Taking risks, especially when it involves money, is not for the faint of heart. As a society, we are taught to save up our money dollar by dollar until we need it for a rainy day or retirement. However, our guest today, Yusef Alexander, disproves this notion. With inflation and the constant of change, sitting on money is only a disservice to your future self. Rather, that money should be working for you to further invest in yourself by diversifying your assets, feeding into your curiosities and learning from your mistakes.  As co-founder of REAP, Yusef brings over 20 years of experience in the successful development of commercial and residential assets. His work includes negotiating, evaluating, and sourcing opportunities and creating added value in properties. Serving as REAP’s asset financial manager, Yusef fosters relationships with regional, leasing, and on-site managers to ensure consistent alignment with the company’s values and principles. Yusef’s philanthropic concerns are early childhood literacy and financial literacy for adults. He is the author of Deal by Deal: A Practical Guide to Real Estate Investing and holds a degree in business economics from UCLA. He has also served as a guest professor at the UCLA School of Public Policy as well as been an invited event panelist for the Department of Economics.