Seventy-plus episodes in, and I still remember the first one. Ryan and I sat down with a cheap microphone, zero production value, and the vague idea that we should probably be creating content. The audio was rough. The format was unpolished. We had maybe 12 listeners, and half of them were related to us.

That was the beginning of the Freedom Fighter Podcast. It's a separate project from Top Tier, something Ryan and I do together because we both believe operators should talk publicly about what they're actually building. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made, for reasons I never expected.

Why We Started

The honest answer? Accountability.

Ryan and I were both building real estate businesses. He runs Avara Investments, focused on plumbing and HVAC services alongside his investment portfolio. I was managing a growing portfolio in the Omaha metro and building Top Tier Investment Firm. We were both in the thick of it, making decisions every week that would either move us forward or cost us money.

We needed a forcing function. Something that required us to show up, reflect on what we had learned, and articulate it out loud. A weekly podcast was that forcing function.

The audience was secondary. Don't get me wrong, we wanted people to listen. But the primary purpose was to create a structure where two operators sit down every week, talk about what actually happened in their businesses, and hold each other accountable to the goals they said out loud on a recording.

That sounds simple. It changed everything.

What 70+ Episodes Taught Us About Business

Saying It Out Loud Makes It Real

In episode 14, I said on the recording that I was going to close on a 24-unit building by the end of the quarter. That wasn't a marketing statement. Ryan was sitting across from me. He was going to ask me about it on episode 18.

When you say your goals out loud on a public recording, you either do them or you explain on the next episode why you didn't. Both are valuable. One builds momentum. The other builds honesty.

I have accomplished more in the two years since starting the podcast than in the five years before it. Not because the podcast magically created opportunities. Because the podcast created a cadence of commitment and reflection that made me a better operator.

Real Conversations Beat Polished Content

Our best episodes aren't the scripted ones. They're the ones where one of us walks in and says, "I made a mistake this week. Let me tell you about it."

Episode 31, I talked about losing $12,000 on a deal that fell apart because I didn't do proper due diligence on the seller's financials. I was embarrassed. Ryan asked me hard questions. The episode was uncomfortable.

It's still our most-downloaded episode.

People are starved for honesty in this space. There are a thousand podcasts where the host tells you about their wins. There are maybe ten where the host breaks down their losses with the same level of detail. That's where trust is built.

The Guest Episodes That Changed Our Thinking

We have had operators, investors, service providers, and business owners across our episodes. Some of the conversations that reshaped how I think about business:

The property manager who scaled to 600 units with a team of four. She broke down her systems, her tech stack, and her decision to fire 30% of her clients because they were the wrong fit. That conversation directly influenced how we structured our property management operations. Nicole, our Director of Operations, and I restructured our entire workflow after that episode.

The capital raiser who told us the truth about 506(b) offerings. No hype. No promise of easy money. Just the compliance framework, the relationship-building timeline, and the reality that raising capital is a 12-18 month process before you see a dollar. That episode is required listening for anyone who thinks raising capital is about posting on social media.

The contractor who explained why your renovation-playbook-for-b-and-c-class-multifamily)-renovation) budget is always wrong. He walked through the five most common budget-busting surprises in multifamily renovation. I took notes during the recording. I still reference them when underwriting value-add deals.

The best part of being a podcast host is that you get to ask smart people detailed questions and record the answers for yourself. The audience benefits. But so does the host.

What Podcasting Does for Business (That Nobody Talks About)

Every podcasting guru will tell you about downloads, audience growth, and monetization. That's fine. Here's what actually matters for a real estate operator.

Trust at Scale

When someone listens to 10 hours of your podcast, they know how you think. They have heard you talk through deals, make decisions, admit mistakes, and explain your reasoning. By the time they reach out, they already trust you.

I have had investors contact me and say, "I have been listening for six months. I know how you operate. I want to talk about working together." That isn't a cold lead. That's a warm relationship that was built over dozens of hours of content, without a single sales call.

You can't replicate that with a website. You can't replicate it with a brochure. You can only replicate it with consistent, honest, long-form content that lets people see who you really are.

