What a Quiet Salesperson Teaches Us About RTO’s Future

A shy new hire walks into rent-to-own, gets labeled “the mute girl,” and ends up becoming a trusted salesperson customers ask for by name. That arc—uneasy beginnings to confident service—is the heartbeat of our conversation with Angelica Felix Damas, and it’s a powerful look at how mentorship, product fluency, and creativity can rewrite what sales success looks like in RTO.

We get honest about hiring myths and generational habits. Do you really need extroverts to sell? Angelica shows how knowledge-based selling, empathy, and simple rituals—like greeting customers by name and listening for what a family truly values—can outperform volume tactics. We dig into training that works for quieter reps: safe role-plays, product deep dives, and small wins that build momentum. She shares why trade shows like MRDA and RTO World changed her trajectory, from seeing modern vanities and smart TVs to capturing class notes, summarizing with AI, and teaching teammates what’s next.

We also explore how to make social media worth watching. Forget stale promos—lean into human, light humor and practical micro-demos that match mobile-first attention. Angelica breaks down how AI can help non-editors draft captions, trim clips, and turn learnings into posts your community actually uses. For owners and managers, we map a clear path: hire for drive and care, coach for product mastery, and build a creative culture that experiments in public. The result is stronger sales, better collections, and customers who feel seen.

If you’re rethinking how to spot potential, train for confidence, and turn your floor into a learning engine, you’ll walk away with concrete steps and renewed energy. Subscribe, share this with a manager who hires, and leave a review with the one thing you’ll try this week—we’ll feature our favorite takeaways on a future show.

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Chapters

• 2:13 Why a New Voice Matters
• 3:33 Angelica’s Path Into Sales
• 6:26 From Shy to Service-Driven
• 10:13 Generational Sales and Social Media
• 17:00 Mentors, Support, and Belonging
• 21:55 Training Styles That Work
• 26:55 Creativity as a Growth Lever
• 31:35 Spotting Drive in Interviews
• 36:35 Profession vs. Job Mindset
• 41:55 Conferences That Change Trajectories
• 48:05 Product Knowledge Builds Confidence

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 1:07

Hello, everybody. Welcome to the RTO show. I'm your host, P Chow, and today we're taking a whole different perspective of rent to own. Now, one of the reasons that I invited this guest on was because, well, to be honest with you, a lot of people that I talk to have been in this industry for a while. We've done it quite a quite a long time. You know, it could be a few years, could be a decade, could be 20 years. Right now we're running a little thing on the Legends series. We're talking around 14 years. Well, that's quite a long time. One of the things that we want to do is really get to talk to somebody who's fresh and new, not only to the industry, but is on the younger side of things where they can really kind of shed the light from their generation to ours and kind of show this is what I see when I come in. This is this is a review that I can give you, and this is how maybe we can make it better. So right now I have a guest. I have Angelica Felix Damas, who is from Kentucky, and we met at MRDA this past year. And um, you know, one of the things that kind of stuck out was she's this gentle soul sitting in the side of the corner, and then when she was approached with some information, she kind of put everybody in shock, and it was kind of like, oh my god, we didn't really understand kind of what we were talking about in that situation, um, in the sense that there are some differences that we the way we see things, and I really love that idea. How are you doing this morning? Pretty good. Good? In MRDA, you gotta understand. So I this is my first year going to MRDA. So when I went, I was kind of taking everything in and I got to see. So Angelica was in one of the moderations that we did, it was moderating a conversation between some of the guys that we had that were on the panel who did a great job. So, as we're going through the guests, you know, we're we're basically having conversations between who's there and the guests and kind of figuring out which person can actually speak on that subject matter the most. And when it came up to, you know, the hiring and the people that we look into, there was this idea that when it comes to sales, what we want to do is find somebody who's outgoing and kind of just very much vibrant and doesn't have uh an issue with going out there into the world and kind of grabbing somebody and saying, hey, what do you need? So I think nowadays everybody's built a little different. I mean, you tell me, is it one of those things where you see it a little bit different? Because I think that the outgoing nature of what we had to do uh is a little bit different than what your generation does now, because a lot of it is maybe over social media, over the phone. And so being up front is a little bit different, yet it doesn't really take away from the fact that you have the ability to get it done.

SPEAKER_00: 3:31

Yeah, a lot of it's uh it takes time. Me starting off, I had no knowledge of rent to own or sales to begin with. Uh started off working at a restaurant, and that was not so great, but I learned a lot of experiences there. And it kind of taught me to kind of talk around people a little bit more and be a little bit more outspoken, but it still wasn't enough to where I would uh connect with people. And so after leaving there, I went to Hibbits, worked there for a few months and just started liking just sales. I was selling shoes, uh, was uh demonstrating how many different ways you can do your laces with your shoes and how to clean your shoes, how to maintain them clean. And so I just kind of took that knowledge. I'm like, okay, this is fun helping out people. I still had trouble connecting with customers, but I still somehow would sell. And so going up to where I am now, I work at Hometown Sales Lease in Arc City, and they've taught me a lot. And when I first started, everybody was like, oh, it's the mute girl or it's the silent girl, or it's the little mice that can't talk very loud. And so um that kind of pushed me a little bit to open myself up more. I think the main thing is just caring about your customers and actually putting attention to what they need or kind of getting to know what they value in their family. Um, a lot of the time some people just can't afford things or don't have the knowledge of how rent-to-own works. And once I started learning how everything works, I started teaching, especially in the Hispanic community. They do not know how um rent to own works. They just know that they're making a payment and they're getting the product, or most of them will just purchase outright. And those are big clients that we just need to focus on too. That'll help grow the industry too. It just helps everybody around us. And I just like to help in general. And so I just love doing what I love to do just because I get to connect with people. Every time a customer comes in, I try to remember their name, call them out by their name, greet them with their name. It just makes me feel like they they feel like they're being seen. Whereas like the younger generation, it just keeps getting more and more understanding, I guess, in a way. Everybody understands their their mental health conditions and stuff like that, and or how the environment is as well. And I just like helping in general. I just enjoy it in honesty.

