Latest / Forget The Noise / 13. Collaboration Creates Success | Featuring Chelsea Pileggi

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13. Collaboration Creates Success | Featuring Chelsea Pileggi · Forget The Noise

• speaker-0: They say motivation is something you want. Discipline is something you need. Obsession is something you have to have. I'm gonna show you what I wanted, how I got it, and how I was obsessed to get there. Alright, another week on Forget the Noise Podcast. Chelsea Pellegi is here today. She is a mastermind on like support staff, VAs, especially in the real estate sector. But I'm not gonna isolate to just staff because we're gonna dive into that today. And we've actually been chit-chatting for a couple weeks now, so it's I've made these notes a while ago. So you gotta bear with me here as I refresh my memory, but I'm gonna wing it just like I do with my guest. Fun part is like guests always reach out to me and say, Hey, do I have like an episode primer? I'm like, no, we're just gonna wing it. We're just gonna go with it. Hope for the best. And we jump on and it's been a success so far. So welcome, Chelsea. We were saying before that I love having women on the podcast because I find their mindset and approach to problems or the world as a whole is just so different. Like I'm always blown away when I have a woman guest on. It's just a cool, different, I guess, concept to wrap my head around because I think of things a certain way. I'm very like head down, horns out, go get it kind of guy. And women tend to step back and like assess the whole situation. Hence you look at people's situations with allowing them to have support behind them and kinda say, Okay, hold on, where do you actually need help? Right? She's the owner of Casa Casa of a men. So I'm going off your Instagram handle. I'm like, where does the where do the lines end, right? Yeah. the best is always one those people that are like the real F and so and so. I'm like, your handle is and one of those speaker-1: Cas of admin. Did we say that? speaker-0: I feel like we align because I'm huge on suffer. Yeah. I think that's what's built my business so far. ⁓ I literally have a company who consults and like assists in support. Like we have a business solution company that helps with that kind of stuff. And the contracting world aligns with real estate and administration so much. I find like they're just like two peas in a pot. Yeah. Kind of thing, right? So let's dive into it. Just tell us about yourself. Let's just start there, baseline of like who you are as a person. ⁓ speaker-1: So I was actually a real estate agent myself. In twenty seventeen I got my license. ⁓ I like to call myself a rookie realtor because at that time I just I had no idea, right? Like I was so lost in the sauce, had no idea what I was doing. ⁓ fast forward a couple years we started our family and I I dropped my license. ⁓ my first little guy had some medical issues that we knew when I was pregnant, and he was born and it was just like too much, and which we'll dive into a bit. Like the real estate world is just so all-encompassing, right? Like there's so much to it. ⁓ so I dropped my license when I was on MAT leave. I had a local realtor reach out and ask if I would do her admin. I said yes and then I stayed home with the kids and did admin for about four years. eventually through referral I got so busy that I couldn't take any more on. So I was like, what do I do? Right? I want to help all these realtors but there's just me. ⁓ so then I hired my first contractor and it has just grown. Exponentially and that was only about six months ago. That's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. The growth in six. I found a little golden egg and grabbed it open. speaker-0: Like that. ⁓ going through your sheet, the finish line for me is freedom. A life where my team is empowered, our clients are happy, and I get to be fully present with my family without everything depending on me to hold it together. I read that and was like, okay, let's fucking go. Like I read that was awesome. I don't even know where to go with that. Like that like sums up pretty much 90% of business owners I know, but they like speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: simplify it so much where like here you detailed it so perfectly. I'm like that's like Yeah. That that's the speaker-1: think because I've had so much like exponential growth in six months, I have had the highs and lows very quickly. so I've been able to realize like what's important to me, how can I get there? What do I need to avoid in order to make that happen? and I was losing touch. Like I it very quickly was unhappy in the business because I was constantly stressed and I was misaligned and the clients we were bringing on weren't quite right and ⁓ some of the subcontractors I brought on weren't quite right and I'm like I I can't run a business like this, right? I can't wake up every morning and dread what I have created. ⁓ I was also working like nights and weekends, and it's like I got out of real estate to to avoid that, right? I don't want to work nights and weekends, I want to spend that with my kids and my husband. So in all of you know these six months or so, I have gotten so much clarity on how I can create this business and this life that I love. ⁓ We're still working on it, right? But and I'm continuing to grow. And the business is still growing. So there are still some pain points. But overall, ⁓ I want the girls that I bring onto my team, I want them to be happy and have a fulfilled life too. I want the agents to really feel the relief and I want me and my family to just like live our dream life. So that's like my whole vision, right? And like piece by piece I'm getting there day by day. But ⁓ yeah, I think so many people focus on like the end goal and their end goal, but I want like everyone's end goal to be happy, right? Like speaker-0: So cool that you look at whole team because if you literally look at the board when we walk out of the podcast room, podcast room, showroom, it literally says culture eats structure for breakfast. Like literally that's what it says on my board, right? ⁓ and I find so many entrepreneurs start out chasing the money and then the ones that taste a little bit of success and like they get that aha moment realize it's actually like peace and time. speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah. speaker-0: That's what the reward is. Like the money is kind of like the train that gets you to the destination of peace and time. Yeah, I mean, and like that quote dials that in. And I feel like you're delivering that. Like as the service you're providing, you're actually delivering that to people where they look at it as work's getting done and I'm making people happy, I'm closing deals, I'm making money, not realizing. speaker-1: Right. Yeah. speaker-0: The like sidebar is they're actually buying back their time. And how many of your clients do you find don't even realize the time they're saving? They're more looking at how much work's getting done versus the quality. speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah, so like a lot of the agents come on and they they do want some time back but and to spend more time with their f you know, friends and family and stuff. But I also think a lot of it too is that they they wanna be doing income producing activities is what they call it, right? So like sitting at your desk doing paperwork, it's not income producing, right? They wanna be out meeting people or working on things that can bring more ⁓ sales, you know, or purchases or whatever it may be. ⁓ so we're able to take all that like redundant stuff away from them so that they can focus on those income produ producing activities. And I find too, agents get into real estate because they like people, right? They like to talk to people, they like to be out with people. So like naturally it's not in their personality to want to sit down at a desk and like fill out all this boring paperwork. So we relieve that from them too so that they can really enjoy what they actually got into it for. speaker-0: And when you found that gap, did you see the gap right away when you got into it? Or was it one of those like, this might be a thing? Like that's how I got in my business solutions company. That's why I asked. Because it was one of those like I got off the tools quickly. I had systems. They're like, How are you not doing paperwork at eight o'clock at night? I'm like, because we have an SLP for that. Right. Right? Yeah. And they go, Well, why aren't you doing that? I'm like, because we have a KPI for that. And it says it wasn't worth doing that. Like we had five follow-ups originally and we realized people only approve on the second or third. I'm like, why are we sending four and five follow-ups? speaker-1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. speaker-0: It's