Lipstick & Legacy
This podcast is all about women who serve to build better communities and the legacy we’re all building—one story at a time.”
Lipstick & Legacy
Joe Hererra: The Business of Legacy
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Joe Herrera is a nationally recognized real estate leader, coach, and digital marketing expert who has redefined what it means to scale and succeed in today's market.
He brings both passion and a deep sense of responsibility to every role he takes on, from Broker and lead generation strategist to mentor and podcast host.
As the co-founder of the Joe Taylor Group, one of the top 1% ranked teams in Las Vegas, Joe has helped lead his team to consistently close over 1,000 transactions annually. With more than a decade of experience coaching agents in lead conversion, he has generated over 10,000 leads per year and has been a driving force behind countless success stories. Joe is also a sought-after keynote speaker, delivering actionable insights that empower real estate professionals to grow and thrive in an ever-evolving market. With a relentless drive to innovate, Joe continues to shape the future of real estate through leadership, education, and next-level marketing expertise.
Welcome to Lipstick and Legacy, a podcast where your story matters and your journey has purpose. Together we lift and inspire our communities one story at a time. Welcome, Joe.
SPEAKER_03Thank you. I'm excited to be here.
SPEAKER_01Joe, tell me a little bit about yourself, where you're from, what you do.
SPEAKER_03So I was born in Carson City. My dad, after Vietnam, went to work for the Bell System. So he started with Pacific Bell in California. And then he got transferred up to Carson City, Nevada. So I was I'm a lifelong Nevada. My dad, AT ⁇ T bought out the Bell system, moved him down to Las Vegas. So I moved here when I was six or seven years old. I run a real estate organization. We've got about 7,000 agents that we have some level of responsibility and management for. Like Broadstrokes, I'm a real estate agent, but it's it ended up my world's a lot bigger than that now.
SPEAKER_01So tell me a little bit about who Joe is when he's not mentoring, marketing, doing all the things for his leadership role. Who are you, just in general in the community?
SPEAKER_03As a person.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_03Um I think I'm a chain breaker more than anything. Like I'm constantly running, probably from the ghosts of my ancestors, which is crazy. Like in our faith, uh ancestors are so important. Like my kids on And what faith is that?
SPEAKER_00Or LDS. LDS, okay. Some people just don't know.
SPEAKER_03The Church of Jesus Christ, as I'm taught to say. Yes. Um my like on my on my wife's side, there's so much to be proud of. Like Mary Sessions or Patty Sessions was a midwife that delivered like 3,000 babies crossing the plains, and like all of these amazing pioneers. And then on my side, um, it's a lot of alcoholism, drug addiction, compulsive gambling.
SPEAKER_01Tell me what the young Joe looked like as a child, like an eight, nine, ten-year-old kid. Who was he then? What did your life look like at that time?
SPEAKER_03So I grew up in a very uh broken, broken environment, like I would say violent environment. I wouldn't classify my dad as a violent man, but my parents' marriage was a very violent marriage.
SPEAKER_01A volatile situation. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I would wake up to doors slamming and and physical altercations constantly as a kid.
SPEAKER_01Um were your basic needs met, like food, yeah, for sure. Shelter, that sort of thing.
SPEAKER_03Like I think my dad worked really hard and he earned an honest living, and then my birth mom, I have a hard time saying my mom, Sue. Uh her dad. So cool story. My grandpa on my mom's side was one of the early cartoon advertisers for Disney. So, from what I understand, he would create advertising material as an artist. And like he was in charge of taking like opening of Disneyland posters to grocery stores in Southern California.
SPEAKER_00Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_03He was also an alcoholic. And he left my mom when she was three, that then created a void in her life. That, you know, she ended up leaving when I was 10. And so I'm a chainbreaker because I'm just dead committed to living differently.
