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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Q Edmonds speaks with Arjun Dhingra, a seasoned mortgage professional with over 20 years of experience. Arjun shares his journey in the real estate industry, emphasizing the importance of personal branding and visibility in overcoming challenges. He discusses strategies for building a strong personal and business brand, the significance of community and collaboration, and how to navigate market fluctuations. The conversation highlights the need for introspection and continuous growth, encouraging listeners to take control of their narratives and leverage their unique stories for success.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Arjun Dhingra (00:00)
the single way to battle back against disruption is visibility. If you push back with visibility, you’ll always have a job, you’ll always have an opportunity.So, and that to me felt like a good way to get more wins because again, I was losing everywhere else I was going. was feeling terrible about myself and this industry and almost getting jaded. So this kind of turned me around.
Q Edmonds (01:52)
Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host Q Edmonds and y’all know what I’m gonna say. I’m super excited to be here today. I’m excited about my guests. I think this is one of those, sometimes as a host, sometimes you’re kind of on edge. You wanna make sure that you’re flowing with the person, asking the right questions. I got a feeling today that this is just gonna be easy work for me. I got a guy here that’s gonna, I know you’re gonna love listening toget to pick his brain. And so I’m super excited to introduce you guys to Mr. Arjun. Please, Mr. Arjun, don’t, don’t, I’m not gonna, I don’t wanna butcher your last name. So I’m gonna just say Arjun, cause we didn’t discuss it. And so I would love to put some respect on it. So I’m just gonna say Mr. Arjun, how you feel about that? Is that okay, sir?
Arjun Dhingra (02:41)
That’s fine, brother. Yeah, you probably don’t have too many guests with that name today, so it shouldn’t be.Q Edmonds (02:46)
Yeah, listen man, thank you so much for being here today. I’ll be honest, I kind of want to dive in. I want you to tell the people what your main focus is these days. If you kind of want to give us a little bit of an origin story about, you know, how you got started at what you do. We love, you love the hero’s journey. And then man, tell us part of the world you’re in. So, it’s origin story. You got the floor,Arjun Dhingra (03:07)
Thank you brother. And I appreciate the opportunity to be on here with you and chop this up and serve your audience and our real estate community in general. So I got started in the mortgage space in about 2001 in Reno, Nevada, which is my hometown. And I’ve stayed in it now for, 20, 24, 25 years almost now. And it’s been a wild ride. And, you know, in the last eight years is when I really started taking my role in terms ofwhat am I here to do a lot more serious. And I did that by way of taking command of my personal brand. And this is where I spend a lot of time helping advocate for the entire industry, speaking to people in real estate mortgage, all the above on how they can create more online visibility, because I was at a personal point, where I was ready to quit the industry. And I think a lot of people, whether you’re in real estate or mortgage, like, it’s okay to feel like that from time to time, because this, this business is hard, it’s supposed to be hard. That’s the first thing you got to remind yourself.
It was supposed to be hard. was never meant to be easy. So what you’re feeling is normal and it’s okay. I was really getting my shins kicked in here in the San Francisco market where I’ve been now for the last 20 years. And it’s a very big bank oriented market. I work for a small, private but powerful bank that’s based out of Nevada in Las Vegas. And so standing up to these Goliaths can be tough sometimes. And so I was getting my shins kicked in. I was losing deals.
I’ve become completely commoditized and maybe somebody, you know, listening to this can relate when you’ve been kind of put into a box and your real value is never looked at or considered. I thought, something’s got to change for me here. So I was ready to quit the industry. And I called my performance coach who I’ve worked with since 2009, since the market crash. And I said, you know, his name is Kai McBride. And I said, Kai, think the universe is telling me to quit or just walk away from this industry. And he says, look, man,
I know you’re good at what you do and you know you’re good at what you do. But does anybody else?
