Listen to Erin Hudson's focus on setting the bar high! She's learned to delegate and outsource. Her saying is she puts "aces in their places." Erin started in single family with 26 single family rental properties and shifted to multifamily with 11 properties and over 450 units. This girl has incredible belief in herself and has a passion for motivating others to get in the game!

Table of Contents:

• Where To Listen To The Podcast
• Meet the Lady Boss
• The Beginning of Setting the Bar High
• Setting the Bar Higher in a Man's World
• Setting the Bar a Notch Higher by Giving Back
• Don't Throw the Towel Just Yet
• Sacrifices When You're Setting the Bar
• Next Big Stretch After Setting the Bar
• How to Reach Dr. Erin Hudson

Meet the Lady Boss

Darin: Erin Hudson lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband and five children. She started as a chiropractor with several offices and shifted into real estate investing. She's a GP in 11 multifamily properties and shows no sign of stopping. This girl has run 16 marathons. She travels the world helping the less fortunate and has an immense focus on inspiring others to take action, achieve financial freedom, and setting the bar high.

Both Erin and I were actually at a multifamily conference in Houston a couple of weeks back. She was a speaker on one of the panels. It was a women's panel. I'm sitting in the audience. And I'm at one of the tables and the woman next to me knew I had a podcast. She gave me a little nudge and she said, "That's who you have to have on the show." Because she stole the show. So it was fantastic. I went out during one of the intermissions. Introduced myself, and she's just the type of person that you meet her for five minutes and you feel like you've known her forever. So very excited to have Erin on today. Thank you very much for coming on.

Erin: It was an absolute pleasure. But I think I won you over when we did our jump picture in the air. That got you excited.

Darin: That's true. I'm the guy that's like a white man who can't jump. She got me doing this special jump for social media and it turned out fantastic. She said "trust me" and I did and it turned out great. Thank you for that. It got me out of my comfort zone.

Setting the Bar High by Aiming High

Darin: So the first question I'd like to start with is how many properties and how many units are you currently invested in?

Erin: So currently, I have 458 doors over 11 properties, and that also includes 21 rental properties that I currently have that I'm looking to sell yesterday. Indianapolis, Indiana, shameless plug, if you're looking, I've got the singles.

Darin: Nice, nice. So you started in a single family and then graduated into multifamily. You're a doctor, you're a chiropractor. So a little bit about that. Why did you go into that path and then how did you go from there into real estate?

Erin: Sure. So I happen to be a mom of five beautiful children. Do you want one for free today? My patience is a little bit up here. Listen, the thing is, I've always wanted to be my boss. I love the idea of just being an entrepreneur and opened up my chiropractic office in 2009. Then I saw how lucrative it was and quickly decided that I wanted to open up a second practice. I did so within 12 months. So I opened up my second practice and just got a taste of hiring other people and creating that passive income.

Fast forward, I started to hire and delegate. And when I learned to delegate is when the doors opened up for me to have more time to be able to jump into the place where I had heard that 90% of multi-millionaires were birthed, which was in real estate. And I certainly wasn't a multi-millionaire, but I was determined to find a way to get into space. So really, it was a matter of jumping in.

Delegation Is King

Erin: Here I was living in Southern California and after doing much research, found out that Indianapolis, Indiana was the place to be. Simply because living in Southern California, the median house price was 800,000. Well, it did not make a whole lot of sense to invest in Southern California, but in Indianapolis, I could buy homes for $50,000 with tenants that were renting for $700, and there was something that was sexy about mailbox money. So 2015 is when I got into space.

Darin: Nice, talk about delegation. First, you did that in your business, in your chiropractic practice. You realized, "Hey, I can't do it all. I need to hire some other people." What did that look like?

Erin: If I said it was all rainbows and butterflies, that would be the fat out lie. The truth of the matter was at one point, I was being that chick that was trying to do everything. Doing the $10 an hour jobs and fast forward, I hired a coach that got to take a nice good look at my office and my practice and how we were functioning and she said, "You have got it all backward." So she said, "Listen, I don't want to coach with you anymore until you go hire five people in your practice. Until you do so, I will not coach with you."

I remember at that point in my life thinking, "Hold on a second, this is backwards because the truth of the matter is I'm hiring you. I'm paying you a thousand dollars an hour and you're pretty much firing me?" So at that time that was my ego saying, "Gosh, who do you think you are? I can't believe you're going to fire me, right?"

When You Know Your Strength, You're Setting the Bar Higher

Erin: It was the best thing that ever happened to me. Why? Because she taught me how to delegate and how to get out of those stop doing the $10 an hour jobs and be more efficient with your time as a doctor. And in doing such, it put lots of gaps in my schedule. So between patients, I chased what I was passionate about which was trying to figure out this game of real estate and how I could create passive income. That's really where it all started.

Darin: That's fantastic. That is a huge lesson. It's one that I probably need to take that advice. But that's incredible that you hired a coach, you're paying her and she said, "I'm not going to work with you again until you do this and put it into action." That's fantastic. So you got that experience and then when you went to real estate, you realized you could continue to do that. So do you live in Indy?

Erin: No.

Darin:  Where do you live?

Erin: I lived in Southern California at that time and I was invested in Indianapolis, Indiana because I had a friend that had already invested there. So I got introduced to the teams that he had on the ground. Then I quickly realized just like how my coach taught me. "You have no business doing those jobs, give it to somebody else. You stay in your lane." It's the same concept applied in the single family space. Here's the truth of the matter. I'm not the specialist on the ground to do rehabs, to manage properties. But if I have the right teams, also known as aces in their places, we can go much further together without my efforts, but the specialist efforts.

