Building a Thriving Real Estate Business with Bold Grit While Navigating Motherhood with Taley Hunt

[0:00] Welcome to the REI Agent, a holistic approach to life through real estate. I’m Matthias, an agent and investor. And I’m Erica, a licensed therapist. Join us as we interview guests that also strive to live bold and fulfilled lives through business and real estate investing. Tune in every week for interviews with real estate agents and investors. Ready to level up? Let’s do it.

[0:24] Welcome. Welcome back to the REI Agent. You know what? Let’s leave that in. You know, I think we have had a couple bloopers and we seem to be falling on our face in these intros. So we’re just going to start it organically and authentically. And that was a funny intro and we’re going to run with it. I’m here with my lovely guest, guest, host, co-host. This is really bad. We can’t talk. Erica, how are you? Yes, thank you. Thank you for allowing me to join as your co-host. We just got out of a great conversation with Haley Hunt. Yeah, that was a really fun one. It was interesting to hear her perspective from building up a business while also starting a family, having a kid. And it was, yeah, interesting because I’ve been kind of on the other side of the coin, but she has a husband that is, you know, does a lot of the behind the scenes work that you do for us.

[1:23] So it’s just, it was a fun kind of like flipped yin and yang, if you will, kind of conversation, seeing her journey as in the lens of ours. Yeah, she started her real estate career, which was also a pivot from a career in higher ed at the same time as she became pregnant and had her first daughter. And so she was learning the new parenting thing and managing that piece of it without childcare while also building her business and doing really well. She was pretty successful that first year. And I, and also it was the year of COVID too, it was like mid 2020. A lot of stuff happening. So I can’t even imagine, you know, the level of exhaustion and burnout and pressure to be successful. And then also to feel like you’re doing what you need to as a parent.

[2:17] And man, she’s got some grit for sure. Yeah, it seems like somehow she’s turned, she turned like that into more like, like I get overwhelmed and burnout on in a really busy year. And I kind of stopped taking massive action, which she talks about her doing to kind of generate this, this business. But sometimes I feel like I end up slowing down a little bit and I end up having these like, you know, ups and downs in my market, in my business. And yeah, so it was just, it was just interesting to hear how it seemed like if anything, she just ramped it up further. And then also kind of set things up to be more delegation, a team, you know, admin, that kind of stuff. Yeah. Well, what I like about this conversation was she was transparent about how draining and difficult that first year was.

[3:09] And just how sometimes she would feel so frustrated with needing to be a parent while she’s also trying to get her work done. And I told her this too, but I was so glad that she mentioned that because it’s something that so many of us experience with our children when we feel the pressure of work or we’re trying to get an email written or, or, or something else in life is happening in our kids are asking for our attention or needing something from us, which they should because they’re children. But it’s so common to feel frustrated or resentful in that moment. And so I was, I was glad that she talked about that because that can also come along with just feeling pretty guilty that that’s even a feeling you’re experiencing.

[3:51] Yeah. And, and I think that that’s something, a really, a big challenge, something that agents really need to work on and figure out solutions for because, um, and I had a really big example of this last night. Uh, I didn’t handle it the best, uh, going through, you know, work stress and then, you know, letting that ooze on the, onto my parenting and my kids. Um, but you know, it’s, it’s just something that we have a very hard time and we really can’t turn things off easily. Uh, so, you know, coming home and having continued conversations with people, um, that are problems you’re working through, et cetera, like that, that’s just kind of the nature of the beast. And, uh, you know, trying to find a solution strategies to help yourself, uh, you know, deal with it in appropriate manners or, you know, whatever, like just to be able to be compartmentalize it maybe a little bit so that you can be with your kids.

[4:46] Um, I, I ended up, you know, getting through, uh, and having a really good learning moment with my kids, uh, as a result of this. And, and one of the things that came out of it was, you know, well, when I, I kind of reacted to one of my daughters and she wanted my attention, she wanted to ask me something and I was just like, hold on. And I, you know, I was a little bit too sharp and a little bit, yeah, whatever I was agitated. I was in this like high stress mode, I guess. And, you know, I talked to her later about, you know, saying, I’m sorry that that happened. And also, you know, kind of explaining how I was having a hard time. I had, there was something that I was dealing with that was causing me to, to act that way.

[5:23] Um, and then kind of relating it to maybe how she might have somebody be mean to her at school and you don’t really know what they’re going through and how you can try to help turn that around or stop that from spiraling into something worse. Like you can turn around and be nice to somebody, uh, to try to make things better and have a better relationship. And so it ended up being like a good thing that we overall, overall the message I think was good and we had the repair, um, there, so that was good. But yeah, trying to continue to find ways to not let that affect you or bring it home to your kids and your family, your spouse, et cetera, is important. And I think I have gotten a lot better at that overall.

