Jim Vaughn spent his career as an attorney. Contracts, negotiations, and risk were part of his daily life for decades.

Today, he and his wife Megan are retired, splitting time between Texas and the Midwest, focused on family, travel, and the next chapter of life.

But like many families in Eastern Ohio, their story includes mineral rights, some expected, and some discovered along the way.

Years ago, during the probate process for Megan’s family, the Vaughns uncovered mineral rights they didn’t even know existed. Like many landowners, they were suddenly faced with decisions about what those assets were worth and what to do next.

That’s when Jim first connected with Gateway Royalty.

“At that point, the most important thing was figuring out who you could trust,” Jim recalls. “I had spent my career working with professionals, and you get a sense for people pretty quickly. With Gateway, that trust came easily.”

The Vaughns ultimately chose to sell those mineral rights, using the proceeds in a 1031 exchange to invest in property in Indiana, a place that would later become a second home and part of their long-term plans.

And then, life moved on.

But the relationship didn’t end there.

“Anytime I wanted to understand what was happening in Carroll County, I’d just pick up the phone and call Blaine,” Jim says. “Even years after our first deal, he was always willing to talk through what was going on.”

Nearly a decade later, that relationship proved its value in a much bigger way.

When an operator reached out about drilling new wells on acreage the Vaughns still owned, the opportunity came with complications. The existing lease, signed decades earlier, needed to be amended to allow for modern development.

Jim understood contracts. He had negotiated them for a living. But this situation was different.