Never Say Never

Erin: I quickly figured that out. So fast forward, what unfolded was nothing shy of a miracle. I had purchased 26 properties within two years, but along that time frame, guess what happened? Friends and family, and doctors, wanted to know how they could get in the space and do exactly what I was doing. So I created a turnkey company in 2016 and within three years, we had done over 230 buy and sell transactions. I brought them to the Indianapolis space.

For all your listeners, listen, I was not even a real estate agent. And to even go further with it, I didn't take a course to teach me how to do any of that. Not that I don't recommend it, but it was the grit of figuring out how to do it and knowing that I was not going to settle for no being the answer. It was just a matter of finding solutions to get where I wanted to go.

Darin: That's huge. So a couple of things you did that I think are important for the listeners. One is you had a friend that was buying in Indy. So you found somebody else that had already done it and you went to align yourself with that person. Then you leveraged the relationships that person already had. And then you took action. So a lot of people may talk about it, but that first deal, was it scary for you or was it not?

Erin: No, it wasn't scary. But I will tell you, one of the deals that I had done I had heard that there was something called a double close and I didn't know anything about it. So I thought well, the person I could call is the title company.

Resourcefulness Helps in Setting the Bar

Erin: Honest to goodness, Darin, this is exactly how the call went. "Hey, Sally," she answers at the title company, "I heard in Indianapolis, you could do something called a double close. Can you just tell me a little bit about it? I'm so sorry, I'm a little bit slow, but if you wouldn't mind sharing with me, I would so appreciate it." So she told me over the phone how a double close goes, and I went and created it. Literally, that is how I got in the game.

Listeners, I want you to understand, everybody always thinks, "Oh, you got to have money to play." That is so far from the truth. It depends on how resourceful you are, how creative you are, how hungry you are because there are always ways to find solutions.

I closed on a handful of properties without my own money. That's how I got in the game and got started. So if I can do it, so can you. And I promise I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I am hungry and I will find a way to get results.

Darin: You've got grit and you've got determination. That's for sure and passion. So I love those characteristics in you, for sure. Are you still living in Southern Cal?

Erin: No, I moved to San Antonio, Texas. After I said I wanted to get into the multifamily space, I knew that there was a lot more opportunity than in Southern California. So I was a director in my practice in 2017, had hired other doctors, a team of 30 in my practices.

Darin: So when you get into the multifamily? Did you sell your chiropractic practice in California, or did you just let that continue to run?

The Beginning of Setting the Bar High

Erin: In 2017, I moved to Texas. I was overseeing the practice, just the director. And truthfully, I was only putting in a couple of hours a week. Again, when you have the aces in their places, you can go further, right? With other people's efforts, if that's their strength. So believe it or not, in March of 2020, before the pandemic unfolded, I sold my last practice and no longer did it.

Darin: Wow. Good timing.

Erin: Yes, 100%. Exciting stuff for sure.

Darin: So you decided to go multifamily. Why did you decide to go multifamily?

Erin: So here's the truth. I truly thought that you had to be super uber-rich to buy apartment buildings and found out after going to an event that is so far from the truth. So I sat in this event and I will never forget. I remember sitting there begrudgingly with my arms crossed like why am I here and quickly realized and had this aha moment of, "Oh my gosh, I no longer want to be that broad playing the game of monopoly that lands on Vermont, i.e. the single family houses. I want to be the chick that lands on the Boardwalk with one roof and 50 doors. When I found out that it was doable, I was like game on.

Darin: Just keep upping the game.

Erin: Yes. So I went back to my investors, all those people that bought single families from me that we're friends and family. It was my job to share with them. Listen, I found something grandiose and I could so take you in that place with me, but it's going to require some education much more than the single family space.

Setting the Bar From Single Units to Multifamily

Erin: So be patient, but when I get there if you so desire, I'll take you with me. Fast forward, my first deal was 104 units in Texas. And going back to those investors and having that relationship where they liked me, they knew me, they trusted me. There was no business on manipulation. It was true for them to win at the game of life. So I raised $2 million just in my warm market on my first deal.

By doing what's right for people, you will always come out on top.

Darin: That's huge. So you had 26 properties. I was not in the single family space, but I've talked to a lot of people and they've told me somewhere between 10 to 20, it just starts becoming difficult to manage. That's what prompted a lot of them to go into multifamily. You sound like somebody that is always looking for how to level up, how to level up and how to become more efficient. So you saw the multifamily space as a way to scale.

Erin: 100%. Absolutely. I think it was, "Look, here I am a chiropractor in my office. Is that duplicatable for my kids? No, not so much. Single family is great, but time, it's going to take more time to build up net worth, to build and create that generational wealth and legacy. In the multifamily space, you can do it in a more time-efficient manner.

Darin: Absolutely. You have a company now that's focused on real estate and you have a few partners in that company. Talk about how you connected with these partners and what are the different roles for the different partners?

Setting the Bar Higher With Abundance Mentality

Erin: I am proud to be linked with Quattro Capital. And I tell you, I wake up every morning and I feel like "pinch me" because I am so beyond blessed. The reason I say that and I'm going to stress this just a little bit, and I'm sure many of you have heard this before, your partners will either make you or break you and the team that you're linked with. So with that being said, more important than the deal is your partners. This is my opinion. More important is the partners. Number two is the property management and number three is the actual property.

