536: Having NO Excuses and Living a Life of ACTION with Andresa Giudelli — Multifamily Live

Hi everyone. It is Monday. It is my favorite day. Why? Because it is Mothers of Multifamily. And I have— oh my goodness. I feel like I feel like I've grown up with this woman. Although we've only known each other for a few short years. I have the amazing Andresa Guidelli. Welcome, Andresa.

Oh my gosh, I'm so happy to be here with you. The only difference that you grew up in Hawaii or in Brazil. That's the only difference.

Exactly. It's basically Basically the same thing, right?

Yes.

I'm part Portuguese, but it was Portuguese. Oh, there you go.

There you go.

So Andresa, Andresa was born and raised in Brazil, like she said. And after finishing up her MBA, she made the bold move to the United States to start her second master's degree. Boom. What? In professional business communication. After graduating, she worked as a door-to-door salesperson. Every single salesperson should have to do this. Yeah. Where she gained the value of learning the importance of providing custom solutions for clients. She has vast experience in full gut renovation projects and building new construction developments in Philadelphia and NJ. Andresa is the director of real estate development for Campanella and Columbus Construction and is currently involved in commercial projects. She also owns and manages a rental portfolio in Philadelphia comprised of both long and short-term rentals. Really, Andresa to me is the Airbnb queen, but we'll get more into that. She is the co-founder of Monarch Short-Term Rentals, Short-Term Rentals, Long-Term Relationships, where she offers a 5-step conversion practice package tailored for real estate investors who currently own long-term rentals and want to diversify their portfolio by entering into the short-term rental arena. This conversion goes from market analysis, construction, furnishing, creating and managing online listings, and providing a customer experience to guests around the world. And here's the biggest thing that I think Andresa is so fantastic. She and her partner Liz Faircloth are the co-founders of the Real Estate InvestHer Show, a podcast to empower women to live financially free and balanced life. Oh my goodness, this show changes women's lives. And it's not only a show, it's a community, it's a nation. So we're going to give you all the information to get into this nation to get into this community because it is so Powerful. Andresa, welcome to Mothers of Multifamily.

Oh my gosh, thank you so much, Billy. You know, we think the world of you and Jason.

Oh, thank you.

Inspirations and heroes for us. And, and I always think of you guys like, not as just investors, because you kindly share what's going on in your family. And that for me is the difference. I think men and women invest differently in real estate. Yes, women, we are interested in, in being, being, not just doing it, but being the best version that we can do in different areas. And sometimes we don't talk about it. So I applaud you for sharing your family, your small little moments of having a picnic with your son when it's snowing outside. That's like, yeah, that's so cute.

Well, those, those are the biggest things. I mean, really, I mean, those are the memories that you're making with your children. And that's, I mean, that's my big why. So before I go into what my big why is, I want to ask you my, my number one question is how do you do it? Andresa Guidelli, you're a mommy, you're a mommy of a very young child. How do you do everything that I said in your bio? And I didn't even mention, I didn't mention to my audience that you are currently working on one of your largest deals yet, your largest deal yet. So we want to get into that as well. But How do you do it, mama? How do you do it?

Well, it takes a village, right?

Yes.

But I think that the first step is courage to really ask for support and help. I really don't do it all by myself. I tried to do for a long time and I got my ass kicked pretty much. Me too. Yeah, right? I just discovered that really being vulnerable, asking for help, asking for support across the board. I'm just not talking about real estate. I have my mastermind group, I have my community, my board members that I can reach out to, but I also have financial group, spiritual group. My mom here helps me out with my son. The school helps me out too. So it's just breaking down in small little groups. I have groups of friends that I can BS around, and I have groups of friends that I can— they don't allow me to just be or give excuses about why things are happening. They hold me accountable, really hold me accountable, and say, okay, you can complain 5 more seconds and then we're going to go to the action. Mode. Don't tolerate. So that is, I think, that's the best answer that I can give it to you is the support around myself that allowed me to do everything that we are doing.

See, that makes so much sense. And that's what I hear from a lot of other mothers. Having that support system is key. It's key. You can't do this alone. You can't, you really can't do anything alone. But also, like you mentioned, having that accountability. Having that accountability to be able to go to somebody and say, you know what, I'm having like the worst day. Okay, Andresa, have the worst day for 5 more minutes and then now get back to work. Because you know those people will hold you accountable for the work that you do because you are carrying a lot of people's lives, not only your own, not only your family's, but you have your son as well. So tell me about Tell me about more about being in real estate in general, because you have a plethora of foundation below you besides the multifamily that you do. How do you do real estate and mama, mama stuff at the same time?

