Violeta 0:00

Imagine you are so burnt out and tired of your nine to five and finally decide, you know what, yellow, I am going to quit my job and go on my own. And today's guest is my co-host from Real Estate Cheese Met. And she is quitting her her nine to five to open her own practice. I think it's so important to see behind the scenes of you know the mindset. She is set to do that in September, which you know is right around the corner. But yeah, hola Lynn. Welcome to the Money Cheese Mess side. She she actually has been here before. She came and shared her story of her real estate investing journey. So I'll link that below. Um, and also don't forget if you you're not subscribed to other podcasts, the real estate cheese may podcast. She's my co-host there, and we talk about real estate investing on that side, and we talk about our journey as well over there. So go over there and check that out. But yeah, Lynn, how are you feeling? It's around the corner.

Lindsay 1:03

So I'm getting excited and anxious. I would say more anxious than excited, but I think it's gonna be a good rest of my comfort zone. And if you don't know me, guys, I used to be a nurse, I've been an employee for all of my life. So this is coming from the mindset of somebody that's never thought she was gonna be an entrepreneur, never thought I was gonna open my own business. I kind of did the same thing a lot of first-gen immigrants did, which was like, okay, you immigrated to America, you're gonna go to college, you're gonna get a job, and then you're gonna work until you're 65 and you're gonna retire, right? That is the plan. And that's what I was thinking I was gonna do. But then when I started investing in real estate, I realized I was like creating a business. And then now it's just like, why am I able to totally switch what I do and create a different business? But I'm not comfortable enough to do that as my own career, like that thing to actually study, like eight years for, you know? But it's because I think I didn't have, I think a lot of first-gen immigrants, they come here and then they have that hassle mentality of like, I'm gonna open my own business, I'm gonna try to make it in America. And I did the same thing, but in a different way, in a different kind of mindset. So I think trying to switch that on coming from the person that I'm like, I'm not the oldest daughter, but I feel like oldest daughter syndrome of like, I feel like I have to carry everything on my back and I have to be the pillar of my family where everybody comes to me for advice because you know, you kind of like overcorrect and try to make sure you have enough financial security for everybody and all the information. And you've been filling out your parents' documents and FAFSA applications on your own. So you're like, okay, well, let me do that for the rest of my life and take care of everybody. I'm a nurse practitioner. I decided to this year leave my W 2, so that's on track for next month, and then open my own practice, which comes in with its own thing. Not not it's not only opening your own company, but it's learning marketing, it's learning CEO mentality, is learning how to delegate certain things, it's spending money, a lot of money, without seeing a return uh any anywhere. But for a while, that's how that feels. Yeah, taking a risk on yourself, investing on yourself, betting. It's like gambling almost. I feel very uncomfortable with it, but I'm gonna try it out. Um and I think I'm gonna try it out because I'm in a place with the real estate investing, which is provided some kind of like security, some kind of sense of like, okay, well, you were able to do this, now maybe you can do this as well. And I also want to mention, because I do have imposter syndrome, that I have to be okay with the scenario of like even if you fail, even if you lose money, even if your practice is not successful, are you gonna be okay? And I feel like I'm gonna put myself in a in an okay position. So it's gambling with some sense of security for sure.

Violeta 4:03

Yeah, I think that's one of the the biggest kind of mindset hurdles that I've noticed in like a lot of uh Latinas, especially that you know, went and got a a degree, they have their their career, and I just see them as like, okay, we were taught, okay, go get, you know, that stable career, and we are in our our stable career, and then it's like we decide we're going to walk away from it. And so then people like call us like you know, like, oh wow, you're crazy, or or like why would you leave such a a job, a stable job that has all these like let's say benefits and it's a high salary, I'm sure. And but at some point you just kind of like realize like you know what, like I can own my own time, and and at least that was for me. Like I left a really stable paycheck. I mean, uh the military was very stable. First and 15th on the dot, you knew exactly how much you would get. You had promotions pretty much set and and all that, and so but like I just felt like I wanted more. I didn't I realized that I didn't really have to work as hard, but that came with a lot of feelings that you were talking about because we are kind of like the the family managers, they rely on us and all that. So then you end up being because you are the person that has the career, the stable job, and all those benefits, then you become like that foundation, that stability. And so then it's like, you know, now I want to go on on my own, which is losing that stability. How are you dealing with all that of like and how is your family, you know, handling it? Because I'm sure they're freaking out, like, oh, you're going on your own or whatever, or are they supportive? Like, how how's that going?

