WEBVTT

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So welcome welcome everyone to this special live

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episode of the thrall board journey. I'm your

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host l Michael bird and today we're diving into

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a conversation that most people avoid but Absolutely

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need to have is called turning hard talks into

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lasting legacies now This is not just a podcast.

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There's a space for transformation for purpose

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and for real human connection and so I'm really

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honored to share this space today with someone

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who I've gotten to know over the last few months,

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five months, six months. But from the moment

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we met, I knew she was the real deal. Not just

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a powerhouse in the financial world, but a woman

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of integrity, vision, and heart. Estella Valdevinos

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is a top tier entrepreneur, a leader of over

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190 licensed financial agents across North America,

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and a fierce advocate for purpose driven living.

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She's the national vice president at global financial

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impact and someone whose life and work embodies

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what it means to really build legacy, spirituality,

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emotionally, financially, and relationally. So

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whether you're a parent, a partner, entrepreneur,

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or someone trying to make sense of money and

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meaning in your life, tonight's conversation,

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today's conversation is for you. So I didn't

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really want to get into it. And Estella. And

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welcome to our first live episode. How you doing?

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Wow. Well, good, good. Thank you for that intro.

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What? Wow. Wonderful. Wonderful to be here. I

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feel excited to be here with the Thrivewell Journey

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Studio with you, Michael. It's been a great,

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um, just getting a chance to know you and doing

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the first live episode. Oh my God. It is great.

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So, um, let me look here and let me see if we

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got something going on here. Let me see, let

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me see. She said she can't see anything. Anybody,

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is anybody in the chat? Let's see. We got two,

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we got three. Let me just double check here.

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This is our first, hey, that's the thing we're

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gonna lie. So let's see. All right. The joys

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of technology, right? Right. Double check everything.

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Let's see here All right, so before we get into

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it, let's see what's going on and Let me see

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if she sees anything All right, which but it's

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okay we're still recording she doesn't see it

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on YouTube so I'm gonna navigate being on the

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different platforms while I'm still having the

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conversation with you. So if I'm not looking

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at you, I'm still having the conversation with

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you. So I really want to know, I mean, again,

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like we've talked for, you know, for the last,

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man, I see you almost every day, which is great,

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right? But you know, before all the accolades

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and all the 190 place agents that you have, like

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who, were you and how did you get into starting

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out in entrepreneurship? Sure thing. Well, I

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am From California, so if you're logging in from

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different parts of the world, I was born and

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raised in a small rural community in the Central

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Valley of California, which is Sanger, California.

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Most people know Fresno, which is not too far

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from us. I was raised by a single mom of five

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kids, and I'm the youngest of five. Played sports

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most of my life. You know, I assure this simply

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because it transitions over into the world of

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entrepreneurship. All the things that I learned

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as an athlete growing up and a competitive athlete

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has transitioned into my business and entrepreneurship

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space. Prior to that, I did marketing. I did

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business marketing for about 10 years. I was

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a media buyer for a local retailer motorcycle

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dealership in Fresno. And I started my journey

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there, went into radio, I was a promotions director

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there, and kind of just fall into the space of

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entrepreneurship and the world of entrepreneurship.

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I had just gotten my license when it comes to

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property and casualty. I was thinking about going

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back to school. I was at a crossroads in my life

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when I was introduced to the financial services

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industry. And when I came in, I knew nothing

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about really money. Just my background of being

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raised by a single mom of five kids, money was

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not a conversation we talked about. It was more

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like go to school, get a degree, go work for

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someone. And when I was introduced to the financial

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services industry, I was enthralled with the

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idea of being able to learn about money. and

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learn what the wealthy do with their money. And

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so I started my journey there. I then became

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licensed through the state of California to be

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able to practice in this industry and slowly

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transition from the world of corporate America

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into the world of entrepreneurship. And so that's

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the journey. That's how I started in this world

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of entrepreneurship. But I do give a lot of credit

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to my mom of the things that I learned. uh, growing

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up, you know, perseverance, being able to, to

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start something you finish, um, putting yourself

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in positions where you're growing and learning,

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uh, was really important. I think that was really

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pivotal, uh, to my start of entrepreneurship.

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And that's, first of all, that's exciting, right?

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So it was just like an innate feeling for you

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to move into that space. Not at all. No, not

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at all. Not at all. It was not innate at all.

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What was innate was the leadership. Playing sports,

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in my corporate role, I was always in a leadership

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or management position. That was innate, but

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entrepreneurship in itself was not innate. Being

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raised, the way we're going to get out of the

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situation that we're in, the economic situation

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was going to school and really working for corporate

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America. whether we know it or not, we are slowly

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given the idea and the beliefs that the way you're

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gonna go about life is working for someone, not

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entrepreneurship. So it was definitely not innate

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as far as that piece, but there were certain

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elements to my life that allowed me to even track

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on the journey of entrepreneurship. in our spaces,

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and I'm going to just talk about, you know, people

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of color, right? There seems to sometimes be

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a myth of, you know, we need to work for people

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and we need to do not really go into entrepreneurship.

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Can you speak to that and how the mindset can

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shift from just working for people and really

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be your own entrepreneur? Oh, I mean, it's so

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critical. You know, like I said, since we're

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little, I mean, whether it doesn't matter, you

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know, what environment we grew up in, since we're

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very little and understanding the fact of going

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to school and everything we do from... When we're

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five years old, they tell us when to show up

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to work or when to show up to school. When do

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we get a break? You know, when's lunchtime? When

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do we get out? And then our life starts there.

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And so whether we know what these belief systems

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are imparted in us, and unless we come from someone

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who is entrepreneurship or business ownership,

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do we see that? But many people, myself included,

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it's the only way out. you know, go to school

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and go work for someone, whether they're directly

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telling us that or indirectly telling us that

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we believe that's the idea. For myself, that

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was exactly it. Go to school, get a degree, go

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work for someone and then try to move up the

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corporate ladder. And the importance of entrepreneurship

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and individuals of color and different ethnicities

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and different socioeconomic backgrounds is extremely

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important because the reality of it is if we're

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going to get to the next level, It's very difficult

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to do that as, you know, when we're working for

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someone. We might get to some level of comfort,

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you know, depending on the income that we're

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making, but to really strive to have a fulfilled

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life, not only financially, but in every realm,

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entrepreneurship is really the ticket out. And

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it could be a scary conversation. It can be totally

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in, it can be the opposite of innate, right?

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It's like, this is not. comfortable. I don't

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see myself there. And I remember that's how I

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felt coming into the world of entrepreneurship.

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It was not a conversation I was having with a

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circle of friends. The circle of friends that

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I had was, how do we move up the corporate ladder?

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How do we go to the next level? Or should I go

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to school and further my education in different

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areas so that I can get that position? And so

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I believe it's extremely important. to have the

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conversation of entrepreneurship, but not only

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that, but to have a platform that can guide us

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or associations that can guide us in that realm,

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whatever that is in whatever area that is. Yeah.

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Mentorship is a big, big thing and a big deal,

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especially when, uh, in entrepreneurship and

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you begin to, you know, kind of navigate that

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world. What would you say about mentorship and

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being, being mentored in the entrepreneur space?

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Mentorship is absolutely critical. They say that

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typically businesses fail for two reasons, is

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number one, lack of capital and or lack of mentorship.

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If you have someone who's willing to share with

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you, whether it's in business or in any aspect

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of life, whether it's your spiritual, you need

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a spiritual mentor or you need guidance in your

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relationships, having a mentor is extremely important

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because you have someone that you're able to

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borrow their wisdom, you're able to borrow what

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they know and they're willing to pour into you

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what you need to know to get to where you need

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to be. I have a personal mentor and one of the

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things that is always said is his president is

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our future. As long as we continue doing what

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we need to do, putting in the work, growing,

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we can see somebody ahead of us. And what happens

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with that, Michael, is it becomes something that

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we can foresee ourselves in. If you have someone

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in a space that has already achieved the things

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that you're looking to achieve, it makes it real.

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And so I believe psychologically, it just gives

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clarity to someone when they're on the track

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of entrepreneurship, when you do have a mentor

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in the space that you're looking to. to have

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a business in. Yeah. What is your business now?

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My business is I'm an agency owner in financial

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services. So we teach about money, wealth management,

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how to properly protect a family, estate planning,

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we're able to help businesses. So all in the

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world of financial literacy. Yeah. And with,

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you know, with complete, you know, transparency,

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I'm in my own business, but you are my mentor.

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That's right. I have to say that when I said

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in the intro, you are real. You are authentic.

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And when I got to meet you, when you and Bianca

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came here to Atlanta, you know, I'm the kind

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of person that kind of sits back and I'm, you

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know, I'll mingle in, but I'm always looking

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and making sure that you know, the people that

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I'm surrounded with are really like who they

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say they are. And, and I got to say, man, like

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you, first of all, first of all, you brought

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you brought me in and you're really cool. And

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just was like, it was like we knew each other

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for like a long time. So for that, I was appreciative.

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And after, after that night, that whole day being

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with you with y 'all, I was like, okay, this

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is this is cool. This is really good to really

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get the relationship. uh, in person as it was

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getting on zoom. So your mentorship is wonderful

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and it's powerful and just let you know and give

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you your aggregate. Thank you so much, Michael.

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I appreciate that. You got, you're good. Good.

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Good. And so, uh, we were talking, you were talking

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about, um, we're basically the topic of this

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show is really talking about the hard talks and

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the hard talks is, you know, death, you know,

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life. after death and, you know, those conversations,

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those kinds of conversations, which includes

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your business. And people avoid those difficult

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conversations, especially about money, death,

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influence and inheritance and all that good stuff.

