
👉 Get Your Free Copy of "How to Buy Your First Investment Property" - https://bit.ly/3NJLquO In this episode of the Rich Dad Real Estate Show, Serena Norris shares her inspiring journey from working as a graphic designer to becoming a successful real...
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Jaron Suster
Rich dad real estate show. We talk about the good news and bad news of real estate, hosted by yours truly, Jaron Suster. Guys, go down to the show notes and grab my free e book how to buy your first investment property. It's going to walk you through all the steps because 2025 is going to be a huge year for real estate. You need to know how to go capitalize and add assets to your portfolio so you can escape the rat race and achieve financial freedom through the greatest asset of all time, real estate. So today I am super excited to have our special guest, Serena Norris on the show. Serena's been investing for almost a decade now. Maybe right at a decade she's been a part of thousands of flips. Very involved in the limitless conference, which I know a lot of the listeners will be familiar with. And I call you like the systems queen. I don't know if you you've branded yourself another name, but you were unbelievable at putting systems together so that organizations can operate more efficiently. Serena, thanks for being on the show. I'm super excited to chat with you.
Serena Norris
Hey, Jaron. Yeah, thanks for having me. Excited to be on the show.
Jaron Suster
All right, so I want to go back to real estate first because I want to talk about systems because I believe that that's super important not only for people in a real estate business, but for any business in general. But how in the world did you find yourself into flipping thousands of houses? You know, almost like I Don't want to say out of nowhere, but I feel like it wasn't on the radar. And then all of a sudden, here you are. You guys are crushing so many deals all over the place.
Serena Norris
Well, where do I start? I mean, I definitely didn't come out of high school and been like, I want to do real estate, right? There was always a journey to, to get here. So I actually went to college for graphic design and marketing and I did that for a few years and loved most of it, was pretty successful at it, had a pretty high level job with it. But I just realized I got that feeling like most people feel, where I wanted more control over my life. I wanted more for it. I wanted to be able to lead. And I knew I didn't want to do freelance graphic design because I was just trading my time for money and I wanted to figure out how to leverage that. And I didn't know what to do. So I actually saved up enough money to quit my full time job. And then I moved to Hawaii for a little bit and was like a beach bomb and bartender and figured it out and I actually, someone handed me rich dad, poor dad to read. And like a lot of people that are probably listening to this show, a light bulb went off in my head. I mean, I was literally at the laundromat drying my clothes and it all clicked into my head how much real estate's been a part of my life since I was little and that would be the vehicle that I could get to where I was going and the goals I wanted to achieve. So at that point, I actually didn't know anyone in real estate at the time. Even though my, my dad, my grandpa and my, my stepdad, they were all contractors, but they are either out of the business or passed away. And so. And I didn't even know a realtor at that point. So I was like, I guess I'll get my license online and see where that goes. And at that point, I kind of wanted to move back home to Washington. Bit homesick. I'd been gone for six years and I moved back and within two days, that is when I met my mentor at my cousin's wedding. And so kind of the stars all aligned. I don't, you know, call it manifestation or what, but I was like gung ho that I was gonna flip houses eventually. I wanted to own rentals and kind of see where that would take me. And I kind of put it out in the universe and that person showed up and we ended up doing bunch of deals together. I mean, you know, I started off as his assistant, just making $15 an hour, and then over the course of a decade, you know, moving up to just being completely sole, you know, operations for him and taking down all of the rehab, analyzing deals, the systems, and then we've moved on to so many other ventures from there, too. So it. It's definitely, you know, baby steps and stepping stones to get where. Yeah.
