From unpaid Intern to COO & Partner of 6 companies: Special Guest, Tina Phoenix Howard | EP. 16

Hey, everybody.

Dannielyn here, co founder of Freedom Real Estate Group, family of companies. And this is our podcast, Real Talk, which is real talk for real estate investors. And today, if you're watching via YouTube, you get to see Tina Howard. She's on the other screen. We are. We. We chose to do this because we recently recorded a vlog with her, and we're trying to time up our vlogs with our podcast. So the vlog is a quick intro, you know, to somebody or something or a topic, and then we continue into deeper detail on our podcast. So that's why we dragged her on today. She wasn't incredibly thrilled about it, but she's still here. Thank you, Tina.

I did try to get out of it, but. You're welcome.

So I will say, one of the reasons why we wanted to have Tina on is because she's the longest member of this family, as Flip and I call it, before it even became Freedom Real Estate Group, she started working with us in Texas as an intern because back then we couldn't afford to pay anybody. So I'm actually going to start this podcast off with Tina letting you share a little bit of story of her background in real estate, how she got into real estate, why she loves real estate, how we kind of got to know each other. So if you can start from wherever you want, Tina, and just kind of take it over and we'll go from there.

Okay, sure. Just a little bit of background. I started getting interested in real estate a number of years back. It just seemed like something I would enjoy doing. So I tried to get my. I got my license and did all these things. This is when I was in Virginia. I took the class, got my license and all. No, I took the class but never ended up getting my license. Something else grabbed my attention. So that's another thing. Fun thing about me is I tend to have squirrel syndrome or some shiny bright item. I just. I need something to keep. Hold my interest. Right. So instead of getting my license, I just bought a house.

So nice.

What you gonna do then? Kind of learned about it from different sources and still continued my interest, even though I didn't really go after my license or anything. Cut to getting married to a military. Someone in the military. And so that triggered off a bunch of moves all over the place. So we went from Virginia to Georgia to Texas to Alaska to Washington to Alabama to now I'm back in Georgia, and one of the channel and the. The thread that went through all of that was my continued interest in real estate. So I started Managing a few properties for an investor when I was in Texas. Then when we moved to Alaska, I got a job at a title company. I wanted to learn more about the closing process and I figured, okay, this is a good place to make connections, other realtors, other investors, things like that. And then I switched to a actual, started working at ReMax. Then I finally did get my license and all this stuff. But when we got to Washington, I was just feeling like I keep moving and feeling like I have to start over.

Right.

And that's when I saw your post, because I was still on the Texas RIA email list. So I saw your post about an intern and I was like, you know, I wonder if they would consider working with somebody virtual. Right. I mean, I could probably use computer technology. Right. And all that. So I reached out and, you know, long story short, they were willing to throw the dice and gamble on me not being in Texas. And we worked lots of deals in Texas and I stayed with them when they went to Arizona and eventually got more and more responsibility, transaction coordinator and this and that. And just have learned, have tried, have been in every role, lead intake, acquisitions, transaction coordinator, all of it, the whole gambit. But I really enjoyed it because I didn't feel like no matter if I had to move again, I didn't feel like I was starting from scratch.

Right. Right.

So. And I was learning about investing and learning about real estate and all that fun stuff. And so that's. I've tried a couple of other things since then, but I always come back to real estate because I love it.

Here I am. Yes, agreed. I love it, too. So you even stayed with us all the way to our transition to Ohio. Right. When we decided to turnkey and we wanted to be in a state where, you know, we could, you know, have those cash flow properties at our fingertips. So I. What I love is how long that you've been with us up until now. And the growth of the very first start was nothing. Right. It was just an internship. It was just, I'm just here and I'm just going to learn. And like now you're the COO of our company. Right. Of our six family of companies. And you're also a partner. So it's like the ride. I never would have seen it way back then. Right. We were all just kind of starting out and we're all just kind of getting to know each other and you just ended up being one of the most impactful people that we've ever brought on the team. We kept going. How do we do more. Let's do more. Want to try this? Let's try this. And you just, you know, you stayed along for the ride, so thank you so much for that, and thank you for being such a key part of this big Frank family. That's why I wanted to do a podcast with you. Okay. So rubbing your hands, it's making me nervous. Well, all the things that we could talk about, I'm like. So one question from your story. Of all the places that you've lived, where have you liked living the most?

