Episode 78: It’s Better to Give Than to Receive

Welcome to the Unstoppable Profit Podcast. Wherever you are today, if you're starting with nothing or are well on your way to the success you desire, with the right people, processes and promotions in place, you will be unstoppable. And now I'd like to introduce your host, Mike Stromso. Greetings everybody. This is Mike Stromco coming to you live from the Living Agency Laboratory. And I am excited and honored to for the next episode in the Unstoppable Profit Podcast. Because I am welcoming to the podcast, the one, the only, the Unstoppable. Patty, Lars, Patti, how are you today?

I am doing amazing, Mike. Thank you so much. I am honored to be here today.

Yeah, fantastic. No, the honor is all mine and I'm grateful that we were able to finally corral you and get you onto the podcast. You have so many things going on and out of admiration because you never give up and you are an entrepreneur at heart that is always in pursuit of the next win, as we say. And there are lessons as well, and wins and lessons are some of the things that we want to dig into today. But I can't imagine that's the case. But there might be some people out there that don't know who you are. So to get us started today, go ahead and give us a, some, you know, a couple things about who you are. You can go back as far as you want. I know you're an agency entrepreneur. Patty Lares.

Go ahead and share.

Thank you. But before I get started, as you said, you know, as Rudy Rudiger said, never giving up lasts forever, so. That's right. Never giving up.

Absolutely. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, I'll give you a little bit of information about me. I was born in Mexico. I came to the good old US of A when I was 11 years old. So I came and started actually seventh grade. There was some issues with schooling that I started in seventh grade, went on to high school, learned the language, and at the age of 16, I had to make my very first, probably one of the hardest decisions ever, which was to move out of my parents house.

And so that meant I had to quit school. I had to now survive and you know, I had to find a job. So at 16 years old, went on and quit school. I came back to school though, a few years later. And just so you know, I did finish my high school and got my high school diploma and went on to junior college and I went to college for a couple years. I can't say that I have a degree in college because I never finished it, but I just actually just learned what I needed to learn. When I turned 18 years old, I was now able to get my license, my insurance license, which became, you know, I absolutely love my career and I am forever grateful that I fell into this, you know, industry not knowing, but, you know, I know God had a plan for me and here I am so. Yeah.

And so, so grateful for your contributions to the industry. Thank you.

Thank you so much. I actually started working in another agency, obviously very young. I worked there for about 13 years. About a year and a half after I had been working for them, I had an opportunity to become the office manager. Can you imagine that at 18? I mean, they had no idea I was 18, but I just really, really grateful move forward 13 years after that, I was blessed and honored to be able to start my own dream, which is, you know, be independent.

Yeah. And about how many years ago was that?

So this Friday, October 2nd, we will be celebrating 20 ally versaries, just get 20 year anniversary.

Wow. Congratulations. That's fantastic.

Yes.

Way to go.

I want to add a little bit to that, Mike, if you don't mind.

Yeah, of course.

When I went on my own, and again, this is if whoever's listening out there, this may be of encouragement, I started from scratch. I mean, I literally was knocking on doors, dropping off flyers. And today I can say that I am so fortunate and I always want to cry about it, but we have about 5,000 clients and almost 8,000 policies. So, you know, anyone's out there thinking you can't do it, yes, you can. Yes, it absolutely can.

It begins with two things though, right?

Absolutely.

A decision and action.

And you took it. Congratulations. That is a fantastic story so far.

And I'll suggest, you know, based on where you've come from and where you've come to, the best is yet to come.

Absolutely.

So let's look back mentally over the last 20 years and I'm going to throw you one out of left field.

Anybody listening out there, if they may, but just start now or they may not have 20 years in yet. What are some of the top things that you've learned either wins or lessons in the last 20 years to help other entrepreneurs out there?

I would say.

Look for help. Don Lone Wolf. I think a lot of us sometimes find shame if you ask someone for support. And I believe more than anything it's that just some of the lessons thinking, what are they going to think of me? Am I going to be judged? You know, how you know, am I going to be seen as a professional? You Know, immature. So, you know, stop with all those thoughts and negative self talk and really reach out. Because those people that have been doing this long enough, like you, myself, I. I know there's many people that have really pulled me through, supported me, helped me. And I would just say, don't wait. Just ask. Ask for support. Why wait 20 years, right?

Yeah. And invest in yourself. I mean, what better thing is there to invest in than yourself and that, Mike?

I think that's the key. Invest. Invest in you. Because there's nothing more you could do. I mean, the best thing that you could do is invest in yourself. And so I had to have a mind shift on that because, you know, like many of us, sometimes I thought, oh, my gosh, it's going to cost how much going to spend versus I'm going to invest.

And yeah, I learned that. So I say, since the moment I learned that, I have continued to invest in myself.

Yeah, absolutely. I've got the same facet to my story. I was sitting in a learning event that I invested in many, many years ago, just before you started your agency. And I'm sitting there listening and I'm thinking, these people already have it figured out. All I got to do is take massive action.

And so I started learning and started learning and I started learning and then I started investing at the highest level that I could get to, and I started learning even more. And that's when it all changed. So your biggest take, your biggest takeaway and suggestion for people out there would be to ask for help and to invest in yourself.

Then.

Anything else come to mind?

Well, I would say that after asking for help investing in yourself, make a decision.

On who you want to be in and not doing, but who do you want to be known for. Invest in your character and practice every single day.

That's right, absolutely. You know, the late, great Zig Ziglar said, motivation is like bathing. It's recommended daily. And as you know, in our circles, we've learned to insert a different word into that. But training is recommended. Training is like bathing. It's recommended daily. You know, sales is like bathing. It's recommended daily. So all of that, right?

Absolutely.

Yeah. Fantastic. Well, congratulations. And I know those are just two of the hundreds of attributes that you've learned so far that make up who you are. But just to make sure that we get this on the table as well, where are you located?

So our main office is in the city of Orange, California. We do have a second office in the city of Anaheim, and that was just because that's where I started my humble beginning. And my passion was to always go back to Anaheim. So we have two locations.

You just took care of it.

That's it.

So you have team members as well nowadays. How many do you have?

So we have. Gosh, there's 13 of us.

Thirteen of you, wow.

Thirteen of us, yes.

So, you know, but behind me, we have the people, the processes, and the promotions. Out of those three, which are the biggest challenge?

The first piece, people.

The first piece. So, you know, based on your entrepreneurial journey so far, what suggestions do you have for people out there as far as leading people?

Well, I would say, you know, as we said earlier, first and foremost, invest in ourselves, because if we want others to be led by us, we need to know where we're leading them to.

Right.

And investing on ourselves. And that allows us the ability to be able to invest in other people and to discover who we're looking for, be very clear, and what we want them to contribute to. How do. How are these people that we're going to hire and team members going to be contributors to. To our dream, to that master massive dream that we have?

Absolutely. And knowing your destination is all you need to get there. So I know you have a destination. In fact, I know you have many destinations that you have, not only for yourself, but for your business and into the future and other things as well. So share with us a little bit about how do you communicate to your team? How do you make sure that they're clear on the destination that you're looking to get to, whether it been sales or retention, as an example?

So what I have learned, truly, in the last five years, Mike, I mean, I've learned all along, but I would say massively what I've learned. And, you know, I know we're doing this podcast, and I can't stop it, but to give you credit, because I have learned so much by being a member of upp. And one of the things is clarity, clarity. Because, you know, at the beginning, it was survival. Let me just sell. I just want to sell. Like, I don't. It doesn't matter. I gotta pay the bills. I gotta. You know, and so then we lose track of that goal, if you will, that destination. And it. We're caught up in the doing and doing, but now it's like just being clear and.

How we separate our departments, if you will, and so that then our team can be. It doesn't seem so overwhelming. They're clear on what they're doing on a daily basis and what the goal is. And aside serving, it's like really making sure that people are taken care of but that they know what they're doing with their day. Really?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And that causes me to think about another UPP member that I was working with the other day who's not quite to 13 team members yet. Right. We're not there yet all the time. But in their particular agency, they needed time. They needed time to focus on finishing the quotes and closing the deal or time to respond to existing clients and they just didn't have the time. So our suggestion in a one on one coaching call was to, all right, well give them a two hour segment twice a week when they can do just that and the other team member will pick up the phone for them. That was a huge aha moment for them. And I know you've done certain things like that as well in your development as an agency leader and your successes as an agency leader. So kudos to you. That leads me to one other thing that we did not plan on talking about as well, but I know you'll respond in a big way. So one of your insurance carriers, one of your insurance carrier partners.

Has a very significant recognition or award that if I'm not mistaken, you are the. Is it the first female agency entrepreneur or is it first Hispanic female agency entrepreneur, whichever it is to earn that prestigious award, Is that correct? Okay.

Well, I guess I wanted to get to this point and not just to.

You know, give us or give myself a lot of credit because obviously it takes a team, it takes a lot of people, you know, to. To get to this point, but to go from where I told you the story to knocking on doors, to implementing, to the point where in the last five years truly have been incredibly a blessing to us. Where yes, we accomplished getting to that point with Mercury, which is, you know.

If you will, the presidential word, and being the number that first female and Latin female to also be recognized by Rough Note magazine. And yes, I was a free first Hispanic female to make it to that magazine. Thanks to many of you, many of our mentors like you and you know, to just really be recognized for the work that we're doing in the community with my team. And also, you know, the accomplishment I get to look back and think of having the two locations and within the last five years also having the opportunity to.

Purchased another book of business of someone who had put in 50 years into the industry. 50, 60 years. And being able to be blessed with and trusted with those clients.

Right. Yeah. That is an honor and a privilege and we got the opportunity to do it again last year, and I know you did as well. So let's talk a little bit about that to help other agency entrepreneurs out there who might be listening and. Or watching. By the way, let me just make sure I mention one thing for those of you who might be watching, you might see me do this a lot. And just so everybody knows, you know, I said to people, I said, have you ever seen me do that before? And they say, no. What does it mean? I said, what do you think it means? It means peace, right? No. And in my personal journey, that means I second or I agree and I'll save the rest of the backstory. So we all do that a lot. We second or I agree. That's why I hold up two fingers, because I second or I agree with anything Patty says, and that's the norm as well. So I hope that hopefully I've been working with Joe as well. Hopefully he's doing that a lot, too. So if he isn't, then we'll get him into a separate coaching session. So back to the matter at hand. Whoops. Sorry about that, everybody.

Strategy, Growth strategy. And I know that's always on the mind of people. And because we're under, you know, not super pressure, but, you know, pressure internally and externally, our carrier partners as an example to grow. Okay, so growth strategies nowadays are organic growth, right?

Yes.

And then possibly acquisition. Growing by acquisition. And I know that you play in both realms. Props to you. Okay, so why do you think that people get the opportunity to do an acquisition versus another?

I like to say that again, as we were speaking earlier, you build character. And for me personally, I know how hard I worked to build my business from scratch. You know, I take pride in knowing that I and my team work really hard to make sure that we provide the best coverage for our clients. So when I think. Which it almost like scared me, when I think of retirement, for me, like, that's never going to happen. But when I think of that, I think of. I want to make sure that whoever takes over feels the same way I do, that I have paid attention and I've noticed how.

They really behave, to be quite honest, like, for lack of better words, people just really how they live their life, how they care for others. And I believe that for many, not all, but for many people who have poured their life into their business, they are looking for someone to continue their legacy the same way they did.

And that's my belief. I'm a deal.

So you help people sustain their legacy.

Absolutely.

Fantastic. Do you think it has anything to do with the, you know, not that I'm into really the Law of Attraction and the Secret and all that kind of stuff, but do you think there's anything to do with the fact that you work really hard, you're well recognized, well respected, you have a fantastic reputation out there? Do you think that has anything to do with you getting more opportunities than, say, Agency B out there?

Absolutely, of course.

So it's important that people work really hard to sustain their agency to make sure that they're doing an adequate amount of promotions out there, to make sure that they're recognized out there. So their names out there. So people see it and recognize it because they will also get more opportunities to grow through the acquisition strategy. Also.

Correct? That's 100%.

Yeah. So what have you. Can you think of one thing you've learned in the acquisitions that you've done so far to help others out there without going too deep? I mean, what should people be looking out for?

Well, they should be looking out for, one, for people that, you know, seem to be. They're getting ready to retire.

But I think most really a fit. A fit for your agency, like they should be looking out for, you know, what carriers these people have, you know, and potential seller. Also, the type of business that they've been, you know, they've been.

Serving, servicing. Because I don't want to take over an agency that may be, you know, has a different type of reputation than my agency does. Right. Maybe it will. Maybe that's a challenge. Right. That may be another opportunity. But at this point, I think that you also should definitely be investing in learning, you know, financially what it takes to do that. Gosh, there's a lot of little.

The process can be long, but it doesn't have to be very difficult.

Right.

Can be very simplified and just really, it's just understanding.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm sorry.

Relationships.

Relationships, absolutely. Keep digging and keep asking great pointed questions and.

As we say, going silent or shutting up, come up with a great question. So fantastic. That's fantastic stuff. So back to organic growth. What do you think the best strategy that you've been developing over the last five years in your agency that has resulted in organic growth? Is there one or two at the top?

Yes. So promotions, I think one, I would say is putting things on, like really creating the processes. And then the other thing is really, as you said, creating a plan of growth. One, that a carrier asks, and two, your team. You have got to get your team involved. You have got to get Your team excited. And so one of the things that I personally feel is that when I learned about promotions and all of that, I thought, this is great, it's great for me to grow. But how do I also bring my team in and be a win, win, win? Because we want the clients to win when our community to win. Because obviously it's our community that we are ensuring and the carrier gets what they need and the agency grows. It's just like, it's really simple to be quite honest. So just creating a plan for each. What I did personally, I just took each team member to look at their capacity and I created a little goal for each one individually and I just incentivized them to meet their goal. And that gave me the numbers to then meet the goals that the companies put all the insurance carriers put on us. And then I thought, well, if all of this is plain, how can we give back? Because I find it that in the giving is that we receive. How do we give back to these people that trust us? So I believe that staying consistent and giving to our community, giving to our team members, I mean, it's no magic it'll happen.

That's right. The law of reciprocity is always in effect.

That's fantastic.

That's how we've been growing.

So continuing to promote. You have a referral program, you mine your acre of diamonds, anything else we.

I mean, we also do. One of the things that we've done that I think that really separates us from the rest of the Is really giving back to the community, to be honest. And then a lot of it has been with the referral rewards. But also social media. How do we get our message out there? How do we get people to know that we exist? Yeah, this beauty of social media now, it's like, why not let people know what we're doing? Why not invite people to do the same?

Right.

Empower people to go out there and. And give themselves. And, you know, one of the things that, you know, I tell the team all the time, it's not always monetary support that's needed.

Right.

Your hands are needed, your smile is needed, a hug is needed. Like really supporting other people that have figured out how to bring money. They just need people to do the work.

Yeah, yeah, fantastic. So that's wonderful. So you've got it going on on the organic side, you got it going on on the acquisition side. What's next?

Well, what's next is really.

Automation, I think, just going with what's happening right now. The technology and a lot of These carriers just making it so simple for people to buy online, we get to play in that room. For me, as automation like, that was the hardest thing to understand. But when I simplify the way my brain works and break it down in little boxes.

Let me draw this box, then I'm like, oh, my gosh, that's like magic, right? So I am currently working, just really breaking down a process of having, you know, a producer, a senior account manager that has the knowledge, that has a personality to connect and emotionally, and then having another support person for that person to process the work to, then, you know, someone else that can support the whole entire team.

Yeah. And that's a great strategy, you know, having the people that bring it in, having the people to properly manage it and protect it. But then the other entrepreneurial strategy, if you will, is to constantly be driving, you know, the if you will, for lack of a better term, mundane paperwork. Right. That needs to be done down to the lowest level and let people grow up through doing that. And some days they might be the senior account manager. And so all we get to do, right, we don't have to do anything. We get to do is keep building teams.

Yeah, that's it.

And when that next book comes in, we just develop another team to handle it. Absolutely fantastic. So I know you are, again, in the middle of one. Could not be more proud of you, could not be more grateful for all that you've done for our industry, not only to inspire other agents and agencies around the nation and across North America, but I know you are such a giver, you have such a huge heart to give and you continually give back. Thank you for giving time today, and sorry to have interrupted you on your camping trip or, if you will, glamping trip, but, you know, that's another key strategy. I mean, especially those who are after it, after it, after it all the time, after it, after it, after it all the time. We got to step back and celebrate success a little bit. Right.

So that's what you were doing out on your camping or glamping trip. How was.

Was amazing. You know, disconnected from technology and being able to still sleep in a nice bed.

Still take advantage of nature. I mean, magical.

Yeah. Back to clarity, right?

Back to clarity. Because believe it or not, after that, I came back Sunday night and I'm like, oh, yes, I gotta think of this and I gotta plan this and I gotta plan.

Exactly. No, I noticed you were on fire when you came back because I. Here comes Maddie with all the messages, which is fantastic. Thank you for that. So congratulations on getting away, because that balance wheel of life, we want to keep it as round as we can. Right? It's not easy.

It's not easy. It's not easy. But it is possible.

Absolutely possible. You know, as long as you're willing to put in the time and the effort and, I mean, think about life like, you know, what else are we going to be doing with time?

Creating, Creating opportunities. Creating. Just really honestly, if I can say one last thing.

My biggest thing is being able to create the space and the opportunity for my team or others that want to go after it so that they can live the life that they dreamed of. Truly this weekend, as you mentioned, Mike, like glamping. I mean, it's really. I say that because I was in my. And my motorhome is old, by the way, but, you know, I feel so fortunate. And I am sitting there and I am thinking, wow, like, how does this happen now? How does one get to be at this moment just really enjoying.

My mobile home, like a motorhome, but, you know, and just nature and food and people. And then I get to go back home and be able to go to my office and my bed, you know, it's like just so much, but we get to create it.

Yeah.

That's exciting.

Just what an incredible adventure it's been so far. Right?

For sure.

Yeah. So let's drop one more thing on the people who are listening or watching. Sound good?

Yeah.

Because, I mean, it's better to give than to receive.

Absolutely.

Aha. I need to write that down. It's better to give than to receive.

I have a reason for what gets written down and crossed out, gets done or later. Stay tuned. Exactly. I second or I agree. So we were talking before we started the podcast about the latest book from our friend Jeb Blunt. And I know he's your friend because at the unstoppable boot camp a couple of years ago, the crowd was absolutely blown away because I don't know if you've heard of her, Patti Laura. Patti Laura spoke at the Boot Camp. And the accolades and the positive comments and the things, the way you moved people at the boot camp. Kudos. Thank you for sharing from the heart. That particular day. It was awesome. But you shared the stage with Jeb Blunt. So anyway, so this is Jeb's latest book, Virtual Selling, and it's highly recommended. A lot of people in our UPP family now have not only gotten this and gone through it, they actually started back to two things, right, Patty. Decision and action. Action. They made a decision to buy the book, and they took action. And the word on the street is their closing ratios are up over 50%. Now, I don't know if anybody that is either watching or listening to this is interested in closing rates going up 50%. I know you're not into that, are you?

I am.

Thank you for your transparency. I got two fingers on each hand. I'm in. I'm double in. Absolutely. So I was just on the phone with back to decision in action with one of our producers this morning on a quick zding, and I was sharing with her what I've Learned on page 63. Get the book and look at page 63. Okay. And. And so I said, hey, do you by chance have the book yet? She goes, no, I don't. I said, give me your address. It's been ordered. It'll be at her house probably tomorrow, and she can dig in. So get the book for every one of your producers is the bottom line, my friends, and put the knowledge in their hands and support them in every way possible, because Patty was just talking about that a couple minutes ago. And supporting people and impacting people's lives personally and professionally, it does not get any better, my friend. Correct.

Absolutely.

So thank you. Thank you for impacting my life personally and professionally, for being who you are. Thank you for spending a few minutes on the podcast today sharing a little bit more about your story and the latest in your journey. Congratulations on 20 years.

Thank you so much. And thank you, Mike, for making a difference in my life and the life of, really, my entire team.

Well, I don't know if that's the case, but thank you. I hope it continues to help. And like you said in the beginning, the number one thing that you've learned in the last 20 years is to what? In yourself?

Invest.

Invest in yourself. So you recommend that every day.

Okay.

Do you know any programs out there that you recommend investing in? If you're an insurance agent.

Listen, if you're an insurance agent and you really want to take your agency to level that you have, and maybe you have dreamed about it, but never expect it, Truly invest in UPP like you transformed. Truly. And I'm not. I mean, I know that I'm here, Mike, but, you know, I will forever be grateful to you and to so many other people. But my agency. And I have written down my agency in the last five years, six years that I've been with upp, you know, grew. I want to say the last big check, which was probably early this year, about 35% from, you know, when we started, I mean, we were really featured in the Roughness magazine. We made it to, you know, the Chairman's Club with Mercury, which is earning over a million dollars in commission with that carrier.

You know, we have. We purchased another book of business, another building. And I just want to say, like, I feel very honored and blessed, but it's all within learning how to communicate with people, to be very clear in the processes, to stay committed to the processes, and to really promote the heck out of anything you do. And is it easy yet? It's three simple things. And I have to tell you, since then, this is how I run my life. Really simple. The power of threes. The power of threes. And I break it down every single day. And I can't sit here and say that it's always, like, really pretty and bright and you just smile. No, it's not. But you know what? It only takes a few seconds to shift. And just, I really realized that I get the opportunity to do it. I don't have to do it, but I get to do it. And so I just feel very honored. And so I would say, anyone listening out there? Sure. And not maybe not up right away, but I would say, why not any program. Invest in yourself, invest in your business, Invest on a coach. Whatever you need. You know, after you, Mike, and me, my business coach. I have chosen to invest in other areas of my life that have now. I have seen the growth in myself, and I'm not ashamed of who I am. And I really. My ultimate goal is to be able to empower and inspire other people to do the same in their life. Because we only get to live once.

So let's live it.

In the words of Benjamin Franklin.

Whatever you decide to be, make it a good one.

Absolutely.

And you, my friend, are not only a good one, you are one of the best. So congratulations on your journey so far. Grateful for our relationship. Thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you.

And thank you for sharing on the podcast from the heart.

Thank you.

You rock. Have a great day.

You, too.

Thank you.

Bye.

Bye. All right, everybody, thank you so much for investing time in the Unstoppable Profit podcast. And our recommendation is if you know anybody who might get value out of these conversations, this conversation today especially, please share. Please share with anybody and everybody you know. Make sure you subscribe to the Unstoppable Profit podcast on whatever plat you watch and or listen to us on so that you can continually get this information dropped into your atmosphere very quickly, because we're going to continue to bring it we're going to continue to bring incredible entrepreneurial stories just like Patty's. All right, my friends, get out there, make a difference, be unstoppable, leave no regrets, and we will see you on the next episode. Thanks again. Bye, Patty. Have a great day. Thank you for listening. If you would like to listen to more episodes or share this podcast with someone you care about, please visit www.unstoppableprofitpodcast.

Com.

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