Breaking Boundaries: From Real Estate to Real Impact
with Brett Chotkevys
Are you playing it safe with your dreams, or are you ready to break through your limits? This powerhouse episode with Brett Chotkevys is an invitation to expand your vision and redefine what’s possible. Brett, a pioneering entrepreneur in the memory care industry, reveals how he transformed his passion for real estate into a compassionate venture that reimagines end-of-life care. His journey from house flipping to creating Memory Care Mansions offers not only a business blueprint but also a lesson in living purposefully.
Key Takeaways:
Innovative Business Modeling: Dive into Brett's journey from traditional real estate to developing Memory Care Mansions, and discover how identifying and seizing niche opportunities can lead to substantial success.
Impactful Entrepreneurship: Learn about the integration of business acumen with social good, and how Brett's approach to real estate is enhancing the quality of life for seniors and changing industry standards.
Empowering the Next Generation: Get inspired by how Brett encourages entrepreneurship in his children, teaching them about financial independence and business from a young age, setting them up not just for success but for significant societal contribution.
Why You Should Listen: If you’re an entrepreneur, a parent, or anyone aiming to leave a mark on the world, this episode is a must-listen. Brett's story is a powerful reminder that with the right mindset, we can not only achieve our own goals but also create lasting positive impacts in our communities. Tune in to transform how you think about potential, parenting, and the power of innovative thinking in business!
About Brett Chotkevys
Brett Chotkevys started investing in real estate back in 2014 in California. He started a house-flipping company that has flipped over 200 houses
In 2019, Brett moved to Texas to begin his next business venture, an Assisted Living Business. Brett identified a problem. He noticed that the small common RALs were extremely unprofitable and the large Assisted Living Facilities were clinical and unpersonable. That’s where he created a brand new niche, the Memory Care Mansion. This is a 16-bed Assisted Living Mansion that takes the homely feeling of a small RAL with all the care and amenities from the large facilities.
Brett has created this Memory Care Mansion business model that generates over $500K while only working a few hours a week. His new passion is to teach others how to do the same thing.
Connect with Brett Chotkevys
Website: https://www.palm.university
About Aleya Harris
Aleya Harris is the spark for your spark™. A trailblazer in purpose-driven story crafting, she is a former marketing executive and ex-Google Vendor Partner who brings her dynamic experience to her role as the CEO of The Evolution Collective Inc. Aleya is a StoryBrand Certified Guide, international award-winning speaker, and the host of the award-winning Flourishing Entrepreneur Podcast. Her unique approach as a Strategic Storytelling Consultant has revolutionized the way businesses communicate, transforming workplace cultures and market positioning. With her dynamic energy and proven methodologies, she guides clients to unlock their potential, articulate their radically authentic stories, and achieve unparalleled success.
Book Aleya to Speak
To book Aleya to edutain your audience at your next event as a keynote speaker, please visit www.aleyaharris.com/speaking to check out her speaking topics, reels, and why. Click "Schedule a Call" to secure the speaker with "that something new" you've been looking for.
If you are a Corporate Event Planner, Employee Experience Professional, Head of Marketing, Learning & Development Professional, Executive Assistant, Speakers Bureau Destination Management Company, or Destination Management Organization who is looking for a top-quality, energetic speaker, you should definitely hop on a call with Aleya.
Connect with Aleya Harris
Speaking & Media: https://www.aleyaharris.com
The Evolution Collective Inc.: https://www.evolutioncollective.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleyaharris/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleyaharris/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thealeyaharris
Links Mentioned on this Podcast
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[00:00] Aleya Harris: Are you limiting the hugeness, the grandness, the gloriousness of the potential in your own story because of what you believe you can accomplish based on your age, your situation, how much money your family had? Or are you truly stepping into your full potential? Do you even really know what that means? Or as you think of what your full potential is? Is there a limit there too, in your brain as you have those conversations with yourself? I invite you to have someone else join them. And his name is Brett Shotkovis. He is an amazing entrepreneur dad, and more than anything else, I would like to call him a strategist whose giving in this episode, gems that anyone from the age of four to 400 could take and use to build a business and really remove limiting beliefs from your story so that the story that you're able to tell is one that you really want to tell. Brett started real estate investing back in 2014. He started with house flipping, then he moved to Texas and he got into the assisted living space. But now he's created a brand new niche for himself, the memory care mansion. The memory Care mansion is a 16 bed assisted living mansion that takes the homely feeling of a small ral with all the care and amenities from the large facilities. He entered into this memory care mansion business model that generates over $500,000 while only working a few hours a week. Hmm. Seems like someone we want to listen to. Correct. But above all, hes doing good with everything he does, amplifying people who wouldn't normally be amplified. You'll see who those little people are in this episode and also helping to care for people towards the end of their their lives in a much more profound and empathetic way than we are accustomed to. If you are looking for pretty much all the things, this episode's got it all. If you're looking for business strategy, if you're looking to have your mind blown at what your potential is and what potential could look like, if you're looking for a step by step thought process around how to remove your limiting beliefs and just get started on your business, or how to grow your business or reimagine your business, all of that. Whoo.
