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Joe Oz and Friends – Laid-Back, Fun & 100% Real Talk for Business Owners Who Started Small
Every big business starts as a small idea. Joe Oz and Friends is a podcast for the hustlers, risk-takers, and underdogs who built something from the ground up. Join Joe Oz as he sits down with entrepreneurs, real estate pros, and business owners who started small and scaled big—sharing their crazy stories, biggest failures, and the lessons that got them to the top.
Expect real talk, plenty of laughs, and zero corporate vibes. This is business unfiltered, unscripted, and not too serious—because success is messy, and that’s what makes it great.
No fluff. No gurus. Just real conversations with real people who built it from scratch.
Joe Oz (00:01.612)
Whoa, how are you today?
Laura Fore (00:02.758)
I'm good, how are you Joe?
Joe Oz (00:04.906)
I'm good. I usually start these podcasts off when I usually tell my guests, you know what's something you're not supposed to do on a podcast?
I always do this. You're not supposed to drink sparkling water when you're talking, because it makes me burp a little bit, but I haven't done it anyway. Yo, the spin drips are actually not that bubbly. That's why I chose this one. They're a little bit more... Yeah, I guess so. So, yeah, before we got started, I was going to tell you that, that is a Run DMC poster and shoe behind me when I was...
Laura Fore (00:16.052)
Okay.
Can you touch the alphabet?
Laura Fore (00:27.814)
Okay, okay, we're safe. Everybody's safe.
Joe Oz (00:42.166)
in college at Rutgers University in New Jersey, they they played like on the campus and like we went and it was so much fun and then they like hung out afterwards and like, yeah, like, and that's my shoe. was wearing, no, I was wearing that shell top Adidas and I was like, guys, you have a song about Adidas. I wear Adidas because of you.
Laura Fore (00:52.792)
you got to meet them. Yeah. This wasn't like a eBay purchase.
Joe Oz (01:08.13)
Excuse me, can you please, see I told you, I was like, can you please sign this? And they said, yeah. And then the poster signed too. they're like, who's, you know what's funny is usually at halfway through the pod. I always ask this question, but I'm gonna ask it right now. What was your first concert?
Laura Fore (01:10.548)
No.
Laura Fore (01:15.678)
That's very cool, very nice.
Laura Fore (01:28.71)
Okay, so smashing pumpkins.
Joe Oz (01:32.502)
Whoa, okay, that's a pretty cool one.
Laura Fore (01:35.002)
and the second one was tool.
Joe Oz (01:38.132)
wow, where was that? Do you know like what year, where were you?
Laura Fore (01:40.724)
And then, oh gosh, no, no, no, no, so long ago. And then the third one was garbage in that order.
Joe Oz (01:49.472)
Is that like, how old are Are you in high school? Are you like in
Laura Fore (01:51.764)
That's high school. That's all high school.
Joe Oz (01:54.902)
So you were like a cool kid in high school.
Laura Fore (01:56.853)
no, not really, no. I had good taste in music. I think everybody thinks they were cool, but.
Joe Oz (01:58.927)
Did you hang out with, well, you would've been cool to me.
Joe Oz (02:06.614)
If you were going to see Smashing Pumpkins in Tool and Garbage, you probably were pretty cool. It's probably what...
Laura Fore (02:12.436)
Well, I always, I always love music and I still do. So yeah, but I'm not really into concerts. I don't like large groups of people. So.
Joe Oz (02:17.599)
What a
Joe Oz (02:23.0)
my god, are you ready for this one? So guess what I'm gonna go see on Saturday. So Saturday is my birthday and I'm gonna go see Oasis at the Rose Bowl.
Laura Fore (02:27.602)
Aww, nice.
Laura Fore (02:31.996)
Wonderful, wonderful, happy birthday.
Joe Oz (02:35.502)
Thank you. 80, there's gonna be 80,000 people there. Does that... No, not yet. You know, people tell me I look young for my age, which I really love, but I'll be 40, I'll be 46 years old.
Laura Fore (02:38.1)
thought you were just about to say I'm 80s. Now I'm just kidding.
Laura Fore (02:47.668)
Okay, well now we've got to know. Are we doing it? Okay, I'm right behind you. I'm 44.
Joe Oz (02:55.182)
cool. So yeah, we're the same age. So yeah, I was obsessed with that first tool record, not opiate, the second tool record. That one was, I was obsessed with that record, the black record with the red on front. That's awesome. Cool. Tell us about who are you? What do you do for work? Where do you live?
Laura Fore (03:16.5)
My name is Laura Four. I'm the owner broker of Four Premier Properties here in Kerrville, Texas, which y'all might have heard a bit about Kerrville, Texas in the headlines. So we are the beautiful hill country town that did get hit by that flood. So something we have never experienced before, at least in my generation. So yeah.
Joe Oz (03:34.126)
Mm-hmm.
Laura Fore (03:42.559)
That's where I live, that's where I sell real estate. I have about an 80-man independent brokerage office and we have three locations. We have Kerrville, we have Fredericksburg and we have Hunt, Texas. And of course you and I talked a little bit about that over the phone, which in case you're wondering, our community is very strong and there's been so much kindness in the world and it's very encouraging.
Joe Oz (03:52.067)
Wow.
Laura Fore (04:10.164)
But very proud of my community. The build back efforts and rebuild efforts and you know all the volunteers and responders and Gosh nonprofits. I mean it's it's been amazing to see because I've never experienced a large natural disaster like this so Yeah, yeah
Joe Oz (04:33.111)
Can you tell me how, yeah we did talk and I'm actually glad you brought it up. Can you tell me, can you talk a little bit about how you were personally affected? You had like, how you were personally affected and maybe.
Laura Fore (04:40.766)
Well, we have an office in Hunt and it is literally at the very epicenter of where the North Fork and the South Fork of the Guadalupe River converge literally right where my office is. And we had about four and a half feet of water. I say water, just think of it as mud. the office we lost all our equipment and know furnishings and decor and things like that. Astoundingly though,
Joe Oz (05:01.483)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, wow.
Laura Fore (05:09.65)
You know, everything around the office is literally obliterated. It's a lot of milestone buildings, historical properties that have been around forever. New construction, high-end modern homes just wiped out or decimated or heavily damaged. Our building is in the 1932 building, which was like the first rebuild on a large scale after the last big
flood in this area. it's interesting that that was a building that was, you know, kind of built in a time during that rebuild and that it survived this flood. It's all rock. It's all cedar. I guess they don't build them like they used to typically, I guess you would say. But, you know, we bounced back. We actually reopened our doors last week.
Joe Oz (05:59.245)
Yeah.
Laura Fore (06:04.884)
And I had a gentleman call and one of my agents and he just went over there and power washed and sanitized everything on his own and didn't ask for anything. I didn't ask. He just said, let me do this for you. We went over there and I was hoping some of the office would rally and help with shovels and get all the mud out. And I got there and it was done.
Joe Oz (06:05.047)
Wow.
Joe Oz (06:19.309)
Wow.
Joe Oz (06:30.529)
Wow.
Laura Fore (06:32.059)
It's very moving to see, especially if you're like me and you don't like asking for anything, you're like, I got this, you know. And in a time where people lost their lives, their homes, all of that, I was not, I wasn't like, help me at all, we're okay.
Joe Oz (06:34.445)
Wow.
Laura Fore (06:52.852)
we're gonna be fine. We're gonna, if anything, focus on helping you, which is really how we reacted after the event. You can't sit at home and doom scroll. You gotta get out there and do something. So that's exactly what we did. We had agents that were literally in the river looking for people. We had people donate so many man hours.
we had other agents impacted. so that's where we put our focus really more so than us, you know what I mean? But I am happy to say that, you know, we were put back together again, not, I'd say a hundred percent, you know, there's like touch-up paint and some things to get done, but we are the first, the very first back in Hunt, Texas.
Joe Oz (07:27.05)
Right, yeah.
Joe Oz (07:46.156)
Wow.
Laura Fore (07:48.597)
And it's a very small little commercial pocket. It's where the post office was, the hunt store, our office and things like that. I think in those scenarios, people are probably wondering, do they wanna, should I just cut my losses? No, it was so important for us to say, we're here, we're not going anywhere. And for me,
reopening was more about that than it was about reopening itself. It was to give, I think, some hope and optimism to all the people that drive by. And we did kind of reinvent our office purpose a little bit. It is now basically a Wi-Fi cafe for the community. So we've got way more computers than we had.
Joe Oz (08:30.38)
Yeah, wow.
Joe Oz (08:39.106)
Nice.
Laura Fore (08:43.484)
before thanks to lovely donations that I never asked for. And so we got a nice setup there. People can come have coffee, print their emails, they can print for free all day long, use it as their office. If there's any groups, church groups and so forth that need a place to kind of hub out of, there's a place for that. So, no, I'm very proud of our office. They did great.
and again, so impressed, but the need is still there. So Community Foundation is where a lot of those damnations are going. And then from there, it kind of disperses to the nonprofits who then really get it to the folks in need. Of course, the homeowners are the primary focus. And then, you know, from there, the business community and all the other things. So yeah, it's been a, it's been an interesting ride for sure.
Joe Oz (09:35.393)
That's wild. So yeah, thanks for sharing that. I'm glad. Yeah, like I said, I'm glad you brought that up. That's like, God, the media forgets, but it's not. It's like an everyday thing still where you are, right? It's just like it's
Laura Fore (09:45.519)
yeah, exactly. It's headlines, you know, and then onto the next story and we live it every day, right? But I'm happy to say day by day, little by little, things are looking better. It's impressive. It's really impressive. The cleanup efforts, the debris haul off, all of those things. And it's still home, you know, the river, you know, it's like you have this weird feeling of
You know, you're angry at the, you know, what happened and it's, you know, still beautiful, still gorgeous. You know, it's probably no different than living on the coast and the ocean. You know, you see the destruction, you see the beauty.
Joe Oz (10:17.517)
Wow, wow. That's a...
Joe Oz (10:26.519)
That's really profound. That's really awesome. Yeah, that's great. You can see both sides of it. And then you said you turned your office into like a basically like a Wi-Fi cafe situation so everybody could kind of come and work and just have like a home base. That's awesome.
Laura Fore (10:40.988)
Exactly, You know, trying to find a secondary or a new use for an office space. So that's kind of what we came up with. And coffee, people love coffee. We all need coffee. The world runs on coffee.
Joe Oz (10:53.719)
Graph is good.
Are you a big coffee person?
Laura Fore (10:57.972)
I have a coffee shop. Yes, yeah. Yes, I'm a Renaissance woman.
Joe Oz (11:00.9)
you told me that! That's right! Dude, that's cool.
Joe Oz (11:09.952)
What other businesses do you have that you already told me about that I forgot already?
Laura Fore (11:13.544)
We have a fitness club and three, one, two, three vacation rentals and a little stable of commercial investment properties that we play with. So yeah, yeah. Always spinning plates.
Joe Oz (11:15.724)
Mm-hmm.
Joe Oz (11:22.093)
Nice.
Joe Oz (11:30.573)
Now you just gotta build a surf pool. That would be the next thing. of course.
Laura Fore (11:37.996)
Right, Thank you again for that. That was the experience of a lifetime to be able to, yeah, I don't think anything will compare. I tried, I went back to Port A and I was just like, this is not the same.
Joe Oz (11:55.405)
It's not the same. We're lucky, man. I was out yesterday. I've been trying to get in the water like three times a week. That's my goal. For me, the surfing thing is, it's medicine. It's like meditation. It's like everything I need for my brain.
Laura Fore (12:06.057)
a good call.
Joe Oz (12:14.828)
the relief, like the way I feel going in the water versus like going back to the car, it's noticeably different. so how long has your brokerage been in business?