SPEAKER_01It's interesting how those things are handed down from generation to generation. Unless somebody has the courage and the strength to break that chain, like you said you have, you'll just cons continue in that cycle for generations. So that's really incredible that you were able to break that chain.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think people use it as an excuse. Like I I have enough, I think I have enough bad that has happened in my life that I could let it be an excuse to can to continue the problems.
SPEAKER_01What was the point of your childhood? What age were you? Do you have a memory of yourself just saying, I don't want to live this life anymore, I don't want this for my future? Was there a memory that you have that really like triggered like that switch?
SPEAKER_03Great question. Um I think going into high school. So you're a bit older. Yeah, I mean I hated my childhood. I hated uh the fighting, I hated the violence. Um my dad got remarried. Um her kids and I didn't get along. Um and so I just I remember hating it, but I don't remember having a commitment to change it. I I don't I I can understand how poverty cycles and and addiction cycles and violence cycles are perpetrated or perpetuated, I guess is right the term, because I I I didn't see a way to not continue that cycle. So like my brother taught me when I was a kid, like if you're not having sex with girls, you must be homosexual. Like, you know, like that's just what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_01He just told you that, and you probably believed it a little bit.
SPEAKER_03And I just my my parents drank and my mom smoked, and my mom was a compulsive gambler, and so it was just like that. So then I got into high school, and um I'm happy to say uh I was I saved myself for marriage. I don't know how that happened, but I got into high school and like it just made sense to go drink with people, like because that's just what high school kids do, right? Yeah, so there was some point in high school when I was exposed specifically to kids, to children who had been raised in uh the Latter-day Saint faith-based tradition. And I was I was drawn to them, and then I became drawn to their families, and really honestly, my story, like uh my salvation, and this is very biblical, but anyways, there's a there in Isaiah, there's a a verse that talks about queens becoming their nursing mothers. And like for me, the women and like the moms of the LDS faith-based tradition, were that for me, because it's like if I can piece together the puzzle of seven-year-old me living in violence, 10-year-old me abandoned by a mom, to 15-year-old me being exposed to this type of woman, and you know, my wife, like basically my wife. Not that she has to be a mother figure to me, but women like her that like the simplest things I can remember as a kid, I had an earring, and I remember going over to my friends' houses, and like their mom's just being so kind, and like after school, going, like, hey, I made you guys a sandwich. And I was like, that sounds crazy to me. Like, why would you do that? Which is like you look at my spoiled kids, and all their mom does is make them stuff to eat and whatever. But it was it was a moment for me to go, like, wow, there are people like this, like there's women like this, and so that was the first time I can remember formulating the thought, I'm going to marry somebody like these women, so that my children don't have the same childhood idea.
SPEAKER_01Experience.
SPEAKER_03So for me, that was very purposeful. I was probably about 15.
SPEAKER_01So I was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but we were very loose members of the church. And so I remember kind of that same idea of going to friends' homes who were maybe more active in living their faith a little more fully. And their moms were like baking cookies after church or after school. And I was like, that was just so foreign. And I just remember those examples really influencing how I wanted to live my next life. And not that my childhood was horrible or anything bad was happening. It just didn't have that wholesomeness that some of those people portrayed, that very traditional value that I that I've grown to love. It seems as though you've come through some real hardship. And it's, I love hearing success stories of people who who maybe weren't dealt the best hand as a kid, but they come out of it. And that tells me that you had a choice to come out of it. You weren't just stuck in it, but you have chosen to build. So what is um who is somebody that really inspired you, maybe as a youth or a young adult or even a child who inspired you to be more than than you were at that time, or maybe more than you had been brought up in? Was there a specific person that was a real big influence on that?
SPEAKER_03I think there's a couple. So um I remember I decided to to serve a mission and I had sorry, I had no money. And there was a a guy in my congregation that at some point, I can't remember exactly how it happened, but just said, hey, let's go suit shopping. Like I want to, I want to buy your suits for your mission. And he heavily contributed financially to me just spending two years serving people. And so he was a big example. And then um, you know, when kids go on missions, they have a mission president. My mission president was an entrepreneur, like he would tell us the stories of like getting cars repo's and stuff, and then he finally landed on the idea that made him a multimillionaire. And I was like, well, that's cool. And then returning home from my mission, I just knew um, I knew I wanted to make a lot of money. I knew I I never I never wanted to like struggle for needs. And so uh I went back to that guy that paid for my mission, and he was a real estate guy. And so I was like, well, I'll just do what I do. Might as well do that. I'll just do what you do. Like, funny enough, like when I was a kid, my mom used to tell me that if I if I she she would take me to the grocery store with her and she'd play the slot machines. And we'd sit there for hours. And then on the way home, there was like an agreement that if I didn't tell my dad that she did that, I didn't have to do my homework. So I was like, I didn't have a ton of options uh because my grades weren't great. And so real estate was one of those ways. I like I looked at I looked at the gentleman that paid for my mission, and I was like, well, he's doing really well and he sells houses. I knew I was good talking to people. I knew I could be relatively persuasive, and so I and I knew I didn't want to do manual labor. Like I had zero desire to do construction or anything like that. So I was like, it kind of pigeonholed me down to either insurance or real estate, and I chose real estate.
SPEAKER_01I think it's interesting how um Las Vegas has has slot machines in their grocery stores. People might not like they hear that and they're like, what are you talking about? No, you walk in our supermarkets. Or gas stations, and there's kids in a basket sitting there waiting for their parents while their parents are. Yeah, you you were that you were that child. What motivates you beyond financial success?
SPEAKER_03Um I think I'm always running from what is my weakness as a human being. Like I think by nature I'm lazy. By nature I'm I don't know that I'm the best person. Like my appetites and you know what I mean? Like, so I'm just I'm always motivated to not be fat. I'm always motivated to not be poor. I'm always motivated to not be a perv. Like it's it sounds weird, but it's so much I'm motivated to not be what I would naturally be if I stopped trying. And so like I'm very much motivated to just I think I'm overly affectionate to my wife and kids because I saw what the other side is, you know.
SPEAKER_01Well, that that's kind of my next question. So real estate and being successful, it's a real hard balance to have your family be successful in a sense where you're spending time with them, but also balance that side of being, you know, an executive basically at this point in your life. How do you balance it and not have your family take a backseat to your success financially and and in your business world?
SPEAKER_03Um I I think I think they are my why helps. I think that helps. Um I'm I'm a very I'm a very loyal husband. I'm a very loving father. Not and those aren't pats on the back, it's just like in my nature. I always want my wife to feel loved and appreciated and wanted. Um I always I probably say I love you to my kids like an absurd amount of times. Like on average, I probably say an eight or nine, ten times a day to each of them. Um I'm very protective over like I speak at a lot of real estate conferences, I go to a lot of real estate conferences, and I'm just one of those guys where the next like we'll go to the conference the next day, I'll see everybody, and they were like, where were you last night? And the answer was I was probably in my room watching ESPN or something because I don't trust myself. So I'm just very protective over like I don't go to cocktail parties, I don't go meet up with everybody while they're drinking and I'm having a diet code. Like I just don't even trust myself in that environment. So like I protect my family, I protect my marriage by just I just never put myself in a position to where I would have to make a choice. Like I've always found it just very much easier to live in in a situation of avoidance. Like I avoid areas where I could cause damage to my family or my marriage. I never want to resist the problems. Like so I just I just avoid them.
SPEAKER_01One thing I've noticed from an outsider looking into your um personal life, being a personal friend of yours, I is that you take your family along quite a lot. There's rarely a time that your wife doesn't go meet you at least, or you don't plan a trip on the the front end or the back end where your kids are always included. And I I've really learned a lot from watching you and your wife do that. And I'm like, oh, I can pick up the slack a little bit better, you know, be with my kids more because you have a real gift of loving your children and your wife in a way that that is harder work maybe for somebody else.
