Beyond the Accomplishments

0:05 Yo yo, this is BradQuan, host of the Weirdinary podcast and recently I was asked what my favorite restaurant is and without a doubt I said Son of Egg. Located at 483 Broadway in Renle, New York. Why Son of Egg? Because every time I step foot in this establishment, I instantly feel a celebration of community, creativity, intellectualism, and humanity. And I mean, it goes without saying, but I'm gonna say it anyway. The food is spectacular. Now, why is this spectacular, you ask? Well, my god. Because whenever I bite into it, I feel like I'm at home. Tappiness on a bay. 483 Broadway, New York. You want to eat? Eat with the best.

1:16 All right. All right. Yo yo, welcome to another episode of Weird Orinary. I'm your host, BradQuan, and today I have a very, very special guest. This brother is a Boston native and Capitol Region real estate broker. He is a leader of your home team at Hunt Real Estate Erra with professional affiliations in New York as well as Massachusetts. He entered real estate in 2013 following nearly two decades in corporate retail operations and leadership including Pets Smart and Petco. He serves on the Greater Capital Association of Realtors 2026 board of directors. He is the first president of Albany Mosaic Rotary, helping establish a club focused on accessible, inclusive community service. He has served in Rotary leadership and supported gift of life's work providing life-saving heart surgery for children. He is the recipient of professional recognition, including visionary mastery awards, circle of success awards, and top sales team honors.

2:27 He was featured in August 2025's Capital Region Real Producers cover story, Unapologetically Authentic. And this brother emphasizes mentorship, helping families build generational wealth and addressing the wealth gap through home ownership. Ladies and gentlemen, Lorenzo Murray. Appreciate you, bro. You did some digging. You're damn right. You did some digging. I don't I'm like, "Wait a minute. Hold up. I know he he didn't just get that on one try." You went looking. I did. Abs. Absolutely. I went looking. I tried to I I try to just I try to like rehearse this [bleep] on the way, man. I just want to I want to make sure that I give people their flowers for being great, man. Appreciate you. And uh like I said, man, uh when I had my pedal stated realy, you were your name was brought up a lot. You know what I'm saying? In good ways. Absolutely. Absolutely. Dude, I seen you in the in the damn tutorial video and [bleep] And uh that's right. That's right. When I had the I think who was I speaking with? I think I was speaking with Jordan Giggliotti. And uh I know you guys know each other.

3:32 Good dude. And um then I I posted something and you happened to you happened to comment on it uh because you knew Pam and when I saw when I made the connection because at first I didn't know who it was but then I made the connection like yo this is Lorenzo Murray. This is the guy the [bleep] real [laughter] saying. So man listen you got real emotion around here man and that's something that that's something that needs to be said man. things that you your belief, your value system, your initiative to close the uh the the the the wage gap, you know what I mean? And really help help people build wealth through home ownership and letting people know that it is possible for them is a beautiful thing. You know what I'm saying? And um that it speaks it speaks volumes to to to who you are as a human and I I really want to peel into that. Um let's do it. So my first question to you King, when you think about your childhood, what experience most shaped how you see yourself?

4:38 What situation? What experience? What experience? Um, wow. This is going to be an emotional journey. Psychopath came with issues. Um, first and foremost, I grew up in a very uh divided, spiritually divided household. How you doing? Uh, my father devout Baptist, Southern Baptist. My mom uh was raised in a Jehovah's Witness household. Okay. And so there was 10 years there's 10 years between sorry 30 years between my mom and I. So uh at the age of 40 uh when I was 10 years old there was a lot of violence and whatnot going on in the streets and she felt the need to go back. She had taken a break from becoming a Jehovah's Witness and she went back. My grandmother was her mom was the devout JW the entire way. So um that definitely having some type of spiritual household. It was two different viewpoints. They it was almost like think of it like a Republican versus a Democratic household. Oh wow.

6:00 Right. So that they just had different beliefs but they both believed in God. They just had they had different beliefs. Right. But different ways of serving that faith. Correct. Well said. Well said. And so uh it was never combative. It was always it was always uh peace. But they just had different viewpoints. And I I think you know them I had always always had a very supportive family and household and privilege. I was a privileged young kid, you know. So um my mom is in television in the arts. My my dad works for the city of Boston. I saw a lot, you know. So, it's like I went to school in the suburbs, bust out in Boston, you have this program called METCO, METCO, acronym. Don't ask me what it stands for. Metropolitan education something, but um it'd be like be like living here in the city of Albany and being bust out to 30 different suburbs. So some kids get busted out to Gilderland, some kids may get busted out to Bethlehem. Some kids get busted out to Saratoga, right? So in Boston, I got bust out from second grade to 12th grade. I got bust out to conquered Mass.

7:14 Conquered Mass is like uh it'd be like the Ldenville or the North Colony. Okay. Right. Or maybe Gilder or Bethlehem. Just a very affluent town. Um had a regional school system. I just saw a lot then you know. So, a lot of that really shaped who I am today, you know, kind of I was never on any Robin Hood type [bleep] but like I definitely I could deduct like I go to conquered and you know, kids with 16-year-old 16-year-olds have licenses driving BMWs to school, right? I come home and 16 year olds barely had a bus permit, let alone, you know, a learner's permit. So, you know, there's a huge huge gap. Yeah. And I grew up with that. But that was normal to me. That was my norm. I didn't I And I don't get me wrong, I loved being out in the suburbs. But I also love Boston, right? And so I couldn't as a kid though, I couldn't understand why my friends that lived in the suburbs wouldn't be allowed to come into the city, right? Their parents wouldn't allow to.

8:22 Well, why not? Because parents, they're watching the news every day. So, you already know how the news is giving it up. Yeah. You know, two persons shot, this person's selling drugs, this, this, that, the third. They're like, "Oh, no. You you can't go." So, I could always go out there and hang out, but they couldn't come here. So, the as the older I got, the more I hung out there. But, I'm I'm grateful for that upbringing and what I've gone through because it really helps me deal with the [bleep] that I see each and every day as an adult. Why? Because I grew up in it. I I lived it. Whereas a lot of people as they they don't they they live within the environment that they live within, they don't know any other environment. And so then when they're exposed to other environments as an adult, it's hard for them to process. Yeah. So that that long answer, but that's pretty much it. I mean, it's I've seen a lot. So and I didn't realize I saw a lot until I wisened up and got older and then actually realized how much I got to see.

9:23 I like the um that said, so you understood the you understood the you understood the duality of of of society like privilege versus privileged versus unprivileged. I um you know I I've always grown up in a middle class household. the the way that I grew up when I explain to people how I grew up. I grew up like the Cosby household. That's just the it's the easiest way to explain it, right? Um my parents were successful. Their friends, they hung around other successful folks. Um, and uh, I also went to school in a very successful school system, but I never forgot who I was, right? You know, the I grew up in we I grew up in a in Roxberry, Mass, which is a burrow of Boston, but I, you know, back then people would say, "Oh, you know, I I live in Roxbury Highlands." Well, that just mean you just lived up from the hill. That's all close to Fort Hill. But um you know I enjoyed hanging out with my my brother. He was 10 years my senior.

10:43 He didn't live with us. He lived on the other side of town in Dorchester. But he was all about that life. He went to Boston public schools. He had his own car. He worked hard. He bluecollar guy, you know. Um just always out in the street, you know. And my mom, if it was up to her, was like, it'd be like, you got Claire Huxwell with rules and rags for the Huxable family, but I'm trying to get out and hang around with my brother, who is more fitting of the Good Times household, right? you know, so it's like I I want to go over to the good times to hang out with them and, you know, and and have a good time. Like I I love that. I I would I would literally I could listen to the sound of my brother's car. I would hear it hit the street and I would break my ass to get downstairs and be like, "I'm out." And my mom be like, "You make sure you back with the lights." Come on. Yeah. All right. Whatever. Come on.

11:48 Let's go. Like I could not wait. And still I still am like that at at 40 almost 50 years old. My brother's almost 60. And I I love hanging around him. I love being around him because every time I'm around him it's a good time. Yeah. You know, and it's just a it's a different way of life. It's boring. You know, for me it's boring to just have one one lifestyle. Absolutely. You know what I'm saying? Like I like I like exploring. I like traveling. I like seeing what else is out there. Understood. Okay, this absolutely the suit. Birthday suit. This is where we're at. Are you the man? Rock and roll, brother. I appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you. Birthday suit. Okay. And one of fire. Wow. Yeah. I knew this was going to be I knew this was going to be smack of a son of a Yes. That said, brother, all of that said, what did you learn growing up about which parts of yourself were safe to show others?

12:59 Oh, that's a great question. Ask me one more time. What did you learn growing up about which parts of yourself were safe to show others? So what I realized at a very young age was unfortunately it's only safe to show societal norm. Yeah. Right. Because when you're labeled different or when you're seen as different or you have a different view or you share your different view, you are often times penalized, ostracized. Um, and that that sucks. And I'll give you a perfect example of that. Um, so I knew at a very early age uh that I was gay. I knew that, right? Okay.

