Shannon Robnett is the Founder and CEO of Shannon Robnett Industries, a real estate development and syndication firm focused on residential and industrial real estate projects. With over 30 years in the Boise real estate market, he is a second-generation builder and fourth-generation realtor, managing $120 million in assets and overseeing $425 million in diverse projects. Shannon has an impressive track record, with over $140M in successful developments, more than $60M in capital raised, and $28M in profits delivered to investors.
Beyond his professional expertise, he is passionate about fostering an entrepreneurial spirit and smart financial habits in younger generations, leveraging his personal experiences and family history to guide his teachings on wealth and legacy building.
Here’s a Glimpse of What You’ll Hear:
- [02:11] Shannon Robnett reveals the financial lessons from managing a shaved ice business
- [05:03] Shannon reflects on his family’s real estate legacy, highlighting the power of team management
- [07:31] The importance of building a company culture that retains people beyond monetary benefits
- [09:11] How hands-on experience of building a house can teach lifelong business lessons
- [13:31] Insights into leveraging 1031 exchange to build wealth without incurring taxes
- [19:21] Transitioning from hands-on construction work to managing investors
- [23:24] Shannon’s unique approach to teaching his kids about financial responsibility
- [26:50] The financial logic behind choosing to rent versus buying expensive property
- [29:11] Shannon’s innovative strategy for funding his daughter’s culinary school education
- [34:45] How informed education and career choices lead to long-term financial success
In this episode…
Raising financially responsible children and building lasting wealth are goals for many families, but they come with challenges. Teaching financial discipline, work ethic, and entrepreneurial thinking to the next generation requires more than traditional advice — it calls for hands-on experiences and impactful lessons that resonate. How can you ensure that your family’s hard-earned wealth is preserved and expanded upon by your descendants?
Shannon Robnett, a seasoned real estate developer and syndicator, shares how he instilled financial responsibility in his children through unique, practical strategies. From having his kids pay $80 a month for a shared car to investing in student loan debt instead of paying it off outright, Shannon explains how these real-life lessons prepared them for financial independence and smart decision-making. He also discusses how his experience in construction and real estate shaped his approach to family finance, instilling in his children the importance of good debt and calculated risk-taking.
Tune in to this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast as John Corcoran interviews Shannon Robnett, Founder and CEO of Shannon Robnett Industries, about innovative ways to teach financial responsibility and build family wealth. Shannon provides insights into managing wealth through 1031 exchange, team management, and scaling a construction business. By the end of the episode, listeners will gain strategies to build financial literacy and responsibility in their families for lasting prosperity.
Resources Mentioned In This Episode
- John Corcoran on LinkedIn
- Rise25
- Shannon Robnett: LinkedIn | Website
- Phoenix Commercial Construction
Quotable Moments:
- “We learned all those business lessons in a way that we didn’t really sit down like we were going to class.”
- “It’s those kinds of things that really infected us early on with the entrepreneurial bug.”
- “If all you’re dealing with is based on price, yeah, you’re going to see that people go like, you know, flocks.”
- “My parents literally built a position that allowed them to retire at 50 years old.”
- “You know, you’ve got the ability to put away a couple hundred grand a year; live a really nice life.”
Action Steps:
- Start early with financial education for kids: Introducing kids to financial concepts through small-scale entrepreneurial activities, like Shannon’s shaved ice business, lets them learn valuable lessons about money management and work ethic practically and engagingly. This approach helps overcome the challenge of abstract financial education by making lessons tangible and relatable.
- Encourage team building and leadership in real estate ventures: As seen in Shannon’s family history, assembling and effectively managing a team can lead to scalability and long-term success in real estate and other business ventures. Focusing on creating a supportive and collaborative culture addresses the challenge of attrition due to competitors offering better financial incentives.
- Utilize creative financing and renting strategies: Shannon’s decision to rent his home instead of buying allows more capital to be invested elsewhere, demonstrating a strategic approach to personal finance. This highlights the opportunity to rethink traditional homeownership and leverage financial resources for better returns.
- Teach the value of hard work through real-world consequences: Shannon’s approach of requiring his children to make monthly payments on their first car teaches them the importance of responsibility and budgeting. This method effectively instills a sense of accountability and prepares them for future financial independence by making the cost of convenience and mobility apparent.
