Ral T. West unpacks the six principles behind her BOSS Mastermind, and how systems, delegation, and a clear mindset shift let SMB owners step out of daily chaos and into real ownership.
GROWTH PILLAR: Leadership & Ops
WHO THIS IS FOR: SMB owners / Solopreneurs / Corporate escapees / Leaders building systems
WHAT THEY'LL GAIN: A working blueprint for moving from operator to owner — six principles, real examples, and the mindset shift that makes delegation actually stick.
What if your business could grow without you in every seat? Ral T. West built an eight-figure Alaska-to-Hawaii charter airline, sold it to Alaska Airlines, and moved to Maui in 1999, while the business kept running. The secret was not hustle. It was systems.
In this conversation, Ral walks Bernie through the six principles behind her BOSS Mastermind (Business Owner Success Strategies). She shares how she and her husband went from answering every reservation call themselves to hiring a COO and CFO who asked one question on day one: "Are you sure you're going to be able to let go?" Then they bought the house in Maui.
Key topics covered:
Mentors and tools mentioned: Robert Kiyosaki, Tony Robbins, OmniFocus, and Ral's advisory board of three Alaska executives.
Connect with Ral T. West · LinkedIn · YouTube · Instagram · Facebook
Book a Let's Talk call with Ral · Read her book Unshakeable: Stories to Anchor You Through Life's Storms
Browse all episodes of K4B, ETW, and CGN.
— PARTNERS ON THIS EPISODE —
Next Steps:
Bernie (00:22)
Question to the audience. Why does your business run your life instead of giving you one? Our guest will unpack how overworked owner-operators can step out of daily chaos and into true ownership by building simple systems, shifting their mindset and creating teams that run the business without constant supervision.
growth doesn't come at the cost of your personal life. Our guest today is Ral T. West, visionary business leader, systemization expert, bestselling author who draws on four decades of entrepreneurial experience to help overworked owner-operators become confident business owners with real freedom. Through her boss mastermind, Business Owner Success Strategies, she shows founders how to stop trading the lives for their businesses.
by building systems that scale, teams that perform, and companies that don't depend on constant hustle. Ral has founded and sold multiple successful ventures, including an eight-figure Alaskan tourism business acquired by Alaska Airlines. She's also well-respected both in the tourism and multifamily real estate sectors, a dynamic speaker and frequent podcast guest. Ral is also an author of Unshakeable.
Stories to anchor you through life's storms. Sharing hard-won lessons on leadership, resilience, and clarity. When she's not mentoring business owners or speaking, Ral lives in Alaska with her husband, or somewhere in the world, chasing their next adventure. Ral, it's an absolute pleasure having you here today. Do you have a favorite quote or saying, ma'am?
Ral (01:49)
gosh, well, great things in business are never done by one person. They're done by a team of credit Steve Jobs for
Ral (01:57)
people.
Bernie (02:00)
And tagline wise.
Ral (02:02)
My tagline is be your business's owner not the operator.
Bernie (02:06)
So your focus on, know, people don't have to hustle to be successful. When did that magic epiphany land in your life?
Ral (02:14)
And that landed in my lap when I was the one that was hustling. Up to my eyeballs in running a business, growing a family, you volunteer efforts, you name it. I was working around the clock. I didn't know which way. And our business was growing rapidly. We could, my husband and I were running it together. We couldn't. Now we went, this, this has got to change it. Particularly the moment.
Ral (02:18)
And I was...
And I was up and
keep up.
Ral (02:41)
When I hired a new reservations agent, what was an airline, but it was through chartering jets, not a scheduled service. ⁓ We grew so fast that we needed more reservations agents and I hired one. Time to do anything other than just, there's the phone, answer it, take a booking. The training. Okay, that sucks. That is just not gonna fly.
Ral (02:42)
We have basically.
And
And I didn't have to say.
And that was, I'm like.
So we need to create some systems.
Bernie (03:09)
That was funny. like that.
Ral (03:10)
Yeah. So.
Ral (03:13)
Yeah,
I do that a lot actually, like, you know, the business really took off, you know, that kind of thing.
Ral (03:17)
So yeah, that was the ⁓
Ral (03:21)
mistake
of living it.
Ral (03:23)
Mm-hmm.
Bernie (03:24)
Why airlines? Most people go, I'm going to sell widgets, digits, and snacks, and snarls, or whatever the case might be. But airlines, that's unique. Maybe as well just give me a rock at the MERS.
Ral (03:34)
Oh, I'm out of this.
Yeah well and you know of course Warren Buffett airlines that's you know labor intensive capital intensive you know we actually my husband loves to say we're like you know maybe the rare rare people that we've made money with airlines and cruise ships because after we sold our business we got into buying cruise ships we made money with both crazy I know but we're we're opportunistic
Ral (03:43)
Don't do that.
That's the worst of business.
So, what's up?
and ⁓
Ral (04:10)
In the early
eighties, I had a business in Anchorage, Alaska, where I was doing marketing consulting for tourism businesses, because I had grown up in a tourism business. My family owned an Alaska tourism business. So that was my, you know, my bread and butter all through my growing up years. I was a weaned dog. So I had some clients that were Hawaii travel companies and
Ral (04:22)
So.
and I'm to
I
was.
