Serial Entrepreneur Betsy Pepine

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Betsy Pepine, and she is the author of a new book called Breaking Boxes Dismantling the Metaphorical Boxes that Bind us. Welcome.

Betsy Pepine: Oh, thank you, Lee. So happy to be here.

Lee Kantor: I am so excited to learn about this book. But before we get into it, can you share a little bit about your backstory?

Betsy Pepine: Yes, sure. So I graduated college and went into a career in, well, graduated college, and I got an MBA and went into a career in pharmaceutical marketing. Had a lot of pressure or family pressure to go into the medical field. Everyone in my family is a physician and really did not want to go that route, and so I thought pharmaceutical marketing would be a would appease them and wouldn’t just drain me, but really wasn’t passionate about the work. And after doing that for a decade and going through a divorce, it really I just felt like it was a time where I could reinvent myself. And so decided to venture into the real estate space. I became interested in real estate when I was at my graduate program getting an MBA. One of the classes was to go in. I went to school in Philadelphia and I could go into row homes. We gutted row homes and rebuilt them and then interviewed families at risk and sold those homes to those families at, I mean, almost nothing because everything was donated, labor and supplies were donated. And so it really opened my eyes to what housing could do to the trajectory of a family. And I thought if I could be a part of that every day, how exciting my life would be. And so that was about 18, 19 years ago. I got my real estate license and haven’t looked back since. I’m a serial entrepreneur in all things real estate. I’ve got the brokerage and then has spun off several other companies from the brokerage. When I recognized that those customers are buyers and sellers and our agents needed support. So whether it was through lending, whether it was through tidal, I opened up a title company getting agents licensed. So I opened up a real estate school, just trying to to be one stop shopping for everybody. So we have property management. Now we have Airbnb. I run a short term Airbnb business. So really trying to cover all the bases for our clients.

Lee Kantor: Now, what attracted you about real estate as kind of a place where it seems like you’re putting a lot of your chips into the real estate bucket? What what do you like about real estate as opposed to other, you know, kind of other investment vehicles and other ways to build wealth?

Betsy Pepine: Well, I don’t put all my money there, but I do put a significant chunk of it there, because that is what I know, and that is what feels safe and comfortable for me. I, you know, I’ve lost a lot of money in the stock market and I still have some money in the stock market, but because I feel because I’m in real estate every day, I just feel like it’s I’m I’m risk averse in general. And so I just feel like it’s less risk adverse. I mean, it’s it’s it’s less risky for me. I also love and I really espouse this for my agents and for our customers. I always my my parents instilled this in my sisters and I has had multiple streams of income. And so even when I wasn’t in real estate, I had real estate as a investment, property as a source of income, and then just started building upon that. Um, I love that in now that I have my my day job is in real estate, I have that as my a source of income. I’ve been my investment property is a source of income. I’d like to get into development as another source. So even within real estate you can have multiple streams of income.

Betsy Pepine: Um, and so that that appeals to me. Real estate’s always had a very strong and over the long term predictable growth. Um, so I, I like all facets of that. And I also like that, um, somebody once asked me, you know, why do I do this versus, like, sticking in the stock market? And for me, I want to have fun, uh, with my money and for, for me, real estate is fun. Watching my portfolio grow in a in the stock market is just not very fun for me. But being involved in getting to know people and I get to know the people that are in my rentals, whether they’re commercial rentals or residential rentals. I get to know their businesses. I get to know, you know, their life situation. Um, I like being on the hunt for good deals, flipping things. Um, Airbnb being like, there’s so much diversity in it. So for me, being hands on in my investments is is fun for me. Um, versus some other investment vehicles to me seem like they might be attractive from a growth perspective, but just not very fun for me personally.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, a lot of your work is also around helping other people. Um, and giving back and teaching other people about the real estate. How how did that come about? And and why is that an important component of your overall portfolio?

Betsy Pepine: Um, you know, my, my, my mission in life and my mission in my businesses is to improve and empower the lives of others, whether it’s through real estate or helping those who are less fortunate than me. Um, I was brought up to to believe that while we have mentors that are always a couple of steps ahead of us, that we look to and want to emulate certain practices to become better. We also have an obligation to look back and pull up those people that are a couple of steps behind us in the in the wheel of life, and so I’ve always had that as a passion of mine. I find it so rewarding, um, to help people who who maybe didn’t, who weren’t born into the situation that I was born into. I was very blessed and just, I don’t know, I’ve always felt a need that an obligation really to want to give back. We’re here for such a short period of time. And, um, somebody asked me the other day, what’s your greatest accomplishment? And it’s when I see that I have had an impact on someone’s life. I’ve. I’ve had agents go out on their own and start their own brokerages competing directly with me. But that’s that to me, is a sign of success. I, I, I feel like I’ve helped them launch, um, and what greater gift could we, could we have, uh, here, um, than to do that for somebody else?

