KGCI: Real Estate on Air - Decide to Play Big Again with Sharon Lechter

Episode Date: July 15, 2024

Hey everyone, it's Holly Kitchen, and I'm so excited to share this episode of Unleash Your In a Legend podcast. Sharon Letcher is with us today, and she has not only changed hundreds, not only changed thousands, but she's changed millions of lives and continues to do so. She's internationally recognized as a financial literacy expert, keynote speaker, and business mentor. She's a New York best selling author, successful entrepreneur, philanthropist, and has enjoyed 35-year career as a CPA. She has advised two U.S. residents on the topic of financial literacy. Sharon co-authored the international bestseller, Rich Dad Poor Dad, and 14 other books in the Rich Dad series. In 2008, when the economy had crashed, she was asked by Napoleon Hill Foundation to help re-energize the teaching of Napoleon Hill

during that difficult time. Her best-selling books of the foundation include three feet from gold, outwitting the devil, and they can grow rich for women and success and something greater. She's Also featured in the movie, Thinking Grow Rich, The Legacy, and on the national television series, World's Greatest Motivators. Sharon is currently launching her newest title, Exit Rich, which we talk about in this episode, and it's going to be a game changer for everyone. I'm so excited for you guys to tune in. Make sure you have that pin and paper ready to take some fantastic notes.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Unleash Your Legend podcast. I'm your host here, Holly Kitchens, and I have an incredible powerhouse with me today. thrilled and super honored to be having Sharon Letcher with us. Sharon, welcome so much. I cannot wait to have you on the podcast and really dive deep into all the incredible things that you've been up to as well, as well, the things that you have done as well. Well, thank you, Holly. I'm so delighted to be with you. Appreciate the opportunity. So I would love to kick off this podcast sharing your story, how you unleash your inner legend, your backstory, where you're from. Do you mind kind of taking us back a little bit so that we can really know how you became the person you are today. Well, certainly. Obviously,

I've been around a long time, so I'll give you the very, the Cliff Notes version, but I grew up in a very lower middle class home. Neither one of my parents had high school educations. My dad was in the Navy, though, and ended up teaching the engineering school for the Navy. So he was brilliant, self-taught. But we lived an old tiny house between my mother's beauty shop and my dad's used car lot. We had rental properties that had to go scrub out the bathrooms between tenants when I was 10 years old. I swore I would never be an entrepreneur because I had friends whose parents were CEOs or officers in the military. And I'm going, that's the high life. So I wanted to become a sophisticated professional. So I got my degree in accounting, first generation, go to college.

Wow. Went off and I was one of the very first women in public accounting. So I was young, single, great job in Atlanta, Georgia. What a great life, right? And so about three years later, age of 25, I realized I was working really long hours for someone else. All of a sudden, my parents started looking a lot smarter. And I made that decision at the age of 25. I had an invitation to leave public accounting and go with a client. And I so remember doing the old yellow legal pad pros and cons. It didn't help me a bit. But my hand kind of it took off across the page and wrote, why not? And that's still my mantra today. Why not do something different? Why not take the road less traveled? Why not solve a problem or serve a need? So I made that

decision and happened to have been a bad business decision. But had I not made that decision, I wouldn't have met a young man named Michael Lecter and we've been together over 41 years. So sometimes, as Napoleon Hill says, every adversity comes a seat of an equal or greater benefit. But out of my worst business decision, I got my best life decisions. So you just never know what's going to come for you. But we got married, started companies. I started a woman's magazine and sold that. And then I helped start the talking children's book industry with the inventor of that.

And we grew that around the world. And I learned so much about publishing, about international trade, and the power of association. We had this new technology. And kids didn't have technology. We're talking to the late 80s. And we aligned with companies like Disney, Warner Brothers, Sesame Street, Marvel Comics, and parents trusted those brands, so we were able to explode in a positive way around the world. I learned so much.

In 1991, we sold that company, and Mike and I moved here to Arizona with our kids. Oldest son in 92 went off to college for his first semester, and September came home at Christmas time in credit card debt. I was pretty mad at him, but I was more mad at my son. I figured I thought I taught him about money, but we didn't even know he had credit cards because he got to college and there were these tables, free money, free t-shirt, free pizza, free money. He had a really good time this first semester. But that was December of 92. And that's when I dedicated the rest of my career to financial literacy, financial education, and entrepreneurship education.

