NYN E63: From Corporate Climb to Coastal Freedom: Stacey St. John's Journey into Airbnb Success

Speaker A: That's funny how those experiences when you're young, you don't really recognize it or appreciate it when you're a kid. But those experiences and the memories that come from them, you know, are very meaningful. Obviously, everything you know, it's all about the little details that happen every day that really shape us. But those moments are moments that we can absolutely look back on. I'm Steven Pesavento, and welcome to the Name youe Number podcast, presented by the Investor Mindset. As someone who comes from a challenging childhood, I've spent my life seeking financial security, personal growth, and ultimately, freedom. The freedom to not wake up worried about the next paycheck, but rather with the confidence of knowing that my passive income pays my bills without the need to think about it. When you name your number that you'll learn passively, that creates your ultimate quality of life. Then I believe you've achieved real freedom. Welcome to my show. It's time to name your number. Today I've got Stacy St. John in the studio. How you doing today, Stacy?

Speaker B: I am awesome. Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker A: Yeah, I'm excited to talk to you, Stacy, because I think you have a story that can resonate and a lot of people can relate to being that you were in the corporate world and you made a decision to go and build a business and focus on a different strategy, and that pulled you out, and you love what you do and you really enjoy it. So I'm excited to talk about kind of the journey of getting there and all of those things. And, of course, you're an expert in Airbnb. That's your strategy and your business niche. Um, but before we get into all of that and what you've been doing in the investing world, let's start out by taking a look back earlier in your life, what events or influences from your childhood shaped who you are today?

Speaker B: What a great question. First of all, um, and again, thank you for having me. The other thing I'll just say really quickly is I made a decision, and that is such a really important point that a lot of people don't think about. So I just wanted to highlight that. I love that you said that. So, wow. What part of my childhood influenced who I am? M Today? How much time do we have on this podcast, Stephen? No, I will say a couple of quick things. I grew up in a very small town in Indiana, and my family life growing up was very much like the Cleavers. Okay. I had a set of amazing parents, uh, who were tremendous role models as husband and wife. Um, for me, as, as a child, um, I really got to experience firsthand what having a wonderful family ecosystem, how that can build character in your, you as a person and how that can influence how, um, you become a parent and a wife or a spouse yourself. Um, one thing that resonated with me a lot, as I've realized as an adult, didn't realize it as much as a child, is how much vacations meant to me. And that's one of the reasons why I just love what I do is because I have the ability to help other people create lifelong memories together on vacations. I didn't realize it at the time, but our annual family trips to either Disney World or the beach have stuck with me my entire life. And it's really, um, you know, brought me a lot of joy in helping other people do the same.

Speaker A: So, yeah, it's funny how those experiences when you're young, you don't really recognize it or appreciate it when you're a kid. But those experiences and the memories that come from them, you know, are very meaningful. Obviously, everything, you know, it's all about the little details that happen every day that really shape us. But those moments are moments that we can absolutely look back on. So let's fast forward. You're working in the corporate world. What were you doing? And more importantly, what was the point where you realized, hey, I might want to go another direction?

Speaker B: Well, I, I was actually at the, at the time working for a global consulting firm. I led our client success and business development team, had a very, very, incredibly busy schedule. I served on the leadership team for that consulting group as well. So I had a lot of responsibility. And with a lot of responsibility came a lot of stress. And I, you know, again, I go back to you mentioning that I made a decision. There became a breaking point where I was getting up at 4 o' clock in the morning and working from 4 to 7 to just try to get work knocked out. And then I would get ready for work. I drive into the office, I would take phone calls. On my way into the office, I, um, would leave the office, take phone calls and call my team on the way home. And then I would get home and I would work. And there became a time where I was absolutely exhausted and I started thinking about, what are my other options? This no longer serves me. And I really want to think about what my other options were. And quite candidly, I felt very constrained by the golden handcuffs. I earned a very healthy living. And again, I was very grateful for that. But I was Challenged to go find something else that really could afford me. The same lifestyle that I was, uh, accustomed to living. And I had started dabbling in real estate investing. Actually I got started in real estate investing by accident. And um, that's maybe a story for

Speaker A: another episode, but I think there's a really, I think there's a really important thing here is that you're working in a consulting firm, you're making a lot of money, you've got a really good life. Uh, the irony of success is that oftentimes it can feel limiting when we're in it, because now we're accustomed to a new way of living, our number of what it costs us to live that kind of life increases and, and it feels like a lot more risk to go out and try something different or transition into another sector or space. One of the things we like to talk about in the show is your number, like what it costs and what it takes to live the life that you want to live. And I can imagine if you're working in management consulting, that number, you know, you're probably accustomed to making quite a bit of money. So you're making what, a couple hundred thousand dollars a year to 300,000 more than that?

