From Corporate Shock to Property Freedom | Melissa on Investing, Mindset & Backing Yourself

In this episode of the Built By Her Podcast, Georgie sits down with Melissa from MJP Homes to talk all things property, investing, and the mindset shifts that make it all click.

Melissa shares how her career began in the corporate world, including witnessing the News of the World closure firsthand and why it pushed her to rethink “security” and build something more stable. From joining her family’s building business to buying her first student let in Gloucester, Melissa breaks down what she’s learned over eight years of property investing, including how she recycled money out of deals, why education fast-tracks success, and the behind-the-scenes lessons you only learn the hard way.

You’ll also hear Melissa’s honest take on being a woman in property, balancing business with family life, and why so many women hold themselves back before they’ve even started.

We cover:

• Why one income stream doesn’t feel like enough anymore
• Melissa’s first property deal (and what she’d do differently now)
• Property education: free resources vs paid support
• Supported living, lenders, and the “five-year lease” lesson
• Choosing the right strategy based on your why (cashflow vs legacy)
• Confidence, imposter syndrome, and backing yourself in male-dominated spaces
• Property mindset, leverage, and getting comfortable with “good debt”

🎧 Listen now and take what you need from it, whether you’re property-curious, already investing, or building your confidence to start.

Hosted by G R Design Studio
Produced by Nozzle Media

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🎙️ Hosted by Georgina McDonald founder of G R Design Studio

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🎧 Produced by Richard Lannen at Nozzle Media
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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

So today we are joined by Melissa from MJP Homes. So hello Melissa. Hi Georgie. Welcome. Thank you. So I'm super excited about this one because I've obviously known you for quite a period of time and I've worked on you on many different capacities. Yeah. From property myself onto interiors in projects. Yeah. Um, but the property journey is an interesting one, and I think you have a really good backstory. Thank you. So I would like you to just tell us about it, how you sound like.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

How I've ended up where I've ended up. Yeah. Um, I was actually having a conversation with someone yesterday because we were talking about like their children and how they're going to uni. And um I I was one of those people that never really knew like what I wanted to do, and I was quite like envious of people that were like, Oh, I'm gonna be a doctor, or you know, in this case, their daughter wants to be a neuroscientist. And I was like, wow, okay. Um, so I just like went to uni. Um, I got a job in London um at News UK, what News International, which is News UK now, and um I became like quite disillusioned with the corporate world quite quickly because I'm gonna show my age now, but I was there for the phone hacking scandal when newspapers were a real thing, and they closed the news of the world in a day. So, like 300 odd people lost their job in one day. So I was like, you know, you think you're valuable and you're giving all your time to this corporate, but you actually realise that you have like security as well, you're like naive to it, you're like, oh yeah, it's my job, like it's fine.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

There's like 300 company persons.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Yeah, yeah. And um, they all went a day, so I was like, I'm not sure this is for me. And then at the same time, my dad wanted to retire. So my dad runs a building company. Um, and he was approaching me to say, like, do you want to come and take on the family business? Obviously, I didn't know anything about building at the time, but it seemed like a good opportunity, and I just thought, I'll give it a go, and I went for it. So then that's how my career started in commercial fit out through index. And then as that as we were able to like grow that business and make some money, when I had some like dividend money, I thought I need to invest this in something because obviously you've got you've got a good business, and like on paper, like you might think, oh, you know, I'm doing really well because at the time like had the big house and the car, and I also had my first son, and I wanted to spend more time with him, and I felt like I was like maybe missing out on like moments I should have been at home more, but I was obviously having to work quite hard on the business. So I just wanted to invest it in something else, and then that's how I started investing in property eight years ago. Wow, that's actually quite a long time ago. Yeah, I know. I'm really sure I'm my age on this one with my references. Baby can edit those out.

SPEAKER_01 2:51

And in terms of like going into your first property, like what like what made you go into property though?