Jaron Suster
Well, first off, I'm a little jealous you got to be a beach bum in Hawaii. I mean, that I understand at the time, you were ready for more after you read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. But, you know, being a bum in Hawaii sounds like a pretty good gig, at least for a short period of time. I think we all need to go through those phases of life where we're like, you know what? We're relaxing, living the dream, and then we need the good kick in the rear, which I think it's crazy to me how the book Rich Dad, Poor dad does that. And I get the opportunity to interview people every single week. And everybody's read it, and everybody's been impacted significantly by it. And I believe it does a lot of things, but just spells out very simply, if you do this, you will get this. Reduce liabilities, add assets, you know, start buy businesses, and you're going to have success over time. And there's just enough people who are crazy enough to go and make it happen. They are proof that, hey, these principles work. I think it's really neat, too, how you make this decision. You read Rich Dad, Poor dad, and you make the decision, you know what? I want more for my life. I want to be in control. And then all of a sudden, you find somebody who's your mentor and allows you to get into the real estate game and really, really learn it. It's almost like when you buy a car. Not really. This may be a terrible analogy, but forgive me, but you go and you buy like, a red Ford F150. Well, then all of a sudden, what do you start seeing on the road? It's like, dude, I didn't realize Everybody drives Ford F150s. You know, red Ford F150s. The same thing's true. When you decide something for your life, you're like, okay, I want to go and make this thing happen. And you start telling people about it, and you start making it known. You start doing things that can lead you to be in situations where you're around people who are already where you want to go. Now, yours didn't happen organically at a meetup like you would think you think you would have found your mentor at a real estate meetup, but you were already out pursuing more for yourself. And when you do that, it's interesting. Like, you mentioned how the stars kind of align and end up helping you get to where you want to go. And then you guys. I mean, I know your story. You absolutely crushed it from there.
Serena Norris
Yeah. And I want to back up a little bit, because a part of my story I didn't mention is so when I had that opportunity where I'm meeting this. This person that's like, I flip houses right in front of me. And I'd never met anyone that flipped houses. And all of a sudden, two days after I moved back, they're at my cousin's wedding in front of me. I had had that experience a couple of years earlier where you have to just go out and get what you want. Unfortunately, When I was 18, I had a 19. I had a few really close people that passed away in my life unexpectedly. And that was when things started taking a turn, especially at a young age where, you know, I went through a really hard time. But then it started. I kind of looked at life and I mean, this isn't. We have now created life of how it's supposed to be through our conditioning and. And what is expected of me and go to college and get this job. And I'm like, I just started kind of looking at things differently and started kind of, you know, taking a different perspective, like a bigger picture perspective. And that is when I really started to. I would say live and be. Because of these people that passed away, I really started living. And so when I was 19, I started learning to play guitar. I'd always wanted to. My mom was a musician. She grew up playing guitar and singing around me. She would do gigs, I'd go to her gigs. And I started learning guitar. And I was terrible, right? And, you know, I love to sing. And I just looked at my best friend who was teaching me guitar, and I said, he's really great drummer, and I know that I can get there if I put enough effort in it. We have a bunch of musical friends. I'm going to start a country classic rock cover band. And he was looking at me like I was absolutely crazy. I was like, no, I'm going to do it. And I learned how to make. Like, I learned four hours of material, convinced my friends to start this band with me. They were actually really good, Way better than me. I hired a vocal coach, and then we ended up playing all on the outskirts of La I was in LA at the time, for four years, all in the outskirts of la. And we were doing it. And as I'm up there, I'm like. Sometimes I'd step back and be like, wait, I put this on. And that was really the first opportunity that I had. Okay. I had a vision. I went and did it. It was hard. We'd bust our ass. And so when I got presented with Tarl Tarell Yarber, my mentor, right in front of me at my cousin's wedding, it was like, this is another moment where you just have to take the opportunity and you need to grab it and you hold it. So actually, I didn't, you know, I played it cool and, like, didn't want to, like, you know, bombarded with a bunch of questions right away, but I was like, in the back of my mind, I was, okay, like, how do I, like, do this? And by the end of the weekend, I just pretty much told him, hey, remember that thing that you were talking about how you flip houses? And he goes, yeah. And I was like, I'm gonna work for you. When can we meet next week? And he just looked at me like, yes. And I got his business card, I reached out, and sure enough, we met at Starbucks the next week. And he didn't even know what to do. He was like, I realize I'm really busy and I need an assistant. He was taking down, like, 25 deals at a time at that point by himself as out of state operator, with his own deals as well. And it was chaos. And then so it just jumped right in.
Jaron Suster
So how can I get a bit of a backup Serena to come up to me and be like, I'm going to work for you and we're going to make this thing successful? I mean, God, Tarl. Tarl hit the jackpot, too, you know, I mean, you guys absolutely crushed it. That is. That's basically, you know, one thing. I've known you for a while now. I love your outlook on life. And I don't know if I understood where it came from, you know, losing so many people close to you at a young age. But I have always felt as though you have a unique perspective. And I feel as though you've always done very good. Maybe you would say you haven't done very good. It's been a journey. But I feel like you, since I've known you, do a good job of. Of balance of, hey, you know, I gotta do this to get it done. But we're only here for a short period of time, so I'm gonna live a little bit too. And I think having that perspective is a very good thing. Not only to enjoy life, we have to be able to enjoy life or there's really no point of being here if we're gonna be miserable every day. But also, I think having that perspective allows you to take risk. Because I, I, I flirt the line of like being flippant when it comes to taking risk, especially with investments in doing deals. When, when I was first starting real estate and I, I mean you may have been like this, maybe not. I was very nervous, I was scared to do it. There was a lot of fear. And I think a lot of people feel that because it's, it could be a complex topic, it can cost a lot of money. You got to raise capital, you use your own capital, you got to manage contractors, you got to work with property managers, all this stuff. And I was very, very nervous to get into the game. And then I would just go back to that perspective of, you know what YOLO almost yo like you only live once, right? And you don't want to be that flippant and make bad decisions. But getting to the place of what's the worst thing that's going to happen if I go and take this risk to make my life better, I'm just going to be back at where I am today.
Serena Norris
You said it right then, I mean, where fear goes on a spectrum and I can go back into the fear spectrum real quick. And then I remind myself, I'm like, I've done this so many times. Like, why are you, you know, just because it's New Faces or New Town or whatever. I'm literally, I'm building my network here in la, right? So I'm, I'm essentially kind of starting over in a bit. I was like, I have so much experience, right? When I get back into it, I'm like, okay, yeah, we're driving, right? But that it can play tricks on us. And, and so I, what you said there is like, what the worst can happen. I remind myself of all the, all of that. And when I was getting into and starting that, this new career in real estate, I go, what's the worst that I happen? I end up on my parents couch, right? I was like, okay, right. I mean like if that's the worst that could happen and not everyone has the privilege of someone to fall back on. But going through that hardship in my life at the beginning, it's like I've already seen like the worst of the worst. Aware of, of what, how could life can Torture you, right? I was like, if I, you know, fail, so what? Right? I just keep going. I'll pivot, do something else. And just. So having that belief, that faith and digging into that, but also trusting yourself that you can figure out every step of the way and it just, it's not this huge mountain you're climbing all at once and stepping over.
Jaron Suster
So we'll be right back with Serena Norris. Welcome back to the Rich Dad Real Estate show with myself and Serena Norris. So, Serena, you met your mentor Tarl at a wedding two days after you moved back home, which is insane. After you'd read Rich step poor dad, you had made the decision you're going to invest in real estate. He's like, I flip houses. You roll up and you're like, I'm working for you. I want to flip houses. When can we meet? Y'all meet up? Then you start doing the dang thing. So you mentioned you started as his assistant. Can you talk about what that looked like? And then not only like the tactical what you did, but also like the importance of just. You essentially forced yourself into a role to where you were immersed in the industry you wanted to be in. And how important was that?
