Dedria Kolb [00:00:00]: And then I was getting a lot of folks that were reaching out saying, you know, do you sell tiny homes? Do you have a tiny home that, you know, I that we could buy? We reached out to a local builder, and we contracted with him to build us 2 tiny home models for folks that are looking for more of a turnkey solution for for tiny living.

Ethan Waldman [00:00:22]: Welcome to the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast, the show where you learn how to plan, build and live the tiny lifestyle. I'm your host, Ethan Waldman. And today, I'm excited to introduce you to Dedria Kolb, a developer who's making waves in the tiny house industry with her innovative community focused projects. Dedria is the owner and co founder of Ideal Ridge Ventures, and her latest endeavor, Poplar Creek, is the first tiny home development in Rutherford County, North Carolina. We'll be diving into how she's tackling affordable housing through sustainability, community interaction, and tiny homes. If you're considering a midlife career change or interested in real estate development for tiny homes, you won't wanna miss Dedria's valuable insights and advice. Stick around to hear how Dedria left her 14 year corporate law career without a plan and transformed herself into a successful tiny house community developer. I want to tell you about something that I think will be super helpful as you plan, design and build your tiny house.

Ethan Waldman [00:01:19]: Tiny House Decisions is the guide that I wish I had when I was building my tiny house. It comes in 3 different packages to help you on your unique tiny house journey. And if you're struggling to just figure out the systems for your tiny house, you know, like how you're going to heat it, how you're going to plumb it, you know, what construction technique are you going to use, like SIPs or stick framing or steel framing? Tiny House Decisions will take you through all these processes systematically and help you come up with a design that works for you. Right now, I'm offering 20% off any package of Tiny House Decisions. For listeners of the show, you can head over to thetinyhouse.net/thd to learn more and use the coupon code "tiny" at checkout for 20% off any package. Again, that's thetinyhouse.net/thd, and use the coupon code "tiny" for 20% off. Alright. I'm here with Dedria Kolb.

Ethan Waldman [00:02:30]: Dedria is the owner and cofounder of Ideal Ridge Ventures, a real estate development company based in North Carolina. Before founding Ideal Ridge Ventures, Dedria worked as an attorney for nearly 14 years across several practice areas in both private practice and corporate legal departments. Dedria has been a real estate investor for over 10 years, owning both single family and multifamily investment properties with experience in new construction as well as major renovations. Dedria is an advocate for affordable housing, previously serving on the board of a local nonprofit aiming to provide safe, decent, and affordable housing. In her current role, Dedria is taking her extensive experience across her career and leveraging it into her true passion, building and creating community. Ideal Ridge Ventures isn't just a development company. It's a disruptor in the housing industry, seeking out new ways to provide housing that meets people where they are. Dedria, welcome to the show.

Dedria Kolb [00:03:23]: Thank you. I'm so glad. I'm so glad to be here, Ethan. Thanks for having me.

Ethan Waldman [00:03:27]: Yeah, yeah. Glad to have you here. So you've made quite a significant career pivot from, you know, practicing law to real estate development. What inspired this transition? And how did your legal background prepare you for this?

Dedria Kolb [00:03:42]: So I think like most children growing up, you're heavily influenced by your parents when it comes time to choosing a career. My father is a lawyer. And it was non negotiable that my sisters and I go to college and enter into the professional field in some form or fashion. And so for me, that was following in my dad's footsteps and went to law school. And I knew probably my first day on the job as a lawyer. It was very different than law school. It was not at all what I had expected it to be once I was out of the learning phase and into the execution phase. I stuck with it for a long time and learned a lot was really glad that I did because I think it gave me a lot of knowledge, a lot of confidence and a lot of competence to expand my horizons when it did come time for me to make this huge career shift.

Dedria Kolb [00:04:43]: But I was just really burnt out. I was in a corporate environment, you know, working a lot of long hours, stressful jobs, and I was ready for a change. And I didn't yet know what that change was. But I knew that I was ready to do something completely different. And so I took drastic action. I actually resigned from my corporate job really without a plan, without any idea in mind as to what I was going to do and what I was going to pursue. But what I found is just kind of by sitting in stillness and really doing a lot of deep dive and self discovery work, real estate kept coming up. It was something that I had always enjoyed, you know, doing as an investor on that end of things.

