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From the Corporate World to Full-time Real Estate Investor and Author with his Son

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On this episode of the Capitalist Sage, Karl Barham and Rico Figliolini are joined by Rudely Kelly and his son, Jayden. Rudley is a real estate investor, a realtor and an author who with the help of his son, wrote “Real Estate with my Daddy”, a children’s book that explains the ins and outs of real estate to kids. Listen in on the inspiration behind this book and hear Rudley’s expert insight into the real estate industry.

Book on Amazon
Website: K1HomeSolutions.com
Phone Number: 404-877-8088
Social Media: @RudleyKelly

“I’ll have a conversation with the seller and just get an understanding of what is their true
motivation, what are they looking to gain out of selling this property? Because at the end of the
day, you don’t want to walk away with someone feeling as if they were taken advantage of, or
didn’t understand the process or anything like that. For me, I like to sleep well at night and I
want to make sure whoever I’m dealing with sleep well at night as well.

Rudely Kelly

Timestamp:
[00:00:30] – Intro
[00:03:09] – Inspiration Behind the Book
[00:04:03] – Rudley’s Background
[00:05:26] – Educating Children in Real Estate
[00:08:36] – Finding Properties
[00:09:56] – Next Steps in a Property
[00:11:30] – Making House Flipping Profitable
[00:12:54] – Working with Contractors
[00:15:47] – Exiting Properties
[00:17:07] – Pros and Cons of Airbnb
[00:18:07] – How COVID has Impacted Business
[00:19:50] – Next steps for Rudley and Jayden
[00:26:22] – Closing

