How Doug and Kaylah unlocked an 80k+ increase in income (and fell in love with their work)

12 months ago, Doug and Kayla had two investment properties, one income, and zero financial slack. They were making bold moves—but flying blind. And the pressure was building. 

On paper, things looked good. In reality, they were drowning. 

Fast-forward 12 months:
• Household income up by 80k+
• Savings rate 10x
• Borrowing power increased by $600,000
• And two more properties on the horizon

In this episode, you’ll hear exactly how they made it happen—without burnout or sacrificing their values. Doug shares the real story: the career moves, mindset shifts, and strategic decisions that helped him go from underpaid to in-demand, with job offers rolling in and a promotion he earned (and helped create).

Listen in to learn:

• How to diagnose the real constraint holding you back
• The surprising link between business acumen and pay rises
• Why playing financial offense changes everything—fast

If you feel stuck despite your best efforts, this story will show you what’s possible when you get clear, deliberate, and start playing the right game.

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Transcript

0:29

Good day. Welcome back to the Money Minded podcast. You're here with Terry. Hey, what if I told you that in 12 months you could nearly double your household income, 10 x your saving capacity, and in the process pull forward your investing goals by at least five years completely changing your financial future. Well, our guest in today's episode has done exactly that. Doug and his wife Kayla, came to us 12 months ago feeling stuck and stressed with money. They'd made some money moves that were directionally correct, but these moves had stretched them really thin. And when we diagnosed the constraint to their progress, it was really clear they weren't bad with money. They just had very little margin of safety. A$65,000 base, wasn't enough, and it was clear that the only way out was to spend more time, money, and energy on increasing their income. So we got busy putting the principles of the Earn Your Worth framework into practice, and they both made some crucial decisions that completely changed their reality and their trajectory within months, 12 months later, their income has exploded to over 200 K with another pay increase on the horizon, and they're currently in the process of adding two more investment properties to their portfolio. And at the same time, they're more inspired and more engaged with their work than ever because they've stopped working for money and they started building careers. So if you've been listening to the Earn Your Worth Series and wondering whether investing the time, money, the energy to increase your income is worth it, this episode's gonna leave you in no doubt that it absolutely is, and things can change much faster than you'll realize if you just start getting deliberate and intentional putting these principles into practice. And by the way, today is the last day that I'm accepting applications to win a 12 month scholarship, to get one-to-one mentorship with me, to be able to put this stuff into practice. If you've been listening through to this series and you're wondering what it would look like to get help through this process, to get guidance, to get somebody with an outside in view, to actually take you through, guide you, challenge you, stretch you, to make sure that in 12 months you're a completely different individual, then stop what you're doing and go into the description of this episode. Apply for that. Earn Your Worth scholarship, and I'm gonna be looking over these entries over the next seven days and I'll be reaching out to the winner right after that so if you wanna be in with the chance to get one-to-one mentoring with me for the next 12 months to be able to boost your income in the way that Doug and Kayla have, make sure you apply for that scholarship. Okay. Let's get into the episode. I hope you enjoy.

tex: 2:37

Dougie Mate, I've been waiting for a long time to be able to share your story on the podcast. it's been a 12 month project for you and I mentioned this to you and Kayla, just when we had a chat earlier, I said, I knew as soon as you guys came into this program, I said, you guys are gonna smash this. And it was purely the way you were coming at it. so I appreciate you coming on to share your story, mate.

Doug: 2:58

Keen as mate, keen to get into it and speak through it.

tex: 3:02

Mate, let's go back to the start. So, just take me back to where you were, what was happening for you.'cause we're gonna be talking through how income is a really big part of the process and how it's been a big part of the process for you, for yourself and Kayla, and what it's meant for you, with your financial goals and also just what it's meant for you in terms of life and lifestyle as well. So where were you at at the start of this and why was doing something like earn your worth and the income side of this really important for you?

Doug: 3:29

Yeah, so first got on board, first spoke to you Terry, November last year. we just bought our second investment property. heard about the money mentorship on a podcast. that there would be good benefit in doing that. Spoke through it with you before, but we were investing our money but didn't really have any clarity on where we were heading. No real clarity on what we were left over with in terms of money, moving forward. So yeah, if you boil it all down, we're in a very vague place with little direction. and then kind of just made the jump to jump on board. Yeah.

tex: 4:00

I remember the first conversation we had You're like, we just feel like We're not really across this, we're not really good with that, and maybe we're not really managing our money well. as we got through the process, and as we sort of dug into it, I was more like, you're actually doing quite well for the income that you're

Doug: 4:15

yeah.

tex: 4:16

Managing it quite well. So the diagnosis, this is where I think it's really important. The diagnosis is really important what is the constraint here? Because in your mind you probably were thinking, oh, we're just not managing our money Well, and it's not that you were doing it. Badly at all. I think without any system or structure, you'd managed to find some sort of rhythm that was just like getting you, getting you through But the constraint that we identified was not actually managing money, even though it would help, and we knew that we, we went through that whole process so so that you could start to really understand. I really wanted you to see for yourself what the constraint was. So just talk me through that part of the process where it became really obvious what we needed to focus on.

