We were lucky to catch up with LA Dunhoody recently and have shared our conversation below.
LA, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
Being a successful artist, producer and business owner in Atlanta, many people often ask:
Why leave Atlanta, my home, birth place, family, friends and everything I’ve ever known?
How am I going to make it? Get new clients, new fan base?
To be totally honest, I didn’t have all of the answers. What I did know is that things were good, but I still wanted more. A better environment to raise my family, and take my business to new levels. I felt like, I reached my potential in Atlanta, like a ceiling. I needed to see more, experience different places and meet new people. Leaving Georgia was the one of the biggest risks I could take. Not knowing what would be on the other side of this decision, I had the ultimate choice to make. Do I stay where I’m comfortable, known, respected, invested?? Or in a sense, start over? A new place, new faces and what turns our to be new issues and experiences.
Most people given this ultimatum would first wonder, why do these decisions even need to be made? What’s the rush? Why not just keep doing what I’m doing if it’s working??
As a parent, watching my children grow, I’ve come to realize the importance of time management and planning. If I wanted better for myself and my family, I could not procrastinate. We ordered passports, researched a few places in Canada and I had my sights set. Toronto was my initial destination but things didn’t go exactly as planned.
We break our lease and buy a little Range Rover off of Craigslist for around $4k. By this time, I’ve had a few car notes in my life and knew that in order to get ahead the way I wanted, I would need to start decreasing my monthly debts. Buying my truck cash, this was the start.
With my life and business in my truck, we arrive at the Canadian border. The agent asks what’s the purpose of our visit and apparently didn’t like our answer and denied us entry. Just a little devastated and stuck in Buffalo, New York, me and my wife went back into research mode. Did we not say the right words at the border? We told them it was our first time and we wanted to see the area, with plans of getting temporary residency. I has no idea that it’s the Agents discretion to let people in the country. If they don’t like your answer, they will deny access and you have to return to the states. And return is what we did.
Not sure if we would ever get inside of Canada, we decided to open our Media Production Company on Buffalo’s west side. Business flourished and our recording studio became home to some of Buffalo’s most talented artists. I was able to establish my brand and help others achieve their dreams and goals in the process.
However, Buffalo was definitely not part of the plan. After regrouping and researching, we eventually made it across the border and into Toronto. Toronto turned out to be more congested than what I was looking for so we decided to rent a space in Niagara Falls, Ontario for a second location. My daughters’ face painting business was also started and did really well in the tourist area. Things were good and growing but renting property was eating up most of our profits and I knew something was going to have to give.
Of course, every parent wants a sense of stability and this was a constant conflict with me. As much as I wanted to “settle down” I knew we hadn’t reached that place yet. Every decision came with risks. Now that we’ve established ourselves and business in West New York and Canada, what is our next step. It doesn’t matter how good business is doing when expenses are eating up the profits. After calculating our years of leases and rents, I knew what my next step was supposed to be. Real Estate.
At this point, I’m not really sure if the risks have been worth it. I’m still “surviving” the way that I was in Atlanta. Not really advancing economically the way I need. Craigslist was the go to place at the time and that’s exactly where I found my first big investment. A fixer upper in Detroit, Dexter and Joy to be exact. This was late spring and I had about 7k that I was saving from my tax returns. This risk is even bigger than leaving Atlanta. I can always go back home, but I could literally loose everything I’ve saved if this isn’t a good deal. The owner of the house was willing to finance with $4k down. I paid off the $10k house in 12 months and it was mine. My first piece of Real Estate. A Real Investment. A place to create stability….only if the environment was safer and cleaner. But it’s not. And even though we remodeled and updated the inside, that doesn’t change what’s happening outside my doorstep.
My first flip gave me a profit of approx. $20k. At this point I own a couple if vehicles straight out and need to plan our next move. Where do we go from here? We owned our house, but between food, utilities and property taxes, it still felt like rent on a monthly basis. Selling the only piece of Real Estate I own feels like another huge risk. What If I can’t find anything better and I’ve let go of the biggest asset I’ve ever had?
Going off grid.
At this point I’m not interested in starting over. But I can stay forever, so we decided to sell. We linked with a few realtors in Missouri and Colorado and headed west after closing our first deal. Now I’m on a whole new journey searching for raw, unrestricted land. The plan is to build a container home and be totally self sustainable. With the help of a diligent realtor, we found 5 acres for $12,5k and sat at our second closing table. By this time Marketplace is the new go to that Craigslist used to be. We found a 26ft. camper and moved it to our land to start work. I had just ordered the containers to build the home when Covid hit.
