Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: You have to listen to all these different folks with money and what they like to lend to and for. And then remember, when you meet people who need the money and what they are doing and go, oh, this would be a good fit for this person or that person. How do you do that networking? How do you keep that networking going like that?
[00:00:22] Speaker B: So as I'm talking to you or you or anybody that I meet for the first time and I'm sitting there one on one, my brain is just firing off these insane connections and strategic alliances that can be formed and strategies that can be utilized to collapse timelines. And it's just so natural, right? You find that there's these sweet spots sort of everybody has.
[00:00:48] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: And I have so much fun listening to a new complex situation and piecing together in my mental matrix, you know, where does this go? Where does this go? Oh, no, it's going to go here because of this. And it's just so rewarding to get to the end of that and see someone come out of a tough spot or win that situation where they thought they really hit a wall.
[00:01:20] Speaker A: Welcome back to trust this, our master series. Today I'm here with the money lady, Candice Griffin, who, she knows her stuff, folks. Candace, I want to welcome you into the studio today. It's great to have you here. It's great to see you again. It's been years. I think I've seen you. Yeah, CFRI, we used to see you there way back.
[00:01:42] Speaker B: That's where I was born.
[00:01:43] Speaker A: Yeah, I think we all were. I think we were all born at Central Florida Realty. Investors, for all of you out there who don't recognize c great organization for investors to get together to learn. And I think you and I learned a lot there.
Still do learn a lot. But now I feel like we convey our lessons now what we've learned back to a lot of their, their folks. Tell me about what you do. Tell everybody about what you do here.
[00:02:15] Speaker B: Yeah, so I am, it's really evolved over the years. I am a problem solver whenever it comes to mostly finding the right capital for a transaction.
If you get turned down by a bank or if you have like a sure thing and then it falls apart very quickly, or let's say you have a balloon coming due and normally your bank funds that and gets you out of it into long term debt. And now they're saying, guys, we're not doing that right now. It's a really rough year for us. Basically, that's what they're saying when they say no by the way, these are the problems that I'm able to solve and get in there, and oftentimes make miracles happen, and I enjoy it immensely. So that's basically what I do. But I also do a lot of consulting along the way. Sometimes. Sometimes somebody will have a project that I can see is going to take hundreds of hours, and that's when we start having more of that consultative conversation.
[00:03:14] Speaker A: So you connect real estate investors with funding sources.
And I want to point out to everybody, it's not personal home loans. It's not for your primary residence. These are always business loans that you're putting together for short term rentals, long term rentals, multifamily office buildings, hotels, really.
[00:03:37] Speaker B: Single use properties, churches, land, anything. Public storage, you know, really? Anything.
[00:03:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:03:45] Speaker B: And I actually do business loans as well now. We're able to get those done.
[00:03:50] Speaker A: Okay. I didn't know you were doing those. So you're doing business loans for people who. It's secured by the assets of the business and personal guarantees or.
[00:03:59] Speaker B: There's so many ways.
[00:04:00] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:00] Speaker B: To get things done. I started out with, you know, just.
I'm already jumping.
[00:04:07] Speaker A: Go right ahead.
[00:04:09] Speaker B: Everybody in this room knows that I got my start at Nuvu. Self directed Ira custodian, and new view was. It's almost like I was asleep for a few years, and somebody just went, Bink.
This is what is going to wake you up to your destiny right now. Right? And I'm so grateful to that team, Glen Mather and Jason de Bono. I mean, the way that that company opened my eyes to what's possible, I was just on fire to share it, right? So then I meet all of these amazing people, and. And I had to leave there, and I was so sad to leave there. I had to leave because my son wasn't ready for me to be traveling so much. Right. My kids were needing mom. And it's funny how those sad times can be so rewarding later to look back on, because you understand that that was what led you to your destiny.
[00:05:03] Speaker A: Was that around 2018, when you left new view, was that goodness?
[00:05:07] Speaker B: I don't know. I think so. Yeah, I think it was.
[00:05:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:11] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:05:12] Speaker A: Yeah. So that's when you went out.
[00:05:13] Speaker B: I have to do some math here.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: That's when you went out on your own. And what was that like?
[00:05:18] Speaker B: It was so terrifying, right? Because at first, everybody saw me, and I didn't realize it right away. I was a little slow to this, but everybody went, oh, wait, she's a goldmine now, because we couldn't.
We were not able to, as we weren't fiduciaries there, we were custodians. And I had to follow a very strict set of rules that I held very close to my heart and made sure that I followed right. So the minute I was out of there, my phone was just blowing up, like, hey, girl, whatcha doing?
You want to join our team?
I was like, whoa.
So I maneuvered through a bit of that to try and find my place. Ended up doing something really fun, working with late stage startups and roll ups and investor relations.
And it was there that I learned that I loved being around entrepreneurs. I loved being around CEO's people that are all in. It was like being surrounded by a bunch of Tony Robbins, you know, people that just have so much grit and, and persistence and perseverance and just shift their strategy over and over and over again and they're unwilling to stop until they win. That's intoxicating. I absolutely love it. Right.
But what I also learned there is that I get absolutely sick over somebody losing money right now. At the time, I was sort of as a side hustle, being a matchmaker, right. I was matchmaking private money with deals. Right. And so brokering private money commercially. Right. And I was talking to a dear friend of mine who's helped me sort of open my eyes to what was possible for me, a board member at the citrus club. And he said, you know, you can actually do this instead. This is an actual business.
[00:07:22] Speaker A: You can make money doing this.
[00:07:24] Speaker B: Yeah. And you're very good at it. And I think you have a real talent here. Would you like for me to help you move that forward? Right. And that was the birth of what you see today. And it started out very small. You know, I was working just with private money, and then it morphed into family offices and then it morphed into funds. And now there's so many private, large institutional lenders that do a lot, and you find that there's these sweet spots sort of everybody has.
[00:07:57] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:07:58] Speaker B: And I have so much fun listening to a new complex situation and piecing together in my mental matrix, you know, where does this go? Where does this go? Oh, no, it's going to go here because of this. And it's just so rewarding to get to the end of that and see someone come out of a tough spot or win that situation where they thought they really hit a wall.
[00:08:26] Speaker A: Well, and I mean, to me, I hear a lot of networking in there. You have to listen to all these different folks with money and what they like to lend to and for. And then remember, when you meet people who need the money and what they are doing and go, oh, this would be a good fit for this person or that person. How do you do that networking? How do you keep that networking going like that?
[00:08:52] Speaker B: Okay, so here's how God is just the coolest in my life, right?
I have always been service first minded, and I always love helping people. And I feel like I never would have gotten where I am today without people helping me, right? Like that board member, you know, seeing something and saying, hey, I can actually be effective here. I'm going to help.
So at the time, I didn't realize that I had this gift. I didn't realize that it was a gift. I just did it. And then people over and over and over again said, wow, this is so incredible. You have such a gift for this. And people that know me in the early days, like, they knew if they got a random phone call from me, it was going to be a great one because I was going to connect them with somebody that was going to impact their business tremendously, right? So as I'm talking to you or you or anybody that I meet for the first time, and I'm sitting there one on one, my brain is just firing off these insane connections and strategic alliances that can be formed and strategies that can be utilized to collapse timelines. And it's just so natural, right? So I just did it just out of the kindness of my heart because I could for a long time and then learned how to then monetize it.
[00:10:14] Speaker A: Monetize it. I think that's the dream of a lot of entrepreneurs. They want to find what they love to do and what they're just naturally good at, and then go, okay, well, now I can make money just doing, whether it's baking cupcakes or putting money together with projects and borrowers. You know, those are things that a lot of people miss and don't think about. And, you know, a lot of people talk about, well, if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. But my argument back to that is, well, actually, if you love what you do, it's not like work. You are working. You're probably working harder than you've ever worked in your life because you love what you're doing. What is a day in the life like for you on most days?
[00:10:57] Speaker B: Oh, wow. So it's interesting because my business model is both a blessing and a curse, right?
I put out fires. You know, sometimes there's something really desperate going on that I need to just jump right in. I can be on vacation. It could be in the, you know, at 10:00 at night on a Saturday after some tequila.
[00:11:21] Speaker A: That's when all the best decisions are made, too, I'm sure.
[00:11:26] Speaker B: But it's. It's a day in the life.
Almost never looks like the day before, because I'm so all in for my clients and what they need, you know, like, it's early mornings, it's late nights, but it's fun and it's exciting for me. And.
But I will tell you, as far as routine goes, I do make sure that Monday and Friday, for the most part, I can. Those are admin days, right? Those are days where I am tying up the loose ends, taking calls whenever they come in, because normally things are happening over the weekend.