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Why do you think people avoid the money talk

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even with their own families? That's a great

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question you know i think that people avoid the

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money talk number one is cuz we lack understanding

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and when we lack understanding it's a difficult

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conversation regardless so we either we either

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push away from the conversation or we avoid the

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conversation in its totality but it's. It's so

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important to have the conversation as we're gonna

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discuss i'm sure you know that why should we

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have the conversation about you know. properly

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protecting our families, properly planning for

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the future. But for me, in my case, the conversation

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about money was never there. You know, my mom

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comes from another country and when you come

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from another country and you come to a new country,

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you don't speak the language, the conversation

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about money is, I believe, just looking back

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and kind of dissecting that is, it was survival.

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You know, you're surviving, you're coming here.

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Unless we come from, you know, that wealth or

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economic standing, then the conversations a little

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different. And so when I started to grow up and

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to be an adult and having conversations about

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money, even as an adult, as a young adult, I

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felt like money was not a conversation I wanted

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to have. You know, in our corporate world, I've

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been in this industry for 12 years and we talk

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about money and cash flow and proper protection.

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I mean, this is what we do, right? But in our

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corporate world, we're not talking about our

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income, what someone's making. It's a kind of

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taboo conversation of, what we're doing, what

00:14:27.940 --> 00:14:29.820
are we doing to invest? What are we doing to

00:14:29.820 --> 00:14:31.799
save money? Do we have emergency funds? Do we

00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:35.620
have proper protection? It's a very rare conversation.

00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:38.399
And so what I see is that just people just walk

00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:40.980
away from it because they don't know where to

00:14:40.980 --> 00:14:42.919
even get started. Or, you know, sometimes it's

00:14:42.919 --> 00:14:44.840
shame. Like maybe they don't feel like they have

00:14:44.840 --> 00:14:47.899
their own finances in order. And so there's so

00:14:47.899 --> 00:14:55.259
many different elements to that. It's like there

00:14:55.259 --> 00:15:00.399
are a lot of myths as well. Right. Why do why

00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:04.779
do we keep these myths going about, you know,

00:15:04.779 --> 00:15:09.860
the money conversation? What do you think? For

00:15:09.860 --> 00:15:12.759
me and my personal experiences, I didn't know

00:15:12.759 --> 00:15:17.399
better. You know, we You know, everything around

00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:20.019
our whole life is our own belief systems. And

00:15:20.019 --> 00:15:21.720
we got to understand, Michael, that our belief

00:15:21.720 --> 00:15:24.799
systems have been imprinted on us, put in us

00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:28.539
as children. They're not our own beliefs. And

00:15:28.539 --> 00:15:30.500
we grew up believing that those are beliefs.

00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:34.120
So when we navigate the conversation of money

00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:36.539
or lack of money, we continue them because we

00:15:36.539 --> 00:15:40.899
don't know any better. like for myself. To be

00:15:40.899 --> 00:15:43.320
honest, I knew I had a 401k through my corporate

00:15:43.320 --> 00:15:45.740
job. I mean, this is like so transparent. Like

00:15:45.740 --> 00:15:49.159
I knew I had a 401k, but I didn't really know

00:15:49.159 --> 00:15:52.519
that I had to plan for the future, not until

00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:57.100
my mom retired at the age of 62. And after being

00:15:57.100 --> 00:15:59.700
retired for a few months, she went back to work.

00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:03.779
And that's at in my early age of 30, you know,

00:16:03.779 --> 00:16:06.340
I was learning about all of that. And I realized

00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:10.919
Retirement is really something that lies on my

00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:14.159
shoulders and what am I doing to do that? But

00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:17.000
all of until I was in my early 30s, I had never

00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:19.419
really had a conversation about really truly

00:16:19.419 --> 00:16:22.879
planning for my future. So it's not that we want

00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:26.419
to carry the myth forward. I just don't think

00:16:26.419 --> 00:16:28.220
we're really having or don't even know where

00:16:28.220 --> 00:16:30.240
to have these kinds of conversations to even

00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:33.080
talk about to dispel that myth. Not until, like

00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:35.120
for me, I was introduced to financial services.

00:16:35.419 --> 00:16:38.000
Then I started, a different whole world was open

00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:40.720
to me as far as what I was doing personally,

00:16:41.100 --> 00:16:44.179
what I was doing for my retirement, what I wasn't

00:16:44.179 --> 00:16:47.980
doing, what I could be doing. And so I think

00:16:47.980 --> 00:16:49.480
we carry these myths because we don't know where

00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:52.039
to get the information or who to trust sometimes

00:16:52.039 --> 00:16:55.039
with information. Yeah, I think it sounds like

00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:58.360
it comes down to education and really educating

00:16:58.360 --> 00:17:03.000
the person, the people, the generation. so they

00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:06.180
can really get the world of what it is to really

00:17:06.180 --> 00:17:09.480
prepare for the rest of your life. And it also

00:17:09.480 --> 00:17:13.640
has to do with emotional intelligence. How do

00:17:13.640 --> 00:17:18.019
you help with the emotional intelligence of people,

00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:19.960
as you mentioned before? How do you help with

00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:22.579
that? With the emotional intelligence when it

00:17:22.579 --> 00:17:25.920
comes to money or in general? In general. In

00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:28.559
general, emotional intelligence, again, should

00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:35.740
be taught. Not many people understand. Some people

00:17:35.740 --> 00:17:38.119
have amazing emotional intelligence, but they

00:17:38.119 --> 00:17:40.960
don't realize that there's a level that we should

00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:44.680
carry ourselves on. You know, being a mentor

00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:47.339
in financial services, being a mentor in business,

00:17:47.799 --> 00:17:50.619
I always tell my team or anybody that I'm mentoring

00:17:50.619 --> 00:17:52.740
that... We can't get too high on the high and

00:17:52.740 --> 00:17:55.019
too low on the low. We have to be able to navigate

00:17:55.019 --> 00:17:58.559
in this space. And, and again, that's either

00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:00.640
things that we see our parents do. If we saw

00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:03.940
our parents, you know, go wild and that's carried

00:18:03.940 --> 00:18:06.960
over, you know, or if we're in a relationship

00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:08.819
and one person's very calm and the other one

00:18:08.819 --> 00:18:12.019
is not, I mean, emotional intelligence is pivotal

00:18:12.019 --> 00:18:14.839
to not only entrepreneurship, but just everyday

00:18:14.839 --> 00:18:18.599
general and like public scenarios. We're seeing

00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:22.819
a lot of things happening. around the world politically

00:18:22.819 --> 00:18:25.480
and things and we see that there's a lack of

00:18:25.480 --> 00:18:27.539
emotional intelligence on so many different levels

00:18:27.539 --> 00:18:30.799
where people are taking things to the next level.

00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:34.539
But emotional intelligence is something that

00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:38.000
It needs to be taught. And like I said, some

00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:39.839
people have a great emotional talent and some

00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:42.380
people don't even acknowledge that there needs

00:18:42.380 --> 00:18:44.980
to be a level of emotional intelligence. But

00:18:44.980 --> 00:18:48.539
as an entrepreneur, Michael, emotional intelligence

00:18:48.539 --> 00:18:52.799
is extremely important. You know, when I'm mentoring

00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:55.299
individuals, I see that sometimes their business

00:18:55.299 --> 00:18:57.359
is up and down. And it's not that their business

00:18:57.359 --> 00:18:59.539
is up and down, it's because they are up and

00:18:59.539 --> 00:19:02.140
down. And the business is a reflection of their

00:19:02.140 --> 00:19:06.509
emotional level states. And my job, my role is

00:19:06.509 --> 00:19:08.829
to when someone's high is to bring them to that

00:19:08.829 --> 00:19:11.190
even space, not to bring them down, but bring

00:19:11.190 --> 00:19:12.750
them to that level space. And when they're low,

00:19:12.789 --> 00:19:14.970
how to bring them back up and go into that space.

00:19:15.029 --> 00:19:17.710
And it takes some time to, cause it's, it's a

00:19:17.710 --> 00:19:20.029
behavior that's learned. And so it takes some

00:19:20.029 --> 00:19:22.569
time to navigate. How do I get, get low when

00:19:22.569 --> 00:19:25.049
I'm, how do I get back to that space when I'm

00:19:25.049 --> 00:19:27.029
low? How do I get back to that space when I'm

00:19:27.029 --> 00:19:30.170
high? So emotional intelligence is super important.

00:19:30.250 --> 00:19:32.009
And again, it should be a curriculum in school.

00:19:32.950 --> 00:19:36.950
I think I agree. I agree. You know, you talk

00:19:36.950 --> 00:19:40.289
about that and I've been in meetings with you

00:19:40.289 --> 00:19:43.349
and you have such a strong presence when you

00:19:43.349 --> 00:19:47.210
are speaking and have you had to lead or navigate

00:19:47.210 --> 00:19:51.309
hard conversations that really supported someone

00:19:51.309 --> 00:19:54.650
and if you had those conversations, what was

00:19:54.650 --> 00:19:58.250
it like? Wow, Michael, you're getting in depth

00:19:58.250 --> 00:20:02.900
here. Definitely have had those conversations,

00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:06.180
you know, early on in as I was learning what

00:20:06.180 --> 00:20:09.940
it meant to mentor someone. The conversations,

00:20:09.940 --> 00:20:13.400
you know, probably weren't at the best of my

00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:15.680
ability, you know, because we're constantly learning

00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:19.849
our capacity. What i've learned to do early on

00:20:19.849 --> 00:20:22.329
in our mentorship session is let let someone

00:20:22.329 --> 00:20:25.349
know that there's not gonna always be great conversations

00:20:25.349 --> 00:20:27.230
you know there's not always gonna be the perfect

00:20:27.230 --> 00:20:30.269
conversation but my role as a mentor or a coach

00:20:30.269 --> 00:20:32.829
when i'm navigating that is to coach someone

00:20:32.829 --> 00:20:36.440
through that process and. It's important to have

00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:39.079
a relationship because really the reality is

00:20:39.079 --> 00:20:41.180
it just because I have a position doesn't mean

00:20:41.180 --> 00:20:44.599
I'm someone's mentor. There has to be some deposits

00:20:44.599 --> 00:20:47.259
into someone to be able to actually have those

00:20:47.259 --> 00:20:52.099
conversations. So, you asked like, those conversations

00:20:52.099 --> 00:20:55.799
can be initially tough in the beginning, but

00:20:55.799 --> 00:20:58.980
the end if we have a great relationship, in the

00:20:58.980 --> 00:21:01.849
end it works out in... in both our favors in

00:21:01.849 --> 00:21:04.390
the sense of we're going to the next level. I

00:21:04.390 --> 00:21:06.069
literally just had a conversation with someone

00:21:06.069 --> 00:21:08.990
on my team. And one thing that I learned from

00:21:08.990 --> 00:21:11.130
my mentor is to ask this question when you're

00:21:11.130 --> 00:21:13.789
having a mentor session is, you know, what is

00:21:13.789 --> 00:21:15.529
something that I need to hear that I probably

00:21:15.529 --> 00:21:17.869
don't want to hear, but I should hear that's

00:21:17.869 --> 00:21:21.269
going to get me to the next level. And that's

00:21:21.269 --> 00:21:23.430
the question that I'm always asking my mentor,

00:21:23.809 --> 00:21:26.569
because mentors have our blind spots, right?

