Episode 58: How Claudienne Hibbert Smith Went From Teenage Mom to Multi-Million Dollar Realtor

Acquania Escarne 0:00

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You are listening to the Purpose of Money podcast, a podcast where we talk about ways to build wealth and create more freedom in your life today. I am your host Acquania Escarne.

Hey guys, welcome back to the Purpose of Money podcast. Today I'm super excited. We have real estate realtor Claudienne Hibbert Smith on the show today. She literally transformed the paradigm for what is the premise of a teenage mother and what she could ever accomplish or be. Claudienne became pregnant at the age of 14. And unlike some who saw dooming her future as a result of her pregnancy, failure was not an option for her. Today, Claudienne is a multi million dollar real estate producer. At age 21 she became a licensed real estate agent. At the same time, she decided to start a real estate investing company, which has grown to assets exceeding millions of dollars. She started a company called the Hibbert University and real estate holdings. Her goal was to change the narrative of the African American family, further narrowing the wealth gap. Claudienne remembers when she entered the real estate space 20 years ago, it was to do a $30 million deal in real estate sales, furthering the mission of creating 1000 homeowners.

Claudienne, thank you so much for being on the show today. Welcome to my podcast.

Claudienne Hibbert Smith 2:08

Thank you for having me.

Acquania Escarne 2:10

Of course, I'm super excited because I really want to share your story and how you were able to overcome any obstacle and be a great mom while building a business at the same time. Alot of my listeners are moms just like you and they're also pursuing side hustles or full time entrepreneurship. So I really hope that the story you share today can really inspire them to know that anything is possible with the right tools and motivation. So can you share a little bit more about your experience becoming a teenage mom, and how you were able to stay on track to graduate and raise your son and start a business?

Claudienne Hibbert Smith 2:49

Well, let me tell you at the age of 14, I wasn't I was an A B student mostly A's and trickle in with a B here and there every now and then. And you know, I remember my conduct grades were like D's and F's right? I was terrible as a child. And let me just say what it was right. And I remember my mentor at the time, which happened to be my math grade seventh grade teacher, who's now my best friend today, might I add, I remember her, you know, taking me in and telling me I just have to tell you, like it is, you know, she promised me a vehicle when I graduated from high school. And so it was at that moment that I didn't you know what, I'm gonna start hanging with a good crowd, and not the bad crowd will start start stop skipping school and stay in school.

So long story short, like you said, I had a son at 14, you know, and I don't know, some people are moved differently, but I'm definitely moved by what you tell me I can't do. And so you know, people would say, Oh, she's gonna have four or five kids by the time she gets to 11th grade because I was in the ninth grade. And I said, that's not true. You know, I like that. I like that. You think that? But that's not what that's not, that's not gonna happen. Instead, I wouldn't graduate, I would be in jail somewhere. And the truth is, if I wouldn't have stayed on that path, I might have been in jail. Right. But so much for speaking positive affirmations over me. You know, I kind of just took hands of my own matters. And I said, you don't have to prove these people wrong. I have to prove these people wrong. And I had an incentive. I had a car at the end of the day. Right. And so I ended up literally, just like that saying, you know what, I want to do something different. I remember getting pulled out of my, I went to three high schools. And I put out of the second high school I got put out of the second high school and so, you know, when I look at that time period, I had to go back to what was called my home school, which I'm very, very excited that I was able to do. Miami Carol City High. I graduated as the VP of my class, I might say vice president, girl with the most school spirit. I was in the 1000 SAT club, you score 1000 or above and math and you know reading or reading on the SAT and and I just took off right. I ended up at the University of Florida go Gators, one of the top, close to ivy league colleges and universities. And then I graduated at the top of my class there.

And so you know what all I can tell you is this, you know, I was moved by people telling me what I wasn't going to do that I couldn't do. And they had literally deemed me life dead, pretty much, you know, and so I'm actually happy for them. They see me today. And they say that they're proud. And so it makes me proud that I was able to accomplish some things in life.

Acquania Escarne 5:44

I love that story. And I have to be honest, this is a Gator household to. My husband went to the University of Florida. And we are constantly rooting for the Gators. So that's pretty dope. And I love how you're motivated to prove people wrong. I think sometimes we don't like to admit that. That's our motivation to do the right thing and to stay on the right path. But I say whatever works. And so if that works for you, kudos to you. And kudos to them to. Haters will always push me to. So I want to ask though, like why real estate? I mean, of course, you could have studied anything in college, you could have pursued any career. But what was it about real estate that attracted you to use that as a vehicle to really build wealth and to establish yourself?