redundant. Yeah. Let's take that out kind of thing. So we had someone reach out to us and say, Hey, can you help us out? It's a buddy. I'm like, yeah, no problem. Jump on a call, we'll figure something out. And another person reached out, another person reached out, turned into like, we can get paid for this. And that's when I found the gap. I didn't realize it was an actual gap. How do you feel like your experience rolling into I guess running this business? Like was it just kinda like I'm just gonna do and then you just all of a sudden turn around like, well, I'm gonna have like an avalanche here. Or it's kinda like this is the game plan from day one, I'm gonna do it for one person and I'm gonna speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: See if I can fulfill for other people, but then it just got to the point where you had to start hiring on. speaker-1: Yeah, and I always tell people like th my whole business has been very like serendipitous, very organic. My growth, the startup of it, everything. Because I just started doing it myself for one agent, ⁓ and it it went from there. So that's when it kind of clicked in me and I was like this needs to be a thing, right? And right now it's not really a thing. You can hire a VA, right? A d a generic VA, but somebody who's really, really specialized in like the paperwork, the processes, the systems, like the back-end brokerage stuff, like that's all very, very yeah, specialized, right? Like so a general VA that can kind of help with emails or, you know, whatever may be, won't necessarily have and probably wouldn't have. the knowledge to be able to do some of the paperwork and stuff that you have to know. There's little nuances, right? Every industry. If you don't know it, you don't know it. Right. So and yes, you can train it, but real estate agents are so busy that they don't want to have to train. And that's where I think we've succeeded because y we can kind of come on and it's it's a plug and play per se, right? Like we can do the paperwork. That's all standardized. We do have to still learn their business and stuff. But People don't want to have to train because and now as a business owner myself, I get that, right? If I were to bring on an admin, it would be very cumbersome for me to for me to have to do that. And I just like don't have the time and the energy. So I I've really found this niche of creating this ability for agents to have admins at any scale, right? And to not have to do that initial onboarding. speaker-0: And I find like I'm really close with a lot of real estate agents, especially in my sector. And I actually just saw a job posting. It was one of those like young, eager, ready to go get you know, a lot of growth room, this and that needs twenty six years experience. Mike, we're not gonna get someone young, eager and stuff with twenty years experience. Yeah, you know what I mean? I'm like it kinda counterintuitive, right? Yeah. now when you're br when you're talking to real estate agents or speaker-1: Twenty seven years old and twenty six years old. speaker-0: Let's just step away from real estate for a sec. Let's talk about in general. Yeah. Because I'm sure you now you're looking at it because it's like, well, other people need this. It's kind of one of those like, well, other sectors need this. And I'm not gonna speak on your behalf, but I don't know if that's a thought. Maybe like construction is very aligned with real estate. Yeah. So that might be an avenue you might be going with. Yeah. Right? Do you find when you get on the phone with clients that need support? Because I find this when I'm doing coaching or consulting, it's like I find a lot of times I'm stating the obvious. And I don't know it's because I'm like I've utilized the service in that unteachable lesson where it's like, it's good for you, just do it. And everyone knows I need the help, but they don't want to take that plunge. Right. Do you find when you're doing like an onboarding call or consultation call where it's one of those like hang up and it's like, I literally just told them the obvious. Yeah. Like you want to run faster, move your legs faster, kind of thing. speaker-1: Yeah, and I I find when I'm on the discovery calls, you know, people ask me questions and I'm like, I feel like this is so obvious. But like it's not to them. It is to me because I do this day in and day out and talk to all kinds of agents but and clients and stuff, but it what's obvious to us, right? The people who have like created this business is not obvious to everyone else. And we do have like I've had staging companies reach out because there's alignment there. I've had real estate lawyers reach out. I'm a little bit more hesitant to take on anything outside of that. ⁓ but I do see how it's parallel, right? Like we're all kind of in the same ecosystem. So ⁓ we have started looking into expanding a little bit, but I haven't haven't gotten that far yet. But yeah, I just find it it somebody'll ask a question and it's like, ⁓ I didn't I didn't think to tell them this ahead of time because I j it just felt so obvious. But I'm glad they asked, right? So that they can have the answer that they need. So speaker-0: Sometimes I feel like I wanna just stand on top of a mountain and just scream it so everyone hears me. I'm like, I don't want to go through this again. Yeah, one time and I'm done or grab someone just shake ⁓ I'm like, ⁓ my god, like I'm just it's right in front of you, right? Like I don't know how many podcasts you listen to, but like I'm a big fan of Chris Williamson. Yeah. And he has this wicked quote where it's like, Imagine yourself as a main lead in a movie, what would the audience be yelling at the screen? speaker-1: This one time. ⁓ that's a good one. speaker-0: And I I relate to that so many times when I'm in like just a rock and hard place in life. I'm like, okay, what would everyone be yelling at me to do right now? Because that's probably what I should do. You know what I mean? Like don't go in the room or don't explore the basement or don't run out the front door. It's like I put myself in that position and it's like amazing how many like good decisions I've made based out of it. speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah. That's so true. So interesting. I've yeah, I've never heard that quote, but I love it. speaker-0: Yeah, it's like it just it changed so much for me. ⁓ Let's talk about some pain points. Sure. So what's the typical pain point you find for anyone that's overwhelmed? And like again, I know you do real estate, but I just want impact for anyone listening or anything that's in a position where they're like, okay, I'm at that growth stage. I'm at that next step. I've hit that first goalpost. Now I'm overwhelmed. Like, what do you see as a professional in the industry is a typical pain point? speaker-1: So I think you actually just said it. And the pain point is the fact that people wait until it's too late, right? So like you and I talked about this a little bit before we got on here. And like you hired you had admin help before you really truly needed admin help. And a lot of people it's an expense, right? And when you're just starting a business, you you want to cut your expenses. You don't want to add to them as much as you can. So a lot of people will put off admin help until, you know, there's a point where it's like, should I hire an admin? and then people speaker-0: I'm gonna pause you for a second. Yeah. Because I'm gonna make something very clear. Yeah. Hiring administration is not an expense. It makes you money. Please just get that through your head. Anyone listening, just please. It's one of those like I'm screaming from the like top of a mountain. It's not an expense. Yeah. So many people say it's an expense. It's like having me having my labors out on the field. Everyone, like I see talk to so many business owners and they're like, my guys are out and they worked an extra hour. You know, like. not to pay them an extra hour. I'm like, but they're billable fucking hours. They're actually making you money. If you have if you run your business properly, they're making you money. Yes. I mean like when everyone always says like I know I want to cut costs and it it's an expense. I'm like speaker-1: No, I love it. Yeah. You've got to like reframe your your mind. speaker-0: I was just sorry, sidebar. I was literally on a call yesterday and I have a friend who owns a construction company. He's out in BC and it's the first job he's done where he's been off the tools. Now it's not support staff in the office, but he's had he's hired enough staff on the field that he doesn't have to get on the field. And he was not bored one day, but he's like, you know what, I'm gonna follow up with this other contract. I haven't heard from him in a few months, right? And he landed the biggest contract he's ever landed because he got on a call and followed up with them. He never would have done that if he didn't have the support on the field to relieve himself of that. And that that support might be an expense up front, but they're making him money on the fe on the field. Yeah. And then he landed this huge contract. Yeah. And I'm like, Good for fucking you. And that anyway, so continue. So we're paying speaker-1: Exactly. You need. Exactly. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Pain points. But I just think that people, because it feels like an expense to people, they put it off. And then when it's time to bring it on, then it feels like so heavy and so much work to bring an admin on because they've gotten to the point that it's too far. And like a lot of people think, you know, I don't need an admin yet. But it's like if you preemptively do it, right? Like if you're proactive about it, get them in, then you have that extra time to, yeah, push your business forward if you want to grow your business, right? Like generate more income and find ways to utilize that admin to better your business. Like if you look at anyone's business, right, there's probably nooks and crannies that could be like fanned out a bit, right? So like bring somebody on who really specializes in that and can take that off because you know how it's like, ⁓ I know I need to like do X, Y, Z. But then you just never get to it because it's like it feel it feels like, you know, just like too small of a task or not important enough and you push it off and push it off. Like that's what somebody could do, right? Is get rid of all those little things that like take up this mental load because you keep thinking about it, you just don't do it, right? So yeah, I think a big pain point is like i the onboarding probably, but that could be alleviated with having them sooner than later for a lot of businesses. speaker-0: I had a system from day one. Mm-hmm. Like I was lucky enough that when I started my business, I made the right decision of investing in mastermind groups. And I learned a lot from them. But like from day one, I built a system on how to like create an estimate, on how to send the estimate, on how to follow up. It was like a spreadsheet. Yeah. And me as a sole proprietor, I literally followed it. Like I'd come home and I ⁓ shoot, I gotta fill up. My SOP sheet. Like that way. Yeah. So I brought on a mint. I'm like, here's a sheet, just keep filling it out. Yeah. Kind of thing. I find a lot of people when they bring on support, it doesn't work because they don't have they don't support the support. Like they they don't you can't just tell them, okay, yeah, just do everything. It's like, well, what am I doing? kind of thing, right? So do you find that or how do you navigate that with your client? speaker-1: Yeah, so a lot of my clients have systems at their disposal and one of the one of the most common sentences I'll get in a discovery call is like, yep, I have, you know, this CRM or I have this system, but I don't use it. It always ends with, but I don't use it. So it's like it potentially some of them are given to them for free, right? Through their brokerages or businesses. ⁓ but other times it's like you're paying for the system. and not utilizing it. You know. You know, and it's like if they don't know themselves what's going on in their business and where they're at with things, then how can they really send that to somebody else? without it feeling really heavy. If it's all just living in your brain, then A, that's where errors come in, right? Or like things get missed and stuff. But also how do you, yeah, share the the burden if you don't have it somewhere for somebody to reference. So I'm big on systems, but everyone's system I think needs to work for them, right? So some a system that works for you probably wouldn't for me or for the next person, right? We all like work differently, we all think differently. ⁓ so I love systems as long as you have a system that's like for you and your business. Yeah. speaker-0: I find that is so crucial for so many people I know because like as a tradesman, we all operate different. Like I've had guys literally show up and they're like, Yeah, so I was in a meeting with the client the other day, and like I'm like, you're reading off a two by four in pencil. Like, you know what I mean? They have other guys come up with a tablets like, so I made the 3D rendering, and I'm like, Okay, that's your system, all right? I can't even go there. Like anything, so it is, but I think a system is a baseline of however you want to do it, a spreadsheet. speaker-1: Yeah, exactly. speaker-0: check in meeting, even something simple like a check in meeting. Yeah. You know, I used to do like weekly meetings when I had my like on my own and I would have a meet meeting by myself. I'd call my weekly brain dump. But I I would like just, you know, Wednesday morning, kind of sit down. Okay. I may have a notepad, sit there and just brain dump. And sometimes it rolled into like now I have a like a sh I don't know if you saw my computer with a right screen, it's just a spreadsheet. That's my brain dump ongoing. Yeah. speaker-1: I love that. Yeah. speaker-0: So I'm just constantly dumping stuff in there. And now it's mixed like between the three the two businesses and my personal stuff. But like I know as long as I'm plucking away something on the list, I'm moving the needle. Mm-hmm. If I'm not doing something on the list, I'm not moving the needle. Yeah. And that's kind of my system. And then internally in the construction company, we have another system. And then, you know, with the Criterion Business Solutions, we have another system. Right. So I agree the system does have to fit each individual avenue or person or business or whatever it is. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: And I find having that system allows you to just be more organized with your time. Going back to like the freedom and the peace of mind. Yeah. And so many people don't have that time. And I'm like, everyone wants it, but no one wants to ⁓ do what it takes to get it. Right? Yeah. Like there was another like, everyone wants the results, but no one wants to work to get the result. Yeah. And going back to what we talked about before the podcast started is that like speaker-1: Yeah, yeah. Right. speaker-0: Being busy is a badge of honor. And like coincidentally, like I haven't read these notes in like the two weeks, right? And literally it's right there. We were just talking about that, right? So why do you think people think busy is a badge of honor? speaker-1: I think unintentionally people have associated busy with success and th there's no correlation, right? Like if you're really truly I mean, I guess define depends what you define as successful, but if you're really truly successful, you shouldn't and don't have to be busy constantly, right? But people think if they're not busy, they're like lounging on the couch and doing nothing. And it's like, maybe, but maybe you've gotten to a point of success where you're able to do that, and that's Great. That's better, right? Than being busy constantly. But yeah, I think people, it's so easy to be like, so like AJ, how have you been b lately? ⁓ I've been so busy. That's always people's like go-to response. but it's like instead of that, why not say, ⁓ things have been good with the business, this is what I'm doing. But me and my wife got to do this today. And you know, like let's focus more on like something outside of just being busy, or what's keeping us busy is what we really want to be doing, right? And it's not just like always business related things feeling run down and tired and you know so I think it's so important to like there's always time for hustle right especially as entrepreneurs there you definitely have to hustle to get to a certain point but after that try and like reframe your mind don't constantly be busy constantly be enjoying your life or because you were busy beforehand to get to that point but busy is not necessarily equivalent to successful I don't think. speaker-0: And I was just on a coaching call with a client and I told him, I'm like, busy without success or busy without stress is successful. And that's the way I like I'm busy, but I'm busy to be achievable. I'm not busy to be successful. speaker-1: Yeah, yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah, and I think people feel fill their days feeling busy with like things that aren't getting them there. Yes, yeah, exactly. speaker-0: And yeah, that's the way I look at it is like I'm busy, but I'm not stressed out. Mm-hmm. Don't get me wrong, there's days where it's kinda like I walked in the office today, I'm like, okay, I got last minute, like me and T Dog here had to run over to do a one-on-one client with a friend or a one-on-one client consultation. But it's for a friend. I'm like, okay, I'll squeeze you in Thursday. Right? But then you're like, I'll be there at 1030. I'm like, okay, that