Lee Kantor: And then, uh, where did the book come into play?

Betsy Pepine: The book was a result of about 6 or 7 years ago. I was feeling unsettled. I, I felt like on paper my life looked great and it looked like what I thought it should look like should be in quotes. Um, I had I had great businesses, I had great family, I had great rescue pups, I travel, I just, you know, I live debt free and it’s like, what more could you ask for? But I was not happy and I was struggling with why was I not happy. And through a lot of self-reflection, journaling, meditation, yoga therapy, I realized that I had lost my way from when I was a little girl and I had this joy about me and fun and, um, lived differently. You know, I, um, I have a friend who wakes up every day, and her first thought is, how am I going to have fun today? And that wasn’t in my life. You know, joy wasn’t a value that I had a lot of great values in my family growing up that were annihilated for me. But having fun and joy was not one of them, and I really wanted to be able to bring that to my life. And so when I started this journey and looking at the thread of what was inhibiting that from my life, it was, um, a sequence of events and it’s still today.

Betsy Pepine: It’s a journey where I found myself confined by what I call boxes. Boxes that maybe our family of origin put us in. Maybe our industry puts us in. Maybe our gender puts us in these boxes, maybe society, maybe we ourselves put ourselves in these boxes that we’re not. Sometimes we’re aware of them, sometimes we’re not, and sometimes we’re aware of them. But we don’t realize that they might not be helpful for us anymore. Maybe they were good at one point in our lives, but they no longer serve us. And how do we negotiate that and get out of them gracefully? So it’s really a book of stories about when I found myself in a box, and sometimes I was ignorant of that, and sometimes I was in and what I did to get out of it. So and I wrote the book again, because my mission is to improve and empower the lives of others. My hope was that somebody reading the book would identify with one of those stories and and make a change based on what they’ve read.

Lee Kantor: Now, what are some of the clues that maybe you’re in a box?

Betsy Pepine: Oh, goodness. Um, for me, it’s a it’s a feeling. And that that took a long time to recognize because I, um, I wasn’t used to being identified with feelings and how your body feels, um, versus what I think, you know, growing up, it was always, what do you think, Betsy? What are the what do the facts tell you? What does the research tell you? But we were never asked in, in our home. How how do you feel? What is this? How what is your body telling you? What direction do you want to go? And so for me, it’s taking making sure if I’m feeling uncomfortable in any way. And for a while there, it took me a long time just to even recognize feelings. And that’s been a whole process for me. But recognizing and checking in with myself, what is what is my body telling me? How am I feeling? And if I’m feeling uncomfortable, if I’m feeling negative, being able to name that feeling and then moving towards that. It’s so simple. Move towards that which feels good. If this decision yes or no is it? Does it make me feel lighter? Does it make me feel happier, more joyful? Or does it make me feel heavier inside? Dark? Um. Not exciting. So move towards that which makes us feel good. Very simple. Very, very simple and basic, but not something that, um, I had ever done as an adult until my late 40s.

Lee Kantor: Now, do you find that a lot of people. I don’t want to say they’re on autopilot, but maybe they have patterns that, um, they just kind of get into a groove and they just kind of repeat the same behavior in the certain stimulus causes a certain response. And it’s just kind of creates this pattern that just seems like almost inevitable. And it’s hard to, first of all, have the self-awareness that, hey, maybe I this is happening. And number two, what do I do about this when it happens? How can I nip this in the bud before I just do that same stimulus response dance that I’ve done, you know, for the last 50 years? Mhm.

Betsy Pepine: I know, I mean, I, I write in my book about myself feeling like one. I was Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, repeating the same day over and over and over again and not really thinking and questioning what I was doing and going with what society tells you you want. Um, and then the other, the other character I felt very attuned to was Jim Carrey and The Truman Show, living this life, oblivious to the fact that it’s on a set orchestrated by others and that I didn’t choose the set. Um, and taking a step back and really evaluating, do I want this? I was living in a almost a 5000 square foot house. I was so unhappy in that house. But I thought, I’m in real estate. That’s what everybody aspires to, a big house. And the minute I moved in, it didn’t feel like home. Now I live in a 1600 square foot house and and in fact, the week we moved in, my daughters who are now emptying. I’m an empty nester now. But when my daughters came, they said, mom, this feels like home. And it did. You don’t have to text each other to determine if you’re in the house or not, and I, I didn’t get my steps in just doing the laundry, you know, but having the closeness, having eight foot ceilings instead of soaring 20 foot ceilings brings a coziness to my home that the other house that I had lacked. But I but I assumed that’s what I wanted because that’s what I saw and I never questioned. Was that right for me? You know, I remember once where I was, um, I was with a partner who, who who thought I deserved a Rolex.

