Episode 20 - Harnessing Fearlessness in Business and Beyond with Karina Borgia-Lacroix

[00:00:00] Hey everybody, it is Libby with Fearlessness. What is fearlessness? It is that underlying grit

[00:00:05] that empowers us as entrepreneurs to forge ahead. Even when hope seems distant, it's the courage

[00:00:10] to walk through those fires of hell knowing we will come out stronger on the other side.

[00:00:15] Stay tuned and learn how to get fearlessness. I'm your host, Libby DeLucien, and my guest today

[00:00:21] is Karina. Karina, why don't you introduce yourself?

[00:00:24] Hi guys, I'm Karina Borja-Lacroix. I am the owner of American Real Title and Borja Consulting

[00:00:34] Corporation. We are 100% female and minority owned business so we do have a minority designation

[00:00:42] which I'm very happy about. And let's see, we do real estate closings, the consulting side,

[00:00:52] basically the tagline for the consulting side is we create solutions, creative solutions

[00:01:00] to real estate problems where an attorney isn't really needed but a real estate agent can help

[00:01:06] you because it isn't related to a sale. So we do all of that. As far as on my personal side,

[00:01:13] I am a huge charitable person so I'm on the board of a few non-profits. One of them,

[00:01:22] which is my favorite, is blessings in a backpack. We provide food for children during the weekends

[00:01:29] when they don't have food to eat. Usually at school they get their breakfast and their lunch

[00:01:34] free but then they don't have food to take home or to eat during the weekend. So we are

[00:01:39] currently feeding 8,400 children in our area. Wow. We get all through the year. So I'm really

[00:01:48] involved in all of that. I also have a reading program for kids in elementary school.

[00:01:53] And on a personal side, I have two boys, a 28-year-old, a 10-year-old and I just became

[00:02:00] a grandmother of a boy. Another one that has my name, his name is Kyren, I'm Karina, they

[00:02:09] just rotated my letters around to give him my name. I'm excited, he's a month old so I'm full

[00:02:15] of boys in my life. You don't look like a grandma. Oh my goodness, that lighting, that

[00:02:23] lighting. That's amazing. You have a very big spread in your boys' age because I have a 25,

[00:02:34] a 15 and a 5-year-old. So I have a big spread in all mine as well. But at least you kept them

[00:02:40] kind of coming. I went 18 years with nothing so I had my son and then when he went away to

[00:02:47] college is when I had my little one. So they've never lived together. And my son came back home

[00:02:56] but he never actually moved back in. He went to college, he came back and he's doing his

[00:03:01] thing. Thankfully he lives four minutes away but they are, they're 18 years apart and I thought

[00:03:08] it was going to be great but recently my 10-year-old told me we were recording something,

[00:03:12] he and I, and he said that he didn't feel as close to Akai as he felt he should be.

[00:03:21] And I think it's because you know they've never lived together, their ages are so separate

[00:03:25] so it kind of tugged on me a little. But you know we're working on it.

[00:03:31] Awesome. I love the fact that you're also a woman and minority-owned business.

[00:03:39] So I want to ask you some questions. I mean I have a hundred ways to go like you know what

[00:03:43] are the challenge of owning your own business and you know juggling parenting? What is the

[00:03:48] challenge of being a woman in a premier? I would say isn't your industry very male-dominated?

[00:03:55] Yes, yes. You know I do have to say that my personality is very much like a man's personality.

[00:04:07] You know I look like a woman right but internally I'm you know I fight and you know

[00:04:13] I don't back down and I think that's really helped me be where I'm at today and be in the

[00:04:19] position I'm in today. I mean I've owned this business for 15 years. We started as a

[00:04:24] real estate law office and then I bought my business partner out and converted it into

[00:04:28] a consulting firm for a variety of reasons. But you know juggling I have to say that if you have

[00:04:39] the right staff right and you're feeding into them they will allow you to sort of get that

[00:04:50] work-life balance. And I really think my work-life balance is primarily because my staff is amazing

[00:04:59] and I love them and they love me and they allow for you know for me to volunteer and

[00:05:07] happy and I'm going to be a better boss and I'm going to be you know better with my clients

[00:05:11] and they provide a lot of that sort of freedom for me to be able to do those things.

[00:05:19] But it is tough. It's tough you know and I don't think that there's really like

[00:05:25] work-life balance. I think that we go through these episodes where you're really heavy into a

[00:05:32] project so you're putting more into your work-life for a specific amount of time

[00:05:39] and then you take a break and then you put more into your family life. I don't think that

[00:05:43] I for me ever have a totally balance. I'm either giving too much here or too little here.

