From the Desk of Dustin Pritchard

#BEMEGA My Friend

I was working a lot. I was busy empire building... you know, the typical driven CEO of a successful company with big goals & dreams. I spent years getting there only to find that it took MORE time and attention as the company grew. I couldn't help but feel like I was perpetually on a treadmill... until the worst thing and the best thing happened.👇

A mind shift had to happen. I was WORKING... I wasn't LIVING.

I'm an adventurer at heart. What fills me with joy is exploring this amazing planet, meeting outstanding people and living every day to its fullest.

When I realized that Retirement & Freedom is not a date, its a number. That agents can get paid like CEO's without the responsibilities. I was convinced. It was time for a change.. and to share.

Snapshot

Built & Sold a 200 Salesperson marketing company in 4 cities
Built & Sold a 4.5 Million Dollar Real Estate Firm
Built a 250k Profiting Team... from the beach in Mexico
Sold Billions in Services and Products
Founder & CEO of #BEMEGA Mentors
Mentor to Team Leaders, Executives & Entrepreneurs
Speaker, author, consultant, entrepreneur, Avid Traveler & Adventurer
DEEP Believer in paying knowledge forward, we have a moral obligation to share and give back
Real Estate Developer - The Sanctuary Eco Village in Costa Rica

I Sold Everything and Walked Away From a Life I Had Painstakingly Built From Nothing.

What began as a search for meaning became a journey through Latin America — and a responsibility to help others find their way.

⁓ Dustin Pritchard

This is a story of stepping out of systems designed to extract —
and choosing instead to build something rooted in balance, stewardship, and community.

From the Desk of Dustin Pritchard

I didn’t walk away because my life failed.

There were failures.
There were successes.

I walked away because, over time, it stopped feeling like any of it had real purpose.

For years, I did what I was supposed to do. I built businesses, led teams, carried responsibility, and kept moving forward. From the outside, everything worked. From the inside, something essential was slipping away.

The pace kept accelerating.
The weight kept increasing.

And somewhere along the way, I realized I was working constantly — but living very little.
That for some odd reason, I had willingly advocated and fought to spend all my energy feeding the rich.

That My family and I had become micro pods of consumerism designed for maximum profitability.

That realization changed everything.

Letting go wasn’t easy or romantic.
It was hard. Painful. And necessary.

Once I saw the patterns clearly, I couldn't unsee them. And once that happened, continuing on the same path didn't feal sustainable — or survivable.

Breaking those patterns took intention, discipline, and time. Years, in some cases. It meant dismantling ways of working, thinking, and measuring worth that had once felt normal — and making space for something I didn’t fully understand yet.

In retrospect it sounds romantic and super smart... at the time I was so lost I couldn't have hit the floor falling over. It was pure hell.

But I did have a vision that kept recurring. Something was pushing me to build a sanctuary, a self sustaining ecosystem for people.

I just didn’t know where.

The only way forward was to hit the road and start looking.

That movement took me south, and deeper into questions I could no longer ignore — It gave me a lot of time to think about how we live, how we organize ourselves, and what it actually means to build a good life in an increasingly unstable world.

That search eventually led me to Costa Rica.
And from there, to the work I’m building now.

I'm telling this story for a few reasons.

I'm proud of having the courage and ability to make such a massive move. I want to help others find their own version of sanctuary like I have.

The Pressure We Were All Living Under

For a long time, I did exactly what ambitious, capable people are told to do.

I built businesses. I led teams. I produced results. I played the game seriously — and I played it well.

From the outside, it worked.

But the deeper I went, the clearer something became:
the system wasn’t designed to support people who build — it was designed to extract from them.

Taxes rose. Costs rose. Inflation quietly erased gains that had taken years to earn. Every input became more expensive — labor, materials, housing, food — while the return for effort shrank.

It requires constant motion just to stay in place... and a lot of times, you don't win that battle.

Life started to feel less like ownership and more like a series of subscriptions. You didn’t build once — you paid forever. For access. For permission. For the right to keep operating inside systems that could change the rules at any moment.

Even success didn’t buy freedom.
It bought more exposure.

Families were squeezed by time instead of money. Health became transactional. Food became optimized for profit instead of nourishment.

And the promise offered at the end of the road was always the same:

→ Work hard now.
→ Consume responsibly.
→ Maybe retire later — under conditions you don’t control.

I wasn’t struggling.
I was succeeding.

And yet, I could feel what that life was shaping me into. Constantly “on.” Always managing. Carrying weight that never fully came off.

My calendar was full.
My life felt increasingly narrow.

That’s when it clicked:

This wasn’t a failure of effort or intelligence.

It was the natural outcome of systems that reward massive consumption and reliance on systems where the abundance flows uphill.

So I had 4 choices.

1. Play the game their way. Fight for my right to be a slave. (I already did that and made THEM richer)
2. Do nothing. The Status quo wasn't really an option.
3. FIGHT THE SYSTEM... and really, what? Change? No power = no leverage. I'm a builder.
4. Be the Change - become a counter balance to the thing that was killing me and is CURRENTLY draining our planet.

Once I saw that clearly, I couldn’t unsee it. Balance was the key to absolute freedom.

And I knew that I had to step up and make massive changes in my life.

The Decision — And the Cost of Stepping Away

The decision to step away didn’t happen all at once.

In many ways, I stayed longer than I wanted to — not because I was afraid to leave, but because someone else mattered more than my urgency.

→ My son was still at home.
→ Pre-college.
→ Still forming his footing in the world.

I wasn’t willing to make dramatic moves or destabilize everything around me until I knew he was secure — emotionally, practically, and independent enough to not need me in the same way.

→ So I carried on.

→ I kept building.
→ Kept leading.

Kept holding structures together long after I knew they no longer fit.

That choice came with a cost of its own.

"By the time I finally admitted what needed to change, I wasn’t just tired — I was becoming someone I didn’t recognize. Capable, productive, outwardly successful… and internally very misaligned, and unhappy"

When the partnership behind the brokerage FINALLY collapsed, it forced the first real break. It was terrifying but I was ready to let the negative elements of my life go.

It wasn’t hypothetical. It would be a real cutting of cords.

What stepping away actually meant was letting go of things I had built deliberately and could have continued rebuilding indefinitely:

A brokerage I co-founded and scaled to over 800 homes sold per year
A 15-year marriage, the identity and the shared holdings that came with it
Ongoing income, momentum, and professional standing
Systems I understood deeply — and could have stayed inside comfortably
A decent life... for all intents and purposes. I should have been happy. But no.

If I stepped out...

Income would stop.
Prestige evaporate.
Momentum disappeared overnight.

It would be like falling into a void — with no guarantee of what would come next. Terrified is a good word to use for how I felt. Confident mask, jelly underneath.

But I could either keep reinforcing a life that was slowly hollowing me out…
or accept the discomfort of dismantling it — carefully, intentionally, and with purpose.

I chose to dismantle everything that was no longer serving my soul.

A business that was draining and purposless. A marriage that felt like dying slowly.

I am flawed. I know I was the one who built that all up around myself.

I blame no one but myself. The people around me were good folks.

So the responsibility could only lay in my hands. No one was going to do it for me.

The ONLY problem was. I needed a safe place to land and do some serious soul searching.

Mexico: Learning How to Live Again

By the time I landed in Mexico, I wasn’t chasing answers anymore.

I was exhausted — not just physically, but existentially. The business separation was pure hell. The marriage was on the way out the door. I finally had time to myself.

Mexico gave me permission to breathe again.

I stayed for two years, right in the middle of separation and divorce, and instead of numbing out or rushing to rebuild, I chose something different: I chose to live.

And honestly — I chose to have fun. The kind of fun that brings color back into your body. Truly learning how to live, maybe for the first time in my life.

I laughed again. I traveled. I let myself be spontaneous. I followed curiosity instead of schedules. I reconnected with joy — not as a reward for productivity, but as something essential to being human.

That joy became medicine.

I learned how to love again — slowly, imperfectly, without armor. I explored parts of myself I had buried under responsibility and expectation. I went on journeys of self-discovery that didn’t come with goals or metrics — just the need to EXPERIENCE life..

It changed me. The Angels were truly guiding me as I dealt with the loss of my old self while staring at the question, "Now What"?

Mexico wasn’t a detour.
It was a recalibration.
And it breathed purpose back into my life.

During that time, I kept serving in the ways that still felt aligned. I coached realtors through #BEMEGA Mentors, consulted businesses, ran workshops, retreats, and challenges — not from a place of hustle, but from lived experience. I wasn’t teaching theory. I was sharing what had helped me grow a very successful business.

It reminded me that a life without joy eventually erodes everything else — relationships, health, creativity, even purpose. And that fun, when it’s honest, isn’t irresponsible at all.

It’s how you remember who you are.