[02:42] Brett Chotkevys: That's a lot.
[02:43] Aleya Harris: But all of it is in this episode today with Brett. All right, let's go.
[02:52] Yuliya Patsay: Welcome to the flourishing Entrepreneur podcast with Aleah Harris. If you're looking for actionable ways to overcome communication and differentiation challenges by sharing radically authentic stories, you are in the right place. Listen in and learn how to stand in the power of your unique narrative to transform your personal life, business, and workplace culture. And now your host, award winning international speaker, strategic storytelling consultant, and japanese whiskey lover, Ruby Coral's mom, Alayah Harris.
[03:40] Aleya Harris: Hey, Brett. Thank you so much for joining us here on the Flourishing Entrepreneur podcast. How are you doing today?
[03:47] Brett Chotkevys: I'm fantastic. Thank you for having me on with you.
[03:50] Aleya Harris: I am glad to have you on. I feel like we're continuing our unintentional series about people doing really good work in real estate with amazing stories to tell. Walthy, do it. You are lured onto my show, in my web, by our episode that we had with Brandon Cobb. And now we get to have you telling a different, but I think equally, if not more so, compelling story about what you do in real estate. So, before we dive into some of our more hard hitting questions, can you please tell the listeners in, like, two to three sentences what you do?
[04:28] Brett Chotkevys: So we build and operate memory care mansions, and essentially, it's myself and my wife. They're 16 bedroom, 10,000 square foot new construction. Just the most elaborate thing you could build for end of life care. And then we provide all the care and amenities that you would get at the big, smelly facility in a custom designed, mansion style home.
[04:52] Aleya Harris: That's amazing. Sign me up. My daughter's 17 months old. I'm going to make sure that I sing this episode for her as she gets older, just in case I don't end up in a smelly facility. Oh, my God. We all can smell the smell like that.
[05:09] Brett Chotkevys: I know. It hits you right in the nose, right? Yeah, for sure.
[05:14] Aleya Harris: So this is a very specific niche to get into, and one that I think very much intrigues me, because when people tell stories, they're often based on the memories that they have. And here we are dealing with folks that might not have those same memories. But before we go down that track, I would just love to know how you got into this very specific niche of real estate to begin with.
[05:43] Brett Chotkevys: Yeah, I've been in real estate for about ten years, and we started our investment company, buying and flipping houses, creating passive income, but really wanted to do something that made a difference. I love building things, and then I love helping people. It's like, all right, well, how do I combine real estate with helping people? So we went down a path, a different path, and we opened a sober living and ran that for a few years. Helping people literally off the streets, housing, and someone to cook for them and help them, you know, kind of get on their feet. That wasn't something we wanted to scale. I wanted to work with people, ultimately, who really wanted help and a lot of the people you had drug addictions and they were ultimately, at one point, like, the last straw was they lit my house on fire. I'm like, no, we're moving away from this, right? Like, we're done with the silver living stuff.
[06:31] Aleya Harris: Oh, my gosh. It is hard to scale building houses if people keep burning them down.
[06:36] Brett Chotkevys: Yeah, right, exactly. So it was like, well, who needs help and who deserves the best of the best care? And it's like, well, everyone's going to get old, right? Like my family, your family. Like, how do we solve this problem in the end of life space? Because it's such a huge problem and therefore, I think such a huge opportunity. Because what do you have? You mostly have two options. You have the big, smelly facility with a hundred other people and especially post Covid, nobody wants to be there. Then you have the dinky little rals, right? The six beds, the eight beds. And you usually have a shared room. And you eat top ramen because you don't have a chef. And it's like, that's not the greatest either. What can I do? And I saw this opportunity, like, I know I can create something better, right? I can have both sides of this. All the carrot amenities that you can get at the big, smelly facility in a custom designed, smaller, more intimate mansion style that looks and feels like a home and not like a facility.
[07:32] Aleya Harris: So you could have, like you said, you went into the sober living and now in memory care mansions, which I love that term, by the way, but you could have gone into making apartment buildings or, you know, malls or something like that. What is it in your story that made you want this to be part of your story?
[07:58] Brett Chotkevys: I think it's really purpose. I wanted to do something that legitimately made a difference. And I'm a businessman. It needs to make sense. I need to make money. I want to make a lot of money, actually. But I want to do that in a way where I can show my kids, my community that I'm actually doing something to make a difference. One of the driving factors was my actual grandma. I needed a place for her and she was with us for about four years in our assisted living. And she just passed a couple months ago, but she got to 104 years old. So I want to do something that makes a difference, but I can actually help my actual family and the people in my community. And I want my girls to see, hey, dad is a Ba businessman. He's making great money doing these things, but I'm actually making a difference.
[08:48] Aleya Harris: And there's nothing wrong with that, and I welcome it. And I think that there should be more people like you. And I'm sorry about the passing of your grandmother, but, wow, what a legacy. What a legacy. She must have lived after 100.
[09:00] Brett Chotkevys: I know, right? So long, she was ready to go. Honestly, I don't recommend living past 100 right now. It's a hard thing.
[09:09] Aleya Harris: Did she suffer from memory loss as well?
[09:13] Brett Chotkevys: She did, yes. The last few years, she was nonverbal, and she physically was there. She mentally was not with us for the last couple years, so she was ready to go.
[09:23] Aleya Harris: Yeah. When you think about, though, the stories that she's told you over the years before, she had the memory loss, what if you can think of one or two of the ones that had the most impact on your life and maybe even caused you to be the person that you are? Can you think of any stories like that from. From your grandmother? Because although she lost her memory towards the end, I'm sure she gave you quite a bit before she.
[09:52] Brett Chotkevys: Yeah, she was a lady that, you know, she was always dressed really nice. She was always rocking high heels, even into, like, her early nineties. And that was her style. And so it was interesting, maybe difficult to see her transition into a place where honestly, like, the caregivers that we have, they were hand feeding her, and you get to a place where you forget how to chew and swallow, and there's just a lot of hard things at end of life. So it's honestly really humbling to know that potentially you, I, everyone that we know and love may get to that place in life where your mind just kind of shuts down. And the best of the best of us, you can't really avoid that.
[10:38] Aleya Harris: Yeah. Well, what is it? There's only a couple things that are sure in life, death and taxes. I just finished my taxes this morning, and I'm, you know, death is hopefully a long ways off.
[10:49] Brett Chotkevys: Right.
[10:52] Aleya Harris: So when you are thinking, though, about, you've mentioned your girls and you've mentioned a legacy in the story that you want to leave behind. What is a part of your story that you don't think that they will see as, like, the overarching piece, but there's something that you really want them to know that contributed to you being who you are, especially in this space.
[11:21] Brett Chotkevys: So I think overall, in business, right, they see us now, my wife and I, and we're very successful. We're making good money, and we're investing in a lot of projects. We're building wealth. They see that. And I don't want them to think that that's where mom and dad started, right? Like, I mean, we started like, you know, we could, I shopped at the 99 cent store, right? Like, we didn't, we weren't handed anything. And we grinded for a decade to figure this out and pull ourselves out of the rat race and get financial freedom, you know, in our thirties and all that kind of stuff and the hard work and the grit that went into that, you know, my girls were, you know, not born slash very little at that time. And I want to really instill that you're not guaranteed anything. I don't want them to be entitled kids. So honestly, one of the things that we do is they started their own business actually at four and six years old. They literally started with, okay, lemonade. Most kids start lemonade. And then Covid happened and I'm like, hey, girls, sorry, no more lemonade. So they're like, what can we do? And they google searched it, my six year old did, and jewelry came up. So they've been five years now having a successful jewelry business, not kid jewelry, right? Like, you can look up their website, Kylan and co.com. and they.
[12:39] Aleya Harris: You're gonna have to spell that. Spell, spell that. Their website.