podcast transcript

Karl: [00:00:30] Welcome to the Capitalist Sage Podcast. We’re here to bring you advice and
tips from seasoned pros and experts to help you improve your business. I’m Karl Barham with
Transworld Business Advisors. And my co-host is Rico Figliolini with Mighty Rockets, Digital
Marketing, and the publisher of the Peachtree Corner magazine. Hey Rico, how’re you doing
today?
Rico: [00:00:47] Good karl. It’s a great day.
Karl: [00:00:49] Absolutely. Why don’t you introduce our sponsors for today’s episode?
Rico: [00:00:53] Sure. Our sponsor is Hargray Fiber. They are an internet company that
provides services to small and large companies. And they’re a main component in every
community they go into. So we’re excited to have them as our sponsor and not only for this
show, but our other podcasts that we do and also support our Peachtree Corners magazine. So
what I want to tell you is that they have the Hargray Economic Stimulus plan, their own stimulus
plan. So if you qualify for it, you get one year free business, internet, and phone service. So you
should check them out and go to Hargray.com/business/economic-stimulus. Great partner to
have. They are not like the cable company and they’re there when you need them. So check
them out. Thank you Hargray.
Karl: [00:01:50] Thank you so much, Rico for introducing our Sponsor Hargray today. Today’s
guest is Rudley and Jayden Kelly. Rudley’s a real estate investor, a realtor and an author. And
today we’re going to talk a little bit about how to teach your children about investing. Real estate
investing, other types of investments, to our children. You’ve recently just launched and
published their first book, I’ll kind of show it here. This is “Real Estate with my Daddy”. It’s
available on amazon.com. A very fun book for you to go through with your children and talk
about real estate. So we’ll talk a little bit about this today and share some of the thoughts around
that. Hey Rudley, hi Jayden, how’re you guys doing?
Rudley: [00:02:34] Good, doing great. How are you all doing?
Karl: [00:02:36] Oh, we’re blessed. Thank you so much. And thank you for taking time out of
your busy schedules to be on the podcast with us today. Jayden how was school today?
Jayden: [00:02:48] Good.
Karl: [00:02:49] That’s good. You’re probably pretty used to doing your schoolwork and keeping
up with stuff. How did you get time to write a book with your dad?
Jayden: [00:03:00] Cause we were just home one Saturday afternoon. Went shopping, so we
just wrote a book for fun.
Karl: [00:03:09] Oh, that’s fabulous. Rudley, why don’t you tell us a little bit what sparked you for
doing that? Writing this book and introducing it to everyone.
Rudley: [00:03:19] Yeah, first and foremost,I appreciate you guys inviting us on this podcast.
It’s a great venue here to kind of talk about business. But yeah, the whole premise behind the
book was to just help share the knowledge of real estate amongst, you know, younger children.
Kind of similar to the opportunity I had when I was younger to learn from my older brothers and
sisters and older cousins that invested in real estate. So my son, you know, obviously he’s been
coming with me on looking at various properties, distressed properties and whatnot, since he’s
been about two years old, right? And so we just wanted to kind of put it in the language of a
child for them to get a high level grasp of what investing in real estate is. And you know, we kind
of wrote it together and came up with something pretty cool.
Karl: [00:04:03] Yeah, it’s definitely fabulous. Why don’t I start by, how did you get into real
estate and what made you, what’s your background and what brought you to where, what you’re
doing today?
Rudley: [00:04:14] Yeah, so I started real estate. I’ve been heavily investing in real estate in the
past six years, but really bought my first property about 14, 15 years ago. And what kind of got
me started in that is, you know, kind of what I was mentioning a little bit prior to that I had some
good role models. My brothers, sisters, some older cousins, my parents, that all had some type
of footing within real estate. So my thing as a younger adult always wanting to try to figure out
how do I accelerate that and how can I get to that level sooner. So it started off with me buying
my first property right out of college. Primarily because I didn’t want to move back home with my
parents at that time. So that was my motivation at the time, but kind of snowballed from there.
Got my real estate license and you know, invested in quite a bit of education on the flipping side
of the business. And just kind of took it from there.
Karl: [00:05:04] Oh, that’s fabulous. I wonder Jayden, what’s your favorite part of working with
your dad when looking at properties?
Jayden: [00:05:14] I get to help him build things.
Karl: [00:05:15] What’s your favorite? Is there a particular room that you work on a lot? Kitchen,
bath, living room?
Jayden: [00:05:22] I usually work downstairs.
Karl: [00:05:26] Oh, that’s fabulous. So as you started getting started in this, what are some of
the things you found that when trying to help educate your children about investing, you found
were some of the things, the challenges in doing that?
Rudley: [00:05:42] You know, I guess some of the challenge is in maybe some of the language
and the dynamics of what real estate is. So I think for me, what helped educate Jayden on it and
the rest of my children as well is just, you know, putting it in as, mostly in terms as possible. And
trying to equate it to maybe toys or things that they play with and understanding buying
something versus investing and saving and those types of things. But I think the biggest
challenge is just putting it in a language that resonates with them best. So it was fun for us to
write this book together so he can kind of help me along as I’m writing it to say, does that make
sense? Checking in with them and you know, getting a good understanding that you know, this
is something that a seven-year-old can understand
Karl: [00:06:25] Jayden, what do your friends think about you helping your dad out?
Jayden: [00:06:30] They haven’t all checked the book out yet.
Karl: [00:06:35] They haven’t checked it out? Well, we have to do something to help get them
the book a little quicker and get them into schools and everything else. One of the things that’s
always fascinating, there’s an aspect of this that goes around wealth building. Creating a legacy
