 Hey, Gupcon Giants. Eric Coffey here. Today's show is one of our newest, latest and greatest episodes on making of a giant. If you have not heard, if this is the first time you're learning about it, we just released a new podcast entitled Making a Giant. That's right. This is a podcast episode where we feature persons who have one contract, but it's not their 10th contract. It's not their 11th contract. It's their first contract. That's right. Numero uno. So this is the person's first contract, and we'd like to showcase you real people that, again, you can identify with, you can see yourself in their position. You've probably walked in their shoes before. A lot of folks have said, Eric, I love what you're doing on the side of motivation and showing us where we can go. But what about when we start, right? And so today, this is episode number two of Making of a Giant, where we are showing you exactly where to start. Now, this young lady today, Lilani, reached out to me in January of 2020, just before the global pandemic via LinkedIn. She was not one of my students. She was not in one of our courses. She was watching my videos, and she said to me, awesome videos, great work. And it reminded her to stay the path and that she was on the right track. She had already on her own, successfully obtained her A day certification. She, her former training and experience was an accountant. And so she, again, very smart, highly intelligent, just needed a little bit more direction and some guidance. Fast forward a few months later, I brought her in, introduced her to Maria, and Maria, along with Randy, worked with her, sharing things that we were doing, sharing some of the things that we were working on, and also the things that were working for us, some of our recipes for success. And then fast forward, we worked with her on a project, helped her get involved in a few contracts. And long and behold, she won her first source contract. So on this particular episode, you're going to hear all of that, all Lilani story. And again, for those who may not be aware, the making of a giant is hosted by our very own Maria Martinez. That's right. The one that we all love, baby goat, Maria Martinez. So stay tuned for this entire episode of making of a giant. I hope you enjoy it. Please leave comments and feedback, show notes below. Because again, as we are starting something new and we're creating, we're building, we want to hear what's working, what should we do better? How can we improve? Again, this is the results. This is the direct results of people like yourself, suggesting the type of content they'd like to hear from us. So congratulate yourself. Thank Maria. Thank the team for helping put together episode number two of making of a giant. Welcome, Lilani and Maria. I want to welcome Lilani, which is a personal friend of mine that I've actually worked in the past year with. So I want her to come on and just share all her stories that she's shared with me this past year. Because I'm telling you, she is one that you have to admire everything she does for like what she says, the love of contracting. So welcome, Lilani. Hi, thank you so much. Thank you so, so much for everything you've done, everything you do and everything we're going to do in the future. So I just want you to briefly introduce yourself to everybody out there. Hi, everyone. I'm Lilani. I'm Chris and Lilani from Ladies Consulting Group. I'm also a small business and say I've been doing this government contracting on my own for about five and a half years, but I've heard of it, but never really paid attention. And so my background, going back to my background, I have about 26, 27 years experience doing accounting in the architecture engineering construction world as a project accountant, staff accountant, controller, all the way to CFO. And how did I get started? Well, you're doing accounting. Are you doing this late consulting due accounting? Yes, with Delta. So I do implementation with Delta and Delta cost point, Delta vision, Agira, and Govwin. So I still do that currently as my bread and butter, you know, because you don't know when you're going to hit those contracts. So, you know, you still have to take care of your family. I guess I'm not really out there looking for clients. So it's pretty much just word of mouth with accounting. Okay. And for those that don't know what Delta is, what is Delta? Delta is an ERP software that it's integrated with CRM accounting and the resource planning. So depending on, it depends on if you're doing 100%, let's say 100% better work. And I think the very popular software is Delta cost point. And if you're doing sort of blended private sector and government work, then there's vision. So it's just really depends on your company. Yeah. Okay. So you've been doing it. In terms of nature of your business. So you've been doing accounting for about 27 years, which you probably started when you were like two years old. I know, right? I was high school. Yeah. And then you started lays five years ago. Five, five and a half years ago. And why did you start it? Well, you know, I was always in accounting and dealing with contracts. And I would always wonder, how are they getting this projects from GSA or from DoD? And I would have to go to the portal and what do you call that? Enter the payments and everything. Right? So I said, well, you know what? How can I get this contracts from me? I said, I'm not an architect. And I ignored it for years. And, you know, to fast forward, how did I really get into this basis? I would say the opportunity to grow and with the company, I want to go through the whole CPA exam and really, you know, and really grow with the company. But there's a lot of politics, I guess, in a corporate world. And so I identified myself as, you know what? It's time for me to disconnect. But when I quit Maria, I hit a wall. I said, what the hell am I going to do? I have no clients. I have no job. And I just believe in myself. I said, you know what? I need to go and set up a nonprofit. I mean, I have a nonprofit, but