Walk 2 Wealth Ep 71 - 2:18:23, 4.06 PM

[00:00:00] This is Walk to Wealth, episode 71. Welcome to Walk to Wealth. Why enlighten and empower young adults to build wealthy, abundant lives? I'm your host, John Mendez, and I'm currently walking to Wealth as we speak. And if you know the traditional route of finishing college, working a nine to five interior sixties and hopefully having enough safer retirement isn't the path you wanna take, then join me as we walk to Wealth together.

[00:00:31] Before we start today's episode, you know I gotta give a couple shout. Today's shout outs are gonna be to Joel. I was able to hop on his podcast and he gave me a couple shout outs. Our episode didn't even drop yet, but he was giving me a couple shoutouts on ig, so thanks for that. Definitely means a lot, and I wanna give a big shout out to my friends over at 10 X Stage Agency this past week, I was able to be a virtual judge for the Great American Speak off that Grant Cardone's Company, 10 X stage agency that they had.

[00:00:57] So there were four. They ended up [00:01:00] being 27,000 speakers that applied and they managed it down to four people, and I was able to be a virtual judge that helped judge the competition. So that was an amazing opportunity. So thank you so much to my friends over at 10 X Stage Agency. Without further ado, let's get right into this episode.

[00:01:14] are you tired of the nine to five grind? Are you tired of clocking into that same job that you've been working at for a couple years now and you just despise clocking in? You despise going to work. You are miserable at your job. When today's episode, I have a very special guest for you. Today's episode I brought on Gianna Ramani.

[00:01:32] She's an immigrant from the Philippines who went from struggling to make ends meet to becoming an angel employer. Yeah, not an angel. Lameer, an angel employer. She helps entrepreneurs break free from the rat race. Gianna shares her story of unwavering grit, determination, and belief in herself from the streets of Manila to the top of the entrepreneurial world.

[00:01:52] Gianna's journey will inspire you to chase your dreams and create the life you've always wanted, but it wasn't always this way. Sure, [00:02:00] sure. Well, growing up, first, let me start with saying that I'm a Filipino American, so we immigrated when I was. And island lived, what people call Humble, had humble beginnings, what they call it, my family.

[00:02:12] When we immigrated from the us we, and it was a family of six, my parents and my, and I'm one of four, and we were living in an attic apartment. John, like all six of us crammed in this, it wasn't even fully finished, like half of the attic was unfinished. So we lived there and with four kids moving from across the, the world basically.

[00:02:36] Definitely had humble beginnings, but what's different is my parents never made us feel like we had to always be tight with our money. And whether it's ignorance or what, like I was, I wasn't really taught financial education at the home. Like my husband and I try to do with our kids now. And my kids are now 16 and 18.

[00:02:58] So when I turned [00:03:00] 18 and I got my first credit card offer, My dad, I asked him, was like, all right, well hey, I got, I can get a credit card. And he said, oh yeah, use a credit card and just pay the monthly minimum every month, which is like the worst advice ever. But, you know, God love him. This is what the opportunities are sold ads when you, you move from another country and, and it's not like you don't have those true opportunities here.

[00:03:25] It's just making sure that you're educated enough to take advantage of them. The right. So, but yeah, Robert Kiyosaki's book definitely played a hand in getting educated and getting more educated on my part. And it wasn't just his Rich Dad poor dad book, it was the Cashbook Quadrant and also the board game.

[00:03:46] And then the third book, rich Dads died to Investing. That really started making things click in my. And you mentioned too that you got into real estate pretty much right after high school. Tell us a little bit about that. I know that age is a age where a lot of people still have that party attitude, [00:04:00] still have let the opinion of others really dominate and dictate a lot of their de decisions.

[00:04:05] So tell us a little bit about how that was like being a a just a teenager getting into real estate, especially back then. Real estate is right now something that's still dominated majority by a lot older people. I can only imagine how it was like getting in there when you did. So tell us a little bit about how was it like being a teenager, getting into real estate and trying to find success?

[00:04:25] Yeah, I think work life is full of blessings in disguise and my college happened to accept me for the spring semester, which starts in January. So all of my friends got accepted to school and they were starting in the fall semester, which is. So, so I literally fell into it. I needed a job for three months and I walked down the busiest street on, in the city that I was in, in California.

[00:04:53] And the last resume that I had happened to be, I, I gave it to a real estate company and they needed [00:05:00]somebody for three months, believe it or not, cuz the, the lady was in, was on maternity leave. So I was just very fortunate to. Been able to need a job and get a job just for those three months. But I literally, this is where I got to know property management and realtors and the, the broker of the company, I mean, he was working with investors and they were managing apartment buildings and all of that.

[00:05:23] So it was a huge thing for me to be able to get into that right away because even though I was in it then as an employee and I was in as an employee for years and years, It was really nice to know that I already have this solid foundation when I was ready to transition to the investor and business side of it.

[00:05:44] Yeah. And so was there anything in terms of like living in belief that you probably had about getting into real estate or you were just so hungry that you didn't care, you needed a job, you knew you needed a job in, you were gonna take the first opportunity that you gave you no matter, and you weren't taking like No.

[00:05:59] For an answer? [00:06:00] Yeah, so I mean, like I said, it was the last resume that I'd. And I was, I was handing a resume out to every business that I saw on that block. So I think it was more fate, if you wanna call it that, that that last resume happened to be at a real estate company. And the real estate company happened to have a property management sister company.

[00:06:22] And so it was really a way for me to see both assets. So the property management side of collecting rent and leases and showing, showing proper. and then I was on the real estate side coordinating escrow and just learning all the terminology, whether it's finance or not. Ro Robert Kiosaki said like, your, your wealth and your your worth is a lot highly dependent on the words you use and, and that knowledge.

