Transcription of Episode

Intro/Outro 0:04
Welcome to Investing Across Borders with Lauren Cohen. Every week she will share valuable information that you need to know in order to successfully invest in real estate and other business endeavors in North America. We believe in helping clients invest, live, work, and play across borders. And now, your host, Lauren Cohen.

Lauren Cohen 0:27
Hello, everybody. I’m Lauren Cohen, the host of investing across borders where we teach you how to invest live, work and play across borders. And I am also an international legal and real estate investment expert. And I’m here with my really good friend, truly good friend who’s been here with me almost every step of the way. Since my son just turned 11. Her sister has three grandchildren that are the most amazing little boys as well. So she’s watching everybody grow up. We all are. And Trish Carr has been my coach, my speaking coach, my friend, my partner in so many levels for 13 years now. Since WPM women’s prosperity network was founded by Trish and her two sisters, Susan and Nancy. And Trish, why don’t you give us a brief intro, I could go on all day about how amazing you are.

Trish Carr 1:27
You know,I could do the same for you. Because when you first met my sisters and I Susan Winter and Nancy Matthews, we had this idea. And this was back in 2008. And if you remember 2008, we were at the beginning of a long recession. Luckily, it wasn’t as long as it could have been. But in 2008 we’re at the beginning of the recession, and people were losing jobs and investments were going badly.

Lauren Cohen 1:56
Sounds kind of like COVID, right?

Trish Carr 1:57
Exactly. Same thing happened in 2020, where everything went south. But here’s the thing is that we knew that we have something that would make a difference for female entrepreneurs in particular. And because so many people at that point were losing their jobs. It was about time that they learned to take their skills, their talents, and the things that they’re gifted at, and turn it into their income and their business and their living you, including me, you work at at&t, right? Yes, I worked at at&t until the mid 90s, late 90s, and then started the entrepreneurial journey. So we wanted to create a place where women could step into their power in a big way. And not just in terms of their mental obviously, and their mindset, but really equip them with the skills so that they could take their talents and make their talents, their business. So you were instrumental in helping us to create that, which is how we know each other so long. I don’t even remember how we met Lauren, but I know it was a gift from heaven. Because thank you both we needed someone who had your expertise, someone with your background, who could look at things from a, you know, an outside perspective with your legal skills, and with all you knew. So you’ve been instrumental in supporting women’s prosperity network and becoming the premier premier community for women now worldwide. I mean, we started out in South Florida, and now we have people in Australia and South Africa and Canada. It’s just amazing. And I love what you’re up to in particular, because one of the things that people would ask us was, why don’t you just want to stay in your own little area? Why don’t you just do Florida? Or why don’t you just stay on the East Coast? Why do you want to expand? And I’m like, because there’s opportunity for everyone and I wanted to have a bigger impact. I wanted to make a bigger difference. And that was always the plan. You know, we got it. We got the right team around us, you included, and the right mentors, because nobody can do it by themselves. Right. And if even coaches need coaches, and if I had and there’s a coach who doesn’t have a coach, I’m not hiring them.

Lauren Cohen 4:17
Exactly. No, thank you.

Trish Carr 4:19
So it’s so important. And that’s, you know, I love what you’re up to now, in expanding the world for people to be able to live their dreams and invest with trust. It’s so important is having that trust, right?

Lauren Cohen 4:35
Yeah. Well, there’s just far too many people that do it haphazardly. Well, look at that. We both mine mine is the paper clap the pen. Oh, that’s great. Look at that. I think we’re gonna call Starbucks and get some money for promoting them. So it’s really, you know, at the end of the day, it’s about having that impact driven philosophy and aligning yourself with like minded people. To achieve your dreams, and too many people are looking for the best deal at best price or they see a 10,000 or $20,000 investment property, oh, let me do it. But they don’t set up the right structure and they miss the little nuances. And they just see it’s when something is too good to be true, it’s too good to be true. And if you don’t do the right, take the right steps and take the right precautions, you’ll end up paying the price somewhere, whether it’s legal implications, tax implications, personal implications, whatever the case may be. And I heard of that is definitely having the right team in place, and knowing that you can have that trust and that trusted advisor. And you know, from the beginning, when I first said, Okay, I want to speak. And I called up my friend Trish said, Trish, what do I do. And we said, remember sitting down when Debbie was like a little baby in my living room and my other house, right sitting there and Trish was like, these are the steps you take. And my dad’s best friend, Oliver Shalom Arviat can was the top voiceover actor in Canada. He helped me on the other side with the oration and some of the marketing pieces. And Trish helped me with putting the structure together. And if not, for those two lovely, amazing people, one of whom I miss dearly every day, and the other of whom I see almost every day, thank God, I wouldn’t be where I am today. And I wouldn’t be able to speak to crowds, whether it be on Zoom, or live in person, because the arms would get in the way. And now when I speak, they don’t get in the way. And I know how to overcome them. And I know how to deliver a message. And that doesn’t come from just inside. Some people are natural speakers, I think I probably had that gift, but you have to finesse it. It’s like anything, it’s like investing, you can have a gift for finding the perfect investment. But if you don’t have a gift for setting up the structure, you need that legal team in place. And that’s what we bring to bear. And the beauty of women’s prosperity network, for example, is that women’s prosperity network has somebody that’s in almost every area of professional, every professional area, every business area, you know, we have some amazing attorneys. We have amazing holistic healers, we have speaking coaches, we have author coaches, we have it, you name it.

Trish Carr 7:19
There are specialists, and photographers and automation specialists, we have everything from the types of businesses you would need if you were in business, to the types of businesses for regular humans, you know, finger healer people, parenting specialists, and things like that. So it’s an enhanced function without a parenting specialist just say, oh, believe me, I made the choice not to have any, because I saw how much challenging challenge was Yes, I know. I know. And I don’t know how women do it, especially on their own. You know, so many people are single men and women have single, they’re single. And it’s a tough thing. Even with two people. I don’t know how they do it. You mentioned my great nephew. So my nephew, Zach has three kids, six, eight, and 16 and 3016. Amazing. Hey, the six year old and eight year old, they never stop, they never stop like they do it’s true. How do you keep up with that? So all that to say that he’s got responsibilities, and he’s a single dad, and is 36 years old. And it now is the time to be looking at where am I going? How am I going to take care of my family? How am I going to make sure that I have the money the means to live the life I want to live and give my kids a good life too.

Lauren Cohen 8:43
And the best way to do that, Nancy look.

Trish Carr 8:48
The best way to do that is to come up with your game plan. And for me, I like to be it doesn’t take a lot you can start saving and investing with a very little amount of money. It just it’s a matter of being a little disciplined about it. You know, every month just putting some money in the bucket for investing. And when you have 500 bucks, you can invest. Yep. Now there are so many ways, especially with what you do, where people can come together and do investments together and understand of diversification. So I have some stocks, I have some mutual funds, I have some crypto, you know I have all of that end property because you know right now, and I don’t know Lauren, if this is true outside the US, but here in the US prices are crazy. So buying and selling right now is a challenge. So I imagine that right now is the perfect time to invest across borders, right?

Lauren Cohen 9:46
Yeah. So a lot of people ask me that question because the market is so hot here in South Florida. You can be there. We just put an offer in on a property for somebody the other day they were at offers, because yeah, single family homes priced under 500,000. You in Toronto would never hear of this, you don’t even know of a door for under 500,000. This was a tiny little single family home with 80 offers. Needless to say, our client couldn’t come in high enough. And that’s fine, we move on to the next but you move on movement, that does not mean that there are not opportunities in the market. And people are hesitant because the market is so hot. But actually, there are opportunities abounding through this, and people that are not paying their mortgage that are going to be in potential short sale foreclosure. Yeah, you know, different types of challenged and distressed assets, that open doors. And if you work with the right team of realtors and real estate professionals, you know, being a lawyer and a realtor is kind of a nice, really nice combination. Because the legal side and the real estate opportunity together. And having invested in as much real estate as you have, I think you could agree that there’s no perfect time other than the perfect time for you.

