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Episode 150 - How to buy a home - Ele Perez
76 Plays3 months ago
Happy Woo Wednesdays! I have my good friend Ele Perez in the HECK YES house. She is one of my lead associates for Carissa Woo Photography and runs her own photography and real estate business. I was so proud of her when she told me she was starting her real estate business and so impressed when she won ROOKIE of the year!
Hot Topic : How to buy your first home
Ele's Bio. From the South Bay, Los Angeles, California, I started photography at an early age when I borrowed my Father’s 35mm camera on trips. In high school & college I worked for the newspaper & magazine as a photographer and photo editor.
I lived in France for 10+ years, where I worked as a photographer for weddings, engagement shoots, social & headshots and real estate photography. I did photojournalism for a French magazine doing lifestyle photography. I learned the French way of life and decided to move back home in Southern California. – Oui ! Parlez-vous le Français ?
Connect with Ele Perez. https://eleperez.com/
Connect with Carissa Woo
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Transcript
Introduction and Acknowledgements
00:00:00
Speaker
Happy Woo Wednesdays, everyone. First, I'd like to thank my sponsors, Seventeen Hats, Streamline Your Business, use my code HECKYES and get 50% off the entire year. And thank you to Aftershoe AI Editing. Both companies truly changed my life. Also use code HECKYES and start for free. I edit super fast now and I have so much more time in my day. And big congrats to my new student, Ashley Khan Photography, for getting on her first preferred venue list after working with me for one week and Cindy Lee OC wedding planner for getting on her first venue list after working with me for a month. So crazy.
Meet Elle Perez: A Versatile Professional
00:00:42
Speaker
DM me the word coaching or a demo and I'll send you a free 20 minute video on how to do this.
00:00:49
Speaker
So today I have my dear friend Elle Perez in the Heck Yes House. She has been on the Carissa Wu photography team for many, many years now, and she really knows how to diversify her portfolio. She's a photographer, she's a realtor, and she also sells wine. Today she gives us insight on how to buy your first home if you are a wedding pro or a new couple. It might seem impossible, but she breaks it down for us.
00:01:17
Speaker
and stay to the end. She tells us how she won Rookie of the Year at her brokerage.
Podcast's Focus and Purpose
00:01:22
Speaker
So cool. Enjoy this episode.
00:01:29
Speaker
Welcome to Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. I'm your host, Carissa, and I've been a Los Angeles wedding photographer for over a decade. I've traveled the world, built my team, and seen it all. I now coach wedding photographers hit 10K a month and build a thriving business. In this podcast, we are going to deep dive into how top wedding creatives get that heck yes from their dream clients. We are not holding back on the struggles of the business and how to push through the noise. Some healthy hustle, mindset shifts, up-leveling your money story,
00:01:58
Speaker
Time hacks because I'm a mom of two, a little bit of woo-woo, and most importantly, self-love and confidence are just a few of the many things we'll talk about. I want to give you a genuine thank you for following along my journey. I hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesday so that you say heck yes to listening to this podcast. See you guys soon!
00:02:21
Speaker
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Get a Heck Yes with your girl, Carissa Wu.
Elle's Artistic Background and Passion Development
00:02:26
Speaker
I have my dear friend, Elle Perez. She is a photographer. She is a realtor. She is beautiful. She shoots with me sometimes. She's on the Carissa Wu photography team as well. And yes, welcome, Elle. What's up, girl? Hey, thank you. Thanks for having me come on your show, Carissa. We've been friends and working together for some time. And I just wanted to thank you. and and yeah listen all your listeners as well. So thanks for having me come on the show. Yeah, I kind of had to pull your leg to come on because you didn't want to. i've got like come into the So on.
