Hey, there it’s episode 118 of the Katie Lance podcast. And in this episode of our Get Social Smart Academy spotlight series, we are interviewing Cindy Carava today. And holy cow, you guys, I’m so excited for this interview. I know you guys are going to love it. This is a series we’ve been running for really the past year or so. It’s been so awesome every month to highlight one of our Get Social Smart Academy members and find out more about their business and how they’re using social media to really grow their business. Cindy has been part of our Academy the past three years. She has nearly eight years in real estate. She really believes in the mantra that I believe in, which is done is better than perfect. And in this episode, she’s going to talk a lot about how she’s incorporated video, social media, how she maps out her content and how it has built her business. I know you guys are gonna love this and well, let’s get on with the show.
Hey, Katie Lance here, founder and CEO of Katie Lance Consulting and the Get Social Smart Academy and I am so excited for our monthly Get Social Smart Academy spotlight. And today we have a very special interview for you. I am so excited to be chatting with my good friend, Cindy Carava. We are going to have a great conversation today. And for those of you who don’t know, Cindy, Cindy is a lifelong resident of Southern California. She’s lived in San Gabriel Valley her entire life, her and her husband Jack have been married for 29 years and they have two grown daughters. Brittany and Megan. Cindy had been flipping houses with her husband for 26 years with an agent friend of theirs. When she finally decided to dive into real estate, she’s been licensed for over seven years now and absolutely loves what she does, helping people is really her passion and Cindy’s passion of helping people has gone way back.
In particular, in her previous occupation where she worked in the medical field, alongside doctors in the ER, OR and various offices, Cindy serves all of San Gabriel valley, the inland empire and parts of San Diego area is her second home, due to her husband’s occupation of being a horse trainer. So Cindy we’re so happy to have you with us today. Welcome. Welcome. Katie, thank you so much for having me. It is absolutely an honor and pleasure to be on your show. So thank you so much. Absolutely. We’re so excited to chat with you. So for people who don’t know you, tell us a little bit about your business, where you’re at in your business, what your business looks like, whatever you’d like to share.
Oh, sure. Yeah, absolutely. Um, so as you mentioned, um, I’ve had my license for, uh, coming up on eight years, boy, that flew by, um, it is been a crazy up and down, um, the last few months, a year, definitely with COVID. Um, but it has been incredible too. Um, yeah, it’s just been really crazy. So obviously as a new agent, you know, years ago, you know, you know, learning to, you know, know the ropes, know what you’re doing, you know, I’m out with other agents trying to gain some experience and stuff like that. And, you know, for all new agents out there, it does take time. Um, my first deal didn’t happen to all about, uh, nine months in and I was doing open houses every single weekend, uh, for either most of them were for, um, other agents in our office. And so just trying to get leads and get potential clients.
And, um, nine months later I was doing an open house and this cute little couple walked in and said, you know, hi, you know, we really enjoy talking to you. Um, we, we saw a house we’d like to buy, not this particular one, but we saw one we like to buy, but here’s the catch you need to sell our other house too. So I had a double whammy, my first deal. So, but I said, of course I can help you absolutely terrified deer in headlights, but yes, through it. And they are still actually really, really close friends of mine and actually live here in Glendora where I live. So, um, so that was really great and really, really fun. So, um, yeah, I spent a long haul and, and it’s been a lot of, a lot of fun. Um, I love it. Um, yeah, it’s funny.
Cause as you mentioned, Katie, um, in my past career I worked, um, I was one year for my RN and uh, worked with doctors and off, you know, in hospitals and everything else. And um, I really, really loved helping people and it, you know, whether whatever it was and I really, really was passionate about it. And, and then, um, I left the medical field to raise my two girls. So I was a stay home mom for 20 years. Um, and then I kept thinking about, you know, at one point, you know, what’s, you know, what am I going to do? What’s my next chapter, you know, and thought about going back to the medical field. Um, but, um, as you know, 20 years goes by, uh, time changes, you know, procedures there’s change, you know, everything changes, medications change out there. And I just thought, well, you know, I can send it at the time, as you said, you know, my husband and I were buying and selling houses and we had a really good friend that was helping us do it.
