March 25, 2025 • 55 mins
In this inaugural episode of the Blackbridge Mindset Podcast, hosts Mike, CJ, and Ken introduce their vision and bring on their first guest, Ronita Coleman.
Ronita, a mechanical engineer by training, turned her career towards real estate development and community impact. She shares her journey from buying her grandparents' house to establishing a thriving career in Detroit's commercial real estate sector. The conversation covers her significant achievements, such as rehabilitating the historic Casa del Rey into affordable housing, the importance of community engagement, and the challenges and rewards of being an entrepreneur. They also delve into the role of resilience, the crucial partnership with her husband, and her approach to managing work-life balance.
The episode concludes with a Q&A lightning round and a unique 'Wakanda Peace Pause' tradition.
Be ready to take notes as Black Bridge Mindset's journey begins.
Thank you for listening!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
CJ (00:00):
Hello, and welcome to the Blackbridge Mindset Podcast,
where culture, entrepreneurship,and business intersect to fuel
inspiration.
This podcast celebrates thepower of diverse voices shaping
the future of business.
So whether you're building abusiness, breaking barriers, or
just looking for some seriousinspiration, you're in the right
(00:20):
place.
The Blackbridge Mindset, whereculture and entrepreneurship
collide.
Mike (00:26):
So we're started.
yeah, this is Mike.
This is Black Bridge Mindsetsour very first episode, so it's
gonna be a little rough, butit's gonna be fun.
It's gonna be great.
We're gonna look back on this ina year and be like, damn, y'all
done came a long way.
I am so excited to have two ofmy best friends here hosting
this show with me.
I have Chris Johnson and KenPeak.
(00:48):
Do you wanna be Chris Johnson ordo you want to be cj?
Either Works Cookie.
I'm not gonna call him Cookie.
I may ask.
No, we won't be doing that.
Ken (00:58):
CJ is perfectly fine.
You need to prepare yourselfbecause we may accidentally call
you Cookie.
Mike (01:03):
But yeah, I'm
CJ (01:03):
here with two.
I'm wear a cookie Monster shirtone day.
Mike (01:05):
I'll do it.
Please.
I'm wearing my Capricorn shirttoday, but you can't even see it
because I have my camera set upall wrong, but I'll fix that for
next time.
But like I said, I'm superexcited to have two of my best
friends here with me.
Two.
Cj, where are you coming in fromand introduce yourself a little
bit.
CJ (01:22):
Yeah, I am actually coming to you all the way from
Columbus, Ohio, home of the OhioState University, Buckeyes, your
NCAA football champs for 2024.
2025.
Little bit about me.
My background is engineering.
I am a fire protection engineerby trade.
I design fire systems, but in myfree time, people that know me
(01:44):
know I'm big into music.
Just regular things that regularpeople do.
And for every now and then, I'mknown to sit at the bar and have
a nice salty margarita.
Mike (01:55):
Nice.
Oh,
CJ (01:57):
hi, o.
Mike (01:59):
And then of course, one of my other best friends all the
way from the A TL Ken Peak.
How are you doing?
Introduce yourself.
Let the people know who you are.
Ken (02:07):
Hey everybody, my name's Ken.
I am checking in from Atlanta,Georgia.
I'm doing well.
I'm excited about today.
It's gonna be a great day.
Excited about the guest, excitedabout doing this with the two of
you.
This is gonna be a greatventure.
As background, my background isin finance, asset management,
(02:28):
securities, brokerage, all thatfun stuff.
So let's have a good time.
Mike (02:33):
Yeah, no, I'm by.
Yeah, thank you.
And, my name is Mike Lovett.
I am in Chicago, born inCleveland.
Lived in Columbus for 15 years,and now in Chicago, Illinois,
doing my thing.
And, what is my background?
I'm engineering site acquisitionentrepreneur, and, all the
things rolled up in one, but I'mloving it.
(02:55):
And through my journey so far,I've met these two guys and the
guest who's coming on here in alittle bit.
She's one of my favorite people.
And we, we, if the campus couldtalk at ou as they would say,
they would have some crazystories to tell about the both
of us, but we'll get into thatlater.
So with that said, what's goingon y'all?
What's been happening this week?
(03:15):
What's going on with you?
Ken?
What's going on with you?
Cj, anything fun?
Anything crazy?
Ken (03:21):
You mean out trying outside of trying to survive?
What's happening?
Mike (03:25):
Say that again.
Ken (03:26):
Yeah.
No, things are good, right?
Be careful like, spring hassprung here in Atlanta.
Looking forward to that.
Some good weather's definitelyon its way.
Otherwise, not too much crazy elnot too much else was crazy
going on.
Did get some tickets for r and bonly here in Atlanta for next
weekend, so I'm definitelyexcited for that.
(03:46):
I know round two, I know roundtwo, you guys will definitely be
missed, but, you
CJ (03:51):
didn't invite us this time.
Ken (03:53):
Good.
Listen, I just decided to do itand you're always welcome and
actually, the following day,Jojo's gonna be here in concert
too, so I think I might get aticket to go see her as well.
Mike (04:02):
Okay.
I can see you at a jojo concert.
Yeah,
Ken (04:06):
jojo.
First of all, don't do that.
Mike (04:10):
What about you, cj?
Anything going on?
Anything crazy this week?
CJ (04:14):
Yeah, there's some pressure situations right now, but I
can't discuss yet, and I thinkyou all know what'em may be
talking about outside of that.
Things are good.
Just finished the, season ofvolleyball.
Took first place in the regularseason, third in the tournament.
Not too happy with thetournament finish, but I'm okay
with that.
Good stuff.
Yeah.
NCAA tournament's about to startjust, warm weather, get to, to,
(04:35):
soak that in and set out on apatio and watch some basketball
and just be free for once it'sget outta the house ready for
it.
Mike (04:43):
Yeah, no, I hear you.
The weather's been nice here inChicago for the last couple of
days, so unfortunately I havenot been able to go out and
enjoy it, but it's all good.
I'm with Ken.
Life is just life in.
I looked at my stock and myportfolio and all that craziness
the last couple of days.
I'm telling y'all it is March11th.
Don't look, it's a sad day.
(05:04):
I've lost so much money over thelast couple of days.
Pump some extra
CJ (05:07):
money into some stocks now.
Mike (05:10):
Now is a good time, right?
Because everything's low.
Talking business, talking money.
Do it now.
There you go.
But anyway, so yeah, so thanksfor catching up for the week.
But I am super excited abouttoday's show.
Not only is it our very firstshow as the Black Bridge Mindset
(05:30):
Podcast, but we have our veryfirst guest who is one of my
very favorite people.
And I'm gonna, I have to readthis,'cause if I don't read it,
I'm just gonna fumble all overthe place.
So bear with me.
Those who are watching this onYouTube, you're gonna see me
look at a screen, but those whoare listening, just listen up
because today we are diving intothe inspiring story of Ranita
(05:53):
Coleman, a trailblazer in realestate development and community
impact with a mechanicalengineering degree from Ohio
University and an MBA inbusiness.
Ranita has built a dynamiccareer formerly as a GM
executive for over 24 years, andnow as a powerhouse
entrepreneur, mother and realestate developer.
(06:15):
As co-founder of Coleman Allen,LLC, she's leading the charge to
revolutionize Casa del Rey, acentury old historic building in
Pontiac, Michigan, turning itinto 50 affordable housing
units.
But her impact doesn't stopthere.
Ranita is also a key player inwomen and empowered to build.
(06:37):
A program designed to uplift andequipped women in real estate
development.
In this episode, we'll exploreher journey from engineering to
executive leadership to realestate, the challenges of
revitalizing communities and howshe's paving the way for future
women leaders in the industry.
Get ready for an inspiringconversation on turning vision
(06:59):
into reality.
Without further ado, one of myfavorite people, Ranita Coleman.
Awesome.
How are you?
Doing
Ronita (07:09):
well, thank you.
Thank you all for having me.
Good evening, Mike, Ken, and cj.
I am excited to be here.
I'm inspired by what you all aredoing.
So keep up the good work tocontinue to inspire others, in
this space of entrepreneurship.
CJ (07:25):
Thank you for giving us your time.
Mike (07:27):
Yeah.
Thank you.
No problem.
Yeah, I don't know if youunderstand, how excited I am
that you're our first guest.
Like we were thinking about whoshould our first guest be?
Should it be somebody we don'tknow?
Should it be somebody we know?
And I was like, we definitelyshould do somebody we know
because one, we're new and wedidn't wanna do anything crazy
(07:48):
with some stranger.
And they were like, who arethese knuckleheads?
But two, I just want it to be aspecial moment.
So to me, having you on as ourfirst guest is very special and
I appreciate you taking the timeto do that.
Ronita (08:00):
Thank you.
Thank you for thinking aboutlittle old me.
CJ (08:02):
I can't tell the accolades behind your name.
Mike (08:05):
I was about to say we've, I've seen you in the papers.
I've seen you all over theplace.
But with that said, tell us alittle bit about you tell us.
How did you get started in yourentrepreneurialship?
Let's try that word again.
How did you get started as anentrepreneur?
Ronita (08:21):
I like to say that I always had an entrepreneur
spirit.
I had people around me.
I, I know in our communities,and in my family there are a lot
of people that hustle.
You have a job, but you hustleon the side.
I recall my mom, she, worked forthe UAW at General Motors when I
(08:42):
was growing up, but on theweekends she was doing hair or
nails or something to make someextra money on the side.
My brother, he did a little, alot of different things on the
side, and so did my dad.
So I guess it was always in myblood to be an entrepreneur.
Mike (09:00):
Yeah.
Ronita (09:00):
And as far as the space of real estate, I think the
first book that kicked me offinto real estate was Rich Dad,
poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
Good book.
And, I, my first real investmentwas actually my grandparents'
house.
They got older, they couldn'tlive there anymore, they moved
in with my mother.
(09:21):
Somehow or another, the housegot sold off.
A few years later I found it, ina foreclosed, a foreclosure,
listing.
And, I was like, my grandparentswere staples in the community.
It was like an heirloom to me,and I didn't want to see it just
go to anyone.
So that was my first investmentand oh, that was 20 years ago,
(09:44):
plus.
And, today, that house, I stillown it.
And it's a group home forreentry, substance abusers,
things of that nature.
So it, it stands and represents,a community to support
community, just like mygrandparents.
Mike (09:59):
That's awesome.
Very nice.
Yeah, I love that.
And as some of y'all don't know,Ranita and I went to Ohio
University and we were both inengineering getting our
mechanical engineering degrees,and I thought that just going to
school and getting ourengineering degree was a lot of
(10:21):
work.
She was also on the women'sbasketball team.
So if you can imagine being anengineering and having the
schedule of a basketball playerin college.
Tell us a little bit about thatand how that sort of helped you
in your day-to-day nowadays.
Ronita (10:43):
It drove a lot of discipline.
You have to maximize your timewhen you have two jobs, right?
So being a full-time student aswell as a full-time athlete, we
had to travel a lot.
The demands were hard, but you,in order to be successful at
both, you had to staydisciplined.
So I think that's one of thelife lessons that taught me
(11:03):
throughout that time.
CJ (11:05):
Nice.
And it shows, it looks likeit's, it was very productive for
you.
Ronita (11:11):
Yeah.
It was challenging.
It's challenging.
If every road was easy, it'd bea lot more people down this
road.
You got
Mike (11:17):
that right?
A hundred percent.
Yeah.
I just remember you calling meyour schedule sometime and I'd
be like, man, I was still inbed.
Rolling over.
Hitting snooze for two morehours and you're already up
working out, having, doing yourhomework, getting like it, it
was just crazy.
It was just crazy.
So I applaud you on that.
Thank you.
Yeah, so what's, do you have aspecific moment or turning point
(11:39):
where you decided to take theleap into entrepreneurialship?
Was it the purchase of yourgrandma's home?
Ronita (11:46):
Yes, but that was, at that time, that was my side job,
my side hustle, if you will.
I can share that.
So after that purchase, Istarted my journey, my career
with General Motors, and so Iwas relocated a few different
times.
So every time I relocated, soI'm from Indianapolis, Indiana.
(12:08):
And, GM moved me to Missouri.
And so when I went to Missouri,I found a foreclosed home,
right?
And I, while I lived there, Iimproved it.
So I sold it in 2008.
You know what that looked like?
Yeah, that's right.
The market was down.
It was horrible.
