190. From Victim to Victor - Generating $400M in Revenue - with Lady Jen du Plessis

Speaker A: It has been a, um, minute. Hello. Hello. I'm so happy to be back on the Joyous Paths and Millions podcast. Um, gosh, I could just spend a whole podcast episode giving you a life update, but I actually have a really cool guest, um, joining us today. And so we're going to be giving her a lot of airtime, but, um, just by way of a little life update, this is Jeff's birthday week. It's my birthday week. It's also the last week of school. So we are in countdown to summer celebration mode over here. And it's really fascinating because I'm just thinking about where we were at and what we were doing a year ago. And last May was, you know, one of the biggest transitions of our lives. Um, we lost Jeff's mom unexpectedly in late April, and so in early May, we were in Michigan, um, you know, doing a celebration of life for her and also cleaning out all of her belongings, going through everything, which also meant going through Jeff's childhood stuff. And at the same time, we were prepping to move out of Southern California for the first time in over 20 years. So, so it was just this major transition. Cleaning, house purging, selling stuff on Facebook, Marketplace, giving loads and loads of things away via donation, um, boxing up our belongings and, you know, just really closing chapters. Um, and it's really cool to be here a year later. Um, we're coming up on our one year anniversary in Austin because we moved into this house June 27th of 2025. And so we're about a month away from that anniversary at this time of recording. And it's like, holy crap, we did it. And it turned out better than we could have expected. It's been so, so, so, so great. Um, just on every, every level imaginable, it's been wonderful from a social perspective, from a family perspective, um, our businesses have flourished. And it's just, I could go on and on about how beautiful our life is here. Um, but it took a ton of courage and a big leap to make that happen. And so super grateful. So fun to be on the other side and be able to look back so fondly on the journey. All right, we have an incredible guest joining us today. Um, let me just give you a little preview about how badass she is so you can be just as excited about this. So, um, I invited lady, Lady Jen Duplessis to come on the show. She and I were both speakers, um, at an event recently, and she just really impressed me. And then the more I've gotten to know her, the More impressed. I've been. Like, I could read you a list of accolades a mile long, but, like, she's spoken at nasdaq. She is, uh, I mean, she's been featured in Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Good Morning America. She's a dynamic leader. She's transformed over eight things. Thousand powerhouse businesses into companies that are ready to scale on a whole new level because of the work that they've done with her. Um, and she's, you know, she's written multiple books, she has generated over $400 million in revenue, she's built a ton of personal wealth, and she has such a generous heart for. For giving back to communities as well. Um, she's been an absolute trailblazer for women, especially in the finance industry and women making money. And, um, you're gonna love this conversation that we have. Uh, she just goes into the four stages of success. She has such an interesting way of thinking about things. I also get her to talk about, um, her investment portfolio and some of the interesting and creative ways that they have their money working for them. So, without further ado, let's jump right into Lady Jen. Welcome to the joyous Path to Millions podcast. I'm so happy that you're here.

Speaker B: Thank you. I am, too. And I'm so glad that we've got this all done before us taking some time off.

Speaker A: I know. Like, let's. Let's talk about that so we can model it, because I think we're both naturally probably pretty ambitious. We have a lot that we want to do, um, in our businesses and in our life. And we were both talking about scheduling this, and I'm like, well, I'm going to be off all of July. And you're like, I've blocked my calendar for the whole summer. And I love that for us. And, you know, we get to find whatever balance or harmony works for us. But it doesn't have to be go, go, go all the time.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, it doesn't. It doesn't have to be. And in fact, that's what I coach my clients on, right. Is going from hustle to harm money. Right. And, um, because. And. And I like to walk that walk, as you were saying a few minutes ago, that we're just going to model this is. I like to walk that walk. It doesn't mean I'm always taking that kind of time off. But, um, I'm in a reset, remodel, renovate, uh, redo, remodel, I mean, all. All of those things mode right now, as I feel many, uh, right now. And um, you know, and I just thought, hey, you know what? I don't have anything. I can't believe it. Normally, I'm on the road two to three weeks out of every month. I don't have anything scheduled. I'm going to enjoy the summer. I'm going to work on the behind the scenes in my practice, revamp a few things. Uh, and this is halftime, right? This is halftime. And we go into the locker and we figure out how we're going to win the game.

Speaker A: Yes. Yes. And even, you know, like, my daughter who's in softball, and she's like, she's a pitcher and it's a thing, and she's always practicing, but, you know, her team takes six weeks off over the summer. And I'm like, during those six weeks, like, I don't even want you to touch a softball or think about softball. And what's fascinating is when she comes back, she's better.

Speaker B: Wow.

Speaker A: Even though, you know, she didn't practice. Right. And so I think the same is true in our business. It's like we come back with these fresh ideas just from.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: You know, zooming out a little bit and remembering other aspects of life.

Speaker B: Yeah. And. And, you know, we have to be careful. I call that the circle of chaos. Because that's what happens, you know, when you're in the hustle, for example, you. You're like, you know, I've been going a hundred miles an hour and, you know, mess. Mess it all up. Because I don't know any other way to say, forget it all, I'm done. And then we go, and we have this time off. And while we have the time off, we create a new circle of chaos. And that is. I know when I get back, I'm going to do this, this, this, this, this, this, this. And then we just implement the heck out of it. And then we start burning out again. And then we say, uh, m. You know, mess with it all. I'm done with it, and start that chaos over again. And that's always the fear that we have in our pre. Well, at least it is for me when I see it for my clients. I, um, go, oh, gosh, they're in that circle of chaos again. They got some time off, and then they had these great ideas, but the implementation burnt them out again. And so how do we get out of that chaos? And I have some strategies for that, obviously. But, um, from a business perspective, there's almost a concern for me that my clients will get into when they say they're going to take Some time off. I'm going, oh, boy, oh, boy. What's going to happen when they get back? You know, so. And I have to be in tune with that to know that when they get back, they're going to be excited and joyful and elated and ready to go. And I know what's coming down the pike if I don't pull the reins back on them. Uh, so I didn't mean to burst the bubble on that. I'm just saying that we have to be aware of it.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well. And, I mean, do you find that you've got tools and strategies that sort of permanently disrupt that cycle and pattern? Because I know that I used to. You know, for me, when I hustled, it was attached to proving my worth, so I didn't recognize it, but subconsciously, I needed to feel significant and I needed to feel worthy. And so, because I was getting that subconscious benefit, it didn't matter what conscious, uh, things I put in place, what tools to try to balance it. It was like I had to heal that underlying layer. And now, like, I don't. I try to even never use the word busy, because to me, it's not a badge of honor if I'm finding myself wanting to say that word. It's like, actually a red flag that maybe I need to check on what I'm doing. Um, because I'm just in a better flow where I love my work and I love my downtime and my family time. So I'd be curious for you. And, I mean, oh, my gosh, like, everything in your bio and everything you and I have talked about before we hit record. Uh, you know, you are clearly a fount of creativity and ideas and projects and. And I have no doubt that you could be working 24 hours a day if that's what you chose to do. Because there's that much in your mission, in your life that.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: That you want to move forward. So can you just speak to how we can sort of permanently disrupt that pattern of. Of those circles of chaos, as you. As you call them.

Speaker B: Yeah. There's so much. There's so much in there that you, um, mentioned. I'm taking notes because I make sure I talk about. About all the pieces. So, like, you. Uh, you know, I come from that same mentality, and I'm sure you have your story. You know, my story is my mom or my father was an alcoholic. My mother was a verbal abuser, and she was one of 10. And we. And so I had 36 first cousins, and they were And. And I was an only child out of all of that. And so we were the low family on the totem pole. And my uncles had nicknames for all of us, but mine happened to be Jenny who ain't got a Penny. And of course, I. When I was younger, I. I would just carry a penny in my shoe and just say, no, I have one. Ha ha. It's a joke.

Speaker A: And.

Speaker B: But later I, you know, much later, I realized that, you know, that Jenny who Ain't got a Penny affected me in a negative way after my uncle said to me, you know, you're going to be just like them. You're going to be an alcoholic verbal abuser. You're going to be poor. You're not going to have anything. It's the way the world goes. And so I set out to prove just like you. But we all have a turning point where we're going to. We say, that's it. I've had enough, and I'm done proving, and I'm going to start living. And that tipping point for me in my own hero's journey is what led me from stepping out of the hustle and going into harm Money. And I say harm money. It was a godwink. Every time I spelt it, I would type money, and I would correct it, and then I'd type money. And I was in financial services. I think that has to do with it. And then I went, wait a minute. I'm being told something here. And, uh, the fear that people have is if I'm not in the hustle, right? And for you and I, it's maybe a little different because we're proving, right, like, I won't be worthy. Um, but if I'm not in the hustle and I'm looking for harmony, um, I may not make money. And I'm here to say that you can have both of them. You can have harmony and money right. When you get out of the hustle. So you mentioned something that made me think. I wrote down flow. Not gonna. Right. Uh, we don't want to be on the go, that badge of honor. We want to be in the flow. And there's a difference in how it feels. And psychologically, it affects us, too. When I say go, go, go, go versus let's be in the flow. Yeah, it has a big, big impact on it. So there's a couple things about this. So this circle of chaos, to get out of that chaos and get into, you know, creativity, cash consciousness, whatever words you want to use there, right? To get into that it really goes back to the four, um, stages of growth. Now there is a fifth stage of growth. So if you're looking this up or you've already, you, uh, that's not four, it's only, it's five, you've got it wrong. Uh, the, the fifth stage is success. And I don't feel that it's a destination and that's why I don't recognize it. Okay, so what happens is the perfect

Speaker A: perfectly said for the podcast called the Joyous Path to Millions. Yes, it's the journey, not the destination.

Speaker B: That's right. It's not that destination. So the first step is formulation. So when we get these great ideas, we tend to just go into the go piece of it, right? We start moving along. I always say slow down to speed up instead of speeding up to slow down. Right. So in the circle of chaos that I call it, it's speeding up to slow down to then speed up again. What I'm suggesting is that we now look at this and say, okay, we're going to slow down so we can speed up. So we're going to formulate everything first. So we're not going to have this great idea and start. We're going to have a great idea and formulate and intentionally work through the idea to ensure that it will provide us with the results that the out, the input that we put in will create the outcome we're looking for.

Speaker A: Right? Mhm.

Speaker B: And spending time sitting in that. Okay, I've got this great idea. Let me noodle over it, let me sleep on it, let me get counsel, let me test it out with people. You know, let me, let me just kind of fit it on. And once that's done, the second step is concentration. And this is where people miss the formulation and they just get the idea and they go to concentration. And concentration is more than just doing and on the go it is, uh, is more about keep your performance. I'm having a hard time. I wanted to say KPIs, right? KPIs key performance indicators. Code, uh, of principles. Right, A code of principles. So that every decision you're making is, is going toward that non negotiable that, that result you're looking for, that code of principles and um, tracking. Right, lots of tracking. So we can get excited. It's fun, right? Let's go have fun. But we forget to look in the rearview mirror. Is there a pile of money back there that we're dropping or is it nothing? And so we want to be in that concentration mode and so those are the first two stages. I call those working in and on your business. Uh, in and on. This is where most people stop. Don't work in your business. Work on your business. And I find that it's in, in, in, in, in, in, in, on, in, in, in, in, in, on. Um, and we make these business plans, and we don't look at them. We don't have any performance indicators. We don't track. We don't know if we're. If we're moving forward or just on a treadmill. It just feels like we're.

Speaker A: Uh-huh.

Speaker B: Right. So I'll stop there because that's. That's the first thing that thought of. And, I mean, there's two more steps, too, and we can go through them if you'd like. But, um, but be. That helps you be in the flow rather than in the go.

Speaker A: Yeah, Yeah, I love that. And I mean, you work with very successful entrepreneurs already who are wanting to get to that next level. Do you find that they're wanting. They're. They're still sort of measuring their success by these external measures, or are. Are they starting to want to grow, um, for a bigger purpose and mission beyond themselves, or is that something that you help kind of guide them into? Like, hey, why do you really want to hit 100 million? Like, what does this actually mean for you?

Speaker B: Yeah. Well, the answer is, yes, I guide them through that because some of my clients come to me because they want freedom and time in their life. Others come because they want to hurt their team, and they need better ways to work with them. Right. And both lead to scaling and both lead to revenue, you know, greater revenue. Um, but yeah, I find that it depends on, you know, how. How they come in. I forgot the first part of your question, because your, uh, is your statement, as you were saying, that when they come to us, you know, what are they looking for? But, yeah, we. We have to dissect that and figure out, you know, and you're right, because a lot of people say, you know, I want to make a hundred thousand. I want to make 500,000. I want to make it. Now, the new word is a million. You know, I want to make a million dollars, but they don't understand why they want to make a million dollars. They're, uh. They're very successful. They tend to be successful on paper.

Speaker A: But.

Speaker B: But here's. Here's something I always say, is that in this is life, we learn for a long period of time, some period of time. Right. Hopefully, we learn for life. Right. But we Learn, then we earn, and then we have this urge to return.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And the clients that I'm working with are generally in the. I've earned and I've earned and I've earned for a really long time. And now I want to give back. And whether it's giving back to a charity with philanthropy work, uh, you know, philanthropic work, or whether it's giving back to themselves, giving back to their family, you've heard the story, you've heard the phrase of, you know, uh, don't sacrifice your health to create wealth, because later you'll be sacrificing your wealth to maintain your health. And that's where they're wanting to do. There's like this return. I want more time with my family. I want more life. And that's why, you know, people say, let's create, you know, leave a legacy. And I'm going, no, don't leave a legacy. Live a legacy. Yeah, you know, live your legacy. So that's where, where most are coming to me and saying, this is. There's gotta be enough. I'm. My business is successful, but it's not enough. And it's, yeah, you know, I need more.

Speaker A: I love what you said. Live your legacy. What does that mean to you?

Speaker B: Well, it's the, um, the whole basis of my entire practice. We talked about m. Um in and on, right? So what I say to everyone is stop working in and on your business so that you can live above and beyond it. So that's what it means for me, living that legacy. And it requires a leap of faith, the transition there. And the transformation is a leap of faith where you're working on your leadership skills, you're expanding your team, you're amplifying your influence, and you're boosting your profits. That's the leap, right? The leap that has to go there. You can't just be above your business, walk out and say, okay, you guys all take over. I'm done. There's a transition that has to happen and a transformation with your body, with yourself. And understanding that to be above your business doesn't mean you're a better than everyone else. It allows you to tether away from the daily minutia, go from hands on to hands off, right? And then the above, the. The beyond then becomes your beyond. You know, my definition of success, when I was. I could think of, I think I was like 27, 28. I was already really great at sales. I was topping my company, and I wanted a Mont Blanc pen so bad because everybody, that was success. If you had a Mont Blanc pen. If you had a bag phone. This is in the 90s, okay? You had a bag phone or you were driving a Beamer, right? We never said BMW. A Beamer. You're driving a Beamer. You, um, were successful. And I, um, ended up driving a Jaguar instead of a BMW. But I wanted that Mont block pen so bad. And I did have the phone, you know, the bag phone. But I had. I wanted that Mountblock pen so bad. And I think back then it was 197 or 297. Now they're like thousand dollars and more, and I want it so bad. And every time I would unscrew it and I would show people look at me, I have the pen. Until I had done that so many times that the threads had worn, and it was fussing with me. I had problems, you know, and it was leaking sometimes in my purse. And, you know, but one time I cleaned it all up and I had it shut up and, you know, close up, and I. And I couldn't get it undone, so I pulled it and I yanked it. And ink went in my hair on my. I remember it blinking on my eyelashes. It was running down my face. It was all over my red suit that I had. And I was with a client, and I was so embarrassed. And I thought, okay, this is not success, right? Everyone else, definite everyone else's definition. I can't succumb to this now. I was young, so I, you know, was listening to everybody else, and I finally realized, you know, that my success is my own. And that beyond. To go back to what we were talking about. Is it financial? Is it time? You know, all of that. My beyond is my beyond. And I coach my clients into this is like, what do you want? You know, it's from the movie, like the Notebook. What do you want, woman? What do you want? Um. And I had to decide, what do I want? And what I wanted was not to have excuses to my family why I was late picking them up from a recital, or late or I missed an entire game because my client needed me, or I didn't have dinner with them. What I wanted was this lifestyle, this. And I call it a life of luxury. Okay? Um. And it's because I used to say, well, she has the luxury of going on, um, the field trip with the kids. I have to work. They have the luxury of this. And I never had that. And I wanted a life of luxury. So be clear about what that meant. Right? And, um, yeah, so for me, it was, and it still is today. You know, at any given moment, I'm. I'm very, uh, conscious about my. My calendar. My calendar is an asset, not a thing that drives me. It doesn't drive me. I drive it. So my calendar is my asset. I have four businesses that I run, um, and I have people that run them, too, but I'm the CEO. And, uh, at a drop of a hat, I can go pick up my grandkids. At a drop of a hat, I can drive up to Pennsylvania, where my other grandkids are, and do, you know, spend time with them and be with them. At a drop of a hat, I can go dance. So these are my Bey, uh, things. Be on my boat. Right? Um, you know, go to the winery that my husband and I have a stake in. Uh, go down to Kentucky and go see my horse. You can see him back there. He's at the Kentucky. He's at, uh, Churchill Downs. He's in. In the running for a whole bunch of. But we have six horses. Now, this isn't to boast. This is to say that this is my life of luxury. Right. The luxury of being able to do these things, but it's also living my legacy.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: You know, why would I wait till once I've done this, once I've done that one size, this, one size that, uh, you know, I call it one size. Once I've done all these things, then I'll be happy, then I'll be joyful, then I'll spend time with everyone. I'm doing it as I'm moving along. So I say live your legacy while you're building it.

Speaker A: Amen. Amen. Now, uh, help us connect the dots, because everything in your childhood did not set you up for a life of luxury, for either in the traditional definition or in the way that you've redefined it, which I love so much. And so, uh, how did you bridge that gap? I know that you really helped pave the way, I think, for a lot of women in the industry that you were in and the amount of money that you were earning. And so what was it in you that decided, I'm going to blaze a different trail for myself?

Speaker B: Yeah. Well, I mean, that day that my uncle told me we were driving in a van, my family, we were all entrepreneurs. Virtually every. Well, I know almost every one of the ten are entrepreneurs, um, of my mom's family. And many, many, many of the 36 of us, the first cousins, are entrepreneurs. It's just an entrepreneurial, uh, family. But we're driving in a van because they had A carpet cleaning business early on. Now they have, I don't know, four or five hundred million dollars worth of properties. And they, um. And so I learned early on about real estate and things like that. It was just kind of natural. But we're driving in the car and he just looked over and said, you know, Jenny, you're going to be like them. It wasn't in that night I came home because I used to, you know, go work with them in the summer and everything. I did flowers too. They owned a big flower shop, or not a flower shop at a nursery, a big nursery. So I know everything about flowers and plants, you know, and so that work ethic was already in me. I think if the work ethic wasn't there, um, you know, being we weren't in poverty or anything. My dad had a job. He was a carpenter. My mom worked with the family and the flowers and stuff. Um, so it wasn't that we were in poverty, but. But we were pretty poor. And if I didn't have the work ethic behind that, I think that would have been the difference. I would have stayed, uh, in that place. But I had the work ethic and I saw it around me. And so we're doers, right? We weren't sit around. We weren't lazy people at all. And so for me, that was it. But I came home that night and I walked into the house. I could hear my mom and dad screaming. I walked through the front door, and we had a screen porch and then the full door and went in, and my dad had a shotgun to my mom's head. And it wasn't the first time and it wasn't the last time, but it was the time that was the one. Because I'd just been told this, that the penny story wasn't really a penny story, was that I don't have a penny. And, um, you know, and my mom and dad always fought because she had a mouth, right? And he, he had the alcohol. But I. I'm going to. When we get to heaven, when I get to heaven, I'm going to say, was it your mouth that created the alcohol, or was it alcohol that created the mouth? Um, because they just were like that. But they, you know, they were married for 50 years. And, you know, and I'm married now 43, which is so scary. It's like, oh, my gosh, it's coming up. Um, and, uh, that was the moment, you know, and I did. I set out to prove, and I was great in school. I was runner up Miss Colorado. I Was a tennis champion. I played flute and piccolo in the Colorado Spring Symphony. I was, uh, pre med. I was going to be a cardiologist. Ended up being an architect and an engineer. Um, you know, I just. I was an overachiever. Overcompensating for the feeling of worth worthlessness. But I didn't know it then. I just knew that this was my drive, just like you've said as well. And that transcended into work. And it's funny because I always. My. Now I have a brother. Okay, So I was, uh, 14 when he was born. Okay, so we're like, we both call ourselves, uh, only children because the year I went into college, you went into kindergarten. So I now have a brother, right? And he's the victim and I'm the victor. You m. Know this story, right, where two brothers are born in the same thing. He's the victim and I'm the victor. I refuse to be the victim. And it's, you know, it was a choice and, um, you know, anybody. And gosh, it was maybe nine years ago or so because I've been out of mortgage lending for, uh, ten years. In a couple days, ah, Friday, tomorrow I'll be out for a couple days and for 10 years. And, um, I think that. And I lost my train of thought on this, but don't edit this because this is what's important.

