Jarred Elmar bought his first properties on courthouse steps right out of high school with no college, no capital, no connections and no safety net. Just a scrappy kid from South Florida who refused to let his circumstances write his ending.

Today he's the Managing Partner of The Geneva Group with over 1.8 million square feet of commercial real estate and a goal of 5 million. But the real story isn't the portfolio. It's what it took to build it and who he had to become along the way.

In this episode, Jarred gets into the pivotal moment a complete stranger stopped him cold with a tough conversation he didn't ask for and couldn't ignore. He talks about spending years hiding where he came from and why he finally stopped. He breaks down the scrappy, grassroots prospecting model that built his empire and the same one he now teaches young people coming out of high school and college.

This is a conversation about owning your story, building from zero and what happens when you stop apologizing for who you are.

This Episode Explores:

✅ Buying properties on courthouse steps straight out of high school

✅ No college, no backing, no experience and why that became the advantage

✅ Getting in trouble with the law and what it actually cost him

✅ Hiding his background for years and why he finally owned it completely

✅ The stranger who gave him a tough pep talk that changed his life

✅ Building a grassroots prospecting model from the ground up

✅ Teaching the next generation of scrappy, first-generation real estate investors

✅ Faith, family and his grandfather's lasting influence

✅ The goal: 5 million square feet

🔗 Connect with Jarred Elmar

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geneva_gp/

Website: genevagp.com Book: Built From Nothing

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Instagram: https://instagram.com/realmentorspodcast

Host Sean Martin: https://instagram.com/theseanmartin

Ryan Zofay started using drugs at 11. By his late teens he was incarcerated, facing a potential life sentence. Most people don't come back from that but Ryan built a 9-figure business from it.

The turning point wasn't a strategy. It was his mother, newly sober herself, walking into that detention center with the 12-step program and a decision to stop abandoning her son. That moment cracked open something that anger, hustle, and failed ventures in his 20s never could.

Today Ryan is the founder of We Level Up, a national addiction treatment organization he built from the ground up starting in 2013. He's also a speaker, life and business coach, and author of An Unlikely Businessman: From Overdoses to Multimillionaire. His mission is simple: help people stop reliving the past by finally dealing with what created it.

In this episode, Ryan and Sean get into what it actually takes to break generational cycles, why self-acceptance is the real foundation of success, and why surrounding yourself with the wrong people keeps you stuck longer than any addiction ever could.

This Episode Explores:

✅ Drugs at 11, incarceration by his teens and the childhood trauma underneath it all

✅ A mother's sobriety visit that changed everything

✅ How the 12-step program became the foundation for a 9-figure business

✅ Anger, failed ventures, and what his 20s really taught him

✅ Founding We Level Up in 2013 from sales to mission-driven impact

✅ Why you keep reliving the past until you meet the unmet needs underneath it

✅ Falling in love with yourself as a business strategy, not just self-help talk

✅ The ESOP plan: transitioning to employee ownership by 2030

✅ Why who you're around matters more than what you know

🔗 Connect with Ryan Zofay

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryan.zofay/

YouTube: youtube.com/@ryanzofay

Website: ryanzofay.com Book: An Unlikely Businessman

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Instagram: https://instagram.com/realmentorspodcast

Host Sean Martin: https://instagram.com/theseanmartin

Franjez grew up in Yonkers with nothing and says that's exactly why he appreciates everything. Raised in a Dominican household where daily drinking was just part of life, he spent years as a New York State corrections officer feeling lost, chasing control and going through the motions. Then a doctor's visit and the right roommate at the right time cracked something open.

Now he's the host of Talk About It with Franjez, a platform built on transparency and the conversations most people avoid. Every episode starts the same way, by asking “where did you grow up?” or “how was your childhood?” because Franjez believes everything you are today lives in what you experienced before you had words for it.

In this episode, he and Sean get into what it really takes to do a complete 180, why your subconscious is running the show whether you like it or not and what it means to go all in on something you actually love. Including everything hard that comes with it.

This Episode Explores:

✅ Growing up Dominican in Yonkers and normalizing what others would call dysfunction

✅ 8.5 years as a corrections officer and feeling lost, goalless or chasing control

✅ The doctor's visit that forced him to pay attention

✅ How one roommate and The Four Agreements changed his trajectory

✅ Why every guest starts with childhood and why that's not an accident

✅ Going all in on content creation: food reviews, podcasting, and building a brand on positivity

🔗 Connect with Franjez

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/franjez/

YouTube: youtube.com/@franjez

Podcast: Talk About It with Franjez

Follow REAL Mentors Podcast

Instagram: https://instagram.com/realmentorspodcast

Host Sean Martin: https://instagram.com/theseanmartin