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Design, Real Estate, and Circus: Caroline Lauzon Sees Potential Everywhere - Circuspreneur Podcast Ep.115
32 Plays1 month ago
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#CirqueDuSoleil
#CarolineLauzon
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#CreativeEntrepreneur
#WomenInBusiness
In this episode of the Circuspreneur Podcast, we’re spotlighting Caroline Lauzon — a former Canadian National Team diver and junior champion gymnast who leapt from the 10-meter platform to the global stage with Cirque du Soleil.
For over 20 years, Caroline has performed around the world, including the 2012 Academy Awards, and appeared in iconic productions like IRIS, Zarkana, KÀ, and currently O.
Offstage, Caroline has built an impressive second career fueled by her lifelong love of design and transformation. She is a creator, renovator, business owner, and local real estate agent, with an eye for possibility everywhere — whether on stage, on camera, or inside a home ready for renewal.
Caroline joins us to talk about reinvention, creative entrepreneurship, motherhood, and how circus artists build the kind of resilience and work ethic that carries into every corner of life.
🎪🎙️ Tune in for an inspiring conversation about performance, purpose, and building a life beyond the spotlight.
Explore Caroline Lauzon-
https://www.kingvegashomes.com/team/caroline-lauzon
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:01
Circuspreneur Podcast
This podcast is also available via stagelink.com, the groundbreaking new platform for live performing arts. Please support the podcast by liking, subscribing, commenting, and tagging the podcast. It helps us to continue to bring the industry high-level content. I'm your host, Shanae Stiletto, and my guest on today's Circuspreneur podcast is circ artist, small business owner, and entrepreneur or circuspreneur, Carolyn Lozon. Welcome to the podcast, Carolyn.
00:00:28
Caroline Lauzon
Thank you for having me. Hi.
00:00:30
Circuspreneur Podcast
Hi, we're so like, you're so fabulous. We are so honored. Carolyn came highly recommended for the podcast. And so we're so excited to have her on today and to tell you a little bit about Carolyn's background.
00:00:46
Circuspreneur Podcast
We are spotlighting her. She is a former Canadian national team diver and junior champion gymnast who led from the 10 meter platform to the global stage with Cirque du Soleil. For over 20 years, Carolyn has performed around the world, including the 2012 Academy Awards.
00:01:01
Circuspreneur Podcast
She's appeared in shows like Iris, Zarkana, Ka, and she's currently in O again.
00:01:07
Circuspreneur Podcast
Carolyn has also built his second career fueled by her lifelong love of design and real estate. She is a creator, renovator, business owner, and problem solver who sees potential everywhere, whether on stage, on screen, or inside a home ready for renewal.
00:01:07
Caroline Lauzon
Exactly.
00:01:23
Circuspreneur Podcast
Carolyn joins us to talk about reinvention, creative entrepreneurship, motherhood, and how circus artists build the kind of resilience that carries into every corner of life.
00:01:34
Circuspreneur Podcast
You have like an absolutely phenomenal background. And i love that you came from the world of sport, Carolyn, because that is my entry into the circus or the circ world.
00:01:45
Circuspreneur Podcast
You are a Las Vegas local and you are absolutely killing it in the, you know, real estate bubble.
00:01:50
Caroline Lauzon
Uh,
00:01:52
Circuspreneur Podcast
of the generations of, I think, real estate, you know, circus kind of entrepreneurs, you know, that have existed in Vegas. And, you know, it's become, I think, a really, you know, powerful way to have a dual career when you are local to Las Vegas.
00:02:21
Circuspreneur Podcast
Pleasure.