00:03:06
Speaker
I'll be nice to you. Okay, so nice. Okay, well, just easy peasy questions. Tell the audience a little bit about you where you're from, where you grew up, and just like you in a nutshell, and then we'll go back to your childhood. Great. Okay, yeah. So I did grow up in the South Bay in California, fourth generation Angelino. So also still have my grandma. She's in her 90s and lives in right down the beach. And so, yeah, I went to school here in a local in California. I studied graphic design, photography and business and all the things. Yeah. So that was back in 2000s. And then, um,
00:03:58
Speaker
From there, I actually got a job here um as a graphic designer and up photo products. So that was one of my first jobs and and in the field. That was pretty awesome. It was with Microtech. So I photographed their products and did their graphics. Nice. I didn't know about you.
00:04:24
Speaker
in and to bit from my past. ah well Okay, let's bring it back to young. l um What were you like growing up um fourth generation? um What was your life like? And what were you like as a kid? Yeah, so every summer, you know, we live by the beach. So my mom would take us me and my my brother to the beach and and my cousin. And so we would hang out go to beach, you know, boogie board. So I always spent most of my summers at the beach and I was you know studying. you know I really liked it.
00:04:57
Speaker
a to do art even back then. um I was into doing little creative art projects, even doing like beading and jewelry. Yeah, it sounds like put my daughter Piper. Yeah, so I, you know, I had a lot of friends in school, and we did art projects together. And we would do these, you know, imagination, ah like hide and seek and just Yeah, just have a lot of fun times together as a kid. Oh, that sounds so beautiful. and did you Did your grandma raise you? Yeah, she she did. she she part She did partly anyways. I had both grandmas here in California, so um just amazing you know to be close with both of my grandmas. Yeah, most people don't have their grandmas anymore, so you're very fortunate. Yeah, well, one of them is still alive.
00:05:52
Speaker
but You know, we still go over there. I make an admission of mine to go see her at least, you know, once a week. ah I'm sure that brings her a big smile to her face. Yeah. Walk me through a little bit through like high school days and what were you into?
00:06:10
Speaker
So in high school, I really loved to do art. Still, I kept doing art art classes. And then I had um borrowed my father's 35 millimeter camera as a kid. I would just kind of borrow it from him when we were going you know summer trips. And I would just start taking pictures. And then in high school, there was a class at Redondo High School.
00:06:36
Speaker
with a 35 millimeter class. So we would develop our own pictures. And so that was really exciting. Oh, cool. He had a film camera. Yeah, that was awesome. What's he a photographer? What did he do for work? No, actually, so my dad, he did electrical. um He had a big, you know, company doing electrical work. So you know, some summers, he would have me come with with him on onto the job sites. And, you know, I would do what Yeah, just a little work around the job. So I know a little bit about electrical. And ah you know my dad was always a hard worker. So you know he constructed his business from the ground up. And I was always so inspired you know by his hard work and dedication. So yeah, that taught me the the groundwork for running my own company someday. So. Aw. I love that. Yeah.
00:07:34
Speaker
How about college days? What were you into in college? And you could kind of allude it to like some of your first jobs. So yeah, so um I was into graphic design and a photography. So after you know I graduated, um I was able to get a job right away, which was not easy.
00:07:55
Speaker
um I kind of didn't know exactly what type of graphic design I wanted to get into. But this one, this job with micro tag actually just kind of fell into my lap. time And it was great because I got to implement my photography as well. um But then I ended up moving to France for 12 years. wow So I left that job to go to live in France. And so I went to France and then I
00:08:27
Speaker
I didn't know the language so I studied French and said you know I got my AA in French. So I got to you know also teach English to French speakers in France. So you know i I did graphic design. and I did many things when I was there.
00:08:49
Speaker
and Wow, paint the picture of like what it was like living in France and just your lifestyle
Photography and Community Building in France
00:08:56
Speaker
there. Oh my God, yeah. So France, I began actually photo nothing, weddings when I was living in France. um I started to work for a newspaper, like a small magazine um in Toulouse. That's where I lived for many years.
00:09:18
Speaker
but And so I was, you know, photographing as a photojournalist and, you know, I got to capture, you know, really awesome stories and and moments. um It was, you know, because I was also teaching, so I had like a pretty large network of people. o So I somehow got to photograph the governor and it's really interesting.
