#35 - Growth Mindset with Alice Huang

Jeff Albaum

Okay, all right, sweet. Man, I feel like there's all those rabbit holes that we could spend the next hours talking about each. So, okay, walk me through, let's start with community building. So you have built PropLib media. Walk me through that. Like what is PropLib media? What's the vision there? And then why did you start it? And all those kinds of things.

Alice Huang

Yeah!

huh.

I think I gotta go back a little bit further.

in terms of before my time moving to Austin, Texas. So I moved to Austin in about May 2024. So when I first moved here, the key reason why I moved to Austin is a lot of my favorite podcasters have recently relocated to Austin. So it's mind blowing how Austin is now the hub for a lot of different cool things that's happening in Austin. So you have your biohacking community.

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

Okay.

Alice Huang

You have, of course, your podcasting community and you also have the comedy community as well as the martial arts, especially Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. So it's I don't even know how to describe Austin, but I know my friends when I talk to my friends back home, they tell me that I'm glowing and I'm just talking to them on the phone. They can't even see me. And then they tell me that I'm glowing. So Austin is definitely the place to be. And I actually kind of moved here without

ever been here. Back in 2019, I tried to move here right before COVID and then COVID happened, had to drive back to Canada. So I actually spent about four years in Montreal. Building community in Montreal was very, very difficult. Very, very difficult. So one of the first communities I tried to build was for the All In podcast. So I had met a new friend in LA back in 2023.

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm.

Alice Huang

for the All In Summit. So it was Sam. So when we launched the fan club in Montreal, there was Sam, myself, and for four months, we only had one other member, Sandra. So for four months, there was only the three of us. So it was really difficult to get people together and build that community. So when I decided that, you know what, I'm done with Canada, I'm gonna relocate to Austin, Texas, the first thing I did was to build a bunch

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

Ha

Alice Huang

of different communities based on my favorite podcasts. I have a lot. I listen to maybe three to five a day. So I have a lot on my rotation and oh there's a lot there's a lot to name. I would say top five maybe top five. My first million. Modern Wisdom.

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

Okay.

What are they?

Well, which, which are the. Yeah. Yeah. Top five, top five.

Alice Huang

This is really difficult for me to name the top five and by favorite, not the most listened to. So my first million modern wisdom. Jordan Peterson. Founders.

All in. I say would be my top five favorites. I listen to every single episode, but the full list is significantly longer than that. But I would I would definitely love those for entrepreneurship. Yeah, so I build a bunch of fan clubs because I needed to surround myself with like-minded people. And I would say half the friends I met here in Austin are from the fan clubs that I've held.

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

Okay, okay.

Mm-hmm.

Alice Huang

I've even been asked so many times on how to do it. I published a book on the eight steps of how to become a community builder. I'm just like, I got so tired of people asking me. I'm like, okay, here you go. Follow the eight steps.

Jeff Albaum

That's amazing. And that's also genius to, I've actually been thinking about this a lot. What's a way to surround yourself with people who you wanna hang out with is podcasts are such a great filter for that.

Alice Huang

Correct. Yes, I'm such a nerd for different podcasts.

Jeff Albaum

So, have you always had that community building instinct? Where did that come from?

Alice Huang

Great question. I'd say no, because I'm actually more introverted. So for me, one of the key reasons why I like being the host is so I can take a step back and see everybody connect and connect them. Not being in the middle of it, but just seeing people do their thing. That just warms my heart. I like connecting people. That for me is natural.

Jeff Albaum

Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. That's fair. Do you have you been doing this your whole life? is this like a because you've lived all over the world, right?

Alice Huang

Yeah, I've lived in eight countries, nine cities across four continents. But I think that makes it easy for me to connect people. But it's not something I've done. Only started when I moved to Austin, really. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's just from the four years living in Montreal where I had a lot of friends. I had a lot of amazing friends. But in terms of having the common interest, we didn't have much. Our common interest is going out for dinner.

Jeff Albaum

Got it. Got it. Got it. Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Alice Huang

and going out for brunch.

Jeff Albaum

Right.

