Flipping Texas (Houses) with 5 Kids

Steve Trang: 5432, and Hey, everybody. Thank you for joining us for today's episode of Real Estate Disrupters. Today, we have Melissa Johnson. She flew in from San Antonio, Texas to talk about how she's flipped over a thousand homes while raising five kids. If this is your first time tuning in, I'm Steve Trang, sales trainer for some of the top wholesalers in the country, and I'm gonna mention to create 100 millionaires.

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Melissa Johnson: Ready.

Steve: Alright. Cool. First question is what got you into real estate?

Melissa: Well, let's see. I was working, just, you know, a corporate job like we talked about. I was working for a government contractor, kind of the cubicle situation. Real estate was not on my radar at all. I didn't know anything about it, especially real estate investing.

All I knew about was real estate agents. And, I was dating my he became my husband later, but we were dating at the time, and his father was actually an investor. He had been a contractor, and then he got mentored and eventually became an investor too. And really what attracted me to the whole thing was his lifestyle. Like, it was just so you know, he had this big old RV and he was driving around the country and just it seemed like he was just really enjoying life.

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: And I was not enjoying life in the cubicle, so it was kind of a cool it was just like another side that I've never seen before. I wasn't raised that way. It was always work hard, go to school, get a good job with good benefits, and work until you die in that job.

Steve: Right.

Melissa: That's how I was raised. And so seeing this other side was just, like, magic. You know? And it's like, how do we how can we do this? How can we have this life?

So it was really about the lifestyle. It wasn't, the money or the fact that he had all these properties. I thought it was pretty cool, I thought. But seeing that really was inspiring and really made us wanna figure out, you know, a little bit more how to do that. So started doing that part time for several years before going full time finally.

Mhmm. But, and I would I couldn't go back after that.

Steve: Not employable today. No. So you're working in the government. What were you doing at the government?

Melissa: I was working for a government contractor to the air force. Mhmm. So we had big contracts for, like, software development. And so I was doing a lot of security, processing of clearances, things like that, admin work, accounting management of the contract, so not really anything very exciting. And there was nowhere to go in that job either.

It was a complete dead end.

Steve: So cubicle life was not for you?

Melissa: It was not for me.

Steve: Alright. So you got to see, your future husband's, dad.

Melissa: Mhmm.

Steve: And you saw the lifestyle that he had. And then what did you do? Like, how did you go from there seeing it to doing your first deal?

Melissa: It was a lot of education up front, but a lot of action taking too. You know, sometimes, I I think we hesitate too much. We spend too much time in the education space and not taking action. So there comes a time where you've got to implement some of that education. So spent a lot of time.

At first, I thought I might want to be a realtor. So I started studying just like I didn't know anything, like nothing. I I didn't know what a title policy was. I didn't know anything. So I started educating myself, started learning about, contractors and, you know, how to make repairs and things like that.

Just a little bit of everything. Mhmm. And got a mentor. So that was a huge thing. And I always encourage people to get a mentor if you don't have one when you're getting started.

Steve: How did you connect with a mentor?

Melissa: So that mentor was actually my father in law's mentor as well. And it was a it was a good relationship because he was a private money lender too. And so we had to give up a lot initially, but I that's how we paid for our education was, you know, doing deals like trading deals tit for tat with him, splitting the deals fifty fifty, you know, and we would be reimbursed for, like, our expenses if we did marketing and stuff like that. We'd get that back. But for the most part, it was really just, we didn't lean on the mentor so much for, like, how do you do everything.

It was like, we'll figure it out.

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: And then when we run up on something that we don't know how to handle it, then we would go to him and and seek help that way.

Steve: And so he was funding your deals Mhmm. And he was doing everything fifty fifty.

Melissa: Yes.

Steve: You were sourcing the deals?

Melissa: Say that again?

Steve: You were sourcing the deals?

Melissa: Yes.

Steve: So this is kinda like, kinda see, like, kinda so much like a bird dog model where you were you were sourcing the deals. Well, I guess you were taking them down.

Melissa: Yeah. We were taking them down. Yeah. He was funding it. So we were actually in charge of the rehab, the process, everything.

Steve: Okay.

Melissa: We did all of that. He would just take half of the money. So, obviously, that partnership didn't last for for too long.

Steve: Right. But it is a way that we recommend for people that are brand new

Melissa: Oh, for sure.

Steve: That don't have the resources to make private or hard money payments. Right? So the first deal is not so bad. How many of those did you do with him at a fifty fifty?

Melissa: So this is kind of a unique thing. So the fifty fifty splits were, like, for the actual, like, rehab flip, just retail flipping sort of thing. So we did that with him for years. Probably, like, the first four years. Mhmm.

Maybe three years.

Steve: Quite some time.

Melissa: It was a while. It was quite a while. But we were also you know, we had a really cool deal with him too because we would do long term properties. So we would buy houses and we would owner finance them. And so we would take them down the same way we would a normal one, except we would keep the notes.

So we would create the notes and we would keep a note. The next property that we did, it was like that. He would take the note. So we were just, you you know, he would take the whole note, but we would get to keep, you know, the next one. So it was kind of a cool way to build up a portfolio of notes too at the same time.

Steve: Gotcha. So it was also convenient you get to learn about notes Yes. Not just flipping.

Melissa: Yes.

Steve: So how many flips did you guys do together?

Melissa: I don't know how many, but it was probably, maybe about the first 50 or so, something like that.

Steve: That's quite a lot.

Melissa: It was.

Steve: For fifty fifty deals.

Melissa: Yeah. That's a guess. It it might be less than that.

Steve: Okay. And then what'd you do well, what year did you start working with them approximately?

Melissa: 2003.

Steve: Okay. And so you worked with them pretty much right up until the bust.

Melissa: Yeah. Yeah. It really was.

Steve: And then you decided to pivot around that.

Melissa: Yeah. I think it actually that relationship kind of something happened. I don't even remember what happened now. But, basically, you know, we had to go out and find other sources of private money. And once you use the private money, like, there was no going back after that.

You know? We were kind of vested in finding private money, so we had to find other lenders to do those deals with.

Steve: Okay. And so you had to go find additional money. So what what was the transition after that?

Melissa: It really transitioned transitioned more. It it kinda stayed the same, honestly. It wasn't too much of a transition.

Steve: But now you're flipping with other people's money.

Melissa: Oh, yeah. Always. Okay.

Steve: So how did it affect your business as far as, like, were you getting more flows, more opportunities, more margins? Or because a lot of people have not experienced a downward shift yet. Right? You got to experience that.

Melissa: Mhmm.

Steve: You know? As a plus or minus, I don't know, but you got to experience it. So how was that experience for you?

Melissa: It it wasn't really I don't know. I don't feel like there was a lot of issues with it.

Steve: Okay.

Melissa: It wasn't I mean, we were able to obviously keep more money in our pocket after that relationship ended. But it was

Steve: far as the recession, like, how did that affect your business?

Melissa: Oh, gosh. That well, that was a scary time. Right? Because we had we had lost the private money lender, and this recession's here now.

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: And luckily, we were able to find some other people to finance deals, but we had to change our exit strategy at that time too, because before we could just, you know, buy houses, fix them up, sell them, or buy houses, fix them up, create a note and either hold the note or sell the note. It was a great time to sell notes prior, like right up to that point. Right. Did a lot of that. But then after that, it really just moved to more of just a flipping model for for quite a few years.

So a lot of a big portion of flipping was done during those years after 2008. But I was glad that we went through what we did at the time we did because in 2008, the only way we could get rid of properties was to sell them with owner financing because banks weren't making loans. And we were lucky enough to know how to deploy that exit strategy. So I think that really is what got us through that point where a lot of other people, you know, fell down and got out of the business at that time.

Steve: Can you elaborate on that exit strategy?

Melissa: Yeah. So we were just doing the same thing we were doing before except before we would create the note and we would hold it or sell it. But these, we would just strictly hold. We weren't selling those notes anymore because you couldn't sell them. But it was a great way to like, we had to get rid of these properties somehow.

We had all these properties in the pipeline and no way of getting rid of them. Peep banks weren't making loans. So

Steve: So you're buying properties with other people's money

Melissa: Mhmm.

Steve: And then you resell those same properties with that same existing financing in place, but you create your own note Mhmm. That the new buyer pays. Right.

Melissa: So it's it's a wrap. So we were doing wraps.

Steve: Yeah. And I don't know what it is. It seems like of all the markets, we see the South that happens a lot, and it seems like San Antonio, everyone loves wraps.

Melissa: I love wraps.

Steve: Yeah. Can you elaborate what why is it, a, what you love about it, and why is it so prevalent in San Antonio?

Melissa: I can't speak to why it's prevalent in San Antonio. I'm not sure. I don't dig into other people's strategies too much. But for us, at least, I know that, I I love doing the wraps because I love, like, I don't like rentals so much. I don't like having to deal with repairs and you gotta pay insurance and you gotta pay taxes and all that stuff.

So when we're selling properties and we're wrapping them, you know, it's being sold to an end buyer. So, one, there's a win win relationship there. Right? Somebody gets to own a home that might not have got to own a home before, so that's good. It's a win for us.

We're making money. We're collecting interest. We're building up passive income that way. And I just I love the strategy. It works really well.

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: And I you know, the way I like to structure it is having a short term wrap on my end. So I might not cash flow a lot at the front end, but I'm more interested in the back end of the deal. So I might take out a loan for, say, just 60,000 or something, you know, buy a house for 60,000, whatever, fix it up, sell it, you know, for a 100. And my note is maybe five years because I don't like to go anymore. I go usually five to eight years because I wanna pay it off quick, but I also wanna make sure I'm breaking even at least.

So I might not cash flow a ton upfront, but once that note is paid off, it's it's pure mailbox money after that.

Steve: It's fantastic. The full thing, the full, mortgage payment from them.

Melissa: Right. With the interest, obviously, at a higher rate than what I'm paying too. So that's the other thing too. You're making money on the interest, you know, above what I'm even having to pay out to my lender. So that's So nice.

Steve: For everyone that's listening, I mean, what is an interest rate that you're borrowing at, and what was interest rate that you were collecting?

Melissa: I hate talking about this because people are like, how do you sleep at night? But, I will say, I think at the time we were at, like, 10% that I was paying 10%, to my long term private money lender. And then I was selling on, I think, like, 12%.

Steve: Got it.

Melissa: And, you know, when people say, you know, how do you sleep at night? Because I've had people ask me that before, and I always tell them I sleep fine. And the reason why I sleep fine is because we are giving an opportunity for homeownership that these people otherwise would not have had. Yeah. And I am very careful about who I put into these situations.

I'm vetting them. I'm not just it's not one of these, like, lipstick on a pig and, you know, you're gonna take over the house and it's gonna be, you know, falling apart in a year or something. You know, we do a full rehab. I vet people. We check their credit.

You know, we go through all the processes because we wanna set them up for success. You know, I don't want people getting foreclosed on. You know? I want thirty years of payments from people.

Steve: And, also, if they're not paying you, then you have a hard time making payments.

Melissa: Exactly.

Steve: Right? And so, yeah, we get people that I hear people complain about it, but these are the same people that complain about the fact that we buy houses for 70% of market value.

Melissa: Right.

Steve: But they never see it from the homeowner's perspective.

Melissa: Exactly. And I always encourage them. Yeah. I encourage them, like yeah. Your payment is you know, first of all, these people only care about what their payment amount is every month.

That's what I have found. They really they don't care about what the interest rate or is there anything like that. If they can afford that 800 a month or whatever, like, they're fine with it. And It's

Steve: a better product than renting an apartment.

Melissa: It is. It is. And, you know, and I wanna encourage them, like, if you can get your credit better, by all means, refinance. You know? It's it's fine.

I'll get cashed out.

Steve: Alright.

Melissa: You know? Obviously, I wanna keep the payments coming in. But if it's better for them to refinance and cash out, then I want them to do that. So we want them to be successful Yeah. In homeownership.

Steve: So that's how you guys survived the recession. Were there any other lessons during the recession?

Melissa: Yes. You need to have reserves, and that came up again just last year with COVID and everything. You know, I had a lot of people not paying, and I really I had built up reserves, and I was A

Steve: lot of people not paying as in tenants? Mhmm.

Melissa: Yeah. Yeah. Because I do have rentals too. So my mortgage people, most of them were still paying. I don't think I had any issue.

One one out of all of them was an issue, but everybody else paid. But I did have some issues with tenants, and I was just glad that I had built up taken the time and had the forethought to plan for, having the resources to get through that tough time because a lot of people didn't.

Steve: Yeah. Alright. So reserves key for everyone

Melissa: Yes.

Steve: That's listening. Yes. Alright. So you survived the recession. Things turned around.

What was your business like after that?

Melissa: Oh, it was full speed ahead after that because so many people fell out of the market at that point. So

Steve: Got it. So you had to gobble up more market share.

Melissa: Mhmm. There was less competition. Money was available. We were selling properties just left and right. The deals were easier to get.

So it was great. Yeah. It was great time for many, many years.

Steve: Yeah. And I think that's one question we get a lot. It's like, what are you gonna do when the economy changes? And I'm like, that's freaking great. Right?

When the market changes, that's great. Mhmm. Right? That's when things can easier. It seems hard, but if you're resourceful

Melissa: Right. And that's why having that those resources in place for you know, you're ready when the market does change. Like Right. You know, like, right now, I'm not really buying anything right now. I'm kinda sitting back and just waiting.

Mhmm. You know? But if you don't have resources, you can't really afford to do that. Right?

Steve: No. You gotta be you can't be as patient.

Melissa: Right.

Steve: Alright. And so along the way, there were other businesses that started

Melissa: Mhmm.

Steve: Which are kinda like your own babies, and then you had babies. So let's talk about what that challenge was. You know, you're got you're flipping business. You're adding other businesses, and you're growing a family. Like, what was that all like?

Melissa: It was like chaos. It was. But it was good. It was good. I really feel like, that's where I learned a lot about delegation.

Mhmm. You know, between that and building up the companies. You know, before, it was really a two man show for many, many years. And so when I look back, it's like, oh, how did you know, people ask me, how did you do that with with all those kids? And I'm thinking, I don't know.

I just did. There wasn't any secret formula to it, but you have to get help. You know, I do know that either in the form like, at home and at the office. You know? So I ended up I hired a nanny.

That was really helpful. As the kids were older, you know, they all were going to school and stuff like that. So it got a little bit easier over time. So moms out there, like, it does get easier. But, but it does have a unique set of challenges, I think, sometimes being a mom and then balancing all that stuff out too because I never truly believe in the whole work life balance thing.

So you're pulling away from something else all the time. And so, I really made a commitment to the family of the you know, I wanna take my kids to school every day. I wanna pick them up every day. I don't wanna miss anything. They're all in they were all involved in stuff, and I didn't have to miss anything because I built the business to make it to where I could do that.