consultation's at nine, that's ten thirty, and then now I said yes. To accommodate a client from my construction company to meet them at 3:30 in Burlington. And I'm like, okay, tight. Like that kind of stuff, okay, that's stressful, but that's just logistic. I mean, I'm not losing sleep over a business shutting down tomorrow. Kind of thing. So I try to tell people, like, if you're busy but you're not stressed out, that's success. Because like you're filling your day with stuff that's not stressing you out, but it's moving the needle forward and it's achievable. Yeah. I mean, like you saw my list, there's 35 things on that list. speaker-1: Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. speaker-0: Some of the things on the list is like finish my application for Penguin Publisher for my book. That's been on there for like three weeks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I Yeah. But if I get it done, it's moving the needle, but it's not a stress stressor on the whole kind of topic of it, right? So like and I find someone and I'm sure you see a lot more of it where people are like, ⁓ I'm just so slimmed, I'm working seven days a week. I'm like, why? Like, why? Like I don't get it. speaker-1: Like, yeah. The interesting thing for me too is like people will inquire and then they'll say, I'm just really slammed for like four weeks or six weeks. Can we touch base, you know, whenever? And it's like, sure, but if you make the time, right? The the half an hour, an hour now, we can make you not so slammed for the next four or six weeks. But I think a lot of people, yeah, it's just they feel they get to a point of overwhelm where like any one little extra thing just like it just can't be done. But yeah, it's it it is interesting because people I think I I really want society as a whole to just not feel like our baseline has to be busy, right? Or a negative busy I should say, right? Like if we're busy and we're happy, sweet. But if we're busy and we're burnt out, like what are we doing? speaker-0: And that that's what I find is like me being busy is like it needs to come with structure. Yeah. Like my day is like so backlogged. Like and like there's so many little things in there and I like I keep adding to my schedule. But I do things where it's like in my structure is right now like my next goal is to build my resume. Because I want to start speaking at events and stuff. So I'm like, what can I put on my resume that kind of aligns with what I'm doing? I don't have to commit to a full time. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: I'm not looking at it to like as a new career path, but I'm like, it would give me more knowledge in where I'm going with my construction company, right? So I'm like, you know what, I'm gonna go for my real estate license. So it but like I had to talk with my wife the other day. I'm like, I don't think it fits in my schedule right now because the past three weeks I built in my time blocking where I've actually allocated two hours here, four hours there, two hours here to study. And I'm like, the way my days are going, it just doesn't fit right now. speaker-1: Fun. Right, yeah. speaker-0: So I'm like, for two weeks it didn't work. So if I start this today, it's just not gonna work. So I'm busy, but I'm like, I guess strategic about it, where I'm like, I'm not gonna like be busy for nonsense. I'm not gonna go in there and just study for two hours because I know my head's gonna be at three other places. When I study, I'm actually not gonna learn anything. Yeah. Not learning anything, right? And again, back to Chris Williamson, he has this quote where it's like, if you want to add something to your plate and he takes something off. speaker-1: Yeah, yeah. speaker-0: Right. And that was an episode during like New Year's resolutions where people are like, I'm gonna do all this in the new year. I'm like, Well you only have this many hours or your plates only this full and your days already this packed or your plates are already this full, like you can't add the your stomach just won't stretch magically. You know what I mean? Exactly, right? So it's one of those like I really try to stick with that. So like when I build structure in my life when I'm busy, is like I try to like test run something. So when I'm hiring a new employee, right now I wanna bring another guy on the field. speaker-1: You need a second plate. Yeah. speaker-0: Every week in our bank account, I pay an additional employee. I don't have them yet. Yeah. I just throw it into a separate account, low investment account, and let it sit there every week. Yeah. And then when I hire an employee, I'm like, well, I've already been doing that for six weeks. So now I could afford to do them. Like that way, right? So smart. But you get all these other people who are like, I got like fifty things to do. I'm like, what do you have to do? Well, I don't know, just a lot of stuff. And I'm like, we don't know what you gotta do. How busy are you? Like really, how busy are you? Like, come on. Like This is an awesome topic. Ix. No. Like what are little icks you have with admin, VA services. ⁓ I know VA's got some bad publicity. I have a friend, he's actually changed his business to virtual professionals because he only hires professionals specific for that role. But I know there's been a lot of bad publicity with it. And I've heard stories about it, and I feel like the industry got very flooded quickly. speaker-1: Okay. Yeah, it's like oversaturated. Yeah. Yeah, so that's one of my ex. I mean, when you look at us as yeah, I think Are we too old for this? speaker-0: Yeah. Is that right? I hear my kids say it. Yeah, no kids say it, it's such an ick. And I'm like, whatever. speaker-1: But yeah, like I think not that we I don't associate with VAs, but I don't like that title for us. I think everyone wants like a work from home job now. Like that's like a big thing, right? so the easiest way for people to feel like they could get into that is excuse me, sorry, is to start doing VA because like anyone can send an email, right? And like a lot of people think, well, like virtual admin is, you know, just Sending emails or answering calls or whatever it is. so I don't love the VA title for us. I like the like virtual professionals, that's a good one. because we're more than just like an admin sending an email for you, right? We're doing your full back end systems, we're doing paperwork. That's like there's legalities in that, right? So it we're not just generic VAs. So that's definitely one of my icks is like somebody's like, ⁓ so you're a virtual assistant? I'm like, not really. Like I guess, right, to an extent, but we're we're just I say like we're a level above that from what we offer. so yeah, that's ⁓ speaker-0: Let's say contractors have to fly by night guys, right? Like I show up in branded truck to get like templated estimates, you get like automation communication, stuff like that. And I go in there and I compete and the guy pulls up in a minivan with paint spilling on the back. I'm like not kinda like you know if you w We're different. Yeah, you know what I mean? If you want to compare, go ahead. But like it's i if you don't have that much common sense of the service you're getting and what you're paying for. So I guess I guess your industry works the same way, right? You have a hundred people listening right now, let's say. Right. Tell them the importance of like the whole support and system and everything like that. Like this is like your floor. It's one of those like okay, you guys heard what we do, you guys heard what people do wrong, what bad traits are in people, what positions they get them in. Yeah. Now you get your little mon log mon log where it's kinda like, Yeah, let's go. speaker-1: I think honestly, it's finding an admin or some sort of support that fits you and your business as a whole. I think a lot of people make the mistake of ⁓ just finding an admin, whether it's based on like the cheapest price or the most available, but it's so important to find an admin that can really support you. Otherwise, it is just an expense. Like we had talked about before, if it feels like an expense, then it is an expense. But if you find somebody that can almost be like a partnership in your business, that's what changes the trajectory of your business. If they can help you boost your business, skyrocket your business, that's the admin you want, not somebody just sitting behind a desk answering calls and a emails. I think that's most important. speaker-0: So that rolls into the next thing where I thought about this, I stepped back and I always try and deal with my guests. And like, what do they have to do to perform and deliver the services or product that they have to do? Right. And the hard part is with you, it's like you gotta align your business and your culture to learn to fit someone else's business and culture. Right. So like it feels