The Conscious Investor
Chasing after Financial Freedom often bankrupts other parts of life.
That’s why the Conscious Investor Podcast goes beyond Financial Freedom and helps investors cultivate Personal Freedom by featuring experts in the core areas of health, mindset, and investing.
If you’re looking to grow financially, if you long to unleash your full potential, and build a life of meaning without bankrupting the most important parts of life then this show is for you!
The Conscious Investor
Ep501 Lessons from the 2008 Crash and Beyond with Monick Halm
Unlock the secrets of real estate syndication and learn how you can own significant commercial properties without being a billionaire. Our special guest, Monick, shares her journey from a traditional legal career to becoming a powerhouse in real estate investment. Monick's expertise in syndication has helped countless investors, particularly women, join forces to acquire large-scale properties like multifamily units, industrial spaces, and even a retreat center in Mexico. This episode is a treasure trove of insights, especially for those who are new to real estate investing and want to understand the power of group investments.
Empowerment is the cornerstone of Monick's mission, and she passionately discusses her goal to help one million women achieve financial freedom through real estate. The conversation takes a heartfelt turn as we share personal stories of growth, shedding light on the importance of belief and action. Together, we reflect on transformative moments, the highs and lows of our journeys, and the immense joy of seeing women reach their financial goals. Mentorship and community are vital themes, underscoring the support systems that make such successes possible.
Experience a candid discussion about the lessons learned from the 2008 real estate crash and how these experiences inform our current investment strategies. Ethical practices, thorough due diligence, and the nurturing of supportive relationships are highlighted as foundational elements for successful investing. We also touch on the importance of health and rest, sharing personal stories that underscore the need to prioritize well-being. For those eager to embark on their own real estate journey, we offer valuable resources and insights to help you get started confidently. Tune in for a holistic perspective on investing that ties together health, mindset, and wealth.
Hello Conscious Investor and welcome back. I'm your host, julie Hawley. For over four years, I've paired my background in real estate, investing, education and coaching to create powerful content for you each week. This podcast is where we take a holistic approach to investing by focusing on three ingredients to a life of personal freedom health, mindset and wealth. We'll talk about everything from passive investing through syndication and how to use your retirement accounts to boost your investing, to mineral balancing and gut brain health, and into topics that cultivate your inner strength and resilience so you can thrive regardless of any of life's current events. And yes, those are all episodes currently available and linked in the show notes below. Join me each Monday for a mindset episode and later in the week for an interview with expert investors and health professionals, so that you can experience your greatest health, strongest mindset and build the wisest wealth.
Speaker 2:Monique, I am so thrilled to have you here on the Conscious Investor Podcast. Welcome. Thank you for having me. I'm so thrilled to have you here on the Conscious Investor Podcast. Welcome.
Speaker 3:Thank you for having me. I'm so honored to be here.
Speaker 2:It's such a joy and one of the really super special reasons why I wanted to have you on today is specifically because you are literally the linchpin when I go back to the timeline as to what took place years ago in my journey that shifted everything. You were part of that story. I tell this story on so many podcasts and years ago, when you were on my podcast, when it was still Ask Me how I Know, I shared this story. But for you, conscious Invest investor, I'm going to give you the condensed version.
Speaker 2:I was trying to figure out a better way to invest in real estate. I was tired of a one-to-one single family ratio and I was driving up to go work out what we call North Hill in where I live. And I'm driving up listening to Bigger Pockets after lamenting with a friend for a couple previous days like hey, it's cool that there are all these gentlemen on the show, that's great. I haven't heard a woman here. I am driving up the road and there is the voice, the happy, cheerful voice of Monique coming across sharing about syndication and house hacking and my mind was blown and literally the course of my life was forever changed to money. I'm not over. This is not an over exaggeration like that moment. You being on bigger pockets, sharing your story, is a catalyst for 500 episodes of this podcast, for millions of dollars in an investment portfolio and so much more. I cannot thank you enough, so I just have to say wow, thank you.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you, but honestly, I feel like I'm I was just the tool, I was being used and um, but and I'm so happy that what I said mattered to you and you actually did something with it. You actually did something, a lot with it. Five episodes, I mean amazing, and all that you've done. There were, there were a lot of people that listened to that episode, thousands and thousands and thousands, and probably 99% of them did nothing, but you took it.
