Invest in Yourself: GardnerGlobal CEO Jaebadiah S. Gardner Talks Side Hustles and Money Management on The Day With Trae
Photos by Victor Jones
In this episode of "The Day With Trae," Back2Besa's very own Besa Gordon fills in for Trae to sit down with Jaebadiah S. Gardner, the founder and CEO of GardnerGlobal. In his conversation with Gordon, Gardner delves into various topics beyond his professional achievements, highlighting the importance of side hustles, effective money management for success, and investing in yourself first.
Before Gardner became the successful first-generation real estate developer and investor he is today, he was a newcomer who made his first purchase in 2006: a 311-square-foot studio in First Hill.
"That was my first piece of real estate that I ever bought," Gardner said. "I bought that for myself, and that's all I could afford at the time."
Since then, he has created GardnerGlobal, a multifaceted firm involved in real estate development, property management, sales, and more. While real estate remains Gardner's primary source of revenue, he has diversified his interests by establishing various small businesses throughout Seattle.
"People know me as a real estate developer, and I marketed and branded myself as such," Gardner said. "But I'm also a businessman, and I have several businesses. I just don't talk about them. I don't need to. I don't need to tell everybody everything I got going on, but at the end of the day, that's where the power is. Power moves in silence."
Gardner's side hustles span from large-scale ventures to tiny, quirky businesses. One such venture addresses a unique niche in one of Seattle's top tourist attractions: a gumball machine in Pike Place Market's Post Alley, right by the famous Gum Wall. Onpoint, a subsidiary of GardnerGlobal and a property management firm, operates near the Market. When Gardner relocated Onpoint to its current location, he spotted an unmet demand in the area and seized the opportunity.
"The gum wall was right there," Gardner said. "I'd walk out of my office, and I'd say to myself, "Well, where are people getting this gum?" and so I decided to buy a gumball machine."
Since installing the gumball machine, Gardner has been able to use the proceeds to support residents going through transitional housing while contributing positively to Seattle's tourism scene. As a self-described opportunist, Gardner saw a demand that needed to be met and took action.
"I don't look at it as a way [of] how can I make money?" I look at it as a way to solve a problem. How can I solve an issue," Gardner said. "Then, the secondary question is, is there a way to monetize it? Because if you're not solving a problem, you'll probably struggle with monetizing."
Using his gumball machine venture as an example, Gardner emphasizes that aspiring entrepreneurs should focus on realistic goals and not overextend themselves. He believes that starting small can often lead to significant growth and success.
"You don't need to go out and make a $100,000 hustle. You don't need $800,000 hustles. If you had eight $10,000 hustles, that's 80 racks," Gardner said. "Then you find out ways to be efficient. You make sure that your system of those 80, those eight different hustles that make 80 grand, you make sure that it's an efficient hustle, so you spend less time making more money."
From there, Gardner highlights that this is where further growth and monetization opportunities arise.
"We're already inventors and entrepreneurs and innovators, Gardner said. "It's just a matter of actually doing it. Take the risk and do it."
For Gardner, risk is an inherent part of advancing in business. He believes it is a crucial step in investing in oneself and one's ventures.
"In everything that I do if money is going out, I'm looking at it as an investment, unless I'm going to Vegas, but even then, I'm bringing people who I really love and cherish, so I'm investing in them, investing in myself and investing in the environment," Gardner said.
Continuing that notion while highlighting his real estate experience, he said, "It's not me purchasing or buying the block, [it's] investing in the block. When you start to change your frame of mind and start using the word invest and replace that with purchase or buy, then all of a sudden, you start treating that investment differently. You start to take care of it a little differently because you want to make sure that that investment returns something. My goal is to ensure that everything that we invest in as a company comes back in more ways than one."
For Gardner, nothing is more important than investing in oneself. While he highlights that there isn't a blueprint for doing so, he did share three crucial pieces of advice that helped him succeed, starting with the importance of maintaining one's financial literacy.
"What it boils down to is you got to have your money right," Gardner said, crediting his dad's method of "budget balling."
"Know what you can spend and know what you can keep," Gardner said. "You don't have to overextend yourself and whatever you're able to keep aside for yourself; that's what you use to invest in yourself, aka whatever responsibilities and obligations you have. Just pay those. You don't have to pay them full all the time because it's hurtful. This country is hard. Bills are hard. Everything's expensive, but make something, put something down on whatever your obligations are to keep the train going."
His second piece of advice echoes a principle he lives by: take risks.
"Don't be afraid to take a risk on yourself," Gardner said. "That's the best bet you can ever place. If you're ever going to bet, bet on yourself. By that, I mean dream as far as you can dream, and then put your own resources behind it because no one's going to put resources from their pocket into your pocket until they see you doing the top, unless they see you actually investing in yourself, and that'll prompt other people to do it."
Third is building solid relationships, which has been crucial in his real estate investments.
"Make sure you're aligning yourself with with folks like you. You got to choose your audience," Gardner said. "When it comes to my space of real estate and business, I'm making sure I'm flying with the Eagles. I'm making sure I'm there with people, not just with money and resources, but people with high intellect, people who I can learn from and surround [myself] by."
He continued, "You don't want to be the smartest person. You don't want to be the know-it-all. You want to walk into a room and feel like you don't exist. You are nothing. And when you're in that space, you have an ability and opportunity to learn, and so you kind of package those things together, and then all of a sudden, things will get moving."
Continuing on the importance of relationships, he advised surrounding yourself with people who will be honest with you and hold you accountable when needed.
"If you have an idea and you're talking about it with your friends, at some point, you're going to have to do it," Gardner said. "Make sure that whatever you're telling yourself when you wake up in the morning, find ways to practice it, find ways to engage it, and then surround yourself [with] people who are going to call you out, surround yourself by people who are going to tell you that, "no, that's you're not doing what you said you're going to do." Because self-accountability and accountability by people who love you; that's going to really help, and it hurts, but that constructive criticism is going to take you to the moon and farther."
As for Gardner's plans, he is currently working on his second book. The author of the self-published "Believe In Yourself: Business Essentials for the Millennial Entrepreneur," Gardner's upcoming book will focus more on the man behind the business.
"Book Two is going [to] be a little bit more hearty for folks," Gardner said. "A lot of the questions you're asking me, I'm going to go into crazy detail about, like, how did I start a fund? How did I get my first investor? How did I lock down a block on 23rd and Union? How did I buy three acres in the Skyway? People don't really know the details."
To stay updated on Gardner's latest ventures, visit his website and follow him on Instagram.
"We live in a resourceful, rich city," Gardner said. "We're not taking full advantage of it, and so when you start to take advantage of it, all of a sudden, you start exploring your hustles. You start building that faith in yourself, and at the end of the day, you're like, wow, 12 Months went by, and I've created a couple of little businesses, and it's not bringing me a million dollars, but guess what? Do the same thing the next year and then the next year. That's three years, four years. I'm 15 years in the game. This is 15 years of business for me. People don't realize I've been doing this for 15 years."
To learn more about leaders like Gardner changing the game within Seattle and beyond, tune into Trae every weekday at 11 a.m. on all Converge Media platforms and The Day With Trae YouTube Channel!
