Welcome to the Thrivewell Journey. We're a new podcast dedicated to empowering
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valuable insights and wisdom. Now in turn, we promise to keep bringing you
content that enlivens, edifies, and elevates your journey, not just as an
entrepreneur, but as a human being. And with that, I want to thank you for being
a part of the Thravo journey. How did the Airbnb really change your life? Airbnb
is money. Okay. It's easy money. Period. Like it's not the most, it may not be the
most honorable or valiant thing to say, but yo, straight up, like if you're a
person who works a full-time job or you have a bunch of things you're
responsible for and you just need to increase your capital and not have to
work a ton of hours, like Airbnb is, that was it because that's where I was. I
was working a full-time job. I had a part-time gig. You're like teaching poetry
to youth at like one of the Boys and Girls Clubs. I occasionally worked at a
restaurant like, look, I had student loans, I had all that. At one point I had like
three or four different jobs at the same time. I was like, yeah. I was like, this is
not sustainable. How do I get out of this? Airbnb, man, if you, if you calculated, I
remember calculating the hourly compared to like my full-time job and the hourly
was like four times resources, you know, if you don't have resources, like you need
them. So the, I mean, the number one thing you want to do, a lot of people come
to me and they want to buy an investment property and they don't own a home of
their own yet and it just doesn't make sense. So, I was wanting to identify the
opportunity for what an Airbnb is or how do they first identify that opportunity.
But I think the bigger question that most people are usually curious about is, how
do I identify something that will be high performing? Because every Airbnb is not
high performing. There's a lot of out there and a lot of listings that are just
super mediocre and doing like very okay. You know, high performing. I create high
performance.
Welcome to another episode of the Thrive World Journey. Today, we have a good
friend of mine. We go back a couple years. And I'm so happy to have her on.
She's a dynamic individual human being woman and she'll have a lot to share
with us, I'm sure. And Tony Powell, welcome to the podcast. How are you?
Thank you. I'm amazing. How are you? I'm doing good and I'm glad that you are here.
I know you saw the podcast and he was like, yo, what's up, man? I love that.
I love that. Me and my producer, we were talking about you before we had actually
had that exchange. And so it was like perfect timing and it was great.
So, where are you in the world today? Today? Today I am in Lima, Peru.
Oh my gosh. This is home for the time being. This is home now for the time being.
Who is Tony Powell? Who am I? Well, I'm probably a lot of things. In the world of
like what I offer and provide to the world, I am a real estate investor, agent,
consultant and coach. And so I work with people. She helped them buy their first
home, their first investment property, Airbnb all or a portion of it and really
rapidly changed their life through increasing their income, sometimes double,
triple or quadruple depending on the strategy. To free people up. So essentially,
who am I? I guess I'm a person who really lives their best life and lives a
very free life and I'm here to create that for everybody else in the world.
And they get to do whatever they want. Yeah, I was when I first met you.
I remember it well. I remember it well. Was it 22? 2022? I think perhaps. I was interviewing you.
And I had a blackout in my neighborhood so I had to relocate to a restaurant
that last minute. That's it. That was it. And my first impression was like, man,
this person is like, she's so cool. She's boss. She's living or is it Dominican
Republic or Puerto Rico? DR at that time. Yeah, yeah. Which was fun. Gorgeous. Yeah.
And so you had a blackout. You had to go to the restaurant and you're interviewing
me for a program that we did together. And through that program is how I got to know you well.
For sure. Yeah. And I got to know you as a dynamic and powerful human being.
Thank you. I received that. Thank you. Yes. Yes. What was your journey like from,
before real estate to get to real estate and Airbnb? What was that journey like?
Wow. Interesting, unique and surprising. So I have a bachelor's and a master's degree in
sociology and I like, for most of my childhood and early adult, I thought I was going to become
a professor until I got to grad school and I realized I hate this. And so as part of my master's
thesis, I was like researching nonprofits because I really just had a yearning to be in the community
doing something. I got really tired of talking about social problems and not actually going out
and making a difference. That's why I hated it so much. So it was perfect. So doing my master's
research, I realized I really wanted to work for a community development organization because I was
reading about them and all over the country and just like the cool work they were doing,
the impact they were making on neighborhoods, communities, cities, on people's lives. And I
really wanted to work at that level. And so when I finished grad school and moved to Atlanta,
that's what happened. I got my first job at a nonprofit community development organization.
And I really wanted to do like outward organizing and they had a need in the homeownership center.
And so I took it because I needed a job. And initially I thought like this is super boring,
you know, zero interest in like homeownership. Didn't even really think twice about real estate.
But through the process, you know, I got trained, I was just initially a program assistant, but I had
a really great relationship with my director and everyone in the department, the people there were
amazing. So they trained me on all kinds of stuff. And I learned how to teach workshops to people on
how to buy their first home before I even owned a home myself. And I really got to learn the
home buying process very in depth. And through the process, bought my own home. Had a great mentor.
