Built For This Show

In this episode, Andrea Lane and Alissa Bickar sit down with real estate wholesaler Luis Guerrero to discuss how a difficult experience in corporate America became the catalyst for his entrepreneurial journey. After being wrongfully terminated from a corporate job, Luis decided he no longer wanted someone else controlling his income or future. That decision led him into the world of real estate wh...

🎤 Built For This Show S2E2: The Entrepreneurial Seizure: Building the Business of Real Estate | Built for This Show featuring Mark Abramovich In this episode, co-hosts Alissa Bickar (The Consultress) and Andrea Lane sit down with real estate investor, lender, and company founder Mark Abramovich. Spanning a 20-year journey that started completely "by accident" in a vacation community, Mark breaks...

Reggie Reavis is a real estate investor with 10 years of experience who owns 3 single-family properties in North Carolina and Virginia. He previously did wholesaling but transitioned to focus on the stability of rental properties as market conditions changed. Key Discussion Points Why Reggie Got Into Real Estate: Initially entered for the money and retirement security Stayed because of the people...

In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Kannon Callis—a software-salesman-turned-property-manager—who shares how he made the leap from tech to real estate and built a purpose-driven investing business. Originally from Texas and now thriving in Boise, Idaho, Kannon shares his journey from accidental landlord to intentional investor and entrepreneur. Kannon opens up about the hard lessons learne...

In this heartfelt and value-packed episode, Brian Biernat shares how two life-altering events led him and his wife Amy to step away from the corporate world and dive into real estate investing—with zero experience. From their early (and costly) missteps to building a diversified portfolio that includes long-term rentals, furnished housing, notes, JVs, and turnkey projects, Brian pulls back the cur...

What does it take to buy seven properties in just one year—while working full-time, parenting a toddler, and managing renovations? This week, Amy Brooke joins us to share how she and her husband scaled their real estate portfolio in Ontario, Canada with grit, strategy, and serious mindset work. Amy talks about her journey from buying her first home at 19 in the UK to diving into Canadian real esta...

In this episode of The Built For This Show, Daniel Zammata joins Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane to talk about the often-overlooked grind behind real estate investing. Originally from Colombia, Daniel shares why he’s intentionally chosen markets like Oklahoma and Ohio over the usual real estate hot spots—and how staying grounded and gritty has paid off. Daniel walks us through his transition from pr...

In this episode of The Built for This Podcast, hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane chat with Rob Gibbs, an IT professional-turned-investor based in Austin, Texas. Rob shares his journey from purchasing his first property sight unseen to building a sustainable portfolio of short, mid, and long-term rentals—all while working full-time and managing his properties remotely. You’ll hear how Rob leverag...

In this episode, we sit down with Carrie Howder—a dog-loving, detail-oriented former paralegal turned real estate investor—who shows us what it really means to take the leap and bet on yourself. From a spontaneous start in South Boston to building a lifestyle business centered around pet-friendly short-term rentals in Maine, Carrie shares her journey of agility, grit, and resourcefulness. Carrie w...

In this episode of the Built For This Podcast, hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane sit down with real estate investor and entrepreneur Josh Meisel to uncover his unique journey from corporate employee and stock market investor to real estate owner and CEO of a short-term rental property management business. Josh shares how he started out diversifying investments through real estate after getting b...

What do you do when your dad tells you that your skills might not cut it in the job market? If you're Cris Sohmer, you take that as a challenge and build your own path—starting with a civil service career and eventually becoming a full-time real estate investor. In this episode of The Built For This Podcast, Alissa and Andrea sit down with Cris to uncover how she turned real estate from a side hus...

What does it really mean to be built for this? In this powerful episode, we meet Kris Fleming—real estate negotiator, investor, and creator of The Genius Cultivator—who turned a childhood of poverty and homelessness into a life of wealth and impact through real estate. Kris shares her raw and inspiring journey of buying her first home at just 18 after aging out of foster care, and how she develope...