Dedria Kolb [00:05:25]: It actually was something I would tell people if it wasn't a lawyer, I'd be in real estate and I do development. And so once the world had opened up, and I had the flexibility really to decide how I wanted to continue my career, real estate really kind of became the number one focus. And then from there, I've always had an interest in tiny homes. I'd always had a desire to have my own tiny home somewhere in the mountains of North Carolina. And I was very fortunate to come across the listing for what is now Poplar Creek, which was a development that was just ready for a tiny home village. And so that's how I've made that shift a little bit conscious a little bit the universe working in my favor. And then fortunately, being an attorney, you know, anytime you're dealing with development, you have to deal with folks and planning, you have to deal with zoning, you have to deal with contracts and contractors. And so having the background and a little bit of knowledge and how all of those things work was really helpful and really instrumental in kicking off the project and making sure that we were approaching it the right way.

Dedria Kolb [00:06:33]: And so definitely having that legal background has been super helpful in this venture, even though I'm trying to leave as much as the law behind as I possibly can, to be honest with you.

Ethan Waldman [00:06:44]: Okay, okay. Well, can you paint a picture for our listeners of what Poplar Creek looks like? What does daily life look like there? And like what what community features what what elements are there?

Dedria Kolb [00:06:57]: Definitely. So we are 10 acres of heavily wooded land that's located in Rutherford County, North Carolina. And Rutherford County is up towards the western part of the state. It's about an hour and a half outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, and it's about 45 minutes outside of Asheville. And so we're in a rural area, but we're also located close to all of the modern amenities and conveniences that one would like and one would expect. And so we have approached our development in 2 phases, and we just completed phase 1 of the project. And phase 1 includes 10 home sites. And we are a bring your own tiny home development.

Dedria Kolb [00:07:42]: And so as long as you have a tiny home that is RVIA certified, or that's NOAH certified, you can bring it on and we've got the infrastructure in place for you to connect. We've got municipal water, we've got septic connections across the property. We provide Internet in our lot lease and trash recycle as well as the grounds maintenance. And as far as amenities, we have a fire pit, we have a communal garden, and a pavilion area. And so those are all the amenities that are in phase 1. And then when we do phase 2, we'll have similar amenities and also a dog park. And so for me, it was really important to create a community space.

Dedria Kolb [00:08:27]: I think that us as a society, we have gotten so far away from knowing our neighbors and being really involved in the places where we live. And I think that there's a shift. I think that all of us are kind of feeling the need and the desire to be connected more to one another. You know, even though social media has done such a great job of allowing us to connect people across the world, it hasn't done such a great job of letting us connect with people right next door to us. And so for me, one of the huge visions that I had was creating a space and an opportunity for like minded individuals who have embraced the tiny living lifestyle, who are focused on sustainability, who have a mindset towards affordability, bringing a community together for them to thrive. And so that's what I'm hoping that we are providing with Poplar Creek. And that's why I'm really excited about about the project.

Ethan Waldman [00:09:24]: Nice. So you mentioned that the tiny homes have to be RVIA or NOAH certified. Was that for zoning purposes, for insurance purposes? You know, what, why that stipulation?

Dedria Kolb [00:09:37]: All of the above. Yeah, for both zoning and for insurance requirements. I mean, we know that there's a lot of DIYers out there that want to build their own tiny home. And, you know, with NOAH certification, that kind of opens the door for those individuals who want to pursue that route. But mainly it was when we were approaching the county, telling them about our idea. And and still, even though the movement has been around for over a decade now, there's still a lot of education that's involved. When you're talking to municipalities and you're talking to, to counties about what a tiny home development looks like and the value that it adds. And so that was something that was really important to them was to make sure that we didn't have something that was going to be not fit within the spirit of the broader community and the broader county.

Dedria Kolb [00:10:29]: And telling them that we could ensure that all of the homes that brought on-site, you know, would be up to code even though there's no standard code for tiny homes. We know that.

Ethan Waldman [00:10:37]: Right.

Dedria Kolb [00:10:37]: You know, providing that RVIA certification, or the NOAH certification was a was a big help.

Ethan Waldman [00:10:43]: Would you consider that county to be were they already tiny house friendly? Or was this kind of the first time that somebody had said, Hey, I want to do this here?

