"Inspired to Invest" Podcast

What's Holding You Back from Real Estate Success?

• Serena Holmes • Episode 53

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Strategic success strategies for real estate investors and entrepreneurs!

Welcome back to the “Inspired To Invest” podcast, episode 53 with Danielle Chiasson.

To watch rather than listen, click here

Danielle is a seasoned real estate investor, who recounts her captivating journey from a novice landlord to a prominent figure in Ontario's residential redevelopment scene. 

Ever wondered how to pivot from the service industry to a thriving real estate career? 

Gain insights into how Danielle and her best friend defied the odds and creatively purchased their first properties simultaneously, despite having limited resources and no prior experience. 

Learn the critical importance of persistence, creativity, and leveraging partnerships in achieving real estate success.

Discover the crucial lessons Danielle learned as she transitioned from managing rental properties on the side to becoming a full-time real estate investor. Hear firsthand about the initial hurdles, the invaluable guidance from mentors, and the importance of hands-on involvement with contractors. 

Danielle also explains how advancements in technology and communication have revolutionized property management. Through compelling personal anecdotes, she shares the trials and triumphs that have defined her decade-long career.

But it hasn't always been smooth sailing. Danielle opens up about the challenges she's faced, from tough eviction processes to nearly losing deals due to last-minute investor withdrawals. Her stories underscore the necessity of resilience and problem-solving in entrepreneurship. 

Finally, Danielle shares her thoughts on financial freedom, her upcoming projects, and her vision for the "Strategic Success" platform, which aims to empower real estate investors and entrepreneurs. 

Don’t miss this episode packed with invaluable advice and personal stories that will inspire and educate aspiring real estate investors.

Tune into this inspiring episode Wed., Jun. 26/24. 

To connect with Danielle, go to @danielle.chiasson on social & msha.ke online. 

Thank you to Jordan McGregor from Property Cast for bringing us this month’s episodes of “Inspired To Invest? Learn more about this amazing program to help real estate investors underwrite properties. Go to https://propertycast.io?via=serena

“Inspired to Invest” is proud to support the Beyond Success Program, a not-for-profit financial literacy program for students, launched by More To Give & MAK Investments. Find out more at https://instagram.com/more2give.ca & https://more2give.ca/beyond.

Join us again on Jul. 3 to hear from a BC based real estate investor who is focused on an extremely innovative and unique approach to quantitative real estate investments. 

Thank you for tuning into “Inspired To Invest”, hosted by @serenaholmesrealtor & remember, "when you invest in yourself, the sky's the limit!"

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Inspire to Invest podcast, where we're sharing stories from real estate investors and how investing has changed their lives. Thank you to PropertyCastio for bringing you this month's episodes of Inspired to Invest. Hey everybody, welcome to the Inspire to Invest podcast. I'm pleased to introduce Danielle Chaison, who is with us today to Invest podcast.

Speaker 1:

I'm pleased to introduce Danielle Chason, who is with us today. She is a serial entrepreneur and she is best known for her work in residential redevelopment and rental housing in Ontario. She has a vast array of projects, ranging from light cleanups to full renovations with duplexes, triplex conversions, as well as multi-unit flips, and she's currently working on scaling her portfolio into even larger projects. She also loves to support entrepreneurs, so, as you can see, she has a company called Strategic Success Consulting as you can see by her backdrop behind her, and she also hosts monthly networking events for entrepreneurs and real estate investors. They offer an amazing platform to connect with industry experts, forge valuable connections and also learn from others. Danielle is committed to inspiring, guiding and empowering real estate investors and entrepreneurs on their journey to success. So thank you so much for being here today. How are you?

Speaker 2:

Oh, thank you for having me. It's truly an honor to have the invite and to come here and share with your audience. I'm doing well, Serena. How are you?

Speaker 1:

I'm doing okay. I'm hanging in there. There's obviously been lots of things going on in the last little while, but I do appreciate your time to be here today and really to get started. Obviously it looks like you've amassed this big portfolio, you're doing all these big things, but I want to take it back to the very beginning so people can really understand where you came from and bridge the gap from like where you were to how you got where you are today.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, how long do you have?

Speaker 2:

Ultimately, you know, like nobody nobody comes out of high school or university and goes right into real estate, unless maybe you have some family in it. You know it's typically for us. We go to school. We're told we need to choose a path before we really know what we want to do. To school, we're told we need to choose a path before we really know what we want to do.

