She’s 33 – and already (semi-)retired thanks to clever investments in real estate, crypto, fine arts and precious metals. Sorelle shares her knowledge of some of these investments on her channel, Sorelle Amore Finance. She has travelled to 51 countries and recently completed recording her music album in Iceland. If you do not yet follow her on YouTube, we invite you to take a look. If you want to see this amazing young woman live, join us at the League of Leading Ladies Conference in June 2023, where she will be on stage as one of our keynote speakers.
“Sorelle focuses on obtaining ultimate levels of freedom in every area of life and is an advocate for alternative and free-living.” – a powerful statement from her website. Is it really possible to create passive income through clever investments at this age with no previous knowledge about finance, without coming from a wealthy family and without an MBA? And not to mention: without being bound to one place and while travelling the world? Sorelle has proven this to work for her and she shares her free spirit story with us, inspiring us from the very first minute we talk.
Ladies Drive: Sorelle, I found you by accident on YouTube and have followed you since then. But before we talk about what you do, let’s get to know you a little bit better. What is the scent of your childhood?
Sorelle Amore: Oh my gosh, wow! Mangos and the ocean. We lived close to the ocean.
You grew up in Australia, right?
We grew up in Australia until I was five, in Bondi Beach actually. At the time, it was amazing because it was very much the hippie capital of Sydney and it wasn’t as desirable to live there. It’s where a lot of the free spirits lived, whilst now it’s probably the most famous place in Australia, very luxurious and expensive. My mum was basically a single mum of three at that stage, so she just took us to the beach as much as possible. That was her way of keeping us entertained. So, I’m definitely going to say the ocean was the scent of my childhood and that was a beautiful time.
Why did you leave Australia?
I’ve actually left Australia many times. When I was five, we moved to Poland for six years to be with my dad. Then we went back to Australia when I was 11. The last time I properly left Australia for a longer period was in 2016 and I’ve been on the road since then. My intuition just told me to buy a one-way ticket to Europe, because I’ve never lived in Europe as an adult. I cried my eyes out for two months every night before moving due to fear, overwhelm, and anxiety of making the wrong move (laughter).
And you did it anyway, so you love being out of your comfort zone?
I have to be out of my comfort zone.
Why do you have to?
Well, I don’t have to do anything, let me rephrase that. I get to choose to do these things. I just think that in the comfort zone, nothing exciting really happens. You don’t really get to fully experience all of life or all of the emotions if you’re in your comfort zone. It’s too repetitive, everything is the same. Of course, at times, comfort is precisely what you need. Personally, I desire a higher level of discomfort than most.
Some people love it.
Oh yes, of course! Some people love the comfort zone. There’s not really any adrenaline spike, not much of an unknown. It’s comfortable, yet especially regarding survival – you’re not being challenged much. I like to choose my challenges, otherwise the universe will throw challenges your way that you haven’t chosen. So, I like to choose how I’m going to stretch my comfort zone and grow. Moving countries every few years is definitely one thing I regularly do now. Starting new businesses every few years is another thing. I also like starting brand-new projects every few years, not having any idea what I’m doing. Like right now, I’m becoming a musician and I have no clue what is happening (laughter)!
So why did you start to become a musician?
Well, I essentially retired early and just realised that I’m living the retirement dream, except a lot earlier. Many people will, when they retire, begin exploring their childhood passions or goals. Mine was music. I wanted to do music.
Like singing or playing an instrument?
Singing. So I’ve actually got a full album done and now we are creating music videos and learning how to do the PR and marketing around music, which is a whole different ball game. But yeah, I get to experience what it’s like to retire early (laughter).
Very early!
Very, very early.
In how many countries have you been to and how many companies have you founded?
51 countries. 5 companies.
What’s the most successful one for you, making it possible for you to retire early?
My personal brand actually became the most successful one over the last six years. That’s the one that allowed me to retire. And since my semi-retirement, we started Abundantia – that one’s been doing super great with 11 staff members, two agencies and contractors working with us. We’re reaching millions of people through the videos. It’s honestly been a great side project for me. The team takes care of it all and I get to do just the things that no one else can except for me, like being on camera, since I’m the face of the brand. I’ve delegated everything that I don’t need to do thanks to the other co-founder Leon who runs the day-to-day of the company.
