I have spent the last few months interviewing other notaries and learning about their journeys to becoming a Notary. It has caused me to take some time to reflect on my journey. And the place where I am now, I never even considered being. At least not this early in my career. Today I am sharing with you my origin story. Well, maybe not where I originated from, but perhaps the origin of my notary career. 

After hearing so many other notaries' stories, where mine started isn’t all that unique. Five years ago, I had no real understanding of what a Notary was or what the purpose of a Notary was. At the time, I worked for a group of doctors who bought, built, and leased commercial property. I handled the bookkeeping, property management, operations, and so much more. One day in 2016, I think, one of the doctors needed a document notarized. He advised me to reach out to one of my contacts at the bank. That contact was a Notary. I started to ask a lot of questions all about what a Notary was and what a Notary did. She graciously answered all my questions and invited me to join her as she performed the notarization. So I joined and watched. “So all you do is stamp and sign documents?” I asked her. She chuckled at me and responded. “Oh no, we can and do so much more than that.” Well, that turned on my curiosity switch. 

My curiosity switch has a history of sending me down the rabbit hole of whatever subject has piqued my attention. I dreamed of being a farmer and having chickens, years before I had the space or ability to have chickens. I started researching and studying every detail I could get my hands on. By the time we got the chickens, I was an expert. The same thing happened when I wanted to grow as much of our food as possible. I started with studying soil to fully understand everything that goes into growing our food. I learned everything there was to know about healthy soil. I was reading science books, and trust me, my family thought I was crazy. You can call me obsessive. I want to work out the idea to complete understanding. This is what happened when the idea of a Notary Public triggered that infamous switch. 

So the research began in 2016. I started on YouTube, I ordered some books, I followed Notary influencers, and joined Zoom calls and conventions. By the beginning of 2017, I was pretty confident that I wanted to be a Notary and Loan Signing Agent. Pulling the trigger took longer than it did with the chickens and the vegetable garden. I was dragging my feet. Like so many other hopeful entrepreneurs, I was sitting in fear. Not fear of being a Notary but of whether or not it was a good time to risk the second income I provided for my family. I needed a push. That push came violently on Labor Day in 2018.

On Labor Day in 2018, I was rushed to the emergency room because I had an ectopic pregnancy that ruptured, and I was losing a massive amount of blood, hemorrhaging internally. Many people didn’t think this was a big deal because I was home the next day. But I am here to tell you this was a serious life-and-death situation. There was a 5-10 minute window between me living and dying that day. Someone making a different decision, taking a different route to the hospital, and so many other things that had they gone differently, I wouldn’t be writing this today. The year following this event, I was in a  weird, self-reflective, searching-for-answers kind of place. You know, asking the question of all questions; “Why am I here? What is my purpose?” 

During this time of reflection, I was still digging into and learning about being a Notary. Except now, my priorities have changed. I valued the time I had with my family, my friends, and my community. Time, that was still at the mercy of a paycheck. Mid-2020, I made the decision. I was going to start my own business and be my own boss. I gave notice to my employer that I would be leaving at the end of the year. I started drilling down on the next steps I needed to take. I scheduled my Notary 6-hour course for the first week of January 2021. 

In the following months, I took care of all the other business decisions I needed to make to set up a legal and legitimate business. I figured out my name, got my domain name, paid someone at Fiverr to design my logo, and got my act 100% together. I planned to open my doors the Monday after my son's last school day before summer.

I received my commission in February of 2021 and took my first signing appointment on June 14th, 2021. The day I am writing this is Monday, May 22 in 2023. I am 2.5 years into my commission, and what a ride it has been up to this point. In the last 2.5 years, I started a local Notary Networking Group, working directly with title companies 30 days after opening my doors and developing deep friendships with the Notary influencers I first found years earlier. I started helping notaries that were coming up behind me, and my business flourished. 

I have had profitable and busy seasons, and I have given up. I have refocused and recentred and added skills and mastery to my business - all in that time frame.

Today, there are those in the Notary industry that now call me a Notary influencer. That's a weird word for me even to write, but it's where I am on my journey today.  I started a YouTube Channel in 2022. This blog page has been going strong for almost two years. I have created a course for new notaries to help them with the steps to take to start their own businesses. I have created an epic resource for notaries, and as I write this, I have new document courses coming out next month. I am becoming a pretty good interviewer and still learning new skills to diversify my business.

I did not plan to be an influencer at this career stage. I didn’t plan on being a coach or mentor either, but I think without it being my intention, that's where I am today. I am still working as a Notary and Loan Signing Agent, but I have added some specialties to my roster. I am still growing in this industry. But I can tell you today that I can’t imagine not being a part of this amazing industry and community. As I grow and shift through my career, I expect you will be able to find me still working, maybe teaching, and always doing my best to encourage all Notaries to continue to grow, learn, find, and join the community.

That's it. That's my Notary journey up to this point. I would love to hear what helped you launch your Notary career. Or, if you are still on the fence, what's holding you back? If you are a Notary or are thinking about being a Notary, I offer a variety of phone coaching. Check it out here. I would love to meet you.

Until next time, I encourage you to reflect on your own journey to see how far you've already come.

Jennifer K. Cooper, JKC Mobile Notary