00:02:23
Caroline Lauzon
Once you kind of get used to it, and you're in the show for a long time. I think a lot of people are like, what do I do with my time? Like, I should probably do learn something else. So I think it's a gradual thing. And it's a natural thing. Once you've been in the show for a while, you're like, okay, I got this down. Now, what else do I do with my time? so
00:02:43
Circuspreneur Podcast
Well, I mean, you juggle so many hats, motherhood, going to Cirque du Soleil at night, building up your business during the day. How did you do that? i mean, where also, you where do you find the time? Because it you know, is not just an easy thing to do. And so I think putting into perspective, i heard you speak in interviews previously where you discussed about, you know, the mindset, the high performance mindset of coming from diving, of having that big competitive background, which I'd love for you to speak a little bit about what your journey was within being a competitor, because I think setting yourself up to have this type of life afterwards And then creating a really strong foundation really set you up for success. It set me up for success. I think that being a competitive gymnast before I started working with Cirque and then trying to be or becoming like a creative entrepreneur, you know, it really, you know, it was a very... supportive thing for me to be able to do. I think it helped me become a really dynamic you know individual and create, I think, like a portfolio that supported me to wear those multiple hats. So what was the journey like transitioning from the competitive mindset into circus? And then how did you start to define yourself and make that transition into real estate while still having all of those different roles and titles that you assume so beautifully? Because you look gorgeous today.
00:04:12
Caroline Lauzon
No, thank you. i So obviously everything kind of happens for a reason and everything just kind of flowed through and sometimes you just got to find the signs and go after them and and make it happen. So going to start from the beginning. I was a gymnast also before I was a diver. So I started gymnastic when I was five years old and I was a high level gymnast, but then I got injured when I was 12. I broke my femur and my back in the same year.
00:04:41
Caroline Lauzon
And that was pretty devastating because it gymnastics was my dream.
00:04:41
Circuspreneur Podcast
Oh.
00:04:45
Caroline Lauzon
The Olympics were my dream. And, you know, I would wear my leotard to school because I just loved it so much. And so that was pretty devastating. But I wanted to stay in this. the I went to sports school where we it's a program where we go to this school in the morning and then we train in the afternoon.
00:05:03
Caroline Lauzon
It's a really... trainer's training program, but it's for like high level athletes. And so I didn't want to leave that all my friends are there. You know, this is all I know is competing and doing that.
00:05:13
Caroline Lauzon
But really, the injuries took me back for about a year. And in gymnastics, that's career ending. So anyways, I gave diving a try.
00:05:22
Circuspreneur Podcast
Wow.
00:05:22
Caroline Lauzon
And I was just like, fine, I'll try it. And fell in love. Like I was on the national team. After one year, became
00:05:30
Circuspreneur Podcast
what you call
00:05:31
Caroline Lauzon
part of the national team. And, was just really love at first sight. It was, the transition was really easy. I loved every minute I traveled, we trained so hard, uh, but I wouldn't change anything. I, you know, loved loved it so much. Again, another hurdle,
00:05:50
Caroline Lauzon
I don't know if you remember the last Olympics when Simone Biles had the case of the twisties where I kind of lost.
00:05:56
Circuspreneur Podcast
Oh, yes. Yes.
00:06:12
Caroline Lauzon
It's kind of the feeling. It's like, I know how to do this, but I like my brain kind of, brain fart.
00:06:19
Caroline Lauzon
and
00:06:20
Circuspreneur Podcast
but so
00:06:21
Caroline Lauzon
It's the same thing. You do these movements so many times, so many repetitions that, you know, one day I went to twist and it wasn't there anymore. I just couldn't get over it. So after six months of really trying hard to get back from the twisties, it just, I was burnt out. I was really unhappy and just just wasn't it and it. And to this day, it's like one of the things that you know in life no regrets like you are where you are for a reason in your story but like everyone's like did you go to the olympics and you're like no i would have gone not happened because me and my partner did synchronized diving and we were meddling at every competition that we were doing we were doing really well so should i had continued this i probably would have gone to athens in 2004 but
00:06:52
Circuspreneur Podcast
Always. Yeah, I did the same thing.
00:07:08
Caroline Lauzon
but Hey, life had better plans. And so this happened. And then Serge du Soleil being present in, I'm from Montreal.
00:07:19
Caroline Lauzon
So I was training in Montreal. The headquarter of Serge du Soleil is in Montreal.
