"Kickstart Your Wealth Engine" - How a Kia GM Built $10M in Real Estate While Running a Store | Tustin Ulrich, GM at Roper Kia
Description
What if your success today could quietly sabotage your future, unless you build a plan beyond the next car deal?
In this episode of The Dealer Playbook, I sit down with Tustin Ulrich, General Manager of Roper Kia (one of the most dominant Kia stores in Missouri) and founder of The 1% Effect, a real estate investor concierge designed specifically for high-earning operators who don’t want to lose focus on today while building freedom for tomorrow.
This is not a conversation about selling cars.
This is a conversation about long-term thinking, generational wealth, tax strategy, leverage, and protecting your family’s future, without sacrificing performance in the present.
Tustin shares his deeply personal story, from childhood adversity and financial struggle to building a record-breaking dealership and acquiring over $10M in real estate while paying less than 1% in taxes. He breaks down exactly how high achievers in automotive can use real estate as a strategic tool, not a distraction, to create optionality, time freedom, and legacy.
In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
- Why most high earners stay trapped in a short-term income mindset
- How car dealers and operators can invest in real estate without losing focus on the store
- What the 1% Effect really means, and how the top 1% preserve wealth for generations
- Why 401ks and Roth IRAs alone won’t create true financial freedom
- How leverage, 1031 exchanges, and tax strategy work in plain English
- The difference between good debt vs. bad debt
- Why real estate favors operators, even during recessions
- How to think in multiplication, not cash flow
- Why automotive is one of the only industries that enables this path
Timestamps
00:00 Hook Intro — Building wealth without losing today
02:00 Tustin’s story: from struggle to GM
06:30 Why high achievers need a future plan
10:45 The 1% Effect explained
15:30 Real estate, taxes, and leverage (simple breakdown)
22:30 Recession myths vs reality
28:00 Single-family vs multifamily investing
33:30 Living on debt & generational wealth
38:00 How to get started + final takeaway
Who This Episode Is For
- Dealer Principals & General Managers
- High-earning sales professionals
- Automotive operators thinking beyond the next 30 days
- Anyone serious about generational wealth, tax efficiency, and long-term control
United States