(12:28):
But when I moved, I wasrelocated to Michigan.
I take that back.
I bought a home in Indianapolis,then to Missouri.
But each time, no matter whatthe market was, I never lost
money because I bought so muchbelow the market price that when
it was time to sell after theimprovements, I still made
(12:49):
money, or at least broke even.
I.
Mike (12:51):
That's awesome.
Ronita (12:53):
Yeah, and then I came to Michigan.
I was relocated to Michigan.
From Missouri.
I bought another foreclosure.
I flipped it.
At the time I met my husband tobe, and he was on board with
continuing the journey of fixingand flipping.
and we got to a point, we gotmarried, we had a child, and I
(13:15):
was, I can recall we were at afix and flip.
I had a six month old.
I'm trying to feed the baby inthe car and, then I have to go
back to work.
And it was just too much.
And I said, if we keep fixingand flipping, we'll always have
to keep fixing and flipping.
And the journey was getting alittle rough for me.
So I said, I think we need tochange our strategy.
So we just changed it from, fixand flip to buy and hold.
(13:38):
So we started purchasing rentalproperties in the city of
Detroit.
And we have 10 doors there.
And I was like, it's, we cancontinue to scale, but it's
easier if you, if we go intocommercial, so fix and flip.
Buy and hold residential toduplexes and fourplexes, and now
we have a 50 unit apartmentbuilding.
Mike (14:00):
Congratulations.
That's awesome.
Congrats.
That's awesome.
That's fantastic.
Ronita (14:02):
Thank you.
Thank you.
Mike (14:04):
Yeah.
I love that you like, wentthrough your journey in saying
this is what we started with.
And then as life changed, youpivoted.
You didn't say let's give up.
You said, this is something Istill love.
We have some changes to make.
Let's pivot and do somethingelse and still stay within that
(14:25):
same, within real estate, butjust tweak a few things so that
we can continue with our dreamand our journey.
I love that.
Ronita (14:33):
Yeah.
And right.
As having a family, that's partof my passion, my faith, my
family, and our future, right?
Our future generations.
So that's the passion thatcontinues to drive me and our
entrepreneurship, right?
Because we do have a futureahead of us.
CJ (14:51):
Yeah.
How did, sorry, Mike, I No, goahead.
Go ahead.
I was just gonna say, I just hada question.
I'm curious with you pivotingfrom residential to commercial.
Can you describe, thedifferences in your, funding for
those investments compared toresidential?
Is there a big difference?
Is there, is it difficult to getfunding for commercial?
(15:13):
What are the stipulations?
Ronita (15:16):
Very good question, cj.
It's total different.
It's totally different world.
So if you can go, we can go buya residential home, we get a
mortgage as long as, you gotsome stability of financing as
an individual.
But when you get into commercialreal estate, it's a different
ball game.
There's so many different facetsof like soft cost.
(15:40):
When you buy a residential home,you don't worry about a soft
cost.
What is a soft cost, right?
So when you're talking about,environmental, making sure that
you're approved by differentmunicipalities, there are a lot
of different factors, going intocommercial real estate.
And the type of real estate thatwe have, conquered, should I
(16:02):
say, at this point has been,commercial real estate that has
been vacant.
Because, as part of our missionis to transform and revitalize
vibrant neighborhoods andcommunities across metro
Detroit.
And so when you think about, avacant property that's been
vacant, I don't know, 20 plusyears, it's more, it costs you
(16:25):
more money than to build fromthe ground up that same
building.
So financing is crucial.
And you think about the capitalstack on, the 50 unit apartment
complex that, we currently havethat total development costs us
$15.5 million.
So how you gonna get that money?
(16:45):
It's, I'm terrified.
Mike (16:46):
Just think about it.
It's
Ronita (16:47):
gotta be effort.
It's gotta be a collaborativeeffort.
And that's, that's how we weresuccessful building those
relationships and collaborationacross cities, counties and
state funding.
But that was a good question,cj.
Ken (17:01):
So with what you just said about the diverse and the
vibrant, communities, and withthe$15.5 million stack, what was
the thought process that youwent through to make the
determination that you wanted,Casa del Rey to be affordable
housing?
Because right now in thiscurrent state of real estate,
right?
Everything's luxury.
(17:22):
People want to charge you moremoney.
What was it that made you say,Hey, we're not gonna do that.
We want to build this,affordable housing for people in
the community.
Ronita (17:33):
Yes.
Market rate seems to be the,make the most money, right?
But I think the key thing for uswas community engagement.
So there's, this building is notonly, a registered as a national
landmark.
But it's also, in a historicdistrict.
And so that community or thatdistrict comes together, to
(17:56):
under, we were able to meet withthem to understand what the
needs were.
A lot of people tried to come inat low income.
Affordable is like that, thatmiddle, not low income.
And it's not your market rate,tenants, but it's that what they
call the missing middle.
And, that's how we determinewhat the need was.
(18:16):
People, a lot of people go intodifferent communities not
understanding what the needs areand what the people want.
Even though the property hadbeen vacant for a couple of
decades, they knew they stilldidn't want low income housing.
Because as a historic district,they have to keep up a certain.
Standard in the historicdistrict.
(18:37):
So we wanted to make sure thatwe aligned with community.
'cause the community can make orbreak your project.
They have a deep influence inwhere they live.
Mike (18:47):
Can you touch on that a little bit more?
So for people who may beinterested in getting into
commercial real estate, when yousay the community, has a say in,
can sway a project, because somepeople may just think oh, I want
to go put up a 50 unit building,let me just go buy the land and
do it.
But what do you mean by thecommunity can sway whether or
not a project goes forward ornot?
Ronita (19:09):
Okay.
I can give you a coupleexamples.
Good question.
The couple examples.
The first example is thebuilding is in a historic
district.
There is a historic committee.
That works for the city that thebuilding is in, and you have to
get their approval to putcertain windows, whatever you
(19:31):
wanna put on the exterior ofthis building.
And they have to say they, itwas six of them.
And, I thank God there was allyays to our proposal.
But not only that, there'sanother layer, when you're going
to get approval to, for thesite, to get approved for your
(19:52):
plans.
Like we, we needed, parking, wehad to get parking approved for
that building.
Or a variance if you didn't haveenough parking spaces around the
building or a parking lot tosupport it.
But you need the city to supportyou.
And if they don't approve it,you can't do anything with the
building.
So you need the city district orcounsel to support what you're
(20:18):
doing.
Mike (20:21):
And when you go to the city and say, Hey, I want to do
this, can Joe Smith who lives inthe area, can he come to that
meeting and say, Hey, I knowRanita Coleman wants to put up
this building, but I don't likeit.
I don't want this building putup.
Ronita (20:39):
Yes, you are.
You are absolutely right.
There are, there is what youcall,
Mike (20:44):
public hearing,
Ronita (20:46):
public comment.
And so you can have a line ofpeople standing up, they know
what's on the agenda for thenight and they don't agree with
it.
You can have a line of peopletelling you how they don't want
you or they don't feel that yourplan is sufficient.
I can recall, we had publiccomment at one of the historic
meetings and this lady.
(21:08):
You could tell by her attitude.
She just didn't like it.
Didn't, let me see what you'reproposing.
Like she really wanted tounderstand,'cause she lives in
the community and she has theright to say what she feels and
it does matter to a community,the hearts of the people that
live there.
But we were able to talk to herand share with her and prove our
(21:30):
case, sufficient enough whereshe actually is now an advocate
for us.
Okay.
But you do have, the publiccommentary is public, it's live
streamed.
So they have a say so in theircommunity, not just the council.
And to your point, Mike.
Anyone In that city could comeup and share that they approve
(21:54):
or disapprove and they can be asblatant as they want to be
during their public comment fortwo minutes.
Mike (22:00):
Exactly.
Ken (22:01):
So I think two things, right?
First piggyback off of what yousaid, in the current
environment, ranita aroundwhat's happening with the
government and DEI, has yourapproach changed to your deal
making to how you appropriatefunding?
Has your approach change to howyou engage with the community
(22:25):
based on the things that arecurrently happening and the
overall, geopolitical,socioeconomic environment?
Ronita (22:32):
Oh, good question, Ken.
I would say no about changing myapproach about how I engage with
the community.
Community because your communityis, can make you or break you at
the lowest level.
The story that I shared aboutthe, the lady that had public
comment, and that wasn't happybecause there had been many
proposals before us.
(22:54):
Now she's actually on thehistoric district board so she
can make or break a decision, toinfluence her peers.
If there was something else thatI came up to the committee to
try to get past.
So the best way to deal with thecommunity is just to be honest,
open, genuine, and try tounderstand what the needs are.
(23:14):
As for, the current climate of,our leadership of this country,
right now we have to understandhow his impacts or his decisions
on funding, government fundingwill impact projects such as,
moving forward for us.
(23:34):
What does that mean?
I had a conversation withsomeone today as to.
Some of the programs that theyhave for affordable housing, and
right now they're just at ahalt.
They don't know what's gonna beavailable.
He said you can put anapplication in now, but just
know that the funding might comeor might not come.
(23:55):
We are pivoting, trying tounderstand what that looks like.
It might look like, RFPs, goingafter different contracts versus
just applying for funding.
It may shift that direction, I'mnot sure.
But we're fluid right now withthe current climate.
CJ (24:12):
I may,
Ken (24:13):
this, lemme just ask one more question, cj, do you think
that based on your fundingsources.
That you're gonna have any typeof a negative impact, to, your
either real estate or yourcommercial development business
going forward.
Is that kind of still in flux aswell at the moment?
Ronita (24:35):
Our current active projects, no.
Okay.
The future projects possibly,depending on what decisions are
made.
Yeah.
CJ (24:45):
I just wanted to add on to that, with the way that, the
current climate is going and isin this current state, I know a
lot of times people, will submitfor funding, for grant funding,
through the state, through thegovernment.
Federally there areorganizations out there that
fund, historic projects,especially, minority historical
(25:07):
projects.
I was going to share thisinformation with you off Air
Ranita, but a friend of mine isthe actual president of, the
National Trust in Washington DC.
And his organization actually,helps historical sites, minority
owned historical stites be more,more specific, with
transitioning in, building uptheir, their, facilities, their
(25:28):
buildings.
I know those grants are not tiedto government funding, I'll
share that information with youa after the show.
And then there's also, I'm surethere are definitely other
organizations and theseorganizations are funded by,
generous people around the worldthat just wanna help the
community in one way or another.
Ronita (25:44):
I appreciate that contact.
That'll be awesome.
CJ (25:47):
Shout out to Brent Legs, Kadu, Kentucky.
Mike (25:50):
I, you may need to shout 'em out again.
I don't think we heard you.
I just, oh, I just said that
Ronita (25:55):
might be one of our, oh, say it again, cj.
CJ (25:57):
Oh, no, I was just giving my, best friend I grew up with
Brent Legs a shout out.
That's the gentleman that I'llbe getting you in contact with.
Ronita (26:05):
Awesome.
Mike (26:06):
Nice.
All right.
One question for you.
What does a typical day looklike for you as a business
owner?
Are you, and on top of that, areyou solo or does it take a team
for you to make all of thishappen?
Ronita (26:23):
Yeah, a good question.
I'm not solo.
I do have a, my partner who isalso my husband, he is in it to
win it with me.
A also keeping in mind, he hasstill has a full-time job.
I am now a full-time developer.
Mike (26:42):
Let's go.
Ronita (26:43):
And we have a 6-year-old.
A typical day for me, and let meadd to that before I shift to my
typical day.
But, we have a team of, we havea consultant, depending on what,
tax benefits we're going after,we may have some one help us
with that.
You always need a generalcontractor, and a good
(27:05):
architect.
So yes, we have, we surround ourpe ourselves with people, that
have their specialties, right?
And the better they are, thebetter you can be.
So that's a, that's an awesomequestion.
And then as far as a typical dayfor me, we start off getting
ready for, there is not aconsistent day.
(27:25):
I'm sure this week is very busyand so is the next, but I had
some downtime, every now andagain, but a typical day would,
start off with getting my6-year-old ready for school,
getting breakfast made, gettingher, walking her to school
partially.
And then I might have a fewdifferent meetings, with some,
(27:48):
maybe some partnerships thatmight be lined up or, some
conferences, that deal with realestate and the trajectory of
commercial real estate.
I'm a part of different groups,women's groups, minority groups.
Majority groups.
So you wanna be involved and inthe know, with what's going on,
(28:09):
in your business and right.
