Notary Makes $80,000 After Leaving Unfulfilling Dental Career | Oregon Signing Agent

You are on pace in 2024 to make how much money in your business?

About 70 to 80. I was just so unhappy in my career. I felt stuck. However, I knew that if I wanted to change things that I had to do something to change my future.

Oh, my gosh. My name is Mark Wills. I am the largest node signing agent coach in America. And if you've ever wondered what the journey of of a notary public loan signing agent who is successful, well, you're going to want to watch this video. I'm here with Elena out in Portland, Oregon. How you doing, Elena?

Great. Thanks for having me.

You are so welcome. So, like all these stories, yours is as inspirational. Let's just start with inspiring people. You are on pace in 2024 to make how much money in your business?

About 70 to 80 is what I'm guessing.

70 to $80,000. When I say that back to you, like, what feelings go through your body, what emotions.

I'm feeling really proud because it's business that I'm generating myself and something that I am, I'm just super proud of it.

I'm proud of you too. It's how you should feel. You know, I'm gonna be very upfront and honest with everybody watching. A lot of times I do these interviews with students who make $100,000 a year, $15,000 a month. You know, you're on pace to do 70, $80,000. And so my question is, you just said you're so proud of it. You know, why don't you get discouraged? Or look at some of these other students in the LS loan signing system community who's doing $100,000 and $150,000. Talk people through, like, why this makes you so proud. You've built what you've built.

Yeah, I'm proud of it because I was in a career that I just felt really stuck. I had a great income. I was giving that up and looking into this just to have more freedom and time. So it was never really going into it about for the money. As far as comparing myself, of course, we all initially kind of do a little bit of that and think, wow, I want to be a six figure notary public loan signing agent and I still want to be that. But I'm on my own journey and I currently have been able to take a lot more trips and have a lot more time for myself than what I did in my previous career.

What I heard is a notary public loan signing agent or businesswoman, more specifically, who. Whose real goal isn't Money, per se, it's freedom and time. And so yes, you can make a hundred grand a year, $150,000 a year, but on the other side of that coin, you're literally working 40, 50, 60 hours. But that it wasn't necessarily the main motivation for you. And still is it like, yes, you'd like to be a six figure notary public loan signing agent, but it's going to be around your own terms. So, you know, I love that you have this great business around what you want your life to be. So let's talk about your old life. You've been a loan signing System student since 2021. Take us back to 2021. And how did we make this? Why did we even want to make this transition? Take it away.

In 2021, I was working four days a week, which was pretty lux, as a dental hygienist. And that was a career I had done for 16 years. At that time, we were very much in the pandemic. I was sacrificing a lot of my physical health to be in that clinical setting, being hunched over people all day. Did I love connecting with people? Of course. But it just wasn't a long term thing for me. I wasn't ever going to have the freedom or be able to build anything for myself. I was building somebody else's retirement again.

Everyone thinks, oh well, you should be happy. You have a $70,000 year job, you give job security. You've been in the industry for 16 years. But were you like, quote, unquote, happy? Unhappy. Something had to drive this wedge in between your old career and taking a gamble on yourself to build a business. So am I kind of close about continue on that path?

Yeah, definitely. Unhappy, bringing it home every day, lack of energy, lack of motivation, not really wanting to. I had a hard time being social in general. I couldn't be around other people after being in that clinical setting all day. So it was definitely unhappy, affecting my relationship with my partner because nobody wants to be around somebody who's grumpy and doesn't want to do anything. But I felt stuck. However, I knew that if I wanted to change things, that I had to take that initiative upon myself and quit coming home and being unhappy and do something to change my future.

First off, I love that, that, you know, things change, you have to change and a lot of people don't make that moment. So I'm so proud that you did. You said that you affected your relationship, you know, with your husband. My question to you is now, how does he look at you? I mean, you must be. You smile beautiful his ear to ear. And so like, how does he now look at you? And how is everything now that you've you're happy again?

Oh, he's so supportive and so proud. He brags about me more than I brag about myself, which is really sweet. But yes, I'm very, very happy to have a supportive partner who wants to see me happy as well.

And that's worth more than a million dollars, right? Everyone focuses on these numbers. Can notaries make $100,000? To me, who cares? Are notary's happy? Seven out of 10 times, it's an emphatic yes. Like, I could not be happier. I mean, what is your favorite business and why?

I mean, I keep bringing it up, but it really is my flexibility and getting to just set, set my own schedule.

What's scared to get where I want to go? If you stay comfortable, you're dying. I hate to say it, that's the truth. You're a 60, $70,000 signing agent who identifies an introvert who continues to push herself. And so if you're an introvert, you can make a ton of money. You just got to stay with it, build a business around you. Thank you so much for this conversation. I freaking love it so much. Well, that's kind of go into what I think is inspirational part of your story. And that's your income journey. I'm looking at my notes again over here. You've been a loan signing system student for four years, but how much money did you make in the first four months?

$100.

100 big bucks. We have students who would see $100 in four months as a failure. Four years later, you're at $70,000 a year, working when you want to work. And if you would have given up after four months and $100, you want to be here. So how come you didn't give up after 100 bucks in four months?

So August was when I got my notary commission and I started the LSS course. I was still working full time. I was doing the course on nights and weekends. Took my time through it. But my goal, I set a hard goal for myself to do my first signing at the end of 2021. And I did achieve that. It was a reverse mortgage and it took three hours, but I got it completed on December 30, 2021. So I felt super accomplished, even if it was only $100. But I met my first goal for that year.

Okay, you beat me to it. You set a Goal.

Yeah.

And again, what I hear is someone who really understands it. Slow and steady wins the race. And you don't need to grow overnight. You can grow in four months. And you set goals, you accomplish it and move to the next. I hope a lot of people are getting inspired by this because sometimes I share these stories where, like Mark, I want to make $100,000 tomorrow. I. And they go out and they knock down $100. I love it. But there's another story to tell, and that's yours. Four months, $100 net goal one. Boom. Now I'm going to goal two. There's no right or wrong journey. The only journey you have to choose is not to give up. And that's where you are. So let's go into year two. You're a brand spanking new notary. You're hearing all these success stories of people making $20,000 a month and now interest rates go to 6. First question again is, how come you didn't see as a thousand bucks as a failure? Because some people email me, mark, I'm only making $800 a month. I'm like, that's incredible. You're part time. So give me the mindset there and then give me the mindset of why you didn't leave the business when rates went up to 6%.

So I used it part time as a notary public loan signing agent. So I was able to cut back my dental hygiene days. So I went from four days to three. And then I was able to supplement that fourth day that I would normally have as a notary public loan signing agent. So that for me was a win. That was my journey. That's what worked for me.

Let's unpack what you just said. And you know, it's funny, in the beginning you're like, oh, it's not about the money. And it really isn't. It was about freedom. You're like, if I can work one day less and make the same amount of money in that one day, I'm not making more money, but I'm gaining back a day of happiness. And I. And I would. I love that so much. I didn't know that. And so again, I hear someone who really values happiness, mental health time more than anything. So when you're making $200 a week, all you want to do is just work one late, stay in the. In the dental hygienist chair. And that was the win. And so the reason you didn't get discouraged, my guess is is because, like, you were winning and winning comes in different forms. And your form wasn't necessarily money, it was getting your mental health back. Wow, that was.

Very much.

So talk about kind of your marketing efforts in 2022 because you shared them with me earlier about all the no's you got. So what made you get through the nose? What made you stick with the business? Because now interest rates are 7 and 8% and you're about to do more money you've ever done in your career. So it has nothing to do with interest rates.

No.

So why didn't you quit? Why didn't you get discouraged when insurance grew so much?

I think for me it was just I couldn't control the interest rates. I could only control the marketing effort that I put in. And you had said in some of your Instagram classes to just keep showing up. Eventually when things chill out and when the business is there, they will call you. And that's exactly what's happened even in the last couple months as we have like peak season for the summer here in Portland with real estate market. But it's just been for me about staying consistent despite the no's and trying to build relationships with those people while we had the downtime. And that's what has worked really well for me.

I hope everybody heard that. And it's funny, you were so mature business wise than you were old in the business industry because you realized early on it's like look, great interest rates was 8,6% double than when I got in. But I knew that if I worked hard enough I can get the results I want. And I hope everybody heard that because again I share these episodes of people getting the mindset of a six figure notary public loan signing agent. And so you're on your way to there a hundred percent. Take us into 2023. I'm looking at my notes. You did $38,000 an entire year. Now that's when you transition from part time to full time. You haven't really replaced your income yet at that point. Why do we make the leap?

