Self Selecting with Beth Clifford

Welcome to Ladies Kicking Assets, where we are empowering women with the financial education they need to live the lives they want. We are your co hosts, Robin and Courtney, and we are so happy that you're here with us today. Please make sure that you set subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes. And little disclaimer, we are not financial advisors. This is for educational purposes only. Robin, why don't you introduce our guest that we have today?

Okay.

It is my pleasure to welcome Beth Clifford to our show. Welcome, welcome. Just a little bit about Beth. She's an international real estate developer. She is the CEO of Mahogany Bay Village.

Beth.

But most importantly, she is a serial entrepreneur. I love that about you. And it is so descriptive. Beth, we just want to thank you for taking a few minutes out of your day to just share your story a little bit and maybe some direction to women who are considering getting into your field and maybe some treasures that you have learned over the last few years. So I know that is a little bit and a lot, but maybe you can share with us about how you sort of, you know, got into this space.

You got it. Hey. Well, first of all, I want to thank both of you and you know, and so how wonderful to be around with a bunch of high caliber women who just love to share what they've done so that other women can succeed. Isn't that correct?

Absolutely, yes.

That is what. Yeah, that's our whole.

Thank you for being those type of ladies. Correct. It's all about sharing, right? Yes.

Abundance.

You bet. Abundance. So you asked me how I got into it. And so I'll tell you the short story, which is my first careers were in Wall street and were on management consulting and technology and kind of all of that stuff. And so I was very much into the software and operational systems on how to go make companies go do things cheaper, better, faster. And I did that on my own. Management consulting companies, who cares, did all of that. And then I sort of went through my career, midlife crisis in my mid-30s when I said, is this what I want to go do for the rest of my life? Because I'd grown my consulting company to a point where I wasn't doing the work anymore. I was selling the work, which isn't. Which is typically what happens when you're in those consulting and you're in those soft industries, lawyering, anything. Is that you, as you go up the pec, as you go up the food chain, you end up selling the work as opposed to doing the work I liked was doing the Work because I'm a consummate. I'm a consummate puzzle solver. So anyways, I went and looked at it and I said, look, what have I got for core competencies? And I made a whole list, like here, what am I good at? Not industry specific, but I said, what am I good at doing? Just as my competencies, I'm good at figuring out what the problem is. I'm good at isolating the problem. I'm good at finding a solution to that problem. I'm a good strategist. And so I would encourage people to kind of get back to kind of their own first principles, thinking about who they themselves are. What am I good at? Right. Regardless of what industry I'm in. And then I looked at it and I said, well, what did I want to go do? And what I always have wanted to go do is build. And that comes from my grandfather. My grandfather was a builder. I used to drive around and get snuck out of the house when I was four years old, and he would steal me away in his pickup truck. And my grandmother would be yelling, bring her home. And I would be off at the job site at 4 years old. And so I think that got into my bones, which is, I think in the 3D, I love to build. I also love being around men, and I really love and appreciate men and women, and I think we need them both and we celebrate them both equally. And so that's what I did. So I went and took my core competencies at a very high level of abstraction and then said one of those would be applicable for me to go move into a new industry which was more outside of manufacturing and technology, and move it over into the construction industry. And so that's what I ended up doing. And so really when it. Business is business everywhere. And so, you know, there's so much crossover. So that's how I went into it. Ended up finding a woman that I partnered with to go do it. Within a year, I ended up learning it was that, you know, a construction manager for, you know, multi billion dollar projects. And so I think it's all about just kind of knowing what you can do well, partnering with people that are there to help you get through it. That's what I did. Is that a good.

No, that's. That's great. That that just makes me sit there and think, okay, so how did you find those people that you ended up partnering with? Because I think that's a challenge, you know, going out and making sure that you find the right people. And so how where did you find them?

And this was sort of like, I don't wanna call it pre Internet but this was in late 90s and so this is like we're still not, you know, this is like we're barely on Netscape browsers at this point.

I mean we had AOL discs at registers at in late 90s.

We're still fax and stuff. You know, I don't know how big my phone was then if it was this big or this big. I don't remember what size.

My phone had a hundred foot cord attached to it.

So I'm not quite sure where I was on the technology curve on that. I activ. Went out and looked for them and so I went and started calling people looked around and you know, I don't even remember where I ended up finding her. That's how long ago it was. But our paths ended up crossing and then it turned out that what you know, what she needed was kind of what I had. That was her next growth. And then what I needed was to learn the other side of the business. And so again I always go back to that too which is, you know, you know, hogs get slaughtered, right? Pigs get fat. And so it's always about finding like minded people where you're mutually moving towards similar goals where you really, you know, establish that trusted rapport and encouragement for other people.

No, and I think it's fine are good to have that synergy. Like I, you know, a couple of the girls that I'm partnered with, you know, I'm really good talking with people. Michelle is really great with working kind of the back end and the paperwork and that, you know, so we have different skills and they all come together and fit beautifully because we all do different things and we all have different strengths. And so I love that you have done developing. So how is. I'm not sure what your background is in developing is Mahogany Bay. I'm not sure where that falls in line. I was kind of interested in how I guess maybe what were some of your first projects. And is Mahogany Bay your biggest one?

So. Yes, it's the biggest one that I've done. Well, it depends on how you want to go look at it. And so I look at it. So I have basically sat at every chair at a real estate development project table throughout my career. So I have gone from being a subcontractor to be a general contractor. I've been an owner's representative which is almost the same as being a gc but you work directly with the owner as Opposed to having financial responsibilities for projects. I've been the owner, I've been the developer. And so I've kind of sat around all of the different chairs. And so that's been very helpful because I understand what motivates me, everybody within those chairs, how you can help them succeed, how do they make their money, what information do they need in order to be successful, et cetera. And so if you talk about biggest, well, the biggest are when I was doing, being program project director as an owner's rep and building semiconductor facilities and having budgets that are in the billions of dollars. And so those are certainly larger. But I was an or so as an owner's rep and I was running construction work at that time. I wasn't the owner developer myself. And so that's kind of developer is kind of one step up in the food chain of that who is masterminding the entire project itself from a financial standpoint. For the amount of people that were working with me, those were the times where I probably had the most responsibility for financially and from a management perspective, Mahogany Bay was one of the largest. From Greenfield. Greenfield. Starting with nothing and going all the way from you've got dirt now, what do you go do with it? Right. And so through that whole thing of highest and best use, what should I go build here? Put the capital stacks together, put the planning together, doing all of that. And so that Mahogany Bay was certainly one of the largest one and a real challenge too, because it was not in the United States. And so it was going into a foreign country as well, fortunately. And the good news is this is English speaking. And so I don't know if I would ever go. I think that's the real one. Go foreign and go in another language. That's a tough one. Honestly, I have looked at a couple of projects that were foreign language and not British Commonwealth law, which I like to stay inside of that now. So to me there's sort of, I look at those kinds of things. I guess I'm too old at this point. I'm 63 years old. And so probably at this point I want to keep it easier for me. If I was 40 and doing it over again, would I go do non Commonwealth law and go do another country? Maybe, but certainly a lot easier in the U.S. and there's so many opportunities in the U.S. i don't think you necessarily need to go offshore.

Sure. Right. Well, what, what, where, where are you.

Going now with your future developments? Or are you taking another. That's beautiful.

