You know what it is. That's right. It's time to talk money with your money nerd and financial coach. Now tighten those purse strings and open those ears. It's the money talk with Tiff podcast. Hey, everyone. I'm so excited because I have Chrissy Grigoropoulos on the line, and she's here to talk to us about how she went from self doubt to self made and got into real estate. So, hey, Christy, how are you today? I'm doing great, Tiff. Thanks so much for having
me. Yes, thank you so much for coming on. So, self doubt. I think everybody struggles with this at one point or another. So when it comes to your story, what were the feelings of self doubt that you were feeling, and how did you overcome that? Sure, that's a great question. Everyone feels uncomfortable when you first start doing something, especially in life, growth. And you're not going to feel 100% comfortable because it's something new. And the definition of stress has changed. So
you have to push through. You got to believe in yourself first. I made it through law school. I made it through getting certification to become the real estate corporate broker that I am today, in addition to other businesses that I have. And you really have to push through that self doubt. And can I do this? And really, as I state in my book, why not you? You really have to take that stance on life and on your personal growth. And I love that you say that. Why not
you? Because a lot of times, you know, especially in the age of social media, we look at other people, you know, of course, you see their highlight reels and things, and you're like, dang. Like, I really want to do this. I really want to do that. And really, what's holding us back is our mind. Like, we just don't think that we can do it. You're your worst enemy. Absolutely. Absolutely. And so when we're thinking through, okay, let's say, for instance, somebody's
listening right now, they're like, I want to be a Chrissy. Like, I want to get over this self doubt. What are some tips that you would give that person on? You know, just getting over that feeling and going for whatever it is they're trying to do? Sure. I talk about it on and on. In Lady Shark, how to become a millionaire in your thirties, it literally tells you how to be a lady shark, how to push through the self doubt, how to get your path
to financial freedom started or continue it in growth. And my advice isn't about overnight success. It's about embracing the process of the personal growth, gaining financial literacy, and trying to live your life to the fullest of whatever the definition of you, the definition of happy that you see for yourself. So you have to push through. You have to believe in yourself. You have to be your own cheerleader on the inside, even if you're feeling uncomfortable. And it
will feel better. You know, it's repetition, it's all routine. You just have to get past the first few days, the first week, the first time that you're trying to do something new and it will get easier. Gotcha. Gotcha. And before we hit record, you have mentioned something about faking it until you make it. How does that work out? Or how would people do that? Or what do you mean by that? I want to be authentic because it's a double edged sword. Because a lot of
people like, oh, fake, you never want to be fake. And that's very accurate. You really never want to be fake. But sometimes you have to have this false sense of success already, even when you're walking on unknown ground. So you want to fake the confidence. You want to fake, you know what? I'm doing this. I'm going to be great at it. Because if you don't fake
it till you make it, you're never going to be that successful person. When you look to your left and you look to your right and you're around other people that have had gone through the steps and the journey of either owning a new business, getting your real estate certificate, doing fix and flips, selling contracts of sales, all different realms of nuances of how to make money and how to start new growth to financial freedom. It's always new at some point or
another. So you have to just fake the confidence and get through it. Gotcha. You know, I had went to this talk a little bit ago. It was a local business owner and, you know, he had, you know, now he has like hundreds of employees, but he said when he first started, one thing that he did was he bought a call tree. And, you know, it's like, if you like to speak to sales press, blah blah blah, if you like to speak to da da press, da da da. And he
said for every option it went to him. But it was just that, fake it until you make it. You know, people thought that it was bigger than what it was, but it actually helped him to get there. And really, honestly, I feel like that's a powerful kind of manifestation tool. It's kind of like you're visualizing, you're acting like you already have it. So then it brings it to you. So what are your thought? Or what are some things that you've done to do that? Fake
it till you make it well. You want to manifest always. And the thoughts that you. That you think about yourself and about your potential and about a new business or a new venture that you're going on, that's what will come to fruition. So if you're like, oh, I suck at this, or you're down on yourself, you know that that's going to be the
foreseeability of where you're going. So, for me, I mean, when I first started my business, it was me and one other person that I had as a secretary, per se, and it was, you have to just put yourself out there. I have my own firm. Okay, firm. What does that even mean? A firm is more than one person that's doing something in order to, you know, protect people's rights as an attorney. But when you hear a law group, you know, it's a group of people. Okay? Two people's
a group in theory. So, you know, my corporation for my first baby, which is my law firm, I call baby businesses or a new business, my baby, it was the Gregoropolis law group. It still is the Gregoropolis law group, even when that group was only two people. Now we've grown to three offices and so on and so forth. But you got to put yourself out there and project where you want to be. Yes, I love that. I love that. Calling it a group when it was
only two of you, but now it really is a group. You have probably multiple lawyers, multiple offices, things like that. So you kind of spoke it into existence. So I love how you're using that little change in how you say things or change in how you do things to bring in more. That is awesome. So I want to switch gears a little bit. Let's talk a little bit about the financial literacy piece, because you said that that was a huge thing for you to
get on the journey to where you're at. So how did you get started in learning about money? Like, was it when you were younger, your parents, your family, friends, who inspired that for you? Great question, tiff. Exactly. I was lucky to have parents that forced me to understand credit and that, you know, you can be the richest person in the world, which clearly we were not. However, if you have no credit, you're really going to cripple
yourself. So I ended up getting a credit card at a very young age, even just to pay for gas and for your requirements that you would be paying on a monthly basis anyway, such as, you know, little items like gas, phone bill, things of that nature. And you're able to build your credit from a very young age. I know that some people didn't have that education at such a young age. And you're trying to even pick up in your twenties, thirties, forties, trying to clean up your
