If you speak with Pretty Washington for just five minutes, you’ll know what her primary motivation in life is. Pretty will proudly tell anyone she chats with that her life’s work is helping others in her community.
During the 2019 Credit Repair Expo, Pretty shared with the audience that her first job in finance was working as a personal banker for Wells Fargo. She’ll also tell you that the job really wore her down.
Pretty said she was so tired of telling people ‘no.’ “People are always getting turned down in the banking industry. They’re always hearing ‘no’ when they want to get approved for a home. And, it doesn’t feel good to crush people’s dreams.”
Pretty didn’t feel good about herself when she worked as a personal banker. She wanted to find a profession that enabled her to work toward something she believed in: truly changing someone else’s life.
So, Pretty made a change. And now she runs a successful credit repair business that fulfills her both emotionally and financially.
What is Pretty's advice for credit repair business owners? Read on to find out.
1. Believe in Yourself
Pretty says when she first contemplated starting a credit repair business, she was unsure she had the chops for it. Pretty looked to all the established credit repair companies who were doing great things and asked herself, “Can that be me?”
It’s easy to compare yourself to others or think the market is too saturated for you to join. Disregard those notions. Pretty emphasizes that if you believe in yourself, and have a passion for helping others, you can make it as a credit repair specialist.
2. Emulate Existing Credit Repair Businesses
Instead of fearing her competition, Pretty suggests looking to those who already paved the path toward success, and copying their steps. For her inspiration, Pretty turned to credit heroes like:
- Derrick Harper who has mastered dispute letter tactics and community outreach with his credit repair business
- Aaron Clarke who used his personal adversity as leverage to create a million-dollar business
By modeling how others found success in the credit repair space, Pretty didn’t need to reinvent the wheel with her organization. Emulating existing business models helped alleviate growing pains as Pretty, a first-time entrepreneur, started her new credit repair business.
3. Infuse Your Personality
Pretty Washington describing how her passion for helping others earned her success as a credit repair specialist at the 2019 Credit Repair Expo.
Pretty used a blueprint for success, but infused her own personality into her ultimate business plan. She already established that helping anyone who walked through her doors was the guiding principle of her business; she just needed to share her mission with the world.
To spread her message in a controlled way, Pretty paid particular attention to the way she branded herself. She created a website and a logo for her business and found unique ways to amplify her business strategy. Specifically, Pretty landed on-air time at a local radio station and used her spot to broadcast her vision as a way to sell credit repair to clients in need.
After Pretty’s initial radio debut, oh boy, did the credit repair leads follow.
4. Take Action
Pretty says she got more leads then she thought she could handle from her radio debut. Rather than panicking — or turning away clients — Pretty gave herself a pep talk, reminding herself to ‘Do what you do best, and help these people.’
To help her stick to her guiding principle of helping anyone who walked through her doors, Pretty took the advice of another credit hero —Seth Mitchell.
Seth preaches that with the right technology, your credit repair business can be streamlined and automated, allowing you to create a scalable and sustainable business, quickly. With the help of Credit Repair Cloud, Pretty was able to start handling her instant influx of credit repair clients.
5. Listen to Your Client’s Stories
Pretty’s passion for helping her community shines through most radiantly when she talks about getting to know her clients. She emphasizes when working in credit repair you’re not just dealing with data, you’re dealing with real, and often broken people.
“Do you know what it feels like when you don’t know if anybody can help you? That’s a bad place to be,” says Pretty.
Pretty devotes a healthy chunk of time getting to know each of her clients. The stories she hears encourages — her more than anything else — to lend a helping hand.
“I’ve spoken to clients who were about to give up on their lives because of their credit.” Pretty says that she and her team pray for each of their clients every day.
Building relationships with your clients helps strengthen your bond with them, which reinvigorates the passion of credit repair businesses, and helps prolong partnerships with each of your clients.
6. Do It for the Right Reasons
Now a seasoned veteran of the credit repair industry, Pretty looks back at what’s made her successful.
Pretty says, "Yes, the money in credit repair is good, but that should not be your primary motivator.” Instead, she emphasizes that having a passion to help others should be the true North Star.
By helping others, the intrinsic rewards you reap are far greater than any monetary gains you collect.
Feeling as inspired as we are? Start your own credit repair business and make an impact on the lives of thousands of people within your community, just like Pretty. Take a free, online training today!
