You know what I mean? You don't understand a lot of things or process and a lot of emotions. I was going through puberty as well. And, you know,, I was very defiant. I didn't want to listen to my mom. And, you know, I think it affected, you know, I had some resentment towards my mom when, you know, none of it really was her fault. My mom did everything she could to give me the best life. She can't control men's actions, you know? And I was mad at her, you know, for the actions of men, you know, it's not her actions that that caused it.

Speaker 2 (00:08:06) - So, you know, I always did well in school, but always gotten a lot of trouble. Yeah., you know, but one thing my mom made me do ever since I was 13 years old, I remember I asked my mom for 20 bucks. Say, Mark, I go to the movies, and he 20 bucks went to go with my friends. You know, it was a cute girl. Wanted to go on a date. My mom was like, look, I'm gonna give you 20 bucks, honey. But look, Monday you start work. And this was my summer going into high school. And, you know, I started working laying tile. That was my first job as a tile helper. And, you know, my mom instilled that work ethic for me. So, you know, I still continue to work throughout high school,, playing sports and and working. But,, you know, I got kicked out right before,, I were to graduate. I got in trouble in school over a very dumb incident.

Speaker 2 (00:08:52) - , and I didn't get to walk. I didn't go to go to prom. I literally got expelled in May of my senior year., that was like, I think the pivotal moment. And, like, you know, I kind of spiraled. And it led to, you know, me leaving. I was 17 years old to at the time I was younger,, my senior year. I graduated high school when I was 17. And,, I moved out of my mom's house, and I moved in to my uncle's house. Yeah. And when I say uncle,, anybody knows anything about the Puerto Rican culture? He was my uncle's best friend. But I knew him since I was a child. We call that as part of our family, as our uncle. And,. That at that point I was 17, almost 18. I turned 18, you know, a few days after I graduated,, I got into trafficking narcotics,, was my first introduction into,, crime.

Speaker 2 (00:09:43) - . My uncle,, was a paraplegic, but he had a pretty large,, distribution of narcotics and didn't fully understand what I was doing. I was young, I just wanted to make money. Yeah, I was misguided, and,, I was go up to New York and, you know, do whatever he asked me to do., and, you know, I ended up, you know, making some very bad decisions. And,, I went and left and moved to Florida with my aunt, and I wanted to join the military. My uncle was in the military., I knew that I needed to clean my life up. I thought,, the military was a great way to do that. I wanted to serve my country. It was my dream, you know, to do so. And my path end up catching up to me. I was 18 years old, living in Florida. I got a phone call from my grandparents, my mom. Cops were looking for me,, ended up having to fly up,, turn myself in at 18 years old.

Speaker 2 (00:10:42) - Had a whole life ahead of me, turn myself in. And I was sentenced to 15 years in prison, 18 years old. And,, they suspended all but three years. And I served two and a half years in prison right out of high school. So.

Speaker 3 (00:10:58) - .

Speaker 2 (00:10:58) - It was tough. That was a tough time in my life.

Speaker 1 (00:11:01) - Yeah, yeah. So to go back a bit. So things that you mentioned, you know, from 13 years old, you've been working basically you've been forging your own path. You know, like you said, 17, 18 also you're going on your entrepreneurial journey now. You weren't doing necessarily the things that on the legal side, the things that are necessarily approved of. But you were going on the entrepreneurship journey. So do you feel like even though you weren't doing things that you were supposed to at the time, that you learned valuable lessons, as far as when it comes to entrepreneurship, being a business owner, business minded things to that effect?

Speaker 2 (00:11:40) - Yeah, I learned a lot of principles.

Speaker 2 (00:11:41) - I learned how to deal with people. I learned how to mitigate fear., obviously what I was doing was very dangerous, very uncertain,, very, you know, nerve wracking. So I learned to calm my nerves. I learned to perform under pressure, learn to deal with people from all different walks of life., but I, I was just misguided. And that's why it's so critical., you know, with kids and, and the young men out there, and even as you become an adult with the people you surround yourself by, you know, because, you know, I, I didn't really understand, you know, the the harm or the wrong or what I was doing. I just thought I was making a quick buck. And, you know, being misguided can lead you down a very, very dangerous path..

Speaker 1 (00:12:25) - . Yeah I can agree 100%. So do you feel like if you had, you know, the knowledge and education and maybe like a mentor or someone that you looked up to being able to guide you, you wouldn't have necessarily went down that the wrong path like that.

Speaker 3 (00:12:39) - See the.