Laura Fore (12:26.612)
Let's see, so we opened in 2008. So what is that? Don't make me do math. 23 years? Yeah.
Joe Oz (12:33.566)
Okay, don't do math, that's fine. We can do math. And 80 agents, that's pretty wild. How do you attract 80 agents to come and work with you? That's pretty impressive.
Laura Fore (12:42.996)
you know, I, I've never been a recruiter. don't, I've never, you know, intentionally put a lot of effort into specifically recruiting. I've thought about, you know, what would that look like if I did, but we've had more organic growth, I would say. And, just blessed to have.
Joe Oz (13:06.08)
Yes.
Laura Fore (13:11.152)
started small and grew with the right people at the right time who then I would say our agents are our best recruiters more than anything and they and they there's no incentive there's no kickback there's no downline there's no you know they they very I'm very of course partial to my associates I think they're the greatest people in the whole wide world so when other agents close deals with them
Joe Oz (13:21.802)
Mhm.
Laura Fore (13:39.923)
you know, lot of those conversations open up naturally and you know, what's it like over there? What's Laura like? You know, and things like that. What are your splits and you know, what do they do for you? Do you get leads? All of those things. And I think our agents are very open and proud and receptive to have those conversations. And it has led to, you know, curiosity and people reaching out. It's usually kind of how it goes. I'll get a call, text and
I'll show them around and tell them what we're all about and see if it's a good fit. And there's been times where I wasn't so sure and it worked out fantastic. There's other times where I thought it's be good and then you really don't know, right? And I would say that I'm usually willing to, if I see something there and...
Joe Oz (14:21.782)
Haha
Laura Fore (14:34.132)
I just have a long conversation with them, just like you and I are doing right now. I just have a long conversation with them and see if I can find the qualities that I'm looking for and whether they're new or experienced, then I'll know. It's kind of a gut feeling, if you will. You know if it's a fit, most of the time, sometimes you get a little curve ball here and there.
Joe Oz (15:00.224)
Wow, it sounds to me like you know what your core values are and you're looking for people that align with those values. sound about right. What are some of the core values of your company?
Laura Fore (15:08.19)
Well, yeah, yeah.
Laura Fore (15:12.98)
sincerity, genuine, you know, not self-serving, but serving of others. And, you know, I'm a high impact person and, I firmly believe if you just do a good job and, know, you do the best that you can, that you are.
Joe Oz (15:21.035)
Mm-hmm.
Laura Fore (15:36.589)
genuinely working to accomplish the goals of your client and exceed expectations, provide great service, be very diligent with your thoughtful research and advice and recommendations that it all comes back to you tenfold. They'll have a great experience and that'll lead to referrals and all of that. And I think if you just approach your real estate business in a more consultative type of manner, then yeah.
And you can pick up on someone's energy when you have a conversation with them and you can kind of pick up on what they're all about. So that's what I'm really looking for and someone willing to have an openness to get their, dig their nails in, get their feet, their hands all dirty and jump in. And they're not just looking.
for someone else to do it for them. They're not thinking that, you know, opportunity time is a business model. They understand that that's the cherry on top of the Sunday that they create and that they need to take responsibility for, you know, their success. I'm just here to make sure they've got all the tools and resources and, you know, a sounding board. And I'm here to help with everything from going to your appointments, to your CMAs, to tough negotiation issues. I'm always here for them. But...
Joe Oz (17:01.801)
Wow.
Laura Fore (17:03.214)
So they they always have a wingman if they need it and they know that but we do a lot of training all of that So yes. Yeah
Joe Oz (17:12.779)
So new agent, like, are a lot of those agents newer agents, experienced, is it like mixed, like what does that look like?
Laura Fore (17:18.324)
It's mixed. I would say it's a mixed bag, but on the whole, I would say a level of experience. I've been a little bit pickier as it relates to new agents. Now I require one year of experience. I've made exceptions for the exceptional and it really depends on their background, their history, their previous experience and how that might carry over to real estate. So
Joe Oz (17:34.036)
Right.
Joe Oz (17:37.524)
Mm-hmm.
Laura Fore (17:46.453)
I would say it's a mixed bag, but I would say on the whole, all of our agents probably have on average, if I had to guess, I mean, some of them have had real estate careers in the multi-decade realm. So some have been in real estate for 30, 40 years, and then we might have someone licensed for four years. I would say average realtor probably 10 years.
Joe Oz (18:11.497)
Wow, that's awesome. What, for you, what would you say is your real estate superpower? What are you great at?
Laura Fore (18:18.388)
I would say, well, I would say it's my empathy for sure. And to listen and understand what somebody's feeling, where they're coming from. I'm pretty inquisitive. So I'm very empathetic to my clients, what their situations are, they are now, where they want to go.
And I think in that sense, I'm also looking at the other side of the fence and figuring out what makes the other party tick, what's important to them, how can we come together, how can we create a winning deal for everybody involved. That's ideal, while having of course your client's interests and all your fiduciary duty of course to your client first. But I think that, you know, just
not being so self-centric and self-opening and more concerned about others, again, it's probably at my detriment, Joe, also. I'm one of those people that'll run themselves ragged, right? Taking care of everybody else, so that's me. So yeah, I would say that's probably my strong suit.
Joe Oz (19:42.028)
So you said that you said that a lot you said thinking about other people right? That's like That was so I I agree. I've done a lot of work on myself to get there That's like not my natural that's not my default right like I think my default is a selfish person right? So therefore where the work comes in right self-discovery and all that I'm interested to know how you were you always like that. How did you get there like Wendy?
Laura Fore (19:45.78)
Mm-hmm.
Laura Fore (20:08.122)
I'm sure it's like the result of like childhood trauma and like, I don't know. You know, my, I mean, do you want to do we want, are we doing this? Like,
Joe Oz (20:18.485)
Dude.
Joe Oz (20:21.939)
I listen, don't know how much shit I'm I don't know how much you know about I'm sober I'm six and a half years sober. So I learned about that through my program I go to I go see the therapist. I mean I got shit maybe for sure. But no, I think it's that is a that's a superpower man when you can think
Laura Fore (20:30.441)
Yeah.
Laura Fore (20:33.978)
no, I mean...
Laura Fore (20:38.484)
It definitely has an impact of my environment and probably my genetics and my own natural personality and those kind of things. But I grew up in a ballet studio and around lots of classical music. And my mother was this, she's still alive, I say was, she is a.
Joe Oz (20:43.476)
Yeah.
Laura Fore (21:04.744)
very exotic Turkish ballerina type. So I had a very colorful childhood. And yes, I am confident that has a lot to do with who I am. Yeah.
Joe Oz (21:08.395)
Wow.
Joe Oz (21:16.777)
That's cool. I want to hear more about your family. you a Turkish ballerina? Tell us about that, man. What did you...
Laura Fore (21:24.692)
so my mother's from Turkey. and my dad is not, he is from New Jersey. And I guess their story in a nutshell, my mom was in the Turkish ballet company, you know, touring with the ballet company all over Europe, but they got a summer break and she went to New Jersey to visit her brother who was in medical school.
Joe Oz (21:33.843)
Yes!
Laura Fore (21:53.875)
my uncle Tanner and he was good friends with my dad. And you know, she couldn't speak a lick of English at all. She was very beautiful and she was actually a Chanel face model for a short period of time. Short lady though, didn't do runways. So she did do some modeling in New York. So she was, you know, a knockout and dad, you know, I'm sure drooled over her over that summer. And then she had to go back.
Joe Oz (22:08.617)
What?
Laura Fore (22:24.148)
to Turkey to get back on tour with her ballet company and he chased her and you know proposed and brought her back again still didn't speak English but she speaks she speaks a lot of it now so so yeah um and my dad was into airplanes and aviation and Mooney Aerospace which is a company here in Kerrville
Joe Oz (22:35.475)
Really?
Laura Fore (22:52.22)
Little Kerrville, Texas is what brought my family or my parents here to settle. Gosh, this would have been the late 70s. And my mom opened up a dance ballet school here and taught ballet to the Shriner University students. And my dad did his airplane thing and they had my sister and then they had me. So there you go.
Joe Oz (23:13.95)
That's cool. That's cool. See, this is what I'm talking about. That's the interesting shit, right? so he went, he like went to Turkey, was like, I'm gonna grab you and.
Laura Fore (23:19.892)
Look at all that!
Laura Fore (23:24.564)
Like I'm gonna keep that. Yep. I'm taking this.
Joe Oz (23:29.46)
Wow, did you start real estate when your modeling career ended as well, or what did that look like?
Laura Fore (23:35.605)
No modeling here. Now Micah actually did some modeling my husband, but He's my my trophy husband now I got into Real estate Let's see. So we opened in 2008 and I can do math. That's that's what we're 25. So 17 years we've been open and then I got licensed in 2006 and But I was in the real estate field in 2002
Joe Oz (23:44.33)
Hahaha
Laura Fore (24:05.392)
And that was kind of random in a way. It was college. It was how I met my husband. He's the one that influenced me to get into real estate. So I was an art major, you know, kind of enjoying freeloading off my dad and college life and going to the beach. And I was, you know, I my husband, Micah. He was working for a real estate company that was a boutique-esque, you know, ocean drive dominating type of firm. And
So we were dating and he's been working since he was like 12. He's from Oklahoma. Super different family entirely. And I feel like we're just two totally different cultures entirely. But we fell in love and really liked each other. I never had a job. I never had a job. And like I said, just kind of.
Joe Oz (24:39.09)
Wow, yeah, tell us about Mokka.
Joe Oz (24:55.045)
Aww.
Laura Fore (25:02.31)
and joined myself in college and I felt really sorry for my dad and he said, you know, I really like you. I think you're great, but.
Joe Oz (25:04.49)
Ha ha ha ha ha
Laura Fore (25:13.268)
you need to cut your dad off and I feel sorry for Jeff and you need to get a job. And I was kind of like, well, I really like volunteering for free at the museum. This is great. And he was like, no, think, you know, why don't you get a summer gig job at my firm for one of our top agents. You can be their assistant, see how you like it. It'll be great. And so he did. He hooked me up with, you know, that agent and every office has one where they could sell ice to an Eskimo.
And so I went to work for him over a summer and just got totally immersed in this fascinating world of real estate. So I went with him to his listing appointments and helped him with showings. then I was doing his, cause I did a lot of graphic design and arts major stuff. And so was doing his newsletter and then I was helping him with paperwork. And then all the sweet ladies in the office were like, darling, you need to get your license. You'd be so good at this. And so I was like, okay, I'll do that too.
And so I got my license, but then, you know, I was running around with Micah and his office and all his staff mates and they were really cool, tight office. And so his boss ended up saying, you, you work for me now. And I was like, okay, salary. I liked that too. I was still an agent. And then, we ended up, gosh, I felt like I was just there from sunup to sundown. First man in and last man out, agent hiring, firing, training.
Joe Oz (26:36.756)
Wow.
Laura Fore (26:40.166)
and implementing all these kind of systems. Then we morphed into the Keller Williams Market Center when Keller Williams was the big market disruptor. This is how old I am, right? This was a while back. And so we launched, we left the luxury boutique office and ditched that model and that niche for the big market center and.
Joe Oz (26:54.483)
Yeah.
Laura Fore (27:05.172)
had a total change of environment entirely. We went from a small office with high dollar listings to a large office with lower, more average price points. And it's not saying one niche is better than the other, but they gave me an opportunity to kind of pick the goody, the good, bad and ugly from both models, right? Cause I got to get heavily entrenched in both. So, I went from the,
Joe Oz (27:26.334)
Yeah.
