Roberta Zuniga, a former barber and DJ, embraced her journey into real estate with passion, resilience, and a deep sense of love for helping others. Now a standout agent with Century 21 Real Estate Alliance, Roberta’s inspiring transformation reflects her commitment to overcoming challenges and making a meaningful impact. Rising to the top 26% of agents nationwide, she shares the personal and professional hurdles she faced, proving that success is built on authenticity, connection, and a willingness to serve.
Rooted in childhood experiences of housing insecurity, Roberta developed a profound empathy for families seeking stability. Her early professional roles taught her the value of relationships, and she carried that lesson into real estate, using her personal network from barbering and DJing to build trust and create opportunities. Her story highlights the power of unconventional marketing, turning genuine connections into a thriving business.
For Roberta, success is about more than numbers—it’s about mentorship, teamwork, and approaching every challenge with self-love and determination. Guided by a mentor who championed her growth, she learned that personal and professional development go hand in hand. This episode explores how embracing love, both for herself and those she serves, has been the key to her remarkable achievements in real estate.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, this is Jorge de Leon, and today it is my
distinct pleasure to feature areal estate agent that has not
only caught my attention but hascaptured the attention of a lot
of real estate agents in ourmarket, and I qualify and
consider this agent one of thoseagents that have actually gone
(00:21):
from average to extraordinaryand, considering the statistics
in relation to real estate andbusiness overall, I think it's
wise for us to hear and learnfrom Roberta Zuniga with Century
21 Real Estate Alliance Century21 Real Estate Alliance who
(00:49):
technically has a lot of thingsgoing against her, not just
because of who she is, butbecause in real estate, the
statistics show that most agentsquit real estate before they
hit their first year anniversary.
It is my, as I mentioned, Iwould love to introduce you to
Roberta Zuniga.
Roberta, welcome to our podcastshow and please tell me a
(01:10):
little bit about who you are andhow did you get into the real
estate business.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Well, my name is Roberta Zuniga from Oxnard and I
got into real estate kind oflike more of a personal reason
for myself and I just wanted tobring families together and
(01:39):
homes that create beautifulmemories, beautiful growth, you
know, and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
So we're going to dive in today and I'm going to
ask Roberta a few questions,with the hope that we learn from
her and maybe you would beinspired to do the things that
you were not doing.
And maybe you know, break the,you know, overcome the
(02:10):
challenges that we have in lifeand in this business and, more
importantly, be able to not be astatistic in real estate.
Roberta, before, I mean, realestate is one of the things that
you do.
I think that you do threethings before becoming a
full-time real estate agent or apart-time real estate agent,
(02:33):
what are you doing or what wereyou doing before this?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Well, I'm a barber.
I've been barbering since 1985.
1985 and in 1999, I decided totake a leap and own my own
barbershop, which has been verysuccessful for myself and um and
in that, while I was barbering,I wanted to become a DJ okay so
(02:59):
I had to learn that craft.
I love music.
I think music is, is the key tosomebody's souls, and you know,
I think that anytime you'rehaving some kind of function,
any kind of you know anything,you put music on it and just
brings everything alive.
That's what I like to do, is tobring people together in the
(03:20):
name of love.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
So when did you start selling real estate?
Which year?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
the name of love.
So when did you start sellingreal estate?
Which year, I think it was?
Speaker 1 (03:30):
22, March of 2022.
I'm going to share a statisticwith you and I would like to get
your reaction.
74% of licensed real estateagents sold zero homes in 2024.
That's 74% of real estateagents.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
What's your reaction to that?
I'm like wow, you know, thatsurprises me.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
It's a surprising statistic right.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yes, very surprising.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
And the reason why it's surprising is because, when
we turn social media, everybodyseems to be selling real estate
, and it seems like there's justa lot of people selling not
just dozens, but hundreds ofhomes per year.
I want to share a secondstatistic 24%.
Excuse me, let me rephrase thatit means that 26% of agents
sold a home.
That's between one and hundreds, if not thousands.
(04:31):
So you, roberta, how many homesdid you sell in 2024?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
I believe it was seven.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Seven transactions.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Seven transactions.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Okay, so not only are you in the top 26% of real
estate agents across the nation,how?
Speaker 2 (04:48):
does that?
Speaker 1 (04:48):
make you feel.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Humble, very humble.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Excellent.
Thank you for sharing that, andthe reason that that moves me
is because a lot of real estateagents out there they gloat
about their production, and thisis not intended to gloat about
production, but helping ouragents break that barrier of
(05:17):
making it in this business.
It's a tough, tough businessand throughout the podcast
series we will be talking aboutthe mistakes that real estate
agents make.
We speak about the things thatthose that beat the odds do on a
consistent basis, and today myhope is that Roberta is going to
(05:38):
share those secrets and they'renot necessarily secrets,
they're just basic things thatreal estate agents should be
doing on a daily basis.
But I'm going to share thethird statistics.
You were approximately actuallyyou were four transactions shy
of being the top 2% of realestate agents across the nation.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
So the statistic is that 2% the top 2% of real
estate agents across the countrysold between 11 and 20
transactions.
So in my eyes and in the eyesof a lot of real estate managers
out there and recruiters,you're a top producing agent.
(06:25):
And the best part of thisconversation, roberta, is that
you have never, in the last 12months that I've been working
with you, you have never seenyourself as a top producer,
which is a phenomenal quality ofhumility and modesty, and I
just want to congratulate youfor that, and I am going to ask
(06:47):
other people to congratulate her.
Well, I wanted to bringsomebody on, but they didn't
call in.
But, yes, I think that there'speople out there applauding you
right now, roberta, and I justwanted to congratulate you.
But I just don't want this toget to your head.
I don't think it will, becauseyou are a very humble person.
So we've already establishedthat roberta, in 2024, closed
(07:12):
more than what the average.
Okay, the average is zero,because 74 of agents closed less
than one transaction and youare on the way of getting into
that top one percent, okay.
Fourth statistic is that thoseonly 0.14 percent okay, that's,
(07:38):
this is like one, just a littlebit over one tenth of a percent
closed 45 transactions.
So, in order for you to beconsidered the top echelon, the
creme of la creme, as they sayin French.
You're on your way there.
(07:59):
Obviously, with a little bit ofdiscipline and focus, et cetera
, You'll get there.
I'm very confident that youwill get to that point.
When you closed your firsttransaction, you mentioned that
you DJ and do those things.
How many years would have ittaken you to be able to make
(08:26):
what you did in your firsttransaction?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Oh Jorge, I'm not as good with the numbers as you are
.
I'm just like totally humbledto hear your statistics.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
So I think that in our pre-conversation you
mentioned that it would havetaken you two years of doing DJ
gigs to be able to earn what youearned in one transaction.
Probably Right, yes, correct,and it's a lot of work to get
from taking the stuff from yourcar to setting up.
(08:55):
You have to be early, you haveto, you know, set up and it's
just a lot of work.
And I just don't want topretend that a real estate
transaction is a simple thing.
It's not.
It transaction is a simplething, it's not, it's not as
simple.
Real estate is one of the mostdifficult things people can do.
Obviously, the media makes itlook easy, but the reality is
that there's just a lot of workand it's expensive.
(09:16):
Time-wise, energy-wise emotionsthey refer to that as the blood
sweat and tears, right.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Right.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
And you've paid your dues, Roberta, but I would like
for you to share with me.
Oh, and if we average byhaircuts, maybe $30, that's a
lot of haircuts to do what youdid in one transaction in
earnings.
We're not going to talk aboutearnings et cetera, we're just
going to talk about what ittakes to break through in real
(09:43):
estate.
Can you tell me a little bitabout your discipline?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Well, I shut off from everybody, you know, when they
were talking about the interestrates going up, Armani told me
don't listen, turn the chatteroff.
We had that big movement in ouroffice.
I went to speak to Armanibecause at that point I was like
you know, if this is what realestate's about, I don't want a
(10:14):
part of it because I'm not herefor the money.
As you know, I'm not.
I didn't even know that I was asuccessful realtor, you know,
until you brought it up and youkept mentioning it to me.
And then I kept hearing thingsfrom my colleagues and such, and
then I knew wow, I think I'm onto something.
(10:37):
But I didn't know, because whatI do is I put my head down and I
work my ass off.
What I do is I put my head downand I work my ass off, and from
day up to sundown, my son's 20years old, so he's able to I'm
able to do it.
You know, I'm not married and Ihave a son who's independent,
(11:02):
you know, and so I have a lot oftime on my hands.
I get up in the morning everymorning at 5.30.
I drink my coffee and I listento my motivational stuff on
YouTube.
I listen to the Secret.
The Secret is a big, big factorof my success.
I've been listening to theSecret for about.
(11:22):
I think I told you this wasjust kind of like an experiment
for me, because the Secret toldme that if I applied myself, I
could do anything I wanted to do.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Fantastic.
So I am a believer that when wecome from a sense of gratitude,
we accomplish much more,because then we don't feel sorry
for ourselves.
There's a portion of your storythat I cannot ignore and if you
feel comfortable sharing this.
(11:58):
The assumption is that inAmerica, most have secure
housing, correct?
How was it for you, growing upas a child, housing, and what is
it that happened in your lifethat motivated you to become the
best real estate agent thatanybody can have?
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Well, you know, not to you know, I don't feel sorry
for myself, obviously I mean,sometimes it hurts, but that
right there gives me a deeperdesire that I already have.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
You have a deeper desire for what you already have
, but most humans in life areimpacted by things that happen
where either they go intohibernation and they never come
out, or they are motivated to doextraordinary things and I
think that something happened toyou which has motivated you to
be who you are, roberta youdon't give up.
(13:16):
You have a sense of curiositywhere you ask questions and go
figure out how to get it done,and I think that a lot of that
has to do with your success.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Okay, yes, you're probably right, you are.
And with me, you know, okay,growing my family split up, my
(13:55):
mom and dad split up, and therewas five of us, six of us, and
we were kind of like spread out,you know, and aunts and uncles,
you know, took care of us, tookcare of us, and growing up I
never felt that it was my home,just things that there was a lot
of challenges.
Growing up for myself, you'reright, I had a lot of challenges
(14:15):
and I was the oldest of mysiblings that were separated
from our parents and I kind oftook the role as the protector,
the caretaker, and even when Iwas nine years old, we had a
(14:36):
lawnmower in our home and I gotthat lawnmower and I went out
and knocked on doors to mowhouses.
And I got that lawnmower and Iwent out and knocked on doors to
mow houses and that's how Imade money for my brothers and
sisters so we can go get icecream, or the ice cream man
truck would come.
So I already had that in me.
(14:57):
I don't know why it came likethat, but I was just a protector
.
I didn't think of my, I thoughtof my brothers and sisters
before I thought of myself.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
So housing is a basic necessity that all of us have
and some of us were raisedhousing secure.
I attend a lot of events I speakon behalf of the real estate
community at city councilmeetings and there was a
statistic mentioned, or actuallythere was a fact that was
mentioned that made me thinkabout it and I never saw myself
as this.
The definition of homelessnessfor a child is when they have to
(15:38):
share a roof with anotherfamily.
So, based on that statistic thefact that there was a period in
time and it was not necessarilyI just want to clarify.
I don't feel bad about it, butbecause my parents had made the
decision to live with my auntand uncle and we lived under the
(16:00):
same roof, under the samehousehold, that would have
marked me statistically as beinghomeless as a child, right, but
I see that as an experiencethat really drove who I am.
