\n<\/p>\n
Before you <\/strong>invest in real estate<\/strong><\/a>, everything can seem new and confusing. Bidding on houses, renovation budgets, finding tenants\u2014these are all skill sets you must acquire to become <\/strong>a financially independent<\/strong> real estate investor. But that doesn\u2019t mean you need to be a pro before buying your first property<\/strong>. Just ask Brittany Arnason<\/strong><\/a>, AKA InvestorGirlBritt<\/strong>, the Canadian real estate superstar who started BRRRR-ing her way to wealth at just eighteen.<\/p>\n We brought Britt onto the show to help us dive deeper into a question we received on the Real Estate Rookie Facebook Group<\/strong>. This question came from JP<\/strong><\/a>, asking: How do you network and partner with more experienced investors when you feel you have nothing to add value?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Most investors never feel like they know enough<\/strong>, and this is especially true if you\u2019ve never done a deal before. But, Britt may serve as the perfect person to share her experience with JP, as she went from knowing nothing about real estate to becoming a multi-million dollar commercial investor all before the age of thirty<\/strong>!<\/p>\n If you want Ashley and Tony to answer a real estate question, you can post in the Real Estate Rookie Facebook Group<\/a>! Or, call us at the Rookie Request Line (1-888-5-ROOKIE).<\/p>\n Ashley: Britt: Ashley: Tony: Ashley: Tony: Ashley: Tony: Ashley: Tony: Ashley: Tony: Ashley: Tony: Ashley: Tony: Ashley: Tony: Ashley: Tony: Ashley: Britt: Ashley: Britt: Tony: Britt: Tony: Britt: Tony: Britt: Ashley: Britt: Ashley: Britt: Ashley: Britt: Tony: Britt: Tony: Britt: Tony: Britt: Ashley: Britt: Ashley: Britt: Ashley: Britt: Ashley: Britt: Tony: Britt: Tony: Britt: Tony: Britt: Tony: Britt: Ashley: Tony: Ashley: Britt: Ashley: Britt: Tony: Britt: Tony: Britt: Ashley: Britt: Tony: Britt: Tony: Britt: Ashley: Britt: Ashley: Britt: Ashley: \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n BrInterested in learning more about today\u2019s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Check out our <\/i>sponsor page<\/a><\/i>!<\/i><\/p>\n Note By BiggerPockets:<\/b> These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.<\/p>\n
This is Real Estate Rookie episode 234.<\/p>\n
In order to raise money, in order to do those type of things, people have to like, know, and trust you. So a great way to build that trust and likability and get to know the people is through posting very consistently on Instagram. What that translated to for me was over $10 million in capital raised through my social media platforms for my projects.<\/p>\n
My name is Ashley Kehr and I am here with my cohost Tony Robinson.<\/p>\n
And welcome to the Real Estate Rookie Podcast, where every week, twice a week, we bring you the inspiration, motivation, and stories you need to hear to kickstart your investing journey. And we\u2019d like to start these episodes by shouting out folks in our Ricky audience. And today\u2019s review comes from Azari E. And Azari says, \u201cThis is a must listen podcast. It\u2019s my go-to for keeping my mind focused on real estate investing. The episodes are filled with digestible bits of information, fantastic guides on how to invest in relatable stories from other real estate investors at all levels. The hosts are authentic and super pleasant to listen to, and I listen to them on my runs making both of them super enjoyable.\u201d Azari, I appreciate that, especially the part about the hosts are super enjoyable to listen to because there\u2019ve been quite a few other reviews that have said quite the opposite. So I appreciate you, brother. But hey, if you guys haven\u2019t yet, leave a five star review on whatever platform it is you\u2019re listening to.<\/p>\n
Yeah, thank you guys so much for those of you that have left reviews. We really appreciate it.<\/p>\n
We should maybe do that during BP CON where we just read all the mean reviews that have come in.<\/p>\n
Like Jimmy Fallon Mean Tweets.<\/p>\n
Yeah, like the Mean Tweets because we got a lot of them. There\u2019s enough for us to get through a few.<\/p>\n
We do talk about crying at the end of this episode. It might not make me cry.<\/p>\n
But we\u2019re here live at BP CON. This is I think our second episode we\u2019ve recorded since we\u2019ve been here. This one was super impromptu. We\u2019re just sitting down here in a little media room and then a very special guest walks in and we\u2019re like, \u201cYou haven\u2019t been on the Rookie show yet. We got to change that right now.\u201d So within five minutes we start recording this episode.<\/p>\n
This is a real estate superstar that is coming on. She started out doing DIYs at the age of 18, buying properties, fixing them up and then renting them out. And since then, has transitioned to raising money for self storage.<\/p>\n
