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Show Summary
In this conversation, Quentin and Amanda discuss the significance of alignment in relationships, the importance of surrounding oneself with like-minded individuals, and the value of education and mentorship in achieving success. Amanda emphasizes the need for proper education over relying solely on social media platforms for learning. The discussion also highlights the importance of connecting and collaborating with others to foster growth and success in various endeavors.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Amanda Culleton (00:00)
definitely. What I, my biggest advice is, ⁓ and nobody take this the wrong way. If you’re one of these people, but the university of YouTube, university of Tik TOK, the university of Instagram or Facebook is not the way to learn how to do these things. Now, can they pivot you and get you maybe into somewhat of the right direction? Yes. Do I use it? Yes. But get yourself around the right people. Get yourself properly educated if investing is what you want to do.Quentin (01:59)
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds. Y’all know what I’m gonna say. I am very, very excited to be here today. Very, very excited about my guest. I’m kicking myself because I should have made sure I got her last name right before I started this. But I’m gonna go with what I know and then she’s gonna correct me if I’m wrong. And what I love about her is I love her passion. I love.the way she see business. I love the fact that she knows she’s called to serve and what she does, she makes sure that she encapsulates her life around that desire and passion to serve. And so I am very excited to introduce everyone to Mr. I’m sorry, here I go messing up already. I’m so intimidated by this last name, Miss Amanda Culleton.
How did I do? I feel like I messed it up. How did I do, Miss Amanda?
Amanda Culleton (02:49)
CODE!Not too bad, it’s Culleton.
Quentin (02:54)
Culleton! There we go, Culleton. I was trying to let the hook on phonics come through in my head, but it ain’t come through. Miss Amanda, I am so excited for you to be here. I’m so excited for our listeners to really get a chance to see things through your lens. So how you feeling today?Amanda Culleton (03:12)
you doing? I got coffee so we’re fixing up.Quentin (03:13)
I’m doing great.Listen, when you got the call for you good to go, I’m getting a little jealous because you keep sipping. I ain’t pour myself a fresh cup. I’m like, dang, I should have went ahead and did that. But anyway, we here now. so Mr. Man, I’ll be honest. I want to dive right in. I would love for you to take our listeners into your world. Let us know what your main focus is these days. Maybe tell us a little bit about how you got started. And then also tell us what
Amanda Culleton (03:24)
Yes.Quentin (03:38)
Mark is your operating in as well. So, Ms. Amanda, take us into your world,Amanda Culleton (03:42)
All right, everybody, you ready? I’m here to take you into my world. So I started off as a law enforcement. I was an NYPD detective for 16 years. I got to leave early thanks to some great advice from my husband. He got into real estate. I didn’t believe him. So ladies, of, I’m sorry to say this, but I believe our husbands every once in a while. But my husband got us into some real estate and it was the best decision he ever made for our family, which…Yes, he made that decision and I’m so glad he did. I finally decided to join him in real estate. We were doing it and being in law enforcement, I had this urge to serve. That’s my passion is to serve and help. Real estate wasn’t doing that for me. It wasn’t giving me that service until I realized how I can turn real estate into service. I can help people get their own investments. I can help people buy that first home that can be so intimidating.
to buy because it is scary when you have to put so much money on a home. It’s not that scary when you have the right people in your corner. So that’s where my husband and I have been the last few years. We’ve been investing on our own. We still invest on our own, but now we’re bringing people along with us. We’re telling everybody else, let’s be financially free. Let’s spend time with our kids. Let’s build these legacies so that our kids can have them. Our parents did so much for us growing up. Now let’s be better parents.
so that our kids don’t have to struggle in the future.
Quentin (05:55)
I love it. told y’all, know, she’s serious about service. I absolutely love it. I love the fact that you got big by the bug. You didn’t, you kind of talked about it a little bit, but you told me just like, once you got it, once it made sense, it was almost like, you know, being on this hop. And so you got some hair now, you got the, you’re in momentum. I guess my question would be,What systems do you have in place that keep you running smoothly that kind of keeps you kind of pushing ahead and going straight forward in a straight line, you know, towards the goal.
Amanda Culleton (06:28)
So my husband and I, we do this, we’re a team. So if you get me, you get my husband. So everything’s gonna be my husband and I, we are a pair. But what we do is we are figuring out where we’re needed. Where are, and we are very much law enforcement based, but we do help everybody. It’s not just law enforcement. But we do help right now. My husband goes to a lot of financial seminars. He’ll go to…seminars where people are asking for advice. So he goes to these financial seminars weekly and he just talks and tells people how we started. We were a struggling family. We had two kids newly married in an apartment trying to figure out how to pay the next mortgage payment. And we had good jobs, but we didn’t want that lifestyle. So that’s where real estate came for us. So we feel that why not teach everybody that you’re not the only one struggling.
Everybody does and this is how we got out of it. This is how we can help you. So we are constantly at financial seminars. We go to networking events in New York City. We go to ⁓ events in Colorado. We go statewide. We go tons of states. We do Jersey, Colorado all the time. So it’s not just here within New York. We help people in all 50 states. I’m trying to find somebody in Hawaii. If somebody in Hawaii wants to call me, I will gladly come out.
Quentin (07:39)
Write these things down.Amanda Culleton (07:40)
OI!Quentin (07:41)
Right, in Hawaii, I love it. Listen, you mentioned Jersey. I married a Jersey girl, you know, and so, you when you mentioned Jersey, that got my ears peaked, perked. But I love it. I love how you guys are branching out. I love how you’re making sure you’re serving people in different demographics and in different states. I absolutely love it. And what I love also, you kind of walk me by the industry like story time, because you talked about…starting off being in an apartment, having great jobs, but really wanting to know how the next step look, how could we get more financial freedom? And so that’s one thing we love to focus on here is the process. It’s easy for us to always talk about the sets, always show, code up the shiny thing, object once it’s done, but we don’t show the process of the buffering. We don’t show the process of the real grunt work. And so I’ll ask this question like this. There are moments when things get real.
Moments when deals go sideways, moments when we have to pivot fast. And so, Miss Amanda, I would love if you would share a story like that with our viewers.
Amanda Culleton (08:44)
Ooh, okay, I got a really good one. and just the second you mentioned it, I know which one I’m gonna talk about. So I decided to leave NYPD early. NYPD, we to work 20 years. I left at 16, thankfully, because of our real estate. I decided to open up my own management company. I was gonna manage our portfolio. Why pay somebody else when I’m now home and free to do it? I know what they’re doing, I can do it. So yes!My husband stood behind me. Yes, we got this. I started management on March 12th of 20, Oh God, 2024. Yes, because we’re in 2025. March 12th of 2024. So was just last year. So that’s why I like to bring this one up. This is still recent. I’m fifth, I’m 10 years in my investment life, but this is just last year. We started March 10th of 2024, March 12th, 2024. I get a call from a tenant, ring, ring. Hey, Amanda, you’re the property manager, right? Like, yeah, sir. What’s going on?
The exterior wall of the house fell. Excuse me? The exterior wall of the house fell. Completely crumbled to the ground with tenants living in it. You have to have the wrong phone number. Like this isn’t my house.
So we still like learning that and then had a bunch of other hiccups that year, realized that management was not for me. September of 2024, my husband and I went to a seminar for entrepreneurs. It was the pivotal moment of my life. I sat there and I spoke to another management, a female there and she runs management and the way she talked about how much she loved, she exuded.
love for this job and I sat there I go you just made my decision easy I said I hate this this is not for me I said I feel like I’ve become everybody’s mother so I call my husband and I had a sit down I was like babe we need a meeting ASAP and that year I decided I said is it okay to fire myself
Quentin (11:04)
Mmm!Amanda Culleton (11:04)
I said, is it okay? said, cause I think I’m hurting our business more than I’m helping it. Is it okay to fire myself? And my husband goes, yeah, definitely let’s do it. And we pivoted. What we thought was going to be our shining success was not. was the biggest, was, shouldn’t say the biggest, but it was a big downfall for us that we realized that wasn’t for me. And that’s perfectly fine. It is okay to pivot in life. It is okay to pivot in career paths. So that would be when you mentioned what’s a,Whew, that still gets me, but that’s mine. And I’m gonna tell people, it happens throughout your entire investment life. Like this was just last year.
Quentin (11:35)
Yeah.Amanda Culleton (11:42)
This wasn’t my first year of investing. This is last year. We’ve been investing for 10 years. So it can happen at any time. But my key takeaway is it’s okay to pivot and keep going on the path. Just don’t give up.Quentin (11:52)
I appreciate you so much. I appreciate you and your self-awareness. And I think for me, that’s how I know you have a servant’s heart. Because people that really want to serve people, they first serve themselves. They’re self-aware enough to know where their strengths are, where their weaknesses are. I say this, probably every podcast maybe I’m starting to say this, is a mantra that I live by. When you know who you are, you know what to do.And so when you know your why, when you are self-aware about how you are wired, when you’re self-aware about your strength and your weaknesses, you know what to do in every situation. And so you want to serve people. You want to make sure the right person is in the right position, even if that means firing yourself. And so that’s why for me, I can just see clearly that you are at the heart of serving people. You want to make sure the right person is in the right position. I absolutely love that. What a great story. What a great story.
Amanda Culleton (12:34)
Yes.Yes.
Thank you.
It was a pivotal moment. I’m telling you, pivotal. We were nine years in. Thank you. We thought nine years in that we weren’t going to have any more of these L’s. We weren’t going to have any more. Why are we still getting L’s? But it happens in entrepreneur life. There’s a roller coaster. And that was one that we had to come back up from. It was a learning moment.
Quentin (12:46)
Absolutely. Yep. Yep. Absolutely. No, I love it. Joe’s a lucky guy.Yeah, absolutely.
Yep. Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, no, absolutely. Yeah, I’m definitely gonna make sure my check clipped that part when you said husbands. mean, wives, sometimes you gotta listen to your husbands. That’s gonna be my ringtone. That’s gonna be my morning. Look, that’s gonna be my morning alarm that wakes me up in the morning. So no, I’m being funny, but no, I appreciate your perspective, Miss Amanda. So let me ask you this.
Amanda Culleton (13:15)
Darn!man. ⁓
Yes.
Quentin (13:29)
What are you most focused on solving or scaling next? Like what’s the next real goal for you?Amanda Culleton (14:14)
So we want to help others do what we’re doing. We want to help other people become investors. We want to help other people get their first home. We started with investing because that’s what we started with buying our first home and then we became investors. So we want to tell other people that you can do this too. This isn’t as hard as it looks. Now don’t get me wrong. It’s not easy, but it’s not that hard. Once you have the right people in your corner.So I am adamant that I stand with people from the moment we see the house until the moment you close. And like, not like other agents, I’m still there afterwards. I’m still there for help after the closing. How do I get tenants in the property now? How do I find a management? Does this guy look good? No, they don’t look good. Let’s look over here maybe. I don’t, I’m not the type to want and run.
I’m building relationships. building. I want people to be like, I could do this and get them on their feet and build this financial freedom for, or this legacy for their kids. So that the kids don’t have to struggle. So, and I’m big, we’re big on our family. Like that’s, we do this for our girls. I want them to be able to travel the world. I want them to be able to do whatever it is that they want and not feel tied down by that nine to five job.
Quentin (15:22)
Mmm.Amanda Culleton (15:29)
If they want to work that nine to five is because they want to, not because they have to.Quentin (15:33)
No, I love it. Again, you’re very, very clear on your why. And when you know your why, that’s what motivates you. That’s what pushes you forward. But I love everything I’m hearing about you is about connection, connecting with people, serving people. Like you can serve, like my dad used to say, you know, use items, not people, right? People are not meant to be used. They are meant to partner with, build common unity, community with, common unity with. And so.I want to give you a perspective when it comes to building relationships. So when it comes to building relationships and growing your network, what has made the biggest difference for you, Miss Amanda?
Amanda Culleton (16:08)
So I noticed that common unity. It’s funny you should mention that, because that’s something that I do stand on lately. It’s common unity. You have to be around like-minded individuals. It’s the old expression, you’re surrounded, you are the best of the five people you surround yourself with. So if you’re around five negative Nancies, what do you think you’re going to be? You’re going to be the sixth negative Nancy. So you have to surround yourself around like-minded individuals. If you want to be an entrepreneur, get yourself around entrepreneurs.If you want to be a real estate investor, get yourself around real estate investors. If you want to be a bad ass mom, get yourself around other moms. Like that’s, that’s all it is. It’s get yourself around the people that you want to, to be like, not saying that you’re trying to mimic them, but if you’re around people that have your core values, it helps you to succeed and be better. And that’s all they will really want. If you found the right five people.
They only want you to succeed and they only want the better for you.
Quentin (17:06)
Nope, I love it. I hear you absolutely. your message is shining through, you know, connect with the right people, serve people. I love your not giving up mentality. And I think that probably just come from your law enforcement. Like you’re going to find a way. detect, you are, you was a detective, but I don’t think that skill set just goes away, right? I think you find ways.to overcome in any situation that you’re in. I mean, this is what I mean. You tell me if I’m right or wrong, but that’s what it seems like.
Amanda Culleton (17:40)
No, you’re exactly right. People laugh at me all the time. They call me the investor mom, but the investigator mom, not the investor as an investor. I’m the other one. So they’re the ones that if they need a house, Amanda, can you find me? And they give me these crazy lists and I’m like, got you. Give me a minute. And I’m typing away and I find it. And they go, that’s the investor in you. And I’m like, I guess I’m really good at it. Like that’s just my, but the same thing that I do take a lot of passion that you said.Quentin (17:47)
Yeah, right.Yeah.
Yeah.
