Wendell’s Weekly Wins and Whiffs

🏆 Win of the Week: When Everything Clicks at Once

This week was a monster and I do not use that word lightly.

The Dellinger new build project is fully subscribed. Investors locked in, capital committed, we are moving. Anyone who has raised private money knows that getting fully subscribed is a grind. You are managing relationships, timelines, and your own nerves all at once. Getting there is a real win and I am taking a second to recognize it.

My Go High Level Sessions 2 and 3 for the Flip Fuel CRM buildout are done after weeks of being pushed back. My passive investor list is cleaned up and ready for active outreach. I have Beyond the Build locked in a Friday recording cadence going forward. A brand new land deal went under contract. My Tide & Timber Ventures business partner Brian has solid direct mailer leads being nurtured in the pipeline. And I have a Blue Ridge mountain trip coming up that I am really looking forward to as a personal reset with some friends and my girlfriend Catelin.

A lot of this stuff had been sitting, delayed, or waiting on the right week to get done. This was that week.

The real lesson is this: momentum is not a feeling. It is the result of stacked decisions. You do the CRM session when you do not feel like it. You close the investor conversation when it would be easier to punt it to next week. You lock in the recording schedule when the week is already full. Each one seems small. Together they compound into weeks like this one.

And I cannot talk about momentum without shouting out the Tide and Timber team. They are probably going to roll their eyes when they read this but too bad, you earned it and I am doing it anyway!

Eunice started as our rockstar admin and transaction coordinator and has recently stepped into basically the role of operations manager. She has taken on more responsibility and has absolutely run with it. She is not just executing tasks anymore, she is thinking outside the box, solving problems before they become problems, and making the whole operation run smoother. That kind of initiative is rare and it does not go unnoticed, you rock Eunice!

Pat, our deal analyst, is an absolute rockstar as well. She has already contributed to 3 deals now under contract and consistently gets 200+ offers out a month... That is not just production, that is elite level consistency. And Cherry and Marj, our cold callers, keep showing up, keep reviving dead leads, and keep growing week after week. Their consistency is the engine that keeps the pipeline alive.

This is what we are building at Tide and Timber. Not just a team that does the work, but an environment where people actually grow. We want our team to challenge the business, challenge each other, challenge Brian and me, and push us all to a higher level. That is a team sport. And right now our team has the kind of momentum that makes you genuinely excited to show up every single day.

And a huge thank you to our investors on the Dellinger new build project. You trusted us with your capital and we do not take that lightly. We are locked in and ready to execute! For anyone else who has been watching and waiting, keep your eyes open because more opportunities are coming up fast. You are not going to want to miss them.

💨 Whiff of the Week: What Dropped and What Got Heavy

The loan originator resource folder and Loom videos for Flip Fuel did not get done. Go High Level took priority and that was the right call, but those are back on the calendar this week with no debate. The Stegall duplex new build project capital raise is still waiting on the general contractor for finalized plans/pricing then we can start the raise. We need to get this figured out this week so we can start momentum for that project as well.

On the personal side, quick fun fact if you do not already know: I am a Type 1 diabetic. Type 1 because I am number one, obviously. But in all seriousness it is something I manage every single minute of every single day. Type 1 is not a lifestyle disease. It is autoimmune. My pancreas does not produce insulin and without constant management I could go into a coma or worse. I have to make over 100 extra decisions a day just because of this disease. It is exhausting in a way that is really hard to explain to someone who does not live it. I was unfortunately blessed with this when I was 25 years old, just a super rare occurrence which actually helped my decision to take the leap into entrepreneurship, but that’s a story for another time.

This week the burnout hit hard. My Dexcom continuous glucose monitor had been held up in insurance and supplier delays for weeks. A Dexcom tracks your blood sugar in real time and alerts you before things get dangerous, it also connects to your insulin pump and can help regulate your insulin automatically. Without it you are flying blind until you prick your finger and test your blood sugar the test strip way. The highs and lows were hitting me and I was just grinding through it quietly while trying to run multiple businesses.

Wednesday morning Bible Study came around and we read a verse about releasing everything to God and trusting His plan and I just went silent. Drew, a good friend and realtor partner of mine who actually organized this Bible Study group, noticed and asked me what I was thinking. I just let it out.

I talked about how I am genuinely growing in my faith and learning to trust God more, but how my Type 1 diabetes makes that particular verse feel complicated. If I truly released everything to God the way the verse describes, I would die. I have to stay on top of my blood sugar constantly. There is no full release. There is no day off. And sometimes that makes me angry. I can’t just have a day of peace in my mind. My mind, no matter what, is thinking about if my blood sugar is high or low, what I should eat, when I should eat, how much insulin to give based on my food, how many carbs are in my food, did I give myself too much insulin? Can I workout hard right now or do I have too much insulin in my body at the moment and need gatorade? Etc. I hate the “why me” mindset, but sometimes I look around and genuinely wonder why someone who is clearly not taking care of themselves has a working pancreas and I have to fight this thing every second of my life. And when my sugar crashes so low I am on the verge of passing out. I am simultaneously mad at God for this disease and praying to Him to please not let it be today. It is a real mental battle.