[12:42] Brett Chotkevys: Okay. So. K I a and let's see. No, sorry. K I a. Lynn. Lynn and co.com. kylan and co. So my girls were now are nine and twelve, been running their own business for five years. They're in several stores. They do several events a month. And I want to say they make more money than their teachers. And so they bought their first rental property a few months back. And so we're guiding them through business, through sales, marketing, investing. We do profit and loss statements with them. I mean, they, you know, they're paying taxes, they're doing all that kind of stuff, you know, at that young of an age. And I really am proud of that aspect from it because I, I honestly, I want them to learn all of these lessons that I had to go through. But, you know, now they're learning it. 2030 years before I even got into this game.
[13:33] Aleya Harris: I love not only that, they're doing it and their jewelry is super cute. Just in case you guys were wondering, you should check it out. That's kylenenco.com. kailynandco dot c o m. They're super cute, right? And I love that you had the belief in them that they could do it. You weren't like, oh, well, you're just kids. You just are going to have to sit down and I don't know, draw and twiddle your thumbs or whatever. You know, they. They are. I mean, obviously, there's been some type of support provided, but sure, a lot of baby subs. Yeah, baby subs. But, I mean, how awesome is it that they have this store? It's in. I mean, they have this online store. It's in stores, and, I mean, and they've done some great pricing, and they have some great style to them, too. Awesome.
[14:27] Brett Chotkevys: Yeah, they make adult earrings and. And that kind of stuff. And, I mean, it's been a long little process for them, you know, growing through this naturally. And you can. The challenging part is, right, me as a business person, I want to like them to blow up, but I can only guide them so quickly because they're young and they want to play with their friends, and they have sports in school, and it's like, dad, like, you know, sometimes they're like, oh, my gosh, another event, right? Like, we have. This is event season right now. In the spring. All these events lined up almost every single weekend, and, I mean, they're crushing it, but they're like, they don't need the money. Right? Like, I want to play. I want to play with my friends.
[15:03] Aleya Harris: Right, right, right. Oh, my God, that's awesome. These fishbone earrings, by the way, not that I'm shopping and that they've been added to the cart, but they're really cute.
[15:11] Brett Chotkevys: They are super cute. They. We sell so many of these things.
[15:16] Aleya Harris: I really love how you've taken your story and you allowed it to be an empowering one for your daughters, and you had them start their story in a rather unexpected place. Right? You didn't just say, well, when they get older, we'll do this, or, oh, they have to join the family business. And you allowed them to explore, but you still gave them the guidance and the. The freedom. How do you think that the way that they write the stories of their lives will be different than their peers because of how you've guided them.
[15:54] Brett Chotkevys: It's. It's really so different and apparent. At even at this stage of life, their concept of money is drastically different than. Than most. The knowledge or maybe the confidence that they have that they understand the core concept of business. Find a problem, create a product, sell the product, solve the problem, make a profit. Right? Like, they have no, like, limiting belief on money. It's like oxygen to them. It's everywhere. I can have as much of it as I want. I know how to do it. Right. Like, the confidence and the freedom of that. And we, my wife and I, we spend a lot of time teaching them and talking about financial freedom and, you know, working for the man and creating, you know, wealth and things like that and investing. So it, I mean, they kind of stand out like a sore thrum, honestly, when they're in front of their kids and even to their teachers, it's like, oh, okay, you, you already have passive income. All right, well, we're, you know, we're getting there with them. They're, they're, they're going to have a totally different perspective. So I think it's important that they don't come off entitled from this. And I really, I appreciate and I continue to push them towards their all self made, you know, future millionaires.
[17:17] Aleya Harris: I really like that because often, and I do a lot of work with people on this and with myself. In order to get to the place where your daughters are, because of your wonderful guidance and your belief in them, we often have to unlearn a bunch of money, stuff that life has put on to us, all of that. Like you're saying money is finite. You have to work super hard. It has to be stressful. It has to feel like a grind. You have to work for somebody else for years and years and years before you can ever set out on your own all of those things that a lot of people were told, which are absolutely not true.
[17:57] Brett Chotkevys: Right.
[17:58] Aleya Harris: Your daughters will never have to unlearn. Yeah, talk about a legacy. It's almost like you're doing so much good in the world, but that in and of itself, I kind of want to check up on them in about ten years and just to see, like, what does that even look like? I've never met anybody like your daughters before that are so empowered from such a young age, where I get to see, well, what does that, what does that turn into? How do they write their story? They're definitely going to be able to teach me a thing or five about all of that. But in your success, there is, and in any type of business ownership, there's always opportunity for failure. What is your relationship with success and failure for yourself? And then how do you talk about that relationship between success and failure with your daughters?