00:21:26.730 --> 00:21:28.750
So I just had a conversation with one of my team

00:21:28.750 --> 00:21:33.569
members. And it's new to them asking this conversation,

00:21:33.730 --> 00:21:36.269
the question. So I had them ask me the question.

00:21:36.450 --> 00:21:37.950
So basically getting their permission to give

00:21:37.950 --> 00:21:40.369
them coaching, right? They asked me the question

00:21:40.369 --> 00:21:43.190
and I could just tell their body just kind of

00:21:43.190 --> 00:21:44.730
froze like, oh my goodness, what are they going

00:21:44.730 --> 00:21:48.710
to tell me? And what I had to tell them was nothing

00:21:48.710 --> 00:21:50.829
negative. It was all positive of like what they're

00:21:50.829 --> 00:21:53.390
doing well, but how they can enhance their business

00:21:53.390 --> 00:21:55.970
in another level. There's some gaps missing.

00:21:56.170 --> 00:21:57.829
And at the end of the conversation, you could

00:21:57.829 --> 00:22:00.460
just tell they were just like their body was

00:22:00.460 --> 00:22:02.420
more relaxed and they were excited to know that

00:22:02.420 --> 00:22:04.539
they could go to the future. So even though we're

00:22:04.539 --> 00:22:06.059
having tough conversations doesn't mean that

00:22:06.059 --> 00:22:08.880
they're negative conversations. And so I think

00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:11.440
that's really important to know. Early on, I

00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:13.980
thought it was negative when I was a newer into

00:22:13.980 --> 00:22:16.819
like mentorship and coaching. But the reality

00:22:16.819 --> 00:22:19.799
of it is, you know, As individuals, we're always

00:22:19.799 --> 00:22:23.039
looking for someone to pour into us. And that's

00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:24.779
what I do to my team. I pour into them, coach

00:22:24.779 --> 00:22:26.799
them, and then pour into them. It's a process.

00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:29.319
It's an art so that we can get people to move

00:22:29.319 --> 00:22:34.119
to the next level. Yeah. So I'm trying to fix.

00:22:34.299 --> 00:22:36.019
We're not live on Facebook yet, so I'm trying

00:22:36.019 --> 00:22:41.380
to fix that right now. Sorry, guys. No problem.

00:22:43.380 --> 00:22:46.359
This is the thing about going live. This is crazy.

00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:52.420
and it's awesome at the same time. I'm glad it's

00:22:52.420 --> 00:22:55.160
with me. I'm glad it's with me. I know, right?

00:22:59.140 --> 00:23:05.400
We're in the financial services business, and

00:23:05.400 --> 00:23:08.400
financial literacy is not just about money, it's

00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:10.660
about options, it's about dignities, it's about

00:23:10.660 --> 00:23:14.380
impact. And just in your experience, what's the

00:23:14.380 --> 00:23:17.640
biggest gap between, you know, with people that

00:23:17.640 --> 00:23:20.400
people have with financial literacy and understanding

00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:25.019
that? What's the biggest gap? Yeah. Well, you

00:23:25.019 --> 00:23:29.000
said it, the financial literacy piece. The gap

00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:32.480
is understanding where someone is at and knowing

00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:36.980
where they want to be. So the gap is really helping

00:23:36.980 --> 00:23:40.549
people navigate where they want to be. And so

00:23:40.549 --> 00:23:42.970
when I sit down with clients, a lot of times

00:23:42.970 --> 00:23:46.269
when we sit with them, they don't even have where

00:23:46.269 --> 00:23:49.569
they want to be. You know, as far as retirement,

00:23:50.230 --> 00:23:52.309
you know, understanding the products and services

00:23:52.309 --> 00:23:54.190
that they can give them peace of mind, as you

00:23:54.190 --> 00:23:57.369
mentioned, dignity, when things come up. But

00:23:57.369 --> 00:24:02.390
the gap is in the gap. Basically, people don't

00:24:02.390 --> 00:24:04.349
know where they want to be. They don't have a

00:24:04.349 --> 00:24:05.990
financial independence number. They don't have

00:24:05.990 --> 00:24:08.910
a number when they do retire. At what age do

00:24:08.910 --> 00:24:10.650
they want to retire? How much income do they

00:24:10.650 --> 00:24:12.910
need? In what types of accounts do they need

00:24:12.910 --> 00:24:16.450
it in? And so I would say that's the gap. Michael

00:24:16.450 --> 00:24:19.910
is not knowing where someone wants to be. Where

00:24:19.910 --> 00:24:24.849
someone wants to be. So why is it really important

00:24:24.849 --> 00:24:28.450
for people to really get the financial literacy

00:24:28.450 --> 00:24:33.599
for themselves as well as their families? It's

00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:36.039
important because it allows people to make decisions.

00:24:36.769 --> 00:24:39.289
I again sit down with clients who said, oh, I

00:24:39.289 --> 00:24:41.430
should have put money into my 401k or I should

00:24:41.430 --> 00:24:43.450
have got this type of insurance or proper. Somebody

00:24:43.450 --> 00:24:45.529
presented this to me, but I didn't quite understand

00:24:45.529 --> 00:24:48.250
it. And a lot of the reasons why people don't

00:24:48.250 --> 00:24:50.069
put things in place is because there's just a

00:24:50.069 --> 00:24:54.630
lack of understanding. In this world, we're inundated

00:24:54.630 --> 00:24:58.430
with so much information with social media, technology,

00:24:58.630 --> 00:25:02.410
chat, GBT. You can get a lot of information everywhere.

00:25:02.710 --> 00:25:05.250
The question is, where can we actually put that

00:25:05.250 --> 00:25:07.730
information? into place. You have the theory

00:25:07.730 --> 00:25:09.470
part of it, but what's the action part of it?

00:25:10.049 --> 00:25:14.829
And so the literacy, it closes that gap because

00:25:14.829 --> 00:25:18.769
it allows people to make a solid, informed, empowered

00:25:18.769 --> 00:25:22.470
decision for their family. Yeah. So one of the

00:25:22.470 --> 00:25:25.369
things that we deal with is life insurance. And

00:25:25.369 --> 00:25:27.410
people sometimes think life insurance is just

00:25:27.410 --> 00:25:33.140
for like burial. burial expenses, or it's only

00:25:33.140 --> 00:25:36.099
affordable for the wealthy. It's unnecessary.

00:25:36.359 --> 00:25:38.920
It's a scam, you know, and they don't realize

00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:42.480
that, you know, younger people actually can afford.

00:25:44.019 --> 00:25:45.839
It's affordable for people like that that are

00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:48.640
younger. And I actually look up a fact, it says

00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:53.680
a healthy 30 year old can often get a $500 ,000

00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:56.740
term policy for less than the cost of a monthly

00:25:56.740 --> 00:26:00.740
Netflix subscription. Is that a fact? Or can

00:26:00.740 --> 00:26:05.220
you talk about that? Well, it depends on, I mean,

00:26:05.220 --> 00:26:07.799
if they're healthy, how much coverage, and it

00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:10.680
is super affordable. And I want to share something

00:26:10.680 --> 00:26:12.599
with you, Michael, that I think that a lot of

00:26:12.599 --> 00:26:16.160
us, when it comes to insurance, whether we think

00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:18.440
it's expensive, we don't know, it's for the wealthy.

00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:22.079
You know, I had a sister who, when I was 20 years

00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:24.279
old, she was 31 years old, she passed away in

00:26:24.279 --> 00:26:27.920
a car accident. In the accident, my nephews were

00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:30.380
in the car. One of my nephews had just turned

00:26:30.380 --> 00:26:33.960
five. about to turn six, they survived the accident,

00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:36.400
my sister passed away, and it just turned our

00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:39.799
whole family's world upside down. We never anticipated

00:26:39.799 --> 00:26:41.680
that when you lose someone just like that, you

00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:45.559
don't have the planning. She had no life insurance.

00:26:46.680 --> 00:26:50.759
So how it works when you lose someone, it's a

00:26:50.759 --> 00:26:52.579
business, you go to the funeral home, you do

00:26:52.579 --> 00:26:55.480
all this stuff, they're upselling you on every

00:26:55.480 --> 00:26:59.500
aspect of putting the final plan together for

00:26:59.500 --> 00:27:02.059
the celebration of life. My brother put it, my

00:27:02.059 --> 00:27:05.720
brother put it on, he got it on a, like he financed

00:27:05.720 --> 00:27:08.420
it and it took him seven years to pay that. I

00:27:08.420 --> 00:27:10.960
think it was like 15 ,000 because like the interest

00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:14.160
rate on it was super expensive or super high.

00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:16.660
And I share this story with you, Michael, because

00:27:16.660 --> 00:27:20.740
in that moment, you lose someone, you don't have

00:27:20.740 --> 00:27:22.920
insurance. Then we're trying to figure out, you

00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:25.079
know, who becomes guardians of my nephew. So

00:27:25.079 --> 00:27:28.669
that's the estate planning side of things. And

00:27:28.669 --> 00:27:31.430
even after experiencing that, Michael never did

00:27:31.430 --> 00:27:34.450
it dawn on me to get life insurance. But never

00:27:34.450 --> 00:27:36.730
had a conversation. Nobody said, hey, Stella,

00:27:36.730 --> 00:27:39.329
you've experienced this. You yourself can be

00:27:39.329 --> 00:27:41.130
protected. You can put yourself. We never want

00:27:41.130 --> 00:27:44.650
to experience this again. But not until 12 years

00:27:44.650 --> 00:27:46.430
later when I was introduced to the financial

00:27:46.430 --> 00:27:48.650
services that I realized the importance of life

00:27:48.650 --> 00:27:51.269
insurance. And so what I'm seeing is that the

00:27:51.269 --> 00:27:54.769
lack of knowledge when it comes to just the conversation

00:27:54.769 --> 00:27:56.630
around life insurance, let's just talk about

00:27:56.630 --> 00:27:59.710
that. It's not being had, you know? And when

00:27:59.710 --> 00:28:02.890
we do talk about life insurance, we just see

00:28:02.890 --> 00:28:05.690
it as like something that is there. We think

00:28:05.690 --> 00:28:07.670
of it as auto insurance, something that we're

00:28:07.670 --> 00:28:09.849
paying for that we're never going to use. But

00:28:09.849 --> 00:28:12.450
the reality of it is we're not getting the proper

00:28:12.450 --> 00:28:14.509
education when it comes to the power of life

00:28:14.509 --> 00:28:16.609
insurance, the power of doing it when we're younger

00:28:16.609 --> 00:28:19.089
and we're healthier and the cost of insurance

00:28:19.089 --> 00:28:22.089
is a lot less versus when we're older. A lot

00:28:22.089 --> 00:28:24.650
of times, you know, we were confronted with Clients

00:28:24.650 --> 00:28:26.410
who said oh, I didn't realize I can get life

00:28:26.410 --> 00:28:29.190
insurance when I was younger And so again, it

00:28:29.190 --> 00:28:31.970
just comes back down to the education and I shared

00:28:31.970 --> 00:28:34.309
my story with you Michael because like I said

00:28:34.309 --> 00:28:36.950
It was so close to home. We experienced it. We

00:28:36.950 --> 00:28:38.950
we understood like we went through all of that

00:28:38.950 --> 00:28:43.029
But not once not once did I ever think I should

00:28:43.029 --> 00:28:47.490
get life insurance And so if I experienced that

00:28:47.490 --> 00:28:49.950
I can only imagine the people who never experienced

00:28:49.950 --> 00:28:53.500
losing a loved one or anything like that the

00:28:53.500 --> 00:28:56.700
conversation even come up. And so being in this

00:28:56.700 --> 00:29:00.059
industry for over a decade, sitting down with

00:29:00.059 --> 00:29:02.539
clients, it's the same thing. Nobody's ever had

00:29:02.539 --> 00:29:05.259
them a conversation about it. It's the idea,

00:29:05.480 --> 00:29:08.779
it's far fetched. They think it is a scam. They

00:29:08.779 --> 00:29:11.019
don't have an understanding. We go through an

00:29:11.019 --> 00:29:13.480
education process where we talk about the different

00:29:13.480 --> 00:29:16.099
types of products. Not every life insurance is

00:29:16.099 --> 00:29:19.019
the same. So when we give the clients that information,

00:29:19.099 --> 00:29:21.839
they feel very empowered. to make those decisions.

00:29:22.119 --> 00:29:24.019
And that's why as a company, we have a crusade

00:29:24.019 --> 00:29:27.299
of education, financial literacy, sharing that.

00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:29.900
And when I came into this industry, that's why

00:29:29.900 --> 00:29:32.640
it was for me, it just fell right in line. I

00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:35.019
had already experienced that if I can help families,

00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:37.539
if I can touch families, if I can empower them

00:29:37.539 --> 00:29:40.339
with being properly educated and properly protected,

00:29:40.740 --> 00:29:44.480
then I wanted to be able to do that in my sister's

00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:46.460
name and in my family's name to say, hey, not

00:29:46.460 --> 00:29:50.079
one family has to go through a tragedy. and not

00:29:50.079 --> 00:29:55.200
be properly protected. And so that's what I have.

00:29:56.880 --> 00:30:00.019
That's really similar to me as well. And the

00:30:00.019 --> 00:30:02.519
story is like, I don't know, 2003 when my mom

00:30:02.519 --> 00:30:09.200
passed away from glioma, blastoma cancer, she

00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:13.789
had nothing in place. You know, and I was 20

00:30:13.789 --> 00:30:16.210
something fresh out of college, you know, starting

00:30:16.210 --> 00:30:18.130
to earn money, but I didn't have enough money

00:30:18.130 --> 00:30:21.369
to pay for our funeral. You know, we had to we

00:30:21.369 --> 00:30:24.250
had to call people, you know, to help us. We

00:30:24.250 --> 00:30:26.950
had to do some work with a funeral home, you

00:30:26.950 --> 00:30:28.849
know, to make sure that, you know, she got the

00:30:28.849 --> 00:30:31.990
proper burial in my family. People like to get

00:30:31.990 --> 00:30:36.890
cremated, which is, you know. But it was just

00:30:36.890 --> 00:30:38.690
difficult. And even at that time, like like you,

00:30:38.690 --> 00:30:41.549
I was like. you know, okay, this is what we got

00:30:41.549 --> 00:30:44.490
to do. Right. I didn't have the education at

00:30:44.490 --> 00:30:48.349
that time. And I think that that's pervasive.

00:30:53.450 --> 00:31:13.880
I can't hear your son, Michael. Can you hear

00:31:13.880 --> 00:31:17.079
me now? Oh, there it goes. Yes. Yeah. Um, all

00:31:17.079 --> 00:31:23.279
the hiccups. This is fun. Um, uh, man, this is

00:31:23.279 --> 00:31:28.920
crazy. So what was I saying? Oh, yes. Yeah. So

00:31:28.920 --> 00:31:32.539
like people that are in that situation, um, that

00:31:32.539 --> 00:31:35.339
find themselves in a situation now, what, what

00:31:35.339 --> 00:31:39.059
do you think they need to do? Well, number one,

00:31:39.059 --> 00:31:43.550
uh, what someone should do is know that that

00:31:43.550 --> 00:31:46.829
when we're talking about working for our family,

00:31:47.049 --> 00:31:50.089
the question is why would we want to do it and

00:31:50.089 --> 00:31:52.529
what do we need to do? So we all work hard for

00:31:52.529 --> 00:31:55.150
our family. When I sit down with clients and

00:31:55.150 --> 00:31:58.049
I ask them, why are we having this conversation?

00:31:58.430 --> 00:32:00.509
What got you to have this conversation or sit

00:32:00.509 --> 00:32:01.690
down in front of me? And they're like, well,

00:32:01.710 --> 00:32:04.410
my family is really important. I work hard. I

00:32:04.410 --> 00:32:06.750
want to make sure that I'm taking care of, my

00:32:06.750 --> 00:32:09.029
family's taking care of this. So it's really...

00:32:10.279 --> 00:32:12.900
acknowledging the fact that we are all working

00:32:12.900 --> 00:32:15.420
for something, right? We go to work, we go to

00:32:15.420 --> 00:32:19.299
do it for our family. And so when we have that

00:32:19.299 --> 00:32:21.579
understanding of why we're doing it, having the

00:32:21.579 --> 00:32:23.940
conversation of properly protecting a family

00:32:23.940 --> 00:32:26.440
becomes a lot easier because then they understand

00:32:26.440 --> 00:32:30.380
that having proper protection is about their

00:32:30.380 --> 00:32:33.500
family. Everything that they're doing, that will

00:32:33.500 --> 00:32:38.779
take place if you are no longer there. then everybody

00:32:38.779 --> 00:32:41.339
will tell you, I'll ask, why do you go to work?

00:32:41.519 --> 00:32:42.579
Well, because I want to take care of my family.

00:32:42.619 --> 00:32:44.319
I want to be able to make sure I pay my bills.

00:32:44.660 --> 00:32:48.480
And so once we have that understanding, being

00:32:48.480 --> 00:32:51.220
able to have a conversation of having proper

00:32:51.220 --> 00:32:53.819
protection becomes a lot easier because then

00:32:53.819 --> 00:32:55.779
now they understand this is about their family.

00:32:55.900 --> 00:32:58.180
This is about properly protection. This is, like

00:32:58.180 --> 00:33:00.319
you said, keeping the dignity, having peace of

00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:04.259
mind. And so that's why the conversation around

00:33:04.259 --> 00:33:06.859
it or gaining the knowledge in it is extremely

00:33:06.859 --> 00:33:12.470
important. because it all wraps around with the

00:33:12.470 --> 00:33:14.809
simple fact that it's about our family or we

00:33:14.809 --> 00:33:16.450
want to make sure we're properly set up for our

00:33:16.450 --> 00:33:20.269
future. Yeah. And ultimately, you're really taking

00:33:20.269 --> 00:33:23.269
care of yourself to take care of your family

00:33:23.269 --> 00:33:27.289
as well. And I think that's important. And especially

00:33:27.289 --> 00:33:31.349
as I grow older, I'm like, you know, I want to

00:33:31.349 --> 00:33:34.819
make sure that my people are taken care of. And

00:33:34.819 --> 00:33:36.380
then they're taking care of so they can take

00:33:36.380 --> 00:33:40.460
care of me when, you know, it's my time. And

00:33:40.460 --> 00:33:43.279
it's really okay to talk about that, because

00:33:43.279 --> 00:33:47.900
that's inevitable, right? Right, right. You know,

00:33:47.900 --> 00:33:50.829
they said there's two certainties in life. Death

00:33:50.829 --> 00:33:54.190
and taxes and we have the conversation on both,

00:33:54.470 --> 00:33:57.589
right? I always like to joke around with my team

00:33:57.589 --> 00:33:58.970
and I said we're not gonna get out of this world

00:33:58.970 --> 00:34:02.990
alive Unless unless you know something I don't

00:34:02.990 --> 00:34:05.809
know But the but the importance of having have

00:34:05.809 --> 00:34:08.210
having that kind of conversations is extremely

00:34:08.210 --> 00:34:11.369
important and and we're talking even on the the

00:34:11.369 --> 00:34:13.690
side of having proper protection and going through

00:34:13.690 --> 00:34:15.789
the funeral and burial. But then there's the

00:34:15.789 --> 00:34:18.849
other element of insurance, life insurance, like

00:34:18.849 --> 00:34:21.630
being able to create generational wealth. A lot

00:34:21.630 --> 00:34:24.289
of people don't realize that when a life insurance

00:34:24.289 --> 00:34:27.269
benefit does pay out. It pays our tax free. And

00:34:27.269 --> 00:34:29.429
if you have half a million in place or you have

00:34:29.429 --> 00:34:32.150
a million dollars in place, which, by the way,

00:34:32.489 --> 00:34:35.130
is so much more affordable than most people think,

00:34:35.530 --> 00:34:37.590
we never want to think about passing. But like

00:34:37.590 --> 00:34:38.989
we were just talking about, it's inevitable.

00:34:39.190 --> 00:34:41.070
It's going to happen. We just don't know when.

00:34:42.409 --> 00:34:44.150
You know, we can look for an expiration date

00:34:44.150 --> 00:34:46.190
somewhere on our body, but we can't find it.

00:34:46.289 --> 00:34:48.789
Right. We don't have that somewhere around. I've

00:34:48.789 --> 00:34:52.590
been looking for it. But that we don't realize

00:34:52.590 --> 00:34:55.579
that. That we are able to create generational

00:34:55.579 --> 00:34:58.539
wealth by having proper protection. If we do

00:34:58.539 --> 00:35:02.739
have a certain amount of coverage, the proper

00:35:02.739 --> 00:35:04.360
amount of coverage, which we do with all of that

00:35:04.360 --> 00:35:06.260
with our clients. We go through a full needs

00:35:06.260 --> 00:35:08.179
analysis to make sure the client is properly

00:35:08.179 --> 00:35:10.059
covered. They're not paying for too much. They're

00:35:10.059 --> 00:35:12.139
not paying for too little. They have the right

00:35:12.139 --> 00:35:14.500
amount of coverage. That's a way of creating

00:35:14.500 --> 00:35:16.880
generational wealth. So if something happens

00:35:16.880 --> 00:35:20.079
tragic or unforeseen and you have half a million

00:35:20.079 --> 00:35:22.840
dollars of insurance, Michael, your beneficiaries

00:35:22.840 --> 00:35:26.159
receive that half a million dollars tax free.

00:35:27.300 --> 00:35:29.699
And then there's so much more that can happen

00:35:29.699 --> 00:35:32.679
after that. And it's been a strategy that the

00:35:32.679 --> 00:35:35.579
wealthy have leveraged many years over where

00:35:35.579 --> 00:35:39.630
they've protected their family. Put the strategy

00:35:39.630 --> 00:35:42.750
of life insurance in place and see it as an investment

00:35:42.750 --> 00:35:47.570
versus as a bill, right? Yeah, right would man

00:35:47.570 --> 00:35:52.329
versus a bill like That's just right there by

00:35:52.329 --> 00:35:56.530
itself. Um, can you Just so that people gonna

00:35:56.530 --> 00:35:58.190
really get the world of it Can you just break

00:35:58.190 --> 00:36:01.329
down break it down for people were or you know,

00:36:01.329 --> 00:36:03.809
you're leaving a legacy for people with the generational

00:36:03.809 --> 00:36:10.940
wealth? Absolutely. Um, I mean A lot of us want

00:36:10.940 --> 00:36:13.139
to, it goes back to the conversation, why do

00:36:13.139 --> 00:36:15.739
we work hard? Why do we do this? A lot of times

00:36:15.739 --> 00:36:19.300
what we're doing is not the way to lead generational

00:36:19.300 --> 00:36:21.059
wealth. If we're working for corporate America,

00:36:21.239 --> 00:36:24.119
we have some type of retirement, understanding

00:36:24.119 --> 00:36:26.980
the world of taxes and the implication to estate

00:36:26.980 --> 00:36:29.199
planning. I mean, there's so many elements to

00:36:29.199 --> 00:36:34.400
it. But generational wealth is a decision we

00:36:34.400 --> 00:36:37.059
choose to make, right? If we really wanna make,

00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:39.940
and it starts in our mind. And then it goes back

00:36:39.940 --> 00:36:42.860
to what you said, what's the gap? So the gap

00:36:42.860 --> 00:36:45.239
is knowing what you want. If you're looking for

00:36:45.239 --> 00:36:47.179
retirement, knowing what your financial independence

00:36:47.179 --> 00:36:49.320
number, if you're looking for generational wealth

00:36:49.320 --> 00:36:51.840
is how, if I'm looking for generational wealth,

00:36:51.920 --> 00:36:54.760
what tools, what elements are around me that

00:36:54.760 --> 00:36:57.320
I can put in place for my family to make sure

00:36:57.320 --> 00:37:00.159
that I am actually not only putting it in place,

00:37:00.340 --> 00:37:02.539
but when I am no longer here, that it leaves

00:37:02.539 --> 00:37:04.760
that generational wealth. And life insurance

00:37:04.760 --> 00:37:07.920
is a big element of that. Again, it's taboo when

00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:09.800
we talk to people about life insurance, it's

00:37:09.800 --> 00:37:12.239
a taboo conversation that people automatically

00:37:12.239 --> 00:37:15.219
think it's a scam. or they can't afford it. And

00:37:15.219 --> 00:37:17.440
that's where the education comes in. And that's

00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:20.139
why I love what I do, because our approach is

00:37:20.139 --> 00:37:27.019
education. And so leaving a legacy or creating

00:37:27.019 --> 00:37:31.960
generational wealth, again, it's education, knowing

00:37:31.960 --> 00:37:34.500
what tools are out there, what type of products

00:37:34.500 --> 00:37:37.199
can help me do that. And as I mentioned already,

00:37:37.599 --> 00:37:40.079
life insurance is a big part of that. Yeah. So

00:37:40.079 --> 00:37:43.300
that's the first step. first step first step

00:37:43.300 --> 00:37:45.579
is knowing in your mind like the first step is

00:37:45.579 --> 00:37:48.940
knowing what you want and And when we have conversations

00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:51.380
is it's bringing that out and people people say

00:37:51.380 --> 00:37:53.639
well I want to make sure my family's taking care

00:37:53.639 --> 00:37:56.900
of okay, but what does that look like? If when

00:37:56.900 --> 00:37:58.440
you say your family is taking care of are you

00:37:58.440 --> 00:38:00.159
talking about while you're still here while you're

00:38:00.159 --> 00:38:02.039
no longer here And what are some of the things

00:38:02.039 --> 00:38:04.179
that we can put in place so that you can take

00:38:04.179 --> 00:38:06.719
care of your family step one And then if we're

00:38:06.719 --> 00:38:09.210
looking for generational wealth what other types

00:38:09.210 --> 00:38:12.329
of products and services that we can put in place

00:38:12.329 --> 00:38:14.730
to create that. So number one is knowing what

00:38:14.730 --> 00:38:18.829
you want. Yeah. Knowing what you want. And so

00:38:18.829 --> 00:38:22.750
personally, you're building your legacy, right?

00:38:22.909 --> 00:38:24.590
And how does that change the way that you see

00:38:24.590 --> 00:38:32.480
your own life? It changes in so many ways. I've

00:38:32.480 --> 00:38:35.119
always felt since I was young that I wanted to

00:38:35.119 --> 00:38:39.019
leave an imprint on this world. I've always felt

00:38:39.019 --> 00:38:45.760
this inner calling, inner being of being able

00:38:45.760 --> 00:38:48.860
to leave a big footprint and then life happens

00:38:48.860 --> 00:38:51.500
and you just don't know what that looks like.

00:38:51.619 --> 00:38:53.760
But being part of the financial industry has

00:38:53.760 --> 00:38:57.420
really not only enhance and change the paradigm

00:38:57.420 --> 00:39:00.099
of my thinking as a business owner, but also

00:39:00.099 --> 00:39:02.699
like making sure my family's protected. You know,

00:39:03.079 --> 00:39:06.000
we're in the world of financial services. So

00:39:06.000 --> 00:39:08.019
not only do we talk about it to our clients,

00:39:08.079 --> 00:39:10.480
but I think the best part of it is living it,

00:39:10.679 --> 00:39:13.039
right? We speaking it. And so making sure our

00:39:13.039 --> 00:39:15.340
financial plannings is put in place, making sure

00:39:15.340 --> 00:39:17.119
that we have the proper amount of protection.

00:39:17.679 --> 00:39:20.099
And for me, the way I see it, now that I know

00:39:20.099 --> 00:39:22.860
what I know, Prior to being in the industry,

00:39:23.260 --> 00:39:24.880
prior to being in these kinds of conversations,

00:39:25.099 --> 00:39:27.679
I don't think I would have done what I've done.

00:39:27.840 --> 00:39:29.659
But because I am in the industry, because I am

00:39:29.659 --> 00:39:31.539
talking to clients, because I want to live by

00:39:31.539 --> 00:39:35.380
example, I feel secure. There's so much more

00:39:35.380 --> 00:39:37.500
that I would love to be able to do for my family.

00:39:37.860 --> 00:39:40.500
But some of the things that I plan to do and

00:39:40.500 --> 00:39:42.519
put in place is not only to make sure that my

00:39:42.519 --> 00:39:45.199
family's... properly protected and making sure

00:39:45.199 --> 00:39:47.380
I leave that legacy for my family. But I also

00:39:47.380 --> 00:39:49.019
want to be able to give back to the community.

