HEATHER EWING: The CRE RUNdown
Are you intrigued by Commercial Real Estate? Join Heather Ewing, CCIM each week as she dives into CRE trends, Deals, and Developments throughout Madison, WI. Learn the crucial role of Mindset in CRE and Marathons! Success leaves Clues.
HEATHER EWING: The CRE RUNdown
Ep. 64 Dr. Nkem Ezeamama - Feel the Fear and Invest Anyway: Breaking Free of Career Limitations
What does it take to transform from a successful physician to a real estate entrepreneur helping others build wealth? Dr. Nkem reveals the mindset shifts that changed everything.
Dr. Nkem's journey began as an ER physician facing the harsh reality that medicine was becoming more about business than patient care. Seeking time freedom and financial diversification, she discovered real estate investing—and quickly realized this knowledge wasn't reaching enough of her colleagues in healthcare. This revelation sparked the creation of Phoenix Capital, a venture dedicated to helping busy professionals build wealth beyond their careers by investing in apartment complexes together.
The conversation delves deep into the psychological barriers that prevent even highly successful professionals from exploring investment opportunities. "The biggest thing is fear," Dr. Nkem explains, advocating her philosophy to "feel the fear and do it anyway." She transparently shares how she overcame limiting beliefs about her capabilities as a woman and a physician, discovering that vulnerability and authenticity actually strengthen rather than diminish leadership.
Perhaps most striking is Dr. Nkem's perspective on others' opinions: "It has become none of my business." This liberating mindset allows her to pursue her vision regardless of external judgments—even from those closest to her. She notes that perfectionism often serves as sophisticated procrastination, advocating instead that "done is better than perfect."
The discussion also covers practical aspects of modern investing, including embracing AI to streamline processes and the concept of "buying back your time" through strategic delegation. Dr. Nkem leaves listeners with a powerful definition of living fully: waking up each day knowing you're doing exactly what you're meant to do and touching the lives you're meant to impact.
Want to learn more about investing beyond your career or building the mindset necessary for entrepreneurial success? Connect with Dr. Nkem to discover how your professional expertise can become the foundation for expansive wealth-building opportunities.
Welcome to Heather Ewing, the CRE Rundown. I have a special guest and it is none other than Dr Enkem. Dr Enkem, welcome.
Speaker 2:Why, thank you, I'm so excited to be here, thank you for having me, and I'm excited to jump in. The whole conversation is a surprise which I think I'm excited for.
Speaker 1:The whole conversation is a surprise, which I think I'm excited for. Well, I'm excited and surprised as well, because you never know where we're going to go as we start digging in. But tell us a little bit for people that haven't maybe connected with you on LinkedIn. I think we've been connected six months a year somewhere in there a lot of mutual investor, friends, things of that nature but tell them more about Phoenix Capital and yourself.
Speaker 2:So, again, I'm excited to be here Thank you so much for having me and my name is Inkem Ezemema.
Speaker 2:I'm an ER physician first and foremost, and I was working as an ER physician, but I realized that a lot of my time wasn't mine, and I also realized that there were just a lot of changes in medicine that I wasn't excited about, and a lot of it became more of the business of medicine than patient care.
Speaker 2:So I was just looking for a way to diversify wealth and I stumbled upon real estate investing and since then I think my story has kind of just evolved in such a beautiful way, and I'm so grateful for it because I realized I started investing and I thought why doesn't more of us know about this? And that was just my thought, right, I was like how can we, as healthcare professionals, figure out a way to like live beyond our nine to five right, grow wealth beyond our nine to five? What does that look like? And so I started investing, just as a passive investor, when I realized that I had more of a message to tell and I realized that we needed access into the space. That's when Phoenix was born, and it has been a wonderful journey of really just helping investors, busy professionals, grow wealth outside of their nine to five by buying apartment complexes together. It's pretty much that simple and it has been a wonderful journey since then. Definitely.
Speaker 1:The phoenix is rising right. One of the things yeah, I couldn't help myself.
Speaker 1:One of the things I really love because you and I are both on LinkedIn a fair amount and we read a lot of different posts, things of that nature and one of the aspects that really striked me with yours is talking about the mindset and also your authenticity and vulnerability and sharing just you know, here you are, as you know, as an ER doc, making great money, but just all the different sacrifices since you didn't know about investing, and that's something, as a broker, I can relate to too, and I remember one day a dawning on me of like, oh my God, there's this whole other piece of the pie, but you don't necessarily hear about it.
Speaker 1:So I love both that you're helping people with the mindset, because we know that's the basis of everything, but then also you lead them from that into the next step so that they can plan the future, because you hear so much about hoping and it's like good luck.
