Overcoming Limiting Beliefs to Unlock Financial Freedom

I do think it's a combination of putting yourself out there and being lucky in what you find, and also being open. I think like a real like switch flips in you. When you're open to opportunity, when you look at something, you say, Ah, I like. I wonder why that that restaurant is going into this neighborhood, what's happening in this neighborhood, and being curious enough to like, look into it and to like, follow your intuition or wherever your mind is leading you,

welcome to Relaunch To a Rich Life the podcast where breakthrough stories meet unstoppable success. I'm Hilary DeCesare, and each week we dive into the powerful relaunches that turn setbacks into setups for wealth, impact and true fulfillment. Ready to flip your world and step into your richest life. Let's dive in today. We welcome Alison Shunneson, a real estate entrepreneur with a background in history, business and law. Since starting property investment in 1997 she has grown rent and grow management to oversee 224 apartments. Transforming motels into stylish, eco friendly micro units. Her commitment to affordable, sustainable housing has attracted investors and talent, proving that business can be both profitable and socially responsible. Alison, so good to have you here today.

Thank you so much for having me. Hillary, it's an honor, really. Oh

my gosh. I have been looking forward to this because I have been a witness to your growth. I have been a witness to you being this high powered attorney and deciding to do something completely different. So I would love to start off when we talk about relaunch into a rich life, there's always those moments that really were the relaunch that kind of pushes you forward into doing something different. Can we go back and talk about what was it for you that made you decide you know what I'm not supposed to be doing, what I'm doing?

Yeah. So as you mentioned in the opening, I started doing kind of small remodels of houses before there was such a thing as shows on fix and flip. And I was doing, like, kitchens and bathrooms of really small little bungalow houses here in Denver. And then 2008 hit, and I got stuck with, like, three houses. That was when the bottom kind of fell out of the market, and I ended up turning around and renting the houses. And when that happened, we were in the black every single month on these houses. And I started to really get a picture of what it looked like to annuitize your income. And rather than practicing law where you have, like, one case and then that's done, and that income stream is gone. With rentals, I realized, like, you can build, you can just build, keep building, and keep getting more and more and more income. And it's sort of just, it's turned a switch in my head. And around that time, I was like, I'm gonna start looking for an apartment building. Like, I think this is what I am meant to do. And I've always really been interested in real estate. And I just, I think that as an investment tool, I was always interested in it. And so, yeah, so it just, it

fits super this is super interesting, because I know that there's a lot of people that are listening right now that are thinking, Hmm, I do have this other passion. I like what you did. You didn't just give up on law. You started to go into, you know, starting to see real estate as a potential. Maybe it's a separate line of income for you, but it was also this passion project, and I really like because, you know, they're all those great shows on TV, and you're doing it, you're living that probably even a little bit before they even came on, and then it really turned into something bigger. And we talk about luck, we talk about some people being able to have a rich life. First off, I'd love for you to describe in your mind what is relaunching into a rich life, and how much of it is luck.

Yeah, that is so I was never a big believer. In luck, like I always thought that, like you cultivated in your life opportunities, and I saw luck as more of like opportunities that you could see. And then as I look kind of back on my life a little bit more, I find myself a little bit more like, wow, that was lucky that that happened. Like, for example, I'd be driving through a neighborhood and see, like, a restaurant that I knew of, and that was good. And it was be in this new opening in this new neighborhood, and I would be in that neighborhood for, like, with one of my kids, for like a sports, like, a game or something like that. And then I'd end up buying an apartment building in that neighborhood. And I thought to myself, that was so lucky that I saw that, and I realized that I do think it's a combination. I do think it's a combination of putting yourself out there and being lucky in what you find, and also being open. I think like a real like, switch flips in you. When you're open to opportunity, when you look at something, you say, Ah, I like, I wonder why that that restaurant is going into this neighborhood, what's happening in this neighborhood. And being curious enough to like, look into it, and to like, follow your intuition or wherever your mind is leading you. And that was those things were really a turning point for me. You

know? What I like to really think about is how your brain is wired, right? And so, is it luck, or is it that you knew what you were looking for. You had clarity. You were like, laser focused on here's what I'm looking for. And then in your brain, there's something called the Raz the reticular activation system that then when you tell it, hey, I'm getting clarity. I need to see this. I need to find this. I want to, I want to bring this into my world all of a sudden. That's what it is designed to do, bring opportunities to you. So it may have been, if you hadn't had that so specific, that restaurant, what's going on there? If you hadn't, you wouldn't have noticed it, because, remember, there's so much going on around us. But you being able to say clarity. I want to be able to do this. I want to find that hey, I want to now find a motel that I can refurbish, that I can be able to develop and then lock randomness of it happened, or your brain is doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing. So, yeah, that was so good. I love that story. So what is relaunch? You know, when you think about into a rich life, what's a rich life for Allison, oh, I

