July 9, 2025 • 30 mins
In this insightful episode of the ThinkBiz Podcast, we sit down with Jan Steffens, an incredible real estate agent in the Oklahoma City Metroplex, known affectionately as a "Jan of all trades". Jan, a second-generation realtor whose parents were in the business for 50 years, shares her diverse professional journey, from holding a master's degree in education administration to becoming a corporate flight attendant. Discover how Jan developed her unique philosophy of "No Men Required," teaching women practical skills like checking car oil, changing brake pads, and even installing toilets, driven by a desire for independence and to avoid being "taken advantage of at mechanic shops". Learn about her passion for "helping people" and "solving problems" – whether it's through real estate, construction, remodels, or empowering individuals to tackle home repairs themselves using the "University of YouTube". This episode is a testament to the power of "constant learning" and turning your passion into a profession. Tune in for an inspiring conversation on empowerment, self-reliance, and finding your calling!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:01):
Are you
SPEAKER_01 (00:14):
here?
SPEAKER_00 (00:14):
I am.
Well, as often as I can be.
SPEAKER_01 (00:17):
Physically, for sure.
SPEAKER_00 (00:19):
Spiritually may have some other options here.
But good morning, everyone.
It's a wonderful day.
The podcast with Garrett Hammonshimself and someone new for our
podcast.
SPEAKER_02 (00:31):
Yay!
SPEAKER_00 (00:31):
What do we have here today, Garrett?
We have the wonderful, theamazing Jan! Yay! Just Jan.
And, uh...
And by the way, it's noon now,Nolan, so it's no longer morning
time.
Oh, that's right.
SPEAKER_01 (00:48):
Oh, it is.
SPEAKER_00 (00:49):
Good afternoon.
So now we are in morning of themorning, since it has passed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:54):
More morning as in the
SPEAKER_00 (00:55):
different spelling morning.
That's fair.
I still have$20 words to ekeout, so.
Yeah, that's priceless.
So we have Jan Steffen with ustoday.
Yes.
Jan is an incredible real estateagent here in the Oklahoma City
Metroplex and has tons ofexperience in not only real
(01:16):
estate, But all kinds ofdifferent industries.
Yes, I
SPEAKER_01 (01:19):
kind of wear a few different hats.
SPEAKER_00 (01:21):
She's a Jan of all trades.
Yes,
SPEAKER_01 (01:23):
yes.
I'm a Jan of all trades insteadof a Jack of all trades.
SPEAKER_00 (01:26):
That's right.
Well, why don't you tell us justa little bit about who you are
and your story?
What you do?
SPEAKER_01 (01:34):
Well, I have been in the real estate several years,
real estate business.
My parents had a business for 50years.
My dad was a broker.
And so I'm the second generationof realtors.
I do housing and all my realestate through the greater
metropolitan area, but I can.
(01:55):
I did sell a house on the lakeover by Muskogee.
So as realtors in Oklahoma, wecan sell anywhere in the state.
But anyway, I mainly do that,but I have a degree or a
master's degree in educationadministration.
And I taught for a few years,but I felt like that really
(02:16):
wasn't my calling or purpose.
So I do contract work forconstruction.
I do remodels.
And I sew and I do upholstery.
So what else do I do?
I do quite a few differentthings.
I work on my car.
I teach women how to not dependon men, no men required, and
(02:36):
teach them how to check theiroil and check their fluids and
what their PSI is in theirtires.
And I love to do that.
SPEAKER_00 (02:44):
That should be the name of a company.
No men required.
No men
SPEAKER_01 (02:48):
required.
Actually so, and I actuallyteased about that and I was
hired in New York to do aremodel on an apartment and the
girl that hired me keptShouting, no, men required.
No, men required.
And to the point that this mancame up to me and says, if you
need any help, and I go, oh, no,but you're a man.
(03:09):
But no, we love men.
And when I say that, because myson got offended, Jensen did,
and I said, no, you're notunderstanding.
I'm saying that meaning...
that if I empower women to knowhow to do this, they don't have
to, they're not required todepend on a man.
And a lot of times that's nice,especially when he's working,
(03:31):
trying to support the family andshe can go out and figure out
the tire situation or the jump acar or whatever.
And some women are divorced andthey don't have a dad or a
friend around that's male.
And we have this thing insociety where we put a You know,
men should be mechanics, notwomen.
(03:51):
And I'm a shade tree mechanic.
I've changed my alternator anddone stuff like that.
Brake pads all day long.
I can do them in my sleepbecause my boys drove cars and
ran through brake pads.
But yeah, I think empoweringwomen would, not that I wouldn't
love to empower men.
I would teach any of them how tocook if they wanted to.
But yeah, I enjoy teaching womento be able to be a little more
(04:16):
independent, not always have tohave a guy to come and teach
them.
That's
SPEAKER_00 (04:19):
excellent.
And it's almost as though youwere teaching full vertical
integration to women.
Very good.
I like that.
It's not necessarily withoutmen.
It's just making sure that awoman's life is fully vertically
integrated.
SPEAKER_01 (04:29):
Yes, I like that.
SPEAKER_00 (04:31):
Yes.
Well, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:34):
Well, I just found out probably two months ago that
it wasn't until 1974 that awoman could buy a house by
herself.
I mean, that's not that longago.
SPEAKER_02 (04:46):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (04:47):
Or get alone.
You couldn't get alone as awoman.
And I had no idea where thatoppressed.
But because, you know, you'reraised thinking you couldn't do
anything.
And then when you're findingout.
And I just was amazed that, youknow.
We are not built like a man.
We don't have the muscularmakeup as a man.
(05:09):
But there are a lot of women,including me, that enjoy doing
work that men do, like mechanic.
And my motive to learningmechanical stuff was not only to
have two boys that I wentthrough a couple of cars each,
but I also felt like I wasgetting taken advantage of it at
(05:32):
school.
mechanic shops and not allmechanics are dishonest but you
know i felt like i was gettingsold a bill of goods and so when
i was a corporate flightattendant a couple of jet
mechanics taught me just enoughone of them will say to be
dangerous the other one saidjust enough so when i do take my
car in i know whether they'retelling me the truth or not
SPEAKER_00 (05:55):
yeah no that's excellent
SPEAKER_01 (05:56):
and so that was really my knowledge my my desire
to learn about cars was not onlymy son's but mainly because I
see that most mechanics can pullthe wool over a lot of women's
eyes because they have no cluewhat's wrong.
And I thought that was importantto educate women.
I
SPEAKER_00 (06:15):
mentioned 75 to 100 for an oil change is just not
allowed.
No.
That's not okay.
And
SPEAKER_01 (06:20):
also a brake pad job will cost you$400 or$500.
The brake pads cost literally$40to$50.
And that's it.
That's the only thing I pay for.
And it doesn't take long.
No, it doesn't take long at all.
Sometimes you need a specialtool.
O'Reilly's will rent it to youfor free.
