Episode 44 - How Stephanie Bernal went from Corporate Queen to Community Builder
In this unforgettable episode, Stephen Husted reconnects with an old friend from his DJ days — Stephanie Bernal, a former Apple and eBay powerhouse turned luxury real estate agent in Roseville, CA. It’s been 19 years since they last saw each other, and their reunion is packed with nostalgia, personal growth, and unfiltered reflections on life, sobriety, success, and community building. Stephanie opens up about her journey from the Bay Area’s corporate grind to starting over in a new town, creating her own lane in real estate, and becoming the heartbeat of her neighborhood. She’s not just selling homes — she’s building community events, guiding families from the Bay to Roseville, and helping her neighbors find peace and belonging.
Stephen and Stephanie talked about:
00:00 – Introduction and Full Circle Moment
05:42 – Journey to Sobriety and Success
07:27 – From DJ to Real Estate Agent
09:33 – Corporate Career and Transition to Real Estate
14:37 – Building a Real Estate Business
24:23 – Challenges and Opportunities in Real Estate
32:32 – Smart Moves in Real Estate
34:01 – The Appeal of Roseville
35:21 – Exploring Sacramento's Neighborhoods
38:45 – Mentoring and Social Media Strategies
40:15 – Community Events and Engagement
42:18 – Marketing Insights from eBay
50:55 – Full Circle Moments and Reconnecting
TRANSCRIPT
∎ Teaser / Highlighted Clip
[Stephanie Bernal] (0:00 - 1:01)
Even like in business, it's so easy to stay focused on like what's next, what's next, what's next, what can I accomplish, how many homes can I sell, how many clients am I working with, and it's difficult to kind of take a deep breath and take a look back and see where you started and take a look and see where you're at and then really say, have I been successful? Hell yeah, you've been successful. If you were ever to ask me how do you define success, I would say relationships, how you can, you know, kind of foretell where the opportunities are coming and then the honest conversation that you have to have with yourself and say, can I do it?
Do I want to do it? And am I going to do it? And if all three are yes, then you know, the sky's the limit.
This is your business. This is your brand. You are the face of your business.
So you have to be in front of the camera and constantly be top of mind to the people that you want to serve.
∎ Podcast Intro:
[Stephen Husted] (1:01 - 2:38)
Brace yourself for a wild ride into the unexpected. This ain't your typical success show.
I'm here talking to real folks who've been through it all, skipping the fancy business talk for authentic stories. We're diving into childhood dreams, teenage escapades, and everything in between. No scripts, just the stories that truly mold success.
Each episode takes you on journey through those breakthrough moments that paved their way. No fluff, just genuine stories. So whether you're chasing dreams or just love a good story, buckle up for wisdom, laughs, and the unexpected.
This is The Breakthrough Podcast, where success is a journey, not just some fancy destination. Don't miss out. Hit the subscribe button now and join our breakthrough crew.
I got some incredible stories to share and you won't want to miss a single one.
∎ Guest Introduction:
Success in real estate and marketing isn't just about knowing the game, it's about staying ahead of it. And no one does that better than today's guest, Stephanie Bernal.
She's built and scaled and mastered the art of brand building in a way that turns heads. And get this, we've been connected for 19 years. We're talking about her journey from working at Apple and eBay to becoming a top performing agent in the Placer County area, how she's building her brand through community events and her strategy for attracting Bay Area buyers to her market.
Plus we get into some fun, full circle moments, real talk about life challenges, and yeah, a little house music nostalgia. This episode is packed with insights, laughs, and stories you don't want to miss. Let's dive in.
∎ Podcast Proper:
Hi there.
[Stephanie Bernal] (2:39 - 2:46)
Hey, how's it going? Good.
I'm excited to finally be on your podcast.
[Stephen Husted] (2:47 - 2:53)
Yeah, this is going to be an interesting full circle moment, would you say?
[Stephanie Bernal] (2:54 - 2:57)
Yes, I think so.
I love that and I love it a lot.
[Stephen Husted] (2:58 - 2:59)
It's kind of interesting, right?
[Stephanie Bernal] (2:59 - 3:00)
Yeah.
[Stephen Husted] (3:01 - 3:13)
It totally is, right? So fun fact, you're the first person on the podcast that actually knows me from back in the days.
[Stephanie Bernal] (3:13 - 3:15)
Before your business, yeah.
[Stephen Husted] (3:15 - 3:24)
Exactly. So we've got some long history, which is kind of cool, but I think we could start off with how you ended up on the podcast.
[Stephanie Bernal] (3:24 - 3:29)
Yeah.
We have to start with our love of house music.
[Stephen Husted] (3:30 - 4:11)
Okay. Yeah, we can go there.
Well, it's funny that you bring that up. You started commenting on certain things because I can't hold back from posting house music in stories. And then you were like, oh yeah, I love the track.
I'm like, oh shit, this girl likes house music. That's cool. That's odd because there's only a few people that really comment on music and it's always people from the past, very few.
And I don't know about you, but when I first started posting stories, I was hesitant to use house music and techno as the background music. You know what I mean? And I started slowly testing it and I'm like, no man, this is what I like.
[Stephanie Bernal] (4:11 - 4:12)
It's you, it's part of you.
[Stephen Husted] (4:13 - 4:16)
Yeah. And then I had to finally, I don't know, I had to lean into it, I would say.
[Stephanie Bernal] (4:17 - 4:18)
Get over it, yeah.
[Stephen Husted] (4:18 - 4:19)
Get over it.
[Stephanie Bernal] (4:19 - 4:20)
Over yourself.
[Stephen Husted] (4:23 - 4:36)
Yeah, it was just interesting. So interesting that the fact that you started commenting on it and like I said, well, you got married, right? And then, so your name changed.
And then your photo, I really didn't see your face. So I really didn't know who you really were for that long.
[Stephanie Bernal] (4:36 - 4:38)
I have to go change my photo now.
[Stephen Husted] (4:38 - 4:41)
Maybe you could do one a little closer so we can see your face.
[Stephanie Bernal] (4:42 - 4:42)
Yeah.
[Stephen Husted] (4:42 - 4:46)
Yeah.
Because you got it all going on, but I just didn't, honestly, I just, I couldn't recognize you.
[Stephanie Bernal] (4:46 - 4:48)
Also, it's been a while.
[Stephen Husted] (4:49 - 4:52)
It has been a while.
Do you know, do you know how long it's been?
[Stephanie Bernal] (4:53 - 4:56)
No. Oh my God.
Do we want to say?
[Stephen Husted] (4:57 - 5:01)
Yeah, we should. It's probably been 19 years.
[Stephanie Bernal] (5:01 - 5:03)
I knew it. I was going to say 20.
[Stephen Husted] (5:03 - 5:08)
But yeah, well, and the only reason I can gauge that is just, I know how long I've been clean.
[Stephanie Bernal] (5:09 - 5:14)
Yes. Yeah. And I think that's, and that's really where our story began
Yeah.
[Stephen Husted] (5:16 - 5:20)
I don't know. We got a lot we could talk about here.
I don't know where we're going to go with this.
[Stephanie Bernal] (5:20 - 5:43)
Well, no, no. I'm just saying, because there's been so much time since we last saw each other, and 20 years of sobriety is a big thing, right?
It's no small feat. It's a testament to your dedication to yourself, dedication to the life that you want to live, which that's, you're a totally, you are who you're supposed to be, right? You know?
[Stephen Husted] (5:43 - 6:03)
I agree with that. I agree with that. And I think that's interesting that you bring that up, because I think you're the only one.
There's a lot of people that follow me that just know me as an agent and an investor, like, or, you know, this, my hobby is my family. Yeah. Nobody knows the backstory, period, because I haven't told it.
[Stephanie Bernal] (6:03 - 6:43)
Right. Well, I think maybe you should use this as a bit of a launching pad to kind of, you know, give props to yourself, and also kind of take a look back, because it's so easy to stay focused, even like in business, it's so easy to stay focused on, like, what's next?
What's next? What's next? What can I accomplish?
How many homes can I sell? How many clients am I working with? And it's difficult to kind of take a deep breath and take a look back and see where you started, and take a look and see where you're at.
And then really say, have I been successful? Hell yeah, you've been successful.
[Stephen Husted] (6:44 - 7:03)
Yeah, it's been kind of a wild ride.
And I'm eager to hear about yours as well, because I think we could both agree that we probably didn't expect to become agents and be in real estate. I don't think that that would be on our list 19 years ago. I do not think that that would have been the thing that we'd be talking about.
[Stephanie Bernal] (7:04 - 7:53)
Yes. So since we're talking a little bit about your past, so Stephen is being very, very nonchalant about his past in the sense that he was a pretty freaking awesome DJ. He got to travel all over playing and doing the work that he loved so much.
And he brought so much joy and so much just soul to people in the community. And he was beloved by many. He was the life of the party.
And he had a lot of friends, party friends, which could be good or bad, but we had a hell of a time. And regardless of the stupidity that we did when we were young, it was the best freaking time, Stephen. It was.
[Stephen Husted] (7:53 - 8:32)
It was so great. It was great until it wasn't. But then even looking back, right?
It was great until it wasn't. But I still look back. And by the way, I think that the whole DJ part is coming full circle as well.
And it's funny because it's like I'm almost gearing it towards all my old friends. Like whoever used to come to the clubs, it's like, okay, I'm going to build the room. The room's going to have the booth this way.
I'm going to have a mic. I'm going to be able to talk to them and play records. You know, like I don't need to travel the world and DJ, but I can do exactly what I need to do by a live stream.
[Stephanie Bernal] (8:33 - 8:36)
So, yeah, absolutely. Which is great. And I can't wait to hear it.
[Stephen Husted] (8:36 - 8:40)
Yeah. So where are we going with this one? We got a lot we could talk about.
[Stephanie Bernal] (8:41 - 8:42)
Yeah, we got a lot.
[Stephen Husted] (8:42 - 8:59)
We got a lot. So yeah, I know the last time I saw you was like 19 years ago.
And then, you know, I got married. I had my daughter. You went your own way.
I don't know after that. You know, I really don't know what's been going on for 19 years. So what has been going on?
Let's talk.
[Stephanie Bernal] (9:01 - 12:04)
We both know that we never would have thought that we would be agents because, you know, the lifestyle that we lived 19 years ago was different. And so for the last 19 years, I at least for the last maybe 15 years, I was in corporate.
So I think when I met you, I was still working at Apple. So I worked at Apple for a very, very long time, almost 10 years. And then I left Apple to go work at eBay.
So I've been in marketing literally from the time I got out of college. But before I got out of college, I actually went to school for broadcast journalism, which I don't think you knew. And then I went to Cal State Northridge.
And then when I was living in L.A., I actually was doing some freelancing and I met some people. And I think one of the wonderful things about life is that you know that you'll be successful based on the opportunities when they present themselves to you. And I think because I have had wonderful relationships with people, whether they're coworkers, friends, people that I've been in relationships with, whether it's their family, relationships have always been really important to me.
And those have really always fostered opportunity. And so you really have to be in tune with yourself and your goals and your needs and your wants and what you want to do with your life. So that when an opportunity presents itself for you, you take the bull by the horns and you're like, I'm going to do it.
So that's literally, you know, if you were ever to ask me, how do you define success? I would say relationships, how you can, you know, kind of foretell where the opportunities are coming. And then the honest conversation that you have to have with yourself and say, can I do it?
Do I want to do it? And am I going to do it? And if all three are yes, then, you know, the sky's the limit.
And so I think that's a life lesson for the younger me. Although, you know, I had the party girl in me probably because my mom was like so strict. I was always like, you know, I'm type A.
I was, I always a single, like not single, but I was a only child. So super competitive, right. With my cousins, like I just always had this desire for more.
And sometimes that's means that you're not satisfied, right? Like how much is more, more, you know, but there are certain elements that you know, along the years, it changes your goals, desires, what you think successes, what you think you want changes. And so for me, I think being in real estate actually makes sense now because I was working at one of the top companies, if not still the number one company in the globe at Apple.
And I was there when Apple was put on the map. So I was there before the iPhone launch was working.