Fast forward a few years. My husband called me one day and this guy had gone into his office and flip-flops and a Bermuda, shirt shorts and a Hawaiian shirt with this idea for a board game and it was Robert kiyosaki and I met him at the first beta test for the cash hole board game I was the only one that got out of the rat race and I said this is what I'm trying to teach people the importance of assets my favorite word assets if you hear nothing else from my story assets you know buy build to create income producing assets and that was the basis of the cash hole game so I volunteered to help them commercialize that and in the process he told me wanted to try to

to $200. And I said, well, maybe you should write a brochure that kind of explains the philosophy, because that's kind of pricey. And that's when he asked me to become his partner. We were partners for 10 years. I ran the company, CEO of the company, and we were equal partners, and we wrote 15 books together in that period. And so Rich Dad, of course, exploded around the world in a very positive way. And in 2007, we'd been in partnership for 10 years. And we were no longer aligned with what we wanted. And so I made the decision to leave. And a few months later, I got the call from President Bush asking me to be on the very first Presidents Advisory Council for financial literacy as for both Bush and Obama. And I share this story because I want all of you watching and

listening. Sometimes you have to close a door for other doors to open. I didn't know. I thought, I thought Rich Joe was my legacy. I didn't know what was in store for me, but I knew I had to leave at that time. And what an incredible opportunity to serve to U.S. presidents. And then in March of 2008, we know what was happening to the economy. I got a phone call from the Napoleon Hill Foundation, Don Green, the CEO. And he asked me to help reinvigorate Napoleon Hill's teachings because of the economic collapse. What an incredible honor that was, having built the largest personal finance brand,

and then being asked to step into the largest personal development brand. And it's just been an incredible journey. I was able to, my first book with them was three feet from gold and then outwitting the double, thinking of her rich for women and success in something greater. And it's just been an incredible relationship I still cherish John and the old foundation, staff, and board. And then most recently, I'm releasing a new book. You sit over my shoulder, Exit Rich, and is with Michelle Siler Tucker, the largest female business. broker in the country and a mergers and acquisition specialist. We got together because so many

businesses don't sell when they want to or they sell for a lot less than their worth. And so we wanted to pull together my experience and hers and help people understand how to take their successful businesses, make them sustainable, scalable, and saleable. And in concert with my teachings, always of the power of association, Inc. Magazine is actually publishing this under their imprint. So I'm very excited about that. And that kind of brings it to where I am today. Wow, wow, wow. So there's so much I'm going to dive into. You have an incredible story. And one, too, because, you know, people can say, well, oh, I can't do that because I'm not sharing. Well, it's like, like you said, you came from lower middle class. It's not like you were born with a silver spoon

in your mouth. You weren't born into money or anything like that. So of course they can do it. If you can do it, they absolutely can do it. And I cannot wait to dive more into your new book because have so many questions. I just think that there's just a great progression of all the things that you have done. And I feel like exit rich is going to be putting all those pieces of the puzzle together. And I can't wait to dive into it more. But I do have a question for you. So hearing your story and you know, you're watching your parents, you're like, I'm never going to do that. No thank you. Would you say that people are born with an entrepreneurial gene or is it something that they can be learned and taught to someone? Well, I think it's, you know, we,

become what we know. That's why I'm such an advocate for getting financial education in the school systems, because if we truly want to level a playing field, so every child has equal opportunity, we need to teach them about money in school because I'm sure you've heard the phrase, the rich get rich or the poor get poor. That's because they're learning it at home. And so I believe anybody that has a drive and the desire to create and build a business can do it. So I don't think entrepreneurial spirit is something that's in your DNA. The issue is, what is your what's your background, what's in your mind? How paralyzed and fear are you willing to take a little bit of a risk?

And so there are some people who are suited for and very happy as employees. And I don't want to, you know, you don't want to jangle their foundation. Yeah. But at the same time, anybody with that desire to solve a problem or serve a need, anyone can start a business and build it if they follow the tenants that we have in the book, Exit Rich, because this book talks about how to find the right. people. Business is a team sport and that's one of the things where people fail. They think they have to do everything on their own because that's what school teaches us. And it's so important for

people to understand that you want to build a business. You have the right people around you. Have the right mentor that helps speed your way to success. 100%. Now, you know, one thing I wanted to make sure I asked you this question and it kind of ties with everything. I was in a clubhouse. I was on a clubhouse stage with you and you had made a very interesting observation. And that was that people don't need to cut their credit cards up. That's not solving the problem. It's actually having them have proper education about money and understanding, you know, money habits.

