Creating Community and Connections: A Talk with Cristina Zavala!

Embracing Community: A Conversation with Real Estate Agent Cristina Zavala

In this episode of the Samantha Parker Show, Samantha sits down with Cristina Zavala, a prominent community figure and real estate agent in St. George, Utah. Christina discusses her journey from Mexico to the United States, the cultural adjustments she had to make, and her commitment to helping the Latino community. They delve into topics including the real estate market intricacies, the value of community and connection, and personal growth through sobriety. Christina also shares insights about the Women Influence Network, her experiences in bilingual real estate, and the importance of representation and supporting local businesses.

00:00 Welcome to the Samantha Parker Show

00:13 Meet Christina Savala: Community Advocate

00:44 Life in St. George: Sunshine and Community

01:44 Christina's Journey from Mexico to the US

02:59 Embracing Mexican Culture in the US

07:40 Christina's Real Estate Career

10:06 Parenting Challenges and Insights

11:10 Fitness and Sobriety Goals

14:59 The Power of Community and Support

17:21 Viewer Impact and Personal Reflections

17:57 Acts of Kindness and Community Influence

18:27 Heartwarming Stories and Social Media Connections

20:11 Empowering Women and Networking

28:35 Real Estate Insights and Challenges

35:20 Navigating Financial Waves as an Agent

36:35 Final Thoughts and Contact Information

Cristina Zavala Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cristinazavala.realestate?igsh=YnhhZXp1emlzZGNs

Cristina Zavala Real Estate Website: https://www.era.com/agent/detail/ut/saint-george/agents/cristina-zavala/aid-P00200000GXDCefsoYWi07UgGO05JZfuyKWmFQaw

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Transcript

 Guys, welcome back to the Samantha Parker Show today. I'm with Cristina Zavala. It's perfect. You said it correctly. Guess what? I did take Spanish in high school. Woo hoo. Point for Samantha but really Christina, I'm excited to have you because I feel like you're someone who really embodies community, especially here in St.

George where we live. You are the go-to girl for the community. Oh, thank you. I appreciate that. Especially like the Latina community, I love to help the Latino community creating bridges, connections and, helping them out with whatever their needs are. You're killing it.

But you're also a real estate agent. I am. So you sell houses? I do. And I love to help people with those needs and getting them into better places. So I'm excited. What do you love most about living here in St. George? I love that we have no snow.

We have 360 days of, sunshine and I love being close to national parks, how safe it is. Proximity to recreational areas and the community. I love the community. How long have you been here in St. George? 12 years. Me too. Really? Yes. No way. See this? This is what? Click. Click girl. You know what's funny is no one ever asks like, are you from St.

George? They ask, how long have you lived here? Very few people are natives. In our age. Bracket, they're coming from a different place, like to work or to school so you're really about building relationships, breaking barriers, and showing what's possible when we lean into connection.

So for you guys listening, this conversation is gonna really lean into the value of community. Christina, welcome to the show. Thank you so much, and thank you for having me.

I appreciate this opportunity and love to share with the community what we're all about. Where did you move from? I came from Salt Lake Ogden. Ogden a little further than Salt Lake, like 45 minutes. Okay. I'm not trying to be weird. Were you born in the us? No, I'm like Mexico coming.

Your background? Yes. You Mexico have the most gorgeous accent. Born and raised in MIC and Mexico, which is called the State of the Soul of Mexico. I moved for my brother's wedding and my mom. Lied to all of us. We were just coming for the wedding and going back to home. It was just me and my brother.

My older two sisters were already here. One was in college. My mom was do I wanna separate the family again? She dropped the bomb and she's we're gonna stay. We were devastated, to be honest with you, because we were super involved in the school out there how old were you? I was 14, about to turn 15. You were like, what are you doing? You've ruined my life. Yes. What are we doing here? No, but I had. One of my closest friends at the time, already in the same high school. How crazy is that? That is crazy.

It is crazy. And he was just there, he guided me through everything. He was shadowing me for months after, we got here. I'm very grateful for that did you know any English No. Whatsoever. I was muted. Mm-hmm. Cultural shock for sure. Food was completely different.

The environment, just the routine is completely different from where I'm from. I feel like coming from Mexico, there's probably a really vibrant culture. Absolutely. I feel like we're a little void of culture. Would you say that? Yes, and it's, something that I see and share, with people.

We don't live on the clock over there. You live more freely, less in a rush. Here you're on the clock all the time. You have to go here, be here. Work. School kids over there you do your things, but you have time to socialize daily, not just on weekends.

What was your favorite thing about Mexico? Do you still go back? I do. I go back as much as I can. Sometimes twice a year, sometimes three times a year. It depends. But I love, the food. I love my people. I love the culture. I love everything. What's your favorite food? Oh my gosh. What should I this is 20 questions.

