Forged In Fire
Hosted by Nate Pharmer-Eden and Cole Farrell, Forged In Fire is where real entrepreneurship meets raw, unfiltered stories. This isn’t your typical business podcast—we skip the fluff and dive straight into the heat of what it really takes to build, run, and grow a business. From late-night doubts to game-changing wins, we explore the trials, setbacks, and breakthroughs that entrepreneurs experience at every stage of their journey.
Whether you’re a seasoned business owner navigating new challenges or someone with a burning desire to launch your first venture, this podcast offers powerful insights and practical lessons for everyone. No sugarcoating—just honest conversations about what it takes to forge success through the fire.
Get ready to be inspired, learn from real-world struggles, and gain the tools you need to make your entrepreneurial dreams a reality. This is your front-row seat to the highs, lows, and everything in between. Are you ready to step into the fire? 🔥
Forged In Fire
Episode 37: Beth Underhill Shows What Happens When You Face Fear Instead of Avoiding It?
What does it take to go from complete novice to successful commercial real estate investor? Beth Underhill's journey reveals it's not expertise, connections, or money—it's the courage to raise your hand and say "I can do that" even when you have no idea how.
Beth and her husband's real estate adventure began unexpectedly in 2018 when a middle-of-the-night infomercial led them to explore house flipping. Already running a successful outdoor construction company, they thought transferring those skills indoors would be straightforward. Then COVID hit, completely shifting market demands and forcing them to pivot into commercial real estate—a world Beth knew nothing about.
The vulnerable moments in Beth's story are what make it so powerful. From Googling terms like "pitch deck" and "investor portal" to feeling completely out of her depth in meetings with potential sponsors, she navigated the steep learning curve by leveraging her strengths in customer service and sheer determination. Beth's candid description of raising millions for deals while still learning the fundamentals herself highlights an entrepreneurial truth rarely discussed: sometimes you figure it out as you go.
Today, Beth has co-sponsored over 200 syndicated units and manages more than 400 student housing beds. Her real estate connections have opened unexpected doors to investments in sports licensing, boutique hotels, and even cannabis. Her advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is refreshingly practical: focus on relationships, start with free communities before investing in expensive masterminds, and aim to connect with just three new people weekly. Most importantly, understand that even when the entrepreneurial journey feels like "the longest rollercoaster ride of your life," resilience is what separates those who succeed from those who don't.
Ready to build your own path? Connect with Beth at investingwithbeth.com or text her at 513-470-1078 to learn more about her approach to real estate and building a diversified investment portfolio.
Forget what you've heard. Forged in Fire is where real entrepreneurs come to share the untold truths of success the late nights, the crushing setbacks, the moments that change everything. No fluff, just fire, ready to step into the heat and unlock what it really takes to build a business. This is where legends are made.
Speaker 2:Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to another exciting episode of Forced and Fired. I'm your co-host, nate Farmer. Allow me to introduce my counterpart, cole. How we doing brother.
Speaker 3:Nate doing good man. Always a sunny day over here. What's going on in your world? What's exciting.
Speaker 2:Sunny day. It's like raining and like 30 degrees outside over here, but maybe you meant that like as like a mentality thing, but like outside is not very nice right now.
Speaker 3:We'll go. Mentality Nothing's on fire. Even though it is Everything's fine, it's a good day, always a good day.
Speaker 2:One of those woosah kind of things like glass half full at all times.
Speaker 3:That's it Blindfolded. It's all good, it's all good. You need to get a puppy is what you need, nate.
Speaker 2:Like an emotional support animal.
Speaker 3:Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love that. Okay, I'm in, I'm in, I'm in. So what's going on with you, man Fill?
Speaker 3:us in? Not much, I mean. Let me give you a quick update. So I did get a poppy, which is what we're saying. Depending on when you hear this episode, you may or may not already know that. But what else is exciting? We're buying a flip, which is cool, so we should have that under agreement by the end of the day, and other projects are running smooth, so I have no complaints. But look, enough about me, enough about us. We have a really cool interview here, as always, and so I have one single favor for everybody listening before we get into that, and that is please just leave us a review. That's it. It can be in the comments If you want to go on the platform Spotify, apple Podcasts, whatever it is and just leave us a review. That's what helps us find more people, that's what helps us bring on more amazing guests, and so if you guys could do that one thing for us, we'd really appreciate it. But besides that, just sit back, relax, enjoy.
Speaker 2:Buckle up, it's going to be a hell of a ride. I remember years ago when we started all these things. You used to say that after every episode. It still resonates with me. I love it, but I digress. Today we have the honor, the pleasure and the privilege to talk to Beth Underhill. She is an amazing real estate investor, an amazing woman. She's done a ton for the industry, currently sitting at over I believe it's 200 units that have been syndicated as a co-sponsor, over 400 beds when it comes to student housing. What hasn't she done? But hold on, enough about all of this from me, because I'm sure you all want to hear it from her. Beth, come on stage. How are we doing?
Speaker 4:Hello, hello, I am doing well today. Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 2:Our pleasure. So please tell us a little bit about yourself. What got you here? What brought you here?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean, that's a really great question and one that every time I'm asked, I feel like my answer is just a little bit different from the time previously, right? My answer is just a little bit different from the time previously, right? Anyways, I got into real estate 2018. My husband and I thought that we could become the Chip and Joanna Gaines of Cincinnati, ohio. Right around that time, we had been watching all of the usual flipping shows on television and so forth and we thought, hey, we can do that flipping shows on television and so forth and we thought, hey, we can do that. Well, lo and behold, my husband, who struggles with his sleep, wakes up in the middle of the night, couldn't get back to sleep, starts watching some infomercial, signs us up for a one-day wonder event, as I like to call it, all about flipping houses. So we ended up going to this event, which led to another event that was three days long, which led to a five-day event out in San Diego, california, in which we did a bus tour and from there we started flipping houses.