This is where Alma Libre became a seed. The feeling like the blessing I had received years ago came to life in that breathtaking environment.

Although... it wasn't called the Alma Libre Sanctuary Project back then. It was just an idea, one that was christened by my soon to be loving wife who saw the vision and put it to words soon after we met.

Te Amo ❤️

But first... I had to clean house back home before I could move towards my destiny and what turned out to be the best decision of my life.

The Break —

Selling Everything and Heading South

Once the divorce was finalized, there was nothing left to negotiate with.

I went home and did what I knew I had to do — I cleaned house.

I sold what I owned. Not symbolically. Not partially. I let go of the physical anchors that tied me to a life I had already outgrown and had emotional anchors to hold me back. There was no version of moving forward that involved dragging the past with me.

This wasn’t impulsive.
It was resolved.

I moved into my Jeep with my dog General Tao and finally did something I had dreamed about for years — a long, unstructured road trip through the American Southwest. South from Toronto to Savannah to New Orleans. New Mexico. Utah. Nevada. Wide skies, empty roads, silence.

It wasn’t an escape.
It was integration.

Miles gave me space to think. Solitude stripped things down. Without meetings, expectations, or roles to perform, clarity arrived naturally. I wasn’t searching anymore — I was listening.

The purpose was clear: Head south and find the right place to build what had been forming quietly for years.

Partway through that journey, life intervened again. My father had a heart attack and was flown by helicopter to San Jose. My parents were living in Costa Rica — the same destination I had been moving toward.

So I drove.

Borders blurred. Days compressed. Four days later, with my dog beside me, I crossed into Costa Rica — not as a tourist, not as a fantasy, but as the next chapter made real.

I hadn’t arrived with a master plan.

But I had arrived aligned... still working through a lot of shit, but aligned.

That mattered more.

Little did I know, god was about to send me a Queen to guide me... and join me on the path.

Costa Rica — Choosing Love, Choosing Purpose

Costa Rica wasn’t just a destination.
It was a threshold.

Dad was ok... it was a close one.

And I had finally made it to Costa Rica. After THOUSANDS of miles in the jeep, I was home. But I came without the armor I used to wear. No familiar systems. No local banking. No established business footing. Just a foreign country, an uncertain future, and a quiet knowing that getting there was only the beginning of my journey.

And then I met her.

I fell in love — deeply, unexpectedly — with a woman who embodied everything I was still learning how to live. Strong. Grounded. Purpose-driven. A true boss babe in the best sense of the word — aligned, capable, and fully in her power.

I had sworn I wouldn’t get married again.

And yet — here we are.
Hattrick.

Because when something is real, you don’t negotiate with it. You step up.

Building a life together brought with it expectations for a bright future together. I wanted to provide. To be solid. To not disappoint the woman I loved. And so, for a while, I held onto what I knew — a coaching and consulting business that was clearly dying as the world shifted toward AI.

I even started an AI brand — but half-heartedly.
Not because I lacked skill or vision, but because I knew, deep down, it wasn’t my soul’s work.

But I was afraid to lead again. To accept the responsibility for so many people, for such a big mission. I knew what I came to do but my fear kept me circling the familiar instead of stepping fully into what I had always known I was here to build.

→ Serving people.
→ Sanctuary.

→ Community.
→ Land.

A new way of living that restores balance instead of draining it.

My wife never pushed me (just kidding... Latinas! 🔥🔥🔥 — she inspired me. 👊👊)

She lives her own ikigai: work aligned with purpose, delivered with excellence, creating real impact. Watching her thrive made something undeniable clear — alignment isn’t reckless. It’s powerful. She is an inspiration, and the rock I needed.

Those first years in Costa Rica weren’t easy. Most of my infrastructure was in Canada. My residency took 1.5 years. My business was no longer justifying the time I spent on it. Systems were unfamiliar. Everything had friction. My Spanish was shite... But one thing was solid — the partnership we were building together. At least one part of my life was finally aligned.

She stood beside me when nothing else was certain. She complained, a lot. But she was always there as I fought through what was holding me back. She is the partner I have always needed. I could not do this without her.

And that made all the difference.

So I made the decision I had been postponing since I got to Costa Rica.

I let go of the fear.
I stopped hedging.
I stopped holding on to the past.

And I committed — fully — to building with intention. To fully integrating into life in Costa Rica and to help others live the dream in this beautiful and abundant country.