14:05 Um, well, I knew that I knew I was different. I don't I don't know if I wouldn't put the I don't know if I'd put a label of gay. I just knew I like more than females. Okay. So more than so bisexual. Yeah. And I'm I'm a cuz you know there's it's funny it's blur now. It's so long ago. But I just knew that things weren't it wasn't just the traditional. So anyways, I got understand. Okay. My mom had a ton of gay friends, you know, cuz she was in television in the arts. My dad wasn't really trying to hear all that, you know. So, um, he didn't, he never said, you know, no son of mine is going to be gay and nothing ignorant like that, but it just it wasn't like, uh, let's just say I didn't really get a warm and fuzzy feeling about coming. Not that I had a desire to wear nail polish, but I I I think I just knew like I just knew subconsciously that that wouldn't be okay. It's not okay to be different.

15:13 And um as I got older, decided to be able to understand that in high school um one of my my high school was one of the first schools to have like a LGBT alliance uh grew. Um our math teacher, shout out to Mr. Atlas, uh was I believe he was out. I sure hope he was out because it was obvious. You know what I'm saying? I mean the dude was always happy. It was it was this my guy. I love Mr. Alice. Um he lives in Ireland now. But you know I think it was just known and so um there was always a environment to be supportive. But I felt like even those kids got picked on. I felt like there was times where I was sticking up for those kids because they were getting picked on like, "Yo, chill. Let them live. Let them be. Like they ain't bothering you. Yeah, leave them. Um, and the older I got, the more of a voice I got. You know, as I earlier years, I used to get picked on and teased. And the older I got, the bigger I got, the more I got a v a voice, the more my my now I look for the smoke.

16:26 You know what I'm saying? Whereas like when I was a kid, I I I didn't have that. I didn't have that that confidence. So, I would have never have come out in high school. And I always looked up to those kids that did come out in high schools. I'm like, damn, that's what's up. Good for them. I heard you. I, you know, I knew what's up. And then when my dad passed uh in 95, he had passed August 26th of 95, I still didn't come out. And I didn't come out until I met my other half at that time. And and um who I was dating. And that's when I was like, "All right, [bleep] it. I don't care. I'm going to tell everybody. Like, it is what it is. Love me or not." I was still shook daddy about telling my family down south and I didn't tell them even when I was dating Brian. But then when I started dating my husband um that's when it was like all right like I really don't care. Yeah.

17:26 You know cuz it was like I give me a reason to cut you off. Right. But my family was my to this day is all inclusive. like they they they don't care. Live your life. Let me ask you what is [clears throat] can you finally have the courage to come out of the closet? Cuz a kid I used to be friends with he said um he said that people have two different types of closets. Like some are like really cramped and some are like really spacious. You know what I mean? I guess like which one did you which world would you say you experienced? It wasn't spacious. I don't know if it was but [laughter] damn sure it wasn't spacious spacious. You doing [bleep] like this. You know what I'm saying? I That's what I'm saying. I didn't have that. I didn't have it. And it's something but it wasn't cramped neither. Fair enough. It's something that's always interesting to me because I want I'm like, what does it feel like when you're finally able to embrace that?

18:31 Oh, man. There's so many like there's so many moments in my life where it's like, ah, that monkeyy's off my back finally. And that was definitely a monkey. I believe that, you know, and I It pisses me off to see people go through what they have to go through, not being accepted. It's the most ignorant [bleep] I've ever heard. Yeah. Like, why why do you care what that person is doing? So what? So to answer your question, I always knew for a fact that I was a mama's boy. I always knew for a fact that I could always go to my mother. No matter how mad she may be at what I did, if I did something wrong, right? And I'm not associating wrong with coming out. I'm just saying no matter what happened in my life, I know that I can always go to my mom. She may be disappointed. She may be upset, but I always knew that that's my rock to this day. Right. Okay. Bet. So, I don't know if I had That's what you said. You said you said something along the lines of brave or so. I don't know that I was brave, man. And so I'll give you I'll give you some there were there were some key folks that I was terrified of coming out to my my friends that I was around at that that point in time. Uh cuz I came out in my I think I was in my early 20s, right?

20:03 So, a lot of my friends were at BC. Uh, that was the circle that I was hanging around. I was working full-time at retail. Um, I wasn't too concerned about coming out there. Um, and then I was that's probably that was probably my work environment was probably the most spacious environment. Okay. More on the cramp side. If you've got two extremes, cramped and spacious, work environment was definitely more spacious. Cramped environments would be my circle of friends, my family. That probably would be the other group. Um, excuse me. My brother uh served some time uh for uh a car accident that he and I had were in. Long story. And uh he ended up having to do a three-year bid.

21:03 Okay. And I'll never forget I had told his girlfriend and now his ex-girlfriend of course and and we're we're so friendly with her and I laugh about this story all the time. But one day I'm on the phone with her. Her name is Stephanie and uh she says to me, she's like, "So I got something to tell you." I was like, "What?" She's like, "I told your brother you're gay." I was like, "You did what?" She was like, I said, "Why did you do that?" She said, "Uh, he needed to know." I was like, she said, "You're never going to tell him." And he needed to know and he loves you. I was like, she said, and she said, "Uh," she said, "He's fine." I said, "Well, what if he wasn't fine?" She said, "Well, then he had three years to get over it." [bleep] like that. I was like, when she said that, I was like, "Wow, she got a point." Yeah, she got a point, right? Yeah. A lot of respect for her, too.

22:05 I love Stephanie. Stephanie always Stephanie was That's my girl. She's always been like that. She She was like, "You got three years to get over it." He got three years to get over it. So, that was one my family. Other family member was my uh my dad. terrified to tell him, which I technically didn't, when he had his massive heart attack, it was he and I had a a huge falling out. Mhm. And this is this is this privilege type [bleep] This is this is true story. Okay. So, I've graduated from high school, June of 95. Unbeknownst to me, my dad had been given three months to live. uh December of '94. Okay. Um and so my dad was scurrying around doing a lot of this plot plotting and and planning um because you know he just he wanted to make he wanted to make sure his his affairs were in order before he left this earth.

23:09 Yes, sir. and he said uh I didn't know any of this at the time, but he said that he um he told the doctors that he was not willing to leave this earth until I graduated high school. So they given him 3 months because January that means he would have been dying somewhere around March. And he's like absolutely not. I'm gonna watch my my my youngest son graduate and then whatever God's got for me then peace out. So I graduated June 95. He has a massive heart attack August 26 95. Now prior to that heart attack um I had went to the vineyard [clears throat] Martha's. You ever been? No. We got to go. Okay. That's a vibe. I've heard great things about one of my closest friends. I've been going since I was four years old. This is the vibe. Rock and roll, right? All right. So, maybe five years old. So, um I'm down at the vineyard. I'm hanging out with friends, having a good time. And uh my family had property down there at the time. And um doing my thing.

24:22 I come home. I come home on like uh I don't know. I come home on whatever night it was and it was trash night. Okay. Right. which means next morning they're going to come put the trash out. So that was my responsibility. My chore was to do trash, right? So I immediately come in the house. I gather up all the trash. I'm going to take all the trash out. My dad had a a bad habit of um he would cook food. Now because he's from the deep south, he would sometimes cook meals that nobody else ate, right? He's just deep south southern dude. So he'd cook these meals. But then what he would do is he would take the entire pot and put it in the fridge. That was a pet peeve of my mom. My mom's like, "I got all this Tupperware. Use the Tupperware." Yeah. But he didn't use the Tupperware, right? And I'm a mother's boy. So one of the chores is how many times you put something in the fridge and you you forget about it and it just grows a life of its own. So then you got to pull it out and you got to throw it put in the trash. So, I was going through the trash and uh I I said to him, I'm like, "Uh, Thomas," I'm like, "Uh, he's in the living room." Thomas, he's like, "What?" I said, "How come mom buys all this Tupperware and you don't put it in the Tupperware?" I'm like, "You got all these pots in here.

25:38 It's taking up all the room." I was like, "Put this stuff in the Tupperware." He was like, "Oh, I'll leave my stuff alone. Leave. It's no bothering anybody." So, I was like, "Listen, I'm giving you 15 minutes to put it in Tupperware. if you don't put it in somewhere, I'm throwing all your stuff out. So he's like, and I'm thinking about I'm thinking back. I'm like, damn, I spoke wild disrespectful to my pops. Wild disrespectful. I was like, you default the times. Well, yeah. I got that from Thomas Jr. cuz Thomas Junior would call him Thomas. Right. So because Thomas Jr. called him Thomas. My mom used to always say, "Don't call your father Thomas. Call him dad." But I'm like, "If he's calling him Thomas, why can't I call him?" Yeah. Oh, wow. You know what I'm saying? So it it was it was it was an endless battle. So I my mom used to always try to correct me but it just it never it never took understood. So I just kept going. So he was you better not touch my food. I was like all right we'll see. I never I was not going to I'm not stupid. I was not going to touch his food. So I leave the fridge alone. I go get everything else. The last thing I had to do is go back to the fridge. I go back to the fridge. I open it up and I'm moving his stuff around. Now, as I'm moving this stuff around, it's metal. Metal lid, metal pot. He's thinking that I'm moving it. He thinks I'm going to dump his stuff out cuz he can hear the metal.