Speaker 2 (00:12:40) - The unfortunate thing for me is I had that person in my life. I had my grandfather.. He raised me as his own son. Since I was born, you know, my grandfather was an amazing man. But, you know, I never kind of accepted him as my father. He was my grandfather, right. And he was an engineer. He retired for the Navy, did a full career in the Navy as a civilian engineer. And then he went and worked in Washington, D.C.. Excuse me, Washington, D.C., as a government contractor is a very good man, you know, very good father, very good grandfather to me. And he was a very good role model., gave back to the community, very active,, in the church. I just never really accepted him as my father. And if I would have gravitated towards him when I left my mom's, you know, home, I would have turned out a lot different. Yeah. You know, I don't I don't look on that as regret.

Speaker 2 (00:13:41) - But, you know, I was young. I, you know, my grandparents never rejected me, but I did. I understand their viewpoint. I put them in a rough spot because my mother is their daughter. And it's like, hey, they take me in when she's kind of at odds with me. It puts them in a, in a, you know, an awkward position. So, you know, it's not that they weren't taking me in, but, you know, I just stayed away, you know, and I thought it was funner, you know, the money, the cars, the girls being 18 years old and Kiki and Ha and I, I was distracted, man. Just like any other youth person. They they don't know what really matters in life and what's important at that age.

Speaker 1 (00:14:17) - Yeah, 100%. Okay. So we talked about, you know, going back to your timeline of your story and such. You are, what, 18 years old, you just got sentenced to prison.

Speaker 1 (00:14:26) - All right. So what then? Because I know the people are wondering, okay, all these things have happened to you up to this point. How do you get how do you get to where you're at now? So let's continue with your timeline. Yeah, so.

Speaker 2 (00:14:39) - I did I did two and a half years in prison. I got out, I was almost 21. I was 20 years old., I moved to the mountains of Virginia. I had an aunt that lived in a little small town outside of Charlottesville called Stuart Sharp, Virginia. And,, I couldn't get a license because I got a bunch of speeding tickets before I turned 18. And,, so I went and got a moped, and I was working as a commercial plumber in 20 years old. Driving to work in the rain and a moped. Snow up hills. Mountains. It was,. It was a struggle, bro. I mean, I lived in a good home, you know, with my aunt. But again, me being adult, me and her started kind of clashing.

Speaker 2 (00:15:19) - As far as you know, she was very conservative on using utilities. I was using the dryer,, washing clothes like this, little things, which, hey, it's her house. When you're an adult and you're in someone else's house, you got to abide by their rules, regardless of what their relationship is to you. If you don't want rules, you got to go out on your own. You got to support yourself. You can't be living under someone's roof and think you're going to dictate what goes on. So I knew that I love my aunt and I respected her enough where I decided, like, you know, look, I'd rather preserve my relationship with you because I love you and I appreciate everything you did for me. And so I moved out and got a basement apartment with one of my buddies. He was serving tables at Chili's, and,, we moved to a little town called stand right next to an all girls college and had a little basement apartment, still riding my moped. And I found a better job,, manufacturing granite, kind of fabricating it,, you know, polishing it to go in people's homes.

Speaker 2 (00:16:10) - I was getting paid, you know, pretty decent money, you know. You know, was still on the moped rocking out, man. So the the struggle was real, man.

Speaker 1 (00:16:18) - Yeah. So when the timeshares come in to come into place.

Speaker 2 (00:16:22) - So at this time, I'm like 20. Yeah, yeah. So at this time I'm like 20 years old and. I think this my story kind of coincides with yours. When you were working at footlocker or the timeline, like 20, 21 years old. I'm just like, I knew this wasn't it. I used to ride the moped, I used to close my eyes, and I used to listen to that song, and I knew I was meant for more. I didn't know how I was going to get there, but I knew that I, and I knew I was very good at talking to people. I know. It was very good at presenting myself. I was very good at talking to people, and I knew I was always smart.

Speaker 2 (00:16:54) - I love to read, I love to learn. So I'm like, I got to move back home. And that's where, you know, I miss my family, the my cousins I grew up with. So I moved back home. I needed to find a job. So hey, Craigslist. Craigslist was a good friend back then. I went to apply,, to pass out flyers,, for an auto repair shop. I showed up, I was dressed up in a sports coat and some jeans. It's a penny loafers. And the guy's like, man, you really handle yourself really well. I want to give you an opportunity to be my service manager, which is basically like the manager of the shop. Okay? And so I started doing that. And,, anyone knows the auto repair industry, it's a it's kind of a grimy business, you know,, if you're not working for the right people. I didn't feel good about what I was doing. Had opportunity again, it's kind of same story.

