Are Successful Businesswomen Bad Mothers?

Sean Weisbrot: Brittany Fairweather is the Chief Business Development Officer of TRX Capital, a real estate lending firm. In this episode, we talk about authenticity and what it's like being an entrepreneur while having kids and including your kids in your business, and how your partners and your clients, and your employees. View you and communicate with you based on having kids in the business or not having kids. And we talked about her experience, um, being a woman in business and some of the hardships she's faced. I know you're gonna like this episode, it's 180 2. We are getting so close to the 200 mark and I'm looking forward to it. Brittany. What's it like being a woman in business for you?

Brittney Fairweather: So, um, we're in real estate lending. It's a very male dominated industry. Um, so it's very much, um, a constant justification for our seat at the table. Uh, we are a minority and woman owned company. Our C-suite is almost entirely women. And, um, we on a regular basis, um. Commiserate, if you will, on, on, on, on the conversations we have on a regular basis with other men in our business who expect us to be support roles, uh, who expect us to actually get coffee. Um, and there is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with, um, with. With the need for support staff and, um, we all have that. But, uh, it's interesting that we've been in this business for 15 years and we still get the questions of, okay, well, are you gonna go get me my coffee? Or, you know, where's your boss? Um, and it's, no, no, I'm the boss. This is, this is my company. This is what we do. Um, so it's, it's a lot of justifying why we're here. Um, and once people, once people know. Our story, it speaks for itself, but we do, we do get that on a regular basis.

Sean Weisbrot: Did you have an experience earlier in life that led you to believe you would encounter this? Or was it a shock to you when you, when you experienced it as a business owner?

Brittney Fairweather: It still shocks me. It still shocks me today that we get this on a regular basis and we are constantly faced with justifying why we're here and justifying why we're not at home or justifying why. We have someone else to help us pick up the kids. Um, and I actually heard someone, a woman in business, um, say the other day, if you are a successful business owner and you are a mother, someone else is raising your children. Uh, and I was really offended by that because I feel like we can still. Do that, we can still fulfill the maternal nurturing role that we have with our gender and with our societal norms, but we can still be, you know, really strong women in business, strong entrepreneurs, strong business owners, and, and I feel like it makes us, um, more approachable and I feel like it makes us more successful in certain areas of the business because we approach things with a. Solution-based mindset as opposed to why we are only right and why this is the only right way, but it still surprises me on a regular basis. Um, and I grew up in this business. I grew up early on in my career and so I was constantly faced with it then and still faced with it now.

Sean Weisbrot: Is there a specific reason why you chose to have, uh, mostly only women in the business.

Brittney Fairweather: I mean, we have men. We have men in our business, so our, one of our co-founders is a man. Um, our original founder of our very first company was a man, and we just, the reason why we feel like this. Environment suits us is because we are like-minded. It's not so much that we're women, we're all parents, we're all, um, in similar walks of life and we can support each other, um, in what we are going through in our personal lives as much as we can in our professional lives. And because we really end up being more like a family with the amount of time that we work together. And, uh, are communicating with one another. That's, that's really more important. It's not necessarily the woman aspect of our, of our leadership, um, but really the, the, the, the similar walks of life, similar, um, path that we're all facing.

Sean Weisbrot: Is there something specific about being a parent that you think makes someone a better entrepreneur or a better employee?

Brittney Fairweather: Uh, I, I don't think there's something that makes it better or worse. I think it's just a different. Um, it's a different mindset. It's a different way of problem solving. It's a different way of communicating. You learn a lot as a parent. You learn a lot about how to negotiate with tiny terrorists in your home on a regular basis, you know, and how to kind of have some of that balance and give and take. Um, but there are definitely roles where we have individuals in our company that aren't parents. Um, and, and I think it's just really focusing on who we hire, what their life experience has been, and, and figuring out what, what role they're best suited for. So being a parent doesn't make you any better or worse as an entrepreneur, as a business owner, I think it just gives you a different skillset. That other people don't have. Um, with, with real life experiences on, on sacrifice, um, and uh, and drive and motivation.

Sean Weisbrot: So I don't have any kids myself, and I have friends and business partners and co-founders that I work with that do have kids. I. And I've had this conversation a number of times and what it seems like is when you don't have kids, you have all the time that you want to focus on running the business, but having the kids means you have far less time. And so it makes you more efficient because you have less time to get things done.