Claudienne Hibbert Smith 6:28

It's funny that you asked me that, because I told you where I was a little while ago, and I'm in the subdivision of why I became a real estate professional. So I told you, my school teacher in the seventh grade, and her name is Tina Howell, she bought the first Wingstop to Miami, Florida. She came back from Dallas back home to Miami. And she ended up buying a house in this very same community. And I remember tagging along, you know, I was young at the time I was tagging along, didn't really know anything about real estate. But I remember walking into the sales office. And I remember her picking a house and picking the furnishings. And the realtor was sitting there in the cool AC, it looks very easy. She took us to the site. And it just looked very easy. And I remember when she closed. I remember seeing the Commission on what was called the inaudible the time I remember seeing the Commission's that it was something upwards of 40,000. I said wait a minute, I'm in the wrong business. I walked into here, she showed us some lots, she didn't do much in my opinion. You know, I'm in the wrong business. And I tell you, money was a driving force for me. And I say that with great confidence. Because I didn't know that this would be my passion. I knew I wanted to help a lot of people. I knew I wanted to make a lot of money. Those were my goals as a teen. That was my goal. You know, growing up in high school, all I wanted to do is make a lot of money, such that I went to college to be a teacher. But when I realized I was not going to become a professor, because as you can probably imagine, there were not many professors that looked like me at the University of Florida. And I quickly said, I'm not, I'm not going to get a PhD, you could forget it. I barely want to come but I'm here. But I knew that that wasn't going to be long term for me and that I had a son that I needed to take care of. So I could not be in school forever.

And so I remember changing my major, I changed my major from becoming a teacher to another profession, because I remember seeing the pay grade for school teaching I love school teachers I I love the depth. But I knew that I was not going to make a lot of money becoming a school teacher, I could have helped a lot of people. But I was not going to have a lot of money. So I changed my career very quickly. And so I ended up working, I graduated, I worked at an insurance company, and I was tired of them telling you what to do, how to do it, what to wear Claudienne, you have to work clothes and shoes and stockings. And in a jacket. It was hot in South Florida and you want to do it. And so I remember seeing the money that was made on that transaction. And I tell you, I wouldn't do this today at 41. But I quit my job. I didn't give any notice. I did not even do research on how to become an agent okay. I just quit and then went and figured it out. Thank God, it only took me a week to get my salespersons license. And the rest is history.

And so money was a driving force for me for becoming a real estate professional. I want to elaborate a little bit. And I'm very comfortable with saying that money was the driving force for me because it fit my goals. I don't know what everybody else's goals were. I want to make a lot of money. But I quickly realized maybe year 2 in real estate. I started to invest at 21. So I got my license at 21. And I started to become an investor at 21 right and I don't know if subconsciously it was there. I really didn't know about investing, you know, I remember reading books and Rich Dad Poor Dad when I was in college, but I didn't really transfer it over to that moment, right. So I'm gonna say subconsciously it was there. And I remember, I remember buying my first piece of property at age 21. I did not buy my house, I bought a duplex that I could make some income off of. And so I started to call my friends, because this looks like this made sense. You know, this look like at the age of 35, I could retire and not have to do sales, I could literally be making money in my sleep, if I just follow the course of my plan, which was to buy one property a year.

Now, times went on, I made a lot of money, and I bought multiple properties in a year. But that was the goal to buy one property per year. And let me tell you, I quickly realized that my peers knew nothing about real estate. Nobody wants to come in and buy properties, I couldn't figure it out. And so very quickly, I started to lobby for homeownership. And for investors that look like me, I want to change that narrative. There were two things I wanted to do, I want to change the narrative of what investors look like. And I want to change the narrative of what a salesperson a real estate professional looked like. Because when I entered the market, it was white male dominated. And I didn't know any better, I just said, okay, cool. Here's this black little girl, that's gonna take over the world, right. And I just, I just was fearless. I was fearless and just kind of ignorance on fire.

Acquania Escarne 11:32

I love your passion. And I think it's something that we need to all be doing. We need, we need more people of color in so many fields, it's really helpful that you made that a high priority for yourself. And you are setting an example for others to follow. And I kind of want to now talk about if you want to your personal portfolio, you know, you mentioned the possibility of being able to retire at 35. Are you still pursuing real estate investing and serving as a realtor because of the passion that you have for it or are used at a work optional point in your life?