[18:52] Brett Chotkevys: So I think failure is a prerequisite to success. I literally tell my girls all the time, like, if you have not failed 99 times yet, then why do you think you're going to succeed? And if you did succeed the first time, then you just went way too small. You need to think way bigger than that if you are the best at it. And actually, here's the perspective. My daughters, starting at such a young age, they never competed against children. They always competed against adults. And that is a huge perspective for them. They are going to these vendor events. They're in stores. There's no other kids doing it. They don't do kid events. They only do adult events, right? So they are mentally comparing against other adults and, you know, finding so much failure. And I mean, literally, like, okay, so they were four and six years old. We taught them how to cold walk up to ladies. And before they were in any stores, they had a little basket full of jewelry that they made. And we taught them, you know, their pitch, how to ask permission, how to give a sales presentation. The amount of failure, rejection that they learned at that age, I mean, it was. It was literally 50 to 100 times in a. In a night, right? Like, no, no, no. Like, go away, little girl. Or, you know, whatever it is, like, they were super cute, so it was hard to say no. But the still, they learned so many rejections and nos and learned that it's literally the prerequisite to success is over and over again failing until you get there.
[20:21] Aleya Harris: How do you then make sure that that on one side, great early education about the way money in the world works, but on the other side, that can be hard and difficult for little ones to process? How have you balanced out not pushing them too hard into the adult space so that then, you know, they're doing good. They're doing good. And then their story gets all weird and wonky. You know, you've seen, like, those child actors who like weird and wonky adults, right? How have you.
[20:59] Brett Chotkevys: What did you say? That's a hard balance because I'm a. I think my wife does that. I think she probably adds that balance because I'm very much like, go, go, go driven. Like, let's do more. And then I think she comes in and be like, okay, well, you know, like, there's priorities, right? Like, I mean, we literally have priorities. So there's their school. They have to get all their school stuff done first. And then second to that, they have to do their homework, and then the business stuff, right? They come and they make jewelry, they do new photos for their website and stuff like that. And then after that comes school sports, and then playing with their neighborhood kids. So we've given them priorities in these things, and it's like, okay, well, these things are, first, here's your priorities in life, and here are secondary things after, you know, your business and stuff. And ultimately, it's only like 30 minutes a day after school that they'll do work on their business. It's not crazy, but it's a lot of weekends. Right. So a lot of sacrifice comes with playing with friends or even on sporting things. Right. My daughters will miss a bunch of, like, track meets and things because we're driving to Dallas and we have a three day event that they're going to run. Right. And, you know, that's. I think that's kind of the perspective. I hope that I don't overdo it honestly, and make some, um, you know, something that's too over the top. But I think that we balance this so much because we focus a lot on. On giving and generosity and. And the why. Right. The why of this money is. Is a tool for good or for evil. And let me show you good. Let me show you how to use it. And they are so incredibly generous. The amount of. Of jewelry and money that they give to people is. I'm very, very proud of that. And I think that they're heading in the right direction with that.
[22:42] Aleya Harris: Well, one. I mean, one of the many great things that you're doing with them is that there's so much together time. You know, they're not. They have an age difference, not a huge age difference, but they do have an age difference between the two of your girls, and that often leads to leading very, very separate lives, but you're giving them something to bond over. How do you think that has changed their relationship? Having a bit of a shared story, a commonality, which a lot of siblings do not have.
[23:14] Brett Chotkevys: Yeah, well, I mean, they're legitimately business partners, right? And actually, they're. They're 50 50. My wife and I, we own 0% of it. We work for free to help them and chaperone and drive them all around. But there's a lot of lessons because my older daughter is very much more like me, and my younger daughter is more like my wife, which is, you know, business versus just personality and meeting people, relationships. So my older daughter likes to take charge and, like, let's do everything now and this way and this way. And it's like, hey, listen, like, your sister is your 50% business partner. You can't just make these executive decisions. You need to consult her. You need to bring these things on. And then it's kind of the same way. Like, you, my other. To my other daughter. You can't be letting your sister do all of the work. Right? You need to be keeping up. You need to be doing these things. And there's a common success in that. And I think very much a team, and they're very different as far as their personalities, but I think that I'm teaching them kind of this yin and yang of business. Right? Like, she's gonna focus over here and succeed. You're gonna focus over here and succeed. And we're able to teach some pretty practical, real life things in an example that makes sense for them.
