GRIT: The Real Estate Growth Mindset

Most real estate professionals have a sales background, which is critical especially in a highly competitive industry. While some have a knack for finding solutions to problems and implementing systems, which is essential in increasing a real estate business’ bottom line. In Ty Voyles’ case, he had both.  Though his journey was not as straightforward as most, he was able to combine his sales skills and passion for creating systems which resulted into a successful real estate career. Join Brian Charlesworth and Ty Voyles, Co-founder and CEO of Fulcrum Properties Group, as they discuss how Ty’s entrepreneurial background played a role in his transition into the real estate industry, his insights on having good and bad leads, and what he thinks is the real solution that the entire real estate industry is driving towards. Top Takeaways: 07:09 What made Ty decide to go into real estate 13:49 Why most real estate agents have businesses that don’t transition 16:40 Is there such a thing as a good or bad lead? 18:43 How does Ty's team generate leads today? 20:13 Why most agents have gone away from making open houses as their lead source 21:12 Why the team model is taking over the industry 22:01 Why the real estate space needs more specialization 25:56 Why Ty prefers to automate as much as he can 35:43 Ty’s advice to young team leaders who want to take their business to the next level 36:11 The single biggest factor that held Ty’s team from moving forward 37:21 The one thing to focus on to really double your business 37:49 Why building an ISA team is incredibly challenging 40:12 What people want when it comes to their home needs   Get in touch with Ty Voyles Email: ty@fulcrumpg.com About the guest: Ty Voyles came from an entrepreneurial family.  He worked as a Yellow Page salesperson from high school until a year after college.   After that, he started doing project management for a software company where they built systems that kept flight simulators and training manuals in line with production aircraft.  After 7 years, he left that job and worked at the Library of Congress.  Eventually, he realized that this was not a career he’d like to pursue.  So he started doing volunteer work building sustainable roof gardens.   Although Ty enjoyed what he was doing, he had to take a 60% pay cut to do so.  And he realized that there are a lot more opportunities to make more in real estate. That’s when he decided to pick up his real estate license in 2009. As an agent, has earned several designations such as a Five Star Real Estate Professional, a Zillow Premiere Agent, a Trulia Top 1% Agent, the Washingtonian's Best Agent of 2018, and a Washingtonian Top Agent every year since 2016.  Today, Ty is the Founder and CEO of Fulcrum Properties Group.   Fulcrum has continually been on the top 10 Keller Williams teams in the country, as well as a top 100 team across all brokerages since 2019.  Ty has also served as a Mastery Coach for KW MAPS, was a founding agent advisor for KW LABS, and has served on multiple Agent Leadership Councils.   

Selling real estate is like an extremely strong contact sport. You need to go out there, talk to people, establish rapport, and build relationships with your contacts.   And the more contacts you make, the better chance you have for a successful business. For Gaurav Gambhir, making it in real estate proved to be more challenging. He was an immigrant who didn’t know many people at that time and English was his second language so he didn’t feel confident speaking in front of crowds. Yet, he found a way to grow his clientele by managing people’s assets.  He figured that if he can maintain a relationship with them, then he will be the top choice to get the opportunity once they decide to sell or rent their property.  Join Brian Charlesworth and Gaurav Gambhir, Co-Founder and Owner at The Condo Shop / TCS MGT / Rentphilly.com / Mega Realty / Go Commercial and Partner at Keller Williams Center City, as they talk about Gaurav’s journey from starting a small team of 4 agents up to now where he has 60 agents doing 1500 transactions and $365 million in volume.    Top Takeaways: 03:38 How Gaurav ended up in real estate 10:37 The competition you really need to worry about 12:35 Why would a team owner want to get into property management?  17:27 Gaurav’s plan to provide a “solution in a box” 21:45 Why you should always focus on providing a better experience to your clients  24:29 What does “serial entrepreneur” mean? 25:24  An overview of Gaurav’s team structure 27:27 Why Gaurav prefers to automate as much as he can 35:25  The importance of building an ISA team 39:25 The things you should focus on now to stay ahead of the curve 43:41 Why you shouldn’t look at teams as someone who takes things away  44:50 Why percentage means nothing   Get in touch with Gaurav Gambhir LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ggambhir/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ggambhir1 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ggambhir1/ About the guest: Gaurav Gambhir comes from a family of entrepreneurs. He’s been doing support businesses on the side since he was 15 years old.  So when he started working as an IT professional for a real estate company, he decided to try real estate during weekends to earn some extra money. In 2007, he took a leap of faith, went into real estate full-time, and joined Keller-Williams as his first brokerage company.  Eventually, he and a friend decided to start a new brokerage company and a property management division along with it.  They were able to grow the company towards 70 agents in about 18 months.  Two years later, Gaurav had the opportunity to buy a company called the Condo Shop in Philadelphia. He then built TCS Group which services real estate investments, renovations, and property management. Today. Gaurav is a partner and Operating Principle of Keller Williams Philadelphia. In total, he oversees 600+ agents and employees. His team is currently the ninth-largest Keller Williams team in the country.  

Being an entrepreneur is a rewarding experience, but it also comes with many challenges. From marketing strategies, hiring the right people for the job, to finding systems and technologies to support the business’ growth, entrepreneurs today have to be resourceful to tackle these problems. Yet some were able to overcome these challenges before and are willing to share their experience so others can learn from it.  It’s only a matter of asking the right people for advice so that you don’t have to make the same mistakes they did.  Join Brian Charlesworth and Matt DeCoursey, CEO and Founder at Full Scale and Startup Hustle Founder and Host, as they talk about Matt’s journey from starting a business with no money or experience to launching several businesses that have generated millions of dollars in revenue.  Matt also shares how he uses his podcast as a platform to help other people find success. Top Takeaways: 02:07 Why Matt considers himself a “recovering” serial entrepreneur 05:15 How Matt got started as an entrepreneur 11:09 Why “knowledge in” is not meant to be kept 14:31 Matt’s definition of a startup 16:20 What the book: Balance Me is all about 24:56 Matt’s take on the importance of giving 29:38 The best advice Matt has received 31:57 The difference between being genius and being crazy 33:58 Matt’s advice to anyone who wants to start their own podcast 48:25 Top reasons why people turn podcasts off 54:54 Why you should make it easy for people to help you Get in touch with Matt DeCoursey Full Scale Website: https://fullscale.io/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fullscale-io/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fullscalekc/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fullscalekc/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/fullscalekc?s=21 Start-Up Hustle  Podcast: https://startuphustle.xyz/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-hustle-podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/startuphustlexyz/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startuphustlepodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/startupsxyz Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDXy14X95mzCpGSHyDvvoVg   About the guest: Matt DeCoursey believes that he was born to become an entrepreneur.  He used to paint address numbers on curbs in high school and do other entrepreneurial activities growing up.  Matt had a pretty successful career until he was 30 years old when he found himself unhappy because his work needed him to travel a lot, so he decided to quit his job. Thirteen years ago, he started a concert ticket buying and selling business online.  All he had then was an extra room in his house that he could use as an office and a credit card with an $8,000 limit.   Yet, even without money or experience, Matt understood a market inefficiency when it comes to secondary ticket sales.  He used this as an opportunity and built the business, which eventually generated $30 million in revenue over the next eight years. The business also enabled him to launch the businesses he has now. Today, Matt is the CEO and Founder at Full Scale and GigaBook, Forbes Next 1000 Recipient, and co-host of one of the biggest podcasts for entrepreneurs out there, Start-Up Hustle. He is also the top-selling author of “Million Dollar Bedroom” and “Balance Me,” as well as the co-author of “The Realist’s Guide to a Successful Music Career.” Matt’s passion is to talk about entrepreneurship, business, and commerce and has made it his mission to help other entrepreneurs become better versions of themselves and guide them to find success.   

Some people go into real estate as sales people, while others are in it to build a business.  And for those who choose the latter, most of them would agree that starting their own business is not for the faint of heart. Yet, for those who have what it takes, building a real estate business is a very lucrative endeavor.  Most especially for those who are able to scale at a massive rate in a short span of time. In Kenny Truong’s case, he knew how to leverage technology and tools in such a way that he was able to scale his real estate business from 56 Million to over 670 Million in sales in less than 2 years.  Join Brian Charlesworth and Kenny Truong as they discuss the things that Kenny did in order to scale his business, and end up running FAST REAL ESTATE which is the #1 highest producing sales team at EXP Realty, the #1 fastest growing real estate company in the world. Top Takeaways: 03:47 How Kenny first started in real estate 05:04 The story behind the FAST brand 06:57 Why he prefers to post on Instagram stories over any other platform 11:14 When did Kenny decide to build his real estate business 13:23 Most innovative agent of the year by INMAN 15:17 What Kenny does to attract agents to join his team 23:36 FAST REAL ESTATE’s org chart 35:59 How FAST REAL ESTATE is going to hit 300% growth this year 36:05 Why retention is key 42:16 Kenny’s last piece of advice to people who are building a business.   Get in touch with Kenny Truong Website: https://www.fastagents.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kenny_fast/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FastAgent/?ref=page_internal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fastagent/     About the guest: Kenny Truong came into real estate fresh out of college 12 years ago.  After working as a real estate assistant for a year, he got his real estate license and started working for a boutique company. It took him over a year to make his first sales.  After several months he was able to sell 24 homes. His number kept growing year over year that he quickly became the #1 agent in Washington State.  On his third year in business, he focused on marketing and branding and decided to post on social media using the hashtag #FASTAGENT.  From then on, the name stuck and he was sometimes referred to as Kenny “FAST”, which became a fitting description to his straightforward approach in delivering results to his clients. Kenny has ranked as the #1 agent in Oakland since 2011 and was named INMAN News’ Most Innovative Broker/Agent in 2015. Today, Kenny Truong is the Founder and Team Leader at Fast Real Estate where they focus on surpassing their client’s expectations by leveraging local market knowledge combined with systems and technology to help them through their buying/selling journey.  

Everyone has their own journey.  From the outside, we can look at someone else’s journey and wonder why theirs seems easier compared to yours.  Why is it that some people are more inclined to be successful, while others are doomed to fail?  Yet, the most successful people are usually the ones who have the biggest challenges and go through multiple failures before they came to where they are now. As the saying goes, the success you see is only the tip of the iceberg.  In Sajag Patel’s case, he had to go through struggles, changes, doubts, bankruptcies and so much more to be where he is today.   Despite the challenges thrown at him, Sajag never quit.  He had a clear vision of where he was going and built a plan around that.  But beyond achieving financial success, it is using the money he earned to serve other people and help change their lives for the better is what brings him happiness and inspires him to do more. Join Brian Charlesworth and Sajag Patel as they talk about Sajag’s journey from being a software engineer who offered to work for free for the first three months so he could get the job, to being the Vice President of Segments for Keller Williams Realty Inc.    Top Takeaways: 03:21 How Sajag got his first intern opportunity 08:01 How he took a failing business that was doing $600,000 and turn it to $1.3M in 3 years 10:11 What led him to real estate 11:26 How Sajag came to Keller Williams 14:38 What is “Red Day” and what is its impact on Sajag’s life?  23:05 Sajag’s “crazy” daily routine 23:55 The book he considers his Bible 24:10 How he scaled from 5 doors in 2018, to 103 doors in 2022 31:44 What is an executive coach? 38:04 The value of having a coach 40:16 The greatest gift you can give someone 42:49 What’s it like to work with Gary Keller 46:07 What makes Sisu so powerful? 49:17 What does the future look like for KW? 51:16 Sajag’s one piece of advice About the guest: A former Senior Software Engineer,  Sajag began his career in real estate with an independent broker in 2009. After 6 months, he transferred his license to Keller Williams and he became Rookie of the Year in his first year. Looking to take his game to the next level, Sajag went through the KW MAPS BOLD, and his business went up that year. Sajag partnered with KW MAPS Coaching in 2015 to coach the top agents in the field.  Since then, he has become an Executive Coach, as well as a Head Coach. In 2019, Sajag joined Monica Reynolds and Fritz Pollard to revolutionize MAPS with the mission of altering human trajectory and changing lives. Today, Sajag is the Founder and CEO of BOLD Real Estate Consultants.  He is also the Vice President of Segments for Keller Williams Realty Inc., where he is in charge of leading the growth and development of its established real estate market segments that include KW Luxury, KW Commercial, KW Land, KW New Homes, KW Military, KW Young Professionals, and KW Sports + Entertainment.

Louie Hamner grew up in Indiana in a farming community with 12 other siblings.  Growing up poor, he came to a point in his life where he decided that it was not a life he wanted to live.  So in the summer of the 6th grade, he started earning money for himself by catching fireflies for a penny. He was able to pay for his school books and bought things for himself with the money he earned. At his young age, this taught him the importance of hardwork and grit. Years later, Louie started his career in the title industry. But after a couple of unfortunate events, he ended up getting fired from 2 companies in 7 months.  He remembers wanting to quit at that time but his father advised him not to unless he tries again someplace else.   From 2005 to 2012, he started to build his own title business. And in 2015, he merged with Keystone Title to create Vanguard Title. Today, Louie Hamner is the Founder of Vanguard Title Insurance Agency, LLC. He also focuses on inspiring people through his motivational talks. He's also ventured into a new area of breathwork, which he shares with people in hopes of impacting their lives in a massive way. Top Takeaways: 02:07 How Louie’s childhood plays into who he is today 11:09 How did he end up in the title business 11:53 What was the “career limiting move” that got him fired from Fidelity? 27:28 What he realized about people who love their job 34:25 What the merger with Keystone Title was like 36:04  How he came to terms with his limiting belief 38:48 The importance of practicing empathy 48:45 What other opportunities opened up for Louie after he sold his business 51:19 How practicing breathwork changed Louie’s life  

Brett Jennings got into real estate right after the market crashed in 2008.  At that time, he saw an opportunity doing short sales and foreclosures, which gave him the experience necessary to understand the value of leverage and importance of building a team. Yet, Brett knew that he couldn’t do short sales and foreclosures forever.  So even before the market turned a couple of years later, he was already looking for his next niche opportunity.  That’s when he shifted his focus into building a real estate team. He worked the real estate team model successfully for about 6 years until he started to recognize that it also has limitations. The people he hired, trained, and supported eventually wanted to get a higher split, have their own identity, and build their own brand.   Although the situation left Brett feeling frustrated and betrayed, he wanted to know if it’s possible to create a team environment for these people, and still be in a relationship with them. This ultimately led to the “teamerage” (team+brokerage) model.  Today, Brett Jennings is a Founder, Award-Winning REALTOR®, and Luxury Home Marketing Expert at Real Estate Experts. He is a best-selling author and is recognized as one of the top 1,000 agents in the country.  Let’s hear from Brett as he shares his journey from being a solo agent to building a team, then eventually landing on this hybrid model of a “teamerage”, which has enabled him to scale and grow his annual production from $124 million in 2019 to $1.2 billion in 2021. Top Takeaways: 04:35 How Brett recognized the team model’s limitations 08:10 The most discouraging and frustrating moment in Bretts business career 11:37 What is the “teamerage” model? 12:38 The Brett Jennings Group’s value proposition 13:36 What made Brett decide to start the “teamerage” model  16:01 The changes Brett’s team had to go through to support an increase from 160 to 804 transactions 18:01 How Brett dealt with a painful business experience and how he managed to fix it 26:18 What are some of the key things that people should take advantage of to invest in themselves? 28:26 The power of a mastermind 31:07 How meditation changed Brett’s life  

Brandon Hedges got into real estate by accident.  He was in between a job and starting law school when a close friend convinced him to try selling real estate. He agreed thinking that he could pay his way through law school and make a little money while doing it.    Three and a half years later, he graduated from law school, worked in a law firm for a while and realized it was a lot more fun working in real estate and building the business. At that time, the industry was rapidly expanding and changing.  And real estate was becoming more professional in a way that people were looking at it as a business entity. Brandon, along with his friend, formed a real estate team and built their business around first time homebuyers.  As they were trying to get established and grow their network, they realized that there was an opportunity to do the same thing using the internet and online tools. That’s when they decided to build websites to promote themselves and build their own IDX platform. In 2014, they were looking for a provider for their real estate websites, who had a vision for the future, continuously innovating, and was someone they could partner with.  That’s when they met the CEO of Sierra Interactive.  Over the course of several years, they’ve developed a strong business relationship which eventually led to Brandon working at Sierra Interactive full time. Today, Brandon Hedges is the COO of Sierra Interactive, a complete real estate technology platform, purpose-built to help agents, teams, and brokerages close more deals.  Brandon works to oversee the company’s strategies, operations, and metrics.  Top Takeaways: 05:06 How Brandon evolved from selling real estate to working for a tech company that provides real estate tools to real estate agents. 11:04 How Brandon found Sierra Interactive 18:37 What sets Sierra Interactive apart from the competition 21:01 Who is Sierra Interactive’s ideal customer 22:43 The pain points that Sierra Interactive are facing right now 23:56 Why companies should focus their time and energy into coaching their people. 25:19 Why leaders should re-evaluate themselves on the job each year  30:25 What does the future look like for traditional brokerages? 31:34 Brandon’s one piece of advice to Real Estate Agents 32:52 The value of embracing the data To get a hold of Brandon and to know more about Sierra Interactive, go to  www.sierrainteractive.com

Tyler Smith was 19 when he went into real estate. After selling his first home, he was amazed at how much money there was to make. After eight months, he had sold 15 homes and was already making more money than his friends who had attended college. That’s when he decided to go all-in, double down on his referrals and build his own business. Being ultra-competitive, Tyler always felt the need to be around better and more prominent people and soak up as much advice as he could from them. And what motivated him the most was proving people wrong - especially those who believed he would fail. Tyler became hugely successful through a referral-based business.  Yet, he found glaring inefficiencies in the administrative side of real estate. Thus, he created Skyslope, his transaction management solution that keeps tabs on real estate transactions to promote a paperless system.            Today, Tyler Smith is the Founder and CEO of Skyslope.  His achievements have earned him numerous accolades, including being named one of REALTOR Magazine's Top 30 Under 30 and one of the Wall Street Journal's Top 250 Teams. He is also considered an industry expert and innovator dedicated to helping Realtors, Brokers, and entrepreneurs achieve their goals. Top Takeaways: 03:34 How his bad experience as a first-time homebuyer inspired him to become a Realtor 07:10 The life-changing moment that took him from a naive agent to making it big in real estate 17:32 How Tyler ended up in REALTOR Magazine’s 30 Under 30 20:05 How Skyslope came about 30:33 How Tyler got national brokerages to use Skyslope as a required system for their business 35:12  The story behind the Fidelity merger 41:13 What the next five years in real estate look like? 47:23 Who will be the true winners in the future in the real estate space 48:58 Why Realtors should focus on how to provide value to consumers 49:37 Tyler’s one advice to Realtors

When Ryan Flint got into real estate, he realized he wanted to deal with CEO’s and corporations rather than sell homes.  That’s when he decided to go into commercial real estate.  He then learned pretty quickly that the commercial real estate brokerage community is pretty competitive.  And to survive, you’d have to “eat what you kill”. He also noticed that this industry lacked a good customer service base.  He found this difficult to accept because he grew up in a family where they were taught to do selfless acts for others and not just to think about their own gain. Ryan wanted to do things differently. He thought, he may not be able to change how the commercial real estate world thinks, he can at least change the way he does things.  By focusing on providing good customer service, he was able to develop key relationships that turned out to be a major factor in his success. Less than a decade into the business, Ryan is now considered a rockstar of the commercial real estate industry.  He’s highly respected and decorated across the country, winning several top-performing awards throughout his career. Today, Ryan Flint, SIOR, is the CEO and Principal of the Ryan Flint Team. They’re one of the top commercial real estate teams in Utah and they primarily do office industrial land investment sales, offering 100% full service across the board.   Let’s hear from Ryan as he shares his journey and how implementing his own way of customer service and helping others helped his business thrive.   .  Top Takeaways: 03:57 How Ryan became an expert at building solid relationships 06:33 What makes Ryan different from his competitors 16:15 The most powerful thing about customer service 17:41 Ryan’s advice to those in the residential real estate space  21:28 The biggest takeaway Ryan’s dad taught him 25:11 What makes the Ryan Flint Team special  33:35 Commercial real estate’s biggest challenge 37:47 The next step in Ryan’s life 42:17 What Real Estate Avengers is all about 43:36 How much value can you get from a mastermind group To get in touch with Ryan Flint, check his Instagram page @the.ryanfint  or email him at info@ryanflintteam.com. You may also check their website at www.ryanflintteam.com