Golf, Access, And Opportunity

Blake Elsner 0:25

What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Elevate with Elsner. I'm your host, Blake Elsner. You know, one thing I've learned over the last 12 years in real estate is that opportunities don't always come from what you know. Sometimes they come from who you meet, who you believe in, who believes in you, or simply being in the right room at the right time. And golf is one of those sports where a lot of those relationships happen. Think about it. How many business deals have you made on a golf course? How many friendships have started over 18 holes? How many people have gotten opportunities because of somebody they met playing golf? But here's the question I want to ask today. What about the people who never get the opportunity to step onto that golf course in the first place? Because golf isn't exactly the cheapest sport in the world. Between clubs, lessons, green fees, and everything else, it could become pretty expensive. And that's where today's conversation comes in. I'm joined by Southern Foster from Only Greens Club, an organization focused on making golf more accessible to people who might not otherwise have the opportunity, including underserved youth and disabled veterans. We're going to talk about the mission, entrepreneurship, the relationships that golf creates, and what it means to make a difference in somebody else's

Meet Southern Foster’s Backstory

Blake Elsner 1:40

life. Southern, welcome, Televate with Elsner, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:43

Thank you. I'm excited to be here.

Blake Elsner 1:45

Absolutely. So before we jump into obviously the Only Greens Club, I want everybody to kind of get to know the man behind the mission. So who is Southern Foster? Where'd you grow up? Give us a little backdrop.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

Yeah, so I grew up central Illinois, right, middle nowhere on a farm. And uh I went to, I mean, my my grade school, I had eight kids in my eighth grade class. So everybody knew everybody. And I always knew, I loved that setting, but I always knew I wanted to get out to something bigger, uh, which led me to my lifestyle today. My my wife, her kids and I, we explore full-time today. And uh 23 countries so far, 23 states in the last three years, and it's been exciting. But me, uh simply put, I I love exploring new things. I love experiences and helping the next person next to me, you know, level up.

Credit Education From Personal Pain

Blake Elsner 2:36

So early in your life, I know I I know a little bit about you. Um, you know, obviously you've gone into you've been in the credit world um for 11 years. Give us a little like background of what your your daily job is prior to this uh Only Greens Club.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

Yeah, so back in 2016, uh, relatives very close to me, they they filed for bankruptcy, right? Why that's important is because me at 21, 20 years old, I'm like, it pissed me off. I was like, I care so much about these people, and now they're getting hurt with their credit. And I was in college at the time in business school, and I'm like, nobody even taught me about my credit. So then I started thinking, and asking people, I was like, hey, do you know anything about this? They're like, no, we have no clue. Well, it's like this three-digit score runs our life, right, in in the States, and nobody teaches us about it, not in grade school, not in high school, not in college. So I went on a mission to help my family, like my family members with their bankruptcy situation, get that removed from their credit. And then I was like, hey, if my you know family doesn't know it and I don't know it, I want to help as many people as possible with it. So on a daily basis now, for the last decade, I've been educating. I focus, I call it, say, call it creducation. I educate my clients on, hey, this is what the reports are saying and what it means. This is what action steps you can take to improve that. Uh, because my philosophy, uh, you know, if you go into religion or just that that thought of giving, it's if you if you feed a man a fish, you feed him for a day, right? If you teach him to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. And that's my philosophy with credit. Right? It's it's kind of counterintuitive from a business owner to be like, I don't want return clients, but it's mostly if I just fix somebody's credit and then don't educate them, there's a high chance they're coming back with the same issue. And as you probably know, as all of us know, it's low credit means more expensive living, you know. And when times are prices already going up now, it's I want to get people through that 720, 750 threshold so they can actually enjoy life the way it's supposed to. Uh, day to day, I'm educating clients, I'm reaching out to new ones, I'm on the business credit side, helping business owners build out their portfolios to position them for funding to expand. And it's uh a lot of credit reports and a lot of a lot of numbers, but that's that's my day-to-day.

Blake Elsner 4:48

Yeah, it's it's an impactful uh career and a passion to have because, like you said, it it is a three-digit number um that does run a lot of things. And like I was telling you before we hopped on here, my credits fluctuated, and I tell people this all the time like, hey, I've never had perfect credit, I've had bad credit, you know, I've had average credit. I've kind of been everywhere, and I kind of understand, like, hey, there's a reason why you get into you know bad debt, like there's just bad financial decisions, like stuff that, hey, maybe you shouldn't have done that, hey, you shouldn't have done that. But that's all about learning and and kind of moving on. So, like you said, giving the people the education so that they don't make the same mistakes over again. I think that's a massive part. Correct. I love that because yeah, I I like I said, what would you say, like, because I know some of the like the I I feel like a lot of people I talk to, one, there's just a lot of debt out there. Um, people, a lot of people are carrying credit card balances, which obviously affects your utilization, which then sends your credit down. Um, and what what would you say, like telling people like who do or who are kind of having a lower credit than they're used to because of the expense of everything? Like, do you just kind of like what would your game plan be?

