Serena Holmes
169 episodes listed below
Real stories behind practical wealth building.
Inspired to Invest is a warm interview series about business, real estate, and the long road toward financial freedom. Its conversations favor origin stories, setbacks, mindset shifts, and plainspoken takeaways from people building companies, portfolios, and new careers.
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Inspired to Invest is a business and real estate interview series centered on people who have built wealth, rebuilt momentum, or changed direction after a major personal or professional shift. It has a practical, encouraging pace. The show usually starts with a guest’s background, then works forward through the decisions, obstacles, and habits that shaped the current business or investment strategy. Recent conversations have covered LinkedIn brand building with Leslie Hughes, creative real estate recovery after a crash with Chris Prefontaine, multifamily investing with Insiyah Panju, founder mindset with Markus Kaulius, angel investing with Karen Rands, military-to-real-estate discipline with Tim Street, senior housing with Debora Randall, and business systems with Justin Lund. Real estate is the spine, but the show is not limited to property talk. It moves comfortably into entrepreneurship, personal resilience, sales, capital raising, family-run companies, mentorship, philanthropy, and the challenge of growing without becoming the bottleneck. The interviews are warm rather than combative. Questions tend to invite stories first, then draw out frameworks, lessons, and concrete advice from lived experience. A typical episode might begin with a pivot out of teaching, the Marine Corps, management, or a solopreneur grind, then follow the thread into asset classes, operating systems, investor psychology, or brand credibility. The result feels like a working conversation with people who have tested their ideas in the field. There is room for ambition, but also for uncertainty. Guests talk about imposter syndrome, market crashes, health issues, family, purpose, and the cost of scaling. That gives the show a grounded texture. It is best suited to listeners who like business advice with biography attached, especially those exploring real estate investing or trying to build a company that creates more freedom over time.
Made for: For aspiring and active entrepreneurs, real estate investors, and business owners who want grounded examples of growth, reinvention, and financial independence. It suits listeners who prefer conversational guidance over rapid-fire market commentary.
What sets it apart: The show pairs real estate and business strategy with personal turning points, so the lessons come through lived stories rather than abstract advice. Its supportive interview style gives guests space to explain both the numbers and the mindset behind their decisions.
The "Inspired To Invest" Podcast shares stories from inspirational business owners, entrepreneurs and real estate investors, how/why they got started, challenges/obstacles faced, successes achieved, lessons learned and much more. Never miss an episode! The host of "Inspired To Invest", Serena Holmes, ran her own multi-award winning brand experience agency for 18 years and has been investing in real estate for over ten years. Throughout the course of her career, she has had the chance to get to know some super amazing people who have taken charge of their lives to start a business and/or invest in real estate...
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Founder and investor stories become practical lessons about growth, risk, visibility, and the decisions behind a business.
Inspired to Invest follows business owners and real estate investors from their starting point through the decisions, setbacks, and adjustments that shaped their work.
Condo deal math meets a founder who couldn't do everything herself; your ambition has two tabs open.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A practical LinkedIn conversation about credibility, visibility, and showing up with purpose.
Leslie Hughes talks through LinkedIn, credibility, and visibility with a practical edge. As the principal of Punch Media, a LinkedIn trainer and profile writer, author of Create, Connect, Convert, and a digital marketing instructor at Ontario Tech, she frames personal branding…
A grounded real estate conversation about scaling, market uncertainty, and building a business with family involved.
Chris Prefontaine's conversation works best when it ties years of real estate experience to the harder lesson of scaling. The emphasis stays on practice over theory: building a business, bringing in help in 2017 to grow, and learning that stepping back was part of getting…
A grounded look at wealth building across real estate, cannabis, and capital markets.
Basim Hanna is positioned as a practical example of wealth building across real estate, cannabis, and capital markets. The discussion presents him as a first-generation immigrant and serial entrepreneur, with exits at Omega Corp Development, Omega EMD, and TerraSend, and draws…
A grounded founder story about how Mabel's Labels began and grew.
Julie Cole's story stays rooted in the origin of Mabel's Labels: 22 years ago, she and three others from college started it in a basement, and it grew into a multi-million dollar brand.
A mortgage broker links hospitality-minded service, social media reach, and careful family sharing.
Steve Patel's path from hospitality into mortgages gives the episode its cleanest hook. Based in Wixom, Michigan, he is presented as a broker who brought hotel-business instincts into a space not usually known for that level of service.
A grounded founder conversation about branding, visibility, and learning to lead more clearly.
Lemia Tabina's episode keeps its focus on branding, marketing, growth, and the harder lesson of letting other people carry part of the load. The shift from hiding work behind account-style titles to owning the role in public gives the conversation a steady, practical center, and…
Tax strategy through rented heritage property.
Practical conversations with leaders and innovators.
Bienes raíces en español, con números reales.
Deal talk with an abundance mindset.
LinkedIn becomes a credibility check.
Chris Prefontaine joins Inspired to Invest from Newport, Rhode Island.
This episode features an interview with Insiyah Panju, a former teacher turned real estate entrepreneur, discussing her transition to multifamily real estate investing and her mission to make wealth building accessible, especially for women.
This episode features an interview with serial entrepreneur Markus Kaulius, discussing his journey, mindset principles from his book 'Play a Bigger Game', and how to achieve freedom, fulfillment, and success through entrepreneurship and investing.
This episode explores angel investing through compassionate capitalism with Karen Rands, discussing how strategic private equity investments can build businesses, create wealth, and generate positive impact.
Interview with Tim Street, a Marine Corps veteran turned real estate educator, discussing his journey and strategies for maximizing equity in property sales.
An interview with Debra Randall, an agricultural economist turned real estate investor, discussing her pivot into value-add senior housing.
Interview with entrepreneur Justin Lund about overcoming challenges and building profitable businesses that don't require daily involvement.
An interview with Tatima Berrios, founder of Rent Roll Capital, discussing her journey from private equity to multifamily real estate investing and how she helps busy professionals build passive income.
Host Serena Holmes interviews seasoned developer and syndicator Shannon Robnett about his journey in real estate investing, from growing up in a real estate family to raising over $70 million.
Interview with Joanna Wright, a real estate wealth maven teaching women over 40 how to invest in real estate for retirement.
An interview with disruption strategist Peter Swain about his career in technology and helping businesses navigate change.
Interview with a former corrections officer turned full-time real estate investor who shares her journey from reading Rich Dad Poor Dad to rehabbing over 50 units and developing a mixed-use commercial property.
Host Serena Holmes interviews cybersecurity entrepreneur Dominic Vogel about his 20-year career journey from corporate to founding his own firm.
Host Serena Holmes interviews former lawyer and author Terry Kirk about her career transition from law to entrepreneurship and investing.
Interview with a top real estate agent who went from rock bottom to running a large team doing over 500 deals a year.
Rain Becker shares her journey from corporate operations to founding a multifamily real estate investment firm, focusing on building passive income and legacy for her family.
Lance Morgan shares how he transitioned from IT to finance, using real estate investing to reduce taxes and fund his children's college education.
Interview with Deanna Lee, founder of Collective Destinations, discussing her journey from house hacking to building a lifestyle hospitality investment fund.
Basim Hanna joins from Toronto.
Julie Cole joins the show to talk about the beginnings of Mabel’s Labels.
Steve Patel, also identified later as Steve Bedell, describes moving from hotel hospitality into mortgage broking after rejecting nights, weekends, and holiday work as a long-term lifestyle.
Lemia Tabina joins the show from Dubai to talk about building businesses, brands, and a more confident public identity.
An interview with Michael Ucalano, a seasoned real estate investor who overcame personal hardships to build a multi-billion dollar investment portfolio.
Interview with Scott Harris, founder of Magnetic Real Estate, discussing his journey into real estate and the emotional aspects of home buying.
Host Serena Holmes interviews Darius Roth about his journey from inner-city hardship to building wealth through real estate investing.
Interview with Lauren Cohen, a cross-border real estate and legal expert, discussing her journey and helping investors expand internationally.
An interview with John Weitenberg, founder of LXK Group, discussing his journey in commercial real estate investing and his hybrid platform for operators.
Host Serena Holmes interviews Vanessa Ortali, a mindset and business coach for high-achieving women, about her journey from corporate coaching to founding the Toronto Ladies Community.
This episode features Jay Conner discussing how real estate investors can raise private money without directly asking for it, drawing from his experience raising over $2 million after losing bank credit in 2009.
This episode features an interview with Elizabeth Kelly, a business coach and real estate investor, discussing how to build a stable and sustainable real estate portfolio, including her journey and insights for entrepreneurs.
A former firefighter shares his journey from a stable career to pursuing financial freedom through real estate investing with mentorship and strategic planning.
This episode features an interview with Dave Foster, an expert on 1031 exchanges, discussing how to use tax-free exchanges to save money and build wealth in real estate investing.
This episode features mindset transformation coach Elizabeth Zambicki discussing how to break free from limiting beliefs to achieve success in business, career, and life.