Escaping the Drift with John Gafford
Brady McDonald's Journey: From Real Estate Challenges to Ultra-Marathon Resilience
Tue, 4 Mar 2025
Brady McDonald, a figure of remarkable resilience, joins us to share the compelling narrative of his transformation from small-town Ontario native to an ultra-marathon runner and real estate investor. Brady's story is a powerful testament to the strength of the human spirit, underscoring the idea that mental toughness can be cultivated through perseverance and grit. From navigating personal challenges, like his parents' divorce and early career setbacks, to making strategic pivots in the real estate market, Brady offers a wealth of insights into the relentless pursuit of success. Our conversation takes us through Brady's strategic maneuvers in the real estate industry, both in Canada and the U.S., where he faced financial adversity and natural disasters. Each setback became a stepping stone, thanks to guidance from mentors and a focus on shedding underperforming assets. Brady shares valuable lessons on adaptability, emphasizing the importance of consistent effort and networking in overcoming obstacles and achieving financial stability. In a fascinating shift from business to personal growth, Brady discusses how ultra-distance running became his path to mental clarity and resilience. Inspired by the likes of Jesse Itzler, he embraced discipline and endurance, quitting alcohol and setting ambitious goals that spurred profound personal transformation. Brady's candid tales of pushing through physical pain and mental barriers provide inspiration for anyone looking to harness the power of resilience to conquer life's challenges. Whether you're an aspiring runner or seeking motivation to push past your limits, Brady's journey offers a roadmap to mastering mental toughness CHAPTERS (00:00) - Mental Toughness and Achievement Journeys (02:26) - The Path to Career Success (12:16) - Real Estate Investing Strategies and Challenges (15:48) - Navigating Real Estate Development Challenges (25:12) - Transformation Through Running Ultra Distances (37:24) - Challenges of Ultra-Distance Running (42:38) - Journey to Mental Toughness and Success 💬 Did you enjoy this podcast episode? Tell us all about it in the comment section below! ☑️ If you liked this video, consider subscribing to Escaping The Drift with John Gafford ************* 💯 About John Gafford: After appearing on NBC's "The Apprentice", John relocated to the Las Vegas Valley and founded several successful companies in the real estate space. ➡️ The Gafford Group at Simply Vegas, top 1% of all REALTORS nationwide in terms of production. Simply Vegas, a 500 agent brokerage with billions in annual sales Clear Title, a 7-figure full-service title and escrow company. ➡️ Streamline Home Loans - An independent mortgage bank with more than 100 loan officers. The Simply Group, A national expansion vehicle partnering with large brokers across the country to vertically integrate their real estate brokerages. ************* ✅ Follow John Gafford on social media: Instagram ▶️ / thejohngafford Facebook ▶️ / gafford2 🎧 Stream The Escaping The Drift Podcast with John Gafford Episode here: Listen On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7cWN80gtZ4m4wl3DqQoJmK?si=2d60fd72329d44a9 Listen On Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/escaping-the-drift-with-john-gafford/id1582927283 ************* #escapingthedrift #bradymcdonald #mentaltoughness #resilience #ultramarathonrunner #realestateinvestor #personalchallenges #strategicpivots #financialadversity #networking #adaptability #consistenteffort #ultradistancerunning #mentalclarity #discipline #endurance #alcohol #personaltransformation #physicalpain #mentalbarriers #running #selfimprovement #fitness
Chapter 1: What is mental toughness and how can it be achieved?
you're a younger kid right and you want to impress somebody that's much older than you just be tenacious in the pursuit of whatever you're trying to get with them yeah just put in the fucking work that's how they that's how you do what most people won't do it well that's how you show you're serious showing up every day yeah just prove it's just it's just proving them
And now, Escaping the Drift, the show designed to get you from where you are to where you want to be. I'm John Gafford, and I have a knack for getting extraordinary achievers to drop their secrets to help you on a path to greatness. So stop drifting along, escape the drift, and it's time to start right now. Welcome back to the program, everybody.
