Kim Panozzo on Making in Impact as a Woman // The Jacqueline Elliott Show - Ep006

You offer a pathway to success, not just for you, but for all of the people that are with you.

We want to win it together.

You have to win it together. You can't be the person that's on the top of the, you know, the food chain and have everybody else starving. Like, you have to make sure that they can see a future for themselves being with you. Welcome to the Jacqueline Elliott Show. Today we have a very special guest, Kim Panazo from the Panazo team. Thank you for being with us.

Oh, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Now, you, obviously, we know Dave and you, and you guys are great people. You're great family people, but you also run a real estate company.

Yes.

Tell me a little bit about what you do that's different with the Panazo team.

Well, I will say, since Dave and I joined forces, I've been an agent since 2002, a solo agent for 14 years. And then one day, Dave had this great idea to get his real estate license after a lot of nudging and poking and prodding. And so we formed the team about in 2016.

2016. Now, interestingly enough, you know, I can relate to your story a lot, and we actually understand each other very well. Yes. Because Dave came from the car business and Andy and I came from the car business.

Yes.

So what made that switch? Like, you were the. You were the. Obviously the loving wife, and there was a transformation within. Right. What can you say was the biggest, you know, change or why? How did he get out of that?

Well, when being in the car business, as, you know, it was. It's not the easiest explain, elaborate.

Because a lot of people don't know.

They don't know. Right. I would say it's probably not easy on a marriage, number one. And being in that environment, Dave did have some issues with alcohol, and so that time in the life was kind of difficult in that regard. So when he got sober 17 years ago, which we're very proud of, good for him. It really made a big transformation in our lives, which has been God's blessing, the biggest blessing.

Well, a lot of things. And I think that we understand each other a lot. As you understand the car business, the hours, the time, it's like you have your own family, but it's not always the best environment unless you have to work through a lot of different things. And then people, you know, that come in, you know, a lot of them had good hearts, but a lot of them are lost. You Know, and just like in the. Any business, really. But like, what. What allowed you to stick through it as a woman? Or what advice would you give women that go through certain things? Like, there's light at the end of the tunnel. What do you have to do? Obviously, you've been married for a long time. You guys are great together. David's amazing, by the way.

Thank you. I kind of love him a little bit.

Ye know. You love him a lot? A bit. We all love him, but he's a great guy. He has the best attitude. I mean, he's into his fitness. He loves you like crazy. You have a beautiful family and you have a very successful business. Like, what kind of things did you feel that you can tell people that are maybe going through those struggles, that maybe give them some hope or maybe some tips on what you did to. To keep it going?

Yeah, well, I would say the biggest thing going through 33 years of marriage is that there is up. There are up and ups and downs, right. And it's how you deal with those. And I would say, number one is my faith.

Right.

You know, I always have had a very strong faith that, you know, you. You marry for a reason and you, you work through those issues that you're having. If it's communication and if it's, you know, going to someone to talk about your issues and to help you through those things, because it's worth it, you know, it's worth it. You know, about 13 years ago, we separated for a little, for almost a year, and that was very difficult too. But when Dave got really sick and called me at midnight on a Friday, it was kind of interesting. I was like, okay. He was in a place where he wasn't well and he wanted me to be there. And that opened up that line of communication again. And I feel like, I say we've had two marriages. We had the first one, and the second one is. Is just spectacular and amazing. And I could cry if I looked at him right now.

Of course.

Such a beautiful thing.

You guys have an incredible relationship, and everybody that sees you knows that you guys have that incredible love for each other. But it's like, what is. It's the question that I always, like, tend to ask, when is enough enough? When you love somebody, right. And sometimes in order for us to realize, like, what's important to us, we tend to hit rock bottom. You know, sometimes it sick. A bad doctor's note or, you know, something happened, a death in the family, you know, some type of addiction just hitting rock bottom. So what are the things that you think that he had to learn in order to, like, value that, or what is it that you. Because, you know, we talk about, like, you can either, like, nitpick at your spouse or tell them, even though your heart is in it and everything, and you want to. Want them to do good. Like, how come sometimes it takes an outside source to get them to wake up or a doctor's note or, you know, something happening for them to learn?

Yeah, I think sometimes you just have to go through those things. You know what I mean? I think it's just. That's the path that you're being led on, and things happen when they happen. You know, alcoholism, that was, you know, a long ride, a long road with that. And one day, it was just. That was. That was a day that I'll never forget. It was a beautiful day. I opened up the laptop, and I put on there the name of a. A treatment center that I thought he should go to. I opened up the computer, and I just walked out of the room, actually left the home, and I said, I think you need to take a look at this. And I just left the computer there. That was a pivotal day.

And he did.

Yeah, he called on his own. So that was a beautiful thing. You can't fix their addiction. You can't control that addiction. And, you know, going through the, you know, the AA or the Al Anons out there was a great way to remember who I am.

Exactly.

And take care of yourself.

It shows you're a strong woman and you value yourself, obviously, to make those changes. And also, you know, I think, like, those people that are addicted at one point of their life or they do something or something happens, they get tested. I feel like they're the most relatable, especially as you're building teams now and what you're doing in business. I mean, you can a lot of people, like, hire people that are overqualified in their. Like, in entitled. And then you need to find sometimes people that are broken, that have been through some stuff that you actually give them a. You know, the route, and you tell them, hey, I understand you, and I can help you get to where you need to go. And they actually look at you like the mentor that you are. And you're not fake people want real people. Absolutely. Those wounds have become your weapon.

That's right.

Which is amazing.

And you can share those stories with others and give them hope.

Yeah, exactly.

We can do it.

Perfect.

Yeah. If you. If we can do it, anybody can do it. You just have to have faith that's so awesome.

