Conner Riley, AIA on LinkedIn: I believe in business ownership so much that I quit my job two weeks ago… (2024)

We all have a spiritual gift from God that is more prominent than the others, which one is yours? Understanding which of the gifts God has given you through his grace can help you find more fulfillment in your life.The gift of prophecy.The gift of serving.The gift of teaching. The gift of comforting. The gift of helping. The gift of leading. The gift of kindness. Contrary to popular belief with religion, I truly believe there is no “right” kind of faith. It’s important for us to seek fulfillment to better serve ourselves, our family, others around us, and even our community. Reflecting on this verse helps me to align myself with my true self so I can better be prepared for the challenges that life throws our way. I challenge you to do the same!- Your God Fearing Friend

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This coffee meeting with Colin Helfenstein was one of a kind! Opportunity is everywhere.As one of the owners of Aloha Cleaning LLC, Colin knows a thing or two about window cleaning. We decided to meet at Drekker Brewing Company’s Brewhalla to grab some coffee at my favorite place in town, Thunder Coffee. Two window cleaners in a building full of windows. 🪟We immediately started talking about the quality of the glass cleaning we were observing. With me just starting my new side hustle business, Pristine Clean Exteriors, I wanted to talk to a professional about client expectations. Just as we were discussing the dirty large glass garage doors behind us, an employee walked by, got up on a stepladder, sprayed glass cleaner, and proceeded to clean one of the panes. He would have went through multiple rags and it would have taken him well over an hour or more to do. So Colin and I decided to step up and offer to do it for free in exchange for the opportunity to leave a business card. The general manager agreed, we grabbed our gear, and knocked it out! I love telling these stories and It was one of the more eventful coffee meetings I’ve had in a while!Keep your eyes open for opportunity always. What a great experience with a great guy!- CCR

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Each day we have 24 hours. In those hours, we all have the opportunity to create our ideal life. We all have free will and are each destined for greater things, but it’s hard work to get there.My ideal life vision comes and goes. I can never quite capture the answers of what I’m visualizing or feeling, but it’s there. If we all had the answers on how to get there, I’m guessing we wouldn’t be waiting around living the parts of life we don’t enjoy. There’s also the reality that none of us are promised tomorrow. There are a multitude of reasons why tomorrow could be your last, or you could find out that your time is limited. I’d prefer to be doing things on my own terms, working towards my purpose when the lights go out.Each day is an opportunity to figure out that next step. Each step getting you closer to your ideal figure. It all starts with deciding what you want. Your personal goals, relationship goals, family goals, etc. I challenge you to really do a deep dive on these things. Filter each decision you have to make through these goals and only do the things that align with them. - CCR

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I’ve had a handful of vivid dreams in my life, and I’m convinced they’re from God. Here’s one.Both of my big remodels were at a point where it didn’t feel like there was a way out. There was so much work to be done and I was over leveraged. The temporary breakers in the 4-plex had experienced a power surge the week before late at night that cut power to the entire house. We were in the process of bringing a new electrical service into the house and late one night the 4-plex experienced a power surge cutting the power. Although they came to fix it the next day, the water main had froze below ground. It was January 16th, 2022, and I was sleeping on an air mattress at my now father-in-laws house. I woke up that morning and journaled this dream. I was in an older house that I was remodeling (go figure). Aleasha was there, and my mother and little sister. A contractor that was hired to help remodel had just left and headed home for the day.I proceeded to walk through the house to check if the back door had been locked, but it had somehow transformed itself into an opening without a door and it was raining.There were three hanging objects that were almost webbed up to the top of the opening. Upon focusing on them - the middle object was a turtle / turtle shell. - the right object was a small alligator. - left object had then come into focus to be an ancient yellow Chinese dragon. I took a picture of what I saw and ran back to show my family. Upon entering the living room I glanced behind me to find the dragon had followed me, but then disappeared.That morning I research the symbolism of the three objects and it essentially meant this. - You will go through hard times, but in the end everything will work out and be great. In the end, everything did work out great. The big house remodel got finished and sold, and we got the 4-plex finished and fully rented.God speaks to us in a multitude of ways, be aware of him always! Has anyone else had dreams like this?- Your God Fearing Friend

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Each of us were created by God to do work on this earth one way shape or form, but be aware of what you’re working for. It’s common for people to make money their master (aka earthly master), but God is our real master, plain and simple. We are all created to work and each of us has a purpose. It’s finding that God given purpose that’s challenging, but worth whileI think we can all think back to a time where we were fulfilled doing work in one way shape or form. Maybe it was,- having a day full of meetings with others- taking a day away from the keyboard to work with your hands- checking off that long to do listIt’s that feeling of balance that we all should seek to find daily. You’d think with me leaving my job that I would be free’d up with more time than I know what to do with., but that’s far from the truth. Im busier than I have been in awhile, but I’m busy doing the things that I feel will propel me towards my vision. Sitting behind my desk for 40 hours a week left me feeling empty with a desire to work with my hands more. Now I blend my days with both. There’s no doubt that we need to be grateful with what we have and are doing, but it’s important to always be seeking His guidance so we can continue to do God’s work as we are designed to do. Our life on this earth is short, so live it well. Pursue God in your heart, and we will all receive our eternal reward in heaven. - Your God Fearing Friend