Chapter 2: What challenges did Brady face in his early career?
Like it says in the opening, man, the show that gets you from where you are to where you want to be and today in studio. Man, you think doing things is hard. You think if you're a person that can't quite finish things, you can't push through, you find you have some mental weakness. Now this dude, and I always like to say when people come through, I'm like, there's a friend of mine.
This dude legitimately is a friend of mine. Like I've known this guy for a couple of years now and I just never marvel at The things that he done, the feats that he finishes. He is not only a massive dude in the self-storage industry, and we'll talk about some of that, but this is a guy that just says, you know what I want to do today?
I think I'm going to run 100 miles at once, at the same time, in the same direction. Oh, I'm a dude that wants to run an ultramarathon just because I want to do it. I mean, the stuff that he does to himself and just has this mental strength to him that We got to learn something today. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the studio. This is Brady McDonald. What's up? Brady, what's up, dude?
What's up, brother? I'm so glad you're here. Much like so many of my friends, I see a random Instagram post. They're like, I'm laid over on my way to Vegas.
I'm like, Vegas, come to the office. See you in, when can you be here?
As it works out, as it does that. But dude, your level of mental toughness is...
unbelievable to me just the stuff you're able to push yourself through and the transformation you made in your body and your mindset and all of that stuff is amazing so let's back up because i want to get through all of this because you know this is one of those definitely is the hero made or is the hero born you know what i'm saying because you got some you got some mental toughness this next level so tell me let's tell them well i'm going to interview you like i know nothing about you which sometimes is harder than it is because you know what
Nothing worse than a podcast full of inside jokes. But tell me about the upbringing. Where'd you grow up? Tell me about that.
Yeah, I grew up in Owenstown, Ontario, Canada. So small town Canada, 20,000 people. The family was divorced at 11 years old. lost my license for drinking and driving at 16. I was pretty good at drinking. Started it when I was 14. Actually, I was pretty bad at it, I guess. Yeah. Drinking and lost my license at 16. My kid, my parents said, kid, you got to grow up. So you're going to college.
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Chapter 3: What are the key strategies in real estate investing?
Like in some shithole town in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada.
Okay. I was going to say, cause I'm from a shithole town in North Florida where they have a forestry school.
Yeah. Like, so exactly. So you know what I'm talking about? I was like, wait a second. Yeah. So, uh, you know, there's like five girls there and yeah. So, yeah, so that was, I was there for a year, figured out, hey, there was this, you know, dream job working for this big corporate company that was a big power company across all of Ontario.
Chapter 4: How did Brady navigate real estate development challenges?
And I realized the guy had a brand new truck all the time, a full case of beer. I'm like, hey, I'm going to go get that job. And that's what I did. So that kind of, you know, that was the first testament that if you just do something and be relentless, I just faxed my resume to them every single week for. Until they wanted to hire you.
Well, until they had to, because they're like, this guy is not going to quit. But that started a good career. I had to make it $120,000.
Dude, let's talk about that for a minute, right? Because that's already telling me that you're just determined and can do what you want.
That was when I was 17, 18.
I know, but back again, what do you think about the way you grew up made you that way?
Yeah, you know what? I think it was a necessity. I had to cut grass and shovel snow at 5 a.m. before school. This sounds like an old dad story, but legitimately to pay for my hockey gear. Yeah. Right. Because my parents were like, you know, money doesn't grow in trees. There was no extra money.
And then when the parents got divorced, there was really no extra money because nobody's paying for shit.
Yeah.
Right. So it was necessity. And you know, if you, if you want it, you got to go get it.
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Chapter 5: What inspired Brady to start ultra-distance running?
Yeah. I didn't know what the money to buy it from one of them. And then the money from my pocket for the other one, both of them thought they bought it because they weren't talking to each other.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, neither of them had a pot to piss. So that was probably part of the problem there, but yeah. So, I mean, it was a good thing. I mean, I think there's, I mean, that's where I got the hustle at 11.
