Jill Friday – What She Really Does in Her Office All Day (LA 1603)
Jill Friday – What She Really Does in Her Office All Day (LA 1603)
Transcript:
Steven J Butala:
Steve and Jill here.
Jill K DeWit:
Hi.
Steven J Butala:
Welcome to the Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I’m Steven, Jack Butala.
Jill K DeWit:
And I’m Jill DeWit, broadcasting from the valley of the sun.
Steven J Butala:
Today is Jill Friday, and we’re going to find out what she really does in her office all day.
Jill K DeWit:
All right, let me back this up. As you know yesterday, Thursday, was Jack’s work-life-money balance talk. And earlier this week we talked about the September third quarter, wrapping up the year financial review. So he’s obviously looking at life, looking at big picture, looking at everything.
Jill K DeWit:
And he was getting concerned because he’s thinking I’m overworked. He’s like, he gets frustrated by me being in my office. Especially one night this week I was in my office until six or seven o’clock at night, whatever it was. And he was really thinking, “What the um?” You’re looking at all this big picture life stuff and thinking I’m over there, doing it all wrong. And I had to say, “Hold on a moment.”
Steven J Butala:
You’re not doing it all wrong.
Jill K DeWit:
Okay.
Steven J Butala:
I think she’s spending too much time doing real estate deals.
Jill K DeWit:
Word. Right. And I said-
Steven J Butala:
Specifically that.
Jill K DeWit:
Right. He’s thinking that that’s it. This ties into so much this week. We talked about the 80/20, and one of the things I brought up was I thought he was coming after me about 80% of your work is on 20% of the stuff that makes money. And so the whole point of this is, and this whole week is for me, you actually think I’m working in there?
Steven J Butala:
I guess we’re [crosstalk 00:01:39] together, listener, going to find out. What Jill does at work all day.
Jill K DeWit:
Let me explain what really goes on in my office all day, then no one will ever be concerned about me again. Go ahead.
Steven J Butala:
Before we get into it, let’s take a question posted by one of our members on the landinvestors.com online community. It’s free, and don’t forget to subscribe on the Land Academy YouTube channel and comment on the shows you like.
Jill K DeWit:
Aaron wrote, “I’ve had a few local land barons call to tell me how stupid I am, but then they end up on my buyers list by the end of the call.”
Jill K DeWit:
I’ve totally had this. I’ve even had people write me back about that and call me specifically to say, “Okay, you guys are nuts, but if you can really make this happen, I want to buy from you.” I’m like, “And yes I can.”
Steven J Butala:
Those are real land people.
Jill K DeWit:
Yeah, uh-huh (affirmative).
Steven J Butala:
Today’s Jill Friday. We’re going to find out what she really does in her office all day. This is the meat of the show.
Jill K DeWit:
Let me tell you what goes on in my office and let me first paint the picture. I love my office. You may have seen some of my videos. It’s white, it’s bright, it’s pretty. And this is my home office by the way, this is my primary office, period. It’s off on my own wing. I have my own door. It’s all windows.
Steven J Butala:
Multiple doors with locks I’ve noticed.
Jill K DeWit:
Yes, I’ve tried multiple door with locks, that’s very true. I can lock people out, I can let people in. I have a courtyard off my office. I have a fountain going off my office. And just this morning, as a matter of fact, I was sitting there mesmerized by all the quail.
Steven J Butala:
I saw that too.
Jill K DeWit:
There are fat quail running around here right now.
Steven J Butala:
All over the yard.
Jill K DeWit:
There was, I swear, 20 of them in my courtyard.
Steven J Butala:
I noticed that today too.
Jill K DeWit:
Yeah, I’m like, “This is-”
Steven J Butala:
And they’re healthy.
Jill K DeWit:
They’re [inaudible 00:03:35], they’re fat and healthy. And I saw a couple of them getting into it, not in a bad way but in a good way. I’m like, “Oh, I see what’s going on.” There were three males dancing around this female today. So I’m like, “Well, this is very …” I almost took a picture and I’m like, “Okay, who’s going to …” I’m the goofy one, I’m going to think this is cool.
Jill K DeWit:
And then a guy walk around today, he was measuring for wood floors in my office. I know, I won’t go there.
Steven J Butala:
If it makes you happy.
Jill K DeWit:
But I was talking about the quail, I was talking about the bunny rabbits out back. Go ahead.
Steven J Butala:
As long as it makes you happy, get whatever floors you want.
Jill K DeWit:
Oh yeah, yeah. Totally. So sure, first of all I was going to say, I love my space. It’s my little sanctuary. And so you may think I’m in there working, but often it’s just my sanctuary.
Steven J Butala:
Oh.
Jill K DeWit:
I have a nice chair. I do work in there, I actually do work, but a lot of the time-
Steven J Butala:
She’s just getting away from me.
Jill K DeWit:
Well, just not you, just it’s my sanctuary, it’s my own little personal space. Some people just need that, I need a little … You need a quiet … Everybody needs a little place to go. You need something like that. Maybe it’s your, I don’t know, hiding in the bathtub at night.
Jill K DeWit:
That used to be when we didn’t have a lot of money and I had a very small house and had little kids, my sanctuary was locking the bathroom door, putting on some music, drowning out the kids’ chatter. And lighting some candles and having a glass of wine. What’s so funny?
Steven J Butala:
I don’t know. It sounds like a commercial.
Jill K DeWit:
It’s true. Because it’s like, “Mommy, mommy, mommy.” So yeah, that was my place. Now I’m lucky enough that I graduated to we have a home where I have a lot more space. And I have a couple different places I can go and read a book and find quiet time, but I’ve kind of turned my office into that.
Jill K DeWit:
And it’s not hard for me to switch gears, to go from looking at property and doing something to, “Good, now I’m going to get back to Pottery Barn.” And that’s some of what I’m doing now too. I mean, it’s a process. This home is bigger than anyone we’ve ever done. And I’m enjoying taking my time and just finding the right stuff and ordering it and shopping for whatever we need.
Jill K DeWit:
So you may think I’m working in there, I’m not working in there. I have candy hidden in there. I have a beautiful candy dish and other things. Oh yeah. I keep all my gift wrapping things in there for gifts. I really made it my own little space. And I’m trying to think, I had my own space even in the last house at the beach, I had my own office. You know what’s interesting? You pick a space that’s always a high-traffic area. Do you mean to do that or just work out that way?
Steven J Butala:
If I’m sitting in my … This is a Jill Friday, so go ahead.
Jill K DeWit:
No, I’m curious.
Steven J Butala:
It’s not about me.
Jill K DeWit:
No, I’m curious. Do you deliberately pick a high-traffic area or does it just work out that way?
Steven J Butala:
If I’m sitting at my desk, I’m working.
Jill K DeWit:
But you can close your doors.
Steven J Butala:
I never had a desk at that beach house.
Jill K DeWit:
That’s kind of [crosstalk 00:06:47].
Steven J Butala:
I never had an office.
Jill K DeWit:
Yeah, you could have but you didn’t want to.
Steven J Butala:
I didn’t want it.
Jill K DeWit:
So that was it. [crosstalk 00:06:52] you could have taken.
Steven J Butala:
I use the stage that we shot all that video on and the podcasts and all that stuff as my desk and that worked out great. Because I’m sitting at my desk when there’s not … On a regular day, which is these are regular days now, maybe two hours a day max. And Thursdays it’s different, today’s Thursday so we’re going to be here all day in front of a camera.
Steven J Butala:
But two hours max, usually maybe an hour in the morning, to review transactions, to make sure everything’s … Review numbers, really looking for something that’s sideways that I need to fix or that I can improve on. The most recent thing was Concierge Data, Concierge Mailer, where we released that.
Steven J Butala:
So when that goes down, it’s a little bit … Or like with the career path. That adds a lot of hours to the week, which is fine in a great way, because it’s effective for people that are taking it and I’m watching them deal. So, no, I don’t have a sanctuary in my office at all. I’m out doing other stuff.
Jill K DeWit:
Well, that was what I was going to say. I find this interesting, that’s the point here. The point is you like to only use your … Maybe that’s it, you don’t want to make it that comfortable. You’re here to work and then you go off and do something else.
Steven J Butala:
That’s right.
Jill K DeWit:
But me, I do it differently. That’s the point I was trying to make to him.
Steven J Butala:
Well, that’s what’s disconnected. Now I get it.
Jill K DeWit:
Well, he thinks, if I’m in my office, I’m unhappy or just, “I’m tied to my desk. I have to get this done.”
Steven J Butala:
That’s right. You’re totally right.
Jill K DeWit:
“And the quicker I can get up and go, it’s great.” And he’s like, “Shoot, she’s still sitting at that dumb desk.”
Steven J Butala:
It’s seven or eight o’clock.
Jill K DeWit:
“It’s got to be bad. It can’t be good.”
Steven J Butala:
Like, “What’s wrong?”
Jill K DeWit:
“Because if I’m at my desk, I’m really working.” He doesn’t know I’m in there half working, half having fun.
Steven J Butala:
Are you half working or not?
Jill K DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven J Butala:
Are you just having fun?
Jill K DeWit:
No, no, I’m working.
Steven J Butala:
What’s the half work?
Jill K DeWit:
Oh, well, because I work … I mix it in. I’ll mix in work and play, not if I’m on a call or something like that, but if I’m like …
Jill K DeWit:
I mean really, it’s true, but I do 20 minutes of work. “That’s done, no one needs to need from now. I have 40 minutes to goof off until my next thing. And now I’m going to jump on this screen. I’m going to get back to whatever fun stuff I was doing. I may [inaudible 00:09:03] sit down and look at this, read this magazine.” I don’t know, I don’t really read magazines but …
Steven J Butala:
I’ll tell you why we can pull this off is because of these phones. We are in our organization constantly talking to each other in Teams-
Jill K DeWit:
True.
Steven J Butala:
… all the time, in Microsoft Teams. And so when it’s on the phone and it goes off, I don’t care where I am.
Jill K DeWit:
That’s true.
Steven J Butala:
I’ll stop what I’m doing and I’ll answer it and help whoever needs help. There’s audio, video, help people need.
Jill K DeWit:
That’s true.
Steven J Butala:
There’s all kinds of questions that people have on real estate deals sometimes. Because we’re [inaudible 00:09:31] splitting property all the time, but we’re lucky enough to have people that do that, to do all the real hard work, but they do have questions. And so it wasn’t that long ago where you had to sit at your desk all day.
Jill K DeWit:
And be there.
Steven J Butala:
And be available.
Jill K DeWit:
Be available and get to the mapping or get to the whatever. And now you’re like … Yeah, it’s good. Does this answer your question, make you feel better about what’s going on?
Steven J Butala:
Yeah. I’m glad you’re having fun in there, Jill.
Jill K DeWit:
Oh yeah.
Steven J Butala:
And I mean that.
Jill K DeWit:
That was the whole thing.
Steven J Butala:
Now I get it. You just go there, that’s your day.
Jill K DeWit:
Yeah, I like it in there.
Steven J Butala:
See, my days out taking a motorcycle apart and stuff. And if I have to stop and get on Teams and do it, then that’s what I’ll do.
Jill K DeWit:
Or even cooking. You like cooking, you like eating in the kitchen and doing things like that.
Steven J Butala:
Yeah.
Jill K DeWit:
I kind of go … That’s where I like to spend my time, then I go other places because I have to sometimes. Because you know what? Again, it’s quiet and pretty in there, and I’ve done a really good job making it fufu enough that nobody wants to go in there.
Jill K DeWit:
You’re not going to go … That’s what’s great about it too. I’ll end it on this. I think it shows up in the video I did the other day where I’m opening the mail, and hopefully that’s going to come out soon because it’s kind of funny. But if you look behind me, there’s a very big, comfortable, low, cushy chick chair. So when Jack comes into my office, if he wants to sit down and talk to me, he has to sit in that chair. And he’s like, “This is dumb.”
Steven J Butala:
This is not right.
Jill K DeWit:
It’s like, I love it.
Steven J Butala:
We don’t have meetings in each other’s offices for a reason.
Jill K DeWit:
True.
Steven J Butala:
This is my office right now and this is a black dungeon.
Jill K DeWit:
True.
Steven J Butala:
With sound-
Jill K DeWit:
And I don’t want to come in here and spend any time.
Steven J Butala:
Sound absorbing, yeah.
Jill K DeWit:
I’m not going to spend any time here at all. And you’re not going to spend any time in mine.
Steven J Butala:
The windows are blacked out-
Jill K DeWit:
Yeah, you can’t see anything.
Steven J Butala:
… lik in a Rocky Balboa movie.
Jill K DeWit:
And you have a beautiful courtyard. By the way, here’s what’s funny too. He could do what I’m doing, he has a beautiful … His windows … Mine has one door, but it’s all glass. His is a beautiful, open up the double French doors.
Steven J Butala:
With a whole view of Phoenix.
Jill K DeWit:
And the courtyard. And you have the best view in the house.
Steven J Butala:
I know.
Jill K DeWit:
And nobody looks [crosstalk 00:11:27].
Steven J Butala:
It’s all blacked out.
Jill K DeWit:
It’s true.
Steven J Butala:
Literally.
Jill K DeWit:
Yeah, exactly. That’s so funny. So don’t worry about me, I’m just fine.
Steven J Butala:
Okay. [crosstalk 00:11:37].
Jill K DeWit:
Happy you’re joining us today. Five days a week you can find us here on the Land Academy Show.
Steven J Butala:
Join us next week for another interesting episode, because you are not alone in your real estate ambition.
Jill K DeWit:
Let’s take that one step further. I want to make sure that you’re doing this for you. I want to make sure you have … You need to have a space that you can work and be comfortable. And I’ve known people that have taken dining rooms and had to take them over. And then they had enough room in their dining room that they could … They had another eating area they could hole up their dining room, put a wall in and make it an office.
Jill K DeWit:
So you need to be comfortable when going to work. You need to have a good chair. You need to have a fast computer and all the monitors you need. Have a good setup because you will be more efficient.
Steven J Butala:
Oh, you’re not talking to me?
Jill K DeWit:
No.
Steven J Butala:
Oh good. Okay.
Jill K DeWit:
No, no I’m talking-
Steven J Butala:
Because I am happy.
Jill K DeWit:
No, I’m talking to you, listener, not you, you. So think about that. Thank you for tuning in. We hope you find our content valuable and we appreciate your support. Don’t forget if you haven’t already, please check our YouTube channel and hit the Subscribe button. We are Steve and Jill.
Steven J Butala:
We are Steve and Jill. Information-
Jill K DeWit:
And inspiration-
Steven J Butala:
… to buy undervalued property.
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