Alice Huang

But you know, the things that I'm interested in, such as real estate development, the all in podcasts, you know, things like that. It was difficult to find that community and surround myself with, you know, the saying you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. So I started listening to a lot of different podcasts because locally in Montreal, when I was there, I didn't have those five. So that's why I turned to podcasts, listening to podcasts. I don't have a podcast myself yet.

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Alice Huang

I don't know if I will, I don't know.

Jeff Albaum

Yet we're working on that. What's has there been any like key threads that as you've hung out with people from because if like, okay, the only thing that you know about someone is that they listen to a similar podcast. Is there any like similar threads that you tend to notice across these events of like, everyone seems to be obviously interested in the podcast but above and beyond that.

Alice Huang

I love the title of your podcast because I asked my mom how she would describe me.

She said, curious. So I would say the people who come to my events are always very curious and open-minded people. So that's where we thrive because I'm very curious. I'm like a two-year-old. I ask a lot of questions. I'm always looking to learn. But I actually wrote about this in my last newsletter is that I fundamentally changed as a person because I would say probably about eight years ago, eight, nine years ago, maybe even 10 years ago,

Jeff Albaum

Okay. Okay.

Mm-hmm. Okay.

Alice Huang

had a very, very, very fixed mindset. I was a very different person. And there were multiple catalysts and major life events where I had become very different, very... Going from an extremely fixed mindset, I quit everything that I tried. In my newsletter, I even talked about how I didn't even bother applying to any universities because I wouldn't be able to get into any of them.

And secondly, I wanted to go to art school, but I couldn't even get my shit together to put together a portfolio.

That's how much of a slacker I was. And going from that, having a very fixed mindset, kind of having that misunderstanding that if you put your effort and mind to it, you can improve and you will improve. I did not understand that. I did not know that growing up. That wasn't a part of my understanding. So I fundamentally changed as a person in the last, I'd say, eight to 10 years.

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm.

Was there a catalyst that started that process?

Alice Huang

I would say there are five major catalysts. Back in 2018...

I was just leaving London. I had spent a couple of years in London, loved living in Europe, did not want to leave Europe, but my visa was up so I had to leave. So if I left London, I was going to go to Berlin. So in between London and Berlin, I had a month gap. So I decided to go to a Muay Thai camp in Thailand.

never trained Muay Thai in my life. My colleagues in London actually told me, hey, did you realize that this is one of the most intense martial arts and you're probably going to die. I didn't know any, honestly, I did zero research. I didn't know anything about it. I don't even watch UFC. I didn't watch UFC. I've never even owned a TV in my life. So I had no idea what Muay Thai was. I was like, oh, it's from Thailand. I can go and just chill for a month.

that's why I joined the camp. When I got there I was so bad at everything I had to do. So every morning it's 7 to 9 in the morning we had our morning training and then 4 to 6 in the afternoon again another two hour training. So every day it's four hours of training and usually we start off with 15 minutes of jump rope

Jeff Albaum

Yeah.

Alice Huang

and back in 2018 I could not even jump rope. So I don't know if you guys call it skip rope or jump rope but I could not do it. I could not. For the life of me, I didn't figure that out for two years. And I guess because I was really stubborn as well, I was so bad at it, I thought...

let's see what happens if I just kept on trying. But long story short, when I got to Berlin, there's a huge housing shortage, so I couldn't find a place to live for the long term. So I actually only got an Airbnb for about a month and a half, two months. I trained nonstop when I was in Berlin when I was there. Couldn't find long term housing, so I just ended up living out of a carry on and I went further and further east. So I started training.

training in places like Warsaw, Poland, Kiev, Ukraine, Kuznopok, Romania and I even did boxing in Havana, Cuba in 2018. I traveled probably between I never I never count these things, but maybe 20 to 25 different cities just to train martial arts, go to music festivals and just blow all my savings. So yeah, that's what I did in 2018. So major catalyst in terms of change

changing my mindset, going from a very fixed mindset to like somewhat curious about personal growth.

and seeing very little results, very, very little. It probably took me two years before getting it, before my body started to do all these very awkward movements. It was tough. It was very tough. But then I started seeing improvements. And then that's when I realized, hey, so it turns out people aren't all born with these kind of abilities. It's actually hard work, dedication.

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm.

