Click to play episode
"money isn't the hard part. It's finding the right deal. That's the hard part.
Key Takeaways
- ◆Christian started in commercial real estate making $17,000 his first year and had to work side jobs, planting seeds for three years before his deals started closing consistently.
- ◆He shifted from transaction-focused brokering to an investment mindset after learning at Resolute Real Estate that owning property himself gave him credibility, clients trust brokers who've done deals on their own dime.
- ◆On his first syndication deal at 1510, 1512 First Street, Christian got equity by structuring the deal and bringing the tenant, then rolled his commission back in for more equity, proving money isn't the constraint when the deal is solid.
- ◆Christian and his partner Jacob Lopez spent their first 90 days at Berkshire Hathaway in an Angel Fire cabin with phones off, game-planning their ethos: a brokerage by the broker, for the broker, where agents keep most of what they kill and learn to invest.
- ◆He networks by showing up in rooms where business happens, offering to work for free early on, taking crummy leads from veteran brokers, and building relationships before expecting returns.
- ◆Christian uses Claude AI for underwriting tools and standard operating procedures, and an AI video generator to turn blog content into educational videos, automating mundane tasks so he can focus on signal work.
- ◆His advice to his younger self: You're on the right track, just keep going, because all the mistakes and trial-and-error built the knowledge base he has now, and a playbook handed over without scars doesn't get valued the same way.
Full transcript
Show
Chad
Welcome back to Process Over Pressure. I'm Chad Parrish, founder of Stonefly Consulting Group. This show exists for one reason and one reason only, to give a voice to the real people behind real businesses. Not to highlight real, the full story, the grit, the grind, and the moments that they almost quit. Today's guest grew up working construction sites, laying drywall, framing walls for a family business his grandfather built from nothing. The first drywall company in New Mexico, actually. He took everything that background taught him and channeled it into commercial real estate. He is the co-founder and commercial division at Berkshire Hathaway, New Mexico. Built a boutique team with a private equity mindset and he's done it the hard way, organically. On his own terms, he's a new dad, an outdoorsman and someone who calls himself a problem solver, not a broker. and you'll understand exactly what I'm talking about in about five minutes. Christian File, welcome to the show.
Christian File
Thank you, Chad. Thank you for having me on.
Chad
Well, we're excited to have you. I'll tell you this, the last time I talked to you, you were getting a cup of black coffee with honey, I believe. So, what are we having today? What are we having today?
Christian File
Yeah. You got a good memory. Man, I'm running off of air and grit today, man. I haven't even drinking water today, I don't think so. It's just been one of those days.
Chad
Hey, real business owner right here, right? Some days you don't even get coffee. You're lucky if you grab lunch, right?
Christian File
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.
Chad
Well, man, it's a pleasure to have you on the show. You you and I've had a chance to have a little pre-talk and get to know each other. think that's, man, that's part of what I enjoy, just getting to know people that's out there. And, know, tell us where you're coming from. Tell us where you're located. Tell the audience where you're from.
Christian File
Yeah.
Christian File
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I'm located here in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Born and raised here. Yeah, I moved away to Indiana for about three years. My wife was getting her doctorate degree. So I was running my business remotely at that point. That was an interesting period in life. It was good. It was nice to take a little step back and, you know, the business is actually very successful running it remotely at that point. But last year in February we moved back and then yeah just hit the ground running with really solidifying this company and this commercial division here in the state for Berkshire Hathaway and man it's been a crazy ride, ups and downs and yeah taught me a lot about people and myself and well just learning every day so.
Chad
That's great. And so you mentioned you have a wife and I believe you have a newborn, right?
Christian File
Yeah, yeah, you'll be six months on the 13th. Yeah.
Chad
So tell us which is harder, being a business owner or a dad?
Christian File
I think being a dad is the easy part. It's just managing time, right? Yeah, like, I don't know. I mean, he's only six months old, so I'm sure it gets more complex as time goes on. But now it's the best. It's the best thing, you know?
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Yeah, it truly is. you know, it's, it's, it's a fun time, you know, being, being a business owner and, being responsible for that is, you know, it's, it's a vital, it's, it's a time, you know, it takes time. It takes a lot of time away from you. and then being able to, navigate that and, and, and be a dad too, is, its own unique challenges, right? And, and, and, know, tell us, tell us a little bit like about.