[00:05:50] But I kind of go like this you know and overall you know like the the seesaw of life right

[00:05:57] overall I'm kind of like bouncing a little and I think it's normal but yeah I just I'm not sure

[00:06:06] if work-life balance really totally exists like people imagine that it does. I think

[00:06:13] you know sometimes priorities take the business priorities take over the family and sometimes

[00:06:19] family priorities take over the business and you just kind of flow about. So I have this passion

[00:06:27] and it's evolved over the last few years and it's to really help we have all kinds of

[00:06:31] listeners but to really help women entrepreneurs because I think that we have a different struggle

[00:06:38] and it's more of an internal like mental not that we're mental mental block or struggle because

[00:06:47] you know we're raised to be more of an empathetic to be more nurturing. Sometimes we don't have the

[00:06:53] confidence and we're our biggest critic. And you know as far as guys don't suffer

[00:07:03] and so it's been this struggle not struggle but this passion that I've kind of developed

[00:07:10] over time and really wants so I love the fact how you talked about like there is no real work-life

[00:07:18] balance like it's an ebb and flow and it balances out over time or when you look at it over time.

[00:07:25] So you know that being said what are what's like the greatest lesson that you ever learned

[00:07:30] so far in owning and running a business? Oh well that I can't control everything but that's

[00:07:39] overall my whole life and it's transpired into you know what I do here at the office too.

[00:07:46] You know as women like you were talking about you know we have all of these thoughts

[00:07:51] that I call it the little girl syndrome where sometimes it's true it's true sometimes I look

[00:07:58] at myself in the mirror and I'm putting on like my my suit you know and I'm looking really sharp

[00:08:04] and I'm going to this big meeting where I don't know I want some award or something

[00:08:08] and I'll look at myself and I think well I'm just a little girl how did I get here

[00:08:14] why do I have so many responsibilities like I'm just a little girl you know and it happens

[00:08:20] like I actually I literally look at myself in the mirror it doesn't happen often but I

[00:08:26] look at myself in the mirror and I do every once in a while think well I do the same thing

[00:08:31] I'm like how did I get here I'm not capable of this I'm only a little girl somebody save me

[00:08:37] you know but I think we do question ourselves a lot and I think that women we suffer from

[00:08:49] guilt we um and I hundred percent yeah I think a lot of people you know they they may they may

[00:09:00] describe that as something else but I know in my heart and in my life that that is the one

[00:09:06] thing I suffer with is guilt I am I'm guilty I feel guilty that I'm not spending enough time

[00:09:12] at home I feel guilty that I'm spending too much time at home I feel guilty that I'm

[00:09:15] working too much I feel guilty when I'm not working too much I feel guilty when um anything

[00:09:22] happens literally you know when an employee isn't happy I'm guilty because I'm like oh

[00:09:27] I don't know what happened could I have done something better you know we we do we kind of

[00:09:32] like you know we tiptoe around this I mean that we get I felt guilty there was there

[00:09:39] were three phases that changed my business and they were all personal things I did but I was

[00:09:45] so guilty of letting it go because I'm like I'm not going to be as good of a mom or wife

[00:09:51] or business owner like one was when I let my own cleaning company clean my house

[00:09:57] right and I'm like but I'm supposed to clean my house like what's my you know what I mean

[00:10:02] like or when I hired it's like when I hired my first executive assistant like Marilyn saves

[00:10:10] my life but I was so guilty like I should be looking at my own emails like I should be

[00:10:14] scheduling my own appointments I don't need anybody to help me but then it gave me the time

[00:10:19] to go and then focus on the business and then the third one was when I hired a house a house

[00:10:24] helper my 15 year old mom really you got a house helper like you can't do the shopping

[00:10:30] or cook dinner but it's the guilt of saying I'm a mom I should be cooking dinner like

[00:10:35] because that's my duty as a spouse and those are the things that changed my business like

[00:10:41] it's crazy but the guilt kept me from doing it for so long I should have did it sooner

[00:10:46] yep I agree and I don't know why women suffer from that but I think we all do we have you

[00:10:52] know we're guilty that we're even working we really are we're like I shouldn't be working

[00:10:57] this much I should be volunteering my son's school every day all day every day not thinking

[00:11:01] about obviously you got more you have to pay and you got a car payment and you got things to do

[00:11:06] do but yeah I don't I don't know but I feel like so us women suffer from that and I know

[00:11:13] that going kind of back because I didn't really answer your question I feel like you know some

[00:11:20] of the lessons that I learned and I'll tell you this I'll tell you because it's not really