00:09:47
Speaker
I also, ah you know, I started this local artist community when I was out there. um And so I was working with like local artists and was, you know, working as even like a model. So I would photograph models and then model myself. So how how did you get around with just learning the language? So that was a struggle. But, you know, I spoke, you know, French at home.
00:10:12
Speaker
And then I spoke French in the streets. It's just I had to get out and speak French. Wow, that's pretty unique that's pretty tough. yeah They did not too many people in Toulouse. It's in southern France. you know It wasn't Paris, so it was a little smaller. So you know I had to learn language she was wow im so impressed but was like the What was your local artists collaborations all about?
00:10:41
Speaker
So there was this group. It started out on face look a Facebook group. Then it like branched out to... like it's like a started It was kind of like Meetup. You know, like Meetup here. But they had something similar out there. so Yeah, I think this group actually still goes on today. And so I would organize a events and just to get together with the local artists and photographers, you know, different people from the artists community, and like, yeah, yeah. Actors even. So it was pretty cool. Yeah, I really love that. Just connecting with
00:11:24
Speaker
with different people and different walks of life. That's always been my my interest. and How many weddings did you photograph in France? Probably, it was less than like 50. It was probably, yeah, I started out there, so it wasn't that many weddings. How would you compare shooting a wedding here that um to shooting a wedding in France? What are the differences?
00:11:53
Speaker
Pardon this short interruption, but guess what? I have a new program. It's for all wedding professionals. It's called The Triple Threat. We redo your brand messaging, the homepage of your website. Part two is we do all your marketing. we create a beautiful brochure so you could start getting on Prefer venue vendor list and we do all your sales so we actually make you a sales presentation leading your client to the heck yes so you get paid. I have a free 20 minute demo training. It's only 20 minutes. Go to my Instagram at Carissa Woo.
00:12:34
Speaker
and DM me the word DEMO. I will send it right over. It's how to get 10 to 15 quality leads in your inbox per month. Enjoy guys. Krista Wu is a LA based wedding photographer who's actually turning business coach. She helped me grow and change and I'm so proud to call you coach.
00:12:56
Speaker
tell us how you're feeling. Like, I want to just know a little bit more about your thoughts. Yeah, it's beautiful. And you're, you're awesome. It's beautiful. I'm speechless. I just like the fact that it feels like myself. like I can I feel myself when I see this. Oh, man. Well, you got me pumped and excited for this. Carissa, thank you.
00:13:17
Speaker
Uh, so well, the language, there was, you know, the culture. Um, they don't always do like stuff like the bouquet ties. um They did have like, um some of them had cake, but it was like, it was called a shoe. It's the color of little shoes. Yeah, yeah. It's the kind of pastry that looks like a round ball. It has like caramel and frosting in it. It's delicious. Oh, that's awesome. So they had different like styles of like cakes and
00:13:52
Speaker
even like the bouquets were different. They had like draping like bouquets getting long and flowy. Yeah. I photographed a wedding in France too. And the cocktail hour was like three hours. have it Yeah. Yeah. They tend to have long times to you know spend with their friends and family. And just they're all about like tucking. and you know, communicating to each other. So building relationships. So I love that. All right, well, I guess a couple more questions, two more questions before hot
Transition Back to the U.S. and Real Estate Success
00:14:29
Speaker
topic. But I guess in a nutshell, like, what was it like coming back from France? And then what does your life look like today? So a two for question.
00:14:38
Speaker
Yeah, so there was a culture shock for me to come back because I was there for 12 years. wow I did come back and forth um to California, so I was used to traveling a lot.
00:14:50
Speaker
and i mean because each summer I would you know pick a different country and we would drive like in our van. It was like this van life experience that I experienced when I was there. And it was like before that got popular, the van life. Oh, nice. I got to tell of different countries, ah you know, it was just, you would take your van and drive and just park and check out the scenes, the local history and
00:15:22
Speaker
eat the local foods, just amazing, really amazing experience. And I you know i came back here and i no one really spoke too much French, so I didn't get to practice French as much. yeah um And everything is a lot bigger here. Yeah.
