Lauren Welch: Weight Loss & Healthy Lifestyle | #26

Lauren Welch is a Real Estate Agent. Lauren and Tom mostly talk about her weight loss journey. She has lost 45 lbs in the past 3 years and has made many other healthy lifestyle changes. In addition to discussing her health, Tom and Lauren talk about her moving to Raleigh, NC, and beginning her real estate career.

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Transcript

Tom 0:00

Hello everyone. I am back finally after a long break with a new episode of the podcast. There have been quite a lot of changes to the podcast since I last posted a full-length episode. The first one is we have a new name. The podcast used to be called the Drive Fitness Program, and I've changed it to the Drive Program. Um, there's a couple different reasons, but it's pretty simple. I don't always talk about fitness, and I felt like I was misrepresenting the podcast as if this is a strictly fitness podcast. Part of that too is kind of divorcing this brand from the app that I have. I'm still gonna talk about the app all the time. I'll probably have my partner Matt Dramazzos on the podcast still to talk about the app and I'll be promoting it. But I just didn't want to entangle those two brands too closely since the app is very focused on fitness and the podcast is definitely, I just want it to be more open-ended, right? So we're working on a new update. It's gonna be a cool like story mode that you follow along with and integrates into your workout programs. Once that's ready, I'm gonna push that new update and then I'm gonna start talking about the app as if it's like a sponsor. I have created new social media accounts for the podcast. It should be at the drive program on Instagram and the drive program on YouTube, I think are the main ones I'm gonna use. We have a new album artwork, so I designed that myself actually. It's a blue color now, so we're going with a different theme altogether. And that also comes with kind of weekly album arts. If you're on Spotify, I think it'll display like the face of the guest every week. And then we have a new theme song. Um, so I want to give a huge shout out to Frank Morazzo. He let me pick out all the instruments and sounds and stuff, and was really patient with me through the whole process. And we even recorded like a mini episode. I'm gonna post out at some point. So yeah, I just want to thank him and say how excited I am to have this new theme song, and then we also have our first uh official sponsor. So I've never really run any advertisements on the podcast except for basically promoting my own app. But we are now sponsored by my friend Sarah's company, Mama Bama, and her partner, the mod Canna. I'm gonna run an ad for that before each episode so you can get more information on that in a minute. If you haven't heard my episode with Sarah, it is episode 24, all about the book Think and Grow Rich. So please go check that out if you haven't heard it. I got a new website set up called thedriveprogram.com where you can find links to everything that I'm talking about, including all these different social medias and the sponsors. And that's about it. So the point of the podcast up until this point was just for me to talk with people who could help me on my journey as an entrepreneur, which kind of to me just encompasses everything. So it's a little bit gonna shift more to me just talking to people who I find motivational, but essentially, I don't really think it's gonna alter the content of the conversations at all. I'm really excited about my lineup of episodes. I'm sitting on probably eight or ten new episodes right now because even though I haven't been posting anything, I have been meeting up with people, having conversations, recording them, and from here on out, we're gonna do a new episode every single week, every single Wednesday. So Wednesdays, Wednesdays, Wednesdays. Tell your friends, tell your friends, tell your fam, tell your mom. I think that's it on new stuff. Let's talk about today's guest. So today's guest is my friend Lauren Welch. She is a real estate agent, but we mostly talked about her weight loss journey. Lauren has lost 45 pounds over the past three or four years, and me and her talk about that journey, and we talk about her moving, we talk about being a real estate agent, and just a lot of other healthy changes and lifestyle changes that she has made and implemented in her life. I'm really proud of her and all the progress that she's made, and I'm very excited to see all the progress that she's going to make moving forward. So I hope you guys enjoy the conversation as much as I did. This episode is sponsored by Mama Bama and the Mod Canna. They sell CBD products online and are offering a 15% discount to listeners of the podcast. CBD can help relieve anxiety, reduce pain and inflammation, improve sleep, and have many other positive health benefits. Personally, I take CBD gummies every day to manage my stress levels and to help me fall asleep. Go to the modcana.com to shop for CBD-infused products like gummies, lotions, tinctures, and smokables. Please use code Driver D-R-I-V-E-R at checkout to support the podcast and receive a 15% discount. I'm going to provide some educational resources about CBD in the show notes, but if you are unsure if you should be consuming CBD, please consult with your doctor. Thanks everyone. This is episode 26 of the Drive Program with guest Lauren Welch. Kind of start off on that journey. And what made you decide to like leave Northern Virginia and move somewhere else?

Lauren 5:36

Okay, so I graduated George Mason 2017, and my degree was in health and fitness. So I was doing therapy for people with disabilities, working with Fairfax County Parks and Rec department. And we did a lot of work with the Special Olympics and places like that. And I loved it. And then my mom works for IBM and they were moving her job to Raleigh. So I was like, sure, I'll move with you. I had just graduated and didn't really know what I wanted to do. I visited Raleigh a few times with her and I was like, let me start applying for jobs. And I was applying for like jobs in Duke Hospital or like UNC, but they just didn't have the type of rec programs for people with disabilities like they did in DC. It was just like not as developed down here. Most of it was, it was more like buddy programs, which no shade to that, but I just didn't want to do that as like my full-time career. So I was like, all right, let me get my real estate license, let me make some money and like get myself some options and then kind of figure out what I want to do. So I went to real estate school. It was like three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. And I got on care.com. I put, you know, I'm in real estate school three days a week. I have a background working with people with special needs, and that's like my passion. And this family reached out to me and they had a son who was actually a paraplegic. He was in a wheelchair. And so I got to do therapy for him, which was awesome. I would drive their other kids to school, and they were just an awesome family. And they were actually the team leaders of one of the main real estate companies in Raleigh, Keller Williams. So I got to do therapy for their son. And then as soon as I got my real estate license, everything worked out perfectly. Like I got to do exactly what I wanted to do. And then I just like transitioned right into real estate.

Tom 7:23

So now that you're in real estate, do you think you're gonna stay there? Or do you want to go back and work with special needs again at some point?

Lauren 7:30

I like got hooked on real estate.

Tom 7:31

Yeah, sound it seems fun.

Lauren 7:33

I went to like three different elementary schools, and I had moved six times before I was in high school. So I moved around a lot and I'd always was finding our houses and always the one who did it. And I thought it was so cool. And I you know, once you started like making the money, and I was like, all right, like I'm good at this too, so I can actually help people. So I thought, I don't know, it was super rewarding. It's like challenging too. It's like a challenge, like you have to find them, you have to be the best agent, you have to be competitive, and it combined like everything that I like to do.

Tom 8:01

So yeah, it does seem to like kind of hit on like a lot of interest that you have and kind of bring everything full circle for you. It was a real easy like adaption for you to like bring this real estate brand into your Instagram and start promoting houses, and you just seem like you have a lot of like you just really love what you do. It kind of like all shines through, you know.

Lauren 8:19

Yes, yes. And I definitely maybe will do something with like people with disabilities in the future. I have a real estate friend now, and she has an older brother with special needs, and they do like a bowling program. And this guy who like runs their whole programs, I don't know, he's awesome. But I feel like I'll finally like found I'll like find a way to connect it back in eventually.

Tom 8:38

Like I wonder if you can bring them together.

Lauren 8:42

You know, I don't, I don't know, it's more like a passion. Like, I'm not, I don't, I'm not in that for the money, and I just have like a big heart for those people, but no, I think it would be cool if there were some like housing type programs that we could do. I think that would be really cool. Her brother and like her do like more job coaching, which I think is awesome too. I think that's super important for them.

Tom 9:00

Yeah, I was gonna say it'd be cool if you could bring them together and you could help people with special needs find the right homes because I'm sure that is a big struggle they go through, you know. Maybe finding a house near their parents, but not with their parents, or just just like a situation that works for them, you know, you could put put together some sort of project that does that. Okay, well, let's talk about the fitness journey we talked about and then see if we'll dig deeper into real estate later. I couldn't tell if this was a moment where you decided you were gonna like get into better shape and stuff, or is this something gradual that happened? But it does kind of seem to correlate with when you moved, right? Is that kind of what kicked it off?

Lauren 9:36

I would say so. I I think it was right when I graduated. So I graduated May 2017 and didn't know what I was gonna do. I feel like the anxiety of the real world kind of hit right around that time, and I realized I had such unhealthy habits. The late night like binge eating, the drinking, the yeah, the everything. So I went to the doctor and I like stepped on the scale and it was the heaviest weight I'd ever see. I was like, oh my God. And I've always been super like confident of myself. So even when I was that, I was still like feeling myself. I didn't like think that I was fat or like overweight. But I don't know, like my body was giving me all these warning signs. I had terrible skin, I was overweight, I didn't feel good, I had no energy, my anxiety was terrible. Like it was just my body was like literally like, you need to change.

Tom 10:26

Wait, quick quick overview, just uh maybe to give people context. At this point, have you lost 30 pounds or something crazy?

Lauren 10:34

No, I was still like at my max weight. So that was when I still live in Fairfax.

Tom 10:37

And oh, I meant from like then to now.

Lauren 10:40

Oh, so okay, so from then, yeah. So I've lost from then I've lost like 45 pounds.

Tom 10:47

Okay, okay.

Lauren 10:47

Yeah, okay.

Tom 10:48

Then we could jump into then. I'm just curious what what what was then? So it was like 45 pounds heavier. Obviously, you said a lot of other things like acne and things like that. Okay, and and then what started the shift to like a healthier life?

Lauren 11:02

So once I like saw that that like number on the scale, I guess was kind of my wake-up call. And I was just so lazy. I never worked out, but like played sports my whole life. And in my mind, I thought I was healthy, like I just didn't know the difference between healthy and not healthy food. Like I thought like a buffalo chicken questilla was healthy, honestly. I literally had no concept of what nutrition was or what kind of exercise I would be doing. I was in like that cardio like mindset, still, like had no idea about lifting weights.

Tom 11:32

I was an athlete in college too, or in high school too. And then I was able to coast off of that for a lot while then it does catch up to you, and you're like, Oh, I never had to figure things out because I would just always playing sports, but now I do. Yeah.

Lauren 11:45

Yeah, no, I would play like basketball and then I did like softball, and then in college I just did like intramural sports once or twice a week. And I mean enough to like stay enough in shape, but I guess I started doing orange theory actually. So and when I was still living in Fairfax, I had a roommate who did orange theory and that whipped me into shape. It's an hour workout, 30 minutes is running, and then the other section is like weights. It's you're like running and rowing and then weights, and that kickstarted me, I guess. I really wasn't losing weight when I was doing that because I didn't have my nutrition in check, but it taught me a lot about weightlifting. I kind of got burnt out after I did that for like eight months, and I was kind of like, all right, I want to just try to like, you know, get a gym membership, lift weights on my own, and then see how that goes. And then I like fell in love with lifting weights. So then I moved to Raleigh and I still was learning everything I knew from Instagram. Like I didn't have a coach or anything. Actually, the guy who I like was dating at the time, he had been a personal trainer in the past. So he would try to tell me things, but I was like, I kind of want a girl, like a girl nutrition plan. Like I want a coach to teach me a plan, but I don't know, I had like resistance to that for a really long time. Like I put it off because I didn't think I had the money or I didn't think I had, I didn't think I was like worthy of it, I guess. Like I was like, I'm not at that level to pay for a coach or that sort of investment. So I kind of put that off for like two years and I spun my wheels because I wasn't making progress. Like I was losing weight at that point. I had probably lost, you know, 20 pounds just from eating healthy and working out, but I didn't have the shape that I wanted, or I don't know, I didn't like wasn't at my peak yet.

Tom 13:24

So, what kind of foods um in the beginning were you transitioning to? What kind of foods helped through this whole process or like my what was your what was your mindset towards eating? Like, how did that change?

Lauren 13:35

I think I was actually thinking about this the other day. If you're trying to like lose weight and you're having and you're starting from like a super unhealthy diet, uh the way that I did it is I was like, I didn't care about portions. I was like, all right, I'm just gonna eat a lot of healthy food. I'm gonna like train myself into liking and cooking and eating at home and making healthy food, and I'll worry about the portion sizes later. So that's when I switched over and stopped eating, you know, excess of cheese, just cutting out excess fat and processed food. You just don't need, you know, like lean proteins, vegetables, rice, chickpea pasta, stuff like that. Just like learning how what healthy food was, but I still had no concept of macros or tracking. So I think transitioning from just eating crap food, just switch over eating a lot of healthy food. And then once you kind of trick yourself into liking only healthy food, then you can get your portions in check.

Tom 14:29

What were the types of healthy foods that you gravitated to at this time? Because I see you're always posting like meals and stuff like that. What was one of your favorite go-to meals?

Lauren 14:39

I would make I like bowls. I feel like bowls are the easiest thing to make because you can just throw all of your nutrition groups into one. So you can have a base of rice or greens, and then you just add your proteins and like toppings. So other vegetables that you like sauce, nuts, and seeds and stuff like that. Actually, I think the the biggest game changer in my nutrition, though, was this year. I learned how to track macros. So I actually hired a coach last September. I tracked religiously for six months. I got my nutrition dialed in. I weighed everything I ate, even vegetables.

Tom 15:11

Who's your coach?

Lauren 15:12

She actually went to Marshall High School. Her name's Jeannie Marie Fit.

Tom 15:16

Okay.

Lauren 15:17

I can send you her tag, but um, she she changed my life. Like I would feel guilty if I ate a piece of bread one day and then I would like not want to eat carbs for like the next two or three days. And now I'm like eating hundreds of grams of carbs a day. And I have like no guilt associated to that. And if I eat something unhealthy, I'm I'm not, I don't, I don't know, I don't categorize as foods as good or bad anymore. Food is fuel, and like the more that you eat, the more that you burn. And I think once you get into that mentality, you can eat more and lose weight if something shifts in your body and like the stress around it reduces too.

Tom 15:53

So yeah, no, I try I track my stuff too now. I started a year ago with Kayla and I have a personal trainer now. And I she was a specifically like a dietitian, so she was able to give me like maybe more specific advice, but I still keep up with it, and my personal trainer will check on it sometimes. It definitely took away my stress too, right? I I stopped worrying about desserts in the same way because if they fit into my macros, then I can have them, you know. And it it does take that worrying away because when you just don't know, you don't know, you know. And then you end up eating you do end up eating more food. I'm I have to like force myself to eat every night, it's way different, you know.

