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

Ep. 98 with Alissa Ochs | Real Estate Investor & Founder, Gemhaus Design

• Kelly Kirk • Season 1 • Episode 98

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 1:33:22

From Corporate HR To Luxury Home Design

A polished career can still leave you whispering through a closed office door while your kids are on the other side. We sit down with Alissa, founder of Gemhaus Design, to talk about what happens when a global HR path with late-night calls and constant pressure stops fitting real life and you decide to jump anyway.

We get into the full pivot: how her love of interiors started early, why the business began with real estate development, and how Whitefish, Montana became the springboard for luxury ski-home investing. Alissa breaks down what she actually looks for in a smart investment property, why seasonality matters for a short-term rental, and how to think about cap rate and operating costs without getting lost in jargon.

Then we zoom into the human side of interior design and entrepreneurship. Alissa shares what a premium design process looks like, how she learns the truth of how a family lives, and why “work-life balance” isn’t the goal. We talk harmony, trade-offs, failure, celebration, and the kind of mom mornings that include potty-training emergencies and gorilla glue on every door handle.

If you’re building a business, considering real estate investing, or craving a career that feels more like you, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s on the edge of a leap, and leave a review with the biggest trade-off you’re navigating right now.

Resources Mentioned:

Connect with Alissa:

Contact the Host, Kelly Kirk:

  • Email: info.ryh7@gmail.com

Get Connected/Follow:

Credits:

  • Editor: Joseph Kirk
  • Music: Kristofer Tanke 


Thanks for listening & cheers to Reclaiming Your Hue! 

How We Met Through Community

Kelly

Good morning, Alyssa. Hi, Kelly. I'm so happy you're here.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, thank you. I am honored to be here. Thank you so much.

Kelly

It's gonna be wonderful. And I am really thrilled to have the listeners learn a little bit more about you, your story, what you're doing. And it's just it's so fun. I feel like we've got a lot to cover, like a lot of ground to cover, though. So let's let's dive in. I always love to ask this question first. How is it that you and I got connected?

SPEAKER_00

Do you remember? I do. Um, yes. So the amazing, wonderful, talented, beautiful Sarah Boleen, who was on this podcast, and she's also a co-founder of the parts department. Um she introduced us, and that's like I I'm so flattered by that. Um so I'm I wanted to mention this is that I feel like this is a twofold gift. One, because I'm honored to be here. I think it's just um really special. But two, I think you are such a gift. Um, and I hope that someday you are on the opposite end of this, and maybe I'll come back and interview you for this podcast because you're an entrepreneur and a mama as well. Um, but you are connecting women in this community, and even um you and I, we were at this networking event that you hosted the other night, and I'm making connections through you continually already, and our relationship is pretty new. So I want to thank you first and foremost, and like, yeah, you're a gift.

Kelly

You are so sweet. No, I was not expecting that, and I am I'm grateful for the opportunity for us to get connected, and I can just see the the fruits of what that can look like. And to your point about the event that we hosted um earlier this week, it's I didn't realize like the power of that connection until you see it like right in front of your eyes. Absolutely. Even though I felt like legitimately, Alyssa, I felt like stretch armstrong all throughout the night. I was like, I didn't even have any meaningful conversations.

SPEAKER_00

And you don't, right? And when you're same thing like you're at a wedding or something like that, you say hi and give hugs, yeah. Are grateful you're there.

Kelly

Fair enough. As long as like I always have this like thought process that I'm like, oh my gosh, I wonder if they're like frustrated with me because I invited them and I didn't even get a chance to like have a like no two-second conversation at most, you know. But but then again, it's like those events, it's meant to bring people together and honor and appreciate you.

SPEAKER_00

So and you never know who you're gonna meet. And that's the wonderful thing about networking. Um, and the scary thing about networking too.

Networking Without Feeling Fake

Kelly

I know, I know. Okay, I I'm gonna we're gonna start to like lead into the rest of this interview and the conversation, the um, the questions that I have, but I want to take this opportunity and just ask you real quick, because I am curious. Okay, what does networking look like for you right now?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so that's a great question. It is something that takes a lot of time. Um, it takes a lot of intention. Um, it can be fun once you're there and you feel comfortable, but can it can also be nerve-wracking because you're entering these spaces in these rooms. Um, sometimes you can feel like an imposter, sometimes you can feel like, uh, let me make sure that I have a drink in my hand so that I'm not doing weird things with my hands. Yes. Um, but yeah, it's a lot of just like you never know who that person is that you're going to meet. And so you need to just show up and you need to have those conversations, um, get out of your comfort zone and make time for it. And so I that's something that is stretching me right now, and I'm making sure to have it on my calendar, but I'm doing the work, I'm doing, I'm wearing all these hats of like, I'm the marketer, I'm the designer, I'm the networker, I'm the CEO, I am this part-time CFO, I'm all the things. Um, and I love that. And also, um you gotta keep grinding. And so I consider that a part of my intentional schedule is to network.

Motherhood First Then The Leap

Kelly

We're gonna table this. We are gonna come back to it in some form, in in some particular way that I'm like, I I know exactly how I want to approach this. Um, okay, what came first for you? Was it entrepreneurship or was it motherhood?

SPEAKER_00

It was motherhood for me, yes. Um, I have three babies. They are nine, eight, and five. And Fitzhatty and Clem, I love you to the ends of the earth and back. I just I know hopefully you'll listen to this podcast someday, my first one. And um, I just want you to know that I'm giving you a massive bear hug right now. Um I'm not crying right now. No, they're gonna show it's so cute. They're amazing, they're also like, you know, as children are, they they can be challenging. But yeah, that um motherhood came first for me in a nutshell. Um, entrepreneurship came um because of a bunch of things, but one of them was I was viewing my kids from my office with the door closed way more than I was on the floor playing with them or being able to take them to school. Um, I was missing out on quite a bit via having a very um large corporate job.

Leaving Global HR For Design

Kelly

Yeah. So let's I I always love to connect the dots for the listeners. And so when did you start your business? And then I want to back into where where you're currently at right now so that they have context of how you got to the entrepreneurship stage.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. I started my business about four and a half years ago, um, Gem House design. Um, I have two arms of my business. It is luxury real estate development on one end, so buying dirt, working with architects and builders and doing the interior design and furnishings of these investment homes. The other side of it is working with clients um that come to me in need of interior design services, uh, whether it's a new build or whether it's a renovation or they're just refreshing their home. Yeah. Um, so those are the two sides of that. Um I am forgetting what the the second part of your question was.

Kelly

I what what were you doing previous to starting the business, Gem House? And um I I think the other component of that that I think is really important for the listeners to understand is like how how you decided that that and you shared a little bit, but yeah, where did this like love for interior design come from? Because the listeners are gonna find out here just in a moment what your corporate position was. And it's not really in the vein of what you're doing.

SPEAKER_00

It's not yeah, so okay, um my former life, uh, I was in global human resources and had um done that for since I had graduated from college. Um, so a good 15 plus years of climbing that corporate ladder and and doing quite well um in that career. Um and so I'm proud of that, and I want to kind of put that in a nutshell, but yeah, that's not related at all to real estate development and interior design. However, um, I've always had a passion for it. And so growing up, I I think this was instilled by my parents. They love um interiors and homes as well. And we would go to the parade of homes or we would go to love it. Yeah, and we would get ideas for our home. Um, and we would run, we would take our shoes off because it was required to take your shoes off. Then you'd run and find your room um and pretend that like this was ours and this is how I'm gonna decorate it, and um find all the nooks and crannies and the cool spaces where um they had built in a little nook for kids to play and things like that. So I think that's my first memory of that love, but I can remember the smells. I can remember the the materials that were being used in these homes and how inspiring that was for me. Um it's not the career path I originally chose. I studied international relations and political science. And um I have a huge passion for that as well. I I love that space. Um, but I it's I'm also not ever gonna be a politician, so I'm gonna put that out there. Famous lesson. Are you sure? I'm pretty sure.

Kelly

Um but uh yeah, so we need some good souled politicians right now. Let's also just put that out into the universe. But I hear you, I understand you.

SPEAKER_00

Right. I mean, I will help with the campaigns. I'll leave it at that. There you go. But okay. The three things I think that drove me to make that decision. One of them I I talked about was like I was in global HR. So that means you're on Zoom calls or phone calls at 8 and 9 p.m. You are back up in the morning at 6 or 7 a.m. And and your kids are getting up and having breakfast, and you're having to through the door like whisper to be quiet because I'm on a call. Um, and I just the other thing was, um, though there's two more, um the company I was with was not excelling anymore. And historically it had been. When COVID hit, it had gone through some very tough times. And HR is super fun when you're building and strategic and you're being a business partner to talk about where you're gonna expand. And yeah, um, it's not, in my opinion, very fun when you're on the opposite end of that. I mean, maybe some people have this like weird desire to lay people off, but I it's not my wheelhouse or my happy place to be um decreasing the size of a business and strategically determining where to do that and flying then to help to lay them off. So um that was one of them. And then the third thing was the support from my my husband, my partner, who was just like, hey, like I I see that your mental health space is not thriving right now. And having that candid conversation of him being supportive both financially and just emotionally as a partner, of being like, Yeah, you have this idea, let's do this. And so I think those three things coming together led me to just jump. And I did, I just I literally put in my resignation um and did the thing.

unknown

Did the damn thing.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I love that.

Kelly

Um, and I want to sit here for just a moment because um the support is really critically important when it comes to these decisions and the decision making that goes behind it. And it's for the most part, I can't say that every single guest that has been on here has has probably had the that like candid conversation with their spouse and then had this like common agreement. But for the most part, that's that is typically the case, right? Like you're having these like raw, authentic, vulnerable moments that then lead to, well, what's next? Right. And so where I want to sit, Alyssa, is actually how you decided, like, this is what I want to do. I want to start this business where I'm doing the interior design. We're also mixing in, because this is this isn't just one business. Like you are legitimately wearing two different hats, yeah, in addition to what you were speaking to about like, okay, uh, so I'm marketing it, I'm getting out in networking, like I'm CEO, I'm part CFO, like you wear so many different hats, but then within that is like these two businesses that have to hum.

unknown

Yeah, yeah.

Kelly

So how did you go? That's what I'm gonna do. Like, where did the idea even spark from?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Good question. Um, I will say the business started first as real estate development. Um, that's where my initial focus was. I always knew that part of my sweat equity within that would be the interior design. So I can kind of like just receive profit or um know that I wouldn't have to pay out money for that because I I knew I would be great at that. Um I grew up, and this is kind of like it's it's kind of backpedaling here to my childhood again, but no, this is good.

Kelly

This is good. The context is always I mean, first, it's it's incredible context for me as the host, right? But if I'm listening right now, I think it's so fun to just hear how these pieces kind of play together as well.

SPEAKER_00

So well, it's also like showing me in the moment how much I was shaped by my childhood. So that's that's that's pretty cool to reflect on. Um so yeah, I grew up. Um, my dad was a school teacher, um, and so he had the summers off, and we would literally every summer get in this very large van with a camper attached, and we would go and we would drive. And I have been to almost every state in America. Oh yeah, just like camping and exploring national parks. And um, we spent a lot of time in Montana, um, specifically Glacier National Park, uh, which if you have not been, please put it on your list. Please go enjoy Whitefish, which is like this amazing western um adds to list right now.

Kelly

Makes a note.

SPEAKER_00

I've got a whole email like queued up. I can send you all the recommendations. Perfect. Um, okay, so um there was a ton of amazing places that we went, um, but Glacier National Park, going to the Sun Road, seeing that vista, it's just life-changing. It really is. And I can't, if you've been there, I think if you know, you know. So um that has stuck with me. And when we, my my husband and I had some um disposable income that we had saved up, we determined that we were going to buy an investment rental property. Okay. And we were looking at that time the Viking Stadium was being built, and we were like, huh, should we buy a condo down there? Maybe people will come in and rent. And and then I started thinking, okay, what are these um up and coming markets in vacation destinations that my husband and I like to go to? And so I started doing research and seeing um what articles were out there of like, okay, what's the next Jackson Hole, right? We love skiing. What's the next um uh resort that's going to blow up and potentially um you know bring a greater ROI uh in our investment than just something local in Minneapolis where we're already invested in real estate. So I found this property and I was like, hey Pete, you're gonna think I'm crazy, but we're gonna buy this. And it was like quadruple our budget that we had originally done. So we were gonna have to leverage ourselves, but um we took that risk, we did it. Uh, we still have that condo out in Whitefish, and it's been our family's happy place. Um, and that really introduced us more to the ski resort of Whitefish, the town, and then the real estate market there. So uh looking at the opportunity there and how much people, when they go there, love it. They just fall in love. Um, and they're telling everyone else about it. And that real estate market has blown up. Um, and so that was where year was this?

Kelly

Sorry to interrupt, but I'm just curious what year this was.

SPEAKER_00

Um we purchased our condo in 2019.

Kelly

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Um, and purchased the first of the lots um for the uh for Gem House in I think January 1st of 2022.

Kelly

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So fast and furious ride there. Um, but just such a cool market. And so that market and that decision originated by that condo, and then my research and investment into that community uh led to me wanting to build these luxury ski homes, which are it's just such a phenomenal place. Yeah.

Kelly

Yeah, that's so cool.

SPEAKER_00

Thanks.

Kelly

I'm writing down a few notes. Um, you might notice that. So uh skills that I'm picking up on. Alyssa's a researcher. Oh, thank you. Obviously, very visual. Um, because if you're doing interior design, that that kind of comes with the territory, right? Ideation. Do you like to ideate?

SPEAKER_00

I have lots of lists, yes.

Kelly

I love it. Okay, so ooh, how old were the kids? Oh, yeah. When this was happening.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, that's such a good question, too. Um, Clementine, my youngest, was I think a year and a half when I started Gem House. Um and then, you know, the other kids were then four and a half and six.

Kelly

Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

What was going through very easy time.

Kelly

Yeah, right. What was going through your head at the moment that you put in your notice, you resigned from HR? Because there wasn't like there was a little, was there a little bit of a gap at that point, or did it happen?

SPEAKER_00

So I had started, I I it's pretty easy to create an LLC.

Kelly

Um and uh yeah, no, it was you just went and you did it. I want to know if you can recollect chances are you probably can emotions that were going through your heart and through your head when you decided, like, yep, we're doing this.

SPEAKER_00

I think excitement, I think authenticity, like finally I was gonna be able to like live my true self. Um I think there was a bit of concern about success, right? There like there you don't you have to be confident, yeah, but I'm not naive that things don't always work out. Um, and there's a huge financial investment that goes along with a business like this. Yeah, and so that was a a sense of concern, if you will. Yeah. Yet also that confidence had to override that, and you just have to jump in. And I did, I fully jumped in. Um, I think there was, this is not an emotion that I was having, but a lot of people around me were had consternation, if you will. That's a nice word to put, or like they just did not agree with what I was doing. Um, from the standpoint of why would you leave this career you've built? You've put in so much, you have an extremely um solid financial situation. Yeah. Uh why would you risk that all? Um, and so there was dealing with that too of like they weren't meaning to be not confident in me. Yeah. Um, but I had to understand that their intentions were good, they were meaning well, yet also I couldn't be hurt by their seemingly non support. Which it wasn't non support. Um but you I don't know if you can understand what I'm saying.

Kelly

It was just like I totally do. And I think. We can hash through this a little bit if you'd like to. I believe that when you decide that you're going to take the path that otherwise seems more challenging, most people are most of society is doing the nine to five gig. It may not be, you know, totally within those constraints, but they are most likely W-two'd. Yep. It's comfortable. It's safe.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

Kelly

It's so when somebody goes against the grain, it's it's tough, right? Because they're like this. They're it's um, they're focused in a completely different way than what an entrepreneur, yes, somebody who has that instilled in their heart is your thought process is just completely different. And then you know that you're taking a leap of faith, right? Like you're taking a leap of faith for your family, you're taking a leap of faith for yourself, and to not feel like there's wholehearted support, and there's like either doubt or questioning of it, it then creates sort of like a trickle effect of like, am I doing am I making the right decision? Right. No, I know I'm making the right decision, and how do I help bridge the gap for this person?

SPEAKER_00

Yes. I was I I remember conversations at it was Christmas, we had the extended family over, like large extended family, and it was just it was continual conversations of shock from people, like me trying to like convince them that everything was gonna be okay.

Kelly

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, but also again, I I go back to my husband, was just super supportive, never, never batted an eye about being confident in me and my vision. And that allowed me to be confident in myself too.

Kelly

So he really was sort of the the pillar in all of that initially. And I'm sure like you obviously have support around you. So what does that village of support look like now? Because we're going on, you know, you're four plus years, and so obviously you've probably instilled some confidence in the people around you like, hey, I'm I'm doing the damn thing. And it's not like we're not just playing games here, right? This is this is the real deal.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, well, along the way, things have not always uh, it's not a linear trajectory of success. Let's put it that way. There's all these unforeseen things that come into play, and like you gotta roll with the punches, and there are punches, and like if you're going into entrepreneurship, if you're considering that, like just know that they will come. And um you have to be they're they're not gonna be what you think they might be, and you just roll with it. But um through that process, a lot of these people, whether it's family or in my social life, um have been massive supporters. Um, whether it's even financially investing in the business or whether it's um, you know, being a client because they trust my uh my ability to see a vision in their in their home. Um there's been so many wonderful moments and like my village is strong and kind and um gosh, I mean, where we live, Kelly, is just I know I can't, I still can't wrap my head around how amazing our community is and how they rise up and how strong they are and how smart and driven, especially the women in our community.

Kelly

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, like how cool.

Kelly

It is incredible, yeah, yeah. And I'm just I feel like I'm just scratching the surface because we've how long have you guys been here in E Dinah?

SPEAKER_00

Since that's a good question, too. Um, I want to say seven and a half, eight years.

Kelly

Okay, yeah. And then we so we moved into our house in September of 2022. Okay, yeah. Yeah, September of 2022. So not too long, and it is um interestingly enough, and maybe are you from the area originally?

Minnesota Friendships And Finding Your People

SPEAKER_00

I am I grew up up in Oseo Maple Grove.

Kelly

Okay, so you're from the Twin Cities. Yes. Um, have you heard that it's hard to make friends here in Minnesota specifically the Twin Cities? Um I'm not originally from here, although I I'm like right I grew up right next door, like in Wisconsin, so it's like not too far away. But I think that's something that we learned is that um people are nice and people are very nice in Edina, uh, contrary to what people believe. If you if individuals who are listening right now are like, oh, Edina, cake eaters, yada yada, whatever. Like I I've been there. This community's amazing. This community is amazing. Yeah, um, it just takes some time though, because I think that there's a tribalism to Minnesotans, and specifically if you're from the area, yeah, I can see that. And it's like we like you, and we just want to make sure that we can know, like, trust you. And so it takes a hot second. Yeah, I believe. I trust you.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you. So here's like I didn't um I left when I was 18 and I came back eight years ago. Um, I did not keep a lot of those strong relationships from Minnesota. Um, and so my friendships here are largely all brand new.

Kelly

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, and I have seen that there is a um transplant community in Edina as well. I consider myself one of those, even though I did grow up here till I was 18. Um, because you've gone out and saw uh seen the world, excuse me, and then you've decided to come back and raise your family here.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, and just on my street, you know, we have uh people from New York, we have people from um Washington State. We have like, I mean, it is diverse, not only culturally, but um geographically. So I want to introduce you to more people too. Oh, thank you. Yeah, because I'm sorry you've had that experience.

Flexibility Trade Offs And Harmony

Kelly

Well, it's not, it isn't a bad experience. We it it just felt like people are friendly, and it's we're now starting to see this like shift where people are like, oh, we know you're here to stay. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like we've planted the flag, we know that they're here to stay, we have established like this friendship, this relationship, and they can trust us, yeah, right. And so I think that goes to speak to like most friendships that you're starting to build. It's like it's not gonna happen overnight necessarily. Years and it does take time. So that's exactly the experience that we've had. It's not bad, it's not great, just slow. It was just slow, yeah, and that's okay. We also had a disadvantage or sorry, an advantage, a di so an advantage over other individuals who are coming here where we already had kids in the school district. Yeah, true, and so they have friends, and that also helps. It helps so much, so much. Yeah, so um, I literally just lost my train of thought. That's okay. So you authentically speaking, this is just exactly like how mom's brains are. I have I have a few notes written down though, so this is good to be able to reference back to. I am curious, how did you decide the name of your business?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, that's a fun question. Um, okay, so we built our home um here in Edina, and the builder, um, shout out to John Kramer and sons, who are amazing um at all things they do and just super kind humans. Um they uh John actually called it um uh the little gem. Uh and you know, I I don't think my house is little, but but maybe smaller than what they typically build. Sure. Um and so that stuck with me. And so I thought gem was great because you want your home to be a gem. Yeah um and then yeah, I just I just kind of made it. There's nothing more than that, really. Gem house that that's okay.

Kelly

Yeah, no, it's I actually love that you honed in on like a conversation basically that you were having with the builder. Yeah. And I love that you don't traditionally spell out house. Oh, yeah, I wanted to make it a little different. No, it's like it's so cool. I love it so much. Um, so we've talked about your transition from being in the corporate setting to being in in the entrepreneurial space. Yeah. What are some of the things that you've reflected on, the differences that you have seen in how you have shown up as a mother, as a parent then versus how you show up now?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, great question. Um There are still times when I have to close my office door and say, you know, I I just need this 30 minutes to finish this work. Um, but I'm not asking them to be quiet because I'm on this really critical conversation where someone's, you know, career is on the line. Um I am able to create my own schedule. I am in control of when I work, how I work, what projects I take on, what that will make my stress level, um, and therefore how I show up to my husband, to my family, to my children. Um that has been a game changer because one I like control, let's just be honest. Yeah. And it allows me to know that hey, I know that there's this big soccer tournament, or there's a dance recital, or hey, this is a big testing week at school, and my kids need me to show up. Um, so I can rearrange things based upon how I want to do that. Even like getting the kids to school and having those sacred moments of like no, I'm going to turn off my phone and my computer from X to X. Whereas sometimes in the corporate world, and not all of us get this privilege to have that choice, but you um are told when and where and what to be. Yeah. So there's there are pros and cons to everything in life. I have found entrepreneurship to be pretty amazing from a flexibility standpoint. And does that mean I work on weekends sometimes? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00

But it's for my love of it. Like if I wanted to have a less successful business, I wouldn't need to do that.

Kelly

Yeah, you could establish the boundaries of which you know, like that it could be that. You could go, hey, as I'm going into this, I have chosen I am not gonna work on the weekends. Right. And then how does that evolve for what the rest of the week is gonna look like for you? Yeah. But in the I mean, what you do really kind of folds just into obviously into real estate. And when do people want to have conversations? If if they are working like a you know, a traditional nine to five, yes, it's gonna be evenings and it's gonna be weekends. Yes, yeah, not all the time, but um, and we we live in a community where um that dynamic probably looks a little different as well, but it's you know, that's just kind of how the cookie crumbles.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's true. And if I wanted to, again, like if I know in the next, let's say something happened with my family, and I know in the next six months my family really needs me, and I'm yes, I'm gonna take on less projects and I'm in control of I know making less profit, that's a decision I can make to take care of the other elements of my life. That said, um this just came to me, but I I was reading an article the other day, and it was uh Shonda Rhimes talking about motherhood and um I I suppose entrepreneurship, right? Yeah. I don't know if she actually is a label where she's she was working at the time, but I think she's uh executive producer of her own items now. Um but she was like, hey, you're commending me, and we are having this conversation right now because I've done an awesome job at work and I'm owning that, and I like have put so much time in and I'm making beautiful things.

Kelly

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, that also means inherently that I am failing at a lot of other things because I'm not able to put my time into picking up my kids from school that day because I'm on set, or you know, X, Y, Z. I I, you know, what you don't see is that I've failed in a relationship, right? That and so um I think there is an element to that that no matter what, as an entrepreneur, as a mom, um I I I do want to be candid that if someone is grinding and putting in all that work and like you have this phenomenal business, there is another side to that. And maybe we're not all being being candid about that. I think this gives us a platform to do so. For sure.

Kelly

But that's the whole, I mean, for sure. This is the whole reason that I started the podcast because I'm like, no, it's not all rainbows and butterflies. Like for what people show on social media, for instance, it's like, it is not all rainbows and butterflies. There are things that when you're saying yes over here to something in the business, yeah, you are saying no over here to something else. And and that is families at some point or another.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it is. Yeah, I'm going to this networking event, which is gonna be so cool, and I'm gonna meet these amazing people, but I'm not going on a date night with my husband. Right. Right? Like there is the trade-offs.

Kelly

There is, yeah. I love that you were candid about that.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, well, I mean, I think it was just so poignant to me when I read that. I was like, okay, yeah, and I'm glad she's saying it. And I and I want more people to hear that message because, like, it's okay to it's okay to not be perfect, and um, we don't have to call it failing, right? But we can we can understand that there is no harmonious balance, there just isn't.

Kelly

So I wanna I do want to talk through this because I do not love the word balance. Yeah, I think when like for some people, there it's just it's like a knee-jerk reaction. Like we we use balance, like work-life balance, work-life balance, work-life balance. And when I think of balance, I think of a teeter-totter that's gonna be like this. Right. Well, that's the reality is it's never gonna sit here. Right. It's literally never going to. Yeah, it is the wind could blow a little bit and it's gonna go like this, right? And so I've just chosen personally to replace it with the word harmony. Oh, yeah. You know, like how do you harmonize and try to keep another metaphor to just throw in here, like to not have such high highs or low lows in the roller coaster ride of entrepreneurship and motherhood, right? So you'd like if you think about when you're on a roller coaster ride, but they're you've got the high highs, right? The triggers, you're gonna have the low lows. So it is just and then you're gonna have those moments on the roller coaster ride for those of you who are enthusiasts of roller coasters. You have those moments where you're just kind of like this, and you're like, okay, I can just like breathe, you know, and so we want to as much as humanly possible have it be like that. But the reality is that it's not going to. So it's like, okay, what is the reality of harmonization? What is it?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, and I think if you're an entrepreneur, you love the roller coaster ride. And so for sure. And I have to say, I love the high highs, and but they don't last long. It's like an hour. You celebrate for like an hour and you're like, okay, now we're done.

Kelly

Well, I I mean, truthfully, it's like you could have, and I'm sure you've had this experience where you're like, you're having conversations with people and you are having those high high moments. You're like, yes, this person's committing, this family's committing. I just had this great conversation over here. Yeah. And you thought this conversation was gonna go and you were gonna get the contract in place, and then you don't. Yeah. Right? And you're like, what? Yeah. Right. And that is just the reality of entrepreneurship.

SPEAKER_00

Totally. Or, you know, yes, yes. There's so many other things. There's gonna be things that go wrong in the projects, there's going to be interest rates that decide to soar, that are out of your control. There's gonna be all these things um, you know, that happen in life.

Kelly

I want you to speak to uh, let's just let's first talk on the real estate investment side. Sure. I want you to speak to what that looks like. Um, share with the listeners, like walk them through, um, if you can, in a nutshell, that experience so that they have an understanding of it, because there may be somebody who's listening who's like, you know what, maybe I don't need to do anything within my home, sure, but I want to have a conversation with Alyssa about how her and her husband decide that they want to invest. Like what are the what are the strategic approaches that you take to doing that?

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

Kelly

And then once you're finished with that, yeah, I want you to talk through on the other side with Gem House design as well.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Um I think real estate investing is an extremely smart decision. Um, if you I love it. I'm like, yes. You know, as a realtor and yes. Um, yeah, and I I it doesn't, yes, owning your own home, I think is a smart financial decision. I think that um if you can swing it and leverage yourself even to have a property that you can rent out, for example, even if it's a long-term rental, um, and it doesn't need to be across the nation, such as what I did. Um, it can be even just down the road, where you know, people who are building new homes in Edina need a place to live for a year or six months. Like that is an opportunity, and it's it's doesn't have to be this palatial amazing thing. Um, so what we did when we looked at our condo was that we did choose to go the short-term invest or short-term rental route in a resort community, a vacation destination that had both winter and summer traffic.

Kelly

Beautiful.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it worked, right? Um, so it has the national park where people um flock to by the millions in the summer, and it has the ski resort um that is burgeoning um in the winter. Um you look at cap rate, like of what the the what the um uh property has gotten from a gross revenue perspective, um, taking out those expenses and and seeing what the actual profit is at the end of the day, and if that covers your costs, then that's not just your um your mortgage, but it's you know, things like cable and HOA and all those things. So um there's a lot of articles out there if you're interested in getting into vacation rental markets where you can better understand cap rate and um look for a strong realtor who can understand who knows that because not all not all do.

Kelly

Um it's it's so true. It is, it's very true. I would say that that is um, like we actually just had a conversation with somebody who is leaning towards investment. Yeah. And Joe's got immense knowledge around all of that stuff, just coming from the commercial side.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, cool. Yeah.

Kelly

And we're like, but our bread and butter is this. You know what I mean? And so to your point, it's like make sure that you're rallying around somebody who's like Yeah. We can, we're gonna point you in the right direction. You're not gonna, you're not gonna leave this conversation like empty-handed. It's not gonna be empty calories.

SPEAKER_00

Correct. And I don't know if you guys already advertise that as something that you're specialists in, but I think that could be interesting, especially in this market of EDINA, where I think those opportunities exist to buy those older homes and rent them out.

Kelly

For sure. For sure. You bring up an interesting point too, though, that as a real estate investor, there's so many different approaches and strategies behind it, right? Like this is the approach that you guys took, right? And there's also all of these different pockets of opportunity. It could be in a specific neighborhood, it could be in a specific city, it could be across the nation, you know, it just depends on how savvy you want to be and you know what your appetite for risk is as well.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Um, we also approached it from the perspective of um we use the property um for our family. And so it the vacation in in theory pays for itself, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, so when we go stay there, it it is not expenditure.

Kelly

Sure.

SPEAKER_00

So yeah.

Kelly

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00

That was one of the things that we thought about. Beautiful. So then the second part of your question um was Gem House. And are are you when you're asking that question, are you talking about the the interior design client side? Yeah. Okay. Yep.

Kelly

Um and specifically around You know what, how let's let's take it this direction. What does like walk us through a day in the life of Alyssa and she's um just getting under contract with somebody, and what does the process look like?

A Real Day In Interior Design

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, okay. Well, first of all, I wake up very early, like around 5:20, and I go to the gym. I love it. I love it. I try. Um, this will hold me accountable now that I've said that out loud.

Kelly

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

We all need a little accountability, right? Um and then um I I get back in time for the kids to be waking up. We do breakfast, um, get them off to school. Um, and I am on my on my email getting through everything from projects from the day before, first of all, any urgent items. Um then it's prospective clients or someone, for example, who's just getting underway. Um, it would be a site visit to their home to understand the space, um, talk about and learn about the client's aesthetic, how they currently live, how they aspire to live in that space, because that can be very different. Um, whether or not there's construction involved, or whether it's just a refresh, or if it's a new construction build, like analyzing the prints or the the architectural set with them, like granularly, because details are where it's at. It's it's like anyone can say, hey, we're gonna do this quartzite backsplash and um look at this beautiful walnut island. Um, but it's the details and how that comes together with the profiles of the cabinetry and the shoe that you're choosing and how that, you know, like it's it's highly detailed work. Um so getting granular and in that granularity showcasing um expertise. Yeah. Because I think that you're you're not only you're gaining um confidant when you hire me as an interior designer, you're gaining expertise. You're hiring expertise, you're hiring um personality. We need to be able to mesh, and I need to be able to understand you and your family. Um, and so we kind of need to like dig in and get into the nitty-gritty.

Kelly

Yeah. Um okay, what is that what does that mean? Like, what is that, like what is the context around that?

SPEAKER_00

Well, how do you how do you really live? Do the kids really like like because you might have me over and your house is really beautifully cleaned, but like on a regular day. Two hours before it was a mess. Oh my god, it's beautiful. Good job. My house is a mess right now. Um, but like, does your son kick his shoes every day into this corner? And because there's no storage solution, like I need to know how the house is actually currently lived in so that we can provide solutions and also change things to the way that you want to live. And maybe it's that things are really chaotic right now and you want a more zen spa wellness-inspired space. Great. Uh how do we get there? Like how do you do that with kids?

Kelly

Like, how do you do that with young kids at the at um at the least? Yeah, I love it.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, keep going. That you know, there is that, it's just you have to mesh with the person you're going to hire. And so it's keeping it real and being authentically me, which I really don't know how to not be. So that's good. Yeah. Um, because I don't have to worry about that part. Like, if you if we connect, awesome. Like, let's do this. Um, because I already know I can do a damn good job at the work. I think that the personality matches is the key. Um, and understanding and aligning on, okay, what's that budget then? You think it's going to be 10,000, really? Like, let's be realistic here in all these finishes because that is going to be with materials, labor, et cetera. It's going to actually be X, Y, Z. So um, and that might not scare you off, it might be less, right? But rarely, I will say um, okay, so then it's putting together that proposal. Um, it's it's once you get the sign off of that, it is getting a contract, a legal contract through the software system that I use, making sure that that is signed so that we can then dig into um an actual. You can do a questionnaire. I don't like questionnaires. I really like to have a sit-down meeting again to have those authentic conversations to see where even someone's like body language of like, okay, but let's dig into that because what are you really not telling me? Yeah. Um that's so fun. So there's that. And then um driving all around, uh, maybe later in the day I'll have a project where I there's like an urgent need to pick up a console table, and the client is out of town, and and so I need to actually literally pick it up from the receiving warehouse and like get it into that home. So there's a million different hats that I wear. It's making sure the bills are paid on time. It is um then picking up the kids or at least greeting them off the bus, getting them home. My husband makes dinner, which is amazing. Um, and then um it is like having that that time where I am with them, and then it's also going back to my computer to finishing up emails once they are in bed. Um and so not every day, because there are days where we'll go out and have some fun too, but that's a typical day, is like it is non-stop. It is like you have to determine um time is money when you're an entrepreneur. Yeah, and so where are you investing that time? And um that includes relationships, that includes um the key things like your children are only this young once. Today is the youngest they will ever be. Right. And that's so true. Um, you know, that little baby voice is not gonna last forever, and it's like just happens so quickly. So okay, I'm I'm rambling, but I'm like, You are not trying to get nostalgic for me.

Kelly

You're not, because I think like this is again, you're speaking to the crevices of reality, right? The reality of what a day-to-day routine looks like for you. Now it's gonna, I mean, I your role is very similar to like our role. It is no day is exactly the same, right? Which is what we love about it. We are having conversations with vendors, we're making decisions and helping clients out, we're having strategy, we are picking up kids, we're having to go to daycare and pick up, you know, drop off clean shoes and pick up like, oh my gosh, you know, like these are the realities of kind of the ins and outs and the flows of choosing entrepreneurship. And what does like having the the forethought of like, all right, my day, I have to be very selective on what the the like minute by minute, hour by hour is gonna look like.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And I thought I'd have more time as an entrepreneur, and I have I I have I can schedule my own time. Yes, but I definitely do not have more time.

Kelly

It's like perpetually being behind all the time, but like you're you're checking off like the big core items on a day-to-day basis, but there's always a repeat, always, yeah, something that you can be doing. And if you're if you are as an entrepreneur or somebody who's just getting started in your business, and you are literally sitting there and going, What am I supposed to be doing? that's a nice little gut check for you. It really is.

SPEAKER_00

I think also what I want to say here is that you clearly are successful because of the fact that you have this checklist that's never done. Because if you know what I mean, because if you didn't have the clients or the things to be doing, like there is maybe a change that you need to be making in your business. And so I have to reflect on that for myself as well and be like, this means you're doing a good job. It might mean like you feel like you're failing. Yeah, but like this is really good.

Kelly

It is.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So congrats to you.

Failure Fast Then Celebrate Well

Kelly

Well, congrats to you. We're failing is we're failing and we're failing hard and we're failing fast. And I think that that is, you know, that's something that we can speak to as well, is understanding that making a conscious choice to go into entrepreneurship means that you're gonna be humbled. Yeah, the onion layers are gonna be peeled back because you're gonna learn so much about yourself, yeah, and in turn be able to grow as a complete result of peeling back the onion layers. Yeah. And failure is inevitable. Now, this is something, just candidly speaking, from my heart, that I have had to grow through immensely since coming into an entrepreneurial space. Now, mine started in mortgage, right? And I think that that's where I failed epically. Like many, many, many, many times I failed epically. Okay. I always wanted to be a perfectionist. All of it, right? Like, like, and my version of perfectionism is probably very different than your version of perfectionism. It just comes out in like weird, quirky ways, right? So, how quickly something that I have learned in all of the conversations, literally every single woman that has been on the podcast, is how quickly can you move through either having to make a decision on something that is going to be a like life-changing for your business, right? Like, how quickly can you move through that? And same thing with failure. How quickly can you move through the failure? Yes. And not sit and wall or feel victimized by circumstances around you.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Oh, perfect way to say it. Yes. Um, fail quickly. Um and celebrate successes. And quickly, but get it quickly. Yeah.

Kelly

Yeah. What how do you celebrate? This is something that my husband, Joe, and I can be better about.

SPEAKER_00

Like taking time to celebrate. Yeah. I Pete and I, my husband, love um a good bottle of wine. Um like a and like I'm saying like a like a higher end, yeah. Let's go with a puck or a, you know, I could, yeah. Is that a red or a white?

unknown

It's a red.

Kelly

I kind of figured.

SPEAKER_00

So let's go out to a nice dinner and let's like just have a nice date night um with this nice bottle of wine and really like spend time with each other and reflect on how we got there and like cheers to that. It literally, like, yeah, we cheers to it. Um I wouldn't, yeah. I think he's super complimentary of me. And so when I think of celebration, it's actually him being complimentary of me, which is so like kind of him. I think I don't celebrate myself and my successes enough, um, but I think we do a good job at celebrating each other. I love it.

Kelly

What does he do?

SPEAKER_00

He is a quantitative algorithmic trader. I had to like take a moment to like say that out loud. Yeah. Bat size. I know he writes um computer programs that trade on the stock market okay and like deal with volatility arbitrage. Okay. Which just means taking advantage of the peaks and valleys of the market. Yeah.

Kelly

That sounds really fun. And Pete He loves it. I know you're listening right now, so bravo and hats off to you. Yes. Patrick. What's his degree in? What's his degree in?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, he was economics from Columbia, and then um he went to Berkeley for his master's in financial engineering. Oh, how did you guys meet? We met. We were both um at Columbia University, and we met um at a celebration for women in athletics where we were both working the event. Um and I tried to get him to like take me out to dinner that night. And he was just like, we were I like strategically planned it so that we'd walk out of this event together. Um, you know, pretending I had extra work and stuff. He's well, he's worth it. Um, and we were walking out as as my plan happened. Um, and I was like, Oh, you know, I'm gonna go to the the dining hall. Like, you want to join me? He's like, Oh no, I'm gonna go over here, see ya. I think just you're like, and then hey, plan B. Like nine to twelve months later, we finally reconnected. But um yeah, that's how we met. And so in New York City, love it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

Kelly

And then um, how did you guys find your way back here?

SPEAKER_00

When we started dating, not right away, but I would say, you know, as we got serious, um, I was very clear and had a very strong point of view of my my future life. And then I I said I like control and and understanding what my life plan will be, um that I was going to raise my children back in Minnesota. And um, so I was upfront about that. And he was totally on board.

Kelly

Where's he from?

SPEAKER_00

Philadelphia.

Kelly

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

Kelly

And still has family there?

SPEAKER_00

They've migrated down to Florida. Okay. So we go visit them down there.

Kelly

Yeah. I love it. Okay. Thank you for sharing that. Yeah. Um, I am curious, what are some of the parallels that you see between motherhood and entrepreneurship?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, what came to my mind right now is just what I'm gonna say out loud. Um, the high highs and the low lows. Um it parenting is tough. It is so tough. It is way harder than I ever thought it would be. Um it's you decided you were gonna do it three times. I love it. Yeah, the third time may not have been planned. It's okay. She is she is phenomenal. Um, okay, so we had I had mentioned this earlier to you this morning before we got on this podcast, but you know, um people celebrated and were like so excited for me when I took this leap. And it was, you know, people dropping off a kind gift or like a um cheers to this new chapter, yeah, right? Um that same thing happened when I was pregnant and you're gonna have this baby shower, and everyone is so excited, and they are giving you gifts and and you know, asking about the name and and yeah, what what fruit is the baby on all the things, and like everything's so happy, and there's these cute clothes, and yeah, you're organizing the nursery, and then all hell breaks loose, and no one talks like about the realities, I think, of parenthood. Um, and maybe on the same vein, I didn't research entrepreneurship enough to understand that um all hell would break loose there too. And so I think there are a lot of parallels, but I think that what's so cool is that we're in a society now, I think, with women, or uh a point in society with women culturally that we can start to talk about these things and it's not so taboo.

Kelly

Right.

SPEAKER_00

Um, so here I am saying, like this shit is hard. It really is. Like parenting is hard, um, and entrepreneurship is hard. Um it's also both of them are so rewarding, and I wouldn't change my life for anything. Like I I just I'm I'm so happy, Kelly, but but oh, it is hard.

Kelly

Yeah, it's it is I was just sharing, so there's a a woman at our church that I mean, I our church is small, we're right at Wooddale. And so you recognize people, but sometimes you're just like you're doing your thing. And so I finally had an opportunity to meet her. Okay, and I was telling her, I'm like admiring her and her interaction with her daughter, because her daughter's probably just a hair younger than our daughter, Maddie. Okay, and I could see a lot of the commonalities, just even in how she was walking and like, you know, like doing that. Yeah, I'm like, it's just so cute. And we just started to talk, you know, woman to woman, mom to mom. Yeah, and she's like, Yeah, you we're in a a pretty interesting phase right now of like it's like call it like three major.

SPEAKER_00

Well, you know, like three is two is actually easy, three is hard, yeah, yeah.

Kelly

And I was explaining to her some of the fantastic challenges that if I'm gonna be light on it, that we're experiencing with Maddie. And so we were just there was this moment as as two mothers who were just kind of reminiscing on the beauty of being a mom, the beauty of being a parent, and the incredible challenges that come around it as well. Yeah. And I said, frankly, this is the hardest job I've ever had in my entire life. Yes. And not even to call it a job, it's just it's it is just when you think you're getting over one particular hump or speed bump, there's another one. And To your point of like the parallels between momming, parenting, and entrepreneurship. It's just that. It's like, yep, we got this roller coaster that we're on right now. And it's it's fun, it's exhilarating, it's absolutely terrifying and scary all at the same time.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. And I'm trying to soak it in because I know I'm, I know it's fleeting. Yeah. And and then I feel guilty for when I have had a tough day with the kids, and I'm like, oh, thank goodness bedtime is over. And then I feel guilty. I'm like, oh, you know what? That moment where you know, Clemmy gave me a bear hug and looked at me and said, I'm your sunshine. And I'm like, yes, 100%, honey, you are my sunshine. And then knowing that in the morning she is gonna scream her head off at me for choosing the wrong sweater. Yes. You know, like, but it is, it's this like beautiful puzzle that we're never going to solve. Um, and we just do the best we can in the moment. Um, yeah.

Kelly

Have you heard? I I wish we had video going because to just see the facial expressions, like I can't see my facial expressions, but I am just loving your facial expressions.

SPEAKER_00

What I was thinking about in that facial expression was that it's today, is it's right after April Fool's. And my my my son didn't feel like he got enough April Fool's pranks yesterday. So um, I love that the kids are super into this. It was super fun this year to be able to like prank them and they prank us and like understand and a teaching moment of what is actually a prank and what's it has to be funny for them and you. Yes, not not just one way.

Kelly

Not, I feel like my heart is gonna explode out of my chest, not for a good reason.

SPEAKER_00

So this morning I went to get said sweater for my daughter, knowing she was gonna yell at me about it. And um, I put my hand on the door handle, and there's something like really sticky on it. And I'm like, oh, okay, like, oh, April Fool's joke. I like, and I knew who had done it immediately, because of course my son would be doing it to my daughters, and so yeah, I went downstairs and um with this stuff on my hands, and I was like, hey, fitz. Um, I whispered to him and I was like, um, hey buddy, did you put something on the um on the girls' door? And he gets this sheepish look on his face, and he's like, Yeah, yeah, mom. And he pulls out of his pocket gorilla glue. Gorilla glue. We can't even make the stuff. It is all over every door handle of my home. And here it is on my hands. And like, then we like had to like take some really deep breaths and explain the chemical bonds that happen when gorilla glue gets on your hands. And so, um, yeah, that is all in a morning right before a podcast.

Kelly

So I know here we are. Well, and if I might just take a moment because we were commiserating over how our mornings were going, because 30 minutes before you're about to walk through the door, I am getting a message from Maddie's daycare because she is in we're we're working through potty training and she's almost over the hump. Yeah, and we still are having accidents. And this one was a this one was a bigger one. And so her teacher is like, Yeah, her shoes are wet. Can you drop off another pair of shoes? And I'm like, Yep, thank goodness we're not too far, right? Like everything, everything that we really need and that we do is here in E Dina. We've purposely curated our life as such. Yeah. And so I was like, Yep, I'm coming over and I'm coming in hot because I know that I have other things. Like, there were still things that I needed to get prepped for you to be coming through the door.

SPEAKER_00

And so you were cool as a cucumber. So I would have never known had I not shared my gorilla glue story.

Kelly

And this is just these are the folds that I love talking through because it is it's in these moments that we can have those that like bonding time as two women who are mothers, also in this entrepreneur journey, and just go, yep, yep, yep, this is life. This is life.

SPEAKER_00

I love it.

Kelly

Well, Alyssa, we have covered a lot of ground and I think we're about ready to land the plane, as I like to say. So I've got I've got probably about three or four different questions left. Okay. Maybe more. We'll see. We'll see. Um, I am curious, what's your favorite book and or podcast that you're listening to right now?

SPEAKER_00

That is a good question. Um so I mentioned before that I was a, I think I mentioned I'm a I was an international relations and political science major. And so I I don't want to let that side of my my passion fall to the wayside fully. So um I love to listen to the daily. Um and I don't do it regularly. I feel like that's something I binge on planes. Um but it allows me to catch up and and understand current events and things happening in the world on a deeper basis than I'm allowed to or not, that I'm able to do currently. I just don't have time. I don't have time.

Kelly

You like like geopolitics stuff? I love it. Okay. I've I've got a good you might already know who this person is, but I'll send it to you.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. And then Radio Lab. Okay. Um, I'm gonna uh put a shout out to this one specific um episode on there that I think it's just so cool that um people should take uh an interest in. It's Radio Lab and it's about the inner stitium. Um and it's just that's a new word. I know. It is a new word, it's a new medical word. So like I just learned, I love learning stuff like that. Um okay, so then there's that, and then one more. Sorry. Okay, no, multiple year. Um the what is the name of it? Oh my goodness. It is the telepathy tapes. Telepathy tapes, interesting. Okay, so it has changed my life, and there's not any new episodes right now because I've binge them all, but um yeah, it has really reshaped the way I look at spirituality, life, other things. So I mean that is that is a big thing to say.

Kelly

Um I thought that we were gonna land the plane, but we're not. So this is prompting another question. Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Listen to the telepathy tapes.

Kelly

Listen to the telepathy tapes. Um what does faith look like for you? I'm very curious. And it and yeah, I meant to ask it earlier, and so now we're kind of coming full circle back, especially bringing up telepathy tapes.

SPEAKER_00

Uh-huh. Have you listened to the telepathy tapes? No. Okay. I have not. Um, I've had a challenging faith journey in my life. Um, I grew up uh in, first of all, I had my first communion, I was baptized, yeah, was in the Catholic Church until what third grade, um, when my family left that church and chose a non-denominational church that we felt would be more open and progressive. What ended up happening there was um there's a lot of good people in religion and in that have faith. I want to put that out there first. I think that there are um people that use faith and spirituality and religion in bad ways to do it. And that's challenging. And I've had some of that happen to me in my life. So my dad and my and my like some of my extended family has been very cognizant of just putting this message out there over and over again that like, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, is what I've always been told. Of like the message and the goodness and the kindness and the moral compass doesn't you don't have to throw it all away because there are some very bad apples out there. So that's been a struggle for me through my adulthood. However, um, this is it is like I wasn't expecting to talk about this. So uh, but the telepathy tapes, I just I feel like I've found belief in God again, which is crazy. That is crazy to say, but it's in a very different way than you'd think um because it's not centered around a church, it's not centered around religion, it is centered around this spirituality and love and this um greater. I don't I can't even put words to it because I think that's the whole point is that you cannot put words to it. Um so I'm really excited about that. I think that journey is just opening up for me. I love it. Oh my gosh, my heart is like swelling for you right now. This is so cool. But it is different than I think that a lot of traditional religious or faith-driven people are willing to even accept. And so my journey is different, and I'm okay with that because I'm so at peace.

Kelly

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, so yeah.

Kelly

Listen. Listen, Linda. Listen. I am Kelly, you're gonna make me cry. Oh, well, I'm a firm believer that there isn't a right way or a wrong way of how your relationship builds with God. Yeah. Right. I think that everything, I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason in the purposeful way that God has made it to be as such. If that makes sense. So you encountering telepathy tapes is just God's way of going, hi, I'm here. Yeah. Yeah. And faith, when you think about the word faith, it is believing in something that is not there, that you cannot see. You just have to have faith, right? It is to come full circle, no different than taking the leap into entrepreneurship. You're having faith in something that you otherwise are not gonna be able to see. Like you're not gonna be able to see the the success. You're not gonna be able to see that until you continue, you just have this like belief in what that's gonna look like, right? Yeah. So to you know, kind of rein that in with what we're talking about now. Same, same. Yeah, same, same.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and I will say that we have seen the success of others before us in entrepreneurial roles, yeah, in motherhood, in faith and in believing in God, and how uh adamant so many people are for whatever reason, because of their own journeys. Um, and I've always been a materialist of like I need the science and the faith to work.

Kelly

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, and this has given me the opportunity to marry those two. Wonderful. It's so cool, wonderful.

Kelly

Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. Oh, yeah. Thanks for asking. Really beautiful. I think you'll enjoy this next one. It's a little bit lighter because we're both in the real estate space. Yeah. And you are in the nitty-gritty working alongside families for spaces. Yeah. I am curious what your favorite spaces in your place, in your home.

SPEAKER_01

My home.

Kelly

Ooh. And why?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, great question. Um there is a specific corner of my couch.

Kelly

And it is This is a new one.

SPEAKER_00

I like it. Um, it is, I feel like a cocooned there. I have a very fuzzy, oversized blanket that I put on top of me because I love being warm. Um by the way. I feel good.

unknown

I feel good.

Kelly

Because I'm starting to feel really cold. I'm like, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00

No, this has given me adrenaline for sure. Um, but yeah, and then my kitty, one of my kitties, will come snuggle with me because it's their favorite blanket too. And so it's just this like cocoon in the corner of this comfy sofa. And again, those are the types of things that you need to psychologically extract from clients of like, where do you find your um energy from? Is it from entertaining? Do you love entertaining? Or do you love like a nook with the perfect sunlight coming through that window where you're gonna have this oversized comfy chair and you know, noise-canceling headphones next to it?

Kelly

I love a good noise canceling headphone. That's awesome. I am curious. Actually, before I move on to this next question, I just want to have like a final thought here with us. Like, I am sure that you experience this with the people that you work with where they have their favorite places and stuff. Have you seen commonalities as you've worked with families or individuals within their home, within their spaces, where they're like, this is you see commonalities like this is my favorite place, like this is where we congregate the most. Do you see commonalities?

SPEAKER_00

Well, yes. I think the kitchen, people don't want it to be the place where everyone gathers, but everyone's like, but inevitably everyone is here, so we need to make it more friendly for for entertaining.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I also think that there is a commonality and a major um change in the way people are living to be less technology driven and to be more focused on wellness in their homes and connection.

Kelly

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And I love that, and I love creating those spaces because I think bringing people together is just one of my favorite things in life.

Kelly

I love it. We, when we were um househunting ourselves, we would leave each of those respective homes that we had toured through and go, like, where was the place of peace? Oh, yeah. Was there a place of peace? And I remember there was a home that we had put in an put an offer in on, had it accepted over in Interlocken Park. By the way, if no, if if individuals who are listening right now don't know Interlock and Park, it is like the coolest area ever. Um, it ended up that we didn't get that place. Obviously, we're here. Okay, but there was such a cool three-season porch off of the back, and I'm like, this is like the most beautiful place of peace. So I always think about that in concept context to like our house, where our place of peace is, and it's different for each one of us. But then when we're working with clients too, like think about the place of peace.

SPEAKER_00

Where's your place of peace here?

Kelly

Okay, so my place of peace is this. Like when we are doing this, like it is it gives you energy, it gives me so much energy. It is like the best. Seriously.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, thank you for having me in your place. You're welcome.

Kelly

I love that. Um, Joe would probably go. I don't necessarily have a place of peace right now, but I do think you had mentioned you have that specific corner of the couch, and there we have our downstairs basement, and um, he has a corner of that couch. It's like I will be sitting on the other end and he will not sit next to me. He will go to that corner of the couch because he like loves it. So, um, anyways, and then when you know the season shifts and we have warmer weather, this outdoor space becomes place of peace as well.

SPEAKER_00

And you can always build, if you don't have it, a three-season porch.

Kelly

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

Kelly

Oh, yeah. We've got we have grand visions of what this outdoor space is going to transform into. So advice you would give a younger version of yourself, knowing all that you know to date.

SPEAKER_00

That is that's a hard one. Um I don't know why I'm struggling on this one more than anything else. Um have a bit more fun. I think I think that like I have always been a very driven individual. Um I've always been a rule follower, type A.

Kelly

Um You're the firstborn.

SPEAKER_00

No, I'm the youngest. You're the youngest. But like did everything right. Okay. Went to the right school, didn't underage drink, didn't do drugs, didn't let and didn't all do all these things, right? Which is good. But like also like it's okay to let loose and you can still like be your authentic self and like be driven and like be a little more wild.

Kelly

So I think that's what I would say. I love it. What's a piece of advice you would give a woman listening right now that love just like loves being a mom and also just has a real passion right now for that it thing. And they they're like, they need they need advice to make this leap into entrepreneurship.

SPEAKER_00

Understand the understand the risks involved and and talk to people that have done it before. Like go to coffees, um, understand what you're getting into, have a financial plan, and make sure it's beyond like you have a cushion because things will go wrong. Most people do not have this linear trajectory of success, right? Um also follow your gut and know that it's going to be a ton of work. But if you're willing to put in the grind, um I think that they should do it. Um I I do, I because I've seen how um it's worked for friends um who have been on this podcast and who haven't, um, and myself, and you can make it a success, and that might it might pivot along the way. It might, I didn't ever know that I'd have two arms of my business. It's been amazing. And so allowing that and just um knowing that your initial plan may not be exactly how it comes out in the end, but that it might even be better.

Kelly

That last part was incredible. It was so incredible. Who would be a good connection for you?

SPEAKER_00

I will happily take all the amazing clients that want to come my way. I'd love to have those conversations with them to see if we do align. Um, but that said, if I have a good connection, this is gonna throw you for a loop.

Kelly

I'm well great, because it you know what's interesting, I am gonna be very curious to see how you respond because I have notes from our initial conversation, coffee conversation of who your niche is, but I I want to hear and I don't even remember what I said, but here's here's where my head is at right now.

SPEAKER_00

I want to be connected to the head casting agent of Survivor. Okay, why? Um, maybe Jeff Propes. Um I really, I really it's been a life dream of mine. To go on Survivor. And um, that's that's where I'm gonna stake in the sand there. I think I I think I'd be really good at that game.

Kelly

I'm going back to the skills that I wrote down, and I'm like, yeah, that that tracked. Oh, yeah. Really? Did I say that before? No, no, no, no, no. I'm when I wrote down the skill sets that you have, like it tracks. Okay. It tracks. Oh, thank you. Um, all right. I'm gonna ask the I'm gonna ask another question off of this because that that's more on the personal side. How about a good connection for like the business? Oh, the business. Yeah. Um by the way, that's gonna come to you. You know it's going to. You literally just put it out there.

SPEAKER_00

Right. Um, someone out there has that connection. Um, too, too, too. So my my my niche is luxury new home building. It is what I love to do, it's what I'm really good at. And I the connections I need and want are people that want a fresh perspective and not just the same old thing that you're gonna get by building a new home. Like, let's make I want that client who wants someone to have a boutique perspective that really feels them and their home when you walk in, it's like your jaw drops because it's like, well, I already know whose home this is, and it's so just obvious and refreshing. Um, those are the types of connections that I want. And that can come from a builder, that can come from an architect, that can come from an actual client. Um, but not everyone uh maybe even knows that that's possible to be that um specific. It doesn't have to just be this this home that looks cookie cutter, like, oh, that's a very nice home. You have a beautiful home. Like let's make it you.

Kelly

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Uh and I think that you can make some Jaws drop. And it's not it's not about the price tag either. It's about really understanding the client.

Kelly

That was incredible. By the way, niching is so good.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, it's so good. I just I I love it so much. It like I just have this like radiating passion for this work, and I I really, really I wouldn't change it for the phrase, wouldn't, wouldn't change it for the world.

Kelly

Good phrase. Radiating passion.

unknown

There you go.

Kelly

Writes it down. There you go. Radiating passion. I'm a woman listening right now, and I want to use your services. How can I connect with you?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, by all means, love to have coffee. Um, my website is www.gemhousedesign.com. That's G-E-M-H-A-U-S, as you pointed out earlier. Um, I have an Instagram account, gemhouse.design. Um, and yeah, just reach out to me on email, which you can find on my website, and I'm excited to make all these new connections.

Kelly

Alyssa, Kelly. You are a gem. No, that's really kind. I have thoroughly enjoyed this conversation. Learning more about you, learning more about your niche, your business, motherhood, your perspectives are just beautiful. And so I want to just take a moment to say thank you for coming on. And it's just such an honor.

SPEAKER_00

Well, no, it's the honor is mine, and like um, we approach subjects that I wasn't expecting today. Um, I'm grateful for that. I haven't been able to really share that. And so um, you have a gift of just interpersonal connections and communication. Thank you. And you're a badass realtor. So thanks for having me. And someday we're gonna flip the tables, right?

Kelly

We're gonna flip the tables. I'll take you on for that for sure. I hope you have a great day. You too. Thanks, Kelly.

Head Shot

Kelly Kirk

Host