Speaker 4:Now, mind you, we had already owned and operated a construction company. We build outdoor living spaces. So we thought, hey, you know, we can, you know, divide our crews, take our expertise of what we do on the outside and do some of that on the inside of houses. However, once COVID hit, everyone wanted an outdoor space. They wanted a pool, they wanted a patio, they wanted a kitchen outside and you name it, everything that they could, you know, have on the inside, be outside so they could be with their family and friends.
Speaker 4:Right, because you know you really couldn't be inside unless you were social distancing and whatnot. So my husband and I decided you know what, it's time to pivot. We can't do the fix and flips anymore. So I ended up kind of traveling down the rabbit hole of commercial real estate and that's what really has gotten me to where I am today, with multifamily units, with student housing units and then a multitude of other opportunities that aren't even necessarily real estate related, but because of real estate it's opened the doors to so many other paths and I'm just pretty excited about it.
Speaker 3:That is awesome and it's cool to hear kind of how you got started and the potential pivots and how you follow the market. So I want to dive into all that stuff. So one you kind of briefly mentioned that you were going towards this construction stuff and then doing flips and then you ended up pivoting to kind of multis. So tell me more like why multis, why apartments, why student housing, why the other opportunities?
Speaker 4:Yeah, absolutely so. I had an investor friend Well, he's a friend, but he was also an investor still is, you know, friend, and so forth and he was one of our private money partners for our fix and flips. One day we were driving to I can't recall if it was Home Depot or Lowe's, but it was one of the two and we passed an apartment complex and he said one day we're gonna own a hundred unit apartment complex. I looked at him and I'm like you're off your rocker, like that's millions and millions of dollars, like we're playing in like 200, $300,000 space. Right now there's no way that that's possible. And he's like there's ways of buying them. You know, trust me, and so forth. And he had already had a few rentals, but they were like single family rentals, duplexes and so forth Nothing, nothing of the scale that he was referring to. So ironically, of course, you know how our phones listen to us All of a sudden, in my newsfeed, on my news app, I start seeing these events for multifamily syndication workshops and I thought to myself okay, like this is what Alan is his name, this is what he's referring to.
Speaker 4:So I sign us up for one. And I tell him I'm like hey, I signed us up to go attend one of these events. He's like great, when is it, where is it? Let's do it. So we attend this event and again, it was very much similar to the flipping workshop a one day wonder that led to another three day event that led to a $40,000 mastermind, $40,000 mastermind. We did not pay $40,000, by the way, but that's what opened up the door to this world that I had no idea about. Like, oh okay, this is how people buy these multi-million dollar apartment complexes and commercial properties and so forth. And so one of the suggestions at this particular event was that you know, you get on Facebook and you start networking with people, join Facebook groups that are involved in multifamily commercial real estate the things that you want to be doing and start connecting with people.
Speaker 4:So I immediately jumped into that, began looking at opportunities, started underwriting deals, you deals, pulling things off of Crexie and Loopnut and so forth. I happened to find this particular deal that was in St Petersburg, florida, in an area that my husband and I we absolutely love. Obviously, it's had a lot of growth, but it's also been affected by hurricanes and whatnot. Obviously, it's had a lot of growth, but it's also been affected by hurricanes and whatnot. So I started underwriting this deal and went to a lender who was going to help me and she's like you know, you're going to need a sponsor. And I'm like, yeah, I mean I can't take this down myself. So she introduced me to this particular gentleman who could sponsor the deals and he and I, you know, we went through the deal.
Speaker 4:I mean I was so green, I mean I was, I was so green. I I mean I literally got off that call, was just wanted to put my head in the sand, was completely embarrassed Like he's asking me questions I didn't know the answers to and I thought to myself, wow, can I really play in this space? However, we kept in touch, which was good, and I saw that he had made a post at one point about he's like I'm looking to build a team and I need someone to help me with investor relations. And I thought to myself, okay, now that is something I know I'm good at. I may not be able to underwrite.
Speaker 4:Okay, I may not be able to necessarily pick out the right property and, of course, I wasn't experienced enough to qualify for acquiring a very large deal, but I know customer service, because that has been kind of the blood of everything that I've ever done.
Speaker 4:I mean, I've owned a fitness studio, I've had an Internet based business, I had a catering business.
Speaker 4:I was part of a hotel, the director of catering for a hotel, and then my husband and I, of course, still director of catering for a hotel, and then my husband and I, of course, still have our outdoor living space construction company. Customer service is one of those things that you need if you're in the service industry hospitality and so forth. And so I reached out to him and we had a conversation and I started giving him like all of my ideas, like I think this is what you could be doing for investors and so forth, things to retain them, how to follow up and whatnot. And he's like this is great, this is great, like let's stay connected. You know, I'm looking to build a team and I'd love to have you on the team and I thought, okay, this might be an opportunity. Of course, all along I'm thinking that I'm going to get paid for something, but you're not going to get paid, which was, you know, like uh-huh, the worst realization of this whole part.
Speaker 4:Right, right. So anyways about I don't know. Three or four weeks go by and I reached out to this gentleman who I knew was in Florida and I was heading to a conference in Orlando Rod Cleave, have you ever heard of Rod?
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 4:Okay. So heading to one of his boot camps, and I reached out to this particular gentleman and I said, hey. I said, are you by chance going to Rod's event? He's like where is it? When is it? He's like I'll be there. And I'm like, okay, well, you know, here's the link for tickets. He's like I'm not buying a ticket. I'm like, all right.
Speaker 4:So his MO all the time was to just hang out in the lobby because that's where, like that's where a lot of the magic happens, right, I mean, he was someone who was, you know, seasoned enough, didn't need to to learn kind of all the the basics that Rod was teaching. It was going to be more about, like, I need to connect with people. So I end up showing up there, I brought my husband along because I wanted my husband to understand more of what I was doing and as a result, you know, we ended up meeting this gentleman. He's like, hey, I'm at the bar, you know. And we're like, okay, we'll come find you. We did, and we ended up having dinner and started connecting. Well, then he made an introduction to two other gentlemen and the three of them actually were thinking about like joining forces, and so he made the introduction to me, to these, to these other gentlemen, and they're like you know, we could really use somebody on our team that could help with marketing and investor relations and so forth. And I'm like I'm your girl, you know, I'm raising my hand, like I can do this, can do this, and not knowing like really much of anything. Everything I've learned was through Google, right, I'm like Googling different things as I was going along.
