Hosts: Ronn Ruiz and Martin Canchola, Co-Founders of ApartmentSEO.com 

Guests: Maverick Smothers (7-year-old Son) and Tina Smothers, (Mom) Founder/CEO of Integrated Asset Management-Advisory Solutions

Martin: All right, everybody, welcome to The Multifamily Podcast with Ronn and Martin, powered by ApartmentSEO.com. Today, we are so very excited to bring to you a very special episode. Joining us today is Tina Smothers, a veteran in the multifamily industry and the CEO of integrated asset management advisory solutions, along with her son, Maverick Smothers, a then five-year-old entrepreneur. And today he’s five years old. Is that correct? 

Maverick: Almost seven in two months, I think. Yep.

Martin: Beautiful. And coauthor, both of them co-authored a book coming out very soon called serious business insights from a five-year-old. And together they’re here today to discuss their unique collaborative approach to business and their brand-new book, Tina Maverick. It’s great to have you on today’s show. Welcome to the multifamily podcast. 

Tina: Awesome. Thanks so much for having us. We’re super excited. Aren’t we Mart? To talk about serious business and Maverick?

Maverick: Yes.

Tina: All right. 

Maverick: I’m guessing.  

Ronn: That’s awesome. Super excited to have you guys here. Thank you. 

Martin: Yeah. So, let’s do some icebreaker questions. Let’s to kick things off. So Maverick, let’s start with something fun. Who is your favorite WWE wrestler? Cause I remember back in my day, mine was called Mr. Sacco. Do you remember him? Do you know him? 

Maverick: No, but this is the hardest question ever. 

Martin: What’s your top choice? 

Tina: Gotta say it quick. Top three, no, top four is the Rock, John Cena, Undertaker and Kane. 

Martin: Okay. Yeah, there you go. I remember the Rock and he’s still doing big things, so good choice on that one.  

Ronn: So, Mav, I have another question for you and listen, I am a car guy. So, what brand of car do you wanna get when you get your license? Any dream car in mind? 

Maverick: Ferrari.

Tina: A what?

Maverick: Ferrari? 

Tina: Oh, a Ferrari

Martin: Ferrari, nice choice. 

Tina: Yeah, that’s one with that. We were down in Fort Lauderdale recently for a vacation, so we saw all the nice sports cars.  

Ronn: Oh yeah.

Maverick: You saw 15 cyber trucks.  

Martin: Oh. What do you think about the cyber truck though? Because you know, I’m a fan of the cyber truck. I know people either love it or hate it. 

Tina: You love it, don’t you, Mart, yeah, for sure. 

Martin: Yeah. Gimme one. 

Ronn: What color of Ferrari?  

Maverick: Green. 

Martin: Okay.

Maverick: Green, pink or red or all. 

Ronn: Or all.  

Martin: Well, you know what, by the time you’re driving, they’re gonna have the cars, we’re already seen Ronn where they change colors digitally and you can like go on the app and switch all the colors up. I’ve seen some BMWS that are pretty sophisticated looking. 

Ronn: So green, like money. 

Tina: Exactly. Yep. That’s our favorite color, isn’t it now? 

Maverick: Yeah, and that’s what color my water bottle is, which I have my blue jellyfish. 

Tina: Okay.

Maverick: That follows me around.  

Martin: Now, how about this though? When it comes to pizza, how about pineapple? What do you think about having pineapple on your pizza? Does that sound good to you?  

Maverick: Yes. 

Tina: That’s a hard yes. 

Ronn: Yes. 

Tina: I have to, I am too. I’m a vegetarian, so I don’t do the Hawaiian, but when we do the pineapple.

Maverick:  I don’t like the ham because it looks weird, but I love the pineapple.

Tina: There we go.

Ronn: That’s it.

Maverick: Which it belongs on pizza. 

Ronn: It does belong on pizza. Amen. So far two for two, Mav. We got the Ferrari and the… Okay, cool. So, even though I don’t play this, what about your favorite PlayStation game right now? 

