We have two very special guests, Jocanna Stephanie Brown and Darius "Dee" Brown, the power couple behind Brown Assets Group!
Their mission is to change lives, and on this week's podcast, they reveal the secrets to running a successful credit repair business while also raising a family!
Our most successful credit heroes, the ones that make a great living and change a ton of lives, all have a few things in common. They all share a mission that's larger than themselves, a burning passion for their work, and a relentless drive to succeed.
Jocanna and Darius, the power couple behind Brown Assets Group, embody these traits in every sense. They're not just credit repair entrepreneurs but a family of natural-born leaders and achievers.
They're passionate about their craft, they know the value of their time and expertise, and they're on a mission to change lives through credit repair.
I know you're going to love this interview!
So grab a pen and paper because you're gonna wanna take notes!
Here are a few of the highlights…
Who is the Brown Assets Group?
Jocanna: Brown Assets Group is way bigger than just me and Dee, right? We're a family company. We're here to help many families. You know? Just helping everybody through our credit repair program. Helping them just gain their buying power back, you know? And just making a difference.
Darius: Absolutely. Pushing the envelope forward. We're all about sharing the knowledge, sharing the education. Help the marketplace gain their buying power, right? We don't know what we don't know. We tell so many people, "The biggest expense in life is what we don't know." So as long as we can continue to push the envelope forward, helping people understand the power of credit and what credit can do for them, we're headed in the right direction.
What made you want to start this business? Did you go through credit issues yourselves?
Jocanna: I was 26 when we bought our very first home, and my goodness, that was just, I'll let Dee kind of get into that. But also, both of us have a background in property management. I was in the industry for 14 years, and I was a community manager for most of that. Just sitting in the position that I was in, declining people daily because they didn't have substantial credit to even get into an apartment. I just felt like there was more that I wanted to do.
You said there's a personal story about your home?
Darius: What happened? Yeah, so we bought our first home in 2016, I believe, and we were oblivious to credit. Daniel, like seriously, we didn't know anything about credit. And unfortunately, we didn't have an honorable realtor and an honorable lender at the time. They just saw a young, naive couple that, at the time, we made a decent income, but we had very poor credit. We were sitting at a 580 credit score, and they were like, you know what, you guys can go FHA. So we're like, okay, whatever we need to do, we'll do it 580, let's do it. We ended up getting into the home, long story short, and I started doing my due diligence, and I was like, wait a minute. We're paying way too much money on this house. Beautiful home, but paying way too much money. I ended up asking our neighbor across the street. I said, "Hey man, how much are you guys paying for your monthly mortgage?"
And when he told us, they were paying $900 less than what we were paying because of a 580 credit score. So the light bulb clicked. I went to my wife, Joe, and I said, "Hey, Joe, we're gonna rent this home out, and we're gonna have tenants stay in it, pay down the mortgage, and build equity, and we're never gonna make this mistake again. And we're gonna build and improve our credit. And that's exactly what we did. We entered the industry. We came into the credit repair industry in October 2019. Last year, in July, 2022, we branched off from a company because we were dealing, dealing with network marketing, and we decided that it was time for us to become fully independent. And by the grace of God, that was the best decision we could have ever made for our family.
What are some keys to being successful partners in both business and marriage?
Jocanna: We have two kids. We have our soon-to-be eight-year-old daughter, and then we have a three-year-old toddler who's very active. For me, one of the other intricate pieces as well was that I had recently walked away from my 14-year career in property management and came full-fledged into entrepreneurship. So having that, then kids managing this business, I will tell you that it, it was very, very challenging at first, but one of the things that I told myself, that I was not gonna change. Every day that I woke up, um, I woke up like I was going to my job, right? Because when you have a job, you, you're gonna get up early, you're gonna arrive early, you're gonna make it. So I didn't change none of that. Waking up early, you know, attending to the kids, sending them off to school, once we send them off to school, we are very, very active.
So we have to start our day in the gym first, and then after that, we get to our office, and it's full grind mode. We're all in with our clients, um, and our business. And so, at first, it was very challenging, but, you know, being able to do it together, when you have a partner that is on the same mission as you, it truly just makes it a lot easier. Absolutely. Um, you know, he's here for me. I'm here for him. And, you know, wherever one of us lacks, the other one is helping and picking up. And so, it's been a great journey.
Can you tell me about your mission?
Darius: We don't tell people what we saw online or what we heard or read online. Everything is through real-life experiences. Right? We know what it was like being first-time home buyers, and we getting denied left and right and not being able to get to the closing table because of a 580 credit score. Right? We came from property management. So we used to have to deny people just to rent an apartment. Right? So it is bigger than us because we don't want others to have to go through the same trials and tribulations that we went through. We would rather give the information. Right? Because information is the fertilizer to our wealth. I'm a strong believer in that. So what I tell people is, "It's our responsibility on giving you the information. It's your responsibility on what you do with it."
I've seen you say, "If you're looking for a discount, we're not the company for you." I love that. How important it is for business owners to know their value?
Darius: “You can't lowball your business. We're not gonna lowball. You can't lowball your business. I encourage any entrepreneur watching this. You watch it today, tomorrow, next week. Do not lowball your business or your worth or your value because you have people that are ready to do business with you because you have a solution to their problem. And it takes time. And the most valuable tool that we have is our time.
What advice would you give to anyone who wants to start up their own credit repair business?
Darius: Don't wait. Don't procrastinate. Don't wait till it's perfect. There's not going to ever be a perfect time. Don't wait for the systems. You have to follow your intuition. You have to follow your gut feeling and just go. Just make it happen. Fail forward, fail. Failure is the mother of success. You just have to fail forward. Get up, keep going. Learn every single day. Be intentional with building out your business. Because guess what? All you have to do is share your services. Share your services, and I promise you as long as you remain consistent, remain disciplined, and obedient, you're going to get clients. You're going to see your business thrive.
What does business ownership mean to you?
Jocanna: Being my own boss, living life on my own terms. You know? Fun fact, right now, I'm headed to Miami tomorrow, and guess what? I'm gonna be working from over there. So just being able to work on my own terms. Right? Not on anybody else's terms. So I will be on the beach taking calls, doing detailed credit analysis, and all that good stuff.
Darius: Yes, while daddy's at home. Daddy Daycare. So I'll be here, Daddy Daycare. But for me, yes. The time, freedom, the leverage. The options to know that we're building something dynamic and we're helping and inspiring other people to see while if they can do it, we can do it as well.
And that was just a small part of the interview!
They shared so many golden nuggets, their inspiration, motivation, and passion to succeed! You have to check out the entire episode and take notes!
If you want to learn more about the Brown Assets Group, you can visit their website or follow them on Facebook. And their new podcast Keeping it Real with The Browns, will drop new episodes soon!
I'LL END BY SAYING
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So take care, Credit Hero!
And Keep Changing Lives!