Speaker 4:What I could do was build a website, because I had owned and operated a website that you know was we sold women's golf apparel and accessories. So I understood everything about building a website, seo and whatnot. So, um, you know, we first, you know, needed a name, a logo, a website and so forth. So I handled all of that. Uh, then came time for the pitch deck. I'm like pitch deck, like what do you mean? Like what is that? Like I have to create a pitch deck. Are you kidding me? So I ended up.
Speaker 4:There was a deal that we were doing as a team, in conjunction with a few other individuals, and someone had already done the pitch deck. But my friend that I initially connected with he was like I'm really not fond of the way it looks. Can you like, refine it. I'm like sure so I did and everybody loved it. So that was great. I was like, okay, I'm on the right track here. But then we got our first student housing property and, by the way, we did close on that deal that I refined the pitch deck for.
Speaker 4:But then we got our first student housing property under contract, and the reason why we were going after student housing is because, initially, like, our team was well, I thought it was four people but then I found out that there were other people that had been invited to the team and I did not know this. And one gentleman in particular came from a student housing background 17 plus years, with the likes of Landmark Properties, which is one of the largest student housing developers and property management companies in the country. So he knew everything that there was about student housing and I knew nothing. Half of the team knew nothing, but it was an attractive asset class, primarily because everybody else was going after multifamily, and so it's like, okay, this is different. However, we had to do so much educating on student housing because, you know, when people aren't familiar with it, they need to understand it better and more, and so the requirement in terms of you know, like the knowledge that you have to convey and why student housing might be a better choice over, you know, some other asset classes. That was a lot, but anyways, I had to do my first like official pitch deck, and boy I mean, I spent hours and hours and hours.
Speaker 4:Well, you know, once I get the pitch deck complete, you know the guys are like, hey, we need a portal for all the investors. And I'm like what the heck is that? Like, oh my gosh, now I have to worry about a portal for all the investors. And I'm like what the heck is that? Like, oh my gosh, now I have to worry about a portal. Like, oh my, you know. So there was one group that was referred to us. So I ended up, you know, learning this, this portal and whatnot, and and started to really like, like embrace. You know what I was doing. Of course, you know again, I'm Googling everything. I'm just kind of tripping my way through it.
Speaker 4:But within, let's see, within five months after getting the property under contract, we closed on the deal and I mean it was amazing, right, I mean getting paid an acquisition fee. We had actually worked an organization fee into the deal which we got paid like reimbursed for a lot of our expenses, for time spent on the deal. So it was, it was lovely, and shortly after that we ended up with two more student housing properties under contract and there I was again I'm like, ok, here we go, we've got pitch decks, but I'm set up now with a portal and I've got a framework for the pitch deck. Decks, but I'm set up now with a portal and I've got a framework for the pitch deck. So that was good and we just you know, we just went to town, started working on acquiring these opportunities and it's been history ever since, you know, and, of course, throughout all that just been introduced to a plethora of other individuals, because you know, in a lot of ways, when you're going after these larger acquisitions, you have some downtime, right, like not every single waking moment is spent on these deals, and so so, yeah, I had some downtime and just started doing more networking and ended up exposing myself to some sports oriented type opportunities that had to do with, or that have to do with, I should say, name, image and likeness, so that whole arena, especially in the college sports, some boutique hotel opportunities in the Caribbean as well as here in the United States and then recently approached again to help with a multifamily fix and flip a three unit that's here locally in Cincinnati and we're going to actually convert it to three condos.
Speaker 4:So so yeah, it's been, you know, just an interesting journey and and I think I know you guys like to talk a lot and speak to a lot of you know people who are maybe doing W-2s and are like, oh my gosh, do I take the leap or not? And I mean, I feel like I'm a testament to someone that didn't understand half of what was going on but figured it out along the way. And that's really so much the story of an entrepreneur you figure it out as you go.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. No Beaceless Mic drop moment. I am notorious for doing this. Anybody that's listened to this, pause it, rewind, play this whole thing back, because Beth just hit the nail right on the head. This is a story of somebody that's just like hey, I'm open to it, let's figure this out, I'm in All right. Yeah, you need somebody that. I got it. Raise hand. Yes, front and center, always willing to take a risk, always willing to take a chance, always willing to try to give back and create win-win situations.
Speaker 2:Beth, hats off to you on all the success that you've just talked about. Coming from a situation in a world where it was just you and your husband woke up one night and he's just like hey, this is what we're going to do. Fix and flips took the team, split the team. Now, all of a sudden, you're doing multi-million dollar deals and you're crushing it in all different facets. So hats off to you.
Speaker 2:So one of my questions, moving into a few different things, and you can take this in whichever direction that you would like and maybe you want to start from having the team when you guys had to figure out how to train the team to understand, indoor and outdoor, from fix and flips to what it looks like now and trying to keep the team together from different asset classes on the syndication side. But talk a little bit more about some of the struggles and trials and tribulations. You went into quite a few things on, you know, pitch decks what the heck is a pitch deck? What the heck is an investor portal what the heck is. So give us more of a deep dive and how you were able to try to figure this out, aside from just googling through life yeah sure.
Speaker 4:So, um, I'll start with the fix and flips. And you know, because, um, you know we're already general contractors, right? So we thought that everybody does business how we do it, and that's not the case. So the horror stories of other contractors and how they operate, sometimes like we got to see that firsthand, so the horror stories that come along with that, you know we have, we outsource, you know, anything related to plumbing and electric and so forth, and there are certain things that if our guys, you know, are too busy, you know we need to hire, you know, other people to come in and do the work. And so in this one particular instance, there was someone that we looked at as a friend, who was also a contractor, and he was interested in getting involved in what we were doing. And so we said, ok, hey, we've got a couple of projects we're going to need some assistance on and we'd love for you to be our partner, so to speak. Now, we had a private money partner on the deal, but he was going to be our partner, so to speak. Now, we had a private money partner on the deal, but he was going to be our partner from the construction standpoint, so I would handle everything that's related to layout design work. You know, picking out tiles, paint colors. You know you name it. That was, that was my job. Everybody knew that was my job and nobody could tell me any different. And so so this particular contractor, we, you know, really trusted him. To be honest with you, however, we didn't know exactly the load of work that he already had lined up, and you know he really wanted to be in this space, but he had other things that he was doing Right. So he started putting our projects. You find out people's true colors.