00:15:41
Speaker
um And I remember one of my my best friends, she, you know, was really, really skinny. She's like, Hey, Al, you know, skinny is not in here anymore. Interesting. So, um, yes, you had to eat more pasta.
00:15:59
Speaker
yeah but one more hamburgers. Oh my god, skinny is not in. that is hilarious But yeah, i I still like to keep healthy and yeah you know eat healthy things. And I just, you know, a keep my head down and and work and, you know, and then COVID hit, right. And so I started photographing instead of weddings, I did more real estate photography. ah So I did that transition, like during the pandemic, I was actually working, work, work, work.
00:16:31
Speaker
And then, um you know, I was working with my realtors. And so I said, Oh, hey, well, can I do that? Also, I could sell houses too, like, yeah. So yeah, I studied, passed my license and actually,
00:16:45
Speaker
I got Rookie of the Year from my first year. Yay! I know I was in it with you. Like I had lunch with you at I think Urban Plates like right when you first started. And then I kept seeing you like sell your first house and your second house and got Rookie of the Year. So I'm so proud of you. But um i wanted I was curious, how did you get into um photographing realtors in the first place? Well, so I was photographing like, um,
00:17:14
Speaker
like real estate ah like properties. So I was working with the realtors photographing their properties like for their listings. Because during the pandemic, you couldn't really go into the the buildings. you know It wasn't really allowed. So I was allowed to go in. you I had all these different things you had to do. Put on your mask, wear gloves, booties. It was like this whole procedure. Yeah. That ah you know that was when the 3D tours were were more.
Helping Newlyweds with Home Buying
00:17:46
Speaker
That's right.
00:17:47
Speaker
happening back then but yeah so and then I just started doing like portrait photography you know photographing the realtors and and their listings too so and the rest is history yeah ah okay well that is perfect um brings us to our hot topic but what what is your hot topic today Elle and why is it so near and dear to your heart i mean so i I really love um working with like first-time homeowners. After the bride and grooms, they get married, um they may want to you know buy a house. so you know It's important for for these couples to to you know save. and
00:18:32
Speaker
You know, number one was, you know, have a joint plan and develop a savings plan. So, you know, couples can sit together and think about what kind of things they need to save, like for down payment, closing costs, moving expenses, just to help them manage, you know, their finances more effectively.
00:18:57
Speaker
Yeah, is this something? I mean, for, heck yes listeners, if you didn't catch up, the hot topic is how to buy your first home after you get married. So you're saying to have a discussion, sit down and talk about your joint savings. How do you go about it? Because talking about finances could be a little bit awkward and taboo sometimes, which is crazy, but it's so important. So what is like, how would you go about it?
00:19:24
Speaker
Yeah, so I would definitely like, you know, first of all, start talking about a budget, you know, a budget plan for you know, for the bride and groom, you know, they sit together and talk about what their goals are for saving, you know, for a house and discussing like, which area they may want to live in, you know, which city they want to move to. So they'd have to figure out like, approximately how much time they need to save um based on their location. And then just
00:19:58
Speaker
think about you know how they can manage their finances more efficiently in order to to save but buying their first home. Yeah, I love that. um Do you ever like help them with that kind of stuff? Or are you like kind of way after that that process? This is the way before they meet you, right?
00:20:18
Speaker
Yeah, usually it's I, you know, photograph their wedding, and then they just they i let them know, yeah, i'm I'm a realtor, and they do, you know, end up saving, but that's pretty much later. Yeah. Okay, cool. Okay, so that's a good tip. And what's tip number two, I think you have three or four tips. Yeah. So, um, just evaluate your financial health.
00:20:41
Speaker
Um, I mean, that may be awkward, but to talk about that, but you know what may be your credit score. And if you guys have any debt, like financial debt, um, just help lean on each other and understand what kind of financial situation they are in and how they could, you know, help each other improve, you know, in order to, to get a loan approval.
00:21:06
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it seems like skeletons in the closet, but it's not. It's just it could just be school debt. You have to pay like, I don't know, $400 is $300 a month, but it's so doable. And if everything's like put it on the surface, like in the beginning, I think it kind of helps starting the relationship in a healthy manner. Yes, with some some things over, you know, with your your honey bunch.