[6:07] Well, yeah. And you mentioned the repair piece and I think that’s so, so crucial that even if there’s a reactive moment and, and you lash out at your kids or you say something you don’t mean, it doesn’t mean that the relationship is ruined. There’s always, always room to go back and to own what happened and to talk through what, what you did or said and, and how it might have hurt them and to repair that relationship. And, and we know that the repair is the most important part. Yeah. Cause we can’t be perfect, right? Like we all, um, have bad days, bad things happen to us. Uh, and we can read as many books as you want about, you know, you can choose how you respond to things and you can have the right attitude and you can, you know, meditate and cold plunge for six hours a day and get yourself in the right brain space, but we’re not perfect.

[6:59] And so I think you’re right. I mean, that’s that repair part is really key. Yeah. And I could tell this morning, I heard them talking about some of the conversation you had with them last night. Um, they remembered that and I think it really, um, spoke to them. So it sounds like you did a really nice job. Let’s go. Woo. Woo. Therapist approved.

[7:23] Uh, yeah, no, actually I’m kind of glad you weren’t there. So maybe it wasn’t perfect in the moment as I, as I remember it, but, um, no, just kidding. It was, it was good. And, you know, life continues and we’re going to keep working on these things that we all deal with. So, uh, yeah, without further ado, unless you have anything else you want to add? Nope. Don’t. Should we add some more bloopers in quick? Yeah. I guess the only thing I would say is if you are listening to the audio of this podcast, you may either just want to take a quick peek at Taylee’s Instagram or look at the video feed because part of her brand, um, has a very specific color and it’s really fun to look at. Um, so either take a pick at her, take a peek at her socials or other blooper or look at the video feed, but no, here’s daily.

[8:14] She’s great.

[8:18] Welcome back to the REI agent. We are here with Taylee hunt. Taylee. Thanks so much for joining us today. Of course. Thank you so much for having me. Taylee. We have a lot to talk about today. You are, uh, an agent, a team lead, uh, realtor coach. Uh, could you maybe get us started on how you started with real estate and, and, and tell us a little bit about your story. Yeah. So my background is actually in higher education. I, um, I’m 28 years old for reference. I went to college undergrad and grad school, and I spent two years working in higher education before I quit my job in North Carolina and moved to South Carolina. I went to college at my hometown college and I also went to grad school there and I also worked there.

[9:03] And so I grew up in this real small town where everybody knew everybody. And I picked up my life and left everything that I had ever known and moved to Columbia, South Carolina in 2020. So that was the year of the pandemic. Um, my husband and I were engaged at the time. He was active duty army at the time. And that’s why we moved to Columbia. Columbia. Um, and I had fully planned to just continue on in higher education, but because of COVID, it wasn’t just, you know, things were locked down physically. State budgets were frozen for a lot of state institutions and departments. And so, um, when I moved to Columbia, I had all intents and purposes of just working at the university here, trying to find a job, but, um, they weren’t hiring because of the budget freeze.

[9:55] So someone said, you should get your real estate license as if it was super easy, you know, like just go get your license. And so I did, I had no idea what to expect. And I, um, I got licensed in July of 2020 and I didn’t start working until the fall because we were also in the middle of planning a wedding. I was pregnant. I found out that I was having my daughter on the morning of my real estate exam, which was wild in and of itself. And so we just had a lot of like life things going on. So I started in the fall and then I sold my first house in February, 2021, had my daughter in March and I haven’t not sold a house any month since then. It’s been wild. Wow. So when, yeah. So when you, when you had, when you, after you delivered, you knew where you were pretty newly postpartum, were you, did you take some time off?

[10:49] How did you balance the becoming a new parent and then also starting a new career at the same time? Yeah. After I had my daughter, I never took any time off. Um, and I don’t advocate for that whatsoever because it was very rough. I was literally writing a contract in the hospital bed and my, oh my gosh. Yeah. Now this was like during labor or had you had your baby at this point? No. So I had her three weeks early. So they had, um, basically I had been taken to the hospital or instructed to go to the hospital hospital and I was just laying in the hospital bed. And that, at that point they had said, you’re going to stay and we’re going to go ahead and let you have the baby. So I was just kind of waiting around.

[11:35] Um, and I’m pretty sure they induced me at like six o’clock. So it was a couple hours before I was just laying in the bed and I was like, well, you know, might as well. I never took any time off. I remember, you know, leaving, um, to go take my daughter to her first daughter’s appointment and stopping on the way to check out a house for a client, you know, like, and that’s three days after you have the baby. I never took any time off. And I spent my first year in the business with no childcare. And that year I sold 28 houses. So I just felt like I was all over the place. I was kind of miserable by the end of the year. Cause I did more business in the fourth quarter than I did in the first three quarters combined.