Alice Huang

and consistency. So I actually learned this in 2019 when I joined a Muay Thai gym here in Austin called Ambush Muay Thai. So this was their slogan on the back of their shirt. Seeing these three words blew my mind. So you're saying hard work. I can't remember the exact order, but it's hard work, dedication and consistency.

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

Wait, sorry, what was it? What was the slogan?

Alice Huang

And that blew my mind. So, cause that's the first time when I realized, hey, when you actually follow through, have it put in the hard work, have consistency, keep showing up and have dedication, you actually might see results. I did not know that I was not raised like that. I was, I was not. Yeah. So that was catalyst number one.

Jeff Albaum

Mmm.

Okay, wow. And so, assuming you still train, you said Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and also Muay Thai to this day?

Alice Huang

Jiu Jitsu, I just started a couple months ago with my church. So our church has small groups where we just train every Saturday before Bible studies and then we go into Bible studies. weird but so much fun. Yeah, but I still train. yeah, Red Rocks. Yeah, it's great.

Jeff Albaum

Okay, cool.

Wow, that's a cool church.

Wow, okay, so you kind of the first catalyst was you learned this lesson as the application was martial arts. Did you have it like a similar evolution in business or like when did the business mindset start to kick in or was it always was it synonymous?

Alice Huang

Mm-hmm.

That was the second catalyst, which is reading, Rich That Poor Dad, four-hour work week, and Burr, back-to-back in 2019. So...

Jeff Albaum

didn't even know that.

Okay.

and who are you hanging out with that recommended those? Like how did you pick those up? Because if you're in real estate that makes sense, but if you're not, those are quite random.

Alice Huang

wow.

It was actually a friend of mine I met in Guadalajara because in 20 Beginning of 2019. I was living in Mexico City. So I was just traveling a lot So I spent a month in different different states within Mexico and I met a fellow traveler from the United Kingdom and then he told me hey you should read these books because it Probably would put you on the right track. I had known of yeah, go on

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

And before this point, did you have, what was your background? Did you have a background in business or any of this stuff or no? It was like all new.

Alice Huang

Yeah

So I worked for some of the largest real estate developers and consultancies for a very long time. So I started my real estate career in real estate development in Vancouver, where I grew up in 2007. So I worked for the largest real estate developer in Canada. And then that real estate career kind of took me to Australia, to the UK and whatnot. However, the only thing I learned working for these developers is that I don't have deep pockets.

Jeff Albaum

Got it, got it, got it.

Alice Huang

I do not know the right people because syndication outside of the US is not common. So here you have a lot of syndications, but in Australia, in Canada and in the UK, it's not open to the public. It's very much who you know. So unless you know somebody, it's really difficult. I had to just like fact check with ChachiPT because everyone talks about syndication here in the United States.

Jeff Albaum

Mm. Mm-hmm.

Interesting.

Alice Huang

coming from a real estate development background from Canada, Australia, UK, we don't talk about syndication. We have joint ventures that's super rare, super rare. usually, yes, usually for these projects, there's like a handful of people. Not like here, you have projects where it's like 50 to 100 different, different, you know, families going in, but no, not, not in most places. A lot of Americans take the American dream for granted. And a lot of immigrants like me, we're here

Jeff Albaum

Really?

Yeah.

Alice Huang

because of the American dream. I love this country.

Jeff Albaum

Right, Okay, so that was Catalyst number two. So you read those books and you were like, okay, so what did you do with it?

Alice Huang

So from the BIRD book, so it stands for buy, rehab, rent, refinance, and repeat. So from that book, I got to know the BiggerPockets podcasts and the BiggerPockets forum. Only back then in 2019, that's when I started listening to podcasts. Before that, oof, okay, here's the truth. Before that,

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Alice Huang

I didn't read a single book in my life. Not a single book, not a single podcast. Even in high school, when we had to read Animal Farm and all those different books, I barely read them. So I did not read anything.

fictional until when I lived in London when I was spending a lot of time on the tube and that's when I started reading fiction. I did not read biographies or any sort of growth mindset personal development books until 2019. So this is all new like all of these because I recently I caught up with a friend for lunch and then my friend is like do you ever relax and even I don't know if you know Ethan Brooks

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Mm-mm. Who is that?

Alice Huang

He runs the Austin Business Review, such a great guy, and I love his weekly newsletters. He recently referred me as an overachiever, and I'm just like, those are not words that people would use to describe me ever when I was growing up. Even up until I was in my probably, probably up until...

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Alice Huang

2016-17 you would never call me an overachiever or go-getter or any of that. So this is all very new.

Jeff Albaum

That's wild. That's wild. Okay, wait. you're starting to say like, okay, you read those books, you read Burr, you got into podcasts, you got into BiggerPockets. And that was, I don't know, no shade to the bigger, I feel like that was the golden age of the BiggerPockets podcast. They were so good. Like Brandon and David at the time, like they were amazing.

Alice Huang

Yup.

Yep.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Yup.

Jeff Albaum

And so did you get into real estate investing? Like what did you, what happened then?

Alice Huang

I did, yes. So I met my business partner, NAS on the bigger pockets forum.

a month before the COVID lockdowns. So I met him exactly once in person. So we had gone to look at a property in San Antonio together. That was the first and only time I've met him. So I had to drive back to Canada in March. I know it's crazy. I had to drive back to Canada in March because my whole visa application was delayed. I went back, him and his wife moved to Seattle. That forced us during the severe COVID lockdowns

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

Whoa.

Okay.

Alice Huang

forced us to grow a company completely remote. So we actually built 2H Homes and 2H Investment remotely during 2020 to today. So everything is done remote. I met him exactly twice.

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

So yeah, okay, so let's talk about that. You guys are on the forums, and for those who don't know, BiggerPockets, how would you describe it? It's an online forum where people chat all things real estate, yeah?

Alice Huang

Facebook for real estate.

Jeff Albaum

Perfect, perfect, Facebook real estate. the forums are huge. There's probably, I don't know, feels like millions of people. So how did you guys connect out of the haystack?

Alice Huang

Yeah.

So I remember making a post asking people in Texas to, because I know the sweet spot. Usually it's between 150 to 250,000 in terms of the market value, in terms of making the 1 % rule. So I was just asking the community.

Jeff Albaum

Okay, well wait, just explain the 1 % rule for those that aren't familiar with it.

Alice Huang

Yeah, so my strategy is I want to build up cash flow. So in order to build up cash flow, you need to make sure your rental income covers all of your expenses, which is P.T. principal, interest, taxes and insurance. So a lot of places, for example, in Vancouver, where the average house is one point nine million dollars and our income is only about 60 percent of what Americans make. I'm pretty sure this is why Shopify is still in Canada, but.

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Alice Huang

It's impossible to actually meet the 1 % rule in places like that. So I found that the closer you are

Jeff Albaum

Mm hmm. Wait, sorry. So keep what so the 1 % rule just go through the math really quickly. So

Alice Huang

okay. gosh, math. Not gonna lie. I failed. I failed calculus four times. Four times in college.

Jeff Albaum

No public.

Alice Huang

And it took me seven years to finish my degree. Like I was not a go-getter. I was like cruising. So math is not my chance to, but I guess the 1 % rule, 1 % rule is let's say for example, if you have a home that's rented for, that you bought for $1 million, every single month, your rental income should be 1 % of that. So it should be 10,000. Not possible. not.

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Alice Huang

In Vancouver, yes, it's kind of like that, but I honestly do not know how people make things work. I used to work three jobs, that's why I left. It's because I could not make things work.

Jeff Albaum

Yeah, yeah, it's a super expensive city. Okay, so you're looking at taxes, you're posting about properties to make the 1 % rule work. Okay.

Alice Huang

And then Naz was one of the people to reach out. And then because he's very driven, very ambitious as well. So I was like, hey, this will be a good partnership. Yeah.

Jeff Albaum

Okay. And how did you, so let's talk about that a little bit too, because like partnerships are really interesting. You hopefully will have like complimentary skill sets, but did you guys have zoom calls or like what, did you each bring to the table and how did you feel good about that? Like going forward, cause it's still working. It's not like it's a great business and you're still growing. It's like, yeah, walk me through that.

