Trading Secrets - 167. Love is Blind’s fan favorite Nancy Rodriguez dives into life before & after reality TV. $100k in debt eliminated transitioning into a real estate investor?! All the secrets to balancing finances in both her personal and professional worlds!

Episode Date: May 20, 2024

This week, Jason is joined by one of the fan favorites from Season 3 of Netflix’s Love is Blind, Nancy Rodriguez! Nancy quickly became one of the more popular members of the cast after accepting the proposal of one of her other cast members, although her relationship did not end up having a happily ever after in marriage. Nancy continued to focus on bettering herself, both personally and professionally. Since her season ended, Nancy continued her career as a speech pathologist while also growing her long-time side hustle as a real estate investor.  Nancy gives insight to where she was at in life when she was casted for Love is Blind, the story of her application process for the show, what questions she asked when signing the contract for the show, how long they are in the pods for, how Love is Blind differs for The Bachelor world, how couples had more of a say on what was said in front of the camera,  what life looked like after filming the show and what the healing process looked like, how she created her brand, and why staying authentic is critical to who she is. Nancy also reveals how she built her business model for posting on social media, how she got into $100k in debt to paying it off, how she used NACA in regards to real estate, working alongside exes and creating boundaries, and breaking down all things real estate.What reality show did she envision for herself prior to Love is Blind? What does she think is petty when it comes to broken engagements?  Nancy reveals all that and so much more in another episode you can’t afford to miss!  Host: Jason Tartick Co-Host: David Arduin Audio: John Gurney Guests: Nancy Rodriguez Stay connected with the Trading Secrets Podcast!  Instagram: @tradingsecretspodcast  Youtube: Trading Secrets Facebook: Join the Group All Access: Free 30-Day Trial  Trading Secrets Steals & Deals! The Farmer's Dog: This spring, brighten up your dog’s bowl with fresh, healthy food. Get 50% off your first box, delivered to your door here Monarch Money: Unlike other personal finance apps, Monarch’s simple, intuitive design makes it so easy to set up, customize, and use. Monarch has built-in features to collaborate with your partner, family, or financial advisor. Go to monarchmoney.com/SECRETS for an extended 30 day free trial. Yahoo Finance: Whether you're a seasoned investor or are looking for that extra guidance, Yahoo Finance gives you all the tools and data you need in one place. For comprehensive financial news and analysis, visit the brand behind every great investor, YahooFinance.com MeUndies: From all black classics, to fun, expressive prints, MeUndies has a look for everyone. Plus, they come in sizes XS-4XL, guaranteeing a flattering cut for every body. Good things come in big packages at MeUndies. Get 20% off your first order, plus free shipping, at MeUndies.com/trading Lume: As a special offer for listeners, new customers GET 15% ALL Lume products with our exclusive code - and if you combine the 15% off with the already discounted starter pack, that equals over 40% off their Starter Pack! Use code tradingsecrets for 15% off your first purchase at LumeDeodorant.com. 

Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. I'm your host, Jason Tardick, and welcome to the pre-market trading segment, where I'll tell you a little bit about our guests, give you a money market update with news you got to know and an update on my life. Before I get into this episode, please remember to give us five stars. give us feedback of who you would like or things we could add to the show. And don't forget to tune in every Thursday to our More Than Money episode. Last week, we had Todd Graves, the founder of Raising Canes, worth over $9 billion on the show. Then on Thursday, we had OBGYN, and then we had Evan Sarr, my business partner, and his wife,

because they just had their first baby boy. They went through an IVF journey and all in the OBGYN that joined our podcast. actually delivered their baby. So make sure you tune into that, subscribe to the show, and give us five stars. This week we have Nancy Rodriguez on from Love is Blind Season 3.

Now, you might remember that Nancy was with Bartiz and then moved on after Bartiz broke her heart at the altar, ending their relationship for good. Now, Bartiz was criticized for his behavior on perfect match, but Nancy went on to absolutely throw. and that is what you're going to hear in this episode. One of the most special things I think we loved about Nancy and why we thought she's a perfect fit for this podcast

is her depth of business, real estate, and personal financial acumen. So of course, we're going to talk Love is Blind if you're a Love is Blind fan, but if you're looking to get into real estate, if you're a first time home buyer, if you know one, if you're looking for some personal financial tips and hacks

from someone you'll look up to who's been on the big state, like Love is Blind, this will be an episode you really, really will enjoy. Again, remember to follow us, like us, and go check us out on YouTube as well. Now, my money market little update for you, have you seen any articles about how much a wedding costs in 2024 these days? The average price of a wedding in 2024, take a guess. Guess is in totals around $33,000.

This is up slightly from $29,000 in 2020. The most expensive state to get married in is Rhode Island with an average cost of $49,207. The cheapest state to get married in is Alaska, with an average cost of $14,44. So on average, they say the most expensive wedding expenses are the wedding venue, which range from $6,500 to $12K, the catering, $6,500 to $10K, the band or DJ, which is $2,000 to $7,000. and the photographer that is 3,500 to 6,500. So these are just some of the average wedding cost per services in 2024. This is according to zola.com. Now, a little update from my life.

Oh, my gosh, it has been nice to just kick it a little bit. It has been two weeks of working and being at home and being with the dogs and just hitting refresh. and it has been so unbelievable to pour into myself a little bit. And so I'm getting really focused on what is next for me as I continue my professional, personal and financial endeavors and journeys and goals. But just doing some work on myself the last two weeks and pouring into myself has been truly, truly remarkable.

I'm so excited for Memorial Day. I'll be in Nashville having a heck of a time. So stay tuned to my social media. I think after all this relaxing, I'm going to fire it up for Memorial Day weekend. But enough of me talking about Memorial Day weekend and the parties and the cost of weddings. Let's get into the episode with Season 3 superstar from Love is Blind, Nancy Rodriguez. Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. Today I am joined by one of the fan favorites from Season 3 of Netflix, Love is Blind, Nancy Rodriguez.

Yes, Nancy quickly became one of the more popular members of the cast after accepting the proposal of one of her other cast members, sight unseen. Although her relationship did not end up happily ever after in marriage, Nancy continued to focus on bettering herself both personally and professionally, which is the name of this podcast. Since her season ended, Nancy continued her career as a speech pathologist while also growing her longtime side hustle as a real estate investor. Today we are going to talk all things love is blind.

Nancy's experience during and after the show. Where she sees the show going from here and touching on all the ways, she is capitalized from this wild, wild world of social media influencing and this ever-changing real estate market. Nancy, thank you so much for being on trading secrets today. Thank you so much for that intro. Wow, that was a great narration of what has happened in my life lately. Is there anything we missed in the summary of Nancy Rodriguez that we got to touch on today?

Or was that, was that a good synops? No, I think that's an amazing synopsis. And I think when I envision who I am as a person, like top of mind is like businesswoman. Like for me, you know, and I think that's something that was deeply rooted in me through my family. Both my parents are business owners. They didn't come from that. They're immigrants. They were immigrants when they came to the United States.

