September 10, 2025 • 43 mins
Alka Sharma shares her journey into real estate investing, recounting the challenges of her first investment property and how she overcame initial hurdles. She discusses strategies for standing out and building confidence in the competitive real estate market. Emphasizing motivation, accountability, and personal growth, Alka introduces initiatives aimed at supporting divorced women and outlines her future plans. The episode offers practical advice on getting started with real estate investing, providing listeners with actionable insights. The conversation wraps up with rapid-fire questions and closing remarks, offering a concise yet informative exploration of Alka's experiences and insights.
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(00:09):
Welcome to the PEEP Potential Success Show.
My name is Fang Chua and today we have anothergreat guest.
I've been very, very fortunate to be on hershow.
We had such a blast and I just couldn't wait tohave her on.
So here she is today.
She is a powerhouse when it comes to realestate investing.
She is an absolute expert.
In fact, she's been helping a lot of peoplegain more confidence and get more knowledge and
(00:29):
also get clarity when it comes to investing inreal estate.
In turn, people get empowered to take controlof their own lives and not just surviving in
it.
Now, not only does she have a passion in realestate and in helping people, she also has this
huge passion when it comes to the field ofmedicine as well.
She is the author of the book From Cocoon toCEO, so please welcome real estate investor,
(00:51):
expert, podcast host, award winning author, Ms.
Alka Sharma.
Thank you so much, Phuong.
It's great to be on your show.
Great to be with
you for being here.
Always a joy speaking with people who are sosuccessful in what they do.
And that therefore leads to my very firstquestion is, how did you get to where you are
today?
Like, how did one person come out and go, youknow what, I'm going to be this amazing real
(01:13):
estate person and then also help people becomebetter in real estate and then have this
passion in medicine and all these differentthings?
How did you get to this spot that we are rightnow?
Yeah, absolutely.
That's a great question.
I've always had a huge passion when itempowering comes others, when it comes to
(01:35):
empowering, not only myself and how I had tonavigate those challenges of my life after I
got divorced.
After that, you know, I was left broke.
I was financially broke, emotionally andinternally broke and navigating my life through
those difficult, challenging, dark moments ofmy life equipped me.
(02:02):
You know, I had to.
It's not, you know, there was I had a hugeknowing that, you know, my life, where it was
going and how I needed to navigate.
So from that moment on, after I was broke, Inavigated through those difficult times and,
(02:28):
you know, empowered myself.
And the first thing that I needed to do to beself confident, to be self, to be independent,
to be self reliant and financially stable,Cause I had two small kids at that time and to
put food and provide shelter for my kids.
(02:51):
And so I was doing everything that I needed todo.
I was working three jobs at that time.
And so you need to do whatever it takes tocreate a life of success.
If you know where you are heading, if you knowthe path that you are going towards, you will
do anything to make that happen.
(03:12):
This is exactly what I did.
So that was my defining moment when I was brokeor if you are in debt, what are you gonna do
about it?
Are you gonna just crumble and die and just goinside your cocoon?
Or are you going to say, no, I wanna be, Iwanna live a life of success.
I want to do whatever it takes so that I canprovide for my kids and so that I can provide a
(03:38):
life of financial stability.
And that's why real estate came about.
You know, I how that came well, first of all, Ihad to learn about money and finance.
That was the most important.
I was never taught about that even in mymarriage.
I was never told about money.
I was never told how much we had in the jointbank account.
(04:00):
I wasn't told anything.
So I had to learn about money and finances andthen slowly real estate came, which is, you
know, has been a huge, you know, it's been avehicle that I can honestly say that, you know,
if you're looking to build that financialstability, real estate is the vehicle that you
(04:22):
want to get into.
Why why real estate?
What did what made you choose that that's thepath to go through?
Why real estate?
Because real estate, you know, you you buildcash flow in the property, you're building
equity in the property.
And so I bought my first investment property atthe 2021.
(04:43):
So even so during pandemic, I bought my firstinvestment property and it was rental.
I rented it out to tenants and it was a duplex.
That was the moment of my life too.
That was the defining moment.
And I said, okay, you know what?
I am now on this path of being self reliant.
(05:05):
I don't need anyone to take care of me.
I can be the woman who is empowered.
And now for the first time, I began to feelgood.
And this is what wanna I share with youraudience is that you need to know how you are
going to really equip your life.
(05:28):
Because you are the one that you have to makethat.
You have to live your life every single day,but to feel empowered and every single day,
what are you doing?
What are the choices that you are making thatreally will set you forward to set you on the
path of success?
So real estate, when I bought my firstinvestment property, you know, it was building
(05:48):
cash flow and you know, I had amazing tenants.
And so I can honestly say when you rent it outto your tenants, you can work with a real
estate agent.
I worked with an agent and we together you knowwe screen the tenants so I real estate for me
is my vehicle of choice.
(06:10):
That is awesome.
So from the period from the time you said youknow what I'm gonna change my life around I'm
gonna start learning more about finances, I'mgonna start learning about real estate, from
that moment to getting your first property, howlong was
that?
Oh, that was about a year and a half, year anda half before I began to learn.
(06:30):
And also, you know, when I was learning alongthe way, like with my realtor, I would always
ask her questions because there's gotta be atime when you have to be curious and I never
was before, but then slowly that curiositycame.
And I would always ask my real estate agent.
I would ask her questions.
(06:50):
Every time we went for viewing, we saw manyproperties and this was the one that I liked.
So with, we saw six, out of the five, I likedthis one.
But apart from that, you've got to be curious,you've got to ask questions.
And I was also doing due diligence on what do Ineed to know about the NOI, about the cap rate
(07:13):
on that property.
You have to do due diligence.
I mean, does that investment make sense?
I mean, if you're working with a realtor, theyhave their own projections, but you have to go
out even before you step out the door, you needto know, okay, what is your budget?
And so you've got to know what is that budget?
What does it look like?
What is the number that you have in mind?
(07:36):
Is it 1.5?
So that number when you know the back of yourmind what that is, then no matter what the
realtor is going to show me if the propertyvalue is above is that 2,000,000, well then you
know you shouldn't go for that because that wasnot in your budget.
So always budgetize.
(07:56):
So that's exactly what I did.
I would always do my due diligence to makingsure to learn about the property and learning
you know is so powerful.
Knowledge is power but knowledge withoutimplementation is never wise.
So always make sure that you are doing the duediligence.
(08:19):
You're learning as much as possible about realestate and you know, will never go wrong.
That's awesome.
Now I know that as investors, it's not alwayssmooth sailing.
Is there any case or story that you share withus where things just didn't go your way?
(08:40):
And then how did you navigate through that?
Yeah, absolutely.
And the things that never do go your way, know,things can never go your way in terms of the
deal that you wanted, in terms of anything.
But what I can share, we will look at out thesix properties that we viewed.
One of the properties I liked, and thisproperty was a luxury.
(09:06):
It was a beautiful property.
It was a luxury property.
And the whole point that I liked about this oneis that I wanted to rent it out at once upon a
time, I did want to rent it.
So the basement had a huge potential that if Icould build like two bedroom suites.
(09:27):
And, but what ended up happening, the propertywas around 2,000,000.
And I knew that that was not in my budget.
And that's what I'm talking about budget thatyou do have to make sure that, you know, where
the budget, you know, you have to budgetize andwhere do you go.
(09:50):
So this is where I go wrong.
And this is what I'm teaching your audience isnot to make the mistake that I did.
So what did I do?
Well, from that moment on, because everyexperience, every deal, every situation, you're
always learning.
And when I learned from that property that itwas 2,000,000, oh my gosh, it's not in my
(10:10):
budget.
