Recorded: Welcome to the ReWork with Allison Tyler Jones, a podcast dedicated to inspiring portrait photographers to uniquely brand, profitably price and confidently sell their best work. Allison has been doing just that for the last 15 years, and she’s proven that it’s possible to create unforgettable art and run a portrait business that supports your family and your dreams. All it takes is a little ReWork. Episodes will include interviews with experts from in and outside of the photo industry, mini-workshops and behind the scenes secrets that Allison uses in her portrait studio every single day. She will challenge your thinking and inspire your confidence to create a profitable, sustainable portrait business you love through continually refining and reworking your business. Let’s do the ReWork.
Allison Tyler Jones: Hi friends, and welcome back to the ReWork. It’s that time of year where we’re thinking about cleaning out our house, doing some spring cleaning, maybe reinventing some things in our business. And there’s no better guest to talk about that with than Mr. Tom Muñoz. He is here today talking about the reinvention of their business in so many ways, from new products to how they keep their teams competing with each other in all the best ways, how they analyze every single part of what they do, and how they’ve managed to stay on top for 90 plus years. Can’t wait for you to hear it. Let’s do it.
Allison Tyler Jones: Okay. So, I don’t know if I am ready for this. I don’t know if I’m ready to have a Muñoz brother on the podcast. I don’t know if the ReWork listeners are ready for this level of talent and energy that’s about to come through. But we have Tom Muñoz on the podcast today. I’m so grateful that you’re here. Hi.
Tom Muñoz: Hi. I was like, canceling right now. No.
Allison Tyler Jones: No, no, no. You’re not canceling. And Ivan, my husband, said to tell you that… Now, remember that Ivan is one of many brothers. He said to tell you that Mario’s bigger than you.
Tom Muñoz: Well, he can think that.
Allison Tyler Jones: He’s like, “Tell Tom I said hi and tell him that Mario’s bigger than him.”
Tom Muñoz: All right. Yeah. [inaudible 00:02:24].
Allison Tyler Jones: Anyway, I thought you’d get a kick out of that.
Tom Muñoz: I did get a kick out of that. It’s funny because everywhere we go, people will call me Mario, or people will call him Tom.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah. So does your mother.
Tom Muñoz: Yeah. But she goes through the whole list of all four of us. She just [inaudible 00:02:40] the names because she’s mad. No, we were doing an event once that Mario and I were photographing at this huge home. It was a Christmas party, 500 people. And I was on the outside and he was on the inside. And I kept having people come up to me, being like, “Oh my God, you are so fast. You’re the fastest photographer I’ve ever seen.” And I’m like, “I’m not even moving that much. I really don’t get what they’re talking about.” And then when we got together, they’re like, “That’s why you-”
Allison Tyler Jones: There’s two of you.
Tom Muñoz: Yeah.
Allison Tyler Jones: I love that. Well, for the 0.01% of anybody listening to this that doesn’t know who you are, can you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself, where you are, and what you do?
Tom Muñoz: My name is Tom Muñoz. I am a photographer. I’ve been a photographer my entire life. My family business got started in photography in 1909. And in the year 1960, ’61 or so, my grandfather, who, him and his brothers were all photographers, there was a guy by the name of Fidel Castro that came over. And actually my grandfather was a revolutionist. He actually used to dove hunt with Castro. And him and his cousin were head of a rebellion group and they almost overthrew the capitol.
Tom Muñoz: And then after, they weren’t successful, but Mario Muñoz was his name, who my brother was named after, who was actually a national hero. The stamp in 2013 was Mario Muñoz in Cuba. And my grandfather, after Castro took power he said to him, “You’re no longer going to be a photographer. You’re now going to work for me in reestablishing order in the province of where your family’s from.” Because back then, photography was not popular. In fact, they were the only photographers in the entire country. Yeah. So all of the historical photos of Cuba during that time were all done by my family.
Allison Tyler Jones: That’s so cool.
Tom Muñoz: And then my grandfather didn’t believe in communism and did not agree with the message after he took power, and he decided to permanently vacation in Florida.
Allison Tyler Jones: And here you are.
Tom Muñoz: And here we are. And when he came with his brothers, so there’s seven studios in the family. All of his brothers were photographers, all of their sons were photographers. And then you get to my generation, and I have second cousins that are my age that are running studios in Miami. In fact, our cousins in Miami are probably the largest school photography business in all of Dade County.