Alice Huang

Nas definitely is more grounded. So I definitely have more of the real estate development background and he comes from an engineering background. So he definitely makes up for the my lack of math abilities. Yeah, and it's just we're, we're complimentary of one another. So I'd say I'm more of a, well, I don't think I am an extrovert, but people keep labeling me that.

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm.

Alice Huang

I know I'm not because during the COVID lockdowns and severe lockdowns in Canada, I thrived. I loved it. So people keep telling me that I'm an extrovert. I'm like, sure, whatever. But he's...

Jeff Albaum

Yeah.

Alice Huang

comparing to me, I think he just balances me out. So we're a good team because he brings on a lot of the detail oriented side and I'm more of the big picture and I'm really good in hiring and training people and just running different businesses. So I actually took a break from, so after Naz and I set up everything for 2H, because it took about two years to set up all the systems and processes. After that, we just kept on injecting money.

and we had a whole team to run the day-to-day operations, but that took a couple of years to set up. After I did that, I started running businesses for other entrepreneurs for about three, four years as well. So I took a break from the day-to-day operations of the development company. I can just, after 15, 16, 17 years in real estate development, I'm like, I need a break.

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

Got it.

Totally. Yeah, so what kind of stuff were you doing on that quote-unquote break, which I imagine probably wasn't much of a break for you

Alice Huang

Yeah! It was so much fun! The most random is... So I don't even scroll social media. I post and I ghost. I don't really linger, but I was running the business for a cosmetic medical doctor turned full-time influencer. So she started her, I guess her business as a med spa.

Jeff Albaum

Okay. Okay.

Alice Huang

owner in central London. So we grew so rapidly. So I joined her team. I made the first, second and third hires for the team. We went from having 62,000 followers on Instagram to over 250 in the year and a half I was growing her team. And I don't deal with anything social media. So the first person I hired was an executive assistant to be our right hand. Well, actually we had to go through three. So I trained them.

Jeff Albaum

Okay?

Alice Huang

well they weren't good enough, hire fast, fire faster, so we went through three and now he is still on the team. And the second person I hired was a social media manager. So within a month I made these two key hires who were able to be my right hand and run the day-to-day operations. So my doctor client she can be you know where she's best at which is being the face of the brand.

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm.

Alice Huang

not managing anything day to day. She's just the face of the brand. So she can be out in London doing in-person events and getting her name out there in person where it's a big deal because a lot of these brands want to know that not only are you an online influencer, they also want to know that you have that pulp within the local community. So I started negotiating six figure contracts for her with all the brands you see at Sephora. So it was just

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm.

Wow.

Alice Huang

So much fun. Not only like I still have products. I actually got one right here Charlotte Tilbury. They would send me products too. So I have reverse aged since I left Montreal for Austin. Yeah, that's been great.

Jeff Albaum

You

That's amazing. So you're like running these businesses for other people, guess, entrepreneurs, and I'm sure like learning a ton. So are you still doing that today?

Alice Huang

Entrepreneurs? Yeah, I loved it.

I just launched Prop Lab Media so I can have more like my friends here in Austin. So I am trying to do less virtual. I didn't meet her for maybe a year and four months until Estee Lauder, the skincare brand, flew us out to Nashville to meet Dr. Matthew Walker. So that was the first and only time I've met her in person. I've not met her in person. And I'm just like...

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

Okay.

K.

Okay.

Whoa.

Alice Huang

I love working with the team, but it doesn't really align with my community building IRL desires. So that's why I go to a lot of events. I plan and host a lot of events is because I don't have colleagues and the entrepreneurial journey is pretty lonely. And most people meet their spouses at work. I'm just like, at this rate, I'm never going to meet anybody. So that's why I was like, okay, maybe no more, no more virtual stuff only

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Alice Huang

in person.

Jeff Albaum

Yeah, yeah, man, that's amazing. So, okay, walk me through like a day in the life of Alice's life today in Austin, Texas in 2026. Like you wake up on a Thursday, what are you doing?

Alice Huang

Today is an off day. Jeff, today is weird because today I have seven meetings and events. So today is not a classic day. So Wednesday, what I would do, I don't set an alarm. I wake up when I wake up.

Jeff Albaum

Okay, Wednesday, Wednesday.

Okay.

