Building Financial Literacy: The Rivera's Path to Success

All right, welcome back to the Infinite Gold Podcast, Growth and Greatness. We've got Amanda and Joe Rivera, two amazing individuals. How are you guys today?

Good, and you?

We're great, we're great.

Well, happy to have you here.

Yeah, so we've got Amanda, former law enforcement and moved into real estate and into the financial sector and is loving every second of it and is doing an amazing job. Uh, we're just taking a look at your guys's video of the next apartment that you guys got and just Joe over here destroying it like the Hulk. Or like the buffalo. There you go.

More like the buffalo for sure.

But I love it. And you guys are very financially savvy and you guys have taken it on to like a whole new role instead of just kind of being like a side hobby and really owning it and moving on. And the— I think the most important part that I love about it is you guys aren't just keeping it to your guys' self. You guys aren't just doing it on your own. You're not just, it's my way or the highway type of thing. Like you're bringing on anybody who's interested, anybody who wants to move into it. And you're like doing it with welcome arms. And I love to see it. And that was the main reason we wanted to get you guys on here is we wanted to get you guys out there. So if there's anybody else out in New York who's very interested in real estate, very interested in the whole financial sector, being wealthy, retirement, I know Joe talks a lot about that is sometimes whatever job you have, you can't just bank on that retirement. Like you really got to focus on other things, other avenues. And they always say, oh, you got to be diversified in the stock market. It's like, why don't you just be diversified in everything? Like maybe have some money in the stocks, have some money in mutual funds. Yeah, have some cash, have some real estate properties. We were talking before this call, maybe some storage units, maybe some laundromats. Like you got to be diversified in this day and age, especially with who knows what's going to happen with the government, who's going to know what's happened with whatever sector decides it wants to drop. Well, if you have money in multiple different areas, you're not going to be worried at all. So again, thank you guys for being on, and, uh, hopefully we can, uh, get more people, uh, to recognize you guys and see you guys.

Yeah, definitely. Thank you for the opportunity. Yeah. And, uh, you know, having us on so we could share a message of, you know, financial growth, financial literacy, that you, you know, you're just— you're more than your occupation, you know. Yeah, this is what you do, it's not who you are.

Exactly.

Through financial freedom, you could actually Focus more on who you are and less on what you do.

I love that.

Well said. Now, since you brought that up, that was going to be one of our first questions is what got you into that, um, that mindset? Like, what, what made you shift into like the nonstop grind and then realizing, hey, maybe we gotta take a look at this whole financial endeavor a little bit more?

What got me involved was like, I want to say I got on the, I got on the NYPD because I wanted to change the world. And shortly after, I realized that you can only change one person at a time, and that starts with you. Yeah. And when Amanda was pregnant with our second child, finances got really tight, and I had to take a real deep look at myself and realize that I wasn't the son, the father, the provider that I really wanted and needed to be.

Ooh, that's good.

So I decided to take action and read Rich Dad Poor Dad. And saw those shows on TV, I went to my wife and said, "Baby, we're going to be real estate investors." I love it.

Don't touch my pension.

So real quick. Yeah. So real quick, Amanda, what was that first thought? Like they had to have been like, this guy is batshit crazy.

He's not. He's not. That's exactly what I said. So literally everybody laughs at us because they go, "It was a cool story, bro.

Don't touch my pension." I remember you were telling us that story.

Oh my gosh. If anybody knows me, I will be the biggest cheerleader. You tell me you want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, I got you. From here, but I will gladly cheer you on. Like, I will support your bike tour. I'm ready. I'm supporting you from here. I got you. But so when he said that, I was like, you know what, you supported me in so many things that I wanted to do. Go for it. Just don't touch our pensions because that's like— I don't— and realistically, I thought it was going to be a one and done. I thought he was going to find one house, go, ah, I don't like this anymore. I'm over it and we'll be on.

Yeah.

So let's lead into that. It wasn't just one and done. And then somebody decided that that's what they truly wanted to do. So where was, where was, where did that flip and that switch happen?

So it's interesting. So it took a little while for me to get that switch. I was, nope, I am law enforcement. I love what I do. I am saving the world one robbery at a time. That's, that was my passion. I was, I was enjoying it. I was like, I'm gonna become a detective. I'm gonna move up the ranks. This is what, this is where I'm going. This is, this is like, I'm—

Captain.

Yeah. Let's go.

And then when I realized I can't pass the test, it didn't happen, but I went detective route and I still did a great job at it. So, yeah, I loved it.

Uh, it works.

Finally, one day I sat there and I had a hard look at myself and I was like, I was 240 pounds. I was not happy with myself. I was not happy with the mother I was. I was not happy with the wife I was. There was so much internal battle I was having with myself that I was truly just not happy. Like, I hated the world. I didn't want to come home. I didn't want to go to work. I just sat in my car. I cried on the drive to work. I cried coming home. Like, it was, it was really like a moment in life that I was like, what the hell am I doing? What am I doing? I finally have a conversation with him because he doesn't know that I'm having this internal battle because I'm trying to be the strong person for him. Strong mother, especially with the jobs we have. We have to have, right? We have to be strong for our men. And then with the jobs we have, I have to be strong as well because he was also a lot more active than I was. So I can't have my burdens on him. So I sat there one day and I was like, I just can't do this. And he goes— but the best thing he ever tells me, he goes, baby, what do we need for you to be happy?

Ah, I love that.

Who gets that option? Who gets that part? Yes. And I always knew I had the support. So I'm like, why didn't I just open my mouth up earlier and ask?

Yeah.

I'm getting all choked up from that too. That's awesome. Like that's— yeah.

I know, right?

It's embarrassing.

Wait, hold on. Make sure the mascara's not smudged. So he tells me that and it was like, I really don't know, but it's not where I'm at. Like, that's all I knew.

I was like, I know a guy that does this real estate thing. That you might know also, maybe you should give this a try.

Check it out.

So then I finally got immersed in the education and I finally sat there and was like, wait a minute, people are really doing this? Like, this really does work. I kind of got myself a little dived in there. I realized first I needed to work on me. I needed to have the me conversation. And I was like, baby, this is my year. I need to work on myself. I had the gastric sleeve done. I went to therapy. I am down 110 pounds. Then I went full-fledged into real estate, and Joe and I bought 6 houses that year right after. Yeah, exactly. I was like, and I said, let's go! And it was awesome. It's been nonstop.

Yeah, we were amazing. Into like the community, deeper into real estate. Putting in the work and taking chances.

Oh yeah.

Yeah.

You know, you got to be in the room.

Oh yeah. I love what you said. And Jim Rohn says it is you got to take care of yourself in order to take care of other people. So I love how you focused on that because a lot of people don't. A lot of people think it's the outside or it's external and I got to change my external views or I got to change this or I got to change that. Like you focus first on yourself and then that's what enabled you to really figure out that it was real estate that you wanted. Because if you didn't focus on that, like let's say you were trying to focus on the external part, you may have gone through like 6, 7, 8 different hobbies or jobs or something like that. Yeah. Because you were like so focused outward, but you focused mainly on yourself and inward. In turn, you're able to help out a ton of people now already because of it.

