October 6, 2025 • 48 mins
A shy new hire walks into rent-to-own, gets labeled “the mute girl,” and ends up becoming a trusted salesperson customers ask for by name. That arc—uneasy beginnings to confident service—is the heartbeat of our conversation with Angelica Felix Damas, and it’s a powerful look at how mentorship, product fluency, and creativity can rewrite what sales success looks like in RTO.
We get honest about hiring myths and generational habits. Do you really need extroverts to sell? Angelica shows how knowledge-based selling, empathy, and simple rituals—like greeting customers by name and listening for what a family truly values—can outperform volume tactics. We dig into training that works for quieter reps: safe role-plays, product deep dives, and small wins that build momentum. She shares why trade shows like MRDA and RTO World changed her trajectory, from seeing modern vanities and smart TVs to capturing class notes, summarizing with AI, and teaching teammates what’s next.
We also explore how to make social media worth watching. Forget stale promos—lean into human, light humor and practical micro-demos that match mobile-first attention. Angelica breaks down how AI can help non-editors draft captions, trim clips, and turn learnings into posts your community actually uses. For owners and managers, we map a clear path: hire for drive and care, coach for product mastery, and build a creative culture that experiments in public. The result is stronger sales, better collections, and customers who feel seen.
If you’re rethinking how to spot potential, train for confidence, and turn your floor into a learning engine, you’ll walk away with concrete steps and renewed energy. Subscribe, share this with a manager who hires, and leave a review with the one thing you’ll try this week—we’ll feature our favorite takeaways on a future show.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Hello, everybody.
Welcome to the RTO show.
I'm your host, P Chow, and todaywe're taking a whole different
perspective of rent to own.
Now, one of the reasons that Iinvited this guest on was
because, well, to be honest withyou, a lot of people that I talk
to have been in this industryfor a while.
We've done it quite a quite along time.
You know, it could be a fewyears, could be a decade, could
(00:20):
be 20 years.
Right now we're running a littlething on the Legends series.
We're talking around 14 years.
Well, that's quite a long time.
One of the things that we wantto do is really get to talk to
somebody who's fresh and new,not only to the industry, but is
on the younger side of thingswhere they can really kind of
shed the light from theirgeneration to ours and kind of
show this is what I see when Icome in.
(00:42):
This is this is a review that Ican give you, and this is how
maybe we can make it better.
So right now I have a guest.
I have Angelica Felix Damas, whois from Kentucky, and we met at
MRDA this past year.
And um, you know, one of thethings that kind of stuck out
was she's this gentle soulsitting in the side of the
corner, and then when she wasapproached with some
information, she kind of puteverybody in shock, and it was
(01:03):
kind of like, oh my god, wedidn't really understand kind of
what we were talking about inthat situation, um, in the sense
that there are some differencesthat we the way we see things,
and I really love that idea.
How are you doing this morning?
Pretty good.
Good?
In MRDA, you gotta understand.
So I this is my first year goingto MRDA.
So when I went, I was kind oftaking everything in and I got
to see.
(01:24):
So Angelica was in one of themoderations that we did, it was
moderating a conversationbetween some of the guys that we
had that were on the panel whodid a great job.
So, as we're going through theguests, you know, we're we're
basically having conversationsbetween who's there and the
guests and kind of figuring outwhich person can actually speak
on that subject matter the most.
And when it came up to, youknow, the hiring and the people
(01:46):
that we look into, there wasthis idea that when it comes to
sales, what we want to do isfind somebody who's outgoing and
kind of just very much vibrantand doesn't have uh an issue
with going out there into theworld and kind of grabbing
somebody and saying, hey, whatdo you need?
So I think nowadays everybody'sbuilt a little different.
I mean, you tell me, is it oneof those things where you see it
(02:06):
a little bit different?
Because I think that theoutgoing nature of what we had
to do uh is a little bitdifferent than what your
generation does now, because alot of it is maybe over social
media, over the phone.
And so being up front is alittle bit different, yet it
doesn't really take away fromthe fact that you have the
ability to get it done.
SPEAKER_00 (02:24):
Yeah, a lot of it's uh it takes time.
Me starting off, I had noknowledge of rent to own or
sales to begin with.
Uh started off working at arestaurant, and that was not so
great, but I learned a lot ofexperiences there.
And it kind of taught me to kindof talk around people a little
bit more and be a little bitmore outspoken, but it still
(02:44):
wasn't enough to where I woulduh connect with people.
And so after leaving there, Iwent to Hibbits, worked there
for a few months and juststarted liking just sales.
I was selling shoes, uh, was uhdemonstrating how many different
ways you can do your laces withyour shoes and how to clean your
shoes, how to maintain themclean.
(03:05):
And so I just kind of took thatknowledge.
I'm like, okay, this is funhelping out people.
I still had trouble connectingwith customers, but I still
somehow would sell.
And so going up to where I amnow, I work at Hometown Sales
Lease in Arc City, and they'vetaught me a lot.
And when I first started,everybody was like, oh, it's the
mute girl or it's the silentgirl, or it's the little mice
(03:28):
that can't talk very loud.
And so um that kind of pushed mea little bit to open myself up
more.
I think the main thing is justcaring about your customers and
actually putting attention towhat they need or kind of
getting to know what they valuein their family.
Um, a lot of the time somepeople just can't afford things
or don't have the knowledge ofhow rent-to-own works.
(03:49):
And once I started learning howeverything works, I started
teaching, especially in theHispanic community.
They do not know how um rent toown works.
They just know that they'remaking a payment and they're
getting the product, or most ofthem will just purchase
outright.
And those are big clients thatwe just need to focus on too.
That'll help grow the industrytoo.
(04:09):
It just helps everybody aroundus.
And I just like to help ingeneral.
And so I just love doing what Ilove to do just because I get to
connect with people.
Every time a customer comes in,I try to remember their name,
call them out by their name,greet them with their name.
It just makes me feel like theythey feel like they're being
seen.
Whereas like the youngergeneration, it just keeps
(04:30):
getting more and moreunderstanding, I guess, in a
way.
Everybody understands theirtheir mental health conditions
and stuff like that, and or howthe environment is as well.
And I just like helping ingeneral.
I just enjoy it in honesty.
SPEAKER_01 (04:46):
So, what made you decide?
Because like out of the job thatyou had, they were kind of like
customer relation jobs, right?
You're gonna be on the frontline.
And then you go into a job whereyou are pretty much the face of
the store, right?
You're the one making the sales,you're the one making the calls,
you're the one greeting thecustomers.
And what made you decide thiswas the place where I'm gonna
try to open that up and and be alittle bit more outgoing than I
(05:06):
have been?
SPEAKER_00 (05:06):
It's just support around me.
Jess has been a great teacher,like learning leader-wise.
I'm still learning from him.
And I've had uh someone namedMary who helps me.
Um, there's times where I letthings get to me, but she
reminds me that I need to I'mdoing great and I need to keep
pushing myself for better.
Um, so it's just basically thefamily community feeling.
(05:28):
There is someone who's uh Jess'sfather, who I call my grandpa.
He's been a tremendous person.
I've learned so much from himand just uh learning not to
worry too much about what peoplethink about you.
Um it takes time, but I justfelt like it was a challenge.
(05:48):
And I like challenges, so Ichallenged myself and um as time
went by just kept getting betterand better and understanding
more products.
I also did research on productsand explained how things work to
customers.
And so it's just an it's just Iguess the willing to learn.
SPEAKER_01 (06:04):
Speak for anybody when you're coming into this.
Of course, I I know that youdon't have a lot of work
experience.
So obviously you don't have the20 years work experience, so but
you do have jobs being in frontof people and you decide, okay,
I want to I want to take thisjob, I'm gonna be in in front
fully.
Why do you feel that there mighthave been this transition period
where you know getting in frontof people is a little bit more
(06:25):
maybe challenging or you're notnew?
Is it because you hadn't done itbefore?
Is it because of personality?
Is it because of both that maybeit was a little bit kind of like
standoff at first to so that youcould open up to it?
Or is it your personality like Idon't really don't like to talk
to people?
I'm just learning to do it to toto get better at it.
SPEAKER_00 (06:40):
It's just like I say both, and also um just uh my
culture and um my environment inthe house.
I didn't go out, I didn'tsocialize, never had any
socialization at all.
It was just me, my brother, andmy sister.
And so that's the only person Icould express myself with.
And when I went to school, I wasthis quiet student, didn't
(07:02):
speak, just did my assignmentsand went home.
And so I just figure it's justwhat I learned around me or what
people around me.
I just saw people who are moreexpressive and more fun.
Um, they just make me smile.
So I'm like, I want to do thattoo.
I want to make people smile.
And so that's what just kind ofput me out of my shell a little
(07:24):
bit.
But it was just mainly just nosocialization, no knowledge of
how to communicate or be anoutspoken person or public
speaking in general.
SPEAKER_01 (07:33):
Coming from a situation where you're a lot
younger and you do a lot ofthings on social media, a lot of
things on your phone.
I know that when, you know, inkind of growing up, my mother
was in a professional business.
She was always on a computer.
Hence, come down a little bit.
I spent a little bit more timewith my laptop or or no, I don't
want to say tablet.
I don't remember if I've everhad a tablet phase.
But you know, I have a laptopbecause I kind of take it
(07:53):
around, but I still usesomething with a larger screen
phase.
I think everybody, and includingany generation, it's more the
phone.
In Rent to Own, I mean, you'veyou've seen IMRTA.
I've just now seen you in RTOworld, which was really great to
see you there.
How do you feel rent to own isdoing in the space where we have
a mobile phone?
This is where we look ateverything.
Are we doing good enough in thatspace to capture people that are
(08:15):
in your generation to make themto get them to be customers and
to see rent to own in thepositive light?
SPEAKER_00 (08:20):
I think with that, um, there's a lot room more room
to grow.
Every generation is going to bedifferent.
It's going to change in time.
Nothing's going to be exactlythe same.
For me, AI is something new.
Don't understand AI quite well,but I'm slowly getting myself to
understand it.
And there's so many just amazingthings you can learn from AI.
Just because uh AI knows a lot,it still teaches you so much
(08:44):
more.
And you're teaching it how tolike learn things from yourself
too, and how it learns basicallyhow you are yourself and
everything like that with uhsocial media.
Find it, I find that comedy andstuff like TikTok um definitely
helps.
It's just there are like peoplelike me who are camera shy.
Um, this is my first time beingon camera.
(09:05):
So I'm not a camera person, butwe're it's in the works.
It's something that I am gonnachallenge myself to work on.
And I feel like once I can kindof build that up, it'll it'll be
more fun too.
I just like having fun withcustomers, getting to know them
and just listening to theirstories.
And their stories definitelyhelped me grow too.
(09:27):
Not only my customers, mycoworkers, just everyone that's
been around me has taught mesomething.
And I appreciate everything thatthey've taught me because it's
helped me grow to where I amnow.
And I'm hoping with uh where I'mat, I can lead as well.
And even with the youngergeneration, kind of teach them
how things work and just kind oflet them express themselves
(09:49):
their own way and figure out howthey want to sell.
Like every person's different,so nobody has that same quality.
And so having a different mix ofqualities in a person, I feel
would help build more instead oflike, yes, shy people don't talk
a lot.
SPEAKER_01 (10:07):
But what we're talking about so that everybody
understands is like the idea wasat that time is if you, you
know, when we were talking aboutit, you know, you don't want to
hire somebody who's shy becauseyou know, when you're standing
in front of everybody or you'remaking videos or you're making
posts or whatever you're doing,it's one of those things that
it's better to have an outgoingpersonality.