Speaker 2:It's true, it's very, very true, and I think, even before you embark on anything like whether it's big or small, right you have to have the right mindset, and I, I, I am grateful that you were able to see that, because I have done a lot of work in like understanding who I am, what I bring to the table, um, you know, like being able to get rid of some of the limiting beliefs that you know that says that I can only be one thing right as a woman, like I can only be a doctor, and that's it. But no, I'm saying you know what. There are multiple facets to who I am and what I'm about, and I can also do all these other things. And so it's, it's realizing that you know, like all of that is so important in who we are, and when we bring that, like when we are, we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, we allow ourselves to show up in all those different aspects.
Speaker 2:My biggest thing is that you don't know who you're touching, you don't know who you're reaching, you don't know who you're talking to, you don't know that your people are waiting to hear that specific message from you. And it all starts with sharing your story. And it is difficult, right, because parts of the stories are not great, right they're. They're parts of fear and tears and vulnerability and all these other things to the story. Like it's not all glamour, but I think that we don't need to. I don't think we need to make it beautiful and package it in this nice box to be able to tell it to you know, to be able to tell our stories. I think you share it as you are, and people resonate with this, and I always tell this, like my people will be my people, no matter what you know, and I'm not going after the whole world need the whole world right.
Speaker 2:I just seen the people who are like okay, yes, this is my tribe, these are the right. This together, we want to grow together, want to build well together, we want to live expansive lives together.
Speaker 1:All of that those people, whatever I say, will resonate with them well, and that's where I don't know if it was ed, my lad or someone, but I feel like it's one of those stories, right? Do you like ed too? Yeah?
Speaker 2:It's not a big smile.
Speaker 1:I'm like, oh, I think we have another similarity here, but he was saying something to the extent of who you were five years ago is the people that you can now help, and I think that's where, too, as you I'm guessing you're probably also the type that is a, you know, has done a fair amount of journaling and writing and just kind of digging through right, here's my desk one and it's I think that's the verbiage Like don't you think that sometimes we as humans make it a lot harder where, if you actually just go in and think of some of the things, or look back to some of the things that you've said, or what you were feeling a few years ago, five years ago, and you simply put that into print or market to that you are going to connect with, you know our tribe and and how you can help them and give them resources. And I think that's where, too, having various offerings really allows us to serve at a much fuller capacity.
Speaker 2:I completely agree with you and you're right because, like, my ideal avatar is me but it was me, I kid you, not five, six years ago. And that's exactly that person, or the things that I needed, the tools I needed to grow, the avenues that I needed to build wealth. Like all of that started with. It was a need, you know, like it was a pain point that I had, and I can't remember who I was talking with or where I heard this, but it was like you know, when you can meet someone's pain point, when you can meet their need, then like that's what value is and that will translate to revenue and income, you know, and so and I've always thought about it like that right, it's like the next biggest, biggest discovery or miracle. It's just meeting someone's need and if you can do that right, I think you can grow in anything that you put your hands and your mind and your heart to. It's that simple, but it's also yet that complex.
Speaker 1:Exactly, that's the novelty of it, right? And I think you really hit on too, if everyone wants to be seen and everyone wants to be heard. So when you can put what they've been vocalizing in their mind to print, that, it's that sense of wow, you see me, you get me. Because so many times if the verbiage isn't right, you know they feel like you don't get me, you have no idea. Right, it's a whole different storyline. But as we take this to mindset, it's a whole different storyline. But as we take this to mindset, what would you say are maybe one or two of the mindset shifts that, as you're encountering people, that you're helping them over that hump.
Speaker 2:I would say the biggest thing is fear.
Speaker 2:So fear is something that is so it can really hinder you in the next step that you need to take, and I think that when you fully understand that it's just a part of who we are right Like that fear is a little bit of excitement, it's a little bit of trepidation, it's a little bit of dream, it's a little bit of hope, right, when you can help someone else understand that right and that taking to taking it, taking that next step, is not difficult. Like I read that book, feel the fear and do it anyways, like we are all human, you know, even like the, the, the most wealthiest person, think Warren Buffett or Jeff Bezos or whatever it is, whoever you're thinking of right, they were afraid of something, um, but they still pushed through that. So it's figuring out what that is, what that roadblock is, and then realizing that, like, you can overcome it. Right, it's not. And when you overcome that first initial trepidation, like that first initial like I'm so afraid, you realize that then you're not afraid because then you also think about the reason why you're afraid. If it's failure, it's okay, like it's not a big deal, like the biggest, like discoveries came from failures. And so when you, oh, you think about the biggest people, they made mistakes too. So when you understand the background behind the fear, you realize that, okay, it's fine. Like, do I really care what others think? No, because I'm like bulldozing my way, because I know that, like I have a dream, I have a vision, I have a plan, I have a mission that I'm going after.