Speaker A: The victor. The victor and the victim.

Speaker B: Yeah, the victor and the victim. And you know, um, yeah, so when I went into mortgage business, you know, I had the victim mentality. Um, and you know how we talk about, um, abundance right above and below the line is working in abundance, working in scarcity. I thought I was working in abundance. I thought I was playing the victor game, but I really was in scarcity and I was really in victimness. I had armor that I wore on me, and I didn't want anyone to know that I came from this. And I carried a penny in my shoe for years to remind me as I'm walking that I'm not her. Until one day I said that that's got to go away because it's pulling me down.

Speaker A: Right? And I still connecting you to that

Speaker B: story, it still was, even though I felt I was victorious over it, you know, and so it all transcended. And then, you know, I had that, that moment when I said, I'm done. I am done proving this is about me now. I've done everything I can do. I can't continue to be in this hustle. I can't continue to, um, fake it. Till I make it, I can't continue to be superficial with everybody because they tell you to do all these things. To be successful, I need to slow down, to speed up. And that's. I said I need to be present. And that's. The transition from hustle to harmony is creating presence and awareness, um, and actual

Speaker A: sovereignty, which, honestly, you know, when I went through the process of. Yeah, yeah, exactly. You know, when I went through the process of healing my inner child, it was really fascinating for me to realize, like, how little free choice we actually have. Like, we walk around like we're adults, and I'm choosing to do this, and I'm not choosing to do that. No. Yeah. We're still the kid. And so we're either replaying the exact same patterns that. That were modeled for us growing up, or we're rebelling against those patterns. And so either way, we're not really in free choice. We're just either perpetuating or pushing against. And. And so when you're like, okay, I don't even want to push against this story anymore.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: I just want to totally be done with it so that I can be sovereign, so that I can actually have free will and just live my life and do what I want to do. Not. Not in any other way. But. But I'm curious, too, because you wrote a book.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And. And your book is Tell Me I Can't.

Speaker B: Oh, that one. Yeah. Yeah. I've read several.

Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, okay.

Speaker B: Yes. And it's on its way to you. And it's on its way to you. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: And so I haven't read the whole thing yet. Um, but it looks like it's a fictional story, but with. With these undercurrents of. Probably some of the personality pieces you pinpointed it.

Speaker B: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Because, you know, it was. Again, that resistance is. For longest time, it was. Don't tell me I can't. Don't. Don't tell me I can't. I'm gonna. I'm gonna go do this. Right. And it was. It was negative, and it was victim. Ness. I'm, um. You know, don't tell me I can't do that. Don't tell me I can't do this. And so, you know, that. That was the resistance, but the. The other side of that coin. And I. I'm. I love alliteration. Uh, so I've got R word. Right. The other side of that resistance, you know, and all of it is resilience. Right. Is receiving. Right. Maybe the other side of this is receiving this, um, and now. I called the book. I didn't call it. Don't tell me I can. I call it. I called it. Tell me I can. Yeah, go ahead. I dare you.

Speaker A: Bring it on.

Speaker B: Tell me. Uh, go ahead, tell me. Watch what I do. Get out of my way. See what happens. It's now a Victor response.

Speaker A: Yes. Yes.

Speaker B: Yeah. And those undertones are there. Her thoughts were my thoughts. Yeah.

Speaker A: Yeah, I love that. I love that. Just, like, little sassy rebelliousness of, uh, like, I'll show you. Just m. Tell me I can't, and I'll go do it. Um, okay. I can't resist talking a little bit of wealth strategy, because it's so much fun in the work that I get to do. Um, tell me, as you've built your business and created personal wealth, and I know you have an extensive real estate portfolio, just share with the audience what are some of your favorite wealth tools? Where are some places where you like your money to make money for you? Not as investment advice or anything, but just as inspiration? Maybe someone hears one of. One of the things that you say and the way you say it, and it sparks something in them to go research and think about it for themselves.

Speaker B: Okay, well, let me start with something else that I think is really important when you're talking about real estate investing or any investing, because, you know, we're. We're investing in the horses we're investing in. Um, it's not. I have them. Okay. There's a difference. That. That's an investment. My calendar is an investment.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: Um, the vin. The vineyard's an investment. All of the. And all the properties are investment. Um, you know, when I look back, I'm going to just step back just a hair on this. I have a really high iq, and we all have an. A good. A good or high or whatever iq. It's our expertise. Okay? So if you think you have a low, high iq, but you have a high expertise, you're good.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Right. It's the expertise that you have. And hinging everything on that is hustle. M. That's the hustle. It's like, I know what I'm doing. Let me do. Let me do. Let me do. Let me do it. Give it to me. Let me do it. Right. I'll do it for you. Right. And even though you're paying people, um, that's the iq. When I made this transition and transformation from hustle to harmony, I realized I needed eq. That's the mindset, okay? The mindset. And that's not something you get that's something that's developed. Okay? So eq. Anytime you see an EQ class or a book, um, um, anything, buy it, get it, go to it. Because developing EQ is what you need for real estate. Um, because you need to be able to step back and not be excited about or anything you're doing. I don't care if it's stocks or whatever, you can. You cannot lead with emotion at all. You cannot be excited with that. And so emotional quotient EQ allows, um, for you to step back. It allows you to get your emotion in check combined with your experience. Then M add aq. And this is really what I'm seeing in the market today. Agility quotient, the ability to turn on a dime. The ability to walk away from a $50 difference. The ability. Right. And that EQ is why it's so important. So you need the education, but you need to have that EQ and then have that agility quotient to be able to negotiate, to see from a different perspective. And this is, you know, that constant moving, that agility. And that's really, really important. And that, for me, creates momentum. And then anything we're doing, momentum in your business, momentum in your life, et cetera. So leading up to that, um, my husband and I purchased our first property before we got married. We were both 19. And we still have the house today. And it's sentiment for us now, but, um. And so it's just a real fun cash cow. Right. And. And all the income that comes from that becomes our play money. Right. And. And that's really great. Um, but if you're in the hustle, you don't get to spend it. You don't get to, you know, realize it. And we're creating memories with our grandchildren through these. Right. It's not buying things. I'm very frugal when it comes to that, but I'm. It's not that. It's. It's, uh, more that, hey, let's go, you know, someplace for the weekend.

Speaker A: Yeah. Experience.

Speaker B: Yeah, that. And so that first house is, you know, I think a people leave their first house. We kept it. We kept it and said, this is the one that will be, you know, generating the income that will keep us going. Um, then we had the foresight to see it, and, you know, now if you don't have that, then, you know, go buy a rental and. And make that one be your one. Right?

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: But we did what's called step investing. Um, we invested in a house back. Back then you could put 10% down on an investment property. So we, we saved the money, put 10% down, we didn't need the income. So all of the positive, um, cash flow went to paying off that loan. M. While we were saving money for the next one. Um, and then we just did the step investing. A strategy I love today is holding notes. That's the Strategy. We have 15 Airbnbs. We love that strategy. We converted, um, several of the real estate, um, items into Airbnb and then, um, the rest of them, you know, we've pretty much paid off all the properties that we have, almost all of them. Uh, so I converted them to notes. I thought if you're a good renter, you'll be a good mortgage person. Do you want to buy the house? Uh, so that was done. But I'm still, so that's one. So I'm still holding those notes. But here's the one I love the most, and this is the one that we're continuing to do. We buy properties for $30,000 or less. And yes, there are thousands of them out there. They're still there. We buy them for 30,000 or less. Sometimes we bring our kids in. So we all, you know, do 10 grand each. Um, and what we do is we just buy it outright and then we do nothing to it.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And we offer it to, um, someone who normally would not get, be able to get a mortgage, but they're hard working people. And we go into a neighborhood and if the rent's 700, we'll offer the payment at 600. And, um, the skin in the game is a healthier down payment which covers our closing costs, which gives us a boost on our ROI. And um, immediately the property becomes positive cash flow. 100%. 100%. So but we're using, that's a slow flip strategy.

Speaker A: Right. If people want to go read a book on that.

Speaker B: I, um, don't even know. It's, it's not even, I've never heard of a slow flip.

Speaker A: There's a guy who wrote a book called Slow Flip.

Speaker B: Oh, that's crazy. I don't consider it slow because I buy it with cash and I sell it within weeks because I do nothing to it. Um, so, uh, what I, and I love, I love, love, love that strategy because it's helping them create credit, it's helping that they're going to own their house faster. It's usually a 10 to 12 year loan. They're going to own their house faster than their neighbor who's already paid for 15 years. Right. And, um, it's serving the community and it's giving back and that's, um, what I really love about it. And you know, of all the properties, we've had over 100. We currently have over 100 properties, but we've had only three. Two, uh, that we had to struggle with and they got back on track and one we had to foreclose on and once we did, we just redid it again. And I love that strategy. Not, uh, because it's so great for me, but I love helping people. And having been in the mortgage business, I can assess their situation quite a bit easier than others. Yeah, you know, I know.

Speaker A: I was going to ask you that. Do you have a management company in place or are you guys self managing

Speaker B: all these, um, are, uh, you talking about these notes?

Speaker A: These properties? The notes, the, the seller finance properties?

Speaker B: Yeah, so I have, I have software for the notes. Uh, so it sends little letters. Hey, your payment's not here or whatever. It sends all that stuff. We have, um, an app that we use for, uh, Airbnbs. And so wherever we have them, we, we can call on anybody. And then, uh, we only have two rentals, so we still manage that. Um, we still manage those two rentals. And the rest of them are notes. And so I don't do much that. So these conversions or these slow flips, as you call them, um, I, I still don't know if I like slow because to me it's faster than a flip.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: But, but, um, these, uh, you know, they just fall into the category of notes. We're just holding the note with the lender, you know, and uh, yeah, so we're, and sometimes we have struggles. We're going through a struggle on one of them right now. It's in Colorado. And, uh, the insurance companies are not wanting to insure Colorado just like they have been with California, some of the places in California and Florida, because of forest fires. Yeah. And so now we're kind of going, oh, what are we going to do to protect it? So I'm working with a lot of people on that. But, you know, I think the best strategy is the strategy you feel comfortable with. I think the best strategy is one that you can manage, um, not manage on your own, but if you want phone calls in the middle of the night, then be a rent, you know, be. Own rental properties. If you don't want phone calls, then hold notes.

Speaker A: Right, right, right.

Speaker B: That's what I say. And you can buy notes on properties all the time. We've done that as well. Um, but I think those are, you know, again, again, it's passive or active. It depends on your age. It depends on your, your investments. But I did want to say that we don't buy anything, um, without Infinite Banking being the source, ah. Of what we do. Um, there's nothing that comes out of our personal checking account. It comes out of Infinite Banking. And so, um, so we're making money on the money we're spending. Yes, Here and there.

Speaker A: I'm so, I'm so glad you mentioned that because you and I had an offline conversation.

Speaker B: Oh, yeah. About it. Yeah, so I did. Yeah. Just to be clear, I don't save $30,000 anymore like that. I do it through infant banking. Yeah.

Speaker A: Yeah. That's amazing. Um, thank you for sharing all of

Speaker B: that because I know it's long, but hopefully it's helpful.

Speaker A: I think it's so, I mean, to me it's infinitely fascinating like what people are doing with their money. And I know for everyone who tunes into this podcast also, it's like just really refreshing when people are open and honest and transparent and talking about it.

Speaker B: Yeah. Um, yeah. And I coach people on this. You know, my clients get to that beyond and they're like, I know you have property, can you show us how to do it? And, and so those are one offs and things. But we do, you know, we talk about and learn about interests, we learn about employment rates, we learn about the federal funds rate, we learn about every. I want them to be fully aware. And then we outsource. You know, I then say, okay, based on what you're saying, tax liens look like the thing for you to do. So let me get you in touch with friend.

Speaker A: Right. Yeah. Uh, yeah, I know you're a super connector and have a vast network, um, that you've built over the years and mortgage lending and real estate and you know, across all of the businesses and entrepreneurs that you worked with as well.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Um, this has been an awesome conversation and I think we've actually touched on this so many times. But just to sort of sum it up and bring, bring it back to kind of the heart of the podcast asked how, what does it feel like for you or how do you define your joyous path to millions?

Speaker B: Oh, yeah, um, you didn't prepare me for that question. That's a great question. I don't think I've ever, ever thought about it. I, you know, I think that I was in it, um, it's sort of that learn, earn, return. You know, I was in it for so long I learned it when I was young, didn't realize I had learned so much about business, entrepreneurship and real estate. Uh, and then I was in it so much, you know, as is what I thought I was a victor. And really I was playing the victim game. But then that switched, and I, you know, my business accelerated. You know, that. That particular business accelerated. And simultaneously, the business I'm doing now accelerated. And, you know, this time around, um. This time around, this business, I stepped into it. It already in harmony, so. And I didn't step into it 10 years ago. I stepped into it almost 13, 23. 10. Yes. Well, maybe 14 years ago, I stepped into it in harmony, and I was able to, um, adjust all of my other businesses so that they were in harmony while I was learning, you know, the strategies that I now consult my clients on and that I was teaching myself. Right. Going through the ups and downs and all rounds. And so it's interesting because I'm already stepped into this being joyful. So. Yeah, I just think it was something that I had to learn, and it was forced upon me because it was that or, you know, I could have been divorced. I could have. I don't even know. I mean, thank God my husband, you know, has me on a pedestal and thinks I'm wonderful. Right. But it. It also, you know, calm me down a little bit. I was slowing down, you know, to speed up, uh, to be able to look at other people and how I could help them. And so through all the philanthropy work that I do, you know, obviously that resulted in me being knighted and recognized, you know, and receiving this beautiful honor for doing what I already love. But I couldn't have done that. You know what the word is? Presence. Presence is joy. I'm just going to say that I found my presence and now I have joy because I can have gratitude for it every day instead of glossing over it for the next deal, the next day, the next meeting, the next thing.

Speaker A: Amen. I love that so much. It really is true. When we're present, there's so much to be joyful about, to be grateful for, but, man, it's easy to miss it if we're. If we're not present.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. And that's what that leap does. It helps you get present. Right. That's what that little leap does. Always call it a little leap, because, uh, it. For me, it's in on, above, beyond, and I'm going, there's the leap.

Speaker A: Right. I know. It always makes me think of the big leap.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: The leap of faith and the Goldfish jumping.

Speaker B: Oh yeah, yeah, that's. It's that leap of faith. Yeah, it's that leap in faith that, that you don't need to be there doing everything. You don't need to run yourself ragged. You don't need to run yourself into the ground. Yeah. And that's why I don't like that success is the fifth, because once we get beyond, maybe it's a new business and you're in formulation, maybe it's learning a language and you're in formulation.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: And so it's just a continuum. Mhm.

Speaker A: Yes. Amen. Yeah. I mean, nothing like there is no destination. It's like we're not going to cross the finish line until we do die. And then really not even then, but.

Speaker B: Right. No, we just have a new life.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, exactly. So it's like anytime we, we get into that trap of thinking that like there's this end point, it's like, oh, hang on, I'm thinking about this the wrong way.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Okay. Where can people reach out to you? Um, who, who do you want to reach out and connect with you and where can they find you?

Speaker B: Yeah, well, thank you for asking. Uh, you know, those who are most attracted to working with me are, you know, moderately to some very successful businesses. And I define that as usually around 3 million to 30 million top line revenue. They have a team or they don't have a team. You know, they have virtual teams sometimes or they have a big massive company. Um, uh, dentists, vineyards. They need help. Dentists, vineyards, chiropractors, uh, you know, entrepreneurs that have a team feel successful, uh, externally but not internally, uh, trades, roofing companies, um, those kinds of big companies like that where they have a lot of employees. And they started this out as a passion and now it's exploded into something really wonderful. But they may not have the tools, the tools to delegate the management skills, the visionary skills that I'm talking about here in the mindset piece of it. And um, the systems. I have that as an engineer I'm all about systems. They may not have the systems. I've identified that a small to an SME, a small to medium enterprise needs um, 18 systems. And so if you don't have those, those are the type of people that are coming to me and finding out, you know, what, what needs. Uh, they're, they're at. And so they're oscillating between in and on. Maybe there's some on above, but it's not working. They try to get out of the office, but then they get pulled back in, they try to do something. Um, those are the people. People, you know, that. That I'm looking to help and. And maneuver, you know, uh, and transform them into, you know, having the life they always dreamed of. Um, so that's that. The best place to reach me is just online. You know, my website is ladygenderpluses.com. um, but I'm. I'm just. Search me, search me. I'm not on TikTok. I'm on LinkedIn and Instagram and Facebook. You'll find me.

Speaker A: You're not hidden. You're.

Speaker B: Yeah, I'm everywhere. I'm everywhere. That's what we're supposed to be, right? My team helps me get everywhere. I don't necessarily do it myself. And I get in trouble a lot. Like, we need more stuff from you. And I go, but I'm pretty private, right?

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: Yeah. Uh, yeah. I'm out there everywhere, and, you know, I'm happy to help people where, you know, and meet them where they're at. I'm known as just. Yeah, and by the way, I'm known as. I just, uh, I just got a new title, uh, because I'm known as the. The Business scaling architect and the Sovereign leadership mentor. But someone just gave me another title, and they call me the Velvet Hammer.

Speaker A: Hammer.

Speaker B: I was like, oh, I don't know if that's good or bad. Wait, do I like that? Oh, I kind of like that. And I went back to some of my testimonials. They're like, you're not gonna like what she has to say, but. But you need to hear it. And she's gonna be. It's coming from her heart. And I went, okay, I do like the Velvet Hammer. Yeah, I'm good with that.

Speaker A: That's amazing. I love it. Well, to everyone listening, make, uh, sure that you go connect with Jen. Lady Jen will have the links in the show notes. And as always, like, thank you to everyone tuning into this podcast. It's so appreciated. Your listenership is what makes this whole thing work. And Lady Jen, thank you so much for coming on the show.

Speaker B: Well, thank you. I love what you're doing, Emily, and I know I'm having you on two of my shows coming up. I'm, um, so excited to be one is success to significance, Life after breaking through Glass ceilings. And the reason why I'm saying that is you want to listen to it so you can listen to what Emily has to say about her. Her Victor or victim to victim or Victor. I guess that's what maybe I should have called it that. From Victim to Victor. Um, and, uh, there's that at Velvet Hammer showing out. Um, and the other one is called Business on the Vine. And we're going to dig into what she does in her practice as well. And, you know, I thank you so much for what you're doing, because, you know, business does need to be joyful. It doesn't need to be sad and intimidating and, you know, uh, rough on our lives. It needs to be something that's so much, much bigger than us. So I love what you're doing to help other people. So thank you.

Speaker A: My pleasure. Okay. I trust that you love that as much as I did. Uh, Lady Jen is just so fascinating. Love the way she thinks. Love the way she speaks. And, um, I especially appreciated when she opened up about her different investments. Of course, it. It created, like, 50 more questions for me, too, but I love that. And that's how it should be, right? We should be planting the seed of what's possible and then thinking about it more and asking more questions and investigating it further if it's something that resonates with us. M. But I loved how she talked about the stages of success. Um, I loved when she talked about EQ and EQ plus aq. And, like, she just. I feel like she has such a mind for framework. So it's like everything she says, she turns it into, like, a framework or a catchphrase or something. Um, and I just found that really fascinating. But. But it's always great to see women doing big things and also having such a rich family life. Um, I loved her definition of the life of luxury, right? Like, having the luxury to spend time with the grandkids, having the luxury to go on the field trip, having the luxury to drop everything and go out on the boat. Um, and I also love the concept of living your legacy. And to me, so much of that is the joyous path to millions, right? It's like whatever we want people to say about us, whatever we want to say about our life when it's over, it's like, can we live it now? And can we actually experience it and appreciate it while we're in it? I loved how she talked about presence. Because if we're. If we're not present, if we're always thinking about the future or, you know, ruminating about the past, we're missing what's right here for us, and we're missing those moments of gratitude, of joy, of appreciation, and recognizing that so much that's in our life right now are the things that used to be on our vision board that we used to pray for and dream for. And now it's here. And it's. It's kind of wild that once it's here, we can take it for granted and we can miss it if we're not being present to it. So thank you so much for tuning into this show. I love you, love you, love you. And I will talk to you soon. Thank you so much for listening to today's show. Changing the way that we think, feel, and talk about money is up leveling the planet. I truly believe that the ripple effect starts with you tuning in and it spreads when you share this show on Instagram and Facebook. You can tag me. Makes money. And you know what moves the needle the most? Taking just a minute to leave a five star review on itunes. This show isn't free to produce. So let's multiply those dollars invested and help this show reach a bigger audience each week. So thank you in advance for your help. I really appreciate it. And until next time, I'm sending you all the magic money vibes on your joyous path to millions m.