Today we’d like to introduce you to Ania Palasz.
Hi Ania, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Hello, my name is Ania. I was born and raised in Europe, namely Poland. I then immigrated by my father’s choice to Canada where I finished my studies, then to the USA due to life circumstances and a brief recession in the economy. I was always entrepreneurial. I have been exposed to it starting at a very young age as my grandparents had their own general store and their own farm with several orchards and greenhouses. When we moved to Canada, my father established a successful auto shop where I spent many hours helping him with management and administration among many other things. I went on with schooling and working many sales and customer service jobs at the same time, striving to be independent at a young age due to my parent’s divorce. I attained independence and became self-sufficient at the age of 16. Throughout High School, I worked at a gym, later getting my Fitness Trainer Certification and teaching fitness classes. I enjoyed that as I loved sports and was athletic all my life. I did not pursue that in University, however, mainly due to my language barrier – 6 years in a foreign language was enough to be fluent, but not in medical language – hence I took only one Kinesiology class (sports, nutrition, physical fitness and wellness) and went on with a 4-year Business degree with a concentration on Organizational and Human Resources. I also ended up with a Minor in Sociology due to excess Sociology courses taken ;). When I finished my degree and went out to the workforce I got caught by a surprise – Employers were not looking for a degree, they wanted experience, and the pay was very poor, not as described to us by University recruiters… Realizing this, I decided to return to sales and at first sold cars, then houses and other sorts of real estate. Currently, I have been in the Real Estate industry for over 17 years and possess licenses in 4 states. With the Real Estate industry being so volatile, I became an investor and currently hold 4 properties. I also kept on being on the lookout for other business opportunities that would fit my skills and experience and that’s how I ended up with the Studio Figura franchise in addition to my other endeavors.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Oh no, not at all.. my entire life was a hurdle full of struggles and pain… My father was hardly around until we immigrated to Canada as he was the breadwinner and the farm was one hour away. We did not have a car at first to travel even in the early 1980s. My mother was not the greatest, an abusive self-centered narcissist, hence we could not await the weekend when we (me and my sister) took the bus to our grandparent’s home, also one hour away. This was the only peaceful and “normal” time of my life and another reason why I needed to be on my own. My childhood being a struggle in itself caused anxiety and other issues further in life and in adulthood. This led to wrong relationships and a vicious cycle of more abuse and narcissism which paired with lack of motivation and energy to stay afloat. Moving to the USA was also a challenge as immigration took 7 years to finally hand over my green card (would have been much sooner if my fiancee did not kill himself on his motorcycle 🙁 ). Without that, I was not eligible for any professional licenses and could only work as an independent contractor and for the lowest wages. But persistence paid off and I even started my own bookkeeping and tax business to stop being taken advantage of until I received my green card. Going forward, I got my Broker’s license to sell Real Estate, which was another hurdle since my previous Brokers, whom I associated with refused to sign my application even though they were supposed to by law. So that process in itself took over one year… The Franchise – Studio Figura – was a financial challenge. Although not hundreds of thousands of dollars, but took several thousand to open, which ended up being financed from a credit line that I was granted. Unfortunately, being first opened in NY, I did not have a good landlord and was forced to close 3 months later as he refused to fix the central air conditioning. Again, I persevered, and even though did not reopen in NY, I took another chance at it in SC. This time around I had a bit more capital saved up and took a cash-out refi on our house in order to purchase the necessary building. The current challenge is promotion and gaining loyal Clientele in order to pay for just the bills associated with the Studio.. I’m hoping that I can subsidize this business with real estate sales and vice versa. Once it gets steady, I would like to just manage it and do the fitness training part of it and have someone else perform the other services. My ultimate passion will always be Real Estate, Personal Fitness Training/Coaching, and Management.
We’ve been impressed with Ania Real Estate and Property Management/Studio Figura, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Real Estate seems like a very straightforward business… However, it takes much persistence and many hours of work in order to be successful in it. I have taken a bit different route and started investing in it to gain passive income instead of making thousands in commissions and paying IRS taxes on pure income… I currently own 4 properties, 2 of which are vacation rentals, 1 is held for the 2 businesses, and a primary residence. The primary residence is an investment in itself and a retirement plan at the same time as I have approved plans to subdivide it into 4 properties. The plan is to retire on lakefront, so we would be pre-selling those and searching for our dream home. I do love helping Buyers and Sellers as well though :). I have natural coaching abilities, hence I am very thorough with every Client and make sure that they have all of the information available and/or attainable in order to move forward with one of the biggest decisions of their life. I am also blatantly honest and extremely communicative, hence Everyone will usually know more than they want or sometimes would like. I have been forced to have Clients sign waivers for information they received which should have affected their purchase but did not, especially in the post-covid market. This was done to protect me and my license in case previously known issues had come up. As far as the Studio Figura business model and brand – I was very excited about it as it fit my fitness and wellness description. In my opinion, this is the most effective, efficient and the most comprehensive fitness/wellness model in the world. It was created twelve years ago, with high standards and a unique “know-how”. All the machines have been engineered and made in Poland. To date, there are over 1300 of these Studio’s throughout Europe and as of a couple years ago USA. The reason behind efficiency and effectivity – simple – with the fitness machines, you can lose 3x+ the calories in one-time use and almost without breaking a sweat! You can also make exclusive appointments, You don’t have to be the “star” of the gym, and You get personal attention every minute of Your workout! The additional “zones” (wellness and aesthetic cosmetology) have been created in order to pursue “perfecting” the figure – also in an efficient manner, non-invasively, and best part – avoiding surgery! In fact, some Clients fall asleep during some of the procedures!
Contact Info:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ania.miko.54