Tina: What have you been playing the most of? 

Maverick: The Show 20.

Tina: Was that your newest game you got?

Maverick: Joe 19. 

Tina: Okay.

Maverick: And WWE 2K24. 

Martin: Okay, nice.

Tina: Also bought with business money. 

Maverick: No, Dad bought that for me because our other one wasn’t working. 

Tina: Okay, correction to that. 

Ronn: That’s a business advance once again. 

Tina: We’ll call it that. Yes.  

Martin: That’s awesome. All right, Maverick. This is the last one for the iceberg. We will Icebreaker section, before we get into some serious business talk. What is your favorite dance move and can you describe it for us?  

Ronn: The good one. 

Tina: Yeah. What do you think?  What’s the name for it?

Martin: I mean…

Tina: Like the gritty maybe.

Ronn: The new better audience.

Martin: Did you guys watch the Olympics with the Aussie and the…

Tina: Oh, yeah.

Martin: Oh, man, that’s my favorite dance move, the kangaroo.  

Tina: Do you have anything else, Mav, that you like?

Maverick: In the Olympics? 

Tina: No, just a dance move that you like. 

Maverick: We do the undertaker dance.

Tina: The undertaker dance. We’re back to WWE stuff. 

Ronn: I’m giving you the thing here. 

Tina: Yep.  Big fans. Well, Mav is a big fan.

Maverick: It’s gonna make my eyes go all wide like on the undertaker.

Tina: Yep. 

Maverick: And which I can do is pose. 

Tina: Oh, okay.

Maverick: I can do love, weight pose too.

Tina: Serious.

Ronn: Audience can’t see the dance, right? 

Martin: Yeah. That’s the way it’s coming. 

Tina: Oh yeah.  All right, so now…

Ronn: So, I know it’s time to get into some business, right? So, I have a question. How can you, can you share how Maverick five then, now seven, his business insights came to influence your professional strategies, mom, especially for multifamily. And how did it inspire you to create this book? 

Tina: You know, I think, so obviously, with the title serious business. Mav came up with that verbiage on his own. But I think where it started is I have my own company and he would always be with me and giving me dirt. He would say, if you have a serious business, you, so he was telling me to be serious. And what I was taking from it is realizing I really didn’t need to be that serious because I think, especially in multifamily, we’re so like regimented on the policies and procedures and he would just like humble me quick and call me out in the middle of business meetings because I would always take him with me.

Ronn: That’s true. Is that true Mav? You would have to like, just say mom chill out.

Maverick: But first of all, it’s not serious business anymore. 

Tina: Well, yeah, matching the serious business stuff. So, we just keep it as general serious business. 

Ronn: Okay.

Maverick: Watch another dad? 

Martin: I definitely like the flow. It has a good ring. Yeah, you’ve been a part of business meetings from a very young age. Can you both talk to us about one early business lesson that stuck with you and how it’s relatable to our listeners in the multifamily sector.  

Tina: You want me to start with enough? 

Maverick: Yeah, but I don’t even know what that means. 

Tina: What’s something you’ve learned in business, to do your business better.

Martin: One business lesson.

Tina: Anything? You want me to answer this one? 

Maverick: Boss. 

Tina: You have to be a boss.

Maverick: Boss people around, act like a giraffe.

Tina: I think so. I’ll pick this one. On this, I think it’s, I was really dialed back to the one-minute manager, so that was a book that was really influential early on in my career and just reminding me that, you know, we have to address things when they come up. And again, Mav would call me out in meetings, like you’re in charge of people. You need to do this, or he would hear me on phone calls and say that. And I think another thing is, in the book, you’ll hear Mav talk about, you have to pick the people who you pick to sit with you and like, and in today’s society, we always hear, you know, bring your own seed or bring your own chair. But I think where I really caught or where I really went with that is, you know, we only have so much capacity. And so, we really have to be picky about who we’re choosing to share that time in that space with, especially in the multifamily sector and really kind of honing in on who we can all collaborate with and be together with and the people that are saying it’s not my job. Those are the people that we have to be really careful with. Because in multifamily, we’re all working together.