I had to then the future properties that wesaw, I made a plan.
I was crystal clear as to what was that budget.
Was it 1.5?
Was it even 2,000,000?
Then you reverse engineer.
So when you're looking for future properties,you know that that is the number at the back of
(10:31):
your mind, then you can never go wrong.
And so I did go wrong, but then the futureproperties is when I began to realize that
yeah, when you budget you know exactly what isthat number than the properties that you are
buying, then you know, can't go wrong.
(10:51):
So that's what I'm, you know, that is onesituation, one scenario that I do wanna share
because it was a huge, you know, it was a huge,I mean, was a luxury property on top of that
and it was too much.
Now, during that period of time when you'removing towards real estate and investing, your
(11:16):
life is changing, you're learning all this newstuff.
All these doors are opening, all theseopportunities are opening.
But I'm but there are people who would tellyou, hey, that's that's not the way to go or
it's too risky.
Why why are you why are you learning aboutmoney?
Just put it in the bank.
Simple as that.
Why are you learning about all this stuff?
Why are you putting money into real estate?
(11:36):
Put it in the bank.
And people are trying to to pull you back, notbecause they're against you, but they care for
you.
They want you to take the less risky route.
How did you talk or converse with people whoare caring for you, but that advice just didn't
jive with what you wanted to do?
(11:57):
That's a great question.
And I absolutely love that and why that really,you know, that is such a pivotal point because
when, for example, when I got into my firstbusiness and my first business was in the
health and fitness space, six years ago, Iopened a fitness studio just north of Steele's
(12:21):
and I knew nothing about the health and fitnessspace.
I knew nothing, but I knew that I wanted to gointo that business.
I wanted to open a studio that women can feelempowered.
It doesn't matter about your shape or yoursize.
I wanted to make a community of women that feltwelcomed in that space, right?
(12:46):
So because I knew my story when I was 21 yearsof age and I was chubby, had, you know, I
lacked the self confidence, self esteem onlybecause physically how I looked.
And so when I walked into that gym for thefirst time, I was petrified because there were
all these fit bodied people and I didn'tmeasure up to that because of how I looked.
(13:13):
And that really put me off and I just walkedout that gym.
So fast forward when I wanted to open my studioand I did open my studio, I ran a successful
studio for six years and you know, and thenduring COVID came, so gyms were challenging
like all over the world as we know.
(13:34):
So I sold my studio and that's when I quicklytransitioned to real estate.
So when we talk about the risk, even when I wasstarting my business, people would tell me, you
know nothing about fitness.
How are you gonna open a studio?
What are you gonna do?
How, you know, what if clients don't show up?
I listened.
The one point that the one tip I will share isdon't listen to the external noise.
(13:59):
If you know inside your gut, you wanna go intothat business, do it.
Whether it's in a beauty salon or whether youdon't know anything about the beauty salon,
just do it.
Trust yourself.
But that's where it comes trust, trust,intuition and knowing the belief inside of you,
(14:19):
the belief that's a 100%, you know, as we knowFong, as Napoleon Hill says, you know, the mind
which believes can achieve.
But if you don't believe in yourself, theabilities that you have to run a successful
business, you will never run.
So what I will share is do not listen to theexternal notes because people always are out
(14:42):
there to give you opinions, good or bad.
That's true.
And sometimes those opinions may not be givenbecause they want you to fail, they're giving
so that they want you to be safe, right?
And safe may or may not necessarily be the bestpath.
Absolutely,
yes.
You were able to navigate through the COVIDtimes in real estate.
(15:05):
And during that period of time, it's verydifficult for a lot of investors out there
because one, you may or may not be able to doshowings for tenants and the tenants may or may
not have jobs because of the situation andwhatnot.
What did you do differently to be able to begood in your real estate career during that
period of time where others failed?
(15:27):
Well, what you need to do that's different isthat and how you actually stand out.
You stand out by doing more of what is notbeing done, right?
So during COVID people were maybe not showingmore of, but if you know that that is what you
(15:48):
need to do, that is your path, that is whatyou're a 100% good at, You wanna stand out and
by standing out is doing more, showing peoplemore viewing, showing people as to what is
possible, what you can do, what they can do.
And so if you, that's the only way you willdifferentiate, it doesn't matter what the
(16:11):
upturn or the downturn of the market is becausethat's always the case and you're always gonna
have that.
But then how does one stand out in themarketplace is by owning, it's about owning
your space and by owning your space is to knowthat okay this is my lane, I'm good at this,
(16:32):
what are your strengths, what are yourweaknesses and always measure.
And this is what I always do Feng.
I'm not sure what your, how, what do you findbest in what are your methodologies?
I'm always measuring as to where I was duringCOVID time or not COVID time, but I always
(16:52):
measure as to where I am because the reason whyit's so important to do that and why I do that
is because I always want to be better everytime.
And so if you don't have a yardstick, if youdon't have a methodology that you are measuring
every single day, then how are you gonnaimprove?
(17:15):
So you wanna improve all the time and, youknow, don't rely on how the markets are doing,
rely on what are you doing?
How are you doing better?
How are you doing better from your competition?
Because your competition, yes, they're doinggood.
But if you want to do what they are doing andyou wanna go over and beyond, and I think
(17:36):
that's been the catalyst of how I live and howI do things.
I'm always measuring against myself.
It's not about the competition, but it's aboutbeing creative.
So don't compete, but create.
What can you do and how can you be better tostand out?
(17:56):
No, not only that, but it also gives you, well,actually you're competing against your previous
self you're always going ahead of your previousperson.
And that kind of leads me to my well, yeah, mynext question is that it also allows you to
kind of reflect back and be proud and happyabout what you've accomplished, and a lot of
(18:17):
people kind of lose sight of that.
They don't have confidence or self esteem aboutwhat who they are, what they do, until you kind
of bring up all these other things that they'veactually achieved in the past, and all of
sudden is like, wait a minute, I have donethat, or yeah, I do feel good about this.
So my question is like, when it comes toconfidence, and it's something that's very,
very important, and we've mentioned that a fewtimes, how do you help somebody gain confidence
(18:42):
and maintain that confidence?
Because you could be confident for a day or afew hours and all of sudden you're at this down
low or something happens and you just lose itall, right?
How do you gain and then maintain confidence?
100%.
Oh, wow, that's a great question.
Well, first of all, is built.
(19:03):
Confidence is built the daily practices, whatare you doing each and every day?
And how I began the confidence that when Ilacked self confidence, lacked the self esteem
when I was in my teens.
And then even after my divorce, how did I, youknow, from being in that cocoon to becoming a
(19:32):
woman that is empowered and how did that come?
So that can be, that is what I want to share.
That's the pivotal moment when I was insidethat cocoon, you're protected, you're sheltered
when you're inside that cocoon.
And I never had a space to grow.
Even as in my teens, I was always sheltered andprotected.
(19:54):
So I didn't evolve and I didn't grow.
So I lacked the self confidence.
So how did I go from being inside that cocoonto becoming a strong woman, to become an
independent woman, to be financiallyindependent.
But how did I do that?
Well, how I did that was I needed was themindset.
(20:18):
I broke out.
You have to break out the cocoon.
If you know that your life is meant for more,then you are deserving of more, then you can do
more and you will have more.
So your mindset, and we also talked about thatwhen you were on my show, we talked about
mindset, how your mindset really helps you tobe where you are to where you wanna go.
(20:45):
So that's where confidence does come is yourmindset you need to rewire.
So your paradigms pretty much always hold youback.
So we wanna take 10 steps forward to oursuccess, but we take five steps back because
you know what?
