Ep 5: How a Paycheck-to-Paycheck Single Mom Now 'Lives Life on Her Terms' Through Real Estate Investing

Today you are going to meet Bob Grand's wife Shelly, who stopped burning the candle at both ends and started Living Life on HER terms through real estate investing.

She called that time of her life "unsustainable," as she looked for a new way to not just survive, but thrive.

Even though her first flip was "loud and ugly," it was profitable, leading her to pursue investing as a full-time passion.

That passion has given her a chance to "Live Life on Her Terms," which includes more of the things she loves, like international travel with her hubby, Bob.

Shelly made it through the survival phase and has some incredible lessons and inspiration to pass along on this episode of the Value Driven Investor.

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In This Episode….

• How she became a single mom, and how burning the candle at both ends became unstainable

• How an astrologer predicted her new direction into real estate

• How her first flip was "loud and ugly" but still walked away with $80,000!

• What its like for a woman dealing with a male-dominated industry of contractors

• What you have to be comfortable with in order to find the right contractors

• When leaving her full-time job put flipping on hyper-drive

• How investing has allowed her to follow her passion for international travel

• How much money she's made since her first flip.

• Alternative ways she's adding money after the flip.

• How real estate has turned from a hobby to full-time passion

• How her goal is to help other women learn and excel in real estate investing

Quotes

Full Transcript

• Tim Muprhy: (00:00)
  All right. We're back today on the value driven investor podcast. And I think this could possibly go down as one of the most inspirational podcasts that we ever have, and we just got started. And I'm not really kidding about that because today we have Shelly Kanaan and she is a single mom, or was a single mom at the time when we start this story who went from rags to riches, utilizing her entrepreneurial spirit and the leverage of real estate investing. So today I'm excited to introduce Shelley Kane, Shelly, thanks for coming on today.
  
  Shelly Kane: (00:40)
  Thanks for having me, Tim. So
  
  Tim Muprhy: (00:42)
  Shelly, you know what I want to go back because when you told me your story, um, it just, it blew my mind
  
  Tim Muprhy: (00:48)
  Because I just could not, I've never been a single parent, so I don't know what that's like, but I can imagine what it's like, why don't you take us back to that point in time where you realized that like, Hey, I'm on my own here with my kids and I have to make something work.
  
  Shelly Kane: (01:07)
  Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. You know, um, you know, unfortunately at the age of 28, I found myself going through a divorce and, um, my ex husband, uh, left to the San Francisco area, um, and left me with my three kids here in Eugene, Oregon to raise them full time. And at the time I was actually working at the local community college, um, to try to make ends meet and, uh, you know, I, it's probably no surprise to anybody that, you know, in, in education you just don't make a whole lot of money. And, um, you know, I had my kids 90 to 95% of the time and, uh, you know, working, uh full-time um, at the college, I really wanted a different lifestyle and, and, you know, something, uh, to better my kids and I, um, so at the time I decided to start a side hustle, um, and I, uh, started a wedding and event planning business, um, so that, you know, my kids and I could have a, a lifestyle, um, that I, you know, was that I wanted, um, better than, you know, making my 35 to $40,000 per year.
  
  Tim Muprhy: (02:20)
  Well, and at the time too, I would think that in your mind, you know, you're going from a dual income with your husband and yourself, and then taking care of your kids to now you're a single income. And like you said, you're in the teaching business, which is not the most lucrative business. And now you have to have that single income to take care of your family. And how many kids do you have? Yeah. Three kids. So a single income trying to take care of three kids. I mean, that's, that's a big undertaking. So were you doing this to just try to get more income to, to survive? Or what was your mindset at the time?
  
  Shelly Kane: (02:56)
  Yeah, you know, it, I was living paycheck to paycheck. Um, 35 to $40,000 is not a lot of money, especially with, you know, three mouths to feed and they, of course, you know, we're in athletics and I had to pay for their sports and there's a lot, I mean, as you know, life is, uh, you know, food life kids that they're there, it's expensive. Um, and I wanted to provide a better lifestyle for them. Um, and, uh, you know, it just, wasn't cutting it with just one job. So, so
  
  Tim Muprhy: (03:28)
  Did you always have that entrepreneurial spirit? I mean, was that always there or was it more of a spark like this that got you to jump into that, that realm? Because like you said, you said, oh, I got to start a side hustle. I mean, that's entrepreneurial thinking, but were you kind of forced to go into that because you were in the survival?
  