SPEAKER_01: 5:52

So, what made you decide? Because like out of the job that you had, they were kind of like customer relation jobs, right? You're gonna be on the front line. And then you go into a job where you are pretty much the face of the store, right? You're the one making the sales, you're the one making the calls, you're the one greeting the customers. And what made you decide this was the place where I'm gonna try to open that up and and be a little bit more outgoing than I have been?

SPEAKER_00: 6:13

It's just support around me. Jess has been a great teacher, like learning leader-wise. I'm still learning from him. And I've had uh someone named Mary who helps me. Um, there's times where I let things get to me, but she reminds me that I need to I'm doing great and I need to keep pushing myself for better. Um, so it's just basically the family community feeling. There is someone who's uh Jess's father, who I call my grandpa. He's been a tremendous person. I've learned so much from him and just uh learning not to worry too much about what people think about you. Um it takes time, but I just felt like it was a challenge. And I like challenges, so I challenged myself and um as time went by just kept getting better and better and understanding more products. I also did research on products and explained how things work to customers. And so it's just an it's just I guess the willing to learn.

SPEAKER_01: 7:11

Speak for anybody when you're coming into this. Of course, I I know that you don't have a lot of work experience. So obviously you don't have the 20 years work experience, so but you do have jobs being in front of people and you decide, okay, I want to I want to take this job, I'm gonna be in in front fully. Why do you feel that there might have been this transition period where you know getting in front of people is a little bit more maybe challenging or you're not new? Is it because you hadn't done it before? Is it because of personality? Is it because of both that maybe it was a little bit kind of like standoff at first to so that you could open up to it? Or is it your personality like I don't really don't like to talk to people? I'm just learning to do it to to to get better at it.

SPEAKER_00: 7:47

It's just like I say both, and also um just uh my culture and um my environment in the house. I didn't go out, I didn't socialize, never had any socialization at all. It was just me, my brother, and my sister. And so that's the only person I could express myself with. And when I went to school, I was this quiet student, didn't speak, just did my assignments and went home. And so I just figure it's just what I learned around me or what people around me. I just saw people who are more expressive and more fun. Um, they just make me smile. So I'm like, I want to do that too. I want to make people smile. And so that's what just kind of put me out of my shell a little bit. But it was just mainly just no socialization, no knowledge of how to communicate or be an outspoken person or public speaking in general.

SPEAKER_01: 8:40

Coming from a situation where you're a lot younger and you do a lot of things on social media, a lot of things on your phone. I know that when, you know, in kind of growing up, my mother was in a professional business. She was always on a computer. Hence, come down a little bit. I spent a little bit more time with my laptop or or no, I don't want to say tablet. I don't remember if I've ever had a tablet phase. But you know, I have a laptop because I kind of take it around, but I still use something with a larger screen phase. I think everybody, and including any generation, it's more the phone. In Rent to Own, I mean, you've you've seen IMRTA. I've just now seen you in RTO world, which was really great to see you there. How do you feel rent to own is doing in the space where we have a mobile phone? This is where we look at everything. Are we doing good enough in that space to capture people that are in your generation to make them to get them to be customers and to see rent to own in the positive light?

SPEAKER_00: 9:27

I think with that, um, there's a lot room more room to grow. Every generation is going to be different. It's going to change in time. Nothing's going to be exactly the same. For me, AI is something new. Don't understand AI quite well, but I'm slowly getting myself to understand it. And there's so many just amazing things you can learn from AI. Just because uh AI knows a lot, it still teaches you so much more. And you're teaching it how to like learn things from yourself too, and how it learns basically how you are yourself and everything like that with uh social media. Find it, I find that comedy and stuff like TikTok um definitely helps. It's just there are like people like me who are camera shy. Um, this is my first time being on camera. So I'm not a camera person, but we're it's in the works. It's something that I am gonna challenge myself to work on. And I feel like once I can kind of build that up, it'll it'll be more fun too. I just like having fun with customers, getting to know them and just listening to their stories. And their stories definitely helped me grow too. Not only my customers, my coworkers, just everyone that's been around me has taught me something. And I appreciate everything that they've taught me because it's helped me grow to where I am now. And I'm hoping with uh where I'm at, I can lead as well. And even with the younger generation, kind of teach them how things work and just kind of let them express themselves their own way and figure out how they want to sell. Like every person's different, so nobody has that same quality. And so having a different mix of qualities in a person, I feel would help build more instead of like, yes, shy people don't talk a lot.

SPEAKER_01: 11:13

But what we're talking about so that everybody understands is like the idea was at that time is if you, you know, when we were talking about it, you know, you don't want to hire somebody who's shy because you know, when you're standing in front of everybody or you're making videos or you're making posts or whatever you're doing, it's one of those things that it's better to have an outgoing personality. So we asked Angela, she's like, no, no, you can you can kind of train out of that, you can grow out of that shell. So I guess the bigger question now is you're saying that that is an ability to get out of. And I love that idea. But if you were on the interview table and you have somebody that's in your your age bracket, your generation sitting in front of you, what would you look to find to say, you know what, this person might be in a shell now? But I do think that given the right information, given the right training, given the right mentorship, that they can actually come out and be like me. Or you can kind of tackle something, but you didn't look like you can tackle it to begin with. What is something that we could look for and say, you know what, I think I see that in that person as well?

SPEAKER_00: 12:09

Uh I look for drive. Like, are they willing to learn? What is it that they want to learn? What do they want to learn from this experience? Um, are they wanting to grow with us? Or are they just there just to find a job? I feel like this job is more of a profession to me. I enjoy it. And if they seem like caring, loving people, um, I see that as a great aspect to have just because it helps you understand your customers more and their values and everything. And you kind of just start memorizing customers' names and stuff like that because you care about them and you're putting time and effort into learning every customer's qualities and stuff like that, that you want to connect with them. And it's just so much fun again, watching them grow. Sometimes it is sad. You see some customers age and they've been with this for years and they just age, and unfortunately, that's just life. But just watching them age, but then behind them are their kids and they're growing and learning and still don't understand how like credit works and stuff like that. I just like, hey, come over here. I can teach you. I'll teach you, start off with something small and go from there. And so I just enjoyed helping younger generations kind of learn from my experiences too.

SPEAKER_01: 13:27

Let me ask you a question. When you first came on, because you're saying that it's a profession now, but when you first walked through the door, I don't know if you said that, if you thought that. So, like when you came on, was it the idea that you were looking for a profession and this is what caught your eye? Or when you came on, did you just see it as a this is a position I'm gonna fill, I'm gonna learn from it, and then found it to be a profession later on?

SPEAKER_00: 15:18

And when I first started, I was just just eager, um, because I had that little taste of sales at Hibbits, and I'm like, that was so much fun. And where I was working at prior, I just it was fun, it just wasn't the same. It was just enclosing, no people around me. It's just cleaning hotel rooms, and I was just like, this is not, this is not fun. It's not my personality. Yeah, this is not me. And so when I applied at hometown, I was so nervous, I was scared, I was shaking, but I just wanted to prove to them that I can grow out of it and I can improve myself. Going through this, I can improve what I want, which I still haven't quite decided what I want to do. I love where I'm at, but I also love to teach. So if I can find like a good middle ground, that'd be fun.

SPEAKER_01: 16:08

Well, I think I think we did talk about that. So I think at some point in time we did talk about the fact that you were in the, you know, in the industry, kind of learning about it and and kind of taking out of all the meetings and the stuff that you can and kind of taking all the mentorship and the tutoring and kind of putting it somewhere, but you also were in school to be a teacher. And I thought, wow, those are two completely different things. But then, you know, I kind of agree with you in the fact that maybe there's a way to marry that. And the only thing that came up to me in that meantime was if you have the ability to teach and you like teaching, and then you find out that you have this uh, you know, this knack for it, why not go into training? Now, obviously nobody's gonna come out, you know, nobody's gonna like graduate from what you're doing, but they will be better at what they what they sort of have a salesperson or a collections person going up to a GM and kind of teaching them the the day the normal things that they have to learn in the day, right? Whether it be setting up a schedule or setting up workloads or setting up you know the next week or having a day's off or whatever the case is. But when you came in, how did you find out? How did you find up the job? Like, was the job spoken to you? Like did somebody headhunt you and say, Hey, I think you'd make this a great job, or did you see it somewhere and you decided to apply?

SPEAKER_00: 17:18

Someone uh recommended recommended me to apply there. And so I went ahead and put the application in. I didn't really think I was gonna get the job, but and they kept telling me, oh, just keep uh calling, check in, check in. So I'm like, okay, I need to be more persistent. So I kept trying and trying and trying. And they did tell me that they kind of were questionable about hiring me. They were like, we don't know if we want to hire this girl. She's not really anything special. Well, I didn't really demonstrate too much on my interview, but they gave me a shot and I just wanted to prove them that I can do this, and that it's not like it's a decision that I want to basically prove to them that I can do it in a way. It's kind of hard to explain, but I just wanted to I had that drive of I'm gonna prove them wrong. I can do this, I can grow from this, and hopefully take keep using it in life. But um, I just kind of ended up staying there. I tried to leave for one year and went to work at a clinic. Um, but the healthcare was not for me.

SPEAKER_01: 18:22

Uh healthcare is not no. I've tried it myself, and healthcare is not and I only went for the paperwork side, you know, just like the the approvals and stuff like that. No, admitting I don't no, nope, I don't want anything. Healthcare is just not my deal because I I feel like there's too much pressure. So for a short time, I work for admissions in the ER at a hospital. And you know, if somebody came in and they didn't feel well, it was okay. If somebody came in and they're like, oh, you know, I'm about to die, no, you need to go to triage, like, don't see me. And then, you know, as somebody coming in and they're like, hey, I need their information stat because they got to go up to a room or they got to go to ICU, where you're like, oh my God, no, I'm just that's I'm good. I'm good. So I decided I'll never work in healthcare again. And whoever does, I gotta give them hands down. It's a very difficult position. And I told I can only, and that was from the paperwork, so I can only imagine what it's like having to haul somebody in an ambulance or tell somebody some, you know, hey, this is bad, this happened, you're not gonna be that okay, you know. It's like, oh my god, nah. No, uh-uh. I'm hey, this is your bill. Have a great day. Um, so coming from the standpoint of where you're at, now that you're in it, because and you didn't have much knowledge about rent to own before you got into it, right?

SPEAKER_00: 19:28

Mm-hmm. So I didn't really know anything.

SPEAKER_01: 19:31

What do you what do you think? Two sides of this question. What do you think we're doing right at rent to own? And what do you think coming from your standpoint and where you are, is something that we can really get better at?

SPEAKER_00: 19:42

I think the teachings that RTO World has definitely helps and benefits with training. It definitely teaches me a bigger aspect of what rent to own is. Uh, I'm still learning. I don't know every nick and cranny of everything, but I'm still learning and everything that I'm learning, I'm just let me try this. I'm gonna try this, or I'm gonna try that. That didn't work. Let's try this. So I just kind of it motivates me to kind of try new things, things that I never thought of. Um, just because it's old doesn't mean you can't put it in there and make it new. So ideas are everywhere, and just trusting some ideas, kind of fixing it there, here and there, kind of adjusting it to where it needs to be. And then you just find that perfect balance. Um, it's just, I just think that's what helps me in that. As far as the younger generation, I'm hoping us younger ones are taught well enough that way can help lead them further on and kind of teach them how it is, how things work, and just kind of be more creative with it. I find that if you're more creative with rent to own, it's more fun and people want to go in and be like, what's this about? So I think creativity is a big factor right now with uh rent to own, as long as you have that big creativity. You can use it on the floor, you can use it on your advertisement or just pretty much anything as long as you have more creativity. And I love to create things, and art is fun. So I use art sometimes to kind of put things out there. So it's just creativity to me.

SPEAKER_01: 21:11

So you think you think that rent to own could could kind of benefit from a more creative streak than to traditional norms?

SPEAKER_00: 21:18

Yes, it's hard to move away from traditions, but when you put in creativity and um just see life as art or rent to own as art, and you kind of just want to keep painting and having fun with it. And I I'm hoping that's what people, younger people will see and just kind of maybe this is a profession for me, even though just because I'm shy doesn't mean I can't do it, or just because I have some anxiety or anything like that. Because I have anxiety myself and I struggle with it, but somehow I just it's easy for me to just be around customers and I feel just comfortable with them, and I hope that I always make them feel comfortable too.

SPEAKER_01: 22:00

So when you talk about younger, when we talk about older, how old are you?

SPEAKER_00: 22:04

I'm 30.

SPEAKER_01: 22:05

You're 30. Okay. So do you feel like like there's any specific age that coming in is probably a sweet spot, or do you feel like, hey, as long as there's good training, come in anytime?

SPEAKER_00: 22:19

I think as long as there's good training. I started at 19 and since then I had some tough managers that taught me some things, some good things, some bad things, but I learned from it and I'm I'm still learning, trying to adjust what to use, what not to use. So it's hard for me to lead and I want to learn how to lead. And so hopefully um I can just have my coworkers grow with me too, and hopefully they can grow and just keep going down the road.

SPEAKER_01: 22:52

You know, when I first started in this business, it's a long time ago, but I had no intentions of being in this business. I had no idea about this business. Uh, you know, going back to a guy, I don't think he's ever, I don't think he's in the business. I actually I don't even remember his last name anymore. His name was John. So his assistant, well, let me I even gotta go further than that. So he was the store manager. John was the assistant. And so the store manager came in and he got me to come in and try out for an interview. I really wasn't interested. I had no idea what was going on, no idea what he was talking about. The only thing I knew is I had no idea where I was going. Like I just didn't have a clue as to what I wanted to be, what I wanted to do. I know somewhere in the back of my head, I was like, yeah, I don't know, maybe I'd be in an office somewhere or something like that. And so when I went there, I wasn't sold on any one thing. I kind of got sold on everything. And he was like, you know, if you're looking to be here or here or here, let me tell you why this is something that you might want to do. And I was like, okay, I'm listening. He's like, you know, you get to meet people. So that's part of it. You get to be out in the community, whether it's and at that time the account managers had to do pickups and deliveries and services as well. So it was like, so not only do you get to, you know, toss them here, you get to be out in the community, and there's a paperwork aspect of it too, right? So you get to learn files, you get to learn the computers, and you get to learn to talk on phone. And then after that, if you do well, you can be in leadership and kind of talk. So then I was like, okay, you know, all right, I tell you what, I'll give it a shot. And then, like a week later, he was gone, and then John moved up, and I was like, okay, this is not the guy I talked to about everything. And he so John had a different aspect of everything. And I agree with you that training is 100% why I'm still here. So he had a very direct approach on training. Where I don't know how the other guy would have been, because we, I mean, we really wasn't there very long. But John would sit me in one office and he would call the store on the phone from the other office and we would do these these role plays. And I've never been so embarrassed in my life, but nobody was there. You know what I mean? It's not like anybody was there to listen into me and go, oh my god, that was the most terrible thing I ever heard. No, it was like office to office before we opened or after we closed or something like that. So it wasn't like anybody was I and I was I was absolutely terrible. I stunk, but in the persistence and the training, you know, and and flip it on its ear. When I came in, like you, I was younger, but like you, I don't think I was, I didn't think I was the right fit, right? I wasn't outgoing, I was kind of like to myself a podcast years later. But I was like, you know, I I just I don't know if I'm that guy. And so that training led me to get out of my shell and be a completely different person. And going into the leadership values and and leadership courses and and just having my own region at a point in time or two points in time in my life. It's it's been probably some of the greatest things I've ever done. And it's crazy that it came from people who saw something in us that I probably myself would have not guessed. You said you started at 19, I was literally 20 years old. Uh, you know, I he he just walked in and it was like, hey, this is what's going on, you know. And I was like, I don't know you like that. Like, I don't think this is gonna work. But it's crazy to, you know, that years and years later, through that training, through that mentorship, you know, it's made a big difference. And like, is there anything particular that stood out in your training that you would say, with who I am and where I come from, this really helped me the most?

SPEAKER_00: 26:06

It wasn't much to training, it's just the people behind the company for me. They push me really hard to basically they're still pushing me to where uh they want me to understand my potential. I don't have that knowledge of how to publicly speak correctly and stuff like that. I still struggle with that and still kind of freak out a little bit or get anxious about it, even though sometimes I do speak out more. It's just a little bit different with um like being on camera and stuff like that. It's very scary, but it's just the people behind me have pushed me through so much. They've seen what I've been through and they've been very supportive. And I just feel like just the attention that they've given me, the care that they've given me helps makes me want to help where where I work. Um, because it's a locally family-owned business. And although I'm not family, they definitely have treated me like family, and I just love being there and I just love the people around there, and so I guess it's more I just the love of people. I love people and I love to love people and show them that I care. It's just the sales part is just the fun of it too.

SPEAKER_01: 27:14

Let me ask you a question because it's uh at one point you remind me a lot of myself back when I was younger. But when it comes to the training, is there any particular type of training that somebody like yourself who's a little bit more introverted naturally would take to better than just kind of throwing you out in the in the in the water and saying, okay, you don't know how to swim? Well, you gotta learn today. Is there something that took you meant that takes you uh helps you better? Or you say, you know what, I like this particular training versus this particular training? And that could always be personal, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a generational thing, but in your mindset, like what is something that I like this type of training better?

SPEAKER_00: 27:48

Um, for me, it's uh training about products. Um, you learn so much about products, there's so many new things coming out that you just whoa, this things are changing. You got dryers that can sense after your what your washer load did, and it just just dries it. You got ranges that you can just turn on with your phone now, new products, and you get to just I'm uh uh tech geek kind of. So there's things that I like, like so um with the TVs coming out and the smart TVs. Now you could play Xbox on them and you don't even need the console. That's something new that I learned. I'm just like, whoa, I want to share that with the the people that I know that love gaming. They may they might want something like that in their house. I know I want something like that in my house. So I just uh the training on products is what keeps me up to date with everything too. I don't feel as old.

SPEAKER_01: 28:39

Well, does that make you feel more confident when you're trying to customers to say, I know pretty much everything about this. I know that it works, I know that it doesn't work, I know what it has and it doesn't have. And listen, this is something that it used to do, but now it's got like the 4K streaming and all this stuff. And that makes you feel more confident to talk to people.

SPEAKER_00: 28:54

Yes. Just having that knowledge and sharing that knowledge, and like I can find what's best suiting for that customer. That's what I enjoy doing. And that training definitely helps just learning what they need. And there's things that they don't really need, and you're just like, okay, well, we can take you that this route or that route. So that's what I enjoy about it. It's just finding that right medium for them, finding the right products that they need, or just something that they wish they could have. I go out and try my best to do get what they need, or if there's products we don't carry, I'll do research on it and let them know the pros and cons of it. Or I also share my experiences with my own products. Like for example, if I I had a whirlpool washer and dryer, and I always had um issues with the propeller, and so I just told them this is my experience with this, just a heads up, or this is what I experienced in customer service on that product itself. So for example, whirlpool's customer service, I experienced that, and so I just share that experience with my customer. I'm like, if you this one has better customer service than this one, it just kind of varies, or this one has better warranty than that one, whichever you prefer, kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01: 30:09

So in the leadership aspect, now that you're here, are you looking are you looking to get into a leadership role now? Now that uh rent home's kind of helped you see the world in a different way and kind of help open you up. And you have these people that have helped mentor you to get here. Are you looking to take on any type of leadership role?

SPEAKER_00: 30:25

I would love to. I just need that proper training and they're trying to get me the best training I can get. TO World again definitely has helped me a lot. It definitely opened my mind a lot. There's so many things that I can work on myself and my co-workers can learn from. So I'm hoping to continue that education and just maybe one day be a better leader. Don't know where, but somewhere.

SPEAKER_01: 30:50

Well, just you know, it's funny you say that. Um when I when I teamed up with April, uh, you know, it was it was one of those situations. It was new to me as well. I hadn't been in it in years and years and years. But, you know, I I know that once I got into podcasting, it was something that I wanted to do. I wanted to share with everybody. I wanted everybody to understand exactly where I was coming from and what it was doing. And so one day Charles uh, you know, he wants to meet up, and I'm like, oh my God. At the time I didn't know Charles as well, so I'm like, yeah, you know, CEO, you know, God, I hope I didn't do anything wrong. You know, and we sat down and he was like, you know, I like what you're doing, and and and April wants to be a part of the situation. How do we make that happen? And so they became a premier sponsor of the show. And out of that, there were so many doors that were available I didn't know were there, kind of, and they started opening in different, different environments and different things. And I I love going to RTO world because I think every time I go, regardless of the situation, I learned something. From your aspect, you said you're you're a you're a tech person, right? And the class itself, if you had to say, what was what were the a few great takeaways from this last 2026? Was it going on the floor and seeing all these new things and talking to the vendors and saying, yeah, it's got this new feature here, it's got this new feature there, or was it the classes kind of sitting down and saying, Okay, I didn't know that it was perspective on this? What was what was some of your main takeaways from that?

SPEAKER_00: 32:04

Well, seeing the products, it's just amazing seeing like the new things, like the vanities that can look like storage, nightstands or stuff like that. And the classes, I just there's so many things that I don't look at in a in like traditional sense, where they they explain a little bit of what they used to do back then versus what it is now. And it just kind of opens your mind on like, well, we can bring this back, but let's change this into a more modern way, um, kind of adjust to the change. Because change is really hard. Change is difficult for some people. It's difficult for me here and there. But another thing is just being around people who work in the same things that I do and just getting their ideas too. It's uh fun getting together and just just talking about these ideas and making friends, uh, friends that can help you become a better leader. Or sometimes I'm afraid to talk to the bigger people, but I somehow end up talking to them because I want to learn, learn more. I just want to experience more and just be more out there than I was before.

SPEAKER_01: 33:13

So, like if, and this is this is a this is really what I want to know. You've been doing it, you said, since around 19, on offer indifferent. Around 10 years, you've been in the industry. Do you feel like you understand the industry more now since you've been to MRDA, since you've been to RTO world? Or is it is it generally the same? Like the did you did it open your mindset to like this is rent to own on a whole different planet, or is it like, well, you know what? I went and I don't feel that different.

SPEAKER_00: 33:39

Uh definitely everything's different. Just it's more eye-opening. You're just like, whoa, I didn't know this, or this is cool. I didn't know about that. And so it's just fun and I enjoy learning again. There's always room to grow and rent to own, and there's so much knowledge you can get from it too. Not only like your products, but just the people around you teach you so much in general.

SPEAKER_01: 34:02

And then I just love learning it. So in your thinking, if I had the ability, let's say I had a company, which I'd love to have a company. I'm kind of going in a different direction, but let's say, you know, I had a company and I had, let's say, two or three stores, and we had not gone to RTO World yet. You know, I have a couple of employees that may be either new or a couple years, they haven't gone on to RTO World yet, or or the Missouri Rental Dealer Association yet, or the 10 OC, you know, whatever it is. And I have an opportunity to bring them. In your opinion, do you think that it's it's it's a great thing to do in order to get them to see the overall arcing of the industry?

SPEAKER_00: 34:37

I think so. It definitely is a motivation too. Uh like the speakers that are out there definitely motivate me to put myself out there more or to try different things.

SPEAKER_01: 34:47

I just want to know, like, if it really made a difference to you from not going to going? Is that something that you know we should advocate for more? You know, because sometimes some people, and the way I in the way I look at it is if I have a business, do I want to take somebody who hasn't been in the industry that long, or do I want to take people that are have been in the industry a little longer? Or is it that I can change the mindset of the people who haven't been here that long by taking them and showing them, hey, you don't have to be here 10, 20 years. This is what you're really looking forward, you know, looking to. And it's not just you in this industry. There's a family out there, there's a huge conglomerate of people in the rent-owned industry who, although you might wear something that says, you know, one type of rent-owned, and that person might say something to different rent-owned. Like, there are times where we get together to share our ideas or knowledge of whether it be leadership, sales, online, social media, you know, growth, leadership. Does that make a big difference in going, oh, wait a minute, you know what? There is a lot more to this than what I really thought. You know?

SPEAKER_00: 35:45

Yeah, it does, it does definitely make a difference. When I first went to one, I was so lost. I'm like, what is this? I don't know what this is. My first class, I was nervous. I sat in the back, kept to myself.

SPEAKER_01: 35:58

In that aspect, I've always been different. I used to do that when I was younger, and then I realized, like, you know what? I'm missing it back here. And I would force myself to go up front for a couple of reasons. Number one, it's because my eyesight's getting terrible. But number two is if they picked on somebody, I needed to get out of my shell and be like, you know what? I can do this. You know what I mean? I I I could be Johnny on the spot, you know? And I've had some moments where I'm like, uh, but then I've had some moments where, you know, it really helped me to be up front. But yeah, definitely. I started in the back. I did start in the back. You know.

SPEAKER_00: 36:27

So now I just sit in the front and I like to just uh my computer just um types whatever everybody says. So the conversations that we had at our meetings, I was able to record that, not like video-wise, but I was able to have my computer just type the whole conversation out. And I like doing that because it helps me go back, reread everything, and kind of if I forget something, I'm like, oh, what did they say? Let's go back and then I'm able to find it or find that quote that helps inspire me a little bit and reminds me that I can do more.

SPEAKER_01: 37:03

So what do you so what do you do? You have a transcribe everything that's going on and do you put it like back into AI for it to create like some kind of uh bullet points, or do you just leave it as is and read the whole thing?

SPEAKER_00: 37:12

I read the whole thing, but I also do use the AI to make bullet points and kind of make everything kind of short. But I also like to make PowerPoints with it just because I want to share it with my coworkers and like this is what I learned. It may not be the same presentation as they did that motivated me, but this is what I learned. And just sharing that knowledge is fun. They enjoy it sometimes.

SPEAKER_01: 37:35

What do you think is more important, the learning aspect or the buying aspect when you go to these shows?

SPEAKER_00: 37:40

For me, it's the learning. Um, buying not really my area, just more the learning.

SPEAKER_01: 37:47

Well, the reason I ask is you say you're a tech person and you like the new stuff. I don't know if you go there and see something new, like you know, like you said, the vanity that kind of transforms you're like, hey, we gotta have one of those, or it's more you know, for the leadership quality or the you know, the training quality of of what we're doing, where we're going, what we're seeing. And because the truth is I'm trying to learn from this myself. Like I'm trying to figure out it it because sometimes I feel like, and I don't know if this is a fault of mine or this is just a fault of age or whatever the case is, but as you hit a certain speed bump in life, right, you realize and you look back on the road and it's like it's been a long road. So sometimes it's hard to unlearn what you've learned. In other words, if you get somebody who's new to the industry, sometimes, and I'm not saying everybody, because some of us teach way better than others, we have a tendency like, oh, we could do this, this, and the person's still like, I don't know what you're talking about yet. Like, I'm still I'm still on my ABCs and what you're talking about, depreciation and how to, you know, make all this. And I'm like, I don't even know what that is. And, you know, so fundamentally we're like, oh God, you know, hold on, I gotta back up a little bit and kind of start with the fundamentals, which is also another part of leadership is being able to take what you've learned and for a lack of a good, I'm not gonna say dumb it down, but put it in a situation where this person doesn't know what you're talking about. You have to put it in a situation where this is brand new, this is how you understand it. All right, now you're on level two, now you're on level three, now you're on, you know, and so sometimes I you know I look back and I'm like, how am I doing? I have no idea. And taking people, taking other aspects of of people to these shows and saying, hey, here's a here's a leadership course, here's a sales course, here's a motivational speaker and stuff like that. How great it is to have that available. So, how many shows have you been to since you started? Four. You've been to four. Okay, well, I know MRDA and I know RTO World 2025. What are the other two?

SPEAKER_00: 39:34

One was in Tampa and then one was in Vegas. Vegas was my first one.

SPEAKER_01: 39:39

Uh, I do not remember the Vegas one because I did not go to that one, although I hear that Vegas is coming up very soon. Are you going to that one?

SPEAKER_00: 39:45

Yes, I'll be.

SPEAKER_01: 39:46

Oh, yeah, oh yeah. She's going to that one. Yeah, she's gonna learn a whole lot. Well, I think one of the reasons, you know, that I like kind of speaking to everybody on the show is you learn something different. You learn something new every day. You learn that, you know, the way some people have learned is not necessarily how everybody's learned. And, you know, some of it can be based on leadership, some of it can be based on like trial by fire. I went in there, I did this, the customer reminded me I should probably never do that again. But the aspect of kind of going through and learning and figuring it all out, whether it be through mentors, whether it be through classes, whether it be through leadership courses, whether it be to RTO World, MRDA, meeting of the minds, whatever the case is, is that there's a lot out there and people are rooting it on to kind of get through. If you had something to say to the people that are coming aboard right now that kind of feel the way you do about certain things and might not be so extroverted as they might end up being eventually in the system, what would you say to them as like uh a way to get them from point A to point B?

SPEAKER_00: 40:47

Just keep trying, watch videos that can help you. Um, there's many videos that can help you express yourself and be more open. You can practice at home, you can practice on the mirror. I just wouldn't search how to be more open or how to talk to people. And I'll just watch those and just kind of get little, okay, let's try this. Don't feel comfortable in the mirror, but at least it's just to myself and not someone else. And then it's just once you find that comfort and you correct yourself, that's when you're just like, oh, okay, I can do this. We can we can try this now.