And she came to me one day and she’s like, Cindy, she’s like, uh, you know, you need to stop paying me and you need to go get your license. And I was like, kinda like shocked like me, me, like, you know, okay. All right. And I thought about it and I thought, well, this might be good. Yeah. And honestly it was really honestly one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, um, you know, to have my own business, um, to create that and just to see how far I’ve come in, such a short amount of time is just, uh, I’m so excited and love what I do. And what’s so neat is I am just as fulfilled being a real estate agent as I was, you know, working alongside doctors with patients. It’s, um, it’s really amazing. And how much of that, the skills that I had from being a nurse carried over does carry over to the real estate world.
You know, learning how to think very quickly working as a team, uh, negotiations and stuff like that. It’s really, really amazing. A lot of times people will, some of my girlfriends that are still working as nurses, uh, you know, will ask me, well, Cindy, don’t you miss, you know, being in the operating room or the emergency room, you know, with everything. And I said, well, no, I always love medicine. I think it’s really fascinating. I said, but guess what? Um, I love what I do now. And it’s very similar. I said, I’m still helping people just in a different way. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Well, and just the, you know, the care that needs to go in when you’re in the, in the medical profession and, and empathy, you know, and, and just the people skills of, you know, working with and, you know, all, I would imagine all different types of people day in and day out.
So I, I could see how that really translates very well. Yeah. Because especially, you know, every single transaction is different, just like every single patient that I encountered was different in their problems, same with every transaction. So it is very similar actually. So, uh, yeah, so it’s really a lot of fun though. Wow. And as far as the structure of your business, you’re, you’re a solo agent, right? Agents. Yes. And when we were chatting earlier, you were talking about, uh, you know, the other folks you work with, then I love that. I mean, you, you know, the lenders and your title wrap, it’s like, even if you’re a solo agent, you still have a team, right. Like there’s an army, there’s always like an army behind you. Right. Absolutely. Absolutely. We’re not an island. No, I definitely not. And, and I would not be as successful as I have been, um, without my team and you know, it, and it does, it’s, you know, like we talked about, you know, it’s my two lenders that I work with.
It’s my title rep, but it’s also, you know, my office staff, you know, my receptionist, my S my assistant, which is not my assistance for the whole office. And we have two transaction coordinators in our office and, you know, it, it just, and not to mention then the backside of real estate, you know, I have an amazing, um, home inspector. I have an amazing, you know, um, you know, flooring person, gardener, I mean, all of that. So that’s what we talk about when we say it’s a team effort, it’s, you know, they’re, they all helped me be a better agent and make our transactions go as smooth and stress free as possible. Yeah, that’s huge. So I was doing a little bit of a digging before I, before interview, and I know you’ve been in our academy a long time. Uh, I was almost surprised to realize it’s been like, it’s been three years, you joined our academy in 2018.
I don’t even know if you know this. Yeah, I did. And, uh, it’s, you know, it’s so fun to just see how, how things have flourish with you. And, you know, you’re doing all this great stuff with video, and I see you on social media. Can you share with our audience a little bit about how social media has impacted your business? Yeah, absolutely. So, um, so one thing I just want to backtrack a little bit, so as far as you and you and me, um, I found you on Facebook three years ago when it was one of your 30 day social media challenges. And I thought, wow, this sounds really interesting. I, you know, need to know more about this, you know, I’m over 50, so I’m not a young whippersnapper anymore. And, and I know that, you know, you know, if social media is where it’s at, you know, you talk about it all the time, you know, everybody does.
And like, I really need to get up at the time. So I did that 30 day challenge, and I was scared out of my mind to do my first video. In fact, if you go to my YouTube channel and my first video is on there, it’s horrific. But, uh, but like you said, you know, you want to get out of your comfort zone, you know, and I will say exactly what you say, Katie, you know, this is how you sound, this is how you look, get over it. You know, Don is better than perfect, you know, and, um, and it was so true. And so I just took that leap of faith did my first video, 30 years ago, or three years ago. Sorry. And, um, yeah. And, and so now it’s, you know, after doing them, you know, for a few years now, I do get more comfortable.
I do have more fun with it. Um, and whether it’s a recorded video or alive or anything on social media posting, um, it’s a lot of fun and, and I’m so grateful to you for getting me out of my comfort zone, uh, three years ago. So yes, I did remember it was three years ago. Oh, I love it. And I’ve always loved, I mean, your videos pop up on my feed all the time and sometimes are solo videos, you know, sometimes you’re interviewing someone, um, I see a lot where you’re out and about, you know, you’re at a certain location and you’re highlighting a local business, or can you talk a little bit about, about your strategy? Do you get, do you kind of just get inspired to go, I’m going to go do a video about this, or do you kinda like to map it out?
What are you, what are your cutting, you know, how do you sort of think about that in terms of your content and what you put out there? Uh, well, uh, yeah, as far as the video goes, yes, I actually, I have somebody that helps me, uh, my good, my good buddy, uh, social media, buddy AGL. Uh, and so we sit down on Sundays. Uh, she just recently moved to Georgia, so it’s been a little challenging. So we get on the phone and we kind of, we do a little time blocking and we map it out what we’re going to do for the whole week. Um, sometimes we get really inspired and we’ll do a couple of weeks, um, and different videos and stuff like that. Um, and post kind of what we’re going to be doing for the next week or two. Um, and as far as video goes, yeah.
Um, definitely I try to highlight all my favorite businesses or, you know, a place that maybe I have really great customer service. And I tell the owner of the store or the restaurant and say, you know, Hey, I’m a local real estate agent here in the area. You know, I’d love to come back and, and highlight you, you know, and talk about how long you’ve ran the business, you know, uh, what different things that you can offer clients and stuff like that. And they get so excited, you know? And so it’s been a lot of fun and I started doing it, um, again, right before COVID hit and then with everything shut down. I couldn’t, so that is my goal for the next month. Katie is start getting back into, uh, doing local businesses, um, because I really do love it and they like it too.
And it’s a lot of fun. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I mean, I think it’s a lot of fun when you can highlight local businesses. I think most local businesses are, would say, you know, yes, we would love that. You know, we’d love some, some free advertising, you know, and especially when it’s, when it’s something that you love, have you had good service or it’s just something that you really want to support? Um, I think it’s a, win-win all around. So I look forward to seeing new ones coming up as the world starts to open up. I know, I know exactly. And then I’ve done other ones too, um, which have been really fun too. Um, where I like did a inspection and I had my favorite inspector with me and showed a highlight of him looking at our needs and think of a bathroom and talking about, you know, why an inspection is so important when you’re purchasing a home, I’ve done videos where I’ve done the final walkthrough, you know, with my clients.
And why, why doing that? I’ll walk through three days before you close escrow is so important, you know, um, I’ve done videos. Um, actually I have a video I did during the summer for first-time home buyers. That is like a 10 step process. Uh, so when I do get a new client and I find out that maybe they’re a newer or new, uh, home buyer, um, after our conversation, I said, I’ll tell them, listen, I’m going to send you, I’m going to text you a video. And I say, it’s a really cheesy and corny, but it gets implanted cross of the 10 steps to purchasing home. I said that way, you know, when we’re going through the steps, you’ll remember, oh, that’s right. I remember when Cindy talked about, this is the point where we do our good faith deposit or EMD, or this is the point where, you know, the appraisal comes in and how we go through when we navigate through that.
So it kind of gives them a kind of overall view of what it’s like to, to purchase a home. And that way, when we are going through those processes, those milestones and the transaction, it’s not so foreign to them, you know, and it’s not as scary because obviously purchasing the home, we all know it’s your biggest purchase you ever gonna make in your life, and you want it to be comfortable for your clients. For sure. So I have a lot of fun doing that and I will send that out to my clients as well. Well, and I think you make a really good point. I think a lot of times we think of video as a way to attract business or, or generate leads, which it certainly can be. But the other piece of a video when you’re creating content that is somewhat evergreen, somewhat timeless, like your video, you just mentioned, you can send that one-to-one to your clients, and it’s just at it, just one more layer of your credibility, you know, and building that know like trust factor, you know, it’s just, I just think is huge. Are you putting, you mentioned YouTube. Are you putting all of your videos on YouTube or what, what’s kind of your, your strategy with where you’re, where you’re from your content these days.
Well, most of it goes on, uh, Facebook first, uh, and I do need to change that after listening to your YouTube video the other day, I’m like, okay, geo, we need to change and we need to put on YouTube first. Um, so I’ve been a little delayed in my YouTube channel, but, uh, definitely it usually goes on Facebook first and then exactly what we talked about earlier about repurposing. And she will take a smidgen and put it on Instagram stories and it goes on Instagram as well. Um, but I need to get better. Definitely. I confess I need to get better. I’m putting it on YouTube. That’s all good. It’s all good. So you’re, it sounds like you’re spending a lot of time on Facebook, Instagram a little bit on YouTube. Are those kind of your primary platforms? Are you, are you diving into anywhere else or no?
Um, yeah, no, I’m probably the, most of my time on the, on those, you know, I try to do at least a post a week on LinkedIn, um, of some sort, you know, so I’ll keep that going. Um, I know, you know, that’s a good, that’s a good platform as well. Um, I love Pinterest, but I’m afraid if I get on that. Uh, there’s no getting off of it. It gives me a black hole. Yeah, exactly, exactly. So I think, you know, for me, um, you know, being on Facebook, um, you know, my business page and my personal page, you know, and Instagram has been great. In fact, um, I, uh, I know you talk about this is, you know, don’t be a drive-by liker, you know, comment, deep dive into the conversations. Don’t just like, you know, go in and to look at Facebook posts and stuff like that.
So, interestingly enough, about, uh, two months ago, three months ago, um, I saw a conversation on Facebook between two of my, my friends and I was reading the, the, the comments from between my two friends and I, and I realized that my one friends was commenting on the photos and say, oh my gosh, you know, have you guys moved yet? Um, and, and my other girlfriend said, no, we’re going to be putting the house up for sale very soon. So ding, ding, ding, like, wait a minute, like, wait a minute. This is me. Um, and so I reached out to my friend and, you know, messaged her and said, you know, and we did know each other a little bit. Our girls went to school together. They were on cheer together. So it was a easy conversation and just said, Hey, I saw on Facebook that you were thinking about selling your home.
Um, I would love the opportunity to come talk to you and your husband about what I can offer for you to get your household. Uh, and it was interesting because she wrote me back and she says, oh, well, you know, we’re really thinking about doing for sale by owner. And I said, oh, completely understand. You know? Um, but I was, you know, I would still really appreciate it if we could at least have a, you know, have some coffee, you know, and shout over this, you know, so I did make an appointment with them and I did the listing and, uh, it was great because again, I had done a video right before it came on the market. It was on a piece of property in Glendora. That was 3.3 acres. And it was in the Hills in the woods. So I was in the middle of this property with all these Oak trees around me.
My daughter was videotaping me and I was talking about the property. My buyer saw the video that did not know me. And he contacted me and said, when are you going to be showing this property? So I was able to double in the property as well. So Facebook, and thank you, Katie. I love it. I love hearing stories like that. And, you know, I think that’s a really good example because you mentioned how you have, you know, a marketing assistant who kind of helps you with some of the strategy and planning and maybe even repurposing. But I love that you also talk about the value of just like showing up. I mean, if you hadn’t been there and you, you, you’re the one who has these relationships, right. And you you’re being proactive and not just, like you said, being a drive-by liker. And so I think it’s that balance of both right. Having strategy, having content, but then just showing up as you would at a party and, you know, and, and, you know, being observant and being intentional and connecting, you know, making those connections I think is key. Yeah, no, definitely, definitely is. And, um, yeah, that was, so that was really fun to, to see, you know, the seeds that you’ve planted over the years to see it come to fruition. Like it does work. Yay.
We love that. That was really great. Definitely. So it has been really fun doing video and being on social media more, you know, uh, and it’s funny because, um, uh, my husband’s business, um, being at the racetrack and a lot of our friends and a lot of people from the racetrack would come up to him and say, oh, I saw Cindy’s video, the new house that she’s got listed. Or, and he, you know, he just spills out. Okay. You know, cause he didn’t see the purpose of it. But once I started saying, oh, you know, I got that listing because of that. And I did this because of Facebook or Instagram or somebody saw something, you know, now he’s realizing like, oh, okay, this is a value. This is pretty cool. You know? So you hanging out on it. Yeah. No, exactly. And eating Bon bons all day. Yeah. So yes, honey, there’s a business reason here. Yes.
Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, I’d love for you to kind of talk a little bit about kind of dive into a little bit of how you get organized with, with your marketing and social media. And I love how you mentioned you’ve got, you know, GEA. Um, is there any systems or tools that you use, like, I don’t know, Google calendar or a spreadsheet, or is there any certain tools that you guys use to stay organized or is it pretty, is it pretty basic either way? There’s no right or wrong answer. I just, I know people are always curious about how, like how do you stay organized and also like, you know, stay focused on the fact that you are a real estate agent that you shouldn’t be doing social media 24 7, right? Yeah. No, definitely. You just, you know, you just have to carve out that time.
So usually because like I said, JIA has moved to Georgia recently, um, and there’s a three hour time difference. So when I’m getting up at usually 5 30, 6 o’clock in the morning, she’s up already. So we can call, we can text and kind of get things, you know, scheduled for the week for the two weeks, whatever it is. Um, I try to do the social media calendar. That’s in the get smart social academy about different things to do with content. So we try to maybe one week it’s community, one week it’s educational. Um, we try to mix it up as best as we can. Um, sometimes we succeed and sometimes we don’t, but, uh, we’re all human. So it’s all good. So I just feel like anytime we can get something out there, um, any kind of positive posts, you know, whether it’s a post, whether it’s a video, you know, um, I think is all good, you know, definitely.
So we try to have some kind of a template that we use off of get social smart academy. Uh, but sometimes we just throw caution to the wind and Hey, you know, I’ve got, I, I like this month. Oh my gosh, I’ve had four closings this month. I have another one actually tomorrow. So it’s like, I’m sending her like, okay, this closed, this is closing tomorrow. Here’s the photos, here’s the information, here’s the picture, you know? Um, and so sometimes like you said, our best laid plans of using our, get social smart tablet, fashion through the win and we’re doing something different, you know, so, but it’s all good, you know, so well, and I think that’s a great lesson in the fact that you can have a plan. I mean, we do the same thing. We have a plan, we have an editorial calendar, but then things happen, you know, I mean this past year with everything going on, it’s like, we need to rearrange our calendar a little bit.
You know, you, you don’t want to be tone deaf and you want to be timely. So I think there’s nothing wrong with that. You know, it’s just like the, the local news station. They’re going to have a, an editorial calendar, but if there’s breaking news, they’re going to change, you know? So exactly. I love that. Yeah. So there’s a lot of people who watch, who watch our videos and our content and podcasts and stuff that, that are struggling. You know, they’re struggling with social media. They feel like it’s a time suck. They’re not sure where to start. They’re not sure if it’s worth it. Uh, and I just would be curious if you have any advice for someone like that who might just be struggling or feeling a little overwhelmed with social media. Um, if you have any advice you could share, we would love to hear that.
Uh, yes, actually I do. Um, I would say for somebody that’s brand new to social media and doesn’t know where to start, I would pick one platform and go with that. So whether you’re more comfortable with, uh, Facebook or Instagram or LinkedIn or Twitter or Pinterest, um, start just with one and, and make out a plan of what you’re going to do. And it, even if it’s just once a week, you’re posting something, you know, to get your feet wet, um, do it, um, B and then as goes on and you’re feeling more comfortable at another day to the week that you’re going to be posting something. Um, and, and it will just come naturally that you feel more confident. Um, I think so many people look at social media and they get very overwhelmed because you’re right, Katie, there’s so many different platforms. This does this, this does this, you know, Instagram has, you know, stories and it has reels now and you got IGB TV and, you know, it can be very overwhelming, you know, but I, I think that, I think for somebody starting off, I think that’s the best way is pick one that you’re comfortable with and just add to it, you know, on a weekly, monthly basis, whatever you’re comfortable with and go from there.
And once you feel really confident with that platform, then take on a second one, you know, and maybe it’s, you start off with Facebook and then you had Instagram, or you start off with Instagram, you go to Facebook, you know, whatever it is. Um, and, and don’t lose faith and don’t lose hope. Um, we all have to learn from, you know, and you know, it, it does take time, you know, and it’s okay, you know, and just go at your pace. And, you know, nobody has a record book, nobody has a report card on how fast you do something or how fast you learn, just do it. So you’re comfortable. And if you do it as your comfortable with is going to come off so much more genuine, you, as you talk about Katie, it’s going to lean into who you are. Um, and that is so much more, uh, you know, applicable and, um, then trying to can something enforce something, um, and you know, that you’re not comfortable with and it does come off.
It does come off. Definitely is, you know, you don’t seem genuine, you know? Um, and you want, like, you talked about the, the know, like trust factor. You want people to know you, you want people to like you, and then finally the trust comes in. Um, I’m going to do a little shameless pug, a plug for Ms. Betty Russo and Christina George, uh, because of their great podcast. Um, it has been amazing. I’m so proud of those two. Um, it’s been fun listening to their last three episodes, so good for them because it does definitely help, um, to just build and continue, you know, your, your social media strategies, definitely apps. And we’ll link that in our, in our notes below, if you’re watching this over on YouTube or you’re listening to this in our podcast, we’ll make sure to link to their, their, uh, their podcasts. They’re also to fellow academy members. That’s been great to see them flourish and, and just, uh, I love their podcasts. It’s, it’s been fun. Been fun to be a part of it, for sure. Oh my goodness. This has been so fun. Well, we’re going to continue the conversation over on our podcasts, but before we wrap up this part of the interview, Cindy, is there anything else that you want to add any last minute? I don’t know. Things I didn’t ask you or anything you want to, you want to throw in here?
No, I, like I said, I would just tell people just to, you know, keep watching you, you bring, thank you, Katie, for all you, um, they get star mark social academy is amazing. It has been such a plethora of knowledge for me. Um, if I want to know something it’s so great to be able to go to the academy and look up, you know, YouTube or Instagram or whatever it is I’m asking questions about. Um, and, and also, you know, having our own Facebook page, you know, and being able to ask those questions to our community members. Um, it’s been so fun because like I said, now I’m friends with, you know, a few of the academy members and we each other have either cell phone numbers and talking and chatting, and it’s just neat to be able to bounce ideas off of other, you know, agents and, and, and it’s just been really a great, a great opportunity.
So thank you, Katie, for that, uh, for all you do. Oh, absolutely. It’s my pleasure. Well, this has been so much fun chatting with you, Cindy, and I know you’re going to stay on the line. We’re gonna, uh, we’re gonna extend this interview, uh, a few more minutes for those of you watching over on YouTube or Facebook. Um, we have a podcast, the Katie Lance podcast. So we always put our, uh, get social smart spotlight interviews on our podcasts, but we have some special questions for Cindy, just for podcast listeners. So no pressure, but if you’re listening on YouTube or Facebook, you can head over to the podcast and check that out. Uh, and if you’d like more information about the academy, you know, Cindy mentioned she’s been an academy member for the last three years. Um, we are growing and, you know, our, our, our passion is to really help agents get smarter about social media.
You know, we, we don’t feel like a social media is the end all and be all. It’s just one more tool in your tool chest when done, right. That can make a big difference. So for more information about that, you can go to Katie, lance.com forward slash academy. And of course, if you’re watching this on YouTube hit that subscribe button and the bell button, so you get notified when we have new content each and every week, we’re going to put Cindy’s contact information below. So if you know of anyone moving out to the San Gabriel valley or Northwest San Diego, we’re going to make sure that you can contact Cindy easily. Uh, and we’ll put that all below. So thank you so much, Cindy. I’m so happy that you were here with us today. Thank you, Katie. It’s been absolutely a pleasure. All right. Podcasts listeners as well.
I am so excited to have this conversation with Cindy here today, and I know she shared so many great tips, and if you’re listening here on the podcast, you know, we always like to keep our guests on a little bit longer to have some exclusive questions for our podcast listeners. So, um, Cindy, I just have two, I think, fairly simple questions, but I guess you’ll be the judge if there’s civil or not. Um, the one thing I want to ask you is, you know, we get a lot of, uh, new agents who listened to our podcast or people who are entrepreneurs and they’re thinking about, you know, getting into real estate. So I would just wondering since, you know, you are, you are the kind of beginning of your career, like you said, you are about eight years in, which is exciting. Do you have any advice for someone new to real estate or someone thinking about getting into real estate?
This is wondering if maybe a one or two pieces of advice that you could share with our listeners. Yeah, absolutely. Katie, thank you. Um, um, yeah, I would definitely think if you are considering thinking maybe changing careers or starting a new career in real estate, I would definitely go in and, you know, find a local realtor that you could go and talk to and ask some questions. Um, maybe it’s a, a friend of a friend or somebody that you, maybe even the person that sold your house, or you bought a house from, you know, take the time to talk to them and, and really kind of deep dive into what it’s like to be a real estate agent. Um, I think that’s a great, great start. Um, and if you can, and they will allow is, you know, maybe even going with them, uh, you know, to maybe to do a walkthrough or an appraisal or something like that.