Lauren 16:33

Yeah, that was the biggest game changer, honestly. Like you could eat, you don't feel like have any guilt around food, and you don't feel like earn your food, you can just eat because you're alive and you I don't know, you deserve to eat.

Tom 16:43

So I feel like when you started lifting was probably it allowed you to eat more too, right? Just because now you're constantly ripping your muscle and your body's going to work, putting that back together. So I'm sure those two two things about a year ago you said correlated, right? You started tracking and you started lifting.

Lauren 16:58

I've been lifting for like pretty consistently for three years, but just learning the proper reps and sets to do and challenging yourself, pushing heavier weights than you think you can, knowing that you're stronger, really.

Tom 17:09

How does your mindset now? Like, how does it feel to be on? I wouldn't say, right, your journey is anywhere near from over. I think I think you've mentioned that to me. You're like, I'm not done. And I'm glad we didn't talk a year or two ago because you've made so much progress since then. You're really out of place now to talk about it. But like, how does it feel to look back and be like, oh my gosh, I really did come all this way? And what kind of bad mentalities did you have to get past to get here?

Lauren 17:34

Journaling your progress is probably like the best way to track it. I just remember even when I was heavy, I would just sit and meditate and pray and going to that quiet space in your head, knowing that everything's gonna be okay. And I don't know, you can kind of like see see into the future and just the life that you want, as like corny as that sounds. But I don't know, like the mindset that I have now, it's like so much. I don't know, like you can enjoy holidays with your friends and family, or like you don't think about the food that you're eating, like you're not constantly thinking about like, all right, what am I gonna eat, or do I need to eat more, do you need to eat less, or like much more carefree living? And when you're not like in your head thinking about your body 24-7, you can be more present and you can actually like enjoy yourself when you go out. I don't know. I think that's the biggest thing.

Tom 18:17

Yeah, when you lift a lot too, you're more present like in your body, like you know where your muscles are. When I've been overweight, some parts of your body get like numb, you're not even you can't fully even be present in them because of you're not you're not moving them enough, you know? It's weird.

Lauren 18:30

Literally writing down, I'm thankful for my body, I'm thankful for my sexy body. Like if you read my journal, it's like the corniest shit. But like, I don't know, like saying that stuff to yourself in the mirror like every day is so helpful. Like it's literally like so hard at first just look yourself in the eyes in the mirror and be like, I love you, like I love you, I love you, I love you. But I do that stuff every single day.

Tom 18:50

So a good question would be Did you say that before you lost the weight?

Lauren 18:56

Even when you're not seeing the progress, even when you're still not exactly what you want to see, you have to say it and you have to believe it. And I was in it for like the long haul. Like I wasn't like, all right, I want to lose weight and then do this. I was like, no, I want my whole life to be healthy, like I want to bend down and like play with my grandkids. I wasn't in it for like a quick fix. I knew I was in it for a long haul at that point.

Tom 19:18

So so I understand, like obviously, the point of loving yourself from the beginning, but just to kind of play like devil's advocate, how does that mentality of I love my body, but also like I want my body to change? How do you simultaneously love it while at the same time it almost takes a bit of judgment to be like I'm judging you to like be better? How do you put the pressure on yourself to be better while at the same time loving and accepting yourself in that moment? It seems like seems very difficult, you know, to balance.

Lauren 19:47

You have to like fall in love with the growth. You have to be like, all right, like I want to get better every single day, and like that's my goal, and like kind of fall in love with the journey. And I don't know, that's but it's true, like the joys in the journey. You have to be like, all right, like every day I want to get better. The little, the little teeny steps, you're not gonna take giant leaps every day. If you're waiting for that, then you're like never gonna be happy. You have to be thankful for the little things. And actually, I think I was gonna say like progress pictures is the best way to do it. Every Monday morning, I take a progress picture and you see those like little teeny changes, and you're like, okay, I see what I want to change, obviously, but you're like, I'm so proud of myself. You'll see like a little bit more definition, or your shoulders look bigger, your waist is a tiny little bit smaller, your glutes are bigger, little changes like that.

Tom 20:35

So you just get like more specific, and and whatever your goal is or the progress you're making at the time, you kind of cling on to that and get excited.

Lauren 20:42

The second reach your goal, you're gonna find a new goal. So just keep chasing the next goal and like you have to just accept that.

Tom 20:48

You know how you said you would add in healthier foods. Sometimes I might not hit my macros or I might not eat a certain way. But let's say my goal for that week is just to eat more Brussels sprouts. Maybe that's like the new food I'm integrating. Then, like as long as I hit my Brussels sprouts, then I'm taking that dub home and I'm focusing on that win.

Lauren 21:06

Yeah. Did you see that thing I talked about? That book it was called like the energy bus. It was just like at night, instead of thinking about the one or all the shit that you didn't get done that day or the top golf. Yeah, right.

Tom 21:18

Yeah, yeah. I heard it.

Lauren 21:20

Think about the one win that you had, and I don't know, give yourself some grace and just like not be so hard on yourself.

Tom 21:26

I think I reached out to you right after that. I I and I wrote down that note, and it was called the one golf shot theory. The thing that keeps golfers playing the game is they mess up all the time, but then they have one really good shot and they go home and they talk about that shot and they cling to it. They kind of parade that one moment around, and that makes them willing to like take a thousand more shots the next day because they know they're gonna have this one moment. If you focus on your one victory, your one dub at the end of the night, instead of all these losses, you're gonna kind of cling to that and bring more of that into your life, right?

Lairen 21:58

Yep, that's right.

Tom 22:00

Seems like you've kind of embodied the overall like self-improvement mindset. What are some other things? I think you touched on meditation, but how does meditation play into like your fitness journey?

Lauren 22:11

So I listen to a lot of YouTube meditations, not even talking, more just good beats. Look up sounds for any type of emotion that you're feeling, and just listen to like the beats. And I'll just like literally lay in the dark or lay in the sauna with my legs up and just like breathe for 10, like 10 minutes. Like it's it's not like some hour-long meditation where I'm like, oh, like it's literally just I lay there and breathe through my nose into my stomach, just deep breaths into my stomach and out. I think that meditating and walking is like a huge part. Like, I think getting getting a dog helps, but I love walking. The first thing in the morning, just even when it's cold, just get up. I keep sweatpants right next to my bed so I can just roll out of bed, throw them over my pajamas, my coat, and just walk. And I try to like look up at the sky because we look down all day on our phone. So like I try to stretch my neck and just like look up at the sky and breathe, feel the wind between my fingers. I don't know, just like feel life and doing little things like that just like actually like make you appreciate everything so much more.

Tom 23:13

So I'm obsessed with kind of like combining some of these steps, these healthy steps to make it easier. Like someone told me once to always stretch in the shower. Now you always remember to stretch. You said you meditate in the sauna. Is that something that you because I go to the sauna too, but I just listen to like workout music or I sit on TikTok or whatever.

Lauren 23:30

So I leave my leave my headphones and my phone out on the bench or whatever, and I'll lay on my back with my legs up. It's good for circulation in your legs, just like getting new blood in your legs, especially after a workout, too. So I'll lay with my legs up on the wall for 10 minutes and then just breathe. And sometimes I'll keep my headphones on, listen to music, but I try to just tune everything out and just give myself, you know, a couple minutes at the end of my workout to like enjoy the endorphins. I'll just like get straight back on Instagram. So just give yourself some time.