Christian File
yeah.
Chad
you know, kind of what you're seeing right now in commercial real estate and, and, and, and, you know, what's, what's kind of happening. what, like what's going on in New Mexico? Like what's happening right now? What are you seeing?
Christian File
Yeah, so it's interesting. Commercial real estate is one of those things that a lot of people like to say it's market sensitive with interest rates. However, that's not true at all. Yeah, things ebb and flow, but there's sales and there's leasing going on every single day. When the market's bad, things are on discount. When the market's good, there's more demand. So there's always something going on. It's really just how you position yourself within the market and how you provide value into the market. And so we've kind of positioned ourselves in the market to be, I would say, somewhat generalist with niching in industrial and investments. But that's... That's the economy is good right now. New Mexico is one of those economies that we don't get the big ups, but we also don't get the big lulls. And so kind of just rides out a lot of our economy is based on government funding, a lot of government jobs here. South the southeast of the state is in the Permian Basin. And so that's that's where a lot of our
Chad
Yeah.
Christian File
money comes from as well, oil and gas. Especially right now, I think there's going to be a huge boom here coming in the next, I would say actually less than a month, I think our oil reserves are going to run out by May 1st. That's what they're saying because they're predicting, I mean, that the Strait of Hormuz is shut down and they say that those oil tankers move at the speed of a bicycle, right? So if they go all the way around the Horn of Africa and then into the port in Louisiana. And so we're still feeling, you know, we haven't felt the effects in the economy of what that's going to be just yet. And I think that will affect everything quite substantially. think that in New Mexico, I think we're going to see a boom, actually, because we're going to ramp up oil production here internally and locally to fill that demand.
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Yeah. Could be, you know, it's always a, it's a unique time that we're in. And like you said, you know, there's just so many unknowns, right? And, know, what I always find interesting, I live in Texas and so, you know, we're very known for oil and you're right, that whole area south of New Mexico and the Permian Basin, like you're talking about, there is a ton of oil onto the ground there that just, you know, people don't realize.
Christian File
Yep.
Christian File
yeah.
Chad
It'll be interesting. It'll be something certain to watch. But I think that's what makes our country great is that it always seems to whatever happens, we just kind of evolve and find a way and figure it out. sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. But at end of day, we are pretty resilient people and we kind of figure out how to navigate and what's...
Christian File
Yep.
Christian File
Absolutely. Yeah.
Chad
You know, can't control the situation sometimes. All we can do is just navigate it, right? Keep on keeping up. So you talked about, you know, when we first talked, you was talking about your grandfather and he, you he started, he started the first drywall company in New Mexico. What was the name of the drywall company?
Christian File
Just keep on keeping on. Yeah. Yeah, I agree.
Christian File
It is called less file drywall. Yeah, which is his name.
Chad
Less File Drywall. So you guys out there, you ever heard of that, right here, this is his grandson. So when he started that, think about that, he went door to door. mean, that's how he started. And it really, yeah, it was, there was no internet, there was no this. So maybe, I know that story means a lot to you and it's kind of your backbone.
Christian File
Yup. Yeah, in 50s, I mean, they didn't have any deals. Yeah.
Christian File
Yeah.
Chad
Maybe tell a little story about how you got started because the products that they used at that time was different than it was and it's different.
Christian File
It's yeah, all different, especially at that time. Cause I mean, in the fifties, man, they were doing a lot of plaster and different building techniques other than drywall. And drywall was kind of a new thing that popped up on the scene back in the day. so he was, you know, farm boy from the panhandle of Oklahoma, Fargo, Oklahoma, know, big family raised on a farm.
Chad
Yeah.
Christian File
not much going on in the panhandle. He knew that he had to get out. So he joined the military, became an MP, got stationed here in Albuquerque. And then when he got out, he knew that, I think it just runs in the blood, know, the entrepreneurial spirit just runs in the blood and he knew that he wanted to do something. And so he saw that there was quite a bit of activity going on in New Mexico. And I'm not really sure how he got put onto drywall, but one thing led to another. And he got an old little pickup truck and started going door to door, residentially, and just seeing if people needed drywall work or for new builds. Hey, did you, do you need work? And really it was him and, and one other handyman and, they were banging out all the work at that point. And really it was just all word of mouth, right? It was all word of mouth. There was, man, back in the 50s, the communication devices were, I mean, as you know, they're not what they are today, you know? And so it was very, very interesting to see, like, you actually had to want it back in the day. Like you really had to want to go and get it. And that's what I admire about, about, you know, people coming from that generation is that they didn't have as many resources as we have.
Chad
Not. No. No.
Chad
Yeah.
Christian File
but the people that made it, I mean, they were very successful. And so it was cool to see and hear that story, you know, growing up and, you know, I grew up in the construction industry and, you know, every summer I never had a summer to myself. was always, my dad threw me out on the job site and I hated it, man. remember 13 years old picking up nails and trash on the job site.
Chad
Yeah.
Christian File
all my friends were like, you know, just riding their bikes and doing the thing. I, it was a pill to swallow at first. And I still got to do those things, right? But they really instilled in me the value of hard work and sacrifice from a young age. I think that's
Chad
Yeah. He was sweating.
Christian File
that's really important. I think that it's more important now than ever, really, when everybody just wants to be a social media influencer, or, you you get you can do that, but you got to put in you got to put in hard work to do things, right? It's not there's no easy path. There's no secret sauce. The secret sauce is networking properly and putting in the work to do it. And I think that's that was kind of the foundation of, you know, where I came from. So
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Yeah, I know. You know, you're so right. And it's amazing, kind of where we are today with a lot of people that, you know, everybody's looking for the quick, fast dollar. They want to make it fast. want to make it, they want to make it, they want to make a lot of money, but they want to do the least pass restricted to do that, right? It want to be easy. And I think there's something to be said about, you know, like your grandfather and that legacy, I'm sure that he'd left with you about hard work.
Christian File
Yeah.
Chad
and learning how to do things and creating a way when it's not just handed to you. you know, think as people are listening to this show and entrepreneurs and, you know, our show is process over pressure for a reason. It's because it goes back to the process. It really does. Everything goes back to that process. And so, you know, hear that story and him working, you know, that work ethic. is vital, it's huge, right? I'm sure you look at things in your own business today and the hard work and time put into it's paying off.
Christian File
Yeah, well, I think that one of the bigger lessons is to hard work is part of it. But more importantly, what what was instilled was it's about who you know, too. And that's another thing. So he built his drywall company, but he was such a good networker that he was able to get in with somebody that had a huge infrastructure before and basically gave
Chad
Yeah. Hmm. That's good.
Chad
Hmm.
Christian File
accompany to him and they struck a deal with royalties and stuff but he was able to basically expand what he had going being in the right place at the right time building the right connections and I think that even I mean that coincides with hard work it's right there with just being just as important as hard work is is who you know leveraging your connections and your resources.
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
That's good. You know, and when we talked last, you kind of made a comment about, hey, I was in construction and I realized that I didn't want to manage a team or I didn't want to manage that labor force, that whole labor team. So what was it that, or was there a defining moment when it's like, I don't want to, this is not for me. I don't want to do this. It kind of led you into where you are today. Like, do you remember that moment? Or maybe it was one, I don't know, could be one thing, two things, could be a bunch of things.
Christian File
Yeah.
Christian File
Yeah, I mean, I just saw my grandpa, my dad, my uncles, because they all worked in the business. They all had their era to run the business. it took a lot of time away from the family, as all entrepreneurial stuff does. But what really got me was, when you have to worry about the liability of, hey, I have
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Hmm.
Christian File
scaffolding going around this hospital and you know what is the liability risk on that if it isn't installed properly or I have to manage 350 people I have to be responsible for 350 mouths to feed right all of that stuff is to me was too much pressure it was too much pressure to do that but I loved I loved the
Chad
Yeah.
Christian File
you know, the ecosystem that it was in was helping develop, helping build things, helping make things better. I loved that whole aspect of it, but I was like, I did not want any of that liability, right? None of that liability, none of that stress. My grandpa had four heart attacks during his lifetime. So it was one of those things where I was like, man, I, I, there's gotta be a way to do it to where I can still, you know, get the same fruit, but not have the same amount of stress. um, you know, commercial real estate or real estate in general was
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Hmm.
Chad
Yeah.
Christian File
even on my radar at all and I kind of just happened into it and yeah it ended up just being one of the best vehicles that I could have ever imagined to take me to where I want to go.
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Yeah, I was, that was going to lead to the next question. So was it, you know, was it the real estate? I guess because it is still, I mean, even though it's in commercial real estate, I have a belief that you're still connected to the construction side. It's still building, you know, the building side. that, is that what made the transition for you a little easier? Because it still has that connection.
Christian File
Mm-hmm.
Christian File
yeah.
Christian File
Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think that... You know, I have that background. have that knowledge of, you know, development and stuff. And it's cool, man. I mean, it's cool seeing a project go from a piece of dirt to an actual usable facility or retrofitting a dilapidated building and making it usable and seeing life come back to the neighborhood. Right. And that to me was was the big thing. You know, just making.
Chad
Yeah.
Christian File
philosophy of leading things in better condition than you found them, right?
Chad
Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And I think, you know, that's, that's the way it kind of the honor of your past a little bit, because you, you know, it's a connection back at the same time, you know, you're giving something back in New Mexico where you're taking maybe some older buildings or some older commercial property and, getting people to invest in those, to bring them back, to revitalize. And, know, that's a, it's a, like the full cycle, right? Kind of recycling back and being used. So that's really, really cool.
Christian File
Yeah.
Chad
You know, when you started, you, I think you said you started with, is it Sperry Van Ness? Is that correct? You kind of got it. That's how you got your feet wet. So, you know, you're, you're a qualifying brokers like, yeah, he kind of told me this. He's like, Hey, here's your phone book. Here's your phone. I don't know if he gave you a phone, maybe gave you a sandwich and said, all right, go and do it. So, you know,
Christian File
No.
Chad
We know about your work history. We know you grew up having to work. What was that like for people listening? Because, again, we go back, a lot of people just want to be handed to them. And they do. And I mean, make it easy. you were kind of given a phone book and it's like, go build your business. And that's kind how you started. So what was it like? mean, what was that like? Can you go back to those days?
Christian File
Yeah.
Christian File
Yep.
Christian File
Yes.
Christian File
Yeah, the early days, the early days of man, the early days in real estate, had to, I couldn't survive off of real estate alone. And that's the other thing. It's a huge thing about real estate, but commercial real estate in particular is the first three years are the years in which you plant seeds, you know, which you don't, they don't fruit very much, right? You might get some here, some there, I think I made like $17,000 my first year.
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Yeah.
Christian File
and that's not enough to live off of. So I had to do other side jobs as well to work, but really wanted to focus in on real estate and it made it difficult because at that time, I think it was 2018, the market was still good, everything was good, but I just didn't even know what to do, right? I even know what commercial real estate was. And so what I did was I just asked as many questions as possible to the people that were there. So the good thing about Spirit of Ness at that time was SVN was that all the brokers were very seasoned brokers, like 20, 30 years in the business, right? And they were kind of just writing out the remainder of their career, just coasting, right? So there wasn't a lot of energy, but there was a lot of knowledge. in the office, right? And so I try to tap into that as much as I could. And there was some good mentors in there. There's some good mentors that taught me how I wanted to be. And there was some mentors that taught me how I didn't want to be, you know, and it's just as important. Yeah, absolutely, man. And I kind of learned that really, this is a process of building relationships, right? And I think the big jump for people is like, how do you
Chad
Mm.
Chad
Those are just as important.
Christian File
initially get those first listings, those first relationships, right? And I think it's just being in the presence of people that do business, right? Put yourself in the presence of those who do business, put yourself in that energy, put yourself in the same physical vicinity and room, right? And that's going to lead to conversations that's going to lead to opportunities, even if you don't have anything to offer them of value at that time.
Chad
Yeah.
Christian File
right? Now I'm getting a little bit further in my career, people that that I see young young men or women that that put themselves in that position.
Chad
Yeah.
Christian File
I love to see it and I want to present them opportunities too because I was once in that position and I think that it all comes back around, right? So I think the big thing was is how do I get my first clients? How do I get my first relationships and avatars, right? And I think it was first hitting everybody in the office up that I could that, hey, what can I do? I'll do stuff for free. I'll work for free for you.
Chad
Yeah.
Christian File
You want me to do, you want me to call on your leads, you want me to do your showings for you, what do need me to do? I'll do it all, right? So I started off that, I started building rapport. And they started giving me their crummy leads, right? And I started to learn how to vet people out. While at the same time, I was going to every networking and marketing event that I could being in the presence of movers and shakers, Meeting people, shaking hands. And it was...
Chad
Mm-hmm.
Christian File
two or three years of this before it really started to hit. then I went to, I got recruited by resolute real estate, another little boutique firm. And when I got recruited there, that's actually when things really started to take off because I learned a whole new method, whole new paradigm of real estate at that point.
Chad
That's good. That's so good. So you, and I guess I explained it this way and maybe you can add some color to this, but you really went from a transactional brokerage, like a transactional brokerage mindset, into more of a, like a investment mindset. Like there was a big shift there, right? So what was that?
Christian File
Yeah.
Christian File
Yes. Yeah, absolutely.
Chad
Maybe you can kind of walk me through that shift in your mind, you know, what changed and how you saw the business. Because that's a big change.
Christian File
Yeah, absolutely. It's a huge change and a lot of brokers don't ever go through that paradigm change, right? There's a reason it's called a broker, right? As soon as you stop hunting, you're broke, you know? Yeah, so I was like, well, I love to hunt, right?
Chad
That's right.
Chad
That's good, that's good.
Christian File
I love the thrill to hunt, whether it's in real estate or out in the wild. So I'll always have that aspect to me. But I knew that as time goes on, that energy is going to fade. Right. And I saw that this group emphasized.
Chad
Yeah.
Christian File
And really their thing was relationships. It was huge, huge relationship brokerage, right? They have this thing called whiskey hour every Friday where they invite all of their clients and there's hors d'oeuvres and it's just a big networking thing, right? So it was a huge emphasis on relationships and through those relationships, opportunities were presented to them, which were presented to us, right? And had a good mentor there that really He was a Mossimo coach, commercial real estate coach, and he would really emphasize the value add of, you don't trust a skinny chef. You know what I mean?
Chad
That's that's true.
Christian File
your clients are going to trust you more if you own real estate, right? Because you're not coming from a broker perspective, you're coming from an owner perspective. You've done so many things to where you know by trial and error on your own dime, what to do, how to vet out tenants, how to structure a lease, how to structure a purchase in a way that is advantageous for them, right? And on top of that, I mean, we are presented the best deals out there.
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Mm.
Christian File
as brokers, right? And you should be able to capitalize on that. mean, that's why we're in the industry. I you should you should be cold calling for yourself. And I didn't have a whole lot of money to start off with. And so I had a couple big deals and I threw in some cash into syndication deals. And that's where I got my first taste that, hey, you don't need money.
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
through.
Christian File
You don't need physical money to invest in real estate. so remember distinctively the very first deal I did, I showed a client a property. It was 1510, 1512 First Street. I'm still involved in this transaction to this day. Sold it, leased it multiple times over. But this one was super unique because I showed the building. It was just for lease and asked, hey, would you sell it?
Chad
well.
Christian File
owner said, yeah, I'd sell it. I what price? Super great price. mean, the average per square foot cost was like 75, 80 at that point. He said 39 a foot. And at that point I knew, okay, there's a deal to be had here, but I don't have any money. So I went back to my mentor, told him the deal, told him I have the tenant lined up. We put together a syndication, had the tenant lined up in escrow, and basically I got equity in the deal. just for putting the deal together, right? Just for putting the deal together and then I got my commission and then rolled my commissions into that deal. So I got even more equity on it. And so I realized that money isn't the hard part. It's finding the right deal. That's the hard part. And so us being brokers, that's what puts us in the strategic position to find those good deals. And if the deal's there, the money will come.
Chad
Mm-hmm.
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Yeah, that's good. That's really good. So three and a half years ago, you and your partner, Jacob Lopez, right? You guys started the commercial division. know, everybody knows Berkshire Hathaway. It's a big company, know, Warren Buffett knows them. In New Mexico from scratch. So what were the first 90 days like for you guys? What would it look like when y'all said, okay, we're gonna do this right here New Mexico?
Christian File
Yeah. Yeah.
Christian File
Okay.
Christian File
Yeah, I think that's so Jacob was a residential broker at that time. And I pulled him over to resolute. was like, I need help. This is when I moved out to Indiana. Like I need help. Let's, you know, share my business with you. Let's, let's run this together. For about three years or two, I'd say two years at resolute. And then we're like, man, this isn't working here. Our splits aren't good enough. Like, we need to go do our own thing.
Chad
Yeah.
Christian File
We have enough business. We were getting some big business at that point and we're like, we need to go start our own thing. So Jacob came from the residential world at Berkshire and he knew Jim Pitts who runs the residential realm. here, which is like 300 brokers statewide, eight offices, so pretty massive footprint, right? And so it's about who you know, right? And so we were able to get into the room with him and really great guy, and basically knew the business that we were doing and said, Hey, you guys take it and run with it. I'll fund it. I'll be a mentor. And you guys just take it and run with it. And so the first 90 days, I remember the distinctively when we decided that we were going to leave Resolute.
Chad
Yeah. yeah.
Christian File
we took a trip up to Angel Fire and rented a cabin and just stayed there, turned off our phones and just brainstormed and game planned, right? And had some manifestation sessions and really just set the cornerstone of what we wanted this thing to be, set our intentions for what we wanted it to be. And what we wanted it to be was a brokerage that was by the broker and for the broker, right? Where brokers
Chad
That's good.
Christian File
Eight, not like a lot of what they killed, like a majority of what they killed instead of getting shafted on commissions, being able to have the wisdom on how to invest into properties, right? And how to leverage wealth and, you know, just have the ability to have a good synergistic team. And so that was kind of our ethos. And the first 90 days, man, it was, it was crazy. You had to build everything from scratch. had to find a sign guy. had to do branding. We had to fricking
Chad
Yeah.
Christian File
can switch all of our listings over. It was chaos. I mean, it's still chaos, right? It's three years in, it's still chaos, but it's culminating into something that is becoming more structured, right? And I think that as time goes on, we, because you have to work in your business and then work on your business. And I'm sure you're in the same boat too, right? And it's, that's the tough one to figure out.
Chad
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what, I don't care. And I mean, exactly what you're describing is process, right? It doesn't matter if you're starting out or if you've been in business for 20 years. Most of where roadblocks happen is a breakdown in a process that didn't get defined or didn't get, you know.
Christian File
Yes.
Christian File
Yep.
Chad
And so you say, Chad, well, how do you know what the process is if you've never started something? You don't, you got to learn, but you should, but once you see that gap, you have to figure out, how do I, how do I attack it? And what's the process going to be on that? So yeah, I mean, I think you're right. You don't ever stop learning. think that's when you know, you've messed up when you stop learning. But I think for people out there listening who are young and, you know, eager to start something, I think this is great for them to hear because
Christian File
Yeah.
Christian File
Yeah. Yeah.
Christian File
Absolutely.
Chad
Don't be fooled by like, you're just going to wake up and all the stuff's going to fall in place. That's not how it works. You're going to try some things, it's going to fail, but you got to learn from that and say, okay, let's adjust that process. What is that? But if you keep those processes in place and you define those and you get a good foundation on those, it will help carry you through all the chaos rather than the noise taking your mind away from it.
Christian File
Yeah. No.
Christian File
Mm-hmm.
Chad
constantly moving back and forth, right? Yeah, just it.
Christian File
100%. Those standard operating procedures are huge, man. We harp on those things like nobody's business, man. try to, I mean, every time we figure out how to do something, we're like standard operating, SOP, SOP, like create it, write it down. I mean, because that's the only way to do it. I mean,
Chad
Huge.
Chad
That's it. They're huge. They're huge. it just helps everybody understand. And it helps you to know the gaps where you're at too. that's good. So Christian, here you are. know, you, kind of walked through your history a little bit. You started out, you know, grew up with a family that that's in construction, been in that you started it, you know, small boots on the ground, no, no playbook. Here you go. Go do it. Figure it out.
Christian File
Yes. Yeah.
Chad
And now you're sitting here as a, as a part owner in a company that for lack of better words has been very successful in New Mexico and growing a great book of business and, and, and very well known in that market. What, what do you, if you had to tell the, the Christian that was 20 years old going into this, what would be one thing you would tell them now that you've learned that you'd, you'd tell that young entrepreneur or whatever that maybe you've learned like. I'd whisper this to this person. What would that be?
Christian File
Yeah. And it's interesting. was talking to my wife about this yesterday. was like, I was looking at old pictures and I was like, man, if I could go back and, and tell my younger version, younger version of myself, something that my wife said, something really, really cool to me that resonated. said, I don't think you tell them anything. I think that you would tell them you're on the right track and just keep going, right? Because everything, all the mistakes that you made, everything that you've done, led you to where you are now, right? And I think that that's really important. I think it's the trial and error, right? I think it's just the mentality. If I did go back and I did tell my younger self one thing, I think that it would be you're doing the right thing and just keep going, right? Because you're you can give somebody a playbook, right? Of what to do. But sometimes that's a hindrance. I feel like if you give somebody all the knowledge and they haven't worked for it in the sense that they have not experienced it, they're not going to value that knowledge, right? So I think that going through the trial and tribulation
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Fair.
Christian File
of really, you know, failing, know, learning how to prioritize yourself. think it's all a part of the process, right? It's all a part of the process.
Chad
Yeah. I call it the scars. You got to have the scars as an entrepreneur to it. know, think a lot of people that my hope is, and the reason, one of reasons I have this podcast is I'm hoping that other inspiring entrepreneurs or business owners or business, maybe they're in the shoes that you've been in and they're sitting there, you know, frustrated or, you know, beat down maybe a little bit that they're sitting there and they're struggling.
Christian File
Yes.
Christian File
Yeah.
Chad
You know, that's, that's the purpose behind this is maybe they hear this and say, Hey, you know what? That's me. And I need some help with that. I think, you know, and I ask you this question as a business owner, you know, what, how do you feel about asking for help? Cause that's tough sometimes to ask.
Christian File
Yeah.
Christian File
Mm-hmm.
Christian File
We have to. I mean, that's how we got to where we are as humans, right? We didn't get to, we're not apex predators. We can't go hunt like lions. I mean, we got to where we are by.
Chad
Yeah.
Christian File
by coming together as groups of people and working together through our differences and really understanding when you get into a into a higher level understanding that competition is kind of a low vibration frequency and collaboration is a high vibration frequency right and understand that your your competitors can actually be some of your best collaborators right and if if somebody is competing with you they're on the same level reach out to them.
Chad
Yeah. Yeah, that's good.
Christian File
ask them questions, right? Build rapport with them because you're going to learn things. It's not about you're not racing somebody. You're not in competition with somebody else. You're just trying to be the best version of who you can be. And so I think another thing is it's good to have that competitive spirit. I think all entrepreneurs do have a competitive spirit and you should keep that competitive edge, but really know that
Chad
Sure.
Chad
good.
Christian File
the highest level of that competitive spirit is knowing that you're not in competition with anybody and to ask for help when you need it and not be prideful because pride is is kind of the destruction of the destruction of any great empire I think so
Chad
No, I totally agree. I think, you know, I've had a lot of people on my show and we've had this conversation and it always seems that people who've been in business, you know, before being in business, you'll say, Hey, I'm not going to associate with my competition, but now being in business, you're like, no, you should, because that's like money people that can steer off questions and things like that.
Christian File
Yeah. You need to.
Chad
I think that's a good nugget for new entrepreneurs is don't be afraid of your competition, embrace them and learn from them and help. They'll help you grow and chances are you'll help them grow. There's enough business for all of us. be so worried that, know, be competitive, but also be okay with talking to other people. So, and we're almost, you know, we're almost out of time here. This has been fantastic. Just curious, like, you know, you got a good running business there.
Christian File
Yeah.
Christian File
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.
Christian File
Mm-hmm.
Chad
Is there an area where you're dabbling? I always ask this question to everybody. bring it up because AI is such a big word that's happening in our world right now. Do you use any AI in your business or are you exploring it or your thoughts, like, dislike? What's your thoughts on that?
Christian File
Yeah.
Christian File
Yeah.
Christian File
Absolutely. I I mean, I have my, my existential thoughts of artificial intelligence, and then I have my, my thoughts in regard to business, right? And it's business applications. And I think the business applications are tremendous, right? I think that it's a reflection of us. I think that it really expedites mundane tasks that you, you know,
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Yeah. Yeah.
Christian File
that take away time so you can focus on your signal work and kind of delete the noise like you were talking about. Yeah, man, mean, we're working with, I mean, chat GBT we were doing a lot with now we've kind of switched away from chat GBT and we use Claude for creating standard operating procedures, different underwriting tools.
Chad
Yeah.
Christian File
feel like cloud is a really good help with creating those spreadsheets and really the more business centric stuff. As far as like automation and stuff, I mean, we're doing educational videos. So we're using AI video generator creators from our blogs. And then we put the, you know, we put everything in there, the verbiage and it spits us out a video. And then we, we, we pump that out into our audience.