Steve: You're able to take all five kids to school, pick them up? Yeah. That's incredible.

Melissa: Well, they drive, now the older ones. Yeah. But, yeah, at the time you know, and my kids are kinda spaced out too, so I should probably disclaimer with that, you know, that when we started the business, I only had three kids. And by the end of everything or up to now, now there's five. So there's been a a lot of change and growth within all that.

You know? They get more independent, so that helps.

Steve: Got it. So what were some of those businesses that you started along the way?

Melissa: Oh, let's see. Well, we started, we had the house flipping business. We, created an arm of that business that was just wholesaling in 2014. So it was still the same business, but, like, we moved more to that model and had a situation for that. Then we started a software company.

We started the business for the websites. We're doing that. And then I started a coaching business last year. And, yeah, actually, we have a plan to open a synthetic ice facility soon too. So let's

Steve: see. Ice. Yeah. What is synthetic ice?

Melissa: Get that question a lot. So my son plays ice hockey Mhmm. Except there's one sheet of ice in San Antonio. So, it's frustrating because they don't get you know, there's just you've got different leagues and figure skating and public skating, all this stuff with one sheet of ice. So there's opportunity there.

That's what I see it as at least. And, you know, it's like my son can't get enough time on the ice. So the synthetic ice, we've discovered, is some kind of, like, new newer product. It's a special plastic. You can actually skate on it.

So that's cool. And you don't have to keep it cold, so you don't need a Zamboni or any of that kind of thing.

Steve: Oh, wow. Yeah. That's fascinating.

Melissa: So you can have it at hot places like Phoenix or Texas.

Steve: Kinda like you picture those guys that are always, like, skiing or snowboarding in the sand. Yeah. Alright. So fascinating. Alright.

So you started a software company. Is that company still around?

Melissa: It is, but I'm not a part of that one anymore.

Steve: Gotcha. Okay. And so along the way, up until now, what would you say was your biggest struggle?

Melissa: I think the biggest struggle along the way was just it was a lot of personal growth and development, honestly. Like, it wasn't, you know, when you go from a two person team and you're wearing all the hats to actually building a team, there was a lot I had to learn. So there was a lot of struggle in that of just, like, I don't I was never in a management position. I never had people under me. I was never, like, a supervisor or anything like that.

I never really a a leader in the workplace, and so I had a lot to learn about that. I had a lot to learn about how to lead people, learn a lot about myself. And as I was doing I mentioned that because as I was learning more about myself, I was learning more about where where are my strengths, where are my weaknesses, and then what do I what am I enjoying about what I'm doing Mhmm. And what do I not and and trying to build the business to fit around that instead of the other way around.

Steve: So what were your biggest strengths or your biggest weakness?

Melissa: Weaknesses, I am terrible at managing people.

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: Terrible at it. Because I I just have the mentality of, like, here's all your stuff. Now be free and go do your thing. You know? I don't really wanna I I can't micromanage people.

I just want to give people what they need to do the job successfully and turn them loose, and that doesn't work all the time.

Steve: No. It does not.

Melissa: And so that's that was something I really had to learn Mhmm. How to do. It's it's a weakness that I have, but I feel like I've gotten better with that.

Steve: How did you get better at it?

Melissa: Working at it, learning about it, educating myself, and then implementing what I learned. You know? So learning from, like, the great leaders.

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: You know, who who are people that I look up to that are leaders like John Maxwell and people like that. And just, like, what can I what can I take away from them that resonates with me as a leader?

Steve: Got it. Yeah. So did you read books? Did you go to seminars? Kind of for, coaching.

What what what was the key for the leadership and managing people to get better at it? Or I

Melissa: read a lot of books, and I did hire a coach. I I'm a big believer in coaching.

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: I have had coaches, like, through I've been doing this eighteen years, and I still utilize coaching. I I think there's never a point where you don't need help.

Steve: Right.

Melissa: You know, we always can improve somewhere. And so I hired a coach at one point that really helped me, just learning about leading the team a little bit better and digging into my numbers better. You know, that was something that I hadn't done before. You know, we were just doing stuff. We were making money, but we never took the time to deep dive into any of that.

And so once I hired that coach and took the deep dive, I was like, woah. It was so fascinating to me, and I learned a ton from that and, like, changed the whole business after working with him.

Steve: What was it that you learned?

Melissa: I learned, a ton about our marketing because everything starts with that. Right? Like, we have no business if we don't do marketing.

Steve: People don't know about us.

Melissa: Yeah. So it all starts there. So if your marketing is not dialed in a 100%, there is so much missed opportunity and so much waste, and I hate waste. I hate like, there's nothing more that I hate than having my time wasted or my money wasted. Mhmm.

It just drives me nuts. So when I deep dive into the marketing, I realized, like, my god. We're spending all this money, and, like, what's coming out of this? Like, how are we performing? And and sort of really digging into, like, how many leads are we getting?

How are we converting those leads? What is our cost per lead, our cost per deal, our conversion rates, like, our average profits, and all separated out by different marketing channels and campaigns too. Like, I nerded out hardcore on that stuff. It was fascinating, though.

Steve: So you noted out on it. Were you the one doing it, or did you have someone else doing it?

Melissa: I actually did that myself.

Steve: That's very impressive for a business owner to do themselves.

Melissa: Yeah. I probably wouldn't do that anymore. But it's one of those you know, it's like when you know there's a problem in your business and you just you wanna get to the bottom of it. Mhmm. And it was just something it's like, I know there's opportunity here, and I know there's room for improvement here.

And at that time, I was really focused on, transitioning the business into running very lean. And I think that was kind of outside of the box at the time because everyone at that time was pushing, like, you gotta grow and you gotta scale and you gotta do, like, hundreds of deals a year. And Yeah. You know, and I was kinda dropping that. Yeah.

And I was following that model for a while because I thought, well, that's the next thing. That's what I'm supposed to do. And then I was like, you know, I don't like this. And I had this moment. I was in a mastermind, and we were there, and everyone's, like, putting their numbers up and stuff.

And I'm looking at all these numbers, and these are people with, like, teams of like, big teams of people. You know? And I'm looking at my little team. Like, we have, like, seven people. Mhmm.

You know? And and I thought I was growing and scaling at that point. And but I looked at the numbers, and I realized that my numbers were actually better than these people that had these huge teams of of people doing, like, tons of deals and

Steve: Right.

Melissa: You know? I mean, we were doing decent, but when you get down to the bottom line of it, like, what are your percentages look like? What is your gross profit? What is your net profit? You know?

Yeah. Here's a gross sounds good. It always looks good. But what is your net profit? What is your profit margins look like?

And when I saw that, I realized we're actually doing really well. How can we do even better with what we have? And that was really eye opening.

Steve: So if someone wanted right now to get better, get that dialed in, what would you recommend as far as, you know, tracking all those KPIs and so on?

Melissa: I recommend, like, starting with your marketing. That's where it started for me, just really digging into that. What's working? What's not working? What's convert like, real you've got to know your numbers in this business.

You can't fix anything until you know what the numbers are, so I really feel like it starts with that. Mhmm. It starts with, like, you gotta have your baseline. Right? And then you figure out, okay.

Well, if I'm at this point so now I know I'm getting this many leads that are coming in. I know we're converting at this rate. I know we're averaging this much per deal. Now you can reverse engineer that to figure out, okay. Well, if I wanna do this much in revenue, reverse engineer that.

How many leads do I need to bring in? How well do we need to convert? Once we figured all that stuff out, things just started we were just getting more and more efficient and doing better deals, better quality deals too.

Steve: Yeah.

Melissa: You know, we don't have to do as many when you're doing When you're doing high profit

Steve: deals. Yeah. So, going back to what we're talking about earlier, you know, the kids component. Because I think that's one of the things that, yeah, you you've spoken on before about empowering women. And I think there's maybe some guilt or some challenges, like, you know, how can you be a mom and run a business?

So what is your perspective on that?

Melissa: You can. We all can. I don't think it matters if you're a man or a woman. You know? Like, does anyone ever ask you how you run your business?

Like, with with all the kids?

Steve: They do, but not in that way.

Melissa: Right? It's a different conversation.

Steve: Yeah.

Melissa: But, you know, but it is there is some differences there. Like, I understand that. I'm not blind to that. But, like, if you want something bad enough and you want to make it happen, then it doesn't matter if you have kids or not.

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: You just figure out how to do it. So how do you do that? You hire help. You find you know, you get more efficient, maybe. You know?

There there are ways to to do that in a way that doesn't, stress you out as much, I guess. Yeah. And, you know, delegating was key for me. And especially as the years went by, you know, I started at at first, I was like, I can't afford to hire a nanny. What are people gonna think?

You know? It just it felt weird, and I think that's just a woman problem. You know? We have mom guilt and stuff, and it's like, I'm not people gonna think. You know?

I'm not taking care of my kids. Like, we're supposed to manage everything. Right? We're supposed to be able to keep all the balls in the air and not drop anything, and it's so unrealistic. It's such a it's a harsh expectation that we put on ourselves, I feel like.

Steve: Right. And that's kinda what I wanna dive deeper into. So how did you overcome that mindset of the guilt and so on? Right? Like, because society applies pressure on you.

Melissa: Mhmm.

Steve: Like, what did you do to, like you know what? Like, was it free the shackles of of of the expectations of society?

Melissa: You know, it's so simple. I just let it go. Yeah. I just let it go. You know?

And and I wish that there was some kind of secret formula that I could share with people, but I think it it's rooted in a self awareness. Once you realize that that that's what's happening, you know, like, once you stop yourself and say, you know what? I'm feeling really guilty about this and asking yourself, why do I feel guilty about that? Is there anything is that within my control or not? Mhmm.

If it is, then what can you do about it? If it's not, then you just gotta let it go. You can't hold on to that guilt. You have to understand that, you know, what you're doing, you're doing for your family. Maybe that's part of your why.

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: Because I think that's really important too. And just, I think it's just a letting a self awareness and then a letting go of of those things. If you can't control it, you've gotta let it go.

Steve: So it sounds like there might be a little bit of a introspection.

Melissa: Yes.

Steve: Taking a step back and looking at things. Yep. Got it. Okay. And then we talked about it a moment ago, you know, starting multiple businesses.

So, like, did you have to remove yourself from the flipping business to do the companies? Like, how did that whole situation work out?

Melissa: Yeah. You know, once you've got you don't wanna walk away from something that's not fully functioning.

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: So Yeah. You know, once, once the house flipping business is going really well, then that was an opportunity to step over to the software business, you know, and and work in that environment because I knew that things were being handled on my end. And, you know, you never completely walk away from it. Like, I would never build something and just completely turn my back on it.

Steve: Right.

Melissa: Because that's one of my babies too.

Steve: You

Melissa: know? You built that. You created that.

Steve: Yeah.

Melissa: And and we care like no one else will. You know? No matter who you bring on, who no matter who you hire, nobody's ever gonna care as much as we do because we built that. Right?

Steve: Right.

Melissa: And so, yeah.

Steve: So then you have someone that runs that side of the business and you're, like, partially involved? Or how many hours a week are you spending still in the flipping business?

Melissa: Like, five.

Steve: Five. So there's someone else whose responsibility of managing that on a day to day.

Melissa: Right.

Steve: And then how many other businesses are you running right now concurrently?

Melissa: My I am in three different businesses right now.

Steve: Okay. Yeah. So then what tips or tricks do you have for someone that's trying to manage multiple businesses?

Melissa: Hire the right people. Got it. Sounds so simple. Right?

Steve: It's it is really simple. But how would you go about doing that?

Melissa: You know, there's a lot of things about that. You know, first of all, you need to know, what people you need. Like, who are the key people that you need? You know? And And sometimes the people you think you need, you really don't need.

So what I always encourage people to do, what I have my coaching clients do is, like, write down everything you're doing and then figure out, you know, can you group those tasks together? And I tell them everything. Like, I don't care if you're buying postage stamps. Like, I wanna know about it because you shouldn't be. Right?

Mhmm. And, like, get it all out there, and then can you group those into some kind of a role? And then once you do that, figure out, okay. Now out of all this, like, what are what is my biggest pain point? What's the most painful thing that I'm doing that I shouldn't be doing?

And, also, what is the hire that's going to make the most sense to move the business forward? And I think that's, that's something that people really need to focus on too. And then you bring the right people in the right seat. So understanding, like, there's a profile, you know, for different seats in your business, so make sure that you're hiring the right person for the seat and that you're giving them all the tools they need to set them up for success. You're not leaving them behind and that you're constantly, you know, mentoring them and could you can't just set it and forget it with people.

You know? No. You can't.

Steve: So who right now is doing the hiring?

Melissa: Well, I have a COO

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: And they're responsible for managing the team. So we're not really hiring anybody right now. That's kind of been since I am in so many other businesses, I'm sort of in a transition period with the house flipping company. So I'm looking to change that model up a little bit Yeah. So it's not going to look the same as it was.

You know, Let's face it. I am getting old and tired. It's like, do I wanna keep flipping houses forever? Do I wanna keep dealing with contractors? And

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: You know, even when you have people doing the stuff for you, you're still part of it. Right. And so, you know, I think that's an important thing to think about too is is reevaluating even your business and what you're doing in your business, what your role is in your business because, you know, maybe there are things that you want to retain that you are good at and that play to your strengths that you like. And I think it's okay for people to do that. I don't think you have to fully remove yourself from your business if you don't want to.

I think that, you know, some people are like, well, you should be able to walk away and everything. You know? But if there's something you wanna do like, I love project management, and I project managed like, I still do project management, and I only do it because I like it. It's not because I have to do it, but it's something I enjoy doing, and I'm okay with that.

Steve: Project manage as in you'll go to the properties.

Melissa: Mhmm.

Steve: You'll deal with the the contractors.

Melissa: Yeah. But I'm getting tired of that now. It's been it's been but I have a good contractor, and that makes a difference too. And that's part of that, the right people. You know?

I have a contractor I've been working with for almost ten years now, and that's so rare in this business. You don't find that.

Steve: Incredibly rare. Yeah.

Melissa: You know, that relationship's important, and that has been nurtured over all the years too. And I think that's makes a big difference.

Steve: And so you were saying, you know, you're maybe shifting what what the what the business might look like. So what does it look like, and what do you want it to look like?

Melissa: So right now, I'm I'm more of because I am so involved in the other businesses now, I really want to take it back to a point of not so much active flipping, but more of the passive side of things. So I'm looking at maybe doing some commercial, projects and then adding more notes and rentals, more long term sort of things. So stuff that I can do and then pass that off to management company to deal with and still, you know, be active in that area, but not have to be so focused and have a team built around that and everything anymore.

Steve: So flippings are gonna go down or flippings are gonna go to zero?

Melissa: It's gonna I would like it to go to zero eventually.

Steve: Okay. How long hours eventually?

Melissa: This is where I get stuck. This is where I'm still trying to think through because, you know, we still have leads and stuff coming in. We're still doing marketing and stuff like that. But, you know, I've been cherry picking rehabs Mhmm.

Steve: For a

Melissa: while now and just wholesaling everything else.

Steve: Yeah.

Melissa: But, you know, we have the system for, like, when leads come in, I have buckets that they go in. I have criteria for all of these. So everyone knows what the criteria is. So when a lead comes in, they know which bucket it goes in. Is that, you know, flip criteria?

Is that a wholesale deal? Is that an owner finance deal? Is that a rental? And so when you know all that, then you can kinda build your plan out that way, I guess.

Steve: So then if the folks go down to zero, how many wholesales is that?

Melissa: Everything else. Alright. Everything else that I don't wanna keep long term would be a wholesale.

Steve: And how much how much volume do you think that would be?

Melissa: Right now, it wouldn't be too high because we're not doing too much marketing. Mhmm. So I don't know. A couple of deals a month. Okay.

And I'd be fine with that.

Steve: And then keeping. I mean, how many properties are you still acquiring?

Melissa: Those have been harder to come by lately, actually. Yeah. The ones that that meet my criteria for notes. Mhmm. So I'm not really doing those.

I I'm keeping that on the radar. I still wanna do that, but it's gotta be the right property. Box.

Steve: Yeah. So then you got a big rental portfolio?

Melissa: It's decent.

Steve: Decent. But enough. I guess, let me ask you this because you feel like, you know, you're kind of at a point where, like, how much longer do you wanna do this? Could you today, if you wanted to just turn the lights off, just turn the lights off and just rest on your laurels?

Melissa: Yes.

Steve: Okay. So that's awesome. I think that's aspiring. Right? For a lot of people, like, you know, you said you've been doing this for eighteen years.

There are a lot of people that are watching this. They're just getting started or just horrible wholesaling. They've been doing it for a year. And that's the end goal, but not everyone knows how to get there necessarily. So, let's say you were talking to a version of you, you know, eighteen years ago.

What words of wisdom would you give the much younger Melissa on, like, how to build a retirement or build a portfolio so that you can retire one day?

Melissa: Well, I guess to that, like, I would have built a team a lot sooner so that I could actually do that. It was weird. Like, our mentor never encouraged us to hire anybody.

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: So I think that's why we wore so many hats for so long. So that was kinda

Steve: old school.

Melissa: He's very old school. Very smart, very like, nothing against him. That's just how he always operated.

Steve: But I think there are a lot of people that are, from an older generation where it's like, you just do it yourself. Right? Like, there's a lot of pride in not needing help.

Melissa: Right.

Steve: Today, there's a lot of pride in having help.

Melissa: I know. Like, I couldn't do what I do without help. Yeah. And so I think that was the key, you know, and that would be something I would tell my younger self. And then also to, you know, buy and hold more of those too.

Like, I kinda regret selling so many notes in the beginning, but we were so focused on just, like, cash, cash, cash. You know? Like, we just it was all about that at first and just doing deals and getting more comfortable. And then as time went by, you know, those kind of slowed down a little bit, and we were more focused on just the the flipping and and, like, doing those retail type deals instead of holding on to those. So, yeah, I wish we would have held more more notes Yeah.

Instead of bought so many rentals. I would have created and held a lot more notes.

Steve: Alright. So the two biggest thing is building a team earlier

Melissa: Yes.

Steve: And then keeping more rental properties.

Melissa: Yes.

Steve: Or keeping more properties, rental or notes or whatever. Just more cash flow.

Melissa: Yes. I should tell I should say this, though, because I know I just said, like, you don't need to grow big and scale a team and stuff like that. My team at its largest was only seven people.

Steve: Okay.

Melissa: So So and that felt good for me Yeah. Because of the whole, like, I don't like to manage people, but I had really good people in each of the the critical seats. And so I think that makes a huge difference too. You don't need a huge team, but if you have the right people on the team, that can move your business far.

Steve: Well, and I think the point you mentioned earlier, the profitability component. Right?

Melissa: Mhmm.

Steve: Like, so many people are chasing gross because that's what's sexy on social media.

Melissa: Right.

Steve: Right? But net is how you retire and build wealth.

Melissa: Exactly.

Steve: So okay. So couple deals a month wholesaling, still flipping, not entirely in love with with with flipping. Is there a specific marketing technique that works best for you right now?

Melissa: I love probates. I always liked probates, but, honestly, the best thing that's working for me right now is referrals.

Steve: Got it. And how are you encouraging those referrals?

Melissa: So, this has been actually kind of cool because we went back into our CRM system, which is why you need a good CRM system so that you have all this information and take really detailed notes about everything. But we went back, like, three years and just pulled everybody that we sold a house to Mhmm. Or bought a house from and launched this whole referral campaign, you know, where it's like, hey. Remember us? We bought your house on 123 Main Street.

You know, if you know anybody that wants to sell, if you have a friend, a neighbor, a coworker, a teammate, anybody, you know, have them reach out to us, and we'll pay you a referral fee. Yeah. And I tell you, like, that's been we have bought a lot of stuff off of referrals and follow-up. And those two lead sources are awesome.

Steve: So one question I get a whole bunch is as far as the follow-up goes. Right? Like, the right balance of following up where you're harassing them. Right? What do you guys encourage, and what does it sound like when you call?

Melissa: So for us, we start, we start we come in kinda hot, you know, at first because it they're you know, they've reached out, so they've raised their hand. They're interested. And so we are pretty persistent for, like, the first two weeks, and then it starts to taper off after that.

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: So then that moves to, like, a monthly and then, like, every three months to where eventually, like, it's just once a year for, you know, older stuff. And we we never take anyone out of our system, and that's something else I think it's important for people to hear. Like, nothing is ever dead in our system unless it's sold, and we can prove that it's been sold. Otherwise, it stays in there. It lives in there forever.

Steve: Yeah.

Melissa: And it's important because, like, there was a there was a house that we bought. I think it was maybe, like, two years ago. We had been following up with that guy for five years. Five years. It's a long follow-up.

Yeah. But, you know, we stayed in front of him. And so even though it was, you know, it was a no because just because it's a no now doesn't mean it's not a yes down the road.

Steve: Right.

Melissa: And so, you know, we just reach out and it's like, do you need anything? Let them know you're still there. You know? Hey. Has anything changed for you?

Is there anything we can help you with? Have you consider have you reconsidered selling? And those are the kind of questions that we ask when we're following up with them.

Steve: Gotcha. And then there was a question here. So Carlton wants to know, you do seller finance at 12%. How long do you carry the note, or do you help them get in position to refi out of it? So in the very beginning, we were talking about that.

Melissa: Yeah. So I typically like to set up the notes on a thirty year for the end buyer. So, again, with the wraps, you know, I'm doing a short term, but I wanna sell that on a twenty five or thirty year.

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: I always start with thirty, and I really kind of adjust it to make the numbers work for who the end buyer is. So that's how we handle that. And then what was the other part of the question?

Steve: Are you helping them get to position where they can refinance you out?

Melissa: I yes. I mean, not in a way where I'm constantly nagging them about it. Mhmm. But we do let them know, you know, if you are interested in refinancing, anytime you're welcome to. And here are some resources for that.

So I do have a mortgage broker that I work with that I send him people when they're ready, and then he will nurture them through and and refinance.