  Shelly Kane: (03:48)
  Yeah, well, I, yeah, I feel like I was forced into it. Um, of course, you know, nobody's forced into anything. It's always employees and it's always one of those things that, you know, when you find yourself in a really situation, you either sink or swim, you know, you have to figure stuff out. And, um, and that was one of the things that I really knew that I needed to do in order to provide that lifestyle that I wanted for me and my kids. So
  
  Tim Muprhy: (04:16)
  You got into the wedding planning business and did that go well for you?
  
  Shelly Kane: (04:22)
  It went really well for me actually. Um, you know, it was interesting because, uh, you know, I worked at the college, I had that seven to three 30 shifts, you know, eight hours a day. And then I would get off from that job, go pick my kids up immediately from, from school and take them around to all of their sports activities. And then, you know, of course come home, make dinner quick and, you know, feed them, um, and, you know, help them with homework and all of those things. And then, you know, as soon as, you know, 6 30, 7 o'clock, you know, hit, I was then planning with my wedding clients, um, until, you know, my kids, I would then take a break for sure. My kids were, you know, put to bed and then I would keep going. I would keep working until, you know, the evening hours. Um, and then wash them a second.
  
  Robert Grand: (05:09)
  Shelly, like, she's, she's really underselling this stem, like in the evenings, wait, Bob, let me, let
  
  Tim Muprhy: (05:15)
  Me let everybody know what's going on here. So Bob grand, obviously our boy, Bob grand, everybody knows he doesn't, he needs no introduction, but he is married to Shelley. And so that's why we're having Shelley on today because obviously we have a great relationship with her. So Bob, yeah. Fill us in.
  
  Robert Grand: (05:30)
  Yeah. When, so when you, she says, uh, um, like a lot of people, when they think about wedding and event, venue planning, they kind of think of it on a small level. Like her business became the biggest business, probably in lane county. She did the most premiere weddings, I think. And I didn't really quite understand it myself. And you think a wedding you're like, oh yeah, like a backyard wedding. Yeah, no, no. This is like, this is like high-end high level planning at one point where one of the ways that she told me, she said the was like $250,000 and they rented out this whole complex up on this mountain side. And there was this big, giant venue, like massive, massive weddings, like take hours upon hours upon hours to plan. So this is no, like, you know, I'm just planning stuff, you know, on the side and I'm making a little side hustle, this is a full scale. Like, I mean, she told me that I was just like, like, who are you? Like, that's awesome. And then on top of that, you know, everything else that she does
  
  Tim Muprhy: (06:27)
  Being, you're being a single mom and you're doing a wedding event planning for like ridiculous weddings. That's 10 of
  
  Robert Grand: (06:33)
  Them a year, 10, 10 or more a year. So you imagine your summer with like 10 or more of those every single weekend during the summer, you've got these massive weddings going on. It's crazy. So yeah. More like funny, crazy amount of weddings.
  
  Tim Muprhy: (06:53)
  Okay. Shelly, we'll keep going then. So now thank you, Bob, for that context, that definitely paints a really good picture for me.
  
  Shelly Kane: (07:00)
  Yeah. Well, you know, so I was doing well then, you know, I had two jobs. I was making good money. Um, and I was doing amazingly well financially, but then I started realizing I had zero time. I was working all the time. Um, I didn't have a whole lot of time to give to my kids that extra time. I didn't, I had zero time for myself. Um, so I really needed to come up with a solution. Um, I was burning the candle from both ends, um, with two full-time jobs, uh, and you know, taking care of my kids and all the stuff that goes into caring for kids and having a family. And I just, I had to figure out a solution because I knew that it wasn't sustainable. I couldn't continue this forever. You could feel the burnout. I could feel the burnout for sure. I was exhausted. I mean, I was surely exhausted.
  