[00:06:49] So really getting in involved at a very young age, these words started to come naturally for me. It was just part of my everyday conversation. Yeah. [00:07:00] And so, Getting into real estate at that age, you kind of took a more, a very untraditional route. And a lot of people now are taking the route partially because it's being be shoved on our throats, but to go to school, get that job, get the 401k, get the employer match, get the, the, the health insurance and the dental insurance and just slave your life away.

[00:07:20] And that's the, the very, very comfortable average, for lack of a better way to put it, way of living. , I know you love the topic of security. Let's just start there. As a lot of people go to college to have that safety net, right? Mm-hmm. , what's your kind of thoughts there? Let's start here about college.

[00:07:37] Cause that's one of the big safety nets of like security that people kind of you, when they realize they're not chasing their dreams, it's because a lot of the times they have the security to always fall back on, which ends up actually doing them more harm than actually allowing them to strive and push for more.

[00:07:52] Yeah. That goes back to your question about limiting belief. . I grew up in a very [00:08:00] traditional family, Asian family. It was always make sure that you've got the best grades, you put 100% into everything you do. So I didn't have the type of limiting belief that some people might characterize as far as, oh, I'm not good enough for this, or I'm not good at that.

[00:08:16] In my mind, I always was saying, if this is what I wanna do, I'm gonna do my best at it. But I think what turned out to be limiting are. Traditional routes that people, like you said, shove down your throat of, make sure that you get the college education. Make sure you get a good job with good 401K plan and a good benefits plan.

[00:08:37] And when I moved to California for college, it was across the country. I, I was in Maryland for high school and then I moved to California and it was really my first time away from my. And, uh, when I started school at Berkeley, I didn't like it. It just wasn't for me, whether it was the timing or the style of the schooling and everything, [00:09:00] and for a, a very traditionally no American to have the opportunity to have gone to Berkeley, I, I let down a lot of people by saying, you know what, it's not for me, but challenging that tradition of going to college, challenging.

[00:09:17] That belief that you have to go to college to be successful, I think was actually what helped me break those limits of making bold moves in life and in business for me. Yes. That kind of raises some curiosity. I wanna ask you, what is curiosity, I mean, not curiosity, security. In your words, how would you define security?

[00:09:35] What does that look like to you? Now? It, yeah, it's now security for me is not having to answer to another. And because I was using creativity and I had, I had a really strong work ethic. I was working really hard for someone else. And so now to be able to. Focus and direct all of this creativity and all of this [00:10:00] work ethic for something that I truly believe in and where I can choose that security, because then nobody can tell me, yeah, that's great, Gianna, but this is the company's standards and this is the company's goals, and this is what we're known for, so we gotta stick it to that way.

[00:10:15] I talk, I, I talked about this in my book about angel employment, where at the end of the day, if you're working for somebody else, then you're always gonna. Limited and imposed to their vision, not yours. And so how long did it kind of take you to get to that conclusion where you, you had to, you redefined what security is and break kind of free from what the traditional way, I know you broke kind of free from it early on when you left school, but how long did it kind of take you to get to that definition of like defining security for what it means for you and, uh, your family?

[00:10:48] When, when I got into real estate 20 years ago as an. , it took me 20 years to, to say, to really make the move that I don't need to be working for [00:11:00] someone else to have that security. I just retired for my 20 year career in property management in June of this year, and the catalyst was reading those three books, like I mentioned from Robert, and then also it was like the pressure of time in February of this year, I turned 30.

[00:11:21] and in my mind I had this, this vision, or no, it wasn't a vision. It was just a nice idea that by the time I turned 40 I wanna retire. And so in reading those three books in February and then turning 39, and then I had just gotten promoted and with that promotion for my day job came more responsibilities.

[00:11:43] I. Man, what, what am I doing? I need to get outta here. Like, I've got less than a year left to, to reach my goal. I gotta make it happen. And, and then it turns out I couldn't wait a whole nother year. So again, February was my birthday. In June I was gone. And, and with the [00:12:00] concept of angel employment, which I know we'll get into further, it's, it is hard to not feel secure without that steady paycheck and the health insurance.

[00:12:13] So instead of trying to tell people, Hey, you don't need those to be secure, cuz those are important, we're giving them the vehicle to have it, but to be able to focus on strictly growing their business. Yeah, and you said that it kind of took you about 20 years or so to get to that point where it's like, Hey, I need to crank it up a notch and make this a reality.

[00:12:34] A lot of people in this society kind of like that get rich quick scheme. They like fast money, they like the thrill of thing, the excitement of being an entrepreneur and which ends up actually biting in most cases by a lot of people, don't. What advice would you give to the people that want it now? I, I'm pretty sure you didn't plan originally to get into, have this take over your life now that you could retire yourself to pursue the things that you actually wanna pursue.

[00:12:58] And it took you about 20 years, so years [00:13:00] to realize, but you still have so much life left to live now. Mm-hmm. , a lot of people and at my age are stuck in this. Like, I have to get it now. So what kind of advice would you kind of give there to the people that are so hard pressed about becoming the next millionaire tomorrow?

[00:13:14] I think it's really knowing what you really want in life, John, and creating that life. You don't need a vacation from, as I've mentioned in interviews, because then you remove that whole, I need this now thing. Because if you start building your life the way you don't feel like you're working, and I know that's cliche, but a lot of everyone says, if you're doing something you love, you won't feel like working.