And so that's what I try to doand continue to build
relationships because,relationships can make or break
you.
Mike (28:18):
Yeah, for sure.
And you talking about, buildinga team earlier, that's where I
am with in my real estatejourney.
Like you're way ahead of where Iam, but in any business, not
just in real estate, I'mstarting to learn that a lot of
CEOs and people in yourposition, they don't necessarily
(28:38):
have their hand in everything.
They're not an expert ineverything.
So just like you mentioned, youhave your architect, you're not
an architect.
You're not an architect, excuseme.
But you're the head of thismoving machine and company.
And when people see you and youbuild this big thing, they're
like, oh, Nita's an architect.
Oh, she was able to do the civilstuff.
(28:59):
But in all actuality, peopledon't understand, like it takes
a team in order to move acompany in a certain direction.
And I'm starting to learn that.
'cause a lot of people think,oh, it's just me.
I need to make the cold calls, Ineed to do the bills, I need to
do the, I need to be atransaction coordinator.
I need to be blah, blah, blah,blah, blah.
But you don't, you just need toget the right people in place,
(29:20):
right?
Ronita (29:22):
Yes.
But keep in mind, my fellowmechanical engineer, I'm not an
architect, but I can read aprint,
Mike (29:31):
Listen,
Ronita (29:31):
you know
Mike (29:32):
you, that again,
Ronita (29:33):
You hire the professionals, right?
But you also know the basics ofwhat they're doing.
You understand what they'redoing.
So they don't take advantage ofyou.
Not to say that people will, butnot to say that people won't,
people
Mike (29:45):
will,
Ronita (29:46):
Just understand, the basics of what they're doing for
you to help you becomesuccessful.
Mike (29:54):
A hundred percent couldn't have said it better myself.
You know what just popped in myhead.
What my worst class in college?
Electrical engineering andAaliyah.
Dust yourself off and try again.
Ronita (30:07):
Yes, I remember that.
Can I share what you used tosay?
Go ahead.
Mike (30:11):
Do it.
Say it.
Ronita (30:12):
You all know the song.
If at first you don't succeed,dust yourself off the track.
Mike changed the course to thatsong.
He said, if you, if at first youdon't succeed, you dust yourself
off and register for the classagain.
Register for,
Mike (30:28):
yep.
Wait.
Electrical Engineering andChemical Engineering, I had to
register for the class again acouple of times.
It's all good.
Listen,
CJ (30:37):
I felt that way about fluids.
Mike (30:39):
It's,
Ronita (30:39):
you have a degree though, don't you?
Mike (30:41):
I sure do.
I sure do.
Okay.
It's in my, it's in my little,Rubbermaid tub in storage
downstairs.
CJ (30:49):
That poor.
I have a wall like yourssomeday.
Mike (30:52):
What'd you say?
CJ (30:54):
What things collecting does?
Just trying to get out.
Mike (30:56):
It's wrapped up.
It's wrapped up in my, it's
CJ (30:58):
all cold and lonely.
Mike (31:01):
Nah, you good?
Ken (31:04):
All right.
Work for that.
Can I just, I wanna, you'vementioned in your day-to-day and
you, during your day-to-day,discussion, and you said you had
a busy week.
I saw on your Instagram that youare a panelist, this week at the
Detroit, real Estate Associationof Developers.
Yes.
And I wanted to just hear, aboutthat, about what the
(31:26):
organization is, what you'regonna be talking about as a
panelist.
Are you excited?
No, I think it's, it's, onThursday.
Is it Thur tomorrow or Friday?
It is.
It's Thursday.
Okay.
It's Thursday.
So yeah, let us know a littlebit about that.
Ronita (31:40):
Reed is a, minority, group for real estate developers
in metro Detroit.
And they inspire, they haveworkshops, they also have bus
tours, which is like amazing.
So they'll rent a charter bus, Ithink it's quarterly or twice a
(32:01):
year, depending on how manyprojects they have going on.
But they'll, rent a charter bus.
And invite all the members.
And if you wanna come and you'renot a member, that's okay too.
But they will take you aroundMetro Detroit and take you to
minority developments,commercial developments that are
(32:22):
being led and driven byminorities, specifically,
blacks.
It is very inspiring to go tosome of these key communities in
Detroit and the developers telltheir story.
Sometimes they have their teammembers with them.
And I'm hopeful that, I'll beone of the stops on the next,
(32:44):
couple of, journeys throughDetroit.
But they're doing good things incom in the community.
Ken (32:50):
Yeah.
Detroit is, I know you, youprobably know this by, talking
with Mike, but we like to travela lot and Detroit is definitely
on our list to, to visitbecause, we haven't been, but
it's on the list, so we'll makesure that we partake, okay.
In the bus store.
Yes, please do.
Yeah.
Mike (33:05):
Yeah.
I'd love to do a follow up withyou, later once you get, the
building all done and ready togo.
We'll come up and chat with you.
Do a walkthrough.
Let the listeners, or I guesspeople have to watch it on
YouTube and see, exactly whatyou were working on, and talk
about your journey on that one alittle bit more.
That'll be awesome.
Okay.
Ronita (33:26):
And hopefully I'll be able to share with you the next
one.
Mike (33:29):
Yep.
Yeah.
Many more.
Yeah.
I love it.
Ronita (33:33):
Yeah.
Mike (33:33):
Ranita,
CJ (33:34):
I have a question for you.
Yes.
Can you explain to our audience,I noticed, from your website
that you have, looks like twocompanies.
You have your, realty side,which is LJ Golden Realty, and
then you have Green LivingSolutions.
Is the Green Living Solutionsyour development side?
Ronita (33:51):
Good question.
You all have really done yourresearch, huh?
So Green Living Solutions is ournonprofit, which focus on
sustainable, living,efficiencies.
So like we're not, we're gonnago as green as possible.
Net zero if you will.
But we may not get there, withsome of these revitalizations,
but we're gonna get as close aspossible.
(34:13):
But at some point we would liketo also provide, services to
help people, with their,budgeting and things of that
nature.
'cause that's part of, the goalas for our nonprofit is to
minimize the cost of living,right?
So not only do you haveaffordable housing, but you can
also have a place where you'renot spending an arm and a leg
(34:34):
for gas or electric becausewe've made everything in that
facility, energy efficient.
CJ (34:41):
Got you.
And then that's very necessaryright now.
Yes.
Nice.
Is there, any stipulations orany guidelines or criteria or
driving force that, once youhave your, your property in
line, you've received yourcertificate, occupancy, you're
ready to go, is there anotherorganization, especially with
(35:03):
this being historic, that youfocus, are focusing on right
now?
Is there any driving factorsthat once you will open up and
earn business, something outthere is some entity that keeps
like a check on you, make surethat you're doing this, make
sure you're doing that, and justmaking sure that there are
certain guidelines followed anddoes that create a issue?
(35:23):
That's a
Ronita (35:23):
good question.
So I'm gonna answer your lastquestion first.
It doesn't create an issue, butyes.
Some of the funding that we didreceive for this project, has
some, affordability metrics tiedto it.
And, some of them, we have tokeep in place for 10 years.
And some others we have to keepin place for 20.
(35:46):
But yes, we have, we will have,the compliances in place
annually to make sure those arechecked off and, there are no
issues, moving forward with ourtenancy.
Gotcha.
CJ (35:58):
Nice.
Ken (36:00):
Can I, can we, I wanna ask a question and take it back to
the top of the conversation.
When you were talking aboutpurchasing your grandparents'
house, when did you make thedecision or what transpired
that, made you turn it into, thegroup home for reentry?
For substance abusers?
Ronita (36:20):
That's another great question.
There has been a friend of ourfamily since I was a little
girl, and, those type ofservices are what she provides
and she has several homes, andlarger commercial facilities,
for those type of, reentry,substance abuse, things of that
(36:41):
nature.
But she has a heart for thepeople, and that's what I have
that's been ingrained in me frommy grandparents.
And so when she shared with methat she was interested in
renting the property, and that'swhat she would use it for.
That was perfect.
It aligned with my morals, myfaith and my values that I grew
up with as a child.
Ken (37:01):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Like it's, I think it's just,it's fantastic like just hearing
your stories, about how, you'regiving back to the communities
that you live and work in.
Because a lot of times peoplesay that, but they don't action
upon it.
So it's really great to, tohear, what it is that you're
doing.
Yeah, that's fantastic stuff.
(37:22):
Live
Ronita (37:22):
work.
And Ken, don't forget live, workand play.
Don't forget that part.
Mike (37:27):
Yeah.
And I know one of the thingsthat you really like to touch on
is, resilience.
So if you wanna, talk about thata little bit, and let us know
what your thoughts are on that.
Ronita (37:39):
Oh yes.
It's a journey, right?
It is not a sprint, it's amarathon.
And there are a lot of hurdlesalong the way.
We look at the Olympics and wesee the 100 hurdles and 300
hurdles, but could you imagine amarathon with hurdles?
Mike (37:56):
No.
Ronita (37:57):
So if you just put that into perspective, it's a lot of
challenges along the way.
It's a lot of challenges withjust being a developer.
But when you're trying to scaleup, when you're not the majority
in that space, it can be quitedifficult and it's easy to throw
in the towel.
So you have to be resilient inthis space.
(38:18):
You have to be resilient inlife, right?
But if you want to go wherenobody's gone.
And do what nobody has done,then you have to be resilient in
your pursuit of it.
Ken (38:28):
A hundred percent greed.
Mike (38:30):
So you just mentioned live, work, and play.
Tell us how you enjoy yourdowntime.
How do you, like how do yourelax?
What does play look like for youand your family?
Ronita (38:44):
I guess I have to give two sides to it, right?
With my family, I love family.
I love getting everybodytogether.
I.
And just having a good time.
Maybe rent an Airbnb down inFlorida and invite as many as
who can come, with a pool and alake and, the many resorts that
they have down there and justhave a good time.
(39:07):
Let the kids jump and play andtake'em to Disneyland.
So that's, that's a good timewith the family, right?
But then there's the flip sideof it where I've gone and gone
and I'm just getting back fromMiami on a solo trip because I
just need that downtime todecompress.
(39:28):
Retail therapy is nice as well
CJ (39:31):
We know about that.
Ronita (39:34):
Okay.
Okay.
So yeah, I, I think it's twosides to it, right?
I have that family time, andyou're, for me, I'm always
going.
And, but just to take a breath,a break and breathe, without any
distraction.
I like some me time as well.
Mike (39:51):
Yeah.
I was gonna ask you to hit onthat a little bit more because I
feel like that's, nowadayspeople, some people just see
that as controversial.
It's you're in a relationship,you're married, you have a kid,
what are you doing going off onvacation by yourself and, having
some me time, like me time, gotake a nap in the bedroom, have
some me time, go downstairs,have some me time.
But if you're gonna Miami andhanging out like that doesn't
(40:15):
sound like me.
Time to me, that sounds likeparty time to me.
So how do you let people know oraddress like.
This is okay, this is somethingthat's good for your mental
health.
Having that break andseparation, it's it's okay.
It's not,'cause some people Ithink, struggle with that.
Yeah.
Ronita (40:36):
Yeah.
And just because I went to Miamidoesn't mean I partied it up.
Mike (40:39):
I know.
But I'm saying like, people hearthat I
Ronita (40:41):
can tell you.
Yes.
But it, like, when I reflect onthat trip, since it is, it just
happened, I would sit on thebalcony and watch the sunset in
peace.
I would lay next to the pool andjust have a clear mind and no
distractions.
I was in the fashion district,so I was able to do a little bit
(41:03):
of retail therapy Of course.
And my husband and I, we have aheart for people, right?
W we're always tending tosomeone else's cares and their
needs and what everybody elsehas to do or needs our help
with.
It's something to take a pauseand care for you and not feel
guilty about it.
Mike (41:25):
Man.
I think that's the biggest part,is not feeling guilty about it.
Ronita (41:30):
Yes.
Yes.
CJ (41:31):
And if you have a partner sometimes that's the hardest
part.
Yes.
Not feeling guilty.
Ken (41:35):
But can I give you a recommendation?
I did this for my birthday and Iwent to, the Waldorf Astoria in,
Riviera Maya, and I highlyrecommend it.
Just going
Riviere.
Yeah, that's
what it was.
Ri and oh, write down.
Yeah.
It was the reason why I say thisis because they didn't allow
Ubers on and off the property.