  Robert Grand: (08:01)
  I think something to add in there too. Like how many weekends with friends did you give up? How many nights with friends, when they're always asking you to go do your stuff. I remember you telling me that you're like, you know, they'd asked me how about I just can't do it. You know, it's like, I got to take care of my kids and then I got to work on this business to provide this life so I can get them to where they need to be in their life. I mean, that was a very common thing that you said
  
  Shelly Kane: (08:19)
  Totally. Yeah. Although my friends, I was like that person, always that I was like, then, you know, sorry, I can't come to every single social events or, you know, the fun parties that I wanted to go to. Um, you know, the holiday party, whatever I have, I had two jobs and three kids to take care of. I couldn't always do that. Um, and I was missing out, you know, I really, I wanted that. I wanted, uh, you know, that lifestyle. I wanted to be able to join my friends and, you know, holiday parties,
  
  Tim Muprhy: (08:55)
  Especially at that point where you were feeling the burnout and you were thinking real estate. I mean, why were you thinking real estate was going to be an answer or a solution to this problem?
  
  Shelly Kane: (09:07)
  So, okay. So initially I didn't even really consider real estate. Um, so I knew that I'm stuck and I was trying to figure it out. And I was localizing that to my friends and to, to, you know, colleagues at the college. Um, and you know, actually my Dean of all people, um, at the college suggested that I go see this astrologer and, uh, you know, I thought, well, you know, I have nothing to lose except for maybe a hundred dollars in an hour's worth of my time. Right. So I went to this astrologer and it was actually the best hour and best $100 I ever spent on myself in my entire life. Um, the astrologer actually, instead of like telling me my fortune or like telling me what I needed to do or giving me all the answers, she actually asked me amazing questions, like questions that I wasn't asking myself, that my friends were asking me. Um, and you know, I remember her asking, um, you know, the first one was okay if, if you go to cause, cause I was thinking that maybe I needed to go back to college to get the higher degree, to get a higher paying job. Um, because that's what society tells you to do. Like you go back to college to get that higher paying position and
  
  Robert Grand: (10:35)
  Get your master's.
  
  Shelly Kane: (10:38)
  Yeah. Um, and you know, she asked me a really great question. She said, you know, okay, once you get that higher degree and you get that higher paying position, will that, will that then will that amount be enough for you for that lifestyle to be able to quit your other job? And the answer was not, it actually wasn't, it wasn't enough money. You know, it was maybe 20 to $30,000 higher, but still like, you know, now I'm making 60 to 70,000, it's, it's not a bad income, but it's, I wanted, I wanted a better life. I just, I wanted more than that. Um, and so, you know, she asked me that question and then she also asked me, cause she knew that I own the wedding and event planning business and that it did turn into Eugene's premier event planning business. Um, and I was, you know, touching it, you know, part-time, I mean, full part-time to full-time.
  
  Shelly Kane: (11:29)
  Um, and you know, she said, she asked me like, why did I think, um, you know, a college education or, you know, furthering my education would be the answer when I've already proven that I am a successful entrepreneur and I have the drive and the determination, and I have all of those things. Why did I think that, you know, that college was the answer and you know, that really resonated with me. Um, I, and I honestly, I thought she was crazy at the time because I, myself was preaching to my kids, like go to college, like you have to go to college. I, you know, of course I was a teacher, you know, I, I mentored and taught at the college and you know, a college education was really important to me and, you know, I hold it in a high value, but I realized that, you know, it still wasn't the answer.
  
  Tim Muprhy: (12:20)
  So how did you, okay. She asked you that question and it was like a switch went off in your head. You're a teacher. You tell people like, come to come to me and I will help you improve your position by getting a degree or education. And then you can better yourself and make more money. Right. That's what the system tells you to do. But yet she asked you this question and then she poses to you that you're already successful. What is an education going to do when you're already been successful as an entrepreneur? And you realize, oh my gosh, she's right. Like, you're literally, you literally shifted. I feel it when you just sat there, like your whole mindset just shifted right there because she showed you from the outside that you're already successful. And do you need education? Because I'm guessing all along the way on your wedding planning business, you had to learn new things and you just discovered them through the internet research, whatever you needed to do to get the answers.
  
