Building a Thriving Credit Repair Business in One Year with Elsa Pineda

Hey, credit heroes.

You know, we always talk about the dream of firing your boss and quitting your 9 to 5 and starting a successful credit repair business. And then I bring on people who are making millions and millions of dollars. But that seems out of reach to a lot of people to be able to relate. And a whole lot happens before you get there to the million dollar mark. So today I thought it'd be really cool if we talk with someone real who is in the earlier stages of the journey, who quit her job and recently started her credit repair business and is having amazing success. She's someone we can all relate to and she's here today to talk about her journey. So you better stick around.

So the big question is this. How can we take our passion for helping people with their credit and turn it into a successful business without taking loans, without spending a fortune by bootstrapping it from nothing so we can help the most people and still become highly profitable? That is the question, and this podcast will give you the answer. My name is Daniel Rosen, and welcome to Credit Repair Business Secrets.

Okay, before I dive in, if you are new to my podcast, be sure to click to subscribe and turn on notifications so so you don't miss any of the secrets that I share each week here on the Credit Repair Business Secrets podcast. And I should tell you, this podcast is brought to you by Credit Hero Score, the only credit monitoring that is directly integrated to Credit Repair cloud. And if you want me to hold you by the hand as you launch your very own credit repair business, go to creditherochallenge.com okay, let's get into this. Way back in December, I saw a post in our Credit Repair Cloud Facebook community. It was a post from Elsa Pineda, and it said this. Eight months in the business and I met my goal. I will never forget this day. Met my goal of 100 clients. And I thought that was so cool. And I started obsessing about Elsa. I looked her up and I saw she'd done our Credit Hero challenge. And then she took a big leap of faith to actually commit to doing credit repair as a business. And now she's having amazing success and I thought, we have to have her on the show. So please welcome the podcast Elsa Pineda. Hey, Elsa. Welcome.

Hi. Thank you for having me.

I'm so glad you're here. This is so exciting to talk to you. And where are you?

I'm in Houston, Texas.

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, I'm so excited you're here. Congratulations on really, really doing this and really making this Leap and doing so well. How does it feel?

Honestly? It feels amazing. It's like, honestly, like a dream come true. I never expected it to grow so quickly. Only eight months in with 100 clients today I'm almost at a year in with 157 clients.

Wow, that is incredible. So yeah, that's right. That was in December. And you are right about at the one year mark. That's amazing. So I want to know your story, everything. What's your background, what's your life like and especially what got you into credit repair.

So I come from property management experience. I did that for 12 years. I decided to take a break to take care of family and I stayed home with my three kids and I went a little bit crazy. I said, you know what, I have to find something to do. Credit hero came up and I was, you know, I was working on my own personal credit and you know, I started offering it to my family members and friends and, you know, free. Hey, do you want me to fix your credit? I'm learning. And it was results after results and it was getting better each time. So then people started offering me money. They said, I'll pay you for this. And then I said, let me just start the business already and go for it. And I took the leap of faith and here I am today.

Wow, that's so cool. That is so cool. I mean, that's really the best way to start with yourself. I mean, everybody starts with themselves and they often forget to tell that story. And then the people around you, how did the people first learn who were offering you money? Was that still family and friends or was that were you posting on Facebook or something? How'd that happen?

So it was first I started working on families credit myself and I was posting the results, of course, and then they started referring me friends and then they started tagging me when people were asking about credit repair because they would see, see my post about how I was getting the results and all the deletions. Then friends of friends started reaching out to me and saying, hey, I need help with my credit. And that's how it all started.

That's so cool. Yeah. I looked at your Instagram and your Facebook and I saw it was results after results after results. The pictures from the re import that show how many deletions and all that. And it's very clear when you go to your Facebook and your Instagram that this is what you do and you're good at it. And so many people hide what they do from their social media. I just think it's brilliant. You went all in on that. Was it expensive to launch your business?