Because cutting a credit card is not going to do anything other than stop that one bad habit. And now you're going to go find somewhere else to get, you know, quote, unquote, free money or money available. So it's just interesting hearing that you come from the lower middle class and having that mindset that you have today. Because me personally, I grew up in a low income housing, area and even as an adult today I still struggle with a poor mindset you know not necessarily you know a family I've overcame the whole you know living paycheck to paycheck however at that

point is like once you start getting money you're scared to invest it because you finally've gotten money you just want to hold on to it you know so I would just love to hear you know from coming up from where you came up how did you build the money money mindset that you have today well I think the money mindset comes from understanding the power of buying building, creating assets, because that's the environment I grew up in. Even though we were lower middle class, my father would buy an orange grove because we could get cash flow from it every year. He'd buy a rental property, so he'd put a tenant, so it would be paid for. So understanding the importance of assets versus income, you know, in school,

we're taught to get a high-paying job. And so you're sitting there, you're exchanging time for money. And so I say, ask yourself, are you spending time, exchanging time for money? Are you investing your time? Because when you're investing your time and you're buying, building, and creating an income producing asset, it's like that becomes your employee. And it sits there and works for you all the time even while you're sleeping. And so the definition of financial freedom is when the income from your assets exceed your monthly expenses. And it does not have to be millions of dollars. When I'm at Robert Kiyosaki, He lived in a small two-bedroom condo and had two apartment complexes. And those two apartment complex were generating $100,000 a year. But his monthly expenses, his annual expenses were in 35,000 range. And so he was financially free on $100,000. And that's the message people need to understand. It's not millions of dollars.

It's understanding the power of income producing assets because that buys back your time. You get your time back. I love it. And you know, for those listening in an asset, now you're not talking about it doesn't have to be a piece of real estate. What's your definition of an asset and how can someone who's thinking, oh, I don't have money to invest in an asset? What are some low barrier of entry assets you see that people can at least start on when it comes to getting closer to financial freedom? Sure. There's lots of different types of assets, but I usually talk about four main ones. owning a business, a business that is a true business that can operate without you that is an economic and. engine. Rental real estate is a big one. All right. And there's lots of different ways to invest in real estate. You can go through REITs, syndications, or own your own pieces of property. And then paper assets, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. And then the fourth one, which is my superpowers, intellectual property. What you know right up here. We've all had things that stopped us in our tracks, particularly the last year and a half, right? We might have been a death, a divorce, a financial

setback and illness. But you made it through and you're still here for a reason. And so imagine what you know, what you've experienced and how it can help someone else going through what you've been through. And you take that experience and you create an asset, a book, a program, a way for you to communicate with them so that they can access that support and help 24-7. That's an asset. And that's you taking your experience and sharing it. You're becoming a mentor for those people, looking for that kind of advice. And it's true, we all, so many people are just locked in fear because fear paralyzes us or motivates us.

I help people turn that fear into motivation to take that step forward because most of us are just afraid to get out of our comfort zone. We're doing the same thing we've always done and we aren't, we can't push ourselves. And so sometimes you need somebody like me to kind of push you into the limelight. So amazing. And, you know, one thing you were talking about was, you know, IP and that's something everybody listening in everyone has that IP and I think it's it's amazing to see so many um entrepreneurs or people who want to get into business but they're like they hold themselves

back with that self-doubt that um you know self-sabotage they say oh no one's going to want to listen to me no one's going to want to do this however there's some if you've been through that the chances of somebody else going through that is astronomically high so I think that's a huge place Where would you suggest someone who is looking to branch out into the IP? Would it be like a course, an online course? Would it be a book? What would you say is like one of the greatest places to start when it comes to creating IP? Well, the first thing is to start telling your story and fine-tuning and finding out those pain points that you experience that other people are experiencing it.