[24:23] Aleya Harris: I know that you're doing a lot of guiding a lot, and it sounds like you're doing a great job. You and your wife are like, my mind is blown over here. You're doing some really impressive stuff with your girls. I hope that you're very proud of yourself.
[24:33] Brett Chotkevys: I'm very proud, yeah.
[24:35] Aleya Harris: What have they taught you, though? How have they guided you? How have they helped shape your story by their example or the way that they've been going about business or life? Because I'm on the outside looking in at these very cool little girls who are doing what most adults can't even do without the limiting beliefs that come attached to it. But you are an adult. You said you worked at 99 cent store. You did all this stuff. You were one of those adults, like the rest of us, that had to unlearn some of this money stuff. So what have you been learning from them?
[25:08] Brett Chotkevys: I think it's the potential, the potential that we all have. And you see this real life example in my daughters, and I see it on the day to day. And so if they are able to do this, where. And I'll tell you what, that they get a lot of hate, actually, from a lot of moms. They will, you know, they'll be doing these events and they'll. Yes. Yeah, yeah. Because the moms will come up with their snooty attitude and say, oh, little girls, like, who made this? Did your mom really make this? Is this your mom's business? Is she getting all the money? Like, all this? It happens a lot.
[25:40] Aleya Harris: Oh, they think that you're pimping out your kids.
[25:42] Brett Chotkevys: Yes. Yeah. So. And my daughters are like, they. It was hard for them for a while, but they learned to stand up for themselves. Like, no, this is my business.
[25:52] Aleya Harris: This is.
[25:53] Brett Chotkevys: This is what I do. I bought my own rental property. I have this much in my. They don't tell people they have their savings, but they have a good amount of money. So there's a lot of pushback saying it just shows an example of what our culture believes about young people, that they are not good enough, that they're not capable enough. And at such a young age, they're able to believe, and I'm able to see that they are capable of these things. And so it's really my or eye opening for what our youth can do, but then I can translate into that, into my own life, my own business. Okay, I just turned 40. Why am I not thinking bigger? Why can't I do bigger deals, right? Like, if they can do these things when literally, like, most people think it's not even possible, then why can't I do the things that I don't believe is yet possible?
[26:42] Aleya Harris: That's what they've been teaching me, and I haven't even met these wonderful little children yet. First thing that crossed my mind, I was like, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. So if I, without ever knowing them, just based on their age, told myself, not even a loud voice, but it's kind of like the accepted truth in my brain of what they were capable of. And then it makes me go back and check myself. My daughter's 17 months old, remember?
[27:06] Brett Chotkevys: Oh, yeah.
[27:06] Aleya Harris: And I'm like, oh, gosh, how do I make sure to really lean into their potential as you have done and whatever that takes shape and looking like, rather than letting my preconceived notions of potential really covered up in, quote, unquote, parenting is what it would have, how it would have come out. Oh, no, they can't. She's not ready. Let me make sure she's ready. Let me write. Let me make sure that I don't create the same limiting beliefs in her as I had created in me. Again, probably very unintentionally.
[27:43] Brett Chotkevys: It's so hard to do.
[27:48] Aleya Harris: I can only imagine. But at least you have made a lot of headway that I think that parents. That parents don't. What made you decide to do this with your girls?
[28:00] Brett Chotkevys: Because it wasn't. It was kind. Well, it was such little baby steps that I did not ever think it would become what it became. So it was. It was, let's solve the next problem. It was always, what's the next problem? Okay. Lemonade. They wanted to make their goal, right? They. They made, like, 100, 5170 bucks the first weekend they did a lemonade stand. And, like, that's amazing, right? Like, that's fantastic. We shot. We taught them how to. How to split that and how to. How to save it and how to, you know, eventually prepare for investing. And then Covid happened. So it's the next problem. What do we do now? And they started selling earrings. Actually, it was how to make them right. They were not that great. The first couple rounds, and then we sold them at church and our gym, and then they built confidence. And then it was like, well, okay, let's go to this area where all these kind of people hang out in our city. And they started walking around, and I'm like, all right, listen, I can teach you a sales presentation, right? I can show you. You have this unique cuteness right now. And they were tiny little things, right? Let me work your strategic advantage. You are young and cute, and people will support you. So then it was like, all right, that's that. And then it was an opportunity. It went from that to, hey, these ladies are like, oh, I know this boutique down the street. They would love to get you in. So then they started wholesaling there, and then it was just the next thing, the next thing, the next thing. And I honestly, for the first probably year and a half or two years, didn't think much of it, aside from, hey, hopefully they can get to maybe their first rental property or cash flow by the time they move out of our house. And then it became like, well, ****, why can't they have, like, an empire by the time they're 18? Like, it didn't start there initially.