00:39:49.480 --> 00:39:52.840
You know, I played sports. Soccer was what I

00:39:52.840 --> 00:39:55.099
played, you know, what I played predominantly

00:39:55.099 --> 00:39:57.780
year round. And I want to give back to my high

00:39:57.780 --> 00:40:00.099
school alma mater. I want to be able to do that

00:40:00.099 --> 00:40:04.420
and do a scholarship in my name for many generations

00:40:04.420 --> 00:40:07.619
to come. And that is part of the financial world.

00:40:07.949 --> 00:40:10.449
life insurance could be a part of that. And so

00:40:10.449 --> 00:40:14.409
it has expanded my scope of not only making sure

00:40:14.409 --> 00:40:16.170
my family is protected, but also being able to

00:40:16.170 --> 00:40:18.590
give back to the community. And I believe that's

00:40:18.590 --> 00:40:21.389
why we're here is what kind of imprint can we

00:40:21.389 --> 00:40:23.989
leave in this world, not just be in this world.

00:40:24.230 --> 00:40:28.869
So it's dramatically changed what how I see and

00:40:28.869 --> 00:40:31.510
how I can actually leave that imprint in life.

00:40:32.170 --> 00:40:34.849
Yeah, that's I mean, I hear legacy all through

00:40:34.849 --> 00:40:39.889
that. And you talked about generational wealth

00:40:39.889 --> 00:40:45.449
and all the things that people talk about. They

00:40:45.449 --> 00:40:48.550
talk about, I wanted to leave generational wealth

00:40:48.550 --> 00:40:52.010
and they don't necessarily really know how to

00:40:52.010 --> 00:40:54.750
get there, but you've explained what the first

00:40:54.750 --> 00:40:57.690
step can be, which is in your mind. And then

00:40:57.690 --> 00:41:00.289
there are actually tools that can help you do

00:41:00.289 --> 00:41:05.510
that. So this is like creating a clear a strategy

00:41:05.510 --> 00:41:10.869
for somebody to actually follow up with the speaking

00:41:10.869 --> 00:41:14.730
of, I want to create generational wealth. But

00:41:14.730 --> 00:41:20.389
how do you define wealth beyond numbers and big

00:41:20.389 --> 00:41:27.190
accounts? Very great question. I define wealth

00:41:28.700 --> 00:41:31.880
not necessarily with money or wealth in that

00:41:31.880 --> 00:41:35.579
sense, but wealth is spiritual wealth. You know,

00:41:35.760 --> 00:41:37.679
there's a lot of people who have a lot of wealth

00:41:37.679 --> 00:41:40.739
and spiritually they're just, they're like my

00:41:40.739 --> 00:41:43.289
mother says, they're... Like their spirit is

00:41:43.289 --> 00:41:46.909
just constantly moving There's mental health

00:41:46.909 --> 00:41:49.610
your your wealth in in your in your mental health.

00:41:49.710 --> 00:41:53.170
There's wealth in your in your health And so

00:41:53.170 --> 00:41:56.190
what I love of being a part of this agency is

00:41:56.190 --> 00:41:59.329
you know our fulfillment formula. It's not just

00:41:59.980 --> 00:42:02.699
creating wealth and legacy on that side. But

00:42:02.699 --> 00:42:04.960
it's also what we impart, the intangible things

00:42:04.960 --> 00:42:06.880
that we impart to our family and our community,

00:42:07.199 --> 00:42:10.119
as far as the way we live our life with the five

00:42:10.119 --> 00:42:12.760
F's, which is our faith, you know, increasing

00:42:12.760 --> 00:42:15.300
our capacity and relationships with our family.

00:42:15.659 --> 00:42:18.179
Of course, one of the F's is finances and making

00:42:18.179 --> 00:42:21.280
sure that our finances are in order. And then

00:42:21.280 --> 00:42:24.099
also our fitness, our health is extremely important.

00:42:24.239 --> 00:42:26.619
And the last thing is having fun through it all.

00:42:26.920 --> 00:42:31.219
Because one of our mentors says in business is

00:42:31.219 --> 00:42:34.380
that, you know, the goal if we can is to reach

00:42:34.380 --> 00:42:36.579
financial independence, become financially free.

00:42:37.579 --> 00:42:41.179
Our vision as a company is to be able to be number

00:42:41.179 --> 00:42:43.900
one in the industry. And I believe we're going

00:42:43.900 --> 00:42:46.380
to be on track for that. But he talks about you

00:42:46.380 --> 00:42:47.980
can become a millionaire and there's a lot of

00:42:47.980 --> 00:42:50.579
millionaires or you can become a fulfilled millionaire

00:42:50.579 --> 00:42:54.659
when all those five S are being elevated and

00:42:54.659 --> 00:42:58.039
grown on every level. So wealth to me is not

00:42:58.039 --> 00:43:01.659
just money. No for me my spiritual wealth is

00:43:01.659 --> 00:43:04.599
extremely important and it's not if it's not

00:43:04.599 --> 00:43:07.019
a religion based on talking about your spirit

00:43:07.019 --> 00:43:09.880
as a human being that we're getting to know exactly

00:43:09.880 --> 00:43:12.039
who we're meant to be and we're striving to be

00:43:12.039 --> 00:43:15.909
that person. That's what, for me, spiritual health

00:43:15.909 --> 00:43:18.309
is. And of course, faith isn't religious. Faith

00:43:18.309 --> 00:43:20.869
is just the opposite of fear, you know, living

00:43:20.869 --> 00:43:24.510
in that faith versus a lot of times. And if fear

00:43:24.510 --> 00:43:27.909
comes in and sneaks its nose into all of our

00:43:27.909 --> 00:43:31.889
lives, you know, it comes into our, whether we

00:43:31.889 --> 00:43:34.010
do something in our financial planning, fear

00:43:34.010 --> 00:43:36.489
comes in. And so it's just operating in that

00:43:36.489 --> 00:43:41.619
faith. So wealth is more of a holistic I have

00:43:41.619 --> 00:43:44.780
a holistic outlook on what wealth is, because

00:43:44.780 --> 00:43:48.139
I could be super healthy and super fit, but my

00:43:48.139 --> 00:43:51.719
finances can be in disarray. And I want to be

00:43:51.719 --> 00:43:55.679
able to grow in all of those five F's simultaneously.

00:43:56.079 --> 00:43:58.539
Will I grow in all areas? At the same time, no,

00:43:58.559 --> 00:44:00.639
there might be a little bit off balance in certain

00:44:00.639 --> 00:44:02.219
areas because we're looking for different goals

00:44:02.219 --> 00:44:04.599
as we're striving as entrepreneurs in our family.

00:44:04.880 --> 00:44:08.000
But I believe that every day or, you know, we're

00:44:08.000 --> 00:44:11.780
working on improving that those five S to be

00:44:11.780 --> 00:44:15.500
to be humans that live a fulfilled life. Yeah.

00:44:16.179 --> 00:44:18.980
What do you say to someone who who really thinks

00:44:18.980 --> 00:44:21.820
that they don't have enough to leave a legacy?

00:44:22.599 --> 00:44:25.480
What do you mean? Not enough. Like they don't

00:44:25.480 --> 00:44:29.539
they don't have like enough money or just just

00:44:29.539 --> 00:44:32.699
they want to do probably. Let me say it like

00:44:32.699 --> 00:44:36.440
this. They want to have life insurance and leave

00:44:36.440 --> 00:44:39.300
a legacy, but they don't have enough like enough

00:44:39.300 --> 00:44:42.760
money. Because I have a fact is that only it

00:44:42.760 --> 00:44:46.539
says only 52 % of Americans report leaving or

00:44:46.539 --> 00:44:50.139
having any life insurance at all. And so. there

00:44:50.139 --> 00:44:52.280
may be that conversation that people may be having

00:44:52.280 --> 00:44:58.659
with themselves that I just don't have it. I

00:44:58.659 --> 00:45:02.179
get it. That's what I said when I first came

00:45:02.179 --> 00:45:05.239
in. I'm like, there's no way I can invest. There's

00:45:05.239 --> 00:45:07.940
no way I can do this. But when I sat through

00:45:07.940 --> 00:45:09.739
the part and what we do for our clients, where

00:45:09.739 --> 00:45:11.679
we go through a full financial needs analysis,

00:45:12.239 --> 00:45:15.380
we find money. I mean, some people live on a

00:45:15.380 --> 00:45:16.920
budget and they only make a certain amount of

00:45:16.920 --> 00:45:19.829
income. you know, that's that word, you know,

00:45:19.829 --> 00:45:21.409
limited on what we could do, but there's a lot

00:45:21.409 --> 00:45:24.050
of people who say that they don't have enough,

00:45:24.050 --> 00:45:26.010
they don't make enough, and they don't realize

00:45:26.010 --> 00:45:28.110
that as we go through a personal financial review,

00:45:28.489 --> 00:45:32.510
we find money, we find $100 here, $50 here, you

00:45:32.510 --> 00:45:36.349
know, going out to eat, Starbucks, Netflix, as

00:45:36.349 --> 00:45:38.869
you mentioned, right? You know, we have the money,

00:45:38.889 --> 00:45:41.269
but what we do is we walk through someone through

00:45:41.269 --> 00:45:44.110
that process to say, you know, what is it that

00:45:44.110 --> 00:45:46.530
you want? And are the things that you're doing

00:45:46.530 --> 00:45:48.469
today getting you to closer to where you want

00:45:48.469 --> 00:45:50.530
or further away? And when we go through that

00:45:50.530 --> 00:45:53.409
analysis, they realize what they want and what

00:45:53.409 --> 00:45:56.050
they're doing are two different things. So we

00:45:56.050 --> 00:45:58.650
put them on a path so that they can eliminate

00:45:58.650 --> 00:46:01.050
Netflix or they eliminate Starbucks, maybe not

00:46:01.050 --> 00:46:03.110
completely, but maybe two days out of the week

00:46:03.110 --> 00:46:06.170
and make coffee at home. And we help find that

00:46:06.170 --> 00:46:08.289
money so that they can get that proper protection.