So this is, this is like the number one lot on a property that I'm doing in North Carolina on the coast of North Carolina. And so I started to this. This came out of looking for something in the United States. And so still very active in the property in started to look at well all these people retiring Covid all of those good things. Where are people moving to? And so I kind of identified North Carolina. First of all it's a right to work state. Raleigh, Durham, there's just thousands of jobs. If you go look, I'm sure you're watching where the puck is moving. Raleigh is always in one of the top five cities or MSAs that are being or the Triangle itself. Huge growth coming out of there. And so I ended up working on this property here. So I'm the developer for this and owner on this property property and have put together aggregated 85 acres and I'm going to be building a 81 unit a lot subdivision. Very high end and what we call an aggregate. Something totally different where yes, that is different. The amenity is not a pool where you can show off your cellulite legs. And so it's about. About being eco and creating a whole community about being environmentally sensitive. We have oysters being farmed right off the coast, right off the shore less than a half a mile from here. We have beautiful waters that are outside. Fantastic waters for all kinds of recreational and fishing and anything else that you might want to. Right on the Intercoastal Waterway. Always what I love to do is I love to invest where there's a partner who has more money than me, who is investing and who is that that always has more money than the private developer, the government, they're always using money. So while they're using my money to go improve things and what I like to do is I say I like to draft behind their race car, right. Because here they are. So they're putting in and they've got billion dollar project which is to a new interstate from Raleigh over to where I am. And today it's a little under four hours for that, for that drive I go to a little over two hours.

Unbelievable.

Yes. So what does that do? Just. Just go and look. Just. So just go. What happens. What happens to a market when the. From for May when a. From a hub where you have a good employment hub and where that market moves from four hours to two. Go take a look at it and go all over the world and you'll see what happens to them and they blow up. So I like to be on the path of progress The Wayne Gretzky, not where the puck is, where the puck's going. So that's what we're doing over here. So I'm really excited about it.

Well, if anybody can do it, you can.

Well, I will die. I know that's for sure.

You will do it.

You will do it, and it will be done. Well, I was actually watching a video that you were being interviewed in, and I think they were talking about when you were starting with Mahogany Bay, and people didn't believe that you were going to be able to accomplish that. So I love that you, like, pulled up your bootstraps and we're like, watch me make this happen. And now it's this incredible community. So I can't wait to see what you do with this. That's amazing.

Yeah, thanks. You know, and I think it's all about, you know, just don't listen to that stuff. Right. I'm like, oh, that's interesting. And. But that's not me, right? I'm not going to go do that ahead.

It actually pushes me to be even. Like, if you tell me no, then I'm going to go out. Not only am I going to do this, but we're going to multiply that and we're going to do it 10x over what I originally had planned just to. Just to extra prove it.

Yeah, well.

But, you know, for women, I think.

Sometimes what's lacking is they may have all this knowledge, but it's the confidence to really.

That.

And sometimes I think people just don't know how to get started. Sometimes people are just like, okay, what do I do and how do I get started and how do I make this happen? So I've, I've found myself in some of those shoes before, you know, just trying to figure out where to go.

Somebody who always. People are like, oh, you're a developer, right? And like, how do I go do that? And, and mine is always. And this is just my, this is my opinion, right? So this. And $8 gets you a cappuccino today.

So it doesn't Mahogany Bay, because I.

Did it the other day. You were just there yesterday, right? I was, I was, I was. But here's mine, which is I'm always to go do it. Like, like I always say to people who come to me and I said, look, if you want to go be a developer, you want to go in to get into real estate, you want to go over, do whatever you're going to go do. Everything that, that I go do as a developer is the same as if you were to go buy a, under an underutilized single family residence and improve it, you've got to go acquire it. You got to go do the due diligence, you've got to go acquire it, you got to put the capital st together, you got to put your friends money together, your equity, you got to go get the debt, you got to go do the research on the property itself, you've got to come up with a plan so you know, it's, it's a whatever and it needs to go to, it needs whatever that is. So it's got to go from here to there. You've got to have a plan to go get it there. You've got to engage and build a team to go move it from A to B and get it done. You got to sell it every. That is exactly what I do. I just do it with seven or eight zeros on the end of whatever you're doing. And so I'm always like, look, to me, the best thing that you could go do is take whatever capital you have, eat macaroni and cheese for the next two years so that you have enough money in the bank to be able to capitalize yourself, be your own bank. And when you can, be your own bank and so that you can at least put 10% of the equity down. If you can do it, that's, that's the best. But if not, get your friends together to go do it. You got to come up with some money. Even if it's 50 bucks, you've got to go throw some money into the deal, go do it. And the worst thing that most likely that will happen to you, like what's, and then look at it and say, all right, here's my project plan. I buy a house for 100,000, I'm going to do a bunch of work on it. If everything goes according to plan, I sell it for 200, I make $40,000. And so, and then what's the worst case? The worst case is that I end up with the original asset and maybe that it sells for 60, which is minus 40. Right. So I always look at that and I said, well, if you were to go to Stanford business school, if you were to go to Stanford and go to their construction management school would take you two years. $140,000. You're going to learn more on doing that than you will at Stanford for $140,000 in two years.

