Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Espinal.
Hi Stephanie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
In 2017, I applied for my Notary Commission with plans of just performing GNW. The purpose of becoming a notary was to be able to start a side cash flow without the necessity of having to have another job at night time. I was desperate to have a cash flow to pay for a few debts and to be able to prepare myself for my future retirement. When I received my commission on the welcome letter, I noticed a small paragraph at the bottom of that page where it stated ways of making money with your notary commission, and one of the options was to become a Loan Signing Agent (LSA).
I immediately researched to find out what an LSA was and how I was able to become one. When I was researching on Google, the name of Mark Wills with the Loan Signing System kept coming up, and one day I decided to watch one of his FREE videos with my husband. The information provided was so detailed, and I was able to understand what an LSA was and how I could make money with this business. My husband immediately enrolled me in the course, and this is how I started my journey to become an LSA. Having my own business is always something that I wanted to do. I just didn’t know what kind of business was going to fit my schedule since I have a full time job. I also wanted to do something that I enjoy doing. I love being a Notary because I love working with documents, and it also allows me to help my community and meet wonderful people all over Central Florida.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road at all. One of the many struggles I faced at the beginning of my journey was to prove myself with my clients. I had to earn their trust so that way they were able to keep sending me work. When I started this journey, I had no experience at all executing loan documents. Even after I completed my training course, I was not able to execute a loan closing properly. I needed a mentor to assist me in the process and there was no one available. So, I had to jump all by myself, face my fears, make and own to my mistakes and learn from them. However, the number one struggle along the way that I faced in my journey was my schedule. I have a full-time job, and I added this business and reality hit me real hard. My working hours at my day job are 7:00 am to 4:30 pm. I work on a compressed work schedule, meaning that I work 9 hours a day instead of 8 hours so that I could have every other Friday off. As for my loan closing appointments, I scheduled them after my day-time work hours, which is between 5:00 pm and 9:00 pm.
There are times where I have done closings even at 10:00 pm. I scheduled two closings per day, Monday through Friday. Then I get home around 8 pm to 9 pm. I eat a snack, send emails, and scan documents to all signing services or title companies informing them that their closings have been completed. Take a shower, review my documents one more time, then pack the documents to drop them off at my lunch break the following day. Luckily, I have a FedEx and UPS stations around the corner from my day job. On Saturdays, I can schedule as many as I want. I have been able to do at least 4-5 closings a day. Although I rarely get an offer to do a closing on Sundays, I have done a few on those days. On my Fridays off, I am typically booked all day doing signings. I end up going to be bed late at night, around 11 pm to midnight. I end up my day really exhausted. I am up late at night when everyone else is sleeping, and I wake up when everyone else is still sleeping. With this heavy schedule, I cannot cook meals like I used to because I can’t come home right after my day job is over at 4:30 pm.
I usually have a signing appointment to go to after work, so my chances of going home directly after work is very rare. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes my appointments are scheduled at 6:30 pm or 7:00 pm, so this gives me a small window to go home after my day job, prepare something quick, and hit the road again. When I first started doing this business, I would be so exhausted and tired at night that I thought I was going to quit doing the notary signing business. But my desire to be successful is bigger than anything else, and I never gave up, and what really keeps me going is my husband’s support. He doesn’t mind that I cannot cook for him on an everyday basis. He is really supportive and understanding of my business. That truly gives me the strength and freedom to keep going. The most challenging about running a business while having a daytime job is that I am unable to accept closing appointments during the day. It hurts me to this day when I received a notification, and I have to reject it because of my day job. But sometimes, I make exceptions to the rule.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Espinal Notary Signing Service?
Espinal Notary SS is a company that provides notarial services to Title Companies, Real Estate Officers, Loan Officers, Law Firms and Banks, by helping them close on all of their home closings transactions throughout the state of Florida. My company provides services after business hours and on weekends so my clients can still offer their services when they are not in the office. I also provide services in SPANISH for those that do not speak the English language well. I also have a T-shirt online store providing merchandise for notary public. I am in the process of expanding my business by contracting notaries to help me close those loans that are scheduled during the daytime hours. I provide FREE training to the notaries that are working under me to ensure that they provide and outstanding service to my clients by closing their loan packages flawlessly the first time. My competition is the expertise and efficiency I provide to my notaries and in return, my notaries will provide the same to my clients.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My biggest credit will go to The Loan Signing System (LSS) by Mark Wills. This is a course that concentrates on loan documents. Mark Wills will teach you how to market your business to title companies, escrow officers, and others to get more business. He will be your mentor for life. In his live monthly mentorship, you will learn what is going on with the mortgage industry, and most importantly, you will be part of his endless tips to market your business. The LSS also has a yearly conference that is only held in San Diego, CA. At this conference, there will be real estate agents, escrow officers, lenders, and title officers sharing what they look for in a notary. I learned what would make them not call us again for business, what would make them call us again, and again for business. They tell us how they want us to market our business to them. We also learn the way they want us to represent them at the signing table. My second credit will go to the National Notary Association.
The NNA course covers everything relating to notarial law. It concentrates a lot on the notarial law of the State you are commissioned at. This knowledge helps me to comply with the regulations. This is very important! As a notary, I must be knowledgeable about the notarial laws in my state and able to identify when something is being done against the law. This way, I can step away from improper transactions to protect my notary practice. However, my biggest credit will go to my husband for being my supporter, my cheerleaders, for believing in me and for always waiting for me to get home late at night.
Contact Info:
- Email: stephanie.espinal1@yahoo.com
- Website: https://espinalnotarysigningservices.weebly.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/espinalnotarysigningservices/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/espinalsigningservices/
- Other: https://www.flawlessnotary.com
