Meet The Hosts - What got us into real estate

I mean, I did it all. And they're like, Becky, you should get your license. And I'm like, nah, I don't want to. And then finally I did. And, um, I started— I was managing the office and training the agents and still doing all of those things and got into listing and selling real estate.

Hey, good morning everybody. This is Brokered Uncensored. So we're going to talk about some unfiltered, unscripted, super cool stuff today. I thought we would actually, since we're about, I think what, 4 or 5 episodes into this, we're getting there, that you guys should actually get some insight into who we are. So I'm Shadd Boucher, managing broker with RE/MAX Alliance Group. I'm joined today Steve Zaras, one of my other managing brokers, and the queen of RE/MAX Alliance Group, Becky Dewey. And we're basically gonna just gonna sit here and sort of interview each other and give you guys an insight into why we got into real estate, what it's like to be a managing broker, what it's like to be a professional, why we did this, um, why do we continue to do it? Because sadly, what is there, probably 75 years between the 3 of us of experience in doing this job? I mean, it's insane. Most agents are out within 12 months, and we've been here for a long time. So we thought we'd give you guys some insight into into kind of what we do, why we do it, and why we're still here. So with that being said, Becky.

Yes.

Why'd you get into real estate?

Well, it wasn't my plan.

Okay.

I just I had just graduated high school, and I applied for a part-time receptionist position at a real estate company that focused on HUD foreclosures, and they were exclusive listing agents. for Citibank foreclosures. So, when I kind of worked my— when I say worked my way through the ranks, I kind of learned from the bottom up, so to speak.

Okay.

So, that evolved into a full-time position. I stayed there for— I was there for about a year and a half. I moved to— and then I applied for a real estate office closer to my home. It was another real estate franchise. I was there for almost 2 years, I believe it was. Moved out of state for a short period of time, came back, worked for an independent office. And then a lot of the agents that I worked with at that other franchise had kind of moved, shifted a little bit, and actually ultimately ended up at a RE/MAX office.

Mm-hmm.

And they kind of recruited me over there. So I was the admin and office manager for that office, and things just kind of evolved. I was doing everything from accounting to answering the phones to training agents to cutting commissions. I mean, I did it all. And they're like, Becky, you should get your license. And I'm like, nah, I don't want to. And then finally I did. And I started— I was managing the office and training the agents and still doing all of those things and got into listing and selling real estate. And then it just kind of evolved from there. And actually next month I'll be 28 years with RE/MAX.

Wow. Wow. All right. So, Steve, same question.

All right. You want to know why I got into the industry or why I became a realtor, then managing broker? Well, let's just—

let's go to your journey. What was your journey?

My journey started in Jersey when I became a real estate appraiser.

Okay.

Then we moved to Florida because of the chain gang, I call them. That's my wife and her mother and grandmother, then our daughters. We have 4 generations of women. I said the umbilical cord was still attached. Couldn't win an argument. So, we moved to Florida and we started over. Then I got into consumer small loans, which we also did mortgages. Then I became a mortgage broker, then a short sale negotiator for a law firm in Sarasota.

Wow.

And while I was a mortgage consultant, I could not believe how many people talked in a negative way about their realtor. They felt that they didn't earn the money that they made. They thought that the whole check amount was theirs, which it isn't. And they just said a lot of bad things. And sometimes I overinform and they kept saying, Steve, I wish you were my realtor. And after a couple of years of hearing that, you start thinking, huh, maybe there's something here. So, I got my real estate license and became a realtor for RE/MAX. And as you know, through the years, I am now a managing broker. So, you had said 75 years between all of us. I think that might be a little shy because in the industry, I've got probably 37 years.

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay. So, 37, 28, I'm 25. So it's actually a little bit more than 75.

Or almost 90-ish or something like that. So yeah.

Wow.

We all started when we were 5.

What's that?

We all started when we were 5.

Yeah. Oh no, trust me. Yeah, I'm, I'm definitely feeling my age for sure. But I think, I think you guys will agree the one thing that's nice about this industry is you don't have to retire.

No.

Like our oldest managing broker is what, 72? I mean, and he, let's be honest, he's more fit than I am. I mean, he took me on a 20-mile walk about 3 weeks ago. So, yeah.

Yeah, I had that same walk in Vegas with him. I get it.

Oh, the man doesn't know how to take an Uber. It's just, it's just hilarious. But no, I think that, I think it's one of those things that people don't realize. I think the thought process is that everybody's been a realtor at one point and everybody gets out of the business. They don't understand that You know, people do this like their entire lives and and don't get out and and and do shift in between. You know, you know myself, I've got I've had you know kind of like you, Steve. I have. I mean technically it it has to be canceled because I'm I don't have it with an underwriter right now. But I had a title agent's license. I've done that side of the business. I was a remote closer. I was an agent. I I then managed the office. You know, so yeah, we all come to this kind of honestly, but. I think one of the biggest things is, is you know, in this industry, it's just you're in, you're out like a flash in the pan.

Yes.

In fact, I have a friend of mine that I've known. It's really sad. Back to us being old, right? I've now known this person longer than I've not known him, which is kind of frightening, right? And he still asks me, "You are still in real estate, right?" Mm-hmm. Yes. It's not like all of a sudden I'm just going to wake up this morning and go. Huh. Yeah, hot dog cart. Let's go do that. You know, let's, let's— I've always wanted to sell hot dogs. Screw it, let's go. You know, so I think that's one of the things that people don't understand is, you know, that— and, and let's be honest, I think you guys will agree with me and tell me if you don't. Old warriors are old for a reason.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, we've seen some things like that State Farm commercial, right? We, we We know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two, which is kind of nuts.

So the cool thing about the 3 of us, I think, is we kind of like move through different areas of the industry where a lot of people, this is their second career or third, maybe, you know, or fourth, who knows. So we, you know, you know, like I said, it wasn't a plan for me. I kind of like grew up from the ranks. I just looked at it as a part-time job. And then I didn't realize, you know, 28 years with RE/MAX, 32 in the business. I didn't think if you would have asked me 32 years ago where I'd be, I probably wouldn't have said doing this. I, you know, it just kind of evolved and I love it and it's fun and it's exciting most days.

You've said 2 keywords. Yeah, you've said 2 keywords. One, career, and the second one is part-time. And it is a career and very difficult to do it on a part-time basis.

Oh, for sure.

Oh, 1,000%. I think that's one of the things that I always worry about when I'm talking to somebody who's like, Oh, I've thought about getting into real estate because I've got my summers off or, you know, no, this is, this is no place for halfway, right?

It's not during the summer. By the time you get to the end of the summer, you're just— if you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, you're just gaining the momentum. And then now you're back to your full-time job or whatever.

Oh, I know. I mean, one of the— I think and maybe, maybe I get on my high horse because I do do this like all the time, right? Full-time. I was at a, I was at a connecting flight in Dallas. It's probably 5 years ago. I was at a connecting flight in Dallas, and I like to go into that like concourse where there's no flights going out and just sit and work on my laptop and do stuff. And as I'm sitting there, 6 flight attendants like sit on the other side from me, and they're all sitting there. And all of a sudden I see MLS sheets come out. And I don't care what MLS you're with, whether it's California, Florida, wherever it is. The sheets all look the same. You can spot them from half a mile. Next thing I know, all 6 of these flight attendants are getting on the phone and calling their customers, giving them updates on their deals.

Oh, wow.

And I'm sitting there and the one person notices me staring and they're like, can I help you? I go, are you guys all realtors? Well, no, we're flight attendants, but yes, we all have our real estate license. I'm like, are you? Helping people? They're like, well, yes, we're, we're doing transactions right now. That's why we're here. And I'm like, this is not good. They're like, excuse me? I'm like, you guys should not. And I just kind of went, I guess, maybe a little sideways about the fact that you should be a flight attendant, you should be a realtor. And here's the bad news, right? Whenever you run your mouth, guess who was telling me about the exit row? On my flight in about 45 minutes. Yeah, let's just say that my free cookies were a little crushed and my free soda didn't have ice with it because, you know, I wasn't allowed to get it at that point. But I think, I think all 3 of us would agree the public deserves better. Yeah, the public deserves better.

So, so what would your pet peeve be then, Chad?

My pet peeve is that you are helping someone with— most likely for 95% of the people that own homes, you're helping them with the largest physical asset that they'll ever own and the biggest financial commitment they're ever going to make. And that deserves someone who gives this their full attention.

Agreed.

Not someone who's there for a paycheck. I would not go get brain surgery At a place that also changed tires, I'm sorry. I go to a mechanic. I I go to a doctor, right? I think this profession in a lot of ways deserves that attention, that that professionalism, that that yeah, and and and in a lot of ways it doesn't get it from the people that want to do it, and. Don't get me wrong, it's very admirable that somebody wants to do this and transition, and I transitioned. But the minute I got my physical license, I gave my 2 weeks notice at my job and I jumped all in, and I've never looked back, you know. And I guess maybe that's just the type of person I am, you know. I mean, I moved out of my parents' house when I was 19 and never went back. You know, and I just— that's what I do. But this is not a job for like, I'm gonna— like, if you're willing to work at this job, your other job better be at night because all day you better be doing this.

Yes.

And you better have a plan to transition. Like, I get it, I need income for 3 months, I'm gonna keep doing this, but then I'm all in.

Right.

And it's just bad, unfortunately. And we have So many of those people out there who are calling themselves professionals, and they just, you know, I'm sorry, if you have, if you have another thing you do most of the time.

I agree 100%. And if I could piggyback off of what you're saying, uh, there's a lot of realtors out there that do not embrace a certain tool that they need to be successful. And it drives me nuts that they haven't done it. And I'm going to show it to you so you get it.

I bet it looks like a phone.

You see that?

I bet it looks like a phone.

I can't tell you how many times I cannot get returned phone calls. I have questions on a listing because my buyer is curious about something. I have a realtor who says, hey, I'm going to put an offer on your listing and you'll have it within the, you know, the next 24 hours. And still 4 or 5 days later, I'm trying to get in touch with this person.

Yeah.

And my seller's chomping at the bit. What happened? What's going on? I mean, the list goes on. And if they have a full-time job, that makes it even worse because there are those realtors that call you after 5 o'clock. Well, the title companies are open until 5, your inspection company, all these other companies are pretty much business hours. So that causes a problem. And then, you know, if somebody's working part-time, then yes, they should be doing it at nighttime. teaching at the local college or something, you know, do something where it doesn't interfere with the hours that you need to build your career here. But again, wonderful investment, you know, invention. Yeah.

Well, you know, the funny thing is, is everybody always has it in their hand, so why aren't they answering it?

Well, it's not a phone anymore, and to a lot of people it's not a phone, right? The phone's the last thing. It's, it's a, it's a black texting social media box. That's what it is. It's not a phone. And yeah, I think it's, I think it's one of those things that we all kind of, we all kind of suffer here is dealing with it is, is that, that lack of professionalism. And, and look, I'm not even saying that most of the agents don't want to be, but they get told that it's okay to do this. And at that point, that's a broker that should want better for the industry.

Right.

I mean, you guys tell me, but I think one of the things that's really terrible is we do a really bad job of policing each other. We do.

Yes. Yes.

You know, we allow, we allow things in this industry that we shouldn't. We should be more—

It's like the wild, wild west. Yeah.

It's like in a lot of ways it can be for sure.

Yeah.

And you know, it's, it's kind of insane, but you know, let me ask you guys both this. Here's an interesting question for you though. And you guys can answer one at a time. I don't care which one of you answers first. What do you find most rewarding about being a managing broker?

Becky, you go first.

Steve wants thinking time.

Ladies first.

Yeah, I just think watching the success of the agents that are around you.

I agree.

And whatever you can do to help them meet those goals and be successful, I think that is the most rewarding. And provide for their family. And, you know, I mean, I have great relationships with my agents. Like, I know their family. I've watched their kids grow up. They've, you know, now they're graduating and You know, they're aging, but I'm not. I don't know how that all works. But, you know, it's cool because my daughter's grown up with them and now I have grandkids and it's kind of like a family too, you know? I mean, it's fun. It's an extended part of the family because you spend a lot of time with them and you watch their success and, you know, you watch their families grow and evolve and that kind of thing. And I think that is, for me, the most rewarding.

Okay.

Well, I can say ditto, but I'm going to add to this. Uh, you know, there are those who got into this business for the right reasons.

Mm-hmm.

And when they're coachable and they have goals and they understand it, they're not complainers. They know they're going to hit some challenges. They know that we are there to help them, and they're very sincere. Uh, and, and they have, uh, you know, uh, they plan to work, but they work their plan. I mean, it's, it's important. And I love helping them, but some of them don't want to reach out, or if you're reaching out to them, they're not responding. And that's the frustrating part. But when you got those that are responding and they're calling you and they need help with the contract or they have questions and they're thanking you and you hang up that phone or they leave your office, there's a lot of satisfaction in that. And I'll tell you, I cannot see myself doing anything else. At this point.

Well, I would agree. And I think, I think I, you know, I'm going to kind of mirror what you guys have said. I think that's why I got into this part of the industry was, you know, partially with that thought process of sort of reclaiming some of my time back. Um, because, you know, I, I don't have to run around and, you know, be on call and things like that, even though we are, let's be honest, we are. Um, but watching other people succeed and being a part of that journey is incredibly beautiful, watching people go, oh my God, I can get married now. Oh my God, I can have a kid now. Oh my God, I can own a home. You know, I never thought about owning a home. I mean, I've got a brand new agent right now who's got, you know, brand new, came to us from another place. They've been doing this 18 months, have not sold a thing. They've got 3 listings because she's incredibly coachable. Just no one was coaching her. And now, she's thinking about, well, my lease is up in a year and a half. And do you think by then, I should think about buying? Yeah, absolutely, you should, especially if you're doing this. So, changing those people and giving a shot to people that maybe weren't born with that silver spoon in their mouth and giving them a career that allows them to kind of guide their own destiny is just killer. I mean—

Right.

There's nothing better. All right. Now I'm gonna throw another one out, and then you guys are gonna start asking some questions here because I feel like I'm monopolizing the conversation.

No, you're good.

What do you guys think?

Great.

What do you hate about it?

Hmm.

Steve.

All right.

Payback.

I would say I I think hate is too strong of a word.

Okay. But what do you find frustrating?

I have two frustrations. Number one. When clients don't respect your time.

Okay.

Especially, uh, and I have one right now and she works and she doesn't text me until later in the evening or early in the morning. And I understand that and I'm okay with that. Uh, but there are those who don't respect your time.

Yep.

Um, I, I would say the other thing is the, the agents who got into the business for the wrong reasons. And they're not coachable and they have a sense of entitlement. They're not going after, you know, their education needs. They may not know what they're doing or they don't know what they're doing in some cases. And then they come to you and say, well, Joe, what are you going to do? How are you going to help me? Well, first of all, they got to help themselves.

Correct.

Just like yesterday, Shadd, when we were in the course and Becky, you went the day before. I mean, we're still learning and that never ends. We have to constantly learn. And so that's a frustrating part when somebody is not putting forth the effort in order to receive the reward.

Okay, I'm going to comment on this one. Frustrating for me as a managing broker is— and we may have all, and you guys can chime in on this— is when an agent is doing well, they love you. You're the best broker ever. When things aren't going well for them, It's all your fault.

Mm-hmm.

Yep.

Have you experienced that?

Yes, absolutely.

I've been here the entire time. Nothing has changed with me and the support that I'm giving you. What has changed with your business? And, you know, and then— and they do make it about, you know, and it's not all of them. You know, there's, there's a handful that it's happened to that, you know, it's like their business is, you know, their life is going to shambles. Their business is in shambles for whatever reason. And now it's my fault. I didn't create any of these problems. I'm here to help you get over the hump to, you know, find a resolution to these. So that's frustrating for me, and it's, it's kind of disheartening that somebody would even do that. But I mean, have you guys experienced that before?

Absolutely, I have. The one— and, and I think I'm gonna, I'm gonna take it a little bit further— the one who you've helped 150 times, and the one time you can't help them, or the one time you weren't there, Johnny on the spot, and didn't text them back immediately and didn't call them immediately, then, oh my God, you're worthless. You have no— yeah, I think that's one of the things that we all kind of find, because you are, I mean, all 3 of us, You know, the agents work weekends. We work weekends. I take phone calls on Saturdays and Sundays. I take phone calls at night. I take I take phone calls where I have to tell an agent to breathe. Okay, stop talking. Breathe. Breathe three times. Now let's have us now just calm down. Say om om. Let's have a conversation. Um, but that agent that you're willing to be there for like that 150 times, and then the one time you can't. Oh yeah, then it's, it's all bad. But I think to me, the one thing that really frustrates me the worst, and I had to get over this very early, is the agent that I can see the potential and they won't allow me to help. Yes, that's the ones that get me. And so I had to, I had to basically— I had a coach, thank goodness I had a coach at that time that said 2 things to me. He said, you focus on the living, not the dead, which I had to think about for 5 seconds. And, and let me tell you something, my, my coach at that time, he was sort of like a fortune cookie. He never explained crap. He just said it. And then, because his big— his overarching motto was self-discovery, so you had to go back and think about it.

Wow.

And then he'd ask you next week, did you think about what I said? What do you think it means? And then he'd correct you, but he still wouldn't tell you what the answer was. He'd go, no, that's not it, you know. So, which—

Try again.

Yeah, well, he was also one of those guys that if, that if the system was like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and you gave him answer 5, not answer 1, when he asked you, he'd tell you you were wrong because he wanted them in order. So anyway, great dude, right? But he said you can't— you concentrate on the living and the dead Not the dead. And you can't want it more than they do. That's true.

We use that a lot, a lot.

That was hard for me to swallow.

Yes, yes.

Especially when you know they have the potential and they're just like, they just need to, and they don't. It is. Yeah, that's right.

And you're watching, you're literally watching them self-destruct in a slow pace.

Yep.

And it's, and it's a horrible thing. And it's, you know, and, and then You know, I think you guys tell me if I'm wrong. The other thing you can't stand is the ones who think they've got it. They don't realize that this is a lifelong learning business, and I've had several of these that have you know well I'm leaving because I can go I I know everything now. I know it all, and I'm like okay. And then you watch them just go down the tubes when they go. I mean, it's, you just know that it, this is a team sport. You know, I think we're part of the team. Like, that's what we're here for. And, you know, not that I'm trying to throw any other brokerages under the bus, but there's not a lot of brokers with this philosophy. There's not a lot. Most brokers are like, go earn money.

Right.

And I don't want to talk to you. You know, that's Google it.

We talked about that in another episode.

Google it. Yeah, Google it. Google it. Or what? What should my marketing plan be? Well, sex sells. You should get a lower cut shirt. Like, these are things that I've actually heard.

You have a hairy chest.

Google it. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. I don't. I've got nothing. I got no chest hair. I got nothing. Anyway, but you know about you, Becky.

My seat.

We're we're. We're just, you know, we're so invested, and that's not something you get everywhere else. And I know for a fact that I know you. Like, you've— we've worked together for a long time. I know you. I have to bug you to make your phone calls. I have to bug you to keep up with your sphere. As soon as you don't have me, there's going to be a piece missing.

Mm-hmm.

And I watch. And, you know, and the other thing is, I don't know how many agents you've ever had come back, but I've had very few.

Yeah.

Because I think their ego won't let them.

Well, yes. And I think that they become jumpers. They jump from one brokerage to another and another one. First of all, I think that looks bad to the consumer when somebody keeps changing brokerages. And it also does not allow them to let their efforts compound.

Correct.

And it just, it's just not good.

Well, they're looking for the magic bean, as Shadd likes to say, you know, and it's not out there. You know, it doesn't matter where you're at, you know, whose umbrella you're under. If you're not willing to put in the work and do the tasks and do what you're supposed to, it doesn't matter where you're at. You're just not going to make it.

Yeah, it's all hard work. It's all, it's all hard work. And I think that's the one thing that I think most of these agents don't know. I mean, there's one that left us a while ago. Unfortunately, she's third brokerage this year. And I've reached out a couple of times.

Yep. I've had a couple of those. And, you know, I, I watched their production. Yeah. So I'm gonna venture to say it wasn't my fault.

No.

Yeah. Yeah.

Well, it's not that it's even, you know, it's even fault. I don't want to make anybody feel like we're blaming anybody. But, but it's, it's just that this was a piece of the puzzle that you just didn't put value on.

Right.

And now that piece is gone and you can't even see it. Like, you can't even see it. I think that's the most frustrating thing for me is when you know that somebody's got that potential and they just don't want to use it.

Or they have the potential, but they have toxic behavior. Yeah. You know, they— it's the drama. You know, they let the drama override, distract them from everything else.

And everybody loves company. Yeah.

Oh yeah.

Oh yeah. 100%. 100%. So here's, here's the final one. Let's go with this. And if you weren't in real estate, where would you be?

Hmm.

I would probably be self-employed in some manner.

Okay. So you can't ever see yourself being a corporate person, huh?

Well, I've been in HR and management and sales for a long time.

Right.

And I do like that. It would depend on the opportunity. And I think I would want to control my future a little bit more.

Sure.

And while I'm doing that, I would be looking for that unicorn stock that's really going to shoot up. I got a friend that bought Tesla at $14. And, you know, I mean, I would be looking at something like that. But I love dealing with people and I love seeing the finished product. And that's why real estate works so well with me. So, but I honestly, I don't know. That's a tough question. I don't know if I'm giving you the true answer or not because I honestly don't know.

You never thought about it?

No, I'm here to stay.

Gotcha. Okay.

It's funny because, I mean, I've been in real estate since I was 18 years old and graduated. graduated high school. And I've, you know, there's been times where I'm, you know, not gonna lie, got frustrated. I need to do something else. I need to, I need to get out of this. And then I'm thinking, well, what else would I do? I don't know anything else.

Well, I can understand. I mean, I mean, I mean, you've seen a lot of changes in the industry since you've been doing this.

A ton.

I mean, the, the invention of the cell phone and—

Fax machine.

Listen, fax machine.

I'm back to the, uh, I want to know, and I want to get my hands on one because, you know, people that are newer in the business, they think it's the weirdest thing. The MLS book.

So, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I, I want to find an MLS. I remember there'd be knockdown drag-outs. Who ripped out page 23? Like, I mean, there'd be fights in the office.

Well, yeah, because they'd rip it out so no one else could go show the listing or knew it existed. It was like a cutthroat situation.

Oh yeah, we had to cheat.

I remember when I got into the business in 1999, I actually found contracts that were— that still had the carbon In between the copies of the contract, so you could give copies to everybody.

Oh yeah, and the typewriter that would type it.

Oh dude, dude, don't. You know, it's funny. I don't know what I would do if I didn't do this. I have.

I don't either.

I got out for about 18 months at one point, just because I was frustrated and needed a change, and it took 10 of those 18 months for me to realize. This is— I can't do this.

Yeah.

And it was all to make my dad happy because my dad was a corporate guy for 40 years, and if you didn't have a corporate job, you know, you were wasting your life. And an opportunity came up and I took it, and it paid me all kinds of money. It was not the money, it was just the backstabbing and the politics and the— and I— it literally took me 10 months and I was like, Nope, not doing this.

Well, Shad, I have to be honest with you. I don't think of leaving the industry, but I do think of retirement, which is why I bought those tickets when it was $1.8 billion on that Powerball. I might have to retire.

We're still sitting here.

Well, you know, the funny thing is my wife asked me about that when she bought those Powerball tickets. She goes, what are you going to do if we win? I go, go to work? Like, I don't think of this as work. I don't. And you know what I find, I think, interesting? And you guys, again, tell me if I'm wrong, but this is never the same. This Monday ain't the same as last Monday. This Friday is not the same as last Friday. So, it's never stagnant. It's never, you know, okay, come in, punch in, do your thing, leave. I mean, yeah, it's not. And it's so exciting to me that I don't know what I would do if it wasn't this. I mean, I'd be doing something in sales, but I'm glad this opportunity came to me.

Sure.

You know, and I'm more than happy to be doing this. And I think ultimately I found the best brand to be with. I found the best office to be with. And, you know, and, and, you know, Becky, you can go ahead and report to Peter that during the, during the podcast today, I sucked up. Um, just trying to be like you, you know, you know.

But, um, I don't think anybody out there realizes how much we mess with each other, so.

Oh no, that— well, that's the whole thing. Hello, we're all having a good time. We're all, we're all a culture. We all— look, you can't— you know, this job is overall frustrating. Yes, it is. It's, it's stressful. It's, you know, it's short periods of calm followed by long periods of chaos. If you don't have a bunch of people that you want to be around, then what's the point?

I can honestly say I've been at this alone. It is a lonely place. And it is a lot of stress. And I mean, it's tough. It's tough.

Well, and I think not to the point— I mean, I was lucky, Becky, when my When my former owner kind of checked out mentally, we only had 2 offices.

Yeah.

And I wasn't where you were, but, but we've walked that same path. It was everything was on you. You know, you had no control. You were, you were responsible for everything, but not allowed to see what you needed to make the decisions. And yeah, it's just, it's just insane. And But then again, I never plot— I never planned on stopping.

But I will tell you what, I mean, I really feel like it was a learning experience. I mean, certainly a learning experience. And, and I can sort of speak— maybe I found myself a little bit that, you know, some things in me that were deep down inside that I didn't know I had came out, you know, um, in good ways, you know. I mean, some strength and some, you know, I don't know. It's just it's it's wild the the things that evolved just in me as a person and you know leadership and management and just knowledge and you know I mean again I didn't know a lot of things you know but guess what had to figure them out real quick you know and had to figure them out alone real quick um but which is a good thing that we're not alone anymore which is which is nice yeah now I get harassed and yeah yeah great well you know hey that's a good thing you get to be harassed and you know listen I can hold my own I'm gonna I was gonna say for everybody watching.

Watching this podcast, the harassment doesn't just flow one direction. Yes, it does not.

I'm a spectator.

Yeah, actually, let's go ahead real quick, Becky, before we end.

Let's just say I think he's scared.

Is he? He might be.

I don't think he wants to jump in the pond. Yeah, I think he's gonna dip his toe in. I think— I'm just saying, just saying.

But he's a witness.

He's a witness. So All right, well, hey, I hope on today's episode you guys got to see a little bit more of who we are, what we do. Maybe you decide to follow us. We'd hope for you to like and subscribe. We're going to get back to more topic-driven stuff later on, but we thought this episode was a little bit of an insight to who we are as people, what we've done for our careers, and who we are. Because honestly, if we're out here being content people and we want you to follow us, you need to know who we are. Have we even done this? Do we know what we're talking about? And hopefully today you realize that, yes, we all do know what we're talking about. We are very skilled at our job. Maybe a couple screws loose, but hey, that's what happens after you've done this for long enough. And we hope you guys will come back to our next episode. Follow us for more content. And again, like and subscribe because it's only going to get better from here. And we'll see you guys next time.

See you later.

Bye.