There's something about each place that I really enjoyed, so I enjoyed all of them to a degree. I would have to say Alaska was my favorite, just mainly because I don't know if I would have ever gone outside of maybe a vacation or something, but to really experience it by living there, it just was a very unique and wonderful experience. The people there are wonderful, of course, the natural beauty and everything, the cold, because we were in the interior. So it was, you know, the winters were brutal, but it made us enjoy the summers that much more. Right. That contrast. And my close second, I would say, is Washington State. Washington State is just gorgeous and beautiful and a wonderful place to live as well.

And you and your husband are, you know, outdoors people. Right? And so that's part of the attraction to both of those.

Absolutely, 100%. So just getting out in nature, getting away from the hustle, bustle of things, and finding a quiet spot here and there, we like to call it our thinking spots is what we call them. So, yeah, I think that's why those are our top. My top two. I could. I could probably speak for him, too. He really enjoys Alaska a lot, so that's awesome. He didn't think he would because he doesn't like cold. Because we were in Texas before that. Remember when we find out we had to go to Alaska, I was like, are you gonna be able to handle it? But as soon as we got there and he kind of got acclimated, he just fell in love with it.

That's awesome. Cool. Okay, so let's take that same question, but in the real estate world. So of all the things you've done in real estate, because you said, I've been lead intake, I've been an acquisitions person, I've been a transcript transaction coordinator. You are now in the property management world big time. You've run certain parts of our companies, and you do operations, or ideally, you'd like to be doing the operations only. So what in the real estate world, maybe two questions. What do you like Personally, in investing, because I know you have rental properties. So is that your passion of building passive income and owning rental properties yourself? And then what on the business side of things do you enjoy doing the most?

Ooh, no softballs today, huh?

Skipped your questions. I'm just going. I'm winging it.

Well, the funny thing is, before we even started working together, I dabbled in tax liens. I've always had an interest in notes and investing in notes. That's why when we were doing owner finance and subject to. I was really like, just a sponge drawing in all the information. You know, how to deal with the banks, how to deal, you know, what do you do with title, blah, blah, blah. How do you properly vet lease option buyer or owner, finance buyer, anything like that? So learned quite a bit. But favorite. I would have. I would. I love what we're doing now. I love the turnkey model. I really enjoy not only being able to. Not stepping outside of the one transaction and done right. That is typical in real estate. Or, you know, very far and fewer, you know, every five years, maybe somebody will sell a house or, you know, those kind of long gaps, but working with an investor who will purchase multiple times and developing that relationship and getting to know somebody and what their goals are and helping them reach them and all of those things, I really enjoy that. With that said, I still have an interest in note investing as well. I do want to get into that more. So I did my first note, but it was on a personal loan versus a real estate loan. So. But it gave me a little bit of a little bite, like, ooh, I do like this. The rental properties, I enjoy that as well. Because really, taking care of somebody who's living in your house, having that win, win relationship where, hey, they have a home that's well maintained and a landlord that's gonna take care of them. And then us having somebody who's gonna take care of the home and help us pay the mortgage and the cash.

Not bad either.

Those, I would say two. Okay. Professionally, I'm just for operations. It does scratch that variety itch that I have as well. But maybe the puzzle aspect of it, like figuring things out, solutioning, problem solving, how can we do this better? Figuring out the steps to something. I do enjoy that whole process. All of those things that are involved in operations.

