ROAR LOUD MARKETING with Tracie Schmidt

Welcome to A New Life podcast with Pamela Jean, where it's all about empowering women to empower more women. Get ready, friends, to create a new life. And here is your host, Pamela Jean. Hello, my friends, and welcome to this week's episode of A New Life podcast. This is Pamela Jean, your host. I'm so grateful that you are here with me today. I know that you have 10,000 things that you could be doing, and I am so grateful that you are spending some time with me on this podcast. Hopefully you're multitasking, going for your walk, or listening while you're doing a little bit of your work, whatever. Thank you for taking me along on your journey. Today. I have a very special guest. I can't wait for you to meet her and enjoy our conversation. I have a gal by the name of Tracy Schmidt. Tracy is from San Diego, California, and she has an incredible marketing company called Roar Loud Marketing. Roar like Lion. So I'm so excited for you to listen to this conversation. She's going to give us a little bit of her entrepreneurial journey, some tips on marketing, and just overall going to have a great conversation. So, Tracy, without further ado, welcome to the podcast. I'm so glad you're here. Will you please share with the audience a little bit about yourself?

Absolutely. Pamela. Thank you so much for having me. I've been looking forward to this since we first spoke and met each other, so I appreciate it so much. And. Yeah. So, Tracy Schmidt. I originally grew up on Long Island. Actually. I'm an east coast girl. I'm not sure if you knew that. I moved to San Diego back in 1999. I actually drove across the country with a friend of mine and never went back to the east coast coast. So San Diego is now considered my home. I think it's. If you've been here for longer than 20 years, you could say that you're from a certain place. So. So that's. That's what it is. And I have three younger sisters. I've been fortunate enough to convince two of the three to move to San Diego. And we're super close. We get to see each other all the time, which is part of my. Why, Pamela?

So I love that you have some power and influence to get them to move so far. That's awesome. Maybe that would work on my children, because they all. And I was gonna say, Tracy, it's so funny. I was listening to your voice, and I'm like, she does not sound like she's from California with your. You sound. I mean, you sound More like East coast than you do from California. So I wondered where that connection was. So. Yeah. Yeah, I love that. That's so good. So. So you've lived in. Lived in California since 99?

Yep.

What, like, what do you do for fun? How. What. What did you start doing when you first moved there in 99? And what are some of your hobbies? What do you do for fun?

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I was, I mean, only about, I think, 23 years old when I moved here, so when you're 23 in San Diego, everything is considered fun. So. But what I really found to. To. To gravitate towards the most was the beach, which I'm happy to say right now I can actually stare at the ocean from where I. And I kind of, you know, projected this in my path where I would go to the beach every single weekend with friends, and we would just make sure we got there really early to get a good parking spot. We'd spend the entire day just hanging out, and then we'd go home and barbecue and so getting to enjoy the weather in San Diego and just the kind of the relaxed vibe, which is so different from the East Coast. I was able to bring my work ethic, but then also really figure out how to enjoy and have fun and get that work life balance that I know we've talked about in the past.

Ooh, it sounds like you have mastered that. And truly being able to go to sit in your office right now and see the ocean is goals, right? I mean, I think that's a goal for everyone, and I love that, you know, you live in such a beautiful place, but you also haven't lost the love for it. I think sometimes, you know, I always wondered, if I lived by the beach, would I appreciate it as much? And it sounds like you 100% do.

Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, I'm definitely not a surfer, so we'll put that out there. And I'm the type of person that I'll, like, kind of run in and get the ocean up to my knees and I run back out. We didn't grow up going to the beach, even though on Long island you think that you would. My mom and dad weren't really big beach people, so I, you know, being able to come to a place like San Diego, and I love to kayak. And, you know, one of the things that I want to start doing more is. Is kayaking at the bay. Because where I live, you could actually look to the left and see the bay and then look to the right and See the ocean. So you're just surrounded by, by sound and by life and by people being active outside. And it really does change your mindset. It's changed my health. I've been here for about four years. I've, you know, I've been on a weight loss journey. I've been on a health journey. And I can say I literally go outside and I appreciate the ocean and the sand and every single day. So I have not gotten tired of it, which I'm so thankful for.