But let's go back to the partners. It is so important and also liberating that we get to stay in our lane of what our strength is. So just imagine for a moment, here I am in the single family space having to wear every ball cap, finding the deal, finding the money, so on and so forth. But could you imagine if you get to be in a space where you get to stay in your lane, whatever your strength is and you have incredible partners that you get to be linked with that have your greatest weakness as their strength? Oh my gosh, the synergy that then gets created within a company such as Quattro Capital is mind-blowing.

I will say it like such. Many people will say, "Erin, why in the world do you have five partners? It just dilutes everything." But here's the thing. I don't have a scarcity mentality. I have an abundance mentality. And when you think of the game of football just for a moment, does it take one person to get that ball across the finish line? It can.

Teamwork Goes a Long Way

Erin:  But here's the truth of the matter. You have different players in the game of football just like we do with Quattro Capital. And that is what allows us to go at the speed at which we have gone together. Meaning in the last 12 months we've closed on nine properties. How? Because we have such a synergistic abundance mindset, value-aligned, growth mentality mindset, which is more important than anything. So that's why we've been able to be so successful in our space. And mind you, that was in a pandemic, Darin. Nine properties in a pandemic. I can hardly wait for what's bound to unfold here in 2021 and what we've got on the horizon here.

Darin: That's fantastic. What's your role?

Erin: Absolutely. Investor relations is, shocker. I'm telling you, If I haven't shared already, I love to negotiate like a beast. So I help on the acquisition side as well.

Darin: Awesome. You have a ton of passion, a ton. Listeners, if you could have seen her on stage. So here's a panel and it's four women on the panel and they're all seated in nice leather chairs, and it's very responsible and they're going in turn in terms of answering. It gets to Erin and she jumps out of her seat and she's up in the front of the stage and she's almost like jumping out into the audience trying to get people to take action because she's sharing a lot of such great knowledge.

Darin: But you have to not just listen. You have to go out and do it. She's telling you, look, she started with no money. I mean, she had money. She was a doctor. But she leveraged other resources, leveraged other people, leveraged other people's experiences.

Setting the Bar Higher in a Man's World

Darin: Another thing that is different about what you did is that I know people that started in a single family and they built it up, and it became too much. So they started to go to a multifamily. But you had an interim step. You had people that said, "Hey, Erin. I see what you're doing. How can you get us involved?"

So you said, "Well, how can I get them involved and also make some money along the way?" You created a company and it was a win-win. You did 230 transactions. That tells me that you know how to build something efficient. Talk about being a woman in the business. It's a male-oriented business on the multifamily commercial side.

Erin: Sure. So it is a man's world. There's no doubt about it, but not for long because here's why. I'm sorry. Listen, I love you men. I think you're awesome. But here's the thing, we women are so incredibly powerful. Think about a woman running a household, and all that it takes to run a household with children. All of the tasks that come along with that. I will tell you, I think as women we multitask like beasts.

Darin: Way better than men.

Erin: So can you imagine if you have a strong female team to work with, the masses, and the attraction that you're bound to make? Here's my message. Just like I said from the stage, listen, I shared men, this is for you, but women, I want you to hear loud and clear. Did I not?

Darin: Yes, you did.

Erin: I said listen, some of us women feel super incapable. We're very hard on ourselves far more than men ever have been on their selves, right?

Setting the Bar for Yourself

Erin: I reminded the women that we have to be our biggest advocates and our biggest fans. So for all of you listeners out here, I will share with you what I said and echoed from the stage. You have to believe in yourself. And you have to know and have a desire to win at the game of life. You have to tell yourself like I do every morning as I was sharing with Darin. I say I am worthy, I am capable. Erin is awesome. She is smart. Erin is hungry. She has grit. Erin is unstoppable. She is limitless.

So my question for you, listeners, is what are you telling yourself? Because if you truly want it, you can have all that your heart desires. And that's what I want for my women, Darin. I want women to know that they are incredible. And if we can link with the right women, there is nothing that we can't do together.

Darin: That's huge. Listen up. There it is right there and she's an example. So learn from her. You run marathons. Is that true? Like the full-fledged 26 point, whatever, miles.

Erin: Yes.

Darin: I know people that have done it once so they say that they've done it. But you haven't done it once, you've done it how many times?

Erin: I've done 16 full marathons. But you know what is so cool is I'm always looking for up-level in every area of my life. And it has nothing to do with trying to keep up with anyone. It's all about me, my personal growth and what I want to do for myself. I love challenges and setting the bar for myself.

Setting the Bar by Training Your Mind

Erin: Because there's nothing more fulfilling than attaining what you've set out to accomplish, i.e. right now, I'm in the middle of doing 75 Hard. For those of you that don't know what it is, look it up. It'll blow your mind. But we started with 25 people. Do you know how many people are left? I'm on day 73, two days shy of finishing. There are two of us.

And not very many people finish 75 Hard. It is about mental toughness and training your brain to accomplish what you start and finish it. Because a lot of us as humans, procrastinate like crazy. And guess what? It kills us because every time we procrastinate, we don't get something done, it's a hit to our self-esteem. We feel crappy about ourselves. And we get depressed. All these things that come with it. So imagine if you started to win and mark off those tasks that you were set out to do, you accomplished them, how much more your self-esteem would increase, right? Same concept.