But even before that, my grandmother, same thing, businesswoman, you know. So, yeah, I think other than that, that would be like the little asterisk I would add. Like that, asterisk. Empowering businesswoman entrepreneur. I love that. That's a good one. So I read the intro. Speech pathologist was on there, but we know that you do have a business background and we know that it was talked about on the show. Has being on the show kind of canapulted you even further into that world? Or would you say that that was still a main priority even before the show? Yeah, I think for me, before Love is Blind, I was 31 at the time. And I was in such a good place, emotionally, financially, just mentally that I knew that if I was going to go on a reality TV

show, it would be love is blind. You knew that. I just knew it. I was like, if I'm going to do any, like, you know, I think for me, like I was in such a place where I truly loved and appreciated where I was in life and how far I had gotten. At that point, I think I had five real estate properties. So I knew that my portfolio was continuing to grow. and I had also just left, about a year before Love is Blind, I had left my 9 to 5 because

real estate investing was my full time. So, yeah, I think for me, it was just kind of like, oh, okay, do we want to do Love is Blind? And I get casted and I'm like, all right, we're doing this. We're going to talk about how you got casted, but I want to ask you this because it's something I think about. When people found out that I was on a reality TV show, they're like, I got to be honest, man. Like, I'm so happy for you and all this stuff worked out. But you're like the last in high school or college, I would have been like, he'll be on a reality TV show. Was it on your vision board? Did you see yourself being in reality TV? You know what I would have envisioned me on MTV, the challenge? That's what I would have envisioned myself doing some like crazy

wild like obstacle courses and like, you know, falling into like a pile of mud with beetles or something. I don't know. Like in my mind, I think that's what I envisioned, but never would I envision a dating show and never would I have envisioned that as part of like my five or 10 year plan. So I really do think it was just in a place where my real estate career allowed me the freedom, meaning the time to be gone for, what was it, like eight to 13 weeks, I think, something like that. And so I was just in a really good place where I had the opportunity to do so. Yeah, I'm sure flexibility was nice when I was in my banking career, taking that much time off was not easy. And it turned into me and up getting fired.

there's that. Oh, shoot. Because of the show? Because of the show. And that, well, I went, I worked for a little bit after the show. And then, you know, social media stuff. You share a lot. There's a little too much shared on Caitlin's podcast. And, you know, I got the whack. But that's neither here nor there. We've gotten into all those details before. All for the better. All for the better. All for the better. Let's talk about Love is Blind for a little bit. So Love is maintained top 10 global TV shows every day since season four aired. And the season you are on, 168 million hours streamed. It's absolutely mind-blowing. Not only we're on a reality TV dating show, you're on the biggest one in the entire world. How did they find you? It's funny that, again, like I think about that whole experience, and I was actually in Cancun on a girl's trip, completely disconnected, you know, from my phone, from the internet, and my best friend who didn't get to go on the trip reached out to me. Not only did she DM it to me, through Instagram, but she texted me. She was like, check your DMs on Instagram now.

And that's like code. That is like, oh, my God, something's going on. Flag's going off. Yeah, like, who did she find? What's the drama? So sure enough, I went into my inbox and she had sent me the love as blind casting for Dallas. So I remember thinking, okay, you know, let me have a little thought. Okay, sure, I'll do it.

So I tried it once, meaning submitted the application, and it was a lengthy application. They didn't require video admissions, but they did require, like, I don't know, a hundred and something questions. Who are you? What are your traits? All these super, like, intimate questions. Like, what would your friend describe you in three words, right? How intimate would it get, though? Like, did they get in the weeds, weeds, or no? I feel like the first round, it was enough for them to get an idea of, like, who I was. But not, like, how many relationships, like, that was part, like, three or four. So, yeah. And actually, what's so funny.

So when you're abroad and you're disconnected from your phone, you know, Wi-Fi can be spotty, and that's exactly what happened. So I submitted it. I took like an hour to submit this application, submit, and it doesn't. Why? Because I lost Internet. I lost Wi-Fi. And I was like, okay, love is blind.

It's not for me. It's fine. Like, I'm going to go enjoy this vacation. I had two other opportunities to submit it. And I tried again, like, the next day. And then on the very last day in Mexico, I was like waiting for my shuttle. And I was like, okay, what the heck? third time to charm, maybe it's going to go through. And it went through. So then I got a call.

It took about six months to get casted when I finally got the official like, you're coming. It was probably three days before I flew out. How long did it take from submitting application to getting the phone call? About five and a half months. Oh, so you submitted this into like a black hole and five and a half months later, boom, they show up. Oh, well, I guess I'm sorry. No, the first phone call happened about three weeks later. Okay. And then they had follow up and then they had video and then they had the like 200 question, get to know me, application. I feel like then that's when like all the screenings and stuff started happening. So yeah, it was a six month process, but I found out that I was officially going to L.A., let's say on a Wednesday and we were flying out on Saturday. Okay,

that's wild. So it was quick. What is the most bizarre part of the casting process? I'll go first. for the bachelor, just so you can see that I want to hear yours. The most bizarre thing was we had to do a 200 question. I think it was 600 question. It's like a 600 question psych test and we had to meet with a psychologist. So he was like already in our brain and we had to like work that angle. And then the second thing was we just had a one ITM. So it was just one, one camera looking at one on one.

And then they're like, okay, now we got to go to the next step. Almost like we're in a maze and they open a door and there was like 50 producers. And we had to like sit in the middle of them. And it was just like getting grill session. So that was the most bizarre. How about for Love's Blind? Was I nervous? Was I nervous?

Yeah, of course. I was nervous. Yeah, they had a little box and I needed to pull something out and it was just a word. It was lying. And it was like, they were like, all right, well, tell us to get this shit. I was like, I did the Lion King thing. That was all casting. How about Love's Blind?

There's got to be some kind of the weirdest question they asked. I feel like no one else got this, but there was a moment where we were getting filmed. So they kind of did like a. an interview that they filmed you at home, but they would ask you questions, and then they basically piled it together, made a little, like, casting video for the producers that were casting. So at one point towards the end, I don't know what this casting recruiter director was thinking, but he says, we're talking about love and my favorite songs, and I said, oh, I love Selena. He's like, oh, why don't you sing us, like, a little song? I was like, you want me to,

like, sing? He's like, yeah, and I was like, okay. And I think I, like, sang, like, la flor or something. And I was like, you know, just jamming out. And I was like, okay, is that enough? And then he loved it, adored it. It was like, that was so perfect. They're going to love it. I'm like, okay. I thought that was odd because I don't think anyone else had to sing like on the spot. Yeah. So, which I love karaoke. But that, yeah, that was like really odd, I think for me. That's all. But it shows my personality. It shows your personality. And yours too, like that you can like. We'll just turn it out, just like that. You know, and the recap, guys, stay tuned. We're going to talk a little bit about Selena and her story because that's, that's all. You can do a whole episode.

that. So stay tuned for the recap. Okay, so you're discovered to go on the show. Did you have to like pretty much sign your life way with the contract? Because for the bachelor, there was no negotiate, at least from the beginning. Like when we first got the contract, if you go to Paradise and stuff like that, you can work it. But the first contract, there's no negotiating. Did you guys kind of have to sign it all the way? Yeah, it was pretty much this is what it is. And I think one thing to remember about season two and three is that we were filmed simultaneously. So technically, I only had season one to go off of and really production only really had one full like season and exposure to like what would happen like what happened right after that first season came out so

there was no season two currently out there wasn't i think that experience of um having two other so we were just still so new i felt like that it was kind of like hey this is your opportunity like take it and i was in a place where i i read it and i you know had some questions here here and there. And then I think with a one question I did have, I was like, do you guys do STD testing? Like, because we don't know what's going to happen. You don't know if you're engaged or what's going to. And they were like, well, you know, and they kind of like, I think ended up, I don't remember how they answer that question. But I was just like, that was the one thing that came from. I was like, you never know. Because I think in the bachelor's like, you guys have to,

yeah, like all the things. And love is wine doesn't do that. I'm surprised by that. At the time, they didn't require it. Yeah. They didn't require. But we actually. did talk about it. My fiance at the time, we said, like, do you have results from recently that you want to share? We did off-camera have that discussion. Yeah, pretty wild. I can imagine that there's probably room for negotiation in any situation. Like, I'm always going to ask, like, you know, just because, like, I think it is, it is a lot that we're going through. And I think they know that. And we're not actors. We're definitely not paid actors, you know, in that sense. But yeah, I think there would probably be room for negotiation, especially after you do the first rounds and you go

and kind of like you said, a different show that's a break of that. Yeah, of course when you do so. But to go on Love is Blind, they pay you something. I didn't think, because in Bachelor, we don't get paid at all, except the lead, the lead got paid. Yeah, there is, there is an article that wrote about it that talked about a stipend that was provided for the Love is Blind, like cast. And I think it stays pretty consistent. Okay. Yeah. That's cool. But again, it depends on where, If you only make it through week one, you go home and that's all you get. Yeah. Right?