Ral (04:33)
representing them to all the travel agents in Alaska. So to fly off to learn about the products I was selling. I met this guy across the hall in office suite. And he's like, you're going to in. I'd like to get in on that. I'm selling real estate. ⁓ Decided to kind of merge the two and started representing Alaskans who own condos in Hawaii.
Ral (04:37)
had to go to Hawaii to...
and this that I was in and why again ⁓ and he was so so he
Hawaii.
Ral (05:02)
I'll be your sales rep and I'll rent
the condos for you in exchange for a commission. So then I stepped in and said well you know that's fine but you need to package it with rental cars and Inner Island Air and of course I represented the Inner Island airline and a rental car company. So we created
Ral (05:15)
and I want to.
create packages.
Well, then like
Ral (05:21)
And you
know, now we need to get the people to Hawaii. So we need to have a way to fly from Anchorage to Honolulu, which is called Trans-Pacific Air, you know, or the Pacific. And in case you didn't know this, the length of the flight from Anchorage to Honolulu was about the same as from Seattle to Honolulu, San Francisco, or Los Angeles, about five and a half hours. From Anchorage, you kind of fly straight south rather than west.
Ral (05:30)
The
So it's just.
than.
So we figured out how.
Ral (05:48)
seats from scheduled carriers and that worked really well until they pulled out of the market and we had a great little business going but way to get people to Hawaii and so the business just fell like a rock. I said okay now do we close the business you know we didn't have any debt it was started on a shoestring so in case you haven't guessed that's the guy I married you know regressed a little bit 42 years ago yeah
Ral (05:50)
Well
You know, what do we do?
And he's still. ⁓
Ral (06:17)
Still around somewhere.
Anyway, he found a plane that was being used on charters to Japan during the summer, anchored to Tokyo. And that plane, when it wasn't doing that charter, flew back to Honolulu empty. He went to that airline and said, we could fill that place, those seats and make some money on it. And, you know, I looked at your 10 cues and you could use this extra boost to your revenue. And anyway, he convinced them, we chartered this DC for a summer series.
Ral (06:33)
So, hey, we're playing for you. You can feel the.
So, C8, it was. ⁓
Ral (06:50)
So whether 12 or
14 flights, I don't remember, but you know, like once a week throughout the summer. And everybody thought we were crazy because it's summertime in Alaska. Alaskans don't go to Hawaii in the summer. And I just went, I looked at all of my spreadsheets. Analyzing the traffic that we had actually sold in previous summers. And I went, no, we have those numbers. We can do this.
Ral (07:03)
see so
⁓ look
Ral (07:17)
because it's just once a week and the DCA only carries 200 something passengers. We can do this. We've got the numbers to prove. Bet the farm on that charter. And by God, we sold every seat. That's what gave us the confidence to continue chartering. We became a scheduled charter airline.
Ral (07:23)
it.
So.
and well.
Bernie (07:37)
Wow. But that's, know, it just shows that you paid attention to one detail. You didn't know that it would have wheels up and in the air a moment, you know, in your next business. But that is really, it's fascinating.
Ral (07:53)
Well, and all of these lessons that we learned during those early years, those are the reasons why we became successful. So in the last three years or so, I started another business and that purpose of that business is to teach entrepreneurs the six principles that were the foundation of our success. That's what I'm doing in this boss mastermind that you mentioned.
Ral (08:03)
and
So.
hours.
and
And
Ral (08:18)
These are six principles that are timeless. Doesn't matter whether you're in the airline business or selling widgets. These principles will build a business that's rock solid and destined to have.
Ral (08:24)
as you said.
lasting success.
Bernie (08:31)
So I have been told that Maui and Hawaii are among the most beautiful places in the world. I have also been told that it's hard to stay connected with North American business in Hawaii. Do you find it hard being literally bipolar?
What?
Ral (08:47)
You
Ral (08:48)
okay, you weren't supposed to say that, you know.
like an island mentality. So sometimes you get island fever. you know what, in Alaska, we live on an island as well. We live in Sitka, which is on Baranof Island, which is one of the 10 largest islands in the United States. And it's ⁓ bigger than Maui, actually. But
Ral (09:00)
which is the video.
Ral (09:07)
use a lot of communication systems. Thank God for the internet and zoom and ways to stay in touch so it's really not that hard. Used to the fact that you don't get overnight x you have two day FedEx because it just takes a little bit longer whether you're in Alaska or Hawaii and you know the Amazon packages don't arrive the next day maybe it's
Ral (09:11)
and
days
for two weeks later. those
Ral (09:31)
Those are
some of the hardships and of course the cost of living is higher both in Hawaii and Alaska because everything has to be shipped in. But you know we've got Costco here on Maui, we don't in Sitka. We fly to Seattle regularly that's only a couple hours away. But yeah there are some challenges.
Ral (09:42)
So.
So we do that.