It was mostly for happiness. I was just so unhappy in my career and I felt confident in the relationships that I had built with the escrow teams, the closing teams that I did work with. Even if it wasn't a ton of business yet or a ton of money. I knew that they were going to keep sending me work, they were going to refer people to me. And so for me it was a confidence in the relationships that I've continued to grow and mostly happiness just because it felt really good to walk out of that Dental hygiene office. And I didn't do that until refer people to me. And so for me, it was a confidence in the relationships that I've continued to grow and mostly happiness just because it felt really good to walk out of that dental hygiene office. And I didn't do that until September. So it was just, it was at the end of the year. So it's almost one year since I quit.

I am just so, like, proud of you for so many reasons. Like, what you literally said was, I felt confident in my relationships, even though they have not blossomed to what they are today. Like, you knew that if I keep watering those plants, I will get the fruit and confidence. You knew that. I, you know, I've talked to enough escrow officers where if I keep putting in the work, I'm going to get where you are today. And so again, I want introverts to hear this, that you could be introverted, but you can also be confident you can outwork everybody. Just because you're introvert doesn't mean you can't outwork somebody. You don't like crowds. Like she said, sweet. Go to open houses. And so that's what I really heard is someone who's just so confident in their ability. And ultimately what drove them is not money. It was happiness. You would rather make half the money but be happy. And when you can really, really embrace that, then the business almost builds itself.

Yeah.

So if a notary is coming up to you and saying, girl, I need that number one piece of advice to help grow my business, what would you share with them?

The main thing is focus on what you can control and not what you can't. You're not going to be able to change interest rates. You are a single person. You can only go out there and do what you can do, which is continue to network and market and meet people. Because like you always say, if you're not telling people you're a notary, nobody knows. So I have that mindset a lot and just try to get out there and just let people know what I'm doing because otherwise nobody will know. And if you use that approach, it feels less formal. So for me, I set a goal for myself that I would meet or talk to even if it was somebody I worked with before. Eight people every week, whether that's dropping into eight offices, meeting eight realtors. So I just set like a number and having that number made it much easier to accomplish. So I knew, okay, well, I've talked to eight people in the industry this week. Um, or I've dropped into eight offices, whatever it looked like. Um, and that helped me feel like I had more control over the situation.

Okay, let's unpack this. I knew there was something great in there, so everybody heard what she said. So when she realized that, like, what's not in my control is not in my control. But then I realized my effort was. You doubled down on your effort. You put yourself in control of something which kind of made your North Star easier to work. So I'm going to put eight down as the number and I'm going to work towards it because I can control that. So I love this. You just kind of re. You put your energy somewhere else. You still kind of felt like you needed to be a control freak. But you areas that would grow my business. So I can't control the rates, I can't control the market. What I can control is going to eight different offices every single week. I can't touch eight different people in the industry every single week. And again, I want everyone to hear this mindset. So really what I hear is the piece of advice isn't not controlling. It is setting out a specific game plan for how your market is going to be. I think a lot of people just start Monday blind. So what does your eight touch points look? How do you set it up? When do you do it? Do you do it on Sunday night? Do you do it on the fly? Walk someone through your eight touchpoint system so they can maybe emulate it.

Sometimes I'm very intentional with it. So I do kind of a quarterly, like a seasonal marketing where I try to drop off my card to as many people as possible, including assistants and trying to touch base with them because I know that they are usually the ones who are reaching out to me to schedule. Portland is very much like a quadrant based city. It's a grid. So there are escrow teams in each of those quadrants. So I would kind of focus. Okay, I'm going to visit this quadrant today. I would drop into but also real estate offices. Usually nobody was in there, but I would try to drop in because usually they're super excited. Oh great, a notary. We always need one of those, you know.

That's very cool. Okay, so I love this, by the way. So I'm just kind of picking a notary public loan signing agent's brain in real time. And so you pick a quadrant or this is called a geographic location. You would hit everybody that geographic location. Not necessarily all escrow office would be anyone who's a mortgage professional in this quadrant. I would go to a touch point.