Because it's usually a time thing. Yeah. Interesting. How many weeks does it film then? I want to say, and that's funny. I think it's 8 to 13. I don't know why I'm remembering 13, but I know for sure, like, it was somewhere about two and a half months.

Okay. Interesting. And then when you, because you went through the process to the end, we have Neil Lane in the bachelor world who comes and lets you pick out a ring and then you get the ring. And then after like two years, a year or two, if I'll look it up, we'll go over in the recap, you can, you can keep it. But if not, you have to give it back. Oh. Do they help it all with the ring or anything like that?

So I didn't pay for anything when it came to like anything related to the, the filming. And I think that's something to like, like we had budgets or we had like even planning our wedding. I mean, technically had a wedding planner. my assistant producer was like, what do you want to eat? What are the colors that you want? So they really, because I think my experience and what I believe love is blind truly is about is really finding that love connection between two completely different people, behind a wall. Like, you notice that on the show, the first, like, a couple of minutes of season one is just the pods.

But we are in the pods for 10 days. So imagine 10 days in the pods, plus all the couples that are. meet that get to know each other they only show you a glimpse of what happens in the pods because it's not so much about like who the original cast was which i think is it's great that they really focus on the relationships and they really want these couples to succeed and i always felt supported in my relationship if you know i think it was zenab and cole got a chance to do like a counseling therapy session before they um went to the altar so that was a scene that they were able to do together and you didn't get to see it but you know so things like that like they really do

focus on, hey, we want these connections to actually thrive. So they give you that best opportunity. And literally, if I could have another wedding, it would be a love is plain wedding that, like, someone plans it for me. And like, I just get to pick what color and what food. That's great that they, like, support you. Because it's a crazy process. Like, it's wild so that they still support financially with, like, covering that stuff.

I mean, I think that's important. That's really, even like, like, like, the dresses and the, the wear, like, all the type of fashion, it's, they take care of that stuff. That's great. Yeah, for sure. I mean, wardrobe-wise, we don't get, like, stylists. We don't get makeup people. Sure.

But, yeah, I would say 99% of what I did on the show was part of just being a cast member. Okay. And how long do you spend actually, like, dating blind? In the pods? Yeah. Yeah. So it's actually, so you date up to eight days of dating,

night and, like morning and night, eight days. But on day nine is when you go to Proposal Day. So we had about seven couples. We actually had exactly seven couples go to Proposal Day. Five of those guys asked, actually technically six because I got two proposals. So six guys went to Proposal Day and asked. And then two of those guys went to Proposal Day and in the pod told the women, I'm not ready to ask you to marry me.

Got it. So, yeah, technically that was day nine. And by day 10, you get to actually see each other for the first. first time. That's wild. Some of the things we don't get to see on TV behind the scenes. Let me ask you about this. I'm in the midst right now. I'm surveying a lot of the leads from the bachelor and bachelorette to ask them in the fantasies because the only time they really get no cameras, no nothing is in the fantasy suite. So I said in the fantasy suite at any point are you talking about careers, finances, numbers, like some of the foundational business things

that matter as a unit in a relationship. And I'm getting a material. material amount of nose, nose, nose, nose, but I have a couple yeses. When you have off-camera time, I know we got to hear you talk a little bit about your business on camera. Are any of those conversations happening? When you talk to the other couples, do you think they're happening often and just like, what's your take on that? Yeah, I think that some, each, each couple really did make that decision for themselves, meaning that some couples really refrained from having on-camera conversations about family planning, about finances, and I know that for a fact that they had those conversations, they just didn't do it on camera, and they chose to keep very private. Same thing with

season two, actually. I'm friends with some of the girls from season two, and they also said, like, we as a couple said, we will not fight on camera. We won't. So I think in general, like, it really comes down to the couple. My personal opinion is that who I am, cameras on. or off, you need to know that. It's not going to change. And if I'm firm with you on X topic off camera, it's going to be the same on camera. So I didn't shy away from having honest conversations. And I think my partner at the time was very open to that as well. And he didn't hold back on what his thoughts and feelings were about finances or other topics. Yeah. I think that's great. And we'll talk a little bit about that too. I think the whole, all the real estate stuff.

that you had to discuss and getting on the same page with the partner and stuff. I think that's so important in business and finance. All right. Well, I want to transition a little bit to post show. Post show, you get out. You have all these followers. You're already a businesswoman. We made that crystal clear and you've had a ton of success.

What do you think in is like your next step in this world of like how do you capitalize on this opportunity while making impact the way you've done it? Like, what has been your thought process? Yeah, so I think after the show, again, our show was, it is so real in the sense that, like, I was involved, my family was involved, my relationship was put on blast. Like, everything happened. And then for a year and a half, it was complete silence, meaning that I didn't know what the final edit was going to be. I didn't know if, you know, you know, you can only assume from season one, again, we only had the example of season one. You could only assume that maybe I would get a few followers and people would be like, oh, I relate to you on this topic.

But you don't really know what's going to come from it. So I needed time to heal for sure. It took me about six months after we stopped filming before I started therapy. Just because I took those first six months to travel, like work, keep myself busy. And then I realize like, okay, like slow down and like fix what you feel is still like hurting. And so once I started therapy and I really started to recognize like what I needed to do to prepare for the premiere of our of our season, I knew that there was going to be more to my story than what you saw. And I knew that using social media as a platform to be that voice and to how, whether it's the voice of being a representation to women of color, if it's a representation to women of color in business, if it's a representation of being the only woman in a room, in a real estate environment, I just knew that, like, as I was healing through the process,

I was also gaining so much more love for me and who I am and what my boundaries are that the show dropped. And I was like, I had had about three months before the show came out. So about summertime of 2022, I started calling friends that were indie industry. And I was like, all right, like social media managers and other friends that are, agents for celebrities, and I'm like, what do I need to do if this goes well? Like, how do I really advance as a brand? I will always be Nancy from Love is Blind. I'm so thankful for that. But I knew that the bigger picture is the Nancy Rodriguez, meaning my brand and who I am. And and I think for me, again, like overall, I've had such a positive experience with the audience,

meaning like fans on social media, fans. And I get so recognized in New York. It's, almost like, how did I, I've actually said this, I'm like, how did you recognize me? I have like, glasses, a hat. Like, I'm like, looking bummy. And, and people are so, like, excited. And they're like, usually it's a personal story that they tell me in like five seconds before, like, the next train stop comes. And, and it's such a beautiful interaction that I, I just know that for me, the brands that I've been able to create came from the platform of love is blind. And I'm so thankful for that. That's really cool. Here's hopefully a tip for the money mafia. That's our listenership. When you talked to all these people about how to not make yourself Nancy from