Oh, my gosh, I love that for you. That, that is phenomenal. And really, there's nothing much better than the weather in San Diego. There's such a beautiful consistency with temperature. It doesn't fluctuate too much. It's not like, you know, I'm in Tulsa, Oklahoma, so I have, you know, 112 degree summers. And it just isn't quite as comforting as the San Diego weather because it is so beautiful there. So, Tracy, I want to shift a little bit and thank you for sharing, you know, how you got there and why you're there. I know you have started your company, Roar Loud Marketing. What were you doing before you started your marketing company?

That's a great question. So I actually, and I still have my mortgage loan officer license. I have my broker's license. So helping people realize the dream of homeownership has been my career for the last 27 years of my life. And still actively doing that because my business is fairly new. And, you know, it's something where I was able to take everything that I was doing in my mortgage and real estate business as far as building my brand and marketing and using video and getting people to know, like, and trust me and really figuring out a way that I could take those things that make me happy because it's the creative side of mortgage and real estate and help people do the same thing with their business as a salesperson, as an entrepreneur, someone either starting out or someone that's been in their business for a really long time and they're just, it's getting stale. Right. And they feel like it's kind of boring and it's not fun and exciting. So I try to bring that energy that I used in my mortgage business and still use today and created Roar Loud Marketing pretty recently, actually. So it's never too late to start something that you're passionate about is my theory.

I really appreciate you saying that, Tracy, because so many women that I coach and work with have such a mindset block about starting something new now. I don't know how old you are and I'm not going to ask you that question.

I'm not ashamed of it. I mean, this past August and August, I'm a Leo. And that was part of that Roar loud. Right?

So I love it.

Yeah, through and through. I mean, if and again, you don't have to be a Leo and you don't have to be, you know, as I'm considered like a competitive person and an outgoing person, you don't have to be that to live your dream. And so, you know, for me, it's like I just turned 49. Next year is the big five zero, which, you know, I'm starting to get my mind wrapped around that. But at the end of the day, for me, it wasn't about my age. It was about, you know, what could I do to make me the happiest and to also give back to people with something I feel like I'm really good at. And that was really the whole reason. And there's, you know, there's some things in between and I could share with you why I really did end up starting the business. But that was my main thing is how I could give back what's helped me for so many years build and grow my business.

Well, thank you for sharing that. And not to, you know, pinpoint your age or anything, but this is what's so important. Friends, listening is, look, you can start a new career path at any point. Some of the most successful incredible businesses and companies were not started until the founder were in their 40s, 50s and 60s. So if you feel like, you know, I'm 49 and I just, this is too late to start a new career. I don't have the courage to start, you know, a new business or a company. My friends, you have what it takes. If it is a dream living inside of you, it's not going to go away when you get older. It's going to just continue to grow and bubble up and need for you to chase that dream down and make it become a reality. I think we get in our own way of I'm too old, I'm too this, I'm too that. I don't know enough, I'm not smart enough. Whatever the reason is, it is such a lie that we've told ourselves and we have to get out of our own way. Tracy, I would love for you to share the real beginnings of your company. I know that you've been in mortgage lending for 20 plus years. That's fantastic. Congratulations on that. And I'm sure you have changed so many families lives by helping them get into the homes of their dreams. But how did you come up with Roar Loud? I love the tie to the fact that you're a Leo. I'm a Virgo, I'm an August as well, so that I just missed the cutoff, I guess, for being a Leo. But, you know, and to me, you know what? Age really does not have a bearing on when your dreams can become a reality. It really doesn't. You know, I'm 56, so I'm closer to 60 than I am 50, which sounds weird to say, but I don't feel that at all. I feel so empowered and so energetic and so driven, driven to continue my path with whatever my dreams are. And the business dreams that I'm working on right now for 2025 cannot wait. It's so exciting. But age doesn't have any bearing on what we can and cannot accomplish. Even now. Even if you're 20something and you're listening to this, just because you're 20something doesn't mean you don't have something that people that could benefit other people. You have an insight. You have something inside of you that is meant for everyone, the world to be impacted by. So if you're 20 something or 40 something, it doesn't matter where you're at in that we all have something to give to the rest of the world. So, Tracy, how did you get started and share a little bit about what that journey looks like, please.