Serena Norris
Yeah, absolutely. So because I kind of forced myself into it, I was like, I know that I need to show up, right? I don't want to just talk hot air and say, I'm going to be here and then all of a sudden go, I don't have him. That's not the person I am anyways. But he just started throwing all sorts of tasks at me, right? So here's this person who has a ton of experience flipping houses and he's an operator for out of state and has some systems. But a lot of time when you're a one man show and you're going, you're just going, going, going, and a lot is in your head, right? Your only team members are your contractors or realtors, and they're like separate businesses. And so right from the get go, I was like, this is absolute chaos. We need to organize information, especially with probably about 20 active rehabs going on at that point. So I just started figuring out ways to have centralized information for both of us. I do audit tasks for him, drive the properties once a week to take a bunch of pictures for them. I started to designing stuff, I mean, just wearing all sorts of hats in the business, analyzing deals for him, which I didn't even have my license yet. So I was using Zillow and Zillow was not what it is today. So you know, getting really skilled at trying to figure it out and then really leaning in to start building systems. Right. I mean the first thing we, we made was a lockbox code sheet because I was so tired of showing up at properties and the one that I had written down in my journal wasn't it? And I'm calling him and I wait an hour to, for him to get me back. I mean those, when we're talking about systems and processes, they're really simple. What we're, what I'm talking about of like creating systems like a lockbox code sheet that's we can both update online and then be able to reference and then we add the location to it. Like systems process. I feel like people think, oh, like it's so hard what, you know, they're thinking corporate and all of this. And like the best systems and the ones that we've kept from day one are the simplest systems and, and processes and they work and that's why people follow them. And so I just started building more and more and more of those and then learning as much as I could about construction. So that way I could, you know, take it over and feel confident in doing my own.
Jaron Suster
Yeah, I think when I first hear the word to talk about systems real quick and then I want to dive into it, hear the word systems like me, I get overwhelmed. Like even to this day right now when I say that word, I'm like very overwhelmed. But what I've seen from our team working with you directly and then just it evolving over time is it's essentially like exactly what you said. It's what's in your head, put it on paper. And so like it doesn't have to be a 20 page long, professional looking ordeal. Like get a Google Doc that may have five bullet points, but for whatever that thing is, this is the thing you follow. And then like you said, people aren't having to call all the time and text. You're having to wait on folks because anything you're doing, especially as you get into more deals like you guys were doing, where you got 20, 30, 40 of them going at a time, you're going to bottleneck if you don't. And I think good investors are able to see that on the front end and they build that out early. And so then it allows them to scale without running into those roadblocks. And it just makes your life a lot easier. I mean I bet if we had Tarl on here today, Tarl would be like, bro, my brain was just spinning at all times trying to keep up with everything. Like the. The. The entrepreneur does, right? And life got easier if you just. It's funny, the entrepreneur doesn't want to take time to do what they need to do. From a systems perspective. Oh, that's a waste of time. But they waste more time by not doing it. It would only take them, like, two or three days, and they could be done, you know, if they could. Really?
Serena Norris
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, he would call me to be like, just run through the list, and I'd run through all the properties just to remind him of priorities. And. And that is when I was like, I can't be that person. Like, you have to look at it. And so, luckily for us, where we were such a dynamic was that. Was that he was at that point out there actually, you know, doing action, and I was in the back organizing the information and then getting information. And that's when I learned, okay, you have two people. One is building that system. And then we added a third person, Nate. And then that broke our systems again. And then we're like, okay, now we need to make them better. Because when you start adding more people, you see where the systems only worked for. For the lesser people. And. And then so refining over time. And that's been the biggest thing of working with. With clients who are getting. Starting the flipping game. Or they've done dozens of deals, but they're like, I'm at the point where I'm risking burnout, right? I need to start systemizing. I need to start treating this like a business. I want to optimize and scale. I want a 10x or. I just want a better quality of life, like, either one. And the biggest thing is just they don't know how to collect the information and organize it. And it's. It's really that simple and taking that time, and that's what working on your business is. And flipping houses, it's a lot of information. So setting your systems up, your business up, where you can be proactive and less reactive. We got to a place in 2017 where we had hired a project manager, and one of the realizations we had that he wasn't the right fit was because of. He was so reactive, and that's how he operated. And really, to be successful in this job, you have to be proactive. And what I mean by that is, is making sure you're planning the projects up front before you just start moving on. Like, we learned the hard way, we're like, okay, we purchased the property. Okay, let's go demo that. Oh, we'll finish out the, we'll figure out the finishes later on. We're still working on the floor plan, but let's do demo. And then we realized like we're just falling over our feet and we just, we didn't set ourselves up for success. And so then we became, okay, we are not touching this thing. We'll do trash out and stuff that doesn't, you know, replace the roof or whatever. But we're not touching the inside of this thing more than what we absolutely know we're going to do until like two weeks into the project. So we can get floor plans, we can get our finishes laid out. So that way when we're sending that information to the contractors, they're actually giving us the right bids. They're not change ordering us later. I mean, we ended up optimizing our business so much. Save money, save time, save headache. And that's why I love systems because we would have never been able to do the volume that we did and also be able to live a life, travel without it. Right.
