The 100th Episode Special By Pamela Bardhi

Pamela Bardhi
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the 100th episode of underdog. I honestly cannot even believe we’re here at this point in time. It’s actually quite insane for me to think about it, wasn’t even a year ago. When I was even remotely close to this. I mean, I literally just heard that we are now in 50 countries five zero. There are 50 countries out here listening to this and I am just so beyond grateful. So I want to shout you guys out. Hold on before I say anything else because this is crazy. Okay. Your love is absolutely crazy. I want to thank each and every single one of you for listening, I am beyond grateful. Here we are.

So some of the top countries that are listening, so we got the United States holla at all of you. We got the Philippines, we’ve got Spain, Canada, and Belgium. You guys are the top five. It is unreal to know that I have listeners. Listening to these incredible countries and supporting the underdog mission. I am so so grateful to you and now within the US let’s see what we got. We got some major cities here, top 10 cities that turned into this podcast in the United States of America. So we got Attleboro, we got Boston, we got Quincy, Smyrna, Indian Trail, Delton, Fort Wayne, Florida, Pearland, New York City, and Naples. My God, thank you guys so much. This is the top 10 in the United States, I can’t even believe I’m sitting here.

And I’m even mentioning all of this right now that we’re sitting here on the 100th episode. Which is absolutely unreal and for those of you who are listening. Maybe for the very first time, I just want you to know, I’m grateful for you. Thank you so much for supporting this mission. A little bit of my backstory for those who are actually listening to this for the very first time. I was born in Tirana, Albania, I came here when I was five years old. And my parents, you know, won the visa lottery. So they didn’t actually plan on even coming here at all. I mean, my grandmother put their names in the visa lottery and that’s how it went down.

That’s how the whole thing started. So my parents found out when my little brother was born, so when I was six months old, we moved to Italy. And I lived in Rome, Italy, until I was five years old, so English is actually my third language. So when my little brother was born, when I was five. My grandmother walked into the hospital on my dad’s side and then I made it and she tells them. Hey, congratulations on your newborn son, however, your name got chosen to go to the United States of America.

And now, let me back this up by saying my parents didn’t have any family here. Because everyone was based back home, so there’s nobody here. None of our cousins, nobody, no job security, they had no idea what they were going to do here, didn’t speak English, and only had like a little bit of money saved up. And obviously, tickets to the United States are pretty expensive. With the visa lottery, you know, you get two years to stay or go. It’s almost like your trial period here in the US. So my parents, I mean, my dad didn’t think twice. He legit said, Okay, this is it. We’re going Eva, telling my mom, we need to create a better life for our kids and that’s exactly what they did. They came here.

My mom was home with my brother and I when we were very young, my dad was working all sorts of strange jobs. You know, all sorts of strange jobs because he couldn’t speak English. So he was working roofing. He was working at Kodak, he started working back of house at a restaurant. And eventually, you got to know the restaurant owner. That restaurant owner became his mentor. As his mentor. He told him one of two things he says in SoCal, there’s one of two ways in which you can build wealth in America. Number one, is you own your own business, number two, you own real estate, so give him a downpayment to go buy business.

And so when I was 10 years old, I started at my father’s restaurant and that was the deal. I just wanted to hang out with that. So I went to the store, visited him, started working at the front, answering phones, talking to people, all that good stuff. Then by the time I was 18, I was running the show, my parents’ store. By the time I was 21 I had to have my own restaurant and shortly thereafter. I overheard something along the lines of the average millionaire has seven different streams of revenue. And I was like, well, crap, I only have two and it’s restaurants.

I’m sitting here and I’m working all day, you know, what is this idea that money can work for me? What is this idea of diversified revenue streams, what is this idea of becoming an owner, not an operator of a business? And if for those of you who don’t know, owner-operator. Operator is when your business becomes your full-time job. Owner is when you own a part of a business, but it doesn’t own you. So these are concepts and things that I had absolutely no idea didn’t learn in school, none of that. But you know, I said, I want to learn how to flip houses. This is around the time that HGTV was really getting down and talking about Flip or Flop. Or buying this house and chip in and Joanna and everybody were kind of doing their thing.

And so I was like, whatever like this looks super cool. Like, let’s flip a house, you know, why not? I mean, my dad and my uncle were kind of doing it because it was 2013. So a few years after 2009 there was still a lot of inventory from that period of time. Whatever, you know, let’s try this out, hire a coach, then I dove into real estate development. I dove into real estate development, not with the idea of thinking that this was going to be my career. You know, an extra way to make some money, I have my restaurants, whatever, like, I’m good.

And little did I know I was gonna fall in love with it. I’ve hired my coach, then I bought my first house to flip, and then I absolutely adored it, fell in love with it. Got my real estate license, then that turned into a whole business of its own. So in the last eight years, I’ve sold developers acquired over nine figures in real estate assets, which is pretty ridiculous. Given that’s my personal track record and I was never expecting it. All I wanted was just to create one little revenue stream and then my life changed. I sold and leased my restaurant since then. And now is on the hunt for real estate.