I have a nonprofit. So I said, okay, that's not going to work. And I said, you know what? What is out there for minorities like me? What is, there's got to be something, right? So before I even found out about ADA, HUBZone, Woman Owned, I was in DB, SB. And I said, you know what? I feel like it's not sexy enough. You know why? When you log into an old FBO, right? People are stacking there. I said, this is like stacking your certification. They're ADA, HUBZone. I'm like, what is ADA? So you know what? I began my journey in the federal world. So I said, you know what? Let me do some federal work. I have no idea what ADA is. I have no idea what HUBZone is. I have no idea about all this lingo. So I have to find my way in, you know? Especially there's no support system. It was just me. I was going to ask you, how did you learn everything then? Because I know when I started, I had no idea what any of those things were either. Me too. Me too. How did you know? I'm just okay. Like Eric was saying in one of his videos, when you became an ADA or I have some whatever certification, right? I thought they could just like hand you the platter. Oh. So you know what? I have those VIP tickets, right? You know what? I said, this is all, this is just your ticket to get in, right? Then there's a whole competition. I said, I'm just a little fish in the ocean. How am I supposed to compete? So for three months, I would say like three months. See, I showered for you, Marie, at this point. I would normally get up just on my PJs all day. For three months, I was talking to my computer, literally talking to my computer, like where is the money for minorities? And then boom, I said, okay, I can be an ADA, but I'll pay someone to the ADA application. So I was making phone calls back in 2015. They told me it's going to cost $22,000. No, not 22, $25,000. For an application? For an application process to do my application. And I said, I knew people were making a killing and overcharging people, but I would have never thought it was that much, by the way. Please tell me I didn't pay 25 grand. I said, you know what? I know how to read. I know how to follow instructions. I know how to answer or I know how to do an application. I don't care what application, because before that, I was actually doing a residential care facility for the elderly. So a transitional home, anything housing. I said, it's not that hard. Let me look at the application. So you just follow whatever the instructions and then they said, Leilani, you can't, you can't be an ADA yet because you haven't been in business for two years. So I got accepted for a year. I said, okay, I'll wait six months. I waited six months. Now I opened my firm on 6, 1, 2015. Okay. I have to wait for six months. They're like, you just open, you just started. And then I said, you know what? I'm going to try again after six months. It's not two years yet. Not two years. Absolutely. But you know what? That took a lot of them. Yeah. You're like, Leilani, we said no, because you have to wait two years. And I wrote a compelling letter to the SBA. And I said, I was in. They were able to remember the old database for the ADA. Like, if you're approved, your application will pop up. I forgot the name of it. And so that's what happened. I became ADA in September, I believe September 21st of 2016. A year into having your business. A year and three months. All you did was write a letter. Write a letter. And that's the secret Maria. Yes, ma'am. And it is the secret, but it's just crazy that you had the idea to go this. You didn't allow them to just say, no, wait two years. And then you waited two years. Yeah. What gave you that idea, that mindset, that craziness of... Because I told you, I'm crazy, Leilani. Trying to think outside the box is like, no, I'm not going to take no. I'm just, you know what? Let me try this. I say, what's going to take? My question is, what's going to take for me to get in? That was kind of like my answer. And I've called different agencies and I had a common denominator. I called maybe 20 or 30. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yes, ma'am. The first quarter of 2016. No, 2015. I can't remember Maria. So now you got your 8A 2016 and you had this golden magic ticket. Yeah. Which it doesn't really mean anything as you go, you know, it doesn't really mean anything. And we tell people a lot of that, a lot. Like we tell people just because you got 8A, just because you have a certification. And I, and people think like, oh, like you said, like magically, all these contracts are going to come to you. They're just going to arrive and you're going to have all this work and then the reality is it doesn't happen. So what do you do next when reality hit and nobody was calling you? Your phone's not going off. Now my phone's not going off. That's why I revert back to my background in accounting. And I said, you know what? Learning and navigating the FBO, which is now beta SAM, gives you a whole lot of opportunities. Remember, I was doing housing in my mother back in 2006 for the elderly. And I had veterans and I had civilians in that home. It was a five-bed facility located in Lancaster, California. And I was the administrator. I was the cook. I was the case manager. I was everything, right? Among us to work, I handled the facility. So when she comes home, then I go to work. I said, you know what? How about housing? How about homeless? And I learned about the homeless veterans. And it all came together. And I was doing the transitional home for the probationers. There's also the Bureau of Prisons, the entry program. So that's two. I said, wow, there's a lot of stuff here in FBO, the old FBO, right? Then there's architecture. My background is architecture, engineering construction. So I would call them, not only offer them more accounting work, but also how to get in in a federal space. So there's different ways to really make money. It's just how passionate are you and how many hours in a day you're going to work? 16 hours for me. So 16 hours, sometimes 20. But