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Todo Latino Show
Ep 139. Vita Vasquez on Reintegration, Financial Literacy, and Community Empowerment
Join us as we sit down with Vita Vasquez, the inspirational CEO of Vita Credit Queen LLC and Vamos Por Todo Nonprofit. Vita opens up about her life between Houston and Dallas, Texas, sharing how she navigated a tumultuous childhood marked by her father's incarceration and substance abuse. Her journey from leaving high school to support her family to eventually putting herself through community college and achieving professional success is nothing short of extraordinary. This conversation is not only a testament to her resilience but also a celebration of the cultural richness and growth of Houston and Dallas.
I'm Vita Vasquez, owner and CEO of Vita Credit Queen LLC and my 800, also founder of Vamos Por Todo Nonprofit. You're watching the Todo Latino Show on Todo Wafi.
Speaker 2:Alright, everybody from 1500 live at Pro Audio LA. It's the Todo Latino Show sponsored by Global Processing Systems, the official merchant of Revolución 2024, and Todo Wafi. I am your host, Rafael. The team is short today. Yobi is here. Daisy's got it off. But, we want to welcome our special guest. She's a friend of mine, she's CEO of Vida Credit Queen and my 800. We welcome Vida Vasquez.
Speaker 1:What's up? Hey, what's up guys? Hi, how you like LA, I love LA.
Speaker 2:I'm always over here at least three times a year for fun and for work. So it's always a pleasure. So you're in Houston, right, is it?
Speaker 1:Houston, houston and Dallas Yep.
Speaker 2:How you like it over there.
Speaker 1:I love it. Dallas is getting is catching up to Houston. You know Houston's bigger, but Dallas is projected to be bigger than LA in a decade or so.
Speaker 3:You think so. There's a lot of things going on in Dallas, Well lots of Californians are moving out there.
Speaker 1:So I think within a six-month period like $100,000 or so. Yeah, I guess I don't know I went to Dallas.
Speaker 2:It was kind of dead for me so what part of Dallas do you got to go? Because I was downtown In Dallas I don drink and fight a lot. I don't know I like fort worth though I was in fort worth.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, you liked it. Yeah, that was. That was a lot of fun. It's a little bit of a smaller feel, but yeah, I like fort worth too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, lots of like I went to go look in some of those shops where you buy, like you know, the regular, like authentic hats and all kinds of that stuff's expensive yeah, yeah, the the, you mean the cowboy wear yeah yeah, the western where, yeah, it's, it's, it's a huge thing out there. I'll just go to Target and see if they got knockoffs or something.
Speaker 3:But actually Dallas is a hub also for media and broadcasting. There was a time in my career that I was looking upon those markets. Yeah, Tennessee, Dallas, those kind of cities were really, you know.
Speaker 2:If it was not LA I would have been most likely in Dallas when I you know, if it was not LA, I would have been most likely in Dallas when I was there. It was dead, yeah, yeah. Then again, to be honest with you, I don't even know if I was there during the time when it was like COVID or not, but I know it was dead maybe.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, well, you're gonna have to come back out and I'll show you around, both of you guys.
Speaker 2:I'm definitely interested. I heard Houston Cajun turkey legs and barbecue, so yeah, they do got good food. Because I was there, the barbecue was just banging.
Speaker 1:Yeah, barbecue, yeah brisket yeah, like my stepdad is like a brisket connoisseur, you know, like the line on the meat, the smoking.
Speaker 3:We're making us hungry here, yeah yeah.
Speaker 2:Not here. Yeah, we're not in LA.
Speaker 1:Well, we'll definitely cater to you guys and have a big fiesta.
Speaker 3:Ya sabemos las Dallas, entonces todo latino.
Speaker 2:We got to open up a restaurant here.
Speaker 3:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:We'll make bad money. All right, let's get into you. Everybody has an origin story. Go for it. What's yours?
Speaker 1:Ah, that's a very loaded question.
Speaker 2:I know right, it's a long show, though, sweetie.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, I grew up with both of my parents. My mom was majority like a single mom. My dad was always in and out of prison. He was an immigrant from Mexico, tamaulipas, which is a city, a border town, it's like the belly of the beast. Right there's lots of drug activity, human trafficking, things like that. So from an early age he had to just survive. They, you know they didn't get to go to school or anything like that. It's not like here, you know, free education and stuff. So when they came here, you know my grandma was by herself taking care of six kids and you know, the niños están solos. Yeah, so you know, my dad just got into the wrong things and it just became a lifestyle for him and so, unfortunately, I also, you know, fell into that as well.
Speaker 1:And so you know, I didn't graduate high school. My mom took me out of high school and I was like in 10th grade so I could work full time and help pay bills. And you know, for me I felt like that was, I was proud of that, like OK, I get to help my mom more and make more money. But I also, you know, miss now as an adult and I see my kids. I didn't get to go to prom and you know dances and take SATs and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:I can see the prom. I don't know about the SAT. You didn't miss out on much on that right there. Yeah, yeah, you know, just hanging out with your friends and stuff.
Speaker 1:But I was living on my own since I was like 15. So my dad came out of prison. I told my mom, you know, I'm just not going to live with him anymore. He's very abusive and very you know a drug addict and alcoholic. But you know, people change and things change. But I obviously just could not go through that anymore. So my mom said, well, good luck, and I hope you make it. My mom said, well, good luck and I hope you make it. And I did so. I may not have made the right choices, but I put myself through community college.
Speaker 1:You know, I don't know why, I just wanted to go to college. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I went to Central College, which is in downtown Dallas, and kind of still was doing that and other things, you know, illegal things which landed me in prison, federal prison, got sentenced to ten years and it really changed my life. The day that they arrested me it was like da helicopters, about 30.
Speaker 2:So it's like a movie scene.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was really yeah, everyone got arrested at the same time throughout the United States under that indictment. So, yeah, I was me and my daughter there alone at the house, which it was a safe house. I didn't have any drugs or arms there, and so that was really a turning point for me. I mean, I wasn't surprised when they came to arrest me, but I was relieved, you know, because it's not something that you can just quit doing.
Speaker 2:So it was like a way to get out, so to speak.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a way to get out a way to do something else, Like you're forced into doing something different, like you're forced into it, kind of. And so you know. But seeing my daughter there, like on the lap of a DEA agent, she's a baby you know I said wow, you know, like this is the lowest point in my life and I vowed to like make that time in prison the worst time, so that when I come home I really became a changed person.
Speaker 3:You did put in the change at that moment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I already, yeah, seeing her there and that was like the last time I ever got to like see her. Until you know, obviously coming home, because in federal prison you get to. They have the right to transfer you anywhere. You don't have to keep you close to your family. So right to transfer you anywhere. You don't have to keep you close to your family. So you know it's in florida, minnesota, oklahoma, texas, pretty much anywhere I have a question.
Speaker 3:So who? Who took care of your daughter at the time, because I know that you have three kids, but who took care of your? Who supported you meanwhile you were in jail?
Speaker 1:yeah, um, her dad at the time was still here, okay, and so he was also um in the same lifestyle and then he was arrested and after that she went to live with my brother and then my brother was killed and then that's when she finally went to live with my mother. But, um, yeah, it was a really difficult like she, I all the things that I wanted for her to not happen, that she would have a stable life ended up happening her in a way different manner, you know.
Speaker 1:So it's like um matter where you, how to try to justify that. It's not really the way to go. And I see it like especially in Mexican-American culture or Mexican culture. It's glorified, you know, but it pays the bills. You know, in lots of countries, or lots of states and cities in Mexico, they are the ones that keep the water running and the electricity and fund schools.
Speaker 2:It's not the government, you know unfortunately so.
Speaker 1:it's like a double-edged sword. It's like pick your poison. You know, it's just a way of life for a lot of us, unfortunately. Not all of us, but a lot of us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you were 10 years, like. What did you have to? I guess for me, like I had family who had been there before. Everybody's different. What was the routine like for you?