  Tim Muprhy: (13:16)
  Right. So it's like, like if you're gonna be an entrepreneur, you better be good at research and education and reading and all these things you learn at school, you just have the drive, you know, and okay. So I still want to get back to real estate because I think your story is awesome. So what I mean, when did this real estate thing happen? Like, what was the first thing you did as far as getting into real estate? Because it sounds like real estate was your thing of like, okay, Hey, you know what, I, I I'm burnt out. I need something different. How am I going to supplement income or add income? So that maybe I'm guessing what your plan is, is that you wanted to get out of the teaching, keep the side hustle, because you're probably doing better making more money or you saw more potential there and then add real estate as an asset that can give you maybe residual income.
  
  Shelly Kane: (14:05)
  Totally. Yeah. So honestly like real estate still wasn't even in my thinking. So it, it kinda, I mean, it's so weird because it does come a little bit later. Um, and I realized that later, but what happened was, you know, after that whole eval started understanding like, okay, I need to do something and I was stuck. And, um, I, I realized, you know, one day I was just like, I was researching. And I, I saw actually, you know, from my mortgage statement, like how much equity I had built in the house that I bought back when I divorced. Um, and at the time I actually bought that house more, um, so that my kids could each have a bedroom. And it was, it was a purchase made out of survival and healing rather than large equity gains. Right. So when I saw like how much equity was sitting in my house, even from this turnkey house, um, that I had, you know, over the, those years, I saw that at like, it was double the amount that I had had put down.
  
  Shelly Kane: (15:08)
  Right. So I was, I remember thinking to myself, like I need more, I, I saw that equity. And I, I remember thinking to myself, like I need more equity in my life. Um, and that's why I'm like, I, I came up with an idea, um, to, uh, you know, cause I started researching even more, you know, when I realized I had this much equity, um, I read somewhere that, you know, if you, uh, purchase a house and you stay there for two plus years and you sell it, then you get to actually keep that all of that equity tax free. And that really excited me. Um, so what I did was I came up with a plan to, um, basically sell my turnkey house and buy a house.
  
  Shelly Kane: (15:59)
  Like the challenge. I need a bigger challenge. All my friends were like, are you sure this is a good idea? Like, because it was a hole like this house that I, the first house that I bought, it was not a nice house. And, um, you know, but I just, I had the idea, you know, to fix it up over the course of two years. Um, so when I sold my house, you know, I had doubled, you know, the equity in my home. So I had about 40,000, um, uh, and you know, after I put the down payment, I really only had about 10,000 left to be able to fix up this house. Um, it really wasn't enough to do the whole project. Right. So the benefit though, with the way that my plan was, or that I had formulated was that I was, I moved me and my kids into this construction zone. Um, and I basically, uh, had two years to be able to fix it up. Um, so I just did it little by little what the income, you know, from my event, planning business, anything that I would make extra, I would just put it straight into the house and I would hire a contractor to come in Mumbai for a month, um, little by little and fix it up over the two years. Wow.
  
  Tim Muprhy: (17:16)
  That's crazy. So let's paint this picture. You sold the house that was turnkey. That was comfortable. You got the equity out of that house because you had this awesome idea that you were going to buy a fixer upper and you gave yourself two years because you were going to fix it up. And then in two years you were going to resell it so that you didn't have to pay any capital gains, but not only were you a teacher and an event planner, but now you brought your family into this. What you would call a. I did to live in there while you're doing construction and everything else.
  
  Robert Grand: (17:49)
  And her kids still talk about it today, construction zones, and they don't care. They can live anywhere and I've been in construction zones. It I'm like this has got to get, like, we got, like, I can't be doing that.
  