easier when you're 100% authentic and aligned with your business. speaker-1: Has been hard. speaker-0: But you can't always be aligned with like you can pick the specific clients, but like you need to train your staff to this is how we do things, but this is how you need to work with them. Like that's gonna be a hard line to kind of walk. speaker-1: Yeah, and a lot of clients will come on and say, What systems do you use? And i I mean the short answer is whatever systems you use, right? Because as an agency as a whole, I don't like my clients coming in and having to learn a whole new system. That kind of takes away from the idea of us like relieving your stress, right? We're just adding to it if we're making you learn our systems. So we do work it within other people's systems and whatever they have set up. that can be hard because the admin has to have experience in those specific systems. There's also like a personality thing that plays, right? So, like, if the admin is really like outgoing but sensitive, a really strong-headed real estate agent would probably she would struggle with that, right? Because she'd feel a little bit more sensitive to harsher feedback or approaches to things. ⁓ so there's such a a juggle to finding the perfect fit, right? And I mean we've had misalignment. It's happened before. ⁓ and that's something that I have continued to grow with. We've actually flipped to like an application model. So when I first started, I was taking anyone and everything, right? Because like you said, when you're first starting up, it's like you're chasing the money, right? You just want to get the business to work, you want it to grow, you want to make a lot of money. In doing that, I found that that's where I found my misalignment. That's when I was stressed. That's when I was like burnt out and tired. ⁓ and since flipping it now, I really make sure that they fit the business, like the agency. I really make sure that I have an admin that will gel well with them because the last thing I want to do is have an agent come on or any client for that matter and I pair them up and it's just like it doesn't work for whatever reason, whether it's personality or systems or whatever. ⁓ so in being more selective, I'm able to have a more successful business, I'm taking on less clients, but it's becoming more successful because of it, which is a a bit of a catch twenty two. speaker-0: a lot of people don't realize is like that eighty twenty rule. You know like eighty percent of your effort makes twenty percent of your profit, twenty percent of your effort makes eighty percent of your profit. It's true. Like honestly like people sit there and like I will coach a client and I'm like raise your price to twenty percent. Like speaker-1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. speaker-0: Well, you know, like I'll only get one out of every five jobs. I'm like, well that twenty percent compensates for exact the other four jobs you're not getting. Now you're dealing with five less clients, yeah making more money, and if something goes wrong, you absorb those costs because you're operating on that cost anyway. Right. So if you've raised your costs, you have a little more margin to fix whatever you messed up. Kind of thing. speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Right? Yeah. speaker-0: Okay. Do I give you my opinion first or do I let you run with it? speaker-1: Let's hear yours. speaker-0: Okay. VA AI hired sports staff in five years. My opinion is I feel like AI is on this big bandwagon right now. A lot of people are jumping into it, right? Like I've dove right into it. speaker-1: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Uh-huh. I dive into it. Yeah. Yeah. speaker-0: But I feel like I'm using it w the right way. That might be biased. The way I've looked at it at it is like my administrator in the office, I told her, This is a tool to make you more efficient. Yeah. You are no longer an integrator. That's what the AI agent's for. Yeah. You're a visionary now. I want you making things looking better. I want you Like instead of having to rush out 10 emails and write them out, I want those 10 emails drafted and you personalize them in a certain way. Our systems, I want to add in personal information about clients that no other contractor takes. Like they have a dog and this is a name and stuff like that. Use the AI AI agent to build it and you build in like it's more of a resource and a tool to make you more efficient. I feel like in a in five years, the whole like speaker-1: Yep. speaker-0: I can make a picture look different is gonna be dead with AI. I honestly think that that fun's gonna wear off. And I feel like AI is gonna be very isolated to people using it properly for what they actually needed in it. It's very it's gonna niche down a lot more. Right now anyone needs to. Yeah, anyone and their mother can use AI. I feel like gonna niche down where people are gonna get bored of it. It's just gonna become speaker-1: Yeah. ⁓ Yes. speaker-0: repetitive everyday kind of services where it's like say you Google some search something. Even now it's like the AI search is coming up first and then some web pages. So I think web pages are almost a thing of the past. Mm-hmm. ⁓ I feel like businesses instead of having a web page will have AI agents as a web page where it's people like, hey I'm interested in this business. ⁓ how can we help you? That kind of stuff where it's gonna be I feel like I guess the outsourced staffing. Mm-hmm is gonna be, and I say that loosely, is really gonna thin out. I think a lot of the fly by night, I can do this, I can figure it out, I can run a business it, is really gonna thin out. And I think a lot of businesses that implement stuff like AI and build their businesses properly, have application processes, match people properly, it's not just a mass teamw style kind of production for VA agents. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: Are really gonna get weaned out. And that's my projection five years. I think the good businesses are gonna utilize AI into their business to provide support staff. So, like right now, you s outsource someone to me. I feel like you'll come in and give me an AI agent with that support staff and say, anything you need done, you're almost getting a two for one deal here. speaker-1: Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. speaker-0: And you're gonna get better service, they're paired with you directly for what you need rather than just ⁓ go online, sign up here and we'll connect you with someone in thirty minutes. It's I feel like those are gonna be way out the door. Yeah. I think the businesses building relationships are gonna stick around a lot. speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah. I've had people kind of ask me or bring it up in conversation, they say, like, well, aren't you scared AI is gonna take your job? And I have two answers to that. One is like if it does, it does, right? I don't I don't work, I don't operate from like a mindset of scarcity. So it's like I'm not gonna stop doing what I'm doing today because potentially it might take my job, right? So that's that. But also AI is such a good tool if you can utilize it. if you have time to utilize it. Like a lot of people want to use AI, but A can't use it properly, so it's just like giving these half half asked and I swear. speaker-0: Yeah, you can say. speaker-1: Half ass like answers or half assed products or whatever it is that it's like spitting back to them because they're not prompting it properly, they don't have it set up properly, they don't have it trained properly, so they're not utilizing it well. But also, i does it cut down on time? Absolutely. But there's still somebody that has to tell it what to do sometimes, right? You can there's obviously some automation built in, Claude like I use Claude a lot for automation. but it There's still work behind AI. It's not completely hands-off. ⁓ so I think that's an important part. But like I love, I have a love hate with AI. I love AI when it's used properly. And there have been many, many times with my clients where I've said, Did you know you could do this? Right? You can automate with Claude you could create this in Chat GPT, or like I'm not, I'm not. From AI. I think it's a great tool when you can have it and utilize it. ⁓ so I I share that with my agents because it's like I don't want to bill them, you know, ten hours for something that Claude could do in five minutes, right? Of course that would make the business more money, but that's just not not the person I am. ⁓ so I think it's really important to like find a good balance. Yeah, yeah. speaker-0: Like I know if someone came to me and said, I'm gonna bill you, say, twenty dollars an hour, it's gonna take me five hours. Or they're like, I'll give it to you in ten minutes if you pay me a hundred bucks. It's like, pfft, here you go, here's your