What's your favorite thing to eat from Mexico? To eat? Oh my gosh. I would say ceviche. I love ceviche. You can tell, when it's from, it's organic and it's original, and when it's not. Little things that you miss, you can totally tell.

Yeah. See, and that's what I love, like when you talk to people who aren't from the us. Yeah. I mean, I love being American. My husband is the Army. I'm proud us girl. Absolutely. But I like talking to other people. They're like, oh, I love this. The food there and this there. But I guess what we have here is all of it.

Yeah. And then we have like from where I'm from, we export avocados, right? We're like the biggest state. Ooh, we export the most amazing organic ice cream. Are they ice cream? Oh, ice cream. I didn't know your going that way. A lot of people are like, what ice cream? If you see this brand, and I'm pretty sure 'cause it's all over the US Lamana, that's where I'm from and it's the most organic, most flavor, fruity, not.

Two over sugary, popsicles that you will ever try. Oh yeah. Very few people know that. No, I didn't. I'm gonna have to look for 'em in the store. I'll bring you some, and be like, girl, tell me if it's not true.

IS swear by these popsicles. Some people are like, what ice cream? We export ice cream, we export mezcal. My state from where I'm from, it's full of exportation. We do a lot of things other states don't, do you still have family there?

Yeah. My parents, they don't live here. Oh, your parents still? They retire. They're older, which do they retire and then bounce? They bounce immediately. They came two weeks ago, Samantha, and my dad was like, i'm ready to go back home. At least stay 10 days, two weeks at least you're already here. Shut up and enjoy the trip. He's Nope, I wanna go back home. It's too hot. Over there it is. Raining season. It was hot. And it's raining season over there, so we're opposites. And he was just missing it. And he's Nope, I'm ready to go back home.

And we're like, okay. Whatever makes you happy. Oh my God. I love when people get older. I'm like, is this gonna be me? I'm like, the trip is over. We're leaving. He's 73, Samantha. And he's always I already saw you guys. 'cause he was coming to meet my youngest little niece. She's nine months. Aw. And he's I already saw her.

We're good. Let's go. We spent every single day together. It's five of us siblings. It's 22. All of us together with the niece and nephews. Every single day we were together. It was great. It was a great week. That sounds amazing.

Whole seven days Oh, you went up to the cold part of the state. It's not even hot up there. I went for a week. I came back on a Sunday. They left on a Monday. So funny. My dad was like, I'm done. Bye. Peace. Okay.

That's really funny. Okay, Christina, what brought you to St. George then? My husband's job, he got promoted. He got a really good position and it, I was in a place, we were newlyweds and he's what about you not working? Go back to school? I was already in school, but he's check your transcript to see if you're gonna miss any credits, and if you do

maybe we will wait until you're done and if you don't, let's just do it. He tricked me into coming in. April when it's the best weather. Oh, you're like, oh my God, I love it here. Especially if you're coming from the snow. I came with a girlfriend at the time and she's Christina, you cannot miss this opportunity.

This place is amazing. Look at the landscape, look at everything. It's so beautiful. Perfect. To raise a family, and if you don't like it, you're only four hours away. You can come back at any time, yada, yada, yada, and I fell for it. Oh my gosh. First. Summer here, I wanted to move back.

If this was the same summer, if we're on the same timeline. It was like one 20 that summer. It was worse. It was worse. And I was like, I wanna move back like tomorrow. But that brought me in and I'm grateful because he escalated, in his position

we own our own business now, and here we are. In the middle of the community. I have served. With many committees and then couple of jobs, that have got me together with the community and getting to know different sectors of the community as well. So then how did you make the leap into real estate?

So it was in my head since I was 24, one of my realtors that sold us our first home, I asked her, and I said, what do you think about this? She's you will be great, but one piece of advice. Are you thinking of having family? And I said, yes. So she's maybe let's wait until your kids are full-time in school.

So you have that flexibility because this. Job is very demanding. You're on call, you work on weekends. Mm-hmm. You work on holidays. So if you have kids, it's gonna be very hard for you to be present, especially if they're in sports or other activities. You're on call. Just think about that. So I waited and here we are now.

My kids are full-time in school and I'm excited to take on full-time now. How old are your kids? Five and nine. Five and Nice. Yeah. So last year when I started he was pretty part-time ish in preschool. So I was part-time ish in in real estate and now I'm full-time. Oh, that's cool.

Yeah, I'm excited. You wanna know how old my kids are? How old? 20 and 14 girl. Okay. This is a lie. Is this real? Yeah. Samantha, how old are you? 40 girl. There's no way how old? I just felt like I got old. How old are you? I'm 38. But I mean, like girl, you have 'em young, like I bet you whatever. When they see 'em with you, they think they're your siblings.

No one's ever said that, but I will take that compliment. I would say that, yeah. In a heartbeat. What? Good for you young mom goals. It was rough. Think about me like when they turn 20, I'll be almost 60. I know people my age having kids.

I know, and I'm like, are you okay? Do you need support? What can I do for you? I told my sister, she has a friend that she's over 40 and she just had a little baby. And I said, is she mentally okay? She needed something to spark her life again. Mm-hmm. Or can we walk together?

Can I hold, the baby? She said, no, Christina, she just waited and she thought it was a perfect time. And yeah, there really isn't a perfect time, never. So whenever young. Persons ask that question I'm not ready. I don't feel like it's time for me. It's never the perfect, it just has to happen.

Hopefully you wanna be stable. Oh, absolutely. I planned both of my kids, but I never felt ready, it's one of those things that I don't think you can be prepared enough. It just happens.

And you get prepared. On the way. You're never ready. Okay. But let me be the first to help you. No one did this for me and hopefully someone has for you, but I always thought the hardest part of kids was when they were toddlers, and people would be like, oh, when they grow up, see, I've heard these from my siblings all the time. This has been the most mentally hardest season, having an adult child. Really? Yeah, because they just mentally tell me why. They just. Tell me the truth. No. They stress it's her story to tell, so I always, on the podcast, I'm vague about it.

But yeah, she didn't make some of the best choices. She's on a really good track right now. But we had to pour a lot into her. The more they grow, the more the stresses that they bring you and the more the worried mm-hmm.

That you will have. Just because they're not under your wing anymore, your decisions are not yours and they're gonna make their choices. And that's hard. It's hard to watch, when you know they're gonna crash, but it's been cool to watch her rebuild.

I'm like, oh absolutely. Oh yeah, you have a, you can do these. I didn't know, but you can do these. I have to say this summer has been one of the most mentally challenging summers. Really? Like for my family unit. That I've probably experienced, but I'm pretty sure you guys are like evolving in growing.

Oh yeah. In bonding. Even more like last Friday. And I mean, you know my story. I'm sober, I don't drink, and all I wanted to do last Friday, girl, I wanna be like you. I wanna become that person. No, you don't wanna be like me. I have friends, that just texted me this morning and they're like, Hey, let's go have a drink tonight,

mm-hmm. And I said, why can't I just be a good girl sober completely throughout the whole week? I don't know what your story was. So like a drink. I don't know if that's a big deal to you. I do drink a little socially, right?

Mm-hmm. But it's like my goal this year and my birthday just passed and I said it this year. I want to be. Sober. I want to be good, active, more healthy. In that aspect. It will change your life, right? And I watch your videos and I'm like, I think this is a sign. God just wants me to hang out with her.

So I quit completely. Now I'm like, Hey, do you wanna go take a five 30 spin class? And then there you go. Yeah, that's what I want. It's different. Last Friday I went and did a fitness class over at om. Nice. Speaking of the community, have you gone over there and tried this?

Not yet. Where's that at? It's on the other side of town. Dinosaur crossing. But have you seen what it is? No. You have to get in these suits and you're naked underneath. I was like, can I keep my sports bra on?

You sweat so much. Yes, but listen. Okay. They put a battery pack on you and the whole time you're working out, what it does is it shocks your muscle groups, so you're getting zapped as you're doing a full workout. Wow. Oh wow. Okay. Yes. How did you feel after it? I felt good. I had a really hard time getting the suit off because I was soaking wet, and the other thing too is they were like, don't wear your sports bra. And we were doing Pilates moves and I just felt everywhere I kept reaching in and pulling my boob off. That would be hard. Especially if you're sweating so much.

Yes. And I know that's the purpose of the suit, right? No actually remember those ab things you'd put on? Yeah. Supposed to give you a six pack ab. It's basically the same thing, but it's all your muscle groups. How did you feel after? I want to hear the after.

They told me, they were like, you're gonna be so sore. And the girl next to me was like, the last time I did this, it took me five days to recover. And I just looked at her and I was like, this better not take me five days to recover. I have no time for that. Yeah. I was like, I have daily compromise.

I'm like, I need to do a long run tomorrow. But I have to admit I really wasn't that sore. Okay, good. And it made me feel good's because I can tell I've made a lot of progress. How many calories did you burn? I don't know. Thousands. I don't think so. I do feel like it ups your workout.

They're telling me it's three hours in the gym is the 25 minute class, but I don't believe that. I wanna go try it with you. I feel like you need a buddy 'cause you're like, what's going on?