So we asked Angela, she's like,no, no, you can you can kind of
train out of that, you can growout of that shell.
(10:28):
So I guess the bigger questionnow is you're saying that that
is an ability to get out of.
And I love that idea.
But if you were on the interviewtable and you have somebody
that's in your your age bracket,your generation sitting in front
of you, what would you look tofind to say, you know what, this
person might be in a shell now?
But I do think that given theright information, given the
right training, given the rightmentorship, that they can
(10:51):
actually come out and be likeme.
Or you can kind of tacklesomething, but you didn't look
like you can tackle it to beginwith.
What is something that we couldlook for and say, you know what,
I think I see that in thatperson as well?
SPEAKER_00 (11:02):
Uh I look for drive.
Like, are they willing to learn?
What is it that they want tolearn?
What do they want to learn fromthis experience?
Um, are they wanting to growwith us?
Or are they just there just tofind a job?
I feel like this job is more ofa profession to me.
I enjoy it.
And if they seem like caring,loving people, um, I see that as
(11:27):
a great aspect to have justbecause it helps you understand
your customers more and theirvalues and everything.
And you kind of just startmemorizing customers' names and
stuff like that because you careabout them and you're putting
time and effort into learningevery customer's qualities and
stuff like that, that you wantto connect with them.
And it's just so much fun again,watching them grow.
(11:50):
Sometimes it is sad.
You see some customers age andthey've been with this for years
and they just age, andunfortunately, that's just life.
But just watching them age, butthen behind them are their kids
and they're growing and learningand still don't understand how
like credit works and stuff likethat.
I just like, hey, come overhere.
(12:10):
I can teach you.
I'll teach you, start off withsomething small and go from
there.
And so I just enjoyed helpingyounger generations kind of
learn from my experiences too.
SPEAKER_01 (12:20):
Let me ask you a question.
When you first came on, becauseyou're saying that it's a
profession now, but when youfirst walked through the door, I
don't know if you said that, ifyou thought that.
So, like when you came on, wasit the idea that you were
looking for a profession andthis is what caught your eye?
Or when you came on, did youjust see it as a this is a
position I'm gonna fill, I'mgonna learn from it, and then
found it to be a professionlater on?
SPEAKER_00 (12:41):
And when I first started, I was just just eager,
um, because I had that littletaste of sales at Hibbits, and
I'm like, that was so much fun.
And where I was working atprior, I just it was fun, it
just wasn't the same.
It was just enclosing, no peoplearound me.
It's just cleaning hotel rooms,and I was just like, this is
not, this is not fun.
(13:02):
It's not my personality.
Yeah, this is not me.
And so when I applied athometown, I was so nervous, I
was scared, I was shaking, but Ijust wanted to prove to them
that I can grow out of it and Ican improve myself.
Going through this, I canimprove what I want, which I
still haven't quite decided whatI want to do.
(13:22):
I love where I'm at, but I alsolove to teach.
So if I can find like a goodmiddle ground, that'd be fun.
SPEAKER_01 (13:31):
Well, I think I think we did talk about that.
So I think at some point in timewe did talk about the fact that
you were in the, you know, inthe industry, kind of learning
about it and and kind of takingout of all the meetings and the
stuff that you can and kind oftaking all the mentorship and
the tutoring and kind of puttingit somewhere, but you also were
in school to be a teacher.
And I thought, wow, those aretwo completely different things.
(13:52):
But then, you know, I kind ofagree with you in the fact that
maybe there's a way to marrythat.
And the only thing that came upto me in that meantime was if
you have the ability to teachand you like teaching, and then
you find out that you have thisuh, you know, this knack for it,
why not go into training?
Now, obviously nobody's gonnacome out, you know, nobody's
gonna like graduate from whatyou're doing, but they will be
(14:13):
better at what they what theysort of have a salesperson or a
collections person going up to aGM and kind of teaching them the
the day the normal things thatthey have to learn in the day,
right?
Whether it be setting up aschedule or setting up workloads
or setting up you know the nextweek or having a day's off or
whatever the case is.
But when you came in, how didyou find out?
(14:33):
How did you find up the job?
Like, was the job spoken to you?
Like did somebody headhunt youand say, Hey, I think you'd make
this a great job, or did you seeit somewhere and you decided to
apply?
SPEAKER_00 (14:41):
Someone uh recommended recommended me to
apply there.
And so I went ahead and put theapplication in.
I didn't really think I wasgonna get the job, but and they
kept telling me, oh, just keepuh calling, check in, check in.
So I'm like, okay, I need to bemore persistent.
So I kept trying and trying andtrying.
And they did tell me that theykind of were questionable about
(15:01):
hiring me.
They were like, we don't know ifwe want to hire this girl.
She's not really anythingspecial.
Well, I didn't reallydemonstrate too much on my
interview, but they gave me ashot and I just wanted to prove
them that I can do this, andthat it's not like it's a
decision that I want tobasically prove to them that I
(15:22):
can do it in a way.
It's kind of hard to explain,but I just wanted to I had that
drive of I'm gonna prove themwrong.
I can do this, I can grow fromthis, and hopefully take keep
using it in life.
But um, I just kind of ended upstaying there.
I tried to leave for one yearand went to work at a clinic.
(15:42):
Um, but the healthcare was notfor me.
SPEAKER_01 (15:45):
Uh healthcare is not no.
I've tried it myself, andhealthcare is not and I only
went for the paperwork side, youknow, just like the the
approvals and stuff like that.
No, admitting I don't no, nope,I don't want anything.
Healthcare is just not my dealbecause I I feel like there's
too much pressure.
So for a short time, I work foradmissions in the ER at a
hospital.
(16:05):
And you know, if somebody camein and they didn't feel well, it
was okay.
If somebody came in and they'relike, oh, you know, I'm about to
die, no, you need to go totriage, like, don't see me.
And then, you know, as somebodycoming in and they're like, hey,
I need their information statbecause they got to go up to a
room or they got to go to ICU,where you're like, oh my God,
no, I'm just that's I'm good.
I'm good.
So I decided I'll never work inhealthcare again.
(16:25):
And whoever does, I gotta givethem hands down.
It's a very difficult position.
And I told I can only, and thatwas from the paperwork, so I can
only imagine what it's likehaving to haul somebody in an
ambulance or tell somebody some,you know, hey, this is bad, this
happened, you're not gonna bethat okay, you know.
It's like, oh my god, nah.
No, uh-uh.
I'm hey, this is your bill.
Have a great day.
Um, so coming from thestandpoint of where you're at,
(16:47):
now that you're in it, becauseand you didn't have much
knowledge about rent to ownbefore you got into it, right?
SPEAKER_00 (16:52):
Mm-hmm.
So I didn't really knowanything.
SPEAKER_01 (16:54):
What do you what do you think?
Two sides of this question.
What do you think we're doingright at rent to own?
And what do you think comingfrom your standpoint and where
you are, is something that wecan really get better at?
SPEAKER_00 (17:05):
I think the teachings that RTO World has
definitely helps and benefitswith training.
It definitely teaches me abigger aspect of what rent to
own is.
Uh, I'm still learning.
I don't know every nick andcranny of everything, but I'm
still learning and everythingthat I'm learning, I'm just let
me try this.
I'm gonna try this, or I'm gonnatry that.
(17:26):
That didn't work.
Let's try this.
So I just kind of it motivatesme to kind of try new things,
things that I never thought of.
Um, just because it's olddoesn't mean you can't put it in
there and make it new.
So ideas are everywhere, andjust trusting some ideas, kind
of fixing it there, here andthere, kind of adjusting it to
where it needs to be.
And then you just find thatperfect balance.
(17:47):
Um, it's just, I just thinkthat's what helps me in that.
As far as the youngergeneration, I'm hoping us
younger ones are taught wellenough that way can help lead
them further on and kind ofteach them how it is, how things
work, and just kind of be morecreative with it.
I find that if you're morecreative with rent to own, it's
(18:08):
more fun and people want to goin and be like, what's this
about?
So I think creativity is a bigfactor right now with uh rent to
own, as long as you have thatbig creativity.
You can use it on the floor, youcan use it on your advertisement
or just pretty much anything aslong as you have more
creativity.
And I love to create things, andart is fun.
So I use art sometimes to kindof put things out there.
(18:31):
So it's just creativity to me.
SPEAKER_01 (18:34):
So you think you think that rent to own could
could kind of benefit from amore creative streak than to
traditional norms?
SPEAKER_00 (18:41):
Yes, it's hard to move away from traditions, but
when you put in creativity andum just see life as art or rent
to own as art, and you kind ofjust want to keep painting and
having fun with it.
And I I'm hoping that's whatpeople, younger people will see
and just kind of maybe this is aprofession for me, even though
(19:03):
just because I'm shy doesn'tmean I can't do it, or just
because I have some anxiety oranything like that.
Because I have anxiety myselfand I struggle with it, but
somehow I just it's easy for meto just be around customers and
I feel just comfortable withthem, and I hope that I always
make them feel comfortable too.
SPEAKER_01 (19:23):
So when you talk about younger, when we talk
about older, how old are you?
SPEAKER_00 (19:27):
I'm 30.
SPEAKER_01 (19:28):
You're 30.
Okay.
So do you feel like like there'sany specific age that coming in
is probably a sweet spot, or doyou feel like, hey, as long as
there's good training, come inanytime?
SPEAKER_00 (19:42):
I think as long as there's good training.
I started at 19 and since then Ihad some tough managers that
taught me some things, some goodthings, some bad things, but I
learned from it and I'm I'mstill learning, trying to adjust
what to use, what not to use.
So it's hard for me to lead andI want to learn how to lead.
(20:05):
And so hopefully um I can justhave my coworkers grow with me
too, and hopefully they can growand just keep going down the
road.
SPEAKER_01 (20:15):
You know, when I first started in this business,
it's a long time ago, but I hadno intentions of being in this
business.
I had no idea about thisbusiness.
Uh, you know, going back to aguy, I don't think he's ever, I
don't think he's in thebusiness.
I actually I don't even rememberhis last name anymore.
His name was John.
So his assistant, well, let me Ieven gotta go further than that.
So he was the store manager.
(20:36):
John was the assistant.
And so the store manager came inand he got me to come in and try
out for an interview.
I really wasn't interested.
I had no idea what was going on,no idea what he was talking
about.
The only thing I knew is I hadno idea where I was going.
Like I just didn't have a clueas to what I wanted to be, what
I wanted to do.
I know somewhere in the back ofmy head, I was like, yeah, I
don't know, maybe I'd be in anoffice somewhere or something
like that.
And so when I went there, Iwasn't sold on any one thing.
(20:59):
I kind of got sold oneverything.
And he was like, you know, ifyou're looking to be here or
here or here, let me tell youwhy this is something that you
might want to do.
And I was like, okay, I'mlistening.
He's like, you know, you get tomeet people.
So that's part of it.
You get to be out in thecommunity, whether it's and at
that time the account managershad to do pickups and deliveries
and services as well.
So it was like, so not only doyou get to, you know, toss them
(21:20):
here, you get to be out in thecommunity, and there's a
paperwork aspect of it too,right?
So you get to learn files, youget to learn the computers, and
you get to learn to talk onphone.
And then after that, if you dowell, you can be in leadership
and kind of talk.
So then I was like, okay, youknow, all right, I tell you
what, I'll give it a shot.
And then, like a week later, hewas gone, and then John moved
up, and I was like, okay, thisis not the guy I talked to about
(21:40):
everything.
And he so John had a differentaspect of everything.
And I agree with you thattraining is 100% why I'm still
here.
So he had a very direct approachon training.
Where I don't know how the otherguy would have been, because we,
I mean, we really wasn't therevery long.
But John would sit me in oneoffice and he would call the
store on the phone from theother office and we would do
these these role plays.
(22:01):
And I've never been soembarrassed in my life, but
nobody was there.
You know what I mean?
It's not like anybody was thereto listen into me and go, oh my
god, that was the most terriblething I ever heard.
No, it was like office to officebefore we opened or after we
closed or something like that.
So it wasn't like anybody was Iand I was I was absolutely
terrible.
I stunk, but in the persistenceand the training, you know, and
(22:22):
and flip it on its ear.
When I came in, like you, I wasyounger, but like you, I don't
think I was, I didn't think Iwas the right fit, right?
I wasn't outgoing, I was kind oflike to myself a podcast years
later.
But I was like, you know, I Ijust I don't know if I'm that
guy.
And so that training led me toget out of my shell and be a
completely different person.
(22:43):
And going into the leadershipvalues and and leadership
courses and and just having myown region at a point in time or
two points in time in my life.
It's it's been probably some ofthe greatest things I've ever
done.
And it's crazy that it came frompeople who saw something in us
that I probably myself wouldhave not guessed.
You said you started at 19, Iwas literally 20 years old.
Uh, you know, I he he justwalked in and it was like, hey,
(23:06):
this is what's going on, youknow.
And I was like, I don't know youlike that.
Like, I don't think this isgonna work.
But it's crazy to, you know,that years and years later,
through that training, throughthat mentorship, you know, it's
made a big difference.
And like, is there anythingparticular that stood out in
your training that you wouldsay, with who I am and where I
(23:27):
come from, this really helped methe most?
SPEAKER_00 (23:29):
It wasn't much to training, it's just the people
behind the company for me.
They push me really hard tobasically they're still pushing
me to where uh they want me tounderstand my potential.
I don't have that knowledge ofhow to publicly speak correctly
and stuff like that.
I still struggle with that andstill kind of freak out a little
bit or get anxious about it,even though sometimes I do speak
(23:52):
out more.
It's just a little bit differentwith um like being on camera and
stuff like that.
It's very scary, but it's justthe people behind me have pushed
me through so much.
They've seen what I've beenthrough and they've been very
supportive.
And I just feel like just theattention that they've given me,
the care that they've given mehelps makes me want to help
(24:13):
where where I work.
Um, because it's a locallyfamily-owned business.
And although I'm not family,they definitely have treated me
like family, and I just lovebeing there and I just love the
people around there, and so Iguess it's more I just the love
of people.
I love people and I love to lovepeople and show them that I
(24:34):
care.
It's just the sales part is justthe fun of it too.
SPEAKER_01 (24:37):
Let me ask you a question because it's uh at one
point you remind me a lot ofmyself back when I was younger.
But when it comes to thetraining, is there any
particular type of training thatsomebody like yourself who's a
little bit more introvertednaturally would take to better
than just kind of throwing youout in the in the in the water
and saying, okay, you don't knowhow to swim?
Well, you gotta learn today.
Is there something that took youmeant that takes you uh helps
(24:59):
you better?
Or you say, you know what, Ilike this particular training
versus this particular training?
And that could always bepersonal, it doesn't necessarily
mean it's a generational thing,but in your mindset, like what
is something that I like thistype of training better?
SPEAKER_00 (25:11):
Um, for me, it's uh training about products.
Um, you learn so much aboutproducts, there's so many new
things coming out that you justwhoa, this things are changing.
You got dryers that can senseafter your what your washer load
did, and it just just dries it.
You got ranges that you can justturn on with your phone now, new
products, and you get to justI'm uh uh tech geek kind of.
(25:35):
So there's things that I like,like so um with the TVs coming
out and the smart TVs.
Now you could play Xbox on themand you don't even need the
console.
That's something new that Ilearned.
I'm just like, whoa, I want toshare that with the the people
that I know that love gaming.
They may they might wantsomething like that in their
house.
I know I want something likethat in my house.
So I just uh the training onproducts is what keeps me up to
(25:59):
date with everything too.
I don't feel as old.
SPEAKER_01 (26:02):
Well, does that make you feel more confident when
you're trying to customers tosay, I know pretty much
everything about this.
I know that it works, I knowthat it doesn't work, I know
what it has and it doesn't have.
And listen, this is somethingthat it used to do, but now it's
got like the 4K streaming andall this stuff.
And that makes you feel moreconfident to talk to people.
SPEAKER_00 (26:17):
Yes.
Just having that knowledge andsharing that knowledge, and like
I can find what's best suitingfor that customer.
That's what I enjoy doing.
And that training definitelyhelps just learning what they
need.
And there's things that theydon't really need, and you're
just like, okay, well, we cantake you that this route or that
route.
So that's what I enjoy about it.
It's just finding that rightmedium for them, finding the
(26:40):
right products that they need,or just something that they wish
they could have.
I go out and try my best to doget what they need, or if
there's products we don't carry,I'll do research on it and let
them know the pros and cons ofit.
Or I also share my experienceswith my own products.
Like for example, if I I had awhirlpool washer and dryer, and
(27:04):
I always had um issues with thepropeller, and so I just told
them this is my experience withthis, just a heads up, or this
is what I experienced incustomer service on that product
itself.
So for example, whirlpool'scustomer service, I experienced
that, and so I just share thatexperience with my customer.
I'm like, if you this one hasbetter customer service than
(27:25):
this one, it just kind ofvaries, or this one has better
warranty than that one,whichever you prefer, kind of
thing.
SPEAKER_01 (27:32):
So in the leadership aspect, now that you're here,
are you looking are you lookingto get into a leadership role
now?
Now that uh rent home's kind ofhelped you see the world in a
different way and kind of helpopen you up.
And you have these people thathave helped mentor you to get
here.
Are you looking to take on anytype of leadership role?
SPEAKER_00 (27:48):
I would love to.
I just need that proper trainingand they're trying to get me the
best training I can get.
TO World again definitely hashelped me a lot.
It definitely opened my mind alot.
There's so many things that Ican work on myself and my
co-workers can learn from.
So I'm hoping to continue thateducation and just maybe one day
(28:09):
be a better leader.
Don't know where, but somewhere.
SPEAKER_01 (28:13):
Well, just you know, it's funny you say that.
Um when I when I teamed up withApril, uh, you know, it was it
was one of those situations.
It was new to me as well.
I hadn't been in it in years andyears and years.
But, you know, I I know thatonce I got into podcasting, it
was something that I wanted todo.
I wanted to share witheverybody.
I wanted everybody to understandexactly where I was coming from
and what it was doing.
And so one day Charles uh, youknow, he wants to meet up, and
(28:34):
I'm like, oh my God.
At the time I didn't knowCharles as well, so I'm like,
yeah, you know, CEO, you know,God, I hope I didn't do anything
wrong.
You know, and we sat down and hewas like, you know, I like what
you're doing, and and and Aprilwants to be a part of the
situation.
How do we make that happen?
And so they became a premiersponsor of the show.
And out of that, there were somany doors that were available I
didn't know were there, kind of,and they started opening in
(28:57):
different, differentenvironments and different
things.
And I I love going to RTO worldbecause I think every time I go,
regardless of the situation, Ilearned something.
From your aspect, you saidyou're you're a you're a tech
person, right?
And the class itself, if you hadto say, what was what were the a
few great takeaways from thislast 2026?
Was it going on the floor andseeing all these new things and
talking to the vendors andsaying, yeah, it's got this new
(29:18):
feature here, it's got this newfeature there, or was it the
classes kind of sitting down andsaying, Okay, I didn't know that
it was perspective on this?
What was what was some of yourmain takeaways from that?
SPEAKER_00 (29:27):
Well, seeing the products, it's just amazing
seeing like the new things, likethe vanities that can look like
storage, nightstands or stufflike that.
And the classes, I just there'sso many things that I don't look
at in a in like traditionalsense, where they they explain a
little bit of what they used todo back then versus what it is
(29:49):
now.
And it just kind of opens yourmind on like, well, we can bring
this back, but let's change thisinto a more modern way, um, kind
of adjust to the change.
Because change is really hard.
Change is difficult for somepeople.
It's difficult for me here andthere.
But another thing is just beingaround people who work in the
(30:10):
same things that I do and justgetting their ideas too.
It's uh fun getting together andjust just talking about these
ideas and making friends, uh,friends that can help you become
a better leader.
Or sometimes I'm afraid to talkto the bigger people, but I
somehow end up talking to thembecause I want to learn, learn
(30:32):
more.
I just want to experience moreand just be more out there than
I was before.
SPEAKER_01 (30:36):
So, like if, and this is this is a this is really
what I want to know.
You've been doing it, you said,since around 19, on offer
indifferent.
Around 10 years, you've been inthe industry.
Do you feel like you understandthe industry more now since
you've been to MRDA, sinceyou've been to RTO world?
Or is it is it generally thesame?
Like the did you did it openyour mindset to like this is
(30:57):
rent to own on a whole differentplanet, or is it like, well, you
know what?
I went and I don't feel thatdifferent.
SPEAKER_00 (31:02):
Uh definitely everything's different.
Just it's more eye-opening.
You're just like, whoa, I didn'tknow this, or this is cool.
I didn't know about that.
And so it's just fun and I enjoylearning again.
There's always room to grow andrent to own, and there's so much
knowledge you can get from ittoo.
Not only like your products, butjust the people around you teach
(31:23):
you so much in general.
SPEAKER_01 (31:25):
And then I just love learning it.
So in your thinking, if I hadthe ability, let's say I had a
company, which I'd love to havea company.
I'm kind of going in a differentdirection, but let's say, you
know, I had a company and I had,let's say, two or three stores,
and we had not gone to RTO Worldyet.
You know, I have a couple ofemployees that may be either new
or a couple years, they haven'tgone on to RTO World yet, or or
(31:46):
the Missouri Rental DealerAssociation yet, or the 10 OC,
you know, whatever it is.
And I have an opportunity tobring them.
In your opinion, do you thinkthat it's it's it's a great
thing to do in order to get themto see the overall arcing of the
industry?
SPEAKER_00 (32:00):
I think so.
It definitely is a motivationtoo.
Uh like the speakers that areout there definitely motivate me
to put myself out there more orto try different things.
SPEAKER_01 (32:10):
I just want to know, like, if it really made a
difference to you from not goingto going?
Is that something that you knowwe should advocate for more?
You know, because sometimes somepeople, and the way I in the way
I look at it is if I have abusiness, do I want to take
somebody who hasn't been in theindustry that long, or do I want
to take people that are havebeen in the industry a little
longer?
Or is it that I can change themindset of the people who
(32:33):
haven't been here that long bytaking them and showing them,
hey, you don't have to be here10, 20 years.
This is what you're reallylooking forward, you know,
looking to.
And it's not just you in thisindustry.
There's a family out there,there's a huge conglomerate of
people in the rent-ownedindustry who, although you might
wear something that says, youknow, one type of rent-owned,
and that person might saysomething to different
(32:53):
rent-owned.
Like, there are times where weget together to share our ideas
or knowledge of whether it beleadership, sales, online,
social media, you know, growth,leadership.
Does that make a big differencein going, oh, wait a minute, you
know what?
There is a lot more to this thanwhat I really thought.
You know?
SPEAKER_00 (33:08):
Yeah, it does, it does definitely make a
difference.
When I first went to one, I wasso lost.
I'm like, what is this?
I don't know what this is.
My first class, I was nervous.
I sat in the back, kept tomyself.
SPEAKER_01 (33:21):
In that aspect, I've always been different.
I used to do that when I wasyounger, and then I realized,
like, you know what?
I'm missing it back here.
And I would force myself to goup front for a couple of
reasons.
Number one, it's because myeyesight's getting terrible.
But number two is if they pickedon somebody, I needed to get out
of my shell and be like, youknow what?
I can do this.
You know what I mean?
I I I could be Johnny on thespot, you know?
(33:42):
And I've had some moments whereI'm like, uh, but then I've had
some moments where, you know, itreally helped me to be up front.
But yeah, definitely.
I started in the back.
I did start in the back.
You know.
SPEAKER_00 (33:50):
So now I just sit in the front and I like to just uh
my computer just um typeswhatever everybody says.
So the conversations that we hadat our meetings, I was able to
record that, not likevideo-wise, but I was able to
have my computer just type thewhole conversation out.
And I like doing that because ithelps me go back, reread
(34:14):
everything, and kind of if Iforget something, I'm like, oh,
what did they say?
Let's go back and then I'm ableto find it or find that quote
that helps inspire me a littlebit and reminds me that I can do
more.
SPEAKER_01 (34:26):
So what do you so what do you do?
You have a transcribe everythingthat's going on and do you put
it like back into AI for it tocreate like some kind of uh
bullet points, or do you justleave it as is and read the
whole thing?
SPEAKER_00 (34:35):
I read the whole thing, but I also do use the AI
to make bullet points and kindof make everything kind of
short.
But I also like to makePowerPoints with it just because
I want to share it with mycoworkers and like this is what
I learned.
It may not be the samepresentation as they did that
motivated me, but this is what Ilearned.
And just sharing that knowledgeis fun.
(34:56):
They enjoy it sometimes.
SPEAKER_01 (34:58):
What do you think is more important, the learning
aspect or the buying aspect whenyou go to these shows?
SPEAKER_00 (35:03):
For me, it's the learning.
Um, buying not really my area,just more the learning.
SPEAKER_01 (35:10):
Well, the reason I ask is you say you're a tech
person and you like the newstuff.
I don't know if you go there andsee something new, like you
know, like you said, the vanitythat kind of transforms you're
like, hey, we gotta have one ofthose, or it's more you know,
for the leadership quality orthe you know, the training
quality of of what we're doing,where we're going, what we're
seeing.
And because the truth is I'mtrying to learn from this
(35:30):
myself.
Like I'm trying to figure out itit because sometimes I feel
like, and I don't know if thisis a fault of mine or this is
just a fault of age or whateverthe case is, but as you hit a
certain speed bump in life,right, you realize and you look
back on the road and it's likeit's been a long road.
So sometimes it's hard tounlearn what you've learned.
In other words, if you getsomebody who's new to the
industry, sometimes, and I'm notsaying everybody, because some
(35:52):
of us teach way better thanothers, we have a tendency like,
oh, we could do this, this, andthe person's still like, I don't
know what you're talking aboutyet.
Like, I'm still I'm still on myABCs and what you're talking
about, depreciation and how to,you know, make all this.
And I'm like, I don't even knowwhat that is.
And, you know, so fundamentallywe're like, oh God, you know,
hold on, I gotta back up alittle bit and kind of start
(36:13):
with the fundamentals, which isalso another part of leadership
is being able to take whatyou've learned and for a lack of
a good, I'm not gonna say dumbit down, but put it in a
situation where this persondoesn't know what you're talking
about.
You have to put it in asituation where this is brand
new, this is how you understandit.
All right, now you're on leveltwo, now you're on level three,
now you're on, you know, and sosometimes I you know I look back
and I'm like, how am I doing?
(36:34):
I have no idea.
And taking people, taking otheraspects of of people to these
shows and saying, hey, here's ahere's a leadership course,
here's a sales course, here's amotivational speaker and stuff
like that.
How great it is to have thatavailable.
So, how many shows have you beento since you started?
Four.
You've been to four.
Okay, well, I know MRDA and Iknow RTO World 2025.
(36:56):
What are the other two?
SPEAKER_00 (36:57):
One was in Tampa and then one was in Vegas.
Vegas was my first one.
SPEAKER_01 (37:02):
Uh, I do not remember the Vegas one because I
did not go to that one, althoughI hear that Vegas is coming up
very soon.
Are you going to that one?
SPEAKER_00 (37:08):
Yes, I'll be.
SPEAKER_01 (37:09):
Oh, yeah, oh yeah.
She's going to that one.
Yeah, she's gonna learn a wholelot.
Well, I think one of thereasons, you know, that I like
kind of speaking to everybody onthe show is you learn something
different.
You learn something new everyday.
You learn that, you know, theway some people have learned is
not necessarily how everybody'slearned.
And, you know, some of it can bebased on leadership, some of it
(37:30):
can be based on like trial byfire.
I went in there, I did this, thecustomer reminded me I should
probably never do that again.
But the aspect of kind of goingthrough and learning and
figuring it all out, whether itbe through mentors, whether it
be through classes, whether itbe through leadership courses,
whether it be to RTO World,MRDA, meeting of the minds,
whatever the case is, is thatthere's a lot out there and
(37:50):
people are rooting it on to kindof get through.
If you had something to say tothe people that are coming
aboard right now that kind offeel the way you do about
certain things and might not beso extroverted as they might end
up being eventually in thesystem, what would you say to
them as like uh a way to getthem from point A to point B?
SPEAKER_00 (38:10):
Just keep trying, watch videos that can help you.
Um, there's many videos that canhelp you express yourself and be
more open.
You can practice at home, youcan practice on the mirror.
I just wouldn't search how to bemore open or how to talk to
people.
And I'll just watch those andjust kind of get little, okay,
let's try this.
Don't feel comfortable in themirror, but at least it's just
(38:33):
to myself and not someone else.
And then it's just once you findthat comfort and you correct
yourself, that's when you'rejust like, oh, okay, I can do
this.
We can we can try this now.
SPEAKER_01 (38:42):
So you have any ideas about social media that we
can do better?
I know that you said being funnywas a good thing.
How do we do that?
How do we get it to be funnywhen we're trying to talk about
sofas and living rooms and andranges?
And you're how do you how do youmake that funny?
How do you do how do you makesocial media work for guys like
me who just literally we're at awhole different level on that?
And like, I wish I knew how toedit and do all the stuff on the
(39:05):
phone, like some people do.
Like, I couldn't do that.
I have to literally pull up avery expensive program and go
through that.
I'm sure that's not the way itis, it should be done, you know.
But to be able to kind of get inthe phone and I know it takes
half the time and it's probablya heck of a lot easier.
I don't know what I'm doing.
What's how do we get better atthat?
What what is it is it the comedyat all it period?
Is it like the information?
(39:25):
How do how do I get better?
How do you make me better?
SPEAKER_00 (39:28):
You want to make it creative and fun.
AI definitely does help a lottoo.
If you try that out, itdefinitely changes a lot of
things and makes it much neater.
Um, especially when someonedoesn't know how to edit videos
and stuff.
It at least kind of gets it kindof in that right area.
It's just also you want to becreative and fun.
Just have fun with it.
(39:49):
Um, but also make sure it's justsomething that you can relate to
with your customers.
So a lot of the times whencustomers come in, I like to
just joke around.
When do you want that couchdelivered?
We can do it today.
And they're like, No, I'm notlooking for a couch.
And sometimes they end up takingthe couch.
Or I I got this special going onhere.
Um, we can get that delivered toyou right now.
(40:12):
And they're like, really?
And it's like, yes.
And they will sometimes do it.
It's just being fun and creativeand connecting with people and
with videos, it's just I'm stillworking on that.
I'm still learning on that.
Um, but I have some coworkersthat hopefully can help me get
(40:32):
there on video editing and stufflike that.
I don't know how to do thatquite yet.
Um, I liked making videos backthen where I would talk in
Spanish and kind of show ourshowroom around, but I just felt
like that wasn't reallyconnecting with my customers.
It's just here's the product,come on by.
(40:52):
Um, whereas if you're makinglike these funny videos, like
some of them I've seen on TikTokthat are just there's one that
always comes into mind, and it'salways that kid with like the
vomiting for some reason, themilk, and then there's the
coffee.
I'm like, but it's funny, andit's just like, okay, they're
creep being creative and this isfun.
I wonder if that's how they arein real life or
(41:14):
personality-wise.
I want to go see them or justkind of get to know them, or I
want to go look at the place.
Just kind of brings people likethe videos will bring that
company into into thought andlike, oh, I remember this
because that company posted it.
SPEAKER_01 (41:27):
So for reference, what do you think is the best
social media platform?
If you had to pick one, what doyou think is the best social
media platform that we could beposting on to get to the most
eyeballs?
SPEAKER_00 (41:38):
That one's a hard one.
Um, because I use pretty mucheverything.
I use Facebook, Instagram,Snapchat.
It's just being around everysocial media can help.
Radio doesn't really help any.
We've tried that before.
That did not work.
Yeah, I don't really have like aone choice thing.
It's just I use everything and Idon't share everything, like
(42:01):
personal stuff, but I haven'treally posted either too much
recently, which is something I'mlacking on and need to work on.
And that's what these courseshave helped me think about is
like, okay, I need to find a wayto be more creative with these
videos and stuff like that.
Mine seemed quote so boring, orI just don't like the way I look
on camera, or I don't like thisway I sound on camera.
(42:23):
And so it's very scary puttingyourself out there with videos.
And so that's what I'm trying tolearn now.
And that's something that Ididn't learn when I was younger.
So I'm working on that.
But like making posters andstuff like that, I did very
well.
It's just working on that socialmedia video thing is what's
what's hard right now.
SPEAKER_01 (42:43):
Well, I really appreciate you taking your time
being on the show today.
There's a lot of things that Iwanted to ask from you know a
different standpoint and the neweyes that are coming into the
industry because Lord knows Ican use learn something new
every day.
Every time I go to an RT Worldor an MRDA or any runner dealer
association or any meeting,there's always so much to take
away.
Like I swear to you, I come awaywith like 100% full, and then
(43:04):
over time it just kind of seepsaway.
And I'm like, oh my God, Iforgot that.
I can't believe I forgot that,you know.
But sometimes it's always justit's it's great to learn new
things, and sometimes it's goodto remember some of the things
that you forgot to implementthat you didn't do, that you're
like, God, I don't know why Ididn't do that, and kind of
re-add it to your toolbox ofthings that you do.
I can tell you right now,though, before we go, I wanted
(43:24):
to let you know that if you everwant to see some crazy, stupid
videos that I've ever been into,if you go onto the website at uh
the RTOShowpodcast.com and yougo to the videos page, go to the
bottom, because they're not atthe top, but if you go to the
bottom, you will see some crazyvideos that actually made that
uh that showcase what our tryingto do and be funny was.
Uh, and I thought they wereabsolutely hilarious.
(43:46):
I'm actually looking to get backinto it a little bit more
because I miss those days.
But I I really appreciate youbeing on Angelica.
It's been really nice talking toyou and kind of getting an idea
from a different side of thecoin.
Guys, if you guys have anyquestions for Angelica, please
hit us up at the show at Pete atthe RTO ShowPodcast.com or on
the website at www.thertoshowpodcast.com.
You can hit us up on any socialmedia platform that's Facebook,
(44:09):
Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTubewhere you're gonna be seeing
this.
Don't forget to click andsubscribe.
You can also go onto the websiteand get some merchandise so you
can look as spiffy as I do withsome RTO gear.
And I will I will definitely hityou guys back up on any DMs that
you hit me up.