Absolutely. So I was working for a mortgage company for about six years, and it's the company I'm with today still. But I left for a short period of time. It was when the market was shifting a little bit. And so I decided to try to add to my resume. I got my broker's license and I left the company that I was at for about six years to try and do something different, do something new. Which I was really. I was successful at it, right? I was. I took a step back from kind of that corporate structure of mortgage and became a broker and started my own kind of business that way. Well, In September of 2023, the company owner reached back out to me and said, hey, we have a corporate position open. It's the director of sales technology. And the mortgage company I was working with at the time is a multibillion dollar company. And I respect him so much. We left on really good terms. I believe that in business you never burn a bridge. And. And he reached out to me and said, you know, the way you marketed your business and your passion for it and your videos and all you're doing. I would love for you to take on this role for the company as a whole so you can coach and teach and inspire the loan officers that we have, which, I mean, I think we have almost 700 loan officers within the company and come and take on this role. And so that was the start of me shifting from being an actual producing loan officer and like you said, helping families realize the dream of homeownership to more of like a coaching corporate type of role where I could take what I was doing and I was successful at and transfer that information to the loan officers within the company. So that's 2023 is really when my life changed for a different path. And then the way the company started is, you know, fast forward March of 2024 this year. Unexpectedly, the. The market state kind of where it is now. Right. And I don't know if you follow, you know, the interest rates and mortgage and real estate, but yes, definitely. Yeah, it's been a struggle for a lot of people that are out there, a lot of loan officers. And I was given a call by my direct supervisor saying, hey, the market isn't where we thought that it would be. There's been unforeseen changes, and they dissolved my position. And I could still feel that heartbreak as I say it out loud.

Yeah, so.

So it wasn't that long ago. And so I was left with the choice of, you know, remaining with the company, which, again, they always have been good to me, and I just left what I was doing. Right. So in the mortgage business, it's difficult to go from company to company. You want to have that, that foundation of where you're with so people don't think you're jumping around. And so I, you know, I rebranded, I did all of these things. And they said, you have the option to continue originating with us, which is what I was doing before, but your position will no longer be available. And so I chose to stay with the company in that role. But a lot of people that comforted me during that time told me that when one door closes, another opens. And so I used even that short eight months in that position to build really, really strong relationships with some great technology platforms, get my name out there outside of the mortgage world and into more of the marketing and tech space, and was able to have the passion and the time and the, the excitement to build wore loud marketing.

That's awesome. And I know, I love that. I know there's pain in the loss of that position, the loss of that job when they dissolved your position. I'm sure there was a heartache with that, but whomever told you when one door closes, the other door opens is 1,000% correct. And it'll be one of those things that, you know, down the road you'll look back and go, I am so glad that position dissolved because look at where I am now. I'm such a believer in that now. Traci, I'm going to pick your brain a little bit because you said something about teaching people how to market by using video and digital means. Will you dive into that? I would love for you to share three stellar marketing tips for someone. Someone marketing their small business.

Yeah. So I could start with something basic and the reason why I have the foundation, just so you know, a little bit of backstory on marketing and building my brand and using digital and video is I was smart enough to hire a coach, you know, someone like yourself that was an expert in real estate and in digital marketing. And it was about seven years ago that I was able to do that and have really learned and utilized and implemented it since then. So something for a beginner, because a lot of people are scared of technology. They're scared of being on camera, and it's hard for them to get started. So one tip that I would say for people is use your video text messaging. Right? It's such a simple thing, but such a powerful tool. So it's as simple as taking out your cell phone, holding it up, recording a quick video of just saying hello to someone that you haven't spoken to in a long time, getting used to that feeling of being on camera and sending it to one of your contacts. And if you could give a goal for yourself to do 10 video text messages a day, which is something that I learned from my coach. It's so surprising how you become top of mind with those people that you're messaging. You're not talking about business. You're not selling your product or service. You're literally just connecting with them and saying hello and saying, hope you had a great weekend, hope your kid's doing well in soccer. It's a game changer because you become that person that they remember. Right. They probably already know what you do. You're not reminding them of that, but you're reminding them that you're around. And so I don't know, Pamela, if that's something that you currently do, but that is one good tip for someone just starting out.