Those doubts, those limiting beliefs that Iwill never be successful, I can achieve this,
(21:09):
or it's too difficult.
We're always saying that.
And so there came a point that you have to thenrewire.
And this is exactly what I did from beinginside that cocoon, then stepping out and then
becoming empowered and to become confident.
So confidence is built.
(21:29):
Confidence is built by your habits, by rewiringyour old habits, your old paradigms, your old
limiting beliefs that were holding you backfrom then today you have to then work at it,
but you know what, it's always work.
And most people, yes, they wanna achievesuccess, but a lot of people do not want to do
(21:54):
that even to maintain where they are.
And if they want to take that 10 step forwardto where they are, they don't want to do it
because that reach takes a lot.
It takes effort.
But if you're not willing to take the effort,then you're not going to grow and then you're
not going to evolve.
I mean, you'll always be at a plateau.
(22:16):
That's very, very true.
I mean, just today I was speaking to anindividual and I was asking them, so why are we
having this conversation?
And he goes, well, I really want to become abetter speaker.
I want to be able to really motivate people andall that kind of stuff, I wanted my daughter to
be able to speak the way great speakers speak,and I'm like, so how come you're not doing?
He's like, well, see I sign up for stuff and Ijust don't show up to it, and I sign up for
(22:40):
this and I don't do my speeches, I'm like,well, the problem is you're not finding the
right motivator, you're not finding that fireinside you to hold yourself accountable.
So I guess that leads to my next question ishow does a person find the right fire, find the
right accountability matrix so that they'reable to actually commit to something and stay
(23:01):
with it.
Wow.
So let's take for example speaking.
If you always wanted to become a great speaker,you wanna get into that profession perhaps, one
of the best ways that you can is to findgroups, is to find chapters maybe in your area
(23:27):
where you live, like say for example, join theBNI or join the Toastmasters, join the Toronto
Chamber of Commerce.
So join a chamber of commerce.
These groups are actually one of the best waysthat can really help you to elevate in your
profession.
If that's a profession, the endeavor you wantto get into And by honing and mastering,
(23:53):
because everything that you do is mastery andFang, you are the best.
You are teaching speakers and entrepreneurs tobe their best.
And so this is what needs to happen.
You have to just join a group or find a mentor.
If you're finding a mentor, they have to bealigned with your vision, number one.
(24:19):
So if you're looking for, if you're going intoreal estate and you want to find a mentor
because a mentor is gonna be fast, it's gonnabe quick.
And so that's your learning curve, faster,quicker and better is a mentor.
But a mentor also needs to be aligned with yourgoals.
If the mentors are aligned with your goals, butyou know you have those goals to succeed in
(24:44):
real estate, then that is not the mentor foryou.
So always do your due diligence before you finda mentor.
I mean, there are so many mentors out there.
So, you know, who is the best one?
Well, the best is by recommendation, byreferrals, talking to people as to how, who
(25:04):
have they had in their corner that has helpedin their industry.
So this is one of the best ways that we can do.
If speaking is your endeavor, find a mentor,and then join the groups that will lead to your
success.
And it also opens up a whole new world to you,Right?
(25:24):
Once you join these groups, you show up, younotice that all these other people are doing
certain things, and they're at different levelsof what it is that you want to achieve.
And all of a sudden you see, hey, little bylittle, you could catch up to this one, you
could catch up to that one, or you can matchthat one.
And then you're so much farther ahead thanwhere you were before you joined the group.
And it's all about accountability, you know,because they hold you accountable and it's up
(25:48):
to you as well to ask questions.
Because I mean, if you're new and you'reobserving the group, it's up to you to ask
questions.
But people in the group, you know, I joined theToastmasters about three years ago and I loved
it from the standpoint that there were peoplethat were, you know, successful than you, but
(26:10):
you know, that's where you wanna be.
You wanna be in the rooms, people that aresuccessful, but then it's also up to you to ask
them questions so that you learn and they will,you know, gladly teach you as well and tell you
what you should do.
Yeah, asking questions are so important.
Mean, and people don't realize that people areso willing to share that you just need to reach
(26:37):
out and ask, and you'll get so muchinformation.
And then once you get that information, youkind of pick and choose and see which method or
which style works best for you, and then youmake it your own.
And then all of a sudden, you're like, wow, Ijust asked the question, I got all this
information.
You mentioned before about breaking out of acocoon and then rewiring the way you think,
well that then led to you having a podcast, youto speak on stages, you having a book out,
(27:02):
share with us more about what do call it, thatpath as to deciding to write a book and
deciding to speak on stages and having apodcast.
What did you go through to come up with allthat?
Right.
Well, first step that came was I wanted toalways write a book.
(27:25):
And this is about ten years ago when I found amentor and the mentor was Les Brown.
And when I found Les Brown, he was at aconference here in Toronto and I just signed up
at the back of the room.
So I just signed up.
I just said yes.
(27:45):
I always say yes.
And that's one of my strongest points at thispoint in life, not when earlier on in my life,
but now I always say yes.
And so when I said yes, I didn't know what Iwas getting into, but Les Brown was coaching
me.
And I flew to Atlanta to be coached by LesBrown and we were writing my book.
(28:11):
That process of writing a book, as you know,Fong, was supposed to be about two years before
going back and forth writing.
That book from that moment on, I was becomingconfident.
I was owning my voice.
I was owning as to what needs to happen in mylife and one led to another.
(28:38):
So from the book, I was confident that I was,you know, I published my book.
I was, you know, very confident in my life asto where my life was going.
I always had a passion to, you know, to speak,to interview people and you know, whether it's
(28:59):
celebrities, but interviewing people to own myvoice, to share that stage with other
entrepreneurs, to learn about their stories.
Because at the end of the day, we all havestories and we all have amazing stories, but
how can we bring those stories to light so thateveryone is, you know, can benefit from our
(29:21):
stories.
And so from that moment, from the book came apodcast that I began to, you know, I have my
podcast, Ask the Experts with Alka.
We have had amazing entrepreneurs on the showand I'm intrigued by the stories that they
(29:43):
share with me.
What has been their successes?
What has been their failures and how did theyget to where they are?
And from you are hugely successful and I reallyappreciate everything that you are doing.
Absolutely just incredible.
So this is how my journey began, you know, froma book then from a podcast to, you know, just
(30:08):
empowering women today with divorced women andhow they too can lead a life of success.
That's totally awesome.
And it goes to show what something as simple aswriting a book, and I say as simple as writing
a book is because you really just need to sitdown and do it, and lots of people don't
realize that it's as basically as easy as that,is putting the dedication of time of writing
(30:32):
that book, and then from there you gain so muchmore.
You gain the confidence, you gain speakengagements, you gain connections, you gain
credibility, and people are just unwilling tosit down and kind of write or put their
thoughts together.
Now, when we were talking about the transition,it's amazing what a short period of time,
(30:52):
because you started real estate, you say in2021, and it's only been four or five years
from now.
And in five years, you got the book out, you ahuge real estate portfolio, you got speaking,
you got podcasts and all kinds of stuff.
Looking back, what would you say was thebiggest moment for you?
If you had to single it down to one moment,what would that be?
(31:16):
Well, that's a million dollar question.
What is that?
What is that moment?
There have been quite a few moments.
I would say, owning your power, owning myvoice.
(31:37):
I think owning my voice was the biggest becausewhen I was inside that cocoon after my divorce,
I was not confident.
I was not confident in the marriage.
I wasn't confident and I lacked.
So when we go through adversities, when we facethose moments, that's what prepares you.
(32:01):
That's what prepared me to becoming the bestversion of myself because I owned my space.
I owned who I was and I owned who I needed tobe.