I really like the interactionthat we've been doing lately.
And if you guys have any things,you know, some guys that are my
age, I'm like, ask Angelica thisguy.
(44:29):
I really don't know the answerto that one.
We will do that, make sure thatshe uh gets a good response and
get back to you.
Angelica, I really appreciateyour time being on the show, and
I really appreciate you kind ofgiving me some of the insights
that I didn't know.
It's kind of made for aneye-opening thing on some of the
new ways that I could kind ofhelp some of the younger
generations be a part of us foryears to come because Lord
knows, as we time out, we needto have that new fresh blood
(44:51):
come in and kind of get uh therental industry a little fresh
face.
You know what I mean?
So I do appreciate that.
And I will tell you guys asalways, get your collections low
to get your sales high.
Have a great one.
Hello, everybody.
Welcome to the RTO show.
I'm your host, P Chow, and todaywe're taking a whole different
perspective of rent to own.
Now, one of the reasons that Iinvited this guest on was
because, well, to be honest withyou, a lot of people that I talk
to have been in this industryfor a while.
We've done it quite a quite along time.
You know, it could be a fewyears, could be a decade, could
(00:20):
be 20 years.
Right now we're running a littlething on the Legends series.
We're talking around 14 years.
Well, that's quite a long time.
One of the things that we wantto do is really get to talk to
somebody who's fresh and new,not only to the industry, but is
on the younger side of thingswhere they can really kind of
shed the light from theirgeneration to ours and kind of
show this is what I see when Icome in.
(00:42):
This is this is a review that Ican give you, and this is how
maybe we can make it better.
So right now I have a guest.
I have Angelica Felix Damas, whois from Kentucky, and we met at
MRDA this past year.
And um, you know, one of thethings that kind of stuck out
was she's this gentle soulsitting in the side of the
corner, and then when she wasapproached with some
information, she kind of puteverybody in shock, and it was
(01:03):
kind of like, oh my god, wedidn't really understand kind of
what we were talking about inthat situation, um, in the sense
that there are some differencesthat we the way we see things,
and I really love that idea.
How are you doing this morning?
Pretty good.
Good?
In MRDA, you gotta understand.
So I this is my first year goingto MRDA.
So when I went, I was kind oftaking everything in and I got
to see.
(01:24):
So Angelica was in one of themoderations that we did, it was
moderating a conversationbetween some of the guys that we
had that were on the panel whodid a great job.
So, as we're going through theguests, you know, we're we're
basically having conversationsbetween who's there and the
guests and kind of figuring outwhich person can actually speak
on that subject matter the most.
And when it came up to, youknow, the hiring and the people
(01:46):
that we look into, there wasthis idea that when it comes to
sales, what we want to do isfind somebody who's outgoing and
kind of just very much vibrantand doesn't have uh an issue
with going out there into theworld and kind of grabbing
somebody and saying, hey, whatdo you need?
So I think nowadays everybody'sbuilt a little different.
I mean, you tell me, is it oneof those things where you see it
(02:06):
a little bit different?
Because I think that theoutgoing nature of what we had
to do uh is a little bitdifferent than what your
generation does now, because alot of it is maybe over social
media, over the phone.
And so being up front is alittle bit different, yet it
doesn't really take away fromthe fact that you have the
ability to get it done.
SPEAKER_00 (02:24):
Yeah, a lot of it's uh it takes time.
Me starting off, I had noknowledge of rent to own or
sales to begin with.
Uh started off working at arestaurant, and that was not so
great, but I learned a lot ofexperiences there.
And it kind of taught me to kindof talk around people a little
bit more and be a little bitmore outspoken, but it still
(02:44):
wasn't enough to where I woulduh connect with people.
And so after leaving there, Iwent to Hibbits, worked there
for a few months and juststarted liking just sales.
I was selling shoes, uh, was uhdemonstrating how many different
ways you can do your laces withyour shoes and how to clean your
shoes, how to maintain themclean.
(03:05):
And so I just kind of took thatknowledge.
I'm like, okay, this is funhelping out people.
I still had trouble connectingwith customers, but I still
somehow would sell.
And so going up to where I amnow, I work at Hometown Sales
Lease in Arc City, and they'vetaught me a lot.
And when I first started,everybody was like, oh, it's the
mute girl or it's the silentgirl, or it's the little mice
(03:28):
that can't talk very loud.
And so um that kind of pushed mea little bit to open myself up
more.
I think the main thing is justcaring about your customers and
actually putting attention towhat they need or kind of
getting to know what they valuein their family.
Um, a lot of the time somepeople just can't afford things
or don't have the knowledge ofhow rent-to-own works.
(03:49):
And once I started learning howeverything works, I started
teaching, especially in theHispanic community.
They do not know how um rent toown works.
They just know that they'remaking a payment and they're
getting the product, or most ofthem will just purchase
outright.
And those are big clients thatwe just need to focus on too.
That'll help grow the industrytoo.
(04:09):
It just helps everybody aroundus.
And I just like to help ingeneral.
And so I just love doing what Ilove to do just because I get to
connect with people.
Every time a customer comes in,I try to remember their name,
call them out by their name,greet them with their name.
It just makes me feel like theythey feel like they're being
seen.
Whereas like the youngergeneration, it just keeps
(04:30):
getting more and moreunderstanding, I guess, in a
way.
Everybody understands theirtheir mental health conditions
and stuff like that, and or howthe environment is as well.
And I just like helping ingeneral.
I just enjoy it in honesty.
SPEAKER_01 (04:46):
So, what made you decide?
Because like out of the job thatyou had, they were kind of like
customer relation jobs, right?
You're gonna be on the frontline.
And then you go into a job whereyou are pretty much the face of
the store, right?
You're the one making the sales,you're the one making the calls,
you're the one greeting thecustomers.
And what made you decide thiswas the place where I'm gonna
try to open that up and and be alittle bit more outgoing than I
(05:06):
have been?
SPEAKER_00 (05:06):
It's just support around me.
Jess has been a great teacher,like learning leader-wise.
I'm still learning from him.
And I've had uh someone namedMary who helps me.
Um, there's times where I letthings get to me, but she
reminds me that I need to I'mdoing great and I need to keep
pushing myself for better.
Um, so it's just basically thefamily community feeling.
(05:28):
There is someone who's uh Jess'sfather, who I call my grandpa.
He's been a tremendous person.
I've learned so much from himand just uh learning not to
worry too much about what peoplethink about you.
Um it takes time, but I justfelt like it was a challenge.
(05:48):
And I like challenges, so Ichallenged myself and um as time
went by just kept getting betterand better and understanding
more products.
I also did research on productsand explained how things work to
customers.
And so it's just an it's just Iguess the willing to learn.
SPEAKER_01 (06:04):
Speak for anybody when you're coming into this.
Of course, I I know that youdon't have a lot of work
experience.
So obviously you don't have the20 years work experience, so but
you do have jobs being in frontof people and you decide, okay,
I want to I want to take thisjob, I'm gonna be in in front
fully.
Why do you feel that there mighthave been this transition period
where you know getting in frontof people is a little bit more
(06:25):
maybe challenging or you're notnew?
Is it because you hadn't done itbefore?
Is it because of personality?
Is it because of both that maybeit was a little bit kind of like
standoff at first to so that youcould open up to it?
Or is it your personality like Idon't really don't like to talk
to people?
I'm just learning to do it to toto get better at it.
SPEAKER_00 (06:40):
It's just like I say both, and also um just uh my
culture and um my environment inthe house.
I didn't go out, I didn'tsocialize, never had any
socialization at all.
It was just me, my brother, andmy sister.
And so that's the only person Icould express myself with.
And when I went to school, I wasthis quiet student, didn't
(07:02):
speak, just did my assignmentsand went home.
And so I just figure it's justwhat I learned around me or what
people around me.
I just saw people who are moreexpressive and more fun.
Um, they just make me smile.
So I'm like, I want to do thattoo.
I want to make people smile.
And so that's what just kind ofput me out of my shell a little
(07:24):
bit.
But it was just mainly just nosocialization, no knowledge of
how to communicate or be anoutspoken person or public
speaking in general.
SPEAKER_01 (07:33):
Coming from a situation where you're a lot
younger and you do a lot ofthings on social media, a lot of
things on your phone.
I know that when, you know, inkind of growing up, my mother
was in a professional business.
She was always on a computer.
Hence, come down a little bit.
I spent a little bit more timewith my laptop or or no, I don't
want to say tablet.
I don't remember if I've everhad a tablet phase.
But you know, I have a laptopbecause I kind of take it
(07:53):
around, but I still usesomething with a larger screen
phase.
I think everybody, and includingany generation, it's more the
phone.
In Rent to Own, I mean, you'veyou've seen IMRTA.
I've just now seen you in RTOworld, which was really great to
see you there.
How do you feel rent to own isdoing in the space where we have
a mobile phone?
This is where we look ateverything.
Are we doing good enough in thatspace to capture people that are
(08:15):
in your generation to make themto get them to be customers and
to see rent to own in thepositive light?
SPEAKER_00 (08:20):
I think with that, um, there's a lot room more room
to grow.
Every generation is going to bedifferent.
It's going to change in time.
Nothing's going to be exactlythe same.
For me, AI is something new.
Don't understand AI quite well,but I'm slowly getting myself to
understand it.
And there's so many just amazingthings you can learn from AI.
Just because uh AI knows a lot,it still teaches you so much
(08:44):
more.
And you're teaching it how tolike learn things from yourself
too, and how it learns basicallyhow you are yourself and
everything like that with uhsocial media.
Find it, I find that comedy andstuff like TikTok um definitely
helps.
It's just there are like peoplelike me who are camera shy.
Um, this is my first time beingon camera.
(09:05):
So I'm not a camera person, butwe're it's in the works.
It's something that I am gonnachallenge myself to work on.
And I feel like once I can kindof build that up, it'll it'll be
more fun too.
I just like having fun withcustomers, getting to know them
and just listening to theirstories.
And their stories definitelyhelped me grow too.
(09:27):
Not only my customers, mycoworkers, just everyone that's
been around me has taught mesomething.
And I appreciate everything thatthey've taught me because it's
helped me grow to where I amnow.
And I'm hoping with uh where I'mat, I can lead as well.
And even with the youngergeneration, kind of teach them
how things work and just kind oflet them express themselves
(09:49):
their own way and figure out howthey want to sell.
Like every person's different,so nobody has that same quality.
And so having a different mix ofqualities in a person, I feel
would help build more instead oflike, yes, shy people don't talk
a lot.
SPEAKER_01 (10:07):
But what we're talking about so that everybody
understands is like the idea wasat that time is if you, you
know, when we were talking aboutit, you know, you don't want to
hire somebody who's shy becauseyou know, when you're standing
in front of everybody or you'remaking videos or you're making
posts or whatever you're doing,it's one of those things that
it's better to have an outgoingpersonality.
So we asked Angela, she's like,no, no, you can you can kind of
train out of that, you can growout of that shell.
(10:28):
So I guess the bigger questionnow is you're saying that that
is an ability to get out of.
And I love that idea.
But if you were on the interviewtable and you have somebody
that's in your your age bracket,your generation sitting in front
of you, what would you look tofind to say, you know what, this
person might be in a shell now?
But I do think that given theright information, given the
right training, given the rightmentorship, that they can
(10:51):
actually come out and be likeme.
Or you can kind of tacklesomething, but you didn't look
like you can tackle it to beginwith.
What is something that we couldlook for and say, you know what,
I think I see that in thatperson as well?
SPEAKER_00 (11:02):
Uh I look for drive.
Like, are they willing to learn?
What is it that they want tolearn?
What do they want to learn fromthis experience?
Um, are they wanting to growwith us?
Or are they just there just tofind a job?
I feel like this job is more ofa profession to me.
I enjoy it.
And if they seem like caring,loving people, um, I see that as
(11:27):
a great aspect to have justbecause it helps you understand
your customers more and theirvalues and everything.
And you kind of just startmemorizing customers' names and
stuff like that because you careabout them and you're putting
time and effort into learningevery customer's qualities and
stuff like that, that you wantto connect with them.
And it's just so much fun again,watching them grow.
(11:50):
Sometimes it is sad.
You see some customers age andthey've been with this for years
and they just age, andunfortunately, that's just life.
But just watching them age, butthen behind them are their kids
and they're growing and learningand still don't understand how
like credit works and stuff likethat.
I just like, hey, come overhere.
(12:10):
I can teach you.
I'll teach you, start off withsomething small and go from
there.
And so I just enjoyed helpingyounger generations kind of
learn from my experiences too.
SPEAKER_01 (12:20):
Let me ask you a question.
When you first came on, becauseyou're saying that it's a
profession now, but when youfirst walked through the door, I
don't know if you said that, ifyou thought that.
So, like when you came on, wasit the idea that you were
looking for a profession andthis is what caught your eye?
Or when you came on, did youjust see it as a this is a
position I'm gonna fill, I'mgonna learn from it, and then
found it to be a professionlater on?
SPEAKER_00 (12:41):
And when I first started, I was just just eager,
um, because I had that littletaste of sales at Hibbits, and
I'm like, that was so much fun.
And where I was working atprior, I just it was fun, it
just wasn't the same.
It was just enclosing, no peoplearound me.
It's just cleaning hotel rooms,and I was just like, this is
not, this is not fun.
(13:02):
It's not my personality.
Yeah, this is not me.
And so when I applied athometown, I was so nervous, I
was scared, I was shaking, but Ijust wanted to prove to them
that I can grow out of it and Ican improve myself.
Going through this, I canimprove what I want, which I
still haven't quite decided whatI want to do.
(13:22):
I love where I'm at, but I alsolove to teach.
So if I can find like a goodmiddle ground, that'd be fun.
SPEAKER_01 (13:31):
Well, I think I think we did talk about that.
So I think at some point in timewe did talk about the fact that
you were in the, you know, inthe industry, kind of learning
about it and and kind of takingout of all the meetings and the
stuff that you can and kind oftaking all the mentorship and
the tutoring and kind of puttingit somewhere, but you also were
in school to be a teacher.
And I thought, wow, those aretwo completely different things.
(13:52):
But then, you know, I kind ofagree with you in the fact that
maybe there's a way to marrythat.
And the only thing that came upto me in that meantime was if
you have the ability to teachand you like teaching, and then
you find out that you have thisuh, you know, this knack for it,
why not go into training?
Now, obviously nobody's gonnacome out, you know, nobody's
gonna like graduate from whatyou're doing, but they will be
(14:13):
better at what they what theysort of have a salesperson or a
collections person going up to aGM and kind of teaching them the
the day the normal things thatthey have to learn in the day,
right?
Whether it be setting up aschedule or setting up workloads
or setting up you know the nextweek or having a day's off or
whatever the case is.
But when you came in, how didyou find out?
(14:33):
How did you find up the job?
Like, was the job spoken to you?
Like did somebody headhunt youand say, Hey, I think you'd make
this a great job, or did you seeit somewhere and you decided to
apply?
SPEAKER_00 (14:41):
Someone uh recommended recommended me to
apply there.
And so I went ahead and put theapplication in.
I didn't really think I wasgonna get the job, but and they
kept telling me, oh, just keepuh calling, check in, check in.
So I'm like, okay, I need to bemore persistent.
So I kept trying and trying andtrying.
And they did tell me that theykind of were questionable about
(15:01):
hiring me.
They were like, we don't know ifwe want to hire this girl.
She's not really anythingspecial.
Well, I didn't reallydemonstrate too much on my
interview, but they gave me ashot and I just wanted to prove
them that I can do this, andthat it's not like it's a
decision that I want tobasically prove to them that I
(15:22):
can do it in a way.
It's kind of hard to explain,but I just wanted to I had that
drive of I'm gonna prove themwrong.
I can do this, I can grow fromthis, and hopefully take keep
using it in life.
But um, I just kind of ended upstaying there.
I tried to leave for one yearand went to work at a clinic.
(15:42):
Um, but the healthcare was notfor me.
SPEAKER_01 (15:45):
Uh healthcare is not no.
I've tried it myself, andhealthcare is not and I only
went for the paperwork side, youknow, just like the the
approvals and stuff like that.
No, admitting I don't no, nope,I don't want anything.
Healthcare is just not my dealbecause I I feel like there's
too much pressure.
So for a short time, I work foradmissions in the ER at a
hospital.
(16:05):
And you know, if somebody camein and they didn't feel well, it
was okay.
If somebody came in and they'relike, oh, you know, I'm about to
die, no, you need to go totriage, like, don't see me.
And then, you know, as somebodycoming in and they're like, hey,
I need their information statbecause they got to go up to a
room or they got to go to ICU,where you're like, oh my God,
no, I'm just that's I'm good.
I'm good.
So I decided I'll never work inhealthcare again.
(16:25):
And whoever does, I gotta givethem hands down.
It's a very difficult position.
And I told I can only, and thatwas from the paperwork, so I can
only imagine what it's likehaving to haul somebody in an
ambulance or tell somebody some,you know, hey, this is bad, this
happened, you're not gonna bethat okay, you know.
It's like, oh my god, nah.
No, uh-uh.
I'm hey, this is your bill.
Have a great day.
Um, so coming from thestandpoint of where you're at,
(16:47):
now that you're in it, becauseand you didn't have much
knowledge about rent to ownbefore you got into it, right?
SPEAKER_00 (16:52):
Mm-hmm.
So I didn't really knowanything.
SPEAKER_01 (16:54):
What do you what do you think?
Two sides of this question.
What do you think we're doingright at rent to own?
And what do you think comingfrom your standpoint and where
you are, is something that wecan really get better at?
SPEAKER_00 (17:05):
I think the teachings that RTO World has
definitely helps and benefitswith training.
It definitely teaches me abigger aspect of what rent to
own is.
Uh, I'm still learning.
I don't know every nick andcranny of everything, but I'm
still learning and everythingthat I'm learning, I'm just let
me try this.
I'm gonna try this, or I'm gonnatry that.
(17:26):
That didn't work.
Let's try this.
So I just kind of it motivatesme to kind of try new things,
things that I never thought of.
Um, just because it's olddoesn't mean you can't put it in
there and make it new.
So ideas are everywhere, andjust trusting some ideas, kind
of fixing it there, here andthere, kind of adjusting it to
where it needs to be.
And then you just find thatperfect balance.
(17:47):
Um, it's just, I just thinkthat's what helps me in that.
As far as the youngergeneration, I'm hoping us
younger ones are taught wellenough that way can help lead
them further on and kind ofteach them how it is, how things
work, and just kind of be morecreative with it.
I find that if you're morecreative with rent to own, it's
(18:08):
more fun and people want to goin and be like, what's this
about?
So I think creativity is a bigfactor right now with uh rent to
own, as long as you have thatbig creativity.
You can use it on the floor, youcan use it on your advertisement
or just pretty much anything aslong as you have more
creativity.
And I love to create things, andart is fun.
So I use art sometimes to kindof put things out there.
(18:31):
So it's just creativity to me.
SPEAKER_01 (18:34):
So you think you think that rent to own could
could kind of benefit from amore creative streak than to
traditional norms?
SPEAKER_00 (18:41):
Yes, it's hard to move away from traditions, but
when you put in creativity andum just see life as art or rent
to own as art, and you kind ofjust want to keep painting and
having fun with it.
And I I'm hoping that's whatpeople, younger people will see
and just kind of maybe this is aprofession for me, even though
(19:03):
just because I'm shy doesn'tmean I can't do it, or just
because I have some anxiety oranything like that.
Because I have anxiety myselfand I struggle with it, but
somehow I just it's easy for meto just be around customers and
I feel just comfortable withthem, and I hope that I always
make them feel comfortable too.
SPEAKER_01 (19:23):
So when you talk about younger, when we talk
about older, how old are you?
SPEAKER_00 (19:27):
I'm 30.
SPEAKER_01 (19:28):
You're 30.
Okay.
So do you feel like like there'sany specific age that coming in
is probably a sweet spot, or doyou feel like, hey, as long as
there's good training, come inanytime?
SPEAKER_00 (19:42):
I think as long as there's good training.
I started at 19 and since then Ihad some tough managers that
taught me some things, some goodthings, some bad things, but I
learned from it and I'm I'mstill learning, trying to adjust
what to use, what not to use.
So it's hard for me to lead andI want to learn how to lead.
(20:05):
And so hopefully um I can justhave my coworkers grow with me
too, and hopefully they can growand just keep going down the
road.
SPEAKER_01 (20:15):
You know, when I first started in this business,
it's a long time ago, but I hadno intentions of being in this
business.
I had no idea about thisbusiness.
Uh, you know, going back to aguy, I don't think he's ever, I
don't think he's in thebusiness.
I actually I don't even rememberhis last name anymore.
His name was John.
So his assistant, well, let me Ieven gotta go further than that.
So he was the store manager.
(20:36):
John was the assistant.
And so the store manager came inand he got me to come in and try
out for an interview.
I really wasn't interested.
I had no idea what was going on,no idea what he was talking
about.
The only thing I knew is I hadno idea where I was going.
Like I just didn't have a clueas to what I wanted to be, what
I wanted to do.
I know somewhere in the back ofmy head, I was like, yeah, I
don't know, maybe I'd be in anoffice somewhere or something
like that.
And so when I went there, Iwasn't sold on any one thing.
(20:59):
I kind of got sold oneverything.
And he was like, you know, ifyou're looking to be here or
here or here, let me tell youwhy this is something that you
might want to do.
And I was like, okay, I'mlistening.
He's like, you know, you get tomeet people.
So that's part of it.
You get to be out in thecommunity, whether it's and at
that time the account managershad to do pickups and deliveries
and services as well.
So it was like, so not only doyou get to, you know, toss them
(21:20):
here, you get to be out in thecommunity, and there's a
paperwork aspect of it too,right?
So you get to learn files, youget to learn the computers, and
you get to learn to talk onphone.
And then after that, if you dowell, you can be in leadership
and kind of talk.
So then I was like, okay, youknow, all right, I tell you
what, I'll give it a shot.
And then, like a week later, hewas gone, and then John moved
up, and I was like, okay, thisis not the guy I talked to about
(21:40):
everything.
And he so John had a differentaspect of everything.
And I agree with you thattraining is 100% why I'm still
here.
So he had a very direct approachon training.
Where I don't know how the otherguy would have been, because we,
I mean, we really wasn't therevery long.
But John would sit me in oneoffice and he would call the
store on the phone from theother office and we would do
these these role plays.
(22:01):
And I've never been soembarrassed in my life, but
nobody was there.
You know what I mean?
It's not like anybody was thereto listen into me and go, oh my
god, that was the most terriblething I ever heard.
No, it was like office to officebefore we opened or after we
closed or something like that.
So it wasn't like anybody was Iand I was I was absolutely
terrible.
I stunk, but in the persistenceand the training, you know, and
(22:22):
and flip it on its ear.
When I came in, like you, I wasyounger, but like you, I don't
think I was, I didn't think Iwas the right fit, right?
