IAM317- Commercial Real Estate Investor and Podcast Host Helps Clients Navigate Real Estate

Steffany Boldrini is originally from Brazil, and has been living in Silicon Valley for the last 18 years. During her career in Silicon Valley she founded her own startup, a marketplace for natural and organic products. She also had a successful career in technology sales, and most recently she decided to start investing in commercial real estate full time.

• CEO Hack: (1) Book; Never Split the difference (2) Landmark program
• CEO Nugget: Ask for help
• CEO Defined: Making sure your team succeeds with you

Website: https://montecarlo.home.blog/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/steffbold

Full Interview

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Transcription

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of.

This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Steffany Boldrini of Monte Carlo real estate investing in the commercial real estate investing from A to Z podcast.

Steffany, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Steffany Boldrini 0:43

Thank you so much for having me. Gresh.

Gresham Harkless 0:45

No problem. Super excited to have you on. And what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Steffany so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's building and growing. And Steffany is originally from Brazil, and she has been living in Silicon Valley for the last 18 years. During her career in Silicon Valley, She founded her own startup and marketplace for natural and organic products. She also had a successful career in technology sales, and most recently, she decided to start investing in commercial real estate full-time, Steffany, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO Community?

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Steffany Boldrini 1:19

Yes, I am very ready.

Gresham Harkless 1:21

Let's do it. So to kick everything off, I wanted to hear a little bit more about your background and your CEO story. What led you to start your businesses?

Steffany Boldrini 1:31

Sure, I have been in, as you mentioned technology sales for about 10 years or so. And I had in the last couple of years wanted to get into Angel Investing in startups by virtue of being in Silicon Valley. And it was very clear and easy to see that real estate investing is a much better proposition with higher returns and a lot less risk than being an Angel Investor at a startup. So that's why I decided to get into real estate investing. I had a friend at the time. And who was in real estate, commercial real estate investing for over 20 years. And after a tonne of conversations that's how I came up with the conclusion that real estate is the best.

Gresham Harkless 2:23

Yeah, absolutely. I've always heard great things. I'm not in real estate investing or anything, but I've read a lot about it. And I know how important it is. And there's literally real estate everywhere, no matter where you are in the world. So it's something that is always necessary and always something people are looking for.

Steffany Boldrini 2:40

Exactly.

Gresham Harkless 2:41

Nice. And I know you have a podcast and you have the business that you're starting up as well, too. Can you drill down a little bit deeper into like, what you're doing, how you help out people, but then also a little bit more about like what your podcast hopes to do?

Steffany Boldrini 2:53

Sure. So I decided to start the podcast because, throughout my education, I could not find a lot of podcasts that were completely focused on commercial real estate. There are a lot of podcasts on the residential side and multifamily side. And it was just by virtue of number one, not too many podcasts out there focused on commercials. And number two, as I'm getting my career started in investing, it would be a good way to get my name out and of course, also build my network.

Gresham Harkless 3:28

Right, that makes sense. It's funny because I found that, especially with a podcast, there's a great opportunity to network in a different type of way and then meet people sometimes you wouldn't otherwise meet.

Steffany Boldrini 3:39

Yeah, absolutely. And the people in the industry are so generous, so it's been a blessing to meet each and every single person. They're wonderful.

Gresham Harkless 3:51

Yeah, absolutely. Do you know that if there's already fine that there's a reason why there's not as much information about commercial real estate is something drastically different, or is it something that just there hasn't been a lot of awareness?

Steffany Boldrini 4:04

So I think that when people start thinking about investing in real estate, the first thing that they think about is buying a house and getting tenants in it, and then they grow into a duplex, four Plex, and then potentially a multifamily. So there are not a lot of people compared to residential that are in commercial. And that's the only reason why I think there aren't a lot of commercial podcasts out there.

Gresham Harkless 4:05

Yeah, well, I definitely appreciate for bringing light to that because definitely it is something that I've even heard a little bit about, but I haven't met a lot of commercial, real estate agents is less number in comparison to commercial or residential. So I definitely think that you bring light to that and help out as well to help increase the awareness and probably increase the number of people that are investing in it as well.

Steffany Boldrini 5:00

Exactly. And there's not a tonne of competition in that world, people are a little bit afraid because they will be dealing with different kinds of tenants. But there's nothing to be afraid of. And a lot of times you do get better deals with a better return. In commercial versus residential, especially nowadays, there's a lot of competition for multifamily properties.

Gresham Harkless 5:26

Exactly, exactly. That makes perfect sense. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And this could be for you or your organization, but what do you feel kind of makes you unique and sets you apart?

Steffany Boldrini 5:39

I think incredibly well-organized and connected and helps people out. Not only getting help but helping them when they need help. You're always at the forefront of their minds when you're helping them out. And whenever you need help, they will be there for you just like you were there for them.

Gresham Harkless 6:00

Yeah, that makes sense. And I see it, even developing creating the podcasts as well, too, because a lot of people that don't know about the commercial real estate world, you would basically have no way to but you creating a podcast and creating a platform for people to be educated and be informed about everything from A to Z as the title says, it helps to give out to people and I feel like everything once you give it out, it comes back to you as well.

Steffany Boldrini 6:29

Exactly. I'm sure you have experienced that in multiple ways like your own podcast.

Gresham Harkless 6:35

Yes, absolutely. It's been a great opportunity. Who knows you meet people that are commercial real estate on the other side of the country that you never would have met before. So it's definitely great networking and a way to learn a lot more about things you don't even know about.

Steffany Boldrini 6:48

Exactly.

Gresham Harkless 6:49

Nice, nice, nice. And I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an app or book or habit that you have or something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Steffany Boldrini 7:02

One of my favorite books has been Never Split the Difference. And it's a negotiation book by one of the lead FBI negotiators. And it's just incredible with a lot of very useful tips for negotiating anything. So highly recommended that everyone read it, whether you have a job or you're in business, you're always negotiating. So it's been very helpful.

Gresham Harkless 7:30

Yeah, absolutely. That makes perfect sense. I always hear people say that you're in negotiations, and you're quote, unquote, in sales no matter what, and where you are. So you have to understand whether it be doing big real estate transactions, or something as small as making sure or getting your kids to go to bed, or getting your wife or your spouse to do XYZ, you're always in negotiation. So more awareness of that helps out a lot.

Steffany Boldrini 7:53

Very true. Very true. Everything is sales.

Gresham Harkless 7:56

Exactly, exactly. And so now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO, nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. Or if you can happen to a time machine. What would you tell your younger business self?

Steffany Boldrini 8:08

Ask for help. I'm very bad at asking for help. And I have been getting better and better over the last few months. I don't know if you've heard of Landmark, it's a wonderful course that you take, and I'm taking the project. Plus, most recently, one of the things that they really focus on is free to ask for help in the community and engage people. And when you're telling your story and you show how passionate you are, you will engage the right people to be on your team. And it's a little muscle that you're building, you need to definitely practice. But it's been incredible. So I highly encourage if you're not very comfortable asking for help, I highly encourage you to get that muscle built, and you'll see your business flourish.

Gresham Harkless 9:04

Yes, I think that's a great nugget. And if you see my younger business, I'll tell him that as well. Because I also struggle with that. I have heard of a Landmark I haven't actually learned a lot about it. But it's great to hear about that program. And I find that I always say and I've heard that the greatest gift you have somebody has to give but a lot of times people want to give but if you don't ask for help you don't ask for assistance, you don't give the opportunity for people to give. So I love that CEO nugget because not only are you getting help, but you're also giving somebody else the blessing to be able to give as well.

Steffany Boldrini 9:36

Exactly and not only that people don't know what you need. And it's incredible how many people in your network, know someone or know how to get to where you need to go. And we don't know because we're not sharing that and they don't know that you need that help. So just by sharing with you, it's incredible. I highly recommend it.

Gresham Harkless 9:58

Yes.Definitely. So thank you for that reminder. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show. And Steffany, I want to ask you, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Steffany Boldrini 10:14

For me, it's making sure that your team succeeds with you and you'll never get anywhere alone. And I want to not only give credit, but I also want to make sure that my entire team is successful as well. And for that, of course, you also need people who want to be successful. So you need to pick the right people in your team. But I'm a firm believer in everyone winning together.

Gresham Harkless 10:43

Yes, and there's more than enough opportunity and success to go around. So I appreciate you for that definition. Appreciate you for all the awesome things that you're doing to help out people in commercial real estate, but also your team as well. So I wanted to pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you can let our readers and listeners know. And then of course, how best they can get ahold of you and subscribe to your podcast.

Steffany Boldrini 11:04

Well, I highly encourage, if you have not been a real estate investor, yet, I encourage you to at least talk to your network and start learning about it. It's something that you need to plan for your own future. And it's a very proven technique of financial freedom. So I highly encourage everyone to start learning and taking care of their own future.

Gresham Harkless 11:27

Absolutely. And people that want to reach out to you what's the best way for them to do that?

Steffany Boldrini 11:29

You can reach out to me on LinkedIn, I will send you the exact link and they can contact me at any time. I'm very responsive over there.

Gresham Harkless 11:42

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, we'll take that link, and we'll have it in the show notes. So by the time you're listening to this, Steffany, thank you so much. I appreciate you and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Steffany Boldrini 11:51

Thank you very much Gresh for what you're doing. I really appreciate it.

Outro 11:54

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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