Brittney Fairweather: Absolutely, definitely. Um, a different level of prioritizing, time blocking, and really just being super efficient and effective with the time that you do have.

Sean Weisbrot: That's why when I was hiring people with my last business, I, I didn't like make it a requirement that they were married and had kids, but I found that people who were married and had kids would be a lot more stable. They were less likely to disappear or to quit and find a better opportunity because they were focused on making sure that they could provide for their family in a way that was stable. And so, oh.

Brittney Fairweather: Yeah, you

Sean Weisbrot: knew that you were gonna get kind of, uh, more consistency out of them.

Brittney Fairweather: Yeah. I think you have the, the perception of, of longer, of longevity with, with that employee or with that particular hire. And you are right, they are, um, less likely to, um, make career changes on a whim or, you know, um, but yeah, I would agree with that.

Sean Weisbrot: I find not having kids to be quite freeing in a way. Like I'm, I wanna have kids, but I am divorced, so I didn't have the opportunity, well, we didn't have the opportunity to have kids. Um, but I was talking to someone the other day and I was saying like, oh yeah, I'm gonna be going to this place and then this place and this place. And they're like, oh, it must be nice. You could just kind of pick up and go wherever you want, whenever you want, and you don't have to worry about like, packing for a kid or carrying them and, and, uh, planning around their needs and, uh. I was like, yeah, you know, there's something nice about that, but I think you could still have that with kids. Have you tried to travel with your kids?

Brittney Fairweather: I travel with my kids all the time. Yeah. Uh, it takes a lot more planning. Yeah. So I am, um, I had children when I was in my early twenties, and then I had a second pair literally in my, uh, in my early thirties. And I have traveled with all four of them, um, from the time they were infants. I traveled across the country with them during COVID in an rv. Um. To get to my team in California, uh, to be able to work in person when we couldn't fly. Um, I haven't traveled internationally with my children yet. Um, that's a, that's something that I haven't quite wanted to wrestle with. But I do travel with my kids. Um, I've taken them with me to conferences and events. Um, and, and kept them with me there. And they've come down and I actually had my 14, who's now 14, my son, um, was in the restaurant of a conference that I was attending and he was having a conversation with my mom who was there, um, helping me watch 'em while I was working. And they sat down and we were in a, it was a conference venue, so there was everyone that was there for the most part were for the event, for the conference. And so these two men walked over to the table where my mom and my son were sitting. I'm like, what are you got? What are you doing here? Everyone who is here for the conference And my son stood up and he is like, this is my mom. This is what she does. She's, she's been in this business, this was her company. And he was telling my whole story to these two gentlemen. And then I ended up meeting them later in the evening and they told me about the story and how they met. I hadn't, I hadn't met them yet. And uh, and they told me this whole story about how my son was out there pitching our company and telling them all about what we did. And I think that makes really well-rounded humans. Um, I think they, they see a lot of the struggle that we have. They see a lot of the sacrifices that we make for them to give them the life that we do give them. And, uh, I think personally that it makes, it makes them well-rounded and, and really awesome little, little humans.

Sean Weisbrot: I think it's great when kids can be included in, you know, your business. I have, uh, experienced myself with my dad being a dentist, so I would, you know, be a part of his business when I was a kid. And I don't know how much, uh, financially I contributed by being around, but I know people really appreciated me. And, um, I got an opportunity to talk to tons of adults and, uh, I got to learn. How to, like, I, I just got to learn about them, you know, their, their names and their stories. And, you know, later on I ended up working with him when I was an adult. And, you know, some of these people I recognized from when I was a kid. Um, and some of them were new, but, you know, the, my coworkers, uh, and my dad were always fascinated by how I remembered everything about every person I came across. Um, I think I, I may have learned that skill from being really young and just being able to talk to, you know, hundreds and hundreds of people every year, um, just by being there. And, uh, I interviewed a guy probably in 2023, I think, or probably about a year ago, and he is running, uh, an agency and a software company, and his kid is like doing sales, a kid's like nine years old and he is doing sales for the business. And I thought that that was really fascinating that he was including him in the business, that the kid understood what his dad was doing for work and, and that he was interested in it and, and able to contribute, like legitimately closing clients for the business.

Brittney Fairweather: That's awesome.