Yes, I agree. So let's tie that into the fact that, look at us here. If you're watching the podcast on video, which not everybody does, but a lot of people do on YouTube because we record the video, you See, Tina and I not in our podcast room. We're on Zoom. And it's because you're in Georgia and we're here in Centerville, Ohio. So talk to us about maybe the pros and cons of working virtually, especially at the C suite level of a company that's got six companies and over 40 team members. You know, how does that feel? And just. I'll just let you ramble about pros and cons about that.

Okay. The first one, I would have to say as a virtual team member, the challenges is when we're having meetings and there's a mix of people who are in office, like one on one, it's totally cool. You know, we can read each other, we can see each other, we're not talking over each other. You know, things like that. Where there's a mix, where there's some virtual and some people in office, like when everybody gathers in the conference room, for example, and then our virtual team on the screens, that can be a little bit, a little challenging. Just sometimes. I, personally, I'm not going to speak for everybody who's virtual, but sometimes I hold back and commenting or throwing something in because I don't want to talk over somebody or I'm not sure if I'll be heard or, you know, it's just a little awkward. So I just rather, if it's really important, I'll pipe up, but if it's not, then I'll calm down. Right. Unless you get really get me going, then you can't shut me up. But if I'm leading a meeting, that's different. Right. But if I'm just like an attendee, that's kind of where I fall back on. And that's a bit of a challenge. But other than that, everybody is. So we have really good communication among each other. So it really isn't an issue, meeting wise and everything. And we do our very best to do a number of different things to include the virtual team members, because we have me in Georgia, Emma in Colorado, and then we have a whole team of folks in the Philippines. So we make it a concerted effort, a true effort. We really think about, okay, how, when we're planning things, how can we include or how do we make sure that people feel included or that they don't feel like they're outside looking in, so to speak. So all of those things that we do make make a difference and make it really work. I think it's the magic of the team, really.

I do, too. And I was going to say one of the strong suits that I feel like it's. It can be on both sides of the fence, like a negative suit in a. Or a challenge. And then a strength is one. As a CEO coo, you're also virtual, so you're experiencing what other people are experiencing, whereas I don't Flip doesn't. You know, Randy doesn't. All of us here in the office, we don't understand it from your point of view, but from your. And you being at the top, you get to be like, this is how I feel. So now I understand how they feel. And so you get to relate and implement maybe things that we wouldn't have done otherwise because we didn't experience it, and maybe we wouldn't have known or they wouldn't have shared with us or stuff like that. Then the negative or the challenge is we want you here, and we're always going move to Ohio, Tina. Your husband will probably never let you, but that's fine. We'll just keep dragging you down. But I do think there's a strong strength there because I think we're a better company for it because. Because you are virtual and so that you have that. But we will start dragging you down here more often. Just saying.

I try to visit. Yes, Yes.

I think I actually said this to Randy because Randy was like, you know, people. A lot of people gravitate to Tina in the company. Like, she is like somebody that people love to talk to, brainstorm with, you know, whatever. It's why you end up working so many long hours, because everybody's going, tina, Tina, Tina. And you're like, answer your own question. You don't have to come to me. But people just love talking to you. Right. And just being, you know, a part of the conversations because you'll shed light in a different way that maybe other people aren't thinking about it. And so he's like, we just need her here more often. And I was like, we were planning on it. And like, you came for the annual retreat that one year, and then Covid just kind of just. It just put us all into this. We're all virtual now for a little bit. So I'm super excited that we get to kind of mix it up again.

Yeah, definitely. Making plans for the next end of year retreat.

Yes.

And maybe even. Maybe end of quarter three or something. You never know. I love it.

I love it, I love it. Okay, so if you are going to. I like this question that was on your sheet. If you were going to say you had a superpower, what would it be?