  Shelly Kane: (18:04)
  Like constant, you know, somebody will open a wall and bugs will come. I don't know, just like random Steve's, you know, like it's all this stuff that comes with it and it's loud and it's uncomfortable. Like it's not pleasant, it wasn't pleasant. Um, but I was hoping that the reward would outweigh all of those, you know, negative things. So did it totally usually
  
  Tim Muprhy: (18:34)
  How it went down. Like, give us, give us more of the story I'm excited now.
  
  Shelly Kane: (18:38)
  Well, I mean, of course, like I, I had, like I said, about 40,000 initially, and then, you know, after the dumping and I had about 10 again, little by little, I just fixed it up. And then as soon as when that two years came up, I had doubled the money. Like I, after all expenses, after everything, I walked away with $80,000, I doubled. And that was like a huge win for me. And I realized this plan actually is working and this can work and maybe I can quit one of my jobs someday.
  
  Tim Muprhy: (19:14)
  Yeah. Right, right. So when you, okay, let's, let's go. I want to go into your mindset there, because I think that you were definitely in the survival phase and you put yourself in a position that I think very few people would have the character or the guts to, to live through that situation. But what, what, like, what was your mindset? I mean, was it, Hey, you know what, I got to get to a certain cash point because then I'll be more financially free. I mean, what, what was it in that survival phase mindset that you were going after? And how did you know when you got there? Was it, you got there because then you got rid of the teaching. Cause was it the teaching gig that you ultimately wanted to drop that you were working hard for?
  
  Shelly Kane: (19:56)
  Yeah. I mean, it was hard for me to have someone else dictate my schedule. You know, I have every day from seven to three 30, it didn't matter. Um, you know, the day I, and you only get a certain amount of time to take the patients and, you know, so time was an issue I wanted, I wanted to be free from that, for sure.
  
  Tim Muprhy: (20:19)
  You wanted to live life on your terms? Not fair. Okay. So tell us a little bit more about, um, like what was it like for you as a single mom, but also a woman dealing with contractors? Because I think a lot of women are scared to get in real estate, especially rehabbing and construction because of men who are normally the contractors. What was your experience, uh, with that? Because I think that's important for people to hear, especially women if they're out there.
  
  Shelly Kane: (20:53)
  Yeah. Um, you know, honestly, I had a, a great, um, you know, situation where I had a friend who was a contractor and he really assisted me, you know, with, you know, what needs to come and when, you know, kind of like the timeline stuff. So what I did was I actually documented everything that he was teaching me, um, because I, of course, like I'm a teacher, I was learning and I needed to know for myself how to do this on my own. So that was, you
  
  Tim Muprhy: (21:26)
  Were basically building a plan in while you were in the middle of this process of like, okay, let's build this plan because I'm going to probably do this again.
  
  Shelly Kane: (21:33)
  Totally. Yeah. Because that was my ultimate. Like I knew that, you know, every two years I could do this right. And make, you know, hopefully double, triple, quadruple my net worth. And that's what my ultimate goal was. Um, and so I needed to know how to do this, um, you know, myself, like, how do you know what comes when? And you know, all of those things. Um, but yeah, you're right. I mean, the majority of contractors and even real estate investors out there, I'm surrounded by men. It's a mess. I mean, truly I'm, I'm usually like the only lady in the room sometimes. Um, yeah. I mean, it's just, uh, I feel like though that they gave me so much respect by just even trying, you know, just by even putting my foot, you know, just my best effort forward. And I'm the first to admit, Hey, listen, I don't know exactly what I'm doing. This is my plan. Please be patient with me. Um, but you know, I really, I I'm trying here.
  
  Tim Muprhy: (22:39)
  So I think this is really important for people, because again, from the context of a, of a woman, um, it's intimidating, right. But like when you were looking for a contractor, what, you know, there's going to be contractors that are going to treat you like it doesn't man or woman, they're going to treat you like crap. And then there's contracts that are going to be like, you know what, I want to help this lady because they have compassion and they have, they're not just doing it to make a dollar. I mean, how did you find the right guy?
  