That's so awesome. Now, going back to. To this, and, you know, I'm probably going to ask a few questions that are probably like, my, why is she asking me this? But I think that this can really help a lot of people, especially business people, because a lot of people look at, you know, they don't have a lot of examples of people that have gone through some things. Right. So what about children? Like, when you made that decision to, like, hey, I'm. I'm walking away from this, what did you think about, like, your children at the moment? Like, what did you think that you. Did you think you were making a good choice? Did you think twice about it? What was it with your children? Because 13 years ago, they were teenagers, right?

So our oldest was in college, and Nicole was 12 at the time.

Okay, so what happened then?

You know, it's such a emotional time. You know, at that time, I think Dave and I's philosophy was, well, not gonna talk bad about each other. Our kids won't hear that. And it was very important to us that they don't have that weird experience. And then having, you know, that the time that you have with the kids and that, it was. It was an awkward time, and I'm grateful it didn't last long.

Right. No, it's good. Did the kids see this side of you guys, or did you try to keep it more private?

I guess I would say it was probably. I mean, they. She's 12, so she understood what was going on and. And everything, and not. Not the adult stuff, but. Yeah, of course. Yeah, of course.

Well, good. Well, I'm glad that you guys went through this, obviously, and that you guys are here now. Tell me about your business. What is it that you do? What makes the. The Pinozzo team so. So different? You know, because your. Your team and the values that you instill and you showing that real side and everything, and now that you're. You're bringing a lot of people in and everything, what is it that you look for in, you know, agent.

What are we looking for in agents? You know, I just feel like if you can get people that kind of feel your own philosophy and can grow with you is very important. You know, a little bit of sales experience is always great, but not necessary. You know, it's like, if you have the effort and the ability to want to do this business, Dave and I will pour it, everything into you. If you don't want it, then those are the people that, you know, are like, oh, well, I can make this Training, but I can't make that one. If there's always an excuse, then we know that's probably not a right fit. But anyone that we bring on the team, they know we're gonna give you 100% and we're gonna keep you accountable too.

Right?

Accountability is a big thing.

How do you do that? Because a lot of people say, like, hey, accountability, they need it, but they don't really want it. And it makes it really hard in a lot of places. So how do you keep your people engaged and how do you keep them? How are you accountable in that sense?

So on our team, we have just a couple things that are required. Every week we have a 10am meeting on Monday. We want everybody. That's where you're gonna hear the wins and get excited for your week, right? Pump everybody up, get really excited. Everybody's gonna tell us how they put stuff under contract, which everybody always gets excited about.

Of course they want to talk about the wins. They do.

And that's important, right? And then on Thursdays, we have our training, which that's from noon to 1:30 every Thursday. And we're gonna talk about what's relevant in the market today. Like, what is going on in the real estate business that we can help polish your skill in regards to that so that you can go out there and help clients convert close, you know, do that.

Good. So how involved, like, I know you're a couple, so how, how do you really work together as a couple in that business? Because obviously Dave was in the car business and you were in real estate. So you basically brought him into that world and now you've become this powerhouse. How do you work together or how do you, how do you separate, you know? And what, what are your roles really at work?

Well, when Dave first came, came on the team, when we joined forces and built the team, my first thing with him was like, you gotta slow your roll, dude.

Okay, what's that mean? What's that mean?

When you come from the car business, it's like they can't leave the lot, right? And I'm like, Dave, buyers, buyers, buyers, don't, don't walk away. You know, you build rapport and you connect with them and you go on this journey together to find the house. It's not close them at the table. They're scaring people away. So that was the biggest thing. It was kind of gotta slow down the sale, gotta slow role, dude.

I love that. I love that. So then when he came on, did you, did you guys struggle in making those Roles, like, align. You had to train him, obviously. He had to listen to you. You became, like, the one that was kind of in charge in that sense. Right. Because you were mentoring him at the time.

Well, so I have to go back.

Okay.

I got to go back because Dave taught me how to sell.

Okay.

I give him all the credit in the world.

Okay. How did he teach you?

I came from, you know, out of the. Out of military, right out of high school. And then I was an accountant for 10 years.

Okay.

I didn't have sales skills.

Okay.

But Dave would listen to me on the phone with a client, and he'd be like, shh, Say this, Say this. And I'm like, how do I do all this? But I would do it, and it would work. I'm like, oh, I want more. And I would do that, and it would work. So he would always, you know, critique me and help me in that regard. So I will say he taught me how to sell.

Right.

I just taught him how to. How to do it. In real estate versus the car business.

Okay.

You know, really slowing it down and not feeling like you're gonna lose people.

Right, Exactly. Yeah. That fear of loss. I totally get it.

Yeah. Because if they leave a lot, they're going somewhere else.

Exactly. Well, you know, you have that sleazy car business mentality, and I say that I came from the car business as well, and you have to learn that. I. The first thing people do is, like, they don't like you. You know, you're trying to sell them.

Right, exactly.

So you have to win them over. You have to slow down the sale. You have to, like, really make them feel like, hey, you know what? I'm not like everybody else. It doesn't matter what you think of me when you walk in. It matters what you think about me when you leave.

That's right.

And I'm gonna try to get you in this car.

I didn't leave, but in the car.

In the car. Yeah, for sure. But. But it's. But it's very different. So I never had that. That. That problem. Everybody that always left, I wasn't looked at as the, you know, that car saleswoman that was sleazy. I was always like, man, she's actually different than these people. And I think that's. That's the whole point of this. But you teaching him that, hey, you know what? You can't really close a deal first time. Second, you're going to have to probably go through maybe 10 homes, maybe 20 sometimes. Maybe people will take a year to Make a decision. And that's. It takes a lot of patience to do that.

People are in different phases of their life, right? It's like, just because they call you today about real estate doesn't mean that they're going to buy today. It's kind of like, oh, I'd like to go on that Italy vacation, but, oh, boy, after I look through things, I got to get shots, I got to do all this stuff, right? Kind of like that with home purchasing, people need to. People are like, oh, it's a good idea. So it depends on where they're at in that stage. And that's one thing I think Dave and I do very, very well with our team, is that every person, they're not leads, they're people. It's a single mom, It's a family. It's someone that's downsizing. It's because they lost a loved one. So these are people. And our philosophy is always the client first. That's really kind of taking that information from the client, finding out what it is that they want and listening to what that is and then having conversations with them, right? You know, really digging down and using that authentic skill of compassion or what have you to find out what are they looking for and what timeline does that take. I don't care how long it takes, because we're gonna find the right house. I laugh. I had a couple that I work with here in Fountain Hills. He was a retired engineer. It took two years.

Two years.

Two years to find the perfect home. But it didn't matter to me, right? They bought that home. They sold that home. They bought another home because they knew I was there for them. It wasn't about the sale.

That's so cool. How. What would you suggest? These people, like, you talk about a transaction lasting two years. A lot of times people don't have that patience as salespeople or professionals to really go through that service during and after the sale and all that. Like you did. What is something that you suggest that maybe people can. Can do to try to keep them, like, motivated to stay in there, you know, And I know it comes from caring, you know, and everything, but, like, what is something that. That you suggest to keep somebody, like, kind of engaged in the same?

So I have. Being ex military, as you know, everything is system and process oriented. So I have a system for that. And basically it's like once a month, touch in, you know, every month there's something to talk about. Is it Valentine's Day? Is it, you know, Christmas, Thanksgiving? It's Whatever. But it's just staying in touch with them and giving them something for value when you do call, you know what I mean? Like, hey, here's what's going on in the real estate market. Or, hey, did you catch. Catch that article about something that they're interested in? I try to. In the back of my head, the older I'm getting, I'm not as good as it, but I have them notes in my CRM. But I could remember that one thing that they liked. Like, I had a gentleman that loved the Navy was in the Navy. Like, I was out shopping one day, I found a big book about the Navy. Well, guess what? I gave it to him. Yeah, it's those types of things. It's just building that relationship. And I utilize social media as a way to. How many gifts can I give today? Yeah, I love the babies. Oh, baby gift. Baby gift.

Oh, my goodness. That's what.

Someone got married. I'm like, yay, I get to give a gift today. That makes me excited.

Yeah, I noticed that, like, even before I had kids, when I started, you know, in the car business, I remember that when I used to go and meet people, their families, and me as a woman coming, like, they didn't expect that because it was a long time ago. Now there's women salespeople everywhere. But when I was in, I was, like, the only one. It was crazy. So I would go and I would. I would go and I. I'd shake the. The. The husband and the wife's hand, and I could tell that the women were a little bit uncomfortable. But if they had a kid, I would go and I would get on one knee, I'd shake the kid's hand or be like, hey, how are you? Get to their level. And then all of a sudden, they would melt. They'd be like, okay, this is a good person. It's almost like when they have kids, they love their kids, and I genuinely like kids. So I'm not being fake by saying hello to their kids. Right. I just knew that I was genuinely interested in their child. And then they were like, oh, my gosh. Okay. So they let their guard down. It's really cool how that is. But you found something, obviously, that your client loves and you know how to get them, you know, obviously with their heart. But you genuinely care. You have to care because they can read right through you, because no one's.

Going to do that otherwise.

Right.

If they didn't care, you wouldn't do it. Yeah, but those are just the little things that I suggest to people if you want to keep that long term relationship, and especially two years is a long time to wait. Thank goodness it's not all of it. You know, every, every client that you're working with. But you know, ultimately, depending on what stage they're at, just meet them where they're at.

Yeah, just plant seeds along the way.

And just stay in the close fast.

Some will close later, but you always have something working. Yeah.

And then that's, that's called a pipeline. Right. So eventually everything works out the way it's supposed to and you have a nice pipeline of business.

You know, it's very interesting because the more people that I speak to that are higher level, you know, in, in business, you know, they say the same thing, you know, over. It's like, hey, I care, I care. I just want to do the right thing. I just want to serve. And I remember when it first started in sales, it was more like, hey, I want to make money or I need to pay my bills. Right. And later on as I started making money, you start finding significance and really loving what you do. You really start caring like about the people and it doesn't matter. And then you make more than more money than you know what to do with, really, because it's just, you're just serving and you're just living. It becomes a way of life and it's just really awesome.

It's so true.

So working with Dave, your husband.

Yes.

How. What kind of obstacles or what kind of things have you come across in that separation? So that's a big question that a lot of that a lot of people ask me, hey, how you work with your husband all the time? Like, you know, how do you separate business and family? You know, and then, you know, how do you make it not combat with each other?

So when Dave and I first started, we formed the team, we hired a coach. We use a system called workman systems, and they basically took all of our strengths and weaknesses. And you're in charge of this and I'm in charge of that. So we're both in charge.

Okay.

Kind of works great. And then we just kind of meet in the middle. You know, if we have like concerns about something or questions about something, we go that route. After these years, we've had a business coach as well that we work with that helps us with growing our business. But Dave and I definitely separate roles and we just ebb and flow when we meet each other and it's asking questions. I know that sounds really easy and simple, but it really just is that you know.

Well, what, what do you. If you don't mind sharing what are some of the roles that you are good at and what are some of the roles that he is.

Well, you know Dave, right. He is all over the place.

Just kidding. That's great.

