Ava Juergens is an incredible, trailblazing entrepreneur. She started real estate investing at 15 while still in high school and founded an investment company, achieving a staggering $900,000 in assets.
By the time she finished her junior year and graduated high school. Then driven by her desire to inspire and assist others, Ava took to social media to build her brand, and this new passion allowed her to connect with a broader audience.
Tens of thousands of followers in no time flat and led her to start her new business. Ava’s accomplishments in business are undeniably impressive, but her interests go beyond entrepreneurship.
She deeply loves fitness and well-being and has a keen understanding of finance. Ava is an incredibly remarkable business leader.
Show Outline
- 1:12 – The first inclination to go into business
- 4:06 – Influences and learning sources
- 5:40 – Launching a business with a step-by-step plan
- 6:46 – The Work Routine
- 7:17 – Importance of Education and Mentors
- 9:35 – Long-Term Goals and Becoming a Billionaire
- 14:26 – The need for a mentor or education
- 15:33 – Exploring AI in social media marketing
- 17:17 – The importance of decreasing churn
Quotes from the Show
“Sales and marketing isn’t going to grow your business, but decreasing churn will.”
Ava Juergens
Connect with Ava
Episode 48 – Full Transcript
Announcer (00:00:00) – New generation leader.
Aaron Lee (00:00:01) – All right. Today’s guest sets a record for this show. Ava Juergens is absolutely our youngest guest so far. She’s an incredible, trailblazing entrepreneur. She started real estate investing at the age of 15 while still in high school and founded an investment company, achieved a staggering $900,000 in assets. By the time she finished her junior year and graduated high school. Then driven by her desire to inspire and assist others, Ava took to social media to build her own personal brand, and this new passion allowed her to connect with a broader audience. Tens of thousands of followers in no time flat and led her to start her new business. Ava’s accomplishments in business are undeniably impressive, but her interests go beyond entrepreneurship. She has a deep love for fitness, well-being, keen understanding of finance. Ava is an incredibly remarkable business leader, and I’m excited to have her on the show today. Let’s dive in to our conversation with Ava Juergens. Welcome to the New Generation Leader podcast. We’re giving you the tools you need to lead in the digital world ready to reach your true potential.
Aaron Lee (00:01:12) – This is the New Generation Leader podcast. So what was the first inclination for you that you were going to go into business like your first vision or dream? What was that first moment like for you?
Ava Yuergens (00:01:27) – Yeah, so I was actually sitting in a history class during high school as my sophomore year, and we were learning about a man named Andrew Carnegie. And basically I was just so inspired because obviously there are the entire time of the world he was one of the richest people ever like guess in today’s money, like he would be one of the richest people. And just the impact he made just really inspired me and how successful he was. And I knew I wanted to do something like that. So in class, I searched up the dumbest thing ever and was like books to make you successful. And so I found a book called Rich Dad, Poor Dad. And since I was 15, I forced my sister to drive me to Target and she took me to Target after school and got that book loan. Behold, my dad had Covid, so I ended up having to be quarantined anyway because this is back in 2020 and basically had the whole quarantine to read.
Ava Yuergens (00:02:16) – So just read that book and read it in like two sittings. It was crazy and I never read, but it just inspired me to just kind of get like financially educated and then also start investing in real estate. So that’s kind of how my real estate investing journey began.
Aaron Lee (00:02:28) – So what was your family like? Were they any of your family members, your parents, your extended family? Was anybody in in business doing any of these kinds of things?
Ava Yuergens (00:02:38) – Yeah. So no one was in real estate. But my dad, he started his own company when I was in second grade. And then my uncle mean my uncle, my grandpa, he was, if you guys are familiar with the company, Harley Davidson, he was the CEO of the company who made all the seats for Harley Davidson. And then he exited and sold that company. So but I actually never got to talk to him about it like before. He passed away, which is so devastating because it’s like the one thing we could have probably like related on.
Ava Yuergens (00:03:06) – But I’ve like read some stuff about it after the fact, and then obviously I have my dad to talk to about business, but that’s pretty much like all the business that was in my family.
Aaron Lee (00:03:14) – So you read Rich Dad, Poor Dad in two sittings. It’s the middle of Covid. You’re still in high school. So quick math here. You finished high school now?
Ava Yuergens (00:03:23) – Yeah, I finished my after my junior year, so I’m technically I was supposed to be a senior this past year, but didn’t.
Aaron Lee (00:03:28) – Have to be. But you were done and blazing your own trails. So after you read Rich Dad, Poor Dad Leave that history class finished your sophomore year, What came next?
