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Gen Z’s analog obsession is reviving a film camera market that digital killed
It wasn’t too long ago that analog photography – which uses photographic film and chemical processing – was declared all but dead, relegated to the province of niche hobbyists and professional artists.
Digital cameras had taken over nearly all areas of photographic production. Film industry titans like Polaroid and Kodak had shrunk dramatically from their heyday, becoming shells of their former selves. Darkrooms, where students learned how to manually develop and print film, shuttered at high schools and college campuses across the country, replaced by digital labs. For most people, the spirit of analog photography was mainly channeled through Instagram filters.
In 2025, 35% of the 42 million active film camera users worldwide were reported to be between the ages of 18 and 30. The year prior, online searches for analog photography saw a 41% rise.
Disposable camera sales have been steadily increasing since 2023. The photography journal PetaPixel went a step further and announced 2024 as “film’s best year in decades,” as major brands have introduced new cameras in response to renewed demand and revived classic models. More than 30% of respondents to a 2024 Ilford Photo survey on film photography were in the 25-34 age group.
As I’ve witnessed more and more of my undergraduate art and design students embrace analog photography, I’m not seeing this as a trend rooted in a nostalgic yearning for the past. Instead, I’m seeing it as young people rejecting algorithms, breaking free from the alienation of social media and reacting to childhoods spent on Zoom and TikTok – a deliberate move to redefine the future of art, social connection and engagement with the world.
In my work as a historian of photography and lecturer at the University of Southern California, I’ll often ask my students about how they take photos – whether they’re using digital cameras their smartphones or analog devices.
This year, for the first time, some of my students discussed images they’d printed and the physical photography albums they’d put together of their friends and family. They talked about how they’d also been sending postcards, writing letters and tacking photographs to their bedroom walls.
I couldn’t help but think about how so much of the language tied to early social media seemed to refashion physical gestures for a virtual world – “posting” on a “wall,” “poking,” “tagging” and “bookmarking,” not to mention “friending.”
This was a rhetorical move by social media companies, likely designed to help people feel as though they were in a familiar terrain of social connection. Yet the underlying business model of these platforms depended more on maximizing engagement and advertising revenue than on nurturing authentic relationships.
Everyone knows what happened next: The more connected young people became online, the more isolated and detached they started to feel. The COVID-19 lockdown pushed social life online even further, and researchers are only now starting to see how the combination of increased screen time and isolation negatively affected adolescents’ mental health. By 2023, 51% of American teenagers reported they spend at least four hours a day on social media.
I see the attraction of analog photography as a response to life lived through screens, a pathway toward community engagement and the desire for what sociologists call “a third place.”
Coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg in his 1989 book “The Great Good Place,” third places are meant as a space separate from home and work. They offer a reprieve for the in-between, generating the conditions needed for creative cross-pollination. They might include a local cafe, a neighborhood writing group, a weekly Magic: The Gathering game or a college fraternity – any space that allows for social interaction and personal growth.
These spaces also combat loneliness. They get people out of their heads and into a community. Oldenburg also referred to them as “havens of sociability,” places or gatherings where people can arrive alone to join others, and the atmosphere is “democratic and festive.”
Analog communities IRL
In April 2026, the inaugural AnalogCon took place in Los Angeles. Organized by the Los Angeles Center of Photography, where I serve as executive director and chief curator, it was a festival for all things analog photography. It didn’t just serve as a third place for photography enthusiasts; it also showed how analog photography – as a practice, ritual and community – is flourishing.
Vendors, industry leaders, artists and teachers participated in the two-day event, which included exhibitions, panels, demonstrations and guided photography tours around Little Tokyo. The excitement and thirst for similar events was palpable.
Photography now joins a broader trend of a generational preoccupation with physical cultural objects and media. Although music streaming represents 82% of revenues generated in the music industry, vinyl records sales have been rising for over a decade, crossing the US$1 billion threshold in the U.S. in 2025.
Nearly 60% of Gen Z are now purchasing records. VHS tapes and VCR players are also making a strange comeback, with stores like Be Kind Video and Videotheque in California offering VHS, DVDs and Blu-ray rentals. But beyond that, record stores and video rental shops have become third places in their own right. There’s a big difference between selecting a film to stream from your bed and getting out of the house, going to a store and talking about movies with a clerk and fellow film enthusiasts. Think about the sound a tape cassette makes when you open and close it, or the vibrant graphics on the covers of DVDs or VHS tapes. Think about rewinding or making a mixtape for your recent crush. These are objects of belonging that signal specific cultural moments, rituals and aesthetics, and many young people today are starting to experience them for the first time. Now, think about gently inserting a roll of film into a camera. Think about choosing an angle carefully when snapping a photo, because the number of frames is limited and you want to make them count. Think about the thrill of discovery when the pictures finally emerge as objects on paper. To me, these are more than fleeting trends. They signal a push against a digital culture that is designed to cultivate envy and reward outrage, insults and humiliation. Instead, armed with rolls of film, more and more Gen Zers appear to be opting out of their algorithmic feeds in favor of experiencing life in ways that feel more deliberate, personal and tangible. Rotem Rozental, Lecturer in Critical Studies, Roski School of Art and Design, University of Southern California This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
She Built a 3-Property Portfolio in 5 Years While Working Her 9-5
Your first rental property rarely comes from sitting back and waiting. It usually comes when you put yourself out there, talk to others about what you’re building, and stay in the game long enough for the right moment to show up. That’s exactly what today’s guest did, and it led to a wild deal that kickstarted her real estate portfolio!