Speaker B: No, I was making just under 200.

Speaker A: So you're making just under $200,000 a year. That's like right around 12 to $15,000 a month. That's pre tax, right?

Speaker B: Mhm, correct.

Speaker A: Awesome. So you're making a great living and you live in the Midwest, so it's an unbelievably great living because the cost of living in that area is lower. Um, in your personal situation, do you have a spouse? Uh, were they working as well?

Speaker B: I do. My, my husband and I are celebrating 30 years of marriage, uh, this year. I got married when I was four, so uh, yeah, so my husband, uh, was working and still is working in

Speaker A: the corporate world and similar type income or higher or lower?

Speaker B: Yes, similar.

Speaker A: Mhm, similar income. So you have two incomes, you're in like a really strong place and you get to this point where you're feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, you know, you have a family, been married for 30 years. Like there's more to life than working in a, in a career that maybe isn't fulfilling you anymore. How did you go about looking to replace that income? Because traditional rentals, obviously you'd have to have quite a bit, uh, that you've been able to build up. But it sounds like you made a different pivot over to more of an actively operated kind of business. In real estate. So, you know, great opportunity. Let's hear about kind of the Airbnb space and what led you there and how did you feel comfortable knowing that you could walk away from, you know, 12 to 15 grand a month to be able to go do something different?

Speaker B: Yeah, well, I was investing in long term rentals and when Covid hit, there were all these eviction moratoriums that were popping up all over the country. And, um, I had really, really enjoyed real estate investing. Again, I got started by accident, but then I actually learned, you know, all the strategies and tactics about how to become a savvy real estate investor. And I loved it. And, uh, we were getting ready to buy another long term buy and hold investment. And again, all these eviction moratoriums were popping up and my husband and I sat down and thought, well, if we purchase a short term rental, you know, we don't have the risk of if somebody doesn't pay their bills, we don't have any recourse. We actually are going to have this person pay in order to get in the front door. Right. And so that's how I made the pivot into buying my first short term rental investment. And then once I bought was an oceanfront property, small condo In Myrtle Beach, S.C. i discovered, oh my gosh, I love this. Like, this is fun. Buying property on the beach is something that, again, was nothing I would ever have dreamed about. Um, because again, I grew up going on vacation to the beach and I love the beach.

Speaker A: So you buy that property, it's a small condo. What, you know, what was the, for example, like, what was the mortgage on it? You know, how much percentage did you have to put down? And then more importantly, you know, what is that, that asset create for you?

Speaker B: To give you an example, I had, um, purchased two properties at the same time. And at the time during COVID you could, you could snatch oceanfront properties for under a hundred thousand dollars in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. So my first two investments, I bought one condo for $79,000 and one condo for $90,000. I renovated them, light cosmetic rehab, held them both for just over a year, sold them, and doubled my money on both of them. And that allowed me to do a 1031 exchange into a condo, which will end up being the property, one of our properties that we retire into. But I was able to buy that property with no money down because I took two little small investments, bought them ugly. I love buying ugly property.

Speaker A: So you bought those with cash, it sounds like. No, I bought them with a loan in place.

Speaker B: Yep, yep. Had to put down 25%, um, for both of those properties and then spent, uh, about five or six thousand dollars upgrading them. Nothing, you know, earth shatteringly expensive.

Speaker A: Yeah. So I think the key thing to underline here is just the idea that when you're going to go and, you know, do something different, you're going to have to step out of your comfort zone and go out. And when everyone else is not taking action, everyone else is fearful. You went forward and you went and you took advantage of what was happening in the market. A lot of people are sitting back, they're waiting, they're not sure what's going to happen. You move forward, you bought a couple of properties. You didn't even Airbnb or rent those out. You literally just flip those properties, held them for a year, turned around, created a little bit of additional income, and then you were able to buy a property that was maybe even a better fit for, for you long term, but also, you know, has some income potential.

Speaker B: Yeah. And I did rent those out during the year that I held them. Um, I did rent those out. They performed very well. Um, but again, I'm all about continuous improvement, progress over perfection. I did not just wait until I knew everything about, you know, short term rentals. I dove in. I decided to dip my toe in the water. Dove in, and again discovered I absolutely loved it. And I started buying more property at the beach. So within the first year, I bought and rehabbed eight condos at the beach. Um, but again started thinking about how can I continue to improve my portfolio and level up. Right. And so that's why, um, when I saw the market take, uh, a shift and I saw the prices starting to raise, um, I thought, m. You know, there's an opportunity here where I could take these properties, uh, that I originally purchased. I saw what they were selling for, I knew how much I had invested in them, and I thought, gosh, if I just go ahead and sell these, I, I can purchase a property that I would have never dreamed I could afford.

Speaker A: And what was the motivation on those two to get rid of them versus just hold those forever? I have to imagine at, uh, you know, $80,000, a, a, a unit, they had to be maybe not in the best of the best area. And so what you did, it sounds like, is you traded up, you made some money in something, and then you traded up to something that's more of a long term, you know.

Speaker B: Yeah. Well, it's interesting. I discovered a lot of people get nervous about buying properties that are Condos. Right. Um, something to keep in mind is that in the Myrtle beach market, uh, or in any ocean market that has condos, oftentimes those oceanfront properties are intended to be vacation rentals or short term rentals. So it never made me nervous about buying a condo specifically. But what I discovered about the building that I had originally purchased those two properties in is that the condo association did not have the level of care, uh, to the building that I wanted. And so what I discovered is my target audience I own from the walls in. Right. With a condo, my condos were beautiful and that attracts a certain audience. And when that certain audience would leave my condo, they would have a very different experience. And so I noticed that there was a little bit of, uh, mismatch between my target audience, the people that I was looking to host, and what the actual building or property could really support. Uh, and so what I again started noticing is the reviews that would come in would talk about, gosh, Stacy was a great host. We loved her property, but boy, oh boy, we wish that we didn't find a dirty sock in the pool. Yeah, those days.

Speaker A: Yeah, it's funny how that is. Like, this is one of the biggest mistakes I think a lot of people make is they sit on the sidelines and they wait around. They wait to try to get everything perfect, to know all the information. And yet the best way to learn is to go and take some action and go into it from a perspective of saying, hey, I might have to pay some tuition on this, it may not go well, but if it does go well, you know, I have an opportunity to make some money. But more Importantly, the first one or two or 10 or 100, whatever it is for that person's individual goals, it's about learning. It's about going in there and getting that experience. Because until you've bought you, you're not going to understand or recognize the importance of the condo association or understanding their books and, and how much money they have in reserves or what kind of capex is going to be required on that building, or are they going to end up raising the HOA fees or is there a certain type of person in the building that makes it difficult to get funding or financing all these things. You don't know until you actually get into it. Unless somebody else is kind of holding your hand or guiding you. There's. So I think that that's amazing. So what you really did was you decided that you were going to go and focus full time on real estate and you were going to use different Strategies in order to create the income that you needed to be able to go and make that transition versus just thinking, hey, I can only do one thing, which is Airbnb, or I can only do one thing, which is, uh, uh. But you actually looked at, hey, there's. There's value in understanding all these different pieces, including trading up to better properties.

Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, absolutely. And, you know, you. You mentioned the word deciding again. I think, for me, I had a specific outcome I was looking to achieve. And quite candidly, I didn't know how at the time. I didn't know how I was going to step outside of the corporate world. I didn't buy two properties at the beach and go, this is my golden ticket. I have it now. Right. But what I knew was I had an outcome I was looking for. And one of my mentors, um, I. You know, there was a very specific time in my life where I went through a lot of internal turmoil. Like, again, I felt very trapped by the golden handcuffs, and I was trying to figure everything out in my mind, and I didn't know how I was going to get out. But one of my mentors says, you have to let go, to let in. And so I let go and just really trusted the process and understanding that I was going through a transformation. I was figuring it out, and I had to be okay with operating outside of my comfort zone. And that took. That, you know, took some learning. It took some muscle building mentally. Um, but learning how to operate outside of my comfort zone is probably one of the greatest assets I've, uh, learned, um, and have in my toolbox. Because as an entrepreneur and someone who is now fully responsible of generating, um, my paycheck on a weekly monthly annual basis, there can still be fear that gets in the way. Right? There can still be doubt that creeps in. And learning how to control your mind, learning how to control your thinking and operate again in a space that's outside of your comfort zone is something that I have found incredibly important.

Speaker A: Yeah, I think it's really interesting because until you go through those difficult times, that growth, you don't recognize the capabilities that are within. And I feel. Feel like everybody would benefit from stepping out of their comfort zone, but a lot of people just won't. They won't do it. They're. They're too set in their ways. And, you know, when I got started in real estate, you know, over a decade ago, I didn't know anything. I. And in, uh, all honesty, by not knowing anything but making that decision, it actually allowed me to Go do things other people wouldn't do, just wouldn't do. And I'm curious about your experience in the Airbnb, because I was, uh, a super host back in 2013. Very, uh, early days, very different time, uh, went through, uh, the experience of having local municipalities, you know, banned, uh, Airbnb all the way to having them make it legal and seeing the benefits and the downsides of both of those. Um, and I have great friends who run some incredible properties, including one that, you know, makes 350 to $400,000 a year on one single property. Um, so it's amazing to see the different variables that are there, but there's always risk, there's always risk that something gets outlawed or, or people's, uh, vacation patterns change. So when somebody's thinking about adding this type of strategy into their life, what are some of the key things they need to be comfortable and ready for, uh, when they're going to say, hey, I might go down the path of doing vacation rentals. Because I think there's a lot of beliefs out there that it's easy and there's a lot of different ways to make it easier. But you know, it's, it's, it's a everyday, uh, type experience where people are coming and going on a regular basis.

Speaker B: Yeah, Yeah. I think there was a time probably three to four years ago where anyone could purchase the property, list it on any OTA, Airbnb, VRBO, booking.com, whatever the case might be, and make money. Right. Because there was, coming out of COVID there was so much pent up travel demand that everybody was, you know, flying out of their, their chairs to travel, you know, somewhere. Fast forward to today, um, when you have a short term rental, it is a very active business and it is a business. It is. If you treat it like, oh, I've just got this house down the street that I run out every so often. That's the kind of result you're going to get. Right. If you treat it as a business and you bring business best practices to, um, your operation, if you have, you know, values that you operate by as a business leader, if you um, build high producing teams, whether they're operational teams or marketing teams, whatever the case might be, if you treat this as a business, it can be incredibly rewarding. But it is not something that you can just purchase a piece of real estate and throw it up on Airbnb and think you're going to become an overnight millionaire. Yeah, I mean, maybe it is. If, if you know anybody like that Stephen, let me know. But um, it's a very active business and one of the things to keep in mind is that, you know, you don't have to do everything yourself. A lot of people, um, again, think about, oh gosh, I don't want to get phone calls from guests or I don't want to, you know, um, get messages from guests 24 7. Just like any long term rental, with a short term rental you can hire people, you can bring on team members that manage that day to day for you. But I think, you know, understanding that there is a real estate investment and there is an operation. Mhm. And you can choose to do one or both sides.

Speaker A: Yeah. That is something that I think way too many people overlook when I hear folks, because I run a private equity firm, we invest primarily in multifamily by 50 to 100 unit buildings and we turn them and sell them in a couple year period or we buy 200 plus unit buildings, we hold them for a very long time, we operate and manage those ongoing. And so what's interesting is I, I have people on my team who are talking to folks on, you know, a daily basis that are interested in investing and we hear about the experiences of doing different things or going down different paths. And from my experience, Airbnb is a full time operational business. There is a real estate component and you, uh, either own the real estate or you lease the real estate or however you go about it. But at the end of the day it's about the operation. So you can absolutely hire a manager to do it. But hiring really great managers is always a challenge and there's always going to be work that has to go into it. And so in exchange for that work and that skill of building the team and managing the team, there can be some really great rewards that can come back on a typical short term rental deal. Everything obviously really depends on location and property type and size and things like that. What type of return on investment should somebody be looking for on an annual basis on an Airbnb if they're going to go and buy something? Let's talk mid tier. Let's talk super high tier. High luxury.

Speaker B: Yeah, well, candidly, I, up until this point, I don't operate high luxury properties. So I'd probably not be your best person to, to throw those out or to share insights about that. Um, I would say my properties are mid tier and upscale, but I'm not ultra luxury.

Speaker A: So you're hitting that middle market, kind of the widest group. People want a little bit of a nicer place, but still.

Speaker B: And creating standout properties in any market, in any tier, it's. How do we make our properties stand out? Um, very early on I was looking for a 30 cash on cash return. Right. That was, that was what I was very easily able to get early on. Um, those numbers are very difficult to meet today.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Um, with the way that the real estate market has shifted, uh, with the competition in the market, um, you know, a lot of folks who, and I'd love to get your perspective as well, a lot of folks who are investing in, you know, long term rentals might look at an 8 to 10 to 12% cash on cash and say, gosh, that's, that's pretty decent. Right?

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: I mean, back in the day, I mean, again, just a few years ago, it was incredibly easy to hit some really, really strong cash on cash numbers. Now, um, if you're buying on the mls, if you're not buying through creative strategies or you know, directly sourcing properties from sellers, um, you know, seeing something around 15 to 20% cash on cash is still feasible. Um, but again, it's going to, you know, you're going to work a little harder to get those numbers.

Speaker A: And just to double click on that. When you're saying 15 to 20% cash on cash or 30% cash on cash, you're talking about the income that comes off the property, net of expenses and net of management costs and net of your, your personal costs.

Speaker B: Correct.

Speaker A: But you're also putting in your time, effort and energy and that's not included in that 30% number.

Speaker B: That is correct.

Speaker A: Got it. And when you're hiring an outside manager Paying what, 15 to 30%, sometimes as high as 50. For an outside manager.

Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, for, for, for a third party property manager co host, um, market, you know, you'll probably see vary between 15 to 25%. Um, and if you are in a scenario where you're investing in a resort and you're using some sort of on site management, um, those can be 35, 40, 45, 50% sometimes.

Speaker A: Yeah. So that makes, that makes a lot of sense. Right. So I think that's the key. You can make some phenomenal money doing Airbnb, but the key to making that money is you have to find a way to love it, to love the, the effort that goes into it. The, the experience, the, the checking on people and making sure they're having a great experience. Those little things that go the extra mile to not only get great feedback but also find out about what things aren't going well, at the property because sometimes your manager will not look as closely as you. Well. So, uh, it can be a great way just, just for a little funny, uh, nugget, uh, as a comparison to what it's like today. When I was doing Airbnb, I was renting apartments for 1200 bucks a month. And during the busy season I would make an average of 75 to 80, $500 a month per, per apartment. And on a 12 month average it was right around 4, 500, uh, per month on a $1200 rent. Obviously there's some other expenses in there and other things like that, but it's wild to see what happens in a market when things start to get saturated and when other people start finding out about this opportunity because back in 2013 is a zany idea who's going to rent out their house? And to me like, that was incredible. And it's hard for me to think about going into something at 15 to 20%. But the key thing that I think you're underlining is the importance of, of having a team, um, to be able to manage that stuff totally.

Speaker B: And you know, I could not do what I do without having an amazing team in place. Um, I think for me it is incredibly important to build teams of people that align with my core values that, you know, have a dedication to guest experience. Again, in my world, that's incredibly important. We are in the hospitality business, right. When we are managing short term rentals.

Speaker A: And how much time do you think you put in? Personally? Like this is an active business, you love it, you get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Is it a, this is a full time role, 40 to 60 hours a week? Is it a part time role? I'm spending, you know, 20 hours a week. What, what does that typically look like for you?

Speaker B: That's a, that's a really good question. And for me personally, again, I run a property management company. I do co hosting as well and I also, you know, have my own properties. So I have a, a business that not only manages my own properties, but manages for other people. So I have intentionally built um, my business with a team based model. Again, when I first started building this, I was still working full time and so I had to build a business that relied on other people's knowledge and skill sets. So from the start I have personally only worked in my business about 10 hours a week. That being said, I have people that work round the clock non stop, uh, to take care of uh, the day to day and my guests. Right.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: So I have a 247 concierge team. I have an operations manager, revenue manager. Um, you know, I've got people in place around me and what that allows me to do is quite candidly operate in my genius zone, which I think is incredibly important as an entrepreneur as well. Um, and be able to leverage their, my team members skill sets and their experiences to elevate my own business. So delegate. To elevate, um, as they say.

Speaker A: Yeah. I think that's the key thing to understand is like, realistically you're going to spend at least 10 hours a week in the business, on the business, and even if you build a great team, it's still going to take some dedicated effort and brain space. But then, you know, without the team, you're going to have to, you know, be interrupted more often. But obviously when you're getting started, maybe that, that can work if you aren't working a full time job or you're looking to kind of build something different. So let's pivot off of this a little bit and talk to me a little bit about. Well, before we do, you were at $16,000 a month pre tax. Have you exceeded that just on the Airbnb rental side on a consistent monthly basis?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So you've been able to replace your income and you built another business that now is supporting that and you get to do what you love. So I, I mean, I think there's really nothing better than building a business around that zone of genius, around something that you're excited about, that you get to share with other people and just lights you up. And so from an investment portfolio standpoint, before you got into this, was your primarily, uh, primary portfolio, your 401k and stock options, like the traditional stuff with a couple rentals or is there anything else that you were doing before you got into this space?

Speaker B: No. I mean, again, we had a handful of long term rentals in class C neighborhoods. We had, you know, investments when it comes to 401k stock, things like that. But I was never really proactive about managing those. It was like, okay, uh, just, you know, 6% went into that account and we'll see what it looks like, you know, in 20 or 30 years. So it's never taking a proactive approach to that, if that makes sense.

Speaker A: No, it makes perfect sense. And then since kind of going in this direction, building this business, would you say majority of your net worth has gone into this strategy or are you still allocating to a variety of different things? Things?

Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we've, we've shifted a tremendous amount of our investments into short term rentals, into the hospitality business. Um, as well. We're currently working on developing a luxury glamping resort. Um, so certainly all in, in, in the hospitality space. Um, but that being said, I think one thing again just to take note of is a very keen proactive approach into building wealth and building our future versus taking a sideline kind of backseat approach. Again, a regular corporate employee who's just shelling money off into my 401k and not paying attention to it. And again, I didn't know any better at the time, right. But learning that I can be very strategic in the way that I invest my money and have, um, have a portfolio, that lights me up. But also, you know, when, when you're in the room with super smart people, when you are in the room with people who have, um, achieved what you want to achieve, you automatically learn new things all the time. And so I think not only taking a proactive approach to invest, taking a proactive approach into skill building and learning from what other people have done in this space and in others has just been really, really cool.

Speaker A: Yeah, I think there's something really. The big takeaways I take from your story and your experience is first, they don't teach generally, they don't teach people to think like an investor. They don't teach them to have the investor mindset. They're not going out and saying, hey, take ownership of your portfolio, take ownership of your wealth, make the key decisions about where that money is going to go, um, and, and, and really be able to understand how do you get to that point where you can be totally free. And one of the reasons they don't do that is because, you know, uh, as much as everyone might have the best of intentions, they don't really want you to be free. They want you to stay in the machine so that you can keep creating the output that's necessary for the economy and for the company and for Wall street to be able to use that money to do the things they do. But the second thing is that you took a chance and you went and tried something and maybe it didn't work out exactly the way you wanted to. You tried a few different things and you've built up that experience over time. And I think if you're going to be an active operator, which owning Airbnb is going to be active, um, versus passively investing into a fund that someone else manages, you really have to make that decision for yourself, to go all in and to learn as much as you can and really enjoy the process. But the third thing that I take away from your experience is a great example about how people that build massive amounts of wealth, it's not through diversification, it's through concentration. Meaning you've built, you've built this new business for yourself. You've gone and acquired a bunch of real estate. You now have other opportunities to continue to build a business using those same resources in partnership or alongside other people and in a vendor relationship. And that's how you really can go from I'm living a good life to I'm creating wealth that I can pass on to future generations and really make a difference. And at some point maybe you'll switch over to diversification when you're in the preservation phase. But in order to grow, you want to find those key opportunities, those key partners to work with, or those key strategies and then kind of go all in. So tell me your thoughts on that.