Speaker 2:

I didn't know what I wanted to do. I ended up. So I grew up in New Brunswick and lived in Nova Scotia for a while and I kind of jumped over the country and I went to Calgary, alberta, and I lived out there for a decade and I worked in the service industry. I did go to university, ended up dropping out.

Speaker 2:

I didn't know what I wanted to do, and so I think a lot of people can resonate with that, and especially when you come from humble beginnings and back in my time, like going to university was a thing where poor people say like why are you going to go to university and start your life in debt, in massive debt, and so the mindset wasn't there to really understand the benefit of university and why you should do that and ways you can even minimize the financial impact. Like that just wasn't available to me because nobody in my family had done it. So um, so yeah, so I went. You know it was like right out of the gate go work, get a job, get a place. Um did that wasted you know a decade of my life really, um in the service industry. Don't regret it, because it was fun.

Speaker 1:

And it gives you the building blocks right. So I think it's still. There's still value to all those experiences, even if it feels like you look back and it's a setback.

Speaker 2:

Well, I never look at it as a setback. Yeah, you're right, some people could but ultimately, you know, it's the school of life and the experiences that I've had and the interactions with people and, as you know, serena, I'm a people person. I'm all about people and connecting with people, understanding people, and so I really, really love understanding the psychology of what drives people, and so anyhow so what happened in the interim.

Speaker 2:

I ended up buying a house, bought two houses, so I bought my primary and my first investment home at the same time, when I was 27. And then for a decade I was a landlord. So I just say that's when I was an amateur investor.

Speaker 1:

I really didn't know what I was doing, but because nobody in my life had rental properties, I thought I was on top of the world, Like I had it made. I had it figured out Right so. So how did that happen? Because the average homebuyer isn't like I'm going to go two for one shopping right now. So can you talk about how you did that both at the same time?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So a little bit of creative work was there. I ended up with my best friend buying two houses, so she had the credit and I had the money. And so we came together and said, okay, you know what? And as we were shopping for one house initially it was just going to be one house I decided that I wanted two because I was thinking to myself well, something happens that it goes sour, I can't cut a house in half.

Speaker 2:

So if you have two, houses then it's easier to like you take one, I take one, and we'll be shopping the same price point. So we'll ultimately. What happened is I had a mortgage broker and she was very creative and I walked into her office. I remember her name was Debbie and I'm like Debbie, I need two. And at the time, as first-time homebuyers, we were 5% down and so, yeah, and so I'm like I was like, well, she's a first-time homebuyer and I'm a first-time homebuyer. She's like no, it only applies to one. I'm like I don't know, figure it out, it's two on her. A couple days later she called me. She goes Danielle, I got to figure it out. These are the conditions you have to meet. We met those conditions and we ultimately ended up. So we ended up kind of, I guess, the house hacking um without, like before house hacking was a thing.

Speaker 2:

So we and we kind of did conversions without before conversions was a thing. So we bought two bungalows that had doors in the back that went straight into the unit, so it's kind of the back door would be a split. You can go up into the upper unit or down into the lower unit. Yeah and yeah, and so that's how we ended up doing. So ultimately we ended up splitting the two houses into four units. We lived in the upper floor of one, we rented out the other three and that's how I got into the game. So I mean, you know, I think the number one quality of an entrepreneur and if you're listening out there and you're curious type, you have the main ingredient of being an entrepreneur, which is getting curious, asking questions and not being afraid to kind of step outside the box. And that's what I did.

Speaker 1:

So then, what was the catalyst to turn this into an actual career? So you started with those two properties and then where did you take things to the scale that you're at in terms of having, like, flips and duplexes and triplexes and all of that?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so during that time I was starting to build a life with my former life partner and he was a contractor and so I ended up working, you know, making babies and working for him in his office and obviously he was an entrepreneur, he had a successful business. I was in the office, I ended up going in there rearranging a bunch of things and helping him scale his business and just working with contractors every day. That was just my life, and having kind of a taste for real estate and I was buying properties at that point but just as a landlord.

Speaker 2:

So that was the first two was the first two that we had, and then ended up buying some more. Um, just again as a landlord, and you know you make mistakes as a lab. You don't know what you're doing, right. And so ultimately it was like oh, I'm not going to increase the rent because they're great tenants, I don't want to scare them off right.

