 And welcome to think tech Hawaii's connecting Hawaii business. My name is Kathleen Lee, your host for today and wherever you're watching this from whether it's the afternoon like how it is in Hawaii eating or the morning we welcome you to the show. This is live streamed on the think tech Hawaii website on think tech Hawaii.com, as well as on think tech Hawaii's Facebook page. So today we have a very special guest on the show, my friend, Ben Eager, a little bit about Ben. I met him through the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii's young professionals program years ago and I have seen him develop himself and his businesses so you know I'll let him go into that but let me go ahead and welcome Ben Eager to the show. Hey Ben. Well, thank you for having me. Of course so tell our viewers about yourself, a little bit of your personal as well as your professional background, and then we can launch into our theme of the show which is connecting, you know, multiple businesses and your expertise to help people out. Yeah, okay. First of all, thank you so much for having me. I know right now at this time especially during COVID you know it's so important to support local business I really appreciate that the opportunity. My name is Ben. I'm 39 years old. I came to Hawaii about 12 years ago as a student. I started economics and pretty much fell in love with Hawaii. I went back to write my thesis at Mercedes-Benz in Germany to that point of time got a job offer, declined that and said no I want to do my MBA at HPU which was you know just a great opportunity because it was my dream since I was 19 when I didn't even know what MBA means but I was like I want that you know so yeah so then I got my MBA at HPU. I went semester to Korea, started Japanese and then I had the opportunity to start my life and my career here. A little bit about it so I just you know I just was hired as a financial specialist so you know I did investment insurance planning and those kind of things until I left about two years later so where I was already introduced to the chamber so we were like one of the by that point I was a little bit younger actually and then we were part of the YPs you know there was just an amazing time it was really fun time and I got to know lots of people in the rotary club too that's how I found the rotary during that point of time already and then what happened then yeah I left I came into my friend's business I was a fellow rotary and her name is Glenda Anderson she owns Details International a small interior design firm and I had the opportunity to support her with her business and get to know interior design kitchen and bath design there I developed skills not only on the interior design and staging and those kind of color consultation also on more physical skills like I became a certified installer for Miele appliances it's a high-end appliance on the island so that was a lot of fun and was one of the view on an island that had that certification by that point of time was really good and then I delivered her cabinetry I was like amen this is like something that I really enjoyed doing and so from then I told Glenda hey I do appreciate and I love you and stuff like that but I want to do my own business so I started moving in installation business I fell in love with that it's kind of weird because people now always think like oh you have an MBA I seem like my friend here's an MBA and it's a cleaning business right and you wouldn't expect it right but I fell in love with that industry so I founded Ohana delivery moving installation services that's what odd miss stands for I always wondered what odd miss stands for what is again Ohama delivery and moving moving in installation services got it okay keep going well actually that friend that I'm talking about his name is Shota he actually we were sitting at his office and when I said like you know I really happy I started odd miss and he was like that's a long name don't you think and I know in America you know people of acronyms I was like hey you know what I'm calling odd miss my best friend that the design for it local design my master in everything in the company grow very fast very quick um I had the up you know I was really blessed so thank you for my beautiful wonderful network on the island and then also for the hard work and stuff like that people got to know us and you know I had a contract with the best buy lots of other you know bigger retailers and those kind of things beside of all my you know local customers how did you get into because that's a big deal how did you get a contract with best buy and kind of work us through that because here's you know this individual that you know is born and raised in Germany comes to Hawaii learns all these trade and suddenly starts up a let me take that back not suddenly but you know work so hard to start his business and then he ends up partnering up with best buy how does that happen that's kind of funny you know because not many people know when you're going to talk about your laugh about it because I became a certified installer for Miele appliances it's factory certification and so I started my business and I called literally Viking and other you know high-end appliances because I was a sub Sierra and Wolf and other certification that I have that I've worked closely with on the island companies called Rick's super company amazing people so shout out to them appreciate you guys too Bob Rick's an amazing man the owner but yeah really quick I called Viking and I told them I was leading just four months in business right so I was just literally just somebody right just somebody from Hawaii it's just you know just hustling and working hard right so I called them I told them hey I want to I have a I'm a media certified installer on island what do you guys have a certification or Viking appliances and they said no we don't but I take your information on and that's it so basically the best buy headquarter on the mainland was talking to my Viking management and said by that point of time they needed an installer and I and she said I just talked to the young man he was like really nice and certified with Miele and just gave them my phone and they called me up they asked if I was interested in everything he was from that so we started small and it was a good partnership so I appreciate it so I left however my business for a little while and you know I went to I had an opportunity to manage large size company called Hawaii Movers big big companies are a big opportunity and I appreciate that opportunity as well as I had the chance to do so wonderful people the owners just great people in Alabama so I managed the service center however you know it was pretty much you know I left after about almost about two years with less and went back to I got my real estate license was last year and it is different from being an entrepreneur running your business to being employed let's say that way so I am I enjoy you know I really enjoy doing it and having the opportunity to run a business and then to do it my own is just something to create something is just something that I feel more fulfilled so besides that real estate that I do now is a you know basically full time beside a full time office it's kind of like two full time things I kind of combine it I guess we'll talk about it because you need it you know it's just a service that I offer yeah but it just came everything like step by step and since last year I do I came into real estate I found to remix platinum this year an amazing broker Chris Fidelibar is an awesome guy I love him he's a good hearted and he's a fellow vegetarian that's what attracted me really much in his personality it's still it's already pretty big it's 50 agents it's a nice brokerage remix is a good place good strong foundation and so far I'm doing good so I combine it a little bit you know I offer moving service to my clients you know in a very specialized way so that's you know it goes hand in hand so here I am today just yeah it's personally a little bit like my mom I told her like when I started 12 years ago I told her mom because her she went to a lot and I want to make it like happy and so I told her like mom stay strong everything will be good so it took me eight years until I brought her to Hawaii I brought her to Hawaii she's here for the last three years and just really blessed to have her here to take care of her so let's do a summary of everything that you have said so far so you've done insurance as well yes you've done insurance you started your own company which is oddness and you also work for a moving company as their general manager so all these are you know experiences and then now your fourth thing that you have mentioned to me that you want to focus on is real estate combining everything else that you have how or why did you choose real estate and then so just go over that and then we'll go into like how you're able to service your clients with your background so why real estate very very very simple so real estate to be to be in real estate it's not a real estate business it's a people business there's a lot more about it of course contracts and you know those things of course it's complex knowledge but at the end of the day it's just being with people and making a difference in people I truly believe that I can apply my skills to the real estate business it goes from for management to contract negotiation all those kind of things it goes hand in hand beside of that you know staging places setting them up for successful you know sale and so forth so it kind of goes hand in hand so doing moving and real estate besides that fact I truly love both so I just I stopped for a little while the last year I did not do it and I just every truck that passes by on the road I always say that's my boys that's my boys and I can't do anything about it I know they're not my boys all of them right but it's just I just feel so closely connected to that industry and just enjoy doing it so now I can my clients know they have a hands on guys I just you know if anything needs to be lifted I lift it if I get if I have a suit I get dirty I get dirty you know that's just how I work I never I never going to be that perfect you know suit person it's just you know it's just tell me move that I move it right away right it's not only like it's a lot more than moving it's insulation and those kind of things were basically you know the real estate is something that I did enjoy helping people the work in the real estate industry is super fun it's a lot of great people lots of I can utilize my network to have contractors the years of working with contractors what it takes to I just had a condo that was sold just a few weeks ago and it goes through a complete remodel and then setting up and giving more advice on the remodel and finding the right people to do so and all those kind of things for us at the end that's awesome Ben I want you to go more into that we are going to go on break but just to remind everyone this is a live stream and if you have questions for Ben you can send them to questions at thinktechhawaii.com we will be right back after the break back to think tech Hawaii is connecting Hawaii business my name is Kathleen Lee and our guest on the show today is Ben eager it's so funny because when I had asked him to confirm the pronunciation of his last name he said it's it's eager like eager to help and that's who he is as a person as I've known him so when we left off he was talking about how he had all this background and starting his own business and managing a big company and now going into real estate so Ben let's let's go over some of the challenges that you have faced so far as someone who has all this background what are the challenges that you have been facing especially with the pandemic the pandemic yeah well the pandemic is certainly put a lot of hardship on all people when I say all people talk about it so much so much was going on so many people lost their job but on the other side beside of all the the tragic tragic I used that time for you know I'm a very positive person so I can't just you know I just I felt I just get up and just walk and continue walking and that's what I would recommend everybody to do you know there's a lot of opportunities luckily the real estate industry and also my my moving and installation business is certainly something that people have a need for it's a continuous need and so that is something that I feel it's not like you know somebody took it like the restaurant and somebody could go in the restaurant somebody needs needs a house move it needs to be moved you know it's it's in a sense of work deliveries especially that most of us ordered with Amazon right so everything like I'm a great customer but yeah so how what was the challenges it was just really to the transitioning to a lot of tech thinking and just you know learning how to know but I think I found I took those opportunities to make really the best out of it for in terms of social media marketing right so utilizing it Twitter I'm still not you know Twitter is I'm still figuring you know it's you know I know I can I can talk about in those kind of things and I set it up but it's still an ongoing process even I know no web programming and those kind of things are set up websites so that helped a little bit and doing Instagram I have like three Instagram accounts right so um yeah one is for the real estate the other one I'm a certified personal trainer which I just got a certification for just for fun I could offer services just to just for fun something I just like so I like educate people that was just important for myself and then we are 808 it's just I want to promote the local business just created something it's called we are 808 to promote local business to help other business owners to you know to during to get through this very challenging time on the real estate side the sales and you know they went down initially when the pandemic started lots of sellers put out their inventory from the market however a month later to it was it was you could see a clear improvement on it so people are about half of it I put it back on the market already and market prices go up on the corner side sell side they of course are various but you know I just it's doing okay so and people utilizing the low interest rates pretty much and just with a positive outlook that's what you know people have or not everybody of course but a lot of people do so you see still the market looks really good on the real estate side yeah and it's really about making the right for every individual why would why would someone turn to you I and I want you to summarize it I like I already have the answer in my head but I want you to summarize it why would someone turn to you for their real estate needs like are they able to is it because it's it's it's convenient because you know like you have a wider network is it because you have other experiences so I'll let you explain that then well first of all you know there's a lot of virtues in state of law right and a lot of bits is very very special people so there are lots of good people right why would somebody turn to me first like it's my core values I developed core values already that I continuously have if it's whatever is three core values right it's being reliable professional caring reliable being always there beyond time during the right thing what needs to be done on the ethical side always be professional and caring I always talk about three things talk about my clients and customers talk about our community are pretty much and business partners and associates so those three things we always need to care about and why would somebody work with me I do you know beside of having that promise that people can trust and know that I'm going to be there for them and do what is right it's also kind of like a little bit like a one-stop shop I give them the opportunity to utilize my skills and not only on the network that I have but also in the moving services people have access for discounted the side of free moving services being my clients as well so that's kind of like something that our office on a local side of course if it's going to be in Thailand shipping that would be a little bit different of course internationally to the mainland that's that's different but everything that I can personally control I can you know make things happen for like a one-stop shop right well here what advice would you give someone who wants to either you know start a business like how you did or build their networks in a way that you know you're able to you know use it now like what advice would you give someone yes that's a very good question so two things for me it started first with building my network so I was as you said like 10 years ago almost nine years ago in started at WSP right the rough surgery partners so the owner Nash the great gentleman by the way is the huge drive I focus a lot of network and talks about marketing and education that field through that I developed that network and I just went out to build my network and people got to know me you know that that was kind of like having a foundation and then based on that a lot of good things evolve because we have so many wonderful people and I there's so many people that do so wonderful things right so I want to cry so you know it is just it touched my heart over the last 10 years so many times right but from then I would recommend if you want to start a business first of all think about it's neat it's it needs to be a service that people need and so a lot of people start with having a product and then don't sell it because people don't buy it because they realize oh there's not a big need for me to have that it's usually I look for if you have some if you see a need and then you want to cover that need and develop that product for that's when you started a successful business I don't want to say other business won't be successful right so but this is covering a need is always a good first start when you have so yeah so for me for example people need a high end you know Mila appliances and not so many Mila high end appliance and notes like panels that need to be installed and those kind of things for subseries and those kind of things so it's very specialized where people have a need right so and then the moving to people just need to move it's just and then you know real estate is another thing you want to most of us I'm still in that want to realize the dream of a home right I'm taking care of my mom so I want to make sure she's good first and then I take care of myself and so but yeah so starting if my recommendation is start the best everybody said it right what is the best time to start right now I know yesterday and when is the second best time today right so just getting some ideas together it can be small it doesn't have to be and not everybody going to tell you it's great there's a lot of challenges it comes to the way there's a lot of obstacles you fail many times I fall and then you just get up and just do things better and better and at some point you know this that's when you evolve so it will take a while so be patient is my another recommendation so be patient and just focus on your dreams don't give up and take action right is dream will only stay a dream if you don't take action but to realize that dream this take action and and somehow magical things happen even though it's not it just just you know just continuously doing that those are very very inspirational words then we have a couple of minutes left is there anything that you want to add that I didn't ask you about that you want our viewers to know I would say like it is a very very hard time for most of us right so just stay strong you know just positive things stay positive I try not to watch it sounds weird but I try not to watch the news all the time right even listening to radio it comes all the time you constantly reminding negative negative try to my recommendation is focus on on your direct field of what you can influence and go from there and don't focus on what you can influence because it is what it is we can't do anything you have to wear a mask we wear a mask you have to protect you protect you follow that right but then it stinks what you can improve you can improve yourself move forward and be positive the last year I went through a lot a lot of good stuff good things came out of it see I still have my accent I can't read a bit well yeah just wish everybody just just hopefully that I want to see more smiles you know it's so hard like for me I'm just a smiley person people always like even like why why did you smile I'm like that's just my nature I'm just smiling right now you don't see it anymore because most people wear masks so you only see the wrinkles of your people smile you know just keep the positivity and you know look out for others that's my watch out for others is always somebody that is a little bit has a little bit more challenging situation that's my thank you Ben that was that was great thank you for all those words that I know a lot of us need to hear at this time again you have been watching think tech Hawaii's connecting Hawaii business this has been live streamed and if you missed it it will be available on think tech Hawaii dot com as well as think tech Hawaii's YouTube page again thank you very much to our guest this afternoon Ben eager for coming on the show we will see you next time