Amanda Culleton (18:06)
I invest so much in people. I invest in these quality of things because that’s what I want. That’s what I want for everybody else. So I can’t tell you to do it and I’m not doing it.Quentin (18:18)
Absolutely. Nope, I love it. There would be synergy with you and my wife. My wife is called the questionologist. That’s what she’s called, the questionologist. She always got a question. I mean, she thinks of questions I never would have thought to ask. I was like, babe, I would have never thought to ask that. And so, yeah, she, yes, I hear you. I hear you for sure. The qualities that’s in us, that’s innate in us, they just don’t go away. We just apply them to every other situation thatAmanda Culleton (18:24)
Hey.Thanks.
Quentin (18:45)
And so I love it. I’m excited for you and your family. I’m excited for what your business is doing. Listen, I’m going to ask you this. will be my last question before we go. And I love asking this question, especially when I’m talking to people like you with the perspective that you have, even just your life experiences within just different areas. Like even what you’re building is just not for just real estate people, but for all entrepreneurs, right? You got that mentality to want to serve everybody. So I want to ask you this.Amanda Culleton (19:07)
andQuentin (19:12)
For our audience, for our listeners, is there any kind of advice, any kind of encouragement, any kind of even maybe even instruction that’s maybe close to your heart that you feel like will help our listeners? I want to open up the floor to give you that if you want to give that to our listeners.Amanda Culleton (19:28)
definitely. What I, my biggest advice is, ⁓ and nobody take this the wrong way. If you’re one of these people, but the university of YouTube, university of Tik TOK, the university of Instagram or Facebook is not the way to learn how to do these things. Now, can they pivot you and get you maybe into somewhat of the right direction? Yes. Do I use it? Yes. But get yourself around the right people. Get yourself properly educated if investing is what you want to do.That is the game changer in any business you want to be in, in any life you want to be in. You got educated to get to the job you’re at. You got educated when you became that first time dad, first time mom. You figured things out. You learned things. You also had mentors and people to talk to. Can you bring a deal to the university of YouTube and say, Hey, how do I, how do I run these numbers? No. So I would strongly advise education is amazing.
⁓ And don’t listen to the University of YouTube and TikTok is not gold. Don’t let them tell you that you shouldn’t buy a house right now. I just bought one last month. Don’t let them tell you that you can’t do anything. Listen, but you can do whatever you want if you’re properly educated. So I really do harp on the education part. Or if you’re not, find the right person that is.
Quentin (20:42)
I love it. I’m not going to try to over talk what you just said and try to double down on what you just said. know, YouTube and stuff is a tool. You can build a house with a hammer, but it’s probably going take you a very long time and you’re probably going to run into some problems. You’re probably going to need other tools. And so YouTube, these things are just tools, but keep building on your toolkit. Keep investing in partnership, bring in the HVAC guy, the plumbing guy.Just don’t use the hammer to try to fix everything, because it’s just not going to work. Is that kind of synch with what you just said?
Amanda Culleton (21:15)
That’s perfect. Yes, add to your tool belt. It’s a tool. And that’s all it is. It’s not gold. People take it for gold. It’s not gold. It’s a tool.Quentin (21:23)
Miss Amanda, thank you so much. Listen, before we wrap, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, maybe collaborate or learn more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way for them to reach out? Do you have anything maybe that you think is a good tool for people? This is that time. I want you just to talk to our viewers. Give us some resources and tools and tell us how we can reach out and get in contact.Amanda Culleton (21:45)
Perfect, so if you wanna reach out to me, the best way to reach out to me is through my Instagram. It’s at thereal.estatemom. It’s the easiest way to find me. I do respond, and it’s me. You’re getting me. You’re not getting somebody else, you’re getting me. So please reach out to me through the Real Estate Mom. On there I throw out our events that we do monthly. We have a mastermind here in New York, Infinite Launch, and we do monthly events. We do Zooms, we do live events, which we’re bringing live events back, which I love Zooms.But live and in person is where we need to be. So we’re bringing those back and on my Instagram tells you where you’ll, where you can find me throughout the month. So that’s the, that really is the best way to find me is through my Instagram at the real duck estate mom.
Quentin (22:26)
Y’all heard her. Y’all know how to get in contact with her. Miss Amanda, thank you so much. Listen, thank you for your story. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your perspective. We definitely need people in this space that is doing it like you, that has a servant’s heart, that’s, listen, an expert at detecting, but detecting the right deals for people, detecting where you can serve and help people. And so I really, really appreciate you being here. Thank you for your time so much.Amanda Culleton (22:51)
Thank you, thank you for having me, this was great.Quentin (22:53)
Absolutely. So listen, y’all, listen, y’all got the value. You got the value out of this conversation. We’re going to continue to just keep bringing you great value. So go ahead and make sure you’re subscribed. Hit that bell. That way the alert lets you know when we’re here, you can just come on in. We appreciate everything you’re doing, Mr. Amanda and everybody else. We appreciate you listening and we will see you on the next time.