Speaker 2:I think that's the one thing that I would tell people is feel the fear and then just do it anyways, because on the other side of that fear is growth, it's success. There's so many things that't come out of that. And imagine if you didn't, if you didn't take that leap, if you didn't cross that threshold, if you didn't take, you know, if you didn't jump, whatever it is. I think that's the one thing. And then also, I will also kind of like, in terms of thinking about the mindset, right, I have learned that, truly, the opinion of others has become none of my business. So I truly, with all due respect, I really don't care what you think, what you say. I will still go ahead and do the thing that is in my heart, because I've learned that people's opinions come from their fears again, and it's. It's their, maybe their lack of knowledge, their lack of discipline, whatever it is right, it's from their lack.
Speaker 2:And so I have learned that I'm okay with trying, I'm okay with leaping, I'm okay with jumping, I'm okay with doing the thing, and if it doesn't go the way I planned. I guarantee you I will learn one thing from that outcome, one thing from that situation. So I have come to understand that I can love you, but I don't necessarily need to. Your opinion is not going to stop me from scaling mountains, and that's what I want to get others to understand and to realize that that can be such a limiting factor, and it could be.
Speaker 2:The hardest and saddest thing is that it could be the people that are closest to you, and that's and so that's your friend, your spouse, your family. You know the people that truly care so much about you. Sometimes they can be the people that limit you so much, and again it's from their fear or their lack of judgment, whatever, whatever it is. So I have learned to shut out the noise and to really go after the thing that I know that I'm called to do, the people that I'm called to reach. I'm not going to stop, but it takes a level of growth and a level of discipline to be able to get there, because it's not easy. Definitely a plan to be able to get there, because it's not easy.
Speaker 1:Definitely Well and, if you think about it too right of confidence.
Speaker 1:It's doing something repeatedly in the sense of you're delivering on your promise to self and to me.
Speaker 1:I think that is core to the changes I've been able to make, and I think you'll totally agree that it's really again that simple, but yet not in the sense of if you say you're going to do it, you know, no matter what's happening in the day, do it, because otherwise it's like you're chipping away at that great sculpture of what can be and you're not going to be able to cross that threshold or your finish line. And I think one other thing that I want to tie in with that is also I joke that I'm a recovering perfectionist because that also right, it's got to be perfect. You know like, and you know, as the years pass I realized you know that was actually just a level of procrastination, a level of, you know, fear, all these different things. So it's nice when you can identify those, and the big difference between people that do and don't is they feel the fear. They put a plan together and they do it, and so I think that's something we're both here to toot the horn of.
Speaker 2:I completely agree. Done is better than perfect and, yes, most times you just put it out into the world and it's okay that it's not perfect. But but then you can iterate it right. There's nothing wrong with like that. Your first idea is not the same as your 10th idea, that's okay. But, like you put it there, you learn what people want and you learn their needs and you change it according to that and you grew who you prove the person you were at iteration Number one is not who you are at number 10, but you kept going and that's growth. So I completely agree with you 100%.
Speaker 1:So AI is a huge conversation. How do you see that affecting investing?
Speaker 2:Okay, so the truth is, I have embraced AI and this is the. This is the truth or this is I'm not afraid to say it right, this is where we're going. There's no pause, there's no turning back. It's like we unveiled the curtain, right, and now the thing is like, how can we do it better? Or how can we make sure that, like, it is in line with who we are, our beliefs, our systems, like our values, right, and so I think that it can only help us and I think that also, like with investors, it can fine tune processes, right, it can simplify things that we don't have to do to make their lives easier, to make the process of investing easier, right, the hours and hours we spent underwriting, like, we can simplify that process, or you know whatever that is, or even distilling out newsletters and emails, simple stuff like that, right, I'm not even talking basics, but when you start even taking it to another level of like, even giving, like market analysis and detail, like, imagine, just imagine the beauty of all of that, right, that it can spit out, you know, demographic from here and here and compare again, investor information, investor knowledge, so, whatever you do, or what you know, like in, like the realm of investing and our real estate space. I think it's going to help us and I think that I have to be ahead of it, and what I mean by that is, like new ideas, new technologies.
Speaker 2:It is on me because I represent my investors right. It is on me to go out and learn it and bring it back. This is what I've learned, this is what I'm doing, this is what we're implementing. This is how we are going to be the shining light, or the bright light. This is how we're going to be the you know industry lead, whatever it is, but these are the things I'm doing, so I embrace it Every day. I'm trying to learn something new, you know, and I'm like bringing it to my team and saying, like, how can I make your lives easier and if I can do that so that we do the things that are important?