Trish Carr 11:01
And really the perfect time is always now because like you said, even though and it’s outside of South Florida, I was traveling this the last month and it’s happening everywhere Las Vegas, Colorado, I mean, but here’s the thing, more millionaires are born in bad times, quote unquote, bad times, and good times. And there’s always an opportunity. There’s always somebody who needs your help. And that’s the way I look at it. You know, there are people who are right now they’re not paying their mortgages, they don’t have to how many landlords think about this, there’s been a moratorium on paying your rent. Yeah. And I think it’s still in place, right? In some places. Yes. So imagine these poor landlords who haven’t been able to pay their mortgages. At some point, the bank is going to say, Okay, this is what you owe, let’s get it straight, and they’re not going to be able to handle it. So that poor landlord is really, you know, up a creek without a paddle, whatever the terminology would be. And you being able to invest in that property and take it off their hands, and get them out of a really uncomfortable situation makes you have impact, right. That’s one of the reasons why I love investing in distressed properties. Yep. You know, people who, you know, mom and dad passed away, and they left this house, and it’s a mess, because mom and dad, you know, they decorated in 1975, and it still looks like 1975 Are their orders? Or their hoarders? Oh, yes. Yes, whatever it is, there’s always an opportunity for you to go in and make an impact for that family, for that person for those people, by you, it’s a win win situation, you take that property off their hands, that headache off their hands, and then you grow your wealth.

Lauren Cohen 12:53
It’s not like you’re taking advantage in a way, I guess you could see it as that but you’re also opening a door and giving them an out. And it’s funny, because as you know, Carolyn Ricciardi, she just changed her name to Gallardo, she stayed at my house last night in South Florida. She was in town from Calgary for an event. And Carolyn teaches people how to invest in real estate, without qualifying for a mortgage, basically, and candidates called assignment of sale. And in the US, it’s called what Trish subject to right? Yes, subject to is going to be huge here. Because that basically means you are taking that property and helping the client avoid foreclosure, which is an amazing thing. So you take the property subject to that mortgage that’s already on title, and you open the door, you get the property for dirt cheap, and you know, you’re giving the client or the owner, the current owner and out. So it’s a win win all around. Yes. And it’s just a really, you know, people are like, Oh, well, I feel bad. And it’s not that it’s an opportunity. And it is an opportunity to also grow your wealth in real estate is always going to be the number one way to grow your wealth, because it’s always going to have sustenance and you know, have the upward mobility and the uphill opportunity, both in terms of cash flow, ongoing cash flow, and in terms of your upside when you sell.

Trish Carr 14:13
Well, what do you say to people who are concerned because here we are, again, in what’s being called a bubble, and the bubble is going to break, right? So the prices go up, up like the price of my house right now is ridiculously stupid. You know, like, why would anyone spend that much money?

Lauren Cohen 14:30
And they will! If you put it on the market, it would be sold tomorrow.

Trish Carr 14:33
It will be sold tomorrow. And you know, there’s that concern of the bubble. So in 2008, we had a bubble and the prices were up here I’ll never forget I bought a house not far from you. As a matter of fact, it was Coral Springs area and I bought a house and when I bought it, it was a home run. It had $100,000 worth of equity, but it needed some work. So I had to carry it for about three and a half months in the time that I carried it bubble burst. And I ended up walking away with $15,000 instead of $100,000. And it was hard to squeak out the 15. But here’s the good news. I didn’t lose money, right? I still made money $15,000 For three months work, some people would say $5,000 A month is pretty nice to add to your income every month. So even my worst buy was a good buy. Right? Right. And that was in the that was at the height of the bubble, I bought it and boom, the bubble burst, and then it went down. So even in a bubble situation, there’s always opportunity. But here’s the thing, you don’t know it, you don’t see it, you can’t, you can’t see it. Because you you know, you have this thing in your brain called your reticular activation system. And you know how when you buy a red car for the first time you get in the car, and all of a sudden you’re like, wow, look at all the red cars, because your filter kept you from seeing them. But now that there was significance, now you can see it. It’s the same thing with investing. If you don’t have the right person pointing out and opening your eyes to what’s available. You’ll never see anything but what the news tells you. And the news is about keeping you engaged in doom and gloom. That’s what they’re there for.

