We were lucky to catch up with Leslie Hocker recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Leslie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

When someone needs a notary, they usually don’t realize it until the last minute. When they realize it, they don’t know what to expect for the transaction. The mission of the Michigan Notary Association is to help educate notaries on how to best serve their communities, and also to help the members of our communities understand what to expect when they need a notary. What should they expect?
1. That they need valid and current (unexpired) ID.
2. They should pay no more than $10 per notarization, plus a nominal travel fee if the notary travels to them. This is state law.
3. They should call a notary directly, not use a third party service that charges in the hundreds without asking questions about what needs to be notarized, keeping in mind that one notarization is $10.
4. They need to be able to identify what a proper notarization should look like. I know if my car is running right or not, but I can’t fix it. It’s the same mindset.
5. The signer should know if they need to take an oath or not. Sadly, many notaries do not issue oaths, and this could result in a challenged notarization.

The way we accomplish this is to bring together a group of professionals who have expertise in many areas that affect our citizens. We offer free advice, and let the audience know that the advice they give is free, and to stop trusting ads on TV for their knowledge.

Leslie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We are happy to bring our Legacy Panel together in any community, to help raise awareness about Notarizations; Medicare; Long and Short Term Care; Wills, Powers of Attorney, and Trusts; Senior Real Estate Scams; Gap Insurance: Senior Placement and more.

We started this mission in 2023 because we saw a need for it in our own communities. Now we teach others to host these in their communities. The feedback has been amazing, and our calendars are filling up fast!

The Michigan Notary Association strives to educate both notaries and citizens, and we are always looking for ways to be in front of either group. We bring other businesses into our loop, because we believe that if we can help others grow their businesses, they will, in turn, help us grow ours.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

When my partner, Debbie Lowery, and I started the Michigan Notary Association, we had already been helping notaries for almost three years. The state of Michigan has no formal training for notaries, so we were out there, learning by doing, and figuring things out on our own. Both of us are firm believers that we can do anything, and in order to do it well, we must know everything about it.

Mistakes were made, and corrected. We opened ourselves up to helping notaries so they wouldn’t have to go through what we went through. After a couple of years, we realized we can help more people by forming the Michigan Notary Association.

We reached out to several different entities about this path we were forging. The people we reached out to were impressed by our drive, and supported us to move forward with our passion. And so we did. The support of these people is really what drives us to continue.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Great minds think alike, they say. When I was a new notary, yet not new to business, I saw the need to build a community. I had grown other people’s businesses for nine years, and it was time to grow my own.

I had read about several notaries who wanted a community, so with the Zoom account I already owned, I invited people to attend. Debbie showed up, voluntarily helped, and stayed by my side. I could not have found a more loyal partner if I had advertised for one.

When we first met, her involvement was, “If you need me to let people into the meeting, you can make me the co-host”. Then it escalated to her leading meetups if I couldn’t make it. (Never talk about making money instead of making money)

So our collaborations became ideas, and our ideas became our mantra, and our mantra became our business. We are the yin to each other’s yang.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.michigannotaryassociation.org/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MiNotaryAssoc/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mina-michigan-notary-association-2aa0b427/