I tell my clients, if this is urgent, I need an so's. Right. So I tell them, so's me. And those get handled on the weekend. But if you don't, so's me. It's Monday. Right?
[00:12:16] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:17] Speaker B: So Monday is dealing with a lot of that. And then Fridays, I like to sort of catch up with people that I've been meaning to catch up with for a very long time and also close out the week, loose ends, etcetera. So that Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday is where I'm really, you know, meeting the demands of the job and getting in front of people, having those meetings, et cetera, et cetera.
[00:12:45] Speaker A: So it sounds like you've got a routine that you have for your overall week. As far as Mondays and Fridays go.
What's a another. What are some routines that you've put in place, you know, just day to day or month to month to help you keep that networking going to keep, because that's the thing. I mean, as an entrepreneur, as a visionary, you're always looking toward the future, but then you're also having to get things done. So what are some routines or habits that you've picked up over the years?
[00:13:16] Speaker B: So, of course, the social media thing, and I actually, on purpose, take, I don't follow anybody's model. I'm like, I've said this before. I'm like that. Have you seen the meme of the ballerina? And they're all lined up perfectly, these little kids, and then the ones hanging upside down on the bar.
[00:13:31] Speaker A: No, I haven't seen it.
[00:13:32] Speaker B: I just do things differently, and I follow my instincts, and it goes pretty well. So I notice that whenever I'm heavy on social media for a while, if I just ignore it for about a month, month and a half, and I get back on there. It's that the nobody's burnt out on what I'm providing anymore, right.
I'm just applying logic, you know, to things and paying attention to how I perceive things myself, you know, like, we get excited to see something, but then again and again and again and again, it's kind of like. I get it now, you know? Yeah.
And I'm trying to be effective. So I'm always being unroutine in my routines. I'm unraveling routines. In my routines. I'm showing up in different places than where people actually know who I am. That's one of the hardest things to do, right.
Is I make sure every year I'm evaluating those rooms that I'm in and mixing it up, you know, showing up at different associations, really getting out there into even, I think, in our industry, right. Because we have mostly real estate professionals in our industry and investors, we get very comfortable showing up where we see a lot of familiar faces over and over and over again. Right. And that's a very good thing to do for the sake of networking and because they are your family, you know, like, these people are kind of like family now, like CFRI, and it does last forever because they.
You're in it together. That is a community. Right.
But everyone knows what I do, and if you need me, you know where to find me. Right. So I try to make sure that I'm out there at, like, Orange county public schools, you know, mixing it up with them. They are either the fourth or 9th largest school district in the nation.
[00:15:28] Speaker A: The nation, yeah.
[00:15:30] Speaker B: So working with them on a high level has just been pretty smart. You know, Rotary. I love rotary. You know, they don't have anything to do with real estate, but there's a lot going on. There's a lot of business owners in there. There's a lot of people getting things done, and I might be the only person they know that does what I do.
[00:15:49] Speaker A: Right.
[00:15:50] Speaker B: Instead of having to feel competitive with six other people, you know, that are circulating in the same rooms over and over and over.
[00:15:57] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:15:59] Speaker B: So that is my routine.
[00:16:04] Speaker A: The routine is to be not routine.
[00:16:06] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:16:07] Speaker A: I agree.
I have to admit, I'm one of the worst to get just comfortable of going, oh, I'm going to this organization. I'll know everybody there. I'll see these people. And. And you do get into a rut. You know, it's routine without the o, and it's just.
It's comfortable.
[00:16:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:29] Speaker A: And I think, you know, that's. That's one of the things we have to become uncomfortable, we have to put constraints on ourselves. And one of the constraints, you know, one of the constraints I'm always looking at is what would completely destroy, aspire legal solutions, what would completely destroy my land trustee tomorrow. That is always running through my head. And I like your idea of, you have to shake it up a little bit and get out of your comfort zone, because if you're in that comfort zone all the time, you'll never feel like anything's ever going to challenge your way of doing what you do.
[00:17:05] Speaker B: And the more comfortable you get there, the harder it is.
[00:17:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:08] Speaker B: Right. And I'm, listen, I.
I have sat in parking lots, like, just stressful day filled with anxiety about going to go do it, and I just go do it anyway.
[00:17:21] Speaker A: Right.
[00:17:21] Speaker B: And it works out, you know, and it's okay that they're. They don't know who I am, you know what I mean? Like, it. It makes me sharpen my acts on being accessible, being approachable, people having the ability to get to know me. It keeps me humble, you know? And that is important in this space.
