Jill Addison: By Playing The Game Of Life, This Digital Marketer Turned Real Estate Investor Has A Plan To Live On Her Own Time And Team Up To Donate $1 Billion
28 Jun 2023 · 40 min
Jill Addison built and sold a digital marketing business over 12 years, then moved into real estate investing. She's targeting $10,000 a month in passive income and wants to help others build wealth so they can collectively donate $1 billion.
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Hey, everyone.
Welcome to another episode of the do the Thing podcast. My name is Stacy Lauren. The guest I have on today has inspired me so much. We're in the same business mastermind, and she always gives such insightful, creative, and encouraging ideas. In this episode, I love that she was able to go into detail about how she started her business and how she used it as a vehicle to get what she really wanted. I absolutely love that you're going to hear from someone who didn't just jump in. She wanted to go a little smoother and have a safety net lined up first. She's also working on something new that will blow you away when you hear the mission of her new dream. Welcome Jill Addison to the show.
Thank you. It's an honor to be invited. So thanks for having me.
Yay. I'm so glad. So I would love for you to tell the listeners a little bit about you and what you've been up to.
Okay. Well, gosh. I started my own business about 12 years ago and didn't really know anything about business at all. So it was a lot of trial and error and it kind of morphed and grew and eventually I was able to sell it, which was always my goal. My goal with the business was to learn as much as I could about business, get good at it, and ultimately to sell the business, like, go on, have a full kind of story arc for it. Like, I grew it and I sold it and I exited, and that was the experience. Yay. So that's what happened. And, yeah, so that was complete about a month ago. And in the meantime, over the last year and a half, I've been doing a lot of real estate investing, which was also a big goal for me, and got to the point where I could pay all my bills with my real estate income. So I was free to sell my business and just continue on with real estate investing at this point, which I found that I really love. So that's where I'm at today. I am, I am. I love it.
And it's been so great because we've been on the same business mastermind for years. And just to see you on, I think it's been amazing just to see things progress with your business and everything you had to go through and then to see you go to an exit and now starting this new thing, it's. It's been quite. It's been quite remarkable to be a witness to that.
Oh, well, thank you. Yeah, it's been. It's been quite a journey. Definitely a lot of ups and Downs. And it's really pushed me and challenged me and made me grow. And I'm really grateful for the experience. And I'm also so grateful to be where I am today.
I definitely want to get into the real estate stuff, but I wanted to start with just even your business that you just sold just to start. So 12 years ago, when you decided to open that business, what did that look like? Why did you open it? What did you have to do to get it open? And a little bit about that would be great.
Yeah, well, okay. So I had actually been in the nonprofit world for 13 years and that's the only thing I had done since college. And so I really didn't know anything about business. I left that and then I got a couple different jobs at two different video production companies because that's kind of where my interest lied. And my goal was that they were really small companies, like 10 staff. And I, the whole time I was there, I was just watching like, okay, how are they doing this? Like, if I wanted to do this, how would I do it? And just trying to learn from that as a kind of a template for if I wanted to start my own business. Because that had always seemed like a cool idea to just to see if I could do it. And then after I had worked at these businesses for a couple of years, I actually got married to a guy who ran his own video production company. And he's kind of a one man show and he does a lot of work for big corporate clients. And I kind of watched what he was doing and I was like, I bet I could do that. And so, so then I got fired from my job and then I was like, gosh, I have no idea what I want to do next or what I should do or what path would be the best for me. And so I kind of just started knocking on a bunch of different doors and I kind of was looking for a job and I started going to networking groups to see what I could learn about business and trying to get some clients and nothing was really working for like six months. And then my unemployment was running out and I was like, what am I going to do? And one of the networking groups I was in, I got the opportunity to do a presentation and I was like, you know what, I'm just going to start slash my prices and if I don't get any clients this time, I'm just going to give up. And so I gave this presentation, I got four clients, and I'm like, okay, I'll go this way. So that was the beginning. And basically I just learned on the job. My husband taught, you know, gave me all his little equipment and taught me how to use it. And they just started shooting little one in three minute online videos for small business owners here in San Diego. And at the time, it was just about when video was starting to be kind of a given. I was looking at it and I was like, you know, it just makes sense. How would a small business owner use video? They'd put it on their website. And so that's kind of how I marketed it. And so I shot a whole bunch of videos. I don't know, I don't know how many clients I had, maybe 200 or something over a few years. But then I started to see that that business model had a lot of limitations. And I was following Robert Kiyosaki on Facebook and he said he made this post that every successful business has three traits. It's leverageable, scalable, and the income is predictable. And I was like, no on all three counts. Well, at the same time, I had had someone call me and say, hey, if we paid you to do whiteboard videos like every month, like two every month, could you do it? And I was like, sure. I didn't know how to do that. But I had been going to this group, Henry's group, actually, where I had heard about a software where you could do that. So I scrambled and looked through my notes and found it, and that client.