Speaker 1:in that time frame. I was in trouble a lot, so I was in solitary confinement a lot. I grew up very like, rageful, which I've learned about over time. Like this is why you have this anger and this rage. So I think everyone deals with it differently. I dealt with it with my fists, know, and so, um, you're scrapping. Yeah, I'm a scrapper, that's why I love boxing like yeah, you know that, like with that fight yesterday.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, my dad always taught me to be like a tough guy, like he raised me to be like a guy, you know, and my, I have older brothers only so you know. Um, if anybody messed with me I'd just be like, but you know, obviously women also are more emotional creatures. So in prison, all the women are fighting all the time, stabbing each other, killing each other and beating each other up. So it's way worse, I think, than a male prison. But also women in prison have a lot more like. There's lots of sexual assault with staff. Um, there's nothing you can do about it.
Speaker 1:You know it's a very volatile environment, so I just tried to make the best of it by working out a lot reading. I read, like all the three books the Quran, the Torah, the Bible Did that help you Like spiritual yeah, I mean growing up. You know, we never went to church except when somebody died, and that was you know.
Speaker 3:A funeral. That's as far as it goes for years, yeah.
Speaker 1:I didn't grow up with church at all and so when I got there, I'm like, what is you know? I see women going to church. I'm like, oh wow, who cares about that? Like. But I can tell you yeah, yeah, but I learned about it, or just even simple prayer you know, yeah, just simple prayers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they got me through it, and that's when I started learning more about myself. It's like, um, a lot of the stories in the bible are like I could relate to when I started reading them, you know. And so, yeah, I just try to make the best of it. I learned how to do construction in there. I learned how to do welding and all kinds of things.
Speaker 2:So were those programs that they had in there for you all to learn, or was that just part of like?
Speaker 1:because I know prison systems.
Speaker 2:They'd be using the inmates.
Speaker 1:It's free. It's free labor.
Speaker 2:They'd be using inmates for free labor to try and get their stuff done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no different things. You can sign up for different programs, but most of the time if they put you on a job detail like staff housing, you have to do sheetrock painting, electric work. Those are all tools that serve you. So yeah, that's how I learned it was just from being on different job details uh, landscaping like we would do landscaping really?
Speaker 2:hands-on on the air force field because we the government got free labor from us so I know that, um, because I used to work at a program called hope for ex-offenders. It was for when people got out, you know, and they kind of got reconnected with the community. Yeah, what was that process like for you once you got out, like, was there family around, or did you have to kind of figure that out on your own?
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, we're. The halfway house I was released to was in Hutchins, texas, which is outside of Dallas, but it's very far from Dallas, so there's a van that like takes you there. But I didn't really have a lot of support. One of my dad's sisters, who I wasn't really close to at the time, offered me to live there, but I'm very like I have never lived with anyone since I was a teenager. So I was like no, no, no, but I I took her up on the offer, um, because obviously because of my daughter, you know, and she's like, hey, you don't have to pay me anything, and I was like it's so embarrassing for me. I don't know why we're like that. Why can't we just accept people's help? I don't know.
Speaker 3:I'm it's difficult. I'm very much like that. It is difficult, it's hard to ask for help.
Speaker 1:Why are we like that. What is the Latino thing?
Speaker 3:I don't know it's hard for me to ask people for help.
Speaker 2:It's hard, right, I think well, to be honest with you, one of the reasons for that is because when I do ask help, the probability of getting it was kind of tough yeah, exactly, or they weren't able to because they just didn't have the capability of doing that.
Speaker 3:Oh, your back is against the wall, kind of thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's just one of those things where it's like I'm like I'll just do it myself, because it's almost impossible to get the help that I needed. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well she, let me stay there and it was the best thing. I worked two jobs. As soon as I came home and whatever little money I could I bought. Like my first paycheck was like 130 bucks and I bought my daughter like socks and you know, stuff that she needed, like just it was her birthday and I couldn't afford anything else, so I got a bunch of balloons and put them in her room and that's all I could do. But she remembers that to this day so it was money well spent.
Speaker 1:You know, I was like what can she do with balloons?
Speaker 3:I can't buy her anything else you can do that for me, for my birthday Show up one day.
Speaker 2:Just a bunch of balloons over there. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:But you know, honestly, there's not a lot of help, especially for women. There's very limited women in those federal halfway houses and so you're just like left to your own. There's no help with your finances for jobs, for assimilation back into culture after being gone so long. Assimilation back into culture after being gone so long. There was no smartphones when I went away, and so it was technology and social media was a huge. It was like wow, you've been gone a long time.
Speaker 2:What was that like for you? Because I know that's one of the things we were talking off air. It's like when you went in, all of these things weren't available. Were you like a beeper kid?
Speaker 1:No, I had like a Blackberry.
Speaker 3:We were talking about that in another show. I'm like you finally came out.
Speaker 2:and then there's like Apple phones with all kinds of stuff, like what was that for you?
Speaker 1:It was crazy, you know.
Speaker 2:It's like alien technology.
Speaker 1:It was, yeah, it was crazy when I well, I rode the bus from Huasica, minnesota, and we stopped, like in Iowa, at a Greyhound. So I had to call my mom and say hey, I'm this many hours away, if you can pick me up, and the payphone wasn't working. And so this guy was next to me he's like it doesn't work, do you want to use my phone? And I was like yeah, and so when he gave it to me, I just started crying.
Speaker 3:I was like he's like what's wrong I?
Speaker 2:said, I guess the concept of Uber was really tough too.
Speaker 3:It was. She was trying to hail a cow.
Speaker 1:It was a moment, it was a moment that I woke up I was like, holy shit, I've been gone a long fucking time, yeah.
Speaker 3:Like what's 10 years, so what was?
Speaker 2:like, because I know that the process of trying to find a job. Yeah, is really tough when you get there because you have a record now, so getting you know a position in a company they do background checks and all that stuff, yeah, how did you manage to earn the income once you got out of there?
Speaker 1:Well, at first I was just working. My uncle owns a lot of clubs in Dallas, and so he gave me a job at one of his clubs, and then that was a huge issue with my parole officer.
Speaker 2:Because of the environment.
Speaker 3:I guess yeah.
Speaker 1:And then so I was working like hostess at a waitressing at a restaurant, but it just wasn't enough money. And I got another job through a family member and that was a little bit better. But it wasn't until I was left to my own devices. After I had my two sons, their father hospitalized me. He's very abusive, and at that point I was trying to get my own place, so I didn't have enough credit or whatever. I was like what is that? Everything all by cash. I bought my first house cash a long time ago with drug money, but that's how I started doing this. I said, well, somebody used my credit, what is that? And they're like you have to have credit in order to get something. I was like oh wow. So I learned about it. But ever since I was little, if I don't know something I'm going to learn about it.
Speaker 1:Nobody can tell me like no, I cannot do something.
Speaker 3:Oh, you were very curious. Yeah, I'm going to figure it out, yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm going to figure it out. So that's, and it became second nature. I feel like if you're a hustler, si eres trabajadora luchadora, like you're going to, you have that spirit and there's really nothing that you can't do. So that's just how it's kind of started. It just snowballed and I started. It started making me like emotional, like excited, like wow, you know, I conquered this. And then I was helping other people just like me and I'm like, wow, you know how many other people are like me? Yeah.
Speaker 1:That need it, it's like my mom, like I never, you know, seen my mom have a bank account growing up, wow, or a debit card. She would always just cash her check at the check cashing places, you know, and we just stayed from place to place to place to place, you know. So I never knew. It wasn't like something that I grew up with. Yeah, okay, mira, si vas a cuidar tu cuenta y tus tarjetas y tu dinero.