[00:17:46] Speaker A: Well, and it challenges you, too, because. Yeah, you become sort of this big fish in a little pond when you show up to these events and you're there and everybody comes to you to talk to you, hey, I've got this going on. I need to talk to you about it. It makes you feel important. And I think spotting that in your ego and going, ah, this isn't me playing in my ego again. And I've got to. I've got, let me go somewhere where nobody knows me and try to become a big fish there now kind of thing. It's really tough. How did you get through? How'd you do coming through 2020? A lot of masters I've talked to, they started right before the pandemic came through. The pandemic afterward even stronger than they were before. How did you get through?
[00:18:29] Speaker B: I don't even think this really, like, took actual shape until late 2020, early 2021. Like, really, now that we're talking and I'm going through the timeline, like, that was.
I'm terrible at timelines.
That was really the launch. That was when 2020 was interesting.
It was the time period that happened in my life that sort of woke me up in another way and made me pay very close attention to the rest of my life. Right. And what that looks like and what. And it gave me the permission I needed to really go for it, you know, that along with some people God put in front of me along the way like the board member, you know, and others. Right. But people were planted, and.
And I was receiving and paying attention, and I would say the biggest thing I had to do in the beginning was give myself permission to do it.
That was. That was it. And then.
I'm sorry, what was the question?
[00:19:45] Speaker A: Well, just. It sounds to me like you got propelled through just like a lot of people did. We had this massive constraint put on us called the pandemic, where we all had to change not just our business, but our lives, you know, how we approached everything. Sounds like you did that. Did you get any push. It sounds like you got some pushback from yourself. Can I do this? Did you get any pushback from outside yourself of, why are you even bothering this? Why don't you just go get a job somewhere and just work for somebody? Because there's plenty of work out there for anybody.
[00:20:20] Speaker B: So that's what family sounds like. Right? Because in.
This is a big message for entrepreneurs, and it's another one of those cliche ones that you hear a lot, but it is so true, and just give your family grace for it. They don't know the fire that's inside of you. Right. They.
And if it's something they have not been able to do, it scares them to think about you going out there and doing it right so they can want to in a loving way. They have the best of intentions, and that's the hard part.
Have an intervention with you and make you just behave and put these things aside and live a more reasonable life. But at the end of the day, I'm not going out there and starting a band. Okay?
Or selling everything and moving to Nepal. I'm like, I'm starting a business, something that I professionally have tested the water on. I've had people that I respect and look up to that have accomplished immense things in their careers, look at me and say, you need to do this. You know? And that's who you have to trust. The person that knows the work, you, the people that know the work, you. I think we're all very different at home.
[00:21:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:46] Speaker B: I'm very silly at home. Yeah, I am.
I'm a joyful, free spirited, just loving mom and partner. And I don't think they knew that I have the ability to be as ferocious as you need to be and firm as you need to be. And, you know, because there's a. There's a level of take no b's that you have to have to accomplish this. And I think that's what was really.
[00:22:25] Speaker A: The concern there when it's focused. You have to be focused. You know, life is different. Yeah, it is. Well, my dad says that's why it's spelled w o r k instead of p l a y. He loves to say that to me. I'm like, yeah, I remember, dad. I've heard it all my life.
What?
So what's something that you believed before you started this journey that you've had to unlearn to get past that?
[00:22:54] Speaker B: Do you have, like, an hour?
[00:22:55] Speaker A: Oh, sure. We've got plenty of time. We edit.
[00:22:59] Speaker B: Okay. Oh, great. Okay. So something that I believed that, well, initially, okay. I was drinking that manifestation Kool Aid, which is important. All right. Mindset is important.
Your energy is important. Your thoughts do play a role. Right. But I naively believed that I didn't need certain protections in place because I was just gonna manifest. It was so silly now that. It's hard to even say out loud.
[00:23:33] Speaker A: Now, but do, please, people need to hear this.
[00:23:38] Speaker B: So I really believed in. I drank the Kool aid with the manifestation stuff, and I believed that I could attract the right people and the right circumstances and the right deals and the right workflow. And I put my foot down and I said, I want to be surrounded by people that I don't have to watch my back. Right.
And that is such a silly, childish thing to say in.
In business. And I love her. Right. You have to look at your former self and say, that was really cute. Right?