Speaker 2:So kudos to you for actually taking action and taking that inspiration and creating what you've created and how many people you have touched as a result it's amazing how that ripple effect just continues on and I can sit here and just the beauty of this conversation and the just depth of gratitude that I have for your. You know just the role like you said, a tool and we never know when we're a tool in somebody's life. We don't always get to hear about it, but we are. We're influencing people every day, even if you're, you know, at work, if you're at home, wherever you are, you're influencing people, conscious and Mustard. I have to go back. I need to go to the question because, although I know what you do and I love what you do, you've done so much and you have grown so much over the last five years. I would love for you let's talk about this with a conscious investor. So what do you do and how did you get started?
Speaker 3:Okay, I know what do I do Well, as an investor, essentially I bring groups of investors together to purchase larger commercial properties. You know syndication, so I syndicate multifamily, a lot of industrial and we're sharing just before we started recording for the show that I'm going about to get a retreat center in Mexico. So there's a diversity of things, but essentially I crowdfund real estate. That's what I do. Diversity of things, but essentially I crowdfund real estate, that's what I do. And uh, and then I also have a heart to bring women into this business. So I T I have another business where I teach women how to invest in real estate, real estate, investor goddesses. So those, those are what I do. So how did I get into it?
Speaker 3:Um, a lot of think, synchronicities, like the one of what got you in. I was not raised at all to be an investor of any sort. I was. I'm a first generation American. My parents are great. Basically said, you know, if you're going to be successful, then you go to school, you get a degree, you get a graduate degree and then you become a doctor, lawyer, professor, engineer, like that's. That is success, that's the American dream and that's what you do. So I went to law school I became a lawyer. I was working in a big law firm. Partnership track Was miserable, hated my life. But that's a story.
Speaker 3:But what I, the only thing I did learn about real estate investing was that at some point you buy your house to live in. That was not really investing. It's just you get that job, you buy the house, you get the car, the house that was what I thought. So I went to buy that house and I live in Los Angeles super expensive market. This was back in 2005. But even back then it was starter home in a semi-decent neighborhood, not Beverly Hills or Bel Air, but the starter home was upwards of $500,000, $600,000. So in order to be able to do that, I essentially house hacked. That wasn't a term back then, but that's what I did. I bought a house. I had multiple units. I lived in one, rented out the others. My tenants were paying my mortgage and that's how I managed to get into the game.
Speaker 3:When I met my husband, he had a duplex. We, after 2008, we started to flip houses. That was what I knew real estate was like was. That was what my when I thought about real estate investing, I thought about those HGTV shows that I knew and loved Flip or flop or right, and I was. I was like oh yeah, we could do that. We've we, we've done our our own home, so let's do it. I. I made so many mistakes, but I started at a time when it was very easy to make mistakes and still make money, because it was after the crash, houses were on sale and we started doing that. And then 2015,. Houses are not so on sale.
Speaker 3:Hindsight being 2020, they still were very much on sale.
Speaker 3:I know everything's relative, but 2015, as opposed to 2010, very different market to 2010,. Very different market right, and I and I've been. Flipping is a job. It's not passive and I wanted something more passive and I couldn't afford anything in LA that made sense. You know, I was looking for four plexes, which was the biggest thing I could think of at the time, and I would be spending 2 million plus for four pplex with zero cash flow, with negative cash flow. If I was lucky, I would break in. That just didn't make any sense. And around that time I had a synchronous meeting with someone who would become my mentor through a friend and a mastermind.
