Debra Now Makes Over $160,000 a Year as a Notary Signing Agent & Signing Service Owner | UPDATE 2023

Oh my gosh. The very first episode of where are they Now? Here with signing agent, or should I say signing service owner Deborah Smith Owens out of the great state of North Carolina. How you doing, girl?

I'm doing great today. Doing great. How about you?

I am so good. So I literally watched our interview from four years ago when you were making $5,000 a month being a part time signing agent in North Carolina. And I want to tell you right now, you have not aged a single day. Girl, you are looking as beautiful five, four years ago as you are today. But just so glad to have you back.

Oh, thank you for having me, Mark.

You're so welcome. I mean, at this point of our journey together, you know, you're a friend, you're a family friend, we have grown very close over four years. You are the ambassador of the attorney states for the loan signing system. So it's really cool. I know I've been following your journey intimately because obviously we're very close, but I don't think a lot of people have. Right. And you were one of my first successes as a notary public loan signing agent in an attorney state. Now we have countless of them. But you were one of the first ones saying, Mark, you can make money in attorney state. And so I argue that you're kind of the pioneer of successful notaries, notary public loan signing agents. When I say that back to you, how's that kind of make you feel?

It's unbelievable to think about when I stop and think about where I'm at right now versus where I was when we started and the conversation we had in the very, very beginning when you were like, oh, I really don't want you to get excited about how much money you're going to make because you're in an attorney state. Deborah. That was like, oh, he doesn't know me. I am competitive.

I love it. And we're going to talk in your mindset because now you own a signing service. I want you to know about the.

Name of your signing service, Ink Signatures llc.

Ink Signatures llc. I mean you went from a part time signing agent to a signing service owner. We have so much to uncover in this conversation. You know, how much money is your signing service on track to make this year in North Carolina?

On track this year? We're on track to make 160,000 this year.

$160,000 in 2023. And to go from a five thousand dollar month part time signing agent to notary public loan signing service owner where you've tripled your income or revenue is probably a better word in the past four years is incred. So we're going to talk about all that. I'm so excited to share people where you've been, your journey but you know, let's just dive into it because you said something so awesome is, you know, when I first started the LSS program, I had so much feedback of like, you know, Mark, you can't make money in attorney states. And I was a young trainer. Right now I am a wily vet of training signing agents and along with your help, inspiring so many. And again, Deborah, I want to make sure I get your. You give you flowers right now because I truly believe it wasn't for you, we would not have the growth of so many amazing entrepreneurs in attorney states. You helped knock down this, this mindset. You can't make money in an attorney state. And so I almost want to start, I get overwhelmed with emotions right now because my goal when starting out from day one is to help as many people as I can. But you've helped me do that and so I want to say thank you to you.

You're welcome. I enjoy what I do, I enjoy sharing what I know and just helping people believe that this is possible even here in an attorney state, that it's just not an idea. It is actually an income lifestyle that you can create for yourself.

And people don't know you are an attorney state ambassador, which mean you actually help mentor signing agents in all attorney states, not just North Carolina, New York to Louisiana to Delaware, Connecticut, Georgia. You know, DSO really is my belief is probably the biggest name in attorney states for signing agents agents. And I'm just so proud that I'm part of your journey. And so let's just really talk about that journey over the past four years. So you know what I love? Do what you start out with. And you're like, Mark, you don't know me. You didn't know me then. You're competitive. Like, like I said in the beginning, you know, I've never gotten this business to like pull a fast one over anybody. I want to be very honest and transparent. So when you became a student of mine five years ago, it was like, look, I want to make sure your expectations are aligned. Right? I don't, I do not tell anyone. This is a get rich quick scheme. This is a real business. And I felt in the beginning when I had new attorney state students, I really needed to set you guys up with a realistic thing of like six figures might not be a possibility. Girl, you kick that door down because you made six figures for like four straight years. Um, so I want to talk about more about the mindset though, right? Because I want to show people that, you know, when you, you stick your mind to it, anything's possible. So talk about your mindset here and talk about like, you know, when, when I told you that, you know, you might be able to make a nice little $3,000 a month business that you like, turn your nose to that. Talk about kind of how and why you're so driven to prove that. Because like I said, you're such an inspiration, right?

