It’s Not Magic, It’s Business – You Have the Magic Wand

 

Laurel Simmons: Hello REITE Club Nation. I'm Laurel Simmons, co-founder of the REITE Club, and I'm here with Alfonso Salemi, another co-founder. Hi Alfonso. How's it going?

Alfonso Salemi: Hey, Laurel. I'm doing great. How about you?

Laurel Simmons: I'm doing just fine. So we have a super duper interview coming up with Angela Sutcliffe who is a business coach and has been a real estate agent and has done many things in her life. She started off doing it. In university I am studying translation. And she worked as an assistant on parliament Hill and the federal government in Ottawa, Canada.

She's got a wealth of experience and we're talking about stories and lies that we tell ourselves. That's really funny because as she says Hey, it doesn't take long when you work with politicians before you start to descend. That's whether you're being told a bit of a story.

Alfonso Salemi: That's right. And oftentimes we see it from external factors, right? Take politicians as an example, right? Oh, that's a liar. They're not telling the truth. But I think oftentimes we get blinded by our own lies or the lies that we tell ourselves, we actually start believing them.
Or just because we think something we think it's true. And that's not necessarily the case, especially when you're working with someone as great as Angela, like a business coach or an accountability partner, or even just somebody within your own circle of influence, right? That might be family, friends, coworkers, things like that.

Those lies get built up because people are, oh, they just agree with it because sometimes it's really tough. To go against what you're thinking, right? It's easier just to go along with the norm and, oh yeah he did it and she did it, and now I'll do it. That's how it's supposed to be done. And really you need to make that effort to make those big changes to make a difference. And I think we always talk about that and it came up in the podcast as well too, who you surround yourself with, who's your circle of influence, where are you getting your information from?
 

It was a really good chat and I know you and Angela have had a long history and a long relationship as well and you've brought so many great people to the podcast and interviews and things like that. And that's what we wanna do here at the REITE Club, through the webinars, through the podcast, through the forums, through our website.

Just bring different perspectives, right? Not, no two people in this world have gone through the same experiences, and we want to bring the best of the best to share their experiences so that we can all learn and grow together.

Laurel Simmons: Exactly, and it's about surrounding yourself as we talk about in the podcast. It's about surrounding yourself with the best people you possibly can because if you want to come grow with us, right then the only way you're going to grow is to, or one of the ways you're gonna grow is to associate with people who've done it before or have.

Great ideas or better ideas or different ideas or whatever it is. Not just as Angela says at one point, look at yourself in a mirror and talk to yourself, cause yeah, that's not so good sometimes.

Alfonso Salemi: That's right. And I know oftentimes right, and I'm guilty of this as well too, but everything that comes out of your mouth, you already know. So you've already learned that. So everything that you're saying, you're speaking, you're doing, or you're saying to yourself, you already know. This is something I'm definitely trying to take more into practice, using my ears and mouth in proportion, listening more, hearing more, and then obviously discerning that information and taking the best of it.

Really Happy to put this podcast out to the REITE Club Nation and everybody else that's listening to, if you haven't gone on the website already, thereiteclub.com. Check it out. Lots of great information, but for now, let's get to the interview with Angela.

Laurel Simmons: Let's go. Welcome, Angela. It's great to have you here and you are sitting in your office in Ottawa, Ontario.

Angela Sutcliffe: I am indeed. And thank you so much. It's such a pleasure to be here, Laurel.

Laurel Simmons: You and I have a long history. We were just talking about that before the recording started, and we've known each other for over 20 years. I don't wanna admit that, but wow. It's been a ride for both of us. Lots of things have happened and it's funny that we're talking right now at a kind of odd time in history when a lot of people are scared and don't know what's happening next. And we're talking about stories and lies, aren't we?

Angela Sutcliffe: We are indeed. We're talking about how we form our beliefs through the stories we lived through. And Laurel, you're quite correct. This time, this pandemic time is so unusual. I can promise you there are people going forward who are going to hook what's going on in their lives. Back to the pandemic. This is the new story moving forward. And, right or wrong, it's how we see it and how we use it that's going to determine where we go next.