and generational wealth. That, there has been a lot of discussion around that. What place, what
do you recommend for parents to start instigating that curiosity in their children? What are some
of the things you’ve been doing and what would you recommend to other parents that want to
get their kids interested earlier into business and/or investing.
Rudley: [00:07:14] Yeah. I mean, I think some of the biggest things is truly just exposing him to
it first, right? I think, exposure is the key. I know growing up you know, as looking at my parents
older, typically as parents, you’re like, you know, this has grown folks business. Or this is, you
know, this is for adults, but I tend to not do that typically. I want to bring them into the fold. I want
to show them like, all right, this is what this costs. You know, how do you think we should go
about paying for this? You know, if you’re having discussions over bills or things like that. Once
you get a little bit older, maybe not Jayden’s age, but you know teenagers are a little bit older,
like sit down at the table with them and go over the bills and show them where their account is
coming from or where the funds are coming from and how to save and do those types of things.
So I think number one is exposure. Don’t shy away from having those conversations, even
though they may not necessarily be a hundred percent ready for it yet. And then number two is
just continuing to get them excited. Find a piece of wherever in that education that you provided
them. Find what motivates them, or find something that they’re interested in. And push them
towards that direction to learn a little bit more. So even if it’s about stocks or anything like that
stuff that they buy all the time, you know, if it’s Nikes, or they love Disney movies. Pull up the
Disney stock, take them through that, you know, let them learn a little about those things. So
find something that they resonate with and have that conversation about the investment part of
it.
Karl: [00:08:36] I’m going to ask the question about maybe a recent project that you guys
worked on together. How did you find a property, a particular example of property? What are
some of the ways you search for them? And is there an interesting one that you found in an
interesting way maybe with Jayden involved or others?
Rudley: [00:08:58] Yeah. So, you know, as you mentioned, I’m a realtor and investor. So from a
realtor perspective, I’m able to find properties on what’s considered the MLS on market type of
properties. But from an investor perspective and kind of what we touch a little bit on the book,
I’m typically finding off-market properties or distressed properties. So some of the ways that I’ve
learned to go about finding those properties are certain lists that you’ll purchase. Such as
people that are in distress situations, foreclosures, maybe probate, someone that’s inherited a
property that lives out of state and they don’t have anything to do, don’t want anything to do with
the property. You know, eviction lists, tired landlords, all different types of lists that you can use.
I have a team of folks that make those calls and follow up and take action on those. And that’s
pretty much how I go about finding the properties. But everything really falls into the follow-up
and making sure you’re getting direct to the sellers and just establishing your credibility and
relationship with those sellers.
Karl: [00:09:56] Once you find a property, what happens next? If you identify a property and an
owner of the property, what do you typically do next?
Rudley: [00:10:06] So if I had the address and had the information at first, do some kind of
desktop analysis look at the area, look at the comps. If there’s pictures, I try to look at the
condition of the property and run some preliminary numbers on where it makes sense for me to
purchase this property. But once I get to that point, I’ll have a conversation with the seller and
just get an understanding of what is their true motivation, what are they looking to gain out of
selling this property? Because at the end of the day, you don’t want to walk away with someone
feeling as if they were taken advantage of, or didn’t understand the process or anything like that.
For me, I like to sleep well at night and I want to make sure whoever I’m dealing with sleep well
at night as well. So I really try to get a good sense as to what are their goals. If it’s a probate
situation, perhaps, you know, they have other siblings in the family and maybe they need as
much money as they possibly can to split amongst those siblings, right? So I want to try to give
them the best possible offer I can. Or it could be someone in a situation that’s like, I really don’t
care about the price, I just need to get this out of my name as soon as possible. So that’s
another motivation or a motivating factor that I can help them with. Okay, I can close within a
week if you need me to and get this burden off of you if you’ve got bills piling up all of those
types of things. So it really depends on the customer or seller first and start from there and work
my way backwards to seeing where we can, you know, where it makes sense for both parties.
Karl: [00:11:30] I’m curious as, once you acquire the property, there’s a lot of people doing
flipping now especially in Georgia, in different cities, around different States around the country.
What do you, what are some of the things you’ve learned about doing it profitably when it comes
to once you’ve acquired the property?
Rudley: [00:11:51] Yeah. I mean, I think once you acquire the, well I just say, going a step back
even before acquiring the property, it’s really just knowing your numbers. That would be the
advice I would give to any newbie investor out there or someone that’s looking to flip homes, is
that try to take the emotional attachment out of it of just wanting to do a deal. Because that can
certainly hurt you in many different ways. And just be cautious as to what you’re, what you’re
going into, because there’s a lot of shows, station TV. It’s a lot of things out there and make it
look very glamorous, which you now it certainly can be at times, but know your numbers and
understand what you’re getting into. And then once you actually do acquire the property,
continue to do your due diligence, continue to do your inspections. Work with your contractors
and always leave yourself, even whatever your budget do you come up with, have a
contingency. Because as much as you evaluate that property beforehand and do your desktop