He's amazing. He's a lot. Right. But he's that guy. He's that out front guy. He's the. And that's authentic. Yeah, like what you see is what is at home, which is great. It's constant and I love it. And that's I think what keeps everything interesting and exciting as well. And then my side of the fence. So sales training, I would say more sales training and recru. Dave is in charge of that. Runs the Monday meeting, the Thursday training.

You need that energy.

Yeah, yeah. I'm the one that's the structure, dot the I's, cross the T's, help all the agents with contracts and negotiations. With contracts, you know, purchase contracts, counter offers, inspection period negotiations.

You make sure that all the legalities, all the paperwork.

Yes. So that's more my side of the fence.

Yeah, that's interesting because you know, and I think in a lot of businesses it's the same way like Andy and I, we both come from sales. So I naturally like the sales side. And then when you start a business you realize that hey, there's somebody that is going to be like the one that's going to handle some of that. But you need to, you know, you were at a couple's mastermind, right? Yes. So you saw. I said there's a, there's a kite and then there's a kite. You know, the one that holds a string to the kite, right?

Yes.

Who's the controller of the kite? So the one that controls it is not as beautiful in the sense that they. You don't get to see all the stuff that gets done, but that's all the behind the scene things that are important. As a woman, I had to basically learn legal, learn contracts, learn CRM, learn all the stuff to hold a bit payroll, learn all these different things that I wasn't really trained on but I was the one that was had to figure it out so he can maintain that creativity and go and do his thing. So in your sense you do a lot of the same. But now with the clients in the way that you have, you're leading your team now when you're. Are you, are you selling as well? Like so do you, do you handle your clients together or separately?

So we, we handle our clients together. And then we also have a team of agents underneath of us. So if there's a, you know, particular client that comes through that is a good fit with one of our agent partners, then we'll all partner with them. So how it works on our side is with all the experience, all the, all the listings go underneath me. All the buyers contracts go either under the agent partner myself. So we're both on all the contracts and I follow them through.

Good, good, good.

So Dave doesn't do much of the selling piece as much as he's managing the business, recruiting and training. And we're excited about the platform that we're on with you as well. So that's going to launch soon.

Good. Tell me about the platform. What is it that you, that you have in the platform? I know that there's training with Andy. There's some training that I have with it that's on there. And then obviously you have all this stuff having to do with real estate with you guys. Tell us a little bit about what that entails.

So on our, on our training platform, it's predominantly just real estate training. How to really help agents understand what it looks like when you're going through all these different levels of real estate career. It's basically 20 years of knowledge up here in Dave's sales experience that we, that we had in a book. It's about this thick, of course, that now we brought it, broken it down into training videos.

You know, it's so cool because, you know, I know the numbers. I mean, I haven't seen his numbers in a long time, but I know the numbers of the number of people that have licenses that actually use them in real estate is just crazy. So having a system and having a pathway to success actually helps with that. So do you know what those numbers are now?

There's over 50,000 agents in Maricopa County. I don't even know how many in the state, but they say 49% of them maybe sell one or two houses a year.

One or two houses a year, which you can't live off of now. I mean, unless you sell a house that.

Unless you're retired.

Well, exactly.

Supplemental income.

Exactly. But so do you. The demographics of those people. Like, you have a lot of people obviously, that use it just for. For fun. They like to have their license and all that. But there's a lot of people that are starving that are in the space. And I know this because we have people that actually look for jobs doing things with us, but they also hold their license. So what is it like with what you have right now, most of your team. Are you looking for people that are more full time? Are you looking for people that are, you know, part time? What is it that you're looking for?

I would love for whomever is interested in a real estate career just to contact us. And really what is it that you're looking for in real estate? Is this a passion that you've had a long time and you're now supplementing your income until you can get rid of that job and do it full time? So we're open to talking to people, of course, people that want to do it full time. I feel put forth maybe a little more effort with it too. But we're open, we're open to people that are open minded and have effort and want to go to that next level and sell real estate. Help people, you know, ultimately it's what people. Yeah.

Now why don't you share with me? Because I mean we talk about like leadership and I know you guys are amazing leaderships. Now what are some of the core values that you have in your company?

So our core values are people, you know, taking care of the client. It's really based around having that client experience and agent experience too. You know, we want to make sure that when you work with us that you know, you're going to be taken care of. We laugh, we like if you look at our Google reviews you will know 100% where our heart is because those are people that have worked with us and have seen the effects that we've done. Help them with their lives, you know like jumping up and down with a first time home buyer when she bought her first condo. I'll never forget that we were both crying, very excited, you know, that's so awesome. And now she's married, has kids and they're gonna upsize, you know, it's just wonderful. You get to be part of people's families. Well now I've been doing it so long it's kind of a generation thing now, which is kind of fun too. Help mom and dad now, help the kids.

Right. Well I talk to a lot of people, you know, that, that are realtors and that have business, business. But there's, there's a certain like feeling that you get when people actually do it and they, they see it as something like, hey, this is my lifestyle, this is who I am.

Yes.

And I definitely see it in you and I see it in Dave that you guys really do care and people say it all the time and that's why I'm Asking what's your core values? But I really already know just by talking to you and by just, just knowing you as a person that you know, you really do care and you get personal with, with these people. Just, just that interaction.

It's hard not to be my friend after a real estate transaction. We get to go to babies, you know, baby showers. We've gone to weddings. It's. It's a good life.

It's really cool.

It's a very good life.

Do you have any that don't like you?

We won't talk about that.

It's very hard to believe, but, you know, everybody has somebody that doesn't like them, right? Maybe. So you don't think about that.

That's funny.

No. That's awesome. So now tell me a little bit about now. You have your daughters.

Yes.

You have two daughters?

I have two beautiful daughters.

Two beautiful daughters. What are their ages?

