I believe that this business is very focused on relations. That’s one of the things that I believe that is the key. And also get a very strong team that support all your operation. That is very important to getting more knowledge. And you can learn a lot of things with the experience that others investors have in different areas. This business is not the easiest business in the world, but definitely is something that can change life if you know how to do it.

What do you think separates someone just getting into it or calling themselves a real estate investor from the top operators? What do you think separates them?

The team. For me, it’s the team and how ambitious and proactive you can be in the industry. I believe that the integrity, because this is a business where you’re going to see a lot of money and some people are not prepared to be good.

Welcome back, Ornella. Great to have you on. I know you’re doing a bunch of developments. I want to ask you, how did you get into real estate to begin with?

Well, basically I’m from Colombia. When I arrived to this country, I have this situation that I didn’t know what will be my path on states, right? So I decide to make a master degree in project management. I didn’t know at that point that that was a master for civil engineers. So when I finished that process to get my master, everybody requires that I have a bunch of experience to be engaged in a company or something like that. That wasn’t my case because in my past, I never have been involved in things like this, like investment or things like that. So sometimes I say that I’m accidentally a real estate investor and developer as well. So I discovered the investment things. I started doing feeds and fleets. That was my first year. But at some point I discovered that I could do a new construction and here I am doing a lot of new constructions.

Awesome. And what was your life like before real estate investing?

I was a director of nonprofit organizations, so way, way different. Very different. Yes. I was involved in social causes in Colombia. That’s what I love to do. And that was my life in a third world country.

Gotcha. Gotcha. And what does your business look like today?

Well, right now, especially this year, it’s getting bigger. We are doing a lot of expansion to, as I mentioned, right now we are working not just only in Texas, that is my base. Right now we are a open market to Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas. The Carolinas, how we say. Right now I have a holding. I have my own construction company. I have my company that do the acquisition. And also I have an academy that, especially to Hispanic community, how to do new construction and development. And I’m creating a fun and fun. So basically that’s how my company looks six years later.

Awesome. Awesome. What was the main problem that you were trying to solve, whether in the industry or in your personal life when you started your business?

Money. Basically it was money. And also it was very difficult and still being difficult, but I’m a woman. I’m an immigrant. I’m tiny. I’m not so tall. So this is basically like a male’s world where I’m involved. And it’s very difficult to get a name, especially because I didn’t have any money when I started my business. Probably no experience, no knowledge. And probably that was my main struggle at some point.

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Do you mind sharing maybe one or two key strategies that have made the biggest impact in your business over the last year?

So basically start to make the tapping with different community of investors because not only for the network, I believe that this business is very focused on relations. That’s one of the things that I believe that is the key. And also get a very strong team that support all your operation. I’m trying to be surround of a lot of people that be more expert than I am, smarter. And I believe that that is the success that I have right now at this point. So yes.

Gotcha. So a lot of being around other investors, learning from other investors, a lot of mastermind groups, that kind of thing is really what’s pushed you to the next level this year.

Yes. That’s what I think. You need to get … I mean, I believe that real estate is a whole world and I believe that nobody going to end and get to know everything about this industry. So for me, that is very important to be getting more knowledge and you can learn a lot of things with the experience that others investors have in different areas. So yes, for me, that is very important.

Yeah. I don’t know if you know Ricardo Rosales in Houston area, but I’ll definitely make an intro. I think you guys would enjoy a conversation. But what do you see real estate investors making mistake-wise that you think could be easily avoided?

Well, I believe that, well, according to my experience, I believe that at the beginning could be the lack of knowledge, right knowledge. Some people say that, no, it’s enough with the information that I’m getting into YouTube. It’s not. It’s not. I mean, it’s very short. Another thing is the team. If you don’t know the team or you don’t have, that takes a lot of time, a lot of time to get your dream team. And other thing is that probably people don’t believe in themselves. I mean, this business is not the easiest business in the world, but definitely it’s something that can change life if you know how to do it. So yes, those three parts.

Okay. When it came, I know you said the first year you did fix and flip and then you got into full on new construction. What made you take this switch and what have you found to be different from fix and flip to just straight new construction?

Well, my first year was intense because I decided to buy 19 houses. That was wild, but that was like a whole university that’s what I say. I learned a lot of things during that process, how to create teams, how to raise capital, how to structure companies, everything, everything. So everything wasn’t perfect at the beginning. I lose a lot of money, but then I say, I’m taking a lot of risk. I want to do my first house. And then I make the connection with one lender that say, “Okay, okay, Ardela, you don’t have experience doing houses, but I’m going to let you make your first one.” And I start to make that and learn the interior process, how to make a house. I got in love because it’s very different. The reward that you have when you do a new construction is less risky. You can have higher returns doing that all is old.

I mean, I don’t like old houses anymore, just historical ones. That’s the only way that you can see me doing an investment is because it’s a historic gem or something like that. But right now, I love to do new construction. That’s what I like to do.

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Again, that’s 10xtv.co. In real estate investing specifically, there’s a lot of people that call themselves real estate investors and then there’s high operators. What do you think separates someone just getting into it or calling themselves a real estate investor from the top operators? What do you think separates them?

The team. For me, it’s the team and how ambitious and proactive you can be in the industry. As I mentioned, my background is, I mean, you can realize that if you want, you can. Right now, I’m a big producer doing what I’m doing and I’m glad, but sometimes it’s the fear behind of how to … I’m going to lose a million dollars. You never have a million dollars. So try it. Try it. Try it. And if you lose it, that was my experience at the beginning. I lose a lot of money to learn what I know right now. You can make it again. You are in a particular industry that that is possible, that you can make it. So that’s what I think.

Yeah. What’s your team look like right now? How many people? How are you formed right now?

Well, it depends. I have a different teams. Team for marketing, things for the operators of my phone, my crew. And it’s a lot of people. Right now, I don’t know how many people I have under my belt, but they are big. Big enough to do what I’m doing.

Awesome. When it comes to hiring, I feel like a lot of people are afraid to hire, especially their first hire. What would you say to someone that’s afraid to hire that first person and what would you recommend someone to hire out first?

It depends. For me, sometimes people believe that they believe that you need to have a lot of academic background. But in my experience, some people that have a lot of academic background not necessarily be the most talent person that you want to hire. I prefer to hire people that have experience and have a great structure and be willing to take the risk with me because I’m at very risk. I love to take risks. I like to play big. So sometimes if you don’t have the same vision, it’s going to be very difficult that your team support your operation. And another thing, I believe that the integrity, because this is a business where you’re going to see a lot of money and some people are not prepared to see all that money. And for me, that is important. And another part for me is that people believe in God.

I know that can sound … Sometimes people say that in business, you can speak about that. I believe in that a lot. And I am seeing in my entire career and how I develop my company. So for me, that is important too. So basically these three things.

Yeah. And the best part about being your own boss is people could say whatever they want and you get the chance to listen to it or not. So when it comes to the culture is kind of what I heard takeaway from what you were just talking about is the culture. I mean, it seems like you care more about the culture and if they’re going to fit in with you on a culture basis, almost maybe more than the experience sometimes. Would you say that’s true?

What about the culture? My culture in the company or my culture as a Colombian or as I mean-

I would say in the company, but it could be both. But I was speaking more towards the culture in the company and the belief. And you spoke about having a big risk tolerance and mindset of that. So that kind of culture, does that play a big impact in that?

Of Course, because I always believe that you need, not just for the industry, for every aspect in your life, you have to try to get a right mindset. I don’t expect that my employees be my employees forever. I want that they be leaders at some point. And I always try to make them grow and inspirate them. I want that they be a big achiever. That’s right now my role in the company, and that is the culture that I want to implement in my environment because I say that right now I’m creating an entire ecosystem for the investments. So yes, for me, it’s important that they have the right mindset. Awesome. The attitude and take action.

Yeah. When it comes to the word success, everyone has their own definition for it. Everyone strives to it differently. How do you define the word success for yourself and how do you strive for that every day?