[Stephen Husted] (12:04 - 12:09)
I had no idea about this.
I had no idea. You're saying something about Apple.
[Stephanie Bernal] (12:09 - 12:10)
I'm like, wait, what?
[Stephen Husted] (12:10 - 12:13)
She worked at Apple? I don't remember that. That's so crazy.
[Stephanie Bernal] (12:13 - 13:09)
Yeah. Well, cause we only saw each other at night, like in the sense of like the club, right. We were either at your house or like going to the city.
So, you know, and our friend Erica, like hanging out with, you know, just the crew, but you know, like we live lives outside of that. And I think I've always had somewhat of a good head on my shoulder in terms of knowing, like what I wanted to do in life. And when it was time to move on to something else, I'm a Christian and I believe in God.
And, you know, like, I feel like he puts people in your life that are going to help you where you need help, open doors for you, speak on your behalf to get your name in. And so I think that's kind of how I've come to where I am. All of the successes and failures have gotten me to where I am today.
And I think it makes me a very great agent.
[Stephen Husted] (13:10 - 13:21)
Right. And it's beautiful because it's like you're evolving constantly.
Do you know what I mean? It's such a beautiful thing. And a lot, well, because not everybody does.
[Stephanie Bernal] (13:22 - 13:24)
Yes, that's true.
[Stephen Husted] (13:24 - 13:25)
You know what I mean?
[Stephanie Bernal] (13:25 - 13:44)
You know, there's a lot of potential that is lost and there's a lot of potential that people don't even see in themselves. And that's a difficult thing to realize when we're, I guess, middle-aged now. Although I don't look middle-aged, I don't get Botox.
[Stephen Husted] (13:44 - 13:48)
Okay. Okay. Well, I know you're younger than me, so I think you're fine.
[Stephanie Bernal] (13:51 - 17:43)
Yeah. So, you know, came full circle and now I'm living in Placer County. I live in Roseville in this wonderful community called Morgan Creek.
And I've really have used, you know, looked at the opportunities afforded to me in this community because I had to start my business all over again. I had to leave the Bay Area, left corporate, and actually I didn't start doing full-time real estate. So I've had my license since 2018 and I was doing part-time real estate, you know, because it was just like helping friends, clients, or helping friends, family, or people that I've worked with.
And then when we moved here, I actually was still working at eBay. So I was able to secure my position to work remote since that was the thing to do from 2020 to like 2022, 2023. And then there was some layoffs and my boss and I both got let go when it was actually a guys, because it lit a fire underneath me.
I had been telling my husband since we moved here, I was like, you know, I should really, we moved to a new city. There's so much new development, like the cost of living is so much more affordable than it is in the Bay Area. You get more property land for your back here.
And it's a great opportunity for me to kind of just do real estate full time. And so from my lips to God's ears, getting laid off, which was a blessing, right? Nice package.
It was able to kind of hold us through. And in my first year here, I made masters. I sold almost about 5.5 million in real estate. I joined a team because obviously I was like, I need to get my hands. And then I realized like, I don't need a team. I can do this on my own.
I have more marketing experience than most agents and most seasoned agents. I have a journalism background, which affords me the opportunity to be more articulate and be, you know, like I'm the reporter for, you know, whatever this community we're touring, which I was a little bit rusty, but thanks to my husband, who is a media guy, he started doing all my videos. And I really took the opportunity of getting onto social media and combining all of those things into one.
And so, so far, you know, when I left that, that team, I ended up becoming a solo agent for EXP with a group called Powerhouse. And these women have completely changed the way that I look at real estate in the sense of how you own your business. Like I am the CEO of my business.
I don't just sell real estate. I am here. I'm a service provider.
I provide luxury services at any price point. It doesn't matter if I'm selling a $300,000 home or a $3 million home, you are going to get luxury from start to finish. And I'm going to represent you to the best of my abilities, which I hold myself really at a high bar because I've worked at a really high bar place.
He demands absolute perfection. And while that unfortunately sometimes is not sustainable, but I feel that I learned what the quality of service that I need to provide to my clients in any business, right? Whether I started, if I went to go become a VC, or if I went to go and start my own brokerage, like that opportunity that I had for working for Apple, you know, right before the pinnacle of who they became really ingrained in me, how to be an excellent customer service person.
[Stephen Husted] (17:44 - 18:28)
Perfect background. I know a lot of agents that have a tech background and they exceed very well. They just have a lot of different, and one of the biggest thing is putting out a product that's perfect, as perfect as it can be.
It's a good way to translate into any other kind of skillset. So you have the two of the most perfect skillsets, marketing, journalism, like that's it right there. And to jump on social media, that's something that's going to separate you from a lot of people because a lot of people just won't get on for whatever reason, whatever reason it is.
But you probably understand too, that you're here to serve your community and you would do yourself a disservice not doing it.
[Stephanie Bernal] (18:29 - 19:38)
Right. Exactly.
That's one of the things, you know, that I learned in powerhouse is, you know, this is your business. This is your brand. You are the face of your business
So you have to be in front of the camera and constantly be top of mind to the people that you want to serve, regardless of your demographic or whatever. Obviously you have to pick out who your target audience is and you have to identify, are you a relocation specialist? You know, for me, I actually had so many different ways to go, but I found some pillars that I think are working for me.
And it's taken me, you know, since 2023, it's taken me two years to figure that out. And now I'm seeing the fruits of my labor. Right.
So me, I still have contacts in the Bay area. So I do have referring agents that send me clients here. I do live in West Roseville, which is like booming in West Roseville.
There's a lot of new builds. And now Lincoln, I actually just went to go tour these beautiful luxury homes, over a million in Birch Ranch. And that is, it's- Is that a development?
It is.
[Stephen Husted] (19:39 - 19:39)
It's Toll Brothers.
[Stephanie Bernal] (19:40 - 21:25)
Yeah. Oh, it is. Okay.
Well, yeah. Beautiful Toll Brothers. Sorry.
Bickford Ranch. Sorry. Birch Ranch.
It's another one. Bickford Ranch, which is its own zip code. It's going to be zoned for like Loomis school districts, which is not the same for the Lincoln area.