And within two years, that price of the home I bought doubled. And I was able to sell that for a
profit. And that completely was that was the beginning of like that changed my life. Because I
don't come from a family that has a boatload of money, you know, like no one had a down payment to
give me or anything. It was like, right, we got you here off to college you go. You know, good luck,
call us if you need anything. I hear you. But you know, you're on your own. So I'd never seen that much
money in a bank account before ever. And it was like a really powerful moment for me to realize like,
what do I want to do with this? And what can I do with this? And that's kind of where the real estate
investor in me came alive. And then after, you know, doing that and buying my to buying one property,
a second property, third property and growing a small portfolio, I realized like, I mean, I can do
this, like I've done it. And so that was like,
you learn all of that. I'm sorry, go ahead.
That was like nine years ago, when that started. So I've been at this for a hot minute, it'll be 10
years next year.
10 years. So you learned all of that with from the people that taught you before?
Not necessarily. I learned how to buy a home from an organization I worked with, right? Because I was
teaching people how to do it. I learned how to do it really affordably. And I got sent to like
national trainings. And I learned that this kind of opportunities are all over the US, which was
cool. I found a mentor while I was shopping for my home, who gave me advice on like, where to buy?
I didn't know that. I don't know that I would have bought where I did without his guidance, and
essentially made double my money if I didn't have his guidance, you know? And when I owned my first
home, it was kind of like an accident. I was like, I was in a serious partnership with someone and I
planned, you know, we were going to share the bills and all of this. And then we broke up, like
shortly after I bought my house. So I was competing like, I had, I know, right? I was like, do I want
to get roommates? Or Airbnb was like brand new. You know, I had stayed in an Airbnb once in New
Orleans like the year before, but it was like super new. It wasn't in a lot of cities yet. And I was
like debating what I want to do. And you know, it's the little things like, I realized I didn't
want roommates, Mike, because I didn't want to share my fridge. I love to cook. My fridge is full
with stuff already. I don't want to share. So I decided to try Airbnb. And my first guest was my
worst guest. Still to this day. But it was fine. Like it was, it was lucky that there were still
other guests on the calendar. So I couldn't just cancel like right away, you know? Yeah. Yeah. But
then the other guests got better. And like, I ended up making friends. I still have friends to this
day who were guests in my first house when I was living on site with them. They still come and visit
me when they come to wherever I'm, where I'm, where I am, wherever I live at the time. That's kind
of how it started. And I took that one property and turned it into two. And then a couple years later,
turned into three. And I was like, Oh, I can do this. I can do this. Yeah. I'm not afraid, like of
anything. I'm not afraid to like mess something up or make a mistake. I think everything is fixable,
pretty much. And everything is figure outable. So I think that's a good point because I even talked
from my experience, I think that that stops people from moving forward. There's a fear of I'm not
doing it right, or I can't get it right, or what if I mess this thing all, all the way up. And it
stops people from moving forward, but you had no fear of that. No, I had no fear. I mean, I kind of
get that from my dad, from my childhood. You may be fearless, fearless and like a just probably a
very irrational belief in myself. Okay. But that served you completely. You're right. And today,
I'm just not afraid to make a mistake or mess something up. Everything is fixable. Like
everything is fixable. Yeah. And you learn something every time. So I don't look at it like a bad
thing. And you had you talked about a mentor. How did you find a mentor? And how did that change
it to the trajectory of where you are now? Or did it? Yeah, yeah, it did. It was like super
accidental and totally organic, which is probably not helpful. If I'm trying to live anyone's
listening, because you can't really like force that to happen, right? But it was perfect. We're
still really close friends to this day. So I was shopping for my home and working at the first
on profit that I got my first job at teaching homebuyer education. And it was random, like on
a Friday afternoon, I get this email from this guy, you know, named Derek. And it was like a
promo for come out and see our home buying tour tomorrow. And I was like, what? And asking, you
know, I was a, you know, professional in the field. So he sends it to like a bunch of real estate
agents, lenders, whatever, asking us to share it with our, you know, clients or our email base. And
I was thinking like, wow, this is a great opportunity. And it's tomorrow, like, it's like
less than 24 hours from now. You know, so I didn't blast it out. I actually don't remember if I did
not, I don't think I did. But I went myself because I was like, well, I'm free, I can go. And so I
did. And I met Derek, there wasn't a lot of people there because it was kind of last minute
marketing. I met Derek and we just like clicked immediately. Like, you know, when you meet somebody
and you just start talking and you could be there an hour, time flies. That's what happened. And
from there, I ended up going to work for him. He created and founded a similar nonprofit on the
west side of Atlanta, which is where I ended up buying and living. And that's where he lived. And
he sort of wanted to kind of duplicate somewhat what the organization I had been at was doing, but
on the west side, because it was very underserved and there was lots of opportunities. So I helped,
I went worked for him for four years, running this nonprofit and like building up from the ground
teaching the same things.