Alfonso Salemi: What a great point. And earlier in the week, We had our one of our monthly events, and that was I think one of the panelists, I think it was Claire that had said is, don't use the pandemic as an excuse for everything. For Angela, for those of us that haven't known you for a couple decades, or maybe give us a quick overview. Your background. What do you do?

Angela Sutcliffe: I like to say I stick my nose in everyone's business, but that's because I'm a business coach. And I've done a few things on the way to business coaching. One of the things I think that prepared me for the best was that I worked on the Hill as a speechwriter for a number of years, and so it gave me a really good rat radar when I was listening to what people were saying. And it's as true or as this not.

Laurel Simmons: Angela, we should just say that. When you say the Hill, you mean Parliament Hill and Ottawa. Because we have listeners from all over the world, actually.

Angela Sutcliffe: Absolutely. And of course the Hill can be Washington. It can be many places, but you're quite correct. It's Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada with our federal government. And you learn, boy, when you hang around politicians, I don't even have to say long enough.
When you hang around politicians, you learn to start detecting, is this true or is this a spin that you are making up to convince yourself so that you convince everyone else? And funny that as a business coach, I have to listen to clients and I have to think.

What part of this is the legend, the story, the myth they've created for themselves, and how do I deconstruct it so that I can put the right things in place for them so that they can start seeing a different version of that story, a more successful version of that story. So that's just a thumbnail of stuff I've done, but I think it's the most relevant to this morning.

Laurel Simmons: Angela, I know that you have some experience in real estate. You're actually a real estate agent at a certain point, so you understand the real estate world which I thought was a really cool tie in with what we talk about here at the REITE Club.
We have a lot of investors, most of the people who are listening or coming to our events, whether they are live or virtual, are either just starting out. Or they have all kinds of experience. We go from the people who are just starting to dip their toe into that real estate investing water to people who have hundreds of doors and are developing.

Multi-units like, and buildings that are a hundred or 200 apartment buildings. So it's such a wide range of experience, and yet every single one of them, including Alfonso and myself, tell ourselves stories. So let's talk about that. Let's talk about the stories that can get in our way, especially when it comes to real estate investing. And as we know, it's not just about real estate investing, right? It's about our lives, it's about business, it's about everything.

Angela Sutcliffe: It's about our lives, interesting. Let me start off with a story about real estate. When I was selling, mortgages were 23%. The average sales price of a home was $87,000, and people were just chewing their nails down to their knuckles. About whether this was the right time to buy, whether you know they should take on a mortgage at that price. I used to say we find a mortgage and then we make a house fit the mortgage. And I used to say to my clients, five years from now, you're gonna be laughing. This might not be the ideal home you want to be in, but it gets you in the door even at 23%. I'm asking you what $89,000 house exists out there today?

Laurel Simmons: Maybe a driveway somewhere in Toronto.

Angela Sutcliffe: Exactly. Or half a mobile home. So even back then, and it was a precarious time, people were terrified about buying real estate. And yet those who did, their investment has multiplied so many times that the few years that they had to write out those 23% mortgages have been paid back multiples of times.

Those that said we're going to do it. We're going to plunge in, we're going to do it. Are sitting really well these days. Whereas those who are doing exactly what they're doing now, and they're saying, gee, it's tough times. I don't know what's happening to my money. I don't know if we're gonna get shut down again. I don't know what's happening to the economy. It's like, a friend of mine would say SDD.

It's the same stuff, different day. That's the polite version of that. It's the same stuff, different day. Just swap out 23% mortgages with what is it they call it? You don't know if you're going to get a paycheck or not. You don't know if you're going to be able to make money or not. So things haven't changed. So if people are still scared, It has to be the story, right?

Alfonso Salemi: Absolutely. And I think, we, like Laurel said, like you were saying, we all tell ourselves stories to justify our thoughts. And there was one saying, don't believe everything you think I. And that's something that I try to live by. Is that just because I think, and I'm like let's try to have an opposing view at another angle. Have somebody else share that.

When you are working with business owners and obviously with a shift or a specificity in the real estate world, someone that's starting out today, what are some tools or some things that people are used to, they're telling themselves one thing, but what are the tools? You said you're trying to get them to unlearn or maybe a new way of thinking.