Lauren Cohen 16:21
Right? Oh, so true. Yeah. 100%. So Trish, let’s talk a little bit about what you do and your specialty, which is teaching people how to speak in front of you.

Trish Carr 16:31
I like to say influential communication, you know, whether that’s from the stage, or whether it’s a one on one conversation, or whether it’s on Zoom, or to a group of people even doing a presentation to prospective client, you want to be able to speak with influence. And when you were saying, you know that you put those two skills together with the two mentors that you worked with, you know, many people are, quote, unquote, naturally good at shooting the bull, if you will, because you have to have a level of comfort and confidence. But it’s more than just that it is actually having a choreography that moves people from why would I want to work with you to Oh, my gosh, I cannot wait to work with you. And when you speak to group, I mean, it happens all the time. I had a client who she would speak for free. She’s the love the love twins at Heart’s Desire International, they like to their job is to find you the person of your dreams, right? Even if that person, you wake up next to them every day, and they were the person or your dreams, but they’re not anymore. That’s what they do. And Gladys was speaking to groups, but she wasn’t getting clients from it. When the stage right you can feel that she would get off the stage and everybody say, oh, Gladys, that was so great. You were so good. I so enjoyed it. But nobody said, Here’s my credit card, I want you to help me. Mm hmm. And just working with her just for a brief time, we actually came up with new programs for her new packaging, new pricing new everything, gave her the skills and worked on her presentation. And within 30 days, actually, within three days, she made $10,000. Within 30 days, she was at like 25,000. And that was about three years ago, that particular program and her going on stages she’s earned for our company over $250,000, just from that package. And when I spoke to her about a couple weeks ago, she said, It’s really more than that. It’s probably twice that because that’s my introductory package, all the people who came in and loved me from the thing that we did together, now they’re buying something else. So it’s not enough for you to be really good at speaking, you’ve got to be really good at influencing. And I don’t mean manipulating, let me be perfectly clear. There’s manipulation, which is a lose lose situation for everybody where I get what I want, and you don’t get anything that’s worthwhile. And then there’s persuasion which is me showing you what’s available that you don’t see. And Lauren that’s really where you come in is what’s available that I can’t even see I have rose colored glasses on and I can only see through the pink. Yeah, there is you’re going to show me how to see through the yellow and the green and the red and find everything that I never could see without you before. That’s what somebody’s willing, or sighs okay.

Lauren Cohen 19:41
So I have a webinar in an hour. Okay. And a lot of the people that attend this particular webinar are very interested in creating a cross border investment strategy and potentially getting a visa but are not as anxious or hesitant. Okay, especially Canadians to take action. Because Canadians hesitate. And they think about things and they ponder things and they just don’t take action. Or, you know, they overthink things. They’re very cautious. And you know, the drill. I’m one of them. But I’m not a typical Canadian because I take action. I’ve always been an action taker for sure. Yeah. So how do we convert those people that are not instinctive action takers, that are thinking, Oh, it’s a big move I have, especially if they’re thinking about getting a visa and moving here, oh, I have to do this. I have to invest all my money, and I have to move my family. What are some of the influential words or actions that you would suggest to get them to move from inaction to action?