26:54 Yeah. So, he comes into the kitchen and he pushes me away from the fridge. I push him back. You don't push me. Push him back. Well, my mom comes in. No, stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Now, mind you, my dad's been given three months to live. I don't know this. I don't know this. This was never told to me. Not Not that it should matter, but but I I I did I had no idea. Okay, fine. So, my mom says, "Enough. Go back to the vineyard." I go, "What?" She's like, "Go back to the vineyard. We need to cool off." I go, "I just got here." She goes, "Go back to the vineyard." So, the next morning I leave. I go back to the vineyard. That was Saturday. So that was Friday night. So it was Saturday morning. Okay. So I leave and I go back to the vineyard. I go back for another week. It's only 2, three hours away, but you're living on you're on an island. Yeah.

27:53 So I go back for a week. I come back on a Friday, right? It's trash again. I take the trash out. My dad's already sleeping. One of the words that I said to my dad um when I when my mom said go back to the video was I hate you. Right. Yeah. We'll see if I can get through the story without crying. This is crazy. I said I hate you and uh I I come back and my dad's sleeping. I take the trash out. The next Saturday morning I wake up. I got to go to work. My dad already left because he's a gardener. He likes to garden, right? That's his jam. So, he had already left for the day for gardening. I left to go to work. Uh, at noon time, I get a I get a this is back when you got beepers, alpha numeric pages. So, I get this alpha numeric page and it says, "Come home immediately. Your dad had a heart attack." So, I come home and uh yeah, I come I I get home, my street is like filled with um EMTs and police officers cuz my dad worked for the city. So, when it went over the the the w the um when it went over the uh airwaves, people knew my dad. They all pulled up.

29:19 So, my street is flooded flooded with like cops and officials and everything. So they take my dad to the hospital and uh I got to do the you know he's in ICU. So my brother shows up. I'm there. My mom is there. Uh my stepmom is there. My father my father's first wife is there. And um [snorts] again unbeknownst to me, everybody knew this was going to happen. I didn't. Right. So so um still I'm still naive. And uh my mom says to me, "We agree that I'm going to do the first thing and no one wanted to leave him alone in the IC room." So I was like, "You know what? I'm gonna stay in the IC room." So I'm standing there. Everybody else left. And uh he's swollen. He's just swollen. The feet all ashy and crusty cuz he was in the garden. I'm like, "Damn, you could put some groceries." And uh you know, it's all swollen. And I'm like, "Listen, I'm like I don't know where you are right now." telling you a journey of life. But um I've graduated again. I have no idea.

30:31 No idea you graduate. I'm like I graduated, you know. Um mom's good, you know. She she's doing well. I got you know I got my grandmother here. My mother's well. Thomas is good. We're all good. We're good. You know, I know you don't want to be living on life support or anything wild and crazy. I'm like, if you want to go, go. I kid you not. I kid you not. The minute I said those words, he flatbladed. Now, you can call it a coincidence if you want, but he flatlined. And so they all came in and I was like, they like, "You might want to call your mom." And I'm like, "I'll call her." I was like, "But that was my time." Oh, that was the other thing. I said, "Uh, I said, and I'm like, uh, if you want to go, you can go." I was like, "Oh." I was like, "And when you go, you'll know who you'll know everything about me at that point." because I knew at that I knew then that I was gay, but I wasn't really telling anybody. But that was I was fearful. I was terrified to tell him.

31:49 Terrified. So, uh, but yeah. So, then he dies and and, uh, you know, fast forward, my brother ended up going into jail. So, I end up he ends up finding out. But everybody that I I was very fortunate because every single person that I told in my family, I didn't get any kind of backlash from whatsoever. And I understand that's not for everyone. So I was extremely fortunate. But going back to the original question, right, a lot of people can't they don't have that luxury. You know, you don't they're not able to people aren't really able to show their true authentic selves. Uh, and I understand that and I get that and it sucks because people are just [bleep] Funny you say you mentioned nail polish earlier and it's funny cuz a few years ago I actually uh actually said [bleep] it and I actually painted my nail because this these gender norms don't mean anything.

32:56 They don't mean [bleep] bro. And you get the way I look at it. I mean, the colors all represent different meanings. Hell, punk punk rock stars rock stars wear nail polish. No one's saying anything about that. And I'm just like, the way I see it is like the e ego as I've come as I've come to learn it. It's like it's your reactive response to the world. that I'm like, am I really going to let the opinions of others hinder the way I want to live my life? If I'm if I feel trapped and depressed because I can't fully express myself when I'm but I'm sulking with that within that discomfort, are those people whose opinions I value so much, are they are they suffering alongside me? No. They don't give a flying [bleep] So, I'm going to do whatever the [bleep] it is I want to do. You know what I mean? Which is true. But you just said something which is key, right? So, You and I both know that if we are in a circle amongst people who we don't want to associate ourselves, we can simply just remove ourselves 100%. That is not always the case with people. Yeah.

34:00 Of of of everyone, right? And when you go, the further you go into remote areas, remote locations, you know, my family on my dad's side is from the deep south. We call it the hill, you know, and it's and um I mean plantation type [bleep] like and I love it. I love going down there. That those are my that's my family. I'm proud of them. I love them with every ounce of my fiber of my being. But if I'm living down there, it may probably may not be right now, but back then, even when I was a kid, I don't know if I would have I probably would have kept it close to the chest. Fair. until I got to like uh Atlanta or got to excuse me got to Charleston or a bigger city, right, where I can live my life and not feel threatened, not not not feel unsafe. That's a good point. You know, and it's important to take into consideration that luxury that really just comes.

35:03 That's a huge luxury and you don't realize it. Yeah. Because I that's not for nothing. I didn't that was a particular time where I was dude I was so depressed and I was suicidal and I mean obviously the drugs didn't help but I was at a point where I didn't give a [bleep] about I didn't give a [bleep] about life or death. So I'm like I'm going to live my life the way I want to live my life. I allowed myself to experiment to see what what what it really was cuz there was so many things like as a as an adolescent in my adolescent years there was there was curiosity there that I wasn't allowed to explore because my I grew up in such homophobia. You know what I'm saying? And then I grow up, I realized, okay, whatever. I like women, but like I needed to be able to scratch that itch to like understand like how far that spectrum goes. You know what I mean? Is it just women? Is it is you know what I'm saying? Like what the [bleep] You know what I mean? But um yeah, like no, my mother wasn't wasn't [bleep] with that [bleep] at all. My father and I, [laughter] they were just they were oh my god. You know what I mean? It was just wild because I'm like my mother has KK friends.

36:10 You know what I'm saying? These people are coming over here and my father's vibing with them, but I'm like the things you're saying behind closed doors, this [bleep] is wild. And as a kid, like wild. You become a product of your environment. So, I'm treating people like that in that same way. And you know, a friend of mine that came out, we're no longer friends now. Not because of this, but uh when he first came out, I wasn't as accepting of him. And I look back and I felt really shitty about that. You know what I'm saying? But it's like, you know, you got to you got to unlearn these these things that that that you've been taught. And ever since then, dude, like I'm just like, yo, I I got to like I got to give people what I wish I would would have had in my time. just give people the space to just be who the [bleep] they are. You know what I'm saying? I just I mean my family don't [bleep] with me. I'm just weird. I am the black sheep. It is what it is. I don't give a [bleep] Like yeah, I painted my nails. Yeah, I Yeah, I Yeah, I dabbled with with with the trans community. I don't give a [bleep] Yeah, man. Are you Are you affiliated with Interum Voices? What's that?

37:20 So, in our voices is an organization that is uh located on Lark Street, Upper Lark Street, and uh it's a great organization, and I've heard about it for many, many, many, many years, but its whole mission is to create a safe space for uh gay, lesbian, by transgender youth of color, right? So, uh, when you have, you know, the the BIPAC gay lesbian, um, parade, uh, pride parade, uh, which is the it's usually the day before gay pride. Mhm. Um, that organization is amazing. And it's crazy because I had heard about it and I never took the time to really understand what their vision was, what their values were, and really learn more about it. And then it fell into my lap. And it's crazy how life works. Um, I was at a rot I was at a Rotary event and Tandra was there. Tandra uh is the she is the one of the the CEO of of uh of Enron Voices and she he actually approached me and said, "Have you ever thought about being on a board?" And I was like, "Well, I've been on boards before." And she was like, "Well, specifically for in our own voices." And she's like, "I'd like you to come check it out." And I was like, "Okay, I'll give it some thought." And then I bumped into her at at a different event and I was like, "Yeah, this is it was like weeks later I bumped into her.

