Purpose-Driven Investing: Lessons from Building a Retail Empire

Andres Sevilla (00:00)

There is definitely there is I would say that if you’re not feeling the pressure, if you’re not really feeling that you are kind of pushing it too hard, you’re not doing enough. We have been for a long time, kind of thought to be comfortable. And the real, success comes from

pushing things outside the comfort zone. many of the deals that we have done have made us think, is this too much? Are we stretching it too much? But if you keep doing it and you just don’t stop really, don’t stop pushing and working.

hard towards what you know that is the purpose that you have, you’re going to get through. it’s not about only goals. It’s about purpose. I always say if you don’t have purpose, there’s no reason to do it.

Quentin (02:22)

Everyone. Hello. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds, and I’m super excited to be here, excited about my guest. He has been through a journey. of course, I’m going him say it in his own voice, but very, very encouraging where he started and where he is now, how he set a goal.

for himself and now he’s crushing them goals. And so I am really excited for you to peek through his lens, to get to know things through his world. And so I would love to introduce you guys to Mr. Andres Sevilla. How are you doing today, sir?

Andres Sevilla (02:59)

Thank you. How are you doing? Thank you for having me.

Quentin (03:02)

Absolutely, man. I’m so excited to have you here. We’ve been talking a little bit. And so I know our listeners are going to get a ton of value from peeking through your lens. So listen, take us into your world. I want you to tell us about what your main focus is these days. Maybe tell us a little bit about how you got started. And also tell us what markets you’re operating in as well.

Andres Sevilla (03:25)

Sure. So what we operate in the commercial real estate space, pretty much we do value at retail deals. We’ve been developing the Midwest since 2018. We are right around a million square feet of special stable retail space in about seven states within the Midwest.

We’ve been working really hard there. We see that there’s a lot of opportunity in the Midwest. the value of the space is really, really interesting. There’s a lot to do there.

Quentin (04:06)

I love it, man. I love it. What caught my attention is just the way you set a goal and the way you are achieving that goal. You talked a little bit about, you know, when you was 30, you set a goal that said, hey, I was going to be successful in real estate by 45. And to me, that’s amazing. It seems to me everything we talked about, you’re hitting that goal. And so I know it’s not, the journey hasn’t always been easy, but now you’re here, you have systems.

So what’s been the key to keeping that machine running smoothly?

Andres Sevilla (05:37)

Well, yeah, as you said, when I was 30, I pretty much had to start from scratch. I had two kids and I of went broke 100 % in a business that I had. I started from scratch. And I just saw I had a lot of interest for…

you know, something that I saw a good friend that I met and he was sleeping in houses and I love the kind of the whole dynamic. Yes, I set my goal for to be successful before my 45th birthday and I just kind of set my aim with like a laser beam to achieve that.

I started actually mowing grass for this friend. He had seven houses at that time and I started mowing the grass of these houses and I started being interested about the process of the construction. I started going to supervise the painters and the tile people and everything. So I started from every…

every part of the trade of the flipping. And by 2018, I had flipped around 300 properties of my own and I started in commercial. So definitely a long journey, but it’s been, you know, even when we were starting and it was very hard.

you know, Phoenix, very, very warm and, and coming from a, from a very comfortable home having, you know, to start from zero was, was very humbling, but is kind of the proudest time. So I think that’s what makes you stronger. Those kinds of that kind of thing that kind of puts you to the test.

Quentin (07:30)

Yeah.

No, and I’m so glad you went there because you’re absolutely right. Sometimes we get so caught on talking about the success that we really don’t appreciate the process. And sometimes we don’t even tell people about the journey of getting to the success. And so I know you’ve been doing this for a long time. I know there’s moments when things get real. Maybe a day will go sideways or maybe a time when you have to pivot fast.

I was wondering if you could share maybe a story like that with us, again, to normalize to our viewers that there is a process to success.