Speaker 3:But that's what I was going to mention to you because, yeah, but again with the Latino community, because the way that you know, sometimes it's even generational yeah, that also. We have that scarcity mentality or limitations on money that maybe we don't even deserve it. Yeah, even though we work so hard and I see you know how you got motivated, but you know really what you took upon and said, okay, I'm going to do this and get involved with the community and teach them, because I know that you do some workshops also as well. Tell us more about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I started a nonprofit called Vamos Por Todo, which just means like hey, we're here and we're going to go for it all, Like whatever we can do to elevate and to grow as a community, whether you're from Puerto Rico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Mexico, like we're all in the same boat, no pun intended.
Speaker 3:But it's just a different stop, but yeah, Q in the Cubans yeah.
Speaker 1:So with that, it's like I don't only focus on Latinos. You know, anybody I mean.
Speaker 3:I have clients that are like from.
Speaker 1:Iran and India and stuff like that. But they all have the same similar thing they come here to make a better life. So just doing that to help people with maybe having a credit class for their kids, or all the?
Speaker 1:kids at the boxing gym, or, you know, at the dentist office, where all the ladies work, or the loncheras. You know whatever um the construction guys doing, um doing more of that, having um also like helping them with their resumes, anything to have them prepared for career readiness, um even helping students and their parents understand um.
Speaker 2:You know, school, school loans Lots of my clients have so much student loan debt.
Speaker 3:Financial literacy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they don't understand how much principal is involved. When are they going to finish paying off these loans? They have no clue and the Department of Education or an avian you know, they don't really break it down to you. They just say here's this money.
Speaker 1:You've got to now pay this and you've got to pay us till you're 65, you know, so just all of those things, whatever, whatever we can help the community with, that's what we're here for, and so the official launch for that is the last quarter of this year, because I feel like, you know, everybody's in a giving mood. They're going to give us, they're going to help. It's Christmas, it's Christmas, yeah, yeah, so just doing that. But I've done some at some high schools. Or Irma Lerma, rangel, it's in Dallas, it's in South Dallas, which is an urban area. It's a high crime area, but all of the girls there have to have a certain GPA, but most of them come from very impoverished homes and single parent homes. But man, they're so bright. Those girls are like 4.0 GPAs. They're going to be doctors, lawyers. Mit, irma Lerma, rangel Young Leadership Academy prepares those young ladies for college and a lot of them go to Ivy League. They go to amazing colleges. They're so smart. They just need the space to allow their brilliance to shine.
Speaker 2:That's very cool. I have a question how did you get to the name Vita Credit Queen Dut? That's very cool. Yeah, I have a question. So how did you get to to the name? So you know, you went through the vita credit queen uh-huh, do tell.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm vita. So, uh, one of my clients, right? Um, I was just using my regular name. And so, uh, one of my clients, I helped him. He was like one of my biggest skeptics a long time ago. He's like I don't believe you. Everybody rips me off, they say they're gonna fix my credit and they don't do shit. And I'm sick of it. And I said like I don't believe you. Everybody rips me off, they say they're going to fix my credit and they don't do shit. And I'm sick of it. And I said, well, look, you don't have to pay me until I'm done, and if I don't do it, I'll pay you back twice what you paid me.
Speaker 1:Take it back to the streets, right? He's like his wife a Range Rover. He's like, oh my God, is this right? You know, his credit score is like 790. I said that's right. He was like holy shit, you're the fucking credit queen.
Speaker 3:Oh.
Speaker 2:Somebody tagged it.
Speaker 1:Somebody tagged it, so he sent me all these like emojis, like Corona. La reina, la reina. So I just started to say like, and so every time he would text me, he, so every time he would text me, he's like credit queen, credit queen. And then all of his, but that trust that I proved myself to him and helped him understand, but not make him feel inferior, because I hate it when people do that to me how do you not know how to get a credit card?
Speaker 2:I'm like okay.
Speaker 1:I don't know. So I just related to him and taught him in a way that was relatable to him and walked him through With Hispanic clients, and what I do it's a lot of hand-holding that's necessary. You walk them through so a lot of people are like oh my God, that's a dumb question. Look it up. But that's not what we need someone to tell us and to show us, and that's how we're going to. I'm a visual learner, yeah, and my dad, didn't you know? Work at JP Morgan.
Speaker 3:Chase, he worked in the streets selling yeah, so I need to add version of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and, honestly, a lot of clients that are athletes and record execs they don't have either yeah.
Speaker 1:So, like one of the guys that was there, the Dallas Cowboys he was like what's a hard inquiry? I'm like I'm, as a guy, I showed it. But I wasn't like bro, you don't know. Like you know, I. I was like, hey, it's when someone actually pulls your credit to check your credit worthiness to see, hey, what do you have, like they're checking your credit report, you know, like your grades for school, college. He's like, oh, I got you. I was like so if someone's going to extend money to you or give you something, they need to check it first and it's a hit on your credit and then it stays there or you can get it removed. He was like oh, okay, I got it. So you don't want everyone checking it. Keep it to a minimum and make sure your stuff is right before they check it. So you know you're good.
Speaker 2:So it's not like a worthless check, so to speak, Right yeah, because if it's a hard, hit.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it can hinder you.
Speaker 1:yeah, but it's attached to an open account that you did get approved for, that looks good. But if you got like 30 hits from you know, bmw, mercedes and everybody's like whoa, you're just playing for a bunch of stuff and you know, so it's a red flag. But yeah, so he kind of crowned me that he's a really good guy and honestly he sent me so many people after that, yeah the good word of mouth. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Because that's how our community is. Once we get in with one, we do good we do good. Yeah, I'm like I'm going to send you my they all start jumping in, they're like my primo Rafael said you helped. They all start jumping in.
Speaker 1:Es que ese es el poder de la comunidad. Yeah, all the guys and girls are like hey, credit Queen. You know, my cousin told me that you fixed his credit.
Speaker 3:Did they call you that? Did they come and call you that? Yeah, they just say Credit Queen.
Speaker 2:They just say Credit Queen I don't even yeah, or some of them will be like hey, queen, I have a question about this can I apply for my home now like, yeah, you can so what's the, what's the process for somebody who's coming, you know, who's about to try to fix their credit? What is that process like with them, with you?
Speaker 1:yeah, well, I have a team of 12 employees now. First, I was just like stressed out with all my iphones and my laptop by myself, yeah so it grown over time and all of my staff is Latino. I have some from Costa Rica, honduras, nicaragua and Salvador and, of course, mexico. So we're all bilingual and we all have that same passion. That's why I was like they're like me, right?
Speaker 1:You want people to reflect kind of the same feeling and message. So my team helps me out. You know I'm not in the bathroom fixing people's credit by myself, but when they first call we, um, we. I always try to ask like what's your goal, what's your short-term and long-term goal? Most people are wanting to do this because they want a house, business loan, refinance, high interest auto loan or, honestly, they just don't have no credit. Yeah, I asked like what is the need? And then I'm gonna help you get there. So we need to pull their reports through smart credit, which is out here in Irvine. I have a meeting with them tomorrow. They're amazing and I'm also also on the Spanish advocacy group for them because we're I've been pushing for that whole site to be in.
Speaker 1:Spanish yeah, yeah, we don't really check all these emails, right, but if we send a text message it's like hey, happy birthday, take your credit score. You know we respond more that way, yeah, so they're really adamant about that and they're really passionate about putting out the message to us and the way we can receive it. So we pull their reports through Smart Credit, which is amazing, and it provides them an analysis. I import that into my software so it'll say hey, Rafael, you have six charge-offs, 30 inquiries, one collection, and then I look at their report just to see what else because your personal information could be wrong, like your addresses there could be, especially with Latinos, if you're a junior senior. The third there's another, alfonso.
Speaker 1:I have that issue, yeah so some of this stuff might be there, or it's just the data. The bureaus are just like a data depository it could be mismatched any time. And then I look like, hey, do you have enough credit? This is what you need to add on subtract, pay down, and then, after all this is done, you're going to increase and do this, and so I try to look at everything right so that they get the best outcome and make sure they understand it and give them a list of homework, because, whether they work with us or not, just that homework alone helps a lot.