So you have people that are moving from the Bay area that are able to purchase beautiful luxury homes under 2 million. And the models are just incredible. So there's a lot of things, right?
I want to stay in the luxury market, but listen, I also speak Spanish. So I have like all these things, right? So like I said, you have to look at yourself and be like, what are the qualities that are going to benefit my business and my clients, right?
And then hone in on those qualities and just focus on that. I think sometimes real estate agents make it more complicated than it needs to be. And it's like KISS, you used to hear at school, keep it simple, stupid.
Right. Simple and like repetition, like what you're good at, repeat it, right? Repeat it, repeat it.
Repetition, consistency. And so, yeah, I mean, I'm in Placer County now. I have a wide range of clients, but I solely focus right now.
I'm solely focusing on building my name here in my community, which is Morgan Creek. Their average median price is about a million 80, which is great because in the Bay Area, the homes are a little bit below median price, which means a gap in how much I need to net in order to make up the salary that I lost for my tech company. I have to increase my purchasing volume, sales volume, right?
[Stephen Husted] (21:26 - 21:30)
So. So your husband, what does he do within, is he full-time within your business?
[Stephanie Bernal] (21:30 - 21:46)
He's going to be, he's actually currently studying to be an agent.
And the reason why is because he actually is a media guy. He's actually videoing me right now. Where is he?
Bring him on. Let's see him. I don't know if he's going to be like, I don't have a hat on.
[Stephen Husted] (21:47 - 21:49)
What do you mean? I have a hat on buddy.
[Stephanie Bernal] (21:51 - 21:55)
He's just taking some content.
That's good.
[Stephen Husted] (21:55 - 21:59)
Hey, how's it going? Oh, you took the hat off
It's okay.
[Stephanie Bernal] (21:59 - 22:02)
No, he didn't have it on. He didn't have it on.
[Stephen Husted] (22:02 - 22:05)
So what are you going to do within the business? What's he going to do?
[Stephanie Bernal] (22:06 - 25:08)
So he's going to be my, yeah, he's going to be more on the operations side.
So I'm anticipating, and the goal is to increase volume in sales. And so instead of, you know, running around like a chicken with my head cut off, when I need him to put lock boxes, signs, going to pick up my flyers or whatever, he's going to do that. And he's going to be hosting open houses as well.
So right now I currently have like four, I'm working with four clients. So, you know, one of them is a commercial property. He drove me to Ukiah and we went and we got everything in Ukiah ready to kind of get ready to go to market.
So for your investors, if they're looking for, you know, a Ukiah property, have something for them. It's great property. And then he's going be working with me.
I mean, he already does it now, you know, he gets to work from home as well. So his hours are wonderful. And I think what's really amazing is that my son is now five and I've been taking him to home tours.
Like every video that he is in gets a lot of views. And so I love that I can run a business with my family. My husband being the media head of the part of my business and taking care of operations that I can focus on the customer client care.
I also have like a client services team that really works on every aspect of the process. They are handholding the clients. That doesn't mean that I don't call and check in.
It's not like they're going to take care of everything, but they are my project managers, right? Because at the end of the day, as agents, we wear so many hats and once your volume starts increasing, something's going to hit the back burner. And I started realizing that like the more I got busy, the less I was doing social media and I can't not do social media, right?
Like that's a key level of my business, especially if I'm going to be attracting people from the Bay area to like places like Toll Brothers in Bigford Ranch, right? Or if I want to become the number one agent in my community, I need to have social media presence when I throw events in the community, because that's how I've come to really focus on building myself as the community agent in Morgan Creek. When I moved here, the HOA did not have any events.
And then I came from a community where they had events all the time. They had awesome events. We had all of the key holidays, Easter Icon.
We had like Fourth of July Parade for the kids. We had Halloween. We had Christmas with Santa, you know?
And so it was like, what? This is like over 575 million dollar homes. Like how can you not have something?
And selfishly, we were new and I didn't, I never saw any people, like any kids, probably because it's hot. We moved in right when the spring started and it was the hottest spring when we moved.
[Stephen Husted] (25:08 - 25:13)
What made you move out there in the first place?
Like how did you come up with where you moved to?
[Stephanie Bernal] (25:13 - 25:26)
So we had lived in the Bay area forever, right? And my in-laws one day, we were all going up to Tahoe and I had them stop at this place called Buttercup Cafe.
And so my in-laws, surprisingly, they had never been there.
[Stephen Husted] (25:26 - 25:28)
Wait, where's that? Where's that at?
[Stephanie Bernal] (25:28 - 26:59)
Okay, so right before, I think it's Placer. So Placerville. Right before you actually, it's like the pit stop that you get gas and food before you hit just like miles of like going into Tahoe.
It's right, literally right off, what highway is that, honey? 50. Sorry, I'm not good with directions.
That's right. But anyway, so it's right off of Highway 50. They ended up going there.
They loved it. On their way back, they were like, oh, because they had been, you know, my father-in-law had retired. He was a pastor.
He was retiring from his church. You know, they lived in Silver Creek and they had been living there forever. They wanted to move.
So they made their way over here and they were checking it out and they fell in love with Placer County. And so long story short, they were the ones that moved here first. But my sister in conjunction with them was moving to Roseville.
And so I was like, oh, this is interesting. My sister's moving to Roseville, my in-laws. And we were like, we had just moved into Gilroy over at Eagle Ridge.
And we loved it there. But, you know, during COVID, it was just a lot. And we had just had a baby and like we weren't able to get out and whatever.
And so we were like, okay, let's start fresh somewhere new. And literally everybody moved over here. My best friend moved to Lincoln.
My two sisters moved to Roseville. My sister-in-law is in El Dorado Hills and my in-laws are in Loomis. And now my parents are six minutes away from where we are in West Roseville.
[Stephen Husted] (27:00 - 27:07)
Wow. And I know a lot of people that moved that way, you know, in the last few years, just especially Lincoln, especially Lincoln.
[Stephanie Bernal] (27:07 - 27:37)
Yeah.
Lincoln is booming. Roseville and Lincoln are booming. It still has the small hometown feel, which I love that because it reminds me of Campbell.