Yeah. No, it was great. So it was like that year was, it was my aha year. Like that's exactly what it was. It was my aha year. It was the year for me. It was, and Joe was my big, he was my cheerleader that year. And he sat there and he was like, you need to go to the gym. All right. I got—

that's the worst. That's what we're here for.

And it's what I needed. And it's always, as moms, we always put ourselves on the back burner. We always worry about our husbands and the kids. And it's not that you guys aren't great. It's just what we do. That's what we do. And so to know that I have him, that he did that for me, that I was like, okay, so now I can't take this for granted. He allowed me to do these things. He allowed me to figure out what I wanted to do. And when I came back and was like, babe, I want to leave. I don't want to do law enforcement anymore. He was like, How can we make that happen? I was like, how many houses can we buy? Well, we planned it out and planned it out.

We didn't just leave off the cuff. Yes, we planned it out. And then we brought the kids in and we told them about the plan and told them this is going to be the hardest year of our lives. But we guarantee that at the end of the year it'll be worth it. So now with a guarantee that I had to live up to, You know, especially, especially to the biggest critics in our lives.

You can't fall back on a guaranteed—

oh no, if, if you told, if you told them that you're gonna get ice cream after them doing something, and it could have been 3 weeks ago, you're gonna remember remembering, they're gonna be like, hey Dad, remember, uh, you said that if I did this, I'm gonna get ice cream. I'm like, I did not, but I, I do now, you're right. And, um, we are one reminder, we are so going to get ice cream right now.

Like, yeah, it only gets worse when they get older.

Oh, I wouldn't doubt it.

They're gonna forget each other. Watch, they're gonna tag team on the two of you, Laney and Jack.

Oh, I wouldn't doubt it. She's already a ball of fire. She's gonna be the one egging him on. I already know it.

Oh, she already looks at him when he throws a tantrum. She's just like, bro, what's your problem? She gives him like the dirtiest look, like, dude, get your shit together.

Yeah, so, uh, Jackson is our, uh, our bear. That's our emotional side. And then Laney, 100% buffalo. She is a ball of fire and does not slow down already. I'm like, oh geez.

See, we have an eagle. Emily's our eagle. She's the oldest, so she sees the perspective. She's the one that— she's the one that's like, hmm, I don't know if I like this. She's back here looking, and then she'll come down, and then she'll— that's, that's Emily. She's our eagle.

That's your oldest? That's perfect for the oldest one to have that eagle perspective.

And then Aubrey is the bear. She's the emotional one. She's the— yeah, which It's hard for us because there are no bears. We, the three of us, are not bears.

So I'm like, she's got to be the soft one in the house. Yeah, I shouldn't say the soft one because we have a soft side, an emotional side, but we hold everybody else's emotion. That's why we are so emotional.

But she'll probably be that mama bear when she gets older.

Oh, she's big time. I see it now. She'll do it. She'll make sure everybody has stuff. Like, that's, that's what she does.

Yeah, we usually like— well, at least I'm like, suck it up and move. But now you got Okay, you gotta like adjust.

Yes, that's not the right word. Yeah, yeah, she's like, all right, I'm ready. And she's good too because she'll be like, all right, I'm ready, let's go.

And I'm like, yeah, so yeah, I feel like I have to do that sometimes. I'm like, okay, it's fine, okay, we're moving on, let's go.

The two biggest critics in your house, that guarantee you have to stand up to it, you have to own up to it, and We can promise ourselves so many things and we can, you know, break promises to ourselves, but you can't break them to your kids.

And so I ended up taking off 81 days from work that year.

Wow.

We ended up buying 18 apartments, renovating pretty much all of them. Yep. You know, living on construction sites and doing whatever we had to do to make it happen and documenting the process so that we're real people doing real things. You know, we started just like everyone else and we're putting in the work.

I love that.

Yes.

Oh my gosh.

And then, and then why you wanna share it with other people to show them that they can do it too.

Definitely.

Ooh, sorry, Joe. I didn't mean to cut you off there. I was just excited about asking Amanda her a question for her. How has the transition from your law enforcement career gone into your working stay-at-home mom life into real estate?

So it's—

how's that transition been?

It's actually just been a year. I just hit my year mark that I'm—

Ooh.

And it is, the easiest way to describe it, it is a rollercoaster. You are going through so many ups, so many downs. With the downs, you have to remember there is going to be an up because sometimes in that down, I do wanna sit there and just cry and wallow, but then realize there is no crying and wallow. We gotta get back up and just keep on going. But I wouldn't change a thing. I have not missed one wrestling match.

I love that.

It's one chess tournament I haven't missed.

Who's the chess player?

Aubrey is the little one.

Is she coming out to April? Oh, all right, we're gonna have to find a chess— so I used to play chess all the time when I was younger, and I was actually pretty decent at it. I haven't played in forever, but I want to play. Oh yeah, so she's gonna lose, but I'm playing.

She just got into chess and is loving it.

Oh, she's probably 100% gonna school me, but it's gonna be fun. My Buffalo side might have to come out and, you know, we'll see what happens.

But what I was— when I was going through that, that time in my life where it was like the worst, I was missing these things. And that was something I said I would never miss. I told Joe when we first got married and had kids, I am not missing things. My parents never missed anything of mine. I'm not missing.

Yeah.

And when I started missing it, that was also my decline at work. And I was like, I'm not missing anything. My kids come first. And I felt I put my kids on the back burner, This year has been— I traveled. Wrestling is 2 hours away. We went to Albany, which is 3 hours from here. I drove to Albany to watch her wrestle and kick butt.

That's awesome.

That's incredible.

And it was amazing that I didn't have to put her on a bus with other kids and see other kids, not parents, not there. And hey, nothing against the parent that can't make it. Things happen.

Correct.

I wasn't doing that anymore. And I said, I'm not doing that.

Then the hardest part was the title issue.

Yes. So that's the only thing I'm having an issue with is the title.

There it is.

So I've always said, and I have nothing wrong with stay-at-home moms, I am not a stay-at-home mom. That's not my title. I, I'm a working mom. I'm still a working mom. I, I'm still working. I'm at my desk 5 days a week. I think I work more now than I did when I was in law enforcement, but it's the title issue. So it's like, oh, are you the CEO of your life? I'm like, no, that doesn't do it for me. I was a detective. So like when people ask you, what did you do? I was a detective. I'm having— trying to figure out what's my next title, and stay-at-home mom doesn't do it for me. That's the only thing. And I'm like, I need to figure out where my next just title comes from, where that is, because I know what I do. I just don't have that title. Yeah, so you're an entrepreneur, mom.

You're a mom entrepreneur.

Mompreneur.

