Text us! We know you feel like part of the conversation! We want to hear your input!
In this podcast episode, the hosts discuss the realities of entrepreneurship, acknowledging that the journey includes balancing business growth while managing personal struggles. They emphasize that moments of difficulty are temporary, and that achieving success is possible even amidst challenging circumstances. They share their own experiences, revealing both the downs and the ups in their personal lives and businesses. They also discuss the value of partnerships, the benefits of entrepreneurial freedom, and the importance of a client-centered approach to business. Lastly, they highlight the lessons from the book 'Unreasonable Hospitality', emphasizing on not just maintaining a good relationship with clients, but also prioritizing employees' welfare.
00:00 Introduction: The Impermanence of Life's Challenges
01:31 The Reality of Entrepreneurship: Balancing Personal and Professional Life
02:43 The Struggles of Parenthood and Entrepreneurship
06:54 The Impact of Loss: Dealing with the Unexpected
15:53 The Power of Partnership in Entrepreneurship
20:23 The Importance of Task Management and Prioritization
24:42 The Reality of Juggling Life and Work
26:56 The Complexities of Real Estate Transactions
28:58 The Challenges of Growth and Change
31:35 The Emotional Rollercoaster of Business
34:09 The Power of Relationships and Authenticity in Business
38:32 The Struggles and Triumphs of Balancing Personal and Professional Life
44:50 The Importance of Perspective and Learning in Business
51:56 The Art of Exceptional Client Experience
54:30 The Journey of Personal and Business Growth
Text us! We know you feel like part of the conversation! We want to hear your input!
In this podcast episode, the hosts discuss the realities of entrepreneurship, acknowledging that the journey includes balancing business growth while managing personal struggles. They emphasize that moments of difficulty are temporary, and that achieving success is possible even amidst challenging circumstances. They share their own experiences, revealing both the downs and the ups in their personal lives and businesses. They also discuss the value of partnerships, the benefits of entrepreneurial freedom, and the importance of a client-centered approach to business. Lastly, they highlight the lessons from the book 'Unreasonable Hospitality', emphasizing on not just maintaining a good relationship with clients, but also prioritizing employees' welfare.
00:00 Introduction: The Impermanence of Life's Challenges
01:31 The Reality of Entrepreneurship: Balancing Personal and Professional Life
02:43 The Struggles of Parenthood and Entrepreneurship
06:54 The Impact of Loss: Dealing with the Unexpected
15:53 The Power of Partnership in Entrepreneurship
20:23 The Importance of Task Management and Prioritization
24:42 The Reality of Juggling Life and Work
26:56 The Complexities of Real Estate Transactions
28:58 The Challenges of Growth and Change
31:35 The Emotional Rollercoaster of Business
34:09 The Power of Relationships and Authenticity in Business
38:32 The Struggles and Triumphs of Balancing Personal and Professional Life
44:50 The Importance of Perspective and Learning in Business
51:56 The Art of Exceptional Client Experience
54:30 The Journey of Personal and Business Growth
This is a period of time and I know so well, I can like feel it in my flesh. Like when we're going through something, it's so easy to think like this moment is forever.
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:stuck here. This is gonna be where I'm gonna be forever. And I think with age and experience, we do get the perspective that like nothing lasts forever. This will not be forever. Welcome back friends. We're doing this right, right, Colleen?
Track 1:Yeah, man, we're doing it right.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:Sometimes.
Track 1:Sometimes
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:we're having technical difficulties this morning, but it's fine.
Track 1:it's.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:still really cool. Welcome back. So we're pivoting. We're pivot. Colleen. It.
Track 1:Well, clearly we're just really in sync because we are gonna say the exact same thing at the same time. I was just gonna say, we are gonna talk about real life entrepreneurship today. Right. And I was talking, talking to my, I had my inspire her indie call this morning and we were talking about morning routines, but what one of the things that. That came up was that entrepreneurship is more than a job, obviously, and entrepreneurship is more than like, quote unquote running a business because every single aspect of your personal life and your business life affects the other, right? Like. As much as you want to try to separate those things, especially early on in your business. As an entrepreneur though, that does not exist. And so we're just gonna be real, real and talk about today the things that are happening so that we're not, we're not the people who are like, everything's great. Everything's fine. Every look at how, all these amazing things we're doing, and it's all peaches and roses and ice creams, right? Because.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:Yeah, that's not real you guys. So the Medeiroses is the Cheryl end of this podcast has had a rough month, and we lost our au pair. She decided that we weren't the right fit for her, so she moved to the East Coast. That's a major pivot. And many families that I know the mom, mom's life is the one that changes when something like that happens.
Track 1:Yes.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:and I'm, it's like the pros and cons of entrepreneurship. Like I work for myself and all of my clients I get to, I get to. Pivot and spend the time with my kids and work shorter days so that my children have childcare. and I get to only work about five hours a day right now because by the time I've dropped everybody off and then it's time to pick everybody up. And those of you who know me know that like, I like to do a zillion things. There's not a lot of time in five hours, it turns out.
Track 1:It's not.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:Not a lot of time. So I did have, I have many, have many people give me insight has made me feel better about this moment of time that I'm in. friend told me, and you guys have met her, Bonnie Perry, she subbed for Colleen one day and she said, Cheryl, anything that's ever happened that has required me to spend more time with my kids has never been a bad thing.
