Building Passive Income Through Real Estate: Lessons from Lane Kawaoka

My guest today on Your Partner In Success Radio is Lane Kawaoka, founder of The Wealth Elevator and a three-time best-selling author.

Lane began his career in industrial and civil engineering, managing large-scale capital projects, before making a strategic pivot into real estate investing. Today, he owns interests in more than 10,000 rental units, representing a portfolio of over $2.1 billion.

He’s also the author of The Wealth Elevator, where he breaks down how busy professionals can build passive income using data-driven real estate investing, syndications, and tax strategies—without flipping houses or adding a second full-time job.

Show Notes

From Engineer to Real Estate Investor: How Lane Kawaoka Built Scalable Wealth

What does it really take to build wealth without creating another full-time job?

In this episode of Your Partner In Success Radio, Denise Griffitts sits down with real estate investor and author Lane Kawaoka to unpack the systems, mindset, and strategic decisions behind scalable wealth building for busy professionals.

Lane shares how he transitioned from a traditional engineering career into large-scale real estate investing, why active strategies like flipping and wholesaling often fail high-income professionals, and how passive investing can be structured to support long-term freedom rather than constant hustle.

Drawing from his book The Wealth Elevator, Lane explains why most people remain stuck on the lower “floors” of wealth, how access to better information changes outcomes, and what professionals need to understand about risk, scalability, and time leverage before making their first serious investment.

This conversation goes beyond tactics. It explores the emotional side of money, the absence of mentorship in traditional career paths, and why systems—not effort alone—determine financial outcomes.

If you’re a professional who wants your money working harder than you do, this episode offers a grounded, practical look at what sustainable wealth actually requires.

If today’s conversation resonated with you, I highly recommend checking out The Wealth Elevator. Lane is offering the book in PDF, MP3, or physical copy formats as a complimentary gift for listeners and members of your network who request it.

You’ll find all the details👉 https://thewealthelevator.com/author

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