credit. You can start with baby steps, trying to figure out what your monthly requirements are when it comes to your bills. I know tons of people that just stack their bills in the corner, don't even open them and try to juggle with what they're paying for, when and which points of the month. Financial knowledge and literacy begins with the understanding of what you need to pay
for already at the status that you are in your life. Yes. And just based on the title of your book, self made millionaire in your thirties and you're talking about budgeting, which I talk about all the time on the podcast. So I love that you mentioned that and kind of hearing it right, hearing it from the horse's mouth. So let's also talk about the real estate portion of your business as well, because I know that's pretty big. So what got you into real estate? How did you get
started? So my father actually was a construction worker. You know, when he first, when he first opened up and when he first came to America and that built, you know, little by little he was able to buy his first building and he basically, you know, kind of guided the way with when it came to property management and even understanding, fixing and flipping things. I know in his own world he wished that I was a real estate attorney, so I can just be only in
that realm. But in reality, it really came full circle when I was able to become a broker and really help people buy, sell rent and really understand the real estate market a lot better, especially in New York where it's pretty intense. But it started also as a hobby. When it comes to the fixing and flipping homes, try to get a really good deal on house, fix it up and sell it and try to get a profit. Gotcha. So
when you do real estate, it's more of flipping. Because I was going to ask you, is it long term rentals, short term rentals, or do you just have some of everything? I have both. I think that it's really a niche to try to figure it out and a skill really to figure out. Is it something that you want to retain in your portfolio to be able to rent it out, to make income or to sell it and try to have that short term income to
reinvest into a bigger opportunity. So I think it's good to have both. It really depends on the investment that you've, that comes across your desk or comes across your lap. And so let's dive into that just a little bit more. So what, in your experience, what are some main things that you look at to determine, oh, I should keep this in my portfolio or I should just go ahead and sell it? Definitely. That's a good
question. So you want to find out if you can retain something, if you're okay with losing that liquid that you're putting down as a down payment, if you're able to get financing in a bigger rate, if you had to buy it all in cash, and if you can refinance it later and retain that money back, if you can rent it for a profitable amount, if you want to deal with rentals, because that's a whole grueling and intense thing to deal with on your own, especially as
someone without experience. If you have no experience in what it takes to upkeep, maintain a building or a multifamily property, that's definitely part of it. If you're early in the business when it comes to real estate realm and you want to buy something and sell it, it's a lot easier short term rather than a long term investment, such as keeping something in your portfolio, being able to rent it out, trying to recover your investment over
a longer period of time. I know we talked about quite a bit. We talked about how you are a lawyer and then got into real estate. I have a question that you probably never got before. Which one do you like better? Law is always going to be my baby. It was very difficult to get through law school for me. I finished high school when I was 16, college when I was 19, and that was simple. But law school was definitely intense for me. It was like learning a new language and it was very difficult. But I
enjoy real estate because real estate is. It's fun. I like to do the hands on work. I like to go to Home Depot or a stone store or an appliance store and pick out the actual pieces that we're putting into this fixed and flip. Usually the, the fixer uppers that I like to get, they're horrible. They're. They're like bare bones need to be completely gutted and you're really like painting a new picture. I've converted two bedroom little
cottages to three bedroom homes. I've made one bathroom, you know, two bedroom homes to two bath, two full baths, three full beds. And it's really fun being able to be the creator of this new project and then be able to see the margins as, of course, fun as well. Of course. Cause you gotta have the money. Gotta make sense. So, with all of that being said, you mentioned that you have a book out. Can you tell us more, the name of the book and then also more about the book? Who is
it for? What would the person get from it? Of course. Of course. So it's called lady how to become a millionaire in your thirties. It's not constrained to those aspects, meaning you don't have to be a lady in order to be a lady shark, and you don't have to be in your thirties. You can be younger, older. I just. I've been told that the title was rather provocative, which I liked when I first heard it. So I'm like, all right, we'll go with it. It basically
gives confidence to either. Anyone from the college to age to high school age, to the moms of the world that are in at home mom status, that need to think outside of the box, that want to still have the ability to get some financial freedom and added income to their household. It could be working women or lady sharks that are looking to get out of the nine to five that want to think more strength into their.
Their income based on skills, based on things that they already encompass, such as, you know, if they're good organizers, if they're good meal preppers, if they're good, you know, there's an array of different things that you're able to do as little side hustles is what I call them, and. And create that income, create this new baby business, maybe grow it enough that you can leave the nine to
five on the side or just have two incomes. So it really shows that your end goal in life and the financial freedom and the happiness that everyone defines it is attainable. So a lot of people think that they're stuck in the realm or in the chapter or in the day and the moment that they're in right now, but
there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. And I just try to give ideas and ways to push through the self doubt and try to get to where you want to be in life and don't think that another person can and you cannot. Love that. Love that. Well, thank you so much, Christy, for coming on the show today. And if you all are listening and didn't catch all of those links, I'll make sure I have them in the show notes. I really appreciate you, and I can't wait until I become a lady shark as well.
So if you go to theladyshark.com, that's where the book is going to be. You type in the information. It's going to be sold on June 11 is when it comes out. I make myself available personally on Instagram. I am. My Instagram tag is Chrissy G. Official. I answer DM's and I try to be a mentor to people if they do reach out. I had a lot of guidance along the way and I had good mentors. So I try to give back to anyone that is looking for a couple
questions to be answered and at least have some guidance. Thank you. Bye. Thank you for listening, joining and being a part of the Money Talk with TIFF podcast this week. You can check tiff out every Thursday for a new Money Talk podcast. But if you just can't wait until next week week you can listen to previous podcast [email protected] or follow TIFF on all social media platforms at
moneytalkwitht. Until next time, spend wise by spending less than you make a word to the money wise is always sufficient.