Because then we fast forward tothe time that my mom wanted to
have her own place and myparents bought a mobile home,
(16:24):
and it was a single wide mobilehome in a place that no longer
exists Wagon Wheel.
I don't know if you've heard ofWagon Wheel.
It used to be a mobile home parkthere.
3 Tuxedo Road was our address.
I still remember and it'sinteresting that an address
makes such an impact to the factthat I still remember that
address and I remember the otherstreet that I used to live on,
(16:45):
on Olive Street in Santa Paula,and then the other address that
we lived in in Oxnard, and thenthe address that I lived in
growing up.
The housing or home or anaddress makes a phenomenal
impact in our life and we thinkabout those individuals that do
not necessarily have a permanentaddress and you know the impact
(17:11):
that that makes into them.
So I would like for us to gointo this conversation as to
when you decided to become areal estate agent and your focus
was to help people get intohomes.
And the reality is that you,through your barber shop, as a
barbering business owner andthen also as a DJ, you have
(17:38):
access.
Your platform gives you accessto individuals that many people
would not otherwise consider asa potential client for a
different business venue.
So let's talk about yourmarketing strategy and how you
leverage your barbering businessand your DJ business in order
(18:00):
to generate leads to generateleads.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
You know, jorge, I don't, it's not something that
it comes natural.
I love talking to people.
It doesn't matter what I'mgoing through.
You know, I put that to theside and I tend to their needs.
You know, probably because Itook care of my brothers and
(18:27):
sisters, you know, we were afamily within a family and I
never felt like that was my home.
Things were said to me to makesure I knew it wasn't my home,
you know, and with that I wouldalways say, you know, one day
I'm going to be somebody and I'mgoing to take my brothers and
sisters.
You know, I used to say thatwhen I'd get, you know,
disciplined or punished, youknow, or whatever the case may
(18:50):
be, but but I always, you know,I was sad, you know, knowing
that I felt like I wasn't wantedin that home, you know, and
there was times that I woulddrive around and I would, you
know, look at, or I'd look at,homes and I would wonder what
family would be in there, whatkind of family was in there,
what were they watching?
I would see the tv on, I'd seethe lights on and I and I and I
(19:15):
wanted that and and I knew that,um, that I wasn't going to have
that at that, at that age.
But when I got older, I had mychild and, um, I gave him
everything that I didn't have.
I gave him the home that Ialways wanted and and we have a
beautiful milestones.
(19:36):
I believe a home I, I just thinkthat a home is is like a
heartbeat.
Right there stems a family'ssuccess, a family's bond, a
family's growth.
You're going to experiencedebts, you're going to
experience milestones, you'regoing to experience births.
You're going to experience itall and you need a sacred place.
(19:58):
It's like a home is like achurch.
You know, to me, to me, and Isee a lot of families struggling
that have the means to buy ahome but, just like me, they
didn't think they could.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Okay, and that's a very key point.
There you don't make a judgmentcall, you just talk about what
you can help them do.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
So I believe that you're a strong communicator,
right, correct, and there's many, many statistics out there that
demonstrate why people failmaking it into real estate, and
one of the things that I want tohighlight is that you're not
(20:46):
shy about talking about yourtrade.
You're not shy about talkingabout the tools and resources
that you make available topeople that might not have
thought about being a homeownerRight.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
So your platform we spoke in a different podcast as
open houses being yourstorefront to lead generate.
In your particular case, youhave two business avenues where
you lead generate and youcommunicate, and you communicate
.
But what is it that you do onceyou connect with someone that
(21:26):
says yes, I'm actuallyinterested in exploring the
possibility of being a homeowner.
What is?
Speaker 2 (21:40):
it that you do to be able to develop that potential?
You mean, like selling them ahome, selling them the home,
Well, follow through.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Okay, I'm sure that you collect their phone number.
You have them as a captiveaudience because you have them
in a chair.
For what?
30 minutes?
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
But as far as tell me about how it goes from hello,
I'm in real estate.
I think that you shouldconsider buying a home, and they
say you know what?
I would like to buy a home.
What do I do next?
What's your follow-throughprocess?
Tell us about.
What is it that you do, and Idon't want you to give me the
trade secrets of who Roberta is.
(22:17):
I would like for you to tell meabout your follow-through
process.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
So when they say hey, Robertabert, you know, let me
just back it up.
You know when I decided to goto real estate school yeah I
knew that I was going to put iton my platform okay and I was
going to show them when I firstreceived my books of school for
real estate school.
Uh, there was times I showedthem in the mornings.
(22:44):
How would it look like my youknow what my studies look like
there, you know.
Just I, I showed my, my audit,my, my platform I don't want to
say audience, but my platform.
Um, that what I was into,because I knew that I was going
(23:04):
to connect with them in thatlevel as far as they're wanting
to buy a home.
So if I let them see firsthandwhat I'm going through and the
realness of Roberta Zuniga, thatright there catches somebody's
trust instantly.
And the first time when I tookmy test failed and I shared that
(23:26):
too, that was hard to share,but I shared it you know, so
that's accountability okay.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
I mean accountability .
I don't you know you, you knownobody has maybe shared with you
or didn't realize that yousharing with other people is a
form of accountability, becausethe reason that you shared that
is because you wanted to behonest with people.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
There's a sense of you know people don't like to be
vulnerable and therefore theydon't share, because what if I
don't make it?
How did you overcome that senseof vulnerability?
By sharing what you were doingand sharing the fact that you
didn't make it.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
you didn't pass the first time around because I
understand that there's peoplelike me that are out, that are
out there failing, and it's Ishouldn't say fail, because
scientists fail all the time.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
But it's okay.
I don't want you to see failureas a negative.
It's how you come out of it.
That is the important part,right?
So it's okay to say that youfailed.
You just didn't give up.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
No I didn't Okay.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
So talk about what drove that accountability.
And why did you share withpeople what was going on through
Roberta's head?
When you say I, why did youshare with people?
What was what was going onthrough roberta's head?
When you say I'm going to sharewith people my books, I'm going
to share my, my, my enthusiasmabout it what was going on
through your head when youdecided to make that decision?
Speaker 2 (24:58):
um, well, I just wanted them to know like, hey,
you're gonna see, you're gonnabe able to be see firsthand what
roberta zuni, if roberta zunigoes, gonna do it.
I didn't even know I was gonnado it, but but I do have a lot
of faith.
I do have a lot of faith and Iand the thing that that I that
helps me through is I know thatgod has a final say so and it
(25:23):
doesn't matter what is thrown atme, because again I've had to
beat the odds growing up, itdoesn't matter what you say to
me, it doesn't matter what comesmy way, because I know that God
has a final say-so on howRoberta Zuniga so you left that
on the shoulders the worrying onthe other shoulders of somebody
else.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Yes, okay, the worrying on the other shoulders
of somebody else, yes, of thepeople.
Let's say that you shared thestory that you were going to
study for real estate.
How many people, on apercentage, said, oh, you're
going to do great, versus thepeople that said, what the heck
are you doing?
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Only one person said I was going to do great.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
So 99% thought that you were going to fail the
naysayers right andstatistically speaking and I
hate to repeat statistics wehave a tendency of not
encouraging people.
It's just a natural conditionand I'm just not going to focus
on that.
So the reason that you and Iare here together and the reason
(26:28):
that you specifically are aboveaverage, is because you have
broken through the naysayers andthe negative talk.
Maybe you're not experiencingthat negative talk, but the
people out there said Roberta,what the heck Don't get me wrong
, don't get me wrong.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
It's there in my head .
You know, we're not responsiblefor what comes in our mind, our
brain, but we're responsiblefor what stays.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
So the point that I wanted to make and have you come
out with, roberta, is thatyou're just like everybody else
that has to deal with thenegative talk.
Oh, yes, daily.
Exactly right Daily so youstill have to do that and deal
with your own inner voice sayingI'm not going to be able to
make it, I'm going to fail, butyou have broken through to beat
(27:25):
the odds.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Mm, hmm.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
So negative talk.
Let's talk about the momentthat you failed the first time.
What went through your head andhow did you get yourself?
How did you put you know?
They say you know you pulledyourself from your bootstraps to
go out there and rescheduleyourself for the second test.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Well, jorge, I didn't just fail one time, I fell
three times.
I got my license on my fourthtry.
The third time I was in Iforget where it was at up in LA
taking my test, and the thirdtime, when I walked out, they
let you know if you pass or not.
You know, and I did not pass,and I remember walking out of
(28:07):
there and I remember just.
I remember my son was watchingeverything and I wasn't going to
stop until I got my license.
I wasn't going to stop.
(28:28):
I wasn't going to stop, and sothat when I walked out of that
the third time, when I walkedout, I went into my hotel room
immediately and I got online andsomething unheard of happened,
and that was I was able toschedule another appointment the
next day.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Right and see, and three times, three times, I had
a.
Each time I had to go back andwait six months, four months,
whatever it was, and by then youkind of lose its its flavor.
But the next I went I wentstraight to the.
I didn't, I didn't care howmany times I got beat up, I was
going to keep going until I gotit.
And the fourth time when I wentback was the next day.
(29:13):
They had an opening and I saidI'll take it.
And I went back the next dayand when I walked out of there I
remember opening up the letterand, oh my God, it was just me,
by myself, like it's been forthe last couple of years, by
myself.
It's just me, by myself, likeit's been for the last couple of
years by myself.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
So today we're standing here with Roberta
Zuniga with Century 21 RealEstate Alliance, who, in my book
, is an above-average realestate agent who has broken
through the odds, and today weare podcasting over breaking
barriers in real estate, goingfrom average to extraordinary.
So far, roberta has beensharing some very personal you
(29:57):
know personal thoughts about thestruggles to get to where she
is.
We share some statistics thatRoberta didn't necessarily know
or cared to know, and I'msurprising her because, even
though I know some stories,because we shared some stories
before this interview we aregetting information that Roberta
(30:20):
did not know, that I was goingto be asking Roberta so you
didn't fail once, twice, but youhad to take the real estate
exam four times.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
What was the feeling when you walked out of that
taking the exam the fourth time,and I'm assuming you passed?
Speaker 2 (30:38):
right.
What was that feeling?
So it was so different.
I remember just when they gaveme my assigned seat, it was next
to a window and it had thesebeautiful palm trees, so I just
imagined myself being in Hawaii,and so it took the nervousness
away.
I've never been to Hawaii, butyou know, I just palm trees, it
(31:04):
was like.
And so I just it took thenervousness away.
And the number that they gaveme to sit down was the number of
my mom's.
May she rest in peace.
My mother's mobile home unit,it was number 27 and I just
remember thinking 27 27 that's anumber, I know it's a special
(31:26):
number and so it was all therefor me.
And I remember feeling like ifsomething just lifted me on a
cloud and I took the test and Iwore and I and I got done quick
and when I walked out I I feltlike a peace, like everything
(31:46):
was going to be okay, no matterwhat was going to happen, no
matter what I was going to read.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
You had already done it one, two, three, the fourth
time.
What am I to lose, right?
That's how you thought about it, I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Well, that wasn't what am I going to lose?
It's like I'm not done, I amnot done.
I'm very stubborn and you know,I just didn't want to lose.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
I didn't want to lose horhead and I'm glad that you
didn't give up, and this is whatwe're trying to accomplish
today is having thisconversation with roberta senuga
, because a lot of people do not.
They don't think that they havewhat it takes to be able to be
successful, and even our owninner voice yes, the 99% out
(32:33):
there that you spoke to thatsaid no, what the heck are you
doing?
this is a wrong time to get intoit all that stuff, all that
negative things and so forth,and and I think that people mean
well when they say that maybethey don't even recognize that
what they're saying is nottrying to help.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
They're trying to help.