Darin: Do you write down your goals? What you're trying to accomplish?

Erin: I do. So I write down my goals. There are a few things I do in the mornings and whatnot.

Darin: I think that's so important. It's not new, right? Almost everybody has heard that you should write down your goals, but so few people do it. And life just kind of pushes them along. But if you write down those goals and you're looking at those, and you're pushing yourself, then that is where you end up accomplishing a lot more than you thought you ever could. So on those marathons, are you trying to run it faster each time, or is it just a matter of finishing another one?

Do It for You

Erin: It's been a couple of years since I have run the last marathon simply because I got in a really bad wakeboarding accident and shattered my ankle. At the time when I was doing them, it was just a matter of staying in shape year-round. I trained year-round for marathons. And I did two a year for eight years. It was just to feel good about me. Every time I passed that finish line, it was like, yahoo.

Like I'm so proud of myself. I'm so awesome. And it's just for self-fulfillment. It wasn't like, "Oh, I got to get skinnier. I got to lose weight." No, it's a matter of you know what, there is nothing better than you can leave for your kids than leading by example versus talking the big game. So my kids know that their mom is hungry to have success in every area of my life, to be physically fit. They know I get up at 5:30 in the morning to go work out.

They see mom doing, not talking about it. And there's nothing more I want to pass off than having my kids make sure that they're properly taking care of their body physically, their mind so that they can have success in every area of their life. I think it starts here.

Darin: Absolutely. So being an example for five kids. Look, a mom with five kids, you could be running all over the place. Your kids are probably in sports and different things, and you've got a lot of responsibilities. But on top of all that, you've taken your kids to travel all over the world. So talk about that piece. Where'd you go? Why'd you done it?

Erin: Love that you're asking me this.

Setting the Bar a Notch Higher by Giving Back

Erin: I got to give credit to my coach and credit where credit is due. That same coach that I hired in my practice.

Darin: She said she's going to fire you again if you don't start traveling?

Erin: No. It was just a matter of her saying. I was a little bit more money-hungry, right? So I was that chick that was addicted to work. I ate it, I drank it, I slept with it. So it's about putting balance in your life. I'm so glad that you asked about traveling. Yes, we take our kids and we travel all around the world to just help the poor, the widow, the sick that cannot care for themselves. That coach of mine presented an opportunity to go serve in Belize and to build an orphanage. So that's what we did when we went to Belize. We built an orphanage, lived in the same cricket, infested, gross place these orphans did with my kids.

Could have we stayed at a nice resort? We absolutely could. But do we want to change the mindset and want our children to be grateful for all that we have and the simplicity that these orphans had? Meaning we took Christmas pajamas and Christmas shoes to them. And if you could have seen the smile on their faces over a pair of pajamas and a pair of tennis shoes, it would have been enough to wreck you. Because I just remember weeping to go, "Look at how simple their life is. They have nothing and they are so happy." So my children got to see that. Live in the type of quarters to come home and be much more grateful.

Be an Example

Erin: And then for Christmas, we went and we celebrated and stayed in a beautiful resort for a week after we served and loved these kids, 100 kids. So our lives just got completely wrecked. Our hearts were wrecked for really just giving to those that can't help themselves. We were on a mission for five years. So we went to Belize, to Nicaragua, to Haiti, to Israel.

It's about these life experiences that your kids' lives will never be the same and they will never forget it. Don't get me wrong. You see the commercials on TV of give money and send it this way. There is nothing that will change and wreck your heart like being in the moment, in the place, and truly hugging and loving on these kids that have nobody. So anyway, I'm passionate about everybody getting an opportunity because once you do it, you will see how important it is and the impression it will leave not on yourself, but your family.

Darin: That's massive. Have your kids said anything to you about going on those trips?

Erin: Yes. You get these little orphans that are like, "Can I come home with you? And can I come to stay with you?" We did. We brought an orphan to our house.

Darin: And did you?

Erin: Yes, from Belize and he came and stayed with us for the summer. Of course, I'm about pouring into kids and so I hired him at my wellness center. He painted walls. We had him work. Because here they see this American that has a lot of money. So we went to the grocery store and he started putting all this food and stuff in our shopping cart.

Setting the Bar for Your Children

Erin: I said "I can appreciate that that's what you want, but there are no handouts here. Not for my kids and not for you. So if you want to come into practice and earn some money, absolutely, and then you can buy those." Our kids look at him as he was our adopted brother. So just experiences and getting to be with these children and our kids truly, truly have the heart to serve and to give to those that don't have anything for themselves.

Darin: That's massive. I applaud you and your kids are hugely benefiting from that. You're convicting me too. I am the type of guy that will write the check and not go.

Erin: I'd love to go there for a sec, Darin. I want to share this because I think it's really important as well. Let's go back to where I talked about your partners are super crucial and will make you or break you. So I think just being transparent. One of the deals I did. It wasn't an evenly yoked team that I had per se and I felt a little bit jaded in this space like, "Oh my gosh. Is this really how it is?" I was a little bit jaded. Let's just say that much.

Darin: I would not want to be on your bad side.

Erin: So fast forward, after I closed on that first deal, I was at this event. David Lindahl put on this big event and they were awarding me for closing on my first property within 12 months. I have to share with you how my partnership was created because I want everybody to think outside the box and how important it is to be linked with the right team.