That's important, who I needed to be.
And when you own who you are that you weren'tbut who you are becoming, I would say that was
(32:32):
when I reflect on my life now, I would say thatis was that was one of the biggest moments, was
the defining moment for me that I began to ownwho I was.
Because before that I lost my identity.
And so slowly, we always have to, you know, wehave to pick ourselves up, we have to dust it
(32:56):
off and, you know, seek success.
But to seek success, you to, first of all, stepout, to step in to that domain that you are
entering.
So slowly, the confidence just grew and I'm soproud as to what has happened so far because
(33:20):
without the confidence, owning as to who I wasbecoming, who I'm becoming would not be
impossible because if I didn't believe inmyself that, you know, that's that word again,
believe.
But that belief is always going to come in yourlife but you need to know, is it, do you
(33:44):
actually see that?
Do you actually believe that in yourself?
Because if you don't then you're not gonnasucceed.
You're not exactly gonna be there 100% becausethat belief is not strong.
You haven't cemented that belief 100% that youwill achieve what you put out there.
(34:11):
So that conviction, that belief in you has tobe there.
So to answer that was a long answer, wintedanswer to your question, but I would say that,
yes, it was owning my power, owning my power.
All right, so your power is owned by you now,it's solidified, you know who you are, your
(34:34):
confidence is sky high, within five yearsyou're able to overcome that and build what you
have now.
What do you see coming to you in the next fewyears here?
What are you building towards and what are youlooking for right now that will be able to help
you to do so?
Thank you.
That's a beautiful question.
(34:56):
What I'm working on right now is my passionalso is helping divorced women.
So post divorced women who are rebuilding theiridentity, are reclaiming back their power and
authority base.
So rebuilding your life and why divorce, why isthat a passion?
(35:17):
Why is that?
Because as a divorcee, I know what I had gonethrough.
I know what that feels like.
I know as to what I need to do to turn my lifearound.
And that's why I'm so passionate to helpingwomen too.
And that's why real estate when I help them isalso helping them to get into investment, to be
(35:40):
more confident, to be financially independent.
You need to be self reliant.
It is so important that you have to be selfreliant.
And so how I see my, know, in the next fiveyears is to building out chapters
internationally so that women, they can runwith hosting events themselves and they can,
(36:06):
building chapters is one of the things that I'mbuilding right now and building courses,
hosting events.
I just had an event actually last weekend, theUnstoppable Her event.
Was truly just incredible.
I mean, feedback that I got from that truly hasbeen amazing and people just watching the, I
(36:28):
was watching the feed as you know, peopleputting in the comments, it was just
incredible.
So I think this unstoppable her is what I'mbuilding out from in the future.
It is gonna come out with courses.
I'm gonna be building out.
So I think the chapters building up chaptersinternational is where I'm seeing I wanna go.
(36:51):
And, you know, we have a private Facebookgroup, The Unstoppable Her.
I welcome everyone to, you know, come, it's asafe space and, you know, we empower one
another.
So that's the future, that's what's gonnahappen.
Awesome.
Now you've mentioned some of the first stepsthat people should take to building their
(37:12):
confidence.
You've mentioned some of the first steps forpeople to really finding themselves and owning
themselves.
I don't think we've really dived into what arethe first steps and going back to real estate
for people to start in real estate, whoactually wants to jump out and do something and
build a portfolio.
What's the first step for that?
(37:32):
The first step for that, you need to know,first of all, what is the niche that you are
getting into?
Is it wholesale prehab?
Is it multifamily, single family?
What is that niche?
Because without a niche, then how do you know?
Because how you do, if you do everything thenyou're not doing that one thing that you know
(37:54):
it's going lead to success.
So I will say first of all figure out a niche.
If working with a real estate agent too is alsoparamount because working with a realtor, they
know firsthand as to the properties, the dealsout there.
Is it off market deals that you want to lookat?
So working with a realtor is going to be yoursafe bet.
(38:18):
One tip I will share, the realtor also has tomatch your goals.
So work with a realtor who has a knowledgeabout investing.
They've done investments.
They've got a huge portfolio of themselves.
So working with a realtor is going to beimportant.
And then, you know, that's second point.
And the first point is to know your niche.
(38:41):
This is how you need to start when you areworking as you are getting into real estate
investing.
Great tips there for people who are thinkingabout doing real estate and I guess the very
first thing to do after hearing thatinformation is going out there and actually
applying it.
Out there and scheduling times with realtorsand kind of vetting them out to see which one
(39:03):
you want to work with, and then the processstarts going.
You'll start learning more and gaining moreknowledge and gain more confidence, which is
the whole basis of everything that people needin order to become I'm gonna end our formal
discussion right now here.
I know you have lots of stuff to do and youhave lots of people to inspire, but before I
(39:24):
let you go, I got five quick rapid firequestions.
Give me the first thing that comes to mind.
This is for fun.
You ready?
Ready, absolutely.
You're a stranded on a deserted island, onefood to eat for the rest of your life, what
would that be with no consequence?
One fruit, I Oh, would say one food?
Any food.
(39:45):
I would say a banana.
So healthy.
The people who usually pick fruit are veryhealthy people.
Hollywood calls and goes, Hey, Elka, we loveyour story.
Very, very inspiring, very motivational.
We would love to do a biopic of you.
Who would you cast to play you?
I would cast Elizabeth Hurley.
She shows up at your door and goes, hey, I gotcast to play you.
(40:08):
Let's hang out.
Let's have some fun.
Let's get to know each other.
What does that night look like?
You got it all planned out.
What are you gonna do with her?
Oh, absolutely.
Well, we're gonna go for we're gonna go for abeautiful dinner, then we're gonna brainstorm
as to how we're gonna make out that scene work,and then we're gonna fly to Los Angeles.
Very nice.
You're in a car, and this car ride goes forhours on end.
(40:31):
For some reason, there's only one song that'sstuck on repeat.
What song do you like listening to all thetime?
What's that one song?
It's by Andre Bicelli and I love his music, soI'll be playing that.
Very, very classy.
Give me a number from 1 to 4.
3.
(40:52):
+1, 23.
So the word is dog house.
And if you had to use the word doghouse as ametaphor for success, how is success like a
doghouse?
How is success at the doghouse?
Yes, as a metaphor.
So success is like a doghouse because?
Because it's how you're living your life every
(41:15):
day.
It's one of those things.
It's how you live your life every day andthat's how you need to lead to success is how
do you lead your life every single day.
And that's what you're going to be doing.
Awesome.
Well, thank you very much for that.
Any final words from you?
It's been a blast.
I've learned a lot.
I've heard a lot of your stories and it'salways a lot of fun.
(41:37):
Any final words?
Yeah, absolutely.
Just keep on crushing whatever you're doing andwhatever endeavor you plan to get into, whether
it's real estate, whether it's a fitness or abeauty salon, own, dominate, dominate that
space but believe that it is possible and youwill achieve your success.
(42:01):
But without the belief, there is no point ofdoing what you're endeavoring to get into.
So believe together with the actions that youare building out will lead to your success.
Awesome, nicely done.
And then what's the best way for people to getin touch with you and also get your book?
Absolutely.
Well, book is available on Amazon, From Cocoonto Living the Life of Your Dreams.
(42:27):
It's available on Amazon and you can get intouch with me on Instagram Alka SharmaCEO.
Awesome.
And I'll be more
than happy to connect.
Yes.
Awesome.
So everybody out there, make sure you get intouch with Alka.
Find her on Instagram and also get a copy ofher book.
I'm sure it's a great read because of thatjourney that people go through when it comes to
(42:51):
being stuck and coming out of that and rewiringyour mindset towards success.