00:46:08.630 --> 00:46:10.750
But a lot of people will never go through that

00:46:10.750 --> 00:46:13.039
if they don't know what they want. And part of

00:46:13.039 --> 00:46:15.599
what we do is giving them clarity of what is

00:46:15.599 --> 00:46:18.019
it that's important to them and how we can, with

00:46:18.019 --> 00:46:19.960
their situation, help them get to where they

00:46:19.960 --> 00:46:23.019
want to be. And then on the flip side, Michael,

00:46:24.239 --> 00:46:27.619
we have an opportunity here in what we do as

00:46:27.619 --> 00:46:30.460
an agency. On the flip side, maybe we do have

00:46:30.460 --> 00:46:32.340
someone who's limited, they follow a budget,

00:46:32.420 --> 00:46:34.260
but they only get a certain amount of cash flow.

00:46:34.519 --> 00:46:36.940
So the only solution is to increase their cash

00:46:36.940 --> 00:46:40.739
flow. And so we as actually as an agency are,

00:46:40.739 --> 00:46:42.619
you know, looking for qualified individuals that

00:46:42.619 --> 00:46:44.699
can partner with us. And that's how I started.

00:46:44.719 --> 00:46:47.280
I started part -time. I got licensed. I made

00:46:47.280 --> 00:46:49.280
some extra money as I was learning the new industry.

00:46:49.460 --> 00:46:52.039
I wasn't at a place where I wanted to leave my

00:46:52.039 --> 00:46:55.639
job because that was security for me. But when

00:46:55.639 --> 00:46:58.619
I realized a lot of different things as far as

00:46:58.619 --> 00:47:00.920
entrepreneurship and business ownership, I was

00:47:00.920 --> 00:47:03.159
able to make the move. And I have a lot of agents

00:47:03.159 --> 00:47:05.599
on my team who do this part time so that they

00:47:05.599 --> 00:47:07.719
can make an extra thousand or an extra $2 ,000

00:47:07.719 --> 00:47:10.920
to pay for their children's daycare or to put

00:47:10.920 --> 00:47:13.900
their kids in private school or for them to actually

00:47:13.900 --> 00:47:19.059
take a vacation. So there's two answers to that.

00:47:19.239 --> 00:47:22.320
We can help find money. And if not, then we can

00:47:22.320 --> 00:47:24.619
offer the opportunity if it's the right person

00:47:24.619 --> 00:47:27.000
where they can be partnered with us and learn

00:47:27.000 --> 00:47:29.579
a new industry. help more people and make some

00:47:29.579 --> 00:47:32.420
additional income. And you have, like right now

00:47:32.420 --> 00:47:37.539
you have over, my reporting test, you have over

00:47:37.539 --> 00:47:43.679
190 agents in your agency. Correct. 190? Yeah.

00:47:43.940 --> 00:47:48.639
What was it? 190 plus. About 190. We're about

00:47:48.639 --> 00:47:51.400
there. Yeah. And so I can attest to that because

00:47:51.400 --> 00:47:56.760
you, just the way that you level up people's,

00:47:56.800 --> 00:48:00.900
uh, just mindset and just the way of being, um,

00:48:00.900 --> 00:48:04.960
in the meetings is just has been, is when you

00:48:04.960 --> 00:48:07.760
leave, it's like, let's make something happen.

00:48:08.239 --> 00:48:12.780
And just from who you're being, um, for, for

00:48:12.780 --> 00:48:16.000
myself, and I'm sure for other people, it has

00:48:16.000 --> 00:48:18.940
been a true game changer. And then I just, I

00:48:18.940 --> 00:48:20.960
can see that, you know, showing up in areas of

00:48:20.960 --> 00:48:24.820
my life. And so what's your inspiration to people

00:48:24.820 --> 00:48:29.639
that, that again, that want to partner up with

00:48:29.639 --> 00:48:34.780
you and make a difference in their life? What's

00:48:34.780 --> 00:48:37.739
my inspiration? How do you inspire people that

00:48:37.739 --> 00:48:41.480
want to make a change in their life to work with

00:48:41.480 --> 00:48:45.599
you? So that's another great question. How do

00:48:45.599 --> 00:48:49.920
I inspire people is, well, one, What I've been

00:48:49.920 --> 00:48:52.780
gifted through the gift of entrepreneurship or

00:48:52.780 --> 00:48:54.840
the journey of entrepreneurship is really getting

00:48:54.840 --> 00:48:59.500
to know myself. And they say people operate in

00:48:59.500 --> 00:49:02.059
different levels of vibrational levels and frequency

00:49:02.059 --> 00:49:05.079
levels. And they say that the highest level of

00:49:05.079 --> 00:49:07.179
vibration that we can vibrate on or the highest

00:49:07.179 --> 00:49:12.980
frequency is genuineness. And so the gift that

00:49:12.980 --> 00:49:15.179
I've been gifted on this journey of entrepreneurship

00:49:15.179 --> 00:49:18.659
is really getting to know who I am. who I'm meant

00:49:18.659 --> 00:49:21.480
to be, and the more I search for that, the more

00:49:21.480 --> 00:49:23.940
that I work towards that, I realize that's an

00:49:23.940 --> 00:49:27.420
inspiration for other people. I don't come from

00:49:27.420 --> 00:49:30.239
wealth, I don't come from, my whole background

00:49:30.239 --> 00:49:33.159
story is not the perfect story, and you see me

00:49:33.159 --> 00:49:36.880
doing what I do here in financial services, owning

00:49:36.880 --> 00:49:39.280
a business, and being able to grow our agency

00:49:39.280 --> 00:49:43.639
to close to 200 licensed agents. That comes with

00:49:43.639 --> 00:49:47.860
constantly evolving and growing. I truly am a

00:49:47.860 --> 00:49:52.079
big believer in that if I am genuine and I'm

00:49:52.079 --> 00:49:54.420
constantly working, I have the moral authority

00:49:54.420 --> 00:49:57.659
to inspire that in people, not by my words, but

00:49:57.659 --> 00:50:01.059
really by my actions. And I hold that to a regard,

00:50:01.460 --> 00:50:04.139
not necessarily to inspire other people, it's

00:50:04.139 --> 00:50:06.340
transitioned into inspiring other people, but

00:50:06.340 --> 00:50:10.019
it really, I just hold it to... Am I living up

00:50:10.019 --> 00:50:12.480
to my best? Am I constantly stepping into the

00:50:12.480 --> 00:50:15.139
best version of myself? And it keeps me accountable.

00:50:15.460 --> 00:50:17.940
And because of that, I have a team of people

00:50:17.940 --> 00:50:21.059
that it keeps me leveling up in accountability,

00:50:21.739 --> 00:50:24.260
where essentially I see that there's a level

00:50:24.260 --> 00:50:28.820
of inspiration. I know that I impact my team,

00:50:29.199 --> 00:50:31.579
but it's very rare when I get something what

00:50:31.579 --> 00:50:33.679
you just said back to me. When you leave a meeting,

00:50:33.920 --> 00:50:38.510
you feel a certain way. It's interesting to hear

00:50:38.510 --> 00:50:40.389
that and I'm just happy to hear that. That's

00:50:40.389 --> 00:50:43.369
how I leave people. One of my affirmations is

00:50:43.369 --> 00:50:45.309
I leave people feeling better than when I first

00:50:45.309 --> 00:50:47.730
started talking to them. No matter what that

00:50:47.730 --> 00:50:50.289
I pour into someone I'm doing that. And if I'm

00:50:50.289 --> 00:50:53.210
not working on myself, I can't do that. So it's

00:50:53.210 --> 00:50:56.530
one in the same. If I'm not working at that capacity,

00:50:56.909 --> 00:50:58.889
I'll never have the ability to leave someone

00:50:58.889 --> 00:51:00.789
better off than when I first started talking

00:51:00.789 --> 00:51:04.659
to them. And so that's my inspiration. you know,

00:51:04.679 --> 00:51:06.679
since I was like, it goes back to being a little

00:51:06.679 --> 00:51:09.440
girl and thinking to myself that I'm on this

00:51:09.440 --> 00:51:12.480
earth to do something special. And all these

00:51:12.480 --> 00:51:15.260
years, it's been navigating to what that means.

00:51:15.460 --> 00:51:17.380
And now that I'm in this position, I really truly

00:51:17.380 --> 00:51:21.360
believe I found my purpose, why I'm here, my

00:51:21.360 --> 00:51:24.719
intention is to really impact people. The money

00:51:24.719 --> 00:51:26.920
is secondary, the money is not as important as

00:51:26.920 --> 00:51:29.119
it was in the beginning. Because in the beginning,

00:51:29.159 --> 00:51:31.280
I was trying to pay bills and do certain things.

00:51:31.369 --> 00:51:36.010
Like everybody, right? So the beginning of the

00:51:36.010 --> 00:51:39.070
money was important. But now that I've been in

00:51:39.070 --> 00:51:41.170
this industry for 10 years, it's really how can

00:51:41.170 --> 00:51:43.429
I inspire someone? How can I get someone to think

00:51:43.429 --> 00:51:46.170
different? How can I get people to cross that

00:51:46.170 --> 00:51:50.190
bridge of corporate America employee to the world

00:51:50.190 --> 00:51:52.789
of entrepreneurship? Because the world of entrepreneurship

00:51:52.789 --> 00:51:57.119
is a journey of your... You're chasing. You're

00:51:57.119 --> 00:52:00.059
finding the best version of yourself It's the

00:52:00.059 --> 00:52:02.159
best personal development program and the more

00:52:02.159 --> 00:52:04.760
we personally develop the more income we're gonna

00:52:04.760 --> 00:52:07.960
make So the income is a byproduct of who I'm

00:52:07.960 --> 00:52:10.500
becoming and the people I serve and so I know

00:52:10.500 --> 00:52:13.880
the money will come It's now not even as it as

00:52:13.880 --> 00:52:15.599
it was important in the beginning of my journey

00:52:15.599 --> 00:52:19.039
of entrepreneurship And so that's where the inspiration

00:52:19.039 --> 00:52:21.519
comes is how can I leave someone better off than

00:52:21.519 --> 00:52:24.199
when I first started? Talking to them or being

00:52:24.199 --> 00:52:29.340
in their life Yeah. Well, this is, if this conversation

00:52:29.340 --> 00:52:32.239
is evidence of who you are, then we get to see

00:52:32.239 --> 00:52:35.460
the greatness in you and your everyday life just

00:52:35.460 --> 00:52:38.659
in this one hour that we spend together. And,

00:52:38.659 --> 00:52:41.139
you know, we talked about life insurance, we

00:52:41.139 --> 00:52:43.900
talked about, you know, generational wealth.