Speaker 2:And sometimes For the information. Yeah, so they can have at least an understanding as to what they're going through, right right.
Speaker 1:I tell them hey, you don't even have to work with me, Now there's software. It's like you know.
Speaker 3:No some people need to see a face sometimes Right.
Speaker 1:Like, my dad taught me how to change my oil, but I'm not going to do it. I'm going to face something. Certain things, yeah, I don't know the way I say it no-transcript. You're not going to have a cigar while I'm sitting and changing the oil, no patando.
Speaker 1:We're not going to blow up now. Yeah, go through that whole process. Yeah, well, to remove negative items, I mean it can be as little as one month, but for most people you need X amount. Most creditors and lenders need to see a a history of you paying down your debt or you, um, building your credit. So you start building your credit in January and you can't get approved for stuff in March. That's only three months of credibility. So I tell clients give it a good 180 days.
Speaker 1:If you just started building or if you have all of this debt, don't pressure yourself. You know, put a budget. But you got to stay consistent, because before I would be really lenient with my clients. I'd be like, ah, it's okay. Now I'm like, if you don't do this, this is not going to work. You got to work, you gotta do this part. You know. And they're like okay, because it's a partnership. You know it's like um, now we're in a relationship. In order to get the best outcome, we both have to do our part, and that's the. That's what's missing from a lot of people that do this.
Speaker 1:It's just very automated, like they just delete things and say send an email, but no, and so that's how I feel I've had success in this, growing from like five clients to over 5,000, um, which puts it almost like, at that, seven figure yeah, like we talked about earlier, the emotional part about it and the culture, right especially Latinos.
Speaker 3:You know you have, you know, some involvement. You want to, yeah, see something and understand it right.
Speaker 1:Right, you know, like, people go and do business with people that they relate to and that they like, or because that product or person provides a certain experience, like Apple. Everybody buys Apple because it's Apple right. You go to the store and it's shiny, no matter where you go. Most people keep that box, even though you're never going to use it again, but you keep it.
Speaker 3:Why, I know right, you value the product. It gives you some sense of comfort, you know you value the product it gives you some sense of comfort. You know you value that product.
Speaker 1:It's such a superior product that you keep the freaking packaging, and so that's how I try to feel. Or even like Chick-fil-A it's like everyone's always so nice and they're just so, you know, sweet, my pleasure. It's like no matter where you go, you know. So I feel like that's because it's an emotional connection and you know you're going to get the same experience. So I tried hiring people before to help me onboard clients, but it's really hard because you know it just is. That's one of the biggest business hacks is trying to find the right team members.
Speaker 1:So, I just created a system with the team so they can do this, so I can do more of this at the onboarding and then now trying to teach more Latinos that are in financial industry like taxes or insurance or whatever and help them do it the way I do it, because, I mean, I'm just one Mexican. You know, I'm working with a lady in Denver. She's amazing. She's from LA, actually, originally, so I'm helping her and her team to do it the way I do it.
Speaker 2:She went to Denver.
Speaker 3:It's beautiful out there. I love it. Denver is gorgeous, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:My daughter is like Mommy I could live here, and she hates everywhere we go.
Speaker 2:She loves it.
Speaker 3:Utah too.
Speaker 2:Utah and Denver. They're both beautiful places.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I've been to Utah, but I've been to Denver, yes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so now I'm more looking into mentoring people to do it the right way and let them be happy and merry and just help more people that need it.
Speaker 2:I mean happy and marriage. I don't know if that's the right word.
Speaker 1:Happy and merry. But you know, I mean, I'm just one person. It doesn't matter how good I am, how cheap I am. Some people just want to do business with somebody who's in Chicago. Because they're in Chicago or because they're Puerto Rican, and that's okay, you know. But you know, know. So that's what I'm trying to do more of, and it's really not hard, it's just taking that time out. You can have any kind of software, any kind of this, but you just need to give them that insight and that knowledge to those little tweaks that they just don't know.
Speaker 1:And no one's teaching us in school, and so that takes experience on years too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what's the biggest misconception? Uh, when it comes to, like, having credit repair.
Speaker 1:Biggest misconception is that you don't owe the money. Like anyone can remove anything off of your credit report. You can't, based off of the way it's reporting incorrectly or whatever balances don't match. It's information is outdated, but that doesn't mean that you still don't owe. You know, bank of America or BMW Financial you still owe it, so you just need to. You know, clean it up. Or bmw financial you still owe it, so you just need to. You know, clean it up, build it up, work on it and then pay it, pay it off, settle.
Speaker 1:You know it doesn't matter if you pay a million dollars and you owed one, or you owe a million and you paid one dollar. You got to. You got to settle for something otherwise. Now what I've seen lately, especially post pandemic and with the last like 16 months, is creditors are are now like freezing your bank account, funds suing you, taking out of your taxes. So it's just like, because you know a lot of these FDIC banks are there, everybody's defaulting on them, nobody's paying things, and so they're just taking it into their own hands now and doing other manners, which the debt laws differ from state to state, but that's what I've been seeing.
Speaker 2:So I used to hear that like settling was the, I guess, the worst of the two to do. Why is that?
Speaker 1:I don't know if that's the worst, but there's some things that I I mean, if the debt can be verified, like why would you pay that? You can't owe two people for the same debt. So that's why it's always good to just talk to somebody you know whether it's me, or you know a nonprofit, or something like Vamos Por Todo or whoever you know, maybe one of your friends or family members, really savvy but it's always good to, or you can look up the laws yourself. It's just time consuming. So that's why I tell people like the information is there, right? That's how I got it. No one just spoon fed it to me, to my brain. The information is there, you just got to seek it. And there's so much different information on instagram and there is.
Speaker 2:I heard um and you can tell me if it's right or wrong. Yeah, they're not allowed to like. A collection agency is not allowed to sell that account to another one, and if they do, that's a wrap.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's true. So you can definitely sue different collection agencies. They're not allowed to like harass you call. You, call your mom. Once they call you, you need to say I'm not going to verify my information over the phone. You can just be like is this Rafael? Be like I don't verify my information over the phone for anyone. So whoever you're looking for you know, find them. But you need to cease and desist all calls to this number Because it's stressful. Yes, I mean, I've been in that situation. I was with my kids. I'm like God, you call me one more fucking time. I'm going to report you to Consumer Financial Protection. They were like never call me again.
Speaker 2:She went back to the scrap.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I went back to the scrap. She was like nah, you call me one more time.
Speaker 2:Sabes que Vas a ver Más te vale. Yeah, we got chanclas everywhere.
Speaker 1:I but yeah, so I tell people. They're like it's because they keep calling me. They said they're going to call my job and my mom. I was like oh no, this is what you tell them. And they're like oh my God, it stopped.
Speaker 2:Like even that alone. So what's the exact verbiage? Because you just kind of said something. There's a language you have to say cease and desist.
Speaker 1:All calls to this number.
Speaker 2:So if somebody calls, all calls to this number.
Speaker 1:Yep, or I will report you to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission.
Speaker 2:All of those.
Speaker 1:Yeah, look up what to say to debt collectors when they harass you. Google, it will say the same thing, yeah, and they have to stop.
Speaker 2:I didn't know that. This is the first time I'm hearing of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're welcome. Stop all those calls, because I mean it's stressful, you know, even though they don't know where you're at or you don't know who they are. I mean it's just like mentally it's stressful. So it that in itself? And then I now I tell people okay, now they can call you, because everything that's on your credit report is attached to your name and what else.
Speaker 1:Your address, your address so they can send you a bill, which is what they're supposed to do. And then you know settling things. Yeah, definitely state a hardship, tell them, you know you live with a family member, you don't have work right now, like whatever you can to get that debt down and send in a letter and they'll write you back Lots of times they will. They'll say hey, you owe us $3,800. Will you settle with us for $850?