Sean Weisbrot: He, he's like going, I think he was like doing linked uh, LinkedIn, cold DMing. And booking calls and getting on the phone and talking to clients like these are, these are companies that are seven, eight figure brands, and he is just like on the phone pitching them the business.

Brittney Fairweather: That's hugely valuable because especially in, in our society and in our world now where everything is virtual. I mean, I live in Pennsylvania where we get snow and we had like. Dusting the other day and they called off school, right? Because they can, because the kids can do school virtually now. Um, but in, in, in a world where, where you can be and do anything from behind the screen, I think it's so important for the kids to be able to have that firsthand experience of talking to people and getting out there and getting, uh, having, you know, uncomfortable conversations from the perspective of the fact that they're a child talking to an adult. But it gives them valuable life lessons that even schools don't teach. Um. And maybe colleges would, would really educate, um, and provide some of that skillset. So

Sean Weisbrot: I think the more important thing to think about is having adults being willing to talk to kids like they're, they're not kids. Um, I. Like, when I was in college, I was part of a, a group that, well, it was like, alright, it was a religious group and the person in charge had a number of kids, like many, many kids, and these kids literally grew up around co students. They're like, you know, 3, 4, 5, 6 years old, and they're talking to college students all day long. And so when you talk to them, they, they're like, you know, little kids, but they talk like they're adults. And it's because the students that they come across are willing to communicate with them. I've, I've remember being a kid and people, some people. Tried to include me as if I was there and other people were like, oh, he is a kid. Just like, you know, don't, but it would be on me. I'd be like, yeah, I want you to include me. Why are, you know, just because I'm I'm a kid doesn't mean I can't add value to this conversation or whatever. Or at least just let me sit here and listen to you talk. Um, there was something that my, my parents remind me of, uh, all the time that I, when I was a kid, I used to approach strangers and ask them for coins to throw into the fountain at the mall. To make wishes and like they would give me money. So, um, so I, yeah, maybe not anymore. Maybe parents wouldn't let their kids do this now, but at least back then, um, I, I feel like there was a lot of opportunity for kids to do that. I, I remember as well, I pre-industrial era, uh, farmers were having a number of kids because they would basically get free labor. So it feels like in, in the same way now, it's just, you know, pitching your B2B SaaS or pitching your fund or whatever it is, with, you know, if your kid's involved, you're essentially using them. Uh, you're giving them the opportunity to learn your business and to, to learn different skills and at the same time you get, you know, labor.

Brittney Fairweather: Yeah.

Sean Weisbrot: In a way

Brittney Fairweather: I, um, when my son, my oldest is 14, when he wants to earn extra money when he. Wants to get a new snowboarding pass or whatever it is that he happens to want that's not a birthday or a Christmas or whatever, you know, I make him work for it. And, um, so I have an extra computer and if I have, I have deals that come in. I have logged him into our CRM, taught him how to do the data entry and put things together. Taught him how to look up, you know, Google, Zillow, mine, uh, what he can from public records online and fill in spreadsheets for me. And I mean, that's stuff that hopefully will help him in life, uh, at some point. And he's not gonna really learn that in, in, in high school anymore. I, I remember learning Excel in high school and they don't even teach that stuff anymore.

Sean Weisbrot: You learned Excel in high school?

Brittney Fairweather: I took commuter classes in high school.

Sean Weisbrot: Okay. I'm not gonna ask you to, to date yourself. Um, I, maybe it was end

Brittney Fairweather: of high school.

Sean Weisbrot: I didn't have that opportunity, but I was involved in a networking class. It was like this invite only class. So the, the, the guy who ran it was, uh, the teacher of vb, uh, virtual basic and c plus plus classes. Yeah. And you would have to go through both of those classes. So it's like two years. And then he would have to invite you. And the, the purpose of the class was to make sure that the network of computers ran smoothly. We had 1400 computers in our network and so we were this elite class of like 10. And we would run around the school fixing the computers and ghosting the computers to make sure that there was any problems that, you know, we would take care of them. Um, and that was a really cool experience and it also taught me that I did not wanna work in it.