So you can kind of see the ins and outs of our, of our industry. I think that was really great. I love helping new agents and, um, if they’re onboarded in our office, are you like to take them under my wing and, um, have them go with me, you know, to, you know, doing an inspection or doing an appraisal or, and just to, so they, and also taking them on an open house. Um, because I think, you know, when we are taking our real estate classes and learning, um, the books are so different than what the real world has out there. So, um, it’s great. Obviously we need that foundation. We need that theory. We need that law, um, all the real estate, you know, terminology, we need all of that, but actually getting out there and doing it as a completely different story. So, like I said, when I have new agents in our office and I likes, I love shaking one right wing and just have them go with me and do different things.
And, um, and like, uh, if we’re doing our final walkthrough and what that means and how you fill out the form, um, or if we have a lease and I’m doing what we call I move in or move out for them and taking them with me to do that. So they understand how to do the forms. Um, like I said, taking them on an open house with me, um, having them help me do an open house and I have them watch me do an open house for maybe three, four times. And then I say, okay, you’re on your turn, you know, and see them, you know, and then, you know, they’re like, oh, it wasn’t so bad. I’m like, well, it’s not, you know, you just, you know, your main thing with an open house is trying to find a connection with those clients, you know, uh, finding something that you’re having common.
Um, and so you start that relationship with a new client. So, um, so yeah, that would be my best advice for somebody thinking about it is definitely, you know, find an agent you can talk to. And then maybe, like I said, do you know, um, some, you know, learning with them and then also maybe going along with them and kind of seeing the ins and outs of our business, because it’s definitely more than just showing houses. That’s for sure. It’s not as simple as like HGTV, right? Yes, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, no, I wish it was that easy. It’s not, especially right now in this buyer’s market. Holy moly. Right? Exactly. It’s not just show three homes and, you know, somebody picks one and it wraps up in 38 minutes. Exactly. No, well, that’s, that’s really good advice. You know, I, you know, find it, find a mentor, find someone who can help kind of walk you through the ropes.
And, uh, you know, I’d probably say, you know, for yourself, like you said, now you’re at the point where you can teach someone else and, you know, kind of, uh, be a mentor to them. So it’s, it comes full circle, you know, in a lot of ways, it reminds me of what you were saying in the beginning about being in the medical profession. And I would imagine that that happens a lot in the medical profession. You know, you just, there’s only so much you can read in a textbook, but at some point you gotta, you know, do the hands on. And so having that jump in the pool, dive right in.
So the other question I wanted to ask, uh, kind of unrelated from that first question, but it has to do with your phone. Okay. Uh, I, we’re all kind of connected to our phones, right. When we were on the phone all the time, we’re using it for social media or whatever. And I maybe it’s just because of the profession I’m in, I’m asked all the time, like, what apps are you using? What are some of your favorite apps? What are your go-to apps? And there’s certainly ones that are on my phone that I’m like, why do I even have this? I need it. Right? Like it’s not even effective. The ones that I use, like all the time. So I’m just curious. Is there, do you have like a go-to app or two that you use it doesn’t just have to be for real estate.
It could be for, I don’t know, life, business, whatever, you know, parenting, whatever it might be. Just curious. What’s on. What, what are you using these days on your phone? Well, one of my absolute favorites, thanks to you. Oh, is a word swag. And I love it because I can get stock photos. I can add, you know, um, wording and verbiage. And so a lot of times, um, you know, I’ll do my money motivations, you know, from Wordswag and I love it. I’m I know Katie I’m supposed to like Canva. I know all, but, you know, I have such a tough time with Canva, but I love word swag, word swag is so user-friendly and I’m so glad that you introduced, made a word swag three years ago. Uh, cause it’s awesome. It’s very, very easy. So that’s definitely one I use on a weekly basis for sure.