Simple Habits That Raise Credit

SPEAKER_02 6:06

Uh, my game plan would be one, it's try to try to remove the FOMO, right? I personally think people get into these financial situations because they're so worried they're gonna miss out on keeping up with the Joneses, right? Oh, well, neighbor John just got this new car. Now, oh, we got to get a new car, or hey, I need the newest headphones or the the newest iPhone or whatever it is. And you start adding these things up, like, look, if you're not using, and not to go too far off topic in a way, but if like if you're not using your phone to make money, you don't need a $1,400 phone. Because all you're doing is texting and phone calling, right? So if if you have to make these sacrifices, which I hate that word in this situation, but if you have to make these sacrifices to not have the next most expensive thing for a while until you catch up, that would be my biggest advice is just like minimize it. Minimize that, catch up on your finances because there's always going to be another phone you can buy, but you're not always gonna have the ability to pick your dream home when the time is right, or get the car when your family actually needs it, or build the business, like make these small decisions because they make the biggest impact.

Blake Elsner 7:13

Yeah, and that's that's a great point. And I think even I think about thinking about people like growing up and thinking about like houses, like families that you know they never maybe outgrew like went to like the huge house because they really didn't need to. And you see like some of these people, and they have a lot almost like more wealth than some of these people that are in these million dollar houses that have nothing inside the million-dollar houses, which I see all the time as well. Um, so it's interesting to see all these different perspectives, and it is like you're saying, like the keeping up with the Joneses is like I feel like you gotta realize that the the things you have, you like the gratitude. It's like being thankful for how much you have your health, your family, you know, you're you're able to, you know, do whatever you want. Like there's just a lot of things to be grateful for. Like I took that back, like the running water, like every morning. Like I turn my water on, I'm like, thank God, you know, I thank the Lord every night for a roof over my head, like stuff like that. And it kind of grounds you, wouldn't you? Wouldn't you agree?

SPEAKER_02 8:14

100%. Gratitude is attitude, right? If you're grateful for what you have, I mean, I literally personally I write down three things minimum every morning that I'm grateful for, just waking up. And people take those things for granted. And I that that's what puts a lot of people in the position that they don't want to be in, is because of that lack of gratitude.

Blake Elsner 8:33

I agree because I've been in that spot and I, you know, like I chase, yeah, I chase the next iPhone, the next car. I would buy like a new car every couple of years. Now I'm like, I don't need a new like there's certain things, like of course, you know, you might need a new car if it makes sense, but like there's certain things that you think of, you're like, Am I really doing it because it's practical for my life, or am I doing it because it looks cool or right?

SPEAKER_02 8:56

Because it makes a great Instagram post and I get that dopamine hit, right?

Blake Elsner 9:00

Like it's yeah, it's a sick, it is a sick uh chase, that's for sure. And I think all of us are guilty in ways, and some people won't admit it, some will. And I'll gladly be the one um to admit that I did that because I did. I mean, that's just yeah, you didn't know until you learn you live and you learn. So I agree with that. Let's uh that was a good little talk about uh credit and a little education. Um, what would you say? Like to actually, besides like paying your card down real fast, like a number one tip for people that, hey, I want to get my credit up, what would you say?

SPEAKER_02 9:38

Number one tip to get their credit up. I I go with the phrase autopay saves lives, which might be a bit dramatic, but life gets so busy sometimes, and we have so many different bills, uh phone bill and your car, your house, electric, all this. Put it on auto pay, right? And if you're worried about not being able to make the payment, then A, maybe downsize or get a less lower lower cost, or B, uh, which is the second part to that, is communicate with the creditor if you can't make the payment. Look, if you have auto pay on and you're short too much month at the end of the money and you can't make the payment, cool. Just call the bank. So many of my clients are like, oh, I'm gonna miss my credit card payment. And then now the bank's calling and calling, and I ask, hey, did you let them know you were gonna miss it? They're like, no. I'm like, that's all they want is communication that they're gonna get paid back. They can give you a grace period, they can see that you're trying to do the right thing. That's just way better than ghosting on a payment. So autopay saves lives, would be the best uh quick change that people can make if they don't currently use autopay to make sure they're not missing unneeded delay payments.