Speaker 2 (00:17:42) - I went to apply at a car dealership to post ads on Craigslist. The guy my very first day talked to me. When I got hired, the general manager came and said, look, here goes 50 bucks. Go down the DMV, take your salesman's test, go get your license to sell cars to get it passed. Boom, start selling cars. I'm like 21., and I also started working at a nightclub at this time. So I was,, working,, in VIP bottle service, table service, kind of managing bottle girls, selling sections at a hip hop nightclub down to oceanfront Virginia Beach and selling cars. Man, I was kind of living the dream, to be honest with you. I was driving a demo. I was driving a different car every day, you know, every week,, Mustang, you know, Camaro stuff when you're 21 years old. It's funny as a kid. Right. Exactly. And so, you know, I thought I made it in life,, the dealership I was working at,, the general manager.

Speaker 2 (00:18:35) - And again, you're young, so I'm going with the flow, but you start seeing things for what they are, and, you know, the writing on the wall., the general manager had some habits that were hindering his ability to run and operate that business. And that business was. Looks like it was going to fold. As someone told me about Gold Key,, timeshare at the oceanfront.. I went interviewed and they hired me and I, I quit, you know, I quit, I quit selling cars and I was one of them too and went into to that environment and, and, went through deep sales training and, and thrived man. And I really loved literally love timeshare.

Speaker 1 (00:19:13) - Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So that's pretty good progression I would say. So being that you love timeshare, why not stay in timeshare. Like what made you transition to real estate. Because you were seeing success from real young age, like you're saying like 2021, you know, high position in the car business clubs, things like that.

Speaker 1 (00:19:32) - Then timeshare, you know, you say you're pretty successful in timeshare. So what made you switch to real estate? So mind you, when I got.

Speaker 2 (00:19:39) - Hired at Gold Key, you know, it was a quote unquote mom and pop company, a very large company., but mom and pop, meaning it was local ownership. It was owned by people here,, in Miami. I'm a convicted felon. I did prison time. I'm a convicted felon at this point in my life., my company that I worked for got sold to Diamond Resorts International for 163 million.. And so we went corporate.. I got on board with corporate, went through HR. I actually sold some of Diamond's product. when we went to the transition one day, about a little over 20, about 25, 27 of us got called into a big room for a meeting. It's random. And we all had different resorts we worked at throughout the oceanfront. Right. These people were on different sales lines. We all got called into a meeting room.

Speaker 2 (00:20:31) - Was really strange. We didn't know what was going on. And so basically it was a like a cattle announcement. And hey look, everybody, due to your back criminal background, you no longer are employed here.

Speaker 1 (00:20:42) - Oh, wow.

Speaker 2 (00:20:43) - So they laid all of us off. Wow. Right then and there I was making ten, $15,000 a month., at 23 years old, I thought that that was I was going to do for the rest of my life. I was in line to move up to management the following year., based on my performance., but. Yeah, man, they laid us all off.

Speaker 1 (00:21:02) - And so you're telling me you're a top performer for this company? You were bringing this company lots of money, and randomly, one day, they decided to just fire you.

Speaker 2 (00:21:12) - All of us as corporate. So. Because, you know, I was a top producer at the old company, and I was still producing when we went, when we changed over, it was a big change going from a local company to a corporate company, HR, a whole types of structures change, right? You're dealing with a very large corporation.

Speaker 2 (00:21:29) - So, you know, they laid all of us off, man. And it was a kick in the gut to me, man, because,, I was doing the right thing in life. I was on the up and up. I was in a serious relationship. I thought I found my career, I had something that I enjoyed. I love talking to people. Yeah, I love talking to people about vacations. I love traveling. So it's like, man, this is like the dream career for me. And it's actually paying me really well. And,, kind of the rug got pulled out from under me, man. It was tough.

Speaker 1 (00:21:59) - Yeah, 100%. So that's crazy to me. So like I said, you were doing literally everything that you were supposed to do, but because you didn't have any power, you didn't have any control over that company. They can get rid of you literally whenever they choose to.

Speaker 2 (00:22:13) - In an instant. Bro. Yeah. All life changed. And,, so I sold cars.

Speaker 2 (00:22:19) - A good buddy of mine,, you know, he owned a car dealership. I knew, and I did business with them. I still had a salesman's license. I hung it with him. That way I could still get paid for clients. I still had a, you know, a network of people that wanted to buy cars. And I trusted him to take care of them. And,, a buddy of mine had been pitching me to get into real estate. He owned a brokerage, and I've known him since I was a kid. I mean, he was my mom's friend's husband, basically. And,, his name was Ryan Finch, and,, he had one, you know, little brokerage on Virginia Beach Boulevard. And so I went, sat down with my friend that owned the car dealership first and interviewed. I got to figure out what's my next step. That's my next move., you know, car dealership was an easy path. I knew the business. I was already licensed.