If not two or three times during the week. Um, um, I love that one. I’m trying to look at my phone right now to see what I have on here. Um, I love, I do love words and I’ve used it, like you said, I’ve used it for years. It’s so easy. You can add like your logo there’s sodas. Exactly, exactly. Yeah. So yeah, I would say, you know, real estate related, that was probably my best one, you know, that I loved. And I, like I said, I use that all the time, you know? Um, it’s not it’s, it’s not like something like you were just talking about, like it’s on your mind. What is that? Why, why do I have that line air? Yeah, no, I use words all the time. Definitely. No, that’s a good one. Definitely. And my restaurant might have on here a lot of real estate related, but I, I have a couple of horse racing ones on there too, so I can keep up with my hubby and see how, uh, him and his jockey are doing.
Um, so that’s always fun too. That’s awesome. That’s so cool. That’s so neat that you’re, I mean, you guys are in these two really different businesses, but I can see how there’s some similarities too. I mean, just in the, just, I mean, a lot of people would call, you know, real estate, a horse, right? Yeah, exactly. Well, the running joke in our house is that, you know, he is around, he’s around horses and I’m around houses and you just got to change the continents, you know? So, uh, and it’s really neat because actually our worlds have crossed over a few times. Um, I had recently I had a listing, um, very close to our house and actually one of the jockeys, uh, from the racetrack bought the house. So, um, that was really neat. And they were first time home buyers and they had no idea.
They could even even attain, um, owning a home. So that was really neat to be able to, you know, I have the listing, the people had nothing to do with the sellers, had nothing to do with the racetrack at all, but I knew of a few of the jockeys that were looking to purchase homes. And I reached out to all of them and said, Hey, I got this really great listing. You should come take a peek. You know, and they’re no, no, no. And then they did come on my open house, my scheduled showing day and they fell in love, Cindy, how do we get this house? You know? So it was really neat. And then when I said it makes me happy, you know, that both my husbands, our worlds, you know, can mesh very well, you know? Um, it does. And it works for us.
You know, he works seven days a week, um, 364 days. The only day he doesn’t work as Christmas. Uh, and I’m pretty much the same, you know? And so for us, it works really, really well. Now I can’t say that that would work, you know, for every marriage, you know, but for us it does, you know, and we try to have date lunches and during the week, um, that seems to be our best, best way, but, uh, for us to work and it’s really fun. Like I said, it’s neat to see both of our, I mean, sometimes, you know, um, uh, like I said, you know, we’ve got people from the racetrack trainers, jockeys owners that are purchasing homes through me or purchasing vacation homes, you know, like, like you mentioned, you know, our second home we have is down in Rancho Santa Fe at the San Diego area.
So I do buy and sell down there for clients as well. But then there’s been a lot of times that my clients are, have found me, um, not and recognize my last name and then say, oh, are you, are you married to Jack? You know, and I kind of cringe and I kind of go, I don’t know how to answer that because you lost your home from bedding. Like, no, I don’t know who he is, but, uh, but, uh, but no, for the most part, and then they’ve actually gone on to purchase purchase horses or a portion of a horse with us, you know? So it’s been kind of fun to see, like I said, both sides of our, you know, uh, industry is very different, but still chills, still one to mesh together. So very nicely actually. That’s really cool. That’s really, really cool to hear.
I love that. Well, Cindy, thank you so much for being with us today. I have just loved sitting down and chatting with you. You are a gym. I absolutely loved just hearing you and getting to know a little bit more about you. So thank you so much for being here today. Oh, thank you, Katie is absolutely a pleasure and I can’t wait. As you said, you know, things are starting to open up. Um, I know when I got to meet you in person about two years ago, best day of my life, you and I have a picture together. It was awesome. So I’m excited for things starting to open up again and you to be close to me maybe down here in Southern California. It’s so I can come, you know, say hi in person and give you a hug instead of virtually. So thank you, Katie so much for having me on your show.
It’s been absolutely an honor and a pleasure. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Absolutely. Absolutely. And for all of our podcasts listeners, thank you so much for tuning in today. If you enjoyed this podcast, the best thing you can do is share it out. Tell a friend, feel free to take a screenshot of you’re watching this on your phone and post it to Instagram or Facebook and you can tag me and Cindy I’ll put her contact information below so you can connect her with absolutely love to connect with you. And if you really, really love the podcast, you can also leave us a review over on apple podcasts. All right, everyone. Thank you so much for tuning in until next time. Have a great day. We’ll see you soon. Bye for now.