This is funny because Caitlin asked me if I. If I could have any superpower, what would it be? So that's totally different question. That's a totally different question. So for what superpower I have, I thought about this, and I think it is empathy. I can really put myself in someone else's shoes and imagine how they're feeling and the thoughts that their. Their thought process and things based on their experiences and to see another person's perspective. I think I have a very unique gift and talent as far as that goes. And I think that stems from my interest in psychology, trying to figure out how the brain works and what experiences have given this person that perspective or different things. I'm just very curious about all of that mushy human what makes us tick stuff.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's, again, why people gravitate towards you. So I'll say two things here. One is, I think that I have personally seen it in your performance when talking to sellers and buying their house. When you're working in acquisitions and talking to them, you would have such a powerful conversation that you could have one conversation and get a property under contract because of the conversation you had putting yourself in their shoes, explaining the situation, wanting and having the desire to help them, and that coming across that you like. You would just dial and set, suddenly go, oh, we got another deal under contract where somebody else who doesn't have that nature and empathy has a more difficult time because they're trying to make a transaction happen instead of actually truly helping somebody. So I've seen that superpower come out in that way for acquisitions. I've also seen it in the leadership level because people do. I think we've joked quite a few times that if you were here, you would have a couch in your office, team members would come to your office, lay down, and have a session with T. So as a leader, it's super, super, super strong. And you help people in a way that none of us can. In fact, I've always said to both you and Flip, part of the reason why we're still here and we are where we are is because of that. Because I certainly don't have it. Like, I'm just, drive, drive, drive. Go, go, go. You did something wrong. What happened? Let's fix it. And I'm just straight to the point, and I don't even talk it through. And you'll just reframe it. You'll figure it out. You'll make them feel better. And I'm like, I feel like I used to be that way. And then I just started racing so fast I forgot it. So thank you for being who you are because that has brought us, I believe, to where we are today.

Well, it's easy with the team. I mean, it's easy to care for everybody and just to make them feel heard and let them get it all out. And because of those conversations, a lot of solutions have come into place as well. So it's just winning for everybody.

Yes. Yes, it is. Okay, we're going to go to the opposite side of the spectrum. Kryptonite. What is your kryptonite? What are you just horrible at or you hate doing? Either one?

Something that I have been not struggling with, but I tend to do. And this is just. I think a lot of people could identify with this is I respond and spend my time on things that seem the most urgent in the moment versus having the ability to kind of step back and truly prioritize. Like, I should not be spending my time on this right now. You know, I cleaned up our. One of our email lists one day because I was like, no, no, no, this is driving me crazy. And I spent way too much time cleaning it up. And the whole time I'm thinking in my head, not the best use of my time right now, but could I stop? No, I just had to get it done. So that would be my kryptonite, where I just lose that lens sometimes because I get so dialed into something that I'm doing in the moment or somebody who's asking or requesting something that could totally wait for an hour or two, but I just want to do it right now. That's something I'm working on, and I'm getting better at it.

Good. That's awesome. Okay. What is the most challenging part of the job in general.

At this stage right now? It's our growth and so many changes and keeping up with it and keeping everybody together. Like, I don't want to leave anybody behind. I want to make sure that we're all kind of moving forward together and not. I don't want anyone feeling lost. I need those processes in place so people know exactly what their roles are, what's expected of them, how do they know they're winning? You know, and because we're growing so fast and there's so many things, we tend to hire people who just figure it out. They just. They're smart, they figure it out, and dah, dah, dah. And because of that, it's been a little bit of a crutch because we're lacking in Systems where or processes. I should say systems were good processes to show somebody coming in like these are the steps, this is what you need to do. Because we've relied so heavily on like a players who just figure it out and get it done.