SPEAKER_03Maybe.
SPEAKER_01What sacrifices have you made along the way and were they worth it?
SPEAKER_03I honestly don't know if I've made any. Um I well, I would say I would definitely be further along financially if I was more dedicated to like when I got into real estate, the National Association of Realtors model was we are we're realtors, real estate is our life. And I was like, I freaking hate that. Like, my that is not my life at all. So like Taylor, my business partner and I, we owned a real estate brokerage with a third partner, and we ended up selling out because he was like, What you guys never go to the cocktail parties, you don't go to the mixers, you don't do the things. And so if there's been any sacrifice, it it could be, I think most people that work with me know that it my uh career is not my priority. Like it it honestly is probably fourth. I just want to make sure I can do well enough to provide for like my faith, my family, my complete addiction to golf and then work. Like, and it's I don't so it's like it's almost like I'm just lucky enough that I'm the furthest thing from a workaholic. I don't think I'm a lazy person. I'm very purposeful. But if I've sacrificed anything, it's been if I was more of a workaholic, I can't imagine where I would be. You know, it's like I I do what I need to do to be able to provide the life I want to provide to my wife and kids and and my own passions and hobbies without giving my life over to it.
SPEAKER_01That's really um that's really interesting to think about that. Is there a time in your life, your career life, your professional life, where you had just hit rock bottom and you just didn't know how you were gonna get to the next day? Because when I when I interview people, I'm interviewing lots of people who have had success. And one thread I've noticed is they've also had a lot of failures. The people are like the most successful are the people who've had like tried the most times. Was there a time maybe early on? I know, for example, my husband, when he started his business, he was, you know, turning the water back on after the power company, the water company turned it off. Like, did you have those moments where you were just like, Am I ever gonna make it? Or was that not really an issue for you?
SPEAKER_03Well, I think two things. I think what you're saying is true because if you only give yourself one chance to succeed, then you better be right, or else you're gonna just fail. Like Mark Zuckerberg, good for him. He was like 18 when he created Facebook or whatever. And it's like he just the one thing worked. I think for most people, we we like, you know, thank goodness for the bankruptcy laws. And I've never filed bankruptcy, but like you study other civilizations and you're like, without the ability for people to go, like, oh wow, like that whole thing failed, and I filed bankruptcy. I'm gonna try something else. Without like that constitutional protection, we would be so far behind as a society because we can't be afraid to fail. So for me, uh the recession was really bad. Like 06, 07, 08, we lost houses and cars, we lost everything. Um, the through that though, I kind of found nothing's as bad as you think it's gonna be. Like it was like I'm I'm still pretty happy. Like I still have my wife and kids. Um I left the real estate profession in 2010, and I started a tech company that had nothing to do with real estate. Taylor ran our real estate company while I tried that and I partnered with Shaquille O'Neal and like had a lot of fun with that, borrowed a million dollars from friends and family and lost all that. That hurt a lot. I couldn't even talk about that for like five or six years. I I think I just felt so bad for everyone that believed in the idea and me and that I lost it all. That sucked. Um, so yeah, I mean, I've I've failed a lot. Uh I wouldn't say I'm not afraid of failure. I for sure don't ever want to go back to like losing cars and stuff. But I'm pretty confident that even worst case scenario, I did, I would just be able to rebuild in another way. Um, so yeah, we've we've been up against it.
SPEAKER_01Have you um it's it says that you've mentored a lot of different real estate agents? You've kind of morphed just because of the markets and everything, and your real estate company has become something a little bit different for you. You're doing a lot of mentoring, all of that. Has there ever been a time when you're mentoring somebody and you have just learned a lesson from them or or a lot from somebody else? They kind of give it back to you, and you're like, I'm so grateful that I'm out here mentoring and helping others because you get something back from it as well.
