The Origin of Dharma House: How a Vision Became a Movement
I've spent the last decade traveling through about 30 different countries, and I noticed something everywhere I went. No matter where I was—Thailand, South America, Europe—the communities that lit me up all had the same thing in common: people could be authentically themselves.
They could express what was really on their heart. They could lean on each other. They created synergy where everyone was rising up together.
But here's what crushed me: I'd built a successful business, and somewhere in that climb, I'd cut away friendships. I'd traded depth for hustle. And I knew I wasn't alone in feeling that way. Anyone who's stepped off the corporate W-2 treadmill to do something different knows that loneliness—that isolation that comes with going your own path.
I was tired of surface-level conversations. Tired of people complaining about the world without doing anything about it. Tired of a culture that glorifies being busy while we ignore the relationships that actually matter.
So I made a decision.
The House That Wrote Itself Into Existence
In 2021, I got serious about manifesting something different. I sat down with Brian Tracy's journaling framework and got brutally specific about what I wanted:
Multiple acres. Large square footage. Secluded. A pool. Spaces for concerts, campouts, bonfires, retreats. And here's the part that felt impossible: owner financing, no down payment, move-in ready.
Forty days after I wrote that down, we closed on the house. May 5th, 2021.
My business partner Phil and I looked at what we had and asked: what if we created a space where people could actually be themselves? Where business people could sit next to yogis. Where DJs could collaborate with meditation facilitators. Where the person who's lost, transitioning, or struggling with finances could walk in and feel like they belong—without having to pay their way in.
We called it Dharma House. Dharma—from the Buddhist concept of living by true and right principles, honoring your distinct, unique individual path. That's what we were after.
From Chaos to Community
That first summer, we said: bring your gift. Share your craft. If you don't charge, you get to experience everyone else's gifts for free.
We had workshops, DJs, fire spinners, yogis, breath workers. And then something beautiful happened—people started showing up. A lot of people. Over 100 at the first pool party. Over 200 at the second. Now we consistently see 300+.
But I'll be honest: the early days were absolutely wild.
One night it started pouring rain mid-party. We had 150-200 people crammed into my garage, living room, and kitchen—completely muddy, not ready to leave. It turned into this spontaneous sleepover. People sitting cross-legged on the floor, someone doing magic tricks, someone else asking for advice on their brand-new business. Then our DJ showed up from another gig with all his equipment and asked if he could go in the basement.
Until 4 AM, there was a rave happening downstairs.
The carpet was destroyed. There were 12 loads of trash bags at the end of my driveway. It was chaos. But it was worth it.
The thing is, when you make something radically inclusive, you get all of it—the beautiful and the messy. We had takers showing up who didn't understand the vision. We had subcultures forming—people getting sloppy drunk, treating it like a frat house. We had folks showing up thinking they could do things that didn't align with what we were building.
So we got intentional.
Tuning the Vision
We changed our messaging. We figured out who the leaders of our community were and built more around people like them. We got clear about boundaries while staying true to radical inclusion.
And something shifted.
The drinking culture faded. The taker energy transformed into a shared economy. Workshops got scheduled. Facilitators showed up on time. We created a marketplace where massage therapists and Reiki practitioners could set up tables. It went from me solo-ing workshops I hadn't prepared for (yoga, meditation, journaling—I wore all the hats) to a real community ecosystem.
People stopped clustering in groups ignoring each other. Instead, you'd meet someone you didn't know and feel connected because there was a real sense of belonging happening.
The Event That Changed Everything
One of my biggest moments came when a major real estate guru was coming to town and we became the host site. We got a petting zoo—goats, chickens, even a baby horse. We were expecting 500 people.
Then, 24 hours before, the speaker canceled.
I became that stand-in speaker, and I got to share something I rarely get to talk about at events like this: real estate investing and financial strategy, but through a lens of purpose, dharma, and living aligned with who you actually are.
Having 25 people in my basement asking real questions about wealth and purpose? That was profound for me.
From "I" to "We"
What changed everything was finding people who understood the vision as deeply as I did. Ashley Miller came in and suddenly I went from 100% of my time financing this whole thing to maybe 5% of my time. She got it. She understood the cultural recipe we were after. She knew how to empower leaders without micromanaging.
And the money part? We actually figured that out too. This year we hit profitability. People started contributing in a way where it didn't all fall on my company to finance it anymore.
We went from "I" to "we." And people want to play team.
What's Next
This year we hit an important tipping point. We have an inner circle of leaders as committed as (or more committed than) I am. We're getting into retreats, possibly bringing people to Thailand, and we're modeling this for other cities—people from Denver, LA, New York, Phoenix are already replicating what we've built here.
We're not just consuming art anymore. We're creating together. We're giving to the next generation. We're in synergy.
And here's the beautiful part: people are going out into the world and planting seeds. A seed that gets planted in your mind goes to your heart, and then into your hands, and then into society. I see that ripple effect happening in real time.
The vision wasn't just about pool parties and community events. It was always about showing what's possible when people stop living in scarcity and fear, and start living in truth, connection, and contribution.
Dharma House is just the beginning.