So I have always believed that we are the masters of our own destiny. And if you tell yourself you can't do something, you literally can't do it, even if the person beside of you is doing it and kicking indoors and getting things done, if your mindset isn't set up to where you can believe that it's possible for you, there's no way it's going to happen. So my thing was, okay, let me, let me gather the details. Let me stop talking and start acting, right? Act on the things that I want to see. And if I can just put a few of those things in place that Mark, that you talked about in the course, then surely I should be able to capture some of this business that's out here by just applying myself in a way that can help me change my lifestyle and have less stress in my life and have more time with my family. So that was my goal, was just, okay, will ride the wave. And when I hit a certain peak, I'm letting Mark know where I'm at.

You know, I wrote something down because I didn't want to lose it. And that is it was time to stop talking and start acting. And, and that's why you are where you are five years later, right? It's this mantra of like, you can easily talk yourself out of something, right? As easily as you can talk yourself into something. And at your point it was like, look, you didn't take everything on the Internet and like, and everything enjoyed. And even the guy you are buying the course from told you that, you know, you probably can't make more than. But you just cut out all the noise.

All the noise was gone. Yeah.

And what I loved about that is, is you had to figure it out for your own, I think too many times. Maybe I was correct. Maybe the Internet was correct. You can't make money in a real, in an attorney state as a signing agent, but you weren't going to let somebody else determine what you were going to do. And I want people to hear that because I think we get too easily swayed by others instead of trying to figure out is this right for me? Because I think a lot of people look for excuses and not reasons.

Absolutely.

You know, they, they hear, oh, you can't make money in attorney state, so they make the excuse. Well, I've read that 18 times on the Internet, so therefore I'm not going to do it. You said. Well, I heard that. Even my future mentor is telling me that, but I still need to figure it out for myself.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Because I believe that to become great at something, you have to be the student first and then you have to learn the avenues that you need to go through in order to be successful. Success is there for anyone that's starting this journey even now, today, with even higher interest rates, it's even successful. There's success for them too. It's just that everyone's journey is going to be different. And my goal was just to believe enough in the possibility that I could get there. It might not happen the next month or six months down the road, but give me time to perfect my craft, give me time to perfect my conversations, my relationships. All the things that I knew that you talked about in the course that was happening in escrow states. We had that same platform here. I just needed to understand how it worked in my area and to work those avenues to my favor.

And this is what's beautiful about this conversation is, is you knew you had to figure it out. And I don't think enough people have that mantra or mindset. It's, they, they, they see something else or someone else and they take what someone else. They assume it's what they can do versus trying to figure out what you can do so you don't let someone else's limitations affect your limitations. And I, and again, I'm just so honored to be on this journey with you because you've inspired so many people. And what's really cool about this journey is you were with my community before the COVID boom, for a couple years before the COVID boom, then the COVID boom, and now the COVID reset. Right. And so you've really experienced like the real entry level boots on the ground. I gotta figure this out. Then you experience, oh my gosh, the peak of just extremely low interest rates. And now we're back to a normalized market. In a 2023, you're on pace to do $160,000. It's like incredible, right? So in 2021, how much money did you make revenue wise?

In 2021, I made 185,000.

Then last year you made about what.

About one hundred and twenty.

And now you're on pace to do that. So. So my point is, what's beautiful is you have this curve that goes like this. But, you know, you did 125, which was, you know, 25, 30% less than your peak at one at 185. But again, you didn't panic, you didn't start, stop, and you just kept going. And now you're going to do another 150, 160. Like, I want people to see this. I think sometimes people see a notary public loan signing agent like you, and they don't realize that you're riding the wave like everybody else. But it's the mindset while you're riding the wave that really determines where you are. So, you know, take me back to like year one and two before the COVID boom. Right. Because I think a lot of people thought, oh, everyone got in the business during the COVID boom. Not true. You were doing it a couple years before the COVID boom.