Track 1:I love that.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:was a really positive spin. Secondly. I get to still work five hours a day, like I've worked that out. So I get to still work five hours a day. Alex is taking the brunt of the parenting on the weekends so that I can catch up on things that I haven't been able to do. It is just a season I. This is not forever. This is a period of time and I know so well, I can like feel it in my flesh. Like when we're going through something, it's so easy to think like this moment is forever.
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:stuck here. This is gonna be where I'm gonna be forever. And I think with age and experience, we do get the perspective that like nothing lasts forever. This will not be forever. Like I rem I think back to August, my baby, well my oldest baby, when she was born, she had colic
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:was like, for sure that that was the rest of my life.
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:have the perspective to know that. Like she'd be a running, jumping, laughing, screaming, learning to read 6-year-old one day when I was going through that. Where, when my. Third child who was again, colic.'cause the Medeiroses has got super fucking lucky with two colic children. I knew that it was just a blip on the radar
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:that perspective carried me through. Where with August, I was like beside myself, not well. So I know that this is not forever. It adds a tremendous amount of stress to my life to like have to pivot and find secondary childcare to like. the hole, and then now I'm trying to find new childcare and because I, I love the au pair route, it's affordable and it's what has really worked for my family. We are matching. I have three kids second year au pairs. The ones that have already been here for a year don't want me because they work 40 to 45 hours and they have three kids and year au pairs like kind of get to be choosy.'cause the best of the best. They already have experience. So anyways, that means I have to match out of country, which that's like an eight week turnaround by the time I find the au pair that I want. Best case scenario, if that au pair is ready to travel in eight weeks. Just like real, a lot of unknowns over here right now. But I,
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:we're getting close. I think we're getting close to matching and there's an in-country repair with like three months left that might be willing to come to us to like bridge a gap. So you guys, so that was one thing.
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:one thing that the Medeiroses have been dealing with in the last month.
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:It's a big thing. It's a big thing. There was a lot of tears, a lot of stress, a lot of trying to figure out how this was gonna work. Our bandaid, childcare, which is like so much less hours, costs us more money
Track 1:Yep.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:we were paying to have 45 hours with an au pair. So it's just a lot, a lot of stress. Let's see. My doggy died. She was we were ready as ready as you can be,
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:heartbreaking.
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:And then also going through that with children for the first time and watching the effect that has on them is hard. My oldest took it very hard. Like the vet cried with us'cause my oldest was just like such a mess. And then my middle one, Was fine until we started burying her. And then my baby, my 3-year-old just didn't get it. she's like, well, like Macy's sedated and get her ready to go to sleep.'cause we were fortunate enough to do it at home. She's like shaking a bell in Macy's ear and like pulling on her tail and. And I'm like, oh, well, I'm thinking to myself, Macy, it's quiet where you're going. Take me with you. It's gonna, it's gonna be quiet there. You'll be, you'll be happy. that was interesting. And then we had, unfortunately, a week and a half later, while Animal Kingdom's, energies were all off our. Other, like pre-children inside dog. like our other baby wandered off and he's been gone for over a week and he's 20 pounds and we live in the middle of nowhere. So we've kind of given up hope that he is coming home. So we just really, the blows kept coming
Track 1:A lot, a lot to deal with. You know what I was telling David about. How your dog Jack like went out and he was like, do you think you went to go look for the other dog? And I was like, oh my God.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:just said.
Track 1:I was like, oh my God. That's, I don't know.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:think he had closure because he laid on her while she was going to her final rest.
Track 1:Oh.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:he knew that. But I do think, so we have two outside dogs. We live on the property. We've got the goats and the sheep, and we have two great Pyrenees. His jobs are to like protect the herd. They, when both of them are out of a cage at once, cage is probably like gonna get me in trouble with peta, but like a pin or whatever. They wander off the two great Pyrenees together, they'll be like six miles from the house. It's
Track 1:Oh wow.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:But if only one of them is out of their cage, they don't leave. However, Jack and one of them. On Wednesday of last week, they went to the bottom of the driveway, found stray cats for barking out, and one of my neighbors called me. They came home though, Wednesday, on Thursday they did it again. So I think like and Margarita now with this like imbalance of animal kingdom power, like Jack decided he was gonna be one of the big dogs and do that too, where he's never done that. We lived here for three years,
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:He went with her and came back and he didn't. my mom gave me some perspective on that, and he's a little hunter. He is a terrier. So she was like, you know, Cheryl, like, he went out doing what he loved, which was hunting,
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:that made me feel a little bit better. And then I just threw like a surgery on top of that this week also,
Track 1:Yeah, man,
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:guys.
Track 1:you really, like when we were talking about this, I was just like, you know what, Cheryl, this is the, the metaphor of like, your room gets messier before it gets cleaner. Like, I was like, there's something really big and amazing. This is a.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:gonna be super clean soon. Yeah. And I ha I have to be honest, I was like, do I wanna test the universe by going under general anesthesia this week? But I made it. I made it. I'm fine you guys. I'm on the other side. I had a uterine ablation for men. Stop listening for a few seconds. We're gonna talk about womanhood, but I had a uterine ablation, so after having my kids, my cycles were very, very heavy. And. I do not like to be on birth control. It really affects my moods
Track 1:Sure.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:my swings, if you will.
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:I tried it for a few months and I was right to not, I don't wanna be on birth control. So my mom and my aunt had this procedure really successfully done, and so I did it. So what they do is they was just like, cauterize your uterine lining so that you really won't bleed anymore.
Track 1:Okay.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:still cycle, you'll still have your periods and your hormones and stuff, but like without any birth control, so without any synthetic hormones. So fingers crossed it's gonna go well. It was a lot more painful than I anticipated it was gonna be the day of but now I'm fine. Just a little crampy. So for anybody experiencing that, there are options. So
Track 1:Is that a, is that a considered like a birth control method?