Okay. Yeah. And it was completely organic. And it led to where where you bought your first property.
Yeah.
And so how does one find a mentor then, if it's like, no, organic.
No, I don't know from the best person for that advice, like, I've never gone out intentionally
seeking a mentor, you know, and I hear, although I hear that that's like, really, it can add a lot
of value to people in their life, right? It can save people a lot of time and energy and mistakes.
I've just never gone and saw it. But it just sort of magically happened for me. So, I mean, I think
there are like organizations and opportunities that people can get like paired up. I don't know
what those are.
I don't know if I'm going to say that. Yeah. But mentors are important. And I know that I have
sought one, but I've never really had a true mentor. And I know that I have had friends that, you
know, do exceedingly well, but they're like friends. And I don't want a friend as a mentor. It's
fair. It's not, it doesn't feel right. Yeah. That's very fair. So you went from real estate.
Now, starting in real estate, what was your big, the biggest challenge that you had when you started
in real estate to, to like getting your first property and duplicating that?
Biggest challenge. When I bought my second property, so after I sold my first, I had enough
capital that I could buy two. So I bought one to live in for the time being at least for myself.
And then I bought my first investment property. When I bought my first investment property, it
needed some work. It didn't need a lot. Like it wasn't like a gut job or anything. It visually
looked okay, but you could tell like it needed a good deep clean, which I largely did myself.
It needed like some fresh paint. It needed like, you know, some of the cabinet doors need to be
replaced like stuff like that. And my brother, I have to shout out my brother, he, I hired him to
help me for a number of days. And he helped me kind of get it into pristine condition.
That property, I've heard the phrase since then, there's never nothing more expensive than a cheap
house. And it kind of proved to be true. I paid $56,000 for this house, Mike. Like you can't,
you can't find that anywhere near Atlanta today. So this was an East point. And so it was a four,
and it was a four bedroom, two bath house, small, but still like a good size. And that house gave me
problem after problem after problem after problem, like the plumbing was not necessarily done correctly.
Some of it was way outdated and old. I had a pipe burst that I had to like tear out a whole wall in
a bedroom. We had another pipe just get like clogged and backed up. It had to be completely
replaced in the backyard. The roof needed ended up needing to be replaced. Like, oh my gosh.
I mean, I paid $56 for the house and I probably put at least that much in or close to. And that was
the hardest for me because this was my first time doing this. And I was green. Like, I had a mentor
wasn't he wasn't walking me through all of this stuff. Like, I asked him occasionally for an
opinion or advice and he would tell me one thing or another. But he wasn't like there with me,
meeting the way I was sort of figuring it out. And so I remember there was like a time where I
really had to look at the numbers and I was like, how much did I pay for this? How much am I sunk in?
And like, when can I break even? And how much is it making me? Because every time something would
break or go wrong. Like, it wasn't making me money for a while. Also. So it ended up I was like,
debating like, should I just sell it and cash out and just like chalk up my loss, you know,
just own it? Or should I keep pushing and just see and I decided to keep pushing and think
God I did because the problems slowed and eventually largely stopped with they became
very, very minor, you know. And so I was able to have a great return off of that property.
But it took a while. The first like two years. I was like, barely making it there with the monthly
it was like profitable. But everything I was making end up having to go back into paying for
something for the house. So not really, you know, but eventually that it did pay off for you. And
then you got yes, then what happened after that? What was the next step that you took?
Yeah, then I was able to the value increase. So the value almost nearly tripled. And so then I
was able to pull out some cash for the property and acquire property number three. And that was
really where things changed for me. Like having to was great. I was making a little extra money on
the side, which was nice. But having three, I could afford to hire someone to help me. So up until
then I was doing everything myself on top of working a full time job. And it was just like,
I was exhausted, you know, for like two years, I did that. So having number three really made
a difference. I was able to start traveling, which I do now. And I took my first trip to Vegas,
I took like a two week trip, I went to Vegas to a convention, and then I went and visited my family
in Massachusetts for like a week and a half. And it was like, such a breath of fresh air that I
could actually step away from Atlanta and the properties for two weeks and just like relax.
And someone else was like helping take care of everything. I felt good. It did. It was a huge,
big, big, big change. Like it was, it was another life changer. And then I started traveling a lot.
So you didn't give the properties away, you kept the property. So really, when I'm here,
is that you put had to put in a lot of sweat equity? I did. I did have to put in a lot of
sweat equity. And I do want to be clear. As of today, I have divested from real estate in the US.
But I did. And I ran them for a few years after that.
