June 16, 2025 • 47 mins
When life unexpectedly shatters your plans, do you see rubble or building blocks for something greater? For Betsy Pepine, a corporate layoff while suddenly single with two toddlers became the catalyst for an entrepreneurial journey that would transform her life and countless others.
Raised with the expectation she'd become a physician like her father, Betsy initially compromised by working in the pharmaceutical industry after pivoting from pre-med to business in college. Though financially rewarding, the work left her feeling disconnected from her purpose. When corporate downsizing forced her hand, she embraced the opportunity to completely reinvent her professional identity in real estate.
The transition wasn't easy. The first six months tested her resolve as she confronted an industry culture that felt reminiscent of high school politics. But Betsy persevered, discovering that while houses might sell themselves, the real fulfillment came from guiding clients through significant life transitions.
What truly sets Betsy's story apart is how she evolved from solopreneur to visionary business leader. When a key employee left citing the lack of family atmosphere, growth opportunities, and community involvement, it sparked a profound shift in Betsy's approach to leadership. She established core values centered on putting her team first, implementing policies like a zero-tolerance no-gossip rule that fortified an award-winning company culture.
As her brokerage flourished, Betsy strategically expanded with vertical businesses—a real estate school, title company, mortgage company, and property management firm—all serving the same client base while creating additional value streams. Her commitment to community impact led to establishing a nonprofit addressing affordable housing needs, perfectly aligning with her mission to improve and empower others' lives.
Through her book "Breaking the Box," Betsy now helps others identify and overcome the limitations they place on themselves—whether from gender expectations, family origin, or societal norms. Her journey reminds us that our greatest setbacks often clear the path to our most authentic success, and that time—not money or status—is our most precious asset.
Ready to break free from your own boxes? Share your thoughts in the comments and subscribe for more conversations that will transform your mindset and perhaps your life.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, it's Mindset Cafe.
We all about that mindset.
Gotta stay focused.
Now go settle for the last.
It's all in your head how youthink you manifest.
So get ready to rise, cause weabout to be the best.
Gotta switch it up.
Gotta break the old habits.
Get your mind right.
Turn your dreams into habits.
No negative vibes, onlypositive thoughts.
(00:20):
What is up, guys?
Welcome to another episode ofthe Mindset Cafe podcast.
It's your boy, Devin, and todaywe are honored to have a
special guest on the podcast notpodcast podcast Betsy Pepin,
and she is a entrepreneurialpowerhouse in real estate.
(00:40):
In being an author, she is aserial entrepreneur and the
founder of Pippin Realty.
I don't want to give too muchinto her story, because I love
when it comes from the personthemselves and tied into their
background, but her story isgoing to be one of those that
you guys should definitely takenotes on, because, at the end of
the day, the Mindset Cafe isabout learning from other
(01:02):
people's stories and applyingthe way they overcame obstacles
to your own life to get betterat least 1% every single day.
So, without further ado, Betsy,thank you so much for taking
the time out of your day to hopon the Mindset Cafe.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Thanks, devin, I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
So I don't like to dive into how'd you become an
entrepreneur.
I like to start way back when,right, what was your childhood
like?
You know, what was your bringup in.
You know because that kind ofgives some context to you know
your story and how you got here,but what was your childhood
like?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
It was, I think, great.
I'm one of three.
I've got an identical twinsister, which is a unique
experience.
I think People always ask whatit's like to be a twin and I
don't know, because I don't knowwhat it's like not to be one,
but that was.
That's been an interesting partof my journey, but, no, it was
great.
My dad is still a practicingphysician at 83 years old and
(02:03):
he's very inspiring because he'sso passionate about what he
does and it was so nice to havethat, to see that in my in my
dad.
My mom was a stay at home mom,but no, we all my sisters and I
all went to the same college.
We did have a lot of.
In fact, I was listening to oneof your episodes recently where
the gentleman your guest hadnever considered anything but
(02:25):
entrepreneurship because he grewup in that environment and
that's all he knew.
And so to see his friend's dadgo to work from nine to five
seemed so foreign to him.
And I had the opposite.
I, my dad, was a physician.
We actually worked in thesummers with him.
That's all I knew, and therewas definitely an expectation
(02:45):
that all three of the girls hisgirls would be physicians.
We were all pre-med in collegeand there was pressure to be a
physician because theydefinitely, I think, sold it as
this is what anybody would want.
And it was very difficultbecause in my junior year in
(03:07):
college I had to tell my parentsthat I was going to pivot from
the pre-med track and go intobusiness, and to them they just
had no reference point.
They thought that was like meliterally quitting college and
going on the circus.
I mean, that's kind of how theyviewed business and it was
(03:28):
really difficult.
And so even when I went, Iactually went on to graduate
school and got a dual, I got anMBA.
But I got an MBA in bothmarketing, which is what I'm
passionate about, but thenhealthcare management and I
spent a decade in thepharmaceutical industry just, I
think, to kind of satisfy theirdesire of their children wanting
(03:50):
to be in the healthcareindustry and feeling like that's
where you should be.
So that's kind of how mychildhood was Wonderful, I mean
wonderful.
I'm very privileged, Iunderstand that, I'm very
blessed and I'm so grateful forthat.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
No, I mean that's so amazing.
And I mean it is interestingtoo because with your dad being
a physician and he's stillpracticing a position I mean at
least my knowledge of that islike there's not normal nine to
five hours, right it's.
It could be all over the place,you could.
You know, at the end of the day, you're dealing with people's
(04:25):
lives, you know, and health,right.
So there's a sense of workethic that comes with that.
And I think that, even thoughthere wasn't maybe an
entrepreneurial work ethic thatwas, you know, given off, it was
still that work ethic of aphysician that you know, you put
people first and that's so huge.
And I mean because my dad wasLAPD, I mean I didn't have an
(04:48):
entrepreneur in my family, andso I still give my dad the
recognition for giving me thatwork ethic because he put the
people first and knew that hehad to show up every single day,
that he was required to justlike we do it as an entrepreneur
.
I think that's so amazing.
(05:08):
So you graduate college.
What was your first job afteryou graduated college?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
I went from college and I worked at Anderson
Consulting, which is like a bigmanagement consulting firm.
I worked in Tampa Crazily.
I didn't even really understandthe job.
I was really only doing it tocheck off a box, to get into
grad school.
And so I get there and I spentthree weeks in a room which I
never left, learning how to codeon the computer which I mean I
(05:41):
don't know how I missed that inthe theater.
And then they sent me to StCharles, illinois, where I spent
another three weeks learninghow to code, came back and spent
two years in cubicles coding onsites at different corporate
headquarters all over thecountry, and it was very lonely.
It was I need to be outside.
I need the sun.
(06:01):
I live in Florida.
I need the sun to be outside.
I need the sun.
I live in Florida, I need thesun I need, I need.
I know this now, but I didn'tthen.
But I I need every day.
I need it to be different, likeI just need.
I thrive on that, and that wasjust the opposite of everything
I I didn't know my body neededat the time.
So fortunately, I only had todo that for two years and then I
(06:24):
went to grad school and thenwent into the pharmaceutical
industry and spent a decade inand that was really that was
really interesting because I gotto spend a decade in.
This was in the advent ofdirect to consumer marketing of
pharmaceutical prescriptiondrugs to the consumer.
So before you couldn't do thatand so now we were being.
We were doing radio ads andtelevision commercials
advertising directly to theconsumer.
(06:45):
So to be involved in that wasso exciting and what I liked is
getting to.
A big part of my job wastalking to physicians, nurse
practitioners and patients andcaregivers about the products
that we were making, and so Ilove that kind of people
interaction.
Where I felt a huge disconnectwas, if I was honest with myself
(07:11):
, I didn't care about theproduct.
I just didn't, and I don't knowif it wasn't, because it wasn't
mine, it wasn't.
You know, I didn't have anyownership of the product.
I didn't have anything,anything to do with the making
of the product.
I had to do with the marketingof the product and so, but it
was just a product, the class,the industry.
I just didn't have a, I justdidn't, sadly care about and I
(07:35):
felt an incongruence.
You know, working in anindustry where I would think,
gosh, I wouldn't want to hire mebecause I'm a hard worker, but
I don't, I don't really care atthe end of the day if they buy
this product or not.
So but I would have stayed.
I would have stayed in thatindustry because the industry at
the time I don't, it's changeda bit but it provided a great
(07:58):
lifestyle, great income, greatbenefits, great travel.
So I liked that about the job,but I didn't actually like the
job.
But it took a.
I was in my, I was 31 and Ifound myself suddenly single
with a one and two year old.
And then the company that I waswith did a huge corporate
(08:19):
layoff because we one of ourdrugs didn't get approved and I
was a part of that layoff and Ithought you know what?
This is my time.
If God, source universe,whatever you choose to believe,
is not telling me, showing me asign that maybe the path I'm on
is not the right one for me, Ithought that that was it, and so
that's when I pivoted and wentinto real estate.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
When I pivoted and went into real estate, I mean
sometimes we have to get thatpush right and you can have a
great job, you can make goodmoney and still not be bought in
, right?
You're doing it to check off abox, like you said, almost like
you're doing it because you'regood at it.
(09:03):
You're doing it because you seethe need, but at the end of the
day it's not filling your cup.
So if it's not filling your cup, that means it's taking from
your cup and that can onlyhappen for so long before you
end up burning out.
So I think that sometimes youknow whatever you want to call
it.
You know sometimes that theuniverse gives you that push and
some people don't see it andother people like yourself.
(09:24):
You're like, oh, this is maybe,this is what I needed, and you
make you don't just pivot intoanother company, you make a
complete pivot, right, yeah?
And so I think that that's soamazing.
I mean, I can say, for me Ineeded that push too when I was,
you know, an employee and, youknow, had a disagreement with
with my employer at the time andit was like I had been kind of
(09:45):
tiptoeing the line of wanting todo it and finally it was just
like, oh, all right, you knowwhat I'm just going to take that
leap, you know.
So now you get into real estate, right, what is that journey
like?
Because it's an industry.
I mean, you went from coding topharmaceuticals, now we're in
real estate.
So what was the initial mindsetshift of, you know, just having
to get into a completely newindustry?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Well, it was definitely scary, you know.
I remember I hadn't taken atest in a decade and I didn't
know if I'd be able to take youknow, pass the state exam.
I was petrified of that, youknow, and I think that's crazy.