Once again, thank you very much for your timefor everybody else.
Until next time today is Day Talk with KeyPotential.
She's out there.
My name is Phuong.
Thank you very much.
We'll see you later.
Thank you
so much Phuong.
Amazing.
Thank you so much.
Welcome to the PEEP Potential Success Show.
My name is Fang Chua and today we have anothergreat guest.
I've been very, very fortunate to be on hershow.
We had such a blast and I just couldn't wait tohave her on.
So here she is today.
She is a powerhouse when it comes to realestate investing.
She is an absolute expert.
In fact, she's been helping a lot of peoplegain more confidence and get more knowledge and
(00:29):
also get clarity when it comes to investing inreal estate.
In turn, people get empowered to take controlof their own lives and not just surviving in
it.
Now, not only does she have a passion in realestate and in helping people, she also has this
huge passion when it comes to the field ofmedicine as well.
She is the author of the book From Cocoon toCEO, so please welcome real estate investor,
(00:51):
expert, podcast host, award winning author, Ms.
Alka Sharma.
Thank you so much, Phuong.
It's great to be on your show.
Great to be with
you for being here.
Always a joy speaking with people who are sosuccessful in what they do.
And that therefore leads to my very firstquestion is, how did you get to where you are
today?
Like, how did one person come out and go, youknow what, I'm going to be this amazing real
(01:13):
estate person and then also help people becomebetter in real estate and then have this
passion in medicine and all these differentthings?
How did you get to this spot that we are rightnow?
Yeah, absolutely.
That's a great question.
I've always had a huge passion when itempowering comes others, when it comes to
(01:35):
empowering, not only myself and how I had tonavigate those challenges of my life after I
got divorced.
After that, you know, I was left broke.
I was financially broke, emotionally andinternally broke and navigating my life through
those difficult, challenging, dark moments ofmy life equipped me.
(02:02):
You know, I had to.
It's not, you know, there was I had a hugeknowing that, you know, my life, where it was
going and how I needed to navigate.
So from that moment on, after I was broke, Inavigated through those difficult times and,
(02:28):
you know, empowered myself.
And the first thing that I needed to do to beself confident, to be self, to be independent,
to be self reliant and financially stable,Cause I had two small kids at that time and to
put food and provide shelter for my kids.
(02:51):
And so I was doing everything that I needed todo.
I was working three jobs at that time.
And so you need to do whatever it takes tocreate a life of success.
If you know where you are heading, if you knowthe path that you are going towards, you will
do anything to make that happen.
(03:12):
This is exactly what I did.
So that was my defining moment when I was brokeor if you are in debt, what are you gonna do
about it?
Are you gonna just crumble and die and just goinside your cocoon?
Or are you going to say, no, I wanna be, Iwanna live a life of success.
I want to do whatever it takes so that I canprovide for my kids and so that I can provide a
(03:38):
life of financial stability.
And that's why real estate came about.
You know, I how that came well, first of all, Ihad to learn about money and finance.
That was the most important.
I was never taught about that even in mymarriage.
I was never told about money.
I was never told how much we had in the jointbank account.
(04:00):
I wasn't told anything.
So I had to learn about money and finances andthen slowly real estate came, which is, you
know, has been a huge, you know, it's been avehicle that I can honestly say that, you know,
if you're looking to build that financialstability, real estate is the vehicle that you
(04:22):
want to get into.
Why why real estate?
What did what made you choose that that's thepath to go through?
Why real estate?
Because real estate, you know, you you buildcash flow in the property, you're building
equity in the property.
And so I bought my first investment property atthe 2021.
(04:43):
So even so during pandemic, I bought my firstinvestment property and it was rental.
I rented it out to tenants and it was a duplex.
That was the moment of my life too.
That was the defining moment.
And I said, okay, you know what?
I am now on this path of being self reliant.
(05:05):
I don't need anyone to take care of me.
I can be the woman who is empowered.
And now for the first time, I began to feelgood.
And this is what wanna I share with youraudience is that you need to know how you are
going to really equip your life.
(05:28):
Because you are the one that you have to makethat.
You have to live your life every single day,but to feel empowered and every single day,
what are you doing?
What are the choices that you are making thatreally will set you forward to set you on the
path of success?
So real estate, when I bought my firstinvestment property, you know, it was building
(05:48):
cash flow and you know, I had amazing tenants.
And so I can honestly say when you rent it outto your tenants, you can work with a real
estate agent.
I worked with an agent and we together you knowwe screen the tenants so I real estate for me
is my vehicle of choice.
(06:10):
That is awesome.
So from the period from the time you said youknow what I'm gonna change my life around I'm
gonna start learning more about finances, I'mgonna start learning about real estate, from
that moment to getting your first property, howlong was
that?
Oh, that was about a year and a half, year anda half before I began to learn.
(06:30):
And also, you know, when I was learning alongthe way, like with my realtor, I would always
ask her questions because there's gotta be atime when you have to be curious and I never
was before, but then slowly that curiositycame.
And I would always ask my real estate agent.
I would ask her questions.
(06:50):
Every time we went for viewing, we saw manyproperties and this was the one that I liked.
So with, we saw six, out of the five, I likedthis one.
But apart from that, you've got to be curious,you've got to ask questions.
And I was also doing due diligence on what do Ineed to know about the NOI, about the cap rate
(07:13):
on that property.
You have to do due diligence.
I mean, does that investment make sense?
I mean, if you're working with a realtor, theyhave their own projections, but you have to go
out even before you step out the door, you needto know, okay, what is your budget?
And so you've got to know what is that budget?
What does it look like?
What is the number that you have in mind?
(07:36):
Is it 1.5?
So that number when you know the back of yourmind what that is, then no matter what the
realtor is going to show me if the propertyvalue is above is that 2,000,000, well then you
know you shouldn't go for that because that wasnot in your budget.
So always budgetize.
(07:56):
So that's exactly what I did.
I would always do my due diligence to makingsure to learn about the property and learning
you know is so powerful.
Knowledge is power but knowledge withoutimplementation is never wise.
So always make sure that you are doing the duediligence.
(08:19):
You're learning as much as possible about realestate and you know, will never go wrong.
That's awesome.
Now I know that as investors, it's not alwayssmooth sailing.
Is there any case or story that you share withus where things just didn't go your way?
(08:40):
And then how did you navigate through that?
Yeah, absolutely.
And the things that never do go your way, know,things can never go your way in terms of the
deal that you wanted, in terms of anything.
But what I can share, we will look at out thesix properties that we viewed.
One of the properties I liked, and thisproperty was a luxury.
(09:06):
It was a beautiful property.
It was a luxury property.
And the whole point that I liked about this oneis that I wanted to rent it out at once upon a
time, I did want to rent it.
So the basement had a huge potential that if Icould build like two bedroom suites.
(09:27):
And, but what ended up happening, the propertywas around 2,000,000.
And I knew that that was not in my budget.
And that's what I'm talking about budget thatyou do have to make sure that, you know, where
the budget, you know, you have to budgetize andwhere do you go.
(09:50):
So this is where I go wrong.
And this is what I'm teaching your audience isnot to make the mistake that I did.
So what did I do?
Well, from that moment on, because everyexperience, every deal, every situation, you're
always learning.
And when I learned from that property that itwas 2,000,000, oh my gosh, it's not in my
(10:10):
budget.
I had to then the future properties that wesaw, I made a plan.
I was crystal clear as to what was that budget.
Was it 1.5?
Was it even 2,000,000?
Then you reverse engineer.
So when you're looking for future properties,you know that that is the number at the back of
(10:31):
your mind, then you can never go wrong.