Speaker 2:

And then you realize like five years later, there's a huge rent spread between their rent, market rent, and you're like, oh no, what do I do now? Right, yeah, so I mean it was good to learn. But then you fast forward a decade and I ended up, uh, going to a conference down in the States and attaching myself to a group down there, and it was in 2013 when I started educating myself on flipping houses, running a business, flipping houses, wholesaling, all of the different strategies that we now know it's not even in Canada like known in Canada, yet mainstream and learned all of that and just started applying it. So that was when I went from an amateur investor to a sophisticated investor, or a level lower to investor.

Speaker 1:

Was that the time that you kind of transitioned into a full time? Yeah, oh, yeah A hundred percent.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, in 20, 2013,. Um, that's when I realized like I had taken my partner's business as far as you know it could go and I just love always seeing you know progress and changes and he had kind of scaled it up to where he was comfortable and now it was kind of boring. So I started venturing out into my own and say okay, what else could I do?

Speaker 1:

So that's when I started yeah. So can you talk a little bit about that experience, when you're flipping houses and growing your portfolio, like what would you say are some of the lessons that came along with that and any challenges that you experiences as you're, you know, really starting to focus on it full time?

Speaker 2:

Listen to your coach. That was the first thing, honestly. So I I took I like I went two years I was in conference rooms and learning and starting to build the foundation of my business. I got my business incorporated, got the name and business cards back then and website and all that stuff. So then yeah. So when I decided to actually start implementing, I ended up buying and my coaches had told me you know, if you're going to flip, you have an active business and you're flipping. You want, like, pick a market that's or property that's within 30 minute radius of your home or your home base, where you are mostly. And so I'm in Milton, Ontario, and my first flip was in um Port Hope, Ontario, which is two and a half hours.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's a two totally opposite ends of the GTA which is I have to go on the other side of Toronto, so not even just a two and a half hour drive, but it's on the other side of the city of Toronto, which is like you get on the other side of the city of LA and get through that traffic. So yeah, so it was uh quite interesting and not only that, I mean all my contacts were here locally.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, the contractor world. So now I had to build and get and vet new contractors and work with contractors I didn't know and anyhow. So it was, it was. And then my second one. By the way, I bought that one in September and then in October, a month later, I got my second flip, which was in Sarnia, which is two hours in the opposite direction of that. So the two that I was running concurrently were five weeks apart. So it was, yeah, it was a bit of a learning lesson. And then I realized, okay, you know what, maybe, yeah, it was a bit of a learning lesson.

Speaker 1:

And then I realized okay, you know what, maybe I'll just pick a market that's a little closer to home.

Speaker 2:

So let me see what's around here. So, yeah, so listen to your coach. I mean, that was one of the that was the one that always stood out the most for me because it was oh, but yeah, every time they tried telling me something and I kind of deviated.

Speaker 1:

You know, I kind of had to learn the hard way of some of us kind of had to learn the hard way and some of us and those were different back then right like I think nowadays it's maybe a little bit easier to be remote, because there are things like you know, you could FaceTime with your contractor, they can show you what they're doing, but back then you would have to trust what they're doing and obviously there are possible things that can come out from that if you're not able to or not with your projects right, so yeah or not trust, because you didn't even even have cameras on your phones.

Speaker 2:

We're just not a thing. I mean, even now, to try to get a contractor to take pictures of a job can sometimes be challenging. If you have an old school contractor, yeah, yeah. Or they have. They just have a phone that just doesn't have the great picture, they don't know how to send it, and then they're like oh, I need Wi Fi. I don't have Wi Fi and I don't have the data on my phone, so like there's still challenges with that.

Speaker 2:

Back then, we didn't even have that as an option, so no, I definitely had to be on site. I wanted to be too, though, and here's the other thing that I'll tell people, like, if you're going to go into doing this and you're going to be active, like one of the biggest mistakes that people do when they get into real estate, they hire a contractor and they just assume and not just contractors, guys. So I'm not just knocking contractors, any professional. You just assume that they're going to do their job, but you, as the business owner, have to manage that, you have to set expectations, you have to manage it, follow up and always hold people accountable to what they say they do, and so a lot of people.

Speaker 2:

That's just me by nature, because I have my hands in everything. But with our students I'm always seeing you know, students, that just they have a job and they're short on time. I'm like, listen, you got to send messages, tell them you want those pictures. Like don't just say send the pictures, they don't let it drop. We're Canadians, we're nice, we don't want to be pushy, but you're the one that's going to protect your business Like no one. No one else will. Right.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, no, a hundred percent. I mean, I went through that when I was renovating an office that we were told we had to build these new doors, so they were to code and stuff like that, and our whole renovation got paused for two and a half months and then when the guys were there, they were just like you know, I was there kind of painting at the same time and they were taking like half an hour smoke breaks, two and a half hour lunch breaks like hand sanding, and I was like what's happening? And the only thing that saved us is that the closing on our first office actually fell through. So it gave us an extra two weeks to renovate, otherwise there's no chance we would have been in. And even in that last week I sent my husband I'm like you have to help get this done.

Speaker 1:

So he was just talking about how, you know, they were managing stuff, but the reality was, the problem was they weren't being managed. So you have these young kids that technically are under the licensed contractor, but the guy that runs a business is never coming. So that's how all these things were kind of falling behind and all of that right. So I think you really have to be, you know, an ambassador for yourself and look out for yourself in any situation. But there's gotta be some quality controls in place.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, and there's things that you can do. Like I said, get that. I've done when, when I was managing my own projects. So obviously they get. They have to send the pictures at the end of every week to show the progress. Yeah, and I showed it, so I would go. I highly recommend, when you're first doing, if it's your first flip or your first big project, go there every day.

Speaker 2:

Here's the tip, though don't tell them you're coming and don't tell them when you're coming, yeah, and so then that way they just you're keeping them guessing. They're like okay, sometimes she shows up at eight o'clock, sometimes she comes at three, 30. Sometimes she comes out one. So, like, just need to know that they're on site, right, and if you're unable to do that, you can put cameras on on site and then that way you can see when they're coming and going. Just the fact that the cameras are there is that you tell the, you tell the contractors look, I'm putting these cameras, it's for security reasons, going to keep your tools safe. I just want to make sure everything's kosher and that's it. But they know that you're watching. Yeah, yeah, because then you're like hey, you know, are you guys showing up today? You're calling at 9, 30 and they're like oh yeah, yeah, we're coming right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, do that once or twice and then they know you're watching these cameras.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, that's one way to do it remotely and the other thing that I used to do is so contractors are notorious subpar. Contractors are notorious for going and getting some stuff at 11 o'clock in the morning from home depot or rona and oh, they need materials and so I had my guys trained so I actually hired guys and I just managed my own crew eventually. But ultimately, when you're working with contractors and they're leaving the job, yeah, tell them no. When you come on site, you're on site. At the end of the day, you know what you need for tomorrow. You make a tally of what you need for tomorrow either leave an hour early and hit up the hardware store on your way home, yeah, or pick it up on your way to work in the morning.

Speaker 2:

But there's absolutely no need for you to be running out and getting a couple of two by fours in the middle of the day and so you know. So that's a big thing. Like when they're doing it daily it's a problem, and having those cameras there help, or just showing up helps. So one of the big things for me.

Speaker 2:

I loved showing up midday or around 3, 3, 30 because they're notorious for leaving early and they're notorious for going getting materials in the middle of the day, so like late morning, morning, midday, so that's you know, and you have to manage them. And it's not just contractors I mean we're talking about contractors but your realtor I mean I've had my realtor that I've worked with for years. I mean he could tell you stories. He's like man, don't, don't upset Danielle, like just don't like, just do what she did. That's it, because I hold them accountable for all the things that he said he was going to do. Now, he was a really great realtor, but they, they're busy, you know you're busy, and so you just need to make sure that you're front, top of mind, front and center when they're doing their everyday stuff. Otherwise, if you're just not there and present in their life, then you're not going to be there.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, that makes perfect sense and, on that note, we're just going to take a really brief break for work from our sponsors and we'll be right back. Is it real estate investment? You're considering a goldmine or a landmine? Introducing propertycastio, the black magic of real estate investment analysis. Use propertycastio to analyze and underwrite real estate investment opportunities, unlock the potential of a property and share professional reports. Jordan McGregor is a commercial realtor and founder of PropertyCastio. He identified the need to simplify and streamline how properties are underwritten to help investors make better decisions and sound investments. Propertycastio is a best-in in class purpose built tool for real estate investment analysis. To find out more, go to propertycastio and to sign up, click the link in the show notes.

Speaker 1:

I value transparency, integrity and trust. If you choose to work with me, you can be assured that business will be conducted honestly and openly. Time is of the essence in this industry, so you can expect nothing short of quick, clear communication from me. I'll keep you informed every step of the way so you feel comfortable throughout this entire process. Our homes are where we eat, sleep, relax and play. My clients' best interests are at the heart of everything I do and, with this said, my service to you doesn't end when the transaction does. As your realtor, I'll not only help you buy and sell your property, I'll also educate and support you along the way. I want to help you fulfill your goal of homeownership and become your trusted real estate resource for life. I can't wait to share my passion for real estate with you. More importantly, to find you the perfect house to turn into your home. Looking to buy, sell or invest in Durham Region or Toronto? Let's chat.

Speaker 1:

Inspired to Invest is proud to support the Beyond Success program. In today's complex world, it's absolutely crucial for our youth to learn how to take charge of their financial future. We believe that every young person deserves access to accurate, practical financial information. Designed to bridge the gap, the Beyond Success program leverages a comprehensive educational boot camp to equip young minds with essential financial literacy skills. At Beyond Success, it's not just about teaching financial literacy. It's also about fostering a foundation for a prosperous and empowered future. Join us Together, we can build a brighter financial future for the next generations. Join us Together, we can build a brighter financial future for the next generations. Hey everybody, welcome back to the Inspired to Invest podcast. I have Danielle Chason here with me today. She's talking about how she got involved in real estate way back when and starting with flips and managing contractors and all those good things. Now one of the things that I really want to know is what would you say is one of the craziest things that's ever happened to you as a real estate investor?

Speaker 2:

Craziest things. Craziest things? That's a great question, I think. I mean there's a lot of stories, I'm not gonna lie. There's a lot of stories.

Speaker 2:

Uh, more recently I had an eight unit building that I was emptying out and, uh, we were able to. It was like, really dilapidated, it was in a lot of like, needed a lot of work, but one guy decided he didn't want to leave, which is fine, I don't have a problem with that but he wasn't paying rent. So, of course, we went through the LTV process, filed the paperwork, doing everything right, but now we had an empty building and he was alone in that building. And the funny thing is and this is what I tell people the problem with our system is that when people stop paying rent, then they start feeling that that's their place. Because when, when somebody is giving rent and they're handing rent every month, there's that psychological again remember how I said I like the psychology behind things right there's that psychological trigger that's like oh yes, I'm paying for the use of this property, this is not my property. But when that is not happening anymore, they just feel ownership, entitled, they feel ownership.

Speaker 2:

So, anyway, this guy, he had a paper route and, um, he had a lot of papers that he didn't deliver. He kind of built up this little fort in the front of the building, massive like a, like a cardboard box, that he opened up and he wrote on it this is my property, no trespassing. And I'm like I don't, I don't understand, I can't even wrap my head around that, like, uh, I just can't wrap my head around that. So, yeah, so that was interesting. We needed, uh, we had six uniformed officers eventually to get him out and, um, yeah, he left a bunch of stuff too.

Speaker 2:

So when finally got the contractors in there, we had the bin there and of course we're emptying out everything by rights. And you know, he had a certain timeline to come and get his stuff. He never did. And now we're throwing stuff in the bin and I guess he must have been walking by he starts freaking out that's my stuff and climbs in the garbage bin. He's starting to pull out his stuff and it's just like one of those yeah, I mean, there's a lot of stories that I could tell you.

Speaker 2:

But as an investor one of the ones that was and here's what I'll tell you, because there's a lot of people right now that are going through pain, they're going through some hardships, they're going through a really tough time. Here's what I had to tell you.

Speaker 2:

So I had a time where I had a property under contract and two days before, a day and a half before closing I say it was two days before, a day and a half before closing, I say it was two days before but really I only had like a business day and a half ish, yeah, um, my investor pulled out and so, because I was doing this with private money, yeah, so now I had my deposit on the hook, I had all kinds of things like that was at risk here and I I was away, I was at a conference and now I was struggling.

Speaker 2:

Now, all of a sudden, I'm like panicking to make that work and what I'm going to tell you is like real estate is not sexy, real estate is work. It's hard, yeah, and it can be very painful at times and people are not ready for that. They are just not ready for that. But ultimately it you have to build resiliency and get into a mindset that, as an entrepreneur and this is any entrepreneur, by the way your job is to put out fires and coordinate everything.