hundred bucks. Like, I'm gonna say, and that's the way I look at it. It's like time is money, right? The faster I get whatever I'm asking you to do, clearly I'm waiting on it for the next task. So like that's the way I look at it. So I think a lot of people aren't looking at it like that. But it's good that you're using it as a resource and a tool. Because I think that's the key to it. It's like it doesn't replace it. speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah. It still makes mistakes, right? And I think a lot of people forget that. It's like you can prompt it really, really well and it'll come back with something that's really great, whether it's a PDF or whatever. But I actually had something sent to me and I looked through it and I was like, it contradicts itself. So then I had to go back to that person and say, like, it says this and this, right? Because it like it was clearly done with Claude. I could tell by the formatting and the template of it, but ⁓ it it made a mistake and that person just speaker-0: That's what we use in our business. speaker-1: created it and then sent it and didn't really like do the due diligence of going through it. And that's the other piece of it too. It's like, yes, we can use it, but then there's still somebody right now, a human, that needs to go back and make sure that everything is the way it should be. So, ⁓ it might take my job one day. I'm not worried about it, you know, for now I'm just speaker-0: I think people still need that relationship building and that matchmaking kind of thing. Yeah. And then build something based on that kind of thing, right? if you aren't willing to bet on yourself, don't expect anyone else to. So you invested money before you had it. speaker-1: Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So I actually I think I saw it must have been like a reel on Instagram or something and it was a business coach saying exactly that basically. And it was like you need to put money out before money comes in and you need to say yes to things before you feel ready because that's how growth is created. Right. If you stay within where you're comfortable and within the money you're making now, how do you get to that next level? And that really hit hard with me because ⁓ I saw early on that that this was such a needed service and I was like, I need to like really grow this. ⁓ but to grow this, I had to like spend money and you know, like do a lot of things that pay to play. Yeah, I had to roll with the big leagues, you know. So ⁓ I had to yeah, I had to put a lot out there before I was quote unquote ready for it. ⁓ and I'm kind of at the next stage of that again, and I'm seeing that again, and I'm feeling this like hesitancy in myself, and it's like just just sign the contract because I think. Nobody else can nobody else is me, right? Nobody knows my mindset or like my ambitions. So I I can say like this is what I want to do and somebody says, ⁓ great idea and then it kind of ends there. But I'm the one who needs to like move my foot forward to be able to like grow to that next level. And that's I did it at the beginning and I'm doing it again and now and that's how you get, you know, stuff back tenfold, I think. speaker-0: And I'm my whole business has been built on operate where you wanna be at, not where you're at. Yeah. And that's what I've been doing since day one. Like I didn't need this office at all. I s probably still don't even need the office. Yeah. I I everyone can work remotely. It would be perfectly fine. I used to have a storage unit, all the tools in there, material in there, and I'm like, we could operate like that. And I'm like, no, we're gonna operate like a ten million dollar company because I wanna be a ten million dollar company. We're gonna operate like a company where the owner doesn't have to be there. So let's build out roles and responsibilities. Well that means you gotta pay people more or whate whatever it is. Like speaker-1: Right. Exactly. Yeah. speaker-0: rolling that way and I'm like, I I totally believe that in that. Like pay to play. speaker-1: That's why I've grown so quickly too, because I haven't been afraid to to take that next level, whether it's with my marketing or my systems or whatever it might be. ⁓ like I spent like an abundant amount of money on like a brand shoe and it's like how do I justify this? But then people were like, Wow, your marketing and your Instagram and stuff is really like incredible. That's how I found you, that's why I decided to sign with you, you know. So it's like just just do it. Just freaking do it. speaker-0: do it, yeah. ⁓ let's talk about your team five. I know people in business ten years and they haven't built a team of five in ⁓ six months. So like gotta be a little bit learning curve there and a little bit a few pain points. speaker-1: We're looking for number six. Yeah, couple pain points. like I said, we've been six months and I've already lost two subcontractors. and I've learned a lot from it. not everyone's a match. And I feel like when I first saw her non, it was like, do I like her? You know, do I think she's good? Like it was very more informal. ⁓ it was like a quick phone conversation. I got, you know, I had to know that she was capable of the job, but otherwise it was just like meh. ⁓ now it's like I need to know what they're plans are for the future, right? I had a girl sign on with me. She was great. She had all the skills I needed. She had a great personality. She matched really well. ⁓ I paired her with a client who was quite a large client. They needed a lot of hours. And she called me about a weekend and was like, ⁓ I got offered a full time position ⁓ in a brokerage somewhere. ⁓ so she left to do that. And I was like, It's like so defeating because it's a lot, right? For me to onboard her and then for her to onboard with these agents. And ⁓ so I was like, okay, so that was like the first uh-like I need to know are these girls planning to do this long term? Is this a short term fix? You know, what's the scenario here? ⁓ I had another girl that just kind of ghosted me. She worked for a couple days and then I never heard from her email, phone call, socials, like I never ever heard from her and I still haven't to this day, and that was like three months ago. Yeah, so very very interesting group of people I've brought on, but now I know the signs to look for for sure. speaker-0: Believer in hire fast, fire fast. I've literally had a guy where first day he was like an hour late and the office sent him an email saying you're dismissed. We were joking about it. Like she my administrator emailed me and she's You literally fired someone before they started. I'm like, I don't care anymore. Yeah. I I just went through that growth stage where it's like, I feel like a year ago we rebuilt the business to point where like, okay, we've proven we can provide a service, we've proven speaker-1: Just don't come. I don't. If that's how they're starting, then like speaker-0: We have a system. We've proven we can maintain the business. Now we need to structure this business. And it's unfortunate, but I feel like I've had to step out as the owner and play the asshole card. I hate being that guy, but like I have to draw a line somewhere. I can't be buddy buddy with everyone. I can be close with one employee, but that employee needs to delegate my expectations further down. And it's been a hard transition. Like you said, you're like an informal phone call. Yeah, you want to start? Okay, yeah, let's try it out. Like now it's like, send me your resume. Figure out what you can do, what you can't do. I'll tell you what I believe you're worth. You can tell ⁓ into your blue in the face what you believe you're worth. And I'm I have no like entitlement to tell you anything different. But under our guidelines, this is what we're gonna pay you. Kind of and I've had it have some of those hard conversations. But I find it's helped the business a lot more. I mean, once you start setting those boundaries or non negotiable around what your expectations are as your business. speaker-1: Yeah, yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's been a really hard learning curve for me. To my core, I'm very much a people pleaser. Like I just want everyone around me to be happy and feel fulfilled. You know, like I've it's just in my personality how I am and how I operate. So that's why I didn't love real estate, right? When I was an agent, it's like if I found a really tough agent and I had to do a deal with them, like I I curdled, I fell into a shell because I I don't do well with big personalities like that. ⁓ But on the flip side now, as the business owner, like I've got to find that fire in me because otherwise it's all just gonna like flop and or create more stress, right? And hold the business back a lot. So ⁓ yeah, I've I'm lighting my fire. You know, we've got sparks, but I it's been a really big