Sure. And I think that when we talk about real estate, I always think about real estate as a product, right? As pizza, as shoes, clothing. So I always look at real estate as a business. So what are the skills that needed to be in place in order for me to build this business? And what teams I have to create and surround myself with in order for that to happen? What knowledge do I need to gain? If I need to work for free, if I need to, you know, have things going on on Saturday night, Monday morning, whatever date it is, it doesn't really matter. What are the things that I need to do in order for me to get to that point? Because it's not overnight. And sometimes you hear, oh, how to, I don't know, make a million dollars in 3 months. How to— well, I'm very realistic and straightforward with everybody that I do business with. So I think that for me, it's just building a solid foundation, right? I mentioned I did door-to-door sales, one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. When I think back, I was like, damn, that was hard. Right? But it really taught me a lot about being responsible for your actions. If my pen, if my phone doesn't work, I was not prepared for it. Law of averages. How many doors am I knocking? Transferring to real estate, how many deals am I analyzing? How many offers I'm making? It's just law of average and doing the work. Really, it takes time. And then gaining the knowledge. I expressed it before, and same thing, I applied this everywhere. There's nobody knocking at my door telling me, "Oh, do you wanna learn how to manage and build larger new construction assets? Let me teach you all I know." No, I don't have that. The group is so small, or you're gonna pay a guru like thousands of thousands of dollars for what, you know. So when I decided that I have experience in building single families and new construction and everything, we all know that for you to build wealth and leave a legacy, it's all about the, you know, the cash flow and holding properties. So I got that. But the transition, it's a little— there is a period where you're like, how do I go from one thing to small multifamilies to larger multifamilies? Can I jump to larger? Or it really depends on your finances, your comfort zone, your skills, your support, right? So I started with small multi, triplex, and then transitioned to larger multis. And I said, how can I learn this without costing a lot out of my pocket? So it's either partner up with people that already did what I'm looking to do. And I just put it, you know, sometimes the universe is so funny. You put it out there, hey, I really want to learn building, right? And then the universe kind of connects you with people. I knew a commercial developer, local commercial developer here. And the word got to his ear that I was looking to learn more about it. And one day he called me. And he said, I have a company, you know, the company, I have construction company and also the development part. And I don't have nobody, I don't have anybody to really take the lead and develop all the projects that I currently own, which are larger projects. I was like, okay. And then he's like, would you be willing to work for me? I was like, I would be the worst employee ever. Right? If it is, if you're looking for somebody just to follow, right?

Unhirable.

Right, I can't do that, but if you're talking, if you allow me to run as if it is mine, if you allow me to create systems, implement systems, and just shift a couple of things that you're clearly successful by implementing, but there are some loopholes there, then we can create a win-win situation. I also have other things going on that I don't want to affect, So we brainstormed and we came to a win-win situation. So right now I'm responsible for a couple of larger developments. One of them is, it's called Step Down Facility, is a transition facility. It's 25,000 square feet, 52 beds. Fingers crossed, it's going to be done at the end of this month. But the numbers are— there are more zeros, a lot of more zeros. There's a lot of more details. And I was telling him another day, I was like, I really loved ordering doors. And he's like, what? It's like the process of ordering doors. It's an art that I had no idea. But it's— I was like, oh gosh, it's so weird. But I really love this part of the business. So if you don't love this part of the business, find somebody that does, and then you do your thing.

So that's, that's more or less how I see everything you're saying, like goes to what you were saying before, like find the support. So you're creating a support system within trying to learn to scale up into large multifamily. So you like, I hear a lot of people like what Jason and I did, we went to a good friend, a friend of ours, who happened to have years of experience in large multifamily, we're like, you know what, we're gonna pay you, we're gonna do the mentorship route. We learned a ton. We're still really good friends with him. We still— we actually still are— is on, I guess, his class schedule or what have you. And that's how we learned how to do it. You are finding mentorship by partnering and learning from somebody who's been in the business by working not necessarily for them, but with them. Does that make sense?

Yes, of course. I work— if he says, listen, we're going to do this, it's his business. He can do whatever and I need to follow. But it's more like a partnership. And again, I have a strong relationship with him that it's very clear. I don't agree with everything. Sometimes there are frictions in terms of we'll go to the left, we'll go to the right, but we do have a solid foundation that we can come back and say, okay, I hear you, you hear me. This is the direction that we're gonna take with the company itself, because we are on the same team. And if you only have people that agree with your thoughts, something is off. So we are really comfortable disagreeing with each other because we really understand what each, each team member brings to the table. And I think that that is very clear, and that it's successful. Why I'm really happy about where we're going and the things that are coming up. We're really excited about it.

Awesome. So I keep on trying to lead you down the mommy path and you keep on evading the question. I think it's one of two things.

Okay.

This other thing that I've kind of put into my head. So a lot of mamas out there use their children as reasons not to. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yeah. They, they're like, okay, I had 1 baby, 2 baby, 3 babies, whatever babies. And okay, because of my babies, I can't do this or I can't do that. I keep on asking questions that correlate motherhood and real estate, your product, and you're not making the connection. Is it— can I safely say that you just don't? Like maybe there's no connection? Because maybe you have systematized and grown your real estate business to the point where motherhood doesn't— it's not a reflection of each other. Does that make sense?

Yeah. Yeah.

It doesn't like what you do in real estate. Yes, each, each of these things probably affects the other. I'm sure it does. But you don't let one become an excuse for the other.

No, absolutely not. And sometimes, you know, I am— if you look at Liz and me, we complement each other. I am more like the straightforward, shooting questions. It doesn't mean that I'm not sensitive, but I am more like, okay, what can I do in my business? What systems I can put in place in order for me to really have the time, the quality time that I wanna have with my son Lorenzo. Why am I doing one thing? He knows what mommy does. Mommy builds houses.

I love it.

Right? But I, again, I created systems around support team around myself, and it's not because of him that I need to do something. He's the main reason why I do what I do, but it doesn't stop there. What I do is for the— really, it's not about Liz and I with the real estate investor. It's about the future generation. It's about the legacy. So I'm really not concerned about what Lorenzo is gonna get out of me if it is one single family or for several multifamilies. I'm more concerned about The tenacity, the work ethic, what am I building, why am I building this without sacrificing my time with him, which is very precious. So that's the processes that I create, is so I have time. And sometimes I got to be comfortable saying no to people, And being okay with it because I have that time set up for him. And when I am with him, my phone is not with me. I just don't because I want to be present. I know if my phone is with me, I'm going to be checking that little light and that's going to distract me. So I try to really leave it. Leaving the car, forgetting the car, or if I'm taking him to, I like to do classes with him, like painting, pottery, that type of stuff. Because I want to create really unforgettable memories with him. And I want him to know that mommy works very hard, but mommy is always there for him no matter what. Everything drops. He's number one.

That is amazing. And I love the straight and narrow approach you have because so many mamas will use the excuse route or be like, or, you know, mom guilt.

It happens.

It does happen.

100%.

Always.

Doesn't mean that I'm not guilty. I get guilty too. Like, we're born with this gene, whatever. Somebody figure that out. Let me know. I'll take the pill. But I completely agree with you. I just, don't allow myself to use that as an excuse. And I need to be honest with people that I work with and partners that I work with and express, I am a single mom. So I might have an issue dropping Lorenzo off at school some days. He's like, ah, not having it. And you know, so I communicate, hey, I'm running couple of minutes late or give a heads up, but people around me understand the dynamic and know that I'm going to show up. The point is just giving a heads up, "Hey, something happened. He's sick," or, "I need to take him to a doctor because he fell down and hit his tooth," or whatever the situation it is. That comes first. And either people have it or they don't. If they don't, we shouldn't be doing business together.

Bingo. Like you. Okay, so ladies and gentlemen out there, Andresa, I'm not, not to say that mamas out there that have the support of their partners are any better or worse or whatever.

Sure, sure.

But Andresa just said the key word. She's a single mama. That is, I think, one of the hardest jobs, just being a single mom. One of the hardest jobs in the, can be one of the hardest jobs in like the world of jobs. Or life, 'cause it can be, it can be hard if you have that mindset of it being hard. But it sounds like you have everything systemized, you believe in yourself so much, and you know you got this with or without a partner, with or without having that, like, whatever, stability, but you have your mom, you have your outside partners, you have your friends, you have, what you don't have is excuses.

Yeah.

What would you say to those mamas out there, and I know you're out there, and I'm sorry to pick on you, actually I'm not sorry, what would you say to those mamas who are using their children as excuses?

Sure. And, and, and hear me out. For you to— for you that are listening to us or seeing us over here, there's nothing personal. All right. This is just a different perspective. What I would say to you is that if you are using your child as an excuse, that is a behavior that you use across the board throughout your business. You use something as an excuse, whatever that is. Oh, I did not arrive on time because of X. I don't do that because of X. I can start giving you here my excuses. Oh my gosh, I am a woman. I am from Brazil. I don't speak English as— English is not my first language, so I make a lot of mistakes. I am 5'4", not too tall, not too— I can give it to you. But I don't wake up and go to a job site thinking, oh man, what, oh, oh, oh. That doesn't happen. So having a no-excuse mentality is across the board, with your child, without your child. So my question to you is, instead of saying, Oh, because of my child, I cannot do that. I will challenge you and say, okay brain, right? I use my brain as Google. Okay brain, having my child, how can I still do it? And let your brain work it. Not your problem. Boom. Let your brain figure that out. And I am saying that again. Listen, it doesn't mean that things don't go wrong in my life.

Yes.

Right? It happens, and sometimes it's back to back. Mm-hmm.

But I— You're preaching to the choir. You got this.

Right? It just happens. OK, welcome to life. But only thing that I can control is how I react to it. So I really invest heavily, heavily on my mental health and my personal growth. That is my best investment ever, because if I can control or lead that part of how I react to things and how I redirect my life, that is a, That's my goal. I'm on the right path.

Boom. I'm going to just sum that up into 3 words and it's 3 keywords and I hope I counted them right. How can I? If ever you have a question in your lives, ladies and gentlemen, and you have a doubt or you have an excuse, clear your mind and ask yourself those 3 words. How Can I? And if you want it hard enough, you will get it. You will get the answer because even if it's a small step, even if the answer is like this minuscule step towards your goal, you'll get there by asking those questions that Andresa just said. How can I? So Andresa, how can everyone here get in contact with you? AKA, how can they learn more about your InvestHer platform?

Cool. So before I say that, something just popped up in my head I really want to share. I saw this quote another day, don't remember who or when. It says, if you really want to achieve your goal, your dreams, burn Plan B.

Yes.

Burn it. Burn it. And that's it. To the ground. There's no Plan B. It's Plan A, and that is it. You gotta exist in your head first in order to become real. So, love it.

Thank you for sharing that. Burn Plan B. There's only the plan that you have in your head, only that goal, and go forward.

Go forward. So as Philly said, I have a community with my best partner ever, Liz Faircloth. It's called The Real Estate InvestHer Podcast. We also have a Facebook community where people can really get the support that they need. They're both free. And meetups around the country, we are about 25 meetups around the country.

It's amazing.

Right now it's growing pretty fast. So check out meetup.com/investher and you're gonna see if there is something. And Liz and I are cooking something. So we're gonna launch this year a membership for the investor community. It's something that we get asked all the time because really women want a roadmap, accountability, mentorship, and just a system that can support them to achieve their goals while they live a balanced life, whatever balance means to you. So we always want to financially free and balanced life. That's our, our mission. So we're here to support all of you. You guys can check more information on theRealEstateInvestor.com.

So the membership is live, or when does it go live?

Not yet. We are cooking.

Yes, cooking it up.

Yes. But we have a waiting list, and I can share with Billy the link. And you guys are, if you guys are interested in getting can go there and share your information and then we will reach out soon.

Yes, please. Thank you so much for coming on, Andresa. We've learned so much from you, from no excuses, how can I, really just systematizing. And mamas out there, you don't have to mesh motherhood and business. They can be two separate things. I mean, I know you all notice as I asked Andresa those questions, She went straight to the business because this is a businesswoman, but she is also a mother first. No excuses, ladies. Get out there, ask yourself, how can I? So Andresa, thank you again so much for coming on. I'm so grateful.

Oh, thank you. And you guys out there, reach out for help and support. That doesn't mean you're weak. It just means that you're willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goals.

Do whatever it takes to achieve your goals. I am so grateful to all of you for listening. Thank you so much. See you later. Bye now.