39:10 I'm like, "Yeah, this is meant to be." and the more I learned about what Interval Voices is. But yeah, it's it's for it's it is a safe haven um environment and you know they are just doing amazing things and it's uh I'm I'm proud to be a part of such a a just an amazing organization here in the Cal region and it's one of its one one of its kind. and you're not going to find uh what Internal Voices is doing in every city and that's that's unfortunately uh that is unfortunate, you know. So, it's like what's going on there and what they've got going and we're in the process of acquiring another building and building another building. Big stuff. So, you should go check it out. Fair enough. You should go check it out. Um, but yeah, it's like I So, it's like being a person of color and just having that freespirited nature. Whether it's whether it's something you whether you feel it's who you are wholly or if it's just something you just want to explore just to see where you are, it should be something that shouldn't be hindered.

40:26 You know what I mean? It should be supported. I mean cuz it's like the way I see it from that friend I used to have. He said something that was very profound to me that always stuck with me. He said it didn't and wouldn't have mattered what people in the community thought as as long as I came home and I was safe. And that always stuck with me and that that translate and and that can that has meaning in a multitude of ways. You know what I mean? Like you had that like home base has to be safe no matter what. Agreed. You know what I'm saying? That's how that's how kids develop a healthy ego. You know what I'm saying? That's how you have a healthy relationship with the world. Intrapersonal skills are just important as interpersonal skills. Your relationship with yourself. You know what I mean? It's going to directly impact how you communicate with others. You know what I mean? So yeah, I've [bleep] through my various trials and tribulations. I' I've I've learned the importance of that. And um I haven't I haven't been I haven't been perfect. I haven't been I haven't been the best person at times, but I'd be damned if I don't if I'm not striving to, you know, be better in that sense and just give everybody the the space to just be who the [bleep] they are and say what the hell they believe. You know, that [bleep] that that [bleep] is important. Yeah, it is.

41:48 You know, you only get one life. Like you really want to spend it being a [bleep] [bleep] you know? [laughter] Like that's how I really look at it. Like I had to ask myself one day like did your mother put her life risk her life giving birth to you for you to be this? Is this really what this is? You know I'm like what the [bleep] are we doing? You know what I'm saying? So it's like you know my parents are gone now. But I I like to believe that that that they that they look at me and they're and they're proud of what it is I'm doing. You know what I mean? because being able to utilize society as uh as a school essentially to just learn about the weight of the world from different shared realities has been something that's been an it's been an ample blessing to me man. Yeah. And um going from that I want to say and I feel like you already touched on this but I want to ask it just to uh Sure. What painful experience still influences the choices you make today? What painful experiences influence the choices I make today?

42:55 That's a great question. Um I think one that is [clears throat] haunts me to this day is uh that accident that I mentioned about with my brother. I think that was the that that that's just a pain in the ass. Um, and I've been told that there are things that I can do to make it less of a pain in the ass. But when I was uh was it 96? No, my dad died in '95. So, yeah, it was it was July 3rd of 96. Um, my brother and I had this terrible car accident. And uh, it was a one, two, three. It was a threecar collision. I was driving one car, he was driving another. His my car did not not impact. It avoided impact with the other two vehicles.

44:06 I ended up because I was an inexperienced driver and I was wa I watched the whole thing play out in front of me. I knew enough to steer away, but I didn't I didn't being inexperienced, I did not correct my my far left steer. So, I hit the median and I popped all four of my tires and spun out of control on the median. But my brother, I watched T-Bone another vehicle and there was a female passenger uh in the other vehicle. And so when his big Cadillac um like a like a one of those Cadillac SUVs No, it wasn't this just we didn't they didn't do Cadillac SUVs back then, bro. I'm old. Um, you're seasoning. This was a big Cadillac uh, like a Fleetwood Brum like big body. Big boy. It was a 1979 big boy.

45:13 Wow. Right. And, uh, it t-boned like a Ford uh, Fiesta, like a Hugo type. It was very small. And, uh, the woman passed away. No, we we weren't arrested, right? Um, and we weren't drinking and driving. We weren't, in fact, we were coming back from the gas station. Uh, and we were planning on going to work the next day. Um, and what what happened was there was a a guy who would later be proven that lied. Uh, and you know, he was trying to make a name for himself cuz he wanted to get on the police force. So, he felt like this is his opportunity to say that we were drag racing and we were doing all these things and uh, we were not. And um it ended up going from district court, right? Because we we were we weren't we weren't issued any tickets. We weren't arrested, but it ended up in district court and then it went from district and the district court judge took our licenses and suspended them. Well, said he was suspending them.

46:39 um which she never did. And then it went to it left automatically it left district court and it ended up in superior court. And you know I believe and I think many others believe the only reason why I ended up in superior court was because the ADA who got the file had a hair across his ass with my mom. And so, yeah, I remember my mom, I grew up in a very Boston's very small, okay? You know, and so my mom being who she was, I think she pissed a lot of people off, you know, cuz she always told the truth. She always told whatever story was there, she told it. Oh, wow. Right. So, sometimes you can piss people off. And so, um, unfortunately, free speech isn't always Yeah. And so, uh, I think that I think this was an opportunity to be like, you know what, it's not her, but it's someone close to her. It's her offspring, and I'm going to make her feel it. And so, it ended up miraculously in Superior Court. So, then it was the Commonwealth of Massachusetts against Thomas Murray Jr., Commonwealth of Massachusetts against Lorenzo C.

47:58 Sorry. And uh my brother at the at the 11th we both retain counsel and we were going to fight it and my they were going to try my brother's case first. Uh, and I think they did that strategically because they're like, well, since his car had impact, if we can try him and he find him guilty, then it's an automatic twofer cuz then we can come for Lorenzo, right? So, at the 11th hour in the first day of trial, they pull my brother into into uh chambers and he ends up taking a plea. He takes a three-year one-day plea. And uh and they had said because of his driving record, right? Because he's 10 years my senior. Because of his driving record, they were going to if he is found guilty, they were really going to throw the book at him, right? So he's like, "All right, well, I'll take the three-year one day bid." Okay, bet. with me.

49:08 You know, they always say stand up for yourself. Stand up for what you believe in, right? There was never a more time in my life where I felt like I had to do that. And I was doing it I don't want to say I was doing it alone, but I felt like the support system that I had was wavering. Oh wow. Um because I think that they were wavering out of concern. Maybe you should take the plea. Maybe if you take the plea, you know, it's not worth risking them throwing the book at you. But I'm 18 years old and I know what I did and I know what I didn't do. And you've always told me to tell the truth. You've always told me not to lie. You always told me to stand up for myself. So now I'm being I'm doing that in the Supreme Court system and you're telling me that I should possibly take a plea. And I was respectfully like, "No, I'm not taking the plea. Like at least I'm going to if I'm going to if I'm going to lose, I'm going to lose trying and swinging hard." And so we went to trial.

50:21 And we went to trial and it was not pleasant. It was nauseating. But I got through it. And you know the I remember I remember standing when it was time for the jury to read my um when it was time for the jury to read um my verdicts. I remember being feeling like I I I couldn't stand up. I remember leaning against the table because I could did not have the I didn't I felt so weak. can't have the ability to just stand on my own free will. And so I was charged with two uh misdemeanors and a felony. Um driving to endanger uh forgot another one. And then vehicular homicide. Vehicular homicide was the obviously the felony. M. So, or was it two felonies in a in and a maybe it was two felonies in and a misdemeanor? That might have been it.

51:29 They found me guilty of the misdemeanor. They found me not guilty of the of the uh of the of the um felonies. Yeah. And it was an all-white jury, one what with one black lady. And come to find out down the road, she would cross paths with my mother and some other situation. And uh my mom recognized her. I wouldn't recognize her to this day. I just that day is that whole thing was a blur to me. My mom said she she spotted her in some kind of setting and she went up to my mom went up to her and she was like, "I don't know if you remember me." And she says, "I remember you." She's like, "You're you're the son of you're the mother of of the the young man that was tried and I was on the jury." And she's like, "Correct." and she said, "I just want to let you know that the reason why that the jury was out for so long was because I refused I refused to let them try to find him guilty on on the on the on the felonies." And so they finally came to an agreement that they would find me guilty on the misdemeanor and not the felonies. And then I I remember after being read my verdicts, the judge looked at me in my face and he said I he said words to the effect of, you know, uh, you remind me of myself, very pompous and arrogant.

