What does it actually take to scale a business to $87 million? Host Stella Shalamova talks with Justin Freishtat, accomplished private equity investor and Managing Partner at Kerns Capital, about his transition from building retail companies to allocating capital at the highest levels. They discuss why he refuses to invest with difficult people, how he manages risk by holding heavy cash reserves, and the tough lessons learned from an Atlanta real estate deal that suffered massive losses.

🎧 Hosted by: Stella Shalamova

👤 Guest: 🏡 Justin Freishtat - Founder & President of Alpha Tactical Partners, Managing Partner at Kerns Capital Justin successfully scaled businesses leading to an $87 million acquisition. Today, he manages institutional capital, focusing on strategic sector rotation and helping companies grow through brand development.

💡 What You'll Learn:

✔️ The major breakpoints every founder faces when scaling a company

✔️ Why you must aggressively reinvest in marketing early on

✔️ The importance of vetting the people behind an investment first

✔️ Real-world lessons from losing capital on a multifamily real estate deal

✔️ Why capping investments at 10% of your net worth eliminates financial anxiety

✔️ Why your personal brand is the ultimate tool for long-term monetization

🎧 Listen now for actionable, real-world advice on private equity and wealth building.

💼 Connect with Justin Freishtat:

🌐 Website → https://atphedgefunds.com/

📘 Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/justin.freishtat.2025/

📸 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/justinfreishtat/

🔗 LinkedIn → http://linkedin.com/in/justin-freishtat-68063579/

🎧 Follow Stella:

🌐 Website → https://eliterealtor.com/

📘 Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/stella.shalamova/

📸 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/stella.topseller/

🔗 LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/stellashalamova

#PrivateEquity #BusinessGrowth #RealEstateInvesting #Entrepreneurship #PersonalBranding #WealthBuilding #CapitalAllocation #StellaTopSellerPodcast

Are you leaving a massive down payment on the table by waiting 39 years for tax write-offs?

Buying commercial property is only half the battle; the real wealth is built in how you manage your tax liabilities. Many investors assume their CPAs are automatically applying the most aggressive tax strategies available, but when it comes to cost segregation, general practitioners rarely have the specialized engineering knowledge required. In this episode of Stella Top Seller, Tom Brodie demystifies cost segregation and explains why accelerating your property's depreciation is the ultimate cheat code for immediate cash flow. He breaks down the recent return of the 100% bonus depreciation rule, how to split your asset into faster-depreciating buckets, and why you can still claim these massive deductions even if you bought your property years ago.

🎧 Hosted by: Stella Shalamova

🎤 Featuring: Tom Brodie

Tom Brodie is a tax strategy specialist at Cost Segregation Services, Inc., specializing in engineering-based cost segregation and tax planning. He helps commercial building owners and businesses nationwide maximize cash flow and reduce tax liabilities through accelerated depreciation and specialized tax credits.

💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✔ Unlocking immediate cash flow by accelerating property depreciation write-offs.

✔ Navigating the reinstatement of the 100% bonus depreciation for commercial assets.

✔ Identifying non-structural building components to drastically reduce taxable income.

✔ Reinvesting six-figure tax savings into a 1031 exchange to scale your portfolio.

✔ Protecting yourself from IRS scrutiny by selecting an engineering-based cost segregation provider.

✔ Bridging the gap with your CPA to implement advanced tax strategies without friction.

🎧Connect with Tom:

🌐 Website → https://www.thefoundmoneyguy.com/

👻 Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/tom.brodie.798

📸 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/thefoundmoneyguy

💼 LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-brodie/

🎧 Follow Stella:

🌐 Website → https://eliterealtor.com/

👻 Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/stella.shalamova/

📸 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/stella.topseller/

💼 LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/stellashalamova

⭐ Produced by Icons of Real Estate - https://iconsofrealestate.com/

🔖 Don’t Forget to LIKE 👍, SUBSCRIBE 🔔 & COMMENT 💬 Below!

#StellaTopSeller #CostSegregation #CommercialRealEstate #TaxStrategy #BonusDepreciation #MultifamilyInvesting #TaxSavings #PropertyOwnership #RealEstateWealth #CashFlow #StellaShalamova #TomBrody

There is nothing sexy about self-storage. But those metal boxes print beautiful cashflow.

Host Stella Shalamova talks with Joe Downs, CEO of Belrose Storage Group, about why self-storage survived 2008, how to spot a mom-and-pop facility worth buying, and why the SBA loan makes it half the cost of multifamily to enter.

🎧 Hosted by: Stella Shalamova

🎤 Featuring: Joe Downs

Joe Downs is the Chief Executive Officer of Belrose Storage Group and host of the Storage Moguls podcast. He leads the sourcing and acquisition of self-storage facilities across the eastern United States.His background includes commercial real estate, distressed debt investing, and financial advising. He educates investors on self-storage acquisitions and passive income strategies.

💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• ✔ Why self-storage held up when every other commercial asset class crashed

• ✔ Reading a market fast using population, occupancy, and the 10x10 rule

• ✔ Buying below market from mom-and-pop owners who built the facility themselves

• ✔ Getting into a million-dollar deal for $200K using an SBA loan

• ✔ Cutting a 45-minute market study down to under a minute with AI

Chapters:

• (00:00:00) Intro

• (00:02:59) From Stepchild to Darling of CRE

• (00:04:03) Why Storage Is Recession Resistant

• (00:06:56) What Belrose Actually Does

• (00:11:18) The First Thing to Check Is the Market

• (00:12:50) Why Mom-and-Pops Are the Opportunity

• (00:17:15) The Real Value Add Is Management

• (00:20:57) The SBA Loan Advantage

• (00:22:32) $200K vs $400K: The Real Math

• (00:23:31) No Toilets, No 2 AM Calls

• (00:27:37) How AI Changed Acquisitions

• (00:30:39) AI-Written LOIs That Actually Land

• (00:33:51) How to Connect With Joe

Connect with Joe:

🌐 Storage Moguls → https://joedowns.ai/

🏢 Belrose Storage Group → https://storagemoguls.ai/

💼 LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-downs-7990851/

📸 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/josephmdowns/

🎧 Follow Stella:

🎙 Podcast → https://hub.iconsofrealestate.com/podcasts/stella-top-seller

📘 Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/stella.shalamova/

📸 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/stella.topseller/

💼 LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/stellashalamova/

⭐ Produced by Icons of Real Estate - https://iconsofrealestate.com/

🔖 Don’t Forget to LIKE 👍, SUBSCRIBE 🔔 & COMMENT 💬 Below!