Oh, I love that analogy. That's amazing.

And, and you get upside out of it. Now, now can you because you just did that. Go and get hired by some, you know, one of the five biggest construction management firms to go be a construction manager. No, but that's not what you want to go do anyways. Correct. You want to be an entrepreneur inside of real estate. So go do it. Just do it. That's what I'm just like, just go do it. Find something simple.

Put yourself out there.

Just do it. And you know, and as I always say, and it's just. It's kind of that Star Wars. I can't remember if it's Star wars or I think maybe it's Raiders of the Lost Ark, which is, you know, the bridge, the next level of the bridge appears to you as you go, and you need to go to it. And so there's nothing like urgency and necessity to drive you to come up with a solution.

Yeah, correct, Right, absolutely. Because all of a sudden you go.

Buy the property and then all of a sudden it's going to become very. It's going to become very evident to you that, well, you got to go pay the mortgage for it. Well, how am I going to go pay the mortgage for it? Well, I got to go do a kitchen design. Well, who am I going to ask? Can I do the kitchen design? Do I have to find somebody to go do a kitchen design? And it's all there guys place.

Yeah, you just got to put yourself out there.

You're right.

Just do it.

Just go do it.

And I won't name any names, but I've got. I know people who have been going on the same educational summit that I've been a faculty member on, which is actually next month. And I think I'll see both of you there. Correct? Yes.

Yes.

I know that there are people there who have been going for the same 16 years that I've been going there, who are still waiting to find out the right thing so that they can go start.

Really?

Yes.

Wow. So I left the summit last year on fire. Just on fire.

I don't know those people.

Yeah. I think I'm literally on my fourth business deal that I'm starting. I'm about to launch. I've done one syndication, I'm launching another. We've actually, I've done a couple. And so, you know, and I'm still kind of trying, you know, finding my footing exactly where, you know, what I want to do with that. But so many amazing things have come out of that and so many amazing connections and. But I'm a doer, I'm an action taker. So I Learn. And I take action.

Yeah, just go do it. You know, and always, I always preface things. What's the worst thing that can happen to me? Right. So what's the worst thing that can happen to me? And so, you know, if I were to learn everything through that whole process and lose 20 grand, but I learned all of this and I end up with a construction manager, and I ended up with a, you know, somebody who will invest with me and the knowledge that I have, then it's a win. And so, so many people think. So many people think that getting a no is a lose to me. A no is when, like when they go out and they ask for sales or they whatever and be like, oh, they said no to me and I said no. A no actually moved you forward. Even though you think you met a roadblock by hearing a no, you now understand whatever you are asking for is either inappropriate, isn't going to work, or whatever. And so now you have more information to move forward. So don't take your nose as a negative. Take your nose as a positive, because now it's giving you more information for you to move forward from. But so many people get stopped, and I deal with people all the way. I think so many, they get stopped by the first no, and then they go home and stuff their thumb, and then they're done.

Right. Well, and I think that's really important. You know, I think one of the most. One of the coolest things. I went to one of Kyle Wilson's inner circle meetings here a couple of months ago, and there are some really accomplished people in that group. And we sat and talked. You know, he focuses on, you know, personal development. And one of the guys said, you know, I'm really struggling with affirmations and, you know, making sure I'm doing the right thing. And so I just thought it was really incredible to see that, you know, these highly accomplished, successful people still struggle with that and they get up and they still, you know, do the okay, I am great, I am good, I am successful. And, you know, they. They go with that. So it's just a matter of, you know, going in. And I do that daily now. And. And I think it really makes a difference. And everything is a learning experience. You take that, you learn from it, you grow from it, and you move on and you make it better.