So I have a 24 year old, she's in the United States Air Force, she's married and has a little one on the way. We're very excited about that. And then we have our older daughter, she's 31. She lives in Monterey with her husband right now. And she has two little ones, one that's five, Molly and Brooks, who's three, who's full of energy.

Little boy.

Little boy.

You were not used to little boys. No.

He'S amazing. But he's so active, like climbing on things. Like, I hear my daughter say no so much and I'm like, yeah, she's been in the emergency room with him, you know, fell off. Fell off the sofa and hid his head on something getting stitches.

He's alive.

He's alive. And we never dealt with that with our daughters. Our daughters were more kind of cool, calm and collected and. Yeah, yeah, maybe a door slam here and there in their teenage years, but there was never any this. No. Boys are a lot.

Boys are a lot. That's funny. Maybe they take that after Grandpa.

Maybe. So maybe.

I wonder, how was Dave as a child?

Do you know, I'd heard he was naughty.

He was naughty. They take after grandpa. Maybe that's it.

Maybe that's it. The kids, the grandkids call him. No, no. We went the Italian way. No, no, no, no. And I'm Nana.

No, no, Nana.

That's cute.

Cute. You're Italian. Where were you born?

I'm from Minnesota originally. Little town of 141 people.

141.

I did not stutter it is that small.

Really?

Yes.

And Dave is from.

He's from he was born in Geary, Indiana.

Okay.

And then moved to Columbus, Ohio, when he was 13.

Okay. That's a bigger city.

Yes.

How'd you meet?

So we met in the military, actually. I was stationed, or we were both stationed in Germany at Spingdahl Air Force Base. And he was bowling one day, and our eyes caught because I was having lunch with my girlfriend. There's not much to do on a military base. It's almost like a giant, like, college campus with an airport. That's really what it was like. So it was a lot of fun. But, yeah, our eyes crossed paths.

Love at first sight.

Yes. I have this little thing in my tummy, like, this little butterfly thing happened. And I'm like, I've never felt that before. It's really weird. And, yeah, we pursued a relationship, and he says he still let me win playing pool, but I legitimately won.

Okay, so you're competitive. I love. I can see it in your face.

You're like, hey, it's still a conversation.

We have still a conversation.

Oh, yeah. 34 and a half years later, I won that legitimate.

You won that one? He says he lets you win. Yeah. So if you get in a full match right now, are you still gonna kick his ass?

No, he's really good. He may have, like, held back, but I feel like I won legit.

Yeah, I believe. I believe you. That conviction. I mean, you can't fake that. No, no, you won. You won for sure.

In my mind, I did.

So you. You played a game of pool?

Yes.

Okay. And then he won. And then. Or you won?

Sorry.

Sorry. You won. Yeah, I almost messed that one up. And then what happened?

We just. We started dating, and we just, like, doing the same kind of things. We love to be outside and, you know, living in Germany, it was so much fun. My parents came over at one point, and we got to tour all these countries. It's like traveling in the United States. Got to go to Belgium and France and all these cool places. So Dave and I, you know, spent a lot of time very young. I was 19 when I met him. He was 22 or three years apart, and we just developed this relationship, and then one day he had to go off to a military school. He was gone for a month. And back then, we had to write letters to each other.

Oh, wow.

So he would send a card, and I would mail him a card, and we would get this mail back and forth, and we got to talk, I think, like, once a week and have conversation. And when he was graduating, I went with them. His. I think it was his first lieutenant and his sergeant. And then I was in the back of his Humvee. And it's not the nice Humvees that people drive today. It was literally the military padding. Like, this is six hour drive. Oh, yeah. But when we got there and we locked eyes, we just never let each other go. And I knew at that moment, like, this was it. We're gonna get married.

You're gonna get married. Decided back then.

Yes.

At 19. Yeah.

That's awesome. Got married when I was 20. So quickly. Yeah. Year and a half about.

So what are some things that, like, you went through? I mean, obviously we talked about the whole, you know, you know, addiction stuff and the hard times. What are some of the things that you went to? Like, some. Some of the stuff that I kind of, like, know that I went through. Like, when I was, you know, I went from being, you know, in business and then getting married to Andy and us, like, crashing and then learning a new identity and going and having kids and losing my identity, having to like, you know, it was like I was reborn again, you know, trying to figure myself out, you know, going through these different stages in life. Now you've been in real estate for a long time. How do you feel like you've. You've adapted to those changes from being, you know, a mom to being married to then having your children and then being where you are now. How has that affected you when your kids, like, left the house? Like, how did you feel that?

Well, Dave and I were depressed for four months. Like, I missed so much when Nicole would open up the refrigerator full of food, by the way, saying, we don't have any food. Or I missed every time she'd open up the door to the garage that ding. It's the weirdest thing, but those are the two things we miss the most. And it took like four months or more just to kind of get used to life without being responsible for someone else.

Did you feel like you had to, like, learn yourself again, like, understand what was important to you as a person?

Well, you know, raising kids as long as we have. There's eight years between Courtney and Nicole. I would say there's been a lot of transitions over the last 30 years. You know, it's a lot. Loaded question. But I would say growing all the time through every phase of life, for sure. You know, being that first time mom, like, I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't have, you know, we were in the military at the time, so I didn't have my mom next door and my mom in the same state. You know, it was always a phone call or what have you. So we never really raised our kids where our family was. We always been kind of by our. On our own island, which you can relate to as well.

It's. It. You had to learn to, you know, it's you two against the world, you know, and, you know, it's. We had to come up with some rules to fighting. And because you fight and whoever says they don't fight, they're full of shit, right? And it's all about, you know, how you. How you, you know, value each other, you respect each other, and then, you know, go from there.

So do you and Andy have a safety word when you're fighting? Is there a word that just gets said and then everything stops and didn't.

Tell me about that? No. Oh, no, we have a time limit.