Welcome back to the Real Estate Rookie podcast! Stephanie Wagner spent nearly 20 years in a full-time job, putting her real estate dreams on hold through a marriage that wasn’t working. Then, she used her divorce as the starting line. Six months later, she closed on her first real estate deal, a duplex she was able to house hack. Today, she owns five rental units and even has her real estate licence!
Stephanie shares about the everyday moment that led to buying an off-market deal, the second deal that involved a tricky tenant situation, and the mindset shift that separates the investors who start from the ones who never do. If you’ve been holding out for the “perfect” moment to invest in real estate, Stephanie’s story is proof that you just need to take action!
Ashley:
What if you found your very first real estate deal, not on Zillow, not on the MLS, not driving for dollars, but standing in line at a food truck outside your hospital waiting for your lunch?
Tony:
And what if that one deal sparked so much in you that you went from nearly two decades as an x-ray tech to becoming a real estate investor, a licensed realtor, and someone doing her own home repairs all while keeping a promise to her late aunt to do that?
Ashley:
This is the Real Estate Rookie Podcast. I’m Ashley Kehr.
Tony:
And I’m Tony J. Robinson and our guest today is Stephanie Wagner. Stephanie is an X-ray tech in interventional radiology by day, a landlord, a realtor, and a woman who decided after her divorce that she was capable of a lot more than she had given herself credit for. She owns three rental properties in the Midwest and on a mission to show other women that real estate is for them too, no matter where they are in life. Stephanie, welcome to the Real Estate Rookie Podcast.
Stephanie:
Hi guys. Thank you for having me.
Ashley:
Well, we are so excited to have you. Let’s start at the very beginning. You spent nearly 20 years as an x-ray tech and that was kind of your whole identity. What made you even start thinking about real estate as something that you could do?
Stephanie:
Actually, it started out as a kid. I have a couple of aunts and uncles that own several rental properties and I remember going to a couple of them as a kid. And I remember actually that my aunt that was kind of influential in my life, she actually rented one of the units that one of my other uncles owned. My dad is one of 10 kids, comes from a really big family. And my dad was over there one day helping my uncle who owned the property. There’s three uncles that were in this whole situation, but my dad was helping them fix a pipe in the basement. And I remember being like, “Man, this is really cool. My uncle has this business where the family is involved in it. ” And how I though that was really influential to me that maybe one day I could have the same thing.
And so that’s kind of what sparked my interest in real estate. And then as I got older, I ended up graduating college and my uncle who owned the rental property that needed that repair pulled me aside and was like, “Hey, how are you planning your retirement? Are you doing a retirement fund? How are you investing?” And he’s like, “Have you ever thought about investing in properties?” And I was like, “I really would love it. I remember being a kid and being around you, being with you and your rental properties.” And I was like, “I don’t really know how to do it. ” Well, I had been graduated I think for about two years when I had met my husband at the time and we ended up getting married and it was just something that wasn’t interesting to him. He was very comfortable with just having the single family house that we owned and really had no interest in doing real estate investing.
When I got divorced, it was like it’s now or never. I’ve got one life to live and I have to do a better job of living it and I’m just going to do it. So I ended up buying my first property.
Tony:
So it sounds like real estate was a seed that was planted for you early on, but it took some time and some life changes to get there. I think just one question, because I want to get into the first deal because you founded in line in a food truck, which is probably one of the craziest stories that we’ve heard in the podcast. Before we get to that though, divorce is something that is difficult for so many reasons. And I think a lot of folks kind of use that, I won’t say as an excuse, but sometimes it is something that people fall into more of a rut afterwards. They’re trying to kind of put the piece of their life back together. But it sounds like for you, it was really more so like a rebirth, like a reawakening. What was your mindset coming out of that difficult situation, Stephanie, that allowed you to pivot into this thing you’ve always wanted to do?
And I know not everyone listening is going to maybe be dealing with a divorce, but sometimes there are other things that happen. We lose a loved one or we lose a job. Something else somewhat traumatic happens and we can’t find a way to kind of get ourselves back on the horse. What did that look like for you afterwards to really rebuild in the way that you wanted your life to look like?
Stephanie:
That’s a great question. I think for me, I think anyone who knows me on a personal level knows that I’m a get it done kind of person. I’ve always been the kind of person where life will throw something at you. And to me, it’s okay to have a brief pause where you are focusing on your healing and religning and what your goals might actually be both personally and professionally. But just because you’re getting divorced or you’ve had some sort of a hardship doesn’t mean that you have to let the world keep you down. It’s really ultimately up to you and the decisions you make in life that can keep you. It’s either they keep you down or you choose to take that negative and you turn it into a positive. For me, this is something I’ve always wanted to do. And I remember my dad when we went to look at that first property, I remember him being like, “Steph, this is going to be hard.
Do you think you can do this? ” And I was like, “Dad, what’s the worst that happens?” I call Lisa back up and we list the property and I sell it and then I just rent the rest of my life. And I was like, “I mean, I can totally see why people would want to rent.” I mean, there’s not a lot of responsibility when you’re a renter. A lot of the responsibility falls on the owner of the property, the landlord to take care of your tenants. And so for me, just because you experience a hardship in life, whatever that might end up being, it’s really up to you to make the best of your life. Like I said before, you only have one life to live and you really have to do what it takes to make your dreams come true. And if your dream is doing real estate investing, sometimes it isn’t always easy.
Not everybody wants to house hack a house where they’re living in one unit. For me, I lived in one unit and I rented out the other. You could also have a single family home where you’re renting out bedrooms. That’s not for everybody. It’s not the life for everyone. But if you want to build wealth in real estate, you kind of have to make some sacrifices and you have to have a certain personality to be able to reflect that. And for me, I knew that that’s what I wanted to do. I knew that working a full-time W-2 job isn’t something that I want to do all the time. And I’m hugely passionate about real estate, whether it’s building wealth in real estate or affordable housing. I’m very, very passionate about it. And I guess for me, that’s actually what keeps me going is it’s a passion of mine and you have to find what your passion is.
