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- [00:00]
Amber Cruz
Do it when there's fear. Like, do it anyway. Because guess what? On the other side of fear is faith. Everybody has their different niche and their specialty and they're guiding and walking. Everybody has their own walk. So let people walk the walk that they want to walk. And if it doesn't work out, then you can pivot, but you can always learn something from it.
- [00:17]
Narrator
Amber Cruz is a resilient, award winning and visionary real estate entrepreneur. The CEO of Amber Cruise Realty Group and one of New Jersey's top luxury real estate professionals. She built her success through resilience, determination, and a passion for helping people achieve their real estate goals.
- [00:33]
Amber Cruz
I was going through a breakup and I hated going home, I hated going to work, and I started literally at my mom's couch. I just had this fierce belief, like I'm going somewhere and it's not going to be where I am. I'm going to change the trajectory of my life. Like I'm in control of this. I'm going to just give this my all. And that's when I started real estate, and that's nine years ago. And since then I was blessed to do about 100 million in career sales.
- [00:57]
Jason Tyler
But what was it about real estate that drew you in?
- [01:00]
Amber Cruz
So the main thing with real estate was
- [01:06]
Intro/Outro Announcer
it spans the globe like a super highest. Cold Internet. Elvis Preston, five for free. Today, Apple is going to reinvent Levon. It's not over until I win the Living your Legacy podcast. For those who live to leave a legacy that's extraordinary. The impossible has been. Oh, that is sensational. Jordan Chicago, with the lead is the fastest man on the planet. You can live your dreams.
- [01:39]
Jason Tyler
Welcome back, everybody, to another episode of the Living youg Legacy podcast. Again, I am your host, Jason Tyler, and today I AM joined by Ms. Amber Cruz. Amber, welcome to the show.
- [01:49]
Amber Cruz
Thank you.
- [01:50]
Jason Tyler
How you feeling?
- [01:51]
Amber Cruz
Excellent.
- [01:52]
Jason Tyler
So you just finished filming your episode of Legacy Makers. First of all, how do you feel now on the other side?
- [01:58]
Amber Cruz
Wait for Relax. Yeah, the nerves are done.
- [02:01]
Jason Tyler
That's where I gotta get that out. I gotta get the jitters out.
- [02:05]
Amber Cruz
Yes.
- [02:06]
Jason Tyler
What would you say is, like the number one thing you want people to be able to learn from your story?
- [02:11]
Amber Cruz
The number one thing I want people to learn from my story is that don't allow other people's fears to be projected on you. Right. Don't allow somebody to put a ceiling on you. And that you can have the audacity to be as bold as you want, to move through whatever ceilings that they think exist and be bold and be proud and be yourself. Because that's what I'm doing in my life.
- [02:37]
Jason Tyler
And if it's one thing people usually have, it's the audacity.
- [02:40]
Amber Cruz
Let's do the audacity. Yes. Have it. Have it.
- [02:44]
Jason Tyler
So tell me a little bit about Amber's story. How do we get to the Amber that we see in front of us today?
- [02:51]
Amber Cruz
So I used to be an adoption worker, and that was a depressing job. And I was just.
- [02:56]
Jason Tyler
I can imagine.
- [02:57]
Amber Cruz
Yeah, I was going through a lot. I was going through a breakup, and I hated going home. I hated going to work. And I started literally at my mom's couch. I did a whole life shift. And I'm a mom. So at the time, I have a three year old moving back with my mom. And I'm like, I just want to start over. I want to go into real estate. I don't want to be an adoption worker anymore. It's too depressing.
- [03:20]
Jason Tyler
And.
- [03:20]
Amber Cruz
And I want to help people, but at a different way, in a different way. So my mom supported me as she always did, and I had the audacity to start a business. And nobody else in my family ran a company or a business. Like, I had no game plan or roadmap. I just had this fierce belief, like, I'm going somewhere and it's not going to be where I am. I'm going to change the trajectory of my life. Like, I'm in control of this. Like where so many things were out of my control and we're going left. I was like, no, I'm gonna, I'm gonna. I'm gonna try this. I'm gonna just give this my all. And that's when I started real estate, and that's nine years ago. And since then I was blessed to. To do about a hundred million in career sales.
- [04:04]
Jason Tyler
I hope you guys in the audience heard that number because that's a lot of digits. But what was it about real estate that drew you in?
- [04:13]
Amber Cruz
So the main thing with real estate was I was helping people as an adoption worker, right. And that was a lot of people who were going through vulnerable times. If you could imagine being a child in foster care or being a parent, having your child taken away and going through an adoption process, like, all of that's heavy. All of that is, like, a lot. And I knew that I loved to help people, but I wanted to do it in a different way. I went to real estate school. I'm a dreamer and I'm really into, like, storytelling and helping people. So it all kind of came full circle. I got my real estate license and an epiphany went off. Or it's like, oh, these are the same people, these are the same clients. You're just helping them in another way. Like instead of banging the gavel where the judge says, you know, like, your parental rights are terminated, we can have a key and give it a closing day. And it'd be like a positive experience, like more memorable in a positive way. So I just wanted to help people but have a positive impact, not be the person taking nobody's kids away. You know what I mean?
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Jason Tyler
That was too much. You don't want to be on that side of things.
- [05:16]
Amber Cruz
No, I didn't, I didn't.
- [05:17]
Jason Tyler
I can, I can only, I can really only imagine because I, I don't have the stomach to be able to be the decision maker in that arena, right? Like if, if somebody was sending me out to go do that, I'd be like, you don't have to send somebody else.
- [05:29]
Amber Cruz
Right? It's not going to be too much.
- [05:33]
Jason Tyler
But real estate, the, the, the great thing about real estate is that you're helping people with arguably the most important purchase in their lifetime.
- [05:42]
Amber Cruz
Right?
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Jason Tyler
It's a big thing. It's a big event for a lot of people. What, what sets you apart as a real estate agent?
- [05:49]
Amber Cruz
I always make it about my client, right. So when I first meet with them, it's all about you. Right. And I let them sit with that because a lot of times real estate, there, it is so easy to get your real estate license. That's the problem. There are thousands of realtors.
- [06:03]
Jason Tyler
I'm in the process of getting mine right now. I joke, I joke, I joke.
- [06:07]
Amber Cruz
You could, it's, if you can take it, you can get your license in two weeks. Like, and it's a low entry cost. So while it's so easy to get your real estate license and this is people's most important investment, I think I'm relationship driven, right? So when, I mean, like it's about you as my client, it is not about me. It's not about anything else. And like, how can I meet you where you are? Because it's not always like, woo hoo, we're buying a home. Sometimes it's like grandma passed away and I don't know what to do with her house, right? Or I'm going through a divorce and it's toxic. Get me, get me out of this situation. Sometimes it's people upsizing, sometimes it's people downsizing. They can't afford their house anymore. So meeting people where they are. And not just making it about me. Like, it's all about you. Like, where are you? How can I come as a humble servant and help guide you through one of your most important life transactions?
- [07:01]
Jason Tyler
And, you know, for me, when I got into film, when I started my first production company, I was just doing film for social media. I was filming on a little B cam, and my first client was a mortgage loan officer.
- [07:12]
Amber Cruz
Okay.
- [07:13]
Jason Tyler
And so I got like. And I worked with him for three years. I took him from 600 followers on Instagram to over 100,000. It took a really long time. But what I got in that regard was I got to get a real sneak peek into the real estate industry. And one thing that I observed during that time was that to your point, people from all different walks of life, they. Everybody needs to have a roof over their head.
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Amber Cruz
Right?
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Jason Tyler
Right. This is a service that applies to everybody at some point in their life. It's going to be a very. For some people, it's going to be on the back nine. For some people, it's going to be in the first couple of holes on the. On the golf course. But you have to be able to appeal to a lot of different situations. How do you manage being able to go from one client that, oh, my God, this is the best purchase of my life to another client that's like, you know, like you said, I'm going through a divorce and get me the heck out of this house. What's that dichotomy like?
- [08:12]
Amber Cruz
Yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot of transition. I think one thing in real estate is that you have to be a chameleon somewhat, and you have to have empathy. You have to have empathy. And not the empathy that I had as an adoption worker where I wanted to take the kids home, and it made me cry.
- [08:30]
Jason Tyler
And, you know, you had been a mother of 17.
- [08:32]
Amber Cruz
Yeah. You have to empower your own clients to be the hero of their own story. Right. I'm not the hero. I'm a character in their story about getting them to where they need to go. Right. Whether it's selling a home or buying something exciting or whatever that might be. So if you're the hero and I'm here to help guide you through that finish line, that's what makes it all about them, and that's how we're able to kind of maneuver what we're going through. Like, I always check my emotions because, like, if you're going through a hard time and you're crying and I'm crying Like, I need to help you, right?
- [09:03]
Jason Tyler
Somebody needs to be the adult in
- [09:04]
Amber Cruz
the room, someone be the adult together. Which is I kind of think about is sometimes like a lawyer or a doctor. Like, if you go to the doctor and you have this scary diagnosis, you don't need the doctor falling apart or the nurse is crying. Like, you need somebody to. That would scare me to lead the way and say, don't worry, I got you. I've done this before, right? I've helped clients like you before. So when someone's going through a divorce and they're overwhelmed or whatever, I tell them, like, I know this is unique for you and this is stressful. I specialize in that. I specialize in that. So knowing that I've done that before and I'm here for you, and I'm the professional who's going to guide you. That's when the trust builds. And then once you get them to the finish line and it's their own success story and they're the hero of that chapter of their life, they're going to refer you business and they're going to be grateful and they're going to remember that you helped them through a really pivotal moment in their lives. Whether it's a positive moment or it's a negative moment, like you were there. So that's why I feel like impact is super important. Anytime I send an email, make a phone call, send a text message, I, myself and my team, I train everybody to say, like, what is the impact of what you're doing? You have one time to make a good first impression. And that experience can either be a good one or it could be really rough. Like, moving is stressful already. So my role is to always make it as smooth as possible for my client, however that might be. It looks a lot of different ways. If I gotta call the husband on one phone and keep you separate. Cause you don't get along, I'll do that, right? If I have to talk to the. The estate planner, I'll do that. Some of my clients are celebrities and professional athletes. If I have to talk to the financial advisor because you're busy, I'll do that. Like wherever I need to go. I got my clients covered and I think they appreciate that.
- [10:45]
Jason Tyler
Of course, of course. Now, one thing again that I did notice through my time kind of working, orbiting the real estate industry was there's a lot of. How do I want to phrase this? There's a lot of ancillary services that go around. You know, being a real estate agent, you got to have an underwriter? Yeah, I have. You know, if you have somebody that wants to do a new construction, you might be, you might want to partner with a construction company. If somebody's got really bad credit, you might tell them, hey, you're not ready for a house. Here's a credit repair service that I can refer you to. How do you, from an organizational structure standpoint, how do you help people in different avenues get to the point a of being able to get to the closing table?
- [11:23]
Amber Cruz
I'm at a point in my career where I'm obsessed with getting my team right. And anybody that I refer, they're got, they've got to be a like minded go getter like me. They have to come from a place of service, otherwise I'm not going to refer. So I spent a lot of time meeting those people who even a painter like you want, you need a painter, I'll send you somebody. But he's like me. He's going to show up on time, be professional, get you the top quality service, not, you know, something that you'll regret later. Lawyers, like sometimes people need a real estate attorney. Mortgage companies, title companies, everybody that I surround myself with are like me. And if they're not, they've got to go. So as a CEO, that's a decision that I make often of who gets to stay and who gets our referrals and who does not quite measure up to the level that we are at. Because like I said, some people put real estate agents in the same category as like a used car salesman, where there's that lack of trust because there are some people who are just in it for the money and that'll always show, right? When you're in it for the money, that'll always show and people can see through that.
- [12:27]
Jason Tyler
And sometimes, like, you know, it's good that you bring up being people that are in it for the money because in my experience, my next question was going to be, have you ever had to fire a referral partner? Right? But I had an experience where I had to fire a referral partner. But then when I got more context for the why, because it ended up happening that I had referred someone to go do video for a wedding, right? And when I got additional context for why the client didn't like the job that they did, I actually brought them back on. Because some people are in it for the money and some people are in it for the money for one particular job, like this one particular job might be the thing that keeps a roof over my head or I can forgive in those circumstances, like, it's very circumstantial. You gotta be able to keep an eye on certain things. But to your credit, I think it's a great job to know that, like, hey, all my referral partners, they're like me. They're gonna be on time, they're gonna be professional, they're experts and positioning the entire group. Cause real estate is one is a unique business in that you have so many other businesses that orbit around the same around this one big purchase. Right? There's 14 different business owners that have a hand in this purchase.
- [13:41]
Amber Cruz
More than one sale.
- [13:43]
Jason Tyler
But, yeah. Have you ever had that experience of having to, like, fire a referral partner?
- [13:47]
Amber Cruz
Oh, yeah. I've had to fire people from my team. That just helps me grow as a leader and helps me identify. Like, when I say that I want to offer white glove service, I mean that. So if somebody's not on that caliber, they've got to go. And I don't regret anybody that I've had to let go because one God always guides my steps. So I pray on anything that I do. And if somebody's not a good fit to be in my circle or to be a part of my business, literally, like, it's not a. I don't regret it, but it's a lesson, and it taught me something. Okay, so this is a red flag when XYZ happens, right? And I'll make sure that I ask better questions for the next person or interview somebody a little bit deeper or whatever happens. When something is, like, rejection, I see it as God protecting me. So rejection is protection, and we move through it and we learn a lesson from it and move on.
- [14:37]
Jason Tyler
That's what I'm talking about now for you guys out there, if you're still tuned in at this point, I want to make sure that you check out Amber's episode of Legacy Makers coming out shortly after this podcast episode drops. If you could give a message to, you know, our audience is super entrepreneurial. They're business minded, they're go getters. If you could give one message to an entrepreneur out there who might be struggling or might be just starting something, what message would you give them?
- [15:04]
Amber Cruz
A message that I would share is do it scared. Do it when there's fear. Like, do it anyway. Do it anyway. It's scary when it starts anything new, but do it anyway. Because guess what? On the other side of fear is faith. And when I took a leap of faith, God just has carried me so far. So don't let and don't let Other people's fears. Don't let other people project their fears on you. Because I've had that where people were like, are you sure you want to be a real estate agent? Do you realize it's just commission? Do you know you don't have that state salary anymore? Like, you have a kid, how are you going to feel? Like all the things, like, don't you think I realized that, like, when I, when I got.
- [15:48]
Jason Tyler
I crunched the numbers, Trust me, I've been down.
- [15:50]
Amber Cruz
I know the pressure, but I also know the potential. And that's your projection. You can do that. Jay Z said that too. He said one of his family members said that he couldn't sell a million but a million times or something. That's what you can do. Right. But everybody has their different niche and their specialty and they're their legacy that they're, that they're guiding and walking. Everybody has their own walk. So let people walk the walk that they want to walk. And if it doesn't work out, then you can pivot, but you can always learn something from it. And it could be something amazing.
- [16:20]
Jason Tyler
I know that's right.
- [16:21]
Amber Cruz
Yes.
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Jason Tyler
To, to your point like this, just to kind of add on to the point of do it scared.
- [16:26]
Amber Cruz
Right.
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Jason Tyler
Not only should you do it scared, you should embody that. You should, you should start to tell yourself, I'm the person that does it scared. I'm the person that does it when I'm tired. I'm the kind of person that does it when I don't feel like it.
- [16:40]
Amber Cruz
That's right.
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Jason Tyler
When you start to embody that and start to identify with it, that's when change comes rapidly.
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Amber Cruz
Yeah.
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Jason Tyler
Like, that's when God starts showing up in a real, real way.
- [16:51]
Amber Cruz
Yeah.
- [16:53]
Jason Tyler
For the people out there that are still tuned in at this point, where can people find you on social media? Your website, where are you located on the World Wide Web?
- [17:03]
Amber Cruz
Yeah. So you can find me on Instagram at Amber Cruz Real Estate. My website is Amber Cruise realtygroup.com and it's C R U S E not Cruz.
- [17:13]
Jason Tyler
I know people was going to. Yeah, we'll put it up here somewhere on the screen. I'll point in a direction and hope that the editors know where to put.
- [17:21]
Amber Cruz
Yes. And we're also on Facebook and TikTok and LinkedIn. So if anybody has real estate needs or questions or mentorship or. I don't know where to start. I want to have a team or like anything. I'm definitely open to connect and collaborate. And so, like, I don't I want to, like, open it. Like, doors were open for me. So I want to continue to keep that door open. Blast that door open. Don't let it close. Like, yes, you can be a successful black woman. You could be a successful young woman. You can be a successful woman or a young person, or fill in the blank. Like, don't let anybody tell you that you can't. So it's like the kindergarten lesson, believe in yourself. But times a million, when you're an adult, it's like, oh, that's why they kept saying that.
- [18:01]
Jason Tyler
Because you have to. Because you have to.
- [18:02]
Amber Cruz
Because nobody else will.
- [18:04]
Jason Tyler
Nobody else will.
- [18:04]
Amber Cruz
If you don't believe in yourself, why would I hire you if you can't even believe that you're the right one for the job? So that's why I said, do it scared and say affirmations. Build your confidence up by positive affirmations, like, talk to yourself in the mirror. Talk to yourself in the shower, in the car, wherever. You need to build yourself up to get ready to conquer the day. Because, again, the world has a lot going on. But you have to feed and fill yourself up with that positive energy.
- [18:27]
Jason Tyler
Be careful with the talk to yourself thing. Somebody might. Somebody might walk in on you in the bathroom and you talking to yourself in the mirror. Now you look crazy.
- [18:34]
Amber Cruz
My husband hears me talk to myself sometimes.
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Jason Tyler
I'm all for positive affirmations, but if I catch. If I catch my girl in the bathroom doing some. She looking in the mirror like this.
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Amber Cruz
She's keeping stuff together. She's about to change the world, mind you.
- [18:49]
Jason Tyler
You guys can't see this, but her husband is in the room with us. We're all having a time, but, guys, this has been another amazing episode. Amber, thank you so much for coming on the show. It's been a pleasure getting to know you, and I'm really excited to see how your episode turns out.
- [19:04]
Amber Cruz
Thank you.
- [19:05]
Jason Tyler
Again. This has been another episode of the Living youg Legacy podcast. I'm your host, Jason Tyler, so I will catch you guys on the next one.
- [19:13]
Intro/Outro Announcer
Sam.