Hello and welcome to the SunLeaders podcast. My name is Whitney Smith and I am the owner and attorney of your Rental Property Attorney pllc. Your Rental Property Attorney is a real estate law firm that focuses primarily on landlords and due to my firm’s unique niche, I spend the majority of my time and energy thinking about the real estate industry, landlord tenant relationships and the affordable housing community.

I find both positive and negative factors that affect the real estate industry are interrelated with the housing community and likewise trickle down to affect landlord tenant relationships. I believe through effective leadership we can make more positive changes in these industries and therefore I wanted to focus my episodes for the SunLeaders podcast on female leaders in either the real estate industry or the affordable housing communities that are specifically leading a team or community to
betterment. So I am very excited to introduce my next guest, Nikki Brasser.

Nikki is a trailblazing entrepreneur and real estate investor known for her leadership in empowering female investors in the real estate industry. Owner of Sunshine Dream, host and co owner of the Coastal Soul property, Nikki’s journey began in 2013 when she and her husband ventured into real estate investing. Recognizing the need for female focused support and connections, Nikki founded the Tampa bay chapter for InvestHer, fostering a community where women can thrive and excel in real estate.

Her dedication to empowering women and fostering connections and has made her a respected leader in the field. I am so excited to have you here, Nikki. Thanks for having me.

Yes, welcome. So I kind of told a little bit about your story that you began with your husband in 2013, but can you, can you explain what inspired you to take that first leap into real estate investing? I think I always had an interest in real estate investing. The first house I ever bought was a fixer upper.

I just liked the idea of value add before I even knew what that meant. We bought in a really nice neighborhood and it was a house that needed a lot of love. I’m talking like 15 different types of flooring, 1970s all over the place.

It needed a lot of love. But it was a huge house and a thousand yards to the beach. So beautiful spot and I wanted a part of that.

So fixed it up and three years later sold it for twice of what it was worth. So and as because you went into it with your husband, was it a hard ask like that you two went in together or he was on board for the beginning. I think he thought I was nuts, right as most of most of my ventures, he thinks I’m nuts.

I think initially he’s like What? We’re doing this. Are you sure? That sounds like I could. Okay, I guess that’s what we’re doing.

He does not love or did not love. I think he loves it way more now. But he did not love the idea of fixing things up.

He was more like new construction guy, wanted everything new and shiny off jump. But now he sees the potential of buying something that needs a lot of love but is in a great location and sees why that would be important to do from, you know, an investing perspective. And so now, now he’s on board, but back then, definitely not so much.

Right. And was that. Do you consider that first house successful? Oh, absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely. And it kind of gave me the bug to want to do it again and again. And then we bought a rental property together.

He’s funny because again, he was like, hey, I’m going to go look at this rental property. Do you want to come with me? Heck yeah, I want to go with you. Absolutely.

I want to go do that. And then again, I was far more into it than he was. He was kind of like, okay, it’s purchased.

I don’t want to go in there again. It’s disgusting. I want no part of it.

And where I was like, oh, but we could do this and we could do that and don’t you see it? And he was like, yeah, no, that’s all you. I see none of that. So, you know, after doing that a couple times and I took the reins and then we had our son and he would work in the mornings as a real estate agent and I would go to the properties in the evening and, and kind of do my thing and we just.

Oh, so he’s in the industry as well? Yeah, he’s an agent and. Okay, so yeah, well that makes it, that makes you a fortified team. Like, yeah, yeah, for sure.

Perfect. For sure. So in starting your real estate invested investing journey with your husband, how do you navigate the dynamics of being both business partners and life partners and particularly in a male dominated industry? Right.

Yeah, it’s interesting at times. So for sure, when we started, especially before we had a team specifically set, a lot of the contractors would go up to my husband and ask questions. And I wish I could capture his face for you because his face is going to be like, I don’t know what you’re talking about.

He’s like, I didn’t want to step in here. Right? Yeah. He’s like, I didn’t want no part of this.

Um, so he would look at me and he was like, you need to talk to her. She’s the person in charge. And most of the contractors could adjust, but some of them were like, what do you mean, she’s in charge? Yeah, like, this is what I do.

He doesn’t want any part of it. Um, so it did. It does take a little bit of adjustment now that we have our team in place.

They don’t. They don’t bother him. They’ll call me for whatever they need.