Okay. So you have the real estate and then you switched over to how did the Airbnb come into
play? I was doing Airbnb from the beginning from my first house. I Airbnb in my guest rooms. And
then I would Airbnb the whole house when I was traveling. Each property was an Airbnb property.
How did that serve you? I mean, there's people that get into Airbnb and I've, I know of a specific
person and they bought a house, get into Airbnb, start to do the Airbnb. But the houses, you know,
they have to fix the house up and all that good stuff. And they're still not doing the Airbnb.
Well, why? How come they're not doing Airbnb? Oh, I didn't get that. I was like, okay, well,
it's probably just not ready yet.
That's how I would think. But how did the Airbnb really change your life?
Airbnb is money. Okay. It's easy money. Period. Like it's not the most, it may not be the most
honorable or valiant thing to say, but yo, straight up, like if you're a person who works a full-time
job or you have a bunch of things you're responsible for and you just need to increase your capital
and not have to work a ton of hours, like Airbnb is, that was it. Cause that's where I was. I was
working a full-time job. I had a part-time gig. You like teaching poetry to youth at like one of
the boys and girls clubs. I occasionally worked at a restaurant like, I had student loans at all
that. At one point I had like three or four different jobs at the same time. I was like, yeah. I
was like, this is not sustainable. How do I get out of this Airbnb? Man, if you, if you calculated,
I remember calculating the hourly compared to like my full-time job and the hourly was like four times
what I made at my full-time job. When I did that math, I was like, oh, this is, this is me not working
for a living at some point. Not worth the house at least. Not your full-time. So you're talking about
your first trip to Las Vegas, to Massachusetts. This is what you do now. Like from every time I
talk to you in a different, different country, different city. We don't talk all that up if I
said yesterday. Four months now. See, and is your mom still with you? Yeah, she's here. She has her
own place in Lima. Like shout outs to Lima. Lima is very affordable. So I love that. And I love that
for her. So she's, she's able to have her own apartment with a beautiful view and everything.
Just not too far from me. What's all that said hi? I will. Yesterday. She did what? We both just
got tattoos together yesterday. Oh, nice. That's a cool mother-daughter thing.
What did you guys get? I've got, well, I can't show you. I got a couple of initials. I don't know
if I'm going to say it. That's okay. You don't have to. It's not my initials. And then my mom,
she got the lettering under, she got a tattoo of our dragon. You remember the baby dragon we had?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The name tattooed underneath the dragon because it was missing.
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So it sounds like to me that you're really living a life that you've created.
Completely. What is your what is your purpose in life?
You know, that's such a great question. It used to be, and since I was a kid,
I would have said the same thing. I would have said to leave this place better than I found it.
And I think that's still definitely a part of it. But I also today see a lot more room for
enjoyment. You know, like everything doesn't have to be work, you know, and you can leave a place
or a person or a group of people better, and it doesn't have to look like work to do it. So
I think that leaving this place better than I found it is still true. But for me, I think at
this point today, also done in a way that I get to do something and some things that I really
love, that I really enjoy that light me up, like they can, you can have it all, you know.
So that, yeah, and to have like as much fun as possible,
I love that. Like love on as many people as I can.
Well, there are people that would be watching or listening and they'll look at your story,
you know, like, how do I do that for myself? What would be your advice for someone?
Hire me.
I'm just kidding. I'm not kidding. I'm kidding. I'm not kidding.
Anything to try on one's own. I'll say that. Like if somebody wants to do ideally exactly what I've
done, it's not something I would recommend anybody try without experience in real estate and or a
great mentor as I had both when I started. I had resources, you know, if you don't have resources,
like you need them. So the, I mean, the number one thing you want to do, a lot of people come to me
and they want to buy an investment property and they don't own a home of their own yet and it
just doesn't make sense. So buy your first home, period. Like just that is investing in real estate.
People don't tend to think about it that way because they're thinking, well, it's not going to make
me money. Well, you can buy a house that has a finished basement or garage apartment or an
in-law suite and you live in one and rent the other. Like, yeah, you are, you're in there,
you know, and it may not look as sexy as they dream right out the gate, but like you got to,
you got to sometimes like demystify, you know, what's possible in real estate from day one
for most people, you know, most people don't have multiple six figures cash in a bank account
where they can just buy a property. So if you want to get started and you're an everyday person
with a regular job, that's the best way to get started. That's what I did and just built from
there. I mean, you heard what I did, but also have great mentors and I am available for hire.
Now, and I'm looking at where I'm going to invest, you know, internationally having divested my
real estate from Atlanta, but I do this now virtually with all my clients still in the U.S.,
all over the U.S. I hope them plan the strategy, get it right, plan the finances and the numbers
because if your numbers aren't right, it's not going to work. And so I was gifted to know how
to do that early and it's not hard, but you got to know what you're doing. You got to know what
you're doing. We've, you and I have had a meeting and I wasn't ready at the time, but I'm getting ready.
I'm getting ready. So you'll be hired by me for sure. Hello. So the plan is still there.
So when was the word success a part of your DNA?
When was it a part of my DNA? And then when did you realize that you had success?
I would say probably. Okay, there you go. I think of like, I think of who my mom and my dad both are
and it was in the architecture already. You know, my mom is very, very hardworking and was,
she doesn't, she's retired now, but was the majority of my life. Now she's kind of chilling,
which is great to see. My dad is one of the most hardworking people I've ever seen. Not only that,
one of the most resilient and committed people that just refuses to give up, it's not in his
vocabulary. So those were my parents. And not only that, I told you my dad, like, I didn't believe in,
I didn't have a concept of like failure. Like, it didn't exist to me. I was like, drilled into my head,
like, I will win. No matter what. It was like, drilled into my whole being since I was a child.
And even if I didn't win this game, I was going to win the season. You know, like, there was no,
and every loss, there was a lesson and he was always asked me, like, what did you learn? What
did you learn? What did you get? Kind of like, a lot of like landmarks, like always looking, I had like,
a, that coach in my life, my whole life. So and then when your second question was like,
when did I really realize it for myself? Yeah. That's a success was part of my DNA,
probably somewhere in my landmark journey. Likely, likely around the acquisition of the third property,
because having the two, I was still kind of scared and going through stuff and worried,
like, what if this doesn't work and had doubts about myself, but probably after the third,
and I was able to have the third and have all three running when I was away. I was like, oh, yeah,
like, yeah, this was in me all along. Just took some time to get here. Yeah. Well, that kind of
speaks to what I'm thinking about throughout parts of this conversation. You did, there was no
instant gratification. Like you could sweat equity in and you did what she needed to do
in order to get to where you are now. And I think a lot, well, there are people that think that when
you get into any kind of business that it's instantaneous. Oh, Lord. You and I both, well,
it's not true. We know it's not true. You spelled the myth of that, like, especially with Airbnb
and real estate. Yeah. This is not, it's not for the faint of heart. You know, and I'll be straight
too. I've had a couple of clients, you know, complete the process by their property, by their first
or their second, you know, put it up on Airbnb, give it a go for six months, a year, and decide
this isn't for me, you know. So one, it's not for everyone. Sure. It's not for everybody. And
when you're just starting out, you know, the biggest cost of running an Airbnb would be cleaning
and management. And a lot of people come to me and they want to buy a property. They don't necessarily
have a whole lot of money. And they want to outsource cleaning and management from day one.
And I'm always advising them, like, don't do that. Like, is there a way for you to be able to
clean it yourself? Even if it's once a week, maybe in your outsource once a week, I have a
client who does that up in Providence, like, that's the biggest expense. These cleaners are not
cheap. They're charging over $100 plus for a clean. Like, what? I remember doing it. I wish
somebody would pay me that, right? It's like, it doesn't take that long. It's like two hours. Get
in, get out. Who wants $120 for that? Get out of here. So, yeah, if you don't have a boatload of
capital, you know, to invest and pay for this stuff right out of the gate, then, yeah, you're
likely looking at sweat equity and labor. And are you up for that? But the benefit is, and so,
like, that's not, it's not exciting. It's not sexy. It's not fun. I'm not going to pretend, you know,
like, there were times on like a Saturday afternoon or a Sunday afternoon, I had to go down and clean
one or two properties myself. And sure, I would have definitely had rathered be hanging out with
my friends on Sunday fun day at the bar out of the lake or something. And I sure wasn't, you know,
but like, I saw the bigger picture and I believed in the long-term game and I knew it wasn't going
to take forever. You know, it took me three years. I get four. It depends on how you count from the
first property purchase until having number three and all running all up and running independently
without me for it. It's not a long journey. So you have to be okay with the delay gratification?
For sure. And my clients now are able to scale faster because I know all the things that I
didn't know then. So it took me longer. And that's also why I divested. So I was like, knowing now,
the organization of the portfolio I have doesn't really make sense. I'm not maximizing my resources,
but I can help my clients plan that ahead of time from the beginning. And it could be way shorter
for them. So yeah, I shortened the timeline for them. There had to be setbacks also.
How did you handle those and what keeps you motivated?
Setbacks. I mean, the second property, my first investment property I had, all of that work that
came, I was scary. When I was looking at the numbers, and it was like, it's close right now for me to
call it. How much cash do I have left to invest in this property before I start creating more debt,
which I don't want to do. But what keeps me motivated? I stick to the math. And I think a lot
of people are afraid of math, which I don't know why. It's not hard. The math that you need to know
to be successful in real estate is not difficult math. We're not talking algebra or trigonometry
here. It's like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and some percentages.
