Life by Design

Jessilyn and Brian Persson

Life by Design is a podcast that shares the experiences and tools to help couples align their wealth goals and reclaim their time, enabling them to experience freedom, abundance, and a life by design.

  1. Giving and Investments

    2025-12-24

    Giving and Investments

    Summary In this special holiday edition of Life by Design, the hosts discuss the importance of showing appreciation to tenants, investors, and team members in the real estate industry. They emphasize the value of personalized gifts, effective communication, and the law of reciprocation in building strong relationships. The conversation also highlights the significance of self-care and celebrating achievements, all while maintaining an attitude of gratitude.   Chapters 00:00 The Spirit of Giving in Real Estate 01:50 Personalized Gifts for Tenants 05:48 The Importance of Communication 07:10 Gifting to Investors and Building Relationships 09:31 Appreciating Your Team 11:56 Celebrating Yourself and Your Achievements 15:18 The Power of Gratitude and Giving   Contact Jessilyn and Brian Persson | Weekend Wealth Investments:  Website: weekendwealth.caInstagram: weekend.wealthFacebook: Weekend Wealth InvestmentsLinkedin: Weekend Wealth Investments Transcript: Jessilyn Persson (00:03) Welcome to the special holiday edition of Life by Design, where we embrace the spirit of giving and reflect on the importance of showing your tenants, investors, and team how much you appreciate them. Real estate investing is a very social activity, so it's important to build strong, lasting relationships through gratitude and appreciation. So tune in as we spread some holiday cheer and commit to making a difference in our teams and beyond.   Brian Persson (00:29) Yeah, and I mean, this is a real estate podcast. So the very first thing that we're going to talk about is our tenants, because we love our tenants, and we really want to show them how much we appreciate them living in our properties and paying rent on time and keeping care of the property. And the funny thing is that it doesn't take a whole lot to make someone feel really appreciated.   Jessilyn Persson (00:53) Yeah, not at all. We've been gifting to our tenants for as long as I remember having tenants. we originally started by giving usually gift baskets with different things in it. And then as we got to know our tenants more, we custom. So we knew like if someone was a tea drinker, we would buy them probably a basket with specialty teas or tea mugs, or if someone really liked making a specific type of drink.   we could custom a basket of that, or if they had a little bit of a larger family, maybe it was a bunch of different kind of cookies and popcorn and treats. And then as time has gone on, we've morphed that a little bit and we still do some gift baskets, but we've shifted it a little bit more to gift cards. we like, I think we like the experience. So we'd like to do dinner, theater, movie tickets, restaurants, but then there are some families where they're, like I said, they're a little bigger and maybe they don't have as much.   so that we'll get them gift cards for grocery stores or Amazon, trying to make their life easier.   Brian Persson (01:53) Yeah, and we, you know, our personal portfolio is small enough that we can keep tabs on our tenants and understand what they have. But for our apartment buildings, I actually put it as a year-round job for our resident managers to watch the tenants and figure out what they need so that they know what we can give them at holiday time. you know, all portfolio sizes, you can make it work and you can discover a little bit of   personality about your tenants to give like a very meaningful, like thoughtful gift.   