Tom 24:02

No, my trainer tells me not to look at social media in there. I think you're basically ignoring what your body's doing, like filtering out, you know, all the toxins. But I I sometimes I do that. I'm trying to remember there was one video that I watched like almost a year ago, and you were giving like a talk to your company about how to like live like a healthy lifestyle. And and I think this new job of yours has helped integrate this kind of healthy lifestyle. If you're like trying to be a leader there, and and one of the things that you talked about, the one thing I took away, I remember specifically from that video that's helped me is you said drink warm water or like room temperature water, because that's one thing any nutritionist will tell you is they first start off by being like, drink a damn gallon of water every day, and it's kind of a lot. And I used to be obsessed with cold water, like I used to always drink cold water because I was like, Oh, I want to cool myself off. But that's one thing from that video I took in and I switched in my life, and and I was able to drink a lot more water now.

Lauren 25:00

I remember in I feel like in high school, Pinterest or like something, it was like when you drink cold water, it speeds your metabolism. So I was like, all right, ice cold water, like chugging it. And then the kind of science or like there was more knowledge around it or evidence that it was actually the opposite. It takes energy away from digesting your food when you drink cold water because your body has to heat it up. So when you're drinking, I drink room temperature water. So when I go out to eat, I say, Can I have a water? No ice. I don't even get ice when I go out to eat. And people are always like, Why do you why are you saying that? I'm always like, I honestly, I say it's because my teeth, just because like I have sensitive teeth too, but it's really for like my gut health because um it's just so much easier on your body, but not it doesn't have to be warm, like I just drink room temperature water, and yeah, it's so much easier to chug room temperature water. So I try to drink a gallon at least a gallon a day. And I have I have a half gallon water jug that I bring around with me. So it makes it really easy to drink two a day.

Tom 25:55

Yo, I'm glad you brought up gut health because that's something that everyone who knows what they're talking about, like brings up. And it's something that I kind of like understand. I've listened to a lot of podcasts, obviously, but it's something that I feel like I'm still just like slowly integrating into my life. I don't know. Do you know exactly why everyone talks about gut health? Are there any ways that you have other than the water trick to like you've used to like improve it?

Lauren 26:20

Yeah. So gut health, they call it your second brain. So it controls everything in your body, mostly your stress hormones, your anxiety, your energy levels. Um, it controls your skin. Your gut controls so much of the body. So that's like one of the first things that if you get your gut health right, then your body will thrive in like so many other ways. So, like, I don't need caffeine. Every morning on an empty stomach, I drink a greens powder. So I take every day that's like a vegan reds and greens, and this is a probiotic, and then also has tons of other nutrition from um like fruits and vegetable powder. But the probiotic the first thing in the morning, and then I finish my day with a probiotic too. And like I said, like that regulates everything in your body. So once you start doing a probiotic, you're gonna wake up every day and you feel good, which is like a game changer for people. And then once your gut health is right, you can lose weight easier. There's just like everything else in your body like follows after. So yeah, get your gut health right.

Tom 27:21

Yeah. So I feel like it controls your cravings, right? Like when I want like another soda, you think that's coming from your brain, but right, I feel like whatever biology is like sitting in your stomach is like actually what's kind of like sending your body the signal, like I want a fucking soda right now. And it just like comes out in the form of a thought, but it's not really, it's not really like a mental, a mental issue, right?

Lauren 27:43

You know, bacteria in your stomach and you want good bacteria. So that's what the probiotics do. It feeds the good bacteria in your stomach, and the bacteria in your stomach feeds off of sugar. So, so if the first thing that you eat in the morning is sugar, your body is just gonna be in that fat mood, like fat mode all day. So I try to eat something that's low sugar, unless it's like fruit, like fruit's okay, but I'll start every day with my probiotic and then I'll try to eat something like low sugar, eggs, you know, protein shakes, something like that. So yeah, don't just try to eat like a piece of bread or like something like that first thing in the morning, is like not very good for you, I don't think, or something sugary, like a donut or something. But I think once you get probiotics or something in your stomach, and like later in the day, it's fine.

Tom 28:27

But is the the supplement powder you have similar to like athletic greens? That's the kind of something I've been looking at, but it was really expensive. Is yours cheaper?

Lauren 28:35

You think um I'll say it's around like $34 the tub and it lasts you a month. So I've I've been consistent with this for like two years, so uh it's it is an investment. Um, make sure that the green not all greens powders have probiotics, though. Like I tried another brand just because it was like another you know, sports nutrition reds and greens powder, but it doesn't have the probiotics. And oh yeah, it's your skin too. There's tons of testimonials for this product, it's helped people's skin. Like that's honestly the reason I did it too. So make sure it has a probiotics. That's like the main point of taking it, anyways.

Tom 29:09

Yo, I've been getting mad into skincare as well. Yes, but like I I can't really talk about it because I just do whatever Sabrina does, so I don't know, but I I have just changed the way I view skincare.

Lairen 29:20

It's something that's thank you.

Tom 29:22

I have good lights too, so that could be it. But yeah, I I can't, I don't know if I could hold a conversation too long about skincare, but I have like three different things I I use. What is your skincare routine?

Lauren 29:35

So from the inside, probiotics and a gallon of water a day is like the best bet. If you're not doing those things, I wouldn't expect to have good skin. So start with those two things, and then I used to have terrible acne. The best trick that I use was stop using all acne products because they're just drying at your skin, and then your skin overproduces oil, which makes you have more acne. So it's literally they just trap you in a cycle of buying.

Tom 30:00

It's a scheme, it's a scheme, right? Yeah.

Lauren 30:03

So what you have to do instead is focus on exfoliation and then hydration. So scrubbing, I literally wash my face like three times and one sitting. Like at night, I'll wash my face three times with like three different washes and then lotion, and that's it. You just have to trust that your skin is gonna like balance itself out. In the beginning, you're kind of scared, you're like, all right, I'm just gonna stop all acne products, and you're like, my skin's gonna freak out, but actually, your skin will be like so much more chill and like not inflamed. So stop acne products if you have acne.

Tom 30:34

Bro, acne is such a vicious cycle, honestly. That hurts people more than being overweight. I feel like a lot. It's right there on your face. It's so obvious that you want it gone. It's it's I feel like that just emotionally, that's a almost as equally or harder a journey to go through, right?

Lauren 30:50

For sure. I think learning to be comfortable, comfortable with acne, it definitely takes like a long time. I mean, like I'm like pretty broken out right now, but I have the like the luxury of being able to wear makeup, which a lot of people don't um know how to do it at least. So yeah, it definitely takes a toll on your self-confidence. But I I honestly during that pandemic is when I got super confident because I just wouldn't wear makeup and my skin's definitely still not perfect, but I just got so much more confident, realized. Like, I feel like so many people post like their real and like raw stuff on social media now, like their belly cold, like their messed up skin, or so I don't know, like everyone's freaking human and everyone's so retouched. So I'm just like, whatever. Like, if I have acne, I'll go to the gym with no mask and no makeup. I don't really care.

Tom 31:41

Social media the past 10 years was hey, how perfect can I look? And it's almost reverse itself, especially with all these deep fake picture and even video editing. Whoever can look the realest is actually the most like authentic, and like people people want to follow people with acne and and belly fat now instead of following the hottest person because it's like you're not even real, you know.

Lauren 32:02

It's honestly like clickbaity when you like show your normal pose and then you show like your the ones that I you know, the pictures that I didn't post all the more like roles, and that's like cool, honestly. I don't know. I think it's relatable.

Tom 32:16

The game is like go to Instagram, look as hot as possible, and then go to TikTok and tell everyone how you did it. Expose yourself, and then everyone's like, Yes.

Lauren 32:26

Show us the tricks.

Tom 32:26

What did you yeah, show us all the hacks? So another thing that we both were talking about is uh alcohol. So that's like a big one for me, which so I actually quit smoking nicotine um about a year ago. I just hit my year mark. Now, this year, the next thing I'm taking on is alcohol, and I've been I've been three months almost no, like two and a half months clean. So I haven't had any alcohol in two and a half months, which you know me, like when we were friends, like I would drink four or five days a week, you know, I would drink a lot, and so that's a big change in my life. And I'm trying to not drink for one whole year, like I'm not canceling it forever, but just for this year, I feel it's gonna be a struggle for me and stuff. But you said that you had quit drinking for the most part, or like what what led what led to that decision and how has it been?

Lauren 33:13

Yeah, well, congrats to you, honestly. That's awesome. I still drink here and there. Um, I go through spurts where I won't drink for you know two weeks, I won't drink for two months, three months, a month. I just feel so much like happier. I think it definitely takes a toll on my mental health, and my job is very demanding, and like I want to be fresh every day when I wake up. I want to be like fresh with my clients. And when I drink, I just like do not feel good in the morning. It just like me out for like two, three business days. So I just can't. Like, I have to my priorities have just shifted, honestly. Like, I don't care about going out. I don't, I'm not missing out on a night at the bars. Like, I just my I don't know, my my priorities have just shifted.

Tom 33:56

Yeah, I feel like that's the trick to like getting past it is just associating alcohol with the hangover because I'll be stressed out some nights and I'll be like, damn, I just wish I had a drink. I'm really stressed out. But then if I start to put that idea in motion, I'm just gonna be hungover tomorrow. That's not worth it. And you just kind of have to really put all the focus on that. If a hangover is worth it, then go drink 70% of the time. It's not worth the hangover. It's only worth it's only worth the hangover on like New Year's Eve and your birthday and your best friend's birthday.

Lauren 34:25

But if I go out now, I do like a two to three drink maximum, and then I just send myself home. I'm like, it's time for me to go, and I just go home. I have no problem with just being like, all right, you know, if people want to stay, people want to stay. But I'm I'm you know, I'm sending myself home and I just feel so much better doing that. And I've been so much happier. You save money, you save embarrassment of being drunk. Just nothing good happens. I don't know. Everything's better when you're not drinking. And then I don't need unhealthy foods the day after you drink, all you want is McDonald's hash brown or something like to cure you. You just want to eat unhealthy food and then you don't want to work out the next day. It's not worth it. Like, I just want to stay on my grind and stay focused.

Tom 35:03

Yeah, so we kind of talked about you moving. I th you put that down as something we should talk about. And when I moved, I definitely felt like all these healthy things that I had been trying to work into my life or stuff, it just was really easy. It's like a fresh start. You don't have anyone pulling you in any direction anymore. So I really thought the like moving to a new town was was one of the healthiest decisions I've ever made. How did that all play into your journey for you?

Lauren 35:29

It helped me so much. Like I think about this, I used to think about this a lot. I don't think I would have ever been able to start like a real estate career or get to the point where I'm at, like in my fitness and health journey, if I was still in Northern Virginia up there. It's just there's so much like distraction. There's every there's happy hours. I have so many friends. I have friends from 20 years of my life there. My family's there, or my my you know, my dad's side of my family's up there. So I just couldn't do it. I don't think I would been as successful. So when I came down here, I knew one person. My priorities was work and gym, work and gym. Now I have a you know, a really good friend group and uh good work friends. So I have like a lot more friends now, and it is distracting. I used to live in Cary, which was 20 minutes from downtown, and now I live five minutes from the bars. And when I first moved here, I kind of went on another spree of you know, new town, not new town, but like I'm closer to everything, I'm living by myself now.

Tom 36:23

People say that when you start going through like a this type of change that you went through, other people in your life don't always view you as the new you. So you're like, this is the new me, I'm healthier, whatever. And then you have all these people in your life that still view you as the party girl or whatever they used to view you. And moving helps just like swipe that clean, and it's like, oh no, I am the new me. And all your friends, all the people that you they've only known you as the new you. It doesn't have to be in a quote healthy direction, but whatever kind of change you want to make in your life, I feel like it really helps if you're not living in your hometown, you know.

Lauren 36:58

No, and it's crazy to even go back when you go back to Vienna or wherever you're from, seeing people who stayed in the same spot, they haven't changed at all. And you just feel and look at situations so much differently when you change. Whenever I go back to Virginia, I'm like in my feels almost, it's because I'm like, I grew up here, I've known all these people, and I've changed the way you view it, the way you feel is just like different. You just feel I don't know, you feel like more safe, you just feel more secure in yourself, and like you're not taking as much risks and stuff. Yeah, yeah.

Tom 37:31

Yo, a quote that always freaks me out is when they say, like, the people who haven't seen you from high school, they still know you as who you were in high school. Isn't that weird to think about? Like all those people we haven't seen, they just remember the high school Tom and the high school Lauren. That's their impression of us, they're just going through life, and we're like, no, that's not who we are anymore. Like it doesn't matter, that's who you are to them. Sometimes my girlfriend would meet someone and they'd have like an idea of like a party I ruined when I was like 17 years old. Please don't judge me off that. But it's when when you never move, it's hard. You still have the same network from when you're 17 and 18 and 19. It's not always good, you know.

Lauren 38:04

You know, if someone comes up from your past, you're like, Oh, they did this, this, and this in high school, and you're like, Well, okay, they're probably not like that anymore because I don't like that anymore. I'm like for like that dumb stuff they did because they're probably different.

Tom 38:17

Yeah, I made friends with like Amir Sultani after college. He had grown up so much, and me and him are like adult friends now. It's crazy because we used to know each other as child friends.

Lauren 38:28

What literally Cater and I are like real estate friends, we talk business. So many people who I like grew up with, and now they'll call me about real estate. And I'm like, this is so funny. So I don't like people who whenever people get their real estate since they call me, they're like, Hey, I got a real. I'm like, Yeah, let's go. Like, I think it's so funny, it's it's cool.

Tom 38:45

Well, maybe it's because like you're one of my close friends, but when I think real estate, I think of you first, probably because I don't I don't know many other um what is the title? Real estate agents, yeah. So I guess since we just brought that up, what what is your favorite part about about doing that then?

Lauren 39:00

Um, I like it. It's I gotta like see different places every day. Like every day I'm either like driving to see a new place in Raleigh, a different house, meeting a new client. So just like something different every day. Um, it's challenging. You get to overcome very expensive problems that you get to help people buy something they're spending the most money that they're gonna ever spend anything on.

Tom 39:22

What kind of like skills and personality traits make a person a good fit for that role?

