Meet Zac Regan

We were lucky to catch up with Zac Regan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Zac, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I think finding your purpose is an over-romanticized idea.
You only find your purpose from trial and error. Too many of us think we need to find that thing we like right away. It’s just not true. I have forced my way to where I am at.

Does running a small business feel like my purpose?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

I think the important part is that I wake up every day with something to do.
Something to propel me forward. A vessel for growth.

This whole journey started at the car dealership I worked for in high school (shoutout Lake Norman Auto Exchange).
I was a detailer and learned pretty much everything there was to learn in regards to detailing.

This job was great but like most high schoolers I eventually went off to college, came back, and saw my hours at the dealership had been cut in half. I was making no money and had a ton of time on my hands.

My buddy and I came to the realization we were both still flat broke so we decided to start making posts on Nextdoor offering our detailing services. This was back in 2021.

We learned a ton… essentially how to run a simple service business.
The barrier to entry and sales/ marketing skills required were little to none. This made learning easy.

The funny part was I never liked detailing. I appreciated the outcome, but borderline despised the process.
This was not my purpose. But something kept me coming back.

I ended up going back to college in the fall of 2021. Where a good friend of mine heard what I was doing and came to me about making a push to start detailing full-time.

By the spring of 2022, we had done just that and The Detailing Company LLC had begun.

We grew that business to have 4-6 guys working with us at a time and multiple commercial clients. We never had to work another job while in school…

This showed me a ton about business, how to manage people, money, time, and more than I could ask for.

Now I could go into a ton of depth from there but the key here is that I never enjoyed detailing.
But I stuck with it because I was continuing to grow.

Focus on growth, not purpose.

These skills turned into an 8-month attempt at a real estate wholesaling business, and a pivot into being a marketing/ sales operator for other businesses where I build out websites, landing pages, set up backend CRM’s, automations, email/SMS marketing, take sales calls, and the list goes on.

The key is I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without starting somewhere.

This is almost 4 years later from the first detailing gig I ever went on. 4 years…

The point I’m trying to make here is to manufacture your purpose.

Don’t wait for it to come to you.

Create surface area to find fulfillment.
Don’t wait for it.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I went over a lot of my story in the question about finding your purpose so I wanted to talk more about what comes with that journey.

All of my time is spent learning and doing business.

I don’t go out and I don’t have any hobbies I currently partake in.

To some that may seem a little extreme.
And yes this has put strain on relationships with family and friends in the past.

To me, it’s the price you pay to control your time as soon as possible.

I’m 22 and will be 23 this month (September). I’ve got my whole life ahead of me.
If I devote my time to this for 5-10 years there’s no way I don’t have complete control over my time.
Putting me at between 28-33. Not too shabby.

The good part with all of this is what you learn along the way.
Being an entrepreneur opens your eyes to a lot. More than I expected at least.

You learn how to communicate with people and be an active listener through sales.
You learn how to capture attention and what some of the biggest businesses do to keep you coming back for more through marketing.
You learn how systems work… school, government, etc, and how they are built to serve their own agenda not always yours.

Everything is in some way related to business whether you realize it or not.

This journey has led me to become more confident, strengthen my relationships, learn to disregard rejection entirely (seriously it’s not that big a deal), and more than I could ask for.

Being an entrepreneur is one of the only vehicles that require you to change and grow.
You learn you are the only reason your business will plateau.
You will learn to never place blame on someone else.
All well increasing your tolerance for stress.

Growth is everything to me, and who I become in the process is the outcome I am striving for.

The physical achievements do not matter and no one cares about them either.
Money is an indication you are doing something right to an extent, but it does not mean you are truly successful.
There are plenty of people with a ton of money who live miserable lives.

That’s why it’s important to chase who you will become, not some achievement no one will remember.
Ask yourself who will be at your funeral, not how “extravagant” will it be.

So start becoming the person you’ve always wanted to.
Not chasing some monetary figure.

It’s about the journey…

In fact, I have a podcast to share other’s journeys as well titled “Why Tell Your Story?”, and will have anyone who is doing what they care about and becoming who they want to be on the podcast.

Business owner.
Professional hobbyist.
Anything really if you have a goal you’re constantly striving for I want to talk to you.

Outside of that if you are looking for some feedback on your marketing and sales processes give me a call.
I will look over everything from top of funnel to bottom of funnel.

Your copy, retargeting campaigns, offer structure, branding, sales process, etc. You name it, I’ll take a look.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1) Learn to listen and ask questions.

Assuming an answer means something is not always true. No one cares about you, they only care about themselves.
By listening and asking questions you make sure you keep the conversation focused on them.
Only speak about yourself if they ask, seriously no one cares and everyone acts in their own self-interest. Often times without realizing it, regardless of whether they are money-hungry or a full-time philanthropist.

2) Ask for feedback.

Feedback is the holy grail of life and you want it all… the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Without feedback, you will continue to make guesses about your future that may make no sense whatsoever.
Receiving feedback does mean increasing your tolerance for rejection so be prepared for that.
If you can master asking for and receiving feedback you will crush.
From a business perspective, I like to ask my clients once every 3-4 weeks for feedback.
This shows intent and intent is all you need to stay in the game.

Learn to write.

This is something I picked up on recently and this doesn’t mean you don’t need to be a crazy word smith or super tight grammatically.
If anything learn to write in your own style.
This will help you to structure your thoughts and really think through things.
I encourage anyone to write 2-5 pages about anything somewhat informative a week.
This will help you to structure ideas and create your own database of knowledge to reference or sell in the future.
I do not mean writing creatively unless you are actively practicing storytelling techniques.
That is more of a hobby used to develop skills than an asset to be repurposed.

3) Just get started.

Writer’s block, a lack of motivation, and even just being flat-out tired can all be solved by starting to move.
Put the phone away and sit to yourself until some action is taken.
If you give yourself no option but to do the thing you’ll start doing it to avoid boredom.
It’s fine to sit there for 10 minutes doing nothing.
But I mean NOTHING…
This isn’t scrolling on social media or doing a different task than you planned.
DO THE THING OR DO NOTHING.
I promise you will start within 15 minutes of staring at a wall.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

My parents made sure I knew I could chase my dreams.

Yes, there is always some doubt in the beginning that’s bound to occur when anyone tries something new or “risky”.
Your parents care about you and want to see you succeed not fail.
So when failure is a very likely possibility this can be hard.

But they never told me I couldn’t do it.
They always said as long as I put forth my best effort that’s all that matters.

Without this, I don’t know if I would be where I am at today.

Their willingness to say, go do the thing.
To my brother, sister and I… meant the world.

So if you’re reading this Mom and Dad, thank you… for everything.
I know I sometimes go MIA and “work too much”, but I’m chasing my dreams.

I have you guys to thank for that and I couldn’t be happier in the process.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://whyrealhousestories.com
• Instagram: zac.regan
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachary-regan-969a24175/
• Twitter: https://x.com/zac_regan_