Allison Tyler Jones: Wow. I didn’t know that. I did not know that story. I knew you and your brothers and your nuclear family, but I had no idea you had that history. That’s so cool.
Tom Muñoz: Yeah. And fast-forward to today, I’m very proud to be the oldest member of the highest-awarded team of wedding photographers. Actually, in the history of PPA, we have the most awarded family or individual studio.
Allison Tyler Jones: And well deserved. Beautiful work.
Tom Muñoz: But we got an advantage. We got that vampire advantage. We just started so young, we just got so many extra years in it, I think.
Allison Tyler Jones: Well, not only that, though, I think. Well, first of all, you have the legacy. But second of all, you guys are learners. You’ve taken advantage of all the people that have gone before, and in all the best ways, not in a bad way. But you’ve learned from all the very best in the industry for years and years from when you were little.
Tom Muñoz: Oh, my mentors. I mean, I went to England, I studied with Peter Dyer, who was the Royal Family’s photographer. Took Hanson Fong classes, Bruce Evensen, the Simones, Tim Kelly. There was a period of time from 18 to 30, I did multiple week-long classes every single year. We are a learning studio with how we photograph and our teams. You ever see Grey’s Anatomy where the doctor comes forward and they’re like, “Okay, what do we have? What do you think?” So, I do. I show up into the room, I’m like, “Guys, what do you think? What are we doing? What do you think about the light here?” And then I explain what I’m doing. And at first I felt a little weird because I’m trying to build a big team. We have 25 employees at the studio, and some of the events that we go to require massive amounts of manpower.
Tom Muñoz: And we do the Trump New Year’s Eve Gala every year, so I got to bring eight people to photograph that event. All of them need to be good. So I’m really proud that two of our new photographers, one of them’s name is Santiago. He, actually, I met him photographing his high school senior portraits. The photographer that was doing the in-studio portraits that day was sick and I took over for the day. And there was just something about this young man that compelled me to say, “Do you want to wrestle?” And he looked back at me and he goes, “Yeah.” And I looked at him and I said, “Do you want a job?” And he entered his first year PPA this year, Gold Photographer of the Year.
Tom Muñoz: And then I had another photographer, Bailey, who was just people that God just kind of go, “Here you go.” He competed this year and did the same. And to see how fired up everyone is about learning, it’s not about a paycheck in the studio. It’s all about everybody wants to be the best. Everybody wants to be the best in the world at this. And I think that culture, that internal culture has continued to push the family much harder than our competition could ever. Because our competition is not outside of our business, it’s within it.
Allison Tyler Jones: And isn’t that the best way? That’s a metaphor for life, right? You’re not competing with anybody else, you’re just competing with what you did last year, you. What your studio did last year. Yeah.
Tom Muñoz: Yeah. Well, it’s not even last year, it’s every weekend. We have a group thread called The Avengers. And we, every weekend, all the brothers, my cousins, everybody’s firing the next morning. So one of the things, if you notice, that we post images immediately after the wedding, right the next day. So the photographers, every single night we go through and we pick the best of our work and we get it to the editors and they have them ready by the following morning. So every morning after a wedding, you can be ready. You’re getting ding, ding, ding, ding, ding of-
Allison Tyler Jones: There’s some people that would pay big money to be on that Avengers thread.
Tom Muñoz: Well, it’s really great. And I’m having so much fun right now, because my goal is to be the worst photographer in my studio.
Allison Tyler Jones: I love that. It’s so antithetical to typical entrepreneurship, because typical entrepreneurs ruin everybody that works for them because they micromanage them to death. Until you realize, no, actually you want people that are smarter, better, faster than you, that are actually telling you what your job is. If you’re doing it right, your employees are saying, “Hey, we need you to do this, this and this.” That’s the dream, right? But when you first start, you think, “Oh, I got to get down there and line my guys out.” If you’re lining your guys out, you’re doing it wrong.
Tom Muñoz: Yeah. But you got to be in the trenches with them as well. And one of the things right now that I’m really working on is trying to be a good leader. And being a good leader for me is being a better servant. Opposite of the reality. And right now we’re trying to restructure our studio, so we’re switching from StudiosPlus to Sprout right now, and we’ve been working on this migration.
