02 - Michelle Gomez, White Star Consulting | Mighty Process Server

Full Transcript
0:00Michelle Gomez, White Star Consulting:As long as you have a pack of weenies or some kind of treats or something, I'm ready. I always, I never get off the car without that. I do have a taser. I do have a gun, but, you know, I don't like to carry all kinds of stuff. You know, I like to, you know, because every time I go to a different door or every time I'm trying to get information, I have to play the part, Michael. I'm not going to get off with a pack of weenies in a red dress with flip flops.

0:28Intro:You're listening to process server Daily, the show where hustle meets strategy in the high stakes world of process serving. From elite pros to the new servers taking massive action, these are the voices of a rising industry hosted by the founder of 123 Legal Support, Mighty Mike Reed. This is your backstage pass to building a profitable process serving empire. Let's get into it. Michelle Gomez, welcome to the show.

1:02Michelle Gomez, White Star Consulting:Thank you, Michael, for having me. I've been looking forward to this today.

1:06Mighty Mike:How did you get started in this industry?

1:08Michelle Gomez, White Star Consulting:Well, back in 2000, I was working at a personal injury law firm in Dallas, Texas, and I was approached by a repo man, and he is still one of my best friends. And he introduced me to the skip trace world in the repossession industry. And when he approached me with that, he goes, hey, this guy's looking for a skip tracer. And I look at him and I'm like, that sounds illegal. What is that? And he's like, just come with me. So I go with him to this investigation office and I look at the whole scenario and it's this place where there's a bunch of cars outside. It looks kind of thuggish and ruggish, and I'm like, no, I'm not going to be leaving my office, my legal office, for the place, you know, because it was not the ordinary office that you would go to. You know, it was kind of inconspicuous. So I go in and I'm going in with an open mind. And I see this office and it's totally different inside. Computers, investigation stuff, you know, PI stuff. And it was just kind of cool. And I get introduced to the owner. Long story short, they teach me. You know, he introduces me himself and introduces himself as the investigator, and he says, this is what I need for you to do. So me with an open mind, I take it and I run with just the first locate to see my skills on the phone. And he's like, you know, you're a Pro at this. This is what you could do. This is good. You know, he was excited. He goes, are you bilingual? I'm like, yes, I'm bilingual. And eight, nine months later, I'm working inside the office throughout the duration and I come back home to Austin and I start my own company, Unlimited recoveries. During that whole nine months that I was working there, I was locating people and cars and picking them up left and right. It was my knack, it was something that I was born to do. And I don't regret keeping that open mind to something, to a new opportunity like that. Even though I was working at a good location, law firm, making good money, he matched it and I was very happy. And long story short, you know, I'm here today. I never expected something like this.

3:24Mighty Mike:Tell me about your worst experience in the field.

3:27Michelle Gomez, White Star Consulting:When I was in Miami doing locates and repossessions, you know, we got shot at. I didn't get hit by a bullet or anything. It was adrenaline, you know, getting caught in the line of fire.

3:39Mighty Mike:Oh, wow.

3:40Michelle Gomez, White Star Consulting:But it was exciting to me at, at the same time, it was a learning wake up experience because people, when you're out there locating and you're playing with these people's assets, you know, and this was when I started off in cars, in consumer and being in Miami, you learn a lot. The personalities, the characters of people. You don't know how they're going to wake up or how's your day going to be, you know, when I was in this situation, I had set up the corporate, had done everything I had to do to get the, get the, you know, the debtor in good moods, you know, like, hey, we're gonna go pick up your car. It was already arranged. Well, they did a flip switch on us and they shot, you know, at us and thank God we were in an armored tow truck. I thought that I was gonna die. You know, I was like, this is. Today's the day I'm gonna die. And that's not. That was a first time experience where you think that you have the debtor in your hand and it feels like I thought this was going to be an easy layup. You know, they lie, they surprise you because. But you always have to go prepared. You never know what's going to happen. And it was devastating because I had other people's lives at the stake. You know, as a skip tracer, I set up everything. I know I'm their eyes and ears. If I wasn't there, I think he would have been shot by the element of Surprise. By not thinking, oh, ok, well, this is an easy layup, you know, I'm going to get the keys and go. It did not turn out that way. As a skip tracer, it's very important that communication, the repo guys, eyes and ears, you lay it up straight. There's a lot of transparency. There's a lot. A trust has to be there. They trust me and they trusted me that day. But we got home safe, we got the car and we got back home. You know, we woke up, it was like, you think you're just at the Miami beach and it's all fun and glory, but over there is a different world. And I think that if you're going to get into this business, you better start learning how to work the streets in Miami beach or Miami, because those people do not.

