2021: Year In Review

Foreign. Hi, guys. Welcome back to another Real Talk episode. I am here with Tina Howard. She is our coo. And you guys may remember me. I am Caitlin, the marketing and communications coordinator for Freedom Real Estate Group, family of companies. And today we are on Episode number 38. Very exciting. And we are doing our year in review, kind of an end of year recap on everything that we did. We have a lot of things happening, as you can imagine, at the end of the year. And with the new year starting, we are doing our annual planning kickoff next week where we go in and set new goals for all of the companies and all of the departments. And we talk about our goals for Q4, which is happening still right now. We have only a few more days left. We didn't quite hit all of our goals, but this was the best Q4 that we have had in the history of all of our companies. So we're a little excited to get into this. Tina, do you want to add anything before we get started?

Happy to be here.

Yay. Yes. Okay, so the first thing that we kind of wanted to talk about is the. Our expansion growth all around from last year. It is insane how fast we have grown and how much can change in 365 days. So crazy. I know if you guys watched our vlog episode last week from Danny and Flip, they kind of gave a one year transformation office tour, which is very cool because when we first moved into our new office, there was a lot of vacant offices still open. Our now training room when we first moved here was kind of like a storage room. It was really quite. There's some pictures of before and after throughout the video, but all of our offices are full now and we actually had to build cubicles in our warehouse, which I know that was one of the things that we were super excited about this office because we were like, we have a warehouse to store things for Bulldog and ipm and now half of that warehouse is cubicles and the other house still warehouse. Tina, do you want to add anything to that, though? Yeah, we.

We were a little hesitant about moving to the bigger office or, you know, not hesitant, but excited at the. The opportunity to have more space, more room for people. But we filled it up so quickly. And I say we, but I'm not there physically. You know, as most of you already know, I work virtually in Georgia. But to see how many people are added in and joining the team and filling up those offices so quickly and already running out of space, it's exciting to see, but it's a little. It's A lot. It's a lot to take in really quickly.

Yeah. Our team, as a matter of fact, has almost doubled. We were talking about this a little before, I believe last year around this time, we had around 24 team members. And now we are at 42 and still growing. So that's very exciting.

It is.

It's great. Like I said, it's so crazy. Looking back on this last year, I'm like, so much has changed. Speaking of last year, one of the things that we launched was this podcast. We actually started it at the beginning of 2021, so it wasn't necessarily 2020, but we started giving sneak peeks and previews and Hype videos in 2020 for this podcast series. And here we are almost a year later now, and we are still posting every single week on Tuesdays, a podcast. And that, to me, I was so excited to get this up and running. And I love this part of everything. So do you have anything on that at all?

I've been listening to them and it's funny. I'm. It's just another channel for me to find things out. Like, there are things that I listen to on the podcast. I'm like, oh, I didn't know that. I didn't know we did that.

Yeah, I do the same thing. And that's what I tell everyone. I'm like, you guys, like, even if you just listen to like 15 minutes here and there or something. 10 minutes, 5 minutes. There's so much content in each vlog episode and podcast that you can learn so much from. It's crazy how much I didn't know. I know in my. My vlog with cj, who's with fci, which. We'll get to that in a second. We. We talked a little bit after his interview, and I was just like, tell me a little bit more about this. Like, I had no clue about all this. We probably sat on for 20 minutes extra because I just had, like so many questions. Kind of behind the scenes. It was insane. But speaking of fci, Tina, do you want to get into the new company we started in 2021?

Yeah. The running joke is that actually it's funny that we do at the end of the year. Freedom Folly Awards, they're just kind of fun awards that we give everyone. And Danny's this last one was most likely to start a new company. Well, even though it was a little tongue in cheek, it's pretty accurate because she has started yet another company, but it's totally organic. It just happened. We did a multifamily deal by accident. We really just. We wanted the package that included some single family properties that we wanted to bring into our inventory and to rehab. And so the buyer kind of fell out and we kept having challenges with that buyer and things just kept happening and delaying the deal. And we needed that inventory for the single families. I think there were some duplexes in there too. But so we just. Danny and Flip kind of talked about it and they said, well, why don't we try to just try to buy it? And so one thing led to another. They purchased the multifamily, rehabbed it. It's now almost fully occupied. I think it's like one unit left maybe. I don't know.