True Reward for Oneself

Erin: Why? Because your tribe is your vibe. So let me ask you what kind of vibe do you want? So fast forward, I'm at this event and the MC says, "Hey, Erin. How did you celebrate? I'm in front of a thousand people. How did you celebrate closing your 104 unit?" And I said, "I am so glad you asked. Our heart is to serve the helpless that cannot help themself." I said, "And our family travels all around the world." I said, "In our big project right now that we're working on is building homes for moms in Nicaragua. Single moms that live in the dump." I said, "We've built 12 houses and we closed on this property. Our family built the 13th house in Nicaragua." I started to cry. Then I started to have tears that came down my eyes and I said,

"There's nothing more rewarding than helping people that can't help themself."

Something came over me and all of a sudden I said, "Listen, I would love to build two more homes if I can get two people to match me." And all of a sudden in the back of the room this strappy man raises his hand and says, "I'm in for one." Another female in the front says, "I'm in for one." And fast forward within 10 minutes, we raised $55,000 building 10 homes for the single moms in Nicaragua. I remember going to bed that night, Darin and I said, "Lord, why did you put that on my heart?" He says, "As clear as day as night." I hope you all are listening to this.

How Did Quattro Came About Setting the Bar

Erin: He says, "I want you to be evenly yoked, aligned with people that have a heart and a desire to see the bigger picture and help the greater good of people that can't do it on their own." And fast forward today, five months later after that event, I ended up linking arms with that gentleman in the back that raised his hand. The female in the front that raised her hand. Organically, beautifully orchestrated, our team came together and that's how Quattro Capital was created with the most incredibly brilliant, amazing partners that have the heart to help people in this world.

Darin: I got chills when you were telling that story because I think a lot of people don't want to talk about God. If God gives you a whisper and you're obedient and you go and do it, and you just see the power of He just used you to accomplish something for so good. You got to witness it, that is so powerful. What a cool story that it turned out to be that's how Quattro was formed.

Erin: Darin, I think even if you take it further, all of you listeners that are out there, are we going to have adversity as we walk this path and move into this space? We absolutely are. But what if I was the weak that said, "You know what, that was horrible what just happened with that taking down this partnership with these people." What if I just said, "You know what, I'm going to crawl in a closet. I'm throwing in the towel. And I'm done with this." You know what, let's think about it for a moment. Many people would just give up.

Don't Throw the Towel Just Yet

Erin: If they had a bad experience, they'd just be weak. They'd just give up. But you know what? The Lord did not put us on earth to settle for mediocrity and just to throw in the towel and give up when we get hit with trials. Because the truth of the matter is this, there is blessing around the corner through every trial that we go through if we look. So we always are going to have these little trials along the way, but guess what, the goal is to just find solutions and figure it out. And thank God, I did not give up because I am so incredibly blessed today.

Darin: For me, look, I've gone through a ton of trials and some of them are very difficult. But then when you look back at some of the ones that were so difficult two or three or four years ago, those same tasks may seem like they're not an issue at all. But at the time, it could be overwhelming. It could cause you to quit. So having perseverance, having determination, having grit, being able to take action when you don't have all of the information, you're going to have a lot of information, but nothing's guaranteed in investments. That's huge. Talk about how you grow up? Where did you grow up?

Erin: I'm so glad you asked. I have two wonderful amazing parents, but the truth of the matter is that I grew up in a home where we lived paycheck to paycheck. My parents were owned by the companies and the jobs they did, the nine to five jobs. I remember at a very young age thinking, "Oh my gosh. This is not how I want to live my life."

The Answer Is Here

Erin: I think we are all born with an entrepreneurial spirit and some more than others. I knew at a very young age that I wanted to be in charge and be my boss. I wanted all the shots on what my life was going to look like. And I highly desired freedom of time, freedom of money, freedom of relationships, freedom of really creating, doing, and having whatever. Again, whatever I wanted.

And the older I get, the more I realize, I'm entitled to it all, and so are you. And so are all your listeners. But so many people have this limiting belief that they're not deserving and they're not worthy, and it's too hard. Well, guess what. What if there was a way to bring a solution to everything that's getting in your way of telling you that you can't do it because the truth of the matter is there is.

Darin: What is the answer?

Erin: Let me tell you what the answer is. You have not read this book, Darin? Well, first of all, let me just say, this is for all the entrepreneurs out there. If you have not read this book, pick it up and it will change your life. It's called Who Not How by Dan Sullivan. And I'm on my fourth time around with this book and it is an absolute game-changer. Here's what it boils down to.

Erin: You have to have a very, very, very crystal clear picture of your vision. Here's the problem. Many people get stopped and there's a wall because they don't know how to execute, to get them to the goals that they're aiming for. But what if you didn't need to know how?

The Odd Duck That's Setting the Bar

Erin: What if how wasn't part of the question. It was a matter of who can solve and do that task that needs to be done to get you to the result?

But guess what happens with us? A lot of times we get caught up on wanting to oversee and how you are doing it and trying to figure it out. Forget it. It's not our job to figure it out. Just be tied to the result, and if you focus on the result, and money is no option. If money is not an option, you can hire the who's all day long to do the how.

Darin: That's huge. I do read a lot and I've read a lot where we were talking about goal setting before, if you write down the goal, your subconscious mind you know starts to try to figure out the how. And in this book that you're referring to, it sounds like the “how” is “who”. So how are you going to accomplish that goal? Well, find the right person that could get you there.

Erin: Yes.

Darin: So that's huge. I will take a look at that for sure. How old were you when you started to think those things and notice those things?