Ronn: And wearing multiple hats. Right? 

Tina: Yeah, for sure. 

Ronn: I love that. So also in the book, it’s funny because for a five-year-old. Oh my God, this whole time I’m thinking like we’re talking about a five-year-old, now seven, but he talks about the importance of persistence in business. So how have you applied, Tina, this lesson in managing your challenges within our industry?  

Tina: I think for me, it was early on in my career. I really, I started in property management when I was 17 years old as a leasing agent and I’ve worked my way through all the different positions, but then as I got towards the top and became a director of operations, I really would listen to rooms that I was in, so I could learn all the different aspects. So marketing, accounting, the back end of our software, so that 1 day I could put that into my own management company. And now I’ve started to manage companies and currently manage 1300 units that I just started last summer, so, a year ago.

Ronn: That’s definitely persistence right there, right? Taking you to another level.

Tina: For sure. Yes, and I think again, it goes back to, like, all the processes not having to be so regimented on some of that, but it’s really hard in the world of fair housing and everything. Now, Mav is being really because he’s trying to brand is 711. 

Maverick: Oh, yeah, no, no.

Ronn: Super cool. There’s not a dull moment in that household, I could tell.

Tina: There is not. No, no.

Maverick: I wish there was. I’ve had a 71 Slurpee. Yeah, Coca Cola.

Tina: Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah. 

Maverick: More like C Cola.  

Martin: Yeah, now that’s definitely, Coca Cola was my top Slurpee back in the day, too. So, can’t eat all that. So, Maverick, mentions in his book that serious business can’t afford too many breaks, so how do you both balance the hard work required in business while also ensuring fun times with the family?

Tina: What do you do, Mav?  How do you, you told in Serious Business, we’ve got a page about you can’t take too many breaks so you don’t get stuff done. 

Maverick: You need to take…

Tina: So, what do you do to avoid taking breaks so you can get stuff done and not working too much.

Martin: Sometimes you gotta let loose. 

Maverick: Well, kids are at school. 

Tina: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Work while your kids are at school. 

Maverick: We know.  

Tina: Now, Mav is being silly. Yeah.

Maverick: That was my pet jellyfish. 

Tina: Now, you know, that was jelly. 

Maverick: I want a cup of coffee, have a sip. Then, get your work done. 

Tina: I mean he’s right, right? I say on that with drinking coffee, I really time, I time block a lot, but set expectations for when I’m working with the kids, so that way, they know, okay, I’m working on this and then we can do this. We recently, as I was saying, went to Fort Lauderdale and Mav tried to bring his laptop in his bag and we said, that’s a no, no, cause we have to separate that. But it’s also, I think just having the transparency. So, we all let each other know that, you know, this may be our time together, but I’ve got to get this done for work. And it’s really helped us be able to multitask more. And then we’ll also combine work trips and vacation trips. So, we’re coming to California in October and I’ll be speaking at a conference.

Maverick: And my birthday.

Tina: Right after Mav’s 7th birthday.

Ronn: Celebrating your birthday.

Tina: And then we’ll shut work up for sure. We’re going to go for a week, to see LeBron James. I mean, why not? So, but yeah, we’ll, combine work with vacation when we can.

Ronn: Well, hopefully you guys come and visit us and we can go to a local Miguel’s for dad. 

Tina: Oh my gosh, we’ve got them frozen in our freezer right now. Somebody brought them over to; they brought them when they came to visit. I just saw that. And I’m like, how funny when we’re going to do the podcast and I’ve got Miguel burritos. 

Ronn: That’s right. You can swing by my house.

Tina: Yeah, exactly.

Ronn: So, we can have a pool party with Miguels.

Tina: We’re in.

Ronn: Let’s do it.

Tina: For sure.

Ronn: I need to learn more from these opportunities. So, you guys in your book you talked about turning setbacks into learning opportunities. It’s one of Mavericks themed advice. Can you share a time when that’s helped you navigate a difficult situation?