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:She says no. She's like adamant. No, but I mean, I have to think. Listen, I'm not a doctor. I'm in sales. I have a business degree, not a medical degree. I mean, isn't, I may, I sound super ignorant here, but like when you get pregnant, doesn't the like egg and sperm attach to the uterine lining and then work its way up, like to where it's be? So I have. There's nothing to grab onto, like how it has to be some form of birth control. But it is not our birth control method, so it doesn't matter for me.
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:but she was adamant to say like, this will not keep you from getting pregnant.
Track 1:Okay.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:okay, well I've got something else line for that. Don't worry. Castrated my husband a few years back we're fine.
Track 1:Yeah. Yeah, is a strong word. It's not exactly the same. It's not the same.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:the. Sometimes if he keeps up the behavior, then we might do it. might go all the way. Just kidding. Alex, I love you. He stopped listening. You guys.
Track 1:I think it might only be Jason. I don't, and I think Jason is like only sometimes. So whatever. Do what you want guys. So now in the realm of like we are talking about like, okay, you're having all of these like a lot of life in the last four weeks and like this is one of those times when we talked about work life balance or whatever, where we talk about like there is no balance. Like sometimes life happens and your work. I don't wanna say suffers, but kind of like you just can't do it to the same level that you were doing it. Right. And then there's been plenty of times in your life where your work has been very successful and sometimes stuff at home is like suffering. I don't know what the word is, what the better word?
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:Call it back. Back burner,
Track 1:Yeah. Back burner or like is just not, not flourishing into its highest capability, I suppose. So it's like, I think that is really important for, and thank you for sharing all of that.'cause that a lot of that is like obviously very personal and emotional and makes you very vulnerable, but like these are the things that we wanna talk about with people and these are the things that we want every woman and for people, for men maybe that listen to our show to understand that like. So often people say to you, Cheryl, and to me, like, I don't know how you do it all. And it's like, it's not pretty, you know, like it's messy sometimes, often, you know? And I don't ever intentionally try to make my, and you don't either, like, make ourselves look like we're perfect. Like, I did a video the other day on my Instagram where I like literally was wearing my skirt to a gala inside out and had no idea until I was at the gas station.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:I
Track 1:I was like,
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:that one.
Track 1:oh my God, and I've been wearing this skirt. I got this skirt and it's a Kia and I've worn it to a couple different, literally wor it inside out the entire, every single time. Every single time. It.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:reversible. Colleen, you got a.
Track 1:I was like, these, these are so trend.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:So hip.
Track 1:I know I like, I am the designer now. Goodbye. But that's, you know, but, but work still goes on, right? You still had clients, you still have, you know, transactions. You still have to try to get more clients and do your newsletters and do all your work with your partners and do this podcast and do all this stuff, right? And I don't know, like. What else there is to say about that other than like, it,
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:things to say.
Track 1:it's just all happening. You know what I mean? Like, it's like, okay, say it.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:Okay, one, never have I valued a partnership more. Than when these types of things happen.
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:I can be like, Colleen do this,
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:Like the day after Jack went missing, I. Like functioned that morning. And then there was things that just had to get done. And I texted my business partner, Rachel, and I said, I've got these four things that need to happen today, and I'm not going to do any of them, so I
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:to just take it and do it. And she, of course, was more than willing because when her life's on fire, I'm doing the same for her. So collaboration, partnership, somebody who can lean on huge in entrepreneurialship. Massive win. When somebody's dog goes missing. Here are some tangible things that you can do to help them. Call the animal services for them. Call the emergency vets for them, text them and say, Hey. Okay, gimme your dog's breed weight, any distinguishing marks, Izzy microchipped. I'm gonna call all the local people. Just do that for the person.
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:say, have you done this? Just do that, because that person may not even be able to speak if you're Cheryl,
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:even talk last week. So like, just do those things. On behalf of somebody,
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:make the signs, put'em up, you know, like do that. Like, just do, don't ask. It's like, it's like with a new mom, like, don't ask what I can do for you. Just come
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:them what you're going to do for them and like, get whatever information you need and then just do it. Because
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:when somebody is in it's just hard for them to function. okay. That so partnership, and then just vulnerability and honesty with people. I
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:I would say that probably none of my real estate clients would have any idea that I had anything going on this week because everything still got done for them. But it was very much like prioritizing what absolutely had to happen and then kind of pushing things off. And I think it's like. The pros and cons of entrepreneurialship. So if I were a W2 employee working for a company and my life broke down in this way the last couple weeks, like I would've needed to probably still be in an office and like doing things and or I could've taken sick days and like just
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:about work. You know, like it would've gone either one of two ways,
Track 1:Or vacation days, you would've had to maybe take vacation days and, and sacrifice those or whatever. Like that's a lot more challenging.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:the pros and cons. It's like I'm juggling everything that needs to get done because at the end of the day, it's end all be all with me.
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:my partner. But like, so it's a lot of responsibility and that's a big, that's a big lift, but I'm not, I'm not letting anybody down. I'm not. Required to go somewhere and show up when I maybe physically do that.
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:so it's like, it's like the pros and the cons of it.
