E194: Breaking the Archetype of a Self-Made Millionaire with AJ Osborne

What would you do if you were in pain every day? Today’s guest, entrepreneur, and investor AJ Osborne was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare autoimmune disease that got him temporarily paralyzed and living with pain every day, up to this day. This, however, didn’t stop him from reaching his full potential. He currently owns and manages his self-storage portfolio of over $200 million in assets. AJ Osborne is also the author of The Investors Guide to Growing Wealth in Self-Storage and host of the podcast Self Storage Income. In today’s discussion, AJ shares his inspiring journey, living with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and how he’s making an impact in the world of self-storage. At first, self-storage was purely a cash flow business for AJ until they developed a system focused on yield, thereby creating a self-storage ecosystem that increased their equity and doubled their revenue. Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation: [01:28] AJ’s family background [03:00] Why they started investing in self-storage [06:24] The self-storage business disguised as real estate [07:31] Identifying yield-drivers [08:31] Creating the self-storage ecosystem [10:56] Buying underperforming self-storage facilities in incredible markets [12:42] Improving equity instead of changing your debt structure [14:20] AJ’s story of going into a coma and becoming paralyzed for months [22:02] What caused his Guillain-Barre Syndrome [26:12] Having compassion for people who are suffering [30:04] Having reasonable conversations around getting vaccines [35:11] AJ’s current condition dealing with pain every day [44:46] How your mind doesn’t distinguish [48:49] Breaking the archetype of the self-made millionaire [50:04] Giving back to the community [55:34] Controlling your investments by understanding your risks [56:56] The margin of stupidity [63:12] The best time to bring people in when scaling [68:30] Finding a solid support system Connecting with the Guest Website: https://www.cedarcreekwealth.com/ Book: The Investors Guide to Growing Wealth in Self Storage Podcast: Self Storage Income Connect with our growing community: Gobundance:  https://www.gobundance.com/ Apply: https://www.gobundance.com/membership Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gobundance LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gobundancegbl/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/GoBundance Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoBundance Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tribeofmillionaires Not a millionaire yet but want to be a part of our ecosystem? Check out EMERGE by GoBundance. Enroll Today! https://www.gobundance.com/emerge Interested in starting your own podcast or handing off your production to a qualified team? Email [email protected] to learn how we're making the world better, one mic at a time.