Overcoming Obstacles in Contracting - Anna Arakelyan

Hey, everybody, it's Jim Johnson here, the head coach at Contractor Coach Pro and your host with Contractor Radio. And I am super excited about our episode today. We're going to be talking about obstacles. And obstacles are those things that get in our way that if we don't have the right amount of drive to get past them, we tend to get frustrated and end up doing what the worst possible thing is, is quitting. And so we're going to talk with somebody today, our special GU who has dealt with all kinds of obstacles and continues to come out on top. And it's super exciting to bring this person on because I got to meet her whenever she first started with the company that we coached. I've got to see her grow over time and accomplish the things that she's accomplished. And I think her story is going to be impactful on everybody out there. But I want to give a little tip for whenever you're dealing with obstacles, don't look at them as a negative thing. Turn them into positive. Really challenge yourself that every time something gets in your way, this is an opportunity for you to grow. It's an opportunity for you to maybe approach things differently, to think through a puzzle, to solve a problem. And it's a challenge that's going to help you become not only better at what you do, but possibly even a better person. And so when you change that perspective on how you look at these obstacles that get in our way, you have this opportunity to grow and put yourself into this growth mindset that can change a person's life if they really want something bad enough. And that's what it comes down to. How bad do you want the thing that you're after? Because if you want it bad enough, you'll find a way to jump over, climb over, dig under, go around, break through, what. Whatever it takes to get through those obstacles. And so today, we're going to bring on a really special guest. To me, she's really near and dear to my heart, probably more than she really realizes sometimes, because she's been very supportive of us, and her growth has been amazing. Anna, she is the office manager with United Contractors in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Welcome to the show, Anna.

Hi, Jim. Thank you. Thank you. And there was some great words that you just said about the obstacle.

Oh, yeah.

Having me here today, I'm very excited.

Yeah, I am pumped. It's one of those things. I've been watching you as you've grown in this industry. You kind of came on as an administrator first, and you got really good at that. You started to tackle things, take on projects, do things, things that were not above and beyond what you were asked to do. You became office manager and you even got into some sales this year. And I'm excited to talk to you about that part too. But before we get there, can you give us a little background like we talked earlier? You're Russian, you're from Moscow. Like, what brought you to the US and how did you get here and how long ago?

So, yes, I am from Moscow, Russia. And I was there living there for like 20 years. And I was always, like, dreaming to live, you know, somewhere by the ocean, you know, like warm, because as you probably know, it's like very cold in Moscow. So when I was 17 and I was deciding on the university, so I saw this on opportunity to go to study hotel business. And I was thinking that will be interesting because I will get a chance to travel more. So that's why I just, you know, I started that. I didn't. Didn't have any other reason, but just only the opportunity to travel because I was always thinking, you know, I have to get out.

Yeah. So. So was it that you wanted to get away from Moscow so much or was it more that you wanted to travel, Be close to the ocean, that type of thing?

So I wanted to travel, but I always had an idea in my head that this place is great. You know, I love my country, but it's just not for me. I just don't belong there. I just feel like it's just the. Moscow is very big city and it was just too much for me. So I wanted to travel. And I was traveling from like 10 years old. I went to Africa, I went to Europe. So I was traveling different places. I had the chance to live in Turkey for like eight months, and I was excited to see the other continent, which was America. And that's how I found my way to just get here first. And I liked it.

So university, you came over here. Did you go to school here?

No, I didn't. I just came here. It was like program for students. So they send me, like from my university just to. Just to see and practice the language and just to see how it is, you know, somewhere else. So that's. But I didn't. I never went to study here.

So almost like an internship. Come over and actually like, do the job, do the work, see what it's all about and make sure it's the path you want to follow. So I think it's interesting that you have that kind of hotel industry background and a Little bit of the focus of United Contractors is this royal treatment thing. Like you really want to roll the red carpet out for somebody each time that you do work with them. We worked on that as getting your system set up. So I think that's kind of a neat transition over. Did you have any impact on that at all?

So I had a chance and opportunity to work in the hotel actually when I was studying. So I was studying night times, like evening times just so I could work in the morning. And I really just wanted to get some experience. And I was working in, that was in Moscow. So I was working in the Marriott Hotel, which is the biggest chain in the world. And I loved it so much because they, they took care of employees, you know, and I had an opportunity to meet people from all over the world. And at that time, I never been to America, so I just met Americans there. I talked to them and they were so happy all the time. You know, that's, that's also was the reason why I wanted to come here because I loved, you know, they, they were so, how to say it? Patriotic. You know, they like their country and they, they were always so excited about it.

