Mom of 3 Loses Life Savings Then Starts a Business Helping Others

Ana Barajas, mom of 3 and co-founder of Build Safe Escrow, shares her harrowing experience when a contractor vanished with Ana's life savings during a home renovation while she was pregnant.

She details her journey from devastation to empowerment and how she was able to turn her painful experience into a mission to protect others in the construction and renovation industry. 

Ana’s conversation with Bring Up Business host Kaila Sachse covers themes of trust, the emotional toll of betrayal, the importance of mindset, and the challenges of balancing work and family life. 

Ana emphasizes the need for self-care and the significance of listening to one's gut feeling in both parenting and business. 

She also discusses the services offered by Build Safe Escrow and her aspirations to standardize protective measures in the industry.

More About Ana Barajas
Ana Barajas is the Co-founder of Build Safe Escrow, a company bringing financial protection and trust to construction and renovation projects through milestone-based payments. Her journey began when a contractor vanished with her life savings during a home renovation; an experience that sparked her mission to create a safer path for others. With a background in corporate marketing and an MBA, Ana brings sharp strategy and deep personal conviction to her work. Today, she leads Build Safe Escrow in empowering property owners, contractors, and developers with escrow solutions that protect project funds and keep projects on track.

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Transcript

Kaila Sachse (00:01.93)
Hello and welcome to the Bringing Up Business podcast where we dive into the world of business and parenting. I am your host, Kayla Sashay, toddler mom and owner of a creative and marketing agency called Umari Digital that specializes in websites, marketing campaigns and branding. Today's guest, Ana Barajas is a mom to three beautiful kids and she is on a mission to protect people who are renovating real estate

or building new properties. Anna is the co-founder of Build Safe Escrow, a company bringing financial protection and trust to construction and renovation projects through milestone-based payments. Her journey began when a contractor vanished with her life savings, I can't even imagine, during a home renovation, an experience that sparked her mission to create a safer path for others.

Ana Barajas (00:52.408)
Right. I know.

Kaila Sachse (01:00.32)
With a background in corporate marketing and an MBA, brings sharp strategy and deep personal conviction to her work. Today, she leads Build Safe escrow in empowering property owners, contractors, and developers with escrow solutions that protect project funds and keep projects on track. Ana, we have so much to unpack here. I can't even imagine your story.

Ana Barajas (01:26.964)
I know, I I know. Thank you. Thank you, Kyla. Thank you so much for having me here. I appreciate you having this space for us to tell our story. And thank you so much.

Kaila Sachse (01:29.272)
my gosh, okay, but first, welcome to the show. Let's welcome you, hi.

Kaila Sachse (01:44.084)
Of course, of course. Thanks for being here. Okay, we need to dive into this. Tell us what happened. What happened with your home renovation? The contractor vanished? Like, what?

Ana Barajas (01:54.91)
Yes, I mean, it's one of those horror stories that you never hear about. And then when it happened, I started hearing everybody about, know, everybody. It's so common. But unfortunately, what you see on Instagram, what you see on Facebook, it's all the beautiful stories, people picking up their floors, you know, what trends in paint.

and all these beautiful things, but the horror stories, of course, you never hear about. And unfortunately, that happened to me and my family. I just found out I was pregnant with my third baby. And so we knew that we needed a bigger home.

Kaila Sachse (02:23.03)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (02:34.698)
So my husband and I started looking for a home. Everything was out of our budget. Everything that we wanted was out of our budget. So we decided let's find a big lot with an older house. We'll renovate it, maybe add square footage.

We thought it was super simple. We have always been very hardworking people, so we had some good savings. We also had to sell another property that we had for investment, to gather all the funds that we needed for this huge, huge project. We vetted the contractor. We interviewed five contractors. We thought we were doing everything by the book.

Kaila Sachse (03:15.816)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (03:16.738)
The contractor that we ended up hiring had a few projects in the neighborhood, so we went to speak to those people. We thought we did everything that was possible, that you had to do in order to have a successful project. And yeah, he came, we liked him, we hired him. We liked that he had the project.

Kaila Sachse (03:34.505)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (03:45.39)
separated into stages. So we were going to give him deposit here for these stage. Once he finished, he would move on to different stages. And that's how we started. We welcomed the employees that he had. I mean, I honestly, with all my heart, I tried to be the best person. So, so because they were building my home, so I treated them with all the respect and love that you can treat a stranger. And

Kaila Sachse (04:08.893)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (04:15.47)
And they started, the city had to come for inspections. The cities take so long for, you know, the bureaucracy of that. It's another story. So they were taking so long. So this guy started, you know, they know how to talk. So he started, listen, let's start ordering some things because the city's taking so long. So give me a.

this deposit here. So we started just giving him checks, you know, we never thought we never in a million years thought that he was going to just vanish with our life savings. And in the middle of the project, he left, he stopped answering the phone calls, the employees started not showing up.

Kaila Sachse (04:49.362)
Yeah. Yeah.

Ana Barajas (04:59.318)
We had a few numbers from them because they were coming every day and we called and they said no he hasn't paid us in over a month and we're like what do mean we already paid him so we started hearing from all these people from the people from the neighbors like hey have you heard from this guy and we started with my husband my god we were scammed

Kaila Sachse (04:59.412)
Mm.

Kaila Sachse (05:23.283)
Ana Barajas (05:24.458)
And it took so long for us to realize that what had happened, that we had to move on and finish it ourselves, that we said, no, this guy, maybe he's sick, maybe something happened. Like, honestly, didn't wrap my head around the fact that he came. I was pregnant. My belly was huge. I had other two babies, you know?

Kaila Sachse (05:33.938)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (05:39.762)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (05:49.8)
He like he saw our family like he played with her. He's like, how can be a guy like that? Just grab our money and run And so it was it was just like a heartbreak. It was just like the biggest heartbreak of my life I couldn't it was like I had lost all faith in humanity. Like how can these happen to me, you know to a good person? That's that's that was my whole thing and another

Kaila Sachse (05:51.986)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (05:57.33)
Right.

Kaila Sachse (06:10.138)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (06:14.4)
Another problem that I had personally was that I was the one giving out the checks. I was the one. And I can understand now, because after investigating and talking to people, these type of things are the ones that can break a marriage, that can break up a family. like, you gave the checks, you wanted to hire him, you know, it starts the pointing the fingers.

Kaila Sachse (06:31.485)
Mm-hmm. yeah

Kaila Sachse (06:39.795)
Hmm.

Ana Barajas (06:40.14)
Fortunately, in my case that didn't happen, but I can see how that can happen. So we were completely devastated. We had no money to finish our home. We were paying two mortgages at the same time. I mean, it was just pure chaos. It was just pure devastation and chaos. I'm, I...

Kaila Sachse (06:45.265)
yeah.

Kaila Sachse (06:50.278)
No.