I mean, they take a card, butthey don't charge you anything
once you take the tool back tosuppress the piston.
(06:44):
And it's just amazing how youcan learn so much.
And it's simple stuff thatwomen...
I have a degree from theUniversity of YouTube.
I hate to tell you that, butwhen it comes to working on
cars, I've learned a ton.
As a matter of fact, I'm goingto take my transmission apart
this week, and I can't believe Isaid that.
(07:04):
Yeah, but there's a linkage.
There's a solenoid or a linkagethat's come undone.
I'll drive in overdrive, andI'll drive in first and second,
but I can't get it to go tothird gear.
And it is an old truck, and ithas 300,000 miles on it.
But I've taken really good careof it.
And so I'm going to drop thetransmission and see if I can
find what YouTube just taught meand see if I can do it myself.
(07:26):
Well, that's fine.
That's amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (07:28):
So I'm excited.
You've been solving a lot ofpeople's problems for a long
time.
Well, I try.
So the curiosity then is whatmade real estate the next thing
to help solve people's problems?
SPEAKER_01 (07:38):
One, I love helping people.
If I was independently wealthy,just like Sarah said, if I
didn't have bills, I lovehelping people.
If you said, hey, I need yourhelp– Pick out fabric for my mom
for new drapes.
I'd be there.
If you said, hey, can you lookat my brake pads and see if
there's enough meat on them tomake it last another 2,000
miles?
I'd love to go help you.
(07:59):
And I've helped a lot of womenthat have called me, including
some guests that knew I workedon cars.
And there's a misnomer.
If you work on cars...
People think you work onlawnmowers.
They're totally differentbecause one's a small engine,
one's a big engine.
And so she called me over andshe had her lawnmower out there
(08:21):
and I'm like, oh dear, I don'tknow if I can...
help her, but we were able tofigure it out.
It was a gas problem and twobasic things that happen on
cars.
So I was able to help her.
But yeah, I think that you can'tbe afraid to just go in and
tackle it.
SPEAKER_02 (08:37):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (08:38):
I'm not going to tell somebody that I would never
educate somebody and say, okay,now go fix anybody's car.
Start on your own car.
And then if you, but every timeI just did my alternator and you
have to take your serpentinebelt off and pull your tensioner
over and you have to have asecond So I called my neighbor
over and I said, I need you topull on this breaker bar while I
(09:00):
put the surfing team back on.
And he just wasn't giving it awhole lot of pull.
And I said, you got to do itharder.
You got to do it harder.
And I'm at the end, I'm goingharder, harder.
And then I slide it on becausehe could not.
It's hard to do it, you know,and he had no idea.
And he was afraid he was goingto break something, but I got it
on and it all worked out.
SPEAKER_00 (09:20):
There you go.
Yeah.
Well, and all mechanics who maybe listening, turn the podcast
off because you don't need tohear this.
I'm one of those guys that ifyou took me to the wrong
mechanic, they could tell mewhatever they wanted to.
Blinker fluid.
Blinker fluid.
How much do you say it costsagain?
Blinker fluid or a
SPEAKER_01 (09:40):
flux capacitor.
They say either one of those,run.
SPEAKER_00 (09:43):
Run away.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_01 (09:44):
that's where I was.
Well, I really wasn't because Igrew up on a ranch and a farm,
and my dad, we all drove bigmachinery.
We didn't have to work on themor anything, but I knew enough
about, like, When we went off tocollege, two weeks before each
one of us would go off tocollege, he'd take us out and
go, take that tire off.
He'd show us how do you checkyour oil, and he'd make sure we
(10:06):
knew.
And we knew the basics that mostpeople know.
But when I felt like I was kindof getting taken advantage of
and had nicer, more expensivecars, I decided to learn just
enough to know that they'rebeing truthful or not.
SPEAKER_00 (10:22):
Mm-hmm.
So what you mentioned at thebeginning, you have a couple of
different degrees in theeducation field.
How did you go from that pathwayto real estate?
So
SPEAKER_01 (10:34):
I was just telling that in an interview yesterday
for a teaching job.
When I was in college myfreshman year, my aunt was a
kindergarten teacher, and sheasked me to sub for a week to
her half-day job.
maybe seven kindergartners inthis tiny little school.
And I fell in love with thatatmosphere and all that, not
(10:58):
knowing that you might not getseven, you might get 29
SPEAKER_02 (11:01):
or
SPEAKER_01 (11:02):
37.
But anyway, I thought, oh,education is the way to go.
And so I jumped into it and Iworked for a couple of years and
decided I was starving to death.
My dad was still paying my carinsurance because back when I
graduated, it was even way...
You know, we're the...
We're 48th in education inOklahoma, and teacher pay is at
(11:24):
the bottom, too.
We're way, way at the bottom.
And so I went back and got mymaster's degree because that
increases your pay, and that'swhen I met my– The man that I
married, the only man I married,and I had three kids, and I got
to stay at home with them andlearn his business.
And then, unfortunately, after24 years, we divorced.
(11:46):
But I had the master's degree ineducation and all my background
so I could teach and supportmyself.
Not that it's fun to supportyourself.
I do like that about a man.
But anyway, yeah, so I went fromteaching.
I think...
And I've spoken to a lot ofpeople when I was a flight
attendant.
Most everybody on my plane wasnot...
(12:08):
didn't have a degree in theposition they held at that
company.
It was interesting.
I thought I was one of few thatreally didn't follow their
degree.
But, you know, you think youknow.
It's hard to know what you wantto do at 17, 18 years old.
SPEAKER_00 (12:22):
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (12:23):
I mean, I barely could decide what college I
wanted to go to.
Now you want to know what I wantto do the rest of my life?
So that's really tough.
I know kids that have known whatthey want to do since they were
six or seven.
I didn't.
And I still don't know what I'mgoing to do until I grow up.
Yeah, so.
One day I'll find it.
SPEAKER_00 (12:39):
I wanted to be a teacher when I was going through
school and I started substituteteaching and there's just a
whole slew of things thathappened where I was like, Oh, I
don't know if this is for me.
No, it is.
Yeah.
I don't think this is mycalling.
My senior year, I pivoted andthat pivot was basically to
(13:00):
nothing.
Yeah.
So my first job was just liketangentially connected to my
degrees.
Yeah.
I had a degree in politicalscience and communication
studies.
SPEAKER_02 (13:12):
Oh,
SPEAKER_00 (13:12):
wow.
And I got a job at the AmericanChoral Directors Association in
Oklahoma City.
Wow.
Choir teachers from all over theworld.
And I was doing membership work,which is a glorified name for I
answered angry phone calls fromolder members who didn't know
how to log in.
That was what I did all day.
(13:33):
And once you helped them log in.
Man, the conversations you wouldhave were glorious.
But pre-login...
After that.
Were
SPEAKER_01 (13:42):
ugly.
So that's where you got intoyour first thing with being
techie.
