We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stella Payton. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stella below.

Hi Stella, thanks for joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

I pray.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have been gifted with a talent for reinventing myself. Years ago, I found myself on welfare unable to find work being caught in a Catch-22 situation, where a lack of childcare made it difficult to find work and a lack of work, made it difficult to find childcare.

This conundrum became the backdrop for starting my business back in 1997. It was a consulting firm that specialized in Customer Service. It eventually led to a business called making people priority where we wrote curriculum in the service industry.

Eventually, I Developed a job training program called the Customer Service Academy, which is An extension of making people priority, My company. We developed curriculum for students between the ages of 16 and 24. Our program trained these students in service values. It was unique in that students were able to train for a week in service concepts. At the end of the week students had an interview day. Student participant would interview with 3 to 5 different employers in the same day. Each weeklong program hosted from 25 up to 82 students. The interview day would bring 7 to 14 employers on site. For interviews with our candidates.

Oh how I loved this program. Our placement rate for our constituents was 100%. The agencies that hired us to train their so-called unemployable youth were stunned, in that even their most difficult to place Candidates walked away from interview day with multiple job offers. We ran various versions of this program from 1999 to 2012

By The early 2000s I had relocated from Southern California back to my home of Hattiesburg Mississippi. That’s when my interest in real estate begin to blossom. It was difficult to buy property in Southern California, but in south Mississippi, land was cheap. I started out with my own home and within 18 months, I had purchased a second property. One property led to another.

At our peak, my ex-husband and I had purchased 17 pieces of real estate. We had a portfolio of apartment complexes, rental houses, land, and various other real estate holdings.

But the trauma of divorce devastates finances. At the end of mine, I was scaled down to three properties. And I found myself starting all over again.

The advent of Airbnb opened up new doors of opportunity for me. I started with two units and have since gone on to manage nearly 10 long And short term rental spaces on Airbnb, Virbo, and Furnished Finder.

Tucked away in all of these adventures was my passion for writing which never went away. It just goes to show that when you really love something it’s woven into the fabric of your identity. And you really do get to do it all. You may not get to do it all at once, but if you to your passions you can express everything God gives you

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I mentioned how divorced devastates you. What I didn’t mention was how difficult my divorce was. What could’ve been an easy division of assets that allow us both to walk away with more than enough material and real estate assets to build on our lives became a seven year battle that led all the way to the Mississippi State Supreme Court.

I’m happy to say that in the end I did get what I had asked for in the beginning. But the process of getting there takes a toll on your emotional well-being. You have to resolve what kind of person you choose to be confronted with the opportunity to hate .

As difficult as this journey was, I am thankful for the person I am because I chose the path of love. Just because we are in business does not mean we cease to become human beings. Our life experiences change and shape every aspect of our identity. And regardless of what hat you are wearing at any moment in time , the core of your character still leaves a print an imprint on everything and everyone you touch

My divorce experience could have left me as a bitter and angry woman. Which would’ve done much harm to everyone I loved. But choosing the path of forgiveness and grace makes you a whole complete soul.

It allows you to continue building the infrastructure of your life without the negative influences that come with bitterness and hate. I’m grateful to say that over the years. I made peace with my former spouse and even today we still work on some projects together.

That is the beauty of reconciliation under the influence of the goodness of God.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The most important thing to me was not my business, but my son. Living in Southern California, made it difficult to raise a child. I made the hard decision of relocating back to my home town , Hattiesburg Mississippi when my son started first grade there were fewer opportunities for my consulting business, which made it important for me to find another way to make money.

That challenge was the biggest factor Influencing my decision to go into real estate. It was a good call.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://broken2beautifulstore.co
• Instagram: Stella_payton
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stella.r.payton?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Twitter: @stellampp
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@stellampp?si=mGqIocvUMo_0cA4M