Laura Fore (27:33.777)
low, you know, I did no job and all of that lack of motivation, if you will, to just being an incredible real estate junkie. And, you know, I thrived on it and lived and breathed it. And I was, you know, number two in that office for, you know, a while there and managed all of my bosses, you know, higher end properties and all those heavy expectations with that clientele as well as
run in the office and things like that. So, you know, a little light bulb went off in our minds and we were like, well, we're either gonna stay here and kind of settle here or we're gonna go ahead and move to the hill country, which is what we ended up doing. And it was the best experience. You just cannot put a dollar amount on that. And it was a brief period of time where you just went from, you know, assistant to top of the food chain. Like it was great. And so we, know,
really got to know operationally how a brokerage functions. And so we had a lead coordinator, a file review department, a marketing director, all the things. So it was awesome.
Joe Oz (28:46.153)
Wow, that's cool. Do you have, what about kids? Do you have kids?
Laura Fore (28:49.94)
We have kids. have two daughters. They're close in birthday, so we're gearing up for Vivian's eighth birthday at the end of this month. And then Olivia turns 11. On Halloween day, Halloween day, and we're taking Olivia, I don't know if you've been there, to Salem for Halloween. I'm so excited. I'm like a spooky freak. I love all the stuff.
Joe Oz (29:02.119)
Wow, what do they like to do?
Joe Oz (29:10.885)
not been there. Have you?
Joe Oz (29:16.07)
Haha
Laura Fore (29:17.98)
And so, yes, I'm very excited. We're all gonna go for three, I think three or four nights. Yeah, I'm excited.
Joe Oz (29:24.925)
That's awesome.
We go to the Oogie Boogie Bash at Disneyland, at California Adventure. Do you know what that is?
Laura Fore (29:34.228)
I haven't done any of the Disney stuff. I really want to do that.
Joe Oz (29:37.161)
Yo, are you like a Tim Burton person? Nightmare Before Christmas? Yeah, yeah.
Laura Fore (29:42.742)
yes, loved him. So he's got all his stuff, all his attractions are there.
Joe Oz (29:48.042)
So the haunted mansion they turn it into like a nightmare before Christmas they like redo the whole thing it's the craziest thing I've ever seen like and I'm not a You can't I'm not a theme park person. I'm not a whatever and But yeah, we do the oogie boogie bash is like so there's Disneyland there's California Adventure So this happens at California Adventure they like shut it down at like 4 p.m. And then you essentially kids go trick-or-treating and they have like like they have all these like like
Laura Fore (29:56.595)
in that way.
Laura Fore (30:01.789)
Right.
Joe Oz (30:18.017)
I think they call it treat lines. Like they set up and they have different characters from different like haunted like Walt Disney stuff and it's the coolest. It's like so cool. I like love it. And yeah, we got tickets for that. So I'm pretty excited. Is Halloween your favorite holiday?
Laura Fore (30:21.524)
That's so cool.
Laura Fore (30:28.851)
right.
Laura Fore (30:34.664)
holiday by far. Yep. Spooky girl.
Joe Oz (30:37.833)
That's cool, had... So my first podcast was Spencer Dorsey. He has a merch company called Discount Cemetery. It's like horror based, right? It's like really, like shout out...
Laura Fore (30:49.683)
I don't know.
I like Halloween, but I don't want to drive a hearse and no, no, I'm just kidding. I'm teasing.
Joe Oz (30:59.527)
He's like, no, no, it's a merch company. It's called Discount Cemetery. So he does t-shirts and apparel. And then we published, he's like an old friend of mine from Jersey, and then we published the podcast, and it got so many views. He's famous in that.
Laura Fore (31:06.132)
I'll check it out.
Laura Fore (31:15.86)
Okay, what is it called again? It's this is called Cemetery.
Joe Oz (31:18.377)
It's called Discount Cemetery, but the dude's name is Spencer Dorsey. He's worth following. He's really funny. He's like has a great personality and the whole vibe is like keep Halloween like alive in your neighborhood like year-round like that's the vibe or whatever and he and he's like he's like he was on the big pot like my pot this this is fun I like doing this but he was on like another like big podcast recently but it was funny because
Laura Fore (31:27.387)
cash on credit.
Laura Fore (31:36.924)
my, this is fun.
Laura Fore (31:46.836)
See later, come on.
Joe Oz (31:48.233)
my real estate podcast like I that's the only non real estate podcast that did and uh and he yeah he was an old dude he's an old friend of mine from like jersey we hadn't talked in years and we connected back on on instagram and it was fun no that's not true johnny from newport beach surf camp he was my first he was the first one who you met who gave you surf lessons right so johnny was the first one then it was
Laura Fore (31:53.832)
okay.
Laura Fore (32:07.993)
Okay. Who I met? Yes.
Joe Oz (32:15.249)
So I did like my friends first and I'm like, all right, like I was scared that I'm like, all right, now I'm going to go get my, I'm going to go ask like the really cool realtors that I'm scared of to do my podcast. But so what do you, all right, cool. So now we're getting into the fun stuff. What else do you like to do outside of, what do you like to do outside of work?
Laura Fore (32:34.452)
There's not a lot going on outside of work. No, I think I'm currently at the minute very much into becoming a plant freak person. And I went from having a black thumb, fake plants, would be very not into it, didn't understand it, to completely trying to collect all of them.
So that's kind of what my little world is right now is playing with my plants and my patio and trying to create a little Zen sanctuary to decompress in. That's kind of my thing, my jam at the minute. We're resurfacing the pools and so we're trying to just get that that whole area like on point and
It's funny because, you know, I'm so focused over here, but my closet right now really needs an overhaul. So anyway, that's just kind of the minute focus, but I would say in general, what would I like to be doing for fun? I mean, just traveling and living in Monaco. Let's see. No, I'd say travel, eating and traveling. That's what I would love to be doing for fun.
Joe Oz (33:43.239)
Mm-hmm.
Laura Fore (33:53.118)
But for now, it's plants. For now, it's plants.
Joe Oz (33:53.491)
You know, right here, my... My next question here is, if you could take a month off to travel anywhere, where would you go?
Laura Fore (34:05.3)
Well, it would just be Europe. Europe in general. I would cover every square inch of it. Yes.
Joe Oz (34:14.15)
Wherever you've been, that's like your favorite place that you've been. That you're like, like this is...
Laura Fore (34:17.78)
I went to Northern Italy and loved that. They had puffy hydrangea bushes as tall as 10 feet high everywhere with just abandoned mansions along a lake that they were practically giving away. I was just like, yes, I will live there. I will live there. I will take this abandoned mansion with no power and be just fine.
Joe Oz (34:39.304)
Really? Wow. Wow.
Joe Oz (34:47.304)
Wow. What's a... Have you been out of the country recently? Like when was the last time you went out of the country?
Laura Fore (34:54.932)
I went to Bora Bora with my girlfriend Amber, which is so amazing. She's a State Farm agent and she had an incredible year and that company is awesome if you have any State Farm friends. that she, you know, they give out vacations and they're amazingly curated trips and they've got their kind of more
Joe Oz (35:09.458)
Sick.
Joe Oz (35:18.364)
Wow.
Laura Fore (35:21.76)
European and that kind of vacation for the agents that do well and are successful and productive or they have this like really high trip, which is the pinnacle called their exotic. Well, Amber hit exotic and so her and her husband were going to go to Bora Bora for 10 days and her son got sick and her husband didn't feel comfortable leaving. So literally she called me up and she was like, what are you doing this weekend?
And I was like, nothing. Why? And she was like, well, you want to go to Bora Bora with me? I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And she was like, 10 days, you're in? I was like, I'm in. I've got my passport. Let's go. And we just left. I mean, like, and had a lifetime. Oh my gosh. Incredible. Just amazing. I mean, it's halfway between where you are, California and Australia.
Joe Oz (36:06.822)
Was it aw- Was it awesome?
Laura Fore (36:18.42)
It's like a teeny tiny little speck in the middle of all this ocean. And it was paradise. It was incredible. It was like the Blue Lagoon and we were looking for black pearls all day and it was at St. Regis. So it was insane. It was awesome. Oh yeah, you bet. You bet. And it was funny. It was Amber and I, but they started, the people that,
Joe Oz (36:37.032)
Were you on like one of those huts above the water?
Laura Fore (36:48.404)
clean your room and do all of that. They leave these little cards and by the end of the trip we were Mrs. and Mrs. Thomas and we were just laughing. know, because it's like the most romantic, you know, so I was like, you can call me Mrs. Thomas and it's fine. It's fine. We had an incredible time. I mean, we were venturing all over those islands. It was great.
Joe Oz (36:56.946)
That's funny.
Uh-huh, yeah, totally.
Joe Oz (37:07.324)
That's how...
Joe Oz (37:12.69)
How do you get there? Was there like a, is it like a whole thing, like there?
Laura Fore (37:16.88)
A long flight. So we flew to LA and then from LA, gosh, now I can't remember, Tahiti, is that right? And then a little plane to Bora Bora. So we had two legs of the trip. So it was awesome though. Really, really unique. The water is undescribable. It's just, it's magical.
Joe Oz (37:26.182)
Yeah, yeah, sounds about right.
Yep.
Joe Oz (37:35.41)
Dude, we did this.
Laura Fore (37:44.454)
It's like the Garden of Aden over there, especially under the water, you know, and it's incredible.
Joe Oz (37:50.706)
We went, my wife Nicole is her name, Nicole and I, our honeymoon was in Fiji. So we did kind of like a similar, we did the like, yeah, took the plane ride from LA to the town is like Nandi, right? And then we took a prop plane to, and then like a boat to the island. was so cool.
Laura Fore (37:56.359)
How?
Laura Fore (38:05.224)
Mm-hmm. There you go. Very remote. Very remote. It was awesome.
Joe Oz (38:13.795)
I was like, this is crazy. I'm not really a guy that like, I'm not really your like sit still, relax guy. So it took some getting used to, but it was really, really nice.
Laura Fore (38:23.728)
Exactly.
Joe Oz (38:27.61)
How do you relax? How do you relax? Like, so you go away for 10 days of Bora Bora, you're used to like coffee shops and kids and all that, like how do you shut it down or do you? Yeah, yeah. You know.
Laura Fore (38:36.212)
don't think I know how relax, Jo. Honestly, I really don't think I do. Maybe one day? I don't sit still very well. I guess honestly, if I get sick, okay, there you go. If I get sick, then I'll relax. And what do I do? I will order Chinese takeout and curl up in bed and watch British shows. That's literally what I love to do. That's relaxing for me with my cat.
Joe Oz (38:47.76)
Of course.
Joe Oz (39:04.718)
Uh-huh.
Laura Fore (39:06.152)
There you go.
Joe Oz (39:07.653)
Laura, you're funny. Like getting to know you, you're like, you have a good sense of humor. Yo, first of all, when I was having my second kid, right, I have two boys, right, Max and I, when I was having my second child, a buddy of mine who already had two kids, he was like, you have another one? This is what said to me, goes, you'll never know.
Laura Fore (39:10.26)
you
Joe Oz (39:27.045)
what you did with all your free time, right? And I didn't believe it. I'm like, what are you talking about, dude? I have a kid, dude. My free time's gone. He's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You'll never know. And then it happened, and I was like, holy shit. Having one kid was like being single, dude. I'm like, dude, I got all the time. I'm like, dude, this is sick, right? I can like... And so...
Laura Fore (39:45.134)
Hahaha
Joe Oz (39:52.37)
I was gonna say like, your life is probably just like, like it sounds like I see a lot of similarities. It's just go, go, go, go, go. With two kids, it's no joke, right? And then to the point, you know what's so funny? Nicole and I, like, dude, we rarely, like we try really hard to do like date night, you know? And we do, we do it at least, yeah, like bi-weekly at the least, right? Like every other week, we try to do it every week, but every other week, we got to sit her for like three hours and then we went and got.
Laura Fore (40:01.896)
Right.
Laura Fore (40:11.38)
We're doing that too now. Yes.
Laura Fore (40:20.574)
Thanks.
Joe Oz (40:20.839)
like sushi and we ate the sushi and we like ate it fast I guess like it was over in like 45 minutes and we were in this like kind of like strip mall thing and we're like what do we do and like we looked at each other there was like a Nordstrom we're like let's walk around Nordstrom
Laura Fore (40:32.466)
I know what we do with ourselves. It's true. Let's go home. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, it's so true. It's so true.
Joe Oz (40:43.175)
I was like, we're losers. We used to do so much fun shit. like, you know, I think I was like, yeah, do you want to go in North term? She's like, yeah. She's like, Milo needs some crocs.
Laura Fore (40:53.46)
I mean, took like one trip, just Mike and I, the whole time we like, what about the kids? I mean, it's like, yeah, I get it.
Joe Oz (41:02.143)
cough cough
Joe Oz (41:06.867)
god, that's funny man. I'm gonna ask you couple more questions here. Who is the celebrity that you met that was cool?
Laura Fore (41:17.94)
that I met? I haven't met very many. I mean, there's you. Well, who have you met? I live in Kerrville, Texas, dude. You live in California. You're surrounded by celebrities. How about King of Cleveland?
Joe Oz (41:21.957)
Besides me, not me. I don't count.
Joe Oz (41:29.27)
Joe Oz (41:37.029)
That is true. I do hang out with lot of famous people, but this isn't about me, Laura, this is about you. I don't know, that's a good question. Usually people, so...
Laura Fore (41:44.532)
What would you want to go to dinner with?
Joe Oz (41:48.292)
Okay, that's actually, that's funny, that's question that's here. Who would I want to go to dinner with? You know, I'm kind of a dork. Like, I would probably, like if I turn around and I look at like all my books, right, I would probably say like, dude, like Simon Sinek or like Susan Scott or like somebody like, dude, I would love to go to dinner with like Jim Rohn, like a leadership person or like John Maxwell.
For me, think, like leadership, God man, like I worked really hard. I tried to start, like when I first started running a business, I ran it very poorly. I realized I wasn't a very good leader. It goes back to the like thinking about other people and like what that whole thing that you were talking about, that's why I was very intrigued. You know, it's funny, sometimes you gotta look within, but like yeah, I don't believe that leaders are.
born, I think that they're like made man and I think like it has a lot to do with servant leadership and like and really like how do you get people to do the shit you want them to do right? Like honestly like you just have to explain at a really high level make it very clear how it's going to benefit not only them but like everyone around us right? And if it doesn't benefit everyone we probably shouldn't be doing it so if I was to have dinner it would probably be one of one of those folks. What about you?
Laura Fore (42:58.792)
And that's it.
Laura Fore (43:08.916)
Okay, well I was still thinking like just celebrity, know, just a random.
Joe Oz (43:14.235)
Well Scarlett Johansson is my girlfriend and she doesn't know that or whatever and so like I can say I'll do that one. I like. Yeah that's all.
Laura Fore (43:23.508)
I would probably have two different answers for two different dinners. I think like somebody that's just intriguing and has a different brain wavelength. Okay, like the Elon Musk, know, like, you know, Michelangelo over here.
all these cool things and being super different brain wave length every all of that that would be really cool probably for a minute I have a feeling though that you would feel somehow you'd walk away uncomfortable after a dinner with him that's my thoughts and then but if I could just pick like a random celebrity to go have dinner with and it would probably be like Paul Rudd
Joe Oz (44:01.668)
yeah. yeah.
Laura Fore (44:10.706)
you know, someone that just seems super like down to earth and you know, approachable, charming, funny. I go for funny. I need somebody to make me laugh. I don't want to be too weirded out at dinner. So I think I'd probably go with someone that'll make me crack up, like, or Bill Murray or, you know, somebody like that. Sounds great to me. I probably lean towards comedians,
Joe Oz (44:14.231)
that's a good one.
Joe Oz (44:21.807)
Hmm.
Joe Oz (44:38.777)
I'm at Bill Murray.
Laura Fore (44:40.142)
Stop. I'm jealous. Daisy on your wall, your shrine.
Joe Oz (44:41.87)
In your face. How bummed are you?
Joe Oz (44:47.686)
Holy shit. So we used to go, I grew up in Jersey. We used to go to, I was a Mets fan, New York Mets, the baseball team. We used to go to Queens and go to baseball games constantly and I would like sit outside. You know, after the game, there's like the door that the baseball players come out of sometimes, you know? And it's funny, man, like some of them would like walk, like they'd walk to their cars or whatever, right? Like outside the stadium and I would stand there to meet everyone and yeah, then you put, fuck yeah. And then like,
Laura Fore (45:11.902)
and then you pounce.
Joe Oz (45:17.19)
It was so exciting and Bill Murray, it was called the Diamond Club, right? And then Bill Murray walked out and he, I was a kid, right? It was me and my sister and my dad and I had my baseball that I was having signed by all the New York Mets and it's funny, I kept the sweet spot of the baseball open for my favorite player, which is like Greg Jeffries. My dream was like, him and I'll be like, I left this spot open for you on the baseball. Bill Murray comes out.
And my sister screams, it's Bob. She goes, it's Bob. It's Bob from like, what about Bob, right? And we had been watching what about Bob that summer, like over and over and over. We had like the VHS in our house. my dad put like, kind of gave me a nudge. like, get his autograph. And I was like, And Bill Murray just grabbed my ball and pen and just signed it right on the sweet spot that I was like saving. I remember being bummed. I was like, what, dude? And my dad.
Laura Fore (45:51.604)
Thank
Laura Fore (46:07.54)
They're like, no!
Not there!
Joe Oz (46:13.444)
My dad was like psyched and I remember Bill Murray was like the most homeless looking person. had, was like summertime, had a big, like you know like the brown overcoat you wear in like New York, you know, whatever. He had one of those on and he just was like, so, he looked homeless man. He looked like so wrecked and yeah, that was it. So I met Bill, I met Bill, yeah I met Bill Murray man. It was good. I don't know, I used to,
Laura Fore (46:24.243)
Yeah.
Joe Oz (46:43.238)
I used to tour with bands when I was younger, so I met a lot of people, man, like, just been in a lot of backstage areas and rooms and I think one night I partied with, well, Vince Vaughn, was Vince Vaughn, Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine, it was a Pennywise show in Anaheim, California, but it was actually like a motocross, it was a motocross award show that Pennywise was playing and I just happened to be there hanging out with like the band.
and then like Kerry King from Slayer, like all these people just started coming in the green room and it was pretty crazy man. Yeah, it was pretty nuts. It was pretty wild. So I was really lucky to be in a lot of those kind of rooms. It was really, really neat. Where is your real estate company going? What's the goal? Where do you see the company in like two, three years from now?
Laura Fore (47:17.8)
That sounds awesome.
Laura Fore (47:38.709)
well, we're bolstering our presence in Fredericksburg and growing there. We're currently number one real estate firm there. And so I'm very excited about that because we just just opened over there really, probably no more than maybe a year ago. And so very excited about that. That's kind of where my focus is. I would say for the next year or two, you know, I'm very happy.
Joe Oz (47:49.798)
Congrats.
Laura Fore (48:06.548)
in my market. love being a strong local brand, if you will, an independent firm. And because I can't pivot my ship wherever I want to go, but I'm also a firm believer. And we said this too, just because you can doesn't mean you should. So I don't want to spread myself too thin. I'm pretty happy with, you know, my stable and
and what we've got going on between current Gillespie County. So, but you know, if opportunities present themselves and yeah, I'm always, I'm always looking, can't help it. It's like real estate, we're always looking, right? So, it's like that, yeah.
Joe Oz (48:43.184)
Mm-hmm.
Well listen, I think the next time I'll see you is at Unlock, right? Yeah. Cool, is there anything I didn't ask that I should have asked?
Laura Fore (48:50.194)
Yes.
Laura Fore (48:56.884)
Hmmmm
Laura Fore (49:01.086)
So I don't think so. You've been quite thorough. No, I think that you did a great job. This was fun. Thank you so much. And I'm excited about Vegas. I'm going to see if I can get tickets to the Sphere. Did you do the Sphere? That is cool. They're doing the Wizard of Oz thing right now. So I'm going to see if I can sneak away for that. and did you see our email? We've got Jessica Alba coming to our unlock. Did you see that?
Joe Oz (49:16.794)
You know, I didn't...
Joe Oz (49:29.338)
How cool is that? How cool is that? Whoa!
Laura Fore (49:31.496)
Maybe save a spot on your baseball for her to sign for you and.
Joe Oz (49:36.646)
You know, I heard Jessica Alba was like, I'm keynoting a conference that Joe Oz is speaking at. I heard her say that, which was kind of weird. I'm on a panel in a basement somewhere where no one can find me. But I am going to be like, yeah, I'm on a panel at a conference with Jessica Alba who will be, you know.
Laura Fore (49:43.22)
It was going to be there. It was going to be there.
Laura Fore (49:55.379)
Bye
Laura Fore (50:02.632)
Thanks
Joe Oz (50:03.365)
It's no big deal. Dude, I was at Inman. I'm an Inman ambassador, whatever, and Tony Hawk was the keynote speaker. I'm like, me and Tony are doing the big stage. I walked on the stage before he was on it. But anyway, I'm excited. No, I haven't prepped at all.
Laura Fore (50:06.814)
Very cool.
Laura Fore (50:13.625)
and I.
Joe Oz (50:24.517)
Dude, you know what I was thinking is how we did the Newport thing. was like, so I was just talking with Abel and Christina and we were like, dude, we should do another AAB thing, like an event or something in Vegas. And yeah, like just for us, just for us, you cause like that group.
Laura Fore (50:37.15)
like a little extracurricular activity.
Laura Fore (50:43.252)
things is hanging out in the pools, honestly. Those are so cool.
Joe Oz (50:46.073)
That's true. That's true. Well I said there's no surfing and then Abel's like, dude, this is what Abel says, I swear to God.
Laura Fore (50:51.972)
We could go to Meow Wolf. That's fun. Meow Wolf? It's like an art immersive warehouse where you go into this different world and everything is like, yes, Joe, how do you not know this? There's Meow Wolfs all over the place. It's super cool. Meow Wolf is fun. The sphere is fun, but not as interactive, right? You're just watching us green together. But Meow Wolf is a lot of fun. We're hanging out at the pool.
Joe Oz (50:55.961)
What is it? What is that?
Joe Oz (51:04.291)
It's called Meow Wolf.
Joe Oz (51:10.149)
That's why I'm asking you. I'm like a...
Joe Oz (51:18.969)
You know, I'm gonna write that down. You know what? Hang on, you know what Abel said? You know what he suggested? He goes this, he goes, in Vegas you can like rent a helicopter and shoot guns out of it. And I was like, I'm not.
Laura Fore (51:21.972)
It's fun.
Hmm.
Laura Fore (51:32.116)
Did you see they have this like mud pit where you can actually like operate heavy machinery and like try to play basketball with a crane? I mean and all this stuff. Have you seen this? I was kind of intrigued by that. I was like, well maybe if I can work that in. I'm gonna work that in. I want to go to a dead mouse concert at a pool and there you go.
Joe Oz (51:46.821)
I'm glad I asked you. You're getting the...
Joe Oz (51:55.845)
that sounds fun. Dude, hell yeah. That sounds good. Alright, cool. I'm gonna stop this now. Don't go anywhere yet. I'm gonna say goodbye to you. I'm just gonna stop this.
Laura Fore (52:03.701)
Okay.