[12:21] So it all hit and it was just like a lot. Wow. Looking back at the, at that time, we’re give me a picture of just of your energy level. Were you, were you sleeping? Were you also trying to juggle breastfeeding at that with her too? Yeah. So I only breastfed for two weeks. I hated it. I was miserable. So I quit. Um, and I know, I mean, no, we were not sleeping a lot. You know, she was waking up multiple times during the night. I was exhausted. And my husband was working full time cause he was full time active duty army. And so, you know, he would leave during the day and I would just be there all alone with her and it was miserable, you know? And a lot of people were like, wow, you’re doing so well.

[13:10] You’re closing all these deals. You’re crushing it. And I very much felt like, wow, this is like crushing me. Like I’m really, it was really hard. And, um, all of my lead generation was social media, you know? And at the time I didn’t even, I don’t know that I even felt like I had a system for lead generation, but, um, it was just me getting online. So I was constantly online. I was showing up every single day online and I would talk about, you know, how it was hard, but not really as openly as maybe I could have, you know, in the thick of it, I don’t think you realize exactly how healthy it is. Oh yeah. Sometimes when you’re in the moment when it’s, when it’s so hard and so stressful, like I’ve had times in my life like that, where I, I realized after I’m out of it, looking back, I was just in survival mode and it was just kind of more so thinking, what do I need to do to get the next thing done?

[14:05] And, and doing like, I function pretty well in the moment, but then once it’s done, I usually collapse or I’m just so exhausted once I have a chance to finally breathe. A hundred percent. That’s exactly what it is. You know, and I was just in this mode of like, I do not want to fail and the ball had started rolling. And so it was like, we can’t stop it or it will never pick up again, which is loony. Right. Like it would have, but I didn’t know any better. I, you know, and I was just scared of not being able to, I don’t know, I guess be successful for some reason or another. And so it just felt like I had to just muscle through and I did the next year I sold 86 houses and I did have six hours of childcare a day during that time.

[14:52] But that’s still a lot for somebody who still has, you know, a one-year-old. It’s a lot. That’s a lot. You were a force. I did. Was, was it, was there a distinct moment in this really difficult period, you know, parenting, having a kid, being in the hospital, writing a contract? Was there a specific moment where you were like, I needed, I need a team or something to make this, uh, not, not be this way, have some help. Cause that’s, that’s something that you’ve done now. You you’ve created a team. And I was wondering if there was like, yeah, just a distinct moment there that you were just like, draw a line in the sand. This is, this is it. I need to do something else. It’s, it actually took me a very long time to feel that way.

[15:36] So when I hired, so my first hire was childcare. I had somebody come in and take care of my daughter for six hours a day. And then at the same time, I hired a per transaction TC in that year two for, for context. This is the year that I sold 86 houses. So the big change was I had six hours a day to myself. I had, um, a TC who was doing my paperwork. And then I hired just an admin, just somebody in my office to like help me with showings or whatever I needed to step in. Right. And then I kind of got it together, um, a little bit more formally the next year. And that year I sold 145 houses as a solo agent with admin help. So year three, 145 houses, me, um, a showing partner who was dedicated to just doing showings, a TC, a virtual assistant.

[16:29] And my husband at that point was, um, not active duty anymore. So he was around to help with the things that we needed with. And my daughter was getting into full-time care at that point. I avoided started starting a team for a long time because we were in, and when I say starting a team, I mean like bringing on agents to work with me. I avoided starting a team because my husband had just quit his job. So we were now a one income household. And so the last thing I really wanted to do was cut my income in half by bringing on agents and like passing off the business. And I had a real limiting belief of like, I don’t have enough business to pass off. I mean, I was selling 145 houses and I felt like I don’t have enough business to pass off.

[17:18] But, um, my showing partner really wanted to be a producing agent and I like her a lot. And so I said, come work with me. And that was the first big thing. And at the beginning of that, that was at the beginning of 2024. I wouldn’t say that I was the best leader. You know, I was still very focused on hitting my goals and making sure that we had enough and I was closing enough. But, um, and I wrestled with it for the first six months of the year. I was like, why can’t I just sell a hundred houses a year, make a good living, like just have some admin support. But then I went on vacation in 2024, a big, huge family vacation for a week. And I worked four hours a day, every day. And I was like, I cannot keep doing this.

[18:06] Like, I don’t even have the freedom to go take a week off. What is the point in building a life if you can’t leave it? And so I decided from that point forward, I was going to restructure my business. I brought on two more agents. And in less than six months, I’ve pretty much completely stopped working with buyers unless there’s like a reason. And now I’m focusing on listings. And my goal is to be, um, out of the service side of the sales by the time I turn 30 so that I can become more of a leader on my team and be the person who’s building the brand. Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. If you don’t mind, I would like to hear a little bit of the details of how you, you started these hires. Um, so, so was transaction coordinator admin person, was that an hourly thing?

[18:56] Did you have any kind of commission splits with the showing? Was that showing person also an admin? Um, so I’ll tell, I’ll break it all down for you. So, um, my first TC was per file and eventually she quit because she said we had too many transactions to be able to handle, which was totally valid because she had two kids at home. And so it was just not working for her anymore. So when I hired my current TC, we hired her salary because I knew that the volume of business that we were doing and the business that I wanted to create, I wanted exclusivity and I did not want her working for anybody else. And so we, we hired her salary and that’s, you know, she’s our team’s TC. And then the first admin that I hired that lady from my office, I just paid her a monthly fee.

[19:47] And, um, I can’t remember what else I can’t remember, but it wasn’t a lot, right? Like I was just kind of like saying here, help me do whatever. Then my showing partner, I paid her, um, a split at closing and a small monthly fee to like a fee to, I, I think of it as like a, she doesn’t do any admin work, but I think of it as like a, you’re putting a ton of miles on your car, right? Like here’s like just a fee. And so I pay a fee and a percentage at closing. And then, um, my husband is now our DOO. So he’s on salary too. And then I have a virtual assistant from a virtual assistant company that works with us too. I think I hit everybody. And just for me, DOO is, is what? A director of operations.

[20:39] Yeah. So he handles all the stuff that I’m not good at. Like he meets with our tax people and he reviews our P and L every week. And that’s what I am.

[20:52] Yeah. And he just, you’re a DOO. Yeah. He does anything that needs to be done. And he also handles the investment side of our life. So, you know, I went from making $41,000 a year on salary to in year three of my business, making over $1.2 million in income. And like, we don’t know what to do with that money. And so, um, he’s really taken charge of making sure that we are setting ourselves up for the future. So all of the real estate investments that we do, he handles all of that. Yeah. Wow. That’s cool. This, this is weird. This is like, like our story almost, but kind of flipped around. Like, I mean, I was thinking about how it was with me when you had kids and how I couldn’t really stop and how I was having to handle things in the hospital and all that kind of stuff.

[21:44] But I wasn’t actually the one, you know, actually giving birth. Small detail.

[21:50] It’s, it’s, it’s funny how that, that, uh, yeah, it’s just something that you, yeah, you can’t really turn off, um, or you lose momentum. And, and one of the things that I was also thinking about as you were talking and thing that you seem to have worked through and struggled with, but have kind of overcome is this whole scarcity mindset. Like, you know, at the beginning, you know, I can’t stop the ball from rolling. Cause this one, there may not be something tomorrow, you know, we need to make sure this keeps going. I need to get this thing to be successful. Uh, then I don’t have enough business to, you know, help other people get successful as well. There’s a definitely a scarcity mindset there.

[22:24] I know people that won’t hire admin, won’t hire anybody because they think they’re just training their, their replacement. Um, and, and that’s all this fear based approach. And I think that’s really prevalent in real estate. Like it’s, it is, I think it’s a competition versus community mindset one. And I also think that people are nervous to lose what they’ve built. And I mean, I’ve come to grips with the fact that any agent that I hire could learn all they want to for me and then leave. Right. Right. They could do that. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Like how cool is it that I get to be the one to teach people how to build businesses that they’re proud of and how impactful is that?

[23:34] Like, I’m not just working for myself. I’m helping other people leave their own legacies on the world. And then also understanding that I would rather, I’ve gotten to the point to where I can trade time for money. And because I’m not in the weeds of always being the one selling every single house, it gives me an opportunity to step into my power, which is to take massive action. And I think that anybody who’s listening to this needs to think about the mindset switch that can come with when you when you stop thinking about you, you, you and start thinking about the world around you and the business that you’re building and how it can create a life for not just you, but your family. Right. Like it doesn’t matter how many houses I’m selling.

[24:22] It doesn’t matter how much money I’m making. If I can’t spend time with my daughter. And that is where I was. I was in a space where I had all the money. I had all the clients, but I didn’t have a life. And I never want to feel that way again. And so I would 100% rather hire and leverage out my, my business so that I can have more time at home. And the way that I think about it is like, you are sacrificing something, either you’re sacrificing money or you’re sacrificing time with your family. Like, what do I want to say no to? Right. Like, I don’t want to say no to my family. And it took me a while to get there. But the reality is, is that when you start being able to have more leverage, if you use it to be able to focus on how to be a better team leader, if you use it to be able to focus on how to get more business, if you use it to be able to focus on how to build your brand, more business will come.

[25:18] You know, and now we have the good problem of we have so many leads that I’ll probably end up having to hire another agent or two because we are, you know, like 65% ahead of where we were last year already. It’s crazy. That’s amazing. Tell me, tell us about your brand. It’s very clear. Pink is, is involved. Yeah. I’ve seen that in your Instagram. Tell us about your brand, what it means to you, how you’ve built it. You know, when I look back at how I’ve built my real estate business, it is very obvious to me that building a strong personal brand has been pivotal. Even when I didn’t realize that’s what I was doing, that’s what I was doing. And I feel like it’s so important for real estate agents to understand that the brand that you build has to be authentic to you.

[26:06] You can’t really always look at what someone else is doing and think, I want to emulate that because when you do that, you’re really not attracting people that are authentically attracted to you, right? Like the best clients that come to you, come to you because they know, like, and trust you because of the brand that you’ve built. And for me, my brand is all about being a empower of women. It’s all about having a community mindset, giving back and getting involved. It’s all about being a toddler mom, all about being a wife. And then of course, it’s all about pink, right? Our listing signs are pink. The wall behind me is pink. I wear pink. And that is just putting a bow on it, right? But the core values that we have are faith, family, and service.

[26:48] And everything that we do, our messaging, the way we show up in the community, the way we give back to our clients, it is all driven by our core values. And I think that’s what makes a really good brand. Totally. Yeah, absolutely. And even a pink car I saw too, right? Yeah, I forgot about that. Yes, I did. I bought a car this year and I had it wrapped pink. And that’s really cool because then people get to see you coming from a mile away, you know? And it just really, it’s just fun. Totally. And you got to be a real calm driver, right? Real kind and courteous all the time. Yes. People say, do you put the logo on it? No, because the last thing I really want is for somebody to just Google me and then leave me a bad Google review.

[27:35] Like, you drive a moron. We don’t want to. Right. I had always joked that when the Cybertruck first came out or was announced, I had joked about getting one and wrapping it and saying like, this car may be ugly, but your next house won’t be. Yeah, I don’t like the way they look. I was just watching TikTok this morning and I saw Theo Vaughn said, it looks like you’re driving an email. And I said, that is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. An email? An email.

[28:05] That’s good. That’s so funny. I’m curious a little bit about your investments. You mentioned that. And, you know, obviously that is one of the big things we preach is I think often agents don’t really know much about real estate investing and don’t practice a lot of it. There’s a lot of agents that don’t have any houses other than maybe their primary. So, yeah, I’m just curious as to what you all have gotten into, what kind of property, if you followed any specific strategies like Airbnb or flips or anything like that. So, I bought my first investment property not because I really wanted to invest. I mean, obviously we did, but that wasn’t the primary reason. One of the agents on my team needed somewhere to stay.

[28:51] Wow. And she couldn’t find anywhere. And there were some new construction townhouses available right down the road. And I said, you know, I need to buy a house anyway. It’ll help our taxes. We can do a tax reduction for it. I can’t remember what the word is called, but I said, we can do this thing. Appreciation. Yes. Yep. And I said, we’ll just buy it. You know, so we bought a townhome and that’s where she stays. And then my husband is the one who really takes a lead, but we bought two more properties last year. And then one was supposed to close in December, but closed out in January. So, we have three other single family homes, not in our state, just across the country. And they’re long-term rentals.

[29:34] So, we haven’t gotten into Airbnb or short-term yet, but that is what we want to do. And we’re really doing it, one, for long-term wealth, but also for the tax benefit as well. We want to find ways to make sure that we’re investing our money instead of always having to spend it on taxes, which is super helpful. So, there’s that benefit. We would like to get into short-term rentals, Airbnb, stuff like that. We’re just kind of taking it slow. And last year, we would have bought more, but we were buying a new primary residence. And so, we were trying to be careful about what we were doing. Sure. Yeah. No, that’s awesome. Like, one of the things that, I mean, you’ve been talking exactly what we preach, right?

[30:13] The holistic approach to life through real estate. I mean, that’s the goal, right? And one of the things that we believe is, you know, there is the long-term wealth. There is the tax benefits of real estate. It just makes tons of sense to invest in. But then there’s also just kind of helping to balance out that fear, right? If you can start covering some of your expenses with your passive income, then you don’t have to be quite as worried about, you know, making sure you have that, yeah, that somebody else is going to come in and steal all your business or whatever the scarcity mindset is. So, yeah. And we’ve also talked a lot about, like, syndications being a really good, more advanced kind of thing that people could get into that, you know, basically.

[30:53] We did that. We did that this year. Yeah. Yeah. Great tax benefits. And, you know, you don’t really have to do much with it, which is also nice. Short-term rentals might make more money, but they’re a lot more work. So it’s just kind of what you want. 100%. Which is why we haven’t done them yet, because we just already have, you know, I don’t really need another job is the way I look at it. And I know that there are ways to, like, have somebody else manage or whatever. But I feel that when we get into that will be when we’ve been able to step out of this just a little bit. Not that I, you know, never want to sell real estate. It’s just I want to be in a different, I want to go from agent, team leader to CEO, you know.

[31:37] And having that passive income is super helpful, not necessarily because we need the money, but just for the mindset, you know. If something happened, would we be okay? And right now we’re in this phase of we’re trying to get to a space to where we’re making at least six figures totally passively. Which would be great. And then going up and up and up from there over time. Yeah. No, that’s awesome. That’s great. I did want to ask you, this is going back a little bit, but you had some postpartum anxiety early on after your daughter was born. And anxiety is often something we talk about with lots of people in this podcast in general because whenever you’re dealing with money, it seems to be just like a sidecar that comes along for a lot of people.