⁓ But you figure it out.
⁓
Ral (09:55)
We follow the humpback whales. They've been doing that for, God,
thousands if not millions of years, traveled between Alaska and Hawaii. So we do the same thing.
Ral (10:02)
They've.
So.
Bernie (10:06)
You mentioned your you mentioned your boss Academy and you have you have the seven components to that. What's that all about?
Ral (10:15)
Okay, well.
Ral (10:16)
Mastermind is a year-round program where there are twice monthly calls on Zoom like for an hour. We go through the six principles and I have guest speakers that come in and share about their expertise because believe it or not even though I've been around a really long time I'm not an expert in everything.
Ral (10:33)
And
people...
Ral (10:35)
entrepreneurs,
business owners, and the mastermind are learning how to get themselves out of that day-to-day grind, step back to be the owner and not the operator. And this is what my husband and I did. I mean it took
Ral (10:43)
and
years for us to figure this out. you
Ral (10:51)
Using
the boss mastermind and my six principles people can get that handled in a lot of time. I bet they can get it. They work at it. It's not just going to happen by waving a magic wand. The idea is that if you're
Ral (10:55)
like get it in a year if you know
but.
in the just the the throat
Ral (11:08)
of the day-to-day operation of your business, chances are you're the bottleneck. Your business is growth. I know that's what we expect. You know, we couldn't scale the business until we learned how to use systems, how to empower our team, how to create a culture that really supported the team. Being able to make decisions on their own without us being there to, you know, watch over their shoulder and tell them what to do. You can't grow the business.
Ral (11:13)
to your experience.
you
Ral (11:37)
if that's what has to happen. And if you're the one that's answering all the questions and being the problem solver, you're not going to grow your business. Joining Boss will help you out of that so you can actually grow and scale your business.
Ral (11:44)
So to get out.
and have a life.
Ral (11:52)
know because I just really don't believe we need to be enslaved by our businesses. I think that most of us who are entrepreneurs decided oh I'm going to be an entrepreneur because I want freedom and I want to do everything my way. This sounds wonderful and then you get into it it's like oh my
Ral (11:54)
that
you
this.
Ral (12:09)
is horrible. This is I-
Ral (12:12)
round the clock response and exhaustion. That's not really what you want. I don't want it and I'm trying to teach other entrepreneurs that they don't have to live that way.
Ral (12:13)
and you know.
Dude.
They just.
Bernie (12:23)
A
of our listeners are basically in their hearts technicians. They learned a skill and started doing it for money and boom, I'm in a business. But several years later, they're working in their business and not on their business. How do you help you transition?
Ral (12:40)
⁓ well.
Ral (12:40)
first thing that they need to do is read the book called the E-Myth by
Ral (12:43)
Michael Gerberg.
Ral (12:47)
Exactly.
We read that book in 1994. It was Robert Kiyosaki that recommended that book to us because he was our mentor. We were having lunch with him on the big island and he said, you got to get this book. And we picked it up that day and read it cover to cover and went, okay, this is what we're going to do with our business. One of the inputs, creating all the systems. Talked exactly about that. It's like, you've got to, whether you're a plumber or a baker,
Ral (13:03)
And that was one of the epitaphs for because he
or you're
Ral (13:13)
or whatever your craft is, you start a business because I know how to do this really well. But that doesn't mean you know how to run a business. You need to step back and learn how to run a business. And that involves identifying the various roles that are required to run a business. There's the manager role, the marketing role, the finance role, the operations role, and then make sure that someone is what, what, what, what,
Ral (13:15)
is you do this.
So.
all of
or your on and in.
Ral (13:40)
manager hat on. In
a startup business, know, maybe the owner, the entrepreneur is wearing all the hats. Okay, well that's fine to begin with. You still have to really identify what are and make sure that you're covering those roles and plan your time accordingly and, you know, orchestrate how you run your business that each one of those roles is covered. And then as you grow, you start
Ral (13:51)
but.
what those
each of them.
So
You don't.
Ral (14:07)
itemizing if you will. Those roles where you can find somebody else to bring on your team whether it's a contract worker, nowadays virtual assistants they're wonderful and okay let's
Ral (14:08)
what each requires and then you.
parse out this
Ral (14:21)
particular aspect of a role
to someone. You start delegating. I hear many many business owners say delegating doesn't work.
Ral (14:25)
And I
I've tried it and it never works out. They do it wrong.
Ral (14:34)
I just have to end up doing it myself. yeah. What I learned was that there's an art to delegating and if you practice the art correctly you can delegate just about
Ral (14:37)
You've heard that. I say that.
and
anything.
Ral (14:50)
the trick
is to be very very specific about what you want. What is the outcome that you're looking for and a timeline for when it needs to and then don't stop there you actually also create feedback loops. You tell yourself you know you have to have a little system for yourself to set up a little reminder in whatever to where you need to help you you know manage your productivity. Say all right next week or the week after I'm checking back with so to see how they're doing
Ral (14:58)
be done.
so that you.
software you're using.
So on
that and see.
