How To Go From Corporate Wage Slave To Successful Property Investor

Skye Khilji 0:12
So I'm really delighted to have Emma fielding on the podcast with me today. Emma nd I became acquainted quite recently through a mutual friend, Helen, Charlie. And if you didn't listen to Helens podcast yet, it's really, really highly recommended. Go and check that one out. But Emma is all about you today. I'm really, really delighted to have you here. And I can't wait for our audience to learn a little bit more about you.

Emma Fielding 0:42
Thanks so much. Hi. Yeah, I'm really excited actually, about this podcast.

Skye Khilji 0:46
So Emma, the audience don't know much about you yet, I'm sure. And I really want them to get into your whole journey where you started from all the way through to where you are today. Why don't you take us all the way back to Mr. Just after school getting into those early years of education and work?

Emma Fielding 1:03
Yeah, so Wow, that seems like a long time ago, actually, probably isn't. So I started kind of my business journey. Let's call it quite a few years ago now. So I'm currently 26. And I kind of obviously got my business degree from Northumbria uni up in Newcastle, which was fantastic. I loved it up there started a business and app business while I was at university, which is obviously very, very different to property, but kind of going a little bit back from that. I always knew I wanted to be in business. So my family, there's actually five generations of business owners in my family. And I knew from a young age that I was like, Yes, I want to be in business. I want to be the one that makes it and I've always had that, that drive and ambition to succeed regardless of kind of what it takes and how many hours you put into it. So unit was was a great experience for me. You know, I moved away from Yorkshire and moved away from my hometown, which is Barnsley up into the northeast and spent a good few years up there. And definitely learned kind of, you know, the basics and the fundamentals of business through my degree. And then actually, in my final year at university, I was very, very lucky and fortunate enough to go to a university in Boston in the US called Babson College. Now, this university is probably one of the most prestigious unis for entrepreneurialship and business and I'm actually the only student from Northumbria University to ever go to to Babson College, and that was through some time day University, so Santander as a bank have a kind of partnership with universities across the world. And Babson is in that partnership. So I was part of that that went over there. And then kind of finishing uni, briefly what I mentioned is my business at the time. So I pursued that. And I got some quite big contracts with some leading travel operators and got some investment as well. So you know, from the age of kind of 2122, I was very much in business. And you know, my business at the time was something I didn't see coming. It just happened from an idea. And I kind of run with it really. So very, very different to property, what I'm in now,

Skye Khilji 3:28
I can definitely see the entrepreneurial thread is still alive in you from five generations through to you today. Tell us about the idea for your app business. I remember you shared that with me. And I think it's such a wonderful story.

Emma Fielding 3:41
Yeah, so my app idea actually came from missing my train one evening at Kings Cross. Now we were doing that, right, me and my friend, we were doing the connection from Kings Cross up to Newcastle, very late on I think it was a Sunday evening, because we needed to get back up to Newcastle for our lectures and on the Monday. And we actually missed our train because we were too busy drinking in the local pub, as things happen. And I remember you know, it was 10, half 10 at night, there was no more trains going into Newcastle. And we were frantically phoned in, you know, national Express and, and then and train line and all kinds of the local train companies to be like, Can we get a train up to Newcastle? Because we actually missed our train? And the answer of that was no, we really couldn't. And I remember we ended up getting a train to lead from from Kings Cross. And then my dad drove us from Leeds up to Newcastle at 4am in the morning. So we could attend lectures that next day. And at that point, I thought oh my god, there's got to be, you know, an easy way of comparing different modes of transport. And my app actually was called compare my travel. So you know says exactly what it does on the tin. It compares different modes of travel. And by that I mean It was comparing trains coach's car journey time of flights to any destination in the UK. Now, obviously, that did happen. But it was quite a while actually, until that business kind of got off the ground. I definitely sat on the idea for probably about a good nine months or so. And then I remember, you know, just having a conversation with the kind of Enterprise Manager of Northumbria uni saying, oh, I've got this idea. I don't really know what to do with that, can you help me. And he actually pointed me in the direction of this open innovation competition. So that basically means you submit your app idea goes through a public vote, obviously, whoever gets the most public votes, and then your app goes into kind of development and production. Now, my app, what was in that, and so was three of the app ideas as well. And then it was a race basically, to get the app up and running, to get it actually on kind of the open market and get it on Google and, and Apple, etc. And to get as many downloads as possible in a two week period. Now, at that time, I had never kind of launched an idea or a product or a service, and definitely not in technology. So everything was brand new. And at that time, actually, as well. I was actually still studying for my degree, I remember this was in my second year. And yet I worked with these these local app developers, which was amazing experience learned so much about app and, you know, technology and the interface and you know, how to get data, etc. And then, you know, managed to get some contracts with Skyscanner and really easy, and some quite big players in the industry quite quickly. And then we launched the app. And then within two weeks, I think at the time, we had over, probably about 2000 app downloads. And this was from a marketing budget of absolutely zero. So it was basically from social media, word of mouth, and a lot of press, and just getting the app idea out there. And then I had a good cook on, you know, mutual friends of mine, that in Newcastle, everybody knows each other. So I ended up actually getting my friends to, to kind of put a good word in with the the Jordy show a lot at the time. And obviously, you know, they have such a large presence on social media. And then we got to with the majority show guys to retweet it. And from there, he absolutely went viral. And my phone was inundated with messages. And you know, and just people just wanting to download the app and stuff and over its course. And when the app was obviously live, we had about 10,000 app downloads in total. So from a marketing budget of zero to get, you know, 10,000 app downloads I'm very, very proud of. And I would say something that I didn't expect at the time, but I just ran with the idea,

Skye Khilji 7:57
this incredible, I just love that story going from an idea of you know, somebody has a problem, all of us have those situations where we find a problem, and we might have an idea. But it's rare for people to take that to actually getting something to the market. And it's even rarer for them to get it to the level of success that you had. So from going from that idea to where you did, what do you think was the most important factor in actually getting it as far as you did?

Emma Fielding 8:25
I think there's probably a couple of factors, really, I think my network of kind of business contacts, you know, that point, I had a couple of non execs on board. And you know, it's utilizing your network and actually not being afraid to speak to people and be like, Look, this is who I am. This is my business. And can you help me in such an area, for example, and the one thing I've never claimed is that I'm not an expert in everything. And for a business really, to grow and to succeed, you need to fill your skills gap. Now I knew my skills gap was potentially marketing and technology, you know, I don't come from from a technology background or anything like that. So I needed to get those non execs on board. And actually, you know, speaking to people and go to business events, and networking really, really helped. Because then I was able to fill those kind of skills gaps that I had. And I bring those skills into the business, which really helped the actual business grow and then later get some further investment later down the line as well.

Skye Khilji 9:33
I suppose there's two things when you have an idea like that there's the idea, does that have legs? Is there merit in that? Is it commercially viable, but there's also the person in many occasions you invest in the person even if you're investing in the idea, I get the impression with you that it was both the person and the idea. You kind of hit that sweet.

Emma Fielding 9:52
Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I remember you know, speaking to private investors and business angels and VCs at the time, and It says yes, you know, you can have a fantastic idea. But if the person isn't investable or is incredible, or hasn't got that get up and go to make something of this idea, then investment isn't going to come. And I knew, you know, I was in a good position, I have quite a solid education. But regardless of that, you know, I did have that, I still do very much have that get up and go, and that motivation to succeed. And business isn't easy. By no means, you know, I even now in property, I don't shut off. And that probably can be very much a downfall of mine. But at the same time, I absolutely love it. And it's something that drives me forward every day.

Skye Khilji 10:43
So do you think the quality of the idea and the individual can overcome you know, that thing where somebody who maybe hasn't run a business yet, even if they're well educated, and investor could say, well, why am I going to give you the money? You haven't run a business before? How much do you think the idea and the person can overcome that?

Emma Fielding 11:00
Yeah, I think, you know, a lot of things like that can happen, you know, I prior to me, having compared my travel at the time, I hadn't run a business. But yeah, I was able to get investment. Now, I think, because I hadn't come from, you know, running a business before, if I can do that, anybody else can do that. But it's, you know, it's having those credit angles behind you. And like what I mentioned before, fill in those skills gaps that you don't have, and making the business foundation as solid as possible. And you do that in various ways, really, but also, you know, when you are going to investors, you want to present something to them. And something that is tangible now, with the first wealth with the app actually being already live, and actually having that traction, that definitely helped. Because I was able to say to investors, look, I've done this, I you know, I've got 10,000 app downloads on a period of, you know, no marketing budget behind the actual app itself. What about if we have 50 K to really push this? Where are we going to get to then? And that's when the excited conversations start happening, where you've actually got something tangible? And you can say, Look, I've done this on this amount of budget, what if we had a bit more? Where Where can it go from there?

Skye Khilji 12:21
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. Yeah. For the people out there who have ideas, and they say, you know, I'd like to develop my own app. Is it feasible for them to fund that themselves? Do they need outside investment? Like, what does an app even cost to create?

Emma Fielding 12:36
So how I actually did it with mine, and I entered that open innovation competition now, from my experience, there is a lot of, you know, technology competitions, and literally free money out there. And you've just got to go out and find it. Now, you know, I was in, you know, a very lucky place at that time, where I spoke to the entrepreneurial kind of manager of Northumbria and and he said, you know, look, does that competition, you know, go into it. Now, you know, does not just that competition out there, there's loads up and down the country. And I would say, if you have got an app idea, or you want to get in technology, you want to run with your idea and make it something definitely look down kind of the free money route, I would say. And that's, you know, you eat competitions and things like that.

Skye Khilji 13:27
Wonderful, wonderful, I think there's going to be really helpful for a lot of people. So I want to move beyond the app, you you've developed it, you're running that business, things are going well, do you stay running that business? Or does your life move on to a different phase?

Emma Fielding 13:42
So yeah, my life kind of moved on then. So when I was raising quite well, I was raising over six figures of investment. Now I had two business angels in the northeast saying, Yes, we will give you six figures. But it came down to a really tricky point. At that point, there was a large, a really big competitor in, in Europe at the time, that raised 150 million when I was raising my 350,000 pounds. Now, you know, any investor in any VC is going to be like, right, that is not going to stack up, you know, I'm going to need at least 200 200 million at that point. And, you know, yes, I did have an app that, you know, got a lot of downloads in a short amount of time. But really, the reality is, it's just not gonna happen raising 200 million in a very, very short amount of time. So I kind of decided, right, okay, you know, I've got a lot from this business. I've learned a heck of a lot about business, just in general made some really, really great contacts. And that's when I thought actually I'm going to let compare my travel, you know, die down for you know, a while and maybe pick it back up in the future, but I thought, you know what, let's have a break from it. And at that point, I was what 24 I think, and I thought you know what I need I need a little bit of corporate experience. So that's when I thought, right, I'm going to get in the corporate world, I haven't really fully done it. I want to see if I can hack it. And I think, you know, the corporate world is exciting. Definitely do not get me wrong on that. But I thought, yeah, I need some corporate experience. So I applied to a couple of graduate schemes. And yeah, I got on a graduate scheme in resale, which is, you know, something I wasn't expecting at the time, but I grabbed the opportunity with both hands. And yeah, joined the corporate scheme of a retail company.

Skye Khilji 15:34
You know, what's interesting in that is, there are some people that just they like being in a job, and there are others that have that kind of intended for freedom. And what I usually see, and my experience also was I went into corporate, and then I wanted my freedom. But you came from five generations of business owners, you're a business owner, yourself, but you went the other direction. Yeah. Did you experience like a loss of freedom? Or, you know, like, what was that like going that way? In,

Emma Fielding 16:01
you know, what, like that transition from being a business owner to you know, go into the corporate world, and especially being a graduate in the corporate world, wow, that was a real shock to the system. Looking back at it. Now, I was probably like, one of the first times really, where I probably had a boss, so to speak. And you know, that relationship with with a boss and or the colleagues and just, you know, General day to day, corporate life. Now, I'm someone that I very much go with the flow, I like my own time, I like my own freedom. And to be told, when you're going to take your lunch, for example, some days really, really got on my nerves, I'm not gonna lie. And it's just one of those things, isn't it? You know, corporate world is very much secure, isn't it? You know, you have a wage every four weeks in my case. And in that sense, it's really, really good. But for me, you know, the freedom side of it, I knew my wings were getting clipped. And I knew slowly as the mumps and you know, the time went on, I felt like my entrepreneurial spark was slowly going, or shall I say, it was slowly fading, because I wasn't using it every day. And that's when I got frustrated, I would say,

Skye Khilji 17:22
you know, it's interesting, you use the phrase that corporate jobs are secure. And I suppose they weren't maybe 40 or 50 years ago. And, you know, these days, it's the illusion of security, because we get the paycheck. And that's regular, and I get that it's different to business. But often the companies aren't as loyal as they expect us to be. I've certainly experienced that multiple times in multiple companies, I've seen that across the board. Do you really think that corporate jobs are secure in 2020?

Emma Fielding 17:52
You know, what I would say, when my dad was kind of working, you know, 40 years ago? I would say, Yes, absolutely. Corporate jobs, you know, you have got one for life. Now, personally, no, I don't think they are as secure as back then. And, you know, people tend to move around a lot more as well now. So hence, why there is a lot of movement in the corporate world. And I don't think they are as secure as what they were back then. And I think people now kind of get to the point where actually, they've had enough of the corporate world. And that's the position that I'm in now, where actually, you know, I've done my time, I don't want to be there any longer than what I needed to be. And now it's time for me to pursue my, you know, passion for property. And to take that to the next level.

Skye Khilji 18:43
Do I love the phrase that used I've done my time, it makes it sound like prison, and everybody uses that phrase.

Emma Fielding 18:50
Some days, I think it probably kind of was back then. Yeah, but yeah, I've definitely feel like, you know, my time is done. And now it's time to step on my feet again, and be that entrepreneur that I was, you know, a couple of years ago,

Skye Khilji 19:05
definitely, you know, actually, I kind of bag on, on corporate jobs. But the real truth of it is you do learn good skills that you learn about the quality of service that are a big client expects, there's a lot of positives in there.

Emma Fielding 19:20
Yeah, you know, what, I wouldn't disregard my corporate career because it has given me, you know, a lot of skills that I didn't think I would learn and, you know, the people that I've met as well has been absolutely fantastic. But you know, what, it's just time for me to go out in the big wide world.

Skye Khilji 19:37
Yeah. And, you know, there's one side, which is, if you're an entrepreneur going into corporate to acquire some of those skills is useful in your entrepreneurial career. The flip side of that is, even if you're in corporate, having a side hustle, I think gives you a whole different skill set. Yeah. And I think it's so important given that corporate jobs aren't as secure as they once were. That we have a side hustle Did you already have a side hustle when you're in corporate and, you know, has that helped you navigate where your life's going during this whole 2020, where life has just got crazy companies are laying off workers, there's a whole kind of transition happening.

Emma Fielding 20:14
Yeah. So I started my finance graduate position in September 2018 19. Sorry. And it was actually, in the December, I actually bought my first flip. Now, I kind of knew, you know, what, I'm going to try prophecy with my corporate job and things like that. And, and that works. And it does. Well, it did work for me really, really well. Now, from there, I thought, actually, you know, what I'm actually earning more money to in my property than in my corporate job. And that's when then I actually then got my second flip. And yes, again, I've done it again, you know, either more winning down than my corporate job. And that was always my benchmark. And I always thought, you know, what, if I can earn more money than my corporate job in property, then this is really the career path for me and absolutely love it. But it is hard work. When you're in kind of, you know, that initial, you know, couple of months initial stages of property investing and managing your corporate job as well. It's so so tiring. And it's not to be underestimated. And I probably think at that point, I was doing maybe 6065 hours a week. Yeah, so that's quite a lot. Really.

