Ft Myers Beach - Good Neighbor
Listen & Subscribe
Island Vibes Ahead!
Tune in to the Ft. Myers Beach – Good Neighbor Podcast, where the spirit of community meets the rhythm of island life. Each episode is a laid-back journey through heartfelt stories, local voices, and the connections that make our beach town so special. Whether you’re a resident or just dreaming of coastal breezes, let us be your guide to all things good in our neighborhood.
Hit play and catch the vibe – Ft. Myers Beach style.
Ft Myers Beach - Good Neighbor
Navigating Life's Red Tape: Shalonda Washington's Story
Ever wonder how someone transforms from facing seemingly impossible odds to becoming a respected business leader? Meet Shalonda Washington, owner of Reliable Permitting with over 27 years of experience helping property owners, realtors, and contractors navigate complex building regulations.
What makes Shalonda's story remarkable is where it began. Pregnant at 14, she didn't have the luxury of contemplating college options—she needed immediate solutions to support her child. Starting as a temp worker on construction sites, she discovered her aptitude for navigating permit processes. When a frustrated customer asked for her help at the county offices, a business idea sparked that would change her life forever.
The journey wasn't straightforward. With a mother cycling through prison due to addiction and having grown up in project housing, Shalonda had no business role models. "I had to overcome the thought processes...how can I lead someone, how can I escape the environment that I've always seen?" she shares candidly. These internal barriers proved more challenging than any external obstacle.
Today, Shalonda doesn't just run a successful permitting business—she's dedicated to lifting others through mentorship programs for women and young people. Her message "If you can see her, you can be her" resonates with those facing their own seemingly impossible circumstances. Through her Washington Family Ministry and speaking engagements across multiple states, she demonstrates how purpose extends beyond profit.
Want to learn more about navigating permitting regulations or connect with Shalonda? Find Reliable Permitting on social media or visit www.reliablepermittingbss.com. Have you overcome significant obstacles to build something meaningful? Share your story with us and join the conversation!
Reliable Permitting & BSS Inc.
Shalonda Washington "Permit Queen"
1016 Collier Center Way Suite 104 Naples, FL 34110
239-234-2578
Apermitqueen@reliablepermittingbss.com
Ft Myers Beach-Good Neighbor
To Nominate Someone to be Featured
Or
To Subscribe to the Newsletter
Welcome to the Fort Myers Beach Good Neighbor Podcast, where the sun's always shining and the stories are even brighter. Each episode we bring you closer to the neighbors, local legends and beachside businesses that make Fort Myers Beach the slice of paradise we all love. Pull up a beach chair, grab a drink and let's meet the people who make this island feel like home. We want to send out some island love to Eric Tibbs from Edward Jones State Insurance, usa and Home Well Care Services Fort Myers. Love to Eric Tibbs from Edward Jones State Insurance, usa and Home Well Care Services Fort Myers. They are the businesses that allow us to share the soul of our community with every listener, from local stories to the positive vibe of island life. Here's to celebrating all that makes Fort Myers Beach the slice of paradise we all love. Here's your host, cabo, jim Schaller.
Speaker 2:Welcome good neighbors in Fort Myers Beach Today we have good neighbor Shalonda Washington from Reliable Permitting Welcome. Hey, how are you? I am doing awesome Pleasure to have you on the show and share your story with our listeners. So I guess, without further ado, let's jump right in. Why don't you share a little bit about what you do?
Speaker 3:Oh yes, so I am Shalonda Washington, with Reliable Permitting of over 27 years, and we have a permitting service that serves title companies, banks, realtors, closing attorneys, contractors, subcontractors, along with owner builders and investors.
Speaker 2:Wow, so that's quite a lot.
Speaker 3:Yes, sir, it is a lot, but we enjoy it. We love it. I have mastered it. It's something that I know I was created to do and be. I've never I know per minute could be like how in the world you should be pulling out every strand of your hair, but every morning I wake up excited because it is exciting, and don't ever do anything the same. I don't care what it is. It can be the same type of permit, but every property comes with something different.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and you got to be passionate about what you do and it sounds like you are, so let's back up your story a little bit. How did you get involved in this whole industry to start with?
Speaker 3:Well, I was a teen mom. I was. I got pregnant when I was 14 years old, in high school, 10th grade, and of course, being a young mom, I had to think fast about what it was I was going to do to support this baby. It wasn't about when. It was, what college I was going to go to, what school I was going to do to support this baby. It wasn't about what college I was going to go to, what school I was going to go to, and because of my background and having my grandmother raise me, it wasn't an option for me to have her to raise now her great-granddaughter.
Speaker 3:So I had to think fast and so I started registering with the temp agency temp services right out of high school and it landed me on a construction site with Erickson Hunt Construction, which is right now. You can see them on the roads, the highways, in the middle of the night, when you're sleeping. If you're on the highway, you know not sleeping around three or four o'clock in the morning they're building the highway. So I started there right out of high school and so, with that being on a construction site, them began to give me more responsibilities and sending me to the county to submit permits, to understand land development, all of this. One day I went into the county and a guy approached me and said how much do you charge me to do this? I hate coming here. They're just you know. He was at his wit's end At that moment. It was like what People pay for this? And so that kind of started the spark.
Speaker 2:Very nice. Let's talk about challenges. Obviously, converting to your own business and starting your own business has challenges. What type of challenges have you overcome that you can look back at now and say I made it, I'm doing great?
Speaker 3:Wow, I think one of the biggest challenges is not seeing anyone in my family lineage do what I've done, understanding that I was trailblazing and I did not have a support system. I did not have someone that mentored me. So my biggest challenge was we run our business from the inside out, correct. So I had to deal with the internal stuff of, you know, having the lack of a mom in my, in my life because she was in and out of prison serving prison citizens addicted to crack and heroin, and me coming out of the projects and not knowing it.
Speaker 3:Could I really do this? Is this am I? Is this real? Like who am I fooling? Type thing? Like who am I fooling type thing. So I had to overcome the thought processes overcome, I think, too, by my grandmother taking me to the prisons to see my mom Hearing those doors slam, seeing that there was no way out, seeing walls everywhere. It kind of built something for me mentally, and so the challenge was how can I lead someone, how can I escape the environment that I've always seen? And so for me, the biggest challenge was knowing and understanding that I can lead a team, I can grow a business and I could have a business and switch from survival mode to thriving mode. That was my challenge.
Speaker 2:So let's shift a little bit about permitting in general. So are there any myths or misconceptions that we can kind of maybe clear up for our listeners today?
Speaker 3:Yes, one of the biggest misconceptions I encounter, especially from property owners and realtors, is that the building department's primary goal is to simply collect fees and overly regulate everything that you own, right? So that's the first thing I get. People are frustrated Like it's my property, I should do what I want to do. Why are they in my business, all of that? But it may seem that way on the surface, but the reality is quite different. You know, the billing departments are there to enforce safety protocols, regulations based on building code. These rules are designed to protect the investment of the buyers and ensure that properties are safe. I mean, think about the shoe being on the other foot. If I'm buying a property. I don't want to buy something that I don't feel is safe, that I didn't know that it went through the proper inspection channels, right. That you know I'm going to get some is going to blow up later or the floor is going to crack. So these things are really in place to protect your investment and everyone's interest. So that's the biggest misconception that I get.
Speaker 2:That's crazy that some people just kind of ignore that. In general, that's important stuff. People need to kind of follow these guidelines. They're set for reasons right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and the thing is, our biggest niche right now is open permits with the realtors and title companies and banks. That's how they got involved with needing our service. It's more, you can't even sell a property if the title company finds that there's either number one not a permit. You can't even get lending if there's not a permit. Your property improved value doesn't even go up where? Because now you got the 50 rule, which is FEMA. Fema determines how much you can improve your property based upon the improvement value, and if you don't have a permit, then the appraiser can't give you credit for your value to go up. So it's really for your benefit.
Speaker 2:It's yeah, crazy, crazy stuff. So are you from Southwest Florida originally?
Speaker 3:Born and raised right here in Naples, Florida.
Speaker 2:Born and raised, so you've seen a lot of change down here for sure, right.