Yep.

And then you'd move to the next quadrant or the next region, the next geographic section. If real estate was in your job description, you were getting a stop by by Elena. What did your follow up process look like on those?

So whoever I talked to, I would always grab a business card and say hey, I'd love to just shoot you an email so you have my contact information. It would happen either the next day or two days after. I tried not to wait too long. I would say the longest was a week if it ended up getting busy. But I always followed up with the email saying great to meet you. I also attached pricing lists, professional references just to build credibility since they hadn't worked with me yet. And if it was a realtor or a lender, I had specific ones saying you do have that option to choose who signed your clients.

And so again, I want everybody here like there's no right or wrong way to build this business. You did email marketing as your follow up sequence. So as you're visiting they would get email, follow eco, see email sequences. And again, this is just your way of building a business. And I hope everyone heard there's different ways to build this business. And I absolutely love, I love the quadrant system. I love that if their real estate was in their transaction name, they're going to get hit up by Elena. And so beautiful. Let's kind of segue to the last question here. You've been signing agent for four years, right? Loan signing system student. Is there something that you would tell younger notary public loan signing agent Elena, if you could just help her do something that you know now, what would you tell her four years ago to help her build her business quicker?

The biggest thing is just to stay optimistic, stay positive, stay confident. Because people love to be around someone who has the care carries those attributes. And so the calls do come, even just with a good positive energy and personality. In the beginning, yes, I did. I felt like I had to be like, like you, like super energetic and everybody would be attracted to me. But I found that in my local market that wasn't well received. And so I just started to be myself. Just be calm, confident. And then eventually it helps. Yeah, just be yourself.

When you realize you can't be all things to all people.

Yes.

Is when you attract the people you're supposed to. So the funny part has nothing to do about your market, it has about who you're supposed to be attracted to. And by the way, not everyone's going to love Elena. That's Okay. Not everybody loves Mark, that is for sure. And so. But I. I will be me and find the people I'm supposed to help in this industry, like you. And so I love your piece of advice. And it's. And I think early on, we have imposter syndrome only because we feel like we need to be someone we're not. But I think the imposter syndrome goes away when you're like, no, I'm Elena. I can watch people sign their name a hundred times. Like, come on. When you walk into an open house, you're not kicking down the door and, like, showing pom poms. Like, talk through it for another introvert. Like, you walk in nervous, and you just keep your. Your tone the way you've been on this interview and, like, walk through that for somebody.

So I just come in and, you know, of course they're like, oh, welcome to the open house. And I'm like, hey, yeah, it's so great to meet you. I'm actually here to meet you and not actually to see the house. I am here to introduce myself because I'm a local notary public loan signing agent, or notary in the area who helps with courtesy sign. I'll even hit up ones in my neighborhood, say, hey, I'd love to welcome the new buyers into the neighborhood. Once you guys get to this point, I'd love to be able to help. So I just pitch it as I'm here to help you.

Energy level, just like you are right now. You're not over the top. You just kind of who you.

Yeah, I just. Yeah, that was my spiel.

And then thank you for that role play, because I feel people feel like they got to come in all big and aggressive because that's what people want. But it's almost you not being insecure in who you are. And so I'm trying to help because you had that moment when I would end up just being secure in who I was is when my business grew. And now you're making the money you've always wanted to with the lifestyle that you've always dreamed of. And that's the most important part about this business. And so, yeah, I'm so proud of you. For all the introverts out there, you got a hero. Her name is Elena. But thank you were just being real honest. And, like, just because you're an introvert doesn't mean you. You're. You're not confident, and you don't believe in yourself, and you do all that. Any words as we walk out of this conversation, you want to have to another introvert to help them build the business like you have.

Just do it. Scared? It's worth it? That's all I can say? It's not easy, but it's worth it.

It's not easy, but it's worth it. I love that's gonna be a corporate shirt. It's not easy, but it's worth it. I'll wait. Well, thank you, Lena, so, so much. And I. And I really thank you. Thank you for taking the time. I know you told me I was so nervous all day, but you crushed it. And just thank you so much. And I'm proud.

Thank you.

Appreciate the opportunity.

So welcome. By.