No. You need to be papered up six ways to Sunday. What do they say? In God we trust everything else we'll need in writing.
[00:24:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:34] Speaker B: That is an absolute fact. I mean, and it happened more than once, because sometimes you're just so excited to be a part of something whenever you're new that you almost feel like, there's no way they would do that to little old me. Oh, they will. They absolutely will. Almost every time. Right? In fact, they're just following their training that they received in graduate school.
Probably up north.
[00:25:08] Speaker A: No ivy leagues around here.
[00:25:12] Speaker B: And they see you coming a mile away. Just, I'm gonna introduce this person to every person I know because they're gonna. They're gonna do really good things, and. And then you get. You figure it out, and it's water under the bridge, and you move on, and you have other things going on. And then you get a call from a friend, and you learn that you lost 800 something thousand dollars in commission on business that was stolen from you.
These are the things that happen when all you're thinking about is, I'm going to go out here and I'm going to do this and I'm going to will it and it's going to go great because I'm such a good person and I would never do anything like that to anyone. So, of course nobody's ever going to do anything like that to me. And I'm sure you've heard it a million times. I'm sitting here with an attorney, of course, right. He didn't pay me to say this.
[00:26:03] Speaker A: Well, but I've also had it happen to me. I mean, same thing. I mean, I don't know how many times I went into business deals with people going, oh, these are friends, you know, we know each other, we're great together. And then ultimately either they just walk away and go, oh, just tell the bank that we've left. So you only have to pay them half now. That's not how it works. I have to pay 100% of it now that you've left and you're going on your trip to Rome. But I'm not counting.
Or they're just, you know, insanely jealous or just awful people, you know, who really want to just take you down. They're just spiteful and vengeful when, you know, they feel like, well, whatever, they're going to, they're going to try to take you down. I've had clients who we've been, you know, great friends and had great long term relationships with who sue me. I mean, it's happened. So. Yeah, I don't. It does. What I had to unlearn was trusting everybody because just like you said, well, I'm trustworthy, so everyone else is trustworthy, too.
I had to learn. No, they will stab you to your face as often as they can if they get the chance. So, yes, as they take their trip to Rome. Right. And, yeah, I mean, it's just, it is hard to face that reality. But that's definitely. I agree with that. Something I had to unlearn myself being too trustworthy. And that's from a lawyer. I mean, I was too trustworthy. And it does, it takes time. It's that, it's, it's like we were talking about earlier. It's that feedback. It's failure. I failed. I lost a lot of money, but it was feedback for me. And now I just, well, that's what I love.
[00:27:52] Speaker B: Right. So I think there's two types of people in the world, and if you're going to be an entrepreneur and make it in life, you need to be the one that looks in the mirror during those times and makes adjustments based on, you know, when. When these things happen to me, of course I'm upset, and of course I cry. I get mad, right? But then I let it go because you have to. And I think to myself, I always ask this question, how am I responsible for what happened? Right? I am responsible for what happened, because I didn't do what people do in these situations. I was unprofessional, right?
So because I was unprofessional, I set myself up to fail. This is my fault, right? So why should I get mad at somebody for doing what they were trained to do?
[00:28:43] Speaker A: And, you know, in first grade, they were trained that in first grade when they were stealing other kids toys.
[00:28:50] Speaker B: Well, they're also people that do m and a, right? Mergers and acquisitions. How do you do that? It's not pretty sometimes, right, right. If you see an opportunity and you're like, man, I can squash this bug, right? They're gonna take it.
[00:29:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:04] Speaker B: And they're gonna use their charm, and they're gonna use their talents, and they're gonna use their persuasion to squash you like a bug.
[00:29:10] Speaker A: Yeah. No, I've been involved in some pretty nasty, nasty mergers and acquisitions, where sometimes I'm on the side of the client who is actively hiding stuff from the other side that they're like, no, no, no. They can't see this. They can't know that. Here, put this. Don't put that. And you're going, dude, you can't do. They're going, yes, I can.
And then you've been on the other side of it. You know? And I think that's really helped make me a better lawyer. It's made you a better problem solver because you. You've experienced it, too. And you go, hey, I've worked for the person on the side who's trying to screw over the other guy, so now I'm the other guy. We're going to make sure. We're going to. I know every rug to look under to find out where they. They're hiding their stuff. You know, they do that. Well, what. Where do you. Where do you seem to find your best network of people? The people who do turn into friends and clients and referral sources and network.