BuySmart Costa Rica — Built From Experience & Alignment

Costa Rica is an incredible place to build a life.

It’s also a place where intelligence, preparation, and the right partnerships matter — a lot.

I didn’t arrive here guessing... but did get lucky.

I arrived with experience building real estate businesses, structuring systems, and navigating complex transactions — and I was fortunate to meet and marry a woman who is deeply intelligent, highly capable, and fully embedded in Costa Rican culture and professional life. (Baddass Boss Babe)

Because of that, I avoided many of the mistakes people make here.

Not by chance—
but through resources, local knowledge, trusted relationships, purpose and infrastructure.

BuySmart was created from that position of strength. It exists to guide buyers as they experience the wonders of living in Costa Rica.

We want to set up New Buyers properly from the beginning. With our more experienced buyers, efficiency, technology and professional standards is what sets us apart

Costa Rica isn’t difficult if you take the time to understand it.
It’s difficult if you assume it works like somewhere else.

BuySmart brings together:

real local insight
experienced operators
vetted professionals
and a long-term perspective

So people can buy, invest, and build here intelligently and ethically.

This isn’t about rushing deals or maximizing commissions.

It’s about doing things cleanly — legally, culturally, and relationally.

Foreign buyers don’t need hype.

Buyers need clarity around risk

alignment of incentives
and guidance grounded in how things actually work here

Just as importantly, BUYSMART is about integration.

Costa Rica isn’t a product.
It’s a country and people.

We help people arrive in a way that adds value — to their own lives and to the communities they become part of. Respecting local culture. Building real relationships. Showing up as contributors, not extractors.

That’s why BuySmart is Buyer-first by design. We don't split loyalties, we only serve buyers.

We work with people who think long-term.
Who care how they build.
And who want their presence here to matter.

→ Operate with integrity.

→ Build intelligently.
→ Protect what matters.

→ Be good to each other

That’s BuySmart.

www.buysmartcostarica.com

BUYSMART COSTA RICA is a service-first real estate platform built from lived experience — designed to help capable people make Costa Rica home intelligently, ethically, and with clarity. No hype. No shortcuts. Just guidance grounded in how things actually work here.

Foreign buyers don’t need promises.

They need protection, context, and someone who understands both sides of the equation.

BuySmart exists to solve that problem — while standing fully on its own as a professional service.

Over time, the relationships, resources, and momentum created through that work make our Dream Project. Alma Libre possible — organically, without pressure or pretense.

www.buysmartcostarica.com

Alma Libre — The Sanctuary We’re Building

A response to imbalance —

built in land, lived in community, sustained together.

At its core, Alma Libre is a long-term sanctuary development project — rooted in land, community, and shared responsibility — designed to support human life the way it was always meant to be lived: connected, resilient, and grounded.

Not primitive.
Not anti-technology.
And not performative.

Balanced.

The vision is simple, but not easy:

Energy produced on site
Food grown on site
Natural earth based cabins and infrastructure.
Shared resources without forced ideology
Privacy without isolation
Community without control

A self sustainable ecosystem that creates a safe haven when systems collapse, shortages happen, pandemics spread or our resources are poisoned. A way of life and a way forward through the storm.

A place where people can live modern, capable lives — while remaining deeply connected to land, each other, and purpose.

Alma Libre isn’t about opting out of society.
It’s about building a healthy model of living that is a lot more secure.

This is not a commune
Not a retreat
Not a lifestyle brand

It’s an Off Grid Ecosystem — designed carefully, grown patiently, and built with people who understand that real resilience requires discipline, contribution, and trust.

Participation comes through alignment, not persuasion.
Through relationship, not recruitment.

→ Some will engage as collaborators.
→ Some as work/stay participation.
→ Some as stewards, builders, or investors.

Others may simply support the idea by building their own lives well, wherever they are.

All of that matters.

Because the future won’t become a balanced world through the efforts of one person —
but by many people choosing to build outside of the current systems.

www.almalibre.love

Not primitive.
Not anti-technology.
And not performative.

Balanced and Strong.

A network of off grid locations around the world, beginning in Costa Rica.

www.almalibre.love

LET’S CONNECT

PURA VIDA, AMOR Y LIBERTAD

You don’t have to rush this.
And you don’t have to fit a role.

The right connections tend to reveal themselves naturally — when values align and timing makes sense.

If that’s happening here, we’ll find the right next step together.

Reach out to Victoria (my Ai Assistant) or myself any time.

