Celebrating 21 Years of Grit: Lessons from Building a Notary Business

This January marks 21 years since I began my journey as a notary public. Mobile notaries were a small profession when I started, and the road to building a sustainable business was far from clear. Looking back, I can see that grit—the passion and perseverance to keep going despite setbacks—was the key ingredient that got me here.

From assignments that went sideways to uncooperative facilities and misinformed signers, I’ve faced more challenges than I can count. Yet, each one taught me invaluable lessons and helped shape the business I proudly celebrate today.

The Challenges That Built My Grit

Unpredictable Assignments

Early on, I took on signings in assisted living facilities and hospitals. These settings often came with complications—unprepared signers, misunderstandings about what notaries can and cannot do, and the occasional attempt to renegotiate fees after I’d arrived.

I...

Reintroducing TNT: Where It Began and Where It’s Headed

Have you ever wondered how Tuesday Notary Titans (TNT) got started or how it’s evolved over the years? As we prepare to relaunch for 2025, I wanted to share its journey, its impact, and what exciting updates you can expect moving forward.

How It All Began

Almost seven years ago, TNT started as a collaboration between Carol Ray, and Bill Soroka. Back then, it was called the Breakfast Club, and I was relatively unknown outside of California and the National Notary Association (NNA). The opportunity to co-host this call, answer notary questions from across the country, and provide micro-lessons helped me grow alongside the audience.

Working with Carol Ray was a turning point in my career. She was the first speaker at my in-person Notary Symposium in Modesto, CA, and she encouraged me to formalize my coaching practice. It was her invitation to join the Breakfast Club that truly expanded my reach and impact in the notary...

The Duty of a Notary: More Than Just a Job—It's a Responsibility that takes grit and Integrity.

As notaries public, we hold a unique and vital position in the legal and business world. Our role, often perceived as straightforward-witnessing signatures, administering oaths, and verifying completeness, is, in fact, a complex and crucial duty. We meet our mission each time we execute our notary certificates correctly and fully complete the task of verifying that the right person is signing the documents. It's about fulfilling a fiduciary duty to the people we serve.

Duty: Not What Everyone Else Does, But What We Are Obligated to Do

Our duty as notaries is to adhere to our professional and legal obligations. This sets us apart from the average person—it's our commitment to a higher standard of Integrity and responsibility. Being a notary means stepping up to a level of responsibility beyond simple honesty. It requires us to act with Integrity, fairness, and transparency, not...

I am back, with what I hope are helpful steps to confirm with your signer either after you accepted the job from the hiring company or when it is direct with the signer.

Last week I gave you a list of questions I suggested you use before saying yes to the job to ensure it is the right one for you.  You cannot rely that the Title Co or Signing Service has already asked and verified everything is good for you to notarize.  So, when you make your confirmation call with the signer consider the following questions.

Questions for the Signers:

1. Do they have valid ID?
   It's crucial to ensure compliance with state requirements. Be specific—ask for a state driver's license, non-driver ID, or US passport or whatever is on your list of acceptable IDs.

2. Will all required signers be present?
   This prevents unnecessary second trips.

3. Are witnesses needed?
   In states like Florida or Georgia, witnesses are required on Deeds, so if witnesses are required, can the signers...

Let's talk about being confident before you go to the job site.  I mean "Know Before You Go"

There has been a small uptick in Loan Signing appointments and for some of us, it has been a minute since we got these calls.  It is not enough to get the call, we need to accept the right jobs for our business, and feel confident we will get paid after it is completed. 

As a notary, I thrive on handling assignments that are efficient and lead to successful outcomes. One of the keys to achieving this is knowing potential pitfalls before I even step out the door. Here’s a comprehensive guide to the essential questions to ask before your notary signing, tailored to different types of services.  If you have others, I would love you to share with me!

Real Estate Closings: The Essential Questions

When it comes to real estate closings, I typically ask a series of questions twice—first for the hiring party and then for the signers.

Questions for the Hiring Party:

1. ...

Laura Biewer and Valerie VanBooven discuss providing notary service in facilities or in homes of the elderly.

---- Raw Transcription of Video ---

Valerie (00:00):
This is Valerie VanBooven with the Senior Care Industry Netcast, where leaders with three or more years of experience share their advice. So let's get to it in a few sentences. Tell us who you are and what you do.

Laura (00:13):
Thank you, Valerie. My name is Laura beware and I serve the public by providing notary services and I focus and specialize for those services to be in hospital setting, skilled nursing assisted living homes of the elderly, those who need access, but can't get to notary services.

Valerie (00:34):
And we were just talking before this interview started about how important this is and how important it is for a notary who's going to be doing notarizations and things like this in these settings, how important it's for them to understand what's going on a little bit better maybe than just...

Hi, this is Laura Biewer, Founder of CoachMeLaura.com and the Founder of the Notary Symposium - an event by notaries for notaries.

I want to share some important information with you that can financially help you and your business. It is called the Paycheck Protection Program or PPP, and it comes under the Cares Act. It helps companies and independent contractors who have had difficulty because of the Corona virus and shut down that we experienced.

If you were in business before February 15th of 2020, and you had at least a gross income of $5,000 in either of those years, you can apply. I personally applied back in April of 2020. I was approved and I did receive a check directly to my business account. The calculation, however has changed, and it's now easier and you can qualify for more money to easily calculate what you might receive.

Just take either your 2019 tax return or your 2020, whichever is greater. Look at line seven on your schedule C. Take that amount, divide by 12,...

Hi, this is Laura Biewer with CoachMeLaura.com, the Notary Symposium, and At Your Service Mobile Notary.

You know, I have a question. Do we treat our time like money? Because if our time is like money, and many agree it is, then why would we give it away?

It's important that we say YES to the right opportunities, and decline or say NO to some of the other ones. Your main goal should be to only take on what you know you have time for, and for those things you truly care about.

Now I'm writing about this because I'm not that good at it. I'm constantly taking jobs and fitting one more in than what I had planned for, which will make me late, cause me to be in a hurry. I have taken jobs that are financially not appropriate for me.

I have taken a last minute unscheduled call that said, do you have a minute? And it was 20 minutes! I've been sucked into that rabbit hole called Facebook!

So these are examples of sharing my most valuable asset, my time. And it takes away from my family, from...

Hi, this is Laura with Coach Me Laura and At Your Service Mobile Notary.

Today let's chat about a commonly requested act from us called "Copy Certification". This is when the signer brings a document and they need it to be certified that it is a true copy, they're asking for notarization. This is one of the only times we are performing a notarization where there's no signature involved!

If you're in one of the 20 States that has this notarial act, congratulations, you get to do it! There will be procedures involved, for instance, whether you need to make the copy or not, whether you need to keep a copy or not. There will be certificate language for you to use that is specific to this.

Also, there are some restrictions for all 50 States. These restrictions are for vital records like birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates, or publicly recorded documents like real estate or court documents. These are documents that we will NOT be making a certification of the...

Hi, this is Laura with Coach Me Laura and At Your Service Mobile Notary, I want to check in with you today about how to take your knowledge, your skill, your expertise serving the public as a notary, and make money while you're doing it!

First of all, we need to get it off of 'someday' and make it now. So how are we going to do that? Well, we're going to expect it, and the way we're going to demonstrate that expectation is we're going to start doing what we can with what we have, and where we are. We're going to start making appointments with ourselves on our calendar for some steps that I can take to get myself closer to being whatever kind of notary it is that you want to be.

I'm a six figure notary. Would you like to be a six figure notary? You can do that! It's not enough to be interested. Interested means when it's convenient, I might do some work towards it. Committed means I do the work, whether I feel like it or not, right? Cause that's what's going to get me there.

So...