INDEPENDENT RENTAL OWNERS
Karen Fisher, CAM, IROP,
IRO Chair
Female Veteran, Excelling as an
Entrepreneur After the Military.
S
mall businesses make up a significant seg-
ment of the U.S. economy; many of these
companies are spreading across America at
exponential rates.
According to the Small Business Administration
(SBA), veterans are the most successful business
owners in America. While most Americans are pri-
vate sector employees, more veterans are self-em-
ployed (12.3%) vs. their non-veteran counterparts
(10%). Between 2007 and 2012 alone, the number
of businesses owned by women vets nearly tripled
from 130,000 to 384,574.
Entrepreneurs who are veterans are more prepared
to handle the risks involved in business, as they utilize
the tools and lessons learned from their military ser-
vice which teaches leadership, strategic planning,
problem-solving, executing tasks, and team building
- essential to business ownership.
Pamela Flynn was a Captain in the Army Reserve
serving eight years in Preventive Medicine and
worked 18 years as an engineer in the Cement and
Concrete Industry.
She currently owns a 75-unit apartment community
in San Antonio, TX.
How did you get over your fear of becoming an
IRO? What was the biggest hurdle?
It’s human nature to be afraid of the unknown. A
long time ago, I went through the fear of “stepping
outside the box” when I bought my first single family
home for passive income. I got a lot of push-back
from friends and family, who were afraid I would
make a mistake and some-
how “lose it all”. I then
realized fear would keep me
safely middle income and
in the rat race for the rest of
my life unless I managed it.
So, I put my big girl pants on
and just went for it, eventu-
ally buying and managing
11 homes. Making the jump to my first multifamily
was just another exercise in fear management. I
knew I could do it. I knew I didn’t know how to, but I
knew I’d figure it out. I was right! Each time my busi-
ness gets bigger, it’s the same thing. I’m afraid but I
know I can do it so I do.
Can you give an example/situation where you
“showed up” the guys?
I was at a company lunch a few years ago when
one of my coworkers was talking about selling his
family home. He was excited because he’d made
$60,000 on the sale. When he told us all how much
he’d made, a silence blanketed the group. No
doubt they were thinking about how nice it would
be to have an extra sixty grand, which was more
than a year’s salary for most of them. However, I’d
just done the same thing twice the week before, ex-
cept that I’d made $80,000 on each not $60K! I had
been selling off all of my single-family properties in
preparation to purchase an apartment community.
I kept quiet because gloating isn’t attractive, but I
felt a little proud of myself and smiled.
What excites you most about being an entrepre-
neur/IRO?
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