I love that. For something very basic for someone to ease in. And I think you're a believer of this like I am, Tracy, that businesses, business is built relationally, not transactionally. The transaction comes second, the relationship comes first. So if you can build the relationship and not just, you know, hey, I'm a, I'm a realtor or I'm a coach or I'm a whatever you are, not just by letting people know what you're doing, because that's transactional, but to like you said, hey, I hope your kids are doing great in soccer, I hope you had an awesome summer, looking forward to the holidays, whatever. But I think that is such a fantastic message that your business will be built because of relationships a lot faster than it will because of transactions.

Exactly. And with social media these days, I mean, your, your friends, you know what they're doing, right? You know what restaurant they've gone to, they're snapping pictures of the food that they like, they're showing that they're on their family vacation. So you have content that you can talk to them about. And it's just taking the time, dedicating a half hour it takes to literally send 101 minute video text messages, just taking some breaks in between and looking at what they've been up to. And Pamela, to your point, the second thing that is so powerful and has been powerful for me is video. Because people need to know what you do and they need to know like, and trust you. And through video, it's different than text, it's different than an image. It's you being able to be you. And you're going to have your client base that's out there that, that wants to work with you, right? They, they feel like they connect with you. And the video isn't going to be for every single person out there. But you're going to get your audience, you're going to build your community and that's going to help you increase sales of your product or service eventually because people are going to be able to relate with you. And that, like you said, that's going to be that relationship versus that transaction. So video is very, very important for people that are sales or entrepreneurs.

And one thing that I really do love about the video texting, Tracy, is that it's on my phone. I am recording it to my phone, sending it to my contact. It's not me marketing myself broadly on social media. The clients that I work with, I always remind them, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, whatever you're using to market your business, that company can decide tomorrow to shut down and never, ever let you back in. They don't you own none of that. But if I am reaching out to my contacts, the people that I have built up and have in my contact list, that I own that information, that information isn't going to go away because someone decides they don't want to have their company any longer tomorrow. I think it's so important that we don't give away our information and our contacts. So having it on my phone, I love that. What if, Tracy, what if I'm someone who does not like myself on camera? I don't like to step in front of the video camera and see myself and hear myself. What if I'm that person?

Yeah.

And what advice do you have?

I was that person. I mean, I was. If you look. It's so funny. If you look at my videos from six or seven years ago to today, I. I sound the same. I pretty much look the same, right? Definitely a little bit older. But I. I mentally had to shift my mindset over that time period because if I met you, Pamela, in person, I'm going to sound and look the exact same way if you saw me on a video. So take one second, really, guys, and think about that, you know, ladies and gentlemen. So if I meet you in person, you're going to see me, you're going to see what I look like. You're going to see everything that I'm insecure about. You're going to hear my voice, you're going to see my nose, everything. It's the same exact thing if you're on video, right?

And that. That is just such authenticity. That is you showing up authentically you every single time. And if that doesn't build trust with new potential clients, I don't know what does. Just being authentically you. So what did you have to be?

Perfect? I mean, our personalities are different, right? And so your. Your message and your video is going to be different than my messaging. And, you know, for me, I like to use humor and I like to, you know, come across, you know, this confident, you know, person. And. But if you're a little bit more laid back and. And you're, you know, you don't use humor in it, but you have facts and a passion about things that you do, you're going to come across a different way. And like I said, that audience that's attracted to that is going to be attracted to. To your video. And so the biggest objections that I hear, Pamela, from people are, you know, I don't know what to say on video. I don't know how to edit the video because I'M not that great with technology and then I don't know where to put the video for people to see it. And those are the really big three things that I targeted when I started Roar Loud Marketing because that is what my company helps people with.

That's awesome.

They're so hesitant in even starting video with their business.

That's fantastic. Well, I think when you know who your ideal client is, when you know your ica, I think it's easier for a person to have a conversation with their ica. If you are trying to be too broad, you, you probably don't know what to say because you don't know where it's going to land. But if you know who your ICA is, who your target is, the person that you are best suited to serve, I think then you can be a little bit more specific and finding what to say won't be quite as difficult. So, okay, so you have given us two tips, right? Okay, two tips. What is the third? I thought we were on number two. Right. Okay, what's number three?

So this is going to be for building your brand and standing out, but you can do all of those things. But on the marketing perspective, you have to have a place one to send people to. And then once you send people there, what's in it for them? Right? What are you providing to them that they're going to benefit from working with you? And it's not going to happen the first time around. You're going to need to show up in front of those same people consistently for them again to know, like and trust you. So where are you going to lead them? Right. Do you have a website? Do you have a landing page? Do you have a funnel? And then when they get there, what could you give them something of value for free? And then once you capture their information as an entrepreneur or a salesperson, what are you doing with that information? And Pamela, I find so many business owners that say, well, I have an Excel sheet or I just keep the contacts in my phone. You have to go one step further. In order to build and grow your business, you need to take those contacts and put it in a CRM or some type of system that you could automate messaging to them to stay in touch with them in the future. Otherwise you doing video and marketing and branding yourself and not capturing potential clients or consumers information, you're pretty much wasting your time and your money. Right. If you're, if you're doing ad, spend behind it.

That's so true. I think I, I've worked with clients that have. Well, I have all of these contacts. Okay, well, if you're not doing anything with them, it's like running in place. You have them, but you're not going anywhere with them. So it's, it's so similar to running in place, you know, by. It's. That's like results work versus, you know, running in place type of work. Busy work versus results work. Because busy work, you're staying busy, collecting all of these names, dropping them into your Excel spreadsheet, but you're not doing anything with them. So you're literally running in place with potential clients. And I think sometimes, and I'd like to get your perspective too, Tracy, on this, I think sometimes people feel like, well, I don't want to be salesy. I don't want to. What are they going to think if I call them or send them a video? I just, they. They get in their own way. And I, I look at that as you are meant to serve people, other business owners with your skill set. I am not everybody's coach. I'm definitely not. I'm not meant to be. But there are the people in this world that I am. I am meant to serve. And how will they know that? What's possible for them if we're not telling them? So instead of thinking of it, of selling, think of it as serving someone. What is your position on that and how do people get over the hangups of that?

Yeah, that's a really good point. And it's funny. I think all coaches have that saying, because my coach taught me, serve, not sell. Right. And if you come from that place, you are talking about your product or your service, which is the way that you make a living. Right? You shouldn't shy away from that. That's the way you pay your rent or your mortgage or feed your family and you have a product or service that is going to meet the needs of people. And the way, the way that I got over that myself, Pamela, because I was really successful as a loan officer before doing video. But what changed is really helping educate people that were unsure what to do. Right. They didn't know what credit score they needed. They didn't know what down payment they needed to buy a home. They didn't know that they can get gift money from their family. And when I started recording videos and teaching people what I knew, who cares if I know it? Right? They need to know it if they want to buy a home. And no one, no one educated them on that. Right. They don't teach it in high school. They don't tell kids what they have to do to build their credit score. They don't talk about student loan debt when buying a home. I have all of this knowledge, and it's not fair for me to keep it to myself. And the only way to get it out there and, and have the masses hear about it and get educated was to do video and was to promote it on social media. And, and it's not that you have to do every channel, but pick something that you're comfortable with, something that you can learn, practice it, you know, repeat it, and then you don't need to necessarily get thousands of leads from it. But you'll notice that if you do it correctly, you know, I could go out locally and people will recognize me from my videos, and they'll recognize me when I'm at chamber of commerce events or I walk into a store and they're like, I think I know you. And it's interesting because you, you become this person that's an expert in your market, in your industry. But at the end of the day, that's, that's what I want to be. Right? That's why I've worked so hard at, at my craft.

That's. That's fantastic. So if you will, Tracy, recap those three bullet points that you just shared with us.

Absolutely. So one is mindset, right? Start out small. Do 10 video text messages per day to your personal contacts to just say, hello, don't sell, but just stay top of mind. Number two is implementing video in your business. So again, you don't have to do every social media channel. You can start with something small, but get people to know, like and trust you by implementing video. And number three, once you get the information of a potential client, what are you doing with it? Do you have somewhere you can lead them? A landing page, a website? Do you have collateral or something of value that you could give to that person? And then how can you market to them in the future to share your knowledge and give back to your community?