But it was, you know, a learning curve for, I think, everyone, just because it is. It’s typically the man who, you know, sets the budget and kind of says, here’s what we’re going to do and here’s how it’s going to go, especially from a construction perspective. Right.

But he didn’t. He didn’t know. And so he deferred to me and allowed me to kind of make those decisions and.

Right. I’m assuming the stereotype from a contractor’s perspective is that, yes, the woman in the room would not know how to hang things or whatever. Yeah, obviously, I don’t either.

You’re fine. I think. I think our first real estate agent, they were.

They were a man and woman team. And. And it was funny because the man actually was.

Was knowledgeable. So kind of like a role reversal. The man was knowledgeable about, like, all the numbers and what have you.

And I was like, give me more of that, because that speaks to me and who I am and what we could actually do to this house. The woman wanted to talk to me about design. Like, oh, here’s how I think it should be designed.

And I’m like, I’ve got that part. Like, I don’t need you for that. I want to know the numbers.

Right? Like, what am I going to do? What am I going to end up spending on. On this rehab? And is this the right decision for our family? Like, is this how we should move forward? And so when he started to talk to me and just the way my brain works, I’m. I’m somewhat creative and I’m huge analytical numbers.

I eat that stuff up. Right. And so as he started to talk to me, I was like, I need more of this.

I need more of this information. Talk to me more. What can we do? How can we make more money? Tell me.

And you said that you have a team in place. So is it more than just you and your husband now? The team I meant is more along the lines of our contractors that we use almost on every project. It’s easier when you have kind of a group of people that you can rely on and count on, you know, the work that they do, you know approximately what they’re going to charge, you know, how quickly they can get things done, how reliable they are, so that there’s.

There’s a comfort zone there. Right. Whenever you bring on a new person into that group, things get a little challenging.

Right. So. And you have to start your dynamic all over.

Like, I’m the one that’s making the decisions. Yes, yes, exactly. So it’s.

For me, it’s better now that we’ve got kind of the. The group that we use and feel really good about. We have those, for the most part, in place.

We may pop a. A subcontractor out here and there, but for the most part, the team that we have is the. Is the group that we use and that I appreciate.

Awesome. Yeah. So have being experiencing real estate industries as a female and compared to seeing how your male counterparts are treated in the beginning, at least before your team, how does understanding those differences contribute to your leadership and investor, which will introduce investor in a second.

But sure, I think just understanding that women, we kind of approach things differently. Our why is different behind why we’re. Why we’re doing what we’re doing.

And understanding that and understanding how that drives us is different. So before I created the team that I have currently surrounding me, just kind of getting those initial things in place of this is who I am. This is how I run things.

You know, it’s important to answer to me and not to. And not reach out to my husband, Andrew, just because that wasn’t his strong suit. That wasn’t what he did, and that wasn’t what he wanted to do.

To be honest with you. No more so than I want to sell real estate. I have zero desire in that.

In that realm. Whereas that’s his happy place. Right.

We definitely, we definitely have our strengths and weaknesses. He doesn’t want to be involved in the. In the contracting aspect.

He doesn’t want to be involved in the design act aspect. He doesn’t want to have to sit there and make those decisions and do those things. That’s my happy place.

I love running the numbers. I love trying to figure out, oh, we bought it at, you know, $100,000, and we can sell it at $300,000. I’m putting 40 grand into this.

That is. That is an excellent spread. I’m here for it all day.

Yeah. You know, so that kind of thing. And so just.

Just kind of coming up with the rules and, and setting those aside, I think helped what do you think the differences? Typically, obviously it’s individual. Right. But what do you think it is? The.

The differences between a female. A woman’s why towards a man’s wife. How.

Why would they get into. Sure. Like fix and flip or.

Yeah. I can. I can speak just from the women that I speak to, you know, in the group and what have you, and from the other investors that I’ve met.

I think most of us are family focused and that could be, you know, your immediate family, that could be your extended family, what have you. I think a lot of us are more family focused in the sense of our why is to provide financial freedom for ourselves so that we can provide for those that we love around us. I think that a lot of the male investors, at least initially, got into it for what you see on any Facebook ad.

If you Google real estate investing and you’ll start getting Facebook ads like crazy. And you’ll see things like private planes. Right.

And Lamborghinis and Ferraris. And while those things are great, that does not light me up. Like, could literally care less.