Dedria Kolb [00:10:52]: So this is the first tiny home development in Rutherford County, at least that I'm aware of. But in Western North Carolina, you know, there are some very well known tiny home communities like the Coney Bell and Simple Life. And so there's a lot of reference points that we could point to.

Ethan Waldman [00:11:13]: Nice.

Dedria Kolb [00:11:13]: And the other point that I'll I will, you know, identify is that we are in unincorporated county land. And so technically, what that means is is that we are allowed to do pretty much anything that we want with the property so long as we comply with the not necessarily the zoning ordinances, but more like the requirements around how we planned out the village and how we planned out the community. And so working with the county was pretty easy in that sense. You know, I've I've heard stories of folks that have spent years years trying to get counties or cities on board. It was a little easier with us in Rutherford because they said, well, you can do what you want, but you've got to follow these rules, you know, and and make sure that how you plan it out, it's in accordance to an RV park or a mobile home park. So technically, our designation is one of an RV slash mobile home park, even though we only allow tiny homes on wheels.

Ethan Waldman [00:12:11]: Got it. And you mentioned before that, that there was already a development there? Or I guess my question really is, when you bought this land, what what was there?

Dedria Kolb [00:12:24]: Yeah, so when we bought the land, there was an old mobile home park that was there. Okay. And the the seller was based out of New York. And he had purchased the property with the idea of thinking that tiny homes would be a viable option and a good use of the property. And he had developed a few tiny home properties up in the upstate New York area. So when he purchased it, I think that he had one holdover tenant that was there that he was working to help relocate. And other than that, the property had really been neglected for several years. And in talking with the surrounding neighbors after we purchased the property, you know, they welcomed us with open arms because they saw us as a huge improvement from what was there before.

Ethan Waldman [00:13:14]: Right.

Dedria Kolb [00:13:14]: So the fortunate part of purchasing an old mobile home park is that there were some existing infrastructure that was there that we could leverage. And so when it came time for us to do the build out and to, you know, conform it to a space that would allow for tiny homes, We already had septic tanks that were on-site, so we could utilize those. We already had electrical that was on-site, even though we opted to bring it all underground.

Ethan Waldman [00:13:41]: Fantastic.

Dedria Kolb [00:13:41]: We did have to bring in a main waterline. There was a well that was on the property, but we decided we'd rather have city water rather than depending on the well. And so when you look at the cost of developing one of these projects, I mean, it's it's it's steep as it is. Yeah. But that was mitigated a little bit by allowing us to use some of the existing infrastructure that was there. And so that really helped us to get phase 1 up and running a little sooner than, than otherwise could have happened.

Ethan Waldman [00:14:09]: In your initial email to me, you mentioned that that phase 1 is almost at full occupancy. What has been the response like from residents? And like, what are the demographics? Are you seeing, you know, attracted to this community and to tiny living?

Dedria Kolb [00:14:24]: Yeah, so it's been really great to see, you know, we kind of officially opened our doors in in late June, early July. And of the 10 home sites that we have available, 6 of them have been leased out. So we have 2 home sites that are remaining in phase 1. And then I was getting a lot of folks that were reaching out saying, you know, do you sell tiny homes? Do you have a tiny home that you know, I that we could buy? And, you know, we're developers. We don't you don't build tiny homes. But what we did do was we reached out to a local builder here in Monroe, North Carolina, and we contracted with him to build us 2 tiny home models for folks that are looking for more of a turnkey solution for for tiny living.

Ethan Waldman [00:15:10]: Nice.

Dedria Kolb [00:15:11]: And so we've got the 2 models that literally just went to market that we are, you know, busy trying to sell. And then we've got the 2 sites remaining in phase 1 that that we're leasing out. And I would say that the demographics are, you know, we have we have a few retired couples that that have moved in. We have someone coming from California, who's still working and is going to be working in the in the Shelby area, which is about 25 minutes from where our village is located.

Ethan Waldman [00:15:41]: Okay.

Dedria Kolb [00:15:41]: We've got a young a younger couple that's coming from Cali I think a lot of people coming from California now that I think about it. I think 4 of the 6 residents are from California. And then we have one, one couple that's coming from Connecticut, and they plan to kind of use this as their secondary home. So I would say it kind of, you know, a little bit from the the younger age to, you know, to retirement age and which is good. Like, I think multigenerational living and interacting with folks from, you know, different backgrounds, different ages is just kind of adds to the vibrancy of the community. So it's been great.