Allison Tyler Jones: So, that’s your CRM software?
Tom Muñoz: Yeah, our CRM software. And the goals have changed to what can we do to minimize the amount of communication required to perform the level of service that we want? Because today people do not want to be contacted a lot. People don’t want to be called. They really don’t.
Allison Tyler Jones: Well, and if you call them, they’re not calling you back, or they’re not reading the emails, or they’re not responding.
Tom Muñoz: Right. So we have rethought absolutely everything on our customer experience. So, now I want everyone to book their own sessions. I want people to book their own consultations. I want them to fill out their own contracts. Because I find myself in my business here, I’m working way too much in it. And my staff as well are way more qualified than needing to fill out a contract. And rather than getting your staff to work in your business, if we can commit people to be working on the business, then growing it. Because, I hate to say it, we’re not making money in a timeline. You’re not making money in answering people’s questions that you didn’t provide good information for. So, a combination with using a new CRM, different type of thinking of how you control the clients’ experience and communication with them along with using video to educate your clients.
Tom Muñoz: Give you an example. A portion of our business we do is senior portraits. We got about a thousand kids that come in, in the summer. We make a lot more money when they let us take more pictures of them. So we offer an in-studio experience along with a location, we call it a lifestyle session. And we had a 25% participation last year, and it required us to hustle, meaning we had to convert them when they were in the studio. We had to wait, they had to go home and get dressed and come back, and we had people waiting downtown. So to get the 25%, it was very difficult to get people to come back because I would say only 5% ended up booking them from the initial email that went out. And we provided a video this year that explained the Senior Experience, explained what each option was going to give them, and then showed them how to book the page, how to check out and what to expect. It went from 25% to 50%.
Allison Tyler Jones: Wow.
Tom Muñoz: Now, that’s like 250 additional sessions from the one video.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah. And less communication, less back and forth.
Tom Muñoz: Yeah, less back and forth. Right now, when people inquire online, they’re going to get immediately a follow up back up with is, “Hey, set up an appointment to meet with us. But you set it up.”
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah. It works with… yeah.
Tom Muñoz: And even with portrait sessions, head shots, instead of getting on the phone and saying, “Let me get your name, let me get this, let me get that,” it’s, “Hey, I’m going to send you a link. These are your availabilities.” When you multiply that times a thousand sessions and contracts, you’re not talking a little difference at the end of the year, you’re talking boat difference.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah. Well, it’s just scaling, basically.
Tom Muñoz: Yeah.
Allison Tyler Jones: Okay. This might be too specific, but I just still want to know. What do you like better about Sprout versus the StudioPlus? Because you guys have been StudioPlus for a long time.
Tom Muñoz: Yes, we’ve been StudioPlus for ages. You’re putting me in a little difficult spot here.
Allison Tyler Jones: You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I mean, you can keep it pretty general.
Tom Muñoz: I’ll summarize it. Sprout is more aligned with the direction that we want to go with our brand and our customer experience. It centralizes everything in one location, but it has a much prettier package. And for us, the package, I would say StudioPlus is super robust. There are probably more things that you can do with StudioPlus, but-
Allison Tyler Jones: It’s not pretty.
Tom Muñoz: It’s not pretty.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah. The UI/UX is not great.
Tom Muñoz: Yeah. And for me, when you get that gallery, how that gallery looks is really important. I don’t want it to look dated. We want to be the best in the world at what we’re doing. We want to look sleek. We want it to be modern but yet classic and just good. And we tried to work with making some changes with them, just even on the way the contract works. Clients are able to book their own wedding contract online and enter themselves in. That saves 45 minutes, multiply by 400 events.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah. Well, you guys are mad volume.
Tom Muñoz: Yeah. But you know what? The one thing is, when someone that’s starting off, and you’re not starting off, but when someone that’s starting off tells me that what I’m doing is applicable to me because I’m doing so much, for me, makes no sense.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah, no, I agree.
Tom Muñoz: Because I’m giving you the keys to how you can grow.
Allison Tyler Jones: Right. It’s the foundation.
Tom Muñoz: Right? If my workflow works for me that I can grow, scale, in safety, then it’ll work for you, 100%.