Track 1:Yeah. But I think that's the worst, best and worst part about this. And I would choose being an entrepreneur any day over working in an office or having to ask or tell somebody like, my dog died and I can't come in and have them feel some sort of way about it or make some sort of judgment about it, or dismiss that in some way, or like. I just, I am not a person anymore. At some point in my life I was, but I'm not a person anymore. Who, who would be okay with that? And I just, you know, like anytime this is hard and I'm like, maybe I should go get a nine to five job. But you know, I think about like, okay, then I can't take my kids to school every day and then I can't pick up my kids from school every day the way that I want to, or. I can't take my dad when he is having, medical situations. I can't take him to the hospital and handle those things, or even like, take the time to like work on myself or work on things for my business that I want to, you know, like I wanna be when you're. An entrepreneur, you're, you're in control of your time, but you're not in control of your time also. But to your point, you get to prioritize like you can make the decisions and, and make the priori priorities. I was talking to a woman this morning in, in my in the Inspire her group, and she talked about how she prioritizes her tasks in like a stoplight format. And I thought that was really cool. Like yeah, like I, I, I wanna understand more about it, but like basically there was in some categories, so I don't know exactly I'll find out, but let's just make it up. So like the green category was like things that she had to do first, right? And that, how to put those, those are the highest priority things. And then for the day, then. Other things got put in like this yellow category and she would actually like color code them on her calendar or on or on her cast list or something like that. And then the red was things that maybe she could push off to another day or whatever. If she can get'em done, great. If not, she could push'em off to another day. And that's a method anybody could use. Right. But I think when you're, when you're running your own business, like. I was telling them about, you know, our, our processes Coach Susie, who we love talks about having one task list and that one task list has personal and professional on it. So I was like, oh, what if you like meld those concepts together of like, or some sort of prioritization of. Tasks, right? Like, so when you're in this situation, you could even like to, to Rachel, be like, I need all these green tasks done today. Like, here's the priority. Here's everything that I need done today. I can't do these things. Or you know, you're like, Colleen, I can't, you know, pull all of the clips for the, the videos like I usually do. I need you to do that today. That's green on my list. I think that's a cool way to like have a similar language, but then also have like an easy way to turn those things over to people. I don't know.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:Yeah. I mean, I think the most helpful thing like that, that day that I was like in, I was just staring at a wall really. That was all I could do.
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:like, I had this list. And it was very easy to just be like, I'm moving these to you.
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:thankfully, I, I am good at the list. And have I got permission from Susie to have two lists? This last week
Track 1:I also.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:Compass has Mm-Hmm. Well, and let me be clear, like I have more than two lists, but I'm using Google tasks as like. List hub where I've got like, I'm doing this today. This is what needs to be done at some point for, inspire her. This needs to done for my real estate business. This needs to be done. Like I've got like a hole and I move the priorities over to today. So I've just got like a running list because we've talked a lot about like sometimes showers are dangerous because I'm in there and all of a sudden I've got 75,000 ways that I'm gonna like. Fix the world,
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:and I like to put those down somewhere and get'em outta my head, and then I can slowly move those over to like, okay, this is priority. This is priority, this is priority. But then Compass has like a very good way of organizing our tasks for transactions. So I now have. Permission to use the compass tasks for transactions. And then the Google tasks for me, and like one thing that could be on my Google task list is like a reoccurring everyday check compass,
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:transaction task so that then our kind of working together in that way. Her idea behind having one task list is obviously so you don't lose anything, but also like the. Task switching between like different platforms for instance. Like it takes your brain so much time to like get back into focus when
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:to move from one place to another. So that, that is her methodology behind that or her reasoning. And I totally get it.
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:I love Google tasks and I love compass tasks for what they are. So here we are.
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:we are, but it's working for me. And if you guys are, I think this episode, I'm gonna launch this episode this next Wednesday. So that afternoon after this one drops you guys, we have our second part of our Vision to Reality webinar series, which is like. Implementing your visions
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:executing to make sure that they can come true. And so we're gonna talk a lot in that about the Google tasks and such. And that's another thing I'm thinking about like when juggling life right now, entrepreneur like Colleen and I schedule these live calls with people that we're so excited to share this information with and then I lose my childcare and I'm like pivoting'cause it's four o'clock and I don't have extra help at that time. And I'm like. Neighbor, can my kids come over and play at your house for an hour so
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:have a webinar uninterrupted? And thankfully it worked, and next week I'll have to do the same.
Track 1:Yeah. I mean my kids, I told you were, you were like at one point you were looking away. Yeah. My kids were literally, I have like French doors in my office that are like windows and they're like looking like through the window and I'm like, get out. Like, because my husband had to go pick up my daughter from horseback riding because I usually do it and he couldn't do it or I couldn't do it. But these are just like, that's just part of it. Right? And if Jack, if my,
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:All doing it.
Track 1:yeah, that's how,
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:doing it in one way or another.
Track 1:yeah. So if, if Everett and Jackson needed to run here, in here during that webinar, I mean, we would've just rolled with it, you know, like we would've just rolled with it because that's, that's real life. you know what's interesting in any kind of like partnership, like Cheryl and I have this partnership where the, the partners can also have different things happening or different seasons happening at the same time. Right? Like I, this month, for me, work-wise has been really successful. Like, we've had three transactions in the last two weeks, which is like. A lot for me. I don't particularly take on a ton of transactions because I'd rather do less transactions and give better quality care than just crank out a billion of'em. But also because my, my business is still growing, but there was a lot of so that was really good and I put some systems in place and I hired thankfully right before this, and maybe because of this I'm able to do it. A transaction coordinator, which has taken a lot off of my plate. And I think it was one of those things where you're, and this is interesting'cause I'm also gonna be hiring a virtual assistant. There's the moment where you're like, can I afford this? Does this make sense financially? But the work that I am able to do now is exponential compared to what I was able to do when I was running all the transaction, which if you're not familiar with real estate, like. There's a lot of paperwork and things like that that happens behind the scenes. Yeah. And none of it is like complicated. Right. But it does take a lot of time and brain space to like make sure all of those, all the people are coordinated, all the paperwork gets signed.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:A lot of t's to cross an I to dot
Track 1:Mm-Hmm.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:like very specific documents need to be in files.