Alice Huang

But since now that I've been on keto for a while, I don't need much sleep. So I would be usually up between 5.30 to 7.30. So I just wake up when I wake up and then I usually go to my local coffee shop and then I work straight to about noon. So I've been doing 16, eight for the last five years. So I have lunch at noon. Yeah. Yeah.

Jeff Albaum

Wait, 68, like the fasting window? Okay.

Alice Huang

So I eat between noon to eight, usually noon to seven. So.

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

Alice Huang

usually lunch between 12 to about 12 30 and then after that maybe a couple hours more of work and then I start my Muay Thai training which I just shadow box now because I got way too deep into just committing to Muay Thai I was training six days a week I didn't have anything else happening I was just training all the time so this is also why with jiu-jitsu I'm kind of like oh I kind of want to give everything up and just go all in but I can't

do that. I need to I need to kind of build more before I join another cult. But yeah, I train, I shadow box for maybe like an hour and an hour and a half. And then I'm usually at an event almost every night of the week. If I'm not at an event, I'm probably a Casa de Luz just chilling. Yeah. But I'm always home at eight. Yes.

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

Okay, so it's like both ends of the spectrum. You're like on or you're just like deep contemplative reflection.

Alice Huang

Yeah, but I would say 95 % of the time I'm home by 8. Yeah.

Jeff Albaum

Wow, okay, cool. And early, early to bed?

Alice Huang

Not quite. So home by eight in a bath from like maybe 8 15 to 9 and then I listen to podcasts a lot of it before I go to sleep. They kind of help me fall asleep. Yeah.

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

It doesn't like make your brain spin.

Alice Huang

I'm used to it now. it's like six years of, six, seven years of listening to podcasts. So yeah, a lot of the knowledge that I've gathered subconsciously come up. I don't even know where I it up, but I've just picked up a lot of stuff. Yeah.

Jeff Albaum

Wow.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm, right.

Right, right, right. Man, that's so cool. And so how much of your time are you spending, like when you're saying, like during your work windows, how much is dedicated to real estate, how much is dedicated to Prop Lab, how much is dedicated to, because didn't you also start an HVAC company?

Alice Huang

Yeah, I would say Prop Lab because it's so new. I've just launched it three weeks ago. I've got three newsletters out. Today was the last one, the latest one. I would say that is almost 100 % of my time. And the reason why I'm going to so many different events is also I am curating all the real estate related events here in Austin. So I'm going to them. I'm meeting all the event organizers, introducing myself and just

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Alice Huang

I want to connect people. So I need to go to these events and start meeting people, IRL. Yeah.

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm. I don't know if there's there. know there's a book about it. haven't read it But there's like the the phrase like super connector Have you ever heard that?

Alice Huang

Okay, the do you know Mark Nathan? He is the CPG king of the United States. He is so well connected. He's the only person I've ever met ever to max out his LinkedIn connections. So he has to actively remove people.

Jeff Albaum

Mm-mm.

Okay.

Holy smokes.

Alice Huang

So he is such a great connector. So the first week of me being in Austin, do you know about Al Beecher with the boardwalk? Ooh, okay, I'll send you a DM. Okay, so Al Beecher has this boardwalk that she's been running. She's had over 100 now. And the first...

Jeff Albaum

No, I'm learning so many things. What is that?

What does that mean? What's a boardwalk?

Alice Huang

Oh, the boardwalk. Okay, so every Saturday morning, I can't go anymore because I have jiu-jitsu, but every Saturday morning, starting at 8 a.m., we meet at a banu on South Congress. So there's anywhere from 20 to about 150 people. We have no agenda. There's no selling. And it's very much bring a topic of your choice. And then we kind of just connect on a five-mile walk around the ladybird.

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Alice Huang

trail. Yeah, so that's every Saturday, rain or shine at 8. I think we depart at 8.15. But I can't go anymore because I have jiu-jitsu at 9. So, and Aldi said, hey, can you take over? I'm like, I can't give up jiu-jitsu. yeah. But I know. So, so Mark, he's a regular there.

Jeff Albaum

awesome.

Okay. Okay.

Yay.

It's a good problem to have.