SPEAKER_03It's a great question. Um, I think the greatest gift that two human beings can give each other is honesty, and it's super underrated. Like I tell the story from the stage a lot. Like, my wife's the youngest of five sisters, and um there's some awesomeness to come out of it. And like one of her sisters is like a complete freak. And um and we sat around a campfire one time, and she had these little cards that uh it was kind of like uh ask questions, and and and I have a point to this, but one of the questions was what's the most important element to have in a marriage? And everyone went around and it was like he needs to be spontaneous and she needs to be fun and he needs to take care of himself, and she needs whatever. And it came to me and I was like, Oh, it's honesty a hundred percent. And everybody was like, that's the worst and most boring answer, but there is something so amazing and pure to honesty. So, like if I've been in a mentor or a mentee situation, the I just appreciate honesty. And I've I've got pretty thick skin, I've got pretty broad shoulders, like I've I've burnt things down with people and I've had people burn them down on me. And at the end of it, I think maybe it's been surprising to them that when things get really raw and ugly, at the end of it, I'm always like, this was awesome. And they're like, Like, how can you say that? Like, I cried at your desk or whatever. And I'm like, well, it's impossible to build sometimes without burning everything down, and like, so sometimes it's like it's harsh. My wife is the kindest person in the world, but there's been times where she said things to me that are incredibly hurtful, but I'm like, but maybe she's right, and then like through that you learn. And so I I think I've been in a lot of mentor or mentee situations where like the the best answer is always honesty. And it's it really is a gift that two human people you human beings can give each other is a gift of honesty.
SPEAKER_01That's one thing. Whenever I do an interview or or something, maybe for a podcast, I'll say, How was it? And they'll say, Oh, it was great. And I'm like, no, I don't want to hear what was good about it. I only want to hear what was bad because I want to be better next time because I love, I want the honesty. How do you stay genuine when people are craving authenticity, but then everybody's feelings get hurt?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Are you just not afraid of hurting people's feelings? Or is it just that the way you come at it, it's like you just hope that they can appreciate you being honest with them?
SPEAKER_03I found myself by like as I'm getting older. Funny enough, Taylor shared this quote from me that just says, like, the older you get, the less energy you have for everything. So then you just do the things that really matter. And I was like, that's really cool. Um, I'm only 46, but I feel old. And so like I find myself, I'm a very sarcastic, you know, I'm a very sarcastic person. I'm relatively quick witted. And so like I've got a snipe for everything. I find over the last year, I found myself like just biting my tongue more. And maybe it's the influence of my wife. Like Jenny's very much like I. I found that my default setting is aggressiveness. Like if I get into a conversation I'm not prepared to have, I will bully my way through the conversation to get the outcome I want, even if it costs me a relationship. My wife is very much the opposite. She's just the kindest person in the world where she would much rather lose a negotiation than she would hurt a person. So I don't know if that's a great answer, but I I find more I find myself being more diplomatic, which if my wife listens to it, she's gonna be like, yeah, right, you're still a bull in the china closet. But I find I find myself more often biting my tongue. And just I read the book Um The Subtle Art of Not Giving an F. I don't know if you've read it.
SPEAKER_02It's a great book.
SPEAKER_03And everyone misunderstands the book to say, like, just be a monster. But the principle in the book is like the subtle art is picking things you really care about, things that are really worth saying, and say those and then let the rest of it go by the wayside. And so maybe that's kind of rubbing off on me, but I find that as time goes on, I'm less less hurtful, possibly less honest. Like, you know, I just I don't have to tell everybody everything I think anymore. And I think that's maybe just age or yeah, we get a little more refined, hopefully. Hopefully.
SPEAKER_01One thing I've noticed um watching your social media and your professional life and professional and personal life is that you you really love Las Vegas. You love the city. You if there's a new team, you're all in. You have you have the golden knights on your license plate. If you're if there's a band from Vegas, you're flying to Ireland to see them. Like you do all the things that really show me that you love the city. Right. As a real estate professional and also as a mentor, what do you love most about this city and what do you contribute to this city?
SPEAKER_03Hmm. Great question. Um what do I love the most about it is it's so black and white. Like the city of Las Vegas is a is a very honest city. Like, I love that my kids have had to make a decision. I have to make a decision. Like, if I wanted to, I could gamble away, drink away, and strip club away every dollar I've ever had. And so, like most locals I know don't mess with any of those things. Most teenagers grow up knowing that uh, you know, so many kids in our local communities are raised by parents who struggle with gambling and and alcohol addiction and things like that. And so kids have to make a choice really quick. And so, what I love about Las Vegas is it's it's a scale, like it's a mirror. It is like to some degree, you are what you are. Like there's not, it's funny because you think about all the shows and all the all the playing that people do here to pretending, but in reality, the locals, it's kind of like you're in or you're out. And so in faith-based organizations, there's not a lot of people who are halfway in. It's like the people are either in or they're out. Um, and so for me, I that that probably is the thing I love the most about the city, is it uh it it causes you to face your demons really fast. Contribution-wise, contribution-wise, I I mean, I I don't know that I do contribute much. We've we've sold a few thousand homes here in Las Vegas. We we try to help people see that the city is so much more the communities and the people than it is the strip and the strip clubs, you know. And I think we've we've done a decent job at that over the years. Um I am just a die hard Vegas kid. I the killers and the imagined dragons and panic at the disco and like the the golden knights, and now I'm trying with the Raiders. We're all trying. We're all trying with all trying with the Raiders. Um, and so it is just like if I love, I mean, I obviously love the killers, and Brandon Flowers, when he introduces them, he says, we are the killers from fabulous Las Vegas, Nehadan. Like he gives me the chills when he says it because everywhere I go, people think that this city is something different than it really is. They've never been to Summerlin, they've never been to Gilcrease Orchard, they've never been to like the Red Rock, they've never they've never been to these amazing places. It's funny, we were in Ireland with our kids, and Evelyn was just like, it's so beautiful here. The desert is so ugly. And I'm like, once you spend enough time, I spent two years away from the desert. I spent two years away from Vegas, and I came back and I was like, there is a beauty here. It's just it takes, I think, time to see it. And so it's I've it's funny that so many people, we get a lot of people that come here from Utah, and then they just can't wait to go back to Utah. And then a year or two later, they come back to Vegas and they're like, Well, I didn't realize I didn't realize how great it was. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01One thing um from the outside, again, looking in that I really feel like you contribute is for sure your wife does a lot of service in our community, but your family, you're raising this very traditional family with four kids who have some of the best personalities I've ever seen in children in my life. And I think that one of the most important and valuable things that we can contribute to our local communities and society in general are strong families. And sometimes we don't think of that as a service, but when I'm out teaching school and these kids are coming in and their parents are up working all night and they don't have any support, and I'm like, that is what is really valuable in communities, especially a place like Las Vegas. True. So I appreciate your service in a big way. Las Vegas continues to evolve rapidly. What excites you most about the future of this city?
SPEAKER_03Um that's a great question. Um I during COVID, I remember no planes. The strip was shut down.