Andres Sevilla (08:06)

There is definitely there is ⁓ I would say that if you’re not feeling the pressure, if you’re not really feeling that you are kind of pushing it too hard, you’re not doing you’re not doing enough. We have been for a long time, kind of thought to be like comfortable. And the real, you know, real success comes from from

pushing things towards the outside the comfort zone. So I will tell you that many of the deals that we have done have a little bit kind of made us think, is this too much? Are we stretching it too much? But if you keep doing it and you just don’t stop really, don’t stop ⁓ pushing and working.

hard towards what you know that is the purpose that you have, you’re going to get through. I think it’s important to say that it’s not about only goals. It’s about purpose. I always say and mention that if you don’t have purpose, there’s no reason to do it.

What takes you very, very far is who you do it for and what purpose you fight for.

Quentin (09:56)

No, I absolutely love that. And I wrote it down. It’s about purpose. I hear you loud and clear. You have to know your why. What motivates you? When you know your why, it’s very easy to say, no or hell yes. When you know your why, when you know your purpose. There’s a quote that I stick by that helps me just navigate life. It’s a quote that says, when you know who you are, you know what to do. When you’re sure about your why,

when you’re sure about your purpose, you can put a person in any situation when they know who they are, they know what to do. They know what motivates them. They know what drives them. And so I hear you, sir. And thank you so much for sharing, honestly, that separates folks from the people that just dabble to the people that’s going to stay in it for the long term when they know their purpose, when they know their why. So I appreciate you saying that,

Andres Sevilla (10:45)

Yes, I agree.

Quentin (10:46)

Absolutely. And so listen, I want to ask you this. What are you most focused on solving or scaling next? Like what’s the next real goal for you?

Andres Sevilla (10:54)

Right now, as I mentioned before, we are working really hard on expanding our networks, getting, sharpening our skills to be able to fundraise in a more effective and more professional way. We’ve spent a lot of time perfecting the system.

perfect in the process. And now that we know we have a very well-oiled machine, now we are ready to start injecting funds and bringing people. It’s a big responsibility. Fundraising for a project is not just about having the success of bringing the money and start

This is not about creating a fee for yourself. This is about taking the money of someone who trusts and being profitable for them and for yourself. So I think we are in the right place now and we are committed to get to the next level in fundraising.

Quentin (11:57)

No, I love it. And I think that’s big. Again, when I hear you talk, you sound like a person who know who you are. And so therefore, you know what to do. You know what the next step is. So you talk about expanding the network, sharpening your skills. But here’s the thing. You have a system in place for bringing in the right person within the system you already have in place. Don’t sell me the gold, the glitter, the glamour. I need to know that you’re the right person to fit within the systems that we already have in place.

Andres Sevilla (12:11)

Thank

Quentin (12:25)

And so I love that when I hear you talk, I’m hearing a person that know their purpose. And I know, you know, that the next move, it can either compound things or create total chaos depending on how you play it. But one thing listening to you, the purpose always pulls out the beauty within the chaos. And so I love everything I’m hearing, sir. Everything I’m hearing.

Andres Sevilla (12:46)

Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that.

Quentin (12:48)

Absolutely.

Absolutely. And so, you know, I hear your heart, I hear your purpose. And I think, you know, we have people that’s listening and they’re, some of them are early on their journey. Some of them are looking to level up. And I think their benefit hearing is from you when it comes to relationships, right? In your network. Like when it comes to building relationships and growing your network, what’s made the biggest difference for you?

Andres Sevilla (13:51)

Yeah, we’ve, we’ve met a lot of people along the way we have. We’ve, we’ve met a lot of very good investors. we’ve met a lot of investors that are not necessarily looking out for, for, you know, for you to grow together. So the same way you’re going to find sponsors.

as an investor that ⁓ really are wanting to do some fundraise and not necessarily have a good profitable result for everyone, you’re going to see some investors that are not necessarily wanting the same. So not all the investors are a good fit. You have to find investors who share your visions, who

are able to respect and are able to leave you to work. You cannot have investors who are too dominant and want to pretty much micromanage the deals. It’s important that if you know that you have a system, be able to

be able to show and have a good trust and a breach of trust with that investor. To be able to report, to be able to show what’s going on, but at the same time to have a good field of action. That’s very, very important. And from there, obviously, and…

Integrity and honesty is what you’re going to, it’s going to take you far for sure. ⁓ Be able to, as I said, under promise and over deliver in every deal. Don’t ever try to sell a deal with a high yield that you are not sure that is going to be accomplished.

Quentin (15:26)

Absolutely.

No, I absolutely love it. mean, such great nuggets that you’re dropping. love how you, again, showing the importance of making sure that you’re with the right person. You’re in the right proximity with the right people that way that there’s real alignment. I absolutely love the message that you’re or speaking, you know, I say preaching. but listen, you know, I love hearing your perspective and your point of view. And so.

Andres Sevilla (15:49)

Yeah.

Quentin (16:04)

What I really want to do, I want to open up the floor to see if there’s any kind of encouragement or inspiration, anything that’s on your heart that maybe you can give out viewers, our listeners, because again, you have a unique lens on your journey. So maybe you can just give them some parting words that will really come from the heart. If you have that, I would love for you to do that for our listeners.

Andres Sevilla (16:25)

Listen, it’s never late and it’s never too early to start. It’s important that we have to understand that in school they’re not teaching kids how to file a tax return, to save money, how to put their money to work. It’s incredible that every

type of business. doesn’t matter if you go to a technology based business. Banking says that every millionaire will put their money to produce in real estate. So anything that you do, you have to remember that there is an easy way to put your money to work. If you are starting or you are graduating soon, you know,

reach out to, you know, right now you have a huge university to learn this, YouTube. I mean, like, you have all the information there. Obviously, I like to mentor and I have been mentoring, you know, kids and people of all ages for a long time as a way of giving back. But at the same time,

Look for the ways you can deploy the money that you make into an asset. A lot of people think that they make a little money and they go and they buy liabilities. are being, obviously, all the time sold to buy liabilities instead of buy assets. If you buy assets, they’re going to yield money that will pay for your toys and for your liabilities.

If you just buy liability, you’re not going to make any anything. So as I said, mean, like it’s a little bit of a half discipline and and and read and learn every day. There’s a lot to learn without paying, to be honest with you.

Quentin (18:17)

Yeah, yeah. Now I love it. And again, I thank you for that nugget. You somebody that has practiced what you preach. So you dropping a nugget is because you’ve put it into play and why it should work for you. So I appreciate you sharing. Listen, before we wrap, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, or maybe even learn about more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way for them to reach out to you,

Andres Sevilla (18:39)

Well, we don’t have a lot of social networking platform going on or anything like that. As I said, my email is paragon.property.investment.gmail.com. And I think that’s the best way to reach me.

If you look for Andres Sevilla and Paragon Property Investments, you’re going to find a bunch of stuff in internet and you’re going to find my LinkedIn. I’m always willing to engage in business with new people and pretty much ready to help people who are starting.

Quentin (19:21)

I love it again, Mr. Andres Sevilla. Thank you so much, sir, for your time. Thank you for your perspective. Thank you for your story. I know our listeners have got great value out of what you presented today. So again, thank you, sir, so much.

Andres Sevilla (19:22)

you

Thank you, I appreciate it.

Quentin (19:39)

Absolutely. Now listen to everyone else, listen. You’ve got the value, you’ve heard the story. You do not want to miss out on these amazing conversations that we are going to continue to have and bring to you. So please make sure you are subscribed. You do not want to miss out on future conversations. So thank you again, sir. And to everyone else, we will see you on the next time.

Andres Sevilla (19:48)

Thank

Thank you.