You have a time limit.

That's different. Yeah, we have a time limit. It's a five minute thing. If it goes too long, we're like, okay, it's over.

Okay.

And we're. And we're good, you know, and we have to reset.

Okay.

But not. Not a word. What's yours? I'm interested now. I know you have one.

So if. If we go, you know, get into that place where things get a little heated, maybe it goes a little longer than you want it to. If one of us says the safety word has to stop. And our safety word is hairy balls.

Hairy balls. Okay, so you have to laugh. How did you come up with that?

I don't even know. We were. We actually went to this event at church. It was like a marriage class or what have you. And they were talking about safety words. And we're like kind of a. Where are we going with the safety word thing? Right. But that word is so silly that it's hard not to be mad. And I would say in the last 20 years, maybe it's been used twice. But you say hairy balls, everything stops. If you hear the. You'll hear it like the conversation. It can't come out because you're not. It's not allowed to come out.

It's not allowed. Hairy balls cuts everything.

So have a safety word in the fight scan fan tip.

I never heard that before. That's really awesome. You learn something from somebody every single day.

Well, there you go.

That's good. Hairy balls. So you've used it twice?

I've used it probably twice. I don't know that Dave's used it at all, but I'VE used it twice.

You've used it. Okay, so when you get to that point where you have to say that word, it's probably because you're getting a little too carried away.

Yeah.

Has the ego gotten in the way where you say something after? No, it's just stopped. It's worked like it should.

You have to stop. It's the rule. And then the rules. Not been broken, Never tested the rule.

That's a good. That's a good thing.

Yeah, no, it's a lot of dis. It's respect.

It's respect. Okay, you're getting carried away. Hairy balls. We don't want hairy balls, that's for sure.

Yeah. And you know what? Walk away. Take your 5, 10 finishes, 15 minutes or whatever, and then come back to the conversation.

What about.

That works really well.

It does work really well. Now, one thing though, like, do you feel like when you have an unresolved issue that you need to discuss, you understand each other? Do you feel like you the need to, you know, pick up later and finish it off? Or else, you know, you have, you talk about, like death by a thousand paper huts. You know, you go, you go, you go. And then all of a sudden you hear the hairy balls. Right. You're like, okay, this is not the moment because we're getting too carried away. We have to use a safety word because it's not going in the direction that I need. But you have to pick up later or is it over for good?

Well, depending upon what that. Can't recall now what those actual circumstances were. But, you know, picking it up and just kind of getting through whatever that was is important, is communicating it and really talking it through. And another big rule is you do not go back back to the past.

That's it. That's really.

The past is where it was. The issue that is today is the only issue being talked about or how you can improve on that or fix that or do what have you. But there's no gun slinging from the past. It's not important.

Getting historical is very dangerous.

Nope.

It doesn't allow for growth.

Nope.

And that's just. That's one of our rules. We do have that one. Good. And it's good. And it's a good one. Because, you know, if you want your loved one to change, to be better, you're going to have to believe them in their future self rather than their past self. So you can't allow that. You know, you can't. We're firm believers in speaking, speaking into existence. So if we talk about the past. I mean, if you're going to talk about the past, why did you forgive them in the. In the first place? You don't forgive them. Right. I mean, you just get out if that's the case. But if you're going to decide to forgive, we talk about forgiveness. Forgive all the way.

Yes.

You don't forgive half ass.

100%. Yeah.

So.

So that's in the. That's in the rear view.

That's in the rear view. And you don't look in the rearview mirror. That's for sure.

Can't go forward that way.

What about parenting? I mean, you have great daughters, from what I hear.

Thank you. Thank you.

How have they tested you?

Well, I will say it's funny. So both having, you know, both daughters, the oldest one was really kind of a homebody. We were always like, don't you want to go out and have fun?

You're trying to push her to do bad things.

Push her to do fun things. Fun things. Safe things. And I would say was she went to Copper Ridge middle school in D.C. ranch, and that was the year where they split off to high school and went two different directions. So a lot of the kids went to Chaparral, our school district in McDowmont Ranch, where we lived at the time, sent them to Saguaro High School. And she was like, you know what? All the friends that are going to Chaparral, I'm good. I'm gonna go to Saguaro and have a new experience. So she went to Saguaro and struggled. Struggled to make friends and what have you. And got in quite a bit of trouble her junior year. And I will say that Dave and I are very strong parents. You know, lead with love and compassion, but also know that our kids are not necessarily our friends. We have to be the parent first.

Right.

And that's hard. So she goofed up quite well. Yeah. And we literally wrote up a contract saying, you're in trouble. This is everything that's happening to you.

You bring your real estate experience.

I brought a contract to the table with this junior in high school. And if you screw up, we're going to add two weeks to this. And then if you screw up again, we're going to add a month like it was. It was a really strict contract. She signed it, and we signed it, too. Well, we went through the process of that timeline, and then she goofed up. We had to add the two weeks. So I will say, Corny probably didn't really like us a whole lot until her sophomore in college. She came home and she sat us both down and looked at us both and said, thank you.

Isn't it interesting how your kids will test you and thank you later? It's. It's the craziest thing, but it's so cool that you said that because I think a lot of parents, they. They try so hard to be their kids friends while you want your kid to be able to open up to you. I tell my kids all the time, like, listen, I want you to be happy, but it's not my job to make you happy. My job is to keep you safe.

Yes.

And to make you a good human.

Yes.

So if you hate me along the way, I will sacrifice. I will make you the most miserable kid in the world. I don't care if you sick cry. I'm glad to hear that because I. My job is to keep you safe above all things. Now if you can be happy and safe, I'm all for that. Yes. But if I have to jeopardize your safety to keep you happy. You're counting. Count me out. Yes.