Oh, that's fantastic. Oh, that's such good information. So much value in that. And one thing I'm going to address on number two is a lot of people have a hard time. Where do I post? Do I put to Instagram? Do I do it to Facebook, TikTok? Where do I go? I think if you know and understand who your ideal client is, you're able to relate the proper social media channel with that person. If you are looking for a more mature audience, meaning older audience, they're probably not going to be on TikTok, but they will most likely be on Facebook and possibly Instagram. So if you understand who you're trying to connect with, you can use the proper channel. If you are a leadership coach or in leadership development, probably going to LinkedIn might be a better option for you because you'll connect with business people and career minded people. So depending on who you're trying to reach, I think your social media channel will reveal itself. If you know who you're trying to do business with and who you're trying to serve.

Absolutely. And that's again, one of the challenges, you know, that people had is they didn't know once they do the video, where do I post it? And that's the value that we provide is, you know, we connect the social media accounts that they have and it's direct posting to those platforms for them and that's what we really try to figure out. You had mentioned like, you know, who is your client avatar. You really need to sit down first and understand that. So your messaging is appropriate to those people. And the more channels you can post to, I mean it's, it's free, right? To post on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok. Again, you don't have to be an expert and post every day, but they're free means of, of getting your business out there alignable next door LinkedIn. And so I, I personally post to everything. I mean I'm not a tick tocker by any means but you know, what if I post a video that has an impact on someone that's 25 years old and wants to, to purchase their first home. I changed their life forever.

Absolutely.

And so if you just think that way that your message is going to change someone's life, it makes it, it makes it go from I'm doing video to sell to again doing video or messaging to serve.

Oh, that's so good. That is so good, Tracy. So Tracy, if someone listening would like to get in contact with you, what would be the best way to do so?

So that's a great question because again, with technology it's really overwhelming. So I would say probably old school phone call, text message. Because again, it's having conversations like this. Pamela. Right. It's really understanding what they might be struggling with and identifying their business and what they could do or how I could possibly help them. And if it's okay, I mean I usually would just provide my personal cell phone number. It's out there for the world. And that number is 858-3365-200. And you could call, you can text me, you can search for roar loud marketing, and, you know, I'll pop up online again. It's a newer company, so you have to still build your footprint and your SEO. So I would just say call or text is going to be the best, best possible way to talk to me personally.

Oh, thank you. Thank you for sharing that, Tracy. I didn't want to give out that number unless you were. Okay. So thank you for doing that because. And here's what I want to point out, too, friends. Oftentimes people want to do business through Facebook messenger or WhatsApp. Again, if that company closes tomorrow, how are you going to communicate with your clients or potential clients? Doing business through your phone number, through your email address makes so much more sense than trying to do business through social media channels. You can. You can let people get to know you on social media, but do your actual acts of business not on social media. It's so wise to do that.

Yeah, well, that's the thing is leading them, right? So getting them to know, like, and trust you and then leading them to something that you own or control to be able to capture that information and then hold on to it.

Oh, I love it. I feel like I'm preaching to the choir. That's so good. Thank you, Tracy. So good.

It's so similar to what I say to people, so it's great.

And I think what's so interesting, I know we talked about this interview or this conversation like, two months ago or something. It took us a while to get our calendars to line up, and here we are. And, you know, Tracy, I just got to know you through a networking group, which friends get out there and network because you never know who you're going to meet. And Tracy threw it out there. She said, hey, I'm looking to be on podcast to promote my business. And I'm like, I'd love to have you. So all you gotta do is throw it out there, and if the right person is in the right room, it'll all come together. And if they're not, then it's okay. Keep going, keep trying, keep going. And I love that. So thank you for your patience and getting our finally, our conversation happening.

I mean, you've inspired me, too. In the short time that I've gotten to know you and, you know, you're messaging in, I want to capture the elephant. Right. That's just instant gratification. And you've helped me kind of tone it down a little bit and really take it to where, if I Could take small bites, Right. And I could, you know, help one person, two people, three people. It'll turn into more clients as I'm. When I'm comfortable doing that. But to be able to give the best service to the people that I work with. And so when we spoke, that really resonated with me. So I appreciate that.

Oh, yes, absolutely. My pleasure. So fun. Our conversations up to this point have been phenomenal, and I'm grateful for them so much. So. Okay, so, Tracy, I'm going to flip it a little bit. What is one thing that no one in the whole world knows about you?

That's a very interesting question. So, time to.

Time to tell secrets.