I needed a mental support friend, but I was there on my own. How did you find out about these classes? They invited me to come take a class. Oh, cool. Yeah. I wanna come and try you. They did a little influencer night. It was fun. They had snacks and stuff. Listen to you. She is like VIP everywhere she goes.

I do get invited quite a few places. Now you know who to take me. Yes. It was Friday night and that's what I did on a Friday night. And then I stopped by Olive Garden and I got lasagna to go went home and we were all sitting at the table, as a family eating and I'm like, oh, we're in a good spot again.

That's what I love because typically your hangouts are Fridays and Saturdays, right? And I love to go to church on Sundays, I don't wanna feel off on Sundays. That's where you choose, right? Do I wanna drink today or can I just be good for the night? It's hard. Yeah. And to me, it's not like being good, it's being healthy mm-hmm. And taking care of yourself. It, yes. If you can quit drinking alcohol, but for me to go through and work a program. That's been wild.

. I'm gonna be added to your list, I'm excited Do you girl watch me. I'm not judging you. Do you watch me? I just wanna cut off not completely, but as much as I can so I can be more, fit. That's my goal for the year. I did that. I said that for a couple years too. Let's do it now.

I'm doing it for sure. Now you've committed, I'm gonna play this video back. I'm like, you said, what's the date today? What? On September 3rd? Third. I will remember. Trust me, I will remember, and I'll be like, we have a weakness. Cindy was there.

The video, we have the video for you. It'll be awful. No, you don't be good. I think we make our choices, and that's what I love about community. You become accountable, right? Mm-hmm. They hear you. They follow your footsteps sometimes and you become an inspiration. Yesterday I posted about this lady and her husband, how she sent me this video and I said, oh my gosh, you guys are stepping out of your comfort zone.

I'm so proud of you. And she said that, right? Thanks for the inspiration, this and this and that. And I feel like that's so impactful in such a small community. You said you can run out of. Town. What type of influence and what type of impact do you wanna create here in the community when it's so small?

Oh, I love that. When you think of community, how do you define that? Do you think of it as your own little ecosystem or what does that mean? I think we're all interlinked. I feel it's more people that you don't know and you are.

Extending your hand to help and also making them feel like they belong and creating a safe space. It's more than likely what I like to do, for people and knowing that they can open about ev, they can talk about anything without judgment. That's when community becomes stronger and when you need support and can offer support, you also have the circle of people who can.

Also create more support, out of your sphere. I think that's powerful. I love that. I try when I see something new opening here or something like that. I try whatever it is. Even if I can just share it on my Instagram or something, social media, something I feel like.

Makes a tiny impact, at least. Oh, it makes a big impact. For example, you're telling me about this class, right? Had no clue that existed. And if I go, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna post about it because I know I'm gonna be, you're gonna be laughing at yourself.

You're gonna let tell you when you put on the suit, you're gonna be humbled. I'll be like. Yeah. Why did I come? That's why I'm saying I'll go with you. No, but I feel like little videos, even from people that, for example, I'm gonna post about this after this and, and it'll be like, Hey, it was such a great experience, people will look you up even if it's just for curiosity or whatever it is.

Mm-hmm. But you can gain a follower and you can create a change in that follower's life. You never know. And you post a lot of. Inspirational stuff in the morning. So it's how community grows, how we connect

and that's why I'm so passionate about talking about my own sobriety. It's not because I think people shouldn't drink, it's about the changes it has created in your life. I'll have people reach out to me and they're like, I've been watching your videos.

Could I go to an AA meeting with you? And I'm like, yeah, I've been watching your videos that helps me stay sober this weekend and that's what matters to me. I always think of you like when I'm about to, like on Saturdays, with friends and family when I'm out of town and I'm like, do I wanna feel that way tomorrow?

Do I wanna feel like Samantha Parker so great on Sunday mornings? I swear I think about that. And you don't think about. That is impactful. . Especially, I'm gonna get a sticker. Would Samantha drink tonight? No. No big, no capitalize. Hey, I mean, even if that just helps you be more mindful, that's awesome.

Yeah, . And little tiny, acts of kindness. When you bring someone to, like for example, I co-host a radio show on Fridays, right? I know your radio show looks fun and it's so much fun. I'm gonna bring you. And they come and they hear little tiny things or we compliment them and we don't know how their days going or their week, it's at the end of the week.

And it's just like how that creates a change in their lives for the whole. The rest of the day or the rest of the weekend, mm-hmm. And it's just what we're trying to accomplish, just changing one life at a time. Oh, that's beautiful. Yeah. Someone sent me a video today from on Instagram, Uhhuh, and it literally made me cry like I was drawing over to kiln and I was like, oh my God, what was it about?

So this guy had texted one of his friends, Uhhuh, and he realized his friend was still in bed at 2:00 PM he is like, why are you in bed at 2:00 PM Are you good? And the guy's not really, but this is where I'm at, yeah. And he was like, oh, they finished their conversation and then he's that's really weird.