53:11 And I'm like, what? And he's like, I'm just letting him I letting him just chew me alive. He's just like, you're very pompous and arrogant. that you to to to me you remind me of myself. You're very pompous and arrogant and you know you're consider yourself lucky but someone still lost their life and and I didn't say anything in my head. I'm like I realized that and I realized she had there was there was no fault of hers that she lost her life but am I going to speak up in the court? Absolutely not. You going to take it? So to answer your question, yeah, that was that was a very defining moment in my life. And it's defining because I'm all always about standing up for yourself. Stand up for what you believe in. Stand up for yourself. If you have a voice, use it. Don't just don't just lie lie down. My My mom used to always say, my mom and dad, close mouths, don't get fed. You know what I'm saying? So, it's like that's a perfect example of that. And the reason why it haunts me to this day is because, you know, yes, I I I'm an accomplished associate broker. Yes, I've been in the real estate game for 13 years, but every single time I've had to do anything and you fill out a questionnaire, do you have have you have you ever been convicted of a felony? I can put no.

54:43 Have you ever been convicted of a misdemeanor? I have to put yes. Um, and then you have to explain what it is. So, when I went to go get my New York State license, I had to explain it. I had to I have everything literally in my Dropbox file because at any point in time there could be a question on something that I need to go for. I'm trying to adopt right now. Came up on that. It comes up all the time. Yeah. 49 years old. that happened literally 31 years ago and I'm still paying penance today. I mean, and one could argue, well, she's still dead. Yes, she is. You're absolutely right. I'm not taking from that. Not taking from that at all. What I am saying is is that I wasn't speeding. I, you know, I was found not guilty of a manslaughter charge. Uh, and I won't won't have to rehash the past there, but it's it it makes me think on everything that I do now. I can take that, man. It's a hell of a story. Yeah.

55:49 Um, going from there, I want to shift gears um into your into your professional side. Um, after years in retail leadership, yeah, what were you hoping a life in real estate would give you? Um, so the retail leadership, I used to always wonder what I would do when I left PetSmart, right? Just they would always just kind of lurk. I would always wonder what I would do when I left Petco. and PetSmart recruited me. And then I left PetSmart or PetSmart left me. And uh I I was like, "What do I do now?" And my cousin-in-law at the time was like, "You should get into real estate. I think you'd be really good at it." And I said, "Okay." And I'm like, "Why is that?" She's like, "I just I do." She goes, "I think you you like to teach and and this is it's right up your alley.

56:59 And that was the second time someone had said it to me. I'd heard about heard it maybe 10 years prior to that and I didn't do anything with it. So here it presented itself again and I'm like, well, I've got nothing else going on. Why not? Um, and so I went and I jumped into it and I did it. Uh, and so at the time I was hoping for a check. I was hoping for uh cuz I wasn't I had no choice. I had just closed. I had just gotten married. Got my license in June of 2013. I just got married uh August 26th of 2012. I just closed on a house in May of 2013. So, my job ends up expiring at PetSmart in I think we closed in like March, April, and then by May, my job was over with. And so now I've got this brand new construction house, beautiful home over in Over Park, but I've only got my savings to pay my bills.

58:06 And so um I I had to make it work. And again, I was only up here in the capital region because I worked for PetSmart. So if you didn't work at PetSmart, I didn't know you, right? So I had to build my business from the ground up. I had to network. I had to meet this person and that person. I had to do all that stuff. I had to do open houses. I had to sit at the front desk. I had to write personal notes. I had to do Zillow and Legion and all this other stuff. I did all of that. And the more I did it, the more I loved it. The more I did it, the more I realized, yeah, I do love doing this. And then it just started linking one year to the next to the next to the next to the next. And uh then I started nerding out, right? I I never really had a profession where I always took my job seriously, but I never really had a profession like this where I just if it's anything real estate related, I wanna I want to learn everything I possibly can about it. And that's what I did. And so by learning everything I could, I was going to this class or that course or you know, and then when COVID came, it was like that was like pure heaven because it was like business slowed down for a couple of months because you couldn't go out anywhere, right? And we had to pivot and figure out how we had to navigate real estate transactions with COVID. But it gave me time to take courses. I'm taking courses that would cost me originally $250, 200 bucks for like $25, right? And so I'm taking all these virtual courses and I'm loving life and this is it was great. So

59:59 um now if you were to ask me that question 13 years in, I would say I've put myself on a 60-month plan. 60 months from now, I expect to have a portfolio that will allow me to work passively should I choose to. Right now, I feel like I work because I have to. I may not have to, but I I feel I do. So, because I feel that way, I do. So, I work because I have to. You have to in terms of if I stop working, I kill what I eat. Okay. Right. Or should I eat what I kill, rather? Okay. I eat what I kill. So, if I saw a house, I I But right now, I don't have enough of a portfolio enough to create passive income where I could literally say, you know what, I don't want to work for the next six months. Oh, really? Right. So, that's how I'm set up now. I really I focus on work life balance is important but I also work on making my life you know I don't want to be in my 50s working my entire 50s away I want to be able to retire and know that I'm good right I've I've got I've got enough net equity to carry me through um and pay the bills. Assets over liabilities. Yes. Whatever.

1:01:31 You know what? I wear those I I wear those shirts and sweaters all the time. Like it's just it's what I believe in. It's it's it's a true focus of mine. No, I couldn't think that. That's so I like it. I like how it start like in a sense it started off like it's survival. Like this [bleep] has to work and then I'm sorry. Go ahead. No, you're right. That's exactly right. Yeah. And then but but but from that it it it sparked it's it's like the pulse was really sparked, you know, from that. You know what I mean? And uh that leads me to my next question. How has your own experience of belonging shaped what home means to you? Oh, [snorts] so they say uh they say blood is thicker than water, right? And then they say you can't choose choose your family members. You can't choose your your family. And I don't know if that's necessarily true. I think that you can absolutely choose who your pack is. I'm going to resume.

1:02:40 All right. And I choose to be in a pack of people who um I enjoy supporting them. They enjoy supporting me. Um whatever that looks like. Um not financially per se, but uh if they want to support me financially, I'll take it. But, you know, you know, mentally, um, um, you know, just in every aspect of of of that being. Um, and so that's what pushes me, you know, I I'm the type of person where I need accountability in everything I do. I need accountability in the workplace. I need accountability uh, when um, going for fitness training. I need accountability. So I enjoy the circles that I create for myself because those people are usually of like mind and that it pushes me pushing myself is generally fueled by them pushing themselves, right? And so this weight loss journey, this health journey, getting old is not fun, you know. Um, and watching my mom who's 30 years my senior, you know, taking her back and forth to Boston. The reason why I'm so adamant of being with her is because one, it's quality time with my family, but two, I want to learn what she's going through so that when if the conversation comes up with me and my doctor and my primary, I'm like, "Oh, you know what? I did know about that." Right? Whereas my dad blurred lines. You know, there's a lot of things that were done in the closet down south, which is a whole another, not to go backwards, but you know, we talk about not being ashamed of of our kids and our family members because they choose to live their lives the way the

1:04:32 way they live. You're a whole product of an affair. Shut up. What are you talking about? Oh, wow. You know what I'm saying? Like, not that my dad ever said he had a problem, but it's like there was a lot of things they say, uh, what's the what's the adage? um you know uh was done in the dark always comes to light, right? Skeleton this, you know, skeletons always make their way out of the closet. It's true. And people will project like a mother. They will. Absolutely. So, it's like you're judging this person because of they don't live their life the way you choose fit. But let's let's let's go dig in your bag. I'm pretty sure I'mma find something in some way that you don't want nobody to know about. Like when you have these when you have these strong abrasive judgments based on an action or whatever like there's a reason. Yeah. You know what I mean? You're you're looking in the mirror. That's a fact. And you don't like that [bleep] You see yourself. So for me, [clears throat] you're absolutely spot on. It started off with survivorship and then it moved on into a passion to just do better. And and I think that's where my passion is to help others grow.

1:05:42 Right? Which is what triggered me in giving that response on that ordinary segment. Right? Because it was like I hear people and I hear their point of view and I I don't want to say, "Oh, that's garbage." But I do want to challenge people with a different mindset to say, "Okay, well, I hear what you're saying and I respect that." But I'm going to challenge you to look at it through a different lens. M not a not a not necessarily a rosecolored lens but just I want you to look at it from a different perspective right we always were told to think outside the box don't discount someone thinking outside the box for you when you have a perception that may be a very they say perception is reality whatever your perception may be of something if someone has a different perspective it doesn't disqualify your perception it just gives you a different way of thinking that's Oh, I think we have to do that. I think we need to do more of that. That's a fact.