Speaker 2:Yeah, settle 50. Yeah, settled. See, that's what I was talking about. So apparently, doing that is is less effective to your score, as opposed to paying the entire debt.
Speaker 1:No, it doesn't matter. Once you have, once you've, defaulted, been late, the accounts closed. It doesn't matter if you pay all of it or none of it or one percent of it, it's the damage is done. It's like once you cheat on your lady, you cheat. Bro, I love her. There's no coming back from that. So you cheated Ya, ya está, ya.
Speaker 2:That's funny, ya, nunca te va a mirar igual ¿verdad? No, you're right, move on.
Speaker 1:Close out the account, settle it and move on to a relationship. She said close out the account and start a new relationship with a new creditor.
Speaker 2:That's funny. We're not going to go back to our ex. She's like this relationship's over, it's never going to be the same. It's already stuck in here for seven years and I'm not going to get back.
Speaker 1:I got to wait now, before everything. No matter how much you want, it's not going to be the same.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that is hilarious.
Speaker 3:I am so intrigued with that, you know. Have you thought about sharing your story, having a book or creating a movie?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, a lot of people have said that before, but you know how Latinos are like. I don't want to know. Quiero nadie que sabe mi business.
Speaker 3:No, you have such a lasting impact, such a lasting impact.
Speaker 1:There's so much more. You know so much more and that, like the person that I am today, I can honestly say I really like myself. Growing up, I hated myself. I hated everything about myself, about where I came from, everything. That's probably why I was getting into fights all the time. But now it's like it's a journey. You know it's a journey and I never thought that I would be where I'm at now. But it's like if I hadn't gone to prison, if I hadn't sold drugs, if I hadn't grown up this way, if I hadn't grown up this way, if I hadn't had the father I had and where would I be? I probably wouldn't be here, you know. So it all serves a purpose. So shout out to my daddy and to my mom. You know they were doing the best they could as immigrants, as also coming from trauma backgrounds, and you know my they went through their own cycle.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like my mom's.
Speaker 1:My mom's dad was a world war ii veteran. He was a one of the only few hispanic snipers War II. So he was very like, detached as a parent. So my mom raised herself and her siblings, you know. So what does she have left to give me? You know? So it's very it's.
Speaker 2:everyone has a story, but if you know she had to raise me so tough, most afraid of Feisty, because when we were speaking to Ida, she wrote the book. You know, legitimate Kid, that Speaking to Ida, she wrote the book. You know, legitimate Kid, that was her biggest thing is. She wrote the book and obviously she's telling a lot of her story. Her biggest thing was like family were the ones who were like, oh, why would you put in this stuff out there? Yes, it's already. Yeah, it's already.
Speaker 1:I've already had a little bit of that, yeah, but you know what I really?
Speaker 2:don't care about you, know my family. I mean your truth is your truth, yeah.
Speaker 1:And honestly, it takes a person to to speak the truth, and then others. So I was also a victim of sexual abuse growing up. Right, it's always your family, and so no one knew about it. And they're like why, you know? Why are you detached like this? And I say because you know, and I you want to know this is why. And so all the women in my family got together and I said it. And once I said it, everyone's like I cannot believe this. And then my other cousin said it happened to me too, it was my deal too. And then my aunt said did you know what happened to your grandmother?
Speaker 1:and it's like every one of these women started seeing I said if it took me to be the sacrificial lamb, then fuck it.
Speaker 2:Which is funny, because one of the biggest issues that we have on that particular topic is on the day that somebody says it. If they do say it early, then it can't be true. It can't be true. They don't believe you. Why didn't you tell us before?
Speaker 1:You were too little. How could you remember? You know why? Because my fucking innocence was taken. That's why, and at that time, that's when I started hating everyone, you know. So, yeah, I said you know what, if you guys don't like it, like that's your brother or your dad or whoever, then that's fine, but I'm gonna that. This is why I'm different with my children. You know, like my mom said, if my kids say something, somebody did something to him, whether it's my mom or my husband, like I'm gonna believe my child child and we're going to get healed from it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, figure out, get to the body. I don't want to know about it.
Speaker 1:No, no, es posible, Like no yeah.
Speaker 3:That's just possible.
Speaker 1:Instead of brushing things under the rug. And when I talked about it also, other men were like wow, you know, I was also a victim of domestic violence, like my wife beat me up in front of my kids like I just couldn't hit her back, like you know. Or I was also molested and raped by my you know stepdad, or my brother, my cousin. I'm like Whoa bro, you know. So I think there's a lot of healing within our community. Um, but you know, it's gotta be open.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it is what it is.
Speaker 1:And so when I started talking about my life, um, I found it was more helpful to other people than even to me, you know, and so that really like changed something. But I do want to do that, maybe one day when I'm retired in Mexico.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Tolo Wafi Media With my kids and husband.
Speaker 2:yeah, You're trying to say we make the movie.
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah, you can help me with it.
Speaker 2:We make films. Tolo, yeah, tolo, wafi Media films who's?
Speaker 1:playing leading role. Oh my God, I don't know. That'd be good right? See who's? Maybe like Becky G. Becky G is pretty cool. You think Becky G will fit that role. Oh, she can. Really, acting is diverse, you know. You got to dig deep. She's going to be like this is fucking dark.
Speaker 2:I quit she's going to be like. I read the script. It didn't look this deep, it didn't look this deep.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, who knows? Yeah, we'll see.
Speaker 3:We'll see. Maybe there's a little upcoming person.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I've always thought about that, you know, putting it out there because maybe it can help someone, you know that needs it.
Speaker 2:I think it does, I think you know again and it's not. You know, we're not trying to plug it, but it's just even myself I don't ever read books read her book and it was like for the first time, um yeah, I read it the same night before the interview and so first time I read a full book, aside from the iliad and it I connected so well with that book really yeah because, there was just so many things in that book that are true that I had gone through or that I have seen or that I have related to, and so I I think, like what she's stating is that you telling your story will eventually somebody's gonna read and go oh, I went through the exact same thing and there's kind of healing yeah, there is healing in that, yeah, in that process.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so maybe not for your family. Who's gonna be like, oh and you're gonna. You know, you know, but I never really cared about that for everybody else.
Speaker 3:Breaking those generational cycles and curses is big.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I've always been really transparent with my daughter, you know, because I had earned her trust when I came home. But you know, I tell her I don't know everything, but you know, one thing I am going to do is I'm always going to try to do better. And it's my fault, all of these things are my fault, but just watch and learn from my mistakes and trust me, I'm going to make you proud, but I'm always very transparent with her. The way I grew up, the mistakes that I've made, you know what I've gone through also, and she's just, I think, being honest with her. I told her in this family we talk about things.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:If I'm, I don't. I'm a mom but I don't know everything, so I don't want to spend enough time with you. If I'm talking to you a certain way and it's offending you, like let me know.
Speaker 1:You know I'm still the queen of this house, but that doesn't mean that you can, you know, correct me Like, because at first when I came home I was, like you know, very strict the way I grew up, like limpia tu cuarto, mira. You know She'd be like Mom, your tone is. It makes me nervous and I'm like like so now I'd be like mommy, can you clean your room up? Good job, you know, like positive things. But it took her to tell me and then it took me to let it be available for her. You know, give her that openness to correct me and talk to me.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I think that's what's really changed our relationship is just giving her that space to say hey, what's on your mind? Like in this house, you have a voice, baby girl, like aquí, me puede reclamar, corregir, whatever you know.
Speaker 2:Soy tu mamá pero no tengo. I got limits on that I don't know.
Speaker 1:You're like hey, I got the chancla to go.
Speaker 2:Nah, we're throwing down. No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, for sure she's like yup, like yep.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure. She's like there's moments.
Speaker 1:No, yeah, because I mean with parenting. It's like I'm not. I don't believe in soft parenting, obviously, but you know having that as well.
Speaker 2:It's a different time, because you know when we're growing up.