00:07:21
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank
00:07:23
Caroline Lauzon
So they're very present in competition. And so we had befriended one of the casting person who is still one of my friends today. And he was like, Hey, if you're you know ever interested in Serge Soleil, I'm sure you'd fit perfectly in the in one of our projects. So if you're ever interested, just give me call. So when i left diving and I said, you know, I'm throwing the towel, I can't do this anymore. i called them and I said, Hey, I'm kind of interested.
00:07:49
Caroline Lauzon
i still want to perform and do something, but I'm done with competitive diving. And so I sent in a cassette tape.
00:07:58
Caroline Lauzon
I still have it here.
00:08:00
Circuspreneur Podcast
Remember those everyone?
00:08:02
Caroline Lauzon
we have it here But, you know, sent it in and they were like, actually, you would fit perfect for this project that we have. So literally within two weeks, I went from national team diving to we're running away with the circus.
00:08:18
Circuspreneur Podcast
Officially.
00:08:19
Caroline Lauzon
Yeah. So right away with the circus, I worked on a project that actually in the meantime, I also visited a friend that was already an O.
00:08:29
Caroline Lauzon
And I was like, I need a break.
00:08:30
Circuspreneur Podcast
hmm
00:08:32
Caroline Lauzon
I just need to like, you know, go on a vacation or something. So I came to Vegas to see my friend and I saw her in O and I was like, I want to do that. Like, this looks incredible. And then like, meanwhile, all these incredible athletes, performers, artists, you know, I got to meet everyone and see the world of circus. And I was like, I think this is where I want to be right now. Like, this is this is it.
00:08:56
Caroline Lauzon
And so, joined and I did a project, was in the research, uh, stage, which became Corteo, but I didn't, you know, make it all the way.
00:09:01
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank chris
00:09:20
Caroline Lauzon
so uh, got the job for oh in 2005 uh November 2005 five and then i was in uh for five years then there was an opportunity to go for the creation of the show Iris which was in l LA at the Kodak Theater and so took that opportunity went there did the creation
00:09:32
Circuspreneur Podcast
Jinping.
00:09:45
Caroline Lauzon
Lived in l LA for two years, which was a huge step in my career. It was pretty incredible to live in California. It was so much fun. And like you mentioned earlier, the Academy Awards were one of the probably biggest highlight of my career. Like that was incredible.
00:10:01
Caroline Lauzon
And the show was incredible, but in the wrong venue, in the wrong place.
00:10:04
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank you.
00:10:05
Caroline Lauzon
LA's market is really good, but in Santa Monica, Kodak Theater wasn't really like the the crowd that wanted to pay the prices for search. Cirque shows. So anyways, that closed. So I came back to Vegas.
00:10:19
Caroline Lauzon
Hey guys, I take back and somebody was pregnant on Zarkana. So I went there and replaced her. I grew a ton as an artist. the character that, uh, I did in Zarkana had a mic and would use a lot of voice and gibberish and, you know, kind of stepped up from acrobatic to more acting and voices and,
00:10:42
Caroline Lauzon
I want to say acting, but we weren't talking. It was gibberish, but it was still like acting with movement. So I don't know what category that is. Is it mime? Is it? But I did a lot in that show and I'll never forget.
00:10:51
Circuspreneur Podcast
though
00:10:55
Caroline Lauzon
And then once that person came back to the show, then something opened up a cough. So I was a cough of four years and loved it.
00:11:04
Caroline Lauzon
Again, more stunt work, more new stuff, less circus, but more, like I said, stunt.
00:11:06
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank you. and
00:11:12
Caroline Lauzon
Yeah, lot of harness work and and learning a lot. And I backed up the twin sister, which is the main character. So again, lots of acting and lots of just new challenges. I love learning. I love doing new things. Yeah.
00:11:26
Caroline Lauzon
Yeah, although I'm not a big risk taker, like, you know, like doing all this and learning new stuff really kept me alive.
00:11:37
Caroline Lauzon
And then somebody left at O and they were really, really short on staff and they asked if I would be willing to come and help.
00:11:43
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank
00:11:45
Caroline Lauzon
And so I was like, sure, I'll go back for six months and see if I can still fly. Like, I don't even know if it's still in me and fell in love again with that active boat, which is Russian cradle.
00:11:53
Circuspreneur Podcast
you.