Speaker 1:

But when there's a fire, you're the one that's got to put it out.

Speaker 2:

You're the one, like one of my contractors, have a problem. Yeah, we're dealing with it.

Speaker 2:

They're coming to me and crying about it and I have to deal with it and find a solution for them, and so I have that problem, um, and and what I will say is for everybody, and the reason why I want to share this story is because anybody who's dealing with any hard times right now just know that when you get to the other side, it makes you stronger and better to keep moving forward, and because it pushes these tough times push you to learn things that you would never learn without going through these experiences.

Speaker 1:

So I mean that things weren't hard in different ways. I think, just you know, this is probably the first real market downturn we've had in 15 years, and I think a lot of people weren't prepared for things in this respect. Right, so I think it's there's something to be said for just always preparing for the unexpected and just always have it like a plan B, a plan C and all those different things. Now, obviously, you have achieved a lot. What would you say is something that you're most proud of?

Speaker 2:

Oh, what am I most proud of Like, honestly, I am most proud of like when I was doing flips and truthfully, I worked out because a lot of work but I really loved like when you take a property that is in such disrepair and I used to take, like really I would take on. My realtor was like you have bigger balls than any man investor that I know and I'm like why? And he's like because you're taking on all the projects that even like what he would look at, yeah, yeah. And so you take those projects and you turn them into this and it's like a transformation, right, and it's like a work of art almost. But then you have the neighborhood, all of the neighbors. They're like just super grateful for somebody doing something with this property that was just nearly neglected, right, yeah. And they're also grateful because what you're doing is you're helping maintain the value of the neighborhood.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, you know you're helping clean up the neighborhood, maintain the value of the neighborhood, keeping the integrity of the neighborhood, and then you're providing housing for people that need it, and we all know housing is an issue right now. Right.

Speaker 1:

And I'm glad you're saying that, because I feel like sometimes landlords get a bad rap right Like the greedy landlord or the slumlord, but I think there are obviously the people bringing that value right and they're improving the community in the neighborhood. So I think that's really important to reflect back on Now in terms of how real estate has changed your life. Do you feel like you've reached your financial freedom number Like? Are you happy sharing what that is or what it means to you? Maybe you can shed some light on that.

Speaker 2:

So the funny thing about that is that it's always a moving target, right. So people are like goals, goals, goals, and it's like, yeah, you set a goal, but the goals are a moving target, and they ought to be, because that's where you're always growing. If it's not a moving target, um, you're going to reach it, and then you're just going to be like a flower and wilt away, because now you have nothing to drive you. And so, um, yeah, I'll share my number. My number is 20 million. No, I've not hit it. And, um, it's a big number. I get that. Once I hit the 20 million, it might go to 50.

Speaker 1:

at that point, but that's what motivates you, right? Like I think people need to have something to aim for. It's the same way like going on vacation and then you come home and you want to plan another vacation. You always kind of want something to look forward to or something to aspire to, right? So I understand exactly what you're saying.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, and it's it's. Ultimately it's something that I okay, so you said it kind of motivates me. Money doesn't motivate me, but the journey does, because on the journey I'm always helping, like, and so for me, like, I love what I do and I think that just shows in the passion everything that I, that I do, but being able to pick up some people along the way and bring them on that journey, and when you're sharing that journey with other people who are also as passionate and excited as you are, it just I don't know, it just makes life good. Now, don't get me wrong, it's a grind.

Speaker 2:

There's days when you're like, wow, what am I doing this for? And oh, my god, like I could, just, why I just I could, why? Why? Days where I've had days where I just don't even want to get out of bed. You know, on certain, you know whatever, for whatever reason, but we have highs and we have lows, and you have to embrace the lows because without the lows you can't appreciate the highs. Yeah, absolutely, that's how it works. I mean, imagine if you're on high all the time. Essentially you would just be flat. How?

Speaker 1:

would you even know?

Speaker 2:

you're on a high.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you're just on a plateau. Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.