Erin: I was young. Probably 18.

Darin: 18? So you were in high school.

Erin: Yes.

Darin: Brothers, sisters?

Erin: Yes. I'm one of five. I'm the second oldest in the family. And I will tell you for all of you out there, I'm just a little bit of an odd duck. I just figure stuff out. But they thought I was a little bit strange. My family, all my brothers, and sisters live life as my parents did.

It's All Crazy Until She Did It

Erin: The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I love them. We have a wonderful relationship, but because I was so multifaceted moving in different directions, trying to figure out, and wanting to create this empire, they thought I was probably a little bit nutty. But guess what? Today, they're like "how has she been able to acquire and accomplish all that she has?" So now they don't think I'm as crazy, but they did initially.

Darin: People say you're crazy until all of a sudden you accomplish it, and then they're like, "How'd you do that?" Wow, you were lucky.

Erin: Thank God I didn't give a rip because I was confident with who I am that I wasn't worried about what other people were thinking. And if I could tell you one thing to the listeners here. As soon as you do not give a rip about what people think of you, watch how quickly you will climb that ladder rung by rung just by being liberated and living that free life that you're meant to live. Not care what people think.

Darin: You said it earlier. I think that that is the first step in trying to change your life is your thoughts. What are you telling yourself about yourself? Are you getting up in the morning like Erin and saying, "I'm awesome," or are you getting up and beating yourself up? Because the thoughts in your head, many people will discount it. But that is so powerful because if you're thinking good thoughts and positive thoughts, and you're trying to go after your goals, it drives you. And if you're thinking negative thoughts, it can just keep you from even trying. So that's massive. And you have a huge abundance mindset.

The Importance of Insurance in Setting the Bar

Darin: In this space, in the multifamily space, I've met so many people that have that mindset. Look, if you have four or five partners, yes, you're going to get a smaller piece of the pie. But you did nine deals. You may have only done one, right?

You would have done a much, much, much smaller deal. It gives you the ability to leverage each other. Another thing you talked about in your bio was you were kind of on the insurance side too. You got involved with insurance and you came up with this create your own family bank thing. You helped other insurance agents. So talk about that side a little bit.

Erin: Absolutely. Well, let's just be real and raw because that's how it is. Right, Darin?

Darin: That's how you are, that's for sure.

Erin: 100%. Let me just throw it out there. We all know what happened when the pandemic broke out. So it was quite scary and I will share with you some of the things that unfolded in my life because it was a rough time. Here I am, talking about all the wonderful things in life. I'm going to give you just a look at my life and what unfolded last year when this pandemic broke out.

So the pandemic happens. I've got at the time, 290 families that I'm responsible for. The government says, "Hey, listen. You can't evict your tenants so have fun with your bad self." All I'm thinking about is one of the large mortgage payments that I have on my apartment of $38,000 a month. Then all of a sudden I sold my practice and I had a portion of it on owner finance terms.

Family Bank

Erin: So what happened? That practice closed down the doors, is closed. All I could think is, "Okay. No more payments on that."

Though you guys are thinking, "Oh, I've got all these apartment buildings, real estate is where all the multi-millionaires are." And I was like this. We all know what happens when we get comfortable right? All of a sudden, this carpet gets ripped out from underneath my feet and I went, "Oh my gosh." So fast forward, not only that, we had a $4 million deal, a $5 million deal that we were getting ready to close on $150,000 hard. 12 days out from close and the lending pulls out on us.

All these things are unfolding and all I can think is fear is setting in. Oh my gosh, here I am wanting to live just off all of the rentals that we have and everything, which is great. Who would have ever thought we would be walking through uncharted waters and in this pandemic that it would look like this. Never, would I have ever thought that? So listen to what happened. All of a sudden, one of my buddies calls and says, "Hey, do you know much about this family banking? You got to check this thing out." And had I not gone through what I was going through at that time, I would have been like, "Ah, I'm good. No thank you."

Fast forward, believe it or not, I had created my family bank 13 years ago. Six years ago, I had bought one of my rental properties with this so-called family bank. I knew very much what it was about, but I was busy in my chiropractic practice and then all of a sudden now real estate.

Take Action and Have Faith

Erin:  Well, real estate ceases up. Lending cuts off and all of a sudden I get this phone call from a buddy. Talk about timing. So I thought, "Well, shoot. I'm going to run with this." I went and got my license again in Texas because I had let it lap some years back and studied and got my license.

Darin: Your insurance license?

Erin: My insurance license, yes. And I was on a mission. While everything was at a dead standstill, I was on a mission. But I will tell you, at the time I remember saying, "Hey, Lord. I don't want to be chasing this dangling carrot. Is this the direction you want me to go?" And the message and the download was this. I'm going to create this opportunity as you've never seen before. Did I know what that looked like? I didn't. I just had to step out in faith and believe. So here are the results of it. The result is some very many people are going to want to invest with you, Darin.

Some very many people are going to want to invest with me. Yes, it takes 50,000. We're here to help people. A lot of people reach out to me. Not everybody has 50,000. So what if with a subtle pivot, we can help them shift and get them in that position to be there sooner versus later. So beautiful things have just come out of that and I've been able to help people prepare and protect, and create tax-free income when they retire and that's what I've been doing along the way.

How Can Insurance Help You Along the Way?

Darin: I agree, there are people out there that want to get involved, but they don't have the minimum yet saved up. So how is this insurance thing helping those people get to where they can get involved?

