Reclaiming Your Hue: A Podcast for Women Rediscovering Themselves in Motherhood & Entrepreneurship

Ep. 81 with Erin Fitzgerald | Founder, Willow Peak Commercial RE

• Kelly Kirk • Season 1 • Episode 81

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Some decisions feel like cliff dives, but sometimes you realize you’ve been standing on the edge for years. That’s how Erin describes leaving her only salaried job to launch Willow Peak, a commercial real estate investment platform built on autonomy, intuition, and a mission to create spaces where people thrive. Motherhood came first, and the calendar didn’t bend—so she built a life that could. Not fewer hours, but better ones: the freedom to meet the bus at 4:23, then return to models, leases, and lenders once the house quiets.

We go behind the deal sheet to unpack why she believes we’re in the greatest buying opportunity of our lifetime in commercial real estate. After two decades selling trophy assets, she’s now buying with discipline, repositioning with purpose, and inviting investors to participate in value created by timing, execution, and human-centered design. Erin explains the real mechanics: note sales, lender negotiations, capital stacks, leasing plans, and the very real complexity that scales with each acquisition. She also shares practical on-ramps for smaller buyers who can play the long game.

The conversation widens into the personal choices that make professional courage possible. Erin talks about navigating a male-dominated field by being three times as prepared while refusing to mute her feminine strengths. She shares her nightly rituals with her daughters—affirmations and a simple song—that ground their home in presence. And she opens up about addiction and recovery: a college-era battle with meth, years of sobriety, and a recent, deeply personal decision to stop drinking again after a moment of spiritual clarity. For her, sobriety is about signal, not stigma—about catching the guidance she prays for.

If you’re seeking a livable version of ambition—one that honors family, faith, and focus while seizing rare windows in the market—this one will hit home. Listen, share with a friend who needs permission to choose autonomy, and if it resonates, subscribe and leave a quick review so more mompreneurs can find us.

Connect with Erin:

Contact the Host, Kelly Kirk:

  • Email: info.ryh7@gmail.com

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Credits:

  • Editor: Joseph Kirk
  • Music: Kristofer Tanke


Thanks for listening & cheers to Reclaiming Your Hue!

Kelly:

Welcome everybody to Reclaiming Your Hue, where we are dedicated to empowering women to embrace and amplify their inherent brilliance. Our mission is to inspire mothers and entrepreneurs to unlock their full potential and radiate their true selves. I'm your host, Kelly Kirk, and each week my goal is to bring to you glorious guests as well as solo episodes. So let's dive in. Good morning, Erin.

SPEAKER_00:

Good morning, Kelly.

Kelly:

How are you? I'm good. How are you?

SPEAKER_00:

Good.

Kelly:

Good, good, good. I'm so happy to have you here, and it's nice that you didn't have too far of a commute.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. It was an easy commute this morning. Thank you for having me.

Kelly:

You're welcome. You know, sometimes I've got individuals like I think the farthest in person that I've had has been like Wisconsin area, Hudson, Wisconsin area. Or actually, was it like River Falls area? But that's probably the farthest somebody has traveled to get here in person. And then there's an urn that's just here, you know, within like a few minutes.

SPEAKER_01:

So just right down the street. Well, I just love it.

SPEAKER_04:

I love it too, because I love the fact that there are so many mom entrepreneurs that are that are within in in our circumference of you that you can't be here in person.

Kelly:

It's just I'm just scratching the surface. Yeah. I'm just scratching the surface. And you know, I've I've thrown in a few um nationally as well. Farthest, farthest um person on the podcast was Toronto. Okay. But yeah, but anywho, I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad you're here. This is this is gonna be good. I've been really looking forward to this. Now, can you share with the listeners who introduced us? How it is that you and I are connected.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, so through Brandon Vitale, who he and I, uh his his wife and and him and and myself have daughters the same age. So I think we first met around homecoming in you know kindergarten for our oldest daughters. Um, and he told me about uh a good friend of his who has this amazing podcast directed at mom entrepreneurs, and he was like, You absolutely have to meet her.

Kelly:

And he's so like I just adore him. And he is actually like with us being in real estate and him being a mortgage lender too, one of like our preferred peeps that we are connecting our individuals, our clients with. So if we can, if they if they need that. But yeah, he's just such a a warm and welcoming person, wonderful person. They're such a great family, always looking to like do best for you. Like, how can I do best for you? Like, who's somebody who I can connect you with? And that's Brandon Vitale. That is Brandon. Okay, let's go ahead and dive in. Okay. What came first for you? Was it motherhood or was it entrepreneurship?

SPEAKER_04:

It was motherhood. I did grow up in uh being strictly commissioned, so I was always an independent contractor, which a lot of times felt like entrepreneurship until I actually became an entrepreneur. And then I was like, oh no, no, no, no. I even though I thought I was sort of running my own businesses my entire life, nothing prepares you for true entrepreneurship.

Kelly:

Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

So motherhood came first.

Kelly:

I want to talk about this because this is I came from the world of commission. When I started the podcast, I was in mortgage, and that's 100% commission, right? But you're you're W-2'd. Does that make sense? Yes, sure. Okay. And so I I literally was like, oh my gosh, how are women doing this? How are they doing the hustle and the grind? And you know, real estate in general is just a hustle and a grind. Um, but nothing to your point actually prepared me until I made the switch to like full-on entrepreneurship in business with my husband, talking about like, you know, should we keep everything as is with the 1099 or go S-corp or do this or that? And then you're all of a sudden you're really talking about like the true financial scope of what being an entrepreneur looks like. Yeah. In a whole different capacity. It's very fascinating.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, there's a lot behind the scenes that you have to set up just in order to make it viable to be able to work and do and do what you want to do.

Kelly:

Yeah. I am curious. Talk me through that moment for you when you did make the switch. And as you were getting kind of settled into entrepreneurship and you're evaluating the difference between the two, what were some of the things that were going through your head?

SPEAKER_04:

There wasn't one moment. I mean, I can tell you the moment that I made up my mind to quit my big corporate job, which was the only time in my adult life that I had actually had a salary. So I had a very nice, comfortable, big corporate job. Uh, and and I did make the decision that it was time for me to start my own company and and put in my notice within a week of of making that that decision. But the idea was embedded in me for years. And I I am a very spiritual person and I listen to divine guidance. And it's it's something I can't ignore, even if I even if I wanted to. So for me, it was uh there was a calling outside of myself. And I would say that it was like a a remembrance of why I came to the planet at this time. And I was like, okay, you have a bigger mission here. There's a reason why you're here. And this reason isn't just to be a cog in a wheel, being told what to do, how to spend your life Monday through Friday, nine to five. Uh, this is when we were still going into the office Monday through Friday night to five. Yeah, yeah. So these look different. But that's but that's the idea. It was like there was little by little different situations happened where there was sort of this unfolding of you have a greater purpose, and the only way to do that is through complete freedom. You have to have complete autonomy for this idea to be birthed through you.

