Why Your Team Is Failing (And It's Not What You Think) with Tracey Hernly

Jan 2, 2026

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Brooke sits down with Tracy Hernly, a powerhouse realtor, team leader, broker owner, title company owner, and race car driver who leads the #1 team by units sold in the Greater Lansing area. Tracy shares her incredible journey from mortgage processing to opening her own brokerage during COVID, revealing the hard-won lessons about leadership, team building, and maintaining work-life balance while scaling multiple businesses. She opens up about her early leadership struggles, including high turnover rates and a "rough" bedside manner that she had to transform to build a thriving culture. Tracy discusses how she leveraged her racing background to carve out a unique niche in rural real estate, why clarity is kindness in leadership, and how implementing core values and mission statements changed everything for her team. She also shares practical advice on community involvement, client events, organic team growth, and why she's focusing on recruiting and refining systems in 2026. This episode is packed with real talk about the messy middle of business growth, the importance of knowing your "why," and how to build a sustainable business that doesn't sacrifice your family or personal passions.

Chapters:

(00:00:00) - Opening: Tracy's Journey from Mortgage Processing to Real Estate Success
(00:02:00) - Making the Leap: Leaving a Steady Paycheck for Real Estate
(00:04:00) - Building the #1 Team by Units Sold in Greater Lansing
(00:06:00) - The First Hire: Why Tracy Needed an Assistant to Scale
(00:09:00) - Leadership Growing Pains: Learning to Manage People and Expectations
(00:13:00) - Clarity is Kindness: Transforming Leadership Through Accountability
(00:17:00) - Building Culture Through Core Values and Mission Statements
(00:20:00) - Community Involvement: Racing Events, Cookies with Santa, and Local Leadership
(00:25:00) - The Racing Realtor: How Tracy Found Her Niche in Rural Real Estate
(00:30:00) - Looking Ahead: 2026 Goals, Recruiting Focus, and Work-Life Balance

Links and Resources:

Thanks so much for joining us this week. Want to subscribe to the Reside Platform Podcast? Have some feedback you’d like to share? Connect with us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube to leave us a review!