- Guide children in making informed educational and career choices: By showing his stepdaughter the financial outcomes of different career paths within dentistry, Shannon provided her with a clear understanding of the long-term implications of her educational investment. This empowers young adults to make informed decisions about their education and career based on potential returns rather than short-term costs.
Sponsor: Rise25
At Rise25, we’re committed to helping you connect with your Dream 100 referral partners, clients, and strategic partners through our done-for-you podcast solution.
We’re a professional podcast production agency that makes creating a podcast effortless. Since 2009, our proven system has helped thousands of B2B businesses build strong relationships with referral partners, clients, and audiences without doing the hard work.
What do you need to start a podcast?
When you use our proven system, all you need is an idea and a voice. We handle the strategy, production, and distribution – you just need to show up and talk.
The Rise25 podcasting solution is designed to help you build a profitable podcast. This requires a specific strategy, and we’ve got that down pat. We focus on making sure you have a direct path to ROI, which is the most important component. Plus, our podcast production company takes any heavy lifting of production and distribution off your plate.
We make distribution easy
We’ll distribute each episode across more than 11 unique channels, including iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We’ll also create a copy for each episode and promote your show across social media.
Cofounders Dr. Jeremy Weisz and John Corcoran credit podcasting as being the best thing they have ever done for their businesses. Podcasting connected them with the founders/CEOs of P90x, Atari, Einstein Bagels, Mattel, Rx Bars, YPO, EO, Lending Tree, Freshdesk, and many more.
The relationships you form through podcasting run deep. Jeremy and John became business partners through podcasting. They have even gone on family vacations and attended weddings of guests who have been on the podcast.
Podcast production has a lot of moving parts and is a big commitment on our end; we only want to work with people who are committed to their business and to cultivating amazing relationships.
Are you considering launching a podcast to acquire partnerships, clients, and referrals? Would you like to work with a podcast agency that wants you to win?
Contact us now at [email protected] or book a call at rise25.com/bookcall.
Rise25 Cofounders, Dr. Jeremy Weisz and John Corcoran, have been podcasting and advising about podcasting since 2008.
Episode Transcript
John Corcoran: 00:00
All right. Today we’re talking about how to build legacy wealth, especially how to teach the next generation to really have a good attitude, to have a good work ethic and to manage money and not squander it. My guest today is Shannon Robnett. I’ll tell you more about him in a second, so stay tuned.
Intro: 00:17
Welcome to the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, where we feature top entrepreneurs, business leaders, and thought leaders and ask them how they built key relationships to get where they are today. Now let’s get started with the show.
John Corcoran: 00:34
All right. Welcome, everyone. John Corcoran here. I’m the host of this show. And you know, if you’ve listened previously that each week I feature smart CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs from all kinds of companies.
We’ve had Netflix and Grubhub, Redfin, gusto, Kinko’s, IPO, EO, Activision Blizzard. Go check out the archives. Lots of great episodes for you there. And of course, this episode was brought to you by Rise25, our company where we help B2B businesses to get client referrals and strategic partnerships with Done-For-you podcasts and content marketing. And you can learn all about what we do by going to Rise25.com
All right. I’m excited to have our guest here today. His name is Shannon Robnett. He’s the CEO of Shannon Robnett Industries. He’s a Principal at Vertical Equity LLC, Phoenix Commercial Construction, and Executive Management Services. He’s been in real estate development and syndication for about 30 years or so, and he actually is part of five generations, including the next generation. So four generations above him. If I’m doing my math right, maybe three. We’re all in real estate, and that is what he has dedicated his career to.
And so we’re going to talk about that. But also, more importantly, he and I met at a conference and we had a great conversation about how to raise your kids the right way to have the right attitude, the right work ethic, to spend their money in the right way, and how to invest the money. And he’s got some great stories around that. But, Shannon, I’m excited to have you here today and I want to hear about Snow Shack. You had a shaved ice business.
And the funny thing about that is you figure you learn them pretty quickly. Maybe we’re giving away too many samples because your friends are coming by and you’re like, yeah, sure, take a shaved ice. And you realize, well, that doesn’t really help with the bottom line.