Steve: Alright. Cool. So this is kinda hard to read. You guys have to make that a little bit bigger. Alright.

So, Kai, trying to bring deals to my buyers. I was wondering what percent of ARV our flippers looking for in the Dallas area.

Melissa: Oh, I don't know. I'm not in Dallas. Okay. I'm in San Antonio.

Steve: Alright. So then what percent of ARV are you guys selling at in San Antonio?

Melissa: You know, I'm still chasing the 70%.

Steve: You are?

Melissa: Honestly. Yeah.

Steve: Okay.

Melissa: For my flips. I'm willing to budge a little bit on wholesale deals if I know I've got an end buyer, which that's part of our process too. We've got a pretty good dispo process, so I can push a little bit on that. But here's the thing. Like, this is where people get in trouble.

You cannot force a deal. You can't make something be a deal. If it if the numbers don't work, the numbers don't work. Like Yeah. Maybe you can find some creative, you know, ways to structure it, but the numbers have to be right because you do a couple of deal, and I I saw this.

You do too many deals and your numbers aren't right, and then you're stuck holding the bag on properties that, you know, you're basically upside down on. You know, you owe more than what they're worth, and then you can't sell them for what you initially thought you could.

Steve: So this is something that I'm in your same school of thought. Right? I don't wanna buy bad deals, but you see so many people being rewarded with buying bad deals right now. Right? I mean, like, literally, we're 30% year over year appreciation in the Phoenix market, which is just crazy, which means it's over 2% month in, month out.

That's a lot of appreciation in a very short period of time. Like, what would you say to someone that were to argue that?

Melissa: Well, I think one thing you can do is, like, this is where having a good buyers and knowing your buyers list is important. Because if if a deal comes up and maybe it doesn't meet that, and and this is something, like, I wouldn't incur I wouldn't do all the time, but this is where knowing your market's really important. If I know, like, that's a hot area and I know somebody's you know, I've already talked to so and so and they're interested in that area, like, they have cash, they're ready to go, they're ready to buy in that area, then I can make that deal a go. Mhmm. And it might not be at 70%, but, you know, we could still turn it into a deal.

So I think, like, there's so many other pieces to that. Like like I said, knowing your market is is huge. How knowing your buyers list and having a solid buyers list where you know what they want and you know that's a done deal if you get it under contract. Those kind of things I'm okay with. Yeah.

What I'm not okay with is randomly, you know, like, okay. We'll just you know, we need a deal, so we're just gonna offer a higher amount. We're gonna go over mayo, you know, whatever, and then doesn't work out.

Steve: What's mayo? Oh, mayo.

Melissa: Got it.

Steve: Got it. Alright. Cool. So, you're gonna love this question.

Melissa: Oh, yeah.

Steve: So what CRM is Melissa using?

Melissa: Melissa is using Left Main Yeah. And it's awesome.

Steve: Right. What's awesome about it?

Melissa: You know, I really like it. I love I have used many CRMs, and I've actually been involved in creating CRMs. So I I know quite a bit about this. And I think, for me, I love the usability of it. Like, I love that it's it's pretty intuitive to use.

I don't have a lot of issues navigating around through it. The, the reporting is awesome. Mhmm. And I think you can't get that with a lot of other systems, and I think it's because it is based on Salesforce. But, like, just having that those great dashboards is, like, all your KPIs.

Like, I remember having to dig through even when I was using other CRMs, having to go other places to get my numbers from my KPIs Right. I don't have to do that anymore. So that's been really nice.

Steve: So one thing that we're in a process of you know, we expanded our office over here, so we got our wholesale team on that side. And we're getting a TV set up with little computer on it so we can just have the dashboard up at all times. And everyone in the team knows how everyone else on the team is doing Mhmm. In the at all times, in the rooms, on the screen. You can't hide from it.

Melissa: Yeah. Right? That accountability.

Steve: Power of reporting.

Melissa: Accountability is awesome.

Steve: Yep. Alright. So let's see what else we got here. So 15% of ARV for Efremol. I'm not sure I understand that question.

So you might want to get that question reposted. So you're constantly monitoring the reporting in there. Is there a certain stat KPI report that you love to look at the most?

Melissa: Well, you know, I like the marketing reports. I think those are those are really good. I I just again, I said it before, but everything starts with marketing. And so knowing having a handle on those numbers, like, how are how are our efforts being rewarded? How are we performing?

Because that says a lot just as an overview is very important, but then just knowing the individual KPIs too. Like, how is the acquisitions? How are they converting?

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: Do we have a lot of leads falling out? And, you know, then we can dig into why that's happening, you know, or why is our profit down, you know, for these deals. Like so I think just all of it's really good, but marketing is just always my first go to. But it's just me.

Steve: Gotcha. Alright. And then so how do you find ARV in today's market when some houses were last sold in the eighties, therefore, reducing your max purchase price in today's market? I guess, all in all, how are you finding ARVs ARV on on properties right now? Like, what are you using?

Because I think Texas is a nondisclosure state.

Melissa: It is.

Steve: So how are you finding ARVs when you're buying properties?

Melissa: So, we are using PropStream. I love it. It's one of my favorite tools. It's like a must have in our in our company. And, actually, they've made a lot of changes to their data because, initially, like, a few a couple of years ago when it first came out, we were having issues with that because Texas is a nondisclosure state.

So the numbers were not, as accurate, I felt like. So we were still having to go to MLS to verify the ARVs. But now we're pretty it's it's much more dialed in, it seems like. But, again, this is another, like, know your market thing. Mhmm.

Like, I know what houses are selling for in certain areas just because you know? Now we had a lot of changes lately, so I'm having to revisit some of that thinking because stuff is selling for for crazy amounts. So but I don't want to consider that the standard just yet.

Steve: Right.

Melissa: Because what's happening now is not a sustainable thing. I don't think this is something that's going to like, property values have increased, but what people are paying for properties is, like, so far above what they're valued and what they're actually worth.

Steve: Yeah.

Melissa: So I think making it an ARV determination right now is a little bit more difficult because of that situation. Yeah. You know? Because when things change, those ARVs aren't gonna be good in a couple of months, you know, whatever, when it changes.

Steve: So And going back to your point about knowing your market, it was actually a call we had, I think last week. It was a coaching student. And, basically, he was like, you know, there's a house where it's not a good house, but it is on the best street in the best neighborhood and the best city. Like, you know, like, should I stretch a little bit? And my answer, I was like, hell yeah.

You should stretch a little bit. Right? And this market, with such low supply, it's an ugly house, but best street in the best neighborhood in the best city. Like, let's go all out on this one. Right?

You can overpay, I think, even quite a bit more because of the crazy demand.

Melissa: Mhmm.

Steve: Right? So

Melissa: I'm a big fan of knowing your market. Because there's so many things that play into that too. Right? Like, if you really know your market, you know those, like, opportunity zones. You know, the boundaries of stuff.

You know, I talk about this a lot of just knowing, like, in San Antonio, like, we have Alamo Heights. So it's a very desirable school district, and people will pay to be in that school district. But there within that ZIP code, there is another school that feeds into that. And so I laugh when I see comps that come in and they're like, you can sell over this much. Like, yeah, if it was in Alamo Heights School District, but it's not.

There's a line there. A it was in Alamo Heights School District, but it's not. There's a line there.

Steve: A little just a few houses over.

Melissa: Yeah. And you've crossed that line or, like, major roads. You know, there can be some major roads where if you cross that major road or highway, you know, the the the values are different.