If I Google you, what am I going to find if I go online if I asked chat GPT, you know, to bring it forward now into the current market that we’re in and everyone listening. These are questions to ask yourself as a service provider or a good steward of the industry. Like, if I go looking for you, what am I going to find? And the answer for me at that time, eight years ago was not very much. Aside from my martial arts background, which is important to me. And that’s what was all featured, you know, my my experience as
an athlete for Team USA and being a co-head coach for the national team, that’s all you would find online. And so he told me, I don’t know what the answer is, but you need to do something to change that. You’ve got to find a way to change that. So I went all in on social media after going to a Gary Vaynerchuk event that same year and got not just inspired, but it opened my eyes. The light bulb went off that this is the one thing all of us have 100 % control over. We can’t control who works with us every day.
We can’t control mortgage rates. can’t control the inventory. We can’t control the news cycle. What Jerome Powell is doing, what tax climate is like for investing in the real estate or pulling money out. What we do control, 100%, all based on our effort is how visible we are. How many people did I get in front of today? How much business did I actually ask for?
So, and that to me felt like a good way to get more wins because again, I was losing everywhere else I was going. was feeling terrible about myself and this industry and almost getting jaded. So this kind of turned me around.
And that’s now where I very passionately spend most of my time. I still have a mortgage production unit and a great team that does our volume. But really, most of my work is in broader media for the industry, whether it’s doing television, or it’s doing social media, or it’s, you know, running my own podcast, of course, which isn’t necessarily focused on just real estate, it’s focused on being a better human. But I just know that the industry’s way to battle back against all the disruption going on out there, which is never a matter of if it happens, but simply when it’s coming, it keeps coming.
hits keep coming. But
the single way to battle back against disruption is visibility. If you push back with visibility, you’ll always have a job, you’ll always have an opportunity. So that’s what I’m really passionate about.
Q Edmonds (07:58)
Man, love it. Gary V will definitely get you pumped up for sure. He will get you motivated for sure. Absolutely. And I love how you said, you took control of your own brand. That’s something very, very big for me is telling people to take control of your own narrative. Everybody has a story. You have a story. Your story is unique to you. Take control of it. Tell your narrative. And so I’m going to use a Jay-Z line.You’re just not a businessman. You’re a business man or lady, but you you’re just not in business, but you are a business. are conglomerate yourself, take control of your own narrative. And so I definitely hear you on that. I want to ask you, cause I want to pick your brain about different strategies that you use. And so I want to ask this question. I would love for you to answer it two ways. I would love to know some core business strategies that you use to build your brand.
But I also would love to know some core personal strategies that you use. So if you talk about being a better human, so what are some core strategies that ground you? know some people do cold plunge, meditation. So what’s some business strategies and what’s some personal strategies that ground you as a human being and ground you as a businessman?
Arjun Dhingra (09:09)
Well, start first with talking about the actual brand itself. And I think for a lot of us in, in real estate, we get a little bit confused and then overwhelmed by this whole concept of brand. What is a brand? What’s a business brand? What’s a personal brand? What am I doing with my brand? Do I have one? Do I need one? Everybody, and I want to keep this really simple so that everybody can at least reconcile this part. If you’re struggling with it, everybody’s got a brand. justhaven’t either taken control of it or maybe you have and you’re not doing much with it. But everyone’s got a personal brand and a personal brand. Very simply put, it’s your reputation. That’s it. And your reputation, your reputation is the sum of everything that you put out into this world. That’s your reputation. So your personal brand, when you think about it, this is what shows up to meetings before you get there. This is what people say about you when you’re not in the room. So again, I’m very big on checking in with yourself and asking the hard questions.