How did you build your businesses up at the beginning?
It’s almost as if I’ve grown up on the Internet. I was about 21 when I started making my first YouTube videos, which I started with comedy because I didn’t know what else to do (laughter). The best part of it is that I am not that funny. I remember early on, before YouTube was popular, the idea that you could just press the upload button and suddenly there was a video that you created out of nothing, that people could actually watch. That was so intriguing to me. I was obsessed with YouTube! My friends were asking me, “What are you doing? Why would you do this?”
What did you tell them?
I just enjoyed doing it. It was really fun. But the criticism made me not want to pursue it, so I stopped for a while and went back and did it again and again. Five false starts later, I started regularly creating YouTube content. At the time I was 25 and my interests were travelling and photography, so I just started with travel and photography and then it developed into self-portraits, which I called the “advanced selfie”, because I actually felt it was hilarious and I didn’t think anyone would care for it. I just made it a joke for myself, because it seems like such a ridiculous concept. I think one of my favourite things about that whole concept is the light-heartedness. Nobody actually suspected that it would be a big business, yet I ended up making my first million dollars from the “advanced selfie” concept. Now I have a book circulating in ten languages around the world on the topic.
How could you turn your idea into a business?
I created a course. It is called the “Advanced Selfie University” and has a lot of students in it. 8,000+ students! But I also made the up-sell into “Oh, you like this course? Well, if you want to showcase your photos, you need to understand social media, so you can reach more people.” Then I had an up-sell into an Instagram University, which I called the “Hashtag Blessed Instagram University.” The next upsell was: “Instagram is great, but sometimes you can’t make a full-time living off that, so let me share with you everything that I’ve done on my personal journey of becoming a public figure.” Soon I had a Public Figure Bootcamp. It resulted in six homes and investments in crypto and precious metals as well.
Did someone help you with this or did you have any help from family or friends? Who helped you to do all the investments?
My first few real estate, crypto, and precious metal investments were done independently. Mum sent me the link to a farm with lots of land I could preserve. So, I swiftly put in an offer. Soon after, my sister sent me an information about a home where I could again preserve the land. Once more, I acted fast and put in an offer and got it.
Next on my real estate investment journey I hired a property investing agency in Australia to help me find extra homes. Those investments were great and helped me understand what a profitable and hassle-free real estate investment can look like.
One thing I knew is that I never wanted to invest in the S&P 500. That’s my personal thing. I don’t like stocks. It’s a personal decision, because I don’t want to support the stocks of most companies. I stick to a path I enjoy investing in.
You don’t have stocks at all?
I have no stocks at all. This is all my opinion and I just don’t think it’s the best choice for me. Let me explain. Personally, I just don’t like supporting big corporations that I think are not doing the best thing for the world. Will it get you a return? Yes, it’s historically one of the greatest investments because, for long-term holding, it’s usually on an upward trajectory. However, I just don’t feel good about it. So, I chose not to invest in stocks and real estate has always been an interest of mine. When we were kids, my mum and dad gave us a choice when driving in the car: “Do you want to listen to Tony Robbins or to Robert Kiyosaki?” There was no music. So, I grew up listening to Tony Robbins and Robert Kiyosaki. From a very young age, I always knew real estate was my thing. My goal is still to have 50 properties by the age of 50, but I’m not sure if I want to do that anymore.
Why?
Because now we have twelve. I have six myself and, together with my business partner, we have another six. This is where it gets confusing, because some people will hear that I don’t invest in SMPs or any stocks and they’ll think, well, real estate is not any better. You’re stealing houses away from other people. This is where I am actually torn. Therefore, I’m looking at different places to invest. Now my interest is Bitcoin. I’m getting more intrigued by that world.
When did you start buying Bitcoin?
2020, that was my first introduction, so quite late.
Did you buy other crypto assets?
Yes, I did, small amounts. I really bought hesitantly because I didn’t understand and then I watched last year when Bitcoin reached 60,000 U.S. dollars and I was like “Oh dang, I should have bought way more” (laughter). I still am so new to this world and I’m now attending conferences to understand how to use this tool. For me, it’s a tool and not an investment. It’s a new currency. I’m exploring this world, because I believe this is the future.
For me, cryptos and Bitcoin were intriguing because they are a decentralised currency.
Exactly. I think that it’s going to be very mainstream in the near future. To me, I just always felt like real estate and precious metals were the safest.
Do you physically have gold or precious metals?
Unfortunately, no. I travel a lot, so most of it is in secure storage vaults around the world. If someone has more stability and doesn’t travel as much as I do, I think they could explore the idea of having precious metals on hand, some in small coins, for example. Secure the metals perhaps in a safe, and don’t tell a soul about it.
What else are you invested in?
Now we have invested in fine art through Masterworks. We’ve got a few shares in a Banksy amongst others. I realise now that it’s a contradiction to say I don’t own stocks. Well, I suppose fine art shares are a little different in my eyes (laughter).
That’s really cool! But where are you right now? You said you are up to having visited over 50 countries. Where are you at the moment?
Right now, I’m actually in Los Angeles. I’ve been here a little over two months, just to get away from the Icelandic weather because that’s what I called home for the last two full years (and before that on and off for five years). This whole LA time is really about healing post-burnout. I’ve finally allowed myself to do self-care now, which I’ve realised is one of the most important things that we, as entrepreneurs, have to do.
What happened?
For three years, I was just burnt out. I had absolutely no creative flow and even sending a single email was incredibly difficult. I remember hearing people say this about burnout and thought, “That’s never going to happen to me”. Throughout my 20s, I worked 16-hour days. I did not stop. When the burnout hit me around the age of 30, I had reached my financial goals. At the same time, I could not even send emails. I had to get help from my partner. I felt like a toddler, like a baby all of a sudden. It’s been a three-year healing process and now I’ve learned to look after my health. I went to a doctor to de-stress my body, cleansing my internal system. I just want to bring it up because I didn’t realise that sometimes, no matter if you do yoga or meditation, to come back from a creative burnout or any burnout, there is one other factor cannot be overlooked: your gut. It’s the something inside of your body that won’t allow you to think properly unless it’s healthy. The gut is responsible for so much of our mood and health. After the cleanse, I couldn’t stop the ideas from flowing. It’s like I came back to life.
After going through such a twist of events in relation to your health – how important is money to you now?
Money used to be the most important thing that I worked towards. My sole focus was financial success. It was never so I could buy the latest and greatest things. Spending money on expensive brands doesn’t matter to me. I just took the money that I made, invested it, so that my money would keep growing. I learnt to multiply my money and have passive income returns from my investments. After my burnout and after being very much humbled – my ego was really humbled in 2020 – I realised in many ways that I was absolutely not successful. What became obvious to me was how much I had distanced myself from deep connections. I really didn’t have friends. I really didn’t do anything except focus on my career. That was a shocking realisation when I was stuck in the middle of a big, beautiful cabin in Iceland in 2020, with no one around me except my then fiancé. I realised it was a sad existence without community, and it felt quite empty. Life felt incomplete because I didn’t have a deep connection with my family or friends. It was really upsetting. So now my measures of success are absolutely not financial, they are just joy, play and connection.
In your Sorelle Amore Finance channel, you criticise a lot of powerful people.
There’s nothing besides facts in those videos. It’s highly researched. We have two researchers on the team to ensure validity of information. The quality of information that we put out there, and the editing, needs a full team. We’re also now shifting the content to be very practical, to give people tools in order to be a sovereign individual – “What do you need in order to be a free human? How to get multiple passports, how to set up your investments properly, how to legally minimise your tax.”
Legally reducing tax is a whole discussion within itself. I actually believe this is a great way to level the gap with the billionaires who don’t pay any taxes. The governments need to be working for us. It’s an outrage to even think that they don’t work for us. And we’ve just accepted this as normal. They put corporations before individuals. Let’s get this straight: governments are nothing but businesses. They’re not some high and mighty corporation. They are just a business, trying to make money, and the dollar is more important than customer care. That’s why it’s a beautiful time, because now you’re seeing different corporations, – aka governments – around the world realising: “Hey, we need extra customers, let’s make it enticing for them to come to us.” That’s why you see governments around the world giving great tax incentives to individuals, giving them opportunities to have extra residencies or citizenship if they come and choose to do business in that country. It’s no longer about where you were born. Now it’s a choice for some because of how poorly we’re being treated as citizens of certain countries.
Has someone has ever threatened you for the things you say in your videos? You have quite a reach!
It’s a full team behind what you see. I’m the face of the brand and the videos are only facts and all of this information is out there on the Internet. We’re not sharing anything that isn’t available, we are not disclosing any unknown secrets.
Did you ever have self-doubts or feel ashamed of something you did or said?
I think everybody has a level of self-doubt and shame. I think shame has been taught to us. Shame and guilt are some of the most toxic feelings we can have. I don’t think it’s really natural for us to have them. “Shame on you for doing that!” or “You should be ashamed of yourself!” That minimises people’s power so much and keeps them playing small, so as not to threaten their neighbour.
Shame controls us.
It controls people. It definitely minimises people. I’m working very hard to get rid of those feelings on a daily basis. That’s why I think everybody feels these feelings regularly. My relationship with self-doubt – there’s definitely an almost constant little voice in my head saying, “Are you sure about this?” But I don’t know why, I just seem to have this thing that I’ll shut it off, close my eyes and ears and just go for it. You just have to chip away and do one tiny thing at a time. With almost every business I’ve started, I didn’t really know what I was doing. The initial process of anything is so scary and my imposter syndrome definitely creeps in here and there saying, “You don’t know if any of this is going to work!” I just don’t let it stop me and whatever I do, I go all in. And although I may be likely to fail, I’m still going to put all the steps in place to try it and see if it works – like my music album right now. The outcome is out of my control, but what is in my control are the tiny steps I can take in order to create my work and get it out into the world. I don’t worry about the outcome. I simply focus on the steps. It’s these tiny steps that create a snowball effect that I really enjoy.
Are you afraid of losing your houses, your investments?
Yeah. I mean, I still have a small level of concern because I really don’t trust governments. For example, I think they could just come along and say: “Oops, it’s ours now.” Which they do. They repossess over 5,000 houses every single week in the U.S. alone. Anything could really happen. But I’ve lived off very little before. So sure, while I don’t wish for it to be gone and I need to start over again, I believe I’ll always be just fine. For me, every tricky situation is simply a challenge to level up, even though I sometimes just want to curl up in a ball, hide from the world and cry when things are tough. Occasionally, I do that and when I get my strength back, I tackle the situation.
What’s the next big thing for you?
Well, next week I’m swimming with whales and dolphins, which I’m very excited about. Creating a family is on my mind as well. Career-wise, I want to free as many people in the world as I possibly can. And then also give back. I have a powerful cause that I’m really locked in on. It’s assisting the liberation of women in the Middle East, because I feel like that it’s the most oppressed area for women in the world. If our sisters in the Middle East, or even some parts of Africa or anywhere in the world, are that oppressed and not free, that means that none of us are really free.
And one last question: did you ever feel guilty because you have more money than others?
I personally donate and share a lot. But to be honest, if people tell you, you should feel bad about the money you earned – just don’t listen. Enjoy it! You’ve just become free after a lifetime of not being free. Yet there’s so many people that want to guilt you into: “But you should be donating. Why are you not giving to other people? Why are you not sharing?” They will guilt you beyond belief that you have money and they don’t. That is your time to finally relax and allow yourself to feel safe in the world. Enjoy it and eventually there will to be things that pop up, where you get so excited about them that you want to give back. And that’s when you’ll start the work of doing that. Remember that everything comes in stages, so don’t rush it. Your desire to help others is going to come strongly and it might take a few years for that to kick in while you’re enjoying the process of “Holy shit, I finally have some money!” What we need more of in the world now, is good people with money, specifically women with money, as it’s been shown that those individuals are likely to invest far more back into community than men. So go out there, and make huge money. The world deserves it.
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