So we are back with another episode of Housing for Good, the show that talks about the intersection of the real estate community and how their efforts sort of help the community and really sort of transcend the real estate business. You can find out more on our website, housingforgood .com. That's the number four. And we also have the podcast available on Spotify under the Mortgage Guidance group. And today we're joined by Lydia Jasso. Jasso. Jasso. Yes. I was close. So close. So close. Jasso. Lydia Jasso. You did good. All right. You did good. And I wanted to chat with you because you've been in the real estate industry for a while and then you just launched a new group, which I thought was really fun. But first of all, let's find out a little bit about you. You got involved with this. You said... Oh my gosh. It was my first job out of high school. I had walked into the marketing department at Prudential Aegis Realty and met Robin Hardy. Okay. So I've been with Robin and Gary, I was with
them for several years and then from there I kind of just transitioned my roles from learning on the marketing side, the branding side to running an office and being behind the pearly gate. So you started off in marketing, was that kind of what you thought your direction was going to take in your career? It quite honestly has, I'm doing it in a different way now, but it definitely has and it was a lot of fun. I never had more fun than helping real estate agents be coming to their own almost. Okay. And then, but then that fun didn't last. Cause then you got to the management and run offices. I took a round turn somewhere. Oh, it was a lot of fun. And now I got to work. Actually, it was when I moved into the admin side of things. I think that's where I started to get like almost a personal connection with real estate. It kind of taught me then and there I get to see the people's faces yeah yeah that's that's a different feeling than just being with the marketing and you're trying to generate
the business yeah seeing the results of that and the excitement of these homeowners yeah the reciprocation part of it and it was just it was beautiful and that's I think that's when I truly fell in love with real estate and then you really stayed on the administrative side for quite a while I did I did and Then I had a daughter in 07 and we moved up to Phoenix and lived there for several years, just to kind of, I think I realized pretty early on I wasn't gonna be the type of mother I wanted to be unless I put some distance between me and Tucson. Okay, that sounds like a whole different podcast. It really is, it really is. But Phoenix was sink or swim. I think that's where I grew up a lot. I worked on the marketing side of things for several companies then and fell in love with all of that stuff, dove deep into SEO, SEM, that type of stuff. What's SEO? What's SEM? Search Engine Marketing. Oh, that's the things I learned on these shows. It's just fantastic. I've always heard the SEO side,
but I didn't know what SEM was, so apparently I'm not doing that. And then you, but now you've sort of run the full gamut. Now you're moving into the practitioner side of the sales side, right? I really, I did. I made that transition at the beginning of this year and it's been one of the funnest and best things I think I could have done. Okay, what kind of led to that? What was it like? It was just a lot of life changes last year and I think I just got to the point where I felt like I could do it. My daughter's old enough now. She doesn't need me around quite as much and she's getting ready to transition off to college She's a junior in high school. And so so I need to figure out who I am Not as a mom and let's just dive deep into real estate. Okay, okay And then I think the the thing that caught my eye was a Facebook group that you put out there Which is has an interesting title. Can you tell us a little about what you're doing with this? It's called parenting and afraid it is a parenting
and afraid. Uh -huh, okay That's what I remember, I just want to make sure I heard it. It is, it's Parenting and Afraid. My daughter actually came up with the title. Like, I knew what the group was going to be, I just couldn't figure out what the title was. And she's like, it's Parenting and Afraid, mama. Parenting and Afraid. And I was like, ooh, okay. But anyway, the group is for single parents out there, male, female, dad, mom, to kind of come together in a centralized area so they can just talk about things that are bothering them, things that are exciting them for the day, things that are making it difficult to get through the day. Where can I get this at the best price? Where can I get that? It's just a resource. It's a resource for single parents out there that I wish I had when I was a mother of a younger daughter. Okay. And the fear is just from concerns every day. Every day. I can't make the day work. Yep, every day.
Do non -single parents not get afraid? I'm sure they do. I'm sure they do. But I think they've got each other to rely on a little bit. Okay, so this is a community, get a little support there if you don't have your spouse or your partner to help with those everyday decisions. And it's like, my sister is a single mother and my nephew just went off to college, but I remember just kind of trying to keep track of her schedule with the different soccer practices and lacrosse practices and school and this. And I asked her like, how do you manage? And then when COVID hit, like, how do you manage all this? And her response was, you just do. You just do. And I guess from a parent standpoint, it's pretty common sense. You just make things happen. But I would imagine that throughout the day, you're faced with these decisions of what makes the most sense. Exactly, and am I doing it right? And I obviously didn't do this right. It was completely wrong, but how do I fix it? How do I move forward from
this? You know, I mean there's a lot of those. There's a lot. Oh, I should have asked this question before. How do we get out of this now? Any suggestions? So you started this as a Facebook group, so you're getting people that are joining through just social media? Just social media. They you just need to contact me and I can invite them into the group. It is a private group. I didn't want any kind of advertising or anything in there. So I'm keeping it private for that reason, but it's there and we would love for people to join in. And are you looking for people just in like in Southern Arizona or is this? Well, it is a Southern Arizona thing, but I think if you need help, you need help. So, you know, just join on in and talk with us. Okay. And the other thing that you and I are working on a project, which is sort of how we met. And I don't know if this will be ongoing or not, but you also seem to be very passionate about helping youth with financial understanding and financial literacy.
I am. I am. I think for me, it's one of the things I wish I had done better as a single parent. I don't know exactly how I could have, but I wish I had when it comes to finances and saving money and understanding the importance of something as compound interest or something like that. And I felt like Anthony, my partner and I for the Road Connection, he and I read a book continuously and we read a chapter and then we write out a paragraph and then we read what we got from that chapter to each other for every single book. And one of them that we were read was Prophet First. And that was just so eye opening on how little you can truly put away and let it just grow. And so I was like, okay, this is something that if a teen starts now, that's generational. And that's important, it's so important, just something small. And this was a whole conversation we could have separately, but I've been doing financial literacy in high schools and others for 12, so it's since 2011. I wish I had that. And
it's creating those habits. I think the challenge, though, is we would go into high schools, and we still do go into high schools, and we talk to these kids, but it's a lecture to them. What you're doing is getting families involved, and then it becomes part of everyday life and practice. So it's not something you're learning in school. It's just something you're experiencing at home, and I think that's a key component. because you're doing your, we, this is airing in May and April, we're going to be doing a seminar targeted for young adults, right? But it's inviting the entire family in, right? So the family can participate in this conversation. Yes, I honestly felt like one of the biggest ways, listen, working at Keller Williams, I think the biggest word that I hear there all the time is accountability. And if you're doing it by yourself, there's no one to hold you accountable. And that's probably one of the biggest downfalls for certain goals out there. Tell somebody, tell somebody so
they can also be on your side and help you. So if it's a family thing, they can come up with a family goal, trip, whatever the case may be just to get their feet wet in the process. And hopefully it'll be something that they can realize they can do. It is accomplishable. But is this something you see another sort of string of your your career that you might be taking continuing? I definitely want to hold more. I definitely do. I want to see how I can also help grandparents raising grandkids. I think that's another area that I am being called to. I keep hearing about them and my mom was and so I think that's probably another another area that I want to dip my feet in and kind of. So grandparenting in Afraid.
Something. It's more than saying grandparenting. Been there, done that. That's the name of the next group, been there, done that. Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in. Darn it. So how do people get a hold of you for real estate or to join the group? What are some of your contact details? Well, I am on Facebook. You guys can look me up by my Facebook name. It's Lydia Hasso Realtor, J -A -S -S -O. You can call me, 520 -400 -4106. You can email me, info .trc .re at gmail .com. And then we also have our team Facebook, which is The Real Connection. And you can look us up that way as well. Okay, and this would be for real estate related matters financial literacy for young adults. Yes parenting grandparenting Yes, and I like I like the sense of this community because none of us have all of the answers, right? I don't necessarily want to be the person people call for answers But I'd like to be the person then I can be a resource resource to a forum of people that have dealt with
things specifically exactly man, so real estate community involvement. I mean if you're gonna jump, jump in. It's been a busy year for you. Are you finding you're able to manage your time well enough to make all this happen? I am learning time management every single day, every single day. I've got my calendar pretty organized as far as what I'm gonna do but man that does change quite a bit. Yeah, I can imagine. Oh my gosh, so I'm learning. Yeah, well I appreciate all that you're doing within the community. I'm always fascinated with with real estate agents who can have success in their career and then take that and build something in the community that's really special and makes Tucson a better place. And I appreciate that. I appreciate everything you're doing, getting our word out there. Thanks for having me on. Oh, it's absolutely my pleasure. It's Lydia Hasso, J -A -S -S -O. And she's another one of these agents that are out there doing good things in our community. We call it Housing
for Good. And the website is housingforgood .com if you wanna check out any past episodes. And then we do also turn this into an audio podcast, which is on Spotify, and we just do that under our mortgage team, the Mortgage Guidance Group. We have a lot of different podcasts that are connected to real estate -related tools, tricks. We don't talk too much about the market and interest rates. I think there's a lot of information about that. We do talk about things like when people are doing good stuff or if there's a major concern in the industry. So that's the Mortgage Guidance Group, and it's a good podcast if you're out walking your dog and - Absolutely. want to get a little distracted. Absolutely. But thank you again for your time. Thank you, sir.