Well, listen, the brand of this show, you you and I were connected by a good mutual friend and colleague. The brand of this show spoke to it. I didn’t even know who you were. I hadn’t met you yet. I have the privilege of meeting you today and I’m grateful for that, brother. And we’re going to stay in contact. But what this show does and the audience it serves was its brand. And I already knew it was a very powerful, far reaching, impactful show with great content and great guests and an amazing host. I already knew that. So your brand.
is doing the work for you, right? And this is how you’re going to outlast disruption. Because people will always go back to things that they can identify with or that they know, like and trust. No one’s going to be able to just sell themselves the way you did like right on the spot in the moment. Like you’re to have to do a lot of work before so that you can do what I call the third date strategy. First dates are tough. You kind of get to know each other. Everyone’s guarded by the third date. You kind of know each other. You might’ve even kissed, you know each other’s middle names. So wouldn’t it be nice to start most of our interactions on that third date?
instead of the first date. I can actually do that for you.
Q Edmonds (11:41)
I love that. used to have a saying when talking about dating, I used to say people first impression are the worst impressions because they’re not showing you who they really are. They’re showing you they’re representative. no, but that’s, at that.Arjun Dhingra (11:53)
That’s Chris Rock. That’s great talk line. I heard him say that on a stand up. He’s like, you’re not dating that person, you’re dating the representative.Q Edmonds (12:00)
You got it. Absolutely. So I hear you there. This is brilliant, man. I appreciate everything you’re saying. I want to pick your brain because you talked about your performing coach having to really tell you like, ⁓ you know you’re good at what you do. I know you’re good at what you do. And so I want to pick your brain a little bit more on facing adversities. What kind of advice would you give to people that’s at the spark in the road and they’re really facing some adversity and some of feel like giving up?Some they want to power through, they just need a little bit more inspiration to power through. Like, would you tell us to my, how would you talk about diversity?
Arjun Dhingra (12:36)
Well, I think number one, you got to identify and be honest about why you’re here. Like why am I in this position? Is this market induced? Did I not do a lot to prepare myself to avoid this fork in the road or this challenging situation? Was it completely out of my mind? Like get honest and clear about why you’re in the position you’re in, because you can’t address it until you understand its manifest, which is how we got here. We need to know how we got here. So you might findAnd if you’re really honest, might find, know what, man, I was kind of resting on my laurels from the COVID market and doing really well. then mortgage rates went up. I wasn’t doing as many sales. I would have been waiting for the market to get better. That is the problem right there. You don’t wait for the market to get better. You got to get better, right? You can’t control the market, but you can control you and how you show up. So that’s a simple answer there. But I did like in a simple example, but it’s, think it’s a pretty clear microcosm of where a lot of people feel stuck.
is because they’re thinking backwards or thinking on the path and they’re not recognizing what did I do to arrive at this spot. So do that first, get really, really clear on that. And then from there, you can actually put together the blueprint of what’s going to get you out of it, you know, whether that’s through coaching, whether that’s through community or growth, because losses and setbacks and forks on the road are feedback. A good market just rewards you for being good at what you’re doing and seizing a moment. But it’s not a true indication of whether or not
you’re really good, right? Like a lot of people said, I was killing it during COVID. You know what? So was everybody. So it doesn’t mean that you’re any good. Like you’re not that special. You know, like everybody was doing really well during that market. But there are some people right now in this current market, whatever you want to call this market, whether it’s good, bad, there are some people that are having their best years in this market. And then there’s some other people having their worst years. So what is it that allows someone to be having their best year versus worst year, given access to the same market, the same interest rates, the same technology, the same tools?
the same YouTube videos, the same courses and things they could sign up for. Why is it someone’s doing better than somebody else? And a lot of that just comes down to the execution and the recognition and acknowledgement of what did I do to get here? How do I make sure I stay on the right path? So we get really lost as business owners and service providers in this space because we stop acting like business. Like to your point with the Jay-Z quote, you are a business. You got to treat it like a business. Get under the hood and look at the data, analyze things. Don’t just be working deal to deal.
Like look at what’s going on. What did I actually do? Be honest with yourself. Did we really put ourselves out there? Was I really preparing for a slow down or a shift in the market? Or was I just kind of going along and now I’m mad that the market is market sucks. No, Most of the time guys not to be negative here. It’s not negative. It’s being introspective. We suck. We need to get better. We got to level up. The market is the market. But for you to say that I need everything on the outside to be good in order for me to go out there and work means that you can only go out when it’s sunny.
You know and look good. No, I can look good if it’s raining man I’m just gonna not wear white pants and take my umbrella with me and be ready for it. So do the same thing do the same thing so Recognize why you’re there be honest about it and then really get to work on how you avoid this from happening in because it’s a feedback It’s a sign and if you don’t learn the lesson, it’s gonna keep showing it to you until you figure it out
Q Edmonds (16:38)
So well said. You earlier you talked about chasing your wife and I’m with you. I’m still chasing my wife three years now and I’m still chasing her. And when I was chasing her before I had her, I said this quote to her that she still quotes to this day. And she said, this is kind of one of the things that kind of really made her pay attention to me. Renee Brown has a saying where it says, clear is kind, unclear is unkind. And so when you were talking about being clear aboutto yourself, being honest with yourself, the kindest thing you can do for yourself is to be clear. Be crystal clear. Like you are being totally unkind to yourself if you’re not, if you’re, you’re unafraid to face yourself in the mirror and ask yourself the tough questions and you’re going to stay in this rut. so for 2026, my word is curious. I’m curious about everything. I’m curious about why I get upset. I’m curious about why I choose not to work out. I’m curious about why my business is not doing good. I am learning to be curious that way I can
face myself and be real about what it is that’s right in front of me. So I absolutely love that. Absolutely love when you talk about that.
Arjun Dhingra (17:45)
You can’t fix what you don’t understand, right? You gotta understand it. ⁓Q Edmonds (17:49)
That part. That part. What do you say? is power. Listen, what is your next real goal? Like what’s the next target for you,Arjun Dhingra (17:52)
All right.Well, I’m building and we’ve been building for the last couple of years, an online community of entrepreneurs and people that want to get better in all aspects of their life, not business first, but in the mind and in the heart and just being around good people, being inspired by others and doing it by ways of collaboration and meeting up regularly, holding one another accountable. So that community has been growing. We’ve got well over a hundred members now all around the country that are part of it. And we’re going to continue to grow that. So that’s what excites me because
it’s my way of having an impact still I don’t you know, big gift in my life was being co head coach for Team USA for 10 years and helping influence change in a special group of people. And this has given me or kind of reignited the opportunity to do that with another great group of people which are just human beings. It’s not industry specific, although there’s a lot of real estate folks involved, but it’s very industry agnostic. So we’ve got that. And that’s a big focus and then continuing to lift this industry and imploring people to
be better, level up, become better marketers, because that’s the way to battle back against all the disruption. So I do a lot of speaking at events and take part in other people’s masterminds to get myself better. And that’s really what, you the goal is, is to continue to spread that message, continue to grow our community and have an impact because everybody who’s in this industry, whether they’re doing it by way of media, through podcasting or through social or if they’re actual speakers or they’re just providing the service directly, everybody has a responsibility to leave the industry better than when they entered it.
And I take that role as a steward of this industry very serious. So that’s where I’m working. It’s not necessarily a goal. It’s kind of an ongoing thing. It never ends, right? It doesn’t start January 1st. Like there are no New Year’s resolutions for me. We’re doing it every day. We’re trying every day. Yeah.
Q Edmonds (19:42)
Yeah, this is not a goal. This is standard. It’s an identity. So yeah, yeah. So listen, I want to put the chariot on top real quick. This be my final one of my final questions. I want you, I want to hammer home relationships. want to hear your perspective on our relationships important. Is it important to build great relationships? How have relationships affected you? So put the chariot on top for me, man. Tell me about relationships. Are they important?Arjun Dhingra (20:10)
I’m just gonna get to the end of what I would say and tell you this first and then work my way backwards. We’re gonna quit in Tarantino this thing. Like that’s how he’s right, which is drop the ending and then work our way backwards or go to the middle. Like it’s just all over the place. But let me tell you this. Everybody listening to this is one handshake, one conversation, one hello, one LinkedIn connection, one podcast, one note that you wrote down a takeaway from a speaker, one thing away from everything changing.But none of that is ever going to happen unless you actually get in the room. And I don’t mean the room necessarily physically in the room, you can get in the room, virtually, you can get in the room or the space. People are going to be your greatest hack to everything because success leaves clues. So if you want to get better, get around more successful people in this industry, it will rub off, right? You want to grow be around people that are also in the trenches that are committed to growing and looking their problems directly in the face not running away from those challenges.
and all wanting to grow together, right? There’s great camaraderie and community in that. Anything you want in this industry or space, people will be the hack. For me, everything good that’s come in my career has been by way of that one, the significance of one, the one conversation, the one hand shake, the one decision I made, the one, you know what? Fuck it, I’m doing this anyways. Like I’m gonna max out my credit card to go to that mastermind because I know it’s gonna pay me back 10X and it may not make sense now, but I’m gonna make it make sense. And it is, it always does.
You won’t lose with that kind of a mentality. So people are everything. There’s no like nobility and exclusivity when it comes to business or this space. Please like get around people because everyone who’s growing in this space, I’m sure with you Quentin, like in starting this podcast and all the stuff that you, the inspiration for the, I mean, you’re around people all the time. This is how, that’s your gift, right? As you get to bring guests together and into your world and then share it with the world. Like that’s.
That’s the beauty of it. And that’s what we’re all here to do as human beings as service providers. So please like just understand it’s really simple. People are your single greatest hack, not a piece of technology or whatever, like all those other things enhance it. People are your greatest hack and just recognize that significance of one. You’re literally one handshake, one hello, one conversation away from everything in your life changing and continuing to change. So take that serious.
Q Edmonds (22:29)
Well, listen, y’all heard from Mr. Arjun. Listen, sir, I appreciate your time so much. If someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, I don’t know, maybe you got a podcast where people can listen to you. Like, how would people get in contact with me and follow you,Arjun Dhingra (22:44)
So the best way is right on Instagram. That’s right connect with everyone and it’s me that answers it now no one else. So @ArjunMortgage altogether A-R-J-U-N Mortgage altogether. That’s my handle. Shoot me a note on there or let’s stay connected and I love to collaborate and chat with people if there’s anything I can do to help you out ⁓ within this industry or connect with you or offer you please just reach out to me and ask because I want to pay it forward that way.And then I have a podcast as well, which is the LFG Energy podcast. can find us everywhere that podcasts can be found YouTube, Spotify, and on Apple. And it’s a podcast focused on growth and involvement. And it’s all the lessons that I’ve learned along the way and people I’ve met from being a coach for Team USA, all these high performing athletes that have been around in my life. Because like I said earlier on, on the show here, success leaves clues. So I don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Let me just talk to the people that have done it well and let’s just copy it.
you let’s take the blueprint right there and execute on it. So that’s what the show is all about. But I look forward to connecting with anybody anytime. And I really appreciate you having me on today, brother.
Q Edmonds (23:47)
Absolutely, Mr. Arjun Thank you so much, sir. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your stories. I love stories like we talked about. Everybody’s their own brand. Everybody has a story. So thank you so much for being a great storyteller. Thank you for taking control of your own narrative. You you’re not here today if you did not take control. And so thank you so much. And thank you for your perspective. Thank you for the way you think. You know, I believe you have added enoughnuggets that will actually shift somebody mindset. And so I think somebody listening today is going to have a mindset, a mindset shift around what they’re going through. And so just like you, thank you for coming through today. I really appreciate it.
Arjun Dhingra (24:27)
Thanks, brother. I appreciate you,Q Edmonds (24:29)
Absolutely.Well, listen, listen, y’all can’t tell me you didn’t have the value. You can’t tell me that you didn’t get the nuggets. So please make sure you are subscribed that way you do not miss out on these amazing content. And so thank you, Mr. Arjun again and everyone else. We will see you on the next time.