Kelly:

Oh, I love that. That's really good. Okay, so let's take a step back. Motherhood came first. Yes. You've got two gal two little girls running around, and they're not so little anymore. Um, remind me their ages again.

SPEAKER_04:

They are now 11 and 14.

Kelly:

Okay. Yeah. So I am curious when you made the the transition into entrepreneurship, at what ages were the girls?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, this was only a year and a half ago. So yeah, they were you know similar, nine and a half and a you know, twelve thirteen.

Kelly:

Okay. So I guess where I want to take this is let's let's talk through some of a little bit more in depth about the ins and outs of pre-entrepreneurship and harmonizing that with motherhood at that given point. And then as you transitioned into entrepreneurship, how that harmonization shifted and changed for you.

SPEAKER_04:

For me, the harmony came with entrepreneurship. Okay. I was I was very much living a life where I was told what to do, where I had to be, when I had very little flexibility within this corporate structure to uh to to meet my children off the bus at 423 in the afternoon. Because I was expected to be in the office until 5 or 5:30. And so for me, that's been one of the gifts of entrepreneurship. I mean, don't get me wrong, like there are times when I'm up at two or three in the morning because I'm either still awake or I'm up at two or three in the morning because I'm starting my day in order to get ahead of everything that needs to be done. But the amount of flexibility that I, for the first time in my life, I felt like I had complete autonomy over what I valued to be important when I became an entrepreneur. And so I knew that I would need to structure this, that the work would never be done, that it would always be really, it could be as hard as I wanted to make it in order to have the level of success that I'm seeking. But that it would also be important for me to set it up in such a way so that I'm truly living the life that I want to live. And my children, as long as they are under my my care and part of my daily life, are at the absolute epicenter of that.

Kelly:

I love it. So I think it's probably important that we share with the listeners what it is that you do. Sure. Let's talk through this. And was what you're what you're doing currently the same as what you were doing in that corporate setting? Similar. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay. Uh so I'm in commercial real estate. Uh my company is called Willow Peak, or commercial real estate investment platform. And I've been in commercial real estate for 20 years. It's been my primary, primary job uh that I've, you know, I've had. It's been my career. Uh, but what I'm doing now is a little bit differently. When I left my big corporate job, uh I was in investment sales. So all the big tall buildings you see on the skyline of downtown Minneapolis, it was my job to sell those. And I realized that now is not the time to be selling those buildings, that now is the time to be buying them, because we are in the greatest buying opportunity for commercial real estate we will ever see in our lifetime. So I just said, I I know too much. There's uh I've spent my entire career representing owners and investors of office buildings. And I know what it takes to uh to buy them right, to reposition them, to get them leased up, and to sell them uh and and how to make a good a good profit doing that. And so it's it's just there's there was no way that I could sit on the sidelines any longer and let this opportunity pass me by.

Kelly:

20 plus years is a great deal of time in a commercial realm. And commercial is just, I mean, us being us, meaning my husband and I being on the residential side. Now I think I I think I shared with you when we were having coffee that my husband came from the commercial side of things just on the in property management, right? Yes, but he just knows a great deal on the commercial side. And so I I get excited thinking about like the two of you connecting and like just the little rifting back and forth that you guys will probably do. Okay. But my whole point to this um is residential is just so completely different than commercial, right? And the world of commercial is for the most part dominated by men, wouldn't you say? 100% being a little facetious there, right? But um, I I am curious prior, okay. So this is twofold 20 plus years. What was the what was the like push for you to get into real estate initially on the commercial side?

SPEAKER_04:

Money.

SPEAKER_00:

I love you.

Kelly:

That's so good.

SPEAKER_04:

You're like money. I was in the I was in the music industry right out of college, got hired by Warner Music Group. Within a week of starting there, I realized that their top salesperson, which I was on track for, uh, was 50 years old and making$50,000 a year. And I just thought, okay, that does not fit into the Aaron Fitzgerald life plan. So I'd gotten into the music industry because in college, people said, just follow your passion, just do what you're passionate about.

Kelly:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

And the only thing that I could think of that I was passionate about at age 20 uh or 18 was music. So that's why I chose the the music industry. But then I I realized that there's absolutely no margin in music. Even musicians don't get paid nearly what they're worth. I mean, it's just the whole industry needs a complete revolution, if I'm being honest. Um, but I was there when iTunes first came out, when Napster first came out, and it actually it was I felt like I was on the Titanic, that the music industry was just going through this major upheaval, that it was crashing and nobody knew how to handle this new digital product.

Kelly:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

That that was this, that was before any music streaming service, right?

Kelly:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

And uh so there was a complete shakeup. And I was like, I am on the Titanic, nobody knows how to steer the ship. I need to to jump ship. And we had, I had had just opened Warner Music Group's headquarters in a building in the North Loop, and I had to deal with the landlord on all landlord tenant-related issues, and that landlord turned around and hired me away from Warner Music Group. So then I started leasing the building that we had just moved into.

Kelly:

Oh my word. What a cool transition! And this is just like as somebody who's spiritual, right? For somebody like myself, um, spiritual as well. I I am like, what a god wink that was happening to you in that particular moment. Yeah, it's wild.

SPEAKER_04:

My life is filled with god wings. It's a very fun way to live, actually.

Kelly:

It's so good. I I agree. If you kind of keep like following the breadcrumbs, it's like, okay, I kind of like like following this and just going, all right, thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. I'm receiving the signs. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04:

Keep them coming.

Kelly:

Well, and you know, uh, this is a little tangential, but because this is the the conversation that we're having right now, it's like when you are not following the breadcrumbs, it's when you feel totally out of alignment. So I'm curious if you ever at any given point from the moment that you stepped away from music land, so to speak, into commercial into commercial, were there any moments where you're like, oh, nope, that's not like I'm definitely veering down a path that I don't want to go down. How do I course correct?

SPEAKER_04:

I'm I'm certain that there are many moments through like all of my life activities that that were like that. But as it relates to commercial real estate and that career, uh, know what I found, I found my purpose. I found something that I was extremely passionate about. And it quickly turned from, you know, just being this thing focused on how much money could you could make in commercial real estate to wow, I have the opportunity to create environments where people thrive, where people can thrive and be happy. Like I just realized how important our environments are and how important the the design and aesthetics, and especially if you're going to a place Monday through Friday, nine to five, and you're spending the vast majority of your waking hours there, just how truly important the lighting is and the design and the sounds and the smells. And I just became very interested in um in how our environments affect us, uh, and that started contributing more and more to uh like to my success. But I think it was from following sort of to some extent like divine guidance and intuition, and just saying, okay, there's something bigger here, there's something that that really impacts humanity here that that we can alter and make better, and and how do I do that? And yeah, that was I I feel like I was divinely led through through all of that.