Now, when, see, I actually havea real estate school now and I
help people pass that exam, butwhen you haven't taken an exam
(10:30):
in a decade it's very scary.
And then I had two kids tosupport on an income that was
very tenuous at best.
But I did say to myself, kindof like I had lost everything.
What else?
There's nothing else to lose,right, I had lost my job, I lost
my marriage Like it's not goingto get worse, right?
(10:50):
So that's kind of the mindset Iwent in with.
And I did go in with.
I said, okay, betsy, you've gottwo years.
I had built up a nest egg thatI knew that the girls and I
could survive minimally on twoyears of income that I had saved
if I just didn't sell a houseand that did provide me some
(11:11):
comfort.
And then the first six monthswere very rough.
I did not know if I was goingto make it.
It was an industry.
It reminded me of high schooland why I hated it so much.
It just at least in our area,it seemed like a very.
I think when people so, whenyou're an entrepreneur, it's
(11:33):
it's your money, it's money outof your pocket, and when you're
in real estate, it's any moneythat's transacted in the deal is
coming directly out of aperson's pocket.
It's not some corporate budgetand oh, it's okay, we don't need
that, or it's fine, we'll passon this or whatever.
This is directly impactingsomebody's take home pay.
(11:55):
I think people act verydifferently when that happens.
I see ethics go out the window,I see things that I just had
not seen before and behaviorsthat I had not seen before
except for, like in high school,where we're young and we're
doing stupid things, and so thatreally shook me and I didn't
know if I would survive.
(12:16):
I didn't know if I had the skintough enough to survive it.
People, you know, people wantto get a deal, so they talk
badly about you.
I mean, it's just again.
It was just very immature andso it took me six months to say
I'm going to have to either growa shell or get out of here.
But I really enjoyed the work.
I loved helping people.
(12:36):
I mean, houses sell themselves.
We're we are facilitating amajor, actually usually two life
events for them, because thebuying and selling of a house is
a life event.
You ask anybody you know toname the houses they bought.
They can name every single one.
But then you ask them, why dothey need to buy the house?
And it's almost alwaysprecipitated by another life
(12:57):
event.
So we get to walk customersthrough their two major life
events, which is just an honorand that's what I love, um, so I
stuck with it because I lovedit so much, and so then I did
that and did it for two years.
At two years in florida you canbecome a broker, but honestly,
I did not feel um competentenough to be a broker and
(13:18):
represent myself.
At two years, I didn't feellike I had enough experience
under my belt to legallyrepresent myself in terms of
keeping myself out of trouble.
There's so many nuances to realestate that I wasn't aware of,
so at four years I then went andbecame a broker and then I
started building.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
So what's I mean?
This is like my my confusiontoo, because I think I always
interchange the terms.
And now that I do know thatthere is a difference, what's
the difference between a realestate agent and a real estate
broker?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Oh.
So now it's confusing becausein some States they call you a
broker the minute you get yourlicense.
In Florida you're a salesassociate for two years.
You get your license and youare.
You're a sales associate fortwo years.
You get your license and youare a sales associate.
After two years you can sit forthe broker exam and become a
broker.
So then you can become a broker.
Then you have broker of record,which is you are running a
(14:10):
brokerage.
But, like I run a brokerage butI have agents that have earned
the broker designation, so theyare called broker associates,
because you can't have twobrokers.
A broker in the name broker inflorida is you are managing a
brokerage.
So you're a broker associate ifyou have the education and you
(14:32):
have the license of a broker,but you're not.
You're working for somebodyelse.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
And a sales associate is just.
Most people are salesassociates.
They have their license butthey don't have their.
They're not running thebrokerage.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Jim Collison, esq.
Got it.
Okay, that makes more sense.
So it's almost like because wefranchise our business.
So it's almost like franchisor,franchisee and, for an our
industry, trainer, right, yes,Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yes, that makes a lot more sense.
I mean, I'm in California so Iknow there is a difference
between you know.
They say real estate agents,which is everyone and anyone.
Then all of a sudden I've heardpeople calling themselves, you
know, brokers, and then they'relike oh yeah.
I have a brokerage and I'm like, okay.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
And then to further confuse you, there's the term
realtor, which people use thatincorrectly.
So realtor anybody with alicense to sell real estate,
whether you're a sales associateor a broker, can choose to
become a realtor.
That requires additionaleducation and paying dues, and
(15:37):
you're saying to the world I'mgoing to hold myself to a higher
level of ethics than isrequired with just the debt,
with just the license, and sothat's the realtors okay.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
So I mean there's levels to it and it's almost
like different, differentcertifications or licenses, and
then you kind of go up the chain.
I mean that definitely,definitely does make sense.
I mean, I know this is a littleside tangent and I kind of gave
you a fair game warning.
This is how my brain kind ofworks.
I've heard of people and maybeit's one of those social media
things I'd never really boughtinto it, but I've heard of
(16:10):
people trying to sell courses onlike you can sell homes without
a real estate license and allyou know and flip houses and all
that kind of stuff.
Is that someone that's actingas a sales associate or kind of
a whole different game in itself?
Speaker 2 (16:27):
You can.
If you're doing it for yourself, you can do that.
You can flip houses, you can dowhatever you want.
If you are representingyourself, you don't need a
license to do that, so that thatwould be the way they're doing
that.
You can also wholesale withouta license, so you can.
You can find deals for peopleand um and then close it like at
(16:47):
an attorney's office, and youdon't.
You don't need a license towholesale all right, I don't.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole.
It's in a.
I can't get confusing.
So what I do want to ask,though, is like, because you
built your own brokerage,correct, is that correct?
Is that correct, all right?
So you built your own brokerage, and your brokerage you know
because, starting off, you know,we start off as a small
business, and you've grown it tobe named in the Inc 5000 a few
(17:16):
times, if I'm not mistaken.
So what was that journey like?
Because that's not an easy feat.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
So the journey.
It was funny because when Istarted my brokerage I had no
vision.
I just started it because Iknew I didn't like to work for
somebody else and I was going tobe a solopreneur.
I was going to work out of myhouse.
I have my broker license, whichallows me to work for myself
out of my house and work fornobody else.
And that's what I did.
(17:43):
And then within a couple ofyears, over time, people just
ask agents ask if they can workfor you because you have to keep
your license under a broker.
And so some of the agents inthe community would ask
periodically hey, can I hang mylicense with you?
And I would say, yes, butplease know I don't offer any.
(18:03):
I don't offer anything, I'mworking out of my home.
And so a couple of years intothe brokerage me having the
license, you know, it's like I'mlooking around and I've got six
or seven people working out ofmy house and it got a little
crazy.
And so I had the wherewithal toget a coach and he's like Betsy
, you got to go big or go home.
And I'm like well, I'm alreadyhome, let's go big.
(18:26):
So, literally like the nextweek I went and bought a office
building and we moved into theoffice building and then he
helped me create a plan ongrowing a brokerage.
So that's what I did first andthen, once I got the brokerage
established I do get bored veryeasily I think entrepreneurs do
(18:50):
and so once that was established, I said, ok, well, what other
services can I offer customersand agents that we're already
serving?
And that's how I opened uptitle and Mortgage and the real
estate school and the propertymanagement company and then
eventually the nonprofit.
It was just a matter of whatother services can we provide in
this experience that will helpour customers or our agents.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Hold on, you just skipped over, like it was
nothing, all these differentbusinesses that you just
established.
You know, like you just made itsound like I did it.
No, no, no no, no, no, not thatit was like oh, I just added
this and did this and built this.
So I want to dive into thatbecause, believe me, I get where
, being an entrepreneur, likeyou know, I have the same
problem.
Um, I mean, that's where thekind of this podcast kind of
(19:35):
established from too.
And so you said you, you're,you have your brokerage, you I
heard, I heard title company, Iheard a nonprofit, and I feel
like there was one more in therethat I had Property management
real estate school, okay, thereal estate school, that that
one's I want to start there.
That one's interesting because Ihave a friend in another
(19:57):
business, you know owner, who isa barber and he started a
barber college and I've kind ofdove in and asked them all you
know, I was like that's sointeresting, I didn't know you
could even do that, right.
So what was that process like?
Because I mean, you alreadysaid you had, you know, let's
say, six agents working underyou and so essentially you
(20:19):
weren't even planning onbecoming a mentor in a sense,
and it kind of just happened.
And so inevitably you start tohave a mindset shift because you
start to realize other peopleare kind of looking up to you,
you know, as this, the topperson, even though you're like,
just yeah, you can hang yourlicense here, I'm working out of
my home, don't you know?
That's all, I don't offeranything.
But then they're like, okay,yeah, fine.
And then they're they'rewatching everything you're doing
(20:40):
.
So what was that change in yourmindset?
Really realizing that youactually have influence and can,
can help other people alongthat journey and get to the
dream that they want to, youknow, have a business or have a
lifestyle and a career that youknow you were able to establish,
know, have a business or have alifestyle and a career that you
know you were able to establish.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
So, yeah, my, my mission in life is to improve
and empower the lives of others.
That's what drives me every day.
And so that is what, like, evenwhen I had them working out of
my house, you know I helped,like I the.
For me, the best thing I cansee is they come to me, they do
so well and then they they leaveme and start their own
brokerage Like that's success.
You know, that means the worldto me, that I help somebody
(21:28):
change their family tree becausenow they have the tools to do
what I did.
So I look at it from a mindsetof abundance, not scarcity, and
I'm always trying to help people.
So I look at it from a mindsetof abundance, not scarcity, and
I'm always trying to help people.
So I was doing that even when Ididn't really even have a plan.
It's just, I think, in mynature to help people and
(21:49):
improve their lives.
To me, if my presence doesn'tmake an impact on someone's life
today, then why am I here?
So I try to enter everysituation, every meeting,
thinking how can I makesomeone's life different and
better by my presence.
The school came came aboutbecause, as I grew my, our niche
(22:10):
has been we really are strongin training and training and
development.
Because of that, of my need toimprove and empower the lives of
others, and so that tends toattract a newer agent who
doesn't have any knowledge ofthe industry.
And I thought, well, how can Iget to new agents before they
even are agents?
(22:31):
And that's through the school,because then they spend a week
in our inside, our office and Iget to know them very well.
I don't teach the schoolanymore I used to, but I don't
teach it anymore but I knowexactly at the end of that class
who's going to make a good fitand who's not.