Lauren 39:28

Uh it's it's it's a sales role. So you have to be you have to be really self self-motivated and personable. You have to like take control of your own schedule. There's no one telling me, all right, go here, do this. It's all on your own. You have to find your own clients, you have to handle all the vendors, talk to the attorneys, the lenders. So it's like a lot of moving parts. So you have to do so. I would say you have to be a really organized person and detail-oriented. And then people like are drawn to people who are fun and positive during the transaction because it can be it can be an emotional roller coaster. So I think having someone who's gonna who's been through it before and can be like it's gonna be okay. We have people who can help, or just being able to navigate people, like taking stress off them.

Tom 40:10

I get like major boss girl energy from your real estate life, you know.

Lauren 40:17

I mean, it's also like what you see on Instagram too. Like I'm still learning, I'm still um training every day and trying to get better. So I'm still young in the business. I'm not beating myself up because I'm not where I want to be yet. I'm still 26 years old and still starting off, but I feel like I've surrounded myself with a lot of good people. So I feel like I'm gonna be on a good path to have a good career.

Tom 40:41

Yeah, it seems like your social circle is like really good for you right now, too.

Lauren 40:45

They say um like inspiring and successful.

Tom 40:48

So you're basically like the sum of the five people you hang out with the most, you know. So it seems like you know, it's almost like uh starting your own company, like you have your own sales and stuff to worry about. But since you have all these other uh real estate agents kind of as co-workers who are all self-starters as well, it kind of builds like a nice team of just like sharing, sharing like wisdom and skills, not necessarily sales, just sharing like the ins and outs, you know.

Lauren 41:14

No, you like have to lean on each other just because like you know what you're each other are going through. And we're we'll be out at lunch and we're all on our phones, and we're like, if we were people with people who weren't real estate agents, this would be so rude. But like you just they just get it. Like you we work, we could be working at any time of day. When people want to talk real estate, it's like after work when they get off, so it's the available.

Tom 41:35

So to bring it back to the weight loss thing one more time, another reason I really like to talk to someone like you is because someone who's always been fit doesn't really have they don't really have the right like attitude almost to like helping other people get through that journey, you know. Sometimes they just don't understand what it's like. So, like, what kind of advice would you give to someone who is currently overweight and like looking to make that change in their life?

Lauren 42:00

I think you have to start with small changes and realize you have to be in it for the long haul. You can't be in it for like a quick fix at all. Otherwise, you're gonna yo-yo diet, which is gonna mess up your hormones, like gonna hurt you in the long run. So I think the easiest steps that you can do is your water intake. If you can drink a gallon of water a day, I feel like everything else in your life just follows and walking. I think if you can drink your water, walk and then get your gut health right. So do your greens every day. And so just like implementing like maybe one of these changes a month. So month, you're starting from zero, start with your water. So then next month, start with your greens, start with your walking, then maybe get in the gym, start lifting weights, just baby steps like that. Um then I think if you get your mind right, everything that's the same thing, like everything else will follow. So just like believing in yourself and telling yourself, like, all right, I can do it, making goals, not just like, oh, I want, I want to be skinny. Like, that's not a goal that's gonna last you. So make real goals. I want to be able to do a pull-up, I want to be able to do a push-up, I want to be able to run, I want to be able to lift weights for 30 minutes, you know, just like little goals like that. So the best place to start if you're overweight.

Tom 43:15

I feel like another small step is just increasing your protein too, right? I feel like a lot of people who are overweight, they just it's not necessarily they even need to eat less at all. It's just that it's not balanced, and and like nine times out of 10, it's they're not getting enough protein. Because someone asked me about this the other day, and obviously, like my first instinct was like track all your macros and do this, but I could just see it in their face, like, they're not gonna do that. Probably just increase your protein. Like, I might not be right, but I feel like that's shot in the shot in the dark, it's not a bad one to just just try to do, you know.

Lauren 43:47

My girlfriends who are like, How do I lose weight or like how do I build a butt? Like, people would like quick message me on Instagram. That is like the first thing I tell them. I say, up your protein. I'm like, drink at least one to two protein shakes a day that'll fill you up. Protein, it burns the fastest in your body out of anything. So, like obviously, it's gonna burn your carbs first, but burning protein burns the most energy in your body, if that makes sense. So yeah, when you when you drink more protein, your body's like burning overall more and it'll speed up your metabolism. So, yeah, up in your protein. I tell people just get a get a good protein powder that you like and start doing at least one to two shakes a day.

Tom 44:26

Yeah, because like I wasn't crazy out of shape, but like at my worst, I kind of treated protein like a reward for going to the gym back in college. And so I was going to the gym a lot, you know, drinking a lot of protein. But like when I got into like my career post-college, I all of a sudden didn't have the time to work out enough. And since I treated protein like this reward that I would drink after the gym, then it really affected me when I only would go to the gym like twice a week, you know. Kind of a mindset shift has been no, it's almost like lifting is the reward for drinking enough protein because or or eat or eating enough protein, but it's like you you can't even build muscle without it, but you can build muscle without lifting, you know what I'm saying? Because you you naturally just walking around and doing shit all day, you know, it's gonna it's gonna have a better effect that the to drink to drink protein on a and and eat protein in a week where you can't even work out.

Lauren 45:17

I feel like there's a lot of mis like understanding, like misinformation around like fat. So like when I was in the beginning of my health journey, I would hear like fat keeps you full, like fat is so good for you. And then like I some people like now being like, you know, don't be afraid of fat. There's a lot of like misconceptions. So I hear that. So I was like, okay, I would be making smoothies and I would be throwing in scoops of nut butter, almonds, um, chia seeds, flax seeds. And even though while fat is good, fat keeps you full, I wasn't taking, like I said before, like I wasn't taking into account portion control or calories. So I was probably drinking 100 grams of fat in one smoothie, which is like way more than you should probably eat in a day. But because of just like you didn't understand nutrition or macros or how much you should actually be eating, I was just still gaining weight thinking I'm drinking a healthy smoothie, but just because I didn't know like the nutrition or the calories of what I was putting in it, then I was just like probably not making any progress. So I think like understanding fat and like learning actually about macronutrients is like one of the most valuable things that you could do.

Tom 46:28

Yeah, I was eating a lot of red meats before I learned, and they all had way more fat in them. One of my strongest periods was also one of my fattest periods, too, you know. And it hasn't been till this past year, I've like really got hooked on chicken and found out how to get strong without getting fat, you know. Brown, turkey, yeah, fish, yeah. What about like just the way you run your social media? I feel like you've just done a really good job of growing your account and just always been posting content. There's this new mentality of record and share everything you know. Like I have a hard time like learning things and then sharing things because then I end up spending three hours making a TikTok and it just like the whole process takes too long, and I could have learned four more things if I didn't make it. How did you structure all that? Because you've been really good about like just sharing all of this journey online, you know.

Lauren 47:22

I've kind of gone through like way, like phases and waves as the more I've learned about social media, and I think Instagram has also kind of gone in waves. So it used to be a post every single day, stories all day, videos, videos, videos. And I just got like so exhausting. I've always been a person who's posted on social media, like even before Instagram was big, I did Snapchat posting what I'm eating, um, what I'm doing every day, just because it's like natural. And I just think it's like a fun, it's like a hobby. It's like a game, it's like a mobile app on your phone, and it's a game. So I just liked it for the fun. Now I've kind of shifted, like I only post when I'm inspired. So if I have something in my mind, I'll either write it down in my notes and make it a caption or pop on a video and just like video it. A lot of people be like, you know, you should be an influencer, but I don't know, like I don't want to make it a job. I think social media could totally be a full-time job if you want it, or like I don't want to be a content creator, like I want to be a bomb ass real estate agent with good social media and just like share recipes. That's kind of my goal with social media. So I kind of just shifted like how I thought about it, not make it work, make it something I enjoy. And I think other people like receive that really well too. People who I don't even talk to, like I see them following my stuff and they'll reach out to me. And I don't know, I think that's cool. People I don't talk to all the time just see my food and they'll compliment it. So that's really rewarding. Or when people make my recipes, like that's that like literally makes like my heart so full. Like when someone makes my food. I think that's like the best thing.

Tom 48:52

So, what how did this like passion towards recipes start? Is it a certain program that you got like a hold of, or is there like a person that you follow who does recipes or a book you read? Like what kind of kick this off?

Lauren 49:05

I don't know. I think I'm super particular about making my own food and like who cooks my food. I think I I don't know if there was someone on Instagram who I followed who like kind of made me adopt this mindset, but the vibes and the energy that someone puts into your food, like you're consuming. So, like I I cook my food with love and like good energy, and and when you go out, you have no idea who's cooking your food, or like they could like spit in it, or they could be in a terrible mood, and just like you don't want to that energy in your body. So I think cooking my own food was like super important.

Tom 49:40

Um, that kind of like made me fall in love with learning new recipes, and dude, cooking food is like spiritual, it's like a it's like um a ritual, you know, it's different. Yeah, I think probably the pandemic, because that's when I started too, it's just like working from home just allowed us all to like get more into cooking. But I I realized that like you know, like when you're a kid, your parents make you like say a prayer and you're like, Oh, thank you for this food. Well, not now that I'm cooking more, I'm very grateful for everything that goes into it. Like, obviously, I appreciated my mom, but doing it all yourself, your your body appreciates it, like you kind of like encompass this gratitude towards all these different ingredients coming together and like the chemistry of it all. And I don't know, you're just more in tune with the spiritual side of cooking. I can't explain it, you know.

Lauren 50:25

That's true. Like, just like you said, like praying over your food, no matter what religion, it doesn't even have to be religious, just literally just like taking a few deep breaths before you like go in and just just literally like thank you. Like, I hope this food nourishes my body and just being thankful for the you know, the hands that prepared it, aka yours, and just being mindful around food, it will like help your relationship also.

Tom 50:46

And I'm more like in tune with where that energy is going. Like, let's say I have to do a like this podcast. So the meal beforehand, I'm like, as I'm cooking it, I'm like, this food is to like help me like have energy on the podcast, and like I'm more like direct where the energy is going and the purpose it plays. You know, I used to be kind of like big picture and be like, oh, I gotta make this app or whatever I was working on, and and cooking just slows me down, man. Food is just there for specifically one reason. Now I'm I'm just more in tune with oh no, cooking is like this, it's part of the big picture that I'm working on. For so, you know, it just fits in better when when you just put more conscious energy into it for some reason.

Lauren 51:22

Yeah, no, people will be like, I don't have time for cooking. I'm like, so you don't have time for yourself to like nourish your body. I don't know, like when people I'm like, so you don't take time for yourself to cook, you know what I mean? It's not like you don't have the time, you need to like invest the time in yourself. Like, I don't I don't watch TV, I don't do anything. Like, I would much rather be cooking, cleaning, eating, or like sleeping. You know what I mean? Like, I don't yeah, you just have to like prioritize the healthy food or making sure that you have stuff like if you know you're gonna be tired after work, making sure you have something healthy that you can just like grab and eat.

Tom 51:54

So yeah, like we came from like hunter hunter-gatherers, right? And like our ancestors would just spend all their time cooking and cleaning and and and hunting, and their whole life revolved around the food, right? So for us to get so disconnected from that process and eat out every time, well, there's parts of your DNA they feel good when when they're worshipping food or like spending their energy making good food. Like it's just it's something that we're kind of programmed to do and to like totally deny that is like losing, it's like kind of losing touch on on what it means to be human or something, you know.

Lauren 52:27

I think it's like food ink or something on Netflix talking about like how we don't we hardly even eat food anymore. We eat food like products and like crackers, you know what I mean? It's like it's a cracker that's literally like cardboard. It's so far from being a grain or from being a vegetable or being meat. What are we even eating? Like, I don't know, just being so mindful, like okay, let me eat something that's from the ground or like from the earth instead of from the store or like fried or something.

Tom 52:53

No, when I was in college, I used to eat like Pop Tarts and like all of my food will come out of a vending machine and like come in a plastic bag. Now almost none of it does, and it's definitely a huge difference in like my energy levels. Obviously, they would like spike way more and then drop, but all yeah, and like now I just feel like a more like full, longer, you know, amount of energy that's not as and it's not, it's it has a different like flavor. The energy, like it doesn't feel as is like synthetic, you know, it feels more natural, you know.

Lauren 53:20

I think that's one thing that you need to be careful of when you start to track macros, is that processed food can like creep back in really easily just because it's so easy to track because it already has macros printed on it. And I found myself like limiting my vegetables where I'm like that doesn't make any sense. Like, I'm gonna eat vegetables if I want to eat if I want to eat a whole bowl of broccoli, I'm not gonna weigh it and track it. Like, that's my body's craving. That's my body telling me that that's what it wants. So I think like just being mindful of that, like obviously I still eat a protein bar here and there, but just not letting like processed frozen meals kind of creep back in just because it's easy to track. So letting your body still like tell what it wants, like vegetables and stuff.

Tom 54:00

Yeah, I so like tracking your macros is like the route towards getting the body you want right, because that's kind of like the the breakdown of what you're eating. But it's it's not the full picture of how to feel completely healthy. And seems like you put even you put even more focus in just not necessarily losing weight, but just eating like healthier and getting all the right minerals and the right balance and stuff like that. And that the weight probably came later on, you know, as you and that's like that's like the benefit of it.

Lauren 54:28

Yeah, that's like the secondary result.

Tom 54:30

Yeah, because you feel better on those foods and then you're more willing to eat the right portions and things like that.

Lauren 54:35

Yeah, I have energy to go work out, yeah.

Tom 54:37

Like, but let me let me ask some off the wall questions. Maybe I'll tie it into real estate. Um, okay, if you could buy real estate in three countries, which countries would you pick?

Lauren 54:49

Okay, I haven't really thought about that that much actually. I feel like somewhere I was gonna say an island, but like you have to worry about hurricanes and stuff. So maybe Greece or somewhere like in the Mediterranean. Um, I think Asia is really cool. Maybe like a place in Japan, and then maybe like a place like in the Philippines or like Thailand, something over there, kind of like all over.

Tom 55:16

You wouldn't pick America as one of your three places?

Lauren 55:19

Oh, I I was thinking like destination.

Tom 55:21

Okay.

Lauren 55:22

Obviously America.

Tom 55:24

Like okay, okay.

Lauren 55:25

I'd say like Montana or like some somewhere's west.

Tom 55:28

What about three states? Like, if you could own a piece of property in three states uh in the United States, what three states would that be?

Lauren 55:35

California, um, like a cool, just a cool piece of property in California. Probably something like West too, though like mountain vibes, like Montana, Wyoming, a cool like cabin. And then I really like maybe like in Key West or something like tropical.

Tom 55:55

I was about to say, how are you not gonna say Florida? Come on now.

