SPEAKER_00: 0:18

Where we share the tips, tools, and strategies to help your business be successful. Today we have a very special guest, Miss Carol Tam. She is the owner of TAC Brokerage and Consulting with over 30 years of experience in real estate, commercial real estate. She is a wonderful, wonderful source to talk with about your goals and your struggle and your trials and errors as a business owner. Welcome, Carol. Thank you for joining us. Thanks for having me today, Story. So I met you at a wonderful, very private event. Can you tell our audience more about what exactly you do in commercial real estate and what led you to want to be in this position you're in today?

SPEAKER_01: 0:59

Thank you. Love that question. Yes, I started in 1994. Um I think growing up, I always want to have my own business. I think started from the elementary school, I was selling those little um uh bookmarks. Do you remember those bookmarks? Yes, my daughter still uses those, yes. Yes, so it's always in my blood wanted to be an entrepreneur, want to be a lady boss. I got into real estate because I was um working for a development company in downtown Los Angeles, and I was working so fast I finished in two hours. What do I do with the rest of the time? I study. So I study real estate broker license. I didn't just want to get a a sales license, I want to get a broker license, like open my own shop someday.

SPEAKER_00: 1:45

Okay, okay. So you knew what you wanted from the very beginning.

SPEAKER_01: 1:48

I do.

SPEAKER_00: 1:49

Okay, great. And so how has that journey been since your inception of it all when you started school for your brokerage license?

SPEAKER_01: 1:56

I'm glad you asked that question because like any journey, you will have ups and downs. Yes, right? But for every setback, there's a comeback. So you never stay where you're at and never feel defeated. Um the message you f I can pass to our young entrepreneur out there is that you never give up. You know what you want and you will finish it no matter what.

SPEAKER_00: 2:25

I love that. So as long as you never give up, you you truly feel that if you keep moving forward, right?

SPEAKER_01: 2:30

Yes, ma'am.

SPEAKER_00: 2:31

I think a lot of entrepreneurs can empathize with that. Either you keep moving forward or you fall behind, would you agree? Yes. Yeah, definitely. So you've mentioned seeing the reasons why you wanted to get into this specific area. You you mentioned seeing some, you know, things that you really didn't like in normal real estate and brokerage. Can you tell us more about that and how you're different from the rest?

SPEAKER_01: 2:56

Yes. So story, uh when I first purchased our house, um, my husband and I marry, my husband and I marry in um 1990. We purchased our first house. And when I look at the closing statement, it's like documentation fee, messenger fee, points. Oh, there's like so many garbage fees, so we call. Delivery fee, printing fee, you know. So I wanted to understand who is taking all those money on the closing statement. Right. Are they necessary? As you know, at the closing calls, you have title, escrow, property tax, HOA fee. It it just goes on and on, and there's so many fees.

SPEAKER_00: 3:39

Right.

SPEAKER_01: 3:40

And coming from um that uh uh drive of uh curiosity why and who is taking all this money. And I realized, Carol, the way to get in to be what you're really good at is to get your license and study it and know how to read those contracts, know how to read those disclosures, so you know where all those money going. Because if you don't know where your money is going, somebody else will help you spend your money.

SPEAKER_00: 4:15

That is a true statement, whether you know it or not, whether you want to be blind to it or not, right? Wow, that's that's almost scary. So in in researching all of this information, what did you find? How how did you decide to take on your brokerage license with that in mind?

SPEAKER_01: 4:31

The brokerage license helped me not only to open my own shop, but have that in-depth of understanding of real estate. Uh-huh. Not just about buying your house or where do I put my big TV? You know. It's about investment. Investment is so important. Investment coming from strategies, timing, location, the holding period, and how do you um leverage an interest rate with the turn of the um turn of the loan, all that is so so much involved.

SPEAKER_00: 5:09

Absolutely. And you're managing commercial real estate brokerage as well. Yes. And that's got a whole have a whole slew of other parameters, right? That's right. That's right. So through your career, you really kind of refined your approach, would you say? Yes. And so you've earned a lot of awards through your your decades, and it's amazing. Can you tell us a little bit more about the awards you've won and and how these certifications elevated your business and clients?

SPEAKER_01: 5:37

Um, I think the most difficult certification was um the CCIM, Certified Commercial Investment Member. And I started in 2005 and I received my um uh in 2008. Woo! It's like 20 years ago, right? So it took me two and a half years. So story, the the background is I'm a ESL, you probably can tell. Yeah. English as a second language. And once I decided to uh pursue CCIM, certified commercial investment member, that designation, there's no turning back. So I want to show you this pencil actually say jingri shu jing ripi. This is one of my principles in life, means today's work, finish today.

SPEAKER_00: 6:27

Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_01: 6:30

Whatever you have to finish today, finish by the end of the day. Wow. You don't procrastinate and you don't do it tomorrow, do it next week. Yeah. It's one of the successful principles. So I give this pencil to you.

SPEAKER_00: 6:44

Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. I'm honored. I really, really appreciate that. Thank you. Would you say that this your core values and your principles are what really gained your success in your career?

SPEAKER_01: 6:58

Or yeah, story, um, many principles that lead us to success. And I don't really humbly I bel I don't believe I'm success. I I am successful um in the area that I'm uh a wife. Married 33 years. Congratulations, that's hard. Thank you. Not the same guy for 37 years. And uh I have two beautiful children. My daughter's 28. She's a licensed psychiatric nurse. Wow. Mental health, yes. Incredible. And my son is 24 years old, and he's still looking, pursuing his dream. So um, for as far as me, I don't really want to value my sus by how much money. Like the world judges how much money you make last year, Carol, how many transactions you close, how many agents you were. No, that's the world looking at as success. What kind of car do you drive? I really think our success should be: are you kind today? Did you help somebody today? Do you live in um abundance? Or do you live in um complaining and lack? And I'm a victim. That's that's powerful. It is very powerful. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00: 8:20

And what a legacy you've left for your children for them to be able to see you grow as an entrepreneur, as a female, as a mother. Those are huge, huge things to have your children see and and know that they can become. Yes. Right? So at the end of the day, you're successful in being a mom and a wife.

SPEAKER_01: 8:38

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00: 8:38

And that's such a humble way of looking at it because you don't stay in this business for 30 years if you're not great at it, in my opinion. Thank you. Thank you. So tell us about the actual business name. What what urged you to create TAC brokerage and consulting? And what makes your boutique approach so much more appealing to your your audience and your clients? Great question.

SPEAKER_01: 9:05

So TAC actually stems for Texas and California. I am a licensed broker in the state of uh California since 1994.

SPEAKER_02: 9:15

Wow.

SPEAKER_01: 9:15

So 12 years ago, our family moved to Dallas, Texas. And uh the professor said, forget what you learn. You're in the great country of Texas now. So I pursue and uh receive my Texas real estate broker. So it's stay um both state. I have license in both state. And I always want to do a boutique shop because uh you can tailor what the client wants. So you're not just three-bedroom, two-bath, four-bedroom, three-bath. No. It's about what clients want. What's their long-term goal, what's their short term, is it for themselves, or it's it's their legacy, is a lease or a purchase, is a shopping center or industrial warehouses. Every aspect is different. And we can get into it, how to pre-qualify client, how to cater to that. It's like you go into um um a dress shop and they will actually actually measure you and knowing that, oh Carol, a little bit too much here, you know, they'll loosen up and they'll show your legs, Carol, you know, because that's your asset. They will actually do that for you. So you look great no matter where you are, and you're still comfortable. You're good at sitting down. If you have to run with your high heel, catching the train, you know, or you're in a foreign country, you have to, you know, um, hop on a taxi and woober and wear your backpack with computer in there, you're still able to move and you still beautifully present. So that's my my boutique shop, is it's really catered to individual clients. They come in, I actually ask them questions. All these timing, location, is it for you or for someone else? And how long is your holding period? Well, the most important thing is what's your budget? Everybody have to have budget, right?

SPEAKER_00: 11:09

Absolutely. I mean, if you don't know your budget, you can't help anyone, right? No matter what industry you're in. Yes. So you have these qualifying questions, and I'm sure you have a customer journey process we all follow. So, um, which is wonderful. And by the way, can I point out the shoes are very stylish and very versatile? Thank you. She has these wonderful shoes on, guys. You'll have to call her about it. Thank you. So you work in economic development as well, not just getting to know these people personally. So how does this partnership come about? How do they support your clients? The the development to bridge the gap between buyers and sellers? I love that question.

SPEAKER_01: 11:48

This is something I just started three years ago because I was uh a guest speaker um at the Taipei International Convention Center. Congratulations. Thank you. Um December 15, 2023. And it's uh um by divine power, how you say it. I just raised my hand and say, I will do it, I'll show up, I will delay my flight, I will represent Texas. So I did. I went on the stage, I did my bada beam bada boom in both English and Mandarin Chinese. I think. Wow. In front of the audience.

SPEAKER_00: 12:23

Incredible.

SPEAKER_01: 12:24

Yeah, so it's another secret for success. You have to be willing and you have to be ready. Because when the opportunity opens, you have to raise your hand, say, I will do it. And everybody looks at you, say, look at me. Who do you think you are? You're not from government, you're no no no no. I say, I speak both language, I'm from Texas, I know what to say. You just give me the PowerPoint, I can say English, I can say in Chinese.

SPEAKER_00: 12:51

Wow. So do you feel like that was a a goal for you to to be seen as a thought leader and speak in front of all these other professionals or entrepreneurs that are in the same space?

SPEAKER_01: 13:01

I think my uh long-term vision is to impact people's life. Whoever's listening, and I'm able to spark and inspire them. Never think that you're not good enough. You don't have the time, you don't have the money, you don't have the right look.

SPEAKER_00: 13:20

Right. Right. Yeah, at the end of the day, do you think um being a female entrepreneur led you down a different path than other entrepreneurs that do what you do?

SPEAKER_01: 13:32

I think so. Um I'm glad you brought that up. I brought um thank you card that I received anonymously. Isn't that interesting? May I read this? Absolutely, go ahead. This was probably three, four years ago. I received this card and said, Hi, Carol. I hope your week is going well. Thank you for your commitment and authenticity. I came across your profile on the CCIM site. Your uh passion and interest in commercial real estate development encouraged me. Today, that field is dominated by white males. Starting this adventure in 1994 took courage. Thank you for starting and persisting. And she signed Yolanda Columbus.

SPEAKER_00: 14:22

Wow, that is an incredible letter.

SPEAKER_01: 14:25

And I was I I don't know her. There's no return address. How do I contact her and say thank you? No, she wants to remain anonymous. And I kept this card to remind me, Carol, you don't think people are watching and listening? Yes, they do. They're watching and listening.

SPEAKER_00: 14:43

Wow.

SPEAKER_01: 14:44

So even with this podcast, I drove all the way here to see you because I feel the connection with you. I feel like my story will inspire someone else.

SPEAKER_00: 14:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_01: 14:55

And through your procrastination, there's other people are listening. They might not be here in Dallas, Texas. They may be somewhere else. Absolutely. And that inspire them, encourage them, never give up.

SPEAKER_00: 15:10

And you're a speaking reference to that, right? You are successful in your own way, but you're successful in your own mind and what you've done. And obviously, it goes to say that people are seeing that. So you think authenticity is something that anyone in this industry should really have, or do you think that's what separates you from the rest?

SPEAKER_01: 15:30

That's a good question. It could be both. And authenticity mean what you see is what you get. There's no fake about nothing fake about it. No bait and switch, right? Right, right. And there's um um in our commercial real estate or in and any industry, honesty, integrities are so important.

SPEAKER_00: 15:53

Having those core values. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 15:55

Because you're touching people's lives and touching their money.

SPEAKER_00: 15:58

In anything you do, right? Right. In any industry. So many entrepreneurs who are uh venturing out into your space struggle with structure. Okay. I know I have in my career and had to refine it. Can you walk us through how you create steps and timelines to stay aligned with your goals? How do you create that structure structure within yourself in such a big space?

SPEAKER_01: 16:21

Oh, you're so good at asking this question. Um, I guess it's in my personality. I get things done, like the pencil I just give you. I make a list, check list things I have to accomplish this week, things I like to accomplish today. And um, even with uh 2026 business plan, I started last month. People look at me like you still have plenty of times, you know. My business plan and the agenda and important dates start October of previous year. So I wanna be, yeah, I wanna be ahead of uh everybody's schedule. You don't wait until December to talk about your plans and vision in 2026.

SPEAKER_00: 17:07

Absolutely. If you're waiting that long, then you probably need to restructure, right?

SPEAKER_01: 17:12

So accountability is important, get back to what you're saying. Structure is what you put on yourself. You make yourself accountable accountable. And you could break it down to monthly or quarterly, you can break it down with budget, however you want. But the most important thing, you have to be comfortable. And you have to follow through because no one's gonna hold you by a hand and say, let's go across the street together. You get this. You gotta hold yourself accountable. And if you don't, who are you gonna blame? Nobody.

SPEAKER_00: 17:46

At the end of the day, right? Uh that that's an incredible advice because sometimes you forget that you're the one to blame for where you are in life, right? You can't blame it on anyone else but yourself. And with all of your success, I'm sure you're the one to speak on those things. So you've openly shared that you've had tough lessons.

SPEAKER_01: 18:08

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 18:09

Can you tell us a little bit more about that specifically in 2019? Um and tell us kind of what happened and how you overcame that.

SPEAKER_01: 18:17

Um it was a story that um victim story that I couldn't get out of it for probably three, four years until I signed up for Brave Thinking Institute. Um the mentor, uh, Mary Morrissey taught us all those steps. One of the important things is gratitude every day. And number two is forgiveness. It was very difficult difficult for give the business uh partners who betray me, lie to me, wasted my time. And these are Christian brother sister, we pray together every meal, we pray before our meetings. So, how did I overcome? It takes courage to forgive them one by one. And it takes time to learn to see the gratitude every single day. And that gratitude will overcome all the negative um uh you know, story. I have people tell them um tell me that oh, you know, um nobody wanna hire me, nobody I'm not good enough. Uh blah blah blah. It's like you know, you can overcome that while you still have you have sunshine today, you have good health, you have legs, you have hands, you're physically capable, you could do more, you could be more. What is that you want? Instead of falling into that rabbit hole, I'm not good enough, uh, nobody's gonna hire me. I'm so sad, I'm a victim, boss is yelling at me, blah, blah, blah. And you said four years of this. Yeah, I wouldn't do it all that because I was in the a victim line. I mean, there's audience out there probably suffered more than four years.

SPEAKER_00: 20:10

Yeah, yeah, and you mentioned that leaders cannot be people pleasers at the end of the day, right?

SPEAKER_01: 20:16

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00: 20:17

And so would you say that that's something you learned from that?

SPEAKER_01: 20:21

I learned, I learned um nowadays, um, I have to learn to set boundaries, which is very important. And you and I we're mother and we're helping people, we see the need in um people, right? And we give and give and give. And when do we know that, okay, this is not good for me, it's taking too much of my time. And that kind of tone of voice should not be acceptable, acceptable. How can they talk to us this way to set the boundary? And I learned this year, I'm so proud of myself. I learned to set boundary. I actually learned to set boundary regardless of what they say. They're gonna judge you, they're gonna judge us. So, oh that's Carol's so bossy. Who do you who does she think she is? But that's how we protect ourselves, protect our time, protect our value, and spend time with the people who actually appreciate us.

SPEAKER_00: 21:14

I love that you mentioned that after three decades of being in the industry, because it it goes to the point that no matter what entrepreneurial art, no matter what industry, you are always learning. If you're not learning, even after 30 years, then you're going to fall behind, in my opinion. Would you say that that that's kind of where you are in life is you're continuing to learn and grow even though you've had success in your industry. Yes.

SPEAKER_01: 21:41

It's like um cha cha or salsa. Two step forward, one step back. If you're not making the two-step forward, you're one step back. So keep moving forward.

SPEAKER_00: 21:53

You so many little quotes I want to take from you today. I know we don't have a lot of time, but I will have you back on the show. I want to ask you a couple final questions that I know um our listeners are are wanting to know. So what at the end of the day, when you look back on your journey, what's one decision or principle from your early days that still guide you today?

SPEAKER_01: 22:18

Oh, that's such a good question. Yeah, you're very good.

SPEAKER_00: 22:22

Thank you. It's something I wanted to know about you. So I assume everyone else wants to know. Something something that you looking back on your journey, what's one decision or principle from your earlier days in your career that still stands with you and guides you today?

SPEAKER_01: 22:43

Yeah, I I was um, I have a weight of uh making things more complicated in my brain. So there's no one thing. There's probably, I'll give you three. Three principles. Number one is never give up. We talk about that. Yes. Number two is the grid. G-R-I-T. Number three, resilient. You bounce back. No matter the success or the failure, you bounce. Most of the time is our failure. And remember, failures are just feedback.

SPEAKER_00: 23:18

Lessons, right? Yeah. Something to learn from, is how I frame it to my kids.

SPEAKER_01: 23:22

It doesn't mean that you're a loser. It's just a feedback. Okay, then we're it this way. It's fine another way. So never give up. You have to have the grit, G-R-I-T, and resilience.

SPEAKER_00: 23:34

Oh, I love it. Those those are great, at least for young entrepreneurs who are just starting out, to really remember if you've carried that from all those years ago, right? I think so. That was wonderful. So, what's one piece of actionable advice you want our listeners to take away with them today, other than those those three things you just mentioned, to move that would help them move closer to their goals?

SPEAKER_01: 23:58

So once you set your goals and vision in 2026, you break it down, the action plan. Okay, what are the steps? Then you from that action plan, that that's the blueprint, that's the 2026 blueprint. You might not know every little detail, but you have the big rock first. Under that big rock, can you start writing the action steps? You will know as an entrepreneur. You know what light you up, what makes you happy. Then you write it down. Those are your the lights. The guiding for your 2026. The worst is don't know where you're going. Like you drive in the car, you put the designation, address in the GPA, and GPA take you. The worst is you sit in the car, you're going around and around, you don't know where you're going. You're wasting time. Right. So how everybody wanna be their own business, uh, have your own business and be your own boss. You don't know that it's the most difficult, most challenge in the career. Because nobody's gonna push you. You don't clock, clock in, you don't clock out. There are days in the morning you don't want to get up, but you still have to do it. And that's where grit comes from. That's what um resilience coming from. And not giving up because this is your life. This is your life. What do you want your life to be? What make you happy? Find those. Find those gold knockets, find those what make you happy, light you up every morning. You want to get up, let's go, let's go. If nothing makes you want to get up in the morning, that's not fit for you. Find something that your heart opened up and just so happy and grateful. Every morning, get up. And do that and write on your business plan and start taking those actions daily, weekly, monthly. And before you know it, you have a what? A masterpiece, right?

SPEAKER_00: 26:00

That that you are proud of at the end of the day. Right. Cause I love the way you frame that. You really need to highlight the bullet points throughout the year of goals that make you happy, not goals you need to get done and dread at the end of the day. That's something to really remember, no matter what stage of ownership you're in. So thank you for that. So, um, how can anyone find you to ask you more about all of the different things you do from international to real estate here in Los Angeles? How can they find you? Websites, social?

SPEAKER_01: 26:34

Sure. So um Instagram, Facebook, and um LinkedIn, and the fastest probably uh just type in google techbrokerage.com. I actually have um 2026, I have two big events coming up. The first one is Taiwan Trade Mission. So my vision is to bring at least two EDC directors to Taiwan to visit the CEOs, the manufacturers there and talk to them, build that relationship. So in September, when they come to Texas, we're able to welcome them and show them our Texas hospitality and say, you have us, we're helping you to expand your horizon, to open your uh manufacturer or industrial or your satellite office right here in Dallas, Texas.

SPEAKER_00: 27:27

Wow, that's incredible. That's an incredible goal to have.

SPEAKER_01: 27:30

It's fun.

SPEAKER_00: 27:30

And you're so great at it. You're really bridging that gap internationally and and just trying to help any and everyone that's trying to help themselves, it feels like, at the end of the day. Yes. Thank you for everything you do, Carol. Thanks for having me today. I really appreciate you and everything you do. I appreciate you. And to all of our listeners out there, keep learning, keep listening, and keep marketing with Atma. We'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_02: 27:54

Bye.