  Shelly Kane: (23:10)
  Yeah. So, um, you know, it's kinda like how I built my event planning business. Um, I, uh, I, you don't just stumble upon, you know, and, and create the premiere, that planning business area you, you do. So by creating amazing teams, um, I ha you know, yeah. My DJ, like I created, you know, these amazing teams to be able to execute these events, the same thing when it, to all of these houses, like if somebody treated me like, they're out, like I will never put up with anybody who will treat me disrespectfully or, you know, treat me like I'm, you know, not important for, you know, so it's easy to filter out those people and you just, you've never used it. I mean, sure. You might've used them for one job. Right. I'm, I'm okay with firing right in the middle of the job. Like you can go, I don't want my space. I don't want your energy for sure. So, um, I just made sure that I hired really good people
  
  Tim Muprhy: (24:19)
  Or anybody in the middle of this first one. I did. I actually tell us a little bit about that.
  
  Shelly Kane: (24:29)
  Buh-bye yeah. Well, he, um, he came in and just super hot head basically, uh, was frustrated with the way that things, you know, and maybe I didn't do things in the right order, or maybe I had another contractor. I was trying to figure things out. And he was really, um, he was not nice to me. And I just told him that he could walk back out my front door. He's like, no, no, no, no. I'm here to work. No, actually
  
  Robert Grand: (25:03)
  It's kind of funny. Like, um, she, the way contractors are, I actually think, you know, I don't want to be, you know, sexist or anything or come off weird. But I think in the end, when she started finding the right people, or when I've seen, you know, contractors work around her, she creates a really good relationship with them and they are so amazing. Like I don't even, I didn't even think I can create those types of relationships, you know, um, with contractors that she is able to create. And, and I don't know if it's a personality type or what, but it just seems to be like a natural talent, um, of bringing people together and building a great team because they bend over backwards. It's pretty amazing from what I've seen. Yeah.
  
  Tim Muprhy: (25:40)
  That's cool. Um, okay, Shelly. Well, that's awesome about your first project. So let's go a little bit deeper into what you're doing right now. So take us from that first house and kind of speed forward a little bit on the, let's put it on fast forward a little bit here. Did you go from that first project to where you are today in the real estate world?
  
  Shelly Kane: (26:02)
  Yeah. So, um, I've been doing this now for about 10, 12 years. Um, I'm on my sixth primary residence flip, right. So every two years I've moved, you know, and then in between that, I've actually, now that I, you know, have made so much money, I've been able to then flip houses, you know, um, within, you know, three to four months time or a couple of months time, um, and, you know, be able to do that in between, um, the primary residences. There was
  
  Robert Grand: (26:33)
  A point though, you left LCC and I think that's probably a good point to hit on because you're doing it every two years. And then when you left LCC, then you started being like, I'm this every six months. And it just like kept getting faster. That was your teaching gig, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's so, but yeah, so that is, I think probably a pretty important point to make, because there was a moment where she's like, I can leave this job and leave there and just keep doing this and doing my event planning. So right. I mean, take
  
  Shelly Kane: (27:06)
  It from there a hundred percent. Um, yeah, I was finally able to leave that job and, you know, focus. And once you then put your time and attention onto something, what happens, right. It grows,
  
  Tim Muprhy: (27:21)
  But let's go back here because this is the entrepreneurial spirit. When you left your teaching gig, and now you knew you had your event planning and you had your real estate, which was all yours, and now you were literally working life on your terms. You were building the plan for your life. Exactly how you want it, you scheduled it exactly how you want it, and nobody could tell you different. I mean, tell me, what does that feel like?
  
  Shelly Kane: (27:46)
  Um, it feels amazing. I was able to get up, like one of my biggest passions in life is to travel. Um, international travel to me is like one of the greatest gifts and learning experiences you can give yourself and, and my kids, um, or I actually started taking my, my kids. I was able to take them on international trips and, um, be able to show them other cultures and, you know, uh, so it was, it was amazing for me to be able to not have to ask somebody to take time off. I scheduled my own time off. I, um, was able to go anywhere that I wanted anytime I wanted. Um, if I wanted to, you know, I, you, you work hard regardless, right? I mean, in anything that you do. And, um, but if I wanted to take an afternoon off, I was able to, if I needed to go to my kids, you know, whatever event, I didn't feel the guilt anymore. I didn't have to, you know, I, I, it was easy for me to be able to, um, to be present, you know, with my family.
  