And I know that sounds ridiculous, but I could literally care less about any of those things right now. Providing for my family and making sure that I’m not working myself to the bone every day, all day. And I get to spend time with my child and I get to spend time with my husband, and we get to do what we want to do.

That is way more important to me. Right. Way more important.

Right. So for me, that why is hugely different. And I hear that again and again and again from women.

Right. And it makes sense. Right.

Because we are. We do have to struggle to have our own security. Absolutely.

Right. Especially for our family. So.

And then I think men typically like shiny objects to get women to give us family. I mean. Yeah, that’s.

Yeah. No, I think that is to a certain extent true. Yes.

Right. So, yeah, speaking about investor, you and I, that’s how I met you. Absolutely.

I was brought into your group through a mutual friend. Ladonna. Yeah.

And I fell in love because. And I will get into a little bit of the things that you’ve implemented in the chapter. Sure.

But I kind of fell in love with the. The. The events that you have because they’re so different than other relationship building groups or like, you know, networking, quote, unquote, networking groups.

Not that I would call investor a networking group at all, but. So how did you get involved in investher? I think it was sort of by accident. So I lived in Virginia beach before I moved to Florida.

Knew of the group kind of on the outskirts a little bit, just listening to their podcast and what have you. They also have a podcast and liked the message that it was empowering women through real estate investing. And when I moved down here, I was looking for a chapter because I wanted, you know, the camaraderie, the connection of women.

And honestly, I needed contractors. I needed. I needed that.

Right. Like, I needed to rebuild a team and what have you and would love to learn from other women. And so there wasn’t one here, so we decided to start one here.

Right? Yeah. And you. I mean, you spearheaded it.

You’re the one that started it. Yeah. So, yeah.

And just seeing what it’s become and kind of what it’s grown into, you know, accountability calls, you know, that it so exciting and so fun to hear what everybody’s doing and keeping people accountable, myself included. It’s a joy. It’s a joy to lead the group.

It’s a joy to see women connecting and feeling like they have support and they’re understood. Because this journey can be so lonely. There’s a lot of peaks and valleys to this, and it’s scary to do it on your own.

Been there, done that. And it is. It’s really scary.

And especially when things aren’t going quite the way you think they should be going, you’re like, did I do something wrong? Did I. Did I make a big mistake? Like, what’s going on? Um, and so I think doing it with other people that can kind of share in that journey and go, oh, yeah, I’ve been there, I’ve done that. Here’s what I did, or here’s how I navigated that. Or let me give you this person, and they might be able to help you in this situation.

From anything from lawyers to contractors to, you know. Right. Just here’s how I navigated this permit situation, or here’s what I found in this situation.

Everything. And I love that. I love that we share so openly.

I love that we are so connected in all the ways we share our personal stuff, we share our professional stuff, and it’s just. It’s become friendship as much as the connection resource of real estate investing. Yeah.

And I probably am going to answer the question I’m about to ask you. Sweet. But do it.

Like, as I was saying, the things that I love are the specific events that you’ve implemented. So, like, my first investor event was a walk. Oh, yeah, that’s right.

It was like an intimate walk with, I think, like, six women showed up, and I got to know them. And I’ve never done that in another group. We just walked the Dunedin Causeway and I felt like I was like, really going to have friends.

Right. Like I was actually developing friendships rather than, you know, professionals or. Yeah.

And then you have a couple social events and then as you mentioned, there’s the accountability group now and so are these. How did you decide to implement events like that specifically? Because that’s how women connect or what was your, your goal really? And doing the different. Yeah, I think it was as much personal need as it was that I felt like other women would, you know, connect with it as well.

It’s. It’s awesome to hear that that’s how other women are, you know, enjoying things. Yeah.

Um, but I do think the walks are, are super important. Some of the socials that we’ve done, you know, some of them are out and about. Um, I think the most recent one we did at another member’s house was.

Oh, it was. I. I can’t even speak enough how. I know.

But it was so intimate and it was so. It felt like you were hanging out with friends. And so it was so much more than just the, oh, here’s what, here’s how we can connect on that personal or on that professional level.

But it was, it was really intimate and you felt like you were amongst your best friends and it was so great just to have that kind of like your armor was down. We were all just hanging out, having a good time and chit chatting. And I think it’s also helpful for people in this industry because you do let your guard down so you can actually be real about the problems that you’re facing.

I think sometimes in other groups there’s like posturing to do 100%. Yeah. And here it’s just like, well, this house did not go well.

You know, I really wanted it to, but nope, it did not. And it’s super helpful because then you. You don’t feel alone, right? No, absolutely.

And like I said, I think that’s the hardest part when you start any new journey. Right. When you start any new journey, it’s hard because you feel alone to a certain extent.

Until you found people who have walked that path and kind of been where you’ve been and can help you out. Some are more willing to help than others. I feel like the people who come out and the people who are active in our group, they want to help.

They want that connection. Whether they’ve flipped 400 houses or five houses or none. Right.

Whether they have rental properties or have None. And they’re just starting out. They want to help.

And so whatever resource they can provide, they’re going to be there to provide it. And even if that resource is. I’ll bounce ideas with you.

Right. You know, I’ll be there as things are progressing, and I will cheer you on. I will keep you accountable.

I will do whatever. It’s such a. It’s such an interesting kind of group that.

That has been created and. And just kind of interwoven. Yeah, I agree.

I. I love it. The vibe is great. That’s all I can say.

The vibe is great. Okay, so. But on the flip side, on the flip side, have we found.

Have you found challenges leading a team of women? Like leading this group of women, maybe specifically just gender. Because of our womanness. Because of our womenly.

Womenness. Yeah. But have you had any challenges that you can think of? I mean, I think always with women, scheduling is a challenge.

Right. Because we’re super busy. We’re always doing all the things.

If you have the small people in your house, that creates just an additional small people challenge. Right. So I do think there’s some scheduling challenges and making sure that those who want to attend things can attend things, which is why we’re trying different things and doing things that kind of like, you know, different times of the day and different days and what have you, just to try and connect with those that actually do.

So that’s a challenge. Location is a huge challenge for things because I’ve got ladies from South Tampa to North Pinellas and everywhere in between, and let’s be honest, drive time from some of the places a challenge, depending on time of day, can be. Can be a really big challenge.

So I think just kind of helping ladies to connect when they want to, just considering location and times and schedule is probably my biggest challenge. I think most of the naysayers either don’t. Don’t bring up that they are having issues or.

Right, yeah. So I don’t hear a lot of negative. I hear mostly the positive, with the exception of scheduling and locations.

Right. Which goes back to their family, their positions and their families. Absolutely, absolutely.

And also jobs and like you said, location. Yeah. Hi there.

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Schedule a free website inspection today and get a peace of mind that you deserve to figure out what you should do from here. Contact us today@infonaymancreative.com so what are some. In your experience, how have you kind of overcome the barriers that have been placed in front of you just as being female, whether that’s in the real estate industry or just leading females? Like, for instance, I know that in the beginning you were talking about, you know, the contractor would event.

Look to. To your husband, and then you fostered that relationship with the contractors. Sure.

But in the. In the beginning, how do you. Is there an approach that you make? I just kind of.

I’m a pretty blunt person. Yeah. So you’re like.

Yeah. Yeah, you are. Well, honestly, I think that most strong females are.

And that’s what makes us successful. Yeah. We’re not.

Just not afraid to just say it like it is. Well. And I would prefer people be that way with me.

Right. Like, I don’t want you to. To be like, oh, that sounds great, Nikki.

And then turn around and be like, I cannot even believe that she. Blah, blah, blah. No, just tell me you don’t like what it is that I said.

Tell me why and we’ll go from there. Right. Let’s just lay it out.

So, because I feel that way and would prefer people to speak to me that way. That’s. I just approach it that way.

Like, I’m the person in charge. I will be the decision maker. Right.

I’m the person paying the bills. So. Right.

You’re gonna chat with me. Hi. Do you.

And do you think, like, sometimes I feel like men respect that? Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, or maybe, like, at first it’s a little shocking, but it depends maybe on the age of the man.

Yes. I’ve never been patted on the head. Thank goodness.

I know. Has somebody. Do you know somebody else Ladonna got patted on the head? I know.

I’m surprised that dude is still standing, just FYI. I’m sure. My God.

Yeah. Cause I can assure you, if somebody patted me on the Head. They probably would not be.

Yeah, yeah. That would not go well. Yeah.

Ridiculous. But no, I mean, I definitely think that setting the tone and kind of letting folks know what’s up off jump is definitely helpful and just kind of helps to set the stage. Right.

Like, this is what’s going on. And I think any project functions better that way. Right.