Jessilyn Persson (02:29) Yeah, and all this is amazing to get through the holiday season, because we all love gifting and giving through the spirit of the holidays. But we actually do this kind of throughout the year, depending on the situation. So, like, if we're going to interrupt a tenant's suite, you know, we'll give them, it's a smaller gift card, like, it's not going to be as big as what we would do during the holidays. But just as a thank you for, you know, letting us enter your,   ⁓ building and maybe we had to go fix something or maybe we're doing an audit to make sure like there's no leaky tops or things going wrong with the unit.   Brian Persson (03:07) Yeah, it doesn't have to be big. Just a $10 gift card to Tim Hortons or Starbucks or McDonald's. Well, whatever you kind of, kind of know is important to them and they really appreciate it. And it, uh, it really breaks down the barriers of, having someone, even, even though it's the owner of the property, having that someone enter their home because the tenant, you know, the place you're renting to the tenant is their home.   So you have to be respectful of that and just giving them a little, little thank you, like a gift card just breaks down those barriers and they're, they're much, much less resistant to have you come in and, know, like you said, sometimes you're not actually fixing something there. There's nothing wrong, but you want to make sure that your taps aren't leaking every year. That kind of, that kind of little gift card can, can like eliminate all the resistance of getting in there and properly managing your portfolio.   Jessilyn Persson (04:00) Absolutely, and when it's a little more custom, when they know they're like, oh wow, like they got me a gift or a gift card to somewhere that I love, they're starting to go, oh wait, this isn't just my landlord, this is someone who actually cares enough to learn a little bit about me and give back to me. And while you mentioned they're more open to opening their doors for visits and fixing.   but I think they're also more apt to want to pay, pay on time, do good because they, when you give, people just naturally want to give back and that's an easy way for them to give back, pay their rent on time.   Brian Persson (04:40) That's called the law of reciprocation. So if you give first, people are naturally inclined to give back and a tenant, you know, might give back by taking care of the property better. They might give back by paying their rent early. There's all kinds of different ways that a tenant will figure out how to give back. But as a landlord, you should give first. you know, as a landlord, you mentioned it just a second ago, you can give by giving your time. ⁓   For example, I'm fairly responsive with fixes. So if there's a, you know, a tap that's leaking, if there's a problem with the dishwasher, whatever it happens to be, I'm on top of it quite quickly. And the tenants really respect that because they feel like they're getting taken care of. And all it is is like a little bit quicker response to their concerns to the point where sometimes they actually just want to be heard and they don't actually need anything really fixed or they're actually willing to do it themselves. So if you just go in there,   make sure that your tenants understand that you're hearing them. Sometimes the problems just resolve themselves. So giving your time and giving your ear to your tenants is actually really important for having like a long-term successful tenant.   Jessilyn Persso...