[29:41] Aleya Harris: Wow. All of the steps, though, the mind blowing part of this is that all of the steps that you're talking about for your daughters, your little girls, are the same exact steps that I'm hoping that the listeners are understanding, that they should take care of their businesses, too, as adults.
[29:57] Brett Chotkevys: Right?
[29:58] Yuliya Patsay: You.
[29:58] Aleya Harris: Even if you're like, I don't know if I can do this. You take the baby steps, you find the confidence, you solve the problem, then the next problem, then the next problem. That is what entrepreneurship really is about. Do you see parallels in between the way you have guided your girls, which I did not expect to talk this much about them. I'm just so fascinated. Do you see parallels between the way you've guided your girls and the way that you run your memory mansion businesses?
[30:25] Brett Chotkevys: So let me think about that. I think that our girls have this strategic advantage of their age, and they're leveraging that. I don't have that strategic advantage of my age. Right. But I have, I guess you're still so cute, Brett.
[30:46] Aleya Harris: So cute.
[30:48] Brett Chotkevys: But it's like, okay, what do I have? What is my strategic advantage that I can use in creating this product? So there's definitely an advantage or translation in that perspective that it's like, what can I be unique about? And you know what? My niche is so, so super niche. Right? That's. You talked about why not going in? Apartment investing. Everyone in their mom is in an apartment investing. No one is building what I'm building there. There's people out there doing the residential conversion and I don't do that. I don't think that works right. Like, I think I'm the only person who is promoting, let's do a purpose built new construction mansion in a commercial zoning or multifamily zoning, somewhere where I can, you know, not get blocked by the city and the zoning and ultimately go and provide all the care and amenities that you can get at the hundred bed that nobody wants to be at anymore and really steal all those grandmas and fill up my mansions.
[31:41] Aleya Harris: Did you just say you're stealing grandmas?
[31:43] Brett Chotkevys: I'm stealing grandmas. That's right. Yeah. The daughter's sticking with a bad care over there, right? Like give her a year or two. She's going to come over to our mansion, she's going to see it. I'm stealing it from the big facility down the street.
[31:55] Aleya Harris: And I love that. And you mentioned the phrase strategic advantage multiple times. But I love the way you mentioned it. It was like this hunting sense behind the word hunting, finding. I gotta find it. I gotta find what? My strategic advantage. And you sought so readily in your girls, and it's like you couldn't help yourself. You're like, I can't help myself. You have to sell something because this cuteness is only gonna last a couple of years, ladies, so let's get it together, right? And then within yourself, you're hunting. You're, you're searching. What is it? What can I do? And I feel like people forget about that. We. We focus so much on what is not a part of our story. Well, I don't have the. This. Well, you know, I'm not that well, I can't do this because, well, you just don't know my story. Instead of flipping it on the end and say, well, what do I have? No, I might not be two and six or six and how are they six and twelve?
[32:50] Brett Chotkevys: No, right now they're nine and twelve. They started at four and six.
[32:53] Aleya Harris: Four and six and then nine and twelve. You might not, you might not have that as your strategic advantage, but you have something as part of your story. And we have to have that same eagerness and almost like the drive to discover what it is and maximize it that you do and you've so expertly done multiple times. This is not a fluke. You've done it. And it's also like you've done it with children. And that's the hardest part, right. On very different levels. So I would love to just tell anybody that's listening or ask them a very pointed question. How's that excuse going for you?
[33:33] Brett Chotkevys: Right.
[33:34] Aleya Harris: How is the excuse going for you? Well, you don't know my story. I don't have the this or I don't have the that. Flip it. Find your strategic advantage, and you could be selling gangbusters like Brett and his entire family. Stealing grandmas. Like Brett is stealing grandmas.
[33:52] Brett Chotkevys: Yeah. Right.
[33:54] Aleya Harris: Before we wrap up, Brett, I think we've gone through so many great, great, great things here that a lot of people can, can take away. And you've been blessed with so much, and you've been a blessing to so many other people. But if you could ask God, the universe spirit right now, for one thing, and you would know 100% that you would get it, what would that be?