So, okay. So you're, you're hustling and doing that. which is great. You go off to forestry school at 17 and you're doing that. And you go to the facts, the resume thing over and over and over, you know? So let's go back to that moment. The first time you fax it to them, just nobody calls. Yeah. Nobody calls. I mean, for months, bro. And you just kept faxing to them every week.
And then eventually I, I was spraying pesticides in the summer. So in between first year and second year, I was spraying pesticides about four hours away from my hometown and, driving four hours every single night back to play junior B lacrosse practices and junior B, you know, tournaments and stuff.
And eventually I just met a guy who worked for a power company and he took me in because I was living at, staying at the college dorm, you know, in the cooking, barbecuing out of the back of the pesticide truck. Maybe that's what's wrong. That's what's wrong with you. That's going to do it. But I met this guy and he, you know, I was at that point, I was 17 or 18, just turned 18.
And, and, uh, I told him, you know, my goal that to work for this power company, cause he worked for a power company. He's like, well, why don't you come and meet my family and have dinner with us? And so he literally invited me that night, had dinner at his house and he has two kids and he took my resume facts, sent it to everybody he knew and they all made the connection.
And within two weeks I got job after that. Yeah. Yeah.
You know, it's funny. One of the best agents that I ever hired here at the company was somebody, this person came to the office and said, I want to work for you. Brand new agent. I said, I hire brand new agents. It's not what I do. You got to be experienced. Come here. Okay. Thank you very much. Came back the next day. Hey, I said, I want to work for you.
I'm going to come here every day until you hire me. And literally after like three days, I was like, dude, if this chick is, if she's going to come here like this every day, she's going to be successful. And to this day now.
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Chapter 6: What challenges come with ultra-distance running?
Showing up every day.
It's just proving them.
Ari Rastegar was on the podcast once that said that one of his best mentors in his life, the only thing he asked him was, can I walk you to and from work every day? Just talk to you. Yeah. Like, I was like, you want to show up? He goes, I never asked him if he was going to be there the next day.
I never knew there were long periods of time where he wouldn't show up because he was gone or on vacation or traveling or whatever, blah, blah. But when he would come back, I'm standing in a stoop waiting on him to walk him around every day. It's unbelievable. And how many people are willing to do that anymore? Yeah. They're just not willing to do that stuff. It's wild. Yeah.
So you're working for the power company.
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Chapter 7: What lessons did Brady learn about resilience and success?
Yeah.
That's going. Yeah.
So yeah, so that was a four-year apprenticeship, climbing trees, roping trees down around the hydro lines. And so I got through the four-year apprenticeship and then I had the opportunity to start climbing and teaching the men and women that were moving through the apprenticeship how to do that.
And I saw an opportunity in there because they were teaching people on forestry practices like SOPs and shit like that that we would have in our business, but they weren't quizzing them on it. So I just, I volunteered to do that. So just going above and beyond and said, hey, I'll create all this content in this course.
you know, content to actually test everybody to make sure that they're actually retaining it. And so they gave me that job that led into being a full-time instructor at 23. So then I was one of the six instructors that trained 1500 staff around the province and then ended up opening a training center in my hometown.
So that's, that's what I ended up doing for 12 years is running this training center and just teaching men and women around the
And that was not safe work, too. That's a little dangerous.
Yeah, you're basically teaching them how not to kill themselves, right? And before that, like I did fall, I almost fell out of a tree. And so it's dangerous work, right? But it was, you know, it took, it probably is 10 years into that career. I just felt like I had, I did have a lot of freedom because I did all my boss's job, right?
Like, again, that's just, you know, you want freedom, you want your boss's job, he doesn't show up. Yeah. That's a good lesson. I mean, that's a good lesson. He was two hours in a different town. I did all of his job, all of my job. I ran the trainer center training center. He never showed up. And, you know, I was making good money.
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