Small Business Stories

About Small Business Stories

Welcome to Small Business Stories, the podcast where we celebrate the real-life journeys of small business owners. We dig into inspiring tales of triumphs, challenges, and the tough lessons we learned along the way. Each episode is packed with relatable anecdotes and practical tips that you can use to fuel your own entrepreneurial dreams. Whether you're just starting out or looking to grow your business, you'll find motivation and insight in every story. Tune in and get ready to be inspired by the heart and hustle of small business owners just like you! We say it like it is - no filters. Being an SMB owner isn't easy, but we're compelled to do it.

Publisher

Loralyn Mears, PhD

Category

business · business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

26 Jun 2019

Latest episode

26 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

112 of 318 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   26 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   How to Invest in Rental Properties Without Being a Landlord featuring Melissa Nash

   S6:E89 "Passive income" may be one of the most misunderstood phrases in entrepreneurship. It can conjure images of money arriving without work, risk, systems, expertise, or responsibility. Melissa Nash sees it differently. The founder of Passively Rich with Rentals joins Dr. LL for a grounded conversation about long-term rental real estate, what "passive" actually requires, why she invests outside her home market, and the assumptions that prevent people from considering opportunities that may look very different once properly examined. If people don't trust the opportunity, they won't investigate it. If they don't trust the people or systems surrounding it, they won't act. But if the reason for saying no is based on an assumption rather than evidence, they may be making a decision about something they never actually understood. Loralyn Mears, PhD, aka "Dr. LL," brings you thoughtful conversations with entrepreneurs and small business leaders navigating visibility, leadership, and growth. Thank you for being here. 👤 Guest Melissa Nash Founder, Passively Rich with Rentals Long-term rental real estate investing and investor education ⚠️ Core Problems Discussed • Why "passive income" doesn't mean no work is required to build the system • The difference between active real-estate investing and owning professionally managed rentals • Why investors can become trapped by assumptions about their local market • Trusting people and systems when the asset is hundreds or thousands of miles away • Distinguishing emotional barriers from actual financial barriers • Understanding tenant, vacancy, maintenance, and property-management risks • Why starting later doesn't automatically mean starting too late 🥡 Practical Takeaways • Passive systems generally require active setup. • Don't assume your local real-estate market defines the opportunities available elsewhere. • Inspections, appraisals, contracts, and professional management serve different risk-management functions. • Ask prospective property managers operational questions not merely what they charge. • Risk doesn't disappear because an investment is professionally managed; reserves and realistic expectations still matter. • Long-term buy-and-hold investing is fundamentally different from seeking a quick return. • Before accepting "I can't do this," determine whether the constraint is factual or assumed. ⏱️ Timestamps 01:02 Who can actually invest in rental property? 03:27 The truth about "passive" income 05:45 Escaping the time-for-money trap 08:10 Investing thousands of miles away and trusting the system 09:13 Due diligence, inspections, and walking away 11:18 How to evaluate a property manager 12:27 Fear versus financial barriers 13:33 Why people don't know these options exist 15:23 Tenant risk and preparing for vacancies 17:38 Researching landlord-friendly markets 19:08 Why one rental isn't a get-rich strategy 20:16 Is it too late to start? 23:09 Why this is a long-term play 🔖 Who This Episode Is For Entrepreneurs and professionals interested in building additional income streams but unwilling (or unable) to create another full-time job for themselves. At STEERus, Constraint Assumption is one way misinterpretation risk enters decision-making before we even recognize it. Sometimes the signal telling us "this isn't possible for me" isn't coming from the opportunity at all. It's coming from our interpretation of what the opportunity requires. Subscribe and share Small Business Stories for grounded conversations about entrepreneurship, visibility, leadership, trust, and the decisions that shape small businesses. ✅ Subscribe for weekly conversations on entrepreneurship 🔁 Share this episode with someone who needs to be heard Follow STEERus on social media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrLLSmallBusiness Instagram: https://instagram.com/steerus LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/steerus Twitter: https://x.com/steerus_io #entrepreneurship #smallbusiness #podcast #passiveincome #realestate

2. 

   17 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   How to Be a Better Leader by Listening More & Leading With Heart Featuring Payman Lorenzo

   Host Loralyn Mears, PhD, interviews Payman Lorenzo, Host of Leaders With a Heart, about the power of genuine listening and leading with empathy to build trust and achieve sustainable success.

3. 

   7 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Why Higher Sales Aren't Fixing Your Cash Flow with Matan Bar CEO Xero US

   Dr. LL interviews Matan Bar, CEO of Xero U.S., to reveal why rising sales don't fix cash flow and how to interpret financial data beyond headlines.

Inside a recent episode

How to Invest in Rental Properties Without Being a Landlord featuring Melissa Nash

Published 26 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] There was, I mean, crazy stuff going on with appraisers and people were hiring their friend and they're like, hey, come appraise my house for me. You know, houses were overinflated. There was no checks and balances. Since then, there are so many checks and balances. And now, legally by law, when you work with a lender, you will be working with a lender that's licensed in that state. Legally by law, they have to hire a third-party appraiser from an appraisal pool. So nobody picks the appraiser. Nobody knows the appraiser. So if you look at it like this, you're only putting 20% down on that property, which is amazing, right? […]

Who has been a guest on Small Business Stories

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Payman Lorenzo
• Matan Bar
• Mark Regan
• Lisa Even
• Katrena Friel

Podcast Authority Score: 44 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

89

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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