Like how Campbell used to be. Yeah. And it's actually, Roseville has been named one of the top five cities in California to raise a family.
It's really family oriented. The schools are great. There's a lot of growth.
They do need a couple more hospitals. I'm sure those are in the planning. Hmm.
[Stephen Husted] (27:38 - 27:40)
Is that something that's, yeah. Yeah.
[Stephanie Bernal] (27:40 - 28:44)
There's Kaiser and then there's Sutter, but you know, the city is exploding. Like I have so many tours of, even in my area, I live in like the dry Creek area used to look, it used to be beautiful, lush, like, you know, landscape. And now they're building like acre lots right on the corner of the outside of my community.
So I love it here. It still has the hometown feel, which is what I love for my son. And, you know, living in this community and through the events that I throw in the community, I have met four or five wonderful families.
Half of them are from the Bay area, which is like, oh my gosh, but it's great because our kids are friends and they grow up together and we go to each other's birthday parties. And we have like the families get together on the court. The kids are playing
We have a little bit of wine and you know, it just feels so nice to have neighbors who are friends and friends of my son that he will be friends for.
[Stephen Husted] (28:44 - 28:45)
That's really cool.
[Stephanie Bernal] (28:45 - 28:46)
Yeah.
[Stephen Husted] (28:46 - 28:57)
What did you feel when you first moved there? Like, did you feel right at home when you got in there or did you go, oh, I miss this. Or I wish this was this way.
Like, how did you integrate into the community?
[Stephanie Bernal] (28:58 - 29:38)
So I loved it because, you know, San Jose, I love San Jose, but it was just getting a little bit too many homeless people and like a lot of graffiti and like the highways just look not pleasant. And so Placer County, you may have to pay Melrose.
You may have to pay extra, but you like, I drive around the city and maybe once a month I see graffiti, you know, the city is really well run by common sense people. They really put the community and common sense. Yeah, we go.
Yeah.
[Stephen Husted] (29:38 - 29:39)
We should get that everywhere.
[Stephanie Bernal] (29:39 - 29:44)
Right now.
Let's not get into that topic, but let's not go there.
[Stephen Husted] (29:46 - 29:50)
We're going to quickly switch over to me for about 20 minutes. That's what my wife would say.
[Stephanie Bernal] (29:51 - 31:38)
Oh my gosh. Yeah. And it's really great because the community or the city council really focuses on parks, recreations.
Like there's over 82 parks and like trails here. Like one of them was nominated and I think we won like this award. I actually did a reel about this two years ago.
We won an award and we were nationally recognized because of like our beautiful parks. And so I love that you might want to get your kids out in the summer by like eight o'clock or nine o'clock before it becomes triple digits. You know, it's pretty hot there, right?
It does get hot, but you know, I'm from Nicaragua and Central America and like, I love heat. My poor husband, not so much. He's it's been so great.
You know, the one thing that I do miss about the Bay area is the food. The food is unmatched. We do have some amazing food here.
And so those are some of my key pillars, right? Selling the area, going and exploring new food and wine. There's some beautiful, beautiful wineries in Lincoln and in Loomis.
So I believe it's called Twin Rocks. That they have a Bib Michelin award, literally in Tuscany. When you pull in, I've been to Tuscany, I've been to Florence and I had like this deja vu of when we were in Tuscany and it's just so peaceful.
I don't know. I think I'm in my, I want peace era and I want to help fulfill other people's desire to find peace in their homes, in their community or whatever. So yeah, it's been great.
I love it.
[Stephen Husted] (31:38 - 31:44)
I got a question for you. How many people reach out to you that are from the Bay area that want to move there?
And like, what do they talk to you about?
[Stephanie Bernal] (31:45 - 33:49)
So number one is affordability. I think people get shocked.
So I'll use my sister as an example, right? So my sister, she and her husband had one child living in the Bay area, paying close to almost like, this was three years ago. She moved here, I think a year before I did.
And she was like, we can never afford a house here. Like, why should I just stay paying rent for somebody else? And at the time, I think it was a smart move for her because she knew she wanted to go to nursing school.
Again, she picked a career where she would be able to afford a home, even if she stayed over there. But if she can get something good here while she was going to school and her husband, who is in the trades and he's in a union, makes really good money. She was very smart about it.
And she's like, I can turn this around. And you know, with me talking to her, like, say, if you want to get into a home that you can afford with just the income that your husband is bringing in, if he works, you know, overtime, this is what you guys can afford. In five or eight years or 10 years, when you are making nursing salary, you can turn around, rent your property, put it in a truck, leave it for the kids, and then take equity, use that to go buy another home, right?
It may be your dream home. It may be, you know, your second home to fund your dream home because your first home will fund your dream home, right? So anyway, so thankfully, she took my advice.
And I mean, she's pretty smart. She was asking the right questions. So I didn't really need to push her too much.
But I did give her some insight. And that's what she's doing. You know, she's almost done with nursing school this year.
She already probably has a job offer. And she did it while she was pregnant. So that's so good.
It was to her. So yeah, people move here because of affordability. They move here because of schools.
And they move here because of the quality of life for families.
[Stephen Husted] (33:49 - 34:10)
So I remember back in the days, you know, when the market was doing its thing, and people will start to move away to like, let's say Tracy. This is not Tracy.
This is not Tracy. Like, let's understand, you know, we're Tracy. I'm like, why would you want to move out just so you can buy a house to live in nowhere.
But where you're at, it's a whole different ballgame, like Roseville and those things.
[Stephanie Bernal] (34:10 - 34:58)
These are like little mini communities with like a downtown, right? Like, it's a whole different vibe.
It is. And also we're in the corridor, right? We're in the corridor of going up.
So where I'm at, Roseville is like in the middle of going up to Lake Tahoe. I can get to Lake Tahoe in like an hour and 25 minutes. I can go to Napa and get there an hour and 32 minutes.
If I want Michelin star dining, Sacramento is 25 minutes from where I'm at, right? So we're like in this perfect spot of like, if you want to go to Tahoe, if you want to go to Sacramento, if you want to go to Napa, you know, it's literally a hop, skip and a jump.
[Stephen Husted] (34:59 - 35:00)
How is Sacramento now?
