From Corporate to Cash Flow

Yumi Cos has spent more than 15 years managing apartments, completed 40 real estate flips, managed a golf course, and helped turn a commercial property around from foreclosure to a valuation of more than $1 million.
Now, she’s building her life around faith, finances, and freedom, and creating a business that gives her more time with her kids.
In this episode of From Corporate to Cash Flow, Yumi shares the lessons she’s learned through real estate investing, entrepreneurship, partnerships, and her journey toward financial freedom.
One of her biggest lessons? Don’t jump into partnerships. Date before you get married. Yumi talks about what makes a great business partner, why communication is critical, and why she looks for “go-givers” who take ownership instead of blaming others when things go wrong.
We also dive into the mindset behind long-term success. Yumi is a big believer in becoming 1% better every day. She compares her journey from a white belt to a black belt to building wealth and a business: you don't become a black belt overnight, you put in the reps, improve a little every day, and eventually look back and realize how far you've come.
Yumi also shares practical advice for anyone who wants to build financial freedom without immediately quitting their job. Her recommendation? Keep your W-2, dedicate one focused hour a day to your side hustle, identify problems you can solve, and figure out how to get paid for solving them.
In this episode, we talk about:
• Yumi's journey from apartment management to full-time entrepreneurship
• Completing 40 real estate flips and turning around a commercial property
• Why she’s excited about tiny home communities
• Building a life around faith, finances, and freedom
• The biggest lessons she’s learned from business partnerships
• Why you should “date before you get married” when choosing a partner
• What makes an ideal business partner
• Why communication and personal accountability matter
• The power of mindset, podcasts, and audiobooks
• Becoming 1% better every day
• What her journey from white belt to black belt taught her about business
• How to build financial freedom while keeping your W-2 job
• Finding problems you can solve—and getting paid to solve them
• Why giving more value than everyone else can set you apart
• Finding what you love and becoming really great at it
 
If you're a high-income professional or W-2 employee who wants to build wealth, start a side hustle, invest in real estate, or create more freedom without sacrificing the stability of your career, this episode is full of practical lessons you can apply right now.
 
Connect with Yumi: instagram.com/blackbeltbizclub youtube.com/@blackbeltbizclub youtube.com/@blackbeltbizclubofficial facebook.com/blackbeltbizclub
Linkedin Yumi Cos Yumi@theblackbeltmethod.com https://blackbeltbizclub.com
 