Yes. When I came in, I didn't know anything, so I had nothing to compare it to. Right. So I had to use. And plus, I didn't have a whole lot of time in my schedule to even go hard with this. So my schedule was literally 8 to 10 hours a week is all I had to apply to learning this new business. And so my mindset was, oh, if I could just make this dollar amount a day, then I'm good. Right. And once I hit that dollar amount, it's like, well, how can I build on what I already have a foundation set for? And if I can do that, then that means I'm making forward movement. I don't have to run fast. I just need to be consistent.

First thing I hope everybody heard is when you first started, you broke it down to days. It's that classic moniker of take a big goal, turn a small goal, turn to micro goals, and then execute your micro goals again. You just broke it down to what I needed to do a day. And then you created actions to get to whatever that daily goal was. And I again, I have these. Where are they now? So they really see how you built your business. It's not something that just happened by accident. It was breaking down your big goals and breaking it down to small goals. Now, you said something entered that part of the conversation. I think everybody needs to hear. And I actually think Covid has hurt a lot of notary public loan signing agents, new notary public loan signing agents because they have something to compare it to. When we were first starting this business, when I was set out to help signing agents like you, there wasn't a Covid boom to compare it to.

Right.

So you weren't able to get discouraged because there was nothing to comparison. Is what's causing discourage like it will never be 2021 and 2020 again ever. If we.

I think it was great while it was there but it also taught me how to expand and how to contract and what I wanted and didn't want in my business. And I think it also taught me that the possibility is endless.

D I wish you can hear the growth in this conversation. You go back and watch our first one and just listen to you now. It's incredible. What you said I think everybody needs to hear is I learned how to deal with growth, constriction and expansion. Yes, growth, constriction and expansion. That only comes with time and that only comes with experience. But you didn't get discouraged of growth, constriction and expansion. Like every business in the world has seasons. There's going to be. I mean we're in a country right now, we're experiencing a borderline recession. It's not going to last forever. But sometimes people think like these constrictions last forever and again it's because they're comparing it to something really need to get Covid out of our head. My belief is we will never see sub 3% rates again. We saw the trouble, we were seeing the trouble that got us into as an economy. It's called inflation. But what's cool about you coming in as a brand new notary public loan signing agent back in 2019, 2018 was you just realized I had nothing to compare it to so I had to just focus on my goals. A lot of times people are hearing this fodder like oh, interest rates are higher than co covet. Of course they are. They'll never be that low again. But that doesn't mean there's not business today for you. You are gonna on pace to do more volume this year than last year. And one would argue that rates and more volatility is higher this year than last year but that that's not relative because there's business out there. But I love this idea of you learn growth, constriction and expansion all in the past of five years. And that's just, I'm just so proud of you man. Because that's what you're Truly a business owner. Right. And that's all I want for you, is to be a business owner. Notary public, loan signing age. So let's speak of that. So let's get people inspired. I mean, if they watch your first on the road, you're making five grand a month. How did we go from five grand a month? My guess is you're probably hiring out notaries who you're paying close to $5,000 a month to. Right. I mean, you probably have a couple preferred notaries in different parts of the east, where you probably are giving them two, $3,000 a month. So you go from earning $5,000 a month and now giving out $5,000, $3,000 a month to one specific note. Like, when I put it in context like that, like, how does that make you feel?

Oh, like, even on the hard days, when I look back and I think about my business is helping supplement someone else's income, it's just incredible to think that where I was and where I met today and what I'm able to help build in other people's families is. It's just mind blowing that my little small business or my little small piece of the pie is literally helping other people have income. Because I hire notaries all over the place to help me build my business, and I'm helping them build their business, too. So it's mind blowing to think that today, a place where I never thought I would be is impacting so many people around me. And they see me and they're like, oh, you're a celebrity. I'm like, oh, no, I'm just Deborah. I'm just Deborah. And I love what I do. And in loving what you do, it doesn't feel like work. It just feels like you are one big family and you're supporting and you're getting support so you can keep going. So that's. That's what I see now.

