Most successful people in this business will tell you that the road to their achievements has been anything but smooth. There are personal setbacks, hard times, and for many of us, the challenges we experienced in the Crash of 2008. My guest today is no exception. After working in Hollywood, she found her way into mortgage and then into credit empowerment through her company Color My Credit. What are the biggest lessons she learned, the biggest challenges she faced, and how did she find her purpose? On this episode, speaker, author and coach Ali Glutz joins me to talk about her incredible journey, building a tribe, and balancing everything.

At the start of the show, Ali shared her life journey, and how she went from working in comedy to mortgage. She also shared how Color My Credit was born, and how she helps people overcome the shame of debt. Next, we talked about the difference between credit repair and credit empowerment, how Ali got through the crash and the 7 key areas to build a financial legacy.

We also discussed; 

• Why compassion is such a valuable virtue in business 
• How creativity has propelled her in her career 
• How she balances all she has going on in her life 

Every single one of us has setbacks and moments where we feel stuck. In the words of Alisa, what gets us out of a dark place is helping other people, bringing value to them and teaching them something that will change their lives. She is proof that when we put a purpose behind what we do, we go further and make a bigger impact. It comes down to approaching what we do with empathy, helping clients find solutions so that they can also come out of struggle and difficulty. 

Successful businesses require great management, so it's up to us as business owners to provide the right leadership. How can we better prepare ourselves for leadership roles, and what do we do when our plans fall through? Is it possible to be a great leader without sacrificing our personal time? On this episode, podcaster, serial entrepreneur and mentor Greg Dickerson shares how we can build better businesses by focusing on developing our own abilities.

Three Things We Learned From This Episode

Educate yourself even when you're at the top of your game

As leaders, we need to continue to develop our abilities over time. Education is crucial, and there are many opportunities for us to teach ourselves. Never stop learning; read as much as possible and seek out those who have already achieved the goals we set for ourselves. 

Learn from failure

No one wants to fail, but the lessons we learn from our failures are invaluable. We need to adapt our mindsets to welcome failure and to see it as not only important, but necessary. By making mistakes, we have the opportunity to prevent them from happening again in the future. 

Delegate Tasks

While our businesses are important to us, we also need to remember to take care of our personal lives. Hire people to delegate tasks to, and make time management a priority. Don't allow mental, physical and familial health to degenerate in the name of leadership. 

Great leaders are those who continue to learn along the way. If we want to create successful businesses, we need to constantly develop our understandings and abilities, and ensure we're the best we can be for those around us- in both our teams and families. Lead to inspire, and empower others to lead when you're unable to. Successful businesses start with successful leaders.

In today's real estate market, social media is a matter of critical necessity, and if we don't make it a priority, we risk getting overrun by savvier agents. How do we build a consistent and relevant social media presence around our expertise? How do we balance between work-related and persona content? On this episode, I'm joined by social media trainer, speaker and expert, Marki Lemons-Ryhal, who shares how we can employ social media in growing our businesses and connecting with people. 

Three Things We Learned From This Episode

If we don't adopt social media we risk losing market share 

Real estate is a profession with the oldest group of practitioners, and many of them struggle to embrace technology and social media. The problem is, even with the most real estate knowledge, we can get surpassed by an agent with a stronger social media presence. 

A successful social media strategy starts with target clients 

Most people don't have a business plan, therefore they don't know who their clients are and then they don't know how to find where those people are hanging out online.

Create content that connects with people 

Only a small fraction of the world's population makes over $100k a year. When we talk about money, the majority of the human race doesn't connect with it.

Social media is a key part of running successful real estate and mortgage businesses, and if we commit to being lifelong learners of technology, it will become a lot less intimidating. If we want to do business with people, we have to connect with them on the platforms they spend time on. If we craft relevant content that resonates with them, they will get to know, like and trust us and doing transactions from there becomes a lot easier.

While we're often told to strive for balance between our personal and business lives, to be truly successful in the holistic sense, we need to aim for integration. How can we build businesses that allow us to take the time we need to be with our families? How can we manage our time more effectively to ensure we're committed to every area of our lives? On this episode, mortgage industry leader and influencer Brian Covey shares how to prioritize more effectively.