analysis, once you open up the walls, you just, you never know what you’re gonna run into. So
have a contingency. I like to have 5, 10% contingency overage in my budget for things that may
pop up.
Karl: [00:12:54] Are there things that you get to do and Jayden gets to help you with that you do
yourselves versus pushing out to contractors, subs?
Rudley: [00:13:05] I mean, pretty much we sub everything out to contractors or, you know,
general contractors that oversee the entire project. You know, there are a few little things here
and there that I may do just in essence of time. But I really want to focus my time on finding the
next deal, find the next opportunity or working with my buyer or seller clients on the realtor side
as well. So once I get a property, I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve been able to systemize it,
where I don’t necessarily have to be there all the time, although I still have a pulse on it. So the
whole idea of getting into this business was to build a system. Where I just got more time to
family and do stuff like this, write a book with, you know, with the kids and do things like that?
Karl: [00:13:47] Can I explore a little bit into that? Oh go ahead Rico.
Rico: [00:13:50] Yeah, I just wanted to be able to ask about, because someone trying to get into
this that has no experience, right? I mean, you have a few years experience doing this stuff,
right? So someone’s going to come in and they’re going to hire a subcontractor that may be
overpriced, may take advantage of them. You know, they’re putting down flooring, but maybe
the sub floor is supposed to be a certain level of subflooring. They might do something else.
How do you keep track of these things? Especially if it’s out of state, like you’re licensed in Ohio.
If you did that in Ohio, how would that work?
Rudley: [00:14:30] Yeah, great question. So, I mean, it’s really about vetting out your
contractors. That’s probably the hardest part of this business is just getting trustworthy, reliable
contractors that are insured, know what they’re doing, and I have some integrity to them.
There’s plenty of them out there, but you know, we have to find the right one. So the way that I
vet them, I have a very thorough process of certain questions that I ask. I want to make sure
that they’re insured, that they truly are licensed. I can go on a specific website to see if they are
truly licensed, as they’re saying. And then probably the best part of it or the most important part
is getting recommendations from others or from their actual work of people who have actually
worked with them. But not only just calling, you know, potential clients that they worked with
before in the past, if you’re a local go to the site, go to their job sites. If they don’t have any
current projects that they’re working on, that’s probably not a good sign.
Rico: [00:15:24] Sure.
Rudley: [00:15:25] Yeah, so I like to go on site and look at what they’re doing at someone else’s
flipper property, or even just a residential renovation.
Rico: [00:15:33] And I imagine as you do this, you probably accumulate a stable of contractors
that you can go back to.
Rudley: [00:15:39] Yeah, I’ve got a pretty good list of contractors that I use pretty consistently.
Rico: [00:15:46] Cool.
Karl: [00:15:47] I’m also curious about the exit of these properties. What are the different
options? I know one of the most obviously is you could sell it to someone for their home. What
are some of the other options you’ve explored and some of the pros and cons of those?
Rudley: [00:16:03] Yeah. So part of the reason why I got my real estate license was that I
wanted to just add another tool to my tool belt. You know, I started off as an investor first and
then got my real estate license. But I look at every opportunity as there’s several different ways
to monetize that. So an exit strategy, number one, obviously could be doing a flip or selling it,
but it could also be doing it as a rental property or holding it as a rental property, or it could be
doing Airbnb. Or it can be a burst strategy, which I’m not sure if, your listeners maybe aren’t
familiar with that. But burst strategy is basically buying the property, renovating it, renting it out,
and then refinancing it to get your cash back out that you initially put into the property. Because
once you renovate the property, you now raise the values of the property and you can refinance
and recycle that same catch. So there’s many different exit strategies and you can do all of
those strategies. But yeah, it really depends on going back again to the numbers. What do the
numbers tell you to do with this property? And then start from there.
Karl: [00:17:07] What’s the pro, I’ve heard people talking about Airbnb. Pros and cons of doing
that versus just a regular rental?
Rudley: [00:17:15] Yeah. So for Airbnb, they typically say you can receive anywhere from two to
three times the typical rent that you would get in a traditional rental market. So, you know, I’ve
been doing that and it’s pretty accurate. You know, there is additional cost of doing that cause
you have to purchase furniture. You know, in most cases you’re going into paying the utilities
and things like that. But it does give you a little bit more velocity in terms of cashflow as well as
the ability to check on the property a lot more than you would a tenant that you may have in
there for a year, and you can’t get in there for an entire year. Barring any type of extenuating
circumstances. But with Airbnb it’s constantly getting cleaned up after every guest, you can
check in on it and see if there’s any repairs or maintenance that needs to be done. So I love
Airbnb. It’s been a great model for us that we’re continuing to just scale.
Karl: [00:18:07] I’m curious, on this past year with the pandemic, how has it impacted your
business? Flipping rentals, Airbnb, has this helped or hurt or is it? How did you navigate through
that over the past year?
Rudley: [00:18:21] Yeah I mean, different parts of the business definitely had different impacts.
So from a rental perspective, COVID definitely had an impact just based off the moratorium in
terms of not being able to evict or, you know, having a pause on that. So that definitely had an
impact, but I think what allowed me to not really be impacted as much is because of scale, I
have several properties. So when you have that economies of scale, it’s not as much of an
impact as someone that may just have one property. And that tenant is out which leaves you
