As you went through your career, when did you first start getting hooked on teaching, or when did you feel like it was your calling?

Um, well, y- you know, I went through all the things that you do to become a, a golf professional.

You know, I graduated from Texas Tech and, uh, decided ...

It, it was around Christmas when I graduated, so I was working at that time as an assistant pro at Lubbock Country Club for Gene Mitchell and Gene Mitchell Jr.

And I w- you know, that was, that was okay, but I had a friend that I'd worked with, in fact, I'd sold fireworks for him, and you know him, Buddy Cook.

Uh, called me up, and he says, "You know, I'm up, up here in Tulsa now at Tulsa Country Club.

Uh, what are you doing?" I said, uh, "Fixing to go home and pack, come to Tulsa, work for you," and he kind of laughed about that, you know? [laughs] I said ...

If, if I dropped you at a practice facility or a driving range, um, and there was 100 other, um, young teachers out there, what separates one who becomes Randy Smith from the other 99?

the Lord.

Good morning.

I want to begin this morning by thanking the pastors of our church for the privilege of filling this pulpit and being a part of this Once a Pastor, Always a Pastor series.

I'm grateful that Brian and Michelle appreciate that even though in the annual conference listing after my name now as a retired guy, They put an R in parentheses.

Well, I'm grateful that Brian and Michelle understand that that doesn't mean relic.

I also want to say that the more I worked on this sermon for this morning, the happier I was that I am no longer charged with the responsibility of preaching in the church Sunday by Sunday.

There's a sense in which this morning's sermon goes all the way back to the fall of 1981.

all

But before we do all of that, would you give us just a little bit more about your story and your current focus?

Yeah, you kind of shared the high level overview, but as you mentioned, I spent about 25 years in corporate America.

I was a high income W2 sales guy, and I had a terrible tax problem.

So I started investing in real estate like so many folks do.

And through my active investing, I figured out pretty quickly that I did not want to be an active investor while I was in my W2.

It was better for me to spend my time doing what I did best in my superpower of sales, and decided to start passively investing in other people's deals.

So I did a bunch of projects where I became an LP investor in other people's deals.

Is there any sense for that for like timing of where we're at within the marketplace?

So,

you know, I made the comment earlier about hanging pipe and duct.

And if you want to keep it real short and sweet, that's what we do.

Right.

But we're a mechanical subcontractor.

So.

We were what you would call a full service shop.

And that's what's,