Speaker 1:It's like you can't say nothing, you can't challenge anything, even if it's wrong. It's like callate no sabes tú que sabes. Okay, kids are smart and sometimes we can actually learn. They make us better.
Speaker 3:They are.
Speaker 1:If we allow them, that's a good line. Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3:So I'm curious, even though you mentioned it already a while ago, about technology. You know fintech, these apps available. What are your thoughts? Because then we talk about again. You know some people need to be walked through the process. They have an app in front of them that is going to tell them about their finance or even credit, but then you know the levels on understanding. Where do you see? You know going for where you are being exposed to right now, to where we're heading. You know where you mentioned.
Speaker 1:AI.
Speaker 3:What are your thoughts? You know thoughts with the Latino community on that.
Speaker 1:I think you have to be open to both, because there are younger generation who are very DIY. They want to do everything themselves. But then you also have older people like myself, like people in their 40s, 50s and 60s, that are still trying to get a house and things like that or whatever, and they're just not going to be receptive. A house and things like that or whatever and they're just not going to be receptive to it the way you want them to. So you have to, you know, you have to be able to relate to all of them. Everyone has different needs, you know, and that's just the way it is Like every student doesn't learn the same Correct.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's why a lot of students fail. You know, growing up I think I would have done better in a more strict environment than in the schools where I went to and the hood in Dallas. Like teachers didn't give a fuck, they'd be like. But I need someone to just be like, like military style. You know, like I would have thrived in that.
Speaker 3:Because even sometimes you can have, but then somewhere along the way, because of the experience that you have, is the understanding. Yeah, because I have this information in my hand, maybe a Gen C or Germinalia. But further on, in understanding the whole scope of what your credit is going to involve, that report it's, you know. Also for somebody, like you said, much older, to understand what's going on. You know what's happening, what they're reading, what is even as much as you can Google, as many times that you can YouTube, you know YouTube University.
Speaker 1:That's true, and you know, I think Latinos are projected to be like the majority very soon, you know, and so I think a lot of creditors and lenders need to really wake up and understand the power that we're going to have.
Speaker 2:Oh, we got major GDP power.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, we do, yeah. And I to have oh, we got major gdp power. Oh yeah, we do, yeah. And I think being on the financial map and being more savvy to it is really going to give us a lot of leverage. Um, I think most of us get what we get and we're just, we're just happy that we can get a house, but a lot of us don't know what the interest is. What about if our kids inherit that house? Are they going to have to pay inheritance tax? Is it like? What do they do, you know? So these are the things that we need to work on now. But no matter what technology comes in and there's animation you always still, I think, more Latinos.
Speaker 1:It's just in our nature, because we're passionate, we're emotional you know we're always going to want that conversation, that initial conversation, to be like hey, rafael, you know this is how you're going to do. This credit card or this, that and this is your loan. You got questions on it and I just be like you got approved for five million dollars, zero interest. We're gonna be like what, that's too good to be true why, why you know like we're always gonna need that I think it's always important for us to just have a lot of people you know want to facetime or zoom.
Speaker 1:um, even if they're in cali or chicago, they're like I don don't know. You don't sound like that on Instagram.
Speaker 3:I need to see you, I'm like okay, you know, when it comes to money matters, they want to see you in person.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then others don't even know how to verify a link they get in their email. They're like a veces me puedes ayudar. You know they'll give me the password to the email. I'm like you need to change it now. It's just, it is what it is. Some of them need you to set up their little credit building accounts, but the fact that they're talking to you in the first place shows they want to do something different.
Speaker 2:Yeah it's part of the process.
Speaker 1:And I tell them I'm like, you know, I'm not a bank, I'm not your lender, I'm just a person that's helping you get to that point. But you've got to make it a point Like, if I'm talking to my mom or to my deal, I'm like deal. You got to like make it a point like you got a statement. You know, look at the email that I sent you sit in a pregnant, exactly me. Meh, por favor. You know. I tell them don't be shy.
Speaker 1:Too many questions is never too many exactly little sometimes we don't want to ask cuz we're like I did I mean oh?
Speaker 2:yeah, it's like when you know. Yeah, so you were talking about the people who kind of like to do it themselves. So that's where my 800 Credit. Yeah, that's the app. So can you tell us a little bit more about that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so my 800 is basically an AI software that does what I do on steroids. It's very effective. It creates a custom letter For everything that's on your credit report. You have to send a letter out and say why, whether it's handwritten or it's something you downloaded off of TikTok and you have to create. You have to attach your documents ID, social and a bill and then they will look at it and say, okay, this is actually right and we're gonna take it off so that AI software just does it more effectively, efficiently, correctly, with the correct verbiage, and it changes it up every single month and sometimes that dispute letter will be like no, the verbiage isn't right, because it just literally is an Oscar machine. It just reads it and it will reject it. So it creates different letters based on all of the criteria, all of the laws and everything, which is amazing. You can tell ChatGPT to do anything for you.
Speaker 1:Write an essay on Abraham Lincoln, as if I were a fifth grader and I want to get a C.
Speaker 3:It's going to do it, so wow, she has the prompt, because if I get an, A, my mom's going to be like this, ain't you?
Speaker 2:This ain't you. You didn't write this. Make it believable the word hyperbo. I know you didn't know that.
Speaker 1:But this software is so amazing because it's going to get you those results and it's for people that not only are DIY, but some people just don't have a lot of money to spend on credit repair, whether it's $100 a month, or like they have money to save on their down payment for their house, but their month-to-month doesn't look like that, you know.
Speaker 1:So for them, $30 a month is going to get them to a 640 or whatever to get a house, then that's go. Do that Instead of spending me, you know paying me and my team $100 a month or $200 a month. Do that. You're going to get the same results. If not, maybe even faster or better.
Speaker 2:And what is the price? It is like around $30?.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's essentially like free. All you're doing is signing up for the smart credit link to be able to pull those reports every month into chat, into the my 800. It's going to scan everything and say, hey, you have 80 errors, print out the letters, mail them out and then you just keep doing that.
Speaker 3:So you'll see they have to follow up.
Speaker 1:I was like okay yeah, you don't have to call and follow up, I would, but, um, you just send out your letters. Yeah, I mean, a stamp is what I don't know, 45 cents or something, something.
Speaker 3:Something like that In the last amount of time. Yeah, so let's say you have USPS. I'm like forever stamps.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, but even that's still cheaper. It's still, you know, under $50 to fix the credit.
Speaker 2:I remember when a book of stamps was like five bucks it was like five or 10, yeah, now it's like 12, 15 bucks for a book.
Speaker 1:So you know, sometimes they don't need to get everything cleaned up, but they just need to get to that point. So they get their leases up, their rent's going up and they can't afford it. But they can get into a rental house for $2,600 a month. But, they can't afford the $3,500 that the landlord's going to. So it serves a purpose, or, you know, just for people who are like, rather be more hands on. But it's amazing.
Speaker 2:And I've had lots of clients have success with it and of course, it's backed by smart credit.
Speaker 1:So they're a huge corporation. They're not gonna like vouch for me if I'm, you know, not doing anything correctly.
Speaker 2:But yeah, it's a great software and it's like smart credit. We take your money, my 800.
Speaker 1:We're affiliated with my 800 yeah yeah.
Speaker 1:So it's a really good platform and I'm working on, you know, translate it over to Spanish. The site isn't English and Spanish, so it's gonna walk you through but that. But that's what more I've been trying to work on this year, because the economy is changing, cost of living is high inflation, so, you know, some people like I was at one point I didn't have even an extra $20 a month Like everything was just gone as soon as I earned it. So if I could have had a cheaper way to fix my credit, versus paying all these other people that didn't help me, which is how I got into what I was doing I would have just rather done that. I'd be like, wow, I hit a gold mine, you know, but it's something for everyone, so you have to keep up with the times, technology, and so you have to offer it. So I'm just trying to stay ahead of the curve, you know, and offer that to people who just want to do it themselves Makes sense.