Never really followed through.
But I thought, you know what, that's a great idea. I'm going to package it up and sell. So I had a small list. I made an offer. I sold it to like 10 people. I was like, oh my gosh, this is great. So long story short, from there it just progressed to where I got a niche. I started focusing on financial services professionals. Eventually it became more offerings to them that all revolved around digital marketing and grew that for about seven years and grew a team and got to the point where everything was leveraged, the income was more predictable, it was scaling and, you know, just learned a ton along the way and then finally got to a point where I could sell it. And that was very gratifying that I'd built something valuable enough that someone else would pay me a lot of money for.
Sounds like from the very beginning you were already kind of figuring out how to get clients. How did you, how did you know how to do that? And where did you go? Like, what, what did that look like for you?
I did not know how to do it. And so I just like I just started kind of googling and hearing about different networking groups that were going on that were cheap, and I was like, oh, just go. Because. And the biggest reason, like, I was going to network and trying to get clients, but I was also going just to learn from the speaker. Well, whoever the speaker was, they were usually talking about something about business building. So I just kind of started learning from doing it and also from getting a little bit of input here and there from these networking groups and just a lot of trial and error. And, you know, I really just. Just kind of bootstrapped it because I didn't want to put any money into it because I didn't even know if it would work. So I just. It was just a lot of sweat equity and just a lot of labor for free for a long time. And then, you know, just kind of learned from trial and error. So what was the hardest part for you? You know, I think it was just that I thought I would get to a point where it would just kind of hum along and there wouldn't be problems, and there were just always problems. And I kind of eventually realized that that sort of is just part of business. And I remember one time, Stacy and our mastermind, another person in the mastermind, was like, having an amazing month, and they were like, you know, they've been really struggling with their business, and then they're having this amazing month, and they were like, oh, my gosh, maybe I should keep it. And I remember you saying, just remember it's going to go down again. It's always a roller coaster. And, you know, just kind of learning to accept the roller coaster and just roll with it, just go with it and enjoy the ride.
Yeah. So when you were going through the roller coaster, like, what kept you going? How did you stay motivated?
Well, you know, I kind of did have this ultimate goal of wanting to get it to the point where I could sell it and wanting to get to a point where I had enough real estate income that it was that I had kind of achieved that goal of passive income. So that then I really freed my time. So just having that vision of wanting to have a lifestyle where my time is up to me and I can, you know, give it in whatever way I want, however much I want, that was really a compelling goal for me. And so. And I knew I couldn't quit until I got there. And so I just had to keep going until I got there. And it's just. It's just one of those things, like, you know, be that. That whole thing about being Willing to do what most people are not willing to do for a short period of time so that you can live the rest of your life like most people will never be able to do.
Yeah. So do you think that then by you then getting this real estate vision and knowing that's what you wanted to do, it almost freed you to know you weren't staying? It was more like, this business is just transitory to get me into the next. The next level.
Yes.
Yes.
And it was always, always a means to an end for me. And that's something that my husband and other people couldn't really understand and sometimes criticized me for because they were like, it's like, you're just. It's just a means to an end for you. Like, that was a bad thing. I'm like, well, no, it is a means to an end. This is not really what I want to do. It is going to propel me into where I want to be. Yeah.
Do you think that's what then it sounds like that is what helped you get through all the painful moments then. Yeah.
I mean, honestly, I felt like I didn't have a choice. I mean, I had to have something lined up before I could jump ship. And so, like, the real estate thing, it was almost like I was going in this speedboat, and then another speedboat's coming up next to me, and when it finally got to the same velocity and we're going at the same speed, then I could step from one boat into the other boat, and I needed that. I couldn't just step off the boat, you know, because then I wouldn't have any income and, you know, I just couldn't do that.
Yeah, I love that analogy. It's really good. Okay, so I'm sitting here writing down your formula for doing the thing. If you don't mind, I'd love to share it with you and you can tell me if I'm missing anything. And then when we go to the real estate stuff, it's going to be cool because we get to see if we're going to add anything from you doing the thing with that right now. All right, so you're going to play along.
Okay.
So it sounds like learning from mentors is one of your big pieces of your formula for doing the thing. And for sure, I'm thinking that number two is a separate line item, is educating yourself. Because even though it's a little similar, I'm feeling like there's. There's another level to it because your mind is open in another way.
Would you agree I think it was a combination. I mean, it's learning in a bunch of different ways. It's learning from mentors, learning from others who are role models, learning from courses and talks, and then learning from real world experience, which. That last one is huge because I was just talking to a friend of mine who's been in a employee kind of position for a long time, and she's getting paid really well and she has a lot of responsibility and she kind of has aspirations of being in an entrepreneurial position, but it's just really clear that she hasn't had the experience to really learn what that means. And there is no substitute for that. You can't just learn about it from a book or from whatever. You have to do it to learn. You have to do it to learn. Yeah.
Yeah. And do you think that's where it started with that nonprofit? Like, so you were able to see how they did it, and then between that and then seeing your husband with the video stuff, and then do you think that all was part of something that you needed in order to. To get it started?
Well, I was thinking about that. It's interesting because I think, I mean, the nonprofit really doesn't have much to do with the business. There wasn't a lot of crossover.
But.
But the, but my involvement in that, in that nonprofit was all about, like, feeling part of a cause that was just so worthwhile. And that's something that's so me. And then. And then the business side, like, I really wanted to learn about business and just how to make money because it's so practical and it just. I wanted those skills. I wanted to feel kind of empowered that way. And then all along I've kind of been thinking, how can I combine those two things? How could I combine how much I love being involved in worthy causes with the business stuff I've learned? And that's kind of what led me into the big why of the next thing I'm going to do. So we can talk about that later. Well, I can't wait.
So I definitely want to talk about that. So the other, the other piece of the formula, and I actually haven't. I've heard this before, someone else has said this, but I'm excited to hear you say it too, because I think I'm gonna. I think I'm gonna put it as a piece now of the formula is pivoting, like being open to pivot. Because I've seen you pivot sometimes, but hearing your story, I mean, you know, you even pivoted way back then. From the very beginning, from how you even str the business.
Yes, absolutely. You have to stay flexible like that. And I mean, I think such a big part of it is changing your attitude about failure because at the beginning I was like, if something didn't work, I'd feel embarrassed and feel like, oh no, I can't do it, I'm no good, blah. And, and actually we have a mutual friend, Chrissy, who I was in a parking lot with her and I was telling her about this thing. I tried for a year and finally realized it just didn't have legs, it was not going to work. And I had to just, just dump it and give it up and try something else. And I was embarrassed because I felt like it was a failure. And I told her, you know, yeah, it didn't work as kind of a failure. And, and she said, well, I don't really look at it as a failure. I just look at it as something you tried that didn't work. And that was so. That was such a turning point for me. Like, wow, I don't have to be afraid of failure. It's just part of the learning to. Towards success. And that's something that so many people who haven't done an entrepreneurial journey don't really understand that failure is. Failure is the only way to get to where you're going because you learn from your failures and then you try something else and you succeed.
Yeah. That is so good. And I love the way you explained that. That's so good. I'm almost wondering too. I'm hearing you talk about Chrissy and then me knowing you and us being in this Mr. Mind, this mastermind that we're in. I'm thinking maybe even surrounding yourself with like minded people might be part of the formula also.
Oh my gosh. Yeah, it's so important. I mean, being part of the mastermind that I've, that I've been in with you. I mean, I don't think you know this, but when I first joined that mastermind, I was so intimidated by you guys. I was nervous to even go to mastermind. I was nervous to talk. I didn't want to go first because you guys were so successful. I was really intimidated. But now I've been in the mastermind for, I don't know, four years, five years or something and I'm not at all. But I know that, that, that being around you guys expanded my mind and expanded my vision of what's possible and what you can do. And just watching how you did things, I mean, I Cannot emphasize enough how important that was in helping me grow into my full potential.
I love that. That's so powerful. Yeah. I hadn't. I hadn't actually put that down before until hearing you talk about that parking lot story, so. Yeah, and that's true. That's kind of been the thing that really keeps me. Keeps me grounded also and connected, you know? Yeah.
Okay.
And then the other thing, which I think this is going to lead into. Into the real estate stuff, is having a really. A really clear vision, you know, which, for this one, the first business, the one that you just sold, your vision was really just getting out. But. But.
Exactly.
But you had the vision of being able to use the money that you're getting in order to fund the next venture. So, I mean, it wasn't as bad as I'm making sound, but.
No, it kind of was.
Yeah. It's funny though, because I feel like you. I mean, that last year you just were in such flow, you know, of like everything just was kind of just really humming for you. And it's kind of cool that you left in that way, you know, where it had to feel good that you got it to the point where it was just humming like a. Like a steady stream, you know? Yeah. Yeah.
And I think that in those last two years when I was just so done, I was so burned out, I wanted out so bad. That's when I really learned how to just surrender. Like, okay, I'm just gonna go with it, you know, can't do anything else. I'm just gonna go with it. And I just. I think that the power of surrender is so important. And, you know, I mentioned this at our last mastermind that. That same other guy in our. In our mastermind, so that he's in this other mastermind, and the two guys in that mastermind that are most successful, they both have $50 million businesses. They said that the thing that turned it for them, where was a turning point where the things just took off after that is when they just surrendered. And it's just kind of an amazing concept that just getting in flow and surrendering and going with it is such a huge part of success.
I think we have a good. A good formula from the first business. Do you think we missed anything that you had to do? Other than. I think if there was something with staying motivated, how did you keep yourself above ground? Be the only thing I would.
I mean, you know, like I said, I just felt like I really didn't have a choice. I had to keep going until I got to the point where I could, you know, because I didn't want to quit this and then get a job. I wanted to get on the track with real estate and I knew that that business was the best way to do it. And so I was just pushing through that path because I knew that led to where I wanted to go. But I guess the other thing, honestly though, is that I'm just kind of. I'm just kind of a hard worker. Like, you know, I knew is what I had to do and I just, I just work hard.
Yeah, yeah, no, that's. That is definitely true. I've seen your work ethic for sure. So.
Okay, cool.
Well, that's perfect. Thanks for sharing that business. And then. Yes. And you sold it and are now. I wish the listeners could see the video that you shared with us with the last mastermind of you opening up the champagne bottle.
Right.
Yeah. Do you want to just talk for a minute about how that felt when, you know, the end of that. That road?
Yeah. Yeah. So I had signed a 60 day training agreement with the new buyer and of my business and the new owner and the. When I hung up the last training call from him, I just like took a deep breath and blew it all out and I said to myself, done. And I had been fantasizing about that finish line for so many years.
It felt so good.
And that night, like we have small children and so we put into bed.
And then at 9 o' clock that.
Night I started and I just wiped everything clean. I took everything off my. Off my laptop desktop. I got a new desktop wallpaper. I eventually changed my ringtone. Now it's this beautiful like sound of thunderstorm when anybody calls me. It's just so cool. I changed all my bookmarks. I got a new Chrome background. I mean like a new home page, you know, every. I moved all my icons that used to be on the left.
Now the.
I only have two icons. Basically it's like my personal folder in real estate. And that's it. Just simple. I got a new Dropbox folder that only has two folders in it, Personal and real estate. I love it. So easy. And so just, just kind of just wiping the slate clean and starting over and how good that feels. Because I basically, instead of starting way down here in the learning curve and working my way up laboriously for all these years, the next thing I do, I'm going to start the learning curve way up here. Because of everything I've learned. I can start like ahead of the game. I can apply all the stuff that I learned from my last business to something I really want to do. And that's just really exciting to me to feel very equipp for making it a success fast.
Yeah, it's so true. The more experience you have, even though it's a totally different industry, you're able to use all those skills and bring them into what you're doing now, which is really. I love that. Yeah, it's so good. Okay. The truth here. Okay. Here's what I really want you to be able to share. Okay. So for the listeners, Jill has this amazing mission, and I've been telling you pretty much that I'm stealing your mission, not using it for myself, but when I'm telling people about the kind of mission that I want to have for myself, I'm using yours as an example because it's so good. I'd love you to share what you're a little bit about the real estate thing. I know you shared a little bit in the beginning, but a little bit more kind of in detail and then what your master purposes for that too.
Yeah, yeah. Okay.
So.
So my first goal with real estate was to get myself financially free check done. Second goal is to get myself to $10,000 a month in passive income. So, you know, I'm. I'm about halfway there. And so I'll be progressing and continue to invest in real estate going forward. That is a lot of people's goal. A lot of people want $10,000 a month in passive income. That's a very common goal in real estate investing. So, you know, and I've had a lot of people asking me, what are you doing? I'd love to pick your brain, blah, blah, blah. And it's just something where there's a lot of demand for it. And I just started thinking, you know, maybe I'll do like a webinar for people just to tell, you know, teach them about how I did it. And, you know, maybe I'll just start out with a webinar about like the. The top eight to ten criteria that.
You can use to.
To choose the best place to invest. And at first it was just that I was like, I don't know, maybe I'll do a webinar about it and just share that knowledge. But then it kind of just started growing in my mind, like, maybe I'll do an online course, because people are going to need a lot more than just that webinar. Maybe I'll do a whole video course, which is kind of what I did in my past business. I did videos And I did marketing through videos. So, you know, I can. And my husband, of course, has all those skills. And so I can, I can use those skills in a new way to build a video course. And then I can include, you know, like all the checklists and the Excel spreadsheets and all these tools that I've developed to manage the process. And I don't know, I just, you know, one of my favorite things that I did in all my wanderings of figuring out business was trying to develop an online course. I did that once and I did it for like how to make your own. It was like DIY video package how to make your own little videos. And there just wasn't enough demand for it. But this is so different. Everyone I tell about it, they're like, I'll be your guinea pig. I want that. You know, it's like demand is just coming at me before I even launch it, which is so validating. It's like, this is something that people need and it's going to be exciting to go on this ride. So anyway, just thinking about that and then I was like, you know, even if I get, even if I give them the videos and the checklists and the tools and the, you know, Excel spreadsheets and all this stuff, people are going to need even more support to get there. So maybe I'll do some coaching. Maybe I'll do like group coaching on a bi monthly basis or something. I don't know. And so it just kind of kept growing in my mind, like what the course could involve. And it's not like I'm inventing a new thing. These online courses are very, you know, this many, many people have done these courses. So it's not like I'm inventing a new category or anything. And not even like I'm inventing a new kind of course. Tons of people teach real estate courses, but I feel like I do have a very specific niche kind of person I'm trying to reach who wants. Who has the same goals as me and basically just wants to learn from what I did and replicate that in their life. So anyway, so I started thinking about all this and see, all along I've been thinking, you know, like turning it over in my mind over and over and over about the real estate thing. Like, how can I get to my goal, how can get there? How can I get there with the resources I have, with the amount of cash I have on hand, with the amount of loans I can get through Fannie and Freddie, you know, all these different kind of parameters. Like, how can I make it work? And as I just kept turning all these numbers over in my head and everything, I realized that to get $10,000 a month in passive income, you're basically going to end up with a real estate portfolio. Basically, the way I was looking at it is If I get $10,000 a month in passive income, the way I'm doing it, I'm going to end up with about $10 million of value in my real estate portfolio by the time all those loans are paid off, which will be 30 years from now. So at that point, I'll have $10 million of equity, you know, in these real estate assets. And. And I think I want to give it away. And so that was like, my first thing was thinking, I want to give away $10 million. That's my big why. But as I started thinking about this course, more and more and more, I started thinking, what if I could motivate other people to do the same thing, and I could really expand my influence by not only giving away $10 million myself, but motivating other people to give away $10 million? Then I started thinking, you know, in my first business, my goal was always get a. Get 100 clients, you know, and I'd have it up on my wall. 100 clients. That's my goal. And I'd keep track. How close am I to my goal of 100 clients? So then I thought, what if I got 100 clients for this real estate product? And I inspired them and I challenged them to commit that they were going to give it all away at the end of their Life. Give away $10 million in assets before they die. That would be awesome. And then I was in this other mastermind, and I was talking about it, and I was like, okay, I haven't done this math yet, but I'm going to do it right now. And I just talked into my phone. I said, what is 100 times 10 million? And the answer to that is a billion. And I was like, I like that. I was hoping it would be that I could. I could mobilize a billion dollars in charitable giving through this. I could help people gain the wealth, like, build the wealth and then give it away. It's money they wouldn't have had otherwise, you know, and so I can motivate them and I can equip them to actually build the wealth and then also inspire them to give it away. And so. But then I thought, I started talking to different people about it, and I talked to this one friend whose family had a lot of Real estate, and that's being passed down from generation to generation. When I. When I floated this idea and this vision of inspiring people to give away $10 million in real estate assets, I could tell that she was not a fan. She was a little hesitant about that because that money gets passed down in their family, and she didn't want to give it away. So I started realizing that's kind of a big ask. So then I thought, well, how could I scale that back but still hit a billion? And then I thought, well, if I don't do 100, I do 500. And I ask each of those people to give away $2 million instead of $10 million, the math still comes out the same. 2 million times 500 is 1 billion. So now my goal is to Equip and Inspire 500 people to give away $2 million over the course of their lifetime through all this real estate income. And that's a much more doable thing. That's like 20% of what they may have gained. So that's kind of how I came up with that vision. But, you know, the billion number, I mean, most people's brains cannot hold. Cannot even conceive, really, of what is a billion. We just know it's a ton. It's like the biggest number that you usually hear thrown around. A billion. A billion of anything is pretty impressive. It's pretty amazing. It grabs you, you know, And Henry, who's in our mastermind too, he's like, I can't stop thinking about it. A billion dollars. Giving away a billion be like being responsible for $1 billion in charitable giving happening. That would be so cool. And so it's just. It's just kind of a vision that reaches out and grabs people and makes them want to be part of it. And I think it would be really cool to have, like, a part of the website that's dedicated to this, where. Where people can kind of sign up, that they commit to do this together and that we're a team and we're all pulling toward this common goal together, of achieving this together. So it's something that really calls to me, and I think it calls to other people, too. So I'm very excited about it because it kind of does marry the two things that I feel like have been the two biggest parts of my work life so far in my life, which is the whole, you know, being part of a big cause bigger than you, that's really worthy of your life, and also using business skills to get there.
It's so inspiring. Anytime I honestly like even think of you. This is what comes to mind now. And it's funny because I only just heard you say it months ago, you know, and it's just since then, I think sounds like similar to Henry. It just is so. It's so like jaw dropping to even consider that. That I think puts you in a whole nother place, you know, in your, in your mind on like what's possible, I think, and especially because, you know, a lot of people do their goals and yes, a lot of people's goals are giving and things like that, but it's never the people that you're touching and what they're giving to. At least not never, I don't want to say never. But rarely, you know, do you see that ripple of the people you're interacting and what they can contribute. And I think that's what really. And as I'm talking, I still get chills thinking about that because I don't think a lot of us even put that into perspective. It's what am I going to give? Not like, what is this group that I'm touching and impacting giving. And that just adds a whole nother layer to what you're doing. Yeah, right, man.
Yeah. And I remember when you told me, you told me to say it in the mastermind and share it with everybody else because I had shared it with just you and Chrissy before that. And when I did, did I remember Henry looking around going, did she say billion, like with a B? And that's so fun to have a goal so big that people can't even believe it.
It's, it's unbelievable. Yeah. And it's, it's so doable because I mean, even people that I tell, you know about you and what you want to do, they're like ready to sign up, you know, I think it might already be 10 pieces, like ready, you.
Know, and, and you have such a.
Great way, you have such a great way of explaining things. And we've talked about this personally, but I'll just share like even when the PPP loan came out and there's so many different things that you've like taught us on actually you, you, you, you showed us with real estate, different things and just your way of explaining is so detailed, but yes, yet at the same level, you know, to, to make people understand. And so I'm just so excited for this to get started.
I really try to simplify it, you know, just make it accessible and doable.
Yeah, simplify. I love that. Yeah. And then it's funny, you're you. I didn't realize this before when you told me the goal because I didn't know about the first goal with 100 people and the $10 million. But you also another piece of the formula, of the do the thing formula, which is reverse engineering your goal. And so it's like, what? And you're. Once you realize you could do a billion, you're like, how can I get to a billion another way. And that's such a huge way to do the thing. Yep, yep.
It's so important to be. And it's that whole Franklin Covey thing of begin with the end in mind, what is the goal? You first have to decide where do you want to even end up. And once you know that, your mind starts working on how to get there. And you will get there.
Yeah. And so do you think that there's anything now that this, the real estate stuff is pretty new? And then since we just talked about your business and the formula for that, do you think that your formula for doing the thing has been similar as to what it was for your business? You know, like with learning from the mentors and educating yourself and pivoting and obviously the vision was there. Do you think that it was pretty similar or was there anything extra that you've noticed now through what you're doing now than you didn't have the first time around?
Yeah. Well, it's funny because really what I always wanted was to have something like this, like an online course. It's. It's the business model I always wanted. And I don't even really know how I ended up with a digital marketing agency. It just happened that way. It just kind of evolved into that. But this is what I always wanted. And so I think that it's kind of been percolating for a very long time to do something like this. But I think along the way, and especially from being just associated with you and with all the different people in our mastermind and how big they think and the other people they know and the stories we hear about other people they know that are thinking really, really big. I think that's the biggest thing is that I have thinking so much bigger than I did before, but it also is going to happen in a way that is so much more efficient, that it's going to less time of me and less stress. And so I really like that combination.
So is there anything I have not asked you that you think I should have asked you?
Not really. I mean, there's. Honestly, there's so, so many things I've learned over the last 10 years. A lot of the things that come to mind are very tactical, but, like, just the principles. I think we have covered a lot of those.
And then let's say you could give our listeners just one piece of advice on doing the thing. What would that be?
Yeah, you know, I have, like, on my wall, right behind my computer, where I see it on a regular basis, is a wall that is just full of all these quotes that I've heard that I want to remember, that I want to keep myself grounded with. So they're on my wall, and I.
Read them over and over.
I've committed them to memory, many of them. And the one that I like the best is from Helen Keller, and she said, security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. And I love that quote so much because I think for so long I was looking for security and trying to get myself into a position of security. And I think what's happened as I've grown and become braver is being able to accept that nothing is secure but that it's okay, and that, you know, I have within me all that will be required for whatever is needed, no matter what the circumstances are. And so just letting go of needing security, understanding that it's mostly a superstition, and then just accepting and embracing that life is either a daring adventure or nothing. And I know people, I have friends where I look at their lives and they just. Every time they've had a choice to say yes or no to things, they've said no. And their life is so much smaller than it could have been. And it's so sad to see people living a smaller life than they could have. And so I love the part about a daring adventure. You know, let's just embrace it that life is a daring adventure. And, you know, we shouldn't try to arrive at the end all, you know, composed and safe. No, we should slide into home plate muddy and glorious and saying, yay. That was an awesome ride.
I love it. And it's probably great to have your kids where you're seeing that from. From the kid perspective again and just being reminded of that, too. Right? Right. Yeah. Just almost being a kid again.
You know what, Stacy, though? That's a really good insight that you have to start to look at all of life as play, because that's what it is. We're just here to play this big, glorious game. So let's play it the best we can and. And not take ourselves too seriously.
Yeah. And I actually have another Question about that. So do you do. What do you do to get yourself into that, into that mindset? Have you noticed anything that helps you get into play mode more?
I think a lot of facing your fears and then moving through them so that what used to make you really uncomfortable, now you feel comfortable doing because you just.
You.
You went there, you. You overcame your fears. So just continuing to expand beyond your comfort zone, I think makes it easier and easier to do it again and again and just view it all as a big game.
And do you have something that you say to yourself when you're about to expand beyond your comfort zone?
I guess the biggest thing is I just kind of subconsciously think to myself, what do I have to lose? You know, I mean, don't be afraid. Just try it. What do you have to lose? You only live once. Try it.
I love it. Well, it's been unbelievable being a part of your journey and getting to see everything that you're doing, and I'm so glad that you were able to share it with the listeners. And I'm really hoping that, you know, it's gonna. Someone's gonna hear it and, you know, it's gonna connect in a different way and get someone to say, yes, you're welcome.
It's been a pleasure to be on your show. Thank you.
Oh, one more thing, Jill. Is there. Do you have anything set up yet for people to learn about you or to follow along as you're building this out?
I was thinking about that. I don't really, but if anyone that's listening to this wants to be placed on a list where you can be notified when we launch, I'd be happy to do that. You can just contact Stacy and she'll forward your information, I guess, for now. Or we could set up a link that you could put at the bottom of this or something, but I don't really have anything set up right now, but I definitely can create an Excel document and put your name on it.
That's great. Let's have them. You guys can just email me@helloothething podcast.com and then just put Jill on the subject and then we'll. We'll do it that way for now.
That's exciting.
I love that we documented the beginning. That it's like, not. You know, I'm just loving. I'm loving it, so. I'm so excited. Yeah. Yeah.
And, you know, I was thinking about this conversation before we had it today, and I was thinking about how Chrissy was talking about a few months ago about how thoughts are things that, quote, thoughts are things. And it's like this real estate course doesn't even exist yet. It's just my thoughts. But it does exist because thoughts are things, man.
I'm like, wow. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Well, thank you so much for. For coming on the show. I really appreciate it.
Sure. Thank you so much, Stacy. It's always a pleasure to be around you. Oh.
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