I was born and raised in Elma, Iowa. Elma is a farm community with a population of about 550 people or so. I spent my childhood playing Wiffle ball in the park with my friends, mowing lawns, picking up rocks, having intense snowball fights, playing tackle football without pads, hunting, fishing, and wrestling. I am grateful every day for being raised in small town USA.
High school for me was more about wrestling than it was about getting an education. If I look back on my high school era, the best part about it was I got to spend that time with my future wife. We started dating in 7th grade and never really looked back other than a few brief periods of me being an idiot. Nonetheless, we have now been happily married for 16 years.
After high school, I tried college solely for the wrestling opportunity. I went to Iowa Central Community College, a Junior College in Ft. Dodge, Iowa. During this time, I was diagnosed with skin psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. For those of you that know wrestling, it was pretty embarrassing to be in a singlet with my skin looking the way it was so it was time to make a change. I tried another junior college after this stint but found out college just wasn’t for me. It wasn’t motivating to me, nothing about it inspired me, I was over the wrestling thing anyways and knew it was time to move on.
I picked up some odd jobs for a few months but it wasn’t long before I got a call from my oldest brother, Jason, to join the family business. The family business was called Peoples Insurance Agency. When I started in January of 2000 the annualized revenue was $300,000. During my 21 years with the company, we were able to grow annual revenues to over $22,000,000. This was done by putting a focus on M&A of smaller agencies within a targeted market, development of our trucking vertical, a vision that was shared with our team, and a burning desire backed by faith that the vision would come to fruition.
In 2018 we sold the company to a large private-equity-backed firm. I ended up staying with the company until June 2022. I knew as I was excited I could shift my focus from insurance to real estate. In 2018 I partnered with some folks on growing a real-estate buying group called REM Capital. I am currently still a partner at this firm and we have about $510mm in assets under management. I enjoy being on the Investor Relations side of things as I am also not only on the buying side of real estate but also an active investor.
2022 I have put a big focus on improving my health and overall personal well-being. In April I came across some YouTube videos and podcasts about an all-meat-based diet to help with autoimmune issues including psoriasis. I can happily say that I have now cleared about 95% of my skin psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis from following a specific elimination diet. Not only has my skin and joints improved significantly, but I also feel a lot better, have more energy, and am longer on any medication.
In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my wife and kids. We are Disney Vacation Club Members so we love to spend time in Orlando. I enjoy hunting, boating, running with my dog, building businesses, helping others, watching baseball, softball, and wrestling, and doing CrossFit.
I also spend a lot of time learning. I spend as much time as possible networking, reading books, listening to podcasts, and talking about business.
If you’re interested in learning more about me you can follow me on the following social media platforms:
Also, feel free to reach out directly to me at josh@joshwhitinger.com
Here is a list of services I provide:
Real-Estate Investing – I work with Accredited Investors to locate limited partnership opportunities through www.remcapital.com
The Carnivore CEO – I put out content based on my personal experiences and the benefits of an all-meat-based diet.