(41:57):
And then for you to get an Uber,you had to walk to the front, to
the entrance and it was like a25 minute walk.
So there was no really goinganywhere.
But it was beautiful.
It was right on the beach.
The hotel was gorgeous.
Awesome.
They had great restaurants.
Staff was amazing.
So I highly recommend it thenext time if you get the
opportunity.
Ronita (42:16):
Thank you.
Thank you for that.
Yeah.
The next
CJ (42:18):
time we have you on the show, after you've had your
fifth property and you're onvacation at Riviere Maya, we're
gonna call you.
Yeah.
Okay.
I might not pick up,
Mike (42:31):
I must say don't pick up.
Don't you enjoy your time.
You do.
You do your thing.
But with that said, you coulddefinitely see who the bougie
person is in this group.
Ronita (42:41):
That's nice though.
That's nice though.
I'm gonna get there, Ken.
I'm not there yet, but I'm goingto get there.
Ken (42:46):
Yeah.
Ask for bougie birds of afeather, right?
You're right.
Yes, you're right.
I'm not together.
CJ (42:52):
I'm a little jealous maybe to a degree.
Ronita (42:55):
Oh, the other thing that I wanted to share, along with,
my day to day, my husband and Iare also pastors.
So we have, we have a pastor'sheart for people.
So when I say we have a heartfor people, we truly.
Are inspired and fulfilled, whenwe're able to assist and help,
(43:18):
with the needs of the people onmany different levels.
So
CJ (43:23):
very nice.
You are a modern day superwoman.
Mike (43:27):
You are.
Yeah.
And you are doing great things.
I love it.
We are only, so we have about,12 more minutes with you.
Is there anything that you wouldlike to, just a little nugget
that you would like to leave toany type of entrepreneur,
(43:50):
whether they are, looking to getinto real estate or they're just
starting and trying to figureout their journey, whatever that
may be.
What type of advice would yougive if someone came to you and
said, would you mentor me andhelp me get started?
Ronita (44:06):
I feel one, you have to be focused.
Sometimes you talk to people andthey want to do this and they
want to do that, and they wantto do this over here, but they
have to have a focus.
So once you have that focus,'cause that's the first thing a
lot of people say, you can be ajack of all trades, but I know
(44:29):
about that.
So once you have a focus, youjust dive in, dive into it,
understand it, get engaged with,the different groups that, are
in that industry and, just doyour research.
And then at some point you haveto dive in because a lot of
people want to get into realestate and they say they want to
(44:49):
do this and they want to dothat, but when it comes to
buying that first property, theyfreeze.
And so if you don't dive in atsome point, I don't say dive in
too early, but if you don't divein, you'll never fulfill, that
goal of entrepreneurship in thatfield.
So you gotta stick your toe inthe water and test it, because
(45:13):
you really don't understand whatit's like until you're truly
engaged and, surrounded by thewaters of that field.
Mike (45:23):
Yep.
And what was my, my favoritephrase, starting this all out?
You have to take imperfectaction, right?
And that's what, and that's whatyou're talking about.
You just have to jump in and dosomething.
You'll learn something.
But, I don't know if I couldshow this how this looks, but
there's a book called One Thing.
I'm Reading it.
I tried to make it the wholething, but one thing, and that
(45:44):
is exactly what you're talkingabout, and that's what it
focuses on.
It's like people try.
To, I'm gonna stick with realestate because that's what we're
talking about.
People try to get into realestate and they're like, oh, I
want to be a wholesaler, or Iwant to be a buy and hold, or
maybe I wanna focus on preforeclosures, or I want to focus
on expired listings.
(46:05):
And they're just like all overthe place.
It's no.
Pick one.
Get good at that one thingfirst.
And then once you're good atthat one thing, then hand it off
to somebody else in yourbusiness and then you go off and
you could pick up another laneto go down.
But when you're trying to do allthese things at the same time,
you get nowhere.
And I only say this because Iwas one of those people, so
(46:28):
yeah.
So you're speaking truth bysaying that, and that's why I'm
reading that book.
Ronita (46:34):
Awesome.
Mike (46:36):
Nice.
We are coming up on time, andyou know what that means?
I don't, we don't have asoundboard yet.
We, yeah, you need to edit thatout.
We still broke, so we gotta makeour own sound effects
Ronita (46:49):
Buy a playschool toy
Mike (46:51):
next year.
I'm gonna push a button and it'sgoing anyway, so this is the
lightning round, which we aregonna do with all of our guests
that come onto the show.
So I just have five questionsthat I'm just gonna ask you.
You don't have to go into a,detail unless you want to, but
it's just a quick answer onthese and, yeah, we'll go
through them really quick.
(47:11):
Are you ready?
Ronita (47:13):
I am ready.
Mike (47:14):
All right.
First question,
Ronita (47:15):
If you stay ready, you don't have to get ready.
Ooh.
Okay.
Okay.
Mike (47:20):
I knew I had the first, the right guest on the first
show.
What is your favorite book?
I,
Ronita (47:26):
my first favorite book would have to be The Bible.
And, I think I shared with youmy second book that sort of
spearheaded me into real estatewas Rich Dad Poor Dad, by Robert
Kiyosaki.
Mike (47:38):
Nice.
Who are your mentors?
Who helped you get to where youare today?
Mentor or mentors who helped youto get to where you are today?
Ronita (47:46):
I would have to say, WSDI, women's Sustainable
Development Initiative.
Okay.
It's a nonprofit.
And the founders of that grouphave definitely been key mentors
in my journey into commercialreal estate and development.
Mike (48:03):
Nice.
Who's your favorite basketballteam?
Ronita (48:06):
The Ohio
Mike (48:11):
What was your Jersey number?
Was it 23?
Ronita (48:16):
Oh, yes.
Mike (48:17):
Was it 23?
Ronita (48:17):
What else was I?
Okay.
Mike (48:18):
Yeah.
Yeah, it was 23.
It's funny that I remember thatit was 21 because my favorite
number was 21.
And so you were 23.
Who was your favorite person atou?
Question.
Oh, I
wouldn't have to say, oh, youlove it.
Yeah.
CJ (48:30):
Scratch that question.
I have one for you.
Yeah, go ahead and do it.
Okay.
What would be your dreamproperty to develop developer
redevelop?
Mike (48:42):
That's a good one.
That's a good one.
Ronita (48:46):
I have my eye on these vacant lots on the riverfront in
Detroit, and I can envision.
A skyscraper with a restaurantand harbor on the river sand.
Mike (49:04):
Nice.
I love it.
Ronita (49:06):
And I would keep a penthouse in the top corner, of
course, because, you overlookCanada.
And, maybe I would rent it outAirbnb when we weren't using it.
But, far as here in the city ofDetroit, that would be our, my
dream commercial property.
That I think would be likeamazing.
CJ (49:26):
Alright.
I'm gonna say a little prayer, abig prayer for you.
And City of Detroit.
Those, the powers that be.
I'll let you girl.
Mike (49:35):
Yeah, that's right.
She put it out in the universe.
It's already gonna happen.
I can't wait to go visit.
Ronita (49:41):
I.
I, I've had that in the back ofmy mind for probably a year and
a half right now.
I don't wanna stop at Detroit,I'm not opposed to Atlanta or
Columbus or Chicago.
Listen, I'll keep
CJ (49:54):
my eye out.
I've been here long enough toknow some of the, what the
better areas to look.
Okay.
Mike (50:00):
And listen, I'm becoming a private money lender, so you
know, I'll give you my$2 that Igot left in my account after
everything that's happening thisweek.
I want I hear you.
I want 15% though.
I want 15%, but,
Ken (50:14):
Can I ask one more question?
I'm sorry.
You said, oh.
What is the best piece of advicethat you've received?
Ronita (50:24):
The best piece of advice,
Ken (50:26):
either personal or business or both?
If it relates to both the bestpiece of advice you've ever
received.
Ronita (50:34):
I'm going to give you a simple one, but it always stuck
with me.
My mom gave it to me is if youwanna go after something, ask
for it.
The only thing a person can sayis yes or no.
But if you never ask, you neverknow if it could be in your
hands or not.
CJ (50:56):
Yeah, my moms used to say that too.
Great piece of advice.
Perfect.
Mike (51:03):
All right, with that said, we're gonna keep our promise and
not keep you over time.
This is.
Closing our very first episodeof the Black Bridge Mindset
Podcast with Ranita Coleman, whohas graciously come on, drop
some nuggets, giving us herstory.
(51:25):
And I will always love you forthis.
Thank you for entrusting us.
Thank you for coming on.
You look amazing.
I'm not surprised.
I saw your picture you sent andI was like, okay.
And that's gonna be on ourflyers and everything, or our
flyers, man, how old am I?
That's gonna be on our marketingwhen we send it out.
But, yeah, I can't thank youenough for, this was a dream of
(51:49):
mine and I came to these two andthey were on board and I am so
thankful to have a community ofpeople to be here and make this
happen.
Like I said, we're takingimperfect action this time next
year.
We're gonna look back on thisguest number one next year,
we're gonna bring you back on,and we're gonna, we're gonna
(52:11):
relive all of this, and it'sgonna be just as good, if not
better.
And I love you for this.
Ronita (52:17):
It's been an honor.
It's been an honor.
Thank you for just thinking ofme, not only thinking of me
allowing me to be your firstguest, so I truly appreciate you
all.
Thank you for the toughquestions.
Thank you for allowing me to betransparent, and just sharing my
story.
CJ (52:34):
One thing I wanted to bring about before we break from this
ranita, would you please, tellthe people how they can get in
touch with you, how they canview your, information.
Ronita (52:47):
Of course.
Www dot LJ Golden Realty.
And on Facebook, you can find usat LJ Golden Realty Instagram.
You can find us at LJ GoldenRealty.
And if you wanna send me anemail, you can send it to me at
info@ljgoldenrealty.com.
Mike (53:05):
Nice.
And we'll have all of this stuffin the comment section of our
YouTube page.
So go over to YouTube, check outthe video.
You'll see all of theinformation on how you could get
in touch with Ranita and Ranita.
I apologize ahead of time, butthe other day I came up with
something that I'm gonna haveeveryone do on this show.
Ronita (53:27):
Uhoh, uhoh.
I'm afraid
CJ (53:31):
you should be very afraid.
It's not as bad as he's makingit sound.
Mike (53:34):
You gotta, I, it's not as bad as I'm making it sound, but
it just feels silly.
So I think it's gonna feel sillyfor a while.
And I gotta make sure I'm in, incamera view.
So what I want to do at the endof each show.
I'm gonna have everyone do what?
I made this up so it's, youcould tell how my brain works.
We're gonna do a Wakanda piece,pause, and we're gonna do this
(53:56):
just as something that we'regonna do at the end of each
show.
And every guest is gonna haveit.
We're gonna post it.
Everyone's gonna be doing theWakanda Peace, pause.
And what it is you're just gonnago like this and pause for a few
seconds so I can take a pictureof it later.
CJ (54:14):
Do
Mike (54:14):
again, Mike,
Ken (54:14):
you couldn't see the whole thing.
You
Mike (54:15):
need to, you can't see me.
She can't see it.
Yeah.
There you go.
Zoom out.
Zoom out.
That's, you go.
I gotta stand on my tippy toesbecause I got my, yeah, we only
CJ (54:22):
saw one hand.
Mike (54:24):
So it's Wakanda, you know what Wakanda piece, and then
you're just gonna pause for asecond so I can take a
screenshot from the video later.
Yeah.
Got it.
Okay.
Ronita (54:36):
Got it.
All
Mike (54:36):
right.
Ronita (54:37):
Let make sure I got my stance
Mike (54:38):
back here, and we're gonna be good.
All right.
And for all of y'all, we notwatching this on YouTube, you're
missing out.
You're gonna have to just switchover to YouTube and watch it.
All right.
You ready?
You gotta tell me how you
Ronita (54:49):
came up with this.
Mike (54:51):
Don't ask.
Ronita (54:51):
Okay.
Mike (54:52):
All right.
You ready?
Ronita (54:53):
And come up with a better name than Wakanda.
Peace.
Mike (54:56):
Listen, I told you this is how my brain works.
It's Wakanda.
We're doing the peace sign andwe're gonna pause.
That's, okay.
Listen, it is gonna be a hashtagsomeday.
Okay.
Ronita (55:05):
The WWPP.
Okay.
Mike (55:08):
All right.
You ready for the Wakanda?