Ral (15:19)
Let
me see your progress. What are you running into? Do you need any help? Or if they're off track and veering off to somewhere else, you can get them back on track. That's what it takes to delegate properly and get the outcomes that you want. That's where you can gradually build trust. Because a lot of entrepreneurs say, I can't have a team that does all this for me. I have to do it myself.
Ral (15:23)
you know, or
And.
I don't trust anybody else.
Ral (15:44)
You build
trust one step at a time. ⁓
Bernie (15:48)
found
yourself. You found the micromanager when you found that person right that does that.
Ral (15:53)
Yeah.
Ral (15:54)
Yeah.
Bernie (15:54)
So someone who's like.
Ral (15:55)
doesn't work.
Bernie (15:56)
Only if it's you micromanaging yourself and only then. You mentioned you had mentors and who else was part of your mentoring? Like who did you surround yourself with to keep things on track for yourself and your business?
Ral (15:59)
Yeah.
⁓ we have
Ral (16:11)
We had
lots of mentors. primary one was Robert Kiyosaki, particularly in the early days in the 80s and 90s. This was before he wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad, by the way. ⁓ And we studied with Tony Robbins a lot. we've read books. We've taken courses. And we decided to bring on an advisory board to help us grow the business. We identified three
Ral (16:21)
and we've
and we of course like I told you and
So we are the very
top tier.
Ral (16:39)
executives in Alaska business. We invited them to be on our board of directors. They didn't own any
shares. know, they didn't really have a vote or advisor. These three gentlemen, one was the CEO of the largest grocery store chain in Alaska. Another one had been a bank president and very, very successful entrepreneur. And another one was very high up in the tourism industry in Alaska, had been president of the Alaska visitors.
Ral (16:47)
but they were teachers and
you know.
So, and the is just valuable for.
Ral (17:07)
etc. These guys were invaluable for
guiding us and helping us make the big decisions.
Bernie (17:15)
So I'm struggling with, first ⁓ I understand dopamine, but I talk to lot of entrepreneurs that their dream is to actually quit their job and move to Hawaii. You moved to Hawaii and didn't quit your job.
Ral (17:28)
Well, we can't do this because
Ral (17:29)
to quit our job.
1999 was the year that we, I'm in right now. And that was also the year that we hired a chief operating officer, chief financial officer. Cause by that time we had, we had the systems, had the culture, we had the team, we had all of our reporting set up so that we could track what the company was doing daily, weekly, monthly, from wherever we were in the world. We said, okay, you guys, you can run it.
Ral (17:34)
bought this house.
and it's
set up the foundation.
and
Ral (17:59)
run it without us. And their big question to us when we hired them was, are you sure you're going to be able to let go? And then we bought the house in Maui and we said, see ya.
Ral (18:08)
That was their answer.
Ral (18:11)
You know,
that didn't mean we weren't present and, you know, involved in the, in the business, but we weren't there every day for sure. And we would have meetings in the, not video like this. And, and then we would have our meetings with our board of advisors. We would travel to different places in the world to have those meetings and the various department heads would make reports on what was going on. An orchestra leader.
Ral (18:19)
days it was just telephone meetings not
And we will.
and
So we kept our fingers on, but like,
know, guide the orchestra. weren't.
Ral (18:40)
playing any of the instruments,
we were still making sure that the tune was being played properly.
Bernie (18:44)
and love that metaphor.
You mentioned systems. Maybe some of them are enterprise. Maybe some of them go all the way down to mom and pop. What systems do you find you've gravitated that you either built or bought that you use every day?
Ral (18:47)
And I'm.
Well, just on a very, very basic.
Ral (19:01)
level. have one system that's an app that I use to juggle ⁓ my tasks. World business is going at any one time and we travel a lot and have the two homes and a yacht and people are always saying how do you keep track of it all? ⁓ So well, I've got a system.
Ral (19:07)
all of us.
and I'm.
So this app has thousands
Ral (19:23)
thousands
of tasks that it records and I set target dates for when this needs to be done or that needs to be done and this needs to be followed up. That's my guidepost every single day. I I start my day with it. I end my day with it. And it helps me prioritize and people like our bankers and CPS would say, you never let a ball drop. You're always following back up with us, checking on this project or that project. say, that's because I have a system.
Ral (19:31)
And.
PA support.
Listen.
Ral (19:49)
Yeah, they're amazed by it. you've got to there's a saying, you can't organize anything else before you organize yourself. You've to start by organizing yourself. That's what I use this app for. It's called OmniFocus. And there are tons of apps just like it out there. It doesn't have to this one. Pick one that works for you and stick with it and use it religiously. And it can help keep you organized.
Ral (19:51)
The start.
So you.
like it out there.
and
and
Ral (20:15)
And
then you go beyond that, the systems can be as simple as just having a list of processes and procedures that people need to follow. Whenever I have a fantastic VA and whenever we develop some new aspect business, it's like, OK, make sure that's recorded. We have the SOP. And if the SOPs change, make sure that they're updated. Those are all systems. can go on beyond that.
Ral (20:31)
Make sure you're these.
And then you can that.
Ral (20:40)
There was a point in our business where I think I mentioned that we took reservations by the phone and I told that reservations agent, phone, take a booking. When the business was growing rapidly, we couldn't keep reservations agents hired and trained fast enough. And our whole time was like an hour or more. Our customers were like, how many more reservations agents do we need to
Ral (20:46)
If go into the well.
right.
and not happy with us. It's like, need to fix this.
Ral (21:06)
to hire and how many hours can they be on call answering the phone. And we realized, you know what, we really need an automated reservation system. It can be online. And this was the late 90s.
Ral (21:10)
on.
The
Ral (21:17)
There were no stores that we could go to and say, here, I'd like to buy that reservation system. Didn't exist. So we had to find a software engineering company who would build it for us. It took two years, six digits of cost to develop this beta. We said, we don't want to be the beta. Well, we were the beta. ⁓ As soon as we were able to flip the switch,
Ral (21:36)
And it's.
Ral (21:41)
and start taking bookings online 24-7, whether we had anybody in the office or not. my God. Yeah, the business took off. Okay, another pun.
Ral (21:50)
It was just. In. As to how it is, but I'm sure.
Ral (21:51)
amazing. I don't even I don't have the number. My fingertips is through the business. They're
like you know five-fold ten-fold just immediately and we're able to eventually cut the reservation staff down from about 50 down to like 20-25. Incredible. Grew to where we were doing 35,000 passengers a year between Alaska and Hawaii. Eight digits in annual revenue.
Ral (22:01)
And we will
So it was awful.
and know mid
Ral (22:20)
So that kind of system, night and day difference for us.
Ral (22:22)
was announced.
Bernie (22:24)
Being there to delegation. And also, maybe if you don't do it, you become the bottleneck. It means you have to change your mindset. You have to change how you perceive yourself. How do you convince someone to go, you know, mind, mind, mind to relax, share, let it run. You know, how do you get them to get that head, you know, just the head space? A little twist here. You were right. Is rain. How do you get them there?
Ral (22:49)
That's a good question and it depends on the person as to how.
Ral (22:50)
That's a very good
Ral (22:54)
primed they are to make a mindset shift. People can do it quickly, others really have to do long and just do it, you know, it's like, you know, the old eat an elephant thing, just do it one little step at a time. If you take these little bitty steps and let's start by delegating this little... Create a comfort level. I think it also helps to get them focused on what they really want for their lives.
Ral (22:56)
shift. Some people have to the Others, you really have to coke some.
And, know, you, and, I.
Ral (23:21)
You what do you want your life to look like in five years, 10 years, 20 years? Is this the way you want to be living in the future? What would you like it to be like? And then, okay, if that's what you really want, you really want that freedom and you want to go off and lay on the beach in Hawaii, this is what we have to do. Get them to focus on that and objective. And that will help.
Ral (23:29)
you and what
And
And, know, that.
to shift the mind.
Bernie (23:49)
I understand that one of your KPIs, man I hate that term, but anyway, one of your KPIs is actually customer delight. How does that ship? What does that mean? How do you know a customer is delighted?
Ral (24:01)
Well, I
Ral (24:02)
often
do they come back and buy from you again and again?
Ral (24:05)
And again, we had this.
Ral (24:06)
You know, I told you we,
airline was just Alaska to Hawaii. Well, you know, the population of Alaska, I mean, right now it's like 750,000, but you know, 20 years ago or so it was, you know, maybe it was around a half a million. Well, how many times can you fill a plane through the entire population? We had to have repeat business, those planes full. We had to make sure those customers were delighted, poined,
Ral (24:19)
It's like.
If you just go
to keep all so we sure that and we
Ral (24:34)
A phrase, I think we learned this from Robert Kiyosaki that there's a thing called the valuable final product. VFPs, the acronym. And so we identified that our valuable final product was a tan, happy passenger getting off the plane back in Alaska saying, that was wonderful. I want to go back to Hawaii. You know, ready to book another trip right now.
Ral (24:39)
and you know for it.
That was wonderful.
again and then. So that was.
Ral (25:01)
measure for, you know, that's delighting a customer. I mentioned that we had unhappy customers when they were on hold too long and so forth and our customer feedback, which we did measure, that was, you know, a metric at KPI. I was like, ooh, this is bad. We're not going to be able to stay in business long if we're not pleasing our customers. We extra effort to make sure that we were finding out how our customers were feeling about us.
Ral (25:04)
and
So we would really.
Ral (25:29)
and then we would make the change that they were suggesting, you know, if this, that needed.
Ral (25:30)
just need to be fixed or need
to be fixed.
Ral (25:36)
sent
me to a hotel that just wasn't right for me. Oh, okay. Well, then we need to do a better job of listening to what it is that you're really looking for for your, for your vacation. What kind amenities, what kind of activities do you really want? kind of thing. Sure. That we're able to delight the customer and the entire culture of the organization revolved around making our customers happy. I don't know how to measure that other than you just,
Ral (25:38)
like a new thing to your.
What kind of these.
And that's the thing that makes.
And
just instill it in every member.
Ral (26:05)
you bring it up in every meeting
you just go there again and again and again.
Bernie (26:10)
You mentioned earlier that things changed and that's why you had to go. You were looking at airlines and then, you know, other things changed. And I'm sure the pandemic tripwired some other events, right? Because then you can't really go anywhere, right? But each of these are seminal moments where it's like, oh, my gosh, best laid plans and my cement. What do you do when you hit that moment going something started catastrophic, but there's been a shift.
where you would put footfall down normally, it's error now. How do you adapt?
Ral (26:41)
Well, we had quite a few that were way, even. ⁓
Ral (26:42)
catastrophic moments in our business earlier than the pandemic. One of them
was 9-11, of course, where all planes were grounded in Hawaii. But even before that, time where one day we got a phone call and said we were chartering from had been grounded by the FAA. Some inspector went in and said, you're not flying anymore.
Ral (26:52)
Yeah, the passenger stranded. ⁓ There was a one. The carrier that we.
and we're
like.
So.
Ral (27:10)
That requires being extremely flexible. Thank God we had a really great team that time. My husband was able to find a place that could jump in. And of course we had to pay through the nose. And we got those passengers taken care of. It was all hands on deck. know, everybody has to take, you know, communicate with all these passengers. They're in Hawaii. They want to come back to Alaska.
Ral (27:15)
by the time and.
plane.
for it.
And every
Ral (27:37)
And then the people who were in Alaska wanting to go to Hawaii, ⁓ it's catastrophic situation. And then there was another tour company that had chartered with the same airline. They weren't as adept as we were at pivoting and being flexible enough to find the solution. So we took care of them as well, took care of their passengers.
Ral (27:40)
It was a kind of,
And
And ⁓ so, yeah, that was, yeah, horrible.
Ral (28:01)
And then
there was another situation where the airline that we were chartering with filed bankruptcy. And they were still flying, but we were paying them in advance for these flights. And this was our customer's money that was now in their bank account. We didn't know what they were using it for. We figured they were using it for payroll and fuel and so on. We that when the time came to fly our flights, that they would still be operating.
Ral (28:04)
⁓ the airline
forth. So what would be the guarantee?
Ral (28:28)
but they have custom.
Ral (28:28)
our
money so that was my god this
Ral (28:31)
that like ⁓ god
this is not going to work we asked them to put our money into an escrow account it would be safe they said no we can't do that and we said back to the drawing board again flexibility pivot we found another airline found another plane you know we we replaced them it was huge upheaval in our office to make all these changes that move people from
Ral (28:37)
So.
All right, so.
And we've got a huge. ⁓
and you know.
Ral (28:57)
this plane over to this other plane, different configuration aircraft and all of this. That's where the systems and the team come in very handy because if we didn't have that, was no way that John and I could have done all that by ourselves. Nevermind.
Ral (29:01)
was huge, but.
Thank
Now just.
Bernie (29:13)
Meet everybody. Meet everybody as they come to the plane. Yeah, window seat. No. Center seat.
Ral (29:19)
Yeah,
so then when the pandemic came, we had actually already exited. We'd sold to Alaska Airlines by then, running cruise ships. The cruise ships were grounded.
Ral (29:29)
basically tied up to a dog.
Ral (29:31)
And
we just had one left at that point because we had sold most of
Ral (29:34)
sort of
but yeah.
Ral (29:36)
It
became an asset that was worth less and less each day that sat at the dock. Another signal that, okay, it's time to pivot again. So we sold that ship, lost some money on that sale, but then we went on and then we got into multifamily real estate. investing in syndications across the lower 48. Invested in over 6,000 apartment units in the Sunbelt state. That's what we're doing now.
Ral (29:40)
So that was
And we.
So that's
Bernie (30:01)
I think I know an answer. again, maybe dopamine is part of it. But some point along the way you went from building to teaching, like with this mastermind, what was, tell me about that aha moment. When did you decide to teach it rather than build it?
Ral (30:16)
That's another good question. I was actually learning how to make presentations to enroll investors in our real estate syndication. And one of my daughters said, mom, know, real estate has kind of hit a rough patch with the interest rates doubling here. So why are you doing all this, learning how to speak when that's not your audience anymore? Why don't you instead teach them about how you live the
Ral (30:21)
You
and
any.
to dream
and have businesses and.
Ral (30:41)
how you're able to do all this and run your business. I
stopped and ⁓ I don't think I want to do that. That become a personal brand. don't know what that is. But not being one to ever shy away from a challenge.
Ral (30:46)
And you know.
and
I said, hmm, ⁓ yeah.
Ral (30:58)
Okay,
I've always liked to teach. mean, that was one of the roles I had in our business was of course training our staff and teaching them. And there was a time when we needed to teach everybody how to read financials because we wanted them to understand and they didn't understand what a P and L or a balance sheet.
Ral (31:09)
because our KPIs.
was so I taught them.
Ral (31:16)
teach classes in our own business. I can do this. That was about three years ago.