Jaron Suster
So I love that. Yeah, you don't want to. The entrepreneur oftentimes goes into business and then becomes a slave to the business. Like I would say probably 90% of the time, whatever the data is for, however many small businesses fail between three to five years. That's the same data for people who became slave to their businesses because they burned out, they ran out of money and that's a very high number. Like 90% of business or 70% of business. Something crazy, people fell and it's because of lack of system. Now there's some other things that can go in there, but that is a huge, huge ordeal for a lot of operators. So you mentioned a couple things. If somebody's listening to this and like, okay, I'm new to flipping or I've done a couple flips and I want to get better. Now obviously we could sit here for 10 hours and break down having longer than that and break down everything. But what are some key components that you guys looked at when it came to the acquisition side of things, the analyzation side of things and then the management side?
Serena Norris
Yeah, absolutely. I would say the first thing that comes to mind. I was actually talking with someone the other day about this. They asked me, you know, what has been your biggest life lesson in real estate and life? And I said, the way in which you think will have such bigger impact on whatever happens. And so as a team, we really started to do a lot of self development. We started reading a lot of books about you Know, like extreme ownership and how to win friends, influence people and win friends. Right Deal. And a bunch of books like that. And we started going to masterminds and we started, you know, to really work on ourselves. Because in order for your business to grow and to get to a next level, you also need to. To grow and get to the next level. Real estate is so tied to your personal life. If you're not doing well mentally, physically, in your relationships and like, real estate is going to struggle, you're not going to show up in a good shape. And so that was one of the things that we focused on the most. The biggest thing was taking accountability for everyone on the team. Both decentralizing the command by able to lead ourselves. Right, take accountability of ourselves. And that helped with our systems. That helped everyone growing together and just becoming a powerhouse on our acquisitions, our operations and our, I guess, leadership. What do you want to say so that I would also say take the time to work on your business. Never stop learning. You know, even though I've done the business that I have, I still feel like I'm learning all the time. And you surround yourself with more ambitious people, people that are where you want to be. But don't forget that you have to also take the steps to get where you are today, too. There. I see a lot of times in this business, there are people, you know, it's good to, like, act in a mindset of, like, where you want to be. But you also can't be like, okay, I've done this well, I want to be, you know, act like, I own a million under management and I'm not going to. I'm the leader and I'm the visionary. I'm not going to do any. Like, you have to do the stepping stones to get up there, or else it's. Something's going to crumble, something's going to break, right? You have to grow organically. So I don't know what else am I missing. I just, I feel like it starts like within is how you really grow. You know, take like gut checking yourself, checking yourself, checking your ego and going, you know, especially when you're riding the wave, like, say things are going great in your business, you're writing, you're like, I don't have time for that. I don't have time for that. Like, I'm too good for that. That's not worth my time, whatever. Like, that stuff will end up making it where your ship starts going down, right? Like, fix the patch, the holes in your hull, right, that are happening because it will catch up with you. The water will fill up in your ship and you will start having a lot of problems, and then you won't be able to seize on the opportunities that then come in front of you. So, you know, don't get too high for your bridges and take care of business the right way.