[Stephanie Bernal] (35:00 - 35:28)
As far as like downtown? You know what? Not for the better.
Really? I mean, that's the thing. That's one of the things that it's interesting to me coming here because I'm like, this is the state capital.
You know, there's homeless people everywhere, but I feel like a lot of our tax money is going to the capital. Like, let's try and make it look great. Don't get me wrong.
There are beautiful, beautiful homes, like in the fab forties, beautiful homes, multimillion dollar homes. There are other areas.
[Stephen Husted] (35:28 - 35:29)
What's the fab 40?
What's that?
[Stephanie Bernal] (35:29 - 37:08)
The fab 40 is basically 40th street all the way up to, I think like 48th, 49th. And every year they all do like this huge Christmas lights thing.
And thousands of people pour in to the poor neighborhood, but you know, you get it over. Yes. They take it over.
It's beautiful. You can go by horse and carriage. You can like go in your car, you can get out and walk.
And it's just spectacular for the kids. We actually took my son last year, not, I don't think the year before we took him and we walked the whole fab 40. And it's a beautiful area.
They have beautiful, beautiful homes. Some are historic homes, Victorian summer, you know, updated modern, but they have beautiful homes there. Then you have other areas of Sacramento that are beautiful too.
They're not just downtown. Like obviously midtown is hip and like there's lofts and you know, it's close to golden one arena, but then you have like land park, which is a little bit out. And it's a little bit, it's not as expensive as living in midtown for obvious reasons.
You get accessibility to downtown and food and wine and festivals and whatever. And that's when you're like single and working really hard or you're engaged. And then, you know, when you change your mind and you're like, let's have kids, you know, then you move out.
Yeah. And then you have the mill, which is like a lot of condos, you know, for starter homes, good investment for starter homes, or if you want an investment property. So yeah.
[Stephen Husted] (37:08 - 37:09)
How far are you from Jackson?
[Stephanie Bernal] (37:11 - 37:11)
I don't know.
[Stephen Husted] (37:12 - 37:19)
It's gotta be somewhere.
I know it's like an hour away for 30 minutes away from Tahoe.
[Stephanie Bernal] (37:19 - 37:22)
I know where Yuba is. Yuba in Sutter County.
[Stephen Husted] (37:22 - 37:25)
Oh yeah. That's cool. That's good. Yeah.
[Stephanie Bernal] (37:25 - 37:49)
So Yuba city is up and coming too. I think the more people move to Lincoln, the prices, you know, kind of go up. There's some really beautiful new builds that are going up and then people are starting moving to Yuba.
You can get a beautiful like four bedroom, two bath home for under 500,000. Yeah. That's crazy.
I know. Corner lot.
[Stephen Husted] (37:49 - 37:49)
Crazy.
[Stephanie Bernal] (37:50 - 38:08)
I actually, I worked with a client of mine that was getting a divorce and he had a beautiful home in Loomis when he moved to Yuba. And so I found him this house. I think we paid 405 for it.
Wow. And it was nice. He remodeled.
[Stephen Husted] (38:09 - 38:17)
So you got the real estate going on. You're firing in all cylinders with content and got your husband coming in the mix.
[Stephanie Bernal] (38:17 - 39:48)
Where do you see yourself in five years?
What are the things you have in your brain that are like on the horizon? My goal is to mentor other agents. So I don't know if I want to have my own brokerage because I really love powerhouse with any XP, but I really would love to help other agents become solo agents and help them run their own business.
I think as I'm testing my own profession and my own career and my own business, I'm pretty sure that I can, you know, even now have the fundamentals to help people that are either ready to get started. I think it's a little bit difficult when you're ready to get started, unless you are really good at social media. I would say maybe join a team for a year just to get some referrals under your belt and then use those as a stepping stone to build your business, you know, cause then you can build your business on referral based social media.
I think what I want to focus on is really like what I'm doing, right? Social media become the community agent, which is a digital product that I'm working on to help other agents do right now. It's not finished yet, but I'm actually testing it out with some of the girls within our group.
So I meet with them one and I basically give them the playbook that has landed me to two referrals within my community. I actually just sold my first home from one of the events that I hosted. So using the community agent, which is what I'm Wait, wait, what event?
[Stephen Husted] (39:48 - 39:50)
What event was this? Did you do something with cookies?
[Stephanie Bernal] (39:53 - 40:23)
Coming up.
So I've been throwing, so going back to the fact when I told you that there wasn't, the HOA doesn't throw any events in the community. So I started throwing events in the community. I started doing Easter egg hunts, 4th of July parades around our community.
My backyard is like a man-made lake. So there's like the circle called Waterstone, which is where I live. And we had neighbors come out with the kids with all the red, white, and blue.
They got to decorate their bikes, their scooters, their golf carts.
[Stephen Husted] (40:23 - 40:23)
That's so cool.
[Stephanie Bernal] (40:24 - 41:50)
It was so cute and it was so much fun.
And then we did like movie night. So my husband, he's a media guy. He's like, let's just get a blow up movie screen and get some vendors.
So I got pizza. I got the tipsy wagon. So what I do is I always cater the drinks.
So it'll have my branded logo. It'll have my sold buyer's guide, which I have here. It's all the marketing that I learned at eBay.
So I have my seller's guide. I have a buyer's guide. I have an expired listing guide.
And so I always brand my events. It might be a little bit different now because I actually joined the board. And so I was- I know you're right in there.
I know. So now I'm right in there. So I was elected to be on the board and now I get to really be involved in my community.
So in terms of the events, I think last year I threw six events. I think we're adding another one this year because there is a large population of the Indian community here. And so I think it's important to really help represent the different cultures in the community.
And I have some neighbors that have been such great ambassadors for me to really understand each of the holidays and which one would bring everybody out. So let's just say that. That's good.
[Stephen Husted] (41:51 - 41:55)
Yeah, that's smart. Why do you think eBay- explain why eBay has kind of helped you out?
[Stephanie Bernal] (41:56 - 44:05)
Yeah.
So obviously doing marketing, you are doing a lot of customer insights. You're thinking about purchasing behavior. You're thinking about life cycle, when someone purchases something, right?