Three Things We Learned From This Episode

-Rely on the team to leverage yourselfAs industry leaders, we often feel pressure to be involved in every step of our businesses. However, that's not necessary if we have the right teams. Build teams that can solve problems without us- by doing this, we're not only leveraging our time, but helping our teams expand their own capabilities. This will make sure your business integrates into your life in a healthy way. 

-Bring potential recruits to youWhen recruiting top producers from other markets, we should be bringing them to us by flying them in. This gives them a chance to see our teams and company culture in action, but also allows us to stay closer to our families. 

-Be intentional with your timeWe need to separate our activities into two categories: those we're interested in, and those we're committed to. By doing this, we can plan our schedules more effectively and become more intentional in the process.

As business owners and leaders, we can never fully separate our work lives from our personal lives. We need to integrate every part of ourselves to ensure we're content in every area. Stop trying to be hands-on in every part of the business, and wherever possible, we should bring recruits to us so we don't need to sacrifice our time. We can be successful in every area of our lives- we just need to be more intentional about how we spend our time.

The typical coaching approach in our industry is to focus only on techniques and tactics, not behavior and emotional intelligence. Why is mindset an important part of becoming successful? How do we unlock real change in our businesses and lives? How do we fit our careers into the rest of our lives in a healthy way? On this episode, I'm joined by speaker, coach, and President of Rewire, Inc, Jason Abell, who shares on their unique approach to coaching.

Three Things We Learned From This Episode

Uncover the non-negotiable activity that will unlock change

From a coaching standpoint, the real change happens when the person taps into an action or activity where they don't have the option not to do it. When they feel like it's something they have to do and there's no other option, that's where the magic happens. 

Real coaching isn't about instruction 

Really good coaching doesn't tell us what to do, it facilitates the process of us digging into our thinking, coming up with solutions and moving forward. 

Our careers should fit into our lives 

Our careers are not separate entities in our lives, they should be integrated holistically in everything else we do. Instead of focusing on coaching that deals with business techniques, we have to deal with the mindset that governs every aspect of our lives.

The truth about the most successful people in our industry is that they don't just master the business techniques and tactics, they also get the mindset part right. Mindset is what steers the ships of our lives, and it's where all personal development and coaching should begin. If we delve into our mindsets, we will find the direction we need to go further.

Success is about more than financial wellbeing or owning a business. To be truly successful, we need to be well-developed in our personal lives, too. What are our motivations for being in the mortgage business, and what do we hope to achieve? How are we creating lives that support our visions for success, in terms of our physical, mental and emotional health? On this episode, we discuss why you need to take a holistic approach to success.

3 Takeaways 

- Understand the motivation. Knowing why we want to achieve success in this industry is important, as it fuels our energy towards achieving the goal.

- It's important to think about what we're doing to improve our health and mental wellbeing. Exercise and rest are vital for physical health, while reading and time planning are crucial in developing ourselves mentally.

- Pay attention to key relationships. Our spouses and children deserve our attention, and any unhappiness at home will affect our businesses as well.

As human beings, we need to understand that every part of our lives has an impact on our wellbeing. To build a life that supports success, we need to think holistically. That means enriching ourselves physically, mentally and emotionally. Ultimately, we want to run towards our goals without looking back to see everything else in our lives falling apart.

Hard charging entrepreneurs often find themselves feeling guilty about not achieving a healthy work-life balance, but the concept is unrealistic when we're running a business. How can we let go of balance, but still give our time to the parts of our lives that matter? How can we manage it all so that we're not overwhelmed? On this episode, I speak to nationally recognized loan officer, coach and author, Scott Groves, who shares on how he's able to achieve success both at work and at home.

Three Things We Learned From This Episode

Pay attention to the numbers

Every person on our team should be bringing in around 5 deals. As the business is ready to grow, we can add more people accordingly. By the time our team is doing 15-20 deals a month, we'll be in a great spot financially.

Don't be too concerned about roles

We shouldn't prematurely worry about who on our team does what. Until we start generating leads, everything else is irrelevant. We need to focus on building the business before prescribing specific roles to our team members.