Ral (31:18)
business. So I said, So to go
almost and, that's, I really
Ral (31:25)
when I realized
and looked back at our history of the 40 something years of being an entrepreneur, recognized that these six principles were what enabled us to have all of our success. That's how I created my framework. I call it an organized to optimize framework. And now I teach.
Ral (31:31)
and that.
and
them.
Bernie (31:44)
What type of network do you have to have? Because you've described some things like airplanes to boats, right? Yeah, it's travel. I mean, you have the travel background, but now you're into commercial real estate or real estate platforms for residential. Those are kind of like, wow, it's kind of a skipping stone. Usually someone who's in any of those given spaces tends not to be in a...
tends not to bounce over easily. What type of environment are you in that gives you that, that gives you that opportunity going, this isn't working out so well. Meanwhile, over there, so sweetheart opportunity, is it something you're recognizing? Is it somebody that your mentor is talking about? Or is it just like, yeah, timing's good, thrift and do.
Ral (32:28)
Yeah.
Ral (32:29)
⁓ well, Yesaki for threat. And he was always. And,
Ral (32:30)
continued to follow Robert K.
He was very keen on real estate.
towards the.
Ral (32:38)
you know what the well it was like.
Ral (32:40)
Like
2019, so the pandemic hadn't happened. We're looking for other investment opportunities, alternative.
Ral (32:42)
yet.
investments.
Ral (32:47)
One of the podcasts or something that he was on, learned about this and New Orleans investment conference. And it was in the fall of 2019. So we went to that. had a bunch of people learned about investing in metals, know, gold and silver and art and real estate. was just so many different kinds of like alternative investments. And we just were like sponges when it comes to learning, just, you know, soak it all up. What else is there that we can learn?
Ral (32:50)
I
question.
and
and
Ral (33:14)
And
that's where we met some people.
Ral (33:15)
that we.
Ral (33:17)
later
joined their network, hired them as a mentor basically, joined their mastermind, learned about multi-family investing. They had a what he calls a multi-family millionaire multi-family mastermind.
Ral (33:19)
And you know.
and
And
people
Ral (33:33)
I
said, okay, we need to join that because if we're going to do this, we need to fast track it. So we need to all the way in and pay this, you know, five figure amount every year to ⁓ learn from the best, the people who are experts. We knew that we didn't know anything about it. So we had to learn quickly. You jump in and you hire mentors to fast track.
Ral (33:38)
show.
So
So you.
to get the fat.
Bernie (33:54)
I'm fascinated, maybe even a little jealous, but something that sounds like you've been able to live the lifestyle of the almost a success magazine, not with pressure, but with this is I want to do. So let's do it. It sounds like you've been able to teach the lifestyle as well as the business. Is that fair?
Ral (34:16)
Yes, that's why the name of my business is Ral West, Living the Dream.
Ral (34:20)
you
Ral (34:23)
Because
I mean, for years our friends have said, you guys are living the dream. And I want to be like you. And can I crawl into your suitcase when you're going off on this adventure or that adventure? We've been to all seven continents and we love luxury cruising. And of course, we have our own yacht too. But that doesn't go very far, mostly in Alaska.
Ral (34:27)
And
And yeah, so.
Ral (34:45)
when my daughters were saying, mom, everybody wants to be like you. Why don't you? I didn't realize it was that hard to do what we're doing because it feels.
Ral (34:48)
teach them. I'm like, ⁓ okay.
easy.
And then they said, no, mom, don't. Doing it. So,
Ral (34:56)
know how to do what you do otherwise they'd be doing it. Yeah
so then I started to kind of chunk it down as they were. How is it that we are able to do this? Created the framework that I mentioned.
Ral (35:02)
well.
and you know.
Bernie (35:10)
Yeah. Any regrets of any of the businesses you picked? Not regrets per se, kind of fun? No. Let's not do that again.
Ral (35:19)
So
Ral (35:19)
Absolutely.
Ral (35:20)
There's some that was like, ⁓ please, you
Ral (35:23)
You know, the Albatross. And we bought a motel and RV park in Anchorage. We've actually invested in real estate since the mid 90s. And this was one of the wild hares that I had. ⁓ you know, let's buy this property. piece of property has a great view. It's on a high traffic street. It's wonderful. It's a motel and an RV park. My uncle stayed there.
Ral (35:27)
because we love to be
and those
because it's just a beautiful
Gotta be good.
Ral (35:48)
looked at the numbers and it all looked really good.
Ral (35:51)
But we bought in.
Ral (35:53)
Yeah, it was like 20.
Ral (35:53)
It was.
Ral (35:55)
2002, right after the pandemic, not the pandemic, the 9-11, sorry. Get these disasters mixed up.
realize we didn't do our homework enough, but there were a whole bunch of big box hotels coming into Anchorage immediately fall right after we bought this motel at Harvey Park. 40 year old motels just could not compete with these brand new, you know, Hilton's and Sheraton's and Marriott's and so
Ral (36:04)
Was this?
And this.
like ⁓ no.
