The Alimond Show
Welcome to The Alimond Show --join us as we share our entrepreneurial guests' stories, uncover their secrets to success, and explore the unique paths they've taken to build thriving businesses in our community.
In each episode, our host, Aliyah Dastour, sits down with a diverse group of local business owners, from the corner cafe to the boutique shop, from tech startups to family-run enterprises. We peel back the curtain to reveal the trials, triumphs, and transformational moments that have shaped their entrepreneurial journey.
Discover the passion, perseverance, and innovative thinking that fuels these businesses, as well as the challenges they've overcome along the way. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur seeking inspiration or simply a curious listener interested in the stories behind your favorite local spots, The Alimond Show has something for everyone.
Our guests share their experiences, insights, and valuable advice that can empower you to turn your own dreams into reality. We discuss topics like marketing strategies, customer relationships, community engagement, and much more, offering practical takeaways you can apply to your own business or career.
Join us every week as we celebrate the unsung heroes of our local business community and explore the vibrant tapestry of entrepreneurship in our area. Tune in to The Alimond Show and get ready to be inspired, informed, and motivated to support and nurture the businesses that make our community thrive.
Subscribe now and become a part of our growing community of business enthusiasts and entrepreneurs. Stay connected with us on social media, and don't forget to leave a review if you enjoy our show. Let's celebrate the spirit of local business together on The Alimond Show.
The Alimond Show
Rebeca Lamas - Coldwell Banker Realty
Meet our guest - a spirited mom who's built a successful career in real estate and found balance between motherhood and entrepreneurship. Follow her captivating journey through different industries before she found her true passion in real estate. She opens up about the sheer joy she experiences in helping her clients realize their housing dreams, and how she deftly juggles this rewarding career with her responsibilities as a mother. Her unwavering commitment to build her business on honesty and genuine care for her clients is an inspiring story you wouldn't want to miss.
But there's more to this episode than just business talks. We delve into the profound topic of faith, and how trust in a higher power played a pivotal role in our guest's success story. Hear her unique perspective on mental health, and her firm belief in the power of good deeds, and how they circle back in unexpected ways. Her experiences - as a professional, a mother, and a believer - are bound to resonate with many of you. Tune in for an insightful discussion on career transitions, balancing life's priorities, and the importance of integrity in all that we do.
So do you do any type of like videos? Do you do anything? Uh, not really Social media or anything.
Speaker 2:Maybe just posts and some information, but I'm not really into videos or anything like that, just yet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're like, I'm working there, I'm working out to it, just photos.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to break my walls and just be out there. Mm-hmm, how did you get into?
Speaker 1:real estate.
Speaker 2:Well, I, honestly, I met people before I was doing this. I was into a lot of industries, so I met people that they had a hard time buying and selling and they would tell me like family or friends, and and I was just like, oh my gosh, maybe I should.
Speaker 2:I should try to see. Yeah, just to see what it was about. So once I got into it, I kind of find my passion that I didn't know I had in Real estate. I was like houses and the creations and things like that. But when it comes to laws and I never gave it a second thought yeah, okay, I started doing it. I took the classes and I was just like, wow, I really like this. Yeah, and I think helping people and being part of getting their house, so their goals, or changing their goals, is just the cherry on top. What did you do before this Every then? So I was in, I work in a car dealership, I work in a administration yes, and bring that out retail too. And since I was young, I wasn't always working, trying to find where I fit in. Yeah, I'm not really a type of the nine to five type of person. I always wanted to do something that keeps me busy and different things at the same time. So real estate really falls on that, with everything.
Speaker 1:As a little kid. What did you dream? What did you think you were going to do?
Speaker 2:Honestly, I don't know. I was thought I was going to be at the house and my husband was going to work. I really it was just that I come from Bolivia and my mom was a housewife.
Speaker 1:Somewhere.
Speaker 2:Bolivia Okay, bolivia, yes, some from Bolivia. My mom was the housewife and my dad did all the work and I never had to do anything. She got a good life, you know. So I wanted to be a mom and little did I know. I started growing and I was just like, okay, this is kind of not me and I started trying different works to see where I fit in. It was a little bit of a struggle at the beginning because not knowing really what, what is your passion, and things like that, yeah. So when I found real estate, I kind of like find myself and I'm actually happy that I did that.
Speaker 1:So you're still working in the house, just in a whole bunch of different houses, as you're selling them.
Speaker 2:There you go. Yes, so I'm like achieving the childhood dreams.
Speaker 1:Yes, do you have kids? I do, I have two. I also have a younger older mix, so I have a daughter.
Speaker 2:She's 13 and I just had a son. That he's been what? 11 months now, oh my goodness.
Speaker 1:So you really do have a mix. I love that. Yes, yes. How does that feel starting over after 13 years? Well, it's.
Speaker 2:I think it's a blessing. My daughter loves Her brother and she helps a lot and he loves I mean he's a boy, so I'm learning how to be a mom boy. Yeah, and it's so different with with the girl and boys.
Speaker 1:So it is. Yeah, it's completely different. I know I always say, when I see like babies now I'm like, oh, I just want another baby. But then it's like you remember, it's not just the cute. Of course I would go through it all again because it was such an amazing experience, but it just struggles, especially as a working mom. Yeah, when you're running your own business but then also running your household business as well, I'll take care of the kids. So props to you for thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think finding balance it's what I've been doing the past year, because I didn't want to leave real estate and I also didn't want to put my son in a daycare. Yeah, so it's. I had to take one for the team. We talked between my boyfriend and I were like okay, and my job allows me to work from home, so I feel he was gonna work better rather than Him stay home.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, no, that's awesome. That's awesome. I'm sure your kids will appreciate having you raise them. Yeah, as well, you know being present for them. Yes, I think it's very important especially nowadays.
Speaker 2:So I do enjoy taking my daughter to school and pick her up. That's something that it's non-negotiable, yeah, and with my son it's the same thing, and just being able to be there for the first things that he does so, or you know, just food or First steps, which he just did a few.
Speaker 1:I would not have judged you if you would have walked in here and had him on your hip Just as an FYI.
Speaker 2:He everything over here was going to fall, yeah.
Speaker 1:He's just a little boy. I'll just held him on my lap, I'll be talking. Of course he would have been like Probably so where do you see yourself five years from now?
Speaker 2:I see myself running a Successful business. I want to run something that it's based in being genuine and honest and also being a great mom going to no no, no, finish your sentence. No, just going to games and just being involved in both things, because I think they're both important and they both need to be. I need to feed both of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, don't drop either of those balls. In terms of you said just being a business built on genuine and honest, do you find that there are other people who aren't genuine and honest and that's why it's very important to you, or did something specifically happen that honesty is super important?
Speaker 2:Well, I think I'm really into mental health and I think when you do things based on good deeds, it's what you get back. And that's exactly what I want. I don't just want to go and make a transaction, I want to make long lasting relationships and just following that, and I want to be that good example for their agents also. They're just joining the business that they don't know and it's just like a shark thing out there.
Speaker 1:Why do you say shark thing?
Speaker 2:Because I don't think it's meant for the week. So you have to be there always, alert and just. It's all about documents, contracts, and you can't miss it. If you miss something, you can cause your clients to be lost, and we're not talking about $5,000. We're talking about $100,000 CSL. You have to always be in your A game.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's crazy. I mean it's true, but it's just like I always say. I have to say to some members of my team because they are very hard on themselves listen, we're not brain surgeons. If we make, we don't get something done, like right now, it's okay, we've got time to get it done. There's no life or death situation, and while your job isn't necessarily life or death, there are hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake, yeah, or somebody's future, or so. Yeah, that can be a little bit stressful. And so many hopes and dreams, too, that are like relying on whether or not somebody gets a house or they sell the house right. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2:And it's so unexpected to something can come out the next day and you gotta be available. So that's why this year that I took one for the June stay home with the baby I really just been taking referrals. I haven't been really out there making ads or things like that, because if I get something I want to be able to give my whole time to it and, knowing that I already have a little person that's dependent on me, for me it's very important that my credibility doesn't also get ruined in the way, because I can make it to unemployment and I don't think I would be a good agent if I'm not honest in that side when it comes to my ability.
Speaker 1:That's very self-aware of you and that's great, because that's a hard decision to make. So you're very self-aware and you're very concerned about your reputation and your client's service that you're figuring out this might have to be on hold for a little bit so that I can focus on this. Yeah, of course.
Speaker 2:I think it's worth it. I mean, I might want to make money and who doesn't? But I think what it's coming on the long run it's much more than anything else that I can make right now. So, yeah, that's awesome. What's your wish for your kids? I want them to be independent and I don't want them to just rely on us. I want them to learn their own things and to learn financially. What's it called Financial?
Speaker 1:education.
Speaker 2:For them to be able to know that, and that's what I want for them. I want them to have control over your own life. Learn from your mistakes. I will always be there, right, but I think it's very important that they also learn from themselves.
Speaker 1:You know, it's great because they are going to have parents that will show them and teach them, because I know, growing up for me, nobody taught me financial literacy. Oh my gosh, yeah me neither. Right, we have to figure this out. Even now, I still feel like I'm learning. So, yeah, that's true. So that's great that they're going to at least have some role models and somebody to ask.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's what we talked with my boyfriend about, because we both didn't have that with your parents. In the beginning it was like, okay, check on, oops, spend in. By now we're like more aware and it's like, okay, what if something happened to us? We're sort of emergency pounds and so it's just anything and we want to pass that Life insurance.
Speaker 1:That's a big thing. I don't know how you feel about life insurance, but for me, life insurance is so important because it's like that right, there is something that, if anything happened, you would want to make or I would want to make sure at least that they are covered, and that's not necessarily something you talk about with your parents. Exactly, you have to hear something on TV or you have to hear about a situation to be like, oh my god, that could happen to literally anybody, like I got to get myself together, exactly.
Speaker 2:It was just not a thing before and now. I'm just glad that we know now.
Speaker 1:Exactly so we can make better decisions for our kids. So, in terms of wrapping this up, what advice would you give to business owners who are in that struggle, that challenge between being an attentive parent as well as wanting to grow their business Like? What advice would you give them?
Speaker 2:I would say have faith, that I believe in God so that God will take care of things. And I know that it's sometimes easier to say than to believe, especially if you have your bills come in month to month. But if we were going to focus on money, then we're going to let that control us and ultimately it's going to damage your relationship with your kids and they'll think about money and money and money. So it's difficult, it was difficult for me, but it works out. It works out and then you learn that, okay, maybe people will keep working out and at the end of the day, that's the only thing that matters and nothing else matters. If you look around, everything it's okay and it will be okay. So I guess that's it.
Speaker 1:I love that Trust in God and just yeah, don't stress about the money, right?
Speaker 2:yeah, and like I, said, it's not an easy thing to do. It took me a lot to actually know the significance of having faith and having passion. So pay price off. Well, awesome, I love that.
Speaker 1:Thanks so much for being on the Alamon podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you for helping me.