Speaker 2:From an entrepreneur standpoint. Obviously you know you're like the true rags to riches story.
Speaker 3:Yeah, what advice?
Speaker 2:would you give to somebody who's just getting started in that field?
Speaker 1:I would say you know what? Be kind to yourself, because you're not going to know everything and do everything right. It doesn't matter if you have a dad that grandfathered you into real estate. There's just some things that you're. You have to learn that. The learning is in the doing and you have to be very disciplined, because for a while there I did kind of slack a little bit. I'm like oh well, you know, I got my staff and I'm going to, you know, party. No, you can't, you can't, you know.
Speaker 1:I started hiring salespeople to talk to the clients. And no, you got it. You can never deviate to what got you to the money in the first place. Stick to the basics and you're never going to lose, but create systems in place to create, to allow you to do more of what got you that money where it's meeting people, talking to clients, doing events. You can't do all of that and still be running your business. Either you're a business owner or you're a business operator.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know. So you can't operate the business and own it it's not the same. So you got to invest in yourself, you know. Hire the good people. Marketing is important, you know, but the right channels that speak to the way you are, which is why I love your platform. I feel like it's very genuine and it's about creating awareness, making Latinos empowered and but with all that Sazon, you know, like all that, all that Sazon, that healthy Rican Sazon.
Speaker 2:Shout out to healthy Rican, shout out to healthy Rican. Yeah, turn around, make sure you get the spices out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know you have to have the message delivered into the way your people respond to it. So I feel like teaming up with people that are like-minded and really believe and love what they do is important, versus just because somebody is like a famous artist or I'm famous, that doesn't matter. You know, are people like. If I drove around in a Corvette or a Porsche with expense, you know my clients would be like ah está ganando ese dinero robando a la gente.
Speaker 3:You know porque le está robando a la gente, Tú sabes como la gente?
Speaker 2:piensa, I feel like everybody who sees it. You got two different types of people. You're going to have people who look at you and go like oh girl, good night. And then you're going to have the people who are sitting there like paying you, and maybe it's taking a little longer. They're like coño, pero look at all that.
Speaker 1:That's where my money's going, yeah.
Speaker 2:She doesn't really care, but she got that car. Yeah, yeah, it's a tough balance.
Speaker 1:I want to make a profit to be able to support my kids and myself and my team.
Speaker 3:You need a livelihood, yeah but I love my team.
Speaker 1:They're very well taken care of my kids. You know my son has autism so therapy's expensive. You know my lifestyle is not cheap and also you know I want to retire in five years. I've been working since I was 11 years old. I'm tired, but money does not motivate me, you know it's it's it's helping people that's always motivated me since I was a kid. If I could do what I could do for free and you know milk didn't cost $10 a gallon I would do it.
Speaker 2:That's crazy. I mean, I think people need to understand that. I think you know you, you provide a service.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, in order to get from Avery, you got got to do too regardless of what that what that profit margin is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know and that's why I started the non-profit just to be able to create channels where people can do that that don't have the means and we and we give that to the areas that most need it and that way I can still get paid for what I do, but also put my money where my mouth is and and that that giving spirit that, um, I have, you know, put it to work and hopefully continue that on when I retire and just focus on that. Excellent, yeah.
Speaker 2:We were talking about you being a scrapper. I know, I know you saw that boxing match yesterday.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that boxing match was something else. You know, everybody was kind of going against Ryan Garcia, I think. Anytime someone who is African-American is fighting a Latino, it's always a big thing, right, it's like black against brown, Black and brown oh my.
Speaker 2:God, I mean to be fair. Ryan isn't doing any favors to himself with the way he acts, you know. But yeah, he came out swinging.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think a lot of that. What he's doing is very smart because it's a marketing tactic. Of course Muhammad Ali when he was doing what he was doing was very unconventional at the time. He would talk a lot of shit and stuff. Mike Tyson would threaten people with rape against their children. I will rape your mama, you remember that shit.
Speaker 2:Mike Tyson would be like he was. Like my defense is impregnable, I'll eat your children.
Speaker 3:I'll eat your children. Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2:No, it's just if you're Mike Tyson, I'll kick your ass. He was tough. He was tough to deal with.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so he's doing the same thing, you know, but there's a lot of boxing casuals out there that don't know of any of that. So it's just, and even Hector Macho Camacho, he would do stuff like that, he would talk a lot of shit too.
Speaker 1:You know the little curl be like, you know the lifestyle and he was like the jerk everyone loved to watch, I mean honestly, and the women loved him, just like Ryan Garcia. So I think it's just marketing a lot of it. And also he proved his point yesterday, so shout out to him.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, he did.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was actually going for Haney. I bet my daughter 50 bucks and she won.
Speaker 2:You don't think he could be tanked though you know what I mean. I know he lost a tank, lost a tank, but I'm saying you don't think on the rematch like this, ryan garcia, maybe this, this crazy ass, ryan garcia, you don't think you?
Speaker 1:think he can or can't. Uh, yeah, I think in boxing anything is possible, you know? Uh, my favorite movie of all time is rocky, like all of them. So I think anything is possible and you never know. And the sometimes the underdog wins. Like best heavyweight fight of all time, to my opinion. Well for well for Mexicans is Andy Ruiz versus Anthony Joshua. No one expected him to win and he kicked that motherfucker's ass and he's like a short Mexican who's not in shape, big belly, you know. But he went in there and he proved a point.
Speaker 1:So, it just depends, you know. I think anything is possible.
Speaker 2:That's a crazy match, because he got knocked down on that one too and then came back up. Yeah, he got knocked down twice, I believe.
Speaker 1:Knocked down Joshua and Joshua just couldn't recuperate after that. So yeah, I think anything is possible as a boxing analyst and strategist ladies and gentlemen, anything is possible T we're not just talking credit repair. No, we're not.
Speaker 2:We got into boxing, so now we're going into the ESPN version of the show. No, into the espn person. So and by the way, for those of you who were thinking that was not like a planned plug. We just it just happened to. You know, so most of the songs.
Speaker 1:So yeah, absolutely, she's taking a bunch of those home. By the way, we've used them.
Speaker 2:We've used them, you know and and I know that one of the things we do here is we support, you know, especially small businesses absolutely.
Speaker 1:You know my sister-in-law's from Carolina, so I'm going to give her some of those.
Speaker 2:Oh, you got it. Yeah, yeah, you can take these when you want. Well, actually Remember.
Speaker 1:I was telling you, her grandmother is 106 years old.
Speaker 3:Oh my God Bless her heart.
Speaker 1:Beautiful lady. She's like bien viva, like talking. It's amazing.
Speaker 2:Well might, as in the next edition of the magazine, with Ida Rodriguez on the cover, you can get the product. If people wanted to start fixing their credit, where would they go to do that?
Speaker 1:They would go to VidaCreditQueencom. Vida Credit Queen on Instagram, facebook. I'm not on TikTok, but there's a lot of fake accounts on.
Speaker 2:TikTok. I need to, just no, I don't.
Speaker 1:Every time.
Speaker 2:I tell somebody TikTok, they're like you don't dance. No, I don't, no, no, I don't dance. Every time I tell somebody TikTok, it's like you don't dance.
Speaker 1:And they're like that's not all you do on TikTok, that's not all it's for.
Speaker 3:I'm like well that's what it was for. That's what I started. That's how it started. Yeah All the parents it's like I'm going to try to keep something real, you know, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:They've already got enough earthquakes in LA. I didn't want to be dancing on TikTok.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then, of course, my800 is my-800.com. But yeah, you guys, if you need any help, if you want questions, if credit tips, I mean, I've had people like raise up their score 100 points just from watching videos that I do. So, um, all of it is is factual information and I'm just putting it out there and some people are like, why do you give away so much information? That's stupid. I'm like, stay in your lane, you know?