Just a little bit. Just a little bit. Yeah, we tend to be a little patriotic as super cool. And Marriott, one of is just almost overboard on service. I'm a, I'm a Marriott Rewards member and I've got like this platinum level status now. So anytime I walk in they're like, oh, Mr. Johnson, I understand you want to be on the top floor. And I know that you like this with your pillows. And they got, they really go overboard in that treatment. And you guys kind of do the same thing with your contracting business there, right?

Yeah, we, when I started to work here, I had this experience, you know, of how it was in Marriott like you said they were, they had a database on everyone, you know, like we knew I wasn't working on the front desk, so I was, I knew who is coming to check in like three hours before, before you arrive. And I already knew, you know, that you come in, what you like, what kind of tea you drink. So we had the whole database. And when I started to work here, I had so much experience that I was telling to Ronald, he's the owner, I was telling him about it and we implemented some things from that.

Yeah, it's really cool how you guys wanted this uber customer service feel to what you do. And it turned out really, really well. I think it's been something, one of our most proud times of working with a client Is seeing that thing because other people might go that's like way overboard, way hokey and way, you know, like, like. But it's real for you guys. It's something you actually truly believe in. And, and I think your customers see that impact before we get into some of the obstacles you've dealt with. What's your, what's your greatest achievement today? That doesn't include family stuff. That's easy. So greatest achievement today.

That would be. Simple answer. It's just, you know, I really proud of just what I achieved, you know, like just to move here all by myself. Like I was just by myself. Family was, I'm not talking about family but they didn't support me really so they were there and I just did it by myself. I had a thousand dollar in my pocket and I just did it. I wasn't afraid and you know, I knew that I was believing that something great is there. So I just, just like did it. You know, I was, I wasn't afraid, I was just like just walking there. So I'm really proud of that.

Don't ever lose that. It is something that the younger we are, the less afraid we are to take risk and you know, jump off the deep end diving board and all that other good stuff that you hear. Keep that, remember that and focus on that because it's what ends up bringing opportunity to us. And I think the more that people don't focus on the fear and they, they focus on, hey, the opportunity of things, it tends to work out pretty well for them. So you come over your hotel industry. How did you get into this whole, I mean who tricked you into this whole contracting thing? No, just kidding.

Someone great. So I met Ronald and we just started to talk and he's the owner of this company so he introduced me to this just step by step. So I was telling him about my experience, what I did before. I was telling him all the stories in about my hotel. How I had to wake up like four in the morning, go drive two hours to get there and it was like minus five degrees outside. And I was telling him about it and he told me after that, only after that, that he felt like I could be helpful, you know, like he felt like I'm hard working person, you know. And he started to give me some tasks, you know, just to see what, what is it, you know, what I am capable of. Basically at that time my English was not on this level definitely. So I was having some hard times. But I wanted to, it was a challenge and I like challenges. So there was a challenge that I wanted to do. So I googled a lot of things. I did a lot of researches. YouTube and he was giving me tasks and I was just thinking, how can I accomplish them?

It's one of those things I've noticed about you. Like if somebody gives you a task, you don't need a lot of instruction on it. You will go and do the research and find the answers that you need and do a lot of problem solving on your own. While you will take some input, of course. But you have this ability to go, okay, there's the problem, there's the challenge. How am I going to solve that and not have to rely on everybody else? And you mentioned it earlier, like being very willing to hop off on your own. You didn't need family, you did all this. Your greatest achievement is to do all of this on your own. I think that has a lot to do with why you're able to overcome these obstacles. What was been the most difficult thing that you had to get figured out to be in this contracting world of ours?

The most difficult. I just. I just didn't know anything really. You know, like I. It was like a. I was studying hotel business. You know, I was working in the hotel. And here's roofing. You know, I couldn't even say the word roofing. I still can't pronounce it. People sometimes they ask me what so. But at that time I didn't know what is the ridge, what is the eve, what is the rake, what is. You know, I didn't know anything about it. And more to that, I didn't even know in Russian language what is it, you know, because I never studied roofs like. Like at all. So everything was new and. But the biggest thing I think was language. You know, the language was the very, like, hard obstacle for me. I couldn't. So my problem was I couldn't talk on the phone. So Ronald told me, you know, he was giving me tasks and one of the tasks was like to call someone. And I realized I'm very afraid to call someone because we live in South Carolina and people talk with accent here. So I called someone and I didn't understand anything, but I did it on the balcony somewhere so he couldn't hear me. I didn't want to show him that I couldn't do it. And I just told him, you know, he didn't pick up the phone. So I left the voicemail. At the time, I didn't even know what is the voicemail and how to do it. So what a lot of, like, obstacles like this, you know, transferring from my culture and to how to do things here.