Track 1:Yep.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:even just the process of like setting a single document up for signature is just time
Track 1:Yeah, exactly.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:like, has to be done on a computer. So you've gotta stop and be somewhere where you can, and it's
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:pain in the eye. For lack of a better word, like I'm happy to explain those contracts to someone all day long, but absolutely somebody else should put the line where the person needs to sign and email that out for me, and then make sure like everything got initialed, everything got assigned, all the appropriate documents are in the file so that we're in compliance with what's required. Because a real estate transaction is a huge deal.
Track 1:Yeah, and it's legal, I mean, here,
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:important.
Track 1:binding contract. So in the state of Indiana, the moment the, the buyer and the seller agree on a, a purchase agreement. It's not like this in every other state, but in all states it's different. Here it's a legally binding contract, so that's a big deal. You know, in other states it's much easier to get out of, of putting an offer in and then being like, I don't really like the way the carpet is, so I'm out, you know? But here it's very hard and there's money involved immediately, you know, earnest money that's involved anywhere. So anyway, so we wanna have also another set of eyes and people who, this is what they're doing all day long doing that. So that has been really helpful. And I've also been like, in this period of growth, kind of figuring out how to, you know, I was trained a certain way in real estate and now I'm at a different place and they do things differently. Not even just procedurally, but like how they work with their clients and treat their clients and talk to their client, whatever. And so I am going through a little bit of a growth period of like, I was taught this one way and good, bad, or indifferent. Like there are other ways to do things and that can be hard, you know?
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:Change is hard..
Track 1:I'm like, oh man, okay. I thought, you know, it's like when you think that you got it all down, you think that you're really doing it. And this is again, part of running a business and, and being willing to evolve and being willing to change. Is that like, you know, there's things that I'm like, yeah, I really got this down. I know how to do this. I've run a bunch of, you know, done this a billion times now, whatever. And then somebody else is like, Hmm, I think it's better if you do it this way. I'm like, oh, oh, I see what you're saying there. Okay. And again, that's their, their way, their position, their, their opinion. But I'm like, oh, okay. So it's like there's been a lot of my energy and, and brain space having to figure out like, and, and evaluate like, what do I wanna keep from what I was originally taught? What do I wanna add that's new? What do I know just inherently about how I want to work with my clients and treat them and handle them. And that's a lot of the emotional part that goes in behind the scenes that's also happening while I'm doing all this work and also parenting and whatever.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:I think that it's probably a really good time to revise your personal and your business mission statement and core value statement, and then these new perspectives through that filter to help you figure out how it is that you want to do your business and how you wanna handle your clients. And, I think that we. Always have something to learn
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:people's perspective. And even if what we learn is that we're doing is the right way,
Track 1:Yeah, we're doing it right.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:you know we're doing it right. Right. but I think being open and listening and learning is always to benefit you in one way or another.
Track 1:I'm really having to like not take offense or not be not take this as like criticism, right? But more like, okay, here's another, yeah, here's feedback, here's another way that you can do it. And it. You know, it's, it's hard, you know, it's hard to, I am, I am somebody who is really all in on something. I am all in on my clients. I do my best. I work really hard for them. And you know, I do stuff with, with confidence and with passion and and then when somebody else is like I don't know about that. Not in a bad way, right? In a constructive way. Sometimes there's a moment where I'm like, Ooh, what? I did something wrong. Like am I wrong about, you know, like, did I do something bad? You know? And it's like, no, there's just lots of ways. I've always said this business and, and entrepreneurship, and anytime you have your own business, there's so many ways to do a business, and that's the best and worst part about it is because you have to figure out. What works for you?
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:I wanna like give you a pat on the back for being open to seeing what other people have to offer and their perspective and their feedback, because that's hard,
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:hard to do. Ego is, I wanna do a whole episode on ego at some point. But ego is like wrapped into every little thing we do
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:is. Like, the biggest work that I have to do is like keeping my ego in check like being willing to be open and being willing to be wrong or being willing to just like learn from someone else and realize I may not have all the answers. Maybe I do, but I may not. And being willing to entertain somebody else's perspective is a really admirable thing. So good on you, Colleen. of you.
Track 1:Yeah, I'm gonna tell you about this book I'm reading, but I wanna touch on something else, right bef that you just made me think of is, you know, and recognizing, so I had this transaction, this deal that I just put together really quickly. Like it went from like listing agreement to offer within like moments, right?
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:This was wild. This was a wild deal. I was so proud of you. It's like such a, like not, we're not for hustle culture, but like, fuck yeah. You hustled hard and like I.
Track 1:it was
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:Damn girl,
Track 1:really
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:are paying off.