I'm not doing that 100%.

So that's. We talk about that all the time. That's good. But you have to also, like, there's a balance also in that as well, because you do want your child to be able to open up. Yes. To you if they have problems.

Problems.

Yes. Or if they, you know, have some type of insecurity or, you know, things like that. I had to learn that there was a time where I was a little too, like. I don't want to say aggressive, but I was like, more like, hey, you know what? You got to do this, and this is the only way to do it. That they felt like they couldn't mess up. And I. I wasn't relatable, so I had to change it a little bit. But they still know that. Hey, you know what? I'd rather you come clean to me and tell me I'm gonna love you no matter what you do. I'm gonna forgive you no matter what you do. But you're still gonna get in trouble.

Yes.

And I'm still. You're still not gonna like my answer, but it's never gonna affect how much I love you and care for you. And then that's never gonna change. Beautiful. I'm gonna love you more than anybody else loves you in the whole entire world. I guarantee you that Nobody's gonna love you more than I do. So I love that. So we talk about that. But, yeah, I had to Kind of explain that. Hey, no matter what you do, I'm gonna love you forever. But I'm still not in this to be your best friend. I'm here to keep you safe.

That's right. We're supposed to give them shelter and feed them and give them love, and that's what we do. And then hopefully, we get an A on our report card when we let them go into the world.

Exactly. Exactly. You know, we're so hard on ourselves as parents. You know, I have a very difficult childhood. You know, growing up and everything, I wanted to be the different mom. And I think that I am a good mom. I'm a great mom, because I live through that, you know, and, you know, with Andy's, you know, he. His mom left when he was 2 years old. All these different things. Like, you know, I. I think I. I won the lottery with Andy because I'm, like, the best woman in the world. Because he didn't have a good example growing up. I can give him a plate of beans, and he's like, oh, my gosh, this is amazing. And it's like, okay, it doesn't take much, but at the same time, it's like, what. What is it that you think, you know, like your kids, you, like, you have a certain. You have a certain upbringing. What is it that you had to change in your upbringing that you think that you didn't want for your kids?

Well, I will say I was raised by a retired army sergeant who was very, very strict and didn't realize it until after his passing that he was raised by an alcoholic. So there was a lot of anger issues there. And in my upbringing, kind of being told. Well, not kind of being told, being basically being told I wouldn't amount to much and that if I didn't pull my head out of my ass, I was going to be a loser. So I was raised with negative reinforcement as a kid, and that was very, very difficult. Very, very difficult. And growing up with that, and it's. It's fared me well in business. Like, I'm always like, clients first, what have you. But in my marriage, it really wasn't that helpful. Right. Because I wasn't standing up for myself and what have you. So when Dave and I separated, which I shared before, it was a really amazing moment, even though it was very difficult, is when I found myself again. It was beautiful, you know, going through that. That process of, who am I? You know, I went and jumped out of an airplane on my 42nd birthday because I'm like, I want to be free of fear.

That's so awesome.

So I took my oldest daughter and we jumped out, and then she jumped out first. I'm like, oh, what did I do? She better land or Dave's gonna kill me.

That's hilarious. That's so cool that you said that, because one of the most pivotal moments in our marriage I can say was because I made a change and I started loving myself and valuing myself. See, as women, we tend to serve and give so much to try to please everybody else, to make sure our kids, you know, have.

Everybody's taken care of.

Everybody's taken care of, and God gives us with the serving heart. But at the same time, it's like a lot of the stuff that we do, it's not that they don't care, but it doesn't matter as much to them as it is to you. To make everything perfect, to become this perfectionist, and you quit not. You quit enjoying it, and you forget who you are. So you had to remember and you had to rediscover who you were in order to become a good wife to Dave or even be a good mom to your kids. Share a little bit about what loving yourself or that self discovery was like. Give an example. Like, you went and jumped off an airplane and all that. But what else did you like with me? Like, I started, like, taking showers and fixing my hair and maybe wearing makeup and doing stuff like that. But what are some of the things that you did that allowed you to really, like, remember? Because I talk to women all the time, and I ask them, like, what is it that you like to do for yourself? And a lot of times they can't even answer. They're like, well, I don't take care.

Of me, which is awesome. So I feel like it's. It's definitely a beautiful thing.

So you both had a total recreation in who you were.

Yeah.

You were born. And the new Dave was born. He created something beautiful.

Absolutely.

Which is awesome.

Beyond happiness.

Good, good, good. Now going. Going into, like, the. More of the business. Business side. What are some things that you think as a leader? Like, what makes a good quality of a leader that you think that you. That you implement in your team? That's. That's growing and growing and growing, obviously all the time. But what is something that you see that a good leader must possess as a woman?

I would say one of the things I think is the most important thing is being at the level that you are with new agents. You know, I remember when I was a new agent, I can Go back there right away and then kind of talk through. What is that?

Like, so you're not too good?

No.

That's awesome.

Oh, gosh, no. But, you know, kind of going through this scenario, it's like, okay, you have this client. How do you speak with that client? How do you show a home? Like, how do you go through this process of helping them with that, the biggest decision they'll ever make? Right. It's not to be taken lightheartedly. So I would say what I possess is that that care, love, concern, empathy that I give, I can teach that to them to move on and show their clients that as well. And I love that piece.

What about one of the people that you would say that's a good success story of somebody that maybe had it hard and you helped them. That's maybe one of your team members. Like a success story, maybe.