So it's really been a wonderfulrecruiting tool for us.
And then we added additionalclasses to help our own agents
(22:53):
with their.
You have to do continuededucation once you get licensed,
and so we have a benefit to allthe agents to have the school
not just a recruiting arm.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
I think that's so awesome.
And then I mean the mortgageside, the title side, those
three things right there I meanI'm a huge on for, for at least
for myself is a lot ofentrepreneurs will start
building a carwash and then theybuild a subway and then they
build in, they go all over theplace, right, instead of
(23:23):
building business verticalswithin where you currently are.
Because at the end of the day,if you start spreading yourself
out into different industries,there is another entrepreneur
that is giving a hundred percentto that industry and they are
going to outperform you.
Right, yeah, but, but butthat's the thing is like your
lane can be widened and becomelike a freeway because you
(23:46):
create these business verticalswhich feed the main business and
at the end of the day, they areseparate companies and still
say serve the same purpose.
So I think that's so awesomethat I mean you did that.
And that's such a interestingyou know way to go about it,
cause you get to find, like thekind of the best agents, or
who's going to be the best, oneof the best agents in the start,
(24:07):
you know, and then give themthat that job, instead of having
them go look for a job rightout the gate you're like hey,
you know, we have a role for youhere.
And then it's almost likeyou're getting to recruit and
make money in the recruiting aswell, instead of vice versa,
right, so I think that's so cool.
So and then you mentioned youhave a non.
You started a nonprofit.
What was?
Speaker 2 (24:27):
the nonprofit.
The nonprofit is Pepin Gives.
So when I was in graduateschool, crazily one of the
classes I was able to take forcredit was I was in Philadelphia
.
We went into West Philadelphiaimpoverished area, gutted row
homes and rebuilt them with ourlabor, which was donated, and
donated supplies, and then wesold these houses at cost which
(24:52):
was nominal to cost burdenedfamilies.
So that experience just reallyimpacted me.
I've always been interested inreal estate, but seeing how a
house truly changes thetrajectory of a family was very
impactful to me.
So then, when I had these lifeevents and I was trying to
decide what am I going to dowhen I grow up, I thought, wow,
(25:15):
if I could impact lives likethat on a daily basis, how cool
would that be.
And then so I.
That's how I got into realestate.
Well then, what I wanted we?
So service has always been a um,a core value of my own, and it
was one of the companies and weactually changed it to impact,
because the whole point of doingservice is impact.
And when we did that in 20, Ithink 16, I think it was 2016.
(25:39):
No, 2018.
We created the nonprofitbecause we wanted to funnel all
of our service activities intoone area so that we could have a
greater impact in a smallerarea, and that is addressing the
affordable housing issue in ourarea, north Central Florida.
We live in the highest costburden county in the state of
(26:00):
Florida, and so we've partneredwith Habitat for Humanity and we
help build affordable housing,and what I love is that it truly
is a hand up, not a hand out.
These families have to qualify,they have to go through
education not only how do youmaintain a home, but also home
(26:20):
finances and budgeting so theyreally are teed up for success,
because the last thing we wantto do is foreclose on them.
So that's just been a just awonderful.
You know we're serving acommunity that would never be in
a position to use our servicesotherwise, and I love that.
So that's how that arm came tobe.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
No, I mean that's amazing.
And again, what's crazy is it'sa vertical of the same industry
Like that's.
I mean I actually helped starta 501c3 nonprofit and it was
when I was personal training.
We started a nonprofitbasketball private school or
charter school for this travelball, basketball kids and stuff,
(27:02):
and I thought it was so cooland that's one of my future
goals is to start an arm of,like the franchise that is a
nonprofit and something againsame as you in the same industry
that you know the gym and thefranchise is all in.
But I think that is so awesomethat you did that.
So I mean before, before I wantto take a pivot to the book and
everything like that.
(27:23):
I do want to ask you built nowmultiple companies and it's not
easy to build one company, letalone build and scale multiple
companies.
What is your key to building awinning culture within your
companies?
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Oh, I learned that the hard way, just because I
didn't have an eye on that atthe very beginning and I had a
key employee leave me because ofthat.
I was in the pharmaceuticalindustry the one that I had left
at the time.
You know it was verytransactional with with.
I was selling my time and theywere selling a job and it was an
equal exchange and that's how Ikind of when I went into real
(28:00):
estate, that's what I assumed.
The world was still like that,and what I found very quickly
was that the people younger thanme were expecting more from
their employers.
And so the first real personthat left me, I asked her why,
and she said there's no sense offamily here, there's no growth
(28:20):
path for me and there's noopportunities for me to give
back to the community.
And she was right on all threeaccounts.
Those things were farthest frommy mind.
That was a point when we hadthe eight people working out of
my garage and I had zero plansand what I didn't understand.
Like I had put my own companyin a box where to me, it's you
went home to your family, youwent home to volunteer.
(28:42):
Well, this woman was telling meno, she's coming to work, to be
a part of a big family and to,you know, to volunteer in this
setting.
And that was just earthshattering to me.
I'd never experienced that andI was like, oh my gosh, okay, so
I love that.
I had never even envisionedthat again because I hadn't seen
(29:05):
it modeled.
So once I got my, we aligned our, we got our core values down,
and that really was the start ofcreating a great culture.
And then what I did was I.
It was interesting.
In my research I read all thesebooks on great culture, some of
the great companies that areknown for their culture, and
then I came across this awardFlorida gives this award to best
(29:29):
places to work, and so Icontacted the director and I
said send me the application.
I mean, I had no position toeven really even apply, but I
wanted to see what are theylooking for, because that, would
you know, that's to me like thevision I always.
I'm very visual.
I need to see what the goalpostlooks like, and so I put that
(29:49):
on my vision board and severalyears later I applied for that
and we won.
But, only because that womanquit and I asked her why are you
leaving?
And that started the wholething, and then we really became
known for our culture.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
It took several years , but yeah, so what was your key
for going from where you were?
I mean, you read the form andeverything like that, but what
was maybe one?
I don't want to give away allyour secrets, but what was one
crucial thing that you changedthat allowed a culture to start
to flourish?
Speaker 2 (30:27):
For me.
I think it was just recognizingthe mindset that I am working
for them.
They're not working for me.
They are truly my highestpriority clients, because if I
don't have them, I don't have acompany, and so I put them
(30:49):
before any buyer or seller,regardless of income potential.
A buyer or seller, highlynetworked people can do.
My staff and my agents are myfirst priority and that was a
that was a shift for me.
I didn't.
I went in thinking, oh no, thebuyer, the, the buyer and the
seller of the homes are myclients.
(31:09):
They're not my clients.
They're they're secondaryclients, but my true clients are
my, the people that work for me.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
That is, I think, one of the biggest keys from going,
as I mean, I learned this thehard way too from being a
solopreneur to becoming abusiness owner and to actually
understanding what that meant tobe a business owner is that
your job is essentially to serveyour team Like my job.
(31:38):
Now, you know.
People ask me oh, do you stilldo personal training?
I was like I want to say my dayis just, you know, problem
solving and asking what the teamneeds and how do I make it?
You know, their lives better,more efficient and so forth, and
creating the opportunities forthem.
So I think that's so awesomethat you said that.
Um, and so what would you say?
I know there's another.
This is cause it's sointeresting, the industry you're
(32:00):
in it's.
What would you say?
I know there's another causeit's so interesting, the
industry you're in it's so atleast from the outside, cause
I've seen only TV shows.
I have some friends and familythat are in real estate, not to
the level you're at, but itseems so cutthroat, or it can be
so cutthroat, right, not not inthe way of like car salesy, but
from like the TV shows, forexample, like selling sunset,
like you see all the bickeringand the gossip and, you know,
(32:22):
trying to snake people's dealsand so forth.
Now, if someone's becoming areal estate agent right now
maybe not going for a brokeragebut, you know, wants to get into
real estate sales, what is oneof the keys that you would say?
To start establishingthemselves without having to be
ruthless?
I believe me or maybe it isbeing ruthless, but me I believe
(32:42):
that being collaborative orbeing, you know, in working
together you can get more done.
You may not get the whole pie,but why not have a piece of a
bigger pie kind of deal?
But what was, what would beyour advice for, let's say, a
new real estate agent comingonto your team?
Speaker 2 (32:58):
I mean, I think in any area of life, if you have a
mindset of abundance and notscarcity, I think that's so huge
.
I mean we will not say anegative thing about another
agent.
We won't.
And I always tell people beprepared to say it twice.
If you're gonna say it to me,you're gonna say it to the.
(33:19):
If you're going to say it to me, you're going to say it to the
person you're talking about too.
You know.
So we actually have in ouroffice policy manual and no
gossip policy and and it's a onestrike and you're out.
We don't tolerate that.
There are other, there are othercompanies that don't feel that
way.
I just don't.
We're here for such a shortperiod of time on this earth.
(33:40):
I'm not.
I want it to be as pleasant andas enjoyable as possible, and I
and those people do fine too.
I'm not saying they don't, Ijust that's not the way I choose
to run my business.
That's not the agents that weare trying to attract.
We have occasionally had torehome people because we found
that that was not a consistentvalue that somehow we missed in
(34:01):
the interview process, and wewill do that nicely.
You know, wish them well, butgoing with a mindset of
abundance.
The other thing, what I havefound because you're right, and
at least in our industry is thatpeople are very cutthroat and
they don't like to share ideas,although I do like to share mine
.
I do highly recommend to myagents to get out of this city
(34:27):
and county and look for yourtraining and your education.
Yes, you can do it online, butyou don't meet anybody, you
don't get to exchange ideas.
Go to another market, becausethose agents will talk to you.
They'll tell you what's working, what's not working.
They don't view you ascompetition.
Now you have another referralsource.
They might refer you leads.
So network with people outsideyour direct competition and
(34:49):
usually you'll find get yourselfinto mastermind groups.
Usually you'll find realtorswill open up in when they know
that you're not in their directvicinity.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
No, that is so true.
I mean, that is a great way tothink about it too is like if
other people are gonna view youas competition if you stay local
, why not just go outside?
Because now you break thatbarrier down.
One thing I do wanna say is Ilove the fact that, instead of
saying we fire people, it's likeyou use the we re-home people.
(35:18):
That little word of you know, Iwas like that was clever, but
the no gossip policy isinteresting.
