Built For This Show
Built For This is the show where real-life skills meet real estate success. Hosted by Andrea Lane and Alissa Bickar, we spotlight everyday investors who bring the best of who they are into their rental strategies. Whether you’re managing a few doors or just getting started, you’ll hear real stories, honest struggles, and unique insights from people who are building wealth their way. If you’re a high-earning professional using your edge to grow in real estate — you’re in the right place. 🎧 New episodes weekly 🎤 Want to be a guest? Apply at BuiltForThisShow.com/Guest
Episodes
What does it take to buy seven properties in just one year—while working full-time, parenting a toddler, and managing renovations? This week, Amy Brooke joins us to share how she and her husband scaled their real estate portfolio in Ontario, Canada with grit, strategy, and serious mindset work.
Amy talks about her journey from buying her first home at 19 in the UK to diving into Canadian real estate, where she self-manages 20+ unit...
In this episode of The Built For This Show, Daniel Zammata joins Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane to talk about the often-overlooked grind behind real estate investing. Originally from Colombia, Daniel shares why he’s intentionally chosen markets like Oklahoma and Ohio over the usual real estate hot spots—and how staying grounded and gritty has paid off.
Daniel walks us through his transition from property management to becoming a ful...
In this episode of The Built for This Podcast, hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane chat with Rob Gibbs, an IT professional-turned-investor based in Austin, Texas. Rob shares his journey from purchasing his first property sight unseen to building a sustainable portfolio of short, mid, and long-term rentals—all while working full-time and managing his properties remotely.
You’ll hear how Rob leverages his background in IT to streamli...
In this episode, we sit down with Carrie Howder—a dog-loving, detail-oriented former paralegal turned real estate investor—who shows us what it really means to take the leap and bet on yourself. From a spontaneous start in South Boston to building a lifestyle business centered around pet-friendly short-term rentals in Maine, Carrie shares her journey of agility, grit, and resourcefulness.
Carrie walks us through how she used a 1031...
In this episode of the Built For This Podcast, hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane sit down with real estate investor and entrepreneur Josh Meisel to uncover his unique journey from corporate employee and stock market investor to real estate owner and CEO of a short-term rental property management business.
Josh shares how he started out diversifying investments through real estate after getting burned by rising HOA fees on his fir...
What do you do when your dad tells you that your skills might not cut it in the job market? If you're Cris Sohmer, you take that as a challenge and build your own path—starting with a civil service career and eventually becoming a full-time real estate investor.
In this episode of The Built For This Podcast, Alissa and Andrea sit down with Cris to uncover how she turned real estate from a side hustle into her full-time obsession. F...
What does it really mean to be built for this? In this powerful episode, we meet Kris Fleming—real estate negotiator, investor, and creator of The Genius Cultivator—who turned a childhood of poverty and homelessness into a life of wealth and impact through real estate.
Kris shares her raw and inspiring journey of buying her first home at just 18 after aging out of foster care, and how she developed a talent for creative deals, powe...
This episode of the Built For This podcast features Nana Hong, a former PhD student turned full-time real estate investor with a 20-unit portfolio in Pittsburgh. Co-hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane dive into Nana’s inspiring transition from academia and biotech sales to building a purpose-driven real estate business. Nana shares how her analytical background, experience in sales, and deep personal values shaped her investment ap...
In this episode of The Built for This Podcast, Alissa and Andrea sit down with Shona Lepis—Portland-based real estate investor and coach—to uncover what it really takes to build a profitable buy-and-hold real estate business. From her roots in graphic design to scaling a thriving portfolio of midterm rentals, Shona shares how creative financing, smart design, and strong community ties have shaped her investing journey.
Tune in to h...
What would you do if you landed in a new country at 18 with no English, no family, and just $50 in your pocket? Ewka Kawecki did what few would dare—she got to work. From a bakery job to building a real estate portfolio across Indiana and Illinois, Ewka is the definition of grit and grace in business.
In this inspiring episode, Ewka shares her journey of buying her first home after working 7 days a week, how a surprise rehab led to...
In this episode, Alissa and Andrea are joined by Noel Christopher, a seasoned real estate expert whose journey spans commercial brokerage, institutional acquisitions, and single-family investments across the country. With decades of experience under his belt, Noel shares how his commercial background shaped a professional and analytical approach to residential investing—and why that’s a serious advantage in today’s market.
From acq...
What happens when a burned-out software engineer decides he’s done with the corporate grind? In this episode of The Built for This Podcast, David Ounanian shares how he transitioned from a 12-year tech career to becoming a successful real estate investor and agent in St. Louis.
Hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane dive into David’s journey, including how he scaled to 20 rental properties, the challenges of his first disastrous deal,...
In this episode of The Built For This Podcast, hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane sit down with Austin Spitzenberger, founder of a thriving luxury vacation rental management company in Central Texas. Austin shares how saying "no" became the secret weapon to his success—and how focusing on one thing helped him scale intentionally, grow profitably, and still prioritize what matters most: family.
Austin’s journey from buying a new bu...
In this inspiring episode of The Built For This Podcast, hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane sit down with James Hwang, an oncology pharmacist turned real estate entrepreneur. James shares how a personal health scare pushed him to rethink his financial future and dive headfirst into real estate investing.
Discover how James balances his full-time career while building a thriving midterm rental portfolio in New Jersey. He talks abou...
When Adam Rojas first dipped his toes into real estate, it wasn't by choice—it was his wife's idea. But what started with hesitation quickly turned into a growing real estate side business that is helping the couple build long-term wealth and diversify their income. In this episode, hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane sit down with Adam to explore how he went from reluctant landlord to active investor in the Atlanta area.
Adam open...
A Piece of Space for Peace of Mind: Abi Horton on Insurance Relocations and the Win-Win-Win Strategy
What if your real estate investment could be more than a business—what if it could be a lifeline? In this episode of The Built For This Podcast, hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane sit down with Abi Horton, a midterm rental entrepreneur whose passion for people fuels her success. Abi shares how her early days as a real estate agent in the UK, her hospitality background, and her heart for service led her to carve out a niche helping...
In this special “hosts-only” episode of Built for This, Andrea and Alissa flip the mic on themselves to unpack a real-life investing experience that every investor can learn from. Alissa shares the story of her first duplex purchase—from the excitement of closing day to the unexpected reality of evictions, renovations, and property management missteps.
This episode is a masterclass in how to keep your cool, your systems tight, and ...
From reselling sneakers to building luxury cabins — 22-year-old investor Rajan Chida proves that the hustle mindset can grow into something much bigger. In this episode, hosts Alissa Bickar (@consultress) and Andrea Lane (The Fearless Real Estate Investor) sit down with Rajan to hear how a side hustle flipping shoes turned into a thriving short-term rental business.
Rajan shares how he saved his profits from shoe reselling to buy h...
When is enough truly enough in real estate investing? In this episode, Cameron Carrozza joins Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane to share his journey from sales professional to full-time real estate investor with 18 doors across Kentucky.
Cameron opens up about how his entrepreneurial upbringing shaped his mindset and why his “unfair advantage” comes from staying nimble, seeing opportunities others miss, and building strong relationship...
Mark shares how his background in software development gave him an edge in real estate investing. With years of experience building solutions in tech, he learned that success comes from problem-solving—and that skill translates perfectly into real estate.
He and his partner Cheryl founded QZen, combining his technical mindset with her customer support expertise to create a business rooted in practical wisdom, ethics, and balance. T...
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