And it's the same thing in real estate, right? Who's your target audience? Are they a step-up buyer?
Are they a relocation? Are they first-time home buyers? Are they downsizing?
And it really, actually, the formula works in real estate, right? So I get to cater and strategize my business to hit every one of whatever target audience that I want to work with, right? So it's really important too, as an agent, when you get to a certain point, you can pick and choose who you want to work with, right?
Which is when you're starting off, maybe not so much, but you learn in the trenches of when you're new, what type of buyers or sellers you want to work with. And then you start identifying like, okay, you know, that's starting, but you get to a point where it's like, I want to make this much money because I need to buy a house and I'm going to start a family and this is what it's going to cost. And then you start moving.
It's like forecasting, right? So in marketing, you're always forecasting how much budget you're going to spend on an agency or your marketing budget, right? And then you have, in real estate, you're all of that.
You're the CEO, you are the CFO, you are the project manager. But then you get into, once you start making a little bit more money, you start offsetting some of those things that you don't want to do because you want to focus on the front facing part of it. So, you know, I have a client services person who's my project manager, and then I have a TC, right?
So anytime that I get busy, I know that my team knows what I expect in terms of the quality of service that they're going to provide. And that's why I hired those people because they're an extension of my business, right? And I know that they're going to treat my clients as if they were dealing with me.
[Stephen Husted] (44:05 - 44:08)
So, yeah, absolutely.
[Stephanie Bernal] (44:08 - 45:58)
That's pretty much it. So with Apple, so did you have a bunch of stock before that iPhone came out?
Yes. And that's how I was able to buy my first condo. So my first condo, I purchased for $408 with an Obama tax credit for first-time home buyers.
I think it was $427, and then with the $10,000 tax credit that we got from Obama, it was $407. Where was it at? I think like the universe was like, you're going to get into real estate, you know, because it was a brand new condo built right in the middle of Fruitdale and Cam?
No, it wasn't Camden. Babe. Southwest?
Yes. Southwest Expressway. Thank you.
Yeah. And then it was literally close to every freeway. We were 10 minutes from downtown and across the street was a light rail station.
So anytime we went to, I don't even know what the arena is called now, but anytime we wanted to go to any concerts, we would hop on the light rail. It would drop us right off in front of the stadium and go to concerts or go downtown. Or if we wanted to go to Campbell, when I was working at Apple, Apple had these Mercedes Sprinter vans that would come and pick me up from Campbell, downtown Campbell, and take me to Cupertino.
I know exactly where you bought that condo. I drive down Southwest five days a week to go to my media room. I'd take that.
Yeah. I get to Southwest and then I'd jump on and go down- It's across the street from 7-Eleven. Yeah.
Yeah. So, and then from there, Willow Glen was around the corner.
[Stephen Husted] (45:59 - 46:00)
Right. It's perfect.
[Stephanie Bernal] (46:01 - 53:58)
And my drive, when I moved, when I was working at eBay, I literally took the street that exited out of my community, went straight, turned left, turned right, and I was there. So it was like five minutes from eBay. What year was that?
What year did you buy the condo? 2000, when did we get married? 2010?
2010. So then you had the condo and then you moved down to Eagle Ridge? We did.
Yeah. So we turned around and we sold the condo for almost double. So that condo was able to fund my first million dollar home.
Okay. Perfect. Then you sold the Eagle Ridge.
For almost- Yes. Yeah. We sold and made some good money.
And then we moved to Roseville, bought a bigger house, and it was less than what I sold my Eagle Ridge property for. Were you an agent at that point when you bought in Roseville? So you represented yourself?
On both the sale and the purchase of, yeah, the sale of my Eagle Ridge. Beautiful. Yeah.
That's perfect. That's great. So what have you been doing for fun besides hustling real estate?
Well, hustling real estate is fun because I love working with people, but really just serving my community, doing a lot of just getting to know the areas that I am selling. I love food. I have a really good palate.
I love wine. I don't drink it as much anymore, but if you're going to have a really nice meal, I do want it to be paired with a really nice bottle of wine. And what am I doing?
Honestly, I'm just hanging out with my neighbors. I host wine events in my home. I partner with a company that, and they actually found me on social media too.
They're like, hey, we want to bring, we'll bring the wine to you. And they- You're like, please do. They know.
So basically they're like, it's really going to be a tasting environment. People can purchase the wine that they're going to be tasting and we will ship it to them. And it's been pretty successful.
It's a great way to get my neighbors out. Like people that come to the events that I know that are huge wine drinkers. Some of the HOA community people were here.
And I think that was a way for me to like, finally, when I decided to run for the board, you know, the first time I ran, I won because I'm fostering these relationships with my neighbors. And obviously at the end of the day, like this is where I live. I want to know who my neighbors are.
I love to entertain. I think I have a really good knack for entertaining. You know, I like everything top of line.
And I like to have people feel welcome when they come to my home. And if a relationship, you know, evolves to like, hey, I really know, I really love what you're doing in the community. When I'm ready to sell my home, I would love for you to represent me because I know what you can produce and that you love this community.
That's really the relationship thing. It's definitely a relationship thing. Yeah.
You know, my neighbors, like, they're like, hey, you know, my neighbor Mona, she's a single lady. She's taking care of her mom. And like, she had knee surgery and she had been one of my big, big time supporters of the event.
So, you know, I would ask her like, hey, what do you need? What do you want me to bring you? You know, and her mom is so sweet.
I've met her a few times. She knows that my husband and I are trying, have been trying to have a second baby. She knitted me the cutest baby, like literally by hand, a cute little jacket with a matching, you know, and it's just stuff like that, you know, or like, she'll call me and be like stuff.
I don't know if this house is too big for me. Like, should I sell it? And I'm like, no, don't sell it.
Wait, you know, like, and it's just really fostering trust within my neighbors so that when they do, you know, want to sell, like they know that they have a trusted partner in me. That's great. Yeah.
Do you still listen to house music? Oh my God, yes. I do.
I think I might still have some of your CDs. Oh, that's good. That's so good.
You threw me off for that. I was like, oh wow, this girl's cool. I'm thinking I don't even know who you are.