SPEAKER_00 2:57

So I was quite lucky that like my family were quite big on property. So dad, as a builder, we always like moved. Like when I was younger, we I bought a house and he did it up and then we moved. He also uh had a portfolio of buy-to-let properties, and my Grampy, my so my Grampy Gino, um he he used to drive me around. So after church every Sunday, he'd drive me around and we'd collect the rent from his tenants. So like from a very early age, I was like exposed to like buy-to-let. And but it's weird how because I always think like looking back, I never saw it as like a career path. Always saw it as something I would do, but I never sort of took it seriously until you kind of get responsibilities, I guess. And like I was I had children and then I had to I guess grow up. But maybe like the fe like not a fear element, but like a security thing came in where I was like, well, what if my business stops? Well, if that business goes tic-t up tomorrow, how how am I paying my mortgage? And so thinking like a bit more outside of the box and wanting something that was outside of just active like income, just like your job.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. I feel like in this day and age as well, like one form of income isn't. It's not enough.

SPEAKER_00 4:14

No, it's not enough.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

Especially like families and if you don't want to rely heavily on just one.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Yeah, and peace of mind as well. Like a lot of people, like for me and a lot of people I work with, the peace of mind of knowing that like if I if I fall ill or if I can't go to work, then I've got assets to fall back on and income that's like comes whether I'm whether I show up or not.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Yeah, yeah, I know, actually. So what was your first property?

SPEAKER_00 4:41

So our first property was a five-bed student let on Oxford Street in Gloucester. Um, if anybody knows where that, like doesn't know where it is, it it was such a lot of money for the house. Uh such a lot of the house, sorry, for the money the other way around. Um, and I always say, like, if I if I knew what I know now, I would have tried to buy the street because it's um like a townhouse, like a Georgian townhouse. It is listed. Um but I think we paid something stupid like £135,000 for it in 2017. Wow. Yeah. Cheap as chips. Yeah. Um get that anywhere. Yeah, I know, I know. So that's what I mean. Like you think like why don't we just buy some more? Um, we did end up buying next doors uh a couple of years later, but that was through a conversation. And um, but um uh so that was our first property, and like I think like the magic was that we realized that without it's like we've worked together on some good projects, right? Where some serious money's been spent, and obviously you're so talented with your interiors, and it comes out and it's beautiful. We were able to like get quite a lot of money out of asset from just doing like bog standard, yeah. So like it's still it's still a nice kitchen, nice bathroom, but landlord carpets, you know, white walls, like it's nothing super here. And I think on the first deal we did, we got like 60 grand back out recycled back out on a refinance. So then I was like, okay, okay, this is good. Like we could do this, yeah. Let's do that again. And then obviously we just continued that strategy because we're like in growth phase to like keep recycling trying to recycle as much money out of each deal as we could.

unknown 6:22

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

So did you learn as you went along? Is that how you learn how to do it?

SPEAKER_00 6:26

I did, um, so I did do a little bit of work with um the good property company like back in the day, and I would recommend like anybody try to like get educated on what you want to do, because I did a little bit of education and then I learned the hard way. So there's a couple of mistakes I've made along the way, um, which you know you don't have to, and like and these days as well, like there we're there's so many free resources, like we've got so much information, like podcasts, like YouTube, you know, if you're if you're not quite like ready, you could just be educating yourself, like getting comfortable, like with you know the process, you know, picking up as much knowledge as you can, like from free resources, and then when you're ready to go, like I would encourage you to because it just speeds up success, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Yeah. I think it depends, like if you like when you educate yourself, you kind of give yourself an upper foot on it a little bit. Yeah. Um, so I do think there's like people when you when you're younger and you just think, Oh, I'm gonna buy a house, I'm gonna live in it, and that's that's it, really. Yeah, um, the idea of going into property and buying property to become an investment is actually like a whole different yeah world. Yeah, and again, like people know about like renting, you have a buy to let, and you'll know about students if you went to university, but like actually there's loads of strategies behind that, which is so new and maybe a little bit more complicated, but have more bits.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

But might not necessarily fit you either. Yeah, because like sometimes you could go on Instagram and the new like sexy strategy might not be the best thing for you to do, and it's about understanding like what's the best strategy for you, and then learning that and then double downing on that.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

So obviously, you've launched your own sort of property mentoring business. What drove you to do that? Obviously, you've got quite a big background in property and doing it yourself, so the hands-on experience is obviously there, yeah. Um, and the years of education around it.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Why did you end up going to I I think I just really enjoy like helping people take control of their own financial future because things are a bit scary at the minute, and like we said, like you know, our our lifestyles, it it used to be that you could have a really good job and you know that would be enough. And these days I don't think it is, and just people want more time freedom. Um, they want you know, choice, they want to be able to choose how they spend their time or how they work and when they work or where they work. Um, and it's just like helping people create that freedom.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

What's your favourite part of it?