What are some practical things for maybe some of the REITE club nations that maybe they're telling themselves that they can't do it, or it's too hard or it's, I'm not smart enough to get, I can't do, some of the other Wright Club nations are doing. What are the practical tips to get started?

Angela Sutcliffe: Absolutely. I had this series of exercises. So the first one starts with the five things I know would make me rich, would move my business forward, and would get me unstuck. I know this, but I never seem to get them done. So let's write down those five things because in your gut, your gut is telling you even if your brain is censoring.

Then I go through a three part question, which is the reason that you're not moving on this because you're lacking a piece of knowledge, and they always say, if you're procrastinating, it's because there's one key piece that you don't know. That you need to go out and research and find out more, because once you get the answer, then the doors open and all the stories blow out of the water.

Five things I know that would move things forward. I'm not getting them done. Is it because I'm missing a piece of knowledge? And then if the answer is no, I actually know everything, it's well, do I have the skill to do this? So in business, maybe I've tried something I suck at it. I've tried it twice.

I'm terrible at it. And who wants to get up in the morning and go to work and do something that's going to make them feel stupid? And so investing can be exactly the same way I've done it. I'm still scared. Maybe I had a bad or a rocky couple of months, maybe my mom called and said that was a really bad idea.

Maybe I thought of my friends, but I know how to do it, but I'm just not good enough at it to be able to turn around and say, look at me. So the skills are not there. And the last place I look are those habits and those beliefs. So if part of it is that I don't have money, then what are my habits around money?

What are my beliefs around money? Because if I don't have those in place, then I am never going to be able to take action on those basic five things that are holding me back. But if I look at each one of them through those three filters, suddenly the impossible or the terrifying becomes doable. So that's the very first place I start.

Laurel Simmons: Funny, you talk about money be about habits and beliefs around money because one of the things we talk about as real estate investors is that. You don't need to have money to invest in real estate. Like you just don't. But so many people are hung up on.

I don't have enough money. So obviously those are stories that they've heard from, whether it's bankers or it's probably friends and colleagues and people they've seen, oh, you need a lot of money to get into real estate. And we, Alfonso, you and I know we hear that over and over.
I don't have enough money. The reality is you don't need the money. So you have to change the story. You have to find the people. Who has money? It's not that you don't need money to get into real estate. You do, but you personally don't need the money.

Alfonso Salemi: Absolutely. There's so many in the REITE Club Nation that have started with no money into it, right? With no work with joint venture partners or learning from countless YouTube videos and even now on the REITE Club, there's so much content. There, that you can learn and I love how you broke it down was the knowledge, the skill, and the habits and identifying what you have, what you don't, and going and getting that right. You can go get that knowledge and learn that from somebody as well.

Angela Sutcliffe: You're quite right because that is very basic, I don't have enough money, say to me, you don't know yet. That's the missing piece for you. So if we took the, I don't have enough money out of the equation, we said not to worry. This is manageable.

We have ways to help you. Now I've removed the knowledge barrier. I've got that missing piece of information. Oh, this is how the money becomes available. Now, the next thing maybe I might be, when I talk about skill, maybe you're a lousy money manager. And then your story becomes, I've always been bad with my money, or I've never been able to.

I find that, with this kind of thing, the story's lies. The myths. It doesn't, there's no gray area. It toggles between always and never. There's never any time. So if I'm bringing in and now we've taken away the knowledge piece, so that's no longer an issue. We've told you how we're going to do it.

Now we have to look at always, never, or when did that begin? So like, when you were a kid, did you blow money out of the, how did you manage it? What was modeled for you? Because now we can start bringing in people where it's been. I wasn't a good money manager, but now I am.
This is the next piece of how we develop your skill of money management, which can be as simple as start putting your money in an investment like real estate start, start investing, watching it grow, watch you know the bit of the roller coaster, but develop the skill of being able to ride it through.

Now a couple of years from now, you can say I never used to be good at, but now. So we're slowly rewriting the story with evidence. And in my practice, that's a thing I always go to when people come in here and they say, I always, I never, I say, okay, let's sit down and get the evidence on that. And the evidence is never there. See there's my never, always, the evidence is never there.