[32:26] And I was just curious what your experience was with that and how that impacted you during that time. It was really hard. I think just, I think it was postpartum anxiety and then just anxiety in general of like life because we were in such a transitionary period. And I mean, we were broke. Like we had a mortgage payment and paid the same amount every single month in debt. And we were on this journey of paying down our debt and getting our finances together and making sure that we had just things together in general and feeling a lot of pressure of like, when you have a child, it’s not just about you anymore. So I think the parental pressure and then the fact that I was trying to run a business or do a job, really, it was not a business.

[33:18] It was a job. And also have my daughter with me every day. Your wires kind of get crossed of like what’s important and what’s not. And so looking back, I grieve that time a little bit because I wish that I would have spent more time with her. You know, I specifically remember being annoyed. It’s really sad to say. I just, but I remember being annoyed because I was in a call like this on a Zoom call and she was sitting on my lap and she was pulling my hair and she’s an infant, you know, and what are they supposed to do? And I was just so aggravated. And I called my husband and I was like, this is so annoying. Like I don’t have any help. I can’t do anything. And looking back, I wish that I would have been like, oh, you know, she’s a baby.

[34:03] Like she wants to be with me. That’s normal. But in the thick of it, you just don’t even think about it that way. And so I would say that my postpartum anxiety manifested like stress and annoyance and headaches and exhaustion and just being totally depleted. And I remember towards the end of the year, I had just finished up my first year and I was laying in my bed with my husband and I was looking at my phone and someone on Facebook said, I’m looking for a real estate agent in Columbia. And I looked at him and I said, I hope nobody recommends me because I’m freaking exhausted. Like I cannot do this. I’m so tired. And that’s when I knew that I got to figure out how to show up for myself more and not just for the business.

[34:46] Like I really got to leverage out a little bit. That’s when I decided to get some childcare because I knew that I wasn’t being the best mom that I could be. And I thought, well, if I can step away for six hours a day and really focus on this and I can come home and be with her. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, totally. I love that you mentioned that you felt annoyed and frustrated with your daughter because that’s something that a lot of new parents struggle to say out loud because it comes along with a side of guilt too. Like I shouldn’t be feeling that way. But it’s so common. And so it happens all the time to feel so frustrated with them crying or getting in the way or keeping you from sleeping. And so many parents feel that way.

[35:27] And it’s really cool that you paid attention and noticed that that was signaling you that maybe something could shift and could be different. You didn’t just feel like, oh, this is going to be this way forever. And I just have to, I just have to do it. Yeah. I was, I mean, I was miserable, you know, and I was like, I am not about to be miserable forever. And it took me a long time to get out of that. I mean, there’s no way, and somebody could have a different experience, but in my mind, there’s no way you sell 145 houses a year as a mom with no other agent bearing that load and not having days of like straight up misery. You know, I have so many needs and so many clients that I didn’t even know what to do with it.

[36:08] And it was a lot. And I was thankful for it and proud of it too. Like, cannot believe that I’ve been able to do this. But it did come with a side of, gosh, this is a lot. Like, do I ever want to do this again? And I never want to do it again. I never want to do that again. I would much rather have help than do it all alone. Totally. Where do you feel like you are now on the balance between spending time with your daughter, your husband, work, things, you know, spending time for you? A lot better. I’m going to get a facial after I get off this call today. That’s awesome. A lot better. I try my best to be done at least three days a week by 3.30.

[36:53] Because I can focus a lot more on listings, even though we’re doing a lot of them. Like, I’ve gone on 15 listing appointments this month, which is just wild because we’ve always been real buyer heavy. I have more time to spend with my family now than I ever have before. Last year, we went on 10 Disney vacations. So I was able to, like, step away. And it’s not like I didn’t work while I was there. I mean, you can’t go to Disney World 10 times a year and just cut off your phone when you’re running a business. Like, you can’t do that. But I was able to not physically be here. And so my next goal is to be able to have every day where I’m done by 2.30. You know, my daughter goes to work and I’m able to accomplish everything I want to.

[37:38] I’m sorry. She goes to school and I’m able to accomplish everything I want to while she’s at school. It’s a lot better. Like, I don’t have anything on my agenda this weekend. Once I finish with my listing appointment today, I’m done for the rest of the day. And I’ve gotten really good at boundaries, you know, like, I will even get an opportunity for a listing appointment. And instead of booking it over the weekend, I’ll say, are you available on Monday? Because I’m okay. Like, if they don’t want to work with me because I don’t want to work on the weekend, I’m okay with that. That’s not to say that if a client calls me, I won’t answer. But I have more of an ability to reserve time for my people, right?