Doug: 4:52

Yeah. I think as we kind of went through the mentorship and, and going back to what I said before, just having no clarity around what we're doing, so being able to hop in and diagnose actually where we're at, what we're left with, and like you said, we'd probably done well for what we're on at the time, we're doing. All right. Felt like we were somewhat drowning, but coming in was definitely an income issue. if we wanted to continue to grow, we'd done pretty well to get to where we were and what we were on. just for people to know, we were on a single income, two investment properties. My wife had been a stay at home mom for six years. I'd started corporate about two years ago after being a laborer for my life. found a ladder throughout that. have received a few promotions throughout that time. Was just starting to get a bit of traction in career, just starting to get ahead, but we realized quickly that it was gonna stop here if we couldn't increase that income. I think being able to diagnose around that we need to find a way here to increase income. For us, it was that it was the corporate ladder. Just being able to find a way to be able to find that and work that I find meaningful, and coming up with a plan from there on how we're gonna do that. And we were able to manage that pretty well quite quickly, I think. So once we had the idea of where we're going, which you helped us see, it was simple steps from there. Okay, what are we doing here? What are we doing there? And just jump in and doing those things, ASAB to be able to make those moves.

tex: 6:12

So once we'd identified that. Income was the thing that we wanted to focus on. That was gonna be the thing that really moved the needle.'cause you guys, you did jump in, you learnt the income mapping method, you did the forecast and you could see all that. You started to get across your money. Then it became, clear the thing that's gonna move the needle here. is What we earn. So big part of this was, Kayla coming back into the workforce as well, which is the first big boost. then the second part of this was actually getting some direction around how you are gonna make some investments. To improve your worth at your company. So let's just jump into that, the start of that conversation, what we did and where we went.

Doug: 6:44

Yeah, for sure. So just on that personal development journey with my own career, I remember we spoke through pretty early. So I set up a monthly meeting with the state manager, would also catch up with the general manager of sales and marketing as well, just to speak through my goals, career, what I wanted to do there. Early on, I think the first book you recommended me was what the CEO Wants You to Know by Ram Turan. very basic book where it just speaks through. If you can understand the language of business, you are already so far ahead. So goals for us, the constraints were business acumen, commercial acumen. Just wrapping my head around that and being able to speak the language of business. and once you are meeting with these. These decision makers within the business and you are being able to speak that language, I think there is really pre up and they start to see the potential there. So. Start, started to learn all about that. Jumped in, done a course with Harvard Business School online, called Leading With Finance as well, an eight week course. that compounded over time as I was learning these things and, being able to speak through gross profit margins, all these other terms. I think it really makes people think and you start to see this is where we're making money. And coming up with ideas around that, you're adding value to the business. it really just does put you levels ahead. So that was the immediate action to solve these constraints. And I think within three months, received a pay rise. And then, yeah, got promoted three weeks ago to business development manager as well, which was the goal. That was the goal when we first spoke. So,

tex: 8:16

we did start with a bit of a model too around, gm

Doug: 8:20

Yeah, definitely. So end goal, want to get to gm, and just taking those steps now.

tex: 8:25

Yeah. And those conversations you had with those people started to give you, I think, a bit of a sense okay, who do I need to become in order to be able to make that worthwhile? But I wanna just double click on that first investment that you made the first time and money investment. Was you buying the book to start to learn the language of business? it's not like you're becoming an accountant, is it? This stuff's not

Doug: 8:45

Not at all. No,

tex: 8:47

I think a lot of people hear you say the word gross profit and their eyes roll in the back of my head.

Doug: 8:51

Yeah.

tex: 8:51

this is the language of business. It's how you know how to play the game. And

Doug: 8:56

Without a doubt.

tex: 8:57

if Your decisions are coming from what you see, you're just not seeing the full game. So for me, and anyone in corporate and anyone in that environment, The biggest differentiator is you having commercial acumen'cause it just shows. Okay, I can see the bigger picture of this and when I make a call or suggest a thing we should do, it actually has some basis in reality. it's gonna move us towards some sort of goal, some sort of objective that matters. Because it is based on you knowing how the game works and it's the fastest way. But you didn't just stop there, you didn't just read that book. You also made another strategic investment as well. Do you wanna talk a little bit more about what you did with Harvard? Because I think we've discussed in this series how the internet creates all these different opportunities. Right. And I think this investment that you made was one of the best examples of how to use the internet, to create opportunities for yourself regardless of where you are. So just talk about that investment.

Doug: 9:48

Well what, what you said before around you don't have to be account to do it, like finance was not my strong point at all. Like, I didn't get excited about learning all this different stuff about finance around p and ls and all that. But I think, um. I think, like you said, having it gamified and that investment, it was free Grand to do that course. And if you take all that away, I've got Harvard Business School on my LinkedIn now, like outside of what I've learned from that, that course as well. that's also a good look

tex: 10:18

yep. Let's think about this for a second. In the Earn Your Worth framework, As soon As you associate yourself with that brand. You differentiate like, it's just very hard to co to compare you to everybody else with your experience at that level.'cause you are the only key words, the only person with that experience who also is associated with that brand and has understanding, in this space. So straight away you've taken your pool of competitors from all these people to. Probably no one. Probably no one.

