We recently had the chance to connect with Linda Ruiz Peña and have shared our conversation below.
Linda, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. Who are you learning from right now?
My kids, my meditation group and Yung Pueblo’s book “The Way Forward”
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
A few years ago I was interviewed by Voyage LA and honored they reached back out for an update through their new series, The Highlighter. When I first shared my story with Voyage LA I owned Venture Yours—a property management business focused on vacation homes. Since then, my husband and I embraced a semi-retirement in our late 30’s and recently came back from traveling with our 2 kids for a year.
Back track about 15 years: Venture Yours (the property management business) started shortly after my husband and I returned from a year of honeymooning around the world. Upon our return, we lived on a sailboat. After about a year and a half on the water, we purchased our first home, which sparked my path into real estate investing—long-term rentals, flips, and short-term rentals. Real estate has always been in my roots: my dad was an agent, my mom a notary/accountant, and I grew up tagging along to property visits, which inspired me to become a Real Estate Broker myself.
After buying our first house, we wanted to keep enjoying the boat but couldn’t justify paying both a mortgage and slip fees. Around that time, there was a new company on the frontier called Airbnb, so I listed our sailboat—and immediately saw the potential. That experience grew organically into managing other people’s assets and generating income in the vacation rental space, which became Venture Yours.
Since then, so much has changed: the impact of Covid, a personal shift toward gratitude and abundance, the eventual sale of Venture Yours (largely its branding, post-Covid), and my husband’s retirement from the demanding lifestyle of the fire service. That transition came from many conversations about how we wanted to live, what truly mattered, and facing the fears that came with change. Thanks to years of saving and investing early on, we were able to lean on assets and passive income into this transition.
For us, semi-retirement means working about 15 hours a week and spending more time with our kids. With our properties under management, my focus now is on creating systems that allow me to better analyze and optimize the performance of our portfolio. For my husband, it looks like working a highly flexible schedule as a Disneyland Firefighter. Making less and living a fuller life – morning tea with my husband, more bike rides and beach time, hot tub hangs with the kids and talking about our day, going inward, attempting to live in the present and slowing down.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
I can’t point to just one moment—rather, it’s been a collection of experiences that, when I reflect on them, have truly shaped how I see the world.
Being Mexican American taught me the value of family, the grounding that comes from growing up between two cultures, and compassion. Witnessing the struggles and sacrifices my parents and ancestors made instilled in me the importance of leading with kindness instead of judgment. It also gave me an appreciation for life’s simple luxuries, and the ability to adapt. That perspective taught me to see life from multiple angles and respect differences.
Travel continues to open my mind and heart. It reminds me of our shared humanity, expands my sense of compassion, and deepens my gratitude for both the vastness of the world and the beauty of home.
Experiencing trauma at a young age also shaped me. From early childhood until about 11, I went through sexual trauma. I remember a school journal prompt: “If you could tell your younger self something, knowing what you know now, what would it be?” My answer was: “Life goes on.” I had learned— nothing is permanent, life has many chapters and we have a choice to choose gratitude and love. Of course, it took years of healing and work, but that lesson has never left me.
My parents have been a huge influence as well. My mom was born in the U.S., my dad in Mexico—so I’m somewhere between first and second generation. Their choices were always for us. They worked hard every day, often with little, but never forgot to give and to love. My mom, strong-willed and stubborn, showed me the power of resilience, and her love was always fierce and unconditional. My dad carried the “sí se puede” spirit, always reminding me that anything is possible. He had a way of turning hardships into fun challenges, teaching me not to take life too seriously and to embrace it as an adventure.
And finally, my abuelitas taught me the secret of finding luxury in simplicity. They showed me how to truly see the good, notice the small details—the trees, the sun, the wind—and feel a deeper connection to life.
I give gratitude for all the moments that brought me here and all the moments to come.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
I did give up in a sense. There’s often a negative connotation around that phrase yet I feel giving something up can give space for something expansive.
I’ve always been someone who makes a plan, lines up the tasks, and sees it through. That approach has served me well in many areas of my life. My husband is much more go with the flow, and from him I’ve learned the value of flexibility within plans. After Covid, I could have rebuilt my company, and I have no doubt it would have continued to succeed. Travel was surging, our rates had increased, and the demand for management was increasing significantly. But, I was experiencing a deeper mental shift.
Asking the overlooked question: “How do I want to live?”
To spend more time with the ones I love, doing the things that bring joy. Enjoying the simple luxuries: the wind, the rest, the mundane. It’s where the magic happens. Being barefoot, the aesthetics, the aromas, trying new flavors…
My goal is not to build wealth and have my kids build wealth. That is an added bonus. The goal is to build a mental perspective of compassion, emotional maturity, grow in love, laugh a lot, dance and teach our children this. I don’t think money is bad. I think it can be great. I do think that if your goal is wealth, you may end up where you are headed. But if the goal is a mental perspective that allows for growth and peace, emotional maturity, and I can continue to grow in love and laugh a lot, I will better know how to grow with money. My children will too.
I made the decision to give up the company and sold during Covid—at that point, mostly its branding. That was just the beginning of what was to come.
Two years later, my husband retired from the Fire Service, and together we stepped into semi-retirement. Letting go of something familiar to make room for something unknown brought fears, doubts, and risks. And yet, looking back, I see how “giving up” was letting go of fears. It has been liberating and we continue to go inward with gratitude and are in awe of the spaces we move in.
Not a day goes by that my husband and I don’t look at each other and say, “Life is good.” Turns out giving something up gave space for expansion.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What do you believe is true but cannot prove?
Connection and intuition
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. When do you feel most at peace?
Watching a tree in the wind
Feeling the sun on my face
Meditating
Snuggling my kids
Dancing
In the arms of my husband
Image Credits
Brendan Peña