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In this episode of From Corporate to Cash Flow, real estate investors Andrea Cannon and Liz Schwab share some of the biggest lessons they’ve learned throughout their investing journeys—from the reality of “passive income” to knowing when to walk away from an investment opportunity.
If you’re a busy professional exploring real estate investing, passive income, private money lending, or alternative investments, this conversation will help you think more critically about where—and how—you choose to invest your money.
In this episode, we discuss:
Why nothing is as passive as it sounds — Even with a property manager, rental properties require oversight. And even private money lending comes with due diligence, risk management, and staying involved in the process.
Why your investment strategy should evolve as your life evolves — The best investment strategy for you may change depending on your career, goals, available time, lifestyle, and the season of life you’re in.
Why saying “no” can be one of your best investment decisions — You don’t have to invest in every deal or chase every opportunity. If you don’t understand an investment, it’s okay to pass. Some of our best decisions have been the deals we chose not to do.
This episode is also Liz Schwab’s final episode as co-host of From Corporate to Cash Flow. We’re incredibly grateful for everything Liz has brought to the podcast and excited to see what she does next. Please join us in wishing her the very best in her next ventures!
If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the channel for weekly conversations about real estate investing, private money lending, building passive income, alternative investments, and creating more financial freedom while building a life you actually enjoy.
We’d love to hear from you: What is one investing lesson you’ve learned the hard way—or one investment you’re glad you said “no” to? Share it in the comments!
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What if the real estate strategy you start with isn’t the strategy you end up loving?
Linda Holtz started investing in real estate through house hacking before eventually transitioning into multifamily syndication. Today, she focuses on larger multifamily properties with at least 65 units and she’s built her investing strategy around finding the right balance between time, money, and involvement.
In this episode of From Corporate to Cash Flow, hosts Andrea Cannon and Liz Schwab sit down with Linda to talk about what it really takes to build a real estate investing strategy that fits your life.
Linda shares why she didn’t love being a landlord for smaller properties, despite actually enjoying property management, and why she ultimately made the move into larger multifamily assets. She also discusses the challenges multifamily investors have faced as rising interest rates have impacted valuations and cap rates and why she believes learning to invest during a difficult market can create an incredible advantage when conditions improve.
They also dive into one of the most important (and often overlooked) aspects of real estate investing: the people you partner with. Linda explains why the right partners can make or break a deal and why evaluating the people behind an investment is just as important as evaluating the property itself.
Plus, Linda shares advice for busy professionals trying to decide which real estate strategy is right for them:
How she went from house hacking to multifamily syndication
Why she focuses on multifamily properties with 65+ units
How higher interest rates have changed the multifamily market
Why your partners can make or break a real estate deal
How to determine how much time, energy, and money you want to put into investing
Why more capital can allow you to take a more passive approach
What investors should actually look at when evaluating syndication projections
Why you should never blindly trust the numbers presented in a syndication
If you're a busy professional looking to build wealth through real estate without necessarily becoming a full-time landlord, this conversation will give you plenty to think about.
**Connect with Linda:**
LinkedIn: Linda Holtz
IG & Facebook: M2RETX
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What happens when you skip the traditional path, move across the country at 18, and learn entrepreneurship directly from someone who has already built the businesses you want to create?
In this episode of From Corporate to Cash Flow, hosts Andrea Cannon and Liz Schwab are joined by Nitin Daswani, a 25-year-old entrepreneur who has built an impressive business career alongside real estate investor and serial entrepreneur Abraham Gray.
Nitin was accepted to USC to study business, but at 17, Abraham challenged him to think differently: instead of spending years learning business in a classroom, why not move to Atlanta and learn by actually building businesses?
Nitin took the leap.
Today, he owns multiple brick-and-mortar businesses with Abraham and helps manage a $40 million lending business.
In our conversation, Nitin shares what he has learned about entrepreneurship, private lending, underwriting, systems, and building businesses that actually deliver on their promises.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Why Nitin chose entrepreneurship over a traditional college path
- What it's like learning directly from an experienced entrepreneur
- How Nitin and Abraham complement each other's strengths
- The importance of systems and processes when scaling a business
- Why doing what you say you're going to do can become a competitive advantage
- What Nitin has learned from managing a $40 million lending business
- Why strong underwriting skills are critical for private lenders
- How to evaluate risk before putting your capital into a deal
- The lessons Nitin has learned from building and operating brick-and-mortar businesses
**Connect with Nitin:** https://www.instagram.com/nitindaswanii?igsh=aWZiYjZlcnBkZXUx&utm_source=qr https://www.facebook.com/share/1PUWYccpjr/?mibextid=wwXIfr
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What if your real estate investments could build wealth **and** make a meaningful difference in people’s lives?
In this episode of *From Corporate to Cash Flow*, we sit down with Bridgette Ruiz, an HR professional who decided after buying her first home that she wanted to become a real estate investor. She quickly realized that real estate could be a path to building long-term wealth and found a niche that aligned deeply with her personal story: **affordable housing and sober living**.
Bridgette shares the powerful moment of clarity that led her into sober living, a niche connected to her own experience growing up in a household affected by alcoholism. Today, she operates sober living homes in North Carolina and has even connected with the families of women living in her properties, an experience she says has truly “filled her cup.”
We also dive into how Bridgette uses her experience as a **certified CliftonStrengths coach** to build better businesses, partnerships, and teams. She explains why your ideal business partner probably shouldn't have the exact same strengths you do—and why understanding your weaknesses can become especially important when things get difficult.
Bridgette also shares what she has learned about **scaling a real estate business with local operators**, why having someone on the ground who understands the market is critical, and how she is now helping investors across **44 states** create impact through real estate.
One of the most interesting strategies she discusses is using a **master lease with Oxford House**, which she describes as one of the most passive approaches to real estate investing she has encountered. For buy-and-hold investors looking for a way to generate cash flow while addressing a real need in their communities, this strategy is worth exploring.
Finally, Bridgette shares a perspective on **money and parenting** that really stood out: instead of teaching children that money is “bad” or something to avoid talking about, she believes we should teach them that money is powerful—and that it can be used to do good things.
### In this episode, we discuss:
* How to get started in real estate investing while working a W-2 job
* Why Bridgette chose sober living as her real estate niche
* Affordable housing and the growing need for sober living
* How personal experiences can shape your investment strategy
* The importance of having a local real estate operator
* Master leasing and Oxford House
* Passive real estate investing strategies for buy-and-hold investors
* How to use CliftonStrengths to find the right business partners
* Why your weaknesses matter when building a business
* How real estate investors can create both financial and social impact
* Teaching kids about money and building a healthy relationship with wealth
If you're a **real estate investor, aspiring investor, W-2 professional, or someone looking for ways to build wealth while making an impact**, this episode is packed with ideas worth considering.
**Connect with Bridgette Ruiz:**
IG: https://instagram.com/ruiz_bridgette?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/bridgetteruiz
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkttKKp4_dGh2Fho2vD6tdg https://generationsrestoredliving.com/ -
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Is real estate still the best path to financial freedom? Or are there better opportunities hiding in plain sight?
In this episode of From Corporate to Cashflow, hosts Andrea Cannon and Liz Schwab sit down with investor, entrepreneur, attorney, and tax strategist Chris Craig, whose unconventional journey has taken him from the dot-com crash to building multiple businesses across real estate, tax planning, and emerging investment opportunities.
Chris shares how getting laid off during the dot-com bubble unexpectedly led him into the world of distressed real estate. After building a foreclosure database for another investor, he spotted an opportunity and launched his own wholesaling business, eventually closing 3–5 wholesale deals per week while averaging around $8,000 per deal.
When the housing market crashed, Chris pivoted again. He worked as a paralegal while attending law school, focused on bankruptcy law, and later built an accounting firm helping high-income W-2 professionals reduce their tax burden through strategic planning. In this conversation, Chris explains why he believes today's real estate market isn't the same wealth-building vehicle it once was, why he's selling much of his portfolio, and the new asset class he's pursuing in search of stronger cash-on-cash returns with less capital invested.
We also discuss:
• How Chris built a successful wholesaling business before the housing crash
• Why he believes many real estate investors need to rethink their strategy
• Tax planning strategies for high-income W-2 professionals
• The mindset shifts that helped him reinvent his career multiple times
• Why "your network is your net worth" is more than just a cliché
• The realities of entrepreneurship that most people don't talk about
• His latest ventures in longevity-focused businesses and other unconventional opportunities
Chris is unapologetically opinionated, challenges conventional investing wisdom, and isn't afraid to question popular financial and health-related advice. Whether you agree with him or not, this conversation will make you think differently about investing, entrepreneurship, taxes, longevity and building long-term wealth.
If you enjoy conversations about real estate investing, passive income, entrepreneurship, tax strategies, private lending, and financial freedom, be sure to subscribe so you don't miss future episodes of From Corporate to Cashflow.
What was the biggest idea or opinion from Chris that you agreed (or disagreed) with? Let us know in the comments!
**Connect with Chris Craig:**
LinkedIn.com/thetaxfirm @christophercraigofficial
Facebook.com/chriscraig702
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In this episode of the From Corporate to Cash Flow Podcast, hosts Andrea Cannon and Liz Schwab sit down with Jamie Davis—a real estate attorney turned healthcare entrepreneur—to explore her unconventional journey from corporate layoffs to building multiple six-figure businesses in real estate, vending, behavioral health, and durable medical equipment.
Jamie’s story is a masterclass in resilience, pivoting, and leveraging expertise to create genuine passive income and financial freedom. After practicing corporate real estate law at Walmart and AMC Theaters, a layoff became the catalyst for Jamie to launch ventures in vending machines, micro markets, multifamily real estate, and now—most importantly—mental health and behavioral health facilities across multiple states.
What You’ll Learn:
Building Relationships as Your Safety Net (0:00–6:00)
Jamie credits her rapid reemployment after a corporate layoff to intentional relationship building on LinkedIn and Facebook. Discover why your network is your net worth, and how staying connected pays dividends when corporate restructures hit.
Scaling from Side Hustles to Six Figures (7:50–9:00)
From two vending machines to 25 micro markets in high-end office buildings—Jamie scaled her business to a profitable exit in under a year. Learn the systems and mindset that enable rapid scaling.
Transitioning Real Estate Skills to Healthcare (9:00–15:00)
Jamie explains how she moved from traditional real estate investing (duplexes, fourplexes, Airbnbs) to owning and operating Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOPs) and behavioral health residential facilities (BHRFs). This is a lesser-known but highly profitable real estate niche that has a great potential for impact.
Navigating Politics & Regulatory Landscape (26:00–29:00)
Whether it’s Airbnb regulations or Medicare fraud scrutiny, Jamie uses her legal background to stay ahead of regulatory changes. She monitors the Department of Justice website daily to anticipate industry shifts—a habit every entrepreneur should adopt.
Financial Foundations: Build the Right Team (33:00–35:00)
Never try to master finance alone. Jamie emphasizes hiring a CPA who understands real estate, small business, and investment strategy. Learn about tax strategies like cost segregation studies that can legally reduce your tax burden.
Key Takeaways:
• Relationships matter more than resumes. During corporate layoffs, Jamie’s network got her back to work in 3 weeks while others struggled for months.
• Side hustles can become primary income. Vending and micro markets gave Jamie the capital and confidence to scale into real estate and healthcare ventures.
• Real estate extends far beyond single-family homes. Behavioral health residential facilities and IOPs are recession-proof, cash-flowing asset classes most investors never consider.
• Know what’s coming down the pipeline. Study regulations, read city council minutes, monitor DOJ indictments, stay ahead of policy changes that affect your business.
• Slowing down accelerates success. True wealth building requires enjoying the present while building for the future.
**Connect with Jamie Davis:** Instagram: @apartmentswithjamie ---
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Join us as pharmacist Shinyi Telscher reveals how she built a thriving real estate portfolio while keeping her day job and the pivotal lessons that transformed her approach to wealth building and passive income.
 