I'm going to wait a minute. We have to circle it back and end on how you finally, how we finally reconnected. Yeah, so I think you started following me, but I didn't know who you were and your last name changed.
So really that threw me off and I couldn't tell from the photo, but then you were just comment here and there about certain things and then comment on house music. And I thought, I'm like, oh, that's odd. Like, I don't, this, she's, she's an agent.
She likes music, you know, house music. I'm like, wow, she's really cool. Then once I figured out it was you, I was like, wait a minute.
This is crazy. No, but tell how you knew it was me because it was when I commented on, oh, that's your salon stomping ground. Yes.
Yeah. So you, you commented on the building that I think I was going to get my eyebrows done. And you said, yeah, I think that the old salon.
I was like, oh, she really does know me from the back of the days. She's been there. Then I had to go look at doing a little bit of a deep dive on it.
Yeah. That was so funny. I was like, oh wait, cause I think you commented on one of my posts and I was so surprised.
I was like, oh, thank you, Stephen. And I knew it was you. I can't remember which one it was, but I didn't know that was you.
No, I did not know. Yeah. And you were so complimentary.
You're like, wow, this is great content. Like keep doing what you're doing. Like it was just so positive.
And I was like, oh, I was like, thank you, Stephen. That's so nice. You know, so it's such a weird, I don't know.
Lately the last couple of years, every I've had so many different, like full circle moments that it's, it's pretty intense. I don't know. Maybe it's just cause I'm getting older, you know, like I travel out to Seattle a lot to look at our developments out there.
And, you know, I've been speaking at events out there and it's like, I get through these things of craziness where back in the nineties, you know, my first time out in Seattle, I almost died. I overdosed in a hotel room. Like that's the real deal.
And no, I didn't know that. Yeah. Like 90, probably before I knew you, this is before, but I was with Michael from faux and the old hairstylist.
And we were in a, yeah, we were partying in Seattle. We were going to, you know, go into a rave and party did a bunch of drugs and ended up overdosing in a hotel room and basically started to, you know, float away, saw the light, the real thing. I did several times, but I was on GHB and it would bring me back into my body and I would throw up.
And this went on for 10 hours. So yeah. And the first, I thought of two things when I was going through this one, I'm going to die in a hotel room, like Kurt Cobain, and two, I'm not going to be able to wear my brand new platform creepers that I bought at a secondhand store to this next party.
Those are the two things that went through my head. And then fast forwarded to now, you know, I fly into, into Seattle. I meet these people on my podcast, have all these relationships with them now, built this team and I go out there and I'm walking around in Capitol Hill and it just hits me.
[Stephen Husted] (53:59 - 53:59)
Wow.
[Stephanie Bernal] (53:59 - 58:15)
And I go, yep, this is where I was at, you know, and it's just, and now I'm back there speaking to people, you know, that are trying to get into real estate investing or working on their, their life. And I get to tell this story, this backstory. It's just crazy to me.
It's just weird. It's just weird. Like we go 19 years and you're on the podcast now and the only reason, the only reason you're, you're on the podcast because you made one little comment about the salon and music that kind of jogged me to go, wait, who, who is this?
Cause I, I really, did you think I, I didn't had no clue who you were for well over a year, right? It was the least. I did.
I honestly, I did not know that. I was just like, you know, it's been 19 years. We're older, wiser, smarter, you know, value.
No, I did not know. I did not know. Yeah
I couldn't tell it. Now, if you were more front and center on your, your, your photo, I would've caught it in a heartbeat because I was all that crazy hair everywhere. And I was like, okay, I know who you are.
Actually not straight. It's curly. That's why he's saying crazy hair.
Not this hair, but yeah. So yeah, I love that we've reconnected. It's cool.
And you know, I mean, like I'm, and now I have my, I have my Roseville agent dialed in now and that's another thing that's really cool. I have friends that are in different areas and I've had them on the podcast and they, I refer them business. They refer me business.
It's been a great little scenario. So yeah, I wish you the best, but you know, I'm going to continue to be seeing you online, so I don't think this is the end of it. So it's cool.
Yeah, this was great. It's so wonderful to see, you know, your full circle moment as well and leading the charge in investments. And I love the content that you produce
Cause it's a lot of behind the scenes, which really goes and pours back into like what your goal is, you know, what your goals are of growing portfolios for yourself and your family, which is great. Yeah. Thank you.
I'm yeah, once again, it's, it's great to reconnect with you. So where can the audience find you if they wanted to move to Roseville? Yeah.
So my Instagram handle is homes underscore by Stephanie or homes underscore by underscore Stephanie, or you can go to homes by Stephanie. Cool. And we'll put it in the show notes too, so that, you know, people can find you, but thank you for letting me know about that area.
Now I have a better understanding. You told me everything. I'm like, okay.
I know. All right. They got a lot of trails.
They got this. That's cool. Oh my gosh.
You're an avid biker and runner. You would love it here. That's what I was.
That's exactly what I was thinking when you were talking. So, you know what I'm going to do for you? And this is what I wanted to do.
I wanted to do like the, cause there's so many parks, right? I'm going to this summer with my son or spring. So it doesn't get too hot.
I'm going to do the top 10 parks and the top 10 trails in Roseville. And actually I can drive my golf cart from my community because the golf course has a little bridge that goes over to one of the bigger parks in Roseville and we've actually driven it. So I think you gave me some content idea to do that because it's a huge park
It has a lot of shade and it goes through a trail that's got like this riverside where, you know, the water kind of creaks through and the kids go in there and fish. It's really cute. Do it.
I'm looking forward to it. Yeah. It sounds good.
Thank you. All right, Stephanie. It was good talking to you and we'll be talking soon.
Thanks for jumping on. All right. Have a good one.
Bye. Bye.
∎ Podcast Outro:
Thank you for tuning into our show where we hope you found inspiration and gain valuable insights.
If you enjoyed this conversation and want to stay updated on our latest episodes, be sure to subscribe to our podcast and share it with others who might benefit from it. We appreciate your support and look forward to bringing you more candid conversations and breakthrough moments in the future. Until next time, take care and keep exploring new ideas and strategies.