So today\u2019s super special guest is the one and only Investor Girl Britt. She\u2019s insta famous. She\u2019s crushed it into real estate. And we brought her on some, to hear her story, but more so to talk about how she focused on building her platform early on, the impact it\u2019s had on her business and what she would do today if she had to start all over in building that platform.<\/p>\n
And more specifically, how it actually connects with you guys as rookies, why you should be doing it now, not having any experience, maybe just starting to learn about real estate and how you can actually add value to other people because of that.<\/p>\n
We also talk about how a case of food poisoning changed her life forever for the better. So make sure to listen for that part.<\/p>\n
Before we bring on our special guest today, we do want to address a rookie reply question. So this question comes from JP Bailey and was posted in the Real Estate Rookie Facebook group. Today\u2019s question is, \u201cHow do you network and partner with more experienced investors when you feel you have nothing to add value? I\u2019m aware that this might just be me being too hard on myself.\u201d Tony, I think this is actually a great question and very relatable to a lot of people.<\/p>\n
Totally. Even for me, Ashley, when I think about the investors that are more experienced than me, a lot of times I have to question myself and say, what value can I add? I do remember being a rookie with zero deals and that is a very real feeling. But I think there\u2019s a few things, JP, that you can look at. So even if you have no deals, do you have time? Time is one of the most constrained resources that a lot of other successful investors lack. So if you can just bring an abundance of time to help them do the things that maybe they don\u2019t have the time to do, that\u2019s a tremendous way to provide value. So for example, say that you want to work with someone that\u2019s an experienced flipper and maybe they don\u2019t have the time to run to Home Depot to get supplies, or maybe they don\u2019t have time to cold call people to try and get more leads, or maybe they don\u2019t have time to\u2026 There\u2019s so many different things going on in that business that are important, but not necessarily the best use of that investor\u2019s time.
So if you just have time, that\u2019s a great way I think for you to add value. And then another thing is ability. So even if you don\u2019t necessarily have experience flipping homes, do you have experience maybe creating systems and processes? Maybe you can be the person that at the beginning of every job you walk the property with the crew and you create the scope of work in the budget. Or maybe it\u2019s your duties to look at all the comparable properties that have sold recently. And you use that to create the scope of work. There\u2019s so many things that go into creating a successful real estate project where even if you don\u2019t necessarily have experience in real estate, but you have experience with other skills, you can still provide value to someone that\u2019s more experienced than you are.<\/p>\n
I think that our guest that we\u2019re bringing on today will relate to this even more. So we\u2019re bringing on, as we mentioned in the intro, Investor Girl Britt, and she actually talks about how she has partnered with AJ Osborne, the king himself of self storage. I mean if you think self storage, you think AJ Osborne. She also had that kind of limited mindset about herself as to wow, he\u2019s this huge investor and I\u2019m just burring these $30,000 houses in nowhere Canada. But she talks about how she did add value and she found a way that something he didn\u2019t have. But as far as the networking piece, and not even trying to partner with someone but to network with them and make that connection. People really like to talk about themselves. So find something that that person is interested in and start talking about it with them, asking them questions about it.
Investors are probably tired of answering the same questions over and over, and they won\u2019t get that light inside, that won\u2019t spark a fire inside of them talking about those same things. But if you can find something that maybe they don\u2019t get to talk about a lot that they really love and really enjoy and make a connection that way and build almost like a friendship before you even get into the real estate side. Tyler Madden, I feel like that is his superpower. An investor out of Denver. He\u2019s really good at that, is finding out what people are interested in becoming friends with them or making that connection before it\u2019s even talking business. How can we each add value to each other? Or things like that. So it\u2019s just really think about just social skills in general.