Love is plan, how to brand yourself is Nancy Rodriguez. What do you think the best couple tips or tricks you were told to do that you implemented that worked that maybe someone back home could implement into their branding? No, absolutely. I think that for me it was hearing authenticity. That was something that came up in so many of my meetings was you've got to be authentic because as authentic because again they don't the people I was talking to I could tell them what happened on the show but the show hadn't come out yet so your edit could really be any direction so the main thing that I said from filming love is blind is that I was truly myself 100% I'm as quirky as you see me I'm as silly as you see so I really needed to embrace that

is that authenticity of what you're going to see on the show when it comes out is what you're going to get after. So, yeah, I think for me it was really taking my social media and thinking about what I was posting and why I was posting it, whether it's, you know, a selfie with no makeup or a get ready with me in the morning or just the authentic things that I'm doing or if it's business related to like, where did I start? How did I pay $100,000 off in debt? You know, like those things were really part of my story that I wanted to make sure resonates through my Instagram and my social media platforms. And I think the authenticity really does bring it back to the why, which keeps you then going. Meaning, once you know, being authentic allows you to understand your why for social

media. And brands love that. I really do find that brands, and again, the advice I was given was Be authentic so that brands can see who you are. So if you're already wearing, you know, Zara clothes, just post it and authentically be that, be that image for those brands. And so I started to think, I remember that day after I left a meeting, I sat down in an Excel sheet and I wrote down all the categories of my life. I put lifestyle, what are the brands I use? Which ones matter and which ones do I believe in?

And then the next category was like beauty and fitness or beauty and hair and beauty. or something. And then I wrote down the tools and the things that I like. So in my mind, three months before the show, that's what I was doing. I was calculating in my head, like, what are the brands I believe in? What brands do I not believe in? What are like the no-go brands that I would never want to promote or be a part of, you know, because of my personal ethical reasons? And I think those two tips there really helped me to stay organized. Once everything happened, then it was taking all the proper meetings, getting official representation, figuring out the ends and the out. So as much as I was having those meetings and they thought

they were interviewing me 100%. I was interviewing that agency or that representation company as well. Yeah, and I got to give a shout out to Meg here. So Meg is our vice president of business development for rewired town management. And she works with you on day-to-day basis. And you said you interviewed her and she did a pretty good job. Amazing. She did amazing. What do you think was the hardest question you asked her that she answered that you were most impressed by? I really was super impressed when I said to her, it was the last question that I asked her. I said, have you looked at my social media? She's like, yes, I have. Like, I've looked through it and she mentioned some of the posts that I had made. And I said, can you give me three tips on what I can do to improve?

And actually I had these, I asked every company this. So like I already had a collection of tips and tricks. And what she was able to give to me, I can't think of it at the top of my head, what exactly it was. But if you let me pull up my Excel sheet, I know it's there. And she just gave me three really good tips about managing my account and what I need to do to really make sure that I stand out authentically with the idea of connecting with brands and making that connection with those brands. Yeah, I called her before our interview just to do some prep. And one of the big things she said is what Nancy does different than majority of the clients that I manage is consistency and quality.

She's like, it's always extremely high quality content and it's consistent. And it makes me think about just the way you plan and everything with your Excel files, your strategy, your thought process. Do you have like a posting schedule you really adhere to? or are you just off the cuff putting consistent good quality stuff out there as much as you can? How do you build a business model around that? Yeah. No, I think the business model for me from the beginning, meaning like let's say the last six months,

the first three of the last six months, the first three months really was experimentation, meaning like I'm going to post this thing that is me doing something, let's say, a DIY or something. I'm going to post it and I want to analyze it after, see how. it does. So where I'm at now is to the point where I know what kind of posts are going to do well. So I have an inventory of, if I know that my engagement is low, then I know, okay, by Wednesday, I need to drop. So what works? Like, what are some of the things that your audience is engaged to? Yeah. So I really, I feel like one of my, some of my top posts really have to do with like women empowerment when I talk about topics that are very real to the world. And sometimes,

all it takes is the right audio, meaning background music, not even voice. It takes the right audio, the quality content, right? You've got to film with a good camera and good ideas of like angles and the video itself, the content or the pictures themselves. And then it's really finding that engagement in the caption. So no words in the actual video, but when you actually engage in the captions that really does, I find that people can connect with that. And it's so important to write back. I remember at the very beginning, I was overdoing it and I was like spending and after I would post, I would spend at least two hours just replying back to comments and being super engaging. And that, doing that times like three because it was on TikTok, Instagram and then on

on YouTube. And so doing that just became too much. So I found a way to make it to scale it down and at least engage with the first 10 to 15 people who comment or say something or interact with your extremely, extremely thorough. And I know you have a page called Financy Talks and you already said 100K of debt. This is a business podcast. I got to ask you the 100k in debt. How did you get in the debt? How did you get out? Give us the quick synopsis. Yeah. So how I got in it is that I went to college with no money. So I had to pull out loans from my undergrad. That was about 30 grand. Then I went to grad school and that was another, let's say, I'm not good at math, which is so funny. Math is not my thing. So let's say 30. And then we're going to gues to make. Actually,

so we're at 40 left, 40 left. No, no. Then it was, then it was not 30. It was another 40. So we're at 70. Okay. And then the day that I graduated from my undergrad when I was going to go to grad school. I bought a $30,000 car on a note. It was a brand new Kia Sorrento and I was like, I'm going to California. I should have a car. The best one on the lot, mistake, wrong. Don't do that. And so yeah, that's where $100,000 happens. However, I did have a career in speech and language pathology that afforded me the opportunity to have a good income where I was making about $6,000 a month. So from that, the first two years after being a speech pathologist, when I started being a speech pathologist, not only was I a speech pathologist, but I also had other jobs as well, just like online job, side gigs, things like that. And at the two year mark is when I was ready to buy my first property, my income producing property, which was a duplex. I literally closed on my property June 6th or 9th, one of those. On the very next day, I called all of my banks, asked for the payout. I called my car note. people and I said, tell me what the final number is. The reason why I was able to do that is because

for the last two years, I had been saving and calculating all of my income, saving as much as I could, going by the Dave Ramsey baby steps process of like trying to pay debt off. And literally the day that I called and made the checks. And I remember I went to one of my banks and I had like 20,000 in there for savings. And I went in and I said, can I have it all? And they were like, are you sure? Is everything okay? I'm like, yeah, you're fine. I had to talk to, like, the branch manager. They were like, what's going on?

I'm like, I'm just paying my debt off, y'all. Like, I'm ready. And they were just like, are you safe? I'm like, I'm safe. I just need to pay this off. So they needed like explanations as to why I was doing this. So yeah, I think that was like the sped up process. I think for me, the idea of paying debt off to be financially free had to happen in order

for me to see the future later. And it was truly embracing being in comfort. for a short amount of time knowing that I was going to have a long-term gratification of financial freedom. Yeah, I think it all just comes out to taking control, understanding the numbers, living in a state of discomfort, but that feeling of financial freedom's amazing. We now know you're in real estate investment. Did you have any issues getting any type of real estate loans because of that debt or no? So no. And the reason why is because the first property that I have, which is my residential home currently still in Dallas, I used a first-time

homebuyers program. And with that first-time homebuyers program, they don't care how much debt you have. They do calculate debt to ratios, incomes. That's debt income. Thank you. I was like, that sounded backwards. And so I sometimes do that, by the way. I think it's like being bilingual and Spanish speaking that sometimes I'm like, my brain is glitching. And so, yeah, they were really supportive of like, okay, you have this much debt, $100,000 worth. What's your monthly payment? And what they did with this program, it's called NACA, NACA. What they do is they look at your qualification status specifically on your monthly what's coming in and what's going out. Most banks will tell you what's your credit score, this and that will get you this rate.

It's quick. You can get a pre-qual. Yeah. Like within a day. With NACA, you do have to do the work and you do have to show them like, I'm literally spending $500 a month on groceries and I'm actually saving $2,000 a month and you have to show that documentation. So it is a very tedious and rigorous process, but I wanted it. And if I wanted it and I wanted the benefits,

which, by the way, NACA has amazing benefits to being a first-time home buyer, that I just knew that that's what I needed to do. Just in case there is some part of the Money Mafia listening that hasn't bought a home, they are a first-time home buyer. what are some things they should know or could know about NACA through you, given your experience? Yeah, absolutely.

So the first thing is just go online, knacka.com, NACA, and what's really good about the website, it's very user-friendly. The first step, it says, become a home buyer. You sign it for a workshop. The reason why you would want to do NACA, number one, is they do give you the interest rate that is two-day listed on the market. That's the rate that you're going to qualify for, no matter what your credit score is. Oh, wow.

The only exception is that you cannot have anything in debt. You can have debt. I had $100,000. You just can't have anything in collections. And so then once you go through the process, it's not based off of income. So you could be making $500,000 and still qualify for this first-time homebuyers program. And then the good thing about the workshop is that it will tell you everything you need to know to make that next step to move forward. Yeah. Okay. So you don't have to have these income thresholds. It's not credit base. interest rate and oh and they pay for your closing costs they pay for your closing all of your closing costs you can also roll in a rehab loan if you decide that you want to do cosmetic work or let's say you want these walls in your living room you just have to make you have

to apply it's part of the process but you just have to make sure to set that up during your closing period that you want to add an extra 10k as long as it's part of your budget that you're approved for you can add an extra 10k to build a new kitchen to get these walls to do things like that. Do you know the biggest things that eliminate someone from getting it? I would assume a higher income threshold or if you make a certain amount you couldn't qualify? No, not at all. There's no threshold. So what usually happens and this is something that like some of my richest friends that I have that don't own property yet and want to own property when I tell them about this program and get them like to go to the first meeting, they do nothing to follow up. So they don't, you know, because again,

it is rigorous. And what I mean by rigorous is that they're going to sit there, give you an Excel sheet, be like, tell me everything you spend on clothes. What's that number? What do you spend on groceries? What do you spend on gas? And the reason why is that this particular program, the idea of being a first-time homebuyers that I think, sure, everyone wants property. That's a cute idea, but it's cute. To actually own property takes a lot of responsibility. And sometimes it really can be. Owning property might be a bigger headache than what you're ready for. So the program is a weed out the week, basically. And if you're not in a point where you truly understand your personal finances and you're okay with being tedious and digging into, oh, my God, I overspent

in my credit card, you know, then you're not ready for home buying or that program with all those benefits. There you go, NACA. It could be a really good opportunity for you or someone you know, so check it out. We'll talk more about it in the recap if you want any more information. Nancy, well, I got you. I got to talk about two things. We got to get into a real estate transaction. give us the idea of what one looks like. But before we do that, I want to talk about managing the personal and professional world. You do it marvelously. And you do it in a wild fashion, right? You have family that you work with. You have an ex that you work with. You had, we saw, you know, Bartis, who just from my vantage point, maybe wasn't a little thrilled with it. Maybe it was a little

bit of leading with ego. I don't want to even talk about the dollars and cents now. I want to talk, how do you manage your professional world continuing to develop your brand but still also taking in the consideration of possibly a partner or an ex or maybe the emotion or resentment with an ex all those things and still working is one that is a great question I'm sitting here like wow this is like therapy 101 you're like how do I do that I know it's I think the first thing that comes to mind in that question and in all those aspects, but specifically business and personal is truly having grace for me to make mistakes because I'm not perfect. And I come from, like for example, let's to pick a topic, right? In business, I've come from a place of way

overspending on things that I probably shouldn't have on a project to now where I'm like very cognizant of how much I'm spending. So I really do appreciate that. oh crap, I made that really big mistake and bought that really expensive house that one time, but I'm not going to do that mistake again because I'm going to learn from it. And I'm going to be today in a better place where I've given myself grace and I've learned from my mistakes that I can be in a position to do better and learn from that. So I think really giving myself grace to make mistakes. And I think with carrying my professional, my business relationships and things like that,

especially my ex, right? That's a huge thing. And I think at the end of the day of what we went through as a couple is that he is an amazing person. And I know this is like the world listening. Whoever might be, might be like, wait, what? How? I don't date assholes.

I don't date people with ill intentions. I do a really good job of weeding those type of people out of my life. Even when I was with Bartis, I know that deep down inside who I knew in the pod, who I know as a person is not quite the full edit you got to see on the show. So you saw the worst parts of our relationship. And I say that only because I do have an amazing business partner who used to be my partner. And I feel like I choose well when it comes to people that I revolve myself romantically with. So with that said, yeah, I don't know. It's like a radar. Maybe it's more.

a radar. But at the end of the day, too, like, I'm not like, it's not like I know if you're a good person or not. It's, I have to be a good person and I have to be kind and value that stuff about myself and live that kind of life to attract that to me. So I feel like I tend to attract the best kind of people, whether it's relationships, platonic, business. I attract that kind of energy in my life. I love that. Let's do this hypothetical, though. You meet your future husband. You know it's your future husband. Your future husband, you have to, have a conversation. You're like, well, I own a business with my ex. Yeah. How do you handle that conversation? Do you just make it clear from the get-go?

This is how it is. You're going to trust me. You're not going to trust me, and it's not going to change. Do you give sensitivity to someone that might want to change your professional dynamic because it's your ex? Like, how do you handle that conversation? And I ask, because I think there are more people than you might know that are listening to this, that probably have some type of professional dealings with their partner and it could impact their actual professional work. And you seem to have such a good hold on it. And that's why I wonder how you'd approach that. Yeah. So I think in a relationship where you have to accept me for who I am and what I bring to the table, I am where I'm at today because I've made professional decisions

with my business partner to be successful, to be here. He is my broker as well. So, I feel like, and it's happened, and this is where I'm like kind of pulling this information from, but I have asked, how do you feel first? Like, I want to hear you, save space, tell me what your true thoughts are about me having business with my ex. When you open up that conversation and just let people talk, it's amazing what people will just truly open up about. And I think that depending on that reaction, right, if it's whatever, whatever reaction you get,

from that partner that you're wanting to, like you said, potentially, like you see this as a husband or wife for the future, I think really channeling what their responses and giving them that safe space to say, like, I'm not comfortable with it. If that's what they say, then I need to be okay with figuring out how do we make it comfortable. And it is my job to make you feel as my partner. It is my job to make you feel secure with us that you know, I have boundaries. reset with my business partner. When we talk on the phone, it's always a text before. Hey, do you have five minutes? It's never a quick phone call and we're just talking willy-nilly for no reason. We're not, right, we're not meeting for no reason. We're meeting because there's a meeting to be

met or we're meeting contractors or we're changing roofs or like, he needs cash because I have cash and we're meeting up or we're doing a walkthrough. So I think for me, the daunting idea of like, oh my God, you're in business with your ex is really not that daunting. but it's truly opening up a space with my partner in the future to have the ability to say, I'm not comfortable with X, Y, Z. And then it's my job to be like, well, let me, I hear you, I respect you, I validate you. Let me tell you what it really is. And also, I have yet to introduce a partner to my ex, but I've asked my ex, would you

be down to like, when I'm ready to like, you know, we've had that conversation. And it was yes, absolutely. When the right person comes, they're going to accept me for who I am. And hopefully, we're all doing business together. There you go. You know, like, let's buy the next apartment complex together. Who's bringing in, like, 100K? You are, you are?

