In this episode we’ll hear about his childhood and growing up in Brisbane, where he then studied accounting at university. He delves into his time at a well-known trampoline company and the prestigious graduate program that helped him realise his true calling. We’ll also find out about the one night that changed everything for him, and led him to where he is today.

Timestamps:
02:17 | The Daily Grind
04:20 | A Story of Survival
13.01 | From A $20M Annual Turnover To $100M
16:24 | Cash Flow is King
19:41 | Time to Re-Evaluate
24:23 | Learning the Ropes
26:39 | Diving In
29:56 | There’s Always a Trade-Off

Resources and Links:

[00:12:15] I was lucky enough for PwC to look beyond my grades and see me for the human that I was, that I am. It's life experience, I'd been travelling and had these illnesses and overcome them and still got to where I was. And now it's still there to really, really wanting to touch your head with a good career. And PwC was the first stop.

 

This is Property Investory where we talk to successful property investors to find out more about their stories, mindset and strategies.

 

I’m Tyrone Shum and in this episode, we’re speaking with John Russell, financial adviser and property investor. He delves into all he’s packed into his young life so far— the good, the bad, and the settlement of over $100M in property. While he’s forged ahead in his property career in leaps and bounds, his inspiring tales don’t end there.

 

 

Russell bounced around— literally— between several different careers before settling on property.

John Russell:   

[00:00:34] I come from the non-traditionalist background for property. I come from an accounting background, with a Bachelor of Business in Accounting. I actually worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers straight out of uni. 

 

[00:00:48] And then got involved in financial controller type work for Vuly Trampoline, I'm not sure whether you've heard of Vuly Trampolines before, they're a big trampoline company. And from there, I actually wanted a bit of a change of scenery. I had some health issues and all that sort of stuff, had some brain surgery. So I wanted a change of scenery and got into residential real estate, which is great. 

[00:01:19] So that went on for about three years. And then I really wanted to ramp back and utilise my residential real estate experience, along with my accounting background. That led me to financial planning. I was an advisor for about three or four years. And I guess not so recently, but recently enough, made the full decision to really focus on property as an investment class.

Tyrone Shum:   

When he’s not in the office for a client meeting, he typically spends his days out on property sites.

John Russell:   

[00:02:17] I'll be meeting with property aggregators, developers, seeing new stocks and future stock to the market. Online, you can research still. If I've got client appointments I'm in the office, preparing research packs for them, property presentations for them. And really doing the financial analysis and research behind those properties. So that's probably it in 60 seconds. So it really depends on whether I've got a client appointment or I don't have a client appointment.

Tyrone Shum:   

[00:02:56] Let's lead into your story and getting to know you personally, share some interesting facts about your past. Firstly, where did you grow up?

John Russell:   

[00:03:04] I was born in Canberra. Don't hold that against me! I love all the Canberrans out there. And I moved to Brisbane when I was five, and started Grade 1 up here. And within Carindale, a suburb on the south of Brisbane. And I've spent the last 30 years of my life up here, which has been great.

[00:03:51] It was actually my father. He had got a really lucrative contract offer at a stage where he works in IT development to come up and work up in Brisbane. So it worked out well.

Tyrone Shum:  

Life has thrown him for a loop several times, but each time he overcomes his challenges to come back stronger than ever.

John Russell:   

[00:04:20] I started primary school in 1994 at Belmont State School. It's a nice little school, quite well-known. And then from there started at the Anglican Church Grammar School, or 'Churchy' as it's been known, in Grade 8 and went through all the way through to Grade 12. And then, the following year I was at QUT, so the Queensland University of Technology and studying... semi-hard there, I guess.

 

[00:05:05] I studied a Bachelor of Business and Accounting, the experience was really good. I did love the unit. I got diagnosed with cancer when I was 19. So it was my first year out of high school, first year at uni. So I was in and out of hospital, chemo and whatnot for majority of that year, and didn't really go back full time until the second year. So it did take me a little bit longer to finish, it took me four years in the end to finish a three year degree, but got there in the end.

Tyrone Shum:   

[00:05:52] That's amazing to be able to hear an inspiring story, especially going through that, that must have been such a tough, tough time for you, especially at a young age of 19. So what was happening during that time? Because the whole year, to go through chemo to treat the cancer and so forth. What was going through your head? Because it would have been quite a challenge, I'd say.