Trish Carr 20:48
That’s a really good question. And I know that for me, stories about people who’ve had success make a difference for people, when you can share what someone else was feeling. Like, I wanted to think about it, I wasn’t sure. And what that might have cost them in the, so they eventually did it. And then how many times they say to yourself, I’m kicking myself, because I could have had $10,000 More, or I’m kicking myself, because I could have had three properties in my portfolio. So showing them that and then the other thing is helping people to see their dreams realized. And that happens with you asking them, what’s one thing in your life that you want? What’s one thing in your life? You know, I often start talks with, imagine you won $10 million in the lottery. Mm hmm. What are you going to do in your first year? What are you going to do you pay off all your houses, you pay off all the, the houses of your friends and your family? And then what? And what happens is people realize that they’re when they build their wealth, they can do all of those things, and they can do them quickly. So you know, I have a friend who does life insurance. And he said, I used to start talks, I would talk about, you know, what’s your life going to be like if your spouse dies? Right? And you haven’t had you don’t have any money? He said, and when I changed them from thinking about what’s going to happen a year from now, to what’s life going to be like tomorrow, it moved people more quickly. So if you talk in the long term, oh, a year from now, you’ll have this? No, we’re a microwave society we want right now. So help me to see what can happen to me tomorrow. What’s the my tomorrow gonna look like and my tomorrow when I make a decision, that I’m going to go on the path of building my wealth, it’s not something I have to think about to do a year, I’m going to do it now. Because as soon as I do it, I’m setting in motion, all of the angels, and all of the people who are going to come to me, so I get it, it’s challenging to get people to make a decision, if you can help them to focus on what do they want? And how long is it going to take you to get that in your current circumstance, as opposed to what do you want, and when we start working on it tomorrow, and you can have it in a much shorter amount of time people react. So telling stories, because stories are like data with soul, right? You can give people all the data in the world, but when you can tell them a story that they can relate to that touches their heart that they can understand and see the person and the impact that situation had. Those stories go a long way. And a lot of people stay in the data. You know, this is the percentage, you got to give people that too. But you’ve also got to touch their heart, right?

Lauren Cohen 23:51
Exactly, I think that’s so true. You’ve got to get under the skin at what it is that’s driving them. I mean, I told you at the beginning, before we started recording that I had my client that came into the country. Several months ago, we did a change of status for them. It was on an RFP, which is a Request for Evidence, this client has been losing their mind because their kids are here, they’re playing hockey, and they needed this visa in place so that the kids could be stay playing hockey, okay. And it was we didn’t premium processing. And it was on this art Request for Evidence meaning basically an appeal. And the clients were freaking out because their timeline had expired. But we had it in on time. And this morning, we got word that it was approved and the client is like jumping for joy. I’m jumping for joy because now the clients can rest easy. They don’t have to be as panicked or as worried about everything. They know that their kids are safe and they have some security in their lives and they bought a wonderful business and they’re going to be extremely successful and They invested in this business without the visa. You know, it’s so they were willing to take that risk. Now, not everybody is and we can work around that. But the fact of the matter is that it gives me such a sense of peace. Remember that my old tagline that your sister and I came up with peace of mind for your business. And it gives me such a sense of peace, to be able to bring that peace to my clients.

Trish Carr 25:22
And as soon as they you know, as soon as people make the decision, their lives change right there. It doesn’t happen when the money’s in the bank, it happens when they make the decision to do something different. You know, the old thing, I think it was Einstein who said, you know, it’s insanity to keep doing the same thing and expect over and over, right. And that’s what we as people, I don’t even think it’s just Canadians, I think people are naturally risk averse, right? We fight or flight, so many of us flight when it comes to those scary times. But that’s why you’ve got to have trusted people in your corner, you’ve got to have somebody that you know, who has your best interests at heart. Again, someone who has a win win rather than a win, lose somebody who has your best interests at heart, giving you good advice, and helping to push you out of your comfort zone. Because nothing really good ever happens in your comfort zone. Now, if you want to stay in your comfort zone, you can count on your life looking exactly the same every single day. If you want something different, it requires a step. And all you have to do is take one step. But the good news is you have somebody to hold your hand while you do it. Yeah. And that’s key. When you do it on your own, I guarantee you, it’s gonna get screwed up.