Like, I’m the decision maker. I’m the person writing the check. So ultimately, I need to be happy with whatever’s decided.

Yeah. So it’s important that you’re communicating with me. Here’s what’s going on.

Or here are the challenges. Right. If I’ve said create the separate space over here and I want it purple and half walls everywhere, I want you to come to me and say, that’s probably not going to be a good scene.

Here’s why. Right. And let’s have that conversation.

Don’t do it. And then come back and be like, I thought that was going to be a really bad idea. No, just be upfront about it.

Let’s just have that combo. So I think just setting that stage up front helped tremendously. Have you ever.

And speaking from my own experiences being a female, like, obviously I’m in the courtroom. I have been. I have had my ass handed to me by judges.

Only twice, but it was more than enough. Yes. And, you know, I am like, it’s.

I’m sure, because I have a lot of, you know, estrogen in my system, but make me mad. And I cannot help but crying, you know, And I remember being in the courtroom, like, don’t cry. Don’t cry.

You know, whatever you do, do not cry. Do not shed a tear. And I didn’t.

Thank goodness. Until after. I was gonna say after.

You probably did. Oh, yeah. Just to let it all in my car, just bawling.

But yeah. So have you had your own, like, womanness, kind of like you had to fight yourself for in certain situations? Never in front of someone, which I’m surprised I haven’t. But never in front of someone.

But definitely, like. And questioning myself, like, was that the right decision? Did I do that right? Whatever. The most recent flip we did, quick story, thought we put it on the market at $100,000 over what we originally arved, which is after a parent value.

So what we originally thought we could get for it, we put it on the market $100,000 over that, which was a bold move, but our market was definitely saying it could sustain that. So we were like, let’s give it a go and see what happens. Right.

We got a contract within a week, almost full price. It was only ten grand under full price. So we thought score.

Right, right, right. Yeah. We’re going to do awesome on this.

And it was a cash offer, so you really can’t beat all of this situation. Except then something happened with the buyer where her sister passed away and that was the reason she was moving here was to be close to her sister. Oh, no.

Yes. So fell apart. Right.

We go back on the market. It never looks good when a flip goes back on the market. Just doesn’t looks like something’s wrong.

Multiple price drops later. Yeah, I’m watching that. That payday just kind of diminish.

Right, right, right. And you could tell this still hurts because I’m still talking like this hurt. This really hurt.

And so we finally, you know, we get a contract, we sell it. We did sell it for. Just to be clear, we did sell it for 30,000 more than we originally are.

So a win. Yeah. But darn if it doesn’t still feel like a loss.

Like, still to this day it feels like, did I make a wrong choice? Did I do something wrong? Should I have done something differently initially? Should we not have gone for gold off jump? Yeah. Right. So I’m still fighting that in the back of my head and I think that is a unique female trait that we second guess ourselves that we question.

Did we. Imposter syndrome? Yeah, I deal with imposter syndrome, for sure. Do you think that’s uniquely female? I think we talk about it more.

I don’t know if it’s uniquely female. I just know that we talk about it more. I think we’re more open about our stuff.

Yes, I agree. I do too. Which is why I like hanging out with women.

Because they’re real about their stuff. Right. They don’t posture, they don’t try and present like, oh, I have 50 doors.

That’s fantastic. Right? Yeah. So.

So what do you. How would you advise another woman in that position? Or, you know, like, how would you specifically advise a female real estate investor in dealing with this industry? Like, what would be your advice? Find your people. Yes.

Find your tribe. Find your tribe. Find your people.

Because those people are going to cheer for you when the highs are high and they’re going to be with you in support when the lows are low and everywhere in between. And I think that for me personally, that’s been a game changer just in being able to share, like the story I just shared and not feel like someone’s judging me. Like, oh, but you Originally had a hundred thousand dollars more there.

Why didn’t you just hold fast? Right. I could have, and I might still be holding that house. So, you know, so I just think that, you know, having.

Having a tribe of women that. That truly support you and are on your side and. And want to see you succeed, I think makes a huge difference.

I know it does for me. And so for somebody starting out, I would say that is. That’s key.

And it’s. It’s made a huge difference in my journey. I know it made a difference in me starting out.