All right, let's do this. That's going to be a wild business group. I mean, I can just, the hierarchy, who's the CEO, who's working, what angle? They can do a whole TV show on that. But let me ask you this, real estate-wise, what type of real estate do you own? How much of that do you own? Oh, what does your real estate world look like? Yeah, so I'm at 11 properties now, and I do focus on residential properties.

In the past, I've had a few multifamily homes, which are like duplexes. I've only had up to two units under one roof, so a duplex. I haven't had more than that. But I think when it comes to real estate where I've really seen my success is in the midterm rental space. So there are short-term rentals, mid-term rentals, and then your traditional leases. So I'm not a flipper yet. Well, how would you time length?

What would a mid-term be considered? So a mid-term is 30 days, less than a year. So it's a, and that's technically the terms. And actually, it also depends on your city restrictions. So some cities and counties will say four or more is considered a mid-term rental. And then you actually bypass the short-term rental laws that forbid, like for example, Airbnb or VRBO from being listings in that city. So, like, I think for a while, New York, if not now, they still, or they had some really big restrictions on short-term rentals,

which are, again, I don't know New York rules, but it could be 14 days or less or 30 days or Okay, let's talk about this midterm renter. Where do you find those renters typically? Yeah, so when it comes to identifying the midterm rental tenant or guest, it truly is figuring out why are they coming to stay at a house, right? It's going to be for vocational reasons, professional reasons. So I would say 90% of the people that have stayed with me have been general contractors, nurses that are coming, students. It can also be, again, to me, this is technically like business related, but insurance agencies where families get displaced because of a storm or something like a flood bursted pipes. I have tend to,

and one of my places that have been there for eight months now because when we had a really bad storm, their floors in the 5,000 square foot home got completely like messed up. And then another storm came. And then so that mess set up again. So with that said, it's really that type of tenant who is looking for business reasons to want to book your place. Are those tenants then coming to you? or are you working with some of the like staffing nursing companies where they know there's going to be moves? And the insurance companies, where the insurance companies say, hey, I have a couple that needs a place. Which angle do you primarily work? That's a great question. So I'm very thankful that the listings that I have and the way that I write my listings attracts the business. So I

actually have not done a lot of marketing. I haven't had to create specific relationships with specific corporate housing. They really do trickle in because of the way that I set up my listings and I make it very specific and the type of pictures that I show and the reviews that I get. And then, and then again, how I set up my calendar to make sure that I attract the nurses that are coming into town and things like that. And I get a lot of actually referrals too. So nurses that have come in that then have other friends who are now coming to Dallas and then they refer me. And then I do give like a referral finder's feet type of thing. So, so yeah, I've been thankful enough. However, there are programs that will set that up for you.

Oh, that's cool. But they'll probably take some sort of cut, right? Absolutely. Yeah, because now they're the finder. Of course. So I've done a good job of making sure that I get my business come to me. I love it. We got to wrap up here and get a trading secret shortly,

but I have just one last question. If someone is very motivated by the way you're empowering them based on what you've done, and they say, you know what, I can do it. I can buy a residential home, and I can find a midterm renter. I know I can do this. What would you tell them financially they should think about how much they should save? Do you have a suggestion how much they should put for a down payment based on the structure of a bank loan? Like any tips and tricks like that?

I think for me, the biggest thing would be what are you paying in rent now, right? Get that number. That should be what you're envisioning your mortgage to be. So if you are struggling to pay for that mortgage, let's say, or I'm sorry, that rent and you're barely making an extra 500. on top of, you know, like, let's say your take home after everything's paid is not significant enough to save. I would say you start with knowing what your expenses are now. And then I think the next step to be ready, right? I mean, you've got to have, not only is it the down payment, you've got to have that emergency fund, because again, being a homeowner is a big responsibility.

So if you have to do electrical work and it's an extra $14,000 that you don't have in the bank, but you have this beautiful home and you're excited, like that's going to be. you know, a whammy for you. So I would say it's always good to have three to six months worth of expenses before you even consider getting a loan for your first time property. And then again, that makes you feel confident on making that big life decision of having a 30-year mortgage under your belt. I like it. Stack that cash away. That make plays. That's such good advice. We talked to all things. We talked the emotional side of being a business owner, the financial side, the structure, everything in between. Stay tuned to the recap. We'll get a little bit more into real estate.

I'll have David asked me all his curious questions. As you know, he will have them, Nancy. We need a trading secret from you, though. It's a secret that people can't learn in a textbook. They can't learn from a professor. They can only learn from you, given your experience. It could be something behind the scenes of love is blind. It could be real estate related. It could be about your earnings or spending some type of trading secret that we can get from only you, Nancy, Redreuth. I would say that one of the trading secrets that I, have that I wish somebody would have told me is that you can have $10 to your name and still invest. That's a great one. You can have a hundred dollars left in your bank account and you can still

invest. So find a way whatever extra little money you have, stop going out to eat, use that to invest. There's always a way that you can start investing in something. Yeah. Rich dad, poor dad, kind of, you know, his whole philosophy about money and the idea of people just stacking it away is is kind of useless. Go find people that can give it to you, invest in you, banks, et cetera, use their money to grow, $10, $100, you can do it. Nancy, thank you so much for being here on Trading Secrets. Where can everyone find your Instagram, everything you have going on? They want more Nancy Rodriguez. Where can they find it? Yeah, thank you so much for having me. This has been so fun getting a chance to talk about

the real stuff, the meat of the empanada, right? So my Instagram and TikTok is the Nancy Rodriguez and my YouTube channel is Nancy Rodriguez's life. And I do have a finance page that talks about finance and also real estate bridging that conversation together. And that's Phi FI Nancy Talks. So finance talks. I love it. Go give Nancy a follow.

And if you have any more real estate questions, I'm sure she'll answer them because she is responding to all you guys out there. Nancy, thank you so much for being on this episode of Trayek Secrets. Thank you for having me. Ding, ding, ding. We are closing in the bell on the Nancy Roder. episode and of course we have the one the only the curious canadian here with us to recap this episode david arduin how you feeling how you thinking what'd you make of this episode

feeling good happy to be here and listen you know how i know love is blind jay let's hear i know love is blind because i haven't met really any of you who listened to this podcast and yet jay i had my first taste of maybe influencer life where I had an imposter on Instagram, stealing my identity, stealing my photos, and DMing our listeners asking them how they're doing in the market and if they need investment advice. Well, that's a bunch of bullshit, David. It is.

And I know love is blind because I had a crew. And I'm going to call them the Money Mafia, the curious Canadian clan. I had a crew of them DM me saying, hey, you're probably getting messages about this. If not, I want to bring this to your attention, I reported them, love the podcast. I got to give them a shout out. Shut out to Amber Husky, Courtney Remy, Madison Boozinski, Sarah Donahoe, Stephanie and Nina for having my back and proven that love is blind and making sure that pictures of Carter aren't circulating on some Rando's scam artist.

So thank you for that. And thank you, Nancy Rodriguez, for a great episode of Trading Secrets. Money Mafia, way to look out for Curious Canadian. If you ever see anything that doesn't make sense, especially from accounts that mirror ours but are not ours. It does not make sense. Just block and report. If you have questions,

just email us, trading secrets at jason tardick.com. We will tell you. There's a lot of fraudsters out there, so keep an eye on it. And Money Mafia, thank you for reporting to David. Love is blind and they got your back.

So I'm glad you liked this episode. I'm glad the Money Mafia is here strong. Hey, guys, remember, also please continue to give us five stars and let us know what guests that we should have or any type of feedback you have for us. But David, Nancy Rodriguez, any questions, takeaways, things that we got to talk about.

What's top of mind? I know there always is something. I got one because I got to say I was expecting Nancy Rodriguez. Here's another reality TV person that we have on. I was expecting it to be all about the love is blind process, things about that. Man, you could have told me that we were having a real estate expert, short term, midterm, long term leases, you know, how to pay off debt, savings, getting different loans. She was so incredibly well spoken.

And she was so incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about what she does. And all the things that we talk about from reality TV to your book to finances to to career to side jobs. She kind of covered it all. So I thought it was a really, really great episode. And Jay, my question to you, the first question is, were you aware of all this? Why Nancy Rodriguez? She was on season three.

We know season five was the most watched season of Love is Blind. Did you know about this ahead of time? Or is it just something that kind of surprised you? I did know about it just from a, the team from the agency and then also doing a little research on her. And this was pretty targeted, right? Because you think about it, what does our podcast do? We love to hit the people that individuals look up to, learn more about it, learn about practical things, but also still having the culture relevance. And I think Nancy embodies all of that. I mean, literally the perfect trading secrets guest

for building acumen while understanding someone we've seen open up their personal life and someone that is very in the pop culture world, being a love is blind alumni. It's also a good reminder. There are many other Love is Blind contestants we need to have from last season, a few are on our radar, from the credit discussions in the Love is Blind pods this past season, all the way to Nancy Rodriguez and a few in between. So I'm excited about this one. And I'll tell you what, she was a good fit.

Boy, did she bring that financial acumen? She did. Now, I'm going to start where you guys left off. And that was her trading secret. And her trading secret, your reaction was like, wow, that's a good one. And she says, you can have $10 to your name and you can still invest. And as you were saying, that's a good one. I have in capital letters, how?

Like, I want to call bullshit. How? If I have $10 in my banking account to my name, Jay, enlighten me, how can I still invest? Because I ain't got no money to invest. Well, let's just, I'll give you two examples. Okay. So Bitcoin, if you had $10 to your name and you were involved in a very high risk asset like Bitcoin and you bought it, when it was, you know, $10 a coin, that $10 investment today would be worth $66,333.

So it's $10 to be worth $66,000. Okay, is that ridiculous? Yeah, you're turned $10 into a $10 Bitcoin investment. That's ridiculous, Jason. Go take a hike. All right, let's talk about something's a little less ridiculous. How about this? You got $10 a week to invest, just $10.

If you put $10 a week and then add $10 every week, that's it, just a $10 bill, you know, put it in there. and there's an inflation rate of, let's say, 3%, and you get an average rate of return of 10%, which we know the S&P historically returns. So if you kept that in there, after 25 years, that's worth $68,298. So even with $10, over a long period of time, if you're doing the right things consistently,

you can make a few bucks. And my takeaway from that is, and what I got from her in this episode as well, is to have $10 to your name, you could look at it one way, like I only have $10 to live, or you can look at it as she said a lot, she is so in tune with her expenses.

She's in tune with her debt. She's interned in her revenue. She's interning her income. She's interned in a lot of different things, right? So the way that I looked at it is she was like, I know to a penny what I'm spending and what I'm bringing in. Now I have $10 left over. It's not $10 to my name.

It's $10 that I need to do something with. And I thought that was really interesting. And she gave some tips and tricks. One, in the home buying process, I mean, she talked about from, you know, short-term rentals, long-term rentals, mid-term rentals. One takeaway that I really liked was how she said, you need to have three to six months worth of expenses saved before getting a loan or a mortgage or looking to buy a long-term rental for investment. Is that something that you would agree with? Do you have a typical rule of thumb for things like that before jumping into a major, major investment?

Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing we've talked to. on this podcast is the whole idea of burn rate, right? So how much, how much of your expenses on a monthly basis do you have prepared and saved? I think emergency funds should be in that three to nine month range of your expenses. I think before you get new an investment, it's all going to depend on your risk tolerance. But for me, I might want a little bit more runway on a real estate project, just because I'm a little bit more cash conservative. So I might want like a year or two years of the mortgage ready to go because we know there's additional costs other than the mortgage. But if you take what the mortgage is for the property, I'm thinking about after your down payment,

I like to have about a year or two years of that cash in a very liquid asset. But again, I'm much more cash conservative with investments. But yeah, I think both scenarios are fine. You just have to be able to weigh your risk tolerance. And we've had so many people kind of in the real estate world or in the finance, world come on the podcast and talk about their formula right remit to someone that i think about who gave percentages on what you should save and what you should have and how you should spend it um you know all these things are such good takeaways and i think at the core they all speak to the same

thing one thing that she did talk about was that she was a hundred k in debt and she was able to pay that down she talked about the dave ramsie baby steps process and this is something that i want to bring up even though dames ramsie i click on the charts you're always at the top so you're a little bit of a competitor to ours, but she talked to, if anyone's able to get out of 100K in debt by a process, are you familiar with the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps process? Is it a little bit of kind of what we're already talking about in terms of you have $10 put it to use? What can you enlighten to us about that process? Yeah. So in the debt section of the Talk Money to Me book I just released, I talk about a few different models. I actually do highlight Dave Ramsey's model because I can't

ignore, even though it's not a model I would recommend, I can't ignore it because it has worked for so many people. So his model is called the snowball model. So I think there's a little misunderstanding there on what he refers to it. But he has a baby step process for certain things with keeping cash away. But his debt repayment model is the snowball model. Think about a snowball. The idea is like you slowly build that snowball. It gets bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. And that's what he does. So what he tells you to do is rank all your debt. based on the balances of your debt and that's it and he says just attack the smallest one so if it's got 50 car 50 dollars of balance take it out go to the next one then the next one his idea is

you slowly build momentum when you when you pay back and get wins his idea is like go to the gym once and then you know next week maybe you'll go twice and then when you go twice you know maybe a few weeks, you'll go three times. So it's a slow model that gets and builds momentum, which is great, and it's been effective. To me, I think the best model out there is the avalanche model. The avalanche model, a little different than a snowball model. You take all of your debt on a piece of paper and you write down the balances, and then you write down the interest rate. And you start paying off immediately the highest interest rate first, not the highest balance. Why? Because the debt, the higher interest rate is going to cost you a lot more. So you will get a better return on your

cash by paying off the debt with the higher interest rate and disregarding balance. So if you can stick to a good plan and be organized and diligent, this is much more effective. Now here's where it's not. It's like this, David, if I tell you, you want to start training for a marathon, Is it going to be better to run three or four miles a week and do that consistently to build it up? Or do you think it's going to be better to take a walk this week, maybe take two walks the next week, maybe three walks the next week. We know if you run more miles, you're going to get, they're faster. The problem is mentally, some people aren't prepared for that. So if you're not mentally prepared for it, snowball.