[00:13:40] That's true, , because when you talk. Retirement, and I'm not talking about retiring to get social security benefits. I'm talking about as business owners and investors retire where their money's working for them, they're at least I'm not, I I, when I say I, I wanna retire at 40, it wasn't like, I'm not going to [00:14:00] do anything for the rest of my life, but lie down and, and be lazy.

[00:14:04] Right? Like, the type of people that wanna retire by 40 aren't the people that aren't going to be doing anything by the 10, they're 40. You know what I. It's, it's being able to do what they want and if they step out for a trip, then their finances are secure. They have that financial independence. So it, so it's really knowing what you think, what you want out of, like with or without the money.

[00:14:28] And then the money, I think, kind of is just a factor in, okay, how does this life that I envision, how does that fall into it? And so, so for me, those 20 years, in a very good job. I was in, in a very good paying job that had those benefits. But what happened, or what I realized was it was, again, limiting the level at which I could live, the life of my dreams.

[00:14:54] So I was enjoying it. I didn't love it. And I think that's where, that's where [00:15:00] you wanna think, okay, how long do you really want to, we. If we're not challenging these traditional thoughts now, John, then it could have been way more than 20 years. 20 years for some people to be like, oh, great job. Because it took me 50 years.

[00:15:14] I retired at 65, 67, and now I'm trying to figure out how to pay for my health insurance. I know, I know people that have worked literally 35, 40 years for companies with great benefits, and now that they're at retirement age, they. Working like the minimum number of hours for the company to still be able to give 'em health benefits.

[00:15:37] Like that's crazy. You can't even retire anymore For real in that, in that definition of retirement. Yeah, and I think one of the big changes I'm seeing going on now is that that traditional retirement age now for a lot of people is going to be pushed back a little bit more because as for the people my age, if we're not most likely not gonna have social.

[00:15:58] And so a lot [00:16:00] of people don't also realize that that was meant to be a supplement to our, our retirement, not to actually fund our retirement. And now that that's might be gone by the time I reached that age, if I were to wait that long to finally retire, then I'll pretty much be screwed. But you mentioned a point to, to, while you were talking about pretty much creating a life that you don't want a vacation from.

[00:16:21] And hustle culture is plaguing a lot of people my age as well and. How you have created that for yourself, what advice would you give to people? Because a lot of people my age, they think it's, it's too difficult to think of something that they could do forever that would feel like it's, it is not work and things like that.

[00:16:38] They all, a lot of people, especially like me, when my grandparents, they grew up similar to your, your Filipino, um, parents. It's like all they knew was kind of work. . That's it. Just, just work until you possibly can't no more. And your arms and legs won't, won't allow you to. But So I guess, what would the advice would you give today and what would you say is the difference between working and I [00:17:00] guess creating a lifestyle where your work is, doesn't feel like work there?

[00:17:06] Honor? Well, so first of all, I need to say that I love the hustle culture. I think it's just time to redefine it a little bit. Because hustle meaning working hard, putting your all in, that's 100%. What I can attribute any success that I have to is, is that hustle. But one of my favorite quotes used to be, while lying, while you're sleeping, I'm working.

[00:17:34] And while you are working, I'm working harder. And I love that because it, it really takes the essence of that hustle. But what happened is I changed my perspective. Looking at it, as far as my money goes, the goal is is that while you are sleeping, my money's working, and while I'm working, my money's working even harder.

[00:17:56] Like I had to reframe that. Okay. [00:18:00] And so as far as working and living a life that you don't need a vacation, It, it's really finding your, what you're passionate about, what you really wanna do, and I think fulfillment and purpose has to do with how you're impacting the world. And like I said, I enjoyed my day job, but I really wanted to write and I wanted to write about things that would help people have better relationships, have better lives, and in general.

[00:18:31] And that was getting me out of bed without an alarm. So like I was trying to escape the alarm clock and now I wake up earlier than the alarm clock even rings because like I love what I do and I know that, that the world needs what I'm doing. So that sense of fulfillment, that sense of purpose, you'll find that, or at least I found that knowing that gave me that sense of urgency and sense of responsibility to do it.

[00:18:58] And I don't feel like I'm [00:19:00] working or I feel like I'm just living out my purpose. Yeah. And you kind of found that alignment. Now you're kind of living, I think you call it the, the honeymoon life. Right? That's it. And so when it comes to purpose, a lot of people tend to think it's a grandiose idea. And I talked about it several times in the podcast about being able to find your purpose and the steps people should take.

[00:19:17] But how did, I guess, when you were, were aligned, when, when did it snap in your head like, Kay, yet I'm meant to do this. Like, this is what I'm supposed to be doing. This is what I was called to. I have wanted to write a book. My first book, I started writing in 2016, and I put it aside because my day job was in the way, like I was fully committed in my day job.

[00:19:41] I have a family, so I didn't wanna give up my time with family. So the book, like I just put it aside. And then when this all went down, starting in February of this. and I told my colleagues and I, I put my notice that, hey, I'm retiring. I wanna focus on, right. I, I wanna pursue my dream of [00:20:00] becoming a published author.

[00:20:01] I wanna focus on our businesses and our investments. The number one response wasn't like, oh my gosh, how can you retire at 39? Like, what does that mean financially? Blah, blah, blah. The response was, oh wow. One day I wish I would pursue this dream or that. And just that desperation that I heard in multiple people, multiple responses of, oh wow, I wish I could do this one day.

[00:20:28] It really made me feel like this is what God called me to do. Yeah. I feel like a lot of people are asleep. A lot of people live their life on autopilot. A lot of people. There's this, this post that reposted on my Instagram I the week, a week before the day that we're recording this and it was like a, a conveyor belt and it was like, uh, your.

