Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly West.
Hi Kelly , so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
How I got to Georgia:
I was born and raised in Barrington IL, began selling make-up and skin care in high school.
Then moved to Florida after graduating high school, then Hawaii where I met my ex, then Columbus GA because my partner was military and got stationed at Ft. Benning.
College and Career:
I took a year off from college when I was in Florida, after 2 years of college I decided I wanted to do real estate investing full time. I pursued that exclusively ever since, that was 15 years ago. Columbus GA is where I began my career in fix and flips, then rental properties, then Airbnb’s, teaching real estate to people across the country and now a little wedding and event venue in Alabama called The Greenhouse Venue – micro events, intimate gatherings, and photography. The entire structure was built from reclaimed windows.
Most inspirational time of my life:
Hawaii was the most inspiring place I’ve ever been, it inspired me in more ways than just the ocean and the water falls. It was the first time I went to a week long retreat for “at risk” kids and got to watch them completely transform. I think transformation is one of my favorite things, whether its people or places, its an exciting to watch or be a part of.
What Georgia means for me:
I’m massively grateful for many things that Georgia has provided, the main thing being fertile ground to begin and sustain my real estate investing business.
My family lives in the Roswell and Marrietta area. Extended family lives all over the country and The Netherlands. My mother moved here when she was 19, from The Hague.
Something I love and am dedicated to:
Making time for personal growth has been the key to any success or fulfillment I’ve had. I love to learn about myself and others. Different cultures. Different perspectives.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Most of the struggles are psychological but that didn’t make them less real or less debilitating.
-Understanding that money and support are not what I needed to build something I loved. Money and support come with strings or expectations, its almost impossible to have money and support without them. If I wanted to build my life, I had to do that on my own. When I did want money or support, I needed to find the opportunity first and then sell myself and others on the value of it.
-Going against the grain by not completing college even though it was being paid for by my family was a hard decision to make, it went against everything I was told I had to do growing up, to be a good person. I definitely feel less than others for not completing college, but only when I’m around others that have completed college.
-I am 38 and don’t have kids and am not married. (I’m engaged)
Socially it feels very weird to tell people I don’t have kids, like I’m not worthy as a woman.
-It was super hard to stop being the social girl, party girl, helper girl. Hey want to come hang out, party, help me move, or just talk because I’m having a hard time with this breakup. I actually love to do all those things, but I had to put the breaks on them so I could focus on building something I wanted. Telling people I won’t help them with things so I can focus on what I’m building, it is so hard, I felt sooo bad.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
West Transformations is an umbrella name for several LLC’s. There are 3 parts to West Transformations.
1) Investment Properties (rentals and airbnbs)
This is not special necessarily, except that I retired on the income when I was 29 so that was nice to have the passive income so early in life to focus on some other things like personal development, spirituality, and building the online course.
2) Online course and training
This is unique because it is about how to invest in real estate with personal development tools, not just the how to’s. These have been revamp’d. We are currently adding the smaller courses to the website, not published yet.
3) Wedding and event Venue
This is a unique one of a kind venue. It is made of reclaimed windows. It’s an indoor/outdoor venue. It’s a micro venue, meaning only 50 or less people. It’s on its own piece of land, not behind someones house or in a shopping mall. The bathroom is a portapotty that was painted by a local artist with sunflowers and butterflies. It’s a really fun and really charming place.
The Greenhouse Venue
145 Lee Rd 223
Smiths Station AL 36877
I don’t brand myself like most people do. I just brand the company names. I like to be relatively unseen but took photos for this article if you want to publish them.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Playing outside with the neighborhood kids – specifically one year there was a tree that fell due to a big storm. It fell onto the side yard in our neighbors yard. The parents left it there for a while because we played on it so much. It was an absolutely massive tree. Symbolically it was interesting because it was dead and trash basically, but we found a way to have a blast with it.
Pricing:
- 99 per hour to rent the Greenhouse Venue
- Online course pricing will be up within the next week
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Anita’s Photography
Brooke Garcia Photography
ING Studios