Chad
Yeah.
Christian File
And so, yeah, just all different types of things, man. And I think that it's really creating an ecosystem of automation, right? The more you can automate things, the better. I mean, you still do need people. People are always going to be a huge component. You're never going to get rid of people. They're just going to fit in different roles, right? And I think that that's kind of where we're at right now. We're hiring people to leverage the AI.
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Absolutely.
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that's, I think that's a great point. And I think there's a lot of business people are exactly where you are right now. And, know, AI is here and it's growing and it's developing and there's a fear that it's going to take away humans. And I don't look at it that way. Cause I can, I've said this before, I think the human element is so important and you should have it. You just have to figure out a way to leverage these tools. They're already there. they're, if they're going to be, if they're going to be there, you might as well use them, right? Because they're not going to go away. They're just going to get better.
Christian File
Yeah.
Christian File
Mm-hmm.
Christian File
There,
Chad
And so how do you use that to help with the process? And it's, it's, that's really the way it is, know, I always tell people if I can get more hours back in my day, that's a win. Then I got time to do things that I really enjoy doing. So I think that's, that's really cool. Well, listen, man, what a, what a great time I've spent with you getting to know you. If people were in New Mexico or surrounding areas and they wanted to get in touch with you to.
Christian File
Yep.
Christian File
Absolutely. Yeah.
Chad
to have a conversation, maybe they're looking for a piece of property or maybe they have a piece of property they'd like to sell. How do they get a hold of you?
Christian File
Yeah. You can reach me at, well, what would be the best mode of communication? Our real estate pages on all social media, Berkshire Hathaway, NM, commercial real estate. If you have an Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, you can go and message and request me. If you're in town and you want to see some properties, my email is cfile at CRE. Berkshire.com. And yeah, you know, the social you'll probably see our signs everywhere too. We got our signs at quite a few. We have 70 listings right now. So we're a little overwhelmed. But yeah, so really social media and email are the best modes of communication to reach.
Chad
Wow. Yeah.
Chad
Awesome. Well guys, if you're out there and you're looking for a piece of property, I said, or an investment, Christian's team over there in New Mexico, Berkshire Hathaway Commercial Division, they're great people. They know the market. They could probably put you on an area that would help you save a lot of time and research that. And they're just a phenomenal group of people. I've really enjoyed my time with them. And like I said, if you're out there listening and you want to ask more questions about the broker side of things and maybe learn a little bit more. Uh, always connect with Christian, but, uh, again, for myself at Stonefly Consulting, you know, that's our job. We're here to help bridge the gap, help companies grow, help them with processes over pressure. Uh, we want it to be a process and less pressure on you. So, uh, love to, love to have you reach out at stoneflyconsulting.com. And again, thank you for joining the podcast and we look forward to seeing you on the next show. Thanks guys. Yeah. Uh, so that's the end. We'll stop there.
Christian File
Thanks, Chad. Have a good one. Okay. Yeah, no, it was great, man. It was great. liked how I've done a couple podcasts before, but we never really went into like my upbringing or anything like that. And I think that was really valuable. I think it's really valuable to see where people start from, you know,
Chad
So, Ben, was great. How did you feel? Did you feel good?
Chad
I do too. I always take that approach. think it's important because I want people like him, this raw footage is going to be yours to use. I think people like to know who they're doing business with. It brings that human element. And I wanted to make sure when I was going through the pre-cat, you know, designing this script, I wanted to talk about that because I think it resonates, especially in the market that you're in. think people from New Mexico love people from New Mexico. And they want to feel comfortable because you're, you're, you're, you're,
Christian File
Absolutely. Yeah.
Chad
silk in the fabric there of that community and they know you and know what they're getting and who they can talk to. So I just wanted to bring that out. thought it would help you in far as your market to get that out.
Christian File
Yeah, absolutely, man. And I appreciate the opportunity to and I'm looking forward to that call tomorrow to hop on and see how we can get together.
Chad
Absolutely. Yeah, looking forward to it. We can, we can go through some things, but this has been great. Thank you for your time and appreciate you doing this and probably a couple of weeks we'll have the raw footage out. Okay. Thanks. Bye bye.
Christian File
Thank you. Cool man, appreciate you Chad.
Subscribe
Get every article and episode in your inbox
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.