It might not be real estate investing. It might be something else, but you have to do whatever it takes to make that dream happen.
Ashley:
And sometimes too, Stephanie, it’s not even the dream or the passion of real estate. It’s what real estate can do for you and give you. And real estate just ends up being the best vehicle to get you to that point in time. So that’s a great example of how you were able to stay motivated to stay on this path. So you eventually did get your first investment property and you ended up getting a little discouraged after walking several properties with your agent, but then one day waiting for lunch at your food truck, what exactly happened in that moment?
Stephanie:
Yeah. So I was outside at the hospital I work at, and I remember discussing with one of our OR nurses that I had looked at a property with my agent and how I was like, “Man, the numbers just didn’t make sense.” And even then, back then I didn’t really know about the numbers, but I knew enough to know that this house needed a lot of work. I didn’t have the funds to do it properly. It was like a full gut on the second floor and the first floor was rented. So I would be living in the unit that was already gutted and I just knew that I couldn’t do that. So I was talking with Chad about it, one of our nurses. And I was like, “Man, the market is insane.This house needs so much work.” To me, it was like a dumpster fire. And I know that now as a real estate investor, a dumpster fire could equal opportunity.
But at the time I wasn’t in the mindset where I was brave enough to do this, but not brave enough to take on that big of a project. So when I’m talking with him, there’s this lady who kept turning around and looking at me. And then she’d look at the food truck and then she’d turn around and look at me again. And then I was like, “Well, maybe she knows Chad. I don’t know. ” So then Chad gets his food and walks away and then it’s the same thing. She’s looking at me. And then finally she came next to me and was like, “Hey, I overheard the conversation you had with that man and I heard that you’re looking at buying a property.” And I was like, “I am. I’m actually looking at buying a rental property.” And she’s like, “Oh, that’s insane.” She’s like, “Where are you looking at buying?” And I was like, “Oh, I’m looking at buying in West Dallas and Waukesha.” And she’s like, “Oh, my fiance and I are getting ready to list our duplex in West Dallas.
If you’re interested, you can come and look at it. ” And I was like, “I’m absolutely interested. An off-market deal with no competition. In this market, I’m absolutely interested.” So we exchanged phone numbers and I’m texting her back and forth and she’s like, “You’re asking me questions that I don’t know the answers to, but I’m going to give you my fiance’s number and he’ll be able to answer questions about the mechanicals and roof and all that stuff.” And I was like, “Perfect.” So then I’m exchanging information with him. He gives me a list of updates and I was like, “Man, this is legit. They’re really going to list this property. And I just feel like I got a gold mine for my first one.” So then I was like, “I don’t know what to do now. This is for real.” So I text my agent and I was like, “Lisa, I think I found a property.
It’s not on the market. What do I do? ” And she texted me back two words and it was, “Call me. ” And I was like, “Man, am I in trouble? How does this work?” So I just talk with her about how I feel like this is a real thing, that these people are actually getting this house ready to be listed. And I would really like to see it. What does that look like for me? And so she explained to me kind of what buyer agency would mean. She would represent me as the buyer and she would help facilitate the purchase of the property, drafting the contract and going through everything with me. And she asked me if I could communicate that information to the seller, and I did. And he was interested in what we had to offer. So I said, “Well, at this point, I’ll just turn over communication to Lisa and you guys can discuss things further.” And then she helped me facilitate buying the property.
It was kind of a crazy story. I never thought that talking about a failed attempt at buying real estate could end up turning into actually buying one off market. But this is what goes to show talking to people about being an investor, talking to people about being a realtor and expressing what your dreams, you just never know what can happen from those conversations. It’s really important to let people know like, “Hey, I’m doing this thing. Are you interested?” If you’re not, you might know someone that is. So you can end up getting a deal that way. And I think now that I know a lot of investors end up getting properties that are off market just by having a simple conversation.
Ashley:
Well, every time I’m in line for something now I’m going to make my kids ask me, “Mom, you have rentals. Mom, what’s the next house you want to buy? Mom, where are you wanting to look for a house?” And bring up conversation of buying rental properties maybe so it’ll overhear. And I want to hit on that point of using an agent for an off-market deal because usually everybody tries to avoid paying commission to an agent. And I’m selling a property right now that I’m selling to my tenants. I am having my agent represent me as the seller to negotiate and to handle the whole deal with my tenants. So it is worth it for me for her to handle all the paperwork. It is worth it for her to deal with the home inspection, for her to just handle the whole transaction for me. And we’ve had a thing come up where we have to replace the chimney and my agent got all the quotes from me.
My agent coordinated with the tenants when the work would be done and all this stuff and then negotiated with them that they’re going to pay half of it. So right there, it’s already been worth the percentage that I’m paying an agent. And especially if this was your very first deal that you were doing, it is so nice to have somebody to kind of walk with you and show you the ropes of what you should do. There’s so many things. Even just doing a walkthrough inspection before you close on the property. The day that you close, nobody’s going to tell you that. And how else would you know unless your agent says, “Okay, we’re going to the property at noon. You’re closing at one. We just want to make sure everything’s okay.” So I definitely do think that paying an agent, even if it’s an off-market deal in some cases can be super valuable.