Speaker 2:like like what does it matter? Yeah, the game is not always if you know what you know. I feel like we have such an issue in our community with gatekeeping.
Speaker 3:Yes, I hate that.
Speaker 1:We have the ability to.
Speaker 2:Where'd you get that sweater? Oh yeah, like I don't even know. Like just tell me where you got the damn sweater.
Speaker 3:Maya Angelou says if you know, teach. That's what it is, that's what I practice. If you know, teach.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you know, teach Each one to each one, I guess. Each one to each one, I guess, I mean, I don't know what the actual quote is, but I was just following what you were saying.
Speaker 2:I was just following what you were saying there, so we just create our own quote if it's not the actual one.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:No, but I mean, I'm a big believer in that. I think you know if we're improving the community. You know, like you said, not everything is about money sometimes. Sometimes, it's just about helping people and making sure that they can move into the right direction.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah, Because when you teach someone something they're going to remember you for a long time, like, oh, where did I hear that from? I heard it from you know, rapaes. Yeah, yeah, so it's, and sometimes that's the best marketing, absolutely. Yeah, so I do it just because it's free information. But you want to give out the right information and not and not everybody's going to understand just reading it on Google. You know, sometimes you need somebody to just say it.
Speaker 2:I mean, creating generational wealth is something that's really important, especially in the Latino community, absolutely, if we're not helping our brothers and sisters out to be able to kind of excel in that area. That's something that you know we're doing a disservice to our own people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and honestly I think generations are changing, that I think the younger generation are more helpful towards each other, even though that we I think a lot of the older generation like me, not done in mensels, like I don't think they are I think the younger generation is really going to change things a lot in ways that maybe we couldn't, or we we couldn't really visualize, maybe because they're more inclusive.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they're very inclusive.
Speaker 1:They're more forgiving, like nowadays, if you tell somebody oh, you're ugly or you're just stupid and be like. Actually this is my own personal style, but before you, so who's? Really the weakest, huh like you know, we would let so many things just get to us. But yeah, I think, uh, they're gonna change it a lot. Like my kids are watching me have a business, be a mom, be an ex-felon helping people all the time, because sometimes I cry. I'm like I'm done with talking to a client. I'm like jingo.
Speaker 2:Like it's emotional. You know what I mean, because the guy's like I finally got my house.
Speaker 1:man, I'm the first one in my family.
Speaker 2:That's got to be the most rewarding thing on earth, I know right, it is it an email?
Speaker 1:it was long. She was like because of you and you kept pushing us.
Speaker 3:She's like we're the first people, and both of our families, to own a house oh my god, I'm getting goosebumps.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she's like. And our kids? Oh my god, she's like. My son was like five or six years old. He's like are we ever gonna get a house? She's like, yeah, yeah, and she's like, finally he turned 10. He's growing up. She's like. I want him to have his own room. She's like, and we finally got it. So her and her husband took a picture. Man, I was just like crying. So I always send those to my team. I'm like look, you know, she's like you have a great team. Thank you for not she's like.
Speaker 1:Thank you for not getting mad at me when I ask you something it's fine, it's fine, but that's why and it really changes someone's life like I never thought- I would be changing someone's life for the better, when before in my life I was causing lots of destruction without taking accountability for it so it's not like I want atonement, but it's just. It is landed in my lap and I feel like god doesn't make mistakes, so I was he is being now.
Speaker 2:Now the reversal is taking place where, where your action is now leading to somebody else's yeah positive positive life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for for not only themselves, their kids, their parents. Like sometimes, like people are like they got to take care of their parents now and they don't have enough room they got to get a bigger house, they need to refinance and so you know it's really rewarding.
Speaker 1:Or when you know this landscaper where I work, where I live, he wanted to get his son a truck because he got a full ride to MIT smart kid. And he was in Guatemala and he was scared that he was going to get in trouble at the dealership because they didn't ask him for his bank statements or his checks.
Speaker 1:I was like, sir, you have an 803 credit score. He's like, ay, gracias, señorita. But he was like, so he took a whole folder. You know he's like, no, lo quieren, I a whole folder. You know. He's like no, no, no, get it.
Speaker 1:And I was like you have a perfect yeah that motherfucker and he was like, thank you, but that's all he wanted to do, Just get his son the truck of his dreams, Cause he didn't have to pay a cent for his college. Amazing, you know, those are. Those are the imposter syndrome. I think about all those people. They're like no, you're helping a lot of us, you know, and things so um, you can't make everyone happy. There's going to be clients that are lazy.
Speaker 1:They're saying oh you didn't tell me that this and that you can't help everybody. You can't do anything perfect, but I would say a good 95% of my clients always get what customer satisfaction they meet that goal and then they're able to meet other goals. You know, start a business, do this, do that, help their kids build your credit or teach their kids you know how to get a credit card, how to pay it, because they didn't know before yeah and so that's I can say, because for my own self, you know my daughter.
Speaker 1:Now she knows all about it, but before, when I came home, I didn't know anything about it. So now we both have learned throughout these years about it. So it's very cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm really excited that you came in me too.
Speaker 1:I was ready to come like I wasn't gonna miss it. Yeah, we look forward to seeing revolution. I can't wait to see everybody at revolution. Everybody don't miss out. It's gonna be september and down in california, I can't wait to attend, I'm gonna be she's our own.
Speaker 2:She's gonna be doing the blue to green and that's for people who want to help their businesses. You know, step it to the next level. So we're really excited about that, Cause that's going to be a really good seminar.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah. I can't wait to be a part of it. Hopefully we can do something in Houston and one day.
Speaker 3:Yeah, one day we will.
Speaker 1:I always tell my daughter we will not one day we will.
Speaker 2:I always tell my daughter, we will Not one day, we will, we will, we take one step and the next step after that is the next one, and the next one, and the next one. The next thing you know, we're international.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Revolution in London.
Speaker 1:You never know. He's putting it out there. Yeah, there is not a thing that I have manifested on this.
Speaker 2:She knows. On this, she knows. Yeah, there is not one thing that I have manifested on this that has not come true. I believe the manifestation is the power that God gives us he puts the work, he put in the work.
Speaker 1:He put in the work, yes, when it starts taking like two to three, five business days for somebody to reply to you. It's because they're busy and not because they're ignoring you. My daughter's like you didn't get my message.
Speaker 2:I'm like mommy, I'm working mommy, my mom, she pissed off too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think our paths crossed for a reason, so I'm super blessed to have met you guys.
Speaker 3:You're welcome, for you know you're part of the family of todos latinos. Oh yeah, awesome, Saludos.
Speaker 2:That was a lot of fun it was. We even got a little boxing in there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we sure did, so you can catch her by the way in January's edition of the Todo Wafi magazine.
Speaker 2:If you go on todowaficom you can see that magazine. But yeah, really excited. It was great to finally meet you in person Because we've been connecting online it's nothing like that face toto-face, like I was saying. It's true, it's true. Now we got to turn around and go to a boxing match together, so we can just start screaming. We got to go get some tacos or something. All right, I agree. Is there any?
Speaker 1:Puerto Rican places out here we can go to.
Speaker 2:You don't want to go to the Puerto Ricans out here in LA, so I know one guy, but he's you know he cooks on Saturdays.
Speaker 3:Don't go to Mofongo's, by the way. Those are the best places.
Speaker 1:Don't go to Mofongo's. We say it in every You're going to have to edit this out.
Speaker 2:No, he don't like it. Until he fixes his shit, we're going to keep saying don't go to Mofongo's, oh my goodness. Don't be sorry, because I tell him with they're like these tacos are amazing.
Speaker 1:I'm like, no, if they're bad, they're bad, they're bad.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, I don't want somebody who sucks at what he does. Anyways, everybody, that is our show. Be sure to follow us at the Todo Latino Show and Todo Wafi and all of your favorite listening apps. I am Rafael, that is Joey. Joining us was Vita and we are out.