Speaker 3:Bob Helms was the host of the Real Estate Guys radio podcast and so I met Robert and he said to me he was asking what I was doing. I was telling him about the flipping and how that was challenging and looking for this fourplex. He said LA is a really tough market. I always say live where you want to live and invest where the numbers make sense. And I went oh, that's the way you said that I always thought you had to invest where you could drive to your property, touch it, self-manage it.
Speaker 3:It did not occur to me that I could invest outside of where I lived. And LA is not the greatest market for investing it's super tenant friendly, it's super expensive, it's hard to cashflow, Not the greatest. So that literally opened up the world. And then he said, oh, and you can buy that fourplex by yourself, but you're limited to your own capital and credit. Alternatively, you can bring a group of investors together and you can buy 100 or flex by yourself, but you're limited to your own capital and credit. Alternatively, you can bring a group of investors together and you can buy 100 or 200 in an apartment building. And he started talking to me about that. That blew my mind. Evidently, hearing that blew your mind. You're like oh yeah, I was like that's a thing like regular people can do, that I swear.
Speaker 1:I thought you had to be a billionaire to do it, especially in LA right, it's like a hundred.
Speaker 3:it's like 2 million for a fourplex. Like I couldn't buy a hundred unit apartment building, I was just like what, but I had this full body. Yes.
Speaker 2:Yes, I want to do that. Yes, that's just like I did. I was like, yes, this is what I'm supposed to be doing, wow, right.
Speaker 3:So I was like oh, my gosh, and so I went to learn how to do that. And then, as I was learning, I would go to all these conferences and there were, just, you know, women in the rooms. I joined this high-end mastermind it was 19 men and me and I and I just I got this divine download bring women in, you know, help help women. And I this mission to help 1 million women create financial freedom through real estate investing. So that came through and that's what I've been on a mission to do and what I'm what makes me so excited about what you're doing is because I know I can't, I don't think I can do that by myself, but if I can touch somebody like you who can touch all the people you've touched, then we can do that pretty easily.
Speaker 2:You can get to that million mark. It's absolutely possible, absolutely. I wouldn't be surprised just by nature of you know, knowing people who you've touched that I am in contact with and the platforms that they have, I'm like girl you might be right around that million mark.
Speaker 2:I'm just saying it wouldn't surprise me at all. I love the real estate investor goddesses. And it was that was a new group. I mean I remember when it was like just started, or you either had just launched it or I mean I was right there in the proximity of that window just watching oh my gosh, monique.
Speaker 2:Watching your growth, watching what you have created, and this is the power of belief and conscious investor. This is for you too. Whatever it is that you believe in, if you are willing to actually put the actions behind it, the next thing you know you have an entire group of people you know thousands of people, you have your own event.
Speaker 2:You have your book, you have a ted talk, you have a, you have a like. You have grown so much and it's been such, it's been so beautiful. And I mean we don't talk often, you know it's like, but just to you know, watching your journey has been pure inspiration to my journey. You know what were some of the like. Let's go into that. We mentioned, you know about, you know the vulnerability piece and everything. And there are parts of my journey where I have felt like I have wanted to honestly just step back because I needed quiet, all of a sudden there was so much, so many beautiful things going on.
Speaker 2:It's like going to the van gogh immersive art experience. Did you have a chance to see that?
Speaker 3:I did. It was my. I did that for my birthday two years ago.
Speaker 2:It was great I just I had to sit through it multiple times and I just sat there and one I mean, I just sat there. The first time I watched it, I just I had tears streaming down my face. It was very impactful in my life, right, and I realized I hadn't had that quiet space that I needed and I started just kind of stepping back a little bit just to nurture you know and so I know that in our journeys.
Speaker 1:We have different experiences and I'd love to know you know some of the highs and some of the.