Allison Tyler Jones: Exactly. I absolutely agree with that. I think good practice and streamlined processes are going to stand you in good stead. Whether you’ve got two clients or 2,200 clients, you need it. No, my comment to that was it’s because this is allowing you to scale probably in a way that you never thought you could. Because to go from 25% to 50%, that’s amazing. Just in one change, one change, one small change.
Tom Muñoz: One little change. Right now, I am working on a wedding presentation video. And what that wedding presentation video is going to do is it’s going to be a video that is going to introduce them to the team. I’m going to have video behind the scenes of us working, the results of the working, the video results, the client experience, the package information, how we do everything. And put it all in a five-minute presentation that now any one of my sales office team can sell a wedding.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah. That’s amazing.
Tom Muñoz: Click the buttons. And then, what next? “Oh, here, just go to the link on your phone and click book and it’ll autofill and you’re done.”
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah. Well, and also to be able to see that machine that’s behind, because I think the first thing a bride looks at is the beautiful imagery. They want to look that beautiful. They want to have that feeling. But then you see a video of the whole crew and the machine that’s behind what you’re doing. It’s like, “Oh, so, basically, if Mario gets the stomach flu from eating bad shrimp one night, there’s a deep bench that’s going to roll in and still shoot my wedding.” There’s just a lot of peace of mind there that maybe other people wouldn’t have.
Tom Muñoz: Well, it’s funny you say that because in today’s world, especially after COVID, you know how many wedding photographers did not do right by clients? That left, just packed up, can’t find them, didn’t give them their files, didn’t do their wedding, didn’t return a retainer. Because they couldn’t. They didn’t have the ability to survive through it. And that’s the one thing with our family, is even down from my grandfather seeing the government ain’t working right, when the pandemic hit, our family was like, “All right, let’s start selling old pictures. Let’s go to the seniors’ houses. Let’s do what we have to do to keep this going. Let’s maintain the relationships.” We moved 197 weddings, so we were able to be there. And now people are like, they want to know that you’re going to show up. And if you’re a photographer that hasn’t been in an area a long time and you have no brick and mortar, it’s very easy to pick up and just leave.
Allison Tyler Jones: Well, and I remember when I was starting out in the business and you’d get an inquiry off your website. And I would call them, and how many people said to me, common response, “Oh my gosh, thank you so much for calling me back. We’ve been calling around and you’re the only photographer that called us back.”
Tom Muñoz: I’ve heard that so much.
Allison Tyler Jones: So many times. Is the bar really that low, really?
Tom Muñoz: You know what? Unfortunately, well, we have been in this industry long enough to see the culture, the industry completely change. And I mean, rather than opinion, I’m going to give you facts.
Allison Tyler Jones: Do it. Give me some facts.
Tom Muñoz: 15, 20 years ago, majority of the people attending professional conferences were professional photographers and were in business longer than five years. Now, a majority of the people that attend PPA have been in business for less than two or something like that. And I hate to say it, but I can’t make a wedding photographer in two years. And my cousin John lived with me for five years, every weekend working a wedding with me to get to the point where we felt he was doing work that was to our standard. So, I would say there are different parts of photography that are easier to train and grow, scale, but when it comes to the high-end wedding event market-
Allison Tyler Jones: It’s a whole different animal.
Tom Muñoz: It’s different because it isn’t just about being a photographer. You gotta know how to manage really big personalities along with real high-end wedding planners and decorators and venues that they communicate in a certain way. And I hate to say it, but if you don’t communicate back at that level, you will be run over. And that takes time. And you got to tell the president to move over, he’s not standing in the right spot, you got to do that in a way that he’ll listen.
Allison Tyler Jones: Good luck with that. Yep. But you could do it. If anybody could, it would be a Muñoz brother.
Tom Muñoz: Well, we love what we do. And it’s just a testament to how great we were taught by our mentors in our family, because we’re just riding the wave.
Allison Tyler Jones: Well, but I think what’s interesting about what you just said about the theme of this is reinvention. You came from a long line of photographers and it would be really easy to just say, “This is the way we’ve always done it. This is the way we’re always going to do it.” But you’re continually… I haven’t known you a long time, I’ve known you maybe four years. But every time I talk to you, there’s some new thing that you’re trying. So you’re staying relevant, you’re staying interested in what you’re doing. And you’re constantly trying to be better yourself, but also make your team better.