Doug: 10:47

Yeah. Yeah.

tex: 10:48

and that's why I said to you, I think I predicted this. I said, you will get a pay rise and it's gonna happen very soon.

Doug: 10:53

Yeah, you did. Yeah. And you were right. Yeah.

tex: 10:57

and I remember that. So just, do you wanna talk through that conversation?'cause they didn't give you any extra responsibility. They just said, we're paying you more. Right. We just want you to know that we're paying you more and we value you more. talk

Doug: 11:07

the GM rang me. And, um, he told me you were the only person within the business of a hundred employees to get above a CPI increase. And it was significant as well. And he was pretty clear. it's on the person developing you're doing and how much we've seen you grow within this period. So that, that was, that was the course paid for there as well,

tex: 11:30

Yeah. So what was the pay rise? was it five or 10 grand?

Doug: 11:34

it was close to 10 grand off the bat.

tex: 11:37

Yeah,

Doug: 11:37

Yep,

tex: 11:38

there you go. it was three grand and then within. a couple of months, you'd made the money back plus that 10 grand. This is where I think most people miss it, right? That 10 grand's. Now, the yearly it's not just the 10, it's that 10 across the next 2, 3, 4, 5 years. But that became your flaw, which you've built upon now.

Doug: 11:55

Yes. That's built

tex: 11:55

The compound effect of that actually massive. you think, oh, it's just 10 grand It's that much every year.

Doug: 12:02

it's climbing. Yeah.

tex: 12:04

That means a lot. Yeah.

Doug: 12:05

and the other parts of that course, Terry, which some were strategic, it taught me how to speak these guys who were giving me the pay rises language. Like when I, when I would sit with these people I diagnosed, the gap between me and them was business acumen. And the point where I come in, came in quite like I, when I, when I first started with the company, had a lot to learn within a short period of time, I'm able to speak through all this stuff, ask them questions sit through and read a peer now with them and go over it all it really does just set you apart.

tex: 12:35

And after that, the pressure was even greater because you were starting to be noticed outside of your company as well. So just talk through what was happening there.'cause I think this is what set the stage for the latest.

Doug: 12:47

So not long after that got approached by one of our competitors as well. whether they'd seen the course on LinkedIn or stuff like that. But they did reach out, actually, the CEOI first got reached out by a person who'd be managing me. Told them no. The CEO rang me on a Friday afternoon. offered me a job as well. create a A bit more supply, demand tension there as well. spoke to my company about it. Decided to stay on board. Then recently I had another company reach out as well. So, when you're tie it all in with how it all looks, Terry, like you go, I, I've made the decision makers in my business aware of what's been happening. The role I just got promoted to is a created role. The role wasn't already existing. So they've created this role for me. it definitely just puts that pressure on to be able to do that. It's not like I was holding anyone ransom, but it's going, these are the options that we have here. biggest thing to myself is growth and career trajectory, and it just forces the hand because I think major corporate, they can just rest on their laurels if they need to, but until until you are really getting pushed.

tex: 13:46

that's right. They will sit there, they'll pay you the same and the minimum as long as you do the minimum. But as soon as you start moving in this direction and you create. supply demand tension that way they're forced, they have to create that

Doug: 13:59

They literally have to.

tex: 13:59

I don't think people understand this, but the cost to replace you. So let's say you've been in your organization for. three or four years, the cost to depending on your industry is a little bit different, but it's tens of thousands of dollars to replace, uh, a knowledge worker. It's tens of thousands of dollars, right? you should know that anyway, it costs to replace you, all you have to do is to create, more buyers. Remember I talked about this at the start of this series, but as soon as you have more buyers than there is sellers, and you're a seller of your time and talent, you're a seller of your knowledge, you're a seller of your connections and what you know in the industry. You created three buyers, right? You had one buyer at the start of this conversation, the start of this whole process. And then because of that investment that you made, you created three buyers that forced'em to pay you more, and then it forced'em to create this new opportunity for you. So, just talk me through that as well, because let's put it this way. Promotions like this don't come around very often and people tend to have to wait years and years and years for this stuff. So how did this actually happen?