John Russell:   

[00:06:13] I reflect on it occasionally, with my wife, and it's one of those things. Looking back now on it, I'm glad that I don't have to do it now. But back then living at home, it seemed like a roadblock. If that makes sense. It's sort of a sign that I needed to get through. I was pretty focused on basketball and to do other things in and around basketball, at the height of my part of my career and that put a nice big halt to that. So yeah, it really puts things into perspective for me. Particularly around the importance of family and friends and having a support network around you. Which has stuck with me all this way.

Tyrone Shum:    

[00:07:26] That's so important. How did you find out that you had cancer if I may ask?

John Russell:   

[00:07:34] I woke up one Saturday morning. I was still living at my parents' home at that point. I woke up and I felt this massive, massive tumour in my neck actually. And it happened pretty quick. The tumour was five by three centimetres. If anyone out there knows enough about cancer and tumours, they know that that's a pretty large tumour to have in the neck. It sort of stuck out like a second head type thing. I noticed that pretty quickly. 

  

[00:08:16] But yeah, funnily enough, it took quite a while to diagnose exactly what it was. Ended up with the diagnosis of non Hodgkin's lymphoma. Technically it's called diffuse large B cell non Hodgkin's lymphoma, which is the curable kind. It's fast enough growing for chemotherapy to work so that was a bit of a shining light, I guess, in all of it that it was curable. You can reflect back on things and that's one thing that I'm always grateful for is that I can reflect back and just think 'Hey, it could have been a lot worse.'

Tyrone Shum:   

[00:09:03] Wow, that's crazy. Did you notice that before that day on the Saturday, or did it just all suddenly just pop up?

John Russell:   

[00:09:14] No, that Saturday morning I went downstairs, I remember feeling it and I just went up to my sister in law at the time and I said, 'What do you think?' and showed my dad and said, 'What do you think?' and he said to go see a doctor. I pretty much booked in straightaway. And next thing you know, is there.

Tyrone Shum:   

[00:09:39] Wow. So that was a life changing moment that everything just completely changed into focus to try and get that out as quick as possible. 

John Russell:   

[00:09:54] I actually grew up with Tourette syndrome. So having that there has honestly been a punch in the face. I thought I'd had my fair share of medical stuff. But look, it worked out. And at the end of the day, I'm no more likely to get that sort of type of cancer than anyone else is now.

Tyrone Shum:  

After taking some time to recover and reflect, he was accepted into a prestigious graduate programme at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC).

John Russell:   

[00:11:16] It's a pretty intensive sort of graduate programme that I was in, and that really reaffirmed that I didn't really enjoy tax. I certainly know a lot about tax. And I know what to do, and all that sort of stuff and I know how to help clients when it comes to tax. But did I want to be doing tax returns for the rest of my life, or financial statements? No. Absolutely not. It was a great introduction to learning the ins and outs of business and personal wealth as well.

[00:12:15] I was lucky enough for PwC to look beyond my grades and see me for the human that I was, that I am. It's life experience, I'd been travelling and had these illnesses and overcome them and still got to where I was. And now it's still there to really, really wanting to touch your head with a good career. And PwC was the first stop.

[00:13:07] I basically wanted to utilise that experience to... like you said, it is one of those sort of sought after type programmes. So I think coming out of that, you do have quite a few commercial accounting opportunities available to you. That seems to be the case when people duck out from Big Four accounting firms. So I had the opportunity to start with Vuly, just as an accountant initially. And worked my way up there pretty quickly, which was really fun, really stressful. I'd probably put on about 20 kilos that I shouldn't have at that time, which I've since lost.

Tyrone Shum:   

[00:14:05] Gosh, so that experience working in accounting, what were you doing there?

John Russell:   

[00:14:09] I went from doing tax returns, obviously, for individuals and companies and trusts to really managing budgets and forecasts for a startup company at that point. This was a long time ago, seven odd years ago, eight years ago. And really managing that side of things for a company that went from $20 million turnover a year to about $100 million while I was there. So it was certainly stressful. 

[00:14:57] But I got insight into seeing a startup company, I got insight into how companies really work and how they grow. It was a really, really learning field time in my life in terms of the real life knowledge that you can really get. There's only so much books can teach you. And that was like, as they say, getting thrown in the deep end is the only way to learn. That was getting thrown in the middle of the Pacific with no life vests or anything. It was definitely sink or swim.

