Episode 62

full
Published on:

15th Feb 2023

Dirk Van Reenen | Nourishing An Adventurous Spirit

On today's episode of the Passive Wealth Principles podcast, Jake chats with Dirk van Reenen, co-founder of MERUS Adventure, a premier private adventure park located in the second-largest canyon in North America: Palo Duro Canyon, Texas. Dirk was born and raised in South Africa where he spent the majority of his childhood outdoors. At age 14, he immigrated to Texas with his family. He worked on farms and ranches throughout high school and college and then began his entrepreneurial journey, buying his first business at age 21. Dirk has always loved the outdoors and spending time offroading, camping, hiking, fishing, and mountain biking. It was a long time dream of his to open a park like MERUS and in 2020 he felt God called him to make the dream become a reality.

During the episode, Dirk explains the circumstances that led from being born a 15th generation South African, to his immigration at 14 to Texas in the United States.


He offers some thoughts on his upbringing and powerful work ethic, which involved working after school, on weekends and during holidays, a work ethic that has served him well in the years since.


Dirk explains why 2012 was a transformational moment for Dirk - his business had failed, and his wife was pregnant with their first child. He knew he had to make massive changes in order to make things work and provide for his family.


He also reveals the moment in 2016 when he decided to create BERGflow, a company built to empower entrepreneurs and business owners that are changing the world.


Join Jake and Dirk for this fascinating discussion.


Enjoy!



What You Will Learn in this Show:

  • A little of Dirk's backstory and journey, starting in South Africa and eventually ending up in Texas.
  • How he went from being a team leader to becoming the CEO of a brokerage.
  • Dirk’s transformation from survival mode to developing a humble love for others.
  • Why Dirk believes that there is a framework to success.
  • And so much more...


Resources:

MERUS Adventure

MERUS Adventure Instagram


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About the Podcast

Passive Wealth Principles
Contrarian Investing for Cash Flow and Freedom
You are listening to the Passive Wealth Principles Podcast. Your host; Jake Harris is the founder of an award-winning real estate investment firm and actively investing in commercial real estate all over the country. This show allows you to tune into interviews, dive deeper and deconstruction many passive wealth principles not just from investing but tactics, strategies, and many fascinating ways in which people have achieved levels of passive wealth.

Through my nearly 20 year career as a professional investor, I have built an amazing network of people and come across some super-savvy investors that not only have a unique stance on the marketplace but look at the same problems we all face and many times have come up with a simple but unconventional approach to solving them.

So come be a fly on the wall. Enjoy the conversations and these amazing passive wealth principle lessons.

Learn more: https://www.catchknives.com/

About your host

Profile picture for Jake Harris

Jake Harris

A sought-after expert and gifted story teller with contagious energy, he inspires everyone around him with encyclopedic research. He can take complicated ideas and convey them simply and clearly for everyone to understand. As a founder and managing partner of an award-winning commercial real estate firm, he has authored a #1 bestselling book (CatchingKnives). He has been featured in many publications including The NY Times & Yahoo Finance, he is a frequent speaker, podcast guest, and a highly valued coach. He uses those superpowers to pioneer cutting-edge bold design into an exciting hotel, infill, and adaptive reuse projects across the country. To date has purchased and sold1200+ properties in23 states and amassed a commercial real estate portfolio of iconic properties. He earned a master's degree in International Real Estate, sits on the FIU real estate board, is an accreditedCongress of New Urbanism city builder, a member of CCIM, Urban Land Institute (ULI) and holds a CA real estate brokers license.