Doug: 15:00

So I was very, early on we realized that I did have to play financial offense. realized the way to do that was through the business I was at or create enough tension within the industry that I could step into a pay rise or step into a promotion. so I was pretty, I've made it very well known within the entire business with the people I need to, that career growth is super important to me. above all else, I want to continue to go up. I've let them know then goal where I want to get to development plans work began putting me into all these different courses, leadership courses, began to invest in me as well. but if I'm honest, I feel like it didn't come until I'd really put the heat on that this role then happened. I remember I got approached by a competitor Hold our state manager that, and basically just put it to him. I said, I've been approached by this person. What do you think it would mean for my career, my personal development? Do you think I'll get benefit from this opportunity? And I remember he paused for about 10 seconds and he goes, how do I say this? No, there's gonna be substantial more opportunity for you here. After he said that within two weeks the role was created.

tex: 16:11

yeah,

Doug: 16:12

And I still had to interview, still had to do all that, but I think I put that much into that to make sure I was gonna land, gonna land that job, Terry?

tex: 16:21

Now, this is where I think what sets you apart and the way you've done things. You don't make the assumption that I'm gonna get that job. You actually double down and started working harder. And we had a lot of conversations around how to actually position yourself in this process. so I think you need to take a lot of credit for that approach, right? Because so many people will be like, ha, suckers, they're gonna gimme the job. they're gonna give me gimme the job. let's talk about what you did next.

Doug: 16:44

Yep. Going back to that, what you just said. So when I posted on the community around just chasing advice on the job interview, Steven Trotter wrote, and so the two people I spoke to earlier who I meet up for mentorship sessions were the two people interviewing me. Right. Which are the two people who probably know the value, my value at the company more than anyone. So the general manager of sales and marketing nationally and the current gm. So Steven said in there, don't assume knowledge from the panel.

tex: 17:09

Mm-hmm.

Doug: 17:09

And I remember as soon as I read this, I was going I'm not, I'm reselling myself and everything I've done to this point back again. So through the interview process, I had about a week, two weeks to prepare. So, I'm the type of guy I can come up with all the content in my head, I can come up with all these ideas, everything that I want to do, spoke with you regularly throughout it, and then basically just sat down and da da. first 30 day plan, did a 30 to 90 day plan, then 90 to 12 month plan. So first 30 days was just speaking through learning and assessing. so my current role was a territory manager for sales. So I went through and went through every specific territory that we delivered to, diagnosed every specific market that we're underrepresented in. Then came up with immediate actions on how I'd remedy this. and I thought basically, instead of showing you. What I'm gonna do, I'll just do it. So the work's there, like I've shown you this, is I've done this already, like where we're on when I start. and then just coming out with key deliverables really. But I lent on that many people. I was talking to you, I was working nonstop on it. I was meeting with people from everywhere just trying to get opinions on how to do all this. yeah, it definitely landed.

tex: 18:18

Yeah, and I think just the fact that you are going around consulting widely, this is what I think is amazing because most people are gonna go into their silo and start going how do I sell myself? What you did was you assumed that you were already in the role, and you started planning for how to succeed in the role. And what that does is it actually changes the frame of the conversation straight away. You're differentiating yourself. You're the only candidate who's going around consulting widely, in the business, outside of the business to really think about how to solve the business's problems. Everybody else is trying to think, how do I get a promotion? Whereas you're thinking, how do I solve the business's problem?

Doug: 18:56

the guy who interviewed told me when he got the job, he goes, every person of importance that I've seen in the business, there's a sister company as well that's quite large. they all told me you asked them. about the interview? So I was just hitting everyone up. anyone who was at a high level within the business, like getting advice of everyone.

tex: 19:11

and then just thinking your way through the presentation, you're talking to the actual people who. Interviewing you, right? And you are asking really specific questions as well, so that you can play back to them what their understanding is and then add a little bit as well. And we talked about, different ways to approach it, right? you play back what people think already versus play back and add something to the conversation or disagree with what everyone thinks and present something really distinctly unique. do you wanna just talk through that?'cause it, it's the actual kind of approach as well, I think matters because I think the language you talked about is yes, do these people just want to hear, yes, you've got it right, this is what we should do, or is it yes and or is it no, this is what we should do. how did you approach that?

Doug: 19:52

Well, one of the, part of the feedback I got at the end, spoke to, one of the interviewees, and just asked for feedback on it. She goes, whenever I asked you a question, it was always yes. And, I would listen deeply to what she said. I would give what I believe the answer to be. And then ask, what would you think? A lot of times I, when I would ask them more specifics on the question, they'll just laugh and go, if you're success, if you are successful in the role, we'll tell you if you're successful in the role. but really I was able, so before I got to the plan as well, I was able to speak through the opportunity. So I don't first slide, this is the opportunity. I don't wanna bore people, but the Olympics coming up 2032. It's gonna be historical peaks within the concrete industry. this is our time now before it peaks to establish who we're known for within the industry. These customers don't have partnerships when this time comes. No one would be able to get supply. So they're going, how are we gonna build these relationships with these policy makers to wanna partner with us? And myself back to them was if anyone here with any type of business acumen or any type of intelligence within this will want to have relationships with suppliers. and that was to sell to them on how we're gonna do that. So speaking through that and then really hitting on like end goal. Wanna set up future revenue for the business we've come out of this next period, more resilient. so I think that framework hitting on all that at the start, there's a lot of other stuff in there as well. but you just speaking everything they want to hear to them.

tex: 21:13

it's interesting too because. It is, it is all like a transfer of energy. but I, I personally Don't think it matters what it is you're doing. It just needs to be that you're making progress towards something that you drew a line in the sand on. Right. So concrete you didn't, you never grew up going yeah man, I'm passionate about concrete.