1:06:42 That's a fact, man. You know, I like I like how you're I like how you're willing to do that because it's so it's so important to have it just makes me think of the old guns and putter uh economic theory, you know what I mean? It's just it's it's so important to have those those valuable assets that that have meaning, you know what I mean? that that build value that have substantial meaning that you can pass down. You know what I mean? To be able to preserve a legacy, you know what I mean? Cuz I'll be honest with you, like, you know, I wish my family uh appreciated that, you know what I mean? More like like generational wealth. There's a difference between being rich and being wealthy. Agree. like having having these having real estate assets that that that just exist that are just rooted in the lineage, you know what I mean? That [bleep] means something. It does. You know what I mean? Something that like yes, we will always have this to fall back on if anything if anything goes bad. Like one, we're sitting within wealth. You know what I mean? So if [bleep] gets really [bleep] up and we have to sell it, we have that option. But more importantly, if anybody in the family needs a place to come back to for a period, just to regroup or just live, whatever, it's here. You know what I mean? It gives us it's it's it's home base. It's a space to reset, to refocus, you know what I mean? Regroup.

1:08:10 And I've seen my family in these situations, you know, sell these properties, you know what I mean? And it's just it's just all about money. And it sucks, but it made me it's making me think differently moving forward about how it is I want to move once I'm in that position because uh you know I I just and and I feel like I can speak for our community being that being that I'm I'm African-American as well. uh we don't always un it is getting better obviously but we don't always understand the the value mhm of um of wealth you know what I'm saying well and there's a reason for that right I mean I think so much of what you said is accurate and true and it's I there is you know the wealth gap there is one of the things that I've been able to identify is that in homes where even if you just take the race component out, in homes where there's a lot of wealth, right, especially wealth through real estate uh or uh whatever type of wealth, as long as it's not new wealth, it's usually because it's taught at the household, right? It is ingrained in you in different ways, right? Whether you used to open up your savings account, whether you whatever, it's usually taught. Mhm.

1:09:42 Right. Do you understand that? I told you I grew up in a household like the Cosby's, right? Very similar. Yeah. We I My parents owned a house since 1983. I was 6 years old when actually it was 5 years old when my parents bought their first house. At no point in time, no shade to my mom and dad, but there was no point in time was there ever a discussion. Yeah. About trusts, wills, estates, um, buying. I can't say not opening a bank account. Opening a bank account. We had that conversation early on and I I understood that. But all that other stuff, it never came up. I was living it, buying a second home, living it, but it never came up. And that is I think that goes for a lot of people and not everybody grew up the way I grew up. So if you didn't grow up if you grew up in a household where you're not having those conversations. Yeah. And but the thing I love about real estate is it's something that is tangible. You can see it. You can touch it. You can work with it. You can allow your creative mind depending on how much you want to put into it.

1:10:47 You can't necessarily do that with Bitcoin. And you can't necessarily do that with stocks and trades. And you know, yes, can you put time in it, but there's a bigger risk there than there is in real estate. Everybody needs a place to live. That's a fact, right? And even if you live in New York City or you live in Boston, you live in a high rent district where it just outprices, sorry, it out the the ability for you to buy is just just seems very intangible. Well then what about us finding a way for you to invest elsewhere may not mean that you have to move just means that it might look different right this is where the perspective piece comes in and so I think a lot of times people only they make a judgment based I think this goes for a lot of things in life we make judgments and decisions based upon the data that we have within our head we don't seek to get all the other necessary data that's out there before we say okay this is this is or is not a good fit for me. And so that's that is where I want to challenge people to say, "All right, listen. You live in New York City.

1:11:55 Then let's talk about you investing in Albany, right? The capital region, not just necessarily the city of Alb, but the capital region. Uh, you live in Boston. Okay. Well, let's talk about you perhaps buying in Worcester." My brother and sister-in-law, they both My brother was retired. My sister-in-law works for the city of Boston and they were going to use his VA loan to purchase and they did and initially we started looking as far out as Attelboroough. Attleboro is right on the Rhode Island line, right? Providence line and she was like we found this great house. He loved it. I loved it and she liked it but she was like the commute for me to go to work is going to be a bear. And that's what paused us to end up buying something this year. So the beginning of this year um she found a house in Brockton and Brockton is like the equivalent of um SKT right? Um and found a house there that worked. Instead of having two baths, it had one bath, but it had everything else they needed.

1:13:06 yard, everything else, and we bought that and it worked. Um, so it's it's thinking outside the box. It's looking at things differently. That's what I really want to challenge people to do in terms of looking differently in terms of shortening the ways you have in terms of like helping people find in terms of placing people and aiding people in uh finding affordable housing. If you had the ability to change to alter the uh economic structure in which we maneuver in in order to accomplish these things. What would what would that look like for you? Goodness. In any way that I could, any way [clears throat] you could, there's no hindrance. Uh so my biggest thing and this applies to everyone. Everyone if you if you grew up in I believe it should be a birthright. If you grew up in if you were born in the US, it should be a birthright for you to be allowed. And I don't know what this looks like. So I know this is going to sound silly, but I'm just going to say the the big picture. So the big picture is is home ownership should be a a a birthright.

1:14:30 I'm not saying that everyone should get a 40 acres in a mule. I'm not saying that. I want mine. But um that's a whole another conversation. Um, I'm not saying that I'm what I'm saying is is that everyone there that should be a right as much of it is a right for us to breathe air or come and go as we please whether it's a a you and again I have I would have to think this through logically what that looks like but if you're asking there'd be some type of financing, credit or something that allows people to become homeowners. The reason why people don't become homeowners who have jobs, I'm not expecting if you're obviously broke and you don't have a job and you're not contributing. It's just not feasible. It's just not feasible.

1:15:30 But if you are gainfully employed, you have worked, you you fit the criteria. The only thing is is your credit. It's credit usually comes down to credit and or lack of funding. Those are the trials and tribulations of why people don't own homes or own property. Neither of those are a challenge for me. Like I love dealing with people who have jacked up credit and people who have no funding. like it's my jam because it's like I don't want to say it's effortless for me, but I'm literally dealing with a buyer right now um who was denied by two different lenders who end up getting approved by a different lender and I've got probably close to 30k in grants coming her way. M she's going to come to the table with probably nobody. Wow. Right. And she's buying a two family because she's coachable and she's going to take that two family and I told her she's going to live in that two family for 12 months because she's using an FHA loan and she's required to stay there for 12 months. And I told her in 11 months I will circle back with her and say, "Okay, do you want to go buy another two family or do you want to go buy a single family?" Unless she says, "I just want to have this two family and a single family." Fine. Then what we will do is we will go back to the bank and because she got an FHA loan on the first two family, right? We're going to put a tenant in both units or get a lease and then we're going to

1:17:20 go get her preapproved for a single family home. And the bank is going to look at the two family and say, "Okay, you have income coming in." So, you've got 2,000 coming in from upstairs, 2,000 coming in from downstairs. That is $4,000 in equity. We're going to take 75% of that, which is $3,000 a month, times three, sorry, times 12, which is $36,000. We're going to take that $36,000 in uh revenue, and we're going to add that to your household income of what you make already and then we're going to qualify you for your single family home off of that amount. So now she has the single f she has the two family home where she's getting residual right passive income and then she's going to buy her single family home to live her best life. And then if she lives there and she doesn't do anything, the rate of appreciation, which is you buy a home today, well, a home naturally appreciates, right? May appreciate at 3%, may appreciate at 5%.

1:18:28 Whatever the rate of appreciation is, you wait for it to appreciate to a point where you leverage the equity within said property and you use that for your next down payment on your next property. Yes, you buy that property and you can do the burr method, right? Buy, rehab, uh what's it buy, rehab, uh refinance, oh, sorry, rent, refinance, repeat. That's the Burma, right? So, you can do that. You can you there the opportunities are endless. What I need to know when I'm sitting down with somebody, what's your current situation? What are your goals? What are you looking to accomplish? Are you coachable? Are you willing to to to be challenged in your thought process? And if you are, then great. Where do you want to be? Right? So, it goes back to your question where you asked me. It was like, well, why did you start real estate? And and and and what do you want from it today? Those are two different answers. When I started, it was survivorship. Yes, sir. I didn't know what I I didn't know then. What I know now. Yes.

1:19:35 Now, and I zigged when I should have zagged. I'm the I'm the key example of what not to do when you buy your first property. I bought a brand new construction home for over $300,000 in Averil Park with $8,000 in school taxes alone. Should I have done that? Absolutely not. What I should have done was I should have sat down and said, "Okay, what are all my options? Uh, and I'll go buy a two family." Man, if I had done that back, oh my god, I like I get so aggravated with myself cuz that would have been a game changer for me. But it is what it is. You live and you learn. Yeah. Like I say is like I always tell myself whenever I make these mistakes like I didn't have to do that but I had to do that. You know what I'm saying? That's what we had to do in order to learn. You know what I mean? And I have make no mistakes. Like I've had so many mistakes in my career, so many mistakes in my lives. I I I learn from them and I just I take them and move on. What has helping others taught you about your own needs?