The fact that you were able to get through the growth is what got you here. And that's what I want to inspire people with. Right. So many people want to be you now. It's taken you five years to get here. Right. They don't see you five years ago. Right. Even like some of your newer students that you mentor in the Ambassador program, it's like, oh, I want to be a dso But I mean, DSO was doing daily goals five years ago.

I called even today.

Yeah. You know, I called Deborah Smith Owens. DSO is my nickname for. So people like, who's DSO this is DSO so, you know, but, you know, they don't see DSO building five years ago. Right. And they don't see you making $5,000 a month and seeing that as a win. There was a moment in your career where five grand a month was ecstatic. Like, when you got on that interview with me, you couldn't be more proud to make $5,000 a month, right?

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

And then. And I share that because there's people in our community who look down on that, and they're missing the bigger picture. The bigger picture is being present in every part of your journey. The bigger picture is knowing that you. When you rewatch that video, and I don't know if you've taken the time to do that, but when you rewatch, you know, a young businesswoman, because you came from the corporate world. Right. It's funny, because when you watch that video, DSO have you watched it lately?

I have. I actually still send it out to people that are saying to ask me questions, how can we do this? Watch my video. That will give you a foundation. And then come back and we can. We can.

Well, it's funny, as your mentor, I see a young businesswoman. When I say young, I mean a businesswoman young in her career as a businesswoman. And I see almost a deer in headlights. Like, it came at you so fast and. But I think that's beautiful is my point is, like, to where you are right now, you're. You're so comfortable as a business owner in that video. You can see, like, your little, like, why is Mark even interviewing me? Like. Like, why am I here? You know? And now, like you just said, I'm just DSO Trying to help other people. And so it's really cool. And I hope everybody takes the time to watch your previous one, because you can see how comfortable you are in this conversation. And. And again, I think people see DSO now and don't realize you haven't always been this person.

Right.

They need to be patient and diligent to get here. And that's why I wanted to do this series. Where are they now? Is they can see the younger businesswoman, and now they see us. Flourishing businesswoman.

Right.

I love how it started out with. With, you know, like, I was gonna. You're gonna prove me wrong. Like, you barely even knew who I was. And, you know, I'm trying to be all, like, super transparent and honest and, like, oh, you can't make more $3,000. You're like, no, I'm gonna prove you wrong. And so. But again, I like to see people have that mindset. So they see what it's taken to, to build and experience the growth, the constriction and the, the now, the expansion. So, you know, let's kind of talk about that. You know, let's talk about your mindset during the constriction. You know, why didn't you panic? I mean, you still made six figures. When everybody said, oh, interest rates are going to crush this business, you're still making six figures. But you go from the best time ever in real estate to a very uncertain time. Now, I believe we're in a very certain time because we know where inflation is headed, we know how we got to control those levers, we know we're headed into a recession. But in 2022 is uncertain. Right. No one knew what was going to happen. Absolutely. So my point is, what got you through the uncertainty? That's my question to you because I can see, I want people to hear like how there wasn't a moment of, maybe there was a moment of panic, but not running around like a chicken with your head cut off. It's like a controlled, okay, what's next?

Right. So my thought was, you know, if the business is slowing down for me, it's slowing down for everyone around me as well as the ones that were giving me business. So it was time to market and it was time to also prepare by putting money away that for the hard times. Right. I didn't go into the freak out mode. Right. Prepare for the slow times. We all always did that. In my corporate role is like, we always prepare for when things would slow down and then have a plan to overcome it or ride the wave until business picked up. That was basically what I did. It's like, okay, it's time to put those corporate skills into play. And what. And look at the game plan and look at the playbook and see where it is that maybe when things were going fast and things were expanding fast, where I didn't have time to really build on those relationships, now it's time to go back and solidify and make those relationships valuable and be a valuable person in the relationships of the people that I have.

I love that because I think what people need to hear is when uncertainty hit, it was time to create a plan. So you can create certainty.

Yes.

I think uncertainty hits, people panic and they don't realize, just slow down, put a plan in place. And what's cool about that is it's kind of your mouth because in the beginning you made a plan of daily goals. You took a big goal, chopped it down to a Monthly goal, chopped it down to a weekly goal. Chopped it down to a daily goal. So it's kind of the same skills you took to build your business is the same you took to get through the uncertainty. And so, again, I'm trying to. I want you to tell your story to help others. Like, it doesn't matter what the market's doing, because you said it perfectly. It's just a wave. Like, it will crust again. In fact, my guess is it's going to crest again Q4, because we're gonna have as many refi boom. Won't be 20, 21, but it will be a mini refi boom. And so I want people to realize that a successful business owner understands that you keep using the word waves. I like the word seasons. Right? We keep going back to, like, there's a seasons of. Of business. And girl, if you got. You got to get business done, get it done right now. I love this on camera. And she's checking her emails because she got business to handle.

I'm sorry.

Oh, it's. No, don't apologize. You're running a business. It's the middle of the work day.

Yes. Yes.

Was that business coming through right there?

That was. It's like, can you, can you get me a notary in South Carolina? Absolutely, I can.

I love. In the middle of this appointment, you're literally making money. Like, literally making money during this, this, this interview. I mean, oh, people are inspired. I'll wrap up so you can get back to your work and like you said, you know, provide for other families. I think. You know what's cool? When we first start this business, it's about us.

It is, right?

It's about our families. But, you know, as you grow, it. It really becomes about others. And. And I. I wish I could describe that feeling. Right? It's the coolest feeling ever, right? You know, because of you, Deborah, because of your efforts and your business, someone's literally feeding their family. It's freaking cool. Like, yeah, freaking. I'm almost getting overwhelmed because I'm like, this is so cool, right? I want people to get inspired because this Deborah could be, you know, I could be you right now. I've had a signing Service for almost 10 years now, and every time I. I help someone, it's like I'm putting food on their table because of my efforts. And that's a beautiful thing, right? It's just such a cool full circle moment, this conversation.

Isn't it, though? It's like, Like, I never dreamed that I would build to where I Am. It was just. I just wanted to be a good student. That's all I wanted to be is a good student.

Just wanted to prove me wrong. Let's be honest.

That too, right? That too, right. But. But in the midst of all of that proving something happened, something changed inside of me that I wanted other people to know. This gem of a business that I had built and how it could help them and in helping them to see this opportunity was what really made things happen for me. And I was like, you know what? If you help enough people to get what they want, you're going to get what you want as well. Exactly.

Right. Well, let's speak about that. Right. You know, before we started, you know, I said, okay, we're going to talk about this in this conversation. And I go, you know, what's your goal with your signing service? You know, I said, are you trying to be the next million dollar, your signing service? What is your answer on, you know, so we're here now at 160,000 projected for, based on the current revenue model that you have with your current business, the current fiscal year where, where you see yourself, what are you trying to build?

So at first I thought I would love to be a Robin Smith or a Molina, you know, have a business that size. But in reality I really just want it to be me just to, just to build my own thing and to be comfortable where I'm at. Not to be overdone or over overthink things, but just to be comfortable building and I'm just good where I'm at right now. I'm not trying to be the next, hottest, biggest signing service that's out there. I just want to be good at what I do and help families along the way.

And, and I ask that because I think that's beautiful. I think there's this, this moniker that, you know, every notary public loan, signing agents and signing service owners, money hungry, right? Every signing service owner wants to be the next, you know, signature closers, the next, you know, Molina and the next Calvin or the next Irene, which is beautiful because everybody has their own goals and that's what they. I asked you to share that because we don't need to compare a journey to somebody else's. It's not about trying to be the next million dollar signing service. It's about being someone who can just feed their own family and give their family enough time of their own to still provide, but and then also have enough space for you to breathe and space for you. Because the honest answer is you want to be Molina side, you're working 12 hour days. Right. That's not everybody's goal. And that's the beautiful part about this business is, you know, where are you now? You know, I've done other episodes of where are they Now? And some of their goals is to be million dollars a year.

Right, Right.