In this episode of the "From Corporate to Cash Flow Podcast," hosts Andrea Cannon and Liz Schwab sit down with Shinyi Telscher, a fellow healthcare professional who has mastered the art of building financial freedom through strategic real estate investing. Shinyi shares her inspiring journey from traditional nine-to-five employment to becoming a sophisticated real estate investor managing multiple properties, lending deals, and commercial opportunities.
 
What You'll Learn:
 
The Corporate-to-Investor Journey (0:00–3:00) Discover how Shinyi transitioned from a stable pharmacy career to active real estate investing while maintaining her day job for security and income stability. Learn why having a reliable W-2 income actually accelerates wealth building through real estate.
 
Single Family to Commercial Real Estate Strategy (3:00–7:30) Explore Shinyi's evolution from buying a four-unit rental property to strategically exiting her single-family portfolio. Understand her shift toward commercial real estate and why appreciation matters more than monthly cash flow for wealth building at scale.
 
Conservative Lending Principles (8:00–11:00) Get insider tips on Shinyi's "backyard lending" approach—including her strict criteria for who she lends to, how she structures deals securely, and why location and local control are non-negotiable for protecting your capital.
 
The Co-Living Pivot: Why She Changed Course (20:30–28:00) Perhaps the most valuable lesson: how Shinyi recognized that co-living wasn't aligned with her lifestyle and time constraints, then pivoted to master-leasing with a nonprofit—turning $1,500 in mortgage payments into $5,400+ in monthly passive income without management headaches.
 
Building Passive Income While Working (17:30–20:00) Learn Shinyi's daily time-blocking strategy: working her pharmacy job until 3pm, then dedicating 3–6pm to her real estate business as her "golden hour" for calls, offers, and property tours.
 
Key Takeaways:
• Invest in education strategically — Free content is superficial; paying for quality coaching and mentorship accelerates results and protects you from costly mistakes
• Location is everything — It's the one thing you can't change, making it worth prioritizing over short-term cash flow
• Know when to delegate — Recognize where you're weak, then master-lease or partner with experts who excel at operations
• Time-blocking is sacred — Protect your real estate business hours as non-negotiable commitments, just like your day job
• Stability enables risk — A strong W-2 income allows you to invest strategically without desperation, creating faster wealth compounding
 
Ready to Build Your Real Estate Empire?
This episode proves that healthcare professionals, corporate employees, and busy professionals can absolutely build wealth through real estate investing without sacrificing their careers. Whether you're exploring rental properties, lending opportunities, or commercial real estate deals, Shinyi's framework offers a proven roadmap.
 
