Ebony Bowden, better known as STL Real Estate Guru, joins Cortez Hustle on STL Hustle Insider for Episode 13 and a conversation about real estate investing, financial freedom, entrepreneurship, property management, portfolio building, and what it means to move fearlessly.
Ebony is a St. Louis-born real estate broker, investor, author, developer, business owner, and mother whose journey started long before she had all the answers.
She worked as a teenager, bought her first car before she even knew how to drive, realized early that she did not want to spend her entire life working a traditional job, and began searching for ways to create income and freedom for herself.
After working for AT&T Yellow Pages, Ebony eventually took a severance package and joined her mother in purchasing a roughly $9,500 investment property in North St. Louis.
She admits she did not know what she was doing.
There were no inspections. There were contractor problems. There were taxes, citations, renovation stress, family disagreements, sleepless nights, and plenty of lessons.
But the property eventually rented.
The checks started coming.
And instead of walking away, Ebony said, “I’m going to do it again.”
That first property became the catalyst for a real estate career that eventually led to more investments, leaving corporate America, earning her real estate license, building Guru Realtors, creating property management services, helping out-of-state investors, teaching a 90-day real estate investing workshop, writing a beginner real estate book, and investing internationally in the Dominican Republic.
Featured Guest
Ebony Bowden
STL Real Estate Guru
Broker | Investor | Author | Developer
Founder, Guru Realtors
Guru Realtors: https://www.gururealtors.com/
STL Real Estate Guru: https://www.facebook.com/stlrealestateguru
Phone: 314-795-5735 Ext. 2
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamQueenCarlisa
Sponsor
iHustle Media Group - Turn online attention into real leads, booked appointments, and revenue. https://ihustlemg.com
So Clean Laundromat - https://socleanstl.com
Interested in sponsoring STL Hustle Insider?
https://stlhustleinsider.com/become-a-sponsor
Music
“Sweet Love” by Lateef
https://LateefLive.com
00:00 - Welcome to STL Hustle Insider
00:45 - Who is Ebony Bowden?
01:45 - Born and raised in St. Louis
03:00 - Soldan, school life, and growing up outside
05:00 - Independence and doing her own thing
07:00 - Working young and buying her first car
09:00 - Why the 9-to-5 never felt like the final destination
11:00 - Early entrepreneurial instincts
13:00 - Journalism, college, and changing direction
15:00 - Break and music from Latif
16:00 - AT&T, severance, and the first real estate investment
18:30 - Buying the first property for about $9,500
21:00 - Contractor problems and hard lessons
23:00 - Getting the property rented and discovering cash flow
25:00 - Buying the next property and leveraging the first
27:00 - Investor-friendly agents and finding deals
29:00 - Contractors, due diligence, and building your team
31:00 - Vetting tenants and property management
33:00 - Leaving corporate America
35:00 - Getting licensed and launching Guru Realtors
37:00 - Freedom, boundaries, and entrepreneurship
38:30 - Helping investors build portfolios
40:00 - The 90-day investment workshop and book
41:30 - Ebony’s Top Five STL
43:00 - Freestyle: investing in the Dominican Republic
44:15 - How to connect with Ebony Bowden
44:40 - Closing words from Cortez Hustle
About STL Hustle Insider
STL Hustle Insider is a St. Louis podcast and local media platform hosted by Cortez Hustle and produced by iHustle Media Group LLC.
We spotlight the people, businesses, creatives, nonprofits, entrepreneurs, leaders, and movements building St. Louis from the inside out.
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What is STL Hustle Insider?
STL Hustle Insider is the podcast spotlighting the people, businesses, creatives, nonprofits, and community builders moving St. Louis forward.
Hosted by Cortez Hustle, this show goes behind the scenes with local entrepreneurs, small business owners, community leaders, artists, organizers, and everyday builders who are creating impact across the city.
Each episode explores the story behind the work, the St. Louis connection, the lessons learned along the way, and the ways the community can support what is being built.
This is more than a podcast. STL Hustle Insider is a local media platform created to document the real hustle, real impact, and real stories shaping St. Louis from the inside out.
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STL Hustle Insider
The people, businesses, and movements building St. Louis.