POWERS

Charlie Royer is the 4th generation to take up leadership at Royer Commercial Interiors (RCI), an office interiors supplier for the DFW metroplex. On this episode, Charlie and Chris discuss what it's like being in a company that has lasted 4 generations, what businesses of all sizes should be thinking about when working with their interiors supplier, and how RCI, and offices across the US, are adapting to the current business environment. Enjoy!  Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Fort Capital & Chris Powers: www.FortCapitalLP.com (02:13) - Charlie’s Story Before Working in the Family Business (03:52) - What is it like being part of a 4th generation business? (05:41) - Is there something your family did differently to get to the 4th generation of ownership? (06:57) - How big is the office interior furniture market nationwide vs. in DFW? (08:00) - How often do you go to Haworth (furniture manufacturer) and what is that experience like? (08:53) - What do you consider a large project to look like? Is there a difference between working on a $1M deal vs. a $20M? (09:57) - How far in advance of a big job do you need to start working on it? (10:28) - What should small or medium sized business owners think about to avoid a stressful process? (12:49) - What are you and your clients saying about the world today vs. 1 year ago? (16:33) - Is there anything that companies are doing now that others should think about? (19:00) - Are you seeing potential for a WFH line of furniture? (20:34) - Which idea wins going forward? - A heavily remote team or a more spaced out office environment? (22:32) - Are you expecting more offices to abandon the open floor concept? (23:44) - Are there any COVID-era lines of furniture coming out? (26:12) - Do you get to see the company surveys showing what employees are asking for furniture wise? (27:42) - Is anything happening in government/health/education office trends that are different from traditional offices? (28:30) - Do you only sell new furniture or do you offer repurposed items? (31:13) - What has been the biggest change in office since the 1950’s? (33:35) - Is there a ‘godfather’ in the industry that everyone looks toward? (35:02) - What is the ‘all’ that you do for your clients? (37:37) - What are the coolest office features that you’ve seen that people love? (39:35) - Charlie’s Experience Working on Fort Worth’s Dickie’s Arena (43:55) - What does RCI look like 10 years from now? (47:03) - How does the scope of work change when you work with a 5,000+ person companies? (49:44) - How long would an installation for a company that big take? (51:18) - What do you tell companies to expect the day after installation? (52:41) - Why does the "furniture guy" always catch the flack? (53:04) - How did you learn business development? (55:48) - What crazy prediction would you make about the industry 10 years from today? (57:10) - What’s the best advice you have ever received? (57:16) - What’s the best book you’ve ever read? (57:52) - What’s the best way for people to reach you? Charlie's Favorite Books: Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters Traction Contact Charlie: charlier@royer-furn.com The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

Linda Day Harrison is the founder of theBrokerList.com, an interactive, collaborative community of CRE brokers and other professionals. Today they discuss Linda's experience in Real Estate as technology was becoming a major part of the industry, how she was able to build a tech company without any technical experience, the importance of building relationships both in-person and online, and how theBrokerList has impacted deals in the industry. Enjoy! Follow Chris on Twitter www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers & Fort Capital www.FortCapitalLP.com Check out theBrokerList www.theBrokerList.com Contact Linda: linda@thebrokerlist.com Linda's Favorite Book: Feel The Fear...And Do It Anyways (01:56) — Linda’s Start in Real Estate (04:17) — How did you market your properties to brokers before the technology we have now? (10:45) — How did the idea for theBrokerList come about? (16:06) — How did you get started building the tech side of theBrokerList? (19:13) — How many brokers are on the list today? How do you continue to grow it? (20:23) — How has theBrokerList grown beyond just being a list? (22:17) — Linda's Deals & Experiences as a Result of theBrokerList (25:27) — Looking back, what would you have done differently? (28:08) — The Importance of Both Technology-Based Relationships and In-Person Relationships (32:41) — What info has stood out from your community marketing discussions throughout COVID? (34:38) — What are your thoughts on office use in the next year or so? (38:45) — How do you keep theBrokerList's tech up to speed without a full-time tech team? (41:28) — What is your ultimate goal for theBrokerList? (43:06) — Do you think about how your business is valued? (45:53) — What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? (47:47) — What’s the best book you’ve ever read? (49:04) — How can people reach you and find theBrokerList? The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