He was in bed at 2:00 PM So he went to his Facebook page. He's obviously over 35. 'cause I looked him up on Facebook. It was really funny the way he told the story, Uhhuh. And he said he saw a random post where the guy was like, I love tacos. So it clicked in his head that he was gonna DoorDash him some tacos.

Oh. And then his friend called him crying eating these tacos and he is like, dude, it's just a taco. Yeah. And he goes, no, that taco changed my life. That someone still cares about me. Yeah. See, there you go. It's specifically, when I, if you ever go eat with me, you will notice that

I am trying to accomplish something very organic and genuine. I don't like to say things that I don't feel, for example, if I like her boots, I will let her know I like her boots. Do you like her boots? I love her boots.

Say it. I don't keep it. And that's something that I encourage people to do. If you like somebody's hair or lashes, let them know. That may change their whole perspective of Hey, I look good. You know what I mean? And I think little tiny gestures, it's like the tacos. It could be a candy, tea, a glass of water.

Mm-hmm. You never know. And and that's what we're all about. It could be a post on social media. Exactly. And it's just like mentioning them. Or just letting people know about their business. I have a lot of friends in business, and so I try to refer them as much as possible and I know that can make a difference in their, oh, it makes a huge difference.

I'm like, please, tell people who I am. And vice versa, I wanna be in rooms where women are telling other women about exactly. That's why I'm like, Hey, I gotta get you into the directory. I wanna interview you. So people find out, so many people, Samantha, in this town, we are not so much into the retirement community, but we still have those people living here and they don't know how to navigate social media.

They don't know how to make a post. They don't know how to. Outgrow their audience, even if they want to, because they don't have the tools. But you can do that for them, you can advertise for them, you can guide 'em into a bigger picture. And I'm like, they need you. That's why I wanna bring you.

There's this really cool older lady on TikTok. She's gotta be like late seventies, her husband passed away a couple years ago. Do you hang out on TikTok? Yes, I do. Every night she does snack time. Oh, but her on TikTok, Uhhuh, but her and her husband used to do it like they would have snack time right before bed, which is adorable by the way.

But now she does it on TikTok and talks to the audience. Ooh. And she's grown so much, but I it's not about the growth, but she's getting presents from people and she'll get on there and be like, 'cause she was so lonely, Uhhuh, she just started TikTok. I thought that was pretty cool.

Is that fun to send it to me? I went to watch her. Snack time. Something I can't remember, but I'll send it to you. She's so cute. She's little things right? Southern lady. So she's got that southern drawl. Boom. Yeah, I watched this lady, she talks about how women should pay attention when they're starting into dating someone, and she's harsh, but she's yet so fierce, I wish I would've known this, or I could have advised this to a friend.

Not having much luck dating, because they're not dating the right people, but these ladies, so in your face that you're like, oh my gosh, I need to send this to my girlfriend, or I need to send this to such and such, some people might think, oh, it's lame.

I don't wanna watch that. And some people will take it like, oh my gosh, this is something I needed to hear. And that's why. Creators, right? I say be yourself because someone might need you. You don't know consistency is everything right? On social media, but to a point, you know your content, right?

It has to be intentional and I would say. With a purpose, why are you posting these? I have a lot of people who post randomly like I do most of the time, but sometimes in my description or somewhere in between the lines, I have a message, right? Mm-hmm.

It's just like why people follow me or why people think that. It could be inspirational. And I think, anything that comes to your mind, if you feel it in your gut that you should post it. Post it. I've told people that have struggled, like they know they have a message, but like they're getting in their own way.

Obviously you go to church, so you'll relate to this, but I might sit down in the morning and ask God, what does the world need to hear from me today? Because someone's gonna need to hear what you have to say. And it's tiny little things that people don't realize.

This person is struggling but they were waiting to hear those words. Some people may feel like this isn't for me. And it's okay. You're not for everybody. We're not built to be for everybody. But if you can impact one person, like I said at a time, that's more than enough. You don't need to be in everybody's.

Life or a savior you don't have to be that. Even focusing on community too maybe is there someone I need to reach out to today? Or someone that could use a hi, hello. Or just, put someone in my awareness who might need mention today. Exactly.

For those of you guys listening, the Women Influence Network is here locally in St. George, Utah. Tell us a little bit about that it's a group of women. We have a board and we host a monthly meeting and one month we do networking inviting any woman in the community. We also welcome men, but mostly it's women.

It's the women influencer. Yeah. Some men that come, they're okay with the room being full of women. We don't care how old you are, we don't care what your background is, what you do for a living, we just wanna. Create community for you. And that's what's beautiful about it because we bring keynote speakers every other month and they speak about different aspects of life.