Ethan Waldman [00:16:18]: Yeah, absolutely. I'd like to tell you a little bit more about Tiny House Decisions, my signature guide and the resource that I wish I had when I was building my tiny house. It starts with the big decisions, which is, you know, should you build a tiny house yourself or with help? Is a pre built shell a good idea? Is a house on wheels better than on the ground and what works better for you? Deciding on the overall size, deciding on whether you should use custom plans or premade plans, different types of trailers and more. Then in the in part 2, we get into the system so heat, water, showers, hot water, toilets, electrical, refrigeration, ventilation, and we're only 2 thirds of the way through the book at this point. From systems, we go into construction decisions talking about nails versus screws, SIPs versus stick framed versus advanced framing versus metal framing. We talk about how to construct a subfloor, sheathing, roofing materials, insulation, windows, flooring, kitchen. I know I'm just reading off the table of contents. But I just want to give you a sense of how comprehensive Tiny House Decisions is.

Ethan Waldman [00:17:32]: It's a total of 170 pages. It contains tons of full color drawings, diagrams and resources. And it really is the guide that I wish I had when I was building my tiny house. Right now I'm offering 20% off any package of Tiny House Decisions using the coupon code "tiny" when you head over to thetinyhouse.net/thd. That's THD for Tiny House Decisions. Again, that's coupon code "tiny" when you check out at thetinyhouse.net/thd. Well, tell tell us about phase 2. What what's in phase 2? And what's what's your timeline looking like on that?

Dedria Kolb [00:18:10]: Yeah, so phase 2, we hope to start the process of planning and kind of deciding what what the build out will look like in the in early 2025. And so that means, again, working with the county, working with engineers, I mean, kind of getting a plan together for for how we want to use the the remaining part of the of the property, which is about 7 acres or so. Our initial thought is that we're gonna have 20 home sites in phase 2.

Ethan Waldman [00:18:43]: K.

Dedria Kolb [00:18:44]: And so it'd be really same structure as phase 1, bring your own tiny home on-site. We'll provide all the hookups and all the infrastructure.

Dedria Kolb [00:18:53]: We will include the same amenities that we have in phase 1, also in phase 2 with the addition of a dog park because we know folks love their furry friends as as do I.

Ethan Waldman [00:19:02]: People love dogs.

Dedria Kolb [00:19:03]: Yeah, people love dogs. Yep. And so so we hope to start the planning process early '25. We anticipate that the entire project and construction will probably take us 12 months just because it's all raw land. So we've got to, you know, remove some trees. We have to do a creek crossing. We'll have to bring in an entirely new engineered septic system, for phase 2.

Dedria Kolb [00:19:32]: We expect, you know, fingers crossed early 2026 is when we can open up for residents.

Dedria Kolb [00:19:39]: But you know, who knows, maybe we'll maybe we'll break the mold and construction will be less, you know, less expensive, and it'd be quicker than we imagined. But I think we're expecting at least 12 months for that.

Ethan Waldman [00:19:51]: Right. Yeah, as a as a real estate developer, I'm sure you've experienced that nothing, nothing finishes on time or under budget.

Dedria Kolb [00:20:00]: Never.

Ethan Waldman [00:20:00]: Or maybe they maybe it does.

Dedria Kolb [00:20:02]: I haven't I haven't I haven't come across

Ethan Waldman [00:20:04]: that yet.

Dedria Kolb [00:20:05]: Hopefully one day.

Ethan Waldman [00:20:07]: Yeah, exactly. I'm curious, you know, a lot of my listeners are either living in a tiny house or probably more likely wanting to live in a tiny house. And one of the big concerns that I hear from my listeners is that they don't have a place to park the house. That's the big piece of the puzzle. And I you hear about people doing this, you know, going to their town and getting permission for for one house. But what you've done is, you know, you've you've done a little, probably more than a little, a lot of extra work. And you know, you now can can bring in 10 tiny houses. What would be some tips that you have for individuals who are interested in pursuing a tiny house parking space, but maybe pursuing it from the lens of Oh, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do real estate development.

Ethan Waldman [00:21:03]: I'm gonna not just create a space for myself, but I'm going to try to create 5 spaces or 10 spaces.