And it can be as easy as writing a book. It could be an e-book even. But from that you might actually be able to take that next step. I don't like funnels, but talk about customer journey. So it might be a book that then goes into an online program. And one of the reasons I have the Play Big Movement is a private Facebook group. And one of the reasons I created that was eight and a half years ago, as I shared with you in my story, I've always played a very big game. But eight and a half years ago, I lost my youngest son.

And I don't wish anybody to go through that. But I'm sharing that with you because I understand the depth of despair. I went into a state of numb and just living life in neutral for several years. And in fact, started to think about retiring. I got a lot of pushback from family and friends. I think I even heard my son in my ear saying, get over it, Mom, there's more for you to do. And when I decided to play big again, all kinds of incredible opportunities opened up for me. The world's greatest motivators highlighted me in their television series.

They can grow rich. The legacy highlighted me in the movie. And it's like, wow, you know, they were all there. I was just looking down because when you're fearful, you're looking down. You're wearing blinders. But when you can convert that fear to faith and look up, these opportunities are there. You just have to reach out and grab them. And so I wanted to share what I was doing so other people that have felt that same sense of numb could follow along.

And that's why I launched a Plaving Movement Facebook group as well as a podcast. but my goal is to support each and every one of you to put yourself in the position of highest and greatest potential. And you do that by saying, what have I been through? How can I help others? And how can I turn that wisdom that you've gained into a product and it's something that can help other people? Whether it be a book or a program or a YouTube video or whatever it is, how can you help others and create something that lives outside of you that can become an income generator? Wow, well, I'm so sorry to hear about that. And, you know, I think that's what I love about you, just consuming your information and, you know, going through what you've gone through. But you always, I just, I wrote that here, decided to play big again.

I absolutely love that statement. And to hear you go through all that things and then still waking up and adding value and just being so abundant minded and always, you know, I guess you're very selfless, I guess I should say, because you're always coming from. from an amazing place in your heart, always looking to help entrepreneurs. And I'd love to talk more about your exit rich books. So I'm assuming I'd love to hear to hear what your thoughts are, but from your exit rich. So you obviously are teaching financial literacy. People have got to understand the right mindset. And then exit rich sounds like is going to be the final piece of the puzzle where people can say,

okay. So I've done these amazing things. I've built this incredible business. now let's talk about scalability. Now let's talk about the exit plan. Now let's talk about the next move in this crazy world that we, those crazy game that we play called Life, right? So I'd love to hear more about that book. Well, thank you, Holly. I appreciate that. And the book really is for everybody. Whether you are just starting your business, it's a great roadmap to help you build it so it can become an economic engine. If you're thinking about selling your business, it helps

you understand how to make sure you've got things in order, make sure you've identified intellectual property if you are looking at investing or buying a business a fantastic tool for to use to measure the success of that business so it really is for everyone and that's one of the reasons we wanted to write this so that people could understand people spend so much time building a business but they really own a job because they haven't taken the time to build the foundation when you build a house you have to go down first for a solid foundation you have to put in the electric, the plumbing in order for that house to be strong. And most people, when they're building a business, they're speed to market, they want to get a product, they want to sell it, and they don't

build the foundation around that business. And so we take you through a process of six piece. First one is people. Do you have the right people on your team? Do you have people who are strong where you are weak? Do you have a mentor? Because too many people feel like they have to do everything on their own. The second one is, of course, your product. What is it you're selling? And then your processes, business systems, that's what allows you to create scalability in your business. Understanding the systems. And you know what? The systems actually generate additional value because they become intellectual property for you.

Those processes are that's what creates the true ability to scale and take you to the point where you can sell. Because if the business is dependent on you, it's hard to sell it. You have to have those systems. How are you answering the phone? How are you treating your customers? How are you finding your product? How are you shipping it? How are you collecting money?

How are you sharing it with the world? All of those things are so important. And then the fourth P is proprietary. Your intellectual property. Have you identified it? Have you protected it? Have you leveraged it? We take you through that process so that you can identify all that intellectual property that you already have.

And then say, okay, let's build that. tangible value in your business. You may have heard the term goodwill in business sales. That's because so much of the value is above the book value. That additional value is from that intangible asset, your logos, your reputation, what you do differently than someone else that's been built by you running and having a, you're being a contributing member of the society. That goodwill is so important.