Dustin Pritchard

Book an Appointment with Dustin Pritchard

Reach out on any of our channels or book directly in Dustin's calendar below

Victoria Celeste | AI Assistant

Dustin Pritchard | Founder, Broker, Builder

The WORST thing to go through

But the best thing that could have ever happened

I had to start all over. I sold my my brokerage... After years of outstanding growth with Over 1 Billion in Real Estate and thousands of homes sold, the business partnership fell apart. It was time to sell the company...

This was one of the hardest thing I ever had to do. It was my baby, and the people in the company were my family. On top of that, I knew that I would have to start all over, from scratch. Blood, sweat, tears and years of hard core hustle, gone.

But it was necessary.

No matter how hard it was, I knew that it was the only way go. The writing has been on the walls for years, virtual is where our industries are all going... and it was time to show others how quickly they could move into a massively cash flowing business by sharing the systems that have worked so well for me.

Dynamic business models are crushing old school brokerages. Agents now have the opportunity to own the brokerage they work at, get paid what they deserve and set themselves up for retirement...

There is a COMPENSATION REVOLUTION happening and agents deserve it.

From CEO > Adventurer

Time Freedom, Money Freedom... & Geo Freedom

Being the CEO of a multi million dollar earning disruptive brand was a lot of fun. But it took a lot of overhead and risk to create those millions.

I have been building and selling profitable sales teams and companies for 25 years and our business has evolved.

The post pandemic business world has seen virtual, cloud based brokerages enter the market & thrive.

We have seen agents unlock multiple streams of active and passive income, from anywhere on the planet.

I had gone from the Field to Executive in 4 industries. Built & Sold profitable teams... and it was time to show others the simple step by step process I followed.

Once I saw it... I couldn't unsee it.

The AHA moment came when i realized that we didn't need to assume ALL that risk and overhead that it takes to run a large brick & mortar company, I was astounded.

🔥 That we could build teams in multiple states and provinces because everything has gone virtual... and agents prefer it that way.

🔥That we can generate multiple revenue streams including STOCK OWNERSHIP in companies on powerful growth curves.

🔥And that we can ATTRACT agents to us cheaply and easily with online and offline Marketing Techniques.

Freedom for me is the ability to work when and where I want... with the passive income to enjoy it. I had always carved this kind of opportunity out for myself in my companies.

NOW, I could show agents how to do it for themselves in this cloud based business environment using the same system that has freed me from the field and propelled me into an executive level business leader, over and over again.

And so #BEMEGA Mentors was born.

#BEMEGA Mentors

From the Field to an Executive Level Business Owner in 5 simple steps that ANY agent can do in 12 months or less..

THE Powerful Secret

After running sales teams for 25 years I learned that there is a POWERFUL SECRET to building a massively successful business in this industry... and it's my mission to pay it forward.

REPLACE YOURSELF TO PROMOTE YOURSELF

If we focus all of our energy on mastering our current step then replacing ourselves at that level... we can promote ourselves to the next level in record time.

In fact, these STACKED MENTORSHIP systems are so easy to implement that almost anyone can do them AND if you work at it, they can set you completely free with all the time in the world and the money to enjoy it.

I created a Free Course that shows you exactly how i did it multiple times in multiple industries... and its the same system I use today to grow #BEMEGA along side my successful students...

Promote YOURSELF to a multi six figure cashflowing business by following our simple process.

Grab your copy today FIELD TO EXECUTIVE FREE COURSE

A business that outputs your DREAM lifestyle

Retirement & Freedom is NOT a date, its a NUMBER

#HaveFunMakeMoney is one of my core values...

So traveling & exploring life while mentoring others while they achieve their version of freedom and lifestyle is my passion.

I want to give back and contribute to my industry WHILE living like there is no tomorrow... AND getting paid passively the entire time.

For me it's a life of travel and adventure. Running my business from the computer... on the beach, in the mountains, visiting amazing cities. Anywhere.

Nature, Ruins, Culture, Food, People, Experiences... THIS is how we keep score. Pura Vida, Amor y Libertad.

I am also on a mission to build a sustainable eco community. A "base camp" for my adventures that is completely off grid. We will grow our own food, create our own power and have all the modern creature comforts but with ZERO impact on our environment.

So, now you can find me in Costa Rica exploring breathtaking countries and people... building my little slice of paradise.

Wanna go on an adventure? Message me on my socials 👉🏼

Hope to see you on the inside...

#BEMEGA My Friend
Dustin Pritchard
Executive Mentor