Speaker 4:So this gentleman started sending nasty text messages, nasty voicemails and making threats to myself and, more so, my husband, and then, ultimately, somewhere close to Christmas, because this all transpired, we fired him at the end of November and then it was through December. We started receiving all of this. Close to Christmas, he sends a picture of a rifle scope to my husband and said look what I'm getting for Christmas. And it was at that moment. We were like, we were freaked out. We were like, okay, this guy's coming after us. He knows where we live because he's been to our house before to pick up like checks and so forth.
Speaker 4:My husband and I, we work out of our home, and so we were panicked and we immediately called our lawyer and said hey, what do we need to do? And uh, sure enough, you know, it was okay, it's time to file a restraining order against him, uh, which we did, um, and of course, because we filed the restraining order, he opted then to file a lien against the property, even though this gentleman, right, had completed like not even half of the, but made a claim that he completed 90% of the work. And I'm like, 90% of the work. Are you kidding me? We don't have flooring down, we don't have carpeting, we don't have tile anywhere, we don't have cabinets that have been installed, none of that. And he's making all these claims.
Speaker 4:I mean, it was ridiculous, right of that. And he's making all these claims? I mean it was, it was ridiculous, right, um. But anyways, there there had to be some, of course, negotiations in order to get the liens off the property, because once we got them ready for sale, but we did end up getting, you know, a five-year um, um, um, oh gosh, it's, it's escaping me now.
Speaker 2:Um, uh, the five um help me, uh restraining order yes, I don't know why it was like escaping my mind.
Speaker 4:So five years, oh goodness. So which you know. That, of course, eased our, eased our minds allowed us to go to work and do what we needed to do, but, um, but that was a mess, right. So learned some hard lessons that you know it's. It's so important to be vetting the contractors to see their work, see what they've done previously, you know, to get a schedule from them, a timeline. Don't ever give them money when they don't. You know they haven't performed, you know the work and so forth.
Speaker 4:So all the all the challenges that come along with flipping, so all the challenges that come along with flipping, I mean we experienced some of the things that we had heard about, but just didn't think like, oh no, contractors, people are going to operate as we do. I mean we show up when we say we're going to show up. My husband is so communicative. I mean our customers love us because of that and we're not pulling the shenanigans of oh hey, we're going to be there at nine and then never show up. You know, that's just not who we are. So so that was a challenge. And then, I think, pivoting into the commercial space, raising capital.
Speaker 2:Let me interrupt you, but before we go into the commercial space. I am super excited to hear about the commercial, but I must say, holy shit. So typically, when we ask these types of questions and hear about trials and tribulations, we'll get barriers of entry or folks that are just like, hey, it was tough, but we were just able to push through and persevere. All the fun. But, holy fucking shit, a scope sent and all this shit through the holidays. Oh my gosh, I was not expecting this story, but I appreciate you getting so vulnerable and being able to talk to us, but talk about willing to be able to say Fuck it, we're just going to keep moving forward, we're going to figure this shit out. God, if there was ever a real reason for me to be able to Like, hey, no, forget all this, I'm getting nervous. But you guys are like no, no, no, no, we're going to figure this stuff out. So hats off to you. So again, I want to get off my soapbox. Keep going. You guys are fucking amazing.
Speaker 4:Well, thank you for that. You know, I don't know. You know, my husband and I have been through a lot, right, and there's not much that has ever deterred us from From moving forward. I think it's just, it's in our, maybe it's in our DNA, I have no idea. Maybe it's just what we both saw growing up. I mean, our fathers were hardworking and we understood, you know, that this is just what you do and you keep going, no matter what.
Speaker 4:But I don't know, probably just even a lack of fear and just you know, always wanting to give whatever you try like your best and to keep going and at least get to a point where you know you're not abandoning a project right, follow through and finish it. I think that's that's the biggest thing is to finish. Interestingly enough, I I just did a challenge not too long ago, and it was, it was in conjunction with the Lenten season and it was 40 days long, and what I noticed is that the number of people that started the challenge, which was well over 3000, by the time 40 days, you know came it was under like 800, who had actually, like finished the challenge. And I think that's, you know, kind of a testament to just who you are, what your makeup is and why, like, why anybody should just finish what they're doing. Finish and keep going and persevere through, because it's at the end when you look back and you say, oh, I did that, like, and I made it happen and we got through it and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.
Speaker 4:You know all the things that you in your head kind of work yourself up and kind of think about like, oh, this is terrible what I'm going through. Or you know, the contractor didn't show up. You know, for three days in a row, what are we going to do? You know, for three days in a row, what are we going to do? When you look back on it, you're going to be like, oh okay, that was so much easier, I learned some lessons and it's all good. So I don't know.
Speaker 3:That's just my thought. I love that. I think it hardens you, right, because you go through all these experiences and then, instead of when you're green, you kind of go like, oh my gosh, what about this, what about this? You're freaking out, you're nervous, you're anxious, you can't sleep, whatever it is, after you do a couple of deals, whether they're small, big in between, whatever, you're just like whatever, like I'll figure it out. And it's not like ignorance, it's just confidence of like there is no other option. I'm just going to figure it out. I figured out this crazy stuff before. I figured out this weird lending stuff. Like I'll figure it out whatever, it's fine, you know. And I think those experiences can only come with time and, just like you said you, you go towards that stuff.