Kelly:

That's so fascinating. I love that. Okay, so back to one of my other original questions being in a space that is just dominated dominated and dominated by men, how do you feel you have carved a pathway for yourself?

SPEAKER_04:

It was really hard. So at first I tried to fit in. The first thing I did when I got into commercial real estate was I cut my hair super short to look more masculine. I wore suits. I did everything I could to hide my feminine side. Uh there were three women in commercial real estate when I started, at least at the first company I joined, which was a uh the largest commercial real estate company in the world. There were like three out of 60 of the of the brokers were were female. So I, of course, formed bonds with all of them. And just like, okay, how do you navigate this? Like, how how can can we expect to to be competitive in in this environment? And um, and one woman told me, she was like, Erin, if you can return phone calls and turn on lights, you're going to be eons ahead of any man in this industry. So I was like, okay, so all I have to do is like is be responsive. So then so that kind of became my thing is I'm going to make sure that I'm, you know, responsive. And then in all honesty, like I just had to work three times as hard and be three times as smart and know the data three times as much and get out there three times as much. I it just became apparent that it wasn't good enough to be as good as my male counterparts. If I wanted any chance of success in this industry, I had to be three times as good minimum.

Kelly:

Talk to me about the parallels in what you just talked through to having daughters in the house and the conversations that you're having with them about being feminine, right? Because this is, I do remember us having a good bulk of our conversation over coffee about what you're speaking to, the feminine side of everything and kind of staying true to yourself, but also in a space that you're in, going all right. I also have to bring a different kind of tenacity to this. And so I am curious how that has folded into how you speak through the girls.

SPEAKER_04:

It comes down to self-worth, it comes down to to knowing your value and understanding that each one of us have. We we are, I 100% believe that every single person has a very unique gift that they are meant to contribute on this planet at this time. If you are here, it is not by accident, and there is something that only you can bring to the equation to make this world a better place. So copying or trying to fit in, or doing something because it's somebody else is doing, or what you think it's it you should be doing because it's what other people are doing. Doing is absolutely not the right approach. That the right approach is to is to go inward and to like spend some time with yourself and to really understand what it is that moves you, what it is that makes you passionate, what it is that that that drives you and gives you energy and allow that to come out in its fullest expression and not hide your light. Like don't put your light under a bushel basket. Like, you know, that's that's why you are here is to shine that light. So I think that's part of how I try to guide my my daughters.

Kelly:

Spiritual gifts are a true and real thing, and honing in on that is all the more important as you continue to like seek out what's the how do I want to navigate this world professionally, right? And how fun is it too, Erin? Something that I've recognized in you is the unique ability for you to converge your personal and your professional into one, right? I do see that now. Obviously, we have to have some delineation, right? It's like, okay, when you um I had a woman on the podcast that talked about crossing a threshold, right? You cross a threshold, crossing through a doorway, that's the threshold. And as you're like coming into the house, how are you showing up in a different kind of way? Right? It's like, okay, this happened here, but like now I'm gonna move in and transition into this space. And how am I gonna cross that threshold? Which is so cool. Like, I loved that, like mentally and visually for me. I thought that that really stood out, but but I don't know where I was going with this. I was like a little tangential, but if you have something to share.

SPEAKER_04:

I for me it's it it all comes down to being present. So I I heard this man speak one time, uh, who whose his whole his whole thing is about presence and just being present and being in the present moment. And he was talking about how we as adults are all messed up because of our childhoods. And so a friend of mine in the audience raised her hand and she was like, Okay, so how can we, how can we, what can we do as adults today with young children to not screw up our children so that they're sitting in these chairs in the future and saying, like, you have all these problems because of how screwed up you got as a child. And he said, Be present with your children. That's literally the only thing your children need from you is for you to be completely present with them. And if you are present with them, they will feel loved, they will feel cared for, they will feel safe, they will, everything else stems from that. So for me, my my life is just my life. I don't delineate between work, business, and pleasure. I it is I I look for opportunities and everything. I don't pretend that it's ever turned off. Um, but what I do do is when I am, when I'm working and when I'm focused on work, I am very present with it. And when I cross that threshold into my home at the end of the day, and I anticipate what my children have gone through for the past six or eight hours since I've seen them, and know that there was a lot of experience that happened for them, and especially at this age in junior high-ish, that there's going to need to be processing of having the intention to be present with them for that. It just completely wipes away any any thoughts or any you know any anything that I was doing as it relates to the business, because as soon as I see them, I'm just completely present with them.

Kelly:

Everything that you just stated is not rocket science, right? It isn't, but like I am having some sort of different kind of epiphany in how you worded it, in the fact that our littles are having these incredible experiences. Some good, some not so good. And to your point about that transition into middle school, too, it's different, right? We have a fifth grader that is on the heels, you know, nipping at middle school and um that transition. And like we understand big things are coming ahead. And to your point about okay, they've had all of these like really cool conversations and they're learning and they're growing and they're spending this time, and now what what's the best scenario for them is showing up at the house and knowing that mom or dad is literally here. Go on, how was it? Tell me about your experiences. I don't know why I'm just having all of a sudden this like epiphany, like mind-blown moment, but it makes so much sense. And it's the present aspect is a continued challenge as you know, this the listeners can't see me, but I'm lifting up my phone going, okay, like in this digital age that we're in right now, it just is so much more challenging. And then add on top of that owning a business and navigating through, you know, leveling that up, scaling that up, or you know, really diving into the economics of Minneapolis, which is something that you're really attuned to right now, and having conversations with the mayor over here and that person over there, it's like holy, holy cats and dogs. You know, it's a lot. So talk myself and the listeners through the audience about what present looks like for you, for those, for those gals.

SPEAKER_04:

It's what's right in front of you. It's it's not that hard actually, uh, to be to be present. Yes, it does require putting the phone down. It does require you to look the person that you're across from in the eyes and just really see them. It requires hearing, using all of your five senses, smelling the smells around you, hearing the sounds around you, um breathing, uh being just being being focused on on the present moment. Um and as it relates to my my children, what what always comes back to me, I I just not to get too off topic, but I just got back from two weeks in Egypt.

Kelly:

We can talk around bus.