If you recognize, I want to run a marathon, I really got to put in my work right. right now and I'll be better off tomorrow. Go at the avalanche model. Well, I get sore just walking at my stair. So I'm definitely going to let take a few walks here and then we're going to snowball this one day a week at the gym. I like

that two day a week at the gym. But overall those are really, really good examples. I assume when you're doing the avalanche model for interest rates, can you like for some common debts like credit card's got to be the highest interest rate usually and then maybe are there some other examples of interest rates or common

debt, debts that people find themselves in? Yeah, if you have multiple credit cards with the balance, you'll want to see which one has the highest interest rate and then go off that. But if you don't, if you just have one credit card, it's very likely your credit card is going to be your highest interest rate. Below that might be like personal loans. And then below that, you're going to get more asset-based lending. So a loan that's tied to an asset. And because there's an asset as collateral, the rate will be lower. Why are our mortgages rates? so much lower than a credit card, because if we don't pay, the banks come take our home. So the risk is less. So when you have assets tied to the lending, the risk is less, the rate is

lower. With credit cards, we buy all this stuff. I'm looking at everything around me. You know, the Walgreens, I got tied pods. I got Listerine. I got, you know, I actually just got a new toothbrush. My God, that was expensive. But if I don't pay that back, you think the bank's going to come to my house and take the tide pods or the toothbrush? No. So as a result of that, the risk is higher and therefore the interest rate is higher I like that that is a great great example we're going to end this recap with some storytelling

you brought up with Nancy she said you guys talked about your experiences interviewing and the casting for the bachelor and interviewing casting for love is blind you guys both busted out in spontaneous song you with the Lion King her with

Coma LaFloor by Selena and here I am thinking and you said you said on the episode So David, make sure we talk about Selena's story in the background. In my back of my mind, I said, are we really going to talk about Selena Gomez on the recap? And I had to do my due diligence as a curious Canadian and go and make sure and type in Coma LaFloor and see that it wasn't Selena Gomez. It was a different Selena. And now my interest is piqued because if you know who this person is, you probably know the story behind this person.

So we're going to end this recap by you telling us the story of Selena. I, too, made that mistake once, David, and I will never, ever make it again. I was curious if you knew who it was, so I don't. Yeah, I'm glad, but it's Selena, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to pronounce her name correctly here. And no, this is awful. I'm the worst with names. If you're named Sarah, I'll say it wrong. But Selena, Quintanilla, yeah, and it's Quintanilla Perez.

And so her, she's a very, very famous singer. and dancer in a pop culture icon. She released a song, Dreaming of You in 1995, that debuted and peaked at the number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 charts. So she was extremely, extremely famous. Now, and she was massive in the Latino community.

So she had a fan that was obsessed with her, okay? And this fan created a fan club, and people had to pay a monthly fee to be part of the fan club, and she sold merchandise for her, and did really well. And this fan, Yolanda, actually became, like, best friends with Selena, running her entire, became her an assistant.

Selina spoke so highly of her. She ran her entire fan club, and she had a huge role in her life personally, professionally, and even financially. And they then found out that she was embezzling funds from Selena. And so Yolanda got fired by Selena. and it was a big discussion point. It was a whole, you know, all the news outlets talked about it. And then what happened was Selena went to Yolanda's Days in Motel.

She thought she was going for like a meeting or discussion or private discussion to try and settle things. And Yolanda shot and killed her. No. Yeah. Yolanda. So, so, I mean, she was, again, truly, truly. loved and beloved by millions and millions and millions. We're talking, you know, like Justin Bieber at his prime,

like the biggest pop culture icons out there and was huge in the Latino community shot by her fan, the president of her fan club, the assistant, her right-hand woman. And this person, Yolanda, of course got sentenced, of course got put in jail, is still in jail, is still alive. Is there a movie on that?

Is there a show? Is there a doc on that? There has to be. So they did a biopic film about Selena in 1997 about her life and achieve fame. And no other than the one the only. The beauty of all beauties, Jennifer Lopez played Selena. Oh, wow. So, yeah, it's pretty crazy.

That was definitely not on my radar in the way the storytelling was going to end. And what a, that's, I mean, I feel like, I'm going to spend the next three hours of my evening Googling more about her and her story and educating myself on that because that is that's I mean that's that's crazy now here's what's crazy is that three days after three days after prosecution right

the jury found her guilty of the murder and then they sentenced Yolanda to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 30 years now 30 years is coming up March 30th 2025 so when that comes up you know that in the whole world of pop culture and music this will become a huge huge discussion point so you'll have to you'll have to check it out I mean it's a wild story and you'll have to you know look into some Selena's work you'll be impressed by it well I will be impressed by it I was really impressed by Nancy I mean we didn't even get into a lot of the things that she talked about that I was really really impressed

with she talked about the show she talked about the post show she talked about going to therapy and healing she talked about you know the importance of understanding her brand authenticity um how it relates to her and her community and how it works she's you know she did everything what seems like jay the right way and she's definitely one of those people who use reality tv the right way has a platform no 15 minutes of fame for nancy rodriguez she's crushing it in her career she's crushing her personal life. And Jay, I texted you after I said I was very, very, that episode really, really impressed me. It really, really did. So kudos to Nancy. Kudos to you. Another great episode of Trading Secrets. Another great episode of Trading Secrets. And David, I just got more

detail coming in here from the team. I want to tell you a little bit more about this murder before we wrap up. On the morning of March 31st, Selena agreed to meet Yolanda at the days in motel in Corpus Christi to retrieve financial records from Yolanda because she had been refusing to turn them over when getting fired. Yolanda delayed the handover by claiming that she had been raped in Mexico. So Selena drove to Yolanda to take her to a local hospital where they were told that an ecological appointment was to be done elsewhere because the assault had allegedly happened in another country. So they returned to the motel where Selena once more demanded all the records and that is when Yolanda took a Taurus Model 85 revolver from her purse and pointed it at the singer.

Selina tried to flee, but Yolanda shot her once in the back, severing an artery, critically wounded. Selena ran towards the lobby for help with Yolanda in pursuit calling her a bitch. Selena collapsed on the floor as the clerk called 911, and she later died in the hospital from blood loss at 105 p.m. crazy, crazy stuff. I thought I was on an audio book for a half second there. I was into it. I was the edge of my seat stuff right there. You know what, David?

You said it perfectly. Nancy gave us so much education, so much enlightenment, and it was also entertaining and educational. So Nancy Rodriguez, unbelievable episode, love is blind. For I kick it off to talk about more than money Thursday, David, what do you got does may 24th have any significance to you just in the realm of maybe our life maybe our podcast you know what david it sure does may 24th feels like it would be our three-year anniversary may 24th 2021 mr dean unglerk came on and blessed us with our first ever episode

And on the eve of that, May 23rd, 2024, Jay, what do you say we get on the ones and twos? Do a little three-year anniversary reflection more than money. We're not going to break down. We're not going to break down the dollars and cents. We're not going to do it. We're going to reflect on three years of doing this podcast together. Maybe some funny stories. Maybe some bloopers.

Maybe some, you know, we're just going to see how much our lives have changed since we started this episode. You guys have been here with us from the story. start, and I hope you join us on Thursday for a special three-year anniversary recap of the recap of the recap. Three years. I'm pun. Three years later, David goes from just doing a couple recaps to now calling the shots. We had an episode ready for more than money this Thursday.

David, with your call right there, we are flexing that episode. And this Thursday, we're going to do a three-year anniversary. We're going to talk about all the things, what our life looked like when we started the podcast verse today. The bloopers, behind the scenes, things people don't know about people we've booked, complete errors and issues we've had that have never been out there. All the things, trading secrets, three-year anniversary with the curious Canadian night. We'll talk about our top moments, our highs, our lows, and we will discuss everything but money on more than money three-year anniversary this Thursday.

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