SPEAKER_00 (13:48):
Yes.
Yeah.
Well, so they basically, for me,they were like...
Oh, Garrett's young.
He can do social media.
So they gave me all the socialmedia and it just kept on
snowballing from there.
And you
SPEAKER_01 (14:01):
enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_00 (14:01):
I enjoyed it.
And that's what I found out is Ipicked up the things I liked and
I got rid of the stuff I didn'tlike.
And it sounds like that's kindof the pathway you've gone with
a lot of stuff.
But one question we always liketo ask is, you know, you're very
good at what you do now.
But inevitably inside of ourcareers, we have these moments
(14:24):
where it's like we hit a speedbump that are learning lessons.
What are one of those moments inyour life where you would want
to tell the future Jans of thereal estate industry, watch out
for this?
SPEAKER_01 (14:39):
Well, I think off the top of my head, I have
always felt that, and I'm sureit's the way I was raised, but
I've always felt that everybody,Everybody walking this earth has
redeeming qualities.
And I actually, a few years ago,met two people that I spent four
years working close to theirbusinesses.
(15:02):
And there are people that don'thave any redeeming qualities.
I mean, I'm sure they're there,but as deep as I could dig as an
outsider, I'm like, you know, Imean, all I know to do is pray
for the guys because I keepthinking, how do you live your
life so jaded?
I guess it's a word.
But in that, for every two ofthose in my lifetime, I've met a
(15:27):
million people that if you don'tprejudge and you just listen, I
think that's why God gave us twoears and one mouth is because we
should listen more.
And I'm guilty of not.
But I really think, and I'm kindof doing a weave, like, Trump
does.
But I really think that I lovehelping people.
(15:51):
I love helping people.
And not in a, hey, attaboy, Janway.
I love to solve problems forpeople.
So if they have a car problem orthey have a real estate problem,
I think that's where I go whenI...
And I don't even know if I'mreally answering your question
properly, but I think that'swhat
SPEAKER_00 (16:12):
I think.
All answers are welcome here.
I think it is that curiosity,though, because I have a lot of
young professionals that come tome and they do say the same
things that you do.
I just want to help people.
SPEAKER_01 (16:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:23):
It's a problem.
They're not making money.
SPEAKER_01 (16:26):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (16:26):
Just by wanting to help.
SPEAKER_01 (16:27):
No, and you can't make money unless you.
You turn it into a profession.
SPEAKER_00 (16:31):
Correct.
And so that's kind of thecuriosity then is how have you
taken all of the skills thatyou've developed and all of the
learning that you have behindthe immense amount of competency
that Jan has?
How would you kind of packagethat and tell a new young
professional that truly doesn'tknow what they want to do?
Right.
Their degree is not what theynow have a job in.
What would you tell them tofocus on in order to just A, get
(16:54):
the bills paid?
SPEAKER_01 (16:54):
Right.
I think you have to think aboutif your passion is helping other
people, you know, that's one ofmy passions.
I have other passions, butthat's one of them, especially
the underdog or somebody that'sgetting bullied.
But if I was talking to a youngprofessional and they said, oh,
I did this in this degree and Idon't like it, the first
(17:15):
question I would ask him is,what wakes you up in the
morning?
What do you like to do?
What do you like to do as ahobby?
When I filed for divorce, we– Ileft the big home with pool and
everything, and we had bought ahouse in Norman for the kids to
go to college there.
And I moved down there, and Inoticed, you know, because I'd
(17:37):
lived in beautiful homes, thebaseboards don't match.
And then I started, I mean, itwas a$100,000 house, but it was
perfect for our kids, you know,because colleges don't take care
of houses.
And so I started literallyYouTubing.
How to cut a board at a mitercorner.
And to the point I havethousands of dollars worth of
(17:57):
tools now and can do baseboardsand trim and hang doors and do
sheetrock.
But I start and I kept I wasteaching by day to pay the bills
and I would go home and work onthat.
ugly house that was a rentalhouse for 30 years, 40 years.
But we bought it and then wedidn't realize how trash it was.
(18:18):
I did everything from paintingthe entire outside, rebuilt the
chimney.
I did stuff I never thought Icould do, but I found it
therapeutic.
So that's what I'd say.
What do you do besides watch TVthat you think is therapeutic?
Or, you know, what do you do?
Do you have a hobby?
Do you have anything?
And if you can turn your passioninto your profession, It's the
(18:40):
best thing ever.
And my passion is helpingpeople.
My profession is I do doconstruction and there's a lot
of women that live alone.
And I go, Hey, my worst habit, Ithink is when we, I take one of
my clients through a house andshe goes, I really like this
house, but I don't.
We can take care of it.
That's my first thing I think ofis, we can tear that down.
(19:01):
Whether it's weight-bearing ornot, we can put the support up
and do it.
And I got to quit doing thatbecause it's a little overboard.
And we can take care of that.
But cosmetically, there's a lotof things that I say, that's not
a big deal.
That's not a big deal.
That's not a big deal.
And I have had clients that willsay, will you teach me what I
(19:23):
need to know to fix my house.
And that's what I love.
And I actually had a CPA.
His wife called me and go, myhusband wants to know if you'll
show her, show him how toinstall a toilet.
And I go, well, of course Iwould, but why does he need to
know?
He doesn't want to have toalways hire somebody to do
things.
And that's exactly what I, whenI want to do it on my time, I
(19:44):
can do it.
And I, and I had, I only, I, Ionly learned how to install
toilets because the contractordidn't show up.
I thought, oh, well.
I YouTubed it, installed myfirst toilet, and I've probably
done 50 toilets.
Wow.
From a hole in the floor toinstalling them.
And now I can do them in about20 minutes, but
SPEAKER_00 (20:03):
I don't mind them at all.
I know this might be a weirdfascination, but the industry of
toilets, it is fascinating tome.
Like overseas, there's like...
multi-thousand dollar toiletsthat are like, have robot voices
that'll talk to you.
Oh, yeah.
And I'm like, how has thatbecome such a big thing?
SPEAKER_01 (20:23):
No, traveling abroad, I was in Dubai and New
York is pretty heavy on this.
Everywhere in Europe, they havea bidet or not a bidet, but a
bidet that hooks onto the toiletor they have like a water supply
over here.
And Dubai, I'm amazed at, Ithink we're the cleanest country
(20:44):
in the world, but obviouslywe're not because we don't have
that many bidets.
Anyway, the outside of us looksreally clean.
But yes, toilets, there is somevery expensive toilets.
SPEAKER_00 (20:56):
Yeah, this is wild to me.
I won't, you know, flush thepodcast down this pathway.
But it's great to really puttogether the whole fact of you
solved your own problems.
I think that's the main lessonto take from all of this is you
just said, Oh, somebody elseisn't doing their job.
(21:19):
Right.
So I will do it myself.
Right.
And that also links into, again,doing real estate.