1:20:45 When I don't have a chaotic lifestyle, I'm unhappy. When you don't have a chaotic lifestyle, you're unhappy. Yeah. I love the honesty. Yeah. There. When I don't have a chaotic lifestyle, I'm unhappy. And the reason why I'm unhappy is is because I'm sitting with idle time on my hands. I don't do well. I don't perform my best in a and anybody who knows me will agree to this. When my life is not filled with chaos, if you look at my Google calendar, if it were to be empty, I would lose my [bleep] Interesting. Like I just I don't thrive in that environment. I thrive in environments where it's busy. where I'm where am I going? When I'm sitting down with a buyer or a seller or anyone or a peer, I'm listening to them, but my mind is multitasking, right? So, I'm I'm thinking about how I, you know, what based upon the answers they're giving me and what I'm hearing, what does that look like for them six months down the road? What does that look like for them a year down the road?

1:21:54 Right? So when people call me and they're talking to me about something, I'm like, "Okay, that that's all you got?" And they're freaking out and I'm like, they're like, "Why are you so nervous?" Because, "All right, let's this is what we're going to do. This is the plan. Let's fix it. Let's keep it moving." Next, like our our lives are always going to have problems. We're always going to have something that we're dealing with. And um that's that's one. Uh the other would be which is I I think probably tangent to the first. I just I love I have a true passion to teach each one teach one. I have a I have a true passion to I'm not a gatekeeper. It's just not me and I hate when other people do it right. I get I get moving in silence. I'm not loud about my moves. I don't I don't I don't need to be loud about it.

1:22:57 But if you're like, "Hey, listen. Can you help me with this or I'm struggling with that or yeah, let's let's do it together. Let's figure it out. What have you done? What haven't you done?" Okay, Ben, have you tried this? No. Let's try that. And I think that's what I love about the environment in which I work, right? It's it's very much like that, which is why I think it's very hard for me to go work anywhere. I could probably even go create my own brokerage right now if I wanted, but it's like if I create my own brokerage, I feel like I'm ostracizing myself. I'm isolating myself from other people. I don't want that. Number two, um I I truly like this all comes together going back to what you said before, which is, you know, I told you you you can't you can't choose your blood family, but you can choose your pack. That's a fact.

1:23:53 And my pack is lit where I'm at. I I love it. Like it's I I love it. You know, being able to pick up the phone and ask a question without be judged. being able to allow myself to be vulnerable, right? I'm just I'm very I'm I'm comfortable, but I'm more so than comfortable, I'm safe. It's safety for me. That's what's up. Uh going off of that love of chaos, when has achieving something you wanted failed to bring you the peace you expected? Read it one more time. When has achieving something you wanted failed to bring you the peace you expected? Buddy, [laughter] fair enough. Fair enough. Ah, money. Um, yeah. I mean, I I It's true, right? You may want what you don't have and then you get it and you're like this is it.

1:25:04 It's the chase. Dad, it's the chase. It is the chase. I love the chase. Um yeah, man. I mean, listen, I'm all about dream boards. everything on my dream board. What I've realized as of late this year, I love what I do. Yes, sir. I like I am I'm infatuated with what I've been borderline obsessed with what I do. Right. M and the systems that I use to keep my day-to-day online and untacked um I would say have made me realize how intentional I am. I'm very intentional. I'm very um precise on the things that I like to to do and accomplish on a day to day, minute to minute, hour by hour, day to day, week to week. And so I enjoy the things I put on my dream board. And when I can get those things on my dream board, those are great.

1:26:30 I uh bought a new car last year. My company bought it. I bought a new car through my company last year and that was a wild experience for me. Uh because I hadn't bought it. The last time I bought myself a new car was 2003. Yeah. Every car I had bought since then was used. So I bought I bought an 03 and then I lost that vehicle. My brother total that vehicle and then 08 I bought another vehicle but that was used and then started dating my husband in 20 2009 and then I bought him a new vehicle but it wasn't new it was used. helped him buy a used vehicle. Then we bought a new vehicle for him in 2014. Then we bought a new vehicle for him in 2021.

1:27:39 I took the 2014. I drove the hell out of that. Right. And then it was time for me to buy my my accountant was like, "You need to buy a new vehicle." And I was like, "Oh, I was fine buying used vehicles. I was fine not having a payment. I was fine taking the leftovers. I hate payments. Hate them. I'm I'm at that point." Oh, I hate them. I hate them. So, 2026 was the was the first 2025 I bought this new vehicle. Uh, and it was was fun, but I was like, uh, don't get me wrong, I love I love what I have, but it wasn't all that. I don't really like to focus on I need this and I I I set goals and I focus on the goal because I know with the goal I've given thought as to what that goal is going to give me the soul right so right now I have a money goal it's not going to it won't change my life but I was going to say it's not going to it's not like oh my god I'm going to get this and I'm out. No, it's just I know that it's going to afford me to do the things that I want to do strategically because everything I do is intentional.

1:29:03 Rock on the road. What belief about yourself have you had to let go of in order to become who you are today? I don't know if I let go of it. I'm very I don't like talking about myself. Um I don't like like when you sat here and you read my um my bio. The reason why I knew I didn't say that cuz I probably wouldn't have said half the stuff you said in there. I wouldn't have told you I won all these awards. I wouldn't have told you that. I just wouldn't have just not I it's not me. Like I for anybody I wish if I wish other people could see this video. Anybody who worked with me in retail, I worked with this guy in PetSmart. His name was Chris Garvey. Okay. Funniest dude in the world. And uh Chris Garvey used to run PetSmarts in New Hampshire. And so Chris Chris's belief was I wish I could talk like him. His belief was you need to do well but not too well.

1:30:16 Okay, you want to do do well enough to fly under the radar. You don't want to be on the radar. You don't want to be that guy getting store visits. You don't want to be that guy that's getting an audit. You don't want to be that guy. You just want to come in, do your work, and go home. You're not looking for recognition because when you are recognized, you are put in the spotlight. And all the spotlight's going to do is bring attention. Wow. So for me, I learned that at a very early age working in retail. So I've I've I've that is ingrained in me. I don't like being recognized. I'm perfectly fine recognizing my team. That's a difference. You recognize my team, you talk about your home team. That's why it's not the Lorenzo Murray team. My husband named our team because I did not want it to be the Lorenzo Murray team and it blows my top. Doesn't happen so much now, but he used to blow my top when other agents be like, "Oh, that's Lorenzo's team." It is. And so I can't argue it, but it's I don't I don't want my agents on my team to get a house that they're going to list and put a sign in the yard that's got my face. It's not my client.

1:31:40 I mean, it's the team's client, but that client is because of that agent. What we're not going to do is recognize me and circumvent the agent. You understand? They need to get their props, bro. They need to get their props. What's that? I I love that. Like, they need to get theirs, bro. Because yo, dude, like, real estate is such it's an industry. It is a clout driven industry. Oh my god, I love your approach. It is a clout driven industry. Everybody Everything everybody does is for clout. I don't want the clout. I don't need it. I'm straight. I'm good. An incredible community. Yeah, man. I don't need it. I don't need it. I I really don't. It's not That's not been my vibe. So, like it's you know, one of my She's no longer on my team, but she's been on She was on my She She started on my team. We're I mean, we're are very very close. Um, and she she calls me team leader. Oh, drives me bananas. Like I just hate it. Like it's I'm just like you. I may I may have more knowledge than you. I may have more experience than you and yes, that's why you're on the team and that I expect for you to call me if you need help. I expect for us to meet and allow me to teach, manage, support, grow, and help you grow your business. Absolutely. If you're going to go in, I'm going to go in. If you're not going in, I'm not going in, right? From a from a effort standpoint. But the recognition, you can keep that, bro. Give the recognition to my team. My My team did that, you know? I I just I get weird. I I don't know why. And it's I've always been like that. I just don't I don't need to I don't need it now. Anything I'm behind in our own voices, mosaic, uh, your home team, recognize the [bleep] out of it, right? Go for it. Put it. I want to see that up. I love seeing the

1:33:35 logo, the team logo, right? I love rocking I love rocking this. This is my This is my LLC. I love rocking this. This is actually my first golden that I ever had. Lilo, my my pride and joy. I bought her from my husband, but she ended up becoming my dog and uh it was our dog, but she just she gravitated more towards me. But anyways, I I had to name my business. I named it Lilo with Adventures and you know, I wear Lilo proudly on my chest, right? Um my dog, my car's name is Lilo, right? So, it's like my license plate says um says Lilo, right? Uh or I think it No, I don't know what it says, but Oh, it says Lilo RV. That's what it says. Um you know, it's that is fine, but I would never be that guy that be like Lorenzo Murray's team. You would never see me rocking the No, it's not me. That's just you. No shame anybody else is doing it. It's just not for me.