learning curve that like I can't make everyone happy all the time, right? If it's not a fit, it's not a fit. And that's been hard to learn. speaker-0: And having those hard conversations is the hardest part. Like I I'm I'm usually pretty good at having hard conversations, so I'm like, I can do this, but even me walking into some of them, I'm like, okay, I like I know I have to have it. I'm good at it. I'm fine. But I'm like, I've never had to do it before. So I'm like, what what do I expect is the outcome? Like what what what is it, right? Like I had a friend who dropped I was with him when he dropped his first client. I don't know if he wants me to say who he is, but He literally came to me and said, AJ, I have this bad client. And I'm like, ⁓ what's what what's wrong? I'm losing money and trying to be loyal, but they're ⁓ being a pain with me and this and I'm like, just text him and say, stop. I'm at that point now, but like those first few hard hard conversations or first few like standards you gotta set. It's like, okay, this person's never gonna talk to me again, or they're never gonna work for me again, or no one's gonna wanna work for me. Or like, am I making a bad decision? It's like It's hard to transition, right? Especially when being people pleaser works for so long, but only gets you a certain point. speaker-1: Yeah. I had one client and d during our discovery call I was like, This isn't right. Like it's just not gonna work. It's not a good fit. ⁓ but I felt really, really bad for him and I really wanted to help him and his business. So we brought him on. ⁓ and we're like we're like four months in and he didn't actually give us any work. So technically he was signed on as client, but like we didn't do anything for him. And I had to keep like following up and following up and following up. And eventually I sent the email and I just said, Hi, I don't think this is right, you know, like I think we need to terminate our working relationship here. And and he came back and said, No, please, like, let's continue on. And I was like, Okay, sure. Because I just wanted to make him happy. fast forward another two months and it no, nothing. So we're just like I'm learning, right? It's like just when no is no, it needs to stay as a no. And that was another learning curve for me is like I can't go back on my word. When I say something I need to stick to it because there's a reason I said it in the first place. speaker-0: Yeah, and I'm finding having team members is hard to make that executive call. Because I want everyone to feel like they have importance, their word means something, but the end the day, I am the owner. What I say goes. Sounds like a dick thing to do, but I'm doing the best interest of the business. Like no one was there through the all-nighters when I didn't sleep trying to make payroll. No one was there. speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah. speaker-0: When I first kicked off the business and if I like literally my first job, if I messed up a three hundred dollar job, I would have missed a mortgage payment. Yeah. Like that's how early it was, right? Yeah. No one was there for there. No one was there moving around money between six different accounts saying, I hope this person pays by this day so I can pay my taxes by this day. Totally. But we need to buy this for this job. Like yeah, no one was there during those phases and now I'm starting to learn, like, no, I'm the one that make those calls makes speaker-1: Yeah. Right. So yeah, it's and ⁓ especially when you go from like A to Z so quickly too, it's like you have to like retrain your mind to be able to be that next person that your business needs you to be. speaker-0: I know it's The person you are when you start your business up to say $100,000 is not gonna be the one that takes it from a hundred thousand to a million dollars. You know what I mean? And now that we're past that point, I'm like, I'm not the one that's gonna take it to a ten million dollar business. Like I I I've never run a ten million dollar business, so I don't know how to run a ten million dollar business. So either I need to bring someone on or I need to put myself in rooms around people that know how to run a ten million dollar business. speaker-1: I was actually talking to my husband about it because we were saying it like sort of a vulnerable conversation to have, but I was saying like I don't feel aligned with a lot of the people in our sphere anymore. And I think it's because I personally and internally have had so much growth that a lot of our friends, ⁓ Aren't there, right? Because th they don't have their own businesses or they're not trying to grow themselves as much as I am. ⁓ so I'm I'm finding this like disconnect between a lot of our like personal relationships and who I am now. ⁓ and even as a mom, right? Like I just I wanted everyone to like get along and be this like really warm person, but now it's like I have shit to do, you know, so this is what's gonna happen and when it's gonna happen, and you know, like so it's been a really interesting like internal change as well. ⁓ personal and business and learning like who I am now as a business owner and an individual, right, in everyday life. So speaker-0: That's a lonely chapter. ⁓ and how long you been in business now? So that lonely chapter sucks. Like I was just talking to T Dog about it. So it's a rough go the first time around. I feel like I'm going through the lonely chapter like a second time now. And like the first time it's like, I'm a business owner, I'm busy, like I can't just sit around do nothing, or you get this like visionary kind of mindset where it's kinda like speaker-1: Six months. Like it's been Yeah. speaker-0: My business doing this and you're sitting at dinner with friends, it's like, ⁓ but my business can do this. And like, hey Adrian, are you listening? Like your mind's there, like you're thinking differently. Right? Even kind of like even the way money goes. It's one of those like you have a friend and they're complaining about like money and it's like in my head it's like, well, I'm just gonna get another client. I'll just email everyone all night and try to find another client to make that extra money. Other people have that mindset where it's like I only make this much every week. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: Nothing again, like a lot of people are made for a nine to five. Yeah. They're wired for that, right? But that's where the lonely chapter starts kicking. Like I I I'm I'm playing the mentor thing here and I speaker-1: Yeah. ⁓ speaker-0: You don't want to sit on Friday nights and hang out because you you love what you do and you love seeing things start working, where it's like now you have five stops, it's like, ⁓ like I can make their lives easier and they can get more production done, and we could you know find another service with their time that we can charge more. Like, yeah, the visionary starts really coming out on you, and then you literally lose all your friends. And like, my only advice to everyone is like invest in being in the right groups, like pay to play, get into the right mastermind groups. I've been in like seven or eight of them and I believe like there's two or three that really aligned with me. And I think they aligned with any business owner, especially the lonely chapter, because they were like so supportive. There's no selling in the group. It's just support, support, support. We have to pay to be in those groups. And people don't want to do that. That's a downside, right? And then being in that group, I got out of that lonely chapter. And now I'm getting to the like speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: Doing the meetup with them and learn like meeting them in person. It's one of those like, for instance, like, I have my business, I don't need to be there all the time. Yeah. Right? You get into this room and you think like I'm doing well. I'm hitting this ceiling where it's kinda like, this is cool, right? I can be in the room with these people. And then you walk in the room, they're like, pfft I don't even know where my my where my office is anymore. I'm like, hold on, what? Yeah. Like you what I mean? Like I said, I'm like, I'm gonna write a book. And they're like, Yeah, I published mine like three years ago. I'm like, really? They're Yeah, I wrote it over a week and I'm like How'd you do that? Well, I don't really work anymore. I just show up once a week. It they they you realize like I look at it as ceilings, right? So like we all have our ceilings, and I always looked at it as like, okay, these are our ceilings. I pushed up to my ceiling, right? I mean, crash the ceiling, get to their level. What they've done is like, well, AJ, where your ceiling is, is where my floor is at. That's my bare minimum. That's when we do every single day. I'm like, shit, like I'm doing my best, and that's like that's your