  Tim Muprhy: (28:57)
  Well, Bob, do you have any other questions you want to ask Shelley? Cause you know her better than any of us.
  
  Robert Grand: (29:02)
  Um, what's your future look like? Cause I really want to know if I have to move again.
  
  Shelly Kane: (29:07)
  He's already starting to got your
  
  Robert Grand: (29:10)
  House for sale because I really liked that house. It's more aggressive about, I like to have a primary residence. Like it's funny. Cause like when we got together, like, and then we finally, when we kind of consolidate house households, like I realized I'm actually the one that needs stability in my life, more so than her. And she has to worry about me because if my house has turned upside down and I'm, I can't focus on anything. Like I find myself just driving around circles around the city. Like if she's like Airbnb being at our house or something, she'll, she's got her houses on, you know, our primary residence on Airbnb and it's a beautiful home. So we get a really irate for it. And another house that we own together, that's on Airbnb and all those things are booked out. You know, then we have to think, you know, have somewhere to go and figure it all out. So, but, um, you know, so that's
  
  Tim Muprhy: (29:58)
  Awesome. You guys are like your real estate Kelly, would you mind, just from your perspective, when you kept turning and turning and turning houses, and then you started, you got rid of your college, uh, teaching job or your teaching job, and then you kind of got into the real estate. I mean, in the last 12 years, what do you, are we talking like a couple hundred thousand? Are we like, because again, I, the reason I want to bring that perspective is you were barely getting by paycheck to paycheck. So I'm guessing you didn't have much in the reserve account and now today, I mean, where, what did you make just to inspire other people? Yeah,
  
  Shelly Kane: (30:34)
  I mean, I, I, so I turned, you know, the 40 and to 80 and then the 80 and to one 60 and then, you know, so on and so forth and time's up by six and you know, that's about where I'm at and you know, not only that it's like, um, you know, I have, like Robert said, you know, I am figuring out other ways to make money within that, you know, within the real estate industry. And that is, you know, when we do finally fix up that house, um, I can fix it up really quickly and we still live there for, you know, for two years I can Airbnb out the house and make even more money. You know, it covers the mortgage payment every month and just being really resourceful and like trying to, you know, I love making money.
  
  Tim Muprhy: (31:24)
  That's the beauty. See, that was one of the things when I was back, you know, and I always bring this up and they're going to hear it a million times, but I was back in my parents' basement and I was brainstorming like, if I'm going to go down a direction like it has to have, because I know my personality, I get bored very easy. I love to discover new things. So it has to have a lot of depth in it. Like I have to be able to go deep into something and I have to be able to do a lot of different things. And the more that I researched and discovered what real estate had and all the opportunities that all the directions, all the different formulas and all the different ways that you can make money in real estate, it was like, this is it.
  
  Tim Muprhy: (32:01)
  Like I'll never get bored and I'll never discover all the ways that I can leverage real estate in one way, shape or form to make money, make a passive return to survive, uh, and make an income. And that's awesome. And that's why I love talking to people like you, because I haven't done it. I haven't gone down that pasture and we have a lot of similarities, but I haven't gone down that path, the same path that you went down and that's, what's so cool about real estate. It's just so flexible and it's so deep and broad.
  
  Shelly Kane: (32:31)
  Totally. Yeah, no, I, I feel very fortunate. Um, you know, and I, I love it. So it's interesting because COVID hit obviously right last year and, um, you know, it was, it was honestly, uh, event after event. Cause I still had my wedding and event planning business even up until last year. And um, when COVID hit event, after it was like a domino effect, like event after event started canceling. And I went from an, you know, a packed schedule to absolutely nothing on the books and Robert and I were talking about it, um, you know, come April, may. I was actually one of the fortunate ones. I, I got a COVID 19, so I got a call, uh, COVID-19 contracts, uh, working with Providence hospitals in Portland to set up all of their drive through testing sites. Right? So, but we, we in talking, we were just like, you know, when this is all over and when the testing sites are done, you know, this actually is a great time to transition and completely get rid of that event planning business because really my passion is being in real estate. And, um, it, it is that, you know, that area where we, if I put all of my time and attention to it will grow it'll blossom. Um, so I'm excited because this is truly 2021 is truly my first year that I will be doing real estate full time,
  