[34:22] Brett Chotkevys: It would be that my girls are successful. And, you know, not necessarily just in the financial side or their business side, but because I think part of that is my fear that I've put so much stress on business or money that I want them to have this husband that's amazing. I want them to have children that are amazing. I want them to be healthy and live long. I think that money is just one of the core values that I'm trying to raise my girls with. Physical health, spiritual health, mental health, their relationships. I want them to be overall successful in all of those things and have a long and blessed life.
[35:01] Aleya Harris: That is beautiful. That is beautiful. Well, Brett, this has been an amazing conversation, and I don't know who wouldn't want to talk to you after this about so many things. I still have so many questions. But tell the people how they can do that. Where can they find you? How can they reach you? And again with the URL of the Girls website, please.
[35:23] Brett Chotkevys: Sure. Okay. So, if you want to follow me, I have a podcast, assisted living investing, and I talk about how to start these memory care mansions. Get into the weeds on that, and really kind of document my journey as I'm scaling growing my business. And then my wife and I have a podcast called the Donkey and the Bee. And ultimately, we talk about from a marriage perspective, from a husband and wife, how do you get together on the same page, kick butt, grow your business, invest? We talk through sex and relationships and everything that's like, here are the deal killers for relationships. Let's get a husband and wife on the same page so you can check them out and follow us there. Also, if you wanted to reach out support om university. That's how you can get a hold of me. And again, you can, you can go to our website there, Palm University. You can see our mansions. You can do a virtual tour of them and see kind of what the niche is. If you're curious about this, as a subsection of real estate, really, it's a business opportunity and it's a real estate investment play, and there's a huge financial and purpose advantage in that. And then I think the last thing you asked for was the girls, my daughter's website. So kylanandco.com. and you can also follow them on Facebook. You can see them live at events. We'll show you what they're doing. And you see these little girls just hustling with a huge wave of customers around their booths. Usually.
[36:41] Aleya Harris: I love it. Everything that's coming out of your mouth, the donkey and the bee will be part of my subscribe podcast.
[36:48] Brett Chotkevys: Awesome.
[36:49] Aleya Harris: I am super jazzed about that. It has been such a pleasure, an unexpected conversation, such an edifying one. Totally, totally mind blown over here about what you've been able to accomplish in all areas of your life. And I appreciate you for being here with us today.
[37:07] Brett Chotkevys: Oh, thank you so much for having me on. It was a lot of fun.
[37:12] Aleya Harris: Is it just me, or are you also sitting there looking at all of the untapped potential in your life right now going, what am I doing? If Brett's daughters could do this, what am I doing? This episode, this conversation with Brett took my removing limiting beliefs and getting out of my own way from the back burner to the forefront. Because now I see what's possible when you do. Now I see what is possible when I step fully into my potential and I needed, I think, a little bit of that kick. So instead of playing small and thinking small, how can I maybe, yes, take small steps, but take it towards a larger, more grandiose goal without putting the limiting beliefs of society and myself and my background onto the experience. The story I want to tell y'all is big. It's huge. It's large. But am I acting like it? And now, just in case you're wondering, I'm gonna pose that. Flip it. I'm gonna flip it and reverse it. Like Missy Elliot said, right back on you, and ask you, my dear friend, are you doing the same thing? Are you thinking big enough? Not big in the way to intimidate you, but big as far as what could be possible. And can you take baby steps to get it? Yes. But is your possible just a good, or is it a great, is it a mag majestic? Is it a wonderful? Is it awe inspiring? Does it scare you a little bit, but in the most delicious way. Right? That's what I'm sitting with after this conversation with Brett and I'm so grateful to have had it, especially because I am a mommy and what can I do to help support my daughter when living her fullest potential without putting my own limiting beliefs onto her? Ooh, I know she's gonna have to have therapy at some point in time. We all do. But I'd like to contribute to less therapy moments if possible. If you liked this episode, which I know I sure as heck did, please go ahead subscribe. Like leave a comment I really want to hear from you. You can also email me directly@alayahleaharris.com. aleyaleyaharris.com until next time, my name is yes invagged Alayah Harris and I'm sending you lots and lots and lots of love, light, and more abundance than you can ever think of. So much abundance. Have a wonderful rest of your life journey for this period, day, night and evening, and I will talk to you soon. Bye for now.
[40:00] Yuliya Patsay: Thank you for listening to this episode of the flourishing entrepreneur podcast with Aleyah Harris. Vibing with what you hear, leave a five star review to spread the love and be sure to click subscribe. We wish you love, light and abundance. See you next time.