Speaker 2 (00:23:05) - I was instant boom. And he was like, hey, you know, let's, you know, you know, I take care of you, you know? But we'll see how you do and we'll talk. Yeah. You know, which is cool to me. Right? But it's like, you know, there was no vision there. Yeah. But I mean, I, I trusted the guy like the guy. And I'm like, okay, in the car and anyone in the car business can testify. It's a grind bro.. That's an hour. Days are necessary in that business. So I went and sat down with Ryan the same day and I asked him the same question. It's funny, he's basically kind of interviewing me even though he told me, hey, you should sell real estate. Yeah, once prior. But I said, where do you see us in five years? Where do you see you in five years? Where do I how do I fit into the picture? Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:23:47) - And this was back in 2016. And, he said, you know, I'm, I'm going to, you know, I have one location here, I'm getting ready to expand, and then I'm going to franchise my business. I'm going to have locations all over the country., you know, you as an agent need to go through your natural progression. Buyers, sellers, mix of both. Investors become a team leader. Bombay's like, you'll have opportunities to move up, be a part of the expansion, the growth, maybe take on new locations. You know, I kind of paint his whole vision for me. Yeah. And, you know, I was like, you know, boom. I already had a deep personal relationship with the guy. I already had a lot of love and respect for him. And, you know, he's a very fun guy to to be around very, very, you know, humble, generous guy. And so I said, you know, where do I sign up? Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:24:31) - And so boom, I entered real estate school, you know, right away took the test boom passed right away. But. Something happened.

Speaker 1 (00:24:40) - Tell us what happened.

Speaker 2 (00:24:41) - Well, what do you think? What happens after you pass a real estate test? You got to go through what? In order to get licensed. At the PSI exam. What do they do to you? Fingerprints are a fingerprint, you know. So all of a sudden notified them that I had a record. Right. So my file, because I was a convicted criminal. Three time convicted felonies. Three felonies. And so my case, this was December when I passed the test. I had to wait,, to go to kind of a committee hearing, which is like a panel, you know, where they kind of have up in Richmond after I passed. I basically plead my case, had references. Tell them about,, my crimes. How have I changed my life since those crimes? And, you know, they vote kind of yes or no, whether they recommend the board that I should have a license.

Speaker 2 (00:25:27) - And so they voted yes, but I had to wait for the board to convene. So this was not till May when the board was meeting next. Wow. And so it was not until May,, that the board voted and I was awarded my real estate license. Yeah, probably. Honestly, one of the happiest days of my life. Yeah., just a huge accomplishment. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:25:51) - That's like five months. You had to wait, wasn't it?

Speaker 2 (00:25:52) - Yeah, man, it was tough. And mind you, at this time, I'm 23 years old., my apartment at the oceanfront, I was living a luxury apartment was two grand. I had a luxury studio in DC. Was two grand. Car payment, you know, lifestyle, travel. And my my expenses were a lot., so I got involved in things during that time, while I was waiting to see what I was going to do for my career, things I shouldn't be doing. And,, I ended up acquiring weapons to protect myself.

Speaker 2 (00:26:23) - . As you know, in this country, once you're convicted of a felony, you lose your Second Amendment, right? Yeah. And, so yeah that's why shouldn't it be done. Fast forward to I got licensed again, at that point had removed myself from anything that I shouldn't been doing. I was living life on the up and up., it took me about 2 or 3 months before I started making five figures in real estate. After I got licensed,, I was doing very well. I had some very great, great mentors, great leadership. When I got into real estate,, a lot of people that gave me the training gave me the path. And, you know, I put in the work,, I was doing about 4 or 5 transactions a month., some stuff I was doing, even off market. I had an investor I was working with. We were flipping a bunch of houses, and that's kind of how I cut my teeth., in the business, as an investors agent and a listing agent, I really worked with buyers.

Speaker 2 (00:27:18) - I referred those out to,, a special lady on my team that was really good at giving that that close attention to those buyers clients. And, you know, look, I honestly thought I'd made it in life. This is it. I mean, I was, again, making more money than I was in timeshare with less hours, more time. Freedom., I saw the vision. My life was increasing, man., just got a house. My girlfriend live with me., you know, my cousin was living with me. It was nice. It was beautiful. I thought I literally had at 25 years old. I mean, this this timeline. Now I'm about 25 years old now. I had everything I wanted.

Speaker 1 (00:27:56) - Yeah, I had a career.

Speaker 2 (00:27:58) - Had a woman I, you know, was dedicated to family that love me, kind of had the American dream. And, I mean, there's not much more you could ask for at 25.