Laurel Simmons: You're right. Cause again, it's those, we are so convinced that we know exactly what's happened. But it's false evidence, right? We internalize it. But I wanna go back to, like you said, we understand that, okay, so we've got the money piece taken care of.
The next step probably is in many cases now I need to find. Help, or I need to find someone that I can work with. So then the next story that pops up is well, Who's gonna, nobody's gonna listen to me, nobody's gonna help me. I'm scared, oh, this is a really good one. I'm scared to go ask for help.

That's a story. So many people say, I'm scared to ask for help because they're gonna think I'm stupid. They're gonna think I don't know anything. They're gonna think whatever it is, right?

Angela Sutcliffe: Yes. Across the board, I'm scared. And again it's that something in your life taught you that it was unsafe to put yourself out there and ask for help. And so again, once we understand that's where they're coming from, we have to say how do we start showing them, bringing them into a culture, bringing them into an, I hate this word, but it's so commonly used, bringing them into a tribe. Bringing them into something so scary as they are, they can sit in the room with their mouth shut for a while until they see that fear no longer is valid.

It's the same in business. I'm scared to do this. The other thing I do with that word is scared, cause I think that's such a rich word, used appropriately. And it's rarely used appropriately. I say let's dig down. You have to understand, I went to university to be a translator, so languages and words are my thing.

I say, think about it for a minute, let's connect this word with fear. Are you scared there's a mountain lion about to eat you or are you apprehensive? Which speaks back to all the other things. I've never done this before, so I'm apprehensive, which just means I'm not used to this feeling. Are you excited, but looks like fear because you're about excited about the unknown, so it can present this fear, but let's find a more appropriate word that expresses what you're feeling.

Alfonso Salemi: That's a great point. And I think when it gets, when you're including that fear and I love what you said is find others that have walked that path or that you can directly, cause again, we're, we have so much distraction, so many things, devices and views and videos and all that we see.

Kind of end results, or we see people that are further along the path and some are, just either starting out or just getting along their way so they feel that intimidated while they already know all that kind of stuff. But you have to remember, everybody started somewhere. Nobody started in real estate.

I don't care who it is. Any person didn't start with all the knowledge and all the money and all the information, it is that progression. And I think in this day and age, people aren't really patient enough. They just want everything instantaneously and achieved very quickly. It's called Instagram for a reason, right?

Because it's instant. For the people that, maybe have tried, gone a couple different ways, maybe been tried a strategy, what are the suggestions that you know to stick with it? What sticks withitness is, I think. Something that you know is really undervalued is because we are always, we find that first obstacle, okay, we're, that didn't work.

I tried it once, we're going another way. Or I tried to ask somebody for money. They said no. Okay. I'm never trying again. And we build up those scars. How do you build up those calluses and those the stick withitness I'm gonna use?

Angela Sutcliffe: One of the things that I tell my clients, because whether it's in investing, whether it's in business, whatever, there is no Millionaire by Midnight program. If you want to be a millionaire by midnight, you are not going to want to put in the kind of work that's involved to make that happen. And I remember one of my early clients and this was what he came in with, so I said to him, are you married? And he said, yeah. And I said, do you love your wife?

He said, yeah. And I said, it's too bad cause you're gonna have to divorce her. You don't have time. And I said, your two kids are going to have to go to boarding school. Same problem. Dog's going to the Humane Society. Kiss your church goodbye. Because if you want to put in the effort that's going to turn around quickly, you just have to be all about you and no one else fits in your life.

It's the same when we're talking about real estate. If you want to make a lot of money fast, then you have to make a lot of investments in a lot of things. And then you're becoming one of these venture capitalists where you're just f clinging your money out there and praying that something happens.

This is not the real world. This is not the real world market for people. Everything goes through roller coasters, shifts time and the people who are successful. Are the ones who don't get in, out of desperation because it's their last nickel and that's it. They get in it, it might be their last nickel, but they understand that it's going to take time.

But like I said, 1980s real estate, 23%, $87,000, $88,000, $89,000 homes. And look where they are now. Some of those homes are going for $500,000 easily. So it, when you look at the evidence over time compared to the, I want it now and what happened, it is something we just have to keep. Telling people over and over again. There is no Millionaire by Midnight program for anything, unless of course somebody dies and leaves you with money. But we like to keep all our friends alive.