Allison Tyler Jones: And I think those are qualities that if you’re a new photographer, if you commit to continually learning, if you commit to continually being better than you were the last time, isn’t that just what it’s all about? That’s how you get to that high end, is that you learn, “Oh, okay, I don’t know that. I’m not speaking that high-end wedding planner’s language and I didn’t get that job. Why didn’t I get that job?” And then you break that down. Maybe you call her and you say, “I didn’t get the job. I’d like to know why, and I’d love to know how I could do better,” and put yourself out there. Because nobody just arrives fully formed. Even somebody like you who was born into it, you still had to learn.
Tom Muñoz: I’m still learning.
Allison Tyler Jones: Right, 100%.
Tom Muñoz: This industry has changed so much. Technology has changed so much. As far as our production goes, I have images ready the following morning that are produced at that level. And I have all of the events ready a week later, and albums are made four days later. And to be able to do that, you have to embrace all of technology right now. So, we are in combination with working with people in our studio, people out of the country that work for us that are dedicated to us, along with AI services as well. So, we’re combining everything that we can to streamline the process. And if we can give great quality quicker, that’s what we’re doing. And if brides can get pictures right away, they’re happier about them. I’m sorry.
Allison Tyler Jones: Because they’re still excited about it. They’re still riding the wave of the wedding and all of that. The feeling.
Tom Muñoz: Yeah. I text my brides the next morning and say, “Here are your pictures.” They’re writing reviews immediately. And just like you said, little tip, ask. That’s what I do. Pictures in the morning and I’m like, “Hey, do you mind doing me a favor?” After they just said, “Oh my God, you were amazing. Your team was great. Those are beautiful, they’re making us cry.” All that. And then reviews really help our family. And here are the two places, if you don’t, it’s not a big deal. Do you know how many people say no? No one. And then now they’re writing a five-star review the day after their wedding, where the clients that are getting their proofs a month later, they’re going to find something that isn’t there based on what their expectations were. Where the expectations right away, then you’re not trying to catch up.
Allison Tyler Jones: That’s interesting. Okay. So, I have questions. What is your advice for somebody that’s more of a solopreneur? I know many wedding photographers or portrait photographers, whatever genre, that decide they want to stay solo, maybe with one employee. They want to keep it small. And so if somebody’s listening to you and they’re like, okay, yeah, you could have the images ready for them the next morning because you have a team of editors. But what would you say to somebody that is wanting to provide this level of service? What’s your advice for that, for somebody that is running a leaner crew?
Tom Muñoz: They could do what I did. I stayed up until four o’clock in the morning editing my photos and making sure they’re there the next morning. Or, that’s the thing, there isn’t a single editing service company that I’ve ever used that has been good or met my standards by themselves. I have to train the people that work for me that are even working through another company. I have them dedicated to me. And if I was just myself, I would still do the same thing. Like I said earlier, our process would be the same process if I decided to just leave and I’m going to go live in Spain and I’m going to be a wedding photographer there, and I just want to do 20 weddings a year. I’d just do exactly what I’m doing.
Allison Tyler Jones: So, getting a reliable outsource that can help with some of the heavy lifting, but you still stay in it and help train them so that they can see it how you want it done?
Tom Muñoz: I would say the recommendation would be, figure out what you’re comfortable committing with. If you don’t want to hire an editor, okay, well, are you going to do it yourself? If you’re not going to do it yourself, you’re going to have to have someone else do it. So, if you don’t want them to be on staff, you’re going to have to work with somebody through another company. Now, you could be sure that you’re going to be paying a premium to do that. And I have found that even when doing that, you still need to train them. So, my recommendation is, one, what do you want to do? What is your goal? Do you want to be a one-man show, but do you want to be the best in the world at what you do? Do you want to provide a good service and good quality? You got to figure out what your niche is going to be. But I have found there’s a lot less room for competition at the top of the mountain.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah, for sure. I’m glad you said that because I think it’s important. Because when we go to, say, Imagine or any group of photographers is you’re always going to hear that, “Oh, well, it’s easy for you because…” and then fill in the blank. “You live in New York City.” “You live in LA.” You have whatever unfair advantage they’re perceiving from the outside in. But really what it takes is you have to just try different things.
Tom Muñoz: It really comes down to ownership, right?