Jaron Suster
I love that. Yeah, I think it's. You hit the nail on the head with, don't act like you're bigger than you are. So many people do that, and you're going to get found out. And so I've always lived by, just tell the truth, be brutally honest. If you don't know something, you don't know something. Ask. And then guess what, you're going to know something, and you're going to learn a lot along the way. I mean, even you being around Tarl and, you know, I had my mentors. It's like you hope that they're going to be able to give you everything they need and you're never going to have to learn anything through real life. It just doesn't work like that. I mean, I don't know, the human brain can't figure everything out through education, can't figure everything out 100% by watching. But we can get pretty darn close and we can stop a lot of the pitfalls we can accelerate. I mean, how long would it have taken you to get to where you are in real estate if you wouldn't have had Tarl, if you wouldn't have been. Not to say that he did all for you, but just putting yourself in that environment, you were, I would guess, able to accelerate your journey to getting to where you wanted to be financially, and that is absolutely huge. And then making yourself valuable along the way, you, for you said, hey, I'm coming to work for you, made yourself valuable, created those system, plugged the holes, made the business better. And then you guys worked as a team to say, okay, how can we. How can we operate even more efficiently? And that's the only way you can do things like you guys did, where you're taking down, you know, a thousand plus deals. It's absolutely insane. How did the Limitless conference come about? How did you guys find your way into that?
Serena Norris
Well, again, just started at stepping stones. I mean, so we back in Seattle, during that time, this was about, I think, 2017. Yeah, 2017. And they. There were a couple bad figures coming into the game in our real estate community in Seattle, and combined with not a really good meetup, so Tarl decided that, okay, none of the Meetups I want to go to. I don't want to go to the Ria. I don't want to go anything like I want to. Then I'm going to create the space myself. And so he decided to throw a meetup. 100 people showed up and they loved it. And we're going to be like, no selling from the stage. We're just going to bring in real investors from the community and we're going to teach. Because I told him, I said if, if I'm someone who sits in the audience and if I'm not getting like nitty gritty takeaways, like how to like details, then I just get so frustrated and I leave. Like, I don't want the hot air, I don't want the whatever. Like, I want you to really show me what. And so going to some of the meetups were so frustrating because they're just like, oh, here's like a little bit now by my course, right? And so that ended up growing up to like 200 people a month. And he goes, well, we don't have a conference in the Northwest and we need it, so we're going to create it. So we created an expo and then after a few years we decided to rebrand it with Ken McElroy as limitless financial Freedom Expo and then expand it to investing in general and entrepreneurship and the achieving financial freedom, the road, that road to success and not just real estate. And so that's how that came about.
Jaron Suster
That's amazing. All because you guys started flipping houses, had experience that you could then teach others and then look what you're doing today. I mean, you guys are impacting thousands of lives and it is.
Serena Norris
We had a need.
Jaron Suster
Really cool.
Serena Norris
We had a need. We didn't see it there. And if you need, say like people listening, if, if there is a need in your community and any that you need, there's other investors that probably need the same thing. That's an opportunity. If you, if, if you want to start something yourself, go out, fill that need for yourself, people will follow.
Jaron Suster
I love it. So you help people who invest in real estate, people who flip, build out systems and optimize what they do. Where can folks get a hold of you if they want to work with you? And I'll just. Here's a quick plug. I wouldn't even, didn't even plan this, but our team personally worked with Serena, actually not even on the flipping side, a different part of my business. And it was fantastic. So I wouldn't have had her on the show today. If she sucked. So with her not sucking, she's, I'm joking. But she's absolutely fantastic at what she does. And so I just want to give people the opportunity to be able to holler at you should they want help, you know, building out a flipping business.
Serena Norris
Yeah, absolutely. Best place to find me is definitely on my Instagram and go ahead and send me a dm. It's at Serena Claire and I'm sure the link will be in the show notes hopefully. And then from there, you know, link you can schedule a call. And I just love helping, helping people at any sort of point in their business with flipping just don't make the same mistakes we did. Right.
Jaron Suster
Well, you can see it, you've done. It's got to be. It's like riding a bike. It's like you figured it out, you know how to put the puzzle goes together and so you're, you're able to help so many people. Serena, thanks for being on the show today. I really appreciate it. I always love hanging out with you and keep crushing it.
Serena Norris
Thanks, Jaron.
Jaron Suster
Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of the Rich Dad Real Estate show where we talked about the good news and bad news Real Estate with Serena Norris. Again, if you have not grabbed my free ebook on how to buy your first investment properties down the show notes, go click the link absolutely free. It's going to help you get started in 2025, which is a pivotal year for buying investment real estate. Thanks for tuning in. I'll see you guys next week.
Serena Norris
This podcast is a presentation of Rich Dad Media Network.
Ryan Seacrest
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Podcast Summary: From Side Hustle to Real Estate Success: Proven Tips from Serena Norris
Episode Details:
In this insightful episode, host Jaron Suster welcomes Serena Norris, a distinguished real estate expert with nearly a decade of experience in house flipping. Known as the "systems queen," Serena has played a pivotal role in optimizing operations within her ventures and the renowned Limitless Conference. Her journey from a graphic designer to a successful real estate investor offers valuable lessons for both novices and seasoned investors.
Serena begins by sharing her unconventional path into real estate. Initially pursuing a career in graphic design and marketing, she realized she desired more control over her life and financial future. A transformative moment occurred while she was bartending in Hawaii, where she read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. This book ignited her interest in real estate as a means to achieve financial freedom.
“I was literally at the laundromat drying my clothes and it all clicked into my head how much real estate's been a part of my life since I was little and that would be the vehicle that I could get to where I was going and the goals I wanted to achieve.” (02:00)
Despite having no prior connections in the real estate industry, Serena took proactive steps by obtaining her real estate license online and relocating back to Washington. Two days after her move, she met her mentor, Tarl Yarber, at her cousin's wedding—a serendipitous encounter that would shape her career trajectory.
A significant portion of the conversation delves into the critical role of systems in business operations. Serena emphasizes that effective systems transform chaos into order, enabling scalability and efficiency.
“The best systems and the ones that we've kept from day one are the simplest systems and, and processes and they work and that's why people follow them.” (14:33)
Starting as Tarl’s assistant, Serena began organizing information, creating centralized data repositories, and designing straightforward processes like lockbox code sheets. These systems were crucial in managing multiple properties simultaneously, preventing bottlenecks, and ensuring seamless operations.
Serena shares personal challenges, including the loss of close friends at a young age, which profoundly impacted her perspective on life and risk-taking. She discusses how embracing a proactive mindset helped her overcome fears associated with real estate investing.
“If I fail, so what? I'm just going to pivot, do something else.” (12:36)
By focusing on manageable steps and maintaining resilience, Serena was able to navigate the uncertainties of real estate investing and encourage others to do the same.
As Serena and Tarl's business grew, they recognized the necessity of expanding their team. This expansion highlighted existing gaps in their systems, prompting further refinement and enhancement.
“We need to organize information... setting your systems up, your business up, where you can be proactive and less reactive.” (16:53)
They adopted a decentralized command structure, allowing team members to take ownership of their roles. This strategy facilitated scalability, enabling them to handle an increasing number of deals without sacrificing quality or efficiency.
Serena explains the origin of the Limitless Conference, which was born out of a need for quality real estate education in the Northwest. Tarl’s initiative to create original content rather than relying on ineffective local meetups led to the establishment of a successful expo that evolved into a comprehensive event covering various aspects of investing and entrepreneurship.
“If there is a need in your community... That's an opportunity.” (28:48)
The conference grew organically, eventually partnering with industry leaders like Ken McElroy, thereby expanding its scope and impact.
Towards the end of the episode, Serena offers actionable advice for both novice and experienced real estate investors:
“Never stop learning... don't forget that you have to also take the steps to get where you are today, too.” (22:15)
The episode with Serena Norris underscores the transformative power of systems, proactive risk-taking, and continuous personal development in achieving real estate success. Listeners are encouraged to implement these strategies to optimize their investments and build sustainable, scalable businesses.
For those interested in working with Serena or learning more about her methods, she can be reached via Instagram at @SerenaClaire, with contact details available in the show notes.
This comprehensive summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and strategic advice shared by Serena Norris on her journey from a side hustle to real estate success. It provides actionable takeaways for listeners looking to venture into real estate investing, emphasizing the importance of systems, personal growth, and strategic planning.