Yeah, they're trying to help.
Yeah, they're trying to help.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
They're trying to help.
Yeah, all right.
So let's now transition intoyour last year in real estate,
this most current 2024, that wehave been spending a lot of time
in training sessions, et cetera.
You made the decision of takingon a mentor.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
More than one mentor.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
Yes, more than one mentor.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Tell me about the value of the right mentor in the
success of your career.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
The value of the right mentor.
You know I needed well, Ineeded a mentor because when I
came in, real estate was likeChinese to me.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
I had no, even though I passed my test on the fourth
time.
You know, when I came into theoffice it was a whole different
ballgame to contracts, to evenhow you carry yourself, and I
had to learn that too, becauseI'm a barber, I'm a DJ, you know
(34:04):
, and that was hard totransition.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
But you didn't get that naturally.
You know, somebody taught youhow to be a barber right someone
taught you how to spin some,whatever they call it.
You know djing, you know you'respinning some mixing.
Yeah, yeah, I don't knowanything about djing, I just
know that when somebody is outthere doing a good job, I get
moving right.
Yeah, so the the value of amentor is it's invaluable, but
(34:31):
it has to be the right mentorRight.
There's a lot of mentors outthere that only want something
out of you which is a portion ofyour transaction.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Well, I didn't know if you wanted me to talk about
that, but yeah, yeah, it's true.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
Yeah, let's talk about it because there's a lot
of people out there that wantsomething out of you and they
don't have your best interest inmind, and it's important for
people to be able to cut throughthe crap and then focus on the
mentors that are suggested toyou by people that really have
your best interest in mind.
(35:03):
We're not going to name names,okay Okay, but I would like for
you to talk about the differencebetween a bad mentor and a good
mentor.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
Bad mentor is when they just want to take your
money.
A good mentor doesn't, ofcourse, they want to get paid.
But let me just say the lastmentor I've had three the last
mentor I had was a godsend.
She really took the time toteach me and what she told me is
(35:35):
she says Roberta, it's notabout the money for me, but if I
can help you to in a positiveway to impact your life for the
better, then I did my job andshe did exactly that.
We We've done six transactions,six or seven, and she just let
me know that it's time for us topart ways.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
I don't want to, but Let me tell you that my
philosophy is that a good mentoris worth their weight in gold.
Your last mentor was very thin,very lightweight.
I'm not saying that she was notvaluable, but I know that that
person's heart is in the rightplace and therefore did
everything possible to make youshine.
(36:18):
Yes, and it was never about.
Oh well, I should get some ofthe accolades because I'm the
one that helped Roberta.
But I just want to underscorethat and highlight the fact that
the right mentor makes thebiggest difference in a real
estate agent's career, and itdidn't come at a cheap price.
(36:39):
It was a price that you paidand I just want to remind people
that for those that want tosucceed in real estate, they
have to pay their dues blood,sweat and tears.
A little bit of money, right.
Right right, because a goodmentor is going to be sharing
pros and cons, success stories,et cetera, and they're never
going to see you as a potentialcompetitor, because each of you
(37:02):
bring a different level ofservice and attract a different
level of client.
Okay, correct.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
I just want to make sure that people understand that
the value of a mentor is thereyou know, and a good mentor, a
good, a good mentor, if somebodydoesn't say, when you're
calling them, well, you know, Ihave a family I have to attend
to.
You know, you know, it's, it's,it's it, it, just it.
Just I, I don't understand whenthey tell you you know, I'm
(37:32):
going to teach you this, I'mgoing to teach you that, you
know, and they talk a good game.
But the minute you're therewith them, they got you and
you're in your transaction, andyou know, and then all of a
sudden it's a different story.
It's like well, you know, Ihave a family that I have to
attend to.
You know, I got a family too, Igot to.
You know, I got a family too, Igot it.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
You know, and and let my last mentor never spoke like
that, never.
It's a beautiful thing, atestament.
Um, let's talk about beingpresent in every single training
event that we have had in ouroffices in the area that you
work, which is Ventura County,west Ventura County.
I can almost count that youwill be there.
(38:17):
What motivates that sense ofresponsibility to be present and
taking advantage of thetraining sessions that are made
available to you in the offices?
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Well, first of all, I just want to thank Century 21
for bringing that kind oftraining, you know, and the
managers that you have there.
But for me, like I want tolearn, I want to learn, I want
to learn and I know.
In this business it all has tomake sense, and the beautiful
(38:54):
thing about this business isthat we don't have to think of
an idea, we don't have to thinkstatistics, we don't have to
think about what the market isshowing.
It's all there for us.
We're just being transparent,and all I got to do is be
transparent and not talk aboutwhat I think, but about the laws
(39:15):
, the rules and such.
All I have to do is know thatstuff.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
And I'm not talking from a place of myself, but I'm
talking from a place of realestate needs, investments right,
the truth, the the true thingabout when providing or helping
people with every single one oftheir real estate needs, right
we?
We hear that often a lot ofreal estate agents, I don't
(39:46):
think that they understand thatthey're there to provide a
service, to fulfill a need.
Businesses are there to providea solution to a problem.
The purchase of a real estatepiece of you know, a piece of
real estate, may that be a houseor a building, is a problem.
A real estate agent providesthe solution to that problem.
(40:08):
A good real estate agentrecognizes that they're there to
provide a solution to a problema housing need or the need to
sell a piece of property.
Right, I want to congratulateyou again for recognizing the
(40:29):
value of investing in educationand training.
And the reality is that you knowthings change consistently.
You came into this real estatebusiness in the midst of the
change of the buyerrepresentation agreement and
some can say, well, robertadidn't know anything better, so
you know she had to trainherself.
(40:49):
And some can say, well, robertadidn't know anything better, so
she had to train herself.
But when this challenge, noteven a year and a half later,
where you had to change and nowarticulate your value
proposition and talk to peopleabout a buyer representation
(41:10):
agreement?
How did you conquer the new wayof doing business where agents
were saying I'm just going toquit because I'm not going to do
a buyer representationagreement, I'm not going to talk
to people about how much moneyI'm going to earn, I'm not going
to charge a client to representthem with a buyer.
How did you overcome thatchallenge, roberta?
Speaker 2 (41:28):
I just talked to them like they were my sister, my
mother.
You know this is the importance.
This is why we have to sign aBRBC, so to protect you know, so
I can help you look for a home.
So, I need that agreement withyou.
Speaker 1 (41:45):
And how was it responded by?
I mean, how do people react tothat statement?
Where?
Speaker 2 (41:48):
do I sign Exactly, where do I sign?
I never had a problem with that.
That's why I was sitting in themeetings, in our, in our
trainings, and I'd like I don'thave that problem.
You know um it why?
Why?
Why is that such a problem?
I couldn't understand.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
I could not understand that of course, this
is coming from somebody that hasgone through a lot of adversity
to get to the point that youare having to take the real
estate exam four times.
This is nothing.
Yes, having to talk to peopleabout the buyer representation
agreement, I spent a lot oftimes, excuse me, I spent a lot
of time.
I put a lot of miles, you know,traveling to different cities
(42:32):
and different offices throughoutthe state to talk about the
shift in the mindset andspeaking to people about adding
value, to articulating a valueproposition.
And then I spoke aboutdifferentiation.
And then I spoke aboutdifferentiation.
(42:53):
You have a brand, roberta.
Talk to us about your brand andhow you present yourself, and
it's actually a little bitunusual from the way that we're
used to seeing people how theypromote themselves, but you have
taken your branding picture ofyourself.
Tell us about the picture thatyou used to brand as part of
(43:14):
your branding.
It's a white suit White suitOkay.
And then there's a certain pose.
Tell us a little bit about whatwent through your head when you
decided this is the pose thatis going to differentiate me
from the rest of the real estateprofession.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
That pose right, there was, um, where I live, we
have a beautiful, uh, we have abeautiful swimming pool
beautiful, you know.
And um, and I had a, I had aphotographer come and do, sit
down and get do an interviewwith me.
I thought that would help mymarketing as well.
(43:53):
But when he was telling me, youknow, stand like this or let's
do this, and I said you knowwhat, let's do this.
And that's when I went down onthe ground and I pointed to the
sky.
The sky is the limit that rightthere is.
Sky is the limit and theheavens are right there.
And I'm pointing to God.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
What a beautiful thing.
Let's talk about branding, andpart of branding is the image,
the message that you're tryingto portray with your picture
that you use for your marketingmaterials.
But what real estate agentsfail to recognize is that their
brand is the level of serviceand the commitment that they
(44:36):
bring to the transaction.
What can a client expect fromyou when they hire you to be the
real estate agent?
What is it that every singleone of your clients can expect
when they hire you to be thereal estate agent?
What is it that every singleone of your clients can expect?
Speaker 2 (44:57):
Okay, they can expect that I'm going to listen to
everything that they need.
They know that the otheragent's not going to take me off
of what they need.
They know that I'm not going toget.
(45:17):
I'm not.
I'm going to my client is theone that I listen to first.
I don't care if my manager'smad at me.
You know I.
You know what you know.
I know what I've spent timewith my clients.
I know what they need.
I know what my clients, I knowwhat they need.
I know what they want.
I know what they can afford.
And with every client I'm likethat.
(45:38):
I micromanage it.
I guess I'm in calls with thelender because I want to make
sure that my people areunderstanding it.
You know, at the level theyneed to understand it, because I
didn't understand it.
I understand it now, you know.
So how can I sell a home tosomebody and tell them what's
(46:02):
going on with the contract andwith the lending part, and I
don't want them to say okay,okay, okay.
So I always tell them is there,you have any questions?
Are you?
Are you clear?
Are you confused with thelender on the phone?
You know, and, and I have agreat lender, you know he's,
he's great, you know, and yeahso we're here with Roberta
(46:24):
Suniga extra, an agent that iswell on her way of being well.
Speaker 1 (46:29):
She's already extraordinary and she's defying
the odds in a business that isvery competitive, and a lot of
Roberta's personal experiencesare the motivating factors of
her being who she is andproviding the service that she
(46:49):
provides.
We are going to talk now abouther team and a team I'm going to
preface it with.
For me, understanding thecomposition of a team occurred
when I attended a real estateseminar by NAREP of all places
(47:09):
NAREP in Las Vegas of all places.
It's not necessarily a placewhere people go and learn.
I go to a lot of seminars andfor me, the event that I
attended in Las Vegas for NAREPwas one of the most instrumental
for me to understand the valueof a team and who should be on a
team and who should be on ateam.
(47:36):
And there's a gentleman who is areal estate agent in Las Vegas
of all.
As a matter of fact, he gavethe explanation that a team in
order for somebody to be amember of a team, they have to
add value to your business.
If somebody is not adding valueto your business, If somebody
is not adding value to yourbusiness.
They should not be part of yourteam.
And I'm going to name who arethe team members of a real
(47:59):
estate team.
You have branch manager, youhave a loan officer, you have
potentially a specific title rep, you have potentially an
exclusive escrow officer andthen you have a transaction
coordinator.
That, to me, is what makes ateam.
(48:21):
And then if you have a buyer'sagent, that's a whole different
aspect of a team.
But let me ask, share with us,Roberta in your team.
Who do you have in your team?
Speaker 2 (48:33):
I have a lender, I have an escrow officer, I have a
manager president.
I have a very good support team.