On today's episode, Chris interviews Megan Hodges, founder of The Dowry - an ethically-minded wedding gift registry and curated artisan marketplace. They discuss Megan's journey as a business owner, the transition of skills from a corporate career to a start up company, the mission behind The Dowry, and Megan's experience in digital marketing. Enjoy! Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Visit The Dowry: www.TheDowry.co Contact Megan: megan@meganhodges.org Megan's Favorite Book: Soft Selling in a Hard World (01:47) — Megan’s Career Before Founding The Dowry (07:22) — What was the inefficiency you addressed at your previous job? Do you think there are many employees who notice inefficiencies at big companies but never say anything? (09:56) — Why have you gravitated toward marketing and sales? (12:52) — Was there a moment when the lightbulb went off to start The Dowry? (18:36) — The Dowry and Its Mission (23:52) — When did you officially launch The Dowry? (28:52) — Are people spending more on gifts since they are not spending money on weddings (due to COVID)? (30:20) — What was the process of building out The Dowry website? (33:56) — How has the process of finding artisans evolved? (38:34) — Do you remember the first artisan who finally said "yes"? (40:00) — How do you find artisans? (43:19) — What does your criteria for finding artisans look like? (45:51) — Do most artisans sell their goods on other platforms as well? (47:46) — Are the majority of people buying gifts actually invited to the wedding? (51:36) — How did you pivot to raise capital in March when COVID hit? (56:32) —  When do you think weddings will start to take place again? What do you see a year from today? (1:00:07) — Who taught you digitally market? (1:05:30) — What is a naming convention? (1:07:39) — What is the best way to reach your customer? (1:10:43) — What does digital marketing look like for your company specifically? (1:13:35) — How do you feel about Amazon? (1:16:30) — How big is your target market? (1:18:29) — What advice would you give to a potential entrepreneur? (1:20:20) — Do you have a morning routine? (1:20:51) — What is the best advice you have ever received? (1:21:50) — What is the best book you have ever read? (1:23:14) — How can people contact you? The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

Chris interviews Goran Krndija and learns of his incredible story growing up as a refugee in the United States and ultimately founding his tech company, Gozova, here in Fort Worth. They discuss the process of raising capital, the experience of a bootstrapped start up, entering new markets, and advice for founders. Enjoy! Learn more about Chris Powers & Fort Capital at www.FortCapitalLp.com Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Gozova: https://gozova.co/ (01:15) — How Goran's Family Survived the Bosnian War in the 90’s (06:30) — What was it like living in a fish warehouse for a year? (08:15)  — What was your initial experience like in America? (09:25) — What does America mean to you? (09:50) —  Where were you doing in life at the age of 18? (11:00) — How did you come up with Gozova and what is it? (13:10) — What was the process of developing an app like? (14:42) — What was the business like before the app was fully developed? (15:12) — How did the first year go after everything was functional? (17:20) — Were you prepared for your first rush of growth? (18:19) — What’s something you've learned about the moving industry that you didn’t know before? (19:07) — How were you hiring drivers back in the day vs. now? (20:19) — What does your fleet look like today? (21:18) — How do you think of your business in terms of tech vs. service? (21:48) — Are Gozova's 150 drivers doing this full time? (22:36) — What was your first round of fundraising like? (26:24) — How did you feel after completing your fundraising? (27:07) — What did you do with the $500k you raised? (29:43) — Why do you now want to raise $2M? (31:05) — Why are commercial partnerships important and what do those relationships look like? (33:17) — When was the last time you made a delivery? (33:49) — How does Gozova get into a new market and become profitable so quickly? (34:41) — Insurance for this Industry (35:30) — How has COVID affected the business? (36:35) — How many customers have you served to date? (37:26) — Where do you see yourself in 5 years? (37:55) — Why are you getting involved with real estate owners and property managers as a means of business growth? (40:06) — Do you have a morning routine? (40:30) — Goran’s Family (41:19) — How important is it to find a wife that’s supportive? (42:16) — What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? (42:49) — What advice would you give your 21-year-old self? (44:00) — What’s your favorite book? (44:26) — What’s the best way for people to reach you or contact Gozova? The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

Pershing Capital is a real estate investment, development and advisory firm with a focus on single tenant and multi-tenant retail assets with E-commerce and recession resistant tenant bases. Today, you'll listen as Chris interviews Edward about his deep dive into the retail sector of real estate. Edward will describe what retail has looked like over the last decade, how retailers have had to adjust during the pandemic and what opportunities lie ahead for the industry. Enjoy!  Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers & Fort Capital: www.FortCapitallp.com 01:45 — Edward’s Background and Career with Trademark Property Company & Pershing Capital 11:56 — When did you start getting ‘scared’ that e-commerce was becoming a thing? 13:39 — How do you create the mouse-trap of finding retailers to lease spaces? 15:16 — What is the timeline of pulling together a huge retail development?  15:57 — Why did you start Pershing Capital? 17:09 — What was your first deal at Pershing? 17:56 — What does the advisory side of the business look like? 18:45 — Do you outsource development? 19:30 — Why are certain aspects of development getting harder? 23:03 — What is going on in retail since COVID hit? 25:34 — How have tenants responded to the pandemic? 27:03 — Edward's Thoughts on the Mall Business 31:09 — Why should e-commerce companies like Amazon also become brick & mortar businesses? 33:54 — Who is putting the majority of the investment into these properties for retail projects? 36:52 — What is a 'co-tenancy clause' and how do you feel about it? 41:07 — Have we discovered what our ‘sweet spot’ cost is for retail space per square foot? 41:47 — What is the zoning like to re-position these developments for a totally different use? 44:33 — Is there a time horizon that shows decreasing prices for retail spaces? 46:15 — Can a retail project be financed right now? 48:59 — If a real estate opportunity presented itself, how would you go about financing it? 51:47 — How can businesses occupy these retail spaces again? 52:55 — What opportunities within retail are you excited about going forward? 53:57 — What is the best advice you have ever received? 55:46 — What advice would you give to your 21 year-old self? The FORT is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

