We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kyarah Foushee a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kyarah, appreciate you joining us today. If you’re open to it, can you talk to us about the best (or worst) investment you’ve made. What’s the backstory and the relevant context behind why you made the investment

The best investment is to invest in yourself, your health, your knowledge, and your skills. My best investment was investing my time to learning how to manage my finances and how to make money work for me. Reading financial books, getting financial advice from individuals who are doing the things that I want to do, creating a budget, tracking my expenses, and investing in products that I purchase and use.

No matter what you should always be investing in yourself.

Kyarah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I work full-time as a firefighter and fire inspector. Part-time I own and operate two businesses, real estate investing and collegiate officiating. My first business was basketball and soccer officiating which started in 2012. I later stopped officiating soccer due to not wanting to be in the outdoor elements, so today I focus solely on basketball. I got into officiating in college when I was working on campus with intramurals and club sports while being a full time student-athlete at a D-1 college. I started my real estate business in 2022 when I bought my first 3 unit home. Looking to purchase more properties this year and grow my portfolio. I got into real estate because I found a passion to “buy back the block” and provide safe, sustainable housing for individuals in my community. I’m setting myself a part by staying in my lane, following my passions, putting forth effort to achieve the things I want, and being authenticity myself through every decision. I’m most proud of how far I’ve come in the short period of time I have been on this earth despite all the obstacles. I’m proud of how strong my mind is and how I know I’m able to get through anything that life throws at me because I’m always prepared, never have to get ready if you are always ready.

I want readers to know that they must stop moving, sit still, put the phone down, turn the tv off, slow down, and listen to themselves and most importantly love yourself. Practice loving yourself first and dealing with any trauma or pain you have in order to walk through the world confidently and find your purpose. Find what makes you happy and excited to work on. Don’t forget to be child-like in some areas, be curious and learn something new everyday. Be the reason someone smiles today. Lend a helping hand to someone in need, I can bet you money you will feel more grateful for the things you have in your life.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Once upon a time I was a tattoo artist, had an apprenticeship, practiced on fake skin, then later real skin. I thought I felt passionate about it because I am a creative and love to create art. Something was missing and it was very time consuming. So I pivoted, I put the tattoo machine down and picked up a book called “Rich Dad Poor Dad” and began my real estate journey after the Covid pandemic. Lots of money down the drain but worth the lesson because I still do small tattoos when family and friends ask. I learned two new skills to add to my collection of skills.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I believe in the collegiate basketball world your reputation proceeds you like most industries. So what builds that reputation is your professionalism, how accountable you are, organization, prompt or early for games, knowing the rules, enforcement of the rules, how you look on the court, and networking with other officials and assigners. Have to have a favorable personality, hard working on and off the court, dependable, and doing all the necessary steps to keep your certification active each year.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Dreamestatesinvestments.com
• Instagram: @kingfoushee, @kifoushee
• Facebook: Ki Foushee
• Linkedin: Kyarah Foushee
• Twitter: @kyarah10
• Youtube: @kingfoushee