think my rich life has a lot of balance in it. It's, it's not, it's, it is, of course, making more money, which I which has happened sort of naturally, with the growth of the business and the start of the private equity fund that really, that changed my life financially. But, um, I've been married for 20, over 25 years now, and I think cultivating that relationship, I have children, cultivating those relationships and friends, also finding, you know, reuniting with some old friends and also keeping a very strong group of really good women friends who are also entrepreneurs around me has made it, has made my life rich And it every day. Wait, you know you wake up with a positive attitude about what is going to possibly happen that day that is a rich life.

So knowing your story, I know that there was a time that you had to overcome limiting beliefs, the beliefs that are very opposite than the empowering ones that we love to focus in on, that the hard ones, the the ones that hold us back from success. And I do want to get into your fund, the equity fund, and building this up and building your business, but first I want to talk about what was holding you back with a limiting belief, and how did you uncover it, and what did you do about it? So

my biggest limiting belief in my that was holding me back in my career and maybe personally as well, is that I was like a disappoint I was going to disappoint people, and I was gonna let people down, but I would let myself down that I would let other people down. And what happened in doing that is it really, like kept me from doing anything. Because even though I was practicing law and I was law was a very safe place for somebody, right? It's you, really you. There's. There's there's like instructions, there is like, you know, there's precedent, there's things that you follow. And that was very comforting for that Allison at that time. So to step outside of that, and honestly, Hillary, I am, I mean, I took your course. I took a relaunch course. I think it's over three years, four years ago now, that really made me face what that was that was holding me back, and it triggered a bunch of emotional things in me that really took me back to my childhood, that took me back to, you know, comments that teachers had made to me, maybe even comments that adults had made to me, everything that put this sort of burden on me, that for some reason I was responsible for other people not being disappointed. And it was I and as soon as I shed that, as soon as I was like, Nope, they're adults, they're they're on their own. Like, I'm not responsible for that. That is when I saw like, real growth.

So it's interesting, because when you did start to come into the program, you were, you've always been successful, but you were kind of plateauing at a, you know, that six figure kind of lower, but you had these lofty goals, and you really and it's work when you start to think about the belief blaster, which is what you're referring to, taking your limiting belief through it. It was a limiting belief, you heard her say, all the way back to childhood, right? So, you know, let's say Ali's mid 50s. She's been carrying this since she was five or six. We're talking 50 years. And it doesn't just happen overnight that you get rid of it or blast it, as I say. But there was something about you, and I really want to get to this. You knew you had to do it. You knew that it was potentially holding you back from getting to that next level of success. But it was hard. It was tough, it was gut wrenching, but you kept going. Why do you think you kept going? What was it about it?

I think my grandmother lived until she was 100 years old and loved I was very close to her, and she didn't do anything. She didn't really do anything that she wanted to do. Oh, okay. I was thinking she didn't do anything. And then, you're like, anything she wanted to do, okay, she did it. I mean, like she had, you know, she was this, like, really impressive person who, I think, like, held herself back in a lot of ways, and a lot of that came from fears that she had. And I think it just was a lesson to me. I, I think I just was like, you said, I'm 55 years old now. I think I just was like, and at the time when I was taking your class, I had, I think, turned 51 and I was like, it's like, now or never. I mean, like, what? Am I just gonna stay here, like this, or am I gonna progress in my life? Am I gonna move on? And I think you have to, like, be ready for that. I think that you have to So I think at that moment, maybe of losing her and kind of taking stock of her life, and then taking stock of mine, I just realized that I had to go for it, that it just I had to do whatever I had to do to get beyond whatever those hurdles were that were in front of me, and just push myself and do it.

So Allison, when did you actually start your real estate business where you went in and you were like, I'm going to start to get apartment buildings? Yeah.