And that's how we will help you identify, protect it, and leverage it. And then the fifth one is patrons. And this is really important, Holly, because people get their eyes real big when I say. Because today it's all about social media, right? Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, you know, Clubhouse, all the followers. Yeah. But you don't own them. They do.

And so it's so important. Yes, you want to be all over those. And you want to be considered lead generation. But then you want to bring them home. want to invite them back to your database because your database is your your property and many businesses sell simply for the database yeah and a better buys you because they want to take your people right and then the six p is profit and most people just rely on product and profit but all six peas work together to give you the strongest likelihood for success the strongest ability to scale and the

highest ability to sell at the value you deserve. Oh my gosh. Incredible. I cannot wait. Now, when is the book being released? Well, the book is actually officially being launched on June 22nd, but I like to disrupt things. So you can get it right now today when you go to Xerrichbook.com forward slash by the site that you have scrolling underneath us. Because we'll send you the electronic copy right away so you don't have to wait. And then on June 22nd, we'll send you the hard copy. So go ahead and go to x-a-richbook.com forward-forsh-by. Oh, and additional benefit, it's cheaper there. It's 2479 as opposed to 2797 at Amazon.

So we have giving you a double benefit. Get the information now at a lower price. That's so incredible sharing. Like literally everything, like that's the roadmap. If you guys spend the $25 right now, I mean, what an incredible investment. Knowing the five P's, everything, you were saying, I'm like, yep, yep, yep, of course. But some of those things, like you said, people focus on the two peas, which is like the product and the profit. They miss out on the

other one. So when it comes to the point of time where knock on wood, somebody falls ill or there's a death in the family or something's going to stop, is your business truly saleable? And I think a lot of people have, and I'd love to hear your thoughts too, when it comes to building a business and you're the brand. Not only is your personal brand or personal brand, but personal brand becomes the business brand. What's your outtake? I love to hear what your thoughts are and advice are. When someone's thinking about, okay, now I'm at the point to where I want to try to sell this business,

but my face is everywhere and I'm the business. So what's your thoughts on that? Well, there's a difference between celebrity brand and mission brand and personal brand and business brand. And it's very important to identify both. And your business could easily be all tied in on who you are. And so when that's the case, if it's got your name on the business or if it's your face and everybody, you're tied directly to the business, it is a little harder to sell, but it is not impossible. What you can do if you strategically think about wanting to sell, you start creating emissaries that can start appearing for you and start spreading that brand recognition a little bit.

You start looking at when you sell it, you agree that you're going to stay with it for a couple of years. so that new company can start transitioning and laying it. So there is always a way to sell, even if it is tied to you, your face, and your name. Just sometimes it may take you have to roll up your sleeves a little bit more. Absolutely. And I want to take it back just a little bit for those who are doing the side hustle. And I'd love to hear from your accountant brain. When someone is looking to go from side hustle to full-time hustle,

what would you give as far as advice when it comes to funding? Would you suggest partnership opportunity? Would you suggest working until you can fund it yourself? I'd love to hear that because there are some, especially now, there's a lot of opportunity we see. Shark Tank, we see all these great opportunities, but there's also ones, too, that are kind of landmines that we should all try to avoid that could be costly mistakes in the beginning of business.

I'd love to hear whenever those looking to go full time, what advice you'd like to give? Well, I'm a little jaundice against bringing in a lot of outside funding when it's from an experienced lenders and experienced angel investors because you end up losing a lot of the ownership of your company. We want you to do it in tranches so that you don't give up control. My husband wrote a book called OPM, Other People's Money, where we talk about different ways to fund your company.

It does not take money to make money. And so, for instance, when I talked about my talking book company that I participated in, we brought all kinds of resources to the table by bringing in Disney Warner Brothers Sesame Tree. When I was building Rich Dad, we didn't pour a lot of our own money into it because companies like Warner Books, Time, Life came to us with their resources. So that's what my superpower is, helping people identify who those associations are. And three feet from gold, I share the personal success equation. And it was passion plus talent, which is what most people stop at, because I think they have to do

anything on their own. But it's times A, power of association. Who do you have around you? Do you have people that are spurring you on? You have people that are pulling you forward. Or do you have people that are holding you back? Times A, which is taking action. How many times do we know we're supposed to do?