Doug: 21:30

no,

tex: 21:30

You know what I mean?

Doug: 21:31

I don't care. I don't care about concrete.

tex: 21:33

And that's what I really wanna get, across through this series Just get deliberate. just work towards an end in mind that matters to you. Move along that pathway. You just need to feel you're growing, you're making progress, and you're not in the rat race. The rat race for me is just working a job just for money. and you are in the same company, but you transformed it from a job to a career. in literally a matter of months. And does it mean that you're gonna be at the same company in the future? Does it mean that you'll be in the same industry? Who knows? Who cares actually? Who cares?

Doug: 22:06

Yeah, a hundred percent.

tex: 22:07

it's just you're moving towards something that matters for you. You have a clear pathway for progress and you have the tools to navigate. and that's what I really, want. To get across. I think your story is such a good example of, but like, when you think about, the principles that we discussed in Earn Your Worth, and specifically the leverage how do you think you're accumulating leverage now, within these new roles, this new position, and what you're doing?

Doug: 22:31

Well through the skills I'm learning throughout these roles. if we take it back to the courses and the books, that's all a formal leverage there. if I get a book I can read that can change my way of thinking or teach me some new skill or just up me on a different level, I have leverage there. If I'm able to speak through a detailed problem that I've learned From reading a book that a$20 book can give you so much more than that. And as I've learned these skills throughout my role, learned a lot through what I'm doing as well. Throughout doing the Harvard course, you just get more responsibility over time. Now stepping into a new role, I'm gonna learn a whole new set of skills. There's gonna be historical peaks within the industry I'm in, where these skills are just gonna expound, I think, very quickly again, and then it just continues to roll on from there.

tex: 23:17

the role you're in now is you're gonna have a big influence on revenue for the business. and again, we talked about leverage in this series, but even if you're completely clueless, just move closer to the transaction. If you move closer to the transaction, whatever you do, and you build the skills that make that transaction more possible, you're gonna make more money. It just has to be that way. I was talking to my brother about this yesterday, right? He's a buyer's agent on the Gold Coast and, he's talking about real estate agents on the Gold Coast and he is mate, these people just trip over money'cause they're in the, they're just. They're brokering the transaction between people. They actually, they're not that smart. They're not that smart, but they actually have the connection. They know how to, they're facilitating that whole process. So they know one thing. Most they know that one thing. so I think if you want to know like what are the skills that are just automatically gonna make you money, just move closer to the transaction. But the second part of this as well, is I think the leverage for you is gonna be, you are going to be managing. people as a part of this process, and you're moving more and more towards management as you keep moving through. and an understanding. you talk about that book, right? That book gives you the confidence, just the confidence to have a conversation with, for example, the CFO. you have a conversation where the CFO goes, oh man, not many folks in his position are asking me these questions, and that there. Changes the narrative, changes perception in a powerful way that comes back where it's all these opportunities, do you make sure we make sure we include that Doug guy? he's actually pretty switched on. That is just one small thing that you've done that is a ripple effect over time and it's not, you're not getting lucky. You're creating the luck becauseYou're filling that void between who you are and who you need to be with your effort, with your endeavor, and with your intelligence over time. So I just think, you have to draw a line between this small thing here that I'm doing now, this small thing that I'm learning here, and what I'm ultimately trying to accomplish. And it doesn't matter if you get it right or wrong, right? you might say I took sales to the nth degree. I took this part, but I actually find I like the management part of this process more. That's act, that's the way, that's the way to know.

Doug: 25:13

Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah. And work at the moment. Like their, their biggest concern with me now is always trying to do too much and do too many courses. So they're they're like, chill. Just learn at work for a bit, and they always say to her we appreciate the hunger, the continuous commitment to learning in bettering yourself. But they're like, just chill for a bit. We'll, um, Get some courses, but they, they're looking at paying for the next course for me at the moment as well. Another Harvard course Credentials of Readiness, which is like an into an MBA, which is just so cool as well.

tex: 25:41

Yeah, I mean, as you come into this new role, you want to learn on the job, not for the next job. So that to me makes a whole bunch of sense. that model of, I think it's 70 20 10, where it's like 70% on the job, 20% off the job. that learning ladder we talk about, where it's interactive, independent, immersive, you're about to go into heavy immersive learning

Doug: 26:00

immersive for sure.

tex: 26:02

And the only value of the other rungs is just to help you on the current rung. So if you're in a room, you just need to be in a room where, there are people who have been there, done that in terms of this specific industry or that role, or even just that role in a different industry. And the independent side of things. It just needs to help you with the thing you need to know right now. What's the thing I need to know right now to achieve that goal? You go through different modes, but that's something I've seen you do really well, just naturally move up and down those rungs really systematically. cause from day one, that first learning mission was go through that Harvard course. that's the middle rung. Interactive learning. You're in a different peer group. and that pushed you towards this new opportunity and you actually created a learning mission out of the job interview process where you're like, I'm actually. going to be doing it. And now the next learning mission is your first probably 90 days in this job

Doug: 26:51

Yeah. I think the first night days are gonna be super important.

tex: 26:54

Coming back to the real purpose of this to accelerate you guys with your financial goals and move you towards these life goals that were really mapped out in that life by design. let's talk about what this has meant for you in terms of income. We know what it means for you in terms of engagement, that sense of progress. But wherever you guys got to in this 12 month period.

Doug: 27:11

Well, that's the crazy part. So when we came on with the money mentorship, net income was 120 grand. now we're over 200 grand a year, so it's been quite a jump in a short period of time. Our borrowing capacity, was so bad, obviously being on a single income. and at the moment it's grown by over 600 grand, what we can borrow as well. So completely just changed that, hoping to get two investment properties in the next short term. So I currently in active search now for one. then roll into the other, which will bring us to four overall. and outside of that too, our savings rate is just, just about 10 x in a year. that's with us doing more stuff as well, Terry. That's with a lot more travel, money getting spent on personal development. That's both our kids at a private school now, which weren't there beforehand. That's, a lot of stuff That's meaningful to us as well. still having that extra leftover is just crazy. it's nuts.

tex: 28:05

And what has it done for you guys to put this plan in place, work through this plan together? I noticed just that first session, I think I said to you guys at the end, you guys are gonna smash this. I can already tell, that you, you kind of have the tools, you're in the right place, you're gonna go about it the right way. what has it done for you guys as a couple, and also as individuals as well?

Doug: 28:25

Well, life by design, me and Kayla been together for a long time. we've been together for 10 years, been through a fair bit, and where we were in comparison, life was really good. we are kind starting to make a few moves now, this and that. But by the time we sat down and done that life by design, like I remember when we're sitting there with our eyes shut, it was the most radical experience ever. for us to go to that place. We were so specific, we were saying, this is what we want our house to smell. this is what, there's a pool over there, we got the sauna, we got the ice bath. This is exactly what it looks like. These are the experiences we're gonna have. And I remember from that moment. It was like, we're on now. And I remember speaking through the identity piece with you, you guys have done this. then you bring me the day after and you're you guys have done this before. You're just stepping into the next identity now. and I think having that realization too is like, we, we can do this. It really just got complete clarity. we could not have been more clear. On where we wanted to go. And it just gives you a level of peace. When you have that now it's it stops the brain from ticking over or just mindlessly digging away. It's this is where we want to go. This is how we've gotta go to do it. And then we step in and start doing the forecasting and income mapping. It's like, wow. Now we've actually got clarity. we just had one bank account forever. That's all we had. Everything coming in, everything going out. And now looking at it now to the point every single job has a dollar. If I look at our, our relationship now from doing this, it's just got us aligned and on the same page I was, I'm the type of dude who, I just push hard. I'm always kind of pushing harder stuff. and I think it'll used to freak Kayla out a lot because we didn't know what we had to play with. I'm, doing this, we're doing that now. It's given her some type of, uh, some type of security Like, we can actually afford this now,

tex: 30:12

was just saying that she used to feel guilty about

Doug: 30:14

Yeah, the guild's gone and we are just proper aligned with where we're going. we're so aligned with this path that we're on, and not just us, but the kids too. we talk to the kids all the time, what we're doing, where we're going, this is what we want to do, these are the experiences we want to have. This is who we are as a family. it's just so good. Like he Creates a vacuum. you're getting sucked towards this thing. And then it starts to compound with what we talked about with the role. And you start doing, learning all these other skills through the role, then you see the results come through that, and it just drives more hunger and more hunger. And like you said, you go back to the industry. I don't care about concrete. Concrete bores me, right? But I know this is my vehicle and I know I can still bring change to people's lives. And I do find it so meaningful, Terry, on that to see Kayla as well. Kayla didn't work for six years. Awesome. Stay at home mom. We were homeschooling our oldest daughter. And I would try to tell her before, I'm like, you gotta get back to work all this. I'd say it a bit nicer, but she was like, no, no, I don't, I want to, I want to be here for the kids. And we realized she still could be here for the kids. Her job is two minutes from our oldest daughter's school. She works from eight to two 30 every day. But just having that period there now where she's on track doing something she finds meaningful and getting us towards a goal. So good.

tex: 31:29

The other thing that's probably, you're probably gonna realize this in the next 12 to 18 months is how offensive defense work together, right? So. You've got better with offense, but you have defense. So you're actually making good grounds. You're pushing forward on those investments, but you're also building a sense of security. And this is how I found it worked for me. The more of that sense of security I had, the more leverage I actually had in my job. Now I'm gonna use that word leverage in a slightly different capacity. The leverage was, I don't need this. I don't need to be here. And when You don't need to be there, but you want to be there, you. Show up completely differently to everybody else who's financially insecure, You're not sitting there going, I don't like, I don't wanna play like this, whatever, this politics game. I don't, I don't need this. I just want to get a really good job done. and it makes you stand out in that way, that security creates its own supply demand tension. I found that in my previous career where the more financially secure I became. The more in demand I was. there's this line, I think it's in the Bible. It's to those who have more will be given

Doug: 32:35

More will be given. Yeah.

tex: 32:36

more will be, and to those who have not more will be taken. away. I think it comes down to that, right? if you don't need it, you are the person. They want

Doug: 32:43

Yeah, for sure.

tex: 32:44

not the person they want. And if you keep these two things going together, offense and defense, and you go, cool offense, boost some more, channel it back into the investments, make them grow even further. Build our financial security, you're gonna get to a point where you are just such a unicorn in your industry. And there's very few people that actually do it. Most of those people are just gonna be climbing that ladder'cause they accumulated more expenses, they didn't buy assets and they just need to keep making more money to make it happen. And They're just gonna wreak of neediness.