Lauren Cohen 26:43
It does, 100% Just like when you try to run a business without any proper guidance on the coach and whatever. I remember, every single time I’ve ever been interviewed, I’ve always talked about what are the most important elements of success in your business, working with a coach? And well, I agree. It’s just a really, you know, just like what speaking, I could speak in front of an audience. That was never an issue. I’m not a lawyer, you know, it was always easy and natural for me, maybe I got goose bumps a little jittery, or whatever. And it’s funny Trish because I spoke live for the first time in two years, month and a half ago. And they got jitters. I was like, Whoa, because it was you know, we were I’m not used to it anymore. But that was it was fine. It worked out fine. But you do have to get out of your comfort zone. But you’ll have to also realize that you’re not an expert at everything. You’re not an expert at investing, maybe you’re not an expert at speaking, you’re not an expert at running a business across borders, okay? Because it’s different. So we need to bring in the team that knows what they’re doing. And you need to listen to their guidance. It doesn’t mean you have to go like yesterday or yesterday or yesterday, but you have to listen. Yeah, and question. And I wanted to add something else. Trish has a little bit of a built in bonus when she buys real estate, because her partner Dan happens to be able to fix like anything in your home. Okay, I had a tile in my kitchen, that I dropped the bottle over Passover, we were moving the food or bottles out of the kitchen and the bottle dropped and broke the tile. I was like, oh my god, like three tiles. Dan came there was more dust than I’ve ever seen in my entire life. But Dan came and fixed it. He saved the day. I didn’t have to get a whole new floor. But that’s the so aligning yourself with the right people doesn’t mean you have to partner like married with ever live with married people, it makes a huge difference when you don’t have to give a call. Hello, can you come and do blah, blah, blah, right?

Trish Carr 28:36
Well, and the other thing is how many you know, when you work with a team and you work with the right people, you accelerate your success, there’s no question. You can do it on your own, it’s just going to take a lot longer because a smart person makes a mistake. And if they’re smart, they learn from it. And they don’t make it again, a wise person finds a smart person who’s already made the mistake. So they avoid it all together. And if you just remember that you will move forward in your life more quickly. You don’t know everything. You never will know everything. There are people who do. And there are people you can trust. So it’s about relationships. It’s always about relationships. And you know, we got to know each other we hung out together and then we started working together like i i saw you in action. I knew what you were capable of. I learned from you the first time we spoke, when you shared you open your mouth and that expertise came out. I was like this is someone who knows her stuff. And then next is this someone who knows her stuff and would have my best interests at heart. And there’s no question that that was the case. So it’s about creating those relationships. So if you’re watching this, and you’re thinking, you know, I would like to expand, I can do something different. I can take care of my family. I can have the wealth Whatever that is, I’m not saying you want to be rich. I’d like to be rich because I don’t ever you know, Forrest Gump when he found out he had forest your rich will that’s one less thing to worry about man. Right? It’s one less thing to worry about. So I love what you’re up to and the difference that you’re make look at what you did for that family. You know, they jumped in without a visa, but they got it because you’re a dog with a bone, my friend and you don’t give up.

Lauren Cohen 30:29
Every day. Yeah, she doesn’t give up. Nope. There’s no air, no sun. There’s nothing I won’t do to make sure my clients achieve their goals. 100% of the time and Trisha is the same way. And she’s always there and always generous. And listen, everybody, please reach out to Trish if you need to learn about how to collaborate with other people, especially women, or learn how to speak from a stage or Zoom call or whatever, and create a message that is tantalizing and influential, and will achieve the goal that you’re trying to achieve for your clients. Trish, how do people reach you please?

Trish Carr 31:06
You can reach me at Trishcarr.com You can get me there directly and I urge you to go to women’sprosperitynetwork.com dip your toe in, we offer free membership. Find out what we’re about. We are a premier community of amazing people and you’ll meet people from your own area as well as throughout the US and around the world. So it is about relationships and the more people who know you, the better off you are. So check it out women’sprosperitynetwork.com Thank you Lauren, I so appreciate you.

Lauren Cohen 31:47
Don’t keep your messages secret. Work with Trish. I’m Lauren Cohen. I wanted to thank Lendai, my sponsor of this amazing podcast that helps us to deliver amazing financing options for foreign investors investing in the US from various countries. And it’s my pleasure to be aligned with them and be able to deliver those financing options to my clients. I’m Lauren Cohen international legal and real estate investment experts signing off for today from investing across borders the podcast where we teach you how to invest live, work and play across borders, please connect with me and do subscribe to the podcast. Thank you so much Trish for being here.

Trish Carr 32:26
My pleasure. Thank you

Intro/Outro 32:33
Thanks for listening to Investing Across Borders with Lauren Cohen. Make sure to check the show notes for any links and for guests contact information. If you have questions for Lauren, please reach out to her at FOUNDER@ecouncilglobal.com. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with a friend.