Well, you're obviously much better with the language now. What'd you do to get better? Did you. Was there any kind of tools that you use, or is it just complete immersion and you're here in the US you have to figure it out. What was it that solved that?

So I was studying English for, like, a long time, you know, for like, 10 years. It was the second language in my school. But they. They teach us, like, just. Just basics. So when I came here, I was thinking, you know, I can speak a lot, but in. In reality, it was just like, I couldn't understand what people say, especially in South Carolina, like I said. And I really watched a lot of videos, you know, movies, just to see, like, how people talk. And I just watch their mouth, you know, like how if it moves. And I read books and just. Honestly, also the big thing for me was to find a lot of American people that I start to talk every day. And not being able to talk in Russian language, because at that point I just thought I just. I didn't have any Russian friends here, so I just spoke to my family on the phone. That. That was all. 90% of the time, I had to speak in English. So that was.

Yeah. And Ron's. He's Colombian, so there's some Spanish involved there, too. So are you picking any of that up while you're over here?

I can. I started to learn Spanish when the quarantine started, but I can understand just a little bit, but not much.

Yeah, I took Spanish. I took Spanish all through school. And much like you, they kind of teach the bas. And you think, man, I really kind of know this. And go to Mexico or Costa Rica or wherever, and you're like, I don't know anything. I can understand what people are saying for the most part, but for me to communicate with them is a whole day. Is that kind of how I felt to you?

Yeah, it's the hardest thing is to talk because you think you're gonna sound stupid. You know, you think nobody will understand you. And that's what I was thinking that time. I was thinking, my accent is different, you know, and people will not understand what I'm trying to say. But now, what changed since three years ago that I realized that if I'm knowledgeable of what I want to say and I can explain it, it doesn't matter, you know, if the grammar is not going to be on point or the. The word. The words will be a little Bit different. The. The idea is to explain what I want to explain, and I feel. I feel confident that I can do it. No.

Yeah. You're doing an amazing job right here. You're doing a great job of communicating. I know that was a little bit of your worry whenever we first started to do this podcast. I'm like, nah, don't you. You're gonna do great. So other obstacles. You're a young lady, you're a woman. In a man's world, traditionally, has that gotten in the way at all? Is, you know, I know you've started selling. I know you deal with homeowners on the phone. Do they take you seriously? And if not, what do you do about that?

That's a great question. I like it. The first thing is I'm a woman, and when I started, I was 21 years old. Now I'm 25, which is still, you know, I'm almost the youngest in the company. So, yes, it was. I. I had some problems with me thinking that, you know, that, first of all, my colleagues, they. They will not take me seriously. And I even had to talk to Ronald about it at some point. You know, I was worried about it, but with experience, I still stop thinking about it. Like, it. It just went away because now I'm more confident, and I know the information, and I don't feel like how to explain that. I just. I just don't see that being an obstacle, basically, as far as homeowners. I just feel like if you know what you're talking about and you're confident and you like the product that you're trying to sell, being a woman or being a man, being like, whatever, it will never be an obstacle. That's what I think. But I did think about it three years ago, definitely.

So you said two words quite a bit that I noticed. One is experience. And so you had to go through a lot to gain this experience. A lot more than most of us have to go through. And so there's a lot of persistence, and you really stuck with it. The other one is confidence. You know that with experience comes confidence. But you strike me as a pretty confident person, just naturally. Is that fair to say?

You know, sometimes I'm not confident, but I will never show you that. Yeah, I. I just understand that you have to be confident even if you don't feel confident, because people around you, they feel what you feel. And me being like a manager, even if I feel very unconfident, I can never show it to people.

So that is fantastic. So it's it's half the battle. Even if you feel like maybe I don't know everything I need to know or I have all the content I need to have, as long as you give an example that you're confident, other people will feel confident in you. That's really insightful. You know, it takes. Takes a lot of time for some people to learn that. Like, that's the thing that it takes. You know, they feel like they got to get all this experience for all these years before they can actually get confident. Where it's actually the other way around. If you go with confidence first.

