{"id":2785,"date":"2022-05-31T03:55:08","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T03:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imsfund.com\/?p=2785"},"modified":"2022-05-31T03:55:08","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T03:55:08","slug":"what-to-do-before-you-quit-the-high-pay-benefits-of-corporate-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imsfund.com\/index.php\/2022\/05\/31\/what-to-do-before-you-quit-the-high-pay-benefits-of-corporate-world\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Do Before You Quit the High-Pay & Benefits of Corporate World"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

Before you quit your job<\/strong><\/a>, you will need to prepare yourself not just financially, but mentally. If you\u2019re thinking of leaving your W2, and you\u2019re not at retirement age just yet, odds are you have a side hustle<\/strong><\/a> or even an entire small business<\/strong>. As the side hustle begins to grow, you may be torn between spending time at your job and putting in the hours to scale your business<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This is doubly true if you\u2019re like Daniella Flores<\/strong> from I Like to Dabble<\/em><\/a>, who is at a high-paying, fully-remote job<\/strong> with a solid share of benefits. Before she decided to scale down her full-time work, she had to come up with an action plan that would allow her to slowly slip away from corporate life<\/strong>, so she can avoid the instant shock of being an overnight entrepreneur.<\/p>\n

Daniella has some helpful tips <\/strong>for anyone who thinks their time at a job is close to the end<\/strong>. She has spent the last year or so planning for the departure, so when she leaves her job, she doesn\u2019t need to search for a new one! Now, she can spend more of her time writing, designing, and building something that will truly set her up for long-term financial (and time) freedom<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n

Mindy:
Welcome to the BiggerPockets Money Podcast, show number 305, where we interview Daniella Flores from iliketodabble.com, and talk about the things you need to consider before quitting your job to go full-time self-employed.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
I got into therapy last year. And that was the one thing that helped me a lot. We were talking about this, because I was like, \u201cI\u2019m not sure if this was the right move,\u201d because my job has all these amazing benefits. But I really want to do this. I really want to do this full-time because I feel like I\u2019m wasting all this time, not wasting, but you use your energy throughout your workday doing these tasks and the energy to build up for the stuff you want to work on. So then after that, I\u2019m like, \u201cThere\u2019s all these things I want to do. And I feel like I\u2019m losing this time to something else that my heart isn\u2019t into.\u201d I don\u2019t see a future. And we talked about it, and she\u2019s like, \u201cI see the way you talk about your blog.\u201d And she\u2019s like, \u201cI don\u2019t see your face light up like that when you talk about your work.\u201d That\u2019s all you need to know. She\u2019s like, \u201cIt sounds like you know what to do.\u201d That\u2019s right. I do, I guess.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Hello, hello. Hello. My name is Mindy Jensen. And joining me today is David Pere, from the Military Millionaire group. David, what\u2019s going on?<\/p>\n

David Pere:
I\u2019m not finding the unmute button. That\u2019s what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Hey, that\u2019s my job.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
Apparently, you can use the spacebar to unmute, which means that I leave myself muted. So, there\u2019s less noise. But apparently, if you drag the Google Doc over to type and then hit the spacebar, you just make a big gap in a sentence, which is what I just did instead of talking. So, that\u2019s what\u2019s going on in my life. And we had an appraisal come back really high today. So, that was cool.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Well, nice for you, we had the exact opposite. So, I wish your appraiser lived over here. David and I are here to make financial independence less scary. That\u2019s just for somebody else to introduce you to every Money Story. Because we truly believe financial freedom is attainable for everyone, no matter when or where you\u2019re starting.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
Whether you want to retire early, and travel the world, go on to make big-time investments and assets like real estate, or start your own business, we\u2019ll help you reach your financial goals and get money out of the way, so that you can launch yourself towards your dreams.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
A few months ago, Daniella posted on Twitter that they were thinking about quitting their job, but there was a lot more to it than they originally thought. And if you\u2019re struggling with it, you\u2019re not alone. I know this firsthand, because my own husband\u2026 Hi, Carl, struggled with this too before he finally took the plunge. So, I feel qualified to talk about this both with Daniella and to give advice to people who are listening as well. David, you\u2019re also successfully unemployed, right?<\/p>\n

David Pere:
Yes, ma\u2019am. Have been since October.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Now, is that official? Do you have a job? Do you do any sort of work at all, or you just sit around on the beach all day and eat bonbons?<\/p>\n