SPEAKER_04:

Uh very big experience. I'd never been before. I haven't really spent a whole lot of time in the Middle East, and uh, so it was a in there's a very much a culture shock. Lot of lot of experiences happened in the 15 days that I was gone. And I knew that coming back uh and seeing my children for the first time, I would be asking so many questions about volleyball tryouts and this test and this friend and Halloween and what happened uh you know at these different times. Because as much as I think that the experiences that I'm having are really big, our children in their shorter lifetimes, what happens to them in a day is is actually it's a it's a bigger portion of their life. Uh and so while we may think that our experiences are bigger or more valid, in our children's minds, especially because I don't I don't think that most children are meant to have a global awareness and to like see life outside of themselves, there's they're still a little bit in that sort of survival mode, like how do I? And it's a it's very much an I sort of sort of thing when when when humans are young under the age of 18. They're they're very focused on themselves uh and and to some extent as they should be, just from a survival standpoint. Uh, but but that means that what happens in their lives is a really big deal to them. And we shouldn't uh discount that just because we think, oh, you're only going to school and playing these sports and uh and that it's that it's not that big of a deal. But so getting back to your question about like how do you be present, it's acknowledging that there's a lot that's that's happening, you know, outside of yourself and your your own experiences that it's good to be aware of.

Kelly:

So insightful. It's like you've had some practice too.

SPEAKER_04:

Had a lot of a lot of practice. There's a there's a lot of unawareness that you have to go through to get to that point.

Kelly:

I am thoroughly enjoying the fact though that it was only just recently, less than two years, that you you decided, all right, I'm I'm caught in the cord with corporate, the corporate setting. And you're not the first person to be here on the podcast that has decided the constraints of corporate are just no longer suiting or fitting the season of life that I am transitioning into, or have been in and have been ignoring uh the breadcrumbs that have been placed right in front of my face, so to speak, to kind of bring that full circle. And so as you have made this transition in, it sounds like you have had the unique opportunity of just having the more flexibility and more time to be able to ha spend that quality time with the girls, which is so incredible. And you're also less than two years in with your own business. And so though you've got 20 plus years coming into it, it's a startup, and so I'm curious to hear from you a little bit more about as you've as you've ramped up and now you're coming into the third year of your business. What are some of the the shifts that are happening for you in business that um may present challenges at the house, you know, and being a mom? If any, if any.

SPEAKER_04:

I mean, yeah, there's always challenges. I mean you you can't let like that's how we grow is is through problems and and challenges. Uh so I think the point that we're at is scaling, right? So we we started, we launched Willow Peak in July of 24. We bought our first building the following November. We've been repositioning that and uh and and working through uh getting that building leased up and are looking at buying our next two buildings uh currently uh and then looking to across the country to to buy eight more. And as I've as we're just working on our second acquisition right now, uh it's it's become apparent to me that every single acquisition we do, every single building we add, will add complexity to our lives, will add work, will add stress, we'll add things that you have to think about, things that you have to take care of. And it it's it will absolutely, and it takes time. So if you're if you're taking time to bring in these new things into your life, it's it has to take time from somewhere. So what I've been praying for and what I've been asking for is help, uh, is to, you know, how how can we continue to uh follow this dream? Because it it is it is a dream, it is a vision that I've that I've had, and it is a very, it is a very clear mission vision that I do believe is my life's mission. So I I 100% believe in in what we're doing and that it's it's meant to come into fruition in in this life, but who can I bring in to help scale it? Who can I bring in to to help expand it so that it's it's not all on me and that we can have that growth while I can still be present with my with my children and be able to have that that harmonizing work-life balance that I think we all want.

Kelly:

Walk me through a day in the life of Aaron as it pertains. Actually, just walk me through a day in the life of Aaron in the midst of an acquisition. Yay!

SPEAKER_04:

Um so it probably starts around 6 a.m. when I wake up. I the the one thing that Aaron never misses in the day is 32 ounces of lemon water with salt, L-glutamine, creatine, collagen, and fiber uh in it. No matter where I am in the world, I have that every single morning. That is a non-negotiable.

Kelly:

I want to pause for a second. So when you went to Egypt, did you bring all of the powders?

SPEAKER_04:

I brought all of the powders. Yeah. And it's amazing that they were like, this woman has baggies full of white powder in her suitcase, and we're not gonna stop her at TSA.

Kelly:

Kind of it's so funny that you bring this up because um I literally will do the same thing if and when we are traveling. And like I want to have my protein shake. And I don't like I don't want to grab something. By the way, I saw on your stories the one of the gals that you were traveling. I don't know if you guys were traveling the entire time together. Kristen Raoul. I'm following her. I've been following her for quite some time in which I was like nutritional therapist on the planet.

SPEAKER_04:

Yes, yes, I got to travel with Kristen Raoul. Yes, it was it was amazing to be able to have her guidance on what to eat and what not to eat in two weeks in Egypt. Fueling yourself, right?

Kelly:

Because it there's the heat, it's dry, it's you know, like, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

So how do you stay energetically efficient in that environment? Yeah, it was such a treat to to have. So you follow, you follow.

Kelly:

I've been following her, and I think um, who was it that was like you should follow her? Um my videographer from our wedding. She was a former mortgage client of mine. We hired her for um our photography and videography for our wedding. Interesting. And then we got together um as I was transitioning out of mortgage and then going into business with my husband. And she was like, So you're doing a podcast too in the midst of all of this? And I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like it it's fun. And so I was sharing all of that, and she's like, Oh, you should follow Kristen.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. So yeah, Kristen Mella, energetically efficient, hands down, the most impressive nutritional therapist I've ever personally worked with. I was a client of hers, and then uh yeah, I got got to go on this trip to Egypt with her. And it was just, it was awesome because the whole time she was she was like, okay, if you eat your food in this order and then walk for 15 minutes after your glucose levels, do this, and you will have so much more energy. And then one time I was really tired, and so I was like, So, Kristen, if I eat bread, will that help put me to sleep? And she's like, Oh, absolutely. It's gonna make your blood sugar crash. And it's like, so she's like, normally I wouldn't advise it for people to eat bread on an empty stomach, you know, or yeah, on an empty stomach essentially, uh, because of that effect. But if that's the effect that you want, you want to feel sedated and tired and have low energy, then yes, eat bread right now.

Kelly:

It was fantastic. Guess who had bread before this interview? But I've also had like a she probably, if she listens to this, she's probably like, no, but I had so much coffee. Like I had so much coffee, and so now I'm like, oh yeah. I think I don't I think I'm okay. Anyways, okay, so back to a day in the life of Aaron. And you will have your 32 ounces of lemon water with all of these incredible supplements to just fuel your body for them.

SPEAKER_04:

Exactly. Get the collagen, get the protein going right away, uh, just to set my body up. And then I have religiously have two cups of coffee. I'm very particular about that as well.