Erin: No absolutely. So if they don't have $50,000 upfront, what if they could tuck intentionally? I don't know, call it $2,000. The average person with me will tuck away $2,000 a month. So $2,000 a month times 12 months is 24,000. Let's have them do that for three years. I don't know. What is that? $70,000. So in essence, what it is, is they're putting money aside and they're creating their family bank. Yes, a small portion of it is going to go towards the cost of insurance, but the rest is to accumulate.

So what if you could touch in and tap into 90% of whatever is in that little family bank that you have. And what if I told you that you could tap into that money and that you could get in the real estate space with it? You can. So let's just say that all of a sudden fast forward now we're three years or call it four years that they've been working on this. Preparing and saving intentionally. Now, all of a sudden, we've opened up a door and showed them how they can get into the multifamily space.

Take $50,000 out of their little bank, put it in the multifamily space, and then double their money, call it in five years, throw it back in. Rinse and repeat and do it all over again. I'm somebody that's done it. So it's not like, "Oh, this is all new." I've been 14 years intentionally doing this so I could prepare.

Sacrifices When You're Setting the Bar

Erin: Fast forward as I said, seven years ago, I bought a property, investment property. But what if I told you it works more efficiently with multifamily than it does a long-term 30-year investment single family? It does.

Darin: Well, you took your experience and you're helping others by teaching them.

Erin: Absolutely. So here's the thing. What if there are other people like me? I can't be the only person when the pandemic hit, Darin that was in this funk of, "Oh my gosh, what am I going to do?" So there are so many people out there that are looking for a spare tire income hence it was just creating the opportunity and sharing with them, and that's what brought so many people into space with me.

Darin: That's fantastic. So in terms of sacrifices, what kind of sacrifices did you have to make to get to where you are today?

Erin: It is about time, being intentional, constantly reviewing your goals and where you want to be. It's reminding our children. I mean, even to the tune of going to the grocery store and my kids would say, "Oh, can I buy this or can I buy that?" And here was their response. I'll never forget it. Oh, forget it. Mom's going to say no because she wants to buy another investment property."

Those are teaching moments where you take a pause and you say, "Hold on a second. Let's break this down. Is what you're wanting a wise purchase or is it not going to produce any fruit?" Meaning we want to take our seed money and put it towards something that's going to benefit us in the future.

Transparent Parents

Erin: So before you knock your mama, remember that all that's going to go back to you. All this real estate is to help build and leave a legacy for you guys. It's not just for my gain, it's to help with your future and your children's children. And no better way to do it than to lead by example. So we use those as teaching moments along the way.

Darin: That's fantastic. The kid's perspective by watching mom, and I'm sure there are times where you have to say no. I mean, five kids, typically a mom is at the beck and call of all their kids. Maybe I'm generalizing there. I think that you must have had to create in them, "Look, mom's got other priorities too. Mom is going to be there for you, provide for you, but mom is also going to be a marathon runner, an investor, doctor, insurance. Who knows what comes next?" So that must have rubbed off on them as well.

Erin: You know what, I'm so glad that you're touching on this because I think it's super, super important to be transparent at the same token. There's been times in my life where it's been completely out of balance and not having my priorities in place. I've been there and I know the repercussions that come from that. So it's a constant re-evaluation. It truly is, but I think even more importantly what you've got to get is buy-in from your kids. You've got to get buy-in.

How can we include our kids and what it is that we're creating with this empire? Let's go back. I've got a 22-year-old right now. At the age of 16, she bought her first investment property. We gave her an option.

Give Your Kids Options While Setting the Bar

Erin: So we said, "Look, you've got money in your bank account. Do you want to buy a car? You're going to have to pay the gas, the insurance, and everything else that comes with it. Or you could take your money and you can buy an investment property. Mom and dad will help you with that purchase price but think of it this way. That property is going to rent for $600. That car is a liability."

What if mom and dad said, "Look, you can use our car. We'll pay for the insurance. Then we'll pay for the gas. But listen, you sleep on it and let us know what you decide tomorrow." So we gave her options. Kids love options. That's number one. Fast forward you guys. She bought this when she was 16. She just sold it four months ago and she just got into her first apartment deal with us in our team with Quattro Capital. Talk about full circle.

So now I'm getting ready to have this financial webinar, kids webinar, and guess who I'm having speak at the webinar? My daughter. About her experience. Why? Because it penetrates and speaks to children far more than my mouth is going to speak or leave an impression.

So then of course what happens? Now, my 14 and 16 years old come back and go, "Mama, you helped Riley get her house at age 16. What can we do?" So fast forward, we're big on the shipping containers used as Airbnb, we have land in an Airbnb we bought three years ago. So what did we do? We brought in the shipping container VRBO houses. My 14 year old runs her VRBO and my 16 years old runs his own VRBO. They furnished them.

How to Start Investing?

Erin: They helped with it. And they have to respond to the messages from guests or else they don't get paid. Skin in the game. There are no free handouts here. So anyway, it's all about the kids. You got to get their buy-in and they've got to be able to see and appreciate what you're doing. And if you involve them, they will.

Darin: I love that. Somebody is listening, maybe this is the first time they're listening to a multifamily thing. "Look, I want to invest in a multifamily deal. How do I do it from a passive perspective? How do they get involved?"