Chris tackles the complex topic of Insurance as he interviews Michael Moore, an 8th generation Texan and President of Lockton's Fort Worth office. Michael shares a fascinating story about his family's influence in Texas, a break down of the insurance industry in the midst of COVID-19, and Michael's new podcast: The Climb. Enjoy! Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitallp.com Listen to Michael's Podcast Here   02:00 — Michael’s Family History and Journey to Lockton 15:28 — How did your family get into organic farming and what was it like working with Whole Food’s before they became popular? 17:38 — What is the difference between the Waldorf educational system and a traditional American education? 21:27 — What is the difference between email marketing back in 2001 versus 2020? 22:51 — The Loaded Question: How does the insurance industry work? 24:57 — Why is the American employer encouraged to provide employee benefits vs. an employee signing up on their own as they would with car insurance? 28:10 — How much does the average employee’s age affect the overall insurance rates for the company? 30:01 — Why aren't property and casualty rates going down? 31:02 — What’s a “Hard Market”? 34:12 — How does a "Hard Market" end? 35:40 — Is there anything happening in the industry that can change the direction of these prices such as technology? 40:10 — Is there a 'black swan' within the insurance industry that a court can demand coverage for? 43:14 — Has the pandemic coverage become more solidified in pricing models? 44:05 — Have insurance rates increased because people are more likely to sue someone at the drop of a hat? 48:23 — What does an underwriter's shop look like? 52:50 — Is there one company crunching all the numbers and putting out the risk to carriers & underwriters or is this data collected individually? 53:34 — Grandfathering in Policy Pricing 57:03 — How did you go about building the Lockton brand in Fort Worth? 1:01:57 — How did Lockton react to the initial outbreak? 1:04:15 — Did you receive more early warning signs of COVID than most since Lockton is an international company? 1:04:42 — From a company leader's perspective, what does the rest of the year look like for Lockton? 1:06:40 — Is there something that Texas is doing that gives you hope vs. the challenges others are facing in markets that are hit harder like LA, NYC, etc.? 1:08:52 — What has hosting a podcast been like and what can listeners expect from the show? The FORT is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

CRETech is the the largest international community of professionals devoted to technological innovation in the real estate sector. On this episode, Chris and Michael discuss the chaos in the event-industry as they navigate COVID-19, launching a consulting business mid-pandemic, the trend of venture arms popping up in the world's largest companies, and the future of Real Estate Technology. Enjoy!  Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/fortworthchris Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Subscribe to Michael's Blog: https://www.cretech.com/michael-beckerman/   01:50 — How Michael got into Real Estate Technology and the Current State of the Industry 04:55 — How did you start building this online community back in 2012? 06:50 — Can you describe what the entrepreneur’s mindset looks like over the last few months? 12:10 — What are the upfront costs that you risk when putting on a RET conference? 15:13 — How would the current social environment have to change in order for you to feel comfortable hosting an event again? 22:06 — How did you come up with the idea to launch a consulting business helping connect people in the Real Estate Tech world during COVID? 27:38 — What are your thoughts on major companies creating in-house venture arms to invest in emerging technologies rather than building it themselves? 30:51 — Fort Capital’s Adoption of Technology and its Role in Creating an Innovative Culture 39:50 — What new tech ideas are you seeing come out of the pandemic? 42:53 — The Future of the Real Estate Technology Industry 45:37 — Has COVID caused a radical change in how people think about higher education? The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