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I’m a huge proponent of the learn by doing framework. Start small, and work your way up. Just to be clear, I DO believe it’s possible for me to step into a million dollar acqusition and be successful, but that opportunity isn’t here yet. I’m a quick learner, always have been, always will be. I learn more by doing than listening to YouTube, books, etc. Out of the 50+ audiobooks I’ve listened to, I’ve found I rarely finish them. I’ll read halfway, take the key points, and immediately apply what I’ve learned. There’s only so much learning and preparation you can do, but I still need to understand that up to this point, I have only known how to be an employee. I’ve done side projects and “started businesses”, but I’ve never had the time to follow through on them. In the meantime, I need to make ends meet. I can’t sit around twiddling my thumbs hoping the right opportunity will fall into my lap. So I decided to start a small business, apply what I know, learn what I don’t, and go make some money to support my family.After sifting through a dozen ideas, I landed on providing exterior cleaning services. Window washing, soft washing, and pressure washing. I watched a few YouTube videos, went to Lowe’s to grab what I need, and practiced on my father-in-laws house that night. Just like that we’re in business. Pristine Clean Exteriors was born. The challenge is worth it, and I intend on using these experiences to better prepare myself for the acquisition leap. Learn by doing. *Side note, I’m passionate about my weekly 1-on-1 meetings, so if we haven’t met yet and you feel we can provide value for eachother, let’s grab a coffee. - CCR

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How was my first week self-employed? 10x better than I imagined! I chose to put in my two weeks and leave my job to become a self-employed entrepreneur BEFORE, - I was making more money in my “side hustle” than my full time job. - I had a clear plan of how I was going to “make ends meet”.- knowing if things are going to work out.Guess what? It was the best, and hardest decision I’ve had to make so far in my relatively short life, but it was worth it. Why? - I have completely surrendered my will to God and have 100% trust that he will provide.- On the flip side, I know who I am and I’m prepared to tackle any challenge. - I have so many skill sets to leverage and I’m blessed with an amazing network, that’s you!All details aside, here’s what I do know. I used to dread Monday, but after the week I just had, I can’t wait to see what happens next week. I’m grateful to be where I’m at right now and so looking forward to the next few months. Thank you to everyone who’s supported and continues to support me, from the bottom of my heart. You know who you are.- CCR

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There’s been a term that I’ve been noticing myself use more often lately, the “Million Dollar Man”.If I were to attain the big goals I’ve set out for myself tomorrow, I don’t believe I would be ready.I’ve consistently asked myself, what do I have to do, learn, or become to be that “Million Dollar Man.”One of my big goals is to make $1M per year. It’s still hard to imagine, but it’s attainable. This is where the term comes from. Most people are familiar and prepared for failure, but it’s rare that people are prepared for success. I don’t believe people prepare enough for the goals they haven’t achieved yet. Or even the goals that they never set, but then attained.It would be easy to say that someone making that much money per year would be out of touch with reality, no family, self consumed, no relationship with God, and so on.I talk about preparation a ton on here, but it’s what has gotten me to this point and will continue to help me take next steps higher. Set bigger than life goals for yourself. Don’t just focus on how you can attain them, but who you have to become as well.Most importantly, remember one of Patrick Metzger’s favorite sayings, “The Dream is the Journey.” - CCR

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To understand the Bible is to understand the context of what you’re reading. Easier said than done, but I believe it’s both a time and repetition kind of thing. I regularly pull verses from the Bible for each of my Tuesday and Wednesday posts. I mean to choose these quickly for the sake of time with a quick search on the Bible app or google for verses that talk about the underlying point of the each post. I’m starting to realize that in my haste, I’m choosing verses that to the trained eye, are being used out of context.They were selected with all of the best intentions, but I’m falling short.You can’t please everyone and I’m not here to have a holier-than-thou attitude, but last week someone accused me of using the Bible to justify my actions. This is far from the truth.I regularly get 5,000-10,000 impressions a week in exchange for my efforts here on LinkedIn. I truly believe that being the guy to post weekly Bible verses can do more good than bad, regardless of me ignorantly using them. I’m running short on time, so let this verseless image signify my attempt to start improving my understanding of the words I read. - Your God Fearing Friend

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