SPEAKER_00 9:02

Um I think like when people get that like magic moment, like I did, you know, like when you hit the number, or maybe even like the little wins, like so um getting a below market value deal or refinancing and like getting a hot big chunk of money back out. Like people like that's really that's really fun. Those phone calls are really fun. Um, because people can like they feel it, they thought, right, this is working, and then you know, then we work on like how can you now take that learning and scale it up on your own without me, and you know, and and people like successful with it. So it's it's fun, it's really rewarding. It's fun, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

And what's the hardest thing do you think it's been?

SPEAKER_00 9:48

The hardest thing for me, I guess, is like not I'm quite an empath, so I have to be careful that I don't take on, like as a coach, I'm there to like educate, not to like take on the emotional burden. Exactly, exactly that, yeah, exactly that.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

So I just have to be careful that I just keep the line of coach and mentor and not like try and like I guess it's so hard because you kind of must get quite involved with the reason why. Yeah. And then you're kind of like, oh well actually I get that. So like yeah, and if you want empath, then that's true.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Like easy, yeah, yeah, it is a bit tricky, but um, but it but again, like obviously it's rewarding in the same way. So yeah, it's enjoyable.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

Oh um, what's the hardest property that you've ever like purchased or been part of in times of like journey and strategy?

SPEAKER_00 10:41

There's always like when you're working in existing buildings, there's always like gonna be something, right? Like it's you know, it's opening up a can of worms. Um so there's always like been like things along the way that you might not necessarily have budgeted for. Um we we had a property on Arthur Street, and I remember my brother sent me a photo and I was like, what's that? And it was like a trapdoor in the floor. It's a bit creepy. It's really creepy and obviously like quite dodgy. So um just like finding random things like that. I think send Joe down there. Yeah, if you just check it out, I've even asked it. Yeah, because I'm not going down there. Um so there's always there's always like things like that that will crop up, like budget-wise or things that you might not have like known about. I think my like biggest lesson, I would say, was when I first started working like with uh supported living, so working with care companies, yeah, and my first house, I signed them up on a five-year tenancy. So I was like, oh my god, this is amazing, you know, five years like guaranteed rent, yeah, took it to the lender, lender was like hate hates five-year leases. So I was like, oh, but what but it's all about risk, right? So they they don't want if if worst case scenario you can't pay the money and they've got to take that asset on, they don't want the risk of a five-year tenancy out. I understand that now. So that that was the importance of a knowing a really good mortgage broker and being able to speak to them about what you're doing, because they would have said to me, don't sign them up on a five-year lease, because they're the lender won't like it. So it's things like that that you kind of uh as you're as you go along your journey, like I said, I've learned the hard way, but you kind of learn your biggest lessons with your biggest mistakes almost. Like that's mad because you can't think a five-year lease nowadays, but yes. I was buzzing. Yeah, I was buzzing, I thought I'd done so well, and then um yeah, the lenders didn't like it.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

So what did you do? How did you like did you just say to them sorry, can we just do one year?

SPEAKER_00 12:42

So I ended up going, I think, with Octane or one of the it was a one of the more expensive lenders. So basically someone will do it, yeah, but you've got to pay more. Um we're just lucky that because it supported living, there was a lot of profit on the rent anyway, which covered it. But yeah, lesson learnt there.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

Mistake not made again. Yeah, yeah, won't do that again. And I guess that is a thing, like like we were saying earlier, like you can really educate yourself on these things, but sometimes mistakes have to be made. Yeah. Because you like that you probably wouldn't have learned necessarily off the past. Yeah. So you might now.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

Although, yeah. Although if I was mentoring myself, I'd say don't do that. Whatever you do, don't do that.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Yeah, I guess it does, like you do have to make some of the mistakes, don't you? Along along the way.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

And then I think, well, it's made me better at what I do now, because had it all been plain sailing, then I might not have I might not be able to pass on these little nuggets of information.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

I feel like everything on property, like, it's not plain sailing. Like there's a hurdle at every point.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Yeah, yeah. And the whole conveyancing process, like, no matter how many times we've been through it, it's still never the same journey. Like something will crop up, you know, there's a covenant on that piece of land, and like you can't do X, Y, Z. Yeah, it's yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

Do you find now you've just got like a little black book that has everyone that you would do to, and it just makes your life so much easier?

