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July 21, 2025 13 mins

Ever wonder how someone transforms from facing seemingly impossible odds to becoming a respected business leader? Meet Shalonda Washington, owner of Reliable Permitting with over 27 years of experience helping property owners, realtors, and contractors navigate complex building regulations.

What makes Shalonda's story remarkable is where it began. Pregnant at 14, she didn't have the luxury of contemplating college options—she needed immediate solutions to support her child. Starting as a temp worker on construction sites, she discovered her aptitude for navigating permit processes. When a frustrated customer asked for her help at the county offices, a business idea sparked that would change her life forever.

The journey wasn't straightforward. With a mother cycling through prison due to addiction and having grown up in project housing, Shalonda had no business role models. "I had to overcome the thought processes...how can I lead someone, how can I escape the environment that I've always seen?" she shares candidly. These internal barriers proved more challenging than any external obstacle.

Today, Shalonda doesn't just run a successful permitting business—she's dedicated to lifting others through mentorship programs for women and young people. Her message "If you can see her, you can be her" resonates with those facing their own seemingly impossible circumstances. Through her Washington Family Ministry and speaking engagements across multiple states, she demonstrates how purpose extends beyond profit.

Want to learn more about navigating permitting regulations or connect with Shalonda? Find Reliable Permitting on social media or visit www.reliablepermittingbss.com. Have you overcome significant obstacles to build something meaningful? Share your story with us and join the conversation!

Reliable Permitting & BSS Inc.

Shalonda Washington "Permit Queen"

1016 Collier Center Way Suite 104 Naples, FL 34110

239-234-2578

Apermitqueen@reliablepermittingbss.com

reliablepermittingbss.com

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Fort Myers Beach Good Neighbor
Podcast, where the sun's alwaysshining and the stories are even
brighter.
Each episode we bring youcloser to the neighbors, local
legends and beachside businessesthat make Fort Myers Beach the
slice of paradise we all love.
Pull up a beach chair, grab adrink and let's meet the people
who make this island feel likehome.
We want to send out some islandlove to Eric Tibbs from Edward

(00:21):
Jones State Insurance, usa andHome Well Care Services Fort
Myers.
Love to Eric Tibbs from EdwardJones State Insurance, usa and
Home Well Care Services FortMyers.
They are the businesses thatallow us to share the soul of
our community with everylistener, from local stories to
the positive vibe of island life.
Here's to celebrating all thatmakes Fort Myers Beach the slice
of paradise we all love.
Here's your host, cabo, jimSchaller.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Welcome good neighbors in Fort Myers Beach
Today we have good neighborShalonda Washington from
Reliable Permitting Welcome.
Hey, how are you?
I am doing awesome Pleasure tohave you on the show and share
your story with our listeners.
So I guess, without further ado, let's jump right in.
Why don't you share a littlebit about what you do?

Speaker 3 (01:02):
Oh yes, so I am Shalonda Washington, with
Reliable Permitting of over 27years, and we have a permitting
service that serves titlecompanies, banks, realtors,
closing attorneys, contractors,subcontractors, along with owner
builders and investors.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
Wow, so that's quite a lot.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
Yes, sir, it is a lot , but we enjoy it.
We love it.
I have mastered it.
It's something that I know Iwas created to do and be.
I've never I know per minutecould be like how in the world
you should be pulling out everystrand of your hair, but every
morning I wake up excitedbecause it is exciting, and
don't ever do anything the same.
I don't care what it is.

(01:49):
It can be the same type ofpermit, but every property comes
with something different.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Absolutely, and you got to be passionate about what
you do and it sounds like youare, so let's back up your story
a little bit.
How did you get involved inthis whole industry to start
with?

Speaker 3 (02:06):
Well, I was a teen mom.
I was.
I got pregnant when I was 14years old, in high school, 10th
grade, and of course, being ayoung mom, I had to think fast
about what it was I was going todo to support this baby.
It wasn't about when.
It was, what college I wasgoing to go to, what school I
was going to do to support thisbaby.
It wasn't about what college Iwas going to go to, what school

(02:27):
I was going to go to, andbecause of my background and
having my grandmother raise me,it wasn't an option for me to
have her to raise now hergreat-granddaughter.
So I had to think fast and so Istarted registering with the
temp agency temp services rightout of high school and it landed
me on a construction site withErickson Hunt Construction,

(02:48):
which is right now.
You can see them on the roads,the highways, in the middle of
the night, when you're sleeping.
If you're on the highway, youknow not sleeping around three
or four o'clock in the morningthey're building the highway.
So I started there right out ofhigh school and so, with that
being on a construction site,them began to give me more
responsibilities and sending meto the county to submit permits,

(03:09):
to understand land development,all of this.
One day I went into the countyand a guy approached me and said
how much do you charge me to dothis?
I hate coming here.
They're just you know.
He was at his wit's end At thatmoment.
It was like what People pay forthis?
And so that kind of started thespark.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Very nice.
Let's talk about challenges.
Obviously, converting to yourown business and starting your
own business has challenges.
What type of challenges haveyou overcome that you can look
back at now and say I made it,I'm doing great?