You do. I agree. I couldn't agree with you more. Keep moving. Right? Yeah, exactly. So.

So, Beth, now that you've are super seasoned with all of your super wins.

What would you share with the Beth.

Clifford of, let's say, 30 years ago. What advice would you give her?

That's a good one.

You know, I would have started probably. Well, that's not true because I. I haven't had a page. I haven't had a, you know, whatever you call it. Was it 1090? What is it? W2?

W2.

That's how much I don't 2 since 1989. I don't know. You know, I look at the other side, which is I look at all of my experiences along the way built me to who I am today. And I actually don't look back on any of my experiences in which they didn't happen to me. And I actually speak with people like, I was fired three times. And I'm like, I think that's great to get fired.

Yeah, it happened to me.

You have to reinvent yourself, discover who you are. I should have been fired. Right. Because I was way out on the other side of the end of the envelope and really challenging a lot of authority and all of that stuff. And so all of those things. So if you're able to go as quickly as possible, don't reflect information from you, does that make sense?

Yeah.

Like, if somebody says something to you and says, oh, you know, like, whatever that seems negative to you, like, really be able to absorb those pieces of information and take them for what they are and have them, have yourself grow from them. So many people look at negative feedback as something that they need to reject from themselves and that they can't. Absolutely, they can't absorb that information. And I always look on the other side. Like, look, if somebody is willing to really be honest with you and give you a really strong information to you that may not seem positive to you, take that information immediately and put your ego aside and put, you know, put your attitude into wanting to be the best and understand what those are. And I say that a lot. I have to fire a lot of people, you know, own companies, and you've just got to make, you know, things don't work out, you've got different for whatever reasons. And I always start those conversations. I say this. Today probably will feel like your worst day in your life. But if you actually take what I tell you and really use discernment with it, there will be a day, and I hope it's tomorrow, that you will be able to take this information and move out in a new way that will be more productive for yourself. But some people will stay, you know, they will stay stymied and stuck for six months, and they just want to make that person a bad person. But I'm like, look, anybody who is willing to be honest with you and to give real critical feedback to you people, that's a gift. Because today that's not what happens. I mean, today either you're getting trolled on social media by people who are, whatever, who you shouldn't really be listening to anyways, but the number of friends who will really tell you, like, you know, your haircut looks awful, you need to lose £20. Like those people who really care enough about you to go put relationships on the line to really tell you about how you could be a better person, those are the people that you want in your life. And I think that's the person I want to be in my life to other people.

Yes, Beautiful.

And I always do too. Another which is attitude dictates outcome. I say this all the time with my team members. Attitude dictates outcome. And if you put your feet on the door on the floor every day and like, oh, I can't do it in the stock market lost 4% yesterday and Twitter is down, you know, 12%. And so if you start your day, you know, and whatever, we're out of your nose. And you know, if you start that whole thing and you become victimy and all of that stuff like that's, that's how you get, how you will show up everywhere. And so attitude dictates outcome. And so it's back to the affirmations thing. It's like when you're brushing your teeth, what do you look like? What are you saying? Can't wait for the day. And I'm just like, I refuse. I don't care if it's raining, anything else else. I see somebody, how are you today? I'm like, it's the best day ever today.

Yes. Do you know Beth? Okay, so every morning when I wake up, the very first thing I do is thank God for waking me and giving me another day. I really think that we start with an attitude of gratitude. And if I find myself whiny or complaining or maybe the weather's not going right, I'm like, you know that we were stuck at baseball the other day and it was so windy and awful. And then I thought, you know what, I get to be here. I get to be at my kids baseball game. You know how many kids wish they could play baseball or parents wish they could go? And I just thought, sit here and suck it up and be thankful that I get to go do this. And it really is about your attitude. It does. So Much.