Ana Barajas (07:00.814)
I would go to bed crying. I would wake up crying. I was thinking about that guy 24-7 until I said, no, I cannot do this anymore. He took my money and I'm not going to let him take anything else. He's not going to take my money. He's not going to take my mind. He's not going to take anything else from me. Because I started how my own

Kaila Sachse (07:03.378)
Mm-hmm.

Kaila Sachse (07:08.391)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (07:14.342)
Yeah. Yes.

Kaila Sachse (07:21.819)
Yes!

Ana Barajas (07:24.27)
You know how it was translating into my kids. Sometimes they would see me crying. You know, it was just one of those things that I said, no, this has to stop. So with my husband, we said, you know what, let's remove the bandaid. Let's remove it. Once and for all, it hurts. Yes, this guy says, camera. It's so common. It happens.

Kaila Sachse (07:34.129)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (07:41.349)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (07:45.99)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (07:46.018)
We had to cash our 401ks. We had to get a loan. We had to do all the things that we never thought we had to do. And we finished with a good contractor. and after we finished the house, I was like, okay, we have to look for, this guy has to, you know, there has to be a law that he has to pay us back or pay for what he did. And nothing, nothing. We were on our own.

Kaila Sachse (07:55.291)
Wow.

Kaila Sachse (08:09.977)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (08:14.38)
We went to the police, the police said it's a civil matter, it's so common. Everybody would be like, that's so common. We went to see lawyers. We had this very good lawyer that said to us, he said, listen, even if I try, it's gonna cost you this much money. You're never gonna see your money back.

Kaila Sachse (08:31.292)
Yeah. Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (08:36.316)
There's no point.

Ana Barajas (08:36.322)
These people are used to closing those companies, closing that LLC, opening a new one. Usually they rent the licenses, so there's no trace, you know, they, they, or they get a license from their cousin, you know, things like that. They're, they're used to, it's like a pyramid scheme. They're used to grabbing font, font, font from A to finish B to then getting C to finish D. And unfortunately we were at the bottom of that pyramid.

and there was no funds to finish our house. So I couldn't believe, I couldn't believe, and finally the contractor that we hired, that he was a decent, good human being that finished our home, he had also had issues with collecting payment. So I couldn't believe that this was an industry that moved millions, if not trillions of dollars a year in the US. And...

Kaila Sachse (09:05.213)
my god.

Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (09:29.554)
So much money. Yeah.

Ana Barajas (09:32.684)
And there was no safeguard. There was no safeguard in place. It was just like a trust and handshake. That's all it is in this industry. And the amount of people telling me their stories, I thought my story was hard, but I heard even more horrible stories. And so I started looking for a solution. That's when I said, listen, he's not going to take my money. He took my money, but he's not going to take anything else from me.

Kaila Sachse (10:00.421)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (10:00.638)
I started looking for a solution and I started focusing less in the problem and what had happened to me, you know, like I was a victim here and I started focusing more on a solution. And in looking for that solution was when we realized there's nothing out there.

Kaila Sachse (10:10.286)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Ana Barajas (10:18.894)
And I partnered with a very good friend. She's a very successful real estate attorney. She's been the CEO of a Nescro and Tidal company for over a decade. So we decided to create this new product for homeowners and for contractors and just for the construction and renovation industry. And it's new product. I'm on the mission. Every time I tell my story, I feel that I'm healing.

more of what happened to me. I'm on a mission. I'm on a mission to tell my story and to tell everyone it doesn't happen. It doesn't happen to happen to you. You know, you don't need to go through what had happened. So, yeah, that's my story. It's a terrible story. But at the end, think it was some one of those things that I look back and I say,

Kaila Sachse (10:49.551)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (11:00.432)
100 % 100 %

Ana Barajas (11:15.104)
It had to happen, I guess it had to happen to me for me to be here right now, you know?

Kaila Sachse (11:21.637)
My goodness, your mindset through this, there's the initial like going through the muck, having it happen, processing it, you're crying yourself to sleep every night, your kids are seeing all of the emotional reaction to this, is, that's beyond understandable. I can't even imagine how I would react to this. would, gosh, that's so hard. And then you were able to say, okay, this guy took my money,

Ana Barajas (11:41.037)
Yes.

Kaila Sachse (11:51.3)
he's not going to take my peace. And you're able to turn the ship around and say, you know what, let's focus on what we can do. I mean, was there anything that you were doing during that time to help turn your emotional ship around? I mean, was it as simple as like flipping a switch and okay, I'm back to peace or what were you doing during that?

Ana Barajas (11:53.474)
Next time.

Ana Barajas (12:14.862)
Yeah, I think the turning point was my kids. so something happened that it was really sad. And it was to tell you the story very, very to summarize the story. My son, he's an avid reader. He reads all the Harry Potter books. He loves all those books and all the series. So I signed him up for the local library for a summer reading challenge. He won the challenge and he won a $500 gift card.

Kaila Sachse (12:19.588)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (12:31.129)
It's a cool kid.

Kaila Sachse (12:39.994)
Wow.

Ana Barajas (12:42.67)
So he was super excited. Imagine a 10 years old winning at $500. He was a millionaire, right? wasn't on top of everything. He was so excited. And one day, we were in the middle of all of this, right? They don't know. They know that these guys aren't showing up. So they know a little bit. We're not taking, but we're not.

Kaila Sachse (12:42.807)
Wow!

Kaila Sachse (12:48.345)
So inspiring. Yeah.

Ana Barajas (13:04.866)
not crying in front of them, you know? just... So, one day I was having issues with the AC guy, you know? He was also missing. It was like the whole process. Now that I look back and I'm like, my God, it was so stressful. I was losing my hair. It was crazy. It was crazy. And they went to... My husband took the three kids to the park and they came and they heard me on the phone.

And I was, was so the AC guy, right? So we paid the AC guy and he, he wasn't showing up for months. And we're like, again, this happened to us. We, couldn't believe it. Why did I give you money? It's crazy. And we didn't have any money. So imagine that I was like, this is crazy. And we needed the AC to finish the project and he wasn't showing up.

Kaila Sachse (13:42.05)
Mm-mm.

Kaila Sachse (13:46.038)
And HVAC systems are really expensive, so I can only imagine how much money. Yeah.

Ana Barajas (13:59.488)
And when he finally showed up, it was like two months after, he was on vacation. He didn't care. He's like, I was on vacation. So I was telling this guy, I was leaving him a voicemail about how I didn't have any money. How can he do this to me? know, like what's up with people? Like what are, what's the way of conducting business? They're all scammers out there. You know, I was leaving that voicemail and my son heard me.

And I was crying, you know, and when I saw my family, they came in, I was like, okay, I was trying to, and my son told me, mom, here's my card, here's my $500 card. Don't worry, we don't need that big house, we don't need that. We're happy where we are.

And so I was crying, everybody was crying, and I think that was the turning point when I said, no, this cannot affect my family anymore. This cannot affect me or my family anymore. So I had to switch like that. It was like a switch. I turned it off and I said, he's not going to take my piece. They're not going to take anything else. Money will come and go. I'll find a way to get it back.

But that's it, you know? And so that was, think, the turning point when he came and he said that to me. was like, oh my God, I didn't mean for you to listen to that conversation. But he did. So yeah.

Kaila Sachse (15:16.504)
That gave me chills. He offered his $500 card that he won from his reading challenge. my goodness.

Ana Barajas (15:23.502)
I know, I know it was so sad, was so cute, you know, so such a kid, you know, they, they, thought that was going to, to, to solve it all. And he did, it did. Cause that changed my mindset. I said, no, this is not going to affect me anymore. You know?

Kaila Sachse (15:41.512)
my goodness, sweet boy. Wow. You know what's so good.

Ana Barajas (15:43.958)
I know, but you know what? Yes, no, go ahead, go ahead, Kyla.

Kaila Sachse (15:49.646)
I was gonna say, you know what's so cool about all of this is that, yes, your children had to see you go through something really hard. And it sounds like your son was the catalyst for helping to switch your mindset and be able to just focus on the solutions moving forward. But what's so cool is that your kids had the opportunity to see you model what it's like to change your mindset.

They had that opportunity to learn like, this is what you do in order to move forward. So yeah, like even though your son was the catalyst, he got to see, okay, it's possible, mom can do it. I'm sure I could do it too. And I can only imagine how that was taken forward by him and your other two children moving forward.

Ana Barajas (16:17.752)
for

Ana Barajas (16:36.824)
For sure, for sure. He was the one that made me switch gears. they saw that firsthand. They saw that, yes, adversity, this happened to us, but it's how we react to the things that happened to us. That's what matters. And I cried enough, and it's time to move on. Time to move on, do something great out of this. That's why I tell them, every time I'm talking to someone, every time I'm telling my story,

Kaila Sachse (16:50.903)
Yes.

Kaila Sachse (16:57.633)
Yes.

Yes.

Ana Barajas (17:06.808)
every time someone's telling me their story, every time we're helping someone with their project and it goes smoothly and it goes and they're happy. It's just like, it's my healing process, you know? And I kept thinking about the contractor and I just keep thinking about the solutions, the solution that we're offering to the public and that's priceless to me.

Kaila Sachse (17:19.821)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (17:35.051)
Yes. my goodness. really quick, what if you could go back and spot any red flags from this guy, from the HVAC guy? Were there any or, you know, what did that look like? Not really.

Ana Barajas (17:48.492)
All the red flags were falling from the sky. It was like they were knocking on my door, but I was not listening. I was not listening. I was in this cloud looking at floors, looking. Like they know how to distract you. Like he would tell me, now it's time for to go and choose the floor. So I would choose the floor. The floor sat in the property for two years before it was installed.

Kaila Sachse (17:51.809)
Yeah.

yeah.

Ana Barajas (18:15.054)
to give you an idea. So I was distracted with all the finishes and all the things that I wanted to put in my home, the top and blah blah blah and the backsplash in the kitchen and the camera. I was distracted by all of that and all the red flags were knocking on my door. He was asking, he was skipping stages, he was asking for more money, he was saying that he was to order materials. I asked about the materials. He said, oh, they're coming, they're delaying.

Kaila Sachse (18:30.881)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (18:45.188)
But I never really looked into do you really order them? You know like I was I was so trust I trusted that guy like I Don't know this person and I was trusting it with my life savings. That's crazy. You know so So I think I was just in these haze like I was I was in this high of of just pure joy of my of looking at my my dream home and it stopped me from

Kaila Sachse (18:49.153)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (18:58.88)
Yeah, yeah.

Kaila Sachse (19:10.794)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (19:13.159)
from seeing all those red flags.

Kaila Sachse (19:15.705)
I get that. We have a, I think it's called a truth bias. I'm not a psychologist, so if I get that wrong, please somebody correct me. But I think it's called a truth bias and we have the tendency to go out into the world and trust people because people are inherently good and we believe that they have our best interest in mind and all is well and dandy. So it's really easy to look past.

Ana Barajas (19:24.811)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (19:42.956)
those little minute red flags that he was sending your way, especially stuff where it's like, oh, he said he has his arms around this thing and this thing is being delayed by somebody else. Like, okay, totally understand. Let's focus on choosing the bathtubs and picking out the new sinks and getting into the romance of all the design process. I totally get it. It is super easy to do. Yep, yep.

Ana Barajas (20:00.867)
Thanks.

Ana Barajas (20:08.466)
And also I think there's a lot of this would never happen to me, you know? Like you never think that you are that, that it's gonna happen to you, you know? You're like, oh no, that happens only to, I don't know who, you know? But so there's that thing. It's just like a, it's a crazy thing. And the more you start realizing that something's up, you start,

Kaila Sachse (20:14.207)
Yes. Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (20:19.904)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (20:34.018)
telling yourself like, no, no, no, no, no, no, he showed up, he's sick, know, his employees are sick. You you start doing, saying excuses for someone that you don't even know, but it's just because you don't wanna get hurt. And that's why I think, and I always say that it's the biggest heartbreak of my life, because it really, it really...

Kaila Sachse (20:49.653)
Right.

Ana Barajas (20:59.574)
It really set a tone for my future relationships with strangers in a sense, because now I'm like, people are capable of some things. I always go back to the fact that I was pregnant, you know? When I see a pregnant woman, they're in the most beautiful but vulnerable.

Kaila Sachse (21:13.13)
Mm-hmm.

Ana Barajas (21:17.674)
stage in their lives, you know? And you try to comfort a pregnant woman. You try to help her with everything. And the fact that this happened to me when I was pregnant, thought he must be a monster. Like, does that to a pregnant woman with a big family? We had a big, small, young family, you know? So it's crazy. It's crazy, yeah.

Kaila Sachse (21:17.973)
Yeah. Yep.

Kaila Sachse (21:32.976)
100%.

Kaila Sachse (21:41.317)
yeah.

Kaila Sachse (21:46.826)
Yeah, I remember when I was pregnant with my son, would, I was so sensitive and I felt so vulnerable and I needed so much more help than I expected. You know, I'm a strong, I like to identify as a strong person. can carry things both, know, metaphorically and actually physically. Like I like to be strong. And so when I was pregnant and all of a sudden, yeah, I'm obviously, I'm still very strong. If anything, I'm stronger because now I'm

Ana Barajas (21:55.618)
Next time.

Kaila Sachse (22:15.659)
creating this life, but I needed help. And just simple things like going up to a public business and having to open the door and it being heavier than I expected and nobody coming up to help me, I felt hurt. And that's just a little thing. Yeah.

Ana Barajas (22:17.054)
Exactly.

Ana Barajas (22:31.854)
Yeah, yeah. And you know what the funny thing about, for example, I am from Colombia and in Colombia, they're very strict with pregnant women. So if you go to a bank and you're pregnant, you are the first one in line, right? That's that's there's a line for pregnant women. So here here is the same. But I felt I felt that way. And I felt exactly like you describe. I've always been very, very strong person.

Kaila Sachse (22:48.703)
Wow.

Wow.

Ana Barajas (23:01.8)
But being pregnant and that happening and all the hormones and the kids and then the first time that you see that you have no money to continue, it's crazy. So it's just one of those things that it was a time, it was so sensitive for me and it really hurt me. It really, really hurt me.

Kaila Sachse (23:23.143)
Yeah, can only imagine. So fast forward, this inspires you creating your company. You team up with your friend. Tell us more about that process. I mean, how long after your home was finally completed? What did that look like? How old were your kids? Everything.

Ana Barajas (23:43.918)
So we were still in the process. My home took four years to be completed. I know. I know it's crazy. It's crazy now that I think about it. And there was a time that I would be like, no, this is going to end. There's going to be a grand finale and we're going to.

Kaila Sachse (23:49.611)
my gosh.

Ana Barajas (24:02.862)
we're going to have a big party in our home, but it took four years. So in that process, when we realized that this guy had scammed us and taken our life savings and that we had to hire new people.

Kaila Sachse (24:07.082)
That's insane.

Ana Barajas (24:15.776)
In that process, that's when I started talking to my friend. my friend is someone that I met in college. She's this amazing entrepreneurial mindset. She's this amazing, she's so smart. She's one of those people that inspires me every day. And...

And so I talked to her. She's one of those people that I, she's never giving advice, but I asked her for advice. She's one of those great minds. So I told her, listen, this is happening to me. And she was the one that told me, you have to move on. You have to move on. It is what it is, but you have to move on.

And she had also mentioned, because she has a title in escrow company for the last decade, and she said, listen, I also get a lot of calls from pool contractors, roof contractors, that they're having an issue getting their last payment, that they need a solution. And I only offer escrow with title when you buy a property.

Kaila Sachse (25:13.498)
Ugh.

Kaila Sachse (25:17.427)
Right.

Ana Barajas (25:17.686)
So I said, let's do something, let's create something. There's nothing out there. So I started investigating. We started looking around. There was nothing out there. It's only when you see escrow, it's only if you have a mortgage and you have to put the, you know, some money in escrow or if you're buying a property, you have to put the deposit in escrow. There's title search. So there's these, these, sense of that escrow means real estate, right? Which is the truth.

Kaila Sachse (25:34.493)
Right.

Kaila Sachse (25:39.23)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (25:46.974)
But there are so many solutions for Astro that are beyond real estate. And so we created this product. We said, let's come up with something that property owners like myself can use, you know, because some people.

Some big developers use escrow just to make sure that their investors know that their money is safeguarded. But there's nothing for people like me. There's nothing for people like me that are embarking in small renovations or large renovations, but they don't have millions to spend in escrow, in lawyers and all these. It gets complicated. So that's why we said we need to create something.

Kaila Sachse (26:12.637)
Mm-hmm.

Kaila Sachse (26:21.081)
Right.

Yeah.

Ana Barajas (26:28.012)
that is easy for everybody. want to make sure that this is a standard in the business. That's our mission, to standardize this practice in the business. That whether you're building or you're renovating your...

Kaila Sachse (26:38.76)
That is so cool.

Ana Barajas (26:42.13)
bathroom and it's going to be $10,000, you can know that your $10,000 are going to be saved or you're building your $3 million home. know, whatever it is that you're doing, we have a product that will make sure that your funds are protected. And that's our goal. That's our main goal. And we act like a referee. We want to keep, we're not in the side of the property owner. We're not on the side of a contractor. are right in the middle.

making sure that everybody stays honest, to stay transparent, and the project stays on track. And that's all.

Kaila Sachse (27:19.433)
That is so beautiful. if I'm, if first of all, where were you a few months ago when I was renovating my, this, property that my husband and I invested in. Oh my goodness. I was just a little backstory. I have a client who went through exactly what you went through. Um, but her, her property was long distance. It was across the country on the East coast. She was on the West coast. She hired a guy who, a GC, a general contractor who

Ana Barajas (27:36.099)
Go, Kelman.

Kaila Sachse (27:48.442)
seemed like he was great. And then he took their money and ran. Yeah, no bueno. And so after that happened, I always had the back of my mind like, okay, I to be extra diligent with with contractors and always be safeguard and try to like, you know, vet as much as possible. And so going into this most recent renovation that my husband and I did, I was like, I was so nervous knowing the possibilities I totally could have used.

Ana Barajas (27:50.923)
else team.

Ana Barajas (28:14.926)
question.

Kaila Sachse (28:17.094)
your help and your assistance and you know.

Ana Barajas (28:19.498)
Next one, investment property that you have will for sure be there to help you.

Kaila Sachse (28:25.063)
100%, oh my gosh, what service area do you help with? Is it just on the East Coast in Florida or is it, where do you help?

Ana Barajas (28:35.022)
So we just launched nationwide. we have customers in California, in Dallas, like we can service everyone. The funds are safeguarded here in an insured bank in the States, in one of the major banks. We have a lawyer in-house. So we have all the safety nets in place, you know, to be able to service everybody really. And that's the idea. That's the idea. We want to make this the standard.

that every contract, that every public construction project, everybody uses a safeguard net. It's just crazy to me that this has not been used and that there's so many people that come back with a horrible story, a horror story. It's just crazy.

Kaila Sachse (29:29.735)
Who are your typical clientele and are there any additional that you could also serve?

Ana Barajas (29:38.114)
So our typical clientele is people like me. They're embarking in a home renovation. And unfortunately, everyone that...

that I talked to, they've been burned in the past, you know, and they're looking for a solution like the ones that we offer. So they already know. So it's easy for them to, you know, yes, let's do this. They understand it. We've made. So what we do is we prepare an escrow agreement. So most of the times, which is funny, is we're dealing with, let's say, a hundred thousand dollar renovation and they show us what they have between

with the property owner and the contractor is just like an invoice that they did in Excel. And that's the whole contract. They're moving a lot of money. They're moving a lot of money and there's really nothing talking about what materials they're using, what are the expectations. So we make sure that the expectations are very clear so that when we hit a milestone in the construction, we can disburse the payment to the contractor right away. There's not gonna be any dispute that,

Kaila Sachse (30:30.704)
Right.

Kaila Sachse (30:35.686)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (30:47.728)
didn't like the way they did this because the terms are so clear in the agreement that they're all going to be satisfied. Okay, you said that you wanted these like that and I did it, I need my payment. And the contractors now after working with us through a property owner,

They come back to us because they like how organized and how smooth the project went. So they want to do the same for the other projects. So we have customers in every range. have property owners, have contractors, we have developers, we work with schools, the PTSA is from schools that they want to safeguard the funds. We're starting to work with HOA managers because now in Florida,

Kaila Sachse (31:13.21)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (31:35.484)
so many there's so many news about HOA managers that run with the funds of the whole complex or that they hire their cousin to build a pool and the cousin did a horrible job like

Kaila Sachse (31:42.921)
no.

Ana Barajas (31:48.876)
All those stories, so we're now starting to manage those funds for them. And it's quite simple. Like everyone's happy, know, the funds are safe. We're just a third party and neutral. We're the referee in the situation and the funds are safe. So everyone's okay, you know? And I always tell my customers.