Covid basically killed our main source of income besides Real Estate. Our largest most steady contracts are for live sports and events. Public gatherings being shut down really affected my way of life. I had thousands of dollars in contracts canceled in one night forcing me to get even more creative. The one house we remodeled in Detroit gave me the confidence to take on a contract remodeling Dollar General Stores all across the country. After a few months of working and saving put me right back in the mode of investing. My wife and I saved around $30k and set our sights on another investment property. Although my goal is to build on our land, I know $30k will barely cover the water, wind & solar, needed so another flip was the best option.
Deadly mold was hiding in the bathroom and kitchen walls and floors. We found this gem on Zillow. Priced at $19k, we would have just about enough cash to buy and renovate this house. If my numbers add up, with the comps in the area, I’m looking at a nice profit of at least $30k. The current owner had purchased the home with very little knowledge of it’s history. Upon inspection, I did notice some discoloration in the bathroom but had no idea of what was really in store. Third time around the closing table, we do the deal. After closing, knocking down some walls and tearing out floors, we see the extent of the mold and it’s deadly. Everything has to be treated and/or replaced. This cost about $3k more than we expected. Not to mention the extra time spent in remediation. It’s safe to say, the deal still worked on or favor and we were able to profit around $50k.
By now I’m understanding that almost every deal is a risk. That every move must be calculated to minimize these risks and that the only thing you can do to not take a risk is sit still. And I can’t do that. I want to inspire people, especially my family and friends, to go for more. To not let fear of the unknown paralyze their progress. Most people I talk to have bigger dreams and want better lives but aren’t willing to sacrifice enough. Not willing change enough of their lifestyle to make a difference.
Once I realized life is all about risk, managing the risks became second nature. The debilitating fear eventually goes away, leaving room for growth and adventure. I never imagined being a Real Estate Investor when I decided to leave Atlanta. I just knew I wanted and needed more than Atlanta had to offer. I knew I had to leave to reach my full potential. I’m still not finished, not settled and there are still many unknowns. Many unanswered questions and much more work for me to do.
Music keeps me!
Everything did not go as planned. As a matter of fact, almost all of the plans changed or had extra steps in between. I’m learning how to ride the waves, stay sane and focused while somehow finding a way to live in the moment. Making music has definitely helped me along the way. I’ve been able to keep my studio with me during my traveling, writing and recording as I go. I’ve made hundreds of tracks and I have about 4 albums recorded that are still unreleased. I do have a nice track with General Knowledge from Canada called Can A Day and an album with Wild Bill of Detroit called Angels & Demons. Both are available now to stream and download. My next project to be released is called Return of the Rising Sun which I promise is a “no skip” album. Another huge project I’m working on is a documentary inspired by one of my unreleased albums “A Way Out”. The film is called From the Hood to the Woods “A Way Out” which details a lot of what we talked about today. My journey leaving Atlanta and eventually finding A Way Out of poverty, out of the Hood. I’m currently in the production process and will be submitting it to Amazon Prime and Tubi in the Spring of 2023. I’ve also had plenty of time to create good memories with my family growing and working together. We go to parks, walk trails, work our contracts, flip properties and pretty much make decisions with everyone’s input. I’m doing my best to enjoy the now but still look forward and plan for tomorrow.
Business is risky and it can definitely pay off when weighed the right. It seems like the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. That can also mean a bigger loss, but from my experience, there’s much more to gain by taking those steps. Even if you’re not sure of exactly where the steps will lead, putting one foot in front of the other is progress. Leaving my home town was one of the hardest decisions I’ve made. Hindsight, I can also say it was a risk worth taking. My assets, wealth, family and life experiences have all increased. I knew there was a possibility things wouldn’t go as I planned. For me, my worst case scenario was returning home, defeated that I couldn’t make it work.
I’m not exactly where I want to be, yet. I do feel that I’m much further in life than I would be had I not taken the risks that I have. Had I not made the sacrifices that I made, I’d still be circling 285, getting by the best way I knew how. Fortunately, I faced my fears, took the jumps and accepted the risks as they came. We are now renovating our 4th property, a nice cabin on the lake in a gated community. In the summer of 2022, I was able to get the well drilled on our off grid property and are saving for our next utilities, solar and wind power.