We just don't do it, right? And then plus F, faith, having that. that faith and confidence in yourself. And so I do a lot of one-autum mentoring. And when I have somebody come in, it's usually that power of association and that confidence that need the most work. And they kind of go hand-in-hand.

When you have the right people around you, when you have a bad day, they lift you up. Yeah. And so many people, the number one area, both they go hand-in-hand, who you have around you and your own confidence in what you're doing, that it's needed and necessary.

That's so fantastic. And, you know, a lot of people, they see these partnership opportunities. And there are times where it absolutely makes sense. But I love that you're talking about, too, like the negative side that a lot of people don't talk about because a lot of people don't want to share about it. And it is about bringing the wrong people in in your business and giving them control versus you losing that control. And I love to hear, too, you know, I know you're a big fan of licensing.

So I love to hear what your thoughts are like on licensing versus partnerships, like the pros and cons between the two because there are. other solutions other than just giving away your business? Yeah, well, the term partner is used very loosely when I say it was Robert's partner. I was not, we weren't in a general partnership. General partnership entities are horrible. You should avoid them at all costs because in a general partnership, you're liable for each other's liabilities.

And so using the term partner means associate, all right? So that's why I keep using the word associate. And licensing is a wonderful way. to expand your impact. So the Play Big Movement that I launched is being number one in your field, living your legacy, and creating maximum impact.

So my entire career, I've benefited from the knowledge and the use of licensing. You can take what you've built and license somebody in a different geographic area to do what you're doing and get paid for it. You can take what you're doing and maybe you're working in government contracts

and you have the ability to license that in the educational market. That's licensing. It's a beautiful thing because you get you an additional revenue stream. So licensing is taking what you own and what you know and basically scaling that by going into a different distribution system. And it can be a different language. It can be a different geographic. It can be a different industry. Or even licensing from a very basic position, you might have people that want to teach what you teach. And so you give them the ability to get accredited to teach what you have. And that's in essence a license for them to utilize it.

So it's very important when you're licensing to understand the importance of the license agreement because you have your trademarks. You want to make sure you protect your trademarks when you're letting somebody else do something with your work. You have to have quality control provisions. You have to have communication provisions. You have to have the ability of pulling it back if they do something they shouldn't do. But we love licensing. Licensing is a beautiful thing.

Franchising is in essence a licensing deal on steroids because it goes into a much higher level from a legal perspective. But licensing allows you to take what you do and magnify it 100 fold, thousandfold through other people. I love it. I mean, I'm mind blown because we always hear about these terms that people are throwing out like licensing, franchise partnerships.

And it can be kind of overwhelming. but the way you just broke it down with licensing, it's a no-brainer when it comes to just another asset, right, when it comes to your business, building your legacy. You guys, Sharon Letcher, everyone, co-author of International Best Selling Book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and 14 other books in the Rich Dad series, three feet from gold, outweeting the devil, which is my personal favorite, and thinking real rich for women and success in something greater. And of course, her newest book, you guys, Exit Rich, coming. at the end of June. However, you guys can get it now by going to exit richbook.com forward slash

to buy. Make sure you take advantage of that special that's going on now and get up all the game. Make sure your processes are in check, making sure you have the right people, making sure your business is a solid foundation for scalability, for sellability, all those great things. Sharon, thank you so much for being with us today. What is the best place for people to go in to reach out to you and follow you? Well, you can all email me at info at Sharon Lecter.com. My website, Sharon Lecter.com, has information about all my programs. It has information about my mentoring programs.

So I invite you to please reach out to me, info at Sharon Lecter. And if you buy 10 copies of my new book, I'm going to send you a gift certificate to my ranch, which you can check out at Cherry Creek Lodge.com. So if you have friends that you know, they can use this, if you have a book study or a mastermind, give them a gift and get yourself an extra box. bonus. So check it out. Cherry Creek Lodge.com. Awesome. Sharon, thank you so much for being on the podcast. Well, thank you, Holly. It's been a pleasure and I appreciate what you're doing to support people. Thank you. It's your host, here, Holly Kitchens, and I just want to say thank you so much

for listening to the Unleash Your Interlegent podcast. I hope you found inspiration and motivation in this episode. For resources to help you unleash your inner legend, go to hollykitchens.com. I will catch you guys on the next episode.