This is the second time I'veheard that that policy my aunt
is, you know, is an entrepreneur, and I later learned in life
that she was an entrepreneur.
But she has a marketing companyand a huge, a huge marketing
company and they deal with, youknow, brands like target,
(35:41):
walmart, all that kind of stuff,and it's all about social media
influencers.
And I had her on the podcastwhen I first started and she had
mentioned that and I was likeyou can do that.
And she's like, yeah, she'slike it's one same thing one
strike, you're out.
And I was like interesting, youknow, and it really does keep
the culture, you know, it does,you know, because at the end of
the day, like it's so easy toget frustrated and then start
(36:03):
gossiping.
But it's like, look, that's notwhat we're about here.
And we are.
We are a team at the end of theday, so I think that's so
awesome.
So I do want to pivot, you know, and I don't want to, you know,
get get away from it, cause Ican go down this, this rabbit
hole.
I love everything that you'resaying, but you wrote a book
right Breaking.
It's about overcoming thelimitations that we place on
ourselves.
But what was the inspirationfor writing that?
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Oh.
So a couple of years ago, Ifound myself just increasingly
unhappy and I was frustrated.
In fact, it took me about ayear to even admit that to
myself, because on paper I feltlike my life looked pretty good
and I know that I'm blessedbeyond belief, and so I didn't
feel like I had the right toeven say that I was unhappy.
(36:46):
But I wasn't happy and throughjournaling and meditation and
yoga and bioenergetics andtherapy, the common thread that
I uncovered was that throughoutmy life, there's been times when
I feel very, very confined.
(37:10):
It's like when you, if you everhad the misfortune of purchasing
a mattress from Amazon, and itarrives on your doorstep in a
box and you're like, how doesthat mattress fit in that box?
And you rip it open, and thentwo days later, the king size
mattress has expanded to thesize it was designed to be.
Well, I sometimes I feel likeI'm in that box and it I haven't
ripped the tape open, um,ripped the box open and so, um,
(37:30):
I started journaling about them,I started sharing my ideas with
other people and in my storiesand it resonated with a lot of
people and, again, because mymission is to have improved the
lives of others.
I wrote the book truly with thehopes of just changing one
person's life.
If somebody read this book andthey looked at something in a
way that they hadn't lookedbefore and this caused them to
(37:52):
make a move towards a moreauthentic life, then the effort
was worth it, and so that's thathas been my goal of of writing
the book and why I wrote thebook.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
No, I mean that that is so awesome and awesome, and I
love your core value that youkeep mentioning.
I mean that is, you know, wehave company core values, but we
have and those kind of stemfrom our personal core values,
and one of mine is it's, youknow, impact right, and it's to
have a positive impact on asmany lives as I can, while I can
, right, and so when you keepsaying that it's funny, I just
keep smiling because it's likethat is literally one of my core
(38:23):
values, so it's so awesome thatwe're in alignment.
I wrote a book as well and thatwas the same thing.
It can change one person's life.
That's all it was.
That's all it was for.
So what are some of themetaphorical boxes that people
maybe hold themselves or feellike they're in in business and
in life?
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Oh, they're everywhere.
So, like for me, the box, oneof the biggest boxes was you
know you had to be a physicianand your industry, your gender,
is a box.
You know, I have.
I have gotten positions andafterwards I had been told it
was because of my gender alone.
But that is very offensive tome.
That's a whole nother topic.
(39:02):
But you know so your genderputs you in a box.
Your family of origin puts youin a box.
Your industry, your friends andpeers, your religion, your race
.
I talked to a guy whose healthwas putting him in a box.
He's diabetic and he's vieweddifferently because he's a
diabetic.
When people find out he's adiabetic.
I had a girlfriend during COVIDdecided to let her hair go gray
(39:27):
and then about a year ago I sawher and her hair was my color,
brown.
And I'm like you know whathappened.
I thought you were going gray.
She said, betsy, I becameinvisible.
And I'm like what do you mean?
And she said I got when she hadgray hair.
She said storekeepers wouldjust you know, store clerk would
just ignore her.
She'd get bypassed in line.
She said it was like I didn'texist.
(39:47):
She said I couldn't believe it.
So there's so many boxes thatwe we are put in and we put
other people in.
You know, I remember I meanjust a really simple example,
not not detrimental, but agirlfriend of mine was saying
she had to leave because she wasrunning to a dinner party.
They do this wine party wherethey take a country and they
(40:08):
bring the food in and they bringthese wines in for the
countries, and she had to go toher friend's house and I was and
I was just curious, I saidwho's, who's, who's?
the host and she said fatherJohn, father John, like father
John at St Francis.
And she's like, yeah, and I waslike what?
Like I couldn't, couldn't, youknow, marry those two images in
(40:28):
my mind.
But why?
You know we, you know, we thinkthe minute we hear somebody's a
priest, we start thinkingthings.
We know nothing about thatperson other than what they do
start creating this idea in ourhead and it I the problem is
(40:48):
with the box, you know, I, Ihave I tell the story where,
when my girls were young, wewould walk these trails and they
were really young and we would,we would explore and I would
show them I love nature and Iwould show them the different
barks on the different trees andthe different leaves and the
different shapes, the differentcolors when they, when their
leaves drop we also have pineneedles here, it was really pine
cones all these differentthings.
We would do this every day.
Then, when they got older and Ia little bit older, and I would
(41:12):
say, okay, tree, this is a tree, this is a leaf, right, so they
would learn the names.
Well then, when we would dothis walk and I would stop and
we would go through the thingagain, my one daughter, my older
daughter, maria, this walk andI would stop and we would go
through the thing again.
My one daughter, my olderdaughter, maria.
She'd pull my hand and she said, mom, I already know that's
just a tree, and it's likethey're so curious before they
know the label.
(41:32):
But once you, once you slap alabel on the thing or a person,
you stop seeing them.
And that's where I think thereal harm comes in with boxes,
no, definitely.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
And I want to touch on something that you said.
In the beginning, too, Ithought you were going to go a
different way with it and I waslike, oh.
And then you went the meritsystem with the gender box and I
was like, oh, no, where are wegoing with this?
And then, but honestly, I wantto touch on it because I think
it is so crucial.
And I say this because, as abusiness owner, I've had people
(42:04):
say you know, why don't you guyshire more guys?
Or why don't you guys hire moregirls?
And it's like I don't care whatgender you are, the best for
the best person for the job getsthe job.
I don't care what gender youare to get a raise, I don't care
how long you've been here, thebest person for the job gets the
(42:28):
job.
That's how I believe and that'show I'm going to run my company
.
It's, you know, based off ofmerit.
I don't care You're in color, Idon't care your, your gender,
you know nothing like that.
It's at the end date.
I think that's what it shouldbe on, because at the end of the
day, when you are get thatposition, you know you deserved
it.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Right, and that's what really I remember when I
was asked to be on this board ofa bank.
You know, I'd always wanted tobe on a board and and then so I
accepted.
And then they told me why I gotit and it was like a slap in
the face because it's like I haddone so many things for my
business and for the communityand but I wasn't getting this.
I wasn't getting the offerbecause of that.
I was getting it because of mygender, which I had no control
over.
Speaker 1 (43:03):
So yeah, I mean also sometimes those I was getting it
because of my gender, which Ihad no control over.
So yeah, I mean also.
I think sometimes those boxeslike whoever told you that you
got that job for that could havebeen jealous that you got the
position because you earned itthrough all these things you've
created and their, their resumeof achievements is probably very
tied to the bank itself youknow, yeah, so that's one way
(43:27):
for and I think people try toput us in boxes, especially to
our face, when they feelthreatened, right?
and to try to kind of put youdown a little bit and like, man,
did I just get this from mygender?
And then you look at their, youtake an analytical look and be
like why would they say that?
And it's like, wait, theystarted here as an employee,
they they moved to manager,branch manager.
Their life is here.
(43:48):
They have someone outside thatcan do everything that they can
do.
That has never worked a day inthe bank.
So I think I want you toreframe that and be like someone
saying that it's probably notbecause of your gender, it's
probably because they're justjealous, you know.
So I mean with with everythingyou have going on.
(44:09):
You have multiple businesses,you have a course that
accompanies the book, becausethe book is really story-based
and a lot of people are saying,okay, how do I do this?
Speaker 2 (44:28):
And so the course helps people do that.
And then I've started doing alot of public speaking, so I'm
ramping up my website to focusmore on that.
So those are the two bigprojects for this year.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
Well, that's awesome.
Well, I'd like to ask one finalquestion, and I know I didn't
give this to you ahead of time,but if you listen to the other
episodes, you probably knew itwas coming On.
Betsy's legacy wall, right, andI will say, it is not a
tombstone, and as many times asI say that to people, sometimes
they still give it to me.
Right, this is a legacy wall,so it's a quote, it's a message
(45:04):
that you would leave for the upand coming generations that
you've learned along your life'sjourney.
What would that message be?
Speaker 2 (45:19):
It's hard to just pick one.
I mean, I sign my books, enjoythe journey, really as a
reminder, because I think myselfincluded, you know, we, we tend
to worry and overthink and losesight of the bigger picture of
why we're here.
So it's a, it's a check-in tojust make sure we keep things,
the right things, in priorityand enjoy our time here, cause
(45:43):
at the end of the day, it's sucha short period of time, it goes
by so quickly and just makingsure.
You know, time is our mostprecious asset, but we do not
treat it like that.
It's the only thing we cannotget more of, and none of us know
how much time we have.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
Yet sometimes we we waste it on such trivial things,
oh, physically and also in ourheads, and so, um, that's how I
signed my book, so that'sprobably what I would say no, I
think I I love that one and it'sit's so true, and this is a
lesson that I kind of learnedwith my business partner when we
were and we're still growingfast.
(46:22):
But in the beginning everythingwas growing fast and then all
of a sudden we kind of hit alull, or you know, and then it
was like all of a sudden youstart panicking and it's like
you have to sometimes take astep back and realize how far
you've come and enjoy the bepresent and enjoy where you're
at, because otherwise you're notgoing to appreciate the growth
as it's happening as well.
(46:42):
So I think that's so awesome,that is so cool.
Where can people connect withyou and learn more about what
you have going on?
Speaker 2 (46:48):
Yeah, my website is my name, so BetsyPapincom.
And then I'm on all the socialchannels at Betsy Papin.
Speaker 1 (46:56):
Awesome.
Well, I will put that in theshow notes.