Stephanie:
I agree with you. As a realtor, I also agree with you, but it also takes almost the pressure off you trying to communicate and get this deal to close between buyer and seller. Selling a house and buying a house can be hugely emotional depending on the situation and having that buffer between people, it makes things easier. Not only that, but it takes away the legal liability of things too. I’m taking on that responsibility as the agent. I’m willing to drive that bus. And that’s something I think that’s frequently overlooked. And then even if say I’m working a transaction and I don’t have the knowledge of something, I work for a brokerage that has 900 agents in it and I can reach out to all of them and ask them questions. Or someone has a contractor they prefer to work with, but I’m working a deal and we need to get something done before closing.
More often than not, I send out an email and five minutes later I have five people emailing me back a contact. And so working with an agent, even as an investor can be hugely valuable just in that in itself, especially if you’re buying a property that could potentially be like you’re out of state and you’re buying a property in the area that I’m in. I know the area. And if I don’t know the area, I can reach out to people that do and I’m going to drive that area because my name’s on the dotted line here too and I want to make sure that my client is taken care of. So there’s a lot of value I believe in having a realtor work a transaction even if it is off market.
Tony:
Lots of great lessons for rookie investors to learn as they go through that first deal and an experienced agent can sometimes help with that learning curve. We want to take a quick break, but when we come back, I want to hear about the second deal because Stephanie said she wishes she had managed the tenants a little differently on that one and that there’s a really important lesson in there for any rookie who’s thinking about the people side of being a landlord. We’ll be right back after this.
Ashley:
Okay. Welcome back. So Stephanie, let’s talk about deal number two and the tenant situation. So on this one, you wish you had managed your tenants differently. So let’s kind of set the stage here. They are on a fixed income and raising their rent has been really challenging for you. Walk us through this situation and maybe some of the lessons you have learned being a landlord.
Stephanie:
So I think the people aspect of being a landlord to me is like the hardest part. You can call a plumber to fix a leaky pipe or you can call an electrician for an outlet issue. But managing people, I think really in any aspect of life is always the hardest part. And with these two particular tenants, they have been at that property and lived in the duplex for one for 20 years and the other for 13. So they’ve been there, this is their home. However, raising a rent to what we considered market value is really hard on two people that are on a fixed income. And so I think in this transaction, I wasn’t able per the contract and what I agreed upon, I wish I would’ve pushed harder to have the tenants removed so I could have brought tenants in that could have paid market value.
But if I wanted to buy the property, the people who were selling it, it was an estate and they are not landlords. The person that passed away was a landlord and they were willing to take on that responsibility. The family that inherited the property did not want to do that. And they didn’t want to be responsible with removing the tenants. And I wish I would have pushed a little bit harder to have them removed only because the fact that they are extremely low rent paying. One, I was able to get on HUD housing through the housing authority and we were able to negotiate that up too close to what market value is. And then I had the second tenant apply for housing asistance too. However, we’re still kind of waiting to see on that. I gave her a deadline of what I could keep her for, for how long.
And then if we go past that deadline and she’s not able to get approved or increase her rent, then I will give her 60 days and she’ll have to vacate.
Tony:
Yeah, because I’m just curious, when you say that you got the first tenant on HUD, was that you applying as the landlord on their behalf or was it the tenants going through that process themselves?
Stephanie:
So the tenant, he already was aproved and was receiving benefits from the housing authority. I had to work with his social worker to get his rent up to what would be close to market value. And so when I was working with his social worker, I had to run comps, like rental comps and send them to her to prove that this would be rent in that area to get his unit up to market value. Now he’s lived there for 20 years and it’s hard to do improvements to increase the value more when someone’s already living there, but there’s some things that can be aproved on when a tenant is living there. So if I wanted to raise it higher in their mind, I needed to do improvements on his unit. However, I also knew buying this property that it was a bit of a hoarding situation with that tenant in particular, which was a big reason why the property did not sell for the three…
Oh no, it was six months. It was on the market for six months before I ended up writing an offer. And that’s why they didn’t want to deal with somebody who had a hoarding situation. But for me, it was like this property, if he were to leave, could increase the value exponentially just by him leaving the situation. And I ended up getting a screaming deal on it because of his hoard situation. It brought a lot of opportunity for me and I was willing to take on the responsibility of having to have him removed if he doesn’t stay in compliance with fire code compliance and ordinances. And I work with him on that. There’s a dumpster on site right now and he’s removing some of his stuff from the property so he can stay in good standing for the housing authority and he can still receive his voucher.
Tony:
I’ve actually never heard of a landlord going to the tenant’s social worker to try and increase the rents. And that’s like a tactic that I guess I’m learning about for the first time.
Ashley:
Stephanie, is that their caseworker through HUD and section eight that’s specifically for housing? Yes. Yeah. So Tony, it’s like when they go and get a voucher, they’re assigned a caseworker. So everybody that has a voucher has a caseworker and they are the ones that find them an apartment and kind of handle everything and all the paperwork and stuff like that and schedule their inspections and stuff like that. Yeah.
Stephanie:
He’s my point of contact. We have a good relationship. I have a good relationship with my tenants, so I’m grateful for that. So I’m able to communicate with him and express my wishes and what my expectations are. But if I do end up having a problem, I can reach out to her as well. I’ve not had a problem. It’s not been an issue. But getting him up to what would be considered close to market value for rental in that area. It took a couple of months and I don’t even know, probably 50 emails back and forth to try to prove to them like, no, he’s paying $600. That’s definitely not market value. And it’s kind of the same with the other lady. I have a point of contact for her. We’re just waiting to hear if she can get approval yet. She’s on the wait list.
And I had her apply for it. I mentioned it to her that if this doesn’t go through and someone else tries to buy the property, they’re going to have to raise her rent exponentially. And if she doesn’t get on the wait list now, she could be even if another buyer bought it, she could be losing her home. And that was something that we discussed and she applied even before I bought the property.
Ashley:
Now Stephanie, what are you using to manage the properties? You’re self-managing. Are you using any tools, software, apps at all?
Stephanie:
I’m not. So this is like now that I’m transitioning and have five doors, before self-managing, just the one property was totally easy to do where I just collect either Zelle or Venmo payment for rent. But a couple, these last two tenants, they write checks. And so I’m really not into whole driving around to collect checks. So I do think I do plan on transitioning to a software here pretty soon to collect rent payments in itself. But I do have lease agreements that are drafted through Wisconsin Legal Blank, which is something that a lot of investors do in Wisconsin. It’s drafted by an actual real estate attorney. And so then you can modify any rental agreement you have to reflect the situation you have with your tenants, including drafting an addendum if you do have any issues that need to be discussed that aren’t included in a standard rental agreement.
Ashley:
That’s cool. I haven’t heard of that resource before. BiggerPockets does have that too where you can get a lease that’s a standard template for your state where attorneys from each state have gone and created them and then you just kind of fill in the blanks and kind of tailor it to that’s at biggerpockets.com. You can find those lease agreements. So Stephanie, just to kind of get the full picture here today, what is your real estate portfolio? What does it look like?
Stephanie:
So I have a single family home in Lake Geneva that came with the purchase of the property that I bought last summer. And so it’s a single family home and a duplex in one property. And then I have a duplex in West Dallas, Wisconsin also. So it’s five doors.
Ashley:
How long was this period of time from when you got divorced to purchasing your first property to today?
Stephanie:
So I told myself I wanted three rental properties in five years after my divorce. And I’m not going to lie to you, I got that by the skin of my teeth. I set that goal and I had that dream in my mind. I was like, I want three properties. I want that within a five year timeframe after divorce. And the first one I was able to get six months after divorce. And then the other two, it was a couple years later, but it ended up being, I guess, technically like a three family, but I did it by the skin of my teeth.
Ashley:
Well, Stephanie, you have been really passionate about women investing and that this is something women can do. And so tell us more about how your passion kind of coincides with that in real estate investing and why you think more women should be real estate investors.
Stephanie:
So it’s so funny to go from where I was in my divorce to here where I am today and how when I bought that first property and I have a very close relationship with my dad and he’s taught me so much about home repairs and how I held a reciprocating saw for the first time when I was doing a kitchen rehab. And I was like, “Man, I don’t know how to use this. ” And my dad showed me how to use it and he’s like, “Now it’s your turn.” And then I was thinking to myself, “Well, what if I screw up?” And he’s like, “Then you do it again and then you keep learning and you do it again.” And I think going from like, “I don’t think that I can do this, ” to, “Man, I can change out a light fixture. I can change out replace a vanity.
I can do all these things I never thought five years ago where I would be. I never thought that I could ever do any of those things or was told that I couldn’t do them, that I wasn’t capable of doing it. ” And now I’m like, “Man, this is not saying that it’s always easy, but it’s way easier than I was led to believe.” Women have such a tenacity to get things done and are able to move forward through any kind of hardship or bump in the road super quick. They’re able to be like, “You know what? This is a problem. I acknowledge it. I’m going to create a plan and I’m going to set a strategy to be successful and make it happen.” And I think every woman is capable of doing this just because you don’t hold a power tool and you’ve never done it before.
Five years ago, I never did either. And here I am now. I think there’s something hugely valuable about investing in real estate. And I think personally for me, I learned very early on relying on anybody, whether it’s a man or a woman for financial security is a mistake. If you have a relationship where you’re a stay-at-home mom and it works for you guys, that’s wonderful and I’m happy for you. But I think it’s always helpful to have an education where you can have a backup plan if something doesn’t work out or say something happens in your life where there was a situation and someone passes away. You have a backup plan and you have a strategy to set yourself up for financial success and real estate is a great tool to do that.
Tony:
Stephanie, it’s great advice. And I love the advice your dad gave you of like, “Well, if I mess up, I’m just going to try again. I’m going to figure this out until I figure it out. ” But it also kind of ties back to what you said earlier, Stephanie, of, hey, what is the worst case scenario? If I buy this house and it doesn’t work, well, what do I do? I guess I’m just going to sell it. That is my worst case scenario. And I think if we can reframe not just investing in real estate, but any major kind of life decision around, okay, well, what is the worst case scenario? A lot of times it melts away some of that fear that we have before we take that step. So I appreciate you sharing that story with us. We have one more break and then we’re going to close out with what Stephanie would tell herself.
If she could go back to that food truck moment and what she wants every woman listening right now to hear, we’ll be right back after this.
Ashley:
Okay. Welcome back. So Stephanie, let’s go back to that version of you that was standing in front of the food truck, discouraged from a weekend of house hunting, not even knowing that you’re about to find your first deal. What was going through your mind and what would you tell that same person now who’s maybe feeling discouraged because they have not found that first deal? I
Stephanie:
Feel like I’ve learned so much in the timeframe from where I was on that first deal standing outside the hospital. I had no idea what I was capable of doing until I had to do it. I had to learn how to do it. I knew that I wanted to be a real estate investor. I knew that it was something I never had done before. And I knew that it’s okay to make a mistake and it’s okay to keep moving forward if you do make a mistake. I never thought that I could do the physical aspect of it. I knew that managing the people part was always going to be a little bit challenging just because there’s so much emotion involved with someone having a home. Even a rental property is a home to someone and it shouldn’t be one of those things where it shouldn’t be taken lightly.
It’s a big thing. It’s a big responsibility as a landlord. And I knew going into this that it was going to be a lot could be a lot of work. And like I said before, it’s not for everybody, but I think standing outside the food truck and anybody who’s kind of thinking like, I’ll never get my first deal, it’ll happen. If you keep pushing for it and you really make it the focal point of what your life is, it will happen. You just have to keep trying. And it doesn’t have to be an off-market deal. You can work with a realtor and you can find an amazing opportunity. I mean, I work with people all the time that are looking for properties, whether it’s a single family or an investment property. But I think for women in investing, we are capable of doing so much more than we are ever led to believe.
And I wish more women would consider going into real estate investing and realizing the opportunity you can gain from building equity in real estate and what that can do for you and using it as leverage to create a financial strategy that could make you successful. You can use equity in real estate to even invest in other properties, or you could even use it to buy into a business that you’re looking at starting. There’s so many ways that you can make money in investing and using really the bank’s money to leverage your future.
Tony:
Yeah, Stephanie, I love that advice because there’s… I think again, it kind of goes back to what I said before the last break, but just we build certain things up to be scarier than what they actually are. And one of the mental reframes that I always try and coach people on is we have to try and separate the difference between comfort and confidence. And a lot of times we don’t take these big steps in life because we’re searching for comfort. We want to feel comfortable with that decision when in reality, what we need to be searching for is confidence because comfort only comes when you’re operating inside of your comfort zone. And by definition, if we’re doing something new, at least anything of meaning, it means we’re stepping outside of our comfort zone. And if we’re waiting for that comfort to appear before we do this big incredible thing, we’ll never take that step because we’ll never feel comfortable.
So I think you didn’t put it in these words, but that’s what comes to mind as I hear your story is that you focus more so on not being comfortable, but on taking that next step confidently.
Stephanie:
Yeah. I think anything with personal growth, like you’re saying, to me, you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. You can only excel in life if you are willing to take that leap of faith and really it’s believing and trusting in yourself that you can do it. I know for me, I didn’t think I could do it and I’m doing it.
Tony:
You had the goal, you said five years, three properties, you knocked that out. What’s the next milestone for you inside of your portfolio? What are you building toward today?
Stephanie:
I think for me, I listen to a lot of podcasts that you guys produce. And for me, it’s not so much about the properties, like the amount of properties, but it’s the quality of property. And I like to look and focus more on the numbers and what those properties can do for me. It’s not about how many properties I have in my portfolio. It’s about what dollar amount I can make. And eventually I would like to be doing real estate investing full-time. I don’t know. I’d have to create a strategy on what that would look like to leave my W-2 job. I work in interventional and I’ve been doing it for almost two decades and I can’t imagine. It’s weird to imagine leaving that full-time to do real estate full-time. But I do think if I actually were to do that, I’d have to create an actual exit plan.
Ashley:
And I think that’s a good career field where you could even go down to part-time, correct?
Stephanie:
Oh yeah, for sure.
Ashley:
My sister is an x-ray tech and she’s going to school right now to be a PA, but it’s been a really nice flexible career for her to be able to go down to part-time so she can do her schooling too. And I think careers with that opportunity of how you don’t have to make the drastic shift of I’m quitting, I have to either work full-time or I have to retire where there’s kind of that mix where you can go down to part-time I think is a really nice thing.
Stephanie:
Yeah, I considered that too.
Ashley:
Stephanie, thank you so much for joining us today on Real Estate Ricky. Please tell us where people can reach out to you and find out more information about your investing journey and what you’re doing.
Stephanie:
So you could reach out to me on Facebook. It’s stephaniewagner@shorewestrealtors. And then you could also find me at savvysteph_realestateadvisor on Instagram or you can email me at [email protected].
Ashley:
Well, Stephanie, I really enjoyed hearing your experience so far in real estate and also some of the lessons you learned, but also a lot of the mindset pieces that you are able to share with us today. Thank you everyone for joining us. I’m Ashley. He’s Tony and we’ll see you guys on the next episode.
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How Adobe’s CMO is preparing for AI-driven brand discovery
Inside Fortune 500 boardrooms, chief marketing officers are grappling with a new and uncomfortable reality: the playbook they’ve relied on for decades no longer applies. As product discovery moves from search engines to AI-driven interfaces, CMOs are being forced to rethink how marketing is measured, how teams are structured, and what it means to lead the function.
Discussions about budgets and brand strategy still happen, but they are increasingly overshadowed by a more urgent set of questions. Which marketing metrics still matter when consumers begin their search in ChatGPT rather than on Google? How should companies structure marketing organizations when AI can produce campaigns, analyze performance, and personalize experiences at a scale that once required entire departments? Which skills matter most when the technology changes every few months?
One executive hearing those conversations firsthand is Lara Balazs, Adobe’s chief marketing officer. She spends much of her time speaking with peers who are navigating those questions.
“For years it was always, ‘Spend less with more impact,’” Balazs says. “Now I hear, ‘There’s AI. Do that.’”
The directive is vague and expansive because no established playbook exists. AI is evolving faster than most marketing organizations can adapt, leaving CMOs to build one in real time.
The pivot is already showing up in the metrics that once anchored the function. As product discovery shifts toward AI interfaces, marketing leaders are already seeing declines in traffic and revenue that were once driven by search. Brands that fail to appear in AI-generated recommendations risk being excluded from consideration before a customer ever reaches their website.
Those conversations are expanding marketing’s scope beyond campaigns into enterprise-level decisions, from technology and data infrastructure to workflow design and capital allocation alongside creative and media.
“If you are not talking to your CFO all the time, your CIO, your CTO, any business constituent around that C-suite table, you really are at a disadvantage,” Balazs says.
Marketing’s customer insights now shape decisions about technology, data, and product development, pulling CMOs into closer collaboration with finance, engineering, and IT. Financial fluency, technical literacy, and organizational leadership sit alongside brand building and demand generation as core executive responsibilities.
Rebuilding the marketing org
Early AI efforts centered on experimentation, with teams testing where the technology could deliver measurable value. That phase is giving way to more deliberate decisions about where AI should be embedded in day-to-day work and which initiatives deserve sustained investment.
Balazs encourages marketing organizations to start with a use case tied to a specific business objective. Each initiative should have an executive sponsor, clear accountability, and a team willing to test, learn, and refine before scaling.
Team structures are evolving in parallel. Companies are assembling multidisciplinary groups organized around business objectives rather than traditional functions. Balazs calls them mission teams, while others use terms like swarms or tiger teams.
The structure brings together marketers, engineers, product managers, and data specialists, enabling organizations to move more quickly as AI capabilities advance.
The metrics are changing
Search engine optimization has shaped digital marketing for more than two decades, offering a clear framework for how consumers discover products and services. That framework is beginning to give way as more consumers task AI systems with comparing products, summarizing reviews, explaining features, and recommending purchases.
For marketing leaders, that raises a new question: How often does a brand appear inside AI-generated answers, and how does that visibility influence purchasing decisions?
Adobe began examining that shift after seeing declines in traffic tied to traditional search, long a measurable revenue source. As consumer behavior evolved, the company worked to understand how much of that change was linked to large language models.
That effort led to the development of LLM Optimizer, a tool designed to track and improve the frequency with which Adobe’s products appear in AI-generated responses.
After deploying it, the company saw a 200% increase in brand visibility for its products such as Acrobat and Firefly, according to Balazs. Marketers are still assessing how to measure visibility within AI-generated responses, including how often a brand is mentioned or recommended. Still, it offers an early signal of how product discovery is changing.
For marketing leaders, understanding how AI systems surface and recommend products is becoming as important as understanding how consumers search.
From marketer to orchestrator
Taken together, these shifts are reshaping the role of the CMO.
Balazs describes today’s CMO as a chief marketing orchestrator, reflecting the move from overseeing individual functions to coordinating an interconnected system of people, technology, data, and AI.
That evolution is also changing what it takes to lead. The job increasingly requires CMOs to guide technology-driven decisions without coming from engineering backgrounds.
“I am not an engineer,” Balazs says. “Most marketers aren’t.”
The challenge is to understand the technology well enough to ask the right questions, translate technical capabilities into business outcomes, and help the organization act on them.
In the end, Balazs believes the defining advantage will not be technical expertise.
“Mindset is going to matter,” she says. The marketing organizations that thrive will be the ones filled with people who are eager to learn, comfortable with ambiguity, and energized by change. They are the people, she says, who “embrace the gray.”
Bank of Canada expected to hold as debate shifts to timing of rate hikes
The Bank of Canada is widely expected to hold its policy rate at 2.25% this week, but economists remain divided over how soon the central bank may need to begin raising rates.
Wyndham/Caesars Increase Transfer Cap To 60,000 Points (Normally 30,000 Points)
Update 7/13/26: Transfer cap has been increased again until 9/11/26
The Offer
- Wyndham/Caesars has increased the transfer limit from 30,000 points to 60,000 points
Our Verdict
Can transfer in both directions. Can purchase Wyndham points for 0.65¢ for currently so might be useful if you want Caesars points cheaply.
Hat tip to lenin1991
Australia finds serious gaps in Big Tech response to online child sexual abuse
Australia finds serious gaps in Big Tech response to online child sexual abuse
500 profit from Crypto Trading❤️🔥 | #shorts #crypto #trading
500 profit from Crypto Trading❤️🔥 | #shorts #crypto #trading
source
Education Department Updates Professional Degree List Again: More Nursing Programs Qualify
The Department of Education has revised its court-ordered list of professional degree programs for the second time in two weeks, clarifying which nursing programs qualify for higher federal student loan limits and fixing an omission that had excluded Ph.D. clinical psychology students.
The July 10, 2026 update to Electronic Announcement GENERAL-26-42 makes two changes. Nursing programs coded anywhere within the four-digit CIP families for Registered Nursing (MSN) and Nursing Practice (DNP) now qualify, as long as they award the same credential. And Clinical Psychology (CIP 42.2801) now includes the Ph.D. designation, which the Department says was “inadvertently not included” when the list was first published on June 29.
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Why It Matters
Professional degree status determines how much students can borrow. Under the loan limits that took effect July 1, 2026, professional students can borrow up to $50,000 per year and $200,000 total, while graduate students are capped at $20,500 per year and $100,000 total. With Grad PLUS loans eliminated, that classification is the difference between covering the cost of a program with federal loans or turning to private lenders.
The nursing clarification matters because many MSN and DNP programs are coded under six-digit CIP codes other than 51.3801 and 51.3818. Without the fix, students in those programs could have been shut out of professional loan limits on a technicality. The clinical psychology correction restores parity between Ph.D. and Psy.D. students in the same field.
The Full List Of Eligible Programs As Of July 10, 2026
During the court’s stay, these programs are treated as awarding professional degrees, provided they award the degree shown in parentheses:
- Anesthesiologist Assistant (CAA)
- Athletic Training/Trainer (MSAT; MAT)
- Audiology/Audiologist (AuD)
- Chiropractic (D.C.; D.C.M.)
- Clinical Child Psychology (Psy.D.)
- Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology, Other (Psy.D.)
- Clinical Psychology (Ph.D.; Psy.D.)
- Counseling Psychology (Psy.D.)
- Dentistry (D.D.S.; D.M.D.)