Brittney Fairweather: Yeah, my, my computer class has also taught me the same. I was not really interested in that. I became very good friends with the woman who taught my computer class, actually, I was her nanny for a while and, and even more working with her and seeing how much she got calls, craziest times for down servers that were down and, and all kinds of craziness, having to get in and, and do all that. But

Sean Weisbrot: so. Our goal is to kind of talk about authenticity. So we've talked about kind of giving people opportunities, especially kids, um, and like having kids be around. Do you think people like prospects or, or existing clients or potential business partners, do they. Look at you like, wow, that's incredible. You're involving your kid. Or do they feel like, oh, well you can't afford a per, you know, an adult to do this job. Like, how do you think people look at you in terms of authenticity in that regard?

Brittney Fairweather: It's both ways. A thousand percent. I get both responses. I mean, there are some individuals that I work with that think I should palm that job off to a nanny or whatever the case may be. And don't get me wrong, I have an amazing babysitter who does a lot for my family. But there are some things that, that, to our point, to our goal about talking about authenticity that I want to do for my children, with my children as a mother, as their mother, and the role model for them that I will never pawn off, um, unless there was an absolute need that couldn't be. Pushed off for an hour. Um, so I, I get, I get both sides of that coin. I do get people who respect the boundaries that I set and I say, if you wanna talk to me at this particular time, like I'll answer your phone call, but I'm gonna be giving my kids a bath, or I'm gonna be in the middle of, of, um, of getting them ready for dinner or driving them to hockey or whatever the case may be. I am available 99% of the time and will and will always. Um, preface that when I get on the phone with someone, I say, I'm willing to answer. I'm willing to be available to you, especially because I'm in the business development and the sales role. Um, and that's the, you know, that's the walk of life that I've chosen and I realize and understand that there's an availability that I have to be able to provide that other operational roles might not need to be, uh, be in that same demand. And I, so I find that I either get people who understand the boundary and respect my authenticity and respect the fact that, you know, I'll answer, but I'm gonna be a little bit preoccupied. Uh, and I get other people who, who definitely, you know, turn their nose up to it a little and say, well, why don't you just have someone else do that? Or I'm more important. Um, and to be honest, now, at this point in, in my career, I've been doing this for over 15 years. If that's gonna be their attitude, I don't really think they're the right client for us.

Sean Weisbrot: Yeah, I agree. This happened to me a few days ago, actually. Someone was asking me questions. It was like, you know, midday Sunday, and I don't work on the weekends, but like if someone sends me a message, I'll just be like, Hey, how's it going? And he was like, oh, let me ask you some questions. I'm like, here's the link to book a call with me. I'm happy to talk with you tomorrow. I have some slots available. And he got pissed and he didn't, and he was like, all right. And then like two days later he booked a call.

Brittney Fairweather: Yeah.

Sean Weisbrot: Because I was like, yeah, sorry. If you, if you have a service, sorry, it's for Sunday,

Brittney Fairweather: right? If you have a service and you, or you have a, a product and that, that is valuable and that is needed, um, people might initially be put off by your boundaries. Um, but they will, they will come back and, and most of the time I've found that they end up appreciating that. Um, and I've started to notice that people in general have, um, adjusted. I would say to, to that, um, maybe it's because I'm older now in my career. Maybe it's because, um, I'm better about,

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Brittney Fairweather: initially. Being genuine with what my life looks like outside of my career. Um, but I've noticed that people have started to be like, Hey, I understand if you're not around on a Sunday, but if you happen to be, can we jump on a call or, I understand if you're not working today 'cause it's Martin Luther King and your King Day and your kids are off school. But if you're around, could we jump on a call? If not, tomorrow's fine. So I've started to notice, literally this happened over this past weekend. I started to notice that, um, that people are more receptive to that and they're also the people that I wanna work with now. Those are people that, um, and, and most of them are older than me and they're like, listen, it goes fast. Enjoy it. Like, so they're kind of coming up into their, you know, mentorship, uh, years, right? And they're, you know, saying, enjoy the extra couple of hours that you're gonna take. Really in my line of work, nothing is that urgent, that it can't wait for me to finish a couple of hours of, of quality time. With my family.

Sean Weisbrot: Fair enough. Yeah. I had another, uh, guy come to me. We had had a call before and he needed to do some more work before he'd be ready to move forward with me. And he, he was like, I'm pretty sure it's like late evening for you. I'm just gonna send this message anyways, but like, you don't respond until tomorrow. Like, no big deal. It's fine. Um, and I didn't respond. I read it, but I didn't respond and. So I responded this morning, but, but yeah, I, I think I, I guess you're just working domestically with Americans?