Alice Huang

And the first week of me being in Austin, I went to Ellis Walk. My topic was how to build community here in Austin. And I've never met Mark before. And after the introduction, because you go around in circle, you introduce yourself, you talk about what you're grateful for and the topic you want to talk about that day. So after the introductions, Mark came over and he told me, you're a super connector. I know, I know because I am one. And I'm just like, I've never even heard of this.

Jeff Albaum

Okay?

Okay.

Alice Huang

he's kind of taken me under his wing since and I saw him this morning at another event too yeah that's great I didn't even know that was a thing it's just I do like connecting people yeah

Jeff Albaum

That's awesome.

It's such a cool gift. feel like too, because it's a great way that you get to meet people and then you become the center of the hub, right? It's like all the spokes are like, and it's just so fun because you're like, you should meet this person. Like, oh, this person would be good for you. And it's just such a great way. I don't know. You feel so good doing that, I would imagine.

Alice Huang

Thanks.

Yes?

But there's so much to learn because Mark is like a walking computer. He knows everything. He has a Rolodex like right in his brain at all times. I'm so not there. I am so not there. I don't know how he does it. Oh gosh. I don't know if I have the memory for it. So yeah, that's why I started the newsletters. So keep everyone in the loop. Keep everybody in the loop. I need to do something about the memory problem. Yeah.

Jeff Albaum

Yeah.

Yet, Keyword, keyword.

What? Growth mindset, you remember you get...

I feel like you'll figure it out. I have confidence. I have very high confidence you will figure it out. Wow, wait, I just forgot. Someone wanted to ask around that topic was, yeah, like what do you want to do in five years? What do you want to be doing? How do you want to be spending your time? What are you building? Obviously, proper media, but is that what you want to be doing for the next five years? What are your thoughts?

Alice Huang

remembers everybody. Yeah.

my God. Whoa, yeah.

Well, first of all, congratulations on the seven month old. That's awesome. Yeah, I would say so my best friend, Emily and I, we've been the reason why we moved to Austin as well is that we definitely want to move on to the next chapters of our lives.

Jeff Albaum

Thank you, thank you, thank you, I appreciate it.

Okay.

Alice Huang

Like I think building the next chapter, is, you know, building a family is the most important thing ever. Building businesses, it's all fun. Building a real estate portfolio, that's fun. But I don't think that, you know, before we die, we're definitely not going to be wishing that we spend more time working. It's always going to be the people in our lives. So I would say definitely want to start planning to build a family, spend more time with my mom and dad, and just spend more time seeing

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm.

Totally.

Totally.

Alice Huang

the people. The problem with having lived in so many different countries across four continents is that for example I lived in Australia 2011 to February 2016.

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

Alice Huang

My friends from Australia, for example, my best friend Elizabeth from Australia, she's from Mexico City. I spent 2018 with her mom, but I haven't seen her since 2016. And it's really difficult to, you know, to do that because next thing you know, I haven't seen her in 10 years. She's getting married in Oaxaca soon. So I'm going to go, go down there and see her. And I'm just, I know I'm just going to cry.

Jeff Albaum

Hmm.

Mm-hmm

Yeah, yeah. How do you think about balancing like? Because you probably meet so many people and like you said, you have so many friends all over the world and you could spend your entire life just like catching up and nurturing relationships with the people you already know. How do you balance that with meeting new people so often and like? Yeah, trying to juggle backs. I know I struggle with that a lot.

Alice Huang

Oof, that's a great question, Jeff. I would say...

That's also one of the reasons why I started the newsletters. Because a lot of people want a lot of one-on-one time, and I just can't do that. Because I'm really in build mode, which means I am not being distracted. I can't even handle people DMing me on Instagram with my real friends. I tell them, hey, you know my WhatsApp. My real friends only send me WhatsApp because they know if they DM me, I'm not going to respond. I'm not going to see it.

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Mmm.

