Laura Navaquin spent nearly 20 years in corporate America before one Wednesday meeting pushed her over the edge. Her husband said “just quit, we’ll figure it out.” She did, and then spent the next few weeks wondering if she’d made a catastrophic mistake before realizing she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

Today Laura and her husband run four businesses rooted in real estate — a consulting practice, a wholesaling company, a framework for real estate agents called Beyond Commissions, and a contracting business — while raising four kids, three of whom are three and under. In this conversation, Ashley and Laura talk about the messy, non-linear reality of building something from scratch while staying present for the people who matter most.

In This Episode

1. Why Laura left corporate after 20 years — it wasn’t the job, it was losing control of her own schedule
2. The Wednesday she quit on impulse and the fear that followed immediately after
3. How she and her husband grew their real estate portfolio from four doors to twenty-one in under two years
4. Why they scaled too fast, stepped back, and what that taught them about sustainable growth
5. Creative financing — what it is and how it changed what was possible for them
6. How four businesses became interconnected rather than overwhelming
7. Beyond Commissions — the real estate agent framework they spent 2025 building and launched in January
8. The entrepreneur catch-22: needing help, hiring help, and ending up doing it yourself anyway
9. How they navigate four kids and four businesses — shared office, shared calendar, shared flexibility
10. Getting kids involved in the business in age-appropriate ways
11. Why the nine-year-old’s salsa company ambitions are being taken seriously
12. The shift in how we talk about money, investing, and entrepreneurship with the next generation
13. Where Laura sees things going — development, fundraising, and building on a larger scale

Quotes From This Episode

“Some weeks I take off entirely, or I work weekends and late nights — but I’m still able to work that schedule around my life.”

— Laura Navaquin

“Being able to have that flexibility and creativity with the way you do things allows you to pivot and still keep that business alive.”

— Laura Navaquin

“When you pressure test the system, then you start to pivot. Then you start to say, what is a reasonable ask for me?”

— Ashley Blackington

“I never saw myself in real estate in any capacity — but to see where we are nowadays and all the future plans that we’re making. It’s somewhat comical, but in all the best ways.”

— Laura Navaquin

“Non-traditional is becoming traditional.”

— Ashley Blackington

Find Laura

1. LinkedIn & Instagram: @LauraNavaquin
2. Website: lauranavaqquin.com
3. Beyond Commissions: beyondcommissions.io

Connect with Ashley:

Website: https://www.ashleyblackington.com

Podcast website: https://www.andbothpodcast.com/

Dovetail® App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dovetail-app/id6744341822

Instagram: @mydovetail.app

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyblackington/