Anthony Carlton

Founder @ CRE Digital | Helping commercial real estate funds raise capital with premium branding and investor acquisition systems

I built my personal brand to escape the corporate grind.

After working with clients across finance, private equity, venture, and real estate—I doubled down on one clear problem:

Most CRE firms struggle to raise capital online.

That’s why I founded CRE Digital — a content and brand strategy partner for capital raisers, fund managers, and private equity firms.

We turn your expertise into influence, using systems that drive:

• Brand authority that builds trust
• LP investor leads and committed capital
• Off-market deal flow and JV partners
• Speaking invites and top CRE podcast features

What sets us apart? 

We’ve sat on both sides of the table — advising high-net-worth investors and partnering with top CRE operators.

Now, we build digital brands that attract capital at scale.

If you’re serious about raising capital and want your brand to do the heavy lifting, book a call in my featured section or visit credigital.io

Founder & Brand Advisor

Build Your Brand @ FinGhost.io

Your independence isn't violently taken from you.

It vanishes with 100s of "safe" decisions.

Here's how it happens (and ends up becoming a cage):

Age 18: You choose the "smart" major.

• Law.
• Finance. 
• Engineering. 
• Computer science.

Your parents are relieved. You're rewarded with scholarships and summer internships.

Age 22: You take the corporate job.

Goldman. McKinsey. Google. Whichever pays most and has the best brand.

Your professors congratulate you. Your classmates envy you. You're rewarded with a signing bonus and an impressive title.

Age 25: You accept the promotion.

More responsibility. More money. More visibility to senior leadership.

Your manager says you're on the "fast track." You're rewarded with status and a salary that justifies the lifestyle inflation you didn't plan.

Age 30: You take the management role.

People report to you now. You attend 10-15 meetings a week. You have influence—or at least the appearance of it.

You're rewarded with prestige and the comfort of knowing you're winning the game everyone else is playing.

Age 35: You wake up.

Your calendar isn't yours.
Your decisions aren't yours.
Your time isn't yours.

You're unhappy and burned out, but you can't move because you have a mortgage, car payment, daycare, and stock options vesting.

Every individual choice was rational.

But somewhere along the way, your autonomy disappeared.

The trap works because it's not obviously a trap.

It's comfortable. 
Respectable. 
Safe.

It's what winning looks like from the outside.

But from the inside, it feels like you're capable of more...smart enough to see the problems but powerless to fix them.

Successful by every conventional measure.

But somehow still not free.

This is the trap to avoid. 
Now you know what it looks like.

What you are working on in 2026 for more personal freedom in 2027?

--

♻️ Repost if this resonates.

Follow me Anthony Carlton for more posts on building wealth and independence.

I build media systems for operators who want influence, growth, & capital at scale | $50M raised through social | Founder & Writer

Don't quit your 9-5 to go "all in" as a solopreneur until you have 4 things: 
 
- Proven offer 
- Clients paying you 
- Results and case studies 
- Consistent lead gen systems 
 
Give yourself 6-12 months to build skills and undeniable social proof before you leap. 
 
In 2019 I quit my job, spent a fat chunk of my life savings, and failed at going solo. 
 
I had 0/4 essentials above. 
 
Didn't know how to write. 
Didn't know how to sell. 
Didn't know how to build. 
 
In 2022 I made a successful transition from 9-5 to building a full-time creator income. 
 
But I worked for 12 months alongside my 9-5: 
 
• Testing ideas 
• Growing on LinkedIn 
• Finding proof of concept 
 
I'm confident everyone who reads this can build a full-time income as a creator. 
 
But only if you set yourself up for success. 
 
That's why I write weekly guides giving actionable strategies for making the leap. 
 
Need a good place to start? 
 
Read this: https://lnkd.in/e-RX6KFj

“Set a goal to become a millionaire—not for the money, but for what it will make of you.”

Jim Rohn damn near invented the category of personal development.

This is one of his hardest-hitting quotes.

In one sentence, it shifted my mindset around goals.

Setting goals is less about the end result, and more about who you become in the process of achieving it.

Early in my career, I chased all the wrong things.

→ If I only got that raise...
→ If I could just get that VP title...
→ If I check one more big goal off my list...

I thought if I just hit the next milestone, then I’d feel free. Then I’d feel successful.

But learning from people like Jim Rohn, I realized:

The goals weren't a magic checklist.

The goals were about who I had to become to achieve them.

→ A person who can communicate better
→ A person who can be self-reliant
→ A person who can grow and improve

Writing did that for me.

It gave me clarity.
It built proof of work.
It opened doors that used to be locked.

But more than that, it forced discipline. It exposed gaps in how I think. And it helped me build leverage instead of just more output.

So yeah, set big goals.

But understand: the real win isn’t the number.

It’s who you have to become to earn it.

That’s where the compounding starts.

What's the WHY behind your biggest goal right now?

Anthony Carlton

Do you want to be impressive or independent?

99% optimize for an "impressive" cage.

Achievement looks like:

- Climbing the corporate ladder
- Adding prestigious titles to LinkedIn
- Hitting salary milestones
- Getting promoted faster than peers
- Building a resume that impresses strangers

Achievement is external validation.

It's playing a game someone else designed and winning by their rules.

Agency looks like:

- Owning your calendar
- Making decisions without approval
- Building assets that compound
- Disconnecting time from income
- Designing work around your life, not the other way around

Agency is internal freedom.

It's designing your own game and defining what winning means.

Here's the trap:

Achievement is measurable, visible, and celebrated.
Agency is quiet, personal, and invisible to others.

So we chase achievement because it's easier to see we're making progress.

We climb faster, earn more, get promoted sooner. And wake up one day realizing we built an impressive cage.

I spent my 20s optimizing for achievement.

• Better titles. 
• Higher salary. 
• More responsibility.

I looked successful on paper but felt trapped in practice.

Now I optimize for independence.

• More decisions I own. 
• Fewer meetings I didn't schedule. 
• Systems that don't require my constant presence.

It's less impressive to people on LinkedIn.

But infinitely more valuable to me.

The question isn't "How do I achieve more?"

The question is "How do I build for optionality?"

--

♻️ Repost if this resonates.

Follow me Anthony Carlton for more posts on building wealth and independence.

Thomas Strider

Business & Corporate Financial Consultant (FP&A)

RightMessage

RightMessage helps pro creators and online businesses segment their audience and personalize their website, opt-ins, and email marketing. No code required.

Angel Investor

Entrepreneur Media

Contributing articles on the future of entrepreneurship.

Contributing Writer

Brainz Magazine

Contributing writer on the topics of entrepreneurship, marketing, and personal development.

Executive Contributor | Global 500 Award Winner

Helping solopreneurs close ideal clients | Learn to craft offers, develop sales systems & write authoritative content in my newsletter, the Laptop Lifestyle | Currently working in the nearest coffee shop ☕️

Short version: 

I help solopreneurs sell and scale with improved offers and system building frameworks.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Long version:

In 2015, I worked in a hospital as a pharmacy tech. I was underpaid, overworked, and barely scrapping by... even with a 4 year college degree.

At the end of 2015, I told myself "enough is enough."

I quit. Which was risky, given I had 0 savings and 0 plan. I started freelancing, beginning with photography, then content writing. 

From 2016 to summer 2018 I worked for myself, before burning out and returning to corporate. I need a reset, and to determine better systems for entrepreneurship moving forward.

So between the years of 2018 and 2021 I was promoted 3 different times, from advisor → senior banker → sales trainer → wealth and small business consulting.

I quit my consulting job in the banking industry in 2021 to pursue a job in financial analytics for the healthcare startup, MainStreet Family Care. During this time I also began an accelerated MBA program (graduating in August 2022).

At the time I began my career in financial analytics, I launched my consulting practice, where I help service-based businesses with financial reporting, operations, budgeting, and forecasting.

To recap, In 2021 I made some massive moves:

- Shifted to a 9-5 in financial analytics
- Launched my operations & consulting firm
- Started my MBA program (graduating in August 2022)

I still operate my consulting business helping service-based companies with financial reporting and analysis.

But I also have taken all of my skills and knowledge from entrpreneurship... and launched my latest company in 2024: Coffee Shop Nation (CSN)

CSN is an educational platform for internet business owners, helping them start and grow their online business + personal brand.

We provide tools, resources, community and courses with the goal of helping people maximize their income while designing their business around their ideal lifestyle.

If you're interested in starting or growing your internet business, check out everything we offer at CoffeeShopNation.com, including our free weekly newsletter The Laptop Lifestyle.

If you'd llike to explore working together 1:1, my profile is open to receive messages from everyone. Shoot me a message and let's chat. 

Rooting for you.

Founder

The best online education platform for solopreneurs and micro-business owners.

Get online business & content creation tips for free every Friday: https://www.coffeeshopnation.com/the-laptop-lifestyle

taplio

The Battle

Anthony Carlton

Thomas Strider

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreAnthony Carlton's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Anthony Carlton

Thomas Strider

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Anthony Carlton's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreAnthony Carlton's LinkedIn Performance