Steve: Highway is definitely a big one.

Melissa: Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of things that that play into that. And when you know that, it's it's a to me, it's I see it as a competitive advantage.

Steve: Right. It absolutely is. Alright. So the next question, Priscilla wants to know, what position was your first hire, and how did you find them?

Melissa: So my first hire was acquisitions.

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: That is I found how did I find he was, it was one of those situations where it was, you know, I know a guy kind of a thing. So, it was, somebody that my father-in-law knew, I think. And he was interested in getting into the business, and so brought him onto the team and mentored him. And, he did acquisitions for me. And eventually, he grew into a COO role, within the company too, and he helped me with marketing and stuff like that.

But my biggest pain point was acquisitions, so that was my first hire.

Steve: Gotcha. And then Raylan wants to know, do you have a personal chef cooking for you and your family?

Melissa: I love that. That's actually that's what I keep saying. That's gonna be the next person I delegate because I hate cooking. Yeah? Yeah.

I hate it a lot.

Steve: So we have, we just signed up for there's a a service. It's a nature's purpose. And it's not a personal chef, but if you order ahead of time, they have all these precooked meals, and you just have to microwave them. And, not bad. Not, you know, a five star restaurant, but totally serviceable.

And, man, like, I eat better. Still thinking about it. Right? Like, you know, my wife works hard. I'm come home I come home.

We're both exhausted. You have a healthy meal that you just microwave. Total game changer.

Melissa: A win win.

Steve: Yeah. So we're not ready for a personal chef yet, but maybe.

Melissa: I know. I keep I keep saying, like because I've got you know, I have someone who cuts the grass. I have somebody that comes to clean every other week, deep clean.

Steve: Yeah.

Melissa: You know, I'm okay with picking up, and I don't like scrubbing because it takes all day.

Steve: Alright. Yeah. I'm with you on that.

Melissa: My time's not worth it.

Steve: It. And there's other things you could be doing that you could be re recharging. So the next question is, how did you and I meet? Oh. That's an interesting question.

Melissa: So I guess well, how did we meet?

Steve: I think it was through Don Costa.

Melissa: I think it was through Don.

Steve: Yeah. So Don was a show someone that's been on the show, and then you guys had worked together with, Ryan

Melissa: Yeah. Alava. Yeah. And then you were at Wholesaling. Oh, that was awesome.

In Family Mastermind now. So

Steve: Yep. So there you go.

Melissa: And We know a lot of the same people.

Steve: We're running in similar circles, and we actually got the chance to do a call about a month ago.

Melissa: Mhmm.

Steve: Alright. So, yeah, that was pretty cool. So then we've talked about your why a little bit. You kinda touched on it. But can you care to elaborate what is it that keeps you going?

Melissa: Definitely my family. Yeah. You know, I feel like a lot of people say that, but it's true. You know? And for me, it's it's not even, like, providing the you know, like, being able to buy them cars or send them to college and stuff, which I've had to do.

But, yeah, that's fun.

Steve: It's a privilege.

Melissa: It's a privilege. It's a privilege I get to do. Yeah. And I love that. I love there there's just something about being able to provide for your family in that way and knowing that but more so for me, it's it's really been about the lifestyle, and it's been about the freedom that it's afforded me, not just, financial freedom, but time freedom.

You know? Like, I can spend time with my kids. I can provide for them. I can take them and give them experiences that I never got to have as a a kid. We never took vacations or anything like that.

My parents couldn't afford

Steve: it. Yeah.

Melissa: We had didn't really we did okay, but it was there was no extras. There was no family vacations. There was no, like, designer clothes or anything like that. You know? I had a crappy car you know, for my first couple of vehicles.

But I was lucky my parents gave me the car, but still, you know, it wasn't like my kids have it way better than I did. But

Steve: Yeah. Mine too.

Melissa: You know? I'm happy to do that for them, and and I want to show them that there is another way of life, kind of how I got to see. You know? Like, you don't have to go to college and get this job and, like, do this one thing your whole life. I want them to see there's other possibilities that

Steve: So you have how many kids have

Melissa: I have five.

Steve: That have gone to college?

Melissa: I three in college.

Steve: Three in college.

Melissa: Yeah.

Steve: So you're an entrepreneur. They've seen this side. Are you requiring them to go to college?

Melissa: No. I am not. Shocking. Right?

Steve: Well, because this is something that my wife and I have talked about. Right? Like, do we force them to go to college? Do we let them do what they want? So and I think this is a question that a lot of business owners kinda run into.

Right? Like, there was a great book, The Millionaire Next Door.

Melissa: Mhmm. And

Steve: it talked about all the managers who created because they were business owners, and then they would send their kids to college. And that's not how they became wealthy. Why are we sending them to college?

Melissa: Exactly. Well, you know what's funny about that? I'll tell you. Like, I my kids wanted to go to college, and and it makes sense for the things that they wanted to do. Like, my oldest daughter, she went to Texas A and M.

She graduated from college.

Steve: So your daughter's graduated college already?

Melissa: Yeah. Alright. Yes. Well, she's 29, so she's my oldest baby. She just got married a year and a half ago, two years ago, I guess now.

But, you know, she went to college, but she wanted to be a vet. So, obviously, you have to go to college to be a vet. But then she ended up, not going to vet school. She did get her degree, and she worked in a vet clinic. But the funny thing is, now she's leaving that career for entrepreneurship.

So don't lose hope if you do want your kids to be an entrepreneur. It might just take them a little longer to get there. I mean, I was I didn't become an entrepreneur till I was, like, 27. Yeah. I didn't know that was in me until I did it.

Right. And now I know, like, that's who I was made to be. I feel like I'm living in my purpose being an entrepreneur because I'm I love building things. I love starting things, and I try to show my kids that and teach them that. And it's like, if you wanna go to college, I'm fine with that.

But if you don't wanna go, I'm okay with that too. But, you know, obviously, you're not gonna lay up in the house and play video games all day. You're gonna do something. But

Steve: Yeah.

Melissa: But, yeah, all three of the ones that are in college, you know, my oldest is going entrepreneurship. My, I have twins that are in college right now. So one of them is gonna graduate in December, and, she'll probably use her degree. The other one is going to graduate in December also from, community college. She didn't go to a big university, but, now she's going entrepreneur also.

So she's wants to start her own gym and be a personal trainer. And so she actually took it upon herself to go find a a personal training course she signed up for, paid for herself.

Steve: That's awesome.

Melissa: And, yeah, it's pretty it's it's cool watching them go down that journey and hearing my other kids, you know now the two younger ones that are still at home are 13 and nine. Mhmm. And they seem pretty open to entrepreneurship. So I think it's just living it and seeing it.

Steve: I think that's something that's interesting. I can't speak for the nine year old. I don't know what generation that is. But I think they're saying, like, the next generation. Right?

You've got the millennials, and then Gen x is after millennials, and then Gen z is the one after that, I think. And Gen z is very entrepreneurial and very capitalistic. So, like, Gen x or no. The millennials got to witness their parents lose everything. Right?

Melissa: Mhmm.

Steve: After the recession, watched their parents lose the house. They're very anti capitalism. But the next wave, very capitalistic. So it's just kinda interesting to see how that all plays.

Melissa: Yeah. It'll be interesting with the nine year old because, well, he's the only boy, and he's the baby. Mhmm. And he's very much that that's a different culture. You know?

He plays his video games, and I hear him talking. And so he's like, I wanna be a YouTuber. Like, that's what that generation wants to do. They wanna be YouTube famous. That's all they care about.

You don't need to go to college for that.

Steve: I understand that. What is your biggest struggle right now?

Melissa: Oh, boy. My biggest struggle right now, I think it's just, making that transition. You know? I don't know that I mentioned this, but I did go through a divorce a couple years ago, two almost two years ago now. And that really caused me to rethink a lot of things.

And, you know, that's kind of where I started thinking about, like, do I wanna flip houses anymore? So really thinking through them, kind of struggling just like, what do I want all this to look like now? Mhmm. You know, because it doesn't have to stay the same. And that's the cool thing about being an entrepreneur.

It can be whatever we want it to be. We can we can change our minds whenever we want to, and it's okay. We don't

Steve: need to submit it for approval.

Melissa: Yeah. Yeah. Because I this is I always tell people. I'm like, I hate being in a box. Like, I really hate it.

And I didn't realize how much I hated it until I put myself into a box with the business. Yeah. And but now I feel like I feel so much more freedom, and I feel like I can do really what I wanna do. But what what is that, and what does that look like? And so that's really kind of a struggle right now, just figuring that out.

Steve: What are you doing to figure that out or resolve that?

Melissa: A lot of thinking and a lot of trying. You know, just trying new things. You know? How I'm gonna try this, and how does that feel? Do I is that am I enjoying this or not?

You know, right now, I'm working actually with Stephanie Betters, and I left Maine. And I'm working on partner partner relationship with her. So bringing in people that want to, you know, promote and use the software and have integrations with the software and stuff like that. And I'm loving it. I I really, really am enjoying it.

It's you know, I'm still in my same space. I still get to be connected with all the people I've been connected with, you know, all this time, but it's been a nice, kind of brain break too Mhmm. Just to focus on something else that I really enjoy.

Steve: Alright.

Melissa: And, you know, that other stuff will be figured out. But in the meantime, I'm doing something that I like.

Steve: Gotcha. What would you say is your superpower?

Melissa: Oh, delegating.

Steve: What are you attribute that to?

Melissa: Being bossy. I think it's really just, I have really come to understand that I can't do everything myself.

Steve: Mhmm. You

Melissa: know? And and I lived with that for a long time, and I think that's what leads to a lot of that guilt and stuff too is, like, thinking that we have to do it all and not not asking for help. And once I realized it was okay to ask for help and seek that help out and find the right person for that, then it just made a difference. So once I started delegating, I couldn't stop. I was like, what else can I get off my plate?

I just started handing off everything. I mean, I handed off my bookkeeping, my note servicing, you know, cleaning the house, doing the yard, the pool, the

Steve: Everything but cooking.

Melissa: The nanny everything but the cooking.

Steve: So are you, in your, growing up, oldest sibling, youngest sibling, what's

Melissa: That is a very interesting story that I'll probably give you the background later on. But, I was the oldest, so I always grew up as the oldest.

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: And, actually, about a year and a half ago, I found out I have an older sister. Ah. So, now I'm struggling with being the middle child.

Steve: Well, I only ask that question because I am also a huge delegator. Right? And I think that came down to because I'm the oldest sibling. Right? So I got five younger brothers.

So I just say, hey. Mom wanted this done. And I just delegated it. Right? Mom says, hey.

When I get back, I want this done. No problem. And I'm supervising. Hey. This is what mom said.

And it got done. And I think, you know, I got a lot of practice delegating. The the younger brothers might not appreciate that. But

Melissa: I find myself doing it a lot. It was funny. A couple of months ago, my daughter came to get a bunch of stuff out of the garage. I cleaned out the whole house, and I said, I got all this stuff out here. Do you want any of this?

She's like, yeah. I'll come by and take a look and pick out what I want. So she comes over. We're, like, picking out what she wants, and we're all loading it, you know, in the back of their car. And after a while, she started laughing.

And I said, what? And she goes, you're just standing there telling us all what to do. I said, I didn't even realize I was doing it. Yeah. You know, like, hey.

Get that, and can you put that over there? And

Steve: A lot of ingrained leadership. A lot of practice. Yeah. Yeah. Is there a book you've gifted more than any other?

Melissa: There's two, actually. One of them is The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni. I love that book. I think everyone should read it, and everyone that's in a leadership position should read that book. And more recently, Everything is Figureoutable.

Steve: Mhmm. Interesting. Who's that by?

Melissa: Book is awesome. Marie Marie Forleo Forleo? I can't ever say her name. Something Italian. But it's a great book, and it came to me at the perfect time, you know, because I'm I am trying to figure a lot of stuff out.

So it was good.

Steve: What is The Advantage about?

Melissa: The Advantage? You haven't read The Advantage?

Steve: I've read it. It's been a long time.

Melissa: Okay. I call it the softer side of traction. Mhmm. So it's really about, building your company's culture, the core values, your mission. It's more related to, organizational health

Steve: Gotcha.

Melissa: Versus just, like, you know, these are your rocks and this is your meeting structure and, like, I love traction, but I love those two combined together because there is that human element that's in that book that I think is missing in traction.

Steve: Yeah. And I think Patrick Lencioni has written many, many great books.

Melissa: Oh, yeah. I love all his books. Yeah.

Steve: Alright. So I want you to think about something you wanna leave the listeners with. A couple of quick announcements. Hey, guys. If you got value today, please like, scribe like, subscribe, share, comment.

Really helps us, helps the algorithm, helps us reach our goal of creating 100 millionaires. And we do have our all day sales training in nine days. If you guys are interested, please shoot me a DM, and we'll get you, situated. What are some last thoughts you want to leave the listeners with?

Melissa: Last thoughts. Let's see. I think the biggest thing I I would like to share with people is, kind of a little bit personal, but I think it's important because I think we get stuck in this, it's like we gotta hustle and grind twenty four seven thing.

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: And I'm not a fan

Steve: of that.

Melissa: Like, I think there's a time for that, and I think it is there is a building time where maybe you are working. But I just I wanna caution people to be careful about how much time you spend with that, and don't do it at the expense of your relationships. Don't do it at the expense of your family, your friends, the people that are important to you, because it's real easy for that to happen. And and you think, like, I'm building this thing for my family, and and once, you know, we get to this point that we're gonna have this great life, and you're missing out on your life right now.

Steve: Mhmm.

Melissa: And I I just see that so much, and I lived it too. And I just wanna caution people, you know, don't miss the day to day. Alright. Don't wait until you make a million dollars or you flip a 100 houses or something. Like, be in those moments.

Be present in those moments now. And, you know, you can still enjoy the fruits of your labor later, but just don't build at the expense of of everything else in your life that might be important to you. Yeah.

Steve: Well, I think that's a great reminder. Enjoy the journey.

Melissa: Yes. Right?

Steve: It's not about the destination. It's about the journey.

Melissa: It is. And it's hard to remember that when you're in it. But Yeah. You know?

Steve: It's hard if you're not taking a step back, which we talked about earlier is the introspection. Right? You gotta have some quiet time for yourself.

Melissa: Yes. For sure.

Steve: Yeah. How can someone get ahold of you?

Melissa: I have a website. It's the melissajohnson.com. Pretty much everything is on there. All my social links are on the bottom of the first page. My podcast is on there.

The coaching stuff I offer is on there and just a little blurb about me. So Yeah. Anybody wants to know about me, they can go there.

Steve: Awesome. Very cool. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. It's been absolute pleasure.

Thank you guys for watching, and I'll see you guys in a couple weeks. Awesome. Yay. Very cool.