Kelly:

Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

And uh then generally speaking, um the East Coast phone calls start coming in. So by 7 a.m., it's 8 a.m. on the East Coast. And so if like right now that's where the acquisition is that we're looking at doing, so we have our broker, we have our construction manager, we have our attorney, like people, um, one of our investment partners, we're all pinging us right around the 7 o'clock hour uh this morning uh with a variety of different questions uh related to the acquisition. And so it's what's interesting as you expand into other markets. This one happens to be in Puerto Rico. Uh, there's so many different forms of communication. I mean, this is just general, uh, true in general right now. But so we have, I was messaging two people on WhatsApp, one person on Telegram, one person on text, and then over email as well. Yeah. So fun. Yes, while also making phone calls. So yeah, that's been a really tricky thing for me to navigate uh as somebody who's not technology prone, is to pay attention to all of the different channels of communication.

Kelly:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Because that's where it it it you have to communicate with uh, you know, just on the platform that works best for that individual and have to adapt. So uh yeah, so usually so there's a lot of work that happens before I leave the house, but then I do like going into the office. So we have an office in the building that we purchased in in downtown Minneapolis, and I am just more productive when I'm in that environment. So I really do like going down, plugging into the dual monitors, having my sit-stand desk, uh, being able to, you know, just be focused in that environment and hammer through all of the emails and the contracts and uh be able to have the in-person meetings that I that I need to have. And then it depends on what day of the week it is, as far as how my day goes. Uh, but every Monday, Tuesday, so I actually have the benefit, and I'm saying the benefit of being divorced to where I only have my children 50% of the time. And I say that that's a benefit because one, it it does allow me a lot more time when I'm not responsible to be a full-time mom where I can focus more on the business. And then it's a benefit in the sense that when I do have my children, I haven't had them 50% of the time. So I have like a strong desire to be with them because there's been this separation. And so when I am with my children, I do tend to be very present and focused on them because it's a limited time and I see how time is precious. And I see how it could go. Um, and I I feel like if I was just married and you know, still with with their father, how much I would take for granted and how there wouldn't be as much intentionality in my relationship with my children because they would just always be there. And I hate to put it like this, but always be like another thing that I have to do or have to take care of or have to get done on top of the and there there wouldn't have I wouldn't have the ability to have as much separation because all of it just kind of needs to happen all at the same time. So I don't know how people who are are are married with children full time, that to me is like an extreme act of like I I have so much respect, so much respect for people in that in that space.

Kelly:

You have you have beautifully encapsulated just like while tough not having your children full time, you also capitalize to the most efficient way that you can the time that you're not with them. Yes, pushing, pushing the needle forward in something that you're very passionate about and you know is gonna have impact too. So interestingly enough, and this is just something that's coming to me, is like the impact that we have as moms, right? But the the different kind of impact that we fundamentally as women want to have too, which is a lot of the reason that we're having conversations like this on the podcast, right? We're doing something that we just all of a sudden don't feel aligned with anymore because it's not the impact that we necessarily thought we were gonna have. And we're having impact with our children, we're having impact as that family dynamic, right? But there's just something else that's tugging at us over here. This is so important, right? Like as I'm motioning to having your children, right? This is so important, arguably, number one. But this is important too, just for us in the essence of who we are and the souls that we have to have impact in a different way. Again, I don't know where it was going like that, but it was just something that came to me and I needed to say it.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, I I I believe that we're all here to have an impact. Uh I think I just posted a quote by Steve Jobs that said something about like, we're we're here to put a dent in the universe, otherwise, why be here at all? And I truly believe that now more than ever, this particular time in human evolution is one of the most impactful that we will ever see in all of human history, and that we all very much have a role to play. And so, as much as it's important to raise our children, uh, because we have a responsibility to them, we're the ones who called them in. Uh, and you know, so certainly to have an impact on them that is as positive as possible for them to go out and have the impact in the world that they're meant to have. Uh, we absolutely can't, nor should we, shy away from what trying to remember what our purpose was here on this planet. And it wasn't just to constantly be running to the doctors and running to the grocery store and running to volleyball price. And it's it's like all of this is it's life and it's beautiful, but it's also a distraction. And so I think taking the time to understand, like really listen to that intuition, because if people were silent enough, they would hear it. You would, you would, you would know in your gut what it is that you are being called to do and to bring forward. And ignoring that, I think it would just be the missed opportunity of a lifetime.

Kelly:

I'm trying to remember the the quote about like um something to the effect of like if the devil can't capture you, he'll distract you. Oh, sure. Something to that.

SPEAKER_04:

It's something to those Americans are very distracted, unfortunately.

Kelly:

Yeah, totally.

SPEAKER_04:

But it comes back to just being present. And I do want to say one more thing. When you were asking me about my day, one thing that it it it honestly surprises me uh that I do, so I was starting to say that what I do every day changes as to whether or not I have my children. If I have my children, I'm home to meet them off the bus at 4:23 p.m. And it's a it's a different night than if I don't have my children. I generally stay late and I'm working, I work late. But when I have my children every single night, ever since they were born, I just still tuck them both in, and I'm still honored that my 14-year-old, almost 15, still lets me, wants me to tuck her in at night. And so I make it sometimes I'm exhausted and I hate it. I'm not gonna lie. And sometimes I'm really mad at them and I hate it, and it's very hard for me to do this because it doesn't feel true in the moment. But I do two things. One, I say, can I tell you your special words? And they always say yes, and they kind of snuggle in their bed and I hold their face and I say, You are smart, you are kind, you are beautiful, you are important, you are strong, you were funny, and I love you.

unknown:

I'm not gonna cry.

SPEAKER_01:

You look like so sweet. I look like I'm going to, yes, because then I am.

SPEAKER_04:

And then I what we do, we we call it lilying, but it's really I just lightly rub my nails up and down their back. And and I say, Okay, can I sing you a song? And they say yes. And and I say, Okay, this is a song that I learned when I was a little girl at Girl Scout Camp. And here's how it goes. And I start singing them the same song that I have sung to them literally since the day they were born. And that, as much as the lemon water with creatine and collagen and everything else in the morning, is just as important to me every night.

unknown:

That is so beautiful.

Kelly:

It literally is just the most beautiful thing. I've got a little routine with Maddie. It's a little bit different with the boys, but something sort of along the lines. We have a song that we sing together, and then I always pray over her as well. And I I press on her back. Yeah. I don't know why. I just like press on her back. I'm like, maybe the pressure of me doing this lightly will uh calm her body because she's just in such a state of like go, go, go, go, go, go, being two and a half. But I think to your point here, Erin, the whole the point of that is that it's something that is like a staple for you, right? And uh it's a staple for me as well. But to understand how much it impacts our children as well. And I would be so curious, I will be so curious for your girls and then for Maddie as she grows up and you know ends up meeting somebody and has children of her own, what that impact looks like downstream as well. Did we finish what a day in the life of Aaron looks like?

SPEAKER_04:

I think so. Yeah. The only thing that I I forgot to mention is I really do try to make it a daily practice to meditate and pray. And I do try to do it in that order. I feel like if I can meditate first and then pray, I have a much stronger connection to the divine because I've removed all the distractions from the daily world around me and I've I've increased my frequency enough to be able to really connect. So it's it's very important to me. Uh, but do I make it a daily practice? I'm trying to. Uh, and I know that my life is better when I when I do, uh, but it it is something that I I struggle with to involve in my absolute everyday daily practice.

Kelly:

Yeah, the in the habit stacking of it is like where it where does it fit, right? And so that's that's always the most key important thing is when you're when you're aspiring to have something that has a positive impact in integrated into your habits. It's like, okay, where does this need to fit? I do this all the time with my husband, and he's fantastic at just going, well, it's super simple. Why don't you like you want to make a couple phone calls to the gals who have been on the podcast? You eat lunch, right? And I was like, Yeah. He's like, Well, what if you, you know, the second that you finish washing your dishes, that prompts you to make your phone calls to these gals who have been on the podcast and just touch base with them? Oh okay. You're right. That's super simple, super, super simple. So okay. What do I or the audience need to know about commercial that they that you think we should know about? Something fun, something unique, something, something that you're like, yeah, I wish more people understood this.

SPEAKER_04:

I wish more people understood that right now is the greatest buying opportunity of our lifetime. We are in such an incredible moment where the average person like me can buy like really incredible real estate all across the country, not just in Minneapolis, but we're looking in San Francisco, Denver, Atlanta, Washington, DC. And it is it's okay, that and Bitcoin. Okay. If you don't own Bitcoin, you should. And I'm happy to have a conversation offline with anybody to let them know why. Okay. But um for anybody that I truly care about, letting them know about the incredible wealth generating opportunity that is out there in commercial real estate right now, and how it's it is a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity uh is uh is something that I'm really passionate about.

Kelly:

What would that need to look like for somebody? I mean, say there's like there's somebody who connects with you and they're, you know, they've I don't know, like would there need would there need to be a specific amount of dollars in place or like is the funding just way simpler than some of us think it is to be able to acquire something?

SPEAKER_04:

You know, to be honest, it it actually is pretty complicated. Um but what I would say is yeah, you can do it one of two ways. Like you can just, I mean, you have to have faith and you have to have your own conviction, but just you know, for those local to the Twin Cities, like just drive through uptown and just point at any building. And even even the smallest of buildings are uh in in a position to be sold for it very inexpensively, and just like make some phone calls and like try to buy it yourself and then sit on it and you know wait for it to 10x in in in value. I mean, that's I'm not giving advice. Um, and you you should absolutely consult with a professional if you haven't, you know, bought a building. But but you be my point is is that you can get really great property today if you're if you're willing to hold out for the long term that you yourself just own and manage and you can figure it out. At the same time, at the level that we're at, looking at buildings that are mostly 100 to 300,000 square feet that were previously owned by large institutions like Goldman Sachs and groups like that, it is very complicated. It is even for somebody who has 20 years of experience, it is very complicated to buy these buildings, to get to buy note sales, to get them out of lender control, to get them set up in such a way that they are cash flowing, repositioned, and um, and hopefully being used for a higher purpose than what they were used for before. Uh and that is an incredible amount of nuanced work that needs to be done. Uh, but that's that's what we offer our investors is we'll do we'll do all the work while giving you a 25% return and you don't have to do anything. But just know that the margins are there. The basis is so low for what you can buy these buildings that it's in my mind, I mean, it's just it's again, it's the greatest buying opportunity we will ever see in our lifetime.

Kelly:

Switching gears. Yeah. As a single mom, what does support look like for you? What does your village look like?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, I have the best family. I really do. Um, my mom you're from the area? Yeah, uh, pretty much born and raised, and I was born in Iowa, but raised throughout the in the in the Twin Cities, graduated from Burnsville High School. So my parents live just 10, 15 minutes away from me. Uh, and they have been amazing. They've taken both my daughters pretty much every single Monday since they were born. Uh that was a tradition that they started, and uh, and they're they're just always there. How much my mom thinks about my children and their calendar and what needs to be done and all the reminders that I get is um is just amazing uh to have their continued support. Uh and I have a couple sisters here that are incredible, and then my significant other, uh, while I've been a single mom for the past 10 years or so, uh, I do have just the most amazing life partner now. And we've been together for three and a half years and uh absolutely love having his support when when it comes to when it comes to the girls and getting them where they need to be and making sure that they are taken care of.

Kelly:

I love it. That's incredible. Now let's talk about um support in a different way, who you are surrounding yourself with in terms of friends, friendships. Um I had another question too, but I'm gonna I'm gonna table it for the time being. But the reason I asked this question, Erin, is because at moments that I have had conversations with women on the podcast, as their the only other term that I can use is just for lack of better words, is like leveling up in their life and leveling up in their careers as entrepreneurs building and scaling a business. There's an evaluation that's had to happen at points or at seasons of life in who we are surrounding ourselves with in terms of friends. And so I am curious about what that has looked like in the world of Aaron. And have you had to do these evaluations and go, this season of life looks vastly different? And I don't know if I can pour energy into this friendship or these people anymore.

SPEAKER_04:

100%, yeah. And it breaks my heart uh just because I had to do this with my best friend this past summer. Uh, and I really tried over and over to help her level up. And uh, and she just was very much making a conscious choice to go down. And I I kept trying and I kept trying. And finally she just told me, like, I don't, I don't want your help anymore. I don't want your advice anymore. And I was like, okay, I it's clear I'm gonna have to leave this friendship that I've had since college. Uh, this person that I honestly like loved, you know, more than anyone else outside my family, uh, and just such a beautiful person and wonderful, wonderful mother, uh, but was just making decisions that were only bringing me down. And every time that I was around her, um, I I could feel energetically, I was started to go into this downward spiral that would take me days to get out of once I left her her presence. And there were other friends too, same thing, where um they they were just choosing to uh they were just making choices that weren't in alignment with mine and where and where I was going. And it it was very hard, very hard to um to think about releasing these relationships and letting go of them just because I believe so fully in where I'm leveling up to, uh, and and those relationships just certainly weren't supportive to me anymore. And even my trying to be supportive to them wasn't wasn't wasn't working. So it was clear that those relationships needed to be released.

Kelly:

Bringing it full full circle earlier on in our conversation, you talked a lot talked about and to going in, right? And how we as individuals, if we just spend a little time going in, um can kind of work through some of the things that we need to work through. And if we, meaning Aaron, Kelly, are doing that, and there are people around us that are choosing not to, and they know they've got the tools, they've got the resources, they have the Aaron's and the Kelly's of the world that are going, life can be better. It really can. You just have to make these, you know, I mean, baby steps, really tiny little baby steps. Yeah, and I mean literally will call myself out. I am not perfect in by any stretch of the imagination, but I know how to get myself out of the the deep end, right? And so it's like if you can just take these little baby steps, but you can lead a horse to water and you just can't force him to drink it.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. So yeah, but I do believe that you are like the five people that you surround yourself most with. And I don't take that lightly. So I I do guard my energy, I do guard my space, I do guard what what gets into my mind. Uh and so it is, I I am very cautious about who I surround myself with and and let come in that close because it you have to be somebody pretty special that I would want to emulate uh in in my life in order to be in that that inner five.

Kelly:

That energy, Erin, oof, I can totally speak to having those moments of being around an individual or you know, a group of people, and you come out of that and you're like, I'm really having a hard time shaking this right now. Like, why? Why? And it's because the specific kind of energy that people are emulating out into the world, out into the universe, whatever you want to call it, um, there's true realities around that. And if you don't think that we're spiritual beings that that continue to project out good energy, not so good energy, you're fooling yourself. I will bluntly say that.

unknown:

Yeah.

Kelly:

No qualms about it. No qualms about it whatsoever. We've tackled a lot. Um, I think it's we're at a point in our conversation where we can start to land the planet. As I like to say. And so I think the first the first question as we do so that I want to ask is like, who would be a really good connection for you in this moment in time?

SPEAKER_04:

It's funny because like where I just went was like I I really feel like I need to connect with myself. Tell me more. I I just believe that the next point of evolution for me is going to come from being as grounded as I possibly can be in being, in, in being a human being as opposed to a human doing. And so I'm a very type A person. It's actually very hard for me. I'm very extroverted. I love people. I love being out there. I love, I used to, my friends used to laugh because they were always like, you are double triple booked all the time. Like every single night of the week. You have three events that you're supposed to be at. Like, how do you do it? This is not sustained. But I loved it. I yeah. It filled your cup. Yeah. Right? It's yeah. And now I feel like I'm in a season where I will get the most out of being able to truly connect with my highest self, truly connect with nature, truly connect with God, and get as much direction as possible from that source in order to guide my next steps.

Kelly:

I love watching you through that, like sharing that too. I'm just gonna share this with the listeners if that's okay. As Erin is speaking this, she is closing her eyes and literally like I could feel you connecting with like all of what was happening around you to share that. It was really beautiful. I loved it. Thank you. You're welcome. Oh, I love that answer too. It's so good. For yourself, for a younger version of yourself, what's a piece of advice you would give her, knowing all that you know now and all that you have been through over the last 20 plus years? It's a big question.

SPEAKER_04:

It is a big question. I have a very simple answer. It's to have higher standards. Boom.

Kelly:

Tell me more about that, though.

SPEAKER_04:

Life will always give you what you are willing to tolerate. And I was willing to tolerate a lot of bad treatment as my younger self. I didn't have as high of self-worth. I did get, I don't even think I knew what self-worth was in my 20s. And so I didn't value myself. So other people didn't value me. And this is the one thing that I try to instill in my daughters. I just I'll look them in the eyes and tell them, you are a bag of gold. Be careful who you let touch this gold. Be careful who you give this gold away to. But that's what I truly believe. I believe that we are all a bag of gold and we should, we should honor ourselves as such. And I I didn't. I didn't have very high self-worth when I was younger. And I think I would have been able to avoid a lot of mistakes. Now, you know, in hindsight, those mistakes made me into the person that I am today. And I think I have a lot of street smarts now. I think I have a lot of grit as a result of going through what I went through. So no regrets. Uh, but certainly to to have higher standards that that life will always give you what you are willing to tolerate is is advice that I would have given my younger self.

Kelly:

On the heels of that, I am gonna ask one more probing question. And I like to ask this because I to your point about as humans on this planet, we learn through our failures. We learn through going through the valleys. And so I'm curious if you're open to sharing um a deep, dark time period for you and how you navigated through it so you can speak into somebody else.

SPEAKER_04:

Sure. Yeah. I mean, my deepest, darkest valley uh where I hit rock bottom and then hit rock bottom 20 times more in that same moment was when I became a meth addict in college. I somehow got addicted to a terrible drug called methamphetamine because I had asked somebody for something that would help keep me up late at night so I could study and help me wake up early in the morning so I could get to class. And they were like, hey, here, try this. And as naive as I was, uh, didn't really ask any questions about what I was ingesting, and within a week was fully addicted to a highly addictive, terrible, terrible drug. And it took me years to get off of it. Uh, failed out of college, uh, and eventually got to the point where I remember just being on my knees and sobbing over and over every night, uh, praying for God to bring somebody into my life to get me out of this mess that I was in. And like I said, just when I thought I had hit rock bottom, I went deeper. And I mean, I was like, lost my, you know, was losing my job, failing out of college, like my teeth were starting to fall apart. I mean, my health was totally shot. Uh, all of I completely distanced myself from my family, all of my real friends were gone. I'd completely isolated myself. And uh yeah, and I literally went 20 levels below what I thought rock bottom was. It was a pretty, it was, I I can't imagine anything darker.

Kelly:

Crawling out of the depths of hell, it sounds like it was it was very much.

SPEAKER_04:

I absolutely believe that that drug is a tool of the devil. Like I it was hell.

Kelly:

How did you get out of that?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, luckily, I mean, this is enter my ex-husband. Um he uh I I didn't really know him that well, but he was somebody that wasn't in my circle because everybody that I was surrounded with at the time was also using, and so there was there was no way out because I didn't know anybody outside of that that world. Uh, but he came in and he said, and he was sober, and he said, I I I know what's going on with you, and you need to get sober. And and he offered to help me, and he did. He got me into outpatient treatment, set me up with a therapist that was trained in drug and alcohol uh recovery, got me set up with a sponsor. I did AA, like 90 meetings in 90 days. I think I went to a meeting every single day, if not twice a day, for the first year solid. Uh, and you know, and uh yeah, he really showed me the way to to sobriety.

Kelly:

Whoa. I'm really glad I asked though, because these are realities of life.

SPEAKER_04:

I did not expect that answer though, to be really great with you know that's all that's like the fantasy dynam with like two blonde-haired, blue-eyed girls wasn't that addicted. You didn't see that one coming?

Kelly:

I didn't, no, no, but it just again, Erin, it just goes to show like we all have our shit, right? We like all have our, and that's a that's a big one. That's a big one because that's that's one that if if you can make it out of that, that is divine intervention. It was at its finest, at its best, and thank God for it because how incredible! Like you're a bag of gold, right? You're a bag of gold also. So I love that coming through that that you can emphasize that to your to your own daughters, but I think innately you understand that about yourself too. So okay, I'm gonna pivot. I don't know how I pivot from this, but I'm going to. What's a piece of advice you would give a woman listening right now that I gotta think about this one? I think because of what we what you just shared, like what's a piece of advice you would give a woman who's listening right now that perhaps is dealing with their own substance abuse and doesn't know what to do.

SPEAKER_04:

Sure. Uh well, in general, self-care is is always number one. You know, they say to put your life mask on before putting on your children. So if the plane is is going down, right? So the absolute best thing that you can do for yourself, whether you're dealing with a substance abuse issue or um or just stressed in general, because motherhood is hard, especially if you're in it full time, uh, is to really make time to take care of yourself and give yourself all of the resources and um and care that you need to fill your cup up before you start pouring over into your children or anyone else's. And um I think the easiest start if you are dealing with a substance abuse issue is to walk into an AA meeting. And from there you will find all the resources, all the support, more support than you could ever imagine. And there are literally, there's literally an AA meeting every single hour of the day from first thing in the morning to as late like 10 o'clock at night, all over the entire Twin Cities. And you can just Google Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and you will get the full list and go to any one of them, and you'll be welcomed with open arms and non-judgmental people who are there to help you and give you support in whatever way that you need.

Kelly:

Have you looked back at that at all?

SPEAKER_04:

Sure.

Kelly:

What do you mean? Meaning, like, have you have you relapsed? Yes. Okay. And how long have you been sober?

SPEAKER_04:

So I was sober for 15 years, and then in 2022, I was at a wedding in Costa Rica, and there was literally nothing to drink on this 250-acre ocean front property that we were on, other than alcoholic drinks. Uh, so I finally was like, you know what? Like, I'm just going to be in the zeitgeist and I am going to drink and just like be in the moment with everybody else and just release this um belief that I am an alcoholic that I can't drink. Because I really, I mean, I hate to say it, but like, I don't feel like I ever really was an alcoholic. I just got addicted to a highly addictive substance. So I've never relapsed to meth.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay. Let's put it that way. But when you when you get sober, they tell you you have to get sober off of everything.

Kelly:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

And uh, and so I was, so I did for 15 years. And then um, and then I started drinking alcohol and I really liked it. Uh, I didn't have hangovers, I didn't, it didn't seem like I was having negative consequences from it. Sure. But then just this past April, I was on a beach in Puerto Rico and I was praying to God on my last night there. And he said, Okay, now I have something to ask you after all of the prayer that I had gone through. And I said, Okay. And he said, I want you to stop drinking. And I was like, What? Really? And he goes, it's and I was like, why? And he goes, it's not like I'm asking you to sacrifice your firstborn, which I have done before. I'm simply asking you to stop drinking. And I was like, okay. He's like, you have asked me for all of these things, which I am happy to give you, and I'm only asking you for one thing. And I go, okay, but tell me why. And he goes, because you're missing things. I'm trying to send you signs and you're missing them. I need you to be clear, I need you to be aware, and you're being pulled off course because of alcohol. So I was like, okay.

Kelly:

So now it's it's back to back to being sober. Wow, that's so powerful. I'm literally getting chills. It's cold in here, but I'm getting chills too.

SPEAKER_04:

I think it's quite warm in here.

Kelly:

Oh my gosh, Aaron, holy moly. It is interesting, and I want to spend just a second here with you because this is something that has come across to me, too. If I'm gonna be vulnerable for a moment. I used to drink very heavily, especially in COVID. Now, this was well before meeting Joe, getting introduced to the boys, doing the damn thing, having Maddie, right? Things have changed quite a bit. But I wine has always been my thing. I love wine. I love wine. Wine is so good. Jesus drank wine right now.

SPEAKER_01:

I know it's so like, oh my gosh, clean brood, little slaving and plum. Yes.

Kelly:

And also what you just spoke to, and and I'm not saying like how God has spoken through you is like how God needs to speak through me, but I do have like as you shared that, I'm like, gosh, am I are there things that I am missing as it especially as it pertains to hitting that next level professionally and taking the podcast to the next level that I would love to, and taking our real estate business to the next level that I so desire to. I mean, seriously, spoken like a true person who really enjoys wine. I don't drink hardly at all. Like if I have some wine, it's two glasses. The third is probably where it starts to get a little iffy. Right. You know, it's like, okay, the next morning might be a little hairy. Not nothing that's gonna steer me off course from getting up at six o'clock, you know, five o'clock, six o'clock in the morning to get my workout in. But yes, yes. I love that you had your heavy time of praying, and then all of a sudden you had this clear moment of clarity with God, and He's like, it's time. It's time. It's so good. We're officially landing the plane. Okay. How can the lovely audience, the lovely women who are listening right now, um, get connected to you if they've got questions as it pertains to commercial questions maybe in a personal realm as well? Is there a way that they can find you? Is there a way that they can get connected to you?

SPEAKER_04:

Well, sure. I'm on uh I'm on LinkedIn under Aaron Fitzgerald. Uh you can go to our website, willowpeak.com. Uh, so you can find me, my contact information there, or Instagram is probably the other best platform that that I'm on. Uh Willowpeak LLC is our uh is our company page. And then Fitz in Heaven is my personal Instagram.

Kelly:

I love it so much. What made you choose that handle, by the way?

SPEAKER_04:

I don't know. I I just it it was like Aaron underscore E underscore Fitzgerald 68 or something like, you know, like whatever it was when I very first set up the and and you know, honestly, I probably asked ChatGPT, based on what you know about me, please help me come up with the shortest Instagram handle possible. And I think it was probably the ChatGPT recommendation.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, she uses ChatGPT. I love it.

Kelly:

It's a love chat.

SPEAKER_04:

It's the first thing I do in the morning when I open my computer is I I click on Chat GPT and I just I just have it open on my screen.

Kelly:

So great. Erin, what a pleasure, what an honor. You took us to the depths of hell and you brought us all the way up to heaven and everything in between. And what a pleasure to hear your story of motherhood and entrepreneurship and have the have the listeners get to know you a little bit better as well. So thank you for giving off my heart.

SPEAKER_00:

You're so welcome. It's been a treat. I hope you have a great rest of the day. Likewise.

Kelly:

Thanks for listening. And if you enjoyed this episode and know of any inspiring mamas who are powerhouse entrepreneurs, please help connect them with myself and the show. It would mean so much if you would help spread this message, mission, and vision for other Mompreneurs. It takes 30 seconds to rate and review, then share this episode with your friends. Until the next episode. Cheers to reclaiming your hue.

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Kelly Kirk

Host