Tina: For sure. So here one of the top things I took from, we’ve got like 30 pages of Maverick’s advice in this coffee table book. And one of the things he says is when you have a serious business, you can’t. You can’t lose you have to keep working and I think that that’s true in leadership and entrepreneurship. It’s definitely in multifamily. You know, our days can go quick really or go bad really quick when you start. And I think for me, though, that personally hit home because I’ve got the business owner and I also own multifamily properties. I do some redevelopment and there’s days that, you know, my kids have seen me crying and I’m like, what, you know, just like, I just needed that for a minute and it just, so that would say that. And it’s like, I mean, he’s right. I just, I need to back up and like, keep going. It’s all going to work itself out and we just have to be persistent in what we’re doing and the setbacks are comebacks, I think, is what people say now. And it definitely has been that way for the past year and a half that we’ve been, that, you know, I’ve been writing stuff down from the book.

Ronn: Lovely.

Martin: So, and I think there’s just so much stuff we can learn from our up-and-coming future generations. You know, they’re young, but they’re just, yeah, wise beyond their years.

Tina: Yeah. Another one that.  Again, leader, business owner that will always school me on is like, time is money and it’s again. So true. Like, we get caught up in this or that, or, you know, we want to try to conquer this before we go and you can invest all your time or sometimes it’s the opposite and he’ll always be, you know, don’t work for free is another thing that he’ll say. And it’s just, when you kind of take the serious out of it and you think on the perspective of a five-year-old, it like really makes sense. Like we’re doing it wrong as adults. Like you said, Martin, the kid’s perspective. 

Ronn: That is so awesome. I love those Mav isms.  

Tina: Yes. That’s a good one. We’re going to call them that, Mavisms. 

Ronn: Mavisms. 

Martin: So, looking ahead, what are some future projects or ideas you both are excited to explore together? Perhaps another book, a new venture? What does that look like? 

Tina: I think Mav, you definitely want to do some book signings, right? 

Maverick: Yes, and I also want to make more books out of actual papers.  Which I’m not just an author of that, I’m an author of, really, of more books. 

Tina: Yeah, well, if you, so you guys might not know, Maverick writes books at school, and then, and he brings them home, so he is the author of those. We co-authored Serious Business, but I think for him it’s hard because the book isn’t here yet, so they’re set to mail from the publisher on the 10th of September, and he was part of the editing process with me, so he would, he could see it, like on a PDF, as we were editing it, but for him just having that to know that it’s coming.

Martin: I can feel them on the real book because I can’t really do PDF. I got to have that physical book with me. 

Tina: Yeah. Tangible items, right? Like you pay for things and you want it right then, instant gratification. So, we’ve talked about maybe doing a serious leadership book because Mav’s got a lot of isms on that. There was a lot of things that came out after I had already sent the book in to publish. So, we’ve been keeping track of those as well. But one thing Mav and I have in common is we hate to lose and we’re both very competitive. 

Maverick: Or maybe bold when I get older. 

Ronn: To be bold.  

Martin: Look, look, it’s not that bad, Maverick.  

Tina: Yeah, so, on the hate to lose thing, you know, we’ve got big, we’ve got high hopes for the book. We can’t wait for everybody to see it because, you know, because it is a coffee table book and it’s got your quick page or quick things. And I think when it comes out, and everybody’s able to read it, and then, you know, to talk about how some of the things came about. Like What was happening when he said the certain things, because, of course, I remember those, he doesn’t necessarily because some of them were, you know, almost 2 years ago.

Ronn: Yeah. And in the moment too, right? It’s like, wait, what did I say? 

Tina: Yes. Yeah. Yes.  

Ronn: That happens to us at our age.

Tina: Right. Well, somebody was asking him what happened, Mav, when you said that. He’s like, I don’t know. I’m like, I remember what we did last month. So, he’s not going to remember a couple of years ago.