Speaker 2:

Now, in terms of the projects that you're working towards, I know when we read your bio, like you, talked about that you are looking to shift into some bigger projects, so maybe you could talk a little bit about what's next for you. Yeah, so right now, talking about monster projects, probably one of the biggest projects is building strategic success and the platform behind it. So, strategic success a lot of people have asked me what is it right now Like strategic success? It's content for other real estate investors and entrepreneurs and essentially, it's just to help empower people in their lives, on their journey, to help make smart decisions. So content is the heart of strategic success and the community. But ultimately, what we do is we do coaching. We have three different tiered programs in the coaching. We run events and that's to give back to our community so our community can stay strong. We're now doing give back programs. So financial literacy for you is something that I'm very passionate about, and so now we're partnering with someone else and now we're facilitating that. So we're hosting sorry, I should say hosting it we're hosting it and they're facilitating it in partnership. So we're running that first event in May and I'm very excited about that. So, and that's just part of our give back.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and but building all of this and like, as you know, serena, I'm a systems girl, building the systems behind all of this and having the people behind it. There's only so much you can do as an individual. You do need a team in order to grow and scale, and that's what I'm working on right now. So, as I'm doing that, I'm really not doing much. I'm very quiet in the real estate side because I want to set up the business to be able to run itself. Yeah, then go back into real estate. Now, when we go back into real estate, start focusing on real estate again. I'm going to be looking at doing purpose-built multis for reasons, but now, like, as you go on your real estate journey, you tend to level up.

Speaker 1:

You start in the strategy and then you're like oh, but now I can do this because you gain skills along the way and then you're like oh, but now I can do this, because you gain skills along the way, and then you just kind of level up, and so that's my.

Speaker 1:

This is going to be a big level up move for me, yeah, and also just to your point, like it's not always just about the skills, it's also what's needed in the industry right now. Right? So what kind of things are there? Incentives, you know, obviously affordable housing is a big thing. So you shift your focus? Yes, based on your skills, but you know where is there demand?

Speaker 1:

for where you can provide value right Now. Obviously, the name of this podcast is inspired to invest. I always like to ask people what's an inspiring quote that resonates with them or motivates them.

Speaker 2:

Well, I guess, for those of you who've heard me talk, you know that I'm a perfectionist and a lot of entrepreneurs are, because we're a lot of us are alpha, we're hard on ourselves, we want to do the best in everything that we do, and so I've had to kind of work that out of my system. And in fact, when I was flipping my company, my flipping company is called Perfect Property and that was just to highlight because I wanted something of my personality in the name. And you know, flipping houses taking them dilapidated, making them beautiful it was kind of you know that name that were perfect, seemed to fit. And it's funny because after I created the business and then I started flipping and then I had to start getting out of that perfect mode, because you try to make a house perfect, it's never going to finish. Yeah, Right.

Speaker 2:

So so one of my coaches had said Danielle, done is better than perfect, and I just started running with that. So now you know, I'm still a perfectionist, but my partner has expanded on done is better than perfect. We were having a conversation about the whole thing, because I'm still I still am uncomfortable with just getting things done, because it doesn't really sit well with me but it's done is better than perfect. In the pursuit of perfection, yeah, and so again, coming back to like, your goals are always changing. Well, so are when you have a goal of finishing a house, or you have a goal of building a business. That's always a moving target too. So you're never going to get things perfect because you're going to want things to change as you start evolving into something else, and so it's always in the pursuit of perfection. But perfection is always a moving target, just like a goal.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, that makes perfect sense. Now, for anyone that wants to connect with you, what is the best way for them to find you, whether it's on social or your website?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so on socials, I'm very active on Instagram and if you click on my bio in Instagram, you can get a 15 minute discovery call with me. I'm happy to help you with anything that you're working on. But also in my bio is all our events and you can shoot me a DM. I mean, if you don't want to jump on a some people are uncomfortable with a video call you can just shoot me a DM and we can text back and forth. But if there's anything I can help you with, that's probably the easiest way. Or you can also check out the website, which is strategicsuccessconsultingcom, and what I love about the website is there's a lot of free content on the website, so you can just go there and just start looking at some of the content, start consuming that content and hopefully it'll help you on your journey Great.

Speaker 1:

I love that value first approach. We'll include all the information in the show notes below. Thank you for your time today and, of course, for anyone that is watching. Thank you for your time. Make sure that you have followed along on social at Inspired to Invest podcast and remember, above all else, when you invest in yourself, the sky's the limit. Thanks again. Thank you to PropertyCastio for bringing you this month's episodes of Inspired to Invest. The views represented on this podcast are for general information only and does not constitute investment or other professional advice or an offering of securities. The host and guests featured on Inspired to Invest make no representations. Thank you.