It came from the hotel experience because the. The first thing they teach you there that. So, so basically this is the. The way they teach you. You stay there on the front desk, right? And you see, let's say I'm staying there and you coming. I see you coming, and I have it in my head that why you coming to the front desk? You have a problem. You know, why people would come on the front to the front desk, if they're not checking in, they have a problem, right? Either it's a bad pillow, bad neighbors, bad smell, whatever problem, you know, I had to deal with crazy problems, you know, like every day was something new. Every day. And they taught us, never say, I don't know, then this is what will be forever in my head, you know, like, even if you don't know, you just have to figure this out, you know, like, if you tell me something and I don't know, I know there's somewhere I can find out. So my point is that you always have to try to help people, you know, and be like, you know, even if you don't know, you just have to say, you know, like, okay, let me find out. And that's how I put, you know, like, you feel. You feel taken care of, you know, and that's what we teach people right now in our company. You know, if someone calls and screaming and saying something crazy, you know, like, just relax, you know, every problem has a solution. So that's what we should have in our hands.

That is amazing. Yeah, exactly. Every problem does have a solution. Even if I don't know that solution in my head, I have the resources to go find that answer. And that's the big thing you said, you know, we're here to help people. And when we approach it with that perspective, that we're here to help. No matter what your problem is or what the solution is that you need, whether it's me or somebody else, I'm going to give you the best advice I possibly can to help you get to where you want to be. That's really good. So you're pretty 25. Like, wow, 25. I can't remember months ago, I still hadn't even gotten into the contracting industry yet. I was in something else, but at the time I was 25.

So.

Being only that you're 25, you've probably had some mentors in your life. I would guess some people at Marriott, Ron there at the company, parents, family. What's the best piece of advice you've ever gotten from a. From a mentor or coach or somebody just respected.

So, honestly, I think I had two mentors by, like, by this time in my life, I had two mentors in my life. And the first one was my father. He was teaching me from, like, 5 years old. He was telling me that something that is very important, very simple, but a lot of people just tend to forget about it, that everything that you can imagine is possible, you know, And I still believe in this. That's why I'm here, you know, that's why I do things. Because I just simply believe that everything I can visualize in my head. Of course, if it's not pink elephant, but I don't want to visualize that, you know. But if you, like, talk like, you know, real, everything is real and it's possible and you're. Whatever you think you attract, those two things are, you know, those are very important things that I still believe, and I think that's very important for me. And the second mentor when I came here, I think it was Ronald, definitely. He taught me a lot because he's very smart and spiritual person. So. And the biggest. The biggest thing he told me, it was a lot, but the biggest thing I would say it was like, just, you gotta be in the moment, you know, like, just right here and right now, that's that. That what helps me when I have a problem, you know, or something. First I just breathe, you know, because right here, right now, there's no problem. The problem already happened. So now I have to figure out what happened. But to be in the moment, that just came from him. And that's very simple again, but very, like, important.

I couldn't agree more on both of us, like, everything is possible. I try not to put limits on myself and I try to coach people the same thing. So great advice from your dad. I wish I would have gotten that advice as a young. I just. I don't know, I was naturally wired that way, that I think I can do anything and so that helps us get past these obstacles. And living in the moment is so hard for people. It really is. It's a really hard thing because we're always thinking about what's coming, right? What's going to happen because of this problem. All the bad things that can happen, all those negative thoughts get into our mind. We start thinking about everything that's on our task list and this overwhelming feeling of all this stuff that we've got to get. But if we're in the moment, it's that one thing right then, right there, you solve that thing and then move on to the next one. That's really very wise words for somebody that's only 25 years old. Well done. Let's talk sales. That wasn't something that was on the game plan, I don't think whenever you first got started. But if I understand things correctly, you started selling this year. What, what made that happen? How did you get involved in that?

So it all started actually two years ago. Two years ago. So every month I take my notebook and I put the goals and for some reasons I just decided to put a goal that I want to sell. $9,000. I want to actually sell. I don't know why I took this 9,000, but I never sold the roof before. Like, I never sold like something, you know, like that before. And actually I did it, you know, I, I did sell at like a ten thousand dollar roof. And I was thinking in my head the same thing, you know, like if I could put 9,000 and I did it, why didn't I put 90,000 or something like that, right? So. So two years ago I just started to sell. Just, you know, sometimes I don't know why, I don't remember why it exactly happened and how, but it just happened. But it was not a lot. But this year, this year I decided that, you know, I wanted to sell more. I just wanted to see if I can do it honestly. And so I just end up selling the most, you know, from all the company this year.

Did you just say you were top salesman for the company this year? Salesperson.

Sorry?

Salesperson.

This year? Yes.