Ronn: Exactly. That’s awesome. We can’t wait September 10th, that’s around the corner. We’re so excited about that. And where is the book signing going to be, Mav? 

Maverick: I don’t know. In September, I think.  

Tina: Ronn said where, but you know what, Ron, we might…

Maverick: Well, I know when it is. September 31st.

Tina: September has 30 days, bro. 

Maverick: Didn’t know that.

Tina: Yes, you didn’t, but maybe we’ll bring some out to California.

Ronn: Yeah.

Tina: And we can do a little signing there. And yeah, cause we’ll be right in your neck of the woods.  

Ronn: Let’s talk about that. I have somebody in mind in the Long Beach area, actually, two of my friends have done children’s books, actually. Well, they are a full-on bookstore, but cool. A little…

Tina: Awesome. Yeah. Yeah. 

Martin: We’re off to the last part of the show. Maverick. Are you ready, Maverick? So, we got a handful of questions.

Maverick: But I’m still playing with my game. 

Tina: He’s going to play with his wrestling guys while you ask the lightning round questions. Ready Mav?

Martin: So, I heard that you created a logo for your business, you know, Brandon seems to be very important for you and, you know, getting that situated. So, what was the process like making your own logo? 

Tina: Tell Martin and Ronn, how you came up with making your own logo? 

Maverick: Cause I know that every business has a logo.

Tina: Every business has a logo.  

Maverick: You do maybe. Even if you don’t, then I’m more creative. 

Martin: And did you create it or did you have somebody else help you create it and you kind of shared the vision? 

Maverick: Basically, I’m the one who all started it.

Tina: And tell them a little bit about it, that logo that you made. 

Maverick: What do you mean about it? 

Tina: It’s M A V. And then what else did you do? It’s all one. 

Maverick: It’s all one. I have three MS and M V, and they’re all connected. And then M A V, that’s all connected. 

Tina: Yeah, then you don’t have to lift up your pencil and it saves you time, when you’re signing. So, yep.

Maverick: It doesn’t really save you time. It’s just it looks really cool. 

Tina: Okay, well, either way.

Ronn: Kind of changed my mind a little bit there. But yeah, that’s so right, right?  What colors are your logo? 

Maverick: I still haven’t made them yet, but they’re gonna be green, purple and green, purple, blue and orange. 

Ronn: Very cool. Very catchy.  

Tina: Yeah, we’re going bright. 

Ronn: Can’t wait to see it. Can’t wait to get your signature actually on a book. That’d be awesome. 

Tina: Yeah.

Maverick: Yes.

Ronn: I’ll pay for that signature. 

Maverick: The blue and orange is John Cena. 

Tina: Oh. Back to wrestling.  

Ronn: So, I know you’re a little person grown up already, but what do you want to be Maverick when you grow up?

Maverick: I want to be an artist or a wrestler. Yeah, I don’t care. WWE or normal wrestling. 

Tina: Yep. Yeah.

Ronn: Right on. 

Tina: Mav Na really likes the cage wrestling, and I caught him practicing moves on our pool fence.

Ronn: That’s awesome. 

Maverick: You didn’t catch me I was posing.

Tina:  Oh yeah. 

Ronn: Oh, that was a scheduled moment, mom. 

Tina: Yeah. Video to be sent later.

Ronn: Exactly. Martin, we really need this to be videoed not audio. That’s awesome. 

Tina: Okay, Mav. here’s another one question.

Martin: Okay. So, one fun question for you. Are you rich from your businesses yet? 

Maverick: I don’t know. I don’t know. I have like 320 dollars.

Martin: Beautiful. 

Maverick: Maybe a little bit less. 

Martin: Keep saving and stacking. That’s what matters.

Tina: Mav is all about the business advances, so he’s got to keep working and take in some advice.

Martin: He’s got a good credit system, huh? 

Tina: Yeah, yeah, exactly. A lot of bribing. 

Ronn: That works in the publishing world, right, doesn’t it?  

Tina: Yeah, exactly. Hey Mav, last question. Ready? 