Track 1:it. Yeah. I mean, it was amazing. It was a really, it was really one, a testament to like making relationships and people and, and really making real true, genuine relationships with people. One, two also. Really, genuinely, honestly, and without shame, putting yourself out there and letting people know what you're doing and letting people know that you're successful and letting people know that you are good at what you do. Right? Like, I, there's so much shit people talk about social media, but I am honest and genuine and, and, and real on my social media. And I also talk about real estate and I also post. Have deals and whatever, and people are seeing that now. And this is a tip for business owners. It's like people are seeing that and acknowledging that. And all the work that I put into creating this really great space on this app, you know are leading to real, real transactions, real referrals. It's like this woman who referred me, this client is was my sorority sister. So I've known her for a long time, but I've also fostered that relationship with her since I've moved back to Indiana. And she's my friend and she follows my Instagram and she sees the work that I'm doing. And when her neighbor had a failed, you know, he hosts, he listed his house with a, a discount, big discount brokerage. And it didn't sell a beautiful home. Sat on the market for two months because of really bad advice that this brokerage gave them. She sent me, you know, it was like, Hey, what about Colleen? Like, you should interview Colleen. And we were able to get this transaction done super fast because of my other connections and finding him a buyer and whatever. So that was really awesome. But amid that. I had had a similar situation like this happen earlier in my career and during that time period someone was really, really awful to me during that time period, during that when I was training to get it done and the deal did not get done and. It was, you know, somebody telling me like, if this doesn't get done, you're a failure. And then it didn't get done and I felt like a failure. And so here I am now. That was, you know, years ago, two years ago, and now a similar deal is happening. And all of that kind of, all those feelings came up for me again. About, if I don't get this deal done, I'm a failure. If I don't do this, I have, you know, I haven't proved myself or whatever. And I told Cheryl, like I, there was a moment where I, I thought the deal was gonna fall apart, and I went into my closet and I just cried because I was just like, but I was sitting there crying, like, why am I crying? Like I had to take a moment to think about like, in present time, what am I crying about? And then I realized. It's not about what's happening right now. It's about all these things that happened before. And while that all needs to be addressed at some point, like right now in present, in, in the present time, there's nothing wrong here. There's no, there's no problem here. Like it's all very simple and we can work it out and there's a lot of emotions on both sides, but and we did and it was great and it's all great, right? But. Those are things that come up in business that we don't see. Right. My, none of my clients knew that I, you know, nobody knew, and now everybody knows, but nobody knew at the time. Right. That I was like having such a hard time mentally and emotionally with, with doing this deal because of something that happened in the past. Right. I was once told when I worked in sports medicine, you know, years ago when I was training in college, and they would say, we had a saying and it was like, if your bad day can't be your athlete's bad day. So I try to take that into everything that I do moving forward, right? Like my bad day can't be my client's bad day. Just like Cheryl's having all this shit happening, but you're making sure your client ha, everything's done for your client. Setting yourself up so that you have good partners and things like that, that's easy to hand off, but I just want everybody to know that, like, if you feel like it's all messy, it is all messy. You know, like the,
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:alone.
Track 1:you're not alone. You know, like everybody's looking at, you know, did I put all of this up on my social media? No, I did not put all, like, I am honest, but I, this was not for. Everybody. Now it's a, now it's for everybody, but it's after the fact, so that's fine.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:Well, this is long form. Instagram is short form.
Track 1:yes,
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:long form.
Track 1:but I guess I just, those are the things that I wanna talk about where it's like, you know, I look like right now I'm killing it. Right? Like, this month I'll, you know. It. I'm killing it right now. Like it's just happening. It's just coming. I didn't know this deal was gonna come. It came outta nowhere, right? Like I was kind of like, where's, what's the next thing I'm working on? And then boom, this thing came out. So, but amongst me just like killing it and crushing it and doing so well and blah, blah, blah, there's all this other shit that's happening in the meantime, you know? And the childcare. Like yesterday I had to go, I was invited to this awards banquet and. My husband had a, a meeting and I had to find a babysitter to pick up the kids from school and take the, take Vivian to riding and make sure everybody got the places where they were gonna go in the same day because my sweet loving husband did not put this meeting on the calendar. So we didn't know that we had a conflict.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:How could you?
Track 1:Oh, good. There's just so many moving parts and, and I don't know what the point of anything that I'm trying to say is other than like, this shit's messy and we're,
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:shit show over here.
Track 1:we're trying to put systems and processes in, so it's less messy, but it's so messy and there's, you know, like there are times where you're just fucking killing it. And then there's times where you're just not, but we have to look at the long and you know, to your like long range trajectory of like look forward and look back. Right. You always talk about, like, looking back on what you've achieved so far, it's like when you look at your statistics right up close, everything looks really intense or, or not quite right. But then when you take a step back and you're like. Oh, oh, I, you know, we're in February, which is traditionally a like, really slow, terrible month and, you know, you're, you've done almost$3 million worth of sales in this month. Like for us here in Indiana, that's kind of a lot.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:In
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:that's big.
Track 1:So you know, like,
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:I'll take all day
Track 1:yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:Yeah, I mean I, three times 12, that puts me at like my goal volume for the year.
Track 1:Yeah. Yeah. So it, it's that it's the pullback. Like sometimes we talk about looking back, but do the 10,000 foot view. Also sometimes, like, give yourself that, because whether that, you know, use that analogy or use the looking back analogy or whatever it is. As messy and as dirty, sloppy as life feels sometimes like it. It doesn't mean that you're failing and it doesn't mean that you are not doing it right. You know?
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:Right. Well, and even like I'm not having, I've got a lot in the pipeline, but everything's kind of waiting till
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:true real
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:We're not quite there. That's fine. But like, my God. Thank God I've set my life up in this way where I just got to have a month of like, I could slow down a little bit, take my foot off the pedal at work so that I could lean into what my family and what I personally need
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:moment. And there's also the thing of like 10 years ago, you looking at where you are today would be so like, fuck yeah, you've made it Colleen. Great job. You know?