I had friends who did this who kind of said, hey, it’s. And we talked about this on our accountability call this morning, talking about how when you’re starting and it feels like you’re climbing a mountain, right. And it’s slow going, and you don’t feel like you’re ever gonna get there, and you’re just like, well, am I even, like, a little bit there yet? I don’t know.

Am I, like, where am I at in the journey? And you really can’t tell because you’re climbing a mountain. Right? Right. And it’s not until you get to the top and you see the views and you’re like, wow, that was pretty amazing.

And then you start down the other side, and it’s almost like you can’t go fast enough to keep up with the momentum because you’re just on point, and everything you did to climb that mountain is now working on your behalf, and you are just going. Right. I love that analogy.

Yeah. And then you get to the next mountain and you get. Absolutely.

And I mean, there’s always challenges, right? Like, life wouldn’t be interesting if there were no challenges. Right. I know we like to pretend that it would be, but it wouldn’t be.

We’d be so bored. We’d be like, something happens so we can do something. Right.

I mean, that’s what makes the top of the mountain the best, right? Absolutely. Is the challenge getting there? Yeah. So in that analogy, what have you noticed in your experience, females have, particularly in, like, their strength to climb that mountain? Like, what traits do females have? Oh, gosh, balls out.

Determination. I mean, like, I truly think that for the most part, women are a truly determined gender. Yeah.

More so than. More so than males, I think. And I don’t mean anything.

No discouragement to the. To the guys in the group. But, you know, I just think, like, women just have a knack for continuing to go even when it’s hard and even when it feels like they’re not going to get there.

They just have a dogged determination and I love that. Yeah. I think it comes from already being the underdog.

Like, you’re already used to challenge. Could be. Yeah.

Or you’ve probably, by the time you’ve gotten to our ages, you have already had obstacles in front of you, be it from school or your boyfriend’s or husband’s, or, you know, like male bosses. And you’ve either, you know, you’ve watched yourself, like, go through it and survive. Yes.

Whether the outcome was favorable or not, you’ve survived. Absolutely. And so you know that you can keep going.

That’s. That’s true resilience, I think. I think so, too.

And I mean, I know, I know my dad was very. He was a big proponent of women power. Oh, that’s awesome.

Yeah. He would say things like, anything boys can do, girls can do better. Oh, yeah, yeah.

That’s musical. That’s from a musical. Yeah.

Anything I could do, you can. Or anything you could do, I could do, I could do better. Yeah.

What was that from? Sorry, I’m working out. I used to watch musicals in, like, second grade, but. Go ahead.

I was. I was just about to sing it for you. But that’s probably not.

That’s probably not for this. It’ll come to me at, like, 12 o’ clock tonight. I was going to say 3:00am you’re like, I know what it is now.

So. Yeah, I think. I think that helps in the, like, empowerment part of my world is just.

That foundation was there from a very early age and from an end. From a male figure. That’s super.

I mean, that’s huge. Yeah. Yeah, it’s awesome.

So let’s see what else we have here. So we’ve talked about advice. Oh, Annie, get your gun.

Thank you. Yes. I love that movie.

I can’t remember anything but that song. I. I can’t either, so. Isn’t that hilarious? But I know she was like, a little baddie.

Yeah. And I get. Like, I said I could sing the song, but that doesn’t help anything.

That is so funny. Um, let’s see. What else can we talk about? Okay, so I have one more.

I have one more question. And then we’ll do the. The whole ending.

So cute. And then we’ll wrap this whole thing up. Okay.

So speaking about how women can do anything better, have you. Do you have specific instances where you’ve worked with or collaborated with women that you can share, that you’ve just achieved more than you thought you could, probably because of that partnership? Yeah. So when I first started flipping, there was a female investor that I was acquaintances with.

I wasn’t friends with her as friends with her agent, who suggested that I talk to her. Her name was September. And September offered me to sit down with her for an hour.

And you don’t. You don’t look at that lightly. Right.

Like, this is a powerhouse. You know, she’s doing exactly what I want to do, and she’s offering me an hour of her time. So I sat down with her for an hour.

She kind of gave me a litany of things like, here’s what I. Here’s what you would need to do to kind of start right? Quote, unquote. And so me being me, I went back and I started, right? Like, I start kind of like, I’m. I’m doing this thing.

I’m working. And she’s like, well, I just thought you kind of heard me and just said, okay, forget that. I don’t want to do it.

And I was like, no, no, no, no. I was back there working. So I started bringing her properties, and her thing was, we could joint venture on anything that I brought to her.