And so I did go wrong, but then the futureproperties is when I began to realize that
yeah, when you budget you know exactly what isthat number than the properties that you are
buying, then you know, can't go wrong.
(10:51):
So that's what I'm, you know, that is onesituation, one scenario that I do wanna share
because it was a huge, you know, it was a huge,I mean, was a luxury property on top of that
and it was too much.
Now, during that period of time when you'removing towards real estate and investing, your
(11:16):
life is changing, you're learning all this newstuff.
All these doors are opening, all theseopportunities are opening.
But I'm but there are people who would tellyou, hey, that's that's not the way to go or
it's too risky.
Why why are you why are you learning aboutmoney?
Just put it in the bank.
Simple as that.
Why are you learning about all this stuff?
Why are you putting money into real estate?
(11:36):
Put it in the bank.
And people are trying to to pull you back, notbecause they're against you, but they care for
you.
They want you to take the less risky route.
How did you talk or converse with people whoare caring for you, but that advice just didn't
jive with what you wanted to do?
(11:57):
That's a great question.
And I absolutely love that and why that really,you know, that is such a pivotal point because
when, for example, when I got into my firstbusiness and my first business was in the
health and fitness space, six years ago, Iopened a fitness studio just north of Steele's
(12:21):
and I knew nothing about the health and fitnessspace.
I knew nothing, but I knew that I wanted to gointo that business.
I wanted to open a studio that women can feelempowered.
It doesn't matter about your shape or yoursize.
I wanted to make a community of women that feltwelcomed in that space, right?
(12:46):
So because I knew my story when I was 21 yearsof age and I was chubby, had, you know, I
lacked the self confidence, self esteem onlybecause physically how I looked.
And so when I walked into that gym for thefirst time, I was petrified because there were
all these fit bodied people and I didn'tmeasure up to that because of how I looked.
(13:13):
And that really put me off and I just walkedout that gym.
So fast forward when I wanted to open my studioand I did open my studio, I ran a successful
studio for six years and you know, and thenduring COVID came, so gyms were challenging
like all over the world as we know.
(13:34):
So I sold my studio and that's when I quicklytransitioned to real estate.
So when we talk about the risk, even when I wasstarting my business, people would tell me, you
know nothing about fitness.
How are you gonna open a studio?
What are you gonna do?
How, you know, what if clients don't show up?
I listened.
The one point that the one tip I will share isdon't listen to the external noise.
(13:59):
If you know inside your gut, you wanna go intothat business, do it.
Whether it's in a beauty salon or whether youdon't know anything about the beauty salon,
just do it.
Trust yourself.
But that's where it comes trust, trust,intuition and knowing the belief inside of you,
(14:19):
the belief that's a 100%, you know, as we knowFong, as Napoleon Hill says, you know, the mind
which believes can achieve.
But if you don't believe in yourself, theabilities that you have to run a successful
business, you will never run.
So what I will share is do not listen to theexternal notes because people always are out
(14:42):
there to give you opinions, good or bad.
That's true.
And sometimes those opinions may not be givenbecause they want you to fail, they're giving
so that they want you to be safe, right?
And safe may or may not necessarily be the bestpath.
Absolutely,
yes.
You were able to navigate through the COVIDtimes in real estate.
(15:05):
And during that period of time, it's verydifficult for a lot of investors out there
because one, you may or may not be able to doshowings for tenants and the tenants may or may
not have jobs because of the situation andwhatnot.
What did you do differently to be able to begood in your real estate career during that
period of time where others failed?
(15:27):
Well, what you need to do that's different isthat and how you actually stand out.
You stand out by doing more of what is notbeing done, right?
So during COVID people were maybe not showingmore of, but if you know that that is what you
(15:48):
need to do, that is your path, that is whatyou're a 100% good at, You wanna stand out and
by standing out is doing more, showing peoplemore viewing, showing people as to what is
possible, what you can do, what they can do.
And so if you, that's the only way you willdifferentiate, it doesn't matter what the
(16:11):
upturn or the downturn of the market is becausethat's always the case and you're always gonna
have that.
But then how does one stand out in themarketplace is by owning, it's about owning
your space and by owning your space is to knowthat okay this is my lane, I'm good at this,
(16:32):
what are your strengths, what are yourweaknesses and always measure.
And this is what I always do Feng.
I'm not sure what your, how, what do you findbest in what are your methodologies?
I'm always measuring as to where I was duringCOVID time or not COVID time, but I always
(16:52):
measure as to where I am because the reason whyit's so important to do that and why I do that
is because I always want to be better everytime.
And so if you don't have a yardstick, if youdon't have a methodology that you are measuring
every single day, then how are you gonnaimprove?
(17:15):
So you wanna improve all the time and, youknow, don't rely on how the markets are doing,
rely on what are you doing?
How are you doing better?
How are you doing better from your competition?
Because your competition, yes, they're doinggood.
But if you want to do what they are doing andyou wanna go over and beyond, and I think
(17:36):
that's been the catalyst of how I live and howI do things.
I'm always measuring against myself.
It's not about the competition, but it's aboutbeing creative.
So don't compete, but create.
What can you do and how can you be better tostand out?
(17:56):
No, not only that, but it also gives you, well,actually you're competing against your previous
self you're always going ahead of your previousperson.
And that kind of leads me to my well, yeah, mynext question is that it also allows you to
kind of reflect back and be proud and happyabout what you've accomplished, and a lot of
(18:17):
people kind of lose sight of that.
They don't have confidence or self esteem aboutwhat who they are, what they do, until you kind
of bring up all these other things that they'veactually achieved in the past, and all of
sudden is like, wait a minute, I have donethat, or yeah, I do feel good about this.
So my question is like, when it comes toconfidence, and it's something that's very,
very important, and we've mentioned that a fewtimes, how do you help somebody gain confidence
(18:42):
and maintain that confidence?
Because you could be confident for a day or afew hours and all of sudden you're at this down
low or something happens and you just lose itall, right?
How do you gain and then maintain confidence?
100%.
Oh, wow, that's a great question.
Well, first of all, is built.
(19:03):
Confidence is built the daily practices, whatare you doing each and every day?
And how I began the confidence that when Ilacked self confidence, lacked the self esteem
when I was in my teens.
And then even after my divorce, how did I, youknow, from being in that cocoon to becoming a
(19:32):
woman that is empowered and how did that come?
So that can be, that is what I want to share.
That's the pivotal moment when I was insidethat cocoon, you're protected, you're sheltered
when you're inside that cocoon.
And I never had a space to grow.
Even as in my teens, I was always sheltered andprotected.
(19:54):
So I didn't evolve and I didn't grow.
So I lacked the self confidence.
So how did I go from being inside that cocoonto becoming a strong woman, to become an
independent woman, to be financiallyindependent.
But how did I do that?
Well, how I did that was I needed was themindset.
(20:18):
I broke out.
You have to break out the cocoon.
If you know that your life is meant for more,then you are deserving of more, then you can do
more and you will have more.
So your mindset, and we also talked about thatwhen you were on my show, we talked about
mindset, how your mindset really helps you tobe where you are to where you wanna go.
(20:45):
So that's where confidence does come is yourmindset you need to rewire.
So your paradigms pretty much always hold youback.
So we wanna take 10 steps forward to oursuccess, but we take five steps back because
you know what?
Those doubts, those limiting beliefs that Iwill never be successful, I can achieve this,
(21:09):
or it's too difficult.
We're always saying that.
And so there came a point that you have to thenrewire.
And this is exactly what I did from beinginside that cocoon, then stepping out and then
becoming empowered and to become confident.
So confidence is built.
(21:29):
Confidence is built by your habits, by rewiringyour old habits, your old paradigms, your old
limiting beliefs that were holding you backfrom then today you have to then work at it,
but you know what, it's always work.
And most people, yes, they wanna achievesuccess, but a lot of people do not want to do
(21:54):
that even to maintain where they are.
And if they want to take that 10 step forwardto where they are, they don't want to do it
because that reach takes a lot.
It takes effort.
But if you're not willing to take the effort,then you're not going to grow and then you're
not going to evolve.
I mean, you'll always be at a plateau.
(22:16):
That's very, very true.
I mean, just today I was speaking to anindividual and I was asking them, so why are we
having this conversation?
And he goes, well, I really want to become abetter speaker.
I want to be able to really motivate people andall that kind of stuff, I wanted my daughter to
be able to speak the way great speakers speak,and I'm like, so how come you're not doing?
He's like, well, see I sign up for stuff and Ijust don't show up to it, and I sign up for
(22:40):
this and I don't do my speeches, I'm like,well, the problem is you're not finding the
right motivator, you're not finding that fireinside you to hold yourself accountable.
So I guess that leads to my next question ishow does a person find the right fire, find the
right accountability matrix so that they'reable to actually commit to something and stay
(23:01):
with it.
Wow.
So let's take for example speaking.
If you always wanted to become a great speaker,you wanna get into that profession perhaps, one
of the best ways that you can is to findgroups, is to find chapters maybe in your area
(23:27):
where you live, like say for example, join theBNI or join the Toastmasters, join the Toronto
Chamber of Commerce.
So join a chamber of commerce.
These groups are actually one of the best waysthat can really help you to elevate in your
profession.
If that's a profession, the endeavor you wantto get into And by honing and mastering,
(23:53):
because everything that you do is mastery andFang, you are the best.
You are teaching speakers and entrepreneurs tobe their best.
And so this is what needs to happen.
You have to just join a group or find a mentor.
If you're finding a mentor, they have to bealigned with your vision, number one.
(24:19):
So if you're looking for, if you're going intoreal estate and you want to find a mentor
because a mentor is gonna be fast, it's gonnabe quick.
And so that's your learning curve, faster,quicker and better is a mentor.
But a mentor also needs to be aligned with yourgoals.
If the mentors are aligned with your goals, butyou know you have those goals to succeed in
(24:44):
real estate, then that is not the mentor foryou.
So always do your due diligence before you finda mentor.
I mean, there are so many mentors out there.
So, you know, who is the best one?
Well, the best is by recommendation, byreferrals, talking to people as to how, who
(25:04):
have they had in their corner that has helpedin their industry.
So this is one of the best ways that we can do.
If speaking is your endeavor, find a mentor,and then join the groups that will lead to your
success.
And it also opens up a whole new world to you,Right?
(25:24):
Once you join these groups, you show up, younotice that all these other people are doing
certain things, and they're at different levelsof what it is that you want to achieve.
And all of a sudden you see, hey, little bylittle, you could catch up to this one, you
could catch up to that one, or you can matchthat one.
And then you're so much farther ahead thanwhere you were before you joined the group.
And it's all about accountability, you know,because they hold you accountable and it's up
(25:48):
to you as well to ask questions.
Because I mean, if you're new and you'reobserving the group, it's up to you to ask
questions.
But people in the group, you know, I joined theToastmasters about three years ago and I loved
it from the standpoint that there were peoplethat were, you know, successful than you, but
(26:10):
you know, that's where you wanna be.
You wanna be in the rooms, people that aresuccessful, but then it's also up to you to ask
them questions so that you learn and they will,you know, gladly teach you as well and tell you
what you should do.
Yeah, asking questions are so important.
Mean, and people don't realize that people areso willing to share that you just need to reach
(26:37):
out and ask, and you'll get so muchinformation.
And then once you get that information, youkind of pick and choose and see which method or
which style works best for you, and then youmake it your own.
And then all of a sudden, you're like, wow, Ijust asked the question, I got all this
information.
You mentioned before about breaking out of acocoon and then rewiring the way you think,
well that then led to you having a podcast, youto speak on stages, you having a book out,
(27:02):
share with us more about what do call it, thatpath as to deciding to write a book and
deciding to speak on stages and having apodcast.
What did you go through to come up with allthat?
Right.
Well, first step that came was I wanted toalways write a book.
(27:25):
And this is about ten years ago when I found amentor and the mentor was Les Brown.
And when I found Les Brown, he was at aconference here in Toronto and I just signed up
at the back of the room.
So I just signed up.
I just said yes.
(27:45):
I always say yes.
And that's one of my strongest points at thispoint in life, not when earlier on in my life,
but now I always say yes.
And so when I said yes, I didn't know what Iwas getting into, but Les Brown was coaching
me.
And I flew to Atlanta to be coached by LesBrown and we were writing my book.
(28:11):
That process of writing a book, as you know,Fong, was supposed to be about two years before
going back and forth writing.
That book from that moment on, I was becomingconfident.
I was owning my voice.
I was owning as to what needs to happen in mylife and one led to another.
(28:38):
So from the book, I was confident that I was,you know, I published my book.
I was, you know, very confident in my life asto where my life was going.
I always had a passion to, you know, to speak,to interview people and you know, whether it's
(28:59):
celebrities, but interviewing people to own myvoice, to share that stage with other
entrepreneurs, to learn about their stories.
Because at the end of the day, we all havestories and we all have amazing stories, but
how can we bring those stories to light so thateveryone is, you know, can benefit from our
(29:21):
stories.
And so from that moment, from the book came apodcast that I began to, you know, I have my
podcast, Ask the Experts with Alka.
We have had amazing entrepreneurs on the showand I'm intrigued by the stories that they
(29:43):
share with me.
What has been their successes?
What has been their failures and how did theyget to where they are?
And from you are hugely successful and I reallyappreciate everything that you are doing.
Absolutely just incredible.
So this is how my journey began, you know, froma book then from a podcast to, you know, just
(30:08):
empowering women today with divorced women andhow they too can lead a life of success.
That's totally awesome.
And it goes to show what something as simple aswriting a book, and I say as simple as writing
a book is because you really just need to sitdown and do it, and lots of people don't
realize that it's as basically as easy as that,is putting the dedication of time of writing
(30:32):
that book, and then from there you gain so muchmore.
You gain the confidence, you gain speakengagements, you gain connections, you gain
credibility, and people are just unwilling tosit down and kind of write or put their
thoughts together.
Now, when we were talking about the transition,it's amazing what a short period of time,
(30:52):
because you started real estate, you say in2021, and it's only been four or five years
from now.
And in five years, you got the book out, you ahuge real estate portfolio, you got speaking,
you got podcasts and all kinds of stuff.
Looking back, what would you say was thebiggest moment for you?
If you had to single it down to one moment,what would that be?
(31:16):
Well, that's a million dollar question.
What is that?
What is that moment?
There have been quite a few moments.
I would say, owning your power, owning myvoice.
(31:37):
I think owning my voice was the biggest becausewhen I was inside that cocoon after my divorce,
I was not confident.
I was not confident in the marriage.
I wasn't confident and I lacked.
So when we go through adversities, when we facethose moments, that's what prepares you.
(32:01):
That's what prepared me to becoming the bestversion of myself because I owned my space.
I owned who I was and I owned who I needed tobe.
That's important, who I needed to be.
And when you own who you are that you weren'tbut who you are becoming, I would say that was
(32:32):
when I reflect on my life now, I would say thatis was that was one of the biggest moments, was
the defining moment for me that I began to ownwho I was.
Because before that I lost my identity.