Connect with Shinyi: Instgram: https://www.instagram.com/shinyi.telscher
 
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In this episode of From Corporate to Cashflow, co-hosts Andrea Cannon & Liz Schwab interview Ingryd Hernandez, a former food service executive turned real estate entrepreneur, who shares her powerful journey from corporate stability to financial freedom through creative financing, wholesaling, & innovative deal platforms.
What You'll Learn:
0:00 – Introduction & Ingryd's Corporate Background Andrea welcomes Ingryd Hernandez, a long-time food service executive who pivoted to real estate investing while maintaining her W2 income, the ultimate wealth-building strategy.
0:40 – From Food Service to Real Estate Ingryd reveals how a mentor encouraged her to diversify beyond a single income source, leading her to get her real estate license in 2013 & later discover subto financing & creative real estate strategies that changed everything.
3:00 – The Real Estate License Debate Should you get licensed as a real estate investor? Ingryd breaks down when having a license matters & when it becomes a distraction, offering practical guidance for different stages of wealth-building.
7:49 – Creative Listing Platform Launch Discover how Ingryd co-founded CreativeListing.com with Pace Morby & developer Raz—a game-changing platform that allows investors to market lease options, wraparound mortgages, subject-to deals, & cash offers (traditional listings too). Nearly 500+ deals closed!
12:30 – COVID, Layoffs & Building a Safety Net When her industry collapsed in 2020, Ingryd was prepared. Learn her strategic approach: building side income streams *before* leaving her job, using leverage, partnerships, & achieving financial confidence before making the leap to full-time entrepreneurship.
17:28 – The Done-For-You Model Ingryd now focuses on passive income syndications & hands-off investments for high-net-worth individuals seeking quality real estate deals in residential flips, rentals, & commercial properties—no babysitting required.
23:00 – Life Habits of High Performers Andrea asks the burning question: *"How do you do everything you do?"* Ingryd reveals her constant podcast consumption, book-reading obsession, & her refusal to watch Netflix—all strategic decisions to stay market-aware & competitive.
25:00 – Financial Advice for Beginners Ingryd shares Caroline Cain's game-changing rule: hit your target income for 3-4 months straight *before* leaving your job. She also recommends "Secrets of a Millionaire Mindset" by T. Harv Eker to rewire your financial thermostat.
28:00 – Travel & Life Balance Even wealth builders need to dream. Ingryd shares her bucket list: Spain (Bad Bunny concert!), Hawaii for her husband's 45th birthday, & Cartagena, Colombia to explore her Caribbean heritage.
Key Takeaways:
✓ Multiple income streams are non-negotiable — Diversify beyond your W2 with real estate, lending, or business ownership before making the leap to full-time entrepreneurship.
✓ Creative financing opens hidden wealth — Lease options, subject-to deals, & wraparound mortgages allow you to access properties & profits that traditional lending never reveals.
✓ Partnerships require exit strategies — Know your divorce clause before you merge with business partners. Every partnership ends; be prepared.
✓ Build passive income while employed — Don't quit your job until you've proven consistent cash flow for 3-4 months. Your safety net is your superpower. ---
Connect with Ingryd: https://www.youtube.com/@ingrydhernandez, ingrydhernandez.com, https://www.linkedin.com/in/ingryd-hernandez-47a36b45/, https://www.tiktok.com/@ingrydhernandez?_r=1&_t=ZP-96JQMMABC7r
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Most people think banks are the only option for borrowing money. Steven Loewer built a business by becoming the alternative.
In this episode of From Corporate to Cashflow, we sit down with Steven Loewer, founder of Lions Den Capital, to discuss how he went from buying his first rental property at just 19 years old to building a successful private lending business that helps investors and homeowners access financing when traditional banks can't.
Steven shares the lessons he learned growing up around rental properties, the story of collecting his first three months of rent entirely in cash (and why depositing $6,000 at the bank wasn't as simple as he expected), and how his career evolved from raising capital for apartment flips to launching his own lending company.
We also dive into how private lending works in Canada, why his company has built a reputation as a solutions-based lender, and what investors can learn about raising capital, structuring deals, and creating wealth through real estate financing.
Whether you're interested in private lending, real estate investing, raising private capital, rental properties, or creating passive income, this conversation is packed with practical insights and real-world experience.
In this episode, we discuss:
• Buying a first rental property at 19 years old
• Lessons from growing up in a real estate family
• How private lending actually works
• Raising millions in private capital
• Transitioning from corporate finance to entrepreneurship
• Becoming a solutions-based lender
• Differences between Canadian and U.S. lending
• Advice for new real estate investors and lenders
 
Connect with Steven: Instgram: https://www.instagram.com/stevenloewer/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/stevenloewer?originalSubdomain=ca
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steven.loewer/
Want Steven's Private Mortgage Starter Kit? Send the word "corporate" to Steven on Instagram to receive a copy.
 
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