[00:20:48] Work, retire. And then at the end of the conveyor belt was, is pretty much just says the end, where they pass away. And that, and that's a lot of people's lives. They just go through life when they have conveyor belt, they go to school, they work for a long period of time, and then they [00:21:00] retire and then they kick the bucket and, and that's it.

[00:21:03] There's nothing more. And a lot of people they say, and I mentioned this on another podcast, like The Million, the cemetery has more millionaires than than ever, or something along the lines of those lines of that, because all the ideas that people would never put into play while they were. I've just been kept the way, kept inside and they end up passing away before they ever, ever to realize it.

[00:21:21] And you kind of were able to do that and you've seen that others kind of needed that help and a, a lot of people, despite getting that call, despite having all the signs kind of have. They, they hold themselves back because sometimes they feel like maybe they're not the one, maybe they're not accomplished enough.

[00:21:38] Did you have any of those thoughts, kind of when you were like, you know, people told you that, Hey, I wish I could pursue my dreams like that, but did you ever question yourself along the way, like, am am I really supposed to be doing this? Am am I, am I the one that is supposed to help these people? I, I know I can.

[00:21:53] There's, there's always someone better than the Joe Schmo that's also doing it. What kind of thoughts came to you? Did any of those thoughts [00:22:00] came to you? If they did, how do you fight your way through that so that you could continue on doing what you're doing in pursuing that passion? Yeah. F for me, it was that whole idea of I'm working my butt off for someone else.

[00:22:14] Why can't I do it for. , and I'm not gonna be the only one that's doing it for myself. There's multiple people doing the same thing, but we all have our uniqueness and I think it's just taking the time to figure out what that uniqueness is or branding yourself and figuring out what, how you approach things.

[00:22:37] Because the one thing we all have in common is that we're different. We could be, for example, of the same group business group, but all of my previous experience and all of my upbringing is going to have me perceive what we are taught in that group, for example. Completely different from how you're going to perceive it.

[00:22:59] So, [00:23:00] so I think it's just finding that uniqueness and when, when you talk about that vision that you talked about, What do you call it? The visual of the, the person going through the motions. The way I put it is you're waking up, you're taking a shower, you are getting in your car, you're gassing it up.

[00:23:21] You're going to work just to turn around and pay for the taxes that, or, and pay taxes for all the work that you just did, paying for the gas that you just paid, paying for that car that got you to that job, paying for the water that, that you took a shower. That's in my mind, like that cycle was like, what am I doing this for?

[00:23:41] You know? And, and unfortunately or fortunately, I think everyone comes to a point where they see that life is short and, well, I'm 39, so I'm not even, I don't consider myself much older than you, but there's certain ages, right? Where people start dealing with, with [00:24:00] loss and death a lot. , and I don't think you have to be a certain age to, to realize that anymore.

[00:24:06] There, there's, there's kids that are dying way too soon or what have you. And so to have the balance of living a purposeful life, but not killing yourself over making sure that there's food on the table, that's, that's where you know that you're doing the right thing. Yeah. And so let me ask you then, because a lot of people, as you said, they, they don't, they don't, they think they have.

[00:24:28] It takes a long time for them to realize that purpose. So, and you got, you've got the calling, especially cuz you're, you're in real estate. So you kind of had an advantage cuz you kind of already in, in a more entrepreneurial. Kind of based industry, but for the people that are kind of worrying, working in more like essential jobs, right?

[00:24:46] Or irregular people job, right? A lot of those people think they're not called for more and they don't ever take the time to stop and think. What advice would you give to, to those people so they can kind of wake up and realize that there's more to them than what they have going on now, [00:25:00] despite whether they may be 20 years old working at Stop and Shop at the cash register or a little further down the road?

[00:25:07] Uh, my advice would be to read. And listen to podcasts just like yours. These are free, like the, the whole thing about education is being questioned right now because there's so much free information on the internet. But like I tell my kids, it's up to you to listen to the right things or to listen to everything and make your own decision as to whether what you heard is right or wrong.

[00:25:33] And so, for example, I have two sons, 16 and 18. and one, the older one is going the traditional college route, and obviously I'm very proud of him. He's go, he's in college for a pre-med, and so to be a, a surgeon that he wants to be, you can't really get around the traditional college yet, right? At least not now, but.

[00:25:57] What he's doing to challenge [00:26:00] the traditions is that he doesn't just perceive himself being a doctor or a surgeon. He's saying, okay, well you know what? I'll own the hospital that I'll work for, or I'll own the practice. You know, still having that entrepreneurial mindset, uh, with, with the traditional route of what he's taking.

[00:26:18] Then my second son, he is very much like my husband and my I in terms of real estate business, doing those things. , and he's flipped back and forth. He, he obviously doesn't have, he's 16, so he's not in college yet, but he's flipped back and forth of whether he will do the traditional route or not. So as a mom, as a a Filipino mom, I'm like, wow, my son not going to college.

[00:26:44] Am Was that a bad thing? Am I going to question his decision? Am I gonna be as proud of him? Heck yeah. 100% proud of him because, In there making the decision that says, okay, you know what? These are the things that I know I need to learn to live the life that I want, and how can I not be proud of [00:27:00] him challenging that traditional college.

[00:27:02] So, and, and now at 16, he's in a collegiate program, so he doesn't even need to go to college, but if he does, he's old. By the time he graduates high school, he'll only need two years to get a college degree. But now the good thing is, is that colleges are also looking. In real estate. So like when I started, there were no degrees in real estate.

