What It's Like to be Worth $50m in a 2,400 Person town

Ever wonder what life might be like if you achieved significant wealth while living in a small town? Some entrepreneurs dream of making it big without leaving their roots behind. This episode of MoneyWise dives into the unique experience of doing just that.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.

Here's My Take

Travis's story offers a compelling alternative to the typical "big city success" narrative. By staying in his small town, he's able to have an outsized positive impact on his community while still enjoying the fruits of his success. His approach to wealth management and lifestyle choices demonstrates that it's possible to balance financial success with maintaining strong local connections and a sense of purpose.

Managing Wealth in a Small Community

Travis, worth around $50 million, chose to stay in his hometown of 2,400 people after achieving significant financial success. This decision comes with both benefits and challenges. Travis emphasizes the importance of not being flashy with wealth in a small town. "I think if somebody came into a small town, any small town, and tried to throw their weight around with money, I think that would poison the apple more than it would help," he explains.

Dealing with curiosity has been a challenge for Travis and his family. He's had to coach his children on how to handle questions about their family's wealth. Travis shares an example: "We had teachers approach my daughter, you know, when this first happened, being like, hey, I heard your dad sold for X amount." This level of curiosity is something they've had to navigate carefully.

On the positive side, Travis can see the direct impact of his success on the community. "I'm seeing people that we hired and trained who were just out of college now buying their first house, or their kids are playing sports with my kid and they're going on vacation," he says. This visible impact on his neighbors' lives brings him a sense of fulfillment.

While the family's wealth isn't a secret due to the public nature of the business sale, Travis notes that people likely underestimate their true worth. "It was a publicly traded business that bought us. And so, you know, they send out press release, you know, gossip flies. But I don't think people knew exact numbers," he explains.

Lifestyle Choices and Spending

Despite his wealth, Travis maintains a relatively modest lifestyle in his hometown. He drives practical vehicles, explaining, "I drive a Toyota Tundra. I got to have a truck. Right. It's a city truck. I'm not. I'm not a farmer or anything, but I drive a tundra. My wife drives a Grand Cherokee."

His home, while sizeable, is not overly extravagant for his means. Travis lives in a 6,000 sq ft house that cost around $800,000 to build in 2015. He shares, "My house is one of the bigger houses. It's newer house in town. I am adding, you know, one of the things that we did decide to splurge on is we're adding an addition on a basketball court and a gym onto the side of our house."

When it comes to major spending, Travis focuses on travel and experiences outside of the local area. "We're going to spend our money outside of where we live more than we spend where we do live, right? So traveling is a big thing. We always try to find, you know, experiences we can take our kids," he explains.

One significant investment Travis has made is in a lake property. "We bought three and a half acres on a lake there. We're building kind of our, you know, dream lake compound place for family, friends. As the kids get older, you know, no matter where my kids end up moving or, you know, going to school and living, I wanted a place where they're going to want to come back," he says.

Creating Local Impact

Travis has found unique ways to contribute to his community, starting with his business premises. "We actually converted the old, old folks home in our town, which the government, our provincial government was building a new old folks home. And so they're going to tear this one down. And we took it over and renovated it," Travis shares. This move not only provided his company with office space but also preserved a local landmark.

His business has become a significant local employer, providing opportunities for people to stay in or return to the area. Travis explains, "I get to play the part in where they're working, right, that they're actually in my small town... They could go to a bigger city and make more money or as much money. But in order to live here, you know, we have been able to bring a lot of people back to our community who wanted to move back but didn't have the opportunity."

The impact of his success on the community became clear to Travis during a company event. He reflects, "We had a company barbecue once and had some bouncy houses, and this was like pre-COVID. And it was like overwhelming, like I had to kind of step back and tell my wife, you know, there's like 150 people and all these kids. And I just felt like all this weight, like, I better not screw up, like the decisions I make matter."

Travis also involves his family in the business, creating a unique environment for his children. "My kids have and my business partners' kids have access to the building. They'll come over here late at night with their friends, play pool, drink, you know, pop from the pop machine and just hang out in their dad's office, right? That's kind of cool," he says.

The Future of Small Town Success

Travis believes that more businesses might follow his lead in the future. "I think there's a trend. I think we're going to see more and more businesses move to the smaller, and it doesn't have to be a small town, but like a smaller city centre," he predicts. He notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend, making remote work more common and allowing businesses to hire from a wider geographic area.

Ultimately, for Travis, wealth is about more than just numbers. He emphasizes, "Wealth to me is lifestyle. When I look at what makes me wealthy or not, the money is obviously important because it creates opportunity. It creates freedom for us to like, travel and do these things as a family. But I'd rather have my family and my lifestyle here being worth a 10th of it in a big city and not having any kids."

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