There's so many other industriesthat link into what you do.
SPEAKER_01 (21:27):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (21:28):
What can you also tell entrepreneurs and new home
buyers or new realtors about allof those other industries that
they need to be aware of and payattention to?
SPEAKER_01 (21:37):
Well, I think one of the things that us as realtors
can do is offer, um, uh, peopleto call, especially people that
move from out of town.
But if, if I could, you know,supply them with a list of
people like you guys and thepeople in our network that can
help them with their tile orhelp, you know, as a new
homeowner.
(21:57):
But I think overall, um, I'm notsure how I want to answer this
because I think as a realtor,um, I want to develop a
relationship with that clientthat they feel free, even if I
haven't talked to them in a yearor two.
Hey, Jan, I'm having troublewith this.
(22:18):
I mean, I want to be there, butI want to give them the tools to
be able to help themselves andnot feel like, I'm sorry, I
don't mean to bother you.
Nobody bothers me.
If I can help you, you're notbothering me.
It might be bad timing because Ihave my grandson and he's being
a little turd or something, butnobody bugs me when they want
(22:39):
help.
I I want to help people.
And I'm not saying that as I'mthis wonderful person that wants
to help people.
I have struggled.
And the right people have shownup, you know, to help me or make
decisions for me.
And that means the world,especially when they'll, hey, if
you want to come over or if youlet me come over, I'll help you
(22:59):
do it and show you how to do it.
I love that.
Because when we empowerourselves to do things, even
though we might not like them, Idon't want to make a career out
of it.
installing toilets, but I can ifI need to.
SPEAKER_02 (23:12):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (23:13):
If my brake pads are bad and my bank account's low, I
can.
I can do my own brake pads.
I change my oil and do all that.
So when we empower people, theyget to decide what they, you
know, I always say it depends ifI have more money at the time or
more time or more money or moretime.
If I have more time, then I'mgoing to do it myself.
(23:35):
If I have more money, I mightpay to have it done.
You know, just depends where mybank account looks like that,
that month.
But I think it's important thatwe, I mean, everybody has gifts
that they do well in.
And, um, like I'm not going torun electrical lines.
I hate being, uh, shocked makesme so angry, but I'm not going
(23:58):
to run row max and set up youknow, electricity like Lou, uh,
Louise does.
Um, I'm not going to doplumbing.
I mean, I'll do the basic, likecheck, change out a trap or, or
handles on it, but I'm not goingto run PEC line.
I'm not going to do all thatstuff because it's not, I would,
(24:18):
if I had to, If I'm in a thirdworld country and I have to, but
I don't enjoy that.
And I, I want to give it to theprofessionals.
And so I think I know where mylimits are, but I don't, put a
lot of limits on myself becauseI think, I mean, I've crawled up
on a roof and fixed shingles andsecured the flashing and the tar
around a fireplace chimney.
(24:41):
And I'm not above doinganything.
I feel like we all need to behumble enough that if we have to
dig a ditch or clean a toilet,we're willing to do so.
And I am that person.
By all means, I'm not betterthan anyone else.
I just think that empoweringourselves to fix things and do
things for other Not only helpsyourself and saves you money,
(25:04):
but it also helps others thatmight be in that bind and they
can't afford to fix it.
SPEAKER_00 (25:09):
Well, and I think one common theme here to be able
to pull from all that you'resharing is that your pattern of
just constant learning in orderto be able to find the solutions
that you need and then sharingthat with others has created not
only And I think
SPEAKER_01 (25:34):
that's so important to try to, like I just said, to
make people's worlds bigger, nottrying to shrink their world,
but make it bigger where, and alot of people would know, I
would never do that.
I don't know how to do that.
Well, I didn't either.
But guess what?
When your back's against thewall and you really don't have a
choice or you might not have thefunds in your bank account to do
(25:55):
it.
And I'm not telling you to goout and go buy an HVAC and
install it.
But I did learn how to run allthe ventilation in an attic and
did it for a guy because nobodywas there to do it.
And I said, I'll try.
I'll see what I can do.
I YouTubed it.
I looked up a few things onlineand I went up and did it.
And it took me four hours to runall the ducting from the furnace
(26:19):
to all the ventilation andsecure them.
And if you feel like Rocky atthe top of that stairway, you
do.
Even on ventilation in an attic,you feel like Rocky.
It's just so cool to know I didthat.
I did that.
And I can do that.
(26:40):
If I need to do it, do I want tocrawl up in attics and do that?
No, I don't.
But will I?
Absolutely.
If we're willing to do somethingand we're not above that, I
think that's where doors openfor you to help other people.
And that's my goal is to helpother people.
And I think that's where Iprobably went into education.
My thought process was differentat such a young age.
(27:04):
I mean, I still love to teachpeople, but not necessarily
reading and math and that stuff.
It's more life things, you know?
SPEAKER_00 (27:13):
Well, and honestly...
I think you have like a futurecareer in motivational speaking.
I feel inspired.
Well,
SPEAKER_01 (27:21):
I don't know about that, but I do love to motivate
people.
For some reason, I can'tmotivate my boys, but I can
motivate everybody else.
Well, you know, they don't everlisten to their parents.
I can get my friend to tellthem, and they'll go, oh, okay.
I'll go, I told them that
SPEAKER_00 (27:36):
yesterday.
I mean– Boys are just stinkers,though.
Yeah, they are.
They're ornery.
You got
SPEAKER_01 (27:42):
to love them, but they're ornery.
SPEAKER_00 (27:44):
I am.
I am very ornery.
And I'm one of the people whoare of the philosophy, you know,
no boys need it.
Yeah.
Yeah, no boys know me.
Boys optional.
UNKNOWN (27:54):
Yeah.
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (27:56):
Men are optional.
There you go.
SPEAKER_00 (27:57):
Well, this has been such a fantastic time talking to
you.
Yeah, me too.
The time goes by so fast.
SPEAKER_01 (28:03):
I know.
SPEAKER_00 (28:04):
Tell us a little bit about if somebody were to try
and find you after hearing thepodcast Where could they look up
and find
SPEAKER_01 (28:11):
you?
So I work for KBB Real Estate.
My name is Jan Stephan.
And I have a Facebook page.
You can message me on theFacebook or you can call me.
And my phone number is...
Ericode 405.
No, sorry.
I have an out-of-town Ericodebecause I lived in Houston three
(28:34):
years.
But the rest of my life has beenin Oklahoma.
And I was in aviation inHouston.
But it's 713-754-0029.
And my email address is jan atjanstephan.com.
SPEAKER_00 (28:50):
Excellent.
It's been wonderful to have youhere.
You are another testament to howawesome all the people in our
network are.
Always a pleasure to see youevery week.
Thank
SPEAKER_01 (28:58):
you, guys.
You guys are great hosts on this
SPEAKER_00 (29:00):
Think Biz.
SPEAKER_01 (29:02):
I love it.