She would provide the contractor, she would provide the money and her expertise. So she was literally teaching me how to do it. And now all I had to bring was the property to her.

Right. And then we would split everything and learning so much from her and just her experience in getting the property. What should we buy it for? What do we need to set aside for repairs? Right.

What are we gonna sell it for? How does that whole process look, you know, all of the things that you question in your head. Right. And all of the unknowns when you first do something, just to have somebody partnering with me on that.

Right. And she was so stinking successful at it. And so to have that for my first three was amazing.

Yeah. And just a huge resource for me. And then she set me free and said, go, little bird, fly.

Right. And. And now you’re.

You’re paying it forward with your girls. Yeah, I hope so. Yeah.

Like, I hope. I hope they feel the same way about me that I do about. About her.

Yeah. She was truly an inspiration in. In what she did.

And then my friend Tyler, who was my private money lender for my first. First couple deals, because she believed in me so much. And just to have a friend who believes in you enough to put their money where their.

Right, that’s a pretty good friend. That’s pretty good friendship. I mean, come on.

So, you know, I just. I’ve had. I’ve had a lot of women who are just amazing in that, in that realm and just helping me along.

And so, yeah, to be able to pay it forward, to be able to do it for somebody else. I’m here for it all day. I love, I love that.

I love to be a support system, to be a cheerleader, to help in whatever way that I can. And I have to tell you that it’s, it is very like very obvious. Like, that is what makes me fall in love with the group that you’ve, that you’ve started in Tampa.

Thank you. Yeah, it’s very like I feel comfortable there, like loved, like nurtured. Nurtured.

How am I nurtured? Like, it’s, it’s, it’s like a fun place to be. I love it. I love.

And all the women, I think, have the same attitude. I think so too. I think they’re all there for the same.

Yeah, it’s the same purpose, which I love. I love that too. Love it.

So tell us a little bit about your companies and how we can get in touch with you if we wanted to. Sure. So I have a vacation rental management company called Sunshine Dream Hosts.

We’re in this particular area, so Pinellas County, Hillsborough county mainly. And just we, we help manage people’s properties from a vacation rental management standpoint. So that’s revenue management, that’s, you know, chatting with guests, making sure that they have the best vacation imaginable.

Nice. Yeah. So it’s mostly short term rentals.

So an all like an alternative to like an Airbnb or we do book off platform, but we can also book on platform. So it can be Airbnb, it can be vrbo, it can be an off platform. I do have my own website@sunshinedreamhosts.com but you’re the liaison.

I am. I am the person who owns the business and also runs all of the different properties and chats with the guests and what have you. Perfect.

So that was Sunshine Dream Hosts. And how would someone find that? They can go online www.sunshinedreamhosts.com or they can call me at 727-336-3395.

I felt so weird. And then we also have a fix and flip business. If anybody has a house that they, you know, inherited, it’s a divorce situation, a hoarder situation, you know, just anything that is a distressed property or just something that they’re not sure exactly what to do with, we can usually come up with some pretty creative solutions for things along those lines.

Just what it I like talking to people and figuring out what. What they need, you know, what’s going on, what do you need out of the situation, and then we come up with solutions that could help them with what they need. And what is that company? That is.

That is Coastal Soul Properties. Correct. Okay.

And same phone number. Same phone number, sure. But Coastal Soul Property www.

That one. That one. My website is we buy homescash florida.com.

all right. We buy Homesch Florida. Very nice.

Nice. And then you do have another one, but it’s in Virginia or Vermont or. Virginia.

Virginia, yes. And that’s just. I just like the name because it’s kind of a testament to your husband.

Yeah, it’s Sparrowhawk Properties. So my husband is a Marine, and so he wanted to name one of the companies. I just think that’s cute.

Yeah. Yeah, that’s good. I love it.

I mean, it’s. It’s kind of. It is very sweet, like, and I like that you guys are little power team.

It’s like couple goals. A couple goals. That’s good.

It is good. It’s important. It is.

It is. We’re definitely different risk wise, but we complement each other, I think, because, you know, you can bounce ideas and sometimes he’s like, you’re bananas. Like, why are we doing this? Trust me.

Trust me. So well, Nikki, I had so much fun. Thank you so much for joining us.

Thanks for having me. Yes. And I’ll see you in the next investor group.

Sounds great, Sam.