Speaker 2:You know, the things that are important are talking to investors, liaising with brokers, like those things are things that we can't, that AI can't take away, and so, like, why don't we free up our time so that we can do those things? Well, that's how I see it, and I think it's another way to buy back your time. Our time is so precious, definitely. And I guess the part of medicine in me is like the fragility of life. Like I see it, it's very, very obvious to me. You know, I will go into work at my next shift and someone might die, and that is normal, right, and there's nothing morbid about that, it's just like it is life. And so because now I understand that more, you know, I'm able to say, like how can we buy back our time, like what is like our? That's the one resource that we can't go back. I cannot go back to 1230 PM, like as much as I want to maybe prepare for this.
Speaker 2:Exactly Go back to that, right, and why not use our time? Well, why not use it to build relationships and conversations that I think we should spend our time doing, and then let AI help us with those other things, the systems and the processes that we don't need to do? That's kind of my two cents.
Speaker 1:I agree completely, and to me too, it's the relationships and those broader aspects that I find much more intriguing and fulfilling as well. Are you a fan of Dan Martell by chance?
Speaker 2:I have his book. Buy Back your Time. I was right there. You can't see it, but it's like right there on the bookshelf I. Okay, fine, I'll pull it. I'll pull it. I'll pull it, yeah there we are. I love all your highlights. So, yes, yes, this book has been. I think, after I read this book, I, within two months, I hired, um, I hired my assistant, and that's. I was just like you know, like what is my time worth? What is my a thousand dollar task versus my ten dollars I don't need?
Speaker 1:oh, definitely that, oh, definitely.
Speaker 2:Or $50,000, whatever it is right. That's what I'm needing to be doing Reading emails and scheduling. It's okay if I don't do that. There's nothing wrong with that Exactly. Someone's zone of genius. That's the thing that they love to do. Why don't I empower them to do that, so then I can do the things that matter for me, for Phoenix, to help us grow.
Speaker 1:Exactly, I agree completely. So my last and this is always the big question is what does living fully mean?
Speaker 2:to you. This is a good one for me. I love that. I love that yeah.
Speaker 1:It. It's the big one.
Speaker 2:That's why it's, at the end, the icing on top for me, living fully is waking up every day knowing that I'm doing the exact things that I'm supposed to be doing, um, and the lives that I'm supposed to be touching, that I'm doing that you know, it's every day. Living fully is asking myself did I do the thing today to move the needle forward? I think for me, if I can answer yes to that, then, like I am, I'm truly thrilled, I'm excited, like yes, living fully is also, like you know, like time, freedom and all those other things, and like traveling the world. But if I had to be honest with you, you know I will say that ever since and this is not going deeper, but you know, ever since I got on the path of entrepreneurship and building right, I have gotten to touch lives and I've really gotten to like hear people's stories and understand how, like, their personal goals align with their financial goals, which then align with their family goals and all these other things, right, and so, to be able to play a part, to be able to play a role in that, I think it's so beautiful that I would not, I wouldn't change it for the world. And so I wake up excited, like Heather.
Speaker 2:I wake up so excited because I'm like I get to do this cool thing, I get to build, you know, I get to touch lives, like when I tell them that I have and just the, the ideas that I'm able to create and think and build up in the path that I'm on, I think that I truly am living an expansive and a full life and I'm so like I wake up truly from a point of point of gratitude and I'm able to say, wow, I get to live this cool life, I get to empower people, I get to impact people, I get to build a team. You know all these things that are maybe minute. I think it's just it all adds up to this beautiful big life that I am fortunate enough to live it. So I think that's my definition. It's waking up, knowing that I really am making a difference, and every day I see it very clearly. I see the building blocks, I see the steps, I see the lives that I'm touching, even from the medical aspect and then now from Phoenix. I'm fortunate.
Speaker 1:And my dear, that is alignment, I would say, in the most beautiful way. Right, Because you've laid a solid foundation but you're aligning it, each of these different values and things that are heart-driven and life's calling, and I love that you've woken up and have accepted that and share that so freely. So, Dr M, thank you so much for joining me. It was a joy and I look forward to we'll have to touch base on another podcast next year and check in and see where you're at with things.
Speaker 2:I would love to and thank you for having me. This was. These are my favorites, right? It's just, it's a beautiful time to just come and like, connect, share stories and just grow together, and we are. You use the word align, but it's very obvious that we're aligned on a lot of things yes alright well, thank you so much. You're welcome. Have a wonderful rest of your afternoon, you too.