 

Coming up after the break, he shares more about his time at Vuly and what it taught him...

 

[00:17:44] Running $100,000 to $200,000 a day cash flows in and out— on a shoestring budget really at that point— was pretty intimidating. But also it makes you pretty patient but also you're forced to be aware of what's going on. 

What got him interested in real estate and how quickly it all happened...

 

[00:21:56] At that point, I'd decided I wanted to get into real estate and try my hand at it, try my luck. And from there, I was forced to hop up and talk about myself.

 

He shares the advice he has for everybody, but especially for young adults.

[00:30:56] And I think the mistakes that you've got to look at is you are always making a trade off. There's always a sacrifice in terms of what you're doing. If you're going out and having a good time, if you're spending a heap of money on nice clothes, nice cars, things like that, there's always going to be a trade off. 

And that’s next. I’m Tyrone Shum and you’re listening to Property Investory.

 

Tyrone Shum:  

Russell can only describe Vuly’s CEO as having a ‘ridiculous’ drive and leadership ability.

John Russell:   

[00:16:24] While he might be years and years younger than what Steve Jobs would have been now, he's someone with that sort of drive and that sort of creativity and that sort of leadership ability. You either love him or hate him type thing. And I really learnt a lot from him. It wasn't that he necessarily asked questions and expected you to come up with the goods on the spot or anything like that. Some of the tasks he'd ask you to do were, frankly, next to impossible. But you couldn't say no, because there's always a way. There's always a way around these things. It's just about sitting down and figuring it out. 

  

[00:17:24] So he did instill patience into me, which is great. And probably the other thing is with a business startup, whatever it is: cash flow is king. Running $100,000 to $200,000 a day cash flows in and out— on a shoestring budget really at that point— was pretty intimidating. But also it makes you pretty patient but also you're forced to be aware of what's going on. 

Tyrone Shum:   

[00:18:07] Wow. So tell us a little bit about that business. What exactly did the business offer in terms of its products and services?

John Russell:   

[00:18:17] Vuly is well known for its spring free type trampolines and their home, outdoorsy sorta playground stuff. So my brother and sister in law have a Vuly trampoline out the back with the basketball ring installed, all that sort of stuff. You can put up tents and camp in the backyard. They're certainly very popular. Very popular in Queensland, that's for sure.

 

[00:19:05] It's been a long journey for Joe and their team. I obviously left a long time ago now, but the company has grown and morphed and changed along the way which has been great to see.

Tyrone Shum:   

After 18 months at Vuly, he took stock of his life and realised there was one more thing he needed to check off his to-do list.

John Russell:   

[00:19:41] I actually decided then— I don't want to stay on the medical side of things for too long, but I decided to get corrective surgery for my Tourette's. So I had brain surgery which is called Deep Brain Stimulation. So that has essentially fixed my Tourette's, which is great. And I needed some time off for that. So I basically came to an agreement with Joe that I'd finish up and after that, I obviously had a recovery period from surgery. 

  

[00:20:26] And then I decided after that, that I just wanted something completely different in my life, in terms of my future and where I was going and all that sort of stuff. Climbing a corporate ladder and whatnot inside a firm with an accounting base, and that being my day wasn't necessarily something that I felt like was going to be my passion moving forward. And I don't use the word 'passion' lightly. I definitely am in this position now, because I do have a big passion for property.

Tyrone Shum:   

Once Russell discovered property was what he wanted to do with his life, he didn’t hold back. He signed up to attend a careers night at LJ Hooker, and the rest, as they say, is history.

John Russell:   

[00:21:56] At that point, I'd decided I wanted to get into real estate and try my hand at it, try my luck. And from there, I was forced to hop up and talk about myself and all the usual sort of sorts of things that they get you to do on careers nights and all that sort of stuff.  

[00:22:19] And one of the sales executives came up to me, and he was from Sydney at the time, and he said, 'Mate, I reckon you will kill it. Let's get you started. When can you start?' sort of thing. And I said, 'Yeah, whenever.' I had to do my real estate course at that point, it was just the salespersons certificate, obviously I'm a licenced agent now. But did the salesperson certificate and got started listing and selling, which was great.

Tyrone Shum:  

After that he searched for a real estate mentor, and found one in Deborah Evans, the Principal and number four all time for RE/MAX.