Skye Khilji 21:29
Yeah, absolutely. I think everybody goes through that you have to work 6070 hours a week for a few years. But then you get the freedom to work a bit less for the next 40 years. That's a trade off I would make any day of the week. Yeah. So just explain to the audience what a flip is and what a fix and flip is just so they're following along with you?

Emma Fielding 21:47
Yes. So flip really is when you're buying a property, and that can be under market value, or at market value. And you add value to it in whatever form that may be. So that might be a new kitchen, a new bathroom, you know, full like kind of decoration throughout or you know, many extension or whatever it may be, and you're turning that kind of old derelict property into something, you know, modern and contemporary that you know, a buyer would like to buy. And then obviously, that value of the property increases over the period of time that you've done the renovation, and then you then sell it on for that higher price.

Skye Khilji 22:28
All right, excellent, nice and clear. So people hear about these things. And they say, you know what, that sounds good. It's kind of like the app thing again, yes, they hear the idea. And they say, you know what, I want to do that. But my two barriers are number one, I don't have any money for the deposit. And two, I don't have any education in property, did you face either of those two or both of those two barriers to

Emma Fielding 22:51
so definitely the education part. So actually, before I bought my first flip in December 2019, I actually did kind of a mini renovation on a family property of ours, up in the northeast. Now at that point, I was absolutely completely a novice and I got all my trades from checkatrade. Again, I was still working a corporate job, and managing the full renovation. So I literally just learned on the job. And even you know, like a strip of wallpaper and filling in walls. And again, managing trades, managing a budget, I just learned on the job. I definitely think you know, my business. You know, university degree really helped me at that point. Obviously, it's all about budgets, and managing, and you know, the finances and stuff. And then going from there. I then took that on to my first flip, so to speak. But in terms of the actual education, and I actually probably one of those rare breeds where I don't have a Well, I've never done any property mentoring courses, or I've never been on these property courses. I haven't paid, you know, 25 pounds or 212 to 25,000 to actually be on one and or anything like that. I'm just somebody that has learned on the job, scaled the renovations in size, but also in budget as well. And just done it that way. Really?

Skye Khilji 24:19
Yeah. I think you don't learn about football by reading a book about it. You learn by getting on the field. And that's just shown in your journey. Yeah,

Emma Fielding 24:25
absolutely. And even in my last two renovations, I'm a very hands on developer, I would say, you know, I'm somebody that likes to get dirty. And, you know, take the towels off the walls, for example, help the lads mocking as much as possible. And I think that's really the way that you learn and you will understand what the trades go through. And, you know, ultimately, it's how you price up the renovation and how much time it's going to take. And you just have that better understanding, I think, and that's probably what's helped me Now, on the second renovation, as I've done it quicker than the first renovation. So

Skye Khilji 25:07
yeah, remember when we were talking one thing that really stood out to me and impressed me is that you use your network again, just like when you had the app, you found the people you needed. When you went into property, you did something so smart that I don't hear a lot of people doing, which is you went to see a tax and mortgage advisor. Yes, I think it was about why you did that, how much it costs you and what you got from it.

Emma Fielding 25:28
Yeah, so that was something that was very much on my mind, you know, property. You know, there is tax legislation around that. And obviously file filing your accounts, having that business background, I always was was aware of that Anyway, now, kind of one of my dad's friends, he has a business, and he was using these accountants for years and years. And he still does To this day, and I thought, you know what, I'm just going to have a conversation with these guys, just to see what I need to know. And I thought, you know, what, it's not gonna hurt having a half an hour conversation with them. So I remember phoning them up. And I said, You know what, I'm this young girl I want to get in property. Can I sit down with a tax advisor for half an hour? Just to know, a couple of ins and outs? And they say, yes, absolutely, no problem. So I sat down with him, this guy called Ian, really, really great guys, and told me everything that I really need me to know. And I kind of had that path in my head. From there, just knowing what my route is going to be into property and how I'm going to do it, especially in the short and medium and long term, that really helped and the actual price of that was was zero. So actually did, I didn't pay for that advice. But now actually, they are people that actually do do my tax returns and everything. And then the same again, with with my mortgage brokers. Again, that was a conversation that I had through a network, somebody that that's actually in my network of property, and again, hadn't had a sit down conversation with him, didn't charge me anything. But now we actually kind of work together. So you know, what, just sometimes just being a little bit cheeky, and going out of your way, and saying, Can I just have a sit down conversation with you and want to ask these couple of questions, etc. You know, what, nine times out of 10? Those people say, Yeah, no problem. And yeah, I obviously didn't have to pay for it or anything like that. So, so completely free.