Claudienne Hibbert Smith 12:10

To be honest with you, we have an all boys school from K to 12, that's just growing like phenomenally. Um, I'm gonna say this, I'm at 41. And when it was, when I was 35, I was on my way out, and my company asked me to stay it kind of sort of begged me to say, That's okay, I gotta do something different. So I created the Hibbert group. And I have now 21 realtors that I work with, who work with me very closely. Um, I just say that it's optional, but I love it. I love what I do. There's a space for us here. And I feel like if I'm not here, then who's the voice for us? Who's the voice for, you know, the listing agent who's the voice for the buyer's agent. And so, while it is optional, it is a it has become a passion of mine. And to teach people how to invest, teach people how to create the life that they really, really like desire to have. You know, I need to leave a legacy here. I'm on child number two. Now, I have my son at 14 and I've one at 41, the numbers have slipped, they were the number five. And there's something special about that number. And I believe I was called to leave a legacy here on earth. Well, funny was that legacy, to know that even though I had some challenges in my childhood, I just played the deck of cards with a deck of cards I was dealt. If I could do you could do.

Acquania Escarne 13:37

Absolutely. And I love that I love numbers, too. And I love how God has ordained it to be that way. It's so interesting that you had one and 14 and one and 41 How does it feel to be a mom of another child at another phase of your life?

Claudienne Hibbert Smith 13:55

You know what I have to tell you it's a lot much easier now than it was then. And I have resources. You know, I have a live in nanny have a husband you know, that is super dad. You know, he's I call him super dad. He is literally the day that I never had. So I'm always admiring him like, in the middle of the morning. He's waking up with the bottles and the changing of the Pampers. Sometimes I have to step in and say rest you know, I you know, I'm here to help too. But it's just been amazing. My resources are different. My time is different. You know, another reason why well one of the reasons why I never had more children is because I remember my son is 26 always saying ma You have no time you're always on the phone, you're always on the go. And he didn't understand at the time he understands now but I just never wanted to go through that again. That was traumatizing. You know, to know that I was a single mom trying to hustle and get it. Never you know going to work early coming home late sometimes not going to sleep. And it was a challenge for me emotionally and so I said I just didn't want to put my next child do that. And now I find myself, you know, taking more time, being more loving, more caring, you know, it's different, you have resources.

Acquania Escarne 15:10

So I want to know what's next for you do you have another large goal that you are hoping to accomplish or plan for either the academy or yourself?

Claudienne Hibbert Smith 15:21

Well so now I, I'm going to share this with you. I love Ellen, the Ellen show. I love Ellen, I love our heart. I love her spirit. You know, I mentioned to you that I always wanted to be a teacher, and I'm finding myself. And these times being just that teaching just at a different capacity. My we own an entire school, we forget teaching the students we own the whole school. And so, you know, I'm learning now that the calling was to teach, I'm showing other realtors how I started, what not to do, so that they can collapse the 20 years it took me well, probably 10 years, it took me into a couple of years, right because I didn't have the education, I didn't have the teachers, I had to pay 1000s of dollars to see the Tony Robbins, the Brian Buffini, the Mike Ferries, the Tom ferries, and it wasn't cheap. Everybody doesn't has to have the type of money and some people dont even want to sacrifice. Some days, I didn't have the money. But I knew that if I sacrifice, the law of the universe says the law of reciprocity says I am going to receive something back of greatness. And I truly believe that. And so there are a lot of risks that I took. But I realized a lot of people aren't risk takers. A lot of people you know aren't willing to lose, right? I go in willing to win when I'm okay with losing because I know when I lose, it's going to take me to the next journey that I'm in. And so one thing get back to the question, the one thing I've always wanted to do is be the the Ellen of real estate, I want to be that person that gives away the $40,000 down payment and closing costs for your new built home. I want to be the person that says this is your groundbreaking land, you know, and we're partnering with banks and Home Depot's and Lowe's and different companies so that we can you know, further the mission, you know, my parents weren't rich. We weren't poor, but we were not rich. We were probably somewhere right below middle class. And I'm not gonna say that I had hard beginnings. You know, I traveled my mom took me places. You know, she worked everyday, she worked like the average person, and we had some experiences. But I definitely know that there are some people that sometimes cannot get out of their own way. Not everybody's gonna wake up like inaudible and say, Hey, today is a new day. And I don't need anybody to motivate me, I'm going to get up and get it done. And so I realized not everybody's in this space. So definitely I want to start my own TV show, which I'm starting, I'm developing now. And definitely be that Ellen of real estate.