[00:27:23] Now colleges are, they have degrees in property management even. So life is always gonna evolve and it's up to us to evolve with it, but also to to be fierce and to challenge things that how's it gonna be right for you? Yeah, no, and I loved, uh, the fact that you're trying to mention, you know, whether or not that dilemma of, like, I was taught that college is a good thing now that I have my own children.

[00:27:47] like, how am I gonna feel? And you, you, you actually supporting your. And I was kind of in your shoes as well back when you were in college, how you disappointed a lot of people because you decided to take the unconventional route. That was my case as well. I was in my [00:28:00] sophomore year when I decided to leave school to pursue my real estate classes.

[00:28:04] I signed up for my real estate class to get my license and then I stopped showing up to all my college classes and never looked back. And I disappointed in my grandparents. I've disappointed a lot of people in my family. No one really understood why I chose the route that I. and they probably won't ever fully understand it until a couple years now, from when I'm actually a little more down the road and a little more successful in life.

[00:28:25] And it all shows the fruits of my labor economy pay off. But I wanna kind of ask you for the, the kids that are having that, that idea that maybe I shouldn't go to school, but don't have supportive parents like such as yourself and your husband backing them up to keep them going. What kind of advice would you give there so that they continue pushing through and pursuing the things that they're being called?

[00:28:46] At least they feel they're being called to pursue. Yeah, that's a great question because family is so important for me. So going. What the expectations that I was under from my family, what broke my heart, [00:29:00] like I didn't wanna break their heart. And at a very young age, this, one of the things that I wish that I would've learned was communicate.

[00:29:10] And I have like some pretty cool relationships with aunts and uncles right now because I started communicating with them as I was as an. and, and you'll find that these older aunts and uncles, they're like going through the same thing or they went through the same thing. And a lot of expectations and disappointments or arguments really are coming from a place of fear, but a, a place of love as well.

[00:29:35] Those people, all they want is, is for you to succeed. They want you to be happy. So any, anything that they say that goes against that is coming from a place of love. So it's remembering. and then figuring out how to communicate. Now, it might not be communicating to a point where they agree, but letting you, knowing that you took the chance to communicate your feelings and to [00:30:00] communicate that you understand where they're coming from, I think is gonna make you feel better.

[00:30:04] But also, I, you know what? I always look at those challenges, those good things, because just like you, John, where you wanna say, Hey, a year from now or two year from now, I'm gonna prove them. , that's a driver for me. That is a driver for me. And it's not like I wanna get cake in their face or whatever the saying is, but that's a motivation for, for somebody to not 100% agree with you and for you to rise above that.

[00:30:30] That's, I think that's part of living life and being fulfilled. But if life was so easy, then what do they say? It's, it's not gonna be, Ass fulfilling when, when you get to the other side. So, yeah, no, and this is one of my favorite quotes though, is from a freestyle, I say, and, and if life was easy, it wouldn't be worth living.

[00:30:47] God gives his best soldiers the worst missions, and it's something that definitely helped me persevere through a lot of hard times because anything worth it is going to worthwhile, is gonna, you know, it's gonna take some extra grit, some extra [00:31:00] perseverance, some some to get through those trials and those tribulations.

[00:31:04] They say those trials and tribulations might be way worse than if you were to take the easy route, right? The only thing is that the, when you take the easy route, all the trials and tri, they they kinda at the same way. I feel like the way I see it is when you take the easy route, right? All the hardship is to kind of put away into like a Roth IRA and it's just compounding.

[00:31:27] And then when you get to the end of your life, that pain of regret smacks you with all that compound. Right. That's great. When, when, when you are taking the, the, the hard route, right? To live the life of your dreams, you, it's like you're trading in a regular tax brokerage account, right? Because you take the hits, you take the losses, your stocks go up and down while you're on your way, but in the grand scheme of things, but you end up being a lot better off.

[00:31:53] I kind of made that analogy just now, but it never be. The pain of regret is the worst pain you could you ever fear face [00:32:00] because as you know, we don't get our time. and like if you, if you have that pain, it too something that is very paralyzing and that's why people have midlife crisis and things like that.

[00:32:10] And wanted me to ask, leading is leading me to ask you, I know you talked about getting freed from the golden handcuffs. Is there a way to live your life such that you never have to put the handcuffs on in the first place? Wow. Wow. Yeah. I think if, if right now you're. And you, you have a plan or some sort of plan, right?

[00:32:31] Your plan can change so you're never too young to make a plan. And so if you do get a job, but it's part of your plan because you need to learn this skill or that skill, and then you have a goal that, hey, after X number of years of after or after learning this still, I'm going to leave and break out on my.

[00:32:53] Then, then that's what you need to keep in mind so that you know, the golden handcuffs, [00:33:00] it, it's all that it, it goes back to you get a raise at work and it just makes it harder for you to leave and then they give you more responsibilities. So it, it's taking from the day, cuz day jobs are important. So it's taken from the day job what you.

[00:33:16] and then knowing what your next step is, and like Patrick David, a value team that says, right, know your next five moves, know your next 15 moves, and so and so. That way the mindset never becomes imprisoned, being imprisoned there. Yeah. By any chance, have you ever played chess growing up at all? I haven't.

[00:33:34] Yeah. Yeah. How is that kind of impacted you? Because you talk about moves ahead and Fortunately for me, I was taught chess back in fifth grade. A couple of my classmates played and my fifth grade teacher was also a chess player. Him. and, um, one of this guy, he, he is a year younger than me, but he has a print, runs a six figure, you know, after school program, and he's a year younger than me.

