Start With A Win - The Power of Community in Business with Daisy Lopez-Cid

Episode Date: December 18, 2019

On this episode of the Start with a Win podcast, we are joined by Daisy Lopez-Cid, broker-owner of RE/MAX Premiere in Kissimmee, Florida. Daisy took the leap into the real estate industry in August of 2007, and while it was not easy going, she and her agents banded together with the community to weather the storm of the recession and come out stronger on the other side. Daisy has set up a culture in her office of truly caring for her agents, their clients, and the community, and many of her agents have been with her for more than 10 years as a result. She strives to mirror the values and practices of the broader Hispanic culture: giving, welcoming, warmth, and persistence. As one of very few Latinas in the real estate space, she has a unique perspective and also unique opportunities to work with Hispanic families as they navigate the real estate market.She does her best to help her clients in any way that she can and build a relationship with the community, as evidenced by the numbers of past clients that still attend her annual Christmas party and just stop by her office to bring her food or say hi. Many people appreciate Daisy’s straightforward but eloquent way of explaining the way things really are.Daisy has been involved with the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) since early on in her real estate career, and in 2018 she served as the organization’s president. She speaks so highly of NAHREP and its members who demonstrate hospitality and persistence day-in and day-out. She brought Adam with her to a NAHREP convention several years ago and he was blown away by how inviting the agents were and their vocal commitment to their communities. She starts each day thinking about what she needs to execute before the day is over and then she gets out there and does it. Her father raised her to be strong, independent, committed, and resourceful, recognizing that there is no success without discomfort, and this is the message that motivates her to start with a win.Connect with Daisy:https://www.remax.com/real-estate-agents/kissimmee-fl-34741-daisylopez-cid-id13264321.htmlhttps://nahrep.org/https://www.facebook.com/daisy.lopezcid.3https://www.instagram.com/daisylopezcid/Connect with Adam:https://www.startwithawin.com/ https://www.facebook.com/REMAXAdamContoshttps://twitter.com/REMAXAdamContos https://www.instagram.com/REMAXadamcontos/ 

At top of the 12th floor of the RE-MAX World Headquarters, you're listening to Start With A Win with CEO Adam Kantos. At top of the 12th floor of RE-MAX World Headquarters, Adam Kantos, CEO of RE-MAX here with Start With A Win. In the studio today we have producer Mark. How you doing, buddy? I am doing awesome. Oh, I like a little tune there. I like to mix in a little song from time to time. You know, one of the things that our listeners don't know is that you were a touring musician at one point.

Yeah, yeah. I had dabbled in the musical arts, spent some time on the road. I love it. And you can play the guitar like nobody's business, too. Well, I wouldn't say I'm a Van Halen or anything, but I dabble. Yeah, you're pretty good. You never give credit, right? I don't want to brag.

Okay. So, hey, we have a very special guest with us here, a longtime friend of mine who came all the way from Florida. We have Daisy Lopez-Sidd in the studio. How are you doing, Daisy? I'm good, and you? Thank you for having me. Thanks so much for being here. Let me introduce you to our listeners. So,

Daisy is the broker owner of Remax Premier Properties in Kissimmee, Florida. You know you've been to Kissimmee when you don't say Kissimmee. Exactly. That's right. It's Kissimmee. And you were the 2018 president for the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, we know as NAREP. Exactly. So you're also one of the top 10 Hispanic realtors in the United States. So I mean, you have really made a mark on the real estate industry and particularly the Hispanic aspect

of housing Hispanic real estate professionals. So a huge congratulations to you on all these massive achievements that you've made. And I want to dig into those. Okay a huge congratulations to you on all these massive achievements that you've made. And I want to dig into those. Okay. Sure. Thank you. Awesome. So, Daisy, you're really kind of an unstoppable force in the real estate space. I remember the first time I ever went to your real estate office, your REMAX office in Florida in 2010. And we sat down and you're like, my agents are the number one thing in my life. I said, really? You said, yes, I'm going to close the door. But if one of them knocks on the door or walks in this room, they are my priority. I said, I love that. I love how you care about the people

around you so much. And you're super clear and you're communicating with people. Tell me, how has you caring about people around you impacted your life and your real estate career? Well, tremendously. My agents have been with me for, well, most of them have been with me since I opened. Wow. Yeah. So it's been 13 years. Yes, 13 years. That's awesome because agent turnover in our industry is definitely more than once every 13 years. But why is that? Why do you think they stay with you? I think it's more of the culture and the way I am.

I'm all about them. Tell them the way it is. I don't lie. But I do know each and every one of my agents, if they're married, if they're divorced, if they have children, if they have pets, if their mother had a surgery, I know everything that goes on in the office and I stay on track with that. Part of family. I make them family. They're mine. I was going to say you care about them like they're your family. And I know you've got a wonderful family yourself. Tell us about your family. Oh my. I have two grandchildren who are my everything.

They are my why. I have one daughter and her husband who is my son. Sometimes I like him more than I like her. And most of all, my husband is amazing. Your husband's awesome. Yeah, he is. Don't tell him I told you that though. Okay. I won't. I don't think he's going to listen to this, right? Yeah. She thinks you're awesome. He Okay, I won't. I don't think he's going to listen to this, right? Yeah, he is. She thinks you're awesome. He's such a cool dude. I remember we were at like a basketball game or something one time, or a hockey game. I don't remember what kind of game.

It was basketball. Basketball, that's right. And I spent a fair amount of time talking to him. Such a cool guy. And I know he's been just a great, big help to you, a big backer of your supporter, things like that. He's my biggest supporter. Yeah. And that's so cool to have. You got to have somebody really behind you just going, all right, you're doing a great job. Keep going. Or when you hit those bumps saying,

it's okay, you're better than this. You can keep moving. And I know he's always been there for you. He is that person. Although sometimes I feel he criticizes more than... He's just keeping you straight on the road, right? Yes. I love that. I love that. But he's pretty awesome. You know, you've been in this industry for like 17 plus years.

And we'd like to talk about some business challenges on the podcast here because everybody runs into challenges in life. Talk to us about one of the, you know, what's one of the biggest business challenges you've ever faced and how have you grown to get through that? Well, as you know, I launched live with Remax in August, August 30th of 2007. Yeah. Right before the market fell off the cliff. Right before it fell off the cliff. Well, in Florida, it literally, I can't even, there's no words to express what happened in Florida. But it was 2008, 9, 10, you era, right, into getting back into the game on just being you, right, going back into original real estate. Right.

Well, and you worked quite heavily with the Hispanic community. Which was hurt. Right. The Hispanic community was hit heavily by the subprime. Yes, it was. So, I mean, how did you, you know, you have these clients who've just bought a place and now, you know, all these, the interest rates reset and jobs change or people lose jobs or things like that when the economy crashes. How did you deal with that? How did you help your clients through that? Because I'm sure a lot of those clients you had back then

are still your clients today. We had to adapt to the market and get through it, help them with everything possible that we can help them with, whether it was a short sale or trying to get them into another home or whatever it was we needed to do, we made happen. Obviously, good things, right? Because we're still here. Right. Oh, yeah. But changing from that market into a regular market was hard as well. That was 10 years of sad, bad stuff going on in the Hispanic community. Yeah. But helping them get back on their feet was the best thing ever. So, I mean, you didn't just establish somebody for a transaction as a client,

their transaction, or they're a client for life. So I have a Christmas party every year and who attends is my agents and all past clients. Okay. And they are the ones who have been there from when things went wrong with them. They keep, they're still there and they bring food and they'll stop into the office anytime they want. They see my car there and they're always stopping. Bringing food, drinks. They just want to say hi. You create a relationship with the community.

I love that. Yeah. It's good. I can go out anywhere in Kissimmee or Orlando and do something good or be somewhere and they know me. I can't go to Walmart. My husband won't go to Walmart with me. Uh-oh. Yeah.

Sometimes that's bad, right? Well, he says you're worse than the mayor. Daisy, you are the mayor. Yeah. Yes. Don't tell him that. Okay. You're kind of the mayor of Kissimmee, okay?

Yeah. Let's just call it what it is. Because I've been around there with you, and yes. Well, you learn, right? You learn how to be politically savvy. I mean, changes in life, in your career, in everything that you do. If you're not learning from what's going on around you, then you're not doing something right, right? Exactly.