Skye Khilji 27:22
I think that's so important to touch on that you didn't spend the 25 k on the property training, you did up the the family house, your grandma's house, I think it was and learned on the job, then you use your network to get the tax and mortgage advice. And you know, for those guys, they're probably going to get your business down the line anyway. So it works in their favor. But I think there's so much value in cultivating that network. And then actually just asking, guys, can I just ask you a couple of questions. I don't need more than 20 minutes of your time. That's so powerful. And I think people need to pay attention to that and your story.

Emma Fielding 27:54
Yeah, you know what, that was something that I was really kind of keen to do before really getting in property was actually having those sit down conversations beforehand, and just planning out what I need to do tax wise and accounts wise and mortgage wise, etc. And you know what, without that knowledge and that information, then I think I might have took a different path. But the path that I'm doing now, has helped me and obviously it's based on the their advice, as well. Mm hmm.

Skye Khilji 28:24
So you're being very frugal, you're saving money where you need to, you're getting the experience that you need to both through your network and the practical way of doing the renovation yourself and managing the trades people. One thing that people always say about property is, you know, I can't save that much money for a deposit houses are so expensive, but you didn't actually have to save that much money for your first deposit. Did you?

Emma Fielding 28:46
No, no, no. So where I kind of live and where I invest in is mainly in bonds in in South Yorkshire now, you know, the properties are relatively cheap, I would say obviously, definitely comp compared to the south. And again, knowing the area that you want to invest in knowing your strategy, what is your short term and long term goals, etc, can definitely help where you're thinking to buy and obviously renovate properties and stuff. But my my actual investment on the first property was just 20 K. So that included the 9500 pound deposit, and then another 9500 for the actual renovation itself. So yeah, I got a quite a good return on that one. But I actually did live in that property and especially throughout the first lockdown in obviously, this year. Yeah, I lived in that property, and it was a great one to renovate.

Skye Khilji 29:42
It's amazing that deal and we won't go into specifics but I think you made enough money to start questioning you know, do I really want to stay in this corporate job?

Emma Fielding 29:51
Yeah, I at that point, you know, when obviously you complete and I got the check and I think God at that point do I Do you want to go to work on on the next day? But I did. And you know, what the corporate world has given me, you know, some great things. And it you know, it's, it's definitely helped me in property and stuff. But yeah, at that point when you get your first check from your first flip, yeah, it's quite hard to stay motivated in the corporate world.

Skye Khilji 30:21
You know, I just love that we're catching you. In your one year anniversary and property, December 19, your first property and now you've done I think it's three renovations and two flips in a year. That's quite prolific Emma.

Emma Fielding 30:33
Yeah, it's definitely some going. But in January, things are going to change slightly. So I'm leaving the corporate world. Obviously, you know, this year, we have faced the pandemic of Coronavirus and stuff. Now my contract at my corporate job won't be renewed. So do you know what I'm actually going to go full time in property from January? And that is something that excites the hell out of me, obviously, yes, it is scary. But you know what, I've got a fantastic team around me, yes, of tax advisers, mortgage advisers, but also trades, as well, and people that I can call upon in the industry. And if this is the time to do it, this is definitely the time to really go at it.

Skye Khilji 31:17
Yeah, I think the quarantines and the pandemic, the the benefit of that was people kind of went inwards a little bit and said, What do I actually want? And then they realized that they don't have to work for somebody else. They can work from home, they can work with a little bit more freedom.