Blake Elsner 10:46

That makes a lot of sense because it's almost like if you can't put it on auto pay, you probably don't need it, right? Right. Um, if you can't if you can't pay for it to continue, and that's a good point about the calling the credit card bureaus. Like, I I myself worked like half about like half of what I owed, I worked it down. Like just by calling and communicating with these people, and they're like they settle for they'll they'll take literally 50% of their money. Like they will literally do this eventually. Like, so there's stuff where like you can literally, yeah, it's like you just have to stay in contact with them, eventually you get out of it, and then you move you move on. But um, that's that's a great tip to autopay. I love that.

Why Only Greens Club Exists

Blake Elsner 11:23

So let's flip over to the birth of Only Greens Club. So tell me a little bit how this all came together and like where it came from.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

It stemmed the two areas that I I focus on very heavily on my day-to-day life. It's mindset, right? Because I believe we we can control, we can attract our destiny. Mindset is one, and then opportunity is another one. And I was out golfing one dime because that's my passion, like almost every 30-year-old plus uh year old male who's like, hey, now it's time to get into that golf era. But I was out golfing and I'm thinking, I look, I never had this opportunity as a kid. And I started thinking about how much I would have appreciated it because golf teaches you so much about life, right? You're not gonna always do even credit or any other asset of relationships, everything's not gonna be perfect. Well, guess what? In the game of golf, especially with how I play, every hit's not perfect, right? So it teaches you, hey, shake it off, focus on how the comeback is, like what your next approach is, and it uh, you know, get up when you get knocked down, right? Golf teaches you that. It also great social skills, like you said earlier. It's you meet so many unique people on the golf course. Some could be life-changing relationships. And when I was out golfing, I was thinking, how could I take my passion for golf and turn it into a way to give back with mindset and opportunity focused? And I I put together the the term only greens, honestly, spinning it off of only fans, because I thought it was kind of playing and it was golf related. But uh, I wanted to go on a mission to get kids and veterans on the golf course. That's the opportunity, and pair that with the podcast because I love sharing mindset tips, which uh is especially in the world today with all the negative news and everything hitting right when people turn on the TV, it's that positivity, that mindset, and uh how to grow.

Blake Elsner 13:16

That's so true, though. I I say positive possum, even though it starts with a no, don't uh don't come at me. But no, yeah, it's it's kind of like it's true. It's like the whole V Friends characters. I don't know if you've seen that stuff. But yeah, yeah, it's really it's incredible, like the the mindset part of that. So so you started this. Obviously, you know, the the accessibility problem of of golf, like obviously, you know, if you can find a soccer ball and go find a net anywhere, pretty much, and you can find a basketball, you find a basketball hoop, a lot of places. But it golf's a little different. You gotta have a lot of equipment, you know. You you obviously have to have a place to play. So did you notice that like there was kind of a lack in in that area?

SPEAKER_02 14:01

I noticed that uh similar to soccer and basketball being so easily accessible. Parents thought their first thought wasn't, oh, I'm gonna put extra money, especially when in more expensive times like today, they're gonna put extra money into buying clubs that are pricey and balls and teas and lessons because it starts stacking up quick, and then kids go without golf. I wasn't seeing, I always brought my son and my daughter to the golf course and I got them on there, but I didn't see a lot of other kids on those kid-friendly courses, and I wondered why. And I I believe it's due to uh accessibility. And I know from my hometown or growing up, and a lot of kids that I grew up with, I know they didn't have it. So if that's true for my hometown, then I know it's true for a lot of other areas.

Blake Elsner 14:48

So, what do you what what's like the I guess the goal here for um the club?

Kids, Veterans, And Mental Health

SPEAKER_02 14:55

Uh depends on the angle you're asking. So the goal is one for the kids to get as many kids on the course swinging and just creating that passion early because of all the benefits and life lessons that it teaches you. So that's for getting kids out and swinging clubs. The other one, because of mindset and opportunity, is getting veterans who serve the country, right? They need this help and support, is getting them outside, moving around, playing golf, uh, because their scientific study is showing that PTSD is improved with that activity and with golfing, being out in nature, right? So getting veterans to focus on their mindset and mental health, uh, which is key. And then the third goal is to just make his uh I say to change the world through golf. You know, I I think putting the clubs in the the hands of the right person can can spark the next wave of uh wanting to give and grow and uh spread that opportunity.

Blake Elsner 15:52

Yeah, I love that, and it's true. Like I think there's a lot of people that just kind of overlook golf because, like you said, they just don't have the opportunity to to get all the stuff and get out there and and kids, and I love that um that you're doing all this to give back and to to get people out there that you know, like you said, might not have ever played golf, and you never even know. Like that, I bet there's some talented people, talented golfers or taunt talented people out there that probably are pretty good at golf that could learn it and just never have had the chance to actually um try that. So I love that you're doing that. So let's do a little uh rapid fire real fast and kind of to to wind

Rapid Fire Golf Favorites

Blake Elsner 16:37

it down. Um Tiger Woods or Jack Nicholas? Tiger Woods. I'm a witch. Wow, that's a that's a tough one. Okay, wow, okay. What's your dream golf course like to play?