Laurel Simmons: You're right, and I love that phrase, millionaire by midnight there is no such thing. And I think too right now because the markets across the country are so overheated, I really and truly, it's insane when you dig down into the numbers because investors, real estate investors live and die by the numbers, right? You have to make your numbers work and you have to look at whether or not a purchase makes sense based on not just now, but what it's gonna be, what you think it's going to be.

In one year, two years, five years, 10 years, whatever your strategy is. Partly you can be set on historical performance. Partly you base it on what you can learn from the REITE club here, all the and all kinds of experts. But at the end of the day, to say that now's not the right time to buy real estate is not it.

Again, it's a story, just like you were saying, if I remember those days of the 23% mortgage and I remember when I bought my first house to live in. Mortgages had dropped to 10%. You couldn't see me run, like I ran so fast to the bank. It was like zoom, right? Just zoom, and I was delighted, thrilled, ecstatic at 10%.

Now, we've got these ridiculous mortgage rates of one, one point something and it's basically free money. So the stories we tell ourselves about they're not real estate or it's not the right time or it's gonna get better. That's just those true stories because the saying in real estate is that the best time to really buy real estate was 20 years ago and the second best time is now. That has not changed. It really hasn't.

Angela Sutcliffe: 20 years are going to go by whether you bought 20 years ago or as you say right now, 20 years are still going to happen. And look what happens in 20 years. You're a hundred percent right Laurel.

Alfonso Salemi: Those I want to make, I want to underscore there's a lot of people out there that are naysayers and Oh, it is, even Laurel said it's overpriced. And again, those excuses or those, and sometimes reasons why we don't do something and inaction is not a replacement. For, to do nothing, right? You should take some step forward, whether it's learning, maybe you're not ready to buy, but there's certain things that people need to do to get them over that hurdle to get them ready. And the people that give the advice of, don't do this or don't do that.

If you don't do anything, that's still a choice. You're making a choice to not do anything, right? I love what you just said. The 20 years are gonna go by the five years, 10 years, 20 years. The time is gonna surpass if you're just sitting there and waiting.

Again, so some of the stories and the lies that we tell ourselves, maybe let's come on the complete other side of it now, where maybe we have some really successful members of the REITE club community and they've gone to a certain level and now they've said, okay, I want to get to that next level, but I'm not sure how to get there.

I've done one strategy. How do I continue to grow my portfolio? There's a constant thing they keep hearing out there is, fear of success. Out there. I don't want to try because maybe if I don't like I have that reputation or if I tried to succeed even further. Maybe it's a fall, a longer fall down. So how do we get past, even if it's small things, bigger things, to the next building, the next project yeah. What are the things that we can do to continue on that successor or avoid that fear of success?

Angela Sutcliffe: First of all, I always dispute that phrase fear of success. Cause it's hard to be afraid of something you've never experienced. So if you've been successful and lost it all, then yeah, you would have a fear of it. But 99.9% of us haven't felt enough success to be afraid of it. I think it's afraid of accountability, afraid of responsibility.

Again, if I go back to all the reasons that explain, and I can write them down, time, money, whatever I usually come up with a list of 10 with people and then we look at what's your, Excuse or what's your preferred lie?

What's the lie you find yourself? It's always 10. It's always the one you trot out first or second. So I think if we understand what our preferred lie is, then I always ask What would happen if you changed this belief? What would happen for you if you didn't believe that anymore? What would happen for you if you didn't say, I don't have enough money?

If you said, I can make the money and this is going to make money for me now, what changes in your head and in your life? And that's when people start to say to me, that's a scary thought because now I'm the responsible person. Now I understand that I can make it happen. And I have to make decisions about whether I want to be responsible for living that life.

It turns it completely around. As soon as you say, what would happen if you changed this belief? And then you can work with them to say, time, what would happen if you had more time? Because we can find you time. Oh if I had more time, then I would do X, Y, and said, great, what would happen?

In fact, I had a client yesterday I worked with, and one of her things was no time. And we worked on this for a month and a half. And yesterday she said, I felt like something had gone wrong because I was sitting here and I had done everything and I had time.

She said, suddenly my head said, boy, am I ever retired? Let's have a nap. So the chaos we create comes from the stories, and then it just rounds, runs around our head like hamsters. So to me, deconstructing it and saying, what would happen if you change that belief? And then we are picking apart a different story. We're picking apart a new story that gets closer to reality.

Laurel Simmons: I think one of the stories that people tell themselves, and I know I've been guilty of this and I guess the more you are aware of it, the less you believe it, right? That's just part of the process. But I think one story I know people tell themselves is If I become successful, then my friends won't like me.

That's, it's really common. And I think there's all, wow, we could spend like a couple hours unpacking that. But that touches so many aspects of our life. Not just our friends, but, or my siblings or my parents, or my, whatever it is, even my spouse, right?

Angela Sutcliffe: Often it's your parents. And that's a very interesting scenario. My friends won't like me, so let's just take a quick look at that and say maybe you're hanging around with the wrong friends.

We know that if you want to be a certain way, all you have to do is start changing 30% of the people that you hang around with. Into people who are the way you want to be. And without even consciously doing it, you will gravitate towards those 30% and the others will fall by the wayside because you're no longer their peeps. And it's sad, but sometimes, no. Let me rephrase that. Always those people that are leaving us are fun suckers.

They're people who deplete us. They're people who are taking their energy out of us. And so if we want to move on, it's sad. Again, coming back to that word, scary. It's sad that I may have to let some of my friends go, not through any fault of their own, but just, we experience it in marriages, let's be honest.

Sometimes you just grow apart, you each get different tracks and you still like each other. You may even still love each other. But your philosophies, your direction, your paths no longer go along the same way. Although you may have to change out your friends, although you may say goodbye to some of your friends, you may see them occasionally, eventually you're going to really say, boy, I never realized how much Martha or Bill or whoever was sucking the life outta me. And that's the reality.

Alfonso Salemi: Absolutely. It is so important. We always talk about the circle: the five people you speak to the most, or the 10 or the group that you know you're communicating with most often. And are they pushing you? Are they inspiring you to grow?

Are they growing themselves along the way? And, we talk about that fear of accountability. I think those are the people in our lives that they don't. You want more people in your life telling you the truth, not telling you what you want to hear, right? Not just saying, Hey, you're great. That's awesome. Go on. You're not gonna grow by that. You're gonna have to grow by a little bit of friction, a little bit of pushing, right? I heard that one time as well too. It's the people that are telling you no, and I know all the real estate investors are listening to this podcast and part of the REITE club.

We've all, we can line up and around the block about all the stories of the people that told us not to buy, don't leverage and don't get a mortgage. It's a crisis. There's a bubble. All the different things. And those are, No short supply of finding the naysayers and the people. And it's usually people that haven't walked that path or maybe are scared to do it themselves that are giving that advice.

You want to take the advice from the people that have done it and that are pushing and inspiring themselves and keeping that accountable. A topic that I want to bring up is self-accountability. We talk about yourself and your coaching business and, The founders of the REITE Club and REITE Club community we keep each other accountable and have different tasks, the things that we need to do.

But how do you find that in yourself? That self-accountability I find is the toughest because, even myself, we're working out, I'm gonna do 20 pushups and then it starts hurting at 15 and I'm like, ah, okay, I'll let it go. But if there's a trainer beside me, I'm like, I'll get that done cause I don't wanna let them down. But it's easier to let ourselves down. So what's some tips, some guidance for increased self-accountability?

Angela Sutcliffe: Funny you should ask because in a couple of hours from now I'm meeting my trainer in a park. I haven't stopped that through Covid. We still work out outside. Self-accountability, I believe, begins with having a vision about who you want to be and not backing away from it.
If you have a vision of yourself having choices, and this is what I like to say about money. Money gives you choices. There's, we go through this. The first thing I work on with my clients is their money. And I say, money is never money. Money is my report card to tells me whether I'm doing the things I should be doing.