Speaker 1 (48:47):
If we were to use the analogy of either a football
team or a baseball team, ormaybe someone that runs track,
as my kids do, or my son playsfootball, they're part of a team
and each of the team members,including the coach, including
the training coach or aspecialty item, and then your
colleagues they all have to makea contribution for the success
(49:10):
of the team.
To be able to do what one of myprevious bosses used to say
we're going to the Super Bowl.
That's the objective to go tothe Super Bowl on every single
one of the transactions.
What does your loan officer doin order for you to be loyal to
him?
Speaker 2 (49:29):
What does he do in order for me to be loyal to him?
He gets he do in order for meto be loyal to him.
He gets on the phone when I askhim to talk to my clients.
He, you know, at the beginningit wasn't like that when we
worked together, but afterseveral transactions he knows
exactly what I want from him andhe's willing to do it and go
(49:53):
above and beyond.
Speaker 1 (49:54):
And he adapted to your style in order to deliver.
Speaker 2 (49:57):
Yes, we are two, we are two.
He rides horses.
I DJ.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
You guys are like oil and water.
I would never put you guys inthe same thing as a matter of
fact, I was challenging you tomake him dance, because he's the
most unlikely person to dance.
Yes, and, and the thing is thattalk about someone that has
contributed to your success bycontributing, teaching you
certain things so you canactually do a better job yes
(50:23):
let's talk about yourtransaction coordinator.
Do you use a transactioncoordinator?
Yes okay, what is it that yourtransaction coordinator do for
you to help you be much moresuccessful?
Speaker 2 (50:36):
Wow, she, you know, we, I actually I was using C21
TC.
I got my own TC.
That's fine Because I neededsomeone that I could vibe with
and I think it's very importantas an agent that you're able to
vibe with these different people, because that's going to be
(50:57):
your team and you have to begoing in the same direction and
not against each other.
Now, being that I'm the realtorand I bring the client to them,
that means that I have tonavigate, you know, and and get
my client what they need.
But also I deliver a service tomy clients that I expect my TC,
my lender and whoever who'sworking with me to deliver the
(51:19):
same, the same treatment.
You know.
And my lender, you like I said,you know he, he's been in the
business for a long time but Ihad.
I I remember telling you know,you got to love them the way I.
We got we kind of, you know,because I didn't care with the
way he was.
You know he's just, he's aprofessional, he's just being
him.
That works for him.
But I said, look, we do greatwork together, but I need more
(51:43):
of you.
I need you to love my clientsthe way I love them.
I need you to see them the way Isee them.
Even though it may may be $100,maybe nothing to you, it's a
lot to them and I need you toknow that you know.
So don't push anything throughwithout talking to me.
Speaker 1 (51:58):
So the secret to this is holding your team members
accountable, oh yes.
And communicating with them.
Yes, and one of the things Ithings I was a manager of a
branch office for more than 10years.
I used to be an escrow officer.
I've had staff working for meand one of the most valuable
(52:21):
things that I, as a manager, youknow have one of the things,
the thing that I value mostbetween my relationship with
agents is a clear collaborationwhere they communicate with me
as to what their needs are, andyou do that with your branch
(52:41):
manager, you do that with me,even though I'm not directly
managing you.
Managing you and I recognizethat that is one of the
characteristics that makes areal estate agent successful by
communicating the expectations.
You deliver at a high level andyou want to deliver.
(53:04):
You want your team members todeliver with the same level of
passion that you deliver.
Speaker 2 (53:12):
Correct.
Very well said, yes.
Speaker 1 (53:15):
So I encourage those that are listening that you
should have a very strongcommunication with your manager
and your team members to ensurethat they are helping you
accomplish the success.
And this goes back to thegentleman that I met in at that
conference where he said theyshould be adding value to your
(53:37):
business, Otherwise they shouldnot be qualified to be a part of
your team.
Speaker 2 (53:41):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (53:42):
I don't mean to be pontificating here.
I'm just loving thisconversation.
As a matter of fact, roberta isofficially the first real
estate agent that I'm featuringin this podcast series, and the
challenge that I am putting isthat everyone that will be
coming to this podcast as a realestate agent.
(54:02):
We are going to dissect theconversation and then, from
there, we're going to bring inan expert to highlight those
things that each of oursuccessful real estate agents
have done in order for them tosucceed.
Even you know more, right?
So I want to thank Roberta fortaking the time and traveling to
(54:25):
meet with me here in Ventura inour podcast studio that we've
built.
This is new for me, and I justwanna say that I feel very
honored to be working withRoberta, and I wanna finish with
something we have a few minutesbefore we.
The value of loyalty issomething that just not.
(54:50):
What does it take for?
What does someone need to doday in and day out in order for
them to enjoy your loyalty?
For example, what is it thatyou do for your clients where
(55:10):
it's almost a no-brainer thatthey are going to be loyal to
you?
Consistency, communication.
Speaker 2 (55:23):
Transparency, consistency, communication
transparency you know and I sayeverything that I say I do it
and if I can't do it I apologize.
If I make an error, I will sayI'm sorry.
I don't skirt around it, I'vehad to.
I had to have some very hardconversations with, you know, a
couple of my clients and theydidn't want to hear it.
Don't skirt around it, I've hadto.
I had to have some very hardconversations with, you know, a
(55:43):
couple of my clients and they,they didn't want to hear it, but
I had to tell them and theyrespected me for it, you know.
And I don't just when I meet aclient, I don't just say, hey,
I'm going to ask for the sellerto pay your fees, the closing
costs, and I don't say none ofthat Because if I can't deliver
(56:05):
that they're going to remember.
I said that and I know thatfrom experience from other
mentors.
You know, because they wouldget mad.
Well, you know.
Well, he said this and he saidthat, and it was my clients.
And so I learned, learnedlessons too, of what I wanted to
do differently and just beingvery honest with them.
(56:28):
Sometimes I didn't do the damage.
It could have been the lender,but I never.
Because I'm their realtor, Inever put any responsibility on
my team.
I take full responsibility.
I say I'm so sorry, you knowso-and-so is doing his best that
he can.
Sometimes it takes a differentdirection, but I'm here and I
(56:52):
apologize for this slippingthrough.
You know what can we do goingforward, and that's all it takes
.
Excellent, I think that I havea very clear understanding.
You know what can we do goingforward and that's all it takes.
Speaker 1 (57:02):
Excellent, I think that I have a very clear
understanding, roberta.
What is the motivating factorin your success?
And people do that right.
Speaker 2 (57:15):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (57:15):
You approach everything from a sense of love?
Speaker 2 (57:18):
Yes, you approach everything from a sense of love.
Speaker 1 (57:20):
Yes, and I am going to label, entitle this segment,
you know, breaking through.
Speaker 2 (57:29):
With love.
Speaker 1 (57:29):
From a perspective of you know, approaching it from a
sense of love, because youmentioned certain things several
times over that, everythingthat you have done, you've
approached it from a sense oflove.
When you talk to your clientsand tell them about guiding them
, you're not talking down tothem, but you're talking to them
(57:49):
from a perspective of.
I'm only coming to you from asense of love yes you expect
that sense of love to come fromyour team players Exactly, and
they know that because you'vecommunicated and you've actually
sent it by through example, yes.
So I'd like to close thissegment by saying that, if you
(58:11):
want to be successful, stronglyconsider approaching the
business from the perspective oflove, sincerely from love, not
just from making money.
Closing statements Roberta.
Speaker 2 (58:35):
So, you know, I believe my success comes from
conquering my demons inside.
I know my value today and itdoesn't matter what anybody says
, I'm going to do what I need todo.
But, most of all, you know, thereason why I am who I am today
is because the lack I had a lotof lack growing up.
(58:55):
I lack of love was one of them,and I think that that's what
makes me so successful, sotrusting, because I have.
I have conquered all that.
Well, you ain't about nothing,roberta.
Well, you know all those thingsthat were put in my head.
(59:15):
I've beat them.
Beat them and I'm not afraid ofanything.
I'm not afraid of failing, I'mnot afraid to go talk to
somebody.
I've had clients where they'vebeen my client for a year and a
half or so, and I've sold houses, you know, and I sold them a
(59:37):
house there's like three of themand I stayed with them and I
see their struggle, I see howscared they are, you know, and
that's why training is soimportant, because we go into
these trainings and wemastermind and we and I get to
learn how you do it, how, howyou.
You know just different stylesand I come with my own style,
(59:58):
but I believe, to be successfulin anything is you got to be
your biggest fan, you got tolove yourself first.
And because of what I wentthrough, I, I, I have a lot of
passion and I love myself now.
Do I get hurt?
Yes.
Do I get mad?
Yes, but I always fall back,and you know what.
Let's do it again.
Let's start all over again.
(01:00:20):
But to be successful,especially in this business, you
have to beat yourself, becausethe only one that holds yourself
back is yourself.
It's true, I'm successful inselling houses in this market.
That I had no idea that was bad, you know.
But I had a deep, deep, deepdesire and and I don't just do
(01:00:44):
something half stepping, I do itall the way and and it just
turns into this desire for me,and I won't stop, you know,
until I get it.
You, you know, and I learned alot about myself coming into
this real estate craft of mine.
(01:01:06):
I learned how to disciplinemyself, I've learned how to be
obedient, I've learned how tonot respond, you know, and so I
came in for other reasons, butit has polished me up as a woman
, you know.
A lot of people, my friends,you know, are telling me well,
(01:01:26):
roberta, you're different, youeven talk different.
You know, and you know.
But it's because you know, Iconquered the demons in my head
that tell me I couldn't do itand I won't be able to do it.
And I did it with love, youknow, and I loved my.
I love myself.
You know, during this time ofreal estate I lost my sister
(01:01:49):
through cancer and I could havequit right there.
Every day I'd go to her andrubber after I'd leave training
and at that time we had anothermanager there with us and it was
difficult.
I had a different mentor andthat was difficult and at the
same time my sister was dying ofcancer, but I still kept going.
I, yeah, I would cry, but theminute I would cry then I get
(01:02:11):
back up.
Something got me back up andthat was called desire.
And once you have that desire,it doesn't leave you.
It doesn't leave you, itdoesn't leave you, no matter
what happens.
You know, and for me, you know,I can honestly say I whipped the
devil's ass quite a few times.
You know, and I don't say thatboasting or bragging, I say that
(01:02:33):
with pride, because God has thefinal say so and I believe that
God has taken me out of the pitof darkness and put the shine,
you know, on me and I'm shiningtoday.
You know, I'm shining todaybecause of what you're telling
me.
You know, a couple of days agoI was in my balcony having a
(01:02:53):
cold drink on the rocks and Iwas so proud of myself, you know
, and I'm by myself.
There, you know, and just wow,I couldn't believe it.
But at that point God removedeverything that was going to
stand in my way to be here today, in front of you.
Speaker 1 (01:03:12):
So breaking barriers and going from average to
extraordinary.
Speaker 2 (01:03:21):
Did you hear that Facebook, yeah, average to
extraordinary Extraordinary.
Speaker 1 (01:03:26):
So there's a lot of barriers.
Roberta has demonstrated thatanyone can break through.
Yes, Determination.
Determination I know it's a wordthat we use a lot there's
integrity, there's love, there'sbeing self-aware and
approaching it from a sense oflove versus a sense of profit.
(01:03:46):
So I just want to thank you,roberta, for being who you are.
I'm very proud of beingassociated with you as a fellow
Realtor.
I think it's amazing the stuffthat you are doing.
I just can't wait to see whatother greater things you're
going to be accomplishing andtoday.
I just can't wait to see whatother greater things you're
going to be accomplishing andtoday.
I just want to again thankRoberta for being with us today
and sharing her thoughts with us.
(01:04:08):
What does it take for someoneto get your attention and maybe
sit down with you and learn fromyou?
Cup of coffee cocktail overrocks?
What does it take?
Speaker 2 (01:04:21):
Hello, do you have time?
Speaker 1 (01:04:23):
Thank you so much, Roberta.
With that said, have a greatday.
It was a pleasure having you.
Speaker 2 (01:04:27):
Thank you.
Hello, this is Jorge de Leon, and today it is my
distinct pleasure to feature areal estate agent that has not
only caught my attention but hascaptured the attention of a lot
of real estate agents in ourmarket, and I qualify and
consider this agent one of thoseagents that have actually gone
(00:21):
from average to extraordinaryand, considering the statistics
in relation to real estate andbusiness overall, I think it's
wise for us to hear and learnfrom Roberta Zuniga with Century
21 Real Estate Alliance Century21 Real Estate Alliance who
(00:49):
technically has a lot of thingsgoing against her, not just
because of who she is, butbecause in real estate, the
statistics show that most agentsquit real estate before they
hit their first year anniversary.
It is my, as I mentioned, Iwould love to introduce you to
Roberta Zuniga.
Roberta, welcome to our podcastshow and please tell me a
(01:10):
little bit about who you are andhow did you get into the real
estate business.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Well, my name is Roberta Zuniga from Oxnard and I
got into real estate kind oflike more of a personal reason
for myself and I just wanted tobring families together and
(01:39):
homes that create beautifulmemories, beautiful growth, you
know, and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
So we're going to dive in today and I'm going to
ask Roberta a few questions,with the hope that we learn from
her and maybe you would beinspired to do the things that
you were not doing.
And maybe you know, break the,you know, overcome the
(02:10):
challenges that we have in lifeand in this business and, more
importantly, be able to not be astatistic in real estate.
Roberta, before, I mean, realestate is one of the things that
you do.
I think that you do threethings before becoming a
full-time real estate agent or apart-time real estate agent,
(02:33):
what are you doing or what wereyou doing before this?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Well, I'm a barber.
I've been barbering since 1985.
1985 and in 1999, I decided totake a leap and own my own
barbershop, which has been verysuccessful for myself and um and
in that, while I was barbering,I wanted to become a DJ okay so
(02:59):
I had to learn that craft.
I love music.
I think music is, is the key tosomebody's souls, and you know,
I think that anytime you'rehaving some kind of function,
any kind of you know anything,you put music on it and just
brings everything alive.
That's what I like to do, is tobring people together in the
(03:20):
name of love.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
So when did you start selling real estate?
Which year?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
the name of love.
So when did you start sellingreal estate?
Which year, I think it was?
Speaker 1 (03:30):
22, March of 2022.
I'm going to share a statisticwith you and I would like to get
your reaction.
74% of licensed real estateagents sold zero homes in 2024.
That's 74% of real estateagents.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
What's your reaction to that?
I'm like wow, you know, thatsurprises me.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
It's a surprising statistic right.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yes, very surprising.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
And the reason why it's surprising is because, when
we turn social media, everybodyseems to be selling real estate
, and it seems like there's justa lot of people selling not
just dozens, but hundreds ofhomes per year.
I want to share a secondstatistic 24%.
Excuse me, let me rephrase thatit means that 26% of agents
sold a home.
That's between one and hundreds, if not thousands.
(04:31):
So you, roberta, how many homesdid you sell in 2024?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
I believe it was seven.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Seven transactions.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Seven transactions.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Okay, so not only are you in the top 26% of real
estate agents across the nation,how?
Speaker 2 (04:48):
does that?
Speaker 1 (04:48):
make you feel.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Humble, very humble.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Excellent.
Thank you for sharing that, andthe reason that that moves me
is because a lot of real estateagents out there they gloat
about their production, and thisis not intended to gloat about
production, but helping ouragents break that barrier of
(05:17):
making it in this business.
It's a tough, tough businessand throughout the podcast
series we will be talking aboutthe mistakes that real estate
agents make.
We speak about the things thatthose that beat the odds do on a
consistent basis, and today myhope is that Roberta is going to
(05:38):
share those secrets and they'renot necessarily secrets,
they're just basic things thatreal estate agents should be
doing on a daily basis.
But I'm going to share thethird statistics.
You were approximately actuallyyou were four transactions shy
of being the top 2% of realestate agents across the nation.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
So the statistic is that 2% the top 2% of real
estate agents across the countrysold between 11 and 20
transactions.
So in my eyes and in the eyesof a lot of real estate managers
out there and recruiters,you're a top producing agent.
(06:25):
And the best part of thisconversation, roberta, is that
you have never, in the last 12months that I've been working
with you, you have never seenyourself as a top producer,
which is a phenomenal quality ofhumility and modesty, and I
just want to congratulate youfor that, and I am going to ask
(06:47):
other people to congratulate her.
Well, I wanted to bringsomebody on, but they didn't
call in.
But, yes, I think that there'speople out there applauding you
right now, roberta, and I justwanted to congratulate you.
But I just don't want this toget to your head.
I don't think it will, becauseyou are a very humble person.
So we've already establishedthat roberta, in 2024, closed
(07:12):
more than what the average.
Okay, the average is zero,because 74 of agents closed less
than one transaction and youare on the way of getting into
that top one percent, okay.
Fourth statistic is that thoseonly 0.14 percent okay, that's,
(07:38):
this is like one, just a littlebit over one tenth of a percent
closed 45 transactions.
So, in order for you to beconsidered the top echelon, the
creme of la creme, as they sayin French.
You're on your way there.
(07:59):
Obviously, with a little bit ofdiscipline and focus, et cetera
, You'll get there.
I'm very confident that youwill get to that point.
When you closed your firsttransaction, you mentioned that
you DJ and do those things.
How many years would have ittaken you to be able to make
(08:26):
what you did in your firsttransaction?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Oh Jorge, I'm not as good with the numbers as you are
.
I'm just like totally humbledto hear your statistics.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
So I think that in our pre-conversation you
mentioned that it would havetaken you two years of doing DJ
gigs to be able to earn what youearned in one transaction.
Probably Right, yes, correct,and it's a lot of work to get
from taking the stuff from yourcar to setting up.
(08:55):
You have to be early, you haveto, you know, set up and it's
just a lot of work.
And I just don't want topretend that a real estate
transaction is a simple thing.
It's not.
It transaction is a simplething, it's not, it's not as
simple.
Real estate is one of the mostdifficult things people can do.
Obviously, the media makes itlook easy, but the reality is
that there's just a lot of workand it's expensive.
(09:16):
Time-wise, energy-wise emotionsthey refer to that as the blood
sweat and tears, right.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Right.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
And you've paid your dues, Roberta, but I would like
for you to share with me.
Oh, and if we average byhaircuts, maybe $30, that's a
lot of haircuts to do what youdid in one transaction in
earnings.
We're not going to talk aboutearnings et cetera, we're just
going to talk about what ittakes to break through in real
(09:43):
estate.
Can you tell me a little bitabout your discipline?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Well, I shut off from everybody, you know, when they
were talking about the interestrates going up, Armani told me
don't listen, turn the chatteroff.
We had that big movement in ouroffice.
I went to speak to Armanibecause at that point I was like
you know, if this is what realestate's about, I don't want a
(10:14):
part of it because I'm not herefor the money.
As you know, I'm not.
I didn't even know that I was asuccessful realtor, you know,
until you brought it up and youkept mentioning it to me.
And then I kept hearing thingsfrom my colleagues and such, and
then I knew wow, I think I'm onto something.
(10:37):
But I didn't know, because whatI do is I put my head down and I
work my ass off.
What I do is I put my head downand I work my ass off, and from
day up to sundown, my son's 20years old, so he's able to I'm
able to do it.
You know, I'm not married and Ihave a son who's independent,
(11:02):
you know, and so I have a lot oftime on my hands.
I get up in the morning everymorning at 5.30.
I drink my coffee and I listento my motivational stuff on
YouTube.
I listen to the Secret.
The Secret is a big, big factorof my success.
I've been listening to theSecret for about.
(11:22):
I think I told you this wasjust kind of like an experiment
for me, because the Secret toldme that if I applied myself, I
could do anything I wanted to do.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Fantastic.
So I am a believer that when wecome from a sense of gratitude,
we accomplish much more,because then we don't feel sorry
for ourselves.
There's a portion of your storythat I cannot ignore and if you
feel comfortable sharing this.
(11:58):
The assumption is that inAmerica, most have secure
housing, correct?
How was it for you, growing upas a child, housing, and what is
it that happened in your lifethat motivated you to become the
best real estate agent thatanybody can have?
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Well, you know, not to you know, I don't feel sorry
for myself, obviously I mean,sometimes it hurts, but that
right there gives me a deeperdesire that I already have.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
You have a deeper desire for what you already have
, but most humans in life areimpacted by things that happen
where either they go intohibernation and they never come
out, or they are motivated to doextraordinary things and I
think that something happened toyou which has motivated you to
be who you are, roberta youdon't give up.
(13:16):
You have a sense of curiositywhere you ask questions and go
figure out how to get it done,and I think that a lot of that
has to do with your success.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Okay, yes, you're probably right, you are.
And with me, you know, okay,growing my family split up, my
(13:55):
mom and dad split up, and therewas five of us, six of us, and
we were kind of like spread out,you know, and aunts and uncles,
you know, took care of us, tookcare of us, and growing up I
never felt that it was my home,just things that there was a lot
of challenges.
Growing up for myself, you'reright, I had a lot of challenges
(14:15):
and I was the oldest of mysiblings that were separated
from our parents and I kind oftook the role as the protector,
the caretaker, and even when Iwas nine years old, we had a
(14:36):
lawnmower in our home and I gotthat lawnmower and I went out
and knocked on doors to mowhouses.
And I got that lawnmower and Iwent out and knocked on doors to
mow houses and that's how Imade money for my brothers and
sisters so we can go get icecream, or the ice cream man
truck would come.
So I already had that in me.
(14:57):
I don't know why it came likethat, but I was just a protector
.
I didn't think of my, I thoughtof my brothers and sisters
before I thought of myself.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
So housing is a basic necessity that all of us have
and some of us were raisedhousing secure.
I attend a lot of events I speakon behalf of the real estate
community at city councilmeetings and there was a
statistic mentioned, or actuallythere was a fact that was
mentioned that made me thinkabout it and I never saw myself
as this.
The definition of homelessnessfor a child is when they have to
(15:38):
share a roof with anotherfamily.
So, based on that statistic thefact that there was a period in
time and it was not necessarilyI just want to clarify.
I don't feel bad about it, butbecause my parents had made the
decision to live with my auntand uncle and we lived under the
(16:00):
same roof, under the samehousehold, that would have
marked me statistically as beinghomeless as a child, right, but
I see that as an experiencethat really drove who I am.
Because then we fast forward tothe time that my mom wanted to
have her own place and myparents bought a mobile home,
(16:24):
and it was a single wide mobilehome in a place that no longer
exists Wagon Wheel.
I don't know if you've heard ofWagon Wheel.
It used to be a mobile home parkthere.
3 Tuxedo Road was our address.
I still remember and it'sinteresting that an address
makes such an impact to the factthat I still remember that
address and I remember the otherstreet that I used to live on,
(16:45):
on Olive Street in Santa Paula,and then the other address that
we lived in in Oxnard, and thenthe address that I lived in
growing up.
