Episode 12: The Truth About Rentals, Real Estate, and Freedom with Alex Pardo What happens when you realize the life you're building is not the life you actually want? That’s exactly the realization our guest, Alex Pardo, had when working his corporate job at General Electric. In this episode, he shares with Mike Seidl and Zach Richards how this pivotal moment pushed him to rethink everything and led him into real estate, entrepreneurship, and eventually self-storage. Alex opens up about the early moment that changed his path, why fulfillment matters more than a good salary, and what made him decide he couldn’t spend his life doing work that didn’t fit who he was. He also shares how travel, books, and a bold decision helped set everything in motion. Our conversation then digs into the real estate side of things. Alex talks honestly about why rental properties are not the passive income many people think they are, what investors need to understand about return on equity, and why relationship capital can be even more valuable than money itself. Alex also explains how mentors, masterminds, and the right people in your corner can speed up your growth in a big way. This episode is a great listen for anyone who feels stuck in work that no longer fits, anyone building in real estate, or anyone who wants a better way to think about growth. Alex brings a lot of honesty to this one, and he gives a clear reminder that the right relationships can change anything. You’ll Learn in This Episode: The pivotal moment that made Alex change career paths Why doing work that fulfills you matters more than a paycheck alone Why rental property and property management are not as passive as people make them sound How to think about return on equity and why it matters for long-term investors What role a mentor can play when learning a new asset class The role of an equity partner Why relationship capital is often the most valuable capital you can build What makes masterminds so powerful Quotes “When you don’t know what you want, ask yourself what you don’t want.” “Don’t throw away your life doing something that doesn’t fulfill you and that doesn’t tap into your God-given gifts and talents and your potential.” “Masterminds extend beyond business. You can find a mastermind for any area of your life that you want to grow in.” About Alex Pardo Alex Pardo is a self-storage owner, investor, and coach who helps real estate investors and W-2 professionals buy their first cash-flowing self-storage facility, often within 6 to 12 months, without needing prior experience or their own capital. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Alex was selected for General Electric’s prestigious Financial Management Program. Shortly after, he packed a backpack and spent 3½ months traveling across Europe, visiting 23 countries and 51 cities, an early signal that freedom, not comfort, would shape his life. Alex entered real estate in 2005, building a highly successful single-family wholesaling and flipping business in Miami. Over the next 15+ years, he closed more than 750 transactions and founded multiple high-level mastermind communities for entrepreneurs seeking better businesses and better lives. In 2020, despite running a profitable operation, Alex made the difficult decision to walk away from houses and transition into self-storage, without prior storage experience and without using his own money. He navigated the financial, operational, and identity challenges of that shift and went on to own multiple facilities across Florida and Mississippi, totaling over 100,000 net rentable square feet. Today, he continues to own and operate self-storage while actively structuring creative, relationship-driven deals. Alex is the founder of Storage Wins, a coaching community and education platform designed to simplify self-storage investing and help everyday people move from confusion to confident action. His approach emphasizes clarity, relationships, creative deal structures, and what he calls relationship capital, the backbone of every deal he’s done. He is also the host of the Storage Wins Podcast (formerly The Flip Empire Show), with over 760 episodes, where he shares real conversations, real lessons, and real stories from investors who are building freedom without trading their lives for it. Most importantly, Alex is a man of faith, a devoted husband to his wife Natalie, and a proud father to his two daughters, Arianna and Alessia. Family, faith, and alignment come first, and everything he builds flows from that foundation. Through his businesses, coaching, and content, Alex’s mission is simple: help others achieve real freedom, financially, relationally, and personally, while living fully with the people who matter most. Find Storage Wins Online Find Storage Wins on YouTube ㅣ Apple Podcasts ㅣ Spotify Find Alex Pardo on Instagram ㅣFacebook Find REI Capital Guys For Investors & the Fund – Learn how the Fund works and book a call For Borrowers & Deals – Get funding and support for your next investment