Absolutely. So I will actually share the story of Emily. Emily knew her. She was probably in real estate a few years before, before she met with us and joined the team. And during her transition in real estate, we kind of noticed she wasn't always engaged. But then when she was engaged, things would go well, and then she kind of lay off a little bit. And I can't remember if it was probably three, four months into working with us. Dave's like, what are you doing? What are you doing? What do you want to do? And kind of gave her some tough love. And it's funny, it's. Now she's married, has a little one moved off to Georgia, which I'm so proud of her, and I love her to death. And she's always complimented us and even today told us that, you know, because of that guidance that we gave her and helped her kind of get off the fence of either do this or don't, but do it right. That she found herself and became a better agent and then even shared with us, becoming a better person because of it. That's emotional for me to hear that. Like, it's amazing. And in that transition is helping her to achieve financial. You know, a financial milestone that she wanted to achieve. You know, we've had agents on our team that, because we advocate for this, of course, as we should, that they buy their first home.

Yeah.

You know, we had a couple agents last year buy their first home.

Right.

It's awesome.

Yeah.

You know, and helping them achieve their income goals. You know, one agent paid off her student debt that she's had for I don't even know how many years. That's what fuels us. Like, how can I help make other agents better agents and achieve the goals that they want to achieve, but also have accountability. And her words, a little tough love.

That's cool. You said a lot of really important things that I think think are. Are essential in building a successful business that'll keep you, like, growing and scaling. And one of them is, you know, basically, you know, starting and thinking, like, you're not too good for them, obviously. But the big thing is you believed in Emily more than she believed in her own capabilities. And it's. It's really cool because sometimes it takes a level of discomfort of getting, you know, being like, hey, you know what? I believe in you. You're going to have to do these things. But quit playing patty cake. Quit standing in the corner. You have more potential in you. And a lot of people take offense to that. A lot of people are like, man, why would you be picking at me? Why would you say that to me? Like, hey, I don't have to do this. I'm an independent contractor, whatever. All these different things that. And people don't really see that. If you can show your heart and be like, hey, you know what? I believe in you, and you have more in you. What are you doing? Sometimes you have to question people. Yes. And they'll get it from you, which is. Which is great. And another thing you said that I love, and I think it's something that. That we do a lot, too, is like, you offer a pathway to success, not just for you, but for all of the people that are with you.

We want to win it together.

You have to win it together. You can't be the person that's on the top of the, you know, the food chain and have everybody else starving. Like, you have to make sure that they can see a future for themselves being with you. It's funny because, you know, we have a. We have a pretty decent car collection. I was like. And we had somebody come over and do a video at our house. And I was like. And then we're talking, and they were like, oh, you have this, this. And I'm like, hey, you should see some of the guys that work for us on our team. Their cars are way nicer than ours. Like, you should see theirs. Like, it's awesome. We love it. Like, we don't really, like, care two shits about cars. We like nice things. But, like, their cars are the ones you want to look at, and those are people that work for us. And that, to me, makes me more proud than having a Lamborghini and having all these Nice things or whatever. If they can have it, and I can see that they love what they do and they're successful and we helped get them there, then that's. That's what success really is, when you can show that you're actually helping other people get to their goals and dreams. That's beautiful.

That's a beautiful thing.

The fact that you help Emily and, you know, even if she's in another state now, you knew that, you know, that you, you know, were a part of building her life and gave her those eyes, those lenses. I mean, that's what success really is. That's what helps you sleep at night.

It's a beautiful thing.

So that's awesome that you do that. That's really cool. So how can somebody get a hold of you if they want to, like, say, hey, they want to learn more about being in the Pinozzo team? And, you know, obviously you create this unbelievable training and pathway to success. You obviously care about people. You obviously don't want to just. Just, you know, have people have their licenses and just, like, waste it away. You want them to get their. Their goals and dreams, and it doesn't matter where they come from. They have experience or not. You know, you're going to teach them. You just want people that are coachable, that want that dream, and you give them all the tools necessary, and it really doesn't exist. It really doesn't exist.

That's true.

So how can people really reach out to you and really get in that. And that way you can give them some coaching and really, you know, get them to be the best selves.

Absolutely. I would say, you know, definitely check out our Instagram. We'll give Dave's number. Okay. It's 480-785-6990.

Okay, perfect. Now we'll put. We'll put it on a link or something that they can click on as well. Repeat it one more time, though.

480-785-6-9906990.

Okay, perfect. Perfect. And what's your Instagram?

It's the Panazo team.

The Panazo. How do you spell it?

P A. The.

I love the swag. I love that. P, A N O, Z.

Z O. Panazo.

Panazotine. I like it.

Gotta say it with your hand.

Okay.

Yes.

The Italian. I love that. I love that. Yep, Very good. Okay, so what is, what is one other life advice that you can give us that has given Kim the success that she has right now? What is one thing that you would say, hey, you know what? Because I learned this skill, because I can tell you're a happy person.

Yes.

I can tell you're a happy person. I can tell you have fulfillment in your life and you do this for fun. Obviously, it's a. It's a good business and everything, but what is one thing that you had to learn that, you know, that you implement to have? Because we're all about, you know, everything in life. I know you're a faith. You have faith in your life. I know family's important to. I know your business is important to you, but I know also that you have all these elements about you that make you. You. What is one thing that made you get there?

I have to say it's faith. I mean, number one, and having the support of my husband and our family is huge. Like, that reason you get up every day. And the faith that I can do it.

The faith that you can do it.

Yeah.

And the belief that you have in.

Yourself and my daughter saying what a great role model my mom was. That's. That's the success right there.

That's the success right there. The. The example that you give the strong mom to leave your generations wanting to be like you. That's so huge. That's so awesome.

Beautiful.

Kim, thank you so much for being here on the show. I really appreciate having you, and you're just amazing. Hey, reach out to the Pinozzo team if you really want to learn more about real estate, or if you're in real estate and you're looking for the actual team, that's the dream team that can get you to where you need to go with all the training. Check them out.

Absolutely. Thank you so much.