    17 min
  2. Mortgage vs Mortgage Free

    2025-12-10

    Mortgage vs Mortgage Free

    Summary In this episode, the hosts challenge the conventional wisdom that paying off a mortgage is the best financial strategy. They share their personal experiences and financial strategies, illustrating how leveraging a mortgage can lead to greater investment opportunities and cash flow. The discussion covers the benefits of refinancing, the importance of understanding good versus bad debt, and the necessity of experience in real estate investment. The hosts encourage listeners to rethink traditional beliefs about mortgages and investments to achieve financial freedom.   Chapters 00:00 Rethinking Mortgage Payoff Myths 02:18 Leveraging Personal Residence for Investment 05:49 The Power of Cash Flow and Equity 08:30 Investment Property: Mortgage vs. Mortgage-Free 15:25 Understanding Good Debt vs. Bad Debt 19:26 The Importance of Experience in Real Estate Investment   Contact Jessilyn and Brian Persson | Weekend Wealth Investments:  Website: weekendwealth.caInstagram: weekend.wealthFacebook: Weekend Wealth InvestmentsLinkedin: Weekend Wealth Investments  Transcript:   Jessilyn Persson (00:04) In today's episode, we're flipping the script on a popular belief. The notion that paying off your mortgage is inherently better. And we're going to talk about two actual investments in our life that illustrate the difference. This episode was inspired by a notion that we keep seeing over and over again with our clients and friends. The idea of having no mortgage. Most of us were raised with the belief that you should pay off your mortgage as fast as possible. Well, we've learned differently.   and the two scenarios that we're going to detail will show the difference, which will allow you to make a more informed decision on your mortgage. So the first one we want to talk about is your personal residential mortgage.   Brian Persson (00:46) And yeah, not just everybody else out there, but us as well. We were ⁓ told by our parents that paying off your mortgage is kind of your number one priority in your financial life. But we're going to show a little bit about why that's not entirely true. And we did go down that path when we first started ⁓ with our property. We tried very, very hard to pay it off until we discovered a different way.   Jessilyn Persson (01:11) Yeah, we were, and I think we've shared this on multiple podcasts, we were, think, too much shy of being mortgage free before we actually decided to, instead of pay it off, we refinanced, pulled it out and bought property.   Brian Persson (01:28) Yes. Yeah. So we want to work through some actual numbers in this podcast. So just so you can really see the financial difference that it creates by using the finances and the leverage that you have available for you in your personal residence versus actually just paying that off and then not using that leverage for any type of investment.   So as we just mentioned, we were very, close to paying off our personal mortgage and our mortgage had started at about 350K, but when we refinanced it, we were able to buy up to $2 million worth of property. So we now had $2 million worth of mortgages instead on those investment properties. But the portfolio is now cash flowing at $2,800 a month.   which was ⁓ almost or is now almost double our original mortgage payment. So we're actually paying our original mortgage and we are cash flowing and putting money in our pocket because we actually borrowed from our personal residence.   Jessilyn Persson (02:39) Right and I mean it gives us cash flow as well as we have you know The interest that we have against our residential property because we borrowed against it is right off. Yeah, right So there it's not like our expenses enough necessarily went up because we have a bigger mortgage because those costs are being covered by our tenants   Brian Persson (03:01) Yeah, the costs are being covered by our tenants, yeah. And then the added benefit is that seven years down the road after we refinanced our property, so this is seven years down the road today, and now we are able to buy apartment buildings from the original portfolio that we bought when we refinanced our personal residence. And now that $2 million in property has turned into $4.5 million in property.   So the contrast there is that now today we could have had $500,000 and actually specifically $570,000 in equity, or we could have refinanced as we did seven years ago and have $4.5 million in value of our properties. Plus the portfolio is now cash flowing with the apartment buildings at $6,000 a month. So if we had   If we had paid off our personal residence, we would have been saving about $1,000 a month, as in not spending it. Instead now, we are earning $6,000 a month with the exact same amount of equity.   Jessilyn Persson (04:16) Yeah, that's a whole mind shift, I think. I mean, to think like, ah, everyone I know their safety net is I'm going to be mortgage free. So, you know, if something happens to my job or my husband's job or the family income, I don't have a mortgage. I can still live in my home. if you flip that switch and went the route we went, it's like, oh, if I don't have a job or don't have family income, I'm still making $6,000 a month off my investment properties.   to help pay down my mortgage, but also supplement other bills that still come whether you have a job or not.   Brian Persson (04:53) Yeah, and not only that, our real estate portfolio has some leverage still in it. So if we had a really disastrous situation where we still had like the $6,000 a month wasn't enough to lean on, we have some stuff to lean on, like some credit to lean on inside of our real estate portfolio. So not only are we not just saving $1,000 a month if we had paid off our personal residence, but   We have that 6,000 plus we have the ability to leverage if, you know, there is a disaster in our life of some sort.   Jessilyn Persson (05:31) Yeah, and the good news is this is a rinse and repeat story. So like as we grow these portfolios, we can refinance as the price goes up, pull that money out and buy more apartment buildings and just keep building our cash flow. And to a point where I mean, working outside of of course, our real estate portfolio would be optional.   Brian Persson (05:54) Yeah. And you know, the first round took us seven years, but the planned second round for refinancing and buying, buying like upping our game again is about five years. I think it's going to happen in less probably about four, but then, you know, the next round after that will be two years. And all of sudden you're, you're on this, hockey stick of a, of a climb and your $1,000 in saving is now turning into just this.   huge multiplier on your income.   Jessilyn Persson (06:27) Yeah. And upping our game isn't just adding another apartment. It's continually into double our portfolio. So as you mentioned, we went from...