Emma Fielding 31:34
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And, you know, what, throughout this pandemic, you know, I, I've very much been been working at home, I haven't been traveling two hours a day to the office or anything like that. And, and that's when I've been doing the second renovation. And at that point, you know, what I've realized, actually, what really makes me happy, what makes me tick, it's being on site on a renovation, with my trades with my team, you know, pushing on and getting renovations done and turning, you know, really old derelict houses into something fantastic. Where buyers walk in, and they go, Wow, that's amazing. Now, that is what makes me really, really happy.

Skye Khilji 32:15
Yeah, I think that's really important. You know, the money is there in whatever we do. But I often find it's the transformation that is the spark for people, you know, the fitness coach, it's about transforming someone's body, the interior designer, it's about the home. I think it's really important to have that creative side expressed and also have that transformation that you you know, we were part of you were the magician behind that almost.

Emma Fielding 32:40
Yeah, yeah, definitely. And, you know, all the crap renovations that I've done at all my design, it's all my project management. And the one thing that I love it, yeah, it's just turning something really hold and really renowned into something amazing. And obviously, you know, people can see that from from my Instagram and stuff. And yeah, it's just that that whole transformation process. And, you know, the first renovation, well, the first flip I did in 13 weeks, and that was very much, myself being being very hands on with that one. Now, my second renovation, it's a bigger renovation, it's a bit bigger project, more structural work involved, where we've knocked down the wall and put down to put into our SJS. And that took 10 weeks in total. So yeah, not I'd go in.

Skye Khilji 33:28
So where are you going next in property? I guess the deals get bigger, and you can do more, but what's that vision for maybe the next five years for Mr.

Emma Fielding 33:37
So I think the vision now, this kind of changes, probably every couple of months or so. But you know, what the vision in five years, I think kind of that that's more kind of medium term is definitely to be to be financially free, so to speak, and to have a large portfolio single buy to less, but also HMOs. But also, you know, maybe do a couple of new builds as well, but turning them into something amazing, you know, again, that wow factor, but short term, definitely in the short term in the next, you know, 12 months or so, definitely want to flip more properties, there's more properties that I want to go after. And don't really think that the houses will get back bigger, because I like to be in and out of the renovation quite quick. And I know how quick me and my team can can turn them around. So I don't really want to go that much bigger right now. So I definitely want to stick with you know, the terraced houses, the semi detached types type properties, but yeah, again, they still have great great margins in them.

Skye Khilji 34:42
Why do I feel like even when you're financially free, you're not going to be able to sit still.

Emma Fielding 34:47
You know, what a couple of my trades actually do say that I said me, you know, yes, you might have you know, quite quite a few properties at that point. But you won't be able to sit still and yeah, that that's probably right my mind You know, never really switches off, there's always something else I want to go after. But also, you know, there's other passions that I have, and, you know, being a property, you know, yes, it's great financially. But there's also a part of me that wants to give back as well, you know, being in a comfortable position that I am, I do want to be in a position where I actually can give back, you know, start charities, or, you know, develop properties for charities. And yeah, give back actually drives me forward a lot, definitely a lot.

Skye Khilji 35:34
I love that I think that legacy project, or that passion project is actually so important to pull you towards that destiny or toward that goal, at some point. It's not about the money anymore, and I guess it can be about the competition and proving it to yourself. But I often find people that have that passion project that is such is such a good fuel to propel them towards their greatness, rather than just being about more money.

Emma Fielding 36:02
Yeah, you know what, I think at that point, it won't be about the money. And I didn't think now it's really about the money. It's about, you know, the transformation of the projects. And we actually believe in my corporate job and, and doing what I love, but at that point, yeah, it's all about, you know, helping other people. And I'm giving back I think, you know, being at that point where you are financially free, and yeah, just making this world a better place. And I think if more people did that, yes, the world would be a better place.

Skye Khilji 36:35
Amen. I love absolutely love that. Wait, where do you think your work ethic comes from ever?

