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From the Corporate World to Full-time Real Estate Investor and Author with his Son

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On this episode of the Capitalist Sage, Karl Barham and Rico Figliolini are joined by Rudely Kelly and his son, Jayden. Rudley is a real estate investor, a realtor and an author who with the help of his son, wrote “Real Estate with my Daddy”, a children’s book that explains the ins and outs of real estate to kids. Listen in on the inspiration behind this book and hear Rudley’s expert insight into the real estate industry.

Book on Amazon
Website: K1HomeSolutions.com
Phone Number: 404-877-8088
Social Media: @RudleyKelly

“I’ll have a conversation with the seller and just get an understanding of what is their true
motivation, what are they looking to gain out of selling this property? Because at the end of the
day, you don’t want to walk away with someone feeling as if they were taken advantage of, or
didn’t understand the process or anything like that. For me, I like to sleep well at night and I
want to make sure whoever I’m dealing with sleep well at night as well.

Rudely Kelly

Timestamp:
[00:00:30] – Intro
[00:03:09] – Inspiration Behind the Book
[00:04:03] – Rudley’s Background
[00:05:26] – Educating Children in Real Estate
[00:08:36] – Finding Properties
[00:09:56] – Next Steps in a Property
[00:11:30] – Making House Flipping Profitable
[00:12:54] – Working with Contractors
[00:15:47] – Exiting Properties
[00:17:07] – Pros and Cons of Airbnb
[00:18:07] – How COVID has Impacted Business
[00:19:50] – Next steps for Rudley and Jayden
[00:26:22] – Closing

podcast transcript

Karl: [00:00:30] Welcome to the Capitalist Sage Podcast. We’re here to bring you advice and
tips from seasoned pros and experts to help you improve your business. I’m Karl Barham with
Transworld Business Advisors. And my co-host is Rico Figliolini with Mighty Rockets, Digital
Marketing, and the publisher of the Peachtree Corner magazine. Hey Rico, how’re you doing
today?
Rico: [00:00:47] Good karl. It’s a great day.
Karl: [00:00:49] Absolutely. Why don’t you introduce our sponsors for today’s episode?
Rico: [00:00:53] Sure. Our sponsor is Hargray Fiber. They are an internet company that
provides services to small and large companies. And they’re a main component in every
community they go into. So we’re excited to have them as our sponsor and not only for this
show, but our other podcasts that we do and also support our Peachtree Corners magazine. So
what I want to tell you is that they have the Hargray Economic Stimulus plan, their own stimulus
plan. So if you qualify for it, you get one year free business, internet, and phone service. So you
should check them out and go to Hargray.com/business/economic-stimulus. Great partner to
have. They are not like the cable company and they’re there when you need them. So check
them out. Thank you Hargray.
Karl: [00:01:50] Thank you so much, Rico for introducing our Sponsor Hargray today. Today’s
guest is Rudley and Jayden Kelly. Rudley’s a real estate investor, a realtor and an author. And
today we’re going to talk a little bit about how to teach your children about investing. Real estate
investing, other types of investments, to our children. You’ve recently just launched and
published their first book, I’ll kind of show it here. This is “Real Estate with my Daddy”. It’s
available on amazon.com. A very fun book for you to go through with your children and talk
about real estate. So we’ll talk a little bit about this today and share some of the thoughts around
that. Hey Rudley, hi Jayden, how’re you guys doing?
Rudley: [00:02:34] Good, doing great. How are you all doing?
Karl: [00:02:36] Oh, we’re blessed. Thank you so much. And thank you for taking time out of
your busy schedules to be on the podcast with us today. Jayden how was school today?
Jayden: [00:02:48] Good.
Karl: [00:02:49] That’s good. You’re probably pretty used to doing your schoolwork and keeping
up with stuff. How did you get time to write a book with your dad?
Jayden: [00:03:00] Cause we were just home one Saturday afternoon. Went shopping, so we
just wrote a book for fun.
Karl: [00:03:09] Oh, that’s fabulous. Rudley, why don’t you tell us a little bit what sparked you for
doing that? Writing this book and introducing it to everyone.
Rudley: [00:03:19] Yeah, first and foremost,I appreciate you guys inviting us on this podcast.
It’s a great venue here to kind of talk about business. But yeah, the whole premise behind the
book was to just help share the knowledge of real estate amongst, you know, younger children.
Kind of similar to the opportunity I had when I was younger to learn from my older brothers and
sisters and older cousins that invested in real estate. So my son, you know, obviously he’s been
coming with me on looking at various properties, distressed properties and whatnot, since he’s
been about two years old, right? And so we just wanted to kind of put it in the language of a
child for them to get a high level grasp of what investing in real estate is. And you know, we kind
of wrote it together and came up with something pretty cool.
Karl: [00:04:03] Yeah, it’s definitely fabulous. Why don’t I start by, how did you get into real
estate and what made you, what’s your background and what brought you to where, what you’re
doing today?
Rudley: [00:04:14] Yeah, so I started real estate. I’ve been heavily investing in real estate in the
past six years, but really bought my first property about 14, 15 years ago. And what kind of got
me started in that is, you know, kind of what I was mentioning a little bit prior to that I had some
good role models. My brothers, sisters, some older cousins, my parents, that all had some type
of footing within real estate. So my thing as a younger adult always wanting to try to figure out
how do I accelerate that and how can I get to that level sooner. So it started off with me buying
my first property right out of college. Primarily because I didn’t want to move back home with my
parents at that time. So that was my motivation at the time, but kind of snowballed from there.
Got my real estate license and you know, invested in quite a bit of education on the flipping side
of the business. And just kind of took it from there.
Karl: [00:05:04] Oh, that’s fabulous. I wonder Jayden, what’s your favorite part of working with
your dad when looking at properties?
Jayden: [00:05:14] I get to help him build things.
Karl: [00:05:15] What’s your favorite? Is there a particular room that you work on a lot? Kitchen,
bath, living room?
Jayden: [00:05:22] I usually work downstairs.
Karl: [00:05:26] Oh, that’s fabulous. So as you started getting started in this, what are some of
the things you found that when trying to help educate your children about investing, you found
were some of the things, the challenges in doing that?
Rudley: [00:05:42] You know, I guess some of the challenge is in maybe some of the language
and the dynamics of what real estate is. So I think for me, what helped educate Jayden on it and
the rest of my children as well is just, you know, putting it in as, mostly in terms as possible. And
trying to equate it to maybe toys or things that they play with and understanding buying
something versus investing and saving and those types of things. But I think the biggest
challenge is just putting it in a language that resonates with them best. So it was fun for us to
write this book together so he can kind of help me along as I’m writing it to say, does that make
sense? Checking in with them and you know, getting a good understanding that you know, this
is something that a seven-year-old can understand
Karl: [00:06:25] Jayden, what do your friends think about you helping your dad out?
Jayden: [00:06:30] They haven’t all checked the book out yet.
Karl: [00:06:35] They haven’t checked it out? Well, we have to do something to help get them
the book a little quicker and get them into schools and everything else. One of the things that’s
always fascinating, there’s an aspect of this that goes around wealth building. Creating a legacy
and generational wealth. That, there has been a lot of discussion around that. What place, what
do you recommend for parents to start instigating that curiosity in their children? What are some
of the things you’ve been doing and what would you recommend to other parents that want to
get their kids interested earlier into business and/or investing.
Rudley: [00:07:14] Yeah. I mean, I think some of the biggest things is truly just exposing him to
it first, right? I think, exposure is the key. I know growing up you know, as looking at my parents
older, typically as parents, you’re like, you know, this has grown folks business. Or this is, you
know, this is for adults, but I tend to not do that typically. I want to bring them into the fold. I want
to show them like, all right, this is what this costs. You know, how do you think we should go
about paying for this? You know, if you’re having discussions over bills or things like that. Once
you get a little bit older, maybe not Jayden’s age, but you know teenagers are a little bit older,
like sit down at the table with them and go over the bills and show them where their account is
coming from or where the funds are coming from and how to save and do those types of things.
So I think number one is exposure. Don’t shy away from having those conversations, even
though they may not necessarily be a hundred percent ready for it yet. And then number two is
just continuing to get them excited. Find a piece of wherever in that education that you provided
them. Find what motivates them, or find something that they’re interested in. And push them
towards that direction to learn a little bit more. So even if it’s about stocks or anything like that