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah. Taking responsibility for the end result.
Tom Muñoz: In your control. Someone could lose their job and say, “Well, I got laid off because of budget cuts,” right? They lost their job and say, “What did I do? And what could I do better to be not the one to get laid off this time?” But for me, what has continued to keep us growing is not a commitment to the result. I’m not trying to chase money. I’m not trying to chase an award. I’m not trying to chase something that’s actually tangible. I just always want to be better. And it doesn’t matter what it is I’m doing, whether I’m fishing, whether I’m doing yoga, whether I’m photographing a wedding. And I think that all human nature, that’s why our species has been able to continue to progress at the rate that it is. It’s because it’s within us, it’s within us to be productive. In fact, I truly believe that happiness and productivity are very directly linked to one another.
Tom Muñoz: And it doesn’t mean just money and fame, it’s your relationships, it’s your contribution. And for me, the more you focus on how you can help others, the less you have to worry about getting help, 100%. So I would just, whatever you can be passionate about, passion doesn’t count the cost. And when you’re passionate about something, you have an unlimited supply of energy for it. So, you get to go to work, you get to go do this, not, “I have to go do this.” And perspective shifts change everything.
Tom Muñoz: And my guys, when we talk about big future goals, I’m like, “No, no, no, no, no. Today’s wedding, how do we get there? Today’s wedding, how do we capitalize on creating the best experience, the best photos, the best connections? Are we being the best vendor we can be? Are we going up to the band, taking pictures of them, shooting the food? Are we saying hi to the servers that eventually are going to be a catering manager that remember you 10 years from now?” “I remember when I was passing out butter, and you were kind.” I’ve heard that. I read this book called The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, and I truly believe that the outcome of our life is nothing but an accumulation of our habits, our daily habits, and how we operate in the now.
Allison Tyler Jones: Well, because that’s all you have.
Tom Muñoz: That’s the only thing that’s real.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah, exactly. It reminds me of a story Tim Walden told me once about how a single mom had hired him to photograph her son. And they were meeting at the park and it was on a Saturday and he was tired. He’d been working all week or whatever, and he was just like, “Okay, let’s just knock this out and go home and have dinner,” or whatever. And so he was kind of not feeling it. So, he gets there and this woman comes up to him and says, “I have saved for five years. It has been my bucket list to have you photograph my son. I am so excited. Thank you for being here. This is amazing.” And how it really just shamed him in a way, because he was just like, “This is a pinnacle experience for this woman. And I am just looking at my watch thinking, ‘How soon is this going to be over?'”
Allison Tyler Jones: And of course, being who he is, of course, it was an amazing session and he did a great job for her. But I think sometimes when you get to a point a mastery of your craft or whatever, it’s easy to get complacent and tired, and you’re not giving that very best experience. And if you are doing the very best you can every single time, that’s how you will get better. That’s how you will get to the higher end. That’s how you will go to the next level, is to give it your all every single time. And I think you’re such a great example of that, you and your family.
Tom Muñoz: Well, I really, really appreciate that. And those are definitely the values that drive our actions. We analyze and have every single part of what we do, and we argue about it. And it’s fun, it really is. And I started going to weddings when I was seven years old. I was photographing weddings solo, I did my first one at 12, but by the time I was 16, I was a full-time wedding photographer. When I was 21, I got my master’s in photography. And then now, what keeps me going is not me competing, it’s the guys. It’s having the 20-something year old guys pushing you and being like, “Oh yeah? Look what I did.” I truly feel that it’s the team that we have that keeps us energized. Because if I’m going to be honest, if it was just me, “Eh, okay, got another merit.” Great, right?
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah.
Tom Muñoz: But when I want to make guys who make merits, they are only going to want to run with me if I’m running. They need to look up to you. They’re not going to get there without you showing them. And show them with your passion. You teach them to want to learn, not here’s the fish, teach them how to fish. And that’s the goal, because I truly feel that the people that God brings into our life is for a purpose. And our job is to only help them. And in return, you’re going to be blessed way more.
Allison Tyler Jones: That’s so true. I think that’s a guiding principle, a good guiding principle for life. And you’ve certainly given so much to this industry, and I appreciate you so much. Any final thoughts before we head off into the sunset?