Peace pause?
Yeah.
All right.
You're just gonna hold it for acouple seconds.
You ready?
Okay.
I think we
CJ (55:22):
Good.
Ken (55:23):
That'll
CJ (55:23):
be
Ken (55:23):
edited out, don't worry.
Ronita.
Mike (55:26):
Thank you.
No, we're not gonna edit it out.
It's gonna be in there.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you for everything again,and yeah.
I appreciate it.
Hello, and welcome to the Blackbridge Mindset Podcast,
where culture, entrepreneurship,and business intersect to fuel
inspiration.
This podcast celebrates thepower of diverse voices shaping
the future of business.
So whether you're building abusiness, breaking barriers, or
just looking for some seriousinspiration, you're in the right
(00:20):
place.
The Blackbridge Mindset, whereculture and entrepreneurship
collide.
Mike (00:26):
So we're started.
yeah, this is Mike.
This is Black Bridge Mindsetsour very first episode, so it's
gonna be a little rough, butit's gonna be fun.
It's gonna be great.
We're gonna look back on this ina year and be like, damn, y'all
done came a long way.
I am so excited to have two ofmy best friends here hosting
this show with me.
I have Chris Johnson and KenPeak.
(00:48):
Do you wanna be Chris Johnson ordo you want to be cj?
Either Works Cookie.
I'm not gonna call him Cookie.
I may ask.
No, we won't be doing that.
Ken (00:58):
CJ is perfectly fine.
You need to prepare yourselfbecause we may accidentally call
you Cookie.
Mike (01:03):
But yeah, I'm
CJ (01:03):
here with two.
I'm wear a cookie Monster shirtone day.
Mike (01:05):
I'll do it.
Please.
I'm wearing my Capricorn shirttoday, but you can't even see it
because I have my camera set upall wrong, but I'll fix that for
next time.
But like I said, I'm superexcited to have two of my best
friends here with me.
Two.
Cj, where are you coming in fromand introduce yourself a little
bit.
CJ (01:22):
Yeah, I am actually coming to you all the way from
Columbus, Ohio, home of the OhioState University, Buckeyes, your
NCAA football champs for 2024.
2025.
Little bit about me.
My background is engineering.
I am a fire protection engineerby trade.
I design fire systems, but in myfree time, people that know me
(01:44):
know I'm big into music.
Just regular things that regularpeople do.
And for every now and then, I'mknown to sit at the bar and have
a nice salty margarita.
Mike (01:55):
Nice.
Oh,
CJ (01:57):
hi, o.
Mike (01:59):
And then of course, one of my other best friends all the
way from the A TL Ken Peak.
How are you doing?
Introduce yourself.
Let the people know who you are.
Ken (02:07):
Hey everybody, my name's Ken.
I am checking in from Atlanta,Georgia.
I'm doing well.
I'm excited about today.
It's gonna be a great day.
Excited about the guest, excitedabout doing this with the two of
you.
This is gonna be a greatventure.
As background, my background isin finance, asset management,
(02:28):
securities, brokerage, all thatfun stuff.
So let's have a good time.
Mike (02:33):
Yeah, no, I'm by.
Yeah, thank you.
And, my name is Mike Lovett.
I am in Chicago, born inCleveland.
Lived in Columbus for 15 years,and now in Chicago, Illinois,
doing my thing.
And, what is my background?
I'm engineering site acquisitionentrepreneur, and, all the
things rolled up in one, but I'mloving it.
(02:55):
And through my journey so far,I've met these two guys and the
guest who's coming on here in alittle bit.
She's one of my favorite people.
And we, we, if the campus couldtalk at ou as they would say,
they would have some crazystories to tell about the both
of us, but we'll get into thatlater.
So with that said, what's goingon y'all?
What's been happening this week?
(03:15):
What's going on with you?
Ken?
What's going on with you?
Cj, anything fun?
Anything crazy?
Ken (03:21):
You mean out trying outside of trying to survive?
What's happening?
Mike (03:25):
Say that again.
Ken (03:26):
Yeah.
No, things are good, right?
Be careful like, spring hassprung here in Atlanta.
Looking forward to that.
Some good weather's definitelyon its way.
Otherwise, not too much crazy elnot too much else was crazy
going on.
Did get some tickets for r and bonly here in Atlanta for next
weekend, so I'm definitelyexcited for that.
(03:46):
I know round two, I know roundtwo, you guys will definitely be
missed, but, you
CJ (03:51):
didn't invite us this time.
Ken (03:53):
Good.
Listen, I just decided to do itand you're always welcome and
actually, the following day,Jojo's gonna be here in concert
too, so I think I might get aticket to go see her as well.
Mike (04:02):
Okay.
I can see you at a jojo concert.
Yeah,
Ken (04:06):
jojo.
First of all, don't do that.
Mike (04:10):
What about you, cj?
Anything going on?
Anything crazy this week?
CJ (04:14):
Yeah, there's some pressure situations right now, but I
can't discuss yet, and I thinkyou all know what'em may be
talking about outside of that.
Things are good.
Just finished the, season ofvolleyball.
Took first place in the regularseason, third in the tournament.
Not too happy with thetournament finish, but I'm okay
with that.
Good stuff.
Yeah.
NCAA tournament's about to startjust, warm weather, get to, to,
(04:35):
soak that in and set out on apatio and watch some basketball
and just be free for once it'sget outta the house ready for
it.
Mike (04:43):
Yeah, no, I hear you.
The weather's been nice here inChicago for the last couple of
days, so unfortunately I havenot been able to go out and
enjoy it, but it's all good.
I'm with Ken.
Life is just life in.
I looked at my stock and myportfolio and all that craziness
the last couple of days.
I'm telling y'all it is March11th.
Don't look, it's a sad day.
(05:04):
I've lost so much money over thelast couple of days.
Pump some extra
CJ (05:07):
money into some stocks now.
Mike (05:10):
Now is a good time, right?
Because everything's low.
Talking business, talking money.
Do it now.
There you go.
But anyway, so yeah, so thanksfor catching up for the week.
But I am super excited abouttoday's show.
Not only is it our very firstshow as the Black Bridge Mindset
(05:30):
Podcast, but we have our veryfirst guest who is one of my
very favorite people.
And I'm gonna, I have to readthis,'cause if I don't read it,
I'm just gonna fumble all overthe place.
So bear with me.
Those who are watching this onYouTube, you're gonna see me
look at a screen, but those whoare listening, just listen up
because today we are diving intothe inspiring story of Ranita
(05:53):
Coleman, a trailblazer in realestate development and community
impact with a mechanicalengineering degree from Ohio
University and an MBA inbusiness.
Ranita has built a dynamiccareer formerly as a GM
executive for over 24 years, andnow as a powerhouse
entrepreneur, mother and realestate developer.
(06:15):
As co-founder of Coleman Allen,LLC, she's leading the charge to
revolutionize Casa del Rey, acentury old historic building in
Pontiac, Michigan, turning itinto 50 affordable housing
units.
But her impact doesn't stopthere.
Ranita is also a key player inwomen and empowered to build.
(06:37):
A program designed to uplift andequipped women in real estate
development.
In this episode, we'll exploreher journey from engineering to
executive leadership to realestate, the challenges of
revitalizing communities and howshe's paving the way for future
women leaders in the industry.
Get ready for an inspiringconversation on turning vision
(06:59):
into reality.
Without further ado, one of myfavorite people, Ranita Coleman.
Awesome.
How are you?
Doing
Ronita (07:09):
well, thank you.
Thank you all for having me.
Good evening, Mike, Ken, and cj.
I am excited to be here.
I'm inspired by what you all aredoing.
So keep up the good work tocontinue to inspire others, in
this space of entrepreneurship.
CJ (07:25):
Thank you for giving us your time.
Mike (07:27):
Yeah.
Thank you.
No problem.
Yeah, I don't know if youunderstand, how excited I am
that you're our first guest.
Like we were thinking about whoshould our first guest be?
Should it be somebody we don'tknow?
Should it be somebody we know?
And I was like, we definitelyshould do somebody we know
because one, we're new and wedidn't wanna do anything crazy
(07:48):
with some stranger.
And they were like, who arethese knuckleheads?
But two, I just want it to be aspecial moment.
So to me, having you on as ourfirst guest is very special and
I appreciate you taking the timeto do that.
Ronita (08:00):
Thank you.
Thank you for thinking aboutlittle old me.
CJ (08:02):
I can't tell the accolades behind your name.
Mike (08:05):
I was about to say we've, I've seen you in the papers.
I've seen you all over theplace.
But with that said, tell us alittle bit about you tell us.
How did you get started in yourentrepreneurialship?
Let's try that word again.
How did you get started as anentrepreneur?
Ronita (08:21):
I like to say that I always had an entrepreneur
spirit.
I had people around me.
I, I know in our communities,and in my family there are a lot
of people that hustle.
You have a job, but you hustleon the side.
I recall my mom, she, worked forthe UAW at General Motors when I
(08:42):
was growing up, but on theweekends she was doing hair or
nails or something to make someextra money on the side.
My brother, he did a little, alot of different things on the
side, and so did my dad.
So I guess it was always in myblood to be an entrepreneur.
Mike (09:00):
Yeah.
Ronita (09:00):
And as far as the space of real estate, I think the
first book that kicked me offinto real estate was Rich Dad,
poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
Good book.
And, I, my first real investmentwas actually my grandparents'
house.
They got older, they couldn'tlive there anymore, they moved
in with my mother.
(09:21):
Somehow or another, the housegot sold off.
A few years later I found it, ina foreclosed, a foreclosure,
listing.
And, I was like, my grandparentswere staples in the community.
It was like an heirloom to me,and I didn't want to see it just
go to anyone.
So that was my first investmentand oh, that was 20 years ago,
(09:44):
plus.
And, today, that house, I stillown it.
And it's a group home forreentry, substance abusers,
things of that nature.
So it, it stands and represents,a community to support
community, just like mygrandparents.
Mike (09:59):
That's awesome.
Very nice.
Yeah, I love that.
And as some of y'all don't know,Ranita and I went to Ohio
University and we were both inengineering getting our
mechanical engineering degrees,and I thought that just going to
school and getting ourengineering degree was a lot of
(10:21):
work.
She was also on the women'sbasketball team.
So if you can imagine being anengineering and having the
schedule of a basketball playerin college.
Tell us a little bit about thatand how that sort of helped you
in your day-to-day nowadays.
Ronita (10:43):
It drove a lot of discipline.
You have to maximize your timewhen you have two jobs, right?
So being a full-time student aswell as a full-time athlete, we
had to travel a lot.
The demands were hard, but you,in order to be successful at
both, you had to staydisciplined.
So I think that's one of thelife lessons that taught me
(11:03):
throughout that time.
CJ (11:05):
Nice.
And it shows, it looks likeit's, it was very productive for
you.
Ronita (11:11):
Yeah.
It was challenging.
It's challenging.
If every road was easy, it'd bea lot more people down this
road.
You got
Mike (11:17):
that right?
A hundred percent.
Yeah.
I just remember you calling meyour schedule sometime and I'd
be like, man, I was still inbed.
Rolling over.
Hitting snooze for two morehours and you're already up
working out, having, doing yourhomework, getting like it, it
was just crazy.
It was just crazy.
So I applaud you on that.
Thank you.
Yeah, so what's, do you have aspecific moment or turning point
(11:39):
where you decided to take theleap into entrepreneurialship?
Was it the purchase of yourgrandma's home?
Ronita (11:46):
Yes, but that was, at that time, that was my side job,
my side hustle, if you will.
I can share that.
So after that purchase, Istarted my journey, my career
with General Motors, and so Iwas relocated a few different
times.
So every time I relocated, soI'm from Indianapolis, Indiana.
(12:08):
And, GM moved me to Missouri.
And so when I went to Missouri,I found a foreclosed home,
right?
And I, while I lived there, Iimproved it.
So I sold it in 2008.
You know what that looked like?
Yeah, that's right.
The market was down.
It was horrible.
(12:28):
But when I moved, I wasrelocated to Michigan.
I take that back.
I bought a home in Indianapolis,then to Missouri.
But each time, no matter whatthe market was, I never lost
money because I bought so muchbelow the market price that when
it was time to sell after theimprovements, I still made
(12:49):
money, or at least broke even.
I.
Mike (12:51):
That's awesome.
Ronita (12:53):
Yeah, and then I came to Michigan.
I was relocated to Michigan.