Honestly, it wasn't. I took it day by day. I was new to starting my own business. I had been, like I said, in property management, so I was used to that lifestyle, having my living paycheck to paycheck. And I said, well, when I found out about Credit Hero, you know, the price, amazing and okay, I can afford this. And I took it day by day and, you know, started investing more and more each day because, you know, you still do have to invest in marketing and stuff. But my main thing was social media. That's what truly has me where I am today. I tell a lot of people that ask me, how are you getting the leads, the clients? It's honestly been Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, where I'm just posting what I'm doing. And it's, you know, I love it because I get excited. I can only imagine people who have, who need it, how exciting they get when they see that I'm deleting accounts and stuff.

And besides posting results, what else are you posting?

So I'm posting when my clients are purchasing their home, when they're able to get into their home, when they purchase that dream vehicle. So that's a big thing because everybody that needs credit, repair, they have most of the time, it's two things that they're looking for. It's their home or, you know, their dream car.

And have you helped a lot of people get into a home?

Yes, I have. I worked with. I work with several real estate agents here in Houston, Texas.

Wow. How does that feel? Because that's really a milestone in life. How does that feel when you've helped someone to get there?

Honestly, it's a really great feeling. I feel like I'm doing the right thing. I love helping people. That's my background is I love, you know, the customer service, being able to help people and then seeing these people, you know, accomplish these goals, big goals. You know, buying a home is something big. It's just so satisfying. I can't even explain how amazing it makes me feel as a person.

You really are changing lives.

That's right.

You're a real credit hero.

That's right.

What was the hardest part of launching the business?

The hardest part was the first, I'm going to say the first couple of months when you don't have much to show. You've never done this. So you're out there posting and, you know, people aren't just going to believe in you from one day to another, you know, I come from property management. Oh, she was, you know, renting apartments and now you're fixing credit. So people have to trust you. So I think that was the most challenging part is get being able to get results, posting them, and then staying consistent and continuing to do that every day. And, you know, building that trust, that relationship with, with social media and staying motivated. That was the main, the main part. Like I had to stay motivated. Like one week I could have five clients, another week I could have nothing. But I didn't give up. And now it's like I'm getting clients left and right.

That's so awesome. And then on which social media networks are you posting things on? And how many times a day do you try to post?

So I post on Instagram my story about anywhere from seven to ten times a day. And then that gets transferred over to my Facebook story. And then I try to post on my Facebook business page at least two to three times a week, like an actual posting. And then I share it on my personal because that's how I, I'm able to get people to follow me on those pages by sharing it, you know. And, and I recently started doing TikTok about four months ago and one of my videos went viral. And that's, you know, when I decided, okay, I'm gonna go on TikTok now.

That's so cool. I started doing TikTok recently as well.

It's fun, it's different, but it's fun. It's different.

Yeah, that's so cool. Are most of the clients coming from.

Social media at this point? Most of my clients are word of mouth, referral.

Got it. I saw you were doing something really, two things, really interesting. One, I thought it was really cool that a lot of your posts are in Spanish. So are you getting a lot of Spanish speaking clients?

A lot, A lot.

Awesome. Do you use the Spanish feature in the portal?

Yes, I do. I have a lot of clients that don't speak English and I help them as well. That puts me out there a little bit more. I also have the magnets on my vehicle promoting it. So everywhere I'm driving and I'm driving all the time, they see it.

Wow. Now I also saw you were speaking to. Was it a room full of realtors?

Yes. So it was lenders, realtors, insurance agents, tax preparers. I try to stay in connection with these individuals because we, we help each other. We, we kind, you know, I have someone for the tax preparer, someone for the insurance. They have, they have credit repair you know, clients, they'll send them over to me. So, yeah, I try to stay, you know, as connected as possible.

That's awesome. So you're building relationships with them as affiliates.

Correct. Networking.

Very, very smart. And then you go. And how many times have you gone and spoken in public?

I've done about 10 presentations.

Wow.

Yeah.

What do you do in that presentation?

Really there, it's just introducing myself. The basics on credit and, you know, what people look at. You know, if you were trying to buy a house, a car, and then that's where, you know, the people that are there, they start asking me all the questions, and it just goes on and on, on its own. It's. It's great.

That's so cool. Was that scary the first time?

It was very.

But I bet they have great questions because credit is something that's a mystery to most people. So this is great that you can showcase yourself as the expert that they can send their clients to. And they must be thrilled when you bump up their scores and send those clients back, right? Yes, they are very, very cool. Now, you did property management for a long time. Are you still doing property management?

No, I'm not, actually. I stopped doing property management two years ago. About two years ago now.

Got it. Is that what first made you aware of how many people have credit issues? Because I know they check your credit to rent a place, right?

Yeah. So a lot of. We. We turn down a lot of people because of credit or require a much higher deposit or a risk fee, something we do here in Houston. And people don't want to do that. They don't. They don't have the money or, you know, they. They struggle with that. So that was always something that I was curious about on, you know, be trying to help these people get into their home because it's something we need. Yeah.

Are any property managers sending you clients now?

They are. I actually have done several events at several properties in Houston, Texas.

Wow, that's amazing. Good for you.

I'll go out on a Saturday morning, host a breakfast and introduce myself, talk about the importance of credit. And, you know, a lot of people in apartments, the next step is getting a home. So.

Wow, that's awesome. Now, I did see that you have other interesting businesses that you're doing also at the same time. Can you tell us about those? I saw that one is a divorce coach. So I want to know what is a divorce coach?

So I help people with simple divorces here in Houston. I pretty much guide them through the divorce here in Texas. You can Represent yourself. And that's what my clients are doing. I'm a notary in Houston in Texas, and I'm able to help with that. There's documents that need to be notarized. I, you know, explain each document to them and, you know, make them understand what it means, what it's asking. Because a lot of people freak out, and the first thing they do or the first thing that the court tells them to do is hire an attorney. And a lot of people don't know that. You don't have to hire an attorney. You can represent yourself in court as long as you have everything you need.

Wow, that's fascinating. And that pulls in the notary part.

Yes, that's correct.

Wow. And then people going through a divorce often need help with their credit.

Yes.

Am I right? So one business feeds the other.

Yes. You know what, Daniel? A lot of my divorce clients, when they come in to my office, they end up signing up for the credit repair the same day.

Wow, that's great. I love it. That it's side hustles that all feed each other. That's perfect. How do you find divorce clients? Is that word of mouth also?

It's also been word of mouth, social media posting. I do ads on Facebook, Craigslist, Instagram. I also did a post on TikTok. So it's. It's kind of like all the same.

Wow, interesting. So now with all these clients you have and all the social media you're doing, how do you find time for handling all the clients? Have you started to hire help?

I do. I have help. I have hired someone full time.

Oh, wow. So you've got it. So it's now a team of two, correct?

Yes. And soon to be a team of three.

Awesome, awesome. So what have you been able to delegate to them?

Mainly the marketing, the social media, the printing, the mail outs, all that extra stuff that I don't have time for because I'm the face of my company. I need to be out there promoting, speaking to, you know, clients, realtors, tax preparers. So I. I want to build a strong team. My goal is to have a bigger team, obviously, within time, so that I'm able to delegate and, you know, keep growing as a company and keep changing lives.

Very, very cool. I love it. Yeah. The social media, with as much as you're doing that does take a lot of help. Stuff has to be chopped up and put on the different platforms and that's a lot of work.

It is. It takes a lot of time.

Yeah. Well, you sure are doing well. At it. What are some of the biggest mistakes you made when you were first starting?

Let me think. When I was first starting, the big thing for me was understanding that credit report. What to. What to target, what to look for, what, you know, what these lenders are looking for, when, you know, these clients are in the process of purchasing their home. So just understanding the credit, the client's needs. Most of our clients don't tell us what they truly need is like, oh, here's my credit. I don't know what's wrong, what's good on it, what's helping me, what's not. So that was the most challenging.

Got it. Got it. And what would you do differently if you started a credit repair business from scratch today?

I would take more courses. Since the beginning, I was a little afraid of, you know, investing and, you know, trusting. And I didn't know that, you know, the more training just never ends. You continue. I continue to train today. And, you know, it makes me better at what I'm doing. So if I could do anything different, I would start investing more in training, for sure.