Tom Muñoz: I don’t know. I mean, we just got started in chatting and I can’t even remember all the different topics that we touched on.
Allison Tyler Jones: You covered a lot of ground, but I think that concept of reinvention, I think that’s something that comes up for every human, is how do you stay interested in what you’re doing? How do you stay passionate about it? How do you stay relevant in your industry? Not even in your industry, but in your market. How do you stay on top for a long period of time? That’s an achievement.
Tom Muñoz: I’m going to tell you, I do want to end with something. If you look at the current situation of your life, where you are financially, where you are relationship-wise, career-wise, spiritually, if you look at where it is right now, you can compare it to a fruit on a tree. Now, if I go up to a tree and I grab that apple, and that apple isn’t pretty, and it’s really dry and not really sweet, is there anything I can do to change that apple?
Allison Tyler Jones: Probably not.
Tom Muñoz: No, right? If I’m not happy with how much money I have, by me looking at how much money I have, is it going to change how much money I have? No. Go back to the apple. What could I do to make a better apple? Well, I could maybe give it more water. I could maybe make sure it’s getting more light and maybe you can give it more nutrients.
Allison Tyler Jones: Talk to it.
Tom Muñoz: Talk to it, right. Compare yourself to that tree. If you work on your mind, you are on a good spiritual path and growing that relationship, and you take care of your body, we are mind, body, soul. And the outcome of what we have in our life is nothing but an accumulation of where we stand on those three points. So, don’t focus on the money. Focus on what you’re excited to learn. Don’t focus on what you don’t have. Focus on what you do have. If you’re not feeling good, go to the gym, because your mind will follow where your body goes. And if you can align your daily habits to be slowly bringing you closer and closer to where you want to be spiritually, physically, right?
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah.
Tom Muñoz: Level, right?. If you just focus on that, you don’t need to worry about the money. You don’t need to worry about being in a good relationship. You don’t need to worry about your contribution. You don’t need to mess with those because you’re taking care of your tree.
Allison Tyler Jones: Because all of those good things are the fruit of those previous behaviors.
Tom Muñoz: Right. It’s nothing but a result of where you stand with what you know, what drives you and how you physically feel. Because if you’re not physically feeling well, it’s really tough to be… So all of it, it isn’t one thing. You need to have that balance. You need to take care of yourself. And find out what you’re passionate about. And someone told me, he goes, “If you make a choice without putting an action to that choice, you haven’t made a choice, you just declared a preference.”
Allison Tyler Jones: That’s a good thought. But I think, too, also is, rather than when you’re feeling down, feeling like, “Oh, I could never,” or, “That wouldn’t work,” going back to the earlier thought of, “Well, I couldn’t do that because I live in Timbuktu,” or whatever, to flip those scripts around and say, “Well, how could I?” “If I could, how would I?” “What could I do today to be more passionate? What could I do today to change my mindset from fearing about a potential recession, from fearing about war in the world, from fearing about…” There’s just a lot going on in the world, and I think everybody’s been pretty beat up after the last few years that we’ve been through. And so I hear, especially Imagine, there were two camps. One was like, “I am so excited. I’ve got all this great stuff going on.”
Allison Tyler Jones: And then the other was like, “What do you think about the recession? What do you think about the economy? What do you think about…?” Well, I try not to think about that. I mean, I’m aware that that stuff is going on, but I’m trying to just stay in my lane and do the things that I can control. So, I think you’re a really good example of focusing on the things that you can control and really trying to help others. And I think your energy is so infectious. That’s one of the things that I noticed about you when we first met, is that you’re, I don’t know what kind of dog, maybe a yellow lab. Really so excited to be here. It’s so fun. And you’re just like, “Well, what are we going to do?” You’re just like… And I love that. It’s contagious, and I’m sure your team picks up on that, which is what makes you a great leader.
Tom Muñoz: Well, I really appreciate that, and I think all glory belongs to one person. And as long as I can help and bring more people to that, I feel like I’m doing my job.
Allison Tyler Jones: And you’re doing great at it. Thank you so much, Tom, for taking the time today. I know you’re super busy and really appreciate you so much.
Tom Muñoz: Oh, I appreciate you too. And thanks, everybody, for listening. I really am honored to be here.
Recorded: You can find more great resources from Allison at dotherework.com and on Instagram @do.the.rework.