You know, the thing is thinking about that is I don't have any secrets because there's always at least one person that. That knows it. Right. Whether it's a doctor or a best friend or a sister or my dad or. I could tell you. I mean, one thing that maybe a lot of people don't know about me unless they knew me when I was a junior in high school, is one of the funnest jobs that I ever had was I actually dressed up as Barney. I don't know if you're familiar with that big purple dinosaur.

Unfortunately, I am very familiar. Children in the 90s.

Yeah, I was that kid that, you know, had a summer job in Long Island. Heat and humidity. If. If you're from the east coast, you can appreciate that. So in the summer, I would get into this big purple costume, and I would be a Ninja Turtle or a Power Ranger, and I would go to birthday parties, and I would try to do the Barney voice. And so that's something that not a lot of people know about me now. You do.

I love it. That is so great.

That's bringing humor, you know, that's. That's being a hustler for me, doing that job. But it's also bringing joy and. And. And humor and love to kids and. And to people. And that's just how I've. That's how I've always done business. You know, I. I've taken. I'm always a business person, but I've always taken the things that bring me happiness and joy and bring others happiness and joy and. And mesh the two together. And if you do that, I don't think you can go wrong with what you're doing.

That's so wise, so smart. So who inspired you to be the hustler that you are today? Where did that come from?

Gosh, I would say my mom. You know, she Wasn't a hustler in business, but she had four girls and she was a stay at home mom. And we were all in sports or doing something. And so to me, that's a hustler. I mean, number one, right? To. To be able to have a great relationship with my dad, to be able to give us a great life, you know, and, you know, we never got the. We never got the new thing, but we always got a version of the thing. Right? So if I wanted a video recorder, I always got some version of it, whether it be used or not. And she always made it happen. And to me, that. That's being a hustler, I think. And she definitely inspired me. Same with my dad. I mean, he. He worked to support us. He was a volunteer fireman. But I would have to say, business wise, I really latched on to one of my teachers and I took this, this class. It was called deca. I don't even know if they have it anymore in school. But, you know, when I asked my family, when did you first realize that I was going to be this salesperson or this entrepreneur? My aunt recently told me that I used to go to her house and I would take the Tupperware out of her cabinet and I would try and sell it to them.

Selling me my own containers.

Her own Tupperware. I was the kid that went to Costco and, you know, had my mom buy a huge box of lollipops. So I. Back in the day, it wasn't Costco. It was like Sam's Club or something. But.

Right.

But then I would take the lollipops to school and sell them individually. Now, that didn't last very long because you're not supposed to do that.

Right.

It had this mindset of, you know, how can I figure out a way to. To be in sales or to be a business owner? And it's really. It's gone through my entire life. It's. I've never really been that different, so.

Oh, I love that. And I think that's true. Oftentimes you can tell when a kid is, you know, 2 to 5 years old what they're going to be because you're like, oh my gosh, that, that personality, that distinction is just. They're born with it. And I think that's. That's a very true assessment. So what advice would you give to the younger you?

Yeah, that's a really good question. So I would say personal advice would be to cherish the relationships that you have with your family. Unfortunately, I lost my mom when she was only 47 years old. So I was just a kid. She passed from ovarian cancer. And one of the things that I would. Would tell myself then is, you just don't know how long you have with the person that you love the most. So I would say that's personal advice to the younger me, professional advice. I would say, growing up in the mortgage business, it was a man's world, right? And I was a woman trying to make my way through it. And I took a lot of positions that were kind of the woman's role, right, Operationally, or I was the one that ran the team but didn't make as much money. I wasn't the one that was making the decisions or behind the table. And my advice would be, don't let anyone put you in a position that you're better than. And so I've taken that. And it honestly took me a really long time to have the strength and courage to be an entrepreneur and to run my own team and to do my own thing, because I felt like I needed those people in order to be successful. And when you can shift your mind to know that you're the person that's creating your success, it is such a weight that's lifted off of your shoulders when you don't need to rely on anyone else.