SPEAKER_00 (29:02):
Thank you so much.
And we do have a littletradition to end off our
podcast.
So, Jan, if you would help usout, do you remember our jingle?
SPEAKER_01 (29:09):
No.
I don't remember it.
SPEAKER_00 (29:10):
So we will say stay sharp and we'll have our guests
say think biz.
So that's you today.
You'll say the think biz.
Okay.
So everyone, remember this week,stay sharp.
SPEAKER_01 (29:22):
And think biz.
Are you
SPEAKER_01 (00:14):
here?
SPEAKER_00 (00:14):
I am.
Well, as often as I can be.
SPEAKER_01 (00:17):
Physically, for sure.
SPEAKER_00 (00:19):
Spiritually may have some other options here.
But good morning, everyone.
It's a wonderful day.
The podcast with Garrett Hammonshimself and someone new for our
podcast.
SPEAKER_02 (00:31):
Yay!
SPEAKER_00 (00:31):
What do we have here today, Garrett?
We have the wonderful, theamazing Jan! Yay! Just Jan.
And, uh...
And by the way, it's noon now,Nolan, so it's no longer morning
time.
Oh, that's right.
SPEAKER_01 (00:48):
Oh, it is.
SPEAKER_00 (00:49):
Good afternoon.
So now we are in morning of themorning, since it has passed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:54):
More morning as in the
SPEAKER_00 (00:55):
different spelling morning.
That's fair.
I still have$20 words to ekeout, so.
Yeah, that's priceless.
So we have Jan Steffen with ustoday.
Yes.
Jan is an incredible real estateagent here in the Oklahoma City
Metroplex and has tons ofexperience in not only real
(01:16):
estate, But all kinds ofdifferent industries.
Yes, I
SPEAKER_01 (01:19):
kind of wear a few different hats.
SPEAKER_00 (01:21):
She's a Jan of all trades.
Yes,
SPEAKER_01 (01:23):
yes.
I'm a Jan of all trades insteadof a Jack of all trades.
SPEAKER_00 (01:26):
That's right.
Well, why don't you tell us justa little bit about who you are
and your story?
What you do?
SPEAKER_01 (01:34):
Well, I have been in the real estate several years,
real estate business.
My parents had a business for 50years.
My dad was a broker.
And so I'm the second generationof realtors.
I do housing and all my realestate through the greater
metropolitan area, but I can.
(01:55):
I did sell a house on the lakeover by Muskogee.
So as realtors in Oklahoma, wecan sell anywhere in the state.
But anyway, I mainly do that,but I have a degree or a
master's degree in educationadministration.
And I taught for a few years,but I felt like that really
(02:16):
wasn't my calling or purpose.
So I do contract work forconstruction.
I do remodels.
And I sew and I do upholstery.
So what else do I do?
I do quite a few differentthings.
I work on my car.
I teach women how to not dependon men, no men required, and
(02:36):
teach them how to check theiroil and check their fluids and
what their PSI is in theirtires.
And I love to do that.
SPEAKER_00 (02:44):
That should be the name of a company.
No men required.
No men
SPEAKER_01 (02:48):
required.
Actually so, and I actuallyteased about that and I was
hired in New York to do aremodel on an apartment and the
girl that hired me keptShouting, no, men required.
No, men required.
And to the point that this mancame up to me and says, if you
need any help, and I go, oh, no,but you're a man.
(03:09):
But no, we love men.
And when I say that, because myson got offended, Jensen did,
and I said, no, you're notunderstanding.
I'm saying that meaning...
that if I empower women to knowhow to do this, they don't have
to, they're not required todepend on a man.
And a lot of times that's nice,especially when he's working,
(03:31):
trying to support the family andshe can go out and figure out
the tire situation or the jump acar or whatever.
And some women are divorced andthey don't have a dad or a
friend around that's male.
And we have this thing insociety where we put a You know,
men should be mechanics, notwomen.
(03:51):
And I'm a shade tree mechanic.
I've changed my alternator anddone stuff like that.
Brake pads all day long.
I can do them in my sleepbecause my boys drove cars and
ran through brake pads.
But yeah, I think empoweringwomen would, not that I wouldn't
love to empower men.
I would teach any of them how tocook if they wanted to.
But yeah, I enjoy teaching womento be able to be a little more
(04:16):
independent, not always have tohave a guy to come and teach
them.
That's
SPEAKER_00 (04:19):
excellent.
And it's almost as though youwere teaching full vertical
integration to women.
Very good.
I like that.
It's not necessarily withoutmen.
It's just making sure that awoman's life is fully vertically
integrated.
SPEAKER_01 (04:29):
Yes, I like that.
SPEAKER_00 (04:31):
Yes.
Well, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:34):
Well, I just found out probably two months ago that
it wasn't until 1974 that awoman could buy a house by
herself.
I mean, that's not that longago.
SPEAKER_02 (04:46):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (04:47):
Or get alone.
You couldn't get alone as awoman.
And I had no idea where thatoppressed.
But because, you know, you'reraised thinking you couldn't do
anything.
And then when you're findingout.
And I just was amazed that, youknow.
We are not built like a man.
We don't have the muscularmakeup as a man.
(05:09):
But there are a lot of women,including me, that enjoy doing
work that men do, like mechanic.
And my motive to learningmechanical stuff was not only to
have two boys that I wentthrough a couple of cars each,
but I also felt like I wasgetting taken advantage of it at
(05:32):
school.
mechanic shops and not allmechanics are dishonest but you
know i felt like i was gettingsold a bill of goods and so when
i was a corporate flightattendant a couple of jet
mechanics taught me just enoughone of them will say to be
dangerous the other one saidjust enough so when i do take my
car in i know whether they'retelling me the truth or not
SPEAKER_00 (05:55):
yeah no that's excellent
SPEAKER_01 (05:56):
and so that was really my knowledge my my desire
to learn about cars was not onlymy son's but mainly because I
see that most mechanics can pullthe wool over a lot of women's
eyes because they have no cluewhat's wrong.
And I thought that was importantto educate women.
I
SPEAKER_00 (06:15):
mentioned 75 to 100 for an oil change is just not
allowed.
No.
That's not okay.
And
SPEAKER_01 (06:20):
also a brake pad job will cost you$400 or$500.
The brake pads cost literally$40to$50.
And that's it.
That's the only thing I pay for.
And it doesn't take long.
No, it doesn't take long at all.
Sometimes you need a specialtool.
O'Reilly's will rent it to youfor free.
I mean, they take a card, butthey don't charge you anything
once you take the tool back tosuppress the piston.
(06:44):
And it's just amazing how youcan learn so much.
And it's simple stuff thatwomen...
I have a degree from theUniversity of YouTube.
I hate to tell you that, butwhen it comes to working on
cars, I've learned a ton.
As a matter of fact, I'm goingto take my transmission apart
this week, and I can't believe Isaid that.
(07:04):
Yeah, but there's a linkage.
