21. Restoring Broken Down and Forgotten Historic Buildings with Real Estate Investor, Social Media Content Creator & Influencer, and Former Public-School Teacher & Sales Rep – Sara McDaniel

Courage Becomes Her

Sara McDaniel is a Louisiana gal who loves kayaking on the bayou and traveling both near and far. She is a former public-school teacher who left teaching to sell education curriculum. In 2016 she turned her sights to her dream from 4th grade and began restoring a broken down and forgotten 1926 Louisiana cottage. Little did she know that her yellow front door would be showcased by Better Homes & Gardens, catapulting her into the social media limelight – resulting in her also being featured by Southern Living, Country Living, Cottages & Bungalows, and American Farmhouse Style, and having partnerships with Martha Stewart, HGTV, Orian Rugs, Macys, Rodan & Fields, and many more.

In this episode of Courage Becomes Her, Sara talks about her restoration of The Villas at Spanish Court, an 8-room historic building built in 1931 that was abandoned in the 1980s and left to rot. The renovation was named as the 2022 Project House for Cottages & Bungalows Magazine and gained national media attention because of Sara’s decision to restore a building that most other people would have demolished.

I know you’re asking yourself why I’m having someone with a couple hundred thousand followers on the podcast when I committed to having Courage Becomes Her be about women we can relate to, women who are experiencing life just like you and I are. And that’s exactly, why – Sara is a normal Southern gal; she never sought or asked for the influence that has come her way. In 2015 when she and I started working together, she was simply a girl with a dream and a willingness to work hard.

Sharing her story is important because you all have dreams, just like I do, just like Sara did and still does, and I want us to be inspired by her faithfulness to her dream and her courage to chase after it. Though her story may have a little more polish than yours or mine, I can tell you from years spent with her that I deeply desire to have her humility, her bravery, and her gumption.

Resources from my conversation with Sara:

• The Five Love Languages by Gary Thomas
• The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau
• The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
• Sara’s Website
• Sara’s Story about Her Divorce
• The Renovation of Sara’s Cottage
• How Sara Got Started in Real Estate and Some Tips For How You Can Too
• HGTV Episode featuring Minden, Louisiana
• Cottages and Bungalows Magazine
• American Farmhouse Style Magazine

Book your visit at The Villas at Spanish Court or Sara’s other properties through Mindenstays.com – she would love for you to join her for the Grand Opening of the The Villas on March 24/25.

Join Sara on Instagram or Facebook for updates about The Villas and The Creekside Apartments and her other projects. And if you’re interested in talking with her, feel free to email her – [e-mail].

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Production by Studio C Creative Sound