Speaker 2:I don't call them lows or even setbacks, they're just these beautiful oasises of um I will go into this lobster opportunities where, um, you know lobsters they lose their exoskeleton and they have to go beneath the rock, and it's not because they're ill, it's just they need a little extra protection while they're growing that new exoskeleton, and so I sometimes am qualifying myself as a lobster. There's nothing wrong with me, I'm not injured, I'm just in growth mode and I just need to go and incubate a little bit. So, um, I just wonder you know some of the highs, if you wouldn't mind sharing you know some of the parts of your journey that really stand out to you.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh, there are so many over the years. I think what is? I mean a lot of highs and a lot of lows, or lessons you know, or talking about. It's the um, the, the fertilizer, um, it doesn't smell that good, it's pretty gross, but um, it is what ultimately leads to the bountiful harvest if you can stick with it. And there and there have been times when I I thought I don't know if I, if I can stick with this, I don't know if I can stay and um, and so having to to do that.
Speaker 3:But I think the highlights for me have been to to do that. But I think the highlights for me have been almost more about the highlights of my, my goddesses. You know, just, there's something about whenever they get a deal or they, you know that they reach financial freedom, they have their I. I love my own successes, but there's something about theirs that just makes me so happy, so high um to to have been, to have had any role in that. So, yeah, even more so than my own, but it's there've been great. You know, just getting that property seeing, or getting seeing that first rehab department, or just you know it's like, oh my God, the vision comes to life, or selling and exiting and getting the big checks Right, like all of that is is great, but ultimately that's just money, I think, the other than my my goddess's success.
Speaker 3:I, you know there's one building that we we had really rough building, rough area. And just going to visit and having some of the tenants come up like you're the owner, like yeah, oh my gosh, I love what you've done to the building. I, my kid, I didn't feel comfortable having my kids playing outside before and now they now that now they can play outside. So thank you so much. Or I, I know somebody else can. Oh, I'm, it's so much better I having my mom move in. You know she's gonna, she's gonna take that, the apartment that just opened up and I'm so excited, you know, like that, those conversations where you know I've been able to make a property in a community better than I found it, like that's those, those are the, those are the high, that's the highlight.
Speaker 2:So it's like I love that and it resonates with me. I very much understand those sentiments and we've added assisted living into our portfolio and it has just been one of the most and it has just been one of the most fulfilling and rewarding asset classes to add into the portfolio and to know that, like when you're impacting lives on that level, like when you have a resident, you know, at an apartment complex, they're like my mom's moving in now. This is such a great place, it's just so great. You mentioned that there are some times where you're like I don't know if I can stick with this and I have definitely a conscious investor. If you're honest with yourself, we all that's part of the human experience is, you know, like whoa, I don't know, what did you tell yourself? And if you want, if you want to share you know kind of what led into that great. But I'd love to know especially, like, how did you coach yourself through it? How did your, their community around you, support you? You know, and how cool, what was that like?
Speaker 3:So well, I'll just say one of the hardest ones was I raised money for a particular deal. I was not the operator, but the operator turned out to be a fraud. Beveled money. There were properties bought, but a lot of that money was lost, lot but a lot of that money, um was lost and um, so just going through that whole thing, um, and having people who trusted me and invested because they trusted me and I trusted this person, who that, you know, there was a lot of self-doubt like who am I to do this Right? Like who, why? Like, oh my God, I can't, like, I can't believe that I was gullible and I and I had so much, you know, I really trusted my intuition and it's like, oh, where was my intuition? We're like around this and what did I? How did I miss this? And um, so that was Um, so that was it, was I it it for a long time.
Speaker 3:It destroyed my confidence and I wanted to and I said that I was hiding. I was hiding in plain A few things. So one is I like I wanted to hide, never not have anybody know, because, oh my gosh, why would anyone want to mess with me if they know that I did this and just speaking to people, and as I thought, okay, well, what is the lesson that I learned? How can I take what has happened so it never happens again, or how can I use this to help me, how can I use it to help others? And as I started to do that, and then people would tell me well, you know, after hearing this, I actually trust you more and you know you shouldn't leave Like you're the. Now you're even better as an investor, having had gone through that and staying. You know, if you stick with it.
Speaker 3:And um, and so partly was hearing that, partly it was also, uh, I had a mentor who said you know, it's the people who can't sleep at the thought of losing anyone's money who should be raising money. Yes, is if you didn't care, so if, if you lost people's money or not, then you'd be a terrible person to be a fun, right, it's the ones that are like that's, devastated by that, that's, that's the. You know, yeah, that is the heart. You want to do this, um, and so there's I can't say that there isn't still a large part of me that's like no, don't wait, don't even talk about this here, right, like just don't do anything, um, and don't, and you should, you should run, you shouldn't do this anymore. But there is a.
Speaker 3:There's another part that knows that nobody gets through this game without losing money at some point. Nobody gets through this without well, hopefully, not many people will get through without meeting an unscrupulous person, but that happens. And the ones in the end who win are the ones who don't quit. They're the ones who stay and come back and, um, yeah, and continue. And I also realized that I have, um, two daughters and they're look you and they're looking at me and they're seeing how am I showing up? What am I doing? How do I? You know? And it's, what would I be telling them if I quit after this? What am I? What's the lesson I'm giving? So, um, I want to for them to see resilience. I want them to see stick-to-itiveness and persistence and faith, and so I need to show up that way.
Speaker 2:It's so powerful. I want to thank you for being so transparent.
Speaker 2:I, you know, I wasn't anticipating that. Honestly, there are so, so many people that are experiencing different setbacks in their investment journey and you and I, you know, we have relationships with people where, you know, I'm honestly, I'm so grateful you're willing to, that you've shared this, because I know that that is going to impact so many lives on the active, you know, with our fellow active investors that are out there and with passive investors. You know it's there's a lot of turbulence and you and I were both in real estate before the 08 crash. It was like you can bog me or you can get it, and there was a lot of unscrupulous things taking place at that time. It was naughty, it was absolutely naughty and I remember, in, you know, 2018, 2019, just saying like commercial real estate reminds me of residential real estate in the early 2000s. Like what is going on.
Speaker 2:This is not good like that, you know, who will take advantage of genuine, sincere people and be that wolf in sheep's clothing type situation, but that role model and your willingness to you know, look at a bigger picture, to receive that, that the words of support from people around you. You know. You know you are, though, and I agree you are the type you know, and a couple of my friends who have been in similar situations I've said that, like you know the fact that you are rattled by this and that you care, that you're the ones, like you need to be out for investing, like we need more, and so it's. It's such a gift, and that I'm curious. I know there are times where I've wanted to quit just because I'm exhausted and tired, and you know and things are going exactly the way I want you know, like my daughter will actually.
Speaker 2:You know she will encourage me and she will speak those words of affirmation, Like even my son, my husband, like you know just that out. That support is so powerful and I can only imagine your, your daughter, is just also. I could imagine that they were pouring into you as well. Yeah, they do. It's such such a, such a gift. I'm curious how that in this affects conscious investor. Many of you invest passively, so this is interesting to be able to say the learning. How will you go about when you are working with you know someone where?
Speaker 2:you're not operating as someone else is did you create a new protocol, um? Or you're like no, I am operating everything no.
Speaker 3:so, um, yeah, just having a lot more. I didn't have the visibility on the financials that I needed to, so making sure that I have that. So I'm a lot slower to get into business with people and I do a lot more due diligence now. So the people that I do partner with, I have a way higher level of trust and I want us to do the smallest initial thing we can do together so we can fail small. This is something I learned from a mentor fail small, like do a test, do something, that's you see how that works. Okay, that's good, let's, let's do so that we can grow. So, yeah, um, you can do it in phases and do more and more and more, so that all of that has shifted and so I have different protocols on moving forward. How do I get into the deal? Once I'm in the deal, how do I have more visibility? So that's and then and more controls and making sure that sure that they all agreements are really dialed in. Everything's very clear.