there's only 24 hours in a day. How do you do 24 hours? That's why I'm on my PJs every day. And I shower literally after like, I would say when my day's over, and then I go sleep, then again, before I even wake up in the morning, I want beta SAM. When I get up, beta SAM, in between beta SAM. So, yes, it was a lot. It's a long place to be, a long place. And a lot of people don't see that. A lot of people see all the people out there and all these, and that's why the reason we're doing this podcast is we hear all the great stories of people that have made it so far into it. So we see them, we're like, oh, they're living the life. But they forget that this is where everyone basically started, like the 16 hour days, the waking up, you're looking at stuff, you're researching it, you're learning it, everything that goes, the work that goes into it. And even though it's not all glitter and unicorns at times, is it worth it at the end? It's where you have to keep your mind. And my thing also is I always kept my why. You have to keep that why, why am I doing this to keep you going. And that's very important. Now, 16 hours, 20 hours, you got your business 2015, a, then 2016, eight, eight. When did you start getting contracts? September 23rd of 2017. It's crazy how you know those numbers, exact dates. That's how, that's how much it means that you know these dates. It's like birthdays and anniversaries. They're very important to me because it's a very, very tiny project, what I call a credit card project, you know, to where once you're done, we do it off FBO. It's off FBO. Okay. So you funded an FBO in Abilene, Texas. In Abilene, Texas, I just responded. That's how hard it is to do carpet cleaning. I did a before, so it's not, it's going to be that typical, right? But I just didn't know where Abilene, Texas, I didn't look at it while I was bidding. I just know it's in Texas. So I'm like, okay, I'll go. Right. Okay. So I know where you are. Can you tell people where you're located? Because I'm sure it's not Texas. I'm located, okay. I'm located in Los Angeles County, which is like Rancho Palos Verdes, like right next to like Manhattan, Redondo, Long Beach area, what they call the South Bay area. So you're all the way by LA, California, and then you've been on this project, not knowing where Abilene was. Right. Okay. So you went ahead and bid on it, and then? I won the project. Is that when you googled where it was? Yes. I didn't even know Abilene existed until I got there. So it was, I think, it's an 18 hours drive from my location to Texas. And so packed up everything. I said, I'm going to be there for three months, got an apartment. I literally was paying $500, $500 a month. And I was just like, wow, it's a one bedroom apartment. And my living room, I have all my equipment, right, for the carpet, for the carpet. It's called the carpet extraction, right. And it was a lonely place to be was in September. So I didn't start until October. So I said, I'm going to be in Texas. And I'm really trying to really understand at that time, why am I in Texas? I really did not like the project. But I said, you know what, this is a start. Because when your first day at work, after you hired your staff, right, they didn't show up. Yes, ma'am. They did not show up. So you drove 18 hours, got an apartment, now you're in Texas. And then they don't show up. You don't show up, right. And I met them the night before, just show up. You know, I said, you guys don't have transportation. Oh, I'm willing to pick you guys up and do the project. No ma'am, no call, nothing, no show. What do you do then? What do you do? Hey, you know, the contract's under your company, right? So you have to do the work. Are you willing to extract this dirt from the carpet? That's the question. So you did the... I did. Personally, extracted the dirt from the carpet. You know, it's the lodging, I think it's the lodging, kind of like a motel hotel lodging inside the Air Force Base, right? Yeah, that was my, that was my assignment, right. And you did it? Yes, until I bumped into a pastor, right. I was, I did fasting and I just believed in God that he's gonna bring people to me, right. And the pastor actually saved me because he has an existing contract even now, still in the same contract with the BX. And so he said, Lani, I'm going to help you. You can actually do the work in eight hours and be done. So it was like a one day, one day a week. So I went back to LA after December and I went to Long Island after that. Yes, Long Island. I didn't drive, I didn't drive. New York? Yes, ma'am. Okay. You went on vacation, I'm hoping, not for another contract. I actually, it's a private contract with an engineering firm. It's an environmental engineering firm and they needed help with Delta. So after the carpet cleaning, I have to be an accountant the Balmain year for three months and I cancelled my contract because it was too cold. Oh, Long Island. I thought it was intense. I finished the carpet. You finished the carpet job, completed satisfactory, you got paid and then you had to put it on home. Yeah, the pastor was actually doing the work. So it was like a three years job. Oh, the pastor helped me, assisted me, yes. Oh, well, so it wasn't a very small contract if it was for three years? For three, okay. It's 65,000 for five years. So that's a small contract. Yeah. Yeah. When you start dividing it. But you know what? I can look at the numbers. I look at what's going to happen. I would say I was looking at, hey, is this little project going to take me somewhere? Is it going to open an opportunity for the next contract to happen? And so how did you feel when you got awarded the contract? I thought I wanted a million dollars, but it's only 65,000 for five years. So I didn't really look at it that way. I think it's just a fact, the high of winning a contract. It didn't even matter if it was like 20,000, 30,000. How did you feel when you got on the base for the first time? Because I know that feeling of like, wow, I made it. Right. And I feel like, oh my God, I'm in this place and I think I like it. You know? Yeah. She's like, wow, the government really trusted me. So I have to work more, you know? I'm like, be trusted me and my company. So you know what? I have to deliver what I need to deliver and maybe do more, you know? Because just imagine doing carpet extraction, cleaning, right? If the place is not done while it's clean, I'm like, I even ended up picking up trash and cleaning it as a janitor. But I said, you know what? I didn't mind because they gave me the experience to do both. Yeah. Is it so ongoing or is it completed now? No. They actually, it's completed about, we're in 2020, right? It was, I think we stopped like sometime summer of last year because they already built the new lodging. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. So the old law, I was cleaning the old lodging while they're doing construction on some of the lodging, but now it's built. So they now have brand new carpets, right? Yeah. Hopefully they'll call you again. Maybe you'll have to go back to Aveline Texas. Aveline Texas. I actually like it. It's a very humbling experience, you know? Because for a small contract like that, you really have to budget and look at your finances because my breakfast is Dollar Tree, my lunch is Dollar Tree and my dinner is Dollar Tree and then you're going to have to figure out what to eat for breakfast and lunch and dinner. You have to be on a budget down to the penny. Yes. So if you were doing, okay, this is janitorial. It's just got me that you said that. You were doing accounting. How did you even imagine that you were able to just do janitorial then? It's not hard, Maria. At first, you know, I wanted to cry because I'm like, oh gosh, I'm an accountant and my mom still doesn't know what I do up to this point. You know, my mom's a nurse. It's like, how are you doing janitorial? You're an accountant. I said, Mom, I can be, I can be a janitor today and I can be a real estate person tomorrow and I can be operator of a homeless shelter or something like that. I guess I can go in different lanes and then I'll be okay and I've always visioned that about myself. But one thing I really, really learned is you have to have a community. You have to have a village. It's kind of like having having kids. You have to have the support system because there are things that you're missing out information. So I guess I'm not going to sound like a salesperson, but the community that I joined with you guys is just like confirming that I'm in a right, I'm in a right space. Who did you have for this first project? Who supported you through it all? In 2016, that's just a question for me. That's why it took me a while to really grow as a company because it was just me. And I would, you know, you kind of reach out to people and, you know, you kind of have to vibe with them because it's not just like doing work and looking for someone, a collaborative partner. Can you really trust them? If they win and you supported them, are they going to take off? Are they going to take off and not pay me and take my money? You don't know that. So that's true. I was really learning as I go. And then when I found you guys, Eric's team, I said he was just like a confirmation, like, hey, I'm in the right spot. So this was 2016-17 when you got the contract. When did you find GovCon Giants? I've been listening to Eric, whoever in 2020, right? I would say like, maybe the summer anew, like early 2019. But then I just kind of like, oh, you know what? I'll listen to it, then I'll listen to it. I'm like, oh, you know, he's just talking, whatever, whatever. I'm like, you know, because I was listening to him and I forgot this other guy. There were three of them. But then I guess, I guess Eric's delivery is like, I would say the worst that he's using, I'm like, okay, government is already difficult. But I think he brings it down to where we have a better understanding, like, hey, plain English, like, in order for us to really understand, because it's hard, like, I didn't know how to read, like, how am I going to do my contract? How am I going to send my proposal with the hella sources? You had already done it. You know, at that time, so I have to learn that on my own Maria. And so when I was listening to Eric, it was just like a review. Okay, my God, I went through that. I'm like, oh, my God. So I said, let me just listen to this guy. And so between 2017 to 2019, what did you do? I actually was bidding, and I have no hits. I was like, oh, my God, it's like going to two years. I'm like, just I was busy doing accounting and bidding and bidding and bidding. How do you how did you not get burnt out or overwhelmed? Like two years of doing something, they say the definition is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. So how do you keep going of two years of just turning in bids, turning in bids and not getting anything back? Because most people would have given up. Yeah, I know it's going to happen. I just know it's going to happen. I just didn't know when, you know, and you're when you're at the point that um, with your trade lines, like, you know, you're robbing Peter to pay Paul, then now you have to really ask and question yourself, like, how am I going to pay all my bills? What's my backup plan? So my backup, my backbone is doing accounting. Okay. So accounting is the backup plan. Right. Accounting is the backup plan. You always have to have something where you can go and like, okay, I can make money this way. And plus I was, I had the transitional home as my income. Right. So at that time, I said, okay, transitional home stop paying me a lot, especially LA County probation. And then I have the accounting which pays the bills and I have to find time to go back into beta SAM or FDO. I just did not give up. You know, I don't know what kept me going. I think it's because that hunger for the next hunger for trying to get the contracts. I'm like, that's all I want to do. I just want to work hard, win contracts, work hard, win contracts, work hard, win contracts to where I sabotage