    24 min
  3. Financial Fortitude

    2025-11-26

    Financial Fortitude

    Summary In this episode, Brian and Jessilyn share how real estate investing became the foundation that carried them through job loss, burnout, the pandemic, and multiple major life transitions. They break down how couples can build financial fortitude through emergency reserves, HELOC strategies, insurance, and “what-if” scenario planning. They also discuss designing an investment portfolio that can pivot—covering diversification, liquidity, risk tolerance, market selection, and treating real estate like a true business. Finally, they highlight the importance of communication, shared vision, goal-setting rhythms, and knowing when to bring in outside help to strengthen both the relationship and the wealth plan. Chapters 00:00 – How Real Estate Carried Them Through Crisis07:05 – Building Financial Fortitude & Safety Nets08:08 – Designing a Portfolio That Can Pivot14:51 – Partnerships, Planning & Staying on the Same Page Contact Jessilyn and Brian Persson | Weekend Wealth Investments:  Website: weekendwealth.caInstagram: weekend.wealthFacebook: Weekend Wealth InvestmentsLinkedin: Weekend Wealth InvestmentsTranscript  Jessilyn Persson (00:03) Real estate investing isn't just about ROI. It's about being ready for life's plot twists. Today we're talking about how couples can design investment plans that stand strong through illness, job loss, kids, relocations, and everything in between.   Brian Persson (00:19)s And to start off, we'll start with our own personal story about how real estate supported us through some ups and some downs in our life. It started with ⁓ Jess being burnt out in 2019 and we ended up pivoting our career, our lives and a number of other things. And actually the world ended up pivoting shortly after that as well with the pandemic and real estate was there.   throughout all of that to support us. And we ended up going through 2020 and 2021 and somewhat rebuilding ourselves. And we couldn't have done it without real estate behind us because real estate effectively paid the bills throughout 2020 and 2021 and allowed us to really recreate who we are.   Jessilyn Persson (01:07) Yeah, I was out of a job come, I think, mid-October 2019 and then you gave your notice, what, three days shy of the world shutting down, which we didn't plan for in terms of the pandemic. We didn't anticipate that.   Brian Persson (01:27) Just like, how do you not anticipate a pandemic coming? We didn't really watch the news. That was one thing.   Jessilyn Persson (01:36) It's really true. We thought it was a bit of a joke. What people were doing with toilet paper, should be very specific, not the pandemic itself. yeah, and so then you gave your notice and three days later everything shut down and we're like, okay, here we are. And while we were building a business with some of our partners, made it much harder because we were online as opposed to the events that we were supposed to be doing and all the in-person activities. And then of course, when you start any business, you usually make a lot of income off the hop. So   or real estate supported us to start building that and figuring out, what does this look like and what does it mean for our family?   Brian Persson (02:14) Yeah, and we did a lot of personal development in that time too. So we, we both had the time freedom of no nine to five job anymore. ⁓ and we could build the business and take any extra time left over to build ourselves too. So there were, there was a lot of building in general, ⁓ across many, many different things. And that included the business and ourselves. without real estate to help us and support us and, and, ⁓ kind of, kind of carry us through that period.   we really would not have been able to do that. And it might've looked like a totally different picture over those two years.   Jessilyn Persson (02:50) Oh, it absolutely would have. We would have had to find a job, one of us, if not both of us. But yeah, so rolling into our first takeaway here is I think financial fortitude, building safety nets into your investment plan. And I know we had that, maintaining emergency reserves specifically for, I mean, we can say property expenses, which is a...   an automatic for us, but then there's things that you can't predict like job loss, which we've had ⁓ pandemic, which we've all had illnesses, which I've had, right? These things that you don't know they're coming and, but they come and then it's like, what do you do?   Brian Persson (03:35) Yeah. And I always look back at real estate and go like, you know, real estate really didn't pay us enough, ⁓ over the years. And then I look at like the, accounts and how much financial fortitude there is inside of the real estate. And I realized that it just looks like we're broke on paper. It, we're, really not broke. Like when, when you add up all the dollars and that, financial fortitude is what keeps us.   you know, sleeping well at night today. And it's what carried us through the 2020 period when we needed to rebuild ourselves and we needed to pivot into that new ⁓ career and that new business building opportunity.   Jessilyn Persson (04:17) Yeah. And I mean, when we talk about emergency reserves, obviously there are options. There's straight out cash. ⁓ And then there's the HELOC, right? The Home Equity Line of Credit, which we relied on through the pandemic. ⁓ And we have it on multiple properties just because that's how we qualified. And of course they all have their benefits and disadvantages, but it worked in our favor.   in a time of need. And now of course we have them and we utilize them to buy more investments. So a little bit of a different strategy, but it's still part of our strategy and we still have HELOCs, which we will always have, whether we're carrying a balance or something is different, but we will always have them because we know we can rely on them in need.   Brian Persson (04:57) Yeah, there's two ways to think about a HELOCs when it comes to your financial fortitude. A lot of people say, you know, save three months of income in, or, know, if anything goes wrong, then you have that three months of income and sitting in a bank account somewhere. We like to sort of supercharge that what would normally be savings and we actually put it into our HELOC or, or effectively against our mortgage. So instead of having.   let's just come up with a round number $10,000 sitting to the side in case of, you know, an emergency fund, we have $10,000 sitting on a HELOC where we put more and more money against that in, that ends up paying down the mortgage as well, saving us interest, but also creates that balance for a fund. The disadvantage to it is that you have to be very careful not to spend it. And, and as we know, ⁓   A lot of the world is in and people in the world are in great, like greatly higher levels of debt than they than it was 10 years or 20 years ago. And that's, that can be a danger for a lot of people. So you gotta, you gotta account your free personality. You know, wh...