John Russell:   

[00:24:23] She was fantastic. So she really taught me the ropes in and around property. I felt very confident after spending a bit of time with her that I was very good on the property side of things. But I got to the point where I really wanted to utilise my knowledge in its full breadth.

 

[00:24:50] So I ended up literally just for— I wouldn't call it for fun, but for a purpose. I started my diploma of financial planning. And I knocked that off in a couple of weeks. I applied for a job at Spring Financial Group at the time, they're a listed financial advice company. And their advice is heavily, heavily based on property as well. So self managed Super funds, personal investment advice, all that sort of stuff. So from my point of view it's a great fit. I understood people's finances, I served wealth like nothing else. And I also understood real estate and the value of good real estate. 

[00:25:47] So it came together. I got that job, that was a pretty sought after role at the time as well, to learn that job up here. So it was good. Went to Sydney for a bit for training, I think I was there for a month, and came back up to work in the office up here. And I was probably there for a couple of years.

Tyrone Shum:   

After seeing so many amazing properties daily, he found one that was perfect for him and in true Russell style, just went for it.

John Russell:   

[00:26:39] It was doing the numbers myself on all of these amazing properties that we do sell to clients. I found one myself that I loved, and dug headfirst.

[00:27:08] I'd been through the process so many times with clients at that point that I sort of knew what to expect. So it was very different to someone fresh faced coming to it for the first time. I knew what to expect. I knew there was conveyancing lawyers, I knew that there's this and that and I sort of knew the process. So to be able to to utilise that, I think it really took the pressure off.

Tyrone Shum:   

That first property he purchased was a unit in Brisbane. Since then he’s become a rentvestor, and he and his wife are looking to buy a home together in the same region.

John Russell:   

[00:28:38] At this point it's different, because it's not about the numbers. It's about the future. So you want to think, what are we going to do long term? Are we going to sit here for five years, 10 years, 20 years? We've really thought about it for a long time. And we want that 30 year journey for something that we can grow in and out of if we decide to have children and beyond all that sort of stuff.

His one big lesson he wants to teach is one every young person needs to hear.

John Russell:   

[00:29:56] Probably for me, and for everyone out there. I mentioned this recently to someone else: I personally think credit card debt is the devil. So people nowadays, I can see use Afterpay and Zippay and those sort of tools, and whatnot. I get that, I understand the reality in today's world. I just think these days, living within your means can be a little bit difficult, because we live in this age where Instagram's a thing and people want photos with a Corona at the nicest bar in town. That Corona comes at a price. 

[00:30:56] And I think the mistakes that you've got to look at is you are always making a trade off. There's always a sacrifice in terms of what you're doing. If you're going out and having a good time, if you're spending a heap of money on nice clothes, nice cars, things like that, there's always going to be a trade off. And that's typically going to be the trade off between getting into a property earlier or later. 

[00:31:36] And the consequence there obviously is getting into a property earlier that appreciates in value. And typically, if you can get in early, you get in at a lower price point as well. So you've got all these factors at play that really push you in this direction. You go, Well, I've got a life. I know everyone has to live. But sometimes you have to put your sensible cap on and, and go, 'This pay, I'm gonna save 10%.' I'm a big believer in the Superannuation system, obviously. But I'm also a big believer in saving at least 10 to 20% of your salary, or your earnings, profits, whatever it might be, to put aside into a kitty, and have that stashed away for growth purposes. To invest either in property, whatever it is you're going to do, it's going to be used to grow your wealth over time.

John Russell’s story continues in the next episode of Property Investory. We’ll hear about some of the best compliments he’s received and what they did for him...

 

[00:02:17] And also a phone call I had recently with another client, where he turned around and said, 'Look, everything that you have told me, and everything you've said, I have to say, has turned out better than what you said and what we could have imagined.' 

 

The mindset that shifted him towards property...

 

[00:06:51] It's really interesting when you're sitting in front of clients, and I'm sure you've done this, I'm sure people listening have actually had this conversation before. But to be quite, frank, quite simplistic about it, you've got a few options. 

He shares how much of the unique way he communicates with his clients comes from him, and how much he learnt from one of his mentors.

[00:10:25] And probably not necessarily the way I deal with clients— that's very, very much me. I've got my own unique way of how I deal with clients.

 

And that’s next time on Property Investory.