Mompreneur. I like it.

I put it into a hashtag.

Yeah, I do like it. You know, I guess, huh? I used couplepreneur before.

Okay, I like that.

Yeah, someone told me that because we do so much together with me doing Instagram and everything. Because you're the couplepreneur, and I'm like, I'm hashtagging this. Thank you very much. Nice. Yes, but I like mompreneur. I'm gonna think I'm gonna start using it.

Yeah, well, because you're getting to have the best of both worlds.

Yes.

You're getting to still like do all the mom things. You're getting to be present with your kids and get to go to the chess tournaments and the wrestling tournaments, doing the things that you didn't get a chance to do while you were so deep into your other career.

Yeah.

Understandable. You guys are working your tails off to take care of your family, put a roof over your head, et cetera, et cetera. My parents had to do the same thing and that, my mom's always to— was telling me like, I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you when you were growing up. I worked so much. I'm like, at the time when I was a kid, I didn't understand. But now as an adult and as another mom, I understand it now. Our parent— my parents worked their tails off to give me everything that I have. They built the foundation of what my life is today. And you did exactly that for your kids as well. So getting to be, be the mom and do all of that, but you still get to have a career that you enjoy, that makes you happy, and you guys get to do that together. You literally get the best of both worlds.

Yes.

And I think that if you get to have all of that, you fricking already won.

It's funny because you won life. It's funny because I'm still trying to figure out, like, I really enjoy real estate. I am really enjoying it. But there's so many different facets about real estate. There's so many different things you can do. Not everybody has to do the same exact thing in real estate. Like, you can do one thing, I could do another. Joe could even do a third. Like, we don't even do the same. And we were just sitting yesterday and actually I think it was yesterday we were having the conversation. I was like, I think I found what I really like.

And he goes, what is it?

Really? I'm going to break the news to you guys because I haven't told anybody yet.

Yes, let's go.

Ready? So I really enjoy being a real estate agent. I really enjoy finding their homes.

Okay.

You know why? Because I have to negotiate and interrogate the other agents.

And there it is.

Yes.

And I'm going to start tying in her detective side.

There's the detective side. Yes.

I had so much fun. An agent goes, well, we have multiple offers on this house. And I'm like, okay, do you? So I told him, I said, no problem. My agent, my client is gonna weigh in this. And how I get a call the next day, hey, so our guy's gonna come down. Do you wanna come? I thought you had multiple offers.

Yeah. What, what happened to your multiple offers? I thought you had 6, 7, 8 offers this weekend.

Yes. So it's, I'm really, I, I told him, I said, I think I'm enjoying this cuz I get to use my investigative background and I, or just to talk again, to talk to people again.

Yeah.

So it's like, I, I need human contact. So it was fun to have that again and that banter back and forth with people.

It's fun.

And it's awesome.

You can have, You can have people, whether it's a personal home or an investment home, and you can help them out. But also right there. So show them like how to actually do it correctly and provide more value than just be a home seller because you have the experience of buying multiple homes. Because I've seen too many people, you know, on, you know, on a police job where you're making overtime and you're making $60 a month and paying their mortgage and they cut the overtime from 60 to 55. Outside crying, talking about how I'm going to pay my mortgage. And seeing things like that my whole career, it made me realize that, you know what, I need to step up my game and show people not only that they can buy real estate, but they can do it sensibly. And there's the right way to do it. There's the right way to conduct your finances. And there's a wrong way. Yes.

No, that's— I mean, they always talk about that when you first get in. They talked to me exactly when I first started as well. And it's like, Hey, just make sure that whatever you buy, whatever you do, it doesn't exceed what your base salary is. So that way you're not dependent upon overtime. And how many people listen to that?

Nobody.

Nobody.

Nobody. They buy their brand new truck right out of it. They're going to buy that boat. They're like, oh, we just got a storm detail, so we just got 60 hours overtime. Just bought that new car as well. It's like, did you need all that? No, but I bought it anyways. And then, or they jump into the real estate side and the problem that I feel is because I did the same thing. I bought my rental property in Texas. I've done a couple of flips out local, and every single person says, why are you doing that? Why would you do that? I did, or I heard so-and-so did that and they lost all their money, or they did that. And that—

it's like you're not the same people.

That's true.

But the other part was, is they just threw their money like they— because they didn't know, like, Joe, where you mentioned where you'd like to teach them and show them what— how they can buy those properties rather than just throwing money at the wall and be like, Well, let's see what sticks and wait, that, that did not work. Well, you didn't do it properly. You didn't actually look at the numbers. And that's what Amanda, what you mentioned is you also now you get to do the negotiation part, but you get to now help people. So like you could really show them like, hey, I know you really want this house. I don't recommend this house for you. Now I will sell it to you because I'm going to get a stupid amount of commission on it. But for you where you want to be in 5 years, this is not that house or you want to buy rental properties, cool. And I know you love this one and this is a great area and this is a great deal, but it doesn't match what you're trying to tell me that you want in 5 years. And that's again where, Joe, you talked about the financial side. Like, that's the couplepreneur works great as well because, Amanda, you could really sell the house, you can really buy the house, you could do all that. And then Joe could come in at the last second and be like, hey, I know you're all in on this, but I'm just— look, I double-checked the numbers and I don't like where you want to be in 5 years and it does not match for you. So I like how you're doing that and helping people with that.

It's funny because that's exactly what we're doing because we've had so many friends that are coming up to us and saying, hey, Amanda, I saw this house and it's $700,000 and it's been on the market for 200 days. I went to the agent and told the agent I'm going to offer $750,000. And he said, yeah, sure. I was like, no, you should be offering less. It's been on the market almost a year. And agents are only unfortunately worried about the commission.

The dollars.

Yep.

I keep telling everybody, I said, I'm here to help you. At the end of the day, I have my passive income. I have all my other stuff that's making me my financial freedom that got me to where I'm at. Yeah, I'm here to help you find what's going to be best for you. I don't need you to buy this $800,000 house because I need this commission right now to pay my car note. No, granted, yes, I do get a commission. I'm not going to lie. My work has value, but I don't need you to buy that. We can go look at the $600,000 house. It should be more financially better for you in the long run because you said you're not living here long term. You're only going to live here 3 years and you have better resale. Like, I sit there and I tell them these things and it's— and Joe comes in and just says the same thing and everybody's like, you guys really are trying to help us. Yes. There's no need to go house poor.

You can't be short-sighted. You have to, you have to provide so much value that they not only do they buy more properties, but they bring friends. And that's the long game, building the long-term relationships over time. It's not about today. It's just, you know, it's about tomorrow, the next day, the next year. They buy this house, they buy the next one, they bring friends. Now they want to buy buildings. Now they want to join your mastermind. It's only showing that you're doing the right thing for the right reasons. And, you know, your name grows, your business grows, your influence grows, but your relationships grow. And I know you mentioned about people saying that, you know, they're scared about investing in real estate or stocks. And I'm sure they told you that, oh, you know, this real estate market crashed like it has, you know, so has the stock market.