So it took a long time. So I was practicing law until 2017 so I started back in the late 90s, and then I told you, like 2008 things were rough, but it really took me until about, I think, I bought my first apartment building in 2014 and then I didn't even stop practicing law until 2017 because I was not I wanted to make sure that I was going to make a transition, you know, that wouldn't hurt my family that I was comfortable with. I mean, I I am a risk taker, but I'm a risk taker in a very kind of control as much I try to control as much of the environment as I possibly can, so that I make a good choice, so that I make good decisions, sound decisions. So what's

interesting is, you were 4848 years old, and you're like, all right, I'm doing this. This is to some people wouldn't. Be thinking, let me make such a big, drastic change in my career. But you you were like, I'm now going to do it. What do you think you know in order to make that decision? What? What type of like, core values? What are you leaning into to really go to that place, to say, You know what, as you know now or never go time, but what was really, what was coming up for you? I think that

I, I think as far as a core value that it professionally, I wanted to be successful. I really, really, really wanted

more successful as an attorney. Now you're like, I want to be successful in this totally different, non relatable

career, yeah, because I thought that I could go further. So when so, so law is interesting. Law is interesting as a career, because, especially if you're a woman, you there are like tracks that you kind of get on. And if you have children, and you decide to stay home with your children, which I did, and only work part time, you sort of, you're not, you're not going to be a partner at a law firm, or I shouldn't say that, but the odds are much lower, and that is where you start to really accumulate wealth, when you really start to put yourself in a position. And so I sort of saw that there was, like a ceiling for me practicing law, and I thought, and I saw with real estate, that there wasn't a ceiling that I could take it as far as I wanted to take it. And I just jumped on the opportunity. And I, although I loved practicing law, I honestly have never looked back and I don't I haven't missed it for one second.

See, this is what I need people to really lean into. Hear what Allison just said. You know, you sometimes just, you have to trust what's going on inside you. I call it the wise woman, right? You got to trust that wise woman, the intuition of like this is what I need to be doing. You looked at it, but you looked at it from two different perspective. You looked at it from your head and your heart. And what was, you know, what was my career going to be like in this pathway, what was going to look like in this other so you have, you've gotten rid of the limiting belief, and you continued to kind of create this monopoly in your business. Can you share with us? Because I have literally seen the growth in the last four years go from again that Allison playing a little bit smaller, being blocked by her limiting beliefs, to, I mean, the world is your oyster, and it is just opening up. How are you doing these days, and what is next for you.

So my biggest hurdle was actually I jumped over last year, which is I started my own private equity fund, and I raised, I ended up raising $6.4 million for that fund to make a multi family real estate investment. And I see that avenue as my future, just running that fund and managing it and seeing what's involved, I realize that that is, I love it. I really I love acquisition. And so this year, my goal is to double that fund so to do another fundraise and to find another property that fits within our core values and what the company is all about, and to do another and to move on, and then just keep building the number of units that we have, and to keep providing, and you know, good quality low income housing, which has always been really the driving force behind what I do and what I care about. Why is that? Because when I was practicing law, I had done some pro bono work, some some work for free, and I was exposed to how people were living. And I noticed right away that a huge portion of our immigrant population lives in was living in really substandard housing. And it bothered me. It bothered me that people worked so hard to get to our country, and then once they got here, what they had to live in was not good. It really wasn't. It was, you know, bug infested and appliances that don't work, and, you know, not sometimes a toilet that doesn't work. I mean, the list goes on a broken tie. I mean, thread bear carpet. So I just, I thought that we could do. Better. I thought that I could do better for people, and that for that is that it does reach into a core value of fairness, which I think it was, it was a core value of mine when I practiced law, and I think I carried that into my real estate, also that things should be fair, and that that is that was not fair, and what we could do something about it. And so that's what I set out to do.

Where do you think this will end up growing into, like, what? What is that ultimate think big scazy is what I call it scary and crazy that, oh my god. What would that? If you really think about that rich life of being able to have it all, what would that be for

Allison? I mean, I think that I see no, really clear end to the business. I see it just growing and growing. I see I see it becoming a much larger company than it is now. I see being able to touch, you know, not just 1000s of people, but hundreds of 1000s of people, and change, change their life. Give people like a home that's worth, like launching the rest of their life from. It's, it's, it's hard to grow the rest of your life, for other people to build the rest of their lives if you don't have a good home base, if that isn't something. So I see, I see no end to the business. I really don't. I mean, a long time ago, I was like, Oh, I just want to get to 1000 apartments. Like, if I just get to 1000 apartments, like, that'll be, you know, that'll be the end. But now, like, this year, I was like, Well, gosh, I could easily do that. I mean, now I'm looking at buildings that are, like, 250 300 apartments. So it could, that can that's going to come pretty, pretty quickly here, and I don't know Hillary Well, you'll have to stay tuned, and we'll see where it

is. So awesome. Well, Allison, shenison, thank you so much for being on this episode of relaunch into a rich life. And thanks everyone for tuning in to relaunch into a rich life and in today's episode, if it sparks something inside of you, don't keep it in to yourself. Don't, don't just hoard it. Give it to somebody, share it, subscribe, and let's create Unstoppable Momentum together until next time. Keep relaunching, keep rising and remember it's go time.