Brittney Fairweather: Yes, for the most part. We have international investors, but the assets that we work with are all, um, US based.

Sean Weisbrot: Okay. Yeah. 'cause I get people messaging me from all over, because I'm working with e-commerce brands, people that are buying from China. Mm-hmm. So I'm dealing with people in China and other countries in Asia, like Singapore, Hong Kong, um, uh, Thailand. But then I'm also getting people from the European Union and people from the, you know, US, Canada, um, Mexico messaging me. So I, I have to be available, right. So like, I try my best, but at the same time, like I'll just respond when I have a chance.

Brittney Fairweather: Yeah.

Sean Weisbrot: And people are generally willing to accept that and I don't have to go, you know, or actually, what was it? I, uh, someone had said, Hey, can we get on a call? And I was like, yeah, but it's gonna have to wait an hour 'cause I just want to get lunch real fast. And they're like, all right, fair enough. Have your lunch right.

Brittney Fairweather: Trust me, you don't wanna talk to me when I'm angry. So,

Sean Weisbrot: yeah, I, I remember talking with someone. Yeah, I, I was advising someone last year and his pricing was really low and people weren't converting. And I think they weren't converting because his pricing was too low. I felt like they couldn't understand the value because he wasn't charging enough for them to go, oh, I, okay, I get it. And so I tried to get him to do that and he is like, uh, I'm afraid of losing my existing clients. 'cause I was saying you should start by increasing your current, you know, customers to, to pay more. And then anyone new that comes on. You know, you charge them that amount as well. And I said, look, if you, if you just tell these people, Hey look, you know, I, I know you've been using the service for X number of months. Here's whatever. I hope you've been enjoying it. For me to be able to continue to develop new features and provide high quality service for you, I need to increase my price. And, you know, if you're willing to do that, uh, if you're willing to pay me for a year upfront, I'll give you 10% off. And then, you know, the year after, or, or even I'll, I'll give you 50% off, whatever, just like. To keep them happy. Mm-hmm. And, and he is like, why would they do that? He's like, why wouldn't they just tell me to go away and, and, you know, find another person. I go, you may have some people that'll go away, but screw 'em if they only cared about the price anyways. And those people probably come

Brittney Fairweather: back.

Sean Weisbrot: Right. And when they come back, you charge 'em full price,

Brittney Fairweather: not the 10% discount.

Sean Weisbrot: No. 'cause they walked away. So they, they stopped being a customer. So they don't get that, that, you know. Uh, special deal, but I, I said to him, you know the point being, if you communicate with them about your needs, you go, if, if you are willing to help me on this, then I can help you then, you know, generally they're willing to do that. There was a, another guy I interviewed who was in debt, 3 million with his business, and he turned around and turned it into, last year they did 70 million in revenue. And the thing that changed was he was having people postpay, and when he did that, he wasn't able to grow the business. He had one client that was, that could potentially pay him like half a million a month, um, in, in services. And he went to him and he is like, look, I. I would love to be able to keep working with you, but the way it's going now, I'm struggling. If you prepay, I can grow my business very easily and continue to serve you, are you willing to help me do that? And he was like, yeah, sure, no problem. And so just off the back of that, he was able to grow the business to, you know, out of debt and, and to eight figures in revenue at yearly. And so, yeah, I've, I've seen it. Um. A lot as well. Like I've had people try to get me to negotiate on my pricing when I was doing consulting, um, in a, a previous business, and I was like, look, this is the fee for me to be able to provide you the service. If you don't like that fee, I'm happy to introduce you to someone who's willing to work for the price you're able to pay. But if you want me to help you do this, this is the money that I need to be able to provide that service at a high quality standard. The difference between me and those other people is that I'm super attentive to detail and you know what you're going to get. I never lie. I document everything. I'm super transparent. And if that's what you want, that's what you're gonna pay for. If you don't want that, yeah, no worries. And I got people to, you know, pay me a hundred percent upfront for the work I was gonna do because of that. It wasn't like, oh, you know, 10% now and then 25%, you know, at this point. And then, no, it was like, you want me to get the work done? Pay me now. And they're like, okay. So when, when you are willing to show your personality and show the value you bring, then absolutely. And if authenticity is part of that, then people are are generally willing to trust you.