Dedria Kolb [00:21:09]: Yeah, definitely. So a couple of things. Number 1 is research, research, research, location, location, location. Like all of this really comes down to what is permissible and what is allowable in whatever jurisdiction that you are looking to to operate. And so understanding the zoning, if there is zoning, if there isn't zoning, if there's not zoning, kind of what are the local ordinances that you would also have to adhere to? Going back to the infrastructure question, like, is there existing infrastructure that you can utilize? Or are you kind of bringing everything in that new? So I would say, you know, do a lot of due diligence.

Ethan Waldman [00:21:51]: Yeah, you

Dedria Kolb [00:21:52]: know, because purchasing the land is just the first step, right? And, you know, you've got to be able to have good land that you can work with. And you've got to be able to do what you want to do with the land. You got to have the right land use for it.

Dedria Kolb [00:22:05]: And so Yeah. Figuring out kind of where you want to operate, where you may want to open up your development, what's around there that you can kind of point to as an example, if there is not an example that you can point to. Make sure that you have a really good story around what value that your community is going to bring and is going to add to the surrounding area. So that way you get buy in from the powers that be. Not just folks in government, but also the neighbors and anyone who's going to be impacted by it, I think is really key and really important. And go in it with the mindset of, of learning and growth and kind of listening to what people want, whether it's residents that you're looking to attract or, you know, the folks that are in the local government, like, what is it that's going to be adding value? And how can you come in and how can you add that value? And then have a good understanding of the cost. Because I will say that we definitely went over budget with phase 1. That was more than what we expected.

Dedria Kolb [00:23:06]: And a part of that is just a part of construction, and a part of that is just increasing costs that we're just seeing across the board. So make sure that you have a really good handle on what you think it's gonna cost and add a little bit there for contingency and for cushion. Because you may you may go over.

Ethan Waldman [00:23:24]: Yeah.

Dedria Kolb [00:23:25]: But it's definitely a worthwhile endeavor. I have learned so much over the last 16, 17 months in this process. And it's been so rewarding to create a place that people are gonna want to call home. And there's a need for it, Ethan. Like you said, you know, one of the big questions of folks that are interested in tiny living is where do I park it? And so we know that there's a demand for it.

Ethan Waldman [00:23:52]: Yeah.

Dedria Kolb [00:23:53]: And as more and more of these communities pop up, we'll have more and more of acceptance across, you know, the country and more and more governments kind of stepping up and paying attention to how this really is one really great way to help solve the housing crisis that we're faced here in the country right now. And so I would encourage anyone who is interested in doing it to, you know, just start researching, start asking questions, you know, reach out to folks like me who have done it. I'm happy to kind of share knowledge in in my trials and tribulations. But it's anytime someone is following their passion and doing something from a place of authenticity, and of service, I think it's going to be successful. And so I would encourage folks that they are in it for the right reasons to to really pursue it because it's really rewarding, or at least it has been for me.

Ethan Waldman [00:24:46]: Fantastic. So one thing that I've always wondered about, and I've interviewed many different people who have, you know, either developed or are running tiny house communities. And there's a huge range of like, all the way from like intentional community on one end where all the residents are like, making all the decisions together and like, it's it's, you know, got that almost commune vibe. And I don't say that in a negative way, all the way up to just like, you know, pay your rent, park your house, you know, that's it. Where, you know, where on the spectrum do you think that Poplar Creek kind of lands? And what strategies have you implemented to kind of foster connections or community amongst the residents?

Dedria Kolb [00:25:34]: Yeah, so I don't take the communal description as a negative way. Because I like that. I like the idea of having, you know, residents that are being very intentional with how they want to live. Yeah. And, you know, before kind of we still have folks that are trickling and even even for the folks that have already reserved their lots. So not everyone is on-site yet. And so I made sure that I introduced everyone.

Dedria Kolb [00:26:02]: They created a Facebook page just among themselves to to to communicate with one another, you know, until everyone gets on-site. And I've said, bring your ideas to me. Like, this is a place that you guys have opted to call home. And I am so grateful that you are here. And I want to make sure that this is a place that you are proud and excited to live and you tell all your friends and because we need them in phase 2 when we when we open up for phase 2.

