#7 - Thriving in Real Estate: A Holistic Approach with Kaéra Mims

[0:00] This is the Wealthy Investor Show, where we don’t just talk about your wealth, we also talk about your holistic health. I’m your host, Matias. And I’m Erica. And this is the Wealthy Investor.

[0:14] Well, we’ve had a week, or I should say probably more you have had a week, CrossFit heavy. This girl, let’s get into a little bit of your journey here in CrossFit. But again, everybody that knows us is going to laugh because we talk about CrossFit all the time. But this particular weekend has been pretty intense for Erica. What’s the timing? Like you’ve been doing CrossFit for how long? It’s been a year and a half or so. I started October of 2022. I was like four and a half months postpartum. And then you ended up getting appendicitis? And I got appendicitis about a year ago, May 1st last year. Had an emergency surgery all of a sudden. And so you’re right back at the doing the abs right after that, right?

[1:06] I was so frustrated when that happened because I had worked so hard, so hard to get some of my strength back. And then I felt like I was going to be starting all over again. But it was not as bad as I thought it was. And I was back pretty much where I had been before the appendicitis by June, July, somewhere in there. But I was going to say, so we had this competition this weekend. It was meant for people that have never done a competition RX before. So somebody that would not do the full weight that’s prescribed for a full on competition. So it’s meant for more, it could be a beginner athlete. It could be older athletes. It could be intermediate athlete, that kind of thing. You competed as a team in the intermediate.

[1:50] Is that correct? Yeah. And when you signed up for it, it was true. You had never, you weren’t really even doing all the workouts RX. There was a lot you were not, right? Um, I was probably doing three quarters of them as prescribed, but I am still learning how to do a lot of the gymnastics work. And that’s, yeah, those are what hold me up. So the terminology RX is just like, but they might prescribe guys having 50 pound dumbbells or 135 pound on a barbell. And then everybody else or a lot of other people will scale that weight. They’ll do what’s comfortable for them. So they’re not getting injured and that they can do the workout to, to the standards that you’re supposed to like, so like within a time cap, you’re getting it all done, that kind of thing.

[2:32] Yeah. And I could do a lot of those, but like the bar muscle up, the headstand pushups, um, those kinds of things I haven’t quite mastered yet. So anyway, when you signed up for it, you were legitimately good to sign up for it, but then the open happened and the open is where you, uh, do everybody in the whole world of CrossFit does the same exercises and they get ranked amongst each other. And then you’re competing against the Michael Jordans of CrossFit. And obviously you’re not getting close to them, but you can see how you fall within your age group, within your area, all that kind of stuff. It’s a lot of fun where you did really well. You actually. And this year they said the top 25% of, if you’re in the top 25%, you can progress on to the quarterfinals.

[3:20] Something that I have not done yet. And I’m not bitter about that at all. I’ve not made it to the quarterfinals yet, but you did. And that was amazing. And it just so happened that I, so I was also not allowed to compete in this competition. I have done RX things like competitions before. And so I was sitting here watching you, the quarterfinal athlete, jealous, and you’re also competing in the competition. Yes. Cause the quarterfinals, they released the workouts. There’s four workouts you have to do within a period of four or five days and you submit your scores. And that, that period of time happened right alongside this CrossFit competition. So quarterfinals started what Wednesday last week, maybe it’s six, six days span, but it started on Wednesday last week.

[4:11] I did a workout, a quarterfinal workout on Friday. I did another one on Saturday. No, I did a quarterfinal workout on Thursday, another one on Friday, CrossFit competition on Saturday. Sunday, I was just dead. I couldn’t function. I took like a two hour nap. Yeah. Um, rightfully. Yeah. And now I have two more workouts this evening. Scores have to be submitted by eight and then I will be done. And, and just to clarify, just because of this competition, wasn’t this RX competition, it was still hard. Like it was four intense workouts. And that’s the beauty of CrossFit is like, no matter what level you’re at, like you’re going to make it hard. I, when somebody once told me, it’s not like you, it gets easier.

[4:53] You just get faster at whatever you’re doing. Yeah. It was really fun. We competed against two other teams for the intermediate level and it was close the entire way all up to the end. I didn’t know what place we were coming into when they were calling the awards, but we won. Number one, baby. Yeah. That was a lot of fun. And you, I, there are some movements. I just like, how are you doing that that quickly? Kettlebell swings. Like you’re dragging the bar, the doll, the bell back down. And so she’s awesome. I’m not worthy. But one of the really funny things that came out of this whole thing was we, you decided to do the cold plunge. Like we, I built a chest freezer cold plunge a little bit ago and I’ve been loving it and it’s hard, but it’s one of those things you get through and then you feel better.

[5:42] But you did it for the first time. You did it twice. Out of necessity. Not because I wanted to. Well, how did you feel? Okay. All right. To be fair. All right. So one of the workouts on the competition was a deadlift ladder where you progressively deadlifted five reps. I think there were like maybe six different weights. And the last weight was 205, which is pretty heavy for me. And I did six reps and I knew if I did one more, I was going to wreck my back. And so I stopped. There were some other teams there that did 20, 20 reps. Yeah. And so after that competition, my back was so sore. Everything else was sore too, but my back especially was so sore. And I had just done the day before for the quarterfinal workout, I had done 150 wall balls.

[6:31] And so I was just beat. So I knew. Plus a hundred burpee box jump overs, right? Yeah. Yeah. I didn’t quite get all those finished, but yes. And after the competition, I guess was the second time I went into the cold plunge because I figured I should probably do that if I wanted to do these workouts today to finish the quarterfinal. And the second time was not as bad. You did three minutes. The first time, one, one and a half minutes. First time I did it the night before the competition because I wanted to try and recover as much as possible because I had less than 24 hours to recover between workout. And I did it for a minute and a half. The worst part was getting in because I don’t know why someone would voluntarily step into something that cold.

[7:16] And then like everything just hurt so bad. It was so cold. It hurt so much. But then I went from the cold plunge to the sauna and that was a really lovely experience. One of my favorite parts of that is that it got the kids all fired up because like when I first started doing it, they were all fired up about it too. And Isla, one of our daughters got into the cold plunge and just her feet a little bit. And she was like, she looked at me, dad, I don’t like the cold plunge. No, you really don’t. It’s not really about enjoying it. But then you doing it, they got fired up again and they actually went in a lot longer and got in like to their belly button a little bit. And I just was able to tell them, Hey, I’m really proud of you because that’s not an easy thing.

[7:59] And lots of people want to avoid hard things and you push through it, persevered. Not that everybody has to do cold plunges. It’s just a general, I think, life philosophy that I hope they learn. You’re very good at coming up with like, why bless them. Only getting, you know, only moderate eye rolls that time. Actually, I don’t think there was any eye rolls. And they actually, they were proud of themselves for doing it because it was really hard. And I think they felt proud of themselves afterwards, which I’m really thrilled about. I do think as soon as I got in, I, Azra said, Oh, I’ll do it now. Yeah. I do think it unlocked something for her, but. So we are fortunate enough to have an awesome guest, Cara Mims.

[8:41] She is with Abbott Realty. She is out of the Hampton Roads area and she is just infectious. Her personality, she’s bubbly. She’s bright. She’s, she has a lot of energy. And I’ve, so I met her through being the president of my local association. We did a leadership track together. We went to Chicago to learn about preparing ourselves for our year in leadership. And then also we both were together in San Diego, but she has been a realtor for a long time. She’s been a volunteer for her local committee. She’s been a volunteer committee committees in the, in her association of realtors. And then she also became a broker here recently. She was a president of her association. She has now become a board member for Virginia realtors.

[9:30] And she also has volunteered in committees for the national association association of realtors. So she’s, she goes above and beyond. She, she believes in the business and everything that goes into it. So it’s a really good conversation. She’s really a fun person. Oh, she was so fun to talk to. She’s probably somebody. If you get stranded on an island, you want her around. She’s probably going to be the one making you feel like everything’s going to be okay. Giving you a job to do, making sure that you’re warm, you have everything you need. And she’s got a plan already, probably. She, she, somebody you can tell has worked really hard to find different ways to make all the different parts of her life work together really well.

[10:11] It sounds like she has tried different things and right now has absolutely found something that’s working really well for her. And it was fun to hear from her. Anything else you want to say? No, I, yeah, she’s again, an all-star. So definitely reach out to her. We’ll have links for connecting to her on social media. If you have any other further questions, I think she has some good nuggets in this podcast that you can learn from, but yeah, without further ado, Cara Mims.

[10:39] Welcome to the Wealthy Investor. We are here with Cara Mims. Cara Mims is an amazing agent, broker, leader in the Virginia. You’re now a member of the board of directors, right? For Virginia. Absolutely. And your realtors. Yeah. We just, we met up as we were both president of our local associations. So we met during the leadership track that happens in Chicago, I think the first time probably. And then we went to San Diego. Oh, you were there as well. Had a great time at San Diego for the NAR conference. But Cara, tell us a little bit about yourself, how you got into becoming a realtor, what made you choose this path and a little bit about your career so far. Well, can I just say very similarly to most people, I didn’t really grow up wanting to be a realtor.

[11:24] I didn’t really know what it was or really anything about it. I live in York County, so like the Hampton Road area and found myself after school just trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I actually went to school for English with a minor in journalism and realized that wasn’t for me, still a passion of mine, but it wasn’t really the direction that I wanted to go into and actually just stumbled into it. I needed a job. I had worked at Target, so I didn’t want to wear red and khaki anymore. I had a very low threshold of what I was looking for. And a friend recommended me and I actually started out as an agent’s assistant. So I was doing, you know, straight up work, making phone calls. That was like my entrance into real estate and then became an office manager and went from, we started with two agents out of that office and up to 30, 40.

[12:18] I did a number of things behind the scenes corporately for that company and then decided, I think I can do that real estate thing too. Behind the scenes, I didn’t want anyone to know because I didn’t want any additional pressure. Right. Well, my lunch hour and after work, I went to school and studied and passed my exam and then went to the broker and said, hey, can I work here too in a different capacity? They know that you were preparing for that? Did they know the test? That was, oh, that’s totally true. No, because I didn’t want the additional pressure. Like I didn’t want them like, hey, how’s it going? Or have you taken it yet or whatever? Yeah. So I’m serious. On my lunch hour, like I’d go in the car and I’d study and then the classes were like six to 10 at night.

[13:00] So I got off at 530. So I would leave and then go to class and study on the weekends and whatnot. So yeah, they didn’t know. Like it literally was a surprise. And then they were very like warm and welcoming. And I realized that real estate is a lot to get into just having your own business in any aspect, but real estate specifically. So I teamed up with another agent. My gift and talent is like on the administrative side and being organized and processes. And his was not. Like it’s what’s bail. Like he knows the old part. Um, so we collab for a couple of years and then I went solo and yeah, I’ve been growing ever since. So it’s been a pretty fun ride. It’s my only like full-time career that I’ve ever had.

[13:47] I started when I was two. Are you, and you’ve been with the same company throughout? I haven’t. I haven’t. That’s a series of events as well. But I’ve been where I’m at currently since 2019 and I actually came as the success coach, which was a pretty cool thing. So basically I oversaw all of the training and coaching and just anything to support the agents as to be successful. And then I’ve been the broker since January of 2023. Yeah. Congratulations on that. Yeah. That’s great. Yeah. Thank you. It’s been pretty amazing. Great company and culture and yeah, we’re having fun. We’re having fun. You probably have a unique background or your background is probably unique for helping a new agent start.

[14:32] You think that being an agent’s like assistant would be a great way for somebody to get their foot in the door. They’re working on getting their license or even have their license and need a little bit of a stable income. That seems like a awesome way of starting. Would you recommend that to other people? Absolutely. Absolutely. I have long said that real estate, you are helping people with probably their most expensive, their largest asset. It’s a lot. It’s a lot. You take the courses for your real estate exam and that checks the box to be licensed. We joke, that doesn’t really tell me you have to. It’s your update, right? So it’s important who you work with for that initial time. But I feel like one for all the things that you mentioned, but also for that learning curve, be able to get that experience.

[15:17] For me, I’m a very interactive, hands-on learner. So you can talk to me and tell me all the things. Right. You know, it’s a little bit of in one ear, out the other. But if I’m able to shadow you or we’re going out to view property, we’re at listing presentations, I’m going through the process, setting appointments and that kind of thing, then I understand it better. Yeah, I definitely think that’s a great avenue if that’s possible. For both sides of that coin, just to dive into that a little bit deeper, what do you think the number of hours a week would look like typically? Were you full-time when you started or was that like as needed work hourly? For me? Yeah. I started off, I’m trying to think, it was quite a while ago, guys.

[15:58] I’ve got to remember back. I feel like I started off, I started off full-time. And the reason I think it’s a little fuzzy is the kind of an interesting situation. So I was hired for the position, the realtor that I shadowed or that I worked with, she had lost her like long-time assistant. And then she actually left that company like a month in because she went to go start another firm. And so I actually, it was a sweet spot. I would work from her house. She had a home office set up. I had one puppy dog in my lap, one flog at my feet, computer making phone calls. And she would like make us lunch and go get lunch, you know? So it was, it was a little fluid in the aspect that, you know, kind of segue to more of a part-time.

[16:41] And then, like I said, I went to go be the office manager instead of just for her. But whether it’s part-time or full-time, I think either one could be advantageous because like I said, there are just so many different nuances to real estate. Like we have a new agent training program and I like to think it’s pretty comprehensive. But I always, when we finish that, I always tell them like, this is the tip of the iceberg. There’s just so much that you can’t cover and you just got to jump in. Yeah. Any kind of scenario where you’re able to get that experience beforehand, I think is super valuable. And I would encourage people that are in the business and have been doing it for a while to think about hiring out.

[17:19] Because I think often that is a step that people don’t take and they think that they need to get a full-time assistant. And you really don’t. Like you can find somebody that is willing to work as needed hours and pay them fairly and then give them some tasks to do. And just however much time it takes is what you pay. Like we’ve done that for a while and it’s been great. And I would like to build that more on me, honestly. So I would encourage people to do that. I remember you being on the other side of that when you first started to where you were the one that was being hired. And so you got a feel for what felt fair for the work that you were doing. And you had some people that were pretty generous.

[17:53] And so then you tried to do that also when you were on this. And I think that working with the hope to get buyer referral leads as well, that’s another benefit that can happen with that kind of relationship if it’s an agent that has a lot of listings. So yeah, it worked out. Well, can we just I just want to like reinforce what you’re saying. I think a lot of top producers or high achieving agents, they feel like they have to do it all. Or to your point, they have to go directly to the full-time assistant, which has its own set of things going on with it. Delegation, like delegation. And for two reasons. One, it helps you scale your business if that’s what you’re looking to do. I will say for me, when I really started to look at delegating certain tasks out, it wasn’t necessarily to increase my production and that kind of thing.

[18:41] I actually wanted to be able to be room mom, be able to go on field trips. Like I started getting busier where I couldn’t do that kind of stuff. I wanted to get involved with the association. I just wanted more time. I was fine with my production. I just wanted more time. Now, I will say my production did go up because I figured I had to work more effectively. But I just for anyone listening that you’re so busy and you’re doing well, which is a blessing. Just make sure that you’re being mindful of that. What are the tasks that you need to be focused on so that not only are you hitting your financial goals, but also your what I consider like your self-care and your mental health goals. Just leaning into that delegation is huge.

[19:21] And having that flexibility of it being more hourly means that you won’t have to be paying for somebody in the slower months because we all have slow times. It’s slower months, slower seasons, et cetera. So that’s great. Tell us a little bit about your getting involved with the Virginia Realtors. What led you to the path of leadership for your local association, et cetera? I would say two things. One, I’ve always surrounded myself. Like I’ve always been surrounded by people that were leaders. So past presidents, chairs of committees and stuff like that. So it really was a culture that I grew up in. It was encouraged slash expected that I would get involved. And I actually appreciate that because it’s been a really rewarding experience.

[20:04] Like you said, being involved on the state level. But I got started on my local level. And like I said, it was a matter of how many committees are you going to be in versus are you going to do it kind of thing. So yeah, definitely surrounding myself with the culture of people that, you know, that was encouraged. But then also the direct ask, meaning like I had people that either voluntold or they brought me along. They were like, hey, you should do this. Or I think this would be great. I have a desire to, we talk about leading, but I really have a desire to serve. And so it’s a creative outlet to be able to do that. I feel like on every level, because I’m now president of local associations, still involved there.

[20:45] Now on the state level, had my first two committees on the national level. And for me, a lot of it is learning. Like anytime I’m a part of something, I want to understand it better. Like I figure I’m paying these dues anyway. Might as well get the benefits of it. And so that desire to learn it inside out, but then also identify like, how can I help? How can I contribute? And it’s been very rewarding. Every experience I’ve had, like I’ve served and I’ve given, but I also feel like I’ve gotten a lot from it, which is why I keep doing it. It is fun. It’s rewarding. And I think that you get to meet people like you, like you, you are probably a dream for anybody, any committee you’re on. If I was in our local association, I’d be like, please give me some care.

[21:30] You are like motivated and you want to do this stuff. And it’s great. And I wish you all the success for everywhere you go from here, but it’s, it’s a lot of fun. And I think you get to build those connections across the state as well. And we’re, we all do things probably a little bit differently, or we have a slightly different cultures in our local markets, but it’s great. And I was able to connect you with one of my friends to do some business. So you get some connections that you can strongly recommend across the state, likely know people in other areas. That’s one of the benefits. I was curious as you started getting into some of these committees and leadership opportunities, you mentioned growing up in it a bit.

[22:06] Did you feel like you just naturally belonged there? Did it take some like acting like it until you really got comfortable? I’m curious what that adjustment process was like for you. Yeah. So that’s an interesting question. I don’t think I’ve had that one before, but I like it. I like it because to a certain extent, like that’s a joke among servant leaders. Like there is a certain aspect of it where it seems so natural. It’s just who I am. But the flip side of it, I don’t feel like I’ve ever faked it or I felt like I had to put on airs or anything like that. But there’s a lot of stepping out of your comfort zone. Right? Absolutely. So on the one hand, I felt drawn to it and it was effortless.

[22:50] And of course, I’ll be on this committee and of course I’ll do that. And of course. But then especially as you send in leadership, so leadership, whether it’s on a committee level, being a chair, vice chair, then chair, or like on the board being in an officer position, that was definitely a step outside of my comfort zone because that wasn’t something that like in one aspect naturally happened. But that’s the part that I love. And that’s the part that I crave because yes, I’ve grown professionally. When like he talks about like the networking and all of that kind of stuff, but really y’all the personal development, like that’s the part that’s been so rewarding and the part that I hadn’t really thought about when I stepped up to do it.

[23:33] So yeah, a little bit of both. If that answers the questions. Yeah. I think it’s natural to have a little bit of like maybe the imposter syndrome when you step into new roles. I think when you first get on the board, you don’t, there’s no way you can really understand like a budget, for example, like that was complete gibberish to me. I mean, for a long time, but it, you have to learn, you have to get past that and you just have to show up and be willing to be humble and acknowledge that it’s, you’re not going to know everything. Were you expecting that personal growth piece? Cause you had talked earlier about being more servant service led and more of a servant heart. And so getting into these leadership roles, were you expecting the personal growth that came along with that?

[24:14] I wasn’t. I think that was definitely a surprise. And like I said, now at this point in my career, I know now to lean into that, but yeah, when I very first got started, I’ve surrounded myself or I don’t know if I was drawn to people that like, this is what they did. Like I know a lot of past presidents and like people that have been in leadership for a long time. So of course you do whatever. But I didn’t really, I definitely didn’t know that part of it. I looked into, okay, this is how I contribute. And this is how I learn about the association, or this is how I learn about my community. And then, like I said, you find yourself with a lot of reflection. You find yourself questioning things, criticizing things, not in a detrimental or negative way, but in a way of, I want to be not just a better leader, not just a better realtor, but a better human when whatever that looks like.

[25:06] Yeah. I love how you step into new spaces. It doesn’t seem like that phases you a whole lot. You’re just like, yeah, let’s do it. Let’s go. Let’s go. Yeah. Yeah. At this point. Yeah. Well, speaking of which, you’re a broker now. And so how’s that, how was that transition? And did you, was that something you saw coming or was it kind of something that came up, an opportunity came along or how’d that go? Also both. So I got my license in 2006. Okay. And then I got my broker’s license in 2010. So like, you have to have it for three years. I got it a year four. Of course you did. Of course you got it right away. But I’m going to tell you, it’s funny because when I got it and I announced it, I make everything a big deal.

[25:54] Everyone was like, oh, when are you opening up your new firm? Or are you going to be a broker? And like all this kind of stuff. And I was like, like, it was surprising because that wasn’t why I did it. I did it because I wanted to, for a while I taught principles of real estate. Right. And that was like one of the paths that you could, as far as like the qualifications, to be able to do that. And I had a really opportunity, a really great opportunity to go to, you know, school to be able to do that. So in my mind, it was like something I would have wanted to do down the line anyways. Let’s go for it. So that’s why I started. But like for a long time, never had a desire to open up my own shop or even be a broker of an office.

[26:32] And I’ll say in part, I wanted the best of all the world. Right. For instance, some brokers are not non-competing in the aspect, like they don’t sell at all. For me, I’m in the area that I grew up in. I have a lot of connections. I have family that have assets here and whatnot. So it was always important to me to still be able to do that. And so when I had other opportunities, it just wasn’t for me. So when you say, was it something that you wanted to do or did it stumble? It was always something that I thought like down the line, the timing of it, an opportunity came and it was like, let’s go for it. Like I said, with the company that I’m at, there’s been a lot of growth, a lot of just excitement, even as far as the culture changing and whatnot.

[27:17] We’ve been around for 75 plus years, but we’re in this new generation of leadership and forward thinking and that kind of thing. So I felt, okay, another opportunity to impact the company and even our local area in a different way. You used the right word earlier when you said transition. It’s been a transition. It’s just even as far as mindset. There was a lot of conversation about 2023 and we saw a lot of shifts and changes in our industry that it was like 2008. And it wasn’t for a number of reasons, but there were changes, there were shifts. And I was around in 2008 and I survived and thrived through that. But now I found myself having to lead a team of people through that, coaching them and encouraging them and educating them and partnering with them.

[28:05] Like it was a different space versus when I did it solo. So it has definitely been a transition, but I like to think a beautiful one. I have a great team. I’m a broker in one office, but there’s four offices within our company. I have a really great broker team with me, which I think is super helpful. Just having that support. If there’s something that I don’t know, I have resources to be able to lean into, which I think is super helpful, so yeah, it’s been a really amazing experience. That’s great. And I’m curious, this is an interesting time to get in, into a leadership role. I’m just trying to think, or I’m curious how you present everything. How, what kind of culture you try to embody in, in your brokerage?

[28:50] Like what I, you’re an optimistic person. You, you fill people with energy and all that. You’re not a Debbie downer. I’d imagine that’s your leadership. This is a changing landscape. How do you handle it in your office? So I love that you said optimistic because I definitely try to approach every day that way. Try to be hopeful. I will say as there are a lot of changes going on in the industry. I think making sure it’s something that I’m consistently talking to the team about is making sure that we’re responding based off of facts and not bait and noise and chaos. Cause there’s a lot of that out there right now. And, and I get the nature of that media is going to do what media does, but it’s important for us.

[29:30] And we were talking about this over the last few years is really being that knowledge broker, making sure that we are leaning into data that we’re leaning into facts. This is the journalism part of me coming into play where like old school journalism, at least was checking your facts, having multiple sources, that kind of thing. So we’ve leaned into that for a while. And so from a broker position or standpoint is leading the way in that I’m reading more than ever and researching more than ever. Cause I want to make sure that I’m equipping the team with that. I’m also very blessed that I have a wide variety of both seasoned agents and new agents, which I think it’s great. So I have a lot of seasoned professionals that honestly I lean into because they have a lot to bring to the conversation and a lot of historical context that even predates me where they can say, Hey, we went through this in the nineties and the eighties.

[30:25] And so they can give that context for that, that is super valuable. But then when you talk about the optimism, part of that is the energy. Right. Yeah. Having the newness where maybe I don’t know any better. It’d be fine. And people look in there like bless her heart. But like that sometimes because the world can be a doomsday effect. It’s all the lens through things, right? The positives, you can see the negatives and all we can really do is do our best every day and be better agents. Right. Absolutely. And that’s the thing I think right now, more than ever, it’s a great opportunity to raise the bar of prep as realtors. We abide by a code of ethics. I think that’s one of the best things about our, our association and about our industry.

[31:14] And this is the time to lean in. Like I spoke about being that knowledge broker. This is the time to be connecting with your people now more than ever and saying, Hey, I want to make sure that you understand this. I want to make sure that you know that I’m real big on communication. So that would be the second thing, right? Building on the knowledge and the facts, but also communication. How many times is there miscommunication or how many times is there? I thought this. So I think really having that communication with my agents has been really key. I actually just went through first quarter check-ins with all of them. We do a lot of like collaborative training. We meet once a week. Our Fridays are like probably the best, one of the best things that we do.

[31:52] We have a good group that gets together for that. But I wanted that individual time with them to see one, see what their perspective is on things and see where I can support and help. But also it was a lot of great feedback from them. But I love that it was individual in that way. And like I said, just making sure that we’re on top of the good information that we need to have and making sure the additional component of that is that we’re getting that out, you know, to our buyers, our sellers, our client, consumers. So yeah, that’s probably the biggest thing. Education is huge for us. That makes a lot of sense. I think one of my colleagues said that he’s never really been part of a big story that he has understood how wrong a lot of the narrative was in the media.

[32:38] And your comment about how old journalism used to be about research and all that kind of stuff, you’re like, yeah, it’s a tough thing. But I think what NAR.facts, is that the best resource for people that want to look into it a little bit more? I would say facts.realtor is a great resource and competition.realtor. Those are probably the best two resources to go to to get accurate information. Perfect. Yeah. So you probably know, and Matias told you, you looked at our other podcasts, I’m not necessarily in the real estate world. I am by proxy, but we’re all being adjacent. Yes. And Matias and I have talked a lot about how we kind of balance things out, especially with some of the intensity that comes along with real estate, depending on your schedule and your how into it you are, what your life looks like.

[33:29] So I did want to hear a little bit about you, just what it’s been like for you to balance. You had mentioned this a bit earlier, just work and life and mental health and just the holistic model. Yeah. What that’s been like for you, how, like where stress has come in, how you’ve managed that, just wherever you want to go from there. No, that was it. How much time do we have? Talk about this forever. So. Oh, it’s a lot. Part two. Yeah. And this is something that I’m passionate about because like I said, I’ve grown up in the real estate industry, so it holds my heart in a lot of different ways. But one of the things that I don’t think a lot of people understand is the stress that comes with the job, especially as you grow in the industry and just navigating all the different things in a transaction.

[34:18] And so what I find, especially for really good realtors, is that there is a huge amount of time, effort on that kind of thing that can impact other parts of your life. So mental health and really that self-care has been something that I have been like shouting from the rooftops for a while because it’s great to have an award-winning year and have all these sales and all of that kind of thing. But if you’re struggling and you’re falling apart and your family dynamic isn’t good and your friend dynamic isn’t good and like you are not good, then it’s not even worth it. So I will not profess to say that I have that word balance is a little bit of not a trigger, but it’s one of those things you can never have balance.

[35:05] So let me just put that out there. But I will at least share some of the things that have helped me with that. So one is I am really, I always tell my agents, you want to set expectations, not excuses. And when I say that, what I mean is like, even when it comes to listing presentation or buyer consultation, those tend to be for me longer than probably the norm. They can be two to two and a half hours. Reason being, I cover so much stuff at the beginning because I want to set those realistic expectations. So for instance, one of the things that we discuss is Sunday is family day. That’s also relax day. So I typically am not available on Sundays. Now, it doesn’t mean if we’re in the midst of a transaction, I’m like, oh, it’s Sunday.

[35:49] I’ll catch you on Monday. But like I set that expectation so they can still email, they can still call. But if it’s not something that’s urgent, which 90% of it isn’t, then they know to expect a call on Monday. But if I hadn’t done that from the beginning, then they’d be like, she’s not very responsive. What’s going on? Also in line with that, time blocking. Like setting aside time where you are focused on follow-up on emails, phone calls, all those different things. That had been a game changer that like I’ve done for years. And I tell my agents to do the same thing, but it goes back to that expectation, right? I used to, I don’t have it now, but I used to be really diligent about it where it was even on my phone.

[36:36] So I’d say, thank you for calling. Phone calls will be returned between nine and 10 and four and five. And the trick with that is then you have to do it. You can’t let four to five come by and they don’t get a return call. But what it does is it cuts down on the client reaching out 11 and expecting you to stop everything that you’re doing. Once again, if it’s something that’s urgent and time sensitive, absolutely. But when we start talking about productivity, that’s one of the things when you’re pulled in a lot of different directions, it then becomes that stressor, right? So time blocking is another big one. Like I said, same thing with scheduling. And I’m just going to say it in real estate, it’s okay to take time off.

[37:19] What? I don’t know who started this. I work, I’m available 24 seven. I am not, I’m 24 seven. And if that’s what you’re looking for, I’m not for you. I want to take the fear. Actually, that’s a good point. Can you tell me what your, how you navigate family vacations and the work boundaries with that? How do you do that? I try to set them. So like, I try to set them early. I have two children in teen teenage years. So a lot of times it’s spring break or summer, that kind of thing. One is I try, I’m a planner. If you haven’t realized. So, you know, I try to plan out early. I’ve always had someone covering my business. I always set expectations with clients beforehand. So if I find that it’s whatever’s pertinent to the transaction, it’s going to be in the midst of that timeframe.

[38:05] Then I’m letting them know way ahead of time. Hey, just wanted to let you know. And I introduce them. I say, Hey, so-and-so is going to be handling business. And sometimes depending on what it is, maybe they’re getting CC on email. So they’re, you know, in the, actually the client that you referred me that happened. I was actually, I will say I broke it a little bit. We wrote an offer while I was taking a train down from New York. So I will say even with the family, I balance it with them. Meaning like they know my commitment to my business. I’m only working with clients that I have signed agreements. They understand the boundaries. Like we’ve discussed all that because I did that at the beginning.

[38:44] So my, on the flip side, my family knows if I’m breaking away to write an offer or take a phone call, it’s something that I’ve deemed that it’s a priority, not just, Oh, Hey, I wanted to shoot the breeze about this. Hey guys, that can be handled by the person that’s backing me up or whatever the case may be. So it’s that mutual respect. And once again, I’m addressing that at the buyer consultation. I’m addressing that at the listing appointment. So for instance, if there’s a buyer, because a lot of times they want weekends, if they’re saying, Oh, I’m only available on Sundays, then I might not be a good fit for them. Like that’s, and I’m okay with that. I will have a whole team of agents. At this point in my career, I only worked by referral past clients, that kind of thing.

[39:28] So I have no problem saying that. Now I will say I’m speaking from a place of privilege at a certain point in my career. I understand for newer agents, you’re not always able to do that. But once again, going back to that delegation, I’m big on, it’s not just, like, even if you’re a solo agent, it’s not just you. So figuring out what makes sense for you. So for instance, I have some agents, they team up because for whatever reason, they know that they’re not going to be available at certain times or whatever the case may be. There’s nothing wrong with leaning into another agent and figuring out what makes sense. Some there’s compensation, some there’s not. It’s whatever works for both parties.

[40:06] But I think so many times as realtors, we feel like we have to do all the things. We don’t lean into those resources. Those are probably the big thing. Like I said, I usually have a time of the day that I’m checking email, catching up if there’s anything I need to do. Family knows about that. But I think that mutual respect is super important. Like my kids know when that’s happening. And it’s at a time where I can do it. Like, you know, I was writing that offer on the train. They were playing a game. Right. And waiting for what I was doing. Well, it sounds like, for one, it sounds like boundaries are important for you. And communication is also a big, it’s very important for you. It sounds like you’re very good at it.

[40:46] And with the vacations too, it takes a good bit of work on the front end to organize who’s going to be watching or covering your cases and who’s going to be doing that work and coordinating and catching everybody up to speed and making sure that’s all organized before you leave. But it’s almost like doing that extra work in order to give yourself the gift of rest then when you’re with your family. Oh, mine. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you’re absolutely right. It’s a lot more work on the front end, but like it’s what I tell my agent, the more you can do with that upfront, the better it is in the long run. And then like on a client scenario, they appreciate it as well. Like that way they feel informed and they know that’s actually an NAR stat where they talk about what are the things that maybe consumers don’t like that realtors do or room for improvement.

[41:38] And that’s one of the things is like the communication and that kind of thing. So when I first came across, that’s when I was like, okay, let me lean into that. I want to correct that stat, at least for anyone that’s working for me. Yeah, that’s great. Makes a lot of sense. Yeah. That’s something that we always talk about trying to figure different ways to manage vacation and trips. And, but we have little kids right now. So that requires a lot of just constantly on the go. So I will say when you were saying like little, cause I know you’re, you have like little ones. So one little trick that I, and I forget who I heard this from. One of the things I ran into is that cause real estate happens at different times, right?

[42:20] Like as much as I’m trying to set the hours, it happens when it happens. So the kids would run in and they’d be like, mom, in the middle of a conversation, but they felt like they needed me. And then I was dismissive because I’m like, I’m on the phone deal. So what we collectively agreed upon is that if there was something that was important to them, it may not have been as timely as important to be right, but it was important to them. And they felt like they needed mom’s attention right in that moment. They could open the door quietly and they would come and they would put their, their hand on my arm and just hold it. And then that was my recognition for, okay, they need me. And then I could come to like that natural progression in the conversation where I could say, Hey Erica, can you hold on one moment?

[43:05] Which most people are like, yeah, sure. I can put one mute. All right. Hey, what’s going on? What do you need? Usually it was he hit me. She did this. Right. But still they felt heard. They felt seen. And I could, in a calm way where my client didn’t hear me screaming at them in a calm way, I could say, I got you. Give mom 10 minutes. I’ll be off the phone. Or I can give whatever instructions or maybe someone was at the door, whatever it is. But the biggest thing was they felt seen and heard in that moment. And then I could segue back onto the conversation or maybe it was something where, Hey Erica, I actually don’t have to go. I’ll give you a call back in 30 minutes or whatever. But just doing that, it took a little while for them to get it.

[43:46] But just putting the hand on that way it signaled. And then I could, I could stop. That was huge for us. And like the stress for, for both parties, like they felt better about it as well. Yeah. Well, also though, the amount of skill and regulation for you that takes to have to be professionally on the phone. And then also staying calm and then trying to figure out what your child’s needing and recognizing that the hand’s on your arm and you need to, to address it. And then transition back. Yeah. That takes a toll on its own. I mean. It took a while. Yeah. It took a while. Great. Yeah. I hear you. I think you, it sounds like you work really hard in all areas of your life to make sure everybody has what they’re needing.

[44:29] And I try. Yeah. Well, with all your experience, your leadership, all that stuff, do you have one piece, one golden nugget you would like to share to other realtors or other successful people that are busy and have hectic lives to, for balance or for business growth? Or do you have anything that you can share with our audience? I will reiterate the delegation piece because I think that’s something that, that high achieving realtors, they struggle with. And part of it is, I think, control, right? Like we want the control over all the things, but there are creative ways to do that. And I’ll say like with my team, when I see an agent at a certain point where I feel like they’re at that level, I’m like, okay, let’s, let’s strategize, right?

[45:08] It’s not just tomorrow you do that. So let’s figure out a plan that makes sense and work through that. So that, that would be one. But I think other part of it is that life is short. Enjoy it. That’s the other part that I try to incorporate, whether it’s in like my personal business or whether it’s with, with my team and just like office culture is that I want to have fun doing it. And I think sometimes we get stuck in the midst of life that we lose that. Like we’re so in the moment, we’re so in the transaction, we’re so in whatever it is that we lose the bigger picture. So in line with the self-care, just figure out some time in the day to just be able to enjoy the, really the opportunity. I feel blessed to be able to work as a realtor in real estate and help people buy and sell homes.

[45:56] It’s, it’s a privilege. It’s an honor, but sometimes it’s hard to lose focus on that. Just enjoy the ride. I love it. Part of the biggest thing. Do you, do you, this is probably maybe not exactly what your role is in your company. I don’t know how deep you would go into this with your agents, but do you give any advice as far as like personal finance or how to structure your business, how to keep your business running through, again, there’s slow seasons. So months and taxes and all that kind of stuff that can come up. Like stay away from the taxes. Yeah. But just, you have to pay them and where, where you’re not making much money leading up to that point. Right. Not that you’re giving tax advice.

[46:37] No, but that’s, I think that’s one of the things that’s really awesome. You know, a lot of different business models, respect them all, but we actually partner with our agents to be true entrepreneurs. So there is a lot of that, that is not just teaching listing process, buyer process, but being a business person and an entrepreneur and how to grow and thrive in that way. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And when you talk about like the peaks and valleys beyond like the business development side of it, some of that is not just like us speaking to that, but like aligning with professionals in that area of expertise. Right. Whether it’s a financial planner or someone that is a tax advisor. Like I don’t want to speak to that, but I can bring in someone that is.

[47:18] So yeah, we, we definitely do a good part of that. But the other thing, when people talk about the peaks and valleys, which isn’t necessarily a business development tip, but where you are able to help that level out is consistency. And I think so many times in this industry, we want everything right now, which is going back to that preparation piece. You really need to spend a lot of time preparing to get into real estate. I think a lot of people think, oh, I can just do one here or there and I can just jump in on the weekends. And I’m not saying that, that you can’t do it in a less than full time capacity. But what I am saying is there are a lot of different components to it, including the financial side.

[47:59] And I don’t think people think about that. They think about how much it costs for the real estate course and how much it costs to get your license with DEPOR, which I’ll be honest, it’s very minimal. When you think about starting a business, there’s the other aspect of it outside of the fees and the dues, but just living expenses and carrying costs that people need to be mindful of. And so that’s definitely something over the last year, like you said, being like specifically in this role that I really tried to hone that message and that story to agents. I don’t want to talk them out of getting into the industry, but I do want them to understand not only are you helping someone with their biggest financial assets, but there’s a whole financial and business component to helping people buy and sell homes.

[48:43] So yeah, definitely always looking for ways to better support the agents so that they can be in a good entrepreneurial space. I love it. I’ve got a couple of quick questions for you. Do you have your favorite book recommendation you can share? I do. And I asked permission. I have two, but I’ll be really quick with them. There you go. One is Ninja Selling that I love that we have been consistently going through for quite a while. For anyone that treats their business relationship-minded versus transactional, it’s a must-have as far as Ninja Selling. That could be a whole other episode, so I won’t go deep dive into that, but check out Ninja Selling. It’s a great resource. And then this is a new one, which full disclosure, I haven’t finished reading it because I just got it.

[49:33] I pre-ordered it, but it’s Help Them Thrive, Leadership Toaching for Humans Leading Humans. The author is Melissa Majors that I saw at an RCE luncheon, probably when we were all in San Diego for NAR, who was a dynamic speaker. I love the human-centered leadership approach that she has and just makes it so relatable. Well, that’s what I’m currently in the midst of reading. So both of those are good, whether you’re in a quote-unquote leadership capacity or not. Good read. I love it. And I would just underline, if you’re looking at different ways of getting into being a realtor, focusing on building strong relationships, then you’re, it’s just, I feel like the right way to go. But that’s just, I’m not going to.

[50:17] I mean, it’s going to sustain you for a long time. And business models can change the way you can buy leads or whatever can change. Not that there’s not a place for that, but if you are focused on building great relationships with everybody you surround yourself with, it will grow. Your business will grow for sure. Would you have any kind of biggest mistake or learning outcome you would want to share? Something that you’ve grown through maybe a more difficult time? I would say, especially as a newer agent, there’s so many people that want your money. And when I say that, like they’re, to your point, there are a lot of different ways to get leads. Just do your research on them. So probably my first year, second year in the business, someone, I don’t even know how they came across me.

[51:02] They probably just went online and got my info. Long story short, I paid the money and they weren’t legit. So just, it wasn’t a ton of money, same principle. Just do your research on whatever it is that you’re looking to invest in. You want to make wise decisions. I know so many times we want to be unique and do something different than everyone else. But it’s still good to do your research and find someone, even if it’s not in your marketplace, that has subscribed to whatever that is so that you know that you’re investing wisely. I love it. Makes a lot of sense. Well, this has been an awesome conversation. I think that there have been some awesome nuggets you’ve shared. I think your attitude and the way you approach life and the way you approach your new endeavors is really inspiring.

[51:45] So I really appreciate everything that you do. I’m sure that everybody surrounding you feels the same way. All your agents and your brokerage, they’re lucky. And I look forward to seeing how this real estate world shapes out and how you continue to lead your agents and how we continue to be successful in this business. Absolutely. Thank you, guys. This has been awesome. I love working with the podcast. Thank you. Thank you for talking to us. It’s been really fun to get to know you again, too. Yeah. Love it. Thanks for listening to the Wealthy Investor Podcast, where we talk about wealth and holistic health. If you enjoy our content, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and hear new episodes every Thursday.

[52:29] If you really like our content, you can follow us on social media at The Wealthy Investor. Wealthy spelled W-E-L-L-T-H-Y. Wealthy Investor Podcast.