We can do this on our cell phone, but everyone doesn't necessarily know how to put it all together.
I stick to the math. I did my projections. I looked at what have I invested? What's this next
thing going to cost me? What is this making me when it's up and running? And when is the break even
point? And also just looking at for my cash flow, how many weeks do I have to be able to go without
another problem? Just to get back to a place where this bank account for this property is
comfortable, where I have a few months of the expenses saved. I do all of that math. I stick
to the numbers all the time because the numbers don't lie. If we don't know our numbers, we're
likely relying on our feelings, and there's never a powerful place to be. And our feelings don't
matter when it comes to math and just numbers. So that's what I did. And what keeps me motivated?
Oh, what keeps me motivated? I don't know. I just don't know. That's a super great question.
I think I have a natural lust for life in all areas. So what kept me motivated for that property
was I could see the light. And I was like, I'm going to cross my fingers that we're going to go
four weeks without another problem, and we'll be in a better, more comfortable position. And then
from there, these problems will decrease. And they did. But also in my fitness life,
I'm in the gym usually four mornings a week at 6.30 in the morning. I do a lot of athletic type
things in my free time, meditation. I don't know. I really like not even love, but I'm in love with
the experience of life, like everything, the good and the bad. It's so rich. Yeah, I stay very close
to my own experience. Yeah, it's good. I mean, I'm listening to you and it's like a passion. Yeah,
I have very passion. That's what it sounds like. It sounds like you're just passionate about what
you did, what you do and who you are. And like serving your clients. That sounds like, you know,
it's lucky for them to have you. Yeah. Thank you. We have so much fun. Oh my goodness gracious. I hope
that audio wasn't super loud as I was yelling. I love my clients. They know it. Oh my gosh. I love
them capital L O V E. And we have the best time. And I think I sort of tend to attract,
you know, some like minded people, I attract people who really want growth, I try to aren't
afraid to do some work. I attract people who are willing to take risks. So like the type of people
who end up choosing to work with me are also really effin dope, you know, and we have the most fun.
It's largely not work. I love my clients so much. I have so much. Well, let's say if you, if you're
doing something that you'd rather, it doesn't feel like, you know, it doesn't feel like work.
Every once in a while, but not when I'm with my clients, not at all. Yeah, there's the ups and
downs, right? And it's your mindset with business like, where did that come from? These are something
that you learned. Did you think you always had the mindset for business? I don't, I never saw this
for myself. Not like this. When I was a kid, because I was very like, I've always been very
community oriented. When I was a kid, I thought I would like be the executive director or maybe own
like my own nonprofit that was around like community engagement, community empowerment,
you know, all kinds of education outside of school. And I didn't really think about that from a
business standpoint, because like as a kid, and even as a teenager and a young adult, like the
goal in my opinion for the nonprofit wouldn't necessarily be to make, to make a lot of money.
The goal would be to empower a lot of people and help people have better lives, higher quality
lives, you know. Today, I mean, this is just the direction that my life has taken me.
I don't know what my mindset around business is, you know, this is really great. And I'll be really,
I'll be open and vulnerable, transparent about this. Like, I'm not the most disciplined business owner,
not by a long shot. I'm working on it. I'm working on it. The idea of discipline does not excite me
and I can see the value in it, you know, but I live currently and I have like, for the last few years,
live a pretty, I feel like it's a very balanced life for me, in terms of how much I work and how
much I'm just like, resting, relaxing and how much I play. And I've always wanted that. So I tell
people like, how many hours a week I work, they're like, what, I'm like, like, it works for me, you
know, could I work more and probably double or triple or quadruple my revenue? Sure. Do I want
that life? I want to lay on the beach on a Wednesday and have everything work, you know, like, so I'm
not, although I am kind of like scaling a little bit right now, but still some of that, a lot of
that, like my focus is on my overall quality of life. It's not on building some massive business
to be a billionaire. I don't care for that. I care about having the most quality of life while I'm
here. And that's exactly what I heard. As we're talking about that and sharing that, I was like,
the quality of life that you live is, is, is perfect for you. Yeah. Yeah, like, I went and got
tattoos with my mom yesterday on a Wednesday. We had a wonderful lunch outdoors. I want to have that.
Wednesday is usually my off day, but like, yeah. And you have that. Yeah, I have it.
That's pretty great. Yeah. You know, we're, let's talk a little bit more about, about Airbnb.
How does one identify the opportunity for what an Airbnb is or how do you first identify that
opportunity? Oh, oh, I think a lot of things could be an Airbnb, you know, a house, an apartment,
a condo, a unit in a multi unit, building in a two, a duplex, like one of the units.