Like dating. Okay, if you\u2019re going to date someone, you\u2019re going to try and find out what they\u2019re interested in. You\u2019re not going to be right away. \u201cOkay, let\u2019s get married. How many kids do you want? You want 2, 3 kids or whatever?\u201d You\u2019re going to find what interests them and you\u2019re going to do things that interest them so they like you and vice versa. You don\u2019t have to right away know how to add value to someone. It\u2019s more about making that connection. Because think about how many times you hear people saying, \u201cIt\u2019s not what you know. It\u2019s who you know.\u201d And if people genuinely like you and they feel that connection, they\u2019re going to feel pulled to want to work with you, to want to do something with you.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m so glad you brought up the networking side of it because I think a lot of people overlook the role that social media can play in building that network. I think for me, there\u2019s a lot of people that reach out to us on social media and ask questions, but there\u2019s always that one person that comments on almost every single post that I put up as soon as I post it and I\u2019ve met some of those people in person and as soon as I see them I\u2019m like, \u201cHey, I know you.\u201d It\u2019s like, \u201cI\u2019m the one that always comments on your stuff.\u201d So if there\u2019s someone, JP, that you look up to or that you do want to partner with, maybe just start being super engaged in their Instagram comments and every time they post something and don\u2019t just put a little fire emoji, maybe do something like this more insightful, that\u2019s like a value add comment to the rest of the community. And if you\u2019re the first person to comment on every single thing that they post, eventually that relationship will naturally start to build.<\/p>\n
Go stalk someone is what you\u2019re saying.<\/p>\n
Yeah. I think that works up to a certain extent where if you\u2019re trying to network with Dwayne Johnson the Rock, I don\u2019t know if that approach will work, but if it\u2019s someone that\u2019s kind of a smaller influence, I think there\u2019s a path forward there.<\/p>\n
So let\u2019s get into it with Britt. And I think that you guys are going to be able to relate to a lot of what she says. And even though this is the rookie channel, we love to bring on those rookie investors. Once in a while, we love to grab that expert at something and break it down for you guys how the thing that they\u2019re doing can really propel you if you start doing it now as a rookie. So let\u2019s bring on the famous Instagram Investor Girl Britt. Britt, welcome to the Rookie podcast. We are so happy to have you. Why don\u2019t you start off telling everyone a little bit about yourself and how you got started in real estate?<\/p>\n
Oh cool. Thanks for having me, you guys. I can\u2019t believe I haven\u2019t been on the show before.<\/p>\n
Because you\u2019re too experienced. You\u2019re not a rookie anymore.<\/p>\n
True. Well, we all have been there. So first house I bought when I was 18 years old and I got that one. It\u2019s a weird story. I never know how to get into this because it\u2019s kind of weird. But I got food poisoning when I was six years old and the restaurant paid insurance money out to all the people who got super sick. So I had this chunk of cash and when I was 18, I bought my first rental property. So I was a $25,000 house and part of that food poisoning money went to pay for that. And then I worked for the rest of it. The rent was 850 bucks a month. So I\u2019m like, I don\u2019t know anything. But I do know that 850 over the year, this house is going to be paid off in a few years. So it\u2019s almost one of those things where nowadays we have so much information, it\u2019s information overload. But me at that time, I\u2019m like, \u201cThat makes sense. Very simple math. Let\u2019s do it.\u201d So learned a lot just after that first deal.<\/p>\n
I mean that\u2019s got to be the best food poisoning experience that I\u2019ve ever heard before.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the best. It was amazing.<\/p>\n
I mean first, kudos to you for being 18 years old and thinking I just got this $25,000 check and I\u2019m not going to go blow it on, I don\u2019t know things that 18 year olds buy, but I\u2019m going to buy real estate. How did you get to that point? Was someone coaching you? Was someone teaching you? What was the trigger that made you say, \u201cLet me buy real estate instead\u201d?<\/p>\n
Well, my mom had tenants in our house because she needed help paying the mortgage. So there\u2019s a point where she would have tenants. We had basement tenants and all of this stuff. And I saw her not being able to afford the property to being able to afford her mortgage with renters. And I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay, that makes sense if you have rental income coming in every month.\u201d And then the other part of that was she got me and my brother to help her fix up these properties. So she\u2019s like, \u201cAll right, here\u2019s a paintbrush. You\u2019re eight years old. Let\u2019s get to work.\u201d So it was great because I learned a lot of hands on stuff early on too.<\/p>\n
Got it. So it was your mom that kind of planted that seed for you to become Investor Girl Britt that you are today. For our audience that doesn\u2019t know how much of a beast you are in the real estate space today, just give us an overview of what your business looks like today.<\/p>\n
Yeah. I grew my Instagram following. It was a huge piece to this as well. So now I own 28 doors I guess in residential. So that\u2019s a mix between apartment buildings, some single family, but I\u2019m kind of away from that now. And then self storage as well. So syndicating self storage in the US. So I\u2019m kind of also in US and Canada and this gets really complicated. But that\u2019s kind of been more my direction now, the commercial real estate space and working with amazing operators in the self storage industry. But through Instagram, there\u2019s just capital that can be raised, there\u2019s deals that can be found. It\u2019s been a huge catapult really to get me to where I am today.<\/p>\n
We talk a lot on this podcast about staying on the same path. Pick a strategy, pick your criteria and stick with it. So at what point did you decide, you know what? I\u2019m going to pivot from single family, small multi-family to self storage. And what would be your advice to somebody as to when that time is right?<\/p>\n
Yeah, that\u2019s a great point because I think it is extremely important to pick your path, get really good at it, but know that you can pivot in the future. Because there\u2019s so many ways to make money in real estate. If I went full out into multifamily, I know I would be successful. Full out into self storage. It doesn\u2019t almost matter the path you choose as long as you just choose it and go all in. But the point of pivoting for me, especially from single family, was getting in rooms with people and masterminds where they were doing big commercial deals. And I just thought, okay, if I want to scale and get to where\u2026 And I had this feeling, I really want to grow. I was really in my comfort zone with a single family. I\u2019ll be doing DIY single family until I\u2019m dead. I\u2019m never going to stray away.
And then all my friends at this mastermind are like, \u201cOkay, do whatever you want, but if you want to grow faster, it\u2019s probably better if you stop doing everything yourself.\u201d But I was so comfortable in that I didn\u2019t think I wanted to change, even though I kind of knew deep down. Because it was hard. It was hard being in that world of doing completely everything, renovations, property management, Instagram. I handled all of it on my own. But then getting in that space with all these people who are doing the self storage and the large multifamily and all that, I thought okay, I can actually do this. And I just got a lot of confidence through that.<\/p>\n
So you basically became a rookie again.<\/p>\n
Yes.<\/p>\n
You became a rookie at a different strategy, a new business model. So kind of touch on that a little bit, what it was like. Here you were very experienced, an expert in long term buy and holds in your markets and now completely pivoting and you\u2019re a rookie again in a whole different strategy. What was that like?<\/p>\n
I think the mistake people make is they think they have to do it all alone. You can hire people who are amazing at what they do and then you can use your strengths and then kind of start building a team. So that was difficult though because I\u2019ve never hired anyone. And then I was reading the book Who Not How by Dan Sullivan. He\u2019s like, \u201cI just hire people to hire all my people.\u201d So I said, \u201cI\u2019m just going to do that.\u201d So I hired a company who helped me build out my whole team and just get that together because I had no idea. And that\u2019s part of it too because I didn\u2019t understand the business side of it so much. I just knew how to buy single family homes and renovate them. But the business end of it, I just could never really grasp that. But there\u2019s so many amazing people out there and it\u2019s better to all be working together and really just focus on your own strengths.<\/p>\n