Dedria Kolb [00:26:29]: And so, you know, they've kind of decided that they want to do more of a planned community garden because they don't want to have 500 tomatoes growing. And so I'm like, that's great. You guys decide how you want to do it and how I can help facilitate it. We've had folks had expressed interest in bringing chickens and hens, doing bees. And my my thing is, is if everyone can agree, let's do it. Let's create really a community where people are contributing and getting out of it what they want. And so I'm very much of the of the belief that if the majority kind of wants to facilitate this, and you know, has a plan in place for how they're going to organize it, maintain it, I am a 100% supportive of it. Because, again, I'm not just creating a place where people wanna park their tiny home.

Dedria Kolb [00:27:20]: I'm hopefully creating a place where people actually wanna live and where they wanna thrive. And so, you know, fortunately, I think we've got a good group of residents that are here. You know, some that are actually taking the reins to to to initiate a lot of this work, and I'm here for it. And I'm like, how can I help? Like, I don't wanna come in and dictate and require you do anything. And they also, you know, wanna make sure that everyone is comfortable with the decisions that are made. And so let me be here to support you. And if if the community agrees that there are certain, whether it's amenities or certain activities that they want to pursue, like, how can I help support that? And that's, that's been how I've been operating so far.

Ethan Waldman [00:28:02]: Okay, and so it sounds like that you're pretty involved in the kind of management of the community.

Dedria Kolb [00:28:07]: We're I'm a one woman shop right now. So I do it all. All right. All right. Yeah, I'm actually going up on Thursday to kind of check-in and, and see how things are going. And, you know, we we still have a unfortunately, a little bit of damage due to the hurricane Helene that came through. Fortunately, nothing significant. But we've got some trees that are down that we've got to that we try to manage, getting all that cleaned up.

Dedria Kolb [00:28:32]: And, you know, some of the residents said, hey. While you're here, can we talk to you about a couple of things? And I'm like, absolutely. You know, let me let me know what I can do to help. And so, you know, I'm about an hour and a half away from from the community, and so I'm not up there, you know, every day. But I do make a concerted effort to to go in and kinda check-in and see how things are going and, you know, make sure that the folks are happy and that things are running smoothly as they should.

Ethan Waldman [00:28:55]: So in your bio, you mentioned that Ideal Ridge Ventures aims to be a disruptor in the housing industry. What innovative approaches or technologies or, you know, how are you looking to be a disruptor in the housing industry?

Dedria Kolb [00:29:10]: So a couple of ways. Number 1, we are developers that are very community focused. You know, our goal, you know, Poplar Creek is our first development. Like I said, I left my corporate job a little over a year ago and then started this project. And so hope to continue to do many more developments, you know, both similar to Poplar Creek and also different in in other ways. But there's a few things that are gonna remain constant with whatever we decide to develop in the future. And that's going to be community centered and community focused developments, one where we encourage residents to get to know one another and engage with one another and whether that's through planned amenities like we have at Poplar Creek, or other type of forced engagement. I know you may have seen some of the pocket communities that exist where all the parking is on the on the perimeter, and the homes are in the center kind of forcing people to interact and engage with one another versus, you know, going right into their, their garage or their parking space and directly into their house.

Dedria Kolb [00:30:15]: And so being community focused is is really important. The sustainability is also really important. I think we all can kind of see what's happening across the world as the result of climate change. And so anytime that we can do something that is sustainable in nature is going to be at the forefront of what we do. And so, you know, obviously, having tiny homes on their own, you know, smaller footprint, you know, so less materials, less waste, less energy usage. But then we've also we also have solar lights on our property. With the old well that that we had, we decided not to abandon the well, but we're going to convert it into a solar powered well that we're going to use for irrigation purposes.

Ethan Waldman [00:30:59]: Okay.

Dedria Kolb [00:30:59]: And so just kind of finding little ways like that to to make sure that we are helping to offset our, you know, our footprint. And then the last component is, is affordability. Right? I think that no matter where you sit on the demographic, costs are rising. They're high and they're getting higher. And affordability can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different folks. And I think tiny house living is one one way to help offset rising costs because, you know, the average home cost and at least where I'm located is like over $400,000 You can get a few tiny homes for for that price. And so finding ways to kind of meet people, you know, where they are is really important to me. And so for us, no matter it's another tiny home development that we decide to pursue, which I know that we will, or if it's a development that's more of a multifamily or a pocket style neighborhood, any development that we have is going to have those three components.

Dedria Kolb [00:32:02]: And it's going to be at the forefront of what we do. We're not just in it for the profits. You know, obviously, I have to have a family and I have my own household that I have to maintain. But we're really in it to make a difference. And we're really in it to build community and something that's going to be sustainable for for a long time. And so I think not all developers have that same mindset. And so when I call us disruptors, I say that we are looking at all different alternatives and all different methods and mechanisms in which we can contribute to solving this housing crisis.

Dedria Kolb [00:32:32]: But doing it in a way that looks as people as individuals, looks like the earth for what it is that she brings to the table and how we can continue to be good stewards of this land that we live in. And then recognizing that people have different journeys that we have to meet them where they are.

Ethan Waldman [00:32:47]: Very nice. For listeners considering a midlife career change, what advice do you have? That was something that you mentioned in your email to me, and I, it's not necessarily tiny house related. But I actually do think that people who are looking to live tiny and are transitioning from a different living situation, it often does coincide with some kind of life change, be it a career change or a relationship change. And so it sounds like you you made a midlife career pivot. So I'm curious what your advice is for the listeners.

Dedria Kolb [00:33:22]: Yeah. So again, I think that we are all here on this planet to pursue the things that light us up, and that bring us joy. And I think unfortunately, through societal conditioning, or maybe it's the family that we were raised, or expectations that we put on ourselves that really have nothing to do with who we are as individuals, have trapped us into the mindset that we have to live a certain way, we have to have a certain job, we have to get married, have the kids, like follow this set script that somebody else wrote for us. And that's just not true. We all have the ability to really decide for ourselves what's going to make us happy and what's going to light us up. And so if you have that feeling that there's got to be more to life than this, or I'm just really not happy in this job, or I'm only doing this because it's a means to an end. I think there is always going to be a way out. And it's not always going to be as drastic as quitting your job without a fallback plan like, like I did.

Dedria Kolb [00:34:40]: But it can mean finding those opportunities to pursue those things that really bring you joy and that really energize you. And I think the more you start to follow that spark and follow that joy, the more the world starts to open up and the more you start to see things with a clearer picture of how you want to live your life. And that will lead you in the direction in which you should go. So whether it's leaving a relationship behind, leaving a career behind, leaving a location behind, I think that the answers are always there kind of waiting for us, but they're percolating like right below the surface. And so you've got to clear out the space, both mentally and in your surrounding area so you can pick up on those clues. And then you can actually start to follow those breadcrumbs that I believe the universe leaves for us so that we can live a life that is truly fulfilling. And that's gonna look different for all of us. Right? And that's why I say there's no script.

Dedria Kolb [00:35:39]: There's no right or wrong way to do it. You've got to tap in to that part that's that's deep inside of you. And you just got to start listening to that voice that's leading you in the direction that you should go. And I think anytime a person does that, they're going to be so much more happy, so much more fulfilled, so much more full of joy, and have a love of life that just just it just radiates, you know, sparkle from within. And so if you if you're feeling that, that itch, if you have that inclination that something's not right, you know, just start listening to yourself and start spending time with yourself and then start doing the things that you really enjoy doing. And the world literally will just open up for you. And it's the most beautiful and amazing thing that's happened in my life. And I am not special and I am not unique.

Dedria Kolb [00:36:27]: And that way we all have that gift that we can kind of bring out and bring to the world.

Ethan Waldman [00:36:32]: Fantastic. Well, I think I think we're gonna leave it there. Dedria, Kolb, thank you so much for for joining us on the show today.

Dedria Kolb [00:36:38]: Thank you so much for having me, Ethan. This has been a great conversation. I really appreciate it.

Ethan Waldman [00:36:45]: Thank you so much to Dedria Kolb for being a guest on the show today. You can find the show notes for this episode, including a complete transcript and links and resources at thetinyhouse.net/309. Again, that's thetinyhouse.net/309. If you enjoyed this episode and found it valuable, please make sure to follow the show and share it with anyone you think might benefit from Dedria's insights on sustainable and affordable housing. Your support helps us bring more thought provoking conversations to the tiny house community. Thank you for listening. I'm your host, Ethan Waldman, and I'll be back in 2 weeks with another episode of the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast.