Student Spotlight: Juliana Scolari

Hey!

I once dined on steak with a candle's soft glow, but the bill left my savings despairingly low. Now wisdom has taught me, so simple, so grand, Eat baloney, buy land. Oh, eat baloney, buy land. Trade the fork for the deed in your hand. Skip the filling, let the sandwiches stand. Your fortune will grow when you buy your own land.

Hello, everybody. We have a nightcap first, which is no Mark and no Scott together. And so we're trying to figure this out without them, which means maybe technical difficulties, but we'll see what happens. Also, I figured out how to make noises.

I don't— we got noises?

Yeah. Oh, geez.

I don't think we're gonna have any issues, John, because of all of us, you're the most tech Oh, that's good.

I mean, yeah, thank you. Look, look at this. Look at this.

All right.

Well, how are you, Mike?

I'm doing well. You and I were talking earlier. I was away for a week up in Mendocino, California. I go once a year to, um, train with the Michael Jordan of jiu-jitsu. Um, uh, Roger Gracie, uh, was phenomenal. Laura came with me. And so You know, just had a wonderful time, and I'm back and happy to be here with you, John.

Yeah, well, I'm happy to be here with you. What are you drinking tonight?

Uh, well, we were out in California. We went to a distillery, and they had some— they made their own tequila, so we smuggled some home, and Laura made me a— I don't know, there's a word for Paloma, maybe. Is that right?

A Paloma?

Yeah, that could be it.

I—

my, uh, the tequila drink, what is it? It's, it's, uh, the, the one that I've been drinking lately is called a Oaxacan. What? Yeah, have you heard?

That's a Oaxacan. Tell me about this.

Well, so you have to print— it's spelled O-A-A— or wait, it's O-A-X-A-C-A-N.

And, uh, oh, if that's a tequila brand— no, I think it is because I've seen, I think, the brand, but no idea that's how it's pronounced.

I definitely ordered a wax can was the first thing that I asked for.

A walking Is that what you're drinking right now?

No, this is a— this is apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, ginger, and a Spindrift.

So, so it's a mocktail?

It's a mocktail.

Those are very popular these days.

Keto mocktail. There's 1 gram of carbs.

You know, they're on the menu wherever you go now. There's mocktails everywhere. It's a thing.

It is a thing. So anyways, we have a special treat for all of you, dear listeners. which is a very highly esteemed guest. So let me give you an intro. So our guest tonight grew up in São Paulo, Brazil. She studied hospitality and she first came to the United States as a college student through an international work program. What started as a relatively short experience in the US eventually became home and her career took a sharp turn from hospitality to international finance. Where she had a very successful career spanning more than 15 years, working with clients and businesses between Brazil and the United States. Over that time, she went from serving individual clients to helping develop strategy and expand international financial operations into Brazil. But somewhere along the way, she started wondering rather than just asking, what's the next step in my career? She started thinking more about freedom, about ownership of her time, And what it might look like to build something for herself and her family. And that eventually brought her into the world of land investing and to the Land Geek community, which brings us today where we are— brings us to today where we are enormously excited to speak to Juliana Scolari.

Hey guys, good evening.

How are you?

So glad to be here.

Good. We're glad you're here too.

I think, John, you nailed that intro. What?

And that was a long one, John.

That's a pretty interesting and pretty cool, uh, you know, uh, past there. You know, you've done some things.

Yeah, corporate life, Mike. That was my previous life.

Oh, I know. Well, I don't know. I've never been in corporate life, but I know you and I had discussions about this, and so I knew that it was Definitely, I guess, weighing heavy on you, right? I mean, at the time, you know, looking for options, so to speak.

Yeah, no, it was a long and beautiful journey in the corporate life, but it is a little bit of the, you know, golden handcuffs. You really sell basically your soul to the company. Just kidding. No, but really, it's just that you work many hours. I used to travel a lot. And although it was a beautiful career at one time, Then I had my son and I start thinking differently, right? Start wondering what to do. What can you do to just change that? And it's so interesting how many limited beliefs you have because you believe that you won't be able to do anything other than what you already know. And you start to, you know, try to talk your way out of the exciting opportunities. But, you know, luckily for me, I found, and I'm excited. And really, I have changed paths. That's amazing.

No, it's beautiful. It's beautiful. Now, John, I don't know if you had an agenda. We're just jumping right in because I could just jump right in. But I don't know if you had to say a few things.

I mean, I have no agenda. Maybe we should probably explain the model a little bit for anybody who's here who doesn't know what it is that we do.

Yeah, if it's the first time you've happened upon us and you're wondering who we are, um, I think that's a good point. Yeah, so, you know, um, essentially— do you want me to do it? You do it.

Okay.

All right.

So, well, well, you know, um, we, we buy land. And here's the interesting part, the land we buy typically is we purchase it for about $5,000 or less. I jokingly slash lovingly call it the penny stocks of real estate, but there's a significant cash flow component attached to these assets we buy, right? Because we're going to cash flow them, and that's the big thing. Many people bought land before, but like, how do you cash flow it? We sell it on owner financing for low monthly payments. But since we're in this low bracket, you know, low tier where we buy the properties, we can set up payments that are affordable, attractive. They move the property quickly, and then they bring back our capital, our investment, sometimes within the first year, a lot of times, right? So then we can redeploy that capital and buy more of it. And this process just goes on and on like Groundhog Day. And we build a note when we buy one property and sell it, and then we slowly build a note portfolio. And then that note portfolio has value that it can really change our lives. It can It'll start small, but it can grow. It can be income replacing. It's not get rich quick, it's build this sort of, uh, you know, value over time. But it works. And we're going to talk to Juliana tonight about her journey into building this note portfolio and her, her business.

That was—

yeah, I'm ready.

All right, well, tell us, like, so, so paint us a little bit of a picture of, like, that point where you're like, all right, I need to do I want to do something. What did that look like for you?

Yeah, so when I— well, I decided that I want to leave my job before that, right? But through the journey of looking for new opportunities, as I said, I found a book of Mark Podolsky, Long Story Short, I'm Here. So I joined flight school in June and start learning, start putting everything together, and bought my first 3 properties through Land Arb, which we can explain later what that is, but that was my first connection with land. And I really— it's just really a recipe, which is the beauty of it, right? So you don't really— you just need to follow what is being given to you through flight school. And that's what I did at every single step and every single class. I would make sure that I executed to what I was being told to do. And by September, it was, you know, a little over 2 months is really when I sold my first property. So, okay, proof of concept. Okay, this is real. Like, there is demand for land, which is great. And I finished flight school. We had the Dirt Bridge last year, which is happening in November. Well, this year is happening in October, but it happened in November last year. And I decided to go ahead and continue with the community and join coaching. And, um, a little bit at the beginning has been that, some straight from flight school to coaching, what I'm doing today. That's great.

That's perfect. Well, how would you, for the average person who has no idea what flight school is, how would you describe that process? You know, you said it was, you know, it is 16 weeks, but you know, how would you, How would you describe that in, you know, in the most basic way maybe you could? Like, what is this Flight School?

Flight School is really for you that has no idea how to run this business model. Like me, I had been working a corporate life for my entire life. So I don't know, I had no experience in entrepreneurship or companies, right? How to run my own business. So it's really holding hand from day zero, not even day one, on how to make this business successful, right? And the recipe is all given to you from day one, and it's a very good pace, right? So, it's a good, steady pace, so you're not overwhelmingly getting information. You have the chance to truly learn and go step by step into all the verticals that you need on this business, which is mailing, marketing, and I would say sales, right?

Yeah.

And then, yeah, so once you finish flight school, really, you are ready. Like, you know, you're ready to run your own business. You have everything that you need to be successful in this business model.

I love it. You know, I know you and I, we talked quite a bit here and there before you did enroll. So can you give us a sense of, you know, timing? I always say alignment, part of that is timing. What were some things going through your mind prior to—

Yeah, so I guess it's fears. Yeah, a lot of fears, Mike. So I remember it was funny, and the other day I called Mike to you know, thank him actually, 'cause I hit a big milestone. So, I just wanna be grateful for him having the patience to deal with me at the beginning, because we don't even know what we are asking, right? I remember my first questions were like completely off the business model.

Right.

And you were so kind, Mike, to, you know, have, you know, understand where I was in my journey and have the time to do it. But to me, I was actually pretty quick in the sense that what I believe quick is, right? So I read the book in January and I went to the toolkit like quickly after that. So I started with that and then I did it for a few months. I had another partner that I was planning to come with me through this journey. And then I started waiting for him to catch up with me. That's the honest, what really happened. And then when that was 90 months down to the toolkit, which at that point I had already decided that I was ready for flight school, that I was ready to learn more because, uh, the toolkit is great as an introduction to me, but it doesn't hold your hand, right? Like, I would rather to have the community and the classes and all of that. Um, but then he— this— he was just taking too long, so I decided to go on my own, right? So that's my story on that. And then, yeah, so then I joined flight school in the beginning of June, so that was all the time that I need. But before deciding that this is what I want to do. And that's why to me, like, I needed— I took a little longer as far as like the toolkit and the flight schools because it was my journey to really trying to understand what I was getting into it. Which was great, by the way.

Yeah.

I also remember talking to John last year.

Yeah.

It was funny because I was in Durban.

Yeah. Yeah. And I was It burned into my memory. It was a very memorable—

Oh, awesome. So you can tell the story then.

I don't know. Yeah, I mean, I think just hearing your story and like kind of your motivation and everything and how you came into this, it just really made a very strong impression on me. And you're one of the most positive people I know.

Oh, good.

Thank you.

You know, I remember, 'cause I remember talking to you and I was, Again, I quit my job. So that was a big— that was like a timestamp that usually it's not recommended in the majority of the cases, right? But I decided to go all in. I, you know, and, uh, and because I quit my job, there's a certain time that I needed to accomplish things. Um, and then that's kind of the questions I was asking John while I was virtually like, John, how long is it going to take for me to hit $5K or $10K? And I know you were super nice, you know, like trying to be genuine and realistic about timing. which truly helped me to, you know, just make plans and, you know, budget accordingly, all of that we need when we quit our job and are kind of reinventing ourselves. But it was great to definitely, you know, finally meet you guys in person too. And Dirt Rich was a big change for me because that's when— and that's also about coaching, you guys. I mean, coaching is when you truly decide that you're going you're burning the boats, right? That's for me what it was. So, I was like, this is it. This is my decision. I'm going to become a land investor and I'm gonna follow this business model and I'm gonna make it work. And that's how I decided to go to coaching. And I really think that there's no true secret other than consistency and persistency into this, right?

Mm-hmm.

So, the things that I do every day is, I do everything that I can control. I cannot control how many properties I'm going to sell, but I can control how many calls I'm going to make. And that's what I do. So, I plan to do the things I can control so I can be successful. And the beauty of it is that the recipe works, you know, it's been working for 20+ years, and today it still works, which is beautiful.

Yeah. Well, take us, take us back to, like you mentioned, that one of the things that Like you had some fears going into this. So like, talk about what were some of those fears and how did you overcome those as you were, as you were pushing forward?

Yeah, I remember one of them was to buy land, believe it or not, John. So I was really nervous. I was like, am I going to be able to sell it? And you always want to buy one, you know, and sell that one and like really going slow into this. And You know what I've done? I've— because when you are in flight school, we are able to listen to the mastermind classes, which is the beauty of, you know, the entire program entirely. So I've— I was watching, I was listening to the mastermind classes, and it was over my head at that point because they were talking about really high-level stuff to my face. And but I could see people having their problems were, oh, I ran out of inventory. You know, how do you guys buy wholesale property at once? And, you know, what do you do when you— to make sure that doesn't happen? And that, for me, for example, was like, wait a minute, the problem of the future, right? That's how I used to call him. That's a future problem. So, that's me in the future. If that's the problem I'm gonna have, I can't be afraid of buying land right now.

Right.

And this is the way, like, having the ability to see what the community, what's happening to the community that is in front of me was a big change to overcome all of the fears that I had, but that was one of them that I can remember.

Yeah, that's great. And it seems like you lean on the community pretty hard too. Um, like, oh yeah, that's true.

Yeah, yeah, no, I love it. That's the best community, guys. I mean, seriously, it's, it's amazing. And, you know, especially from somebody who came from corporate role, this is the beauty of it, right? Like, everybody helps each other. We are really truly going for everybody to win. It is such a win-win mentality. So, you have the Coaches, you have your friends, your peers, all like really with you in the journey. So, that is the part, that priceless part of all of it.

One of the corporate things that always stood out to me is like having gone to corporate conferences for, I went to corporate conferences for economic data back in the day. And then going to a conference where everybody is building their own business, they're excited, and they genuinely care about each other is a breath of fresh air, I would say.

Absolutely. And, you know, it's nobody competing. It's just a different energy what we have in this group. So I really appreciate the community. I think it's really, truly the most valuable part of all. You know, to have all of us together there.

Yeah. Well, when you— so when you started, uh, before you jumped into the toolkit, like, were you looking at other things too alongside land investing? Or like, what did that look like for you?

Yeah, the very beginning though. So that, you know, so I can tell you the way I end up here at the end, right? So I was— I had many invitations. So when I left my corporate or when I start talking about leaving, you know, luckily and humbly, I had many invites about, you know, other corporations. Former CEOs had called me and reached out. Friends that were business owners were asking me, you know, or just inviting me to come with them along. And one of them was, um, he builds homes, and he was like, Juliana, we want you, you know, just coming over. And the first meeting that I had with them, they said that their bottleneck was land. So, basically, they were building new homes for individuals and families, but it took a long time. It took a little while by the time the family said yes until they found the land and built it. And that's how I ended up finding— I was trying to find somebody who understood about land but was not for the purpose of this business model, right? It was for something else.

Ah.

And then, I found it. And that was kind of the first questions I had to— I gave to Mike too. That was funny because I was I was trying to see if it connected. And he was super honest, like, no, this is a different business model. And he kind of explained to me. But as I learned and as I read the books, you know, and as I listened to the podcasts that was available at that time, the more I learned, the more I wanna— I found it interesting. Interesting. And then I decided to, change all of the plans that I was trying to do at the end of my career and move 100% to this one.

Well, tell me, let's talk a little bit about like, what was your first— you had mentioned earlier, I don't know if you bought wholesale, land arb, from mail, like, how would you get your first property?

Land arb. So, I got my 3 first properties through land arb. And then I got 2 wholesale. And then, 2 mailers. That's how I started my inventory.

Talk a little bit about the land arb for someone who might not know what you're referring to. Like, how did that work?

Land arb is when really you buy land from another investor, somebody that has, you know, usually the same business model that we do, but then you, instead of acquiring the property entirely, and which, you know, it needs more capital, you can buy from another land investor and pay monthly. And there is meat on the bone. So, you pay for less than what you're able to sell in the market. So, you make some profit into that. But that allows you to really test. You know, we use that for at the beginning of our career, but we also use when we want to test a new market, a new county. So, there's always, there's always a way to use Land Arb. There's always one of the opportunities, one of the ways that we can use. that, that we do to get land. It's a really good one.

I like that. It's like you're leveraging another investor's purchase to test an area to see if it resonates with you or how you might like it. And then from there, you can dial in deeper. Maybe you buy wholesale, which is from another investor, or maybe you buy through our particular method. We send out lots and lots of offer letters. So I think that's pretty astute. I like that. I always think of LandDoc how it's good for that too, right? Just to sort of test the water, not have to put any huge amount of money out there, and just see how it feels for you.

