Nichole Stohler, co-founder of Gateway Private Equity Group, lost money on her first real-estate deal in 1999 and moved back with her parents. She and her husband rebuilt by learning property management, eventually controlling over 1,300 units. Real estate, she says, is a business that demands market knowledge, number analysis, and active management.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner, and today I have Nicole Stoler with us. She is the co-founder and managing partner at Gateway Private Equity Group, which is a real estate investment firm whose portfolio has included a hotel, multifamily, and residential properties. Between apartment complexes, houses, and their hotel, Nicole and her husband Mike have owned or operated over 1,300 units. When Nicole and Mike first started in real estate investing in 1999, they lacked experience and failed. Through committed action to learn, grow their skills, and help others, they have created immense change in their business and lives. So welcome to the show, Nicole.
Thank you. Great to be on here.
Of course. Great to have you here. And we will dive in. The first question I have for you, Nicole, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Thanks, Tyler Wagner Wagner. That's a great question. In 1999, I signed my husband and I up for a real estate seminar. We came back gung-ho, found 3 properties, purchased those properties and realized we had no idea what we were doing. We didn't know how to really analyze the numbers. We didn't know how to manage residents. And it was a massive failure. And we gave back the properties, we ended up selling our house and moving in with my parents to pay off our debt. That could have been it, we could have stopped and said, well, that doesn't work for us, or real estate investing doesn't work at all. The reality is we needed to adjust our plan and we needed to find a different approach. My husband went to go work in property management and over time we built a successful portfolio. But I think there's, there's a lot of focus on people's successes. And while we have had success, it's because we had that failure. That we ultimately were able to be successful.
And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Real estate investing is a business. It's, it's just like any other business. And so you really do have to understand your market, you have to know how to analyze numbers, and you have to have some type of active management involved in order to have success with that. I think sometimes people don't always think about that and realize that it really is owning a business.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.
I would say join Toastmasters. And for those who aren't familiar, Toastmasters is a nonprofit organization with clubs all over the world. The focus is really on helping you develop public speaking skills. But even if you aren't going to be giving speeches, and even if you don't have a fear of public speaking, there are segments and exercises in a regular Toastmasters meeting that apply to everyday life in being a better communicator. I just think the organization and the skill development applies really to everyone.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
I would say understand how to build a network. I always kind of thought networking— one, I didn't like it because I didn't like small talk, and I thought it was going to happy hours and handing out business cards. And I am just now beginning to really understand how to, how to network in the right way that brings value to other people. And I wish I had known that when I was younger. Yes.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
I think gratitude. And I saw Shawn Achor speak about research that he's done around happiness. And one of One of the ideas that he provided was to write down every day 3 things that were positive, 3 different things, I should say. Not every day do you write down the same things. Write down, think about your day and what were some positive things that came out of that that you're grateful for. When you focus on that, you realize there's a lot. It could be just the fact that the sun was shining or that you spent time with your dogs. And I think sometimes it's too easy to get kind of buried in, well, I'm trying really hard to build my business, or this is failing. And you don't realize there's a lot of things to be grateful for, which leads to happiness.
And what is the best book that you've read? And what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Hands down, Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. That is the book that changed our lives. That's the book that inspired us to invest in real estate. And the overall premise and the reason is a fundamental shift that I had never been taught growing up, which is how do you make your money work for you? Because if you're having to, as an employee or as a business owner, do the work constantly to bring money in, you'll never get out of that rat race. And there's a lot of principles in that book that, that it's just very eye-opening for me at a young age.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
My favorite quote: "Being busy does not always mean real work." And that's from Thomas Edison. And I struggle with this because it is easy to be quote-unquote busy with emails and responding back to people. And I really have to force myself every day to think about what are the key things that must happen and not to get caught up in all that other busy, busy work.
Yes, thank you so much for coming on, Nicole. Such a valuable episode. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?
You can find me online at my website, which is gatewaype.com.
Perfect. Thanks again, Nicole. We really appreciate you coming on.
Thank you, Tyler Wagner.
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