Ronn: So, I have one final question, Maverick, if you’re okay with this one. What business advice would you give your mom and our audience today? Business advice. 

Maverick: What audience? I don’t see anybody around except the…

Martin: They all over the world. 

Tina: Yeah, everybody from all over is gonna be listening to you. What business advice would you give me or them?

Martin: One tip.  

Maverick: I don’t know how to explain.

Tina: Well, what would you say?  

Maverick: To mom.

Tina: I’ve got my signature.

Maverick: No, you don’t. 

Tina: I do. It’s a quick one, because I don’t lift up my pencil either.

Martin: What’s one lesson you’ve learned by working together with your mom over the years?  What’s like the 1st thing that comes to mind when you think…

Maverick:  I’ll never give up. 

Martin: Yeah, I like that. There you go. That’s it.

Maverick: Mostly advice from John Cena.

Martin: That’s money. That’s money right there. 

Tina: Bob or John, whatever, either way, I’ll take it. Never give up is what we go by in our house and in multifamily I’m 27 years and we ain’t giving up over here. We got a lot; our future is bright and we’re going to keep going. 

Martin: Amen.

Maverick: Go master.

Tina: That too. 

Ronn: There you go. Yes. 

Martin: Oh, man. Well, thank you again so much for joining us today. both you…

Maverick: I wish you…

Martin: This was amazing. This was good. Did you have fun, Maverick? 

Maverick: Yeah.  Which I’ve been playing with my redwood almost the whole time. 

Ronn: That’s all good.  

Tina: Yeah. 

Martin: Well, Ronn, how about any final thoughts on your end?

Ronn: No, I just, congratulations on the book, Maverick. I cannot wait to see you write even more. Can’t wait to meet you in person in California. I would hope to get a book signing from you and thank you for sharing your advice today. Continue to inspire your mama and all her business wisdom that she has. We love you guys. Thank you for joining us. 

Tina: And thank you so much.

Martin: Is there an official, what’s the official date again for the book’s release? 

Tina: It is September 10th, and in the book synopsis you’ll see that Mav is your serious business partner. So, you can order seriousbusinesspartner.com. 

Martin: That is one killer domain.

Ronn: That is very cool. 

Tina: Exactly. 

Ronn: Wow.

Martin: Maverick. You guys got it going on, so you know you’re just getting started and your future is very bright. So, I’m gonna be following your journey.  

Tina: Your future.

Martin: You might need a LinkedIn. Do you have a LinkedIn profile yet? Yeah, you might have to set that up.  

Tina: He is working on; he got his own fantasy football login this year.

Maverick: Peter and I have a really good team. He second my draft of the C plus.

Tina: And he got permission to put it on his work computer. So, you know, LinkedIn could be…

Maverick: Old enough for the app. Which one is Pat, Pat the Glory, Patrick Mahomes, Dab, AJ Brown, Dab, Jamar Chase, Dab.

Martin: Patrick Mahomes is my guy, I’m a Kansas City Chiefs fan.

Maverick: Cleveland Defense Dab, and a bunch more Dabs.

Tina: Oh boy, if only we had the video of Mav doing that, that series is on a whole new level. 

Martin: I think I could work with the team to grab some snippets of our little video right here. And so, I’ll see what I can come up with. So, you know, Maverick, it’s been such a pleasure to hear, you know, how a five-year-old wisdom now almost seven years old today, paired with your industry knowledge and experience, just bringing together such a beautiful book. And I really can’t wait to dive in and get a copy for myself and, you know, check out and join the fun and watch as this journey continues to grow. So again, everyone, it’s called Serious Business Insights from a Five-Year-Old. For more Mavericks insights and Tina’s expertise, make sure to pre order your copy today and stay tuned and subscribe at MultifamilyPodcast.com for more episodes and get your Free Marketing analysis from ApartmentSEO.com. Until next time, keep innovating, keep pushing the boundaries. Bye everybody. Bye Maverick. Bye Tina.