LeAnn Riley

I have a unique way of looking at the world. Some people may say I wear rose colored glasses. I always look at the optimistic view, no matter what happens. The reason is, I grew up in a family of 10 with parents that were both entrepreneurs. They approached life as a business and used their entrepreneurial skills to plan out strategies to reach their dreams.  At one point, the whole family lived on a porch as Dad and brothers gutted a duplex and turned it into their dream house for a family of 10. No problem was too hard to solve if you just put your mind and energy to work , spoke the dream and worked the steps.  No matter what happened…

For me it began with a pregnancy when I was a teen, not exactly planned. I hid this until it no longer could be swept under the rug. In my heart, I knew that this baby deserved a mother and father that were ready for parenthood.  At 17 years old, I made a very difficult life changing decision.  I placed my baby boy for adoption. The courage and strength came from an inner knowing that this was my path and I wanted to make a choice that would be best for the child. As life comes full circle, today I have the gift and joy of knowing Rick and his family and the blessing of adopting a son and raising him over 20 years later, he’s now a teen.

The Hawaiian dream
I married my high school sweetheart at 18 and moved to Hawaii where he was stationed in the Armed Forces. As youngsters, we struggled to figure out how to survive, find jobs and create any money to make a home. My dream of going to vocational school was shattered, they only had community colleges in Hawaii and I had no money to go. With multitasking as my specialty, I worked my way up in small entrepreneurial companies as a bookkeeper, secretary and office manager. Just surviving as a young teen in Hawaii took great courage and because money was tight we had to share our housing with others. After eight years, we returned to MN. That marriage ended in divorce when I was 26.  After paying $4000 to get divorced, I left penniless and had to start again to rebuild my life.

Rebuilding my life and business
I followed my dream of going to college while working full time, studying fashion merchandise and got a degree in marketing communications.  I understood the mechanics of business and ventured into starting a national magazine, Dancing USA  with my mother at her publishing company. A few years later, my sister and I bought the company and grew the magazine to the largest circulated ballroom dance magazine in the United States. As publisher, I ran the magazine for 20 years realizing the joy of working with my mother and sister. I was experiencing Real Freedom, designing my life.

I was single and didn’t like having a roommate. I had watched my brother invest in property and make money, why couldn’t I do this? I bought a triplex with a $4000 down payment from my credit card and a contract for deed from a friend. Ah…the dream of a home and money from the tenants to pay my mortgage.  Again, using a business model to create affluence in my life.  This triplex needed rehab and  I met my second husband, a handyman.  We married, had children and built a portfolio of rental properties in the Minneapolis inner city of over 100 units.  We added vacation property, commercial properties and had over 12 million dollars of real estate with a net worth of 7 million dollars. I taught seminars to people on how to manage property,  and grow a real estate business. I believe in helping others to find Real Freedom NOW. Today, as a real estate broker, master coach and mentor, I continue to teach people about money, business and relationships and how to create affluence to live a life by design.

Skinned Knees
As the market was beginning to fall, so was my marriage. I lived in a big mansion on a lake and was frozen in how to unwind this huge portfolio and figure out how to end the marriage. What I did was nothing, hide and pretend that it wasn’t happening, for several years. I denied that my life was a mess and there was a crash coming. As with most things we deny, they eventually come out into the open. When I discovered his affair,  I could no longer deny reality. I finally had the courage to be done. I had no idea how the empire would crumble but it no longer mattered. I began to navigate the courageous path to Real Freedom NOW.  I divorced and let go of all the real estate and the wealth.  My children became the priority and the business of divorce was in the forefront for the next several years as this nightmare unwound.  In this process, I discovered the tools to survive your most challenging days.

You see, I discovered how to re-create myself many times over,  as an entrepreneur, developing and honing my business skills, creating new companies and as a single Mom parenting teens through difficult times.  Yes, the business of life is full of minefields. I’ve experienced custody battles and single parenting, financial ruin, abuse, and teenagers reeling from the upheaval. Moving and downsizing, creating a new source of income and then struggling through a down real estate market all brought me to discover Real Freedom NOW!  Today,  I coach and mentor  people on how to have courage, freedom and zest even in the middle of the life’s messes. Hundreds of people have found confidence and a new attitude, magnified profits, grown their businesses and experienced Real Freedom Now.

Our mission is to provide education, training and empowerment to embrace your passion, power and purpose to experience real freedom.

Thank you for visiting our website! Whenever you are in the process – finding your real freedom, struggling through the mess or end of a relationship, or blossoming in your new found freedom – let us know how we can help you take the next step to Zest For Life.