00:21:32
Speaker
yeah it is Oh my gosh. It helps you gain your your goal. you know maybe you know and Maybe one of the goals is buying a house someday. It's good to start early, you know talk about it. Even though if you're yeah and if if your fiancé wants to buy a house, you can just start now.
00:21:53
Speaker
so we start start sooner rather than later. Right? Yeah. And mostly, a lot of couples do listen to the podcast, but also a lot of wedding pros. So if you're a wedding pro, um this goes these tips apply to you as well. um Before we go into the next tip, kind of talk about the climate of the economy right now. And maybe just California, um like the percentage rates right now or like, um you know, economy is kind of sucks and inflation is pretty high. So yeah, it's pretty an unsure economic time right now. It's, you know, uncertain, you know, where rates are going to be going. Where are we going to be headed? Also, as a ah country, you know, we have the elections coming up and it just doesn't really make people want to buy a house right now. But
00:22:46
Speaker
Good news is you know the rates did go down last week. They've actually been the lowest they have been in over a year. Wow. So to me, in my mind, it's a good time to buy. Yeah. um you know And also if you own a house right now, it's a good time to think about maybe refinancing.
00:23:06
Speaker
I recommend talking to a lender. You could go ahead and give them a call. I could help you you know find the best lender for you to have different programs you know for new home new home buyers or people who want to refinance. so yeah Lock luck in your rate now. and Walking in low. but What's the rate right now? So it's it's about one. Sorry, it went down about one point last week. and and oh and see It's like about 6% right now. Okay. So yeah, talk to your lenders guys and rates may be going down more than this year or they may be going up. so
00:23:50
Speaker
Just talk to your lender, see what your eight may be. and Yeah. I was just talking to someone, a family I knew from at the pool um yesterday, and they said they kept waiting, you know thinking it's going to go down. and you know, waiting more, more, and more more, more, and they've just been waiting for like five, six years. So I think home prices in California are always just going up, you know, the percent rate is like 5% since the beginning of the year. so
00:24:25
Speaker
I mean, home prices, they're they're going up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I recommend, if you can, talk to your lender, get your rate in.
Success in Real Estate and Mentorship
00:24:34
Speaker
It's not as scary as it seems. um Just have your ducks ready. um Get all your ducks in a row.
00:24:42
Speaker
If you need your credit checked, you know, you can do a soft credit pull. And if your credit is bad, there's also good ways to um to get your credit back up. So there's people who do credit repairs too. it's so Oh, nice. Okay. a One more question before the third tip. But um how did you get your Real estate business off the ground like so quickly. I know it's very very competitive Even more competitive than wedding photography because everyone knows a realtor Everyone has a friend of a friend. Everyone has a cousin at uncle and tea. So how did you do it?
00:25:20
Speaker
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00:25:46
Speaker
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00:26:15
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:26:57
Speaker
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00:27:22
Speaker
Their services are tailored to woman-owned businesses, focusing on providing clear, accurate financial records, allowing you to focus on what you do best, growing your business. I invite you to book a discovery call with Kickstart Accounting. The link is in the show notes. Mention, heck yes. And yeah, they are going to get your finances in order so you can continue to scale and succeed. Back to the show.
00:27:52
Speaker
Yeah. So first of all, I found really great mentor that I show so much appreciation towards, you know, I know you, Carissa, you do mentor work and you're a coach. And so just having that, that coach that will help guide you, I mean, especially in your first year, it's key. It's key to your successful business and keeping motivated. I know it's not always easy to keep motivated and keep your goals.
00:28:19
Speaker
in mind and keep your your blinders off. That's so important. and For me, you know I had this ah special you know a specific goal in mind, so you know keep keep saving so I could get my own house. you know Awesome. That's a really good goal.