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Yeah, and that's like also really helpful in helping other people because I've I've narrowed down this like group of people that are really good at what they do. So I know when I refer people on, like I know they're gonna get like the best people to work with. Yeah, you know, especially with like letting agents, you know, you think like all letting agents are equal, they are not.

unknown 14:19

They are not.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

And um again, I've like after a long journey, I've managed to find like the best of the best.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

Yeah. So now you're like the absolute pro, like sailing into problems.

SPEAKER_00 14:31

Yeah, I hope so, I hope so. But then but then, like we said, like you could be a pro, but you pick up a house that's got covenant on it, or you know, there's something wrong with it, but but everything's fixable. Yeah, you just need to make sure that the numbers stack with whatever money that you've got to spend to fix it.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

And I think that's actually a a good point, is like you can get really carried away. Like when you found a property, yeah, and like you said, although it is maybe a strategy to make um some secondary income, you still kind of get invested in it and you're like, oh, this is so exciting!

SPEAKER_00 15:00

Like, yay, I'm gonna do this and this and this, and you're like, oh I think me and you like we're like obviously as a designer, you love interiors, right? But I also like like old buildings of just like love the character of them, and then when I walk into something and I think, oh, I can really see this like looking really good. So I looked at a listed uh property on College Court in Gloucester, and you can see the cathedral from the garden, um, like all needed doing, but it was so beautiful that there was like like emblems in the stone floor, and like but it didn't stack. I tried every rental strategy, but it wouldn't stack because there's no parking, you know. HMO, you couldn't convert it because listed buildings wouldn't let you. But I just that that was that's when you get a bit emotional because you could think, Oh, I can make this really beautiful, but I can't make any money on it.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

So it's when you've got to which is a shame when you look at like old buildings and the idea of like restoring them back to what they were, yeah, is kind of like a nice idea. Yeah, and you're like, oh, but yeah, I'm not living in it, there's no point.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

Yeah, but we've we're quite a few in our portfolio are listed, and like I wouldn't say don't let that put you off because you can't like with our first property, you get a lot of house for the money, and you can like if you work with listed building, you know this anyway, as an interior designer. Like, as long as that you keep them on your side and they know that you're restoring it properly, there's no reason why then that because your the end value would be higher anyway. Yeah, so it should cover your additional costs and like renovation.

SPEAKER_01 16:29

So if you had someone new coming to you and they had some money and they were wanting to go into the property world, what would you recommend to them?

SPEAKER_00 16:38

Uh as a strategy, or why I would why I would tell them that I think it's best to invest in. Okay, okay, okay. Okay, so firstly, I believe that property is superior to other asset classes because you can leverage your money for a start. So say this person's got their 100K, um, they could put the 100k into a pension or they could put the 100k into stocks and shares, but it's still worth 100k. They could take the 100k and buy probably two houses in the right area and borrow the rest on a buy-to-let mortgage so they can obtain an asset four times greater. They've obtained two there actually in this example. Um, and then they fix their debt on the mortgage, and their asset's going to go up over time, but their debt stays the same and gets eroded away in value by inflation, and then they also generate passive income on it. So I think there's a really good reason, three really good reasons why they should put it into property. And then, in terms of strategy, it's very much a personal thing, and it starts with your why. So, why do you want to get into investment like property investment? Might be because uh you want to spend more time with your children, so you want to focus on a strategy which is quite cash flow heavy because you're trying to leave your job, or you are in it for legacy and you want to leave uh uh a portfolio to your children, so it could be a slow burner, so you want to just do like one bite of let every one to two years, so it's completely dependent on that particular person, but it's important that they get like serious about the one strategy because then they can focus on that. Because if you're trying to look at too many different types of properties, you'll like you'll lose you'll lose time and effort, but if you focus on what you're looking for, you'll get like what you get results much quicker.