Guys, if you're listening,it'll be in the show notes as
well as if you're watching onYouTube, it'll be in the video
description.
Make sure you guys share thisepisode with a friend.
Right?
You can pivot at any time inyour life.
You know Betsy has alreadyshown that, going from coding to
pharmaceuticals to real estate,scaling the real estate company
and having multiple businesseswithin it, and being an author
(47:19):
as well as a public speaker.
So make sure you guys sharethis episode with a friend that
you care about them leveling uptheir lives.
In turn, it'll help you levelup your life.
But, betsy, I just want to saythank you so much for taking the
time out of your busy day and,you know, dropping some
knowledge.
Speaker 2 (47:34):
Thank you, appreciate it.
Devin Life mindset causes shits.
Got my mind on the prize.
I can't be distracted.
I stay on my grind.
No time to be slackin'.
I hustle harder.
I go against the current Cause.
I know in my mind it's betterto be collected.
Yeah, it's Mindset Cafe.
We all about that mindset.
Gotta stay focused.
Now go settle for the last.
It's all in your head how youthink you manifest.
So get ready to rise, cause weabout to be the best.
Gotta switch it up.
Gotta break the old habits.
Get your mind right.
Turn your dreams into habits.
No negative vibes, onlypositive thoughts.
(00:20):
What is up, guys?
Welcome to another episode ofthe Mindset Cafe podcast.
It's your boy, Devin, and todaywe are honored to have a
special guest on the podcast notpodcast podcast Betsy Pepin,
and she is a entrepreneurialpowerhouse in real estate.
(00:40):
In being an author, she is aserial entrepreneur and the
founder of Pippin Realty.
I don't want to give too muchinto her story, because I love
when it comes from the personthemselves and tied into their
background, but her story isgoing to be one of those that
you guys should definitely takenotes on, because, at the end of
the day, the Mindset Cafe isabout learning from other
(01:02):
people's stories and applyingthe way they overcame obstacles
to your own life to get betterat least 1% every single day.
So, without further ado, Betsy,thank you so much for taking
the time out of your day to hopon the Mindset Cafe.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Thanks, devin, I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
So I don't like to dive into how'd you become an
entrepreneur.
I like to start way back when,right, what was your childhood
like?
You know, what was your bringup in.
You know because that kind ofgives some context to you know
your story and how you got here,but what was your childhood
like?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
It was, I think, great.
I'm one of three.
I've got an identical twinsister, which is a unique
experience.
I think People always ask whatit's like to be a twin and I
don't know, because I don't knowwhat it's like not to be one,
but that was.
That's been an interesting partof my journey, but, no, it was
great.
My dad is still a practicingphysician at 83 years old and
(02:03):
he's very inspiring because he'sso passionate about what he
does and it was so nice to havethat, to see that in my in my
dad.
My mom was a stay at home mom,but no, we all my sisters and I
all went to the same college.
We did have a lot of.
In fact, I was listening to oneof your episodes recently where
the gentleman your guest hadnever considered anything but
(02:25):
entrepreneurship because he grewup in that environment and
that's all he knew.
And so to see his friend's dadgo to work from nine to five
seemed so foreign to him.
And I had the opposite.
I, my dad, was a physician.
We actually worked in thesummers with him.
That's all I knew, and therewas definitely an expectation
(02:45):
that all three of the girls hisgirls would be physicians.
We were all pre-med in collegeand there was pressure to be a
physician because theydefinitely, I think, sold it as
this is what anybody would want.
And it was very difficultbecause in my junior year in
(03:07):
college I had to tell my parentsthat I was going to pivot from
the pre-med track and go intobusiness, and to them they just
had no reference point.
They thought that was like meliterally quitting college and
going on the circus.
I mean, that's kind of how theyviewed business and it was
(03:28):
really difficult.
And so even when I went, Iactually went on to graduate
school and got a dual, I got anMBA.
But I got an MBA in bothmarketing, which is what I'm
passionate about, but thenhealthcare management and I
spent a decade in thepharmaceutical industry just, I
think, to kind of satisfy theirdesire of their children wanting
(03:50):
to be in the healthcareindustry and feeling like that's
where you should be.
So that's kind of how mychildhood was Wonderful, I mean
wonderful.
I'm very privileged, Iunderstand that, I'm very
blessed and I'm so grateful forthat.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
No, I mean that's so amazing.
And I mean it is interestingtoo because with your dad being
a physician and he's stillpracticing a position I mean at
least my knowledge of that islike there's not normal nine to
five hours, right it's.
It could be all over the place,you could.
You know, at the end of the day, you're dealing with people's
(04:25):
lives, you know, and health,right.
So there's a sense of workethic that comes with that.
And I think that, even thoughthere wasn't maybe an
entrepreneurial work ethic thatwas, you know, given off, it was
still that work ethic of aphysician that you know, you put
people first and that's so huge.
And I mean because my dad wasLAPD, I mean I didn't have an
(04:48):
entrepreneur in my family, andso I still give my dad the
recognition for giving me thatwork ethic because he put the
people first and knew that hehad to show up every single day,
that he was required to justlike we do it as an entrepreneur
.
I think that's so amazing.
(05:08):
So you graduate college.
What was your first job afteryou graduated college?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
I went from college and I worked at Anderson
Consulting, which is like a bigmanagement consulting firm.
I worked in Tampa Crazily.
I didn't even really understandthe job.
I was really only doing it tocheck off a box, to get into
grad school.
And so I get there and I spentthree weeks in a room which I
never left, learning how to codeon the computer which I mean I
(05:41):
don't know how I missed that inthe theater.
And then they sent me to StCharles, illinois, where I spent
another three weeks learninghow to code, came back and spent
two years in cubicles coding onsites at different corporate
headquarters all over thecountry, and it was very lonely.
It was I need to be outside.
I need the sun.
(06:01):
I live in Florida.
I need the sun to be outside.
I need the sun.
I live in Florida, I need thesun I need, I need.
I know this now, but I didn'tthen.
But I I need every day.
I need it to be different, likeI just need.
I thrive on that, and that wasjust the opposite of everything
I I didn't know my body neededat the time.
So fortunately, I only had todo that for two years and then I
(06:24):
went to grad school and thenwent into the pharmaceutical
industry and spent a decade inand that was really that was
really interesting because I gotto spend a decade in.
This was in the advent ofdirect to consumer marketing of
pharmaceutical prescriptiondrugs to the consumer.
So before you couldn't do thatand so now we were being.
We were doing radio ads andtelevision commercials
advertising directly to theconsumer.
(06:45):
So to be involved in that wasso exciting and what I liked is
getting to.
A big part of my job wastalking to physicians, nurse
practitioners and patients andcaregivers about the products
that we were making, and so Ilove that kind of people
interaction.
Where I felt a huge disconnectwas, if I was honest with myself
(07:11):
, I didn't care about theproduct.
I just didn't, and I don't knowif it wasn't, because it wasn't
mine, it wasn't.
You know, I didn't have anyownership of the product.
I didn't have anything,anything to do with the making
of the product.
I had to do with the marketingof the product and so, but it
was just a product, the class,the industry.
I just didn't have a, I justdidn't, sadly care about and I
(07:35):
felt an incongruence.
You know, working in anindustry where I would think,
gosh, I wouldn't want to hire mebecause I'm a hard worker, but
I don't, I don't really care atthe end of the day if they buy
this product or not.
So but I would have stayed.
I would have stayed in thatindustry because the industry at
the time I don't, it's changeda bit but it provided a great
(07:58):
lifestyle, great income, greatbenefits, great travel.
So I liked that about the job,but I didn't actually like the
job.
But it took a.
I was in my, I was 31 and Ifound myself suddenly single
with a one and two year old.
And then the company that I waswith did a huge corporate
(08:19):
layoff because we one of ourdrugs didn't get approved and I
was a part of that layoff and Ithought you know what?
This is my time.
If God, source universe,whatever you choose to believe,
is not telling me, showing me asign that maybe the path I'm on
is not the right one for me, Ithought that that was it, and so
that's when I pivoted and wentinto real estate.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
When I pivoted and went into real estate, I mean
sometimes we have to get thatpush right and you can have a
great job, you can make goodmoney and still not be bought in
, right?
You're doing it to check off abox, like you said, almost like
you're doing it because you'regood at it.
(09:03):
You're doing it because you seethe need, but at the end of the
day it's not filling your cup.
So if it's not filling your cup, that means it's taking from
your cup and that can onlyhappen for so long before you
end up burning out.
So I think that sometimes youknow whatever you want to call
it.
You know sometimes that theuniverse gives you that push and
some people don't see it andother people like yourself.
(09:24):
You're like, oh, this is maybe,this is what I needed, and you
make you don't just pivot intoanother company, you make a
complete pivot, right, yeah?
And so I think that that's soamazing.
I mean, I can say, for me Ineeded that push too when I was,
you know, an employee and, youknow, had a disagreement with
with my employer at the time andit was like I had been kind of
(09:45):
tiptoeing the line of wanting todo it and finally it was just
like, oh, all right, you knowwhat I'm just going to take that
leap, you know.
So now you get into real estate, right, what is that journey
like?
Because it's an industry.
I mean, you went from coding topharmaceuticals, now we're in
real estate.
So what was the initial mindsetshift of, you know, just having
to get into a completely newindustry?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Well, it was definitely scary, you know.
I remember I hadn't taken atest in a decade and I didn't
know if I'd be able to take youknow, pass the state exam.
I was petrified of that, youknow, and I think that's crazy.
Now, when, see, I actually havea real estate school now and I
help people pass that exam, butwhen you haven't taken an exam
(10:30):
in a decade it's very scary.
And then I had two kids tosupport on an income that was
very tenuous at best.
But I did say to myself, kindof like I had lost everything.
What else?
There's nothing else to lose,right, I had lost my job, I lost
my marriage Like it's not goingto get worse, right?
(10:50):
So that's kind of the mindset Iwent in with.
And I did go in with.
I said, okay, betsy, you've gottwo years.
I had built up a nest egg thatI knew that the girls and I
could survive minimally on twoyears of income that I had saved
if I just didn't sell a houseand that did provide me some
(11:11):
comfort.
And then the first six monthswere very rough.
I did not know if I was goingto make it.
It was an industry.
It reminded me of high schooland why I hated it so much.
It just at least in our area,it seemed like a very.
I think when people so, whenyou're an entrepreneur, it's
(11:33):
it's your money, it's money outof your pocket, and when you're
in real estate, it's any moneythat's transacted in the deal is
coming directly out of aperson's pocket.
It's not some corporate budgetand oh, it's okay, we don't need
that, or it's fine, we'll passon this or whatever.
This is directly impactingsomebody's take home pay.
(11:55):
I think people act verydifferently when that happens.
I see ethics go out the window,I see things that I just had
not seen before and behaviorsthat I had not seen before
except for, like in high school,where we're young and we're
doing stupid things, and so thatreally shook me and I didn't
know if I would survive.
(12:16):
I didn't know if I had the skintough enough to survive it.
People, you know, people wantto get a deal, so they talk
badly about you.
I mean, it's just again.
It was just very immature andso it took me six months to say
I'm going to have to either growa shell or get out of here.
But I really enjoyed the work.
I loved helping people.
(12:36):
I mean, houses sell themselves.
We're we are facilitating amajor, actually usually two life
events for them, because thebuying and selling of a house is
a life event.
You ask anybody you know toname the houses they bought.
They can name every single one.
But then you ask them, why dothey need to buy the house?
And it's almost alwaysprecipitated by another life
(12:57):
event.
So we get to walk customersthrough their two major life
events, which is just an honorand that's what I love, um, so I
stuck with it because I lovedit so much, and so then I did
that and did it for two years.
At two years in florida you canbecome a broker, but honestly,
I did not feel um competentenough to be a broker and
(13:18):
represent myself.
At two years, I didn't feellike I had enough experience
under my belt to legallyrepresent myself in terms of
keeping myself out of trouble.
There's so many nuances to realestate that I wasn't aware of,
so at four years I then went andbecame a broker and then I
started building.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
So what's I mean?
This is like my my confusiontoo, because I think I always
interchange the terms.
And now that I do know thatthere is a difference, what's
the difference between a realestate agent and a real estate
broker?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Oh.
So now it's confusing becausein some States they call you a
broker the minute you get yourlicense.
In Florida you're a salesassociate for two years.
You get your license and youare.
You're a sales associate fortwo years.
You get your license and youare a sales associate.
After two years you can sit forthe broker exam and become a
broker.
So then you can become a broker.
Then you have broker of record,which is you are running a
(14:10):
brokerage.
But, like I run a brokerage butI have agents that have earned
the broker designation, so theyare called broker associates,
because you can't have twobrokers.
A broker in the name broker inflorida is you are managing a
brokerage.
So you're a broker associate ifyou have the education and you
(14:32):
have the license of a broker,but you're not.
You're working for somebodyelse.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
And a sales associate is just.
Most people are salesassociates.
They have their license butthey don't have their.
They're not running thebrokerage.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Jim Collison, esq.
Got it.
Okay, that makes more sense.
So it's almost like because wefranchise our business.
So it's almost like franchisor,franchisee and, for an our
industry, trainer, right, yes,Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yes, that makes a lot more sense.
I mean, I'm in California so Iknow there is a difference
between you know.
They say real estate agents,which is everyone and anyone.
Then all of a sudden I've heardpeople calling themselves, you
know, brokers, and then they'relike oh yeah.
I have a brokerage and I'm like, okay.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
And then to further confuse you, there's the term
realtor, which people use thatincorrectly.
So realtor anybody with alicense to sell real estate,
whether you're a sales associateor a broker, can choose to
become a realtor.
That requires additionaleducation and paying dues, and
(15:37):
you're saying to the world I'mgoing to hold myself to a higher
level of ethics than isrequired with just the debt,
with just the license, and sothat's the realtors okay.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
So I mean there's levels to it and it's almost
like different, differentcertifications or licenses, and
then you kind of go up the chain.
I mean that definitely,definitely does make sense.
I mean, I know this is a littleside tangent and I kind of gave
you a fair game warning.
This is how my brain kind ofworks.
I've heard of people and maybeit's one of those social media
things I'd never really boughtinto it, but I've heard of
(16:10):
people trying to sell courses onlike you can sell homes without
a real estate license and allyou know and flip houses and all
that kind of stuff.
Is that someone that's actingas a sales associate or kind of
a whole different game in itself?
Speaker 2 (16:27):
You can.
If you're doing it for yourself, you can do that.
You can flip houses, you can dowhatever you want.
If you are representingyourself, you don't need a
license to do that, so that thatwould be the way they're doing
that.
You can also wholesale withouta license, so you can.
You can find deals for peopleand um and then close it like at
(16:47):
an attorney's office, and youdon't.
You don't need a license towholesale all right, I don't.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole.
It's in a.
I can't get confusing.
So what I do want to ask,though, is like, because you
built your own brokerage,correct, is that correct?
Is that correct, all right?
So you built your own brokerage, and your brokerage you know
because, starting off, you know,we start off as a small
business, and you've grown it tobe named in the Inc 5000 a few
(17:16):
times, if I'm not mistaken.
So what was that journey like?
Because that's not an easy feat.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
So the journey.
It was funny because when Istarted my brokerage I had no
vision.
I just started it because Iknew I didn't like to work for
somebody else and I was going tobe a solopreneur.
I was going to work out of myhouse.
I have my broker license, whichallows me to work for myself
out of my house and work fornobody else.
And that's what I did.
(17:43):
And then within a couple ofyears, over time, people just
ask agents ask if they can workfor you because you have to keep
your license under a broker.
And so some of the agents inthe community would ask
periodically hey, can I hang mylicense with you?
And I would say, yes, butplease know I don't offer any.
(18:03):
I don't offer anything, I'mworking out of my home.
And so a couple of years intothe brokerage me having the
license, you know, it's like I'mlooking around and I've got six
or seven people working out ofmy house and it got a little
crazy.
And so I had the wherewithal toget a coach and he's like Betsy
, you got to go big or go home.
And I'm like well, I'm alreadyhome, let's go big.
(18:26):
So, literally like the nextweek I went and bought a office
building and we moved into theoffice building and then he
helped me create a plan ongrowing a brokerage.
So that's what I did first andthen, once I got the brokerage
established I do get bored veryeasily I think entrepreneurs do
(18:50):
and so once that was established, I said, ok, well, what other
services can I offer customersand agents that we're already
serving?
And that's how I opened uptitle and Mortgage and the real
estate school and the propertymanagement company and then
eventually the nonprofit.
It was just a matter of whatother services can we provide in
this experience that will helpour customers or our agents.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Hold on, you just skipped over, like it was
nothing, all these differentbusinesses that you just
established.
You know, like you just made itsound like I did it.
No, no, no no, no, no, not thatit was like oh, I just added
this and did this and built this.
So I want to dive into thatbecause, believe me, I get where
, being an entrepreneur, likeyou know, I have the same
problem.
Um, I mean, that's where thekind of this podcast kind of
(19:35):
established from too.
And so you said you, you're,you have your brokerage, you I
heard, I heard title company, Iheard a nonprofit, and I feel
like there was one more in therethat I had Property management
real estate school, okay, thereal estate school, that that
one's I want to start there.
That one's interesting because Ihave a friend in another
(19:57):
business, you know owner, who isa barber and he started a
barber college and I've kind ofdove in and asked them all you
know, I was like that's sointeresting, I didn't know you
could even do that, right.
So what was that process like?
Because I mean, you alreadysaid you had, you know, let's
say, six agents working underyou and so essentially you
(20:19):
weren't even planning onbecoming a mentor in a sense,
and it kind of just happened.
And so inevitably you start tohave a mindset shift because you
start to realize other peopleare kind of looking up to you,
you know, as this, the topperson, even though you're like,
just yeah, you can hang yourlicense here, I'm working out of
my home, don't you know?
That's all, I don't offeranything.
But then they're like, okay,yeah, fine.
And then they're they'rewatching everything you're doing
(20:40):
.
So what was that change in yourmindset?
Really realizing that youactually have influence and can,
can help other people alongthat journey and get to the
dream that they want to, youknow, have a business or have a
lifestyle and a career that youknow you were able to establish,
know, have a business or have alifestyle and a career that you
know you were able to establish.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
So, yeah, my, my mission in life is to improve
and empower the lives of others.
That's what drives me every day.
And so that is what, like, evenwhen I had them working out of
my house, you know I helped,like I the.
For me, the best thing I cansee is they come to me, they do
so well and then they they leaveme and start their own
brokerage Like that's success.
You know, that means the worldto me, that I help somebody
(21:28):
change their family tree becausenow they have the tools to do
what I did.
So I look at it from a mindsetof abundance, not scarcity, and
I'm always trying to help people.
So I look at it from a mindsetof abundance, not scarcity, and
I'm always trying to help people.
So I was doing that even when Ididn't really even have a plan.
It's just, I think, in mynature to help people and
(21:49):
improve their lives.
To me, if my presence doesn'tmake an impact on someone's life
today, then why am I here?
So I try to enter everysituation, every meeting,
thinking how can I makesomeone's life different and
better by my presence.
The school came came aboutbecause, as I grew my, our niche
(22:10):
has been we really are strongin training and training and
development.
Because of that, of my need toimprove and empower the lives of
others, and so that tends toattract a newer agent who
doesn't have any knowledge ofthe industry.
And I thought, well, how can Iget to new agents before they
even are agents?
(22:31):
And that's through the school,because then they spend a week
in our inside, our office and Iget to know them very well.
I don't teach the schoolanymore I used to, but I don't
teach it anymore but I knowexactly at the end of that class
who's going to make a good fitand who's not.
So it's really been a wonderfulrecruiting tool for us.
And then we added additionalclasses to help our own agents
(22:53):
with their.
You have to do continuededucation once you get licensed,
and so we have a benefit to allthe agents to have the school
not just a recruiting arm.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
I think that's so awesome.
And then I mean the mortgageside, the title side, those
three things right there I meanI'm a huge on for, for at least
for myself is a lot ofentrepreneurs will start
building a carwash and then theybuild a subway and then they
build in, they go all over theplace, right, instead of
(23:23):
building business verticalswithin where you currently are.
Because at the end of the day,if you start spreading yourself
out into different industries,there is another entrepreneur
that is giving a hundred percentto that industry and they are
going to outperform you.
Right, yeah, but, but butthat's the thing is like your
lane can be widened and becomelike a freeway because you
(23:46):
create these business verticalswhich feed the main business and
at the end of the day, they areseparate companies and still
say serve the same purpose.
So I think that's so awesomethat I mean you did that.
And that's such a interestingyou know way to go about it,
cause you get to find, like thekind of the best agents, or
who's going to be the best, oneof the best agents in the start,
(24:07):
you know, and then give themthat that job, instead of having
them go look for a job rightout the gate you're like hey,
you know, we have a role for youhere.
And then it's almost likeyou're getting to recruit and
make money in the recruiting aswell, instead of vice versa,
right, so I think that's so cool.
So and then you mentioned youhave a non.
You started a nonprofit.
What was?
Speaker 2 (24:27):
the nonprofit.
The nonprofit is Pepin Gives.
So when I was in graduateschool, crazily one of the
classes I was able to take forcredit was I was in Philadelphia
.
We went into West Philadelphiaimpoverished area, gutted row
homes and rebuilt them with ourlabor, which was donated, and
donated supplies, and then wesold these houses at cost which
(24:52):
was nominal to cost burdenedfamilies.
So that experience just reallyimpacted me.
I've always been interested inreal estate, but seeing how a
house truly changes thetrajectory of a family was very
impactful to me.
So then, when I had these lifeevents and I was trying to
decide what am I going to dowhen I grow up, I thought, wow,
(25:15):
if I could impact lives likethat on a daily basis, how cool
would that be.
And then so I.
That's how I got into realestate.
Well then, what I wanted we?
So service has always been a um,a core value of my own, and it
was one of the companies and weactually changed it to impact,
because the whole point of doingservice is impact.
And when we did that in 20, Ithink 16, I think it was 2016.
(25:39):
No, 2018.
We created the nonprofitbecause we wanted to funnel all
of our service activities intoone area so that we could have a
greater impact in a smallerarea, and that is addressing the
affordable housing issue in ourarea, north Central Florida.
We live in the highest costburden county in the state of
(26:00):
Florida, and so we've partneredwith Habitat for Humanity and we
help build affordable housing,and what I love is that it truly
is a hand up, not a hand out.
These families have to qualify,they have to go through
education not only how do youmaintain a home, but also home
(26:20):
finances and budgeting so theyreally are teed up for success,
because the last thing we wantto do is foreclose on them.
So that's just been a just awonderful.
You know we're serving acommunity that would never be in
a position to use our servicesotherwise, and I love that.
So that's how that arm came tobe.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
No, I mean that's amazing.
And again, what's crazy is it'sa vertical of the same industry
Like that's.
I mean I actually helped starta 501c3 nonprofit and it was
when I was personal training.
We started a nonprofitbasketball private school or
charter school for this travelball, basketball kids and stuff,
(27:02):
and I thought it was so cooland that's one of my future
goals is to start an arm of,like the franchise that is a
nonprofit and something againsame as you in the same industry
that you know the gym and thefranchise is all in.
But I think that is so awesomethat you did that.
So I mean before, before I wantto take a pivot to the book and
everything like that.
(27:23):
I do want to ask you built nowmultiple companies and it's not
easy to build one company, letalone build and scale multiple
companies.
What is your key to building awinning culture within your
companies?
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Oh, I learned that the hard way, just because I
didn't have an eye on that atthe very beginning and I had a
key employee leave me because ofthat.
I was in the pharmaceuticalindustry the one that I had left
at the time.
You know it was verytransactional with with.
I was selling my time and theywere selling a job and it was an
equal exchange and that's how Ikind of when I went into real
(28:00):
estate, that's what I assumed.
The world was still like that,and what I found very quickly
was that the people younger thanme were expecting more from
their employers.
And so the first real personthat left me, I asked her why,
and she said there's no sense offamily here, there's no growth
(28:20):
path for me and there's noopportunities for me to give
back to the community.
And she was right on all threeaccounts.
Those things were farthest frommy mind.
That was a point when we hadthe eight people working out of
my garage and I had zero plansand what I didn't understand.
Like I had put my own companyin a box where to me, it's you
went home to your family, youwent home to volunteer.
(28:42):
Well, this woman was telling meno, she's coming to work, to be
a part of a big family and to,you know, to volunteer in this
setting.
And that was just earthshattering to me.
I'd never experienced that andI was like, oh my gosh, okay, so
I love that.
I had never even envisionedthat again because I hadn't seen
(29:05):
it modeled.
So once I got my, we aligned our, we got our core values down,
and that really was the start ofcreating a great culture.
And then what I did was I.
It was interesting.
In my research I read all thesebooks on great culture, some of
the great companies that areknown for their culture, and
then I came across this awardFlorida gives this award to best
(29:29):
places to work, and so Icontacted the director and I
said send me the application.
I mean, I had no position toeven really even apply, but I
wanted to see what are theylooking for, because that, would
you know, that's to me like thevision I always.
I'm very visual.
I need to see what the goalpostlooks like, and so I put that
(29:49):
on my vision board and severalyears later I applied for that
and we won.
But, only because that womanquit and I asked her why are you
leaving?
And that started the wholething, and then we really became
known for our culture.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
It took several years , but yeah, so what was your key
for going from where you were?
I mean, you read the form andeverything like that, but what
was maybe one?
I don't want to give away allyour secrets, but what was one
crucial thing that you changedthat allowed a culture to start
to flourish?
Speaker 2 (30:27):
For me.
I think it was just recognizingthe mindset that I am working
for them.
They're not working for me.
They are truly my highestpriority clients, because if I
don't have them, I don't have acompany, and so I put them
(30:49):
before any buyer or seller,regardless of income potential.
A buyer or seller, highlynetworked people can do.
My staff and my agents are myfirst priority and that was a
that was a shift for me.
I didn't.
I went in thinking, oh no, thebuyer, the, the buyer and the
seller of the homes are myclients.
(31:09):
They're not my clients.
They're they're secondaryclients, but my true clients are
my, the people that work for me.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
That is, I think, one of the biggest keys from going,
as I mean, I learned this thehard way too from being a
solopreneur to becoming abusiness owner and to actually
understanding what that meant tobe a business owner is that
your job is essentially to serveyour team Like my job.
(31:38):
Now, you know.
People ask me oh, do you stilldo personal training?
I was like I want to say my dayis just, you know, problem
solving and asking what the teamneeds and how do I make it?
You know, their lives better,more efficient and so forth, and
creating the opportunities forthem.
So I think that's so awesomethat you said that.
Um, and so what would you say?
I know there's another.
This is cause it's sointeresting, the industry you're
(32:00):
in it's.
What would you say?
I know there's another causeit's so interesting, the
industry you're in it's so atleast from the outside, cause
I've seen only TV shows.
I have some friends and familythat are in real estate, not to
the level you're at, but itseems so cutthroat, or it can be
so cutthroat, right, not not inthe way of like car salesy, but
from like the TV shows, forexample, like selling sunset,
like you see all the bickeringand the gossip and, you know,
(32:22):
trying to snake people's dealsand so forth.
Now, if someone's becoming areal estate agent right now
maybe not going for a brokeragebut, you know, wants to get into
real estate sales, what is oneof the keys that you would say?
To start establishingthemselves without having to be
ruthless?
I believe me or maybe it isbeing ruthless, but me I believe
(32:42):
that being collaborative orbeing, you know, in working
together you can get more done.
You may not get the whole pie,but why not have a piece of a
bigger pie kind of deal?
But what was, what would beyour advice for, let's say, a
new real estate agent comingonto your team?
Speaker 2 (32:58):
I mean, I think in any area of life, if you have a
mindset of abundance and notscarcity, I think that's so huge
.
I mean we will not say anegative thing about another
agent.
We won't.
And I always tell people beprepared to say it twice.
If you're gonna say it to me,you're gonna say it to the.
(33:19):
If you're going to say it to me, you're going to say it to the
person you're talking about too.
You know.
So we actually have in ouroffice policy manual and no
gossip policy and and it's a onestrike and you're out.
We don't tolerate that.
There are other, there are othercompanies that don't feel that
way.
I just don't.
We're here for such a shortperiod of time on this earth.
(33:40):
I'm not.
I want it to be as pleasant andas enjoyable as possible, and I
and those people do fine too.
I'm not saying they don't, Ijust that's not the way I choose
to run my business.
That's not the agents that weare trying to attract.
We have occasionally had torehome people because we found
that that was not a consistentvalue that somehow we missed in
(34:01):
the interview process, and wewill do that nicely.
You know, wish them well, butgoing with a mindset of
abundance.
The other thing, what I havefound because you're right, and
at least in our industry is thatpeople are very cutthroat and
they don't like to share ideas,although I do like to share mine
.
I do highly recommend to myagents to get out of this city
(34:27):
and county and look for yourtraining and your education.
Yes, you can do it online, butyou don't meet anybody, you
don't get to exchange ideas.
Go to another market, becausethose agents will talk to you.
They'll tell you what's working, what's not working.
They don't view you ascompetition.
Now you have another referralsource.
They might refer you leads.
So network with people outsideyour direct competition and
(34:49):
usually you'll find get yourselfinto mastermind groups.
Usually you'll find realtorswill open up in when they know
that you're not in their directvicinity.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
No, that is so true.
I mean, that is a great way tothink about it too is like if
other people are gonna view youas competition if you stay local
, why not just go outside?
Because now you break thatbarrier down.
One thing I do wanna say is Ilove the fact that, instead of
saying we fire people, it's likeyou use the we re-home people.
(35:18):
That little word of you know, Iwas like that was clever, but
the no gossip policy isinteresting.
This is the second time I'veheard that that policy my aunt
is, you know, is an entrepreneur, and I later learned in life
that she was an entrepreneur.
But she has a marketing companyand a huge, a huge marketing
company and they deal with, youknow, brands like target,
(35:41):
walmart, all that kind of stuff,and it's all about social media
influencers.
And I had her on the podcastwhen I first started and she had
mentioned that and I was likeyou can do that.
And she's like, yeah, she'slike it's one same thing one
strike, you're out.
And I was like interesting, youknow, and it really does keep
the culture, you know, it does,you know, because at the end of
the day, like it's so easy toget frustrated and then start
(36:03):
gossiping.
But it's like, look, that's notwhat we're about here.
And we are.
We are a team at the end of theday, so I think that's so
awesome.
So I do want to pivot, you know, and I don't want to, you know,
get get away from it, cause Ican go down this, this rabbit
hole.
I love everything that you'resaying, but you wrote a book
right Breaking.
It's about overcoming thelimitations that we place on
ourselves.
But what was the inspirationfor writing that?
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Oh.
So a couple of years ago, Ifound myself just increasingly
unhappy and I was frustrated.
In fact, it took me about ayear to even admit that to
myself, because on paper I feltlike my life looked pretty good
and I know that I'm blessedbeyond belief, and so I didn't
feel like I had the right toeven say that I was unhappy.
(36:46):
But I wasn't happy and throughjournaling and meditation and
yoga and bioenergetics andtherapy, the common thread that
I uncovered was that throughoutmy life, there's been times when
I feel very, very confined.
(37:10):
It's like when you, if you everhad the misfortune of purchasing
a mattress from Amazon, and itarrives on your doorstep in a
box and you're like, how doesthat mattress fit in that box?
And you rip it open, and thentwo days later, the king size
mattress has expanded to thesize it was designed to be.
Well, I sometimes I feel likeI'm in that box and it I haven't
ripped the tape open, um,ripped the box open and so, um,
(37:30):
I started journaling about them,I started sharing my ideas with
other people and in my storiesand it resonated with a lot of
people and, again, because mymission is to have improved the
lives of others.
I wrote the book truly with thehopes of just changing one
person's life.
If somebody read this book andthey looked at something in a
way that they hadn't lookedbefore and this caused them to
(37:52):
make a move towards a moreauthentic life, then the effort
was worth it, and so that's thathas been my goal of of writing
the book and why I wrote thebook.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
No, I mean that that is so awesome and awesome, and I
love your core value that youkeep mentioning.
I mean that is, you know, wehave company core values, but we
have and those kind of stemfrom our personal core values,
and one of mine is it's, youknow, impact right, and it's to
have a positive impact on asmany lives as I can, while I can
, right, and so when you keepsaying that it's funny, I just
keep smiling because it's likethat is literally one of my core
(38:23):
values, so it's so awesome thatwe're in alignment.
I wrote a book as well and thatwas the same thing.
It can change one person's life.
That's all it was.
That's all it was for.
So what are some of themetaphorical boxes that people
maybe hold themselves or feellike they're in in business and
in life?
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Oh, they're everywhere.
So, like for me, the box, oneof the biggest boxes was you
know you had to be a physicianand your industry, your gender,
is a box.
You know, I have.
I have gotten positions andafterwards I had been told it
was because of my gender alone.
But that is very offensive tome.
That's a whole nother topic.
(39:02):
But you know so your genderputs you in a box.
Your family of origin puts youin a box.
Your industry, your friends andpeers, your religion, your race
.
I talked to a guy whose healthwas putting him in a box.
He's diabetic and he's vieweddifferently because he's a
diabetic.
When people find out he's adiabetic.
I had a girlfriend during COVIDdecided to let her hair go gray
(39:27):
and then about a year ago I sawher and her hair was my color,
brown.
And I'm like you know whathappened.
I thought you were going gray.
She said, betsy, I becameinvisible.
And I'm like what do you mean?
And she said I got when she hadgray hair.
She said storekeepers wouldjust you know, store clerk would
just ignore her.
She'd get bypassed in line.
She said it was like I didn'texist.
(39:47):
She said I couldn't believe it.
So there's so many boxes thatwe we are put in and we put
other people in.
You know, I remember I meanjust a really simple example,
not not detrimental, but agirlfriend of mine was saying
she had to leave because she wasrunning to a dinner party.
They do this wine party wherethey take a country and they
(40:08):
bring the food in and they bringthese wines in for the
countries, and she had to go toher friend's house and I was and
I was just curious, I saidwho's, who's, who's?
the host and she said fatherJohn, father John, like father
John at St Francis.
And she's like, yeah, and I waslike what?
Like I couldn't, couldn't, youknow, marry those two images in
(40:28):
my mind.
But why?
You know we, you know, we thinkthe minute we hear somebody's a
priest, we start thinkingthings.
We know nothing about thatperson other than what they do
start creating this idea in ourhead and it I the problem is
(40:48):
with the box, you know, I, Ihave I tell the story where,
when my girls were young, wewould walk these trails and they
were really young and we would,we would explore and I would
show them I love nature and Iwould show them the different
barks on the different trees andthe different leaves and the
different shapes, the differentcolors when they, when their
leaves drop we also have pineneedles here, it was really pine
cones all these differentthings.
We would do this every day.
Then, when they got older and Ia little bit older, and I would
(41:12):
say, okay, tree, this is a tree, this is a leaf, right, so they
would learn the names.
Well then, when we would dothis walk and I would stop and
we would go through the thingagain, my one daughter, my older
daughter, maria, this walk andI would stop and we would go
through the thing again.
My one daughter, my olderdaughter, maria.
She'd pull my hand and she said, mom, I already know that's
just a tree, and it's likethey're so curious before they
know the label.
(41:32):
But once you, once you slap alabel on the thing or a person,
you stop seeing them.
And that's where I think thereal harm comes in with boxes,
no, definitely.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
And I want to touch on something that you said.
In the beginning, too, Ithought you were going to go a
different way with it and I waslike, oh.
And then you went the meritsystem with the gender box and I
was like, oh, no, where are wegoing with this?
And then, but honestly, I wantto touch on it because I think
it is so crucial.
And I say this because, as abusiness owner, I've had people
(42:04):
say you know, why don't you guyshire more guys?
Or why don't you guys hire moregirls?
And it's like I don't care whatgender you are, the best for
the best person for the job getsthe job.
I don't care what gender youare to get a raise, I don't care
how long you've been here, thebest person for the job gets the
(42:28):
job.
That's how I believe and that'show I'm going to run my company
.
It's, you know, based off ofmerit.
I don't care You're in color, Idon't care your, your gender,
you know nothing like that.
It's at the end date.
I think that's what it shouldbe on, because at the end of the
day, when you are get thatposition, you know you deserved
it.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Right, and that's what really I remember when I
was asked to be on this board ofa bank.
You know, I'd always wanted tobe on a board and and then so I
accepted.
And then they told me why I gotit and it was like a slap in
the face because it's like I haddone so many things for my
business and for the communityand but I wasn't getting this.
I wasn't getting the offerbecause of that.
I was getting it because of mygender, which I had no control
over.
Speaker 1 (43:03):
So yeah, I mean also sometimes those I was getting it
because of my gender, which Ihad no control over.
So yeah, I mean also.
I think sometimes those boxeslike whoever told you that you
got that job for that could havebeen jealous that you got the
position because you earned itthrough all these things you've
created and their, their resumeof achievements is probably very
tied to the bank itself youknow, yeah, so that's one way
(43:27):
for and I think people try toput us in boxes, especially to
our face, when they feelthreatened, right?
and to try to kind of put youdown a little bit and like, man,
did I just get this from mygender?
And then you look at their, youtake an analytical look and be
like why would they say that?
And it's like, wait, theystarted here as an employee,
they they moved to manager,branch manager.
Their life is here.
(43:48):
They have someone outside thatcan do everything that they can
do.
That has never worked a day inthe bank.
So I think I want you toreframe that and be like someone
saying that it's probably notbecause of your gender, it's
probably because they're justjealous, you know.
So I mean with with everythingyou have going on.
(44:09):
You have multiple businesses,you have a course that
accompanies the book, becausethe book is really story-based
and a lot of people are saying,okay, how do I do this?
Speaker 2 (44:28):
And so the course helps people do that.
And then I've started doing alot of public speaking, so I'm
ramping up my website to focusmore on that.
So those are the two bigprojects for this year.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
Well, that's awesome.
Well, I'd like to ask one finalquestion, and I know I didn't
give this to you ahead of time,but if you listen to the other
episodes, you probably knew itwas coming On.
Betsy's legacy wall, right, andI will say, it is not a
tombstone, and as many times asI say that to people, sometimes
they still give it to me.
Right, this is a legacy wall,so it's a quote, it's a message
(45:04):
that you would leave for the upand coming generations that
you've learned along your life'sjourney.
What would that message be?
Speaker 2 (45:19):
It's hard to just pick one.
I mean, I sign my books, enjoythe journey, really as a
reminder, because I think myselfincluded, you know, we, we tend
to worry and overthink and losesight of the bigger picture of
why we're here.
So it's a, it's a check-in tojust make sure we keep things,
the right things, in priorityand enjoy our time here, cause
(45:43):
at the end of the day, it's sucha short period of time, it goes
by so quickly and just makingsure.
You know, time is our mostprecious asset, but we do not
treat it like that.
It's the only thing we cannotget more of, and none of us know
how much time we have.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
Yet sometimes we we waste it on such trivial things,
oh, physically and also in ourheads, and so, um, that's how I
signed my book, so that'sprobably what I would say no, I
think I I love that one and it'sit's so true, and this is a
lesson that I kind of learnedwith my business partner when we
were and we're still growingfast.
(46:22):
But in the beginning everythingwas growing fast and then all
of a sudden we kind of hit alull, or you know, and then it
was like all of a sudden youstart panicking and it's like
you have to sometimes take astep back and realize how far
you've come and enjoy the bepresent and enjoy where you're
at, because otherwise you're notgoing to appreciate the growth
as it's happening as well.
(46:42):
So I think that's so awesome,that is so cool.
Where can people connect withyou and learn more about what
you have going on?
Speaker 2 (46:48):
Yeah, my website is my name, so BetsyPapincom.
And then I'm on all the socialchannels at Betsy Papin.
Speaker 1 (46:56):
Awesome.
Well, I will put that in theshow notes.
Guys, if you're listening,it'll be in the show notes as
well as if you're watching onYouTube, it'll be in the video
description.
Make sure you guys share thisepisode with a friend.
Right?
You can pivot at any time inyour life.
You know Betsy has alreadyshown that, going from coding to
pharmaceuticals to real estate,scaling the real estate company
and having multiple businesseswithin it, and being an author
(47:19):
as well as a public speaker.
So make sure you guys sharethis episode with a friend that
you care about them leveling uptheir lives.
In turn, it'll help you levelup your life.
But, betsy, I just want to saythank you so much for taking the
time out of your busy day and,you know, dropping some
knowledge.
Speaker 2 (47:34):
Thank you, appreciate it.
Devin Life mindset causes shits.
Got my mind on the prize.
I can't be distracted.
I stay on my grind.
No time to be slackin'.
I hustle harder.
I go against the current Cause.
I know in my mind it's betterto be collected.
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