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 2:And it's good. You know it's transitioning right now, you know, with the recent events and hurricanes that have come through here, but we're getting back on our feet and moving forward. What do you do? Obviously, owning a business can be very demanding of your time, but when you get a moment of free time, what do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Speaker 3:Well, I love empowering women. I have a girl's mentorship, I even have women mentorship and I'm also have a an event coming up called a day with Shalonda Washington. If you can see her, you can be her because of the challenges that I faced in life and had to overcome, and I know it's real. I mean, you have women most women we start our businesses to survive Seriously, not for anything else. We don't start it because we want to become this wealthy guru. Most women I'm talking about maybe 98% is because I've got a responsibility right and we're nurturers and we're caretakers. But I want the women to look at, I like to see their mindset shift because I had to do a lot of that and I'm still doing some, if you know, truth be told. But I'm not where I used to be and where I am now. I'm strong enough to impart and pour into other women and I love the young people because I was that girl, I was that girl and I want them to become women in life that they're not women, that are just girls who didn't heal because you're running your business from the inside out. So to have that day with Shalonda Washington to attack those things, to talk about the truth about business the loneliness of it, the emotional part of it and the three parts that we must be in a business to have a balance. So that's what I do.
Speaker 3:I'm a speaking, I'm a transformative speaker. I speak a lot right now. This month I have four speaking engagements along with this podcast and and they're all along the line of my purpose and it's in ministry and marketplace. So we do have a ministry Washington Family Ministry. We do a lot on Immokalee. Right now we're doing our back to school, but it's always a joy. Last weekend we did Grace to Grow and that's a girl empowerment and I was asked to bring it to Miami. In October last year I was asked to bring Her Perfect Condition to Tennessee to the Women's Rise Up Recovery Shelter for women overcoming addictions, and so that's what I do and I love it. I mean it just fills my heart with joy and that's my purpose in this life.
Speaker 2:And it's great when you can follow your passion and give back and motivate some of these people that need that guidance. Because what do they say? If you're not learning, you're not growing. So you know you're getting these people growing in the right way, in the right direction. So is there one thing you wish our listeners knew about you, or what you do that maybe they wouldn't be too aware of?
Speaker 3:Well, what I think, permitting variances, development, that we have not found an answer for. It's not if we can do it, it's how we have to get it done. So that's the biggest thing. Some people think, oh, this is just so much. Even with code violations, I'll attend the hearings. There's a way, and it's about who you know and how to navigate through these systems, and I've been doing this for 27 years. People ask me all the time Well, who's your competition? I don't have any, because I have construction admin knowledge and building officials. I'm invited to these meetings and usually I'm the only female in the room. So, because I represent the public and I've been doing this a long time.
Speaker 2:Very good. So how would a list is go about contacting you if they wanted to learn more? Had some questions.
Speaker 3:Yes, we are on Facebook, instagram, tiktok, under reliable permitting, under reliable permitting, and you can also go to my website at www. reliablepermittingbss. com. That's reliable permitting B as in boy S, as in Sam S, as in Sam. com, and you can see all that we offer right there, all the levels of different phases of permitting, and we take you from the cradle to the grave, from open permits to new construction. So reach out to us, we're the ones to have on your team.
Speaker 2:Very good, any last words for our listeners today.
Speaker 3:Just remember that if you can see him or her, you can be him or her, so be encouraged. Also, know that the event that's coming up A Day with Shalonda Washington is August the 29th at the Perry Hotel here in Naples, Florida. You can also go and register for that on Eventbrite. It's going to be amazing.
Speaker 2:Very good, shalonda, it's been a pleasure getting to know you. Thank you for being such a good neighbor and what you do in the community, and we'll see you out there soon.
Speaker 3:Okay, yes, thank you.
Speaker 1:Thanks for tuning in to the Fort Myers Beach Good Neighbor Podcast, where community meets paradise. If you love what you heard, share it with a friend and keep the good vibes going Until next time. Stay sunny, stay salty and keep being a good neighbor. Also, to nominate your favorite neighbors, local legends, heroes or island businesses to be on the show, go to CaboWaboJim. com. That's CaboWaboJim. com, or call 239-427-4100. We want to send out some island love to Eric Tibbs from Edward Jones State Insurance USA and Home Well Care Services Fort Myers. They are the businesses that allow us to share the soul of our community with every listener, from local stories to the positive vibe of island life. Here's to celebrating all that makes Fort Myers Beach the slice of paradise we all want.