There's a solenoid or a linkagethat's come undone.
I'll drive in overdrive, andI'll drive in first and second,
but I can't get it to go tothird gear.
And it is an old truck, and ithas 300,000 miles on it.
But I've taken really good careof it.
And so I'm going to drop thetransmission and see if I can
find what YouTube just taught meand see if I can do it myself.
(07:26):
Well, that's fine.
That's amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (07:28):
So I'm excited.
You've been solving a lot ofpeople's problems for a long
time.
Well, I try.
So the curiosity then is whatmade real estate the next thing
to help solve people's problems?
SPEAKER_01 (07:38):
One, I love helping people.
If I was independently wealthy,just like Sarah said, if I
didn't have bills, I lovehelping people.
If you said, hey, I need yourhelp– Pick out fabric for my mom
for new drapes.
I'd be there.
If you said, hey, can you lookat my brake pads and see if
there's enough meat on them tomake it last another 2,000
miles?
I'd love to go help you.
(07:59):
And I've helped a lot of womenthat have called me, including
some guests that knew I workedon cars.
And there's a misnomer.
If you work on cars...
People think you work onlawnmowers.
They're totally differentbecause one's a small engine,
one's a big engine.
And so she called me over andshe had her lawnmower out there
(08:21):
and I'm like, oh dear, I don'tknow if I can...
help her, but we were able tofigure it out.
It was a gas problem and twobasic things that happen on
cars.
So I was able to help her.
But yeah, I think that you can'tbe afraid to just go in and
tackle it.
SPEAKER_02 (08:37):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (08:38):
I'm not going to tell somebody that I would never
educate somebody and say, okay,now go fix anybody's car.
Start on your own car.
And then if you, but every timeI just did my alternator and you
have to take your serpentinebelt off and pull your tensioner
over and you have to have asecond So I called my neighbor
over and I said, I need you topull on this breaker bar while I
(09:00):
put the surfing team back on.
And he just wasn't giving it awhole lot of pull.
And I said, you got to do itharder.
You got to do it harder.
And I'm at the end, I'm goingharder, harder.
And then I slide it on becausehe could not.
It's hard to do it, you know,and he had no idea.
And he was afraid he was goingto break something, but I got it
on and it all worked out.
SPEAKER_00 (09:20):
There you go.
Yeah.
Well, and all mechanics who maybe listening, turn the podcast
off because you don't need tohear this.
I'm one of those guys that ifyou took me to the wrong
mechanic, they could tell mewhatever they wanted to.
Blinker fluid.
Blinker fluid.
How much do you say it costsagain?
Blinker fluid or a
SPEAKER_01 (09:40):
flux capacitor.
They say either one of those,run.
SPEAKER_00 (09:43):
Run away.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_01 (09:44):
that's where I was.
Well, I really wasn't because Igrew up on a ranch and a farm,
and my dad, we all drove bigmachinery.
We didn't have to work on themor anything, but I knew enough
about, like, When we went off tocollege, two weeks before each
one of us would go off tocollege, he'd take us out and
go, take that tire off.
He'd show us how do you checkyour oil, and he'd make sure we
(10:06):
knew.
And we knew the basics that mostpeople know.
But when I felt like I was kindof getting taken advantage of
and had nicer, more expensivecars, I decided to learn just
enough to know that they'rebeing truthful or not.
SPEAKER_00 (10:22):
Mm-hmm.
So what you mentioned at thebeginning, you have a couple of
different degrees in theeducation field.
How did you go from that pathwayto real estate?
So
SPEAKER_01 (10:34):
I was just telling that in an interview yesterday
for a teaching job.
When I was in college myfreshman year, my aunt was a
kindergarten teacher, and sheasked me to sub for a week to
her half-day job.
maybe seven kindergartners inthis tiny little school.
And I fell in love with thatatmosphere and all that, not
(10:58):
knowing that you might not getseven, you might get 29
SPEAKER_02 (11:01):
or
SPEAKER_01 (11:02):
37.
But anyway, I thought, oh,education is the way to go.
And so I jumped into it and Iworked for a couple of years and
decided I was starving to death.
My dad was still paying my carinsurance because back when I
graduated, it was even way...
You know, we're the...
We're 48th in education inOklahoma, and teacher pay is at
(11:24):
the bottom, too.
We're way, way at the bottom.
And so I went back and got mymaster's degree because that
increases your pay, and that'swhen I met my– The man that I
married, the only man I married,and I had three kids, and I got
to stay at home with them andlearn his business.
And then, unfortunately, after24 years, we divorced.
(11:46):
But I had the master's degree ineducation and all my background
so I could teach and supportmyself.
Not that it's fun to supportyourself.
I do like that about a man.
But anyway, yeah, so I went fromteaching.
I think...
And I've spoken to a lot ofpeople when I was a flight
attendant.
Most everybody on my plane wasnot...
(12:08):
didn't have a degree in theposition they held at that
company.
It was interesting.
I thought I was one of few thatreally didn't follow their
degree.
But, you know, you think youknow.
It's hard to know what you wantto do at 17, 18 years old.
SPEAKER_00 (12:22):
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (12:23):
I mean, I barely could decide what college I
wanted to go to.
Now you want to know what I wantto do the rest of my life?
So that's really tough.
I know kids that have known whatthey want to do since they were
six or seven.
I didn't.
And I still don't know what I'mgoing to do until I grow up.
Yeah, so.
One day I'll find it.
SPEAKER_00 (12:39):
I wanted to be a teacher when I was going through
school and I started substituteteaching and there's just a
whole slew of things thathappened where I was like, Oh, I
don't know if this is for me.
No, it is.
Yeah.
I don't think this is mycalling.
My senior year, I pivoted andthat pivot was basically to
(13:00):
nothing.
Yeah.
So my first job was just liketangentially connected to my
degrees.
Yeah.
I had a degree in politicalscience and communication
studies.
SPEAKER_02 (13:12):
Oh,
SPEAKER_00 (13:12):
wow.
And I got a job at the AmericanChoral Directors Association in
Oklahoma City.
Wow.
Choir teachers from all over theworld.
And I was doing membership work,which is a glorified name for I
answered angry phone calls fromolder members who didn't know
how to log in.
That was what I did all day.
(13:33):
And once you helped them log in.
Man, the conversations you wouldhave were glorious.
But pre-login...
After that.
Were
SPEAKER_01 (13:42):
ugly.
So that's where you got intoyour first thing with being
techie.
SPEAKER_00 (13:48):
Yes.
Yeah.
Well, so they basically, for me,they were like...
Oh, Garrett's young.
He can do social media.
So they gave me all the socialmedia and it just kept on
snowballing from there.
And you
SPEAKER_01 (14:01):
enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_00 (14:01):
I enjoyed it.
And that's what I found out is Ipicked up the things I liked and
I got rid of the stuff I didn'tlike.