SPEAKER_01 18:34

Yeah. It's all it is like when you I don't know if anyone else, like I scroll on white move, you probably scroll on right movie. It's an Instagram account. Um and you can get really carried away, you're like, oh, it's a 1.3 million pound house. Yeah, this will look fantastic as a bunch of. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But actually, like when you're looking for like for a property and you haven't got a strategy or purpose, you're just looking at random houses, right? That's it. And so actually, you're right, like if you if you narrow it down, you can then narrow down your market and then you can find the property that is obviously right for you and right for your strategy and your your investment plan. Um because like I think as well, like there are so many different types of properties and you you you can waste so much time. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And it becomes so inefficient.

SPEAKER_00 19:15

Um, and I think yeah, it can be frustrating for people as well because if you say you you're not clear on that and you go out to like lots of different viewings, like that all like takes time. Yeah, you know, there's time and effort to like go and view them, and even if you're putting in offers and you're getting offers rejected, you know, like it's it's lost time, like yeah, it's unnecessary. I think you could just be like much clearer, much more deliberate with your actions and what you're doing and get further much faster.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

So obviously, Built by Her podcast is all about women in business as well. Yeah, um, how have you found being a woman in business?

SPEAKER_00 19:48

I think honestly, um you have to prove yourself a lot more. So obviously, I I started in commercial fit out in a building company, and I didn't know anything about building, which is like which was pretty tough. And I, you know, like male-dominated industry, so you're gonna walk into a room and nine times out of ten everybody else is male, and so you've got to prove yourself, yeah. But I also think that we're also like it's your secret weapon as well, like especially like maybe on the residential build side, like they trust you a lot quicker, yeah. Um, they feel more comfortable like asking you questions. Yeah, um, so it has like pros and cons. Um, but I what I would say is like looking back, like I wish like I'd backed myself more. Like I spent far too much time like worrying about like, oh well, what if they didn't think like that? Yeah, just back yourself. And if you want to do something, there's no reason why you can't do it. Yeah, just like we were saying, like educate yourself, you know, and just yeah, just back yourself more and try not to like worry about like oh I'm I'm a woman, you know, it's it's it is harder, let's face it, it's harder, but you can you can do whatever you want to do.

SPEAKER_01 21:06

Have you found it hard as well? Because you've obviously got a family that you've had to like bring up and raise at the same time as working in a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

But then that's there's like so whenever anybody says to me, I don't have time to invest in property, I'm like, you're lying because I run multiple businesses and I have a family and I've got time to invest, so you're okay. You've got this, you've got this. And that's what I mean by like backing yourself because a lot of people they're waiting for the perfect time, and that perfect time is never gonna happen. Okay, like you know, say for example, you've just started a family or you're pregnant, then maybe that's not the right time to like take risk on.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

So you are probably about to get nine months off.

SPEAKER_00 21:44

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But exactly you could be listening to the podcast and reading the books and getting your mind because a lot of it as well is about getting your investor mindset ready, yeah. So that when you're ready to take the the jump, you've got the confidence and the knowledge. And your mindset ready to go.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

Yeah. I think mindset is a big thing about everything though. Like in business, in property, opinion source, like what money and wealth and how you invest. Like even things like early when you're talking about like debt, like I think that's such a frowned-upon subject sometimes that actually you don't understand the debt and how it can like be leveraged, like you were saying. Um so having a mindset and educating yourself around changing your mindset towards stuff because unfortunately I do think society has kind of like conditioned us to understand certain processes.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

The old school way is you know, you you buy a house, you pay your mortgage down, and you know, you don't have any debt.

SPEAKER_02 22:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

Like, but when it's it's almost like opening people's eyes up to like the fact that the whole world economy and our government is based on debt, and uh and they're the like the biggest borrowers ever, right? So I don't even know what they're borrowing at the minute. But when you think about when you when you think about the fact that the whole world economy is based on it, then you go and taking out your little buy-to-let mortgage, which is working in the same so they've got their massive debt pot and they're waiting for inflation to erode their value down, you're just doing the same thing with your little mortgage. So when you just got a scheme of things, yeah. But when you get your head around the fact that every you know the whole world is set up on that same you know, dynamic and principle, then actually you can become a little bit more comfortable with it.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

Yeah. Do you find um as part of your coaching, you do have to change people's mindsets towards it before they go into the whole property investment side of things?

SPEAKER_00 23:34

And people's mindsets are like so varied as well. So, like, Georgie, you've got a great investor mindset because you you get it, you get you get the principle of investment, you know that you're gonna invest this money for long-term gain.