00:11:57
Caroline Lauzon
And I was like, actually, if something opens up, I would really like to come back to O. So then a contract opened up and I went back to O. So I've been back there since 2017 and we're still there.
00:12:11
Caroline Lauzon
know,
00:12:11
Circuspreneur Podcast
Wow. Yeah.
00:12:13
Caroline Lauzon
mr you know
00:12:13
Circuspreneur Podcast
Never.
00:12:15
Caroline Lauzon
the circus trajectory that took me to today where we're still there.
00:12:17
Circuspreneur Podcast
yeah
00:12:21
Caroline Lauzon
I signed for one more year and we'll see.
00:12:23
Circuspreneur Podcast
m
00:12:25
Caroline Lauzon
We'll see where next year brings me. I'm getting a little old becoming a little harder. do 400. We do 400.
00:12:33
Circuspreneur Podcast
definite
00:12:34
Caroline Lauzon
And this year we did shows. so it's a lot
00:12:39
Circuspreneur Podcast
Wow.
00:12:39
Caroline Lauzon
yeah
00:12:40
Circuspreneur Podcast
Yeah, it's definitely a lot. How would you think, how would you describe, Carolyn, to interject and then you can go back until, you know, what inspired, you know, your transition into real estate and where you are now. But how have you seen, because you started O in the early 2000s, you are now in O in the twenty twenty s How have you seen the strip change and what is your relationship to the show? How is it different from when you were there in the early 2000s and now as a worker, as a performer, does it feel like it's very similar over the past 20 years? Or do you think the dynamics of working in a show day in and day out has shifted dramatically over that amount of time?
00:13:25
Caroline Lauzon
that's a really good question. i I feel like when I arrived there, you know, I was a puppy. I was learning from everybody and the show, uh, had a ton of original people that had worked directly with Franco Dragone and the level of respect for, you know, Franco said this, this is the story.
00:13:33
Circuspreneur Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:13:47
Caroline Lauzon
This is, this is what it's supposed to be. And it's like, you, you, you were bathing in this, i don't know how to explain, but this, I was coming into this world and just kind of like taking it in and it was so close to the creation. So you could still feel, you could still feel Franco Dragone there every day.
00:14:09
Caroline Lauzon
know what I mean? Like,
00:14:10
Circuspreneur Podcast
Yeah, that, yeah.
00:14:12
Caroline Lauzon
And obviously i have grown a ton of experience. I've grown myself as a person and being there. And I am now the veteran. a lot of people, i think we have like just a couple original people still,
00:14:30
Caroline Lauzon
but I'm now one of the vets and it's my job to transmit all this knowledge and and try and keep the show, the show's integrity. well it's not my job that we have an artistic director, that's their job, but I feel like my knowledge, it's kind of my job to pass it down.
00:14:40
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank you.
00:14:46
Caroline Lauzon
And even with the new artistic directors, they'll ask questions. It will be like Franco's original idea was X, Y, and Z. And the zebra is supposed to do x y and Z and the thought behind.
00:14:56
Caroline Lauzon
So, it's kind of, it's really funny to be in that position now and be like, wait, I'm the one who knows stuff now. like what listen to To me now, like it's, it's just a different, yeah, different position to be in.
00:15:11
Circuspreneur Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:15:12
Caroline Lauzon
And, and obviously things have changed tremendously. The, The companies, you know, changed ownership four or five times. It's just very different time now than it was 20 years ago.
00:15:25
Caroline Lauzon
And I think that's just life. It's normal.
00:15:28
Circuspreneur Podcast
Right. Yeah. Yeah. Things change change hands, things shift, demographic cities, like that's just what they do. And I mean, speaking to your transition into being in real estate, how does that affect you doing real estate?
00:15:41
Circuspreneur Podcast
You know, in seeing the structure, the overall structure of Vegas, of Nevada, of, you know, Henderson, of where you work and being informed by that as an artist, on the strip, and then also too now working in housing development, real estate, all of those nuances that affect you in real time that you've been able to experience and then taking that into the experience of your work as a real estate agent, as a flipper, as you do as somebody that also runs like an Airbnb, I believe, like in Utah.
00:16:03
Caroline Lauzon
Yeah.
00:16:14
Circuspreneur Podcast
So, you know, you do multiple things in this realm now. But I think from a very unique perspective as not just someone who lives here as a local, but as an artist that is like affected by the ups and downs.
00:16:27
Circuspreneur Podcast
And we are like usually looking at things with such a specific lens, I think. as artists, as creative workers in a way that maybe, you know, other people in different sectors are not looking at in the exact same capacity or in the same way.
00:16:35
Caroline Lauzon
Yeah.
00:16:41
Circuspreneur Podcast
Not that any is better or worse. It's just that it's very unique and specific. So what does that feel like? And how do you incorporate that? you know, all of those things in reflecting on your work and then jumping into that environment.
00:16:55
Circuspreneur Podcast
Did you feel like you kind of hit the ground running when you came into real estate here locally? Or did you feel like, hmm, I have, you know, was it what is it was it a kind of a battle?
00:17:05
Circuspreneur Podcast
Or were you also able to use kind of the branding that you had as an artist to generate a community to support your new ventures?
00:17:15
Circuspreneur Podcast
Yeah.
00:17:18
Caroline Lauzon
Yes, the multi-layers to the question. Yes, my community in Cirque and my knowledge, like I've worked in multiple shows, therefore I know like every show is about 200 people.
00:17:30
Caroline Lauzon
So my sphere of influence is massive.
00:17:30
Circuspreneur Podcast
okay
00:17:33
Circuspreneur Podcast
see
00:17:49
Caroline Lauzon
Word of mouth is still incredible. It's still the best marketing.
00:17:52
Circuspreneur Podcast
and
00:17:55
Caroline Lauzon
And so, yeah, that's definitely helps. To go back to like the first question, I now being in a business owner and, you know, working for myself and all this, I understand that Cirque is also a business and decisions that are made, like while you're an artist, you're like, why are we changing this costume?
00:18:15
Circuspreneur Podcast
woodsbu
00:18:20
Caroline Lauzon
Why are you don't understand the changes that are happening? And you get like sunken into the artistic world that you have to remember this is a business.
00:18:31
Caroline Lauzon
And sometimes they will make changes to make it more profitable, make it more sell more ticket or like at the end of the day, it's a business and they need to make money and they don't always make decisions on, um, on,
00:18:58
Caroline Lauzon
So it helps.
00:18:58
Circuspreneur Podcast
Sishin.
00:18:59
Caroline Lauzon
So you're not like, why are we doing this? Like, I don't understand because times are changing. This didn't work. The numbers didn't come good. We got to change something. We're doing it. So I think that helps.
00:19:11
Caroline Lauzon
Yeah. also with my experience in real estate. And yeah, far as real estate, like I actually came into real estate kind of by accident. So I have this passion for decorating and also, what is the word I'm looking for?
00:19:34
Caroline Lauzon
Hospitality. and
00:19:35
Circuspreneur Podcast
Oh, that's a very Vegas word.
00:19:36
Caroline Lauzon
know I really geek out in my Airbnb.
00:19:41
Circuspreneur Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:19:42
Caroline Lauzon
Like, oh, you know, I'm going to do this cute coffee mugs because I want people to like, I want people to like, feel good when they're in my place.
00:19:43
Circuspreneur Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:19:50
Caroline Lauzon
Like, and not a lot people care.
00:19:51
Circuspreneur Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:19:52
Caroline Lauzon
Not lot of people, like, love that, but I really, really geek out on this stuff. So, I had an Airbnb and I had bought a condo here and I had made it all cute.
00:19:59
Circuspreneur Podcast
so
00:20:04
Caroline Lauzon
It was kind janky when I bought it and then made it all cute. And then sold that moved in with my now ex-husband, his house was needing some work. So we flipped his house, sold it, bought a house.
00:20:16
Caroline Lauzon
Then we bought a rental. So we had done this quite a few times and I was actually using, team leader now, uh, Brendan King, And I was like, maybe I should get my license.
00:20:32
Circuspreneur Podcast
Hmm. Hmm.
