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Land Academy Costs Less Than One College Course (LA 1534) Transcript: Steven Butala: Steve and Jill here. Jill DeWit: Hello. Steven Butala: Welcome to the Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I'm Steven Jack Butala. Jill DeWit: And I'm Jill DeWit, broadcasting from sunny, southern California. Steven Butala: Today, Jill and I talk about how Land Academy costs less than one college course. Jill DeWit: Isn't that amazing? Steven Butala: I talked about this in the content of one of our podcasts I think last week, and it exploded on Discord. Jill DeWit: Well, it struck a chord with me too. Steven Butala: Me too. Jill DeWit: So I was like this is worth talking about, the value and just how things change, how the value of this, the value of trade schools, the value of college degrees. They all have a place. Steven Butala: I mean there's probably 40 entries in there about personal... A lot of it is personal experiences about college degrees that people... other types of degrees they wish they got, how the degrees that they got had treated them well and then invariably costs. So Jill and I looked it up this morning because we were horsing around a little bit- Jill DeWit: Let's share it in a minute. Steven Butala: Over a cup of coffee. So yeah, we'll share it in a second. Before we get into it, let's take a question posted by one of our members on the landinvestors.com online community. It's free. If you're already a member, join us on Discord. Jill DeWit: If you're a member of Land Academy that is. So yes. Joseph wrote, "On a recent mailing campaign, I ran into an issue with a property owner listing his vacant land for sale with a realtor. He told me he will sell the land to me once his contract expires with the realtor. Evidently, the relationship had soured." That happens. Steven Butala: This is very common. Jill DeWit: Yeah. "My question is this, if I wait until the contract with the realtor expires and put it into contract, would this be considered ethical? I'm not real superstitious, but I don't want any bad juju." You know what? Yeah. There is a conflict here. I mean isn't it if they bring someone in during the course of the contract and then there's always a tail end of the expiration thing. I have to go back and read the exact verbiage, but I'm not loving this because I don't want to piss anybody off but I think you have a different opinion. Steven Butala: I do. Jill DeWit: Here we go. And we're going to hear it. Steven Butala: At least number one, this is a contract. That's it. It's a contract. There shouldn't be very much emotion. Joseph, this is a great question. I love answering this stuff and thank you for asking it. This is not personal at all. It's a contract and the terms of the contract are going to dictate everybody's behavior and those outcomes. So please read it. There's always, in my opinion, a trailing period of a listing where if... and I believe that it says now or it may be changed, chances are it's changed now because lawyers love to change these listing agreements minute by minute, but it used to say, like Jill said, if an agent introduces somebody to a property- Jill DeWit: Is identified during that time. Steven Butala: And they do buy it six months after the expiration of the contract, then you owe me money. Jill DeWit: Exactly. Now whether or not they... Because you know what? And you found it... Well, you know what? This is a tough one too. You didn't find it obviously because of the listing, so there's a bit of a gray area. I'm not going to- Steven Butala: That's not gray.The contract's not gray at all. It's black and white, whoever buys this property. Jill DeWit: But do you know what's gray? What's gray is you have to read the contract is, does it say if anybody came forward or if I identify this person, because technically you found this property on your own by a mailer and didn't know it was listed on the MLS. That's what I mean by a gray area, but again,

In this episode, Financial Advisors at Certified Financial Services, LLC, Erin Hoffman and Jill Van Nostrand, talk about physical therapists’ financial wellness. Today, Erin and Jill talk about prioritising financial wellness, the different types of disability policies and insurance, managing student loans, and saving for retirement. Is it recommended to get a business disability policy? How can you maximise your financial wellness? Hear about a few forgiveness programs, asset location strategies, and the difference between an IRA and a Roth IRA, all on today’s episode of The Healthy, Wealthy & Smart Podcast.   Key Takeaways “Our health and physical wellness goes hand in hand with our financial wellness.” “There’s a huge difference between the language of a group policy versus an individual policies.” “When we’re talking about disability, we’re talking about protecting the source of where all of that comes from, which is our income and our ability to produce income and revenue.” “We don’t want to leave ourselves open to situations that would erode everything that we’re working to build.” “Student loans are probably the biggest threat to our retirement.” “Retirement is something that is never too soon to start.” “We want to make sure we have ways of saving that are going to give us liquidity during our working years.” The Top Three Tips: Protection and disability insurance. Managing student loans. Understanding your retirement. “Start saving sooner than you think.” “Go for it. Achieve what you want to achieve.”   More about Erin Hoffman Erin Hoffman is a Financial Advisor at Certified Financial Services, LLC (CFS), a wealth management firm headquartered in Paramus, NJ, providing individuals, families, and businesses with financial protection and wealth accumulation strategies. She specializes in working with women business owners, and Physical Therapists, as well as other Healthcare Professionals. She understands that as a Healthcare professional, you specialize in the movement of the body. Once she started working with her aunt and best friend, who were PTs, she started partnering with countless others who wanted to focus on the movement in their financial world. She has been successful in assisting with sticking points in their finances, leading them to a place of greater range of motion in their financial world. She also hosts monthly educational classes for Healthcare Professionals on various topics- from financial, to legal, to even marketing.   More about Jill Van Nostrand Jill specializes in helping PTs, dentists, and others in the medical fields grow and protect their wealth by focusing on key areas of importance in their finances. Jill built an impressive career as a musician and college professor, but it wasn’t until her career as a real estate investor that she grew aware that a leading cause of a person’s stress derives from financial worries. As she was intrigued by that relationship, Jill decided to bring together her interest in financial wellness with her desire to help others. Jill’s mission of educating clients and guiding them towards stress relief and financial balance is drawn from her own family experience. She wants to provide families, individuals, and practice owners with the knowledge to help them protect and grow their assets and, in turn, enjoy life more. Jill enjoys spending time with her husband, Gary, and son, John, in the North Jersey lake region or hiking in Vermont. She serves on the Economic Development Commission in her town of West Milford, NJ.   Suggested Keywords Physiotherapy, PT, Healthcare, Finances, Wellness, Policies, Insurance, Loans, Disability Policies, CFS, Retirement, IRA, Savings, Strategies,   To learn more, follow Erin and Jill at: Website:          https://www.cfsllc.com Facebook:       Erin Hoffman                         Jill Van Nostrand LinkedIn:         Erin Hoffman                         Jill Van Nostrand   Mama Bear PT:          https://www.mamabearpt.com   Subscribe to Healthy, Wealthy & Smart: Website:                      https://podcast.healthywealthysmart.com Apple Podcasts:          https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/healthy-wealthy-smart/id532717264 Spotify:                        https://open.spotify.com/show/6ELmKwE4mSZXBB8TiQvp73 SoundCloud:               https://soundcloud.com/healthywealthysmart Stitcher:                       https://www.stitcher.com/show/healthy-wealthy-smart iHeart Radio:               https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-healthy-wealthy-smart-27628927   Read the Full Transcript Here:  Speaker 1 (00:01): Hi, Jill and Erin. Welcome to the podcast. I am happy to have you on Speaker 2 (00:06): Hi, Karen. It's so great to be here. Thank you for having us today. Speaker 1 (00:10): Sure. And now today we are going to talk about wellness, financial wellness for physical therapists. So like I said, in the intro, you guys love working with physical therapists. You specialize in this. My audience happens to be a lot of physical therapists, so this is just a perfect match. And today we're going to talk about kind of the top three things physical therapists need to think about and implement for financial wellness. So guys, I'm going to turn it over to you, um, to start it out. What is your first tip? Speaker 2 (00:50): Awesome. I'm so glad that we're here today. Karen, because as you're saying, right, our health and our physical wellness goes hand in hand with our financial wellness. And a lot of times there's a disconnect, but that's why Jill and I love working with PTs and it's really close to home for both of us. My aunt's a PT and we have a few friends who have come out as doctorates. Uh, and just a quick recap for Jill and I. We are financial advisors at certified financial services, and we love partnering with PTs who really want to focus on the movement in their financial world and achieve that financial wellness. Uh, so the first thing that we always kind of start right off the bat with them is protection, right? That's, that's the first thing. That's the most important thing also, because if we think about, you know, you've worked so hard to get your degree to get into the clinic that you're in or that you're starting, but we really want to make sure that we have a secured, satisfied lifestyle. If we think about what could happen, if, if we weren't able to go to work the next day, right? If we became too sick or injured, that would prevent us from a bring home a paycheck, uh, and without a paycheck, how long could we pay for our rent utilities, buy groceries, make those student loan payments that are so fun. Right? So disability insurance is first and foremost. One of the most important things that we'll talk about with our PTs, Speaker 3 (02:25): That's it that's really well said. Yeah. Thank you, Karen. I think it's really well said, Erin, when we start with protection first, we're protecting our most important asset, which is our ability to produce income, right. To produce cashflow. So that really should be number one in our priorities. And it's really important to think about what our priorities should be. Not everything can come in first for that number one position in terms of things that we need to accomplish for our financial wellness. And that is definitely a number one for us. And there are different kinds of insurance out there. There's individual. There's also disability insurance that covers the daily running expenses of a brick and mortar business, for example, or a practice for example. And there's also disability insurance that covers our contributions to our qualified retirement accounts. So there are a lot of different options out there. Some of which are very new and a lot of people are not aware of them. So we make our clients aware of them and, and get out as much education as we can. Speaker 1 (03:29): So now let's talk about, cause everyone, um, let's talk about a couple of those different types because a lot of times I see on social media, we talked about this before, um, especially newer grads or even those out for a while will say, well, I get disability to the company I work with. So do I really have to have my own as well? Speaker 2 (03:53): Go ahead. It's a good point. Karen and Jill and I get asked this question all the time, and I think one of the most important words that comes to mind when thinking about having your own individual policy is I it's yours, but it's also portable. You might not be at that clinic with that same employer for your whole entire life. So if you have your own individual policy, that's yours, it doesn't go away. Whether you, you know, have clinics, uh, what have you and Jill and I also spend a lot of time reading through the language of a disability policy with, with our PTs. And it's so important. They might, your employer might not have certain riders that an individual policy would have that could be in your benefit. Uh, and it might not be through a carrier that favors PTs or other healthcare professionals that Jill and I work closely with. So I think those are, those are some of the big, uh, advantages to having your individual policy. And also that you're ensuring your own insureability right. Your, your age, your health, uh, at today's point in time. Speaker 3 (05:00): Yeah, definitely. I, and that, that is so true, Aaron, that there's a huge difference between the language of a group policy versus an individual policy. And the individual policies tend to be much more favorable to the insured in terms of what qualifies as a disability, or even in some cases, a partial disability. So when we have an individual policy, we can design that to fit someone's exact needs and their exact situation. And in a group policy, you're just not going to get that kind of customization. Um, it's great to have, but we, we look at it as like an add-on benefit. It's much, much better to have an individual policy and there, and there's another point which comes down to taxation of the benefit if we are actually making a claim and we're getting that benefit, if it's an individual policy that we are paying for, we get that benefit, tax-free income tax free. And if it's a group policy that our paying any part of four, then that benefit's going to be completely income taxable. So there's a big difference in the actual benefits and the language between a group policy and an individual policy. Excellent point. Speaker 1 (06:12): Yeah. I had no idea what a great point. Um, and now let's talk about quickly the difference between an individual policy and a sort of business policy. So if you're a business owner, can you, or should you just continue, so continue with your individual policy or is it recommended that you get a business policy, which are usually more expensive? Speaker 3 (06:40): Yup. So for an, for an individual to protect their income, we definitely recommend that whether that is a business owner or someone who is a W2 employee of a business, whatever it might be, it's really, really important to have that we do recommend it. And then business overhead insurance is something that can be added on to a, sometimes to an individual policy can be a separate policy and that would cover the day-to-day runnings of the business of the practice. So they're usually two separate policies that people would have. So the one would protect the income and then the one would protect those day-to-day expenses of running the practice. So it's really important to have both, if you are a practice owner Speaker 1 (07:24): And would this be, so let's say you are a practice owner and you have what you think is a business, uh, disability plan. Should you specifically ask for business, overhead insurance is, or is, does, is that considered part of it? Speaker 3 (07:42): It is a separate policy business, overhead protection. That should be a separate policy. Um, aside from your business insurance, like your business liability insurance, whatever that might be, um, or any kind of property insurance that a property owner would have. So those are all different kinds of policies. They're all super important to have, of course. And when we're talking about disability, we're really talking about protecting the source of where all of that comes from, which is our income and our ability to produce income and revenue. So super important. Speaker 1 (08:17): Got it, got it. Well, that is a great tip for people and it's making me think too. I have that. I have to, every time I do a podcast with, with, uh, folks like you, it gets me like, wait, do I have that? Do I? Okay. Yeah. Mental note check to see if I have business overhead insurance, which I don't think I do. That's going to be something I'm going to call about. And now when you're working with your clients and they say, oh, but it's so much more expensive. Can't I just stick with my individual policy. Speaker 4 (08:50): Well, Speaker 2 (08:50): We always bring up the point of, well, think about the expense, if you did not have this coverage in place. Right. And specifically with the business overhead expense, as Jill had, had talked about, that covers the everyday. So the rent and utilities. How about if you have employees, their wages, how, how is that going to be covered? Right. You know, even loans, voluntold they're covered under having this business expense policy, you can get, you know, additional, you know, health coverage covered as well. So these different plans kind of cover different things and we kind of help PTs and business owners navigate. What's the best strategies for them. Speaker 1 (09:34): Awesome. Okay. Before we move on to tip two, is there anything we'd glossed over on disability, insurance and protection that you want to add onto before we move on? I would just say, oh, sorry, go ahead there. No, go ahead, Jill. Speaker 3 (09:49): I would just say that it really is one of the most important things that we can do for ourselves financially. Uh, in terms of growing our wealth, we also need to protect our wealth. We don't want to leave ourselves open to, uh, situations that would erode everything that we're working to build. So, you know, just something to leave people with on that. Yeah. Speaker 1 (10:10): Very, very good point. You work so hard. You don't want an injury to take it all away from you, right. Okay. That makes perfect sense. All right, let's go on to tip number two. Speaker 3 (10:21): Okay. Two is management of the student loans. If a PT has student loans, managing them is a major priority. We believe in terms of financial wellness. It's not something that we can, that we can ignore, uh, that needs to be addressed as soon as possible so that we can get, we can help our PTs get on a plan and get them into a situation where they're going to have a comfortable monthly payment. They're going to have, uh, the POS, first of all, the POS first things we do is look at, is it possible for them to get into a forgiveness program? There are a few different programs today. Uh, we work with an expert in the student loan field. She's helped many, many of our clients, and we work hand in hand with her to help our clients. And first of all, we see if we can get them into a forgiveness program. Speaker 3 (11:12): That's number one. And number two, if a forgiveness program isn't impossible, then we're looking into management. How can we get that payment to a reasonable amount that is not going to prevent everything else in life that all of us want to have from happening and to make sure that we can still fulfill our dreams and reach our goals. So if we are, uh, if we have a PT who, for example, is working really hard to get those loans down, we're also gonna talk about, let's start some savings, right? Because we can't get those years back. And it's all about management and for saving and servicing our loans at the same time, then that's going to give us the optimal results. Aaron, Speaker 2 (12:00): It brings up a really good point. And a lot of times, you know, student loans might be one of our biggest expenses in our world. So we have to kind of help find that balance between where are we saving, how much are we saving and still paying down, servicing that debt. So that's kind of where Jill and I come in and find that, that happy balance, because we have to be saving and have some kind of bucket, right? God forbid, while we're still servicing the debt and we'll get into the retirement more. But student loans are probably the biggest threat to, to our retirement. Um, you know, we'll get more into that, but it's important to be balanced in both. Speaker 3 (12:40): Yup, absolutely. And I think from the perspective of a student today, who's graduating, let's say they're coming out with a couple of hundred thousand of student loans that may seem almost insurmountable. And what we do with our clients is help them and help PTs to, uh, be able to fit that into the budget and still have everything else going on that they want to have in their lives. So it's, it's about building that career that you love, PTs love their careers. They want to be in that career. They, they want to work with their patients. It's a wonderful career and they should be able to love it and enjoy it and not have that be something that's going to be an anchor and weigh them down. And that's what we do with our PTs, helping them with that. Speaker 1 (13:30): And let me ask you a question. You had mentioned forgiveness programs. Could you give some examples of some forgiveness programs that, uh, physical therapists and maybe other healthcare professionals can take advantage of if they qualify? Sorry. Sure. We have a few that's okay. Is it okay now? Yeah. Yeah. My internet connection was a little unstable, but it's back. Speaker 3 (14:04): Okay. All right. Awesome. Should I just pick it up there? Okay. Is it, is it not good again? I can hear you, Aaron. Are you okay? Yes. Okay. All right. Okay. We're good. Yep. Speaker 1 (14:20): Okay. Yeah. So you can just pick it up from there. So, um, what forgiveness programs can physical therapists or their healthcare professionals take advantage of? Speaker 3 (14:30): Absolutely. So there are a few different programs today. The first one that I think most people are the most familiar with would be the public service loan forgiveness. So that's for people who work in the public sector or they work at a five oh one C3 non-profit, uh, company, which allows you after 10 years, assuming that the balances have not been paid off to receive forgiveness. There's another program, which also a lot of people are familiar with income based repayment, uh, that has some different things that we need to qualify for in order to be part of that program. But it's actually a lot more, a lot easier and a lot more possible than a lot of people think it's definitely worth looking into. And that program allows for forgiveness of the loans after 25 years of on-time payments. And then there's another program which is fairly new. Speaker 3 (15:27): That's called the pay as you earn program. It has very specific rules and dates about when the loans were dispersed and w we can definitely help go through those and work through them and see if our, see if PTs would qualify for any of those programs. We find that many people do qualify for forgiveness programs. They're not always aware that they can, or they think, you know, they have to work at a specific kind of a hospital or something like that, but, but there are a lot of options out there and it can, it can save hundreds of thousands of dollars. Literally. This is the amount of money that we're talking about here that people have saved by taking the time to talk to a professional who knows the ins and outs of this, this part of the field. So it's really, really important to take a look at this. Speaker 1 (16:22): Excellent. So we've talked about protection, having the right disability coverage, managing student loans, and you alluded to within the managing of student loans that we also need to save for our retirement. So let's talk about retirement because I think it can be confusing and overwhelming and daunting if you have, if, if you're just not sure what you can do. So what are our options for retirement? Yes. Great. Speaker 2 (16:52): And you bring up a good point when people hear retirement, Karen, right. They kind of want to run for the Hills. It can be very overwhelming, Joe. And I try to make it as, you know, as an in line to your goals and help walk you through it as much as we can. And that's, there's a lot of different options for, especially for business owners. There's something called a SEP IRA that a business owner can have. Uh, we walked through a lot of different options that a lot of people might not know about or even available to them. And Jill and I talk a lot about saving into different buckets of money. So not put putting all of our retirement savings into one specific bucket or vehicle, if you will, and really having a strong plan, that's diversified across a lot of different buckets. Jill, I'm sure you can, you can add more to the bucket. We can go on and on about those. Oh, thank Speaker 3 (17:52): You, Aaron. Aaron knows I can go on and on about this. So retirement is something that is never too soon to start it. It's just never too soon. If we start saving for retirement in our twenties, we can, we can literally save half or a third of what we would need to save. If we start in our thirties and then help us, if we start in our forties, it's something that we need to start as soon as possible. And what Erin, when you were saying is so true, it's not just about our asset allocation. It's about asset location. What are the different accounts that we're able to take advantage of to save money in? So that we're both saving now on say for example, on taxes, but also in the future. So we're, so we're not creating a lot of tax liability for ourselves in the future. Speaker 3 (18:43): We want to make sure that we have assets that we can turn into income in the future because while net worth is really good to talk about, it's important, really what we need to be able to do with our assets and with our net worth is in your retirement to turn that into reliable and guaranteed income sources, because that is really, what's going to set us up for wellness now in the midterm and in the future and retirement accounts, we have our qualified accounts like our 401ks and our IRAs and our Roth IRAs. And then we also have other options that have tax advantages that we also talk about. We also want to make sure that we have liquidity during our lives so that we're saving in ways that are going to, so we're going to be able to access some of our savings if we need it while we're in our working years. And then when we get into, uh, finishing up our accumulation period and getting into retirement, which is our distribution phase, that we have created ways for ourselves, uh, to both have that guaranteed and reliable income, and also been as tax efficient as possible all along. So we can continue that tax efficiency in the retirement years as well. Speaker 1 (20:02): And so you had mentioned 401ks, IRAs, Roth IRAs. Um, quick question. And I think I know the answer to this, but I don't know when you're, uh, w working for a company, you can have a 401k. I don't even know if companies are matching anymore. I don't know if that's a thing anymore, but if a company is going to match, do you, let's say a company matches at 7%, I'm just pulling a number out. Right. Do you suggest that as the employee, you put 7% in and have that match, or do you suggest as an employee, you put as much as you can and they'll kick in an extra 7%. Does that make sense? I think Speaker 3 (20:47): In general, I'm sorry. Go ahead. I said, does that make sense? Yeah, that, that does make sense. Yeah. I think it does depend on an individual's particular situation, but if we, it, and believe me, if an employer is so generous today that they do a 7% match, of course, we generally would recommend that people get the match if they can. Um, some employers don't match today. Most common we've seen is around 3% if they do match, but, uh, if they, if they do match and we can be putting enough in there to get the match, that's a great idea to get that because that's like additional income for us from the employers. So that's great to get. And then there, there are some other ways that we can also save in addition to the 401k, because we, one of the, one of the things about those qualified retirement accounts, as you know, Karen, is that they, we do have to wait until we're 59 and a half to access that money without penalties or paying income tax on that. Speaker 3 (21:49): Uh, we do have to, unless there are specific situations along the way, of course. Uh, so we do want to make sure that we have ways of savings that are going to give us liquidity during our working years, during our accumulation years. So there are other types of accounts that we can take advantage of as well and save in those as well. So, as you were saying, Erin, we have those different buckets of money that are in different types of accounts that have different rules as to how they work, how they are taxed. And th that's going to be the most beneficial for us in the long run. It's not just allocation, but asset location. Mm Speaker 2 (22:28): That's. You bring up a really good point, Joe, with location, right. Is almost even more important than the amount we have. Uh, and this is one of the biggest problems. I think that Jill and I see with clients is a lot of clients have, you know, a retirement plan they've been saving, but what's their distribution plan. They want over time and where is money coming from? And where's the best place to be starting to pull it from and in what order? So we're walking through all of those strategies, uh, with, with our clients and ultimately how to have the highest possible cashflow with lowest taxes and, and leave a legacy if we decide to. So those are all really important things that we'll, we'll kind of walk through. Speaker 1 (23:13): And can you give an example, maybe one example of where you can kind of what, where you can park your money bucket. That's not the 401k, the IRA, the Roth IRA, the step, you know, I think everyone kind of has, um, an idea of what those are, but what else is there? Speaker 3 (23:41): Absolutely. So I think it depends also Karen, the purpose for our savings for that particular savings and also our timeline. So when we're thinking about, okay, is, is this money that we're saving, that we want to be able to access, let's say in 10 years, and we want to invest it in the meantime, it's not something that we need right away, because if we're thinking about an emergency fund money like that, we usually recommend that people put that into a savings account, just a regular savings account that they can get to very easily. But if this is going to be invested money, then we can always do a brokerage account, which is going to enable us to access that at any time, we're not going to have any penalties or fees associated with it. If we have gains and we take some of those gains, then we're only going to ever have capital gains tax, as long as we've held those, those, uh, investments for a year in a day. So that's something that I think could be very beneficial to people as an accompaniment, to the qualified plans and, uh, you know, a great something great to have in the overall design of the financial plan. Speaker 1 (24:50): Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. Thank you for that. Um, and then I think one more thing on the IRA versus the Roth IRA, can you differentiate those two so that people know what's a Roth IRA what's qualifies for, how do you qualify for a Roth IRA, a regular IRA? Speaker 3 (25:11): Sure. So there, there are a couple of differences between a Roth and actually a 401k can have a Roth option as well. Not all employers offer that, but some do so between a Roth IRA and a traditional IRA, the main difference is how money is tax going into the account and then how money is taxed or not taxed, it's coming out of the account. And the difference is with a traditional IRA, we are putting in pre-tax dollars. We are not paying tax on the money that we put in right now. And we can also take that off of our income. So we get slightly reduced income tax, and then we have that money growing tax deferred. And then when we go to use it from 59 and a half on, uh, we are taking that money out and we're paying income tax on it. So with a Roth option, kind of doing the opposite kind of thing, and the rods does have income limits in terms of being able to contribute to a Roth account, uh, both for individuals. Speaker 3 (26:12): And, uh, so going forward, when we think about a Roth, we're going to be setting ourselves up with tax-free income in the future. As long as our money has been in the Roth account for at least five years, when we take it out after 59 and a half, we're going to get it. Tax-free, it's growing tax free all along and what, but when we put it in, we're putting in after tax dollars. So we paid income tax on our dollars that we put into a Roth, it grows tax-free and then we take in retirement income tax free, as long as we have that five-year period. Speaker 1 (26:49): Got it. Thank you. Great. Cause I know, uh, oftentimes people, um, can get confused on that. So I just wanted to kind of bring a little clarity around those different kinds of IRAs and things like that. And, and, you know, physical as a physical therapist, like this is not what we went to school for. So we depend on people like you, um, to walk us through and figure out where, where, where can I put money in now? So that at 59 and a half, I'm taking it out with the greatest benefit I can. And you're not like getting hit with like, oh my gosh. Or if you want to save for a house, maybe you don't want to have that in, uh, obviously in like a, your 401k, because if you pull that out early, you get a big penalty. Speaker 2 (27:35): Absolutely. And that's what we spend a lot of time, you know, collecting goals and walking through personal business goals, because that really determines where we're saving and how timeline wise. We want to access that money and we'll review it at least twice a year with, with clients. Um, and because that plan is always changing. Right? Speaker 1 (27:57): Yeah. And I think, you know, I think this gives this talk, gives, uh, the listeners number one, a lot to think about, to look into maybe what they already have in their retirement, what they already have in disability, how they're managing their student loans and perhaps they can take to their financial advisors, or maybe they want to come and talk to you guys to see how can we maximize our financial wellness. I mean, how can we make sure that we're not wasting money and that in the end we can get back the most money. Right. That's kind of the deal. Exactly. Yeah. So now, all right. Is there anything, um, so I just to, I'm going to recap the top three tips are protection and disability insurance, managing your student loans and understanding your retirement and where all of your, all the buckets that your money is going in. And to make sure that it's not all in one. Speaker 2 (28:59): Yes. Okay. You summed it up very well. Karen, I think ultimately to even break it down even more Jill and I are just here to kind of help people understand how to organize and what to prioritize. And we're here to help kind of navigate all of that because it can be very overwhelming and we are here to, to help navigate through that. All Speaker 1 (29:20): Right. Awesome. And now, where can people find you? Where can people find you, uh, websites, social media, all that fun stuff. Speaker 2 (29:32): Yep. So Jill and I are both on, on LinkedIn. Uh, you can find us on our website. We are on, uh, CFS, llc.com. We each have our own, uh, aims under there. And can you start us on LinkedIn? Speaker 1 (29:48): Perfect. And we'll also have just so people listening will have all the links at the show notes at podcasts at healthy, wealthy, smart.com. Um, so you can just go on there and one click will take you to Jill and to Aaron, to their LinkedIn and to their website. So excellent. Now we're going to finish up, I've got one last question for both of you. It's I ask everyone the same question and it's knowing where you are now in your life and your career. What advice would you give to your younger self Speaker 2 (30:21): Start saving sooner than you think? Even if it's, even if it, we always Jill and I always say we laugh at the start somewhere, right. Even if it's 10 bucks a week, you know, just start somewhere. And that will, that will grow over time. Absolutely spoken. Speaker 1 (30:37): Like it's spoken like a true financial advisor. Speaker 2 (30:41): Go ahead, Jess. How about you, Jill, I'll Speaker 3 (30:44): Give a nonfinancial nonfinancial related advice because I think that was perfect advice. Aaron, the sooner you start the better, um, I would also say to my younger self, um, just go for my dreams and my goals even more than I did. I think for young people today, just, just go for it, just achieve what you are, what you want to achieve with what's deep inside you. You want to bring good into the world. Just go ahead and do it. Speaker 1 (31:12): Excellent advice from both of you ladies. Thank you so much. And I also want to give a shout out to Helene, um, cause she sort of put us together and um, she, uh, is the creator of mama bear, uh, physical therapies. Speaker 2 (31:29): Yeah. So we'll Speaker 1 (31:30): Have a link to Helene's, uh, business in the show notes as well, because I love, um, I love to show sort of the web of how we're all connected, you know? So it's just shout out to her. Yeah. And to her business and we're all very excited. I think the three of us are collectively very excited for her. Speaker 2 (31:50): We're so proud of her. She's awesome. Agreed. Speaker 1 (31:54): All right. Well ladies, thank you so much for coming on and everyone thank you so much for tuning in and for listening. Have a great week and stay healthy, wealthy and smart.  