Yes, right. Yeah. And as we grew like we had to do that, right. Because we ended up growing so fast out of necessity that it was like, we don't have time for this. Everybody stand on your own two lens and go, go, go, go. We can't hold. But at this level you're right with 40 team members you're not always going to find that a player and be able to afford from a compensation point an a player in every single seat. So you've got to bring in the talent that can actually, you know, sit on a computer. You know, let's talk about maintenance calls and be on the phone and dealing with the maintenance and scheduling out the vendors. And they don't even sometimes want to be a leader. It's not even a desire of theirs. They just want to be a part of the company. They enjoy, they like, they have fun with and they want to support, you know, whoever they need to support. But they need to be told what they're. What to do. Right, exactly. I totally see that. And there was something else that you said in there that I really want to point out because from an operational point of view, I think it's something that very, I won't say recently you might have noticed this sooner than I did, but winning, like how do they know that they're winning and how do they know that they contribute to the company? So can you talk about that for a second?

Yeah. We tend to, because we're high, we value high performance and going and achieving and doing and winning and we have that drive and we tend to keep going that we forget the loudest bells are the ones where problems because we're so solution minded every problem we're like, okay, that's a problem, we gotta fix it. That's a problem, we gotta fix it. And we kind of sit in that space especially because we're growing so fast. We're doing so much, it's just inevitable, right? And then I realized, okay, part of maybe my stress level is that I'm not taking a moment or taking it just like truly recognizing it and letting it land that I won today, I did XYZ or so and so is happy now and I fixed their problem or now they understand where we're coming from and we have a better communications, a better style together. You know, now expectations are fully outlined or whatever, the millions of wins we have every day that we let pass by and we miss them. So I just, I personally was trying to take a moment and a bead and to let those sink in a little bit. And we do it, you know, and he's like, what, what are some good news you want to share? What's some things, you know, but if we build it into the process so that people know when they hit those milestones, when they hit, when they know that, you know, they had a maintenance ticket close out in, you know, 48 hours or whatever like that a week win, like, make a note of it, you know, give yourself a high five, do something to celebrate it. And I got the idea from that book Tiny, Tiny Habits. I don't know. B.J.

Fogg.

And he said, part of the thing, one of the things to do to establish a habit is, no matter how small, even if you. If you want to run a marathon, but if you get up every day and you just put your running shoes on, you know, without even taking a step, like, that's a win. Like, you've now you've kind of. You started the thread, you've started that groove in your brain into a habit. But one of the key pieces of that is you celebrate. So, you know, one of mine is to do 10 push ups. After I brush my teeth, I do 10 counter push ups. You know, I don't get on the floor because, you know, I'm not there yet. But I mean, I can. But I do the girl style, you know, or the assisted. But after I do that, I do a strongman pose. Yeah, that little win you just have to take. That is as important part of the process as anything. To close the loop, as I like to call it.

Yeah. Especially since it's so easy to marinate on the things that are bad or the things that occupy our brain all day, because it's a challenge, more solution or oriented people. And we like to sit on the challenge for a while so that we can find, you know, the best solution. Whereas, like, Flip will say, I'll say something to him at dinner. He'll be like, can you just celebrate that for a second? Can you like, what did you just say? So I love that you, like, expanded that. I think we recently did a podcast. We actually mentioned you win it because we're like, you know, Tina had talked to us about, like, hey, take 10 seconds, 10 seconds to celebrate something. So that it just. It gets ingrained in your head that you just had a Win. And that's important to recognize because otherwise you're just sitting in all the bad stuff. So that leads me into. You read a lot, you listen a lot, and I think you take net time that. No extra time from Tony Robbins. I don't know if that's where it originated, where if you're driving, be listening, or if you're doing something, if you're getting ready, be listening. You take that to a level that I've never seen anybody take it, and you have so much knowledge. As a result, you're incredibly intelligent. So if you could choose, like, hey, this is my favorite book and why, what would it be?

Whoa.

I know. I'm just throwing stuff out there because I know you so well, and we just talked about tiny habits. So.