And so slowly, we always have to, you know, wehave to pick ourselves up, we have to dust it
(32:56):
off and, you know, seek success.
But to seek success, you to, first of all, stepout, to step in to that domain that you are
entering.
So slowly, the confidence just grew and I'm soproud as to what has happened so far because
(33:20):
without the confidence, owning as to who I wasbecoming, who I'm becoming would not be
impossible because if I didn't believe inmyself that, you know, that's that word again,
believe.
But that belief is always going to come in yourlife but you need to know, is it, do you
(33:44):
actually see that?
Do you actually believe that in yourself?
Because if you don't then you're not gonnasucceed.
You're not exactly gonna be there 100% becausethat belief is not strong.
You haven't cemented that belief 100% that youwill achieve what you put out there.
(34:11):
So that conviction, that belief in you has tobe there.
So to answer that was a long answer, wintedanswer to your question, but I would say that,
yes, it was owning my power, owning my power.
All right, so your power is owned by you now,it's solidified, you know who you are, your
(34:34):
confidence is sky high, within five yearsyou're able to overcome that and build what you
have now.
What do you see coming to you in the next fewyears here?
What are you building towards and what are youlooking for right now that will be able to help
you to do so?
Thank you.
That's a beautiful question.
(34:56):
What I'm working on right now is my passionalso is helping divorced women.
So post divorced women who are rebuilding theiridentity, are reclaiming back their power and
authority base.
So rebuilding your life and why divorce, why isthat a passion?
(35:17):
Why is that?
Because as a divorcee, I know what I had gonethrough.
I know what that feels like.
I know as to what I need to do to turn my lifearound.
And that's why I'm so passionate to helpingwomen too.
And that's why real estate when I help them isalso helping them to get into investment, to be
(35:40):
more confident, to be financially independent.
You need to be self reliant.
It is so important that you have to be selfreliant.
And so how I see my, know, in the next fiveyears is to building out chapters
internationally so that women, they can runwith hosting events themselves and they can,
(36:06):
building chapters is one of the things that I'mbuilding right now and building courses,
hosting events.
I just had an event actually last weekend, theUnstoppable Her event.
Was truly just incredible.
I mean, feedback that I got from that truly hasbeen amazing and people just watching the, I
(36:28):
was watching the feed as you know, peopleputting in the comments, it was just
incredible.
So I think this unstoppable her is what I'mbuilding out from in the future.
It is gonna come out with courses.
I'm gonna be building out.
So I think the chapters building up chaptersinternational is where I'm seeing I wanna go.
(36:51):
And, you know, we have a private Facebookgroup, The Unstoppable Her.
I welcome everyone to, you know, come, it's asafe space and, you know, we empower one
another.
So that's the future, that's what's gonnahappen.
Awesome.
Now you've mentioned some of the first stepsthat people should take to building their
(37:12):
confidence.
You've mentioned some of the first steps forpeople to really finding themselves and owning
themselves.
I don't think we've really dived into what arethe first steps and going back to real estate
for people to start in real estate, whoactually wants to jump out and do something and
build a portfolio.
What's the first step for that?
(37:32):
The first step for that, you need to know,first of all, what is the niche that you are
getting into?
Is it wholesale prehab?
Is it multifamily, single family?
What is that niche?
Because without a niche, then how do you know?
Because how you do, if you do everything thenyou're not doing that one thing that you know
(37:54):
it's going lead to success.
So I will say first of all figure out a niche.
If working with a real estate agent too is alsoparamount because working with a realtor, they
know firsthand as to the properties, the dealsout there.
Is it off market deals that you want to lookat?
So working with a realtor is going to be yoursafe bet.
(38:18):
One tip I will share, the realtor also has tomatch your goals.
So work with a realtor who has a knowledgeabout investing.
They've done investments.
They've got a huge portfolio of themselves.
So working with a realtor is going to beimportant.
And then, you know, that's second point.
And the first point is to know your niche.
(38:41):
This is how you need to start when you areworking as you are getting into real estate
investing.
Great tips there for people who are thinkingabout doing real estate and I guess the very
first thing to do after hearing thatinformation is going out there and actually
applying it.
Out there and scheduling times with realtorsand kind of vetting them out to see which one
(39:03):
you want to work with, and then the processstarts going.
You'll start learning more and gaining moreknowledge and gain more confidence, which is
the whole basis of everything that people needin order to become I'm gonna end our formal
discussion right now here.
I know you have lots of stuff to do and youhave lots of people to inspire, but before I
(39:24):
let you go, I got five quick rapid firequestions.
Give me the first thing that comes to mind.
This is for fun.
You ready?
Ready, absolutely.
You're a stranded on a deserted island, onefood to eat for the rest of your life, what
would that be with no consequence?
One fruit, I Oh, would say one food?
Any food.
(39:45):
I would say a banana.
So healthy.
The people who usually pick fruit are veryhealthy people.
Hollywood calls and goes, Hey, Elka, we loveyour story.
Very, very inspiring, very motivational.
We would love to do a biopic of you.
Who would you cast to play you?
I would cast Elizabeth Hurley.
She shows up at your door and goes, hey, I gotcast to play you.
(40:08):
Let's hang out.
Let's have some fun.
Let's get to know each other.
What does that night look like?
You got it all planned out.
What are you gonna do with her?
Oh, absolutely.
Well, we're gonna go for we're gonna go for abeautiful dinner, then we're gonna brainstorm
as to how we're gonna make out that scene work,and then we're gonna fly to Los Angeles.
Very nice.
You're in a car, and this car ride goes forhours on end.
(40:31):
For some reason, there's only one song that'sstuck on repeat.
What song do you like listening to all thetime?
What's that one song?
It's by Andre Bicelli and I love his music, soI'll be playing that.
Very, very classy.
Give me a number from 1 to 4.
3.
(40:52):
+1, 23.
So the word is dog house.
And if you had to use the word doghouse as ametaphor for success, how is success like a
doghouse?
How is success at the doghouse?
Yes, as a metaphor.
So success is like a doghouse because?
Because it's how you're living your life every
(41:15):
day.
It's one of those things.
It's how you live your life every day andthat's how you need to lead to success is how
do you lead your life every single day.
And that's what you're going to be doing.
Awesome.
Well, thank you very much for that.
Any final words from you?
It's been a blast.
I've learned a lot.
I've heard a lot of your stories and it'salways a lot of fun.
(41:37):
Any final words?
Yeah, absolutely.
Just keep on crushing whatever you're doing andwhatever endeavor you plan to get into, whether
it's real estate, whether it's a fitness or abeauty salon, own, dominate, dominate that
space but believe that it is possible and youwill achieve your success.
(42:01):
But without the belief, there is no point ofdoing what you're endeavoring to get into.
So believe together with the actions that youare building out will lead to your success.
Awesome, nicely done.
And then what's the best way for people to getin touch with you and also get your book?
Absolutely.
Well, book is available on Amazon, From Cocoonto Living the Life of Your Dreams.
(42:27):
It's available on Amazon and you can get intouch with me on Instagram Alka SharmaCEO.
Awesome.
And I'll be more
than happy to connect.
Yes.
Awesome.
So everybody out there, make sure you get intouch with Alka.
Find her on Instagram and also get a copy ofher book.
I'm sure it's a great read because of thatjourney that people go through when it comes to
(42:51):
being stuck and coming out of that and rewiringyour mindset towards success.
Once again, thank you very much for your timefor everybody else.
Until next time today is Day Talk with KeyPotential.
She's out there.
My name is Phuong.
Thank you very much.
We'll see you later.
Thank you
so much Phuong.
Amazing.
Thank you so much.
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