Speaker 4:Yep, absolutely, absolutely. So as far as the commercial side of things, I you know raising capital, I think, has been one of the more interesting journeys that I've been on, talking to people about money, asking for money.
Speaker 2:Please take us on this roller coaster. We have had so many conversations about this. Fill us in, bring us into your. This is going to oh, I'm so excited.
Speaker 4:Well, so you know, what's interesting is, when we flipped these houses, we had two private money partners, both of which and I shared with you about the five day bus tour out in California. We met one there. He happened to be sitting literally right in front of us. He turned around, we started talking, lo and behold, he's from northern Kentucky, we're from Cincinnati, so we're like neighbors practically. He's like I'm a pilot, I have money that I want to put to work. I just need someone to watch over the projects and to do the projects for us. And we're like, wow, this just like fell into our lap, like it was, it was magic, right. So that was great. And then we met another private money partner through that same organization, so it was great.
Speaker 4:However, with capital raising, with these commercial deals, I mean, it's a whole other. It was a whole other ball game, right, and um, and the thought of you know, talking to these people taking their money, and then you know you want to do right by them and make sure that, hey, if they're putting money into the bricks for three years, five, know, we've got five other people on the team and then myself, and sometimes we've had strategic partners who've been raising for us as well. But my role has really been, you know, as the investor is signing on the dotted line, they still might have questions. You know they're still like not, you know they're like 99%, sure, but they're like Beth, I need you to push me over the edge. And so I've always felt like it's a heavy burden on just to kind of keep up after them without feeling like I'm being pushy or obnoxious about it. But just hey, gentle, reminder, and you know what can I do to expedite this? How can I make this easier for you? Um, but we've had, um, you know, our first raise was, uh, about a five and a half million dollar raise, and we had an equity group come in so they took a portion of it and then we had to raise the remainder, so that wasn't as bad.
Speaker 4:It was the next two that were almost happening simultaneously, in which we had like an eight million dollar raise and a nine million dollar raise, and it was like, oh my goodness, like where, where is all this going to come from? Right, and it's been one of those things that, for me, like money has been. You know, I've had a few money blocks and so talking to people about money and feeling confident about what it is that I'm talking about. And, if you recall, I'm the girl that could not underwrite and, you know, floundered over the questions and so forth. So I would always, you know, be I would always talk more high level and then bring my partners, you know, into to help you know, with like the more the deal, specifics and so forth.
Speaker 4:But yeah, I mean it was wild. I mean sometimes right down to the very end, like you're looking to close on a Thursday and we still need, you know, 500,000,. You know, and it's Tuesday and everyone is scrambling to to find somebody and to do this and to do that. And you know even asking sometimes hey, you know, lender, can we close with you know being a couple hundred, couple hundred short and we'll, you know, fund afterwards, which you know there's a lot of syndicators that have done that, but it's very nerve wracking and then to just perform okay. So with the fix and flips, you can actually see the progress. Right, you see the progress, you see it with you know the, the tile being laid or the carpet going down or the cabinets being installed, and you know the granite countertops, quartzite, whatever, the paint going on the walls and the for sale sign up, but with, you know, a syndication.
Speaker 4:You know you're, first of all, you've got, you know, a runway of usually like six to eight months. You're taking over the property, you're ensuring that you know all the systems are in place that you want to have in place. And then these investors, you know they're looking like where's my distribution? When is it coming? Are we still on track for those sort of things? And we've all heard and we know that you know, distributions haven't, you know, always happened. You know, as they've been promised and there's been, over the course of the last couple of years, some pausing of distributions and whatnot. So it's you know, staying accountable to those investors for three to five years is a lot more nerve-wracking, in my opinion, than staying accountable to a private money partner for six months. So I just feel like it's an ongoing rollercoaster ride that I have not gotten off of. I'll be happy when we sell the properties to be honest with you. Then I'm like we're done, I don't have to worry about it anymore, I can sleep at night.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I'm loving this so much. So please, to dive in just a little bit deeper, especially for some of the most recent deals and then some of the older deals that you've got started with, were you focusing more like 506Bs where they seize? That's part one, then. Part two to this is over the years, especially through COVID and now that the economy now we'll use those terms has your strategy changed in terms of being able to connect with investors what it looks like after you get the deal under agreement to communication, to what it looks like on the disposition, especially from an investor relations standpoint? How has that shifted over the years?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so let's see All but one deal. They've all been 506Cs, so it has been helpful from a marketing perspective. You can put it out there in the universe and people can contact you and so forth, and I've had leads through LinkedIn, instagram, facebook and so forth, so that's been beneficial. We also did some unique events. We hosted investor events on luxury yachts in Miami Florida, tampa Florida, to entertain potential investors and just to kind of like hey, this is who we are, get to know us as a team. So that was a lot of fun.
Speaker 4:As far as you know, investors' strategies now, especially through COVID, you know, right around 2021, 2022, it was very easy to raise capital. Capital was flowing. Investors wanted in on these deals. There were some great opportunities with awesome returns and that's where you saw you know just a lot of investors, especially into the multifamily space. Now you know you've seen more of a pivot. The multi-family space Now you know you've seen more of a pivot. You know things like RV parks and mobile home parks and car washes and so forth, that flex space. Those are opportunities that investors are looking to diversify in.
Speaker 4:I've also noticed that investors don't always want to be in for, you know, five years I was presented an opportunity that someone had it was going to be a seven year hold and I'm like I can't take this to any of my investors. I said they don't, they don't want to be in something for seven years. That's entirely too long. People want to be moving their money more, and so that that's been actually one pivot in which I have teamed up with a couple of individuals and we've been doing more with private money lending where we're going to be in for, you know, three to five years. So maybe you put 50,000 into that and then you take 50,000 and I'm just assuming that someone who maybe has a hundred thousand, you know maybe you take 50,000 and you put it into some private money deals, private money lending, where you're in for four to six months earning a monthly interest return and in you're moving your money that way like maybe three times a year, and so you're getting that cash flow right. But you're also getting the benefit of the appreciation, the depreciation and so forth that come along with the syndication. And you know I pitched that to several investors and they're like I really like that idea and I'm like you know, I don't want to. Just, you know, for me, for me.
Speaker 4:An investor, you know, is someone that if I'm going to share something with them, I want to make sure that I'm doing right by them, not necessarily like my deal per se, like if my deal isn't for them, that's great, but if they want to put money somewhere, I want to help them to put it someplace that they're going to feel comfortable with, especially if we, you know, developed a relationship and they trust me and whatnot. So so that's how, you know, I've been trying to help investors more because I want them to win Right, because then they're going to come back to me at some point and they're going to say hey, beth, I really like what you showed me with, you know, either the private money deal or the syndication or whatnot, and and I'm looking to invest more. And I've had investors that have reached out and said you know, I like this and I want to do more. How can you help me? Ok, you know. So. So that's that's kind of where I'm at with my investors right now and how I'm approaching them. I love that Go ahead.
Speaker 2:Jinx yeah.
Speaker 3:I was going to say I think it's an awesome approach and I just want to dial back a little bit to what you said about kind of the change in market and how sentiment shifted. A lot of the guys I talked to, a lot of the bigger players that invest themselves in big portfolios, are all kind of selling off a lot of their stuff, canceling excess things and coming back to their war chest basically, and they're just kind of holding a lot of reserves just because of where the economy's at right now. And you know, depending on when this episode releases, it could be a different situation, but you know, it's just a different time. And so I like how you're approaching this in a new perspective, a different way and, you know, focusing on delivering value to investors and making sure they're taken care of, because ultimately that's a business we're in making sure investors are happy.
Speaker 4:Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I love this a thousand percent. I echo exactly what Cole was saying. With the sentiments and investors they're going to invest with who they know, like and trust, the deal is cool. That's awesome. The numbers, as long as they make sense, that's fine. But that is not number one. Number one is they got to make sure that they have that relationship with the operators. They got to make sure that they are going to know, like and trust the person that they are handing over 50, 100, $250,000 to to say okay, I'm instilling my trust inside of you and you believe in this deal, you believe in the team.
Speaker 2:I love the fact that you're willing to go back to investors and say, hey, the economy has changed, we're going to change. Here's a pivot option. If you're interested, this is what we can do. If you want to play with this option, let's go ahead, let's move it. We're going to make this happen. So hats off to you for doing that. That is creative. That's thinking outside of the box. What are things looking like for you now? What are your next one to three year goals? Are you thinking of continuing?
Speaker 4:to diversify. Where are we at? What are we thinking? Bring us into your world, yeah, sure, so again, as a result of real estate, some things have shifted for me in terms of opportunities and whatnot. So building up with my two partners our private money lending, transactional funding businesses is one goal, because I think that's going to be there for a while and I think it's sustainable.
Speaker 4:Number two is more development, and development, just really I'm attracted to it. I always have been. There's a couple of development opportunities here locally that I am helping to push forward and really, I mean, I, you know, kind of got involved as a result of someone who knew me and they knew I was in the real estate space and I just started making introductions. I mean, my husband and I we've been around Cincinnati for a while and just with you know his knowledge and, um and uh, the people that he knows, um, and, interestingly enough, even when I owned my fitness studio, I ended up meeting a lot of connections that I'm still, um, you know, kind of uh reaching out to right now for some of the things that are going on. But development is definitely number two. And then working in the NIL space, and that is not real estate related. Well, actually, now that I think about it, there's four, but working in the NIL space, and number four is working in the cannabis space.
Speaker 3:And number four is working in the cannabis space.
Speaker 4:So interesting, yeah, so, and these are again. These are just like, like I, I got introduced. How did I? Anyways, I ended up getting introduced to this gal in Arizona and she was putting together something, for it was a nonprofit putting together for NIL players. You know, to just she, her goal is to help the NIL players open a thousand businesses, so create a thousand businesses, right.
Speaker 4:And then through her, I ended up meeting this other gentleman and this gentleman like has this whole, like just I mean, he put together this amazing um pitch deck of like hey, here's what I want to do, um, with college athletes. And I was like, like, why, why aren't you doing this? He goes, no one will support me, nobody understands what I want to do. And I said, well, I see the vision. Like, like, how can I help you? And he's like, well, here's what I need. So I started pulling some of my people together, some of my resources, and so we're helping him to kind of grow this, this opportunity.
Speaker 4:A lot has to do with college game tailgating and then also elevating the players who are part of NIL and so forth. So it's long, it's complicated, but then through him, I got introduced to some players in the cannabis space and I'm like, wow, okay, this is interesting. I mean, I know a lot of people use it for medicinal purposes and so forth, and of course it's becoming more legalized and whatnot. But it also has real estate, because if you are buying, like a cannabis grow, you're buying the land and so forth. So I'm like, okay, it is a real estate play, but it's cannabis as well too.
Speaker 4:So, yeah, so it's just been interesting. I'm just along for the ride and seeing where it takes me, and so every week, one of the things that I continually tell myself is I'm open to financial flow and opportunities and whatever that means. Whatever comes into my world, I'm going to look at it, I'll evaluate it. If I think I can add value and help, then I will. But if it's something where it's, for whatever reason, I can't, then you know I move on from it.
Speaker 2:I love this so much, and Cole and I we joke about this all the time. When we both got into real estate years ago, we each thought in our own ways that it was a me, me, me, I, I kind of situation, and we both, for many different reasons, failed miserably at a lot of things that we were trying to accomplish, and the big piece that we're missing is real estate and entrepreneurship. It's a team sport, it's collaborative Collaboration over competition. Any day of the week and literally it was you and your husband that started out, had this idea at two o'clock in the morning, decided to watch an infomercial and then just one of those kind of connect the dots things, and now your world's opened up and you've diversified your own personal portfolio and you are helping others along the way. This is freaking amazing, but I digress. Enough about me and I'm about that. Cole, you think she's ready for the surprise I think she's definitely ready yeah, we got a surprise for you all right, here's how.
Speaker 3:Here's how it goes. All right, so we're going to ask you six questions. We call them Super Six and we usually rename it every episode. So we're going to ask the same questions that we ask every single guest and you can answer succinctly. You can answer at length, whatever you want to do. Nate and I do our best to keep quiet. We always fail. We usually get excited about your answer and interject, but we're going to try our best. So here we go. Ready, nate. All right, beth, what separates top?
Speaker 4:performing entrepreneurs or investors from the rest of the crowd. Resilience I just think to be resilient every day. Wake up, you just keep going at it. It doesn't matter if the day before sucked, if, if everything went wrong. Um, if you can get up and just say, hey, today's a new day, I'm going to keep going after it. Um, I would say that's to me, that's the number one trait.
Speaker 2:Love it. What is a daily habit that's contributed to your success?
Speaker 4:Ooh, scripture. So reading scripture has really helped me, and if you're a spiritual individual or not, I think just having some sort of spiritual it could be meditation, it could be yoga, whatever but for me it's just really on a daily basis diving into something that is helping to set my mind in the right direction and that is something that, without fail. I have this like streak, I think I'm up to 170 some days straight and I just feel I feel the difference. I see the difference, at which it's important to see the difference, but I think feeling the difference too is is what has really just been life changing for me.
Speaker 3:Awesome. What is a piece of advice that you'd give to yourself if you're starting again?
Speaker 4:Oh, if I was starting again and I had to give it to. Hmm, oh, that's a tough one, that's a tough one. I mean, I know I've made mistakes for sure.
Speaker 3:While you're thinking, I'll give you a couple ones that we frown upon, which is I wish I would have started when I was born. You know, a little difficult. Um, I wish I would have bought more as a common one, which is great, but so do we all, um, but yeah, up to you I mean also, I wish I over to bought Bitcoin.
Speaker 2:Don't use that one.
Speaker 4:Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I think I wish that I would have understood how money worked at a much younger age. So more financial literacy when I was younger, more financial literacy when I was younger, that to me, you know, it was one of those things where I always thought, like I can go earn the money like I can go make it, so if I spend it I can go, I can go make it. But to understand that, hey, like taking a portion of it, setting it aside, letting it compound and doing its magic, you know, over time. And I think my dad tried to instill it in his five kids. Maybe some paid attention. I clearly did not pay enough attention. But I think just understanding money more would be one thing I would do differently.
Speaker 2:Cole. This is the part where I fail, sir, I'm sorry that answer was gold. I love it so much. I go back and forth with my family, friends, close circle, and we just talk about like the education system and how. No one ever talks about balancing a checkbook. No one ever talks about what the value of money really looks like. No one talks about what it is, once you turn 18 to be able to say, okay, now you've got a job, what are you going to do with your paycheck? It's not talked about. So the fact that you're like, yeah, I will go back and I will try to teach my younger self this at an earlier age, that way you know, just to be able to say what happens with the outcome or change you know what may become, is freaking amazing. I love that a thousand percent. Okay, off my soapbox again. Next question what is your favorite business book?
Speaker 4:My favorite business book. Oh goodness, gracious Gosh, I have so many of them. I mean, I try and read books, you know, and usually it's audio, like at the gym and so forth, that I'm always listening to. Usually it's audio like at the gym and so forth that I'm always listening to. Hmm, Can I look on my my audible really quick, cause I know I have a few on there that I just and just for you.
Speaker 2:what we'll do is we can put a spin on it If you can't choose a favorite because you like them all equally.
Speaker 4:That's fine. But if you had to give a recommendation or referral, what book would you tell others that they should look into? Necessarily business oriented but Relentless, by Tim Grover it's one of the books I really, really enjoy Just talks a lot about just that mindset. He used to be the mindset coach for Michael Jordan, kobe Bryant it's probably why I, like you know, some of it. Those are, you know, two of my favorite basketball players anyways.
Speaker 4:But I think just you know you can learn so much from an athlete in terms of, you know, resilience and being relentless and so forth. And to me that's, you know, part of being an entrepreneur, right, I mean you know it's just to me, that's you know part of being an entrepreneur, right? I mean you know it's just another R word relentless, resilience, all of that you know. So, so that would be just something that, if you're looking for just something you know, solid mindset wise, I mean you know I could say all the usual, like you know, think and Grow Rich and and Robert Kiyosaki's book and whatnot. But to me, you know, if you're going to be successful, I mean it's all up in here, you know it's that you can learn everything else, but whatever you do up here is going to be is where the magic is.
Speaker 1:Love it.
Speaker 3:What is your favorite part of owning your business?
Speaker 4:favorite part of owning my business is I get to do and say when and where and why and how much and all of that good stuff. I learned early on that I could not take orders from someone else and I was like no way, no, how am I ever going to be in the corporate world? And I came from working at a hotel it was a boutique hotel where the general manager gave me full reign, full control, to do whatever it is that I wanted to do, to run the catering department, and then made me sort of the unspoken nighttime manager, since I was there all the time. And then I went to work for Hyatt Hotels and I had to punch a clock and I had to wear a uniform and I had to do all the things and I was like, oh my gosh, I lasted two months there and I was gone and I was like never again and I need to forge my own path. And so that is my favorite thing about owning my own business I can set my own schedule.
Speaker 3:I mean if.
Speaker 4:I want to, you know, respond to emails or get back to people at 6am and then go to the gym. I can do that, you know, versus some people who have to do the alternative. So it it works for me. But I will also say, too, that I'm a pretty disciplined individual in terms of like I want to accomplish certain things during the course of the day. So I'm not going to just, you know, oh, just because it's, you know, 70 degrees outside, I'm going to go play golf. No, I need to get certain things done and then I can go play golf if I want to.
Speaker 2:So I love it, I love it, I love it. So and you can take this next question in any direction, because you've got a lot of cool things that are happening but what is something new that you've implemented that's helped drive your success in your business?
Speaker 4:New that I've implemented that has helped drive success in my business.