00:52:44.059 --> 00:52:46.619
I don't know why I can't say generational. You

00:52:46.619 --> 00:52:52.070
got it. And I do want to offer people that that

00:52:52.070 --> 00:52:54.449
are really interested in really making a shift

00:52:54.449 --> 00:52:58.650
in their life, you know, or just have a conversation

00:52:58.650 --> 00:53:02.469
and learn about what we just talked about. I'm

00:53:02.469 --> 00:53:06.250
just going to put a link up here on the. Can

00:53:06.250 --> 00:53:10.170
you see it? OK, because I put a link right there

00:53:10.170 --> 00:53:14.769
on the screen and and I also have it in the description.

00:53:15.050 --> 00:53:17.949
if you're interested in really learning more

00:53:17.949 --> 00:53:20.590
about insurance, or even if you want to look

00:53:20.590 --> 00:53:24.349
at partnering with Estella and really making

00:53:24.349 --> 00:53:28.690
a shift, a change, and just making your life

00:53:28.690 --> 00:53:31.769
go to the next level in the way that you see.

00:53:32.909 --> 00:53:35.710
Before we go, and I know you probably said this

00:53:35.710 --> 00:53:45.530
with everything that you talked about. What is

00:53:45.530 --> 00:53:48.369
the thing that motivates you most? And what is

00:53:48.369 --> 00:53:51.250
the last thing on this podcast that you want

00:53:51.250 --> 00:53:56.110
to share with people from your heart? Okay. Well,

00:53:56.190 --> 00:53:58.590
first of all, before I answer that, I want to

00:53:58.590 --> 00:54:00.570
thank you for having me on this call and for

00:54:00.570 --> 00:54:02.929
it to be your first live. So I appreciate the

00:54:02.929 --> 00:54:06.130
invitation to be on your podcast. It's been a

00:54:06.130 --> 00:54:09.309
wonderful conversation thus far. But the question

00:54:09.309 --> 00:54:13.940
is what motivates me? And what do I want to share

00:54:13.940 --> 00:54:19.260
from my heart? Yes. So what motivates me is that

00:54:19.260 --> 00:54:23.179
I know that I am not the best version of myself.

00:54:23.719 --> 00:54:27.360
And so what motivates me is what can I do today

00:54:27.360 --> 00:54:30.519
to get me closer to that person I'm meant to

00:54:30.519 --> 00:54:33.360
be? You know, when I was born, I was made in

00:54:33.360 --> 00:54:36.039
his image. And then life happens and different

00:54:36.039 --> 00:54:39.119
beliefs were poured upon me, life situations

00:54:39.119 --> 00:54:42.420
that obviously I didn't have control over. But

00:54:42.420 --> 00:54:45.500
what motivates me is how close can I get to that

00:54:45.500 --> 00:54:48.300
person that I was ultimately meant to be? And

00:54:48.300 --> 00:54:52.619
I believe that if I'm on that journey, that it

00:54:52.619 --> 00:54:54.519
goes back to the previous conversation, it's

00:54:54.519 --> 00:54:57.760
going to spill over to people. You know, when

00:54:57.760 --> 00:54:59.739
going back to the story where my sister passed

00:54:59.739 --> 00:55:02.400
away, all of my life, Michael, I wanted to become

00:55:02.400 --> 00:55:06.090
an architect. All of my life, I loved design,

00:55:06.230 --> 00:55:09.210
I loved home design, I loved different things

00:55:09.210 --> 00:55:12.510
that like doors, windows, architecture, I just

00:55:12.510 --> 00:55:15.730
loved it. And my whole entire family knew that

00:55:15.730 --> 00:55:17.710
I was gonna become an engineer and I was gonna

00:55:17.710 --> 00:55:20.250
go into architecture and all of that good stuff.

00:55:20.530 --> 00:55:22.750
I was going to school when my sister passed away

00:55:22.750 --> 00:55:25.690
and it derailed our whole life. I became financially

00:55:25.690 --> 00:55:29.690
responsible for my nephews. All these different

00:55:29.690 --> 00:55:32.260
things, I stopped going to school. Life because

00:55:32.260 --> 00:55:34.139
I needed to take care of yeah life happens. I

00:55:34.139 --> 00:55:36.300
needed to take care of that when I got into this

00:55:36.300 --> 00:55:38.280
industry My mom told me something super profound.

00:55:38.280 --> 00:55:40.940
She says she says she's in we're Mexican So she

00:55:40.940 --> 00:55:43.179
said me huh? She says I want you to know that

00:55:43.179 --> 00:55:46.360
you know You are fulfilling all of your life's

00:55:46.360 --> 00:55:49.480
goals and desires. She says you are an architect

00:55:49.480 --> 00:55:51.800
You're just not an architect of buildings. You're

00:55:51.800 --> 00:55:55.590
an architect of people And so that sealed the

00:55:55.590 --> 00:55:58.210
deal. I already knew I found my calling. I already

00:55:58.210 --> 00:56:00.730
knew I found my purpose in life. But when my

00:56:00.730 --> 00:56:02.730
mom shared that with me, it was just, you're

00:56:02.730 --> 00:56:05.170
like right on. You know, what I'm here is to

00:56:05.170 --> 00:56:08.130
help people become better. And I know that my

00:56:08.130 --> 00:56:11.260
personal example is... primary and in addition

00:56:11.260 --> 00:56:13.800
to that to continue to grow my capacity to continue

00:56:13.800 --> 00:56:16.480
to grow my associations so that I can help other

00:56:16.480 --> 00:56:21.079
people become better. And that's the last message

00:56:21.079 --> 00:56:22.980
I would like to say is that I'm here on this

00:56:22.980 --> 00:56:25.280
earth to do something special. I truly believe

00:56:25.280 --> 00:56:27.420
that I found my calling and I'm here to help

00:56:27.420 --> 00:56:29.719
people. through my own personal example and that

00:56:29.719 --> 00:56:32.219
keeps me accountable. And at the same time, my

00:56:32.219 --> 00:56:35.059
desire is that, you know, I get to transform

00:56:35.059 --> 00:56:37.760
other people's lives, teach people how to live

00:56:37.760 --> 00:56:40.059
better, become better. Because the more people

00:56:40.059 --> 00:56:42.659
that become better around us, the more of an

00:56:42.659 --> 00:56:45.800
impact we can have in the community, in our state,

00:56:46.079 --> 00:56:48.900
in the United States. Globally, we make that

00:56:48.900 --> 00:56:51.199
impact, that ripple effect, what they call the

00:56:51.199 --> 00:56:54.159
butterfly effect all across the world. And so

00:56:54.159 --> 00:56:58.210
that's what inspires me to to be better and become

00:56:58.210 --> 00:57:02.670
better. You know, thank you for saying that.

00:57:04.590 --> 00:57:08.949
My mission is really to connect people to the

00:57:08.949 --> 00:57:12.670
purpose of one conversation at a time. And you

00:57:12.670 --> 00:57:16.250
truly are a reflection of the people that you're

00:57:16.250 --> 00:57:20.260
around. And there's no happenstance that I cross

00:57:20.260 --> 00:57:22.199
your path, you cross my path, and I'm in your

00:57:22.199 --> 00:57:25.599
atmosphere, so that I can always continue to

00:57:25.599 --> 00:57:28.639
realize what that is for me. And since you are

00:57:28.639 --> 00:57:32.039
the architect of the business that I'm in, that

00:57:32.039 --> 00:57:35.000
I will, you know, that's how that we relate in

00:57:35.000 --> 00:57:39.219
that world. And so I really thank you for being

00:57:39.219 --> 00:57:43.360
who you are, and really helping families and

00:57:43.360 --> 00:57:46.869
people to really leave a legacy, take care of

00:57:46.869 --> 00:57:50.230
themselves, take care of their families, and

00:57:50.230 --> 00:57:56.150
release the stress and not live at a bill. Just

00:57:56.150 --> 00:57:59.809
thank you. And I appreciate your time being a

00:57:59.809 --> 00:58:02.670
yes to the podcast and just being on the Thrivewell

00:58:02.670 --> 00:58:06.010
Journey podcast. And as we always say, let's

00:58:06.010 --> 00:58:09.090
make thriving our new normal. And before I go,

00:58:09.869 --> 00:58:11.789
as you're looking at the recording, look. This

00:58:11.789 --> 00:58:15.829
is our first live. And I don't, I don't apologize

00:58:15.829 --> 00:58:18.150
about it. Okay. So the next live, it'd be a little

00:58:18.150 --> 00:58:20.769
better. And thank you for sticking this sticking

00:58:20.769 --> 00:58:23.789
around this long again. Thank you, Estella. And

00:58:23.789 --> 00:58:28.190
I'll see you soon. And we'll see you soon as

00:58:28.190 --> 00:58:31.610
well. All right. And let's make thriving our

00:58:31.610 --> 00:58:34.389
new normal. Awesome. I love it. Thank you, Michael,

00:58:34.590 --> 00:58:36.309
for having me on. You got it.