However, it was about two years ago, where everything transformed yet again. All right, you know, you would think that I made this massive transition into real estate. And all these amazing things are going down like oh my god, this is great. Oh, yes, I found my purpose. Yes, that is also something that has shifted, right. So two years ago, it really started about more like four really took a long time to get to the realization. But 2017, November 11, my grandfather passed and he had pancreatic cancer and we were all around his bedside at the hospital. Because it was going to be his final day. And we knew it, we tried to stall it as much as we could.

But when it’s your time, it’s your time, right. And I just remember just sitting around him and everyone’s playing his favorite music. Everyone is playing just talking about the memories and you know. His favorite places where he would walk the people who would help all the memories. Between Albania here and just all these amazing things. Nobody was talking about work, nobody was talking about anything. They were talking about purpose, purpose, memories, and legacy.

And at that moment, it didn’t really hit me. Because I was just about to lose my grandfather and my whole mind was just, you know. I remember walking out of the hospital after we lost them. And I was just kind of like when the Spirit has left his body and all of that. I just remember thinking, what he has left on this earth is his legacy and his family and that legacy part really got to me. Because I started thinking about how I was living my life. So as I told you, I got into real estate as a different way to make revenue, so more money, so my intent was very monetary.

I mean, it was purpose-driven, because I wanted to make sure. Making sure my parents never had to worry about a bill. But in the face of all of that, I realized that it was a pretty shallow goal. Not shallow, but you know what I mean? Like, it was just money-driven. And it’s like, who cares like this? Perfect, my grandfather passed right in front of me. Nobody was talking about money, nobody’s talking about work, nobody was talking about these things. Why is it that we put so much value on this? What we really should be thinking about is purpose and legacy, right? Like, how are you going to serve with your gifts here in this world right now?

We all want more money, of course. But let me just tell you, as someone who’s reached heights that I never thought were possible. There’s no such thing as enough. And there never will be. We’re human. As soon as we get one thing we want another one another and we keep elevating. But what’s important more than anything else in this world is a legacy, what world are you creating? What world are you going to leave behind if you escaped from this earth one day? How are people going to remember you, what are the memories? What’s the legacy? What are the younger generations going to learn, what is it?

I started asking myself these questions. I’m like, wow, I’m living my life. Not really with intent. It was really just money-driven. And I was like, well, I really need to change that and keep pursuing real estate, of course. But in a much more meaningful way. How do I do that? Like, what’s my purpose? Here? I was yet again, you know, I had this major transition when I was 21 years old. And here I was at 26-27, kind of going through the same thing again and most people would say. You know, Pam, you’re wicked successful. You’ve been in Forbes, you’ve been in Time Magazine, you’ve been in all these crazy awesome things. You hit crazy revenues, a nine-figure real estate career, all that. Yes.

But that means nothing if there’s no legacy behind it. So I started thinking, I’m like, What do I create? That is authentically me, right? How did I get here in this space? Because I’m 29 now. So actually, when I was going through this again, I was like, 25-26, what legacy am I creating? Now? What got me to where I am today, success-wise, what was it that really propelled me forward? To get me to where I am today. And most of you know, I don’t like the term self-made. Because there’s a whole village and a whole army of people that help you get here. Your teachers, mentors, parents, friends. All name your entire support system, they got you, even if you’re a disappearance and stuff like that. It means they’ve got you up there, the ancestors who got you.

There’s all kinds of people that influence your world, right? Co-workers, colleagues, employees, friends, all these things don’t even have to be family, so many things. And what it really comes down to is that success really comes from within. When you’re living a life of purpose, that’s when it truly hits and manifests itself. So I started thinking about, well, I got here because of other people. It was their stories, their mentorship, and all of that, that got me to this point.

And what I wanted to create was a platform of authenticity. Like I was getting sick and tired of seeing all of the bullshit on my social media feeds. People just completely disconnected from reality showing up and the Lambos. And all these things and the material things and Louie, Gucci, blah, blah, blah, all this stuff as entrepreneurs or whatever. It’s become kind of a very materialistic world, because of this instant gratification universe that we live in. Where everything seems to come at the push of a button and Amazon has not helped that situation, not one better, they’ve actually elevated it. So yeah, there’s this whole ordeal in my mind.

But I wanted to create this platform where I interview people from all walks of life. To share their genuine story and their successes. Of course, but most importantly, what society would consider as failures, things such as rejection, struggle, all of that. There is an underdog and all of us, have all faced challenges in some way, somehow it doesn’t matter. The background doesn’t matter, anything, we are human, we have faced challenges. So that’s how I really came to create this show. And really, I just can’t believe, I thought maybe a couple of people would be listening. I don’t know, Boston, maybe and now when I see this, that we’re on the 100th episode.