00:28:38
Speaker
for a person that sells homes. Definitely. And also, you um you know, just yeah coming over over my house, sometimes you would always say like, I just finished door knocking and you had your crazy schedule. I always ask you how you manage everything. And you show me your calendar and it's all color coordinated, which is pretty impressive. So that's the time blocking I um i I watch a lot of YouTube videos. So I watched a YouTube video on how to do time blocking, how to save like appointments in your calendar. As soon as I have an appointment, I put it right in my calendar. It's my Google calendar. That's my lifeline. yeah um And then I time block. I have kids in school. They have the the bell that rings at us every hour on the hour. That's like my phone. So I keep you know my
00:29:34
Speaker
my schedule based on subjects. If I'm not out there door knocking or cold calling, I have to follow up with my clients and I have certain times to do all that. Wow. Yeah, I mean, for listeners, it's just that kind of mentality is just so your mind doesn't have to keep switching gears every second.
00:29:56
Speaker
so It's more efficient if you just time block or like time block your days, like one day you take sales calls and what they other days you you do blog posts. so Yeah. that Like Monday, Motivation Mondays, I do i set up my posts Mondays you know and then you know I time block for that too. So I just you know try to keep things, you know, on a schedule that way um I'm keeping me focused, keeping motivated.
00:30:28
Speaker
um Yeah, I had just started out, I had all these contacts in my phone from all these weddings and I just, you know, I reached out to to my peeps and I called the brides and grooms and let them know, hey, now I'm in real estate and just wanted to catch up with you and, you know, find out how you're doing, let you know what's going on with me and You know, see, also, you know, maybe they've had babies. A lot of them have babies already. yeah So adorable. So I look them now. Hey, I also do baby shoots, you know, um newborn baby maternity shoots and just try to keep in contact because, you know, it's all about building relationships and keeping in contact with them. So.
00:31:16
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, you have such a sweet, ah soft personality, but then that tastes quite a good hustler to to do that because not everyone could do that for sure.
00:31:28
Speaker
Yeah, I was pretty much self motivated. You know, I ah had the business sense from my father. He was just he woke up every day at 5am. And he just had that drive. like And that's, that's who I got it from was my dad. Yeah, I think wow that's so of crazy. We love you dad. and love Okay, okay. So and you have I think one more tip for the listeners.
00:31:56
Speaker
Yeah, so the third tip was research your first time home buyer programs and benefits.
Financial Assistance for Home Buyers: Tips and Programs
00:32:05
Speaker
So you could reach out to your lender and find out about you know the first time home buyer programs and incentives that there are out there. They may offer down payment assistance or reducing interest rates and cover you know closing costs, et cetera. Yeah, there's a lot of programs that help people.
00:32:26
Speaker
Yeah, so it can help you know create you know valuable support for them to me make their offer on their first first home. so Yeah, do you feel like people that you talked to, like they just can't afford to buy a house here so they're moving out of state? Yeah, so a lot of people, they they have moved out.
00:32:46
Speaker
the you know to Texas or you know other states that are less expensive. But I've also seen people wanting to move back and regretting actually leaving California. Really? They just miss the weather. Yeah, it's too hot. you know They come back. Yeah. So a lot of them grew up out here in California, and they just that this is their home. they They tried it, and they want to move back. So I'm here to help.
00:33:18
Speaker
I would never leave so true torrents girl just like you.
Photography Philosophy: Capturing Authenticity
00:33:25
Speaker
What would you say um you could do this in or answer this in photography related or real estate related but or both but what is like your best heck yes technique? How do you get your heck yes from your dream client? move So so I guess what yeah for photography um I guess it would be just photographing those moments. um but It's like photojournalism. You just photograph ah the these and unplanned moments. you know It may be a little staged, but also these moments just come naturally. The other day I had photographed this couple.
00:34:06
Speaker
um It was an engagement session. and i told I told them, oh, you know, give her a kiss on the cheek and they had their dogs and he he gave the dog a kiss on the cheek and said, oh, she has this adorable laugh. like That's so cute. this is So cute. We have to be ready for those moments. Yes, so I caught it. And her laughing was just this amazing smile. And it was just just beautiful moments. You know, so you have to be ready for this. And then engagement sessions and wedding photography.
00:34:40
Speaker
just be on your feet and ready to photograph that key special moment that but they're always going to remember. Yeah. I love that. That's a really good um sales pitch as well. How but how about in real estate? Okay. Yeah. Real estate. So for me, it's keeping in contact with my clients. um Just, it's a relationship based, um, you know, community for me, I try just try to keep in contact with all the people in my my sphere. um Keep, you know, go on a coffee date or a lunch date and just, yeah, just keep being, you know, friends and keeping things open and yeah, just focus. Yeah.
00:35:30
Speaker
I love that. What was um, I was gonna ask you, what did you take away from graphic design into your photography business and then your real estate business?
Leveraging Design Skills in Career
00:35:44
Speaker
So, um, so for my graphic design, I'm, you know, I was able to implement, you know, my graphics skills and into my real estate photography business. So,
00:35:57
Speaker
That was definitely key, you know, in order to design um my own, my own designs. Yeah, your own brand. Use like, you know, theories, like, you know, I would use like color theory. So I would use that in like, not only in graphic design, but in photography, and then keep that shifted over into real estate. So keep things, you know, this beautiful design and colors and, you know, even like,
00:36:26
Speaker
and interior designing. Yeah, I always thought like designers had such a ah one hand up like for the photography world. And it's because you don't have to always pay a designer. I know there's Canva, but Canva could be tricky too, because it's like you could be all over the place. So to have that design background is very helpful. It is. this It's been helpful for sure. What do you say? I mean, I kind of know you very well. But like what is your woo factor? What's your L factor? What makes you stand out from the rest?
00:36:54
Speaker
oh um You know, i I have a lot of diversity diversity and not only like in where I've traveled and lived, but also in my blood, you know, I ah have mixed nationalities and I try to connect with, you know, different communities and and people, you know, I always, you know, even as a kid, I would, you know, connect with people from different cultures and, um,
00:37:23
Speaker
soon. United Nations. internet Oh, I love that. Yeah, your your portfolio is extremely diverse. um I see that in you. um I guess I was gonna ask you, um tell us like what organizations you're a part of right now.
Community Involvement and Personal Connections
00:37:45
Speaker
And just like what they mean to you.
00:37:49
Speaker
Photographers, I am so thrilled to announce my new sponsors Aftershoot, an AI editing company. They do AI editing, unlimited cropping and straightening. I am seriously blown away by the precision and five hours a week I get back in my life. My life is so much better and I literally don't have any more anxiety. It's so crazy.
00:38:14
Speaker
I remember being at barbecues with my laptop because I had to get out of shoot and and that was so stressful, so not fun. And the best part about after shoot compared to their competition is that it's a monthly minimal cost, not cost per image because I am a true overshooter. I could shoot like, I don't know, 3000 photos in an engagement shoot, which is not good. But anyways, using my code in the show notes to get a 30 day trial and 20% off You're going to get in the software and just go crazy with it. And AfterShoot edits 2.0 just released, and they have a lot of new features that you are going to love. AfterShoot, I can't thank you enough for giving me back my time to focus on this podcast. Oh yeah, back to the podcast. So I am a part of Kiwanis, just helping kids.
00:39:05
Speaker
um uh, you know, getting their, um, uh, diplomas and, um, just helping, you know, young kids, you know, get through school, um, with funding and, um, so their kids and education is really important to me. And, um, also my grandma, she was part of the, the, that community of the Kawana community.
00:39:33
Speaker
Yeah, I've heard about them. um My friend, Ed, super simple marketing. He's trying to get me to be a speaker. I think I mentioned that to you before. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, Kiwanas is really big in the South Bay. um And were were you a part of something that that's how you met your boyfriend? Oh, yeah. So this is a community called Internations. So yeah, this this community, I had organized museum and gallery events. So I work with like museums and galleries to plan little, you know, events um with people from different, you know, countries. So that's amazing. And then you met your boyfriend. So yeah, I met him. And he worked with his French and yeah, we, he had, you know, messaged me on the internations app. And so
00:40:27
Speaker
We could speak French together, so I'm really happy I could connect in that level as well. so That's so interesting, just connecting the pieces backwards. um One last question before we get into rapid fire, more faster answer questions. but Speak to wedding pros listening right now and you you know you've done so much and you work so hard, you have a great work ethic. um And I'm sure it wasn't easy at times and you know trying to do the both businesses. um Speak to the hearts of them and just tell them like what they could do today to um become successful and get more leads and bookings and just make that money.