David Pere:
Technically, still in the reserves for the Marine Corps, though I have not actually gone and done anything for the reserves in the last five months. So, we\u2019ll see how long that lasts. I have not received a paycheck from anything outside of my LLCs since October 10th.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
So then, I would call you unemployed. Because if nobody\u2019s paying you, then you shouldn\u2019t be doing any work for them. So, Daniella is here today to talk about both the circumstances leading up to their potential retirement or separation from employment, and what they\u2019re going to do once they get there. One of the things I like most about Daniella is that they don\u2019t like to hustle. They like to dabble. Their blog is called iliketodabble.com. And they do not promote the grind it all costs mentality that really makes life kind of suck.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
To quote Daniella, \u201cStop this. You have to hate your life to become successful rhetoric. Hustle culture doesn\u2019t work. You can do meaningful work in moderation, and be happy.\u201d Daniella has taken these dabblings, combined them with their full-time job in IT and their low expenses, to get them to the precipice of retirement, which is where we join them today. Daniella Flores from iliketodabble.com, Welcome to the BiggerPockets Money Podcast.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Thank you so much for having me. I\u2019m so excited. I love this podcast, and I can\u2019t wait to get into it.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
I can\u2019t wait to jump into your story. So, let\u2019s get a little bit of a background from your money journey. Where did you start? And right up to about now where you are considering leaving full-time employment.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Yes, so I guess I\u2019ll start my story back when I started side hustling. So, when I started my first like go it side hustling was when I was in high school. I didn\u2019t really think of it as side hustling at the time. I had a problem with spending money because I wasn\u2019t familiar with how I was kind of triggered by money. So, I would basically spend my\u2026 at that time, I worked to the movie theater. So, it\u2019s been like the whole paycheck on things that didn\u2019t matter like food, clothes. These were things that I didn\u2019t necessarily need at that time.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
I wanted them, but they really didn\u2019t matter. And through all of that, by the time I had my bills come, I would need money for those because I was paying for my car. I was paying for my cell phone. I was still in high school, so I didn\u2019t have rent stuff. But I would go and sell my clothes as well, as go to thrift stores and buy stuff and resell those at online. So, at the time, I was using Craigslist for this stuff because this is back in the day. And I was trying to basically remake the money back that I blew.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
I had the education of how to have a good financial. Hear me resay this. So, I had the education to have a good financial foundation for my parents, but I was somebody that would never listen to any of that. I thought that, \u201cI have it covered. I\u2019ll do it. This works for me.\u201d And it did not work for me for a very long time. And I went on that way for about a couple of years until I got into college. I had to be a little bit more serious. I stopped side hustling per se. I had basically\u2026 they were jobs. They weren\u2019t like these little one-off things I was doing. I was working three jobs through college, trying to graduate.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
At the time, working at my mom\u2019s surgery center. I was doing health insurance verification, and I hated the tediousness of it. I was like, \u201cI can\u2019t wait to go to college or work in tech. My life is going to be so easy. I can\u2019t wait to do all these things, have control my life. It\u2019s going to be great.\u201d And I got into school. I took an unpaid internship. I was making $0 for those first couple of weeks. I got hired on eventually at $30,000 salary. I thought that was a lot. I was not making much after taxes or anything. It was maybe $1500 a month after taxes, health insurance, stuff for life insurance, 401(k), the benefits that cost money at the place I was working at.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
From there, I actually had my first real experience in IT. I was a web engineer. But at this startup, the environment that the way it was was everybody was around my age, right out of college. We were all working 80-hour weeks. They would have alcohol in the office, all this food for you. They\u2019d have parties and go to concerts for free, all these things so they could keep you in this environment. So, you\u2019re always working. And I burned out hard. And I burned out very quickly. It took me 10 months, and I\u2019ve burned out so bad. I just stopped going to work. And I was actually fired for my first job out of college.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
And that was when I started my first legit freelance kind of side hustle. I got a job waitressing. And then I got a freelance gig with one of the former clients that worked with me at that startup. I didn\u2019t sign an NDA or anything. So, I was totally fine, just by the way. So, working with that freelance relationship, doing like a freelance\u2026 basically what I was doing at that startup as a freelancer, and they asked me like, \u201cWhat would you like to get paid? We can pay you $100 an hour.\u201d That blew my mind. It was crazy because they really valued my work. At the time, I was completely clueless about what I should ask. They\u2019re like, \u201cHow about $100 an hour? It was only for 10 hours a week.\u201d So, I was like, \u201cThat\u2019s perfect. I can do that.\u201d And so, I did that for a while. And I worked as a waitress.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
And then, I still had this pressure, though, for my family to get a real job. \u201cYou need to get back into a real job. What are you doing? You\u2019re not going anywhere.\u201d So, with this mindset my whole life, is like, you go to you go to college. You get a job. That\u2019s what you do. And then, eventually, you retire. There\u2019s no really stuff in between these, think about too much. Because you\u2019re thinking about all the time. It\u2019s like, I got to work. I got to make this money. I got to live, I guess.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
And at that time, I was trying so hard to get another job. So, I eventually got another job. And then from there, I kind of moved up these different positions. I did a lot of lateral moves throughout my career in tech. I did a lot of job hopping because I felt I was just stuck a lot at the other salary ranges I was in, who these jobs I was taking. So, I had to kind of job hop to get my salary to kind of bump up as I went. And I never really got any my money stuff, though, together during any of that. I was still spending like I\u2019ve always been spending. And it wasn\u2019t until about 2017 where we finally had to start getting our stuff together. I was having student loan. The student loan office\u2019s calling me all the time about student loan payments that needed to be made. We had credit card debt that we had to pay. And we had car debt that we had to pay.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
At the time, my wife was also paying for her house. When we met, it was her house. That was in her name. So, I was like, \u201cWe need to get our stuff together.\u201d And that\u2019s what actually propelled us to basically get our money stuff together. So, it\u2019s a long-winded answer. I went through a lot of all of these weird events in my life that were kind of telling me like, \u201cHey, you need to get your stuff together.\u201d And just got it together eventually.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Yay! Better late than never.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Yes.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
So, I have a few things I want to unpack from this. First, you said, \u201cI can\u2019t wait to get out of college. So, my real life can begin.\u201d And that is going to be the callback for later when you talk about your retirement because I hear you see, \u201cEverything\u2019s going to be great once I can quit my mom\u2019s job or quit this job with my mom where I\u2019m verifying insurance benefits,\u201d which has to be just a horrible job. And then, I can get this great job.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
And I hear that mentality from people who want to retire, \u201cOnce I retire, everything\u2019s going to be great.\u201d And then you went on to talk about the life that you had. And it was not great because it wasn\u2019t the life that you wanted. And the retirement\u2026 and I know this firsthand from my husband\u2019s experience. I\u2019m going to call David to get his firsthand experience, is that, if you don\u2019t plan your retirement, it\u2019s not great. It\u2019s kind of sucky. Your life gets pulled, and your attention gets pulled. And your time gets pulled in all these different directions because you have no plan.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
And I\u2019m really excited to talk about the next phase of your life because I want to see what you\u2019re planning. Because I can see so many good things. You have learned from the time that you were in college that, \u201cI can\u2019t wait to get my real life planned.\u201d And I know. I follow you on Twitter. I read your blog. I know you\u2019ve got plans. And your retirement is going to be great. Because you\u2019re not just jumping into it with both feet, and \u201cHey, whatever happens, happens.\u201d You have to plan things in life, or life will happen to you. So, I just wanted to get that out there.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
You also had this pressure from your family to get a real job. Everybody listening, stop pressuring people to get a real job. Whatever they want to do, if it\u2019s covering their bills, if they\u2019re not asking you for money, don\u2019t bother them. And then, in one of your blog posts, you say, \u201cI am an advocate for job hopping to increase your salary within reason.\u201d I want to dive into that a little bit because I\u2019m old. And I come from an era where you don\u2019t job hop because you look flaky. And I can remember how many times my parents told me, \u201cWell, you don\u2019t like this job, but you can\u2019t leave because you\u2019ll just look like a job hopper, and nobody will ever want to hire you.\u201d I have applied for so many jobs that I have gotten or been offered because I\u2019m a good interviewer. They\u2019re not going to care. But apparently, they do. And now, they don\u2019t within reason. So, what does within reason mean to you?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
So, within reason, for me, I think that\u2019s more of an open thing. Hey, if you\u2019re job hopping every couple of months, like two months, three months, so that\u2019s all your resume looks like. I\u2019m not going to say that that\u2019s a good idea. That\u2019s what I mean by it, within reason. So, job hopping for me, if the job isn\u2019t working out for you, whatever it is, however long you\u2019re there, though, leave. Find whatever way you can to leave that job, and find a better job. But if you\u2019re doing job hopping to just raise your salary, don\u2019t do that. Like \u201cHere, I\u2019m going to job hop 10 different jobs and get a 500k salary.\u201d What are your goals, though, with that?<\/p>\n