And it hasn’t even been a year of launch yet. I mean, right now, it’s not even a full year, we’re only three quarters in, and we’re in 150 countries. We continue to keep thriving and beat because you guys are all listening to the message and the story and the authenticity. And I hope that you’re learning so much and that it’s adding value to your life. Because that is all I want us to do, I want to empower as many people in the world as humanly possible. That’s what this is all about. Honest to God, that’s why I created it, I wanted this to be legacy, I wanted this to be purposeful.

I wanted people to listen in and whether they themselves are going through something. Or somebody that they know or is going through something. That they would just not feel alone, because it was my mentors and my teachers, my friends that would tell me Hey, Pam, don’t worry. I know you’re struggling through this right now. But I was at a point in my business where I was maxing out credit cards, I was doing all these crazy things. Just so that I can stay afloat and thrive, I believed in the dream, I knew what the Envision was going to be.

And I knew I was going to be successful. But I was just stuck in a rut at that point in time and these people helped me get to the next level. But what really helped me mentally was to know that I was alone. And that’s exactly what I want you to feel when you guys are listening to this. It’s so important to me that you don’t feel alone, you are connected, you are loved, you are respected. I pray that you’re empowered and I pray for your many, many, many blessings. But just know that I adore each and every single one of you for the 100th episode. I really just wanted to express my gratitude to you. Give you a little bit of the backstory a little bit deeper as to why my personal journey and why I really created this podcast.

In the first place, it came from a sincere place of love and intent, and passion for the wonderful humans that inhabit this earth. There’s so many wonderful, wonderful people all over the world. Seeing these stats today knowing that there’s 50 countries listening and there’s 1000s of downloads and it’s just really amazing. So I want to thank you all. From the bottom of my heart, I am grateful to you. And I want to support you in any way that I can. So please reach out to me, LinkedIn, Instagram, anywhere and let’s just connect, add value, and just enjoy life together. Sending all of my love to all of you, you guys are amazing, amazing, amazing. And I cannot express my gratitude to you.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. And I pray when we get to the one-year mark and even beyond that we’re even greater numbers and just crushing it as a totality. So that way each of our lives can have that legacy and that purpose. And that’s my goal, thank you so so so much. Most importantly, the guests that have come on this podcast have truly made it the success that it is. Thank you to all of my guests, I cannot thank you enough. I am beyond grateful that you came and shared your story. You were vulnerable and you did it and that is what is making this podcast. Such a success and is inspiring people all around the world and to go through the guests who are absolutely out of this world.

Special Thanks To All Amazing Guests

Amazing and a major thank you to Cindy Stumpo, Coach Wendy Stevens, Joseph McClendon III. Steve Santos, Jonas Caine, Aaron Golub, Eva & Sokol Bardhi. Founders of the nerd collective, DJ Pup Dawg, Rei Pullazi, Liz Teresa, Dave Seymour. DJ Cito, Semi Spahillari, Chris Borelli, Brandon Gilson, Ashley Mason, Gil Petersil. Dave Stevens, Jim Britt, Jill Johnson, Walkie Lanier, Steve Gamlin. Barbara Vercruysse, Sharon and Wayne, Tarun Gupta, Don, ErnieD. Hala Taha, Jennifer Richmond, Rob Gil, Slavica, Eric Williamson, Joe Johnston. Ruth Gotian, Pamela Teagarden, Akshobh, Amy Sanchez. Natasha, Sky, Raj. LarryIndiviglia, Klyn, Jerome Meyers, Janice Lintz, Andy Lopata, Gabe Peterson. Sheneya Wilson, April Reed, Russ Yeager,Scherrie, Christy Whitman, Shaun. Ryan Holtz, Gurpreet, Kuda Biza, Simon Ree, T. McConnell, Dr. Stacy, Bella Verita, Samantha Karlin, Reggie Selma, Scott Perry, Olivia Jaras, Ken Van Liew.

Brandon Adams, Marissa Adel, Gretta Bajrami, Catherine West, Clara Arroyave. Dave Holman, Sensei Victoria Whitfield, Michelle Mercier, Julia Becker, Collins, Doug Sands, Mac Sarbah. Asia and Jareed, Liza Florida, Pooja Pradeep, Mike Morawsk, Jax Scott. Natalie Gold, Illana Raia, Joe Lau, Matt Delong, Lisa Luckett, Jeremy Newsome. Paul McGee, Jessenia Nozzolillo, Gabriel Bosche, Mary Jenkins. And so many more that are coming on that are changing lives and inspiring to my guests. I am beyond grateful for you. I cannot thank you enough. Thank you for making this possible for sharing your story and just being all-around rock stars, thank you.