with a hundred percent vacancy. So that’s helped me from that perspective. Airbnb you know
last year, I guess, right around this time now, Airbnb pretty much put a pause or a halt, at least
in the city of Atlanta for a period of time. So quite a few people, I’m sure. Kind of felt that a little
bit during that time, but right after that period, we actually kind of saw a significant increase
compared to last year’s numbers. Just being that people there’s just so you know, kind of
bundled up in house for so long that they were just ready to just do anything and just get out.
And what we found is that people aren’t necessarily traveling, you know, miles and miles away.
They’re literally booking Airbnbs down the street in their same neighborhoods just to get out of
the house and do something a little bit different. So the numbers of Airbnbs and, you know,
outside the perimeter in the suburbs and actually includes quite a bit.
Karl: [00:19:50] I know, it’s especially, you know, the hotels have been hit hard. People have
flipped over to Airbnb’s. And there was a section in the book that I saw where you kind of were
going through some of the numbers with Jayden. Jayden, I’m curious, I’ve got a question for
you. How comfortable are you in math and the numbers so far? Do you like doing math and the
numbers? So can you help your dad with figuring out which are good investments and not? Do
you like doing that part with the numbers? I’m curious, do you have any ideas, what you wanted
to do? Do you want to do this type of stuff when you get older or do you have some other other
aspirations?
Jayden: [00:20:41] I wanna do what Dad did.
Karl: [00:20:50] Good, why?
Jayden: [00:20:50] I don’t know.
Karl: [00:20:51] Well, most people do what their dad and mom does. And so I think, you know,
Rudley you’ve been doing a great job of setting an example for not just Jayden, but with the rest
of the family and even in the community. And seeing how well people can do in shifting. I’ve got
another question around, you know, what are you seeing in the next five, six years? How does
this play out over time? Both for you and even as Jayden gets older, what are some of your
thoughts and wishes for him as you continue this journey?
Rudley: [00:21:27] Yeah, I mean, I think over the next five, six years you know, Jayden will
obviously, I’ll continue to bring them along on the projects that I’m doing. And, you know, I think
obviously the information will start to be retained even a lot more so over time. And introduced
him to even books, you know, on a higher level for him to start reading himself. But yeah, the
next five or six years, you know, want to continue this trajectory. I want to continue to scale the
Airbnb side of the business, rental properties, continue to do flips to a certain extent. You know,
no one really for the most part, I can’t speak for everyone, but I don’t think people want to do
flips for the rest of their life. Because that’s more active income, right? And definitely have to be
there and hands-on. But the idea is to take that active income and put it into passive income,
like rental properties and Airbnb property. So that’s, that’s what we’re focused on over the next
five to six years, continue to just work towards that financial freedom and more of that passive
income so we can spend more time with the family.
Karl: [00:22:23] Yeah. I speak to a lot of people who are trying to get out of, you know, being
employed by someone else and becoming their own boss. Because we use the term often
BYOB, be your own boss. And part of that is creating, first it’s taking the leap and starting
investing in starting the business and starting those. But at some point over the evolution, I’ve
noticed some business owners creating a system around what they’re doing. And it’s always
interesting to watch, you know, folks that are spending a lot of time in church activities and
charities, sometime playing golf in the community. And you wonder how can they run a complex
business and yet have time to do that. And I think some of it is, they figure out that way to one,
generate passive income, is one strategy is be able to do that. But two is building a system that
would be able to be able to let go of some of the day-to-day stuff. And they build a team and the
systems around to be able to do that. How far do you think you are in that journey and how
much further you gotta go?
Rudley: [00:23:36] Yeah. I mean, I think I’m getting close to that point where it’s, you know,
pretty systemized. But being transparent, right, it’s still a lot of hours still. A lot of time to put into
that. But that is the goal to get it a hundred percent systemized where, you know, you can take
or basically fire yourself, right? You want to fire yourself from your business at some point. So
yeah, no one, you know, I’ve recently, you know, left my corporate job and moved into doing this
full time. So, you know, no one wants to go from a job to another job, right? And that’s
essentially what you’re doing. You’re more the technician, if you’re hands-on and doing all the
work still at that point. So for a period of time, you have to do that to build up the business and
get things going the way you like it and build those systems. But at some point, you know, you
have to, you’ll get burnt out if you don’t don’t fire yourself. So the goal is to fire myself at some
point.
Karl: [00:24:29] And Jayden might be ready to take over the mantle on some of that stuff. And
you could delegate to him.
Rudley: [00:24:35] Yeah, exactly. He’ll be the systems manager.
Karl: [00:24:39] Well, that’s fabulous. You know, I want to thank you and Jayden for coming in
and talking a little bit. Again I want to re-introduce, it’s Rudley and Jayden Kelly, “Real Estate
with my Daddy”. It’s available on Amazon. I think there is a website that should be up soon as
well. But if you want a nice fun book to just start introducing real estate investing and numbers,
to have a nice book to read to your child at night. It’s a great read and, and really I’m glad that
you got a chance to do this with Jayden. And you’re building a legacy for your family that allows
you to do more stuff like this. So that’s really, really good. So tell me about any projects you’ve
got working on or are there any new things you’re working on currently?
Rudley: [00:25:29] Yeah, there’s still properties. Every day, seeking out new opportunities our
Airbnb is going pretty well. So that’s going to continue to be our focus for this book. You know,