    25 min
  4. Stress and Burnout

    2025-11-12

    Stress and Burnout

    Summary In this conversation, Brian and Jessilyn explore the detrimental effects of hustle culture on health and financial well-being. They discuss the importance of recognizing burnout, the need for intentional rest, and how to design a sustainable wealth plan that aligns with personal values and mental health. The conversation emphasizes the significance of clarity, boundaries, and the ability to delegate tasks to maintain balance in life and work.  Contact Jessilyn and Brian Persson | Weekend Wealth Investments:  Website: weekendwealth.caInstagram: weekend.wealthFacebook: Weekend Wealth InvestmentsLinkedin: Weekend Wealth Investments  Chapters 00:00 The Hidden Cost of Hustle 10:06 Designing a Sustainable Wealth Path 19:46 Reset and Rebuild: Finding Balance   Transcript Jessilyn Persson (00:00) Welcome to the Life by Design Podcast, where Jessilyn and Brian Persson struggling to align your financial goals or confidently invest in real estate as a couple.   Brian Persson (00:18) That's why we created this podcast and the Riches Relationships and Real Estate program to help you build wealth and strengthen your relationship. Visit weekendwealth.ca to take our quiz and discover your real estate investor type. Let's create the life you deserve together.   Jessilyn Persson (00:35) In today's world, it's easy to get caught in the grind, chasing success, meeting deadlines, and pushing harder every day. But what happens when the constant hustle starts costing us our health, happiness, and clarity? In this episode, we're diving into the real connection between stress, burnout, and financial well-being, and how to design a sustainable wealth plan that supports your life instead of draining it. Because true wealth isn't just about the numbers in your bank account. It's about energy,   peace and purpose that lasts. So today we want to talk about a few different ideas and share stories of what we've been through because we definitely have experienced some of this throughout our lifetime and ⁓ we realized the cost of what it took to our health and we want to share that with our audience.   Brian Persson (01:23) Right. You've experienced burnout. ⁓ I've experienced ⁓ many different symptoms of burnout, maybe not quite burnout in the health way that you experienced it. But we definitely are experienced with ⁓ what sometimes not paying attention to yourself, whether it's emotionally or financially or when it comes to your health can cost you when you're kind of asleep at the wheel and you're not really taking care of yourself.   Jessilyn Persson (01:52) Yeah, so the hidden cost of hustle. That's the first one we're going to touch on today. How stress and burnout, it can derail your financial goals and you sometimes don't even realize it til it's too late. Nope. You know, this is big myth, especially here in ⁓ Canada, probably the States and some other countries where the grind culture, you just got to go, go, go, go, go, go, go, you know, put in 10 hours, 12 hours a day and thinking you can do that onward and upwards for   decades on end and are not realizing when you're young and full of energy, you can do it, but you don't realize what that's doing for your future body.   Brian Persson (02:31) Yeah, we talk a lot about the choose your heart. Yeah. So you can choose your heart as in you can work out today so that you don't have to be going to the doctor every other day when you're older. That's one of those ways that you can choose your heart. ⁓ Eat healthy today so that you don't have to deal with all the health issues that you would be experiencing later on in life. And you can also manage your time and your energy today so that you don't have to   experience the stresses that would have caused you in that burnout scenario.   Jessilyn Persson (03:06) Yeah, that's tough. ⁓ Manage, you know, you say your time, your deliverables, but if that's not how we're raised and how we're taught, that's a hard lesson to try and learn and I know that because that's...   That's how I grew up on the farm. Like it was always go, go, go. My mom to this day, almost 70, still go, go, go. Even though her health isn't there to support her to do that, she tries and does not connect the dots that when she's suddenly out for three weeks, several times a year, if she maybe didn't push as hard during those other times, she wouldn't be down as long. And I mean, I had that. I had that until my burnout in 2019.   And I can't say I don't default, I do. You know, this year I had a lot of stacked deliverables come my way and lot of asks from work and took me a little time to realize that I lost my boundaries, I'd let them go. And I had to learn to kind of push back and the funny thing is...   The one I had to push back on was me. wasn't my clients. It was me thinking I had to deliver more, more, more, more, more. And you were the one who had several conversations with me to say like, Jess, like, whose expectations are these? Are they yours or are they actually your clients or your bosses? And I'm like, yeah.   Brian Persson (04:33) Yeah, I hate to break it to everybody, but more often than not, the source of all your problems is you. Yeah, and in your case, Jess, you were, as you said, you went to the default of your way of being. Yeah. And that is, I must have everything done and I must have everything perfect. And for me, looking in from the outside, going, no, you...   Jessilyn Persson (04:40) It's true.   Brian Persson (05:03) you have five different roles, like you basically have five different full-time jobs and the people around you know that you have these roles, like they have to come back, they also have to come to reality along with you in that five full-time jobs, all having to get done at the same time is not possible. so, so ultimately you tried to deny that.   Jessilyn Persson (05:27) Because I'm superhuman.   Brian Persson (05:28) Yeah. And it started to affect your health and then you're like, okay, wait a minute, wait a minute. Is there a different way that I can be in order to actually achieve what I want to achieve? And you did discover that. And sometimes that looks like maybe not doing the same thing that you did before. You know the saying, if you want to achieve something different, you have to do something different.   Jessilyn Persson (05:53) Yeah. And I'm definitely going to touch on some of those ⁓ takeaways and things I had to learn. ⁓ I think a little bit more in the third point of this discussion, ⁓ because yeah, it is not easy, but coming back to the hidden cost of hustle. I mean, there are practical ways to pause and realign, you know, whether it's rest goals, you know, or downtime, personal time, whatever you want to call it. I know.   Mums in particular struggle with this concept, especially even working moms, because now they're working full time during the day and being a mom can be full time as well. Getting kids to...