Doug: 33:09

Yeah, for Yeah.

tex: 33:11

Whereas it'll be completely different in that sense. So that, actually exciting for me. I'm I can't wait to see that.'cause I think in the next three to five years that'll become really obvious.

Doug: 33:20

it's funny you say that, when I'll, talk to people at work who are well above, well above about my investment properties and all that now, and they actually ask questions through it and I'm like, you're still, you are at that level, high, high senior management in corporate and they've invested nothing.

tex: 33:36

Yeah. Yeah, because a lot of them, man, they, accumulating expenses to tell the story to the world.

Doug: 33:41

Yep.

tex: 33:42

You know, big, bigger house, better car, whatever it is. they've, all their money has gone towards sending signals, status signals to the world. Whereas you've been building assets, at at a different time. And that's not really seen. it's only later on when they go, fuck, hang on, you got this full portfolio. You know, your income exceeding your burn in terms of your expenses. You don't need to be here. fuck, how much do we have to pay you to stay?

Doug: 34:04

Yeah. It blows my mind. like when we got our second house, when I started the process, I was on a 60 5K base. Salary. start. Just started an entry level corporate role. Kayla wasn't working and we had one investment property. I dunno how we got that house, but found a way to do it,

tex: 34:23

Well, when you started, that's what I said to you. I'm like, you're not bad with, I think you've done amazingly well to do this. I don't know how you've done this. you just need to earn more money.

Doug: 34:32

yeah, for sure.

tex: 34:34

I was actually a bit stressed for you guys. I'm like, I couldn't sleep if I was in that scenario you didn't have a margin of, safety because if something happened, say you need to replace a roof on that property, that would've created real stress.

Doug: 34:47

Oh, proper stress. Yeah.

tex: 34:49

And I think this is the value of. everybody wants to talk about investing. Everybody wants to skip past the fundamentals here. the defense and offense and how we have to make them work here. Everybody wants to just jump through to the end. I think you've done such a really good job of going, hang on, we need to go back a little bit here, get this stuff nailed to build really be able to go. and make the most of our investments. I always think it's better to get invested sooner, rather than later, just so you do it. but try not to put yourself at too much risk

Doug: 35:18

No, definitely. When I look back, I'm so happy we've done it, but I've put our family under so much pressure. but yeah, it's worked out so.

tex: 35:26

Well, you also had the self-awareness to go, well, something's not right.

Doug: 35:30

And that's, probably what led us to jump in on board with you guys. I was we are just, I've got no idea what's really happening here. I'm just buying these assets and hope they grow. that's with knowing goal of what we're doing, where we are heading, what we're even left over with. I had no clue.

tex: 35:44

Yeah. I think the stats are with property investing that, The majority of property investors never get past two investment properties. and in almost 100% of the cases, I would almost bet my bottom dollar. It's a cashflow problem. We don't have the serviceability. I can't, get more debt. But everybody skip past that. They're yeah, the property's gonna do all the job. I bought the property, it's gonna grow. I'm gonna be free. And I'm no,

Doug: 36:07

like.

tex: 36:07

not really.

Doug: 36:08

goes both ways. So, hey Eric, then you have people in property who say you can get from this, from the start to this many properties in this amount of time, but they don't have offense in there. you need to be increasing. Property's awesome, we love it. It works for us. high growth, we find it easy, but if you're not growing your income, you're not keeping up with it you will get tapped out. the only reason we're able to get these next two is because we'll play offense, otherwise it's not happening. And the reality is I've gotta continue to pay offense to keep going with it, which is our strategy.

tex: 36:38

I think, I think the number is like, if you can get beyond 300, your odds are much better,

Doug: 36:44

300 K in income.

tex: 36:46

Yeah. Yep, much better. and then just be, just be smart and play it sort of long enough, a long enough, timeline. Because then your properties, they'll grow. They'll do what they do, but your income won't tap you out at the second or the third. you can sort of keep going, but it's also how you buy them. Yeah, so what is the plan mate? So you, so, so the next 12 months, just get in, nail that job.