I wasn't outgoing, I was kind oflike to myself a podcast years
later.
But I was like, you know, I Ijust I don't know if I'm that
guy.
And so that training led me toget out of my shell and be a
completely different person.
(22:43):
And going into the leadershipvalues and and leadership
courses and and just having myown region at a point in time or
two points in time in my life.
It's it's been probably some ofthe greatest things I've ever
done.
And it's crazy that it came frompeople who saw something in us
that I probably myself wouldhave not guessed.
You said you started at 19, Iwas literally 20 years old.
Uh, you know, I he he justwalked in and it was like, hey,
(23:06):
this is what's going on, youknow.
And I was like, I don't know youlike that.
Like, I don't think this isgonna work.
But it's crazy to, you know,that years and years later,
through that training, throughthat mentorship, you know, it's
made a big difference.
And like, is there anythingparticular that stood out in
your training that you wouldsay, with who I am and where I
(23:27):
come from, this really helped methe most?
SPEAKER_00 (23:29):
It wasn't much to training, it's just the people
behind the company for me.
They push me really hard tobasically they're still pushing
me to where uh they want me tounderstand my potential.
I don't have that knowledge ofhow to publicly speak correctly
and stuff like that.
I still struggle with that andstill kind of freak out a little
bit or get anxious about it,even though sometimes I do speak
(23:52):
out more.
It's just a little bit differentwith um like being on camera and
stuff like that.
It's very scary, but it's justthe people behind me have pushed
me through so much.
They've seen what I've beenthrough and they've been very
supportive.
And I just feel like just theattention that they've given me,
the care that they've given mehelps makes me want to help
(24:13):
where where I work.
Um, because it's a locallyfamily-owned business.
And although I'm not family,they definitely have treated me
like family, and I just lovebeing there and I just love the
people around there, and so Iguess it's more I just the love
of people.
I love people and I love to lovepeople and show them that I
(24:34):
care.
It's just the sales part is justthe fun of it too.
SPEAKER_01 (24:37):
Let me ask you a question because it's uh at one
point you remind me a lot ofmyself back when I was younger.
But when it comes to thetraining, is there any
particular type of training thatsomebody like yourself who's a
little bit more introvertednaturally would take to better
than just kind of throwing youout in the in the in the water
and saying, okay, you don't knowhow to swim?
Well, you gotta learn today.
Is there something that took youmeant that takes you uh helps
(24:59):
you better?
Or you say, you know what, Ilike this particular training
versus this particular training?
And that could always bepersonal, it doesn't necessarily
mean it's a generational thing,but in your mindset, like what
is something that I like thistype of training better?
SPEAKER_00 (25:11):
Um, for me, it's uh training about products.
Um, you learn so much aboutproducts, there's so many new
things coming out that you justwhoa, this things are changing.
You got dryers that can senseafter your what your washer load
did, and it just just dries it.
You got ranges that you can justturn on with your phone now, new
products, and you get to justI'm uh uh tech geek kind of.
(25:35):
So there's things that I like,like so um with the TVs coming
out and the smart TVs.
Now you could play Xbox on themand you don't even need the
console.
That's something new that Ilearned.
I'm just like, whoa, I want toshare that with the the people
that I know that love gaming.
They may they might wantsomething like that in their
house.
I know I want something likethat in my house.
So I just uh the training onproducts is what keeps me up to
(25:59):
date with everything too.
I don't feel as old.
SPEAKER_01 (26:02):
Well, does that make you feel more confident when
you're trying to customers tosay, I know pretty much
everything about this.
I know that it works, I knowthat it doesn't work, I know
what it has and it doesn't have.
And listen, this is somethingthat it used to do, but now it's
got like the 4K streaming andall this stuff.
And that makes you feel moreconfident to talk to people.
SPEAKER_00 (26:17):
Yes.
Just having that knowledge andsharing that knowledge, and like
I can find what's best suitingfor that customer.
That's what I enjoy doing.
And that training definitelyhelps just learning what they
need.
And there's things that theydon't really need, and you're
just like, okay, well, we cantake you that this route or that
route.
So that's what I enjoy about it.
It's just finding that rightmedium for them, finding the
(26:40):
right products that they need,or just something that they wish
they could have.
I go out and try my best to doget what they need, or if
there's products we don't carry,I'll do research on it and let
them know the pros and cons ofit.
Or I also share my experienceswith my own products.
Like for example, if I I had awhirlpool washer and dryer, and
(27:04):
I always had um issues with thepropeller, and so I just told
them this is my experience withthis, just a heads up, or this
is what I experienced incustomer service on that product
itself.
So for example, whirlpool'scustomer service, I experienced
that, and so I just share thatexperience with my customer.
I'm like, if you this one hasbetter customer service than
(27:25):
this one, it just kind ofvaries, or this one has better
warranty than that one,whichever you prefer, kind of
thing.
SPEAKER_01 (27:32):
So in the leadership aspect, now that you're here,
are you looking are you lookingto get into a leadership role
now?
Now that uh rent home's kind ofhelped you see the world in a
different way and kind of helpopen you up.
And you have these people thathave helped mentor you to get
here.
Are you looking to take on anytype of leadership role?
SPEAKER_00 (27:48):
I would love to.
I just need that proper trainingand they're trying to get me the
best training I can get.
TO World again definitely hashelped me a lot.
It definitely opened my mind alot.
There's so many things that Ican work on myself and my
co-workers can learn from.
So I'm hoping to continue thateducation and just maybe one day
(28:09):
be a better leader.
Don't know where, but somewhere.
SPEAKER_01 (28:13):
Well, just you know, it's funny you say that.
Um when I when I teamed up withApril, uh, you know, it was it
was one of those situations.
It was new to me as well.
I hadn't been in it in years andyears and years.
But, you know, I I know thatonce I got into podcasting, it
was something that I wanted todo.
I wanted to share witheverybody.
I wanted everybody to understandexactly where I was coming from
and what it was doing.
And so one day Charles uh, youknow, he wants to meet up, and
(28:34):
I'm like, oh my God.
At the time I didn't knowCharles as well, so I'm like,
yeah, you know, CEO, you know,God, I hope I didn't do anything
wrong.
You know, and we sat down and hewas like, you know, I like what
you're doing, and and and Aprilwants to be a part of the
situation.
How do we make that happen?
And so they became a premiersponsor of the show.
And out of that, there were somany doors that were available I
didn't know were there, kind of,and they started opening in
(28:57):
different, differentenvironments and different
things.
And I I love going to RTO worldbecause I think every time I go,
regardless of the situation, Ilearned something.
From your aspect, you saidyou're you're a you're a tech
person, right?
And the class itself, if you hadto say, what was what were the a
few great takeaways from thislast 2026?
Was it going on the floor andseeing all these new things and
talking to the vendors andsaying, yeah, it's got this new
(29:18):
feature here, it's got this newfeature there, or was it the
classes kind of sitting down andsaying, Okay, I didn't know that
it was perspective on this?
What was what was some of yourmain takeaways from that?
SPEAKER_00 (29:27):
Well, seeing the products, it's just amazing
seeing like the new things, likethe vanities that can look like
storage, nightstands or stufflike that.
And the classes, I just there'sso many things that I don't look
at in a in like traditionalsense, where they they explain a
little bit of what they used todo back then versus what it is
(29:49):
now.
And it just kind of opens yourmind on like, well, we can bring
this back, but let's change thisinto a more modern way, um, kind
of adjust to the change.
Because change is really hard.
Change is difficult for somepeople.
It's difficult for me here andthere.
But another thing is just beingaround people who work in the
(30:10):
same things that I do and justgetting their ideas too.
It's uh fun getting together andjust just talking about these
ideas and making friends, uh,friends that can help you become
a better leader.
Or sometimes I'm afraid to talkto the bigger people, but I
somehow end up talking to thembecause I want to learn, learn
(30:32):
more.
I just want to experience moreand just be more out there than
I was before.
SPEAKER_01 (30:36):
So, like if, and this is this is a this is really
what I want to know.
You've been doing it, you said,since around 19, on offer
indifferent.
Around 10 years, you've been inthe industry.
Do you feel like you understandthe industry more now since
you've been to MRDA, sinceyou've been to RTO world?
Or is it is it generally thesame?
Like the did you did it openyour mindset to like this is
(30:57):
rent to own on a whole differentplanet, or is it like, well, you
know what?
I went and I don't feel thatdifferent.
SPEAKER_00 (31:02):
Uh definitely everything's different.
Just it's more eye-opening.
You're just like, whoa, I didn'tknow this, or this is cool.
I didn't know about that.
And so it's just fun and I enjoylearning again.
There's always room to grow andrent to own, and there's so much
knowledge you can get from ittoo.
Not only like your products, butjust the people around you teach
(31:23):
you so much in general.
SPEAKER_01 (31:25):
And then I just love learning it.
So in your thinking, if I hadthe ability, let's say I had a
company, which I'd love to havea company.
I'm kind of going in a differentdirection, but let's say, you
know, I had a company and I had,let's say, two or three stores,
and we had not gone to RTO Worldyet.
You know, I have a couple ofemployees that may be either new
or a couple years, they haven'tgone on to RTO World yet, or or
(31:46):
the Missouri Rental DealerAssociation yet, or the 10 OC,
you know, whatever it is.
And I have an opportunity tobring them.
In your opinion, do you thinkthat it's it's it's a great
thing to do in order to get themto see the overall arcing of the
industry?
SPEAKER_00 (32:00):
I think so.
It definitely is a motivationtoo.
Uh like the speakers that areout there definitely motivate me
to put myself out there more orto try different things.
SPEAKER_01 (32:10):
I just want to know, like, if it really made a
difference to you from not goingto going?
Is that something that you knowwe should advocate for more?
You know, because sometimes somepeople, and the way I in the way
I look at it is if I have abusiness, do I want to take
somebody who hasn't been in theindustry that long, or do I want
to take people that are havebeen in the industry a little
longer?
Or is it that I can change themindset of the people who
(32:33):
haven't been here that long bytaking them and showing them,
hey, you don't have to be here10, 20 years.
This is what you're reallylooking forward, you know,
looking to.
And it's not just you in thisindustry.
There's a family out there,there's a huge conglomerate of
people in the rent-ownedindustry who, although you might
wear something that says, youknow, one type of rent-owned,
and that person might saysomething to different
(32:53):
rent-owned.
Like, there are times where weget together to share our ideas
or knowledge of whether it beleadership, sales, online,
social media, you know, growth,leadership.
Does that make a big differencein going, oh, wait a minute, you
know what?
There is a lot more to this thanwhat I really thought.
You know?
SPEAKER_00 (33:08):
Yeah, it does, it does definitely make a
difference.
When I first went to one, I wasso lost.
I'm like, what is this?
I don't know what this is.
My first class, I was nervous.
I sat in the back, kept tomyself.
SPEAKER_01 (33:21):
In that aspect, I've always been different.
I used to do that when I wasyounger, and then I realized,
like, you know what?
I'm missing it back here.
And I would force myself to goup front for a couple of
reasons.
Number one, it's because myeyesight's getting terrible.
But number two is if they pickedon somebody, I needed to get out
of my shell and be like, youknow what?
I can do this.
You know what I mean?
I I I could be Johnny on thespot, you know?
(33:42):
And I've had some moments whereI'm like, uh, but then I've had
some moments where, you know, itreally helped me to be up front.
But yeah, definitely.
I started in the back.
I did start in the back.
You know.
SPEAKER_00 (33:50):
So now I just sit in the front and I like to just uh
my computer just um typeswhatever everybody says.
So the conversations that we hadat our meetings, I was able to
record that, not likevideo-wise, but I was able to
have my computer just type thewhole conversation out.
And I like doing that because ithelps me go back, reread
(34:14):
everything, and kind of if Iforget something, I'm like, oh,
what did they say?
Let's go back and then I'm ableto find it or find that quote
that helps inspire me a littlebit and reminds me that I can do
more.
SPEAKER_01 (34:26):
So what do you so what do you do?
You have a transcribe everythingthat's going on and do you put
it like back into AI for it tocreate like some kind of uh
bullet points, or do you justleave it as is and read the
whole thing?
SPEAKER_00 (34:35):
I read the whole thing, but I also do use the AI
to make bullet points and kindof make everything kind of
short.
But I also like to makePowerPoints with it just because
I want to share it with mycoworkers and like this is what
I learned.
It may not be the samepresentation as they did that
motivated me, but this is what Ilearned.
And just sharing that knowledgeis fun.
(34:56):
They enjoy it sometimes.
SPEAKER_01 (34:58):
What do you think is more important, the learning
aspect or the buying aspect whenyou go to these shows?
SPEAKER_00 (35:03):
For me, it's the learning.
Um, buying not really my area,just more the learning.
SPEAKER_01 (35:10):
Well, the reason I ask is you say you're a tech
person and you like the newstuff.
I don't know if you go there andsee something new, like you
know, like you said, the vanitythat kind of transforms you're
like, hey, we gotta have one ofthose, or it's more you know,
for the leadership quality orthe you know, the training
quality of of what we're doing,where we're going, what we're
seeing.
And because the truth is I'mtrying to learn from this
(35:30):
myself.
Like I'm trying to figure out itit because sometimes I feel
like, and I don't know if thisis a fault of mine or this is
just a fault of age or whateverthe case is, but as you hit a
certain speed bump in life,right, you realize and you look
back on the road and it's likeit's been a long road.
So sometimes it's hard tounlearn what you've learned.
In other words, if you getsomebody who's new to the
industry, sometimes, and I'm notsaying everybody, because some
(35:52):
of us teach way better thanothers, we have a tendency like,
oh, we could do this, this, andthe person's still like, I don't
know what you're talking aboutyet.
Like, I'm still I'm still on myABCs and what you're talking
about, depreciation and how to,you know, make all this.
And I'm like, I don't even knowwhat that is.
And, you know, so fundamentallywe're like, oh God, you know,
hold on, I gotta back up alittle bit and kind of start
(36:13):
with the fundamentals, which isalso another part of leadership
is being able to take whatyou've learned and for a lack of
a good, I'm not gonna say dumbit down, but put it in a
situation where this persondoesn't know what you're talking
about.
You have to put it in asituation where this is brand
new, this is how you understandit.
All right, now you're on leveltwo, now you're on level three,
now you're on, you know, and sosometimes I you know I look back
and I'm like, how am I doing?
(36:34):
I have no idea.
And taking people, taking otheraspects of of people to these
shows and saying, hey, here's ahere's a leadership course,
here's a sales course, here's amotivational speaker and stuff
like that.
How great it is to have thatavailable.
So, how many shows have you beento since you started?
Four.
You've been to four.
Okay, well, I know MRDA and Iknow RTO World 2025.
(36:56):
What are the other two?
SPEAKER_00 (36:57):
One was in Tampa and then one was in Vegas.
Vegas was my first one.
SPEAKER_01 (37:02):
Uh, I do not remember the Vegas one because I
did not go to that one, althoughI hear that Vegas is coming up
very soon.
Are you going to that one?
SPEAKER_00 (37:08):
Yes, I'll be.
SPEAKER_01 (37:09):
Oh, yeah, oh yeah.
She's going to that one.
Yeah, she's gonna learn a wholelot.
Well, I think one of thereasons, you know, that I like
kind of speaking to everybody onthe show is you learn something
different.
You learn something new everyday.
You learn that, you know, theway some people have learned is
not necessarily how everybody'slearned.
And, you know, some of it can bebased on leadership, some of it
(37:30):
can be based on like trial byfire.
I went in there, I did this, thecustomer reminded me I should
probably never do that again.
But the aspect of kind of goingthrough and learning and
figuring it all out, whether itbe through mentors, whether it
be through classes, whether itbe through leadership courses,
whether it be to RTO World,MRDA, meeting of the minds,
whatever the case is, is thatthere's a lot out there and
(37:50):
people are rooting it on to kindof get through.
If you had something to say tothe people that are coming
aboard right now that kind offeel the way you do about
certain things and might not beso extroverted as they might end
up being eventually in thesystem, what would you say to
them as like uh a way to getthem from point A to point B?
SPEAKER_00 (38:10):
Just keep trying, watch videos that can help you.
Um, there's many videos that canhelp you express yourself and be
more open.
You can practice at home, youcan practice on the mirror.
I just wouldn't search how to bemore open or how to talk to
people.
And I'll just watch those andjust kind of get little, okay,
let's try this.
Don't feel comfortable in themirror, but at least it's just
(38:33):
to myself and not someone else.
And then it's just once you findthat comfort and you correct
yourself, that's when you'rejust like, oh, okay, I can do
this.
We can we can try this now.
SPEAKER_01 (38:42):
So you have any ideas about social media that we
can do better?
I know that you said being funnywas a good thing.
How do we do that?
How do we get it to be funnywhen we're trying to talk about
sofas and living rooms and andranges?
And you're how do you how do youmake that funny?
How do you do how do you makesocial media work for guys like
me who just literally we're at awhole different level on that?
And like, I wish I knew how toedit and do all the stuff on the
(39:05):
phone, like some people do.
Like, I couldn't do that.
I have to literally pull up avery expensive program and go
through that.
I'm sure that's not the way itis, it should be done, you know.
But to be able to kind of get inthe phone and I know it takes
half the time and it's probablya heck of a lot easier.
I don't know what I'm doing.
What's how do we get better atthat?
What what is it is it the comedyat all it period?
Is it like the information?
(39:25):
How do how do I get better?
How do you make me better?
SPEAKER_00 (39:28):
You want to make it creative and fun.
AI definitely does help a lottoo.
If you try that out, itdefinitely changes a lot of
things and makes it much neater.
Um, especially when someonedoesn't know how to edit videos
and stuff.
It at least kind of gets it kindof in that right area.
It's just also you want to becreative and fun.
Just have fun with it.
(39:49):
Um, but also make sure it's justsomething that you can relate to
with your customers.
So a lot of the times whencustomers come in, I like to
just joke around.
When do you want that couchdelivered?
We can do it today.
And they're like, No, I'm notlooking for a couch.
And sometimes they end up takingthe couch.
Or I I got this special going onhere.
Um, we can get that delivered toyou right now.
(40:12):
And they're like, really?
And it's like, yes.
And they will sometimes do it.
It's just being fun and creativeand connecting with people and
with videos, it's just I'm stillworking on that.
I'm still learning on that.
Um, but I have some coworkersthat hopefully can help me get
(40:32):
there on video editing and stufflike that.
I don't know how to do thatquite yet.
Um, I liked making videos backthen where I would talk in
Spanish and kind of show ourshowroom around, but I just felt
like that wasn't reallyconnecting with my customers.
It's just here's the product,come on by.
(40:52):
Um, whereas if you're makinglike these funny videos, like
some of them I've seen on TikTokthat are just there's one that
always comes into mind, and it'salways that kid with like the
vomiting for some reason, themilk, and then there's the
coffee.
I'm like, but it's funny, andit's just like, okay, they're
creep being creative and this isfun.
I wonder if that's how they arein real life or
(41:14):
personality-wise.
I want to go see them or justkind of get to know them, or I
want to go look at the place.
Just kind of brings people likethe videos will bring that
company into into thought andlike, oh, I remember this
because that company posted it.
SPEAKER_01 (41:27):
So for reference, what do you think is the best
social media platform?
If you had to pick one, what doyou think is the best social
media platform that we could beposting on to get to the most
eyeballs?
SPEAKER_00 (41:38):
That one's a hard one.
Um, because I use pretty mucheverything.
I use Facebook, Instagram,Snapchat.
It's just being around everysocial media can help.
Radio doesn't really help any.
We've tried that before.
That did not work.
Yeah, I don't really have like aone choice thing.
It's just I use everything and Idon't share everything, like
(42:01):
personal stuff, but I haven'treally posted either too much
recently, which is something I'mlacking on and need to work on.
And that's what these courseshave helped me think about is
like, okay, I need to find a wayto be more creative with these
videos and stuff like that.
Mine seemed quote so boring, orI just don't like the way I look
on camera, or I don't like thisway I sound on camera.
(42:23):
And so it's very scary puttingyourself out there with videos.
And so that's what I'm trying tolearn now.
And that's something that Ididn't learn when I was younger.
So I'm working on that.
But like making posters andstuff like that, I did very
well.
It's just working on that socialmedia video thing is what's
what's hard right now.
SPEAKER_01 (42:43):
Well, I really appreciate you taking your time
being on the show today.
There's a lot of things that Iwanted to ask from you know a
different standpoint and the neweyes that are coming into the
industry because Lord knows Ican use learn something new
every day.
Every time I go to an RT Worldor an MRDA or any runner dealer
association or any meeting,there's always so much to take
away.
Like I swear to you, I come awaywith like 100% full, and then
(43:04):
over time it just kind of seepsaway.
And I'm like, oh my God, Iforgot that.
I can't believe I forgot that,you know.
But sometimes it's always justit's it's great to learn new
things, and sometimes it's goodto remember some of the things
that you forgot to implementthat you didn't do, that you're
like, God, I don't know why Ididn't do that, and kind of
re-add it to your toolbox ofthings that you do.
I can tell you right now,though, before we go, I wanted
(43:24):
to let you know that if you everwant to see some crazy, stupid
videos that I've ever been into,if you go onto the website at uh
the RTOShowpodcast.com and yougo to the videos page, go to the
bottom, because they're not atthe top, but if you go to the
bottom, you will see some crazyvideos that actually made that
uh that showcase what our tryingto do and be funny was.
Uh, and I thought they wereabsolutely hilarious.
(43:46):
I'm actually looking to get backinto it a little bit more
because I miss those days.
But I I really appreciate youbeing on Angelica.
It's been really nice talking toyou and kind of getting an idea
from a different side of thecoin.
Guys, if you guys have anyquestions for Angelica, please
hit us up at the show at Pete atthe RTO ShowPodcast.com or on
the website at www.thertoshowpodcast.com.
You can hit us up on any socialmedia platform that's Facebook,
(44:09):
Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTubewhere you're gonna be seeing
this.
Don't forget to click andsubscribe.
You can also go onto the websiteand get some merchandise so you
can look as spiffy as I do withsome RTO gear.
And I will I will definitely hityou guys back up on any DMs that
you hit me up.
I really like the interactionthat we've been doing lately.
And if you guys have any things,you know, some guys that are my
age, I'm like, ask Angelica thisguy.
(44:29):
I really don't know the answerto that one.
We will do that, make sure thatshe uh gets a good response and
get back to you.
Angelica, I really appreciateyour time being on the show, and
I really appreciate you kind ofgiving me some of the insights
that I didn't know.
It's kind of made for aneye-opening thing on some of the
new ways that I could kind ofhelp some of the younger
generations be a part of us foryears to come because Lord
knows, as we time out, we needto have that new fresh blood
(44:51):
come in and kind of get uh therental industry a little fresh
face.
You know what I mean?
So I do appreciate that.
And I will tell you guys asalways, get your collections low
to get your sales high.
Have a great one.
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