[38:17] Yeah, that’s great. Yeah, you have learned a lot. And I did. I’m glad you mentioned Disney because I wanted to ask you about that. So you’ve gone, what, nine, ten times this last year? Yeah, I went ten times last year. And then we’re going on a cruise, a Disney cruise for my daughter’s birthday. And then we’re going again in May. Wow. Do you have Disney down to science at this point? Gosh, there’s so much that we still haven’t done. I mean, it’s absolutely huge. There’s so much that we haven’t done. But we know what we like to do when we go. We’ve stayed at almost every, we like resort hops. So we’ve stayed at almost every resort. There’s a few more that we want to hit. But we love it. And I think that when I think about the psychology behind it, I think that it is giving my daughter the attention she didn’t get from me for a couple years.

[39:08] And just saying, let me just, let me just give you the best childhood ever. Because you do feel a little bit of that mom guilt for the time that she doesn’t even remember. You know?

[39:20] Did you grow up going to Disney? No. No. You get there and it’s like, that’s all you can think about. It’s when you, I mean, at least for me, and I think some people have different experiences. Like if you’re working a nine to five and your kids are in school, the only time you can go is during Easter weekend or the holidays. It’s insanely packed. Oh, sure. That can be a little, like, miserable if you don’t like stuff like that. But we can go whenever we want to. Right? Like I could plan a trip for the middle of the week in three weeks if I wanted to. And so we have been able to experience it during slow times. I mean, as slow as it can get with Disney. Right? Like where it’s not suffocating.

[40:03] And also when we go, we don’t just do the parks. Like we love to go to the resorts, to Disney Springs, to just explore. And when I get there, it’s almost like I’m not thinking about anything else. Like I might dedicate a little bit of time to sit in the room and do whatever I need to do for work. But I’m just so in the moment that it gives my brain space to relax just a little bit. Love it. Sounds like it’s healing for your daughter and also maybe for you too. Yeah. Yeah. It totally is. Like how some people like to work out every day. I like to go to Disney and the spa. People say, what are your hobbies? I like to go to a spa. I like to go get a facial. Like I just like to pour into me and my family.

[40:50] That’s what I like to do. Love it. You know, I was thinking as you’re talking about that, about how you said you came from a salary of $41,000. Is that right? Is that what you said? Mm-hmm. And then at one point you’re like, you know, I made $1.2 million. And then you were worried about, you know, losing some of that. And if you like zoom out, right? Like if you zoom out to who you were when you were making $41,000 and think, you know, like I’m not making $1.2 million. Or, you know, I’m delegating a little bit more. I’m running this company and I’m getting to go to Disney 10 times. You’re like, sign me up. Yeah, I totally agree. Yeah, I totally agree. You know, when you really sit down and you think about it realistically, for me, I think it was a fear of like not having money because I knew what it felt like to not have it.

[41:40] And then I hired a coach who totally changed my world. And he said, you know, why do you think you need so much money? I mean, it’s great to have it, but like, do you need it? And I was like, I don’t know. So we I really thought about like, how much do we actually need to live and to live the lifestyle that we want and to be able to invest like we want. And it’s not a million dollars a year, you know, and I’ve learned that I can make what I want and need to make without selling houses personally, if I want to. You know, if I wanted to be able to build a business where I was, quote unquote, out of production, you know, I could and I would still make what I needed to make to be able to have a happy life.

[42:21] Yeah, we’ll see. But but it’s just about leading with facts versus feelings all of the time. Yeah. And when I said that, definitely you’re not unique in that, that you’re not like weird for having that. That’s everybody. Right. I mean, there’s that fear that you go through and it’s just good to have that practice of like kind of zooming out. I mean, wait a minute. Yeah. This is good. This is a great thing. Let’s let’s let’s build a dream life, you know, and being, you know, miserable, as you said, because you have so many transactions. You have so many things to follow up with. You probably have when you have that many transactions, you probably have a lot of problems you’re dealing with, too.

[42:58] Right. I mean, there’s just so much that comes with it. It does. I was talking to my broker about that and I said, gosh, I feel like I have another issue every week. And he said, well, you’re doing so many deals like the more you do, the more you’re going to deal with. And it’s just so true. And sometimes I’ll have things pop up. I mean, I was talking to my transaction coordinator yesterday and she said, oh, goodness. And she told me something was going on with a deal. And it’s, you know, it’s my deal, but it’s my agent who’s taking the lead on it. Right. And I said, glad that’s not my problem. You know, and I would be there to support them if they needed it. You know, I’m always there to jump right into the fire with them anytime they need anything to take over at any time.

[43:37] I’m very hands on. I’m very supportive. Probably more hands on than like I should be if I want to build true balance. But accountability and responsibility is really important to me and making sure that I’m training them and being present in their businesses. It’s really important to me. And but it is really freeing to know that, like, it doesn’t have to be me who is the default problem solver. There’s other people that can handle things. I’m not always burdened with that myself. Yeah. Yeah. And even consulting versus being the person, you know, in the trenches actually doing it is probably a different feeling. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that’s really cool. Like, I mean, so you have built a crazy business.

[44:23] I know a lot of people that started the business in the pandemic and had massive success from how easy it was. And what I think is really cool about what you’ve done is, is you like a lot of people slowed down. Their business slowed down. They didn’t have things that they built that actually were going to give them business outside of just like it. There’s so many people buying because interest rates are 2%. And so it’s really cool that you have been able to maintain. You’ve grown even despite the market turndown with, you know, you said it was mostly buyers. And all of a sudden they’re paying like 5% more in interest. So, I mean, that’s a huge shift in the number of buyers that were coming in.

[45:04] So you’ve really adapted. You’ve really stayed the course. And it seems like the market swing didn’t affect you. You’ve just kept going up. It didn’t affect me. And here’s the thing that anybody who’s listening to this, you have to understand that we were in a market where you could stick a sign in the yard and it sold. Yeah. You could stand outside and buyers were flocking to you, period. So a lot of real estate agents didn’t have the need or felt like they didn’t have the need to learn how to actually lead generate or how to actually convert or to actually build a brand or actually build a business. And most people were just, you know, thought they were geniuses when really they were just a product of the time.

[45:50] And so there’s a lot of agents who I feel are frustrated with the market because they were up here and now they’re down here and they don’t understand. And I’ve seen it firsthand coaching real estate agents and training them that a lot of people just got lucky. And now they can’t even figure it out because they are struggling with wrapping their mind around the fact that they probably were not as talented as they thought they were. They were just lucky, you know, and that’s fine. But if you are the agent who cannot figure out why your business is not thriving like it was, let’s say, three years ago, you have to figure out what can you actionably do to be able to get business. It’s not passive anymore.

[46:37] It is taking massive action every day, committing to it and being consistent. So, you know, when you get done listening to a podcast, when you get done spending your quiet morning, what is your schedule? And I think every agent has to have that. Like, what is your day to day? What is your non-negotiable? What’s the priority? What is the lead generation plan? And if you don’t have one, you better make one or you’re not going to see the results. Right? Yeah. Yeah. That’s well said. It’s… Go ahead. No, go ahead, Finn. I was just going to ask if in this journey that you went through, did you come across any books that were revolutionary for you or fundamental for you or ones that you’re just kind of currently really enjoying?

[47:21] So I’ll be honest with you. I’m not a reader. I’m not a reader. But I will take pieces out of books, right? So I’m licensed with KW. And, of course, the MREA has been real helpful to me. The Millionaire Real Estate Agent. I’ll be totally transparent. I’ve never read the whole book. But it is a place of value for me. So when I am trying to figure out how to structure my business or how to add in systems or how to make sure that I’m on track, I will reach for that as a resource. The economic model has been real helpful for me. How we provide leverage for ourselves as business owners, going back to what works and not just trying to reinvent the wheel has been real helpful for me. What I see a lot of agents do when they become successful is they start to sell a decent amount of houses.

[48:12] And then they think, I need help. And they immediately hire a real estate agent. Or maybe they’re getting busy. And agents are coming to them like, I want to join your team. And they don’t have a team. But agents want to join their team. And so agents think, oh, this is so cool. I want to run a team. Like, it’s fun. Running a team is hard work, you know? And so what I find that the downfall is for a lot of people is that they build out the side of their business where they have agents on their team. But they don’t have strong admin. They don’t have strong systems. They don’t have strong support. And so I learned that admin first. You hire admin first. And you build your systems first. And you get real strong on the back end so that you can support the people properly and lead them properly.

[48:57] And so having resources through my brokerage have been real instrumental for me. I recently got sent a book called Lead with Prayer. And I’ve been reading that. And it is all about how to ruin your business with God at the forefront of it. And so that’s been real helpful for me, too, because we’re going through a huge transitionary period. And I’ve really decided that I don’t want to make decisions on my own, you know? I want to make sure that I’m consulting what I believe in and making sure that that aligns. And so that’s one that I’ve been reading lately. Awesome. Well, Taylor, thank you so much for joining us today. It has been so fun talking to you. And I feel like this episode especially really covered just all aspects of your life, which has been fun to hear about you as a parent, changing careers, building your career, moving kind of onward and upward with that and your relationship with your spouse and just your self-care.

[49:55] I feel like we covered everything. Yeah. It’s great. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. If people want more information about you, is Instagram a good place to follow you? Where can they reach out to you? Yeah. So I have Instagram at RealtorMomCoach. You can also find me at tayleyhunt.com. Okay. Cool. Tayley, thank you so much for joining us. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks for listening to the REI Agent. If you enjoyed this episode, hit subscribe to catch new shows every week. Visit reiagent.com for more content. Until next time, keep building the life you want. All content in the show is not investment advice or mental health therapy. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.