The group listened and although they cannot fully relate, they provided some amazing insight. One of the guys, Kendric, got emotional because his child has Type 1 and he said something that hit me hard. He said maybe God gave you this not as a punishment, but as a purpose. Maybe there are people out there with Type 1 who are drowning in the “why me” and they need to see someone who has this disease and is still absolutely crushing it. Maybe that is the plan.

Driving home I cried. First time in a while, and it felt incredible. As men we sometimes feel we need to carry everything ourselves and not burden others, I do it all the time. But let me tell you this, sometimes you have to just talk about it, even though people may not be able to relate. Talking out loud about it and being vulnerable to different perspectives can really help you in situations when you feel alone, burnt out, feeling at a dead end. Even for you ladies out there, this is not just for men! Everyone has their own battles and it’s okay to try to fight them yourself, but do NOT be afraid to vent a bit. Don’t vent to just complain, vent to be heard and be ready for some perspective or opinions. Stay open minded and who knows, you may feel better, because I can tell you just by doing just that, my week finished off so much better than it started. Then low and behold my Dexcoms came in later that week. So was God forcing me to vent and stop holding everything in? Was God having me “release” by being vulnerable and trusting Him? Who knows, but you know what, I am back on track and feeling like myself again.

Nobody talks about the personal battles anymore, especially when you are building a business. You just see the highlights, the wins, the flexes. Everything is GREAT and business is BOOMING and life is AMAZING. It is all curated and most of it is smoke and mirrors. Everyone is going through something, everyone, and the difference is whether you have people around you willing to say it out loud. Nobody wants to be around someone stuck in a victim mentality, I get that, but there is a massive difference between complaining and actually reaching out for help. One keeps you stuck, the other moves you forward. So whether it is personal, business, health, relationships, whatever it is, find someone and say it out loud. Even if all you need is to be heard and let off some steam. That alone can change everything. And as a bonus, it will show you real quick who your real friends are and who does not give a damn about you.

🎯 Tactical Tip of the Week: Vent to Find Answers, Not Just to Complain

Most people think venting is weak. I used to. But what happened at Bible Study this week reminded me that there is a version of venting that is actually one of the most powerful things you can do as an entrepreneur and as a human being.

The difference is why you are doing it. If you are venting just to complain you are usually looking for validation to stay stuck. But if you are venting to actually ask for perspective, guidance, or a different way of seeing things, that is where the breakthroughs live. That is what I did on Wednesday and Kendric gave me a perspective I genuinely needed to hear.

The people around you cannot always relate to what you are going through. But good people do not need to relate to give you something real. They just need to care enough to actually engage with you instead of just nodding along. If your circle is not doing that you need a different circle.

Find your group. Bible study, a mastermind, a mentor, a tight group of friends who tell you the truth. Whatever the vehicle is, find it and show up honest. Not to dump your problems. To actually get better. Go in with an open mind because the answer you need might come from the last person you expected and it might hit you on the drive home with your eyes full of tears in the best possible way.

And for the men reading this especially: carrying everything in silence is not strength. It is just isolation with a good poker face. Let people in. It will not make you weaker. It will make you sharper.

🔦 From the Field: The Lake Norman Deal Most Builders Would Not Touch

We got land under contract in an HOA community near the northern end of Lake Norman. Most builders hear HOA and immediately say hard pass. I understand why. Approval processes, architectural review committees, CCR restrictions that look like a legal document nobody wants to read. It adds friction and time.

But we actually read the CCRs. All of them. And once you get into it and understand the rules, it is a lot less scary than the reputation suggests. We went in with an HOA plan approval contingency and a 90 day closing period to give ourselves the runway to get through their process correctly.

Now here is the valuation nuance that matters. This land is one parcel off the water. One lot. And that single factor puts a real ceiling on the ARV. On the lake itself you are talking $1.5M-$2M+ and sometimes even MORE, depending on what you build. One parcel off and you are capped well below that. Location, location, location is the saying in real estate. The house literally next door has lake access behind it and is a completely invalid comp for our property because of that water, so you need to keep an eye out for that.

The lesson: ARVs are not just zip code specific. Sometimes they are one lot specific. You have to understand why properties in an area sell for what they sell for and then be honest about which of those factors your property actually has.

We still have strong upside targeting anywhere from a $600K to $800K+ ARV to who knows, maybe even ~$1M+, depending on what we build. We just have to stay disciplined and not chase numbers that do not apply to our parcel. Most builders skipped this deal because of the HOA. We did the work, protected ourselves with the right contingencies, and picked up land in one of the most sought after corridors around Charlotte. That is what being a little patient and a little tactical gets you, now time to dive into the numbers and see what plans provide the best returns!

🎤 Final Word

This week had everything. Big wins, real struggles, and a Wednesday morning that reminded me why community matters more than any deal ever will. The business is growing, the team is firing, and the foundation we are laying right now is what the next level gets built on. Keep showing up, keep letting the right people in, and keep building something worth having.

The machine keeps growing. Let's get it! 💥

Keep growing or die,