    28 min
  5. Generational Wealth and Intentional Financial Parenting

    2025-10-29

    Generational Wealth and Intentional Financial Parenting

    Summary In this episode, we explore the concept of generational wealth and the importance of intentional financial parenting. The discussion emphasizes the need to instill financial values, habits, and mindsets in children from an early age. Key topics include raising wealth-minded kids, understanding the difference between assets and liabilities, the balance between legacy and entitlement, and the significance of personal responsibility in financial matters. The conversation culminates in the importance of designing a family wealth blueprint that fosters multi-generational wealth with intention.   Contact Jessilyn and Brian Persson | Weekend Wealth Investments:  Website: weekendwealth.caInstagram: weekend.wealthFacebook: Weekend Wealth InvestmentsLinkedin: Weekend Wealth Investments  Chapters 00:00Raising Wealth-Minded Kids 09:25Legacy vs. Entitlement 19:17Designing a Family Wealth Blueprint     Transcript   Jessilyn Persson (00:00) Welcome to the Light by Design Podcast, we're Jessilyn and Brian Persson struggling to align your financial goals or confidently invest in real estate as a couple.   Brian Persson (00:18) That's why we created this podcast and the Riches Relationships and Real Estate program to help you build wealth and strengthen your relationship. Visit weekendwealth.ca to take our quiz and discover your real estate investor type. Let's create the life you deserve together.   Jessilyn Persson (00:35) Welcome to today's episode where we're diving into a topic that reaches far beyond dollars and cents, generational wealth and intentional financial parenting. This isn't just about passing down assets. It's about passing down mindsets, values, and habits that create empowered, financially capable generations. We'll explore how to raise wealth-minded kids, how to pass on legacy without entitlement, and how to design a family wealth Brooklyn that lasts.   Because true wealth isn't just about what you build. It's about what you build into your family.   And so today we're going to start with raising well-minded kids and stealing financial values early.   Brian Persson (01:21) Yeah, and I think this is probably the most important part about generational wealth because obviously your kids are the next generation and if they don't understand wealth and they don't understand how to manage it, grow it, keep it, then it is going to disappear very, very quickly.   Jessilyn Persson (01:39) Yeah, and I know we talk quite openly about money in our house and real estate and investing. So our kids at some level understand all of that. And while we haven't, I think, gone too deeply in some of these things, they definitely know, I believe, the difference between assets, which is our real estate, and we have other investment assets that we haven't talked about, but they definitely know real estate. They know income because they know I work a full-time contract.   And that's the money that's the day to day, pay the bills kind of a thing. And then liabilities, which can be a tricky one depending on age appropriateness of our kiddos, right? But I think we have definitely over time explained, you know, like our vehicle, like, cause you know, they come home and they're like, they're like, well, my friends have like three vehicles and they have toys like quads, skadoos, like all boats. And we're like, great, but those are liabilities.   not exactly assets that we choose to invest in real estate instead of all those toys and vehicles.   Brian Persson (02:42) Yeah. And I mean, you say that income assets and liabilities are perhaps complicated subjects, but we truly believe in like teaching them as early as possible because even if they don't understand what the idea of a liability is that say nine or 12 years old, well, they've heard the word. Now they get into their teens and they're, you know, they're 18, 19, 20 years old now, and they've heard this word.   right? Or these words, assets and liabilities over and over and over again. Well, that repetition is already ingrained into their head and suddenly they'll get it. So imagine it's kind of like learning math, learning basic algebra, you know, when you're, when you're like quite older, you're, you're, now you're starting at 20 to take the 12 years of schooling that is going to take you to learn all the math. Instead, they, start you at grade one and, and now you learn all your math.   We believe in just starting earlier so that there's less barriers going into the future of what they have to learn.   Jessilyn Persson (03:45) Absolutely, and it also teaches them the responsibility of money. when they ask for something, ⁓ we evaluate the cost of it. And sometimes, if it's like, ⁓ it would be like, okay, this is what it's going to cost. Are you willing to pay for that? And our oldest, who is a little bit more into just buying things, he's always like, yeah, yeah, I'll buy it, I'll do this. But then we're like, okay, but it's going to take the cost of your four weeks.   of doing your paper route to buy that asset or that Lego, I should say, it's not an asset. And that's when he'll be like, ⁓ wait, I gotta work for four weeks on my paper route to get that. Then he really considers, it worth the effort for the toy?   Brian Persson (04:31) That's a lot more effort than he thought it would be. And you can start quite early. I remember when they were even younger than nine and 12, which they are right now, we would equate not so much money, but like things they understood, like Lego sets. So as you were saying, our oldest, he's very much into Lego. And when he wanted something, we would be like, okay, well, do you understand that that's the equivalent of like 15 Lego sets? And he's like, what?   that many Lego sets and he didn't understand the value of a dollar, but he understood the value of how much he could get out of it for his toys. so the number representation was still there and he could understand the volume of what he was asking.   Jessilyn Persson (05:18) Yeah, yeah, build in, you know, in this, build a healthy relationship with money and we talk quite openly about scarcity versus abundance on our podcast. And, and when we speak in public and our kids are aware, cause I, you know, there's times where they'll say things and then I, know, do the old, what all parents do, bring up my past. I like when I was a kid, right. And I share what I had to do on the farm and they,   Because they've never experienced it, they'll be kind of like, yeah, okay, whatever, mom, no big deal. But then when I explained the magnitude of it, like, I'm like, when I mowed the lawn, it took three days. They'd be like, what? I'm like, and when I finished, I had to start over. Like, that's just how fast the grass and how much grass we had on the farm. For them, when they see like our lawn, which is maybe 30 minutes to mow, once a week, at least when I can relate time, I think time's a good thing for kids at this age.