They're getting me closer to that vision. So if I'm not investing, if I'm not making money, if I'm not seeing myself growing wealthier or more comfortable, or having more choices in my life because I can afford them, then what part of my system is broken? I keep saying a plumber doesn't come in cause you have a leak in the pipe and start ripping out the pipes from the roof to the basement.

They go through and they say, where is the stumbling block? Where is the leak? Because let's work on that. Self-motivation to me is really understanding that if I'm at the end of the month, if I'm looking up my finances, if I'm looking at everything and I'm not seeing what I expected to see, then I'll say to myself, Angela, You gotta, I'm famous for this one.

You gotta pull up your big girl panties or your big boy briefs and figure out what you, me, Angela isn't doing that I need to do. So what do I need to stop doing? What do I need to start doing? What do I need to keep doing that is going to bring about the result that I'm looking for? And in my heart of hearts, in my guts, I know I can do it, I just maybe haven't done it.

Laurel Simmons: Wow. Yeah. There's so much in that. Angela, and you know what, we could talk about this for hours and hours, but we're coming to the end. And, but we have our little pop quiz for you. We didn't even tell you about this, did we? Oh yeah. Don't be scared. There's four questions I'm gonna ask you, the first one. Trust me, you can answer them. Number one, what do you typically do on a Sunday morning?

Angela Sutcliffe: Sleeping.

Alfonso Salemi: Nice. Awesome. Okay, so question number two, what is your favorite we always ask what's your favorite real estate investing resource? So maybe it'll be a two-part question. What's your favorite real estate investing resource and what's one resource that you always recommend? To the clients that you work with or really anybody that's looking to, stop telling lies to themselves.

Angela Sutcliffe: Now I'm hoping I'm understanding this question correctly. And it's funny because I've been thinking a little bit about people I know lately and thinking, you really need to think about investing in a sixplex or a fourplex because then you can live rent free and someone else will be paying your mortgage.

It's a win-win. You get the place paid for and you don't have to pay rent. I know a lot of people go for single family homes, but I guess from my real estate background, I like to go for properties that will pay you your living inside and then pay for themselves.

Alfonso Salemi: I think that the cool term on the street is house hacking, right? That's house hacking, right? Where you live in a rental unit and you're renting or you live in a multiple, like you said, a multi-unit building and rent out the other spots to supplement your own costs. So a little bit.

Laurel Simmons: All right, so what's your favorite non-fiction or business book?

Angela Sutcliffe: My favorite business book. I have so many. I think one of my favorites, and they're all old books, is Swim With the Sharks Without Getting Eaten Alive by Harvey McKay, which is a fabulous book for keeping in touch. And I think that's what's missing a lot of times these days with The Millionaire by Midnight programs is they want everything to happen and they don't realize that it's about. Developing resources, developing people who are going to help you over years. So it's exactly what we've been talking about. If you hang around with the right people and you keep cultivating those relationships, everyone rises together.

Laurel Simmons: Good. And I'm gonna jump in there Alfonso and ask her the last question. Cause we have this, Angela and I have this history. So who do you go for? Who do you go to for advice on your business and why?

Angela Sutcliffe: Oh, interesting. I do have a business mentor of my own, and she specializes in digital properties, and I go to her because although I understand all of the structure and the strategy and the so on and so forth, the digital world changes so much that she keeps me on task and on track. For making sure that I'm found, for making sure that I'm doing the right things with the right people, and she is at godsend. We meet every Monday we meet.

Laurel Simmons: You have a mentor and a coach yourself. So you know what, it doesn't matter what business you're in, and we know that in the real estate investing world. If you want to really explode your growth, then you hit your wagon to somebody who's been there before and can help you, like just literally give you a boost.

That's really what we promote in the REITE club. It's for heaven's sakes, even if it's just an accountability partner. Someone who's a little, just someone to basically kick it in them, but every single week.

Angela Sutcliffe: If you don't, pardon the pun, if you don't have the right people, you might as well just put a mirror in front of your desk and have a talk, because that's as useful as the invitation. The information's going to be coming back at you. So no, everyone needs someone who is a level or so above them.