Shannon Robnett: 02:11
Yeah. You know, John, we were complaining, my brother and I, that, you know, we didn’t want to spend another summer working around job sites cleaning up for my parents. And so there was a guy in town that had these established snow shacks, and he had a really good program. And so my parents did the initial lease for us on one of those. And, man, we were pretty excited.
And sure enough, you know, we did what everybody’s good buddy would do. You know, we were giving all of our friends free snow cones the first week, and then we had to buy more products. And, you know, our till was a little bit empty. And, you know, then we started, we had to figure out things. We had to figure out what schedule it was because it was just my brother and I.
So we hired another employee and we had a really simple schedule that we worked and, you know, we did the IOU in the cash box because back then, John, you know, as a cash box, right? I mean, yeah. And we had.
John Corcoran: 03:02
No one’s been mowing you for. No, no, no Venmo.
Shannon Robnett: 03:05
Yeah.
John Corcoran: 03:05
Yeah, yeah.
Shannon Robnett: 03:06
But you know, we did all these things and it was on a very small scale with a very small enterprise. And, but at the end of the summer this was back in I think 85, 86, you know, we paid ourselves $3 an hour all year long. We had bus passes, we had the Roaring Springs Pass with the water park. So, you know, we had these activities that we were paying for. And at the end of the year, we still had, you know, 1500 bucks, which was a really sizable chunk of money.
And we learned all those business lessons in a way that we didn’t really sit down like we were going to class. You know, my parents just said, hey, you know, what do you guys want to do about this? And we had a conversation around the dinner table, and we kind of came up with this idea of a schedule. And, you know, we just did simple things like that, and it really didn’t feel like we were being schooled, but at the end of it, we had figured those things out. That carried on later into our lives.
And it was absolutely those kinds of things that really infected us early on with the entrepreneurial bug. Because, you know, back then, John, the minimum wage was four and a quarter. You know, I think it was 325. So we were making minimum wage, which was all we were capable of. But I was 13 years old.
Nobody was going to hire me, you know. And it sure was a lot easier than being out mowing lawns or doing whatever else you could kind of drum up by talking to the neighbors and things like that. And so usually.
John Corcoran: 04:32
Those minimum wage jobs are not that much fun. Yeah. They’re not. Yeah.
Shannon Robnett: 04:36
They’re not, you know, sitting in a snow shack talking to pretty girls when you’re 11, 12, 13 years old was a lot of fun, you know.
John Corcoran: 04:42
Yeah.
Shannon Robnett: 04:43
So yeah, that was my first entrepreneurial experience. And that was what really hooked me on the entrepreneurial journey.
John Corcoran: 04:51
But you’d actually observed your parents and your grandparents, your You’re. I think it was your grandmother’s best friend. Ran a large real estate brokerage team. Tell us a little bit about the lessons from that. Yeah.
Shannon Robnett: 05:03
So, you know, my great grandfather was selling real estate right after the Great Depression. So he didn’t cause the Great Depression and the real estate price crash. But then my grandmother sold real estate. My mother was a real estate broker for over 40 years, had, I think, 68 agents and retired abruptly at 72. Just decided she didn’t want to be a broker and she still holds her license.
But you know, what I saw there was about team management. You know, and my grandmother’s best friend, Etterlene, ran a very successful Re Max office into her 80s because she had assembled a team and she had, I think, 170 agents with her and had built out just a powerful training machine and allowing new agents to get empowered and learn and and connect and and I saw how that could work. You know, John, if you’re assembling a widget and you’re putting a widget together, you know, you have the power to put together ten widgets a day. But if you’re if you’ve got a team of 30. Well, now you’re talking about 300 widgets a day.
Even though your profit margin goes down because you’re not making the hourly wage of assembling the widget, you’re able to maximize that and really build. I think now everybody calls it scaling. You’re able to scale your business based on your ability to be someone that is not only visionary, but also can train and empower other people to do things that elevate the whole business.
John Corcoran: 06:44
Right, right. And, you know, maybe this is a contemporary thing, or maybe it’s, you know, I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Maybe it’s a Bay Area thing, but I’ve observed I was just talking to my wife about this. A couple of days ago in the real estate market over the last 20 years. There’s been a lot of fluctuation.