Yeah, but, you know, everything's crashed.

When was the last time you heard of a crash? Never. Nope. There's no crash. And as far as risk goes, the more educated you are and the more you're in the rooms with the people doing the real things, you know, the less likely it is that you're going to take a, you know, a loss. Does everybody lose? Yes, of course. Can't go millionaire without a few L's. Nope. You can't. The more educated you are, the smaller those L's will be.

Yes. I love that.

Yeah.

I think when people go and immerse themselves in all of the knowledge and, uh, the people that are in that area of expertise, it gets them to feel more comfortable about them going into the investment or going in to make the purchase. And the fact that you guys are going and Creating an experience and they're, you're teaching them something at the same time. So it makes it all that more exponential.

Mm-hmm.

It just, it goes to create a domino effect.

Yeah. So like when we first got into the real estate, I was so uneducated because I, I didn't start when Joe did. So even us buying our own houses, I was terrified. And like, I didn't know how to have even conversations with Joe about stuff. And I'm like, but I don't understand the mortgage process. I understand how we bought our house, but I don't understand it. And he was, Buffalo, couldn't explain to me certain things. So it's like finally when I got educated, now we sit in the car and we strategize. That's like when we do our big mastermind thinking. And like, I love that. We just had on our way to this rental that we're doing right now, we decided, hey, we're going to sell one of our portfolios, 1031 exchange it, buy something bigger.

Boom.

Who would have ever thought that? And I'm like, babe, nobody keeps their stuff nowadays. They sell it off and buy bigger. Why are we holding on? And he goes, Yes, you're finally clicked. It's like the doors have opened when you get educated, and you don't realize—

hilarious.

It's not YouTube. You, you can learn things on YouTube, don't get me wrong, but you need to get educated. You need to find the people that are just like you. You need to find those like-minded people that know more, and that's how you keep growing and learning.

Yeah, because I love that.

That's so quick. Yeah, sorry, if you don't mind, for the viewers who don't know, can you really just equate quick explain what the 1031 exchange means and is?

That's you. Well, basically, when you have an investment property, once you sell it, you're subject to capital gains tax. But if you do what's called a 1031 exchange, you can actually exchange that property for a bigger property and transfer all the capital into that property and defer the capital gains. And you can keep trading up Building after building, after building, deferring those capital gains eventually until you pass. And then those cap— then those gains, capital gains die with you. And now you could pass on the property and your children get the stepped-up basis in value so they can sell for full profit and pay no capital gains tax on that property.

It's a beautiful thing. And I wish more people knew about it. Real quick though, since you keep mentioning this whole mastermind and mentors and stuff like that. I heard that you guys may have started one and been part of one, so I would love for you guys to talk about that.

Yeah, so we have Infinite Launch here in New York City. Yes, with Hugh Zaretsky and Jill Lemke, and of course me and Joe.

Yep.

So we sit there and we talk about all of it. We have the 4 pillars with the infinity model. As you know, life is an infinite loop. There's— everything is intertwined into one.

It's—

you have your personal life, your professional life, your vitality, and your community, and you can't have one without the other. And it's—

it's—

the infinity loop is just the perfect example of it.

And if one—

one more— there's a kink in one, there's a kink somewhere, and we need to fix it. And that's what our mastermind is.

Yeah, too many people are focused on one dream, but you can actually have 4 dreams, you know, a dream in every pillar. Dream where you want your community to be like, where you want your personal professional or your vitality to be like. And being around like-minded people, like we're trying to do, get people together who are like-minded, who are trying to improve themselves in all aspects, so we could, you know, not only change our life, their life, but, you know, change the world. One person at a time. And our mastermind's part of a bigger mastermind, which is the Final Percent. Yeah.

Yes.

They're, you know, nationwide, dare I say worldwide mastermind. Mm-hmm. It will be, but you know, you have people from all walks of life that have similar values who are trying to be better and, you know, make the people around them better.

I think what I like the most about it too, it's not just real estate. So everybody's like, oh, but you guys are a real estate mastermind. You're real— no, it is entrepreneur itself. It's just life itself. It doesn't have to be, it doesn't, it's the bigger picture. It doesn't have to be real estate. Yeah, we do real estate. Yes, we know a few people that do real estate, But that's it. I've had great conversations with, I think it's Tanner with the car wash that he's meeting the youngest kid that has a business with car. It's a car wash company that he's doing a hand car wash. Like there's so—

He's amazing.

Oh my God. There's so many different people that are so many different life forces that are all together. And it's not just real estate and you can get some great tips and tricks from anybody. Buddha Karak gives me such great Instagram tips. I'm like, he's the best.

And like, he's the, he's the go-to. Oh, definitely.

Anything technology-based, he's the go-to guy. Definitely. But it's like, it's not always real estate. So everybody's like, oh, but your stuff's always about real estate. No, this is just life. Just life itself.

So much more than that. Goes way deeper.

Way deeper.

Yeah, we are part of a real estate mastermind also through The Final Percent, but that's separate. We're just, we're focused on, you know, the personal growth. Yes. No, trying to get that into the hands of everyone in the world. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Love it. I love it.

Well, dude, I just love that. Oh, excuse me. Stumbling over my words here. Uh, how The Final Percent is how we met you guys.

Mm-hmm. Yep.

It's brought so many more people into our lives and into your lives, I'm sure.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, and we've already started creating such incredible relationships and, you know, talking, you know, life stuff, business stuff. Mm-hmm. Vitality stuff, like just building a stronger community and again, spreading the word. Of putting personal growth in the hands of everyone. And I just, I think our lives really changed when we became a part of that community.

Same. No, same. So it's funny, it's like I always sit there and say like, how do you, again, we're skeptics. I think, you know, I don't like to believe anything. I'm like, nope, there's something that's too good to be true. Like I am that person. So whenever people talk about it and they're like, oh, well those people, I'm like, yep, that was me. Yes, that's me.

Hey, I, I was the same way.

I was the same. I mean, we come from the same cloth. I guess so. When we got introduced to it, I was like, literally the day that we saw that infinity model, I was, I just, I'm tapping him under the table and I'm like, DTI, bro, DTI. Like, well, I'm like, this is where we belong. We DTI, of course, down to invoice in case anybody doesn't know.

I was just going to say that. I was like, or invest some content, invest some context down to invoice.

So we were in, but we still hadn't seen anything from the community. So I'm like, what did we get ourselves into? And we went to that first event. It was just like I felt like I belonged, which was a big deal because especially with being recently retired, I felt I didn't belong anywhere. I felt I lost everything. And when I walked in, I was like, wait a minute, I feel like I belong here. Like everybody's saying hi to me and they don't even know me. Like, yep, like I have photos with me and Laney girl and I'm like, this little girl has no idea who I am. And she sat on my lap. I'm like, Okay, let's go.

She was on the—

said she— that you passed the vibe test.

Yeah, I guess I did. I did.

Yeah, you, you got to pass the Laney vibe test, that's for sure.

Definitely the gen— the genuine vibe of the community.

Yes.

People in the room, it's like, it's not about ego, it's really about making everyone better.

And that's good right there.

Mhm.

And it's like, this is the community I didn't realize we needed.

Mhm.

Because we said the exact same thing.

Yeah.

And like, of course, coming from New York, I'm like, we had some people here in New York. I was like, no, we're good. We don't need extra. We got there and I was like, oh my God, I didn't know we needed this. Like, I didn't know I needed this group of women that we chat once a week. Like, I, I can't live without my chats once a week now. Like when we miss it, me and Bri were talking about, I was like, oh my God, we missed the best conversation.

Yeah, I know.

And it was like, I love these conversations. I, and I'm like, I'm not going anywhere and you guys are stuck with me forever.

So can you touch on that a little bit? Because I, I feel like especially you, you, you talked about a little bit at the very beginning where um, the identity issues, and then the moms, and the moms are always trying to be strong for their men, for their kids. How, how has those weekly calls been for you to, in essence, change your mindset on that?

So it's actually really nice. And so we, we normally have like a topic that we talk about, but what I like about it is you don't feel alone. You don't feel like you're the only one that has that problem, as minor as it is. It's just Joe didn't listen to me today, or Joe didn't put the dishes away. And then you have somebody else going, oh my God, he didn't do it either. And yet— and it's not like a bitch fit, I'm trying to— I'm like, no, but just a simple, you know what, maybe it's just a calibration. Let's do a calibration talk. Or Joe's always working. So me and Bri talk about that sometimes because you, Anthony, you work a lot, and there's nothing wrong, but you guys do a lot for us. But I've never been the wife on this side. I've always worked a lot with him. So now I'm home and I'm like, wait a minute, you work a lot. When are you coming home?

It's like, no, I always work the same. It's just that I'm not off either.

Exactly. It's like an adjustment, but it's like now we have, or we go onto these Wednesday calls with these ladies and they talk about certain things and I'm like, oh, I'm not alone in this. I don't feel that it's just me that's dealing with it. Or, okay, I just need to have a calibration talk with Joe. Let's recalibrate and let's fix something because something is just off. Maybe we're just not, we're not bent, we're not mending. And it's like, we're just fighting. Okay, let me say this word instead of this word.

Oh, that's good.

Like, those calls have been so impactful. Like, and even if it's just, uh, uh, 4 of us on it, we find something to talk about. And it's, again, you don't feel alone, which is the biggest thing. As moms, sometimes I think we feel alone.

Yeah, kind of. Yeah, we've had that conversation before. I'm just like, dude, I feel so alone. Yeah, I was like, it's just me and these 4 walls and then my 2 Yep, the little monsters running around. Love them, cutest monsters ever, but they drive me crazy. And then I'm texting you, yeah, I've been tears on the bike.

I'm like, okay, struggling, but I'm freaking doing the damn thing anyway. I love it and I'm here for it. And I was like, I say it all the time, it's like, it's hard to go and sit somewhere by yourself. It's like when you text me that you went out and you were like, I'm sitting by myself because you think your grandmother watched the kids or somebody grabbed the kids, like I'm just by myself. And then I sent the photo of me in the bar and I'm like, it's me. Yeah. And you were like, that's me. I'm like, but I wanna go home. I have the same issues and my girls are big and I'm like, I wanna just go home. And he actually met me. He surprised me that day. But it's—

that's cool.

You have those little moments where it's like you, you do feel alone in— yeah, I do. I do feel alone up here. I don't have friends that are like-minded like me. My like-minded friends are all over the states and I'm like, I need you guys closer. Yeah, but we're always a phone call away. So it's— that's the one thing I do love, that I can at any time send somebody a text and I know I'll get something back.

Mm-hmm. You have to be around the people who are trying to grow with you.

Yeah.

I mean, you know, we, we eventually moved on from a good amount of our friends because they just focused on, you know, the daily grind of doing the same thing for 20 years. And I don't know, I'm looking to grow and expand and not be around the negativity. And, you know, eventually you outgrow people and you meet new people. Yeah. And, you know, from all different walks of life. And it's crazy how, you know, you went through your life, but then you meet somebody in the community and then you realize that they're part of this community and that we're actually part of like 3 or 4 different communities.

Yeah.

At the same time that we met here. Like, oh shit, this is interesting. Like me and like Kip. We're part of like 3 different organizations.

Yes.

You know, and then we actually physically met here.

And we bonded here.

Yep.

Never at the other ones.

That's what makes it different.

Like, and what I love about this one is that I like the kids aspect. That's the one that won me over with this is the kids. You don't see—

100%.

Same.

100% it did with us.

You don't see where you can bring your kids to these events. Like how many times we've left our kids. We've left them or we don't come and our kids are bored out of their mind. Like, Ma, can we leave? And you get— This one, I'm like, April's gonna be the first time the girls are coming, and they're actually excited to come.

Yes.

Oh my gosh, yes.

I can't wait to meet them.

Yes. So they're actually excited to come. I'm like, let's do it, let's go. Like, I like that it's a family thing because it's— at the end of the day, we have to teach them.

Yep.

Like, we weren't taught this stuff. And nothing against our parents, our parents did what they could.

Not at all.

But I'm giving my stuff to my kids. I'm teaching them all of this, whether you want to do with it or not. You're gonna know.

Yeah.

And that's it. That's, I just gotta make a, make a good adult out of you. That's, that's my goal in life.

Yeah. And I try to tell them that I'm gonna tell you things and I'm gonna show you things now. And a lot of it you're not gonna understand, but when, when you, but when you see it, that light bulb's gonna go off and go, oh, that's what you've been talking about this whole time. To the point where this semester Emily registered for like business classes at school. I was like, oh, that's pretty cool.

That's awesome. She started making her own shirts. So wrestling, she had a little hiatus on it, so she had to stop. Emily, but she makes her own t-shirts. So whenever he has a talk, she makes him t-shirts with sayings on them.

That is cool. That is awesome.

So she has her own Cricut, she makes designs, she draws. We know who we need to go—

we know, yeah, we know who we need to go to if we have any questions. Or like, you know, those one-off presents that you're like, let's make a funny crazy design.

Well, Emily's your girl. She loves that stuff. So it's like And she sat there and she sees it and she goes, "Mom, I'm really not into real estate." I'm like, "That's fine. You don't gotta be. What do you like?" She goes, "I like drawing." Then let's go. What can we do with drawing? She goes, "I can make shirts and stuff." I'm like, "Let's go." There it is. Let's go. And she started making them and he wears them. We pay her for it. I'm like, "I'd rather pay $20 than—" That's cool.

It has an effect when you're out there talking with the different, you know, different shirts for different themes. I know like my next one, you know, I'm gonna have a shirt that says, "Don't wish for it, work for it." Ooh, that's good. Going through the process of where we started to where we are. Mm-hmm. That was all work. But then, you know, other shirts like, like Tony Robbins sayings, right? Like the pain of change doesn't happen unless— is it the change doesn't happen unless the pain of— is worse than— is less than the pain of staying the same. There we are. Yeah.

I got you. Yeah. Sorry about that. Yeah. Tongue tied.

No, that—

but it's, but it is a, it's, it's a, it's a great one too, because that, that's the problem that a lot of people have is I mean, nothing against you, Amanda. You were— your pain got really bad to the point of you realize, I, I have to change. The best part now is, like, for example, the mastermind that you guys have, the one that we have, is we can help you change before you get to that stage. Like, that's not— let's not get you to that stage where you're rock bottom, you're crying going into work, you're crying coming home. Like, let's not wait till we get to that point til we realize you have to be in misery. Yeah, that you have to change. Let's change.

What is it?

No, let's make this happen.

Breakthroughs without the breakdowns. That's what we want. Like, you don't have to have a breakdown.

Yeah, we're gonna have the breakdown. No, it's just what it is.

The breakdowns are fine, but like, you don't need— you don't need to have like as bad— like, mine was really bad. Like, and I sat there and it was— and I fought with it for over a year and a half. Why did I struggle so long?

You didn't have a community.

You didn't have the people. I did it, and I didn't— of course, again, I didn't want to bother Joe with it. I don't want to like, nope, I'm the good wife, I'm going to work, I'm going to work. And I struggled and I struggled. And it's why now I have the people. When I'm having a bad day, I text Bree, I text Jamie, I text, I text all the ladies like, hey, I need some help, or hey, something just told me to text you today. I have people now that I didn't have before. Because when, when you leave your job, you leave the people. You don't forget— you forget you, or you don't think about it. You think the people stay with you, and they don't. Yeah, people leave.

They stay just— you're just a number, unfortunately.

And so that's where the hard part was for me, because I have that mama bear in me. I have that, that lion that I need to protect my people, and I still do it. I still protect my community. And it's like, but where'd they go? So that, that's okay. I found a better one, and I found another one. Yeah.

So Joe, I got a question for you leaning onto that, is on the man's side of things, on the men's side of things, where we're like, we got to be like, we got to be strong, we got to do this, we got to grind it out, we go, go, go, go, go. What for you with these communities and then now going on the Gamma Group and the event, how has this kind of changed your mindset from the hard-nosed law enforcement to more of a, I don't wanna say soft nose cuz we're not soft at all, but having more of that emotional side where we can be emotional with our family, we can be emotional, but still be strong enough to handle whatever we need to handle type.

Just how do you put things into perspective? Yeah. And I've kind of, you know, I had that with like, I don't want to just— I don't want to just be a provider either. Like, before, I wasn't happy that I wasn't the provider I wanted and needed to be. But then you gotta have that balance. You don't want to just be a provider and throw money at things. Yeah. And it helped me be more present. When you're here, you're here. Yeah. When you're at work, you're crushing it at work. And it's like, if you come home and your kids are just in the room watching TV and eating in their room, I might as well just be at work. Yeah. So we make it that, you know, I'm home, we have family dinner, we ask about how your day is, and we just try to, you know, bring each other up. Yeah. Because, um, you know, being present, because especially when you, you're doing so many things. Oh yeah. You don't have the time, but it came to see like you don't need a lot of time. You just need to make the time you have count. Mm-hmm.

That's good right there. Can you elaborate on that? Because a lot of people, I, especially in our job, whether I, I don't have time to have a side job. I don't have time to have a hobby. I've got to work. I got to work. I got to do this. Like, can you elaborate on that a little bit?

But there's literally guys who don't work, you know, they work a lot of overtime and do all the things and then they'll be home on Sunday and watch 4 football games. So Sunday—

you can't point to me on that one.

No, no, no, no. Pointing to you at the part where you work a lot of overtime. Yeah.

Yeah. Still go to the bar Saturday and then they'll spend all day Sunday watching the football games. And your family's home like, hey, what about me? And you know that you can't have that. I spend the time with the family, but then people ask, well, how do you do all these things? You know, how do you, you know, make it count with your family? How do you run and build different businesses? How do you get involved in real estate? And I tell them, you really got to go after like what really counts to you. That's it, right? No, my family and expanding our influence and helping people. So it was like football. I didn't even know it was football season. I don't watch TV. I don't listen to the radio. I'm listening to self-help books. I'm listening to real estate stuff. I'm always trying to improve my, my knowledge on things, always trying to improve my family life, trying to be, you know, trying to be better and, you know, show my family and, you know, the world that they can do something different. So when people are like, well, I don't have time, I got an hour and a half drive to work. Yeah, that's cool. That just means you got an hour and a half of book time.

There it is.

Or podcast time. Yep. Or talking with your family, you know, on the phone. You got to make all that downtime count. You know, you just can't listen to the radio, the same songs every day, all day, especially if you drive to work and then you, and then you work in your car on patrol. That now you listen to radio 8 hours a day when you can be listening to self-help books. And even if you listen to 2 hours of podcast and self-help stuff every day, that adds up over time and can make a, it can make a big difference in your, in your life with just 2 hours a day. Oh yeah.

I mean, we talked about it and I read, uh, this stat and whether or not the stats are true or not, you know, I just mentioned that. But, uh, if you read more than one book a year, you're already reading more than the average person. So literally what you just said, if you have an hour and a half driving to work, an hour and a half drive back, that's 3 hours. Most audibles, as we're listening to a lot of them— in case you guys want to listen to a bunch of audiobooks and be mandatory to do it, just join a certificate program with the amazing Dr. Greg Kimball. He will make you read like 20 books in like 3 weeks.

I've read my book like lifetime in the last 3 weeks. Oh, 100%.

Me too.

Yeah. I've never read this many books before. I love them though. Yeah. They're great books. I mean, oh yeah. Yeah. Why didn't I know about these books years ago? Yeah.

Deep Work. Deep Work was a really good one. Yes.

That was an amazing one.

That stuck with me. You know, that one I wanna read it again. Or like Outwitting the Devil. That was a really good one that, you know, that I read it, put, you know, some things into perspective. Mm-hmm. Just always trying to grow. Yeah. Like TV, people sit down and watch TV all day. You're just watching other people live their lives. No, you're not being the captain of your ship or you're not, you know, you're being the back in the backseat of your life. Take charge of your life, whether it is real estate or, you know, having a daycare or being a cop. If that's what you love to do, then do it.

Do it 100%.

Do it 100%. But if you're the guy that's going to do their 20 years and then stay and complain every single day, then it's time to go. There's a whole wide world out there of things to do. You know, it's just so true to have the courage and the strength to actually take the risk right there and be around people doing it and, and do it. And are you going to fail? Maybe, maybe. But, you know, you got to get your nos out the way before you get your yes. It just takes time. But you can consistently grind and grind and grind. You know, you'll get it. Like we, we do the financial classes and then we became agents to help everybody. Right. And We spoke for like 7 months, not one lead. Nope.