So Britt, obviously the majority of our audience, they\u2019re rookies who are super early, haven\u2019t even really begun their journey yet. Would you have been able to build that team on day one or did you have to grind it out yourself first before you got to that point of being able to add those people around you?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a good question because I do think it takes some time to figure out who you are and what your strengths are. But really try pay attention to that and focus on it. Because if I was doing bookkeeping, there\u2019s a lot of things that I should not be doing. I\u2019m not very organized. But it\u2019s very consistent through even in high school or through my serving jobs, all these skills and what I\u2019m really good at, I\u2019m still really good at. And what I\u2019m really bad at, I\u2019m still really bad at that. I think just paying attention to it and maybe people can start paying attention in their own job or life in general and write down all your strengths, all your weaknesses. There\u2019s tests you can do online, like the DISC test and there\u2019s one called Working Genius and then you can really just figure out, \u201cOkay, I\u2019m really good with this.\u201d And then eventually, maybe it\u2019s not right now, but eventually when you start to partner or build a team, you\u2019ll have a good understanding on what that should look like.<\/p>\n
I think the other thing, and this is what I struggled with early on, was just being able to afford to pay people. It\u2019s like when you\u2019re first building your business out, there\u2019s very little money coming from your business. So you do have to kind of do everything. But the decision you have to make as you start to scale is do I take the additional profits that are coming off and use that to inflate my lifestyle or do nicer things for myself, or do I take that additional money and reinvest it back into the business by hiring the right people around you? And we\u2019ve made the decision to hire more people to build that team out and I feel like that\u2019s unlocked so much more growth because now, like you said, we\u2019re able to really operate in our areas of strength and not our areas of weakness.<\/p>\n
Absolutely. I very much struggled with it because I couldn\u2019t understand. I\u2019m like, how am I supposed to pay someone 50,000 a year? I\u2019m not making anything. I\u2019m trying so hard. All the money\u2019s going to renovations. But the sooner I hired, it was the best thing ever. Because it just takes stuff off your plate and what gives you energy and what will actually move the business forward instead of doing all these little tasks that just take all your time and then you\u2019ll never be able to\u2026 You just get there so much faster. But I think also thinking about it in a way where it\u2019s not I\u2019m paying someone 50,000 or whatever it is for the year. No, it\u2019s a three month contract. Think about it more short term. Can I afford each month? And then go at it that way.<\/p>\n
So Britt, something that you\u2019ve done phenomenally well is build your presence online. We talk to a lot of rookies in our audience and we tell them that your platform if you want to scale, is one of the most important assets you can build. First, can you share with our listeners how big that platform is for you today? And then second, if you were starting new today as someone who had zero followers on any platform, what steps did you start taking to build that platform out?<\/p>\n
So I\u2019m at 250,000 on Instagram. That\u2019s my main platform, but I\u2019m trying to get on all of the different ones now too. But it is the best thing I ever did. I went to a real estate conference, my first one back in 2016 I would say. And I met a mentor there who told me, \u201cBritt, you have to start doing something right now to build your credibility as an investor. Start a newsletter, start something.\u201d So I started a blog and I\u2019m like, \u201cThis sucks.\u201d<\/p>\n
We have to find that blog. We\u2019ll post it in the show notes.<\/p>\n
You know what it was called? I forgot about this. It was called Little Investments on the Prairie. Because I had all these little $25,000 houses but I\u2019m not a writer and it was just really difficult to keep up with. But then I found Instagram. I didn\u2019t have Instagram previous to that and I didn\u2019t even want it. I didn\u2019t want to be on social media at all. But then just from this mentor, I thought that is a good idea. It took me a year to get to a thousand followers and I thought this is impossible. I don\u2019t know how to grow social media. This is so hard and so much work. But I just kept very consistent at it. I\u2019d post Wednesdays and Sunday. So I\u2019d post consistently all the time. And then I discovered lots of people are interested in the video side of things and the transformation of the space. Because I was doing all fully renovating the house on my own. So people started to be interested in that and I started getting reposts and it really worked for me.