Wow. So. So what? Can I ask how much?

Yeah, it was. No, actually. No, my.

Okay.

No, that's okay.

Like, we'll keep that. I'm gonna, I'm gonna guess there's a pretty big number. So. Because we don't. Ron doesn't want everybody in the country calling Anna to try and recruit. I get it.

I get it.

So that's awesome. Like two years ago, kind of dabbling in it just felt like it was a challenge and wanted to do something with it. And then here, this last year, you went, hey, I'm going to kind of press the gas a little bit. And so there had to be a lot of obstacles there, right? Talking to customers, learning sales process, solving problems. You know, how did you get all that stuff for you?

So as far as obstacles, like as far as homeowners. Yeah, it was, it was like you said earlier, I was thinking, do they take me seriously, you know, some girl from not even from America coming to my house, you know, trying to sell me something. But I had my confidence that, you know, again, that if I know what I'm talking about, people will believe me. And if I really like what I'm saying that, you know, they will believe me. That's why the obstacle became, you know, not so, not really an obstacle. So that was that, that's how I felt about that part. What was the second question?

So the second part of it is like there's kind of a process to sales. You know, it's something that is a skill you learn that, you know, there's a warm up, there's a creating the problem and solution, providing options and then actually closing people and asking for the sale. Just kind of in brevity, you know, where did you learn that type of information and, and do you follow some type of format?

So three years ago, two years ago, Ronald, he, he found this great coach and he bought, right? And he had this sessions, personal sessions. And I was there behind the laptop, just listening and making notes and you know, we got, we got all this system, the system is perfect. You know, honestly the, the system that you taught us is like perfect. And the person who taught me sales, it was Ronald actually. He is a really, really, really great salesperson. I had an opportunity to be with him a couple times on, you know, on his sales. And I saw how he does it, how he confident about, he's talking about. And I just realized that if you have the right tools and the right knowledge, you can basically just do it. That's how I felt. I had everything, you know, I had this secret recipe, I had the tools, I have the my. I don't want to share it with everybody, but you know what I'm talking about. So everything and you just need to add that confidence and be focused and do it all over again. And that's how you, I believe that's how you do it.

Did you practice a little bit before you went out the first time?

Oh yeah, we role play a lot at the office, you know, we role play every day. And actually right now we are training a new salesperson. And I was training him a little bit and I just saw him doing that, you know, I feel so proud that right now I can pass my knowledge to someone else.

That's super cool. That is. It gives me goosebumps to even think about that. Like, an amazing, amazing interview today. I don't know if you know how amazing it really is, but because there's a lot of people out there, they let things get in their way and I think they have far less obstacles than you do. A lot of them are guys, A lot of them are born here in America. A lot of them have the communication skills. A lot of them have the sales training and background. A lot of them have the knowledge of the industry, but they just don't open the door. They don't get out of their vehicle, they don't create the activity. And that obstacle is in their head more than it is anywhere else. And so to see you do what you've done, I hope it inspires others that are watching this to go, you know, what if she has all those obstacles in her way and she's willing to go fight tooth and nail, claw her way through and be persistent by really just saying, I got to get the experience and I got to get the confidence. Anybody really and truthfully can do this. Do you suggest other young ladies to get into this whole roofing and construction world?

So this is my next. This is not my next, but current task. So I started to do more social media, like you maybe noticed. So, and the reason why is just because I want to share with not only the girls, but more people like my age and other people and probably most of the girls that, you know, this is a cool place to be. Because a lot of people, they don't think about, you know, especially like a woman, like young woman, they will, you know, probably will not think about going to work for the roofing company. But I truly believe that this is a great opportunity and you can make a lot of money and you can, you know, just this is a great place to be and that's what I'm doing right now. I'm just showing my own experience in social media and actually had a lot of, you know, people already reaching out to me, just asking questions. They're curious, you know, because people usually don't think about this and that this is my goal, just to share with the world that, you know, it is a great, great, great opportunity right here.

Well, you're you're absolutely an inspiration to those young people out there, because I see so many people grad from college, and they don't have jobs, they're struggling. And then you throw this pandemic thing on top of it. And we are, fortunately, a business that's a required business. Essential is the word they use. And so there's opportunity here. And I think the young people out there that at least get curious and start to see what it's all about. I think there's a lot of potential for them. And you are going to be one of those people that I think inspire a lot of them to do so. Last question. We've been on a little bit longer than I promised, but I want to make sure that I get this question in. And you may not have even thought about this yet. You know, a lot of people I interview are older than you are, but.