1:34:47 Wow. I I love that so much, dude. I got to give you like that is so Yeah, man. You You are inspirational before now. [laughter] That Yeah, man. I just It's not for me, bro. I can't stand it. There is so much to to to be gained from that from that philosophy. I want people to win, bro. Like I like I said, I'm not a gatekeeper. I I like to problem solve. That is my purpose in life. And it's crazy because when I think back at it when I was younger, my mom used to always, oh, you you like being the class clown. And I never looked at it like that. I remember when she, oh, you like being the class clown. You want to be the class clown. You always want No, it wasn't that. I liked communicating. I liked being in the No. I liked problemolving. I I remember so I went back in the day, you know, there was very few zip codes out there and I went to school I lived in 617 but I went to school in a 508 area code and so back when there weren't cell phones and stuff on every corner and be um to call a different area code was long distance.

1:36:02 That's a fact, right? You had to buy them cars or something. All kinds of crazy [bleep] Yeah. Yeah. My mom, she used to call my friends. And so I would call I So I I would literally go to school 30 miles away. I'd come home. I'd get on the phone. I'd call my friends and I that was my party line. And I would I would be on the phone talking and talking and talking and talking and talking. My mom would get these wild phone bills. Wild. And then it got to a point where I got my own phone line because I was constantly tying up the house line. That's good. That that was I was constantly on that. Like it's just and it's like it's crazy cuz now I think about it as I'm sitting here talking to you. I'm like isn't it funny how she's razing me about being an overcommunicator and communicating and talking so much when really the branch doesn't fall far from the tree. Ma'am, you are a TV producer, director, and writer. That's that's that's your that's what you do is talk. Well, if you're talking, what you expect for me to do again? We project. We project.

1:37:06 You know what I mean? And and so that's a good point. I'm going go home try not to get slapped, but but I'm damn she was going to bring it up cuz I'm thinking about mom. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, man. My mother used to tell me. She said, "Your mom wouldn't get you in the water from Well, where do you think I'd get that?" I Where do you think I get it from? You totally crazy. [laughter] You know what I'm saying? You know, but it's just is, you know, it's just it's just wild when you think about it. Like, you know what I mean? But we don't. It's just that lack of accountability in the moment. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? It's It's just It's so It's so bizarre, man. I don't I don't understand. And it makes me It makes me It It makes me think about something. It's like whenever here's something that here's something that I'd like to ask your opinion on this because it's something that I've seen voiced within within my family and other families and whatnot. So, I got an aunt, right? She's my uncle's wife, whatever. She has a daughter that would talk back to her and whatnot. You know what I mean? She's got a crazy mouth. She gets it from her, but whatever.

1:38:23 You don't correct his daughter. You still you you don't correct your daughter. You still do for her despite the fact that she's being disrespectful. So, you get on teaching her to be respectful, right? And your approach to that is what the hell is wrong with her? You know what I mean? Why is she doing that? You know what I mean? Whereas you take another parent that has a child that's homosexual and the parent asks themselves, "What did I do?" Why do you think that exists? Do you understand what I'm asking? It's like you don't look for yourself in situations you helped create, but you look for yourself in situations that have nothing to do with you. I think that goes back to the person that hit and I really do. I think that um so I'm the type of person where I like to get like you where you just ask me my opinion. I like to get the opinions of others. Mhm. Because I think that sometimes it's easier to have somebody else look at a a scenario that especially when you're involved in it. It's hard to step outside of a situation and look back and and look at from a different perspective from it. But when you're on the outside looking in, that perspective can be wildly different. And so when you get the feedback of others on something that you're involved in, which I do a lot, right? I I it's I I call it like I'll call I'll call Cada and I'll say am I bugging and then sometimes she'll be like yeah you are bugging and I'll be like I am she yeah you mean to tell me you said X Y and Z to so and so

1:40:16 and you're mad because they said XYZ back. Well I didn't say it like that but I but you said that though. Yeah, but I didn't say it like that. But you said it. Yeah. Okay. So, what you're trying to say is perception, right? I think it's important. And then there's sometimes where it it's not that where it's like, no, you're not bugging. Yeah. I'm surprised you you tolerated that for as long as you did, right? Um, but I think I think our social environment I man, nothing surprises me these days. I think our social environment and what's going on in the world has really allowed for all kinds of rigor. Sometimes it has nothing even to do with you or them. Sometimes it's has to do with what they saw and they saw it was okay in another situation. I remember being a I remember being a kid, bro, and I'd come home.

1:41:18 There's a couple scenarios. I remember going outside and being with my mom would be shopping and the kid would just have a tantrum in the middle of the store and I'd look at him like I look at my mom like they mom they need to they need to live with you for a week. That would not happen. Right. Then I also remember being in environments where uh my mom would come out to my school and she'd see some suburban kid, you know, flipping out with their mom or f you or this that and the other. And and my mom, there were times where like my toe my mom would be like, "Check your tone. Check your toe. You you you I think you I think you think we're out where you go to school, but we're right here in Boston. Check your tone, right?

1:42:17 And I'm like, oh [bleep] You learn boundaries. You learn what you can get away with. You asked me earlier, why do you call your father Thomas? I called my father Thomas because my father didn't it didn't it didn't bother my father. And if it did, he never said anything. My brother was doing it. That's where I learned it from. Learned behavior. My father never said anything. And my mom, despite her efforts, it if it really bothered her or if it really was going to be an issue, she could have she listen, she would have yolked me up quick. I hear you say one more time. Then I probably would have like, "All right, let me chill." But that never happened. So I always pushed it, pushed it, pushed it. Well, what happens? what you focus on expands, right? So, I focused on it. It just kept expanding. And then you end up somewhere you like, well, damn, how'd that happen? Well, because you allowed it. Yeah. You allowed that behavior. Everything we do is a learn behavior, right? The other thing you got to think about, too, is children. If you ever like for me, I'm I'm so in my household, even though I'm my I'm I'm my mom's only child. Um I pretty much spent a lot of time living with my stepmom.

1:43:40 So, it was my brother, me, and my um my adopted sister, right? There's [bleep] that my sister get away gets away with that me and my brother would have never been able to get away with like not paying rent, not having to contribute to the household. That never happened. [bleep] just wouldn't fly. That wouldn't fly. So why is it happening to her? Now, mind you, I'm 49 and she's 26, 27, you know, so there's an age gap, but still I think I and I see this a lot. Usually the baby in the household gets away with murder. And it's because especially in a three person household when you got three kids, by the time they get to the third one, parents are like, "Man, just get out my face. I'm tired." Right? So when you when you see that that could be here with you, you said your aunt and her niece. Your aunt and her daughter. Yeah. Yeah.

1:44:42 Is she talking? What? First of all, is she is she one of one of how many kids? And just one of one. She's one of one of And was she a sing? Was she raised as a single parent? Uh yes. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So that that that's playing into it, right? Um, it is is the mob was the mom always supportive? I don't know. Like these are questions you look at these scenarios, you can tell usually you can tell when a parent is all in with a child, right? They just act a certain way, right? You don't have to discipline with an iron fist. That's one way of uh that's one way of discipline. But I know some people who discipline just through having conversation. Yeah. Right. A lot of conversation. Exhausting amounts of conversation to the point where the child's like, "You know what? I'm good. I'm just not going to do it no more cuz I don't want to talk to you that much." You know, this is this is wild. This crazy talk. You know, and that's that's one of the reasons why I I I'm I'm I still want to be a parent because I if I have to, I guess, depending on what it is, but I don't feel like you ever have to. I feel like there are other ways to get your point across without you causing that child harm.

1:46:08 Loss of facts. And my last question for you on the wrap up here, my friend, if you set aside your career accomplishments and the people who depend on you, who is Lorenzo Murray? [sighs] Just a guy from the berry. If I if I remove if I remove all that, you know, my accomplishments and people who depend on me, I'm I'm just a authentic human being who enjoys sports. Uh I enjoy family, having a good time, traveling. and being a foodie. That's me. Like that's me to my core, you know? If I if I could just do that, I would. I And I will. I promise myself I I'm going to take a lot of my 50s just leaving. Going away for a week, going away for a couple days. I got to just There's too much to see.

1:47:21 There's too much to see. It goes back to what we talked about at the top of this which is you become a product of your environment. [clears throat] And often times people, you know, they are who they are because of what environment they currently live in. Yeah. Right. But what happens if you take them out of that environment and you put them someplace else? What if you put them in a different country, uh, a different state, a different neighborhood? What does that look like? No, it's a fact. And so that's that's what I want to challenge. I'm not I'm not so old that I could be like, "You can't teach me new things." I want to I want to learn other I want to see other cultures. I want to learn what's out there, how other people eat, how other people live. Uh yeah, that's me. I love her. This is a great conversation. Appreciate you, man. Appreciate you. Thank you so much. appreciate you taking the time. You're you're a very busy brother. You know what I'm saying? Now you know why I enjoy it.

1:48:27 Yeah. I may complain, but I enjoy it. Means the means the world to me that you gave me the time. Absolutely, man. I appreciate you. Absolutely. Thank you so much. Yes, sir.