And it's. And you will. And it's also, you know, we always talk about the five people that are around you, Right. But if you're one of those people who's a victim and, you know, and I don't remember, we said, oh, Debbie Downer. I used to have somebody who lived in my neighborhood, we used to call her Debbie Downer. I mean, they're like, I used to be like, don't come near me. It rubs off, you know. But she had her own clique of downers who just wanted to sit there and talk down her stuff. And I was just like, I just don't want to be part of that. And I think so you will create, that will self select the people that are around you. And that's what it is. It is so powerful. I don't know if this is helpful to you, but.

Oh, no. All of these things have impacts in what you choose to do and where you're going. And you're exactly right. I face challenges all the time, and I figure out how to get through them. And it's funny because, you know, after I put my first pitch deck and did my first pitch, you know, I called a couple people and said, okay, you know, will you give me some real, you know, feedback? And they. They said, yeah, this is what I thought you could do better. And that is how, you know, I'm going to take that. And that's how I improve and how I do a better job for my investors, how I do a better job for myself and how I just get better altogether. And it really is about who you surround yourself with and your attitude. It really is.

And if you ask for people and then you start deflecting everything that they say to you, then who wants to talk to you anymore? Like, I just look at people and I'm just like, all right, you don't want to listen, and that's fine. Good luck. Go on, have a great life. Yeah, I hope I'm included in your life, but I'm just like, I just don't have time for it. You know, I'm saying you just want to deflect and make yourself right. You know, another thing, too, and I, like, there's things that I know that I have certainly grown where in my life, whereas I used to have a high proclivity for wanting to be right. And the question is, do you want to be right or do you want to be in a relationship? But you can't be in both of those at the same time.

So been in that place yeah, that's why.

And I'll find myself, I'll be like, oh, no, no, I'm trying to be right right now. That's what I'm trying to do. And so I'm going to. And trust me, I'm a great debater. I can debate forever. You know, I can win most debates if you give me long enough time. But the question mark is what's the outcome that you really want and to.

Be trying to achieve?

And I've had that conversation, I think, with you before too, which is everything you do should be intentional. Like when, when I'm going to have a meeting with somebody, I understand, you know, what am I trying to get out of this communication? Why am I communicating with this person? Why am I meeting. And that's not to be like a user or anything else, but there is a reason why I'm meeting with the bank, there's a reason why I'm meeting with this investor, the reason why I'm doing certain things. And so why am I doing that? And then what is the outcome? What does the outcome look like from this activity that I'm going to do? So how will I meas success? Did I get what I want to out of this whole deal? And then I plan it backwards, which is what is the person I need to be in order to approach this situation to get the outcome that I want to. Because there are times where you need to go in and have you heard me speak about it? From hubris to humility. Your attitude and the way that you interact with people is somewhere in this continuum between hubris and humility. And you, you have to really decide where you're going to be. Now there are times where I can be full of hubris, firing somebody intentionally, you did something really horrible and whatever else, then I'm going to be further on the hubris side. Does that make sense? I'm on righteous indignation at this point. Like, you need yarn you need. Because my outcome for this is for them to understand how serious it is, what they did, how much possible danger they possibly could have done for a lot of people. And so that they understand that they don't go do it in the future. So I don't go and with humility. And like, oh, I understand you really didn't know you shouldn't be driving drunk and, and, and put people's lives.

Yeah.

On the other side, like, do you understand you could have killed somebody? And do you understand how much risk you put this at and do. I'm saying. And stuff yeah. And so I think where if people, if you kind of look at your day and you understand like who you've got to be, how you need to approach what kind of person shows up to that understand, did that work well, not work well, as you go through it, I think that's really how you start to understand and win more in what you're going to go do. And again, and I'll end on this statement, and we're probably going too long, which is just, you know, the more you can do for other people, the better it is. And so it's not all about you. Even though I just went through this thing, which was all about what is my outcome, I want out of it, but almost every engagement that I have is all about creating team and membership, creating community and team with everybody that's around. And so, yes, I want an outcome, but I'm looking to partner with people who also get an outcome. And so you need to understand it from their perspective about what do they want out of the equation and make sure they're getting what they want out of it. So.