So I think when people are building their page, what stops a lot of people is they think they have to be experts but you don\u2019t. People want someone to relate to. So that\u2019s more important than anything. It\u2019s building your story and showing transformation of yourself as a person too. Things you\u2019re learning, different things you\u2019re doing. So I think posting just about, even if you\u2019re reading a book and then you could say, \u201cHey I read this book Who Not How and I learned this thing and now I\u2019m growing and expanding my mind.\u201d But you can always find someone in an audience that can connect to different things. You just have to keep trying different ways, and it\u2019s actually been hard for me because I was doing the DIY renovations for so long, but then I pivoted to commercial real estate. I\u2019m like, \u201cI don\u2019t know what to post anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Your Excel spreadsheets.<\/p>\n
I know, this is so boring. But it\u2019s part of that pivoting again. And then I tried a whole bunch of different posts. Some of them went completely dead, just didn\u2019t work at all. But then you try something else and then just kind of find what works. So you have to just keep trying.<\/p>\n
Who was the first person that you hired to actually help you with the content creation side? Because you did it all yourself for a very long time.<\/p>\n
True. Yeah, I did all the content creation and the good thing is I have 50,000 photos and videos of all my renovations. So even though I\u2019m not doing my DIY renovations, I have all the videos that I could still use and I just had a viral reel, I got 2 million views, and I did that project five years ago. So it\u2019s pretty crazy. I think just capturing as much content as you can, no matter what it is, even if you think it\u2019s kind of pointless. Just take a video or photo anyway because your future self will thank you.<\/p>\n
What are some of the benefits of actually building a brand or getting your name out there? So for Tony and I, if we wouldn\u2019t have had any social media or he wouldn\u2019t have had his podcast, we probably wouldn\u2019t be sitting here today because nobody would know who we were and how to reach out to us or what we were doing. So I mean that definitely is a huge benefit is that you\u2019re provided opportunities because people see what you\u2019re doing. They get to know you through your social media. So what have the benefits been for you as an investor?<\/p>\n
Well, real estate is a people business and it\u2019s a relationship business. So the best way to build the relationships and a lot of them all at once is through social media, through Instagram. And you could do Instagram stories and people really feel like they\u2019re connecting with you because you can\u2019t tell if you\u2019re looking\u2026 Your brain can\u2019t comprehend the difference of if you\u2019re looking at a phone, it\u2019s like I\u2019m talking to Ashley even though she\u2019s on my phone, we\u2019re not in person. She doesn\u2019t know who I am, but I feel like I know her. My brain\u2019s actually building that relationship with her. In order to raise money, in order to do those types of things, people have to like, know and trust you. So a great way to build that trust and likability and get to know the people is through posting very consistently on Instagram.
What that translated to for me was over $10 million in capital raised through my social media platforms for my projects. So it\u2019s been pretty cool to see that and just friendships as well because real estate\u2019s hard and it feels extremely lonely. It\u2019s not easy. We all know that. We\u2019ve all been there, but if you have people in your corner, you could build those relationships online as well. So you get friendships out of it, you get deals, you get capital investors, partnerships, everything.<\/p>\n
First, congratulations to you. You said that real casually, but that\u2019s a big deal. I\u2019m glad you shared that because it lets our audience know what is possible when you can build that platform. So I want to kind of connect it back to the audience about what they can do to get started. So you talked about posting consistently. You talked about not necessarily needing to be an expert, but just kind sharing your journey. What other things can you share with the rookie audience to say, Hey, if you\u2019re starting from zero, here\u2019s some good things to do to build that platform.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yeah, I think there\u2019s so many different formats to do it on too. And it doesn\u2019t even have to be Instagram. If you\u2019re an amazing writer, maybe it\u2019s Twitter and LinkedIn and different ways. But kind of understand yourself. I\u2019m very visual, so I liked Instagram for the photos and the videos, but if you hate photos and videos and you love writing, there\u2019s opportunity for that as well. It\u2019s like the picking your lane thing. So you pick your lane and then you could expand later on. Because I kind of expanded now, but for six years I was only doing Instagram and now I\u2019m all over. But it was just, you have to really pick and focus. And then I think a good tip is people think, oh it\u2019s all about me. And they feel weird. It\u2019s kind of like this self-promotion kind of uncomfortable thing, but put it to the audience. You\u2019re trying to help someone. You can change somebody\u2019s life. You guys have changed so many people\u2019s lives through the podcast, through your social medias.
