The Mindset That Helped Rod Khleif Rebuild After Losing $50 Million

Rod Khleif (0:00)

Well, in 2006, my net worth went up $17 million while I slept. I got a head so big, I could barely fit it through a door. You know, when that happens, God will give you a nice little smackdown. Well, that was 2008

I lost $50 million conservatively in 2008

Moshe Popack (0:14)

From that time, what was the most important lesson that you learned?

Rod Khleif (0:16)

I don't like the word failure. I like seminar. It's only a failure if you don't get your butt back up. Yeah, I call them seminars. I was a $50 million seminar. It's an expensive freaking seminar, but, you know, we fail our way to success. People fear failure. Don't fear failure. Fear regret.

Moshe Popack (0:29)

As a possible solution is, do not hide under the bed.

Rod Khleif (0:33)

We're all over it with the lender. We're all over it with the partners and the investors and all that. You know, and it hurts, but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? You get through it.

Moshe Popack (0:47)

I'm Moshe Popack, and I just want to say thank you genuinely for listening to Common Denominator. If you've been getting value from these conversations, if something sparked a thought, challenged your perspective, or helped you in your business or life, I have one small favor to ask.

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Hi Rod. Welcome to Common Denominator.

Rod Khleif (1:28)

Common Denominator.

Moshe Popack (1:29)

Common Denominator. Okay.

Rod Khleif (1:30)

I like it.

Moshe Popack (1:31)

That's what it is. We try to find the things we have in common.

Rod Khleif (1:33)

Okay.

Moshe Popack (1:33)

As people. And I think that no matter what it is, there's always a beginning.

My wife was born in the US., but she's first generation. Her parents come from the former Soviet Union. You weren't born in the US.

Rod Khleif (1:47)

I'm a Dutch immigrant, you know, think wooden shoes and windmills. And actually, my grandfather drove a taxi in Groningen, Holland through World War II. And when there was no gas anymore, he cut the front of the taxi off and put horses on it. I immigrated when I was six with my brother Albert, my mother's Vantje, ended up in Denver, Colorado. Didn't have much. In fact, we shopped at an expired food store, believe it or not. They had that back then.

Drank powdered milk with our cereal in the morning because it was cheaper than real milk. And trust me, it sounds better than it is. And I wore clothes, hand me down clothes from the Goodwill and the Salvation Army all the way through junior high school.

Until I lied about my age when I was 14, because you had to be 15 to work at Burger King, and I was tall, thankfully. So I was able to get a job and buy my own clothes finally. But luckily, my mom had an incredible work ethic. So she babysat kids so we'd have enough money to eat. With her babysitting money, she was a bit of an entrepreneur. She invested in the stock market successfully, and she also invested in real estate. And her first real estate acquisition was a house right across the street from us that she bought when I was 14 for about $30,000. Then when I was 17, she told me she'd made $20,000 in her sleep. It was worth $50,000. I said, what? You made $20,000? You didn't do anything? This is when $20,000 was a lot of money, mind you. And I said, screw college, I'm getting into real estate. So I went out and got my real estate broker's license, actually, right when I turned 18, which you could do back then with education. Now they got smart, you need a little bit of experience before you can have your own office and be a broker. But my first year in real estate, I made about $8,000. My second year, maybe $10,000. But my third year, I made over $100,000, which back in 1980 was some pretty decent money. So what happened between year two and year three to cause me to 10x my income? Well, what happened is I was working for a broker, I was actually dating his daughter, and he taught me about the importance of mindset and psychology, and how really 80 to 90 percent of your success in anything is your mindset and your psychology. I have owned thousands of apartment units, I'm buying senior housing now as well. In 2006, my net worth went up $17 million while I slept. And you might say, wow, when I said wow, I got a head so big, I could barely fit it through a door. And you know, when that happens, God will give you a nice little smack down. Well, that was 2008