[00:33:54] But one of the things they do is always play chess. And you mentioned being moves ahead. How can, when you're creating this plan, how has chess [00:34:00] kind of helped you in your planning, if it has? Or what are some steps that people. Can use to start thinking ahead because as it's hard to see things we don't know, right?

[00:34:09] It's hard to see steps ahead because we can't see into the future. We could kind of hope, we could predict, we could try and have a plan, but it it, a lot of people think very like right in the now and so it's hard for them to see how. Working that extra shift for over for six months to get that skill is gonna benefit them in the long one because that'll help them branch out.

[00:34:28] People not thinking like that. Usually it's, it's more so very linear, very like right now. So what advice we give people so that they can start planning more long-term and have things incorporated into their plan instead of living life at wherever one the wind takes them. The analogy, if I knew it back then when I would play chess with my brothers and, and cousin would've helped.

[00:34:51] A lot more than it did. Like I, I was terrible at chess it, it was just based on luck. But I think using the [00:35:00] analogy when it comes to your life is very important because, like you said, you do question yourself sometimes. Am I doing the right thing? Am I doing this? Am I doing that? So I think knowing your next moves really keeps your focus because, because then whatever challenge comes along, You don't, the foundation of what your goal is, it's all about your, your end goal and your end vision.

[00:35:28] Right? And chess, it's, it's for that check bait. So I think when it comes to life, it's, it's, it's very important to ha to know a few steps down a road and then also some. Maneuvers and tactics to get a, get away from those obstacles too. So not just knowing ahead of you, but also knowing what you can do to maneuver around challenges cuz challenges are inevitable.

[00:35:53] Yeah. And I, I feel like one of the, the, the big checkpoints in life is get into that point where you found your purpose, [00:36:00] but then once you find it, you know what, you know, what plan steps ahead. What, how are you planning? You, what are you doing now at the plant? Because you already found your purpose, right?

[00:36:08] You're already aligned. A lot of people never find that, so a lot of their checkpoints is to finally get to that point. But now that you get to that point, what's the next checkpoint and how do you go about, you know, chasing it now that you've already reached up state and where most people never even get to I, well, so I knew what my not end goal was, but I knew what my future goals.

[00:36:30] So that book that I first started writing in 2016 part, in addition to my day job getting in the way, part of my, and I'll call it excuse and I'll call it a fear, was the message that I wanted to send out in that book was so important, is so important for me to get out to the world. I feel like it's gonna help a lot of people.

[00:36:48] It's about my husband and my success, a secret to a successful marriage. And I was afraid that, okay, I'll write this book, but who's gonna, how many people do I know? [00:37:00] When I came up with Angel employment and I'm like, and, and then I heard these people saying, oh, I wish I could do this and do that. And I, and I figured, what if I write a book about angel employment so they know of this vehicle and so they know of this opportunity.

[00:37:13] And whether right or wrong, John, I just felt like in this day and age with a great resignation with quiet, quitting, now with inflation reaching, its all time high actors, however, so many years felt like a book on financial freedom and wealth would be a sixth year topic. Mm-hmm. . And so in my strategy of being a published author and getting this relationship, I figured, okay, well let me work on this first book that that will appeal to people because of the time, timing is a lot and everything.

[00:37:48] And that way more people will get to know me through interviews, through the book itself. And then that way when I'm ready to publish that second book, I have an audience. So, [00:38:00] so that goes back to knowing, okay, what's, what's the vision for the future? Now. So that second book might not be my end goal. I might have a third or fourth book in me, but at least I know that far and I knew how this book fell into my strategy and my plan.

[00:38:17] Yeah. So let's talk about angel investing. Cause that's a topic that a lot of people haven't really heard about and a lot of a topic that most of my listeners, probably none of my listeners, including myself, are going to be able to participate any not and not anytime soon at. Unless we get this entrepreneurship stuff rolling, then get a little bit of income going.

[00:38:35] But, so for anyone that may not know, talk to us a little bit about what angel investing is and, um, why people should look into things like that. My first guest talked about real estate syndication, which has also have a very high barrier to entry and a lot of these different investment strategies that more wealthier people use.

[00:38:53] A lot of other people never heard of them, and I feel like awareness is. , right? Because if you don't know, you don't know, right? You don't [00:39:00] know, but you don't know. And this is one of those things where if, if you're not even at that point where that money is available, you probably never heard of it, you probably never will hear of it.

[00:39:08] And if you continue working your regular day job, you'll probably never, ever find about angel investing. So for anyone that doesn't know, break it down to us. In layman's terms, what is angel investing and why should people strive to achieve more income so that they can be eligible to invest in these, some of these opportu?

[00:39:25] Sure, sure. Well, so Angel investing is investing in businesses, usually startups. So businesses, a lot of clients need funding. They call it seed funding or cre, seed funding, whatever stage they are in the game. And there's a different kinds of funding. A business, somebody can bootstrap it. They just use their money to, to pay for the business expenses.

[00:39:49] They could go to, um, crowd. Where there's a bunch, a crowd of people that's, that's putting in money that are, [00:40:00] they're looking to invest in businesses and angel investors and venture capitalists are like the, are are later in the stage. They, they give large sums of money to businesses so that those businesses can scale.

[00:40:15] Those, the money that they invest is used for business expenses. So if, if a founder of a business or a business owner needs more cash for marketing, for product development, anything, then they use that money for those business expenses. So I'm sure your audience, or a lot of your audience has seen Shark Tank, that that's Angel investing.

[00:40:40] Right? So the thing is, is. Side hustlers. There's a lot of side hustlers. Your age, my age, they have their day job to cover, to be their primary source of income, so to cover their basic necessities, the food of, of housing, of transportation, of health [00:41:00] insurance. They have that day job and then they do a side hustle, whether it's.

[00:41:06] That's their hobby and they love doing it and they can make money out of it or, or for whatever reason. There's so many reasons why people have side hustles. A number one thing is to supplement the income from their primary job. Well, the thing is, is that side hustlers are encouraged to work a seven to two strategy.

[00:41:26] So you work your nine to five, then you work seven to two. Well, where's time for family? Where's time for working out? Where's time to have? that goes, that's the current hustle culture. Um, nobody, everyone's just working day in and day out, right? And just hustling, hustling, hustling. There's no time to live the life that you don't know when it's gonna end, so, so angel employment is a way for you to get the benefits of that day job, a steady income, most importantly, group health insurance, because without group health [00:42:00] insurance, health insurance is almost unaffordable.

[00:42:02] And or prac, it's practically unaffordable for people and all of that. So the side hustlers get those benefits, but the 40 hours a week that they're putting in their day job, they can redirect it to their side hustle. It's literally a live hack. I call it a dream life hack, but basically it's getting those benefits, but being able to work on your business to grow it so that you're free to be your own boss, to be pursuing your passion or javi or whatever it is, and, and you still have time.

[00:42:32] Exercise and sleep and family and fun. So that's what angel employment is. It's giving people the opportunity to grow their businesses without the distraction of a day job. Whether it's the hours that they put in their day job or the, the distraction of worrying, how am I gonna put food on my table? How am I going to put a roof on my head if I'm working on a brand new business that doesn't have as much income?

[00:42:59] And then [00:43:00] so while the investment from the Angel employer is to cover your personal expenses, the goal is that you focus on your business and you grow it to a point where your business profits will not only cover your day job income, but to cover the profit that we're looking to make as the. And, and, and we call 'em day hustlers.

[00:43:20] The people that, the, the business owners that are trying to, to grow their business. And we're also looking for angel employers too, so that we're all helping each other accelerate these businesses. Yes. And then let me ask you, so I'm 21 year old kid. I'm, I'm hungry. I'm passionate. I know I got something that I'm good at.

[00:43:36] Me and my case of social media. , right? Mm-hmm. and I wanna start pitching to someone to say, Hey, don't got too much money, but I got a great idea and I got a business plan behind it. I know it's not something that I'm coming up with on a whim. I actually thought this through. What advice would you give to someone like me that wants to talk to someone?

[00:43:53] about potentially giving income that seed funding so that we can get our, our feet off the ground. And while we're [00:44:00] trying to also figure out our current other job situation that we're dealing with, that we, it's stuck in away time from us growing. Mm-hmm. , our side hustle. You know what advice we give so that when we show up to ask people, we're not showing up as idiots or people that don't know what they're talking about.

[00:44:15] We actually show up confident. We show up prepared profess. and you know, as a business owner that people would find interest in investing in and feel comfortable in investing in. Yeah. Well, so these people are going to be asking you questions. They're gonna be looking into you. They're gonna be asking you questions about you, about your and your business.

[00:44:35] So the number one thing is to be prepared for that. How do you be prepared for that? They're gonna wanna know what your business plan is, what your business model is, all these question. For an angel employer, for example, who if you apply to be a day hustler, what are we gonna wanna know? Well, we're gonna say, okay, you are making X number of dollars from your day job, and now we're literally giving you those 40 hours [00:45:00] of a week back.

[00:45:01] What are you gonna do with those 40 hours? And so if you have a plan of what the 40 hours a week now that I can put on my business, this is what I'm gonna do, this is what I'm gonna focus on, this is what I'm gonna spend my, the, the profit. To, to reinvest back into the business. Then that's going to show the business, the investor, the angel employer, that you have a plan to make this grow.

[00:45:24] And it, and it's, it's actionable. It's an actionable plan that we can both foresee you meeting your goals. . And then, so let me ask you, what's your thought on the, on the, uh, 40 page business plan? I, I, I'm taught at Keller Williams. Right. If it doesn't fit on the single page, it's too complicated, right? You need to be able to get someone in.

[00:45:44] And we have something called the 1 35 where it's your one main goal, then your three strategies, or Yeah. Your three, uh, no, your three priorities. There we go. That's your three like main. and then for each pillar, your five main strategies to attempt that. So for [00:46:00] example, if someone wants to build a real estate business, my goal is to close 10 deals you wanna do.

[00:46:05] My three pillars would then be maybe open houses, you know, for sale by owners expired. Then under each I would have like five steps or something like that to a acquire my goal for that priority. And that's the over plicated, like oversimplified answer version. But you know, what's your thoughts on creating a business plan, especially for people as entrepreneurship isn't really taught as well as much, and a business owner isn't really taught that much, especially when you decide to leave school like such as we did and there's so many people that you get advice from.

[00:46:32] So what advice would you give to someone so they can have a solid business plan and even if they don't apply for, you know, a seed funding or any type of money from outside investors so that they could run their business on their own and get their, the wheels going? Yeah, I think a few things. I lean definitely towards the keep it simple option, especially as somebody that has had to write business plans and as somebody that will be reviewing business plans committed to me.[00:47:00]

[00:47:00] I think you gotta keep it simple. I don't like the fluff and they say it now, right? Like you're throughout again, tradition, right? They, you go through high school and college and you're writing these four or five 40 page essays, and when you're pitching to someone, Nowadays, whether you're trying to sell something to a potential client, pitching to an investor, it's like, in five seconds tell me why I should hire you or tell me why I should buy from you.

[00:47:30] You know? And so if you don't have that hook, if you don't know what problem you're solving for that person, if you don't know those things and can articulate it in in a matter of seconds, then work on that. Work on. . And I think the other thing that I would say is nobody wants to, you wanna be running your business.

[00:47:51] You don't wanna be in In the business. In the business. Yeah, in the business. Right. So a lot of the things that have always held me back in the busy work [00:48:00] and to really make sure that you focus on, okay, what's going to, what's your goal in your role of the company? What's your number one goal? And what do you need to do to be productive in that?

[00:48:12] don't just be busy. I'd say growing up and managing a lot of young managers, a lot of people have always tried to make a point of, oh, well, I was doing this, I did this. They would count their emails for me, they would count the number of calls and like, yeah, that's great, but at this point we wanna know, okay, what are the results of that?

[00:48:33] Because then something, there's, there's a disconnect. If the results aren't, So just making sure that what you're doing are the most, the potent actions that you can take as you being your unique self in your role in the company. Yeah, definitely. And so far we kind of pretty much today talked about, you know, finding our purpose, aligning ourself.

[00:48:53] We talked about what it was like breaking through our traditional norms of not seeing school all the way through to get [00:49:00] into entrepreneurship and get into real estate and get into, actually, we both left school for real estate , which is ironic or co coincidental. I mean, we talked a little bit about what's it like being at that age where school isn't always the right next step, and now it's becoming more and.

[00:49:15] Common that school as isn't as, you know, I guess idealized as, as much as it used to be. Now that a lot of entrepreneurship is definitely getting more and more into play and we talked, talked about for the people that wanna get their businesses going but are kind of stuck in the handcuffs right now of that traditional day job.

[00:49:33] Now we also have a way out for them to kinda break free from that so that could, they could focus on their business, get that off the ground. And we actually talked about a little bit too, about. We can create that kind of business plan a little bit so that they, when they show up to get this funding, they're well prepared.

[00:49:49] For anyone that kind of wanted to get some more information on this subject or maybe get into your book, where could we find you at? Where could we connect you? Pretty easy day hustle.com and you can, [00:50:00] yep. I mean, nice, straightforward. Yeah, day hustle.com. You can read about the book there. You can read about the process to apply to be a Day Hustler.

[00:50:10] On there, you can find ways to connect with me on there. All of my, you know, Instagram handle and my LinkedIn profiles in there. And then you can also podcast will be featured on there. There's a media and press page now because the words getting out on angel employment. I'm super. And I'm just super honored to be on your show, John.

[00:50:27] Incredible. It was a pleasure. And so it's time for the final four questions, the way we end every single podcast episode. Without further ado, question number one. What is the most impactful lesson that you learned in life? Let your faith be greater than your fear. Do you want me to expand on that? Sorry if you'd like.

[00:50:45] No, I was gonna go straight into the next question. If you'd like, you could expand if you up to you. Up to you. Up. I just wanna say have faith, not just in God and the universe, but have faith in yourself and also have faith in the people around you [00:51:00] there. There's a lot of people that want you to succeed, that they're there to be your cheerleader, and then there's also a lot of people that have resources that can really help you, so you're not in this alone For sure.

[00:51:10] And that just have faith in all of that. Yeah, definitely. What is the most admirable trait that you could find in a person? Kindness. I think somebody that has a genuine. Will do what it takes to, to do right in the world. Whether it's to help someone, whether it's to make a difference, whether it's to, to just make an impact, somebody with a good heart.

[00:51:33] And I don't think there's anything better than if you had to change someone's life, one book. Which book would, would you recommend? Oh gosh. I always talk about Robert Kiyosaki's books and threes. So I would say Rich Dad, G Rich Dad's Guide to Investing because he recaps the other two books and then this one really kind of brings it home.

[00:51:52] Okay. And then the final question, what is the legacy that you're trying to leave behind? I, the legacy I'm trying to leave behind as [00:52:00] the creator of Angel Employment, I think being able to create the life that you don't need a vacation. There's different ways to do it and, but as long as you keep that in mind, I think people's lives will be a lot more fun and.

[00:52:15] Amazing. Hey Janet, it was a pleasure getting to hear more of your story, hear, kind of learn from your experiences and how, what you've been able to learn just from finally breaking free from your golden hand thumbs and now pursuing life on a grander scale and kind of just learning through the experiences that you shared with me today.

[00:52:32] So it was a pleasure having you on. I'm glad I had the opportunity to get to know a little bit more about your story and what you've learned throughout the journey. Thank you so much, John. I'm so glad to be able to reach your, your specific audience. I. I wish I knew a lot of the stuff that I'm talking about or that I'm still learning years ago, so kudos to you too.

[00:52:51] That is all for today's episode. Thank you guys again for tuning in. Thank you guys for supporting. Really do love you guys. Really do appreciate you guys. Always tuning in, man. We're still growing. We're [00:53:00] still going in the right direction. I'm telling you, I've been doing some outreach now and you probably won't see the guests that I have coming on right now, but I'm telling.

[00:53:08] I got some guests that are gonna be fired, lined up later on in the year. I'm starting to swing heavy, man. Some pretty big guests for you guys, so I'm excited for that. If you guys found value in this episode, actually, instead of checking out another episode, I know you guys wanted to get into entrepreneurship, so if you want the free training that I have, four businesses, you need to start before you start your dream business.

[00:53:30] Make sure to click the link in the. Or go to Bit Lee slash Walk 12 gift and you can get your replay of the four businesses you need to start before you start your dream businesses. They link us in the bio. Make sure to go click that. Again, I'm your host John Mendez, and I'll see you guys in the next episode.