Lindsay 5:51

Well, you know, it's it's funny because like both my parents, my mom and my dad are very close to them. Like right now, they're in a trip to Peru right now. But my mom is the person that basically I inherited all her frugality from her. And she's a very anxious person. And I don't consider myself a very anxious person, but I feel like this transition is giving me anxiety. And my dad is like the delusional person, like you can do anything you want, basically. Uh and then so I feel like I have both a little bit of both. But my mom is like, why would you do that? Um, that sounds like it's just going to be bad for you, like you're giving up all of those things. And my dad is like, Oh, you can do whatever. If you you want to be president, you can be president. Like, I'm like, I wasn't a United States as a uh requirement, but I I love that thing about my dad because growing up and poor and and very scarcity mindset, my dad always had like a North Star of like things are gonna get better. And for me as well, I think I have that with that, like he doesn't have the frugality, so he's very impulsive and he will like do things that are probably not for his North Star. But so I I think I have that from my mom. I'm like, okay, how do we gonna get there? Right, like so incremental basis. So I I did a lot of goals for myself, like safeguards, security base, and you it's really hard for me because I'm a type B person. I kind of like don't like planning so much in advance, but I have to plan so much in advance because I'm used to a level of life. I have a house in Los Angeles, so I have a big mortgage, uh, I have expenses, and I'm used to like, you know, not having to worry about going and having a dinner with friends on a weekend, kind of thing, right? So that is my quality of life. And then I think that once I have no income, that's gonna significantly change. So I definitely had to set myself up for like one year of expenses from my from my life. That would be a thing. Then I also set up a a portfolio goal for my rental property, which would be like for all properties, like a very big safety nest for I don't have to worry if like let's say I have to repair three roofs, then I have the money for that, and I don't have to incur that out of like what income I'm missing at the time, right? So that's two safety measures. Also, I have a 401k. Um, even though I invest, there's something I can dip into. I also have a HELOC that I can dip into, and worst case scenario, business credit cards if something happens with my portfolio or something like that. But all of those things I have to say that those are action and planning oriented things, right? So you have to set yourself in a position in which like it's going to be, it's gonna give you a little bit of security and that's gonna push you into that direction. And I don't think a lot of people think about those, those instances because I I feel like people are get very excited about something and then they're like, oh, we're just gonna go and do this. And I'm like, yeah, go ahead and do that, but like also do A, B, C, D, E, F. So when you are, you know, in that position, you don't come crumbling down because it's gonna be such a hard fall if you don't have those safety measures for yourself. And I think that's that's the thing that I trying to avoid. Like if even if it's a hard fall economically, I would say, like emotionally, it shouldn't be uh something that's gonna destroy my confidence and destroy my drive or my ambition.

Violeta 9:20

Yeah, I think that's what uh people might see on the outside looking in, it's like, oh, she quit her job and you know, she started her own practice or whatever, and uh don't see all the planning that went behind the scenes and the preparation, just like you said, you you saved up for a year's worth of expenses, you have all these other things your rental portfolio, you know, as well uh to bring in income. And you know, and those are available if it's you know, worse to comes to worst, but you also have a HELOC and you also have your 401k, so you have a lot of safety nets under you, so it's not like you just like you know, of course I did the clip baity hook, but you know, you planned it, and that's something uh similar to me when I left the military. People I guess a lot of people were just like, you know what? But I have been planning it for like two, two, three years, right? And I lowered my expenses and you know, I started, you know, networking outside of the military, and I started, you know, finding the community. This is when I started building money cheese me and and all that, and of course I continue with my real estate and I switched my whole strategy. I just sold everything and then just started again with multifamily now. And so that's the route I'm going. And you know, I had the buffer too with my husband, and of course, some of the benefits with uh with the military. I mean, I knew that I would I could be going to school, I get a stipend monthly, and I paid off all like my debts and and things like that. So if worse comes to worse, I maybe get a part-time job to cover some extra bills. But I re we really lowered all our expenses, sold my car, paid off his truck, and really like all our main bills is just the mortgage and just regular electric and food stuff like that. So, yeah, that's some of the steps that that I took. So it's not like, and at the end of the day, like I still have like my degree, I could always go like find a job or whatever, or you know, whatever. So that's you know part of it of planning. Like, don't get frustrated with your career. Definitely start planning, even if you feel like just a little small speck of like, man, I'm starting to get burnt out, or start that's when you should start planning. It's like, okay, well, let me start, you know, figuring out my exit strategy if you do want to exit and start building that that safety net. So that way, you know, you can leave when you want. So I wanted to share, uh show people that on the behind the scenes of you preparing. So I want to hear about like what's been well, how's has it been going? What have you had to do? And like uh what is the your biggest struggle, I guess, with dealing?

Lindsay 12:00

I think we talked about it right before I came into that call. But uh yeah, there's a lot of legality part for my business. So, like in the state of California, California is a restrictive state in terms of business. I think if you live here, you probably know it's really hard to run a business here. Um, but as a nurse practitioner, my scope of practice is basically I need to be overseen by an MD or psychiatrist. So the first step was to get a contract with a psychiatrist or a doctor that you can have a collaborative agreement, right? That's throwing up a contract that I pay basically, I have an oversight, but it's kind of like an employee. So like it's a monthly paycheck that they get from me. And then the legality of it is in order for me to practice in California, I have to have a corporation. So open up a corporation, not just an LLC, but a corporation. So with that comes from like your articles in corporation, a stimulant information, like corporation by loss. Like I had to write out what my corporation looks like. I remember meeting with the a legal team, and the first thing that they asked me was like, what is your what is your business plan? And I'm like, I don't have a business plan. Like, I still patience and they pay me. Like, that's my business plan. And then like having to write it write down and be like, okay, like this is real, right? But I also prepare myself, like you said, like side hustle, right? In the beginning, actually, this plan kind of started two two years ago. I started working out of my nine to five as a solo, what is that called? So proprietorship. So I started doing hours for to see if I was like testing my toes, like what I like doing my private practice, would I have clients? How would I prescribe? Because I'm doing everything telehealth, so everything's online based. So I can work from home, I can be remote, which is not anything that I ever worked in the past. I never worked remote. So just getting that set up to see like what uh EHR like platforms I like, what is more simple for me, like testing different platforms, like every other month applying for different prescribing tools and then to see which one I like the most or which team do I like the most. And with AI, there is a lot of things that are having integrated and that and there. And then so you have to test out. So I gave myself like a lot of time to test out not only would I like private practice, what tools would I want to use, who, what legal teams do I need, like right? Like what do I have to do? And then kind of educating myself, sorry, educating myself of like what marketing is and like making a website and what is like networking, or how would I network? Who do I need to talk to? Like, how do I be create a funnel of clients? So all those things that you think a company would do for you, like you do for yourself, and then so such as you know, creating something silly, like a business plan. And I think the biggest I'm an action-driven person, so you give me a list and I'll do whatever, right? Like buy a low soil property, applying for an EAIN, like applying for a DBA, making a website, like okay, done, dun, dun, done. But the biggest thing for me is like marketing yourself. I feel so icky about like trying to sell my services or talking about myself. And it's just that keeps being like my biggest. I I wish I could just be like, oh, you know, click this, and then you you'll be in, but no, and I have to meet people and then make connections and be like, here's my business card. If you have a referral, please think of me. I speak English and Spanish, like all of those things. So that is probably the thing that I I hate the most. But it's in order to grow your company, you have to, you have to talk about yourself because who knows about you until like they see you. And I know we're talking about people that how many times do they have to hear your name before they go and see your website or click, you know, you know, meet meet this client or at the cart, whatever. It's like seven times that they have to hear about you, or 19 times until like they buy into making an appointment with you. And that's something that keeps Romani into. And I think in our own podcast and our own the own thing that we we love doing, which is educating other women and Latino women, we always forget to like promote like the school community where you can join for free, or just you know, come and check our website, maybe the blogs, or leave comments or likes or whatever. Like that back and forth of selling the marketing, it's it's what feels like the most challenging.

Violeta 16:37

Oh yeah, I could definitely, oh my god, I could go on about the marketing side. And yeah, we were kind of talking about it offline of how it's been a struggle, and I've had money achievement for I think I'm we're about to hit like four years. I started this like around uh 2021, around COVID, and it was I was just kind of like learning and just like you know, uh learning as I go. And then this last year I've been so much more intentional, especially with the podcasts and all that stuff. And it's it's starting to gain traction and and and increase in downloads and all that stuff, but I still can't get like the sales part of it because yeah, I want to, you know, help other Latinas to invest in real estate, but I just I just can't make myself to go out there every day and be like, oh, you know, sign up for this, buy this or whatever, right? Because I like I'm not maybe it's like the culture or mindset or or you know, I don't know. I just get it's like it's hard for me to sell it because to me there's there's a whole uh psychology to like the selling as well and stuff, and you know, Lynn touched on it that they have to see something like at least seven times before they go and take action and stuff. So like but to me in my mind I feel like I'm spammy and annoying and all that stuff, but yeah, it's something that that me and Lynn we're we've been talking about uh offline of like how we're gonna just grow our school community because we've got to tell people that it's available, right? And then what how we want to uh structure, you know, like our offers, what do we want to, you know, uh offer, like do we do like workshops? Well, like what like you know, so that's uh in the works as well as as we figure out how, well, number one, to help other Latinas, because that's the goal. We want to encourage more Latinas, but at the same time, we also want to make money, obviously, right? You know, like we want to get paid, we at least to pay the bills. So yeah, that's been a learning process. So yeah, I feel you on that.

Lindsay 18:39

Yeah, it is a learning process, and I think it speaks a lot about our like our own selves, right? Like, why is it so hard for us to market ourselves? Why is it so hard? What are we afraid of? Is it rejection? Because it's not like I wouldn't say it's rejection, like if it's not for you, it's not for you, kind of thing, right? But it's something that I assume is just like talking, just not being faithful or being almost too assertive, being over like over controlling, almost it feels like we're imposing. But in reality, the algorithm doesn't benefit us. Like the algorithm only benefits us if we're like loud, like obnoxious, politically inclined, like all of those things, right? Like there's no other way to propagate or you know, extend our message if we don't talk about it, right? Because we're not gonna go viral for like this is how you make, this is how you make money for your future, increasing investing in real estate. Probably something else going on in the in the algorithm. But that's that's the thing. We want to grow more mostly because we wanna get a community not only for ourselves, probably make uh business partnerships in the future with you, get you engaged, get you involved in real estate for you and your family, for you to create generational world, and also because everybody needs a community. I would love to have like a one-day hangout, like prepare like a um Mexico trip or a Canadian trip or whatever, where we all meet and talk about our deals, our real estate, our struggles or challenges, not only as gross investors, but as you know, mothers, older siblings, like whatever you are going through as well.

Violeta 20:24

Yeah, we wanna like have like monthly coffee and real estate cheese may uh in the school community. I think maybe uh a good goal would probably be in September to host our our first one. Cause right now, of course, she's busy trying to get all her her ducks in a row to to launch in September and you know, like be on her own. And so I'm thinking like maybe mid-September and September, maybe do just kind of like a very laid back, just kind of get it started. Because I think uh that's another thing is the the perfectionism in me. It's like, well, I want to have X amount of people first so that way we get a good group, and it's kind of like, no, let's just you know get it started, even if it's just like one me, Lynn and one other person, like it's still you know, like helpful, and then I'll just slowly start growing and stuff. But like, yeah, if you that's something that you're interested, make sure I'll I'll link it below. What other like any other last uh insights that someone might not be aware of?

Lindsay 21:23

Yeah, I think that you know, I was hanging out with some friends the other day, and like from the outside in, and I feel like I'm doing these things and like there is um no setbacks. And there is plenty of setbacks for sure in all of my career, right? But I think if I concentrate on the setbacks and I talk about the setbacks, then I'm just discouraging it from moving forward. Like I heard I've heard from one friend that's like, How do you make money? You know, that's such a broad question. Like, I don't really I don't know what you are asking for. Like, how do I make my money? How do you increase your income? How do you Do increase your cash flow, that is those are two very different things. Like for example, you know, I'm leaving my W2 right now and to and I'm doing my own business. But what I did majority of my 20s is like jump, jump, jump every two years, right? Because that is how I knew to increase my own income significantly. And a lot of a lot of us we get comfortable in our in our own job. And maybe like we do have something like the military where you get uh promotions ever so often, right? But in other types of works or other types of industries, the only way you get a a job like increase on your salary is if you jump up. If you're chasing that next job. And it could be like old thinking to say like loyalty to a company is where you really get seniorship. And uh in my experience, seniorship doesn't do anything for my income. So having loyalty to companies, specifically when the turnover is high, it doesn't make sense for you. So that would be a thing, a lot of side hustles, right? If you enjoy what you do, then you probably won't mind working more hours in your field. But if you don't enjoy what you do, then what are the side hustles that you can do in order to bring additional income, right? That doesn't feel like you're giving away so much of your time. And that could be selling something on Etsy, that could be doing hosting like little events or renting out your backyard. Uh, I had a friend that that prepared this little cater event. So she would put her little, she had a little nice backyard and then she would put a Facebook marketplace, rent out my backyard to um couples, if you have to want to have like a dinner cater to you, we could do that for you. So those those are things that are very creative and very like flexible in order for you to bring additional income. It's just $100, $200 a month, whatever it is, in order to plan your exit. So I would say that that's something that you do have to do. Like if you do hate something about your job or you don't want to work more hours at your job, then create that life that you're waiting for. If that comes at an income decrease and you're able to do that, I have done that. I left traveling nursing to become a nurse practitioner. That came in with the pay cut. Did I adjust my life? Yes. But then my my quality of life increased, right? For me, that was a good negotiation, a good give off. And now I'm gonna do another give off. I might not make not even half as much as I make as my W2. But would I get 40 hours back from my life? Yes, I'm gonna get back 40 hours and I'm gonna be remote and I'm gonna be working from home, and I can work on other passion projects that I have. For example, the school community, Violetas podcasts, and ISP podcasts. So even though it might look like a sidebug, for me it is not. So that's what I'm I wanna mention.

Violeta 24:53

Yeah, definitely uh try to see what skills you have or what you can build, and you'd be surprised. Like, there's you could do it anything aside hustle. Like I've done like the social media, like I've managed the social media for my husband's company. Now I gave that to my sister, and she's been like knocking it out the park with that. And then like even just admin stuff, I sold stuff, I thrifted stuff and resold them online and all that stuff, and all that. I use that income to you know buy an asset that's also going to bring me income where I don't have to uh work as hard, so now I don't have to go do as much as side hustles. I also had this, she's a respiratory uh therapist. Her name is Yenny, and she does fix and flips, and uh her episode should be out by now. So I'll link that below. But she also did something similar. She started doing the fix and flips, and but now she has that option where she still gets to go maybe one or two times a week because she still loves that, right? She loves her career, and the only thing is she didn't love the hours, so she wanted more flexibility, and that like real estate allowed her to, you know, cut back those hours where she can spend more time with her family, but still get to do something that she loves and everything. So yeah, it's really just a lot of figuring out where you can bring some extra income from the outside looking in. It might seem like, oh, you know, it was so easy, you know, like she was able to just quit and then bam, she has, you know, her business and her real estate. But now this has been years in the coming. She's been building her rental property portfolio, she's been stacking up, you know, her her savings. And so yeah, I am excited for you and and you know, wish you the best. And also let's promote your your your practice to get some get some clients. We were just talking about that. We don't, you know, sell or anything. And yeah, let's let's make sure you do that.

Lindsay 26:57

Yeah, if you're in the state of California, if you need if you're suffering with any mental health problems, doubting depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, and or if you know anybody that do does need uh any type of mental health services, I offer telehealth sessions online. And it will be really easy to check up my website. Actually, we can link it in the description of this episode as well. But I take insurances as well, so most major commercial insurance are accepted. And if I don't take your insurance, I can provide provide with a superbial where you can get reimbursed for your insurance purposes. So I speak Spanish. So if you need anything like that, please reach out to me and we'll be able to get on a call and talk about what's going on.

Violeta 27:41

Yeah, excited, excited for your your new journey. Wish you the best. And next year we'll do an updated episode and see how your first year in your business, what you've learned, you know, the struggles, ups and downs. So that'll be interesting. So other than that, we will see y'all in the next episode. Bye. Bye, guys.