Speaker 4:Um, you know, blocking on my calendar has been really helpful. So if I need to um, you know specifically earmark time, uh, to go on LinkedIn to respond, you know specifically earmark time to go on LinkedIn to respond to messages, then it's blocked on the calendar and sticking to that. So if someone says, hey, can we meet at such and such a time, and I've already got it blocked off, I can do one of two things. Right, I can either say no to that individual because and give them an alternative time, but if they're struggling with anything alternative, I can say you know what I can do that time. But what I'll do is then take that time that I blocked for again. I'll just use LinkedIn as an example. I'll move it to a different spot that's completely free so that I at least make sure that I'm still getting in that time.
Speaker 4:So, blocking off the time to say like, hey, this is your mark for this and this is your mark for that. And and saying no more. I mean I have said no a lot more to people thinking that my time is just like available when other and I'm like no, like this is when I can do it and and and, just you know kind of creating those boundaries around around how my day is shaped. So so, yeah, the time blocking it's been good for me, it's been helpful.
Speaker 3:That is awesome. This has been so good. I love running through this interview and it's really cool hearing your entire story. And just to recap some of this stuff we talked about in 2018, you got started starting with your construction company, which you already had, and doing these flips or deciding you want to go into these flips and ending up in these events, and then you started going into these bigger things and so you ended up going into multis and student housing based on these connections that you made.
Speaker 3:And you made these connections because you were relentless in these people. You focused on them. You kept putting your hand up, like Nate mentioned, like you said and said hey, pick me, pick me, pick me. And then you learned it. You get in, you go okay, what's a pitch deck, let's figure it out. Okay, how do I get this portal set up? Great, let's figure it out. And then all start mastering your craft. So it's so cool to hear of your journey from not having any of this knowledge or experience to having this stuff on dial and just being able to go for it. And then, of course, your stories with your crazy contractors and these monster races that you guys worked through, which is fantastic. So I have two final questions for you. One, any final advice. And two, where can people find you and get in contact with you?
Speaker 4:certainly okay. Um, well, I'll do the easy one first, um, and that is you can find me, beth, at investingwithbethcom. Um, that is my email address. Investingwithbethcom is my website. You can check me out there. And then phone number for anybody who wants to reach out via text. Just reference this podcast, that this is where you found me and that's 513-470-1078. I find that there's some people that prefer text, some people that prefer email. I don't mind giving out my phone number.
Speaker 4:So, as far as piece of advice, you know, I mean, really, this is as we've talked about. It's a relationship business, right? The more hands you shake, the more money you make. And I would say that you know you just have to continue to connect with people. If it's going to events, if it's going to, you know there's events all over the United States, right, all over the country, and you can pay thousands and thousands of dollars. You don't need to start that way. You can hop on meetupcom and you can join events. You know virtually you can go to your local RIA, you can. You know there's also other type meetup events and Eventbrite and so forth.
Speaker 4:But for me it's really about relationships building, connecting, joining communities. Start with the free communities first, there's plenty of free communities out there on Facebook and so forth. You know, I could give the whole like don't fear, you know, don't have the fear, don't you know, whatever, and so forth. But you know, really it's just start, like start somewhere, and even if it's you start small, you know it's baby steps every single day, the more you can build. I mean, I, I'm looking, I'm looking at you know a what since 2018.
Speaker 4:And then I think, commercially split 2021, I'm looking at like a four-year journey that you know, I mean it, it it's, it's felt like the longest journey of my life. I feel like I'm on a never ending rollercoaster ride, right. But you know, I look back and I'm like, wow, like look at how far I've come just from starting to make Facebook connections. You know, I was told to just go on Facebook and start talking to people. The more you talk to people, the more you're going to, you know, gain golden nuggets. You're going to get referrals. You're going to get somebody that says, hey, you know, maybe you can help me with this.
Speaker 4:You know, you just never know and you might be able to bring value to someone that you didn't even know that you had. That value. It's just, you maybe have a connection, and so I would just say, you know, just start building those relationships, keep building them every single day and make it a goal, maybe just to talk to you know X number of people a week it doesn't have to be on a daily basis Could be like hey, I'm going to talk to three people this week and start building from there.
Speaker 2:Beth, I love this and everybody out there you guys know what I'm going to say. I am notorious for this. It is at this moment that you're going to pause this, stop it, rewind, play this whole thing all the way back. So many nuggets were just dropped. So much valuable information. And the second thing that I'm also notorious for is saying this quote here moving the needle forward. This entire episode has been all about learning something new, taking a chance, jumping off into the deep end and say, hey, pick me, pick me. And it's just moving the needle forward. A four-year stretch that, to Beth, felt like hey, this now feels like a lifetime, but really, in the grand scheme, it's not that long. Four years is not that long to be able to build an entire empire. Beth, this has been amazing having you on. I'm so glad that you're able to take the time. Your time is precious. You decided to come and spend it with us. It means the world to us, so thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Speaker 4:Well, thank you for having me. This has been, I mean, just a true, true joy, an absolute pleasure. And the questions weren't that hard at the end. I was expecting maybe like what's your favorite, what's your favorite food? I don't know, something like that, but no, this has been great, this has been awesome.
Speaker 2:Wow, oh, my goodness. So the other piece to this is not only did she give you all, as listeners, homework to be able to say, hey, kpis, set some goals, talk to three people a week, but she also gave us some homework to say, hey, y'all need to step your game up because these questions are too easy. You know what Challenge accepted. We are going to have you back because our house is your house. Once all of these new endeavors and all four of the facets that you just talked about all start taking off, reach out to us because we want to be able to hear about your story some more, because you're just getting started. So, if you are driving, get home safe. Thank you all so much for tuning into Forged in Fire. We're looking forward to seeing y'all in the next episode. Everybody, take care. Peace, thanks, guys.
Speaker 3:Bye-bye.
Speaker 1:Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Forged in Fire. If you enjoyed today's raw, unfiltered stories, don't forget to like, subscribe and leave us a review. Your feedback helps us bring more real world insights to entrepreneurs like you. Be sure to join us next time for even more lessons, struggles and breakthroughs on the road to success. Keep forging ahead.