What if they asked me, what if my contractor doesn't want to work through escrow? I'm like, that's your biggest red flag. Don't work with them, you know? So, yeah, it's little by little that we're going through this process and it's crazy the amount of stories that we hear. And it's just so satisfying to know that we're making a difference.

Kaila Sachse (32:18.182)
Right.

Kaila Sachse (32:36.965)
Yeah, I bet. It's so interesting. I didn't think about the property management and the HOA management aspect of it because typically from what I know, property management companies will collect all of the rent funds, hold them and then disperse. They'll keep a little bit for themselves because that's their payment and then they'll disperse the rest of the funds to the owner.

know, funds go from tenant to manager to owner. yeah, that thought crossed my mind. You what if a property manager decided not to pay the owner and now they're taking that money and they're running?

Ana Barajas (33:18.638)
Yes, or they're saying, listen, we need repairs. need each apartment will pay $2,000 for repairs. And then the big assessment comes. then two years later, the city tells them you need to do these repairs. And they say, but we paid for these already. No, you didn't. This was never done. So things like that happen. And it's so common. So now we're managing those funds and making sure that the repairs are happening.

Kaila Sachse (33:22.868)
Mm-hmm.

Kaila Sachse (33:36.766)
Ugh.

Ana Barajas (33:47.758)
and that we get three quotes from the managers. It's not your cousin that is doing all these repairs or your brother's company. It's really actually a companies that are...

that are bidding for these jobs and they're established companies. so it's a whole process. And for example, with that, I remembered, for example, a client in California, were so worried about California has very strict laws for lien waivers. So for liens. So they hired someone to do their kitchen. They did their kitchen. They paid them. The kitchen was completed. Perfect.

And then a year later, they were going to sell their home and they had like two liens placed in their homes from the subcontractors that the guy that they hired never paid them. So they had to.

Kaila Sachse (34:38.873)
No.

No.

Ana Barajas (34:43.022)
pay those people again. And so this time around, they wanted to just make sure that it was going to happen so we can take care of that as well. We're sending waivers to all the people involved in the construction because most of the states, I think it's 15 states, including Florida and California that do require that. So you can build your home, you can hire someone, you can pay them, they can finish and then they didn't pay

someone and you're hit with a lien that you have to pay. So sometimes people are paying double of what they intended to. It's just crazy. It's just crazy the amount of room for fraud that that's why BLT Vesco can just, you know, help with all of that.

Kaila Sachse (35:26.242)
Yes.

Kaila Sachse (35:31.97)
Yeah, yeah, I gotta say, I'm actually impressed by all these scammers. They're really smart in knowing how to wash all this money and make it work.

Ana Barajas (35:39.078)
They they do. that was my heartbreak coming from, like, was like, this guy would look at me in the eye and just, you know, like, like they're so good liars, you know, you should be politicians, right? It's crazy. It's crazy.

Kaila Sachse (35:42.157)
Crazy.

Kaila Sachse (35:46.775)
Yeah!

He should be in Hollywood. That's impressive.

Kaila Sachse (35:55.999)
Yeah. my gosh. So you going back, you start your business. What was that process like? What were you doing beforehand? How did your life change from non-business owner to business owner?

Ana Barajas (36:10.732)
Yeah, so I've always had an entrepreneurial mindset, right? I was imprinted.

with that mindset from a very young age. I would go to my parents' factory. I would see my dad in the lab, you know, doing formulas. I would see my mom, this badass, you know, leader in her office. We would play after school. That was like our second home. We would play with my siblings there. I would just use, you know, in the early 90s, these calculators with printing. So would just pretend I was working. I remember seeing my sister's playpen in her office, you know.

of our our life like we knew that that's what I wanted you know I knew that I wanted that freedom my mom they were very present in my parents both my parents in our lives and and we were always very present in their lives as well you know it wasn't like their job was their job their job was part of our lives as well you know

Kaila Sachse (37:08.63)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (37:08.704)
So we were involved in little decisions like the names of a product, something like that. So it was that thing that those life lessons that I always carried with me. And when I graduated college, I started working for a big corporation. So I was doing that. was traveling. I was single. I was traveling to Latin America. I was having great dinners. It was so beautiful. I was so glamorous.

Kaila Sachse (37:36.148)
Ew. Yeah. Yeah.

Ana Barajas (37:38.61)
And then when I became pregnant with my first child, I said, I cannot continue this lifestyle. This is not sustainable for the mother that I want to be. And that's when I had that push.

to say I need to do something. I need to do something. And it wasn't until I was pregnant with my third child. So it was a long time for me to finally find something that I was very passionate about and that I knew that I could be great at this. It took that long for me to realize. And it took a long time also to launch the company and to really think about it. But that was like what?

Kaila Sachse (38:05.888)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (38:10.112)
Yeah, yeah.

Ana Barajas (38:21.047)
I knew that I needed to do something. finally, after so many years, I found really what my true passion is.

Kaila Sachse (38:29.475)
Yeah. How does someone know when they find their passion? Because there are a lot of people out there who don't know what they like to do. What would your advice be to them?

Ana Barajas (38:40.802)
I think it's just when you don't think it's working. I'm always in the computer when I'm very mindful of my time when I'm away from my kids. So I'm always in my computer and I could spend hours doing what I'm doing and I'm very focused and happy. I don't see it as a work, as a job, like, I have to send this email. No, I'm like, I love it. That's when I think.

For example, I see my husband, my husband has a car rental company. He loves cars. Like you can talk to this guy about any car and he's going to give you the brand, the make, the horsepower. I have no clue about cars, you know? He's very passionate about what he does. He loves going to, if someone doesn't show up, he loves going there and washing the car. You know, he does everything. So it's one of those things that I want my kids to see from me, you know, that, or from us that it's not about

Kaila Sachse (39:18.9)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (39:37.472)
working or working is just about loving what you're doing, really enjoying whatever it is, you know. I love being in front of a computer. My husband would never be in front of a computer. I think he's never been in front of computer for the last 10 years, you know. So it's just what makes you happy, you know, and that's what I really want them to, that they have the courage.

Kaila Sachse (39:43.458)
Yeah. Yes.

Ana Barajas (40:00.302)
to build the life that they want, know, that they can take risks and that failure is just an amazing thing because you can grow from that. There is no growth from success. You can grow from failure. so yeah.

Kaila Sachse (40:17.007)
my goodness, embracing failure is the bane of my existence. I know logically that it's a good thing. I think this perfectionist, I have a whole backstory about this, this perfectionist part of me is just like, no, I don't wanna fail because if I fail, then the world's gonna explode. I don't know, something ridiculous.

Ana Barajas (40:35.358)
Yeah, no, it's really scary. doesn't, it's very scary. It's kind of also embarrassing, you know, because you start something and then you're embarrassed that it didn't work. It's very scary, but it's only what makes you grow. It takes you to other places that you never imagined. And I had so many businesses before.

Kaila Sachse (40:39.477)
It's so scary.

Kaila Sachse (40:44.329)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (41:02.496)
BLS Avesco and they weren't really, I wasn't really working like I am working now with so much passion. So I think and then they failed with my husband. We never see them as failures. We just see them as, okay, it was a great opportunity to learn from something, you know? And I think I'm up to that point that I'm not embarrassed anymore, you know, like, yeah, no, how my friends, know, how did it go? No, we had to close.

Kaila Sachse (41:22.742)
Yes.

Kaila Sachse (41:27.083)
Yes, yes.

Ana Barajas (41:32.4)
It's okay, you know, I got to that point that I can think of so many businesses that we opened and they didn't make it. But yeah, they all took me to where I am now and I'm very grateful for that.

Kaila Sachse (41:48.224)
That is so beautiful. And I'm so excited for your kids to get to learn from you and see how that molds them in the future. Is there anything that you've noticed where they're where they're embracing failure? Is there anything that you're doing at home to help, help embrace it?

Ana Barajas (42:04.322)
think it's very hard to translate that into words. And all I can think of is, for example, one of my kids, he loves skating, and he was jumping from one of the ramps, and he was so scared, and he did it one time, and he was so happy, and then he hasn't done it ever since. So you see him crying, and I'm like, you did it once, you know, it's okay, just breathe in. If you did it once, you can do it again, you know? So he's nothing, and he keeps crying,

Kaila Sachse (42:08.704)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (42:31.68)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (42:34.256)
want to go there and hold them. But it's one of the things that they need to work on themselves. But I guess it doesn't matter how much we say it. I think we just need to prove it. So we're very vocal about the things that have gone wrong and that how we

Kaila Sachse (42:47.316)
Yes.

Ana Barajas (42:56.236)
We just, we brush it off. say, okay, next thing there has to be something else. So we'll sell them. Just breathe in. If you didn't make it, it's okay. You're going to try again tomorrow. You know? So, so yeah, I think that's very important, but yeah, they're very involved. They know about the businesses. You know, my six year old the other day was talking about escrow, you know, she probably doesn't know what that means, but she's heard the word so much.

Kaila Sachse (43:00.404)
Yep. Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (43:17.61)
What?

Kaila Sachse (43:22.773)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (43:22.944)
that she made a sign about, and she said escrow. it's, I think it's like the way I grew up, you know? I was never taught a lesson like sitting down and giving me lessons. I just saw them working and how they treated people and how.

how they would handle their business. was just those things that I'm hoping that they're getting to see that. someday they'll apply that. They're learning that deep inside and someday he's gonna be able to go down the ramp and be okay and know that he did it again. That's what my hope is.

Kaila Sachse (43:48.393)
Yeah. Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (44:00.474)
Yeah, that's so cool. And so tell us, what does your daily life look like? You what does your work schedule look like? What does your your mom's schedule look like? How is that? And how are you nourishing your relationship to? Yeah.

Ana Barajas (44:13.418)
It's crazy. It's crazy. Like all the moms, it starts very early. know, it's, it's dark still outside. I start prepping breakfast. I'm very conscious about health. So I make sure that they have a very good breakfast.

So I cook them breakfast. I work on the lunch boxes. They're getting ready. My husband leaves very early. He leaves around five o'clock every day. So I'm by myself, really juggling everybody, the baby. And after drop off, I go back to the office and I'm very, very focused on work. I had to delete my social media apps because I don't want any distraction. And the time that I'm away from before I have to go pick them up,

around 3 p.m. and very focused on what I need to do you know and that's why I said okay I'm gonna erase these things because they're I'm just strolling if I'm bored no I'm just gonna focus and I'm giving my what I'm doing my my complete self and and that's what I do and then I go back I pick them up and when when I have to go pick them up I'm done with work I'm done with work I'm still thinking about work

but I have to be very present in their life. So we go to the park, we all go to the things, and if they go to bed, maybe I sneak in if I have something in my mind, you know, I don't know if you're one of those women, I think it's something about women that I'm always thinking about my to-dos. I'm making constant to-dos in my head. So when they go to bed, I have to send a few things that I don't forget.

So it's just that, I sneak in. That's the beauty about having your own business is that I can show up to their schools. I can show up to their practices. And then if I need to, I'll just take them to bed and then continue working. So that's the beautiful thing about that. That I have the freedom of doing that, but I'm also very, very focused on what I need to do.

Kaila Sachse (46:22.515)
Yeah, my goodness, those social media apps are dangerous. When I got pregnant, I deleted mine. I'm trying to remember why, but I deleted it and I didn't reinstall it. Or I should say I logged out because I manage social media for other clients, right? So I logged out of mine. I didn't re-log back in until like two years later maybe. And I remember feeling the mind shift.

Ana Barajas (46:41.496)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (46:52.35)
my mindset shift from like peace. was calm, I was calmer, was better able to bounce back from things without the social media distraction to squirrel like every 10 seconds being distracted by something new. I was also more reactive with my social media. So it's a really strange thing. But then also being on it, I do like to connect with people. So it's this love hate relationship, more hate.

Ana Barajas (47:00.366)
for us.

Ana Barajas (47:07.661)
It's

Kaila Sachse (47:21.528)
the social media, it definitely ruins focus. You mentioned... go ahead, go ahead.

Ana Barajas (47:27.854)
No, I was going to say, there are people that can do it. They have a very good self-control, but I'm not one of those people. So I know that I have to punish myself and erase those things. Because if not, if I hear a notification, I'm going to see it. then I've been half hour just scrolling. What happened to my So I have to be very mindful of that.

Kaila Sachse (47:32.36)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (47:39.09)
same.

Kaila Sachse (47:51.954)
Yes! Yes!

Ana Barajas (47:56.68)
And there's people that don't have that issue. And I love social media. You you see all these, you hear from people that you haven't seen in years. So it's beautiful, but it can also be very distracting. And so I don't have that self-control that most people have. So I have to...

Kaila Sachse (48:08.678)
Yeah... Yeah...

Yeah.

Ana Barajas (48:20.174)
to do those things, to erase those things, because if not, I'm going to be on it 24-7. That's just a waste of time.

Kaila Sachse (48:23.517)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If there are any listeners out there who have that self control, please share your tips on how you do it. Because I want to know. But you know what, Ana? It sounds like a very normal thing that everybody gets distracted by social media. That's how the apps are designed. They're designed to work like slot machines and just be, you know, release, give you that dopamine hit and leave you

Ana Barajas (48:32.558)
I know.

Kaila Sachse (48:53.437)
wanting more, more, more. And next thing you know, yeah, half an hour has gone by. You've done absolutely nothing that's of value to you and your life. And yeah, it could be a waste of time.

Ana Barajas (49:04.468)
Exactly. And sometimes when I'm with the kids, also hear something and then I see that they're still playing. I don't want them to be seeing me in that, you know, because I don't want them to be telling them not to be in that phone when they're looking at me. I have to be very, it's not something that comes out to me naturally. That's why someone gives me a tip, please.

