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

Rachel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I absolutely love being my own boss in the world of real estate investing; although there are many hardships that come with the territory. However, I am definitely happier than I was having a boss at a regular job. I am very driven, motivated and determined and even though I’ve had some failures in business- those experiences are what have shaped and molded me into the individual that I am today, with the knowledge that I have. I feel as though my discernment and intuition creates the attitude in myself that I have to do things my way. But, I definitely take the advice of those further along the way. I am very grateful for and humbled by my journey.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I got started in real estate investing by wanting to be in other professions besides just acting. I also began investing into stocks. It was definitely intimidating being a woman and starting at the age I did, but I just went for it. I was fortunate enough to know others in business who were successful developers and real estate investors themselves. They gave me the opportunity to be a part of amazing projects that at the time- I could not have taken on, myself. I began my journey with flipping homes and from there, transitioned into owning properties. I now own 3 properties (one being here in Los Angeles- the other 2 out of State.) One of my properties has been continually rented out for the last 8 years. While it is nice to receive the revenue, I am very happy to provide a happy home for my tenant. I’m very proud of the beautiful homes I’ve been a part of building- but to create a home for someone is a very special feeling.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

At the time I began real estate investing, I was booking a lot in acting. Investing was definitely supposed to be a side thing for me. As time progressed and I had not booked an acting job in a while- I decided to hone in on the properties. I began to really study and learn from my successful friends on what it would take. I also began to travel out of state to find different opportunities with properties and see what else was out there. I was fortunate to keep having success in real estate investing and really just build my portfolio. My first big flip in Studio City was really a key milestone for me. I was a part of turning a $1,000,000 into a beautiful 3,500,000 home. That really catapulted me and gave me the confidence that I needed to take it to the next level as well.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I started in my businesses young, especially acting. Acting came before real estate/stock investing. I have appeared in film, television, print ads, campaigns and various national commercials. I saved the money that I had made from all of this and got into stock investing. After years of even more saving from both, I got into flipping homes. Saving and being frugal with my money in the beginning definitely created the opportunity for me to create the initial capital needed for my business.

Image Credits
Carl Sloss Billy Montgomery