Work-life balance doesn't exist

Stop seeking balance. The reality is, we'll always feel some sort of guilt when we're focusing more on work and less on family, and vice versa. Strive to be present, rather than balanced.

As entrepreneurs, we're often pushed into certain boxes that don't correspond with where we actually are. The reality is, successful businesses grow organically, and business leaders are often thrown out of balance for that growth to take place. To move forward, we need to spend less time striving to fit into specific boxes, and pay more attention to pushing the margins. There is no balance, and there are no rules. 

Success is defined by more than just financial wealth. How can we build businesses that allow us to excel in all areas of life? Can we enrich other people's lives, while continuing to grow, ourselves? On this episode, we share how we can grow and improve in multiple areas of our lives.

Three Things We Learned From This Episode

Surround yourself with great people

Our network plays a huge role in our success, so it's important to be surrounded by people who have our best interests at heart. This extends to your coaches- some may suggest we leave your current team to join another, because they're receiving a fee for referring you. We  need to pay attention to those around us and make sure each connection is mutually beneficial.

Get a loan partner

Once we've reached a certain number of loans, the best hire we can make is a partner. This partner can assist us in any area of the business. The important thing is they're joining us on our journey to success- and theirs. We're helping another person advance while benefiting yourself. 

Prioritize your relationships

Money isn't everything. We should be prioritizing the people who mean the most to us- we'll never look back on our lives wishing we spent more time at the office. 

A huge marker of success is being able to look ourselves in the mirror and be happy with who we are as individuals. To do that, we need to be investing in ourselves- and to do that, we can start by looking at our relationships. Uplift others and remind people of their worth. Our legacies depend on much more than our finances.

Our success and the balance in our lives comes down to our focus and being intentional. We need to be clear about what we're spending our time on and why. What should be the basis of our goals? How do we take care of our well-being and keep some balance in our lives? How can we maintain success across multiple companies? In this episode, Joshua Smith explains what kind of mindset we need to have as entrepreneurs, as well as the vital role that systems and processes have in our business success.

Three Things We Learned From This Episode

- How to make the market work for you

There is no such thing as a bad market. We need to identify who the market is good for at that period in time, shift our processes and systems, and adapt to that audience.

- Setting meaningful goals based on lifestyle

It's difficult to achieve goals that we've set for ourselves when they don't have a deeper meaning behind them. When we set our goals based on what lifestyle we want, we can visualize our perfect day and start to achieve our goals through daily action.

- How to develop multiple companies successfully

We need to build our systems and processes and get our revenue to the point where we can hire top talent. Only once we have a great team in place can we start to invest in and develop a new business.

We need to have the right perspective when it comes to business, and it's just as important to have the right perspective on our lifestyle, too. When we build our goals around the kind of lifestyle we want, it's easier for us to achieve them because they become built into our daily routine. When we do this, we can grow our revenue and make hires that keep our company running successfully while we maintain the work-life balance we want.

There are many rapid changes taking place in the mortgage industry, and it's important to work with those developments in mind. How can you keep building great relationships with your database amid the growth of artificial intelligence and technology? Where does your personal life fit into this process, and how can you continue to prioritize your health? On this episode, podcaster and industry veteran David Lykken shares how he's built a business that grows alongside industry changes.

Three Things We Learned From This Episode

- Stay focused on your audience

The mortgage industry requires loan officers to get involved in people's lives. Embrace this and structure your processes around it. Make sure you're available to your audience and able to connect on a more personal level. This is much more useful than becoming a 'public figure' on social media. 

- Embrace technology

Millennials have grown up surrounded by technology. As this generation gets older, it's important for loan officers to tailor their services to them. Technology has the power to serve the lender as well as the client, so don't discount its value.

- Protect your relationships

No matter how successful you are in the mortgage industry, your health should always be a top priority. Something that has a great impact on your mental and emotional health is your support system. Never allow your relationships with family and friends fall by the wayside.

The changes we're seeing in the mortgage industry are irreversible, so staying on top of the trends is non-negotiable. However, remember that the key elements of the business (communication and relationships) haven't changed. The way we approach these elements has simply evolved.