Speaker 1 (00:28:09) - And you had accomplished all that as a three time fell into the river.

Speaker 2 (00:28:13) - Yeah, I, I never, I never see I have cousins and different family members that have also been in trouble with the law, and they've used their background as a reason why they can't be successful., I never even thought that I had felonies. I treated my life that way, and I knew that it was a hurdle, but it made me work harder because I knew I had to present myself that much better than my competition because of my past. Yeah. Now I knew I couldn't become a police officer, but go work for the government or be in the Navy or anything. That's practical. Right? But,, you know, I knew that there's a lot of things I still could do, regardless of having a record in the past, it was all about just, you know, sheer willpower and applying myself and, you know, presenting myself in a way that I could be an asset to somebody. Company. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:29:01) - You found the solution. You know, you took accountability for what you did wrong.

Speaker 1 (00:29:05) - And also, you know, you didn't make excuses. Yes, sir. He went and found a solution and did what you need to do. So okay, we're 25 years old. You know, you're very successful in real estate, making at least 10,000 a month from real estate. All right, what next?

Speaker 2 (00:29:22) - I've got a house, I've bought a house, and,, I never had a house before. I always had apartments, condos. So I never had a yard. I had a big, big yard. I had a corner lot. It wasn't a big house, but not a big yard for me. And,, I worked a lot, you know, real estate. I was putting in 50 hour work weeks grinding, and,, you know, I hired,, one of my neighbors who lived two doors down, you know, like a little lawn care company. You see him pull up with a truck? He had a trailer, all the lawn equipment. He walked over and said, you know, I saw my grass was long.

Speaker 2 (00:29:48) - He he's a salesman. Good salesman. Said, hey, man, cut your grass. Boom. So this guy was cutting my grass. And,, one day he hit me up to get paid. I was grilling in the backyard. It was. It was summer, and I was cleaning out a 357. I had a hand cut, and,, he asked me, is I. Man, that's a nice, you know, it's nice. Can I see it? So I gave it to him and he asked me when I sell it to him. And I was like, yeah, sure, man. You know, because at that time I had a bunch of weapons and I shouldn't have had, you know, but, you know,, someone put it in my head that, you know, I understand if you have a gun to protect yourself, but I had weapons of war. I had, you know, heavy, heavy, you know, machine guns and stuff like that and stuff I shouldn't have had, you know, I was like a boy with his toys.

Speaker 2 (00:30:36) - Yeah. They weren't, you know, I wasn't in crime anymore. I was not involved in anything illegal. I was doing what's right. I was living right. And so I sold him that weapon. You know, he and he left. And a couple days later, he asked me if I had something else. So,, I had a spike tactical AR 15. I ended up selling that to the gentleman. And,, our next day or two, I was dressed up in a suit about 8:00 in the morning. I was going to a closing. Very excited. Right. And as I'm going on the onramp to the interstate, there's a van driving in the wrong direction, and it turned sideways, like in a movie. There's another van that comes behind me, along with two cop cars, all undercover. Barricade me in. About 15 Swat members coming on me. Summertime. I got the windows down my sunroof. Had a white BMW. I had guns pointed through every window. A guy climbed up on the hood of my car and pointed a gun through the sunroof.

Speaker 2 (00:31:36) - Was literally inches away from my head. I froze. I had no idea why Swat was coming to get me because my new AI and you know, anybody that's been on the other side, I was out of the criminal mindset. I wasn't thinking like a criminal, as if I was thinking like I was a criminal. I would have never done business with that guy. Yeah, but to me, you know, I'm a suit and tie guy now, you know, I'm a legit guy. I'm, you know, doing what's right. I'm living right. You know, I was involved. I was getting involved in the church. I was going to men's group. I thought I was making all this necessary changes to grow as a man and to be a man of value and a man of honor. So I was very confused, you know? So they slammed me, you know, pulled me out, slammed me against the undercover car and was like, you guys got the wrong guy. No, no, we don't, Mr. Paradise.

Speaker 2 (00:32:23) - We know exactly who you are. We got the right guy. And,. Yeah, that's what my life got turned upside down. Come to find out, that guy who. I sold the gun to my neighbor a few months before I moved into that property. He got busted., cooking meth is a meth cook and a meth conspiracy. So he was out on bond as a police informant and setting people up, and. Oh, wow. That's how I got jammed up. I was arrested by the city of Virginia Beach. I had a city case, and,, I hired a high powered attorney., I didn't get bond at first. It took me a couple of weeks., they let me on a $100,000 bond,, you know, and. I had to go start fighting this thing, man, and,, see what my options were, and. You know, things weren't looking so dismal. I looked like I was going to do a year or two in the state system and, you know, it'd be done with.

Speaker 2 (00:33:15) - And I was like, hey, that's the worst thing that comes out of this. I'll survive it, you know? It's manageable. I've been through it. Yeah. Do I want to go through it? No. But when you've already been through that, that storm, you already know what to expect. I was older,, you know, so as I look, I made the mistake. Time to pay for my mistakes. And, you know, I, you know, I fall, but I'll get back. Unfortunately, the government had different plans., I was supposed to sign a plea deal with the state government., so I walk into my lawyer's office thinking that I'm signing a plea deal. As far as you know. Hey, we're going to go over the terms of it and stuff like that. This is what they're presenting, offering me. And he goes, sit down. I'm like, no, I got to go. I got, you know, stuff to do.

Speaker 2 (00:34:00) - Let's talk, let's go. He's like, look, man, you just need it, you know? Here, take a drink of water and,, you're going to be indicted by the federal government. Wow. The ATF is,, picking up your case. You're going to be indicted by a federal grand jury, you know? You need to understand the severity of this. And,. If you've ever played sports and got the wind knocked out of you. I got the wind knocked out of me without nobody touching me. The whole air fell out of my body, the blood fell out of my face. And I just was like. You know, because for people that don't know, you know, when you when before you think federal like you're thinking big time. Yeah. Kingpins, mafia guys like high profile. I'm like feds. I'm like, I'm a nobody. I'm not a criminal anymore. I'm like, what do they want from me? And why would the fact I didn't understand.

Speaker 2 (00:34:53) - Right. And so,, lawyer fees doubled pretty much. And now federal government, anybody knows the federal government has over a 90% conviction rate. You're not going to trial against the federal government. You're going to take a plea. And so,, you know, I took a plea. You have guidelines. You know what I mean? I pled guilty to one gun count. Felon in possession of a firearm, is sentenced to six years in federal prison., so 2017, they took everything from me. Our freedom house, money, car, I lost everything a girl. It was tough, man. You know, it was tough. Lost everything. I basically made it in life, I had escaped, I was like, I made it, I'm doing the right thing. I made it and it was all taken away from me and,, by my actions. So I wasn't bitter. I wasn't mad at anybody., you know, I remember when they walked me back after I got sentenced and they put me in that bullpen, and I was in that cell quiet, and I knew it was going to be a long journey.

Speaker 2 (00:36:03) - Yeah, but I knew that. They trapped my body, but they were going to trap my mind. And I spent those five years. I've read thousands of books., in federal prison, I was around a lot of wealthy people. Man. People with $100 million net worth. I was around a billionaire. I was around people with MBAs from Harvard. Doctors, chemists. You're around a different type of people. Yeah. Sophisticated criminals. People that are just very smart business people. So I learned a lot from that. Learned a lot from books. I studied the stock market, you know, learned all about that, learned a heavy and, you know, studied heavy,, and numerous pockets, excuse me, topics that relate to to business that I'm in today. And so,, I got out in 2022 and I moved to Massachusetts, man. And was going to start my life anew there, man.

Speaker 1 (00:36:54) - . Yeah. So I love what you said. You know, even though your body was trapped, your soul in your mind wasn't, you know, you took your situation where many people would have just quit.

Speaker 1 (00:37:06) - You know, they would have just been like man, you know my situation sucks. Like this is what it is like whatever. You know, my life is over. No, you said specifically you read thousands of books. You position yourself around people who were successful. Now they made mistakes to get in there just like you did. But you position yourself to be around these people, to learn from them, to take knowledge from them. Because, as we know, prison is a vast place. You know, you can be around the criminals who aren't necessarily doing anything with their lives that don't want to see better. But you position yourself specifically, not around those people, but the successful people and and took their knowledge and you were able to intake their knowledge and also apply their knowledge because you knew you were getting out and you had a specific plan for what you were going to do when you got out. So I definitely, you know, applaud you and salute you for that.

Speaker 2 (00:37:56) - I appreciate that, you know, and I read a book called No Easy Day.

Speaker 2 (00:38:00) - It was written by a former Navy Seal, and he had a mantra. And I had this thing written in Sharpie. The big piece of paper, and I posted it in front of my mirror when I got up every day and my cell said, the only easy day was yesterday. It's so. I live that every day and I still take that with me. Today is the only day that was easy is the one that you already went through, which was yesterday. Because every day has its own challenges that are unique to that specific day. So, you know, you take it one day at a time. And, you know, the thing about growth and, you know, getting in when you're in a situation like that is acceptance. And that's a to me is the testament of being a man is accepting your mistakes, accepting the responsibility of your actions, and then getting yourself back up on the horse and rebuilding your life. So now what I as a man, no matter what you go through, you have this epic responsibility for the circumstances you're in.

Speaker 2 (00:38:56) - Yep. And then now it's on you to make yourself a success out of that. And so I took responsibility, man. I didn't blame nobody. I didn't look at point the finger. I looked at that man in the mirror and I went to war with him. And I said, you got a lot of changes to me. I had to change the way I thought had to change. You know? You know, my I was very out of shape when I went to prison. I was 25 years old. I was out of shape. I was built like a, you know, Mr. Potato Head, you know, and, you know, I was wasn't taking care of my health. I was drinking, partying a lot, eating, you know, eating bad food. And so I physically, mentally, spiritually, you know, I kind of went to war myself, man. And, you know, I'm still at that same challenge today. It's it doesn't end. But, you know, and there I had a lot of time when it was just me and my thoughts, you know,, to work on myself, man.

Speaker 2 (00:39:42) - Yeah.

Speaker 4 (00:39:42) - So,. I want to,, chime in because you're you're nailing it right now, right?, one I commend you for for your vulnerability telling. Some people will leave some stuff out., but one of the biggest things that I want to ask, because you,, I believe you have the thought process to help save somebody who's about to quit. Right. So what was your,. I want to even go back from the early 20s, right? To when you were in the prison system the last time. What was your mental state at to keep going? So the person that might go on this and say. Man effort. I can't do it right. Yeah. What was your mental state at?

Speaker 2 (00:40:38) - So my mental state at the time, you know, my father was murdered when I was 15. I also lost one of my closest cousins. We grew up together. He was murdered when I was about 23 years old, when I was working in timeshare. That hit me hard, you know, we were six months apart.

Speaker 2 (00:40:52) - And when I was in that cell, you know, locked down cage like an animal, I could have cried. I could have complained. Right. But I knew that they would have given anything to have another shot at life. You know, it wasn't over for me. I had a release date on that paper. I did not have life. I was incarcerated with people with life. I had a release date and everyone had a paper. I had a release date, you know, and I read another book. And on that, again, big on books, big on quotes and the quote, you know, if you fall on your back, excuse me, it goes, if you fall, fall on your back. Because if you can look up, you can get up. And I knew that I fell on my back, but I knew I had another chance. And I never cursed God. Not once. I never blamed him, I, I always prayed to God just for another chance.

Speaker 2 (00:41:39) - That's all I asked him for. I just want another chance at life. To do things right, to do things the right way, to live my life right, and to live my life by principles that I know. I was raised because I was raised by a good family. My family did not raise me to be a criminal or to participate in those type of activities. So for me, my my state of mind was, you know, that I couldn't quit, you know what I mean? And, you know, I had a little brother, you know, who I let down. You know, I failed by going to prison. And you know, I don't have children right now, you know, because of, you know, the amount of time I spent incarcerated. So he is the closest thing to a child to me. And he looked up to me, were 14 years apart. So I knew that I had to stay mentally sound. I had to be there for him as he was a teenager, going through some of the things I went through with our mother and guide him, and I knew I had to get out and set an example for him.

Speaker 2 (00:42:31) - Set an example for all my cousins that are younger than me and for the generation to to to come after. Man, it's bigger than me. You know. And I have people that believed in me. And so my state of the mindset is, how can I give up when other people still believe in me, even when I'm incarcerated? Who am I to to give up? And you got to understand, man, if you're free. You know, you just have to dig your feet in the sand and look at yourself in the mirror. Go to war yourself and not quit because it's not over. You got another shot, man. You can literally come from nothing. Understand, you know, the people that are listening to this. Two years ago, I was incarcerated in federal prison, incarcerated 18 months ago. I was literally at zero, I had nothing. I moved back from Massachusetts after a failed business venture with one of my cousins, who's a multi-millionaire, very successful,, he went through a divorce.

Speaker 2 (00:43:27) - His new fiancee and me did not get along. It did not work out, you know, they did not trust me. They did not believe in my dreams. They told me they were too big. I walked out of that office, left that city with nothing. I packed up a Toyota for one year with my whole life in it. Spent a little money I had moved back home, slept on my cousins couch and I started my life over. Man, this was June of 2022, you know? So less than two years ago, I was literally at zero, man. I was homeless, literally, I was homeless. I, you know, I was on federal probation at the time, but I had an address. I was staying with my cousin, you know, and, you know, big thanks to him for taking me in. And, you know, I, I picked myself back up. But you have to understand, as a man in this world, you know, no one's gonna feel sorry for you, man.