00:20:35
Caroline Lauzon
and I, we could do this without using an agent. We could just buy houses, flip them, sell them. And then, you know, we kind of save up. Like I got all the, all this time. So I'll just get my license.
00:20:45
Caroline Lauzon
this was in 2017. and 2016 actually is when I was pregnant. And then, so got my license and then passed my exam. I was nine and a half months pregnant. And, if I didn't pass my exam, it takes about a month to be able to reschedule. I would have had a two week old baby. There's no way I was going to pass it. So it was like now or never.
00:21:07
Caroline Lauzon
And I did, it I passed it.
00:21:08
Circuspreneur Podcast
you
00:21:09
Caroline Lauzon
and i was like, great, I did it. And then I had a job and I had a baby. I didn't really do anything with my license, but the idea was there to eventually like flip houses. That was my goal.
00:21:20
Caroline Lauzon
This is what I want to do. And then we had this crazy pandemic show up and I was like, well, we got time.
00:21:30
Caroline Lauzon
The shows are closed.
00:21:31
Circuspreneur Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:21:32
Caroline Lauzon
so let's try this real estate thing. Like I don't see myself as a salesperson. so, but let's give it a try. And then to my surprise, people, I mean, there are a lot of sales, salespeople, real estate people.
00:21:49
Caroline Lauzon
but I still, to this day, don't consider myself as a salesperson. I help people buy their first house. I help people sell their house and make them look the best that they can.
00:22:15
Circuspreneur Podcast
so
00:22:19
Caroline Lauzon
but yeah, to this day, I still don't consider myself a salesperson. So anyways, I gave it a try and I fell in love because of that kind of, uh, way more,
00:22:33
Caroline Lauzon
my English today. The second language. But yeah, the the more helping side of things was what I fell in love with. And 2020 was a crazy year to enter real estate. Things were moving fast. They were, you had to be very competitive. You had to be very, you you know, it wasn't not normal to show like 20 to 30 houses for a buyer because it was so competitive. There was 10 to 12 offers on each house. So that's where my resilience and my hard work and it all came into play.
00:23:14
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank God. Yeah, you had that in you're your back pocket.
00:23:17
Caroline Lauzon
Yeah, you have to be very resilient and, you know, find ways to make your offer look better.
00:23:20
Circuspreneur Podcast
who
00:23:22
Caroline Lauzon
Like what we can we offer and blah, blah, blah. And that's how you did well in this market because there was no other way to to make it work. And yeah, so when the shows reopened, I was like, well, I got this really good thing going on and I like it.
00:23:36
Caroline Lauzon
And, you know, I'm not going able to do circus forever. so I'm going to keep doing both. So now we're in year four and it's very challenging. It's very challenging to do all that, be a mom, find time for myself and not burn out. I think that's my biggest challenge to this day is not burn out, like not burn burn the candle on both sides.
00:24:00
Circuspreneur Podcast
Yeah, I can imagine.
00:24:01
Caroline Lauzon
That's, the yeah, that's my biggest challenge for sure.
00:24:02
Circuspreneur Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:24:05
Caroline Lauzon
But I know that I don't have that much left in the tank for my circus career. So I'm trying to enjoy as much as I can. i mean, I'm 42.
00:24:15
Caroline Lauzon
Like to be a flyer on the boat at 42 is, is, it's tough. Yes.
00:24:21
Circuspreneur Podcast
I mean, we're just going to applause all day, every day for for you in that way.
00:24:22
Caroline Lauzon
and so
00:24:26
Circuspreneur Podcast
And you're still super, super young anyway. But yes, we're still going to acknowledge how many years that has been at this point too. Because like, that's, yeah, that's a big deal.
00:24:39
Caroline Lauzon
Yeah, thank you. Thank you. And I pinch myself sometimes because I've had, you know, a really long career and I've been very, very lucky to not, you know, knock on all the wood.
00:24:51
Circuspreneur Podcast
and everything
00:24:52
Caroline Lauzon
I didn't have to deal with too many injuries in my career. so I feel pretty lucky in that sense, because, you know, after 22 years, I feel like there should be a little bit more wear and tear.
00:25:04
Caroline Lauzon
thank Yeah, it's far so good.
00:25:07
Circuspreneur Podcast
yeah You're fortunate and you've been able to stay in the game. And that's a really beautiful testament also to, I think, just to your overall character. And yeah, I'm just glad that you've been able to have a career in that way and been able to stay with it. Sometimes it's not, there's much more adversity for some people's careers.
00:25:27
Circuspreneur Podcast
Let's just be honest. And so I think we'll always take that as an easier road and a win in a very difficult and challenging environment. We're coming down to the last few minutes of the podcast, Carolyn, and thank you so much for yeah giving us you know your time and your energy and your effort. And my last question to you is if there is an artist that is interested in buying a house right now,
00:25:49
Circuspreneur Podcast
yeah What do you recommend? What would be their strategy? You know, the housing market in in Vegas and in Nevada has changed a lot since I even started living and working here on and off over the years. You know, there was a point in time where people could gobble up something for 60,000, 80,000, 90,000. As someone who is from California, you know, i have seen the rates go up and start to match.
00:26:15
Circuspreneur Podcast
California in some ways. Obviously we are not California and hopefully we never make it there because I'm from Northern California. Yeah.
00:26:24
Caroline Lauzon
We certainly don't have California taxes. That I'll never forget.
00:26:27
Circuspreneur Podcast
Yeah. But you don't have that. So everybody just like, listen to Caroline, listen to me. We know.
00:26:32
Caroline Lauzon
Thank you.
00:26:34
Circuspreneur Podcast
So within that space, what advice would you give to someone, to an artist, in the artist's lens, somebody that maybe is in a resident show that could maybe not be in that resident show very much longer, that might end up being thrusted onto tour, somebody that is gigging right now, that is working you know freelance in Vegas, somebody that is coming in and out of Vegas a lot, someone that might be you know someone that is single or someone that you know just expanded and decided to have a family.
00:27:03
Caroline Lauzon
Yeah.
00:27:03
Circuspreneur Podcast
you know, what is the market like right now?
00:27:05
Circuspreneur Podcast
And just in a few minutes, I know that's a lot to ask on the exit of the podcast, but I feel like I would be remiss to not ask you about that important component of what you do for those that are in this industry that have several different dynamics that go into if you want to invest in property.
00:27:25
Caroline Lauzon
I would say there is always, there's always room for your budget and whatever it is, and there's always an opportunity.
00:27:31
Circuspreneur Podcast
Amen.
00:27:33
Caroline Lauzon
So you might not be able to buy the house with the pool right away, but enter the game now. If it is a condo, at least you're not throwing money into a rent situation. And like a lot of people will say like, yeah, but if, you know, if I leave the city, like I don't have to to to think about it and worry about it.
00:27:53
Caroline Lauzon
But you know, you get what you, if you invest in yourself, you can always rent the property when you go on tour. You can always rent. If you don't want this property, you know, you can always sell if the big thing, but throwing money into rent, you're not building wealth.
00:28:08
Caroline Lauzon
You're not entering the game. And you know, like I said, I started, my first property was a small condo at the time.
00:28:12
Circuspreneur Podcast
Oh,
00:28:15
Caroline Lauzon
This was in 2014. I know things are different, but it was $89,000 and I mortified.
00:28:20
Caroline Lauzon
I remember I was like, and, but then, you know, I sold that and then bought a house and then we bought a rental and we sold And like, and then these, this is a long game.
00:28:33
Caroline Lauzon
This isn't like, you know, stocks that go up. This is a long-term like investment, but you're investing in yourself and you're building wealth.
00:28:39
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank you.
00:28:41
Caroline Lauzon
You're not paying someone else's mortgage for them. So I would say just enter the game. And first of all, just get the conversation started with a lender. And we can recommend any lender. We have some good ones that we trust and are good. But don't be scared to get the the money conversation started because then you'll know what to expect. You say, hey, I, you know, I want my payment to be, 2000 a month. Like that's all I want to pay.
00:29:06
Caroline Lauzon
Well, there's a property for that. And you chat with that, with your lender. And it'll be like, you know, when it's your first time buying a property, you don't actually need to put that much money down on a property. People are like, Oh, don't have that much saving.
00:29:17
Caroline Lauzon
Typically you don't need that much on when it's your first time. there, and there's programs.
00:29:20
Circuspreneur Podcast
it
00:29:21
Caroline Lauzon
And because at when the economy gets a little bit more difficult, the government, And they they come up with different programs to help people buy and make it more affordable.
00:29:31
Caroline Lauzon
So there are different programs that I don't know them all by heart. The lender would be the person to do that. But I would say just enter as soon as you can. i was i read a book called rich dad Poor Dad, Rich Dad or Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
00:29:44
Circuspreneur Podcast
Oh yeah.
00:29:45
Caroline Lauzon
I remember this book really changing my
00:29:47
Circuspreneur Podcast
I know that book.
00:29:47
Caroline Lauzon
on money yeah and i i encourage everybody to read it i don't know if it's still relevant than if i read it today if i would feel the same but when i first started reading this book i was like this is what am i doing i gotta get started i wish i started earlier so if you're in your 20s and you buy a condo my goodness when you're like 40 you know you're gonna be you're gonna be far in the game so just just get started just wet your feet is my
00:30:12
Circuspreneur Podcast
Oh, awesome. Awesome advice, everyone. Listen to Carolyn. And Carolyn, how can folks get in contact with you if they are interested in learning more about your services?
00:30:25
Caroline Lauzon
Wow. Uh, email, phone, Instagram, uh, all of it. do I say my phone number here? or
00:30:32
Circuspreneur Podcast
like No, you not if you don't want to.
00:30:34
Caroline Lauzon
Yeah. Uh, you know, uh, website, email call. I'm happy to set up even a zoom meeting. If, uh, we need to, uh, just discuss where, what are the steps?
00:30:45
Caroline Lauzon
Cause I think it seems really overwhelming for people to to buy a house, but it's actually not,
00:30:48
Circuspreneur Podcast
me.
00:30:51
Caroline Lauzon
that overwhelming or difficult once you know the steps and once you know what to expect. And you can get your ducks aligned before, even if it's like, hey, I want to buy a house next year. Start now. Like start, okay, we're going to set some money aside. We're going to talk to a lender. where Because sometimes your credit is pretty bad too, and that affects your interest rate and everything. So they'll say, hey, pay this credit card, wait a three-month period, then we can apply for a pre-approval letter and check your credit again. So there are different steps. So I would say start earlier than before.
00:31:26
Caroline Lauzon
Not. Yes.
00:31:28
Circuspreneur Podcast
Listen to Caroline, everyone. Circuspreneurs, Caroline says, start sooner than later. That is wonderful advice. Thank you so much, Caroline. You're just, you know, a wealth of information. And thank you for sharing, you know, your beautiful, beautiful experiences, you know, as a circus artist, as a circuspreneur. And Caroline is also, you know, available. She's in O. Go to see her, folks. and
00:31:50
Caroline Lauzon
yes
00:31:50
Circuspreneur Podcast
she's on She's on stage. And, you know, make sure you see her before she takes her final bow.
00:31:56
Caroline Lauzon
Thank you. i really appreciate it. Thanks for having me.
00:31:59
Circuspreneur Podcast
Of course. And this Circuspreneur podcast is also available on stagelink.com, S-T-A-G-E-L-Y-N-C a d e l y n c dot c o m The groundbreaking new platform for live performing arts that provides unmatched access and connection to this vibrant world of shows and entertainment.
00:32:13
Circuspreneur Podcast
If you're a professional in the performing arts, visit stagelink.com slash poe. S-T-A-G-E-L-Y-N-C-P-R-O, Stagelink Pro, offers industry professionals higher visibility, networking opportunities, and tools to support and enhance their careers. Until next time, everyone, I'm your host, Shanae Saletto. Thank you for tuning into this episode of the Circuspreneur Podcast. Please join us on the next episode and please stay safe and stay healthy.
00:32:37
Caroline Lauzon
Thank you.