Empowering women through real estate investment

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - A change many women, and some men, would say is overdue.

The Future is Female workshop is working to empower women through real estate investment. Shivani Peterson, the founder and mortgage investor from Reno, says many women feel like they’re on a hamster wheel and she is trying to help them get off. Her goal is to reach women who are looking for financial education, with the goal of removing barriers.

“There’s only so much money we can make, and so much time we can put in at a 9-5, and we’re also being pulled in so many directions,” Peterson says.

As a mortgage investor, Peterson says she’s always looking at people’s finances. What she noticed is the people who were most financially secure were the ones that have a passive stream of income. During the pandemic, Peterson had read the number of women being pushed out of the workforce was going to take decades to make up the progress women lost in terms of pay gap or workplace equality. Feeling inspired to change that, she started The Future is Female panel to raise awareness.

“I want more women to realize these superpowers we have. But I guess I want more than women to realize this, I want everyone to realize that communities do better when women do better,” says Peterson.

To help women get started, Peterson pulled together a panel of local and out of state women who have made it as investors.

“I really wanted them to see that real estate investors are not stuffy old dudes in suits with puffy hair, but women who look like us who don’t have a huge inheritance or (are) sitting on a bunch of capital,” explained Peterson.

One attendee of the September 14 event was Jessica Johnson, a realtor, who says the logical next step is to learn about investing so that she can help herself and her clients.

“These events are perfect for that generation of women looking to build long term wealth without sacrificing their lifestyle, or their family life,” Johnson said.

Johnson says that if you’re hesitant and don’t know how to get started, well, that’s exactly the point.

“They talk so much about not having to know everything and you’re going to make mistakes along the way. Getting in with people you trust is the first step to jumping in headfirst,” explains Johnson.

But the event was more than just panels and workshops. Peterson wanted to support one of her favorite local causes, The Women and Children’s Center of the Sierras, with 100% of the proceeds. To date, The Future is Female has raised $15,000 for the nonprofit.

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