Ava Yuergens (00:03:37) – Yeah, So I ended up just actually starting the real estate investing company in S15. So we got the LLC set up and everything. We started marketing and yeah, pretty much just started right after that and like read some more books and stuff, but originally was going to wait till I was 18 but was just like, Cannot wait.
Ava Yuergens (00:03:54) – So I just started then and there.
Aaron Lee (00:03:55) – All right. What would you say are your top influences that have guided you along the way? People, any other books? Like Where did you go to Learn and know what to do next?
Ava Yuergens (00:04:06) – Yeah, so obviously Robert Kiyosaki was just a huge inspiration and that book kind of just really broke it down for me. And I would say other sources I went to. So like Bigger Pockets, it’s one of the biggest real estate podcasts. I think it is the biggest real estate podcast. So listen to literally every episode of that. And a lot of just you can have like an online platform, you can sign up and you can network with other real estate investors just around the world. And then also I went to my local reIa. No matter where you are, if you are in the US, you have a Ria. There’s got to be one like somewhere near you, but it’s basically Real Estate Investors Association, so all the real estate investors in your area all meet up like once a month to talk real estate and there will be realtors there.
Ava Yuergens (00:04:45) – There’s going to be investors, wholesalers, contractors. So it’s a great networking opportunity. So got a lot of mentors at the reIa just because, like I remember the first time I showed up was like the youngest one. And they’re like, Are you lost? Like, they were like, so confused because never seen a young person there before. Yeah, I would say those are probably the best sources.
Aaron Lee (00:05:02) – Okay, so you’re the youngest person in that room. What’s the demographic of everybody else in the room?
Ava Yuergens (00:05:08) – Yeah. So it was like, I swear, everyone was above probably 30 for sure. And just a lot of, like, really not really rich people. There’s like everywhere from like people who are just starting to people who just a lot of, like, smarter people than me, but definitely just like a lot of older people.
Aaron Lee (00:05:24) – So you set out to launch the real estate company, you finish high school. You’ve also started at least one other business that I’m aware of. What’s that vision journey like for you from having an idea to implementing and launching?
Ava Yuergens (00:05:40) – Yeah.
Ava Yuergens (00:05:40) – So what I usually do is it’s so basic. So whenever I like, I’m about to do something. For example, real estate. The first investment I wanted to make was a long term rental. So when I was 15 and I wanted that long term rental, obviously had to figure out a game plan of how it was actually going to get that. So what I like to do is I either like take a course, read a book, or just do multiple of that and then make a step by step to do list that has sort of like a timeline. So each task like find a realtor need to do this by next week, Tuesday and then like market to find deals like order this direct mail campaign by next Thursday and then like financing and everything. But you make a Step-By-Step to do list of everything you need to do. And as long as you do what’s on the to do list, you cannot fail. So that’s why I like making them. And as long as you just stick to it, you’re going to be good.
Ava Yuergens (00:06:24) – And that’s my favorite way to like launch any kind of company. And you’re right, I have two at the moment, the real estate investing company. And then, as you know, personal brand launch. It’s a social media marketing agency.
Aaron Lee (00:06:34) – And your TikTok is where I first met you, I think. Talk about your weekly work rhythm. I mean, how much are you working versus what are your not working hours look like at this point?
Ava Yuergens (00:06:46) – Honestly, like, this is gonna sound bad because I just don’t have any hobbies. Like I just like to work. So I would spend all my time working like I work anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day just because I have nothing else to do. And I can’t just sit down and do nothing so don’t have to work that much. But I do. And my work rhythm is pretty much like Monday through Friday. I have the same exact routine every single day where just I literally wake up at 315 in the morning and I will market. I will get ready, eat breakfast, then I’ll edit my own content and basically and then just work on everyone else’s for the rest of the day.
Ava Yuergens (00:07:17) – And that honestly has kind of just worked the best for me because I have nothing else to do but also like to educate myself towards the end of the day. So think educating yourself is really important in business and everything really, because you can learn something, but it might take you ten years to figure it out in your own, but you can learn something in the fraction of the time. That same thing in like a month. If you just have like a mentor or you purchase education to teach it to you. So like to do that every day as well.
Aaron Lee (00:07:42) – Yeah, it’s really good already. We’ve hit on the generational aspect and how I think you are an example of why generations are trends, but they are not rules because you’re probably one of the few of your generation to be pioneering and launching something this significant. But it’s not unheard of the last few generations. It hasn’t been unheard of. And so the generations and then looking at communication and frame of reference, how you go about this, looking for mentors, all of those are things that I wrote about in my book that I think are so important that nobody’s teaching in school.
Aaron Lee (00:08:19) – Nobody’s learning, but they need to be. And so often we miss that intergenerational chance to have a coach, to have a guide, a mentor. And that was really what started me on the book journey, was talking to my friend Norm, and Norm was about to retire and I was like, Norm, what have you learned in your career that you wish you had learned earlier? And that kind of insight is so helpful. It’s so important to be able to tap into that wisdom because you’re right, it helps us take leaps forward instead of just steps forward. So as you sitting here today, you’ve got two businesses under your belt. What’s next for you?
Ava Yuergens (00:08:54) – So I kind of talk about this with Ben the other day, so I plan to really focus on personal brand launch, and my goal is to get it to six figure months. And then after I do that, my plan is for like the next 50 years of my life. I want to do this, which is just by businesses have a holding company and then by businesses and just hold them forever.
Ava Yuergens (00:09:17) – And then that’s how I plan to become a billionaire because I will become a millionaire. But yeah, that’s the plan. Just the way to win in life is just sticking to something for the long term. And I think that’s probably what I want to do for like multiple decades of my life after kind of this and obviously personal brand launch will be in that holding company. But yeah.
Aaron Lee (00:09:35) – So become a billionaire. What comes out of being a billionaire for you? What’s the driving motivator behind that goal now?
Ava Yuergens (00:09:43) – I get asked like y a lot and honestly, it just comes down to like, because I want to and I just want to do it to prove to my own self, not anyone else, but just to myself. If I want to become a billionaire, I can. And genuinely I just want to. It’s probably my why and it’s not very motivating to other people, but honestly, that is.
Aaron Lee (00:09:59) – What do you think it is about your why that motivates you so, so much? Because so many other people try to find their way and struggle with that.
Aaron Lee (00:10:10) – But it seems like you found it at a relatively young age. Your laser focus, your purposeful, and you’re not just laser focused and purposeful, you’re not like, I’m going to do this. You’ve actually done the thing. So what is it about that for you that you think has pushed you to be so driven towards being successful in this?
Ava Yuergens (00:10:29) – So I always think about this a lot and like what makes certain people different from others and think honestly, I feel like this is not it might not even be the best answer, but I just feel like some people were born a certain way and some people weren’t. I don’t know. I feel like a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of business owners, a lot of CEOs, they’re just inherently like workaholics or they just thrive off of productivity. And that’s what motivates them, like achieving the thing I do not like overstress about doing something like stress about not doing it and think that’s just the way I’m wired and feel like a lot of entrepreneurs are like that.
Ava Yuergens (00:11:02) – So feel like that’s probably why it’s just kind of how I was born and that’s just how my brain works. It’s not because of anything else really.
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Aaron Lee (00:12:08) – I think back to that question of how do we get to our why and how do we stick to our why? There’s some insight that anybody could take from you, but your why is uniquely yours, partly because of how you’re wired and how you’re born and how you’re approaching these situations. And so it’s not as simple as a copy paste. And it was wise. Great. Let me go take that and let that be my why. So as you look to other people around you, other mentors, writers, resources out there, who are you continuing to learn from the most right now?
Ava Yuergens (00:12:43) – This might be a really basic answer right now, but I’m a huge fan of Alex Ramsey. I just really like what he puts out, what he does because he buys businesses as well. I really like Warren Buffett, but obviously you have to like read most of this stuff. He’s not really posting much video, but like Warren, I feel like those are probably the main people I like. I also like to just read anything I can on people who have already like passed away.
Ava Yuergens (00:13:05) – So like Andrew Carnegie, Rockefeller, those kind of people, because obviously they were huge like history changers and want to be just like them.
Aaron Lee (00:13:12) – It’s really impressive to follow some of those family trees and to think about the financial portfolio that they built, what they did with it, whether it’s the Rockefellers, the Carnegies, the Cook family, just seeing then what they were able to do with that financially to make the world a better place, not only through their businesses and communities, but seeing entire hospitals built with a family’s name on it, or seeing a family’s homestead and being able to tour an incredible home and gardens and the estates where so many of these families spent their time. It’s pretty incredible to think about, especially as you said, going back in time and people even like Warren Buffett, how somebody did this 20, 40, 60 years ago or 100 years ago, and then how do we translate this into the modern digital world. So as you look, you’ve got obviously a bright future ahead of you.
Aaron Lee (00:14:05) – You’re engaged. So on the personal side of life, you’re not wasting any time there either. So as you build out each of these businesses, what do you feel like Are the gaps? What’s missing for you right now that you feel like you need to fill in either knowledge or skill or personnel or financial? I mean, what is it that’s going to help you get to that next milestone marker?
Ava Yuergens (00:14:26) – Yeah. So I feel like the thing I’m missing, I’m really good at executing, but feel like right now when I’m missing is good mentor or someone who are like maybe a piece of education that I can purchase. Just right now I’m trying to find someone because obviously I explained earlier how hard, I mean, how important knowledge is and having people help you so you can move faster. But right now I’m just having a really hard time like finding someone or something to purchase that think can help me get to like the next level, which is been kind of frustrating because I’ll do anything but am just having a hard time finding that person.
Ava Yuergens (00:14:58) – Yeah, that’s got to.
Aaron Lee (00:14:59) – Be more and more challenging the farther you go to figure out who has something that you can learn from based on where you are, that’s got to be a smaller and smaller pool the more you go, because you’ve been pretty successful so far, I.
Ava Yuergens (00:15:12) – Would say, even though like it’s not even like it’s more just nervous if like, I can’t even find someone who’s going to like say, yes, you know, like, like there’s a decent pool, but just don’t know who would say yes. Like, that’s probably one of my biggest things that makes me nervous.
Aaron Lee (00:15:25) – What’s something that you’re experimenting with or trying or looking into that is on the cutting edge of things.
Ava Yuergens (00:15:33) – I’ve been focusing a lot on kind of like AI and stuff and how that can help my company. Obviously, because I’m social media marketing, a lot of other social media marketers are nervous, like it’s going to take over but don’t think it will think you can mainly just use it to combat and like do things faster than you are already doing and think AI’s a really good thing.
Ava Yuergens (00:15:52) – Obviously, like some parts it’s a little scary, but has been something I’ve been really paying attention to.
Aaron Lee (00:15:56) – It seems like you’re you’re paying attention to a lot and you’re right there on the cusp and the cutting edge. What was your launch on TikTok? What got you started on TikTok and social media marketing?
Ava Yuergens (00:16:08) – So pretty much do all the short form content platforms Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, pretty much everything. And basically the reason I got started is because I was in real estate and in real estate, it’s really important to build your personal brand. So I started doing that on social media about a year ago and was able to get 50,000 subscribers like across platforms in just a couple months was like actually really like doing this. So think I want to help other business owners and other entrepreneurs do the same thing. And so basically I just started marketing like crazy and was able to get it into a six figure business in two weeks.
Aaron Lee (00:16:40) – That’s crazy. So in two weeks and you started a year ago.
Aaron Lee (00:16:44) – So how long has this short form social content business been going now?
Ava Yuergens (00:16:48) – I started in so I did it and then in the summer of last year and then started it in late October. It’s been like eight, nine months. Yeah.
Aaron Lee (00:16:57) – Come on up on a year, but not even a year yet. That’s incredible. All right, Avis, so one last question. I’m going to ask you the same question I asked Norm, but obviously you have shorter window of experience to go off of. So I’m really intrigued by your answer to this. What have you learned recently that you wish you had known when you started?
Ava Yuergens (00:17:17) – So this is one of the biggest lessons learned in my company, especially if you have like a service based business or a monthly, like a month to month service. This is probably one of the biggest lessons I have ever learned. And it’s sales and marketing isn’t going to grow your business, but decreasing churn will. So focusing on customer success, you know, like client wins, results, all of that stuff, instead of focusing on trying to acquire more and just decreasing the amount of people who stop using your service, that’s actually what grows your business.
Ava Yuergens (00:17:45) – Because imagine if you never lost a client or you never lost like a monthly paying customer, you would be making a lot more money and feel like so many people have it wrong where they think. And I had it wrong for the longest time where was like just increase sales but just get better at sales. If I just increase marketing, that’s what’s going to make my business grow. But it’s mainly just decreasing churn and then keeping your marketing and sales pretty much the same. But yeah, that’s probably the biggest lesson I’ve learned in business.
Aaron Lee (00:18:09) – All right. Well, Ava, we’ll include links to a couple of the resources you’ve mentioned and all of your social platforms in the show Notes at New Generation. Lynda.com slash four eight. Thanks to Ava for joining us today and thanks to the voice of the new Generation Leader podcast. Jay Smack at Jay Smack Viacom. And thanks to our team behind the scenes for bringing this show to life lead on. Thanks for listening to the New Generation Leader podcast. Subscribe today on your favorite podcasting platform.
Aaron Lee (00:18:37) – Ready to solve your leadership crisis. Download the show notes and unlock your true leadership potential at New Generation Leader Compound Cast. Thanks for listening today and we look forward to seeing you next time on the New Generation Leader podcast.