    27 min
  6. What We Would Do Differently

    2025-10-15

    What We Would Do Differently

    Summary In this episode of the Light by Design Podcast, Jesslyn and Brian Pearson discuss their journey in real estate investing, sharing valuable lessons learned along the way. They emphasize the importance of going bigger sooner, finding mentors, and shifting from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset. The couple also highlights the significance of understanding good debt and how it can be leveraged for wealth building. They conclude with key takeaways that encourage listeners to embrace lifelong learning and to not be too hard on themselves for past mistakes.   Contact Jessilyn and Brian Persson | Weekend Wealth Investments:  Website: weekendwealth.caInstagram: weekend.wealthFacebook: Weekend Wealth InvestmentsLinkedin: Weekend Wealth Investments  Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Wealth Building and Relationships 02:58 Lessons Learned: Going Bigger Sooner 06:09 The Importance of Mentorship and Networking 08:55 Shifting Mindsets: From Scarcity to Abundance 12:03 Protecting Your Money: Understanding Good Debt 14:59 The Power of Real Estate Investment 20:57 Key Takeaways and Conclusion   Transcript:   Jessilyn Persson (00:00) Welcome to the Life by Design Podcast, where Jessilyn and Brian Persson struggling to align your financial goals or confidently invest in real estate as a couple.   Brian Persson (00:18) That's why we created this podcast and the Riches Relationships and Real Estate program to help you build wealth and strengthen your relationship. Visit weekendwealth.ca to take our quiz and discover your real estate investor type. Let's create the life you deserve together.   Jessilyn Persson (00:35) In episode 48, we talked about how you live what you learn. Knowing what we know now. Today, we're going to talk about what we would have done differently. And so, rolling right in here, the first thing we would have done is we would have gone bigger sooner. So we've shared our stories on different episodes where in 2017, Brian came home from work and said he can't handle any more properties. And that's when...   I signed him up to take ⁓ an investment course or work, with Go Alongside ⁓ Real Estate Investment Network to just expand his network and his access to knowledge and what's possible. And that's when he came home and realized he could do a lot more than he realized.   Brian Persson (01:25) Yeah. You don't know what you don't know. That's really what it came down to. So when I got into the room full of people who are already doing it and already much, much further down the path that I was and realizing how easy it seemed to them, you go, okay. Like, you know what? Maybe I can do this too. And ⁓ I definitely wouldn't have got there without those people and them sharing their stories and showing me like there's a bigger, better path out there.   Jessilyn Persson (01:56) Yeah. And I mean, that's, that was one of the, think the hard lessons we learned in real estate about how we can manage more. But once we got over that hurdle through life since then, there's been times where both you and I have had a lot on our plate, not necessarily at the same time and went just like, I'm like done, stressed to the max, can't do anymore. And then we'll usually sit down and chat together. And I know one more recent ones with me and you chatted to me and you're like, listen, Jess.   sometimes it's about perspective. Let's look at the situation and check out your perspective from where you're in this box. And then I'll show you what I see outside the box. And then you can take it from there. And I was able to just kind of release, let go and realize it wasn't as bad as maybe I, cause when you're in it, that's where the struggle is when you're in it. And when I pulled myself out, when you helped me, I was able to see, wait, okay.   I can actually do more and this wasn't white as bad as it seemed.   Brian Persson (03:00) Yeah, when your emotions are firing, it's really, really difficult to get your head out there, out of those emotions and try and think sort of objectively of the situation. And I find that that's a problem with everybody in the situation that you were talking about. There's a subjective experience, like what am I feeling and how do I think this is acting upon me? And then there's the objective experience.   where you tell me all your problems about this particular situation that was going on. like, well, actually, this is the way that it really is, right? And then that allows you to kind of just see it from a different perspective, an objective perspective. And then you end up gaining power over that situation, and then it doesn't affect you anymore.   Jessilyn Persson (03:51) Exactly.   Brian Persson (03:52) There was a recent guy I was talking with actually that is kind of more on the subjective objective experience. like sometimes, you know, going big sooner isn't, isn't always what you should be doing. Sometimes you need to, you need to think about like whether or not you should be in real estate or what, type of real estate you should be in. We talk about that a lot. You know, what's your, what's your real estate grit? What's, what's the drive that you have to do real estate, but this, this guy I was talking to, he's doing.   exceptionally well with a particular multifamily building. ⁓ So objectively, he's doing phenomenal. He's showing me all his numbers. He's telling me how he's running it. And subjectively, he hates real estate. So like he thinks it's the worst thing ever. ⁓ you know, maybe he should have thought about that a little bit sooner into his path. But when it comes to that kind of stuff, you know, you should really think about like whether or not   you're actually doing well or whether you think you're doing well. You gotta really get someone out there to reflect on that and see if you're taking an objective perspective versus a subjective perspective.   Jessilyn Persson (05:06) Right, and I know you talk about maybe waiting a little bit. And I know that's something we kind of learned the hard way is in hindsight, we probably would have waited a little longer to buy a bigger asset. So instead of jump right in and buying only what we could afford, which was a tiny little condo and then another tiny little condo, which we did okay on them. We didn't do fantastic. They're great learning experiences. But in hindsight, had we waited maybe and bought a suede property, which is.   what we specialize in, suite of property and multifamily, we probably would have been more successful with that real estate.   Brian Persson (05:41) Yeah, we suffered from the same thing that a lot of real estate investors suffer from early on in their investment ⁓ path. It's, know, shiny object. You have only so much capital when you start and condos are that shiny object that allow you to get into real estate sooner than later. But like you said, you know, if we really did it differently, I think we would have saved up a little bit more, had a little bit more patience and...