SPEAKER_01: 41:19

So you have any ideas about social media that we can do better? I know that you said being funny was a good thing. How do we do that? How do we get it to be funny when we're trying to talk about sofas and living rooms and and ranges? And you're how do you how do you make that funny? How do you do how do you make social media work for guys like me who just literally we're at a whole different level on that? And like, I wish I knew how to edit and do all the stuff on the phone, like some people do. Like, I couldn't do that. I have to literally pull up a very expensive program and go through that. I'm sure that's not the way it is, it should be done, you know. But to be able to kind of get in the phone and I know it takes half the time and it's probably a heck of a lot easier. I don't know what I'm doing. What's how do we get better at that? What what is it is it the comedy at all it period? Is it like the information? How do how do I get better? How do you make me better?

SPEAKER_00: 42:05

You want to make it creative and fun. AI definitely does help a lot too. If you try that out, it definitely changes a lot of things and makes it much neater. Um, especially when someone doesn't know how to edit videos and stuff. It at least kind of gets it kind of in that right area. It's just also you want to be creative and fun. Just have fun with it. Um, but also make sure it's just something that you can relate to with your customers. So a lot of the times when customers come in, I like to just joke around. When do you want that couch delivered? We can do it today. And they're like, No, I'm not looking for a couch. And sometimes they end up taking the couch. Or I I got this special going on here. Um, we can get that delivered to you right now. And they're like, really? And it's like, yes. And they will sometimes do it. It's just being fun and creative and connecting with people and with videos, it's just I'm still working on that. I'm still learning on that. Um, but I have some coworkers that hopefully can help me get there on video editing and stuff like that. I don't know how to do that quite yet. Um, I liked making videos back then where I would talk in Spanish and kind of show our showroom around, but I just felt like that wasn't really connecting with my customers. It's just here's the product, come on by. Um, whereas if you're making like these funny videos, like some of them I've seen on TikTok that are just there's one that always comes into mind, and it's always that kid with like the vomiting for some reason, the milk, and then there's the coffee. I'm like, but it's funny, and it's just like, okay, they're creep being creative and this is fun. I wonder if that's how they are in real life or personality-wise. I want to go see them or just kind of get to know them, or I want to go look at the place. Just kind of brings people like the videos will bring that company into into thought and like, oh, I remember this because that company posted it.

SPEAKER_01: 44:04

So for reference, what do you think is the best social media platform? If you had to pick one, what do you think is the best social media platform that we could be posting on to get to the most eyeballs?

SPEAKER_00: 44:15

That one's a hard one. Um, because I use pretty much everything. I use Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat. It's just being around every social media can help. Radio doesn't really help any. We've tried that before. That did not work. Yeah, I don't really have like a one choice thing. It's just I use everything and I don't share everything, like personal stuff, but I haven't really posted either too much recently, which is something I'm lacking on and need to work on. And that's what these courses have helped me think about is like, okay, I need to find a way to be more creative with these videos and stuff like that. Mine seemed quote so boring, or I just don't like the way I look on camera, or I don't like this way I sound on camera. And so it's very scary putting yourself out there with videos. And so that's what I'm trying to learn now. And that's something that I didn't learn when I was younger. So I'm working on that. But like making posters and stuff like that, I did very well. It's just working on that social media video thing is what's what's hard right now.

SPEAKER_01: 45:20

Well, I really appreciate you taking your time being on the show today. There's a lot of things that I wanted to ask from you know a different standpoint and the new eyes that are coming into the industry because Lord knows I can use learn something new every day. Every time I go to an RT World or an MRDA or any runner dealer association or any meeting, there's always so much to take away. Like I swear to you, I come away with like 100% full, and then over time it just kind of seeps away. And I'm like, oh my God, I forgot that. I can't believe I forgot that, you know. But sometimes it's always just it's it's great to learn new things, and sometimes it's good to remember some of the things that you forgot to implement that you didn't do, that you're like, God, I don't know why I didn't do that, and kind of re-add it to your toolbox of things that you do. I can tell you right now, though, before we go, I wanted to let you know that if you ever want to see some crazy, stupid videos that I've ever been into, if you go onto the website at uh the RTOShowpodcast.com and you go to the videos page, go to the bottom, because they're not at the top, but if you go to the bottom, you will see some crazy videos that actually made that uh that showcase what our trying to do and be funny was. Uh, and I thought they were absolutely hilarious. I'm actually looking to get back into it a little bit more because I miss those days. But I I really appreciate you being on Angelica. It's been really nice talking to you and kind of getting an idea from a different side of the coin. Guys, if you guys have any questions for Angelica, please hit us up at the show at Pete at the RTO ShowPodcast.com or on the website at www.therto showpodcast.com. You can hit us up on any social media platform that's Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube where you're gonna be seeing this. Don't forget to click and subscribe. You can also go onto the website and get some merchandise so you can look as spiffy as I do with some RTO gear. And I will I will definitely hit you guys back up on any DMs that you hit me up. I really like the interaction that we've been doing lately. And if you guys have any things, you know, some guys that are my age, I'm like, ask Angelica this guy. I really don't know the answer to that one. We will do that, make sure that she uh gets a good response and get back to you. Angelica, I really appreciate your time being on the show, and I really appreciate you kind of giving me some of the insights that I didn't know. It's kind of made for an eye-opening thing on some of the new ways that I could kind of help some of the younger generations be a part of us for years to come because Lord knows, as we time out, we need to have that new fresh blood come in and kind of get uh the rental industry a little fresh face. You know what I mean? So I do appreciate that. And I will tell you guys as always, get your collections low to get your sales high. Have a great one.