a lot of relationships from families, from good friends, because they haven't seen Layla in a while. So those are the sacrifices, like within that two years, even now. The only time I went on vacation is when I went to Miami. And that was this year? Yeah, it's not even a vacation because I did work. I submitted three proposals when I was in Miami. Oh, wow. So two years go by. And then 2019, you joined the community. And then what happened? And then connected with Eric and they connected with you. And I said, you know what? At first, you know, the way we did the project or strategize it, I was open. You have to be open. You have to be open to possibilities. You just have to open not only the possibilities. And I have issues with trust. I want to interject that I did help a company, an SDVOSB, to write a contract. This was like maybe two or three years ago. They won $5 million for five years. And they said they want to pay me $20 an hour. And I said, I'm going back to California. That's when I went to Philly, that I drove from LA to Philly. That's another story. So this is after Texas. No, this is before Texas, because I was in Philly the summer of 2017. Yes. Before I drove to Texas, I drove from LA to Philadelphia. And I said, I got to be there on Monday because I have to report at 7 o'clock to the VA of Philadelphia. I got there at 5.30. I'm like, I have no time to, to like check in. No, actually, I got there at 6.15. Right? I have to report at 7. So what do I do, Maria? I go into one of the gyms, took a shower, and then reported to the VA. Yes. And you helped a company win $5 million. Yeah. But you know what? This is how I look at it. There's so much projects out there. I just know how to position myself again, when you have to partner with a company. What did you do for them? I wrote the proposal, and it's supposed to be a part of that proposal. What did you tell them? That's it. And I walked away. Yes. Yep. You were not going to put up a fight arguing like knowing that you get the work. Yep. And I have a lot of similar stories that I walked away. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yeah. And you still are out there. I'm still here. Yes. Yes, ma'am. So then, so, okay. So starting your business 2015, 2016, you wrote a beautiful letter and got into 8A program by passing two years. Yes. And then nothing happened. And then you went to Philadelphia. Yes. Got this company $5 million. And they wanted to pay you less than probably a worker and fast food joint. Yes. Yes. Then you came back, then you drove to Texas, because you won your first contract. Yes. And then for the next year and a half, two years, it was just I was doing private. Yeah. It was just accounting, work, and bidding, which it was so difficult because you're in a different space and you're doing accounting for another, you know, for a client. And then you have to switch years and having to do and deal with a whole different world. You know, so I said, how can I connect this to you? And you're still 8A at this point? At this point, five years to go. Okay. Yeah. So then you come into a community of people and you said trust was a big issue for you. But for some reason, the community clicked with you. Yeah, I know. And I know that personally. Yeah. So now what? Where is Lace Consulting these days? Have you wanted to get your next project? Well, first I wanted to say thank you guys so much. Thank you to you. You're my GC, you know, in Miami, Florida. So I think, you know, during this pandemic, I won, yes, we won, like, several projects. And I also won a, and, you know, partnership with Ms. Randy and won the project at the Air Force Base in Lancaster, California. And I also won a project in Chicago, Illinois, and sort of waiting for Alabama to happen, the FAA. Yeah. And the housing, the housing and shrink port. Oh, that's still going on. Yeah. So I really want to, I really want that project for the housing because that's been my passion. Okay. So you did Genitorial in Texas. The ones here in Florida have been construction. Right. We did a construction, yeah, we did specialty trade construction down here. Actually, you were the project in Miami Beach with the Coast Guard. We had also the project at the CU facility at the Coast Guard and Islamorada in the Coast Guard, which are the Florida Keys. So we had three here, construction. The one with Ms. Randy in California is construction. That's the one that I'm driving eight hours, you know, which I don't mind, you know. I'm trying to bring a relationship, you know, any relationship that's going to come out, whether it's good or bad or nothing. But still, I don't want to lose that. I don't want to, I want to seize the moment who's going to be there, you know. Yeah. Yeah. And that one is drivable. Mine were a little bit, oh, that was even a long drive. Yeah. Yeah. So that's construction. And then Chicago, what kind of contract is it? It's disinfection, COVID disinfection, but we haven't started yet. That was awarded September 28. When I was coming back, actually, when I was coming back from Shreveport, and I landed and got a call, like, she was like, hi, Leilani. And I'm like, hi, do you remember me? Yes, ma'am. She said, well, I want to award you the project for disinfection. Do you want it? Do you accept? And you know what I said? I said, hell yeah. I said, I am so sorry, but yes. And what agency is that? Army Corps of Engineers. Oh, wow. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. So right now, we're up to five in 2020 in the middle of a pandemic. In the middle of a pandemic. Is it? Yeah. And I'm also waiting for a sole source, which the same agency, it was so funny. So Randy's contact in Dallas is, Randy's contact in Dallas and the engineer is that the Dallas office are working with, it's actually in El Segundo, which is LAX, California. And my contracting officer for the sole source for the wheelchair lift, it's in the same office. So I said, you know what, this can be good. So that's why you know what, I'm driving to ready today on a Saturday. Not today tomorrow, because I think the installation happens on noon. I think it's 9pm Monday to 6am, but probably it's going to take a couple hours. And so I'm just going to do some sightseeing. You know, yeah. California is very nice for that. When I went over there, that's what I did. I just drove. Yeah, it's so nice, ma'am. I loved California when I was there. We could switch for a day or two. So we're up to five contracts. Now, here's what I think. Do you still get the same feeling every time you win one? Every time I write a proposal. Okay, ask me again. Do you still get that same feeling you got when they called you from Texas when you win the contract? Yes. Every day, I feel like that. I'm like, who's going to hit? And I'm looking at, I'm looking at my email. And when that email comes in, what's the reaction? Because you know what? I'm addicted to contracting. I don't know. I know I was listening to, I think I've watched you and Eric's YouTube, you know, I think I kind of watched most of them. And I know he'll, I know you talk about, oh my gosh, Eric is not normal. I think I'm like medium, not normal. Because when I'm out, when I'm outside, you know, the outside of my house, right? My engagement with people is like really knowing what they do. Instead of I'm supposed to be having fun, like on a vacation. My opening segment is, Hey, what do you do for a living? And then I'm like, Hey, can I associate it with that? Associate that would be the sound. Oh, wow. We have a company. So I have to learn how to turn it off sometimes. Because sometimes, you know, for other people, because they don't understand, it's really easy. Oh, oh, yeah. And like I said, your mom so doesn't know what you do. Well, I'm doing this, my mom doesn't know what I do. She says I work for the government. But I do stuff for the government. So, so unders, and it's crazy. And you said a community. And for me, that's important because you could actually talk to someone and they understand their pain. They understand the excitement. They understand all these terms and acronyms. It's like, you get excited. It's like, it's like, I'm like, Oh my God, we're in the same planet. Yeah, basically. Yeah. So that's important about a community is like you're talking to similar minds. And we talk about that because half of the people, well, more than half of the people in my life, have no idea what government contracting is or what I do with YouTube and the podcast and things like that. They just see the layers on top. They don't see all the emotions that we went through with all the contracts. And, and like for me, working with you, it's been great. But the emotions through the contracts, nobody sees that they only see that you want a contract and that you finished it. There's nothing before there's nothing in the middle. Because we all know like the before in the middle are the grinding moments. Exactly. And also, I think one thing I learned is you have to keep it humble. You have to be humble. And you have to like, I would say one of Eric's students, you know, I actually assist him with the proposal writing and, you know, whatever knowledge I can bring into the table, because you have to read. Like, I know I was, I was listening to Eric's YouTube, like, the reason why they win the contract or something like that. You really have to read in terms of what the government wants you to do. Don't add, don't subtract, stick to what they're actually asking you to do. You know, yeah, you have to keep it humble. You can be like, Oh my God, okay, I want that. Like, no, you have to share. Like, you know, I think the humility and being humble, I think it's the key to, you know, so people really want to work with you. Yeah. And that's very important, because you can't let everything get to your head. You can't let one contract get to your head. And then you think you're better than anyone because, yeah, right after that contract ends, you have to go right back to where you started again. Exactly. And then do it again, do it again, you know, and like you said, wait for the next one to hit. Yeah, wait for it. It's almost like the lottery. But with the lottery, I don't know, you have to spend money. This is great. It's just your time, you know, but you have to take this duration, you know, you're, you're pumping out time, labor, labor that gets over it. Because what time do you wake up every day? 4 o'clock a.m. and I go to bed early. I go to bed early. 9 9 30. Okay. Yeah, 9 9 30. So yeah, you're getting better. I'm getting better because it used to be. Yeah, it used to be how much time to dedicate to government contracting. Right now, I would say 100%. 100%. Yeah. So what's what's your next goal to reach? Um, like Eric said, you know, Lailani, I don't really bid, you know, I just look at source of thought. So what I do now is I do a blended source of thought. But you know, I like to also submit my proposal, because in terms of housing and your prisons with the reentry, it's hard to do a source of thought to where they're just going to give it to you because your competitions are the nonprofits. So with me, I only have one chance in terms of because this is a for-profit project in terms of our space with a nonprofit is my I would say really my competitor, because they can actually bid, let's say they bid $60 per bed and I bid $100 per bed, right? So they have other monies that's come in from grants and stuff like that. So they have another bucket of means on how to operate their business because the maybe the nonprofit brands will pay for their payroll or pay for all their other incidentals. But the other side of that, I don't like I'm not a nonprofit. So I have to bill you $100. So who do you think is going to win the project in a profit? Yeah, this is an open solicitation. I have no way of winning, not unless I have to. I have to let's say charge him $59 and 50 cents. And then you're not you're just doing it. You're not and then I'm going to have to shut my my company down because I'm not going to make it. Yeah. Is that what your your goal is? You want that housing housing contract in the federal space? Yes, especially with the VA. I'm also I'm also do the housing navigator for for VA Long Beach and VA West LA. So when they have when they have a veteran that's coming out of prison or just jail, they call them and say, hey, Leilani, do you have housing for this veteran? And I said, okay. So that's when my case management kind of like I it's just the social worker on the VA side. So that's the other job that I have. Yeah. And then I just get placement fee once I place them. So I'm not doing the whole I'm not operating a transitional home. Yeah. Right. Right. Yeah. The one is housing. It's housing waiting for for substance abuse disorder for the homeless veterans. Yes. And that's with the VA with the VA. Yes. Yes, ma'am. And that one you started a few months ago. Yeah, I started going after the project in July. So as you could see, we could see it's not like I turned something in tomorrow. I get to hear about it in July. And then we did a we did a interview with the VA. I actually identify the home. I already got approved. And, you know, I'm just ready. But contingent upon the word of the contract, I'm not signing any documentation, because I'll be stuck with that house with no contract. Right. Right. So now you're just in the way. Yeah. And I tell the realtor, look, during my interview, you're gonna have to fall back, meaning waiting your car, you know, because I made the realtor sign an NDA as well. Okay. Yeah. And then what are you waiting for in Alabama? When are they going to award the contract? I what is it for? Okay, it's for janitorial, right? So it's Birmingham, there's three locations, Birmingham, Mobile and Huntsville. So we'll see what happens. They were supposed to supposedly start October 1st. Oh, however, we're in December. I just don't know. And I watch it every day to see if they award the contract. So you're not limited to your home state at all? No, no. Only one of your contracts have been in your home state. And when we say in your home state, we're meeting eight hours away. Eight hours away. I'm just gonna get in my car and drive half an hour. And drive. Yes, ma'am. You know what, if a money I have a contract for you in Alaska, the way you're gonna get is you have to drive here. You know, Maria, I'm crazy enough to drive to Alaska. I know that is not normal. I know. You would drive anywhere for the contract opportunity? Yes, I will drive anywhere. And if I don't have the budget, I will literally sleep in my car. I don't care. I'll find a way to shower, but it's gonna be hard because of COVID, you know? Oh, yeah. So I will go anywhere. I will drive anywhere. Why is that? Where's that mindset? Because I know I'm going to have that one hit. Okay. I don't know when, you know, like what I said in 2017. I know this is a little project. It's almost like it's 32 cents for carpet cleaning, right? Extraction. And I bid 15 cents. So, and I'm coming from California. So you know that's a lot of sacrifices. Yes. The wonder I ended up a dollar tree for my breakfast. You know, make up the 15 cents somewhere. Exactly somewhere, you know, it really is a sacrifice. And it'll make no sense if I if I stop now, I'm going to keep going. I was going to ask what keeps you going? That I think that high of getting a contract? Yeah, that high of getting a contract. And even if it's not my contract, but as long as I'm part of that, part of that team, I feel like just to have, you know, like, how could we get another one? It doesn't have to be my contract can be like, hey, three people collaborate on the project. It's our contract. But it's just a contract. I mean, there's so much money. And this game, like, you just have to be patient. You have to be patient, grounded, discipline, discipline, and it's a lonely place to be. A very lonely place to be. But I don't think it's always going to be lonely. It is lonely, Maria. Very lonely. Yeah, very lonely, you know, very lonely. I used to tell people it's I used to wake up at six before six because we had six o'clock calls. And then at night, it's when I work more. So at night, I'm editing the podcast. I'm doing this. And in the middle of the day, I still had to go figure out the contracts of everybody's working, people showed up. I had people not show up to I had people change. And it's like, it's a lot of work. But like you said, I think we wait for that one hit wonder that we were going to come and it's just going to change the game completely. I know. What do you do when you don't get a hit? That's why you need the community. Because sometimes I just want to, you know, sometimes I'm missing an action during the YouTube live or whatever like that. But when you get to a point where you need to recharge, you need to just hear testimonies of the community, like, I'm like, wow, you're not the only one. Because sometimes you'll think like, oh my gosh, I'm the only one. You know, you're the only one of my myself. But when you hear testimonies and stories, you know, from, from Gokran Giants, I'm like, wow, I'm not the only one that's lonely. You know, there are other people that's lonely. And when I, when I say lonely is no life, because I'm always, I'm married to Beta Sam. I think he's my man, you know, I know more of Beta Sam than knowing a guy or something like that. You spend lots of time with it. I think Beta Sam would not disappoint me, you know, but I just have to be patient. But when in God can disappoint you. So I have to tell this thing to myself and work for me. I told you Maria I'm crazy. So look at things, you know, but you have to look at, yeah, you have to look at them a certain way to keep it going. Yeah, yeah. I'm like, okay, I'm planning for next year. What do I do? I even sign up with Amazon. What is your next year? What, what do you have planned for next year? Hey, I'm with this source of thought. That's what I'm grabbing right now and working on a lot of sources of thought for next year. Actually, everyone, the facility support in, in San Diego, I know with multiple states, it's back on. It's another source of thought again, or like maybe pre-solicitation. Okay. It's due, I think, on the 11th. It's due sometime this week, this coming week. So everyone's listening, it's due, you know. So now we have that going on. And then with everything that has happened since you started, what has been one of the biggest lessons you've learned, like professionally and personally. So patients, because I'm not a very patient person, because it's almost like easy to give up, because when you're burning hours on a day to day, and you're bidding, you're proposing, you're picking up the phone, who's paying you? No one's paying you, but you're paying you because it's pretty much time investment, right? You don't have time to play around, right? So what do you do? So now, you know, you have to consider your capital. You have to consider your your finances. You have to consider your credit. You have to do a lot of consideration before you even say, okay, I have six months of capital. So within the six months, then I have to keep bidding because money, it's just like you get money, but it comes right out. So what do you do? So I have in order for me to really find out, to really find out what's going to be for next year, I have to look at my business plan. I look at my business on every two days and kind of like reinvent myself. And I said, where is the next track coming again for next year? So I dived into the Amazon driver's partnership to be the extension of Amazon, then I'm getting ready to do FedEx and other companies, you know, just to figure it out. And then our people, you know, because people are looking for work and I'm just going to go from there, but this takes about two months to find out if you're approved or not. Okay. What advice do you give everybody out there listening? Oh man, you have to be patient. It's not going to come. It's not overnight. Sometimes I'm thinking like, what if I didn't really have go-front drives? What if you're finding me, Eric, Maria, and the team? What's going to happen to me? I mean, I will go back to doing accounting again and then in between is doing beta.sam, you know, this government contract me. So my advice to people is you have to eat, live, and walk and really digest the government world because if you don't, you're going to get lost and to shuffle. You're going to be frustrated and want to know your next move. So I said, just be consistent, you know, I actually have to be structured in the morning. You know, when I wake up at four, what do you do, Leilani, fix your copy, do this, turn on my computer at 430. I have to be in front of my computer. I have to create a schedule. I cannot be bothered. Like, I have a four o'clock in the morning schedule until I go to bed. Because if I don't follow that, Maria, I will get lost. Yeah. It's very easy to let the day go by. Yeah. Trust me. I know it. I know it. Yeah. Because, you know, anything can happen, kind of like with the Air Force Base, right? Because it's BPA. So the like, hey, Leilani, we have a building for you. Can you price it? And I was at home. It's like, how soon can you get here? I'll be there in two hours. Get in my car, two hours drive. And when I see the place, I'm like, okay, what's your, what's your charge? What's your pricing? And how soon can you do it? Well, I have my stuff in the car. I said, I'll do it now. And so I did work for an hour, but they paid me for two, like, and I charged for two hours, just for my time. They said, yes. I guess using them all in, just be passionate and also keep it humble. Keep it humble. Yeah. Keep it humble and share. And share information, you know. Yeah. Share information and just be a support system for another individual that went through what that's going through, what you went through. Yeah. Oh, yes. There's so much money out there in the government. So we have enough. We have enough projects to pass around, right? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You are awesome. And you, and, and we've worked together. So I know how awesome you are. But hearing all the stories and sharing it with others, I think it's going to help a lot of people out there just because, like you said, we're all in this together. And I think that's why I wear my shirt, Team Giants, because you and I, we've connected and we have been that team going after one. And anything I need, you're like, yes, yes, do it. I trust you, just do it. Just do it. And that's what has kept us going. And hopefully during my next break, I'll go back and I'll start doing it again. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, thank you. Thank you for everything. And whatever you guys need, if I can do it, you know, definitely, definitely reach out. And for out there who's, who's actually wanted to do the housing, I really advocate for the homeless, giving them a second chance. I sound like a salesperson, but no, but you have to ask for put it out in the world. And that's how people are going to find you. So go ahead. Anything housing, I want to create them. I want to, you know, be the vessel to stop the homeless, the homelessness, and, you know, with the veterans, but I can't do it by myself. I'm, sure I'm a little person. I'm really a little person, you know. And I want to open that, like, throughout the U.S. That's what I want to do. So how can people get to you? They can email me at Lailine, L-E-I, L-A-N-I at Lays, L-E-I-S dash consulting dash group.com or just give me a call to 139494240. So, but call early. That's when my brain functions better, you know? Yeah. Throughout the afternoon, I'm like burnt. I'm burnt out. Yeah. Yeah, when you wake up at four in the morning, of course you're burnt. Yeah, I burnt out. Yeah. So yeah, I'm just happy in this place right now, but I guess 2021 is next month, you know? Yeah. And I also wanted to tell everyone, go to all the sites, depending on which states you are, because there's grant money out there. Just grant money out there for small businesses, yes. So take advantage of that. Well, thank you very much for your time today. Thanks, Ms. Maria.