From Missouri.
I bought another foreclosure.
I flipped it.
At the time I met my husband tobe, and he was on board with
continuing the journey of fixingand flipping.
and we got to a point, we gotmarried, we had a child, and I
(13:15):
was, I can recall we were at afix and flip.
I had a six month old.
I'm trying to feed the baby inthe car and, then I have to go
back to work.
And it was just too much.
And I said, if we keep fixingand flipping, we'll always have
to keep fixing and flipping.
And the journey was getting alittle rough for me.
So I said, I think we need tochange our strategy.
So we just changed it from, fixand flip to buy and hold.
(13:38):
So we started purchasing rentalproperties in the city of
Detroit.
And we have 10 doors there.
And I was like, it's, we cancontinue to scale, but it's
easier if you, if we go intocommercial, so fix and flip.
Buy and hold residential toduplexes and fourplexes, and now
we have a 50 unit apartmentbuilding.
Mike (14:00):
Congratulations.
That's awesome.
Congrats.
That's awesome.
That's fantastic.
Ronita (14:02):
Thank you.
Thank you.
Mike (14:04):
Yeah.
I love that you like, wentthrough your journey in saying
this is what we started with.
And then as life changed, youpivoted.
You didn't say let's give up.
You said, this is something Istill love.
We have some changes to make.
Let's pivot and do somethingelse and still stay within that
(14:25):
same, within real estate, butjust tweak a few things so that
we can continue with our dreamand our journey.
I love that.
Ronita (14:33):
Yeah.
And right.
As having a family, that's partof my passion, my faith, my
family, and our future, right?
Our future generations.
So that's the passion thatcontinues to drive me and our
entrepreneurship, right?
Because we do have a futureahead of us.
CJ (14:51):
Yeah.
How did, sorry, Mike, I No, goahead.
Go ahead.
I was just gonna say, I just hada question.
I'm curious with you pivotingfrom residential to commercial.
Can you describe, thedifferences in your, funding for
those investments compared toresidential?
Is there a big difference?
Is there, is it difficult to getfunding for commercial?
(15:13):
What are the stipulations?
Ronita (15:16):
Very good question, cj.
It's total different.
It's totally different world.
So if you can go, we can go buya residential home, we get a
mortgage as long as, you gotsome stability of financing as
an individual.
But when you get into commercialreal estate, it's a different
ball game.
There's so many different facetsof like soft cost.
(15:40):
When you buy a residential home,you don't worry about a soft
cost.
What is a soft cost, right?
So when you're talking about,environmental, making sure that
you're approved by differentmunicipalities, there are a lot
of different factors, going intocommercial real estate.
And the type of real estate thatwe have, conquered, should I
(16:02):
say, at this point has been,commercial real estate that has
been vacant.
Because, as part of our missionis to transform and revitalize
vibrant neighborhoods andcommunities across metro
Detroit.
And so when you think about, avacant property that's been
vacant, I don't know, 20 plusyears, it's more, it costs you
(16:25):
more money than to build fromthe ground up that same
building.
So financing is crucial.
And you think about the capitalstack on, the 50 unit apartment
complex that, we currently havethat total development costs us
$15.5 million.
So how you gonna get that money?
(16:45):
It's, I'm terrified.
Mike (16:46):
Just think about it.
It's
Ronita (16:47):
gotta be effort.
It's gotta be a collaborativeeffort.
And that's, that's how we weresuccessful building those
relationships and collaborationacross cities, counties and
state funding.
But that was a good question,cj.
Ken (17:01):
So with what you just said about the diverse and the
vibrant, communities, and withthe$15.5 million stack, what was
the thought process that youwent through to make the
determination that you wanted,Casa del Rey to be affordable
housing?
Because right now in thiscurrent state of real estate,
right?
Everything's luxury.
(17:22):
People want to charge you moremoney.
What was it that made you say,Hey, we're not gonna do that.
We want to build this,affordable housing for people in
the community.
Ronita (17:33):
Yes.
Market rate seems to be the,make the most money, right?
But I think the key thing for uswas community engagement.
So there's, this building is notonly, a registered as a national
landmark.
But it's also, in a historicdistrict.
And so that community or thatdistrict comes together, to
(17:56):
under, we were able to meet withthem to understand what the
needs were.
A lot of people tried to come inat low income.
Affordable is like that, thatmiddle, not low income.
And it's not your market rate,tenants, but it's that what they
call the missing middle.
And, that's how we determinewhat the need was.
(18:16):
People, a lot of people go intodifferent communities not
understanding what the needs areand what the people want.
Even though the property hadbeen vacant for a couple of
decades, they knew they stilldidn't want low income housing.
Because as a historic district,they have to keep up a certain.
Standard in the historicdistrict.
(18:37):
So we wanted to make sure thatwe aligned with community.
'cause the community can make orbreak your project.
They have a deep influence inwhere they live.
Mike (18:47):
Can you touch on that a little bit more?
So for people who may beinterested in getting into
commercial real estate, when yousay the community, has a say in,
can sway a project, because somepeople may just think oh, I want
to go put up a 50 unit building,let me just go buy the land and
do it.
But what do you mean by thecommunity can sway whether or
not a project goes forward ornot?
Ronita (19:09):
Okay.
I can give you a coupleexamples.
Good question.
The couple examples.
The first example is thebuilding is in a historic
district.
There is a historic committee.
That works for the city that thebuilding is in, and you have to
get their approval to putcertain windows, whatever you
(19:31):
wanna put on the exterior ofthis building.
And they have to say they, itwas six of them.
And, I thank God there was allyays to our proposal.
But not only that, there'sanother layer, when you're going
to get approval to, for thesite, to get approved for your
(19:52):
plans.
Like we, we needed, parking, wehad to get parking approved for
that building.
Or a variance if you didn't haveenough parking spaces around the
building or a parking lot tosupport it.
But you need the city to supportyou.
And if they don't approve it,you can't do anything with the
building.
So you need the city district orcounsel to support what you're
(20:18):
doing.
Mike (20:21):
And when you go to the city and say, Hey, I want to do
this, can Joe Smith who lives inthe area, can he come to that
meeting and say, Hey, I knowRanita Coleman wants to put up
this building, but I don't likeit.
I don't want this building putup.
Ronita (20:39):
Yes, you are.
You are absolutely right.
There are, there is what youcall,
Mike (20:44):
public hearing,
Ronita (20:46):
public comment.
And so you can have a line ofpeople standing up, they know
what's on the agenda for thenight and they don't agree with
it.
You can have a line of peopletelling you how they don't want
you or they don't feel that yourplan is sufficient.
I can recall, we had publiccomment at one of the historic
meetings and this lady.
(21:08):
You could tell by her attitude.
She just didn't like it.
Didn't, let me see what you'reproposing.
Like she really wanted tounderstand,'cause she lives in
the community and she has theright to say what she feels and
it does matter to a community,the hearts of the people that
live there.
But we were able to talk to herand share with her and prove our
(21:30):
case, sufficient enough whereshe actually is now an advocate
for us.
Okay.
But you do have, the publiccommentary is public, it's live
streamed.
So they have a say so in theircommunity, not just the council.
And to your point, Mike.
Anyone In that city could comeup and share that they approve
(21:54):
or disapprove and they can be asblatant as they want to be
during their public comment fortwo minutes.
Mike (22:00):
Exactly.
Ken (22:01):
So I think two things, right?
First piggyback off of what yousaid, in the current
environment, ranita aroundwhat's happening with the
government and DEI, has yourapproach changed to your deal
making to how you appropriatefunding?
Has your approach change to howyou engage with the community
(22:25):
based on the things that arecurrently happening and the
overall, geopolitical,socioeconomic environment?
Ronita (22:32):
Oh, good question, Ken.
I would say no about changing myapproach about how I engage with
the community.
Community because your communityis, can make you or break you at
the lowest level.
The story that I shared aboutthe, the lady that had public
comment, and that wasn't happybecause there had been many
proposals before us.
(22:54):
Now she's actually on thehistoric district board so she
can make or break a decision, toinfluence her peers.
If there was something else thatI came up to the committee to
try to get past.
So the best way to deal with thecommunity is just to be honest,
open, genuine, and try tounderstand what the needs are.
(23:14):
As for, the current climate of,our leadership of this country,
right now we have to understandhow his impacts or his decisions
on funding, government fundingwill impact projects such as,
moving forward for us.
(23:34):
What does that mean?
I had a conversation withsomeone today as to.
Some of the programs that theyhave for affordable housing, and
right now they're just at ahalt.
They don't know what's gonna beavailable.
He said you can put anapplication in now, but just
know that the funding might comeor might not come.
(23:55):
We are pivoting, trying tounderstand what that looks like.
It might look like, RFPs, goingafter different contracts versus
just applying for funding.
It may shift that direction, I'mnot sure.
But we're fluid right now withthe current climate.
CJ (24:12):
I may,
Ken (24:13):
this, lemme just ask one more question, cj, do you think
that based on your fundingsources.
That you're gonna have any typeof a negative impact, to, your
either real estate or yourcommercial development business
going forward.
Is that kind of still in flux aswell at the moment?
Ronita (24:35):
Our current active projects, no.
Okay.
The future projects possibly,depending on what decisions are
made.
Yeah.
CJ (24:45):
I just wanted to add on to that, with the way that, the
current climate is going and isin this current state, I know a
lot of times people, will submitfor funding, for grant funding,
through the state, through thegovernment.
Federally there areorganizations out there that
fund, historic projects,especially, minority historical
(25:07):
projects.
I was going to share thisinformation with you off Air
Ranita, but a friend of mine isthe actual president of, the
National Trust in Washington DC.
And his organization actually,helps historical sites, minority
owned historical stites be more,more specific, with
transitioning in, building uptheir, their, facilities, their
(25:28):
buildings.
I know those grants are not tiedto government funding, I'll
share that information with youa after the show.
And then there's also, I'm surethere are definitely other
organizations and theseorganizations are funded by,
generous people around the worldthat just wanna help the
community in one way or another.
Ronita (25:44):
I appreciate that contact.
That'll be awesome.
CJ (25:47):
Shout out to Brent Legs, Kadu, Kentucky.
Mike (25:50):
I, you may need to shout 'em out again.
I don't think we heard you.
I just, oh, I just said that
Ronita (25:55):
might be one of our, oh, say it again, cj.
CJ (25:57):
Oh, no, I was just giving my, best friend I grew up with
Brent Legs a shout out.
That's the gentleman that I'llbe getting you in contact with.
Ronita (26:05):
Awesome.
Mike (26:06):
Nice.
All right.
One question for you.
What does a typical day looklike for you as a business
owner?
Are you, and on top of that, areyou solo or does it take a team
for you to make all of thishappen?
Ronita (26:23):
Yeah, a good question.
I'm not solo.
I do have a, my partner who isalso my husband, he is in it to
win it with me.
A also keeping in mind, he hasstill has a full-time job.
I am now a full-time developer.
Mike (26:42):
Let's go.
Ronita (26:43):
And we have a 6-year-old.
A typical day for me, and let meadd to that before I shift to my
typical day.
But, we have a team of, we havea consultant, depending on what,
tax benefits we're going after,we may have some one help us
with that.
You always need a generalcontractor, and a good
(27:05):
architect.
So yes, we have, we surround ourpe ourselves with people, that
have their specialties, right?
And the better they are, thebetter you can be.
So that's a, that's an awesomequestion.
And then as far as a typical dayfor me, we start off getting
ready for, there is not aconsistent day.
(27:25):
I'm sure this week is very busyand so is the next, but I had
some downtime, every now andagain, but a typical day would,
start off with getting my6-year-old ready for school,
getting breakfast made, gettingher, walking her to school
partially.
And then I might have a fewdifferent meetings, with some,
(27:48):
maybe some partnerships thatmight be lined up or, some
conferences, that deal with realestate and the trajectory of
commercial real estate.
I'm a part of different groups,women's groups, minority groups.
Majority groups.
So you wanna be involved and inthe know, with what's going on,
(28:09):
in your business and right.
And so that's what I try to doand continue to build
relationships because,relationships can make or break
you.
Mike (28:18):
Yeah, for sure.
And you talking about, buildinga team earlier, that's where I
am with in my real estatejourney.
Like you're way ahead of where Iam, but in any business, not
just in real estate, I'mstarting to learn that a lot of
CEOs and people in yourposition, they don't necessarily
(28:38):
have their hand in everything.