Advice for Wedding Professionals and Upcoming Plans
00:41:11
Speaker
Yeah, okay, so I would definitely recommend getting a schedule, you know, get your your planner out. However, it's digital or your paper planner and write down things on your calendar every day, you know, you know, before going to sleep, you know, get your planner out, write down your goals for the next day and have that ready and available and, you know, i just keep to it.
00:41:39
Speaker
For me, it does take little breaks in the day to to keep motivated. i go on walks or hikes. I love nature. And so I just, those mini breaks help me keep focused and give me, you know, energy, energized for the next wedding or the next, the next client I'm going to be contacting. Yeah. I mean, somehow I knew your answer was going to be like productivity related. When I saw your, uh, you know, this is your Google calendar, I was like really blown away.
00:42:12
Speaker
I was like, that's in the insane. rain really high seriously Okay, rapid fire questions. um What are you looking forward to in the next couple of months? Okay, yeah, so actually next month in September, I have a trip planned out to Paris. So it's been five years since I've been there. So I have a lot of and excitement and just memories are coming up in my mind when I think about it. And it's just and so excited for it. What is your biggest social media hack?
00:42:49
Speaker
Oh, so, um, kind of for sure. Um, this is another like YouTube video tutorial that I did, you know, it was set up. Um, I also use, you know, chat to BT a lot for my business and, you know, just set up your quotes and then put it on that a really pretty picture and then get, get your photos out, um, on the business suite, you know, using, uh, you know, the meta.
00:43:18
Speaker
So you schedule out one or two things at least and a couple of times a week. I don't have that set up for my real estate, but not for my photography yet. So I need to be posting more on my really my photography for sure. but send me that Can you send me that link and I'll share it in the show notes, the YouTube? too Sure, for sure. Yeah. let yeah let me yeah Yeah, because I know there's a lot of them, but you know, who knows if they work. So it's nice to know that someone that's did it. um A few kochi question, if you were to have ah a magic wand, where would you see your business in three months, 90 days?
00:43:58
Speaker
Yeah. So, uh, for my real estate, I would definitely want to sell at least one or two houses a week, uh, a month. like damn Yeah. At least one or two per month. Yeah. um Working with clients, you know, uh, is it, if it's, uh, residential or commercial, one of the two, you know, I've, I've done commercial deals too. So yeah, those are always fun.
00:44:25
Speaker
I love the commercial. it's It's a little less emotional, but I've helped people who who have their own companies and businesses as well just to find like a warehouse space or you know a small ah space that they could photo shoot out of. you know So I help clients like that. And then for photography, yeah, I would definitely love to get just more and more my bookings and just different photo shoots.
00:44:53
Speaker
and um transitioning from you know working with other photography companies to getting my own photos, photo clients as well. I love that. and It's been such a great experience working together and becoming really good friends and making new memories together. so I'm so happy that you're on. You did a great job. Where can everyone find you, work with you, buy a house from you? How would they reach you?
00:45:22
Speaker
ah So i you could find me on Instagram um for my ah real estate. It's Alena Perez real estate. So it's Alena dot Perez dot real dot estate. um That's the real real estate account. And then my photography is L Perez photography. So it's E L E Perez photography.
00:45:46
Speaker
at Instagram. Hey, thank you. ah Thank you for being on this podcast. You did a great job. Thank you so much, Chris. I'm so excited to share more with you and in working more together. I love it. And thank you for all your followers for listening. Appreciate you.
00:46:05
Speaker
Thanks for joining me this week on Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. Make sure to follow, subscribe, leave a review, or tell a friend about the show. Take a screenshot and post to IG. Tag me. Also, don't forget to download my free guide on how to become a lead generating machine. See you next time, wedding pros.