stuff that they buy all the time, you know, if it’s Nikes, or they love Disney movies. Pull up the
Disney stock, take them through that, you know, let them learn a little about those things. So
find something that they resonate with and have that conversation about the investment part of
it.
Karl: [00:08:36] I’m going to ask the question about maybe a recent project that you guys
worked on together. How did you find a property, a particular example of property? What are
some of the ways you search for them? And is there an interesting one that you found in an
interesting way maybe with Jayden involved or others?
Rudley: [00:08:58] Yeah. So, you know, as you mentioned, I’m a realtor and investor. So from a
realtor perspective, I’m able to find properties on what’s considered the MLS on market type of
properties. But from an investor perspective and kind of what we touch a little bit on the book,
I’m typically finding off-market properties or distressed properties. So some of the ways that I’ve
learned to go about finding those properties are certain lists that you’ll purchase. Such as
people that are in distress situations, foreclosures, maybe probate, someone that’s inherited a
property that lives out of state and they don’t have anything to do, don’t want anything to do with
the property. You know, eviction lists, tired landlords, all different types of lists that you can use.
I have a team of folks that make those calls and follow up and take action on those. And that’s
pretty much how I go about finding the properties. But everything really falls into the follow-up
and making sure you’re getting direct to the sellers and just establishing your credibility and
relationship with those sellers.
Karl: [00:09:56] Once you find a property, what happens next? If you identify a property and an
owner of the property, what do you typically do next?
Rudley: [00:10:06] So if I had the address and had the information at first, do some kind of
desktop analysis look at the area, look at the comps. If there’s pictures, I try to look at the
condition of the property and run some preliminary numbers on where it makes sense for me to
purchase this property. But once I get to that point, I’ll have a conversation with the seller and
just get an understanding of what is their true motivation, what are they looking to gain out of
selling this property? Because at the end of the day, you don’t want to walk away with someone
feeling as if they were taken advantage of, or didn’t understand the process or anything like that.
For me, I like to sleep well at night and I want to make sure whoever I’m dealing with sleep well
at night as well. So I really try to get a good sense as to what are their goals. If it’s a probate
situation, perhaps, you know, they have other siblings in the family and maybe they need as
much money as they possibly can to split amongst those siblings, right? So I want to try to give
them the best possible offer I can. Or it could be someone in a situation that’s like, I really don’t
care about the price, I just need to get this out of my name as soon as possible. So that’s
another motivation or a motivating factor that I can help them with. Okay, I can close within a
week if you need me to and get this burden off of you if you’ve got bills piling up all of those
types of things. So it really depends on the customer or seller first and start from there and work
my way backwards to seeing where we can, you know, where it makes sense for both parties.
Karl: [00:11:30] I’m curious as, once you acquire the property, there’s a lot of people doing
flipping now especially in Georgia, in different cities, around different States around the country.
What do you, what are some of the things you’ve learned about doing it profitably when it comes
to once you’ve acquired the property?
Rudley: [00:11:51] Yeah. I mean, I think once you acquire the, well I just say, going a step back
even before acquiring the property, it’s really just knowing your numbers. That would be the
advice I would give to any newbie investor out there or someone that’s looking to flip homes, is
that try to take the emotional attachment out of it of just wanting to do a deal. Because that can
certainly hurt you in many different ways. And just be cautious as to what you’re, what you’re
going into, because there’s a lot of shows, station TV. It’s a lot of things out there and make it
look very glamorous, which you now it certainly can be at times, but know your numbers and
understand what you’re getting into. And then once you actually do acquire the property,
continue to do your due diligence, continue to do your inspections. Work with your contractors
and always leave yourself, even whatever your budget do you come up with, have a
contingency. Because as much as you evaluate that property beforehand and do your desktop
analysis, once you open up the walls, you just, you never know what you’re gonna run into. So
have a contingency. I like to have 5, 10% contingency overage in my budget for things that may
pop up.
Karl: [00:12:54] Are there things that you get to do and Jayden gets to help you with that you do
yourselves versus pushing out to contractors, subs?
Rudley: [00:13:05] I mean, pretty much we sub everything out to contractors or, you know,
general contractors that oversee the entire project. You know, there are a few little things here
and there that I may do just in essence of time. But I really want to focus my time on finding the
next deal, find the next opportunity or working with my buyer or seller clients on the realtor side
as well. So once I get a property, I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve been able to systemize it,
where I don’t necessarily have to be there all the time, although I still have a pulse on it. So the
whole idea of getting into this business was to build a system. Where I just got more time to
family and do stuff like this, write a book with, you know, with the kids and do things like that?
Karl: [00:13:47] Can I explore a little bit into that? Oh go ahead Rico.
Rico: [00:13:50] Yeah, I just wanted to be able to ask about, because someone trying to get into
this that has no experience, right? I mean, you have a few years experience doing this stuff,
right? So someone’s going to come in and they’re going to hire a subcontractor that may be
overpriced, may take advantage of them. You know, they’re putting down flooring, but maybe
the sub floor is supposed to be a certain level of subflooring. They might do something else.
How do you keep track of these things? Especially if it’s out of state, like you’re licensed in Ohio.
If you did that in Ohio, how would that work?
Rudley: [00:14:30] Yeah, great question. So, I mean, it’s really about vetting out your
contractors. That’s probably the hardest part of this business is just getting trustworthy, reliable
contractors that are insured, know what they’re doing, and I have some integrity to them.
There’s plenty of them out there, but you know, we have to find the right one. So the way that I
vet them, I have a very thorough process of certain questions that I ask. I want to make sure
that they’re insured, that they truly are licensed. I can go on a specific website to see if they are
truly licensed, as they’re saying. And then probably the best part of it or the most important part
is getting recommendations from others or from their actual work of people who have actually
worked with them. But not only just calling, you know, potential clients that they worked with
before in the past, if you’re a local go to the site, go to their job sites. If they don’t have any
current projects that they’re working on, that’s probably not a good sign.
Rico: [00:15:24] Sure.
Rudley: [00:15:25] Yeah, so I like to go on site and look at what they’re doing at someone else’s
flipper property, or even just a residential renovation.
Rico: [00:15:33] And I imagine as you do this, you probably accumulate a stable of contractors
that you can go back to.
Rudley: [00:15:39] Yeah, I’ve got a pretty good list of contractors that I use pretty consistently.
Rico: [00:15:46] Cool.
Karl: [00:15:47] I’m also curious about the exit of these properties. What are the different
options? I know one of the most obviously is you could sell it to someone for their home. What
are some of the other options you’ve explored and some of the pros and cons of those?
Rudley: [00:16:03] Yeah. So part of the reason why I got my real estate license was that I
wanted to just add another tool to my tool belt. You know, I started off as an investor first and
then got my real estate license. But I look at every opportunity as there’s several different ways
to monetize that. So an exit strategy, number one, obviously could be doing a flip or selling it,
but it could also be doing it as a rental property or holding it as a rental property, or it could be
doing Airbnb. Or it can be a burst strategy, which I’m not sure if, your listeners maybe aren’t
familiar with that. But burst strategy is basically buying the property, renovating it, renting it out,
and then refinancing it to get your cash back out that you initially put into the property. Because
once you renovate the property, you now raise the values of the property and you can refinance
and recycle that same catch. So there’s many different exit strategies and you can do all of
those strategies. But yeah, it really depends on going back again to the numbers. What do the
numbers tell you to do with this property? And then start from there.
Karl: [00:17:07] What’s the pro, I’ve heard people talking about Airbnb. Pros and cons of doing
that versus just a regular rental?
Rudley: [00:17:15] Yeah. So for Airbnb, they typically say you can receive anywhere from two to
three times the typical rent that you would get in a traditional rental market. So, you know, I’ve
been doing that and it’s pretty accurate. You know, there is additional cost of doing that cause
you have to purchase furniture. You know, in most cases you’re going into paying the utilities
and things like that. But it does give you a little bit more velocity in terms of cashflow as well as
the ability to check on the property a lot more than you would a tenant that you may have in
there for a year, and you can’t get in there for an entire year. Barring any type of extenuating
circumstances. But with Airbnb it’s constantly getting cleaned up after every guest, you can
check in on it and see if there’s any repairs or maintenance that needs to be done. So I love
Airbnb. It’s been a great model for us that we’re continuing to just scale.
Karl: [00:18:07] I’m curious, on this past year with the pandemic, how has it impacted your
business? Flipping rentals, Airbnb, has this helped or hurt or is it? How did you navigate through
that over the past year?
Rudley: [00:18:21] Yeah I mean, different parts of the business definitely had different impacts.
So from a rental perspective, COVID definitely had an impact just based off the moratorium in
terms of not being able to evict or, you know, having a pause on that. So that definitely had an
impact, but I think what allowed me to not really be impacted as much is because of scale, I
have several properties. So when you have that economies of scale, it’s not as much of an
impact as someone that may just have one property. And that tenant is out which leaves you
with a hundred percent vacancy. So that’s helped me from that perspective. Airbnb you know
last year, I guess, right around this time now, Airbnb pretty much put a pause or a halt, at least
in the city of Atlanta for a period of time. So quite a few people, I’m sure. Kind of felt that a little
bit during that time, but right after that period, we actually kind of saw a significant increase
compared to last year’s numbers. Just being that people there’s just so you know, kind of
bundled up in house for so long that they were just ready to just do anything and just get out.
And what we found is that people aren’t necessarily traveling, you know, miles and miles away.
They’re literally booking Airbnbs down the street in their same neighborhoods just to get out of
the house and do something a little bit different. So the numbers of Airbnbs and, you know,
outside the perimeter in the suburbs and actually includes quite a bit.
Karl: [00:19:50] I know, it’s especially, you know, the hotels have been hit hard. People have
flipped over to Airbnb’s. And there was a section in the book that I saw where you kind of were
going through some of the numbers with Jayden. Jayden, I’m curious, I’ve got a question for
you. How comfortable are you in math and the numbers so far? Do you like doing math and the
numbers? So can you help your dad with figuring out which are good investments and not? Do
you like doing that part with the numbers? I’m curious, do you have any ideas, what you wanted
to do? Do you want to do this type of stuff when you get older or do you have some other other
aspirations?
Jayden: [00:20:41] I wanna do what Dad did.
Karl: [00:20:50] Good, why?
Jayden: [00:20:50] I don’t know.
Karl: [00:20:51] Well, most people do what their dad and mom does. And so I think, you know,
Rudley you’ve been doing a great job of setting an example for not just Jayden, but with the rest
of the family and even in the community. And seeing how well people can do in shifting. I’ve got
another question around, you know, what are you seeing in the next five, six years? How does
this play out over time? Both for you and even as Jayden gets older, what are some of your
thoughts and wishes for him as you continue this journey?
Rudley: [00:21:27] Yeah, I mean, I think over the next five, six years you know, Jayden will
obviously, I’ll continue to bring them along on the projects that I’m doing. And, you know, I think
obviously the information will start to be retained even a lot more so over time. And introduced
him to even books, you know, on a higher level for him to start reading himself. But yeah, the
next five or six years, you know, want to continue this trajectory. I want to continue to scale the
Airbnb side of the business, rental properties, continue to do flips to a certain extent. You know,
no one really for the most part, I can’t speak for everyone, but I don’t think people want to do
flips for the rest of their life. Because that’s more active income, right? And definitely have to be
there and hands-on. But the idea is to take that active income and put it into passive income,
like rental properties and Airbnb property. So that’s, that’s what we’re focused on over the next
five to six years, continue to just work towards that financial freedom and more of that passive
income so we can spend more time with the family.
Karl: [00:22:23] Yeah. I speak to a lot of people who are trying to get out of, you know, being
employed by someone else and becoming their own boss. Because we use the term often
BYOB, be your own boss. And part of that is creating, first it’s taking the leap and starting
investing in starting the business and starting those. But at some point over the evolution, I’ve
noticed some business owners creating a system around what they’re doing. And it’s always
interesting to watch, you know, folks that are spending a lot of time in church activities and
charities, sometime playing golf in the community. And you wonder how can they run a complex
business and yet have time to do that. And I think some of it is, they figure out that way to one,
generate passive income, is one strategy is be able to do that. But two is building a system that
would be able to be able to let go of some of the day-to-day stuff. And they build a team and the
systems around to be able to do that. How far do you think you are in that journey and how
much further you gotta go?
Rudley: [00:23:36] Yeah. I mean, I think I’m getting close to that point where it’s, you know,
pretty systemized. But being transparent, right, it’s still a lot of hours still. A lot of time to put into
that. But that is the goal to get it a hundred percent systemized where, you know, you can take
or basically fire yourself, right? You want to fire yourself from your business at some point. So
yeah, no one, you know, I’ve recently, you know, left my corporate job and moved into doing this
full time. So, you know, no one wants to go from a job to another job, right? And that’s
essentially what you’re doing. You’re more the technician, if you’re hands-on and doing all the
work still at that point. So for a period of time, you have to do that to build up the business and
get things going the way you like it and build those systems. But at some point, you know, you
have to, you’ll get burnt out if you don’t don’t fire yourself. So the goal is to fire myself at some
point.
Karl: [00:24:29] And Jayden might be ready to take over the mantle on some of that stuff. And
you could delegate to him.
Rudley: [00:24:35] Yeah, exactly. He’ll be the systems manager.
Karl: [00:24:39] Well, that’s fabulous. You know, I want to thank you and Jayden for coming in
and talking a little bit. Again I want to re-introduce, it’s Rudley and Jayden Kelly, “Real Estate
with my Daddy”. It’s available on Amazon. I think there is a website that should be up soon as
well. But if you want a nice fun book to just start introducing real estate investing and numbers,
to have a nice book to read to your child at night. It’s a great read and, and really I’m glad that
you got a chance to do this with Jayden. And you’re building a legacy for your family that allows
you to do more stuff like this. So that’s really, really good. So tell me about any projects you’ve
got working on or are there any new things you’re working on currently?
Rudley: [00:25:29] Yeah, there’s still properties. Every day, seeking out new opportunities our
Airbnb is going pretty well. So that’s going to continue to be our focus for this book. You know,
we’ve got a great reception from it. So we’re going to make this into a series and start
introducing some other aspects of real estate that, you know, younger children, or even adults
may not be familiar with so many different avenues of real estate to participate in. So we’re in
the process of doing that as well. But other than that, building the business. As I mentioned, I’m
a realtor as well, so working with plenty of clients. So gives me the opportunity to kind of share
my investor knowledge as well as from a realtor perspective and work with these clients that are
looking for investment properties or just residential, so I can offer both avenues. So the focus is
realtor side, investing, and writing more of these books.
Karl: [00:26:22] That’s fabulous. Well, we’ve known you and Jayden and the rest of the kids for
quite a while and enjoyed being part of your journey through this. So we’re always excited to
see when you post another project completed through social media and other. How can people
reach out and contact you if they wanted to learn more?
Rudley: [00:26:44] Yeah, they can find me on Facebook under K1 Home Solutions or directly
under Rudley Kelly. Same thing on Instagram, under Rudley Kelly. Phone number business line
(404) 877-8088. And also our website, K1HomeSolutions.com.
Karl: [00:27:02] Awesome. Excellent. Well, thank you again very much. Jayden, I appreciate you
coming on the podcast today and look forward to seeing you again soon alright? Thank you.
We’d like to thank Rudley and Jayden for joining us. Rudley is a real estate investor, a realtor as
well as an author of “Real Estate with my Daddy” available on Amazon. Just want to thank him
for sharing some of his insights into his journey, into real estate investing. You know, as we talk
about on the Capitalist Sage very often, there’s a lot of different paths to becoming your own
boss. And whether it’s acquiring a business, whether it’s real estate investing, we like to bring
different perspectives of people in our community that are doing these things. So as you can
see, not only has Rudley made the leap into doing this full time for his corporate job, he’s
bringing his son along and his children along to learn about real estate investing. That’s
something we can all learn from and start to do whenever possible. Rico, you’ve got some
experience with that. I think some of your children follow along in your pursuit as well, so.
Rico: [00:28:10] A little bit.
Karl: [00:28:12] So that’s something that runs in the family. But what do you have going, coming
up Rico?
Rico: [00:28:18] Well, we just put out the latest issue of Peachtree Corners Magazine. It should
be hitting the mailboxes right about now.
Karl: [00:28:28] Faith in Sports, that’s a great, great subject. Really good job again, Rico.
Rico: [00:28:34] Yeah, thank you. We’re getting good reactions. It’s online, it’s on digital also,
right now. But 19,800 homes are getting the magazine this week in the mail. So between the
Faith and Sports and roller hockey and Girl Scouts, there’s a whole bunch of other stories about
artists, local artists and stuff like that. So it’s a full issue of content that I think people will be
interested in. They’ll find something in there that will interest them. So we have that and then
we’re also planning some more podcasts. So in the future, there’s going to be one on Wesleyan
Artist’s Market and the business of running a virtual art festival, right? And we’re also doing
another one on Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, which is the business of running a film festival
virtually, right? So it was kind of neat. Well, those things will be coming up. So I’m excited.
Karl: [00:29:31] Fabulous, fabulous. Well I’m Karl Barham with Transworld Business Advisors of
Atlanta Peachtree. Our business advisors are available to consult with business owners.
Whether you’re looking to improve your business, the value of your business, you’re ready to
take a vacation or retire and you’re looking to sell your business or you’re looking to acquire. It’s
a great time right now to acquire a business. The SBA as part of the care act are allowing some
unprecedented support for the economy to assist with small business. If you want to learn more
about that, ease the theater, reach out to me, KBarham@TWorld.com. Or you to go on our
website, www.TWorld.com/AtlantaPeachtree. We’ve got information around different lending
options that the SBA is doing including they are paying six months of a new SBA loan signed
before September. For anybody that closes on business acquisition using the 7A program.
That’s just one of the many ways the SBA is helping support small business and keeping people
employed as we navigate through the pandemic response. So we’ll be doing some more
webinars on those. We’re out in the community. We’re talking to folks and we’re just trying to
help people navigate through this and find a successful exit when they’re ready or grow through
acquisition. Rico what about anything going on, on the digital marketing side?
Rico: [00:31:05] Sure. Well, Mighty Rockets, my company is still doing a lot of consulting,
creative services, graphic design work. We just picked up another client. That’s actually a
publication, they put out two publications a month here in the Metro area. So we’re handling all
the creative work. So you know, anytime someone’s looking for product videos, content work,
social media, or graphic design creative services, we’re there. So feel free to go visit
MightyRockets.com. Or find me Rico Figliolini on linkedIn. Connect with me, send me a
message. I’d be more than happy to talk to you. So it’s been a busy year in 2021 so far. So as
bad as things may be out there, it’s not been a bad economy for us.
Karl: [00:31:54] Yeah it’s good change. You know, there’s a lot of change happening. So the
things change. People gotta communicate and get out there in their community. So grateful for
all that you do to help support that here locally in the community.
Rico: [00:32:07] I’m grateful for all the things I learned. Not only from you, because I’ve learned
a lot from you. And I know how to exit, I think my business at some point. But listening to people
like Rudley and his son and other people. I mean, these are great shows. I’m hoping people get
a lot of good, actionable things out of these episodes. And it’s just a good thing. I look forward to
every episode now.
Karl: [00:32:29] Absolutely. Well, we’ve got more to come in the new year, so stay tuned
everyone. Thank you for joining us on the Capitalist Sag

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Business

Pest Control Without Harsh Chemicals

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Two men and one woman standing next to a blue SUV with company logo on it and holding a sign for Geo Mosquito.

Local small business owner has found a way to keep mosquitos at bay with natural remedies

Geoff Krstovic, a former firefighter, transitioned into the mosquito control business after a divorce, driven by the desire for flexible work.

“Nobody ever thinks they’re going to be into bugs and chemistry when they grow up,” he said. “It’s not like, ‘I want to be a firefighter. I want to be an astronaut.’ Nobody thinks that they want to go out there whacking bugs or says, ‘I want to be in pest control.’”

But as he progressed in his new career, Krstovic took an interest in how to get rid of pests without using harsh, man-made chemicals.

“The more certifications, the more promotions and everything that I got, [and] the more entomology classes I started taking, … I really started to realize what we were putting out into the environment,” he said.

Pest control technician from Geo Mosquito spraying a customer's yard.
Krstovic treating a customer’s yard. The spraying protocol is customized to each property, resulting in more effective mosquito control.

“I spend 90% of my time outside, and I see so much wildlife. So, when I would see a deer eating a leaf or a rabbit run out of bushes that I just treated, it really made me start to think about the effects of what we were doing to them.”

Not to mention pollinators like bees and butterflies.

“When I [would finish a treatment], I’d look back at the yard and everything that I’d seen flying around was just gone,” he said.

As a parent and a pet owner, he knew there had to be a better way to get rid of pests but still safeguard ourselves and the animals around us.

With a growing concern for the environmental impact, he developed a natural mosquito treatment system. The company he was working for wasn’t interested in his new product, so he started his own business.

Road to pest control

Krstovic graduated from Georgia State with a major in English. He joked that many of his contemporaries in the field have similar backgrounds.

“There’s an ongoing joke in the pest community where it’s like … what do you go to college [for] to be a pest [control] owner? Well, you major in liberal arts, English or writers’ composition,” he said.

Large orange and black butterfly resting on a pink flower bush with green leaves in a backyard garden.
Geo Mosquito protects vital plants and pollinators with eco-friendly mosquito control.

“A lot of the other owners I met had the same degrees. A big part of it is that creativity aspect, and in pest control, you’re allowed to think outside the box, and you’re allowed to adjust and adapt to what you’re seeing and use different methods.”

That desire to do things differently led him to find a way to help keep people safe from West Nile, Zika virus and Eastern equine encephalitis while they enjoyed time outdoors.

With a lot of research and a little help from relatives with backgrounds in chemistry and engineering, he came up with a formulation based on using essential oils.

The dangers of mosquitos

“After you meet your first client that tells you about their experience just walking to a mailbox and they get West Nile, it changes your perspective 100%,” Krstovic said, “because you’re not just out there killing bugs, you’re out there protecting people and their families.”

Mosquitos are often called the most dangerous animal on earth, with the diseases they spread killing over a million people annually according to statistics from the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control.

While the more serious mosquito diseases don’t pose the greatest risk to most communities, there are common ailments that can show up in people and pets, including bites that get infected and heartworm in dogs.

Reaching out to the community

Though people were a little skeptical about Krstovic’s natural pest control methods at first, Erin Rhatigan decided to give it a try.

“Geoff cold-called our house in 2021 and revealed that he actually grew up in the house next door,” she said. “He really wanted to return to his roots and offer his services.”

Rhatigan has three young children, and with her home being situated on the Chattahoochee River, the outdoor areas are beautiful, but also plagued by a lot of mosquitos.

“We’re very focused on spending time outside, and our kids are very, very active, so they’re outside a lot,” she said.

But Rhatigan and her kids are also very sensitive to mosquito bites, and the spraying services she tried year after year weren’t satisfactory.

“I had gone through every franchise. I had used the large companies every season. I was switching because it seemed like it would be effective at the beginning, and then it would lose effectiveness,” she said.

She was also concerned about the toxicity of the chemicals being used.

“I felt like using toxic chemicals on our property was not only bad for our family, but because we are on the river, we’re kind of a steward to the environment as well, … so when he mentioned that the product that he uses to control the mosquitoes was eco-friendly, I was happy to try it,” she shared.

Local solution gets a local investor

The treatment was so effective that Rhatigan isn’t just a customer, she and her husband decided to invest in the business.

A woman and two men sitting at a kitchen table with snacks, drinks and notebooks discussing plans for business expansion.
From left: Erin Rhatigan, Geoff Krstovic and Nathan Rhatigan mapping out 2025 expansion plans.

“It was better than anything I had used for the previous 10 years,” she said. “The amazing thing is that when he sprays the property, you have this effervescence of the essential oils in the air.”

She recommended Geo Mosquito to everyone who’d listen to her, and eventually Krstovic took over maintaining the facilities at Rhatigan’s community pool.

“[What he was doing] kind of piqued my husband’s and my interest because we were looking for a small business to invest in locally,” she said. “I’m now home with the kids, but I have a long career in sales, and my husband is in sales as well.”

Within a year, the couple became active investors.

“We love the origin story of this relationship because it’s reflective of how friendly and supportive the local business community is in Peachtree Corners,” she said.

Caring about the work

Krstovic attributes his success to caring about the work, attention to detail and understanding client needs. He doesn’t just spray the yard and leave; he has a system of mapping out problem areas and educating clients about prevention.

A pest control technician from Geo Mosquito talks to a woman wearing a red top and black pants on the steps leading up to her home's front door.
Krstovic with Geo Mosquito customer discussing potential problem areas on the property.

“We’re looking at anything that could hold a water source and eliminating that, asking our clients what time of the day they’re getting eaten up, what part of their body and what part of their yard,” he said.

“That helps us figure out the species of mosquito that’s attacking them, so we know where to target, because different species have different nesting sites.”

Growing the business

Geo Mosquito has begun working with Vox-pop-uli to upgrade their logo, website and promotional materials.

“Geoff is a typical entrepreneur — protective of what he’s doing,” Rhatigan said. “So going through the steps of changing the logo, coming up with a new tagline, starting to do some marketing, is both exciting and a little scary.”

But the team at Vox-pop-uli has been a tremendous resource — helping them go at their own pace.

“This first year of investment was about seeing what the market interest is and expanding brand awareness,” said Rhatigan. “Vox-pop-uli offers so many services, it’s daunting for an emerging company to manage so many different contractors: creative, graphic design, printing, mailing. But they have a great, responsive organization that has been very helpful.”

Next steps

With a proprietary formulation for the mosquito abatement, Geo Mosquito wants to bottle the solution and sell it nationally.

Additionally, in 2025, the company plans to expand into ecofriendly pest control services for inside the home. They are also interested in working with local municipalities, churches and schools to expand their mosquito control services.

The Local Thread: This business profile series is proudly supported by Vox-pop-uli, championing local stories and the communities we serve.

This article is also available in the print and digital edition of the Jan/Feb issue of Southwest Gwinnett magazine.

Photos courtesy of Geo Mosquito.

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Business

From the Mayor’s Desk: Looking Back at Business in 2024

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As we look back at 2024, there were a number of acquisitions, new businesses opening, major renovations and milestones celebrated. I’ll attempt to highlight some of them, knowing that I can’t possibly cover them all. There were some new events this year too.

This past year was a big one for Guardian Sports, a Peachtree Corners company that designs and manufactures helmet covers. The NFL now requires Guardian Caps be worn during NFL during practice, and players may choose to wear them during games. The caps disperse energy during hits with the goal of reducing head injuries.

Insight Sourcing of Peachtree Corners was acquired by Accenture, a leading global professional services company. Insight Sourcing helps clients optimize costs when sourcing and negotiating contracts for materials, services related to capital expenditures and energy procurement management. Accenture is a talent- and innovation-led company with approximately 743,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.

Axon, the global leader in connected public safety technologies, acquired Fusus, a leader in real-time crime center technology located in Peachtree Corners. Fusus excels in aggregating live video, data and sensor feeds from virtually any source, enhancing situational awareness and investigative capabilities for public safety, education and commercial customers.

Milestone celebrations

Authentic Hardwood Flooring on Amwiler Road celebrated 25 years in business in 2024. Michael Keroack has been steadily growing the operation for roughly eight years in Peachtree Corners with the help of Buddy Wofford, general sales manager, and Michael Blocker, director of operations.

Also celebrating a milestone in 2024 was Diversified Resource Group (DRG). For nearly 25 years, Darrell Creedon has been running DRG in Peachtree Corners, outfitting workspaces for companies and governments, and more recently, hotels and convention centers. Mr. Creedon, who resides in Peachtree Corners, started the furniture business with a college friend in 1999 in a home basement.

City events

The City of Peachtree Corners organized the 2nd Annual Curiosity Lab Criterium in April. This year’s event featured a running race, kids races, food trucks, vendors and other activities for the family. There was also a fun run in Technology Park. Werfen, a global diagnostics company, and the City of Peachtree Corners, partnered on a 5K Walk/Run in Technology Park in November. The event benefitted the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. In May, the city organized a food truck event at Curiosity Lab, which drew about 210 people working in and around Technology Park.

The PCBA organized the first Taste of Peachtree Corners in June. It was a great time of networking and community fellowship among business owners and other involved citizens. Approximately 100 people experienced an evening of delicious bites and drinks, sampling foods from local businesses.

City of Peachtree Corners logo

New to the city

Blue River Development moved its corporate office from Forsyth County to Peachtree Corners to expand its operations. The company is a leader in real estate development and investment.

A new pediatric dentistry, Agape Pediatric Dentistry, opened at 5185 Peachtree Parkway #325 at The Forum. Two law firms opened on Wetherburn Way: Brooks Injury Law Offices and Tadeo & Silva immigration law firm.

A former steel pipe fabrication site at 6420 Corley Road that was converted to a logistics center is now fully leased. The 27-acre property, which sold for $10.5 million in 2018 was sold for $77.4 million three years later, after it was cleaned up and redeveloped into the Peachtree Corners Logistics Center.

The Central Business District

Also in May, the city adopted a 6-month moratorium on projects in the Central Business District. Due to the increasing number of applications and evolving market trends, the moratorium came into effect on May 3 and ended on November 3. The moratorium gave the city six months to pause rezoning applications, special use permits and variances applications for residential or mixed-use development.

In August, members of the Peachtree Corners City Council took part in a ribbon cutting at The Forum. We celebrated the opening of the new plaza and activity areas. Jamestown is modernizing the 20-year-old Forum shopping center and transforming it into a true mixed-use destination through the addition of a 125-room boutique hotel, approximately 381 multifamily units, new experiential retail and dining offerings, structured parking and an expanded public area.

Construction began in May 2023, and the first of two new greenspace additions were constructed. Phases II and III will see the multifamily and boutique hotel constructed, both slated to start in 2025. Also this year, it was announced that Jamestown, a global real estate investment and management firm, acquired the Cincinnati-based North American Properties, which owned The Forum.

Members of the Peachtree Corners Redevelopment Authority and Downtown Development Authority engaged in a focus group discussion in August at City Hall. The discussion was led by representatives from Kimley-Horn, engineering, planning and design consultants. There was discussion about under-utilized spaces, needed amenities and potential uses for vacant properties. City officials also met with members of the commercial real estate community in September to specifically discuss Technology Park.

International visitors, co-working and new townhome project

An 18-member delegation of Finnish business people visited Curiosity Lab in Peachtree Corners in September. The visit marks the second time a Finnish delegation has visited Peachtree Corners. Seven innovative Finnish companies traveled to the Atlanta area in search of U.S. partners to promote transatlantic trade between Finland and the United States. Japanese delegates involved in sectors such as automotive, technology, energy and corporate development also visited Peachtree Corners in December as part of a regional tour.

Construction of a co-working space, Roam, is well underway at the Town Center and will open in summer 2025. The 35,000-square-foot building is located at 3847 Medlock Bridge Road and will feature a rooftop event space, coffeeshop and cafe, in addition to workspaces.

An office building at 3585 Engineering Drive was demolished earlier this month to make way for a townhome community. The new 75-unit townhome project is under construction by D.R. Horton, which received rezoning approval from the city last February. The 102,000 SF office building sat vacant for many years.

Collaboration, renovation and more

Curiosity Lab announced a collaboration with Gama Sonic, a global leader in upscale, bright and durable solar lighting for homes, businesses and outdoor spaces. The company’s deployment of solar lighting in the City of Peachtree Corners marks its first deployment implementing customized, intelligent lighting programming timers that enhance safety for residents and visitors.

Brady Anderson Bennett recently opened a State Farm office at 3000 Northwoods Parkway. The 27-year-old has been working with State Farm since he was 18 years old.

Renovation is underway at 7050 Jimmy Carter Blvd. for the creation of a Planet Fitness. The gym is under development by Alder Partners/the Flynn Group. This location marks the 32nd location in metro Atlanta. It is expected to open in January.

There is also a relatively new Southern-inspired eatery you may want to try. Dahlia’s Restaurant & Porch, located inside the Hilton Atlanta Northeast hotel, opened this year. Dahlia’s offers Southern-style plates that leverage regionally sourced, farm-fresh ingredients.

Happy Holidays!

Mayor Mike Mason

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Business

Luxury Firewood Company Founder Shares Story of Entrepreneurial Pursuits

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Two men and two women wearing name tags posing for a photo at an end-of-year business event

Leroy Hite, founder of Cutting Edge Firewood — a luxury brand specializing in wood for fireplaces, grills, pizza ovens and firepits — shared his journey from starting a company to gaining national recognition during the PCBA Business After Hours Speaker Series in December.

Hite highlighted the industry’s disorganization and his innovative approach to firewood, including using ovens to dry the wood and improving on delivery methods. And he emphasized the importance of customer experience, branding and counter-cultural thinking.

Despite initial challenges and financial constraints at the beginning, his company grew significantly (even during the early days of COVID-19), achieving a 400% increase in sales.

Entrepreneurial spirit

The disorganization and lack of focus within the firewood industry is what initially prompted Hite to question its methods.

He thought he’d found the answer when he started a firewood company with friends while in college, winning a Kroger account for the entire Southeast. But the limited experience of Hite and his co-owners became evident quickly.

Man in a suit speaking to an audience at an end-of-year business event
Leroy Hite at the PCBA Business After Hours event in December; photo courtesy of PCBA

“We discovered how backwards the industry was for three college students to get that account with a username and password,” he said. “On the day of the bid, whoever put in the lowest number won the account.”

With the contract in hand, the guys were able to get loans and bought hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment that they didn’t know how to use.

“It would break every single day, so I had to teach myself how to fix it,” he said. “We hired 30 to 35 people off of Craigslist; I don’t advise you to do that.”

In the end, the guys realized they were in way over their heads. They couldn’t keep up with Kroger’s demand. But the experience gave Hite insight into a better way to deliver firewood.

“At the time, industry-wide, you would put the firewood in the back of a pickup truck, get a wheelbarrow, put it where they wanted it,” he said. “… to do a second delivery, you have to drive back and get more wood. So maybe you can do two deliveries a day.”

Hite devised a plan to have the wood palletized and use a mini skid steer, which allows you to get it closer to where it should be. What had taken 16 to 18 hours for two deliveries would now allow seven or eight deliveries in the same time frame.

After the first firewood business shut down, Hite worked with Chick-fil-A and then Enterprise Rent-A-Car for several years.

“It was great experience,” he said, though he couldn’t get firewood out of his mind.

Taking another chance

Hite considered getting back into the firewood business as a side gig, but eventually decided to leave his corporate job and pursue the business full time.

“A fire is like a beautiful sunset,” he said. “No one on earth dislikes it. A fire can be the center of a wedding party and can also add great taste to food — whether it’s steak, pizza or barbecue.”

When he started Cutting Edge, Hite wanted to fix the poor quality of wood and lack of branding and customer service.

Two men and one woman posing for a photo at an end-of-year business event
Cutting Edge Firewood employees Diego Echevarria and Sara Bryan with Leroy Hite (center); photo courtesy of PCBA

He had an opportunity to purchase an existing business, but lacked the funding. So, he took a leap of faith.

“I had an outdated website. I had a truck, and I had a customer list. I realized I was going to be a supplier and that I needed to reinvent how to deliver firewood,” he said. “I [tried] to get a second loan on my house, [but] no banks would talk to me at the time.”

Hite convinced his wife, pregnant with their third daughter, to sell the house.

“We moved into a rental home, and I completely redid the branding. I reinvented how to do deliveries. I invented a rack that could be moved with a hand truck. And I found a hand truck that will go up and down stairs and one that will go across rough terrain,” he said. “So, the delivery went from two hours to about 15 minutes per delivery. And it was also a lot safer.”

Though COVID caused many businesses to go under, his thrived. It seemed that people stuck at home got a taste for food cooked over “fancy wood,” as he put it.

Goals and standards

Cutting Edge Firewood has two goals, Hite said: To provide unparalleled customer service and deliveries. And to provide the best firewood available. Period.

According to company literature, the Cutting Edge team “works with the best suppliers to ensure they consistently meet our high standards. All of our firewood undergoes the most rigorous drying process in the industry: each piece is conditioned for 48 hours in 250-degree heat. And our trained specialists hand-select each piece of firewood … ensuring that you only receive the very best — photoshoot-ready firewood that lights easily and burns brightly.”

Two men in suits standing in front of a buffet table at a business event talking
photo courtesy of Peachtree Corners Business Association

Future plans

Although Hite didn’t go into detail, he sold Cutting Edge Firewood in August 2024, having built a strong brand and customer base in Atlanta and throughout the country.

“[Entrepreneurship] definitely isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s both demanding, disheartening and rewarding all at the same time,” he said. “I love it. I went in with a not-too-thin skin, but I definitely exited with very thick skin.”

Now that he’s been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, Hite indicated that he wants to venture out again. He reflected on the challenges and rewards of running the business, including the importance of customer experience and branding.

“The brand is very, very well-known in Atlanta. We were named a couple of times in Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of the fastest growing companies,” he said. “It’s rewarding. I’ve had Coca-Cola executives say that [they] know the branding and the customer service … [and] I’m pretty sure that Cutting Edge Firewood is being used in the White House.”

Hinting of a desire to move on to new ventures, possibly focusing on disrupting existing markets rather than creating new ones, Hite again emphasized the importance of counter-cultural thinking, pushing through discomfort and being driven by a passion for customer experience and innovation.

For more information about Cutting Edge Firewood, visit cuttingedgefirewood.com.

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