[00:11:25] related to the business but it's related to my whole life and how it changed everything in

[00:11:29] my life so I'll show you my scars I don't know if you've seen them before you may I have

[00:11:35] one of the meetings that I met you at yeah um so that was due to a car accident um and when

[00:11:42] I had that car accident just to share a little bit with you um a car a truck hit us

[00:11:50] basically head on I turned the wheel a little enough for him not to like

[00:11:55] for us not to die instantaneously um but he crushed us out of my car my ear was

[00:12:01] ripped out of my head and I lost my vision and my hearing on my left side I had to have a

[00:12:07] ton of plastic surgery on my neck just to pull things back together um I still have things

[00:12:13] that um that my hair hides um but uh my son was in the car with me when we when we were

[00:12:21] hit the car I was instantly um uh I passed out so I wasn't I wasn't coherent or awake

[00:12:30] and the car went in the water and sick and um I ended up with a ton of water in my lungs

[00:12:36] and all kinds of issues again I lost my memory and my son was in the car and he was two years

[00:12:42] old and let me tell you what changed for me um I have always been a a very controlling person

[00:12:52] and in that I feel kept me from growing my business from hiring the right people from

[00:13:00] giving them you know the tools to do what they needed to do on their own right because

[00:13:06] I was controlling everything and when that accident happened I struggled for a long time

[00:13:13] I wasn't and I'll say this and I know you know it's kind of hard to to even say it and voice

[00:13:19] it but I really wasn't happy I survived initially I felt like if I can't if I can't if I have

[00:13:26] no control over protecting my own children you know you can have the best car and the and

[00:13:33] all the airbags a best safety rating and and I couldn't have saved my child I was saved by

[00:13:40] the guy that hit us he actually went in the water and he was trying to get me out and he

[00:13:44] couldn't get me out so he had given up but then he noticed that Levi was in the car my son

[00:13:49] so then he pulls him out and then decided to go back for me um so my son had you know very

[00:13:56] little nothing really happened to him and and I was a bit of a mess but um I went to counseling

[00:14:03] for it um and uh I realized that we can't control everything you know and the minute

[00:14:13] I actually accepted it and I stopped trying to control things is when um I think my life

[00:14:20] started getting better I felt lighter you know I stopped putting so much pressure I I

[00:14:25] stopped taking so much guilt um because I felt like look I can try the best that I can and some

[00:14:33] things are going to work out great and some things aren't and some of that stuff is completely

[00:14:38] out of your control it just it doesn't matter you know sometimes you can go as a woman you

[00:14:43] know how we question everything we do we go to a job interview and then we don't get the job

[00:14:48] right and we're like oh I should have worn this or I shouldn't straighten my hair and

[00:14:52] look more professional I shouldn't have worn that lipstick or maybe I have too much perfume

[00:14:56] I should have said this I should have put that on there you know like I should have responded

[00:14:59] this way you you're you're attacking yourself right and all along the person that got the

[00:15:04] job which is the son of the VP that was always going to get the job you had no chance

[00:15:10] right but um you don't know that and and I feel like when I stop trying to control

[00:15:18] everything that happened um I started um giving people uh sort of the tools and empowering them

[00:15:29] here in my office to do what they needed to do without me you know I I want them to feel like

[00:15:39] they're a good member of the team that they're really supporting the team that they are smart

[00:15:46] I hired them because I believe in them so I tell them all the time listen do what you need to do

[00:15:53] make decisions without me you don't need to ask me for everything and if there's a big big mistake

[00:15:59] there's always a solution for absolutely and that's you know and I feel that that I think

[00:16:06] was the biggest lesson for me in my business was realizing that we can't control everyone

[00:16:12] can't keep every client happy um you know we're just not going to make everybody happy we're

[00:16:17] not for everyone and and you know and it's okay it totally is okay I'm not going to feel guilty

[00:16:23] about it I can't control it you know you can't so my question I love the story what are some

[00:16:30] of the things you do to help you get through the guilt that guilt feeling oh well you know

[00:16:36] I talk to my kids a lot um my oldest son you know he's 28 now and the relationship that he

[00:16:43] and I have like the adult relationship that we have is amazing is it so the adult

[00:16:49] the relationship I have with my 24 year 25 year old is amazing like yeah it's like he

[00:16:53] turned into a different person and he thinks his mom is smart now I know oh listen my son

[00:16:59] calls me three times a day asking me for every so does mine everything and I love it I

[00:17:04] love it because I'm like oh you know he knows that first that I'm here for him and second that

