Real estate investor + FinTech founder - fellow homeschooler Andrew Carson breaks down how he got started, why slow growth wins, and the mindset shift of Extreme Ownership. Plus: a simple “Taco Bell” framework for career clarity.

What You’ll Learn

• How Andrew went from sales to full-time real estate investing
• What “off-market” deals are (and why investors chase them)
• Wholesaling vs. flipping: what’s better for beginners and why
• Hard money lenders explained (simple version)
• Branding in a business where people naturally don’t trust you
• Why “slow growth is the only growth” (and what happens with fast growth)
• A faith-based perspective on wealth: money vs. the love of money
• Andrew’s career clarity framework: Soft Skills + Hard Skills + Joy → Best-fit industries
• “Extreme Ownership” applied to life, marriage, and leadership

Where to find Andrew:

Website: https://www.ajotter.com/ and

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aj-otter/?

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/AJ-Otter/100085616541488/

In this episode, CW sits down with longtime friend JP Mathews, a counselor, family man, and Wyoming Army National Guard soldier, for a wide-ranging conversation about career direction, calling, and living with open hands.

JP walks through his unconventional journey: starting in sales (and wrestling with feeling “disingenuous”), serving in youth ministry, earning a counseling degree, working with rural students, and eventually joining the military in a later season of life. Along the way, we talk about the importance of community, the power of wise voices (especially mentors 30+ years ahead), and how your past (family dynamics, conflict, hardship, and “nonlinear” steps) can reveal the strengths God has been forming in you all along.

We also dig into goals: how to avoid analysis paralysis, how to work backwards from a vision, and how to tell the difference between a hard thing you should push through vs. a hard thing that signals a pivot.

If you’re a student, young professional, or parent trying to help someone navigate “What should I do next?”, this one will give you clarity, courage, and a few quotable one-liners you won’t forget.

How do you build a meaningful career when you’re interested in more than one thing? And how do you stay grounded when life takes you into places of real danger, real responsibility, and real purpose?

In this episode, Joel shares his incredible journey — from running a phone-repair business in high school, to earning a criminology degree, to becoming a full-time police officer who still finds time to build a tech startup and manage 20 rental properties.

Joel breaks down:

• How he chose law enforcement after wrestling with business vs. purpose
• What real police work is actually like (a LOT more diverse than you think)
• How he manages multiple careers at once using a strategic shift schedule
• Creative financing and how he acquired a portfolio of 20 rental homes
• A near-death experience on the job that changed his life
• Why his faith became the foundation that pulled him out of burnout
• How “planting seeds” in people’s lives has led to unbelievable stories
• His advice for 17–18-year-olds figuring out their first steps

This is one of the most honest, surprising, and purpose-driven career stories on the show; perfect for students, young adults, and anyone trying to understand how faith, work, and calling come together in real life.

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