Track 1:Where I was 10 years ago today, 10 years ago, I was 31. I was married. I had just had Vivian and we were living in my mom's apartment, two bedroom apartment with her in, you know, like in Los Angeles. And within 10 years, like my life has changed exponentially for the better. In so many ways.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:years ago, 10 years ago today, I, my, my condo that I owned by myself was for sale. I was, had been diagnosed a year ago. We had to terminate a pregnancy like six months prior to this, Alex and I were housed shopping for our first house together. And April, 10 years ago, we bought in Santa Margarita where I love and I'm so happy to live. And then I went out on disability for a year.
Track 1:Wow.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:So like, yeah, 10 year recap is crazy.
Track 1:Yeah, and it's,
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:then I've had three kids. I've changed careers, like all the things.
Track 1:and that 10 like going from 30 to 40 for me. So was like insane, like the amount of things that happened in that decade of time compared to like maybe 20 to 30 while there was a lot that happened during that time, that time. So if you're in that time period or like, just know that there's so much that you're addressing and handling during that time, that 30 to 40 time period. And then now you know, I'm, now I'm.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:40 to 50, that 20 year period from,
Track 1:Yeah,
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:to 50, that's a lot of life that's
Track 1:so much, so much, and I think some of the coolest things are happening during that, that time. So anyway
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:Tell us about your book.
Track 1:oh yeah, okay. I'm reading this book call and listen.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:it right now too. You don't even know that we're in a book club together. You had no idea. But I'm actually in the middle of this book too.
Track 1:Are you it's called Unreasonable
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:our book. it's our book club for my office this month. I created a book club for my real estate office,
Track 1:Ours. Two.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:this is the book we're reading.
Track 1:Yeah, US two. It's called Unreasonable Hospitality. And it is by Will. What's his last name? It's like gear, whatever. He's married to Christina Tosi, which is what you really need to know. You know who Christina Tosi is?
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:know her.
Track 1:Oh my God, she's an amazing pastry chef. She's the one who opened milk bar in New York and then like she kind of made cereal milk a thing, like she made cereal milk a flavor. Anyway, she's fantastic. She's only every food network. Thing. Anyway, he, it's all about hospitality and it's a business book. He, he was in the restaurant business, but it's so much more than like, it's a business book, right? It's like how to deliver the most exceptional client experience for your clients, and then as a leader. For the people that you're leading. And I just love that because sometimes it's one, you know, a lot of times we talk about how, what can we do for our clients, but as a leader, like what you can do for your employees and like giving your, your employees and your, the people that work for you such an incredible and hospitable experience that they in turn give that experience to your clients. Right? And i, I grew up in San Francisco as a little kid, and, and 80 in the eighties when the food scene was like really, really cool. And my parents were definitely like foodies at the time. So like hearing him tell this story, like there's so much that I'm like relating to just from that time period of like. When chefs became celebrity chefs during the eighties, and so there's that aspect to it. But just every single thing he is talking about in the book, I'm like, oh my god. Yes. And like, how do I give this exceptional And like really understanding what hospitality is and not that it's just like about a hotel or like, you know, a restaurant or something like that. Like the real, just to give this excellent care. To your clients and to your employees so that they feel so mu, so cared for in that. And some of it is to do it in a way that makes them feel effortless. And that was like, I don't know, I just think it's so cool.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:I am blown away by how much of a leadership book it is. I didn't expect that.
Track 1:Mm-hmm.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:as I like, continue to read it, I'm like, oh my God, Alex, you have to read this and you need to read it with your entire management team at the dealership. And just like, I'm blown away by it. And like, I, I, I always feel a little bit like a consultant for the store that Alex works at, but I'm like, your job, like I've heard him say this a bunch in this. Fit that I'm in right now, like my job as a leader is the best thing I can do for my employees is to always look out for what's best for the restaurant, is what he's
Track 1:Yes. Yep.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:Doing what's best for the restaurant, make sure that everybody has a job moving forward. So like I'm like Alex, that is you. Like he is like, I have to do what's best for the store like that he eats, sleeps and breathes that. And I'm like, you need to communicate that to your team about like, that is how I take care of you is by taking care of the store. That is my role here. And then just having like such clear expectations for the people that work for you and how. Kind that actually is
Track 1:We talked about like
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:clear
Track 1:criticism, like that idea of like you praise your employees publicly as publicly as you can, and when you have to give feedback or give criticism, you do that privately and you do it without emotion like. You, you do it in a, there's that one example he gives where like the guy comes in with a wrinkly shirt and he also talks about like addressing these things really early on. Like the guy could have come in with a wrinkly shirt and he said nothing about it, and then the next day he comes in again with a wrinkly shirt. And then by the 20th time he comes in with a wrinkly shirt. As a manager you're like, what the fuck, bro? Like, do you have no respect for this restaurant? Like, can't you pick up? And then it's like. A bad interaction. Right. But then, you know, he was just like, you know, the first time the guy comes in with the wrinkly shirt, you just say, Hey, how you doing? I'm so glad you're here. Your, your shirt looks a little bit rough. Why don't you go hit it with the iron and come back down? And anybody hearing that would just be like, oh, okay. Yeah. Like no big deal, you know?
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:Thanks for the solution.