We get— everybody will call us and everybody would say, or they'll come to us afterwards, oh my God, you guys were inspiration.

I love you. They get up clapping. Yeah.

We got standing ovations. Our CRM was going off the charts because everybody was throwing their names into this. On follow-up, it's crickets. And we were like, what, what are we doing wrong? Like people are—

and, and now the last, the last 3 to 4 weeks. Is like nonstop calling, you know, I want to go into contracts, you know, show me these houses. And now you go from not having no clients to having like 10 clients. Too many.

Yeah.

Yeah. So now we're just talking about real estate agents to pass deals off to. And that's what this is about. You got to keep going, keep going, put in the work and it'll start happening. But too many people give up after the first week or the first month or the other or the seventh podcast. And it's like, oh, this doesn't work.

And we tell everybody too, it's like, you got to sit there and it's You'll sit there in the low in that roller coaster. Yeah. It was many times that I was in that low, like, babe, do I need to go back to work? Cuz we have a year that we can technically go back when we leave.

I was like, it's better we, we don't.

I was like, dude, I was like, do, do we, do I need to go back? I'm like, because you know, finances are starting to get tight. Yeah. I'm like, do we, do we need to? And I'm like, I don't really want to, but if I have to, I will because our family comes first. And Joe's like, nope, nope, we got this. We, it's gonna come up. We're on the upswing. I'm telling you. And then we have Hugh.

You weren't an option. We burned that bridge. We did. You're never going back. I did.

I did burn it.

I was like, honestly, there it is, uh, right there. Burn the boats. If you do that and you put your back against the wall, you're, you're gonna make, you're gonna make it happen. It's gonna happen one way or another.

And that's what happened. We were talking with Hugh one day and I still remember, I am, and it's, he'll say it too. I was on the bathroom floor, door closed, crying. And I'm on the phone with him like, I don't know what I'm doing. Am I doing this right? And he's like, Amanda, breathe. The roller coaster of entrepreneur life. You guys are doing it. You're doing the work. As long as you do the work, it will come. If you build it, they will come. They will come. And that's what ended up— and so now we're finally starting to see the fruits are starting to come in, and we're like, it's opening, it's happening.

And It's, it's literally funny you say that because obviously like when you start something, you literally are like pinned to it looking at it like, is it, is it going well? Is it not? Is it up? Is it down?

And trying to watch a, a cake bake. Oh yeah.

You're just staring at it. You're like, is it going? No. So like we just started our podcast. We officially launched from today that we're, that we're recording this. It was yesterday. Yep. And I probably looked at it like, I, I've lost count how many times. I'll be honest. I'm that Buffalo. But literally we have no views and it's one of those things, it's like exactly what you just said. We're like, did we do the right thing? Like not even— No views?

We have like— Okay. Compared to our previous—

No, no, no. We have 8 views. What?

Oh, on today's?

No, on our podcast. In the 2 that we launched, we have 8 views. Hold on.

Let me look this up because I know I subscribed.

I'm gonna laugh at it right now.

But, but the funny part is, is it's like, if you're so focused on that, 9 views, you're gonna stop.

Yeah.

Yeah, 9. So you're gonna quit, like, you, you can't focus on that. And 13, but imagine, but imagine you went 7 months of nothing and now it's blowing up. That's the problem that a lot of people have is they don't put in that 7 months of work. We're still like, well, I have to lose, you know, 30 pounds in 60 days. I need to have a million dollars in 3 months. It's like, well, good luck because it ain't happening.

Everybody wants instant gratification. Yes. And we all have that instant gratification and it doesn't happen that way. Even in your 9-to-5 job, even in me becoming a detective, it took me 9 years before I became a detective. Like I didn't become a detective overnight. So why would I think my entrepreneur real estate life would take me automatic and be quick? Because we were doing it already. So for me, I was like, no, we're doing it. We got this. And it was just like, Wait a minute. No, we have to regrow this. We're rebranding. We're re-finding ourselves out. Because my whole life was law enforcement. Now I have to find my voice again as Amanda. I don't have somebody telling me what I can and can't say. I don't have somebody saying, no, you shouldn't say that. Politically correct. Now it can be like, well, I don't care if it's politically correct because that's my views. You don't believe in them, that's okay. That's your choice. This is my choice. And it's now finding that and now finding this new rhythm that we had to find. And it's, and I'm telling, it's the rollercoaster is the best descri— description of what it was. That 7 months we were in that lull and I was like, do I need to go, go get a job? Like, and Joe was like, no, we were standing strong.

And no matter if you're doing like really good or you're down in that low, you get on that stage and talk. You have to talk with the same passion. You have to provide the same value no matter what. When people are— when you're on stage or when people are talking to you behind the curtain, come with the same passion, the same intensity. Yes. It's not about the sale today. It's about long-term relationships.

And we always tell people too, like, we like to let people know about our lulls because it's not perfect. People are like, oh, but you guys, what I see on Instagram is amazing. I was like, then you need to go back a couple of months because I had a house that the wall fell down. What do you mean the wall fell down? I was like, no, the exterior wall crumbled and fell. Like, I was getting code calling me constantly. We sold it for a loss. But the best part was, is when the town came and knocked it down, I didn't get that bill because I didn't own it anymore. So it's like, I actually kind of won. Yeah. It's like, we have losses. And nobody wants to see our losses. No, I put them— I'm an open book. I will show you. It's not easy. But if you do the work, it will come. It will benefit you in the long run. It will. You will reap the rewards.

And no matter what business venture you decide, and when you get to write off your losses against your gains, did you really lose?

No, because you just got that learning experience too. I bet you you'll double-check the exterior walls now before you buy a house.

Yeah, that's a really long story on that one. It's a sensitive subject here.

I wouldn't doubt it.

It was previous me helping invest.

It worked out big time. Big time. I bet. And when the town called and they're like, you own this property, we're knocking it down today. I was like, nope, I sold that a long time ago. And then they came, they put it on Facebook Live with the city council. They knocked it down to the ground. And then they sent the new owner a $35,000 bill. Well, that was your loss. It wasn't ours anymore. He said he had a guy that could fix it. He was very, very confident. And we provided, you know, plans and engineers reports. And he's like, oh, my guy got this. And then this guy came after he bought the house, not before. And the first day, the guy's like, I can't get this. So the next day it was back on the market. Yeah.

Hmm. So, Joe, question for you. It's a question that we like to ask everybody as we come to a close here. What are 3 golden nuggets you would like to give somebody that is maybe a first responder or military or just working that 9-to-5 job, what they can do to become more financially savvy or start dipping their toes into different markets or different ideas?