Good.

Well, we have not run out of time. I have one final question for you that I think would really be beneficial to our viewers. I just want to speak just for a moment about mentors in our life and how that is so important. You have mentioned, and we know the connections with people. You are the summation of at least the five people that you're hanging out with and bettering yourself. And you have certainly been an incredible mentor for Brett and myself, and so we're so appreciative of that. Who are your mentors now and how would you encourage our viewers to seek mentors out? Like what should be something that they're looking for? Not just, just, I just need like an accountability buddy, but I need a, a direct mentor.

So that brings up a good point. I would say that I don't have a lot of mentors right now. What I have are colleagues, CEOs and business leaders. And so, and I kind of, as we call it, it's kind of the lonely, it's lonely at the top plan because when you are the head of your company, you get, you can't bleed any of your attitude down. You can't use any of the people who report to you for any type of, kind of back and forth kind of information. And so I have colleagues within the development who are other developers, other people who own like civil engineering firms, whatever. They're kind of the people that I'm always in communication with and Talking with just about. Where's the puck going? What are we doing? What's development doing? Go on. As far as a personal mentor, I probably don't have one right now. Now what do I. What do. But here's the other side of it, which is, how do people get mentors?

Yes.

I think the number one, and it goes back to my first conversation, which is have an inventory of the things that you're good at and that you think you could add value to someone else.

I think that's so powerful, isn't it?

I'm gonna make my list.

No, because think about. Because let's just say that you just graduated from high school. You. You might know how to go do Excel. Like, you might just be the Excel maverick of the world. You might be the Instagram. Like, you have four thumbs and you can do Instagram fast. Instagram posting every couple minutes that you just. You take for granted, that you do that may be part of your personal life, not even your professional. Whatever that is. And you say, these are the things that I'm really good at, and these are things I'm really good at. So here's the things I'm really good at that I love to do and would love to do more and learn more to go do it. Here's things that I'm really good at doing that I'm willing to go do more of it. But it may not be the thing that I absolutely adore, because I'm just. Sorry, guys. You're not always. Every day, every hour is not going to be fun time in the bounce house for you. And so you've got to understand that. And so if you want to. To go work with somebody, you can't be expecting that you're going to get to do everything that you want to go do. That's the most fun for you 100% of the time. I mean, I was astonished. Somebody came down, and I won't name, but they came down. They wanted to work with me down in Belize. They came down, and I had two businesses that I was working on. And she helped, you know, flush out some of the plans and take them from two pages to six. And then she comes to me, she says, I think I should get 40% of the company. And just, like, looked at her, I'm.

Like.

Was it your idea? Money? Are you going to stay and actually execute the plan? You know, what part are you going to go do? And she had no answer to it. And I was just like, so that's not how things work. But on the other side of it, if you go back to your core competencies, things that you can go do, there are so many people out there who need that to be done. And so a quid pro quo. It's like, hey, if somebody walked into my front door today and said, said, beth, I'm really great. Well, I just had somebody two days ago live down the street from me who's unbelievable in real estate, who will probably end up being the person who does all of our real estate marketing with him. Oh, nice. Okay. Is a. He is complete digital media crazy person. Okay. He just lives in the. All the lives in that world, digital media, all of that stuff, that's what he loves and does and everything else. And so four houses down, for me, he's going to be that person. But on the other side, he wants to learn how to someday be a developer. And I'm, I'm like, come on in. Right.

That's so great.

Yeah, you can help me out with DM and stuff like that. I need all of that stuff. I don't want.

You can provide value to each other, which is so great.

And so you can sit here and be part of my development team and by osmosis or however else you want to engage with it, you're going to watch and see how a development gets put through, from entitlement all the way through to handing the last key to somebody four years from now. And so he's like, sign me up. He's like, I'm up. And so we're going to pay him for what he's going to go do, but he's going to be an integral team member and get to be a participant in the entire team. And so that's where I look at. That's where you go, start with what you can give.

Start with what you can give.

What value. I always think about that. You know, what value can I bring that person?