Kelly shares happy news about adopting Bear, a big, sweet, eight year old shepherd. And Marsha has a surprise finish! Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha’s Projects Walk Along tee by Ankestrick (Ravelry link) I finished my Abington Mitts by Jennifer Lassonde (Ravelry link) just in time for the end of our Extremities Knit/Crochet Along.  I started the gusset on the second sock of a pair of socks for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo.   I ordered another 8 oz of the dark brown roving for the green and brown three ply. I plan to spin the brown separately and make a striped sweater. Kelly’s Projects  I finished the Huck weaving sampler from the Jane Stafford Guild. I'm now ready for May and episode 4.  Faye’s Flower Blanket. I now have 16 octagons Extremities Knit/Crochet Along This KAL/CAL was inspired by the generous donation of these patterns: Abington Mitts, Jennifer Lassonde, Down Cellar Studio Coffee Socks Collection, Dotsdabbles Designs, Deborah The KAL ended on April 25, 2021 and the winners are: jacquiemari--Jacqueline. She made legwarmers. Wins the Abington Mitts pattern by Jennifer Lassonde JillMabelina--Jill. She made a pair of Bernie mitts. Wins the Coffee Socks Collection by Dots Dabbles Designs. Summer Spin In May 31st - September 6th Get ready to spin! Our Summer Spin In takes place again from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Transcript Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 0:04 and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, and I am Betterinmotion. We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Marsha 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:44 Good morning, Marsha. I just had to look to see if it was actually still morning and it is. It's technically, it's technically morning. I am very tired. Marsha 0:58 Well, you have big news. Kelly 0:59 I do. Yeah. Anybody who follows me on Instagram... And if you don't follow me on Instagram, you should! 1hundredprojects, the number one, hundred projects, you will have seen that we have a new addition to the family. And I, you know, I know that raising a baby--that type of new addition to the family is much more difficult than what I'm doing. And I... it's only actually been two days and things are already getting better. But I am totally exhausted. We adopted a new dog. So his name is his name is Bear. I call him Beary. He is,... well... I don't know if I told you Marsha. I'll tell everybody how this actually happened. We were not looking for another dog. I mean, we do... Marsha 1:52 Yes, I actually, I don't and my brother asked me. So why did they do this? Why did why did you this? Kelly 1:57 Yeah. So I mean, we miss Nash, you know, we lost him in the fall. And he was kind of nice to have around. And then Betty liked having a dog when we would go off. To have a dog to stay home with her. But we weren't really looking for another dog at this point. And I actually think a one dog household is too few dogs. But again, we weren't really thinking about another dog at this point. Bailey still young. And I still got a lot of work to do with her. So. But anyway, my friend Paul is interested in getting a dog and he's been talking about it for I don't know, maybe two years. And first he wanted to get a lab and he was asking me about lab breeders that I knew. And then he was thinking maybe he get this breed and maybe that breed. And just for listeners, he's a friend that I've had since I started at Hartnell. And I helped him find his first dog, which was a boxer that I co owned with him and trained and did obedience got her got her CD title. And then he got--I helped him find his last dog, which was a wirehaired pointing griffon. So anyway, now he's looking for another dog. And so and I just you know, I said you know, you're you're working so hard at this trying to find a dog online and feeling concerned. Why don't you look at maybe a rescue? Oh, I don't know, I think I want to raise a puppy. I want to know what it's gonna be like, but you know me, he was kind of not really open to it. But Marsha 3:32 but but he didn't say no. Right? Kelly 3:35 So periodically, over the last couple of months, because every time I talked to him, he's like, I need to get a dog. What do you think about this breed? What do you think about that breed? So I just thought, you know what? I'm going to go on, look at the shelters. So I did and I did this about three months, three or two months ago, I guess. I went to look at the shelters, and there really isn't much. In fact, that's an interesting thing that the shelters all have shortages. But anyway, I saw this German Shepherd male who it was very overweight. And I saw about two months ago and I thought oh, he's the old guy, you know, a senior and I thought well, he'll be, you know, he'll be adopted because everybody's being adopted now. This is how it's working. And then I went back and he was still there. And then the third time I went back, he was still there. I texted Robert and I said what do you think? It'd be like... His situation just reminded me of Nash coming to us later in life after a kind of somewhat unknown background, you know, to just kind of be the lay-around-the-house dog. And so Robert said, Yeah, okay. I think that might be okay. And so I contacted the SPCA. Well, it was so much faster than Bailey! Marsha 4:54 Because Bailey was a really long time. You had to pass a lot of hurdles. Kelly 4:58 Yeah. mmmhmmm. Marsha 5:00 It took a couple months, right? Kelly 5:00 They had to inspect my house and, and she had an injury that had to heal too. So that was part of it. But, you know, I was at... we were out at the boarding facility, I don't know, for 10 days going every day to see her, you know, before she was able to come home. So I contacted them on Saturday. I emailed or filled out the form on Saturday, I got a phone call. I thought I wouldn't hear back until Monday. But I got a phone call on Sunday, saying, Do you want to come meet him? Can you come on Monday? So then Robert's, like, they're just trying to get rid of him? What's wrong with this dog? And I said, well, what's wrong with him is he's you know, low thyroid, and he has a lot of weight to lose. And, you know, he's eight. And they just want to send--he's been there a long time. They just want to get him a home, you know. If we're interested, they're gonna take us up on it, but, but he was really suspicious about how fast it went. And then we went and met him. And they had, you know, they asked us to bring Bailey so Bailey met him too. And, you know, they kind of didn't really interact, they just kind of did their own thing. in the, in the area where, where they meet. We, you know, we walked them together kind of on leash. And then, and then she was-- they were able to both go off leash together, but they pretty much just kind of ignored each other mostly. Sniffed a little bit, but that was it. So then, you know, is like, are you? Well, what do you think? Are you interested? And I said, Yes. And so like, 20 minutes later, we were leaving with a ramp because he didn't like getting into the car. And you can't lift him up because he, he doesn't like being poked or prodded or pushed or lifted, or anything like that. And he turns around and grabs you, not biting you. But he does, like let you know that he doesn't want you doing that, which we're working on. So anyway, we've had him for two days. This is the third, this is the third day. Marsha 7:10 I just, I mean, it's such a shock, because, well, I just think it's amazing that you can just go and get a dog that fast. Kelly 7:18 That's what Robert said. He said, how do they know that we're a good home? Like they talked-- They talked to us for half an hour. You know, we brought Bailey and they saw how Bailey was with him. And then they sent him home with us. Like, how do they know we're gonna be good? Marsha 7:34 You know, it's like when I gave birth to Ben, I couldn't believe the hospital was gonna let me take him home. Don't they know I don't know what I'm doing? I mean, it's kind of amazing that anybody can have a baby and you can just Kelly 7:48 Yeah, yeah. Yeah, Marsha 7:50 But it's the same thing. And I, I've told you this too. About my friend that had moved to Spokane, came to visit Seattle and got a dog and And literally, he just filled out the application paid his fee and left with the dog. And then the poor dog came to my house and met Enzo and we had lunch and then got in the car and drove across the state. Kelly 8:14 Yeah. Marsha 8:16 And it worked out fine. That dog adores Darryl, you know. And Darryl adores the dog. It worked out fine, but it's like, they just let the dogs go with anybody. It's just so... strange. Kelly 8:27 When I volunteered there I never wanted to let any dog go with anybody. Marsha 8:31 Yeah. No owner was good enough. Kelly 8:34 Anyway, but he's, he's great. He, he's hard. It's really hard. I mean, basically, I'm used to having dogs that, you know, they they, they communicate. I know how to communicate with them. You know, we had to work on it with with Bailey. And you forget how much you had to work. I had to kind of remind myself of how hard it was when she first came. Because now she seems so easy. But yeah, like he didn't know how to be in the house. And the first day, it was great because the weather's been really good. So we've just been able to spend all day out in the backyard. And I've gotten, I have to admit, very little work done. But you know, I can set my computer up on the table in the backyard and I can work and I can be in the... I've been able to be in the trailer and talk to him through the window of the trailer. He can come and look in the door of the trailer. But he can't he can't get in because he's too big. He can't lift himself, you know, into the . Marsha 9:35 So I know like Well, let's just let's talk about some of his issues. Kelly 9:40 Okay. Marsha 9:41 You said he has, is it? He has hypo thyroid? Because I don't-- I can't say it.. Kelly 9:46 Yeah, hypothyroid he's low thyroid, and he's on thyroid medication. And he was at the SPCA for three months. He came in with a wound from being attacked by a dog. And he was surrendered. And then they stitched him up that was kind of on his shoulder and they stitched him up. And then they discovered that he had this low thyroid problem. Marsha 10:14 Well, and also doesn't he have...He's had, like you said, a chronic ear infection, which has damaged one of his ears. Didn't you say that, too? Kelly 10:20 Yeah, he had... They didn't realize at first but but after, you know, they fixed him up, and they realize his ear had a problem. So then they had to go in and clean out his ears. And they cleaned them and then they came back, you know, got really bad again, and they so they put him on antibiotics for his ears and ear medication. And...but the one ear bothers him, he shakes his head a lot. Even though it's clean. The vet said it's clean. It's just the ear canal has kind of a lot of scar tissue. And it just... she said it just feels funny. And I Marsha 10:22 Yeah, Kelly 10:51 well, when he got to the... he's he lost 30 pounds. I think she said. Yeah, he lost like 30 pounds. And I think, I mean, he should probably be more like 90 pounds. Unless, unless he's just a bigger dog than I think in terms of his body structure. I'm thinking probably he should be around 90 pounds. So he has another like 40 pounds to lose. Marsha 11:25 So he should be about 90 pounds. He is did you say he's like 137 pounds? Now? Kelly 11:31 He's 133. Yeah, when he came home. Marsha 11:33 133 when it came home? And he'd lost... Kelly 11:38 almost 30 pounds. Yeah. Marsha 11:40 30 pounds. So he would have been like 160 pounds. Kelly 11:44 Yes. Marsha 11:46 And he should be around 90. Kelly 11:48 Yeah, like a large German Shepherd would be... a male German Shepherd would be like around 90. Marsha 11:54 He was like double what he should be. More than double what he should be. Kelly 11:56 Yeah. And you know, I don't know, do ear canals get fat? [laughing] I have no idea. But he's, he's very, he's very. He's very sweet. But he just he does whatever he wants. He's like a 130 pound toddler. And he doesn't really understand the word no. Right? I mean, he's not probably had a lot of interaction. He probably was a backyard dog, you know? And so he doesn't really... Like I'm just so much blah, blah, blah, blah, when I talk, and so he doesn't really understand the word no or anything. Yeah, you know, and he goes where he wants and he weighs a lot more than most dogs. Marsha 12:09 He can just go where he wants, because he is so big. Kelly 12:47 So I'm gonna say something that is probably controversial to a lot of people. But he came to us on a buckle collar. And, like, I can't control him. Right. I'm not that--I mean, I'm not as strong as I used to be when I had the wolf hounds. But also the wolf hounds, they thought I was stronger than them. You know, I mean, I knew them since puppyhood. So Marsha 13:14 but at 137 pounds, 133 pounds. Kelly 13:21 He weighs more than I do. Yeah, Marsha 13:22 He outweighs, you. Kelly 13:23 Yeah. And he's also he's used to doing what he wants, you know. So I couldn't I mean, I could barely walk him. So after one day, we got out the the chain collar that Nash had used and, you know, I wasn't jerking him around or anything, but it just gives me a lot of, a lot better control. And we were able to go for three walks yesterday, three short walks yesterday. And you know, he's not dragging me around now. Literally, he was dragging me through the house to get to toys. The first night it was like, every time he saw one of Bailey's toys, which, you know, we didn't know he was coming, so I had not dog proofed the house. And so he'd see one of her squirrels that she has--the squirrels in a tree--and he'd like take off. I was like flying behind him. Cuz he was on leash. Oh my gosh, it was so hard that first night. Marsha 13:33 Wow. Kelly 14:02 He just, you know, he went where he wanted and, and, and he's surprisingly fast for a big guy. If you if he's got something on his mind that he wants, he's surprisingly fast [laughing] Oh my goodness, but so so that that has made it a little bit easier to to have some control when he has the leash on. But he's still I mean, he still... he wants what he wants when he wants it. And but he's very... Marsha 14:48 Just like a toddler. Kelly 14:49 Yeah, exactly. Exactly. 130 pound toddler. But he learned he does learn how to sleep on the pillow the first day-- the first night. He can't be crated, because we don't have a crate big enough. And I tried the ex-pen, but he just walked pushing the ex-pen. So the ex-pen is just moving around the room as... Like, Okay, this is not gonna work! [laughing] Marsha 15:22 Well, cuz you were saying because he's a backyard dog he's not housebroken either, right. So how is that? So I have a couple questions. That was the other issue he had. There's really no training. Not housebroken. He really is not comfortable in the house. Right? You said he was... He's used to being outside. So he sort of anxious being inside and having to spend the night inside. So what other issues did he have? [laughing] So I guess I'll just ask my question. So he seems to be doing better being inside, right. The first night you said was sort of challenging, but so you picked him up Monday? Kelly 16:01 Yeah. Marsha 16:01 So it's only two nights. Kelly 16:02 Yeah. And since Robert works, swing shift, I was by myself in the evening. During the day, we were out in the yard, and it was fine. You know, he he had, he was able to go around the yard, we took him off the leash. And he was able to go around the yard and, you know, do things and-- but then when it's time to come in and got cold, and I needed to come in for the night, I brought him in, and we we sat up in the spare room. And I put the two dog pillows in there. And Bailey, he and Bailey were both there. And I told Bailey to lay on her pillow. So she did. And then I just sat and crocheted while he paced and paced and whined and whined and paced and whined and paced and whined. Until, luckily, he's so big! Because he can't stand up for that long, right. At a certain point, he had to sit down. And then once he sat down, he can only sit for so long before he has to lay his body on the ground. So, so finally he lay down. But you know, I would try to be as still as I could, so he wouldn't pop up. But you know, it was only going for like 20 minutes at a time. And then he'd be back up pacing and whining. And that was from about dinner, like 6:30 after dinner, until I finally thought you know what, okay, he's getting a little more comfortable in this room, but we have to sleep in the other room. Maybe this wasn't such a smart idea. I should have probably started already there. So then I got the bedroom ready and put the pillows down and closed the door. And so then I just let him pace around in the bedroom while I sat in the bed and did more crocheting. And again, same thing, you know, pacing and whining and pacing and whining until he finally laid on the pillow and, and fell asleep. And then Robert got home. I stayed up until Robert got home. And then once Robert got home, Robert took him out one more time. And then we--but we were up a couple of times during the night that first night to take him out and stuff. But last night he slept all the way through the night. I mean, Robert gets home around midnight. Robert took him out then. But he slept the whole rest of the night. So he was tired. We were both tired. Marsha 18:14 Yeah. And and then what about the diet? Are you... how are you going to approach that because he obviously needs to get off additional weight? Kelly 18:23 Yeah. The vet actually said she doesn't think he'll lose any more. I think maybe because of his thyroid issue? I'm not really sure. That surprised me when she said that. But she told me you know how much he was eating. And we're going to keep him at that amount for a while with just the extra activity and see what happens. So and then, and then we'll kind of gauge how he's going. I don't want to give him too little. You know, you don't want him to lose weight too fast. Right, like people so, yeah. So anyway, right now, it's just kind of the same amount, trying to feed him the same amount as what they were giving him but you know, watching... using a lot of that food as treats. You know, to teach him things. Marsha 18:44 So and then the housebreaking do you think? Kelly 18:51 They said he was clean in the kennel. Like he didn't go in his kennel. At the SPCA they would, you know, they take.. they try to take the dogs out and, and let them go to the bathroom outside of their of their pens. And they said, you know, he would hold it so that he could go when they let him out. So that was good. So that, you know, that's good. That makes it a lot easier to housebreak. So just making sure that he goes out often. You know and we've been spending... I mean, it's only been there's only the third day and it's been gorgeous. So we've been able to be outside, which is nice. But when we do go out, you know when he is in the house he's on he's on the leash or inside of a closed room. Marsha 19:56 And then you just have to keep track of a time too like... You know, I got Enzo as a puppy. You know, like, I was like, every 30 minutes or 40 minutes. Yeah, I was taking him and giving him the opportunity. Kelly 20:08 Yeah,yeah. And it doesn't have to be that often with Beary because he's, he's older and he does have control. It's not like he doesn't have any control. It's just he doesn't know that, you know, that room over there that we're not in is not the right place. So. But he doesn't have access to... he doesn't have access to any place except right where I am. Which is why it's so tiring, you know, Marsha 20:33 Yeah. Kelly 20:34 I'll just tell one more story. And then we'll get to get to the the podcast topics. But the first day, every time... So I have to take him in with me when I went to the bathroom, right? Because nobody was home. It's just me. So I'd take him with in with me on the leash into the bathroom. And he would spot the wastepaper basket, and like dive in headfirst and eat something out of the wastebasket. So every different bathroom, we went in, of course, has a wastebasket, and it's still on the floor. And here he goes diving into the wastebasket to eat something. And so yeah, so now all the waste baskets are up off the ground. In all of the bathrooms. [laughing] Marsha 21:19 It'll be interesting to see as the months go by, if you're able to get some of this excess weight. If he starts feeling better, you know? Kelly 21:27 Yeah, yeah. I think like some of the issues of not wanting to be lifted into the cars just like okay, that hurts. You know, and, and, and then... Yeah, so we'll see how that goes. Yeah, but it's a it's a fun. It's a it's an exciting thing. It happened super fast. It was totally unexpected. And it's been really exhausting. [laughing] But it's good. It's really good. Yeah, yeah. Marsha 21:57 All right. Well, So I'm excited to hear about it going forward. But should we talk project? Kelly 22:04 Yes, we should. Marsha 22:06 I have no, I have no dog updates. Enzo is just sleeping here on the floor next to me. Okay, seriously now, projects? Yes. Would you like to go first? Kelly 22:16 No, go ahead. Marsha 22:18 Okay. So, um, well, I don't really have a lot to report. Walk Along, still working on it. By Ankestrick the T shirt. Still working on that. I'm alternating working on that and spinning. I ordered another eight ounces of the dark brown Merino roving. And we talked about this in the last time that I'm running out. I'm not going to have enough of the fiber that I had to make a sweater quantity. And so I decided to order more of the the dark brown to finish plying with the green, but also to have extra so I can just do three ply of this... of just the brown Yeah, so then when I... So I should have enough for a sweater I'm Fingers crossed! So then I can do stripes or something to have enough for a sweater. That's what I'm hoping. I'm just going to throw in there... I'll finish about my projects, but before I talk about my other things that are going on. About roving, remember the last time we talked about when you're plying the singles and a single breaks and how you find the end. We did have...we talked about you know ideas. We did hear from Jolene Jojocraftsalot in her comment was a tip on when you apply breaks and you can't find it try a piece of tape and tap it around on the bobbin of yarn to see if it will find the elusive end. That's an interesting idea. Kelly 23:44 okay. Yeah sort of like a lint... like getting lint off your sweater but with tape and you hope instead of lint the end of the yarn will stick to it. Marsha 23:54 Yeah, so that's a good tip. And I'm working on my socks. I think last time we were talking I was working on the heel flap I've now have finished the gusset and I'm moving on to the foot. Not a lot there to report but I finished something! Kelly 24:11 Yay! Marsha 24:12 Guess what I finished! I finished my mitts my Abington Mitts! And you remember the last time we talked I said I was not going to promise that I was going to finish them that evening because I never do? Guess what I did that night! So I posted them in our thread which, we will talk about this later, but our extremities knit and crochet along. I posted that and that has ended and we'll talk about that in a little bit. But I did finish those and that's all I have to report. All right. Nothing. I'm not a lot of progress on anything. Just just steady. Kelly 24:51 Well, you've had a lot of stuff going on at your house. A lot of cleaning and painting and the house projects. Marsha 25:00 yeah, I think I mentioned this contractor finished at the the rental house, finished the basement. Well his part of that. Now it's my job to go in there and paint it. So I've started I was over there Monday and Tuesday washing down the woodwork on the main floor, which the contractor wasn't there, but it was just dusty and I'll just be honest, dirty. I guess I'm not that great a housekeeper or I guess I didn't routinely wash that. [laughing] Well, I don't think I've ever washed down the woodwork in the living room and the dining room. I've washed down the kitchen and the bathroom before but I didn't routinely wash down woodwork. And so guess what? It was a little dirty! It needed to be washed. So it looks great and the good thing is it was a good paint job I did years ago and it's held up. And just a good cleaning and it's ready to go nice. So yeah, anyway, but... But what about your projects? Kelly 25:56 Well, um, I had that... I had the Huck weaving sampler from the Jane Stafford guild and I think it was on the loom last time. I don't exactly remember. I think I had tied it on to the loom. But I hadn't started weaving or maybe I had started weaving and I... Oh no! I had woven the first part of the sampler and cut it off the loom and washed it. And then I wove the last part of the sampler and I only got... I was thinking I would have another like yard length and with the loom waste and just the shrinkage and stuff I only ended up with about maybe about 18 inches, but I wove it off. So the first one I wove, the same silk that was in the warp I used as weft, and I made a small shawl that I actually have hung up in the studio. It'll probably be a sample, I probably won't wear it as a shawl. I'll just keep it in there to kind of look at what I did. And then the second part of it, I wove with this linen, I have some cones of linen. And they're stained. This was like a porcelain blue color, pale porcelain blue. And it's a really rough spun linen. And I had used a cone of dark gray with that purple silk to knit a sweater, that Cherry Vanilla sweater that I made years ago. And this one was a porcelain blue color. And I thought oh, I'm gonna weave with it and see how it weaves up. And also, since this is just a sample, if the stains don't wash out, you know, that are on the cone, then I'll know. First of all, it's not stained... like the outer edge was stained, right. So just the first few yards, but the top and the bottom also have stains on it. So you know, as you go into the cone, you're going to pick up those stains at the top, that dirt right at the top of the cone and at the bottom of the cone. And so I was, you know, wondering if that was going to be worth using or not. You don't want to make a really nice project and then it doesn't wash out. So I thought, well I'll weave with it and see if it washes out. And it mostly did, there was a little bit of the kind of rusty looking stains that stayed. But small enough that you really can't, you really can't tell if you really... You know, if I didn't know it was there and go looking to see if didn't wash out, I don't think I wouldn't have noticed. So that gives me an idea that I can use those cones which, most of them are dirty in that same way. I can use those linen cones for other things which is which is kind of nice because I think it's really it's yarn I picked up when the weaving program at Hartnell stopped and there was a lot of yarn in the in the weaving classroom. And I managed to score. It felt like a score to me! I managed to score all these you know, rustic linen cones. But if they were you know, too dirty to use then I needed to know that. So anyway, I wove that and I have it sitting on my vanity in the bedroom just for you know, just to use it for a little while. But I think it's probably just going to be a sample that I'll keep downstairs near the, you know, near the loom and do something with it in the studio. So that was fun and got all the huck weaving done now. I'm waiting for the Jane Stafford guild. They have switched over on their classes. And I think they might have had been having to switch over on their website too. I was having a little bit of trouble accessing their website Anyway, once that switchover happens and they're in the new their new site, she's supposed to release her next her next episode for the month of May. So I'm all done. I'm keeping up again. I have my April project done and my May project we don't know what it is yet so I can't get started. Kelly 29:50 And then I have been working on... I mentioned sitting and crocheting and saying, Good, good. Good boy! Like the calmest voice I could have is what I kept doing as I crocheted.So I did get some crocheting done. And I am now up to... let me just look. So I need 20 octagons. For this blanket, I'm going to make it 4 octagons by 5 octagons, a rectangle instead of a square. I've got 15 of them. No, I've got 16 of them done because I finished one last night. So I've got 16 out of the 20 octagons done. Marsha 30:37 Oh, getting there. Kelly 30:38 Yeah, I'm close on the octagons. I'm close the squares. I need 12 and I have eight done. And then the half squares, which would be triangles, I need 14 and I don't have any of those done. And then I need four corners, which are also triangles, but they're smaller triangles. And I don't have any of those four corner triangles done so. So I've still got some... I've still got some work to do. Kelly 31:07 I'm going to end up with a lot of extra yarn, the the number of balls of yarn that they call for for this kit for the kit that you know or the for the pattern I think was so you had enough colors, but you end up with a lot of leftovers. So I'm going to have a lot even though I'm doing... Well I bought extra because I ended up buying the kit of mini skeins, the package of mini skeins. So I bought more yarn than I thought I needed. And I even needed less than that. So even with the extra octagons I'm gonna, I think I would have a significant amount of this yarn leftover but you know, Mother Bears work good in acrylic. And, and charity, charity hats in acrylic. Yeah, there's lots of things I can do with it once I'm done. So yeah, I'm making good progress on that, again, it's really been the only thing I've been working on. I don't have a knitting project. Well, I have those socks that I started that were going to be the Matcha socks. And then I started calling them Not Matcha socks because I couldn't even see the pattern. But I haven't picked those up. And I do think I'm going to... At first I thought I can just start where I left off. And no one will ever know that it was a pattern and it was supposed to be a pattern and and now I'm just doing them plain. But right now I think I'm just gonna rip them back and start over. So, but I haven't done that. So yeah, I have just the one crochet project going and that's really it. That's the only active project I have. Marsha 32:42 So we've got a lot going. To me, it seems like a lot, you know, Kelly 32:45 And well, the last couple days for sure. [laughing] But school, you know, school has been busy and, and, and starting a project there's always a little bit of friction, right? You have to figure out what you're going to make and you have to get the yarn balled up and you have to find the right needles and you have to do the thing-- the, you know, the kind of fiddly parts of getting going and I just haven't really had a chance to do that and the crochet has has been inspiring me to keep going because I'm so close now. Marsha 33:17 Yeah, Kelly 33:19 I've been pretty monogamous there. So yeah, that's that's it on my yarn projects. I now have a big, big furry project. But it's not, it's not yarn. [laughing] Marsha 33:33 So we did have the extremities knit and crochet and macrame along. I was waiting for some macrame socks to show up but we never got any! Kelly 33:46 But we did have some nice entries. What about 50 of them I think. 50 entries into the extremities knitalong and there were some crochet things I do believe if I'm remembering correctly. Anyway, we're gonna draw prizes for that and then we'll talk a little bit about some of the some of the projects that people that people submitted to that. So we have two prizes. One is the pattern for Abington Mitts by Jennifer Lasonnde. And then the other project, the other prize is a pattern, actually a pattern collection. The Coffee Socks Collection by Dots Dabbles Designs. Marsha 34:30 Earlier we did the random number generator and pulled our two winners. So do you want announce who they are? Kelly 34:37 Sure. Yeah, so the winner of the Abington Mitts pattern is Jackimarie, Jacqueline, and she made leg warmers. She actually made two pairs of leg warmers or boot cuffs, really cute! And we drew her name for one of those pairs. And so she's gonna win that Abington Mitts pattern. So congratulations, Jackie Marie Marsha 35:03 Congratulations.Yeah, yeah. Kelly 35:05 And then our second winner. Our second winner is Jillmabelina, Jill. And she made a pair of Bernie mitts. Marsha 35:16 Yes, she actually made two pair. Kelly 35:17 Oh, did she? That's right. I remember that now because it reminded me when I read it, that I had downloaded the pattern to make the crocheted Bernie you know, Bernie at the... it's a little amigurumi of Bernie at the inauguration with his mitts. And I, someone had posted a picture of it in one of my texts, you know, in one of my text groups of work friends had posted a picture of it. And I said, Oh, yeah, I saw the pattern. And somebody said, Oh, I'd love to have one. And I said, Oh, I'm downloading the pattern now. And then I never made it for her. So it reminded me that I had kind of promised to make a crocheted Bernie. I think probably that ship has sailed, but... Marsha 35:26 I know. I think that meme is is done, but then it may come back. Kelly 36:14 But the mittens are really really cool. And she made a really nice couple of pairs of those. So Jill, you win the Coffee Socks Collection, by Dots Dabbles Designs. Marsha 36:27 And then I was just gonna it's always fun to see what people make. I mean, I'm always intrigued by the patterns. And, and so just a couple things. I just, well, I just... I tallied up, we had 25 pairs of socks, 17 mitts or mittens, or I'm putting it all in the same category, the fingerless mitts mitts or like wrist warmers. And the two leg warmers, and one set of puppets that go on your hands. So that's so anyway, Superkip, Natalie, she made panda puppets, and they're crocheted and they're adorable. They look like little mittens and they're puppets. Kelly 37:09 I think she said the intention is for that to be... to actually be used as like oven mitts or like barbecue grilling. Marsha 37:19 Oh, okay. Yeah. And the other one is, UlricaC. She did socks. And the pattern is called Vanilla Is The New Black. And I comment on this because it was such an interesting heel. Did you look at this one. Very interesting heel. Kelly 37:38 It has kind of a diagonal? Marsha 37:41 Yeah, they're like, their like a Chevron on the back of the heel kind of and then I guess, a couple stitches of stockinette that go up. Anyway, they're an interesting heel, so I just wanted to comment on that. And then FerretSue, Sue, did the Hilja, that's probably not how it's pronounced, but the Hilja wrist warmers by Alex Bird. And I went to look at the pattern and it's it's called an Estonian inlay technique called Roosimine. And did you see this one? It's very interesting. It looks sort of like... I don't think this is what it is. But it sort of looks like the the backside of stranded knitting. Forming a pattern. It's very, very interesting. And so I wanted to comment on that Kelly 38:35 I always love to see the different techniques that people use. Mm hmm. Yeah. Marsha 38:40 And then the other one I commented was both knitnaround by Patty and bikesbrewewes by Kelsey. They both did mitts that are colourwork mitts with birds on them. And Patty did Springboard mitts. And Kelsey did Providence mitts. And they're really, really pretty, but it just was interesting that they both did mitts with birds. Yeah, very nice. So that was just some comments. Well, a lots of socks and lots of nice sock patterns. Kelly 39:16 Yeah, there's one sock pattern, the U-turn socks by, that were made by Joylaine. Those are so interesting. I have to get that pattern. Because the socks... like the front of the sock is is done, you know side to side, like if you were knitting in the round. And the back part of the sock is knit lengthwise. So like you're knitting like from the... from the top of the sock down to the heel. I don't know...by looking at them... Because they're striped, you can kind of tell the construction, but I don't know how it was done. Like I kept looking at their pictures and like, oh, how did that... how does that work? So I think I might have to try that. That looks Very interesting. And, and maybe a self striping yarn. I don't typically knit with self striping yarn because I don't make plain stockinette socks. But these look like a lot of fun. So maybe I can get a fun sell striping in and try the U turn socks. And then thinking of socks. Michelle, MichEmbrey on Ravelry. Marsha 40:24 The monkey socks? Kelly 40:26 Yeah, she made several pairs of socks, actually, because she's doing-- Have you heard of sock madness, Marsha. Marsha 40:33 I've heard the term, but you'll have to explain it. Because she's got about three pairs of socks Kelly 40:38 It's a contest on Ravelry where teams of people knit socks, and I think it goes along-- I'm gonna, I'm gonna go out on a limb because I don't know all that much about it. But I have a feeling it has something to do with March Madness. But it's sock madness. And so there's some competition aspect to it. Where people get eliminated, teams get eliminated like they do in the basketball tournament. And so you have like two weeks to knit the socks. And your team has to knit the socks faster than the other team or something. Anyway. I remember hearing about it when I was going to a knit group over in Pacific Grove at Monarch. And a woman there was doing it is like, oh my gosh. And basically she would put her vacation around this sock madness, like, you know, kind of plan vacation days and things for her her work so that she could participate in sock madness and kind of maximize her knitting time. Because she was so into this sock competition. And it just sounded it sounded so crazy that it was fun, right? [laughing] Like, oh my gosh, maybe I'm interested in this. Oh, I probably shouldn't be. Marsha 41:55 You have another project a big project! Kelly 41:57 Yeah, well, yeah. And I'm not that fast of.... I'm not that fast of a knitter, either. So. But anyway, very interesting to see all her socks and you know, the different patterns and they're not. They're not plain patterns. I mean, these socks that people are racing to finish are complicated, complicated patterns. So and then the one last project that I've mentioned thinking of, of socks and interesting methods, is Lisa Casson. She made yoga socks, and she used a knitting loom. And I thought that was really interesting. I mean, I know about knitting looms, but I really never think of them as a way to actually make a project like a pair of yoga socks. I mean, it is actually a tube. But I wouldn't have ever really thought about that. So she used her knitting loom and made a nice pair of yoga socks with the you know, cut out for the heel and the toe. Marsha 43:02 Well, and I just now I'm looking at all the projects, and I realized I made a mistake on something. I thought they were mittens, but they're... because they were felted. Oven mitts by FinnElliknits. Did you see those? Oh, and that's Ellen. Yeah, they're oven mitts. It's a... Kelly 43:19 That's a really good idea. I need some potholders! Marsha 43:21 Yeah. Kelly 43:22 Oh, I'm looking at them right now. Yeah, Marsha 43:23 yeah. And then there's a pot holder in the back. And I just, I was just glancing at it and thought, Oh, they were mitts. But now that I realized I made a mistake. It's actually their oven mitts. What a great idea! Kelly 43:33 That is a good idea. Yeah. Marsha 43:37 When you said about you're gonna go out on a limb about what the sock madness is? I was gonna say you're gonna go out on an extremity. [laughing] Kelly 43:50 Oh, that's good. I like it! [laughing] Marsha 43:55 Anyway, congratulations to... Well, first of all, thank you to everybody for participating. This is really fun to see what people did. And then congratulations to our two winners! Kelly 44:07 So go ahead and get in contact with me and I will pass along your name to to our donors, Jennifer Lassonde and Debbie from Dots, Dabbles Designs. Marsha 44:19 Just last two things. We have the summer spin in starting. And that's gonna run Memorial Day through Labor Day. And for those people who are not in the United States where we celebrate Memorial Day and Labor Day, that'll be May 31 through September 6. And traditionally, Memorial Day is sort of the official start of summer and Labor Day is sort of the official end of summer. So that's why we pick those dates and we'll talk more about that. We've done this in the past. And we'll talk more about the the summer spin in in the next episode. Anything you want to add about this ? Kelly 45:01 I'll put up a thread, a chat thread, where we can start talking about our spinning aspirations. For the summer. Fiber prep, washing fleeces, buying braids of fiber to spin, all that kind of stuff. Marsha 45:17 We can start buying fleeces. Kelly 45:19 Yeah. So we can start talking about all the all the stuff we're planning to do in the summer with our spinning. Marsha 45:28 And then I just had one last thing. One of our listeners Jolene, I'm sorry, wrong person. I'll read my list here, Sarah, Salpal. There she had asked in the thread what overshot weaving is. And I had tried to answer the question, just looking at, you know, doing a Google search of a definition of overshot. And then her response was okay, maybe this is a question for Kelly. But how the heck do you do it? Do you alternate the background color and the contrast color so the plain weave is happening behind the overshot? Does that? I did not answer your question, because I don't know how to answer her question. Can you answer that? Kelly 46:08 Yeah. Well, and actually, she got... she got some good answers. Cindy Q answered her in the thread also. But that is what happens. You have the kind of a background that's tabby. And then, so every other pick, that's when you throw the yarn across the weaving or you know, weave it in and out, every other pick is plain weave. So you do a plain weave, and then you do a pattern, which means you'll have like a float, the yarn will be floating over the top. Marsha 46:39 Okay, so when you say pattern, that's the what? The overshot? That's got the floats. Kelly 46:44 Yeah. And so those all those floats stacked together to make designs. And this is... snowflake type designs is the way I would describe them. That might not be exactly right. Or, or like I'm looking at a quilt that's hanging on the door behind me to absorb sound. And it's like a star shaped design, you know, that they have in quilting. So that kind of sort of star shaped design. There's different... there's all different designs, but they're made from these layers of threads that are going across, they're going across many threads, just like a float in stranded colorwork and the floats in stranded colorwork are usually on the back. And these floats are on the front creating the pattern, but it wouldn't be stable. You wouldn't have a stable fabric without those tabby or plain weave threads in between each of them. So and normally, too, the threads that you--that are the pattern are a thicker yarn, and then the threads that make up the the ground, the plain weave that goes in between are thinner thread so you don't really see the plain weave that much you mostly see the pattern threads, but the plain weave is there to stabilize. Okay, so all right. Yeah. It's really an interesting pattern. And I think Sarah is interested in maybe trying it on her rigid heddle loom, which that would be an interesting, an interesting thing to try on rigid heddle. Marsha 48:15 Well, I think that is everything. Do you have any last bits of housekeeping? Kelly 48:20 No, no, I think I better go rescue Robert from watching the dog that I wanted. Marsha 48:29 Yes. Well go take him for a walk. He's on. He's on a training program now. Kelly 48:36 Right. Marsha 48:39 We should all be on a training program. Kelly 48:40 That's what Robert said. They're going to get in shape together. So Marsha 48:44 Okay. Keep us posted and keep posting pictures because I love seeing the pictures. Kelly 48:50 Will do! Yeah, he's super photogenic. Bailey's hard to photograph, but he's really photogenic. And and yeah, I have some really good pictures of him already. Marsha 49:00 And he doesn't move as fast either. [laughing] Kelly 49:02 That is true. That's a good point. [laughing] Kelly 49:09 All right. Marsha 49:11 Okay, we'll talk in two weeks, Kelly 49:12 bye bye. Marsha 49:13 Bye bye. Kelly 49:14 Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Marsha 49:21 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Kelly 49:29 Until next time, we're the two ewes doing our part for world fleece! Transcribed by https://otter.ai  

Sandra Samoska tells us how she dealt with her dogs having a romantic interlude that went on too long. She is loving her T-shirt that says "Sorry I'm late, I didn't want to come." She shares with a a crazy coincidence and the best advice she's ever been given.  Find Sandra on her blog, Outnumbered by Sandra Samoska. Follow Sandra on her Facebook page, Outnumbered by Sandra Samoska, Instagram @outnumberedbysandrasamoska, and Twitter @outnumbrd4kids. Subscribe to the show so you don't miss a laugh! Follow Fancy Free on Instagram, & Facebook. Request to join the Fancy Free Facebook group and go answer the question of the week!   Transcript: Joanne Jarrett: You are listening to the Fancy Free Podcast, where my girlfriends and I tell our most embarrassing, funny stories so that we all feel less alone in our imperfections. I'm Joanne Jarrett. And today I have with me a new friend that I met through a writer's group I'm a part of on Facebook. Her name is Sandra Samoska and Sandra is a writer, blogger, wife, mom of four, and a doer of all things. So she and I have a lot in common I think. She writes about faith and family and she teaches a women's Bible study and she spends most of her time caring for her little and not so little anymore people. Sandra, thank you so much for joining me on the show today. Sandra Samoska: Oh, absolutely. Thank you for inviting me. Joanne Jarrett: Yeah, so much fun. Well, fill in the blanks. What did I miss about who you are and what you do? Sandra Samoska: I am a stay at home mom. I'm married. I have four children. I met my husband in junior high. Joanne Jarrett: What? Oh. Sandra Samoska: Is that insane, or what? Joanne Jarrett: Yes. Sandra Samoska: We went to high school together and started dating our senior year and then we ended up going to two different colleges but stuck with it, with one another and got married almost 16 years ago now. Before I had kids, I actually did have a life. I was in journalism. I did journalism for a little bit and then after I got married, we moved. I started working at a consulting company for the oil and gas industry, which that's kind of what you do in Houston is oil and gas. And then after I started having children, I decided to stay home with them and luckily I still have a position with that company as a consultant. So I still have my adult time where I can kind of use my brain for something other than kids' schedules. And then I got into writing for fun, not just for work and journalism. Back when my youngest was little, my husband finally said, "You love to write, you should do something." And I did. Joanne Jarrett: As you know, the point of this podcast is to take someone who looks like they have it completely all together from the outside and show our listeners that nobody as this fancy as they look. So we can all feel a little less alone in our imperfections. What not so fancy story do you have for us today? Sandra Samoska: I have a lot of not so fancy stories. It's kind of embarrassing, but there was one that I just, every time I think about it, it makes me laugh out loud and people actually bring it up to me sometimes when we're in casual conversation, which isn't awkward at all. So, we have dogs and I don't know if you have dogs, we're a dog family. Joanne Jarrett: We have one dog, so we have singular dog. Sandra Samoska: Just the one? Oh, I'm so jealous. Joanne Jarrett: Well I decided I might need to get her a dog and then I dog sat for two weeks for another golden doodle and they didn't do anything together. I was like, "She does not need a dog." Sandra Samoska: That's smart. You tested it out first. I love that. It's wisdom. Joanne Jarrett: It was a happy accident. But it worked out for me. So you have multiple dogs. How many and what kinds? Sandra Samoska: Currently we just have two, which is great. When this particular embarrassing thing happened though, we had three, and before that we had had four. So we're slowly moving down to a more manageable, I feel like, number. Right now we have two, they're called black mouth cur, which is a hunting dog. My husband likes to hunt. Unfortunately, he likes to go hunting without his hunting dogs, which makes me a little bit upset because I feel like that's why he got them in the first place. Sandra Samoska: About three years ago we had three dogs. We had the two we had now and one older one that my husband had gotten before we got married. And the older one, her name was Rose, she was about 50 pounds, 15 years old, and she kind of had that, I'm queen of my domain and everything I see attitude, she mostly hated everybody except for my husband. She wasn't mean, but she was just kind of like disdainful, you know? We were all just kind of existing in her space. Joanne Jarrett: Like a cat? Like kind of just, I'm too good for you standoffish? Sandra Samoska: Yeah, very much. Very much like that. But she was like getting old and she had, you know, was partially deaf and arthritis and her legs would go out from under her and we were just like, "It's okay, Rose. Just hang on." You know? So we had her and then we thought that she needed friends and so we got a second dog and his name is Davey and he's a black mouth cur and he is super sweet but very, very deeply stupid. He's just a very dumb dog. But I mean like super sweet. Sandra Samoska: Like he loves us but just not smart. And he was kind of afraid of Rose and he would like slink under the table if she looked at him. So they weren't like friends by any means, but that's okay. We loved Davey. And then we got a third dog and her name is Jill. And Jill, even though that she's the same breed as Davey, she's a lot smaller. So she's only 35 pounds. And my husband assured me when we got her, super awesome, important breed and really amazing. And wouldn't it be wonderful if we could breed her one day, which I was not a fan of, but I was like, okay. But Jill felt like she should be the queen of the house. And even though she was kind of usually content to let Rose be the puppet queen, she kind of ruled from the shadows. Sandra Samoska: So we kind of had this interesting emotional dynamic going on. Now Rose and Davey, the older one and the boy, they were both fixed, because Rose had been a rescue dog and Davey was really too dumb to breed. But Jill was not fixed because my husband and my daughter ganged up on me and they were like, "No, puppies, wouldn't it be wonderful?" And I thought, "No." But okay, so we've kind of let that go. So Jill was not fixed. So Jill goes into heat right? And is like an emotional powder keg. I had no idea this was a thing. But dogs get hormonal too. Joanne Jarrett: Oh, no, really? Uck! I just thought about their period going everywhere. Does that happen too? Sandra Samoska: That happened, and someone suggested some kind of doggy pad and I said, "No, I'm drawing the line. I'm not changing a dog pad, the dog must go outside during this time period." It was ridiculous, like ridiculous. But before the bleeding starts is like this PMS period for dogs. Joanne Jarrett: Right, while they're fertile. Sandra Samoska: Right. Joanne Jarrett: Oh, gosh. Sandra Samoska: And so it made her super cranky, not with people, but she had less tolerance for Rose's shenanigans. Joanne Jarrett: Oh no. Sandra Samoska: So one morning I had gotten two of my older children onto the bus and I was starting to kind of get breakfast for the younger two and my husband's getting ready for work and evidently Rose, the older dog, looked sideways at Jill and Jill decided to take offense and like charged in and jumped on Rose and they start wrestling in the living room and everything. And even though Rose is bigger, she's not as strong and so, fur is flying and my husband comes in and breaks them up and sends Jill outside. And so, we're kind of trying to tend to Rose who, I mean she wasn't seriously injured, but it was a little bit shell-shocked. It was crazy. And we sent Davey, Davey, who's like in love with Jill, we sent him outside. We're like, "Okay, y'all go outside, let us take care of the older dog." Joanne Jarrett: Calm her down, Davey. Sandra Samoska: Right. Calm her down. Like you need to talk her through this because she's having a moment. And so my husband leaves, he really abandoned me on the field, it's how I feel at that moment. But he goes to work because that's what he does. And I'm kind of taking care of the kids and I look out the back window and I see that Davey apparently has gotten excited by the girl on girl fight and he's trying to mount Jill and he doesn't know what to do because he's very dumb and he's like on her back and on her leg and on her face and I don't even know. Joanne Jarrett: Oh, my goodness. Sandra Samoska: And I look out there, and I'm like, "Well, Jill can handle herself. Clearly she knows what she's doing. I'm just going to let that go because I'm not a dating service for dogs. So that is not my job." Joanne Jarrett: I got other things to do. Sandra Samoska: Exactly. So I go and I keep kind of caring for the kids. That's what I do. And a little bit later I kind of hear this weird noise coming from the laundry room, which is where we have a doggy door, that goes into our backyard and we can shut the door into the rest of the house so that the dogs can't come in. And so I hear this weird noise coming from the laundry room and I kind of opened the door and Jill is standing really still with like this weird look on her face right inside the doggy door. And I'm like, "What's going on? Are you okay?" And I get closer and I see Davey standing outside the door and they are attached like through the doggy door, Joanne, and they're attached together. Joanne Jarrett: Oh, no way. How did they even do that? Sandra Samoska: What? Thank you! Right? Joanne Jarrett: Yeah. What are the odds? They have to be infinitesimally small. Sandra Samoska: They're like fused at the inappropriate place, through the doggy door. I was like, "What do I do?" And so, my kids are coming, "Mom, what's happening?" "No, no, stay back. You don't need to see this." And I call my husband and I'm like, "Okay, this seriously, one, this is your fault. Like these dogs are yours. You left me. These are totally your fault. And what do I do with these dogs stuck together? Do I pull them apart? Like I don't want to get in the middle of that." Joanne Jarrett: That's right. There are so many reasons why that could be a bad idea. Sandra Samoska: Right? I don't want to break anything. I don't know. So my husband, who is giggling inappropriately, he's like, "I don't know, call our friend." We have a friend that's a vet. And so I said okay. So I hang up with him and I call my friend's cell phone, who's a vet. And she of course doesn't answer because she has a life. Joanne Jarrett: She's busy being a vet. Sandra Samoska: She's busy working. And so I said, "Okay. So my sister works for a different vet." And so I called my sister's office thinking, "Okay, well maybe I can get some help over there." And luckily a doctor actually answers, which what are the odds, right? Usually the doctors don't answer the phone. Joanne Jarrett: Man, that was lucky. Sandra Samoska: But he answered and I didn't know him. But he's like, "Okay, what can I help you with?" And I said, "Okay, well, so my dogs are kind of stuck together. Their bottoms won't come apart." And I'm thinking, "Please for the love do not make me use the word dog penis in this conversation. Don't." Joanne Jarrett: Did you feel like you had to reassure him first, "This Is not a prank phone call." I really literally need help with this. I'll send you a picture if you need photographic evidence. Sandra Samoska: I'm like, "I don't know what to do and I have this problem and they are stuck." And he's like, "Oh, okay. Well, how long have they been stuck together?" I'm like, "I mean, I don't know. Like a few minutes maybe. I don't know." And I'm thinking like my whole life really. Joanne Jarrett: Less than an hour, more than 30 seconds. Sandra Samoska: Okay, I've been staring at this atrocity forever now. I don't know how long. And he said, "Okay, well, they should probably separate on their own in a minute or two, but hold on, let me check something." And he kind of, I don't know, Google search, ask a friend. I'm not sure what he does. Joanne Jarrett: Uh-huh. Whipped out the textbook. Sandra Samoska: He says, "Well, unfortunately it could take an hour or two. And I'm like, "Okay, what?" Joanne Jarrett: What? Are you kidding me? Jill is like, "I cannot do this for an hour." Sandra Samoska: I know, like the look on her face. I just, I was like, "I'm sorry, baby, I don't know what to do for you." So the doctor said, "Well, just leave them alone." Joanne Jarrett: Did you happen to peek around at Davey? I want to know what Davey looked like. Was he smashed up against the house? Like, I can picture his jowls like smashed up along the wall of the outside of the house. Sandra Samoska: He'd like twisted his body somehow so that he was still like one leg up, you know, because he was inserted and the rest of him was like sideways. Joanne Jarrett: Okay. Neither of them are going to be able to walk for a week. Sandra Samoska: I was like, "You know, that's not comfortable." And I'm not about to shove Jill out the doggy door. I mean, I don't know. Joanne Jarrett: She's somewhat in the safety zone. You don't want to throw her back out to the wolves. Sandra Samoska: Right. She's like, "Get me away!'. So the doctor says, "Okay, well, just leave them alone and they'll come apart when they can." Like this is a thing. Like they just like get stuck like this. I'm on the phone, and I said, "Okay, well so it turns out that they're stuck together through the doggy door." Silence. There's silence on the other end of the line and the doctor's like, "So, they're tied together through the doggy door?" I was like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. So one is on the inside of the door and the other one is on the outside of the door." And I'm pretty sure he put me on mute, because it was like dead air, nothing, nothing. Joanne Jarrett: I'm crying. Sandra Samoska: I mean, Joanne, the kids are coming in, "Mom, what's Jill doing?" I'm like, "Stay back, stay back." And I'm listening to this dead air. Joanne Jarrett: I am not ready to have the birds and the bees conversation with you guys right now. Sandra Samoska: Right! And the doctor comes back and I kid you not. He says, "Okay, first you need to take a picture. Because, that's hilarious." Joanne Jarrett: You're like, "Oh yeah, veterinarians are humans too." Sandra Samoska: Oh my gosh. So then he's like, "There's nothing you can do just that's all. That's all I have for you." And we hang up. And like 20 minutes later my sister calls and she's like, "Oh yeah, the whole office is laughing at you right now. Right this minute. Our whole entire ... the doctor got off the phone with you and was like, 'Let me tell you what's happening.'" Joanne Jarrett: Productivity has come to a screeching halt while we laugh about what's going on in Sandra's home right now. Sandra Samoska: It's true! And then they called their sister clinic, where my friend works and I get a phone call from my friend, the vet, saying, "Hey, I heard you had an eventful morning." Joanne Jarrett: So now the veterinarian's offices are calling each other. Sandra Samoska: They are. They're just like, "let me tell you about what happened." And they're all, "Did you get a picture?" I'm like, "No, pervert. I did not take a picture." Joanne Jarrett: You're like, "Must she lose all of her dignity in one day?" Sandra Samoska: Oh my gosh. I feel like that would be like doggy porn. Like, I don't know. There's probably some kind of watch dog out there for that. Joanne Jarrett: Apparently that's where you draw the line. Sandra Samoska: It was fantastic. Joanne Jarrett: Oh my gosh, I have to blow my nose. I'm a mess over here. Oh, that's so hilarious. So how much longer did it take before they separated? Sandra Samoska: They got separate really not too much longer, and then she kind of went and took a nap and I'm pretty sure Davey went and found a beer. I'm pretty sure he had to go find a beer. Joanne Jarrett: And a cigarette. Oh my gosh. Sandra Samoska: Amazing. Joanne Jarrett: Wow. That is awesome and hilarious. I love, I love that the veterinarian's offices were calling each other like, "You guys will never believe this. This will surely make your day." Sandra Samoska: Right? Joanne Jarrett: So there's some kind of anatomy issue where there's a ... thank God that doesn't happen to humans where there's a ... what the heck? I mean, I'm a physician, so I'm like, I thought I was pretty up on anatomy. Although I did have to look up dog anatomy when I wasn't sure if my dog had a vaginal infection or a bladder infection and it turns out they pee through their vagina. Did you know that? I'm like, what? Sandra Samoska: I did not. Joanne Jarrett: Well, I mean, I Googled it, so I could be wrong. If you're a veterinarian out there, and I'm wrong, email me. But I was like, that seems like an odd design. I mean, I guess I understand why they would... Getting stuck together ensures a more effective transfer of genetic material. You know? Sandra Samoska: Seems like an odd design to me, but I'm not in charge. Joanne Jarrett: Yeah, we're not in charge. Thank goodness. I don't want to be in charge. Especially of stuff like that. Oh, that's so amazing. I love it so much. Poor Jill. Sandra Samoska: Poor Jill, poor me. Joanne Jarrett: So how was their relationship after that? I'm wondering, you said Jill was pretty smart, so she probably knew it was Davey back there. Sandra Samoska: Yeah, they're fine. We got her fixed shortly thereafter, because I said, "I'm going to have to draw a line here. This cannot happen again." Joanne Jarrett: We can't keep getting these two clowns stuck together. Sandra Samoska: This is not what I signed up for when I decided to stay home with my children. This was not in the job description. I'm done with this. Joanne Jarrett: Yeah. Sandra Samoska: So now they coexist very peacefully. Joanne Jarrett: I wonder if Jill have nightmares about it. Davey's like, "Why do I love looking at the back of the house so much? What is going on with my brain?" Sandra Samoska: Well, now she'll sit in the laundry room with her head out the doggy door and block Davey from coming inside because he still slightly scared of her. She sticks her head out and is like, "No." Joanne Jarrett: She is a smart dog. She's like, "I am not going to be caught unawares with my bottom anywhere near that doggy door ever again. In fact, you have to give me the password before I let you in here." Sandra Samoska: Oh gosh. Joanne Jarrett: That is great. I love it. Oh gosh. Yeah. So many things. So many things in parenthood and domestic life are like, I could say I look at my husband probably every week and go, "This is not something I signed up for." I really, the things that happen, but I think that one takes the cake. So now, every time I think I didn't sign up for this, I'll just think about you trying to figure out what to do with your poor dogs through the wall of the house. Sandra Samoska: At least I'm not having to explain to my children about the dogs and their reproductive system. Joanne Jarrett: Okay. So now that we're talking about reproductive systems, you have another sort of reproductive system related story regarding Sunday school teachers. Can you tell me about that? Sandra Samoska: Oh my gosh. Okay. So we go to this church and we love it there. My husband's gone there since he was a child and my in-laws go there. And so it's wonderful. We love it. But when my oldest daughter, when she was, I'm guessing maybe two or so, we had her in Sunday school, so she would go to Sunday school while we were in service. And one day I went to go pick her up from Sunday school and the teacher, she's like, "I need to talk to you." I said, "Okay." And so she kind of steps out of the classroom away from all the other children- Joanne Jarrett: Don't you hate hearing that? It's like, "Oh no." Sandra Samoska: Worst nightmare, right. You know something horrible happened. And she said, "So your daughter was talking about this show she watches with the crack brothers and she said they had power dicks." Wait, what? The what? And she said, "You know the crack brothers with power dicks?" No, no, no, no, no. And she said, "Oh yes, that's what she said." And the little boy next to her, when the teacher tried to say, "Oh no, I'm sure that's not what they're called." The little boy next to her said, "Oh yeah, dicks, you know dicks." So she's looking at me and like what are you showing your children, you crazy woman? And I was like, "No, it's on PBS. It's educational." And she's like, "What?" "No, no. So do you know the Kratt brothers, the Wild Kratts, it's a show about animals and kids and they have power discs, discs." And she's just looking at me. It's on PBS. I promise. Joanne Jarrett: That reminds me of one time I took my oldest daughter was, I think she was right around two years old, because my youngest daughter was still in a baby bucket and they're 22 months apart. I took her to the story time at the library and the librarian was reading this about a duck and she said, "Can any of you children think of a word that rhymes with duck?" And so my total extrovert, verbal, engaged two year old yells the F word out at the top of her lungs. And I'm like, it's crickets, total silence. The librarian looks at me like, "Oh my mistake." And then she just kept on reading and I was like, "Okay, how do I play this?" Because, my daughter does not hear that word at home, but probably some people in there are thinking, "Well, of course she hears that word at home." I was like, "No, she's just a really smart little girl and she picked a consonant out of the air, right?" Sandra Samoska: A consonant, yes, oh my God. Joanne Jarrett: I was like, "If I gather my kids up and run out of here, then they're going to really think that we are doing some crazy shenanigans at home. So I'm just going to sit here and try to recover my dignity." But I never went back to story time again. That was it, first and last time. Sandra Samoska: I mean, no, you're labeled, they put your picture on the wall. Joanne Jarrett: I like those don't accept a check from this woman. Do not allow this woman or her child to come to story time. Oh Lord have mercy. This is my 20th podcast interview I think. And you're the first person who's ever made me cry. Sandra Samoska: I'm so glad to hear it. Joanne Jarrett: My nose is just like dripping. And one of the reasons why I love to tell embarrassing stories to other people is because when people tell me their embarrassing stories, then it's like I keep it as a gem in the back of my head and it'll come back to me at random times and I'll just start laughing out loud and my kids know this about me. So they're like, "Which one are you laughing about now, Mom?" Jill and Davey are forever going to live in the little funny story area of my brain to be surfaced at random times throughout the rest of my life. Sandra Samoska: I'm so glad to hear it. Joanne Jarrett: Yeah. So you've given me a great gift. Joanne Jarrett: Okay well now that I've recovered my composure somewhat and I'm breathing normally again, what have you been loving lately that you think the listeners would love too? Sandra Samoska: My very favorite thing that I own right now, this is a silly thing, it's not really serious, but my husband bought me a T-shirt and it says, "I'm sorry I'm late. I didn't want to come." And he bought it for me because I'm slightly introverted. And for the most part, I prefer to be at my home. I have to go places all the time because I'm one of those people that volunteer for a lot of things and just I'm always going and doing things. And so it's coming so handy because I wear it all the time. Joanne Jarrett: Yeah. Well I think you and I are the same person. Like I am the sociable introvert that can't say no. They'll make an announcement at church. "Oh, we're looking for Awana's leaders." And my husband's like gripping my hand so tight. Like, "Don't you dare, you just keep your mouth shut." You know? Because if I volunteer for something then I'll be like, "I'm all out of words. I can't do this today. What is wrong with me? Why did I volunteer?" Sandra Samoska: Yes. And it's exhausting. And you finally get home and you just lay on the couch in your pajamas. Don't talk to me. Joanne Jarrett: Exactly. Like I know I look like I'm here, but I'm not here. I'm alone in my head and I can't come out right now. You have four kids. So that's a lot for an introvert. And I'm an extreme introvert, but I'm very sociable, so I don't mean to be deceptive, but people don't realize that I'm an introvert until I explain what I've got going on. I guess it's complicated. But anyway, sounds like maybe that's what you're like too. And I have one extremely extroverted child who needs a lot of face to face engagement. Joanne Jarrett: And I finally had to start saying like, "What's more important? I need to give my daughter what she needs." And my husband's pretty much like that too. And I need to give my husband what he needs so I have to cut way back on all of these people pleasing things that I'm doing that aren't as significant to the lives and souls of my loved ones. You know? Have you kind of experienced that too with four kids in your house? Sandra Samoska: Yes, I can totally relate to that. And I think as they're getting older, some of it is getting a easier because more of them are in school. And so I have these pockets of time where I literally schedule alone time. No. Joanne Jarrett: So smart. Sandra Samoska: So that I can like recharge and I try really hard not to put tasks in there. I don't know if you're like this, but I'm kind of a doer, I like to check things off my list, [inaudible 00:25:26] done. Joanne Jarrett: Heck yeah. Sandra Samoska: But you only have so much time. Joanne Jarrett: That's the reason why I'm late everywhere I go because I'm also an optimist. So I'm like, "Oh, I have to leave in five minutes, let me unload the dishwasher and forward the laundry." And then I'm late. And I'm like, "Oh." I did not mean to be disrespectful of whoever's waiting for me. But I just feel like I always have to be doing two or three things all at once. Sandra Samoska: Yes, I'm the same way. And so I had to start scheduling alone time so that I could fulfill my obligations that I'd already committed to, but not be completely shut off from the kids. Because I, just like you, I have a daughter who, she is very, she needs to be all up in your business all the time. You know? She likes affection and she likes to be with you. And if I'm sitting on the couch, she's sitting on me. So if I'm going to be able to like, like you said, be emotionally available to her then I really have to kind of schedule my quiet time so to speak. Joanne Jarrett: Yeah. Your recharge. Yeah. I feel like right now, in this stage of life, the inside of my car is my favorite place because it's like my sensory deprivation chamber. Obviously when I'm in there by myself, not when I'm in there with my kids, but we're to this stage now where I have to take my kids places that then I don't have to be in there with them. So I'll go to the library or I'll just stay in my car and have my "office hours" where I'm doing whatever I feel like I need to be doing. But I'm getting quiet inside my own head and I can totally control the atmosphere and that has ... it's so important. It's so, so, so important. Do you have any crazy coincidences that you could share with us? Sandra Samoska: Sure. Yeah. So this happened fairly recently, I was trying to put together a book proposal. So I'm trying to write a book. Joanne Jarrett: Good for you. Sandra Samoska: And I was kind of doing some research online and what I was coming across was suggesting going to writing conferences so that you can meet with other people who are involved in your craft and develop it- Joanne Jarrett: Yeah. Network. Sandra Samoska: Right. Exactly. And so I thought, "Okay, well we live here in Houston and obviously I'm a stay at home mom so we have one income so I'm not going to be able to fly all over the place and spend tons of money on the conferences." And so I do this Google search, because that's where you go when you have questions. Right? Joanne Jarrett: Heck yeah. Sandra Samoska: I Google Christian writing conferences near me. Right. And nothing comes up and I'm like, "Okay well, maybe now is not the time, I'll just have to do it another time." So I was kind of discouraged. I get in my car because it was time for me to leave to go pick up my son and I'm in the car. And it was funny because I was, you know, when I'm in the car, that's kind of my quiet time. And I was praying and I was talking to God and I was like, "You know, God, I get discouraged sometimes and I think that I need to be doing this, but I don't know how to do this. And sometimes I think I just need you to kick me in the pants. You know, God. So I just really need you to kick me in pants because I think I need you to kind of propel me a little bit." Sandra Samoska: And I have a thought, and I'm not saying that God was talking to me at that time because I did not hear a voice or anything, but I just had this thought, you know, you need to call Cindy. Cindy is a friend of mine from church who is very like, tell it like it is and she'll kick you in the pants if you need it. And I was like, "That's a good thought. Maybe I'll deal with that tomorrow." So, I went and picked up my kid and finished the day. And then the next morning I was sitting on the couch and I'm scrolling through Facebook and I see this ad for a Christian writers conference in Houston at the end of the summer. And this was like in the spring or something. Sandra Samoska: And I was like, "What?" Because sometimes I feel like God uses Google and Facebook and like has them talk to each other. Joanne Jarrett: Heck yeah. Sandra Samoska: And then like send me messages through those. Joanne Jarrett: Okay, why didn't this come up? And now all of a sudden it's popping up on my Facebook feed. This is like a personal gift for me. Sandra Samoska: Yes, super, slightly creepy, but amazing. And so I was like. So I thought about that a little bit and then I saw that Beth Moore was going to be there, which- Joanne Jarrett: Slam dunk. Got to go. Sandra Samoska: Right. I love her. And so I kind of verified it through Beth Moore's Twitter because that's where you go for your real news, to make sure it was legit. Joanne Jarrett: If you can't figure it from Facebook, then you have to cross reference with Twitter. Clearly. Sandra Samoska: That's right. That's how I get my information. Joanne Jarrett: Oh, I can tell my husband I'm not the only one, he's like, "Where'd you hear that, Facebook?" And I'm like, "Yeah." Sandra Samoska: So it must be true. I verified it with Twitter and Google. And so then I call my mother because she's my sounding board a lot. And so I'm kind of telling my mom about this crazy, creepy coincidence that had happened. And she's like, "Well, maybe you should really think about signing up for this conference." And I was like, "Well, maybe." ... And then I get a beep on my phone and I look at my phone and it's my friend Cindy just calling me out of the blue. Joanne Jarrett: No way. Sandra Samoska: Yes. Joanne Jarrett: What? Sandra Samoska: And I look at my phone- Joanne Jarrett: I was like, well maybe you should call Cindy after you hang up with your mom. No, she's calling you. Sandra Samoska: She's calling me and we don't talk a lot. We're not phone friends, you know. And so I look at it and I get back on the phone with my mom. I was like, "Mom, I got to go, God is calling me." She's like, "Well, I guess you better answer." Joanne Jarrett: That's awesome. So what did Cindy say? Sandra Samoska: Well, she was just calling because I had had a story published in a book and so she had seen that that had happened and so she wanted to just call out of the blue and congratulate me because she'd seen it and I said, "Well, I'm so glad you called. Let me tell you what's going on in my life right now." And kind of explained kind of what was going on in my conversation we've got about needing a kick in the pants and she's like, "Well, I don't know how I feel about the fact that you think I would kick you in the pants. If that's what you've been like, then sure." So I went to the conference. Joanne Jarrett: You did go to the conference. Okay. Awesome. Well you'll have to let me know when you have more information about your book. That is so exciting. I'm sure all my listeners will want to follow along with you. What is the best piece of advice you've ever been given? Sandra Samoska: The best piece of advice that I have been given actually came from my mother and she used to always say and still says it. It's the little things in life. So it's really about how it's not the big things or the super exciting moments that really make up your life. It's the little things, they kind of go in day by day. Those small little pieces of happiness or joy and those are the things that you need to cling on to and be grateful for instead of constantly waiting for the next awesome thing. Joanne Jarrett: I love it. That's such a good thing to remember and this is why one of those things you can do is keep these funny story nuggets in the back of your head and then when you feel like nothing interesting is happening, they can just roll into your mind and make you laugh out loud. One time I went to a party and my girlfriend invited all her friends from different walks of life and so it was one of those gift exchange parties. And when our number came up we had to tell our most embarrassing moment and then get our gift. And there are so many nuggets from that party. The interesting thing about that is these were women that I knew superficially and from a distance, most of them. And I left that party feeling like I knew them so much better. Joanne Jarrett: We laughed together. We kind of showed our underbellies. You know this one girl told a story about how she was in Home Depot in the morning and she had her toddler with her and she had just thrown some clothes on when she got up and she had loose soccer shorts on and she's shaped like a ballet dancer. She put her son down to pay for her item and her son was kind of trying to crawl up her leg to be picked back up and he ended up pulling her shorts down all the way to the floor and she was commando under there. So she had to bend all the way down to the floor to pick her shorts up and pull them up and then she's like, "Maybe nobody saw." Joanne Jarrett: So she looked behind her and there was a Home Depot employee standing right behind her and I'm like, "I am so sorry that that happened to you, but I am going to laugh about that off and on and as long as my brain works." I just said, "Thank you for that nugget." But anyway, I'm also kind of excited that you mentioned the whole conference thing because I have been trying to figure out a podcasting conference to go to, but I'm like you, we're one income. I live kind of in the middle of nowhere, unlike you and so I need a podcast conference that's in Spokane or Seattle. So if you're listening Facebook, Google, God, anyone. Joanne Jarrett: How can our listeners follow along with you and get more Sandra and make sure they know what's going on with you as these developments come along? Sandra Samoska: Well, I have a website where I have my blog, then that's SandraSamoska.com and then I'm most active on Facebook. My page is Outnumbered and that's kind of where I share a lot of blog posts but also just kind of like funny things that are going on in my life or things that I've noticed about life or crazy ways that God is working. It's more fun. And then I also have Twitter and Instagram, which I'm a little bit less active on because Instagram intimidates me because there's lots like pictures. But I'm getting there. Joanne Jarrett: Awesome. I will link to your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and your website in the show notes. So you guys, if you want to just figure out where to click to find more Sandra, if you're on an iPhone, go down to episode webpage and click on that and then it'll bring up all the links. And I'm sure it's similar on other things, but that's the only thing I know how to do it on. Thank you so much for being on the show with me today. It was super fun to talk to you. Sandra Samoska: I really enjoyed it. Thank you so much for inviting me. Joanne Jarrett: Well, that was a lot of fun. Thank you so much for joining us today on the Fancy Free Podcast. I hope you got some good belly laughs like we did and I hope you feel less alone in your imperfections. Make sure you return next week, I have Esther Goetz as my guest and she is going to tell us some really funny stories about parenting teenagers. Remember to subscribe to the show if you're having fun with it. If you have a story to tell, please email me at notfancy@fancyfreepodcast.com I'd love to have you on the show. I promise it's not scary at all. Also, request to join the Fancy Free Facebook group. We're having a lot of fun in that group. Every week we have a different question of the week and this week, the question of the week is, what is the funniest thing your pet has ever done? Have a wonderful week and until next week, remember, no one is as fancy as they look.    

Steven Butala:                   Steve and Jill here. Jill DeWit:                            Hi. Steven Butala:                   Welcome to The Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I'm Steven Jack Butala. Jill DeWit:                            And I'm Jill DeWit, broadcasting from sunny southern California. Steven Butala:                   Today, Jill and I talk with member Bei Zhang, who shares her Land Academy success stories and maybe some potential failures. Well, let's see what we talks about. Jill DeWit:                            Yeah. Steven Butala:                   Bei, am I pronouncing your last name correctly? Jill DeWit:                            Bei Zhang. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah, Zhang. Exactly right. It sounds like Jong. Steven Butala:                   All right. Awesome. Tell us a little bit ... In the pre-show, Bei, you were talking about how you just got back from China. That's super interesting. Tell us what happened. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. Well, this is a special trip and me, my mother-in-law and [inaudible 00:00:42], my nine-year-old daughter, and then also our nephew, we all come together to Beijing to meet my parents' side. So spent two weeks there and visited the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, those parks ... It's fabulous. Yeah. It's fun. Jill DeWit:                            Wow. I'm jealous. Steven Butala:                   So it was all just a social fun trip. No work? Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. I tried to cut off my workflow. I try to forget there has work, just fully enjoy my trip. So customer who leave the voicemail to me, I feel bad. I never really returned a call. Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            You have to do that sometimes. That's okay. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah, sometimes. Jill DeWit:                            That's not your norm. I know it. You have to really ... We have a trip coming up actually soon. By the time this airs, we'll be back from the trip, but ... Steven Butala:                   Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            Actually, we'll be on the trip. I don't even know. Steven Butala:                   Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            Anyway, we're going to go to Santa Barbara, and I'm really trying to orchestrate it so I don't have to do that much. There's always something I've got to check on, a few little things, but if I could do an hour a day, then it's perfect. I'm okay with that. Bei Zhang:                           Yes. Steven Butala:                   How does real estate work in China these days? Jill DeWit:                            Yeah. Bei Zhang:                           I think it is highly regulated by the government. So the government, they're really involved in the lot of those policies, so I think you have to have a very deep relationship with someone in that industry, in the government, to help you. It's not like everyone has an equal opportunity. That's how I feel. Steven Butala:                   Okay. Jill DeWit:                            Wow. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. Steven Butala:                   I just read that Chinese individuals buying residential real estate in this country dropped off this year by like 30%, and everybody wants Florida because it's inexpensive. Jill DeWit:                            Really? Steven Butala:                   But for some reason ... I don't know if it's the local economy there. Do you have any insights on that? Bei Zhang:                           I think it just like the price are very high in those cities. [inaudible 00:02:43] ridiculously high. You think about how much you earn versus your salary and then housing price, the ratio is really high. Not like in the U.S. Your salary, you add together in the middle class, probably, I don't know, six years. Assume you don't spend anything, you can pay off the whole house in a middle class type of house. But in China, it just like ... Well, 30 years it's just like a mission impossible. I feel the ratio is too high versus how much you earn, how much the house price is. It's ridiculously high. Yeah. Steven Butala:                   Oh. So you think it's rooted in not an earning to spending ratio, which I guess all residential [inaudible 00:03:24] is? Bei Zhang:                           Yes. I think when people, they traveled to the U.S. They see the price. They're like, "What? That is ridiculously low. I have the cash." The thing is they have a lot of cash. They're trying to looking for the investing opportunities. Then they just feel like, "Hey, let's just buy five houses one time." A lot of people do like that. Steven Butala:                   I see. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            Yep. I swear it was a big deal when I was in New York like two years ago. Everybody know who bought the Waldorf. All they kept saying was, "It was the Chinese." Some investors, like you're saying, maybe had a lot of cash and they just bought that whole thing. Steven Butala:                   Yeah. I've been doing this for a long time, and over the years we've sold tons of real estate land to people who are out of this country and shocked and amazed at how cheap it is. Jill DeWit:                            True. And how easy it is to transfer it, you know? Steven Butala:                   Yeah. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah, exactly. Even this time when I meet my friends, and I think they immigrate to Canada, and then they're thinking about how much I paid from my own house, and they're like, "What? We pay at least 10 times more than what you paid." They just cannot understand why the price here is so good here. Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            That's interesting. Steven Butala:                   You're in Indiana, right? Bei Zhang:                           Yes. I'm in Indiana. Indianapolis, yes. Steven Butala:                   Did you fly to Chicago? How did you get to China? Bei Zhang:                           Fly to Newark, New Jersey, that airport. Then, yeah, fly from there. I think it's like 14 or 13 hours of flight, so it's a long trip. Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            Yeah. That's super great. Steven Butala:                   Right into Beijing? Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. Right to Beijing, the Capital Airport. Yes. Steven Butala:                   Excellent. Jill DeWit:                            Awesome. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. You should go visit someday. Jill DeWit:                            I want to. Maybe next time you're on your way, I would love to go with you, Bei. We'd have a good time. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. Steven Butala:                   Yeah. You guys should- Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. I can be your tour guide to stop someone rip your off. Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            That would be so fun. You should tell how we met. Bei Zhang:                           Yes. Yeah, I think that's a good ... Yeah, we talk about this. So basically again, China, I grown up. Then I think I just in my corporate world, towards the end of 2016, I just don't really feel happy. Then I connected with one of the investors in the Land Academy. Then so he introduced me to meet us in person, and I feel so bad that day. I was like ... I didn't really know. "They sounds like really cool, Jill and then Steve, but I haven't really know anything about them or their program," I kind of think. But after I talk with you guys, I feel like it's so positive. Bei Zhang:                           Then when I go back to work on Monday, I start searching your podcast. I started doing a lot of research and try out listening. I'm like, "Oh, this is so you. I cannot wait to take actions." Then your podcast, for me, is almost like a treat when I drive to the corporate world, drive to the office, and back to the office. I just feel like, "Why they're so happy, and they make everything sounds so easy? Why I have to feel like sad every day?" I was looking for a new journey and life experience. So I just want to be like you, as well. Be happy. That's the first thing I want to be. So when mind feel calmed down, I feel like, "Hey, I can focus on what versus how." You know corporate world always focuses on how. Jill DeWit:                            Right. Steven Butala:                   That's a nice compliment. People ask us a lot like, "Are you guys really that happy, or is it a big act?" And here's my answer, "Jill wakes up happy every single day. Me, not so much." Bei Zhang:                           Oh, no. I don't believe you. Jill DeWit:                            That's good. I love our story. It's so funny. Yeah, the you had the first time Bei met us, we're buying her beer, and she's like, "Who are you guys?" Steven Butala:                   Yep. Jill DeWit:                            Then here you are now how many years later? Steven Butala:                   I think you were in Scottsdale for like another different event. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. Yeah. Another program. Then I just feel like I like to know the how part, exact how, to do it. Jill DeWit:                            Right. Bei Zhang:                           Then I think the data is the key thing is my bottleneck. I just cannot figure out, "How can I scrap the data? How can I get the data?" So the other investor, his name is Steven, he said, "Yeah, I know you'll like Land Academy. They really have the data program." So I'm like, "Hey, that's what I really need." Then I really liked your style. I feel like every day you're just so real. Then you always ... Seriously. When I drive to my corporate world, I was like, "Oh my God, I got six meetings back to back for eight hours. How can I go through that?" Then when I listened to the podcast, I'm like, "Hey, that make me feel so positive." Bei Zhang:                           Then I start doing the deals. I think it ... Because we meet at, I think April, 2016, so I start ... My first deal actually is July, 2016. So that year I probably did 12 or some deals. [inaudible 00:08:30] pretty big. I have no idea why I get those good experience. Then 2017, I just feel like, "Hey, I'm ready to [inaudible 00:08:30] my corporate world." So I just doing it full-time, so it very good experience. Jill DeWit:                            Yeah. How many deals did you do in '17, do you think? Bei Zhang:                           I think '17, I probably did somewhere close to like ... I think it's 48 that [crosstalk 00:09:00] Steven Butala:                   48 deals? Bei Zhang:                           Uh-huh (affirmative). Steven Butala:                   [crosstalk 00:09:04] that's great. Bei Zhang:                           Last year, I think 2018 was 58, I'm thinking. Yeah. Not a huge [crosstalk 00:09:13] Steven Butala:                   That's fantastic. Bei Zhang:                           And this year I did some research for this show I've just reviewed just now. I think so far as of today I did 56, something like that. Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            Oh. Steven Butala:                   I got the wrong impression on our webinars, because we talk about that one deal that was giving you trouble. Bei Zhang:                           Mm-hmm (affirmative). Jill DeWit:                            Oh, she's doing a lot. Steven Butala:                   We didn't talk about all the great deals you're doing. Jill DeWit:                            Yeah. And you're usually doing the bigger dollar amounts, aren't you, Bei? You went right at it. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. The very interesting ... The first deal I brought it. It's so funny. It's a title company right of away [inaudible 00:00:09:49]. So I start with the title company with the first two or three deals is all title company. They teach me a lot, and then I start doing a little bit smaller deals. And I feel like it click a little bit better with the larger dollar amount of deal versus the very tiny one. I don't know why it ... I don't know why. Maybe there has [inaudible 00:10:14] power. This is a harder question. I don't know. Jill DeWit:                            Love it. I think it's the bigger return on the bigger deals, for me. Steven Butala:                   I mean, you've obviously made this work for you. Jill DeWit:                            Yep. Steven Butala:                   So what can you attribute that to? Bei Zhang:                           What is the question? I don't quite understand. Steven Butala:                   You've obviously made our program and land investment itself really work to your advantage. Bei Zhang:                           Mm-hmm (affirmative). Steven Butala:                   And honestly, you're ... I'm telling the truth here, because I guess it's the spirit of telling the truth, you're a very unlikely corporate success candidate for Land Academy. So I'm wondering if you can share with us what it is about land and what it is about you that's making this work. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for explain that. Elaborate. Yes. I think is probably the personality. I think the personality decided your life a lot of the times. I'm more like a person looking for experience versus the security. Because 15 years ago I come to the US. It's a huge journey for me for go to business school. Then I work as a marketer for years, working with agency side and working for the client side, and all kinds of the industry, like a customer products, medical device, health care, pharmaceutical. I think probably just like I keep jumping here and there. I just trying to feel what I like, because I don't want to waste my time. I think that life is short. Why are we have to worried about the retirement money? We're [inaudible 00:11:50] to trade your golden years, or just the later year when you're 70. So that's how I keep looking. Bei Zhang:                           Then I like to control my life. In the corporate world, I think it's fancy, because my last role is as a brand manager for a top 10 pharmaceutical company in the world. So to manage one of their cancer drug for lung cancer, I think at first you would thinking about it's fun as glamorous, that kind of feeling. But I just feel in the corporate world that you probably hard to control your schedule, your life. You're kind of like flat, go with the flow. Then, again, people ... They really focused on doing the how part versus the what part, where you're using one meeting to prepare another meeting and just do the how [inaudible 00:12:40]. But nobody really worried about what's the project lead us to? And I feel like that's waste my time. Bei Zhang:                           So what I'm looking for is I don't like politics too much, because I think that's a waste of my time. I just want to find a area I can control who I want to work with, what I want to work with, and when I want to work. So that's the three part I like to find. Bei Zhang:                           Then to [inaudible 00:13:05] I got a book ... I think as Rich Dad Poor Dad, the famous writer Robert Kiyosaki ... really make me think about if you want the working bee hard toward the investor that hard, and how the money flows. That just opened my mind. So there always have something in my back of my head like where I should find this opportunity. Bei Zhang:                           So I'm so glad I connected with Land Academy. You guys teaching me tons, of tons, of tons of things. Then the last two years I feel like I learned from Land Academy, from my peers, from you, Steven and Jill. And then from my customers, from those sellers, from those county persons, all those lawyers, and that kind of thing. I feel like I'm just like learning. I'm so happy about I'm not wasting my time, and I could be very flexible. So I guess it's just entrepreneur experience, you know? Steven Butala:                   Yeah. Bei Zhang:                           My spirit kind of lead me to here. Jill DeWit:                            That's so great. Steven Butala:                   You have such a good attitude. Jill DeWit:                            Yeah. Steven Butala:                   It's amazing, actually. Jill DeWit:                            It's huge. I think at our first live event, you were the very first one. [inaudible 00:14:18] I remember I loved it. And I'm pretty sure, I think I saw you on the list for this October, right? Bei Zhang:                           Yes. Uh-huh (affirmative). Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            Okay, good. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. I just feel like connecting with people in our community just ... You feel lonely every day sometimes. You want to have some feedback, right? And then my family, they could give me some level of feedback, but their feedback is so ... The mindset is different. Jill DeWit:                            Right. Bei Zhang:                           So I appreciate that, but I want to see the feedback from you and from the other peers. I want to see how other people doing. Jill DeWit:                            Exactly. I love it. It's going to be fun to fast forward a year. We should talk about that, actually, at this event. It'd be fun to talk with everybody, maybe at the end. Talk about where we've all grown from last year to this year, because from what I've been hearing, it's astronomical. Steven Butala:                   Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            I'm excited. Steven Butala:                   I know you're in our advanced group. What do you think of that and those webinars that we hold on every Thursday? Bei Zhang:                           I think we're talk about more specific questions. Maybe they're more specific, especially focus on acquisition part versus the general full call. Probably, you get all kinds of questions. This advanced group is more, I think, for people who've had some experience, and then they are looking for some other niche aside. Then some of the thought process is interesting. I like to listen. Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            I do, too. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. Steven Butala:                   You two women are role models for young girls all over. Jill DeWit:                            Thank you. Bei Zhang:                           Oh. Steven Butala:                   Absolutely. Taking life and careers and just made it work for you guys. Jill DeWit:                            Yeah. I was stuck in that corporate role too, you know? I remember thinking, "Why am I working so hard for somebody else? I'd rather work this hard for me." Bei Zhang:                           Exactly. Exactly. I just feel corporate ... If you want to push in one things, it's so hard. Too many cooks in the kitchen, I would say. Then, right now, as an entrepreneur, I know like Steven, Jill, you guys have different little mini corporations, different project. That, to me, so fun is you get to figure out what you want to do and where you want to go. So really, that's your baby. You get to decide how the baby grow. Jill DeWit:                            Exactly. Steven Butala:                   Of all the ways to describe those little other corporate projects that we have going on, fun is not how I describe it at all. Jill DeWit:                            That's where we differ. That's one of the many ways that we differ. Bei knows. Bei Zhang:                           I think just after you ... Because every day I think just a little tiny things, it will influence my mood. Sometimes even the hate call where some people, they have some ridiculous request, or county say, "You violate this." It just is a little thing where make your feel kind of like, "Eh," down. But once you just get up, and like Jill, you always say you reset yourself. I take that notes. I think that's good advice. So I reset myself and I just feel like when you have a different mood, you treat the same thing differently. So when you [inaudible 00:17:37] feel like, "Hey, that's nothing. I made it, so it was fun in the way." Jill DeWit:                            It is. I do. I still look at these challenges. We're working on bringing back TitleMind, and we have a new partner in our office, and we're doing stuff with him. He's going through all the steps, and he hasn't done it at this level, I think, before. Steven Butala:                   Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            And he's had other companies, but not like this and has not seen this many hoops and this much vagueness, too. It's really kind of funny. And I talked to him about it the other day. I said, "You know what, Ken? This is one of those things that every time I get into it and I see this many issues and this many problems and this many things we've got to get past, I cheer because I'm like, 'How many people just dropped out because of that?' There's going to be ... That's where we're going to do it and other people can't." Steven Butala:                   Yep. Bei Zhang:                           Yes. [crosstalk 00:18:30] I think our business model is very simple, but simple doesn't mean easy. Jill DeWit:                            Correct. Bei Zhang:                           I always feel almost like if you only have one child and get pregnant, that's easy. But if you have 10 children there and you're pregnant with twins, it's just so hard to take care of each of those little project. That's how I feel. It's simple, but it's not easy. Jill DeWit:                            Isn't that true? You present it pretty funny, but I'm sure you've had this too, Bei. Even like you're traveling or talking to relatives, and you explain what you do, and they think, "Oh, it's just so easy. I could do that." And you're like, "Hold on a moment. It's not that ... There's a lot of moving parts, and you can't be afraid of a lot of things like data." Steven Butala:                   So Bei, what do you mean simple, but ... You said it's easy. No, simple but time-consuming. Bei Zhang:                           Not easy. Steven Butala:                   Is that how we describe it? Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. I think because just like when Jill talk about there has a lot of moving parts, the concept is really easy. You find the deals, and you just flip the deals, right? How easy is that? But there has a lot of ... the process. How do you make the process when you operate that? I think the operational excellence, that's the challenge. Steven Butala:                   Yeah. Bei Zhang:                           How do you save your time? How do you manage your team? How do you using other people's strengths to help you? Then how do you think about the process? I think it's about the process. How do you [inaudible 00:19:57] work? How do you create a system? I think these are the things that not easy. You have to make certain deals to fully understand how do you talk to the customers and that kind of thing. Jill DeWit:                            Exactly. Steven Butala:                   That's our biggest single challenge, what you just described. Getting the right people in the right place, systematizing everything, and then really kind of ramping it up. Jill DeWit:                            Yep. Steven Butala:                   So we conquered it with land a long time ago, but when it comes to companies like ParcelFact or TitleMind.com, like Jill mentioned, that we haven't released yet, it's like starting all over again. Jill DeWit:                            Yeah. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. Maybe after you make some mistakes, a couple of a hundred deals like you did for land, your other little company, you understand what's the flow should be, so that- Steven Butala:                   Yeah. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. You're going to make some mistakes there to learn. Steven Butala:                   People- Jill DeWit:                            [crosstalk 00:20:50] I have a question. Steven Butala:                   Go ahead. Go ahead. Jill DeWit:                            Do you outsource any of this? And if so, what do you outsource and where? Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. I used to outsource quite a few like marketing. I think marketing is the [inaudible 00:21:0 I'm a marketer. I know it. I just don't want to do the repeat work. So I go to ... You know Upwork.com, right? So you can find those freelancers. Then I outsource these. There has a woman. She worked with me probably for over two years just help me with my customer services or the basic emails and then with some hosting. Steven Butala:                   That's great. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. Other data input. Then I used to want to hire some like assistants, but I think it's really hard to find a assistant, because you have to buy the time. Then, basically, probably I'm in the learning process, also. I'm still learning how to manage the freelancer, and then like win-win situation, because sometimes they just don't want to do those work or, I don't know, the relationship is hard, especially for remotes. Jill DeWit:                            Right. Steven Butala:                   That's such another challenge for us, too. When you hire somebody, even if it's outsourced, how much time is it going to take to get that ... your time to ... Because now you can't do that job anymore. You're hired this person. So there's always this ramp-up period where stuff's not getting done that you hired the person for. So I'm famous for like waiting too long to hire the person, and then it's not the right person, so you got to hire them again. And it's a big challenge. Bei Zhang:                           I had thoughts, Steve. You talk in one of your podcasts ... You mentioned about, "Well, just let that person get the things done, even though that's not you." I think you made really good comments. I'm like, "Okay, I'll let [inaudible 00:22:42], even though it's not my way to do it, but to get things done." So, yeah. Jill DeWit:                            Exactly. Exactly. Steven Butala:                   All right. I'll take my own advice. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. You have to go back, think about your good advice. Yeah. So Jill and you both give me really good advice. Jill DeWit:                            Thank you. What are your goals for this year? Is it a deal goal? Is it a money goal? Whatever you want to share would be awesome. Bei Zhang:                           I think my goal, probably just overall, I want to do somewhere close to 100 deals, more like the number of the deals. Then the size, I want to make those deals a little bit higher dollar amounts, a little bit higher. But lower is fine, also, as long as they earn money. I just go with the flow but focusing on a little bit higher. I think the key thing is you got to buy more property, that way you can keep selling more. Bei Zhang:                           So at first, I'm very happy whenever I sold a property in year one and year two. Then once I sold out all of them like, "Oh, what shall I do?" Then, Steve, you mentioned when you get excited is the time when you purchase a property in the right price, so now I get that. Steven Butala:                   Good. Bei Zhang:                           I am happy when I make a good acquisition, because I know lot of times when I sell property, I really don't really lower the price or I really don't push or chase these people. I think it just price, the value of sale. So I just market there and the people just bought right away, so I know if I do my research right about a good price, and then I win. Yes. Jill DeWit:                            Exactly. Steven Butala:                   Good. Jill DeWit:                            That's good. All right, so over a hundred deals. You're coming to the event. And is this it for you now? I mean, you're in it, man. This is your career and just going to grow this business forever? [crosstalk 00:24:46] property tax. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. Basically, I think ... Yeah. I joined the House Academy early. Steven Butala:                   Oh, good. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. I think it's probably last two months were ... But I haven't really get a chance to learn yet before my China trip, but I'm going to look. I think it just opened up more window. Definitely, I think real estate is very fun. There has different sub-category of real estate, so land, house, even mobile home. I'm kind of open to learn. But I think real estate will be where I like to go. I feel happy. When I feel happy, you heart is a harmony level and when you do things, you enjoy your life. So that's what I'm looking for. Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            That's so [inaudible 00:25:30] Steven Butala:                   She's really taking a spiritual approach to this. A feeling approach. I think that's great. Jill DeWit:                            It is. it makes a difference. Steven Butala:                   It's really refreshing for me, because I'm all numbers and angry, you know? Bei Zhang:                           No. You're funny. I don't think so. Jill DeWit:                            I think, maybe too for women, we might talk ... You guys may not even know that you feel that way, I don't think, because you guys don't talk like that. We will be open and share it. But I think you know ... When I say you, I mean men. You have a sense of accomplishment. You may not go back and reflect on it like we do. Steven Butala:                   Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            So you get it. Steven Butala:                   Right. I mean, it's good. It's good to ... I didn't know I could have feelings. Bei Zhang:                           Don't get womens wrong. We like numbers, also. We like to [inaudible 00:26:18]. Jill DeWit:                            That's true. That's true. That's true. Bei Zhang:                           [inaudible 00:26:23] checking all my numbers, and I'm like, "Oh, good. [inaudible 00:26:24] Jill DeWit:                            Good point. Yeah, Bei's [crosstalk 00:26:26] her way through every deal. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. It's so funny. Like this time we traveled in China, and then people try to rip you off in certain markets, so we try to negotiate the price. Every time whole family from the U.S. side, they asked me to negotiate the price, and then they're, "Oh, you're such a harsh negotiator." So when I buy property or when I sell, I do put the negotiator role there. So, yeah, that's important. So I do look at the number, make sure that they're right, and then spiritual. Jill DeWit:                            Because you know what's funny about that, Bei? You just said something that Steven has said about me. He will go back and look at some of the deals that we're doing and ones that I have approved and not approved. He's like, "You're a little tougher than I am on these guys." Like he would have said, "I would accepted that. It's fine. It'll work out." I'm like, "Nope." Steven Butala:                   She's tough. Jill DeWit:                            "I need to buy it at this, and then I can [inaudible 00:27:20]," you know? Bei Zhang:                           Yes. Jill DeWit:                            Yeah. So we're a little [crosstalk 00:27:21] Steven Butala:                   And it happens. It ends up actually the deal happens, you know? Jill DeWit:                            Yeah. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. That's how I feel. Jill, you are tougher than Steven for that part. I can read you pretty well. That's how I feel. Jill DeWit:                            Thank you. Thank you. Steven Butala:                   She picked up on it. Jill DeWit:                            Yeah. Bei and I connect. We're good. And look at us. We're happy and laughing and smiling all the way through it. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. Yeah. You're inspiring me. I just feel like whenever I feel lonely, I just listen to more of the podcast. Jill DeWit:                            Thank you. I'm glad. Steven Butala:                   Oh, good. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. Steven Butala:                   Bei, are you the translator everywhere you go? Bei Zhang:                           To talk in China? Steven Butala:                   Yeah, just constant translation? Bei Zhang:                           Yeah, mostly I'll do that. And my husband, he know a little bit, very tiny bit, and my ... I have a nine-year-old daughter, and she can say pretty well, but she's not fully competent for that if people speak fast. Yeah. It was fun. Steven Butala:                   Great. Jill DeWit:                            That's great. That's cool. Steven Butala:                   I'm sure that plays all into this. She's like the role model/leader, you know? Jill DeWit:                            Yeah. Bei Zhang:                           Oh. Jill DeWit:                            What a good example. You, too. Bei, I mean, he's right. I mean, look at what you're teaching your daughter about what's possible. And the changes that you've made in your life and leaving the corporate world, and a very, very good paying job, by the way, to do this for yourself, and then just kill it. Bei Zhang:                           Well, what I happy about when I go back to China, I connected with some of my like 20-years-old friends. We used to work together, whatever. And I just feel they're still in the same area. I mean, good for them, because they feel stable. But I feel like, "Hey, within those 15 years, I learned so many things," you know? Even someday when I'm turning 90-something, when I look back what I did, I feel happy. I didn't waste my time. That's all I'm looking for. Yeah. The biggest thing, I cannot bear is wasting my time to do something repeatedly again, again. Yeah. Steven Butala:                   People ask Jill and I what we're going to do in retirement, and I say, "We're going to go back and buy and sell real estate," because it's about 10% of what we do right now, and I long for the days when ... Remember when we started out? Jill DeWit:                            Yeah. Steven Butala:                   We're in that back bedroom- Jill DeWit:                            Just deal flow. Steven Butala:                   ... and just like I was buying, and she was selling it. We were just counting the money. Jill DeWit:                            That was it. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. I don't really perceive you retire or anything. I think you're just probably make the flow slower a little bit and make the products more focused. That's all. And then it's just like do not need a lot of operational help, just flow come in and the money come in right away. Jill DeWit:                            That's a good plan. I like that. Steven Butala:                   Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            Do you have any questions for us? Bei Zhang:                           A question. At this point, I don't have any question. I just feel like I'm so glad to connected with you and to see you in person. Almost feel like that I look forward, we can see each other probably another two months-ish. Steven Butala:                   Yeah. Bei Zhang:                           And I cannot wait to meet other peers, as well, and then to exchange ideas and connect within that group. Yeah. Very positive. Jill DeWit:                            Me, too. Us, too. Steven Butala:                   Great. Jill DeWit:                            Thank you. Steven Butala:                   Hey, we know your time's valuable. Thanks for spending some of it with us today, anyway. Join us next time for another interesting episode. Jill DeWit:                            And we answer your questions posted on our online community at LandInvestors.com. It is free. Steven Butala:                   You are not alone in your real estate ambition. Steven Butala:                   Bei, I can't thank you enough. Jill DeWit:                            That was fun. Steven Butala:                   It was really funny of you. Bei Zhang:                           Yes. Jill DeWit:                            It's nice. I feel like we just got to have a nice little quick girly chat on the phone and connect, but we just happened to share it with everybody. Bei Zhang:                           Yeah. This is a casual talk almost, but it was fun. For me, it's a good experience. Thank you for your time interview me for this one hour. This is my treat. Yeah. Steven Butala:                   Yep. Jill DeWit:                            Thank you very much. Steven Butala:                   We'll see you soon. Thank you. Bei Zhang:                           See you. Take care. Bye-bye. Steven Butala:                   Bye.  

33% of Our Members Quit Day Jobs to Invest Full Time (1033) Transcript: Steven Butala:                   Steve and Jill here. Jill DeWit:                            Hi. Steven Butala:                   Welcome to the Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I'm Steven Jack Butala. Jill DeWit:                            And Jill Dewit, broadcasting from sunny southern California. Steven Butala:                   Today, Jill and I talk about our current flip tool line up. Years and years and years in the making and it all comes down to this. We have developed, just through the nature and the course of improving our own land flipping business, all these tools. When we started Land Academy everybody said, "Well, can't we use that tool to do it?" Through over the years, since 2015, Jill and I have web enabled our tools for everyone to use in the group and that their response has been fantastic. So Jill will get into in a second. Jill DeWit:                            It's going to be good. Some of them, we are licensed providers and I'll share that. And some of them that we flat out created because they didn't exist, and we needed them. Steven Butala:                   There's a lot. We charge, in my opinion, a very small subscription fee to access all these tools that we've been developing. I've been developing since the 90s and how to use them, with the education on how to use them. Jill DeWit:                            And it's not cheap. Steven Butala:                   It's worth spending an episode on. Let's put it that way. Jill DeWit:                            Exactly. Steven Butala:                   Yeah. Before we get into it though, let's take a question posted by one of our members on the landinvestors.com online community. It's free, and before we get into Jill, I'm going to tell you it's lengthy. Jill DeWit:                            I took a deep breath and then he goes, "Before you start." Ah, okay. Steven Butala:                   If we had any formal in front of the camera or radio audio training, none of this would happen. Jill DeWit:                            Thanks. Okay. Can I go now? Steven Butala:                   Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            Okay. David says, "Hey, all I'm a terms guy that loves selling property on terms. I've been putting my foot into the water for larger properties. However, my comfort is with the stuff that's less than $15,000 and I've had a lot of success there and I want to continue to scale that income. I've had a ton of success on Facebook, buy and sell marketplace and continue to market there. I have VAs, virtual assistants, hired to help with that. Had plenty of success on lands.com, Land Century, et cetera, and I have Vas to help with that. I'm trying to continue to scale up and each of these places has a limit to them, but in reaching times the number of potential buyers or the number of posts you can make without getting your accounts slapped, your hand slapped or doing paid traffic. So trying to figure out how to continue to scale up. I think Craigslist could be the answer. Jill DeWit:                            On the other hand, where I've had the largest amount of frustration has been on Craigslist. There's so many moving parts and I know that other people have had massive success there. I've even talked to some land specific... taken some land specific courses on Craigslist to try and better master it. I that we've made some progress, but I'm still not satisfied with my stick rate. Probably around 60 to 70% and I get a few responses that are mostly tire kickers with a buyer that comes in every few months. The people who are crushing it seem to get an 85 to 90% stick rate and are selling properties left and right using Craigslist." Steven Butala:                   A stick rate is, I post a piece of property on Craigslist and it doesn't get taken down, 85 to 95% or 90% of the time.

Our Current Flip Tool Line Up (1032) Transcript: Steven Butala:                   Steve and Jill here. Jill DeWit:                            Hi. Steven Butala:                   Welcome to the Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I'm Steven Jack Butala. Jill DeWit:                            And Jill Dewit, broadcasting from sunny southern California. Steven Butala:                   Today, Jill and I talk about our current flip tool line up. Years and years and years in the making and it all comes down to this. We have developed, just through the nature and the course of improving our own land flipping business, all these tools. When we started Land Academy everybody said, "Well, can't we use that tool to do it?" Through over the years, since 2015, Jill and I have web enabled our tools for everyone to use in the group and that their response has been fantastic. So Jill will get into in a second. Jill DeWit:                            It's going to be good. Some of them, we are licensed providers and I'll share that. And some of them that we flat out created because they didn't exist, and we needed them. Steven Butala:                   There's a lot. We charge, in my opinion, a very small subscription fee to access all these tools that we've been developing. I've been developing since the 90s and how to use them, with the education on how to use them. Jill DeWit:                            And it's not cheap. Steven Butala:                   It's worth spending an episode on. Let's put it that way. Jill DeWit:                            Exactly. Steven Butala:                   Yeah. Before we get into it though, let's take a question posted by one of our members on the landinvestors.com online community. It's free, and before we get into Jill, I'm going to tell you it's lengthy. Jill DeWit:                            I took a deep breath and then he goes, "Before you start." Ah, okay. Steven Butala:                   If we had any formal in front of the camera or radio audio training, none of this would happen. Jill DeWit:                            Thanks. Okay. Can I go now? Steven Butala:                   Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            Okay. David says, "Hey, all I'm a terms guy that loves selling property on terms. I've been putting my foot into the water for larger properties. However, my comfort is with the stuff that's less than $15,000 and I've had a lot of success there and I want to continue to scale that income. I've had a ton of success on Facebook, buy and sell marketplace and continue to market there. I have VAs, virtual assistants, hired to help with that. Had plenty of success on lands.com, Land Century, et cetera, and I have Vas to help with that. I'm trying to continue to scale up and each of these places has a limit to them, but in reaching times the number of potential buyers or the number of posts you can make without getting your accounts slapped, your hand slapped or doing paid traffic. So trying to figure out how to continue to scale up. I think Craigslist could be the answer. Jill DeWit:                            On the other hand, where I've had the largest amount of frustration has been on Craigslist. There's so many moving parts and I know that other people have had massive success there. I've even talked to some land specific... taken some land specific courses on Craigslist to try and better master it. I that we've made some progress, but I'm still not satisfied with my stick rate. Probably around 60 to 70% and I get a few responses that are mostly tire kickers with a buyer that comes in every few months. The people who are crushing it seem to get an 85 to 90% stick rate and are selling properties left and right using Craigslist." Steven Butala:                   A stick rate is, I post a piece of property on Craigslist and it doesn't get taken down, 85 to 95% or 90% of the time. Jill DeWit:                            Exactly.

What do Boots on the Ground Do for Sellers (022)   Steven:                Steve and Jill here! Jill:                          Hi! Steven:                Welcome to the House Academy Show, entertaining real estate investment talk. I'm Steven Jack Butala Jill:                          And I'm Jill DeWit, broadcasting from sunny, Southern California. Steven:                Today, Jill and I talk about what do the boots on the ground actually do for sellers. Jill:                          I would like to say, "What don't the boots on the ground actually do for sellers?" Jill:                          Isn't it kind of amazing what you guys have had to do- Kristine:               Yes! Jill:                          ... for some of these sellers?" Kristine:               Absolutely, yes. Steven:                If you're looking for a real, good, solid definition of how we use, or this concept of boots on the ground, listen to the show from yesterday. We really define it in pretty good detail about why real estate investors need... or, should utilize some version of boots on the ground, and represent you as the investor purchasing the house. This show is all about what the boots on the ground do for the seller, to get us to the point where we've purchased the house. And there's a lot of stuff. Jill:                          There is. And I'd like to add, if you're just finding us today, this is Kristine and Ken [Bonn 00:01:04] and they are our boots on the ground for the whole Phoenix MSA. Steven:                Right. Jill:                          And, maybe more. Kristine:               That's coming. Steven:                And the truth is, we just opened this studio, and these guys were out here having fun with us for a couple weeks, and we decided to do this five episodes today for this week, the 4th of July weekend. Jill:                          Exactly. Steven:                Or week. I guess it's going to air next week, by the way. Jill:                          Yeah. For the 8th of July week! For the 8th of July week! Yay! Steven:                Before we get into it, let's take a question, posted by one of our members on the online HouseAcademy.com community. It's free. Jill:                          Andrew asks, "What cities are best to flip houses?" Steven:                So, this is a good question. There's so much... We do data-driven, data-centric acquisitions, and there's a lot of large companies... Not a lot. There's about five really large companies out there, for whatever reason, believe that there's about eight or ten MSAs that are great to do this in, and it's all based on statistics, and how fast the properties are moving, and how little they need to do to them, if anything, to resell them. Steven:                I personally think that's possible and plausible. But the best deals I've ever seen, both in land and in houses, are when somebody goes off and it's some crazy market that they know really well, and purchase and sell property there because they know it well, or their partners know it well. So, what's the best places to do this? If you want to do it just purely by the book, by price per square foot, Phoenix, Dallas, I think Charlotte's up there now, Seattle, it's real easy to do. Jill:                          Vegas. Steven:                Yeah, Vegas, for sure, and some of the communities in Los Angeles. But I'll tell you, the real money is in smaller MSAs that fit the same criteria that you know more about. Jill:                          [inaudible 00:03:05] I've known what you're looking for, right? Steven:                Yeah. Jill:                          That's the whole thing with House Academy. That's what we do, and what we share is how to go into a large area and look at, line up all the zip codes, or however you want to get into it, even subdivisions, pit them against each other, and stuff will rise to the top, and you'll know. Jill:                          So, it really does work almost everywhere. Steven:                The fundamentals are the same. If you have a property that's priced, when you go to sell it, priced 20% below what it's actually worth, retail, you're going to sell it fast. I don't care if it's in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, or in downtown Scottsdale. Jill:                          Yeah, it's funny. I just yesterday had a woman reach out to me online and was asking... because we fund deals for people of all kinds, all over the country. She's like, "Would you be interested in this apartment complex?" She went into detail about the type of units. Jill:                          I'm like, "Hold on. Stop right there." Steven:                Good. Jill:                          I don't care about that. All I care about is what are the numbers? She's like, "It's not your normal thing." Jill:                          And so I said, "Do I normally do apartments? No. But," I said, "If you can find a deal that's under priced by this much, you've kind of got a guy in your back pocket, who you have a buyer lined up, and all you need is money to close a deal we can get in and out real fast, that's what we're looking for." Jill:                          So, at place for all property types, not just houses, and lots of locations. Steven:                Okay. I have a lot to say about this. Jill:                          Okay. Steven:                These one off deals, that people do this. I got a golf course deal two months ago. Jill:                          That's true. Steven:                They almost never work. When you send out line to offer campaigns- Jill:                          That's true. Steven:                ...and you have a acquisition machine, and a pipeline under you, you're very used to looking at deals that you've generated yourself, you got there first, it's a great way to do properties. Steven:                But, these opportunistic deals come up all the time- Jill:                          True. Steven:                ...because of this show. I don't remember ever buying one. Jill:                          No, you're right. And, [Jay 00:05:00], I want to know, you're right, because I was pretty much shutting her down. Because [crosstalk 00:05:05]. Steven:                Because we talk about this all the time. Jill:                          I know, exactly, because the point is, however you found it was probably wrong. You're doing it probably wrong. Here's what I look for to kind of help you. Please don't come to me with these. Steven:                Was it a big building? What was so special to her about this building? Jill:                          She didn't have any money. Jill:                          For some reason, she saw something in this, because it's unique, maybe it's near her. She wants to get into apartments. She's just, this is her thing. Steven:                Oh, she wants to get into apartments. Jill:                          She wants to get into apartments. And when I said, "I need A, B, C, D, and E," it's probably like, "Well, okay, thank you Jill. Nevermind." Jill:                          Which is what I was I was going for. I didn't want to like, shut her down, but I know she's not doing it right and I was trying to help her and educate her the right way. Steven:                Okay. Jill:                          Yeah. Thank you. Steven:                Today's topic, what do boots on the ground do for sellers, or in Jill's case... Jill says, "What do-" [crosstalk 00:05:54]. It's what they don't do. Jill:                          It's what they don't do. Steven:                This is why you're listening. Go ahead, Jill. Jill:                          Well, I guess we can... If we go back to yesterday's call, we had mentioned that, to back up for a second, the boots on the ground we are indeed the eyes and the ears for our investors there locally within that given area that you're in. So, that initial engagement that happens with the sellers, it literally comes from us. So, understanding again, the need of where the sellers are coming from and then also at the same time being able to know, okay, this is in the areas that they're going to need a little bit of extra more help on, or not. Gauging the support for the sellers is something that we absolutely do. So, just to sort of re-cap from yesterday's call. Jill:                          But, to get down to the actual tactics of what exactly happens and how we support sellers. So, not... as I was mentioning yesterday, there's not one size fits all. So, we take on the call and there's a seller who has interest in selling their property. That starts the initial, okay, let's understand the engagements required. We run through the process with them. We've had lots of different- Steven:                Let me take two steps back first. Jill:                          Yeah. Yeah. Ken:                       Sure. Kristine:               Yeah. Steven:                Jill and I, from our central office send out thousands and thousands and thousands of blind offers that are all priced real specifically. There's a lot of science that goes into it. And, because we have a great relationship with them, they get... that generates, once the sellers open those offers, they either call the number on there, or they email. And, in both cases it goes... because we have a great relationship with these guys, it goes to them. Jill:                          Directly. Steven:                Directly. So, that gets the ball started. So- Kristine:               Yeah, [crosstalk 00:07:37] Jill:                          All right. Steven:                ... from that point- Jill:                          Also, say, are all the callers happy and ready to sell? Kristine:               No. Ken:                       We wish. Jill:                          Yeah. Kristine:               Goodness. You have some good story here about what have people told you. Jill:                          Right, so, we're always excited to get a call, okay. Always excited to answer the call, and you're really cheerful, and then you have someone that says, "Get my name off your list!" Or, "Never send me the letter!" Jill:                          We have the ones that, "Hey, I'm interested in selling my house, but it might be five years out." Jill:                          And then, you have the ones that, "I'm in a time crunch, and oh, by the way, I need to get out within 60 days." Jill:                          So, it's definitely, yeah. Ken:                       [crosstalk 00:08:17] Jill:                          Yes. Exactly. [inaudible 00:08:18] Jill:                          I'm sure you've heard those calls come in, too. Ken:                       I have? Jill:                          I mean, what do you ... the different types of calls that were coming in [crosstalk 00:08:26] Ken:                       Yeah, and like, "You really shouldn't call my wife that name!" Jill:                          Yeah! Ken:                       Yeah, I think the name of the game is just be cheerful and accommodating and, "We'll take you off the list," if it's that caller. Jill:                          Yes. Ken:                       Hopefully it's the other call that we like, which is, "Hey, I got your purchase agreement and I'm interested," and we set it up from there. State, "When can we come see the house?" Kristine:               Yes. Jill:                          Yet. So that kicks off. It's kind of saying, "Okay. That's our start button." So- Kristine:               So, how fast do you do that, because that's what I tell people, too. We all know time kills deals, especially in these situations, so- Steven:                Yeah. Jill:                          Yes. Kristine:               How are you guys like when the call comes, when you're already looking at your calendar thinking, "I got to be ready to hit these guys tomorrow." You need a signed purchase agreement and get some photos and, yeah. Jill:                          Right, right. Yeah. So, for the callers that are absolutely interested in selling, they're excited, they want to ... The first thing the ask is, "I got your letter. Your offer seems acceptable, but is this really real?" Kristine:               Wow. Steven:                Yeah. Jill:                          That's typically what they ask us. Is this really a real offer? Kristine:               Okay. Cool. Jill:                          And so, what's great is that there was a huge presence through [Rand 00:09:35] Academy and House Academy, and that definitely [inaudible 00:09:40] builds there address. Ken:                       Yeah, it bolsters their confidence. Jill:                          Right. And their confidence [crosstalk 00:09:46] Kristine:               That's cool. That's good. Jill:                          So, there's a brief moment there, you're going to be having to explain, okay, who we are. And then, their next question is, "Okay, what's the next steps?" Ken:                       Right. Jill:                          So then, you have about, I would say there's a good, probably, typically seven to 10 minutes of where you're going through the motion of who we are, and then at a very high level, here's our next steps. Kristine:               Perfect. Jill:                          So, I think, as far as if ... Do we want to just dive into the next steps? Is that- Kristine:               Yeah. This is great! Jill:                          So, we explain to them, "Okay, the next steps is we've sent you that offer, but we need to ... Now let's schedule a house visit." Jill:                          And so, there's times where scheduling a house visit, they actually may have a tenant at the property. So there's coordination there as an FY, you coordinate with the owner of the property and their tenants, and be able to come visit the house. Jill:                          In other cases, and most of the cases what we've found is a lot of the houses are vacant. So that is- Steven:                Yeah, I've had that some, too. Jill:                          Yeah, which those are great! Kristine:               Isn't that amazing? Ken:                       They're great! Jill:                          Yes, it's a lot easier to manage. Jill:                          I want to pause and say, this is one of the things that people think that you can only find these driving for dollars. Jill:                          No, you don't. Jill:                          This is a good example. We're not driving for dollars. We're uncovering great assets that are empty, ready to go, and just with our direct mail, and that's so much easier. Kristine:               Yes. It has. Exactly. Explaining the process that starts with, when you schedule a house visit, and then at the same time, if there's an opportunity where we can also start to pre-plan for a home inspection. Ken:                       Right. Kristine:               We do that within ... so we're on the call seven to 10 minutes, and then shortly thereafter, we're starting to ping our home inspector to come, and start to schedule- Ken:                       Right. Make the schedule. Kristine:               Yeah. So yeah, and- Ken:                       I think one other critical thing is, when we go and we visit with them, if this is definitely something that we think is viable, is we want to get a signed purchase agreement. Jill:                          Yep. Kristine:               Right. Yes. Steven:                I'm so glad you brought that up, because first thing, I've had this job that you guys have and I failed at it dismally, by the way, so thank you, but one of the first things I always ask is, "Does that purchase price work for you?" And if the answer's no, then we can just stop. Steven:                Or, we'll bring Jill in, maybe, and there may be a little bit of room in there based on the asset value and the current conditions, but I think it's imperative to say, "Let's not waste any time." Jill:                          Right. Steven:                And get it signed. Ken:                       Yeah. Kristine:               Yes. Yeah. I would say, also, one of the questions that come up is, because we do seek to get the purchase agreement signed at that first visit, one of the questions that comes up is, "Hey, after your house visit and take a look at the property, what if you guys are wanting to offer something less, and now I just signed a purchase agreement. I can't get out of that purchase agreement." Kristine:               So, within the purchase agreement, we definitely put some notes, as far as, these are the ... I don't know if you want to call them contingencies. I mean, we say here are some things that we are looking to confirm and validate on our end, [inaudible 00:12:51], or back taxes, because you may not know at that given time you sent the letter. Kristine:               Another thing is the state of the overall property in itself. So, are you going [crosstalk 00:13:00] Jill:                          Was there a fire last week? Kristine:               Yes. A fire that just happened? Ken:                       Right. Jill:                          Very. Kristine:               Right. So there's some things that's stated in the purchase agreement that we state up front, that pending X-Y-Z checks off, then we're good with that offer, but if there is problems, then we'll just go back to the number and talk through it with them. Jill:                          Why do they think that there's no surpri- Are they ever surprised by this conversation? Are they like, "Well, I get it. I would feel the same way." Kristine:               No. Typically- Ken:                       It depends. Kristine:               It depends. So if there's another investor calling and saying, "Hey, I want to ..." they know the process in that. Kristine:               We've had times where it was realtors, who are ... They are wanting to sell our property, and they know the process inside and out. There's others that it's a, you know, a couple who are early 80s, and the last time they've dealt with a sell of their property was 25- 30 years ago. Jill:                          [crosstalk 00:13:56] Wow. Ken:                       [inaudible 00:13:57]. Kristine:               So, they're totally [inaudible 00:13:57]. Kristine:               And again, going back to my motto of, there's not one size fits all, there really isn't, and just gauging that during an initial call of what the seller, and what's required for them. Jill:                          That's great. Ken:                       I think most sellers have, well, all sellers have some trigger point. All right? And it's always different. It could range from, "If you guys could, really, I could use some help clearing out my basement," to "I have to get cash out of this thing in two weeks!" Ken:                       And there's a lot of different things that trigger, whatever [crosstalk 00:14:32]- Steven:                I think we [inaudible 00:14:32] one recently. Ken:                       ... where we had we had to get the back taxes paid, because it was going to go into a state of, potentially, judicial foreclosure with county, so [inaudible 00:14:43]- Kristine:               We were hustling. Ken:                       ... it was a time-sensitive thing. Kristine:               Yeah. Ken:                       And that's what makes this program so unique, this BOG program. Kristine:               Right. Ken:                       Because we are small and agile enough to address these custom seller requirements. Kristine:               Right. Jill:                          Right. Yeah. Yeah. Kristine:               Yeah. Ken:                       So, I guess we can move to once we get a signed seller agreement. Right? Ken:                       From that point on, we're scheduling our home inspection, which we could probably do a show just on. Find the right homes. Jill:                          Give us a few good minutes on this, because I'm sure everybody listening would love to know. They think you just go on Yelp and pick a guy, call him, and it's cheap and easy. Right? Ken:                       Yeah, right. Yeah. Kristine:               Yeah. Ken:                       Lucky for us, we went through a few and we found a fantastic one that seems to ... At this point, you almost [inaudible 00:15:31]. Jill:                          Yes. Kristine:               I'm surprised that he does. Ken:                       [crosstalk 00:15:33] great. He gets out there right away, gets a schedule, and his reports are so thorough, almost too thorough. Right? And we appreciate it, but I think he's kind of learned our style, and we've learned his and so forth, but- Kristine:               Yeah, I would, also, add in finding a good inspector, that one of the values of [inaudible 00:15:50], the one we have right now, is that his prices are fixed. Ken:                       Yeah. Kristine:               If your property is a thousand to 2,500 square feet, this is my price. If you have a pool ... Having that cost up front, there is no guessing. Kristine:               We had inspectors that the costs were ranging two, to five, to six million dollars more than our inspector now, and those costs would change, it seemed like, on the fly. Kristine:               So again, looking for an inspector, I would look for one that ... again, that was [crosstalk 00:16:22]- Jill:                          Consistent. Kristine:               Yeah, consistency. And then with reviews, obviously, looking at the reviews. Ken:                       What is the average? It's about, what is he? I think he's 300. Kristine:               Yeah, about 380, I'd say, 380 to 420. That seems to be the average cost with [inaudible 00:16:36]. Jill:                          And that's the full inspection with termite. Kristine:               Yes, with termite. If there's a pool, I think they usually add about 50- 60 dollars more for a pool, because you're inspecting the equipment. Kristine:               And then, the time he's there, it's I would say, on average for like a 2,500 square foot home, it's about four hours. Jill:                          Okay. Ken:                       Mm-hmm (affirmative). Steven:                That's great! Kristine:               So. Ken:                       Yeah. Kristine:               Yeah, I [crosstalk 00:16:53] hours. Jill:                          And he usually does it just like that night, doesn't he? [crosstalk 00:16:56] get them fast. Ken:                       And he is [crosstalk 00:16:55]. Steven:                Yeah. Kristine:               Yes. Jill:                          You guys have found such a good guy that I've seen when the bill comes through, we're like, "Hey! It's [inaudible 00:17:04]! Pay it fast!" Kristine:               Pay it fast. Yeah. Jill:                          Because we want to keep him happy. Ken:                       Yeah, yeah. Kristine:               Yes. Ken:                       And he's great. He'll go through super thorough, with her [inaudible 00:17:10] and I'm in, and he pulls us in. He takes us to every critical point that he feels is an area of concern. He's great. Kristine:               Yep. Jill:                          Yeah. Okay, so we've gotten a purchase agreement, we've scheduled an inspection, we've now completed the inspection. Ken:                       Yeah. Kristine:               And so, yes. Jill:                          You guys have take pictures. I have to say [crosstalk 00:17:30] you were, things that we do is that when you guys first walk in there, you're walking around, you get on your cellphone just taking pictures and uploading them for us, so we just kind of get eyes on it, because we do not, nor will we ever ... for us, back here, see the property. Ken:                       This is all building up. What they're doing is building a case for whether, or not, we're going to buy the property. Jill:                          Right. Ken:                       We still don't know if we're going to buy the property, yet. Jill:                          Right. Kristine:               Yeah. One thing I would note, as far as the pictures. Always ask if you can take pictures in the [crosstalk 00:17:58]. Jill:                          Oh. I didn't know that. Kristine:               [crosstalk 00:18:00] again. Yes. Jill:                          Well, give me a story. Why? Who? Why? What happened? Kristine:               Well, again, in the vacant houses, it's great. It's not a problem. Jill:                          If the care. Kristine:               But then, there's homes that you walk in, and it's absolutely lived in, and so you get into rooms and there's things on the ground. They are not shoes should be in the picture. Jill:                          We know what you guys did last night. Kristine:               Yeah. Yeah. And so when you go in- Jill:                          Well, again, that looked like lingerie. Kristine:               Yes. Yeah, yeah. [crosstalk 00:18:35] have sleep there. Jill:                          Wow. Kristine:               And again, [inaudible 00:18:36] There's some that if they have dishes in the sink, they don't want you to take pictures. They want a clean home [inaudible 00:18:43] dishes in the sink. So- Jill:                          I didn't know. Kristine:               Yes. So that's, always ask- Jill:                          It's good advice. Kristine:               [crosstalk 00:18:48] you can take pictures, and all of them have allowed us to take pictures in their property. Ken:                       Yeah. Kristine:               So, just maybe not that view, make it this view. Jill:                          Right. Kristine:               Right. So, yes. So now, as Steve said, at this point we still haven't decided this is the house we're going to purchase. So, we completed the inspection, we've got the report, and at the point, the four of us are looking at, okay [crosstalk 00:19:13] Ken:                       [crosstalk 00:19:13] Kristine:               Yeah, review. Here are the keys [crosstalk 00:19:15] Ken:                       [crosstalk 00:19:15] Kristine:               Right. Here are the key things that we see are probably the most problematic, when it comes to the other side, which is going to be the resale of that property. And we just start to go through that and prioritize if there's something that's urgent. Kristine:               One thing I would say is key to learning that we've had so far, with regards to the experience of home inspections, is I would say, the investment in, for example, of replacing carpet. I think initially we go in, and we're like, "Well, we'll get the carpet cleaned. It's probably going to be sufficed enough, and then you guys would come in, "Well, if we just get the carpet replaced entirely for [inaudible 00:19:50], or whatever, that's probably a better bet for the resale side of it." Jill:                          Exactly. Ken:                       Yeah. Jill:                          And some of them are not going to do any of that at all, because it's in that condition that we know there's going to be slip, another investor who's going to buy it. Kristine:               Right. Ken:                       Yeah. Kristine:               Exactly. Yeah. Ken:                       Yeah, yeah. Ken:                       Again, oh go ahead. Steven:                No, go ahead. Ken:                       I was going to say, one other thing, because we have seen this, right? Is things like HOA transfer fees. Jill:                          Oh, gosh. Kristine:               Yes. Ken:                       There some things- Jill:                          Little things you got to- Ken:                       ... that we got to show- Jill:                          And you're right. Ken:                       And so, then we get to the end, and- Jill:                          And now we've all learned that we ask that- Ken:                       Yeah. Kristine:               Yes. Jill:                          ... and respect that. Kristine:               Yes, and so the checklist of things to do, and questions to get answered up front, I say has been beneficial, and we continue to build on that checklist as we learn. Jill:                          Solar panels. Steven:                At this point what really happens in reality is, I call Ken, and I say, should we do this deal, or not. And everything you've seen, and a lot of times before, I can give you a couple examples, before it even gets to that point, he calls me and says, "Look man. We should stop right here. This is a mess. There's army jeep, there's one case, there's like military [inaudible 00:20:54] back here. It's a pretty good indication that we don't even need to go into this thing. I know it's priced right. I know it's got a huge lot. It was in [crosstalk 00:21:01]." Steven:                And he just talked me out of that immediately, because of the neighborhood, not so much [crosstalk 00:21:06]. Ken:                       Yes. And that's the thing. I mean, that's the whole key to this whole thing is boots on ground is you can get there physically, see it, and you know [crosstalk 00:21:15], so- Steven:                Feel it. Jill:                          Yeah. Steven:                I really don't even know if you guys know that we do this, but he's like, "We should actually do this deal," or "No, we shouldn't." Steven:                And sometimes we disagree. And sometimes there's other stuff that goes on, so I think there's sometimes they see stuff, then Jill talks me into doing the deal. Jill:                          Yeah. Steven:                We haven't done a bad deal, yet. Jill:                          Mm-mm (negative). No. Steven:                I think we're actually overly conservative. Ken:                       Yeah. Jill:                          Mm-hmm (affirmative). Steven:                We've done a bunch of deals together and when I think back, looking back on it, because now I really realize what you guys are capable of. There's a few deals that we turned down, I probably could have turned okay. Jill:                          True. Steven:                [crosstalk 00:21:48] house- Jill:                          I like that. We aired on the side of caution, and now we're going to, like, "Woo-hoo!" Kristine:               Exactly. Yeah. Steven:                Right. So we got the inspection, Jill and I say, "Hell yes! Let's do it." You guys agree. We go to escrow, right? Kristine:               Right. Yes. Yeah, so again, meanwhile well, we're having this conversation, negotiating, okay are we going to do this, or not. The sellers are pinging both of us. What's the status of [inaudible 00:22:09] Kristine:               The constant communication is what you'll find majority of the sellers are going to be looking to, to provide to them, because they're planning on their end. They're trying to figure out how, especially the one's that are living there, how are they going to ... The time you want to need to move, they need extra help to come in, family members. So they're starting to plan on their end- Ken:                       And there's even silly situations. Not silly, but people that ... There's a trust set up. Remember we had one that was a trust set up. Steven:                Yeah. Ken:                       Where they got to get signatures from other parties of the family, and people that are in the trust, and so forth. And so, there's coordination on the seller side, for sure. Kristine:               Yes. So we're constantly keeping them informed. Ken:                       Informing. Kristine:               Yeah, in the loop of what's going on. Jill:                          Will you explain about, then, escrow to your role? Kristine:               Yes. Jill:                          What you do then? Kristine:               Yes. Yes. So, that's another thing is- Jill:                          To help the seller. Kristine:               Right. So, establishing [inaudible 00:22:57] for a second, establishing relationships within your local market, specifically your inspectors, specifically with repair people that are going to help you with the house, and then escrow. So we've, fortunately, we've definitely had our experience of [crosstalk 00:23:14] good experiences and bad experiences. Kristine:               We seem to have found a really good escrow company now to help us through that process. So, at that point, we've now said okay, we've explained to the seller we're going to escrow. A lot of times they don't know what that means, so there's an element of educating them what that process is going to be about, and informing them that the escrow officer is now going to be contacting you, requesting information from you, and they have a direct interaction and engagement with the seller. Jill:                          Do they call you all the time? I imagine, now that I know you ... for the sweet, little lady, or couple that haven't sold a house in 30 years, I would be calling you after every like, "She told me to send my taxes, or my whatever. Do I do that?" Kristine:               Yes. Yes. Jill:                          Okay. Ken:                       Yeah. Kristine:               And now, when they're calling me, it's "Hi Kristine, this is so-and-so. I'm going to put you on speaker phone." Jill:                          Oh. That's so cute. Ken:                       [crosstalk 00:24:09] Kristine:               So my husband can hear, or it could be the opposite. I never [inaudible 00:24:12], so I'm going to put you on speaker phone so my wife can hear. Jill:                          You really are holding their hands through the whole thing. Kristine:               Yes. Yes. Jill:                          That is so valuable. Kristine:               And I can tell you, with that couple, that particular transaction was definitely one that required, and not to be negative about it. It required the most hand-holding. Jill:                          Yeah. Kristine:               And there's an element of, I got to know them on a personal level, as well, and so it's just gauging when you have to cross that line, and now you're talking about their family verses some other folks, where they are not going to have that conversation with you. But that particular one, yes. There was a lot of [crosstalk 00:24:45]. Jill:                          Wasn't that where you were for Christmas last year? Just kidding. Jill:                          You got invited to the Christmas dinner. Kristine:               Yeah, yeah. Exactly. I think so, yeah. Kristine:               So, I got to know ... There was once, I had been working with them for so ... Because they were the ones that lived out of state, so finally they're in Arizona where we're starting to talk with them, and it was the day that I was going to go meet them. Kristine:               And, when I met them, it was that classic situation where you envision what they actually are going to look like, and you get there, and like, "Oh, my goodness!" I think the husband could barely walk, and so the wife was helping him. So, but it was good. I got to meet them on a more personal note, and it worked out for them. Jill:                          That's what this is about, I really think, at the end of the day that what we [crosstalk 00:25:28] Steven:                [crosstalk 00:25:28] Kristine:               Yes. Jill:                          Yes. Steven:                There's a personal connection. Jill:                          And making it easy for them. I tell my whole staff that. You know that's my goal in all of our transactions and in life is to make this easy. Kristine:               Right. Right. Yes. And I would say, they get to the point where they absolutely fully trust you, so as you say an escrow officer is going to make contact with you, they're trusting in that you have found a good officer to work with them, and they're trusting that the person they're going to work with, they can also trust, as well. So, yeah, building a trust in the communication I say has probably been the most key to our success. Ken:                       [crosstalk 00:26:06] crucial. Yeah. Jill:                          That's good. So how does it end? So, it goes through escrow, and then on closing day, do you have any funny stories or anything about- Kristine:               Right. Yeah. Ken:                       I think it's a classic ... We think we're going to close here and there's one last thing, and this, or that, or whatever, there's always that anticipation. Right? Are we going to really close on this. Our agent says we're going to close. But other than that, I don't think I [crosstalk 00:26:31]- Steven:                On the acquisition side, every deal we've done through you guys went really well. Ken:                       Pretty good. Yeah. Steven:                It's closed when it should. Ken:                       Yeah. Steven:                Here's the economics of these deals. These deals at the end, and we're going to talk about what the BOG is, how they're involved with the actual, the buyers and smart button. Steven:                The economics is we net between, let's say, $40,000 and $100,000 on these deals, and we split it. We take 33%, between 33 and 40 percent. They take between 33 and 20 percent, and the financial partner ... We've got tons of financial backers that come in, that just write the checks. So, we don't put any money into these deals. They don't put any money in. They just put sweat equity. They're a partner in the deal. We're a partner in the deal, because we put the whole thing together. We've got money people, so everybody really wins financially. Steven:                And I like to think the seller wins. Do you put that in your head when you're like, look, I mean, do they see it that way? Or, do they see it like you guys are taking me for a ride? Ken:                       I don't know. I think most of them, I think initially there's the trust isn't there, because let's face it. There's a lot of letters that come in [crosstalk 00:27:39] and so, I think, once we get past that ... I think really the critical, Kristine mentioned it, is once that escrow officer starts making that call and starts gathering the information from them, then you can see they start to, "Okay. This is really going to happen." Jill:                          Yeah. Kristine:               Yes, so- Ken:                       And so, I think they love the whole, "Man! This is going to happen. This is an easy button for me." Ken:                       At least that's been my, I think for the most part, our experience. Jill:                          Yeah. Kristine:               Right. Ken:                       They want to be done with it. Like you mentioned, there's a trigger somewhere, whatever it may be. Jill:                          Yep. Ken:                       And they're ready to go. Kristine:               Right. Yeah. Jill:                          Perfect. Ken:                       All right. Kristine:               I would say, one other thing I was going to add. Jill:                          This is good. Kristine:               In the spirit of closing, yeah. Jill:                          This is good. Kristine:               You can see all my little tips and tricks here. So, we're in the actual day we're closing. We're physically getting the keys, and there's times where they physically want to hand you over the keys. Jill:                          Aw. Kristine:               And then, that situation that you mentioned- Jill:                          It's like, "Can you come, can you meet me at Denny's at 2:00?" Kristine:               Yeah. And then we have the ones that are just, you know, "I left it underneath the rock, next to the door," and so those are easy. Jill:                          That's so cute. Kristine:               I'd say, for us, when I think of it, the goal of the Boots On Grounds is that, even down to at that very last day, we continue to ensure there's a good experience. That they've had a good experience with the whole process. Granted it's not going to be the case all the time, but that we strive to provide a good experience for them. So, whether it be the extra communication we provided, or anything extra we provided for them, we strive for a good experience. Jill:                          That's good. Kristine:               Yeah. Ken:                       Thanks. [inaudible 00:29:08] Steven:                So now we own it. We as partners, all four of us, own a house that we paid probably a couple hundred thousand dollars for, that's probably worth 300-ish. Some number like that, or 250, or 260, or 270, and none of us have put any money in it. Jill:                          Mm-hmm (affirmative). Steven:                And I think that's pretty cool. Ken:                       It's very cool. Steven:                Tomorrow we talk about getting rid of the damn thing. Steven:                Join us the next episode called What the Boots On the Ground Do For the Buyers. Jill:                          And, we answer your questions posted on our online community found at HouseAcademy.com. It is free. Steven:                You are not alone [inaudible 00:29:43] ambition. Steven:                So, I think you have to probably have some announcements still, or- Jill:                          I do. I do. Happening in like in an hour from now, by the time this is hitting, if you go to LandAcademy.com, check it out, Jack, A-K-A Steve [inaudible 00:30:02], right, will be doing a live Facebook informative thing, talking about Land Academy and House Academy and everything in between. Steven:                You going to give something away like you usually do? Jill:                          I don't know. We haven't talked about ... This is kind of more of a business one. So, thanks, now maybe I have to. Jill:                          So, and we're going to talk about ... actually it's going to be really, seriously, it's about discussing how to get started flipping land houses, and we're going to be covering [crosstalk 00:30:27] and doing due diligence. Steven:                Oh, yeah. Okay. It's all a business thing. Jill:                          It really is a business thing, and I'm not just ... Yes. Not just, you're so good. Jill:                          Wherever you're watching and wherever you're listening, please subscribe and rate us there. Jill:                          We are Steve and Jill. Steven:                Steve and Jill. Information. Jill:                          And inspiration. Steven:                To buy undervalued property.  

Perfect Land Acquisition Makes You Run to the Bank (LA 954) Transcript: Steven Butala:                   Steve and Jill here. Jill DeWit:                            Hello. Steven Butala:                   Welcome to the Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I'm Steven Jack Butala. Jill DeWit:                            And I'm Jill DeWit broadcasting from southern, sunny California. Steven Butala:                   Today Jill and I talk about how the perfect land acquisition makes you run to the bank. Jill DeWit:                            That great? Steven Butala:                   We talk about jogging to the bank, sauntering to the bank. Jill DeWit:                            Walking away from the bank. Steven Butala:                   Meandering to the bank. Jill DeWit:                            Running out of the bank. Steven Butala:                   Strolling to the bank. Jill DeWit:                            Just kidding. Steven Butala:                   And full blown sprinting to the bank based on how good the deal is. Jill DeWit:                            Right. Steven Butala:                   I'm sure you have examples of all of it right now. So Jill and I, surprisingly we don't communicate that much at work, and then every time we sit down to record these shows- Jill DeWit:                            This is the most that we talk. Steven Butala:                   ... There's about three minutes before we sit down. She's like, "What's the topic?" I say it's, and I label it, like in this case it's a perfect land ... She's like, "Oh, I have two right now. I have two properties right now that I ..." Jill DeWit:                            Exactly. Steven Butala:                   Then the camera turns on and she's like sweet Jill. Jill DeWit:                            Thanks. Steven Butala:                   She's not CEO Jill. Jill DeWit:                            Thank you, thank you. Steven Butala:                   Before we get into it, let's take a question posted by one of the members, one of our members, on the landinvestors.com online community. It's free. Jill DeWit:                            Tim W. Asks, "A seller wants me to sell the farmland out behind her home, but wants to keep the home. How do you go about doing this? I've heard about subdividing after you buy a property, but I could not find information how to subdivide a property when you buy it. I don't want to do the work, and pay the money, and not have it close. Property's located in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. Looking at about 40 ish acres, so survey is not going to be cheap. I did some searching and could not find a previous post. If there's a step-by-step or a post that I missed previously, please send me a link. I greatly appreciate it." Bonus ... This is cute. "Bonus valuation information or question. They used to farm, rice, crawfish, and soybeans, but it's currently not being farmed. Do you value farmland different than you do vacant parcels? There are not many parcels for sale in the Parish, and it's quite remote. The typical websites are not giving very many properties to compare to." This is a good one. Why don't you go first. Steven Butala:                   This is a diamond. You found a little diamond here. Number one, when there's agricultural property like this, there are very, very liberal, pro-user, pro-seller, pro-buyer rules that are rooted in the statutes in every state that I've ever checked. I have not checked Louisiana specifically, where this kind of thing happens all the time and you don't have to go through a lengthy process at all. As an agricultural person or a farmer, you can probably literally walk into the county and say, "I need to separate my house APN from my farming APN." I know for sure in the core agricultural states like Kansas and Iowa, that this is a two day process, maybe a one incident process. It's very, very pro-agriculture,

Valentine left early today because he has laryngitis. So Jill, Kevin, Brian and Sabrina finally got a chance to talk about what they should do for Valentine's birthday! Listen to Valentine in The Morning every weekday from 5a-10a on 104.3MYfm in Los Angeles.

Today we’re talking with Jill Martin of Strong Hearts, Strong Women. Jill and her husband Sean live in Texas and are parents to 13 kids: 11 at home and 2 who live in heaven. Their family has been built by birth and adoption, and includes several kids with special needs. Strong Hearts, Strong Women is an online community that Jill has built over the last year. I’m so excited to chat with this amazing woman about how she’s grown her business over the last year and how she’s used her planner to juggle everything and live intentionally. You will absolutely LOVE how Jill has gotten her kids involved in planning too! It’s a unique focus that will probably surprise you! Listen Now   1:15 - From Stay at Home Mama to Encourager and Community-Builder Strong Hearts, Strong Women started almost a year ago, when Jill originally wanted to coordinate fitness and nutrition groups. It’s a passion of hers and something she already does in her free time. A fitness coach friend of Jill’s encouraged her to give it a go, so she did! Thirty women signed up for a one-month Facebook group, and when she looked at the makeup of the group, Jill felt like the women would be best served by the addition of a Bible study. In Jill’s mind, “No matter how many push-ups you do, if your insides aren’t right you’re still not going to be happy with your life.” Jill’s first group was so successful that ladies were begging her to do it again! These groups, that initially began as month-long groups, kept going for months after. Well into the New Year, Jill hosted a group every single month, with between 30-40 new women in each group. From these groups, Strong Hearts, Strong Women was born. Jill put together a 3-week test group with women she knew where they talked about common struggles they experience. Together, the group tackled fitness and nutrition issues, but also self-image, forgiveness, or feeling that part of your life was a mistake. (They dug really deep!) Shortly after this beta test group, Jill’s daughter had a big surgery. During that time, when Jill was using Facebook live to talk about her daughter’s recovery, a lot of people really connected with Jill and asked her to keep Strong Hearts, Strong Women going.  Jill was grateful for that interest, but had a lot on her plate! What should she do next? In July, she was finally ready to reopen the group. Currently the Strong Hearts, Strong Women community is at 260 members! She sees herself as a community leader -- helping women to focus on character qualities, growing strong in heart, mind, and life. In short, it’s a safe place to be honest about hard things. 5:35 - Using a Word of the Year Encouragement is Jill’s word of the year for 2017. (Let us know if you chose a word of the year, too!) And though encouraging others was a big goal of Jill’s, she found that she was the one getting encouragement in return. 6:20 - Family Goal Setting Jill has always been a big goal setter and she’s introduced the practice to her kids. Each year between Christmas and New Years, the entire family picks areas of life to focus on and decides what they want to learn and spend time on. All together, they brainstorm the next year and lay out their goals. One year, Jill’s daughter wanted to make homemade bread, so they chose a new recipe to try each month and wrote it at the top of the month on her calendar. Isn’t that so fun!? 7:25 - Using the Brilliant Life Planner Calendars have always been important to Jill since she loves scheduling and plotting things out. The Brilliant Life Planner came her way at the perfect time last year and she especially loves the visual planning tools, like the Big Goal Mind-Mapping page. The way Jill uses these pages is that her kids will choose one character quality to write in the center as their big goal. For example, they may choose kindness or diligence. One of Jill’s daughters, Joanna, has given us permission to use her worksheets as an example. (Thanks, Joanna!!!) Joanna chose kindness for the year. She wrote kindness at the center of the mind map. Then she has all sorts of ideas for how to make kindness part of her life on the lines pointing back to the center: have more people over, more pizza nights, read to her brother, and so on. I love how the Martin family centers their year around these one-word character qualities! And they don’t limit themselves with their goal-setting. Jill says their goals can be about anything: educational, business, personal, spiritual, crafty...whatever they want! As long as the goal connects back to the character quality, it gets put on the calendar for completion. For Jill’s goal of encouragement, she would plan out how to make that happen for the year, like writing letters to friends or doing an act of kindness. 9:50 - Kindness in Action: How a Character Goal Comes to Life To give a real-life example of how this plays out, Jill shared more about Joanna’s goal of kindness. Joanna has some academic struggles, including reading and writing. Jill took this as an opportunity to get reading onto Joanna’s goal list by asking: What are some kind things you can do for others? Sure enough, reading aloud to another sibling (a brother with a lot of disabilities) made her list. He recently received a diagnosis of brittle bone disease, which means his lifestyle is especially limited, and Joanna found a way to help. One of the MANY things we love about Jill is how she views challenges as opportunities. In Joanna’s case, she saw the challenge of her brother being in bed as an opportunity to put a smile on his face by reading to him. Is that not a triple win!? Building character, bonding with siblings, and - surprise - becoming a great reader all wrapped up in the goal of kindness. Jill and her older teenager have physical copies of our Brilliant Life Planner, while her littles use our printable pages, which you can get for free here: http://bit.ly/blpprintables Each month, Jill and her littles do a monthly check-in with their goals. I can’t love this enough!!! As a busy mom, I use the weekly reflection pages to check in on my own goals, but how fabulous to check in with the kids on theirs, too! 13:45 - How a Goal of Encouragement Led to an Entire Community Jill started off 2017 with a character goal of encouragement, and she’s been using that to guide her choices ever since. She says she would never have guessed that her goal of being more encouraging to others would lead to an entire community of women who are growing in their faith and their character. The Strong Hearts, Strong Women Facebook community is a closed community that’s free to join. Jill governs her Facebook group tightly so the women in it know it’s a safe and secure place to bring their struggles. Members of her group get a monthly printable and devotional guide, as well as workbook pages; they can complete as much or as little as they want. The topics of these resources are geared around a character quality of the month, which the ladies in her group select. 15:50 - How Block Scheduling & Buffer Zones Help this Mama of 11 Run a Tight Ship Can there possibly be a typical day with 11 kids in the house!? (And did we mention Jill homeschools her kiddos!?) Surprisingly, Jill actually does have a typical day. She says she runs a tight ship, and she likes it that way:  “I’m that person who likes surprises when I plan them,” she laughs. “I like to know what to expect.” Having multiple kids with special-needs, Jill has spent a lot of time in doctor’s offices. And you know what? Her favorite doctor, an orthopedic surgeon, taught her about efficiency! She only waits ten minutes in the waiting room, her family gets to spend a half hour with him, it’s not rushed, and everyone leaves happy! That wonderful doctor taught her how to schedule her home. While homeschooling and managing her kids will change with the seasons of life, what doesn’t change is block scheduling and leaving buffers. That’s what the smart surgeons do! The offices that squish everyone in for the sake of more patients end up spending only 5 minutes with each patient, which means nobody's happy. Jill didn’t want that for her life. She follows the natural rhythms of life to block out her day: From Get Up to Breakfast From Mid Morning Snack to Lunch From Lunch to End of the School Day Afternoon Evening Then, depending on the ages of her children, Jill will put 3 - 5 tasks in each time block, accounting for buffer time within each block. Her high schoolers get to come up with their own schedules, but they’re not allowed to get behind on work! Life will happen in the middle, so Jill PLANS to have time to change diapers and deal with meltdowns...or answer the phone...or fix a clogged toilet...or whatever comes her way! Here’s her trick: At the end of the block, nothing from that block moves on to the next. 20:00 - What We Can Learn about Productivity from High Schoolers It’s really simple when you think about it! Even high school works like this: If English class is over, but you haven’t finished all the work for that class, do you stay in English or move on to the next class? You move on to the next class, and you pick up where you left off with English tomorrow! Jill uses the same system with her time blocking. The things that occur in her morning block (between Breakfast - Morning Snack) stay in that block. And she has a buffer zone built in. So, if it’s a good day, Jill might use that buffer to do business and social media stuff. She does mini tasks in those buffer zones or gives extra help to her kids, whatever is needed. If a Morning Block task doesn’t get finished, it moves on to the next day in the same block. So the next block is FRESH. Jill is fresh, tasks are fresh, and no one is stressed out. Tomorrow is always there! (I LOVE that!) 21:20 - The Rhythm of the Day The tasks that Jill needs to do every day are defined by the fact that most of her 11 kids are at home. The 2 oldest are away at school, but she has every age from littles to teenagers still at home. Her family lives on a farm in the country and they homeschool. So first up in the day? Farm chores! These come before breakfast. Then, after breakfast, they do morning school work. She’ll put the hardest tasks first on the list, the ones that hit her children’s weakest points. It’s a mental thing and it teaches her kids to push themselves. So that might be spelling, language, or vocabulary development. Jill’s buffer zone almost always includes diaper changes, bathroom issues, and medication delivery. Then they have additional reading time, then go into math and writer’s workshop. Next up is lunch and a prep time. Each kid has an assigned job. These jobs stay the same for the school year. One person sets the table every time, every meal, every day...for the whole calendar year! Each person does their job before lunch. Then they do afternoon school work: history, science, singing, and art. Then the afternoon includes free play, outside time, and farm activities. For the evening there’s family time: Dinner, playing outside, games, riding bikes, whatever sounds fun! 24:50 - Rolling Right Over the Stuff that Keeps Others Down Jill has an incredible mindset when it comes to her kids with special needs. She doesn’t want the disabilities of some of her children to define their family life, or their own lives! She describes their approach as “not fussy; we just roll with it!” she says, “some kids get vitamins, some get seizure meds. It’s not an obstacle for them, it is what it is.” 27:00 - No Obstacles. Only Opportunities. Isn’t Jill proof that every mom is capable of doing and accomplishing so much more than we think we can!? Jill says, “If you make too much out of it, it will be. The mountain in front of you is only as big as you perceive it to be. You can decide: I’m not going to let this be an obstacle, I’m going to let it be an opportunity.” Jill admits that her schedule was much more complex when she had just two kids. Now, it is much simpler. She sets those boundaries now because she has to. 27:35 - Facebook Live Tips - From one Brilliant Biz Mama to Another! One thing we love about Jill is how she leverages Facebook Live to grow her online community and her ability to encourage others. Jill says that she doesn’t practice, and she doesn’t do trial runs. If she’s going to a friend’s house, she’s not going to practice how she’ll answer a friend’s questions or have a conversation with them! She’ll just talk to her friend! Jill treats Facebook Live the same way She usually has reasons for going live and she won’t just fish up topics for fun. Her content is natural and relevant for her audience. So Jill’s Facebook Live Advice? “Don’t practice! Don’t make it too big. If you flub up, just go on or delete it. It’s not a big deal!” And rewatch yourself to catch those mistakes or quirks you might want to fix for later lives! 30:40 - Jill’s Funny Mom Moment One of Jill’s favorite memories is when her eldest, Jacob was really struggling with how to be patient with his youngest brother - who was a bit of a copycat and drove Jacob just a little crazy! The two were playing basketball in the driveway when Jacob yelled, protesting, yet again, about his brother’s copying. Jill started out with a stern warning in her Mom voice, and Jacob quickly responded, “But I’m sick of opportunities for leadership!!!!!!!!!!!” (Too funny! Jill’s kids love to joke about how she frames every struggle or nuisance as a “leadership opportunity!”) Stay In Touch With Jill Personal Page: Jill Martin Facebook Page: Strong Hearts Strong Women Facebook Group: Community Group-Strong Hearts, Strong Women Jill's Full Course: Recalibrate

All right, welcome back to all our Becoming Your Best Podcast listeners. Excited to be with you today, wherever you are. Driving in a car, at work, at home, what an honor that you would take the time to listen. And I really wanna make this worth the few minutes that we have together, and this is gonna a quick hitter. I was just talking with someone, a good friend of mine named Dean, and he said, "You know what I love about these podcasts, is they're short and sweet. I can listen to it on the way to work during a 20-minute drive." And he just...he really commented that, you know, "I love the power of it in a short amount of time," and he's exactly right. And that's the intent, is that you can listen to this and have some quick hitting ideas that can really impact your life in a short amount of time. Now this focus is on principle number five, Live the Golden Rule in Business and in Life. Now normally, this would be an outward focused principle, treating others right. I mean, I love what Maya Angelou said. She said, "People won't remember what you said or what you did, what they'll remember is how you made them feel." And typically, isn't that the truth? This principle also has to do within the business setting of creating a world class customer experience, both for the internal and external customer. Well, today is gonna be a little different, because I've really over the last month been focused on people, and watching people and observing, and trying to learn from them. You know what, what makes the difference in their life? And someone asked me the question that sparked this curiosity about a month ago, and the question was, "How do you give someone desire?" Oh, now that's a doozy of a question, isn't it? Like the trillion-dollar question if you could really answer that. And actually, I've been trying to answer that for three years. That was a book I wanted to write, desire, and I still wanna write that book. And so I've really been fascinated by that. How do you help someone have desire? And how does that question pertain to this principle? Well, let's turn this principle inward for this particular podcast, because what I found is, it's really difficult to be transformational and help lift someone to a better place, if we don't see ourselves in a positive light. And so a lot of this is a reflection of ourselves and how do we view ourselves. And as soon as we turn those tables and flip that switch, where you start to view yourself in a positive light and we start to see ourselves differently, it becomes much easier to then turn around and help others and help them get to a better place. And that really starts with desire. I mean, let me just give you an example here. I'll only use first names. I just finished an event in St. Louis, met some incredible people, and there's always a handful, one or two or three that just really stand out. I mean, like a light...like a lighthouse, and one of those was Jim. And within maybe 20 to 30 seconds of him talking with me, I knew that he was an incredible person. And since then, he's shared a couple of emails, I mean, this all in last couple of weeks here. He's just on fire. And his comment during the event was, "Man, I just feel like the rust is falling off here. I'm just feeling this fire starting to come within me that I used to feel, but I had lost along the way." And I'm so excited to watch what's gonna happen with Jim here over the upcoming months and year. And then there's another person who, Jamie, who's our VP of Business Development just talked with, and I'm just gonna make up a random name and her name is Jill. And she's with a company, she heads their HR department, and she was interested in bringing Becoming Your Best in to do some training for their company at some point the future, and she has the book. And the way she responded to Jamie on this call, he just had a few minutes go with her was, "Yeah, I really wanted to get around to this Jamie, but I've just been so busy. I haven't been able to even look at anything." And here is the irony, Jamie just asked her, "Have you read the book?" And she said, "No, no, no, no, I haven't, but I'll get to it eventually." And he just commented, "Hey, you may wanna consider chapter four on prioritize your time. There are some great ideas there that really can help you with time management." And her response was just awesome. She said, "I'm the queen of time management. I don't need it. I've got everything figured out. When it comes to time management, I'm the best." And she had just got done telling him how chaotic her life was and how busy she was. And let me contrast that with an email that Jim just sent regarding pre-week planning and the impact that it's having in his life. He said, and this is a quote from his email. "I'm amazed at the results of my first day using pre-week planning. I got so many meaningful things done today and it truly seems like I did nothing. So productive, but not busy. Ah, that's transformational. Such high leverage activities, I'm gonna have to come up with more activities." He said, "I couldn't believe all the things I got done, but I truly never felt busy in the process." And this is coming from someone who prides himself on being busy. "I now seek to be productive." In other words, there's a total difference in mindset between Jim and this lady who we'll just call Jill on the phone. And so I would ask each of us to look inward at ourselves, and are we more like Jim, where we just have this hunger and thirst to better ourselves or are we more like Jill, where we shut out potential learning and growth for ourselves, because we say, "I've got it all figured out, I don't need that." And we miss some enormous opportunities that could potentially be right in front of us. And so that's the beginning of this podcast is, each person listening, first turning that mirror on to themselves and each of us looking in the mirror and asking, "Where are we at in our receptivity? Are we willing to learn? Do we have a humility about us?" And I'm gonna assume that if you're listening to the podcast, then the answer is absolutely yes. Now let's go back to what we talked about here and turning the mirror inwards and helping someone to include ourselves, get that desire. There are two focuses on this podcast that would really have an impact on each one of us. And the first of those, if you have a pen and paper, I'd even ask you to write this down. So if you're in a place where you can write, go ahead and grab a pen and paper. Write down these words. Have, do, be. Have, do, be. And this is what unfortunately a lot of the world thinks, is, first they need to have something, then they can do it, and then they will become that. I mean, I've heard some people say, "Yeah, once I get money, then I'll be able to do all these great things and become this really generous person. I'm gonna give a lot of those resources away once I have it." And they're seeing life exactly backwards. Have, do, be. And I wonder internally, how many times I've thought that in different capacities. How many times have you thought this? Where first, once you have it, then you can do it, and that will allow you to become that. And it's really, in my experience, exactly opposite. It's be, do, have. And this applies both personally and professionally. You wanna be a great manager, you wanna be a great mother, father, it doesn't matter. Across the board, it's first, we become that, then once we are that person, that allows us to do, and then we have. And that's why so many people wonder, well, why don't I have? Because we're looking at the equation backwards. It should be, be first, that allows us to do, and then the rewards come. The results start to show up and that's in the form of the have. Well, how do you be first? And this starts to go back to desire. And here's a few thoughts for you. There's one called the five-hour rule, and this is a powerful Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, they live by this. And this is investing one hour a day back into yourself. In other words,... Maybe it's called your power hour. Whatever you wanna call it. There's different terminologies for it. It's your power hour, it's for you, it's one hour invested back into you. It could be exercise, it could be meditating. This morning I got up and read for 45 minutes from three different books, and just had an incredible amount of ideas about what I could do in my life, and it was just awesome. That was 45 minutes of reading, and then I went over and took about 10 minutes to work on some charts for the stock market, sharpening that skill. So there was an hour invested in myself this morning. What can you do every day to invest an hour back into yourself? That's part of being. It's not having first, it's being so that you can do and then ultimately reap the results and have. If you wanna lose weight, well, be first mentally there, take the time, invest so that you can do, and then you are gonna have the result you want to have, as an example. Well, here's another one. Once you incorporate the five-hour rule, set aside at least 5% of your income to invest back into yourself. So if you're making $100,000, that's at least $5,000. Some of the most successful people we know will take 10% to 15%, because think about what your most valuable resource is, it's your mind. And it's those tools and skills that we put in our minds. So Jill, that hypothetical person, she had all these skill sets in front of her, but not the mindset to actually use them. "I'm the queen of time management, I don't need any help in this arena." For me I would never say those words. That would be a huge internal red flag for me that I've stopped learning. As soon as I've stopped learning, it's time to hang up the hat. It's time to be done. So now this really gets into the question that I asked at the beginning the podcast, which is, how do we get desire, help someone else have desire so that they can be first, do, and then have. And this is a reflection of ourselves first, right? So here are two things that I found that will help give someone a desire, and it helps in the be, so that we can then do and have, and that is to read often. And if you're not actively reading, I invite you to try this. Choose a few books, either around leadership, motivation, whatever it might be, and take 15 minutes a day, and start your day reading. Just see what that does to your mind, it's gonna be like a fire that starts growing within you, when you have this as a habit. The second way to get desire and to really begin this process of be, do, have, is to put yourselves in an environment where a seed can grow. And that's what I've done in becoming your... We have several coaching clients and others who say, "You know, this has totally transformed my life, the 12 principles. Becoming Your Best, I just...and this fire, it's been an incredible year, but my spouse doesn't want anything to do with developing a vision or talking about goals. She just doesn't wanna do... You know, she doesn't want anything to do with this," or vice versa. "He doesn't want anything to do with this." Well how do you help them have desire? Helping give someone an opportunity to put that seed in the ground and allowing it to grow is one of those things. And so, attend seminars where you can. Make it a fun way. We have the Breakthrough Leadership Conference as an example. It's actually gonna start for us in two days, the next will be in October. People come out as a couple, sometimes they bring their team, and it's an incredible experience because now they're talking about the same things. They have a similar beginning point. And so that's number one, is, instead of have, do, be, shift the equation to be, do, have. And being is first of all, us looking at ourselves asking, "What can we do to see ourselves in a more positive light, to invest in ourselves." The five-hour rule, one hour a day for you. 5% of your income back into your own development. Getting a personal coach. Attending a seminar that will allow you to see things differently and think differently, sharpening your saw. That's number one. And number two in this equation, to help us see things differently and help you see yourself in a positive light, is to really watch your words. This has become an increasingly big deal in my life as I watch this. And it requires more and more self-restraint on my part not to say something when I see another person really tearing their own selves down. Sometimes we are our own hardest critic. Now think about this, if someone was to record your thoughts and write them down after an entire day, what would that conversation look like? In other words, how do you talk to yourself? What kind of words go through your mind? What kind of conversation are you having? Is it an upbeat conversation of all the things you can do and what you can accomplish? Or, like 70% of people, are your thoughts trending towards the negative side of all the things you can't do and why you're not good enough? And it's very easy to slip into that mindset of, "Oh, Johnny can do this. Well, they can do this, but, man, I can't do this." Let me give you some examples here. And as I give you these examples, think about what would happen if all the words that you said and physically uttered out of your mouth became a reality. How careful would you be about your words if everything you said became a reality? Let me give you an example. I know you've heard people say these kind of things, and maybe we've said them ourselves. Have you ever heard someone say, "Oh, I could never do that?" Well, what have they just done with their words? The person has just sealed their own fate in that area. I could never do that. Well, now I never gave a chance for that particular seed to grow. How about this one, I've heard people say this, and this is one that requires self-restraint. I get sick every year this time of year. Well, that almost becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, because the word becomes a reality. And what I wish we as human beings understood more, and I'm just beginning to understand this, is how powerful our words are. That when you say something, there is a creative force to your words. And oftentimes, those tend to become a reality. In fact, our biochemistry oftentimes will change with our thoughts and words. And that's why it's so important to be careful with your words. I was on my way to a football game last year with my son, he said, "Dad, there's no way we can beat this team." Well, where was he already defeated? Right there in the mind. And so we talked about that, and he shifted his words, and shifted his thinking on that. Because you gotta give a chance for the seed to at least grow, right? Think about this, if your mind was this fertile field, what's gonna happen when you plant the seed? Well, it's gonna take life, it's gonna grow. And there's a great book out, there's actually two that I would recommend. One is called, The Four Agreements, and the other is called, The Tongue, a Creative Force. Both great books, referencing these ideas about your words and your thoughts becoming a reality. So think of your mind like a field. And from that book, The Tongue, a Creative Force and The Four Agreements, what happens is, we tend to make these internal agreements. And I'll even bring Star Wars into the analogy. Who did the force work well on? When someone was trying to use the force on someone else, who did it work well on? It was usually those of a weak mind. Who did the force not work on? It was someone that had a strong mind and wouldn't allow someone else to act upon them. So either we will act or be acted upon. And in the book The Four Agreements, they take this from a different light and so, let's just look at this from this particular light. I like the way they do this as an analogy, as a sample. Treat yourself like a wizard. And I don't care if your net worth is worth $200 million and you're the CEO of a large publicly traded company. I don't care if you stay at home and have a few children, and that is your world. Think of it the same way because it's the same concept. You're a wizard here. When you say something, you're casting a spell on someone else, when you say something to them. And for the fun, we can call this black magic or white magic. Either you're sending poison at them in the form of black magic with your words or you're sending white magic. Words of encouragement, uplifting words, seeds that will help them grow and develop or poison that will destroy the seeds in their fertile soil of their mind. And more importantly then what we say to others is what we say to ourselves. And that's why I come back to this whole concept of watching your words. Sometimes, without even knowing it, we're planting the seeds that are filled with poison in our own minds, and we don't even allow ourselves to be in the first place. Be, do, have. That's why that five-hour rule, 5% of your income to read and attend seminars is so critical. That's what allows us to plant those seeds in our own mind and then have that growth. And I was just sitting around the dinner table earlier in the week talking about this with our children, and I didn't know if they got it or not. And then ironically, this morning we came back to this idea of how important our words are. And so I used an example of what happens if someone calls you stupid. And then my nine-year-old daughter Lana, she goes, she jumps right out and she's like, "Dad, that's someone throwing their black magic at you and you have to wave it off and replace it with happy thoughts." And how powerful of a response is that from a nine-year-old actually. And that's exactly what happens. People are gonna say things to you where they're gonna cast their black magic or their spell at you. Now you have a choice, do you plant that seed that they gave you in your mind or do you wave it off because your self-worth and the way you see yourself is already so solidified that you don't need someone to tell you you're great? You don't need someone to tell you that you're bad. You have your own self-worth regardless of what other people say to you. So number one, what kind of words are you uttering to other people. And even more importantly, for this podcast, what are the words that you say to yourself on a daily basis, and how do you shift those? Here's one last example of this, of black magic, white magic, casting a spell, whatever you want to call it. Programming someone else's mind. There's a story of a mother who came home from work, she'd had a long day and so she has a headache, and, you know, it's just been one of those kind of days. Well, her daughter, and I think, we'll just say around six, seven years old, her daughter was singing. And she was all excited, and she was playing this instrument that she had made, and she was going to town. Well, because of the long day that her mom had, this just amplified her headache. And so in a moment of, we'll just call it weakness, she lashed out at her daughter and told her, "Will you quit singing, you have a terrible voice. You can't sing anyway." Now, in that moment of weakness, she casted a spell, she throughout these words that were poisonous words. And in a young fertile mind, it planted a seed. Now, how did her daughter respond to this, in this hypothetical scenario? Well, now she started to believe her mom. She didn't have a good voice so she quit singing. In school, she used to talk to people, she used to be alive and voracious, but now, because of these self-conscious thoughts of being, you know, a terrible singer, maybe she's bad at performing in front of people, she started to look inward anymore. She didn't talk to her friends anymore, and this just continued through her years of middle school and high school until as an adult, she considered herself a strong introvert, which there's nothing wrong with being an introvert. That she didn't have any musical talents or gifts at all, and so on and so on. Well where did this all start? It was that seed, it was that, we'll just call it "a spell" from her mother, where she cast out those poisonous words, indeed her daughter planted the seed, and it grew to be can become a reality. And so I would just ask you to think about this, what are the words that you say to yourself on a daily basis? Are they uplifting to you or are they filled with poison? And we've got to eliminate the poisonous words from our vocabulary. Second, how do you talk to other people? Are you casting out white magic, words and seeds that would lift people or are they black magic, something that would tear other people down and hurt them in the process? So this is all tied back to the principle of, Live the Golden Rule in Business and in Life, which normally as I mentioned at the beginning of the podcast, is outward focused. Well in this podcast, we turned that back on to ourselves and really hopefully had a chance to look in the mirror. What kind of conversations are you having? Are you open to learning and development? Well, if you're on the podcast, my guess is the answer to that is yes. We're more like Jim and not necessarily the hypothetical Jill. And so, when we have that desire, how do we shift that conversation? And you remember number one was, making the shift from having first, do and be, to becoming, be, do, have. And the only way to do that is to develop our own mind, so that there's a strong self-worth in each one of us. And that puts us in a position where we can really lift others, and with our words, make a big difference. Not only in our own growth and development, but in helping others. It's been my experience though that rarely does someone cast out their seeds of white magic, we'll just call it that for today, if they're not in a place to do so, and if they're not in a place where they see themselves in that positive light to be able to do that in the first place. So I hope this podcast has given you some ideas. What I'd hope that you take away from this is that you teach maybe some open coworkers about it, maybe not. If you're not in a work environment like that, then teach your children, bring it up with your spouse, and then really be cognizant of your words as you go throughout today. And if you find yourself uttering a word that you would not want to become a reality, then replace it with something positive, shift that word. And watch what happens to your own self-worth as you start to only use light filled words, rather than these poisonous words that can tear yourself down or tear others down. Well, hey, it's been a pleasure being with you, that's the invitation. Let us know how it goes, email us at support@becomingyourbest.com. We would love to hear your story. And then just something to put on your radar, every April and October is the Breakthrough Leadership Conference, where you have two days of content focused exclusively on you and helping you achieve and accomplish your dreams. So take a look at the website, becomingyourbest.com, and pencil out those dates. Invest in yourself and make that time so that we really can have that fertile soil. We try to walk just as much as we talk the talk because we're all the same. We all need that development so that we can be, do, have. All right, we're wishing you a great day, and remember that one person can make a difference. We'll see you next week, have a wonderful day. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.