The housing or home or anaddress makes a phenomenal
impact in our life and we thinkabout those individuals that do
not necessarily have a permanentaddress and you know the impact
(17:11):
that that makes into them.
So I would like for us to gointo this conversation as to
when you decided to become areal estate agent and your focus
was to help people get intohomes.
And the reality is that you,through your barber shop, as a
barbering business owner andthen also as a DJ, you have
(17:38):
access.
Your platform gives you accessto individuals that many people
would not otherwise consider asa potential client for a
different business venue.
So let's talk about yourmarketing strategy and how you
leverage your barbering businessand your DJ business in order
(18:00):
to generate leads to generateleads.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
You know, jorge, I don't, it's not something that
it comes natural.
I love talking to people.
It doesn't matter what I'mgoing through.
You know, I put that to theside and I tend to their needs.
You know, probably because Itook care of my brothers and
(18:27):
sisters, you know, we were afamily within a family and I
never felt like that was my home.
Things were said to me to makesure I knew it wasn't my home,
you know, and with that I wouldalways say, you know, one day
I'm going to be somebody and I'mgoing to take my brothers and
sisters.
You know, I used to say thatwhen I'd get, you know,
disciplined or punished, youknow, or whatever the case may
(18:50):
be, but but I always, you know,I was sad, you know, knowing
that I felt like I wasn't wantedin that home, you know, and
there was times that I woulddrive around and I would, you
know, look at, or I'd look at,homes and I would wonder what
family would be in there, whatkind of family was in there,
what were they watching?
I would see the tv on, I'd seethe lights on and I and I and I
(19:15):
wanted that and and I knew that,um, that I wasn't going to have
that at that, at that age.
But when I got older, I had mychild and, um, I gave him
everything that I didn't have.
I gave him the home that Ialways wanted and and we have a
beautiful milestones.
(19:36):
I believe a home I, I just thinkthat a home is is like a
heartbeat.
Right there stems a family'ssuccess, a family's bond, a
family's growth.
You're going to experiencedebts, you're going to
experience milestones, you'regoing to experience births.
You're going to experience itall and you need a sacred place.
(19:58):
It's like a home is like achurch.
You know, to me, to me, and Isee a lot of families struggling
that have the means to buy ahome but, just like me, they
didn't think they could.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Okay, and that's a very key point.
There you don't make a judgmentcall, you just talk about what
you can help them do.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
So I believe that you're a strong communicator,
right, correct, and there's many, many statistics out there that
demonstrate why people failmaking it into real estate, and
one of the things that I want tohighlight is that you're not
(20:46):
shy about talking about yourtrade.
You're not shy about talkingabout the tools and resources
that you make available topeople that might not have
thought about being a homeownerRight.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
So your platform we spoke in a different podcast as
open houses being yourstorefront to lead generate.
In your particular case, youhave two business avenues where
you lead generate and youcommunicate, and you communicate
.
But what is it that you do onceyou connect with someone that
(21:26):
says yes, I'm actuallyinterested in exploring the
possibility of being a homeowner.
What is?
Speaker 2 (21:40):
it that you do to be able to develop that potential?
You mean, like selling them ahome, selling them the home,
Well, follow through.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Okay, I'm sure that you collect their phone number.
You have them as a captiveaudience because you have them
in a chair.
For what?
30 minutes?
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
But as far as tell me about how it goes from hello,
I'm in real estate.
I think that you shouldconsider buying a home, and they
say you know what?
I would like to buy a home.
What do I do next?
What's your follow-throughprocess?
Tell us about.
What is it that you do, and Idon't want you to give me the
trade secrets of who Roberta is.
(22:17):
I would like for you to tell meabout your follow-through
process.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
So when they say hey, Robertabert, you know, let me
just back it up.
You know when I decided to goto real estate school yeah I
knew that I was going to put iton my platform okay and I was
going to show them when I firstreceived my books of school for
real estate school.
Uh, there was times I showedthem in the mornings.
(22:44):
How would it look like my youknow what my studies look like
there, you know.
Just I, I showed my, my audit,my, my platform I don't want to
say audience, but my platform.
Um, that what I was into,because I knew that I was going
(23:04):
to connect with them in thatlevel as far as they're wanting
to buy a home.
So if I let them see firsthandwhat I'm going through and the
realness of Roberta Zuniga, thatright there catches somebody's
trust instantly.
And the first time when I tookmy test failed and I shared that
(23:26):
too, that was hard to share,but I shared it you know, so
that's accountability okay.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
I mean accountability .
I don't you know you, you knownobody has maybe shared with you
or didn't realize that yousharing with other people is a
form of accountability, becausethe reason that you shared that
is because you wanted to behonest with people.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
There's a sense of you know people don't like to be
vulnerable and therefore theydon't share, because what if I
don't make it?
How did you overcome that senseof vulnerability?
By sharing what you were doingand sharing the fact that you
didn't make it.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
you didn't pass the first time around because I
understand that there's peoplelike me that are out, that are
out there failing, and it's Ishouldn't say fail, because
scientists fail all the time.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
But it's okay.
I don't want you to see failureas a negative.
It's how you come out of it.
That is the important part,right?
So it's okay to say that youfailed.
You just didn't give up.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
No I didn't Okay.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
So talk about what drove that accountability.
And why did you share withpeople what was going on through
Roberta's head?
When you say I, why did youshare with people?
What was what was going onthrough roberta's head?
When you say I'm going to sharewith people my books, I'm going
to share my, my, my enthusiasmabout it what was going on
through your head when youdecided to make that decision?
Speaker 2 (24:58):
um, well, I just wanted them to know like, hey,
you're gonna see, you're gonnabe able to be see firsthand what
roberta zuni, if roberta zunigoes, gonna do it.
I didn't even know I was gonnado it, but but I do have a lot
of faith.
I do have a lot of faith and Iand the thing that that I that
helps me through is I know thatgod has a final say so and it
(25:23):
doesn't matter what is thrown atme, because again I've had to
beat the odds growing up, itdoesn't matter what you say to
me, it doesn't matter what comesmy way, because I know that God
has a final say-so on howRoberta Zuniga so you left that
on the shoulders the worrying onthe other shoulders of somebody
else.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Yes, okay, the worrying on the other shoulders
of somebody else, yes, of thepeople.
Let's say that you shared thestory that you were going to
study for real estate.
How many people, on apercentage, said, oh, you're
going to do great, versus thepeople that said, what the heck
are you doing?
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Only one person said I was going to do great.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
So 99% thought that you were going to fail the
naysayers right andstatistically speaking and I
hate to repeat statistics wehave a tendency of not
encouraging people.
It's just a natural conditionand I'm just not going to focus
on that.
So the reason that you and Iare here together and the reason
(26:28):
that you specifically are aboveaverage, is because you have
broken through the naysayers andthe negative talk.
Maybe you're not experiencingthat negative talk, but the
people out there said Roberta,what the heck Don't get me wrong
, don't get me wrong.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
It's there in my head .
You know, we're not responsiblefor what comes in our mind, our
brain, but we're responsiblefor what stays.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
So the point that I wanted to make and have you come
out with, roberta, is thatyou're just like everybody else
that has to deal with thenegative talk.
Oh, yes, daily.
Exactly right Daily so youstill have to do that and deal
with your own inner voice sayingI'm not going to be able to
make it, I'm going to fail, butyou have broken through to beat
(27:25):
the odds.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Mm, hmm.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
So negative talk.
Let's talk about the momentthat you failed the first time.
What went through your head andhow did you get yourself?
How did you put you know?
They say you know you pulledyourself from your bootstraps to
go out there and rescheduleyourself for the second test.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Well, jorge, I didn't just fail one time, I fell
three times.
I got my license on my fourthtry.
The third time I was in Iforget where it was at up in LA
taking my test, and the thirdtime, when I walked out, they
let you know if you pass or not.
You know, and I did not pass,and I remember walking out of
(28:07):
there and I remember just.
I remember my son was watchingeverything and I wasn't going to
stop until I got my license.
I wasn't going to stop.
(28:28):
I wasn't going to stop, and sothat when I walked out of that
the third time, when I walkedout, I went into my hotel room
immediately and I got online andsomething unheard of happened,
and that was I was able toschedule another appointment the
next day.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Right and see, and three times, three times, I had
a.
Each time I had to go back andwait six months, four months,
whatever it was, and by then youkind of lose its its flavor.
But the next I went I wentstraight to the.
I didn't, I didn't care howmany times I got beat up, I was
going to keep going until I gotit.
And the fourth time when I wentback was the next day.
(29:13):
They had an opening and I saidI'll take it.
And I went back the next dayand when I walked out of there I
remember opening up the letterand, oh my God, it was just me,
by myself, like it's been forthe last couple of years, by
myself.
It's just me, by myself, likeit's been for the last couple of
years by myself.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
So today we're standing here with Roberta
Zuniga with Century 21 RealEstate Alliance, who, in my book
, is an above-average realestate agent who has broken
through the odds, and today weare podcasting over breaking
barriers in real estate, goingfrom average to extraordinary.
So far, roberta has beensharing some very personal you
(29:57):
know personal thoughts about thestruggles to get to where she
is.
We share some statistics thatRoberta didn't necessarily know
or cared to know, and I'msurprising her because, even
though I know some stories,because we shared some stories
before this interview we aregetting information that Roberta
(30:20):
did not know, that I was goingto be asking Roberta so you
didn't fail once, twice, but youhad to take the real estate
exam four times.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
What was the feeling when you walked out of that
taking the exam the fourth time,and I'm assuming you passed?
Speaker 2 (30:38):
right.
What was that feeling?
So it was so different.
I remember just when they gaveme my assigned seat, it was next
to a window and it had thesebeautiful palm trees, so I just
imagined myself being in Hawaii,and so it took the nervousness
away.
I've never been to Hawaii, butyou know, I just palm trees, it
(31:04):
was like.
And so I just it took thenervousness away.
And the number that they gaveme to sit down was the number of
my mom's.
May she rest in peace.
My mother's mobile home unit,it was number 27 and I just
remember thinking 27 27 that's anumber, I know it's a special
(31:26):
number and so it was all therefor me.
And I remember feeling like ifsomething just lifted me on a
cloud and I took the test and Iwore and I and I got done quick
and when I walked out I I feltlike a peace, like everything
(31:46):
was going to be okay, no matterwhat was going to happen, no
matter what I was going to read.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
You had already done it one, two, three, the fourth
time.
What am I to lose, right?
That's how you thought about it, I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Well, that wasn't what am I going to lose?
It's like I'm not done, I amnot done.
I'm very stubborn and you know,I just didn't want to lose.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
I didn't want to lose horhead and I'm glad that you
didn't give up, and this is whatwe're trying to accomplish
today is having thisconversation with roberta senuga
, because a lot of people do not.
They don't think that they havewhat it takes to be able to be
successful, and even our owninner voice yes, the 99% out
(32:33):
there that you spoke to thatsaid no, what the heck are you
doing?
this is a wrong time to get intoit all that stuff, all that
negative things and so forth,and and I think that people mean
well when they say that maybethey don't even recognize that
what they're saying is nottrying to help.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
They're trying to help.
Yeah, they're trying to help.
Yeah, they're trying to help.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
They're trying to help.
Yeah, all right.
So let's now transition intoyour last year in real estate,
this most current 2024, that wehave been spending a lot of time
in training sessions, et cetera.
You made the decision of takingon a mentor.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
More than one mentor.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
Yes, more than one mentor.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Tell me about the value of the right mentor in the
success of your career.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
The value of the right mentor.
You know I needed well, Ineeded a mentor because when I
came in, real estate was likeChinese to me.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
I had no, even though I passed my test on the fourth
time.
You know, when I came into theoffice it was a whole different
ballgame to contracts, to evenhow you carry yourself, and I
had to learn that too, becauseI'm a barber, I'm a DJ, you know
(34:04):
, and that was hard totransition.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
But you didn't get that naturally.
You know, somebody taught youhow to be a barber right someone
taught you how to spin some,whatever they call it.
You know djing, you know you'respinning some mixing.
Yeah, yeah, I don't knowanything about djing, I just
know that when somebody is outthere doing a good job, I get
moving right.
Yeah, so the the value of amentor is it's invaluable, but
(34:31):
it has to be the right mentorRight.
There's a lot of mentors outthere that only want something
out of you which is a portion ofyour transaction.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Well, I didn't know if you wanted me to talk about
that, but yeah, yeah, it's true.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
Yeah, let's talk about it because there's a lot
of people out there that wantsomething out of you and they
don't have your best interest inmind, and it's important for
people to be able to cut throughthe crap and then focus on the
mentors that are suggested toyou by people that really have
your best interest in mind.
(35:03):
We're not going to name names,okay Okay, but I would like for
you to talk about the differencebetween a bad mentor and a good
mentor.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
Bad mentor is when they just want to take your
money.
A good mentor doesn't, ofcourse, they want to get paid.
But let me just say the lastmentor I've had three the last
mentor I had was a godsend.
She really took the time toteach me and what she told me is
(35:35):
she says Roberta, it's notabout the money for me, but if I
can help you to in a positiveway to impact your life for the
better, then I did my job andshe did exactly that.
We We've done six transactions,six or seven, and she just let
me know that it's time for us topart ways.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
I don't want to, but Let me tell you that my
philosophy is that a good mentoris worth their weight in gold.
Your last mentor was very thin,very lightweight.
I'm not saying that she was notvaluable, but I know that that
person's heart is in the rightplace and therefore did
everything possible to make youshine.
(36:18):
Yes, and it was never about.
Oh well, I should get some ofthe accolades because I'm the
one that helped Roberta.
But I just want to underscorethat and highlight the fact that
the right mentor makes thebiggest difference in a real
estate agent's career, and itdidn't come at a cheap price.
(36:39):
It was a price that you paidand I just want to remind people
that for those that want tosucceed in real estate, they
have to pay their dues blood,sweat and tears.
A little bit of money, right.
Right right, because a goodmentor is going to be sharing
pros and cons, success stories,et cetera, and they're never
going to see you as a potentialcompetitor, because each of you
(37:02):
bring a different level ofservice and attract a different
level of client.
Okay, correct.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
I just want to make sure that people understand that
the value of a mentor is thereyou know, and a good mentor, a
good, a good mentor, if somebodydoesn't say, when you're
calling them, well, you know, Ihave a family I have to attend
to.
You know, you know, it's, it's,it's it, it, just it.
Just I, I don't understand whenthey tell you you know, I'm
(37:32):
going to teach you this, I'mgoing to teach you that, you
know, and they talk a good game.
But the minute you're therewith them, they got you and
you're in your transaction, andyou know, and then all of a
sudden it's a different story.
It's like well, you know, Ihave a family that I have to
attend to.
You know, I got a family too, Igot to.
You know, I got a family too, Igot it.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
You know, and and let my last mentor never spoke like
that, never.
It's a beautiful thing, atestament.
Um, let's talk about beingpresent in every single training
event that we have had in ouroffices in the area that you
work, which is Ventura County,west Ventura County.
I can almost count that youwill be there.
(38:17):
What motivates that sense ofresponsibility to be present and
taking advantage of thetraining sessions that are made
available to you in the offices?
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Well, first of all, I just want to thank Century 21
for bringing that kind oftraining, you know, and the
managers that you have there.
But for me, like I want tolearn, I want to learn, I want
to learn and I know.
In this business it all has tomake sense, and the beautiful
(38:54):
thing about this business isthat we don't have to think of
an idea, we don't have to thinkstatistics, we don't have to
think about what the market isshowing.
It's all there for us.
We're just being transparent,and all I got to do is be
transparent and not talk aboutwhat I think, but about the laws
(39:15):
, the rules and such.
All I have to do is know thatstuff.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
And I'm not talking from a place of myself, but I'm
talking from a place of realestate needs, investments right,
the truth, the the true thingabout when providing or helping
people with every single one oftheir real estate needs, right
we?
We hear that often a lot ofreal estate agents, I don't
(39:46):
think that they understand thatthey're there to provide a
service, to fulfill a need.
Businesses are there to providea solution to a problem.
The purchase of a real estatepiece of you know, a piece of
real estate, may that be a houseor a building, is a problem.
A real estate agent providesthe solution to that problem.
(40:08):
A good real estate agentrecognizes that they're there to
provide a solution to a problema housing need or the need to
sell a piece of property.
Right, I want to congratulateyou again for recognizing the
(40:29):
value of investing in educationand training.
And the reality is that you knowthings change consistently.
You came into this real estatebusiness in the midst of the
change of the buyerrepresentation agreement and
some can say, well, robertadidn't know anything better, so
you know she had to trainherself.
(40:49):
And some can say, well, robertadidn't know anything better, so
she had to train herself.
But when this challenge, noteven a year and a half later,
where you had to change and nowarticulate your value
proposition and talk to peopleabout a buyer representation
(41:10):
agreement?
How did you conquer the new wayof doing business where agents
were saying I'm just going toquit because I'm not going to do
a buyer representationagreement, I'm not going to talk
to people about how much moneyI'm going to earn, I'm not going
to charge a client to representthem with a buyer.
How did you overcome thatchallenge, roberta?
Speaker 2 (41:28):
I just talked to them like they were my sister, my
mother.
You know this is the importance.
This is why we have to sign aBRBC, so to protect you know, so
I can help you look for a home.
So, I need that agreement withyou.
Speaker 1 (41:45):
And how was it responded by?
I mean, how do people react tothat statement?
Where?
Speaker 2 (41:48):
do I sign Exactly, where do I sign?
I never had a problem with that.
That's why I was sitting in themeetings, in our, in our
trainings, and I'd like I don'thave that problem.
You know um it why?
Why?
Why is that such a problem?
I couldn't understand.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
I could not understand that of course, this
is coming from somebody that hasgone through a lot of adversity
to get to the point that youare having to take the real
estate exam four times.
This is nothing.
Yes, having to talk to peopleabout the buyer representation
agreement, I spent a lot oftimes, excuse me, I spent a lot
of time.
I put a lot of miles, you know,traveling to different cities
(42:32):
and different offices throughoutthe state to talk about the
shift in the mindset andspeaking to people about adding
value, to articulating a valueproposition.
And then I spoke aboutdifferentiation.
And then I spoke aboutdifferentiation.
(42:53):
You have a brand, roberta.
Talk to us about your brand andhow you present yourself, and
it's actually a little bitunusual from the way that we're
used to seeing people how theypromote themselves, but you have
taken your branding picture ofyourself.
Tell us about the picture thatyou used to brand as part of
(43:14):
your branding.
It's a white suit White suitOkay.
And then there's a certain pose.
Tell us a little bit about whatwent through your head when you
decided this is the pose thatis going to differentiate me
from the rest of the real estateprofession.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
That pose right, there was, um, where I live, we
have a beautiful, uh, we have abeautiful swimming pool
beautiful, you know.
And um, and I had a, I had aphotographer come and do, sit
down and get do an interviewwith me.
I thought that would help mymarketing as well.
(43:53):
But when he was telling me, youknow, stand like this or let's
do this, and I said you knowwhat, let's do this.
And that's when I went down onthe ground and I pointed to the
sky.
The sky is the limit that rightthere is.
Sky is the limit and theheavens are right there.
And I'm pointing to God.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
What a beautiful thing.
Let's talk about branding, andpart of branding is the image,
the message that you're tryingto portray with your picture
that you use for your marketingmaterials.
But what real estate agentsfail to recognize is that their
brand is the level of serviceand the commitment that they
(44:36):
bring to the transaction.
What can a client expect fromyou when they hire you to be the
real estate agent?
What is it that every singleone of your clients can expect
when they hire you to be thereal estate agent?
What is it that every singleone of your clients can expect?
Speaker 2 (44:57):
Okay, they can expect that I'm going to listen to
everything that they need.
They know that the otheragent's not going to take me off
of what they need.
They know that I'm not going toget.
(45:17):
I'm not.
I'm going to my client is theone that I listen to first.
I don't care if my manager'smad at me.
You know I.
You know what you know.
I know what I've spent timewith my clients.
I know what they need.
I know what my clients, I knowwhat they need.
I know what they want.
I know what they can afford.
And with every client I'm likethat.
(45:38):
I micromanage it.
I guess I'm in calls with thelender because I want to make
sure that my people areunderstanding it.
You know, at the level theyneed to understand it, because I
didn't understand it.
I understand it now, you know.
So how can I sell a home tosomebody and tell them what's
(46:02):
going on with the contract andwith the lending part, and I
don't want them to say okay,okay, okay.
So I always tell them is there,you have any questions?
Are you?
Are you clear?
Are you confused with thelender on the phone?
You know, and, and I have agreat lender, you know he's,
he's great, you know, and yeahso we're here with Roberta
(46:24):
Suniga extra, an agent that iswell on her way of being well.
Speaker 1 (46:29):
She's already extraordinary and she's defying
the odds in a business that isvery competitive, and a lot of
Roberta's personal experiencesare the motivating factors of
her being who she is andproviding the service that she
(46:49):
provides.
We are going to talk now abouther team and a team I'm going to
preface it with.
For me, understanding thecomposition of a team occurred
when I attended a real estateseminar by NAREP of all places
(47:09):
NAREP in Las Vegas of all places.
It's not necessarily a placewhere people go and learn.
I go to a lot of seminars andfor me, the event that I
attended in Las Vegas for NAREPwas one of the most instrumental
for me to understand the valueof a team and who should be on a
team and who should be on ateam.
(47:36):
And there's a gentleman who is areal estate agent in Las Vegas
of all.
As a matter of fact, he gavethe explanation that a team in
order for somebody to be amember of a team, they have to
add value to your business.
If somebody is not adding valueto your business, If somebody
is not adding value to yourbusiness.
They should not be part of yourteam.
And I'm going to name who arethe team members of a real
(47:59):
estate team.
You have branch manager, youhave a loan officer, you have
potentially a specific title rep, you have potentially an
exclusive escrow officer andthen you have a transaction
coordinator.
That, to me, is what makes ateam.
(48:21):
And then if you have a buyer'sagent, that's a whole different
aspect of a team.
But let me ask, share with us,Roberta in your team.
Who do you have in your team?
Speaker 2 (48:33):
I have a lender, I have an escrow officer, I have a
manager president.
I have a very good support team.
Speaker 1 (48:47):
If we were to use the analogy of either a football
team or a baseball team, ormaybe someone that runs track,
as my kids do, or my son playsfootball, they're part of a team
and each of the team members,including the coach, including
the training coach or aspecialty item, and then your
colleagues they all have to makea contribution for the success
(49:10):
of the team.
To be able to do what one of myprevious bosses used to say
we're going to the Super Bowl.
That's the objective to go tothe Super Bowl on every single
one of the transactions.
What does your loan officer doin order for you to be loyal to
him?
Speaker 2 (49:29):
What does he do in order for me to be loyal to him?
He gets he do in order for meto be loyal to him.
He gets on the phone when I askhim to talk to my clients.
He, you know, at the beginningit wasn't like that when we
worked together, but afterseveral transactions he knows
exactly what I want from him andhe's willing to do it and go
(49:53):
above and beyond.
Speaker 1 (49:54):
And he adapted to your style in order to deliver.
Speaker 2 (49:57):
Yes, we are two, we are two.
He rides horses.
I DJ.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
You guys are like oil and water.
I would never put you guys inthe same thing as a matter of
fact, I was challenging you tomake him dance, because he's the
most unlikely person to dance.
Yes, and, and the thing is thattalk about someone that has
contributed to your success bycontributing, teaching you
certain things so you canactually do a better job yes
(50:23):
let's talk about yourtransaction coordinator.
Do you use a transactioncoordinator?
Yes okay, what is it that yourtransaction coordinator do for
you to help you be much moresuccessful?
Speaker 2 (50:36):
Wow, she, you know, we, I actually I was using C21
TC.
I got my own TC.
That's fine Because I neededsomeone that I could vibe with
and I think it's very importantas an agent that you're able to
vibe with these different people, because that's going to be
(50:57):
your team and you have to begoing in the same direction and
not against each other.
Now, being that I'm the realtorand I bring the client to them,
that means that I have tonavigate, you know, and and get
my client what they need.
But also I deliver a service tomy clients that I expect my TC,
my lender and whoever who'sworking with me to deliver the
(51:19):
same, the same treatment.
You know.
And my lender, you like I said,you know he, he's been in the
business for a long time but Ihad.
I I remember telling you know,you got to love them the way I.
We got we kind of, you know,because I didn't care with the
way he was.
You know he's just, he's aprofessional, he's just being
him.
That works for him.
But I said, look, we do greatwork together, but I need more
(51:43):
of you.
I need you to love my clientsthe way I love them.
I need you to see them the way Isee them.
Even though it may may be $100,maybe nothing to you, it's a
lot to them and I need you toknow that you know.
So don't push anything throughwithout talking to me.
Speaker 1 (51:58):
So the secret to this is holding your team members
accountable, oh yes.
And communicating with them.
Yes, and one of the things Ithings I was a manager of a
branch office for more than 10years.
I used to be an escrow officer.
I've had staff working for meand one of the most valuable
(52:21):
things that I, as a manager, youknow have one of the things,
the thing that I value mostbetween my relationship with
agents is a clear collaborationwhere they communicate with me
as to what their needs are, andyou do that with your branch
(52:41):
manager, you do that with me,even though I'm not directly
managing you.
Managing you and I recognizethat that is one of the
characteristics that makes areal estate agent successful by
communicating the expectations.
You deliver at a high level andyou want to deliver.
(53:04):
You want your team members todeliver with the same level of
passion that you deliver.
Speaker 2 (53:12):
Correct.
Very well said, yes.
Speaker 1 (53:15):
So I encourage those that are listening that you
should have a very strongcommunication with your manager
and your team members to ensurethat they are helping you
accomplish the success.
And this goes back to thegentleman that I met in at that
conference where he said theyshould be adding value to your
(53:37):
business, Otherwise they shouldnot be qualified to be a part of
your team.
Speaker 2 (53:41):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (53:42):
I don't mean to be pontificating here.
I'm just loving thisconversation.
As a matter of fact, roberta isofficially the first real
estate agent that I'm featuringin this podcast series, and the
challenge that I am putting isthat everyone that will be
coming to this podcast as a realestate agent.
(54:02):
We are going to dissect theconversation and then, from
there, we're going to bring inan expert to highlight those
things that each of oursuccessful real estate agents
have done in order for them tosucceed.
Even you know more, right?
So I want to thank Roberta fortaking the time and traveling to
(54:25):
meet with me here in Ventura inour podcast studio that we've
built.
This is new for me, and I justwanna say that I feel very
honored to be working withRoberta, and I wanna finish with
something we have a few minutesbefore we.
The value of loyalty issomething that just not.
(54:50):
What does it take for?
What does someone need to doday in and day out in order for
them to enjoy your loyalty?
For example, what is it thatyou do for your clients where
(55:10):
it's almost a no-brainer thatthey are going to be loyal to
you?
Consistency, communication.
Speaker 2 (55:23):
Transparency, consistency, communication
transparency you know and I sayeverything that I say I do it
and if I can't do it I apologize.
If I make an error, I will sayI'm sorry.
I don't skirt around it, I'vehad to.
I had to have some very hardconversations with, you know, a
couple of my clients and theydidn't want to hear it.
Don't skirt around it, I've hadto.
I had to have some very hardconversations with, you know, a
(55:43):
couple of my clients and they,they didn't want to hear it, but
I had to tell them and theyrespected me for it, you know.
And I don't just when I meet aclient, I don't just say, hey,
I'm going to ask for the sellerto pay your fees, the closing
costs, and I don't say none ofthat Because if I can't deliver
(56:05):
that they're going to remember.
I said that and I know thatfrom experience from other
mentors.
You know, because they wouldget mad.
Well, you know.
Well, he said this and he saidthat, and it was my clients.
And so I learned, learnedlessons too, of what I wanted to
do differently and just beingvery honest with them.
(56:28):
Sometimes I didn't do the damage.
It could have been the lender,but I never.
Because I'm their realtor, Inever put any responsibility on
my team.
I take full responsibility.
I say I'm so sorry, you knowso-and-so is doing his best that
he can.
Sometimes it takes a differentdirection, but I'm here and I
(56:52):
apologize for this slippingthrough.
You know what can we do goingforward, and that's all it takes
.
Excellent, I think that I havea very clear understanding.
You know what can we do goingforward and that's all it takes.
Speaker 1 (57:02):
Excellent, I think that I have a very clear
understanding, roberta.
What is the motivating factorin your success?
And people do that right.
Speaker 2 (57:15):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (57:15):
You approach everything from a sense of love?
Speaker 2 (57:18):
Yes, you approach everything from a sense of love.
Speaker 1 (57:20):
Yes, and I am going to label, entitle this segment,
you know, breaking through.
Speaker 2 (57:29):
With love.
Speaker 1 (57:29):
From a perspective of you know, approaching it from a
sense of love, because youmentioned certain things several
times over that, everythingthat you have done, you've
approached it from a sense oflove.
When you talk to your clientsand tell them about guiding them
, you're not talking down tothem, but you're talking to them
(57:49):
from a perspective of.
I'm only coming to you from asense of love yes you expect
that sense of love to come fromyour team players Exactly, and
they know that because you'vecommunicated and you've actually
sent it by through example, yes.
So I'd like to close thissegment by saying that, if you
(58:11):
want to be successful, stronglyconsider approaching the
business from the perspective oflove, sincerely from love, not
just from making money.
Closing statements Roberta.
Speaker 2 (58:35):
So, you know, I believe my success comes from
conquering my demons inside.
I know my value today and itdoesn't matter what anybody says
, I'm going to do what I need todo.
But, most of all, you know, thereason why I am who I am today
is because the lack I had a lotof lack growing up.
(58:55):
I lack of love was one of them,and I think that that's what
makes me so successful, sotrusting, because I have.
I have conquered all that.
Well, you ain't about nothing,roberta.
Well, you know all those thingsthat were put in my head.
(59:15):
I've beat them.
Beat them and I'm not afraid ofanything.
I'm not afraid of failing, I'mnot afraid to go talk to
somebody.
I've had clients where they'vebeen my client for a year and a
half or so, and I've sold houses, you know, and I sold them a
(59:37):
house there's like three of themand I stayed with them and I
see their struggle, I see howscared they are, you know, and
that's why training is soimportant, because we go into
these trainings and wemastermind and we and I get to
learn how you do it, how, howyou.
You know just different stylesand I come with my own style,
(59:58):
but I believe, to be successfulin anything is you got to be
your biggest fan, you got tolove yourself first.
And because of what I wentthrough, I, I, I have a lot of
passion and I love myself now.
Do I get hurt?
Yes.
Do I get mad?
Yes, but I always fall back,and you know what.
Let's do it again.
Let's start all over again.
(01:00:20):
But to be successful,especially in this business, you
have to beat yourself, becausethe only one that holds yourself
back is yourself.
It's true, I'm successful inselling houses in this market.
That I had no idea that was bad, you know.
But I had a deep, deep, deepdesire and and I don't just do
(01:00:44):
something half stepping, I do itall the way and and it just
turns into this desire for me,and I won't stop, you know,
until I get it.
You, you know, and I learned alot about myself coming into
this real estate craft of mine.
(01:01:06):
I learned how to disciplinemyself, I've learned how to be
obedient, I've learned how tonot respond, you know, and so I
came in for other reasons, butit has polished me up as a woman
, you know.
A lot of people, my friends,you know, are telling me well,
(01:01:26):
roberta, you're different, youeven talk different.
You know, and you know.
But it's because you know, Iconquered the demons in my head
that tell me I couldn't do itand I won't be able to do it.
And I did it with love, youknow, and I loved my.
I love myself.
You know, during this time ofreal estate I lost my sister
(01:01:49):
through cancer and I could havequit right there.
Every day I'd go to her andrubber after I'd leave training
and at that time we had anothermanager there with us and it was
difficult.
I had a different mentor andthat was difficult and at the
same time my sister was dying ofcancer, but I still kept going.
I, yeah, I would cry, but theminute I would cry then I get
(01:02:11):
back up.
Something got me back up andthat was called desire.
And once you have that desire,it doesn't leave you.
It doesn't leave you, itdoesn't leave you, no matter
what happens.
You know, and for me, you know,I can honestly say I whipped the
devil's ass quite a few times.
You know, and I don't say thatboasting or bragging, I say that
(01:02:33):
with pride, because God has thefinal say so and I believe that
God has taken me out of the pitof darkness and put the shine,
you know, on me and I'm shiningtoday.
You know, I'm shining todaybecause of what you're telling
me.
You know, a couple of days agoI was in my balcony having a
(01:02:53):
cold drink on the rocks and Iwas so proud of myself, you know
, and I'm by myself.
There, you know, and just wow,I couldn't believe it.
But at that point God removedeverything that was going to
stand in my way to be here today, in front of you.
Speaker 1 (01:03:12):
So breaking barriers and going from average to
extraordinary.
Speaker 2 (01:03:21):
Did you hear that Facebook, yeah, average to
extraordinary Extraordinary.
Speaker 1 (01:03:26):
So there's a lot of barriers.
Roberta has demonstrated thatanyone can break through.
Yes, Determination.
Determination I know it's a wordthat we use a lot there's
integrity, there's love, there'sbeing self-aware and
approaching it from a sense oflove versus a sense of profit.
(01:03:46):
So I just want to thank you,roberta, for being who you are.
I'm very proud of beingassociated with you as a fellow
Realtor.
I think it's amazing the stuffthat you are doing.
I just can't wait to see whatother greater things you're
going to be accomplishing andtoday.
I just can't wait to see whatother greater things you're
going to be accomplishing andtoday.
I just want to again thankRoberta for being with us today
and sharing her thoughts with us.
(01:04:08):
What does it take for someoneto get your attention and maybe
sit down with you and learn fromyou?
Cup of coffee cocktail overrocks?
What does it take?
Speaker 2 (01:04:21):
Hello, do you have time?
Speaker 1 (01:04:23):
Thank you so much, Roberta.
With that said, have a greatday.
It was a pleasure having you.
Speaker 2 (01:04:27):
Thank you.
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