Yeah, especially at the beginning too, Mike. I mean, we need to have inventory, right? So that's the easiest, fastest way. And you're buying land from someone that, you know, has done some due diligence, so you kind of cut some timing into that as well. And, uh, you know, it's the area where you work. So it brings some type of also certainty a little bit with what you're doing. Yeah, that helps.

Did it ultimately lead you to the area you focus in? Or did you opt to say, well, no, that wasn't really my area?

No, I stay in the area that I am. And I expand one more county. I'm in Florida, I expanded to one more county from the one that I started. And I'm, I sell Florida. So I'm staying since the beginning.

Yeah, you know, we talk about this and we always tend to use John as the example of, you know, the staying power to stay in one area. You don't have to drift from here to there. And, uh, so you're doing it. You know, I've drifted to a lot of areas. I've done a ton of wholesale over the years. But, uh, John, you— I think you, you'd sort of, uh, you know, align with what she's talking about, right?

Yeah, I did. Like, I still do most of my deals in the first county I mailed to. And like, I sold, I sold 2 properties there yesterday. Um, and it's just been great. Part of it was just sheer laziness, you know, just sticking to what was in front of me. Um, but it, it, uh, worked out really well. And, and I think there's something to be said about like, A, just having an area that you know really well. Right. And so it becomes like, I know this area and this area and this area and this area, and they're all kind of their own little product, right? Market them a little bit differently. And then I, I know how to talk to the county and ask questions about stuff. And there's a title company there, and if there's— if I have title questions, I'll give them a call and give me free advice, and then I send them brownies. It's great. That's a good idea. Yeah, it's great. I recommend it. Fairy Tale Brownies, free shout out for them. So, but yeah, I mean, it's, it's nice. And then the other thing is that like it's just tempting if you have a hard, if you have a hard season in a county to leave, and then you're just starting all over again in a new county.

That's right.

Yeah.

And you know, John, I mean, sorry, I didn't want to interrupt you, but to me it was like See, like it took me 3 months-ish, which, you know, I still sold my property in flight school, which is kind of the goal, right? For you to have a full proof of concept. But my journey, it took me a while to really sell land, right? So, you know, it was not working in my head and I didn't, I couldn't put, I couldn't understand why not, right? So, I was like, okay, I'm doing everything. Now, you know, you get started to get anxious about seeing your sales. And I wasn't. And, um, I got one sale in December. So remember, I sold the first one in September. My next one would be only in December, which canceled like in 2 weeks. I almost paid for her not to cancel because my heart was so broken. I was like, okay, just don't use the word cancel. Anyway, so, and another beauty of being coaching, right? Because a lot of people ask as well, what is the difference and all that? And to me is like, You can't put a— like, it is hard to put a price on the ability to use or to have the experience of someone that has walked what you want to walk and succeed in what you want to succeed, right? That experience that you can tap into it, and that allows you to save time and money, right? Because you're gonna avoid making mistakes. You don't need to be a beginner and trying everything on your own. You have your coach, right? So that was one of the times that I called Jeff. Jeff is my coach, you know, I'm a super fan. And he, you know, like just the way he was able to assure me that I was doing the right things and, you know, just really just hold my hand and said, you're gonna, we're gonna go through this. This is normal. Read this book. It's called The Dip, by the way, you guys, I recommend it. And, um, and he went through. So only in February, I sold one cash in January, which I was excited because cash flow is always welcome, but I wasn't building on my passive income, right? Which is the ultimate goal of all of us. And only in February, I started having some sales. So, I love that you said that because I decided to stick with the area where I was. And I found that the more I was there, the more I became an expert of that area, the more I understood what was available so I could then go from like being a desperate person of selling land to someone I had on the phone to be like the consultant person, right? So, what is it that you need? Because I might have just the right thing for you. And I think it was a big difference into how things start to change for me from that point on.

What a powerful phrase there. So, yeah, you have this land, you're worried that no one's gonna buy it. So, you're just sort of, you know, Giving them the upper hand to the point where you really look at yourself for what you really are, a tremendous asset for someone looking to buy land in a very specific area. And now you can consult with them and not afraid, I'm sure, to say, well, this isn't for you, but this one might be, right? And sort of build the rapport and the trust and then, you know, the customer, right?

That's right. That is right. And the other thing too is a trick is definitely having diversity in your inventory. Like, to me, was another game changer. Because at the point that I had enough land, which again goes after moving out of my fear of buying land, because in January when I was selling zero, I decided to go all in. It's like, you know what, this is— I've already decided that this is going to be the business that I'm going to be successful at. There's— I burned the boats. This is it. So, I don't have control over the sales, but I have control over me buying. Right? So, I went all in on acquisition. I'm like, I'm going to buy as many as I can. And I—

Right.

I did that. And I feel that as I grew my inventory, and that by growing, I mean, different sizes, you know, different areas within the county, the more I became that expert to then move my place from being somebody with a piece of land to, I'm an expert in the area, let me help you. What is it that you need? And that changed the game completely.

That's awesome. I feel like I kind of had like an experience within my own business and I feel like it's such a common story. It's like the hockey stick moment. You have the asymptote for all of you math nerds where it's like it starts relatively slow and linearly and then you have this point at which it just exponentially increases. So was that like kind of that moment for you?

Yes, that is exactly how it happened. Very steady. I mean, you know, and you get nervous obviously because we are all Amazon Prime kids. So we do want things to be a little faster. But yeah, so as— that's exactly what happens. And then once you go in, then— and the reason also, Jen, is because you're nurturing the clients right at that point. So the client also has their journey. And so the more time you have in the business, the more time you have to nurture those clients, and then the more you are able to sell down the road. But yes, the curve was pretty big.

What a great point. I mean, you say Amazon Prime, but it's like in life, everything around us is so instant, yet to build a business is a process of, you know, building a business, and it takes time and patience. And It can kind of run against the common experience we have with everything else going on around us. Everything else is like, oh, I want this, I get this, like this, boom, boom, boom. But now it's gonna, you know, you gotta slow down and build something of value so it can get to that point where it starts to really produce. So I think that was a pretty interesting, uh, yeah, observation there. And it's important for all of us that are building businesses like this to understand that it's not overnight. But the consistency pays off, right?

It does. And The Gap and the Gain— there is a book called The Gap and the Gain, is one of my favorite books through this journey, I guess. And then it says exactly that, right? We keep looking in front of us and we want to see— we think we haven't accomplished enough. But if you start looking back and look at the journey and how much we have accomplished through whatever time we are looking at, is absolutely amazing. how much we can see as far as growth, right? So I look back many times, and that's why I called you, Mike, to thank you, because I look back and I'm like, okay, this has been a good journey. It's been a year, and I'm happy where I am. I'm now on the other side of the screen. I used to be on the other side, so I'm happy.

Yeah, well, I mean, truthfully, I didn't have any doubts. I really just— I saw the tenacity, you know, and just your dedication. It was so obvious from the outset. I was like, I knew that if you put your mind into this and decided that this is what you wanted to do, you know, I talked to a fair amount of people and I come to this conclusion. It's like, you know what, I think you'd be good at this. I think you'd be good at a lot of things. It just has to come down to, is this the one you want to be good at? And then are you going to go all in on this? And, you know, you came to that realization and then you took that action, you know. And I, I think so many people kind of wobble in the middle of trying to figure out this or that. And it's so hard to make that decision because by doing that, you, you basically exclude all the other options. But that's how you create success. But that's scary for people, right, to double down on one thing, right?

Yes.

So, you know, what do you think it was that allowed you to double down on this as opposed— I mean, you had opportunities in other, uh, businesses that were calling out to you, and they were probably a host of things you could have done potentially, but what do you think about this that allowed you?

I think it was a combination, Mike, really. I think it was like it's the entire package here, right? So we have the community. So the community, people that are with you, so you're not alone. You have you guys, experts, people that are doing this for 10+ years that are succeeding still, right? You have the possibility of seeing, as I mentioned, calls from the people in the future. I mean, where else Can you really— what are the opportunities in your life when you're going to decide some— that you're going to pivot to something else, that you have the ability to see people that are in front of you in 1 year, 2 years, 10 years, 15 years, and notice how they are doing well, right? So you take so much of the fear away when you have this type of possibilities and network with people. That was the combination. The podcasts where before, you know, with the interviews with other students, I remember listening to all of them. remember Stephanie Dean, who is super active in our community, but she was also from a corporate life. And she came into the podcast and it was great for me to hear her and see her point of view. So, and you guys have the programs, right? The different, in different times of our career, or I'll say career now, look at me, which it is. But— So in different moments to, you know, hold our hands in the right time. So again, it's the whole package that this community offers, um, that I think it's the, the secret.

You know, that's very well said. And I have a thought that came up during this because I talked to many people that I truly believe this could help them, but the difficult thing for them is they have a busy life and it's like, well, how am I going to pull time away? You know, then they start to get really nervous about that, allocating time to something new As if it's going to— and it maybe in a sense it does take away from things they have now. But what would you say to someone who's like really felt like, you know, this could be a good fit, but, you know, I have all these commitments and now I have to take maybe 10 hours a week or more and put it here? Um, so there's a fear there. Does that make sense?

Yeah.

Um, you know, Mark, to be very honest, my journey, I never had to choose to work a few hours in the land business. Okay, so I need to be honest with that because I went really all in.

Right.

And at the moment that I finished the flight school, I was really like, this was my goal to succeed in this. But by knowing other students, I know it's possible. I know you can work, you know, this business allows you to delegate a lot. You can scale. Right? You can't, which it's, by the way, you guys, I mean, I never mentioned that yet. I haven't mentioned that yet, but one of the reasons why I chose was also to do with, regardless of how much time I put now, I can see how this business won't require me being a full-time job person in it. And that was another reason why I think it was the right choice for me. So—

Yeah.

Maybe in the beginning, you're gonna work a little bit more. You don't have to. I have a friend that has a W-2, a few friends, but one, it's like he's working full-time and we are back to back into accomplishments, right? We talk every week, we are doing this together. He does differently than I. We actually have 2 completely different styles. Scott, you guys probably know.

Of course.

Um, but, um, completely different style. Him and I, we work in the same area, we help each other, and we are getting the same results. So it's possible to to do this, um, and grow this little by little instead of going all in like it— all in like I did.

Yeah. John, are we getting questions? I don't even know. Like, we, you know, we don't typically monitor those. Should I look? I could look.

Yeah, let me, uh— okay, well, we got—

wow, okay, there are some people in here watching.

We got one shout out here for Mike.

What? I got a shout out? Could we get an applause?

You haven't had a good job. I— yeah, let's see if I can get some Here we go.

Oh, well done.

Yeah. And then let's see, we've got— oh, I got a shout out. Hello, Isaac Burke. It's good to have you here with us. Let's see, Brad Kelly is looking for land deals right now if anyone has anything available. Uh, Brad Kelly, you should go to wholesale.thelandgeek.com and filter on owner finance. And you will find some that are available. Or you can talk to Scott Christensen, who apparently has some. So, hey, Scott, any questions for Juliana? Any questions for us? We are here for you.

And then—

Got a lot of stuff going on in here. Shout out to both of us, John. You got a— you already saw that.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, look at this, look at this.

Oh, what's going on here?

Now I'm ahead. All right, so Scott Christiansen has a question for Juliana. So he says, hey Juliana, are you using your foreign languages in your sales? Also, question, how many languages do you speak?

I speak 3. Well, I— well, obviously I'm speaking English with you guys. Portuguese is my native language, and I also speak Spanish.

Wow, that's awesome.

Yeah, that is a great question, Scott. I was actually looking into that before coming in today. About 15% of my sales are in a language other than English. So I have sold to Brazilians, and I had sold to Spanish speakers because I'm in Florida. But, uh, not the majority of it yet.

I like how you knew 15%.

I went to, I went to count it.

That's amazing.

Yeah, you know, it does help, right? It does help to speak, um, languages or have someone who does. In, if in your area, you know, obviously depends on your demand, if in your area you have buyers who speak different languages. But I enjoy it too. I definitely can talk, as you guys can see. So it doesn't matter which language I'll be talking.

So I'm curious, like, was there, you know, in this past year, a moment was like, wow, like you just felt, you felt the impact of the difference in the career path that you have chosen? You know, just as it's anything that's like Maybe something that allowed you with some freedom, or I don't know, you know, compared to where you were. And maybe, is there any— maybe there's more than one, but any obvious moments where you're like, wow, you know, this is— maybe this would not have been possible, or I don't know, anything open-ended here?

Definitely. Like, I mean, this is like, you know, the— I'm taking— I'm picking up my son from school every day. That alone, it wouldn't happen, right, in my corporate life. I wouldn't be able to leave at noon and do that. You know, I My mornings now are slow mornings because of that, right? So, you know, I'm enjoying breakfast with the family. You know, it's only when they're out of the door is really when I start my day. And anything that happens, you know, we have a birthday, we have anything that we want to celebrate, I don't need to ask permission. And when you do that for like 20-plus years, as I've done, you don't even realize that you don't have that type of freedom, right, until you do. And that changes tremendously, and it brings such a big motivation to work even harder. And I'm in my house. I mean, I don't use shoes anymore, as you guys, you know, so that is super cool too, like, to be working shoeless. Yeah, I enjoy it, and I do my own time. I love to work, so I work different hours, I have my limits to my life. So for example, I don't work over the weekends. And that was one of the things that I, to me, I was a little nervous at the beginning, right? Would I make it work? Because I don't want to work on the weekends. Not because, it's just simply because I want to give the time to my little one, right? And my husband. So it worked, you guys. You know, my milestones were pretty cool this year. I'm hitting big numbers and I don't work on the weekends. That's pretty much it, right? Like, I answer the phone if it rings, but I love that type of freedom that it brought me. And I'm only in this for 1 year, right? It's amazing. Like, this is how crazy this is. And next year I will reach, like, those are my plans, right? Next year, reach my salary. my 20-plus-year salary career. And the year after, I'm gonna go over. So a salary that took me 15 years to reach, in 3 years, I'm gonna go over that. And this is amazing on the possibilities of this business.

Hmm.

That's amazing.

That's a pretty powerful statement.

Yeah.

And it's not a full-time, like you're, you're automating, delegating, you're starting to put systems in place. So It's not gonna— even though you're matching or exceeding it, it's not gonna take the hours to create it.

Yeah, that is my goal, is have Joan's life, you know, like that is my goal.

So you only need 5 more kids and then you can have that.

Exactly, that, that I won't do it, John. But, but yeah, um, you know, like this is something that is possible. But again, looking into not only one story but so many stories in our community that they are success stories. We celebrate so many wins every week, you know, and it's all possible, but there has to be consistency and persistency and do everything that you have control over every day, right?

Yeah.

Um, the other thing that I can share with you guys too is the 4 C's. There's this wonderful guy called Dan Sullivan. I don't know if you know, but, um, he also writes books. Yeah. And he has the 4 C's, right? And in any journey in your life, You go from having this— first, you have to commit. Whatever it is that you do, commit to it. So you guys that are watching, that are thinking about it, just commit, right? This is the biggest leap that you're going to do. And then requires a lot of courage because you don't know. It's the unknown, this uncertainty. And between the commit and the courage, it's a very lonely journey, even though you have supports. internally is a very lonely journey. But if you stick with it, then you're going to develop your capacity. In our case, it's the capacity of selling land, the capacity of making this real. And once you develop your capacity, you become this expert, right? And so, and then, then there's no way, because then now you have only everything put together, and then you can do it again and again and bigger and bigger and bigger and just keep growing. So all that we need to do in this phase is just have the courage and commit and let everything else happen in your life.

Yeah, very well said. Never stop never stopping.

Yeah.

Yes.

But have fun in the process.

Yeah. Well, we got a celebration here. So Shami said he got it. Also, I'm counting this as a shout out. Thank you, Shami. So he got his first deal. So Shami, uh, is— he's, uh, got the Dirt Rich Starter Kit and he bought a piece of land, ARV and taxes for $2,400 and then sold it on terms for $6,000, which is great. So congratulations, Shami, you have—

Well done.

Oh man, I knew you were gonna level up this show.

Um, let's see. So we— I think we got some more questions too. Um, let's see. Jeff is wondering if there's a good English to Spanish translating service. I would recommend ChatGPT or Claude or anything on the internet.

Yeah, ChatGPT just announced something about translation, like in the next level. I saw an email. I didn't read it because I didn't need it. Yeah, but, um, yeah, it's another level today, guys. I used to be almost a simultaneous translator back in the days, right? Because I had to join, put together a CEO from England, Spain, Brazil, all together in the room, and Brazilians were not speaking English. And today they just can put a plug in their ears and That's crazy. This is it, right? So the world is helping. AI is there to help us too.

That's crazy.

ChatGPT.

How are— are you using AI a lot in your business, Juliana?

I am, John.

What is your favorite thing that you do with AI in your business right now?

I use Claude a lot, but my favorite thing is just I schedule these little repeatable things. Like every week, and all I do is just wait for this little, you know, employee to do the work for me, and I come back to it and just get the results. I mean, it's my favorite thing when I think of something that it can be done for me, and I just schedule it, and I'll go check when it's done.

It is great.

I do everything, really. I mean, there's no limit to what I've been doing with AI right now. But to talk to clients, I don't— the connection with clients is still me. Everything else, there's some AI involved.

I go on a lot of like long AI walks now where I just take my phone and I'll just walk for like 4 hours and just tell it things that it just—

Brain dump.

Yeah, it's great.

Yeah, I do that too. I say, okay, I have all this information in my head, these ideas. I'm gonna just give everything to you, organize For me. And then we have something, you know, a to-do list at the end of that. Yeah, it's pretty cool.

Well, talk to me. So like, um, you said persistence and consistency are key. So that's something that's come up a few times. So yes, if you were, if you were talking to somebody, so, you know, who said, okay, like, I'm getting started, like, I'm doing this, right? And they're, they're getting rolling. And they're just starting to take the steps, what would your advice be to them?

Well, follow the recipe, obviously, right? Don't be afraid to buy land. Like, literally, like, if you have a good opportunity, and you're going to learn what a good opportunity is through the course or with us, get it, right? And what I call Eat That Frog, which is another book. I'm all about books, John. So another one I love, which is Yeah, I read that. I read a lot. But Eat That Frog is a great book. And it basically talks about for you to like do that one thing that is the hardest thing and get it done first. And then you can do everything else. And to me is get on the phone and make my sales calls. Even though I enjoy the calls, sales calls for— but I also have some experience in the past, right? But sales calls are all about not being afraid of rejection. And the only way for you to get experience is to call, get on the phone and dial that number and call. And so to me, that's my frog every day. And I make sure that I'm calling everybody. And that was a fun conversation we had through coaching, right? Because I always say that in coaching and in some of the replies back were, oh, but what if I'm not? What if they don't want to hear from me? I've already called them 3 times. What if I'm bothering them? And to me, it's like, If someone click on an ad and has any interest about land, if you change your mindset and remember that you're there to serve them, you're there to help them to find what they're looking for, then you're not bothering them anymore, right? You might be interrupting them, but not bothering them. And so, I call until they say no. Or until I have some type of hint, like, you know, they're ghosting me or something, until I kind of give up on them. But to me, It's the biggest. It's the biggest thing that's going to change your results is to be on the phone.

Yeah, I love that. It is funny too, like that fear of like the fear of bothering people. I remember feeling that the first the first time I remailed. I'm like, what will they think when they see letter number two from me? You know, and the reality is like. You just never hear anything. Like, why are you mailing me again? Right? Like, it's just, you know, but—

You can always say, John, I mean, you might have been getting other letters, not only mine.

Yes, I know.

Because they all look the same. So you can use that advantage when you need it. You know, this is awesome. Yeah, you're almost finished, guys. You want to share me some milestones here with everyone? Like how numbers-wise I went through it?

Oh yeah.

Okay, cool. I have it in front of me. I'll share with you guys. So by— okay, remember, by this— by December, I had $195 in passive income because I had one sale, right? And then in February, I had $900. So good move. And then in April, I had $4K. And then June 7th, and this month I just hit $10,000 in passive income.

Congratulations! Come on, John.

So it's possible, you guys. Yeah, you know, it's not always a linear growth. You know, sometimes you have months that you're I learned like in Florida, summer is the time— next year I'll be on vacation, right? So summer is not a good time for Florida. So, and sometimes you have defaults, so it looks like you're not growing as fast as you would like to grow, but then, then you have those months that you springboard, right? And again, I haven't done anything differently other than being consistent with my sales calls and the marketing and the mailing. And as long as you do that, I really truly believe that everybody can get there.

Yeah, that's amazing. I mean, $10K in a little bit more than a year is— I didn't do that. So neither did I. I'm excited to see where you're at in 9 years, Juliana. You'll own the entire country. It'll be great.

Well, hopefully I'll be like you, minus 4 kids.

Yeah, it is crazy. Like, I always— the most meaningful times for me in my business have— it's, it's always been like, like, I remember being in the pool with my kids and I got a down payment, right?

Yeah.

Being, uh, at the playground with my kids and got a down payment, right? And like, all these moments when I'm just hanging out with my family and like, I think about, um, Each morning, right now, well, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, uh, I bring my daughter— I take my daughters with me to the office and we do homeschooling here in the office now. And so I teach them history, got a big whiteboard, and I'm like, you know, and it's, it's amazing. It's my favorite thing that I do, you know. It's just, it's a wonderful life. So.

It is. And everything about it is really cool, you guys. And obviously we have dips, right? And again, the community is there to help us through, but It wouldn't be a real business if there were not challenges, and it makes us grow. But I agree. And until you get a down payment while you're sleeping too, John, that was— that's pretty cool. Like, wake up to one. Yeah, so that's cool. And neighbor letters, they work too, you know.

They do. I didn't start doing neighbor letters until I started hosting this podcast, and Mike and Scott kept on talking about them.

So, Yeah, yeah, I love the neighbors. Gotta love the neighbors.

Yeah, that's amazing.

Well, I think that, um, you know, while we're winding down here, you know, you've been giving so much valuable tidbits, but someone's looking at taking their first steps here. Someone's looking at potentially investing in land to try to create a note portfolio. If you just give them a little encouragement, what would you tell them if someone came to you and said, I don't know, Juliana, this seems like it's a bit of a process. What, you know, what would you say to them that would give them a little encouragement?

Just take the leap, you guys. Take the leap. You know, I know it's hard. It took me 5 years to really believe that I could leave my old life. Just do it. Commit to it. The community's here. Everybody's really wonderful. If you have the opportunity to join us at Dirt Rich, I mean, this is cool, right? Because you can get to know us in person. There is— everybody can— everybody's going to be invited to go, like, no matter if you're not even— you haven't started yet. So it is really just get the information that is available to you. There's so much information available right now, and just commit to it, take the leap, and we'll be here on the other side, uh, waiting for you guys.

I think one of the things that's so powerful about your story too, Juliana, is like, I think you just had a very strong why, right? Like, you had a very strong reason And you kept on persisting, right? Like, even when you had that gap between sale number 1 and sale number 2, and then sale number 2 falls through, and then like, and you just kept on persisting. And there's such a temptation when you go through those dips to be like, either to pull out or to take a break. And when you don't, like, that's really, that's that hockey stick moment where things really just—

Yeah.

Start taking off. So.

I agree. I have a letter that I wrote for myself that I read 3 in the morning if I ever wake up preoccupied, right? Like, I'm not reading as much anymore, but I, I promise I used to. Like, I wake up like nervous, like, you know, you have all the uncertainties. And I wrote me a letter. I'm like, you read this, you'll be fine. So this is exactly what— and the letter has a lot of whys, right? Remember ourselves why we have chosen this and And, you know, if you are thinking about changing your life or if you're thinking about just extra, you know, income for your family, this is a really cool program.

I love it. Well, awesome. Let's see if we got any last questions before we, we close out here. Uh, let's see. So Mattifers is wondering, um, would Dirt Rich be silly for someone who hasn't even gone through flight school? It would not be silly at all. No. Yeah. And if you're talking about the Dirt Rich Summit, show up at the Dirt Rich Summit. It's gonna be amazing. If you're, you know, wherever you're at, you're gonna get a lot of great information and you get to hang out with all of us Jamooks, including Juliana. Are you gonna be there?

Yes, I'll be there.

Including Juliana, although you are not a Jamook, Juliana.

Yes, absolutely. I mean, I've met a lot of people that were not in flight school last year. They have the program, I probably like this year, I don't know, John, how it's organized. But last year there was a room only for everyone that hasn't joined flight school. So you could learn through experiences and what to expect in the course. And, and we made friends. I have a friend from that group until today.

Yeah.

It doesn't matter where you are in this business. You know, truly you'll gain value because if you come back to this summit over and over again, you'll learn new things. I learn new things every year, John. We always talk about that, right? So, um, no matter if you're brand new but doing this for a while, this is something that you can certainly— you'll get so much better, so much— you'll have a great time and you'll learn a lot.

Yeah.

It'll inspire you and it'll just be Really, really cool.

Yeah, I, I walked away last year from, uh, Dirt Rich Summit feeling extremely energized and completely exhausted. It was, uh, it was great. It was really, really good.

Yeah, so Maddie, we'd love to see you there. It would be absolutely amazing for, you know, I love that you get together with a few hundred people that have the same Essentially same goals— time freedom. That's our definition of wealth. And then we're doing it through this unique niche, and, uh, you get a sense of just a really cool community, and you'll meet lifelong friends like you said. So come along, come on down, we'll be there, we'll all be there.

It'll be great.

It'll be fun.

Well, I think, I think we, we have both started on time for the first time.

And on time. Wow.

We're gonna end on time. This is a very special episode.

Thank you, Juliana. We really appreciate you coming on here.

No, it's my pleasure. And I wasn't expecting to stay with you guys the entire hour, but it was fun. Thank you for the invite. And everyone, just reach out to us. We're here, very accessible if you have any questions.

I love it. Well, thank you. What an inspiring story. And, uh, we will—

We'll see you soon.

We will see you soon.

See you in 3 weeks.

Yeah, love it.

Take care.