What's typically needed, or I should say what performs best, you know, is to have a space
where there's a separate guest entrance. So guests can come and go as they please and not have to
interact with you. There's a full, obviously there needs to be a full, a full like a sleeping area,
even if it's just a studio, there needs to be a full bath. They need the amenities that they need
for daily living. And if there's a small kitchen or a kitchenette, that's great, even the kitchen is
not even required. But that's like the basic minimum. If you have a space that has a separate entrance,
a full bath, and you can create an area to sleep, I mean, that's sufficient for a basic Airbnb.
Anything above that is even better. Any, most things, like a lot of things are Airbnbable,
but I think the bigger question that most people are usually curious about is,
how do I identify something that will be high performing? Because every Airbnb is not high
performing. There's a lot of low out there and a lot of listings that are just super mediocre and
doing like very okay. I create high performance. Yeah.
Okay. That's a different question and I'm not going to share what it is to look for because
somebody would have to hire me. That's very valuable. I was going to say, you're not going to go
too deep because that's your business. Yeah, but we find it and it's partly can be market specific
and there are some things that aren't necessarily market specific that work everywhere.
But yeah, I always look at the market that someone is in do that research and then there's
also things I just know that just work in every market. So I bring that to my clients too.
So the real estate game for 2025 because this actually we're recording this in 2024,
but this was actually in 2025. What does it look like or what do you think it's going to look like
next year? Yeah. What do I think the market's going to look like in the US or what does real estate
look like for me in the US? In the US. Oh, I don't know because there's a shift, right? There's going
to be a shift with the administration and all that kind of good stuff. So just a question.
I really don't know what to expect from the incoming administration. I've heard
and read things that allude to that the incoming president and whomever else,
Elon Musk and other billionaires and whatnot are looking to do things economically that
will drastically drop the price if not with values of things across the board in the US to make
commodities cheap so that they can buy them up cheap and then make themselves richer and richer
and richer. I have no idea how true that is or not. I hope that doesn't happen because that usually
causes a lot of strife for everyday folks like Elon Musk and there's opportunity in it if it
does but folks have to be ready and it's like you're not likely to get ready in just two or
three months. You would have had to have been preparing for this for probably a few years if
you're going to want to capitalize on that. So I honestly don't know if you asked me a year ago,
I would have some kind of a clear answer but I really don't know what to expect.
I think that's probably where people's minds might be like in the world of,
you know, I kind of don't know because things are kind of unclear at the moment.
Yeah and I can see people being hesitant to invest although I think that we can expect some rate
drops so that might make it also more easier for people to invest and buy what they want because
things will be more affordable like the same property will be more affordable for them to do that.
Overall I always hold the belief though that it's always a good time to invest in real estate.
It always is and I'm typically, you know, a buy and hold investor. I'm not a flipper, you know,
so when people are trying to like buy something, fix it up and sell it six months or a year later
that can be very dependent on the market. You buy high and then prices drop, you're screwed.
I typically don't do that. I buy and I hold for a multiple years so even if the market goes up
and down I'm not concerned because I'm only concerned that my monthly revenue is covering
the cost and there's profit. Yeah and so as long as those numbers work it really doesn't matter to me
if the value dropped because I wasn't trying to sell anyway. So I really don't know.
I really don't know. Well that's probably where most, you know, minds are at the moment.
I don't know and that sounds like a solid plan that you have, you know, just purchasing a hold
and that does create income. If especially if somebody is not a homeowner yet there are so
many ways to do it so affordably like most of my clients spend less than $5,000 out of pocket.
Like what does it cost to get a rental? Yeah my last client who just closed he cost him $2650.
That's like getting a rental. Right. That's like first month's rent and a security deposit
somewhere. It's very doable, far more doable than a lot of people think in any city or county across
the US. So if somebody already doesn't own a home yet I still think that that's a
still a wise investment especially the first time buyer because of the benefits that are out there
and how affordable it really can be. People just don't know what they don't know and I do serve
people who just want to buy a home even if they don't want to do Airbnb. I'll help them find all
that stuff too anywhere. That sounds very promising especially to people who are unclear about the
steps and what to do in order to actually own a home. Yeah. And you're there for that.
Yeah. I think it's an important part of creating financial stability for any person or family.
And then even if you're not thinking like an investor and you don't think you want to grow
a portfolio that's fine and later on you might choose to and it's powerful to have that. I didn't
expect my first property to double in value in two years. That's crazy and that's possible anywhere.
And just imagine how that could change the life for a person or a family even if they didn't want
to put that in real estate. That could be a huge business investment. That could be
a lot of things. Equipment purchase for someone who has a film company. I don't know. It could be
a million things. It could be anything. Yeah. Yeah. So you live kind of in the unknown a little bit.
Right now. A bit. And you know I'm always creating like I always have an idea of what I want.
You know I'm always calling a shot. I'm a shot caller for sure. There's always shots I'm calling.
So are you asking what's the next for me. Well yeah. What's next to you. In the world. Unknown.
Yeah. I haven't really said this very much to many people but you know I love Lima and I'll
be here. This is like a home but I would like to have multiple properties in different cities
around the world. And so what's next for me is enjoying time here for a bit visiting family and
then I intend to buy a home in Cape Town South Africa. I think that was my first international
purchase probably next fall. Africa is a place that I still that's on my to-do list. Yeah.
Yeah. And I assure you will. I will. That will be the next thing for me.
I gotta go. I just gotta go. It's life changing for sure. So that's next. I mean there are other
cities I have my eye on but I feel like that's home. I think that's actually where I'm going to
like root myself down for the most part because I still want multiple and I want to be able to
just be wherever I want to be whenever I want to be there. So that will be the only time.
Say what? I said you want to be fluid in life. Just being able to flow.
You know somewhat yes. Yes. I also like to have my hand in a lot of different things so I can see
myself having like business and perhaps like owning like a foundation that does great work in
South Africa to like feed people and educate people and do creative arts for young people
but do the same thing here in Lima or in Colombia and one other place. Like I also
am really picky about my weather so I like to be wherever I want to be best and so when it's cold
there I don't want to be there. Hello. I need a place that's hot when Cape Town is cold.
Awesome. I'm from Michigan but you're Massachusetts. Yeah I'm from Michigan and I tell you when I went
I moved to no I went to Spain and that's the first time that I experienced being in the winter
where it's kind of cold but there's no snow. You know that was the first time I actually lived in
that and I was like oh my gosh this is kind of this is kind of wonderful you know. Amazing. And
when I came back I came back in this I think it was January of whatever year it was and I was like
this is not it. This is not it and I moved to not it so I moved to Atlanta and it was
great. I think it snowed a little bit here in Atlanta and then I was like you know plus my
ambition I moved to Los Angeles and I was like no this is it and being there for so long I was like
I'm never going back. I don't like to ski I don't like no I don't like all that so I got to stay in
a hot space. I'm here for that. I feel that. Yeah I don't desire to experience snow. I'm not a fan.
I had enough from birth to age 24 whenever I moved to Atlanta. Right. Yeah I'm good. I'm good.
I'm good. I had myself. Man you had your fill. Like yeah I'm good too. Anybody if y'all like the snow
love it you know people that live in that Alaska and all that you know I'm saying yeah I can have that.
You know I don't have to worry about me visiting. No competition here. None none. You you are
truly impacting lives right. You know you're just doing your thing. Yeah. What advice would you give
to somebody who that walked up to you and wanted to just change their life. Oh they wanted to just
change their life. I mean you know the coach in me has questions but like I mean. It's kind of a
broad question. Right. I would ask them what's their long game. Like what do they ultimately
want. Like what's the big goal at the end that could take 10 or 20 years to reach
and then align everything in your life towards that goal. Like I've known that Cape Town was my
home for probably 20 years. I was there 20 years ago. Yeah and I haven't been back yet
and I kind of I didn't do that. I didn't necessarily align it. I kind of knew it and then forgot
and then remembered and then forgot and I like mean all these ways and money was not always
available so I just did what I had to do for a while. You know. But if you have the time and
the resources or you can like if you have a comfortable living space and you can have the
time to plan like whatever you want your life to be just scale it backwards and I don't always do
like the unfolding. It doesn't have to be in writing. It doesn't have to but like know what it is up
here. See the vision. Like see yourself growing from where you are now to what's next and then
what's next and then what's next until you can see the whole thing and just live it.
And live it. Yeah. That's that's powerful. Thank you. See it. Be it. Live it. Live it.
Okay. I heard that. My last question to you is if this is like your last remark, what would be
the a story or a last thing that you want to share with someone who's listening to the podcast
and listening to you? I don't have a story but I will say this like I never expected my
my life to be the way it is right now, you know?
And like, let that be a testament
like anything is possible.
Like you truly can do anything you want to do.
Aside from maybe defying gravity, you know,
unless you're in a rocket thing, but like, you really can.
So don't believe your limitations
and your limiting beliefs when they show up, you know?
And if you need support, like, I mean,
we met inside of a program, like get around people
who are gonna speak to the power in you
and the best in you and remind you how amazing you are.
Cause you really can do anything and get away from people
who are gonna tell you that you have some limitation
cause you don't, you don't have any,
you can do anything in the world you want.
Go do it.
Love that.
Yeah.
Get rid of the limiting beliefs
and the limitations that you have on your life.
Tony, I appreciate you.
I appreciate your time.
I know you over there in Lima, Peru,
but you know, you spent some time, not Lima, Ohio,
Lima, Peru.
And I want to say thank you for being
on the Thrive World Journey podcast.
I really appreciate it.
Yeah.