Erin: Sure, so I think that it's when you're talking with people because there are all different walks. People that want to be passive, people that want to be active, it's really about flipping it back to them and saying, "What are your goals? What is it that you desire?" Because it's not a one size fits all and at the end of the day our goal is to meet the needs of our clients that we're working with or investors. So I think that that's really where it starts. It's just true with a sincere heart finding out how you can help, what their goals are, what they're looking to do, and how together we can help them to get where they're wanting to go.

Darin: I think if I'm new to the space and I didn't know you could invest in these large apartment complexes. And I want to passively invest, I guess my advice would be to first pick a market. So do you want to be in Texas? Or do you want to be in Florida?

Next Big Stretch After Setting the Bar

Darin: And I would focus on landlord-friendly markets and markets that have growth in population and income growth and jobs. Then once you determine what market you want to be in, start finding the sponsors.

Erin talked about it before. Partners are so critical. So the people that you do business with, you want to pick people that you know, like, and trust. So get to know some people in that market. And then third comes the actual deal and focusing on the deal. So with that, Erin, what's kind of your next big stretch goal? You keep on upping the ante, girl.

Erin: My big stretch goal. We're not stopping for anything with this multifamily. I think we've got over 400 deals or 400 units in the pipe right now that we have under contract. We're not stopping for anything, but I will tell you if you don't already know, I think outside the box. So I love alternative investing. Right now, we are under contract on 15 acres outside of Fredericksburg, Texas and we are creating a tiny home container park.

There happens to be a winery to the right of us and a winery to the left of us. So just fun. I love to do things that get me excited. That's in my backyard and so it's just a fun little project that we're doing.

Darin: Well, that's the other thing about real estate that I think is different than a lot of industries is that I don't think there's a ceiling. It's whatever you can conceive in your mind and believe that you can achieve it, and then go find the who that could get you there. But there are skyscrapers.

Always Up Your Game

Darin: There are huge resorts. And there are huge shopping complexes. There's multifamily and there are shipping containers. There's self-storage. All different facets to learn and to kind of push the boundaries on your experience level.

Erin: 100%. I highly recommend anyone listening that has that entrepreneurial spirit as I said, "Go pick up that book. It'll be the best thing that ever happened to you." I was already doing it, but not to the degree that the book talks about, but it made me read it and just went, "Oh my gosh, I'm so on the right track." Because listen, as listeners, you guys probably think, "Oh my gosh, this Dr. Hudson is crazy. She's got her hands in everything. How in the world da, da, da."

Guess what? Because I have the aces in their places. So let's just break that down. What do I mean by that? Okay, well, as Darin alluded to, I'm in the financial services industry. Well, guess what, my mom lost her job a year and a half ago. She is the A player on my team in that space. I created a J-O-B. A job for her. So I'm pouring back into other people. Same thing with the shipping containers that we sell. I have the ace in their place. I don't have to worry about that piece.

So I have so many whos that already know how to do it and it makes my job super light. Think about, what's the guy's name from Virgin Atlantic? Oh my gosh, I just had a brain freeze, Richard Branson.

Darin: Branson, yes.

Erin Outside of Real Estate

Erin: He's got over a hundred plus companies. How does he do it, you guys? He doesn't know how to do all of that work because he hires the right people who are specialists that know-how. So we're creating jobs. We're pouring in and investing. So don't think of it as, "Oh my gosh. It's going to cost me so much money to have to hire this person." Invest in it because guess what, at the end of the day you're going to get to your goals much quicker.

Darin: That's huge, huge. Listen up, what do you do for fun?

Erin: I'm a spontaneous kind of person. We're looking at some land in Canyon Lake. We packed up our whole car and we got an Airbnb out there and we brought our bicycles. I went and picked up a U-Haul trailer, threw in six bicycles for my husband and the kids. We went up and stayed the night there looking at this land we were looking at. We made it a one-stop shop, go have fun, ride our bikes, have a sleepover out in the mountains, check out the land. I like to just be spontaneous. There's something super fun and invigorating about it.

Darin: I could just picture your kids like, "Oh, what's mom up to now? We got to get in the car. And we always have fun, but she's up to something."

Erin: You know what, it makes it exciting. I love playing pickleball. So my kids, we like to take them another great book for your listeners called the Family Boardroom. It's about being intentional with your kids and having dates with them quarterly.

Setting the Bar as a Source of Wisdom

Erin: That has been a pivotal change. Something pivotal that I've implemented with my kids and they each get to have their little dates for five hours with me. So just going and doing wild fun stuff like playing pickleball and riding go-karts. So my fun comes out, but I'm not that fun.

Darin: You are fun. I appreciate you coming on. If people want to reach out and get to know you and listeners, I would highly encourage you to do that. She is a wealth of information and as you can hear, she has a love for life. And she has a love for helping other people. She alluded to it earlier, that there's a lot of people, a lot of listeners that they want to get involved, they don't know how and they get stuck. She's somebody that can help you push down to the next step. So how do people reach you?

Erin: A great way is to head into our website, which is www.thequattroway.com. You can learn a little bit about my team. We each have a minute little video, which when you listen to somebody speak, you're always going to get a gut whether or not you want to do business with them, and I think that's super important. But over and beyond that, you can click on any of the partners, and there's a little button there that you can have a meeting, and get on a call, and talk shop, and see how we can help you move your needle forward. Because at the end of the day, that's what it's all about.

Darin: Fantastic. Erin, I appreciate you coming on. Listeners, I hope you enjoyed that one. Until next week, signing off.

How to Reach Dr. Erin Hudson

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