Track 1:Yeah. And it is such a leadership book, and it's the, the type of leader that I would like to be. And he talks about being really, and it's called unreasonable, right? Because he's so unreasonable about the details. Like he wants things, he's a perfectionist, he wants things done perfectly. But he's also, I'm in the part of the book where they're talking about like they were getting so. They were moving to the next level, moving to the next level, and everything was getting more and more and more. And then it, it started to affect his employees. And he, he tells a story about how this woman came in in a panic one day.'cause she thought she was two hours late for her shift and she was 10 hours early for her shift. And she just had been not sleeping and not, you know, she was just like panicked. And he, he said at that point. They realized while, you know, there were these certain intricacies that they were adding, that were creating a really lovely experience at the restaurant, it was affecting his employees and it was affecting, it was causing so much stress for them that they had to slow down to speed up is what he's talking about. And I was like, whoa. It's everyone should join us in this book club. You should read it and we'll chat about it. It's so, so, so awesome. And I just, it's speaking to, you know, when I was talking about, earlier about like, I was being, I was trained one way and now it, it, you know, I'm seeing another way and like I was trained one way that didn't speak to my heart. And this book speaks to my heart and to like who I am, like as a being, and that is how I want pe I want to give that to people, like that's so important to me. But previously, previously it was like about numbers and about, you know, targets and it was about transactions and negotiating and all of those things are super valid, but you can do, I can do them in a way that makes me still feel good about my. Soul, you know?
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:Yeah, I, I gotta be really honest, like, I hate a structure where like, we're just looking at like, what have you done for me lately? Like, show me the numbers on the board. Like that makes me wanna vomit, takes me back to 12 years at corporate and it's just like. I see. I've seen actually this last week, maybe it was you, somebody on Instagram. Maybe it was you posted something about like like I'm here for my clients, not my metrics or something. Like, I'm not, but like you see all of these people celebrating like top one and a half percent, top 1%, like all this volume I've done and like, I'm sorry, but my clients don't give a shit about the volume. I've done My clients care that they were well taken care of, they understood every part of the transaction. They didn't sign anything that they felt nervous about. They got what they got protected in the transaction and they ultimately got what they wanted. And I. They don't care how many transactions I did last year. They just care how their experience
Track 1:How do.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:So yeah, I just, I like so gross when I see the numbers. If you're doing it, I'm sorry. It's just my perspective. just am like, let's come back to people.
Track 1:There is a Greek word, and I'm probably gonna pronounce it wrong, and I was gonna try to bring it up. It's and it's one of the. Loves, and it's the love of strangers because Greeks are really, really hospitable, really, really hospitable people, and they take a lot of pride in that. And that word translates literally to love of strangers. But the, the translation is actually hospitality. And for all my Greek people listening, I totally butcher that, but I'll make sure Cheryl puts it in the notes. I like was like, yes, this is exactly what this, you know what this book is talking about. It's this love of the stranger and like taking somebody who is a stranger and making them a friend, and you know what I mean by that, but like making them feel so taken care of that they would do anything. For you also, right? Like, and that's how you build a really lovely business is that like you give such good care that people are so proud to recommend you to their friends and family. And I think that that's just a really, that's the way that I wanna approach my business. So I'm excited about it.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:for 12 years, my job was to walk into 10 businesses a day and cold call. And people are so disgusted by that. I know, but I shifted my mindset on it too. I am walking in these businesses and I'm gonna make 10 new friends today.
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:And that was how I approached it. And I loved cold calling. It was the easiest part of the job. Like that was fun for me because I got to walk in to make 10 new friends.
Track 1:Okay. But you're going into the, you were going in there, right? You weren't like picking up the phone calling.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:No, I was getting up the phone. It was an in-person. Like I drove all around San Luis and Santa Barbara County for 12 years, walking into 10 businesses a day, strangers, and making new friends
Track 1:Yeah.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:turning those friends into clients and then. Now those insurance clients are now my real estate clients. And, I closed a deal for one of'em last year. Referred her, her house here, referred her to an agent she bought in Tennessee, and then now they have two more homes in Santa Barbara that they'll be selling. And I was able to just refer those. And for those of you who don't know how real estate works, like if I refer a client to Colleen, I'm gonna get a cut of that deal. So. Refer your agents. Don't feel like you're bothering your agent. If your sister's aunt's brother wants to buy in a town that they're not in, call your agent that you love and let them find an agent because they're gonna get a little bit of that pie. It's good for their business and we really appreciate it.
Track 1:Yeah, we really appreciate that and we're also gonna find you somebody, because we know you already. We're gonna find you somebody that's legit and that's gonna take care of you the way that you wanna be taken care of, and how you expect to be taken care of. And I think that that's the one of the awesome parts about that too. And yes, you know.
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:So you're not out cold calling real estate agents, trying to find one that take good care of you. Like let us use our network and our resources to find someone for you. So there's our little personal plug for the day. Well we went long. You're welcome, Rachel Husker. I know you love a long episode. So here we are.
Track 1:Okay. Well, I just wanna say that I love you Cheryl, and I love all our listeners. And when we did the, in the vision to reality, like it was so fun to see so many of our listeners like there and in person, and I was so excited about that. So, another plug for February 28th. We're gonna do the second part of Vision to Reality. Email us at doingthisrightpod@gmail.com. If you'd like to get an invite to that, even if you haven't done the first part, like it's fine. Just come, we'll figure it out. We'll catch you up. Anything else when you wanna talk about
cheryl_2_02-23-2024_090451:No, we're just trying to bring you guys everything you need to feel a hug and thrive in your businesses and grow. And we're doing it together. And we're doing it right. Right. All right. Bye.