[00:30:16] Speaker B: So everything I do because of the nature of my business, again, another one of those blessing and occurs scenarios.
I don't do a lot of marketing because I want to provide quality for the people that I'm working with. So everything is referral based.
Volume, for me, is not a good idea because I haven't figured out a way to take what I know and, and make it repetitive or to train someone.
[00:30:48] Speaker A: Right.
[00:30:48] Speaker B: Do you know what I mean? And I'm sure that's my next step. You know, that's the Candace I'm looking at. And, you know, the next two or three years will figure that out and get that done. But, you know, right now I find those quality relationships from really citrus club. I'm sorry. I mean, they should pay me, but I do. There are relationships there that have worked out very well. There's a lot of people referring business. They act like a family in there. You know, people are, for the most part, watching each other's backs and, and providing business where they can and then also just word of mouth when you start solving problems for people.
You wouldn't believe the calls I get from where I get them. I mean, it's like all across the United States, I'll get calls like, how did this happen? And I kind of want to, like, really dig in and ask. Like, I don't have time for that. Right. So another flaw. Right. I could, I could capitalize on that more if I could handle more leads.
[00:31:57] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:31:58] Speaker B: But it is, it's definitely just sort of calm. Like it hasn't been something I've had to really analyze very much. Right.
[00:32:13] Speaker A: You manifested it and they came to you. Right?
[00:32:17] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. That's so funny.
Wow.
[00:32:21] Speaker A: Well, you were talking about the next Candace coming along.
What will the next Candace, what would you recommend that they are going to struggle with along the way?
[00:32:34] Speaker B: That's just it. You never know until it hits you. Right. So I would love, if there's a business out there that does this, hit me up. Okay. I would love for someone to just like, follow me around for a week or two and tell me what I need to do, you know, like what AI I need to implement. Like, who do you know that's great with AI, right. What automations I can implement, I need, I need a me for my business. Do you know what I mean?
[00:33:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:05] Speaker B: I have blind spots because it's mine and it's crazy, you know, to think about, like, I'm out here able to do like, strategic alliances and partnerships and all this stuff for other people, but I get so busy in my own work that it's sometimes hard to figure that part out. Right, right. So, and I hate technology, right. I mean, I love it and I hate it. And what I mean is my version of hell, right, is sitting at a desk doing computer stuff, right. So if someone could simplify that as much as possible. For me, that would be the biggest golden goose I could get. Right.
[00:33:54] Speaker A: I think that's. Lots of entrepreneurs struggle with that because you start out with, you know, you're the visionary, but you're also the bookkeeper and financial person and HR and it, and everything else. And then over time, you, you may get an assistant, and then you get, okay, well, now I'm going to get a true office manager then. Yeah. That's when you really start growing, because a lot of us visionaries, we focus on big picture and also solving people's problems. I call it, you know, the shoemaker's children, you know, they're always barefooted while everybody else in town has shoes. Lawyers were the same way. We never have our wills done nothing business, and real estate is always a mess because we're so busy fixing everything for everyone else. We don't fix ourselves.
But a good entrepreneur, I think, eventually realizes, okay, I can't do. And then, yeah, that is the hard part, is finding that source of, where is that person?
[00:34:55] Speaker B: Well, I have a bit of a team, right? I have processors, I have marketing.
I have my partner, who does amazing work on the other side of the business, which is more residential. And I.
But that one, that one piece. And I've tried a few people, and I've talked to a few people, signed up for a couple of things, and it was never quite what I expected.
[00:35:21] Speaker A: Always. Yeah.
[00:35:23] Speaker B: Do you know what I mean?
[00:35:24] Speaker A: I know exactly what you mean.
[00:35:26] Speaker B: And I think that's the, you know, that's the rub with it, is, you know, trying to figure that part out.
[00:35:37] Speaker A: Well, what's the hardest or most expensive lesson you've learned?
[00:35:43] Speaker B: Oh, well, we already covered that.
[00:35:45] Speaker A: Which one was it?
[00:35:47] Speaker B: Not being papered up properly and trusting people to do what they say they're going to do.
[00:35:51] Speaker A: Mm hmm. And you lost over $800,000 on that one.
[00:35:54] Speaker B: That's only one client.
[00:35:56] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:35:58] Speaker B: That's just one client out of I don't know how many. That. Yeah, yeah, no, that. That.
