How This Couple Built Freedom: Rentals, RVs & a Media Agency | Shane & Victoria Childress
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
This episode features Shane and Victoria Childress, a dynamic entrepreneurial couple who transformed their lives from traditional careers into building a successful multi-faceted business empire. Starting from humble beginnings - Shane in tech sales and Victoria with a challenging childhood marked by poverty and family substance abuse - they decided to break free from the conventional path to create their own version of success.
Their journey took them from corporate life in Dallas to building a real estate portfolio that grew to 55 properties at its peak, currently maintained at 12 units. (02:28) After selling their traditional home, they embarked on an unconventional lifestyle that included living on sailboats in the Caribbean, traveling through Asia where their children attended school in Thailand, and eventually settling into the RV industry in Florida.
Today, they operate an RV dealership and have organically grown Sava Media Group, a marketing agency that emerged when competitors began asking how they were achieving superior marketing results. (17:16) Their philosophy centers on building businesses that support their desired lifestyle rather than letting business demands dictate their lives.
• Main themes: Entrepreneurial reinvention, lifestyle design, building businesses around personal values, and the importance of partnership in business and lifeSpeakers
Shane Childress
Shane is a former tech industry professional who spent years traveling across the US managing major corporate accounts. He left college after one year to pursue opportunities in technology, working his way up through determination and hard work. After building a successful career in tech sales, he transitioned into entrepreneurship with his wife Victoria, ultimately building a real estate portfolio of 55 properties and launching multiple businesses including an RV dealership and marketing agency.
Victoria Childress
Victoria grew up in challenging circumstances marked by poverty and family substance abuse issues, which gave her firsthand experience with housing instability from a young age. At just 11 years old, she was negotiating with landlords on behalf of her family. This difficult background instilled in her a strong desire to eventually become a property owner herself. She's proven to be an excellent business operator and works alongside Shane in all their ventures, bringing complementary skills and perspective to their entrepreneurial journey.
Key Takeaways
Build Your Business Around Your Lifestyle, Not Vice Versa
The Childresses emphasize the critical importance of designing businesses that serve your desired lifestyle rather than becoming enslaved to business demands. (27:58) Shane reflects on how difficult it is to break the conditioning that tells us to work harder and longer hours, noting that "Breaking that habit of building your companies to support your lifestyle is just as hard" as overcoming any addiction. Their approach involves constantly asking themselves what kind of life they want and then building revenue streams that support that vision, whether it's traveling to Iceland for work or spending weeks at their daughter's barrel racing competitions.
Economies of Scale Are Essential in Real Estate
Through their experience managing up to 55 rental properties, they learned that small-scale real estate investing is challenging and often unprofitable. (14:44) Shane states bluntly: "if you're gonna go buy five rentals, do something else with your money." They emphasize that unforeseen maintenance costs can wipe out an entire year's profit from a small portfolio, and recommend having at least 100 doors before single-family real estate becomes "a little bit sexy." Their experience shows that without sufficient scale, one major repair can eliminate all annual profits.
Keep Business Simple and Focus on Results
Victoria and Shane advocate for cutting through industry jargon and complex metrics to focus on fundamental profitability. (14:18) As Shane explains: "How much are you paying for it? What's your mortgage? What's your insurance? What's your taxes? What's your maintenance? And how much can you rent it for? And if that's the profit you wanna make, that's what you do." This philosophy extends to their marketing agency, where they focus on concrete results and cost of acquisition rather than vanity metrics like impressions and views.
Partnership Requires Checking Each Other's Ego
The couple emphasizes how crucial it is for business partners, especially spouses, to keep each other's egos in check. (33:41) Victoria explains that despite Shane initially having a strong ego when they met, they've learned to ask each other: "Six months from now, what do we wanna be? Does that matter? Does this matter?" This mutual accountability has been essential in their decision-making process and helps them stay focused on long-term goals rather than getting caught up in momentary frustrations or pride-driven decisions.
Opportunities Often Emerge Organically from Existing Operations
Their most successful ventures have grown naturally from solving problems within their existing businesses. (19:06) Their marketing agency, Sava Media Group, wasn't a planned business venture - it emerged when competitors at their RV dealership began asking "how are you doing what you're doing?" This organic growth pattern has proven more sustainable than trying to force new business ideas, as it builds on existing expertise and relationships while solving real market needs.
Statistics & Facts
- The Childresses built their real estate portfolio from zero to 55 properties at its peak, currently maintaining 12 units. (13:45) Shane mentions this dramatic scale to illustrate both their growth and their strategic decision to consolidate for better management.
- They traveled over 10,000 miles across the US in their RV during 2020. (24:52) This statistic demonstrates their commitment to the nomadic lifestyle they chose during the COVID pandemic when international travel restrictions affected their boating plans.
- Shane recommends having at least 100 rental property doors before single-family real estate becomes "a little bit sexy" from a profitability standpoint. (14:57) This insight comes from their extensive experience managing dozens of properties and understanding the economics of scale required for sustainable profits.