Brittney Fairweather: Yeah. And, and, and not only to, you mentioned a little bit about the, the honesty and the trustworthiness. I mean, that's, that goes into to authenticity. You know, if we, we, we are a lender, you know, that's our business. We're a lender, um, an equity provider, a capital provider, and if our cost of capital increases, we, we have to pass that cost off. In, in part, to our clients as well and to the people that are borrowing from us. And, and by, by explaining that and, and educating them on where the industry is going or why the cost of capital is increasing, or the other services that we're able to provide over, uh, another competitor. That goes into that authenticity, that goes into that honesty and trustworthiness. And it's not that there's an increase in, you know, our margin at all. It's really just that we have to pass on the additional cost to us. There are other things that we do as a service related industry, business as a lender that we, that we don't make a margin on at all and, and a lot of other people do. And so when you are genuine and honest and kind of. Open the kimono a little bit and explain the business strategy behind why something's changing. People, people feel there's validation there and they continue to trust and they stay. And that's what I have found, um, is that when you have that, whether that, that authenticity be who you are as a person, who you are outside of your, your career, uh, or, or just generally why things are changing in the industry and being very transparent with people. There's an appreciation there and you continue to have long lasting relationships and. 15 year clients that we've had, um, since we started.

Sean Weisbrot: Yeah, so one of the things I do, or the thing I do now is e-commerce consulting, but I. Most of what I'm doing is passing on my clients to referrals, right? People who can provide services that I don't provide. For example, I have a close friend who runs a third party logistics provider or third party logistics services out of China, so they do sourcing, purchasing, fulfillment, storage, and uh, packing, shipping, and all that. I can't do that. I don't wanna do it. That's his business. I'm gonna trust him to do it. So I may have a strategy call with a potential client, and I don't charge 'em for the call, and I give them advice for free. And if they're a fit for my friend's company as an example, then I'm going to introduce them and they're like, why are you helping me? Like, what you, you're not getting anything outta this? I go, well, if you work with my partner, then he's gonna give me a commission for work. You working with him? So if you work with him, great. If you don't work with him. You still get, you know, value from me and people appreciate that because generally my model is if I don't save you money, I don't get paid. Right? Because a lot of e-commerce brands, their focus is, how can I lower the cost of goods? How can I lower my payment processing fees? How can I get my shipping to be faster and cheaper, right? So everything is about how can I lower my cost because the margins in e-comm aren't really great. A lot of them. Um, but you can grow quickly with them. So, uh, so I was telling this to a potential referrer and he was like, this is such an incredible offer. I've never heard anyone say like, I'm gonna do this, and if I don't, you know, save you money, I'm not gonna get paid. And so he's like, let me run your ads, please. He's like, because I, you're gonna get so many calls from people. Just everyone wants to, you know, uh, improve your conversion rate. Everyone wants to manage your paid ads, but nobody wants to like lower your cost of goods. Nobody wants to, you know, reduce your overhead or streamline your supply chain. He's like, it's an incredible offer. You, you need to run ads for this. Like, you're gonna get, you know, millions of, of calls. He's like, please let me do this for you. He's like, I'm not even gonna charge you. He's like, but if you get a commission, if you make money, just give me a little commission. And, um, and people really appreciate that because when I talk to them, um. They're like, how do you get paid? Like, what, you know, where are you making money from this? It's like, well, if you work with my partner, I get paid. If you don't work with my partner, I don't get paid. They're like, all right, cool. They appreciate that.

Brittney Fairweather: Yeah,

Sean Weisbrot: and they like that. I'm not charging them.

Brittney Fairweather: Sure.

Sean Weisbrot: Yeah. So I I, I like that model.

Brittney Fairweather: Yeah, it makes sense. You're, you're providing value, even if it's not, uh, directly related to something that's gonna, that's gonna be your product or your immediate, um, you know, suite of services. And continuing to provide value is what makes you, um, uh, increase your value in other areas and, and grow your reputation and your industry and others as a, as a subject matter expert or a, you know, um, someone who really knows their industry. So.

Sean Weisbrot: Yeah, so you're doing real estate lending. Do you have a regulated fund or an unregulated fund, or is it not a fund at all?

Brittney Fairweather: Um, we are regulated, um, we are able to accept different investor classes based on different, um, net worth requirements. Um, and we are, um, based in California, so we go off of the, um, rules and regulations in the state of California.

Sean Weisbrot: I'm looking at starting a fund to invest in e-commerce brands right now, but probably based in, in the UK or Spain, somewhere. Is it difficult to set up a regulated fund?

Brittney Fairweather: I mean, there's financial audits and things like that that you have to go through. That's the biggest hurdle, really. Um, and, and there's a, a high upfront cost, I'm not sure about in the, in Europe or in any other country outside of the United States. But, um, it's really just, um, track record, uh, legal costs for organization and then the ongoing financial audits and things like that that, that, um, that we have to maintain. That are expensive, but it, you know, it opens up different types of investor classes that we can, that we can work with. Um, and it broadens, you know, the types of different loans that we can do because, you know, different types of investors have different, you know, capital thresholds and, um, economic splits and things like that. And so by diversifying the different kinds of investors that we can take in, we can offer different product suite.

Sean Weisbrot: Is there a difference between a real estate investment trust and what you're doing? And if so, what is the difference?

Brittney Fairweather: So yes. Um, we are not a, we're not a publicly traded company and we are not a reit. So we are a, a pooled fund of investors and we're managed by, um, a management company that has the authority to act on behalf of the fund investors. So each of the investors that come into the fund have different shares. Based on their percentage of investment, and then we manage the fund on their behalf. So we're set up more like a partnership structure. Um, and we are not, um, a reit and we don't invest in Okay. Hard assets either. So, um, we invest in loans.

Sean Weisbrot: Okay. You, what do you mean by you invest in loans? So what will we make? Is it different from just lending specifically?

Brittney Fairweather: So we, so we make loans, uh, and then, and so on, on that are secured by real estate. In a first lien position, and then we can sell those loans to other investors. We can buy other loans, um, that are also secured by real estate. Um, but our, our fund is exclusively, um, the primary fund is exclusively a debt fund. We also have another fund that is for equity. So we would invest into an, um, into another operator, another, um, multifamily investor or. Residential fix and flip operator. And then we would get a partnership and an an investment, um, percentage, an ownership percentage in their business as opposed to just investing in the real estate itself. So we have both, um, avenues for investing depending upon the type of return that we want to yield for our respective investors, um, and for our own capital that we've invested. And, um, but everything is focused on, uh, real estate. For the most part. We do have some other ancillary things, but

Sean Weisbrot: what are, what are those?

Brittney Fairweather: Oh, we've invested in all kinds of different things. We've invested in a mobile, mobile vet business. Um, we've invested in, um, uh, an AI platform. We mostly, mostly things that are ancillary to the real estate company, really creating that entire ecosystem. But there are other things that have presented to presented that have been presented to us that have either been something we believed in, um, for an environmental aspect or for social aspect, or another woman owned business, um, or minority owned business that we really wanted to help. Um, expand their reach and, and then, um, so we've, we've done some small investments in other things like that as well.

Sean Weisbrot: Interesting. Yeah. I've invested in a few companies that have nothing to do with e-commerce. Well, one of them is, uh, e-commerce liquidation, and then the other two one's a headhunting firm for ai, ml and data science jobs. And the other is, uh, like artificial intelligence, business intelligence, automations and, and integrations. So yeah, usually, usually what we focus on.

Brittney Fairweather: It's good to be diverse. I mean, it's obviously, it's important to have you, you know, whether you're investing in, in real estate related activities or funds or e-commerce or a mobile vet business or the stock market, it's, it's obviously always good to be, um, diverse in your portfolio. And so we've. For the most part, we invest in like that ecosystem. Anything that kind of supports valuation, underwriting, anything that kind of helps, uh, expand and grow the capabilities of our platform. Um, but then there's always other things as well that we, that we have, um, had a little diversion into.

Sean Weisbrot: Is there anything we haven't mentioned that you want to bring up?

Brittney Fairweather: No. I mean, I think that, I think we covered a lot. I think I know that for me. Looking at the shift in my mindset from when we first started, our very first company, when we, the very first fund that we had, um, to now the biggest change and the biggest thing that I would say is, is really just, um, having ownership over who you are, ownership over that authenticity and, and it's hard in the beginning of your career to, to set those boundaries and to say. And to not, not to say no, but to not say yes every time. And I think that's something that's really important, um, as a part of being really authentic in who you are. Um, so

Sean Weisbrot: would you say that's the most important thing you've learned in life or is there something more important you've learned?

Brittney Fairweather: No is the second best answer you can hear and you can give a quick, no is better than a long, slow, no.