[00:17:10] you know I do have something to say that that's you know that he that has some value in it but

[00:17:17] so the guilt situation my oldest son it he is my biggest cheerleader like my little one

[00:17:26] thinks I'm Wonder Woman so he's like yeah you can do it all but my oldest son has seen me

[00:17:31] all of you know all the trials and tribulations that I've gone through in life and he doesn't

[00:17:38] just like believe in me in the superhero way he really like genuinely you know um has faith in

[00:17:45] me right and and and he will tell me when I am feeling guilty he can tell and he will remind

[00:17:55] me not to feel guilty there are conversations that we have lots of conversations where he'll

[00:18:00] say you remember mom when this and this happened and and uh you were really mad at me and and I

[00:18:07] know that you feel guilty because you feel like maybe you didn't do the right thing and

[00:18:11] and and guiding me not to get in trouble in that way or whatever and and he always says it

[00:18:17] was never you you know don't feel guilty it was never you it was always me you've done

[00:18:24] the best and you possibly can do you're the best mother ever and and listen and he's always

[00:18:29] very positive too so when I say I just feel like like lately I've been feeling very guilty that

[00:18:33] I'm not spending a lot of time with my grandson like I expected to have a grandchild and I don't

[00:18:38] know like totally take over the grandbaby you know and like it'd be he be mine and I haven't

[00:18:43] been able to because I'm so busy and with a 10 year old that plays every sports and we're

[00:18:48] running around and I've been feeling guilty but but he he just really grounds me you know

[00:18:54] he just reminds me that if if I'm feeling guilty because I don't know I went out of town to do some

[00:19:01] to speak somewhere right um and I wasn't home he'll remind me of the positives that come

[00:19:07] from that you know like how many people's lives did you change you know and and we know what

[00:19:12] you're doing and we appreciate it and we look up to you and and we're proud of you so I mean

[00:19:17] let us be proud of you go do your thing you know um so that's

[00:19:24] the I think and I know not everybody has an adult child like I do um that has that relationship

[00:19:30] with them but somebody I think in your family or somebody maybe a best friend or somebody

[00:19:34] that can maybe guide you through the the guilt emotions and turn them into positives you know

[00:19:40] make sure that that you're seeing both sides of there's a there's a positive reason why

[00:19:44] you're doing what you're doing and if you're feeling guilty over it um you know you have to

[00:19:49] kind of go backwards to think about why am I doing this you know why am I why am I moving

[00:19:55] town to go speak to a group of people right you know so why am I feeling guilty I wanted

[00:20:00] this so you kind of sometimes have to get somebody to to remind you why you're doing

[00:20:06] what you're doing what you even got into and why you which is not yeah I think for me

[00:20:14] especially you know even working with say my family or even employees or the company is just

[00:20:20] communicating the fact that you feel guilty about it like it's okay to say to your staff

[00:20:26] like man I feel guilty haven't been here very much um I've been doing x y and z like just

[00:20:32] another level of communication or even just saying it out loud makes you feel better talking

[00:20:37] through it with someone whether it is staff a friend family just talking through it and

[00:20:43] saying it out loud um because you're probably not the only one that feels that way yeah and

[00:20:48] and you know again we all feel guilty in my my assistant her name is Maris Cella and I have

[00:20:55] to say it because I love her um she's been with me for 12 years and she knows everything

[00:21:01] about me and let me tell you I can walk into the office and she could be like what's wrong

[00:21:06] today you know like she knows and and she's and she's amazing so we do we talk a lot like

[00:21:12] she's on vacation right now and and I and I push her to take vacation all the time I'm like oh go

[00:21:18] go go go you want to go on a boat go you know because she does so much for me and um and I

[00:21:25] do I feel guilty that I'm not at the in the office as often and and they the staff understands

[00:21:31] that you know if I sit in the office the very next month we make less money it's like it's

[00:21:40] it happens every time right if they keep me in the office all month working on a project

[00:21:45] I'm not out there touching touching you know which is what I do I touch and and if I'm not

[00:21:52] out there touching then you know things kind of slow down for the following month and it

[00:21:56] happens every time so the staff knows that I need to be out and I think you too I mean for

[00:22:01] your business what you're doing is developing your business it's increasing the business it's

[00:22:07] putting light on your business right it's bringing awareness to what you're doing and creating

[00:22:11] relationships and that keep all that momentum going yeah yep so um yeah I mean I think

[00:22:20] and I said it earlier having the right staff and that's hard to do I mean finding the right

[00:22:27] people is hard to do um but but once you find them you have to really be empathetic to