SPEAKER_01 23:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:51

Other people like they want to hold, like some some people I say other people, some people want to hold on to it and they're like, well, we've got X amount in a savings account, and but they don't appreciate that that money's like devaluing just sat in that savings account. And you just need to invest it in something. Even if you put it in a lifetime like ISA, at least like grow it, like do something with it, like it's just wasted.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

It is hard. I think, yeah, mindset across everything you do is is imperative. Like and I think that about business, property, especially. I think property is probably a big one just because you're risking a lot of potentially a lot of money. Yeah. And so to get your head around that is is quite difficult.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

Yeah, and it's a big and it's a big purchase. And what you'll find is like people around you, everyone that loves you, will be like, oh don't, don't do that. Oh no, that's too bad. That's so too that's too risky. Well, what if what if the market crashes? Because they love you and they want to protect you. But if you've done your numbers, you've done your research and you've done your numbers and you know the deal stacks, back yourself. Like, go for it.

SPEAKER_01 24:52

Funny enough, they do say your biggest advocate will be your strangers. Yeah. Like obviously your family will always back you too. Yeah, but like they wouldn't.

SPEAKER_00 24:59

But they want to protect you at the end of the day. And um like I can remember uh showing dad round uh the first property we were buying, he was like, Oh, I don't think you should buy this. And I was like, be alright. It's like that's what we've done all your life, but he didn't want us to take on something and it not work out because you know, you know, loads of but I was like, you're right, I've done the numbers. And it did work out, it did work out, yeah. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So um, so yeah, you just gotta be conscious that like people will not because they don't want you to do it, but they're just trying to protect you. Yeah, and it and it is a and it is a big purchase, but you know, just do your research.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

Yeah, I think that's the thing is if you can come into the into the playing ground like educated and prepared, yeah, um, it makes a massive difference. Like, I'm gonna disclaimer, I've been working with Melissa on property stuff. And although as interior designer, I understand property, I I understand like I can go into a space which is boring and make it look pretty, that I I can do that part. It's a super powerful, but I definitely think I was more like conscious, like nervous and yeah, on edge about taking a lump sum of money and putting it into a property in the hope that it might give a return. Yeah. Um, and it it blew my mind that actually there were so many strategies that were passed the buy to let. And I think as well, like you'll probably see this on the building side before we went into property that you're watching people do kind of what you want to do, like they're taking their money and they're investing in something to make something great and they're getting a return. Yeah, and then at the time we were just facilitating it, like either making it look pretty or doing the build where I feel like I want to do this, yeah, or we can do this, but we we could be doing this, yeah, yeah. Um, so I do think like it's it's been really good to be educated, yeah. But I think that is the thing, like you kind of see everyone else doing it, and you're like, how do I do this? Yeah, and I think I probably could have gone out there and taken my money and bought a property, but I probably wouldn't have done it. One had the right strategy, I probably wouldn't have felt so confident doing it. Yeah, um, I've appreciated the hand holding a little bit. Pleasure, and I think I've learned a lot as well. Yeah. Um, as much as I love like listening to podcasts, yeah, going to events, yeah. Um, it was really nice just to be able to ask questions.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Yeah, be the sounding board, isn't it, when you need it. And sometimes like I think like when you're in that moment, like and maybe you want just the reassurance or a little bit of confidence, just keep just keep pushing you along. That's all it is. Yeah, people need to be able to do it. Accountability. Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

And I think accountability comes down to a lot of things, whether it's your poverty journey, whether it's your business journey. Yeah, like it is really hard to go off on like a little tangent and like get sidetracked or go down a little wormhole. Um start building up, or actually like start thinking, is this the right thing? Have I done the right thing? Oh no, I've done this right now. Really give yourself like a lot of self-doubt as well. Yeah. Um, and I just really appreciated when I was like, um, so when I do a bridging loan, what does that mean? But it's all those things, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 28:01

And then when you know you've got the confidence and you can you can push your head, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:05

And I was like, actually, this makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 28:07

Yes, and that and I think like that's another thing maybe about like women in business. I wish we were all more confident. Like I remember when I was like starting the coaching, I was like, Well, I'm thinking about doing I was like, no, I am going to because a guy would be like, I am going to do this. And I was like, Well, I'm thinking about maybe I might, you know, no, I'm doing this, I'm doing this. Give yourself permission, get started, and like, yeah, just and also support, like, obviously, the built by her is like so supportive, like such a nice group of women. Just everyone just needs to just, you know.

SPEAKER_01 28:44

It is amazing though when you're in that environment, you realize how everyone, although they can be in different businesses, completely different things, like day to day as a business, they all have the same underlying issues, yeah. And a lot of it is imposter syndrome, yeah, mindset, yeah, not really having the same level of belief. And like I think it is it is nice when you come together and you're like, actually, we all have this, don't worry about it, it's totally fine.

SPEAKER_00 29:07

Yeah, you're good.

SPEAKER_01 29:08

Um but it is very hard. Like the amount of pet talks I have, yeah, um, it's got to the point where it's like two to three weeks in every two to three weeks, and I it's called a quarter life crisis. And I go, Oh, what am I doing today? This is a really bad idea. Okay, I'm having a quarter life crisis again. But it I can see the pattern that I'm like, because like you kind of like, I guess it maybe comes down to hormones. The cycle hormones, but like I really have to pet talk myself out of it. Yeah, um, and it and it was like quite a while ago, I was like talking to someone and they were like, Oh, like the perception people have of you is based on the time that you meet them, right? Yeah, and so like I think like when I met yourself, I was like, she's got her shit together, like she's really on it, like she's got everything together, like this is perfect, yeah, 100%. I was like, she is nailing life.

SPEAKER_00 29:55

Oh, thanks.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

I give that out with impression. The aura you're giving. Um, and then like it's interesting when like when you have that perception of someone, they go, Oh, actually, no, like I really struggle with like a bit of impossible syndrome. I'm like, Yeah, oh okay, like actually it is normal. Yeah, um, and I really appreciated that, like when people say those sort of things, yeah, and you're just honest, yeah. Yeah, and I I love I love that you know, people come together and they go, This is amazing, and they're like, Yeah, well done, that's fantastic. But I also love it when they go, actually, I've really struggled with struggled and I found that really hard. Yeah, and I think like when I went into the world of construction, I did really struggle with um being a woman and like having to like have some of those conversations and going into environments where it was really male dominating. Yeah, um, and even like in the property industry, like in general, you go into a lot of property talks and there aren't many women in those rooms.

SPEAKER_00 30:46

No.

SPEAKER_01 30:46

Um, and it can feel really intimidating.

SPEAKER_00 30:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:49

And I think like another reason why having a property mentor that was actually a female was really nice to me. Like, I think I I wouldn't have done or had the same outcome if maybe it wasn't someone I trusted.

SPEAKER_00 31:01

Yeah, yeah, it's good to have a a relationship, isn't it, that you feel like that you can trust. Yeah. I think, yeah, it is important to like because I I still find it difficult to like stand up and be an expert. I'm still like, mmm, am I? Like on paper, I'm like, okay, well, I've done all of this. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:18

But I but so I bet when you start talking then people are like, oh, she knows her.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

And you're like, I hope so. I hope so, yeah. But I still have the same chat in my mind before I'm going to do, you know, whatever like talk or whatever that I'm like, oh, you know, I've got to like stand up and be the expert today. And like, am I an expert? Like, it's the same.

SPEAKER_01 31:39

I mean, there's always gonna be someone who might know a little bit more information on one element, but there's gonna be probably 50% of that room who actually is just there wanting to learn. Yeah. And I think that is like the fundamental is like you've got to remember that people have come to see you because they believe in the world. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 31:55

And they want and they want to learn things, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:58

Yeah. Yeah. Wow, yeah. I come away and I'm like, what have I remembered today? I try and learn something every day, and I feel like every day is a school day, but sometimes the things I'm learning, I'm like, that's irrelevant. I didn't need that in my brain. Scratch that one up. But no, um, wow, I really appreciate you coming on the thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate you having me in. A good laugh. I'm sorry that Utis decided to that's quite alright.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

I'll let him off because he's super cute.

SPEAKER_01 32:23

Like now he's like father. Now he's right. I literally can't believe it. It's so embarrassing. But no, thank you so much for coming on our podcast today. I really appreciate the time you've taken to speak about your journey and property. Thank you. Anytime it's been a pleasure. And being a woman in business. Thank you so much. Thank you.