I think that\u2019s a good way to do it is to think about it that way, kind of flip the script on that. And then also I heard a thing from Patrick Bet-David, you know who he is?<\/p>\n
Yeah.<\/p>\n
So he was talking about his great-grandchildren and imagine all the things, the knowledge, the wisdom that he\u2019s sharing and he thinks about them watching it later on in their lives. And I really like that. And I thought if my grandparents had videos and they were sharing their wisdom, I would love to go back and watch that. So that\u2019s another way to put it too.<\/p>\n
Yeah, that\u2019s deep.<\/p>\n
I know. I was like that\u2019s a cool way to think about it.<\/p>\n
Yeah, that\u2019s amazing. We talk all the time and Ashley touched on it earlier too, that neither one of us would be sitting in this seat if it wasn\u2019t for the platforms that we built. So Ashley had a pretty decent following on Instagram before joining the podcast. I had my own podcast. And like you said, it\u2019s like you never know where those little things will take you and the opportunities that might come your way. So what\u2019s next for you, Britt? What are you planning to do next with your social platforms and continue to build those things out?<\/p>\n
Well, it\u2019s a good question because I never even know what\u2019s next. It\u2019s just who would\u2019ve thought? I\u2019d never in a million years would\u2019ve thought I\u2019d be on a podcast, be speaking on stage. And that\u2019s the thing. You\u2019re just creating these opportunities for yourself when you really work hard and put yourself out there. So what\u2019s next for me? I\u2019m still on the lane for self storage, raising capital for that. And then just bought a multifamily in Canada as well that just kind of came across my plate through Instagram. So it was just these deals that you don\u2019t even expect but then later on down the line, they just pop up.<\/p>\n
Yeah, I think the biggest benefit is that things are brought to you that you don\u2019t even know you need in your life. It\u2019s like you could post about something and someone say, \u201cOh actually, here, use this or buy this thing or whatever.\u201d And it\u2019s like, oh my gosh, this one little post I did, I didn\u2019t even know I needed that thing. I never thought that I would be a podcast host. But I love it so much. So I think that\u2019s a huge opportunity and a huge advantage of sharing your story, providing quality content. I\u2019m going to post a picture of me in a cute outfit probably in front of the sign later on and post it with some stupid caption. But you know what? The other stuff, I try to actually put some kind of content behind it as to something that you can learn from it too. And I think that makes a big difference too. I mean you go through and you show how to do concrete countertops or something like that. You actually tell people how to do it. And I think the quality-<\/p>\n
That was cool, by the way.<\/p>\n
I actually used your videos to do the concrete countertops in my liquor store. We would go through and look back, \u201cOkay, what products did she say we needed?\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s so cool. I forgot about that. That\u2019s so good.<\/p>\n
It turned out great. So thank you. Along the lines of content creation and your social media posting, everything like that, the mindset side of it, do you ever get cringy or, \u201cI don\u2019t know what people think about this.\u201d I doubt you probably get a lot of bad comments, but if you do, how do you deal with that side of things? When I first started my Instagram, I didn\u2019t tell anyone I was doing it because I just didn\u2019t want to be judged I guess. So it was a full year before anyone I knew even found it. But how do you kind of handle that?<\/p>\n
It is difficult because naturally we focus on the negative. So you can get a hundred amazing comments and one negative one and that\u2019s the one that bothers you the most. But I think just understanding that\u2019s part of it. You have to take the good with the bad. If you want these opportunities, if you want all this stuff, you have to kind of understand not everyone\u2019s going to like you. It\u2019s just part of how it is. You wouldn\u2019t expect that. So I think going into it, understanding it\u2019s going to happen. There\u2019s no way that you can be online posting consistently and not get some negativities and the cringe worthy ones where you\u2019re like, \u201cOh I don\u2019t know.\u201d Because it can be weird.
And I just started speaking on camera because I was doing my DIY renovations just working and posting the videos of me working. I never actually did face to camera on my feed. I do it in stories but not actually telling a 30 second story on a reel and it is really difficult and I watch the video and it\u2019s just so embarrassing and it\u2019ll take me 15 minutes to get a 30 second clip because I can\u2019t even remember one sentence. This is really hard. So I think just that practice and consistency and then even if you feel really weird about it, it could help someone else. So I think just posting it and then trying to get better all the time.<\/p>\n
I appreciate you sharing that because I think someone looks at you who has almost 300,000 followers. I think that you\u2019ve got it figured out. So the fact that you even still struggle to get that content in a way that you like it, that you feel comfortable sharing, I think hopefully it makes it easier for the folks that are listening to the podcast as well.<\/p>\n
Oh absolutely.<\/p>\n
So one other question for you, Britt. So do you ever feel that you have to take a break from social? And here\u2019s why I ask that question. For someone that\u2019s just starting out, obviously there\u2019s a certain sense of motivation that comes from seeing other investors kind of crushing in their space. But I think oftentimes you also feel that there\u2019s like this, not imposter syndrome, but you feel like, \u201cMan, they\u2019re doing so much better than me. Can I ever get there?\u201d And obviously your business has grown a lot, but even for me, I still see people like, \u201cMan, that guy\u2019s crushing it, that girl\u2019s crushing it.\u201d It kind of makes you second guess yourself as an investor, right? Do you ever feel like you have to take a break from social media just for your own mental sanity or how do you navigate that?<\/p>\n
Well, that\u2019s a great point because comparison is a terrible thing and the only thing we can do is try to recognize that and then say you have to compare yourself only to your past self and see that progress there. Because there\u2019s no point if you\u2026 Because I felt that all the time, this feeling I\u2019m so behind. I\u2019m like, why can\u2019t I get this? This is so frustrating. And I\u2019ve been there so many times. But I think just understanding that and then as soon as you think that, just catch it and then say no. If I think back to 10 years, how much have I grown? I haven\u2019t had to really take much of a break in that way, but I\u2019ve definitely had those feelings and all you can do is know that you are here right now and you\u2019re working really hard and you will get there.