We bring also professional people who can bring us like workshops in a way. That people can make notes and grow and connect and just create resources as well, because a lot of them work for. Organizations, that they might be needing something like an intern. We always advertise there what, what's your wants and needs, at the beginning or at the end of the meeting.

Some of them are like looking for people or offering jobs or they're in the need of finding a job and we have someone in the room already knowing, that person. So we create community that way, we have. Amazing. Events where we just hang out and decompress from life and there's a lot of moms there, so it's just like we exchange, worries and concerns about our kids and stuff like that.

Yeah. Every time I go and I'm gonna make it more of a priority to be there, so I'm glad that you're here. Yeah. 'cause it's now it's in the top of my head, but every time I go, it's incredible. Last time you guys had, a younger girl. She's Latina, yes. And she makes like the treats.

, What's that called? Ese Botana. Yeah, but what's that called? The elote? Yeah. El Lotes. Like the straight corn? Yeah. But she does like the Mexican candy. Yeah. Is it called something different? I don't know. I feel like I'm Turing. It munchies. I think it's called munchies. But they put the.

What's the chamoy? Izzy? Yep. Chamoy. I'm like, yep, please. I come on. Tell me. They put like the chamoy. I'm just trying to think what, because she sells a lot of things, the squeezy stuff and then tahin on the candies and she sells it. Yeah. But her story was so great. I message her after it's impactful.

The things she'd gone through was what I went through going, leaving my ex when I was Oh wow. A young, mm-hmm. That's where you share the story and you connect. Yeah. It's the connection, so I had dmd her and I was like, Hey, like I went through a lot of. What you went through,

but now I'm 40 it was such a good conversation. I think you guys changed her life and gave her a lot of confidence by giving her a platform to share her story. She shared it. And Samantha, I invited her randomly.

This is how it happened. We went to do a motivational talk at Dixie High, and she got randomly invited I think it was like on a Wednesday and the event one summit event was here. Mm-hmm. And Colette Cox gave me a couple of tickets, and I had one that canceled last minute.

 I said, what are you doing tomorrow? I have an extra ticket. Do you wanna come? She's of course. So she went and she met Debbie there, and then she met Colette and Debbie. They're part of. Women influenced network. Colette runs with the Governor's Office of Opportunity and she was like, Hey, I've been coaching.

She heard her story at Win. And she's I think you have a chance to win the competition. Yeah, that's right. She won. But that's where she heard it, and that's where, like I said, little wind of, of opportunity take you to these massive doors that you didn't even know could be possible for you.

She got interviewed by one of the state main newspaper, I can't think of the name. Was it the Tribune, salt Lake Tribune? I think so. And this was only a month ago. One thing led to another and she was like, wow, I never thought this was gonna happen to me.

Yeah. And, and there she is. I know she's incredible. She was trying to make money for her and her kid 'cause she was leaving. Her addict ex. Yeah. And she started slinging treats. On Facebook lives. Boom. And she's booked all the time.

She sells out all the time. She, yeah. She was saying she like goes to the car dealership and charges them like thousands to do a setup. Yeah. She does open houses for major builders now. Mm-hmm. And she does festivals. She does a lot of little things, but I feel like her drive has taken her to so many places, but also her openness, to do different things and not shut down just because someone says, oh, that's lame.

That's not gonna work. Or I can find this anywhere else. Like, why are you going to, this is not gonna, yeah. Just. Go to a different level and she is the proof that's not true. Yeah. That anything could happen if you really put your mind into it it's really easy to be like, on the surface, be like, no, that, side comment didn't bother me.

Exactly. It can really eat at you if you let it. Absolutely. And that's what we do, like a, a woman influence network. I, we try to embrace and, make everybody feel. Welcome and Boulder Roy. Forward as well. I'm part of that committee and we're working with people with, child abuse, domestic violence, this is statewide, but we're starting to do the coalition here in Washington County.

There's so many opportunities to be involved in the community and connect with other women. Oh, and I love how you're actually out there doing it. You're not just talking about it, you're doing it. Yeah. It's inspiring and that's what I like to do. Like Samantha, I don't like to do the talk and talk.

I look to do the walk, because I cannot inspire other people just by talking, they see me doing it and like we're doing this event, in October, one of my friends sat yesterday and she messaged me and she's you are the only Mexican in the list.

Why are you the only Mexican in all the communities? I'm like. Because I'm the only one open to do it, but I'm always inviting them to be part of us and to be, part of the movement and create more opportunities for other people to be part of. Yeah. Let's talk about that. So representation obviously really matters, how do you feel the Latina community is represented here in Southern Utah? I think, there could be more. Back to your question, why real estate? I felt like there was a lack of, bilingual. People, agents, but specifically advertising in Spanish, making sure that our people is being heard and they understood the whole process from zero to a hundred,

you weren't getting screwed over buyer consultation to the closing, and making sure they understood every single contract. I translated so many documents, ERA has been on business for 40 years and there's so many things that. Haven't been translated. I only have translated a couple of them because I use them, but I translate as much as I can, yeah. According to what I need. But people, when they come to me, they feel at home. They don't feel like, oh my gosh, what am, they're walking into eggs, shelfs because they know exactly what they're signing. They know exactly what, what's gonna be the process like, and it's, it's a big decision too, and it's a big decision that includes a lot of money.

Mm-hmm. It's sometimes their life savings. I have to be honest, I don't know what I'm signing. I'm lucky I have a close family member who has always done our loans, and he's telling me whether or not, yeah. Is this convenient? Is this gonna be, is what I should do Exactly in favorable to you?

When I came into the industry, I said, I'm going to surround myself with bilingual professionals because I don't want them to, with me having this conversation here, and then boom, I, I leave them or let 'em into a lender that is not speaking their language, that cannot communicate what's going on with interest rates, with locks, with buy downs, with everything.

What chances do they have with different programs that they offer, right? Yeah. So I feel like I've been very blessed to have found those individuals, like my lender, the inspector for the inspections the title lady they make it all feel like they're important because they are right.

I don't want them to be treated like, oh, that's another client. Just sign here, sign here, sign here. That has happened to me where I'm like, girl, I'm giving you business. You should treat me like. An important person because I am, I'm contributing to your growth. So I have switched, a couple of things there, but I feel like I'm in a very good space where I ring my clients.

They feel important, they feel heard, understood. They're at ease. They're stress free when they go back home. That's important to me. Even, not even the language barrier, but just different places do different things.

Yeah. Different D So if I was going overseas and buying a house. Yeah. For example, in Europe, they move, they take their kitchen. Oh my goodness. I would die if I didn't know that. You walk in and there's no kitchen, it's a huge investment.

One of the most expensive things to build in the house is the kitchen. You know what, what is with that? It is like the cabinets, all the appliances, they just take it. I did not know that. That's interesting. Yeah. And a lot of, places like they'll, it's like modular units and they like take the kitchen with them.

That's crazy. Yeah. That's interesting. I wonder, I would have to Google it. Did you not watch House Hunters growing up? Mm, I don't remember really, but maybe. I've watched a lot of house hunters think about taking one of the things from the house. What would you take, Samantha, oh God, from my house. Now, what room? Oh, am I taking a whole room? I don't know, like a built-in. That's weird. . I'm like, should I take the air conditioner? Honestly, I'm gonna be honest with you. I have walked into some scenarios that I'm like, was that that important to them?

Like little things that you see on the walls and you walk in on the final walkthrough. They're gone and you're like, oh my gosh, what are these holes? Yes. Oh my gosh. This was not supposed to be emptied, the first house we bought, we had a really weird situation where. Like when the house was great and when we did our final walkthrough, they had trashed things, including leaving dogs locked in rooms.

So all the carpets were ruined. Oh my goodness. And we did end up getting, new carpet and like they had to pay for that. Did they pay for it? We had to have a cleaner come in and I was removing trash bags of stuff it was so weird 'cause everything was fine and normal.

What appeared to be a nice, normal, family. Family with kids. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, it was shocking and I was like, I didn't know, like this would be a thing. So I was having to go over and I had to scrub out. There was like ketchup inside, stuck in the fridge. I mean, it was so bad.

I've seen some, and I was shocked, and my real agent kept being like, this is not normal. And when we moved into our next house, I feel like our karma finally cut up. It was so clean and so nice. But when we moved out of our house, like as soon as we were moving out, 'cause we did, buy and sell.

Which is stressful too, by the way. My god. Oh absolutely. Someone should have got me a therapist. Hey, call me. I have a, I own a moving company. Just call us. Tell us where, everything goes. You're done. For the timing, of the sell. And the buy. Oh my God. That's stressful.

It's a rush. It's a rush because we have deadlines. They happen so quickly. We didn't know, so we were kind of like, I think we might be able to move Thursday. Then it was like, we've moved. You gotta be out because they have to take position. We had cleaners come in as we were driving away, so we didn't do any of that because I'm like, I would never leave a house like this for anybody.

See, you're conscious. And I'm happy that there's people that think about how would I feel if I was the one coming in, right? Mm-hmm. But some buyers or sellers are like, this is what you're gonna get and it's okay because we're moving away as well, yeah, I get it. It is. It's a real estate who knows what was going on in their lives too.

Exactly because you don't know, there's so many reasons why people buy and sell, mm-hmm. They could have been losing everything from I know. Exactly. Exactly. It's like losing someone, holding on a thread and it's like losing someone, filing for bankruptcy, divorce, or, you, you name it, yeah. There's obviously pleasant ones where you are upgrading, where your career is taking you somewhere, or you're downsizing, you're upgrading, little things, but you never know what the situation is. I, I know the house we bought. Don't ask me how I know this, but how do you know these?

Yeah. Oh, I'll never tell. I do know the house that we bought Uhhuh. It was originally on the market, and I loved it I was like, let's put an offer in then they pulled it off. A few months later it came back on Uhhuh and our house hadn't gone under contract, so I was like, it's meant to be, and it ended up working out. You waited. But what happened was, they were getting divorced and they're like, let's work on it. And then ultimately they were like, we're not, it's like it goes in a wave. And that's what a lot of people don't get about our industry. It goes in waves of emotional.

Moments where you're like, we're all in. Then you think about it, you go back home, you talk to your significant other, and they're, not ready for it. Then it's poof, we're not ready yet. Then they're ready again. Boom. The house is already sold. You have to, as the agent, have to navigate through all of that holding hands with your client, and you have to have the compassion, the patience.

People think, it's you look pretty, you show the house, it's done. Oh my gosh. No, there's, there's so much behind doors. There was a few times when I had total meltdowns too, yeah. It's a big purchase. One of the biggest purchase of your life. Yeah. So you're also dealing with anything, relationship issues are gonna come up.

Mm-hmm. But you're dealing with one of the main things, shelter as a human being. Exactly. And then financial is coming Inion. Exactly. It's like the three that you're like, and it just goes like this, Samantha, every single time it's like going in a rollercoaster and you hoping for the best.

You're not gonna crash because it has to stop. But you're writing it again and it's every single time. It's going up and down. How have you learned to navigate the financial train of being an agent? I've always wondered, 'cause you guys will get a big chunk, that It might, and I think it's, it's preparing because it goes in waves right now, the whole summer was stagnant. Yes. For most of us, just because. Interest rates were high. Administration was up. People are in a scarcity mindset right now of not knowing what to expect if they're gonna keep their job or what's gonna happen with economy.

Right now we're seeing things taking off, thank God, finally, because interest rates are dropping, people are moving, we're getting calls. Again, people who were thinking about buying at the end of the year, they're coming back to do it now. So it's preparing for those months who are just stagnant and just be ready.

Don't spend it out just because you are having a great month, because you can make tons of money. But it's just like. Watch yourself because you have to pay taxes. Budget it out. And there's things, unexpected things that happen too. You know what, if you get more listings, you have to buy a lot of things as well.

Your signage. A lot of things that comes with it. Mm-hmm. Training, traveling, you name it. Yeah. So you probably learned a lot about yourself financially too. Oh, absolutely. You have to be consistent and observant about the market so you know what to expect, what's gonna happen to you as well as an agent.

Yeah, I love that. Yeah. Okay. Anything else you wanna share? No. Just be compassionate. Be kind. Be yourself. I think that's the most important thing. Be yourself. There's no one like you in the world, and people are waiting to meet you. I love that. Yeah, that's, that's me and I, I'm here to help you and assist you.

If you wanna buy, sell, or invest, you know I'm here. Okay. So where do we find you? You find me on Instagram, Christina Zavala, or at Christina Zavala at Real Estate, or Christina Valla realtor. Just find me at Christina Sava and you will find me.

My links there for my business. We'll have links in the show notes. I was thinking you were gonna pull out some cool number. You're like one 800. Call my phone number at (435) 772-8463. That's my Google number. I was never give my personal number. I was like, wow. That was, that was brave. That's my Google number.

That's my signage number. Perfect. That's where they can find me. You can always DM me too and I'll, I'll get you there. DM me. Yeah, you can message me. It's fine. Thanks for being here. And then also just thanks for being a voice in the community. Oh, thank you.

Representing your community as well and taking the time to sit with me today. Thank you Samantha. I appreciate your time, your space, your creating difference. I'm so impacted by the little things that you post and I gotta be honest, go and follow her. Thank you, Cindy, for being so kind and amazing.

Cindy's our podcast producer. She's chilling. I love this because the environment here is just nice. It's calm, it's not in a rush. I haven't recorded in this room. We've been using the big dark podcast room downstairs. I think this is perfect. This is nice, huh?

The contrast of the colors and it just makes it, and then your jacket is Ooh. I came in green and it's perfect. It's a little overcast today, but then we get the light from the windows. I was like, this is, and we got a table. I love it. This is cute. Thank you so much.

I appreciate your time and everything you do. All right. We'll see you guys next week or whenever you can binge the podcast.