Doug: 37:09

Yeah. Yeah. I just wanna work, go as hard as I can at it, Terry. Like, it's an exciting time. Like if I do what we set out to achieve, if I can get us 10% market growth with the mark, uh, market that's growing, 10% market share. Sorry, sorry. Like that means huge changes for our business. Like that means that's a whole lot more stuff they gotta put on to keep up with that. And I, I'm really looking forward to be a part of that. But just, just nailing down on this role. Continue to learn, But I honestly feel like we're just getting started. Hey, I really do like, I feel like the skills I'll learn through this to people. I'll meet through this next role. Like we, we, this is only just the beginning.

tex: 37:43

I know I was just saying to you guys before, um, I could see myself on your back porch having a beer with you over the pool, looking at the,

Doug: 37:50

Yeah,

tex: 37:51

how clear, that's how clear it was, um, for you. I was like, this is so clear that, um, you know, it's so important to get to that point. The other thing I wanna point out is like, that's clear, that's very clear in your mind, but also you're very clear on. What you need to do to get there in terms of the moves you need to make, but also the outcomes. You just said some very specific numbers, right? This

Doug: 38:12

Yep,

tex: 38:12

gonna make that happen. There's no, it's not, you're not guessing. You've kind of got a bit of a pathway. Doesn't mean it's gonna go exactly to that plan. Probably won't, doesn't matter. You just have something you're working forwards towards rather than sitting there and going, ah. I guess I I guess I, guess, this is where I'm at. I guess I gotta wait for a pay rise. I guess. I gotta, you know, someone's gotta see my worth.

Doug: 38:32

yeah, and without forecasting, you cannot have it down to the dollar. it's always not gonna hit to the dollar. But we know what we got now to play with, but we know exactly the amount we are able to save, what we can do with that now. And that's the exciting part.

tex: 38:46

Yeah, that's right, isn't it? Because you see the power of, Hey, if we can make that little income goal happen, here's what it's gonna mean for our life, lifestyle and investing goals. This is what it means. It's possible for us. And I think. if you don't have that visibility, you are just guessing. And if you're listening to this and you don't know what Doug means when he says forecasting, I'll drop a link to the episodes that we've produced on this podcast in the past that just walk you through what that means. Because I think it's, probably the least talked about, never understood, completely missed part of personal finance that everybody walks past because, we're all educated that, we just do. X percentage into X bucket. And, we don't actually think about managing our finances, like a business. forecasting is looking forward and then going what is possible, it gives you a benchmark, for me, what I notice is people act completely differently when they have an expectation of what's possible versus, yeah, I just wanna save some money.

Doug: 39:40

yeah, definitely. A hundred percent. Yeah. It changes the whole view. Yep,

tex: 39:44

And what's your advice, mate? So if you are talking to yourself or somebody who's in that situation and I really, I feel I'm under the pump. I feel we are really we're working really hard here. We're not necessarily getting anywhere. we've tried to make a few moves, but something's not quite right. what's your advice for that person?

Doug: 39:59

You just gotta take the step. if you boil it down all past that. And you're not clear on what you're doing, what you got to play with, where you're going. The overwhelming effect on that to everyone around you is tangible. You're constantly living under status, stress, just a bit of confusion. And you can be doing the right things. You can be making moves that are good. they are good moves. They are gonna help you get ahead. But without having a clear roadmap on that, it's still stressful. And it can still, there's just an underlying level of anxiety to it, right? So if I was to go back and give myself advice, it's just I've squeezed the juice of the money mentorship for every single ounce there is. I was saying to Kayla, I feel like we've gotta pay Terry again. I feel like, we've gotten too much outta this. And I mean that genuinely, the reality is with the frameworks that's given. And with the mentorship and just having that extra set of eyes that you can see that I know for us that we didn't know. I feel like I'm cheating sometimes with the advice I get from you when it comes to my career, it genuinely feels like I'm cheating. So all that level of things as well has made the investment that we put in, nothing at all. it's completely changed our lives. It's changed our relationship. It's got us on a path now. That we, me and you will be sitting at the back on that deck having a beer hopefully in the near future of that dream house.

tex: 41:17

It's gonna happen, man. It's gonna happen. I'm sitting, this is the first podcast I've recorded in my caravan and, um, I, we'll drive it up. We'll sit on the

Doug: 41:27

Come up. yeah, for sure. But mate, the advice is just do it. if you want clarity, I keep coming back to that word, but it gave us a feeling of where we're heading, which is invaluable. it's gonna be different to every single person. me and Kaylee got three children we just wanna run life with them. we want to go all out and just have the best experiences possible. We don't want them to be just brought up normally. we wanna break the status quo, and just really live a life of significance to us. And I feel now we can do it it's the most fulfilling thing we've ever done.

tex: 41:58

Man, you guys are, you're on the way. Absolutely on the way. thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story. I know it's gonna inspire a lot of people and I really hope it does, because it's Probably one of the best success stories I've had over the last few years, just primarily because of the way you guys have come into this process, and I mentioned it to you before, what you put into this is what you get out of it. And you guys put in everything and it's no surprise to me that you've made this much progress in this period of time and you keep it up. I just, I think you'll be in a different universe in the next two to three years. It'll be just literally ridiculous.

Doug: 42:28

Yeah. Thank you so much

tex: 42:29

Mate. All right, well let's, let's wrap this up and, let's chat again soon, man.

Doug: 42:33

Merry Christmas.