standard, right? Kind of thing. So that's where it gets kinda hard, right? speaker-1: I feel like I'm in this in-between phase because I've like hit the ceiling of where I was, but I'm at the I'm at the floor of other people's, you know, where my next ceiling is. So it's almost this like imposter syndrome. Like I don't feel like I should be in these rooms. I don't feel like I am a part of this group, you know, and ⁓ because of whether it's their success or, you know, who they are, whatever, like the status, anything. But I have to get over that imposter syndrome because I I heard this thing and it was a guy saying like be in the rooms of people who are better than you. ⁓ because if you consistently stay in rooms with people who aren't meeting you at your level or exceeding that, then how are you expected to exceed it? And I think that's so true. But it's just, it's this like, you know, this mental shift of my own. It's like, no, I am meant to be in these rooms now and I need to find my spot in it and then go from speaker-0: Yeah. Yeah, and I I think being in those rooms is just game changing because the conversations you have in those rooms are just so impactful. Even just the like, how you doing? It's when I do that with like an everyday friend, it they're generally asking like, How you doing? Expecting me to say like, ⁓ I'm so busy. Like we were saying earlier, right? Yeah, yeah. When I'm in those rooms they're like, How you doing? Right away my mindset is like I just need a little more growth. Like you know what I mean? And then it changes from like it's cool how the more successful they are, the bigger rooms you get into, the less it's about business. Like I feel like I'm in a room right now where I get in the room and none of it's about business. It's all about personal growth. Which correlates with your business because like now, like if you're operating in a better capacity, you're making better decisions for your business. But they don't talk about business. They talk about literally like personal growth. Like what are you doing for yourself? speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: What time are you taking? Are you buying back your time? Like it's a weird transition to have that kind of like conversation because I'm like, I thought we were coming here tomorrow, talk numbers. Everyone's like, How many miles are we run today? I'm like, ⁓ four last year. ⁓ speaker-1: Look. I walked from the truck to the door. Yeah, it's so true. speaker-0: ⁓ let's talk quickly about your e course. speaker-1: ⁓ yeah, okay, so speaker-0: Totally forgot about that. See typical entrepreneurs, swell brain. speaker-1: One of ⁓ one of actually the girls that came on as a subcontractor, she was my first hire. and she's been incredible. She stayed with me. ⁓ and she so I had c kind of considered the concept of an e course, ⁓ but it was just like it was my back burner thing, right? It's like I'll get to it someday. And she sent me a voice note one day and was Hey, what do you think about this concept? And I loved it. So when I was in real estate, I took my license, I was licensed, I came out and I was like, Now what? Like I had no idea. how to like do a deal, right? You go into the real estate course, you like read all the textbook things and whatever, but it's like when you're put in the real world, you have no friggin' clue what you're doing. ⁓ and you're dealing with like major, major assets, right? So she was like, I think like I want to do this. Do you want to partner with me on it? And I was like, Absolutely. It felt so aligned. I was like, this is the perfect idea. So ⁓ it's essentially gonna be a course that ⁓ for either new real estate agents or ⁓ real estate admins ⁓ or admins who want to get into real estate and it's gonna teach them like we're gonna walk them through like here's a buyer rep agreement and this is how you fill it out because when you're like such a little fish in a big pond in the real estate world you might have a little mentor that you could go to in your brokerage but otherwise you you're you're swimming, right? You gotta figure it out. You're treading water. ⁓ and I was so scared so nervous and I really think if I had a course and somebody by my side to like give me the leeway and just say this is what you have to do and when you have to do it, I think I would have blown up my business way sooner. Rather than just sitting in an office and being scared. Yeah. speaker-0: Yeah, a lot of people that learning curve discourages them. I think not only in business, I think everything in life. Like even like like musically. I think people don't yeah, anything new. Yeah. You know, if someone wants to learn and play guitar, they do it for a week, they're like I can never forget this out, right? Because they're like, you know, Jimi Hendrix over there. I'm like, okay, relax. speaker-1: Yeah, exactly. speaker-0: Why do you find people doubt themselves then? speaker-1: I think just like a lack of confidence, maybe. ⁓ your your brain is also wired to not really love new things, especially if it's something harder rather than like something exciting. ⁓ so you kind of just think to yourself, you know, like I don't know if I can do it, I don't know if I can do it. And now you have this all negative self-talk and stuff. ⁓ but I think it's really important to when you have the confidence, you in yourself and you just say, like, I can do this, whatever this may be. And you just do it because y the only way your brain and your body are gonna make the connection that you're capable of doing it is by doing it. speaker-0: This one gets lot of people. I love this question. Okay, gone through the episode, everything's said and done. And now we were even talking about how you want to do more podcasts and stuff like that, right? And I love how you're putting yourself out there. I'm huge on personal branding. Maybe we can collab on something later on down the road. But now you're sitting in front of a camera, someone's interviewing you. What's a question you want to be asked? speaker-1: that's a hard one. That's a good one. So if I was on another podcast, would I anywhere in the street even? speaker-0: A anywhere. You can be on this minute this hour has sixty minutes or whatever that show it. Like you can be anywhere you want. Like if you got to sit down and ask the like one question someone wants to ask you or you want someone to ask you, like, what would it be, right? speaker-1: Yeah, okay. I think it would be like a mix of like why are you doing what you're doing? sort of like what's your purpose, I guess, would be my question. speaker-0: So what's your purpose? speaker-1: I think to build my dream life ⁓ while helping others learn to create theirs. speaker-0: I I was hoping you go back to that quote. I love that quote. speaker-1: It's stuck in me, clearly. I put it on speaker-0: Yeah, literally it's stuck in you. Yeah, no, I no honestly, it's been an awesome episode. I loved it. We touch on so much stuff. Like the mindset around certain things, the helping other people. Worried about other people being successful. I think there's such a void in like the world and society with that. Like that's where I'm at. Like my podcast is a passion thing. I want people to put themselves out there. I want to have better conversations. I want to learn how they're helping other people. I'm at a you know, collaborate, not compete kind of phase in life. So even with business. Like I like I've seen another contractor. I was just sitting in here a few weeks ago with another one. He's like, I had my business in Toronto. I'm trying to move into Orangeville. Like what can we do? What can I do? And I'm like, Bro, let's sit down. Like he might be taking a client from me, but I'm like, I don't care. Yeah. Because it'll come back tenfold by me being honest and saying, There's enough for all of us to eat. We don't have to be at the same table, but all kind of eat, right? So everything we touched on today, what would you name this episode? speaker-1: Yeah, I've already Mm-hmm. Woohoo. speaker-0: This one honestly, this one gets everyone. But we were actually talking about naming the first episode and then we me and ⁓ T Dog were on the phone one day and I'm like, I'm just gonna ask people what they want to name the episode. Because I again I want this to relate to you. speaker-1: Okay, I think I would go with ⁓ collaboration creates success. speaker-0: Collaboration creates success. I don't need I I don't even know if I need a sign off for that one. But that just like that hit home. That's it. And forget the noise. Chelsea's been on today. She's been a great guest. It's been so much fun, great conversation, so much insight. Reach out to her, social plugs. That's what I'm in. That's it. Reach out to her if you need some support. Besides that, we'll have all the details in the comments. And hopefully you tune in for another episode of Forget the Noise. AJ, signing off.