This episode of the Built For This podcast features Nana Hong, a former PhD student turned full-time real estate investor with a 20-unit portfolio in Pittsburgh. Co-hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane dive into Nana’s inspiring transition from academia and biotech sales to building a purpose-driven real estate business. Nana shares how her analytical background, experience in sales, and deep perso...

In this episode of The Built for This Podcast, Alissa and Andrea sit down with Shona Lepis—Portland-based real estate investor and coach—to uncover what it really takes to build a profitable buy-and-hold real estate business. From her roots in graphic design to scaling a thriving portfolio of midterm rentals, Shona shares how creative financing, smart design, and strong community ties have shaped...

What would you do if you landed in a new country at 18 with no English, no family, and just $50 in your pocket? Ewka Kawecki did what few would dare—she got to work. From a bakery job to building a real estate portfolio across Indiana and Illinois, Ewka is the definition of grit and grace in business. In this inspiring episode, Ewka shares her journey of buying her first home after working 7 days...

In this episode, Alissa and Andrea are joined by Noel Christopher, a seasoned real estate expert whose journey spans commercial brokerage, institutional acquisitions, and single-family investments across the country. With decades of experience under his belt, Noel shares how his commercial background shaped a professional and analytical approach to residential investing—and why that’s a serious ad...

What happens when a burned-out software engineer decides he’s done with the corporate grind? In this episode of The Built for This Podcast, David Ounanian shares how he transitioned from a 12-year tech career to becoming a successful real estate investor and agent in St. Louis. Hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane dive into David’s journey, including how he scaled to 20 rental properties, the chall...

In this episode of The Built For This Podcast, hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane sit down with Austin Spitzenberger, founder of a thriving luxury vacation rental management company in Central Texas. Austin shares how saying "no" became the secret weapon to his success—and how focusing on one thing helped him scale intentionally, grow profitably, and still prioritize what matters most: family. Au...

In this inspiring episode of The Built For This Podcast, hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane sit down with James Hwang, an oncology pharmacist turned real estate entrepreneur. James shares how a personal health scare pushed him to rethink his financial future and dive headfirst into real estate investing. Discover how James balances his full-time career while building a thriving midterm rental por...

When Adam Rojas first dipped his toes into real estate, it wasn't by choice—it was his wife's idea. But what started with hesitation quickly turned into a growing real estate side business that is helping the couple build long-term wealth and diversify their income. In this episode, hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane sit down with Adam to explore how he went from reluctant landlord to active inve...

What if your real estate investment could be more than a business—what if it could be a lifeline? In this episode of The Built For This Podcast, hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane sit down with Abi Horton, a midterm rental entrepreneur whose passion for people fuels her success. Abi shares how her early days as a real estate agent in the UK, her hospitality background, and her heart for service l...

In this special “hosts-only” episode of Built for This, Andrea and Alissa flip the mic on themselves to unpack a real-life investing experience that every investor can learn from. Alissa shares the story of her first duplex purchase—from the excitement of closing day to the unexpected reality of evictions, renovations, and property management missteps. This episode is a masterclass in how to keep...

From reselling sneakers to building luxury cabins — 22-year-old investor Rajan Chida proves that the hustle mindset can grow into something much bigger. In this episode, hosts Alissa Bickar (@consultress) and Andrea Lane (The Fearless Real Estate Investor) sit down with Rajan to hear how a side hustle flipping shoes turned into a thriving short-term rental business. Rajan shares how he saved his p...

When is enough truly enough in real estate investing? In this episode, Cameron Carrozza joins Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane to share his journey from sales professional to full-time real estate investor with 18 doors across Kentucky. Cameron opens up about how his entrepreneurial upbringing shaped his mindset and why his “unfair advantage” comes from staying nimble, seeing opportunities others mis...

Mark shares how his background in software development gave him an edge in real estate investing. With years of experience building solutions in tech, he learned that success comes from problem-solving—and that skill translates perfectly into real estate. He and his partner Cheryl founded QZen, combining his technical mindset with her customer support expertise to create a business rooted in pract...