Alice Huang

It's just, I don't want that distraction. So this is why I started the newsletter because people are asking, hey, what are you doing? Can you, can you, can you coach me through this and this and this? And I just can't because I'm in build mode because I don't want to be in build mode forever. I'm hoping to really, really put in the work in 2026 and just ramp it up to a point where I could just sit back a little bit in 2027, just like what I've done with the, with the development company, because we're on our last

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Alice Huang

piece of land right now, it'll be refinanced probably in February. I'm going to, and I are going to take a break from development because he's, him and his wife are expecting their first baby in March. So the goal is to, for me, because I want him to take more of a break. I want to stabilize all of our income. All except for one is Airbnb. So everything else is long-term. I want to be able to turn a couple more into Airbnbs, maximize that profit.

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

Awesome.

Yeah.

Okay.

Alice Huang

before developing more. So yeah, so he can take some time off to be a new dad. Yeah.

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm. Gotcha. Gotcha, gotcha.

Okay, man, that's amazing. I love how just like, know exactly what you want. You're like, okay, this is the timeframe that someone would do. Like it's super cool and super inspiring.

Alice Huang

Yeah.

Hey, it wasn't always like that. I could not, yeah. It's really wild, because I was just, it wasn't until the last couple of weeks when a few people have told me, do you ever relax? Like how, like why do you do so much? I'm like, whoa.

Jeff Albaum

That's okay, you became like that, which is even cooler. If it was, it'd be more boring.

Alice Huang

For the longest time, I didn't do anything. I just didn't do anything. I lived paycheck to paycheck. I was just cruising. I blew all my savings in 2018. it's just, I don't know who they see, but who they see is not who I see, because I know me the best. Yeah. So it's pretty crazy. Yeah.

Jeff Albaum

Yeah.

Right, right.

Man, well, I wanna start winding down here, but man, thank you so much for coming on. And before I let you go, we've kinda talked about the podcast that you consume. there any other types of, like, you into, like, what's the, Rich.PoorDad, Burr, and For Our Work Week, have there been any other, like, game-level, frame-changing books that you've read?

Alice Huang

yeah, a lot, a lot. There's one called mindset. So in I can't remember who wrote it, but in mindset, she talks about she talks about having a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. It was the first time ever that I've heard this concept. And I learned about it through Tom Bailey's podcast. So Tom Bailey was the founder of quest. He build quests with his wife, Lisa.

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

the diagnostics company or the nutrition, the snack company.

Alice Huang

No, so the snack company, built it from zero. Him and his wife, Lisa, built it from zero to selling it for a billion dollars. And he, that book changed his mind as well in nine years. I should emphasize in nine years. So, you know, he recommended that book. I read that book and it just blew my mind because I didn't realize any of this. So I do recommend people that as well as Kim Hurdney by David Goggins.

Jeff Albaum

Wow.

Okay.

Yeah, that book broke my brain.

Alice Huang

And it also blows my mind that a lot of people know Goggins as Goggins today. And a lot of people didn't know that Goggins used to be a pest control guy who was overweight and miserable and suicidal. A lot of people don't know that. People always think that, Goggins always been Goggins. No, Goggins is new too. know, Goggins still looks at his runners for half an hour before putting them on. Yeah.

Jeff Albaum

Mm-hmm

Yeah.

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah, that book is wild. I used to read that every year as just like a reminder of like, like, okay. Anything that I'm going through is like, it's fine. Like I got nothing to complain about. Well, Alice, thank you so much for coming on. I so appreciate you and like the community that you're building and I've been really enjoying the newsletters. So thank you for, for starting them. And for people who want to learn more, what's the, where's the best place to follow you or, to, to learn more about PropLab Media or any of the other.

Alice Huang

Really. It hurt me.

yeah. yeah.

That was fun.

Jeff Albaum

exciting ventures you got going on.

Alice Huang

Yeah, so if you just Google prop lab media, you should be able to subscribe to the newsletters there. And again, my Instagram is Alice loves Muay Thai, but I will not DM back. So just if you want to follow my journey, feel free the weird shit that I do. Have a look. But I will not DM back. Yeah. Yes, we got too many incoming channels. It's too distracting. Yeah.

Jeff Albaum

Okay.

Okay.

Okay, it's not personal, it's a policy.

100%. Well, Alice, thank you so much for coming on. I so appreciate you and I'm looking forward to seeing all the cool things that you do.

Alice Huang

That was fun. Thanks, Jeff.

Jeff Albaum

Thank you. All right, bye everybody.