Dealflow From Unexpected Places

Podcast guests become deal partners. Listeners become investors. Other podcast hosts become referral sources.

We have gotten deal introductions, vendor recommendations, and partnership opportunities directly from the podcast. Not because we asked for them on the show. Because the relationships formed organically through the conversations.

Real estate is still a relationship business. Podcasting is a relationship-building machine that runs 24/7 without you being in the room.

Forced Clarity of Thought

There's no better way to find out whether you actually understand something than to try explaining it to someone else for 45 minutes. Topics I thought I understood, like cap rate compression, 1031 exchange timing, or insurance structuring, turned out to have gaps in my knowledge that only became visible when I tried to teach them.

The podcast forced me to sharpen my thinking. Every episode is a mini-education for the host as much as the listener. If I can't explain it clearly on the show, I don't understand it well enough to make decisions about it in my business.

The Mistakes We Made Early On

I won't pretend we had it figured out from the start.

We tried to be too polished. Early episodes had scripts, intros that were too long, and a stiffness that came from trying to sound like a "real" podcast. The episodes improved dramatically when we threw out the scripts and just talked like operators. Our listeners aren't looking for NPR production quality. They're looking for real talk from real operators.

We were inconsistent. We missed weeks. We rescheduled. We let the podcast slip when business got busy. Every time we lost momentum, we lost listeners. Consistency matters more than quality in the early days. A good episode every week beats a great episode once a month.

We didn't distribute properly. For the first 30 episodes, our content lived on one platform. We weren't clipping for social media, not posting on LinkedIn, not repurposing for email newsletters. All of that content was sitting there doing nothing between episodes. We're still catching up on distribution, and it's one of the biggest areas of opportunity ahead.

We waited too long to ask guests. For the first 20 episodes, it was just Ryan and me. That was fine for building chemistry and establishing the format. But guest episodes bring new audiences, new perspectives, and new energy. We should have started inviting guests by episode 10.

What Is Next for the Podcast

We're sitting on 70+ episodes of content, and the show is entering its next phase.

Better distribution. Every episode now gets clipped for short-form content on LinkedIn and TikTok. The podcast is a content engine, not just an audio show. One 60-minute episode can produce 8-10 clips, a blog post summary, and a newsletter angle. We're building the system to make that happen consistently.

More operator interviews. The conversations that resonate most are with people who are in the trenches. Not motivational speakers. Not coaches. Operators who manage buildings, close deals, and make payroll. We're booking more of those.

Deeper case studies. Ryan and I are both at a stage where we have enough deal history to do full-episode case studies with real numbers. Acquisition to disposition. What we projected, what actually happened, and what we would do differently. Those episodes will be the most valuable content we produce.

The Honest Truth About Starting a Podcast

If you're thinking about starting a podcast for your real estate business, here's what I would tell you.

It won't grow your business in month one. Or month three. Probably not month six. The compounding effect kicks in around episode 30-40, when you have enough content that new listeners can binge, and enough consistency that the algorithms start favoring you.

It will make you a better operator immediately. The reflection, the accountability, the forced clarity. Those benefits start on episode one.

And the relationships you build, with co-hosts, guests, and listeners, will become some of the most valuable assets in your business. Not because you planned it. Because that's what happens when you show up consistently and tell the truth.

The Freedom Fighter Podcast started with a cheap mic and 12 listeners. It has become one of the most valuable things I do as an operator, not because it's a marketing channel, but because it forces me to think clearly, build real relationships, and stay accountable to what I say I'm going to do.

If you have been thinking about starting one, stop thinking about it. Record episode one. It will be bad. Record episode two anyway. By episode 20, you will wonder why you waited so long.

For weekly market insights and real operator perspective, catch the Freedom Fighter Podcast on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.

Tanner Sherman is the Principal and Managing Broker of Top Tier Investment Firm in Omaha, Nebraska. He co-hosts the Freedom Fighter Podcast with Ryan of Avara Investments.

The Freedom Fighter Podcast: Why We Started and What We Have Learned