Speaker 2 (00:44:16) - You you gotta take what you've been through and let that motivate you. Everything that happened to you. Because so many people go through life and say, I can't be successful or I can't make it because of X, Y, or Z, but that you have to find your Y. What is your Y of what makes you go so hard? And my thing is, is I've lost it all, homie. I've been at zero. I know what it's like. So now. I'm afraid to lose it. That's how it works so hard. I have a family that I want to take care of. I want to show people that no matter how hard you fall, you can get back up. You can pick yourself back up, you can make something of yourself. You can help other people around you. You know, because I don't measure my success about my bank account. I measure my success about how everyone around me is doing and how I have elevated their lives and increase their lives. I want to bring everyone with me, the people that started with me, people like Chris that, you know, when I first met him, I was at zero.

Speaker 2 (00:45:15) - You know, this was all the dream, this everything I'm doing, everything that I've done. It was all, you know, a dream. So that mindset to answer your question and wrap it up was, you know. If you have. If you fall. Fall on your back. Because if you can look up, you can get up. It's not over. You know what I mean? It's not over. People would pray to have another chance at life, pray to have a fresh start. And even if you have no money is you still can have a fresh start. I had no money. I had a fresh start. You know, I got out, I had no family, you know, no rich parents, nobody to give me money, nobody to say, hey, here goes this. Get on your feet. Here goes a car. Here goes money for your bank. I don't have none of that. So, you know, I did have love, though. And so I don't discount, you know, love, love.

Speaker 2 (00:46:04) - In support of.

Speaker 3 (00:46:07) - It is.

Speaker 2 (00:46:08) - A lot. It does go a long way. So big shout out to my mother, my grandparents, you know, my cousins, my family, my aunts, uncles, everybody that injected positivity in me talk that positive talk. You know, you got to surround yourself by people that talk positive, don't beat you up for your mistakes, but talk about solutions, how you can get better and how you can improve.

Speaker 1 (00:46:29) - Yeah, 100%. So like you mentioned, you know, another chance, another opportunity. Would you say the k miss group was here. You know you're another chance. You know the opportunity. And also you kind of want to tell the people about the famous group. Some of the amazing things you've been able to do with the Cambridge group ever since you got out in 2022.

Speaker 2 (00:46:51) - Yeah. So I started the business with my, my, my partner., he was already a successful businessman, and we kind of shared the same vision. And, you know, we started doing I had a couple deals under contract with me and him kind of hooked up.

Speaker 2 (00:47:03) - I had a kind of a longer relationship with him. Wasn't really tight, but obviously we were very close now and,, very blessed to be under his mentorship. He's older than me, way more seasoned in life, and I've learned so many lessons in the in the very short time from him. It's helped me hockey stick as far as an entrepreneur. And we hooked up with two other young guys,, that shared the same vision, and I knew I couldn't do it alone. And at the same time, I hooked up with you, Chris, and hooked up with some other amazing agents, and we built this amazing real estate team. And, you know,, we did a over 40 million our first year,, as a real estate team, and we did over 60 million our first year and netted over seven figures on the off market,, as a business in our first full year operating. So, you know, I never chased the dollar signs. This time, I'm just chasing a vision and helping elevate as many people around me.

Speaker 2 (00:47:58) - And, you know, now we've expanded the cannabis brand. We're in Richmond, northern Virginia, western part of Virginia, down in Jacksonville, moving into Orlando, Tampa area as well. So constantly expanding., I'm blessed to to have a platform. I'm blessed to be able to help people and share my passion of investing in real estate with the rest of the world.

Speaker 1 (00:48:18) - Yeah, yeah. And you did this all as a multi-time felon, you know, as a person whose father was murdered as a child, who has seen loved ones, you know, murder and stuff. You didn't let any of that stop you. You know, you kept on going no matter what you got faced with in life. And you progressed and constantly grew. So definitely big shout out to you, Gio. I appreciate.

Speaker 2 (00:48:43) - It bro. Life is 20% of what happens to you and 80% of how you react to it. And so we're all gonna, you know, get knocked down. As if can you pick yourself back up and can you stay mentally resilient and see your dreams through the finish line?

Speaker 1 (00:49:01) - That's all, folks.

Speaker 1 (00:49:02) - That's what we're going to end on. This was an amazing episode of Let's Talk Assets podcast. Geo, I want to thank you again for sharing your story. I know this is definitely going to be helpful for some people. Make sure if if you guys found this helpful to comment, let us know if you found this helpful retell to Gio. You can reach him on Instagram Geo. Underscore. Paradise. You can reach us. Reach out to us also on Instagram at Let's Talk Assets podcast. I want to thank you all for the time again. Let's talk assets. Peace y'all.