Lauren 55:57

I don't know, like I feel like my family Florida's like lost, it's like fun, but I don't know. Florida's so cool.

Tom 56:02

Florida's the new move. I'm telling you, in 20 years, everyone's gonna be here because you can work from home now. Yeah, I guess everyone is here already. Okay, tell me about buying your house then. Okay, did you put that down? Why um obviously it's a pretty big deal for a real estate agent to own a house. I feel like that's your that's your flex right there, right?

Lauren 56:23

You have to own a house if you're a real estate agent. You can't be like promoting everyone buy a house, and then you're like, I'm but I'm renting.

Tom 56:29

Oh, not me.

Lauren 56:31

Yeah, not me.

Tom 56:33

That's the dumbest decision you've ever made.

Lauren 56:35

No, um, no, it was awesome. I I was thinking about buying a place in maybe two years, and then the house next to my sister came for sale in downtown Raleigh. That I just sold her that house earlier the in the year or like last year, and I was like, I have to get this. This is gonna be a good investment. Um, I bought a like a good neighborhood in five years, it'll probably appreciate with like $100,000 to $200,000. And my end goal is to turn this into an Airbnb once I get my next place. So I think like that's gonna be my cycle. I'm gonna um, you know, rent it out and then get a new place and then just kind of keep doing that. So I have a few investment properties.

Tom 57:13

Yo, I want to do that too. I always have like random ideas and and I don't follow up on all of them, so we'll see. And but like I was really obsessed with buying property and owning an Airbnb and like making money on that because like there's all these people on TikTok. I retired in five years, and like I don't know how legit that is, but I do feel like it could be a path towards financial freedom that I'm like highly considering. And then in the past like month, there's all this shit about the metaverse, and I'm like, oh, maybe I should buy property in the metaverse, and now I'm because my tech brain is going crazy over that, but I'm still like I still think the Airbnb option would be like a good use of my money someday, you know.

Lauren 57:49

So, like the strategy that we talk about now is it's like the Burr strategy. It's like you buy, you rent it, or you buy, you rehab it, then you rent it, and then you refinance, and then you're doing that process, so you just like keep getting new houses. Like you really you don't have to put 20 down, you can put 10 down and um make a few renovations, rent it out, and then once you can refinance on it, take out that money and use it to buy your next house. So just like repeat that cycle.

Tom 58:20

I would love to have some passive income. It's a word that I feel like I should I should be using more and focusing on more.

Lauren 58:28

And then that can just it starts with just a couple, it could be $500 extra dollars a month that you're making off a rental property. It's not gonna be an insane amount of money, but then you use that money to put it back into the house or to get another house. So sometimes if you can find it where you can live in the house, you can pay like they can play low rent, like if you can rent out another section of your house so you can live there for free. So that's another way to do it.

Tom 58:52

We were talking about how good your coworkers probably are, like as far as influence on you. Are the real estate agents that are like 10 years older than you? Do they all have like a couple properties and they know like they have income coming in from like different places, right?

Lauren 59:05

Yeah, everyone's kind of at different levels, but um, some people's goal is investing, some is just sales. But uh, a lot of people who are in this for the long haul are doing their investment on the side too. So they'll take the money that they make from real estate and then buy properties of their own, or they'll go in with other investors to make money that way and then just they'll flip houses. That's a good way to make money. So you just buy it for a low and then you put put a good amount of money in renovations, then you can list it for a lot higher. Um, so you can make money doing that. And uh yeah, the people around me, like that's where I mean, that's where I learned everything. So there's people who have been doing this, people who have 10, 20, 50, 100 rental properties. There's like whatever level you're at, you can learn from somebody.

Tom 59:48

How fast do you think it would take you to get financially free? Like, if you like right now, your top priority was like buying these houses, you know, fixing them up, turning them into Airbnbs. Would this be like an attainable goal within like 10 years or like 15 years to have like enough passive income to maybe maybe choose not to work or do a lot of people in my company are 40 and they're they're set on passive income.

Lauren 1:00:11

So I think definitely within five to 15 years is achievable for anybody.

Tom 1:00:17

So they could quit if they want to, or they could retire if they wanted to, but they just would you do that or would you just keep keeping no?

Lauren 1:00:24

They're everyone who's in this is like they're they're like on the growth cycle, like they're addicted to this like the next level. They're like, right, what's the next thing I can buy? What's the next thing I can buy?

Tom 1:00:33

I don't know, you don't have to get like addicted to that because real estate, I don't know, it's like a it's a cycle, so you have to like yeah, there's some things I want to do in the future, like the gym that seems like just too big of an idea for where I'm at now. But I've always felt like okay, if I could do maybe like five or 10 rental properties and have this passive income and like really figure out how to manage those, maybe I could maybe the next step from there for me could be a gym, you know, uh because it just doesn't seem like as obtainable from where I'm at, you know. But but those rental properties could be like baby steps as far as managing property and managing like my my cash flow and my money, you know, back into investments and making sure that like if if I open up a gym and it goes under, like I won't just be broke. I have like this other source of income, at least like helping me out. Like I could just sell the properties if I needed to, you know, or something. If the gym was all I had, I feel like I'd be kind of stuck to it, you know, and like it just everything would ride on that gym. And like if it ever went under, I would I would go under like as a person, you know.

Lauren 1:01:35

Yeah. Well, once you like get into like the business mode, you I feel like you can start other businesses so easily just because you like know how it works. So like I feel like once you had like your properties down, like it would be just like the natural like next step. Like it wouldn't be like, I don't know, I feel like you'll you'll get there. And like I try not to compare myself to people who've like been in the business for like 10 years and like they've had so much more experience, they have so much more money, and just I don't know, so like step by step.

Tom 1:02:03

Who's uh your biggest inspiration?

Lauren 1:02:07

Um like someone who's inspired me a lot over like last years is our mentor, Tina Call. Um she is like a real estate coach and mentor now, but she is kind of like she's shifted over to this company and kind of like opened up our mindsets to just like thinking bigger and um being able to like grow big real estate companies and just like not playing small or just not being like, oh, I want to sell you know this many houses and like that's it, just being like, no, I can achieve that goal or like higher goals. I would say she inspires me a lot. And then like my the women in my family, like my sister and my mom and my aunt are all really successful in business. Um, they inspire me a lot, they're all like boss ladies, like on the phones, and um they're like really respected at work, so I think they really inspire me too.

Tom 1:02:58

Yo, I'm so glad that uh you made all those changes and thank you for sharing them because you know I think a lot of people need to hear that from someone who's gone through it, you know?

Lauren 1:03:08

Yeah, no, I really appreciate that. Thank you for giving me a platform to share my experience, and I'm proud of you too for doing this. And I'm glad that it's like a bunch of our friends kind of like seeing where they're at now and all the progress we've made as like adults. So thank you.

Tom 1:03:22

Yeah, and um, we definitely gotta do this in person, right? At some point, because I just we it had been like almost a year since we said we should do a podcast. I was like, damn, I just gotta hop on a call with her, but let's still try to link up maybe some point this summer.

Lauren 1:03:35

Okay, yeah, let's definitely do like a another one soon.

Tom 1:03:37

So yes, yes, ma'am. All right, bye, Lauren.

Lauren 1:03:41

Um, I'll talk to you soon.

Tom 1:03:42

Yep, have fun. Peace.