Speaker B: Yeah, it's interesting to get your perspective on my story because, you know, it's not very often that you get to hear that. So thank you for, for sharing that. I, um, think it, it is absolutely true. Um, you know, I, I take a look at again, my own path and I have built a business around something that I have discovered I love. Right. And so again, being very intentional about that and leaning into that is something that, um, I, I really appreciate. And I think going back to your mention of making a decision, of being intentional, of being m, uh strategic about what I'm building for my future, I may not have everything figured out right from the start. It takes experience and learning along the way. But um, I absolutely, wholeheartedly agree. Uh, for, for me, where I am in my phase of, of my journey, I, I would never trade any experience that I've had. Although they've, you know, some are more fun than others. But um, I think even when we make mistakes or have hiccups, those are opportunities to learn. And so we should be celebrating those mistakes as much as we should celebrate the wins as long as we're learning from them. But um, you know, I think for, for me having the ability to again concentrate on honing my skills and being the best short term rental and hospitality business owner possible brings uh, excitement to me and it helps me stay excited about future years to come as well.

Speaker A: Yeah, that, that's amazing. Well, I, I've got one more question for you, but before I do, why don't you share where folks can follow you or listen to your show?

Speaker B: Sure. So probably the best place to Find me online is through my website, which is dc saint john.com you can also find me on Facebook, um, on Instagram, at Underscore. Yeah, Stacy Underscore St. Period. John. It's a long. It's a crazy name. Don't ever ask me to find my name on a computer, because every computer system has it differently. Just go to Stacy St. John.com M. That's the best place to get me.

Speaker A: Amazing. Amazing. Well, the last question I have for you, and I just want to say thanks for being on. It's been great. Kind of talking about your story and your experience. But for those people who are listening and they know they want to take their life to the next level, they know they want to start investing or build the business or create a better life, and they've heard a bunch about a bunch of different strategies, yet they're not taking action. What advice do you have for those folks?

Speaker B: Um, my. My advice would be this, um, that you never want to, um, reach a day and age where you look back and you think, oh, man, I should have done this. If only I would have known, or if only I would have thought, or if only what I. I would have gotten out of my own way. Um, you there. Being a person of action is something that's incredibly important. It. Take the action. No matter how big or small, just don't stop. Sit by the sidelines, take the action, make the decision, have a commitment to learning and continuous improvement along the way. And I don't think you'll regret it.

Speaker A: Amazing. Well, Stacy, thanks for being on, and thank you all for listening to another episode of the Investor Mindset show. We'll see you on the next episode. Today's episode is sponsored by Von Finch Capital. If you're interested in investing alongside me in the same type of real estate opportunities that I personally invest in, then head over to Von Finch Capital and join their private investor network. You can do so@von finch.com invest. Join me on that next deal and, uh, I look forward to seeing you on the inside. Thank you for listening. If you like what you heard, make sure to rate, review, subscribe and share with a friend. Head over to the investormindset.com to join the insider club where we share tools and strategies from the top investors and entrepreneurs and how to take it to the next level. Hey, this is Stephen again. Just one more thing before you take off, and that is the Insiders newsletter. Would you enjoy getting a single email every week with some of my favorite things, including tips and strategies on how to get the most out of your life and your investments. Basically, what it is is some of the coolest things that I've discovered or I'm pondering when it comes to comes to life, investing and business. Delivered in a short email every week to your inbox. Easy to sign up for, easy to cancel. If you'd like to try it out, type into your browser investormindset.com newsletter to get started and you'll get the very next one.