Speaker 3 (03:42):
Wow, I think one of the biggest challenges is not
seeing anyone in my familylineage do what I've done,
understanding that I wastrailblazing and I did not have
a support system.
I did not have someone thatmentored me.
So my biggest challenge was werun our business from the inside
out, correct.
So I had to deal with theinternal stuff of, you know,

(04:05):
having the lack of a mom in my,in my life because she was in
and out of prison serving prisoncitizens addicted to crack and
heroin, and me coming out of theprojects and not knowing it.
Could I really do this?
Is this am I?
Is this real?
Like who am I fooling?
Type thing?
Like who am I fooling typething.

(04:30):
So I had to overcome thethought processes overcome, I
think, too, by my grandmothertaking me to the prisons to see
my mom Hearing those doors slam,seeing that there was no way
out, seeing walls everywhere.
It kind of built something forme mentally, and so the
challenge was how can I leadsomeone, how can I escape the
environment that I've alwaysseen?
And so for me, the biggestchallenge was knowing and

(04:52):
understanding that I can lead ateam, I can grow a business and
I could have a business andswitch from survival mode to
thriving mode.
That was my challenge.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
So let's shift a little bit about permitting in
general.
So are there any myths ormisconceptions that we can kind
of maybe clear up for ourlisteners today?

Speaker 3 (05:13):
Yes, one of the biggest misconceptions I
encounter, especially fromproperty owners and realtors, is
that the building department'sprimary goal is to simply
collect fees and overly regulateeverything that you own, right?
So that's the first thing I get.
People are frustrated Like it'smy property, I should do what I
want to do.
Why are they in my business,all of that?

(05:35):
But it may seem that way on thesurface, but the reality is
quite different.
You know, the billingdepartments are there to enforce
safety protocols, regulationsbased on building code.
These rules are designed toprotect the investment of the
buyers and ensure thatproperties are safe.
I mean, think about the shoebeing on the other foot.

(05:56):
If I'm buying a property.
I don't want to buy somethingthat I don't feel is safe, that
I didn't know that it wentthrough the proper inspection
channels, right.
That you know I'm going to getsome is going to blow up later
or the floor is going to crack.
So these things are really inplace to protect your investment
and everyone's interest.
So that's the biggestmisconception that I get.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
That's crazy that some people just kind of ignore
that.
In general, that's importantstuff.
People need to kind of followthese guidelines.
They're set for reasons right.

Speaker 3 (06:29):
Yeah, and the thing is, our biggest niche right now
is open permits with therealtors and title companies and
banks.
That's how they got involvedwith needing our service.
It's more, you can't even sella property if the title company
finds that there's either numberone not a permit.
You can't even get lending ifthere's not a permit.

(06:50):
Your property improved valuedoesn't even go up where?
Because now you got the 50 rule, which is FEMA.
Fema determines how much youcan improve your property based
upon the improvement value, andif you don't have a permit, then
the appraiser can't give youcredit for your value to go up.
So it's really for your benefit.

Speaker 2 (07:09):
It's yeah, crazy, crazy stuff.
So are you from SouthwestFlorida originally?

Speaker 3 (07:15):
Born and raised right here in Naples, Florida.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
Born and raised, so you've seen a lot of change down
here for sure, right.

Speaker 3 (07:22):
Exactly.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
And it's good.
You know it's transitioningright now, you know, with the
recent events and hurricanesthat have come through here, but
we're getting back on our feetand moving forward.
What do you do?
Obviously, owning a businesscan be very demanding of your
time, but when you get a momentof free time, what do you enjoy
doing outside of work?

Speaker 3 (07:45):
Well, I love empowering women.
I have a girl's mentorship, Ieven have women mentorship and
I'm also have a an event comingup called a day with Shalonda
Washington.
If you can see her, you can beher because of the challenges
that I faced in life and had toovercome, and I know it's real.

(08:07):
I mean, you have women mostwomen we start our businesses to
survive Seriously, not foranything else.
We don't start it because wewant to become this wealthy guru
.
Most women I'm talking aboutmaybe 98% is because I've got a
responsibility right and we'renurturers and we're caretakers.
But I want the women to look at, I like to see their mindset

(08:32):
shift because I had to do a lotof that and I'm still doing some
, if you know, truth be told.
But I'm not where I used to beand where I am now.
I'm strong enough to impart andpour into other women and I
love the young people because Iwas that girl, I was that girl
and I want them to become womenin life that they're not women,

(08:53):
that are just girls who didn'theal because you're running your
business from the inside out.
So to have that day withShalonda Washington to attack
those things, to talk about thetruth about business the
loneliness of it, the emotionalpart of it and the three parts
that we must be in a business tohave a balance.
So that's what I do.

(09:15):
I'm a speaking, I'm atransformative speaker.
I speak a lot right now.
This month I have four speakingengagements along with this
podcast and and they're allalong the line of my purpose and
it's in ministry andmarketplace.
So we do have a ministryWashington Family Ministry.
We do a lot on Immokalee.
Right now we're doing our backto school, but it's always a joy

(09:38):
.
Last weekend we did Grace toGrow and that's a girl
empowerment and I was asked tobring it to Miami.
In October last year I wasasked to bring Her Perfect
Condition to Tennessee to theWomen's Rise Up Recovery Shelter
for women overcoming addictions, and so that's what I do and I

(09:58):
love it.
I mean it just fills my heartwith joy and that's my purpose
in this life.

Speaker 2 (10:04):
And it's great when you can follow your passion and
give back and motivate some ofthese people that need that
guidance.
Because what do they say?
If you're not learning, you'renot growing.
So you know you're gettingthese people growing in the
right way, in the rightdirection.
So is there one thing you wishour listeners knew about you, or
what you do that maybe theywouldn't be too aware of?

Speaker 3 (10:41):
Well, what I think, permitting variances,
development, that we have notfound an answer for.
It's not if we can do it, it'show we have to get it done.
So that's the biggest thing.
Some people think, oh, this isjust so much.
Even with code violations, I'llattend the hearings.
There's a way, and it's aboutwho you know and how to navigate

(11:03):
through these systems, and I'vebeen doing this for 27 years.
People ask me all the time Well, who's your competition?
I don't have any, because Ihave construction admin
knowledge and building officials.
I'm invited to these meetingsand usually I'm the only female
in the room.
So, because I represent thepublic and I've been doing this

(11:24):
a long time.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
Very good.
So how would a list is go aboutcontacting you if they wanted
to learn more?
Had some questions.

Speaker 3 (11:32):
Yes, we are on Facebook, instagram, tiktok,
under reliable permitting, underreliable permitting, and you
can also go to my website at www.
reliablepermittingbss.
com.
That's reliable permitting B asin boy S, as in Sam S, as in

(11:58):
Sam.
com, and you can see all that weoffer right there, all the
levels of different phases ofpermitting, and we take you from
the cradle to the grave, fromopen permits to new construction
.
So reach out to us, we're theones to have on your team.

Speaker 2 (12:11):
Very good, any last words for our listeners today.

Speaker 3 (12:14):
Just remember that if you can see him or her, you can
be him or her, so be encouraged.
Also, know that the eventthat's coming up A Day with
Shalonda Washington is Augustthe 29th at the Perry Hotel here
in Naples, Florida.
You can also go and registerfor that on Eventbrite.
It's going to be amazing.

Speaker 2 (12:37):
Very good, shalonda, it's been a pleasure getting to
know you.
Thank you for being such a goodneighbor and what you do in the
community, and we'll see youout there soon.

Speaker 3 (12:44):
Okay, yes, thank you.

Speaker 1 (12:48):
Thanks for tuning in to the Fort Myers Beach Good
Neighbor Podcast, wherecommunity meets paradise.
If you love what you heard,share it with a friend and keep
the good vibes going Until nexttime.
Stay sunny, stay salty and keepbeing a good neighbor.
Also, to nominate your favoriteneighbors, local legends,
heroes or island businesses tobe on the show, go to
CaboWaboJim.
com.

(13:08):
That's CaboWaboJim.
com, or call 239-427-4100.
We want to send out some islandlove to Eric Tibbs from Edward
Jones State Insurance USA andHome Well Care Services Fort
Myers.
They are the businesses thatallow us to share the soul of
our community with everylistener, from local stories to
the positive vibe of island life.
Here's to celebrating all thatmakes Fort Myers Beach the slice

(13:29):
of paradise we all want.
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