And yours isn't. And, and I think that is the beautiful part about where you are now. Like, where you are now is like, if I can just sustain where I am, I'm happy, I'm helping other people. My family gets time from me, like actual time to do things, and then I can serve my clients. What you said beautiful. In 2021, you didn't have time to build and nurture relationships. You don't have that time to build and nurture relationships. And so I'm just so proud of you and just, and just so proud of you. I'm proud of what you give back to the community, to the world. I mean, you're making a dent in the universe.

Thank you.

I hope you realize that. And, and I'd argue you're making a big dent. And so I hope that's not overlooked. I am very proud to be on this journey with you. And, and I know everyone in your community is very. Than what you do for them. So thank you.

Oh, you're welcome. You're so welcome.

If you're an attorney state, you want to get inspired. I'm gonna put a link down her Facebook group down below. Anyone can join it. You do not need to be a loan signing system student. You know, she mentors LSS students. LSS students kind of get a little more love, but that doesn't mean that she's not, you know, trying to help everybody. And, you know, when we created those ambassador groups, it wasn't just about supporting LSS students, about supporting the entire community. And I would argue there's. We have a lot of really, really amazing ambassadors in our program, but no one has the territory you have. And so, you know, you go to Georgia, you know, you go all over the place. So thank you for that. What a great conversation. You know, I've been getting hit up for years. Mark, where are the students that you did interviews with five years ago? Are they still in the business? Where are they? So, you know, you're such an inspiration, you know, not only because you've built a signing service from scratch. Right. Take five years to get this point, but because you've inspired so many attorneys to specific notary public, loan signing agents that they can build this Business. But, you know, let me kind of just kind of leave with this and giving you my last thoughts. Like many notary public loan signing agents out there, just trying to build a business. You know, what are some final thoughts for them to keep going? Because like I said, this is you five years later.

Yeah.

And it's taken a lot of work and effort. And so what, what would you, what would you say to them?

I would definitely say that it's, there's business in any attorney state. If you just look around you, you see all the houses being built, you see all of the, the industry that's coming into our areas. That means that there's business for you as well. Yes, there may be other notaries in the industry, there may be other notaries on your street, but you also have the ability to make income, a good income in an attorney state. But you do need to have the solid foundations that help you get there. You can't just wing it. You got to have a solid foundation. You got to invest in yourself. You got to invest in a community that supports you because there's money to be made. I've proven it in my career. I'm sure there's other notaries that have proven it in their careers as well that are also in attorney states. But it can be done and it can. And you can live the kind of life you want to live.

Oh, I love that. And that was kind of. I love your message to other, you know, maybe notary public loan signing agents or an attorney state to feel discouraged from other people and what they read on the Internet. And I tell people, be careful what you read on the Internet. But you know, you know, you, you are an ambassador that leads literally thousands of of notary public loan signing agents and attorney states. And you see firsthand it is possible. But it all starts with hard work, patience, watering your seeds, watching them grow, and it's building a business. So with that being said, DSO again from, from me to you. I'm just so thankful for you. I'm so proud of you. And, and, and I'm not just proud of the business you've built. I'm proud of how you've become a giver. And I know this was kind of a. You were naturally a giver even before you met me, but you found a vehicle to really share with others, and you share, you found a community and an industry where you can really give back. And that's what I'm most proud of, is you're giving back. I'm most proud of everything in this conversation that you're most proud of being able to help other families put food on their table. You know, nowhere in this conversation you're like, oh my gosh, look how much money I'm making. It's. Look how many lives I'm changing. And building. Your SS is about helping other people put food on their plate. And you're so proud of that. You know, the money's secondary and so I hope I said enough to you. You know, I know I see you semi annually for years, but just thank you. You know, it's all, it's. That's all I got. DSO is just thank you from bottom of my heart to, to you for being who you are in this. This community.

Thank you so much, Mark, for what you do for all of us.

You're so.

Well, especially for me.

Oh, girl. Without being said, love you. I'm out. Thank you again for sharing your journey with everybody else. And so until I see you next time. Time. Thank you. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Where They Are Now. Bye, Deborah.

Bye.