Okay, favorite book. Okay, this is my favorite because it had the most impact on me, and it's tried and true. Everybody's heard of it or, you know, it's very well known. It's the seven half of Highly Effective people. Because when I read it, I was, I don't know, maybe 21. It was early. Early 20s. Right. I used to be a little bit of a negative Nancy, a little negative Nellie, a little judgy. Okay. You know, a little angsty. I was. I was a handful. So just ask my mom. I was reading that book, and there's a. There's a. In that book where he's talking about a father who has little children, and they get on a subway, and the kids are just totally out of control. Right? And he's just zoned out. He's not paying attention, and they're just doing whatever they want to do. And some passenger. It might even have been the author. I'm not even sure if Stephen. If this was something that Stephen Covey actually experienced. But the person, you know, hey, man, do something with your kids. Like, they're out of control, right? Do something with yourself. Right? And how many times in life we see people, like, we're like, oh, man, come on. Like, get it together. Right? Or in traffic, and you're just like, go calm on, like, what?

Right?

But he. And the gentleman was just like, oh, I'm sorry. You know, he kind of, like, snapped out of it. And he's like, we just were. We just left the hospital, and, you know, I just lost my wife. They just lost their mother. And I was just like, oh. And that really, really hit me hard. And I was just like, what is happening to me right now? So it just kind of broke me, but in a good way, because I was like, you never know what somebody else is going through.

Yeah.

You know, like, I can see you starting to tear up, and I know.

It'S making me want to tear up.

Cut it out, Danny Lynn. But so it's my favorite for that reason. And. And it also launched me on a path of always seeking more because that was such.

A shift for me.

I was like, there's more. Look at all these books. Look at all the knowledge. There's more. I gotta know more. So that's why I'm such a voracious seeker of knowledge and learning. And I just, I really. Not that I'm chasing another moment like that, but more of like, I just didn't know. And I love having these authors, like, share their perspective so I can get a different. A glimpse of something that otherwise I wouldn't been able to experience, you know?

Yes. Yes. Thank you for making me cry. I so did not predict that on this podcast.

And you'll be more careful with your question now.

I did think of Barbara Walters, Oprah Winfrey. It did make me. That's why I love this free flow kind of format of like, you know, just talking, especially since I know you so well. Even though we've been so far away and we're not like, you know, the closest of buddies, we don't talk all the time. Although I sometimes I feel like I boxer you way too much. But I love these kind of conversations so we can just kind of dig in. So I want to throw this into, like, your picture of success. What is like, if you were going to say, I have something in my head as to what success looks like. What does it look like for you?

It's whatever the person, whatever it means to them. You know, I love working with you and Flip and everybody that we have on the team. But specifically I was. I'm drawn to you because you are a dominating force. Right. In real estate and life. Just. And I love seeing a woman just being in charge like that. And I just want more of that for other, you know, women, our peers, but also, you know, the ones coming up. Right. The younger, the next generation. Right. So success to me over the years, you know, thinking, especially with all the books I've read and all the things and, you know, like, Tony Robbins was a big force in my life. And, you know, and people have this idea of successes, you know, perform high performance, money, you know, and they forget about all the other aspects in life. Right. So even though it's different for each person, I think unifying for everybody is that I Hate to say the B word, but balance.

Yes. Yeah.

You have to remember, like, your family, your friends, your downtime, your philanthropy, and different things like that. But what really shifted in me was because I've always been a person with a heart for service. Like, how can I help you? What can I do for you? Oh, you have a problem, Let me fix it. And then I realized one day, you know, the biggest leverage to move that, the biggest rock of influence in that arena is making the most of myself. And then when I realized that, I was like, right, because you're always like, I can feed. I can feed the hungry. I can, you know, do something about addiction. I can help women with, you know, body issues, or I can, you know, you just want to fix everything, right? You just want to make everybody better.

Yeah.