Laurel Simmons: Exactly. Okay. So Angela, where can people find you? Reach you?
Angela Sutcliffe: I am at Angela Sutcliffe, sutcliffe.com. And I'm also very active on Facebook, very active on LinkedIn. Because I had my butt kicked. I'm getting more active on Instagram.

Alfonso Salemi: That's good. That's awesome. So make sure you guys are gonna go and follow Angela on all the social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Angela, any last words of advice or anything that you'd like to share with the REITE club? The REITE Club Nation today?

Angela Sutcliffe: I would just say really examine the word scared. Really unpack that world scared and see what the pieces that you're missing to allow you to go forward with, something that's going to be really good for you in the long run. So unpack that word. Scared.

Laurel Simmons: Okay. Thank you, Angela.

Alfonso Salemi: Great advice. Awesome. Thank you.

Angela Sutcliffe: Thank you both so much.

Alfonso Salemi: Wow. I am just jaw dropped. I, my mind is blown. What a great chat with Angela and in great interviews. She had such a lot of information. I think we could have talked with her for many hours and maybe days about all the different things and the perspective of the mindset that we, and the things that we tell each other, Laurel, and I know your practice and this and the mindset and really.

Shift and you're very able to get into a better mindset. And maybe it's, because you've known Angela all these years and you've had the experience with her. But I love what she said with the fear of accountability. Sometimes we're scared to go and do that because we're scared that we might not.

That word scared us a lot. So that was a great chat. What were some of the things that, again, you already knew or that you took away from the podcast?

Laurel Simmons: For me too, it was like, the fear of responsibility and accountability. And really liked what she had to say about the word scared. That really, that is such a powerful word. But it's also like a catchall word, right? There's so many layers to it. So for her to unpack it and say, yeah, it's really, let's be really careful about that. That is more about responsibility and accountability. You can say you're scared.

Then she talked about the difference, what are you scared of? Is it that fight or flight response? Is it apprehension, is it excitement? Because yes, I do believe that excitement sometimes presents itself as fear. So we really have to be conscious. Of what we're thinking and saying, because the more we say something right, the more we reinforce it in ourselves. Yeah. Of goodness, we could have gone on and on. We just don't have time. So hopefully we can get Angela back.

Alfonso Salemi: Definitely gonna be on the docket for another podcast with Angela. And the one thing that I want to say is that, having that vision of yourself, that's what I think the biggest takeaway for me is having that vision of who you want to be and having that as clear as possible and as detailed as possible so that you know that direction each day.

Is that getting me closer to that person that I want to be? We are here. Where we are of all the experiences of all the encounters that we've reached, that we are here, but where do we want to go And having that clear vision into the future, whether it's five years or 10 years, or 10 minutes from now, right?

Of all those things of how we're gonna get there in that vision of yourself and all the different pieces. And it's not about a portfolio or money or success or anything like that, but it's that feeling. If you are feeling good, you're helping people you're wanting to grow and helping others grow.
I think that's the most important thing, and having that vision, that clear vision of who you want to be and how you want to grow. And again, I can't say it enough. Laura. I love co-hosting these podcasts, amazing guests that we have. We have so much content, so much information, so much stuff for everybody to consume.

Get onto thereiteclub.com, reach out to Laurel, Alfonso, myself, Daniel or Sarah and any of the REITE Club Nation down there. There's so much information we all want each other to grow and share. And that's what that's really the REITE club is all about.

Laurel Simmons: Just go to thereiteclub.com and register. It's free. We've got we'll connect with you there. Or you can reach us by email laurel@thereitetclub.com, alfonso@thereiteclub.com. We'll be happy to respond and make a connection with you. And the only other thing we would ask is that if you have a spare minute or two if you would go and rate our podcast, that it would helps us so much because that puts us in front of even more people because we'll come up on their searches and hey, we can help more people grow. Right, Alfonso?

Alfonso Salemi: Absolutely. Get onto thereiteclub.com, get in touch with us. There's no excuse, there's no reason for not getting the information that you want. And if there is something that you are missing and you don't have, or you can't get ahold of, let us know. We're gonna go and try to find the best of the best in the industry to get that information for you. Until next time, Laurel, thanks so much for joining in and then doing the podcast. And yeah, till next time, come grow with us.

Laurel Simmons: Come grow with us.