    23 min
  7. How Health and Wealth Intersect

    2025-10-01

    How Health and Wealth Intersect

    Summary In this episode of the Life by Design Podcast, hosts Jessalyn and Brian Pearson discuss the critical relationship between health and wealth. They emphasize that health is the foundation of wealth, exploring how stress and poor health can lead to financial leakage and missed opportunities. The conversation also highlights the importance of investing in longevity and making conscious choices that support both health and financial well-being. Listeners are encouraged to take actionable steps to protect their energy and align their spending with their long-term health goals.   Contact Jessilyn and Brian Persson | Weekend Wealth Investments:  Website: weekendwealth.caInstagram: weekend.wealthFacebook: Weekend Wealth InvestmentsLinkedin: Weekend Wealth Investments  Chapters  00:00 The Foundation of Wealth: Health Matters 06:57 The Cost of Stress: Financial Leakage 15:35 Investing in Longevity: Health and Wealth Balance   Transcript  Jessilyn Persson (00:05) Welcome to the Life by Design Podcast where Jessilyn and Brian Persson, struggling to align your financial goals or confidently invest in real estate as a couple,   Brian Persson (00:15) That's why we created this podcast and the Riches Relationships and Real Estate Program to help you build wealth and strengthen your relationship. Visit weekendwealth.ca to take our quiz and discover your real estate investor type. Let's create the life you deserve together.   Jessilyn Persson (00:32) In this episode we're diving into a truth that often gets overlooked. Your health is the foundation of your wealth. We'll explore how stress quietly eats away at both your bank account and your opportunities. Why longevity is one of the smartest investments you'll ever make and simple steps you can take right now to protect your energy, build confidence and align your wealth with a life you can fully enjoy. The first   Takeaway we're going to focus on is your health is the foundation of your wealth. If your body is drained, your earning power, creativity and decision making all suffer.   Brian Persson (01:11) That is absolutely true. ⁓ Me and you have both been in that position where we just don't, you just don't want to do anything. You just don't want to, you know, you have no motivation to go anywhere, do anything, work towards any kind of goals because you're physically suffering. And when you're physically suffering and your health is just not the best that it could possibly be, what kind of energy are you going to put towards?   any kind of business or any kind of wealth or any kind of future endeavors.   Jessilyn Persson (01:44) absolutely a great example is everyone has experienced some kind of an illness whether it be your common cold, flu, COVID, you name it, everyone has experienced it at least once in their life if not once a year, right? And if you think about where you're at in that time, you wanna lay on the couch, you want to get rest, you want...   hydrate. A lot of times you don't feel like eating. You're lucky if you're sleeping. So in that state, now that's an extreme state because you're actually physically sick but you definitely aren't working. You're lucky if you got the TV on to kind of just keep you busy between naps. put that aside and you're better. You don't have, you're over your cold, you're over your flu but over time other things start.   to take into account. Aging happens, which can shift everything in your body and things you don't even know until it's done and it impacts you in ways you can't necessarily prepare for. So if you don't take care of your health overall, it's gonna slow down your ability to create the wealth you want.   Brian Persson (03:01) Yeah, and your wealth won't mean much if you don't have your health. Like we've done very well for ourselves, but I remember even recently, like I think it was two years ago, I had a significant hip issue. My muscles and my tendons were just not firing and moving the way that they should have. And it was causing like a significant amount of pain for me. it just takes you out. That's all you can think about. Even just trying to...   put eight hours a day towards your job is difficult because your health is so impacted by this that you literally can't get past the fact that you're in pain or you're suffering in some way and then you can't focus on anything else beyond that. it really just kind of blocks you from building anything else beyond trying to get through that pain really.   Jessilyn Persson (03:57) yeah, you're definitely not your best self. I know I've shared before in 2019 when I experienced severe burnout from working way too much and then my body just shut down because I was not listening to my body. And I was down for two months. I couldn't leave the house. I couldn't have light. I couldn't have noise. I couldn't have motion.   And I'm laying there going, I am useless. This is useless. I can do nothing. What good was all the money I made working 50 plus hour weeks if I can't do anything with it? And so that was a really hard and eye opening lesson for me to learn back then. And now I'm very conscious of triggers, knowing that, wait, I'm working too much. I'm feeling the pain in back of my eyes, in my neck, in my back, wherever that pain sits.   when you feel pain somewhere, that is a sign that something is off. And more often than not, we push through thinking it'll go away. Or we take drugs to ease the pain, take it away, which is a band-aid. It's going to come back with a vengeance if you actually don't take care of the root cause.   Brian Persson (05:06) Yeah, yeah, especially when it comes to like muscle related issues and like just your your regular mobility issues because mobility is is so so huge. And and I mean, health can drastically affect wealth, but it can also go the other way around. If you can build wealth, then you can also just live a healthier life because that wealth will will just buffer you from time, you'll have more time in your day to actually do things. It will buffer you in terms of   getting a massage so that you don't have to start suffering, you know, particular joint problems or particular muscle problems. You can use wealth to also build your health, but you need to start by having some health level first in order to actually be able to get to the point of building the wealth.   Jessilyn Persson (05:55) Yeah, once you have ⁓ some wealth built up, it absolutely gives you the opportunity for ⁓ more downtime. know, you're not going to be as worried. If you can afford to pay your bills, you're not worried. Then if you got to take a day or two off just to chill out and regain your energy, you can do that without the stress of the money worries. Right. And like you said, it buys you time freedom. So again, if you have wealth, you can outsource tasks like cleaning your house or   mowing your lawn, task where that would take an extra one, two, three, four hours, possibly a week, that you now get to focu...

    22 min

About

Life by Design is a podcast that shares the experiences and tools to help couples align their wealth goals and reclaim their time, enabling them to experience freedom, abundance, and a life by design.