Success rarely begins with perfect timing, unlimited resources, or a clear roadmap. For Samantha Tov and Judy Cuong, it began with long hours, rejection, sacrifice, and an unshakable belief that hard work could change the trajectory of their lives.

In this episode of Go All In: Beating the Odds in Business, Anh sits down with Samantha and Judy, the owners of Portfolio Real Estate, to hear how two very different women with remarkably similar work ethics built successful careers—and eventually an extraordinary business partnership.

Judy entered real estate as a teenager after growing up in a family with very little money. Her path to success included years of cold calling, door knocking, open houses, and thousands of rejections before landing the listing that proved to her she belonged in the business.

Samantha’s journey took her from restaurants in Los Angeles to building a real estate career as a single mother in Sacramento. She brought her children to open houses, worked when other agents took holidays off, studied successful agents, and learned the business through observation, persistence, and sheer determination.

When Judy realized she could no longer do everything alone, she saw something familiar in Samantha: the same work ethic, the same hunger, and the same commitment to doing whatever it took. Their partnership would eventually become the foundation of Portfolio Real Estate.

Samantha and Judy share an unusually candid conversation about why their partnership works, how they handle disagreement, why equal effort does not always mean identical effort, and why trust matters more than keeping score.

They also talk about mentoring the next generation of agents, building a company culture without drama or toxicity, using AI in real estate, navigating motherhood and entrepreneurship, and learning that success means very little if you never allow yourself the time to enjoy it.

This is a conversation about resilience, partnership, sacrifice, and what can happen when you bet on yourself—and find the right person willing to go all in beside you.

You can learn more about Portfolio Real Estate by visiting their website: https://portfoliore.com/

Chapters

00:00 The Work Ethic Behind the Partnership
00:52 Meet Samantha Tov and Judy Cuong
01:24 Samantha's Real Estate Journey
03:42 Judy Starts in Real Estate at 19
05:25 Thousands of Cold Calls for One Big Break
09:20 Samantha's Letter That Landed a Major Listing
12:20 Surviving the Early Years of Real Estate
15:40 How Samantha and Judy Found Each Other
17:10 Why Judy Needed the Right Partner
21:15 Building Portfolio Real Estate
23:30 Creating a Culture of Mentorship
27:00 Conflict, Communication and Business Partnerships
31:00 Why Their 50/50 Partnership Works
35:00 Navigating Real Estate Markets and Building Wealth
37:00 Advice for New Real Estate Agents
41:10 Entrepreneurship Beyond Real Estate
42:30 How AI Is Changing the Real Estate Business
45:40 Motherhood, Business and Finding Balance
52:20 Go All In or Fold: Real Estate Edition

Thank you so much for listening. I hope you found this episode valuable. To learn more about Phoong Law, visit: https://phoonglaw.com

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Go All In is recorded at Phoong Law Studio and produced by Hear Me Now Studio