Exactly. I love that. I mean, you speak from the heart. I try to all the time. Yeah. But it's kind of funny because you also kind of put on that, okay, I'm going to tell you how it is, but you do it so eloquently that people are going, thank you. Sometimes. Yeah. Well, sometimes you go, ow, that hurt, but thank you. That type of thing. So

when did you get into NAREP? When did that start up for you? Well, that was in February of 2008 and it was because of REMAX, actually. Yeah. I mean, we were a real big proponent of NAREP, and we still are. We're a huge sponsor of it, great organization. We love everything that NAREP represents. I just happened to be a Hispanic female in the area that they were with a Remax franchise because they were looking for someone that had a Remax franchise that was Latino. And I was the only one in that area.

And it just opened the doors to everything else for me. Cool. I remember you took me to my first Now Rep convention. I did in California. Remember that? And you go, this is going to be a party like you've never seen. And it was. Yes.

I mean, there were like television personalities and all sorts of things like that there. It was pretty amazing. But the community and the NAREP events is unlike I've ever seen. It was just, it was fantastic. And I'm not Hispanic, but I was welcomed into that community so well. I wanted to ask you about that. Do you have to be Hispanic background to be Hispanic background to be part of NAREP? Not at all. Not at all.

You're a member. You're a platinum member, actually. You're right, I am. Exactly. I wanted you to tell our listeners. Adam Cantos is a platinum member of NAREP. There you go. Yes, he is.

And we like to call it business and culture intersect. So at our conferences, that's what happens. So our culture is very welcoming, right? Yeah. The first thing a mom wants to do is sit you down and feed you. Right. If they see you thin, they want to feed you a lot. If they see you a little heavy, they still want to feed you.

It doesn't matter. But they want to feed you and they put the music and everything just comes together. Well, I remember the first time I got there, you said, hey, you got to go meet Gary, CEO of Not A Road. He's the co-founder. Co-founder, yeah. I mean, he's such a wonderful man. Yes, he is. And he took us in so warmly and said, thank you for being here. What can we do for you?

I mean, it was just, you know, a lot of times you go to these different organizations and they go, hey, can you contribute to this? Gary goes, what can we do for you? He's that kind of guy. He's just so giving, which I think is very reflective of the Hispanic culture to begin with, is very welcoming and warming and giving, which probably has to do with kind of that, there's so much success going on with the Hispanic community and housing and things like that, that people aren't recognizing. And if you're in a real estate space and you're not involved in not repping the Hispanic culture and the housing resurgence that's occurring within Hispanic culture. You're losing out. Exactly.

Real estate agents, you're missing out on that. If you're not part of it, hello. You need to be. You don't have to be Hispanic to be a member. And you come in, they're going to welcome you with open arms and they're going to teach you how to work with the Hispanic community. You don't have to speak Spanish. It would be nice, but you don't have to speak Spanish and you can still do a lot of business and help a lot of people in need.

So, you know, it's interesting is, um, and I think you know the story, but when Dave Linegar started Remaxed, I think it was like first four or five sales were to the Hispanic community. I heard that story. He said it on stage with me. I interviewed him. Oh, my God. I couldn't get over that day. The paper was just shaking like a leaf.

I couldn't read the questions, but the paper was shaking so much. In fact, I was talking to him the other day, and I told him that you were going to be on the show. And he's like, yeah, don't you remember? I said, yes, I know the story of how the company started. And yes, the Hispanic community, Hispanic housing had a, I mean, that was the foundation for this organization. His first clients were Hispanics. Yep. So cool.

In fact, the gentleman didn't even really speak English. His daughter did the translation for him. She was doing the translations. That's it. And he did a really good thing for them. He did. And they appreciated it. He helped them out. Yes. And they helped him start his career and his business. So it was amazing. And the word took him from there exactly so daisy past president of

not a rep okay i mean that was i can't tell you how honored and blessed we were to have you as the president of not a rep um i mean just so amazing and that was an honor for me oh so cool to wear my remax pin being up on stage as an artAREP president. It was a great feeling. And I talked to people across the country about Remax and the brand is the brand. We are the best brand out there, right? So who wouldn't be honored to be up there holding that banner? And representing such a great organization as well. What's one thing you learned while president of NALREP that has had an impact on your career? I've traveled across the country, opening chapters and meeting people. And you have to be consistent in what you want and what you want to do. You have to be persistent and consistent. It's just something that you learn.