Mindy:
So, let\u2019s get to where we are today. You are considering leaving your job, but there\u2019s a lot of things to consider. Not just, \u201cI quit. Bye. I\u2019m done.\u201d And I liked your most recent article on acorns.com. Is it acorns.com or grow.acorns.com?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
I think it\u2019s grow, grow.acorns.com. It\u2019s the CNBC acorns, I guess, publication partnership that they have.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
It was hack your job to earn more money. And step number one, you negotiated for full-time remote work. I love this tip from you. During the pandemic, I made sure to negotiate for this because I knew we would be asked to come back to the office eventually. And we wanted to move to another state. So, you negotiated before anybody else was asking to stay home full-time. You\u2019re there right at the beginning of the pandemic. Talk about that. Let\u2019s talk about how you negotiated this because this is not just \u201cHey, I want to work for remote forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Right, absolutely. So, I first want to say like a preface here. So, as somebody who works in tech, it is a lot easier for me to negotiate remote work than it is for somebody who is like a teacher, per se. I just want to say that for anybody listening. So, negotiating remote work for me was something that I had a lot of actual experience with. So, with the kind of positions I\u2019ve had throughout my career, I\u2019ve always worked remote in some capacity. It\u2019s either been a hybrid remote relationship where it\u2019s at least like one day remote to as much as being full-time remote.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
The last three jobs that I\u2019ve had, I\u2019ve been a full-time remote worker. So, I kind of knew already what they were looking for in a full-time remote worker when it came up to\u2026 we were all sent home during the pandemic. I was like, \u201cYes! Back into full-time remote role again.\u201d I want to stay here. So, where I work currently, when I was originally hired, they had told me that I would eventually have the chance to become full-time remote. But at the time, their policy was hybrid. So, I was actually going into the office before the pandemic about two days a week.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
So, once we were home full-time, we wanted to make our move happen. Because with the way everything was at that time, we thought it\u2019s like, \u201cIt\u2019s either now or never. We got to move now. We just got to make it happen.\u201d So, my wife was looking for jobs in the area we wanted to move to. And I was doing kind of the data analysis on my side with my job, looking around at the different programs. Because there were already people that worked full-time remote in other locations that have always been doing it that way. Because they had like little jobs, not little jobs, but they had positions that were open as remote only. Because it was a global company, this company has offices all over the world. So, they already had groups that were working remote. They had people that were working remote.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
And so, I looked around first to look at that\u2026 the climate of the company is like, \u201cHow are they going to receive it, if I ask it?\u201d So, I did that. And then I use our ticketing system. So, the way that we do our work, everything\u2019s tracked in tickets. And there\u2019s all these different types of tickets. So, I can actually pull my own metrics of how I work and how much I get done, which is the same stuff that I use every year in our reviews. And I going to go through all the stuff that I do. And then, I showed them all the extra stuff I was able to do by working full-time remote since the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
And I also showed that it was like this push of\u2026 they kind of made it that way though, anyway. They send everybody home. The expectations increased like crazy. If anyone\u2019s listening, and they work in tech, they probably understand what I\u2019m talking about. Because now, there are things in tech that weren\u2019t there before. There are like measurements, that they measure how you\u2019re working. They measure the tickets that you\u2019re doing. They measure the data that\u2019s in your tickets. They have these KPIs now that are set up to actually have people lose their jobs, which is kind of a whole other conversation.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
But I presented all this to them. And I was like, \u201cLook, the job is already basically demanding me to be remote.\u201d My wife and I are preparing to move to Washington State. And then I kind of presented all the information. I talked to my manager, and he was like, \u201cI\u2019m okay with it. We just have to go to legal and maybe, sign some stuff.\u201d That also personal relationship I have with my manager. And he said I was always present. I wasn\u2019t somebody he had to try to chase down. He said I always did my work. He never had a doubt of me being full-time remote if anything would change. He\u2019s like, \u201cYou\u2019ve kind of been hybrid remote, anyway. I know how you work remote. I don\u2019t think anything\u2019s going to change. We just have to see how the company can legally do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mindy:
I think there\u2019s a lot of people out there who hate their job, and \u201cIf I could just work from home, it\u2019d be great.\u201d But if you go to work, and you hate your job, it oozes out of you that you hate your job. It oozes out of you that you\u2019re a miserable person. And then you\u2019re like, \u201cHey, I want to work remote.\u201d And your boss is like, \u201cWhy would I let you work remote? You don\u2019t get anything done at the office. Why would I let you go home and do even less at home?\u201d You presented yourself as \u201cI\u2019m very good at working remote because here\u2019s my past work experience. I\u2019m already getting more stuff done because I\u2019m already working remote. Look at how great I am already.\u201d It should be very easy for you to allow me to work remote.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
And being a good employee is going to get you the most benefits from your job. And if it\u2019s not, then that\u2019s a different conversation. You do need to quit your job if your company isn\u2019t appreciating you. But you have to be somebody that the company wants to keep. They\u2019re not going to bend over backwards to keep a crappy employee. So, I love this tip that you\u2026 like, \u201cI went through the tickets.\u201d I don\u2019t want to offend you and call you a big data nerd.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Well, I am a data nerd.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Good. That\u2019s a term of endearment on this show. I bet you have spreadsheets too.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Yes, I love spreadsheets.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
Tim Ferriss kind of talks about this in The 4-Hour Workweek, right? The idea of being able to show that you are more\u2026 like test out a day at home and then show you are more productive that day and whatever. Where was the company physically located at before you went remote?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
So, the IT headquarters in our specific region was in St. Louis, Missouri.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
Well, I can\u2019t even talk smack about you leaving because I\u2019m in Springfield.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Springfield. I went to college in Springfield actually.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
MSU?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Yes, Missouri State University for my first year.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
Cool. Cool. Cool. Good area. That\u2019s where I do most of my investing. So, what I was going to say though, is that one\u2019s kind of odd actually, because I was going to ask if they gave you a slight pay cut. So, I have a friend Daniel who lived in Carlsbad, California. And he moved to a much more affordable market to work remote full-time during the pandemic. And they gave him like a little bit of a pay reduction for the move. However, if you look at cost of living to pay, it was like a pay raise, essentially, to move. But I guess if you\u2019re moving from St. Louis to Washington, you probably went to a higher cost of living area. So, probably didn\u2019t give you a pay cut for that.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
For my employer, they have offices all over the world. So, in every big financial market country, they have an IT headquarters. So, with that said, there are tons of employees that work remote. So, they have actual location markers that they could put my name to. And I had the same salary that I was getting before that. So, they didn\u2019t change my salary at all. And it\u2019s actually shortly after that, that I job hopped within the company to a higher salary. But I still was able to stay remote.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Let\u2019s talk about that.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Yes. So, this was actually a little less than one year ago. It was about May. So, my former team\u2026 if anyone\u2019s listening, I hope they\u2019re not. Everybody on the team is great. There\u2019s just a couple of people that made it a very toxic environment even though I was working virtually. And I know a lot of people say that, like, the toxic environments, there\u2019s an extra boundary there with remote. And yes, that is true. But at the time, think about like this time last year during the pandemic, people\u2019s attitudes, there was like that tension everywhere with work and everywhere you went. And it came out in team meetings. And I was getting on these 5:00 A.M. calls. I\u2019m trying to run these calls efficiently to make sure that we\u2019re on target for certain efforts that we\u2019re doing in our iterations.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
And so, I got on these calls, and I would just get screamed at for over the smallest things, like a link that they don\u2019t want to click to view a thing on a screen. The things that these people get upset about, I was like, \u201cThis seems not working out for me. I can\u2019t deal with this every single day where I\u2019m on the verge of tears after just a couple of morning calls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
So, I started looking around internally at the company. They have an internal career portal. Everything gets listed there first before it gets listed to their external portal. But I also looked into their mentorship program. So, I reached out to a mentor. And we started meeting on a monthly basis. And then, she gave me some tricks to look at the internal portal to kind of be like, \u201cHey, this hiring manager, I know that that position is for this specific thing.\u201d Because it wouldn\u2019t be really in the job description. Everything\u2019s so vague in all the descriptions. She was able to kind of give me more of a lowdown of the certain jobs. So, I was actually starting to apply to a couple things internally. It didn\u2019t get anything and not really much traction was happening.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
And then luckily enough, somebody else who was in my network at the job, they were just somebody else on like another team. They weren\u2019t on my team. But we had talked because we worked on various projects together. And she said, \u201cHey, I have word that there\u2019s a new organization being spun up. And they\u2019re looking for a leader liability and an engineer for this team. They reached out to me, but I\u2019m taking a manager position. So, I gave them your name.\u201d And I was like, \u201cOh my God. Thank you.\u201d And they reached out to me the next week for an interview. We interviewed. They said, \u201cIt\u2019s fine. You can stay remote.\u201d And they said the words, \u201cI don\u2019t see us ever returning back to the office.\u201d But now they\u2019re all there. And I feel horrible about it, but anyway.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Anyway, I found this new team. I did a move. I was a senior software engineer then. And I\u2019m now a lead reliability engineer. So, I got a pay bump with that, and I got a bonus bump with that. And that was a huge save for me. And I kind of got lucky on it because I was applying to other things. And I even got an email back from one of the offices. It was one that was listed San Francisco\/ remote. And I was like, \u201cCool. It\u2019s remote.\u201d That would probably stay remote. So, I applied to that one. And they actually were trying to set up an interview with me, but they said, \u201cWe are remote now. But once we go back, we need you to move to San Francisco.\u201d And I was like, \u201cSan Francisco is one of the most expensive places to live. No, absolutely not.\u201d Like, no. I work remote now for the same company. I don\u2019t know why you would require me to be there. So, that one actually\u2026 they passed on me because they said that, \u201cIf you\u2019re not going to move here to eventually work in the office, then it won\u2019t work.\u201d and I was like, \u201cOkay.\u201d And then, that next week, that came through with my friend on the other team. So, that was pretty cool.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
That reminds me of a job interview I had once where the interviewer said, \u201cAnd if you\u2019re here after six o\u2019clock at night, the company will buy you dinner.\u201d And I\u2019m thinking to myself, \u201cI don\u2019t want to be here at six o\u2019clock. Why are you acting all excited? I can make my own dinner at home. I don\u2019t want to work till six o\u2019clock at night.\u201d And they would also buy you a cab home, and like, \u201cThe train\u2019s $1.50, I\u2019ll just take the train. Thank you.\u201d Because I don\u2019t want to be there so late. They make it sound like it\u2019s so great. Well, we\u2019re remote now. What do you mean you don\u2019t want to come into the office and move to San Francisco? And like, I told them to take my name out of consideration. It sounds like they passed on me. That\u2019s a good thing. That\u2019s a great thing.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Absolutely. Because I was looking at houses in San Francisco, and I\u2019m like, \u201cPretty sure we can\u2019t get one under $2 million.\u201d So, that\u2019s a no. It\u2019s a hard pass<\/p>\n

Mindy:
And that\u2019s a shack that needs a lot of work, and broken foundation, no plumbing. electric is sparking, so they\u2019ve turned it off.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Right. There\u2019s no floors.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Who needs floors? Why are you so picky, Daniella?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
I know right.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
So, you just mentioned 5:00 A.M. calls when you were talking to your team in Missouri.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Yes.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
That\u2019s not cool.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
No, it\u2019s not cool. So, the nature of that team at the time, since we were an external customer facing application, so these are people using like rewards on their credit cards. We were an external facing application. But we worked with various teams in different regions, which a lot of the teams at that company are structured that way where you have a program, which is like your group of teams. And in that program, you have all the regions. And you all have to find a way to connect when time zones never match. I was the one who got the not the best end of the stick on that one.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
It also was a team of\u2026 it was a very male dominated, well, I was the only woman. I was only like female present. At the time, I identified as a woman. To people I\u2019m female presenting, as you look at me, you think of female. But at my team, the only person who was a woman was a\u2026 she was part-time. And she was very good to work with. I wonder if any women in tech or listening to me right now. But they might often feel like they\u2019re being stuffed into secretary tasks or administrative tasks as someone in tech. And that often happens on teams like that. And I was someone who is often shoved in these things to run meetings like, \u201cHey, Daniella. You want to run this morning meeting? They like to work with you. You\u2019ll be great for it.\u201d And I was like, \u201cWell, sure.\u201d I should have said no. And I say no, now. Now, I say no.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
So, here\u2019s the question. Did 5:00 A.M. call equate to two hour earlier being done? Or was it like, in addition to your normal work hours, you\u2019re going to be on the phone at 5:00?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Well, I was able to get off earlier, as long as nobody sent me an instant message on Slack right at last minute that they need me to fix some life shattering issue. That slash is there in evening.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
I\u2019m the weirdo who would love that. Like, \u201cYou mean I can wake up early, but I get to be off at three in the afternoon every day?\u201d So old.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
That is a good thing. I do get off earlier. So, now, I don\u2019t start that early. I start at 6:00, and I get off at 2:00, which is perfect.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
But still, 5:00 A.M. I\u2019m assuming, and maybe, I\u2019m just being too American, but I\u2019m assuming that you\u2019re working with people in America on your team. So, I mean, even if it\u2019s Pacific and Eastern Time, there\u2019s a large chunk of time that you can still find in the middle of the day to not have to get up at five o\u2019clock in the morning for some stupid meeting that probably could have been an email.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
I should clarify that when I say regions, I mean global regions. So, morning calls are usually with India. So, Pune, our Pune team. So, that\u2019s a big part of all the teams, those teams over in the Asia Pacific region.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Okay, okay. Maybe, that\u2019s just me being American. Everything centers around us.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
I know right. I\u2019m always thinking that my time zone is the one.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
It is. Except it\u2019s my time zone that is the one.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Yes.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Mountain. And I\u2019ll even send emails to people that I know we\u2019re in different time zones, like, \u201cCan you do this at 10:00?\u201d Then, they call me at 10:00 their time, they\u2019re like, \u201cHey, where are you?\u201d Like, \u201cIt\u2019s 8:00. What are you talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n

