Carson's Corner is built for investors, entrepreneurs, and operators who are serious about long-term wealth creation — not get-rich-quick schemes. Real conversations with founders, family offices, lenders, and operators about the deals, strategies, and lessons behind real wealth.
38 episodes and counting — newest first. Every episode has its own page with the full video, show notes, and guest links.
Brandon Eaton came to Knoxville in a $600 car with holes in the floor and slept in it. Today he runs Eaton Construction Services, a commercial GC covering the Southeast from Texas to the Carolinas. He walks through the PVC-sign start, tripling two years in a row, leaving residential behind, why design-build beats bidding, and where the data center debate really stands.
Whitney Elkins-Hutten is the Director of Investor Education at PassiveInvesting.com and the author of Money for Tomorrow: How to Build and Protect Generational Wealth (BiggerPockets). She's done 40+ fix-and-flip projects herself, and today she helps investors diversify across the capital stack instead of stacking all their chips on equity.
Most real estate owners treat insurance like a tax — money you light on fire every year and hope you never need. Nicolas “Nico” Lares built a company that hands it back.
In this episode of Carson's Corner, Carson sits down with Mark Khuri, co-founder of SMK Capital Management, a private equity firm invested across 32 states in mobile home parks, self-storage, industrial, and multifamily. With 21+ years of real estate investing experience, Mark breaks down how his team reviews two to three deals every single day — roughly 700 a year — and invests in only the top 1-2%.
Tim Elizer started sweeping floors at a 1,500 sq ft sign shop at 16 years old. Today he owns that company — Magnitude — and has done over $30 million in business, wrapping national vehicle fleets and handling signage for 30,000+ multifamily doors across 20 states. But the road there nearly cost him everything.
What happens when you fire your property management company? Angel Williams learned the hard way: don't poke the bear on their way out the door. In this episode, Carson sits down with fellow Baylor Bear Angel Williams — longtime investor, coach, and co-founder of The Academy Presents — for an unfiltered look at what diversified real estate investing actually looks like behind the scenes.
The Deal Makers Roundup is headed to Knoxville, Tennessee! Join us September 10th at The Vault — a stunning repurposed bank vault in downtown Knoxville — for an evening of authentic networking with investors, business owners, developers, and property owners. Request your invitation at dealmaker.events
Linda Holtz arrived in the U.S. from France at 22 with no network, no real estate experience, and a door-to-door sales job. Today she syndicates 200+ unit multifamily deals across Texas with her husband through Married 2 Real Estate.
Paul Shannon walked away from corporate America in 2019 and built a 200+ unit portfolio through deep value-add deals. Then he did something most operators never do: he stepped back — right at the peak of the 2021 euphoria, when floating-rate bridge debt and 18% IRR projections were everywhere. That unpopular call saved his investors from the wipeouts that followed, and it shaped the perspective behind his new book, Both Sides of the Table, out now on Amazon.
What if you could earn the kind of returns banks make — without tenants, toilets, or 2am repair calls? In this episode of Carson's Corner, Carson sits down with Shawn Muneio of Bequest Asset Management to break down how everyday investors can "be the bank" and build genuinely passive income.
Brian Walter has been trading markets since 1996 — through the Russian crisis, the dot-com bubble, the '08 financial crisis at the epicenter of credit at UBS, COVID, and the fastest rate hike in recent memory. Today he's Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Fairbridge Asset Management, where he runs portfolio management, finance, and operations, and sits on the credit committee.
What happens when you buy a business, do everything "right," and it still blows up in your face? Jed Morris knows. After 10 years in Air Force financial management and acquisition (rising to the Pentagon), an NYU Stern MBA, and software engineering work at Microsoft, Jed jumped into entrepreneurship through acquisition — and his first deal, a landscaping company, failed spectacularly. Instead of hiding it, he interviewed 100+ buyers who lived through the same thing, and the patterns he found will save you from making the same mistakes.
Most investors think you have to be a national homebuilder to profit from America's housing shortage — Brandon Cobb built a business proving otherwise. Founder of HBG Capital and creator of the Land Development Accelerator, Brandon joins Carson to break down what he calls the fastest-growing secret in real estate: American land development. He walks through the three phases that move raw land from dirt to a finished community — entitlement, infrastructure, and vertical construction — and his "reverse engineering" strategy for creating forced appreciation before he ever buys an asset. With more than 33% of buyers hunting for a first home and fewer than 10% of new builds actually affordable to them, Brandon makes the case that entry-level housing is one of the most recession-resistant plays in the country.
What does it look like to buy a business with zero industry experience, nearly go broke twice, and still build a 10-company HVAC roll-up out of McKinney, TX? Nathan Lindley lived it. After 15 years running a book publishing company, Nathan closed on his first HVAC acquisition in February 2020 — weeks before COVID shut down the world — using his own equity, his dad's retirement, and an inheritance loan from a friend. In this episode, Nathan and Carson break down the straight-commission overhaul that unlocked scale, his "buying at-bats" framework, how he competes against PE-backed HVAC giants without paying their Google ad prices, and the roll-up playbook he'd use if he had to start over today. Now working on acquisition number 11 and eyeing a potential exit within the next year, Nathan shares the hard-won lessons that only come from almost losing it all — twice.
A bucket on a fishing pole. That's how Gregg Trosper first watched a Nashville band collect tips, and that's the moment Band Buddy was born. Gregg, founder of Band Buddy, is turning live performances into interactive, cashless, revenue-generating experiences for artists and venues. After a five-month beta across 295 live shows, artists using Band Buddy saw an average 42% lift in tips. We dig into the gamification mechanic behind song-request bidding, the "stage mode" vs. "crowd mode" design, why 60% of venue patrons stay longer when interactivity is higher, and what it takes to build a startup inside Nashville's music ecosystem.
The era of "extend and pretend" is winding down — and for borrowers staring at distressed multifamily and office loans, the next move could define the next decade of their portfolio. Shlomo Chopp, Managing Partner of CASE and one of the most respected voices in distressed commercial real estate, breaks down how borrowers negotiate CMBS, multifamily, and office workouts from a position of strength — protecting their equity, their guarantees, and their reputation when the market turns.
Impact investing isn't just about returns — it's about changing lives while building real cash flow. Dave Seymour shares how he went from firefighter and paramedic to starring on Flipping Boston, and ultimately into one of the most compelling impact investment models in real estate today: sober living facilities. Now 36 years sober, Dave is combining purpose and profit by acquiring multifamily properties and converting them into recovery housing — creating strong returns through a "rent-by-the-bed" model while building environments that genuinely change lives.
What does it take to win a Pitch Slam in front of seasoned investors at one of real estate's biggest conferences? Justin Spillers — attorney, e-commerce entrepreneur, and founder of Real Estate Alpha — just did exactly that at the Best Ever Conference 2026, and in this episode he breaks down exactly how.
Co-founder of Ashcroft Capital, creator of the world's longest-running daily real estate podcast, and founder of the Best Ever Conference — on integrity, scale, and why giving back matters.
Salvatore Buscemi, founder of Brahmin Partners, a capital strategist at the highest levels of global finance — SpaceX, Stripe, AI.io and institutional CRE.
Managing Broker at Midwest CRE Advisors and former NFL athlete — discipline and clarity applied to commercial real estate.
Serial entrepreneur, Author, and CEO behind JE Capital Investments — business acquisitions, real estate, and capital strategy.
A masterclass in intentional growth, disciplined investing, and designing a life beyond the W-2. Freedom isn't accidental — it's engineered.
Building legacy through systems, relationships, and strategies that create lasting wealth through apartment investing and capital raising.
Yonah Weiss, the Cost Segregation King, explains how this powerful tax strategy can accelerate depreciation and boost investor returns.
Kamron Barr breaks down the next frontier of development — multi-tenant ecosystems powered by micro data centers.
A Nashville-focused conversation on faith, finance, and construction with two builders who are reshaping how deals get done.
Margot and Christy unpack the self-storage asset class — why it produces durable cash flow and how to get into the market.
Thomas Brachey demystifies 1031 exchanges, mineral deeds, and alternative wealth-building strategies for serious investors.
Where is commercial real estate headed? Dan Lewkowicz breaks down interest rates, AI disruption, and what brokers need to do to survive.
John Vachon breaks down how Opportunity Zones work, who benefits, and how impact investors are deploying capital strategically.
John Vachon returns to discuss boutique hotel mixed-use redevelopment — the strategy, the financing, and the opportunity.
The convergence of multifamily housing and data center infrastructure — Nic Espanet explains why this intersection is a massive opportunity.
How do you select the right site for a data center? Kris McGee walks through the criteria, market dynamics, and investment thesis.
Chris Maier unpacks how contractors, closers, and connections drive deals in the real estate world — and how to build the right network.
A deep dive into commercial real estate deals, strategy, and the mindset behind successful CRE investing with Danny Gould.
Michael Wagman shares his approach to commercial real estate — finding deals, building relationships, and executing at a high level.
Dustin Hauer breaks down CRE fundamentals, deal structures, and lessons from the trenches of commercial real estate investing.
The world's wealthiest investors approach investing very differently than most people. Instead of chasing short-term returns, they focus on preserving wealth, reputation, and legacy across generations.
Their decisions are often driven as much by relationships and trusted networks as by financial models, and many of their best opportunities come through private deals, family offices, and invitation-only circles — not public markets. They frequently prefer illiquid investments like private equity, venture capital, and direct real estate, where long-term upside and influence are greater.
Above all, these investors prioritize the people behind the deal, backing operators and founders they trust above everything else. Their strategy isn't just about returns — it's about protecting capital, expanding influence, and building a multi-generational legacy. That is the lens every Carson's Corner conversation is built around.
Every episode is built around high-signal conversations that translate to real capital decisions. Go deeper with the guides.
For guest inquiries, property or business evaluations, or capital-partner conversations — reach out directly. Passive Investments participates as broker, principal, and equity partner.