You also learn how to be politically savvy. And you learn how to be at the table and not on the table. Words of wisdom from Daisy. You learn a lot on the road. And you're always smiling too. So people want to go up and talk to you and build this relationship with you and with the organization and things like that. So it's just, it's amazing to have you there. Look at the organization is always smiling down

at you. And it's always there, um, for anyone in who needs to learn or, um, create more relationships. Masterminding across the country is amazing. Oh, yeah. It's amazing. It's huge. I mean, the doors that it'll open for you is great. So I hold my banner, and NAREP opens doors for you. So imagine that.

Amazing. Two great combinations. So NAREP, you've given a lot of guidance, a lot of wisdom to agents in the space and brokers in the space. On the show today, we have a lot of real estate agents just globally. I mean, I was over in Europe not long ago, and a lot of them were saying, hey, thank you for creating the podcast. We get to hear from a lot of our peers, a lot of leaders in our industry and things like that. They're all listening to this. What piece of advice do you have for the agents that are listening to the podcast today? You have to stay true to yourself. It's the same thing that I tell my agents, I would tell anyone else, and I already said it.

You have to be consistent and be persistent with what you want. If you want something, go out and get it because it's not going to come to you. I love it. Be consistent, be persistent, and go get what you want. If you want something, go out and get it because it's not going to come to you. I love it. Be consistent, be persistent, and go get what you want. That's it. That's it. Words of wisdom from Daisy Lopez. I love it. Thank you. Daisy, on Start With a Win, we have a couple of questions that we always ask people. Let's start with this one. Favorite book? My favorite book that I like to give to agents is Who Moved My Cheese, right?

I think it teaches them you can't stay still, and it's exactly what I mean about being persistent and keep moving. I love that. And it's a great book. Everything's always changing. Our industry is always changing, the housing market. I mean, you look at the changes that you've been through from the recession, emerging from that, becoming president of NAREP,

continuing to grow your business, things like that. I mean, that's constant change. Constant. And that is one thing that if you sit still in our space, you get left behind. You do. You do. I don't want to practice that, right? Exactly.

But you have to keep moving. That's it. I love it. We'll use somebody else as an example for not practicing that. Yeah. Okay. There we go. So, hey, do you have anybody that inspires you?

My dad. Tell us about your dad. He is no longer with us. But I was, my sister was 20 years older than me. My brother was, I don't know why they waited 10 years in between. Right. But they, you always get it right with the last child. They knew you needed a little space for all that excitement and energy you were bringing out. I was the baby and, um, he always, he was determined that I was not going to be, I don't know how this is

going to sound, but you're not going to be just another woman. You're going to learn how to drive right. You're going to learn how to change a tire, check your oil. You're not going to get stuck. You're going to know what you're going to do. He built a strong woman, a leader. He really did. His favorite saying was, always move forward. You never take that step back, not even to push you forward. So you get up, you shake it off, and you keep moving. I like it. And it's worked for me. So I'm going to say my dad has been my biggest hero.

That's awesome. Yeah. Well, thank you, Dad. I love that. You just inspired us all, Daisy. Thank you. It's worked for me. I'd say so. And you've made an impact on so many people's lives. So you've carried the torch well, I will have to say. So on Start With A Win, the title says it all. Daisy, how do you start with a win? When I get up in the morning, I'm thinking about what I'm going to execute today. What do I have to do? If that doesn't

get done at the end of the day, I did not do what I said I was going to do today. And you have to do what you say you're going to do. I love it. I love it. Do what you say you're going to do and commit to it. And commit to it. Go after it. Pers what you say you're going to do and commit to it. And commit to it. Go after it. Persistent and consistent. There's no success without discomfort. Thank you so much, Daisy. And thank you for being on Start With A Win. Daisy Lopez, broker owner of Remax Premier Properties in Kissimmee, Florida. Thank you for having me.

One of the top 10 Hispanic realtors in the country. Amazing and past president of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. Daisy, we love you. We thank you for all you do. I love you guys too. And keep after it because you are setting an amazing example in our industry. Thank you. All right, keep going. Thank you so much for listening to Start With A Win. We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Don't forget to go onto iTunes and subscribe, write a review, or rate the show. It helps us get the word out and reach more people.

You can follow Adam on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. And remember, start with a win.