Emma Fielding 36:42
Oh, God, I think that's probably not not a difficult one, really, I think, probably my five generations of business owners. And I would say, you know, my granny, which is suddenly no longer here. Now, she had an amazing work ethic. You know, she, she ran a grocery shop, but she brought up four kids. And yeah, she worked non stop, and definitely think I've got some of her work ethic in me. But also, you know, what, I'm very driven. I know what I want. And I go after what I want. And I get it. So yes, it's that that's quite a bold statement to make. But you know, what, if you have a goal, if you have a passion, go out and do it?

Skye Khilji 37:25
Yeah, I think those two in combination are absolutely mandatory. If you're going to do something in business, you have to work hard. And you have to, you have to ask for what you want. And you don't have to be brash and aggressive. Yeah, ways to do that. Right?

Emma Fielding 37:38
Yeah, absolutely. You know, there's ways to go about it. You know, I'm not somebody that that's going to stomp my feet, if I don't get it, but I will be disappointed if I don't get it. But I will go back again, and get it that that second time or third time, however, I don't really give up. So yeah, I've always had that in me.

Skye Khilji 37:57
So if someone's listening to this, and they say, you know what, I'm really inspired by a story. I'd love to get into property. Are there any books or resources or anything that you just you know, after going through so much of it, you can say, you know what, that's actually good stuff that works in the real world.

Emma Fielding 38:14
So in terms of books, I think a lot of people might actually be surprised with this. I'm actually dyslexic. So I haven't read any property books whatsoever, I do actually go and one, and I probably read about paragraph of it. So reading is really not my strong point. However, there is so many podcasts out there that I listened to, you know, if you just type in property, there's hundreds that come up. So I try to listen to you know, a full range of podcasts, if it's people just starting out, or, you know, see real property investors, or, you know, medium sized developers as well, I try and, you know, listen to that full scale of people started, right, right, from the beginning to, you know, professional investors and stuff that really helps me and guide my thoughts. But you know, regardless of that, I do have my own kind of passions that that I want to pursue. And you know, what, a little bit of guidance here and there does not hurt.

Skye Khilji 39:11
Yeah, and I love that you're listening to people who are five or 10 steps ahead, that spectrum is so important.

Emma Fielding 39:17
Yeah, you know, what you've definitely got to, and even when I was obviously, you know, very much in my first business, I was listening to podcasts, that, you know, tech investors that have been invested in, you know, businesses so much big bigger than mine, I was like, what makes them tick? What do they want, etc. And that's really what helped me get my investment is knowing that so again, doing the same here, and listen to podcasts, and you know, connecting with people as well, that's probably 20 steps ahead of me, that I can call upon and ask questions with and I think that really, really helps and it is beneficial going forward.

Skye Khilji 39:56
Yep, the power of the network again. So on that note, If someone's listening to this, and they say, I have to connect with them, or I need to talk to her, whether it's because they're a few steps behind you, or whether it's someone that wants to invest with you, where can they find you?

Emma Fielding 40:11
So probably my main point of contact is Instagram. So my name on Instagram is Mr. Property builds or they can do a LinkedIn search. Emma Louise fielding. And again, same on Twitter as well and the Louise fielding, so you'll be able to find me on there. So yeah, really exciting times going forward and come January full time in property. And you know what, we might get some investment as well. So exciting stuff.

Skye Khilji 40:36
Exciting stuff. Indeed. We'll put all of Emma's links in the description below the podcast and on free the wage slave.com forward slash podcast, Emma, I really, really want to thank you for sharing your story. I think it's completely inspiring, and I'm super excited to see where you go in 2021

Emma Fielding 40:51
thanks so much guy. Yeah, exciting times. Can't wait to get 2021 started.

Skye Khilji 40:58
If you enjoyed this episode, I want to talk to you about voice link.fm. This is a place where you can send me any questions you have, and I'll include the answers to your question on a future episode of the podcast. We're going to be doing a lot more or less than a q&a. I'll answer questions on business finances, entrepreneurship, marketing, travel, personal development, success, productivity, do I believe in aliens? Is the Illuminati real? Whatever it is that you want to know. We're going to answer those questions go to voice link.fm forward slash free the wage slave that's voice link.fm forward slash free the wage slave