SPEAKER_01And that was crazy. We need to walk just like in 30 seconds. What was that like when the strip shut down?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we I mean we were riding skateboards. I bought electric skateboards, and Porter and I would just go ride our skateboards down the strip, like not the sidewalks, like the street. There was nobody there. Yeah, it was bad. It's kind of one of those things that like you you don't know what you got till it's gone. Like all of a sudden, I missed the sound of airplanes. I missed uh the strip being packed. Because like for us, it kind of pisses us off because we're like the traffic and whatever. And it's like I just remember during COVID being like yearning for the traffic in the in the planes and things like that. So it excites me that the city continues to evolve. It excites me that our state uh taxation laws are such that it still attracts businesses and entrepreneurs. Um we got to get our water situation figured out. Like we can't just hope it rains, like that's crazy. So there's some we have some issues as a city. Um, but I think Vegas will continue to grow and evolve. Um it's been interesting to watch it go from 99 cent shrimp cocktails to like $200 buffets. Like that's been a that's been a unique thing to go through. Um but there is only one Vegas, and and I just remember being a youth leader and taking our kids to different communities, like different cities uh for conferences and like the scout camps and whatever. And the Vegas kids just always stood out. Like like if we went to California and there were groups from California and Arizona and Utah and whatever, it was like the Vegas kids were just a magnet for everybody. And it's like I just want I hope we never lose that. And I also every time I tell people my wife and I are both born and raised here, they're just like, I didn't know anyone was born and raised here.
SPEAKER_00Blown away.
SPEAKER_03I want that to become more of the norm. Like I want people to be born here and raised here and stay here and build here. Because what people don't understand is it really is such a great community, great place to raise a family outside of our school system being like number 50 out of 50. Yeah, it's been terrible forever.
SPEAKER_01It's been terrible forever. One fun fact that I didn't know is that during COVID, the hotels were boarded up on the front or had police officers out there. And I asked my husband why, who happens to be a door professional, and he said, because we designed those doors with no locks. They were never intended to lock. So they have no locking function. And I just thought, what a bizarre world where we created doors. And then they had to, and they had to find a way, and that's why those reported. I just never, I never knew that. You have become a recognized voice in real estate. What trends do you think that people need to be watching for in the market in Las Vegas or nationally?
SPEAKER_03Well, two, I would say two things. Number one, I I very much reject the uh I call it flauntrepreneurialism, but like you see, real estate is always one of those things where it takes a week to get your real estate license. And we went through a period of time where everyone thought what it meant to be a real estate professional was to put on a sexy outfit and get on Instagram and hope people call you. Like that was always for me just the most dangerous. Like, like I always worry about worry about you know, like safety, but I also worry about uh quality of professionalism. So, like from a consumer standpoint, now more than ever, it may it matters who you work with because you want to make sure that the person you're working with has been doing this for a while. Um, as far as the industry is concerned, we really we need to get it it's it's always funny to me because real estate agents love to say like six and a half percent isn't bad in the 70s, it was eight, nineteen percent. And I'm like, well, yeah, but in the 70s, a house was like $14,000 or like $30,000. So we're in this really unique situation right now. I remember three, four years ago was the first time I heard stag inflation, like stagnant inflated market. And so like our prices of homes haven't dropped yet. There's not a lot of homes moving.
SPEAKER_01So it's like if I um But interest rates are like at six, seven percent right now, which is I mean, we're in at like two percent or three percent.
SPEAKER_03So many people, and that's why no one's moving, uh because uh the gap has to get better.
SPEAKER_01But how does that happen?
SPEAKER_03We need we need lower interest rates. Um, and in order for that to happen, the federal government has to be comfortable with the inflation numbers, and we just got a new Fed chair, and like there's a lot that goes into it. I don't think anything positive is gonna happen in the economy until we're done with whatever's happening in the Middle East, which argumentally you know, like arguably will never stop, but the Iran stuff has to stop. We have to get better interest rates. I think the magic number is if you see interest rates back in the mid-fives, homes are gonna start moving and prices are gonna start increasing. So if somebody's waiting to buy a home, that's a really good time. If they wait too long and rates continue to drop, if they get five or below, prices are just gonna skyrocket. And so I think um, I think, you know, if you're a consumer, that that's something to like pick a really good professional, understand, like, and I did a training for a bunch of real estate agents in Canada this morning, and it was like the job of the real estate professional right now is not to talk people into buying and selling houses. People are still getting married, they're still getting divorced, they're still having children move back in or having children leave or whatever. So, like, those are the people that are buying and selling homes right now. But if you're speculating or you're in a home that you're unhappy with, we've got to get better interest rates because people will live unhappily in a home that they have a 3% interest rate in.