And then it just hit me one day. I was like, well, the most sure way to do that is to work on me, because the stronger I am, the more people I can live. Right. And so when I see mentors and people who inspire me, like you and other, you know, other people in the industry and just in life. Right. My mom is an inspiration to me as well. So that's what I just have to kind of remember. So if everyone who can hear the sound of my voice, be selfish, work on you, and then everything else just kind of falls into place.

Yes. Yes. That is so, so powerful. I'm glad you said it, because I just heard it said exactly that way last Friday, and I posted it on Facebook, and it's like, if you go to my Facebook page, number three, it says, I was in a conference, multifamily conference, and it was Mark Evans, and he said, be selfish. You can't help anybody else until you help yourself first. Or something like that. And you said the exact same thing. And I was like, that was so powerful to me because I'm taught not to be selfish. Right. Give, give, give, give, give. How do you give if you don't have it in the first place? Whether it's mentally, spiritually, you know, money, monetarily. So that was super powerful. I'm glad that you said that. And then Eddie was with us just the last few days, and we talked about. He's got. I think it's a podcast that talks about money, and everybody has to answer the question, what does money mean to you? And I was just like, that's a great question. We should start asking that question to each other. And I had to answer it internally, so I'm going to feed that at you. What does money mean to you?

Well, when you move beyond, your basic needs are met. And I've thought about this, too, you know, because I have. I have very ambitious money goals. Right. And it's not for chasing the paper. It's not the amount. It's. It's more like it means security to me. Like, I don't have to depend on somebody else. I'm secure. I'm independent. I don't have to depend on the government. I don't have to depend on my husband. I don't have to depend on, you know, some inheritance. I don't have to depend on anything. You know, I want to make sure that I. Oh, I just realized.

It'S.

Because I think I have this feeling of being let down in the past or.

Wow.

Or that I can't depend on people that just. That just trickled in.

I saw it. I saw the light bulb go off.

Because I started thinking, why is this so important to me? You know, and that's. That's why. And, you know, and I'm sure I've let people down, you know, like. But anyway, I'm getting off topic. It's security. I just want to know that I'm secure. I don't have to depend on anybody. Nobody has to come clean up after me. You know, no one's going to have to pay for my nursing home bill or whatever. Right. My elder care later in life. I just want to make sure everything is good. And then it goes out from there, like, okay, when I'm good, then it means I can take care of the others that are around me.

Yeah, that's coming together. Yes. I love that. Okay, so let's close out this podcast with this at least one question then. We've talked about, like, where you started, how we've gotten to where we are. We've talked about success, you know, your favorite book, and why, what money means. So now that we're on this trajectory of the future, right, of where we're going right now, what do you see personally and professionally, especially after our last two days with Eddie, right where we really were digging into what does this look like and what do we want and why do we want it? And I truly, for the very first time, when our goal, like, I think we had a $1 billion goal, and he asked, are you scared of that? And I was like, well, yeah. And Randy and Flip were both like, you scared of, like, anything like, that doesn't happen. But I was like, $1 billion. How do you get to $1 billion? I don't even know how to get there and if I don't know how to get there, it's kind of scary to me. I can see a million, I can see 10, 20, 100, you know, 500, but a billion.

I was like, yo.

And then the next day we're talking about the fact that 1 billion is actually easy. Like he literally kind of put the math together for us and said, here's what you have to do and you're easily on the track of 1 billion and you can do that in X number of years. So then I think Aaron said something like 1 on 10 billion. And like, like it just, it was eye opening the last two days, right? Really seeing what we could do. And I think I sent you a text last night going, okay, how do we do this? Like, this is big, right? And so how do we all like achieve all of our dreams? Because literally the power of all of us together, especially at this level, it's like we can do anything that we. Which means that we then get to help everybody else because of what you just talked about, because we're safe, we're secure, we feel good and then we can start taking it outwards. So what do you see after the last couple days about personally, professionally? What does the future look like?