They're not an expert ineverything.
So just like you mentioned, youhave your architect, you're not
an architect.
You're not an architect, excuseme.
But you're the head of thismoving machine and company.
And when people see you and youbuild this big thing, they're
like, oh, Nita's an architect.
Oh, she was able to do the civilstuff.
(28:59):
But in all actuality, peopledon't understand, like it takes
a team in order to move acompany in a certain direction.
And I'm starting to learn that.
'cause a lot of people think,oh, it's just me.
I need to make the cold calls, Ineed to do the bills, I need to
do the, I need to be atransaction coordinator.
I need to be blah, blah, blah,blah, blah.
But you don't, you just need toget the right people in place,
(29:20):
right?
Ronita (29:22):
Yes.
But keep in mind, my fellowmechanical engineer, I'm not an
architect, but I can read aprint,
Mike (29:31):
Listen,
Ronita (29:31):
you know
Mike (29:32):
you, that again,
Ronita (29:33):
You hire the professionals, right?
But you also know the basics ofwhat they're doing.
You understand what they'redoing.
So they don't take advantage ofyou.
Not to say that people will, butnot to say that people won't,
people
Mike (29:45):
will,
Ronita (29:46):
Just understand, the basics of what they're doing for
you to help you becomesuccessful.
Mike (29:54):
A hundred percent couldn't have said it better myself.
You know what just popped in myhead.
What my worst class in college?
Electrical engineering andAaliyah.
Dust yourself off and try again.
Ronita (30:07):
Yes, I remember that.
Can I share what you used tosay?
Go ahead.
Mike (30:11):
Do it.
Say it.
Ronita (30:12):
You all know the song.
If at first you don't succeed,dust yourself off the track.
Mike changed the course to thatsong.
He said, if you, if at first youdon't succeed, you dust yourself
off and register for the classagain.
Register for,
Mike (30:28):
yep.
Wait.
Electrical Engineering andChemical Engineering, I had to
register for the class again acouple of times.
It's all good.
Listen,
CJ (30:37):
I felt that way about fluids.
Mike (30:39):
It's,
Ronita (30:39):
you have a degree though, don't you?
Mike (30:41):
I sure do.
I sure do.
Okay.
It's in my, it's in my little,Rubbermaid tub in storage
downstairs.
CJ (30:49):
That poor.
I have a wall like yourssomeday.
Mike (30:52):
What'd you say?
CJ (30:54):
What things collecting does?
Just trying to get out.
Mike (30:56):
It's wrapped up.
It's wrapped up in my, it's
CJ (30:58):
all cold and lonely.
Mike (31:01):
Nah, you good?
Ken (31:04):
All right.
Work for that.
Can I just, I wanna, you'vementioned in your day-to-day and
you, during your day-to-day,discussion, and you said you had
a busy week.
I saw on your Instagram that youare a panelist, this week at the
Detroit, real Estate Associationof Developers.
Yes.
And I wanted to just hear, aboutthat, about what the
(31:26):
organization is, what you'regonna be talking about as a
panelist.
Are you excited?
No, I think it's, it's, onThursday.
Is it Thur tomorrow or Friday?
It is.
It's Thursday.
Okay.
It's Thursday.
So yeah, let us know a littlebit about that.
Ronita (31:40):
Reed is a, minority, group for real estate developers
in metro Detroit.
And they inspire, they haveworkshops, they also have bus
tours, which is like amazing.
So they'll rent a charter bus, Ithink it's quarterly or twice a
(32:01):
year, depending on how manyprojects they have going on.
But they'll, rent a charter bus.
And invite all the members.
And if you wanna come and you'renot a member, that's okay too.
But they will take you aroundMetro Detroit and take you to
minority developments,commercial developments that are
(32:22):
being led and driven byminorities, specifically,
blacks.
It is very inspiring to go tosome of these key communities in
Detroit and the developers telltheir story.
Sometimes they have their teammembers with them.
And I'm hopeful that, I'll beone of the stops on the next,
(32:44):
couple of, journeys throughDetroit.
But they're doing good things incom in the community.
Ken (32:50):
Yeah.
Detroit is, I know you, youprobably know this by, talking
with Mike, but we like to travela lot and Detroit is definitely
on our list to, to visitbecause, we haven't been, but
it's on the list, so we'll makesure that we partake, okay.
In the bus store.
Yes, please do.
Yeah.
Mike (33:05):
Yeah.
I'd love to do a follow up withyou, later once you get, the
building all done and ready togo.
We'll come up and chat with you.
Do a walkthrough.
Let the listeners, or I guesspeople have to watch it on
YouTube and see, exactly whatyou were working on, and talk
about your journey on that one alittle bit more.
That'll be awesome.
Okay.
Ronita (33:26):
And hopefully I'll be able to share with you the next
one.
Mike (33:29):
Yep.
Yeah.
Many more.
Yeah.
I love it.
Ronita (33:33):
Yeah.
Mike (33:33):
Ranita,
CJ (33:34):
I have a question for you.
Yes.
Can you explain to our audience,I noticed, from your website
that you have, looks like twocompanies.
You have your, realty side,which is LJ Golden Realty, and
then you have Green LivingSolutions.
Is the Green Living Solutionsyour development side?
Ronita (33:51):
Good question.
You all have really done yourresearch, huh?
So Green Living Solutions is ournonprofit, which focus on
sustainable, living,efficiencies.
So like we're not, we're gonnago as green as possible.
Net zero if you will.
But we may not get there, withsome of these revitalizations,
but we're gonna get as close aspossible.
(34:13):
But at some point we would liketo also provide, services to
help people, with their,budgeting and things of that
nature.
'cause that's part of, the goalas for our nonprofit is to
minimize the cost of living,right?
So not only do you haveaffordable housing, but you can
also have a place where you'renot spending an arm and a leg
(34:34):
for gas or electric becausewe've made everything in that
facility, energy efficient.
CJ (34:41):
Got you.
And then that's very necessaryright now.
Yes.
Nice.
Is there, any stipulations orany guidelines or criteria or
driving force that, once youhave your, your property in
line, you've received yourcertificate, occupancy, you're
ready to go, is there anotherorganization, especially with
(35:03):
this being historic, that youfocus, are focusing on right
now?
Is there any driving factorsthat once you will open up and
earn business, something outthere is some entity that keeps
like a check on you, make surethat you're doing this, make
sure you're doing that, and justmaking sure that there are
certain guidelines followed anddoes that create a issue?
(35:23):
That's a
Ronita (35:23):
good question.
So I'm gonna answer your lastquestion first.
It doesn't create an issue, butyes.
Some of the funding that we didreceive for this project, has
some, affordability metrics tiedto it.
And, some of them, we have tokeep in place for 10 years.
And some others we have to keepin place for 20.
(35:46):
But yes, we have, we will have,the compliances in place
annually to make sure those arechecked off and, there are no
issues, moving forward with ourtenancy.
Gotcha.
CJ (35:58):
Nice.
Ken (36:00):
Can I, can we, I wanna ask a question and take it back to
the top of the conversation.
When you were talking aboutpurchasing your grandparents'
house, when did you make thedecision or what transpired
that, made you turn it into, thegroup home for reentry?
For substance abusers?
Ronita (36:20):
That's another great question.
There has been a friend of ourfamily since I was a little
girl, and, those type ofservices are what she provides
and she has several homes, andlarger commercial facilities,
for those type of, reentry,substance abuse, things of that
(36:41):
nature.
But she has a heart for thepeople, and that's what I have
that's been ingrained in me frommy grandparents.
And so when she shared with methat she was interested in
renting the property, and that'swhat she would use it for.
That was perfect.
It aligned with my morals, myfaith and my values that I grew
up with as a child.
Ken (37:01):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Like it's, I think it's just,it's fantastic like just hearing
your stories, about how, you'regiving back to the communities
that you live and work in.
Because a lot of times peoplesay that, but they don't action
upon it.
So it's really great to, tohear, what it is that you're
doing.
Yeah, that's fantastic stuff.
(37:22):
Live
Ronita (37:22):
work.
And Ken, don't forget live, workand play.
Don't forget that part.
Mike (37:27):
Yeah.
And I know one of the thingsthat you really like to touch on
is, resilience.
So if you wanna, talk about thata little bit, and let us know
what your thoughts are on that.
Ronita (37:39):
Oh yes.
It's a journey, right?
It is not a sprint, it's amarathon.
And there are a lot of hurdlesalong the way.
We look at the Olympics and wesee the 100 hurdles and 300
hurdles, but could you imagine amarathon with hurdles?
Mike (37:56):
No.
Ronita (37:57):
So if you just put that into perspective, it's a lot of
challenges along the way.
It's a lot of challenges withjust being a developer.
But when you're trying to scaleup, when you're not the majority
in that space, it can be quitedifficult and it's easy to throw
in the towel.
So you have to be resilient inthis space.
(38:18):
You have to be resilient inlife, right?
But if you want to go wherenobody's gone.
And do what nobody has done,then you have to be resilient in
your pursuit of it.
Ken (38:28):
A hundred percent greed.
Mike (38:30):
So you just mentioned live, work, and play.
Tell us how you enjoy yourdowntime.
How do you, like how do yourelax?
What does play look like for youand your family?
Ronita (38:44):
I guess I have to give two sides to it, right?
With my family, I love family.
I love getting everybodytogether.
I.
And just having a good time.
Maybe rent an Airbnb down inFlorida and invite as many as
who can come, with a pool and alake and, the many resorts that
they have down there and justhave a good time.
(39:07):
Let the kids jump and play andtake'em to Disneyland.
So that's, that's a good timewith the family, right?
But then there's the flip sideof it where I've gone and gone
and I'm just getting back fromMiami on a solo trip because I
just need that downtime todecompress.
(39:28):
Retail therapy is nice as well
CJ (39:31):
We know about that.
Ronita (39:34):
Okay.
Okay.
So yeah, I, I think it's twosides to it, right?
I have that family time, andyou're, for me, I'm always
going.
And, but just to take a breath,a break and breathe, without any
distraction.
I like some me time as well.
Mike (39:51):
Yeah.
I was gonna ask you to hit onthat a little bit more because I
feel like that's, nowadayspeople, some people just see
that as controversial.
It's you're in a relationship,you're married, you have a kid,
what are you doing going off onvacation by yourself and, having
some me time, like me time, gotake a nap in the bedroom, have
some me time, go downstairs,have some me time.
But if you're gonna Miami andhanging out like that doesn't
(40:15):
sound like me.
Time to me, that sounds likeparty time to me.
So how do you let people know oraddress like.
This is okay, this is somethingthat's good for your mental
health.
Having that break andseparation, it's it's okay.
It's not,'cause some people Ithink, struggle with that.
Yeah.
Ronita (40:36):
Yeah.
And just because I went to Miamidoesn't mean I partied it up.
Mike (40:39):
I know.
But I'm saying like, people hearthat I
Ronita (40:41):
can tell you.
Yes.
But it, like, when I reflect onthat trip, since it is, it just
happened, I would sit on thebalcony and watch the sunset in
peace.
I would lay next to the pool andjust have a clear mind and no
distractions.
I was in the fashion district,so I was able to do a little bit
(41:03):
of retail therapy Of course.
And my husband and I, we have aheart for people, right?
W we're always tending tosomeone else's cares and their
needs and what everybody elsehas to do or needs our help
with.
It's something to take a pauseand care for you and not feel
guilty about it.
Mike (41:25):
Man.
I think that's the biggest part,is not feeling guilty about it.
Ronita (41:30):
Yes.
Yes.
CJ (41:31):
And if you have a partner sometimes that's the hardest
part.
Yes.
Not feeling guilty.
Ken (41:35):
But can I give you a recommendation?
I did this for my birthday and Iwent to, the Waldorf Astoria in,
Riviera Maya, and I highlyrecommend it.
Just going
Riviere.
Yeah, that's
what it was.
Ri and oh, write down.
Yeah.
It was the reason why I say thisis because they didn't allow
Ubers on and off the property.
(41:57):
And then for you to get an Uber,you had to walk to the front, to
the entrance and it was like a25 minute walk.
So there was no really goinganywhere.
But it was beautiful.
It was right on the beach.
The hotel was gorgeous.
Awesome.
They had great restaurants.
Staff was amazing.
So I highly recommend it thenext time if you get the
opportunity.
Ronita (42:16):
Thank you.
Thank you for that.
Yeah.
The next
CJ (42:18):
time we have you on the show, after you've had your
fifth property and you're onvacation at Riviere Maya, we're
gonna call you.
Yeah.
Okay.
I might not pick up,
Mike (42:31):
I must say don't pick up.
Don't you enjoy your time.
You do.
You do your thing.
But with that said, you coulddefinitely see who the bougie
person is in this group.
Ronita (42:41):
That's nice though.
That's nice though.
I'm gonna get there, Ken.
I'm not there yet, but I'm goingto get there.
Ken (42:46):
Yeah.
Ask for bougie birds of afeather, right?
You're right.
Yes, you're right.
I'm not together.
CJ (42:52):
I'm a little jealous maybe to a degree.
Ronita (42:55):
Oh, the other thing that I wanted to share, along with,
my day to day, my husband and Iare also pastors.
So we have, we have a pastor'sheart for people.
So when I say we have a heartfor people, we truly.
Are inspired and fulfilled, whenwe're able to assist and help,
(43:18):
with the needs of the people onmany different levels.
So
CJ (43:23):
very nice.
You are a modern day superwoman.
Mike (43:27):
You are.
Yeah.
And you are doing great things.
I love it.
We are only, so we have about,12 more minutes with you.
Is there anything that you wouldlike to, just a little nugget
that you would like to leave toany type of entrepreneur,
(43:50):
whether they are, looking to getinto real estate or they're just
starting and trying to figureout their journey, whatever that
may be.
What type of advice would yougive if someone came to you and
said, would you mentor me andhelp me get started?
Ronita (44:06):
I feel one, you have to be focused.
Sometimes you talk to people andthey want to do this and they
want to do that, and they wantto do this over here, but they
have to have a focus.
So once you have that focus,'cause that's the first thing a
lot of people say, you can be ajack of all trades, but I know
(44:29):
about that.
So once you have a focus, youjust dive in, dive into it,
understand it, get engaged with,the different groups that, are
in that industry and, just doyour research.
And then at some point you haveto dive in because a lot of
people want to get into realestate and they say they want to
(44:49):
do this and they want to dothat, but when it comes to
buying that first property, theyfreeze.
And so if you don't dive in atsome point, I don't say dive in
too early, but if you don't divein, you'll never fulfill, that
goal of entrepreneurship in thatfield.
So you gotta stick your toe inthe water and test it, because
(45:13):
you really don't understand whatit's like until you're truly
engaged and, surrounded by thewaters of that field.
Mike (45:23):
Yep.
And what was my, my favoritephrase, starting this all out?
You have to take imperfectaction, right?
And that's what, and that's whatyou're talking about.
You just have to jump in and dosomething.
You'll learn something.
But, I don't know if I couldshow this how this looks, but
there's a book called One Thing.
I'm Reading it.
I tried to make it the wholething, but one thing, and that
(45:44):
is exactly what you're talkingabout, and that's what it
focuses on.
It's like people try.
To, I'm gonna stick with realestate because that's what we're
talking about.
People try to get into realestate and they're like, oh, I
want to be a wholesaler, or Iwant to be a buy and hold, or
maybe I wanna focus on preforeclosures, or I want to focus
on expired listings.
(46:05):
And they're just like all overthe place.
It's no.
Pick one.
Get good at that one thingfirst.
And then once you're good atthat one thing, then hand it off
to somebody else in yourbusiness and then you go off and
you could pick up another laneto go down.
But when you're trying to do allthese things at the same time,
you get nowhere.
And I only say this because Iwas one of those people, so
(46:28):
yeah.
So you're speaking truth bysaying that, and that's why I'm
reading that book.
Ronita (46:34):
Awesome.
Mike (46:36):
Nice.
We are coming up on time, andyou know what that means?
I don't, we don't have asoundboard yet.
We, yeah, you need to edit thatout.
We still broke, so we gotta makeour own sound effects
Ronita (46:49):
Buy a playschool toy
Mike (46:51):
next year.
I'm gonna push a button and it'sgoing anyway, so this is the
lightning round, which we aregonna do with all of our guests
that come onto the show.
So I just have five questionsthat I'm just gonna ask you.
You don't have to go into a,detail unless you want to, but
it's just a quick answer onthese and, yeah, we'll go
through them really quick.
(47:11):
Are you ready?
Ronita (47:13):
I am ready.
Mike (47:14):
All right.
First question,
Ronita (47:15):
If you stay ready, you don't have to get ready.
Ooh.
Okay.
Okay.
Mike (47:20):
I knew I had the first, the right guest on the first
show.
What is your favorite book?
I,
Ronita (47:26):
my first favorite book would have to be The Bible.
And, I think I shared with youmy second book that sort of
spearheaded me into real estatewas Rich Dad Poor Dad, by Robert
Kiyosaki.
Mike (47:38):
Nice.
Who are your mentors?
Who helped you get to where youare today?
Mentor or mentors who helped youto get to where you are today?
Ronita (47:46):
I would have to say, WSDI, women's Sustainable
Development Initiative.
Okay.
It's a nonprofit.
And the founders of that grouphave definitely been key mentors
in my journey into commercialreal estate and development.
Mike (48:03):
Nice.
Who's your favorite basketballteam?
Ronita (48:06):
The Ohio
Mike (48:11):
What was your Jersey number?
Was it 23?
Ronita (48:16):
Oh, yes.
Mike (48:17):
Was it 23?
Ronita (48:17):
What else was I?
Okay.
Mike (48:18):
Yeah.
Yeah, it was 23.
It's funny that I remember thatit was 21 because my favorite
number was 21.
And so you were 23.
Who was your favorite person atou?
Question.
Oh, I
wouldn't have to say, oh, youlove it.
Yeah.
CJ (48:30):
Scratch that question.
I have one for you.
Yeah, go ahead and do it.
Okay.
What would be your dreamproperty to develop developer
redevelop?
Mike (48:42):
That's a good one.
That's a good one.
Ronita (48:46):
I have my eye on these vacant lots on the riverfront in
Detroit, and I can envision.
A skyscraper with a restaurantand harbor on the river sand.
Mike (49:04):
Nice.
I love it.
Ronita (49:06):
And I would keep a penthouse in the top corner, of
course, because, you overlookCanada.
And, maybe I would rent it outAirbnb when we weren't using it.
But, far as here in the city ofDetroit, that would be our, my
dream commercial property.
That I think would be likeamazing.
CJ (49:26):
Alright.
I'm gonna say a little prayer, abig prayer for you.
And City of Detroit.
Those, the powers that be.
I'll let you girl.
Mike (49:35):
Yeah, that's right.
She put it out in the universe.
It's already gonna happen.
I can't wait to go visit.
Ronita (49:41):
I.
I, I've had that in the back ofmy mind for probably a year and
a half right now.
I don't wanna stop at Detroit,I'm not opposed to Atlanta or
Columbus or Chicago.
Listen, I'll keep
CJ (49:54):
my eye out.
I've been here long enough toknow some of the, what the
better areas to look.
Okay.
Mike (50:00):
And listen, I'm becoming a private money lender, so you
know, I'll give you my$2 that Igot left in my account after
everything that's happening thisweek.
I want I hear you.
I want 15% though.
I want 15%, but,
Ken (50:14):
Can I ask one more question?
I'm sorry.
You said, oh.
What is the best piece of advicethat you've received?
Ronita (50:24):
The best piece of advice,
Ken (50:26):
either personal or business or both?
If it relates to both the bestpiece of advice you've ever
received.
Ronita (50:34):
I'm going to give you a simple one, but it always stuck
with me.
My mom gave it to me is if youwanna go after something, ask
for it.
The only thing a person can sayis yes or no.
But if you never ask, you neverknow if it could be in your
hands or not.
CJ (50:56):
Yeah, my moms used to say that too.
Great piece of advice.
Perfect.
Mike (51:03):
All right, with that said, we're gonna keep our promise and
not keep you over time.
This is.
Closing our very first episodeof the Black Bridge Mindset
Podcast with Ranita Coleman, whohas graciously come on, drop
some nuggets, giving us herstory.
(51:25):
And I will always love you forthis.
Thank you for entrusting us.
Thank you for coming on.
You look amazing.
I'm not surprised.
I saw your picture you sent andI was like, okay.
And that's gonna be on ourflyers and everything, or our
flyers, man, how old am I?
That's gonna be on our marketingwhen we send it out.
But, yeah, I can't thank youenough for, this was a dream of
(51:49):
mine and I came to these two andthey were on board and I am so
thankful to have a community ofpeople to be here and make this
happen.
Like I said, we're takingimperfect action this time next
year.
We're gonna look back on thisguest number one next year,
we're gonna bring you back on,and we're gonna, we're gonna
(52:11):
relive all of this, and it'sgonna be just as good, if not
better.
And I love you for this.
Ronita (52:17):
It's been an honor.
It's been an honor.
Thank you for just thinking ofme, not only thinking of me
allowing me to be your firstguest, so I truly appreciate you
all.
Thank you for the toughquestions.
Thank you for allowing me to betransparent, and just sharing my
story.
CJ (52:34):
One thing I wanted to bring about before we break from this
ranita, would you please, tellthe people how they can get in
touch with you, how they canview your, information.
Ronita (52:47):
Of course.
Www dot LJ Golden Realty.
And on Facebook, you can find usat LJ Golden Realty Instagram.
You can find us at LJ GoldenRealty.
And if you wanna send me anemail, you can send it to me at
info@ljgoldenrealty.com.
Mike (53:05):
Nice.
And we'll have all of this stuffin the comment section of our
YouTube page.
So go over to YouTube, check outthe video.
You'll see all of theinformation on how you could get
in touch with Ranita and Ranita.
I apologize ahead of time, butthe other day I came up with
something that I'm gonna haveeveryone do on this show.
Ronita (53:27):
Uhoh, uhoh.
I'm afraid
CJ (53:31):
you should be very afraid.
It's not as bad as he's makingit sound.
Mike (53:34):
You gotta, I, it's not as bad as I'm making it sound, but
it just feels silly.
So I think it's gonna feel sillyfor a while.
And I gotta make sure I'm in, incamera view.
So what I want to do at the endof each show.
I'm gonna have everyone do what?
I made this up so it's, youcould tell how my brain works.
We're gonna do a Wakanda piece,pause, and we're gonna do this
(53:56):
just as something that we'regonna do at the end of each
show.
And every guest is gonna haveit.
We're gonna post it.
Everyone's gonna be doing theWakanda Peace, pause.
And what it is you're just gonnago like this and pause for a few
seconds so I can take a pictureof it later.
CJ (54:14):
Do
Mike (54:14):
again, Mike,
Ken (54:14):
you couldn't see the whole thing.
You
Mike (54:15):
need to, you can't see me.
She can't see it.
Yeah.
There you go.
Zoom out.
Zoom out.
That's, you go.
I gotta stand on my tippy toesbecause I got my, yeah, we only
CJ (54:22):
saw one hand.
Mike (54:24):
So it's Wakanda, you know what Wakanda piece, and then
you're just gonna pause for asecond so I can take a
screenshot from the video later.
Yeah.
Got it.
Okay.
Ronita (54:36):
Got it.
All
Mike (54:36):
right.
Ronita (54:37):
Let make sure I got my stance
Mike (54:38):
back here, and we're gonna be good.
All right.
And for all of y'all, we notwatching this on YouTube, you're
missing out.
You're gonna have to just switchover to YouTube and watch it.
All right.
You ready?
You gotta tell me how you
Ronita (54:49):
came up with this.
Mike (54:51):
Don't ask.
Ronita (54:51):
Okay.
Mike (54:52):
All right.
You ready?
Ronita (54:53):
And come up with a better name than Wakanda.
Peace.
Mike (54:56):
Listen, I told you this is how my brain works.
It's Wakanda.
We're doing the peace sign andwe're gonna pause.
That's, okay.
Listen, it is gonna be a hashtagsomeday.
Okay.
Ronita (55:05):
The WWPP.
Okay.
Mike (55:08):
All right.
You ready for the Wakanda?
Peace pause?
Yeah.
All right.
You're just gonna hold it for acouple seconds.
You ready?
Okay.
I think we
CJ (55:22):
Good.
Ken (55:23):
That'll
CJ (55:23):
be
Ken (55:23):
edited out, don't worry.
Ronita.
Mike (55:26):
Thank you.
No, we're not gonna edit it out.
It's gonna be in there.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you for everything again,and yeah.
I appreciate it.
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