Yeah. And then here's what I'm asking for. Return.

Love it. Love it. Well, thank you so much.

I'll just do one thing. And I love the Kiyosaki, but I differ a little bit because I believe in, when you're starting out to live below your means, because I know they're always about expanding your needs and all of that stuff. I personally am a little different. My personal experience was that, which is my growth was all about me building my own bank so that I was, yes, number one, not addicted to. Addicted to, not, not addicted to high levels of living until I could afford it from my own cash flows.

Yes.

Okay. And that right there is so critical what you just said because so many.

People are like, well, I want to go get the Louis Vuitton bag today. I want to go get this thing there. I want to go get this. And I watched it for myself. I was in Silicon Valley. I was a single mom. Mom. It was in the late early 90s. I always ran my household. This is very personal, but I'll tell you, I ran my entire household so that I never had to make more than $60,000 a year gross. Wow. But I gratification and I made this much.

Yeah.

Does that make sense?

It does.

And so for the two or three years that you go through, all of that, the delta, all of all of this went into banking for me. And it wasn't a great sacrifice. I mean, I lived a great life and wasn't like we ate, you know, we weren't eating, you know, crazy. We had a nice home, we had a car, but you know, whatever it is, we didn't have Ferraris. We didn't have all of that stuff. And so we delayed the gratification to the other side. But on the other side, I looked at other friends of mine who kept moving up and up and up in houses and then they needed more and more furniture and then they needed keep up with everybody. And then you need to have three cars and then six vacations and then they needed a boob job and then they.

And then a lift for that job.

So the 60k goes up to 300k. And now you're in a high risk potential position where you lose your job at 300k and you don't have 300k in the bank, then you're scrambling for all got out to go keep yourself at bank. And so mine was live below your means, stay under that level, get a million dollars cash in the bank, and then you yourself can be the bank.

So I have to tell you, the signature line I have on my email says the chief cause of unhappiness is trading what we want most for what we want now. And it really is about delayed gratification. And my kids have been giving me a hard time. I want a new Corvette so badly I can't stand it. I could have gone out and bought one a long time ago, but you know, I chose to invest that money instead of buying the car so that, you know, we will have income coming in and now it will buy me three or four of those cars. But it's all about that delayed gratification and making smarter choices with My money, and I'm trying to instill that into my children as well. And so it's just about being smarter about what you're doing and making good choices. And. Yes. And I'm having to wait, and it's okay. But you know what? Everybody that knows me knows that when I finally get that car, you know, I made, it was a milestone. It was a goal that I set and hit, and that is going to be my reward.

And I joke with people. I don't joke. But every one of my Louis Vuitton and expensive designer bags, every one of them is a gumball that is associated to me for a goal that I created. And I did not allow myself to go buy that bag, even though I could have. I can afford the bag.

Yes.

But everyone. I go into my closet, and I look at my bags. Every one of them is. Most of them are all on return of capital to an investor. And so I can look at them and say, well, that was the. This project. That was that project. That was that project.

Oh, my gosh, I love that. Yes.

You set yourself up for your gumball, right? You're like, so as soon as I get this done, I'm gonna get this gumball. Right? And that gumball is your Corvette. That gumball could be a vacation with your friends. It could be whatever it is. It's that. It's that ring you always want. Whatever. It doesn't mean that you don't get gumballs. But say yourself for a gumball.

Well, that will be a great topic for another show. Our favorite gumballs.

I love gumballs.

Amazing.

I'm like, okay.

Thank you so much for today.

Beth.

Yes. You're amazing.

You have just imparted, like, priceless, priceless golden nuggets for our viewers. And I just really am appreciative of that. And Courtney and I appreciate your time and just, you know, your willingness to come on and just pour into the lives of our viewers, our women, and our men who will be listening. So thank you so much, and have an amazing day.

Thank you, ladies, for doing it, because it's a big step out to share, and it's a lot of time to go do it. Correct. So I applaud you for your efforts, for doing it, but we're committed.

It means something to us, so thank you.