SPEAKER_02 16:50

Uh so I've already played it. Uh I loved St. Andrews. Uh we were out because because we travel so much, and I I got out to the old course and it was goosebumps shit. It was it was mind-blowing.

Blake Elsner 17:01

I love that. So maybe one day you'll be flying out, some kids, some veterans out to St. Andrews. That's uh that would be a trip right there that I feel like would be extremely impactful. Um, what's your best round you've ever shot?

SPEAKER_02 17:17

Best round I've ever shot in 83. Uh yeah, on uh on an actual championship course. I've shot better on easier courses, but it was in the Dominican Republic, and uh actual championship course shot in 83.

Blake Elsner 17:33

That's that's a that's a great great score for uh for a tough course like that. Like you're saying, that that's it's not the an easy course. Um would you rather uh have you had a hole in one? I guess that's a question. No, I'm a hole in one.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

I have yet to get a hole in one. I'll I'll get it soon. I'll knock one of these down. Yeah.

Blake Elsner 17:53

My hole in one's right behind me back there. Let's go on the wall. Had that in Arizona at a at somebody else's country club. And I'm like, take that. That's easy for bringing me out here. I'm gonna take a hole in one right on your country club. So yeah, so what's next for Only Greens? Give us a little, what's like the future hold?

50 States In 50 Days Plan

SPEAKER_02 18:11

All right, so the future is I actually have a Guinness World Record that I'm going for next May. So starting in May, I'm gonna be playing uh a round of golf in all 50 states in 50 days or less. The caveat is I can only use public transportation. So the analytics, like setting this thing up, is just a beast in itself, meaning I I, you know, taxis, trains, buses, planes, I can't drive my own vehicle or have somebody drive me and uh except for a taxi for very specific parameters, right? But it's 50 states and 50 days or less to raise funds and awareness for Only Greens, uh, just so I can get back and give back as much as possible uh to the kids and the veterans. So that is that is the next big move uh for for the nonprofit.

Blake Elsner 18:58

Wow, that's awesome. That's uh that that would take a lot of logistics and a lot of uh cooperation with Mother Nature, probably as well.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

As we have to think I'm the first Alaska, so it's gonna be uh it's gonna be unique.

Blake Elsner 19:14

Wow, that is that's that's pretty

How To Support And Final Takeaways

Blake Elsner 19:16

neat. Well, then where can people if you like want to follow along? Because this is besides obviously the mission, this seems like something that um is pretty pretty impactful, something that maybe people want to follow along. Is there a do you have an Instagram?

SPEAKER_02 19:28

Uh yeah, personal Instagram is at Southern Foster, and then Only Greens Instagram that is newer is at uh only greens club.

Blake Elsner 19:38

Awesome. And and then and then you also have a website, right?

SPEAKER_02 19:41

Yep, onlygreensclub.com. Feel free to check it out, see the mission. Obviously, every dollar that goes to the mission is is uh helps the cause and helps us make an impact and change the world through through golf. And uh there's gonna be a lot of fun things that I'll have streaming with this mission when I'm on this Guinness record mission. I have a lot of fun things in mind to be streaming, so stay tuned. And my catchphrase is keep on swinging because that's that's life, right? Whatever happens, just keep on swinging.

Blake Elsner 20:09

I love that. That's right. And everything will be all right, as we say, right? Keep on swinging, and uh, I'm sure you'll be doing that in the next uh 50 days at 50 states. Wow, that's gonna be incredible to follow along, and I I appreciate you coming on here. Any any last uh or final words?

SPEAKER_02 20:27

Yeah, wake up, be grateful, and do what you can to make the world a better place, right? You do your part, and as long as we all do our own part individually, then the world starts getting better day by day. That's that's the advice that I have.

Blake Elsner 20:41

I agree, and I think that's a pretty powerful thing. And I think we all get caught up so much in our you know our own lives, our own businesses, and everything we've got going on that sometimes we forget how much of an impact we can make on somebody else's lives. And it doesn't always take a million dollars or some massive organization, sometimes it just takes somebody willing to open a door. So if you're listening today, go check out Only Greens Club and learn more about what they're doing and see how you can get involved. A big thank you to Southern Foster for joining me, and of course, to our sponsors, River City, Sewer and Drain and St. Louis Excavation, for helping make these conversations possible. And to everybody who continues to listen, watch, share and support Elevate with Elsner. I genuinely appreciate you. If this episode brought you some value, share it with somebody who needs to hear it. I'm Blake Elsner, and remember it's just not just about how far you go in life, it's about how many people you help move forward along the way. Keep elevating, everybody. We'll see you next time. One love.