It's so funny. I'll tell you this, though. I was so, um.
I I didn't. I didn't have enough where I went from there when that whole thing happened. Right.
I wouldn't trade that experience.
So if. If I. Let's say that this person did what they said they were going to do, they executed. I'm receiving all of these benefits and all of this money, right. Commissions, earned commissions.
And now I have all of this, right? And then I go out there and I make the same mistake because I didn't learn my lesson.
That hurts more. Right, right. So I needed that experience. And this is why the mirror is so important, right. You have to be an overcomer and not a victim.
So the overcomer in me has to prevail every single time and say, well, this is making me a sharper business woman. Right. This is making me a sharper business owner. I'm going to do nothing but improve because of this. And I always find a way to be grateful, and I am grateful that it happened at that scale. That was a blessing that it happened at that point in my career.
[00:37:31] Speaker A: Early.
[00:37:32] Speaker B: Early, yeah. Yeah.
[00:37:34] Speaker A: Mine happened when I was in my thirties, about 20 something years ago. And you are happy those things happen early when you don't have as much to lose. Well, let's say, you know, let's go back to when you were leaving new view and you're looking ahead and somebody says, okay, this is everything you're going to have to go through. And in 2021 or 2023 or 2024, you're going to be, let's say 2024. Let's say right now you are here, but this is everything you have to go through to get there. Would you have still done it?
[00:38:17] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:38:18] Speaker A: You think?
[00:38:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:38:20] Speaker A: Really?
[00:38:20] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, well, I don't know.
I mean, I would have, because I would have taken that information and just done it better right then.
[00:38:30] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:38:31] Speaker B: Right. God made me this way. I'm like, I've always had this deep desire. I've always thought big. I've always been an achiever. I've always had this deep desire to just go out there and see what I'm made of and make things happen. It's ever since I was little, you know?
And you can only fight that for so long before you have to just say, okay, let's go. Let's do it. I was always fighting it, fighting it, fighting it. I mean, really, I remember there was a time when I was an at home mom, right?
And my girlfriends, you know, were the at home mom club, right? Sitting around the pool doing what we do, getting our kids. And, you know, Stanley's full, and I would come up with all of these crazy ideas and my friends would just laugh at me, you know, like, remember when Tutus were a thing for little kids? I was an at home mom at that time. All right, and I'm like, all right, here's what we're going to do. We're going to make a build a bear for tutus and capes, and we're going to call it this and I already talked to Alibaba, and. And my girlfriends are like, why are you like this? You know? And I'm like, why aren't you like this?
Why not? You know? And I. I just got tired of being a square peg in a round hole and trying to fit into a world that society told me I had to belong in in order to be a good mom and wife. And the minute I broke free of that, it was really when.
I am okay. My kids will probably watch this someday. I am extremely grateful for them, and they know that, right?
I wouldn't trade the time that I had with them for the world. But the point of what I'm saying here and now is that you have to pay attention to who you are, because you can't nurture. You can't. You can't. You can't get it out of you. Like, God made me this way, and I have to believe he did it for a reason. And I'm gonna do amazing things for humanity because of it. Like, I am service minded, and that is the goal behind everything that I'm doing, is my. Why is what I can do later when I am in that legacy stage, right? The things I can do for my community, the things I can do for my kids, the things I can do for that legacy stage is really what I'm working towards. I have vision, you know, I have plans and important plans that really need to see the light of day, you know?
[00:41:20] Speaker A: So what's the biggest, hairiest, craziest problem you've solved for a client?
[00:41:26] Speaker B: Well, a very important one. Recent comes to mind.
I believe this was actually last summer. If I'm right, this client, I'm in Helen, Georgia, with the family, and no reception. Okay. Tubing all day. This, that, and the other. Luckily, I was at, I think, huddle house, and my phone rings.
And so this borrower was in a situation where he had a balloon coming due. Now, this is another one of those papered up things, right? So this person is a very successful restaurateur locally and has other assets, right? And including, like, parking garage was wrapped up in this loan. Mixed use, commercial res wrapped up in the loan. Other things are wrapped up in the loan. And oftentimes, we can make deals with contractors or developers that really help us get things done. Right. And in that relationship, that contractor or developer can say, hey, yeah, you can have six more months. We're good. You can have six. We're good. We're good. But they can also, since you didn't paper that up, call it do.
[00:42:49] Speaker A: Mm hmm.