- Divinity/Ministry (M.Div.)
- Family Psychology (Psy.D.)
- Forensic Psychology (Psy.D.)
- Health/Medical Psychology (Psy.D.)
- Law (L.L.B.; J.D.)
- Medicine (M.D.)
- Nurse Anesthetist (DNAP)
- Nursing Practice (DNP)*
- Occupational Therapy/Therapist (OT; MSOT; OTD)
- Optometry (O.D.)
- Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.)
- Pharmacy (Pharm.D.)
- Physical Therapy/Therapist (PT; DPT)
- Physician Associate/Assistant (MSPA; PA)
- Podiatry (D.P.M.; D.P.; Pod.D.)
- Rabbinical Studies (M.H.L.)
- Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse (MSN)*
- School Psychology (Psy.D.)
- Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist (SLP)
- Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.)
*Includes any program within the same four-digit CIP code, provided it awards the same credential.
Notably excluded: theology programs outside the M.Div. and M.H.L., most non-clinical psychology fields (including industrial-organizational and educational psychology), and pharmaceutical sciences programs.
How This Connects
This is the latest turn in a fight we’ve been tracking since a federal judge blocked the Department’s narrow professional degree definition on June 24, days before the new loan caps took effect. That ruling forced the Department to expand its list from 11 fields under the RISE Final Rule to 29 CIP codes, restoring higher loan limits for physician assistant, physical therapy, occupational therapy, audiology, and advanced nursing students.
Remember, these designations are temporary. The Department says it will keep defending its original, narrower definition in court, and the list “may change as litigation in the case proceeds.” The Department is even encouraging schools to consider capping loans for the newly added programs at graduate levels to protect students from mid-program changes if the court order is lifted. Students in affected programs should watch StudentAid.gov/bigupdates for developments.
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Editor: Colin Graves
The post Education Department Updates Professional Degree List Again: More Nursing Programs Qualify appeared first on The College Investor.
2 Phenomenal Stocks That Could Double by 2030
Companies with clear opportunities to continue growing at high rates can multiply your investment, especially if the stock’s valuation still looks reasonable relative to future earnings. Artificial intelligence (AI) and the rise of stablecoin adoption are two megatrends poised to create generational wealth. Nvidia (NVDA 3.23%) and Circle Internet Group (CRCL 4.75%) are two excellent stocks to consider. Here’s why they could double in value by 2030.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Nvidia
Nvidia’s lead in AI chips could strengthen as agentic AI becomes more widespread. When multiple AIs run simultaneously to complete tasks, they require more sophisticated infrastructure than graphics processing units (GPUs) alone. That’s why Nvidia expects revenue from its central processing units (CPUs) to approach $20 billion this year, while its networking revenue surged 88% year over year last quarter.
The stock trades at a modest valuation relative to its momentum. This may reflect Wall Street’s concern about increasing competition in the semiconductor industry or a potential slowdown in data center spending. But Nvidia’s networking growth is a key signal about its competitive position as data centers continue to optimize hardware for more advanced AI use cases.
Today’s Change
(-3.23%) $-6.83
Current Price
$204.14
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$5.1TMarket cap calculated using publicly traded shares outstanding only. Does not include unlisted, private, or dual-class non-traded shares. Implied market cap may vary.
Day’s Range
$203.00 – $210.57
52wk Range
$162.02 – $236.54
Volume
4.3M
Avg Vol
158.9M
Gross Margin
74.15%
Dividend Yield
0.13%
By offering multiple chip types and networking equipment, Nvidia is providing a complete end-to-end stack for building AI-optimized data centers. Its Vera CPU is designed specifically for agentic workflows and is expected to deliver roughly twice the performance per watt of traditional x86 chips. This chip will also be integrated into more complex multi-rack systems built on the Vera Rubin platform.
Despite Nvidia’s momentum, the stock’s forward price-to-earnings ratio sits around 23 at the time of writing, which is modest for a high-growth business. Analysts expect earnings to grow about 45% annually over the next few years, implying a price-to-earnings-growth (PEG) ratio near 0.51. If the valuation holds and growth stays on track, the stock has a clear path to doubling by 2030, if not sooner.
2. Circle Internet Group
Circle is the issuer of USDC, one of the largest dollar-pegged stablecoins. It earns interest income on the reserve assets — such as short-term U.S. Treasuries — that back each USDC in circulation. The model is straightforward: As USDC adoption expands, Circle’s reserve base grows, and interest income rises.
Today’s Change
(-4.75%) $-3.14
Current Price
$63.00
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$16BMarket cap calculated using publicly traded shares outstanding only. Does not include unlisted, private, or dual-class non-traded shares. Implied market cap may vary.
Day’s Range
$62.36 – $66.10
52wk Range
$49.90 – $262.97
Volume
12.9M
Avg Vol
15.1M
Gross Margin
4.98%
Agentic AI could become a major catalyst for USDC over the next decade, as software agents will be able to initiate and settle far more transactions than humans can. USDC circulation reached $77 billion in the first quarter, up 28% year over year. That growth helped drive total revenue and reserve income of $694 million, an increase of 20%.
USDC has already processed $90 trillion in lifetime transaction volume, and that figure could climb dramatically in an agent-driven economy.
Circle is investing to capture that shift. It’s rolling out products like Agent Wallets and an Agent Marketplace to help merchants monetize agent-initiated USDC transactions across multiple blockchains and payment rails.
Circle is positioned to benefit if stablecoins become a primary means of payment for AI agents. The stock’s forward P/E reflects that potential, trading at 51 times, while earnings are expected to grow 56% annually. If that growth materializes, there’s enough upside for Circle stock to double within the next four years.