5:37Mighty Mike:Michelle, we've all had experiences that make us question our career choices. But then those moments come when something happens and you know you're doing what you love. Michelle, tell us about your greatest experience working in the field.

5:49Michelle Gomez, White Star Consulting:Oh, my God. You have two hours. Trash three.

5:53Mighty Mike:No, the greatest. It's got to be the greatest.

5:56Michelle Gomez, White Star Consulting:The greatest. You know, before I got Ryan Mullen, the caterpillars in Peru were the good ones because that was international and it was not an easy account. It was a success for me. It was fun. I had to deal with people of other cultures. You know, I became an actress and I did what I had to do over the phone and make these people believe me. You know, I had to pretend I was pregnant. And I mean, I had this lady, I had the wife in my hand and I was able to get her to tell me everything, where they were, where the husband was going, everything, flights and everything you work, whatever, you name it. I got all the information from that lady, from the wife, and I was able to put two and two together. I know everything about logistics in the maritime world. You know, with all the information she was giving me, I was putting two and two together, two and two together. And I'm like, okay. So they pieced them. It went from one port to the other, from the Matson port to here to there to. He was piecing all the tractors, you know, the pieces together from one container to the next. And I'm like, wow. Then when I go to his website and I find that, you know, what his name was, his company name in Peru, I googled it and I found a website that corresponded to his name because it was what the wife told me. And what do you know? I see our assets right on the website as an opener. And I was just, okay, let me get my contacts in Peru. So I know people everywhere. And I made a call to somebody that was actually going to be there within a few days. And he was there to confirm every bit of asset that I had found. And he was able to deal with the local government and it was just a matter of days over there. The process takes different. The government, their legal system is totally different than ours. So it's not like, do it now. It's you do it. You have to wait. They have a process and you have to wait. It's kind of, you know, get you impatient. But you learn a lot. And like I said, everybody, every case is different. Every case you learn. I'm in class every day when I take on a new case.

8:00Mighty Mike:Hey, quick break from the episode to tell you about something that's changing the game for process servers across the country. It's called Mighty Process Servers. And yeah, you can join absolutely free inside. You'll get full access to every course, every download, and the educational tools that we use to help process servers build profitable companies. We meet every Tuesday at 1pm Eastern for our live Mighty Mastermind call. Come join the conversation. You can connect with other professionals, post on the discussion board, direct message members, and become part of one of the most engaged communities for process servers. Don't wait. Go to mightyprocess server.com and join today. Those who get verified, get listed and start bidding on jobs same day. Now, let's get back to the show. What are you working on right now that has you the most excited?

9:02Michelle Gomez, White Star Consulting:I'm locating illegals that have crossed and have killed some of our Americans in either gunfire or traffic accidents or any kind of horrible manslaughter situation. And right now, I'm on the hunt for one Maine guy named Luis Alberto Rodriguez. He killed a man, Joe Story, in North Carolina. 98% on top of him right now as to where he's at and when I find him, I know I'm gonna have to get Interpol involved.

9:34Mighty Mike:That's great, Michelle. What advice do you have for the struggling server out there?

9:38Michelle Gomez, White Star Consulting:Work well with your tracer or your investigator, whoever's finding you the address. Put your thinking cap on. When you're out in the streets, think outside the box. Go with a fresh mind. Go with will. Will as in you have the will to find anybody, everything. And you're going to serve them. Look at the case thoroughly. Find out their habits, find out if they've been dodging. If this is an easy. It's an easy service. You can tell a lot about the person. Sometimes you just get an address, and you just go to the address and, hey, you've been served, right? Some of these people are already prepared. They're waiting for somebody to come and knock on the door to serve them, and they're trying to avoid you. You know, you have to go and think like them sometimes, and you just gotta be cold. I don't like to see myself in a cold situation. But sometimes you have to, because you're doing a service for your client. You want to get this job done successfully, 100%, and you want to come out safe because you don't know what you're facing on the other side of the door.

10:33Mighty Mike:That's so true, Michelle. You never know what you do in different situations. But as a server, as an investigator, a skip tracer, I think it's incumbent upon you to make sure that you look out for your own safety. You know, we had Mike on, Mike Kern on. He was talking about, don't stand in front of the door. I mean, these are, like, common things that you learn. That's my mission here on the show, is to be able to teach people that are new, not just the skills of a process server, but that's why I love to have a skip tracer on, you know, an investigator, especially someone of your caliber, to be able to teach the audience that they could do it too. You know, we've all started somewhere, and

11:09Michelle Gomez, White Star Consulting:if you have to do it, you know, small little role play, go test the door. Go test the door with some flyer that you created, and you don't do it. But you go somewhere, you know, you send somebody else in and say, hey, I'm looking for my lost dog or something. Play it out before you see what's going on. If your debtor is there, then you come back in five minutes and you come in, you know, come at him with, you know, the real paperwork because you know they're there. Sometimes they like to dodge you or put a family member in front, say, he's not here, he's sick, you know, whatever it is, you're going to get. All five lies, plus more. You learn behavior on every door you knock on. I think that just be wise, be alert, be careful, be willing to role play and become an actor, an actress. You want to go home at the end of the day.

11:53Mighty Mike:So, Michelle, most of my audience are servers and investigators, a lot like myself. What kind of tip can you give us to help us find our guy?

12:04Michelle Gomez, White Star Consulting:I would have to say start With a fresh, open mind. Be positive, think positive always that you are going to find your person no matter what. Put it in your head that you will be successful on this case. For example, finding your subject, finding your asset, doing what it takes to make your client happy and yourself happy. That way you can close it and move on. See yourself finding your subject in a matter of time, like say 3 o'. Clock. I'm going to find this guy. What is it going to take for me to do it? I believe in the power of law of attraction and I use that to my advantage.

12:39Mighty Mike:Almost like the power of positive thinking.

12:42Michelle Gomez, White Star Consulting:Yeah. If I know that it's going to be a difficult case, I'm like, okay, I'm going to find this guy no matter what and I'm going to find him by Friday. And I already have it. I can already see myself finding this person and it happens.

12:54Mighty Mike:Wow. I'm going to have to start doing that. Maybe it'll increase my skip tracing results.

13:00Michelle Gomez, White Star Consulting:It's gotten me here.

13:02Mighty Mike:Michelle, what is your favorite tool for defense?

13:05Michelle Gomez, White Star Consulting:For defense on the animal out in the streets? I always have a pack of weenies or something for the dogs and the cats or any kind of animal that's going to hit me by surprise. I always have something for them and that way I can keep them from stop barking or attacking me or anything like that. I do have a taser just in case, but I'm very good with animals and so they take to me really kindly. I know how to deal with them. As long as you have a pack of weenies or some kind of treats or something, I'm ready always. I never get off the car without that. I do have a taser. I do have a gun, but I don't like to carry all kinds of stuff. I like to because every time I go to a different door or every time I'm trying to get information, I have to play the part. Michael. I'm not going to get off with a pack of weenies in a red dress with flip flops. You know, it's like, what are you doing? Why are you here at my house with a pack of weenies? You know, because, well, I'm prepared and I watch the house. Of course, I've already done my pre surveillance. I've already watched the house. I know what they have, who's coming and going. What kind of cars am I expecting. I've done my homework, you know, as far as that go. I go with my personality and I try to, you know, bring them down to where they're not going to be angry with me. Sometimes, you know, I get, I come to a house where you got two old folks with an attitude and you just have to bring them down to your nature. You know, like, hey, how you doing? It sure is hot out here. I'm looking for somebody who's selling a pair of puppies and I'm trying to rescue them and that is like totally off guard. And by the time you know it, you have a full conversation with these people, with your debtors, and you're getting all kinds of information just for the sake of that crazy question.

14:52Mighty Mike:Well, I've enjoyed our interview and I feel like my audience is going to really benefit from listening to this episode. I just have one final question for you and then we can say goodbye. What is the best way to connect with you?

15:05Michelle Gomez, White Star Consulting:You can connect with me on my gmail that I've had for free 15 years and it's misskiptracermail.com that's Ms. S K I P T R A c e r gmail.com 512-650-8732 is my mobile cell and I will answer you and everybody else. I'm very open to receiving all calls and I am with White Star Consulting.

15:38Outro:That's a wrap on another episode of Process Server Daily where the legal support industry levels up. Want to grow your process serving business with the best marketing tools, the most engaged community and the highest ranking directory online? Visit mightyprocessserver.com claim your listing Join our free community. Surround yourself with process servers who get it and build something real. From the field to the courtroom. This is Process Server Daily. Until next time, stay safe out there and live Mighty.

02 - Michelle Gomez, White Star Consulting | Mighty Process Server

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