I really love that you said that, and thank you for splitting that advice up into two categories. Into the business self and into the life self, because both of those things are so true. I lost my father. He was a very young man when I lost him, and I understand the impact that that makes. You know, my dad was my. My fix it guy. My, how do I do this phone call, and, hey, my car's making a noise phone call. And, you know, I missed that because I could. I could just explain what the noise sounded like, and he would say, oh, that you've got belts loose and blah, blah, blah, you need to do this. Or, you know, he would know exactly what it was, or it sounds like it's misfiring, so you got to go get your spark plug looked at. You know, just that he just knew everything. And I miss that and definitely would turn back time and do things differently if I could. And also what you mentioned about the business side, I think there's such a distinction between women in leadership, our mindset, and men's mindset in leadership. Women. And this might not be all women, but this is definitely my experience, and a lot of clients that I work with feel this way. We have a tendency to work really, really hard and wait for someone to notice, wait for someone to say, oh, you've been working hard, you're going to get a promotion, you're going to, you know, elevate to the next, the next role in the company, in the hierarchy. Whereas men work hard. They do, but they will go in the office and say, look, when am I going to get promoted? I've been working hard, I deserve a promotion. Whereas women have a tendency not to go to bat for themselves as quickly. Do you find that to be true, Tracy?

I do, yeah. And it, and every industry is different. And you know, I, I don't, I don't know. Unless you experience something, I think to where you're kind of like, enough is enough, right? That's when your mindset will shift. But I just urge, you know, women that are listening and, and even men that are listening, that have women as employees, it's, you know, be confident in yourself. You know, stand up, have a seat at the table. You know, there's, there's nothing wrong with doing that. And if anything, it's gonna help you feel accomplished and get you to your goals faster. And, and that's what you need to do.

Oh, that's, that's such great advice. Thank you for bringing that up. That, that's such a good point. I think that's, there's a lot of value for everybody listening for that. Okay, final question for you, Traci. And we will wrap it up. So what advice would you give entrepreneurs or dreamers standing in their way of getting started, living out their purpose and making that dream a reality?

Wow. So what advice would I. Okay, so first I would say the advice would be, what is your passion? What do you. Everybody has kind of this idea, right, or this passion or something they know that they're good at deep down that they should be sharing with other people. So first figure out what that is, what's going to make you happy. And even if you keep your full time career, there's always a way for you to start small, right? And get the confidence and, and share it with one person or two people or your friends or your family to get feedback. I would say the second thing is give yourself permission, right? Working moms or people that don't have enough time in the day to focus on themselves. Give yourself permission to realize your dreams, what they are. Take a day or go to a quiet place and pencil it out, share it with people, get a coach like Pamela. I mean, you know, the best advice I ever got that led me to meeting my coach that led me to where I am today is someone told me to find my Oprah. And you know your Oprah is out there, right? And at the time, Oprah was this. She still is, but this huge, mega person that if I found my Oprah and I connected with them, they would change my life. And I ended up finding my Oprah in that coach that taught me about marketing strategies and digital branding, which helped me build and grow my business, which led me to where I am. So that would be some advice that I would give to someone.

That is fantastic advice. And I think we get in our way every single day. We talk ourselves out of things. We say, I'm too old, I'm too young, I'm too busy, I'm too this, I'm too that. If it is truly inside of you, which we all have a dream inside of us, it'll keep coming back to you. It's not going away until you address it. So you just as well step into it and address it. And Tracy, I love all of the marketing advice you gave us. Those three points are so valuable and important. Friends, I'm going to go ahead and post some information about Tracy and connecting with her in the show notes so you can easily snatch her phone number, her email address so you can have your conversation with her if you're struggling with some marketing. I love the advice that she gave us. I'm definitely going to work on the videos. I stay in contact with my clients and prospected clients very, very well. But I think the video text is just one more layer that I can add value for my clients, and I'm super excited to do that. So. So, my friends, Gosh, thank you so much, Tracy, first of all, for being here. You're amazing. I hope everyone enjoyed this time with Tracy. So, Tracy, I'll let you say a goodbye and then I'll wrap up the podcast.

Yeah. I just wanted to thank you again for the opportunity, Pamela, and you definitely are inspiring to me, and I'm so glad that we've connected and I look forward to to helping as many entrepreneurs as possible roar loud and gain the confidence that I know is inside of them. So I appreciate it.

Oh, so good, Tracy. Thank you so much. Again, Tracy and friends, thank you for spending this time with us. I hope you found it as valuable and awesome as I did. It was great having Tracy. I hope that your week is going fantastic and you have a wonderful day. Until next time. We'll see you later. Thank you for joining us today on a New Life podcast. We will see you next time.