Kaila Sachse (49:23.975)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (49:30.776)
Please, because I have to be very, very mindful and I have to put it away. Like, I cannot be near that if I want to be a good parent or a good business owner. So I have to take that away from me.

Kaila Sachse (49:35.175)
Yeah, yeah.

Kaila Sachse (49:41.777)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (49:45.789)
Same, same, my phone cannot be in the same room as me. So if I'm working, my phone is out in the rest of the house. My thinking is, nothing is really that emergency urgent. There's not going to be a giant fire. Let's be on it. It's not gonna happen. So I leave the phone in the other room, it will be okay. And vice versa, when I'm out watching my son, I leave it in the office or in my purse or just somewhere else so that he doesn't see me on it.

Ana Barajas (49:59.392)
expected.

Ana Barajas (50:13.208)
Thanks.

Kaila Sachse (50:14.716)
I'm not perfect at that. It's not 100%, but you know, it's something that I'm conscious of.

Ana Barajas (50:18.316)
Me too. Exactly, me too, me too, because I don't want them to, and especially now that, for example, my oldest is 10 and he started to, but this person has his phone, you know? So I don't want them to start to be one parent that they see and then one parent that they hear, you know? I want them to be very...

Kaila Sachse (50:26.864)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (50:38.524)
Bye.

Ana Barajas (50:40.43)
conscious of what I do in front of them. So this is one of the things that I'm still very okay. I have to tell myself, no, I have to get this out of the way. I don't want them to see me there. I don't want them to see me wasting my time doing that. If I'm gonna be telling them in the future, don't waste your time, you know? So yeah.

Kaila Sachse (51:00.06)
Yeah, yep. Yeah, so you mentioned earlier that you drop off the kids and then you handle your work. Where are the kids being dropped off to? It sounds like your oldest is 10. How old are your other two and where are they going?

Ana Barajas (51:14.446)
So I have a 10 year old and a six year old that go to the same school. So I drop them off at the same school. And then my three year old, he just turned three, I dropped them off at a daycare near my house. So it's just, I have to go around and it's like an hour of dropping off everybody. But it's just like a circle that I do and yeah, and it works.

Kaila Sachse (51:38.287)
Wow, yeah.

Ana Barajas (51:44.352)
It's just a hectic morning, you know? They have breakfast in the car. I prepare their breakfast, which is usually...

two eggs and some Colombian arepa or something like that and they eat it in the car otherwise we won't make it on time. So they're used to it, so they're used to it and it works for us because again my husband leaves very early so I'm by myself. So those little things that you have to do not to drive you crazy. And one of the things that I do that I started doing because I wasn't

it was to get up early. I was getting up when I, the latest I could, you I was pushing my alarm and then I was going crazy. I wasn't even ready, you know? So now I do, I'm very conscious about that. I wake up really early. I take care of myself. I take a shower, I do my makeup, you know, I take care of myself and then I can start my day.

smoother, you know, because before I was just running around and I said no I have to I have to do something and that has helped me so much. When I'm already ready, so no matter what happens, I'm like at least I'm showered, at least I'm you know, I take care of myself. So that's good.

Kaila Sachse (52:50.618)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (52:59.772)
Yeah, yeah. That's something that I was able to learn, thankfully, early on. mean, the way that I learned it was kind of rough. was because I was depressed and I went to a therapist and she kind of helped me through that. But the major key in being able to turn things around and lift the fog for myself was self-care. And self-care is this really difficult thing. It was a difficult thing for me to

comprehend and learn how to appreciate as a mom. Because I feel like As mothers, we are taught this picturesque, you have to be perfect and well put together and have all of the things, but show up for your kids first. It's always like kids first, make sure they're good and then whatever crumbs are left over, then we can take care of ourselves and use 100 % of those crumbs to looking perfect for the world.

Ana Barajas (53:33.742)
for sure.

Ana Barajas (53:58.368)
Exactly.

Kaila Sachse (53:58.851)
And that's just, it's so unsustainable. It's so unsustainable. So for me, I had to learn like, okay, I actually need an hour of no kid, no husband outside of the house to myself. Or like those little moments of waking up a little bit earlier and doing some yoga, doing some meditation, doing something that kind of helps my mind get right for the day. Like that actually makes a difference.

Ana Barajas (54:01.784)
company.

Ana Barajas (54:11.714)
Yes sir.

Ana Barajas (54:23.438)
For sure, for sure. used to, and I haven't done it in a while, I have to go back, but I used to go to my Pilates class and that was, and I would tell my husband, it's the hour that I have that I'm not thinking about him. I'm not thinking about the kids. I'm not thinking about the business. I'm just thinking of going through the pain of the exercise that we're doing, right? I'm trying to survive the pain and that is the best hour.

Kaila Sachse (54:35.195)
Kaila Sachse (54:40.975)
Yep. Yep. Yes.

Kaila Sachse (54:46.914)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (54:53.292)
because I'm completely, it's like, you know, it's like I rebooted my system. And that's very important. And for me, that taking the shower and being ready before everybody, for me, it's very, important as well.

If for some reason I wake up later and I don't do it, I think it sets the tone for the day and I don't like it. So I make sure that I get up. But it's just like when you go to the airplane and they tell you to put your mask first and then it's the same thing. So I always have to remind myself that.

Kaila Sachse (55:30.039)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Earlier you said your kids eat breakfast in the car because that's what works for you. And I think that phrase right there is key to all of this. It's whatever works for you, right? We're not saying you have to wake up before the sun comes up in order to make sure that your life feels good. That doesn't always have to be the case. There are other ways to do self-care and feel good.

Ana Barajas (55:42.498)
for sure.

Ana Barajas (55:51.423)
You're a good mother.

Kaila Sachse (55:56.119)
The key is to just try all these different things, see what works for you.

Ana Barajas (56:01.016)
For sure, and I think one of the best advices that I've gotten, and it comes from my mother, she would always, when I had my baby, when my first baby was born, I was so scared about everything. I was so scared of taking him a bath. I thought I was gonna break him. I was so scared of breastfeeding. I was so scared of everything, everything.

Kaila Sachse (56:16.771)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (56:21.11)
And she would always tell me, and I would always ask her, what would you do? She was like, no, what would you do? She's like, stop listening to all those voices out there. So you can start hearing through your voice. You are the only one that knows exactly what that baby needs.

Kaila Sachse (56:38.285)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (56:38.926)
I mean, I don't know, not any, but not in social media, not the TV, not this perfect mom that you're following in Instagram. They don't know anything. You stop listening to those voices and start hearing to your inner voice. And that's something I had that, that, that I think that made a shift completely. And that's so true. You know, that works. The having the breakfast in the car works for me, you know, because I don't like to, to, they don't get up so easily. You know, I have to go to be constant.

Kaila Sachse (56:58.135)
Yeah. Yeah.

Ana Barajas (57:08.88)
we have to go, you know, but it is what works for you. For me, that routine in the morning, it's what works. And I didn't do that at first. We would be so late to school, know, it was so hectic. And so now it's just what we found that it works and it works for everybody. And that's what matters.

Kaila Sachse (57:09.623)
You

Kaila Sachse (57:15.353)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (57:20.739)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (57:33.111)
I love that advice. It's so good to get quiet and think about what feels the best. And it is hard to do in this age of social media, Google, right? You go on and you Google, why isn't my child sleeping? Don't do that, by the way, just don't do it. You will find pages and pages and pages of differing advice. It's all confusing and overwhelming.

Ana Barajas (57:50.062)
Thank you.

Ana Barajas (57:54.862)
But.

Kaila Sachse (57:59.381)
And so my parents' generation, I hear this all the time from my parents, aunties, uncles, whoever. And they're like, wow, you're so lucky to get to be a mom or a parent in this day and age with Google. Because back when we had no Google, you know, and I get that. I get that. I can imagine how lost you would feel without any sort of guidance other than friends, parents, people in your immediate circle to lend that advice to you.

Ana Barajas (58:28.568)
Well sure.

Kaila Sachse (58:28.844)
But flip side of the coin, nowadays when you have that Google social media, it's overwhelming. There's just so much information being thrown at you. And at the end of the day, we just have to decipher what feels the best for us, period.

Ana Barajas (58:41.546)
Exactly, exactly. There's scary information, know. My son, he's teething and then you start seeing all these pictures and you're like, my God, it's crazy, it's crazy. Yeah, we have to, we have to.

Kaila Sachse (58:46.232)
Yes.

Kaila Sachse (58:52.088)
You

Ana Barajas (58:56.588)
to lower that volume a little bit so we can start focusing on what our God feeling is telling you. Just to trust that you're a smart person, that trusts you. I remember I was in so many Facebook mom groups, and one day my husband said, why are you worrying about...

Kaila Sachse (59:04.492)
Yeah.

Ana Barajas (59:19.234)
what this lady, her son is not sleeping. Like, why are you getting all those worries? You you have your own problems. And I was like, that's so true, you know, because I would read, I would love to read all the moms, you know, and then all the comments. I'm one of those that goes to the comment box. I love it.

Kaila Sachse (59:28.183)
I

Kaila Sachse (59:37.494)
Yeah. same. I love the comments. You find the juiciest stuff in the comments.

Ana Barajas (59:41.686)
Yes, and I would be like, I agree with you, I don't agree with you, you know? And then I'm like, that's true. I'm like, why am I so caught up in other people's problems, you know? So that's the thing about social media. And that's why I think it's more difficult now to be a parent because our parents didn't have that. They only have the grandma that, you know,

was giving advice and that's it. But yeah, now we're hearing advice from everyone, from everywhere.

Kaila Sachse (01:00:17.375)
everywhere all at once. It's so much, it's so much. Yeah, that gut feeling is so helpful in parenting. It's also very helpful in business as well. You know whether or not the thing that you're trying out, whether it's a new business or a new business marketing strategy or whatever it is, you know whether or not it's a fit.

Ana Barajas (01:00:27.84)
Exactly.

Ana Barajas (01:00:39.296)
Exactly. that's a great thing that you brought it up because that translates exactly to business. I start, I stop asking people for their opinion because if I had an idea of something and I would run it by people,

I would be completely would scare me. I be discouraged. I would thought, no, this guy, it's a silly idea. And then I would be like, why? Like, I'm just going to do it. If it's a silly idea and it doesn't happen, then at least I did it. So I stopped asking for advice or opinions. And then you realize that people that are giving you opinions have never had a business in their lives, you know? So at the end, like you are being discouraged from something that they don't even know.

Kaila Sachse (01:01:06.071)
Yeah. Yeah. Yes.

Ana Barajas (01:01:29.838)
And so I stopped asking for opinion until it's done. So I do have a few people or a few sources that I like to run my ideas by, but they're usually people that have been business owners that have failed in the past, that have been successful also. now I am a little more like I know who to ask those things because I

Kaila Sachse (01:01:47.538)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Ana Barajas (01:01:59.744)
I know that if I ask other people, they're just going to scare me more. And like we say, entrepreneurship is already so scary, you know, because of failure. You're scared to fail. So I just stopped asking other people or running my ideas by other people and listening to my...

Kaila Sachse (01:02:05.342)
Yes.

Kaila Sachse (01:02:17.846)
Yeah, yeah, because at end of the day, yeah, at the end of the day, they cannot step into your intuition and speak for it. They can only speak from their own experience, which is their own lifetime of different hurts and things that they could be projecting onto you. So it's really smart to be discerning about who you share your ideas with, who you're vulnerable with, and just know that if your gut is telling you to do something, try something new and it feels

crazy, you gotta give it a shot. You'll always wonder whether or not you should have done it if you if you'd never had.

Ana Barajas (01:02:54.35)
For sure, for sure.

Kaila Sachse (01:02:56.797)
my goodness, Ana, so many gems. I'm so excited for the future of your business. I can say as somebody who is renovating properties and working in that space to get a little side hustle going on, like thank you for what you're doing. You are protecting people with your business. And gosh, that's just that means the world because you were brave enough to step into a space that didn't currently exist and you disrupted it. You just said, you know what?

Ana Barajas (01:03:02.798)
Thank you.

Kaila Sachse (01:03:25.408)
There needs to be something here. Let me go for it. So thank you. Thank you for your courage. And I'm excited for your kids too.

Ana Barajas (01:03:32.674)
Yes, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to be here to tell my story. I don't mean to scare anybody. I just want them to feel that they have the weapons to go into these battles, you know, and feel that they're powerful, that they're in control. I don't want anybody to feel the way I felt. It's just...

Kaila Sachse (01:03:41.866)
Yeah, no.

Ana Barajas (01:03:56.846)
It's just the worst heartbreak. It's just the worst feeling. lose like your... It's horrible. So I just want to offer something that people feel protected, that their funds will be protected, that their project will stay on track. It's just going to be something simple. And I hope that it's the standard in the industry. I hope it is.

Kaila Sachse (01:04:20.566)
Yeah, that's so beautiful. Where can people find you if they want to hire your business or if they want to reach out to you directly, ask a question, where are you?

Ana Barajas (01:04:29.71)
For sure, you can go to buildsavastro.com.

We are on Facebook as BLSaveEscrow. We're on LinkedIn as BLSaveEscrow. We have a YouTube channel as BLSaveEscrow as well. They can give us a call, 855-611-3532. They can send me an email. I answer all of my emails. Anna with one N at BLSaveEscrow.com. I love to talk to people. I love to hear about their projects and give them advice. Not all of the projects need

to go through Astro, but most do. So, I can't wait to hear from everybody and to be able to help them with their project.

Kaila Sachse (01:05:13.352)
Huge, beyond safe escrow everybody. Thank you so much for your time and sharing your wisdom with us.

Ana Barajas (01:05:16.462)
Thank you, it was such a great time. had such a great time. Thank you so much for the space.