Yeah, I think so.

It was a lot of work, a lot of blood, sweat and tears. We just turned that property completely around. But that opened the door to the idea of apartments and multi units and that they just kind of went down that trail and. Which led to syndication and which led to giving fund opportunity investments to our clients. So now fci, which is Freedom Capital Investments, is that vehicle for our clients to be able to invest in our fund and invest in, participate in funding purchasing multifamily large apartments. Things that have been vetted and due diligence has been completed. And it's just a really great opportunity to share the risk, but also participate in a lot of passive growth and opportunity to see high returns. It's just a little. The next layer. So it's totally organic growth. And I kind of make fun of. We all make fun of Danny for starting new companies. I think next on the list is maybe a. What? I don't know. Anyway. Yeah, so that's, that's what happened there. And there's plenty of other podcasts and videos on our YouTube channel, the one you mentioned with CJ and things kind of goes deeper. Dive and more detailed. If you have any interest in finding out more about that.

Yeah, absolutely. That was a great overview. Thank you.

One last thing. We also added like four new people into that.

Yeah. Just recently alone. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like, and because of that, it's just going to continue us to keep growing. It's. And what's funny is when I, when I first started here, I knew some about real estate investing just because I kind of grew up in it a little bit and wasn't well versed in it. And so once I got settled into my role a little bit and they started this new company, started hearing this word syndication going on and I was like, there's More. There's more. And so we dove into it and I, when they were telling me about it, I was doing a ton of research on it and I was like, there's so much more to this than I thought. Oh my gosh, it's insane. So, so definitely worthwhile. This all kind of ties in together. So they are also with fci, they love to be busy. They have also are. They're going to be launching a new podcast series and a daily vlog series as well. Do you want to get into that a little bit at all?

The new, the new podcast is flipping Danny. They're going to use that platform to discuss these deals that we were just talking about, the multifamily and syndication and fund and things like that. And they've also said they love to set goals.

They.

Which also has a huge part in playing with our company culture. We're all very goal oriented. Their goal is to have a do an entry every day for the whole 2022. So every single day they're going to be providing content to, to our clients, to our audience and to anybody who wants to learn more about real estate investing, about the tax advantages, about the returns that could possibly be made, about, you know, the pitfalls because it's not all sunshine and roses and, you know, so they're, they've committed to, to every single day and they're going to start off, you know, they're, they're both under the weather right now. So I, I don't want to say that'll. I don't want to say that's not going to stop them because, you know, they are pretty. They are not feeling well, but knowing them, they will, they'll find a way. They always do.

Absolutely. For sure that, I mean, yeah, they are incredibly highly motivated and so I absolutely agree with you. So I'm excited to see how it's going to play out. I'm excited to watch all of them. I haven't even seen any of them. I've seen some of the sneak peeks, but that's it. So.

Okay.

I know. So another huge change that we had for 2021 was we hired a C CEO which has allotted all of this time for Danny and Flip to be able to put all of their time and not all of their, but most of their time and energy towards FCI Freedom Capital Investments in this new podcast that they are launching in this blog series and some of their other goals. Do you want to get into Aaron a little bit? He is our CEO.

Sure. Some of you might have seen his intro video and seen him in some of our other podcast episodes and YouTube videos. He is. He brings a lot of experience to the table, and he's. I've learned quite a bit from him in the short amount of time that we've been working together. He's just. People are. Everyone is just naturally drawn to him, seeking his counsel and advice and mentorship, and he just has a lot of experience and wisdom to share. And he's just, you know, off the record, he's very. Just like a calming force. He doesn't. It does. It doesn't take a whole lot to ruffle him up. And he's just very calm, cool and collected, and he thinks things through very logically and just. But also is an excellent, empathetic listener. And he just, you know, that's just. From my personal observation, I'm not. I'm sure there's people in the team that will agree with me, but those are just my personal insights into. Into what it's like working with him.

Yeah, no, it has freed up a.

Lot of time for Daniel Cliff to focus on the. This next stage.

Yeah, definitely. And I absolutely agree with you on everything that you said. He's also very transparent. I know you talked about the downfalls that we've had or pitfalls, and there are a couple of videos. I actually believe Ivan's process. I believe it's a podcast and vlog where we have talked about the. The journey that our investors go on from start to finish and kind of like cycle back through. And we got very raw in that video. And we're just like, we very open to everything. We don't hide things. We. I mean, that's not who we are. We want to be. Be transparent and real. And that's, again, this podcast. Not a whole lot of editing goes into it, other than maybe the sound and the visual, because we just want it to be raw and real. And he, I think, kind of really encourages people to do that more in the office or to approach tough situations head on. You know, you just have to do them, whether it's in office, out of office, personal life, professional. So it has definitely been great having him here. And like you said, it's been a great kind of, like, guide. And not a lot does take him to get worked up. So I don't even actually think I've ever really seen him even angry or upset or anything. So. Absolutely last thing that I have is talking about future plans. We've kind of already talked about a little bit, but one of the Things that came to mind for me first was with ipm, our property management company, Independence Property Management. I don't want to get into it too, too much into too much detail, but I know that they do have some pretty big exciting moves coming into the new year with not only our residents, but also our clients slash investors. So that's going to be exciting to see roll out. And then with property management also, it kind of ties into. It is one of our big goals that we have that Danny and Flip has set. We talked about this a little bit earlier. How they are very goal oriented is to achieve 1000 doors. Do you want to talk about that at all? A little bit.

It ties into how we became accidental multifamily buyers. They said they it kind of hit the light bulb where they realized, okay, we. That was not easy but completely doable and I think we can do it again. So they just set a number. We want a thousand doors and they set this goal. They have it in their sights and we've already closed out on one.

And.

They'Re working on several more. Lots of things in the pipeline. The four new additions to the team are all focused on raising capital, finding, acquiring more properties. So that's why we've added so many people, because they will do everything it takes to help hit that goal. So that is something that's very exciting and. And if past history is of any indication, I don't have any doubt that we'll hit it or they'll hit it, I should say. But we're all here to help them along and help in any way that we can.

Yeah, for sure. I'm very excited to see where this next year takes us. Like I said, looking back on that very first blog episode that we launched last year, I believe it's called we're expanding and we are still expanding. It's insane, not only with our team, but also our goals are becoming more elevated and harder to achieve. But that's the whole point of goals and I have no doubt that we will get them.

So. Excellent point. Because looking back now, even to the beginning, at the very beginning, you know, this company is not very old. It's, you know, four years young. So just looking back from then to now, I just would have never imagined. So I can only. I have no idea what to expect because every time I have an expectation, we exceed it.

So that's like, you know, going back to the beginning of this episode, we were talking, you know, we didn't necessarily hit our quarter four goals, but we are still hitting record Breaking numbers for us and that alone is exciting. So. All right, well, that is. Oh, sorry.

I was just gonna say it's, it's, it's great because we all work so hard and to see these things come into fruition and you know, breaking records and everything and, but having fun along the way and just learning more about how to communicate better with one another and you know, how to balance this whole virtual and in office world and smoothing out systems and it's just, it's very, I don't know, maybe it's my operations mind, but I love watching it morph and change and just the challenges that come along with that. And it's, I keeps me, keeps me motivated and excited and it doesn't ever, it's never boring.

Yeah, I know. One of the first things when I know we've talked about hiring a few people and when we hired Lauren, marketing assistant, we, we fair word her, like, we are a growing company. Things are going to be changing often, but it's because we're growing. It's. And things are changing and we need to continue to grow. And she was like, oh yeah, that's no problem. And she was actually just, we, we have like one on ones and we just kind of where we like catch up with each other and make sure just like kind of like a check in. And she was kind of doing like a year interview kind of thing. And she was like, I remember you saying that there were going to be so many changes. And she was like, nothing is the same from when I started. She's like, it may be like ideally the same but the processes are so different and everything's so different. But it's so good because we have grown so much. And she was like, I've grown so much. And I was like, girl, I know, me too, me too. I just, I don't know. It's, it's crazy, but it's a good crazy for sure.

The further the company goes, the more each of the team members develop along with it. So it's, it's exciting. It's, it's, it's really fascinating to watch. Sometimes you're just all in it and just really close up to the, to this, to everything that you miss these little moments or you actually miss some of the, the growth or you know, you don't actually see everything. But then when you look, you take moments like this, you look back, you start imagining what the future may hold. It just, it, it's, I don't know. I'm very proud of you guys. I'M proud of you guys.

Everyone. It's. I know I was showing her something from when I first started and I actually talked about it at our Christmas retreat. I was like, I would. Why? Why was that a proof? That was not. I was like, I've grown so much from that.

What happened?

Like, she was like, that's crazy. And we were just kind of like looking at some old processes and she was like, that is so different. I was like, girl, I know, but look at how much better it is now. But man, it is, man. This is. I'm like getting a little emotional here.

Well, you brought up the retreat. Now I'm thinking about all the things that we all shared with each other at the retreat and now, you know. Yeah, I'm just really, really. Everyone has done an outstanding, incredible job this past year and even new folks jumping in and just diving in, no fear, just kind of grabbing it and going with it. So even just from like Bulldog just had a recent part time hire. You know, Mariah, she just, she joined us at the retreat and she just, she participated. Everybody welcomed her. It was just really great just to see. I don't like to reverse as a family so much, but it really does have that family feel, you know, I prefer not to because, you know, I don't know, there's just a lot of baggage around that word sometimes. Right. But it really, it just, I don't know, my work family, it's, it's. You guys are great.

Good job.

Good job.

In 2021, one of the things, I'll say this last thing, otherwise I could go on and on about this, but one of the things that I think I may have told you this before is I can remember this back to. Not that it was that long ago, but When I was 16, I was first getting a job and I remember I was like, I'm not going to put myself in a workplace that I don't feel welcomed at because that you spend a lot of time in your workplace and it should feel, I've always told myself this like a second home. It should be warm and welcoming and you should be excited to go to work. And that is exactly how I feel here. It like I don't have to ever worry about going to the office. Like I work, everyone that I work with, I get along with great, have relationships with. So our culture here and that goes back with our growth. You know, you, some would think that with growth culture may fall a little bit, but. But I feel like it hasn't at all. And that is one Thing that I am so grateful for here is that the culture is amazing and it just keeps going no matter how big. We are expanding.

Yeah. We're always adding things. We're always having ideas. Just even the donut buddies and the karma points and all of those things. Giving everyone opportunities to connect with one another and to give shout outs and, you know, recognition and all of those things. It helps. And even when they are like people are butting heads or don't agree on something, you know, we work very hard to work that out. We bring in and maybe somebody else to kind of talk it through with them. You know, our. Our one on one supervisors, you know, we're not afraid of the conflict. We will work through it.

Yeah. Yeah. And like, I would. I'll say that it's not even, like, it's not conflict that lasts very long. I don't. I haven't seen any kind of conflict that has lasted maybe more than two days, if that. I don't even know that I've seen it last two days. I know for sure. Maybe a day. But the conflict doesn't last long.

We work it through.

Yeah. We are a team. All right, well, that's all I have. This is a great episode. Like I said, I got a little emotional. Do you have anything else you want to add?

I am excited to see what the next year holds. We did such a great job despite having many, many challenges, but that's what makes it rewarding. You know, if it was easy, it wouldn't be as satisfying. Right? Sort of. Keep telling myself so.

Absolutely.

We had a great year and I'm looking forward to bigger and better things in the future.

Absolutely. Me too. I'm excited to watch this in a year from now. Shoot.

Oh, that's a good idea. I'm putting it on my calendar. I love it.

I love it. All right, well, that is all that we have for you guys today on Real Talk, which is a podcast where we talk real talk about real estate. Be back for next week for episode 39. We are almost a 40. Like I said, not quite a year on this podcast yet, but we are getting close. If you guys have any questions, please reach out to us@podcastreedomrealestategroup.com I will put that in the description below if you are on YouTube. And again, we're available on all major streaming platforms. Couldn't get that out. All right, that's it. We always like to end this with.

Invest smart and live happy.

Love it. Bye, guys. Thank you.

Bye. Bye.

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