Betsy Pepine: And so I bought myself a Rolex. I hated that Rolex. I would hide it, I would wear it, and I would push my sleeves down because it was so not me. I was embarrassed by it, but I thought, well, when he was telling me like, well, okay, yeah, everyone aspires for that. Well, no, that wasn’t for me. And I got rid of it. I put that Rolex on Facebook Marketplace and I love getting rid of it. I felt so free. So it’s just being mindful of just even the little things that don’t seem to have maybe, maybe not have as much meaning, but they really do. And just being so much more intentional about what we do. What what input are we putting into our minds through, whether it’s through reading, hearing, listening, um, and making sure that it’s all intentional. And that’s how you really want to be spending your most valuable asset. Your time is is this how you want to be spending it? And is this in the environment in which you want to be spending it in? Um, and then your life becomes a lot more freer. People always ask, well, how do you do so much? You’ve got so much going on? Honestly, I’ve never had more free time in my life because I’m so intentional about how I spend every minute, because I’m so aware of what I’m giving up for that minute. You know, we don’t know how long we’re going to be here. And so if I’m going to give something my time, that’s worth more than anything, it’s gotta I have to consciously say, this is this is worth the exchange that I’m willing to give it, give this up for.

Lee Kantor: Um, can you give some advice for somebody who might be struggling in the same area? Like, it sounds to me what you’ve done is you’ve kind of reprioritized like, for some people, having a Rolex is a priority. That shows that I’ve made it. I’m successful. You can trust me. There’s there’s a Rolex isn’t just a watch. It’s a symbol of of things in some people’s eyes. Um, but you chose to say, you know what? I’m going to be me, and I’m going to just allow my personality and my, you know, my inner ness to shine through. And I don’t need kind of the trappings of some of these things that I thought at one time was symbolic of my success and how smart and and talented I am. A lot of people, I think, lean on that, and because of that, there’s people who aren’t smart and who aren’t successful. That might look the part if you just, you know, drove by them. But in reality, if you had a conversation with them, you’d realize pretty quickly that, you know, those may not be, um, really symbolic of their true talents. They are just things they bought. So you don’t look that closely. Um, can you going through that transition, though, of having that stuff to lean on and then not having it, it requires to me a a belief in yourself and that you you have to have the self-worth in order to pull that off. Because if you don’t, you’re you’re going to feel like an imposter.

Betsy Pepine: Mhm. Mhm. And I it’s funny that you say that because I felt like an imposter wearing the Rolex. It just it didn’t fit me at all. And I’m not saying a Rolex is bad and not everyone that wears a Rolex is wearing it for the right reasons. But for me it just didn’t work for what I was looking for. Um, I think a great exercise that I did, and I tell my agents, this is you never have to ask somebody what their values are. Look at their calendar and look at their checkbook or Venmo nowadays. Look at how they how they spend their time and how they spend their money. And those are their values. And so for somebody who’s interested in perhaps exploring if their values align with the life that they want, do that. First. Do an audit of your calendar. How much time are you spending doing X, Y, and Z? You know, so many people nowadays sadly spend time scrolling on their phones. Is that consistent with the life that they want? If it’s not, let’s make a change. If you look at where you’re spending your money, is that consistent with the values you’d like to have? And figure out what your values are. I mean, we have we spend so much time with companies and entrepreneurs, spend so much time on what their company’s values are, but then they go home and they don’t, you know, what are their family’s values? What are their values as an individual? I think most people don’t spend nearly as much time on that, if at all. It doesn’t does even dawn on them that they should have their own personal set of values. So think about what your values are, what your values want to be, and move towards that.