SPEAKER_01Right, exactly. There's nowhere to go in that sense. All right, we have one, I have one more question, and then I have a little rapid fire. So I'm gonna do the rapid fire first. One word your family would use to describe you.
SPEAKER_03Com loyal.
SPEAKER_01Loyal. Biggest risk you've ever taken.
SPEAKER_03Uh starting a tech company that failed.
SPEAKER_01Best piece of advice you've ever received.
SPEAKER_03Be generous. Um in our like traditional Christian faith-based traditions, we pay tithing. Um the same guy that got me into real estate and helped pay for my mission said the secret is in uh in our church we do fast offerings where once a month everybody goes without food and ideally food and water for 24 hours. I don't always make it 24 hours, but I've always learned to be generous with that offering. And he said that's really like that was probably like the best piece of advice I ever got was just be super generous because whether you believe in the universe or God or whatever it is, like uh generosity is very quickly rewarded.
SPEAKER_01What does success mean to you today?
SPEAKER_03If my wife and kids are happy, then I believe I'm successful. Like if and I fail at that a lot. If my wife and kids are happy, then I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to do.
SPEAKER_01What's something people misunderstand about leadership?
SPEAKER_03I think the biggest failure in leadership is people try to lead people that won't follow them. Like being a leader doesn't mean you can lead everybody. Um and so like I think people misunderstand the fact that like I've led organizations of people that love my leadership style and personality and everything, and then I I've learned that if I'm leading the wrong group of people, there's really nothing I can do. And so it's so funny because we'll pick on leaders and leadership, but in reality, so much of the effectiveness of the leadership is people who are willing to receive it. So it's like if you pick people that don't want to be led, like good luck. Like you know what I mean? Like you're never gonna succeed in that environment. Service means uh selflessness, like um I think when you give service, you turn your sights away from yourself. I don't know how many people are depressed when they're giving service. I don't know how many people are unhappy when they're giving service. Like, I think I can't tell you how many times with my kids it's been like, hey, we're gonna go feed the homeless or whatever, and they're like, No, this sucks. I don't want to do this. And then afterward, they're like, that was so great. It's like, well, what changed? What changed as they stopped thinking about themselves? Yeah. And they're like, remember that one guy that came up and he did the thing? And and it's like, by giving service, they stop being selfish.
SPEAKER_01All right, this is the last question, and everybody gets it. What is legacy, what what is the legacy you want to leave?
SPEAKER_03I would want I would want my wife and kids and eventually grandkids to I don't know that I ever felt like my dad. Um I don't know that I felt like my dad really lived, which is probably hurtful if you heard me say that. Um there was a selflessness about him, but I always wanted my dad to do something. Like, go try something. Like my kids have seen me fail, they've seen me try different things, pick up new hobbies, suck at them, try something else, explore, adventure. Like, I mean, my ultimate legacy is I would want my family to say, like, he he's he's a disciple ultimately. But beyond that, like I would want them to know that their dad tr tried things. He he ran businesses and he sucked at it, and then some of them were great, and he you know, uh wasn't afraid to fail. And he he wasn't afraid to apologize and say he was sorry. Like I think those those are elements that like I think my kids shake their heads at me a lot, like but when push came to shove, if somebody said like after this life, tell me about your dad, they would say, like, my dad was a doer, like he he tried everything. He tried to be everything, he failed at it all the time, but he never stopped trying. And I think that would be that would make me happy if my kids were able to say that.
SPEAKER_01It's funny, I just asked you about your legacy, and you have this huge company, and you're a leader in your realm, and you didn't mention one word about that. It was all about what will my kids remember? What will they say about me? Who am I to them? And that's actually a beautiful legacy you're trying to build. Joe Herrera, thank you for coming on Lip Chicken Legacy. I appreciate your time.
SPEAKER_03This is great.