[00:22:33] their issues too and be there for them not just as a boss but you know as a friend and I

[00:22:38] know that a lot of people are like oh you can't you know you can't mix like you know business

[00:22:43] and pleasure but I don't I don't believe in that I tell I tell my staff everything they

[00:22:48] know they know when I'm crying they know when I've broken up with a man and I'm just like

[00:22:55] they know what I need a new man I'm like so let's talk about that then let's talk about

[00:23:01] challenges what what do you feel like your current biggest challenge you know or what do

[00:23:06] you call your seat in your company are you ceo co visionary I don't know like what do you

[00:23:12] call yourself in your company I well I'm I am I am the president of the company president

[00:23:21] I don't I don't have like a you know like a different title you know I've always been

[00:23:26] the president and I'm the president um I am kind of like the north star right I'm kind of I stay

[00:23:34] away from oh I should give myself that title the north you're the north star I'm the north star

[00:23:41] you know where I kind of I I kind of am further away but I'm shining the light and I'm also

[00:23:48] your way that's what I do here so I but but my staff mainly runs the majority of of the business

[00:23:57] and um so yeah I'm I'm I'm the president north star okay yes so as the president

[00:24:07] slash north star what's your current challenge like is it personal is it

[00:24:11] like challenge that you're hitting like a block or growth issue um like what do you feel

[00:24:17] your current biggest challenges right now um you know and uh I and I feel like

[00:24:26] we we started recording um videos for all of our processes

[00:24:36] and when I hire someone I never hire anybody for a higher position like a higher position

[00:24:41] I always hire for receptionists and when we have an opening for a higher position we move that

[00:24:48] receptionist to that position right oh nice always do that so I never ever hire someone

[00:24:55] like we're not gonna hire a closer we're gonna hire a receptionist we're gonna see how she

[00:24:59] does and if we need a closer we're gonna try to train her into this that or move someone

[00:25:04] else in the company into that position um I so so for us um our biggest issue is that I have

[00:25:14] I've spent a ton of time putting together these videos for it and I think everybody

[00:25:22] and and if you guys are listening to this this is really a great idea somebody actually

[00:25:27] an ex-boyfriend of mine gave me that idea he had great ideas and um and I implemented it

[00:25:32] so what I did was everything that that receptionist position does from clocking in to making copies

[00:25:41] to walking to the FedEx box to stamping mail to drafting a letter to um I don't know turning on

[00:25:50] the TVs in the conference room like everything that I expect them to do I have a video for it

[00:25:57] and it's me actually doing the work so it's like a video of me walking to the FedEx box

[00:26:02] let me show you you know so when we hire someone the first week they spend watching all of our

[00:26:11] videos so they feel like I have I personally have trained them but I haven't spent a minute

[00:26:19] doing it and then after the week of them reviewing everything then we get them into

[00:26:24] heavier stuff but at least by the time they come to me they know what we do I have them watch some

[00:26:30] of our YouTube channels some of our videos of like what closings look like what papers are

[00:26:36] you know what documents we we deal with you know all that stuff there's a lot there and

[00:26:41] and I feel like where I'm lacking right now is that I felt so proud that I did that and um

[00:26:50] and it took me so much work that I stopped right so now the rest of my staff is like hey Karina can

[00:26:59] we get a video on this and I'm like yeah and I'll write it down right and I can't bring myself

[00:27:06] to sit down and actually do videos for the higher staff I don't know why that's a big

[00:27:13] challenge for me right now I don't know but I it's I almost feel like oh god I can't take

[00:27:19] on that big project like I'm looking at it like a big project when it probably isn't you know

[00:27:23] I could do a video here in a video they aren't just top of them yeah um but and I think that

[00:27:28] that is that's a thing and the other thing that's a challenge right now for us is

[00:27:33] just finding um qualified people um and again uh because we always hire for the receptionist

[00:27:41] position it's kind of an easier one but also the one that turns over the most which is why

[00:27:47] we did what we did with the videos because we we can't spend a month training someone and then

[00:27:52] three months later they leave and it happens often because that's a position that um you

[00:27:58] know doesn't get paid the most you know it is a full-time position you have to be here

[00:28:03] you have to be professional you're at the starting level here and it's it you know it's

[00:28:09] a hard position to feel fill and keep filled um because of that because somebody comes in and

[00:28:18] they're getting paid you know whatever they're getting paid and then they're here for two months

[00:28:22] and they go somewhere else and they say oh yeah I've been working for you know Borja Law or

[00:28:26] Borja Consulting in American Real Title they're like you're hired right and and then

[00:28:31] they're gone um so I think that the rollover of that of the lower um the lower paying positions

[00:28:41] it's hard for us and it's so hard that um in December we had our receptionist um went to

[00:28:49] college and she actually moved away to college and after that I decided not to hire another

[00:28:54] receptionist it's been three months and we haven't had a receptionist and um you know and

[00:29:00] so I struggle with finding the right people finding people that will want to stay and grow

[00:29:06] with us because that's really the idea um and uh again in my other positions my people have

[00:29:13] been here forever like I said you know my my other closer slash assistant's been with me

[00:29:19] for 12 years and I have I have staff out of the country as well with me for years too um so

[00:29:26] that's nice you know we we have we have enough people but but we have no receptionist right

[00:29:31] now it's been that's a challenge for me that's a big yeah um you know the whole covid the great

[00:29:38] resignation thing the one thing that it did do that um I've talked about in several other

[00:29:43] videos is that um so statistically they're gonna they're saying that the great resignation

[00:29:48] is over but what it did was it conditioned people to be comfortable quitting their jobs

[00:29:56] and it conditioned the job hopping versus before that covid mentality it was like I get a good

[00:30:01] job I stay there I save my money I live in a white house with a white picket fence that

[00:30:06] that whole thing is over because people want time freedom they want to travel they want to

[00:30:11] work remote they want the ability to work how they want where they want and when they

[00:30:15] want but it also conditioned uh people to be comfortable with quitting yep yeah and it is hard

[00:30:23] everybody wants to work from home I mean my my oldest son uh basically he was working for a

[00:30:30] company that downsized so he was let go and he literally didn't work for like two months

[00:30:37] because he was adamant that he needed a work-from-home job and he was offered a ton of positions

[00:30:44] and he was like nope nope nope nope so yeah I mean it's um it's difficult and what I do

[00:30:52] you know if you think about what I do what we do if you were to buy or sell a house um you

[00:30:59] have to sign documents right and there are a lot of these are being done online now um and

[00:31:05] or you know I can email documents with somebody somebody's doing it remotely but

[00:31:09] people want to have the space to come in to sit down to sign their documents they want to see an

[00:31:17] actual office when they're dropping off their checks for deposits I mean like everybody's

[00:31:23] like oh you should go virtual like I don't even know what that would look like because

[00:31:27] people just show up you know with deposit checks and they want to make sure that

[00:31:31] they're dropping their money real person well real person somebody they know you know and uh

[00:31:38] it's so it's difficult for us because it requires us to have staff in the office we have to have

[00:31:45] staff in the office um there's nothing we could do about it I would love for all of us to be

[00:31:49] able to work remotely but it's impossible in my line of business and that's what it is

[00:31:54] you probably feel the same way I mean when people are cleaning a house you can't do that

[00:31:58] remotely yeah so we have transitioned a lot of our culture and the way we way we do things

[00:32:07] into kind of more of a remote setting because our technicians they work from an app like they

[00:32:12] they go from their from their home to the first home they're not coming into an office

[00:32:16] every day to the same office every day at the same time it can't be a full remote company

[00:32:21] it's it's a remote hybrid I don't remember what we call it remote like something like that

[00:32:28] because our scheduler can be remote or our sales but ultimately we can't clean a house

[00:32:33] through zoom right and that's that's with us the staff that's out of the country they're all doing

[00:32:39] processing and payoffs and you know preparing title commitments things that are all you know

[00:32:44] web-based from our apps and things and uh and of course and they can answer phones too we're

[00:32:50] all connected to the same system so if you know if I have an employee that's in in Thailand

[00:32:56] today I don't have any in Thailand but if I did you know I I could just you know press a

[00:33:02] button and reach out to them from our own phone systems we're all connected and stuff so

[00:33:06] so it's kind of like they're here but but yeah some of those positions can but

[00:33:10] you know we at least need three people in the office at all times I mean we just do because

[00:33:16] because of the the line of business that we're in and people want to see us they want to see

[00:33:20] them when I'm not in the office you have no idea how many times people are like

[00:33:24] Corina you're always on vacation I'm like boy I haven't taken a vacation since

[00:33:28] Thanksgiving but I'm not in the office and they don't see me so and that's why I do a lot of

[00:33:33] the videos like I do um videos for I have which is great too for people that are watching you

[00:33:39] know things things ideas right to keep you from having to actually be the one touching base

[00:33:46] with all of your clients all the time um I pre-recorded these videos um that gets sent

[00:33:52] by a remote staff member um every so often so at the beginning of the file um you'll get a

[00:34:00] video of me that says hey together I'm so excited you know and and then they feel like they saw me

[00:34:09] right so they are not calling me and then I answer all the questions and I'm like click

[00:34:12] this link and that link and then this link and then you can get another video you know so

[00:34:16] like I do all of that stuff like I I I realize what calls we're getting the most

[00:34:23] and I put those on video and I explain it all in video and and through the process where I know

[00:34:29] this is the next question that's gonna come because now the file is two weeks old you know

[00:34:34] send that video out and and my I don't even have to tell them that now they know when these

[00:34:39] videos need to go out that's awesome yeah we did the same thing and organize it um I am in

[00:34:45] every email and a video I'm in every communication in video I answer every question

[00:34:52] in video form um video has been my best friend and I think it's a big differentiator as well as

[00:34:59] like a competitive advantage of some of the owners that don't want to do video or are not

[00:35:03] as comfortable with it because for what we found is it's easier to create systems processes

[00:35:09] interact with customers and employees I do a Friday video every Friday

[00:35:14] to our employees just doing uh it's like um we call it the TGIF dispatch it's what's

[00:35:20] what's happening what's new and what to expect oh I like it I think I'm gonna implement that

[00:35:26] it's just a three to five minute just fast like nothing super formal it's just to give

[00:35:30] them a consistent like feel of what's going on oh I'm gonna do that because you know

[00:35:38] it's funny just yesterday I was like I need to implement Monday morning meetings so I was

[00:35:43] I'm beginning to master class you know what master class is that you know it's like an app

[00:35:48] that's got all of you okay yeah and these people these you know professionals that have

[00:35:54] made it they teach you their their tools or whatever it goes from everything but I was

[00:35:59] watching Martha Stewart's the other day I love this is a whole different topic I was

[00:36:04] I like the wine 19 crimes and oh yeah yeah and so I'm at the store getting a 19 crimes uh

[00:36:12] Cabernet and I look up and Martha Stewart's on the cover of 19 crimes uh Chardonnay because

[00:36:20] it's it's everyone who's been committed committed a crime is on the bottles of 19 crimes

[00:36:25] and I'm like five months Martha Stewart made it she's on the front of 19 crime Chardonnay

[00:36:31] okay yeah it did you know that she also at the age of 80 something right opposed for you

[00:36:39] probably saw this for sports illustrated this swimsuit issue yes and not saying anyway so

[00:36:45] uh but she was you know she's very good at at this like what you're doing with your videos

[00:36:51] you know she does these meetings you know with her staff at home and her staff at the office

[00:36:56] and you know like she does them actually every day I can't do a meeting every day

[00:37:01] but I started thinking I really need to implement the Monday morning meeting but the problem with

[00:37:07] us is that we all we all because I give my employees um uh the ability to work the way that

[00:37:17] they like to work um our schedules are all over the place you know my assistant may have

[00:37:23] three meetings from nine to eleven and she puts it on the calendar but we don't I don't

[00:37:27] we have no time to speak so they work more of an in an asynchronous style yeah and then you

[00:37:33] know we got angel who may have like two conference calls with clients that he needs

[00:37:37] to get info from and then we got Vicky that's got you know it's dealing with banks and

[00:37:42] whatever and and it's very hard to get us together so when I thought oh I need this

[00:37:49] meeting I was like ah forget it it'll never happen we've tried it before I love your idea

[00:37:55] with the video I'm gonna do and if I'm late it's just like it's just it's just you telling

[00:38:02] them what's going on so it doesn't have to take an hour like our old meetings you'd say

[00:38:08] yeah and if I'm late with the video they're like hey where's your Friday video

[00:38:14] so they're expecting it they like that consistency that level of communication

[00:38:18] it's asynchronous so asynchronous means they can digest it whenever they want because they have

[00:38:22] control over their schedule um so we work in more of an asynchronous style that can scare

[00:38:27] some people you have to be comfortable with asynchronous yeah um but it really gives your

[00:38:33] staff kind of that empowerment to lead themselves and if here's the thing if they

[00:38:39] can't meet those expectations you're going to see them fail quite quickly right yes right so

[00:38:46] I have one last question before we wrap up and it is Karina what would you tell the younger

[00:38:52] version of yourself like knowing what you know now what would you tell the younger version of

[00:38:57] yourself um to kind of the advice you would give her to kind of expedite that growth like

[00:39:04] what do you know now that you're like oh my god I finally knew that when I was 20

[00:39:07] I'd be a billionaire by now um you know I think that I would tell myself that I don't know it all

[00:39:17] and I can't do it all and I can't take everything on uh because man I suffered with

[00:39:24] that I wanted to do everything I didn't want to let go of nothing you know it was like no

[00:39:27] one does it better than me I'm the only one that could do it this good right if I had if I

[00:39:34] didn't have that issue within myself I would have grown you know faster than than I have as far

[00:39:42] as on the business side of things um because it just uh you can't if you're going to grow

[00:39:51] you have to have people work alongside you um but you can't you know you got you gotta

[00:40:00] delegate you can't take it all on I mean you're not you can't do all of your accounting and all

[00:40:05] your marketing and still take care of your clients you know right so you have to you

[00:40:11] have to hire people and and and then trust them because that was my issue is that I

[00:40:18] would trust someone enough to hire them but then I wouldn't trust them to do the work

[00:40:23] I love that you said that um totally guilty of the same thing when I was younger I think it

[00:40:30] comes with age and experience but um you know I see so many people hire people I mean

[00:40:37] a great example is like you know we hire people to clean people's houses I have to

[00:40:41] have full trust in them to even send them in my own house versus even you know strangers

[00:40:47] houses which is our customers or our customers houses and it's just empowering them

[00:40:52] and training them and having those processes to then just let go yes you have to because again

[00:40:59] you can't control everything either so it goes hand in hand I would tell my younger self girl

[00:41:05] you don't know it all girl you can't take it all on girl you're not gonna grow if you

[00:41:10] pretend to be the only one that could do everything the way that you want it done and

[00:41:16] it's okay if things aren't done your way absolutely so that is a great note to end on Karina

[00:41:24] so Karina I want to thank you for being a guest um on the Fearlessness podcast

[00:41:29] so is there anything um up next for you anything exciting you want to share we're going

[00:41:34] to make sure to put your information in our show notes so any of our listeners can find

[00:41:38] you uh but do you have anything in the works anything exciting uh no you know uh last year

[00:41:45] I wrote a chapter in a book that became a best seller um and it was something very personal

[00:41:52] in my life that led me to this like I have no control of anything kind of you know mentality

[00:41:57] that really I love right now I'm loving it and um and I I'm going to start working on

[00:42:06] writing more so I think what's it's not totally in yet you know I have a reading

[00:42:14] program for kids so I write children's stories and I've never published any of them

[00:42:18] um so I think I'm going to start working on those all my writing abilities that's so exciting

[00:42:26] I start writing with a with a with a writer uh April 1st for my first book so no it's it's

[00:42:34] really just like we were talking about earlier like what would you tell your younger self

[00:42:39] um you know when I was asked to write that chapter they said we need 1500 words and I was

[00:42:44] like ah I can write 1500 words in two minutes and I literally sat and cried for like eight hours

[00:42:53] because I didn't even know how to start and then you know things like emotional things

[00:42:58] because you're if you're talking about your life you're like well I don't want to share

[00:43:01] that or maybe I should share it and you know you you start questioning yourself so

[00:43:05] don't do that to yourself let it all out let it all out yeah so I I did hire um a writer

[00:43:13] to help me because I you know Gary V I don't know if you follow Gary V but any of the books he

[00:43:17] wrote he never wrote he talked through the process so I'm a talker um so we're going to

[00:43:22] talk it he's going to write he's a very he wrote Buy Back Your Time which was a New York

[00:43:27] best seller that's his most one of his most recent books that he ghost wrote for Dan Martell

[00:43:33] um but you know when I signed the deal to do this I'm like here comes the little girl

[00:43:40] syndrome uh who's gonna want to read a book about me like what do I have to share

[00:43:49] and then luckily I have like my husband a group of friends are like no it's awesome

[00:43:53] you're gonna crush it I'll read the book like I'm like okay I'll read the book too

[00:43:59] you get in that like yeah well what do I have to say

[00:44:04] you know that's isn't that what they call uh it's a syndrome imposter syndrome imposter

[00:44:10] syndrome right then we're like oh we're not good enough for this I swear that only happens to

[00:44:16] women women are the only sufferers or of imposters well I want to wrap this up before

[00:44:22] we go over time so I want to thank all of our listeners if you enjoyed this episode which was

[00:44:26] a great time you can find more of them on LibbyD.com or TheFearlessness.com so guys

[00:44:32] that's a wrap into the heart of fearlessness remember every step we take is a move towards

[00:44:39] our strength and our own courage keep walking through those fires because on the other side

[00:44:44] lies a version of yourself that's unstoppable I'm Libby reminding you to embrace your

[00:44:49] fearlessness until next time stay brave stay bold and keep pushing forward