[00:42:50] Speaker B: Anytime they want. Right.
[00:42:52] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:42:53] Speaker B: And in this situation, we had 45 days to satisfy that, and we did.
[00:43:01] Speaker A: So they were not gonna budge on extending the balloon, remodifying anything.
[00:43:07] Speaker B: No, this was a fire.
[00:43:08] Speaker A: Yeah. Just pay us off. Pay us off is all they want.
[00:43:11] Speaker B: And this person was at risk of losing a lot, you know, like, everything. Right. So that is why I do what I do, you know?
[00:43:27] Speaker A: And in 45 days, you got all that worked out. 45 days, that's pretty fast because it's. 90 days is more normal for something like that.
[00:43:35] Speaker B: You know, we have now eclipses that. Right. So we have people that can get things done in a week to 15 days.
[00:43:43] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:43:43] Speaker B: It's expensive.
[00:43:45] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:43:45] Speaker B: And you need to make sense on paper. Right. They're institutional ish. Right. But, you know, you're paying, depending on your scenario, you're paying, you know, 15% to 18% interest and, like, four points. And that's just them.
Right.
[00:44:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:44:07] Speaker B: So.
But they can get it done. You know, we have a. Like I said, everywhere. I have business everywhere.
[00:44:14] Speaker A: I mean, I've seen this, too, over years. You're dealing with real estate investors and developers, business people who are used to negotiating everything and going, okay, yeah, they're just using this as a tactic. They're using it as a tactic. So I'm going to play hardball back and I'm going to push back, or I'm going to move a little bit slower on this until they give me this. And I've. I've had that same conversation with clients. I go, this is not a tactic.
This is real. They're not playing a game. He who has the gold makes the rules. They have the gold. You need the gold. They've made a rule, and you're going, oh, but we can talk about that. Let's negotiate that. There's no negotiating it. You don't have room to be negotiated. And it is psychological. There is a lot of psychology going on there. There's pride. There's. There's. There's narcissism on their side. There's heroism. And sometimes some people just like drama. Some people just enjoy that drama, and they like creating it around themselves for some reason. And fortunately, I've been able to get a lot of those clients out of my life over the years. But it. That is part of being an entrepreneur, knowing a lot of the psychology that's going on in other people's minds and going, oh, they think this is a game. No, this is reality. And I have to have to impress on them. This is reality. And as a lawyer, I'm gonna start putting that in emails because when this falls through, they are not suing me for it falling through. You know, I'm gonna. I'm gonna tell them upfront. Well, I'm sure you know this. We're aspire legal services aspire to a better life. We try to help everyone aspire to a better life. Who is someone, you mentioned the board member at the citrus club who is someone, and it can be that person who has helped you aspire to a better life.
[00:46:08] Speaker B: Honestly, my fiance, LJ, he's helped me. He's a retired chief from the Navy, so the perfect calm to my storm, right? Because I'm just, all right, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do this.
He's helped me prioritize and make strategic decisions about my time and about my life and things like that. He's been the best captain, okay. Of this ship. Right. And honestly, there are times when I probably would have given up.
There are times when I was just so discouraged with what happened. And he's always there. Just, you always have to have that person that is cheering you on and sees you for who you are and knows exactly how to fill your bucket, you know, get you out of that funk that we can get into sometimes. It's a very lonely world when you don't have that person as an entrepreneur that believes in you and has so much faith in what you're doing that they will never let you do anything but succeed, you know? So I would say definitely, yeah.
[00:47:31] Speaker A: Well, I think that sums it up. You talked about people who were naysayers. That's who you were born to, family. But then there are people you choose a lot of times, your spouse, who are the ones who help propel you through all that noise. So I agree. I've had the same experience over time. It is. It's who you choose to surround yourself with, who will propel tell you. And unfortunately, it's a lot of times the people who you happen to share the same DNA with, who will, who will tend to hold you back. But it's been wonderful having you here.
[00:48:07] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:48:07] Speaker A: It's been wonderful talking to you, Candace, everybody. We're going to put up Candace's social media links. Please like and follow her if you like this. Remember, we don't advertise dog food on here. We don't advertise life insurance on here. We don't advertise anything on, on our show. So if you like us, the only price we ask you to pay is just like it. Subscribe it, follow us and share it with your friends. And until next time, please press like and subscribe and give us a five star review to help us reach others who can benefit from this series. Until next time, keep aspiring to a better life.