Good, good, good. Now, because you did the Credit Hero Challenge, I want to ask about that. And it is affordable. It's $47 for anybody who is listening. And what did you get from the Credit Hero Challenge?

Honestly, I loved it. The fact that it was very affordable. Just the Facebook group that we have with you guys, it's amazing. The support is great, great there. You just have to know where to go. There's a lot of tools that you guys provide for us anytime. I still have a question. I'll go on there and look at your search at the top of the group, the search menu, and I'll search what I'm looking for. And it's truly helped me a lot.

Yeah, everything's in there. It's amazing. We've got 27,000 people in there, and a lot of them are making a lot of money and have huge businesses. And it's so fascinating that you can just type any question and. And someone making millions of dollars may answer your question. And it's instant. It's pretty cool. I'm really happy with that. And did the challenge help you a lot with the certification, with the disputing and all that?

Oh, yeah, for sure. Just understanding the credit report in general, it's step by step. The fact that we could go back into the videos. I was afraid in the beginning when I first started because I'm a mother of three children, so I didn't make it on time to when we were scheduled and the videos are recorded, they stay on there. So I went back and, you know, I did what I had to do. I researched. I, you know, I took the trainings completed and here I am today.

Yeah. Now you can share them with your team and then they can replicate what you do. What's your advice to someone just starting out with a credit repair business?

Don't give up. Invest in your business. Take all the training that you, that you think you need, because it always helps. And just don't give up on yourself. Be confident. Keep, keep pushing. Keep posting the results and you'll start building an audience. People will start recognizing you.

That's really, really good advice.

I get referrals from people I don't even know. There's Facebook groups in our community in my area and people tag me on there and I don't even know these people. Well, my name is out there already.

Yeah. You post this much, you become like a celebrity. Very, very cool. Okay, now we're going to switch gears. We're going to do a rapid fire round of questions where you answer the very first thing that pops into your head. Okay, Are you ready?

Yes.

What is the most important lesson that you've learned as a business owner?

The most important lesson that I've learned is invest in yourself.

Ah. What is your biggest superpower in business?

Social media. That's the first thing that pops up. Just social media.

You're good at it. What does business ownership mean to you?

Dedication, commitment, a lot of it.

What drives and motivates you?

My family, number one. And helping the community, helping people, changing lives. I love the feeling.

Cool. I love that. What's your definition of success?

Definition of success is being able to help these people accomplish their dreams. Seeing their faces, getting them into their home, their new vehicles. That's what makes me successful.

Because that's how you feel. I think that's why you are successful. I think that's the magic here. Well, Elsa, I really appreciate you being here with us today. Thank you so much for your time. Yeah, this was fun. And congratulations again on all of your success. I know we're going to be seeing you in the millionaires club. And thank you again for being here.

Thank you.

And for everyone out there, if you are enjoying this podcast, be sure to click below to subscribe so you don't miss any of the secrets that we share each week here on the Credit Repair Business Secrets podcast. And if you're feeling kind, do me a favor and rate and review me. Give me a thumbs up. Just help us so we can move up the charts. Leave a comment or ask a question because I read each and every one of them and I will see you on the next episode. And until then, be a credit hero and keep changing lives.

Hey, everybody, it's Daniel again, and really quick. I'd like to invite you to join. I believe is the best thing we have ever created inside the credit repair cloud community. And it is a challenge that we call the Credit Hero Challenge. If you're just planning out your business or you're just getting it started and you dream of having a successful business of your own, so you can quit your 9 to 5 and fire your boss and have financial freedom, or so you can add another revenue stream to your existing business, if that's your dream, you need to get into this challenge. We created this challenge to help you to create and launch your very own credit repair business to build a proper foundation for a really successful business. This challenge is going to help you to understand the strategy, the tactics, and all the things you need to be successful at Credit Repair. It really is the greatest thing we have ever built and it will change your life. So I recommend you do it right now. Stop everything. Pause this audio. Go online and go to creditherochallenge.com that's creditherochallenge.com and join the next challenge. And there's a challenge that's starting in just a few days. So go get started right now@creditherochallenge.com.