Acquania Escarne 18:02

I love that. Oh my gosh, that is so dope. Love it. Love it. Love it. So I definitely want to support that once you're out there promoting whatever I can do, I will include as much information about you for my listeners in the show notes so they can follow your journey as well. So the Purpose of Money is the name of the podcast. And so I asked all my guests, what's the purpose? What's their purpose for money. I feel like you've kind of answered it. But if there's anything else you want to add as to why you're grinding so hard feel free

Claudienne Hibbert Smith 18:34

I'm not that person says that money is not important. In fact, if you're listening to me on a daily basis, you always know that money is important. Money affords us to buy things, money, awards us the ability to go and get therapist when the insurance company doesn't cover it. Money allows us the opportunity to help the homeless to feed the homeless and not have to rely on sponsorship that may or may not come through. And so I'm never going to be the person that says money does not matter. Your passion matters. No money matters. Money does matter. And so for me, you know, my dream and goals were not to get married not to have a huge house you know I have a nice house now. But that was not really my goals and dreams. My goals and dreams was to make a lot of money to help a lot of people. I remember when I was 15. And I was working at Albertson in the bakery. They would throw away the bread at night and then the meat department would throw away, the turkeys and the hams. And I will say this is a shame we should be doing something with this and I would sit back and I would make sandwiches and take them along my journey home to the homeless people on the street under the bus bus stops. And I just that was the moment for me that said that I want to make a lot of money. And so for me it's legacy,

You know if I'm not here tomorrow, I don't want my family to have to live a different type of way because I'm not physically here. So what is legacy? For me, it's so that my children's children, children can have a start. I didn't have my parents couldn't give me that. No, we were not poor. But we were not asset heavy either. My mom did own her house, she did own a car, she did have a bank account. But that was that was the extent of that, you know, we had a roof over our head, but I want to be able to leave my family with something and not just leave them with something, but give them a start. Do you know, you know how much different it is when you leave college and, you know, the people that don't look like us have cars ready, they have houses ready, their parents have saved up and have insurance policies ready for them. And now they're getting married, now that you know, paying for weddings, and not only just paying for the wedding, they're not moving into an apartment, they're moving into the house that their parents bought. And so that's the type of things that I want to do for my family. And I knew that at an early age.

Acquania Escarne 20:55

I love that because I am a life insurance producer. And I try to explain this when I'm working with clients on their wealth strategy, that there's so many things they can do for their children while they're young. And those are simple things that, you know, children are young and healthy, they're a lot easier to insure. But then you can also be saving and building wealth for them. So they have opportunity. And I really, really want more people of color to be able to graduate debt free to be able to buy a home to be able to invest in businesses, right? That is the advantage that would really allow us to level up our finances to close the wealth gap and to give ourselves a better playing field. I don't know if it'll ever be equal, because there are so many things that go into the playing field of business and economics. But I definitely think we could have a better start if we gave our children those opportunities.

Claudienne Hibbert Smith 21:48

One person at a time.

Acquania Escarne 21:50

Exactly. And that is the great way to end the show. Before we leave, I want you to tell my listeners, how can they find you? Where are you on social and the web.

Claudienne Hibbert Smith 22:02

I am at Claudienne Hibbert and I'm going to spell that for you across the board. It's C l a u d i e n n e Hibbert H i b b e r t. And when you go to my Instagram there and you look at my bio, you will see my business page there. So I'm not Hibbert group is one of them. But you can find me across all social media handles at my first and last name.

Acquania Escarne 22:27

Awesome. I'll make sure to include that in the show notes. Guys. I hope you were inspired by this episode. Please listen to it once, twice and share. And of course, until next time, keep building generational wealth. Bye bye.

Claudienne Hibbert Smith 22:40

Bye Bye.

Acquania Escarne 22:42

Thank you for listening to the Purpose of Money podcast. For more resources and information, check out my website, the PurposeofMoney.com and while you're there, please sign up for our newsletter so you have the latest information on new episodes and blog posts. Until next time, keep creating freedom in your life today.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai