581: Passion Plus Commitment Equals Success: Love What You Do, Practice Gratitude, Challenge Yourself and Win with Elysia Stobbe

Speaker 1 0:00 Marketer of the day. Episode 581, passion plus commitment equals success. Love what you do, practice gratitude, challenge yourself and win with Alicia stoby,

Robert Plank 0:13 Hey everyone, and welcome back to the marketer of the day podcast. We're chatting with Elisha stovey and Alicia. She does all kinds of crazy things. She is an expert in you and your mortgage. She has a proven track record as a successful business coach, and back when there was all the crazy mortgage crisis economic downturn, Alicia not only survived but thrived during all that through diligence and great service to her clients. So we're going to hear all about what Alicia has going on, and, more importantly, what Alicia has to tell you, to help you out when it comes to real estate, your mortgage, your business, whatever comes up. So Alicia, glad to be talking to you.

Elysia Stobbe 0:53 Thanks so much for having me on Robert,

Robert Plank 0:55 heck yeah, glad to do it. So what is your current focus? What do you think? As far as you know, everything in the world seems to happen super fast. What do US business owners need to know about these days?

Elysia Stobbe 1:10 So I think one of the things that's everybody needs to be aware of is just how fast technology is changing, and the operating curve for that is doing nothing but increasing. I mean, if you look at where jobs are headed, you take a simple, you know, business like truck driving business, they expect those, those jobs and positions to be completely automated in the next five to eight years. So if that's your career, you're not going to have one anymore. And I don't think that you know that's the majority of your audience, but if you have small business owners, it's really anticipating what's going to be the next hot thing and what you will need versus what you won't need to operate your business, and how you can satisfy that need for your future consumers, right?

Robert Plank 1:58 And I mean, you ever know there might be someone listening, who has some sort of a nine to five job that they hate in an industry that is dying now or will be dying eventually, and they need to get ahead of the curve and be more proactive and not wait until their job disappears, and not wait until their industry disappears. And then, like, hop on some of these, these hot trends that you're seeing. So technology is changing. But what does that mean? Exactly in practical terms?

Elysia Stobbe 2:29 Well, it really depends on how you anticipated and how you can apply it, right? Because the biggest money makers got ahead of a curve, basically. So I mean, if you have people that are listening, that are into technology, for example, I mean, they've been talking about how, you know, probably, for the last five years, that your smartphone would be able to take your temperature and give you a complete doctor's checkup just from your house, by putting your finger on your smartphone. And that's that's here. I mean, they can take your temperature, your heartbeat, it's amazing. So it just matters, you know, what is your field and what can you see? And, even more importantly, what do you not see that's coming around the curve that either could put you out of business or could help you leap frog, you know, ahead of everybody else by leaps and bounds, right?

Robert Plank 3:21 Yeah. And it seems like a lot of these new crazy things that happen. It's like, there's the period of time when the world's not quite ready for things. Like, I'm thinking about that first generation I watch, where people were kind of like, well, what's really the point? But now, with the connected devices and the medical stuff, it makes a lot of sense. And nowadays we have things like Uber and smart homes. So it seems like there's like that period of time when there's the kind of silly, useless phase where we can maybe take note of that and say, Okay, well, I see where this is headed. In a couple years, this will this will make sense. And then you see, maybe like it being proven in one area, and then it applies somewhere else, right? Like Uber, it really has caught on. And then a lot of these, like with like insurance, or with doctors or things like that, it's like kind of applying that Uber mentality is, I just push a button and it's done. It seems like, it seems like sometimes we just have to be aware of these things that are coming up. And so is this sort of what you what you help to do, like when you you coach businesses. I mean, what like, what's your magic? What's your secret sauce? As far as you helping out businesses get where they need to go.

Elysia Stobbe 4:36 Well, this, I call the stovey secret sauce, passion and commitment equal success. So it's you really have to be you have to love what you do. And if you don't like when are you going to change your mind and change your habits and change your behavior to do something that you really do love? Because the amazing thing now, you know, you bring up Uber, which is a great you know, and live. Yeah, which are great examples? You know, they're the largest cab companies on the planet. They own no cabs. Airbnb is the largest hotel company on the planet. They don't own any hotels. So the old mentality of thinking that you really have to have own the asset is gone. It's just amazing all the opportunities. So what I do with businesses is try and find out what they really want to do, like what you when you wake up? If you could design your ideal day, what does that look like? You know, do you do go to an office? Do you walk on the beach? Do you want to do all your phone calls outside, on on your deck, on the ocean or on a lake or on the top of a mountain. So I try to work with businesses to find out what really lights them up and really what they you know, how they could see that, you know, breaking down on a daily basis. So for me, I love people, so I need a little bit of face to face interaction every day. I like a lot of phone interaction where I can connect with people and relate to people and understand people. And I really like to help and serve people. That's what makes me the happiest. So being able to work with the business to help them grow and be able to achieve what they really want to do, so they can have the money and the freedom to enjoy the lifestyle that they've designed. I mean, so much so so many people get stuck in a rut of, you know, this is what I do every day, and they really don't even take the time to think about is that what I really want to do every day? And there's, of course, a huge fear, you know, it's easy to do the same thing you've done year after year after decade, and it's not easy to change. Change isn't easy, but it's inevitable, and that's the thing. Just to link it back to the technology conversation, that change is coming, and either you're on board or you're not

Robert Plank 6:57 right, yeah, I mean, you're so right on all counts that we need to keep up with the pace, if not more, and that we need to maybe change things up. And we're probably doing a lot of silly things in our personal lives, in our business that we've just been doing, just because that's the way that it's been, you know, done this whole time. And, you know, as you're kind of explaining like, like, what you do, and you help these businesses figure out their ideal day. I mean, for some irrational reason, that seems a little scary to think like, Okay, what if? What if I started my day on the beach, or what if I subtracted my things, these different things, from my life? And I mean, you mentioned things like, you know, Airbnb owns no real estate. Uber doesn't own any of their their cars. I mean, even to get it to the technology sort of thing. It blew my mind when I found out that Netflix just uses Amazon servers, like there's, you know, Amazon will host all your stuff, and Netflix uses the same Amazon service that we all have access to. They just figured out a way to to use it right there. And so, yeah, I'm right there with you. As far as we need to rethink all these things. And it sounds like you kind of have have it all figured out, or at least for the most extent, right where you you know that you want to be social and chat on the phone, but was it always this way, or did you kind of go through a real rough patch. We had to figure out, figure things out, and figure out who you are.

Elysia Stobbe 8:25 That's a great question. It's always darkest before the dawn, isn't it? So, yeah. So I went through, you know, an extensive process of figuring out I was financially savvy and financially secure, but I was waking up every day stressed out and not enjoying what I did every day. And I just thought, oh my gosh, this is crazy. And I had a sizable mortgage business at the time, and I just thought, Okay, what do I love about this. I love connecting with buyers. I love connecting with realtors. I enjoy long term relationships, and I love meeting new people. I love helping people. I love helping people figure out how to save money on their, you know, mortgage insurance or their interest rate or their closing cost. I love being able to help clients figure out, you know, what's your cash flow and how many investment properties do you need to retire. So that piece I love, and the piece that I really didn't enjoy was the paperwork, which is obviously required in the mortgage industry and not going anywhere. So I built a team around me that was excellent, and is excellent still, you know? So we still originate mortgages, so a team that's excellent at reviewing the paperwork, finding out what's needed, what's missing, and then I get to really leverage and enjoy my true gifts, which are connecting with people and figuring out how to save them money. So. So it took me a long time to do that, and there's been actually two or probably on like the third, you know, I call it, I blew everything up and start all over again, right? You go back to your baseline, but each time you do that, your baseline has increased exponentially as far as what you know, how to execute, how to leverage. So, yeah, it was definitely a challenge, and a one year process, and then another one year process and another one year process, and you know, right now, so now I'm thrilled I get to do what I love to do. And you know that make people happy, and when they save money, and you know, they can retire, that's awesome. So,

Robert Plank 10:43 yeah, I mean, there's a lot of good stuff in there, and it sounds like your number one motivating factor is to make a difference and to help other people out. It's one thing to say, Well, I'm, I'm motivated by, you know, closing these real estate deals or making this money, but you're taking it all the way to the end point and saying, you know, I'm helping people out. I'm changing people's lives. And what I'm hearing from your answers here is that, well, we're gonna have those multi year cycles, right? We're gonna have those every, sometimes, every two or three years, or five to 10 years, when everything blows up in our face, and that's only going to continue as things get disrupted, and the alternative is to be like someone in the taxi industry just barely hanging on and trying to make it work. And that doesn't sound like like fun at all. It sounds like more of an adventure to embrace these cycles. And then also, what I'm hearing from you is that it just sounds like, from your thought process, that you're really good at breaking things down into the attributes, like you say, Well, I'm I'm looking to help people get their cash flow or figure out at what point they need to get to retirement. And it sounds like you really enjoy solving of the problems. And then you recognize that, and then you said, Okay, I enjoy this, but then what I don't enjoy are these things, like the paperwork. So then you're going to delegate to employees. You're going to team up to people who enjoy that sort of thing. That way, everybody wins, right? That way, you know what you want. You're not trying to force something to work. That's not fun for you. And then someone else who enjoys that part of thing, you kind of, you kind of bring them on board. So do you have any advice, or do you think that you do anything special and different, as far as staying motivated and disciplined, taking action, that sort of thing?

Elysia Stobbe 12:31 Sure, I'm gonna big. I'm a big believer that you know your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, and your actions become your reality. So if you have even just a morning discipline. So myself, I do. I live at the beach. So I walk on the beach, the ocean every morning. I'm a big believer in, you know, fresh air, fresh salt air, getting in the water. So I do that every morning. I meditate for at least 15 minutes. Every morning I do some sort of exercise. So whether that's walking, cycling, going to the gym, dancing, dancing just makes you feel great. I mean, it's not only a great physical activity, but it makes you smile, like it gets those endorphins going. And I believe if you have a discipline every day of you know that kind of structure and daily gratitude is so important. I mean, I wake up and I just think all the amazing things I'm grateful for, you know, the way the sun feels on my face, the beautiful weather, all the family and friends that I'm connected to, that I love and adore, and you know that I that comes back to me and all the people I try to help. So I feel like, you know. And the other thing too is, if you can just break things down for people and make it simple. I mean, for example, you know, they don't teach budgeting and how to balance your checkbook in high school. So it's not, you know. And a lot of entrepreneurs bootstrap things, which is awesome, because, thank goodness, because without them, we wouldn't be where we are in our society today, with all the people who are ingenious and motivated to make their own difference and bring their own products, you know, to market. So I think a lot of times you know just a simple math. I mean, there's so many people that you know, whether they're entrepreneurs or not, a lot of them are living paycheck to paycheck, and if you don't even know you know how much you need every month and how much you need to save, it's impossible to retire because you're just on that treadmill, which is what everybody's been unfortunately conditioned to. And unless you're going to step outside of that box and think differently, and actually, it's not that difficult to do, if you know you go through step by step processes, so it can definitely be done. Yeah,

Robert Plank 14:51 I'm right there with you that sometimes we just need that little bit of untangling and looking at the bigger picture and not just living data. Day and saying, Okay, well, having no plan, having no goals, just kind of take, taking it as I'm doing. It has gotten me to this point. Maybe I need to look at the big picture and break things down and simplify and and then that'll that'll get me on a new path, instead of just reliving this same cycle over and over again. And then what you said right there about keep making it simple, simplifying things, I mean that that's huge for a number of reasons. And I say that because it seems like, in almost like any industry that we're in, people don't make things simple. It's easier to make or it's there's a tendency to make things more complicated. So if we can figure out whether that's the app or making or service or a book or whatever it is, just to remove the noise and just make it into a few simple steps. It seems like that's kind of a tough mental roadblock for some of us to overcome. When I say, Well, I'm so smart I know all these things I want to have teach all these crazy things. And it's like, yeah, but are people actually looking for that? Maybe there's looking for things to be simple there. And I mean, speaking of simplicity, like you said, that morning discipline, that morning routine, it's easy for a lot of people to say, Oh yeah, I've heard of that. I've heard that I should meditate and exercise and make that gratitude list, but it seems like people only do part of it, or they don't come they don't actually take that sort of thing seriously. And sometimes I'm guilty of that falling the wayside, and when it does, then the life sort of isn't as good. And then when I remember to do some of those simple things that you mentioned, then things pick back up. And so, you know, we've mentioned that you back in the day, you were stressed out, overloaded, and then now you've changed things up and made them way better. Do you ever feel like you have some of those weeks or months when things are slowing down or stagnating, or has it just always been, has it always been great, ever since you made these changes?

Elysia Stobbe 17:04 Well, I think it's a constant, you know, up and down. So now, by all means, you know, nothing's perfect all the time. And if it was, we would never appreciate it, because that would be the baseline. And so I think when you have those ebbs and flows and those dips, it makes you appreciate even more what you really do have, and then what you want to strive for. So I, you know, I set my I set new goals on a quarterly basis and annual basis, and break them down into how I'm going to accomplish them. And then really, when I do the gratitude, that piece also lets me focus, so I get in a super positive, grateful state, and I focus on, you know, health, which is super important, but then also what I want to accomplish. And I know I have a big, huge list of of things this summer that I want to take care of, that I've been working on diligently. And sometimes that's a difference, a shift in itself, right? Because, instead of looking at like work, if I really like this, well, then I'm playing, you know, just happens to be that, that, that, you know, that piece makes me some money, or I can help some people, you know, with this particular piece. So even with rental property that I own, I want it to be in the best shape possible for those tenants. So it's not just about having cash flow real estate. It's about really, how can I, you know, help make a better community as well. So you know, the more we challenge ourselves, the more I think you know, not only you blessed, but you grow. And there's that old adage, you know, if you're not growing, you're dying. So if you're just doing the status quo, not only you're going to get bored, but you know, it's like, if you don't go to the gym and work out, your muscles will atrophy. The same things with your goals, your mind. I mean, it's all Simon, it all works together. Yeah,

Robert Plank 18:57 I completely agree that, yeah, if you're if you're not growing, you're dying. And we need to challenge ourselves and tap into maybe the right amount of that ambition and that workaholic behavior, that way we can be our best selves. And so you said that you you have these quarterly and annual goals, and you're working through them diligently. So do you ever have any trouble figuring out the right size goals? And just ask that, because sometimes it seems like it's it's easy to to maybe sell ourselves short and set the goals to be too simple, and then we finish them and it's like, what now? Or we make this huge laundry list of things and then say, well, I've only checked off two of them this quarter. Now I'm really hard on myself. So do you have any thoughts on that? Or can you speak to that a little bit as far as setting the right goals for ourselves?

Elysia Stobbe 19:47 Sure, sure. I think your goals should actually be diverse, and they should not only be focused on business or not only focused on health. I think you need a variety of goals. I mean, say, for example. If you're shy and you don't like speaking in public, like that's a great goal to get over, you know, to break through that challenge and that ceiling, because it'll serve you other places. It'll serve you with your self esteem. It'll serve you with your business. It'll serve you, you know, in social circles. So I like to have different categories. So I actually have categories broken down for my goals, for each of my businesses, and then I have a spiritual goal, and that could be, you know, go meditate with monks. You know, it just, it's, it could be an end. I don't hit all of them all the time, but you also want to make small stepping stones along the way, so that you can actually reward yourself and be happy. So say I did want to go, you know, and have a spiritual journey and go to India, you know, if I one of the smaller things I could do along the way, for example, would be to go to, you know, a blessing, or maybe do some laughter yoga, you know, on a weekly or monthly basis, until I have time, or I have the you know, really, for me, it's time, because I have so many awesome things I get to do. But for some people, it could be financial. So reward yourself with those little steps that you can actually enjoy and make them in bite sized pieces, working towards the bigger goal. And that goes with, you know, finances and business as well. I think, you know, health, health is the same thing. Yeah,

Robert Plank 21:33 I'm right there with you that having those little rewards that sometimes it's easy to over plan, or to make the scope of something too big before you even started right, and to say, Well, I'm gonna run five miles a day, or I'm gonna get 10 rental properties. And it's like, well, what if you just dial it back and just did that one little first step, then you would get more accomplished with that first step than making zero steps, because you overloaded yourself. And then when you saw that, you made some progress, or you saw how easy that is, then you can get that encouragement to keep going. So now I'm curious about what sort of things that you've built here, because I know that you have the these real estate properties, and you've built these businesses, and you have your book, so can you kind of fill this in on just what kind of sort of amazing and pressing things you've been able to accomplish these last few years?

Elysia Stobbe 22:29 Oh, I just so much I've been able to just, it's amazing. I love to travel and I love to meet people and explore and learn new things. So just all kinds of things. I just goodness, probably in the last six weeks, I've been to Las Vegas to shoot some video. I was in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County wine tasting. I was in Philadelphia for a business meeting for a couple of days, been interviewed by Forbes, us, News and World Report, just so many different things. And I love the real estate. I mean, I have, I actually, and that, to me, goes back to the play, not work. I love evaluating real estate deals. I just think it's, it's super enjoyable. So I'm always trying to figure out if you know the numbers work, to add to the real estate portfolio. And then I have a few other side businesses as well. And then, you know, there's so many interesting business opportunities now there's actually a lot of kind of real estate share investments, sort of like traditional REITs, but kind of with like an Airbnb spin. So I've been looking at some of those opportunities and started a different workout regime. So that's been interesting. Yeah, and then I like to bike ride a lot, so I got a really fun beach cruiser with these huge knobby tires. So I take that out, and I got some paddle boards. So I've been doing that, and I'm in scuba diving for years, so wherever I get to go there, yeah, all lots of fun stuff.

Robert Plank 24:19 Geez. Well, it sounds like you're doing everything right, traveling everywhere, doing all the hobbies. And it also sounds like you're remaining curious and learning about new things, like learning about all the cutting edge things in real estate. And so it sounds like you found the time for what's important. So if there's, you know, if there's someone out there who says, Well, you know, I can't find the time during the day. I already have so much going on with like the, you know, the day job and the side hustle and the kids and the obligations. If someone said that to you, just that they don't have enough time in the day, what would you say to that? Well,

Elysia Stobbe 24:56 it's interesting, because that's a great question. So I'll give you an answer. Then also, I prepared some money saving tips for your entrepreneur audience. So yeah, as far as the as far as the time thing goes, you know, it really is, you know, there's so many hours in the day, and the most important thing is to be able to enjoy those hours. So again, if you're not doing something you love, stop immediately and figure out what you want to do. So I mean, the book, I've always been a hard worker, an overachiever, and my book, I mean, I don't sugar coat it. I didn't have a ghost writer. I did it myself, and while I was working full time, it took me two and a half years, nights and weekends to write that. So that's time that I'll never get back. But I, you know, it wasn't like I did that to have a sales piece for the mortgage business. Honestly, that was my initial thought. And then I had to shift into the serving mentality. And once I did that, and I just I realized through years that an educated consumer became our best client, and when my focus was truly to serve. That's how I got the motivation to spend all that time working on the book. And thank goodness, people have been receptive, and it's been a number one best seller. I mean, it's still like a top five right now, we're in, you know, the almost we just passed the third year, so that's amazing. And I feel like, again, I didn't it obviously was a lot of hard work, but when you make that shift in your mind, you know, it doesn't become work, it becomes truly a labor of love. And when you can do that, then you have something to leverage. So I think that's the other part of it. You know, when you you do have to put in, you know, there really is no easy street to becoming financially free. It is hard work, but you need the tools, and you definitely need the motivation to make that happen. I mean, right now, actually, I'm launching another business, I'm looking for just a few select loan officers to launch my coaching program and put them in the pilot. So that's going to be a lot of hard work up front. And then, you know, once all the systems are tweaked and my my clients, my loan officers, are getting great results, then we'll leverage that. But again, there's hard work that goes in first. But again, if you enjoy what you're doing, it's all fine. I mean, I could stop working tomorrow, but I would be bored out of my mind. Because even though I love the beach, there's only so many, you know, so many times you can go up and up and down, up and down, yeah, and that.

Robert Plank 27:38 And that's a good mind space to be in. And just the common thread I'm hearing from our conversation is that the hard work is necessary, but we need to figure out a way for the work to not feel like work, for it to feel fun, and we need to have that reason why, and have those big visions and goals and not just be hoping that we'll make the money. And money can't be the only motivator. All the other fun stuff that life has to offer needs to be the motivator. So we're at a great conversation here today, and I'm sure that a lot of people are asking, well, how can I find out more about Alicia, about her websites, or courses, her books? And he also mentioned that you have that resource of those money saving tips. So can you plug some URLs for us today?

Elysia Stobbe 28:22 Sure, Yep, I'll give you the five tips real quick. The best way to find me online is LinkedIn right now. So it's just E, L, y, s, I, Alicia stoby, s, t, O, B, B, E, you can also there's so many different videos I've contributed to you. And so, but LinkedIn is a great place to find me right now, as well as Twitter. I'm online at Twitter, but I'll give you the five real quick. Robert, so money saving techniques for entrepreneurs. Number one, pay yourself. Don't put all your money back in your business. Number two, make sure you have cash reserves. Number three, make sure you have access to lines of credit at low interest rates before you need the credit. And this is huge, because right now, there's a lot of money available for businesses to grow. So unlike maybe five years ago, where that wasn't the case right now. I mean, I get robo calls with people offering, you know, money for my on my business, to my businesses all the time. Number four set up an individual retirement account. IRA is a Simplified Employee Pension Plan, and that's great for entrepreneurs, small business owners. Any business owner with one or more employees, or even with freelance income, can usually open up a SEP IRA and then number five, make sure you have your exit strategy in mind. A lot of people build this great business, but then they don't have anything after that. They don't have a. Plan on how they're going to execute it and go to the next thing, or exit that, or, you know, assume they're going to leave it to their kids. And if you build it with the exit, the exit strategy in mind, it gives you the, you know, the best way that you can leverage that so you can actually set up your business the way, just like I was talking about your life. You can actually set up your business and your life the way you want to, not somebody else thinks you have to, right?

Robert Plank 30:25 I love it, yeah, and especially because that's the future, right? The past. The way things worked in the past is you get some job at the gas station or the convenience store and you work for 40 years and hope it works out. But nowadays, we have to think on our feet a little bit. But that can be a blessing in disguise, right? Because that can mean that we you can become a country or a world traveler like yourself. You can build this business. You can do remote working, have remote employees, make an app, make a website, all kinds of fun stuff. So to recap, those five money saving tips for entrepreneurs. She said, number one, pay yourself. Number two, have those cash reserves. Number three, have access to lines of credit before you need the credit. Number four, get something like a SEP IRA, and then number five, have that exit strategy so that you're not building yourself a second job. So LinkedIn, Alicia stoby is, E, L, y, s, I, A, S, T, O, B, B, E. And then, if people are curious about your your book, which some people might be right, because they might be entrepreneurs have this extra income, maybe they want to do some of this real estate stuff on the side, or they want to buy their own home instead of renting, can you tell us where we can find your book? Also

Elysia Stobbe 31:43 sure the website for that is Elisha stoby books.com so E, L, y, s, I, A, S, T, O, B, B, E, B, O, O, k, s.com, and you can also search my name on Amazon, and it should come right up. Super cool. So

Robert Plank 31:59 Alicia stobiebooks.com and search Alicia stoby on Amazon. So anything else to add before we wrap things up?

Elysia Stobbe 32:08 I think the biggest thing is to just thank you for your time, and I'm grateful that you have me on the show. And I think the more we all practice daily gratitude, the happier place the world will be.

Robert Plank 32:18 Fantastic. Good reminder, gotta have that daily gratitude. So thanks so much Alicia for stopping by and for and for maybe getting some of your work ethic, your personality, your enthusiasm, to rub off on us. So I think that everyone out there has a kind of refreshed idea on their their vision, their goals, the problems we're going to solve the way they're going to challenge themselves. So I appreciate that. I appreciate you. So thanks for coming on.

Elysia Stobbe 32:44 Thank you so much, Robert. Appreciate you.

Robert Plank 32:51 If you're a future podcaster, new podcaster, existing podcaster, or you're looking to make more money with your podcast with less time, you owe it to yourself to check out done for you. Podcasting.com we handle any or all of your podcasting needs go to done for you. Podcasting.com right now.