Bill Allen

Bill Allen is the Founder and CEO of In The Room LLC, a live event registration software company designed to give the host of a live event a massive return on their investment through data and an incredible experience for their guests. Bill is a retired US Navy Test Pilot who served his country for 20 years flying helicopters and airplanes all over the world. In 2014, while still an Active Duty Pilot, he started a real estate investment company called Blackjack Real Estate LLC in Lexington Park, MD. At one point, he and his team were flipping and wholesaling over 200 houses a year and have done over 1,000 homes to date. Additionally, he owns a real estate education company called 7 Figure Flipping where Bill coaches and trains some of the top real estate investors in the world. This is where the idea for In The Room was created, Bill needed more data and a better registration solution at all of his live events. Bill also runs a podcast called 7 Figure Flipping and has his own personal YouTube channel where he does interviews in the cockpit of his airplane. He currently resides just outside of Nashville, TN with his wife Lucy and their 3 boys on his 13-acre commercial farm.

What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?

It is so variable these days but what I am most focused on is to only do the things that I can do myself. I spend a lot of time creating content for the business and figure out what kind of return I will get on the time I spend in the business if I am in fact working “in it.” That is typically creating podcasts, going on other podcasts, making videos, making ads, creating tools that can be used by my team to make the company money. I also spend a lot of time developing ideas and strategies for the company and work “on the business” frequently. I’m only in the office Monday through Thursday from 10 am to 5 pm so I need to make my time count, I spend Fridays on my farm!

How do you bring ideas to life?

I have whiteboard paint all over my office walls so I sketch out all of my ideas, stare at them for a bit, rebuild them after a night of sleep, then bring in the team to show them what I see. Then I let them take it from there until I need to adjust things. Whiteboard walls are amazing, if you don’t have them I don’t know why not!

What’s one trend that excites you?

Honestly, the trend of giving up our phones and connectivity more and more. I feel like we spend our entire day on our phones and laptops that this trend of digital fasting and getting outside more is so important today! I don’t want my kids to live their whole lives watching others create experiences. I want them to actually get out there and create experiences of their own like I did when I was a kid. So, our farm is a huge piece of that and I gave up my phone for 7 months completely last year! That’s a trend I can get behind…

What is one habit that helps you be productive?

Focus, I put my head down, zone out on everything but what I’m working on and get it done! This is called flow state a lot of times, I put myself in a position to get into flow and just do a big project in one go. Turn off distractions and get the job done! That comes with preparation too though so asking the right questions and having all the information needed to get the job done before I start is a huge habit that allows for this as well.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Don’t change anything, take the risk, jump, and make the best decisions you can with the information you have! Things are always going to look better somewhere else but just keep going, you will get so far and look back and be shocked at how you got there if you just take one step at a time!

Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you.

Learning how to fly and buying an airplane would be the best decision you ever make in your life! My airplane is my time machine, it costs more than my house, and it’s expensive to fly across country in it. However, I have TOTAL freedom!

What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?

I use data to make decisions, not emotion. Whenever I have used emotion to drive my decision-making process it has gone wrong! I highly recommend everyone use data to drive their company and financial decisions. Data doesn’t lie!

When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?

I go out to my farm and just walk around. It is such a peaceful place and so many things are growing and progressing there! It can be easy to think more work needs to be done but it’s also so incredibly easy to see how far we have come when I am there! It was just grass when we started and now it’s exploding with food and life!

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?

Hiring and delegating has been the biggest thing that has allowed me to grow in business and advance. This is also the thing that was the hardest for me to do in the beginning because I thought no one else could do things as good as me (egotistical I know, but it’s what I thought). This has been the one thing that has allowed me to do more than I thought I could ever do, finding great people, paying them a great wage, and treating them well.

What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?

I fail regularly but one that stands out to me is not letting someone go in the company when I knew it was the right decision to make but a hard decision to make. The decision to keep them around for a year longer than I should have was an emotional one, but all of the data pointed to them having to get fired. I eventually got to a point where I had just had enough and let them go, but what I learned was that I have to make data-driven decisions in business, not emotional ones. The numbers don’t lie, people can!

What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?

Today, it would be the Google Suite! I use my Gmail as task management, sheets to share information with my team, and the Drive handles everything we do! I don’t believe one piece software will change the world for a CEO, however, I think my team would say Hubspot because everything lives in that CRM except for me!

What is the best $100 you recently spent?

Date night with my wife, but that’s a weekly $100 at least. However, if that relationship is good so will all my others!

Do you have a favorite book or podcast from which you’ve received much value?

Extreme Ownership is my favorite book of all times outside of the Bible! This book hits every single type of person inside of a business or in your life. Taking responsibility for your actions is so important instead of pointing the finger at everyone else, and this book has so many great examples of why that is! Additionally, listening to it is an amazing experience and highly recommended vs. reading it due to the authors reading it and giving a lot of energy to the situations discussed in the book.

What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?

I enjoyed watching Suits for the interaction between the assistant Donna and the boss Harvey. It’s shown me a lot when it comes to how a business relationship can really 10X opportunities.

Key learnings:

• Taking extreme ownership in your business and life will change everything and greatly increase the profitability of a company.