we’ve got a great reception from it. So we’re going to make this into a series and start
introducing some other aspects of real estate that, you know, younger children, or even adults
may not be familiar with so many different avenues of real estate to participate in. So we’re in
the process of doing that as well. But other than that, building the business. As I mentioned, I’m
a realtor as well, so working with plenty of clients. So gives me the opportunity to kind of share
my investor knowledge as well as from a realtor perspective and work with these clients that are
looking for investment properties or just residential, so I can offer both avenues. So the focus is
realtor side, investing, and writing more of these books.
Karl: [00:26:22] That’s fabulous. Well, we’ve known you and Jayden and the rest of the kids for
quite a while and enjoyed being part of your journey through this. So we’re always excited to
see when you post another project completed through social media and other. How can people
reach out and contact you if they wanted to learn more?
Rudley: [00:26:44] Yeah, they can find me on Facebook under K1 Home Solutions or directly
under Rudley Kelly. Same thing on Instagram, under Rudley Kelly. Phone number business line
(404) 877-8088. And also our website, K1HomeSolutions.com.
Karl: [00:27:02] Awesome. Excellent. Well, thank you again very much. Jayden, I appreciate you
coming on the podcast today and look forward to seeing you again soon alright? Thank you.
We’d like to thank Rudley and Jayden for joining us. Rudley is a real estate investor, a realtor as
well as an author of “Real Estate with my Daddy” available on Amazon. Just want to thank him
for sharing some of his insights into his journey, into real estate investing. You know, as we talk
about on the Capitalist Sage very often, there’s a lot of different paths to becoming your own
boss. And whether it’s acquiring a business, whether it’s real estate investing, we like to bring
different perspectives of people in our community that are doing these things. So as you can
see, not only has Rudley made the leap into doing this full time for his corporate job, he’s
bringing his son along and his children along to learn about real estate investing. That’s
something we can all learn from and start to do whenever possible. Rico, you’ve got some
experience with that. I think some of your children follow along in your pursuit as well, so.
Rico: [00:28:10] A little bit.
Karl: [00:28:12] So that’s something that runs in the family. But what do you have going, coming
up Rico?
Rico: [00:28:18] Well, we just put out the latest issue of Peachtree Corners Magazine. It should
be hitting the mailboxes right about now.
Karl: [00:28:28] Faith in Sports, that’s a great, great subject. Really good job again, Rico.
Rico: [00:28:34] Yeah, thank you. We’re getting good reactions. It’s online, it’s on digital also,
right now. But 19,800 homes are getting the magazine this week in the mail. So between the
Faith and Sports and roller hockey and Girl Scouts, there’s a whole bunch of other stories about
artists, local artists and stuff like that. So it’s a full issue of content that I think people will be
interested in. They’ll find something in there that will interest them. So we have that and then
we’re also planning some more podcasts. So in the future, there’s going to be one on Wesleyan
Artist’s Market and the business of running a virtual art festival, right? And we’re also doing
another one on Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, which is the business of running a film festival
virtually, right? So it was kind of neat. Well, those things will be coming up. So I’m excited.
Karl: [00:29:31] Fabulous, fabulous. Well I’m Karl Barham with Transworld Business Advisors of
Atlanta Peachtree. Our business advisors are available to consult with business owners.
Whether you’re looking to improve your business, the value of your business, you’re ready to
take a vacation or retire and you’re looking to sell your business or you’re looking to acquire. It’s
a great time right now to acquire a business. The SBA as part of the care act are allowing some
unprecedented support for the economy to assist with small business. If you want to learn more
about that, ease the theater, reach out to me, KBarham@TWorld.com. Or you to go on our
website, www.TWorld.com/AtlantaPeachtree. We’ve got information around different lending
options that the SBA is doing including they are paying six months of a new SBA loan signed
before September. For anybody that closes on business acquisition using the 7A program.
That’s just one of the many ways the SBA is helping support small business and keeping people
employed as we navigate through the pandemic response. So we’ll be doing some more
webinars on those. We’re out in the community. We’re talking to folks and we’re just trying to
help people navigate through this and find a successful exit when they’re ready or grow through
acquisition. Rico what about anything going on, on the digital marketing side?
Rico: [00:31:05] Sure. Well, Mighty Rockets, my company is still doing a lot of consulting,
creative services, graphic design work. We just picked up another client. That’s actually a
publication, they put out two publications a month here in the Metro area. So we’re handling all
the creative work. So you know, anytime someone’s looking for product videos, content work,
social media, or graphic design creative services, we’re there. So feel free to go visit
MightyRockets.com. Or find me Rico Figliolini on linkedIn. Connect with me, send me a
message. I’d be more than happy to talk to you. So it’s been a busy year in 2021 so far. So as
bad as things may be out there, it’s not been a bad economy for us.
Karl: [00:31:54] Yeah it’s good change. You know, there’s a lot of change happening. So the
things change. People gotta communicate and get out there in their community. So grateful for
all that you do to help support that here locally in the community.
Rico: [00:32:07] I’m grateful for all the things I learned. Not only from you, because I’ve learned
a lot from you. And I know how to exit, I think my business at some point. But listening to people
like Rudley and his son and other people. I mean, these are great shows. I’m hoping people get
a lot of good, actionable things out of these episodes. And it’s just a good thing. I look forward to
every episode now.
Karl: [00:32:29] Absolutely. Well, we’ve got more to come in the new year, so stay tuned
everyone. Thank you for joining us on the Capitalist Sag