Speaker 2:It's learning, it's beautiful learning. I like to go deeper into partnerships, versus, you know, having a lot of partnerships. Just going deeper it's like OK, I found found my people and we have a good thing going and we know how to do this well together. It's, yeah, a lot of like it took years, you know, to develop that, but it's like wow, this is like a really good situation I like relationships for life and being with people that, yeah, who could see doing more and more and more together long long term oh, I absolutely love that.
Speaker 2:I want to shift gears a little bit, and one of the elements of a conscious investor is, you know, that we take care of our health, meaning physical, relational and spiritual, because those are all critical elements of health. And something that you had shared on social media back in January really caught my attention and really raised my level of awareness and that was you know you had had, you know apple watch had gone off and it had alerted you, you know, to a health concern, and it really honestly, because I'm also, like that, so excited about my mission. It's so also driven as a high performer. It could be a really detrimental combination and conscious investor I know this resonates with you too.
Speaker 2:You like you like to be ambitious about your endeavors, and so this really put a lot of reality check for me. I'll share more of that potentially in a little bit, but if you wouldn't mind, I'd love to hear about just what happened and how that informed your life.
Speaker 3:Yeah, happened and how that informed your life. Yeah, so I, my watch, told me and this was also in the context of my sister having had a heart condition, um, and needing to have a surgery on her heart. So, and she'd gotten a message from her watch, um, that it was sensing and arterial fibrillation, so irregular heartbeat, and I'd had it, I'd had it, had notified me before every so often that that was like, but I was feeling fine. But then, you know, in the context of my sister, I was like you know, I'm just context of my sister. I was like, you know, I'm just gonna see the doctor. So I called to make an appointment with the doctor and then they said maybe you should come into urgent care. And then, when I went into urgent care, they said maybe we should go to the ER. I went to the ER, like it's late, late, why don't we keep you overnight? So I so I ended up in the hospital, um, with all these heart, heart monitors, and in the end I didn't, I didn't see anything and I had to do a like a have a two-week heart patch and, um, they, so it's, it's okay, it's something we're looking for, but, and ultimately it wasn't, there wasn't anything there, but what it did alert me to as I was going.
Speaker 3:And then there was, I had, um, you know, while that was going on, each of my kids were going through different health challenges as well. Um, for you know, a variety of reasons and I really, you know, without health, like, what do you have? Health is well, I think Tony Robbins says. You know, a man can have. A healthy man can have a thousand wishes, but a sick man only has one To be well. And as I was lying in that hospital bed which actually was sort of relaxing to be there I was like okay, nothing else to do, and my phone died. I didn't have a charger and I was just sort of like there. But as I was there, I was reminded about the importance of having your health and all the other things. What's in the bank account is kind of minor in the bank account is a minor in the in the grand scheme of things, and it it gives you more options, having more money. But you know, your health is everything and I have this.
Speaker 3:This last week was my brother's birthday. He would have been um, well, he had passed away seven years ago and um, but when he was diagnosed with cancer. I remember thinking like, oh my god, he might, he might die because he was diagnosed with a stage four colorectal cancer. It was only 47. And at the time it kind of hit me oh, of course he's going to die, we all are going to die. And this sounds very macabre. But it ended up saying you know, everyone dies, but does everyone live? We don't all live. Everyone dies, but does everyone live? We don't all live.
Speaker 3:And so I didn't know how long Mark would have. He ended up having almost three years from that diagnosis, but it was very grim diagnosis. He could have had two months, could have had one week, one day, or 50 years, but I didn't know, and I don't know how long any of us have. All I knew is that every day I was going to make sure that every time I, you know, just being with him. He knew I loved him, we had a wonderful day, I was as open hearted for him and for everybody as I could be and I was not going to waste time for anything. I needed to do what I had to do.