There\u2019s no way you can fail if you keep going. Even if you have bumps along the way, you lose money on a deal, that\u2019s okay too, because you\u2019re going to learn so many lessons from that. And the only way you\u2019re going to fail is if you quit.<\/p>\n
I think you and I kind of went through a time period around the same time of not knowing where we wanted to go next. Where was our pivot going to be? I remember being at AJ Osborne\u2019s office together and you very much felt overwhelmed with things and you were trying to figure out what was the next thing for you. And I think that\u2019s kind of where it blossomed with self storage, everything like that. And I went through the same thing and that\u2019s where, okay, I want to do cabins and land and campgrounds, things like that. So you have I think those two things. It\u2019s not knowing what to do next, what to do better, what to do greater, to keep up with everyone it seems like. And then also that imposter syndrome. Am I really doing everything that I could be? Do I even know what I\u2019m doing?
Even on the plane ride here, usually I travel with my life auxiliary, my security blanket and I was alone on the plane and I\u2019m texting him with tears strung down my eyes. I feel like I\u2019m such an imposter. Do I even know anything about real estate? I have to talk on stage. The poor lady having to sit next to me probably looking over at me, but also having that accountability, that business partner, that friend or whatever who just helps you build back that confidence and reinforces it for you. So yeah, Daryl\u2019s actually behind the camera rolling his eyes at me. But I think it\u2019s important to be honest about those things. Those things happen. And just making your mindset stronger and stronger as you go along with the journey and not worrying about outside factors because social media definitely has changed the world on that for sure.<\/p>\n
It has. And we put people on these pedestals and then we think, \u201cOh, they have everything figured out, they just have no problems.\u201d And it\u2019s not that way at all. Everybody, no matter what level you\u2019re at, they all have imposter syndrome in different rooms and it just depends what it is. But I think just knowing that we all feel the same is comfort in itself.<\/p>\n
You mentioned Who Not How by Dan Sullivan. Have you read The Gap in the Game?<\/p>\n
Yeah.<\/p>\n
That was a really eye opening book for me because I think most people that are entrepreneurial, they\u2019re so driven to focus on what\u2019s next and what am I working towards and here\u2019s the goal, how do I get there? But we struggled so much at looking back and saying, what have I already done? When I read that book, it kind of gave me this epiphany moment where it\u2019s like I\u2019m really, really good at looking forward and being aggressive in that way, but I am terrible at looking backwards and being appreciative of what I\u2019ve done. So I\u2019m not even saying that you need to do this, but just for me, I\u2019m talking to you guys and this is something that I\u2019ve struggled with a lot and if you have that imposter syndrome, I think reading that book, it gave me a whole fresh perspective. So I highly, highly recommend it.<\/p>\n
Absolutely.<\/p>\n
Well Britt, thank you so much for joining us for this and thank you for going deep with us there. I know our listeners probably appreciate all the honesty. Can you let everyone know where they can reach out to you and find out some more information about you?<\/p>\n
Yeah, Investor Girl Britt on all of it. Thank you guys. This was really fun.<\/p>\n
Yeah, thank you for coming on. Literally Britt came into the room and we said, \u201cHey, you want to do a podcast?\u201d Within five minutes, we were sitting down. So great job being put on the spot here.<\/p>\n
I love it. Well, thank you guys so much.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m Ashley at Wealth From Rentals and he\u2019s Tony at Tony J. Robinson. Thank you guys so much for listening and we will be back on Wednesday with another guest.<\/p>\n