It seems like real estate brokerage will get really big and all the agents go there, and then another one will become the hot place, and they all go over there, and then another one becomes a hot place and they all go there. You know, it happens over five, ten years or something like this. Maybe generationally, that wasn’t the case 30 years, 40 years ago. But what do you think is the secret to like, keeping a team of people happy so that they aren’t just going and chasing the next, you know, lower commission or higher commission or whatever it is they were getting?
Shannon Robnett: 07:31
Well, I think that has to do with culture. You know, I mean, there are a lot of brokerages in boxes that come out that, you know, promise this and do that and do all these other things. But at the end of the day, what is the culture? Who are you working with? Is it really a team environment?
And when you have those structural building blocks of a good company. It’s not about money all the time. You know, people do weigh that, and they say, hey, I can go make $1,000 more per sale over here, but am I going to get the support? Am I going to get the training? Am I going to get assistance?
Am I going to get the culture here where, you know, we’ve been and you know, my mother had when she had her brokerage, she had agents with her for decades, you know, that that were just, you know, consistent in staying there because the culture was good and, and, you know, all of the things that come with it that are non-monetary. And I think if all you’re dealing with is based on price, yeah, you’re going to see that, you know, people go like, you know, flocks, they, they go here, they go there. But, you know, if you’ve really got a good culture and a good office environment of help and teamwork, you’re going to be able to stay long term and keep a good solid core.
John Corcoran: 08:47
Now, when you were a kid, your father was a builder and a developer. And so you grew up around homes being built, and you actually ended up again when you got a little older. You built your own house. Like literally building your own house from learning that and talking a little bit about that, that lesson of knowing how to do all of the things to the point where you can actually literally build a house. Yeah.
Shannon Robnett: 09:11
Well, you know, I mean, I’ve done all the parts, right. I mean, I’d run backhoes and dozers, and I’d poured concrete and I’d done some small framing and stuff like that, just growing up, just being around. But I told my dad when I was 19 that I wanted to build a house, I wanted to start building houses, and the first thing he said was, go get the backhoe, you know? So we went out, we dug the foundation, we hired the concrete guys to come in and put in the foundation. There were two other guys that I hired as farmers.
We framed the house as a little 1100 square footer, three bed, two bath. We framed that in about seven days, eight days, and then had the HVAC and the plumbing crews come in and do all that work all the way through insulation, and then sheet rockers come in. I went in and stained and lacquered all the doors, painted it inside and out, poured all the flatwork. We did the stucco on the house, did the cleanup and, you know, had the I built all the cabinets. And so while all of this was going on, I went and did all these other things so that it was ready.
But, you know, it’s funny, John, in my first house, I still remember this to this day. I go to install the cabinets, and the corner cabinet in the kitchen doesn’t fit because the window got framed in the wrong spot. The window got framed over eight inches, and so I had to go rebuild this cabinet, tear it all apart and rebuild it. And it took me a whole day to do that. And I was complaining and my dad was sitting there going, well, why didn’t you measure it?
You built it. Why didn’t you measure and double check the plans? And then before you went and built the cabinets, why didn’t you measure it again? And it was a very important lesson on the, you know, measure twice cut once kind of thing. But it taught me what you need to look for when these things are going on.
And so, you know, after about three houses, I started to get a little bit of a team there where I didn’t frame them anymore and didn’t do those kinds of things because I was able to, again, have other people do that work where I was able to go get another job and wound up getting a job for a company, building up a industrial building for them, which obviously was much larger than just a house, because I had other people doing the manual tasks and was able to elevate my experience and my expertise to be able to go out and talk to people and and know what I’m talking about, but also knew how to build it.
John Corcoran: 11:34
It’s funny how those lessons, like that 1100 square foot house, a window being put in eight inches over the consequences of that happening on these larger scale projects that you’ve worked on are so much greater. Right. And but still in the back of your mind is the lesson that you learned from that when you’re 19 years old and, you know, having to put that in place. And I imagine now you have, you know, employees whose job it is to double check, to make sure that everyone’s putting the windows in the right place and the doors in the right place and the garage.