And it sounds like that's kindof the pathway you've gone with
a lot of stuff.
But one question we always liketo ask is, you know, you're very
good at what you do now.
But inevitably inside of ourcareers, we have these moments
(14:24):
where it's like we hit a speedbump that are learning lessons.
What are one of those moments inyour life where you would want
to tell the future Jans of thereal estate industry, watch out
for this?
SPEAKER_01 (14:39):
Well, I think off the top of my head, I have
always felt that, and I'm sureit's the way I was raised, but
I've always felt that everybody,Everybody walking this earth has
redeeming qualities.
And I actually, a few years ago,met two people that I spent four
years working close to theirbusinesses.
(15:02):
And there are people that don'thave any redeeming qualities.
I mean, I'm sure they're there,but as deep as I could dig as an
outsider, I'm like, you know, Imean, all I know to do is pray
for the guys because I keepthinking, how do you live your
life so jaded?
I guess it's a word.
But in that, for every two ofthose in my lifetime, I've met a
(15:27):
million people that if you don'tprejudge and you just listen, I
think that's why God gave us twoears and one mouth is because we
should listen more.
And I'm guilty of not.
But I really think, and I'm kindof doing a weave, like, Trump
does.
But I really think that I lovehelping people.
(15:51):
I love helping people.
And not in a, hey, attaboy, Janway.
I love to solve problems forpeople.
So if they have a car problem orthey have a real estate problem,
I think that's where I go whenI...
And I don't even know if I'mreally answering your question
properly, but I think that'swhat
SPEAKER_00 (16:12):
I think.
All answers are welcome here.
I think it is that curiosity,though, because I have a lot of
young professionals that come tome and they do say the same
things that you do.
I just want to help people.
SPEAKER_01 (16:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:23):
It's a problem.
They're not making money.
SPEAKER_01 (16:26):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (16:26):
Just by wanting to help.
SPEAKER_01 (16:27):
No, and you can't make money unless you.
You turn it into a profession.
SPEAKER_00 (16:31):
Correct.
And so that's kind of thecuriosity then is how have you
taken all of the skills thatyou've developed and all of the
learning that you have behindthe immense amount of competency
that Jan has?
How would you kind of packagethat and tell a new young
professional that truly doesn'tknow what they want to do?
Right.
Their degree is not what theynow have a job in.
What would you tell them tofocus on in order to just A, get
(16:54):
the bills paid?
SPEAKER_01 (16:54):
Right.
I think you have to think aboutif your passion is helping other
people, you know, that's one ofmy passions.
I have other passions, butthat's one of them, especially
the underdog or somebody that'sgetting bullied.
But if I was talking to a youngprofessional and they said, oh,
I did this in this degree and Idon't like it, the first
(17:15):
question I would ask him is,what wakes you up in the
morning?
What do you like to do?
What do you like to do as ahobby?
When I filed for divorce, we– Ileft the big home with pool and
everything, and we had bought ahouse in Norman for the kids to
go to college there.
And I moved down there, and Inoticed, you know, because I'd
(17:37):
lived in beautiful homes, thebaseboards don't match.
And then I started, I mean, itwas a$100,000 house, but it was
perfect for our kids, you know,because colleges don't take care
of houses.
And so I started literallyYouTubing.
How to cut a board at a mitercorner.
And to the point I havethousands of dollars worth of
(17:57):
tools now and can do baseboardsand trim and hang doors and do
sheetrock.
But I start and I kept I wasteaching by day to pay the bills
and I would go home and work onthat.
ugly house that was a rentalhouse for 30 years, 40 years.
But we bought it and then wedidn't realize how trash it was.
(18:18):
I did everything from paintingthe entire outside, rebuilt the
chimney.
I did stuff I never thought Icould do, but I found it
therapeutic.
So that's what I'd say.
What do you do besides watch TVthat you think is therapeutic?
Or, you know, what do you do?
Do you have a hobby?
Do you have anything?
And if you can turn your passioninto your profession, It's the
(18:40):
best thing ever.
And my passion is helpingpeople.
My profession is I do doconstruction and there's a lot
of women that live alone.
And I go, Hey, my worst habit, Ithink is when we, I take one of
my clients through a house andshe goes, I really like this
house, but I don't.
We can take care of it.
That's my first thing I think ofis, we can tear that down.
(19:01):
Whether it's weight-bearing ornot, we can put the support up
and do it.
And I got to quit doing thatbecause it's a little overboard.
And we can take care of that.
But cosmetically, there's a lotof things that I say, that's not
a big deal.
That's not a big deal.
That's not a big deal.
And I have had clients that willsay, will you teach me what I
(19:23):
need to know to fix my house.
And that's what I love.
And I actually had a CPA.
His wife called me and go, myhusband wants to know if you'll
show her, show him how toinstall a toilet.
And I go, well, of course Iwould, but why does he need to
know?
He doesn't want to have toalways hire somebody to do
things.
And that's exactly what I, whenI want to do it on my time, I
(19:44):
can do it.
And I, and I had, I only, I, Ionly learned how to install
toilets because the contractordidn't show up.
I thought, oh, well.
I YouTubed it, installed myfirst toilet, and I've probably
done 50 toilets.
Wow.
From a hole in the floor toinstalling them.
And now I can do them in about20 minutes, but
SPEAKER_00 (20:03):
I don't mind them at all.
I know this might be a weirdfascination, but the industry of
toilets, it is fascinating tome.
Like overseas, there's like...
multi-thousand dollar toiletsthat are like, have robot voices
that'll talk to you.
Oh, yeah.
And I'm like, how has thatbecome such a big thing?
SPEAKER_01 (20:23):
No, traveling abroad, I was in Dubai and New
York is pretty heavy on this.
Everywhere in Europe, they havea bidet or not a bidet, but a
bidet that hooks onto the toiletor they have like a water supply
over here.
And Dubai, I'm amazed at, Ithink we're the cleanest country
(20:44):
in the world, but obviouslywe're not because we don't have
that many bidets.
Anyway, the outside of us looksreally clean.
But yes, toilets, there is somevery expensive toilets.
SPEAKER_00 (20:56):
Yeah, this is wild to me.
I won't, you know, flush thepodcast down this pathway.
But it's great to really puttogether the whole fact of you
solved your own problems.
I think that's the main lessonto take from all of this is you
just said, Oh, somebody elseisn't doing their job.
(21:19):
Right.
So I will do it myself.
Right.
And that also links into, again,doing real estate.
There's so many other industriesthat link into what you do.
SPEAKER_01 (21:27):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (21:28):
What can you also tell entrepreneurs and new home
buyers or new realtors about allof those other industries that
they need to be aware of and payattention to?
SPEAKER_01 (21:37):
Well, I think one of the things that us as realtors
can do is offer, um, uh, peopleto call, especially people that
move from out of town.
But if, if I could, you know,supply them with a list of
people like you guys and thepeople in our network that can
help them with their tile orhelp, you know, as a new
homeowner.
(21:57):
But I think overall, um, I'm notsure how I want to answer this
because I think as a realtor,um, I want to develop a
relationship with that clientthat they feel free, even if I
haven't talked to them in a yearor two.
Hey, Jan, I'm having troublewith this.
(22:18):
I mean, I want to be there, butI want to give them the tools to
be able to help themselves andnot feel like, I'm sorry, I
don't mean to bother you.
Nobody bothers me.
If I can help you, you're notbothering me.
It might be bad timing because Ihave my grandson and he's being
a little turd or something, butnobody bugs me when they want
(22:39):
help.
I I want to help people.
And I'm not saying that as I'mthis wonderful person that wants
to help people.
I have struggled.
And the right people have shownup, you know, to help me or make
decisions for me.
And that means the world,especially when they'll, hey, if
you want to come over or if youlet me come over, I'll help you
(22:59):
do it and show you how to do it.
I love that.
Because when we empowerourselves to do things, even
though we might not like them, Idon't want to make a career out
of it.
installing toilets, but I can ifI need to.
SPEAKER_02 (23:12):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (23:13):
If my brake pads are bad and my bank account's low, I
can.
I can do my own brake pads.
I change my oil and do all that.
So when we empower people, theyget to decide what they, you
know, I always say it depends ifI have more money at the time or
more time or more money or moretime.
If I have more time, then I'mgoing to do it myself.
(23:35):
If I have more money, I mightpay to have it done.
You know, just depends where mybank account looks like that,
that month.
But I think it's important thatwe, I mean, everybody has gifts
that they do well in.
And, um, like I'm not going torun electrical lines.
I hate being, uh, shocked makesme so angry, but I'm not going
(23:58):
to run row max and set up youknow, electricity like Lou, uh,
Louise does.
Um, I'm not going to doplumbing.
I mean, I'll do the basic, likecheck, change out a trap or, or
handles on it, but I'm not goingto run PEC line.
I'm not going to do all thatstuff because it's not, I would,
(24:18):
if I had to, If I'm in a thirdworld country and I have to, but
I don't enjoy that.
And I, I want to give it to theprofessionals.
And so I think I know where mylimits are, but I don't, put a
lot of limits on myself becauseI think, I mean, I've crawled up
on a roof and fixed shingles andsecured the flashing and the tar
around a fireplace chimney.
(24:41):
And I'm not above doinganything.
I feel like we all need to behumble enough that if we have to
dig a ditch or clean a toilet,we're willing to do so.
And I am that person.
By all means, I'm not betterthan anyone else.
I just think that empoweringourselves to fix things and do
things for other Not only helpsyourself and saves you money,
(25:04):
but it also helps others thatmight be in that bind and they
can't afford to fix it.
SPEAKER_00 (25:09):
Well, and I think one common theme here to be able
to pull from all that you'resharing is that your pattern of
just constant learning in orderto be able to find the solutions
that you need and then sharingthat with others has created not
only And I think
SPEAKER_01 (25:34):
that's so important to try to, like I just said, to
make people's worlds bigger, nottrying to shrink their world,
but make it bigger where, and alot of people would know, I
would never do that.
I don't know how to do that.
Well, I didn't either.
But guess what?
When your back's against thewall and you really don't have a
choice or you might not have thefunds in your bank account to do
(25:55):
it.
And I'm not telling you to goout and go buy an HVAC and
install it.
But I did learn how to run allthe ventilation in an attic and
did it for a guy because nobodywas there to do it.
And I said, I'll try.
I'll see what I can do.
I YouTubed it.
I looked up a few things onlineand I went up and did it.
And it took me four hours to runall the ducting from the furnace
(26:19):
to all the ventilation andsecure them.
And if you feel like Rocky atthe top of that stairway, you
do.
Even on ventilation in an attic,you feel like Rocky.
It's just so cool to know I didthat.
I did that.
And I can do that.
(26:40):
If I need to do it, do I want tocrawl up in attics and do that?
No, I don't.
But will I?
Absolutely.
If we're willing to do somethingand we're not above that, I
think that's where doors openfor you to help other people.
And that's my goal is to helpother people.
And I think that's where Iprobably went into education.
My thought process was differentat such a young age.
(27:04):
I mean, I still love to teachpeople, but not necessarily
reading and math and that stuff.
It's more life things, you know?
SPEAKER_00 (27:13):
Well, and honestly...
I think you have like a futurecareer in motivational speaking.
I feel inspired.
Well,
SPEAKER_01 (27:21):
I don't know about that, but I do love to motivate
people.
For some reason, I can'tmotivate my boys, but I can
motivate everybody else.
Well, you know, they don't everlisten to their parents.
I can get my friend to tellthem, and they'll go, oh, okay.
I'll go, I told them that
SPEAKER_00 (27:36):
yesterday.
I mean– Boys are just stinkers,though.
Yeah, they are.
They're ornery.
You got
SPEAKER_01 (27:42):
to love them, but they're ornery.
SPEAKER_00 (27:44):
I am.
I am very ornery.
And I'm one of the people whoare of the philosophy, you know,
no boys need it.
Yeah.
Yeah, no boys know me.
Boys optional.
UNKNOWN (27:54):
Yeah.
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (27:56):
Men are optional.
There you go.
SPEAKER_00 (27:57):
Well, this has been such a fantastic time talking to
you.
Yeah, me too.
The time goes by so fast.
SPEAKER_01 (28:03):
I know.
SPEAKER_00 (28:04):
Tell us a little bit about if somebody were to try
and find you after hearing thepodcast Where could they look up
and find
SPEAKER_01 (28:11):
you?
So I work for KBB Real Estate.
My name is Jan Stephan.
And I have a Facebook page.
You can message me on theFacebook or you can call me.
And my phone number is...
Ericode 405.
No, sorry.
I have an out-of-town Ericodebecause I lived in Houston three
(28:34):
years.
But the rest of my life has beenin Oklahoma.
And I was in aviation inHouston.
But it's 713-754-0029.
And my email address is jan atjanstephan.com.
SPEAKER_00 (28:50):
Excellent.
It's been wonderful to have youhere.
You are another testament to howawesome all the people in our
network are.
Always a pleasure to see youevery week.
Thank
SPEAKER_01 (28:58):
you, guys.
You guys are great hosts on this
SPEAKER_00 (29:00):
Think Biz.
SPEAKER_01 (29:02):
I love it.
SPEAKER_00 (29:02):
Thank you so much.
And we do have a littletradition to end off our
podcast.
So, Jan, if you would help usout, do you remember our jingle?
SPEAKER_01 (29:09):
No.
I don't remember it.
SPEAKER_00 (29:10):
So we will say stay sharp and we'll have our guests
say think biz.
So that's you today.
You'll say the think biz.
Okay.
So everyone, remember this week,stay sharp.
SPEAKER_01 (29:22):
And think biz.
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