David Pere:
I know. And the funny thing though\u2026 and it would almost make it easier if you always spoke in your time zone. But Mindy\u2019s actually pretty good about remembering what time zone you\u2019re in and sending it in your time zone every now and then. So, it throws me for a loop when she doesn\u2019t. And I\u2019m totally lost. I\u2019m like, \u201cOh my goodness. Now I\u2019m super confused.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mindy:
I try to put it in all caps to bring it up. This is mountain time zone. But sometimes I forget, like, \u201cI feel bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
That was a good one. I know that one. It\u2019s only an hour after me.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Let\u2019s talk about this next tip you have, \u201cI made sure to prioritize my time.\u201d I love these next two pieces that you have, \u201cI stopped saying yes to everything. I started denying meetings that would be emails.\u201d If only we all had that power, and especially, \u201cdenying all meetings outside of my working hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Yes. When I first started in tech, and even up until a couple of years ago, I would say yes to everything because I was anxious that if I didn\u2019t say yes, I wouldn\u2019t be seen as somebody who is performing well. Because there\u2019s expectations that they set, but always you feel like you have to go above those to feel like you\u2019re even being adequate. Obviously, that\u2019s not true. But I figured out that me wanting to be available for everything and wanting to do everything was only hurting me, not helping me. So, I stopped saying yes. I started saying no. And I found out it was like, it\u2019s not that bad to say no people really don\u2019t care. It\u2019s okay. So, that was nice.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
I mean, sometimes occasionally you get that person who they really, really want to have that meeting. It\u2019s really necessary. And all you have to do is\u2026 I mean, what I did a lot of times is like, \u201cWhat are your questions that you want to address on this email?\u201d And then, they\u2019ll send me the questions, and I\u2019ll send them their answers, or send them the resources that they need. It\u2019s like, \u201cThere you go.\u201d That\u2019s all you needed to do.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
But now, the number one thing that\u2019s helping me the most is, because people will load up my calendar with meetings if they see slots because that\u2019s how everybody schedules meetings, I guess, through slack, is that they want to see what your open slots are. They don\u2019t really ask anymore. So, I\u2019ve been time blocking the things that I need to do throughout the week at work. So, I make sure that those are actually taken up too.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Because like, all right, I know I have a bunch of reports. I have to run for a month end kind of data stuff. So, I have to block this many hours on this day to do this. And so, if I do that, that makes sure that I don\u2019t have all these meetings coming in and taking up my time. So, then I have to push this work to whatever else that can get done. Because I don\u2019t want to do it on off hours. That\u2019s a no, not going to be working on off hours. And I want to get my time done, when I want to get it done. I mean, my work done when I want to get it done.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Yes, during work hours.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Yes.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Especially as a working at home person. I quit at 5:00, but now it\u2019s 6:30. And I\u2019m still sitting in front of my computer, because I just have one more thing to do. I mean, in IT, in tech, in almost everything, there\u2019s always something else you can do. I am very fortunate that when I started at BiggerPockets, I think Brandon sat me down and said, Josh will always give you 150 more hours of work that you can do, and he knows it. So, do what you can and then stop at the end of the day, and start the next day. There\u2019s always more work than you can do. It was like week one that he said that. And I\u2019m so glad that he did because I would have felt overwhelmed with all the work.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
It\u2019s an online website where there\u2019s people who can come in and talk any day. And I was in charge of the forums. So, anytime day or night, there\u2019s somebody posting there. So, I could have literally been online all day every day. And never slept and never ate and never saw my family and just trying to keep up and frantically. And, of course, that\u2019s not sustainable. And I would have to sleep and eat and whatever. But you can work 18 hours a day if you want. Don\u2019t want that because that\u2019s not a fun life.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
No, not fun at all. I guess a lot of people, for the folks that had the experience of going home to work remote, you might have realized that there is like an influx of meetings. I feel like when I went home remote, it was like, all my days are just people are trying to create all these meetings. And my dad works in tech too. And we were talking about this because like, \u201cI feel like all I\u2019m doing all day is meetings. I can\u2019t do my work.\u201d We like to kind of complain back and forth about our jobs because we have very similar jobs. So, we\u2019re talking, is like, \u201cJust all these people.\u201d He\u2019s like, \u201cThey\u2019re just managers or things that they don\u2019t know what they\u2019re managing. And they\u2019re just sending me meetings so they look like they\u2019re busy.\u201d We talked about, it\u2019s like, \u201cAll right. Stop accepting them. And start filling up your calendar with the things that you know you need to get done. And make sure that you\u2019re not completely sabotaging yourself at work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Exactly. Well, let\u2019s move into your next life.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
My next life, yes.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
What does your next life look like?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
My next life looks like a little bit like my life now. So, I\u2019ve been working on my brand and my blog iliketodabble.com. I\u2019ve been working on that since 2017 on and off. So, those first couple years, I stepped away from it a lot because I was getting burnt out with the content generation, kind of roller coaster that you\u2019re on as you\u2019re generating content. So, I burned out here and there. And I stepped away from it, and then I would come back.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
And then the last few years, I really went hit the ground running, got more serious about it. And as I started to hone in on ways to help people like me, people in the LGBTQ community, creatives, and people looking to increase their income if they don\u2019t feel comfortable negotiating or comfortable looking for those opportunities. I tried to hone in on the things that I felt strongly about, and I was like, \u201cI feel really passionate about this.\u201d And a long time, I\u2019ve had a problem with the word passion because you could have so many passions in your life. There\u2019s not just one. So, I was like, \u201cThis is something I really want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
So, I got into therapy last year, and that was the one thing that helped me a lot. We were talking about this because I was like I\u2019m not sure if this is the right move because my job has all these amazing benefits, but I really want to do this. I really want to do this full-time because I feel like I\u2019m wasting all this time, not wasting, but you use your energy throughout your workday doing these tasks, the energy to build up for the stuff you want to work on. So then, after that, I\u2019m like, \u201cThere\u2019s all these things I want to do. And I feel like I\u2019m losing this time to something else that my heart isn\u2019t into. I don\u2019t see a future in.\u201d And we talked about, and she\u2019s like, \u201cI see the way you talk about your blog.\u201d And she\u2019s like, \u201cI don\u2019t see your face light up like that when you talk about your work.\u201d That\u2019s all you need to know. It sounds like you know what to do. And I was like, \u201cThat\u2019s right. I do, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mindy:
So, I have a firsthand experience with this, from your wife\u2019s point of view. My husband said the same thing, \u201cI don\u2019t want to work here anymore. I want to do other things. But I make all this money. I have these amazing benefits. Who am I to leave this great paying job to go pursue my passions, my dreams? Why would I leave this? It seems so selfish.\u201d And it took him a year to come to terms with this. And even then, he asked his boss, \u201cCould I just go three days a week?\u201d And even that was like, \u201cI should ask him, but I don\u2019t want to. And what if he says no?\u201d And then, he finally asked his boss like, \u201cI don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mindy:
It feels like this huge decision because it\u2019s so life altering to you. But it\u2019s not such a huge deal to your boss because then they still got him. He had proprietary knowledge of\u2026 he wrote blood bank software for the VA hospital, David. So, if you need blood, if you got blood in 2010 to 2015, 2008 to 2015, he made sure you didn\u2019t die. So, you\u2019re welcome.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
I can\u2019t imagine that being a super high stress job. I mean, the VA does everything super slow and inefficiently. So, they probably don\u2019t care when you get anything done.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Except it could kill you. If it gives you the wrong blood.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
Not me. I\u2019m AB positive. Anything you got, I\u2019m good. I\u2019m the one that can take everything.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Well, good for you. I don\u2019t know anything about blood. Carl knows it all. But it was really stressful. So, he stepped down, and the boss is like, \u201cSure, no problem.\u201d And then, when he finally quit, he\u2019s like, \u201cWow, I should have done this years ago.\u201d And I think that that\u2019s going to be the same too. You mentioned just a few moments ago that somebody at work works part-time. Have you considered stepping back work instead of quitting cold turkey to test it out?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
So, this is something I\u2019ve been thinking about. And I haven\u2019t tackled it. This is another one of those fears, I guess, where it\u2019s like, \u201cI\u2019m back at this thing,\u201d where I want to ask this thing. I want to ask for a part-time work. And I\u2019ve looked into it, and I asked HR portal, and I asked like, \u201cHey, are we still eligible for benefits if I were to move part-time?\u201d And they said, \u201cYes.\u201d So, I haven\u2019t asked my manager yet, though. I just asked HR for informational. They didn\u2019t say, \u201cYes, you can do it.\u201d It was just informational of, \u201cYes, you can still get benefits at the same rate you do now if you\u2019re part-time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
So, I can try to ask my manager that. But I tried to take stock of the current situation I\u2019m in. Unfortunately, they just started going back to the office a couple of weeks ago. So, I\u2019m on calls. And all of my team is required to be in the office. Two days a week, I think, is what they\u2019re doing now. Some of them do like three or four. That depends on the person, like their style. But I can tell that there\u2019s like a\u2026 I don\u2019t know for sure if it\u2019s there or not, but there\u2019s like, \u201cWe all know Daniella gets to work from home all the time.\u201d And they even have these benefits.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
So, the job has actually added new benefits to their benefit package called Work From Anywhere Weeks. But they have entire teams and people that work remote full-time that always worked from anywhere. And they were talking and they\u2019re calling other day like, \u201cI\u2019m picking up my Work From Anywhere Weeks and stuff.\u201d And I was like, \u201cNo comment.\u201d I can\u2019t say anything. So, if I bring this up to my boss, like, \u201cHey, can I move to part-time?\u201d I don\u2019t know what she will respond to that like. And I haven\u2019t tackled it yet. But it\u2019s an option I\u2019ve been thinking about. Yes. But I\u2019m also trying to think about the timing for it. Because it\u2019s right, everyone just went back. And I feel like I\u2019m the odd one out, and they don\u2019t like it.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
Just punch your own ticket in the IT system, and make it look like you worked the full week.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
There you go.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
You run the system that catches people so you\u2019re good.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
There you go.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
Legal disclaimer, I\u2019m not an attorney.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Exactly. So, I\u2019ve thought about moving to part-time. Maybe it\u2019s something I should ask before I try to quit. So, that\u2019s great that you brought that up.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
So, your blog is all about side hustles, right? And dabbling and freelancing, and a lot of those things are not passive or recurring income. So, when you say retire, are you taking the money that you\u2019re making from there and reinvesting in something that is going to be able to give you like cash flow or passive income? Or is your idea of retirement like mine? Where I\u2019m retired, and it\u2019s my office. Therefore, it\u2019s me doing whatever I want. And you\u2019re going to continue to push the blog forward and freelance and everything. But you\u2019re viewing it as retire just because it\u2019s on your own terms.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
Just got curious the financial position there because usually when people\u2026 not like I\u2019m an expert. But usually, when people make the transition from employed to successfully unemployed, there\u2019s the finance question. And then, once you check that box, you\u2019re like, \u201cI\u2019m good.\u201d Then, it becomes like, \u201cNow, what do I do?\u201d And those are two totally different problems. But they both arise when you leave the employment world.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Right. So, I\u2019m leaving my employment world, but I\u2019m not retiring and living off of investments. So, we are still actively investing, but we won\u2019t be withdrawing from those investments during this. The only one we have is like our brokerage account, which that is like 10 years in the future kind of thing. So, we could use that money if we needed to. But we also have emergency savings that we\u2019ve saved up. I\u2019ve been saving up for months.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
I actually originally wanted to quit last year. And I just keep extending it because of all of my own doubts about yada, yada, yada. So, I\u2019m not retiring from all work ever. I\u2019m just retiring from like a W2 employee to being a self-employed person. So, what my plan is is to run the blog, but also do my freelance projects that I do, do the consulting and the coaching that I do, work with the several different publications that I do. And some of those do have like passive income streams. Like the blog brings in add income every month. We have affiliate income, some digital products that planned around those launches will have passive income come in. And we\u2019re also trying to work to build up systems to make sure that I can automate a little bit more of that, and guarantee a little bit more of recurring income as we continue to save more and prepare for me to make the switch.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
Does your job offer decent vacation benefits? Or is it possible to do a sabbatical? Because, like in the military, you could take 30 days paid vacation. And you could take a full month off, and at the end of the month, you\u2019re like, \u201cWow! Yup, I\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
[inaudible 00:42:30]. That\u2019s perfect.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
All right. I\u2019ll give it a little bit longer. So, if that\u2019s an option, I would definitely recommend doing that.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Sabbatical. I don\u2019t know if they have sabbatical as a benefit. I haven\u2019t seen that on their benefits, but we have 30 days of vacation. I\u2019ve already been using vacation this year like crazy because I know that I want to use them all up. We still get paid out though, for any that we don\u2019t use. But I\u2019ve been using them way more this year, like in the beginning of the year. Because usually, I have it from the summer offloaded to like the end of the year. This year, everything\u2019s been offloaded to the beginning of the year because I want to leave. But I\u2019ve been taking a little bit too much vacation lately, which actually, there is no such thing as too much vacation.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
No, I mean, that was exactly what I was going to suggest is take as much as you have. Like, if you have 30 days on the book, take 30 days. And don\u2019t think about work at all, and pretend you\u2019re retired. And then by the end of that time period, you\u2019ll probably know if you\u2019re actually ready or not.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
So, I did that kind of a month. My mom and I went to Napa, California. I haven\u2019t talked to her about it. Because my parents were the number one, not the number one, but one of those people in the back of my head being like, \u201cReal bad. Can\u2019t leave it. What about your 401(k) match, blah, blah, blah.\u201d So, we even talked about it. Because I was showing her this product I was working on with another publication. And she was like, \u201cThis is really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
And she was really engaged. And she\u2019s never been engaged in the stuff that I do. Because it\u2019s tech, and she was in nursing and administration, hospital administration for a while. So, she\u2019s doesn\u2019t really vibe with all the tech stuff. So, I was talking about it. She\u2019s like, \u201cYou excited when you talk about this stuff. I\u2019ve never seen you talk about your work like that.\u201d And I keep hearing this from other people. And I was like, \u201cYes, I love it.\u201d And I want to do this full-time. She\u2019s like, \u201cRight away? You want to quit or you want to quit like down the road?\u201d And I was like, \u201cWell, I kind of want to quit like this year.\u201d And she\u2019s like, \u201cWell, I mean, you enjoy it.\u201d So, I was like, \u201cWell, I didn\u2019t expect you to say that.\u201d My dad is the one that you have to convince, though. But either way, I don\u2019t need to convince them anymore. It\u2019s not like I live with them.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
You just got to convince yourself.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
I know right. That\u2019s the real one I have to convince.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
I\u2019m not saying that you have to convince yourself to make the leap. I\u2019m just saying that\u2019s the hardest part of the decision is coming to terms with, \u201cI feel like this is the right move now. And I wrestled with it for like six months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
I\u2019ve been wrestling with it now for about a year. I\u2019m wrestling with mostly because of just the way I was raised and the way work is in my family. My dad was an immigrant from Venezuela. So, when he came over here, he worked several different jobs. He got into IT. And he worked up from Help Desk to a lead architect position. He\u2019s a union worker. And he\u2019s very much like work, work, this is the way to work in America. This is how you become successful and get what you want.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
And when I was a kid, he\u2019s like, \u201cAmerica is the greatest country in the world.\u201d Where he came from, and the tradition over there was to send the males to America to get an education. If you were in a well-off, not a well-off family, but a family that was able to do that for their male children. I don\u2019t know why that\u2019s a tradition per se. They weren\u2019t really technically well-off. My grandma was a teacher. I think they actually had eight kids. But he was, eventually, able to come to America.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
And that was ingrained in my head as a kid, of like that culture of work is\u2026 this is what you\u2019re going to do. And I don\u2019t want to go for tech for school, originally, but I was good at it. And I was interested in it. And I knew it made money. Really wanted to go for fine art, but I did not have the money to pay for a fine art degree. I wanted to take out loans, but I didn\u2019t want to take that many loans out. And my parents wouldn\u2019t help me pay if I did fine art. So, I had to meet somewhere in the middle. So, I kind of did both. I did tech and graphic design.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
So, you can take your tech salary. And now, you can finance your fine art love, and do whatever you want because you have set yourself up to be in this position. And I\u2019m kind of glad your parents didn\u2019t let you take fine art because my parents did. And for a long time, I stayed at that $30,000 level that you started out at. I didn\u2019t get up to $200,000 because I was working in\u2026 what can you do with a fine arts degree? Would you like fries with that? I studied fashion design. David\u2019s laughing at me because I\u2019m not a fashion person at all. So, it was a stupid thing for me to study. It\u2019s not my passion. I really don\u2019t even know why I did it. I would have been better off studying business or I don\u2019t know. The tech is my friend. When I was in college, it really wasn\u2019t a thing. And I\u2019m glad that you were on that path. Now, you can continue making money in tech things. Can you freelance in your tech job? Are there freelance opportunities or contract work?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
So, I started out in my tech role. After that startup, I worked as a freelancer for a while. And even after I got a \u201creal job\u201d like my parents would say, I stayed on with that freelance client for a while doing one-off work for them because it was a nice extra income. So, I can freelance. But I did freelance web development for a long time on the side of my job. And basically, attributed to me burning out with tech in the long run. I would never actually work freelance in coding or programming or anything like that again. It\u2019s just like I\u2019ve been in tech for 11 years now. So, I\u2019ve rode this wave for a while. And I\u2019ve tried a lot of different things. And I\u2019m just ready to move on.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
I\u2019m just trying to gather up some ideas before I give you advice. I love David\u2019s idea for a sabbatical.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Sabbatical? Yes. That\u2019s great if it\u2019s available.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
If it\u2019s available.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Right. But I mean, I\u2019ve been building up the income with my business for a while now. That I\u2019ve gotten it to, at least, to match my pre-tax income to my job. However, I have expenses. Everything that makes the blog run, I have people to pay that helped me with the blog. I have to pay taxes with that money. I have to pay my own health insurance with that money. I won\u2019t be able to get a match anymore. All those things go into this whole decision. That\u2019s what\u2019s really holding me back is because these expenses are going to increase a lot.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
So, can you get health insurance through your wife?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Yes, health insurance through my wife is more than our mortgage.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Awesome. Welcome to America, the greatest country in the world. We have amazing health insurance.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Right.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
So, then maybe not that one.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
We\u2019re a family that\u2026 we use our health insurance a lot. There are certain health care needs that we have to see a doctor every month. And there\u2019s a lot of prescriptions that we get. So, we have to opt for her private healthcare that\u2019s through her employer because there\u2019s nothing on the marketplace that meets our needs. We don\u2019t want to buy health insurance. That\u2019s not going to cover anything.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Right.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
This is the only option that we have. People have gone back and forth trying to give me all these options for health insurance. And I was like, \u201cCan someone give me an option that makes sense. Geez!\u201d<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Move to another country.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Exactly. Right.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
It\u2019s part of why I stayed in the reserves was because six months, I still get TRICARE. And then after that, after this month, I guess, I go to paying for TRICARE out of pocket. But on the reserve side is like $270 for the family. And when I was looking at health insurance, I wouldn\u2019t say that we have any kind of crazy medical stuff. I mean, I\u2019m crazy. But you know otherwise.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
I mean, there was a comma in there. And I was like, \u201cAre you kidding me?\u201d We live in Missouri. And we believe in like, \u201cButterfly Stitch? That\u2019ll do.\u201d I\u2019m on a farm, \u201cWhat do you mean I need to pay this much money?\u201d So, it was definitely eye opening for me to see that. So, that was that was one of my biggest concerns getting out was that expense. And I ultimately\u2026 I had an option that I took, but I get that one.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
It was one that I did not see coming because the cost for was last year was different. It was still high, but it wasn\u2019t that high. And we went back and looked at it again during open enrollment period for them. I was like, \u201cThis is the time. I\u2019m ready to do this. Let\u2019s see what their insurance is.\u201d We brought it up. And we call the lady from like\u2026 because we looked at the form, and we\u2019re like, \u201cThat can\u2019t be right.\u201d So, we call them. They\u2019re like, \u201cYes. That\u2019s right.\u201d And we\u2019re like, \u201cOkay, never mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mindy:
So, does your company provide you with good health insurance?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Yes. So, currently, we pay about a little under $300 a month for both of us. It is pretty good insurance. It\u2019s still high deductible, like $3,000 deductible, but it\u2019s 80-20 after that, which is about the same as this insurance that\u2019s under her but with a way larger price tag on the premiums.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
So, looking at your options, this is more of like a research opportunity for you, but what is your job? What do you excel at your job, like your day-to-day job? You mentioned tickets, and you\u2019re doing it stuff. And I know already that\u2019s way over my head, you could tell me exactly what your job is. I\u2019d be like, that\u2019s not my job. What do you do better than anyone else? What do you enjoy doing about your job? What would you spend your part-time doing?<\/p>\n

Mindy:
So, just like you went to your boss and said, \u201cHere\u2019s all of the data about how I used to be a remote person. And this is all the stuff I did.\u201d How can you present to your boss a good pitch for allowing you to be part-time? Look, I do all the stuff that everybody else hates. Or look at all the stuff that I\u2019m so good at that nobody else knows how to do or whatever it is that you\u2019re doing. How can you pitch it that it\u2019s in their best interest to let you stay on part-time with these amazing benefits, so that you can work on your side stuff, but you still have the benefits?<\/p>\n

Mindy:
So, you take that equation out that like, what am I going to do for health care equation out for a while, while still being able to do the stuff that you enjoy doing at work. Because you don\u2019t want to be like, \u201cHey, I\u2019ll take all the garbage work that everybody hates.\u201d And then you\u2019re working their 20 hours a week that really suck, 20 sucky hours. Can you load up to 40-hour weeks and then two weeks off? Or a part-time is whatever you make it, they just have to say yes. You can like cobble together whatever it is that you can do. What is it that you\u2019re great at that you can solve a problem for them? Do you know what I mean?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Yes. No, this is a great\u2026 this is an angle I\u2019ve never thought of before with asking for part-time. I thought originally, if I was going to pitch this to my manager is, \u201cOkay. I do this currently. If I take X, Y, and Z out of this equation, I could still do all of this currently at 20 hours a week, rather than 40 hours a week.\u201d So, I originally was thinking of ways. We spent a lot of time hand-holding people that are higher up at the company through like\u2026 so our team supports this reporting counsel and stuff that they used to retrieval, other data metrics that they use for their things. And we have trainings for all this. And all this stuff is out there like Automate where they can go and grab that training themselves and all these things that we spend a lot of time hand-holding them for things that they don\u2019t really want to take that extra step to go find it themselves. I mean, I take a lot of time every week to do this.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
And I was thinking about kind of pitching that angle a little bit where it\u2019s like, \u201cAll right, here\u2019s all this work that I\u2019m doing that isn\u2019t really valuable, that is already actually out there and available for people to actually retrieve themselves.\u201d It\u2019s just a lot of manual work that isn\u2019t necessary. I can still do my job in 20 hours a week, maybe give up one project that I could\u2026 I don\u2019t know what to do with that yet, but give up on project. And then also, we can try to, I guess, increase communications about the resources that are out there. So, our time isn\u2019t wasted.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Just because you\u2019re asking for part-time doesn\u2019t mean I want to start part-time tomorrow. \u201cHey, I\u2019d like to start part-time in June,\u201d and see what happens. Or \u201cI\u2019d like to start part-time and test it for six months and see how it goes.\u201d And here\u2019s the suggestions that I\u2019m going to make and leading up to that, June is a great time because that\u2019s summer. So, leading up to June, any one of these hand-holding requests that comes in, instead, send them to me. And I\u2019m going to say, \u201cHere\u2019s that resource. You can just click right here and find that information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mindy:
And then, when they come back and say, \u201cCan you show me how to do this?\u201d It\u2019s right here. And then, train them to do this. I am very guilty of that. Because my thought is, \u201cWhy should I go have to figure this out? Daniella knows how to do it. I\u2019ll just ask her.\u201d Now, if I asked Daniella, \u201cHow do I do this?\u201d And \u201cHey, it\u2019s right here.\u201d \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll go get that link.\u201d And you will become very familiar with all those links and where they are. And then, they will become familiar with where those links are as well. A lot of times, they don\u2019t know where to look. Probably they do know where to look, and they\u2019re unwilling to look, they would rather you just tell them, \u201cClick here. Click there, whatever.\u201d But if you continually push them over there, I\u2019m hopeful that they will actually continue to go over there. But you can start to train them into that once they stop getting their hand held. Maybe they\u2019ll take the initiative.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Right. And that\u2019s kind of already been in place. Those little practices that we put in place to reiterate things to people. We\u2019ve been doing that for a while. But, I mean, that\u2019s a great point that you put to maybe look at part-time and ways that I could talk to my manager about ways that we could do that, which I need to put more thought into figuring how that would look like.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
And what\u2019s her big pain point? Does she have? Does she have a big pain point? What problem can you solve for her? Does nobody ever do tickets on Friday afternoons? Then, you can make sure you\u2019re working on Friday afternoons.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Everyone\u2019s always doing tickets, unfortunately. The worst thing about working at a global company is that there\u2019s no nine to five office hours. It\u2019s 24\/7.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Well, that\u2019s not a helpful hint, then.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
But it does highlight a pain point of hers is that she doesn\u2019t want to be available on the other time zones. Neither do I really, though. The only one that I would maybe be available for is Australia, which is right now, would probably be when they\u2019re getting online. But I could probably think of stuff like that. Where like, \u201cWhat are her pair of pain points with our partner teams that we work with? Maybe I can take off some of that from her plate.\u201d But I don\u2019t know how to structure that with the work that I\u2019m already doing. How would she receive it like, \u201cIf you want to move to part-time, what things you need to move off your plate? And I can\u2019t give that to anyone else. Would I have to hire somebody else?\u201d So, I don\u2019t know how that part of the conversation would go.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
If you\u2019re not holding somebody\u2019s hand, you can do your 20 hours and still get it all done. Then, she takes the hand-holding off of your plate, who\u2019s going to do that? That could be more evenly distributed throughout the team.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Yes, it could be. Right now, the way that they resource stuff, wherever they can is like trying to not hire anybody new. They try to maximize productivity, I guess, a lot of companies do, obviously. But there are things that I do. There\u2019s projects that I could be doing, but I can\u2019t do because I don\u2019t have room for them on my plate. And I\u2019ve said like, \u201cI can\u2019t do that. I don\u2019t have the capacity for that.\u201d So, there\u2019s actually products out there that I can\u2019t do because I\u2019m already doing too much, though. So, I don\u2019t know how I can transfer that to 20 hours and have her be like, \u201cThat\u2019s a good idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mindy:
So, research opportunity.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
I can definitely. I\u2019m going to research it, though. And see how maybe other people have approached this conversation and in a similar environment. So, that gives me a good idea.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
And then if she says, \u201cNo, you can\u2019t go part-time at all.\u201d You would leave. Would that change her mind? Sometimes that changes minds when you\u2019re like, \u201cHey, I would really like to go part-time.\u201d \u201cNo.\u201d \u201cWell, here\u2019s what I\u2019m proposing.\u201d \u201cNo.\u201d \u201cWell, here\u2019s my two-week notice.\u201d \u201cWait, let\u2019s talk.\u201d But sometimes that doesn\u2019t happen. And sometimes, here\u2019s my two-week notice, \u201cWell, we\u2019ll miss you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mindy:
I worked at one place, and this girl said, \u201cI can\u2019t work here anymore. I have to quit.\u201d And then the boss was like, \u201cNo, no, no. Let\u2019s keep you. Tell me what\u2019s going on.\u201d And then a couple of weeks later, she was having a bad day. She\u2019s like, \u201cI can\u2019t work here anymore. I have to quit.\u201d And they\u2019re like, \u201cOkay, bye.\u201d And you could tell she was really ready to quit the first time. And she was really not ready to quit the second time, and was like, \u201cWell, I guess I\u2019m going to leave then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Well, I mean, that that could happen to, which I\u2019ve already thought about. I\u2019m good to go. If this health insurance wrench did not come up, I\u2019d be gone already. I already had the meeting setup. And I had to cancel it. And I was like, \u201cIs everything okay?\u201d Like, it\u2019s totally fine. Everything\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
I would say if you\u2019re that close, the one thing you\u2026 I don\u2019t know, maybe you are factoring this in. But how much additional revenue can you bring through your platform by being full-time because I would be willing to bet that whatever that health insurance costs, you\u2019ll cover that gap very quickly. So, I\u2019m not going to tell you to make the leap because that is for you to decide. But I will tell you that I am paying more in salary right now than I was earning when I left a year ago. And it has grown very quickly with me being able to make those decisions and have all that time.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Right. And that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been thinking about a lot lately, is that I\u2019ve only been working on this platform like 10 hours a week. If I had 40 hours a week to dedicate to this. And even with the income I\u2019m bringing, we would be able to do the health insurance costs still. We wouldn\u2019t feel comfortable about it, the scrimp and stuff. That\u2019s doable, of course. But it\u2019s like, this is the income now, though, with how much I can work on it. If I can work on it four times as much, what would it be? That\u2019s huge, then. And I don\u2019t know what that looks like yet. But I know it looks better than it does now. So, that\u2019s a great point, too.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
And as you think about things from the marketing standpoint, of the brand standpoint, or whatever, right? The tagline of \u201cI\u2019m side hustling to earn extra income and leave my job\u201d is one thing. The tagline of, \u201cI left my job because of this, and I will never have to work again.\u201d That will also help drive your\u2026 again, I\u2019m not going to predict the future and tell you what to do. But I\u2019m just saying, you will be surprised when you do make the leap whenever that is. You will be surprised, hopefully pleasantly, by what happens with the revenue at your side hustle when you\u2019re able to focus on a full-time, not have things thrown off your creative flow and distractions. You\u2019re able to use that tagline.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
One of my buddies has a Ferrari, right. And he sells coaching programs. And one of the things he said when he was looking at weighing the cost of the car was one of his coaches was like, \u201cWell, do you think if people see that you have a Ferrari, they\u2019re going to buy into your course more?\u201d Well, tangibly he\u2019s paid for the Ferrari in course sales. And that\u2019s something people don\u2019t often think about. I think that even just being able to say, \u201cHey, I\u2019ve already made it, and here\u2019s why,\u201d will help everything grow that much quicker.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
I\u2019ve thought about that as well. Part of my brand though is always been like, \u201cYou don\u2019t have to quit your job. You can use your job to help you. Then, build your side hustles and all the stuff to eventually move away from it.\u201d That\u2019s tracked until I got to this point now where it\u2019s like I don\u2019t see myself still going in this direction. And I know how it actually would look if I do. It\u2019s so funny because I can actually visualize all of it. I\u2019m ready for it. But my own limiting belief\u2019s obviously still blocking me. But now, I finally figured out like all these things that I thought were roadblocks. Now, I get to plan around them. Now, I won\u2019t have any more surprises.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
You said that your side hustle, your blog is bringing in the same pre-tax income as your W2, but then, you have all these expenses to pay. What is your blog income after all of your expenses in terms of your spending?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
For like our family spending?<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
So, that would be fine. Looking at the numbers now. Like right now, after tax for my paychecks, and after all the other stuff, I get about a little bit above $5,000 a month. There\u2019s a lot of stuff that gets taken out my paycheck but about $5,000 a month. With my blog, of course, it fluctuates once a month depending on projects and launches that are going on and seasonality. It\u2019s been fluctuating this year before tax and before expenses like 6, 8, 10 the last three months. It\u2019s kind of all over the place, still. But after all that, though, I still think I can put in after tax, at least three a month, with my wife\u2019s, we just won\u2019t be able to contribute as much to retirement, which it\u2019s fine. For a while it took me to get around that because of my retirement benefits at my work. I\u2019ll be missing out on that 10% match, which is like, that\u2019s fine. I won\u2019t be able to contribute that much more extra outside of my 401(k). And it\u2019s like, that\u2019s fine. It\u2019s going to be fine.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Right now?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Right now, yes, exactly. Right now.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
You won\u2019t be able to. When you are self-employed, and you have no full-time employees other than your spouse. And you have a self-directed solo 401(k), you get a 25% company match.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
What do you mean I have a 25% company match?<\/p>\n

Mindy:
When you\u2019re self-employed, if you open up a self-directed solo 401(k), your company can match up to 25% of your salary into your 401(k). So, up to 52 or $54,000, contributing to your 401(k).<\/p>\n

David Pere:
It might actually be 56 now.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
56?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
How does that work if I\u2019m the company, like I\u2019m an LLC?<\/p>\n

Mindy:
That\u2019s a self-directed, solo 401(k) is for self-employed people.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Yes.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
You open up your 401(k). You personally can contribute this year. It\u2019s $20,500. And your company can match your salary, as contributions to your 401(k), up to 25% of your salary. So, your personal LLC can match in there. And I\u2019m not a CPA. I\u2019m just telling you this is another research opportunity. My company matches. So, first $20,500 automatically goes into my 401(k). And then 25% of that is $5,000. So, now, I have $25,000 in my 401(k), all legally because that are $26,000. And then, I\u2019ll be over 50 this year. So, I\u2019ll get the over 50 bonus. And then, any money that I make, my company matches 25% of my salary. So, right now, you have a 10% match. And, of course, you have bills to pay and all of that. But once you get over that, where you are making a lot of money, then your company can throw 25% of your salary in up to a total of $54,000 or $56,000. So instead of your measly, little $20,000 a year in your 401(k), you could be getting up to $54,000 in your 401(k).<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
But where does that money come from? Is it expenses over my business, then?<\/p>\n

Mindy:
No, it\u2019s the income for your business. Let\u2019s say your business makes $100,000 this year, and you pay yourself $50,000. Your company can match your salary up to 25%. So, 25% of 50,000 can go into your 401(k).<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
I understand that. I understand how it works when I work for a company, they match it. I thought it comes out of their pocket, but it\u2019s my company that I have. And it\u2019s my LLC, and I\u2019m [inaudible 01:08:14] this solo 401(k).<\/p>\n

Mindy:
It\u2019s like an expense for the company.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
So, that\u2019s what I was asking. So, that\u2019s an expense?<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Yes.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
It would basically be like you paying yourself $50,000 to take a salary from your company, and then paying your solo 401(k), $12,500 as the 25% match. And then the company, the LLC, that $12,500 is not income because it\u2019s whatever or however that all plays out. You\u2019re basically paying yourself an extra $12,500. It\u2019s just going into the 401(k) instead of your pocket.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Yes. I did kind of know this. I just never looked into how that would match. But now, I get it. I get it. So, it\u2019s never going to be income because it\u2019s going into that solo 401(k).<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Yes, so definitely talk to a CPA. Neither of us are CPAs.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Obviously, yes. I\u2019ll talk to my CPA.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Talk to somebody who knows what they\u2019re talking about. But there are ways for self-employed people to save for retirement. You\u2019re just not able to save for retirement right this minute, like as soon as you quit your job. But as soon as you quit your job, you can dabble a little bit more in these side hustles that you enjoy and make money and bring you more joy.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
And have the time to look into these things to set up a solid 401(k), and talk to my accountant about how to do that because that actually changes my mindset a little bit about around all of this.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
I think the bottom line is you don\u2019t have to make a decision right now. What are you going to do? You can take the time. You have a job that you like. It sounds like you enjoy what you\u2019re doing. You\u2019re just ready for the next step. So, take the time to really explore the options that you\u2019re going to go to, the options that you have and the choices that you have, and really choose the right adventure for you. Talk to your wife. Look at what she\u2019s got. Look at what you\u2019ve got. Her insurance is terrible. Does she want to quit her job?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
No. No, she doesn\u2019t want to quit her job. She has a really good job. That\u2019s a good job, and she enjoys it.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
I don\u2019t like the word stable. But that\u2019s a stable position that can help support you while you are doing this side job, which can be the reason, the stability that you need to take the leap. And what\u2019s the worst that can happen?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
I mean, there\u2019s nothing really that bad that could happen. At first, when I was like, \u201cI\u2019m going to quit my job,\u201d is like, quit your job. I never thought when you get your job, you can always go back and do something else if you want to. It\u2019s not like you\u2019re stuck doing this thing. I could do whatever I want with my life. I\u2019m not tied to this job.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Yes, you\u2019ve been in tech for 11 years.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
Given that you\u2019re in the IT field, going back and saying, \u201cWell, hey, it\u2019s not that I\u2019ve been unemployed. I\u2019ve just been working on this project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Right.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
\u201cI was employed at this company. And now, I\u2019m going to this company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
And there wouldn\u2019t be a gap on my resume anyway, because I include my business on my resume.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
There you go. Perfect.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
If I ever create a resume, I\u2019ll do that. That\u2019s cool. I never thought of that. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever have a resume.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
You don\u2019t need one, but if you ever do create one.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Hopefully, you will never need one either.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
You\u2019ll be fine, Daniella.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
I\u2019ll be fine. I\u2019ll be fine. I mean, we had a good plan. We still have a good plan. I\u2019m not on anyone else\u2019s timeline but my own, sometimes I feel the pressure where it\u2019s like, who\u2019s making me? Who was urging me to do this stuff so quickly? Nobody, just me and my head. I could take some time.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
But your head can be so\u2026 it\u2019s such a bad place to be because you just get these thoughts. And they cycle back and forth. And you\u2019re like, \u201cI can\u2019t see outside of this.\u201d I get it. I hear you. Daniella, is there anything else you want to share with our listeners before we let you go today?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Nothing, besides don\u2019t let anyone tell you your job isn\u2019t a real job.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Yes! Yes, yes. yes! If it makes you money, it\u2019s a real job. If you enjoy it\u2026 what is that? If you enjoy it, you\u2019ll never work a day in your life, whatever get paid to. She is Daniella from iliketodabble.com. Daniella, where can people find out more about you?<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
You can find out more about me on my website iliketodabble.com. You can take the free side hustle quiz or anywhere online on social media as I like to dabble, and I like to double blog on Instagram.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
Awesome. Thank you so much for your time today, Daniella. And we\u2019ll talk to you soon.<\/p>\n

Daniella Flores:
Thank you. Talk to you soon.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
All right, David. That was Daniella from I Like To dabble. What\u2019d you think of the show today?<\/p>\n

David Pere:
That was good. I think they\u2019re absolutely prepped to leave the corporate world. And, eventually, when they realize that it\u2019s all going to work out for them.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
I really liked your suggestion of the sabbatical. I liked some of the ideas we had for maybe stepping down to part-time, or maybe, cobbling together something that could really work out. I really liked the idea that you had that once you separate from full-time employment, you are going to see your side job, your side hustle, your dabble money increase because you have more time to focus on it. You have more time to, to spend on it. And what did you say? Your creative flow isn\u2019t broken up halfway through the day, and \u201cI got to go fix this ticket.\u201d So, I\u2019m super excited for everything in Daniella\u2019s future. And I really know that they\u2019re going to just crush it.<\/p>\n

David Pere:
Absolutely. Going to be totally successful. It\u2019s not a comfortable leap, but if you\u2019re financially ready, which it feels like they are, then once you make the leap, it\u2019s just a matter of overcoming that fear, that doubt, the imposter syndrome, and making it happen.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
I completely agree. And I have first-hand experience with that. And it\u2019s absolutely right. Now, my husband\u2019s like, \u201cI have too much stuff to do. I can\u2019t believe I ever had time to work.\u201d And he\u2019s happier than he ever was working. So, I\u2019m very excited for Daniella\u2019s possibilities. And the future is wide open. Okay, David, should we get out of here?<\/p>\n

David Pere:
Absolutely.<\/p>\n

Mindy:
From episode 305 of the BiggerPockets Money Podcast, he is David Pere, and I am Mindy Jensen saying, can\u2019t say blue jay.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Help us reach new listeners on iTunes<\/a>\u00a0by leaving us a rating and review! It takes just 30 seconds.\u00a0Thanks! We really appreciate it!<\/p>\n


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