Okay, yeah, the last two days of strategizing and really just thinking about the business, which I love because I love having that time earmarked because otherwise I get pulled out. I just enjoy kind of, you know, being able to shut things out and focus and it was very, very beneficial in forecasting and mapping out where we want to go. And equally as important is, and maybe I have this unique perspective because I've been with you guys for as long as I have. But seeing where we started to, you know, like you were saying earlier, like I would have never imagined we've gotten so now it even plants that seed of belief, like, well, look, you know, I never thought we'd be here, you know, right. So shoom to the moon, like, hey, I'm there, let's go. Right. So I believe we are on track especially because we have specific targets. And it laid out not to say it's going to play out that way by any stretch of imagination. You know, there's always room for whatever, right. Things happen. But because we have the wire from the framework of what we of how to get to that goal, it's in my mind it's completely achievable, especially with the perspective of how much we have already achieved with what we with who we have on the team. And if we could have this team, then might as well grow it. The market, Right. Rewards, those who are bringing, bring in the value, like we bring value to the marketplace. So I believe the rewards are just there for the. To attract us, you know, for the taking. It's not necessarily taking. It's just. It's drawing it closer. It's just a foregone conclusion in my mind. It's just a natural progression.

Yes. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. It's not always easy.

Don't let me make it sound like it's easy.

Clever. True. Yeah.

Working for it is very. It makes you appreciate it even more.

And I know.

And when you're saying, you know, the more we have, the more we can share and help, you know, it's not even like there are so many people other than, like, that we directly, like, assist or help in some way. People who just see us or see an example, like, it can be done even if it plants a seed of belief in them that is helping, in my opinion. Like, if you're an example to somebody, then you just. There's this infinity, like, just do the thing and everything else is fine.

That's right. That is right. What was it? It was everything you want is on the other side of fear. Right. And just seeing somebody, like, you know, seeing you do what you've done, even on a virtual basis, who rises from the. From an unpaid intern to a COO of six companies over the course of time, and who's virtual, like, who. Like seeing that. Listening to this podcast, I'd be like, whoa, Tina. Hello, Tina. My name is. So I think it's super powerful, and I think you shared two different perspectives there, so I love that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Tina.

Thank you.

You teach me every day. I don't tell you that enough. You always teach me. And you share the most powerful things. So this podcast is going to be one of my favorites of all time. I'll probably listen to it again. So if she does not do this now, because I haven't talked to her about this. If you ever talk to Tina after this podcast, I want you to ask her to do a few accents for you, her husband. It could be her mom. It could be. There was a joke yester in our meeting that when Tina's frustrated, she goes British. And when she's, like, looking for something, she goes, I don't know.

You said country.

Country. So Tina, like, makes us all laugh because she has all these accents. So any accents you want to share or are you just gonna Leave.

No, absolutely not. That is inner circle only. If only you talk to me personally, maybe.

Okay, so now everybody open up the conversation with accents and ask her about her DJ career. Like, there's so many cool things about Tina. Flip always says Tina's like an onion, and you start learning more the more you peel her back. She's had some awesome, awesome experiences in life and we just so appreciate having you here. So thank you for being on the podcast. I know it wasn't like the highlight of your day, but I think it'll be the highlight for other people being inspired and learning from you. So thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

I enjoy it. I enjoyed it. We don't get near enough one on one time together these days, so I really enjoyed having this time with you and being able to share some background and story with our clients, with our listeners, with anyone who hopefully gets a little nugget here and there.

Yes. Love, love, love. Okay, so I didn't prep you this before the podcast, but at the very.

End of the day, I'm saying that you're scaring me.

Let me just keep on going. I'm just gonna keep sur. So at the end of every podcast, we say our common phrase. I'm going to say the first half. You got to say the second half. So that's why I said it in prep for you. So invest smart, live happy. All right, thank you, Tina. Thank you everybody for listening. We'll see you on the next podcast. Bye. Nothing on this show should be considered specific personal or professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate, financial or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions and information on this show are not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss.