GRIT: The Real Estate Growth Mindset

According to Google, the most searched job in the US today is a real estate agent. Becoming your own boss and earning substantially through commissions are just some of the things that make real estate an attractive profession to many people. Yet, if a career in real estate is that good, then why do almost 90% of agents end up leaving the industry after being in it for just 5 years or less? Finding success as a real estate agent is easier said than done. It takes a lot of hard work, discipline, and above all, you have to love what you’re doing in order to overcome challenges. And when you have that passion, and a coach who believes in you and will help keep you on track, you can excel at the highest possible level. Brian Charlesworth joins Monica Reynolds, Vice President of KW MAPS Coaching, as she shares her journey from being a teacher to running the largest real estate coaching company in the world, her insights on what’s currently going on in the real estate industry, and some valuable tips for real estate professionals today. Top Takeaways:   (04:04) How Monica got into real estate (08:17) Why do the most successful agents and team owners all have coaches? (14:07) What is the key to success for someone moving into this market? (15:49) The value of time-blocked lead generation (16:26) How Sisu can help your business thrive  (16:46) The most important thing that team owners should consider (19:08) How does someone decide which is the best way for them to go about building a team? (20:45) How to build a sellable database (22:33) How Monica is helping other coaches net a million dollars (31:12) With interest rates rising, what will happen to the industry over the next few years? (33:15) Monica’s thoughts on the whole “getting rid of the agent’s commission” situation (35:05) Monica's one piece of advice (36:02) Why you need to fall in love with what you do Connect with Monica Reynolds Email: monica@monicareynolds.com About the guest: Monica Reynolds has a background in teaching.  However, she didn't last long as a teacher because she felt that it just wasn't her thing. After getting married, she went looking for a house to buy and met a real estate agent.  He wasn’t really a great agent, yet he was making a lot of money and has a nice car.  She thought that if that agent can do it, so can she. She then went on to become a successful real estate agent with Century 21 and worked for Mike Ferry’s coaching company for years.  She also became the President of the Heller Real Estate Group, one of the most successful real estate teams in the US. Monica also got the reputation of being the only agent at that time to delegate tasks she wasn’t particularly fond of doing to several assistants.  She ended up writing a book on how to multiply your success through the use of assistants. That’s when she caught the attention of Gary Keller who invited her to be a part of the kW MAPS Coaching.  Today, Monica Reynolds is the Vice President at kW MAPS Coaching.  She has garnered national recognition as a real estate seminar and convention speaker, trainer, and author. She is regarded in the industry as the leader of innovative real estate systems and effective team-building strategies that sustain successful real estate careers.  

Economic recessions are part of the business cycle.  And as depressing as that may sound, recessions have an effect that the economy can benefit from.  Just like how clearing the forest gives way for new growth. That is why finding your grit is extremely crucial especially during a crisis such as market crashes or downturns. Because it allows us to confront challenges, pivot as needed, and keep moving forward. Brian Charlesworth joins York Baur, CEO at MoxiWorks, as they share insights on what it takes to survive and thrive in a downturn, the role that the real estate industry has to play for its consumer, and why it takes an ecosystem of products that come together to provide the best customer experience. Top Takeaways: (03:01) The importance of having grit (05:34) York’s advice for real estate business owners during these uncertain times (13:11) Why the real estate industry needs thought leaders for the consumer  (14:34) Why you need to be greedy when others are fearful and be fearful when others are greedy (21:59) One of the biggest challenges that the real estate industry faces (23:33) The genesis of MoxiWorks (25:51) Why building technology for your own brokerage is a bad idea (29:17) The value of providing an open platform to bring the industry together (30:50) Why you should not confuse strategy with tactics and execution (35:48) What the real estate industry can learn from a Harley motorcycle Connect with York Baur Email: York@MoxiWorks.com  About the guest: York Baur has a degree in computer science and has been a technologist for most of his career.  He has helped exploit technology for the betterment of businesses.  Throughout the years, he has developed a strong passion for the science and automation that could complement the human element of selling and marketing. He believes that the key to a successful tech product is to have computers do what computers are good at so that the human can do the thing that only a human can do. In 2012, York joined MoxiWorks, an open real estate platform for brokerages. Since then, he has grown the company 10X and expanded to over 800 brokerage clients and growing, serving over 400,000 agents that makeup approximately 40% of all residential real estate transactions in the U.S.

Convenience is everything in today’s real estate market.  That’s why more and more brokerages and team owners today are moving into mortgage, title, home insurance, property management, etc. Not only does it make transactions a lot easier for consumers, but it also allows the team to have control over the entire customer experience, from pre-sale to closing and even beyond. Another benefit of adopting ancillary businesses is its potential for additional revenue opportunities.  And with commission compression affecting the industry nowadays, having a one-stop-shop that puts all these services under one roof can benefit not only the consumers but the real estate agents and broker-owners as well. Brian Charlesworth joins Mark Pattison, Founder at PorchLight brokered by eXp, also considered as a leading-edge when it comes to branching out to real estate ancillary businesses, as they discuss the value of creating an “Amazon” for real estate and the importance of striving to always continue to grow and innovate.  Top Takeaways: (04:35) The benefits of automation (07:21) When Mark decided to focus on ancillary businesses (11:05) How owning ancillary businesses affects commission per transaction (16:07) What was the idea behind the “home concierge” concept? (17:17) Why controlling the client’s experience is crucial (22:20) The biggest lesson that Mark’s family has taught him (23:10) Why it's all about implementation (24:16) What pivots are needed in today’s market? (29:43) Who is more likely to win in the real estate space: teams or solo agents? (34:56) Why agents should not focus on commission splits (38:46) The importance of taking action Connect with Mark Pattison Website: markpattisonrealestate.com Instagram: @markpattisonshow About the guest: Mark Pattison was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, he learned the value of hard work and dedication in everything he does and the importance of having the desire to create more opportunities. After graduating with honors from Seattle University`s Alber`s Business School, Mark went on to work for a variety of prestigious companies before embarking on his real estate journey. He started his real estate career in San Diego as a solo agent in 2014 and now has a team of over 100 agents and has sold 1,006 homes in 2021.  Today, Mark Pattison is the Owner and Founder of PorchLight Realty by eXp and he belongs to the Top 1% of Realtors in San Diego County.  He is also the host of the Mark Pattison Show podcast. He is happily married to his husband Burke and they have two dogs, Luca and Ellie.    

Every business has a unique culture. Some have a traditional culture that relies on hierarchy, while a common purpose drives others.  Whatever culture your workplace has is critical to your business’ success. If you have a culture-based business, you need to protect your culture and keep it positive no matter what. Even if that means letting go of people and nipping the “cancer” in the bud before it spreads further. Brian Charlesworth joins Jack Lehr, President, and CEO of Tru AdvantageTeam brokered by ΓEA⅃, as they discuss how he ended up in the real estate industry, what a leader’s role  should be in promoting a positive culture in the workplace, and why he thinks people should stop watching the news. Top Takeaways: (01:39) How did Jack get into real   estate? (08:26) What a culture-based business means (16:06) The systems you need to have to make your business repeatable and scalable. (17:40 ) Jack’s tech stack recommendations (18:41) The importance of tracking and measuring your numbers (19:32) Sisu’s mastery event (21:23) Why does Jack think that the news is B.S.? (24:11) Why now is NOT the time to sit on the sidelines (25:35) The two people we need to believe in us (26:54) Jack’s favorite source of learning   Connect with Jack Lehr Email: Jack@truadvantagerealty.com Instagram: @coachjacklehr Facebook: Jack Lehr About the guest: Jack Lehr started a manufacturer’s rep agency almost immediately after graduating from college. Then, after building up some decent cash, he started buying real estate properties. One of which was a 102-acre farm with a 1790 farmhouse.   As he and his wife were renovating the house, they learned how harmful lead-based paint was (which was commonly used in these houses), especially to their newborn child, so they decided to sell it instead.  They subdivided the property, and this became their first flip. John fell in love with the process and continued to flip, buy, and hold real estate properties from then on. Today, Jack Lehr is the President, and CEO of Tru AdvantageTeam, brokered by ΓEA⅃. He is currently running teams in four locations in four different states.  He’s also a real estate investor, coach, husband, and father to four sons.

We make decisions every day. And in some difficult situations, there are those who avoid making decisions altogether.  Oftentimes, it’s because they worry too much about the outcome or that their choices might lead to failure. Indecision is a decision in itself.  And it is actually worse than making the wrong decision because it robs you of the opportunity and the chance to learn from your mistakes. This was one of the things that Daniel Dixon realized as he was growing his real estate business.  He knew that in order to make things happen, he just had to make a decision, get feedback, and then figure out what to do next whether the decision leads to success or failure. This was the same formula he used when he wanted to control the customer experience by including ancillary businesses for his real estate team. The systems that he put in place weren’t always perfect and he encountered some failures along the way.  But he understands that it’s part of the process, and there’s so much more to learn from your failures than your successes. Brian Charlesworth joins Daniel Dixon, Owner/CEO of First Step Home Loans & The Dixon Group, as they talk about Daniel’s obsession with creating efficiencies in his business, the importance of coming from a place of contribution, and his passion for providing for the black communities and helping more people of color to get into the real estate space. Top Takeaways: (09:15) Daniel’s thoughts on doing expansion teams across the country (09:39) The biggest thing that Daniel learned that allowed him to grow  (09:59) How should agents deal with “commission compression”? (10:23) The importance of having a coach to guide you (11:26) The one thing Daniel underestimated as he was scaling his business (14:15) The biggest problem most people have when it comes to failure (16:27) How knowing their numbers allowed Daniel’s team to constantly make pivots (19:35) Why agents don’t like to lead generate all day (23:25) Why you need to call with a purpose when you do your follow-ups (27:03) What’s great about their team culture (30:53) How to make your people stay with you longer (32:11) The value of putting systems in place (34:30) Daniel’s goal as he continues to grow in the industry (35:11) What the JLK Foundation is about Connect with Daniel Dixon Email: Daniel@DGdenver.com Instagram: @Dixonsoldit About the guest: Daniel Dixon grew up in poverty. Raised by a single mother, they had to use food stamps in order to survive.  Yet despite the circumstances, Daniel found a love for football and eventually grew up to become a good athlete. He dreamed of going to the NFL, but being 5'8" and 195 pounds at that time, he realized that this was not the prototype for NFL athletes. When he stopped playing football, he felt kind of lost and didn’t know what to do. His best friend was working in pharmaceutical sales and told him that in order to get into that profession, he would need to have a college degree.  This was the reason he went back to college. In his last semester in college, he was taking 21 credit hours, and seven classes full-time. His son was also a year old so they were really struggling.  He thought to himself that as soon as he gets that diploma, he will get a job and everything is going to be better.  But it didn’t happen. This became the lowest point and he hated his life.  He remembered saying to himself that he will never be in the same position again and will work his absolute hardest to not have money be a thing that he or his family will ever have to think about.  Today, Daniel is the Owner/CEO of First Step Home Loans & The Dixon Group. Daniel was able to grow his company from a single agent to a mega team selling more than 900 homes with over $300 Million in home sales. The Dixon Group is now ranked as the #1 KW Real Estate Team in Colorado and in the top 50 KW teams in the United States.  

Although Vija Williams was doing well financially running her own real estate team, she realized that she was miserable.  She felt she had to do 17 different things to run a good team, but she wasn’t good at any of them.  And her profit margin wasn’t high enough to support the number of staff she needed.  So at 48 years old, despite having doubts about whether people would still hire her because of her age, the mom of three took a leap of faith and took on a role that she believes she’d be really good at, a leadership position in a corporate setting. In 2018, Vija Williams became the Director of Growth with Ben Kinney Companies.  For the last three and a half years, she has helped walk them through two acquisitions and grow the company from 1200 to 1700 agents.  Today, Vija is the Head of Industry for PLACE, a tech and business services platform for real estate agents.  Goldman Sachs, along with 3L, recently invested 100 million dollars into PLACE at over a Billion dollar valuation. Brian Charlesworth joins Vija Williams as they talk about her journey from being a solo agent to being a successful leader, her insights on the value of leverage, what makes PLACE a very unique model, and why she thinks women from all industries become stronger when they come together.    Top Takeaways: (07:14) Why Vija felt miserable despite having a successful team (08:48) How Vija decided to shift her career to running brokerages (11:18) Why does the real estate industry need more women in the leadership role? (12:38) How Vija manages to juggle all her businesses (15:18) What it’s like to work with your spouse (22:04) What motivates Vija (24:54) What PLACE is all about (25:34) The vision of PLACE (26:45) The biggest challenge teams face as they’re growing (28:39) Why every agent needs to get at least 4 checks for each transaction (32:44) The three types of teams (35:32) Who is the right person to control the client experience? (37:31) What the future looks like for agents who aren’t on a team (43:28) How the women’s group Her Best Life started   Connect with Vija Williams Email: Vija@place.com Website: https://place.com/ Website: https://www.herbestlife.com/ Podcast: Empire Building Podcast   About the guest: Vija Williams always knew she would go into real estate but her path to it wasn’t as straightforward. She graduated college, sold radio advertising, and worked for some builders and developers prior to becoming a real estate agent.  She was 30 years and had her first child at that time, had her second child at 32, and her third at 39 years old. She was making good money juggling her role as a mother and a real estate agent. But when the market crashed, it fried her and her husband to the point where they almost lost their house. Luckily they still had assets to sell to survive.  When the markets turned, she switched brokerages and went from being a solo agent to building a team. In 2012, Vija met Ben Kinney and he started coaching her.  Her volume increased from 25 million to 70 million in just four years.  Although she was extremely successful, Vijya felt unhappy.  She wanted to try a leadership position in a corporate setting but she wasn’t sure if anyone would accept her since she was already 48 years old. But with people supporting her, she was able to achieve her goal and became the Director of Growth for The Ben Kinney Companies.  Today, Vija Williams is the Head of Industry for PLACE, President of the Brokerages Division at Ben Kinney Companies, Co-Founder of Her Best Life - a national women’s group, and co-host of the Empire Building podcast.

For most business owners, success means financial gain.  And the more time and effort they put into their businesses, the more money they make. Yet, success in this business means getting more life back for some.  If your business requires you to have an active role in its day-to-day transactions, it becomes your job. Business owners should aim to build a business that they can one step away from and will generate long-term passive income for themselves. Brian Charlesworth joins Jeff Cohn, Owner at kwELITE, as they talk about building businesses that will eventually require minimal active participation from the owner, how Sisu plays an important part in achieving that goal, and how to ensure brokerages thrive in the future by expanding into ancillary businesses. Top Takeaways: 01:49 What Jeff loves about Sisu 07:29 Jeff’s greatest passion 11:05 How true leaders serve 11:48 Why he launched The Team Building podcast 13:19 What the Team Building Summit is about (and how to get $100 off on tickets!) 24:00 Three ways for individual agents to win  25:39 The evolution of ownership 26:48 Where is the industry going in the next five years 29:54 What brokers need to do to survive in the future 32:29 How to make consumers convert to using your ancillary services 33:22 What can small team owners do to start building ancillary businesses 35:58 The magic of getting agents to support ancillary businesses 37:43 The role of future agents Get in touch with Jeff Cohn Website: https://www.theteambuildingsummit.com/ Instagram: @JeffMCohn Podcast: The Team Building Podcast About the guest: Because of his early entrepreneurial aspirations, Jeff Cohn owned and operated many enterprises and earned his Eagle Scout award - before he finished high school. His two years spent working as a missionary in a remote part of Brazil served as an added proof of his tenacity. He then took up Business Administration with an emphasis in management from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.  Jeff got his real estate license right out of college in 2006 and spent his first six years selling real estate full-time.  In 2011, he made more money than he had ever dreamed of, but he realized he wasn’t living his best life. He was spending too much time in his active role that he didn't have much left to do anything else.  He learned that if he fired himself and replaced him with ten more people to do his role, he could make more money with less time and energy. In 2014, Jeff stopped selling and built a team called Omaha's Elite Real Estate Group.  The team grew from 70 to over 700 transactions a year in 6 years and was the #1 team globally at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in 2019. Today, Jeff is a nationally renowned speaker and host of The Team Building Podcast.  He is also the CEO of a tech-powered Keller Williams market center in Omaha, NE. His passion for providing exceptional service to his clients propelled him to establish ancillary businesses in Title, Mortgage, Insurance, and Investing. His objective is to expand these ancillary businesses into 100+ locations across the country.  

There are two ways to build a business in real estate. One, you can build a practice which you can grow, but then it dies when you decide to leave. Or, you can build a business which you can also grow and integrate processes and systems in it so that it will continue to thrive even after you’re gone from it. If you want to build a business, you need to decide which way you want to go and how you want to do it. Then you need to choose if you want to do this by yourself or do it with someone who already has a team.   Whichever route you choose to take, don’t let your fear of failure take over you.  Because in order to grow and be successful, all it needs is to have the courage to take the first step.  Brian Charlesworth joins Bobby Moats and Erin Leff of The Moats Team at Keller Williams as they talk about the difference between building a practice vs. building a business, what the Moats Mastery training is all about, the value of building an ISA team, and so much more. Top Takeaways: 06:37 What does expansion network mean? 07:27 What is the key to their team’s growth? 09:53 The problem with hiring high-producing agents 10:37 Why the Moats Team highly prefers new agents 12:33 The single most important investment you can make 13:57 The hardest shift for most real estate business owners  17:13 Why top Rainmakers should figure out a way to get out of the day-to-day production 19:03 What does the Q1 numbers say about our current real estate market?  21:26 What should a real estate business owner do to stay ahead of the game? 23:50 How did the Moats Mastery Training came about 36:06 One of the challenges in building an ISA team 42:10 What the Onward Faster podcast is all about 46:28 Bobby and Erin’s last piece of advice for anyone who wants to build a real estate business Get in touch with Bobby Moats and Erin Leff bobby@moatsteam.com erin@moatsteam.com About the guests:   Bobby Moats is the Co-Founder of The Moats Team at Keller Williams and is the Director of Agent Labs for the KW Labs Team at KWRI where he works closely with KW Agents, the tech team, and Leadership to define and expand the agent lab experience, as well as to promote the agent lab discussion.  Erin Leff is the VP of Growth of The Moats Team at Keller Williams.  She is highly regarded for her ability to address complex sales, operational, and internal challenges through well-defined plans, thus increasing revenue for the company.  She has been promoted due to her strong leadership skills and sales management abilities.  

What is the single most important factor to a real estate business’ growth?  Is it having the best leads? Or having the best sales managers on the planet? How about having the most amazing systems and tech?  While having all these would be great, none of them would matter if you don’t have people.  That is why focusing on human resource, human development, and human attraction is crucial for scaling a real estate business. Brian Charlesworth joins Jon Cheplak, Real Estate Broker/Agent Speaker, Coach and Consultant at Cheplak Live and CEO of The Real Recruiter as Jon shares how he discovered that his superpower is understanding human behavior and what it takes to be a true leader.  Top Takeaways: 05:21 The 2 types of operators 08:45 Jon’s mission statement 14:12 The difference between Jon’s coaching organization, Agent Academy, and Cheplak Live 14:46 The good thing about anxiety 21:31 The value of giving 23:29 Why you don’t want to recruit based on your company’s culture  26:12 What Sisu is empowering team leaders to do. 29:42 How to overcome the challenge of getting yourself out of production 30:45 Why you should get into rooms where you don’t belong 34:03 The worst question to ask the person you look up to 34:34 What does “trust equals capacity” and “control equals fear” mean? 35:35 Why understanding must come from the heart  38:33 What should real estate business owners do to prepare for the impact of high inflation rates?  43:51 Why leaders should change their interview process 46:07 Why the future of the traditional brokerage is in trouble 49:58 Jon’s final piece of advice Get in touch with Jon Cheplak Website:  https://cheplaklive.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joncheplak About the guest: After many years of success in his real estate sales and leadership career, Jon had a vision to change the real estate industry. He observed managers were thrown into a leadership position without proper training. The few training that existed then never focused on the growth of the leader as a human being and discovered what got in the way of their success.  Through his own growth process, Jon realized that growth has to come from the inside.  Managers need to develop skills, but without doing the work on the inside first, results will fail to show on the outside.   This was when The Real Estate Recruiters was born. It is a company designed to serve, lead, and inspire leaders that want to have a positive life experience in the real estate industry and transfer that experience to their agents. For the last 12 years, Jon Cheplak has served as a speaker, coach, and strategic leadership consultant to CEO’s, managers, and agents who are operating a highly successful real estate business throughout the US, Canada and Europe.  He is also an author in numerous publications including Real Estate South Africa, REM Online, CRB Magazine, Brokers Insider, Real Estate Professional, Realty Times, Frogpond, and author of the book Interrupt The Pattern.

Most people who come into real estate think it’s going to be fun.  They’ll have the freedom to earn as much as they want and have control over their schedules. Yet, soon enough they realize that to be successful in real estate, you have to work all the time. When Spring Bengtzen began to grow her business, she felt she had to be everything to everyone until eventually, she felt exhausted.  She then had to decide whether she wanted to scale back or scale up. That’s when Sisu came into the picture. Sisu was actually built for Spring to help her put systems in place to successfully scale her business. As GRIT celebrates its 100th episode, Brian Charlesworth joins special guest, Spring Bengtzen, CEO and Owner of the Utah Life Real Estate Group & Associate Broker at REAL Broker LLC as she shares her journey, how Sisu helped transform her business, and what her new coaching company, Scale Up, is all about.    Top Takeaways: 02:20 How Spring discovered the power of choice 06:57 What was it like to be in the “messy middle”? 08:56 The most important thing to consider when you’re jumping from being an agent to business owner 10:19 How Sisu helped Spring put systems to build her business 14:55 The 2 “Who’s” to focus on when scaling your business  17:33 How Spring doubled her business 19:22 One of the biggest mistakes a lot of people make when they hire a VA 22:06 Why joining Real Brokerage was the best decision Spring ever made 26:41 What Scale Up is all about 28:29 What motivates Spring the most today 29:33 Why a lot of team owners are now considering going into the ancillary space 30:40 Spring’s words of advice 32:50 Sisu’s mastery workshop    Get in touch with Spring Bengtzen Instagram: @springbengtzen Website: https://springb.com/   About the guest: When Spring Bengtzen was 20 years old, she had a terrible accident that left most of her body burned.  Her condition was so bad that she wondered if she was going to die.  Until a doctor told her that only she can decide whether she fights to live or give up and die.  That’s when she realized the power of her choices.  Once she made up her mind to keep fighting, that’s when she started healing. Two years later, she went into real estate. She worked her way up and successfully grew her business. She was listed as one of REALTOR’s Magazine 30 under 30, and had the opportunity to join Keller-Williams. From 2010 to 2019, she built and grew her team to become the largest in Utah.   In 2021, Spring joined REAL Brokerage, a tech-powered real estate brokerage for agents and teams. She has also launched a coaching company called Start Up Today, Spring Bengtzen is a successful Real Estate Broker, Mentor, Entrepreneur, CEO, and Owner of The Utah Life Real Estate Group, leads the top real estate team along the Wasatch Front.