Chris sits down with business partner and Fort Capital COO, Jason Baxter, to discuss the concept of Cost Reduction, Overhead Management & Revenue Generation (COR) and how it has given their team a voice and the ability to think like company owners. They'll discuss how they were able to successfully implement COR within the culture of the business and avoiding the 'revenue creep'. Enjoy!  Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers & Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com 01:08 — COR: The Meaning, Defining Success and How We Implemented it at Fort Capital 05:24 — Fort Capital’s 2019 COR Challenge and What it Revealed 07:36 — How COR Became Part of Fort Capital’s Culture 09:26 — The Problem With Focusing Too Much on Revenue and 'The Creep' 13:06 — Company Goals During COVID-19 15:18 — Rewarding the Team for Achieving Wins and How We Keep COR at the Top of Everyone's Minds 18:08 — A Deep Dive into the Overhead Management Piece of COR 21:44 — How Fort Capital Identifies Imbalances in Processes, OKR’s, and Setting Overhead Management Goals 24:28 — The Importance of the Team Having a Voice as a Company Grows 27:52 — Setting Budgets and Fort Capital's Re-Forecasting Tools 32:44 — Being Patient When Implementing a Process like COR The FORT is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

Sarah LanCarte is the founder of LanCarte Commercial, a commercial real estate company specializing in tenant representation, leasing, and sales and acquisitions for properties in DFW. On this episode, Chris and Sarah talk about the early days of her career, her mentors, working with Fort Capital and ultimately what led her to founding LanCarte Commercial. They also talk about the current state of commercial real estate in DFW in the wake of COVID-19 and trends she predicts going forward. Enjoy!  For more information on Chris Powers and Fort Capital, visit www.FortCapital.com Follow Chris on Twitter! www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris 01:49 — Sarah’s Background and Starting LanCarte Commercial 08:18 — Did cold calling come naturally to you or was it uncomfortable at first? 09:56 — Was there a point in time where you thought “Okay, I’ve arrived in this industry.”? 12:08 — The First Deal Sarah Closed 12:43 — When did you start to become self sufficient at finding and doing deals? 14:53 — How Chris started working with Sarah and how she transitioned from the broker world into principal 18:15 — What was the journey like in starting your own business? 21:08 — How do you split your time between running the business and being a broker? 23:20 — What do you say to young brokers to prepare them for both the exciting and frustrating part of CRE? 24:54 — What is the difference between a great broker and a bad one? 28:21 — How is LanCarte Commercial's team different than other companies in the industry?  29:50 — What was your experience as a small business owner during the very early days of COVID-19? 33:30 —  What are you observing in the Fort Worth market as we come out of COVID-19? 37:33 — Do you know of any big office tenants that might be moving into Fort Worth for the first time? 38:50 — Do you have any predictions on how places like Shopping Malls and Big Box Retail could be converted? 40:48 — What are your thoughts on Multi-Story Industrial Innovation in DFW? 42:53 — Is the demand there for all the Spec being built around DFW? 44:38 — How far in advance are tenants looking to lease in the Class B Space? 47:02 — Have you seen an upgrade with places like Amazon in their infill as they move to delivery methods like Sprinter vans? 48:08 — What are your 5-year goals for LanCarte Commercial? 48:52 — Why is CREW important and why should more females in the industry be a part of it? 50:07 — How can people get in touch with you? The FORT with Chris Powers is brought to you by Straight Up Podcasts

On this episode, Chris chats with his lifelong friend Mackenzie Todd, Founder and CEO of Urban Golf Performance. This 5-star golf performance club uses a holistic approach to help golfers reach their goals as efficiently as possible. They'll discuss Mackenzie's golf career and how it led to the the incredible growth of UGP as well as the transition from a player himself to teaching some of the world's top golfers. Enjoy!  Follow Chris on Twitter Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital at www.FortCapitalLP.com Learn more about Urban Golf Performance Listen to Mackenzie's podcast: The Urban Golf Podcast 02:00 — Mackenzie's Backstory Leading to UGP 06:06 — Mackenzie’s First Major Investor 07:11 — What would I experience after walking into a UGP location? 07:49 — How has fitness progressed as a major staple in the game of golf? 10:05 — What is the fitness process like at UGP? 12:24 — What does a top golfer like Collin Morikawa try to get out of his fitness routines? 14:16 — How does a player transition into a teacher/coach? 17:31 — Bringing on The Founder of TOMS as a Partner 21:43 — Is there one piece of information since having him as a mentor that you latched onto? 23:12 — What's your emotional journey as an entrepreneur been like over the last 90 days in LA? 27:09 — Are you optimistic for the remainder of the year? 28:50 — What’s the vision for UGP over the next decade? 29:52 — What prevents great amateur players from going pro? 32:02 — What separates the top 25 in the world from the rest of the pros? 34:52 — Are you a believer in taking the length out of the game? 36:20 — Who’s your favorite player? 36:44 — Who has the best swing in the game? 36:49 — Who's the best player no one has heard of yet? 37:28 — Is Matt Wolff's swing going to hold up for 20 years? 38:14 — Does Tiger Woods need to get to 18 majors to be the GOAT and do you think he will get there? The FORT is brought to you by Straight Up Podcasts