Betsy Pepine: I think doing that audit is really helpful. And then for me, what was really helpful was asking myself with every decision that I’m making, whether it’s be small or large, and I’m making this decision out of fear or if I’m making this decision out of love? And what I found when I was really honest with myself, most of the decisions I was making was out of fear. Out of fear of loss. Loss of maybe reputation. Loss of credibility. Fear of loss of friendship. Fear of loss of love of a relationship. I wasn’t making decisions based on love, which is what I love of of self, of others, of of life, of this earth. But that’s what I wanted. But I’m making all my decisions based on fear. So there was a there was a conflict there and I had to really shift. And I’m not. This is a journey for me to I’m still on it, but at least now I’m aware and conscious if I’m going to make a decision based on fear, is that really what I want to do? And, um, be okay with that, which I’m not. You know, I’m still working on that, but I don’t like making decisions based on fear. Um, and trying to move towards making more and more decisions. Um, on love. And it’s something that I track. I have a daily tracker and of habits that I want to incorporate into my life. And every month I revisit the habits I’m I’m working on until they’re ingrained in my life. And that’s still on my tracker. Is am I? Am I making decisions, more decisions based out of love than out of fear?

Lee Kantor: Do you mind sharing what that tracker is? I’m sure a lot of the listeners would be interested in a tool that could help them do what you just described.

Betsy Pepine: Very simple. I mean, I print it off. Um, I just googled, um, daily tracker and it’s a, it’s almost it’s like a grid. And on the left are all the daily habits that I want to work on that month. And across the columns are, um, days, every day of the month. So 1 to 30 or 1 to 31. And then I literally put a dot. So it’s you know, I have so I’m about 10 or 15 habits that I work on every month. And so for that one it just says love slash fear. And then I literally just put a dot in. If I felt like during that day, I made more decisions out of love than out of fear. And I get a dot, um, if I’m working on. So something else that I’m working on is I don’t it doesn’t come naturally for me. Um, and I alluded to this earlier, having joy intentionally planning joy in my life every day. That’s not something that I do at all if I’m not intentional about it. And so that’s one of the habits that are on there right now is just the word joy. And then at the end of the day, did I intentionally have something that I plan that was just joy, fun and joy in my life? Something big, something small. And and I love it because it really keeps into focus, the things that I want to work on. And then what you’ll find is that month after month, some some months, you’ll see you’ve kind of nailed it. You’ve gotten that. That habit is now ingrained. And I know they say a habit takes 21 days to incorporate. For me, that’s not true. Some habits for me take a lot longer. Some I I get such an immediate impact. It I get they get ingrained very quickly. But the habit stays on my habit tracker month after month until I really feel like it is now a part of my life and I it’s on. It’s automatically ingrained in me. I don’t have to consciously think about it every day.

Lee Kantor: What was the last thing that brought you joy?

Betsy Pepine: Oh, wow. That’s a great that’s a great question. Um, so I would say, like, I’m thinking about yesterday and I live in Florida and it’s it’s hot in Florida, but I love to be outside. And so yesterday and I in the summer, I just don’t eat outside in the summer. So yesterday I have a beautiful backyard picnic table, a sun umbrella, and I ate dinner outside in my backyard watching. I have a whole bunch of cardinals and a bird feeder and watch them. And it was hot. But just being outside in nature when I’m usually inside an air conditioning brought me joy. And I’ll tell you if I. If I didn’t have that habit tracker, I would have eaten it inside. And so that brought me joy yesterday. And like I said, it could be little things, but it could also be big things. So in two days I’m going with a bunch of girlfriends to Greece to on doing a Greek Isle tour that we started planning six months ago. Um, again, because I wanted more joy in my life so it could be something really small, like dinner outside on my patio. Or it could be something larger, like a vacation.

Lee Kantor: That’s a great lesson for everybody to take the time, not only to build habits that are going to get you in the direction you want to go, but to celebrate those smaller, large moments, because they’re they’re all around us. It’s just do you choose to notice them? A lot of times, yeah. So if somebody wants to get a hold of the book, um, where can they go? Is there a website to connect with you and maybe learn about your, uh, real estate empire?

Betsy Pepine: Sure. Yes. So, um, the book is only available right now for pre-sale on audible, but it will be available September 23rd in soft and hardback and, um, Kindle as well. If you go to my name, Betsy. Com there’s links to my newsletter as well as the link to the Amazon presale. Um, and then ah, I’m also on social media. Betsy Pepin I’m on Facebook, Twitter and oh, excuse me, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn.

Lee Kantor: And that’s Betsy pepin.com.

Betsy Pepine: Right. And the book is breaking boxes, dismantling the metaphorical boxes that bind us.

Lee Kantor: Well, congratulations on all the success. And it sounds like you’re you’re moving towards happiness. And that’s always a good thing to hear for people that it’s not anything to sneeze at, because a lot of people just kind of sleepwalk through their life and they miss out on a lot of important things that are there if they choose to see them.

Betsy Pepine: Yes, absolutely. Well, thank you so much.

Lee Kantor: Well, thank you for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Betsy Pepine: Oh. Thank you.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.