  Tim Muprhy: (34:05)
  The future. Okay, you're doing it. Full-time now. I mean, we're going to be putting your episode in and you know, in our podcast we are doing more of a timeline, uh, of going from like, you were like, oh my gosh, how do I survive? I need to make something work to where you, all three of us are where it's like, now we're thriving. And like, what's our big thing that we're going to do next. Right? So that's what this podcast is. Well, in the we're we're interviewing you because I want to put this story in the survival phase of the timeline of this podcast, because I don't think I'm going to find a better story about someone that's my goal, to just any degree to make herself successful. That's willing to take any jump out of any plane whenever she sees an opportunity. I mean, I really appreciate that about you, but like now tell us about what are you going to do now?
  
  Tim Muprhy: (35:01)
  Now you are a hundred percent in the real estate. And you know, the thing is, is that I can just tell with your mindset that you are not a, just do one person because you can take on so many things at once. What are you going to do with real estate? What do you see, where do you see real estate taking you in the next five years, 10 years. But then I want to also know where do you see real estate taking you when you're 60? Because that's a real visionary to me is like, where am I going to go when I'm 60 with real estate? Because look at everything you've done in such a short period of time, what are you going to do when you get to 60? Like, I mean, you might own like the empire state building or something. Amazing,
  
  Shelly Kane: (35:46)
  Good question. Um, being, you know, it, my first year, uh, fully in real estate and it's only January 8th or something. Right. But, um, yeah, I mean, I've just joined the grand real estate investments. Um, you know, our family, uh, real estate investing business. Um, and so I'm going to manage, you know, a lot of the projects, uh, within, um, grand real estate. Um, Robert and I also own, um, it's called kg investments, um, you know, kind of our own investment business. Um, and I plan to continue to grow that and nurture that and build more properties under that portfolio. Um, but you know, ultimately I, I do have to go back to my roots. Like I do teaching and mentoring people is really a huge part of who I am and I would love to be able to teach and mentor other women, especially, um, especially, you know, women who want to get into investing there aren't a lot of us.
  
  Shelly Kane: (36:44)
  Um, and I would love to be able to, uh, be that sounding board or be that person who can help, um, especially a female to get to the next level. Um, you know, a lot of people have excuses and, uh, you know, I'm, I'm the type of person who there can't be an excuse. Like if you go for it, I mean, excuses holds you back. Um, and if you really truly want to do something, um, you know, so, so I would love to mentor teach, um, and even, you know, young ones, you know, especially, um, females, uh, you know, to be able to, to be their best, um, to do their best. Um, yeah. And then of course, like when I'm 60, like that, that was the question, like what, what do I want to do? Uh, you know, I, I probably don't want to, you know, manage a whole lot at that point.
  
  Shelly Kane: (37:40)
  Um, you know, Robert and I have been talking, uh, we use a private money lender right now, um, you know, for some of our projects and I would love tactically get into lending money. Um, you know, I, I could see that being a really great thing when I'm 60 plus years old, uh, you know, you don't have to manage too much except for, you know, where the financials are going. You know, all of the contracts that are out there, um, that might be a nice way, you know, to, to kind of retire. That's awesome. Well,
  
  Tim Muprhy: (38:10)
  Shelly, I can tell you right now, it's, I mean, it's just an honor to be able to
  
  Tim Muprhy: (38:16)
  Hear your story today. I think, you know, what, if you want to be anything, you can be it because you have tons of drive and tons of passion and definitely a fire. So, uh, thank you for being on today. It was fantastic. And I know that the people listening will definitely be inspired. So thank thanks for listening to the value driven investor podcast, where we lead by giving for more information about our community and what's new visit value driven investor.com. The value-driven investor podcast was produced by digital legend media in Minneapolis, build the or legend digital legend media.com.

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