Ral (36:22)
you
Ral (36:23)
I deployed all of these principles, know, the same way that we ran our other businesses. was working really well in a lot of ways, but it just could never quite make enough money. And so we finally sold it and sold a debt of loss. Huge mistake.
Ral (36:28)
and made a good of it and and
So that was, yeah.
Don't.
Bernie (36:42)
You show me the nuts and bolts. I understand that mastermind. I've even dealt a little bit with Napoleon Hill going all back to marketing the term. Tell us about the nuts and bolts of this mastermind.
Ral (36:53)
Not simple.
Ral (36:54)
bolts
of it. I like how I get people enrolled in it or
Ral (36:57)
out.
Bernie (36:57)
Anyway you want you're the one who's guesting.
Ral (37:00)
Well, people.
Ral (37:01)
join the mastermind for at least 12 months and they can renew for 12 months at a time you know into the future. The meetings will be an hour-long zoom meeting second and fourth Tuesdays of every month and there there's also an online platform where they can have access to my course. I created an an eight module online course covering all six principles of course and
Ral (37:09)
And the.
⁓
Ral (37:28)
that's available to them. They have a resource library that I've created that has contacts and PDFs and ebooks and book recommendations and podcast recommendations for all the people that I have found through my network.
Ral (37:41)
and the
Ral (37:42)
They fill out worksheets, because part of the course is each module has several video lessons, and at the end of every video lesson, there's a worksheet. So you fill out that worksheet and then submit it through the online platform to get feedback. The feedback is coming not only from me and my team, but also from all the other entrepreneurs. Really, you know, it's some shared community experience there. You know, if somebody's having this problem,
Ral (37:55)
feedback. So the feedback
So there's
where XYZ problem,
chances are it's having a similar problem and they can actives.
Ral (38:11)
or somebody else's problem, you know, share perspective
and get some help from each other too. It's meant to be a community entrepreneurs moving forward to get the foundation of the six principles. And the thing with the six principles is, is that once you learn how to implement them, you're not done. It's not a set it and forget it. You have to keep going back and reassessing over and over again. And I recommend at least twice a
Ral (38:36)
you know, year,
but like revisiting, know, your symptoms, your level, your, your culture. And figure out some tweaks.
Ral (38:37)
I have a water-
system, your average, your data tracking, your team and your customer service. Where do we need to make,
where have we gotten a little bit off track? Where have things shifted? So we need to do more here than we were doing. So it's an ongoing process. So I recommend that people stay in the mastermind long-term because it will have guidance growing their business and making it a very sustainable lasting
Ral (38:57)
before.
Ral (39:09)
success by being in the mastermind.
my website is ralwest.com and there's a whole section for all the podcasts that I've been on. I've been on almost six dozen podcasts. Wow.
Ral (39:13)
And so.
I'm
Bernie (39:22)
Congratulations.
Ral (39:23)
See, one of my principles is leverage. Using other people's podcasts is leverage.
Ral (39:24)
So.
Bernie (39:28)
Absolutely. Well, I think Bernie and I should be hosting for Maui. I think that's actually the piece of the puzzle we're missing, especially minus 20.
Ral (39:36)
Okay, well, Yes. Yeah, okay. It's, it's cold.
Ral (39:37)
minus 20. That sells so.
Bernie (39:41)
You're gold.
Ral (39:44)
Yeah, well we had a little bit of rain here today, but it's still like, you know, 80.
Bernie (39:48)
That's enjoyable.
Ral (39:49)
Yeah.
Bernie (39:49)
So, you know, if someone is going, hey, you know what? I'm looking for the mastermind. I'm looking for the six principles. What are the are the next steps? What would you like to see them do if they're listening to this podcast? I'm, yep, that's a ticket. I want to go there. Maybe she'll fly me there. Maybe she'll put me there or maybe I'll just be one of our houses.
Ral (40:09)
Yeah.
Ral (40:09)
The easiest thing to do, think, is to jump on a little call with. You can do ralwest.com slash let's talk. You can have a short visit and see whether or not the boss mastermind might be good for you. Or you can actually go ahead and join the boss wait list. And that is like go to ralwest.com. Find out about it there. also visit me on LinkedIn.
Ral (40:13)
me. ⁓
and you
dot ro ⁓ and
Ral (40:37)
And I have a weekly newsletter with tips every week about what businesses can do to improve their systems and be a business that's more run by the owner rather than the operator. And I have a YouTube channel too. Lots of ways you can find me, find out about me. But again, if you want to have a, ralwest.com slash let's talk.
Ral (40:38)
this film.
And you know.
And.
A quick call.
Bernie (41:00)
Ral, I want to say thank you so much for being our guest today. We really appreciate your time. To my co-host, Wayne Pratt, thank you for being the co-host. And more importantly, you the Knack for Business listeners. Without you, what's the point, right? But here in this case, the point is, if you want to know how to run an airline, a cruise line, Ral will probably give you some tips in going, yeah, these are the things to stay away from or the headaches you might run into. Or if you're interested in, you
buying real estate and leveraging real estate. We're just trying to learn how to leverage. She's got a mastermind that's out there to help support you and reach out to