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Around Atlanta

Metro Atlanta Redevelopment Visionaries Honored at 2024 MARS Summit

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A group of award winners in front of a Partnership Gwinnett sign

Tim Perry, managing director and chief investment officer of Jamestown named Redevelopment Champion of the Year

The Metro Atlanta Redevelopment Summit (MARS), presented by Gwinnett’s Community Improvement Districts and co-hosted by Partnership Gwinnett and the Council for Quality Growth, offered an exclusive look at major redevelopment projects shaping the future of the region.

This year’s event not only highlighted emerging trends in the redevelopment industry but also provided valuable networking opportunities for professionals across metro Atlanta. Attendees gained insight into best practices through discussions on successful revitalization projects.

The summit’s marquee moment was the presentation of the annual MARS Awards, recognizing remarkable achievements in redevelopment that are transforming the metro Atlanta landscape.

The keynote address was delivered by Joe Minicozzi, a renowned urban planner and founder of Urban3, who shared his expertise on land use, urban design and economics. In addition to the keynote, the event featured dynamic panel discussions with local leaders and key partners from across the metropolitan area, spotlighting successful projects and innovative strategies in the region.

Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson concluded the summit with closing remarks, emphasizing the continued growth of the region and the collective efforts driving its future.

2024 MARS Awards winners

The MARS Awards ceremony celebrated projects that have made significant economic impacts on their communities and honored Tim Perry, an individual who has dedicated his career to advancing successful redevelopment initiatives.

Runner upPaul Radford, Sugar Hill city manager


Small Redevelopment Project of the Year: The Historic Jones Building

The historic Jones Building, one of the oldest structures in Cherokee County, has been revitalized to meet modern needs while preserving its storied past. This ambitious 28-month restoration culminated in August 2024, breathing new life into this cornerstone of downtown Canton and creating a dynamic space for work, dining, and play.

Runner up: The Hands of Christ Duluth Co-Op


Medium Redevelopment Project of the Year: The Grove at Towne Center

The Grove at Towne Center is a transformative development in the heart of Snellville. With 33,000 square feet of restaurant space, 10,000 square feet of retail and the new Elizabeth H. Williams Branch of the Gwinnett Public Library, The Grove offers an ideal blend of dining, shopping and cultural experiences.

Runner up: Springside Powder Springs


Large Redevelopment Project of the Year: The Works

The Works is an innovative, 80-acre adaptive reuse community that reimagines a historic warehouse district in Atlanta’s Upper Westside. The first phase, spanning 27 acres, introduced a dynamic mix of 218,000 square feet of unique retail and dining spaces, 118,000 square feet of creative office space and Westbound at The Works — a modern 306-unit multi-family residence.

Runner up: The Forum at Peachtree Corners

“Community redevelopment is essential in creating vibrant, thriving spaces that enhance the quality of life and drive sustainable economic growth for the entire region,” said Deven Cason, vice president of economic development for Partnership Gwinnett.

“We proudly congratulate this year’s award winners and finalists for their innovative contributions and tireless efforts in revitalizing our communities. Their work is not only reshaping local landscapes but also fueling long-term economic prosperity in metro Atlanta. We are grateful for their dedication to building a brighter, more prosperous future.”

2024 sponsors

The program was held at the former Georgia Baptist Convention Center, Maison6405, and welcomed more than 200 industry attendees.

Sponsors included Evermore CID, Gateway 85 CID, Gwinnett Place CID, Lilburn CID, Sugarloaf CID, C2H Air, Hogan Construction, Northside, Primerica, The Forum, Gas South, Jackson EMC, Select Fulton, True North 400, ABEV Power Solutions, City of Suwanee, Curiosity Labs, Geo Hydro Engineers, Georgia Power, Lose Designs, City of Lawrenceville, City of Norcross, City of Peachtree Corners, City of Sugar Hill and Town of Braselton.

For more information on revitalization and redevelopment efforts in the region, visit partnershipgwinnett.com.

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Business

TransPak Acquires Reid Packaging to Expand East Coast Presence

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group of people in a warehouse with two men in front shaking hands

The strategic acquisition strengthens TransPak’s Southeast presence and expands their capabilities in custom packaging for military, aerospace and high-value equipment.