I want to encourage people to dream big and invest in themselves before anything else. Setting goals and sacrificing to reach those goals doesn’t always feel rewarding. In fact, it can be depressing at times especially if you lose focus.
Being a thousand miles away from family and friends does still make me feel alone at times. I would love to hit up Sire in Atlanta or Old Geza in Alabama and just chill, shoot a video or make some music, but I’m so far away from everyone and everything. I do miss family reunions and things like that. My schedule is so sparatic it’s hard to do the things I used to or live the way I used to live. I had no idea so many aspects of my life would change by taking risks and leaving Atlanta. Sometimes it feels like I’m a whole world away and it does get hard. I know once I can get a little more settled with my immediate family, I will have more time to reconnect with my distant friends and family. That is really important to me, I just wish there was a way I could have a few of my closest people living free on a few acres. Everyone would bring their skills and creativity and we could just live good. Eat good, feel good. I’m working on that too so definitely stay tuned!
Being an Artist, Producer, Investor, Husband and Father can be crazy to juggle but I’m definitely getting better at balancing it all. I wouldn’t say I have it all figured out but the faith in me outweighs my fears for sure. I’m willing to take the risks that makes sense. I’m prepared to take the losses as lessons as they come. I hope I can inspire someone to take that chance, that risk. Always be aware and be prepared to change course if you have to. Don’t be afraid of change, of something or somewhere new. Sometimes, the unknown can become the best parts of your story. I’m still learning.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
I’ve been writing music around 10 years old. I was inspired by Bone Thugs, 2 Pac, Three 6 Mafia and Outkast to start performing at talent shows and clubs all over Atlanta. I met my wife at 16,who is very creative with graphic design and video editing. By that time, I had learned the basics of recording my own music. In 2001, I got a Triton, learned how to make beats and we decided to merge my music recording and production skills with her visuals and formed Thrax Music Entertainment. As we attracted more artists and business owners, our services began to expand beyond the music. Our skills now included: audio and video production, graphic design, website development, marketing and print services, music distribution and project management. We changed our name to The Media Empire and our business did great for many years in Atlanta. After leaving Atlanta in 2013. we added live streaming, property preservation, auto detailing, insurance, and real estate to the list of services that we provide. We now operate under The Almighty Club which is the name our family will carry on.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill definitely had the most impact in my life so far. It’s available in audio book which to me, is helpful with illustrating and effects. I’ve had to listen to it a few times to really get the full effect but Hill does a good job of putting things into perspective. A lot of questions I had in the back of mind were answered throughout this book. It really gave me the push to take the biggest risks of my life at the time. It’s hard to explain so I do advise people to read or take a listen for themselves. I will warn you, it’s different…
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Like most people, Covid did have a big impact on me and my business. Like I mentioned, my larger contracts are with sports, live streaming and events. When the country essentially shut down, I was forced to make a decision to become an essential worker. Anyone who knows me and my wife, know that working a job is like against our “religion”. We are not religious but it’s not our way of life. We have so many skills and talents, I have never had an issue with making money with my business and services….until Covid.
So, my wife downloaded a job app and found some Production work in Virginia with American Ninja Warrior which lasted about a week. On that same app, there was some temporary work remodeling Dollar General Stores. The days were 12 hours long sometimes 6 or even 7 days a week. I wasn’t used to working such long hours or so hard but it was all that I had at the time. The money was decent but if I made a commitment with the company, I would get benefits, travel and lodging paid, so it made sense to go full time. That whole deal lasted a good six months before we were able to save enough for our next flip. Hindsight, it worked out for the better but it was definitely a reality check. The first time in a long time I had to step outside of my business to survive. I had to rethink my business and it’s survival. It was also during covid that my business partner got her Insurance license and we added financial services to our business. Besides leaving Atlanta, covid was the most pivotal time for my life and business. We made it through, didn’t even take out the PPP loan, lol!
Contact Info:
- Website: TheAlmightyClub.com
- Instagram: _TheAlmightyClub
- Facebook: The Almighty Club
- Youtube: Thrax Muzik
- Other: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfdgBsMlVOdm0W-cUt04vm1CN2ED04xNS