Heroes in Business - Vicki Gunvalson the original Reality TV Real Housewife of Orange County is interviewed by David Cogan of Eliances Heroes radio show amfm.

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

Vicki Gunvalson the original Reality TV Real Housewife of Orange County is interviewed by David Cogan of Eliances Heroes radio show amfm. Vicki is the founder and owner of Coto Insurance a profitable insurance company for many years. After 12 years on the hit Bravo channel reality tv show she left to refocus. She discusses with David the importance of family, and having faith and strength in the face of challenges.

Welcome back to Alliances Heroes, where heroes in business align. To be part of our super community and find out more about Alliances, visit www.alliances.com. Now, back to our super host, David Kogan, founder of Alliances. That's right. Thank you so much again, Money Radio. Incredible. What a lineup of heroes we've had today. We started off the show with the original voice of Apple iPhone Siri. Plus, she's been in a gazillion commercials.

We also just had the president and CEO of an Inc. 500 company. We'll be ending the show with the president of a $1.2 billion automotive aftermarket brand company. But without further ado, we have another hero. Incredible. Most of you, if you've ever turned on the TV, you will have recognized her. She is, and her name is Vicki Gunvalson. She is the original real housewife of Orange County. Super popular TV reality show. In fact, my wife was just watching her last night.

From the TV show that you were viewed as being a very self-driven, very determined, and very successful woman, how has being on the show changed the course of your life for the better, Vicki? Wow, that's a loaded question. Well, you know, I started this franchise about 12 years ago. We just launched our 11th season, so we did start filming about a year prior to that. It has definitely exposed all of my good and bad moments in my life. One of my bad moments was obviously trying to weather through the storms of my marriage, and I ended up filing for divorce season eight. So that was a tough time in my life. And obviously, those of you that have watched the last

few years, I was dating a gentleman that the viewers and some of my family members didn't approve of, and so therefore that relationship ended. So I'm a hopeless romantic. I am, you know, weathering the storms of dating now and I'm 54 years old and, you know, I've got a bright future ahead of me. I'm very driven. I've got a great business. I've got great family. So, you know, it's, it's all good. It's a great ride. And, you know, again, you can reach Vicki going to VickiGonvilsen.com. That's G-U-N-V-U-L-S-O-N. Again, Vickigunvalson. Actually, correction. It's V-A-L-S-O-N. Gunvalson. Ah, great. Okay. G-U-N-V-A-L-S-O-N.

Perfect. All right. You got all that, viewers, listeners? Vickigunvalson.com. Or you can go to alliances.com, E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S dot com. We'll have the clip posted there, too. You know, you mentioned, though, the things that had gone maybe south for you on the TV show. You know, a lot of other people would have just thrown up their arms, gone into a corner and just said, you know, this is just I can't handle anything more. But you're a strong woman. You got out there. You picked yourself up. I did.

I did. You know, sometimes I wonder what the heck am I doing because I am full with my regular job. I have a career. So it is a challenge to manage everything. But I have had a great ride with it. You know, I've lost some friendships. I've gained friendships. It's just been a great experience.

So when you look at your life and look back, one day this is all going to end, and it's just going to be a memory. It's really the stuff that's happening in my life right now, it's just going to be a memory. So it's kind of like I'm writing my own storybook, you know? And we have Vicki, the star of Orange County Housewives, and many people, you know, fantasize about being on reality TV shows. How does it feel to have TV cameras watch your each and every single move? It's hard, but the best part about it is these camera guys and I have actually become friends. Most of them have started with me 10, 11 years ago. So when they're in my home, it's like I'm having some friends over. It's not invasive.

They're very respectful. They're just good people. They got a job to do and and they do a great job now you have a huge base of huge fans out there again including my wife who literally last night was just watching you on TV what's one of the most proud moments that you have about the show that was captured perhaps on camera absolutely it's becoming a grandmother. I mean, that was something that, you know, just changed my life. Brianna was pregnant a few months after they got married, and I have a beautiful almost 4-year-old and a beautiful 2-year-old, grandchildren, two boys, and those moments definitely were captured, and that's the fun part about it.

That's amazing. Again, we have Vicki Gunvalson. You can reach her at V-I-C-K-I-G-U-N-V-A-L-S-O-N.com, or you can go to alliances.com. Now, here's the thing that people, again, you mentioned a little bit, may not realize is that besides being on the Real Housewives of Orange County, you also run a few businesses. You're the owner of Kotko Insurance and Financial Services. Kodo. Kodo. Kodo. I'll get one of these things right. Kodo. Kodo Insurance and Financial Services. You've grown it into one of the most successful insurance agencies and financial services companies in the U.S. In fact, your business

generates over seven figures yearly. Share with us is we have this is money radio it's all listeners out there that are building expanding their businesses maybe what are the top three secrets to being so successful in such an extremely competitive market and it's a male-dominated industry so we might add that so I am very unique having an insurance and financial services company in this industry. It's typically a male-dominated business. So I think being a female and being astute with what my clients need, I really have had a leg up on that because I'm different. I'm very driven. I'm very focused. I work 10 to 12 hours a day. I don't multitask. I really keep my head on the ground. I have my goals set up on my wall every day. I know exactly what I need to sell every month to keep my bills paid and keep my lifestyle what it is.

So anybody out there that's in sales, you know you've got to have goals. And without a goal, you're not going to reach your destination. So for me, setting goals is a must. I have to have goals or I'll fail. I have to know what I'm going to produce every year or I'll fail. So that to me is something I've always had is I'm a goal-driven person and it just keeps me on top. Phenomenal advice. And those of you that are listening, we've got Vicki Gunvalson here. She is the original housewife on Orange County. And

again, if you don't have your goals written down, make sure you write your goals. Look it, you can do it. Well, so, you know, but the thing is, is what inspired you, though, to go into the insurance and financial field? Just like you mentioned, it's a competitive field. It's a male-dominated field. And here you are going into it. What inspired you to do that? Well, I was 28 years old and I was getting divorced from my husband. I had a six and seven year old and it was something that I got approached at. One of my girlfriends was selling life insurance. And, you know, she's like, all you have to do is go take a test and start for this company. And this company happened to be Western Southern Life Insurance out of Illinois.

And so I worked for them for a while and there was 40 men, myself and my friend Lori. And I actually became the number one salesperson because I saw the opportunities that these people were not taking advantage of. They were just sedentary making their 20 or 30,000 a year. And I needed to make more than that. I had two kids. And so I set my goals out and I did it every year. I was top producer for years. Then I moved to Orange County, California, and from there I built my own agency. So it's been a great ride. It's incredible.

It's an incredible ride, Vicki. That's what it is. And you're listening to Alliances Heroes on Money Radio AM 1510 and FM 99.3. Are you a hero in business? Go to Alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E FM 99.3. Are you a hero in business? Go to alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. Now, you talked about family. You talked about children.

I know you have two children, boy and girl. What would you say, though, you think is the most valuable advice that you could possibly give to them that you could share with other mothers that are out there or parents, fathers, grandparents or that, that they could give advice to their children? One of the things that was a disadvantage of raising my children in California is there's a lot of entitled and privileged families here. I come from the Midwest. We work. I mean, we're working families. So my kids had to get a job very early on. They had to know how to budget their money. They weren't allowed to have sleepovers at other people's homes. They could only be at my house and one person. Because to me, when you're allowing your children to sleep at

other people's homes, you're not understanding the rules. There could be fights in the home. There could be guns. I just didn't feel comfortable with that. So Michael Brannon knew that sleeping at other people's homes was never going to be allowed and they never asked. So that was one of the biggest things growing up through high school. They just knew that don't even ask because you're not going to do it. College was very important for me to get my kids educated and to have a job and be accountable for what they were spending their money on. So they got very little allowance when they were at school, college. They had to work part-time and they had to get good grades or they were at school, college. They had to work part-time. They had to get good grades, or they were getting pulled out.

So I was really kind of a strict mother, but it paid off. My kids are both educated. They're hard workers. They both own their own homes. And, you know, it's been a great experience, you know, being their mother, because they were adaptable. They didn't fight me back on it. I mean, just such valuable words. If only everybody listened.

I mean, unbelievable, very valuable lessons. We've got a little less than 30 seconds here. And, again, you're a very strong, very determined woman, and you've been successful with everything that's been thrown your way, and you continue to plug and keep going and going and going. Who's your mentor, though? Who do you look to for advice? My dad up in heaven.

He is my man. Fantastic. Well, again, you could reach Vicki Gunvalson by going to VickiGunvalson.com. That's G-U-N-V-A-L-S-O-N.com. It takes guts to be a hero, one that could do it single-handedly while cameras watch your every move, being able to build a business in a super competitive market and that's our hero today hero is Vicki Gunvalson when we return the president of a 1.2 billion dollar automotive market brand