TransPak, a global leader in logistics, packaging and crating services, recently announced the acquisition of Reid Packaging, a long-standing provider of custom packaging solutions based in Peachtree Corners. Both family-owned and operated companies share a deep-rooted commitment to quality craftsmanship, reliability and customer service, making the acquisition a natural fit.

Reid Packaging, founded in 1982, has distinguished itself as the go-to customer industrial packager in the metro Atlanta region, providing corrugated, foam and custom-engineered crating solutions, particularly in the military and aerospace industries. 

two people from Reid Packaging standing in front of crates and boxes in a warehouse
Ward and Anne Phillips of Reid Packaging

Under the ownership of Ward Phillips since 2008, the company has grown to become one of the largest packaging facilities in the region, with a 60,000-square-foot site. 

The acquisition will allow TransPak to expand its local manufacturing capabilities in the Southeast, while leveraging Reid Packaging’s expertise in specialized and heavy-duty custom crates.

Strategic Atlanta location and enhanced capabilities

The acquisition is part of TransPak’s strategic expansion into the Atlanta market, a critical logistics hub for both the renewable energy and semiconductor industries. 

“We’re thrilled to welcome Reid Packaging into the TransPak family,” said Tomas Molet, executive vice president of East and Midwest Operations, TransPak. “With Reid Packaging’s prime location in Peachtree Corners, we are now able to serve customers throughout the Southeast, including direct routes to the Carolinas and beyond. This acquisition strengthens our ability to meet the needs of existing clients, especially those in the semiconductor and renewable energy sectors.”

four people at a ribbon cutting as TransPak acquires Reid Packaging
Tomas Molet and Amanda Gautney with Anne and Ward Phillips

In addition to the strategic location, the acquisition brings new manufacturing capabilities to TransPak’s East Coast operations. Reid Packaging’s facility is now the largest of TransPak’s locations in the region. Its offerings include enhanced services, such as heavy-duty and triple-wall corrugated packaging, which will enable TransPak to meet the growing demand for custom-designed packaging solutions for fragile, high-value equipment.

Commitment to employees and leadership appointments

A key focus of the acquisition was ensuring a smooth transition for Reid Packaging’s employees.

 “We made a commitment to Ward Phillips to take care of the staff, and we’ve delivered on that promise,” said Molet. “All employees were retained, and we’ve introduced benefits they previously didn’t have as part of our commitment to making this a positive transition for everyone involved.”

Amanda Gautney, a longtime member of TransPak’s leadership team, has been appointed as the operations manager for the Peachtree Corners facility. “I’m excited to work with the team at Reid and continue the legacy of this respected company,” said Gautney. 

two people from TransPak standing in front of crates and boxes in a warehouse
Amanda Gautney and Tomas Molet

Looking forward in Atlanta

TransPak plans to continue operating under the Reid Packaging name for the immediate future. However, the facility will gradually transition to full integration under the TransPak brand, reflecting the shared values and commitment to quality of both companies.

About TransPak

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, TransPak has been providing innovative and cost-effective design, crating, packaging and global logistics for over 70 years.

As a customer-focused, women- and family-owned company, TransPak combines the agility of a small business with the reliability of a global powerhouse. TransPak lives by the slogan, “We make it happen,” ensuring that high-value, fragile, and oversized goods reach their destinations safely and efficiently.

For more information about TransPak, visit transpak.com.

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Business

Lisa Anders Promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Explore Gwinnett

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Professional headshot of a brown-haired woman wearing a blue top

Explore Gwinnett, the destination marketing organization for Gwinnett County, has announced the promotion of Lisa Anders from executive director to chief operating officer (COO). Since joining the organization in 1996, Anders has demonstrated outstanding leadership and has established a track record of developing partnerships essential to leading and expanding the evolving destination marketing organization. The creation and oversight of both the Gwinnett Film Commission and Gwinnett Creativity Fund are just two of her achievements.

“I am honored to step into the role of chief operating officer at Explore Gwinnett,” said Anders. “Over the past 13 years as executive director, I have had the privilege of witnessing remarkable growth for our destination. I am eager to enter this new chapter, and I’m looking forward to continuing to see how we expand.”

As COO, Anders will take on the additional responsibility of overseeing the Gwinnett Sports Commission. This division is dedicated to driving economic development through sports, managing a variety of events for youth, collegiate, amateur and professional athletic organizations. Ander’s innovative approach and extensive network of local and national connections will further support the commission’s overall mission to establish Gwinnett County as a premier sports destination.

“The Gwinnett Sports Commission team has excelled in attracting and managing a diverse array of sporting events over the past several years,” Anders added. “I look forward to working closely with this talented team to support their ongoing efforts and foster economic development for our community.”

For more information, visit exploregwinnett.org.

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