Well, yes, I know most of the people believe that the success is to have a lot of money. In this industry, it’s easier to have these big numbers in your account, but that doesn’t mean that you are success. For me, success is like, as I mentioned, the entire environment that surrounds you. My family, my economy, of course, because it’s important. People say that, “No, the money is not even…” It is. It is because with money, you can have a lot of great experience with your family, with your relative, with your friends. So yes. But another thing that I say is create a great relations with the people that you are surround. For me, that is the success. And have a great health, a great relationship with something that you believe. And that is, for me, the definition of success in my terms.

Awesome. What are you seeing to be the biggest challenges in real estate that you’re seeing right now?

Well, a lot. People are scared because we have to remember that most of the population don’t have assets to the information or the knowledge that we have. So these past years have been a little bit scary for the investors because people are not buying too much as they buy in the past. So right now it’s just adjust the strategy. I always say switch the strategy. All the time, I try to analyze every type of project, not only for the numbers that I run at all times. So I always create obvious scenarios. And if the ugliest scenario works, I go ahead. So that is great. Some people say that, “Oh no, these past years have been so ugly and scary and everything.” I say, “No, it’s very great.” Because if we can survive through this difficult time at this point, continue getting great numbers, making that metamorphosis all the time to be adapted to the new challenges that all the time we have.

I say, imagine when everything going come, because this is not going to be forever. So it’s going to be twice, three times. I don’t know.

Yeah. Yeah, for sure. If you can make it in this business now, I mean, when it gets back to calm, I mean, it’s going to be- It’s

Going to be the best.

Oh yeah, For sure. For sure. If you were to start from scratch today, you keep your knowledge and everything you’ve accumulated over the past couple years, but the business goes away entirely and you were going to restart, what would you focus on first?

Relationations. That’s the way how you can build empower real estate through relationations and knowledge. That’s it.

That’s awesome. Yeah. I think you’re the first person that said that I’ve asked that too. That’s awesome. What would you say people would be surprised to learn about yourself?

I don’t know. I’m a big surprise. Sometimes I’m surprised of myself. So I believe that the most surprising things of me is that I can reinvent all the time. Sometimes I recognize myself through difficult things and I say, “Oh my God, you have this big reinvention will.” That’s why I say that is my big thing in everything that I do. And sometimes I surprise myself. I surprise myself. I’m a surprise for everybody.

That’s awesome. What drives you to keep innovating and keep pushing to be the best you can be in the space?

Myself and my kids. It’s not just the money at some point. I want that they see that it’s possible to achieve big things even when you don’t see a clear path. It’s important for me that they know how to dream and they know how to take actions and have a lot of faith and don’t pay attention with the opinion of the others because sometimes you surround yourself and people say like, “No, you can do that. That is impossible.” Especially for my culture is like what she’s talking about. Right now, I’m glad that I never listen those things because if I haven’t, probably I don’t be where I am right now.

Yeah, that’s awesome. Who has been the biggest influence or mentor for you in this space?

I can say that is Robert Shemin is one of my biggest mentor in this area. Also, one of my best friends that is a Jewish developer as well. He have been side by side with me. He knows more of this industry that I know at this point probably. All the time he have been to my side and say like, “Oh my God, you need to do it. ” Keep strolling. You can do it. You can do it. And yes, probably these two guys. But I always learn of everybody that I get in front, but that is my big influence in real estate.

Awesome. Awesome.

And as a developer, probably me because I don’t know nobody. I don’t know another woman that is doing this.

That’s Awesome. Awesome. Cool. Well, thank you so much for coming on. Where can people find more about you? Where can people learn? I know you said you teach, especially the Hispanic community, how to be a developer. Where can people learn more about you?

Well, I have an academy. The name is Power Builders Academy. And also my construction company, if they require an operator. So it’s Bona Construction. And my social media is in Instagram. In Berciones Con Ordella is Hispanic, but yes. So through that.

Awesome. Awesome. Cool. Any final advice or anything that you would say to an investor that’s trying to learn and grow?

Well, the take actions and learn a lot and create big teams and let’s do it. Just do it. Yes.

Awesome. Thank you so much for coming on. Thank you all for watching and we’ll see you next time.

Thank you very much. Have a good one.