3 golden nuggets. Yeah. I'll say from all of those speeches you do, I think the very first thing is the absolute first thing definitely that worked for me is that your day job, you have to work really hard at your day job. As you work harder at your day job, you get the job done, you become reliable, you get now to do things, you get to move up in, you know, rank or move up into better positions where now you have the freedom to take a day off. You have a freedom to leave the job early because they know whether you're here or not, the job's going to get done. You built up so much credibility there. Thing, you know, putting the job first or putting everybody at ease, and now you can take off. Because I know if I was still a midnight cop riding the sector and I was like, oh, I need to take this Friday off, they're like, sorry kid, minimum manning, you're not taking off, good luck. You know, I became so reliable and I got to move to many different positions over time. Now I'm taking 60, 70 days off a year, and there's nothing wrong with me because I know you know, they know the job gets done no matter what. Yeah, I think that's, that's the absolute number one. Work harder your day job so you could work harder your side hustle. Oh, that's good. Number two, I think, would be, you know, to realize this is the long game. You know, focus on relationships over, over money, right? Because money can't be the goal, has to be the byproduct of the goal. Product or service that you're trying to push, or if you're trying to build your own business or whatever it is, you got a rock band that, you know, that you're performing on the weekend, you know, focus on providing the value over getting the capital, you know, especially when you're dealing with people's finances. You know, people can see right through you where you're like, you're trying to push that sale versus it's like, no, this, this will work better for you even if I make less money. Because look, I like that you make You make less money now, but now you got that relationship and now you get referrals and they're bringing friends and you've got more and more people where you could provide value to.

I like that.

And that's more valuable in itself. Oh, definitely.

And I think the third is definitely have a focus, you know, keep your family close and build your, build your circle because you could go fast by yourself, but you can't go far without a community. Nope.

Not at all. And that's where Infinite Launch comes into play. So you should definitely check them out. Yes, definitely.

Yeah, no, because we didn't realize we're trying to do this on our own and realize we need people.

And this has been a golden ass of mine also. That's what I appreciate it.

We appreciate it. We're coast to coast.

Yeah, we are. Literally.

Yes.

Yeah.

New York and California. No.

Oh, I'm sorry.

We're still working on this.

Yeah, we're getting better. We're going to laugh. Of where we started. And, oh yeah, you know, 6 months from now we're gonna be like—

no, 7 months.

Oh, sorry, I have to go 7 months. 7 months.

That's okay, that's the, that's the number.

Yeah, 7 months before the up. Okay, now I had 3, uh, nugget questions for you. 3 nugget questions. Wow, I am killing it right now.

What are my 3 nuggets?

What are your 3 nuggets that you would give to other women or moms that are transitioning from a major career into or doing the career shift, major career shift?

What are 3 nuggets? So it's a good one. So the first one would be, give yourself grace. Give yourself grace. I'm a little out of it. Don't, you know, it's a really big adjustment. It's make sure you got the girls behind you. And if you don't, find them. Don't do this alone. Like, but give yourself that grace because you think that you can still do everything on your own and it's, it's a really big adjustment when you leave that work life. You have the people there and like I said, they stay. They don't, a lot of them don't follow you. You may get 1 or 2 that follow, but it's not the same. You're not on the same path either. So you have to find your people. So give yourself that grace to be okay with being by yourself and then finding the people that can help you grow in that next chapter in your life. Whether it's a mom group, whether it's, you know, Infinite Launch or Infinite Gold or Kappa Club. Just finding that. I would also say with grace is it's okay to pivot. So grace and pivot have been my words this year. I left law enforcement thinking that I was going to be a property manager because that's what we started. We started managing properties ourselves. Actually going to Summit and hearing Marla talk, I was like, oh my God, I hate this. I hate I really, I am not happy. Like, she exudes property management badassery CEO. And I remember pulling her to the side and going, Marla, I hate this. And she goes, it sounds like you need to change. And I'm like, yes, that's exactly what I did. And pivoting has been my word. I'm like, it's okay to pivot. So grace and pivot have been my two big things. Like, it's It's okay to say, this is not where I'm meant to be. It was a good start. Yeah. But I'm gonna go a little to the right now and we're gonna go this way and see if this works. And if this doesn't work, give myself grace again.

Still in real estate, just—

And we're gonna pivot again and find something else. Yeah. And I guess in kind of in conjunction with those two is you gotta find your group of women. I didn't think, I didn't realize how important these group of women were. I thought, um, being in such a male-dominated job, I didn't need him. I didn't like women at first. I was like, women are catty, women are— sorry, I don't want to— I don't want to do women. Um, also just, I am a very— I've also exuded a lot of masculine energy, so I am very rough around the edges. I'm not very—

it'd be nice.

I know, I have to be nice. What do you mean? Apparently no, I'm very direct. Um, that's what he tells me. He says I'm direct. There it is. I'm direct. So in doing that, I realized that I had that masculine energy, and a lot of women don't understand me at times.

So I understand you. You do.

That's what I understand you.

Day one, that was like, breathe, my person number one on my phone. I have her. She gets it. Yes. But it's because of also with his job, you understand, like, it's, it's an understanding. So it's you can find your people. Yes. They don't have to be right here with you, especially with the way the world is with technology. Yeah. But you have to find your women, your women, like you need the women. Not all of us have to have kids. You just need to find your people that I know I can call when I'm in a bind, that I can call when I'm like, I'm fucked up in my head. I need to talk something out. Yeah. I have somebody I can call that understands me. Mm-hmm. So those would be my things. Make sure you have grace. It's okay to pivot. And find your women. I love that.

I'm gonna, I'm gonna definitely have to write that one down. That's good.

Don't worry, we'll put it in the description. So for everybody else that did, did not get that, both of their 3 golden nuggets will be in there and also we'll be tagging their Instagrams on it. We'll tag their websites, their masterminds. So we'll be able to take a look at that. We highly recommend if you're anywhere, you could take a look at them, but especially if you're on the East Coast, if you're in the New York area looking to buy a house, looking to sell a house, get into real estate, financial savviness. Like if you're just kind of lost in any of those avenues or you just are looking for the community where you mentioned, you're like, we need a community. Every single person needs it. If you think you don't, you should probably double check that and rethink your thought process on it. And again, with that, there is so many free options that you have out there and it doesn't have to be our masterminds. It could be anybody's, but you got to find the one that works for you. Yes. And find out what you resonate with. So again, if you're on the East Coast, check out Amanda and Joe. If you're on the West Coast and you're listening to this, definitely check us out. Don't forget, all of our links are going to be all in there. And we appreciate you guys listening to this. This was a little bit of a long one, but there's so much great information. There's so many golden nuggets throughout this. Obviously, the 3 that we had at the very end are good, but there was stuff throughout this entire thing.

So get your pen and paper out. Yes.

Yes, uh, follow along and we'll see you guys on the next one. Thanks again, Amanda and Joe, and we'll see you guys later.

Bye guys, take care.