Speaker 3:For you know, kind of around that time that real estate investor got us started, but it was because of you know, it's like I don't know how much time I have. I don't know how much time any of us have. All I know is I'm here today, I'm going to make sure that I live fully today, and and living fully does not mean that I'm working. Living fully is about health, it's about relationships, it's about taking exquisite care of ourselves, eating well, resting well. It's about taking time for sunrises and sunsets and smelling the roses and walking barefoot. And so I was reminded, as I sat in the hospital or laid in the hospital bed, of that commitment again, and I realized that I hadn't been doing that as much, um as I had back Um, you know. And so I wanted to recommit to living this resonates so deeply.
Speaker 2:It's something that I talk like. This is such an anchor point for the conscious investor because we can have all these we have a sizable bank account and also a great investment portfolio but without that presence in life, what is it for? And if we're not present with those around us? For me, I think if I'm building you know, if I'm trying to build, say, generational wealth, am I actually teaching and leading and teaching the principles so that my kids would even be capable and competent to navigate that successfully, instead of just going off and blowing it on who knows what right it's really, it's such a big aha and I'm sorry about your loss of your brother. It's also exciting to see how you navigated that and use that for good. So exciting to see how you navigated that and use that for good.
Speaker 2:Um, recently I lose nine years on father's day with my dad's passing and it was a a heart event and you know it's sudden and so that to me, and then you know learning so much more about stoicism and everything and momentum worries like live with death in mind, and it does. It's really it's. It's really not cynical at all. It really, when you embrace that concept, it brings this wholeness to life. It's like why would I waste a moment of this gift I've been given? I was in an elevator at an event years ago and I just looked at the people Everybody in the elevator, the guys a whole bunch of guys right and it was like they all just looked like drab and I just smiled and I said, hey guys, guess what?
Speaker 2:You won the lottery, you're alive, like congratulations. I was like what if we just approached it with that excitement? You know, even the worst day is a day, six feet above. Yeah, that's success. Yeah, oh, that, that is, that is success. Um, you know one thing that I know a lot of ambitious, you know conscious investor. I know you're ambitious. We've talked about this so many times. I'm ambitious, you're ambitious. And something you said, you know learning to rest. Well, it was kind of a passing comment, and I know that this isn't necessarily investing in real estate. This is such an important thing about investing in our well-being.
Speaker 2:so that we can live fully and show up with presence. What are some of the practices that you do, that you feel like help and allow you to rest?
Speaker 3:well, okay, well, I do a morning ritual, so that's more about living well but resting well in the evening. I shut off the screens around nine and I go to bed at 930, which is early, but it's delicious. It was like when you're a kid you would be punished, like you're gonna go to your room and go to bed early, and now it's like a reward for me, like, yes, okay, I'll go to my room, go much better, but I, just getting off the screens, I'll often take a shower at night, do some reading, um, praying, meditate, you know, and then fall asleep. And that has really helped me. It's on a day-to-day basis to rest better. And then I there are a couple of things that have helped me do less but accomplish more.
Speaker 3:So what is the one thing, gary Keller? So asking myself what's the one thing that, in so doing, will make everything else easier and necessary? So focusing on that, not being busy but doing less, that actually really moves the needle. So focusing there and and really slowing down enough to tune in, so tuning in every day is part of my meditation practice. And I ask my higher power you know just God, what would you have me do today as well? And I know that that's all I need to do. I can leverage the divine, I don't have to do it all by myself and I'm not in charge of the results, and that also allows me to rest, because it's not about me. I just want to be used, not about me.
Speaker 2:I just want to be used. That's again something else that resonates where I've been learning over the last several months that I don't have to push so hard when you are walking in. I refer to it as vertical alignment. If I'm walking vertically, aligned with the sovereign, it all works out. I don't have to push and I don't. I noticed that anxiety, worry are just. I'm like I'm on the right path, so I don't need to stress and worry about it. It's going to be fine. Oh well, that's not looking so right right now. It's going be okay, it's gonna work out and it does. But it's just crazy. I've been such an ambitious like girl. Let me muscle through it and get it done, you know. And it's like actually you don't have to do that, that one thing. It's just being focused and just saying I'm just gonna walk softly, just watch me on this path and it's going to be great.
Speaker 3:I'll do one last thing too. It's so important. A big part of the goddess way is, instead of muscling through, manning up working really no pain, no gain, working really hard.
Speaker 3:It's a very masculine way of being. The feminine is pleasure. So how do I do what? What I need to do with pleasure? They can kind of figure out what is pleasurable and pleasure is about savoring and so, which is requires slowing down. So I favor slow down, implement like, apply pleasure as much as possible, and that also helps to just, yeah, make the whole thing more, more delicious and not hurried and frenetic, and I love that.
Speaker 2:I know that we need to wrap up. I do like to honor you know time and thank you so much for your time this afternoon. I do want to give a plug. When is retreat center opening in Los Cabos? Can we put some teaser out there?
Speaker 3:this is so exciting it's very exciting, yeah, so it looks like we'll be closing the end of September, um, and from there we'll probably be building out for a couple months, so hopefully by uh, november we'll be open that is so exciting.
Speaker 2:What is it? What is the first retreat that you are most like? You are buying this. This has been a vision of yours for a while. It's not? Yes, yeah, and it happens to also be a vision of mine, which is so crazy. Um. So I'm curious. Now I'm wondering if somehow you influenced me even in that, without me knowing it, but I am curious, planting all these little seeds in your head. What do you? What's? What's one retreat outcome that you're like, really excited about, or a retreat you're wanting to host?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so it's going to be retreat centers for other retreat hosts, but one of the ones that I'm excited to host we're actually going to be doing a retreat for our investors, so I'm super excited to have my retreat and then a launch party with them. So I'm excited for that.
Speaker 2:What a fun way to honor you know massive partners and everything. It's just so much fun. Yeah, really cool. I can just see you being from the inside out. You're just bringing me such joy. I'm like this is definitely where you need to be, yeah.
Speaker 3:The vision is to have many different ones around the world, but this is the first.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love that, absolutely love it. Monique, I appreciate you. Thank you for your influence in my life, in the lives of so many other real estate investor goddesses and so many other. You know real estate investor goddesses and so many other people. I know that it's not limited to gentlemen she influenced it or to women you influenced gentlemen also. So thank you just for having the strength to walk the path, even when it's cumbersome and clunky and tiring. It doesn't work exactly how we expect it to, but to continue on and to do it in such a gracious way.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for having me. This has been delightful.
Speaker 2:I love that. Now the conscious investor may want to get involved with what you're doing? What is the best way for them to reach out to you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, the best way is to go to REIGoddessescom. There, if you're interested in our investments, click on Investor Club and sign up there. We'll hop on a phone call and then we have a lot of resources on the site, so sign up, for any way we can serve you.
Speaker 2:Lots of resources and I know you can already tell Conscious Investor, it's service-forward and this is one thing I appreciate about you. You're not transactional either. Life is about relationships. It's not about what can I get from you in this moment so that I can get what I want. It's how do we do this together. We're stronger when we work together, so elevation total. I love it. Conscious investor, make sure you head over to rei.
Speaker 1:Goddesses, let me make sure I have that you are all correct.
Speaker 2:R-E-I, goddesses and you know. Check out what Monique has going on. She's been a great influence and you know that might be a great path for you or someone you know to get involved with in a variety of ways. So many ways to get involved. And remember adventure belongs on the trail, not in your investing and not in your personal life. So if you need any support along the way, make sure you head on over to I am a conscious investorcom.
Speaker 2:Yes, remember, it is an affirmation, so just type that in. I am a conscious investorcom and you have lots of resources at your fingertips, from investing to coaching. Go ahead and schedule time on my calendar whatever serves you. Well, until next time. Cheers to your health mindset.
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